The 2008-09 National Football League Thread

[zuke583]

all the pats had to was win ONE game against a good team (or sweep the jets or dolphins) this season and they didn\'t. they really don\'t deserve to be in the playoffs

[booztravlr]

Cheifs blew it yesterday, but then again, they have pretty much blown their whole season.

Lots of tough breaks for the Chiefs this year but they have a lot of build on for next season. Add in another WR, among other things, and they\'ll be able to compete in a weak AFC West. Hopefully they\'ll make the playoffs one more time before Gonzalez retires.

Could have sworn you were a Colts fan last year.  What happened?

Just because I\'m a Colts fan doesn\'t mean I don\'t have anything positive to say about other teams. You should try it some time.



I\'m probably biased but I think they need to tweak the current playoff format. The Colts are the 2nd ranked team in the AFC (head to head tiebreaker against the Steelers) but can do no better than the 5 seed since the Titans are the 1 seed. The Colts (12-4) have to play a road game in the first round at San Diego (8-8) because of this. Besides the fact the Chargers have a far worse record, the Colts have already beaten them in San Diego this season. To reward an 8-8 team a home game just because they won their division (a very weak one, obviously) doesn\'t seen justified. I understand rewarding the top 2 divisional winners with bye weeks but the 3-6 seeds should be determined based on record, head to head, common opponents or something other than just winning your division. The only thing you should earn by winning your division is a playoff spot, not a guaranteed home game. The same problem happened last year when the Jaguars had to travel to Pittsburgh for the first round while having a better record and having already won a game there earlier in the season.

[wildcoyote]

The only thing you should earn by winning your division is a playoff spot, not a guaranteed home game. The same problem happened last year when the Jaguars had to travel to Pittsburgh for the first round while having a better record and having already won a game there earlier in the season.

^ Yes

Also heard on the radio that Tom Brady\'s surgery is not healing well.  He may miss 2009 as well.  I think I remember back when he had it the Pats were annoyed that he used his own dr. instead of the teams.  Is this right Pats fans?

And how about David Carr and the Giants JV\'s looking sharp against a Minnesota team that was playing for it\'s season.

[Drew_Kingsley]

Next year, get Brady back, trade Cassel to the Lions for the #1 pick, get two defensive players with picks 1 and 18 and it\'s back to the Super Bowl in no time.

Unfortunately for this little scheme, Cassel is an unrestricted free agent, so he would have to SIGN with the Patriots before he was traded... which he would be stupid to do if Brady is coming back (which is questionable). Unless the Pats pull a scumbag (but not uncharacteristic) move and sign Cassel as the "starter", only to then reveal that Brady will be back in 2009.

I agree that the 11-5 Pats caught some hard luck, but the fact is that only one team with a worse record than New England is in the AFC Playoffs: a Chargers\' team that beat New England by 20 points.

Times like this make me wish that I was a bit more of a die-hard as an Eagles fan. The Cowboys are like Bart Simpson in the episode where he runs for class president, but loses because everybody forgets to vote. The consensus team to beat this season misses the playoffs after forgetting to show up for the last game of the season.

Predictions to be proven wrong about 10 minutes into the first round...

AFC Wild Card
Dolphins d. Ravens
Colts d. Chargers

NFC Wild Card
Falcons d. Cardinals
Eagles d. Vikings

AFC Divisional
Colts d. Titans
Steelers d. Dolphins

NFC Divisional
Giants d. Eagles (edit: I thought about picking the Giants to lose, but picking my team to beat them felt too much like a homer move)
Panthers d. Falcons

AFC Championship
Colts d. Steelers

NFC Championship
Panthers d. Giants

Super Bowl XLIII
Colts d. Panthers

[ChrisPitch]

Romeo fired. Mangini fired. Neither a surprise. I mean, the Jets totally collapsed and I scored more than the Browns did this season.

Anyway, on the one hand, the Patriots really did have a solid season by going 11-5 without their QB. On the other hand, any disappointment endured by a fan of a team from Massachusetts is fine by me. And you\'re right zuke: they lost to the Colts, they lost to the Steelers, they lost to the Chargers, they lost to the Dolphins, they lost to teams that made the playoffs. They weren\'t on their level and don\'t deserve to compete against them in January.

The Patriots also lost to one them that didn\'t make the playoffs in the Jets and I sure ain\'t shedding any tears for them today (or Dallas) because if I\'ve definitely had enough of looking at and hearing about Brett Favre and Tony Romo. Good riddance to the further and good for Chad Pennington, who nobody, including me, thought would not only lead his team to a division title, but also put himself in talks for the MVP, though I think it\'s gotta go to Peyton.

Super Bowl prediction: Steelers over Panthers

This week\'s predicted winners: Cardinals, Colts, Dolphins, Eagles

[Wolfman]

A week of playoffs go by and there are nothing but crickets in the NFL thread.  Kinda makes you wish for last year, doesn\'t it?

[tyzack]

Saint Lious Cardinals of Arizona won...as did the Eagles, GO BIRDS!

[Drew_Kingsley]

I was 1-for-4 in my picks this week, with my eventual Super Bowl Champion Colts losing at the hands of the referees (and the Chargers). So long as their interests don\'t interfere with those of my Eagles, I am officially on the Ravens\' bandwagon.

[Rujah]

A week of playoffs go by and there are nothing but crickets in the NFL thread.  Kinda makes you wish for last year, doesn\'t it?

Not really . . .

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a9W0jlsF51E/SWbiavWqQGI/AAAAAAAAAHA/fC-rVh0iENQ/s1600-h/bill-belichick-oklahoma-florida.jpg">http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a9W0jlsF51E/SWbiavWqQGI/AAAAAAAAAHA/fC-rVh0iENQ/s400/bill-belichick-oklahoma-florida.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289163761409212514" border="0" />

[Drew_Kingsley]

Is that Bill Belichick looking excited, like he\'s NEVER BEEN ON TV BEFORE?

[zuke583]

I was 1-for-4 in my picks this week, with my eventual Super Bowl Champion Colts losing at the hands of the referees (and the Chargers). So long as their interests don\'t interfere with those of my Eagles, I am officially on the Ravens\' bandwagon.

I\'m surprised you found some room on the bandwagon.  I can\'t believe the Ravens are getting so much love...their defense is very good, but I know I wouldn\'t trust any rookie QB playing at the #1 defense in the league in the playoffs.  Last I heard, the line was TEN -3.  Are these teams really even?  The Titans, while not completely dominant (see: game vs. Jets), were still a very good team...nice running attack, experience QB, best D in the league, great coach. Don\'t forget they beat PIT by 17 in a meaningful game. If I were a betting man, I\'d take TEN (-3) in a heartbeat.

I also like:
ARI (+10)
NYG (-4)
SD (+6)

[NickNels]

Here\'s the move:

3-way tease

-Take Carolina str8 up
-Take the over teased down to 38.5 (Carolina/Arizona)
and
-Take Baltimore teasing the line to 13

[zuke583]

::fires up bodog account::

Here\'s the move:

3-way tease

-Take Carolina str8 up
-Take the over teased down to 38.5 (Carolina/Arizona)
and
-Take Baltimore teasing the line to 13

what kind of odds does that give you?

[NickNels]

even money

[wildcoyote]

Here\'s the move:

3-way tease

-Take Carolina str8 up
-Take the over teased down to 38.5 (Carolina/Arizona)
and
-Take Baltimore teasing the line to 13

Your bookie must get excited when you call.