Sports: NFL

[clancampbell]

I think as long as Brady remains healthy, the pats will be contenders.

Its going to be an interesting year.

Go Ravens!!

[Drumline3469]

Originally Posted by clancampbell

I think as long as Brady remains healthy, the pats will be contenders.

Its going to be an interesting year.

Go Ravens!!

Even WITH Brady, I think the 'Phins will be able to take them out. AFC East isn't looking too good this year. While our schedule is harder than heck, our league is easy. Jets and Bills will be pushovers, I think. Pats and 'Phins should be a good battle, though and I'm interested to see who comes out on top. I'm bettin' on Miami, though.

[killercactus]

Originally Posted by Drumline3469

Even WITH Brady, I think the 'Phins will be able to take them out. AFC East isn't looking too good this year. While our schedule is harder than heck, our league is easy. Jets and Bills will be pushovers, I think. Pats and 'Phins should be a good battle, though and I'm interested to see who comes out on top. I'm bettin' on Miami, though.

I don't know... the Patriots haven't lost a whole heck of a lot since their 16-0 season, assuming Brady stays healthy. They have enough running backs to put together a decent running attack, and their defense is still strong, even without Bruschi. I wouldn't want to play them twice.

Of course, being a Browns fan, I wouldn't want to play anyone twice - especially the Steelers or Ravens.

[nyys]

Well, I'm not saying anything is a cinch, and health is certainly a huge factor, but look for the Pats to have one of the most prolific offenses in the league again.

[Drumline3469]

Originally Posted by killercactus

I don't know... the Patriots haven't lost a whole heck of a lot since their 16-0 season, assuming Brady stays healthy. They have enough running backs to put together a decent running attack, and their defense is still strong, even without Bruschi. I wouldn't want to play them twice.

Of course, being a Browns fan, I wouldn't want to play anyone twice - especially the Steelers or Ravens.

Usually Miami can stick the Patriots one of those games. Miami is an interesting team. I have a lot of faith in them this year. If they're gonna be good, they're gonna be REAL good. If they're not gonna be good, they're gonna suck severely. Unfortunately we've got the Colts, Chargers, Steelers, Titans, Falcons, and Saints to worry about this year. We're still a young team though. I'm just praying our schedule doesn't screw us out of a promising year. I think Brady will be the key to the Pats. If he goes down again this year, I think it's over for them. I personally hate them, so I'm hoping Brady stays in it and Miami still stomps them. Realistically it will probably be 1-1 and Patriots will make it to the Playoffs due to their schedule.

EDIT - Although we DID go undefeated in the preseason. The only REALLY strong team we played though, was the Saints and we still held their offense to 7 points. It'll be interesting to see that rematch once NO's offense gets their synergy down. It looks like a lot of their key players are still having a slight problem clicking perfectly. I doubt that will be the case the next time we see them.

I'm picking Titans vs Saints for the Superbowl this year.

[MI_Tiger]

Originally Posted by clancampbell

I think as long as Brady remains healthy, the pats will be contenders.

Its going to be an interesting year.

Go Ravens!!

And as long as every starter in the NFL does NOT remain healthy, the Lions will be contenders.

[Wytefang]

Well at the Half, my Vikings look like the same ol' team that drove all us Minnesotan's nuts last year. Sloppy special teams, a defense that mostly gets the job done but which can occasionally allow surprisingly easy big-yardage plays to happen, and no passing game (I think they have the reins on Favre just to play it safe - hopefully that changes in the 2nd half).

Sigh. LOL

However, most die-hard Vikings fans are smart enough to know that the one constant about our team is that they're horribly inconsistent AND that whenever they have big expectations on their shoulders, they flop. Grrrr....

EDIT/UPDATE - Well, they turned things up a notch and finished off the Browns. Good to see but I'm still concerned, overall, at the TD they gave away on Special Teams (horrible flashbacks of last year, ugh!) and that they really didn't get to Quinn anywhere near as much as they'll need to for their games against the Packers and Bears. Still, a win is a win.

[Aldin]

Originally Posted by Aldin

Sunday will feature a very surprised Kurt Warner discovering that Mike Singletary knows how to coach up a defense

26/44 288 yards 1TD 2Int 67.2 passer rating.

Heh.

~Aldin, happy for his Niners

[Sir Cumference]

~Sir C, happy that the Vikings have Adrian Peterson

[ABOMINATION]

Originally Posted by ABOMINATION

Go Pack! They had a great pre-season, and I'm looking forward to a good game. The end result will probably be a close game, but the Pack pulling through in the 3rd or 4th quarter. *sigh* I love football.

I was right!
Well, at least the day ended pretty nicely. Great game by the defense, and nice last drive! GO PACK GO!!!

[Wytefang]

Ugh, Packers won on a last-minute lucky pass play. (Granted, not as lucky as the Broncos but it sure seemed fortuitous to me - the CB covering the play slips, the guys rushing in were half a foot from sacking Rodgers)

Of course I should be happy that at least one of the team's lost but I can't stand the Packers even more than I dislike the Bears.

What did we learn from this game? That the Packers' offense has been a bit over-rated from their meaningless pre-season victories (against a stout defense it mostly shriveled up). That the Bears defense is back to form - assuming that Urlacher isn't seriously hurt. That Cutler has some issues BUT I'd place a TON of that on their O-line, which looked porous and sloppy (and give a small amount of credit to the Packers rush, which will get hyped much more than it should be for this game but which still, clearly, was effective). That the Packers running game starts and ends with Grant and wasn't that great tonight (as most of us already knew). BUT that the Packers were able to squeak by even without a strong running game. Finally, I still think that the Packers secondary is somewhat suspect - nearly EVERY interception by Cutler was not something created by the secondary but as a pure mistake by Cutler thrown right to a Packer defender. The media will hype up those interceptions but keen-eyed observers will note not just that they happened but HOW they happened and in doing so, will avoid drinking the kool-aid as much as other Packer supporters might.

Exciting game but if Cutler avoids the interceptions, the Bears win this one, easily. They probably left something like 2-3 Touchdowns on the field and you can't really say that about the Packers.

This coming from an outside observer who dislikes both teams so I think it's mostly a fair assessment.

My team (Vikes) didn't impress me all that much today, either, other than Peterson and to some extent our defense. We still sucked on Special Teams (big trouble, imho) and I still think our Secondary could improve a bunch, and I'd also really like to see the passing game get more attention and playing time. I'm not convinced that even with Favre tossing the pigskin, that we've suddenly got some magical passing game.

I'm nervous about the San Francisco game (I think they'll be decent this year) but I do think we'll thump the Packers at the Dome.

[ABOMINATION]

I'd say that is a pretty good look into the game, but you've got to admit that our defense is much more aggressive than it was last year. Plenty of picks, nice sacks, and just a good defense all in all. The offense needs some work, but I think that they'll really shine later on. As for the running game, that's our worst point, but Grant is a solid runner and won't be as effective as Green was, but will get the big one now or then. I didn't watch the Viking game, maybe I'll zip over to Nfl.com and watch the highlights.