Evil Prevails! — NFL Week 9 thread

Miami at Kansas City
Atlanta at Indianapolis
Tampa Bay at New Orleans
NY Jets at Buffalo
Seattle at Dallas
Cleveland at Houston
San Francisco at Washington
Cincinnati at Tennessee
Denver at Oakland
NY Giants at New England
St. Louis at Arizona
Green Bay at San Diego
Baltimore at Pittsburgh
Chicago at Philadelphia

8-5 last week, 79-37 for the season

Miami at Kansas City - KC
Atlanta at Indianapolis - ATL
Tampa Bay at New Orleans - TB
NY Jets at Buffalo - BUF
Seattle at Dallas - DAL
Cleveland at Houston - HOU
San Francisco at Washington - SF
Cincinnati at Tennessee - CIN
Denver at Oakland - OAK
NY Giants at New England - NE
St. Louis at Arizona - STL
Green Bay at San Diego - GB
Baltimore at Pittsburgh - PIT
Chicago at Philadelphia - PHI

so crazy that the Chiefs are probably gonna lead the division after 9 weeks despite being outscored by about 80 in their first two games

9-4 Last Week, 73-43 on the year

Miami at Kansas City KC
Atlanta at Indianapolis ATL
Tampa Bay at New Orleans NO
NY Jets at Buffalo BUF
Seattle at Dallas DAL <--I think?
Cleveland at Houston HOU
San Francisco at Washington SF
Cincinnati at Tennessee CIN
Denver at Oakland OK
NY Giants at New England NE
St. Louis at Arizona AZ
Green Bay at San Diego GB
Baltimore at Pittsburgh PIT
Chicago at Philadelphia PHI

9-4 (again for 3rd straight week) - for year 76-40

Miami at Kansas City - I'm kind of marking the KC and Philly off starts to perhaps being tied to not being ready coming out of camp. It kind of makes sense considering how it all went down. Miami is playing people somewhat close, so I'll take the Chiefs at home but if the Dolphins win, I'd buy it.

Atlanta at Indianapolis- F'ing Indy in someways looked even more incompetent on offense last week than against the Saints. The screws have come off that club, they are getting false starts and holds and dumb penalties all over the place. Behead the beast and the body shall die...no doubt with this year's Colts. No matter what goes down, they need to shell it and start over. Falcons lose this one, they are fools.

Tampa Bay at New Orleans- Tampa got them last time and the Saints are even a bit more helter skelter than usual of late losing that one last week, that said I can't take the Bucs to win on the road in NO. That said the Rams win is definitely the blue print that works on these clubs with the big QB, just run the ball cut off the big play and keep them off the field. It worked for the Pats and others against the Colts and now you see it being done to the Saints and Pats too. That said, give me the Saints.

NY Jets at Buffalo- This is pretty much a pickem. I'm leaning Jets, but this could go either way.

Seattle at Dallas- Boy Charlie Whitehurst just sucks. Tavaris Jackson really plays hard, but the dude just doesn't have the arm. Dallas SHOULD win, but you know its the Cowboys - they got talent and are also the village idiots. Cowboys.

Cleveland at Houston- This is the kind of game the Texans need to win to finally get to the playoffs. Texans should win and I will pick them, but this is exactly the kind of game they have blown the last few years.

San Francisco at Washington- Niners seem to be running the playbook of the 85 Bears, just pop 'em in the mouth, run the ball and keep it simple. I don't see Washington having an answer. Niners should win but it might be close enough to make it come down to a field goal.

Cincinnati at Tennessee- Both of these clubs are still kind of mysteries. I don't think many people would think the Bengals would be 5-2 and the Titans 4-3 at this point. Bengals won a game last week when Dalton made a couple of mistakes and were without Benson. Cincy's special teams and defense are quite solid. I don't know Tennessee, but I see this as a close game and as much as I will pull for the Bengals to win, I somehow feel a Titans win at home.

Denver at Oakland- Oaktown should win.

NY Giants at New England- Who knows...I guess Pats at home.

St. Louis at Arizona- I'm feeling Rams at this point.

Green Bay at San Diego- Pack should win, but this could be a bit of a trap game if SD gets it together.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh- Eh, you got to take the Steelers as they seem less flawed than the Ravens at this point. It could go either way.

Chicago at Philadelphia- Pretty much a pickem. I'm leaning Eagles at home, but I think the Bears could win. It should be a good game.

this could be a bit of a trap game if SD gets it together.

SD is tore up at running back, so I don't like their chances. It is a home game though.

Green Bay right now looks like 5 steps ahead of everyone else. I'd say their biggest thing would be to stay healthy, but it didn't stop them last year.

AFC is looking particularly wounded compared to the past few years.

