The NFL Thread

[big mean bunny]

I still think pre season is pointless though, example I will give is the pats the other evening. Tampa were barely even blitzing, teams will often disregard large parts of their playbook for fear of showing there hand of giving opponents too much opportunity to get footage of them, and teams are still no where near the 52 man rosters so most of the game time is still taken up by position battlers. I know that Raiders are being slammed for their defensive play but I read on a blog they are only running about 8 D-line packages similar to the way the pro bowl sides do.

I was talking about Spiller yeah by the way, will hold my hand up if I am wrong however I wouldn't back him being top rusher. I do like him, he reminds me of a much quicker Curtis Martin in that he is very good at being patient. However he didn't impress me as much as the likes of Chris Johnson did the other season and look what happened to him. Unlike Peterson I don't think he could take another 150 carries neither.

I think McCoy will be back this season for the Eagles, no idea why he appeared to be being so under used last year, also I think this will hopefully be the year people realise just how good Stephen Jackson is. His record for a quite frankly terrible Rams team reminds me of Corey Dillion, so hopefully he will have a similar effect to when he moved to the pats.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

When does the season start lads?
Any idea about tv coverage this year?

 

[big mean bunny]

not sure if I am honest on the coverage, I usually don't watch via sky as I can't stand the studio aspect of it, massively over patronising, I appreciate its a growing audience but similarly you have people who have followed the game for 20+ years now.

Its showing for SS on here for the Thursday games (still not a fan of that) and I do remember they signed a multi year deal to broadcast only last year so should be business as usual.

http://www.nfluk.com/tv-audio/schedule

 

[Toon Wolf]

I still think pre season is pointless though, example I will give is the pats the other evening. Tampa were barely even blitzing, teams will often disregard large parts of their playbook for fear of showing there hand of giving opponents too much opportunity to get footage of them, and teams are still no where near the 52 man rosters so most of the game time is still taken up by position battlers. I know that Raiders are being slammed for their defensive play but I read on a blog they are only running about 8 D-line packages similar to the way the pro bowl sides do.

I was talking about Spiller yeah by the way, will hold my hand up if I am wrong however I wouldn't back him being top rusher. I do like him, he reminds me of a much quicker Curtis Martin in that he is very good at being patient. However he didn't impress me as much as the likes of Chris Johnson did the other season and look what happened to him. Unlike Peterson I don't think he could take another 150 carries neither.

I think McCoy will be back this season for the Eagles, no idea why he appeared to be being so under used last year, also I think this will hopefully be the year people realise just how good Stephen Jackson is. His record for a quite frankly terrible Rams team reminds me of Corey Dillion, so hopefully he will have a similar effect to when he moved to the pats.

I understand what you're saying, and agree the results are meaningless. I do still believe though that how a team PERFORMS in preseason is somewhat indicative of how they will perform come the regular season. All teams are doing the same things, so if a team is able to run, pass and defend without gameplanning and with limited/vanilla playbooks there is a high correlation of that success translating to the regular season games. For years I've watched the Bills go out in preseason and look horrible. And that's how they've looked when the real bullets have started to fly. So seeing a Bills team that looks well prepared, well coached and has success in all phases of the game in preseason is a novelty to me! I think it translates to a team that may not be play-off contenders yet, but they will be competitive, especially if Manuel can seize the starting QB job once he's healthy.

As for Spiller, I don't see the Curtis Martin comparison, sorry. Martin was nowhere near as quick and elusive as CJ. The closest player I see Spiller compared to is Barry Sanders. The speed, the way he can make people miss with a move, the vision... He's an elite talent, no question. He may not be the number 1 back yards wise this season but I believe he'll be there or thereabouts, top 3 almost certainly barring injury. He's definitely a more complete player than Chris Johnson, no doubt about that at all. Johnson has struggled once teams have found a way to negate his speed and contain his outside runs. Spiller can now run between the tackles as well as to the outside, but if you let him get outside, forget it he's gone. He had the most rushes of 20+ yards last season even compared to those backs who had 100 more carries. And the Bills OC has said, "We're gonna run CJ until he pukes!" He'll have a monster year.

