Art Donovan Sez: NFL 2005-2006! Now! Thread! (bonus: NFL fantasy league yes/no)

afc east - pats
afc north - bengals
afc south - colts
afc west - raiders
afc wc's - ravens, jets

nfc east - cowboys
nfc north - lions
nfc south - falcons
nfc west - cardinals
nfc wc's - panthers, eagles

I doubt they finish better than 8-8, maybe 9-7 if they're lucky.

New Orleans - W
New England - L
@ Miami - W
Green Bay - L
@ Arizona - W
@ Detroit - W
Minnesota - W
@ Tampa Bay - W
New York Jets - W
@ Chicago - W
@ Buffalo - W
Atlanta - L
Tampa Bay - W
@ New Orleans - W
Dallas - W
@ Atlanta - W

Regular Season - 13 - 3, NFC South Champion

Playoffs:

Bye
New Orleans - W
Minnesota - W
New England - W

follow the instructions

also: harrington is indeed cute but he has no offensive system to speak of and an annoying tendency to throw garbage interceptions; fine piano player though

Did anybody else see Braylon Edwards's catch yesterday to give the Brown the win over my beloved Lion? WOW! Picking up right where he left off in the maize & blue...

and I'm a Duck fan so you know I want him to succeed. still though. you are CURSED BY MATT MILLEN'S MOUSTACHIOS.

If anyone leads the Leos to glory it'll be Kevin Jones. It'll help if Charles Rogers plays ball for more than 24 minutes.

But the Curse Of Wayne Fontes is strong, very strong.

joey harrington #1!

I'm not feeling particularly cocky about it, but I don't have that pit-of-the-stomach feeling I usually have either. Only real misstep was letting Jermaine Wiggins slip to the final round and then watching him get snapped up one pick ahead of me. Doh!

RB1: Willis McGahee
RB2: Curtis Martin
WR1: Reggie Wayne
WR2: Isaac Bruce
TE: Dallas Clark
QB: Brett Favre
DST: Pittsburgh
K: Jeff Wilkins

RES: Carnell "Cadillac" Williams
RES: Derrick Blaylock
RES: Ricky Williams
RES: Eric Moulds
RES: Charles Rogers
RES: Matt Hasselbeck

I grew up following the Bears, Bengals and Colts and just would like to see either or all of them do well. I'd like to think this is the Colts year, but they are already pretty banged up and it is hard to tell from pre-season how they will be. The Bengals should be pretty good this year, but going from pre-season they still haven't solved their run defense problems. The Bears offense, as usual is a complete and total mess. Being that I saw him play at Purdue quite a few times, I think Kyle Horton could end up a better NFL QB than some expect, but he is getting thrown to the wolves having to start out of the gate as a rookie.

Oh and as long as I'm logged out... um, you guys stink. You guys think you're so big. I say poo. Get your heads out of your poopers laugh out loud oh my god what the eff.

QB Tom Brady, NE
RB Priest Holmes, KC
RB/WR Thomas Jones, Chi
WR Plaxico Burress, NYG
WR Keary Colbert, Car
TE Alge Crumpler, Atl
D/ST Panthers D/ST, Car
K Adam Vinatieri, NE

BENCH
Carnell Williams, TB RB
Julius Jones, Dal RB
Tatum Bell, Den RB
DeShaun Foster, Car RB
Aaron Brooks, NO QB
Amani Toomer, NYG WR
Brandon Stokley, Ind WR
Braylon Edwards, Cle WR

this is my first time ever doing a fantasy football league. i guess i lucked out draft-wise?

You're strong at RB, and might want to start JJ over TJ (though TJ is always capable of monster games, especially in the first third of the season and before Cedric Benson comes on.)

So you can afford to wait and see how Carnell Williams comes on, and keep your fingers crossed that Tatum Bell wins the starting job by midseason.

WR is a little dicier. You're depending on Eli Manning to set the table for you. Keep a close eye on Braylon Edwards and watch the waiver wire and free agent pool closely - you can count on a few unexpected wideouts emerging every year.

