NFL 2012 NFL - Week 9

[GreyWind]

You are drunk or high right? Arizona is no threat.

Have you seen our O-Line lately? My grandmother could get pressure on Rodgers with the way they are blocking at the moment. Plus without Jennings and Nelson we don't have any legitimate receiver, Jones and Cobb are number 2s max and Finely is wildly inconsistent.

 

[Exe Gesis]

The game against the Jaguars highlighted what Nato_Dog is saying/fearing next week vs Cardinals.

This is the Jaguars, btw!

Cardinals, after starting 4-0 are now 0-4, and around the same competency as the Jaguars at the moment, but they do have more weapons on O and D than the Jaguars and 'could' scare/beat the Packers in their current status.

 

[catters078]

Does anyone think the Dolphins could bite the bullet on Dwayne Bowe?

They could use another upgrade at receiver. I like most of Miamis team, obviously their QB is an unproven rookie, but they have a good defense and good O line, even a decent running game.

i think they are a big chance at a wild card spot.

 

[Dagless]

Does anyone think the Dolphins could bite the bullet on Dwayne Bowe?

They could use another upgrade at receiver. I like most of Miamis team, obviously their QB is an unproven rookie, but they have a good defense and good O line, even a decent running game.

i think they are a big chance at a wild card spot.

They SHOULD if they can get him for a 3rd.

 

[hayes]

Saints are actually an example of idiotic GM'ing/HC'ing.

They have 50 million RBs in their 53, but are passing the ball consistently like 75% of snaps, because Brees is a stat-whore, and they're struggling. Rodgers having a down year too. And in both cases it's clear that defenses can focus so much on defending the pass and rushing the passer, making those teams more one-dimensional. For all the 'passing-league' talk, smart teams know they need to still run 40-50% of the time to keep the defenses honest.

Especially highlights to me how in these softer receiving/passing rules, and being one-dimensional, these elite modern QBs can't hold a torch to Dan Marino...Dolphins entirely one-dimensional in an era that was a bit harder in terms of passing/receiving rules.

Or maybe because we've been down so much we need to play catch up. I can think of at least 3 games this year where we've been down 2-3 touchdowns so we're not going to do much running. We had all these running backs last year and were almost top 5 in rushing so IMO it's too easy to say we're passing too much because we've shown we're more than happy to run the ball. Not going to deny we seem to like stats, but that's not the reason we're passing so much.

 

[entourage]

Anyone read this about the 49ers?

Quite pathetic IMO, why should they be worried about this stuff? This is exactly the kind of thing I admired about the Smith and the 49ers, it was never about records/stats etc. just wins. Looks like lateral to me anyway, although the angle is hard to tell. You could probably do this in every game if you wanted to get nit-picky.

 

[Dagless]

Anyone read this about the 49ers?

Quite pathetic IMO, why should they be worried about this stuff? This is exactly the kind of thing I admired about the Smith and the 49ers, it was never about records/stats etc. just wins. Looks like lateral to me anyway, although the angle is hard to tell. You could probably do this in every game if you wanted to get nit-picky.

Clearly a lateral.

 

[Brasher]

Week 9 Predictions

Kansas City at San Diego I’m taking next week off from work to attend the Spring Racing Carnival. This Thursday night matchup is excellent news in that regard as it ensures I will be able to focus on getting all my work done on Friday before I leave for the week. No risk of having GamePass running in the background at work. Not sure what was worse for the Chiefs last weekend, losing to a divisional rival or having no clear standout draft eligible QB worthy of their likely very high first round draft pick.

Arizona at Green Bay The Cards have followed a 4-0 start with an 0-4 record over the last month. You really don’t have to look too hard to see why, they have no running game, but then again it could be the unsettled situation at QB, but some point to the injuries and inexperience on the offensive line. I don’t know, if their recent MNF outing was any indication, I think it had more to do with they couldn’t tackle a damn. Packers win this provided Rodgers can find someone to throw to.

Baltimore at Cleveland Is it possible that that new Browns have the more dominating defense than the old Browns? Cleveland has now won two games by scoring less than 10 points which brings their season total of wins to…..two. I look forward to seeing how good Flacco is now without his big brother defense protecting him in the schoolyard, if he is truly elite, now is the time to step up and show us.

Buffalo at Houston Welcome Home Mario Williams will be the byline, but “Mario Who?” will be the headline. Ex-players tend to reserve their best performances for their former teams so Williams faces a no win game here. He will either show up and the critics will ask where that has been all season or he will continue to underperform and the Texans will feel vindicated. Fresh off their thumping of the Ravens and a bye week this week’s matchup pits every strength of the Texans against the most blaring Bills weaknesses which is basically everthing. This game is an example of despite all the efforts of the league to bring parity, a club still needs to be smart to win.

