"Steve Young's face is totally unlined and I have HD, btw" NFL WEEK FOUR [2010]

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ePwDySjVdyo/TKGw4DRLvMI/AAAAAAAAAM4/FwmOYpRHBfE/steve-young.jpg

THE TRUTH IS IN THE PUDDING

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh → Steelers
Carolina @ New Orleans → Saints
Seattle @ St. Louis → Seahawks
Denver @ Tennessee → Titans
Detroit @ Green Bay → Packers
Cincinnati @ Cleveland → Bengals
New York Jets @ Buffalo → Jets
San Francisco @ Atlanta → Falcons
Arizona @ San Diego → Chargers
Washington @ Philadelphia → Eagles
Indianapolis @ Jacksonville → Colts
Houston @ Oakland → Texans
Chicago @ New York Giants → Bears
New England @ Miami → Dolphins

Last week, 8-8. Overall, 29-19

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/nfl/09/27/18game.season.ap/index.html?eref=sihp

polian basically runs the league so id say this is p reliable

11-5 last wk; 29-19 overall

(there are a lot of terrible games this wk)

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh → Steelers
Carolina @ New Orleans → Saints
Seattle @ St. Louis → rams
Denver @ Tennessee → Titans
Detroit @ Green Bay → Packers
Cincinnati @ Cleveland → Bengals
New York Jets @ Buffalo → Jets
San Francisco @ Atlanta → Falcons
Arizona @ San Diego → Chargers
Washington @ Philadelphia → Eagles
Indianapolis @ Jacksonville → Colts
Houston @ Oakland → Texans
Chicago @ New York Giants → giants
New England @ Miami → Dolphins

Worried about player health, but totally excited for 2 more games a season.

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/4581/eptsportsnflexperts1079.jpg

How does he keep getting work???

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh → Steelers
Carolina @ New Orleans → Saints
Seattle @ St. Louis → rams
Denver @ Tennessee → Titans
Detroit @ Green Bay → Packers
Cincinnati @ Cleveland → Bengals
New York Jets @ Buffalo → Jets
San Francisco @ Atlanta → Falcons
Arizona @ San Diego → Chargers
Washington @ Philadelphia → Eagles
Indianapolis @ Jacksonville → Colts
Houston @ Oakland → Oakland
Chicago @ New York Giants → Bears
New England @ Miami → Dolphins

7-9 last week, 22-26 overall ... If I could pick against the Raiders I'd probably be helping myself. I know, I know.

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh → Steelers
Carolina @ New Orleans → Saints
Seattle @ St. Louis → rams
Denver @ Tennessee → Titans
Detroit @ Green Bay → Packers (3 weeks in a row I've been let down by u, DET. Yr not beating GBP regardless, but I have no hope 4 u)
Cincinnati @ Cleveland → Bengals
New York Jets @ Buffalo → Jets
San Francisco @ Atlanta → Falcons
Arizona @ San Diego → Chargers
Washington @ Philadelphia → Eagles (also, ALREADY?)
Indianapolis @ Jacksonville → Colts
Houston @ Oakland → HOU
Chicago @ New York Giants → Bears
New England @ Miami → NE

9-7 last week, 28-20 overall

Worried about player health, but totally excited for 2 more games a season.

Really? There aren't enough garbage games for you already in a 16 game season? Now they're adding two more. Very few teams play well the first two weeks, but now that will be 3 or 4 weeks. Also, teams can clench divisions earlier, and that means more bullshit games at the end of the season too.

I am not totally excited about this. I am not excited at all.

on the money

It'll be a month's worth of the Colts/Jets game.

Fever otm

can i just say the whole situation blows and i loathe the way in which the owners are exercising their power and leveraging the loyalty and good will of the fans?

like, no one is happy about this, but what are we going to do? boycott two weeks? i am pretty much at a loss.

there's nothing anyone can do

sucks ass

the owners in the nfl wield more tyrannical power than the owners of any other sport -- at least in the nba & mlb the owners actually have to pay out the full lives of contracts

the only karmatic retribution is that they're forced to pay rookies obscene salaries but even that comes back to bite fans in the ass eventually

It feels like the owners are using the fans as an excuse to push this through "The fans want more games, and we have to listen to the fans $$$$$$$". I'd like to (probably naively) think fans would rather have good games and less injuries, than more games and a sprawling morass of wounded broken players a la the wounded civil war soldiers in Gone With The Wind.

And honestly, owners can eat a dick as far as fans go. Well, okay Raider owner/ Raider fans ( know there are cool owners out there, so I wont' paint with a broad brush) . They want to ream everyone on ticket prices and then whine and cry about lack of attendance and then propose to rebuild a stadium where the entire lower level is VIP boxes. NFL moneygrubbing ownership and current swath of moneyhungry movie studios have an awful lot in common. (hate people, love money.) And they cite the FAN's interest for the 18 game season. EFF YOU

i have not encountered a fan, media person, or other observer who likes this

Sorry abt crazy rant. I'm back now.

i have not encountered a fan, media person, or other observer who likes this

― call all destroyer, Tuesday, September 28, 2010 1:55 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

yea it's a lot like the 96-team bracket thingy that thank god didnt happen

what was that?

for the ncaa tournament

Oh right...I thought you were talking about the NFL and I'm like "brackets? whaaaa?

Yeah the 96 team idea would have been bad news.

i don't even know what to say about this but here you go:

At some point, Dallas Cowboys rookie wide receiver Dez Bryant was going to get his comeuppance. Teammate Roy Williams all but guaranteed that during training camp.

Bryant made national news in training camp when he refused to carry Williams' pads after practice -- bucking the trend of veteran NFL players hazing rookies. Bryant later said he didn't know about such tradition.

"I'm not doing it," Bryant said then. "I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player's pads."

Williams excused it, saying then that Bryant, who received $8.3 million in guaranteed money from his rookie contract, would just have to take the team out to dinner and and get him some new shoes.

Well, that dinner happened Monday night. The final tab: $54,896.

Bryant took the offensive players out to Pappas Bros. Steakhouse. Williams, however, made sure Bryant got the message, inviting defensive players as well.

And guess who was left holding the bill afterward.

"They got the young fella," said Bryant's adviser, David Wells. "What could he say? He had to pay it unless he wanted to wash dishes for a month."

Players ordered basically everything on the menu and even took home bottles of wine.

After checking out the 90-page winebook, it's anybody's guess if anybody took home a bottle of Chateau Latour for $9,000. It's also possible a few players ordered a bottle of PlumpJack Reserve for $600.

