2013 NFL regular season thread

[Sylvanfan]

I wonder if we'll see any players do the Forrest Gump move where they run right out of the stadium with the ball after scoring the touch down after that episode last night.

[Drake]

That's something right there.

Last season, the Ravens allowed their 7th TD pass of the season in a Week 10 game against the Raiders. This year, Week 1.

https://twitter.com/SandoESPN/status/375960297699553280

[Senator Clay Davis]

I know we just talked about mocking predictions, but Bill Simmons might have the worst power rankings of all-time.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...nfc-power-poll

[DropIt]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

I know we just talked about mocking predictions, but Bill Simmons might have the worst power rankings of all-time.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...nfc-power-poll

I know it wont be a favourable opinion in here, but am I the only one that thinks the Seahawks fall on their face?

I had them fighting tooth and nail to make the wildcard this year, but the consensus seems to be superbowl.

[Pagal4321]

Originally Posted by DropIt

I know it wont be a favourable opinion in here, but am I the only one that thinks the Seahawks fall on their face?

I had them fighting tooth and nail to make the wildcard this year, but the consensus seems to be superbowl.

I think the fate of Seattle and San Fran will both depend on how much their QB's regress in Year 2. Wilson has more talent around him on offense but I think he will regress more than Kaepernick.

So I'm in agreement with a Bears fan, I don't know how that makes me feel.

[browna]

^
Depends on what you mean fall on face. Every team needs a lot to go right (or,not much wrong) to get to the conference championships. Seattle is one of the teams that could be there given last year and the talent on paper.

An incredible run the last half of last year, and may have been better if they opened the playbook to Wilson earlier, before losses to Det and Mia. Even with that, 37 seconds to make the Nfc championship game and play a SF team they rolled 4 weeks earlier.

And, on paper they've addressed the holes they had, namely a pass rush and D line. Improve that and force throws into the secondary and the defense will be better.

They won't surprise anyone now though, and a guy like Lynch and Turbin still have to be effective runners for the overall offense to be as effective. Injuries always equalize things.

That said, Wilson is a calm cool smart Qb and can adapt his game. If that maturity grows, he can cover up a lot of the other mistakes and issues.

With Sf in the division and an improved St. L,only one team gets the bye, so it won't take much to lose that position.

Personally, confident in Wilson and think the team should be better. Hopefully Carroll keeps them grounded, they get the breaks needed and can get on the momentum roll they had last year.

I am certainly not predicting or hoping for anymore then a playoff birth and see where it goes. Anything more than 11 wins would be excellent which, yeah, may be tough if they don't perform up to what they should, and have to scramble to get to 10 wins.

[DropIt]

Originally Posted by browna

^
Depends on what you mean fall on face. Every team needs a lot to go right (or,not much wrong) to get to the conference championships. Seattle is one of the teams that could be there given last year and the talent on paper.

An incredible run the last half of last year, and may have been better if they opened the playbook to Wilson earlier, before losses to Det and Mia. Even with that, 37 seconds to make the Nfc championship game and play a SF team they rolled 4 weeks earlier.

And, on paper they've addressed the holes they had, namely a pass rush and D line. Improve that and force throws into the secondary and the defense will be better.

They won't surprise anyone now though, and a guy like Lynch and Turbin still have to be effective runners for the overall offense to be as effective. Injuries always equalize things.

That said, Wilson is a calm cool smart Qb and can adapt his game. If that maturity grows, he can cover up a lot of the other mistakes and issues.

With Sf in the division and an improved St. L,only one team gets the bye, so it won't take much to lose that position.

Personally, confident in Wilson and think the team should be better. Hopefully Carroll keeps them grounded, they get the breaks needed and can get on the momentum roll they had last year.

I am certainly not predicting or hoping for anymore then a playoff birth and see where it goes. Anything more than 11 wins would be excellent which, yeah, may be tough if they don't perform up to what they should, and have to scramble to get to 10 wins.

Fall on their face was a bit of an overstatement. When discussing with a friend of mine about the upcoming season he was buying into the superbowl trip, which granted is not that big of a stretch if they continue where they picked up from last year. I dont see it though, and had them pegged at an 8-8 season. I think their Defense is dominant and will help carry them a long ways and so will Lynch carry the bulk of the offense on his back.

That being said, I think with a full year of tape and an offseason to gameplan the new breed of quarterbacks, Wilson I dont think will be as good as he was last year. In fact I predict a significant drop off from season 1.