I picked KC and still went just 9-4 last week smh

Miami at Kansas City- Chiefs
Atlanta at Indianapolis - Falcons
Tampa Bay at New Orleans - Saints
NY Jets at Buffalo - Bills
Seattle at Dallas - Cowboys
Cleveland at Houston - Texans
San Francisco at Washington - 49ers
Cincinnati at Tennessee - Titans
Denver at Oakland - Raiders
NY Giants at New England - Patriots
St. Louis at Arizona - Rams
Green Bay at San Diego - Packers
Baltimore at Pittsburgh - Steelers
Chicago at Philadelphia - Bears

http://i.imgur.com/y8KUN.gif

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/11/2011/11/rivers_worst_day_ever.gif

holy shit

10-3 last wk; 74-42 season

Miami at Kansas City - KC
Atlanta at Indianapolis - ATL
Tampa Bay at New Orleans - saints
NY Jets at Buffalo - BUF
Seattle at Dallas - DAL
Cleveland at Houston - HOU
San Francisco at Washington - SF
Cincinnati at Tennessee - CIN
Denver at Oakland - OAK
NY Giants at New England - NE
St. Louis at Arizona - AZ
Green Bay at San Diego - GB
Baltimore at Pittsburgh - PIT
Chicago at Philadelphia - bears

i wouldn't be shocked if miami beats the 4 -- 3 kansas city chiefs, but consider this: under tony sparano, the dolphins are 7 -- 23 (.233) against teams with winning records. if you remove from the equasion miami's games against the jets, the dolphins, under sparano, are 3 -- 20 (.130) against teams with winning records.

i'd be pretty shocked. that whole team seems overcome by Romoism (the inability to do anything right when it counts) they should be able to handle the Redskins next week too. if they can't win one of those two though...:/

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-chargers-rivers

“I didn’t say that. I don’t know if I ever said that. It wasn’t the worst day ever. It may have been the worst play I’ve ever been a part of, but it wasn’t the worst day,” Rivers said as the Chargers began preparing to face the undefeated Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

it doesn't look like he's mouthing holy shit to me at all. '[something] whatever' i think...

it's clearly "worst day ever"

yeah

or maybe "worst game ever"

pretty sure it's day--if it was game his lips would close again before "ever"

"worst gay ever"?

"worst *thing* ever", it seems to me

the Todd Haley one is classic

Philip Rivers and wife Tiffany just had their sixth child.

That is a Cromartiesque level of production, I'm impressed.

they've been together since 6th grade.

coincidentally cromartie fathered his first kid in 6th grade

hahah

i've was never one of those dudes that bought into the FO thing wholesale but i did like that they were looking at some things differently and i did in particular always respect what barnwell had to say, not just because he gave me great ammo vs gloating giants fans after that superbowl, despite i think being a giants fan himself. anyway, i don't know if anyone else has been reading him on grantland, but he has been infected by that garbage. i don't know if the influence of simmons is working directly or indirectly but he is definitely reaching a lot more on his conclusions from the numbers, i guess to churn up something a bit more comment-worthy, and he is also becoming a guy who tries to hoodwink with bogus assumptions, when i feel like he used to be the antithesis of that. i don't really care, certainly not enough to justify the fact that i am still typing here, but it is something that has been in the back of my head and i wanted to throw it out there.

examples?

i think barnwell is "ok" just as i tend to think fo is "ok" tho they basically had maybe two original ideas.

i like a lot of barnwell's stuff on grantland but i could see how someone used to writing for a site as dry and academic as FO (or espn insider) would have trouble transitioning to something like grantland

on a related note i have been thoroughly enjoying mike tanier's weekly picks on nyt--he's probably the only talented writer fo has generated

there was something in particular that pushed me over the edge earlier this week. i will dig it up.

my only pick for the week -- Miami loses

My prediction: Tebow has a surprisingly good game.

meaning he completes a pass prior to garbage time

"worst *thing* ever", it seems to me

― Stormy Davis, Thursday, November 3, 2011 1:09 PM (Yesterday)

^^

i mean the first two words are "that was"...no one says "that was the worst day ever" while still living in the same day

i'm an expert lipreader fyi

he is definitely reaching a lot more on his conclusions from the numbers, i guess to churn up something a bit more comment-worthy, and he is also becoming a guy who tries to hoodwink with bogus assumptions

this is what barnwell's ALWAYS been about, which is why the FO community was overwhelmingly relieved to see him go. i knew longtime FO readers who refused to read the site anymore until he left. as a writer he consistently took positions that were far too strong for the statistical underpinning to support, and when called on it would act like an imperious jackass (which is what he is). bill barnwell's primary interest has always been in making bill barnwell look good, not writing about football or elucidating any hidden component of the game.

