2009 NFL Regular Season Thread

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

How long do hip-flexor injuries take to heal?

And the Johnson signing is for the pro-rated league minimum. Pretty easy to cut him if he becomes a distraction.

the pain of hip-flexors really starts to subside in just a few days. the problem with this injury, like so many others, is unless you give it long enough to heal properly, it is so easy to aggravate it and be right back at sqaure one. I would suspect that Benson gets the next 3 weeks to heal up properly before really testing it again....afterall their next 3 opponents are Oakland, Cleveland and Detroit.

[transplant99]

"As a former defender on that team, I would've cared less about the result of that fourth-down attempt. The decision to go for it would be enough to make my blood boil for weeks. Bill Belichick sent a message to his defense.
He felt that his chances were better to go for it on his own 28-yard line than to punt it away and make Peyton Manning have to drive the majority of the field to win the game."

I would look at this decision as a lack of confidence in our ability as a defensive unit to come up with a big play to win the game. If I'm Jerod Mayo, Gary Guyton, Darius Butler, Jonathan Wilhite, Brandon Meriweather and Brandon McGowan -- to name a few -- I'm wondering why we weren't given the chance to do what we've been coached to do ever since the first day we practiced.

That's how I see it and that's how championship defenses should see it.

'Nuff said.

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/news/story?id=4659264

[mykalberta]

The Colts 2 TD drives in the 4th quarter were 2:04 and 1:49 in length for 79 yards each.

If the punt ends up on the 30 then thats 80 yards and you have lets say 1.55 with 1 time out.

Do you honestly give Manning another chance or do you take the chance to win the game.

I guess some trust a leaky D who hasnt shown anything in the 4th quarter, and some would rather trust Brady, Moss, Welker and company.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Likely have the ball on their 30 with 1 timeout and the 2 minute warning after one play.

There are deeper ramifications possible here as well...that being, what message did he send to his defense? Simple...he didnt trust them to stop Manning in a 2 minute drill with one timeout. All that AFTER they had already forced the Colts to punt 7 times and had picked Manning twice.

In ANY context of football...it was a stupid, arrogant, and possibly season altering call.

We all know he is arrogant, but i never thought i would see him as being stupid, and certainly never thought i would see the guy cost his team a football game...which may be the difference in who they play in the first game of the playoffs...as well as where it is played.

Stupid is actually an understatement...he was purely moronic. he was playing as if he was afraid of Manning...simply cannot coach that way. Not based on what had happened already in the game.

He must have been thinking that the risk of letting Indy have the ball at the 30 vs the tradeoff of being able to run the clock way down was worth it for him. Whether it's an 80 yard field or a 30 yard field you have to play red zone defence when the other team needs a TD. Every week it seems teams get the ball at their own 30 with less than 2 minutes left and 3-4 plays later they're in the red zone and only down 20-30 seconds on the clock. But when it gets to the red zone than it gets a lot tougher. The Patriots needed to keep them out of the end zone and they didn't. If the Colts needed a field goal to tie or win the game, than he probably punts the ball.

I think thats what makes the Bengals win all that more impressive to me. They were able to put that game on their defence to make that stop at the end and they managed to do it. This year, it seems like a lot of defences have not been able to get that big stop late in the game. Whether it's keeping a team from driving into FG range, or keeping them out of the end zone.

[cheevers]

Originally Posted by transplant99

'Nuff said.

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/news/story?id=4659264

I think they were given the chance though. They were up by what 13 with 3 minutes to go, i dont care if the second touchdown was only 28 yards thats still a joke job on D. If they are mad they should be made at themselves. Yeah it was a short field but all they had to do was prevent a touchdown and Manning made it look really, really easy.

[Montana Moe]

Good news for the Saints secondary: CB Tracy Porter has an MCL sprain, it was rumored that he had an ACL tear and was likely out for the season.

At this rate, he should be able to be back for at least the last game of the year, hopefully 100% by playoff time.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4660344

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by cheevers

. But saying that I also think the referee gave an horrible spot that really helped Indy.

Faulk was bobbling the ball. He did not have possession until very late in the play. If you watch the replay you will see the official on the sideline closest to the play making the 'bobbling gesture' as the play is going on inidicating that he was not in control of the ball and therefore was not entitled to forward progress past the first down marker.

