NFL 2008

[Evil Chase K]

Brandon Jacobs is a bitch.

I agree. You'd think a 265 pound RB could get 6 inches on 4th and goal. But more importantly than that, Eli outplayed Big Ben. I don't know why people still think that he's an elite QB when he had one of the worst SB performances ever and tends to shit the bed quite often in big games.

He has more 4th Quarter/OT comeback wins than ANYONE in the NFL since he came into the league.

And as bad as he played, it's hard to be good when your offensive line is awful.

The Giants should have dominated that game, but I'm content with the victory in spite of the troubling inability to get TDs inside the 20.

It could be said that the Steelers should have dominated. The Giants great running game got absolutely shut down and if it wasn't for a total offensive meltdown and an injury to the fucking longsnapper, the Giants don't win. That game shouldn't have been close. If the offense doesn't melt down, they put that game away with the 2nd TD to Nate Washington.

[Evil Chase K]

That was siiiiick. Giants are the shit.

Yes, beating a team that self destructs and shoots themselves in the foot after being shut down all game long makes them the shit.

That was a giftwrapped game.

Woo! If the Titans can win tommorow night, they will have a 2 game lead over everybody in the AFC!

A lot of good that will do when they play teams that can stop the run. One dimensional offenses never win the playoffs.

Really?

I knew that was coming. Let's face it, that Ravens defense was probably the best the NFL has seen in 20+ years. The Titans defense isn't even CLOSE to being as good as that Ravens' defense.

[Evil Chase K]

Anyone watching the Fox post-game show?

Mike Singletary just impressed the HELL out of me.

He threw overrated TE Vernon Davis out of the game for slapping a Seahawks player in the face (something everyone should do). And then went on a tirade after the game about it.

Great stuff.

[naiwf]

It could be said that the Steelers should have dominated. The Giants great running game got absolutely shut down and if it wasn't for a total offensive meltdown and an injury to the fucking longsnapper, the Giants don't win. That game shouldn't have been close. If the offense doesn't melt down, they put that game away with the 2nd TD to Nate Washington.

I know you're the ultimate homer and all, but under what circumstances is a team that is -4 in the turnover margin remotely close to "should have dominated"? You forced ZERO turnovers, had ZERO sacks, lost the TOP battle, had less yards from scrimmage, and committed more penalties. Again, if not for your amazing defense inside the 20, you would have been blown out.

Edited October 26, 2008 by naiwf

[Evil Chase K]

Hey Chase, any particular reason for the Steelers continuing to wear throwbacks?

Good fan response I'd assume. They sold a shit ton of the throwbacks so I'd expect them to continue into the near future.

[Evil Chase K]

It could be said that the Steelers should have dominated. The Giants great running game got absolutely shut down and if it wasn't for a total offensive meltdown and an injury to the fucking longsnapper, the Giants don't win. That game shouldn't have been close. If the offense doesn't melt down, they put that game away with the 2nd TD to Nate Washington.

I know you're the ultimate homer and all, but under what circumstances is a team that is -4 in the turnover margin remotely close to "should have dominated"? You forced ZERO turnovers, had ZERO sacks, lost the TOP battle, had less yards from scrimmage, and committed more penalties. Again, if not for your amazing defense inside the 20, you would have been blown out.

If there's no holding on the 2nd deep pass to Nate Washington, it's a 21-9 score and the game's over.

The Steelers played bad offensively, and the Giants actually have an offensive coordinator who can do his job, but the Steelers would have won by at least 10 if it wasn't for Willie Colon's hold.

EDIT: Maybe dominate was poor word choice. The Steelers defense completely shutdown the Giants running game and with the exception of 2 pass plays, pretty much held the Giants passing game down too. The Steelers SHOULD have dominated...if their offensive line played like they have when they've played their best games.

Edited October 27, 2008 by Evil Chase K

[Maxx]

Yeah but there's no way that play would have happened without the hold, so that point is pretty moot

[naiwf]

Maybe dominate was poor word choice. The Steelers defense completely shutdown the Giants running game and with the exception of 2 pass plays, pretty much held the Giants passing game down too. The Steelers SHOULD have dominated...if their offensive line played like they have when they've played their best games.

