2009 NFL Regular Season Thread

[Bobblehead]

DeSean Jackson was projected to go to the Niners in the first round, he had played locally for Cal, was extensively worked out and the Niners were thin at WR. So when they passed on him (twice) it created a bit of a stir. I'm sure if there was a do-over they would pick him with both those picks.

[OILFAN #81]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

I think Chris Johnson should get it. He is only the 6th player in NFL history to rush for over 2000 yards. He had the 5th most rushing yards in a season in NFL history. He rushed for almost 600 yards more than the RB who finished second in the league. He set an NFL record for all purpose yards in a season.

Peyton Manning wasn't even the best QB statistically in the NFL this season. If the league is going to give it to a QB it should go to Brett Favre. He threw for almost as many yards as Manning. Had the same amount of TD passes while throwing 6 less INT's and his rating was better.

Manning wins the MVP in a landslide as expected by picking up 39.5 of the 50 votes. Drew Brees got 2nd place with 7.5 votes and Phillip Rivers got 3rd place with 2 votes.

Brett Favre finished in 4th with 1 vote and Chris Johnson didn't get a single vote.

[questionmotives]

"I have to believe that starting 14-0 and having seven comeback wins has a lot to do with this award coming our way, and I'm very grateful to all the players and the coaches and our fans, who were a big part of it. There were a number of other extremely deserving candidates."

All class from Manning. Well deserved, now bring on a second Superbowl!

[Mav]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

DeSean Jackson was projected to go to the Niners in the first round, he had played locally for Cal, was extensively worked out and the Niners were thin at WR. So when they passed on him (twice) it created a bit of a stir. I'm sure if there was a do-over they would pick him with both those picks.

I've got a sneaky feeling about Jackson being a bust in the future. I have no reasoning behind it, maybe because you never know what you'll get out of Mcnabb, but I think the 49's will be alright in the future. The problem there is QB not their receivers, especially now that they have Crabtree.

[Rhetts_the_Best]

Originally Posted by OILFAN #81

Manning wins the MVP in a landslide as expected by picking up 39.5 of the 50 votes. Drew Brees got 2nd place with 7.5 votes and Phillip Rivers got 3rd place with 2 votes.

Brett Favre finished in 4th with 1 vote and Chris Johnson didn't get a single vote.

Running backs never get enough attention
Chris Johnson was easily the smartest choice IMO

[OILFAN #81]

Originally Posted by Rhetts_the_Best

Running backs never get enough attention
Chris Johnson was easily the smartest choice IMO

Chris Johnson is the best RB in the NFL and a damn fine player but he was on a 8-8 football team that missed the playoffs. I thought he would have got about 2 or 3 votes but no surprise that he didn't get a lot this year. He wasn't the MVP of his own team this year (not saying there is anyone better then him on the Titans as he is a million times better then everyone else), but he wasn't the MVP of the Titans this year. Titans were 0-6 and then Vince Young comes in and goes 8-2. Young turned that team around this year and that is why CJ didn't get the votes. If Tennessee was 0-6 and then Johnson came in and the Titans went 8-2 then he would have got a ton of votes as he would have been more valuable in that scenario. Faulk won in 2000, Shaun Alexander won the award in 2005, Tomlinson in 2006 and Michael Turner finished 3rd in voting in 2008 so running backs do get the votes even in recent years. In the last 12 years a QB has won it 8 times and a running back 4 times (And Manning is responsible for half those QB wins so take him out and it's even).

What I think is dumb is that Johnson got 1 vote last year and none this year.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Mav

I've got a sneaky feeling about Jackson being a bust in the future. I have no reasoning behind it, maybe because you never know what you'll get out of Mcnabb, but I think the 49's will be alright in the future. The problem there is QB not their receivers, especially now that they have Crabtree.

I agree that WR is not their issue today. It was when that draft was upcoming. Their biggest issue is 5 OCs in 5 years and a shaky O-Line.

That isn't to say that they won't draft a QB again this year. They weren't going to draft a WR last year until Crabtree slipped.

[InstantDeath]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

I agree that WR is not their issue today. It was when that draft was upcoming. Their biggest issue is 5 OCs in 5 years and a shaky O-Line.

That isn't to say that they won't draft a QB again this year. They weren't going to draft a WR last year until Crabtree slipped.

Im a niners fan. And really - the line isnt as bad as people think. Thats a really simplified version of their problems.

O-Line and QB are two positions that drastically effect how good the other looks on the field. I am of the belief that in the case of the Niners - its the QB, generally, thats making the O-Line look worse than it is. The O-Line is somewhere in the 15th-20th best in the NFL - not GOOD, but definitely not AWFUL either. Alex Smith blows.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by InstantDeath

Im a niners fan. And really - the line isnt as bad as people think. Thats a really simplified version of their problems.

O-Line and QB are two positions that drastically effect how good the other looks on the field. I am of the belief that in the case of the Niners - its the QB, generally, thats making the O-Line look worse than it is. The O-Line is somewhere in the 15th-20th best in the NFL - not GOOD, but definitely not AWFUL either. Alex Smith blows.

I'm a niners fan, too.

And no way would I put that line anywhere near the middle of the NFL.
Joe Staley is a keeper. Eric Heitmann has only had 3 injury free seasons out of 7, so I'm not sure you can count on him; Baas is an RFA they will hopefully bring back for depth. Rachal has looked overmatched ever since he came into the league. Simms kept being moved to find a place where he wouldn't kill Smith. Yeah they were hit by injuries (Pashos, Staley, the retirement of Marvel Smith), but what line isn't during the season? They didn't have depth and that was a concern even after the '08 season.

