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Post by cwdlaw223 on Sept 28, 2012 5:52:42 GMT -5
I never thought I would say this, but maybe there is too much parity in the NFL. I like two or three dominant teams that can be beat, not no dominant teams and everyone loses. Cardinals looked horrible in the preseason and look like champs. Seattle is the real deal. Even the Browns are no joke. WTF? Going to be crazier this year than ever before.
I'll take the 49ers vs. Falcons in the NFC championship game. I don't follow AFC teams that much.
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Post by Richie3Jack on Sept 28, 2012 7:47:19 GMT -5
I don't care that much if there is one or two dominant teams. I care more about if there is a lot of good, crisp football being played. Right now there's not. Nobody runs the ball overly well and I think teams have figured out how to stop NE's and GB's spread them out passing attacks.
I do get a kick out of watching Seattle. They have a legitimately great and old school secondary. Each player in the secondary can cover and make killer hits, but they are good form tacklers as well.
3JACK
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Post by kamandi on Sept 28, 2012 10:07:48 GMT -5
What's cool about the NFL is that offenses and defenses just keep adapting to each other.
Against Seattle, Rodgers was under a ton of pressure, and he couldn't find much open receivers. Before the season started, I would've expected the Packers to roll over the Seahawks for 35 points, easy.
A current trend seems to be the pass-rushing specialist who isn't an every down player. That's how Seattle uses Irvin, and the Bears use McClellin.
DBs seem to have more value now. It's like it's more important to stop the pass than it is to stop the run, when before, it was the opposite ... if you can't stop the run, you have no defense.
I also notice OLs are usually losing the battle to DLs.
Maybe the RBs will have renewed importance this season.
Richie, I'm thinking the restraints put on contact in practices due to the new CBA is getting teams off to a slow start with rushing and tackling.
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Post by kamandi on Sept 28, 2012 10:17:43 GMT -5
I never thought I would say this, but maybe there is too much parity in the NFL. I like two or three dominant teams that can be beat, not no dominant teams and everyone loses. Cardinals looked horrible in the preseason and look like champs. Seattle is the real deal. Even the Browns are no joke. WTF? Going to be crazier this year than ever before. I'll take the 49ers vs. Falcons in the NFC championship game. I don't follow AFC teams that much. I like the parity; as long as a team has the right GM, they will become a contender. Too bad for the Lions and Raiders, it took a long time for them to learn this.  |
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Post by cwdlaw223 on Sept 28, 2012 12:01:07 GMT -5
I'm not sure the Lions make the playoffs this year. Their defense doesn't look a contender right now. I'm amazed how Belichick is always ahead of the curve (even though his players don't always execute). If you don't change from one year to the next you will not make the playoffs because defenses can stop your patterns through better execution. The rule changes regarding receivers has changed everything in the NFL. I kind of miss the running game being more dominant throughout the league.
The pass sets up the run because the rules changed (and linebackers has the biggest size/speed change over the past 20-30 years IMO).
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Post by Richie3Jack on Sept 28, 2012 12:27:09 GMT -5
Richie, I'm thinking the restraints put on contact in practices due to the new CBA is getting teams off to a slow start with rushing and tackling. I agree. Although a few years ago everybody was trying to make highlight reels with crushing hits. Now that those get fined and possibly suspended, we see a lot of crap. I love the overall concept of the NFL. It's situated where the teams that make the best organizational decisions and have the best coaching typically win. Sometimes teams can get lucky, but it's those teams who consistently make good decisions that are successful. 3JACK |
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Post by kamandi on Sept 28, 2012 23:26:55 GMT -5
Bellichick is a genius coach, but he doesn't have a great coaching tree under him; all his assistants have failed as head coaches ... well, one of them is getting a 2nd chance with the Chiefs.
I think his lasting influence in the NFL will be his system of scouting, which has either developed or influenced some current GMs. I believe Pioli, Dimitroff, and Emery use Bellichick's scouting system.
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Post by cwdlaw223 on Sept 29, 2012 6:30:14 GMT -5
His assistants suck in the NFL. Bill O'Brien is a great college coach. Players love and trust him even the guys on the bench. I hope he stays at PSU. I bet Tom Brady misses him a little bit.