I think their receiving core is over rated at least until Harvin returns and even then is still touch and go with him to say the least. I can see them getting into a dogfight with basically any team in their division if any of STL, ARZ or SF bring their defense. They have a pretty tough this season and I think they stumble a bit out of the blocks quite possibly starting 2-3 going into the 1/3 mark of the season. Just my assesment.

My schedule prediction to start the year was:

1 Sun, Sep 8 at Carolina 1:00 PM - W
2 Sun, Sep 15 San Francisco 8:30 PM - L
3 Sun, Sep 22 Jacksonville 4:25 PM - W
4 Sun, Sep 29 at Houston 1:00 PM - L
5 Sun, Oct 6 at Indianapolis 1:00 PM - L
6 Sun, Oct 13 Tennessee 4:05 PM - W
7 Thu, Oct 17 at Arizona 8:25 PM - W
8 Mon, Oct 28 at St. Louis 8:30 PM - L
9 Sun, Nov 3 Tampa Bay 4:05 PM - W
10 Sun, Nov 10 at Atlanta 1:00 PM - L
11 Sun, Nov 17 Minnesota 4:25 PM - W
13 Mon, Dec 2 New Orleans 8:30 PM - L
14 Sun, Dec 8 at San Francisco 4:25 PM - L
15 Sun, Dec 15 at NY Giants 1:00 PM - L
16 Sun, Dec 22 Arizona 4:05 PM - W
17 Sun, Dec 29 St. Louis 4:25 PM - W

[PeteLFan]

Lol at Seattle being #1. Bill Simmons is a fool, supposed to be a national analyst publicly cheering like a complete moron for Boston and New England.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

I know we just talked about mocking predictions, but Bill Simmons might have the worst power rankings of all-time.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...nfc-power-poll

Outside of a homer Pats pick and a hate for Manning Denver ranking what is so bad about those picks?

I think Chicago is the worst team in the NFC North but those 4 teams are very close and each have holes that could put any of the teams 1-4.

Seattle was pretty good last year and young and though it is unlikely that Wilson has a season like he did last year they should be in the running for top team in the NFC.

Seems like a wide open year so they are going to be some disagreements on the rankings and with every year having turnover of play-off teams and surprises not sure anything that has the Raiders, Jets and Bills at the bottom of the league should be that "terrible."

[DropIt]

Originally Posted by moon

Outside of a homer Pats pick and a hate for Manning Denver ranking what is so bad about those picks?

I think Chicago is the worst team in the NFC North but those 4 teams are very close and each have holes that could put any of the teams 1-4.

Seattle was pretty good last year and young and though it is unlikely that Wilson has a season like he did last year they should be in the running for top team in the NFC.

Seems like a wide open year so they are going to be some disagreements on the rankings and with every year having turnover of play-off teams and surprises not sure anything that has the Raiders, Jets and Bills at the bottom of the league should be that "terrible."

I agree with this, minus the part about Chicago. I think Minnesota is the worst in the division while Chicago wins it. I know others that think Green Bay will be as far down as third while Detroit wins the division, and really none of those outcomes are far fetched

[browna]

Originally Posted by DropIt

Fall on their face was a bit of an overstatement. When discussing with a friend of mine about the upcoming season he was buying into the superbowl trip, which granted is not that big of a stretch if they continue where they picked up from last year. I dont see it though, and had them pegged at an 8-8 season. I think their Defense is dominant and will help carry them a long ways and so will Lynch carry the bulk of the offense on his back.

That being said, I think with a full year of tape and an offseason to gameplan the new breed of quarterbacks, Wilson I dont think will be as good as he was last year. In fact I predict a significant drop off from season 1.

I think their receiving core is over rated at least until Harvin returns and even then is still touch and go with him to say the least. I can see them getting into a dogfight with basically any team in their division if any of STL, ARZ or SF bring their defense. They have a pretty tough this season and I think they stumble a bit out of the blocks quite possibly starting 2-3 going into the 1/3 mark of the season. Just my assesment.

The QB assesment is where we'll disagree and that drives the difference in seasons. Wilson's approach, ability to learn, adapt, and overall maturity as a person and as a football player, IMO even though he's only a second year player, will have him ahead of RGIII and Kaepernick this year. Outside of injuries, and as long as the line can give him as much time as they did last year, no reason to think he should regress as a player.

As far as receivers, not sure I'd call them overrated. Tate, Baldwin and Rice all played well, well enough, last year. Toss in Zach Miller who had a great season, and I am not sure that anyone can say (or have I heard) those guys are overhyped; they're just good, unspectacular players.