I suspect, though, that the chaos of makeshift facilities and constant travel and the loss of the "twelfth man" (bagged or otherwise) may make it hard on them. If you get docked points for picks, Brooks may be a white-knuckler. But then, there's usually a decent QB or two to be found by midseason. I picked up Drew Brees to back up Trent Green last year and that worked out pretty well.

one question re: ilx/cibuli league that someone might be able to answer - positional defensive players: what's the strat cw? last year i remember grabbing champ bailey partly cuz i luvs him homerish reasons but also on 'i need a db - i will grab the best' and then figuring out/remembering that the best corners /= most ints cuz people don't challenge them usually. i think i've figured out it's better to use your db slots on safetys instead of corners but someone might show me the error of my ways there. few fantasy leagues have individ defensive players so i really haven't come across any even rudimentary cw regarding them fantasywise.

i am so wearing my aints shirt every sunday thise season.

Mark Herrmann was a first round bust, but the Broncos got John Elway in a trade for him and a couple of other draft choices. It isn't like the Colts had a chance of keeping Elway, so they got what they could. With one of those draft picks the Colts did pretty good, as it was for Chris Hinton, who was an Allpro OT. But then the Colts traded Hinton, Andre Rison and another first round pick (#3) in a second stupid trade for Jeff George. At least for the Colts sake, the Falcons made a horrible pick with that choice draft slot.

I'm just glad the Colts didn't listen to the many of the sports talking heads who were saying to take Ryan Leaf over Peyton Manning. Everytime you see the bulletproof hair of Mel Kiper or listen to sports talk smack master Jim Rome, remember that both had Leaf rated way over Manning and gave the Colts some guff for their draft choice.

About two days after the NFL draft this year, I thought it would be fun to go back to look at Kiper mock drafts from years past. Hey, how bizarre, they were no longer in the archive! How odd. About a week later I tried to look at Kiper's mock draft from THIS YEAR'S mock... and the pages (which I still had in my surf history) were empty!

I think the last thing Kiper wants is to be held accountable for his bullshit analysis. He's certainly been right about stuff from time to time, but a broken clock / twice a day / etc.

I just realized that I picked THREE starting joneses in our league at RBs, aw yeah! can't start 'em all though, dang me

Kyle Orton 'Ears a Who?

What is worse is ESPN nicked the idea for that segment from Fox.

No one is as bad as college football analysts, Lee Corso and Trev Alberts are the TV equivalent of scorched earth.

haha matt otm

most painful thing ever - when one of the all-heart/no-logic football (or basketball, aka Dick V) guys starts talking about baseball and sounds like John Kruk's retarded cousin.

Football analysts in general are full of crap, the only guys that can pick games with any regularity are usually the stand up comedians.

and Phil Mickelson! and Hank Stram, RIP.

Corso is semi-coherent and entertaining on the pregame shows and roundups, even if he is a Big Ten hater, but I swear to god he always sounds half in the bag whenever those guys call a game. ESPECIALLY by the 4th quarter, he totally gets progressively more incoherent and rambling..

Dude, holy crap my auto-picked team is incredible!

Brady QB
Harrison WR
Porter WR
Boldin WR
S. Alexander RB
S. Jackson RB
Heap TE
Elam K

!

Yeah, not quite as lively as the Baseball Prosp.

My expectations dipped when they gave the "bear with us, BB has been doing theirs for years" disclaimer at the onset.

Yay Bills!

Yay Lions! Detroit breaks a streak of 77 straight games in which the Pack has scored a TD. Joey H looked good enough to get the job done this year.

I'm out of my survivor pool ALREADY!! I had two entries in this league. Top prize is 20 large! I took Denver and St. Louis and I am OUT. Jesus, how disappointing.

The Ravens are better off now that Kyle Boller is injured. Wright led them to the playoffs two years ago having two or three really big passing games with one really crazy game against Seattle where there was like nearly 100 total points scored, but then their supergenius coach benched him to start a rookie the next season. Personally, I would not mind seeing the Ravens not win a game, as their coach is a major dork. I still think the Ravens will be better with Wright at QB than Boller.

bad job me for keeping him on the bench

Fuck-a-Favre.

Football players have the worst union of any professional sport (and the worst power relationship with management)(except for hockey these days, I guess, but that ain't major) for precisely this kind of thing. Favre's barely better than a scab to me.

Favre's actions are symptomatic of the union's weaknesses, yes.

The teams could offer shorter-term contracts but salaries would probably increase and teams also like being able to shuffle their rosters at any time with little or nothing in the way of monetary consequences (unless they shelled out a huge signing bonus).

