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

[TruffleShuffle]

i got 31/32 and missed eli manning, wtf

 

how is that possible given my homering on this website over the past 8 years??

 

i just got low on time and started going through the various nfl teams trying to think if i'd gotten their starter yet. never made it back to the giants. i was convinced that i'd forgotten the jaguars; should've just searched to see that i already had them.

 

and yeah, a lot of those starters are [expletive] terrible. i almost didn't enter rex grossman even though the school and year fit because i didn't believe that an nfl team would be starting him again.

[Derwood]

I retook the quiz right after I created it and still missed like 5 or 6. The starting QB field this year is as weak as I've seen in some time.

 

Not sure how they pick the front-page quizzes. It's had about 250 plays since I published it 18 hours ago (which is better than the 45 plays all-time on the other quiz I made).

[rawaction]

Yeah, I don't get any of those except schedule. QB play may not improve, but they've won 7 games the last two seasons (should have won 8 last year) and been 7-6 after 13 games both seasons with the same QB they're playing now. Reason not to improve? Possibly. Reason to regress? don't see it.

 

OL is my biggest concern with the team, easily. I'm not arguing that OL isn't a concern. I just don't see how you can view OL as such a concern that it pushes Miami to the bottom of the division AND have Bush getting 1500 yards from scrimmage. That's really the #1 part that makes no sense to me. There's no way in hell he gets close to those numbers if the OL is bad, much less bad enough to make them a cellar dweller.

 

"The defense is good but doesn't create turnovers" is a strange reason to downgrade a team, especially when that defense trended sharply upward until the last game and was starting a rookie and four second year men. And the schedule is definitely tough, but it's not significantly tougher than last year's was. Last year they played 8 games against playoff teams; this year they play 6 games against teams that made the playoffs last year. Still, the schedule is the easiest part of the reasoning to understand. I just can't see them winning fewer than 6 games without an absolute implosion, and I doubt Buffalo wins more than that.

 

I have the Dolphins at 6 wins. Buffalo at 6-7.

 

But again, there's plenty of examples of 1500 yard RBs with a poor OL. Matt Forte played behind a terrible line last year and cleared 1600. Mendenhall cleared 1400 behind a bad OL, and he doesn't catch the ball at all. I guess it's more of me having faith that Bush will be healthy and the focal point of an offense for the first time in his career. If he gets 180-190 carries, he'll be there.

 

And I don't understand how the defense thing is not a valid reason. They bring back the same guys that only intercepted 11 passes and caused 8 fumbles last year. I understand that some players got some valuable experience last year and could/should be better this year, but it's not going to mean much if they are constantly on the field. In my opinion to have a playoff caliber defense (aka winning team) it doesn't matter if you stop teams from moving the ball. It's how you get the ball back to your offense. The Saints and Colts won recent Superbowls with opportunistic but bad defenses. Nobody has won with good defenses that don't take the ball away.

 

The only teams to make the playoffs last year with less than 15 INTs were the Jets (who also had a great run D), Seattle (by default at 7-9), Indianapolis and New Orleans (fantastic offenses). The top 6, and 8 of the top 10 teams in INTs won 10 games last year. The Dolphins have neither a cupcake division nor fantastic offense. If they get lucky they can pull a "Jets", but that's clearly a longshot.

[rawaction]

I retook the quiz right after I created it and still missed like 5 or 6. The starting QB field this year is as weak as I've seen in some time.

 

Not sure if I agree with that.

 

Brady is the reigning MVP.

Vick would have been MVP in most other years.

Rivers is a perennial 4000 yard passer

Brees is a perennial 4000 yard passer

Rodgers is a 4000 yard passer and SB MVP

Schaub, Cutler, Romo, and Eli have all had 4000 yard seasons in their careers and clearly capable of doing so again.

Roethlisberger is a 3X superbowl QB

Ryan, Bradford, and Freeman look to be true franchise QBs.

Flacco and Cassel are legit NFL starters.

 

That's 15 of the 32 QBs who are pretty good players. Not including Peyton Manning who's hurt. McNabb and Hasselbeck who are about 2-3 years removed from great seasons. Sanchez who has led his team to 3 straight AFC championships. Orton led the league in passing last year until he got benched for a team that was out of it. Stafford, a #1 pick who would be in the top group if healthy. Kolb who could join the top group with a strong year. Cam Newton, #1 draft pick making his debut this weekend.

 

Names like Alex Smith, Rex Grossman, Jason Campbell, Chad Henne, and whoever the hell Jacksonville is starting are the exception. QB play is much stronger across the board than it was 5-6 years ago when guys like Joey Harrington, David Carr, Aaron Brooks, and Kyle Boller were starting QBS.

[erik316wttn]

I'm so pumped that football is back tonight. I can't wait for kickoff!

[Banedon]

ESPN keeps MNF through 2021.

[jersey cubs fan]

I retook the quiz right after I created it and still missed like 5 or 6. The starting QB field this year is as weak as I've seen in some time.

 

Not sure if I agree with that.