Getting Harvin was a calculated risk instead of drafting someone at #24. He's not around for a couple months, but in the end, to start the year, its not as if they moved out a key WR from last year to make room for him.

Again, with the read option system and Wilson's dynamics, as far as catching the ball, there's a lot of chances for WR and RB's to be open/get seperation to catch the ball in that system, with the defenders a bit more leery of a running QB.

[transplant99]

Ahhhh....week 1 where every teams fans have all kinds of optimism and hope.

Bears winning the NFC North? Not sure what you can base that on, as anytime there is a new coach and an entirely new system, that will take time to come together if it ever does. Add on to that they still have the same issues they have had for years now, along with the perrenial turnover machine in Cutler...hard to understand how they improved at all. Add to that a quickly aging defense who wont be any faster than last year and likely to get slower and in no way will they replicate the turnover for touchdown numbers of a year ago...well...yeah.

I actually think the Vikes will be very good this year. Ponder is learning how to manage games properly, when to take his shots and when to take what the defense gives. Its all about AP though, so we will see how far he can take them. Their D is pretty solid all over. Could easily be the team at the top when all is said and done.

GB is a bit of a mystery to me though. Obviously Rodgers will do his thing and the team will score points, dont think thats at all an issue. The one thing though, and much like the Bears, the Oline is a complete unknown. Losing Baluga for the season was devastating for what MM wanted to do. If they dont come together, AR may not be around to score points all season. The defense was fine last year until that SF PO game when they got completely schooled. They have worked against the run/option all camp, so they should be better there. Having a healthy Mike Neal and Nick perry should improve the club in all facets this season...along with Johnny Jolly being back and doing what he does so well.

Detroit..again a bit of an enigma. Can they get some help for CJ? Will Bush give them a real weapon to offset a lack of a running game? On D...that line should destroy everyone they play...but they dont. IF everything comes together for the Lions they will be anywhere from good to great....but it is the Lions and so hard to believe they will do much of anything.

[transplant99]

Jets have cut Brady Quinn

Bruno Mars to sing at the Super Bowl....good grief.

Barkevious Mingo to miss the Browns opener...too bad as i am looking forward to seeing this kid play.

[DropIt]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Ahhhh....week 1 where every teams fans have all kinds of optimism and hope.

Bears winning the NFC North? Not sure what you can base that on, as anytime there is a new coach and an entirely new system, that will take time to come together if it ever does. Add on to that they still have the same issues they have had for years now, along with the perrenial turnover machine in Cutler...hard to understand how they improved at all. Add to that a quickly aging defense who wont be any faster than last year and likely to get slower and in no way will they replicate the turnover for touchdown numbers of a year ago...well...yeah.

I actually think the Vikes will be very good this year. Ponder is learning how to manage games properly, when to take his shots and when to take what the defense gives. Its all about AP though, so we will see how far he can take them. Their D is pretty solid all over. Could easily be the team at the top when all is said and done.

GB is a bit of a mystery to me though. Obviously Rodgers will do his thing and the team will score points, dont think thats at all an issue. The one thing though, and much like the Bears, the Oline is a complete unknown. Losing Baluga for the season was devastating for what MM wanted to do. If they dont come together, AR may not be around to score points all season. The defense was fine last year until that SF PO game when they got completely schooled. They have worked against the run/option all camp, so they should be better there. Having a healthy Mike Neal and Nick perry should improve the club in all facets this season...along with Johnny Jolly being back and doing what he does so well.

Detroit..again a bit of an enigma. Can they get some help for CJ? Will Bush give them a real weapon to offset a lack of a running game? On D...that line should destroy everyone they play...but they dont. IF everything comes together for the Lions they will be anywhere from good to great....but it is the Lions and so hard to believe they will do much of anything.

That defense has been too old for you for about three seasons now Transplant. If they get any older they might have to send 5 to the Pro Bowl next season.
The point was, that anyone has a shot to win that divison, and despite what you would like to believe, the Bears, with their shoddy offensive line mind you, would have won the division in 2011 if Cutler didn't break his thumb. Then again going 7-2 before Cutler got injured after the first half in Houston and then missing the Monday night game in San Francisco. He may play teribly vs the Packers and throw picks, but he still wins games.

Despite what you may think, Green Bay is no longer up there on a pedestal either. Nick Perry coming back may be wonderfull, but missing Casey Heyward for a reportedly 6 weeks wont help that sieve of a secondary, and unlike the Bears' 'unknown' offensive line as you call it, the Packers' offensive line is completely 'known'. It's crap. It was the league's worst last year with Buluga healthy so I dont see how the status has upgraded with him on IR.