No word from Bryant or Williams about the evening ... yet.

lol

he should've just refused to pay!!

what was gonna happen?

that's always one of the most dickish things that routinely happens on all pro sports teams

yeah i mean if they had kept it in the sub-10k range that's one thing, but this was nuts

"offensive players" lol

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh → steelers
Carolina @ New Orleans → saints
Seattle @ St. Louis → rams
Denver @ Tennessee → titans
Detroit @ Green Bay → pack
Cincinnati @ Cleveland → browns
New York Jets @ Buffalo → jets
San Francisco @ Atlanta → falcons
Arizona @ San Diego → bolts
Washington @ Philadelphia → eagles
Indianapolis @ Jacksonville → colts
Houston @ Oakland → raiders
Chicago @ New York Giants → bears
New England @ Miami → fins

8-8 last week, 28-20 overall

otm...$54,896 is really not practical joke level anymore

And in these troubled economic times, just how funny is $54,896... hurm, Gucci-wearing football players? (peers over reading glasses)

I guarantee he wishes he could go back and just carry the damn shoulderpads now.

i really would not want to be a rookie wr on the cowboys in dez's third year on the team

So if my math skills are correct, with a 53-man roster that translates to over $1,000 a person!! What the hell kinda restaurant sells food that expensive?

I think there are plenty of restaurants that could figure out a way to charge $1000 a person if someone told them about the loljoke to run up as big a bill as possible

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh → steelers
Carolina @ New Orleans → saints
Seattle @ St. Louis → seahawks
Denver @ Tennessee → titans
Detroit @ Green Bay → packers
Cincinnati @ Cleveland → bengals
New York Jets @ Buffalo → jets
San Francisco @ Atlanta → falcons
Arizona @ San Diego → chargers
Washington @ Philadelphia → eagles
Indianapolis @ Jacksonville → colts
Houston @ Oakland → texans
Chicago @ New York Giants → bears
New England @ Miami → patriots, unfortunately.

6-10 last week, an ugly 14-18 overall.

So, CBS has the Denver/Tennessee game, and the Ravens/Steelers game at 10am PST.

I really really really really don't want to go to a bar on Sunday morning. Again.

Please, CBS - save me from my AT&T U-verse hell and deliver me a Ravens game at home. Please.

What the fuck
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-jaguars-osgood
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP)—Jacksonville receiver Kassim Osgood leapt out a second-floor window to escape a gun-wielding man who attacked him and a 19-year-old Jaguars cheerleader, according to police.
http://www.zidouta.com/images/omar_little.jpg

BUSTED

yeah dating a cheerleader 11 years your younger is kinda nasty

General rule of thumb is the 10+ yr age gap becomes decidedly less creepy when the girl leaves her teens. Also: Florida be crazy.

8-8 last week, 28-19 overall

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh → feeling the ravens this week
Carolina @ New Orleans → saints
Seattle @ St. Louis → seahawks
Denver @ Tennessee → titans i hope
Detroit @ Green Bay → pack
Cincinnati @ Cleveland → bengals
New York Jets @ Buffalo → jets
San Francisco @ Atlanta → falcons, rip singletary
Arizona @ San Diego → chargers
Washington @ Philadelphia → eagles, mcnabb sadface
Indianapolis @ Jacksonville → colts
Houston @ Oakland → texans
Chicago @ New York Giants → BEARS
New England @ Miami → i would like to say miami but it will be the pats

btw i realize this is vv serious business but i kinda lolled at osgood likely being all "wtf?!" while these two are shooting at each other and getting the hell outta there.

The gunman took Putnal’s cell phone and tackled her as she tried to flee. When he ordered the couple to sit on the floor, she escaped downstairs in her parents’ home and grabbed a gun, police said. They shot at each other and both missed.

Osgood, meanwhile, jammed a chair under the door, jumped out a window to the lawn below and ran to a neighbor’s house to call police.

This is my favorite line from the whole story: They shot at each other and both missed.

9-7 last week, 26-24 overall

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh → steelers
Carolina @ New Orleans → saints
Seattle @ St. Louis → seahawks
Denver @ Tennessee → titans
Detroit @ Green Bay → packers
Cincinnati @ Cleveland → bengals
New York Jets @ Buffalo → jets
San Francisco @ Atlanta → 9ers
Arizona @ San Diego → chargers
Washington @ Philadelphia → eagles
Indianapolis @ Jacksonville → colts
Houston @ Oakland → texans
Chicago @ New York Giants → giants
New England @ Miami → fins

try not to be jealous but I'm attending the clash of the titans - rams vs squawks

gorams!

headbutt those seachickens!!!

Was close to going to that Rams game, but they moved the bachelor party to Nashville.

Broncos @ Titans?

That's where they're going, but I dropped out.

And Ravens/Stillers on CBS at home! Football in mah pjs, with coffee.

"So, Dan pussed out because he is moving into a new place this weekend. That means that there is an extra ticket to the Titans v Broncos game. Dan is still going to pay for it unless somebody else wants to go. Are you sure you don't want to get on this crazy train? We leave from my house in a rented minivan at 10:30 tomorrow morning."

Seriously, this could have turned out to be one of those Waylon Jennings/Richie Valens sort of deals.

Lol @ the rented minivan.

an ugly 9-7 last week, 29-19 overall
This week seems a lot more stable and i'm actually betting on all the overdogs

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh → steelers
Carolina @ New Orleans → saints
Seattle @ St. Louis → seahawks
Denver @ Tennessee → titans
Detroit @ Green Bay → packers
Cincinnati @ Cleveland → bengals
New York Jets @ Buffalo → jets
San Francisco @ Atlanta → atlanta
Arizona @ San Diego → chargers
Washington @ Philadelphia → eagles
Indianapolis @ Jacksonville → colts
Houston @ Oakland → texans
Chicago @ New York Giants → giants
New England @ Miami → pats

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh - This one will be your usual knuckle dusting riot. These two clubs really don't like each other. Charlie Batch better make sure his health insurance is active. Hard one to figure, as B-more will win these on the road.
Carolina @ New Orleans - Saints
Seattle @ St. Louis – I think this is a trickier pick as the Rams seem improved. I’ll take the Seahawks, but I don’t feel that confident on it.
Denver @ Tennessee – Titans at home
Detroit @ Green Bay – Packers
Cincinnati @ Cleveland – Bengals but anything can happen when these two rivals play.
New York Jets @ Buffalo - Jets
San Francisco @ Atlanta – Falcons but this is pretty much a must win for the 49ers.
Arizona @ San Diego – Chargers should win this one easy, AZ is just a different team without Warner.
Washington @ Philadelphia – should be an interesting game, I’ll take the Eagles at home but I think this one could go either way. Turnovers probably will be the key.
Indianapolis @ Jacksonville – These games are often knock down drag outs where people get carted off the field left and right. Colts should win, but if the Jags can run like mad against in Indy, I’d buy an upset. If Indy gets up a couple of Tds early, it’s over.
Houston @ Oakland – Texans should win and cannot have a let down here.
Chicago @ New York Giants – I’m picking the Bears. I think the Giants are a mess and the Coughlin doomsday clock will move one more minute closer to midnight.
New England @ Miami - I hate picking against NE as they will prove you wrong, but I know Miami will be up on this one. This is a pretty huge game. I’m going Dolphins, but I feel like I am going on a limb.

Last week, 9-7. Overall, 31-17 (weird thing was that I was 8-1 on the early games and finished 9-7 for the week, but I will take a Bears win even if I didn't pick it to happen

I'll take the Steelers in the first game, as I realize I didn't take a winner. Their D is a bit better.

earlnash with the leading pick em going in to week four

i agree with you that the giants are a mess, but i think the bears have used up 90% of their luck in 12% of the season and they're due for a four turnover game any day now.

