NFL '13 SEASON THREAD

[TalktoChuck]

I think we could see the AFC title game going through New England for the third straight year. The Broncos have worse luck as the no. 1 seed.

Don't count on it.

Your faith in your team blows my mind. I would NEVER have such faith in the Redskins, or really anybody I support for that matter.

In all the years I've watched the Broncos and been old enough to really appreciate it (around 1992 or 1993), there are only two seasons in which I went into the season not believing they could win the Super Bowl, 2010 & 2011. However, 2007 & 2008 were iffy, and at the end of 2008 I really had more of a feeling of "Cutler and that porous defense are gonna blow it" than anything, but I still went INTO the season believing they could win it all.

Really? All of those Brian Greise and Gus Frerotte years, you still thought they could win a Super Bowl?

[Lee Noire]

Oh hey so sorry to interrupt Keep Pounding Liveblog, but I just saw that the Red Hot Chili Peppers will be doing halftime with Bruno Mars. Nuts and gum: together at last!

That's going to be awesome!

[BlueSky]

All the jawing and shoving and facemask bumping is really getting old in the NFL. Especially when the last tick of the clock sets off a field-wide lovefest of handshakes and hugs.

[ninersdd]

Close, but the right call. Definitely feels good to be up at half, considering how many cracks Carolina has had at the one.

[Cosmic]

Why is it that sometimes we spend 25 minutes on-air discussing what a "football move" is, and sometimes it's just assumed the receiver had possession immediately?

[ADW77]

I think we could see the AFC title game going through New England for the third straight year. The Broncos have worse luck as the no. 1 seed.

Don't count on it.

Your faith in your team blows my mind. I would NEVER have such faith in the Redskins, or really anybody I support for that matter.

In all the years I've watched the Broncos and been old enough to really appreciate it (around 1992 or 1993), there are only two seasons in which I went into the season not believing they could win the Super Bowl, 2010 & 2011. However, 2007 & 2008 were iffy, and at the end of 2008 I really had more of a feeling of "Cutler and that porous defense are gonna blow it" than anything, but I still went INTO the season believing they could win it all.

Really? All of those Brian Greise and Gus Frerotte years, you still thought they could win a Super Bowl?

First thing I want to point out is that I said going IN TO the season, not necessarily as things progressed through the season.

I'll just recap real quick...

1999: Coming off their 2nd Super Bowl, I thought they had enough talent even with Elway leaving to contend and possibly win it all. Obviously things just went from bad to worse.

2000: The return of TD, Griese showing promise, of course I thought they could contend. I honestly believe if it was Griese and not Frerotte that started the playoff game in Baltimore, they would've won.

2001: Coming off of an 11-5 season with Griese, and him coming back healthy. Yup, thought they would contend.

2002: This was probably the least optimistic of this whole bunch outside of 2010 & 2011. TD's final season, he never made it back to what everyone hoped he would.

2003: The signing of Plummer, I really, really thought they were going to win it all.

2004: Pretty much the same as '03, just with the acquisition of Bailey & Lynch, so even more optimism.

2005: I don't think I need to explain this one all that much. The optimism got stronger as the season went on, and I still blame the DC for their failure in the AFCCG. I also believe if on Pittsburgh's first drive, if the ball that when through Bailey's hands on a 3rd down and bounced to Ward for a 1st, was instead caught by Bailey, he takes it for a TD and Denver starts of 7-0, which changes the entire game, and they go on to beat Seattle in the Super Bowl. Then Cutler is never drafted and it literally changes EVERYTHING.

2006: Coming off an AFCCG appearance, of course.

2007: This one was a bit iffy, but I still believed, which actually had a lot to do with what happened in the '07 offseason actually.

2008: This was the least confident I'd been since 2002. After they started fairly well, but at the end I had more of a feeling of "they're going to blow this" than anything else.

2009: Call me crazy, but I actually believed they could do it. Everything was shaken up, but Cutler showed he folds when the pressure is on, so no big deal. I figured the defense would be much improved, which was true, though McDaniels screwed that up quickly.

2010: No, just no, I really didn't have much faith in that team honestly.

2011: Same as 2010. Even playing the Steelers in the playoffs, I was certain they were going to get hammered.

