2009 NFL Season Thread

[gingerbreadmann]

I just saw in the highlight that they actually did this once today, but they really need to pass more in the Wildcat. That would be killer. Now it's pretty much 75% Brown play-action run, 25% hand to Ricky. I know the rest of the formation is always different, but the constant has been that they run the ball. I believe, if I remember correctly from the first Wildcat exposure against the Patriots last year, that Ronnie Brown threw for at least 1 TD; it was that ugly. They need to use the passing game again, and now that they have Pat White? Boom. Gotta love it.

[BlueSky]

I just re-read my post, and it got me thinking—when was the last time THREE quarterbacks drafted #1 overall played in the same game? In case you missed it, Coughlin rested Eli Manning in the second half, paving the way for former Texans QB David Carr to continue demolishing the Oakland Raiders and JaMarcus Russell.

And two of the three are busts, at least so far. Number 1 picks get so much hype but so many of them never pan out. Look at how many of the guys really getting it done in the NFL are either lower round picks or undrafted free agents.

This is essentially especially true of QBs. Its amazing how, especially recently, teams with the number 1 pick overall just seem to want the best QB in the draft, irrespective of talent. Since 2001 the only non QB number 1 overall picks have been Mario Williams and Jake Long. Go back to 1998 and you would only add one more player to that list.

I guess most teams that are bad enough to finish in a high draft pick spot would feel a need at QB, so want to pick a QB, but is picking a moderate QB at number 1 a sensible thing? Also I think evaluating college QBs is very tough. I think deciding how much a QB;s success is down to them and how much of it is due to good blocking, good playcalling, good receiving? All of those things help a good QB. Brady doesn't have the best arm, but has lots of other good talents to help him, both within himself and within the Patriots organisation. The same could be said for Peyton Manning. Put Eli Manning in a struggling Giants team and he looked somewhat average. Put him in a winning Giants team he looks a good QB.

Very true. Look at a guy like Drew Brees. Doesn't have the 'prototype' QB's physical traits such as height or a rifle arm but the guy is just a winner. He outworks and outthinks the other guy and has enough athleticism to put it all together and make it work. Brady is another example. When your college career earns you a sixth round trip to the NFL, expectations aren't terribly high, and I can only imagine Patriots' fans reactions when Bledsoe went down and Brady came in. At the same time, Brady's also illustrates that surroundings do have a lot to do with success at QB (Matt Cassel last year for example).

If Archie Manning had gone to Pittsburgh and Terry Bradshaw to New Orleans, Archie would be in the HOF and Terry...well, who knows, but he wouldn't have 4 SB rings, that's for sure.

On an unrelated note, I always hoped that what happened to Dre Bly would happen to Deion when he was hotdogging after picks, but nobody ever caught up to him.

[TFoA]

On an unrelated note, I always hoped that what happened to Dre Bly would happen to Deion when he was hotdogging after picks, but nobody ever caught up to him.

That's because Deion had enough sense to do it when he had burned everybody else and was well on his way to a TD, instead of doing it 12 yards away from the spot of the INT while being hotly pursued/surrounded by the other team. Words can't describe how dumb that was.

[BigEd76]

11/1 time changes:

Giants @ Eagles was moved up to 1pm ET to "accomodate the Phillies and a potential World Series game"

oh look what got the open 4:15 national spot by total coincidence....Vikings @ Packers!

and unless CBS alters their schedule too, the Giants and Jets will be playing at the same time...

[pagan696]

"So far this season, every team the Redskins have played has been winless at the time of the game. According to STATS LLC, it's the first time in the history of the NFL that this has happened. The last team to have faced five winless teams was the 1954 Giants"

read more at http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Redskins-are-first-in-history-to-play-six-straig?urn=nfl,195479

[Cujo]

So far this season, every team the Redskins have played has been winless at the time of the game.

Damn. You couldn't ask for an easier schedule. Yet, sadly, the 'Skins are a pathetic 2-3.

[gingerbreadmann]

It ends this Sunday as opposed to next Sunday, but on the contrary, every team the Patriots have played thus far has been undefeated. It didn't even occur to me that the Redskins have played 5 winless teams thus far.

[Jigga]

So far this season, every team the Redskins have played has been winless at the time of the game.

Damn. You couldn't ask for an easier schedule. Yet, sadly, the 'Skins are a pathetic 2-3.

I didn't realize that. Nice little stat.

Kind of makes it even more pathetic, huh? Is www.fireJimZorn.com available?

[crashcarson15]

So far this season, every team the Redskins have played has been winless at the time of the game.

Damn. You couldn't ask for an easier schedule. Yet, sadly, the 'Skins are a pathetic 2-3.

I didn't realize that. Nice little stat.

Kind of makes it even more pathetic, huh? Is www.fireJimZorn.com available?

http://www.firejimzorn.com/

It may be for sale by its owner

[Saintsfan]

Time for some coaching speculation.

My picks for guys looking for a job by mid January- Dick Jauron, Jim Zorn, John Fox, Jack Del Rio, Norv Turner. In addition Raheem Morris will be demoted to DC by the Bucs, with an experienced coach coming in, possibly Shanahan or Holmgren? Jeff Fisher might either resign or be let go by the Titans, but if it were me, I'd give him at least 1 more year.

[NJTank]

I wont be shocked if Dick Jauron is gone before Thanksgiving the Bills are horrendous, and Ill add Tom Cable to that list Oakland is a total joke and he may be in legal hot water too.

[Saintsfan]

I wont be shocked if Dick Jauron is gone before Thanksgiving the Bills are horrendous, and Ill add Tom Cable to that list Oakland is a total joke and he may be in legal hot water too.

Yeah I missed Cable, I think on performance of the team he will survive, even though it is Al Davis, but whether or not the legal stuff comes to something is his big issue it seems to me.