Jack Del Rio on the hotseat? Yeah, okay. Put Mike Shula in there. I DARE YOU.

That fuckin' guy.

Can't decide if i should wear my kenneth darby or danny amendola jersey today

Hey, did y'all know that Rachel Nichols' father-in-law is Mike Nichols?

yep

FOOTBALL
i have ravens-steelers

i know steelers offense has been good without rofflesberger, but what are they gonna do against a giant jet powered raven that shoots lasers?

I have Panthers/Saints. Ehh.

I'm stuck with 49ers/Falcons. Watching Steelers/Ravens online. :-/

a bunch of boring ass games today

i have denver-tennesee both of which are totally uninspiring so i'm watching rams-seahawks mostly for the lulz

not even steelers-ravens is that exciting seeing as low scoring defensive battles cease to become interesting when charlie batch is involved in the proceedings

49ers offense already seems a little better i guess... /sleepy yawn

With Bush and Thomas out, Saints are fielding Ladell Betts and Michael Ivory. Both dudes look way ok so far.

Oh...CHRIS Ivory.

this is kind of fun. hell of a catch by randle el just now

holy crap @ 49ers punt block->TD. red zone people will see this by the time i get done typing it

well it'll be fun to watch them b low this one

damn blocked punt was crazy

i sort of wish i hadn't made plans during the afternoon game now. getting caught up in the Vick/McNabb drama, even though I still think the Redskins will get spanked.

Taylor Mays you are a genius.

the LIONS pass rush is making life hard for rodgers

and he still makes a ridic pass for a td

chris ivory just fumbled on a play where he actually looked like he was trying to slam dunk the football into an invisible basket

LUDICROUS catch by danny amendola!

yeah that was prob the catch of the year

commentators praising jim zorn for working with joe the flacco

alright joe, stay medium out there

a bomb to t.o.!

♥ ♥ ♥ aaron rodgers ♥ ♥ ♥

^^^ should be the new board description btw

yeah i agree with that

cosign

god the seahawks just ran the worst fake i've ever seen in my entire life

they ran a fake field goal that put the onus on the snapper who i believe is the PUNTER to run outside against actual nfl players, unsurprisingly he was tackled by one of the outside rushers (a corner) before he even crossed the line of scrimmage

yeah that was really bad

sweet catch by megatron right before the half, that game has been fun

lol @ Singletary having some kind of fit on the sidelines

Singletary is the coaching equivalent of the grouchy old man on his porch with a shotgun.

hahah yeah. what really cracked me up was at the end where he was, like, tangled up in the cord of his broken headset and about to completely lose it

why are sooooooooo many college & pro coaches completely incompetent when it comes to clock management?

the rams just threw a ball down to like the 12 yard line with 11 seconds left and one time out and they didn't call the time out until there was two seconds left thus disallowing themselves from throwing one into the endzone

Lol, wow that's bad

and that was about 5 minutes after they ran a montage showing how pete carroll blew all this time at the end of the first half last week

man calvin is an animal

can I just: the commentators for the 49er game are the worst. It's like Fox's D-team.

I'm thinking darbys. GORAMS

Dick Stockton has a tone more suited to horseracing. Everything is exciting! Even when it is not!

Wow, I will forgive Shockey's drops today for that catch.

saints game plan in 1st half of this game -> move the ball deep into panthers territory, give away ball to james anderson
repeat
i think they're trying to do it again in 2nd half here

The Browns are up by ten!! Football is so fun when your team is doing well!!

the bengals are terrible and their offense should p much be blown up

FUMBLE CARSON PALMER INSIDE THE 20! w00t!!

oh fuck you tj ward that was an awful hit

suspend that motherfucker

kyle orton x_x

uh

Rec Yds Avg Lng TD
Terrell Owens(notes) 8 209 26.1 78 1

THE DETROIT LIONS?????

packers are wasting a generational talent at qb

the ravens aren't about to lose to the batch era steelers are they

We already lost. :(

3rd and 8 up by two with the ball... how much you wanna bet we lose?

THAT WASN'T EVEN T THE MARKER!! THEY CALLED A TIMEOUT FOR THAT??!?!??!

That was the worst play I've ever seen.

related: what is wrong with the saints

"Oh this is good to see. T.O.'s having fun." SHUT THE FUCK UP

mr. srnu mad

U guys this 9erz Falcon game is bizarre

it appears as if the falcons aren't even moving the ball?

4:41 with the lead. Can the Browns run out the clock and get some fucking first downs????

ahahahaha RAVENS

They are now

Roddy White is the whole Falcon team right now

it would've been so embarrassing had the ravnes lost

oh lord jabar gaffney

cmon NFL, i would like to see a montage of sad steeler fans crying into their terrible towels right now

well, they do have 28 seconds to get a fg and tie but.. UH

RAY LEWIS
game ovah

i told them to watch out for the giant flying raven with laser beams

JIMMY CLAUSSEN

PEYTON FUCKING HILLISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1-3 BABY!!! 1-3!!!!!!

lol @ the fucking Niners

nothing is funnier to me than the 0-4 san francisco 49ers

nothing

They lead for the whole game & still lose, lololol

WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW MR SINGLETARY

holy fucking shit john fox

sheesh saints almost blew that one

I tried to root for the home team (49ers) last year, but now I wish their games were being blacked out tbh.

terrible playcalls carolina. wth

Psyched for Iggles/Skins

so many crazy endings

denver gets a PI call on the goalline

i like that all this pink crap matches the titans uniforms

lol @ steelers

WTG rams!!!

still feel like there are bad things lying in wait for a team that can barely beat a team quarterbacked by chaz batch

WTG Browns!!

great play by the broncos

10/10 fist pump from orton too

denver's run game is so, so bad

Awww big hugs DMac/Vick

UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

seriously, what

wow, fuck you NFL. No Washington/Philly game because the Raiders are playing at home - but the game is blacked out. So the only game on in SF right now is Jaguars vs Colts.

lol 7-0 texans

colts in the redzone

awww love donovan

hate u joe buck

joe buck holds that mic like it's an ice cream cone

Ugh Raiders already 0-7 wtg guys

Glad I can watch Iggles/Skins

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/7213/awwmcnabbandvick.jpg

YEAH

gooo Redskins!

(watching on internet ;_;)

love the eagles running the zone read ^_^

this week's redskins song from local station pgc

skins fan forever

god the eagles just suck so badly in short yardage

"why did portis take himself out of the game toward the end of that last series?" dc sportswriters want to know. hey, i mean, why did portis fall down untouched on a long run last week?

i really love how the dc media is so confused by clinton portis. consistently. for years.

You guys, I am pretty happy that the whole "Hey I bet we could beat the Lions even if we barely ever have the ball on offense" strategy seemed to work in the end, but I feel that maybe Green Bay shouldn't make a habit of having half as many plays from scrimmage as their opponent. Seems like a risky strategy.

COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLEY

Joe Buck is the key to Skins scoring...both times he said that they suck on 3rd down/redzone they have got TDs

damn, michael vick

oh lord

vick gets hurt on a play that doesn't even count

well that was fun while it lasted

I'm thinking he might've just got the wind knocked out of him? I don't understand where he's injured.

he got hit from both sides, left shoulder & right shoulder. looked kinda nasty

Oooh the schef is reporting collarbone injury (also how does he know this already?)

the schef is reporting from inside vick's shoulder

It looked like he came down really hard on the ball, so maybe a bruised sternum or collarbone?

Oh now schef is saying ribs - he's just full of shit. SO MAD @ U BOO

might've cracked a rib

so is kubiak trolling arian foster fantasy owners or something?

why? what'd he say?

i think what he said was "arian, you are not playing today"

ahahaha now schef is reporting shoulder - dude calm down.

no it's rib cartilage!

holy shit, donovan

Maybe its a broken heart

i know right? so weird seeing redskins qb who can throw that

<3 PORTIS

the schef is now reporting that michael vick has been shot

that sandwich hit on vick looks pretty nasty in slo-mo

ok we'll take it

xpost

yeah they keep replaying it. funny thing is, deangelo hall has been a really big supporter of vick for awhile now

what the fuck is Buck talking about, "This is like lucy pulling the ball away from Charlie Brown"? Did God pull the ball away from the Redskins' kicker?

Cool play, guys.

um redskins TACKLING. work on that

haven't seen any of the games yet but YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY REDSKINS/DONOVAN!!!!!

oh i didn't realize vick got hurt; that's sad

LOOOOOOOOOOOL ANDY REID

what the HELL is going on here.

btw i didn't watch the bills game thank god, but i had the opportunity to listen to it on the radio and heard LT score a TD in 2.5 seconds, the Bills fumble on the ensuing kickoff and the Jets recover it and then I turned the game off. >:[

CLASSIC ANDY REID

it's probably best that they were forced to kick tho

SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED TO VICK IN ONE SENTENCE

donovan knows what's up when reid is watching the playclock

Vick was sandwiched, fell on the ball, and maybe hurt a collarbone/rib/shoulder/scrotum.

k3vin:
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/5899/thatsgottahurt.jpg

...

fucking reid

i like how it's v clear now that philly's clock management problems are more reid than mcnabb

fuck

Unconfirmed: Vick has exploded pancreas

not like there was ever really any question but

Goooooooo Skins!

I mean, ok, was Aikman just arguing that the play clock can only be started when all of Andy Reid's questions are answered? Because the game would never start in that scenario!

also yay Rams and bnw!!!

shanahan against reid is just like http://fantastimart.com/cat_mouse.gif

i'm not sure what aikman's point was tbh!

Aikman usually says things that make sense to me but he literally was just arguing that 30-second time outs end whenever the hell Andy Reid and Kevin Kolb say they do which, honestly, doesn't SEEM like it's right.

i'm almost positive that aikman wasn't sure what his point was either

sometimes i think aikman is just like lord let this end when he has to volley whatever bizarre serve buck throws at him

J0rdan, it's your birthday? happy birthday!!!

no that's a joke

my birthday is in may

lol okay

early birthday wishes to you

thankig u

my birthday is in may too, high fives

so is bono's

lol ally our birthday is on the same day tbh

let's not investigate why i know that too closely

No more tailgating commercials. Thank you. Now back to the Fox Halftime Report.

vick def not coming back according to the eagles

:(

qb hitman bernard pollard just checked gradkowski off the list

christ, bernard pollard?! again!?

yeah the grad unwisely decided to square up and plow ahead when he should have slid

i think he's fine but j. campbell should see some action

Time to shine, Jase

oh donovan

really, donovan?

this is a revenge game get with it

mcnabb, you're not on that team any more, don't throw it to those guys

oh lawd

the annual jags super bowl is going well for them!

omg i didn't know the schedule next week, maybe i should find a way to get some tix.. GREEN BAY in town

FUMBLE

well, maybe redskins have the ball now, maybe not. nobody cares much, so let's think about stuff for a while

guess Arian Foster finally showed up?

Apparently he was benched for the first half for disciplinary reasons.

THROW THE FUCKING BALL KOLB

druuuuuuuunk eagles faaaaaaans
always booing the home team
druuuuuuuunk eagles faaaaaans

drunk eagles fans have a point. kolb looks terrible out there.

tbh during the whole second half of this game, everything out there looks terrible out there

yeah, I think the 2nd half adjustments were "be annoying and disorganized" for both teams

lol mike sellers karate kicked two (2) dbs on that play

switched to indy-jax. p. manning just became the #3 all time passing yardage person of note!

fuck this game

now happy Jax/Indy game is what's on

is there any way the colts don't tie this?

galloway! he exists

"that is donovan mcnabb's first completed pass of the second half"

I like these announcers just blamed pink gloves for dude dropping that sure intercept on peyton. "EVERYTHING IS BREAST CANCER'S FAULT"

there's no way that andy reid will be able to manage this clock correctly

kick a fg imo

Is that Kolb's first NFL TD?

no

jax driving w/ 20 seconds left on the clock, tie game

Oh, right, I meant this year. (Obv when he filled in for McNabb...)

god jax's :45 second drill was terrible

loooool @ colts

SCOOOOBEEEEEEEEE

WHOA

wow wow wow

59 yards!

genuinely glad for jags

daaaaaaaaamn

yeah jags!

OMG the jags mascot wears SUNGLASSES? lololololol amazing

good grief the last 4 min of this game are going to take an hour

god that kick was absolutely perfect

59 yards?! awesome

Oh man good for you Josh Scobee and rest of the Jaguars! That is the longest game winner I can remember seeing in a while.

mcnabb! ok don't throw it, no problem

thing I loved about the Jax upset is with most upsets it's the better team playing like shit, but Jax just played good (from what I saw, at least)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RdMygo1BQuw/SG9cJdMMzmI/AAAAAAAAAiE/k79VtrMU9F8/s200/Chester_Cheetah_CoolPose.jpg
GO JAGZ, U R COOL

god i fucking hate troy aikman

good lord that was an awful punt

desean was actually open but that was one of the worst passes

carlos rodgers never catches those. damn

uh they're not going to, you know, hurry a little

C'MON MAN

man, a kolb comeback here to win would be insane

actually that was another bad throw

sorry brent

well this really went to shit

over/under on kolb ints next week is 2.5

man, kolb, way to step up your game when you're given a second chance :/

WHOA

wow that was way closer than it had an business being

damn, avant

THANK YOU deangelo hall

thing I loved about the Jax upset is with most upsets it's the better team playing like shit, but Jax just played good (from what I saw, at least)

― get off my lawn (rockapads), Sunday, October 3, 2010 7:06 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

couple of semi-lucky turnovers but the jags did indeed play well

flashing back to end of cowboys game when last pass goes into the end zone and for about 10 seconds the whole crowd is like.. uh.... WAHT... who won?!!

cant beleive avant fucking dropped that ;_;

that scobee field goal was amazing. the jags did play really well, and the colts had a couple uncharacteristic mistakes. it was a good game.

