Topic: Official 2008 NFL Football Season Discussion Thread

[NWR_insanolord]

Yeah, both teams are due for a championship and have the talent to get one if they stop screwing up so much.

[D_Average]

Though I was happy to see the Broncos win, I blame the Browns coach for the loss.  Not having a running back out there on 4th and 1 made it pretty obvious what play they would run.

[NWR_Lindy]

I think the Browns should trade Derek Brown to Oakland for JaMarcus Russell.

[MaleficentOgre]

Russell needs to get a good coach or get to a good team. Man, he's being totally wasted.

[Stogi]

Yeah, both teams are due for a championship and have the talent to get one if they stop screwing up so much.

More like both teams continually **** on their fan base and those fans need to relocate their faith.

[NWR_insanolord]

Yeah, both teams are due for a championship and have the talent to get one if they stop screwing up so much.

More like both teams continually **** on their fan base and those fans need to relocate their faith.

Except for maybe the Packers the Browns have the best fans in the NFL and it's going to take more than half a century of losing to get us to abandon that team.

[MaleficentOgre]

Best fans are the dumb ones. I don't understand how fan bases are ridiculed for not putting money into something unsuccessful. You can call me fair weather but I"m not paying these ungodly fees to go to a sporting event for a team that sucks. I'm not buying their jerseys and I'm putting any money towards support the junk they put on the field. They give me a competitive team and an affordable way to support them and I'll help out.
I don't get how paying a hundred dollars plus parking/food/drinks to see a sucky team makes you a good anything, except waster of money.

[NWR_insanolord]

I hate fair weather fans. Either be a fan through both good times and bad or don't be one at all.

[Stogi]

I was a Steelers fan for the longest time (like 7 years), then they won a SuperBowl. After that year I switch alliances to the Colts, then they won a SuperBowl. I've always been a Drew Brees fan, so I became a Saints fan.

Why would I switch alliances when the team is at the top of their game? I have no idea.

I don't do that with Soccer or any other sport for that matter....even college football.

[NWR_Lindy]

I've always been a Falcons fan, and I had season tickets until this season.  After a while I realized that it was a waste of money because whether they were amazing or horrible, I still paid the same (if not more) for my tickets.  I finally said "enough" and just watch every game on TV now.  If I really want to see a game live, I'll grab some tickets off of StubHub or something.

[D_Average]

I don't do that with Soccer or any other sport for that matter....even college football.

??  What the hell is "soccer"?

[Stogi]

Yes, yes I know....I call it football everywhere else I go except for when I'm in the US.

[vudu]

I think you missed the joke.

[MaleficentOgre]

hardcore true fans of everything in life care too much about it. But I'm not anyone to tell people how to toss their money. Have fun sitting in 20 degree weather drinking eight dollar beer and watching your team throw away games. It's entertainment. It's the equivalent of paying $60 every week to play Big Beach Sports. Go Go Romeo. Fairweather fans just have better things to do.

[NWR_Lindy]

That Falcons win vs. the Saints was really impressive.  I'm not at the point yet where I feel confident in my team; I'm still in that "they're the Falcons, the bottom will drop out eventually, just you wait" mode that protects me from being emotionally crushed, but damn they look good.  Thoughts:

1) The Falcons secondary is very well-coached.  I don't know if it's Mike Smith or Brian VanGorder who should get the credit, but I don't think another secondary in the NFL does more with less.  Chevis Jackson, Chris Houston, Erik Coleman, Curtis Lofton...do you know any of those names?  Lawyer Milloy is the only high-profile guy out there.  It really makes me laugh when I watch the Cowboys secondary, which has probably ten times the payroll but a tenth of the production.

2) LOL @ Drew Brees losing by 14 (should have been 21 if not for the Hail Mary touchdown with :00 left on the clock), throwing three picks, yet still passing for 420 yards.  Hey, his team is under .500 and probably won't make the playoffs, but at least he still has a shot at Marino's record.

3) LOL @ Drew Brees screaming at Jeremy Shockey on the sidelines (probably for screwing up his routes), and another LOL @ Jeremy Shockey riding the pine late in the 4th Quarter while his backup, Billy Miller, is out on the field making money catches during the most crucial period in the game.  I feel bad that the Saints traded for the guy.  It's pretty obvious that his problems with the Giants had more to do with him than with the Giants.

