2012 NFL Season Thread

[TitovFTW]

Originally Posted by FlamingLonghorn

Well I think New England, Atlanta, San Fran, Baltimore definitely have a better shot of winning it all. They will have to beat Baltimore to make a believer out of me and think that they are for sure better than Pittsburgh, the Giants and Chicago.

I've never been a fan of Power Rankings, as they hold such little value, yet lead to such intense arguments it seems but have to disagree with your assessment here. Baltimore has looked like the much more flawed team, a defense that outside of KC this weekend, has been giving up a lot of yards, to a lot of teams. The Texans play in arguably the worst division in football, they've already won their division and still get to play 4 more division games. I don't think any team has the type of balance they do on both offense and defense and also find it hilarious you say they're nowhere near the best team in the league, but rank them 4th in the NFL.

Texans have yet to beat any team of real merit, but they've destroyed every team they've played. On the road in primetime against a team with so much to play for is always tough, Texans won and averaged 7 yards per rush.

[The Big Chill]

Losing Cushing will be massive blow to this D. He is such a huge part of this team being that he is the play caller, and is equally effective at rushing the QB, reading the run, and dropping back in coverage. We don't have anyone else on the team near his ability in all of those areas. It will take a team effort to replace what he does.

[dirk diggler]

Originally Posted by transplant99

I just dont see it, at all.

He surprised a lot of teams last year, but now that teams have a bunch of video on him, he is becoming much easier to defend. His decision making is certainly questionable as well.

As for Manning, again i understand he is still the smartest QB in the game, but physically his throws are not anywhere near where he once was. Clearly his neck issues are affecting his throwing ability, as those deep balls literally wobble. I will agree though that even with that issue, he is still among the best in the business.

Newton could be going down the Vince Young route but by next year i think he could be more accuratly rated, wont call him Vince quite yet... there is still hope but he clearly needs to step up.. While Mannings numbers were great yesterday, a lot of those numbers came after they were down by 21 points... his deep ball does look a little weak....

[valo403]

Originally Posted by FlamingLonghorn

Well I think New England, Atlanta, San Fran, Baltimore definitely have a better shot of winning it all. They will have to beat Baltimore to make a believer out of me and think that they are for sure better than Pittsburgh, the Giants and Chicago.

Which makes them a top 5 team by your own admission (I don't think any of those teams have proven themselves to be significantly better than Houston), so actually they are pretty damn close to the best team in the league.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

As for the Patriots, I can't fathom how they lost the 2 games they did.

Really should have beat AZ - they out-gained the Cardinals, but the difference was a blocked-punt, a missed two-point conversion and a missed field goal.

They came close to beating the Ravens on the road.

[FlamingLonghorn]

Originally Posted by TitovFTW

I've never been a fan of Power Rankings, as they hold such little value, yet lead to such intense arguments it seems but have to disagree with your assessment here. Baltimore has looked like the much more flawed team, a defense that outside of KC this weekend, has been giving up a lot of yards, to a lot of teams. The Texans play in arguably the worst division in football, they've already won their division and still get to play 4 more division games. I don't think any team has the type of balance they do on both offense and defense and also find it hilarious you say they're nowhere near the best team in the league, but rank them 4th in the NFL.

Texans have yet to beat any team of real merit, but they've destroyed every team they've played. On the road in primetime against a team with so much to play for is always tough, Texans won and averaged 7 yards per rush.

I didn't rank them 4th. I ranked them somewhere between 5 and 8. They don't have the pedigree of the other teams I listed, but have a better record.

Also, what is your definition of destroyed? You throw that term around quite loosely. They barely beat the only two teams that they've played that might not be horrible in the Jets (probably are horrible and certainly are when Clyde Gates and Jason Hill are playing WR) and the Broncos. Luckily for them they have the easiest schedule in football so they will get a high seed even if they lose to Chicago, NE, Baltimore and Minny. The only tough games on their schedule depending on how GB shapes up.

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by FlamingLonghorn

I didn't rank them 4th. I ranked them somewhere between 5 and 8. They don't have the pedigree of the other teams I listed, but have a better record.

