The NFL '08 Thread

[JohnO]

"Who would've thought that the Dolphins & Jets would be WAY ahead of the Chargers?"

Dunno...but anyone familiar with Norv Turner can't be too shocked!

[angelina]

LOL JohnO....so true.

[Billy]

Who would have thought the Packers would be back in first? Playing the way they did Sunday shows me that this team can win the division.

[JohnO]

Could be wrong, but I believe 9-7 will win that Division, and possibly 8-8.

[blackhawkpat]

Looking for a guy to root for? How about Denver's Spencer Larsen? The Broncos have been decimated by injuries, especially in the backfield, this season, so Larsen, a rookie fullback by trade, offered to play linebacker this week in the team's 24-20 victory over the Falcons. Not only did he start at linebacker, but he made seven tackles! Larsen became the first NFL player in almost fifty years to start a game both on offense and defense AND he also started on special teams! Now, THAT's an effort! Maybe Brian Urlacher can send him some of that money he isn't earning.

[angelina]

Could root for Chad pennington. I ALWAYS loved this guy with the Jets. He didn't have the strongest arm in the world...but was a very smart leader. It was dreadful when he was hurt and limping off the field..the NY Jet fans cheered his injury.

He is reborn in Miami...and I couldn't be happier.....until he plays the Jets...then I want him to throw five interceptions.

John

[Tony Cartmill]

I thought they chased him out of NY because he was so fragile...

[angelina]

He didn't get hurt too often. But his arm was shot! Good heavens though.....his passer rating hovers around 92...and he is a gamer.

[LC]

Looking for a guy to root for? How about Denver's Spencer Larsen? The Broncos have been decimated by injuries, especially in the backfield, this season, so Larsen, a rookie fullback by trade, offered to play linebacker this week in the team's 24-20 victory over the Falcons. Not only did he start at linebacker, but he made seven tackles! Larsen became the first NFL player in almost fifty years to start a game both on offense and defense AND he also started on special teams! Now, THAT's an effort! Maybe Brian Urlacher can send him some of that money he isn't earning.

Good call, Pat. I didn't know that --- but you've gotta love it. Reminds me of Troy Brown of the Patriots, who was honored at halftime of the Jets/NE game last week. He did double-duty as a DB late in his career to fill in for injuries. Tough guy....

Good call on Pennington, too. He got shoved out of NY but landed on his feet and has been GREAT. Good for him (although I hope he doesn't beat the Jets later this year!).

I think JohnO's right: a 9-7 record will win the NFC North. The Packers should be able to get to that mark. (Anything less than a playoff team should result in a public lynching of President Mark Murphy, GM Ted Thompson and Coach Mike McCarthy, a.k.a. The Three Stooges.) The Packers' running game will be the key, and Ryan Grant has been great lately. He held out, reported to camp late, got off to a slow start, but now he's coming on.

Of course, the Giants are the team to beat. That team is... imposing.

[angelina]

Another stout weekend for football. Oklahoma vs Texas Tech.........and the Titans against my Jets.

Go Brett!

John

[hollies65]

Texas Tech is my pick. I'm rooting for the Jets big time this week.

[angelina]

I won't be able to catch the Oklahoma/Tech game til about the half. Should be a free-wheeling, high-scoring event. Whereas the Titans/Jets game will probably be a very physical, low-scoring grindout.

[elle4ec]

Congratulations LC, and all you Jets' fans on their big win today!

Of course, I must give some accolades to my Cowboys this week also!! I'll admit there for a few weeks me and T.O. were saying... "Rom(e)o, Rom(e)o, Wherefore art thou, Rom(e)o?" I'm happy to say that my Rom(e)o has returned, and it is a "Love Story" once again for JELLEiet!!

For another "Love Story" update, see my post on "Come Around And See Me".

[angelina]

Congrats on your 'Boys elle. I guess Jessica Simpson wasn't in Dallas? Looks like T.O. is back.

BTW..my J-E-T-S are rolling along. I can't stand to watch it!

Next week Denver!

John

[hollies65]

Well, with the Browns in the toilet...The Jets are my team this year.

[LC]

Congratulations LC, and all you Jets' fans on their big win today!

Of course, I must give some accolades to my Cowboys this week also!! I'll admit there for a few weeks me and T.O. were saying... "Rom(e)o, Rom(e)o, Wherefore art thou, Rom(e)o?" I'm happy to say that my Rom(e)o has returned, and it is a "Love Story" once again for JELLEiet!!

For another "Love Story" update, see my post on "Come Around And See Me".

Thank you, Elle! What a game! Anyone who doubted Brett Favre is finding out that he's still got it.

When he first got traded, I was worried that he was going from a top-notch team (the Pack) to a mediocre one, but the more I read about the Jets during the preseason, the more excited I got about 'em.... And they are as advertised: Coles, Cotchery, the rookie tight end Keller, TJones, Washington, and most important, that beefy offensive line with four former #1 pick. Then there's the tough front seven on defense.... The question was, could they "get it together" quickly? After a 2-3 start, they indeed have it all together. They looked great today... and last week against New England.

Congrats on the Cowboys' return to prominence. TO really walked the walk today, didn't he? After saying that the team could win big games only if they got the ball into his hands, he had a 199-yard, 2-TD day. Like you say, the key was your boy Romeo.... He's fun to watch. More than one announcer has called him a "young Favre."

