NFL Beef Thread

[Insidious Rex]

Originally Posted by Insidious Rex

JOE GIBBS!! JOE GIBBS IS COMING BACK TO WASHINGTON!!! AAHH!! *frothing at the mouth ensues and much unintelligable stammering from disbelief*

...and thus ends an era. We salute you Joe. Enjoy your retirement. You deserve it.

[Snowdog]

Now Joe can concentrate more on NASCAR racing!

And again, the Seahawks show their post-season medocrity.

[Nurvingiel]

Yesterday the Dallas Cowboys were playing the New York Giants... in the snow. It was snowing the entire game. Why exactly are people playing football in January anyway?

[Insidious Rex]

Originally Posted by Nurvingiel

Yesterday the Dallas Cowboys were playing the New York Giants... in the snow. It was snowing the entire game. Why exactly are people playing football in January anyway?

Yer thinking of the Green Bay - Seattle game there. You dont get very much snow in Dallas believe me. And playing football in January is part of the fun! We look forward to those kinds of conditions here. Its a true test. Thats why next weekend is going to be interesting with both games being played in cold weather sites (Green Bay and New England).

[Valandil]

Brett Favre is going to the Jets!

Bummer... I heard he wanted to get traded within the division, to either the Bears or Vikings. But the Bears... in their great wisdom, ever happy with the mediocre quarterbacks they've routinely featured... were not interested.

So - he goes to the New York Jets. Too bad. That guy always SHOULD have been a Bear.

[Insidious Rex]

Green Bay would never have traded him directly to either team. Did you see the condition clause they put on the jets not trading him to the Vikings? If they do they have to give up THREE first round picks! No way theyll do that. Now hell have to try to fit his small town sensabilities into a city like New York. Should be interesting...

[Rían]

I think he should have retired gracefully after a great career, but it's obviously his call.

[Valandil]

Well - it's over a year since we've posted in this thread, and now we're two weeks into the 2009 NFL season.

Comments? Favorites? Hopes & Dreams for your Teams?

[Insidious Rex]

Well the Redskins look horrible this year. Ive never seen such an enormous reaction of disgust and animosity after a WIN before. But I guess they deserved it after that miserable 9-7 "triumph" over the Rams. It will be interesting to see what Dan Snyder does if they actually go to Detroit this weekend and lose. I have a feeling that will be Zorn's head... They just need to find a way to amp up that offense. Its been anemic for far too long...

As for the rest of the league, Brady will shake it off and get his timing back with his receivers and the Pats will start rolling after the first 5 or 6 games Im sure. Adrian Peterson is a monster and Peyton Manning needs to be in the hall of fame NOW. Ive never loved a quarterback so much... Baltimore looks good. Atlanta looks surprisingly very good. Look for them to make a run in the playoffs if they stay healthy and continue to stay off people's radars. And look for Drew Brees to rewrite the record books for single season quarterback stats. If only I had him on my fantasy team THIS year instead of last!

[Valandil]

Yay! My underachieving Bears upset the Vikings last night!!!

Did any of you see it? The announcers were SO pro-Viking! When the Vikings had the ball, it was all about what the Viking offense had to do. When the Bears had the ball, it was all about what the Viking defense had to do. When the Vikings made a big play, they raved about Favre and Adrian Peterson. When the Bears made a big play... silence. They didn't know what to say!

[Valandil]

Well - the Bears kept their head coach and fired the offensive coordinator and several other coaches who worked with players on offense.

Frankly, I think the head coach just has not been particularly sharp. I don't know if they'll make much more improvement under him. We'll see though. The problem with firing him, I'm sure, is that he has two more years on his contract with a guaranteed $11 million total. So if they fired him and paid another coach - they would also have to pay him. This would be particularly galling if the NFL players strike in 2011 and the Bears are stuck paying two coaches when they are not playing any games (and not bringing in any revenue).

[Insidious Rex]

And speaking of head coaches, Shanahan is in for Jim Zorn after Zorn was fired within minutes of the final gun after the last game of the season (which Im sure was no surprise to anyone). I cant say I disagree with the move but this organization has had issues recently that go way beyond the coach. Whole scale changes need to be made including to the entire organization philosophy. But this should happen with a new GM and a superbowl winning coach in place AND an owner that is willing to spend money.

That being said... I know you are supposed to curse a losing coach on the way out and call him a bum and all but I just have to say I think the world of Jim Zorn. He was thrown into a situation way over his head but he has ALWAYS been the nicest guy no matter what adversity he was faced with and has ALWAYS been nothing less than humble and classy in everything he does. I feel sorry for the man and wish him well in his future endeavors. Frankly, Ill miss that kind of person in a league that usually values flash and ego above all else.

[Valandil]

We're down to our last four teams now.

In the NFC, it's Vikings and Saints, like it was looking all year.

The AFC was a little topsy-turvey - with the early rush of the Broncos and Bengals, and now last week's exit of the Chargers (and the prior exit of the Patriots - and the missed playoffs by the ever-dangerous Steelers, and the crazy year of the Titans). So we're left with the Colts (who everyone expected) and the Jets (who very few did).

Hmmm... just remembered that the Jets only Superbowl appearance was against the Colts. But that was before conferences were all switched around, and when the Colts were in Baltimore.

Any predictions? Any favorites?

[Valandil]

So it'll be the Saints and Colts in the Superbowl!

I'd like to see the Saints take it - both because I usually pull for the NFC team, and because they've never even been there before. But I think the Colts will probably win.

Archie Manning... I suppose he'll probably cheer for his son, over his old team - don't you think so? But I wonder if this Superbowl will be more emotional for him than the ones previously won by the teams of his sons Peyton and Eli.