They've got a system that works out incredibly well for the NFL and upper-echelon players, and no one in the media or public is going to protest that lesser players can get a raw deal (ie cut at any time, cut when injured, forced to play injured rather than get cut - cf. Jacob Rogers of der Cowboys) when they do make good money.

But teams and the media have to stop playing the "you signed a contract, play" card when someone tries to hold out for more guaranteed money. That's all they can count on, their careers can be over at any moment. Players need to be supportive of each other (both as a union and individually - and most are, the fuckers like Favre excluded), as their number might be up next.

Sunday, Sep. 18 Baltimore at Tennessee 1:00 p.m. BALTISNORE
Buffalo at Tampa Bay 1:00 p.m. 707 TAMBA GAY
Detroit at Chicago 1:00 p.m. 709 CHICA-1-2-3-GO!!!!!!!
Jacksonville at Indianapolis 1:00 p.m. 706 WHO CARES UH JACKSONVILLE
Minnesota at Cincinnati 1:00 p.m. 710 MINI SODA
New England at Carolina 1:00 p.m. 704 POO ENGLAND
Pittsburgh at Houston 1:00 p.m. 705 PITTSTURD
San Francisco at Philadelphia 1:00 p.m. 712 PHILASALDPALEA
Atlanta at Seattle 4:05 p.m. 717 ATLANTA t(^o^t)
St. Louis at Arizona 4:05 p.m. 716 SAINT POO-IS
Cleveland at Green Bay 4:15 p.m. 714 GREEN GAY
Miami at N.Y. Jets 4:15 p.m. 715 NEW DORK
San Diego at Denver 4:15 p.m. 713 DENVER THE LAST DINOSAUR
Kansas City at Oakland 8:30 p.m. OAAAAAAAAKLAND RAIDERNATION BITCHES
Monday, Sep. 19 N.Y. Giants at New Orleans 7:30 p.m. NEW ORLEANS MAIN EVENT PUSH
Washington at Dallas 9:00 p.m. REDSKINSSSSSSS

Miami's D was not as bad last year as the numbers show, as their
offense went 3 and out so much. On paper, the Jets should have the best passing attack out of those teams, which often times opens up the running game. The Jets also got so far behind to KC, they were throwing a lot of passes (44) to only (20) rushes. They might be a bit more balenced in this game.

I'd probably start your guy from Buffalo. Even though the Bucs completely shut down the Vikings run attack, they also had a built up a lead and it does not appear Minnesota even tried to run the ball once they got behind. The Vik backs only had 12 carries, while they threw the ball 33 times and Culpepper had 4 carries, which might have been pass plays. I think Buffalo's D will keep the game close and being that the Bills have a young QB, they won't be so quick to abandon the running game.

I say this every season, but damn! this is going to be a great season!

i have a warrick dunn florida state starter jersey!!!

The Bills also lost Takeo Spikes and the Pats Rodney Harrison for the season. Both of them are really good players, but there respected defenses might be able to absorb the loss.

Denver has played well the past couple of weeks. I figured they would be pretty good, no matter how bad they looked in the first game.

The same twerps that were saying Denver was done in week one were also the ones saying the Chargers should bench Drew Brees. Criminy the Chargers barely lost their first two games, and both of them were because of dumb penaltys and one because their punter blew two punts putting the Cowboys in great field position. LT is freaking awesome, he reminds me of Walter Payton when he runs, with all of the side stepping.

Cinci is looking for real and Carson Palmer is turning into an elite QB (other than the fumbles). They play the Jaguars in two weeks, which should be their first real test. That game will be a slug fest, as Jacksonville's D is a nasty pipe hitting crew. Kyle Orton looked like a 15 year old against Cinci last week, what a terrible game and the Bears had no choice but to leave him out there to look stupid.

It LOOKED really awful. Hyperextension and severe bone bruising, apparently.

The Bears smoked the Vikes 28-3.

Carson Palmer tied Peyton Manning's NFL record with his ninth consecutive game with a rating of over 100.

xpost!

I concur, which is why the talk about Faulk being the best all around back of all time really bristled with me. Faulk was a really good back and is probably a hall of famer, but I can't put him in that next category.

The same goes for Emmitt Smith, who was a very good back but even though he is the all time rushing leader, he is at best is a debatable #4 behind Jim Brown, Payton and Barry Sanders. I don't even think Smith was as dominating at his peak as Eric Dickerson, who was most explosive back raw speed wise that I remember seeing.

