2012 NFL Season Thread

[Sport]

Carson Palmer was booed soundly from start to finish yesterday in Cincinnati.

I didn't boo him, however. He helped turn the worst franchise in football into just another mediocre franchise. I'll take 8-8 over the perennial 3-13 team the Bengals used to be. Also, the Bengals are in a much better position now than they were after the 2010 season. I think they won the whole situation. And Palmer looked BAD yesterday.

Really great to see the Bengals not play down to the competition for two weeks in a row and three straight blowout wins is nothing I've ever seen from this team before. I like it.

[NJTank]

Well it ended ugly with Palmer, and I think now the Bengals have a better QB any way.

[rams80]

*checks schedule*

Sure hope those Seattle players appeal and lose.

[BlueSky]

Pretty sure the same thing happened to Mike Smith last weekend. Only the call was much less obvious.

Saw that and it was still pretty obvious. The irony is that the resulting play is now the longest "touchdown" run in TB history.

This play sums up the entire New York Jets existence.

Was reading an article on this play during my trip to NYC and lol'd when the writer pointed out that #65's buttocks are now 4th on the Jets in forced fumbles.

Went back and watched that Jets-Pats sequence again. Has any NFL team ever self-destructed more sensationally over a 6-play span (excluding PATs)?

[AnythingChicago]

Lights Out owes me a formal apology for giving me a hard time with my Kaepernick pick in that mock draft last year.

Seriously, though, imagine where Tennessee would be now had they drafted Kaepernick instead of Locker....

[BlueSky]

Lights Out owes me a formal apology for giving me a hard time with my Kaepernick pick in that mock draft last year.

Seriously, though, imagine where Tennessee would be now had they drafted Kaepernick instead of Locker....

Maybe right where they are now, or worse. It's not just about the player, it's the coaches, culture, the guys around him...what would Tampa Bay have been had they kept Steve Young?

They'd still be that Tampa Bay and Steve Young wouldn't be a SB champion.

[cameroncrazie07]

Just in case you guys wanted to play around with it, here is the 2012 NFL Playoff Machine:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/machine

After doing a few sims with it, it's becoming more and more clear to me that Seattle is gonna get into the playoffs on that stupid blown call. They'll finish 9-7 and beat out someone for the last wildcard. That would be the worst possible thing that could happen to the NFL.

[Kramerica Industries]

Yeah, I was doing some thinking last night between the late games and the SNF game, and the conclusion I came to was this:

New Orleans, Tampa Bay, and Seattle will be the contestants for the #6 seed. I think Minnesota, Dallas, and Washington will end up with eight losses, so that knocks them out of the picture. From that point forward, here's what I think will happen:

Seattle loses to Chicago and San Francisco, and beats St. Louis and Arizona (both at home). The key swing game here is Week 16 at Buffalo, which is no sure-win because it'll be Buffalo's final home game, Seattle is a terrible road team, and the Bills have risen up in the same situation last year (Week 16, whacked Denver 40-14).

New Orleans loses to the Falcons, but beats the Giants, Panthers, and Cowboys.

Tampa Bay loses to the Broncos and Falcons, but beats the Eagles and Rams.

The key swing game for those two is their Week 15 meeting in New Orleans.

Two team tiebreaks: Seattle/Tampa Bay goes to Seattle, but Seattle/New Orleans goes to New Orleans. A Tampa Bay/New Orleans tiebreaker probably won't come into play, but it would go to the Saints.

DISCLAIMER: This was all conceived prior to the news of the potential suspensions for Browner and Sherman. OTOH, Arizona is a truly awful football team, and the Seahawks should still be able to win with or without them. Both CB's would be back for Week 17, even if they are suspended.

[NEW.ERA]

Playing around with the playoff machine, came up with this.

AFC

1. Houston

2. Baltimore

3. New England

4. Denver

5. Cincinnati

6. Indianapolis

Pittsburgh just missing out.