 

[big mean bunny]

I meant he reminded of Martin specifically with his patience. Thats a real un-coachable for me, getting a player to be patient to wait for a hole, lane or error if its needed and then exploiting that. In my time Curtis Martin has always been the best for showing that and exploiting his blocking and its always been something I have admired, working with players when I played they would often only want to talk about the fastest RB or the power backs and people would often over look why a player with Average speed (NFL wise) and not a great deal of size was at one stage looking like a candidate to be one of the top rushers of all time. Not saying him and Spliier are similar players in anything other than that though, however that particularly part of Spiller I particular admire. If you compare him to something like DMC at the raiders he doesn't really have element to his game, often you will see him hit a gap that isn't on purely because the play has called that hole.

There are always exceptions to the pre season and appreciate you are specifically mentioning the bills so thats far enough, however it was only 3 or 4 years ago that the Lions went 5-0 in pre season and looked really good and then ended up with a top 5 pick.

I may be intolerant though as the raiders have looked horrible for years now both pre season and regular season.

 

[big mean bunny]

I saw that quote about run him till he pukes, been told he has got in a lot of shit about it from the owner and HC!?

 

[Toon Wolf]

I saw that quote about run him till he pukes, been told he has got in a lot of shit about it from the owner and HC!?

Not really a lot of shit, HC just said that he needs to be careful about how he words things. Which probably is the public face, behind closed doors he might have a lot of shit!

 

[Toon Wolf]

I read on an NFL forum that 77% of play-off teams since 2006 have won 2 or more pre-season games. I think the days of pre-season being meaningless are a thing of the past. The examples such as the 0-16 Lions being 4-0 in the pre-season are the exception rather than the rule. Now clearly that doesn't mean winning 2 pre-season games guarantees a play-off place, but it does indicate that good teams are good teams whenever they play. As always, hope springs eternal!

 

[big mean bunny]

Think thats probably a pretty open stat though without knowing what the average pre season wins is. What teams do people support or follow? here is the Raiders


2012 - 1-3 - 4-12
2011 0-4 - 8-8
2010 3-1 8-8
2009 1-3 5-11
2008 1-3 5-11
2007 2-2 4-12
2006 0-4 2-14

they could be a bit mis leading due to how shit they are so may be a blot. God I fucking hate the Raiders. My old man who doesn't pay any attention to the sport always asks why I support such a shit team when I could switch it and support someone else. Wish it was that easy.

 

[Toon Wolf]

Same with me and the Bills! They have the longest play-off drought going, though I truly believe that will end soon. Maybe not this year, but in the next year or 2. We have gradually built a talented roster, it now all hinges on the QB and I think they've hit a home run in EJ Manuel. He's as athletically gifted as Cam Newton but has more between the ears. The guy's going to be a star. Defensively, they have quality on the line in Mario and Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus and in the secondary with Stephon Gilmore and Jairus Byrd. Gilmore was quietly outstanding as a rookie last year and from the way the coaches have been drooling about him in training camp I think he has the ability to become an absolute stud shutdown corner. People don't know much of him yet, but I guarantee by the end of this season they will. Rookie MLB Kiko Alonso is also looking like the best LB the Bills have had in years and is another name to look out for. Offensively, it's all about Spiller and speed. I think the Bills will shock some people this year. It's going to be a fun year.

By the way did you catch the result of the Lions/Pats pre-season game? Brady without Welker, Hernandez and Gronkowski looked a shadow. 3 points in 9 offensive series! Hopefully this is the start of the Pats decline, though they've never been the same since the league stopped their cheating... No Superbowl wins since Spygate. Mmm...

 

[big mean bunny]

Yeah I meant to come on and mention that to you. Hell of a result, I am a bit of a closet Lions fan if I am honest. I traded to get Stafford in his rookie year in my dynasty fantasy league and spent 2 years with him on my practise squad. And so have really closely followed his career and subsequently the Lions. I think that similar to the Bills they have a potentially devastating amount of talent.

Raiders look in a bit of a mess though. Looks like Pryor is making a move for being starting QB come opening day.