Earl Campbell also deserves some probs for being the most difficult runner to stop I have ever seen, when he started out it took gangs of people to bring him down. Sadly he is paying for that battering these days.

Walter Payton could do it all; he had the moves, the speed and could run someone over if it came to that. Thomlinson is the closest thing I have seen to someone like Payton. Faulk is a similar back, but I just cannot put him quite at the same level, more like a modern upgraded version of Tony Dorsett. Payton's recieving numbers would have been just as high if he played in the modern game.

Reggie Bush (Helix High) might possibly enter the argument.

I used to think this, but someone made a compelling argument against him to me. His best plays were phenomenal, but like Michael Vick, when he was off, he was REALLY off. He was the ultimate -2, -3, +1, +20, -5, -1, +15 back of all time. But no matter how high the highs, a great running back NEEDS to be able to give you three yards when it counts, and I'd rather have Payton, Smith, LT, Dickerson, Campbell, Faulk, Simpson in that case every time. I still think Sanders is better than Smith, but I can't rate him above Dickerson, Campbell or Sayers.

I will keep LT and Faulk out of the argument because I'm way biased.

No way. The dude is good, and deserves to be in the conversation, but if you put Peyton Manning in the Belichick offense, Manning has three rings and Brady's Colts are an afterthought.

oh xpost that was my way of making fun of your randall bullshit.

... I don't think I can do this one

Sanders like Payton should get some props for playing on teams that were so one dimensional AND still being able to rush for that many yards. Criminy, just look at Faulk when he was with the cruddy Colts compared to being on the Rams throwing for 4500+ yards and all those deep TDs. Sanders had the most madhouse moves of anyone, that guy was like a pinball.

FAL-CONS FE-VER

Bradshaw was the QB on the greatest defensive team in history and by the time of their last win they had developed more into an offensive power. Bradshaw was really good, but was he a better QB than Dan Fouts? I find that hard to say as I only remember the ends of their careers.

I will say that Marino was better than Montana and Elway, as I saw those guys play. I will also say that Manning is way better than Brady. I'm still not sure Brady would even be Brady if Drew Bledsoe doesn't get hurt and gives him a chance. Tom Brady is a bit of the nu-Brett Farve for football talking heads i.e. "he plays the game the right way b.s." If the Pats win it all this year riding Brady's back to the bank, then we will talk...

a) injuries
b) too damn pretty
c) impatience

also, having seen every college game that both michael and marcus played/have played, i am convinced that marcus is the better qb, even if he has to rape 15 year old girls to do it. but whatevs, michael's got his chapstick thing so who are we to judge!

And so far, the Raiders biggest problem with Moss has been his on-field performance, not anything else. Although that probably has something to do with the chump throwing the ball.

Anyway, Mike Tice sucks.

Well, they've had some tough injuries (note: so have the Pats), and Culpepper's playing hurt (note: so's McNabb), and it's not unusual to look good for a game or two when you show opposing coaching staffs something other than what they prepared for (which is why well-rested and unscouted third-string RBs often get one Pro Bowl game filling in for injured starters).

Blah blah blah whatever. It's on Tice and the staff. I got the impression from yesterday's post-game QA that he'll be genuinely relieved when the axe falls.

If I were leading a dead franchise, the franchise QB would be the last piece I'm looking for. Put together an offensive line to protect him and a strong defense, so he has a safety zone. (OK, sometimes that's still a failure, as with Baltimore/Boller, but he just sucks, and he wasn't a top-10 pick anyway). That works much better everywhere it's tried rather than the Carr/Harrington/Akili Smith/etc. school of letting 'em get ripped apart. Manning survived and prospered, but it's rare.

Also, Jams, your madden strategy is crazy. Vick is obviously the right choice, but wide receivers are like the last thing I grab. You gotta get a solid front seven on D and a good running back. Usually, it's best to skip the mid tier guys and get, like, some 75er who you *know* will project upwards and has 90+ speed and hands. But wideouts, all I look for is 90+ speed and good catch carry and don't worry about overpaying for the TOs of the world.

the qb position is incredibly overstressed in the draft, as the ravens circa 2002 made oh-so-clear. (and hello dallas cowboys 2k5!) kitna would make a GREAT starting qb on the right team. i've always liked the dude. i'm sure the skins will sign him to an eight year deal in 2008.