NFC

1. Atlanta

2. San Francisco

3. Green Bay

4. NY Giants

5. Chicago

6. Minnesota

New Orleans, Dallas, Washington, Seattle, Tampa Bay all miss by one.

[Sport]

I like your thinking, but I don't trust the Bengals to go 4-1 to end the season. Actually it would mean they'd end the season with a 7-1 streak. They've never pulled a streak like that in my life. I don't expect them to this year. I fully expect Roethlisberger to get healthy at just the right time for the Bengals to go into Pittsburgh with the last playoff spot on the line. The Bengals will lose on a horrible call benefiting the Steelers and/or will gift the Steelers a win via dropped pass or something silly like the Santonio Holmes play in overtime in 2006.

[Gothamite]

This is the mess built by Rex and company he has created an atmosphere that is so bad around the Jets.

When I went to the game last month I was harassed something terrible, of course I worre Dolphins colors and I made the Jets fans look like :censored:s by not responding and with the Dolphins kicking the out of the Jets it was even better, but I had my Dolphins hat ruined with these Kobra Kai Jets fans dressed up in the skeletons and they rubbed pain on to my hat, but I refused to get into their and laughed at the score. However elsehwere there were fights and their fans for the most part were very ugly and many left the game early.

I've attended Packer games all over the country (it wasn't until my 14th or 15th game that I actually went to Lambeau), and I've never even heard of the abuse that Jet fans leveled at Packer Backers a couple years ago. The difference between them and Giant fans, in the same stadium, is startling.

That being said, Fireman Ed was a jackass, a self-important, self-promoting creep who won't be missed except by the television cameras he played to.

[BlueSky]

This is the mess built by Rex and company he has created an atmosphere that is so bad around the Jets.

When I went to the game last month I was harassed something terrible, of course I worre Dolphins colors and I made the Jets fans look like :censored:s by not responding and with the Dolphins kicking the out of the Jets it was even better, but I had my Dolphins hat ruined with these Kobra Kai Jets fans dressed up in the skeletons and they rubbed pain on to my hat, but I refused to get into their and laughed at the score. However elsehwere there were fights and their fans for the most part were very ugly and many left the game early.

I've attended Packer games all over the country (it wasn't until my 14th or 15th game that I actually went to Lambeau), and I've never even heard of the abuse that Jet fans leveled at Packer Backers a couple years ago. The difference between them and Giant fans, in the same stadium, is startling.

That being said, Fireman Ed was a jackass, a self-important, self-promoting creep who won't be missed except by the television cameras he played to.

I'll second this, at least as far as the Lambeau experience. I went to a 2004 preseason game there. Game time was 7 or 7:30 at night and I was amazed to see people setting up for tailgating by 10:30 am. I was walking around in Saints gear looking at the Packer facilities and got nothing but friendly jibes and warm hospitality from the Packer fans. I was invited to eat with them, drink with them, or just hang out and talk, even when I opened by asking who the Saints were playing that night.

My experience in the Superdome and the Georgia Dome has been fine as well. People aren't extraordinarily friendly like in Green bay but I wear black and gold to the Georgia Dome every year and have never been or felt threatened. There are words but it's all in fun. I remember something about a Rams fan getting beaten up in a Superdome restroom but I've never seen anything like that happen.

[DarkJourney]

Well, Kyle Williams won't have to worry about fumbling in a NFC Championship Game this year. Torn ACL.

[Kramerica Industries]

Be mildly careful with that. Eric Wright was supposed to be suspended a month ago, and nothing ever came of that.

Wright appeals for a solid month, plays in at least four games, and THEN he gets suspended the same day that I read reports saying he thought he was in the clear. That's nice.

[Punch]

Playing around with the playoff machine, came up with this.

AFC

1. Houston

2. Baltimore

3. New England

4. Denver

5. Cincinnati

6. Indianapolis

Pittsburgh just missing out.