It was actually a brilliant spot.

[habernac]

agreed, Dis, the refs made the right call there.

[OILFAN #81]

There are so many good teams in the AFC this year that are really close.

Indianapolis, Cincinnati, New England, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Denver, Houston, Baltimore.........The #5 and #6 seed this year are going to be really good. #3 and #4 could get upset in Wild Card weekend in the AFC and it wouldn't be a monumental upset in my mind.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by OILFAN #81

There are so many good teams in the AFC this year that are really close.

Indianapolis, Cincinnati, New England, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Denver, Houston, Baltimore.........The #5 and #6 seed this year are going to be really good. #3 and #4 could get upset in Wild Card weekend in the AFC and it wouldn't be a monumental upset in my mind.

Yeah, the AFC is vastly superior to the NFC this year. The NFC drops off quite a bit after Minnesota and New Orleans.

[Sylvanfan]

The potential NFC playoff picture just got really jumbled this past week. Minnesota, New Orleans, and Arizona are all in good positions to win their Divisions. Now you're left with Dallas at 6-3, than you have 3 teams at 5-4 and 3 more at 4-5 to compete for those Wild Card spots. I think 9-7 is going to get you a playoff spot in the NFC this year. Suddenly a team like Carolina who looked dead 4 weeks ago when they lost to Buffalo suddenly has hope again.

[cheevers]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Faulk was bobbling the ball. He did not have possession until very late in the play. If you watch the replay you will see the official on the sideline closest to the play making the 'bobbling gesture' as the play is going on inidicating that he was not in control of the ball and therefore was not entitled to forward progress past the first down marker.

It was actually a brilliant spot.

Ah fair enough, I only saw it once and it looked like he had it, Ill have to take another look.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

The potential NFC playoff picture just got really jumbled this past week. Minnesota, New Orleans, and Arizona are all in good positions to win their Divisions. Now you're left with Dallas at 6-3, than you have 3 teams at 5-4 and 3 more at 4-5 to compete for those Wild Card spots. I think 9-7 is going to get you a playoff spot in the NFC this year. Suddenly a team like Carolina who looked dead 4 weeks ago when they lost to Buffalo suddenly has hope again.

Not to mention that both Philly and New York are only one game behind Dallas for the NFC East title. 9-7 could easily win that division, which would mean even an 8-8 team would have a shot at the wildcard.

[flames_1987]

Man was that ever a hell of a game last night. This Colts team just finds a way to win. Manning found a way to win without a running game, and two young wideouts who kept dropping balls. The man is simply the best in the league

Belichick interviews are just to much fun to watch. Nice handshake after the game with Caldwell

[OILFAN #81]

Monday Night game is 0-0 in the 3rd quarter? LOL. I just turned it on to see how the Ravens are playing since Indy plays them next week.

[Flickered Flame]

Originally Posted by KTown

Joey Porter was inactive today and it was a coach's decision, not an injury. He was told to stay away from the facility till Monday.

Are Joey's days done in Miami I think so, but my guess is he won't get released till the end of the year.

Looks like the tuna and sporano had enough of joey's trashtalking help motivate the Pats and he did nothing to back it up.

Based on what I have read today, Porter will be out on Thursday night as well. And it is very unlikely that Brown will play. Apparently lots of swelling but no broken bones anywhere. Hilliard is expected to get some carries vs the Panthers.

[corporatejay]

Cleveland is pathetic. Poor ESPN, I'm sure they didn't think this would be such a dud of a game.

Lot of empty seats in the DoggPound.

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

Cleveland is pathetic. Poor ESPN, I'm sure they didn't think this would be such a dud of a game.

Whoever scheduled the Ravens-Browns snoozer on Monday night over Indy-New England (because that rivalry hasn't been any good the past couple of years) needs to lose their job.

There are a few teams that should have a 3-5 year hiatus from Monday Night Football - the Browns are definitely one of those teams (Raiders, Chiefs, Rams, Bucs, Seahawks and Redskins are others).

Edit: Brady Quinn is such garbage. He heaves the ball down the field and it lands 10 yards out of bounds... twice.

And Cribbs just got Ray Lewis'd to end the game... fitting for the Browns.

[Sinatra]

Wow, that was an exciting game..

[Joborule]

That might have been the worst football game I've watched in a while.