That works the other way too because your two TD plays accounted for 97 of your 249 total yards. It doesn't matter though because there are no style points in the pro game.

[Evil Chase K]

Yeah but there's no way that play would have happened without the hold, so that point is pretty moot

I don't know, Willie barely held him. He had his arm around him and then let him go. And right as let him go, Darnell Stapleton lit the guy up and dropped him. It looked like Willie tackled him but he didn't. It was a hold, but the guy still would have been snuffed out if Willie didn't hold.

Maybe dominate was poor word choice. The Steelers defense completely shutdown the Giants running game and with the exception of 2 pass plays, pretty much held the Giants passing game down too. The Steelers SHOULD have dominated...if their offensive line played like they have when they've played their best games.

That works the other way too because your two TD plays accounted for 97 of your 249 total yards. It doesn't matter though because there are no style points in the pro game.

Very true.

Now let me get back to you saying Eli Manning is a better QB than Ben Roethlisberger. I think that's laughable. Elisha "Captain Checkdown" Manning had a YPA average of 6 something today. He wasn't throwing the ball down the field, he was getting rid of the ball quickly because James Harrison (who gets held more than any OLB in the league without drawing a penalty) and the Steelers defense was getting pressure.

The reason Eli was able to do that was because the Giants offense is designed smartly, allowing him to do that. Ben Roethlisberger is handcuffed by the worst offensive coordinator in the NFL. Bruce Arians did nothing to give Ben any checkdowns today. Nearly every route was between 10-15 yards downfield.

When the Steelers did run plays that allowed Ben to get rid of the ball quickly (the quick passes to underutilized Heath Miller) such as the slant to Miller, it worked. Every time.

Yet Bruce Arians continued to call a complete abortion of a game, forcing Ben to hold onto the ball, or force the ball into coverage. He threw 4 picks today, 1 was not his fault, one was on 4th down that was essentially the equivalent of running for the first and

[naiwf]

Now let me get back to you saying Eli Manning is a better QB than Ben Roethlisberger. I think that's laughable. Elisha "Captain Checkdown" Manning had a YPA average of 6 something today. He wasn't throwing the ball down the field, he was getting rid of the ball quickly because James Harrison (who gets held more than any OLB in the league without drawing a penalty) and the Steelers defense was getting pressure.

I didn't say Eli was a better QB. I said he outplayed Ben, and that Ben is NOT an elite QB. In "money games" Ben plays his worst. Eli's the opposite. The reason Ben's numbers are better is that he plays great in those other 10-12 games a year, and Eli mixes in a couple of horrendous games every year that negate the good work he does. (see: Cleveland this season)

[Evil Chase K]

Now let me get back to you saying Eli Manning is a better QB than Ben Roethlisberger. I think that's laughable. Elisha "Captain Checkdown" Manning had a YPA average of 6 something today. He wasn't throwing the ball down the field, he was getting rid of the ball quickly because James Harrison (who gets held more than any OLB in the league without drawing a penalty) and the Steelers defense was getting pressure.

I didn't say Eli was a better QB. I said he outplayed Ben, and that Ben is NOT an elite QB. In "money games" Ben plays his worst. Eli's the opposite. The reason Ben's numbers are better is that he plays great in those other 10-12 games a year, and Eli mixes in a couple of horrendous games every year that negate the good work he does. (see: Cleveland this season)

Ben is the reason the Steelers got to the Super Bowl in 2005. His play in the playoff games and the Super Bowl (I'll get to that in a minute) was nothing short of phenomenal.

And so he had a bad statistical game in SBXL, he made 2 HUGE plays that, if he didn't make, change the entire complexion of the game and give the Seahawks a chance to get back in it.

Ben also has more 4th Quarter and Overtime come-from-behind wins than any other QB since he came into the league in 2004. He also leads the league (or at least he did) in not only 3rd down passer rating, but 3rd down completion percentage.

Ben is clutch. Honestly, I can't think of any truly big games he's played bad in since his rookie year. Plus, he's been saddled behind a shit offensive line for the past 2 years and he's also had the worst Offensive Coordinator in the NFL for two seasons.

