Topic: Official 2008 NFL Football Season Discussion Thread

[NWR_Lindy]

I know we have a couple of football fans on staff (me, Greg, James), so let's talk about it.

Week 1 was pretty crazy, with the Falcons running all over Detroit to the tune of 318 yards rushing, Tom Brady suffering a season-ending injury (which broke Greg's heart, I'm sure), the Bills scoring on a fake field goal play, and San Diego losing at home thanks to a last-second Jake Delhomme pump-fake bullet TD pass.

Tonights game is Vikings/Packers.  Any predictions?  I think that Green Bay is going to emerge victorious, 24-13.

[Ian Sane]

I've only gotten into football in the last few years.  Originally I was more into CFL because, well, the BC Lions are a local team that I can root for and go see live.  Two years ago the Lions won the Grey Cup and my Dad and I saw the semi-final game that was the last home game of the year live.  It was a great moment to be there for.

But I'm a bad Canadian because over time I've realized I like the American game more.  The difference is the amount of downs.  In Canadian football you only get three.  That results in more emphasis on passing which makes for exciting football when it works.  The problem is passing is risky so when I watch a CFL game there appears to be more changes in posession.  There's less room for error so that means less first downs, less drives, less last second magic.  I like how with four downs in American football you can eat away at the yards a bit by rushing.  In the CFL you pretty much go for 10 yards every play because you need that second down as a back up.

I was planning on watching three games yesterday.  But unfortunately the cable company screwed me out the middle game.  In Canada there's a rule where if a Canadian and American station are showing the same thing it automatically switches to the Canadian feed so you watch the local commercials.  So even if my TV was set to Fox I got CTV.  The Seahawks were playing and they're kind of like Vancouver's local NFL team so that made sense.  CTV however was not airing the second game.  Now the feed should have then switched from CTV back to Fox but it didn't.  ARRRGH!!! I called the cable company but whoever I got on the other end had no understanding of my problem at all.  She thought I was trying to watch a PPV game or that I wanted them to magically change what shows Fox broadcasts.  I just wanted them to push the stupid button that makes Fox go back to Fox again!

Though things actually worked for the best.  I went on MSN during the time the game should have been on and by fluke ran into a girl I know and managed to score a date out of it.  :)  Had the cable company not goofed then I never would have bumped into her.  Ha ha!

My brother doesn't watch any sports and knows very little about them but he got a real kick out of Tom Brady getting injured.  I know we shouldn't cheer a guy getting hurt but this is like karma for Spygate and running up the score last season and acting like the perfect season was a sure thing.  I hope Tom suffers no permanent injury and plays again but come on.  The bastards cheat but still get to go into the Superbowl undefeated only to be upset by a team people questioned would even make the playoffs and then lose their star player to injury in the first game of the next season?  This is like a storybook ending for the ultimate "bad guy" team.  Perhaps this is the begining of a Curse of Spygate?

Am I being immature?  Maybe but come one.  It's sports and it's not like Brady will never walk again.  The commentators act like this is a sad day for football fans but I'm pretty sure most fans of contenders are drooling at the possibility of this allowing their team to go all the way.  Supporting a bottom dweller is frustrating but what's even more frustrating is when your team seems to have the talent to challenge for a title but some dynasty team keeps getting in the way.  You get the feeling that if that stupid team wasn't so good your team would be a shoe-in for the title.  And it feels like your wasting the elite players your team has.  Think of how San Diego Chargers fans are feeling.  This is probably the best the franchise has ever been but they have no Superbowl to show for it.  So with the Pats, who have already won three Superbowls for their fans, out of the way maybe they have a shot now.  They'll still have to beat other talented teams (Colts, Steelers, Cowboys) to get there so it's not like they won't earn it.

[nickmitch]

Saints go all the way. Saints go all the waaaay.

[BeautifulShy]

I like the Seahawks and Eagles.

[NWR_insanolord]

I was really excited and optimistic about my Browns this season, but after watching them yesterday I'm wondering who they're going to take with the first overall pick next year.

[NWR_Lindy]

I was almost right about that Packers/Vikings score, and I totally forgot that the Raiders were playing Denver.

My God, the Raiders are horrible.  Insanolord, your Browns have some serious competition for the #1 pick thanks to the Al Davis Travelling Circus.