[Saintsfan]

Mangini says Browns not trying to trade Quinn

Interesting part of the story to me is that Mangini feels the need to push back on the suggestion that the Browns are. I personally don't expect Quinn to be a Brown in 2010 now!

[BaltimoreFan]

Mangini says Browns not trying to trade Quinn

Interesting part of the story to me is that Mangini feels the need to push back on the suggestion that the Browns are. I personally don't expect Quinn to be a Brown in 2010 now!

The Browns are handling their QB situation horribly. Derek Anderson is awful, he had one fluke year, its time to move on. Completing only 2 passes is just pitiful. How has Mangini not demoted him from starter after that? I'm not saying that Brady Quinn is the answer, but when you select a QB with your first round pick you've got to commit to him. You can't just yank him after a few mistakes, you've got to let him learn on the job. There's no reason Quinn shouldn't have been there starter all season long.

[crashcarson15]

Mangini says Browns not trying to trade Quinn

Interesting part of the story to me is that Mangini feels the need to push back on the suggestion that the Browns are. I personally don't expect Quinn to be a Brown in 2010 now!

The Browns are handling their QB situation horribly. Derek Anderson is awful, he had one fluke year, its time to move on. Completing only 2 passes is just pitiful. How has Mangini not demoted him from starter after that? I'm not saying that Brady Quinn is the answer, but when you select a QB with your first round pick you've got to commit to him. You can't just yank him after a few mistakes, you've got to let him learn on the job. There's no reason Quinn shouldn't have been there starter all season long.

Yeah exactly we know what we're gonna get with Anderson a guy who sucks for 12 games every year and gives you a good performance 4 games. 2 1/2 games isn't enough for Quinn to prove himself while Anderson had all of last year to prove how much of a fluke he was in '07. I said it then and I'll say it again now but the Brownies should've traded DA after the '07 performance. Really none of those guys have ever worked out. Oh, and also Mangini should be fired... in fact he never should've been hired.

[Saintsfan]

Mangini says Browns not trying to trade Quinn

Interesting part of the story to me is that Mangini feels the need to push back on the suggestion that the Browns are. I personally don't expect Quinn to be a Brown in 2010 now!

The Browns are handling their QB situation horribly. Derek Anderson is awful, he had one fluke year, its time to move on. Completing only 2 passes is just pitiful. How has Mangini not demoted him from starter after that? I'm not saying that Brady Quinn is the answer, but when you select a QB with your first round pick you've got to commit to him. You can't just yank him after a few mistakes, you've got to let him learn on the job. There's no reason Quinn shouldn't have been there starter all season long.

Yeah exactly we know what we're gonna get with Anderson a guy who sucks for 12 games every year and gives you a good performance 4 games. 2 1/2 games isn't enough for Quinn to prove himself while Anderson had all of last year to prove how much of a fluke he was in '07. I said it then and I'll say it again now but the Brownies should've traded DA after the '07 performance. Really none of those guys have ever worked out. Oh, and also Mangini should be fired... in fact he never should've been hired.

I posted somewhere, earlier in the season, that in my view, the Browns should commit to Quinn, at least for a year, come what may. Personally I wonder if its a bit late for Quinn in Cleveland now. Can he ressurect his career if he moves away from Cleveland is the question now I think. The Browns need to do it right next time. Find a QB in the draft, or from a trade, and commit to them.

And Mangini was a horrible horrible hire. What was he going to bring to the job that Crenell didn't? He'd just been fired by the Jets after a few mediocre seasons in New York, a far more talented looking outfit. And now the Browns are making dumbass personnel decisions, like trading Edwards to the Jets. (TMQ pointed out that the Jets got Sanchez through a trade from the Browns as well). Thats a franchise that looks in a real mess to me.

[JQK]

Can anyone remember a time where there were so many awful teams in the bottom of the league. It's not as if they are struggling franchises. There are legitimatly seven to ten franchises that are unwatchably awful.

[Saintsfan]

Can anyone remember a time where there were so many awful teams in the bottom of the league. It's not as if they are struggling franchises. There are legitimatly seven to ten franchises that are unwatchably awful.

I am trying to think back, and I can remember some franchises that went through huge dips, like the Jets in the pre Parcells era, the Patriots were pretty bad consistently for a long time about the same time, just before I suppose (coincidentally also before Parcells arrived there) and many others (the Rams pre Vermeil etc etc). But to actually think of a time when there was as deep and poor a basement as there is at the moment is difficult. I wonder if some of it is that increasingly teams are looking for the quick fix improvements, rather than improving a team piece by piece. Just look at the increasing fad for picking a QB with the first pick overall, or the increased amount of coaching changes that go on nowadays. I remember when I first got into the NFL you had coaches like Bill Walsh, Don Shula, Dan Reeves, Tom Landry who seemed to have been around forever. How many coaches can you say that of today? Fisher, Bellichick, I already feel like i am running out of names now!

[Cujo]

I remember when I first got into the NFL you had coaches like Bill Walsh, Don Shula, Dan Reeves, Tom Landry who seemed to have been around forever. How many coaches can you say that of today? Fisher, Bellichick, I already feel like i am running out of names now!

I could have named Fisher, Reid, and The Hoodie, but had to look up who came after those three....

1994 - Jeff Fisher, Tennessee

1999 - Andy Reid, Philadelphia

2000 - Bill Belichick, New England

2002 - John Fox, Carolina

2003 - Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati & Jack Del Rio, Jacksonville

Look for this list to change next season as I have Fisher, Fox, and Del Rio on the hot seat.

[BigMac12]

Anybody seen Owen Schmitt knocked his head with his helmet and the bloody aftermath from Sunday's Jacksonville game?

If you're not squemish, click on the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjxI9OD3h3A