2008 NFL Regular Season Thread.

[transplant99]

Anyway, here are each teams opponents for next season. Of course, a lot can change during the offseason, but Denver's schedule looks brutal to me.

Yup... such is the cycle in the NFL.

I have to like what I see for the Pack next year though...really soft schedule as it stands.


Home: Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas, Baltimore, Cincinnati
Away: Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, Arizona, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Pittsburgh

Bolded teams are playoff squads from this year...take away the Vikes who they have to play twice a year regardless, and that is a weak schedule.

I like it.

And the Pro-bowl thing is ludicrous. I mean its pretty likely that any two SB teams will have decent amunt of Pro-bowlers on them, and who is going to risk playing the PB a week before the SB?

Strange decision.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Well as bad as the Lions have been in the past 24 games....they're even with my Chiefs over the past 25 games! If not for a fluke set of results the Chiefs would only have one more playoff appearance in the past 11 seasons than the Lions as opposed to their current awesome number of 2. So although the Lions and Bengals are bad...the Chiefs I think have joined them in terms of the NFL's most inept teams, they've just had the fortune of a bit more mediocrity mixed in.

No doubt about it. Clark Hunt has his work cut out for him. His father wasn't one to meddle, which worked in some situations and totally backfired in others. I think if Chiefs fans would have shown up for the last few home games Carl would have had one more season as King. Since the last game had oh, 10,000 fans (give or take a few hundred) the writing was on the wall.

As a Chiefs fan I feel that there is a lot of uncertainty with this team. Who will take the GM job if they have to retain Herm? If they do replace Herm, will the team improve or take a step backward? Is this young team on the brink of being a competitor if they can improve the front 7? I don't know what to think.

[Bobblehead]

49ers opponents (playoff teams bolded):

Home: Arizona, St. Louis, Seattle, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Tennessee

Away: Arizona, St. Louis, Seattle, Green Bay, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Houston, Indianapolis

[Montana Moe]

New Orleans
Home: Atlanta, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Dallas, N.Y. Giants, Detroit, New England, N.Y. Jets
Away: Atlanta, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, Washington, St. Louis, Buffalo, Miami

I think the Saints are in for another tough season next year. Not sure if Payton can survive another 8-8 type season. They are going to have to go after some big time defensive players (and hopefully get a new DC) to be a playoff team again.

[transplant99]

Associated Press has named Matt Ryan as offensive rookie of the year.

No brainer.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Associated Press has named Matt Ryan as offensive rookie of the year.

No brainer.

At least it was a good class. There were a few impact rookies this year.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

At least it was a good class. There were a few impact rookies this year.

Oh no question there were a bunch of young impact guys...but what Ryan did this season was simply head and shoulders above everyone else....hell he should be getting votes as MVP when all is said and done.

not sure many understand the racial divide that existed after the Vick debacle (within the city of ATL I mean) and he has singlehandedly diffused that on top of heading a most remarkable turnaround of his team.

Amazing stuff.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Oh no question there were a bunch of young impact guys...but what Ryan did this season was simply head and shoulders above everyone else....hell he should be getting votes as MVP when all is said and done.

not sure many understand the racial divide that existed after the Vick debacle (within the city of ATL I mean) and he has singlehandedly diffused that on top of heading a most remarkable turnaround of his team.

Amazing stuff.

For sure.

From Peter King's MMQB (when he was mentioning Matt Ryan in an MVP discussion)

I'll never forget being in Atlanta on draft weekend and listening to veteran sports anchor Gil Tyree, who is an African-American, tell me about the Vick shadow that would be so hard for Ryan to escape. "Michael's a messiah here. No matter what Matt Ryan will do, he'll never be accepted,'' Tyree said. Talk about a tough road for a young kid.

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Oh no question there were a bunch of young impact guys...but what Ryan did this season was simply head and shoulders above everyone else....hell he should be getting votes as MVP when all is said and done.

not sure many understand the racial divide that existed after the Vick debacle (within the city of ATL I mean) and he has singlehandedly diffused that on top of heading a most remarkable turnaround of his team.

Amazing stuff.

Joe Flacco did a great job in Baltimore as well. Not to the level of what Ryan faced seeing as Baltimore had an established run game and a lights-out defense, but still amazing.

Two rookie QBs taking teams to the playoffs. Awesome.

As for Ryan MVP consideration. I think he'll finish second behind Manning. When there's 2 minutes left in a game and the Colts are down, he's money in the bank to get the ball down the field and win the game. Manning's timing was off because of the preseason surgery, but over the past 10 weeks he's regained the throne as the better Manning.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Clever_Iggy

Joe Flacco did a great job in Baltimore as well. Not to the level of what Ryan faced seeing as Baltimore had an established run game and a lights-out defense, but still amazing.

Two rookie QBs taking teams to the playoffs. Awesome.

As for Ryan MVP consideration. I think he'll finish second behind Manning. When there's 2 minutes left in a game and the Colts are down, he's money in the bank to get the ball down the field and win the game. Manning's timing was off because of the preseason surgery, but over the past 10 weeks he's regained the throne as the better Manning.

Did you read that MMQB article I liked a bit earlier? It has a lot of detail on Manning's injury. It sounds way worse than the Colts let on.

So the second surgery was set for July 31 at 6 a.m. Manning was told it'd take about 30 minutes to sew about 20 sutures in the knee. The Colts had a car set to pick Manning up to take him home at 9 a.m.

He woke up at 5 p.m. There weren't 20 sutures implanted. Doctors had to use 80. Surgery didn't take 30 minutes. It took three hours.

"They didn't have a choice,'' Manning said. "There was so much fluid, the pockets were so big, that they had to use 80.''

