Official 2008-09 NFL thread

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Fingers crossed that Ocho Cinco appears today...we won't win a game until the nfl quits jinxing us, that's for sure.

[Ramses II CP]

Now, now, don't blame bad team chemistry and a weak defense on the NFL hating stunt name changes.

I just hope the Raiders aren't humiliated today.

You know what else? I'm kinda starting to want Kurt Warner to take the Cardinals to the playoffs. It would be a neat close to the circle of his career.

[KukriKhan]

One more week 'til the 'curse' on the Detroit Lions expires. Maybe we'll get lucky anyway vs SF. Here's to a 13-3 season and a playoff berth. :)

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Now, now, don't blame bad team chemistry and a weak defense on the NFL hating stunt name changes.
:

Bengals: 13
Giants: 10

NOW WHO HAS BAD TEAM CHEMISTRY

[Ramses II CP]

Beware halftime bragging! The Raiders are up 9-7, but you won't hear me crowing about it until it's all the way in the W column.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Holy crap, the Dolphins are destroying the Patriots!

That owner needs to give Parcells a raise. I don't think Brady would have made a difference in this one.

[m52nickerson]

Beware halftime bragging! The Raiders are up 9-7, but you won't hear me crowing about it until it's all the way in the W column.

Sorry man not today. The Bills pulled it off in the last 3 secs to go 3-0.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Beware halftime bragging! The Raiders are up 9-7, but you won't hear me crowing about it until it's all the way in the W column.

Eh, I'm just happy we're playing like a decent team. Now, if the nfl would give us back our reciever and if we could get a couple of players back who were missing in our secondary we'd have a winning team.

I mean, today we were missing the guy who was our leading point scorer with over half of the teams points...

[Hosakawa Tito]

The reason the Raiders lost is because I bet (loser buys lunch tomorrow) with a good friend at work, a big Raider fan, that the Bills would win. He kept calling me during the game to brag & talk smack. For some reason I haven't heard from him after the game ended.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I wonder if I can find a place that delivers surf & turf?

The Raiders played well enough to win, but were too conservative & predictable on offense when trying to kill the clock at the end.

[Strike For The South]

The Bills are 3-0...oh my

[Marshal Murat]

I can't believe that Miami (with a 20 game regular season losing streak?) has defeated the perennial Patriot team (who last lost to Miami in 2006).
I am flabbergasted.

Then the Bucs' get an OT win over Chicago?

A good day for Florida. So far.

[Decker]

Well... uhhh.... *looks around* HOW 'BOUT DEM DOLPHINS!!!

So as some of you have seen... how NOT to win a football game. First off, we can't seem to do much on offense. Russel can't seem to quarterback when needed, let alone calling the right plays at the right time (Kiffin) instead of running on 2&12 with under 4 minutes left in the game and leading by 2 . As for Ryan, our defensive coach, what the heck kinda 4th quarter game plan was that !!? Prevent defense never works unless it's hail mary time. Almost no blitzing in that entire second half completely blew the game. And as for Hall. Since when was man-to-man marking meant standing almost 10 full yards away from your man?! On both touchdown scoring drives, the Bills threw against him for the easy gain and first down on 3 and 10+ yards to go... way to go. Last I checked this was professional football and not high school football. As for the ending with Kiffin not calling a T.O. I'd agree with him, though... he made me feel uneasy when he basically put no trust in a defense that kept the Raiders in the game and him in a possible job

We'll see what happens monday in the paper...

[Strike For The South]

Dear Mr Rogers,
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=OhILOm4BdCQ

[Ramses II CP]

It's a classic sign of immaturity (And here I'm talking about the Raiders as a whole) for a team to let up once they have the lead. Edwards had nothing going in the first half because he was scared. Even when he managed a completition somebody was putting a hat or a hand on him, but in the second half all that push went out of the defense. And a big part of the problem was that Ryan didn't have the confidence to stick with his game plan from the first half, and that trickled all the way down onto the field. So credit the Bills, they kept their heads and played right to the end to earn their win, but if the Raiders were a confident team, a mature team, they would've put that game away and never looked back.

I think the Bills were playing our game all the way through the first half, the game was right where we wanted it at halftime, and we came out and gave it away. There was no confidence in the blitz, no confidence in the outside running game, and obviously no confidence in Russel in the second half. Can't blame them for that last one, but that 80 yarder was maybe a sign of what could be someday.