Also, what is your definition of destroyed? You throw that term around quite loosely. They barely beat the only two teams that they've played that might not be horrible in the Jets (probably are horrible and certainly are when Clyde Gates and Jason Hill are playing WR) and the Broncos. Luckily for them they have the easiest schedule in football so they will get a high seed even if they lose to Chicago, NE, Baltimore and Minny. The only tough games on their schedule depending on how GB shapes up.

Well they've won 3 games by 20+ points and were up by a lot on Denver too until Denver put up some late points. Houston has plenty to prove, but they are definitely near the top teams in the league.

Put it this way, would you be surprised if any team went into Reliant and left with a loss? They may not be Super Bowl favorites yet, but hardly anybody would be surprised if they made it to the AFC Championship game.

[TitovFTW]

The key to beating the Patriots is being able to pressure the Quarterback while only rushing 4. Denver did an awful job of getting any pass rush going Sunday.

Manning moved the ball pretty well actually, even before the late surge. They had an easy 7 on a deep pass to Thomas when he fumbled at the Patriots 10. They had quite a few drops and the costly fumble. They also barely touched the ball. I think the Broncos offense will be one of the best in the league by the end of the season, the key is going to be if that defense can improve at all. I still rank the Broncos ahead of the Chargers because I believe the Chargers have a very clear ceiling as a team as does Phillip Rivers.

[dirk diggler]

Originally Posted by TitovFTW

The key to beating the Patriots is being able to pressure the Quarterback while only rushing 4. Denver did an awful job of getting any pass rush going Sunday.

Manning moved the ball pretty well actually, even before the late surge. They had an easy 7 on a deep pass to Thomas when he fumbled at the Patriots 10. They had quite a few drops and the costly fumble. They also barely touched the ball. I think the Broncos offense will be one of the best in the league by the end of the season, the key is going to be if that defense can improve at all. I still rank the Broncos ahead of the Chargers because I believe the Chargers have a very clear ceiling as a team as does Phillip Rivers.

I think Rivers being a pocket passer is only as good as his o line and i dont think they are that good.... the Chargers arent elite by any means but i dont believe any team in the AFC west is anything special....

[Otsy]

Originally Posted by Pagal4321

Language NSFW.

http://profootballmock.com/?p=4810

Part II

http://profootballmock.com/?p=5020

[Drake]

LOL. That only lasted 5 games as Billy Cundiff was cut by Washington these afternoon in favor of Kai Forbath after he missed another field goal on Sunday. His touchback % was higher than his field goal % this season.

[Spuds_Buckley]

Originally Posted by Drake

LOL. That only lasted 5 games as Billy Cundiff was cut by Washington these afternoon in favor of Kai Forbath after he missed another field goal on Sunday. His touchback % was higher than his field goal % this season.

That missed field goal in the AFC Championship must have really messed up his head. Went from a Pro-Bowler to cut by two teams... yikes.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

The last fan base I remember cheering an injured QB was the Browns when Tim Crouch went down...how has that worked out for them?

Cassel has been awful this year, his play on the field...that was worth jeering. But it's pretty classless to cheer when a player gets injured. I think a lot of fan frustration has to do with Pioli though...he's the guy who traded for Cassel and has ignored the QB position in the draft for the most part. They likely feel this is the only way the Chiefs will make a change at the position. Problem is Brady Quinn comes in now, and I think there are better players on the street to play the position than him myself.

Chiefs fans are mad the team has been bad at home for two years...still poor taste to do what they did, even though I think it has as much to do with their disdain for management as it did with wanting to see their QB injured.

Big controversy in KC. Did some fans cheer Cassel getting injured? You bet. Was it 70,000 fans? Far from it. Also, were the fans cheering Matt Cassel laying on the turf? Or Brady Quinn galloping onto the field (I don't think Cassel had been on his back for more than 2 seconds before Quinn had his helmet on)?

I really feel for Matt Cassel. It's no secret that I never wanted him to be the QB of the Kansas City Chiefs. He simply isn't good enough. However, he comes across to me as a guy who is a model employee and a great team mate. It's not his fault Pioli gave him a truck load of money and because of his own insecurities insists that Cassel remains the starter. Its very unfortunate that a nice guy like Matt Cassel has become the hated and loathed person in Kansas City. It really isn't fair.