 

Brady is the reigning MVP.

Vick would have been MVP in most other years.

Rivers is a perennial 4000 yard passer

Brees is a perennial 4000 yard passer

Rodgers is a 4000 yard passer and SB MVP

Schaub, Cutler, Romo, and Eli have all had 4000 yard seasons in their careers and clearly capable of doing so again.

Roethlisberger is a 3X superbowl QB

Ryan, Bradford, and Freeman look to be true franchise QBs.

Flacco and Cassel are legit NFL starters.

 

That's 15 of the 32 QBs who are pretty good players. Not including Peyton Manning who's hurt. McNabb and Hasselbeck who are about 2-3 years removed from great seasons. Sanchez who has led his team to 3 straight AFC championships. Orton led the league in passing last year until he got benched for a team that was out of it. Stafford, a #1 pick who would be in the top group if healthy. Kolb who could join the top group with a strong year. Cam Newton, #1 draft pick making his debut this weekend.

 

Names like Alex Smith, Rex Grossman, Jason Campbell, Chad Henne, and whoever the hell Jacksonville is starting are the exception. QB play is much stronger across the board than it was 5-6 years ago when guys like Joey Harrington, David Carr, Aaron Brooks, and Kyle Boller were starting QBS.

 

Every year people like to whine about how horrible NFL QBs are as if there was an ere where there were so many more great ones.

[SouthSideRyan]

I retook the quiz right after I created it and still missed like 5 or 6. The starting QB field this year is as weak as I've seen in some time.

 

Not sure how they pick the front-page quizzes. It's had about 250 plays since I published it 18 hours ago (which is better than the 45 plays all-time on the other quiz I made).

 

It has to be sporcle-verified before they put it anywhere.

[Pushfrog98]

Good quiz. I had some brain farts (see Roethlisberger, Ben; Manning, Eli).

[imb]

I missed Tavaris Jackson. I'm an idiot.

[Flames24Rulz]

ESPN keeps MNF through 2021.

 

That's unfortunate.

[SouthSideRyan]

ESPN keeps MNF through 2021.

 

That's unfortunate.

 

Maybe Gruden will die by then.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Jaws too

[Warpticon]

Yeah, I don't get any of those except schedule. QB play may not improve, but they've won 7 games the last two seasons (should have won 8 last year) and been 7-6 after 13 games both seasons with the same QB they're playing now. Reason not to improve? Possibly. Reason to regress? don't see it.

 

OL is my biggest concern with the team, easily. I'm not arguing that OL isn't a concern. I just don't see how you can view OL as such a concern that it pushes Miami to the bottom of the division AND have Bush getting 1500 yards from scrimmage. That's really the #1 part that makes no sense to me. There's no way in hell he gets close to those numbers if the OL is bad, much less bad enough to make them a cellar dweller.

 

"The defense is good but doesn't create turnovers" is a strange reason to downgrade a team, especially when that defense trended sharply upward until the last game and was starting a rookie and four second year men. And the schedule is definitely tough, but it's not significantly tougher than last year's was. Last year they played 8 games against playoff teams; this year they play 6 games against teams that made the playoffs last year. Still, the schedule is the easiest part of the reasoning to understand. I just can't see them winning fewer than 6 games without an absolute implosion, and I doubt Buffalo wins more than that.

 

I have the Dolphins at 6 wins. Buffalo at 6-7.

 

But again, there's plenty of examples of 1500 yard RBs with a poor OL. Matt Forte played behind a terrible line last year and cleared 1600. Mendenhall cleared 1400 behind a bad OL, and he doesn't catch the ball at all. I guess it's more of me having faith that Bush will be healthy and the focal point of an offense for the first time in his career. If he gets 180-190 carries, he'll be there.

 

And I don't understand how the defense thing is not a valid reason. They bring back the same guys that only intercepted 11 passes and caused 8 fumbles last year. I understand that some players got some valuable experience last year and could/should be better this year, but it's not going to mean much if they are constantly on the field. In my opinion to have a playoff caliber defense (aka winning team) it doesn't matter if you stop teams from moving the ball. It's how you get the ball back to your offense. The Saints and Colts won recent Superbowls with opportunistic but bad defenses. Nobody has won with good defenses that don't take the ball away.

 

The only teams to make the playoffs last year with less than 15 INTs were the Jets (who also had a great run D), Seattle (by default at 7-9), Indianapolis and New Orleans (fantastic offenses). The top 6, and 8 of the top 10 teams in INTs won 10 games last year. The Dolphins have neither a cupcake division nor fantastic offense. If they get lucky they can pull a "Jets", but that's clearly a longshot.

 

I'm curious why you think the Bills will win 6-7 games, then. As far as I can see, they have all the concerns you have about the Dolphins besides QB play, only worse in most cases. Their line isn't great. They don't produce turnovers either, but they were dead last in run defense last year and 24th overall. Their talent at the skill positions isn't great. What am I missing here?

 

And while there are examples of RBs making yardage behind "bad" OLs, I don't find it coincidental that your two examples have 15+ pounds on Bush. They also don't have an extended injury history and reputation for being pedestrian between the tackles, either.