[Valandil]

We're now 5 games into another season. Anyone have anything to say about their most- or least-favorite team? Or other events in the league: games, plays, trades, signings, scandals?

The Bears are 4-1, which is quite a surprise. They've won some tight ones against some teams that are not that great. On the other hand, they seem like they're getting better as the season goes along. Uh... except for giving up an NFL record 9 sacks in the first half against the Giants last week (people - give some sympathy to Jay Cutler - the man could be at least consistently decent, and maybe great, if he played behind a solid offensive line). The first half of their schedule is really light though, and they hit tougher teams the second half - so they might skid. But the Vikings are on their schedule twice in the second half, and they're in a bad tailspin.

What about Detroit though? Did you guys see the Detroit catch that could have been a game-winner against the Bears, but was ruled incomplete? They went on to lose all their first four games by pretty close scores until winning this week (though only versus the Rams). I think they've got some more wins in them this season though. Unless they get too down about these early losses.

And for the Bears... Julius Peppers is just really amazing! I think I expected a ton of sacks now, which he hasn't delivered. But the overall play is even better than that. He has changed some games and changes lots of plays.

[Insidious Rex]

I think the bears are playing a bit above their ability quite frankly. Hang on for the second half of the year. One bad injury could make for a losing streak that could hurt them in the standings and you gotta figure its just a matter of time before the Vikings put it together with Moss there now and Peterson and injured recievers heal and Favre gets his timing down with folks.

Meanwhile the Redskins have tortured their fans by having TWO overtime games and one more game decided on the last play in their first five games. Most of those were great wins in the end but on the other hand they lost to the Rams... So clearly they arent out of the woods yet but big wins against conference opponents is always a good thing.

[Valandil]

Well - I really think the Bears have a good QB, running backs and tight ends - and great linebackers and a few good defensive linemen and one or two good db's. So - all they need is an O-line, legitimate NFL receivers (they have a couple speedsters who can't get open running routes) and a couple each of good linemen and backs on defense.

Actually - talking about Peppers, I should have also mentioned Briggs. He's been like Superman - the one play against Detroit where he slips up the middle on a blitz, sacks the QB and forces him to fumble, and grabs the ball on the 1 to recover the fumble! Then the offense can't punch it in and the coach decides to go for it on 4th (which still didn't go in) instead of kicking the sure FG when you're down by a point and neither team has scored in the last 1.5 quarters...

Oh yeah - we still think we could use another coach.

Urlacher is still very solid. One of the best at his position, even though I think he's lost a step. But really, I expected the Bears to improve this year. They had problems last year but still won 7 games - though Urlacher was out since a Week 1 injury. This year - we bring Urlacher back, add Peppers, bring in someone (Martz) who can probably make better use of Cutler's abilities... To me it figured we'd be improved. And I think all the teams in the league have their flaws - and so many games come down to a little thing or two. If you're at all in the mix, sometimes if things go your way, you can make a major turn-around.

I like McNabb - always have since I saw him play a game as a senior at Syracuse. Really wish the Bears could have gotten him sometime, but he went too early and we drafted another 'Mac' (McNown... *groan*) instead. I've generally liked and respected the Philadelphia Eagles, but I think they blew it with him. I wish him the best with the Redskins - esp against other NFC teams and most especially against NFC North teams - but not against the Bears. But the Redskins have gaps themselves.

Favre - I think he'll likely get suspended for at least part of the season after all this recent bru-ha-ha. After Big Ben was suspended for 4 games, it's hard to imagine less for Favre. That should keep the Vikes in a tailspin.

And - as loopy as all he did was - I find the timing strange. These things happened while he was with the Jets, and it all comes out in the week before he plays the Jets for the first time since leaving there? I figure the Jets knew about it all along, but covered it up while he was there. Then - when he leaves, and then signs with Minnesota, they just looked at their calendars and said, "Yeah... we play the NFC North in 2010... we'll just keep this in our pockets until the RIIIIGHT time!"

So - low class on both fronts, I think.

[Insidious Rex]

You make a good point about Favre. I didnt realize until last night that the victim (or "recipient" or whatever you want to call it...) was someone in the Jets business office and if thats the case than thats a clear case of sexual harassment on the job if its true and the NFL would be within its right to do whatever it wanted to Favre since he was and is an employee of the NFL. With Rothlesburger they just suspended him for "bad judgement" since it happened at a private club. So that could be huge trouble for Minnesota if the commish comes down hard on Farve. You could see the team implode after starting 1-3 and then losing Favre for who knows how long. Poor Tavaris Jackson...

Jay Cutler is a great raw talent but Im not a huge fan of relying on him to win games. He has a tendency to make mistakes at bad times and I still think theres some maturing he needs to do. When hes on hes great though but after an early season concussion hold your breath when he gets blitzed again.

I love McNabb too and its great to have an ACTUAL leader with personality on the Redskins which they really havent had since maybe Joe Thiesman. But... he has a tendency to get injured sooner or later and theres no way they survive long without him. And the way the line has been disintegrating lately you know hes going to get his share of hits. I figure if we can get 13 games out of him that might be enough. Anything less could be too much to counter.

[Valandil]

Future Epitaph...

Jay Cutler: Could have been one of the all-time great quarterbacks to play in the NFL, if he had played behind a solid offensive line and had not had his career shortened by injury.

[Insidious Rex]

Originally Posted by Insidious Rex

I think the bears are playing a bit above their ability quite frankly.

Believe me now? Not that the Redskins played much better. Ug what a badly played game. Both teams need to focus on HOLDING ONTO THE FLIPPIN BALL and NOT THROWING IT TO THE OTHER TEAM. And there was some poor play choices and play making on both sides. And Smith probably should have called for a review on that one play that turned into a fumble by Cutler. Looked like he may have nicked the goal line before he lost the ball.