Anyway, it wasn't pretty, but it was a close game. Maybe it was a learning experience for the players. Well, the ones that belong on the field (Hint: Hall isn't one of them. Release him and put in a rook who at least has a chance to get better.).

[Kongamato]

Detroit Lions down 28-13 near the end of the game. Going to head into a bye week 0-3.

In the Lions television viewing area, you don't watch and root for the Lions. These days you hope for the worst. You begin to appreciate the entertainment value of watching everything fall apart and self-destruct. Fans everywhere are holding out for the most catastrophic season ever, with the promise that if the Lions are destroyed badly enough they might be rebuilt with a shred of ability. So far it hasn't happened yet with 2-and 3-win seasons. Many have wondered what it's going to take for real change to occur.

[GeneralHankerchief]

After this week, I think the NFC East has a legitimate claim to having the three best teams in the league.

[seireikhaan]

DAD GUMMIT!

Our defense didn't play for today. We didn't deserve to win.

[Decker]

However, we must remember the NFL incredibly unpredictable.

Ironic ain't it

DAD GUMMIT!

Our defense didn't play for today. We didn't deserve to win.

[GeneralHankerchief]

After three weeks, I'm ready to say it:

I will not believe in the Lions until Matt Millen is fired (Or consumed by actual Lions avenging the offense to their namesake).

[Csargo]

GO DALLAS

[seireikhaan]

Ironic ain't it

Bah. I knew coming into the season there would be frustrating moments. We just gotta take some time to get sharper and go over our fundamentals during our bye week. I still firmly believe we will make the playoffs, and we still have a good shot at the division. Only week 3!

[Askthepizzaguy]

What did I tell you guys about what would happen to the Patriots without Tom Brady?

I'm a Pats fan, I called it. Cassel isn't the worst in the world, but he's no Tom Brady. Our defense is known to be pretty tough, but running plays seem to work well. And when we get scored on, we need Tom to pull us out of the dumps.

No Tom, no Patriots.

[Ramses II CP]

After three weeks, I'm ready to say it:

I will not believe in the Lions until Matt Millen is fired (Or consumed by actual Lions avenging the offense to their namesake).

There are times when it is painful to be right... this isn't one of them. I remember fondly watching the Lions the year Charlie Batch took them to the playoffs with a solid, scrappy defense. Then a year or two later Matt Millen and Joey Harrington came to town, Batch got cut, and, well, the Lions are today still where they were that year. Nothing will %^$& up a team faster than a bad GM and dodgy ownership (I say that as a Raider's fan, so it's with sympathy rather than schadenfreude).

Detroit needs to clean house in the worst way. It's kinda sad too, 'cause Kitna is a halfway decent QB really and there are some guys on that team who would have a chance to shine somewhere else.

Don't you worry about the Patriots, they're going to be just fine. They got pasted today by a team playing for pride who had the first reliable film on Cassel's weaknesses. Cassel will improve his deep game and this team will wind up in the playoffs again.

The start of the season has been an underdog festival, but I like that. It usually makes the playoff races more interesting later on, as the good teams start to try to make up the ground they lost early. The NFC east is strong, but the Eagles are piling up injuries again. Have to wonder if they're going to hold out long enough to make that second wildcard spot.

[OverKnight]

Cassel was flat, but unless Tom Brady played defense as well, it's not the entire reason for losing to the Teal Avengers.

Bad way to go into a bye week.

The Toronto Buffalo Bills are in first place, interesting.

Edit: I wish I had Millen's job security, does he have incriminating photos of the owners or something?

[Martok]

Well the Vikes finally won one yesterday. Hooray, I guess.

[Stares daggers at Brad Childress.]

[Ramses II CP]

Rumors are aswirl that Kiffin goes later today (again). What a disaster.

[Strike For The South]

Dear Mr Rogers,
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=OhILOm4BdCQ

16-0

[Decker]

Rumors are aswirl that Kiffin goes later today (again). What a disaster.

He's still around

You KNOW, that everyone is licking their chops, waiting for Davis to fire him so that they can pounce on Davis like they like to do. Though I believe they should also question Kiffin and Ryan haha... At least we're in the news, and it's not about how much we suck... persay. Oh wells.

[GeneralHankerchief]

After this week, I think the NFC East has a legitimate claim to having the three best teams in the league.

Looks like ESPN agrees with me.

Peter King does, too, but I can't be bothered to find his Fine Fifteen for Week 3. Don't re-align the divisions!

[GeneralHankerchief]

Millen's gone.

Kukri, when did you say the curse was scheduled to be broken?