all you really need to know about the guy is that he worships joe sheehan and models his 'serious' writing after joe's. i havent really read his stuff on grantland - his presence on there was one of the first signals that the site was a joke and not worth my time - but i've heard from other FO readers that he's actually benefited from the increased editorial presence. he had what appeared to be free reign on FO, and it was a disaster.

everything about grantland is horrible.

and yeah, tanier's their best writer - aaron himself will tell you they're lucky to have him. they have some other good writers, like Tom Gower, Mike Kurtz, Doug Farrar. they're not guys who you appreciate for their, um, writerly merits, but they have thoughtful things to say about the game, which is why I read FO anyway.

http://babining.com/

lol @ a dumb activity only Iggles fans care about

everything about grantland is horrible.

i dunno, i'm not really a fan of the site but I like Barnwell and Jonah Keri, plus some of the random articles they run time to time are good. the Simmons/Klostermann stuff is pretty godawful though. i like how Barnwell goes somewhat 'in-depth' with his analysis, moreso than you'd expect from a mainstream sports website. not sure exactly what it is that you disagree with.

oh, jason babin just stole that from usain bolt, sorry.

wake me up when eatdatpussy445 weighs in

molly lambert is not horrible! but she also hasn't written anything for grantland in a while.

she's been blogging every day this week!

god dammit, horseshoe

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/11/2011/11/32ad23f4cc81f49dc6ec0c85232f3c41.jpg

'sup

yeah idk

feel like this is gonna come down to the eagles holding a one point lead with 90 seconds left

come to the ball desean!

vick throws the ball so god damn hard

i don't even have the words

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv5r3AspqKw

that was vick's fault

yeah idk if maclin gets that but that was a bit too high

this team. they keep sucking me back in, making me believe, and then...

i feel like the bears have pumped mike martz full of drugs and are having someone who is not crazy call the plays

i think there's a case to be made that over the last decade and a half this is the most disappointing (not worst, obv) franchise in football. just perpetual disappointments

yeah, no

the season is barely even half over btw

this was the best overall game i've seen the chicago bears play in years

big props to jaws for bringing up the safety strategy which I totally support.

idk about running back towards the end zone, that's kinda risky if the guy doesn't run the clock out

really what he should've done was run towards the sideline and take off two seconds and just boot it rugby style

yeah

wth has happened to desean jax

idk he's a fast dude who was pretending to be an actual wide receiver?

idk about running back towards the end zone, that's kinda risky if the guy doesn't run the clock out

really what he should've done was run towards the sideline and take off two seconds and just boot it rugby style

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, November 8, 2011 4:55 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

no that's way riskier because the punter might screw it up. If you just run directly backwards out of the end zone, maybe you run out the clock, maybe you don't, but you get to kick off instead of punt.

BEARS

no that's way riskier because the punter might screw it up. If you just run directly backwards out of the end zone, maybe you run out the clock, maybe you don't, but you get to kick off instead of punt.

― Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, November 8, 2011 12:00 AM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark

the punter might screw up the other way too!! i mean how is it automatic that a slow ass punter runs 40 yards out of the end zone without being caught? what if he gets tackled at the 12? what if he trips? whatever is going on i'm making sure that the ball is going in the air away from my end zone

if a punter can't do a rugby-style kick then fuck him tbh

he punter might screw up the other way too!! i mean how is it automatic that a slow ass punter runs 40 yards out of the end zone without being caught? what if he gets tackled at the 12? what if he trips? whatever is going on i'm making sure that the ball is going in the air away from my end zone

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, November 8, 2011 5:08 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

you wouldn't use a punter, you'd use a sure-handed wr or rb. it's just 4th down, not a punt formation.

you could use the shotgun or snap it under center. Either way your fast wrs and rbs aren't going to get caught if they run straight back.

btw urlacher seems like a pretty chill bro

Eagles D-line is really weak, not much push and zero pass rush. The Bears o-line has probably improved over the sieve it was earlier this year, but if they push you around, you kinda suck. Whatever firepower they might have on offense, they are just not the same club they used to be on the lines and the defense is just not the same at all. People were kind of ready to crown them the team to beat in the east, but with this loss, they are toast for the playoffs and at best are probably 8-8 or 7-9.

I just don't see them going better than 5-3 with this stretch run.