I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to fix it (aside from playing every game myself).

The other glitch was that even after winning a Super Bowl, I couldn't get mid-season attendance above 35%. Opening days and playoffs, 99% - mid-December 30%. I guess that was their sign that I needed to build a dome, but then I don't get my awesome snow-bowls.

http://blitzleague.com/main.php

The thing with stadium attendance... it seems like if you play the game yourself, people show up. If you don't, they won't. Which is why I've completely stopped using the Owner mode and stick with GM mode, which is all I care about anyway. The allure of setting drink prices wore off fast.

I guess it's possible, but I doubt it. Madden's gameplay is ingrained in every fiber of my being.

No one is really going to give the Colts much more respect until they put a beat down on the Patriots which is hopefully coming on 11/7.

Indy has NE, J-Ville, Pitts, Cinci, Seattle, SD and Tennessee (which is a tough game no matter what the Titans record may be) coming up in the second half.

Didn't see it, but there was a classic Jets-Colt matchup in the early '80s that I'm sure could wear the crown (worst NFL I have seen in my entire life, that is). Ended in a low-scoring tie, after both teams missed field goals in overtime.

Putting a beatdown on the Pats doesn't really have the same cache that it did in previous years.

QB: Donovan McNabb
WR: Santana Moss
WR: Hines Ward
WR: Brandon Lloyd
RB: Domanick Davis
RB: Ahman Green
TE: Antonio Gates
K: Neil Rackers (more like RADkers, am I right?)
DEF: Cincinatti
DB: Deltha O'Neal + Rashean Mathis
DL: Jonathan Vilma + Rod Coleman

Bench Notables: Michael Pittman, T.J. Duckett and Eli Manning

#2 and gaining!

QB: Trent Green
RB: Shaun Alexander
RB: Jamal Lewis/Chris Brown
WR: Chad Johnson
WR: Larry Fitzgerald
TE: Jeremy Shockey
K: Nate Kaeding, but who really cares?
D: Indy/Cincy

QB: Carson and Eli Manning (dropped Aaron Brooks)
RB: Priest Holmes (rejected a trade offer for Alexander before the season... whoops)
RB: Westbrook (backups: Fred ("Probable") Taylor and as of a few days ago Tatum Bell (bye, Parker))
WR: Owens
WR: Harrison
WR: Burleson, Antonio Bryant, etc. Total garbage.
TE: Heap
K: Kaeding (but who really cares)
D: Buffalo/Denver (just dropped New England :( )

Wow did you guys see the end of that Giants-Broncos game??? And where the fuck did Minnesota pull that kick out of their ass from?!

WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THAT

"Haley got half-punched and half-shoved by Parcells because Haley interrupted a Parcells sideline tirade aimed at the officiating crew."

He's totally headed for a massive heart attack.

I hate bad calls, but I really hate instant replay. It turns every borderline catch into the Zapruder film with having to listen the mic jockeys plead their case. The flow of the game gets completely out of wack. The early call in the Bengals game with Johnson in the end zone is a prime example. The call could have gone either way and it was called a TD at first. How anyone from that kind of footage can really decide "CONTROL" is beyond me. Did the ball hit the ground? No. If I want to watch Law and Order, I'll tune to that channel. Just make a call and don't take 25 minutes trying to figure out what actually happened. Criminy.

Parcells didn't slug the guy, he just kind of pushed him back. It looked pretty tame compared to some things I have seen coaches do with grabbing facemasks and the like. It was nothing compared to the June Jones vs. Jeff George rumble a few years back.

Manning later said he had been told by one of Mara's grandsons that the owner awakened in time to see the winning play, then smiled and went back to sleep.

...then someone else told Manning he was a dirty liar! But it's a nice idea anyway. RIP Mara!

Also what the hell happened to the Eagles, they seemed like they were making a game of it and then just kind of where like "Eh, forget about it."

Also shame on Tampa Bay, wtf?

I think their offense has gone back to 2000. How long till Shawn King gets put in at QB?

How about those Bears? When Lovie was letting the clock run out with two time outs left, I was like WTF. I suppose in hindsight he figured their defense probably did have as much chance of scoring as the offense in OT.

The Bears D is legit and has been pretty good for a few years, it is just they got decimated by injuries last year with something like 8 or 9 starters ending up on IR.