NFL Thread

[Del Murder]

Let's talk about this season of the NFL. There's two great stories out there in the Lions and Bills, both of whom are 3-0. The Lions are 3-0 for the first time in like 30 years and just beat Minnesota on the road for the first time in about 8 years. The Bills have also had some heroic comebacks, not the least of which was coming back from 21 down to beat the Patriots yesterday. Do you think either of these teams will be playoff bound?

I think the Lions will make it as a wild card team but the division belongs to Green Bay. It will be fun to see how that series plays out. The Bills have a harder shot at it since the AFC East is a tough division and I think there are more good teams in the AFC.

And let's not forget my Raiders. They're 2-1 but could have easily been 3-0 if not for last minute heroics in Buffalo last week. Since the Bills just did the same thing to the Patriots I think that's ok. I think Oakland has a very good shot at winning their division if they can beat San Diego at least 1 out of 2 times. I don't see them losing to any other team in the division since Denver and KC suck.

My Super Bowl pick at the start of the season was Eagles and Patriots. I still think NE will make it but Philly's group of mercenaries is struggling and Mike Vick will not play 16 games. It would be cool if Detroit and Buffalo made it, or even better, Detroit and Oakland!

[charliepanayi]

I can't get my head round Detroit being good, it's too strange. Could be an interesting season, though I'm going to be boring and tip Green Bay and New England for the Superbowl.

[Pheesh]

Rams :(

[Raistlin]

All the fanfare Philly received before the season started was ridiculous. At least now people are remembering again that the Eagles are still human and that the team still has problems.

The Bills have somehow spontaneously generated a pretty good offense, and I now love them forever for beating the Patriots, but I don't see them as major playoff contenders. It's possible they could sneak in as a Wild Card, but the AFC is so competitive for those spots.

I don't even know who to pick for the Super Bowl from the AFC. The Patriots's offense looks good, but they are all terrible human beings -- and they were just slapped by Buffalo. Pittsburgh can barely beat the Maningless Colts (though I think they will recover; they have too much talent not to). The Colts are already looking to 2012. Baltimore still doesn't have a quarterback, and neither do the Jets. The AFC champ will probably just be NE or Pittsburgh (again), but I'd love to see Oakland have a go. Or really anyone else.

[charliepanayi]

Detroit go 4-0? OK this is getting too weird now! Hilarious seeing them turn over that deficit against Dallas :)

[Raistlin]

Yeah, Detroit's come back (and Dallas's meltdown) was highly enjoyable.

[The Captain]

I am a big believer in the Lions this year. Calvin Johnson is just an insanely good player. 8 TD's in the first four games.... and somehow, the Cowboys thought they had better receivers then him, eh?

Still, the best team this year still looks like the Pack. They're playing on another level which is hard to believe considering they just WON the Super Bowl last year. I've also been impressed with Buffalo, but the AFC East is tough and I'm not sure if they can handle the full season. I'd love it if they did.

After we've hit the quarter mark on the year essentially, here are my revised picks:

New England (1st Seed)
Baltimore (2nd Seed)
Houston
San Diego (They have the best QB in the division and that's what will matter)
Pittsburgh (Wild Card)
Tennessee (Wild Card)

NY Giants
Packers (1st Seed)
Saints (2nd Seed)
San Francisco (Unbelievable)
Lions (Wild Card)
Philly (Wild Card) (Too much talent to not put it together)

Playoffs:

San Diego over Tennessee
Pittsburgh over Houston
Giants over Philly
Lions over San Francisco

NE over Pittsburgh
Baltimore over San Diego
Giants over Saints
Packers over Lions

Baltimore over NE
Packers over Giants

Packers versus Baltimore Super Bowl

Can the Pack repeat? I could see that happening.

Take care all.

[Raistlin]

Baltimore has great talent everywhere except quarterback. I have serious doubts about them being able to go anywhere with Flacco at the helm. They may beat San Diego, but New England? Didn't he have something like a 9 passer rating the last time they played each other? New England's passing defense is pretty abysmal at the moment, but Flacco also sucks. The Ravens just do not have the 2000 Super Bowl defense to get through the playoffs without an arm. They're basically a better version of the Jets: they should be really good, but the quarterback is prone to major failings.

I do agree that Green Bay has shown itself to be far and away the best team in the league now. Aaron Rodgers just goes nuts every week.

Also, you made me realize that someone else from the AFC South needs to make the playoffs with Indy sucking. GO HOUSTON!

