NFL Season 2011-2012

[Brando70]

I am glad the Broncos won because this matchup is much more interesting than a gimpy Steelers team facing the Pats. Tebow may actually crack a 50% completion rate against the New England Keystone Kops secondary.

[Danimal]

NFL in general this season. Has pass defense gotten really poor or have receivers just that much better at running routes? Seems like there's guys wide open all over the place as of late.

Modern day NFL you can't breath on a receiver or QB without a penalty. The game is skewed to offense and that's how the league wants it. Receivers push off on every pattern they run and never get called for anything. The PI calls are ridiculous now in my opinion. I don't recall what game it was in this weekend but a receiver was running a route, stopped and the CB ran into him. The ball was over thrown by a mile and it was called PI.

Offensive players get to use the stiff arm and go to the face, a defender does that and it's a penalty. Want to slow down a D-linmen cut him no penalty. Tackle a QB by the ankles penalty. The league is a joke.

I was a defensive backs coach at one point in my life so I may be a little biased

[pk500]

Lines and over-under's for this weekend's games:

New Orleans San Francisco + 3.5 47.5

New England Denver +13.5 50.5

Baltimore Houston + 7.5 35.5

Green Bay NY Giants + 8.5 51.5

Denver, Houston and the Giants look appealing as 'dogs. I think Houston wins outright, and Denver and the Giants lose but cover.

[10spro]

As much as I'd love to see Tebow pull another huge upset next week, problem is the Broncos’ success is predicated on holding the opposition to 24 points or less and you just don’t see that happening next weekend against Tom Brady in NE.

[pk500]

As much as I'd love to see Tebow pull another huge upset next week, problem is the Broncos’ success is predicated on holding the opposition to 24 points or less and you just don’t see that happening next weekend against Tom Brady in NE.

I think Denver can stay within 13.5 points of New England if the Broncos play as well as they did yesterday. New England's defense is porous, especially its secondary. Tebow proved -- at least yesterday -- that he can make some throws if his feet are set.

New England's secondary still might be worse than Pittsburgh's without Clark, and Tebow carved up the Steelers' D-backs.

[wco81]

Lot of teams have a big offensive explosion in the first playoff game and then go flat the next. Houston and Denver could be candidates for that.

Regarding the dominance of passing, teams go into the spread, especially with two TEs who can block and beat most LBs on routes and it's impossible to cover. Defenses see two TEs so they bring in a base defense but then the offense goes into a spread and you don't have enough defenders who can cover.

That and WRs have become freakishly good. Remember when people thought Moss was unusual? Look at Calvin Johnson, who can jump just as high, but is stronger. Or look at young WRs like Green or Julio Jones and then coming into the league, you got guys like Blackmon and Marquis Lee, who looks like the second coming of TO.

Of course this is the year of the TE so you have these guys who are bigger yet faster than many DBs.

Finally, there are 3rd and 4th WRs who can beat most nickel or dime backs too. Defenses can either try to pressure the QB and hope he doesn't find the correct hot read or rush 3 and hope that they break through before people come open.

But then you got QBs with great accuracy and arm strength too -- Stafford for instance had arm strength but has enough accuracy to amass 5000 yards.

[DivotMaker]

Lot of teams have a big offensive explosion in the first playoff game and then go flat the next. Houston and Denver could be candidates for that.

Why Houston? They can run the ball on anyone. They have a rookie QB who made no mistakes in his first playoff game and generally outplayed Andy Dalton who was a first or second round pick. Houston has the #2 defense and Baltimore is right there with them. You give NO reasoning for your statement, so I am wondering where you pulled this out from......for that matter, Denver can run the ball too as they are the #1 running team in the NFL and NE's defense is ranked 31st in the league....31st in the pass and 17th against the run....

http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/team/ ... asontype/2

[wco81]

The 31 points were unexpected, so they may return to form.

Daniels may be hurt too?

The play that turned the game was Watt's interception and return for TD. I don't think even Kubiak is expecting Yates to put up a lot of points but they may not have to.

[Brando70]

I don't see the Broncos winning at New England in a playoff game when they just got beat soundly by the Pats at Denver last month. The Broncos D has been very uneven the last few weeks, sometimes good, sometimes very porous. Plus the Pats never take their foot off the gas. As crazy as a 13.5 spread is for an NFL playoff game, I think the Pats cover.

I also don't see the Ravens losing at home to the Texans. Houston has made great strides but Baltimore is undefeated at home. Ravens cover.

Saints will beat the most overrated team in the NFL. Frank Gore was not very good over the last half of the season and I don't see Alex Smith putting the team on his back.

I do like taking the 8.5 with the Giants. It's quite possible Green Bay will blow them out but Eli has put up monster numbers in most of the Giants losses. I think he'll keep it close.

[Danimal]

I don't see the Broncos winning at New England in a playoff game when they just got beat soundly by the Pats at Denver last month.

Brando it's time to hop aboard my friend. I finally figured this all out, Tebow supporters will survive 12/12. This is surely the universes way of sorting out the good from the bad. Think about it Tebow winning games, 50 degrees in Jan in Chicago, Cubs and Bears fire their GM's in one calendar year. The end is near my friend, support Tebow and survive the coming zombie apocalypse.

[wco81]

IIRC, Broncos were matching points with the Pats for about the first quarter and a half and then they fumbled a lot of times to let the Pats pull away.

Not saying they're going to turn the tables but they should be able to move the ball and put up points on the worst defense in the league during the regular season. They just have to make sure the Pats have to drive the length of the field and pressure Brady better. Maybe if Miller is more healthy he can be more effective.