A lot of talk in the KC media lately about the disconnect between the Chiefs and its fans recently. How Kansas City has even grown to hate the current Chiefs. Bad times in KC.

[DropIt]

Cushing oficially out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Hate to see that happen especially during a cut block incident

Big loss for the Texans, losing their leading tackler. Tim Dobbins has some giant shoes to fill. You hate to see that happen to any player, especially the week before their first big test against the Packers

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by DropIt

Cushing oficially out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Hate to see that happen especially during a cut block incident

Big loss for the Texans, losing their leading tackler. Tim Dobbins has some giant shoes to fill. You hate to see that happen to any player, especially the week before their first big test against the Packers

There is never a good time to lose a pro bowler for the season, but this really sucks. Now they have to make massive changes to the D on a short week against a potent offense. The offense is going to have to step it up this Sunday.

[Drake]

Creepy. Monday nights game was #666 as Tim Tebow tweeted about it. Mark Sanchez's QBR rating on the year is 66.6 with 6 TDs and 6 INT. He of course wears #6. His longest play on the year thus far is you guessed it 66 yards. You just can't make this stuff up.

[dirk diggler]

Originally Posted by DropIt

Cushing oficially out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Hate to see that happen especially during a cut block incident

Big loss for the Texans, losing their leading tackler. Tim Dobbins has some giant shoes to fill. You hate to see that happen to any player, especially the week before their first big test against the Packers

The NFL has no problem with guys getting cut blocked, but if you touch a Qb, automatic 15 yards... this league is becoming pretty hard to watch at times

[the_only_turek_fan]

dfd

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

A lot of talk in the KC media lately about the disconnect between the Chiefs and its fans recently. How Kansas City has even grown to hate the current Chiefs. Bad times in KC.

Which is likely the result of a team who've had losing records for 4 of the last 5 seasons, and likely 5 out of 6 with the start they've had.

Probably doesn't help that most of the teams best players in Derrick Johnson, Tamba Hali, Brandon Flowers, Brandon Albert, Jamaal Charles, and Dwayne Bowe are hold overs from the Carl Peterson regime.

It's been frustrating they brought in a new regime, and outside of the one year when Charlie Weiss was running the offence, it's been a pretty bad team.

Looking back in hindsight...maybe King Carl and Billy Kuharic should have been given another year in their rebuild and see what it could have done. Although Carl's issue was that after Shottenheimer he could never really find the right coach for the team. Vermeil did alright, but you always knew those defences would never win a big playoff game.

I don't know what the Chiefs do here...but the Son in Law has to be on the hot seat for the first time as GM. He has been given quite a bit of time.

[PIMking]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

Big controversy in KC. Did some fans cheer Cassel getting injured? You bet. Was it 70,000 fans? Far from it. Also, were the fans cheering Matt Cassel laying on the turf? Or Brady Quinn galloping onto the field (I don't think Cassel had been on his back for more than 2 seconds before Quinn had his helmet on)?

I really feel for Matt Cassel. It's no secret that I never wanted him to be the QB of the Kansas City Chiefs. He simply isn't good enough. However, he comes across to me as a guy who is a model employee and a great team mate. It's not his fault Pioli gave him a truck load of money and because of his own insecurities insists that Cassel remains the starter. Its very unfortunate that a nice guy like Matt Cassel has become the hated and loathed person in Kansas City. It really isn't fair.

A lot of talk in the KC media lately about the disconnect between the Chiefs and its fans recently. How Kansas City has even grown to hate the current Chiefs. Bad times in KC.

I still remember vaguely that the chiefs liked to pull the "don't support us and we will move" card. I'm tired of crap in that front office, they trade Jared Allen for a draft pick and draft Tyson Jackson... Yeah great move idiots, they have a 5th pick and draft Eric Berry, Eric is good and very good but You can't waste a #4 pick on a safety when you haven't had a qb since Montana, (Gannon but they let him go). Green was good but they just haven't been good since Shotty and a few Vermil years.

They also wasted a pick on McCluster too. just terrible in the draft and in free agency. I love TG and it hurts me to this day to see him in Atlanta.