[NWR_insanolord]

Yeah, they won't get the number one pick. And hey, my prediction for the season could still come true, that they would lose the first game to the Cowboys and then win 18 in a row.

[Stogi]

Saints go all the way. Saints go all the waaaay.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY

[NWR_Lindy]

The Aint's really oughta win the NFC South handily.  They don't get a whole lot of publicity (I swear, you hear more about Hurricane Katrina than you do about the team itself when commentators talk about the Saints), but their offense is stacked.  Brees, Colston, Bush, Shockey...those are some sick positional players.

This week's schedule:

Week 2

SUN, SEP 14 (ALL TIMES EST)
Tennessee at Cincinnati 1:00 PM
Green Bay at Detroit 1:00 PM
Oakland at Kansas City 1:00 PM
NY Giants at St. Louis 1:00 PM
Indianapolis at Minnesota 1:00 PM
New Orleans at Washington 1:00 PM
Chicago at Carolina 1:00 PM
Buffalo at Jacksonville 1:00 PM
San Francisco at Seattle 4:05 PM
Atlanta at Tampa Bay 4:05 PM
Baltimore at Houston 4:15 PM
New England at NY Jets 4:15 PM
Miami at Arizona 4:15 PM
San Diego at Denver 4:15 PM
Pittsburgh at Cleveland 8:15 PM

MON, SEP 15 (ALL TIMES EST)
Philadelphia at Dallas 8:30 PM

Thoughts on the upcoming week:

- Detroit is going 0-2...why does anybody cheer for them?
- Oakland vs. KC is scalper's day off if I've ever seen it
- Wonder if Indy can get off the schneid at Minnesota?
- Patriots vs. Jets is now a HUGE game

[D_Average]

My God, the Raiders are horrible.  Insanolord, your Browns have some serious competition for the #1 pick thanks to the Al Davis Travelling Circus.

Now that I live in Denver, the Bronco's have become my back up team to cheer for.  That was an entertaining game to watch, lots of fireworks from Cutler and Royal.  I actually drafted Royal for my fantasy team and completely forgot to start him this week knowing he'd get some passes with Marshall out.

Should be interesting to watch them against SD.  If they can trample them handily this city will cheer louder than they did Obama at the DNC.    8)

[NWR_insanolord]

I live in Erie, PA, which is about equal distance from Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and the Browns-Steelers games are just about the biggest sporting events of the year around here. A Browns win Sunday night makes the season a whole lot better even if we do end up with the number 1 pick.

[D_Average]

I live in Erie, PA, which is about equal distance from Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and the Browns-Steelers games are just about the biggest sporting events of the year around here. A Browns win Sunday night makes the season a whole lot better even if we do end up with the number 1 pick.

I hear ya, same thing happens in Chicago when the Bears route the Packers.

[Stogi]

Same thing happens here with the Colts/Bears. Lot of Bears fans in Indiana.

Not a lot of Saints fans............

[D_Average]

Same thing happens here with the Colts/Bears. Lot of Bears fans in Indiana.

Not a lot of Saints fans............

How did the fans take the Bears crashing their new stadium party?  People pretty down, or just writing it off as a fluke since Manning wasn't 100%?

[nickmitch]

Same thing happens here with the Colts/Bears. Lot of Bears fans in Indiana.

Not a lot of Saints fans............

Who dat said they gonna beat dem Saints!!!

[Stogi]

Same thing happens here with the Colts/Bears. Lot of Bears fans in Indiana.

Not a lot of Saints fans............

How did the fans take the Bears crashing their new stadium party?  People pretty down, or just writing it off as a fluke since Manning wasn't 100%?

They were just as shocked as Colts fans. They thought they had the worst team in the league besides Oakland.

[Pale]

Go Bills!

[NWR_insanolord]

I am against the Bills because of the stupid NFL rules that make Erie in the Bills market so whenever the Bills are away they have to be on TV despite the fact that only about 10 or 15% of the people here are Bills fans versus about 40% each for Cleveland and Pittsburgh. As much of a jerk as it makes me, especially being a Browns fan and having had it happen to me, I am fully in favor of the Bills moving to Toronto because it would make us a Cleveland market.