Sun, Nov 13 Arizona Cardinals vs Arizona (2-6) 1:00 pm EST
Sun, Nov 20 New York Giants @ NY Giants (6-2) 8:20 pm EST
Sun, Nov 27 New England Patriots vs New England (5-3) 4:15 pm EST
Thu, Dec 1 Seattle Seahawks @ Seattle (2-6) 8:20 pm EST
Sun, Dec 11 Miami Dolphins @ Miami (1-7) 1:00 pm EST
Sun, Dec 18 New York Jets vs NY Jets (5-3) 4:15 pm EST
Sat, Dec 24 Dallas Cowboys @ Dallas (4-4) 4:15 pm EST
Sun, Jan 1 Washington Redskins vs Washington (3-5) 1:00 pm EST

their only hope is that the Giants totally fall apart. Don't see them getting a wildcard.

the punter might screw up the other way too!! i mean how is it automatic that a slow ass punter runs 40 yards out of the end zone without being caught? what if he gets tackled at the 12? what if he trips? whatever is going on i'm making sure that the ball is going in the air away from my end zone

well, they wouldn't use the punter, but he has such a head start that I'm sure he'd make it anyway. i guess he can trip but at the same time he could also naff it off the side of his foot during a punt

btw the Eagles still seem like they're going to be 9-7 but yeah this probably just killed their playoff chances especially if the Bears are who we thought they were

Bears, Lions, and Falcons fighting for the 2 wild cards. next week Bears v. Lions is humongous

Giants even play .500 ball they are 10-6. They do have to run the gauntlet the next month or so. Adding in playing NE this past week that is a pretty wicked 5 game stretch to get dealt.

10 Sun, Nov 13 San Francisco 49ers @ San Francisco (7-1) 4:15 pm EST
11 Sun, Nov 20 Philadelphia Eagles vs Philadelphia (3-5) 8:20 pm EST
12 Mon, Nov 28 New Orleans Saints @ New Orleans (6-3) 8:30 pm EST
13 Sun, Dec 4 Green Bay Packers vs Green Bay (8-0) 4:15 pm EST
14 Sun, Dec 11 Dallas Cowboys @ Dallas (4-4) 8:20 pm EST
15 Sun, Dec 18 Washington Redskins vs Washington (3-5) 1:00 pm EST
16 Sat, Dec 24 New York Jets @ NY Jets (5-3) 1:00 pm EST
17 Sun, Jan 1 Dallas Cowboys vs Dallas (4-4) 1:00 pm EST

NFC definitely seems deeper this year for the first time in a few seasons. AFC is kind of weak really, even the traditional good clubs are pretty middling.

NFC wildcard spots is going to be a tough draw as the NFC North and NFC South are loaded with 3 of the 4 clubs being playoff contenders.

wait, who's the 3rd in the South? Tampa?? pffft ... they're going nowhere dude

the eagles could go 7-1 on that stretch pretty easily

or the could go 3-5! all their losses have been close tho, if luck bounces their way it's pretty conceivable that they could get in the playoffs

As a Bears fan, this game was hard to watch. I actually got a bit honked off a few times. Martz twice had the ball like 3rd and under 2 yards to go and THREW the ball, even though they were running for like six yards a pop.

You can't call that one play by Dane Sanzenbacher a drop, but it was pretty much a football recreation of the Bill Buckner play. It went through his hands then his legs on one of those balls.

Roy Williams also had a couple of swing and misses with catching the ball. I think the safety Roy Williams had better hands, at least he could always catch a runner by the collar.

don't read the degenerate gamblers thread, but no one *really* thought the Eagles would win this game by 8 or more, did they??

NFC definitely seems deeper this year for the first time in a few seasons. AFC is kind of weak really, even the traditional good clubs are pretty middling.

any notion on head-to-head records so far this year? i honestly have no idea.

the Eagles could easily win the NFC East--the Giants have a bitch of a schedule coming up, and the Cowboys are the Cowboys

I actually think the Cowboys might win it now that they've discovered how awesome Demarco Murray is.

don't read the degenerate gamblers thread, but no one *really* thought the Eagles would win this game by 8 or more, did they??

a lot of people did, they moved from 7.5 point favs to 8.5 so a ton of ppl were betting the Eagles

You can't call that one play by Dane Sanzenbacher a drop, but it was pretty much a football recreation of the Bill Buckner play. It went through his hands then his legs on one of those balls.

^Sanzenbacher should lose his job. I dont care how much Gruden likes his name.

In more positive news, Jay Cutler is kicking all sorts of ass. That man has a cannon of an arm.

yeah the real story is the death of CUTLAHHHHH

he didn't face much of a rush. he will next week.

Bye Albert!

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/08/patriots-cut-albert-haynesworth/

hope he saved his money

that's gotta be the end of him, right?

belichick is holding the whole squad hostage: "i cut a couple of you assholes every week until you all stop playing shitty".

hahaha

totally his MO when he coached the browns, goodbye Kosar

it'd be pretty crazy if haynesworth never played again.