[DivotMaker]

The 31 points were unexpected, so they may return to form.

Daniels may be hurt too?

The play that turned the game was Watt's interception and return for TD. I don't think even Kubiak is expecting Yates to put up a lot of points but they may not have to.

The Texans have yet to fully implement James Casey TE/FB.....they played him against the Titans in the last RS game and he has the best hands on the team and is extremely athletic, not to mention finally 100% again after tearing a bicep tendon the week Mario Williams went down. He gives them yet another weapon for crucial 3rd down conversions off the line or out of the backfield.

[DivotMaker]

I also don't see the Ravens losing at home to the Texans. Houston has made great strides but Baltimore is undefeated at home. Ravens cover.

You would be nuts to bet against the Ravens. I know I wouldn't. However, there is something special about the Texans this year that I have never seen in their history and that is a will to win and "never give up" attitude. I will watch the game this weekend expecting them to play well and lose, but hoping for a perfect game and possible upset....it would be a pretty good sized upset for sure, but ANYTHING is possible in the playoffs.....

[Brando70]

IIRC, Broncos were matching points with the Pats for about the first quarter and a half and then they fumbled a lot of times to let the Pats pull away.

Not saying they're going to turn the tables but they should be able to move the ball and put up points on the worst defense in the league during the regular season. They just have to make sure the Pats have to drive the length of the field and pressure Brady better. Maybe if Miller is more healthy he can be more effective.

Denver was up 16-7 very early in the first, then got smoked 34-7 the rest of the game. The Broncos D also got carved up pretty well by a banged up Steelers offense last week. With the surrounding Tebowmania, this is precisely the kind of statement game Brady and Bellichick love to make. The Broncos probably will score some points, but I think the Pats are going to break 40 again and win pretty easily.

[Lancer]

WTF! Raiders fire HC Jackson. I thought Al Davis was dead?

[TCrouch]

New GM's typically bring their own guys in. It was discussed for the past week.

Jackson didn't help himself with the tirade calling out the team after the season-ending loss, nor the claims that he was "going to take a heavier hand in this whole organization".

Setting the NFL record for penalties and yards didn't help, either.

It's not unexpected. Jackson is a gutsy offensive coach, and a good coach when Davis was alive. Since he died, the trade for Palmer and some of the other curious things he's said has led to a lot of people grumbling about his power ploys and not so much his coaching.

A new GM would almost certainly want to get somebody on board who he wouldn't be butting heads with constantly.

But bottom line..it's the Raiders. Is anything really surprising, even if Al Davis DID die?

[NovaStar]

New GM's typically bring their own guys in. It was discussed for the past week.

Jackson didn't help himself with the tirade calling out the team after the season-ending loss, nor the claims that he was "going to take a heavier hand in this whole organization".

Setting the NFL record for penalties and yards didn't help, either.

It's not unexpected. Jackson is a gutsy offensive coach, and a good coach when Davis was alive. Since he died, the trade for Palmer and some of the other curious things he's said has led to a lot of people grumbling about his power ploys and not so much his coaching.

A new GM would almost certainly want to get somebody on board who he wouldn't be butting heads with constantly.

But bottom line..it's the Raiders. Is anything really surprising, even if Al Davis DID die?

What's up T? This right here. Jackson did not help himself with the post lost tirade.

[wco81]

Well he made in-game mistakes, like not going for 2-points in the Detroit game.

Could be a sign the organization is moving more towards a professional approach, rather than the whims of one man.

McKenzie probably wouldn't have signed on unless he was going to have the power to make all kinds of changes and the Raiders probably chose him hoping they'd model the organization more like Green Bay's.

[TCrouch]

Just watched the press conference. Things being said sounded crazy.

Mark Davis: "I hired Reggie to handle the football side of things. That's not my job to get into the football side and mess around, when I can hire football people to handle the football job. I can now focus my attention on stadium issues and other aspects of the organization."

When McKenzie was asked why some of the defensive staff was still in the building, when he let the head coach go: "That's going to be up to the new head coach. He'll have full control to hire every member of his staff, whether he wants to let them go or retain them."

That's not how the Raiders operate. That right there means the world is officially ending in 2012

[wco81]

That would be interesting if Mark Davis is so quick to dispose of his father's way of doing things in favor of professionalism.

Old Raiders like Madden are said to be advising him so he's apparently taking that advice seriously.

[ScoopBrady]

That would be interesting if Mark Davis is so quick to dispose of his father's way of doing things in favor of professionalism.

Old Raiders like Madden are said to be advising him so he's apparently taking that advice seriously.

That's what Rocky did with the Blackhawks when his dad, Dollar Bill, died. It worked out pretty well for him. I hope the Raiders become relevant again.

[XXXIV]

Rams waiting.....

[Rodster]

Rams waiting.....

Weird, I thought he would have signed with the Rams by now. What i've read in the Miami Herald is that Fisher wants compensation if the Rams are moved to L.A. So it's between working for the idiot tri-fecta or losing money if they relocate to California.

[Lancer]

Rams waiting.....

Weird, I thought he would have signed with the Rams by now. What i've read in the Miami Herald is that Fisher wants compensation if the Rams are moved to L.A. So it's between working for the idiot tri-fecta or losing money if they relocate to California.

Seriously? They're thinking about moving back to LA? First I've heard of this. Isn't the dome they play in and the fans they draw pretty good income for that franchise?

[Rodster]

St. Louis is considered a small market, L.A. isn't. From what i've read the owner is getting some beenies from the NFL if he decides to move the team. It's not only St. Louis as there are other teams who have shown interest in moving out West. Jacksonville is one team. I wish the other was the Dolphins