[The Captain]

Flacco's biggest strength is his arm and the Ravens for the last few years had a lot of savvy possession WR's with no speed which negated his arm. They've since cut a bunch of vets loose and have a lot of young burners. I could see that making a difference.

Plus, I REALLY don't want NE to go to the Super Bowl.

Also, can anyone explain how Tennessee is 3-1? I have NEVER seen them play this year.

Take care all.

[charliepanayi]

Well Tennessee have played Cleveland and Denver so far, so I guess it's been a fairly soft start. I think they could make the playoffs though.

[Del Murder]

I still have hope for the Raiders. They are only 2-2, which is not bad considering the losses were against contenders like NE and the surprising Buffalo (who they should have beaten). They also beat SD twice last year so could do it, especially if Gates is out. So until they actually lose to SD I will keep picking Raiders!

AFC Division Champs
New England
Houston
Baltimore
Oakland

AFC Wild Card
Buffalo
ehhhh don't want to say Pittsburgh or Tennessee or Chargers so I will randomly pick....Cleveland :p

NFC Division Champs
Green Bay
NY Giants
New Orleans
San Francisco

NFC Wild Card
Detroit
Tampa Bay

The Eagles are done. Which is good, because that dog killer Vick doesn't deserve it.

[charliepanayi]

Vick's served his time, I hope he does well this year.

[Del Murder]

He served his time which means he deserves to not be in jail. What he doesn't deserve is another opportunity to make millions of dollars and win a prize most people only dream of. You get one chance at something like that. The NFL should have banned him from the league for what he did and he should be selling used cars right now. Or they should force every cent he makes over the league minimum to go to foundations that help rehabilitate dogs like the ones he used to make slaughter each other. But no, he can run around and throw a football sometimes, which makes everything ok. Here's some more money, Mike Vick, go win us a Super Bowl.

If any of us did what he did we would serve our time too. Would we be able to go back to our jobs after? Hell no. And we just have regular jobs. What if we were the CEO of a company? Think we'd be able to go back to that? We'd be lucky if we could get a job cleaning toilets.

[charliepanayi]

*shrugs* I just think he deserves a second chance.

[Raistlin]

He deserves a second chance at living outside of jail, because life in prison would be too harsh of a criminal punishment. That does not necessarily equate to him deserving a second chance at being people's "hero."

I really couldn't care less about the NFL letting him back in; I was never under any illusion that they wouldn't. Pretending that the NFL is anything but a business is a practice in delusion, and businesses don't care about morality when money is involved. But that does not mean I respect Vick any more, because he deserves none. I do think it is very unfortunate that the public has so readily forgiven him (or just forgotten about the issue) now that he's playing football again. He deserves much more public scorn.

[charliepanayi]

I was under the impression that he wasn't too popular outside of Philadelphia anyway. And though it's not right, we are all willing to some extent to let unsavoury aspects of people slide when it comes to sports (certainly if it involves a team we support) or even films and music.

[The Captain]

Here's a question:

If Vick gets caught dog-fighting again, what say you?


Also, I remain very impressed with Josh Freeman.

Take care all.

[charliepanayi]

If he got caught dog-fighting again, never mind how repellent an activity that is, he'd be a surefire contender for dumbest person ever (even by sports standards).

[Bolivar]

Well maybe it's poetic justice that he's paying for it another way - he's still playing great but he's on a team that just can't deliver, and now they're 1-3. Watching his reaction at the postgame was hilarious.

Anyway, been watching a lot more this season, it's been pretty crazy. Tons of insane comebacks already, especially w/ my Giants :) I really want to catch a full Detroit game instead of just watching their logic-defying highlights. There's been a lot of edge-of-your-seat football so far.

[Del Murder]

He's still making upwards of $14 million this year regardless of how his team does. That's the part that bugs me. I don't care if he continues to play football. But to do what he did and then get another opportunity to be a millionare and revered by fans is just unfair to people who work hard and obey the law. Yes, outside of Philly people hate him, but if he got traded to Cleveland do you think those fans would hate him then? Nope, they'd cheer him all the same as he runs around pump faking.

If he got caught dog fighting again I would not even be a little surprised. And I would hope he gets sent up for 10 years this time.

[charliepanayi]

Well clearly the gods of American football don't think much of Michael Vick either at the moment, the Eagles losing again. As for Indianapolis without Manning, this is just getting painful now.

Good to see Minnesota holding on to a lead this time!