Official NFL Thread

[Brian]

Problem is the ref can't call what he can't see. He was blocked off and missed a clear PI.

 

That being said, Clutch Vinatieri had a chance to put his team up from 29 yards and didn't.

 

Pick 6 for Peyton tonight.

 

Sorry, fixed.

[Brian]

Also, Freeney getting carted off with his foot all wrapped up didn't look good. Can NOT afford to have him out.

[Chisoxfn]

It's "Romo-Riffic!!!"

 

And after Jason said he wasn't that great on his radio show, he'd sone that. That's a bit freaky.

 

So Bears fans, after today, are you confident your team can get a wildcard spot now, and what record will you need to do so?

 

And the Cowboys have the NFC East wrapped up. 2 game lead with a tiebreaker. Things are looking good.

I'm not confident in the playoffs. I'm just hoping Rex can be what I thought he coudl be. The defense looked a lot better but it was against the Raiders. Still, as Grossmans biggest fan it was amazing to see him come in late in the 2nd half. I went absolutely nuts and I'm shocked I am still alive to make this post (was in Oakland for the game and it was the funnest game I've ever been to, especially as the entire row went nuts when Grossman hit Berrian for the win).

[GoodAsGould]

Im so glad Grossman is back, I know he has the chance to throw a s*** ton of picks but he also brings back the deep ball. Also with more of a threat of a deep ball means we might see some room for Benson to actually run.

[Balta1701]

Peterson update:

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson will miss Sunday's game against Oakland Raiders with a torn ligament in his right knee, coach Brad Childress said Monday.

 

Childress said Peterson tore his lateral collateral ligament in the Vikings' 34-0 loss to Green Bay. Peterson will not require surgery, Childress said.

 

"The good news is that the knee is otherwise stable and the injury is isolated to that ligament," Childress said. "I'm told that's a good healing ligament."

 

Childress said this is not a season-ending injury, but he did not talk about when Peterson might be back.

[Kyyle23]

A good healing ligament? WTF is that supposed to mean? The ligaments hold everything in place, if one is removed, isnt there extra stress on the remaining ligaments? Doesnt seem like a good idea to let him come back out with damage in his knee already, JMO

[CWSGuy406]

Im so glad Grossman is back

 

Is he back? Do we know who is starting next week?

[Soxbadger]

Roto is suggesting its Grossman.

[CWSGuy406]

Roto is suggesting its Grossman.

 

I understand that -- the talking-heads at ESPN are saying the same thing. But wouldn't that be pretty much the opposite of what Lovie has done in his tenure, which is stick by one guy through thick-and-thin? When he made the commitment to Griese a few weeks ago, he said it wasn't just a little fling, but rather a full-time switch.

 

I'm not saying whether that's right or wrong, but it's just how I'm looking at it.

[Kyyle23]

I understand that -- the talking-heads at ESPN are saying the same thing. But wouldn't that be pretty much the opposite of what Lovie has done in his tenure, which is stick by one guy through thick-and-thin? When he made the commitment to Griese a few weeks ago, he said it wasn't just a little fling, but rather a full-time switch.

 

I'm not saying whether that's right or wrong, but it's just how I'm looking at it.

 

Doesnt the whole thing seem orchestrated though? Isnt it wierd that on the very same week that Rex has his workload increased "just in case" that Brian Griese goes down with a vague shoulder injury? Strange coincidence

 

[Balta1701]

Doesnt the whole thing seem orchestrated though? Isnt it wierd that on the very same week that Rex has his workload increased "just in case" that Brian Griese goes down with a vague shoulder injury? Strange coincidence

Possible Griese's arm was hurting some during the week before the game & that's why Rex got the extra reps?

[Balta1701]

Dwight Freeney could be out for the season.

[DBAHO]

I think they Colts signed Simeon Rice as a replacement though. Still Freeney's a big loss.

 

And here's a question I'll throw out there, is the Packers defense better than the Bears defense right now?

[Balta1701]

I think they Colts signed Simeon Rice as a replacement though. Still Freeney's a big loss.

 

And here's a question I'll throw out there, is the Packers defense better than the Bears defense right now?

GB's Defense is #10 in yards given up per game, the Bears are #20, giving up 34 more YPG.

 

GB's Defense is #3 in Points per game, the Bears are #16.

 

Maybe if Mike Brown wasn't always injured, or the Cornerbacks hadn't both gone down early, or if the D-Line wasn't depleted, it's a different story. But for the teams on the field this season, the numbers speak for themselves.