 

[Toon Wolf]

The day after I mock the Patriots the Bills go out and crap the bed in an AWFUL performance against the Redskins. Already without EJ Manuel they lose their 2nd string QB Kevin Kolb to a potentially career ending 3rd concussion in the 1st quarter and have to play the remainder of the game behind an undrafted rookie at QB! The football gods have smite me down.

 

[big mean bunny]

Hadn't realised that's where Kolb had gone. Always thought he showed a lot of promise, but struggled with the fact his game was so different to Vick's that it can't have been easy to try to take over an offense geared around Vick's style. Whats the diagnoses? Hopefully its not too serious, with pre season teams seem very reluctant to play people with slight injuries the way they would during the regular season.

 

[Toon Wolf]

Same with me and the Bills! They have the longest play-off drought going, though I truly believe that will end soon. Maybe not this year, but in the next year or 2. We have gradually built a talented roster, it now all hinges on the QB and I think they've hit a home run in EJ Manuel. He's as athletically gifted as Cam Newton but has more between the ears. The guy's going to be a star. Defensively, they have quality on the line in Mario and Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus and in the secondary with Stephon Gilmore and Jairus Byrd. Gilmore was quietly outstanding as a rookie last year and from the way the coaches have been drooling about him in training camp I think he has the ability to become an absolute stud shutdown corner. People don't know much of him yet, but I guarantee by the end of this season they will. Rookie MLB Kiko Alonso is also looking like the best LB the Bills have had in years and is another name to look out for. Offensively, it's all about Spiller and speed. I think the Bills will shock some people this year. It's going to be a fun year.

By the way did you catch the result of the Lions/Pats pre-season game? Brady without Welker, Hernandez and Gronkowski looked a shadow. 3 points in 9 offensive series! Hopefully this is the start of the Pats decline, though they've never been the same since the league stopped their cheating... No Superbowl wins since Spygate. Mmm...

Stephon Gilmore injured his wrist against the Redskins on Saturday and is expected to miss 8 weeks. Jesus, that game was just a total clusterfuck...

Hadn't realised that's where Kolb had gone. Always thought he showed a lot of promise, but struggled with the fact his game was so different to Vick's that it can't have been easy to try to take over an offense geared around Vick's style. Whats the diagnoses? Hopefully its not too serious, with pre season teams seem very reluctant to play people with slight injuries the way they would during the regular season.

He got inadvertently kneed in the head and came out with 'concussion symptoms'. Early reports are suggesting it's a severe concussion, the 3rd he's had in the space of 3 years. The last one he had he was suffering symptoms for several months. If this one's as bad, chances are he's done and will have to retire. Shame for the guy, he's just 29.

 

[big mean bunny]

Bit like Austin Collie, a potentially fantastic player that has been blighted by concussions. Thats part of the reason I stopped playing myself, dread to think how hard some of the pro level contact must be.

 

[Toon Wolf]

Bills potentially going to be the first team in NFL history to play the opening game of an NFL season with a rookie undrafted player at QB. Against the Patriots. Just brilliant... I really hope that Manuel is declared healthy for week 1 or it could be a huge disaster.

 

[big mean bunny]

JaMarcus Russell is still a free agent...

 

[Toon Wolf]

JaMarcus Russell is still a free agent...

Don't even joke about that! In the Ryan Leaf category of 'huge bust' status... And huge is the right word by all accounts! No need to panic though, we signed Matt Leinart instead...

 

[big mean bunny]

Some other notable players selected in the same round draft as Russell:

Calvin Johnson, LaRon Landry, Adrian Peterson, Patrick Willis, Marshawn Lynch, Darelle Revis, Mike Griffin, Reggie Nelson.

Loads of other solids names in there too from just having a look. What a draft class.

 

[Toon Wolf]

Some other notable players selected in the same round draft as Russell:

Calvin Johnson, LaRon Landry, Adrian Peterson, Patrick Willis, Marshawn Lynch, Darelle Revis, Mike Griffin, Reggie Nelson.

Loads of other solids names in there too from just having a look. What a draft class.

That's one heck of a draft class. 2011 isn't a bad one either:

Cam Newton, Von Miller, Marcell Dareus, AJ Green, Patrick Peterson, Julio Jones, Aldon Smith, JJ Watt, Andy Dalton, Colin Kaepernick...