4) Matt Ryan, again, was amazing.  134.0 passer rating?  Bananas man, bananas.  He's freakishly mistake-averse...I'm almost waiting for him to suck so I can execute my "Tortured Fan" routine that goes something like, "SEE?  It's the Falcons, they really do suck!!!  Why do I cheer for them??  Waaaaah", but it just doesn't happen.  It's like he could just mail in a stat line each game that reads 16/23, 202 yards, 2 TD, and 0 INT and call it a day.

5) It's too bad Carolina has a bye week vs. Oakland today, otherwise the Falcons would be in an three-way tie for first place.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think they'd be THIS good.  ESPN has them ranked in the Top 10 of their Power Rankings, for crying out loud.

[MaleficentOgre]

Power rankings are all silly. Anyway, I knew Atlanta would be good this year simply because last year was a fluke. They weren't as bad as they played. They had an awful coach, no quarterback, and nothing to play for. No way were they going to be anywhere close to that bad this year.
Speaking of Carolina though. that game was painful to watch. Surprised they won that game with Jake playing that poorly. A win is a win though. Hopefully they get it together for the Lions next week.
Bills, they're becoming the Bills. Hopefully they can start to turn it around next week but it really really isn't looking good for them.

[NWR_Lindy]

Oh, Power Rankings are silly alright.  However, they are a good gauge regarding the "expert" consensus on any team, and seeing as they all ranked Atlanta dead last prior to the season, they fact that they've now cracked the Top 10 is pretty freaking remarkable.  They've done so well that the "experts" can't ignore them any more.

[MaleficentOgre]

True and all, I'm just so use to the experts being dead wrong I discount them completely. I enjoy listening to them. ESPN's podcasts humor me endlessly. But I just can't put any stock in them.
Did you really think Atlanta was going to be anywhere near as bad as last year though? I guess as a Carolina fan I'm always paranoid about Atlanta, but I was just sold on last year being a desperate fluke. I thought a new coach and a real quarterback gave then four or five wins by themselves.

[D_Average]

I blame Chicago's loss entirely on Lovie, Mr. "Relaxed and Confused". He lives in a fantasy world where as long as you "stop the run" everything will be OK. Wrong. Bob Babich, and his secondary have been hemorrhaging for weeks, Lovie should have pimp slapped Bob long ago. On top of that, Rex should have been pulled mid way through the first quarter. It was apparent he was still a "mental midget" and he should have been pulled to set an example. Hanie certainly couldn't have done any worse. What a waste.

[Stogi]

The Saints........make me want to cry.

Drew Brees is playing great but can't finish.

[NWR_Lindy]

No, I didn't think Atlanta would be as bad as everybody was saying at all.  In fact, I thought everybody was crazy.  Sporting News had them at 1 win?  I was like "You are idiots".  It wasn't even logical.  Last year their QB went to jail, their coach quit 13 games in, and they had the Unholy Trinity (Redman/Harrington/Leftwich) throwing the ball, and they STILL won 4 games.  And then they upgrade their RB, upgrade their QB (even if he was a rookie), upgraded their coaching staff, and dumped every overpriced veteran and malcontent on the team, and you're telling me they'll be worse?  Again, it always defied logic.  I picked them to win 5 or 6 games, simply because they were a  better team personnel-wise than they were last year.

D, I love your rants lately man.  They're Greg Leahy-esque.

Brees is the man, but you can't throw 58 times in a game and expect to win.  I felt bad, because all of those picks were because the Saints did NOTHING on the ground.  Brees was pretty much thrown to the lions.

[D_Average]

Ouch!  Anyone catch the end of last nights game?  Hill could have literally taken a dump in the amount of time it took him and his boys to run down field and spike the ball.  Wow.

[MaleficentOgre]

hahaha. that was a rough ending. I agree with the play calling though. They should've just had three plays called in rapid secession. We wouldn't be talking about this if Gore hadn't tripped. So close.

[Stogi]

LOL. That was the greatest **** up of all time.

Cardinals should have stomped them though. There were way too many flags.

[D_Average]

Man, I don't believe in curses, but its hard not to after yet another "wide and to the right".