 

Regarding the defense, yes, they bring back the "same guys that only intercepted 11 passes." Did you miss the part where 3/4 of the starting secondary was second year players? I don't think you can extrapolate much out of past season interception rates, especially when applied to a secondary that is primarily 25 and under. Interception rates aren't very consistent from season to season anyway. Pitt had 12 picks in 2009 and 21 in 2010. New Orleans had 26 in '09 and 9 last year. 6-10 Buffalo of '09 had 28 interceptions in 2009 while 4-12 Buffalo in 2010 had 11. All of these examples are with primarily the same personnel. Beyond that, though, what does how New Orleans won the Super Bowl or how many playoff teams were above some arbitrary cutoff of interceptions have to do with whether the Dolphins place higher than the Bills?

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm curious why you think the Bills will win 6-7 games, then. As far as I can see, they have all the concerns you have about the Dolphins besides QB play, only worse in most cases. Their line isn't great. They don't produce turnovers either, but they were dead last in run defense last year and 24th overall. Their talent at the skill positions isn't great. What am I missing here?

 

You think 6 games is hard to achieve? You can be a flawed team that wins 6 games. They also get to face teams like Miami and the AFC West.

[Warpticon]

I'm curious why you think the Bills will win 6-7 games, then. As far as I can see, they have all the concerns you have about the Dolphins besides QB play, only worse in most cases. Their line isn't great. They don't produce turnovers either, but they were dead last in run defense last year and 24th overall. Their talent at the skill positions isn't great. What am I missing here?

 

You think 6 games is hard to achieve? You can be a flawed team that wins 6 games. They also get to face teams like Miami and the AFC West.

 

That wasn't the point. Did you read the rest of the paragraph?

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm curious why you think the Bills will win 6-7 games, then. As far as I can see, they have all the concerns you have about the Dolphins besides QB play, only worse in most cases. Their line isn't great. They don't produce turnovers either, but they were dead last in run defense last year and 24th overall. Their talent at the skill positions isn't great. What am I missing here?

 

You think 6 games is hard to achieve? You can be a flawed team that wins 6 games. They also get to face teams like Miami and the AFC West.

 

That wasn't the point. Did you read the rest of the paragraph?

 

I did. Your question didn't make much sense. He basically has the Bills and Dolphins even and you are mad because Buffalo has some of the same issues that the Dolphins have and should therefore get fewer wins?

[CubmanPi]

Reports are circulating that Peyton Manning may have had another neck surgery today.

 

ETA - link

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports Manning had cervical fusion surgery this morning. The expected recovery if 2-3 months, although we’ve seen with this injury how tricky it is to put a timeline on anything.

 

Indianapolis had no idea how Manning would respond to his last surgery. After delays, he tried to practice lightly for a week. That caused a setback, back pain, and further surgery. No one can truly know where this goes from here.

Edited September 8, 2011 by CubmanPi

[JimSorgi]

Reports are circulating that Peyton Manning may have had another neck surgery today.

No surprise there. Top 5 pick, here we come!

[UMFan83]

Reports are circulating that Peyton Manning may have had another neck surgery today.

 

2 in one week? Damn! :)

[Banedon]

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports Manning had cervical fusion surgery, which wrapped up this afternoon. The expected recovery is 2-3 months

 

Not going on IR.

[Derwood]

Good quiz. I had some brain farts (see Roethlisberger, Ben; Manning, Eli).

 

Thanks. It has nearly 600 plays in 24 hours. Not great, but not bad.

[Banedon]

“This procedure is performed regularly throughout the country on persons from all walks of life, including professional football players,” the Colts said in a statement. “Two former Colts players had this same procedure last winter and have fully resumed their careers. Rehabilitation from such surgery is typically an involved process. Therefore, there will be no estimation of a return date at this time. We will keep Peyton on the active roster until we have a clearer picture of his recovery process.”

[Warpticon]

I'm curious why you think the Bills will win 6-7 games, then. As far as I can see, they have all the concerns you have about the Dolphins besides QB play, only worse in most cases. Their line isn't great. They don't produce turnovers either, but they were dead last in run defense last year and 24th overall. Their talent at the skill positions isn't great. What am I missing here?

 

You think 6 games is hard to achieve? You can be a flawed team that wins 6 games. They also get to face teams like Miami and the AFC West.

 

That wasn't the point. Did you read the rest of the paragraph?

 

I did. Your question didn't make much sense. He basically has the Bills and Dolphins even and you are mad because Buffalo has some of the same issues that the Dolphins have and should therefore get fewer wins?

 

What's hard about this? I questioned his reasons for putting the Bills ahead of the Dolphins when they all apply to the Bills as well, but the Bills have a far inferior defense.

[NonProfitCow]

The Bills have no defense, a million years old Fred Jackson, lost their 2nd best wideout and all their offensive numbers from last year were from playing from behind. They had a -142 point differential last year. 4-12 looks likely. They're really bad.