i just took the espn sportsnation poll, who will win tonight's game. the only state that picked the giants was...wisconsin.

haters gonna hate

At dinner last night. One of the guys there used send his son to work "security" at Steelers camp (this was 3 years ago when kid was still in high school). Security basically means driving players around in golf carts. Kid notices that Ben hits on every girl he meets. His go-to line was: "You got a boyfriend" "Yes" "Well maybe you should have a Man-friend"

...

god can i just fire ben roethlisberger

"Well maybe you should have a Man-friend"

looool facepalm

u_u

http://motivateurself.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/implied-facepalm.jpg?w=500&h=387

Lol

tommy lee jones is like implied facepalm 24/7

Good case for neutering imo

omgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

"what's that? you like the backstreet boys? WELL MAYBE YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO A MANBAND"

literally every story about him implies to me that he is mentally disabled.

rofl

HEY JACK IT'S A FACT

when did this song become so...patriotic?

ms kelly <3

aw is that kelly rowland? where u been, kelly?

i don't know about that last note, but i <3 u kelly

afaik making disco songs that are #1 hits... in europe

has anyone ever auto-tuned the national anthem before a game? i think that i would like to see that

you know dolphins are going to have t-pain sing it before a game one of these days
so...
of course, he can actually sing and doesn't need the autotune

maybe he'll sing it tomorrow on MNF?? that would be wonderful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq6Q9wu3F6w

I'm still shocked the Giants hired a professional singer instead of treating America yet again to the atonal treat that is Kate Mara. Did the Maras finally buy their layabout daughter enough film roles that they can stop torturing their fans before every game?

this game looks like a pile of garbage already. except for the shocking pink! i was so excited about this last year that i went and bought a really absurdly bright pink winter scarf, i think i'm about to get a jacket as well.

yes love the pink

okay waht is happening

good one, al!

hahahaha waht?!

what the shit

HE COULD'VE GOTTEN THE FIRST DOWN

I MEAN WHAT

is it really necessary to refer to an rb as a "bull" and a "stud" in quick succession

how was what eli just did NOT grounding?

i guess they were saying bradshaw was in the area

but there were things they were calling grounding in the early games that looked less bad than that

yeah i wondered about that, too

oh, cutler.

999,997 or so INT to go?

ha!

This "not before I get my coffee" guy in the McDonalds commercials is a dick.

"not before you get my foot up your ass" you know?

i'm really beginning to understand the look that zeus always has on his face when he's hanging out with ben

does anybody feel like winning this game?

Ray Lewis should fly in on his bird & shoot them with lasers

hahahah otm

lol cutler

http://images.chron.com/blogs/askacat/hatcat.JPG

thrilling

can anyone posting to this thread get to the nu-meadowlands by halftime? the giants will be auditioning punters.

Damn, NBC Sports is making football look like a Hall & Oates video!

srsly dodge is awful

I could get there by like the very end of halftime, let me ready my laser-bird for flight.

7 sacks?????

the best quotes outsourced could come up with for its ad were "this show is a companion to the office" and "it features culture clashes"???

tuck rule? no..

'i tell you what, somebody put a tent over this circus'

lol "somebody put a tent over this circus"

all of the people on the field tonight make at least $250k a year to do their jobs like this, fyi.

giants should outsource punting, everybody should outsource the o-line i think

yeah the run of interesting, well-played primetime games appears to be over

fuck outsourced

seriously

hahahaha what

this game is going to end 3-0

honestly, i feel like 2/3 of bears games are this game, aren't they?

i am sad i missed "somebody put a tent on this circus." was that al or cris?

cris. he is getting pretty disgusted

i was planning on going to bed but this is too bad to look away from

i mean, chucky and jaws seem to get all the good prime time games, while sunday night is really not worth waiting all day for

omg ladies, cris collinsworth just gave us a shoutout

i know eli's been kind of off this season but these receivers have a lot to answer for

steve smith realized he was going to get a first down and quickly batted the ball away

haha

GET IT AWAY FROM ME THAT FOOTBALL IS PINK

lol

hahahaha

"honestly, i feel like 2/3 of bears games are this game, aren't they?"

Pretty much this is the history of the Bears. This is what it is like when they are good.

The best recent year was when they were winning every week on a blocked punt or field goal and they had Jim Miller on QB. That team was so fun to watch, in a completely non-traditionally good way.

The Giants have some guys, especially their running backs have hands of stone.

seriously the giants have 9 sacks but 2 of them were just cutler being a fucktard and running out of bounds BEFORE throwing away the ball. and also the score is 3-0. a weird one indeed, al!

cutler has almost certainly bailed out on this game in a mental sense

"they're going to start this drive, such as it is... and they have to take a time out"

wait, now they're saying they're taking back that last "sack" where cutler ran out - but they spotted the ball as if he ran out...you can't do that, guys, they have run like at least 5 plays since that happened.

the refs, like everyone else on the field, don't give a shit anymore

cutler doesn't, did he get up off the turf yet?

i would've went with mike tice is thinking "sex boat" but apparently cris knows better and it is "mike tyson"

does it look like cutler's helmet perpetually obscures his vision? maybe that's why he can't see open receivers.

@katiebakes
The Giants defense must feel like a wingman who puts in time all night and then his buddy pukes all over the girl.

it kind of does when they shoot from directly over his head

xp

SO MANY LAZY ZINGS CHRIS COLLINSWORTH

i hope tony is bringing out the clicker to change the channel HEYO!

okay i love LT pretty much more than anyone but it should be noted that about half those yards came against the Buffalo Bills

Julius Peppers in those glasses is the cutest thing ever.

loling here at the sounds of disgust from the announcers after that

like, everyone was hoping the game would get better after halftime, but... nope!

"if you were sacked 9 times you'd be skittish too'

DOESN'T THAT MEAN YOU'D BE THROWING IT AWAY INSTEAD OF HOLDING ONTO IT LOVIE SMITH?

omg what is this

cutler gave up?

guys, he got his period at halftime, ok? you'd be skittish too!

oh god that hit :\

Well if Cutler's dome is cracked, I will get to add Todd Collins name to the Bear's QB line on that other thread.

@Adam_Schefter
NBC said Jay Cutler hasn't come out of locker room. It's Todd Collins turn to get sacked.

Give Cutler his due, there hasn't been too many people survive a whole season as the Bears starting QB, interceptions or not. It just doesn't happen.

So I guess the strategy now is: don't pass and pray for a turnover that results in a score.

there's not going to be any more 1st downs in this whole game, i believe

Whose boneheaded idea was it to make McNabb/Philly an afternoon game and this atrocity the night game?

was wondering that earlier, too

#whoremembers <-- this is a trending topic on twitter right now and has been for about an hour and i only just realized it means "who remembers" and not "whore members"

thought i would share this.

this game is going to end 3-0 isn't it

totally read that as whore members too

don't know what that says about us

i blame this game. whore members, indeed.

http://www.zuguide.com/image/Diane-Keaton-The-Godfather-Part-II.4.jpg

AN ABORTION

omg giants 1st down! they should all get one million fantasy points for that

hahahaha what

this game is going to end 3-0

― sr. advisor, crisis communications, san francisco 49ers (daria-g), Sunday, October 3, 2010 9:37 PM (50 minutes ago

I THINK IT MIGHT BE 6-0 SHORTLY

9-0!!!!

that drive was from a whole different game

Okay, Ahmad Bradshaw was in BEASTMODE right there.

the bears kinda carried him in there tbf - they're focusing way too much on stripping the ball and not on, like, just tackling the ball carrier all of a sudden.

this game cannot even successfully do an extra point.

yeah it's become v obvious that they're obsessed with stripping the ball on every play.