Carolina at Washington Superman v RGIII with neither team having anything better than average passing defenses should ensure that there are lots of nice highlights to show on SportCenter. Not really sure how to pick this one yet, by the time the game starts the Panthers may have traded away two of their offensive stalwarts. On the other side of the ball I hope the lick that Steeler safety put on RGIII will not only convince the Hogs coaching staff to think twice about calling that play again but also rip that page out of the playbook immediately.

Chicago at Tennessee I don’t take much from the Titans loss to the Colts last week, regardless of form, this team never beats Indie. The most perplexing question for me is how the Bears can keep racking up all the yards on offense but are still requiring their defense to not only force turnovers but score as well to win. This is a formula that worked on the way to their most recent Super Bowl run, but a team can’t rely, as the 49ers found out last post season, on defensive turnovers to win matches all the time.

Denver at Cincinnati Have you seen the schedule the Broncos have for the remainder of the season? Other than a beat up Ravens outfit I don’t think they play any team that will likely feature in the playoffs. When I compare the schedules of Manning the Snr’s two off-season suitors I sort of understand more and more now why he chose the Broncos over the 49ers. Not a dumb man that Peyton. Get ready for the Manning Bowl hype around early December if both teams, as expected, continue to win in November.

Detroit at Jacksonville If Detroit do not make a play for one of the running backs being presented for trade this week then it is clear that they have no intention of running the ball again, ever. Watching the Lions play it appears that have built a game plan around not planning at all. This is a club to me that the sum of the team is definitely less than the sum of the parts.

Miami at Indianapolis Could the Colts make the playoffs? Well they do play in the AFC which is a good start. I’m trying to work out how they are 4-3 and two of their loses were to the Jets and Jags. I’m trying to work out how they are so competitive after being so cover your eyes awful last year. Andrew Luck only plays one position right? Nonetheless, I really like what the Phins are building despite being criticized for whiffing on a number of off-season moves.

Tampa Bay at Oakland The Raiders are another team from the AFC that is a game below .500 but still very much mathematically in the divisional race. In this Super Bowl XXXVII rematch, form suggests that the Bucs, who have developed one of the most potent passing games in the league this year, should do well. Then again, the Bucs, who have the most temperamental body clocks in all of football are just as likely to put in another West Coast stinker.

Minnesota at Seattle Excluding the 49ers the rest of the NFC West is on an 0-9 losing streak putting to an end to any arguments about the best division in football. It was a lose last week that the Vikes couldn’t afford with the Packers now drawing level. With the West in decline, no one challenging the Falcons, the East a shambles and Vikings only hope of reaching the post-season maybe if the NFC North sends three teams to the playoffs.

Pittsburgh at New York Giants I wonder if Woodson is going to add the Pittsburgh Wasps uniform to his Steelers Shrine. Man that think is throw up in your mouth ugly. The Giants are winning way too many games at the moment and this doesn’t bode well for another Super Bowl run. They will need to drop this one to keep their NFC East rivals in the race and to ensure when flex scheduling kicks in we get plenty of “crunch” divisional matchups on prime time down the stretch.

Dallas at Atlanta The Falcons put together their most complete performance of the season against the Eagles last week. Not bad at all for a dome team playing in the shadow of Super Storm Sandy. Now they get to host the storm that is the Dallas Cowboys. Rumors are brewing that Garrett is on the hot seat, Romo might not get his contract extension and Bryant might have his day release rights revoked. All well and good if a clean of house is in order but who is going to sack the GM, the reason for all these poor personnel decisions in the first place?

Philadelphia at New Orleans Looks like it might be Mike Vick’s turn to have his torch extinguished on Eagle Island (Coach Reid was last seen heading off into the wilderness in search of an Immunity Token). In the NFC South the magic number for the Saints is now 5. At this point last year, 5 was the number of wins needed by the Saints to win the division, this year it the combination of Falcons wins and Saints loses before they are mathematically eliminated from winning the South.

 

[monty1104]

Looking forward to Broncos @ Bengals this week. Been paying more attention to the Broncos this year after seeing them live on New Years Day this year. They are great fun to watch. Mcgahee is having a great year, Thomas and Dekker are in form and I love to see Dumervil and Miller on defense, they are so aggressive, would fit in well at the Bears.

 

[Dagless]

With Nate Kaedings release btw, the only players left in the Eli/Rivers trade are... Eli/Rivers...

 

[DaSawx]

Bears O hasn't been great last couple of weeks needs to step up.