[whitesoxfan99]

Dwight Freeney could be out for the season.

 

It is official. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3110140

[longshot7]

And here's a question I'll throw out there, is the Packers defense better than the Bears defense right now?

 

I hate the Packers - but have you been watching the games? It's not even close.

[DBAHO]

I hate the Packers - but have you been watching the games? It's not even close.

I have, but I thought after the weekend, you guys may have been a bit more positive about the D, but I guess not.

 

FWIW, I think the Packers have a better secondary, as Woodson and Harris are probably argubly the best CB duo in the NFL right now, and I think that's where the edge is. Linebackers and D-Line are more close, although with Urlacher not healthy, and A.J Hawk coming on for the Packers with Nick Barnett, the Packers probably have the edge there too.

[Balta1701]

Some interesting notes about this year's NFL game:

Ten quarterbacks -- Favre, Tom Brady, Tony Romo, Carson Palmer, Drew Brees, Manning, Matt Hasselbeck, McNabb, Derek Anderson and Jon Kitna -- are on pace to throw for 4,000 yards this year. That would be twice as many as ever in a single season (five in 1999, 2004 and 2006).

 

Redskins RB Clinton Portis has rushed for 196 and 137 yards the last two weeks, becoming the first running back this year with consecutive games of 137 or more rushing yards.

Just found those to be interesting offensive trends.

[longshot7]

I have, but I thought after the weekend, you guys may have been a bit more positive about the D, but I guess not.

 

FWIW, I think the Packers have a better secondary, as Woodson and Harris are probably argubly the best CB duo in the NFL right now, and I think that's where the edge is. Linebackers and D-Line are more close, although with Urlacher not healthy, and A.J Hawk coming on for the Packers with Nick Barnett, the Packers probably have the edge there too.

 

Our run defense is AWFUL. We can't stop anybody. The loss of Tank Johnson, the injuries to Dvorcek & Walker have killed us, and Adams is terrible. (that's not really a sentence-I know).

 

Also, keep in mind last week we were playing OAKLAND - not exactly a powerhouse. this weekend will be interesting.

[Steve9347]

Thank the f*** Christ Andre Johnson is back this week to help out my depleted WR corps.

[Gregory Pratt]

Great article:

 

The rack of clothes on the far wall of the Patriots ProShop is a testament to Bill Belichick's famed passive-aggressive streak.

 

It may not be the equal of Belichick using a videotape scandal to make this NFL season about him and his ability to blitzkrieg the New England Patriots to a perfect season of run-up scores, but, then again, even that would seem more likely than BB becoming a fashion icon.

 

Here's the thing about Belichick, 55. He's a second-generation coaching lifer who through 33 seasons of all night training camp bull sessions and fourth-quarter pressure cookers pretty much knows everything there is to know about football.

 

Which is why he doesn't seem to take well – or more likely absolutely detests – when someone tells him what to do or what football is about.

 

This would include critics of the Patriots videotaping the defensive signals of the New York Jets and complaints about the team's recent full-throttle, 60-minute, go-for-50, offense.

 

But once it was about the NFL striking an apparel deal with Reebok that required head coaches to wear team paraphernalia during games. This included Belichick. This meant someone was telling him, a grown man, how to dress.

 

As the theory goes – and Belichick, as is his style, has said little either definitive or convincing on the subject – he decided that if they were going to make him wear team apparel then he'd sift through the options and put on the absolute ugliest thing he could find. He chose a grey sweatshirt, often with a hood.

 

Most people wouldn't wear it to a tobacco spitting fight; Belichick put it on national television.

 

This is Bill Belichick, the bristling contrarian. For all his success and all his power, he still can't help throwing a symbolic middle finger at management, at the marketing geek trying to tell him what to wear on the sidelines.

 

A grey hoodie with the sleeves cut off? Just following the rules. Just wearing what you said.

 

"It's comfortable," he said. "I carry my stuff in my pouch here."

 

Only the strangest thing happened. As Belichick emerged as the game's premier coach, people started showing up at the ProShop looking for the hoodie. This ridiculous sweatshirt became a hot seller, outpacing many of the colorful, classy designs also on display.

 

"We even have it in a woman's design," said a store clerk on Wednesday.

 

Indeed they do, the "Ladies Belichick Hoodie-Charcoal." Yes, the "Belichick Hoodie." He's on the label, like he is Sean John or something. He even personally rocks one with his initials, "BB," on its chest.