Ben would be dynamite if he played behind the Giants o-line. Eli would be shit if he was on the Steelers.

[alldaws1]

Whoever suggested putting Brooks Bollinger in for Brad Johnson needs to be punched in the face or something. I knew we shouldn't have signed him in the first place, it was just asking for Romo to get injured really

Anyway, glad to have the win. I didn't see the game but it sounds like we won with defense which is a huge bonus while our offense is missing its key component and against one of the better teams in the NFC at the moment (oh no, if they lose their next two they won't be a quality team and we'll have only beaten an average side!!). I don't care if we lose to the Giants next week (well, of course I care but in relation to the whole season), 5-4 with a healthy Romo, Witten and Felix Jones back after the bye and we'll have a good chance to make the Playoffs I think.

I went to the Wembley game, it was awesome. I think the referees were fairly poor at times, they missed a couple of clear pass interferences against the Saints. I still don't understand why Payton would risk taking the safety at the end. Surely it would be safer to just punt the ball away and if the Chargers score, it's OT. If they'd have returned the safety punt/kick or scored on the final play the Chargers could have won it. I also found it funny that the Saints cheerleaders got a bigger ovation than most of the players in the introductions >_>

Edited October 27, 2008 by AD

[Hailtothechimp]

Whoever suggested putting Brooks Bollinger in for Brad Johnson needs to be punched in the face or something. I knew we shouldn't have signed him in the first place, it was just asking for Romo to get injured really

My face is open for punching if you wish AD, Johnson came out solid enough in the second half and then Dallas's D was just awesome. I really am looking forward to seeing how well Dallas can do next week against the G-men. If the game remains close enough, I think it'll be a rousing success for Dallas when they are missing so much on the offensive side of the ball. Maybe the D will show up again, who knows.

Did anyone else besides me watch the Browns/Jaguars game? Big offensive plays a plenty in real exciting game that the Browns managed to come out of strong. Anderson looked decent and my hopes of seeing Brady Quinn play some regular season football have been dashed aside again. Also Houston raped Cincinnati, but who doesn't these days?

And is it just me or is the first real Monday night game that might prove to be interesting and close as opposed to the blow outs that have taken place most of this season?

[Plankton]

(oh no, if they lose their next two they won't be a quality team and we'll have only beaten an average side!!).

Alright, alright. So the stat didn't doesn't quite reflect the Cowboys' standing. At least we can agree to disagree on the ranking system without passive aggressively taking digs at each other every week. (Y)

Did anyone else besides me watch the Browns/Jaguars game? Big offensive plays a plenty in real exciting game that the Browns managed to come out of strong. Anderson looked decent and my hopes of seeing Brady Quinn play some regular season football have been dashed aside again.

This is all coming secondhand, so take it for what it is. But I live in the Akron area, which is pretty much Little Cleveland when it comes to sports, and I've heard from plenty of Browns fans that Brady gets a lot more money if he plays for something like 1/4 of the season, so it's unlikely they'd pull the trigger on him too early unless there's no other choice.

EDIT:

Here are some interesting stats ripped from here:

-Brees boasts six 300-yard passing games this season after throwing for 339 yards against the Chargers in London. He has now thrown for 2563 yards and 15 touchdowns in eight games.

-Brees is currently on pace for 5126 passing yards still slightly more than Dan Marino’s record of 5084. He is also on pace for 12 300-yard passing performances which would break Rich Gannon’s single season record (10 in 2002).

-New Orleans ranked 28th in rushing entering Week 8, with an average of 88.8 YPG.

-The Cowboys and Bucs combined to dropback to pass 82 times, producing a total of just 316 net yards – that’s a dreadful average of 3.85 Yards Per Pass Attempt (which includes sacks).

-Browns with Winslow -- 11.4 PPG, 215.8 YPG, 187.0 pass YPG

Browns without Winslow -- 29.0 PPG, 390.5 total YPG, 273.0 pass YPG

-In just seven games, Porter (MIA) has already matched his single-season career high for sacks (10.5), which he achieved with Pittsburgh in both 2000 and 2005.