NFC

1. Atlanta

2. San Francisco

3. Green Bay

4. NY Giants

5. Chicago

6. Minnesota

New Orleans, Dallas, Washington, Seattle, Tampa Bay all miss by one.

What exactly did you do to get Minnesota in as #6? They may not win another game this year.

[BigEd76]

The Eagles released Jason Babin. GTFO and don't come back

[ninersdd]

Didn't see this coming, Babin got cut from the Eagles. Also DeSean Jackson is on IR. The Thursday Night(NO-ATL) and Monday Night(NYG-WSH) games look pretty good, but the league just had to leave the pile of dog crap in the Eagles-Cowboys on Sunday Night this week.

[fouhy12]

My playoff picture right now. http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/machine/_/results/311218024~1~311219025~1~311222011~2~311224028~1~311224002~1~311224029~1~311224004~1~311224033~1~311224010~1~311224008~1~311224012~1~311224006~1~311224017~1~311224026~2~311224020~2~311225009~1~311224023~1~311226018~1~320101001~1~320101018~1~320101019~2~320101004~1~320101005~2~320101021~1~320101009~1~320101030~1~320101014~2~320101034~1~320101015~2~320101007~1~320101017~1~320101016~2~320101013~1~320101022~1~321129001~1~321202015~2~321202033~1~321202024~2~321202013~2~321202008~1~321202003~1~321202007~1~321202002~1~321202020~2~321202009~1~321202010~2~321202012~2~321202006~1~321203028~2~321202014~2~321209023~1~321209009~2~321210017~1~321209027~1~321209011~1~321209019~1~321209025~1~321209005~1~321209004~1~321209030~2~321209029~2~321209002~1~321206013~2~321209028~2~321216034~1~321213021~2~321216001~2~321216002~1~321216003~1~321216022~1~321216005~1~321216024~1~321216006~2~321216014~2~321216013~1~321216015~1~321216017~1~321216018~1~321216033~1~321217010~1~321222008~2~321223029~1~321223030~2~321223006~2~321223009~2~321223033~1~321223034~1~321223012~2~321223015~1~321223007~1~321223022~2~321223021~2~321223023~2~321223026~1~321223027~1~321223020~2~321230018~1~321230001~1~321230002~1~321230019~1~321230004~1~321230023~1~321230028~1~321230008~1~321230011~1~321230024~1~321230007~1~321230010~1~321230016~2~321230025~1~321230017~1~321230026~1~321209026~1

[Rockstar Matt]

This is mine right now. http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/machine/_/results/321129001~1~321202002~1~321202003~1~321202008~2~321202009~1~321202010~2~321202012~2~321202014~2~321202015~2~321202020~2~321202007~2~321202013~1~321202024~2~321202033~1~321202006~1~321203028~2~321206013~2~321209002~2~321209004~1~321209005~1~321209011~1~321209016~2~321209023~2~321209027~1~321209028~2~321209029~1~321209030~2~321209025~1~321209019~1~321209026~1~321209009~1~321210017~2~321213021~2~321216001~1~321216003~2~321216005~2~321216014~1~321216015~1~321216018~1~321216033~1~321216034~1~321216002~1~321216022~1~321216024~1~321216006~2~321216013~1~321216017~1~321217010~1~321222008~1~321223006~1~321223009~1~321223033~1~321223012~2~321223015~1~321223021~2~321223023~1~321223027~2~321223029~1~321223030~2~321223034~1~321223007~1~321223022~1~321223026~2~321223020~2~321230001~1~321230002~1~321230004~2~321230008~1~321230028~2~321230019~1~321230010~1~321230011~2~321230016~1~321230017~1~321230023~1~321230007~1~321230024~1~321230025~1~321230026~1~321230018~1

Surprised me a bit.

[Kramerica Industries]

Surely, you aren't expecting the Rams to beat the Bucs in Week 16, right?

Then again, you also have the Bucs and their 32nd ranked pass defense winning at Mile High against Peyton Manning, so I guess it cuts both ways.