 

There are racks and racks of the hoodie here at the ProShop, perhaps the most stocked item on the floor. And they don't come cheap, $79.95 for most.

 

Bill Belichick, passive-aggressive fashion trend setter.

 

LOVE OR LOATH CHARACTER

 

Even during his three Super Bowls in four seasons run earlier this decade, Belichick was never as big of a story, as polarizing of a figure as he is now.

 

It's not just that his eighth Patriots team is probably his best – 8-0 and unchallenged on the season heading into Sunday's mega-clash with the Indianapolis Colts.

 

It's the way Belichick has turned into a love or loath character. It's the way this season, in so many ways, he has become about him.

 

There is no middle ground anymore. His personality – boorish to some, beloved to others – is as much a part of the discussion as his superior game plans, motivational ability and eye for building teams that make him as great as any coach, ever.

 

But after the opener he was called Belicheat. He was labeled Darth Vader. He was fined half a million dollars by the league.

 

It was a direct attack. From fans, players, the media, the "experts in the league office." So he reacted, it seems obvious, as he tends to react in such situations.

 

You want Bill Belichick to follow the rules? Fine. It's within the rules to hang half a hundred on Washington. It's within the rules to go for it on fourth and one, up 38, to blitz with four minutes left leading 52-0, to throw it deep, even in the fourth quarter.

 

"Just out there playing," Belichick said Sunday. "Just out there playing."

 

Just wearing what you said.

 

AGAINST THE GRAIN

 

Part of what makes Belichick great is the anger and attention he'll direct at things that other coaches will just shrug off as unimportant, that burning desire to show everyone that his way is the best way.

 

The list is lengthy, his reactions as humorous as they are obvious.

 

He hates the concept of the NFL's injury list policy, a relatively useless endeavor that requires the coach to predict health. Doubtful? Questionable?

 

So for 70 consecutive game weeks, Belichick has listed Tom Brady on the injury report as "probable" due to a "right shoulder" injury. Seventy consecutive weeks and Brady hasn't missed a single game. Seventy consecutive weeks of mocking the league.

 

He isn’t much for the league office, be it their rule clarifications or scheduling decisions or whatever. Mention any of those and he'll mutter in a monotone dripping with disdain to ask the league since they're the "football experts." That goes double for the opinions of players turned network media stars.

 

Then there is the semi-bizarre stuff. There are reports that Belichick is the only NFL head coach who doesn't appear in the Madden video games (it reads "NE Coach" instead) because he alone refuses to join "NFL Head Coaches Association" which markets their likenesses.

 

Why leave money on the table? Who knows with a guy who is as serious as a heart attack in public only to profess a love of "The Jerky Boys."

 

But the big scores and the unapologetic play calling and "who me?" act since the Jets game, while to some just as entertaining as his other flare-ups, is far more public and personal.

 

The Patriots are running up the score. It's obvious. The debate over whether that is right or wrong hardly matters. (Personally: this is the NFL, not Pop Warner, deal with it).

 

The consequence – intended or unintended – is a change in the entire dynamic of expectations; the focus, in so many ways, of the season.

 

The question now isn't whether Belichick can win a fourth Super Bowl, but whether he can even be slowed down. It isn't whether he is capable of hard-driving the Patriots into history as the greatest of all time – hurt feelings, be damned – but whether anyone, starting with the Colts, can keep them from going 19-0.

 

Belichick has gone all in on the season, made the stakes clear. You wear the hoodie and you don't need it to become a big seller to make your point. You call the plays the way you've called them, after what's went down in the Meadowlands, and anything less than a Super Bowl would be a crushing and embarrassing outcome for Belichick.

 

It's what he wanted: The chance to show them, to shut them all up with his team's historically powerful play. It's what he got.

 

Because passive aggressive is, at its heart, aggressive. Like throwing to Randy Moss when you're up five touchdowns.

[T R U]

Hooray!

 

After his first two kick return touchdowns were called back, Ginn takes a punt back against the Eagles.. and whats even better is that they finally put Beck in and hes getting the ball to Ginn as a receiver too, something Lemon and Green weren't doing.

[CWSGuy406]

Yeah Ced! Yeah Sex Cannon! Yeah G-Reg!

Edited November 18, 2007 by CWSGuy406

[MurcieOne]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

Cedric Benson Channeling Ricky Williams!!!!!!! RAN BY SOMEONE!

[Brian]

If they call no FG for Cleveland on that, the Browns should riot! Oddest FG ever!