-Detroit has now been outscored 57-7 in the opening quarter this season.

-The Steelers are now 1-7 (including playoffs) when Roethlisberger throws three or more picks in a game, and 0-2 when he throws four.

-Cincy is now 0-8 for the fifth time in the last 30 years. But at least the Queen City has a tough nickname.

Edited October 27, 2008 by Plankton

[Cactus Drags]

Wembley was phenomenal, loved it. Glad the turf held up and we got some offense, but come on San Diego, I knew the Saints couldn't play D, but you could've at least showed up, we're not all high-octane-offense lovers here. Not a single sack for either side, I know Brees was dancing around pretty well, but Rivers was just stood there, no blockers, no movement for a good five seconds a couple times, and no one came close to sacking his gormless face.

Like AD, I have no idea why the Saints took the safety at the end, other than to make my prediction of Saints by 4 1 point more accurate.

Good to see the referees didn't let the international flights keep them from doing their usual shitty, shitty job. Nawlins should've been called at least three times on blatant pass interference - not the "oh, he brushed my arm" pussy kind either, one of which (maybe two) was a certain touchdown. They did at least get the call right on Weddle's pretend interception.

Fuck everyone who left when the Saints got that interception.

The fans, on the whole, were fantastic. I was surprised to see them act quite so much like a home crowd, but I take pride in the fact that our hollering forced two Charger false starts and a delay of game that frustrated Rivers into spiking the ball and dawing an unsportsmanlike conduct for a further 5 yards late in the game. Also hard to imagine an association football crowd keeping quite so calm as they were ushered out by police afterwards.

Loved Lance Moore's soccer kneeslide celebration, hated the penalty. Fucking let them have some fun, that was a horrific call.

Rookie kicker getting laughed at when he missed the PAT was classic. I wonder if the Americans actually understood the sarcasm of the massive roar he got when he nailed the following PAT.

I never realised quite how flurescent the field goal uprights are.

Oh, and English fans can NOT pull off the "Who dat say dey gon' beat dem Saints?" thing. Ugh.

Edited October 27, 2008 by Dragsy

[naiwf]

I just wanted to point out that I was correct when I said Dallas should start Old Man Johnson instead of Romo yesterday. Not only did you guys win, you managed to bring TB back towards the pack as Carolina now leads that division, and in the event of a tie you now have the H2H tiebreaker. Plus, Tony Womo got to west his widdle pinkie.

[JStarr]

-Brees is currently on pace for 5126 passing yards still slightly more than Dan Marino’s record of 5084. He is also on pace for 12 300-yard passing performances which would break Rich Gannon’s single season record (10 in 2002).

Rich Gannon? Huh. Never would have guessed that one, not even in his Raider years.

Rookie kicker getting laughed at when he missed the PAT was classic. I wonder if the Americans actually understood the sarcasm of the massive roar he got when he nailed the following PAT.

Not exactly subtle humor, that. I'm sure even a kicker would get the joke.

[alldaws1]

Awesome, just had another one of my e-mails read out on Sky Sports' live NFL coverage. Basically saying Goodell better not pawn the Lions or Bengals off on us Brits next year >_>

[Lowerdeck]

Awesome, just had another one of my e-mails read out on Sky Sports' live NFL coverage. Basically saying Goodell better not pawn the Lions or Bengals off on us Brits next year >_>

You know at least one of them is heading your way soon. Note the teams willing to give up home dates to play out of the country... Miami, Arizona, New Orleans, Buffalo

[alldaws1]

Awesome, just had another one of my e-mails read out on Sky Sports' live NFL coverage. Basically saying Goodell better not pawn the Lions or Bengals off on us Brits next year >_>

You know at least one of them is heading your way soon. Note the teams willing to give up home dates to play out of the country... Miami, Arizona, New Orleans, Buffalo

Well it won't be any of those four Dolphins & Saints have already been, Bills are playing games in Toronto and Arizona are an NFC team (home team will be AFC next year).

Match-ups next year:

AFC East v NFC South

AFC North v NFC North

AFC South v NFC West

AFC West v NFC East

So it could feasibly be Bengals v Lions