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Post by Richie3Jack on Sept 29, 2012 9:30:16 GMT -5
There's a book that has been out that shows a lot of in depth detail as to how SpyGate helped the Patriots tremendously. I've only read parts of it, but that's part of my theory as well. If I were to give Belichick credit for cheating in SpyGate, it's that he was able to use that success to create more success. He was able to convince teams that he, his coaches and players had this 'magic touch' and the 'Patriot way' and the rest of the league tried to copy the Patriots, pick up their players and hire their coaches because the NFL is a copycat league.
One look at Scott Pioli shows this. He was considered the boy genius of the NFL along with Belichick. He then goes to Kansas City and has been a miserable failure, only accruing one winning season in his term as GM.
I think the thing with SpyGate is that it turns poor players into decent ones, decent players into good players and good players into great ones. I just don't think it quite won games automatically for the Patriots, but gave them enough of an advantage to be great and by the time it was uncovered, Brady was legitimately a great QB. And I think part of that was due to SpyGate developing Brady's confidence, which I think is one of the most important facets of developing a franchise QB in the league.
3JACK
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Post by kamandi on Sept 29, 2012 11:42:29 GMT -5
Spygate definitely gave the Pats an unfair advantage. There are rumors that the Rams walkthrough before the Superbowl was taped by the Pats. To me, the Pats' and Saints' Superbowls are tainted, because they didn't play football in the modern spirit of the game. Imagine playing golf with someone willing to cheat in order to win, LOL! I think Pioli's biggest mistake was hiring Haley, then buying into the Matt Cassel hype; other than that, I think the Chiefs have done an excellent job drafting skill players on offense and defense. I think if it was the Chiefs, instead of the 49ers, who got Harbaugh, he'd make this team good. He works well with game manager QBs. |
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Post by Richie3Jack on Sept 30, 2012 22:40:13 GMT -5
2-1-1 this week with only the Jags not covering against the Bengals and then the G-Men losing in a thriller, but it was a push as the Eagles were 2-point favorites.
3JACK
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Post by cwdlaw223 on Oct 1, 2012 8:16:10 GMT -5
Richie -
Now that the Eagles are 3-1 and have effectively won the Super Bowl. Will you please admit that might have the best team EVER in the history of football.
BTW - One thing I've learned overe the years about internet posting is that you can make up facts out of thin air. I've decided that it's time for me to do the same about my beloved/pathetic Eagles.
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Post by kamandi on Oct 1, 2012 10:41:54 GMT -5
Wow, anyone who hasn't seen RGIII in the NFL must watch him.
His composure under pressure is ridiculous. Watch how he plays a regular down early in the game, and a big down late in the game ... he plays it the same way, with slow, deliberate, and efficient motion. He's always in balance, and all his steps are always measured. It's like he can blank out how big a moment is, and just focus purely on perfect execution.
He's makes passes into tight windows, but he knows how to protect the ball. He rarely gets rushed into a bad decision, even when his protection fails.
Through 4 games, he's got 4 passing TDs and 1 INT, plus 4 rushing TDs, with QB ratings of 140, 86, 90, and 102.
And to think, it's only now in the NFL that he has a playbook; he's never had one in highschool and college.
That's insane!
He's already proving he's easily worth the high draft picks the Redskins gave up to get him.
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Post by kamandi on Oct 1, 2012 11:09:25 GMT -5
Wow, just found out that during RGIII's game winning drive at Tampa, his headset mysteriously "went out", and .... he called his own play that got the Redskins to comfortable FG range. Ridiculous! |
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Post by Richie3Jack on Oct 1, 2012 11:19:14 GMT -5
I know this sounds weird, but the most impressive part of watching RGIII is his ball handling. He has a little bit of a weird throwing motion, but he can get the ball out of his hands on WR and Bubble screens extremely quick and throw it accurately. He doesn't quite wow me on those throws that an Eli or Brady will make, looking off a safety, firing it thru a seam. But, he's really great at play fakes and little nuances that throw off the defense.
That being said, I think defenses will start to catch on at the end of the year, particularly with their pistol formation and QB's simply cannot run as much as he does in a 16-game NFL season and not at least wear down.
3JACK
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