Best,

LC

[Raspyrock]

Heard a sportscaster call the team the N.Y. Bretts.

[angelina]

LC is correct. The big difference for tne NY Bretts has been the "O" line. Th defense has been stout as well!

John

[Steeler Deb]

Hooray for Chad and the Dolphins! They played great today!

[LC]

Elle, you and I are hurting today, aren't we? After our jubilant posts of just one month ago, Brett Favre and the Jets stalled, and your Cowboys got lassoed. It sucks to have your team come apart at the seams, doesn't it?

Well, hang in there.... At least Romo will be back many more years. This was Favre's curtain call, and it didn't end the way I hoped....

PA Steeler Fan... Yes, Chad & the Fins looked great. What a turnaround. The musical-chair-QB thing that started with Favre turned out great for Chad. Just a year ago, fans in NY actually cheered in Week 1 while he lay on the ground after getting injured! Now he got the ultimate revenge.

[Billy]

LC, I thought you were a Packer fan? Did you just give up on them because of one losing season or is it Brett first and the team second?

It's time for Brett to hang it up, with Mangini gone I can't see the Jets bringing in a new coaching staff and them want them having Brett around. He stunk it up in December and I don't think the organization is going to give him months to think about what he wants to do.(again)I don't know if you get the same sports stations up in Mass that I get here in Connecticut, but I can tell you the people here are hammering Brett.

The "just retire" chants started in the third quarter. He never had to listen to that in Lambeau.

As for Dallas, I think it's pretty funny when they mention Romo in the same breath with a Favre or some of the greats. Win a game in December please before we start calling this guy the second coming.

[LC]

Billy, I've been a Packer fan -- fanatic -- since the late 1960s, just after the Lombardi dynasty ended. I suffered (as a kid) through the Scott Hunter and Jerry Tagge and John Hadl and David Whitehurst years.... And I've always been loyal to the Pack.

Yet I have a hard time with Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy. I know there are some who take their side and trash Favre, but I'm in the opposite camp. Aaron Rodgers put up great stats this year, but I thought -- on the heels of last year's near-SB appearance -- the best thing for the TEAM was to keep Favre one last year. The 4000 yards AR had were nice, but he had a 6-10 record as a starter... and two wins were vs. Detroit! If people want to hang the Jets' failures on Favre, then the Pack's record should hang on A-Rodg, too. And the fact is, Favre had one losing season during his 18 years.

I just thought GB gave up a golden opportunity to make another playoff run in Favre's final season. As badly as he played down the stretch (I do think the Jets were downplaying a shoulder injury he suffered in Week 5), face it: He would have had a much better season if he'd stayed put in. It was his (comfy) offense, his WRs, his O-line.

Yes, I know he retired, but I thought his contributions and service to the franchise merited some leeway to change his mind. I really thing Thompson and McCarthy pushed him out the door when he still felt he could play.

Whether you're pro- or anti-Favre, you have to admit: It became a big mess on Thompson's clock. A more astute and diplomatic and talented GM would have found a better resolution. Instead, there's a virtual civil war among Packer fans, and we ended up with an inferior product on the field. The Packers should have iced their division by Christmas.

I don't pay attention to longtime Jets fans so much. I understand they don't have an attachment to #4, and that they just want a Super Bowl (it's been 40 years!). Going from 4-12 to 9-7 wasn't enough of a turnaround. I was disappointed, too, because after an 8-3 start, a playoff spot was all but clinched, and they threw it away. And Favre was part of the problem. It just wasn't a good fit -- Favre in a Mangini offense. It didn't work for Pennington, either.

All that said, I'm glad Brett came back and provided at least a few thrills (the 6-TD game vs. Arizona, the clutch OT win over New England, the victory over the undefeated Titans). I think there would have been many more thrills, though, if he'd been allowed to stay in GB.

That's the long answer. The short answer is, I honestly couldn't get as excited about GB games this year... and I'm kind of sad about it. It's just a game....

[LC]

Billy, a PS:

AR had a GREAT year, stat-wise. But those Favre-bashers should face up to the fact that in the Packers' offense, certain stats are almost a given. Consider:

BF in 2007: 13-3 record, 28 TDs, 15 INTs, 66.5% comp., 4,155 yds, 7.8 yds/att

AR in 2008: 6-10 record, 28 TDs, 13 INTs, 63.6% comp., 4,038 yds, 7.5 yds/att

The troubling thing is, AR just doesn't know how to win games late. At least not yet. Flacco and Ryan prove that 1st-year starters can indeed WIN (they're rookies, too -- not longtime understudies!). This isn't to bash Rodgers. He clearly has talent. But there are intangibles (winning ones) that he hasn't shown. Favre would have turned that 6-10 record around. No doubt about it, IMHO.

[angelina]

Look at my post above from a mere five weeks ago. My NFL world has collapsed in a mere 35 days. Boohooo. The Jets unravelled faster than a Madoff ponzie scheme.

John

[JohnO]

I am curious about whether any other NFL coach will get fired after taking a 4-12 team to a 9-7 record.....AND if it's happened previously or recently, other than the San Diego Chargers/Schottenheimer fiasco after 2006...(when he took the Chargers from 9-7 to 14-2, a similar improvement), which was primarily a matter of personality clashes.