Although Cutler has a 130 something QB rating in the 4th quarter, a promising stat, need more consistency.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Week 9 Predictions

Kansas City at San Diego I’m taking next week off from work to attend the Spring Racing Carnival. This Thursday night matchup is excellent news in that regard as it ensures I will be able to focus on getting all my work done on Friday before I leave for the week. No risk of having GamePass running in the background at work. Not sure what was worse for the Chiefs last weekend, losing to a divisional rival or having no clear standout draft eligible QB worthy of their likely very high first round draft pick.

So then I'm not the only one not fussed about Thursday night football this week, then.

 

[ausbacker]

Looking forward to watching the Steelers-Giants match up. That has the potential to be a slug fest (in both fashions).

 

[Sven]

Week 9 Predictions

....
Buffalo at Houston Welcome Home Mario Williams will be the byline, but “Mario Who?” will be the headline. Ex-players tend to reserve their best performances for their former teams so Williams faces a no win game here. He will either show up and the critics will ask where that has been all season or he will continue to underperform and the Texans will feel vindicated. Fresh off their thumping of the Ravens and a bye week this week’s matchup pits every strength of the Texans against the most blaring Bills weaknesses which is basically everthing. This game is an example of despite all the efforts of the league to bring parity, a club still needs to be smart to win.

.....

This game could end up being a throwback to the 60s and feature Houston consistently running the ball on just about every down. It may not be sexy football, but Arian Foster will feature heavily. If Chris Johnson can get 195 yards on 18 carries against the Bills I shudder to think what Foster will do.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

The game against the Jaguars highlighted what Nato_Dog is saying/fearing next week vs Cardinals.

This is the Jaguars, btw!

Cardinals, after starting 4-0 are now 0-4, and around the same competency as the Jaguars at the moment, but they do have more weapons on O and D than the Jaguars and 'could' scare/beat the Packers in their current status.

It's time for a Patrick Peterson return TD. That guy is absolutely electric.

 

[Special Agent Utah]

Danger game for the Packers, we need Jordy Nelson back otherwise we will lose this one. Much rather go into the bye 6-3 than 5-4 considering how hard it will be to get a playoff spot in a stacked NFC conference.

Did you watch Arizona last week? They were very poor, I would be quietly confident you will get the job done easily!

I am in the minority but sometimes I like watching some lower ranked teams on TNF. This week being one of them.

 

[Exe Gesis]

I actually prefer watching two 'lowly' teams against each other rather than two marquee teams against each other.

Generally, there's more trickery, more mayhem.

 

[Brasher]

I actually prefer watching two 'lowly' teams against each other rather than two marquee teams against each other.

Generally, there's more trickery, more mayhem.

Yep, sometime so much trickery even the players involved don't know what's going on.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Yep, sometime so much trickery even the players involved don't know what's going on.

Lol.

It makes it more interesting viewing. Those Brady vs manning type games can be an arena-like bore. When players struggle with the elements, a strong defense, and yes, themselves, it brings to the fore the x&o depth of the game, for the viewer, and also shows how difficult it is. As well as being riveting viewing like a car crash.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Lol.

It makes it more interesting viewing. Those Brady vs manning type games can be an arena-like bore. When players struggle with the elements, a strong defense, and yes, themselves, it brings to the fore the x&o depth of the game, for the viewer, and also shows how difficult it is. As well as being riveting viewing like a car crash.

Agreed.

I still stand by the thought that the following game is my 2nd favourite regular season nfl match:
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/20071...s@steelers?icampaign=GC_schedule_rr#tab=recap

What were your thoguhts Woodson on that match?

 

[ausbacker]

Aqib Talib come on down. Patriots secure Talib for a 2013 4th round pick. Any secondary help at this point is welcomed.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Hopefully for the Patriots' sake, Belichick has a better result in picking up other franchises' damaged goods, after Ochocinco and Haynesworth flamed out in the last 12 months.

Yeah, yeah, I know the Jets have Holmes on its roster, as well as Kenrick Ellis, and we're last in the AFC East at present, but give me something, please!

 

[entourage]

Risk well worth taking, I don't care if he's a bust and gets arrested next week, it would be negligent not to give just about anything a try the way our secondary is playing.
Besides Ocho was a bust in terms of playing ability and catching on with the O, it had nothing to do with off-field behaviour or endeavour. Haynesworth was a lazy slob, I'll grant you that one!

 

[Special Agent Utah]

Dear me.

Another turn over from Kansas cost them a chance for a field goal on opening drive.

 

[Broken]

I hope I am wrong, but I have a feeling this Chargers-Chiefs game is going to be one of those emphatic Chargers victories that Norv Turner seems to get out of his team everytime he is under the pump.