Hey a touchdown! That's a fun thing they could try more of in this game.

Collins is playing like Rex Grossman out there

POLL THRED

LEVEREG

I vote "Poor Drive!! We are better than this!" is the Week 5 thread title. Also screencap that for eternity.

mocksession should have it w/in the hr

http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/4601/poordrivedbz.jpg

^__________^

nfl team meetings are just dudes running powerpoint, aren't they.

LEVERAG

EVERYTHING is just dudes running powerpoint

^^^ yes, our great nation is definitely run this way

LEVERAG
IN THE RUN OR PASS!:!

COV 1 MAY HAVE TO START PRESSING OR CHALLENGING WRS!!!!

love how the As are like deltas

honestly what does the last bullet point mean

xpost THAT is what that says?

no time to properly cross an "a"

i hear there's an open position for a sr bullet point developer with the buffalo football bills, but it's only a GS-09

I mean it kinda looks like

GOV. I MAY HAVE TO STORY PRESSING AND CHALLENGING - UR'S!!

COV[erage] (safeties) [I] MAY HAVE TO START PRESSING OR CHALLENGING WRS!!!!

can we wipe it out so we can make it a meme where we write whatever we want on there? i dunno if i can come up with something that good tho.

LOVIE MAY HAVE TO STORY PRESSINGANDCHALLENGING URLACHERS!!!!

UR STORY IS PRESSING AND CHALLENGING - <3

oh todd :(

god this is painful

Hahaha next week is the Vick-less Eagles vs the 49ers!

speaking of challenging stories

omg why nbc why

Kansas City's 15 minutes away from being NFL's only undefeated team.

is everyone besides kc and the bears 2-2 btw? also: real talk, the bears are actually going to be 2-2 in everyone's hearts cos they lost that damn lions game.

Eagles will beat SF by at least 10. At this point I would bet money on the Raiders by 10 the week after.

sf keeps shooting themselves in their own feet - their d must want to murder alex smith at this point.

GUYS WHAT IS HAPPENING IS THE MAD MEN ENCORE ON YET?

haha it's a big break for the bears until you consider it means their offense needs to get back on the field!

I was just about to say, "at least I don't have to wait for the 1am Mad Men encore." I can watch the 11pm one guilt free.

god brandon jacobs is being a major league dick this year

Oh shit, just when I was getting ready to change the channel they put some points up.

"Taking out the trash can get you lucky, get some Cialis!"

SEXPIANAGE

coughlin gave the hatcat stare @ Jacobs

the erection that lasts for more than four hours is the funniest medicine side effect imo

I dunno that "I'm a PC, and my roommate is banging girls all night" is the best look to go with.

i liked the weight-loss medicine that made people shit their own pants if they ate potato chips, tbh.

haha it's kind of funnily self-aware

xp

lol'd at that strip

ahahahahah

waht

Hahaha Chicago's whole defensive strategy almost failed and then totally worked right there!

STRIP STRIP STRIP FUMBLE TURNOVER

THIS GAEM

Although really the only logical thing that can happen now is a safety after like a botched snap rolls out of the end zone or something.

Not exactly the "Do you believe in miracles?" call there by Al Michaels, but it was kind of funny.

STRIP STRIP STRIP THAT'S ALL THEY DO IN PRACTICE

c'mon, I want to see a Todd Collins 30 yard Hail Mary reception

BRIGGS, THE STRIPPER HIDEOUS TO THE EYE!

maybe they should've freed up some time for the offense to practice, i dunno
guess it wasn't on the powerpoint

xpost <3
HIDEOUS TO THE EYE

this game is so hilarious

"HE'S IN HIS BIRTHDAY SUIt!"

"HE'S IN HIS BIRTHDAY SUIt!"

"HE'S IN HIS BIRTHDAY SUIt!"

nicks, you are a treat

Did he really just fall over

17-0 just seems like the incorrect score for this game

And the positive offensive drive lasts for 2 plays. Still, points! Wheeeeeee

what the devil is wrong with the bears

Lovie looked very hatcat on the sideline

maybe 0 to negative 17

lol @ 17-0, it only seems like it is

: /

Bears defense has to be exhausted

http://209.85.117.197/12413/88/0/e25948//e25948.gif

Police should've shut this game down at halftime

I do not have to be at school until like 1 pm on Tuesday (vs like 6 am tomorrow), so I am going to watch THE HELL out of Patriots vs Dolphins tomorrow. I am ready for some football (that is not this game happening now)!

Holy crap

~3rd string QB alert~

Omg

They done kilt him!

: O

speaking of steve young...

Poor guy

omg what happened?! i was watching birthday party videos on the youtube

time to put up the testeverde signal

Todd Collins AKA Human Crash Dest Dummy

maybe NBC will continue their topical bumper music by playing Whiplash before the next commercial break

batsignal .. jeff garcia ..

Stuffy, make the call

Mike Martz - Orlando Pace = Serious QB brain trauma

lol @ stuffy

Speaking of, I saw the full Oreo commercial where Stuffy's call is received by Venus Williams, Shaq, and Apolo Anton Ohno. Really it raised more questions than it answered.

huh

of course

4th string qb?

who the hell is this qb, i'm a bears fan and i don't have any clue

lol omar

i just don't know about this perry fewell is a great defensive coordinator talk

wait, for real re: stuffy's phone call?

i always read his name as perry farrell.

i think the bears' next backup is "the king" from the burger king commercials (iirc he schooled the vikings on a td run once)

omg guys
http://platform.ak.fbcdn.net/www/app_full_proxy.php?app=7146470109&v=1&size=o&cksum=b0f7fd5ace003f5c11a6534334c6bc09&src=http%3A%2F%2Fcontent.nabiscoworld.com%2F%2Foreo%2Fltfi%2Ftwist-hero-2.jpg

What good is calling Apollo Anton Ohno unless you are playing football on ice.

was shaq like, there is something stupid happening involving athletes in america, and i am not involved? MUST FIX!

that oreo ad copy is gross

Venus is not flashing her butt, wtf

eli is so cute

I know! At first I was like "Oh, so that's who Stuffy was making the call to" and then it just became "I wonder why Stuffy made those particular calls?"

Also those jackets that Williams and Ohno are wearing seem kinda awesome.

