I know I can't complain too much since the team is 7-0 at the moment, but this is an incredibly pathetic display by the packers defense. They just give it up all day. Rodgers is having a practically perfect game, our team hangs 45 points on them and we're in danger of losing with 6 minutes to go. Chargers recover the onside kick and score in barely over a minute. Fucking pathetic.
<-- Madly hoping Trent Richardson falls to us in the draft. Next week may be a trip back to reality against the Steelers. The Bengals have feasted on some very bad teams this year (Indy, Jacksonville, Seattle, Cleveland). If anything, this season is showing how strong of a coach Marvin Lewis is.
I'm interested in seeing how this plays out for the rest of the year and the postseason. This Packers team reminds me of the Vikings teams from the late 90s - early 2000s; Puts up big passing yards and scores every week while giving up just as much. Those teams would usually play poorly in late November & December and maybe win a postseason game before being eliminated. It'll be interesting to see if the rules changes of the last decade have changed the game enough for it to make a difference for all-offense passing teams nowdays.
The thing is they were a top 3 defense last season. They held the eagles in check and pretty much won us the game by themselves against the bears. I just can't believe losing Jenkins and Barnett hurt the team this badly. Barnett was one of our weaker line backers, and Jenkins was good, but he wasn't really the star of our defense either. They're getting turnovers, but the coverage has been dismal. Those TD passes to Jackson today were just ugly. What's ironic is that if the defense doesn't start playing better home field advantage might actually hurt us. I'm not sure if I'm a believer in the bengals yet. I mean they do have a good record, but I just can't help but see them faltering in the second half of the season once the schedule gets tougher. It doesn't help that they're playing in such a hard division. If they draft smart they could be a real contender in a couple years. The raiders are fucked. They aren't a very good team right now and with hardly any picks the team has no where to go but down. I'll say it again, they made that Palmer trade as if they were a team that was a QB away from the super bowl, but they are not that team.
The ravens/steelers game lived up to the hype. I think this is the best rivalry in football right now. Two teams that are bitter division rivals, hit hard, and have been (mostly) consistently good over the last decade.
Speaking of shitty cornerback play, how bad is the Pats secondary? Cut a guy and put a guy on IR with no pass rush whatsoever. Not a smart move Bill. Those last 2 drives they looked like they were playing with blindfolds on. I hate nitpicky calls on the defense (see the Bills and Dolphins game), but when you just run over the WR without looking back, it makes it easy.
Well, they're young. Chung, Arrington, McCourty and Barrett (the four starters in the backfield) have only 12 years of experience between them. They're talented, but they're going to make bonehead mistakes. The question is whether that's just their inexperience or a more general trait.
You may have heard Terrell Suggs last night repping his alma mater, Ball So Hard University. In case you ain't heard, better-know-a-university, the BHSU edition.
That's because Bellichek cut all the experienced safeties and CB's they had. I agree with ESPN...the Pats run has about come to an end.
Well good news it that Tim Tebow threw one TD pass that looked like a professional QB pass. The world will continue for 1 more week. Half this country believes Tebow will fight off the Mayan predicted apocalypse.
It's been at an end, dude. At least when you consider the dynasty they had going. 2007 was the peak of the big remodel (from defense-led to offense-led), and the last couple of years have been good-but-not-good-enough. Unless you're saying they're going to be a .500 team for the next couple of years. In which case... I really don't know.
Yeah yeah, every time you don't win the super bowl it isn't good enough. I guess the pats will just have to suffer through some down years where they go 11-5. You remember they were 14-2 last year and considered the best team in the league at the end of the season, right? I don't think they're done yet. Brady still has some years left in him, and the defense can't really get worse. I guess they won't be THE dominant team over the next 3 seasons, but then again it's possible. I see them still being contenders each year. They lost close games to three pretty good teams thus far. It's not quite panic time yet. In other news I still find it hard to believe the broncos are only one game back in their division. At some point this team isn't going to be winning if Tebow can't cross that 50% completion rate barrier. I don't give a fuck how well he rushes.
What people fail to mention in the glorified talks of Tebow's majestic 2-1 record is the fact that he beat 2 terrible teams. The Miami Fighting Matt Moore's and the Oakland, without McFadden, lead by Carson Palmer and his 6 INTs through 2 games and a 54 passer rating. Its not like Tebow is dueling it out with quality QBs and opponents. When he did, a decent Lions team embarrassed them.
The Pats are running into the same problem the Colts were running into for the past two years (until Manning's injury made the world realize they were a shitty team with a mega-star QB). They're a finesse team that relies on an extremely precise passing game and a relatively strong running game. Their defense has become their Achilles heel. The same game plan that worked against Manning for years will work against Brady: Keep him on the sideline, and when he is in the game, beat the everloving fuck out of him and his receivers. That is what the Steelers did. That is what the Giants did (for the most part). Knock his receivers off their routes, and Brady will struggle to find them. The funny part is that Brady seems to refuse to admit that they're a "Finesse team." They are. They're a pass-first team that relies on average receivers to run precise routes and relies on having an outstanding hall-of-fame QB that can get them they ball. My thinking on it has always been this: When you're on the 2 yard line, would you rather try to smash-run the ball in, or are you going to try to pass it? The Patriots, 9 times out of 10, are going to pass the ball. That, to me, screams "finesse" team. Brady needs to accept it, and work within the limitations of the team he has around him. This isn't the Patriots that could survive a Tom Brady injury (see: 2008 Patriots). Brady goes down, and the Pats will be under .500, if not competing with Miami and Indy for the basement. Their window isn't closed, but it is definitely closing fast. As for Tebow, I can't imagine him lasting much longer. He has beaten two crappy teams, and he has been absolutely dominated by the one good team he has faced (as was said before). He may survive next week against KC, but once he has to go against the Jets, shit is going to get really, really ugly. This made me laugh (Thanks to the guys at KSK):
<a class="postlink" href="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/08/patriots-cut-albert-haynesworth/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... ynesworth/</a> This is interesting. I wonder if this might help or hinder their awful defense.
I think the colts are going 0-16. They're so bad. They play bend over defense and their offense has scored 3 points over the last two games. Worst scoring defense in the nfl. I don't think Manning could have even brought this team to an 8-8 record. If other teams with elite QBs are losing games he's not making the playoffs with this one. That being said, I don't think a player has ever done more for their legacy by being injured. Orlovsky is well on his way to his second season with an 0-16 team. That's funny.