I think Chicago has as good a chance as anyone in that division this year and I dont think its the stretch you're making it out to be. I guess we just have to see how the games play out

[Ducay]

Anyone spot a channel on Shaw showing Falcons @ Saints this morning? (Outside of Sunday ticket?). CTV picked Seattle/Panthers as their national morning game, which should be decent, but not the best game of the morning.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by DropIt

That defense has been too old for you for about three seasons now Transplant. If they get any older they might have to send 5 to the Pro Bowl next season.
The point was, that anyone has a shot to win that divison, and despite what you would like to believe, the Bears, with their shoddy offensive line mind you, would have won the division in 2011 if Cutler didn't break his thumb. Then again going 7-2 before Cutler got injured after the first half in Houston and then missing the Monday night game in San Francisco. He may play teribly vs the Packers and throw picks, but he still wins games.

Despite what you may think, Green Bay is no longer up there on a pedestal either. Nick Perry coming back may be wonderfull, but missing Casey Heyward for a reportedly 6 weeks wont help that sieve of a secondary, and unlike the Bears' 'unknown' offensive line as you call it, the Packers' offensive line is completely 'known'. It's crap. It was the league's worst last year with Buluga healthy so I dont see how the status has upgraded with him on IR.

I think Chicago has as good a chance as anyone in that division this year and I dont think its the stretch you're making it out to be. I guess we just have to see how the games play out

Someone is butthurt...sorry man, Bears are gonna struggle mightily this year...again...particularly with Cutler still throwing picks everywhere.


As for the bolded...what? They were 11th in the NFL last year in yds against passing.....an entire 70 more yards than the vaunted Bears oldtimers. The run gave them more trouble. And no, you can say it all you want but it isnt anywhere near true...the Packers line struggled at times but was no where near the worst in the league.

And really...you wanna start blaming injuries for team troubles? GB was DECIMATED with them last year.

[DropIt]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Someone is butthurt...sorry man, Bears are gonna struggle mightily this year...again...particularly with Cutler still throwing picks everywhere.


As for the bolded...what? They were 11th in the NFL last year in yds against passing.....an entire 70 more yards than the vaunted Bears oldtimers. The run gave them more trouble. And no, you can say it all you want but it isnt anywhere near true...the Packers line struggled at times but was no where near the worst in the league.

And really...you wanna start blaming injuries for team troubles? GB was DECIMATED with them last year.

I wasnt aware the term butthurt was relevant anymore, but no I'm just fine.

I didn't blame injuries for anything. Everyone has them, however there is likely no team in the league that can continue on after losing their quarterback. So no, I'd like to say injury. Not plural. And the results aren't too difficult to back that up, with the Bears or the Packers, or the rest of the NFL really. Also, I apologize, being ranked at #31 in sacks allowed is technically not the worst offensive line. I just figured since they couldn't run the ball either that i'd stick them down there

Chicago is at worst the #2 team in the NFC North and I really dont think Green Bay is that far ahead of them or the Lions. I think Chicago wins the division this year barring a Cutler injury

[Luder]

GO TITANS!

[CMPunk]

Go Raiders!!!

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by DropIt

I wasnt aware the term butthurt was relevant anymore, but no I'm just fine.

I didn't blame injuries for anything. Everyone has them, however there is likely no team in the league that can continue on after losing their quarterback. So no, I'd like to say injury. Not plural. And the results aren't too difficult to back that up, with the Bears or the Packers, or the rest of the NFL really. Also, I apologize, being ranked at #31 in sacks allowed is technically not the worst offensive line. I just figured since they couldn't run the ball either that i'd stick them down there

Chicago is at worst the #2 team in the NFC North and I really dont think Green Bay is that far ahead of them or the Lions. I think Chicago wins the division this year barring a Cutler injury

And i think the Bears finish 3rd in the division.

Didnt blame injuries? You were playing the "if fishes were wishes" game when saying they would have won the division 2 years ago.

Yes GB gave up way to many sacks last year...of course when you have no running game that will happen a lot. Mind you Chicago wasnt much better than GB in this regard giving up 44 and DID have a running game that saved Cutler from throwing even more picks. Trying to say that the Bears Oline is somehow superior to GB is laughable.

Here is all that matters in that regard though..

GB 40 TDs passing 8 INT's 51 sacks against
Chi 21 TD's passing 16 INT's 44 sacks against