The most un-league of justice assemblage of sportspersons ever

eli looks jimmy corrigan-levels of nervous

like how they get progressively paler left to right

really interesting headband decision by eli

progressively smaller too

so this is giants football

Stuffy called Mark Knopfler, got Eli

lol

Thrilling victory

The zzzzz of victory, the whatever of defeat

Funny thing is Hanie is in his 3rd season with the Bears, I swear he had to put his shoes on before he went into the game. He was over in the corner taking a nap.

Eli Manning has the look of like, "I endorse like ten things and this is my favorite one of them BY FAR"

sportscenter starts their review of this game: "ok, let's watch some bad football"

Eli Manning has the look of like, "I endorse like ten things and this is my favorite one of them BY FAR"

― C-L, Sunday, October 3, 2010 11:28 PM (17 seconds ago) Bookmark

haaa this is so true

all looking like he just came from the set of a jane fonda video

i think eli's happy to be endorsing something with no peyton around

This was one of those gigs that Peyton probably saw and said "pass".

lol.

I was kind of thinking that Eli with the headband kind of looked like a member of Loverboy.

Eli made sure Peyton's number was blocked when Stuffy made the call

Xpost lol

eli and shaq really look super proud of themselves for being in the double stuf league.

xpost how soon you forget that peyton was a founding member of the double stuf league.

Omg you're right!

fyi warren sapp is tweeting that the reason the bears qbs both died is because they did not wear the pink shoes.

such a good point, warren

This might be Eli's power play..."screw you, you want me for the Double Stuf League, Peytey's got to go - get SHAQ, everyone loves him!"

http://twitter.com/#!/QBKILLA/status/26328995680

xpost there is one thing that peyton can never compete with eli on, and that is licking.

hee hee

god remember how gross that ad was, with eli and peyton facing off at each other, just licking oreos with mad faces on?

brian urlacher, speak up, son

xp yes this is why i really cannot deal with the double stuf campaign!

omg on sportscenter one of the guys started going off on how the chiefs are the only undefeated team and dilfer was like, "am I supposed to have an answer for that?"

http://media.wsbt.com/images/Oreo_Cookie_Football_manning.JPG

dilfer has been on a roll, did you catch it earlier when he went on and on and on and on about how horrible a loss this was for bears, how he knew they were smoke and mirrors, and this is the kind of defeat that just deflates your whole football team

hahaha yes!

and also ugh

i really have no idea what teams are actually good and bad this season tbqf

like the first four weeks are just ¯\(°_o)/¯

it was just pointed out to me that stuffy was directed to make THE call - is there one phone number where you can call and reach venus, shaq and apolo ohno at one time? is it the phone number chad ochocinco is directing children to? or is it maybe 311?

i do think that the four of them would make a better special teams crew than the giants have currently, so there is that.

This is gonna be one of those years.

Hell, it will probably be a Bucs/Chiefs superbowl.

Or maybe they join together to form some kind of megasportsperson, yknow, like Voltron...fight crimes, shoot lasers out of its head etc

today's games on broadcast got boring and i found myself thinking, i wonder if i can find an internets feed of the CHIEFS game..
stupid bye week.

wait what if ray lewis attacks stuffy with lasers

shaq will strike back
http://videolamer.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/kazaam.jpg

SHAZAM!

I'm 6-7 so far on this week's picks, and I just knew going in that this week's games seemed too easy to pick for everything to work itself out as it should. Isn't Week 4 a total WTF week every season?

http://www.mocksession.com/30fps//SACKDANCE.gif

Hahaha

so i went to watch 'miami vice' (the movie) in a movie theater tonight and thus missed this whole game

based on this thread i can't tell if i should be incredibly happy or incredibly sad that i missed this game

i'm kind of happy that i got to take a week off of having to watch this year's giants team

I lol'd every time they showed that sack dance

Jordan your decision was sound. Pretty sure we all salute yr clearheadedness

'miami vice' in the theater is a pretty sound choice for your birthday evening

lol it was actually for tape store's birthday

No-one shd have to watch that game on their birthday unless they are mean/douchebag. Awesome ppl see Miami Vice at the movie theater

Never gets old.

http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/si_online/covers/images/1996/0902_large.jpg

TWIST LICK SHOW DUNK EAT WIN!
also, it's not like it took a genius but:
i agree with you that the giants are a mess, but i think the bears have used up 90% of their luck in 12% of the season and they're due for a four turnover game any day now.

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/3350/screenshot20101004at101.png

as the New york Giants are about the find out.

This works better if you rewrite it with strategically placed quotes:

Jay Cutler is playing at the "highest level" of his "career", as the New York Giants are about the "find out".

I mean the thing that no one is understanding is that the highest level Jay Cutler is trying to reach is 1,000 sacks.

And he has the best statistics of any quarterback with an ill-fitting helmet

You can bust on the Bears, but really who is really any good this year? I don't think there is much difference between team 1 and team 16 or 20 at this point. Tons of teams can move the ball, but are not scoring much. Flip it around teams are getting bunches of turnovers and sacks, but giving up crap loads of yards.

It is just kind of uninspiring really, there usually is one or two clubs that tower, but right now, there is only a few clubs that are obviously awful then the rest. 49ers are 0-4, but does anyone not think they could beat clubs that have wins.

i agree with that. something about this season seems bleh. i don't know if it's the uncapped year thing, looming lockout, or if it is just me, but it seems like one of those years where whoever does win the SB isn't going to get a ton of credit for being a great team.

come on Fins D, don't shit the bed again tonight please.

You can bust on the Bears, but really who is really any good this year? I don't think there is much difference between team 1 and team 16 or 20 at this point. Tons of teams can move the ball, but are not scoring much. Flip it around teams are getting bunches of turnovers and sacks, but giving up crap loads of yards.

It is just kind of uninspiring really, there usually is one or two clubs that tower, but right now, there is only a few clubs that are obviously awful then the rest. 49ers are 0-4, but does anyone not think they could beat clubs that have wins.

Other than the fact that there's only one unbeaten left in week 4, it's not really all that strange for there to be few if no exemplary teams by Week 4. seasons like this seem cyclical, happening every 5-6 years or so. I think things will start to even out as teams who made major personnel changes begin to get chemistry.

You can bust on the Bears, but really who is really any good this year? I don't think there is much difference between team 1 and team 16 or 20 at this point. Tons of teams can move the ball, but are not scoring much. Flip it around teams are getting bunches of turnovers and sacks, but giving up crap loads of yards.

It is just kind of uninspiring really, there usually is one or two clubs that tower, but right now, there is only a few clubs that are obviously awful then the rest. 49ers are 0-4, but does anyone not think they could beat clubs that have wins.

― earlnash, Monday, October 4, 2010 10:22 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark
xpost
I get the feeling that there's a bunch of teams that are almost great. The Cowboys are so close to being the greatest show on turf 2.0, but they can't get enough pass protection.

Also, it's early. Teams have a way of putting it together in the second half, and then in retrospect we think they were monsters the whole time.

or vice versa. Cue the Super Bowl appearing Bears of 2006 who started out tearing the lights out, then stumbled to the finish line for eternity, only to tear through a weak NFC in the playoffs.

how did the Bears have ok protection vs. the Packers but zero protection vs. the Giants? I find it hard to believe that the Giants have a significantly better pass rush than the Pack.

hell, significantly better defense in any area.