[BranDonk Kong]

I root for whoever is playing against the Dolphins...I live in Florida. My wife is from Pittsburgh(ish), and her whole family adores the Steelers, so I also root for whoever is playing against them. We went there a couple years ago, right after they lost to Jacksonville, so I bought a Jaguars hat on the way up there.

[Yoshidious]

Go Bills!

Let me lend some Bills fan solidarity with a second:

GO BILLS!

This is shaping up to be a very exciting season as the established order in the AFC has been upset with a rash of severe injuries: Brady, Merriman, and the entirety of the Jags' interior offensive line. These losses are sad for those teams and indeed the league in general, but undeniably they will make things more competitive and interesting. Here's a frighteningly awesome thought for Bills fans: if we defeat Jacksonville with their depleted o-line this week, only the Raiders and the Rams stand in the way of us going 4-0 for the first time since the early 90s.

Also, don't write-off the Bears' win against the Colts as a one-off or product of Manning rustiness; with Mike Brown and Tommie Harris healthy (and admittedly their ability to remain so is still a big question), that defense is good enough to carry them to big things. For all the ridicule of Orton, they had a playoff season with him at the helm as a rookie back in 2005--that should tell you a lot about just how good that D is when it has all its pieces together. My biggest question about them coming into the year was whether the run game could rebound from its abysmal showing last year, but with Forte and Jones back there and a reconfigured line, the 183 yards they racked up against the Colts suggests they're on the right track.

[Pale]

I am against the Bills because of the stupid NFL rules that make Erie in the Bills market so whenever the Bills are away they have to be on TV despite the fact that only about 10 or 15% of the people here are Bills fans versus about 40% each for Cleveland and Pittsburgh. As much of a jerk as it makes me, especially being a Browns fan and having had it happen to me, I am fully in favor of the Bills moving to Toronto because it would make us a Cleveland market.

If you are in Erie, doesn't that make you closest to Orchard Park geographically?  It's gotta only be like a 1.5 to 2 hour drive.

[NWR_insanolord]

It's about 1.5-2 hours to Buffalo, Cleveland, or Pittsburgh, but we're slightly closer to Buffalo, that's why we're a Buffalo TV market. If they move to Toronto we'll be closest to Cleveland. Either that or put the Bills in the NFC.

[D_Average]

Speaking of the Bills, how will David Gerrad's performance be against them?  I've got to start him or Tony Romo (against PHI this Sun) for my Fantasy Team.  My intuition tells me Romo will have the bigger game, as he knows their defense pretty well by now.

[NWR_insanolord]

I hope Romo has a big game because that means the Cowboys are passing a lot, which probably means they're losing, which probably means the Eagles will be putting the ball in the hands of Brian Westbrook more. My number 2 overall pick didn't do that great last week. Also, I'm hoping both as a Browns fan and a fantasy owner that Braylon Edwards learns how to hold onto the damn ball; he dropped a lot of passes last week, many of which while wide open.

[D_Average]

Go Bills!

Also, don't write-off the Bears' win against the Colts as a one-off or product of Manning rustiness; with Mike Brown and Tommie Harris healthy (and admittedly their ability to remain so is still a big question), that defense is good enough to carry them to big things. For all the ridicule of Orton, they had a playoff season with him at the helm as a rookie back in 2005--that should tell you a lot about just how good that D is when it has all its pieces together. My biggest question about them coming into the year was whether the run game could rebound from its abysmal showing last year, but with Forte and Jones back there and a reconfigured line, the 183 yards they racked up against the Colts suggests they're on the right track.

Most definitely!  I've been saying for months now the Bears D has been a sleeping Giant ever since their SB loss to Indy.  What put them to sleep you ask, none other than Rex Grossman handing the Lambardi Trophy over to Manning midway through the 1st quarter.  Knowing that Rex would still be behind the helm the following season, any rational defender would know you don't have a prayer to go even 500 (considering you'll get a 30 sec break off the field as the Bears offense does a quick 3 and out).

All the D needs is a spark in either the running or passing game, and Forte could certainely be that spark.  The passing game isn't quite there yet, but Orton seems to have the good sense to play within his ability thus limiting turnovers.

Here's to new life for Buffalo and Chicago!