[Pagal4321]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Did you read that MMQB article I liked a bit earlier? It has a lot of detail on Manning's injury. It sounds way worse than the Colts let on.

Was going to post that article yesterday. A good read on just how Manning's injury affected him. Now I'm no fan of Manning, not by a long shot, but that was a good read.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Associated Press has named Matt Ryan as offensive rookie of the year.

No brainer.

Agreed, but what a class.

Flacco turned out to be pretty darn good, not as dynamic as Ryan though. Eddie Royal had 91 catches and almost 1000 yards a 10 yard punt return average. Ryan Clady allowed half a sack and played every down for Denver. Desean Jackson led the Eagles in receiving and has a nice 8.8 yard PR average of his own. Matt Forte, Chris Johnson and Steve Slaton all were leading rushers with over 1000 yards for their teams.

I don't remember a year of offensive rookies quite like this one.

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Did you read that MMQB article I liked a bit earlier? It has a lot of detail on Manning's injury. It sounds way worse than the Colts let on.

Amazing. Thanks for that.

I think the improvement of Manning over the course of the season shows how important preseason/training camp is in general, but especially for guys like Manning whose success is based largely on timing and preparation rather than just pure athleticism.

Agreed with Displaced. Quite the draft class. Eddie Royal was awesome from game one (picking on Hall of the Raiders) and Clady, Forte, et al were great additions. Jake Long had a pretty good year with the Fins. Here's hoping the Raiders can find someone like him in the '09 draft (rather than someone like Gallery).

[Pagal4321]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Agreed, but what a class.

Flacco turned out to be pretty darn good, not as dynamic as Ryan though. Eddie Royal had 91 catches and almost 1000 yards a 10 yard punt return average. Ryan Clady allowed half a sack and played every down for Denver. Desean Jackson led the Eagles in receiving and has a nice 8.8 yard PR average of his own. Matt Forte, Chris Johnson and Steve Slaton all were leading rushers with over 1000 yards for their teams.

I don't remember a year of offensive rookies quite like this one.

The same can be said for the defensive side of the draft, while this group is less impressive than the offensive group, it's not a bad class.
It's tough with defensive players because defense isn't based on stats nearly as much as offense is.

Jared Mayo, Dominique Rodgers-Cormartie, Keith Rivers (before getting his jaw busted), Chris Horton. Even Sedrick Ellis has a decent season, Jason Jones filled in nicely for Albert Haynesworth against the Steelers.

Lots of late round picks making an impact.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Pagal4321

Lots of late round picks making an impact.

This is what kills me.

The Broncos picked Peyton Hillis in the 7th round and I believe they had no clue what they were getting. Pure awesomeness. He's like a much more athletic Mike Alstott. Now, I have no illusions that he will be playing tailback. He won't. He can, but he won't. But to have that kind of a weapon in a full back is going to be something new and sweet for the Broncos.

It's amazing with all the energy put into scouting in the NFL that you can still find great football players on day 2 of the draft...and even the day after the draft.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

They should probably take a strong run at Matt Cassels and try to build around him. However with that offensive line in place, they'd be burying him by the 8 game mark of next year.

I doubt that there will be much patience for next year.

I don't think Cassels will be the answer in Detroit. Sure he did a good job in New England. But he was handed the reins of a 16-0, championship caliber team. Taking the reins of a 0-16 team is quite different. Not even a future Hall of Fame candidate could be successful on a team like that. Hard to make any plays when your laying on your back or running for your life.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

I don't think Cassels will be the answer in Detroit. Sure he did a good job in New England. But he was handed the reins of a 16-0, championship caliber team. Taking the reins of a 0-16 team is quite different. Not even a future Hall of Fame candidate could be successful on a team like that. Hard to make any plays when your laying on your back or running for your life.

He will get offers from better teams (probably New England). I think he has every reason to expect to be a starter next year, but his agent would do well to keep him out of that situation.

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by Pagal4321

The same can be said for the defensive side of the draft, while this group is less impressive than the offensive group, it's not a bad class.

I thought the first few defensive picks were wholly disappointing: Chris Long might have been hurt by a terrible St. Louis team in total; Glen Dorsey was a huge disappointment after being thought of as the best defensive prospect; I haven't heard anything about Vernon Gholston.

After that, the crop looks better (Ellis, Rivers, Mayo, etc...), but those first few defensive picks - ouch.

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

He will get offers from better teams (probably New England). I think he has every reason to expect to be a starter next year, but his agent would do well to keep him out of that situation.

There are some reports that Brady might miss '09 or at least a large portion of. I think both the Patriots and Cassel would be wise to reach a deal. When Brady does return, the Patriots will be in a similar situation to the Chargers when they had Brees and Rivers... although I doubt Belichick will handle it as poorly as the Chargers did.

[Pagal4321]

The largerly "hyped" picks early in the draft, failed to deliver in their rookie years.

Long, McFadden, Gholston (hahaha) and Dorsey.

The tackles taken this year were all money, minus Cherelius who of course was a Lions pick. But Otah, Clady, Long, Williams and Barker all had great seasons!

The RB's....unreal. Stewart, Jones, Hillis, Johnson, Forte and Slaton. Just leaves you speechless.

But back to my orginal point, the late round gems in this year's draft.

Donnie Avery, John Carlson, Eddie Royal, Matt Forte and DeShaun Jackson were 2nd round picks who made a big impact.

Steve Slaton in the 3rd round, Tashard Choice in the 4th round, Tim Hightower in the 5th round, Peyton Hillis and Chris Houston in the 7th round. Devon Bess and Dan Carpenter were undrafted free agents for Miami.