Is Chad Henne really so boring that Gruden couldn't ask him any questions about his own play? He asked about Marino, Brady, Coach Sporano, and Jennifer Lopez.

cmon now, we're waiting for chargers to get hot, and then straight norv it. xpost

I refused to buy a Henne jersey this year as I seem to curse our QBs

it does seem like there is not going to be an elite team this year? saints and colts have taken a step back. green bay hasn't taken a step up. all the other "good" teams have pretty obvious flaws.

steelers are probably the best team.

Yea but I mean look at how the Giants looked at this point of the season in 2007, I think the Pack are going to find their gears and be "it"

WHO IS PICKING THE DOLPHINS TONITE PUT YOUR BALLS ON THE GLASS

well the giants weren't an elite team in '07, it's just that this year there's going to be no patriots for them to upset

i am picking the fins

I cannot pick as I am not impartial

gruden night football

i am not remotely impartial, and i am picking the fins

not impartial. superstitious

GO PATS

lemme see if i can find this football outsiders post from today about how bad darius butler is

i am also not remotely impartial and am also picking the dolphins

I FIND FINS PICKING FACINATING FYI

is it fascinating? i hate the patriots.

f there's anything that can dramatically affect the performance of an otherwise dominant NFL team, it is injuries. If there's any team that knows how huge the impact of injuries can be, it's the New England Patriots. It was about nine years and one week ago that Tom Brady made his first start as the Patriots quarterback, a move that came about after Drew Bledsoe suffered a sheared blood vessel in his chest. The injury famously helped catapult the Patriots into the Super Bowl and gave Brady a chance to become a superstar. Seven years later, Brady's Week 1 knee injury turned over the starting job to Matt Cassel, and the Patriots promptly went from 16-0 to out of the playoffs.

This year, it's not injuries to Brady or any of the offensive players that have dramatically impacted the Patriots. Instead, it's the defense that has been riddled with injuries. A unit that ranked 16th in defensive DVOA last season has fallen to 27th in the league through three weeks. It has allowed more than 27 points per game against three teams -- the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets and Buffalo Bills -- that have averaged 15 points per game when not playing the Patriots. Once DVOA starts factoring in opponent adjustments as the season goes along, it's entirely possible that the Patriots could end up with the worst defense in football.

Is there hope for New England? What's been the most troubling injury for the Pats? What does history say about their chances of improving?

Let's survey the carnage. Before the season, the Patriots lost defensive end Ty Warren in training camp. Warren's been replaced by second-year player Ron Brace, who showed few signs of life as a rookie and suffered an ankle injury during the preseason. The bigger injury has been the loss of starting cornerback Leigh Bodden, who the Patriots signed to a four-year, $22 million contract during the offseason. Bodden's shoulder injury turned the competition for a starting job between rookie cornerback Devin McCourty and second-year man Darius Butler into one in which everybody won, including opposing offenses.

After the injury to Bodden, Butler was installed as the team's right cornerback, which meant that he defended passes thrown to the left side of the field. Actually, defended is probably a poor choice of words in this sense. Through the first two weeks of the year, teams throwing to Butler's side of the field were 26 of 35 for 253 yards. Quarterbacks completed better than 74 percent of their passes and averaged 7.2 yards per attempt. Against McCourty's side of the field, teams were 17 of 26 for 143 yards, producing a completion percentage of 65.4 percent and 5.5 yards per attempt.

After Butler finished Week 2 with two fourth-quarter pass interference penalties for 39 yards (not included in the numbers above), the team chose to bench Butler and replace him with undrafted free agent Kyle Arrington, who had played in11 games across three different organizations in three years. The bleeding continued. The Bills went 8 of 10 for 86 yards on throws to the left side of the field. (They also went 6 of 9 for 95 yards on throws to the right, so it wasn't a great game for McCourty, either.) Butler only played four snaps. He was brought into the game and promptly allowed a completion, missed a tackle in run defense and was benched again.

The Patriots could choose to try to employ backups Jonathan Wilhite or Terrence Wheatley in the starting role, but it's clear that the right side of their defense will be a sieve for the foreseeable future. How bad do the Patriots have it, though? Were they doomed from the start?

The answer is yes. Losing two defensive starters before the season is extremely rare. From 2001-2009, an average of just eight starters league-wide on either offense or defense were placed on injured reserve before the season. The Patriots managed to pick up two of them on one side of the ball.

The only other time the past decade that a team lost two starters on one side of the ball before the season started was in 2000 when the San Diego Chargers lost defensive end Raylee Johnson and linebacker Eric Hill to injuries. The results were not pretty. The 1999 unit, with both players involved, had the tenth-best defense in football, allowing 19.8 points per game. In 2000, they collapsed. In addition to Johnson and Hill, starting free safety Mike Dumas and cornerback Fakhir Brown went down with injuries during the year. The Chargers allowed 27.5 points per game, the third-worst figure in the league, and with Ryan Leaf at quaterback they went 1-15. (It wasn't all bad. The Chargers' struggles allowed them to draft LaDainian Tomlinson and Drew Brees in the 2001 draft.)

Of course, the Patriots aren't about to collapse into a 2-14 hole. Their offense is too good for that, assuming that Brady and his cohorts on offense can stay healthy, but virtually no NFL team can make it through a season without suffering an injury or two on each side of the ball along the way. The Patriots are already down two players, and one of their holes is already giving them major problems. What happens if Jerod Mayo goes down again? What if Vince Wilfork can't answer the bell? Heck, what if McCourty takes a knock? Unless the Patriots can stay healthy on defense and shore up their existing problems, it appears that they'll be forced to play and win shootouts every week from here on out.

I'm picking the Fins every week this season.

is it fascinating? i love the patriots.

lol <3

was kind of hoping that "flashing lights" meant that kanye was flipping the coin tonight

ugh fucking Marino. suddenly feel the old, familiar Dolphins-hate washing over me

will try to focus on J0rdan and Ricky Williams and Jennifer Lopez

see that whole article is well and good but fact is the pats used to win games with a converted wide receiver playing nickelback and THAT'S the kind of thing that doesn't happen anymore

i read that mercury morris was gonna be there but he's working on everyone's matt cassell voodoo dolls and finishing up the designs for the dexter mccluster toilet paper

http://jackshot.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/gallery1.jpg

Mercury Morris is such an a-hole. Not the loveable kind, either.

xp lol

god i never want to see a photo of dan marino where he could be in anyway construed as smashable

atdhe is failing me tonight. looks like it is either a bar, or highlights tomorrow.

This bar just got packed. Stoked for this

luckily there are no circumstances in which dan marino could be construed as smashable >:[

god i hate the phrase "defer to the second half"

full behind phins for fantasy reasons. just need them to hold ball about 95% of game.

man i had no idea that both cunningham & spikes started for these dudes

half the pats d is canes & gators btw

why u mad fasano

dammit

fuck

honestly, fuck the wildcat on THIRD AND SIX

and that's been the demise this season of the WILDCAT

take that WILDCAT to the miami zoo