I think the biggest indictment was that Singletary wanted to be a power running team but the line couldn't do it. Gore got the stats he did in games against suspect run defenses (*cough*Seahawks*cough*). He either found a huge hole or was stopped a yard or two leading to too many 3rd and long.

A better line, sticking with a system/OC for more than one season and lets see what happens.

They will probably also be looking for some secondary help in the draft, either a CB (think Dre Bly will stick around?) or there were rumours of looking for a safety, but Goldston sure looked good at the end of the season. Also a pure pass rusher would be nice but the end of the season showed a much better ability to get to the QB.

[InstantDeath]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

I'm a niners fan, too.

And no way would I put that line anywhere near the middle of the NFL.
Joe Staley is a keeper. Eric Heitmann has only had 3 injury free seasons out of 7, so I'm not sure you can count on him; Baas is an RFA they will hopefully bring back for depth. Rachal has looked overmatched ever since he came into the league. Simms kept being moved to find a place where he wouldn't kill Smith. Yeah they were hit by injuries (Pashos, Staley, the retirement of Marvel Smith), but what line isn't during the season? They didn't have depth and that was a concern even after the '08 season.

I think the biggest indictment was that Singletary wanted to be a power running team but the line couldn't do it. Gore got the stats he did in games against suspect run defenses (*cough*Seahawks*cough*). He either found a huge hole or was stopped a yard or two leading to too many 3rd and long.

A better line, sticking with a system/OC for more than one season and lets see what happens.

They will probably also be looking for some secondary help in the draft, either a CB (think Dre Bly will stick around?) or there were rumours of looking for a safety, but Goldston sure looked good at the end of the season. Also a pure pass rusher would be nice but the end of the season showed a much better ability to get to the QB.

Without question they need to draft a big time tackle this year. Maybe two, one who could play Guard (in otherwords, a large tackle). And they need to invest in a center for the future - depending on how FA works out, they have to draft who they dont acquire (free agent center/draft a Tackle, vice versa). That said, Staley, Bass, Rachal, and Snyder could be a competent unit next season - if they had one big stud to plug in right away, you could find yourself having a top 15 unit, IMO. Staley and Bass will be studs for a long time and I think Rachal will come around as well. Getting the kid from Alabama, or the Rutgers tackle could really turn things around.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by InstantDeath

Im a niners fan. And really - the line isnt as bad as people think. Thats a really simplified version of their problems.

O-Line and QB are two positions that drastically effect how good the other looks on the field. I am of the belief that in the case of the Niners - its the QB, generally, thats making the O-Line look worse than it is. The O-Line is somewhere in the 15th-20th best in the NFL - not GOOD, but definitely not AWFUL either. Alex Smith blows.

Thats the argument in KC as well with the Chiefs O-line. Some feel Matt Cassel is a great QB who just doesn't get the protection he needs to be effective. Most point to the number of sacks he takes as an indication that the line sucks. They also used that argument when the Chiefs couldn't run the ball in the first half of the season.

Then 2.7 gets released (Larry Johnson to the layman) and all of a sudden the Chiefs can run the ball very well. Only Chris Johnson had more yards in the games after Jamaal Charles became the starting RB.

So with the Chiefs running the ball at a high level it opened some eyes that maybe the run blocking wasn't the problem with the Chiefs running game. It was LJ 2.7 that was the problem. Then people started to notice that Matt Cassel had all sorts of time to drop back and make a pass. He just fails to get ride of the ball or move in the pocket. If he senses any pressure at all he tucks the ball and runs. Sometimes he gets sacked. So a lot of pressure and blame came off of that O-line once Jamaal Charles became the full time running back.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

Thats the argument in KC as well with the Chiefs O-line. Some feel Matt Cassel is a great QB who just doesn't get the protection he needs to be effective. Most point to the number of sacks he takes as an indication that the line sucks. They also used that argument when the Chiefs couldn't run the ball in the first half of the season.

Then 2.7 gets released (Larry Johnson to the layman) and all of a sudden the Chiefs can run the ball very well. Only Chris Johnson had more yards in the games after Jamaal Charles became the starting RB.

So with the Chiefs running the ball at a high level it opened some eyes that maybe the run blocking wasn't the problem with the Chiefs running game. It was LJ 2.7 that was the problem. Then people started to notice that Matt Cassel had all sorts of time to drop back and make a pass. He just fails to get ride of the ball or move in the pocket. If he senses any pressure at all he tucks the ball and runs. Sometimes he gets sacked. So a lot of pressure and blame came off of that O-line once Jamaal Charles became the full time running back.

Sure.

And you needed to be able to establish the running game to be able to make that determination.

Niners have a good runner in Gore. But Hill and the receiving corps weren't scaring anyone deep and the run game suffered big time, especially since that was what most of training camp was spent working on. Then Smith came in in relief and suddenly the Niners stretched the field. But for a couple games Hill was still the starter, the team still struggled until Smith came in late and made the score respectable. And all this time the running game would be getting 0-2 yards except for the odd time when Gore would break a big run. Every run game gets the odd long one to pump its average, but that was the only thing preventing the ground game from being abysmal no matter who the QB happened to be. When Smith took over starting reins the Niners became more pass happy and the passing game (especially VD) really took off. But with the ground game now almost abandoned defences were pinning back their ears and coming hard. The last fwe games, when there was some semblance of balance, then things looked better. About 6 weeks too late, but better.

I'm not averse to getting a QB upgrade, I just thing that there are other positions that scream for top end help first and multiple years of dipping into the FA market hasn't solved anything. Stick with Smith at QB, give him a balanced attack plan, fill the other spots that need help, and if Smith sucks even with a solid couple seasons under one scheme, cut him lose.