NFL Week 1 (Sept. 8th-12th)

[sneakypower]

Jags release David Garrard.

Indy, Seattle, Cincinnati and San Francisco should immediately be dispatching their charter planes his way

[rawaction]

My 10 bold predictions and final standings for the 2011 NFL season.

 

1. Houston Texans finally live up to the hype, dethrone the Colts. Doesn't seem as bold with Peyton likely to miss a lot of time, but the writing's been on the wall. Top passing game was joined by great run game last year. Get anything on D and they are a strong team. Even if they aren't good on D, change to 3-4 will be enough to at least change the culture. Enough to win the AFC South.

 

2. Reggie Bush finally lives up to the hype. 1500 total yards from scrimmage in Miami.

 

3. Out with the Old, Part I. At least 2 of the perennial playoff teams in the AFC will miss the playoffs this year (Pats, Colts, Steelers, Ravens).

 

4. Out with the Old, Part II. None of Peyton Manning, Brady, Rivers, Brees, or Schaub will win the passing yards title this year.

 

5. The Cleveland Browns will win 8 games. Blew out NE and NO last year in consecutive weeks, and lost 7 games by 7 or fewer points last year. Strong OL, solid youth on D, strong leader/winner at QB. Add in one of the easiest schedules. Recipe for turnaround in Cleveland.

 

6. One of the bottom 1/3 teams in power rankings (Bills, Titans, or Redskins) will win 9 games this year.

 

7. There will be NO coaches fired during the season for the first time in a long time.

 

8. Josh McDaniels does it again. After being record setting OC in NE a few years ago, making Orton a significant passing QB, he will make Sam Bradford a 4000 yard passer this year.

 

9. Every NFL team will win at least 4 games this year.....except the Cincinnati Bengals

 

10. NFL will have a record low for kickoff return TDs, including NONE in the first month of the season.

 

 

 

AFC East- NY Jets, Patriots, Bills, Dolphins

AFC North- Steelers, Ravens, Browns, Bengals

AFC South- Texans, Titans, Colts, Jaguars

AFC West- Chargers, Raiders, Chiefs, Broncos

 

NFC East- Eagles, Cowboys, Giants, Redskins

NFC North- Packers, Bears, Lions, Vikings

NFC South- Saints, Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers

NFC West- Rams, Cardinals, Seahawks, 49ers

 

*wildcard teams in red

[dew1679666265]

I love the faith you have in the Titans, but I have a feeling the AFC South will be very similar to the NL Central this year. A bunch of mediocrity and a team only makes the playoffs because they have to.

 

I still think the division comes down to either the Colts or Texans and it all depends on how long Peyton is out/rusty. If he's healthy and back to normal form within a couple weeks of the season's start, the Colts win the division with maybe 9-10 wins. If he misses 2-3 weeks and then takes another couple to get healthy, then I think the Texans win the division with about 8-9 wins. In both scenarios the Titans and Jags will fight it out for third with, probably, 6-7 wins. (Exact win totals are more representative of my view of the team than actual predictions - actual win totals may vary).

[imb]

I dont think the colts are much more than a 9-7 team even with a healthy 16-game Peyton, to be honest.

[Warpticon]

I just don't get the Dolphins being projected to improve that much on offense.

 

I think they could very easily be much, much better offensively. They're not running a hyper-conservative offensive system that castrates the team's QB and top receiver. They have added significant speed at all the skill positions. My biggest question mark is really the offensive line (particularly the right side...what were these morons thinking by signing Marc Columbo, let alone starting him, let alone moving a 7-year starting tackle to guard to start him?!), but it's a huge one. If it holds up, there's room for a massive jump. If it doesn't, it could just as easily fall apart.

 

I think the Dolphins defense will be terrific, though, and has a legit shot at #1 in the league.

 

My 10 bold predictions and final standings for the 2011 NFL season.

 

2. Reggie Bush finally lives up to the hype. 1500 total yards from scrimmage in Miami.

 

AFC East- NY Jets, Patriots, Bills, Dolphins

 

What

[JimSorgi]

I dont think the colts are much more than a 9-7 team even with a healthy 16-game Peyton, to be honest.

If the offense as a whole could stay healthier than last year, I think the line would be improved enough that a healthy Manning could get them 10-12 wins.

 

But it doesn't matter since Peyton might not be ready for quite awhile. It'll be my first time watching a real Colts game without him. Should get ugly in a hurry.

[UMFan83]

I love the faith you have in the Titans, but I have a feeling the AFC South will be very similar to the NL Central this year. A bunch of mediocrity and a team only makes the playoffs because they have to.

 

You know the Brewers are on pace for 96 wins and hold a ~10 game lead in the division right?

[dew1679666265]

I love the faith you have in the Titans, but I have a feeling the AFC South will be very similar to the NL Central this year. A bunch of mediocrity and a team only makes the playoffs because they have to.

 

You know the Brewers are on pace for 96 wins and hold a ~10 game lead in the division right?

 

96 win pace? I had no idea. When I checked before I think they were something like 5 games over .500 and led the division by a couple games. I knew they had grabbed a pretty solid hold on the division, but didn't realize they were playing that well.

[dew1679666265]

I dont think the colts are much more than a 9-7 team even with a healthy 16-game Peyton, to be honest.

 

With a fully healthy Peyton, I think they'd dominate the intra-division games (probably losing only one or two) and that'd help them get to 10+ wins. As Jim Sorgi said, health is the biggest key for the team.

[TruffleShuffle]

I love the faith you have in the Titans, but I have a feeling the AFC South will be very similar to the NL Central this year. A bunch of mediocrity and a team only makes the playoffs because they have to.

 

You know the Brewers are on pace for 96 wins and hold a ~10 game lead in the division right?

 

96 win pace? I had no idea. When I checked before I think they were something like 5 games over .500 and led the division by a couple games. I knew they had grabbed a pretty solid hold on the division, but didn't realize they were playing that well.

 

don't feel bad, i didn't realize it until a couple of weeks ago.

[Vanilla Ice]

That's a pretty realistic projection for the Bears I think.

 

At least we have the computers on our side.

 

It's the computers on one side, and Bill Simmons and staff on the other.

 

I'll take the computers.

 

I do feel the Bears are much closer to being a wildcard playoff team than the worst team in football.

 

And for all the breaks they got last year, they got the opposite two years ago. The Grantland author basically spent two sentences talking specifically about gambler's fallacy and then specifically used it to say the Bears could be the worst team in football.

The Grantland author is also Bill Barnwell, formerly of Football Outsiders.

[rawaction]

I just don't get the Dolphins being projected to improve that much on offense.

 

I think they could very easily be much, much better offensively. They're not running a hyper-conservative offensive system that castrates the team's QB and top receiver. They have added significant speed at all the skill positions. My biggest question mark is really the offensive line (particularly the right side...what were these morons thinking by signing Marc Columbo, let alone starting him, let alone moving a 7-year starting tackle to guard to start him?!), but it's a huge one. If it holds up, there's room for a massive jump. If it doesn't, it could just as easily fall apart.

 

I think the Dolphins defense will be terrific, though, and has a legit shot at #1 in the league.

 

My 10 bold predictions and final standings for the 2011 NFL season.

 

2. Reggie Bush finally lives up to the hype. 1500 total yards from scrimmage in Miami.

 

AFC East- NY Jets, Patriots, Bills, Dolphins

 

What

 

Bush having a good year doesn't mean the Dolphins will be good. Go ask Frank Gore.

[rawaction]

I dont think the colts are much more than a 9-7 team even with a healthy 16-game Peyton, to be honest.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. Colts 9-7 with Peyton. The lack of a run game and a defense that can shut team down has to catch up with them eventually. They barely won 10 last year, escaping the Raiders and Titans by a combined 8 points in the last 2 weeks. I was picking the Texans anyway, because I figured they could win 10. And even if they didn't, they would win 9 and sweep the Colts in the division for the tiebreakers.

 

As for the Titans, I really like them bringing in Hasselbeck. He won't win a playoff game or anything, but he will at least put the team in position to make a run at 7-9 wins if he's healthy. Their pass D might kill them, but I wanted to go out on the limb for 1 playoff spot.

[bukie]

The Grantland author is also Bill Barnwell, formerly of Football Outsiders.

 

Yes, and he should've at least consulted statistics before writing that.

[Banedon]

Peyton Manning officially out for Week 1.

[UMFan83]

Peyton Manning officially out for Week 1.

 

I was hoping he would play. Now Favre pretty much has his stupid ass record guaranteed for life.

[Warpticon]

I just don't get the Dolphins being projected to improve that much on offense.

 

I think they could very easily be much, much better offensively. They're not running a hyper-conservative offensive system that castrates the team's QB and top receiver. They have added significant speed at all the skill positions. My biggest question mark is really the offensive line (particularly the right side...what were these morons thinking by signing Marc Columbo, let alone starting him, let alone moving a 7-year starting tackle to guard to start him?!), but it's a huge one. If it holds up, there's room for a massive jump. If it doesn't, it could just as easily fall apart.

 

I think the Dolphins defense will be terrific, though, and has a legit shot at #1 in the league.

 

My 10 bold predictions and final standings for the 2011 NFL season.

 

2. Reggie Bush finally lives up to the hype. 1500 total yards from scrimmage in Miami.

 

AFC East- NY Jets, Patriots, Bills, Dolphins

 

What

 

Bush having a good year doesn't mean the Dolphins will be good. Go ask Frank Gore.

 

Okay...so why do you think the Dolphins will finish in the cellar while getting 1500 yards out of Bush?

[Mark Priors Calves]

The 506 has updated its maps.

[Magnetic Curses]

The 506 has updated its maps.

 

why are they showing the bears/falcons game in tampa?

[Banedon]

Directv has a free preview of Sunday Ticket + Red Zone this weekend. FYI.

[jersey cubs fan]

The 506 has updated its maps.

 

why are they showing the bears/falcons game in tampa?

 

try zooming in.

 

They don't appear to be showing anything, which would mean they haven't sold out yet.

[sneakypower]

Tampa's likely gonna be a blackout

[Banedon]

Tampa's likely gonna be a blackout

 

Yeah...sounds like the only one for week 1.

[OleMissCub]

hmmmm

 

http://www.nflgridirongab.com/2011/09/07/1260-wnde-host-jake-querys-source-peyton-manning-done-for-the-2011-season/

 

Radio host Jake Query from 1260 WNDE in Indianapolis says a reliable source told him that Peyton Manning had another surgery Sunday or Monday, has not received a diagnosis yet but is done for the season. He then mentions having two sources.

 

Wonder how he'll get the MVP Award now

[Derwood]

Sporcle quiz I just created:

 

http://www.sporcle.com/games/Zipcity/2012-nfl-week-1-qbs-by-alma-mater