2012: After getting Manning, of course.

2013: Shouldn't have to explain this one at all.

[IceCap]

I admire your optimism. It might make me feel kinda-sorta bad after the Chargers are done finishing up another Manning joke job. Maybe. For like, a second.

[ADW77]

I admire your optimism. It might make me feel kinda-sorta bad after the Chargers are done finishing up another Manning joke job. Maybe. For like, a second.

I'll feel bad for you when the Chargers are sent home, once again, without a championship... for a minute maybe, if that.

[IceCap]

Nice try, but you can't hurt me by bringing up the Chargers' championship futility. Nothing there but emotional scar tissue

[TalktoChuck]

I admire your optimism. It might make me feel kinda-sorta bad after the Chargers are done finishing up another Manning joke job. Maybe. For like, a second.

If the Broncos do lose (which is a very real possibility), I'm very certain it will be the defenses fault, not Peyton's.

The whole "Peyton chokes in the playoffs" always seems like the lazy way out when evaluating his playoff woes. Of his 11 loses, only about 3 of those games can you really say that Peyton lost the game. And of the 9 wins, you can attribute just about every one to how well he played. He actually has really good stats in the playoffs, including most of those losses.

Because QB's have become more and more the "stars" of the NFL they have been receiving far too much credit and far too much blame in the outcomes of these games. I understand they play a bigger role than other positions, but they are not solely responsible for the outcome like they are made out to be.

[ninersdd]

Ugh, what do you expect the defense to do when Cam essentially turned right into him on the sack.

Doesn't matter though, that INT should do it!

[ADW77]

I admire your optimism. It might make me feel kinda-sorta bad after the Chargers are done finishing up another Manning joke job. Maybe. For like, a second.

If the Broncos do lose (which is a very real possibility), I'm very certain it will be the defenses fault, not Peyton's.

The whole "Peyton chokes in the playoffs" always seems like the lazy way out when evaluating his playoff woes. Of his 11 loses, only about 3 of those games can you really say that Peyton lost the game. And of the 9 wins, you can attribute just about every one to how well he played. He actually has really good stats in the playoffs, including most of those losses.

Because QB's have become more and more the "stars" of the NFL they have been receiving far too much credit and far too much blame in the outcomes of these games. I understand they play a bigger role than other positions, but they are not solely responsible for the outcome like they are made out to be.

The best example of this is Tim Tebow in 2011.

[BlueSky]

The Saints wouldn't have wasted home field like Carolina has. Too bad they didn't earn it!

P.S. Add to my previous gripe about jawing and shoving all the posing, trash talking, crowd hushing, etc. Guys make a tackle - as far as I know, what they're supposed to do - and jump up posing like they just saved a bus full of orphans.

[BlackBolt3]

You just hate to see the season end like this. For the whole game, the defensive backs played stupid, but the team was still in the game. The offense kinda blew the second half, too. But, cest la vie.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

You just hate to see the season end like this. For the whole game, the defensive backs played stupid, but the team was still in the game. The offense kinda blew the second half, too. But, cest la vie.

If I were a Panthers fan, I'd be pretty pleased. They had a couple of bad losses to start the season, but they also won a handful of games they shouldn't have (the Pats game comes to mind). For a first-time playoff team that played above its level, it seems like it was a pretty good season and something to build on for next year.

Also, as someone rooting for Seattle, color me scared for next week. Those 49ers look tough.

[WSU151]

I think we could see the AFC title game going through New England for the third straight year. The Broncos have worse luck as the no. 1 seed.

Don't count on it.

Your faith in your team blows my mind. I would NEVER have such faith in the Redskins, or really anybody I support for that matter.

In all the years I've watched the Broncos and been old enough to really appreciate it (around 1992 or 1993), there are only two seasons in which I went into the season not believing they could win the Super Bowl, 2010 & 2011. However, 2007 & 2008 were iffy, and at the end of 2008 I really had more of a feeling of "Cutler and that porous defense are gonna blow it" than anything, but I still went INTO the season believing they could win it all.

Really? All of those Brian Greise and Gus Frerotte years, you still thought they could win a Super Bowl?

First thing I want to point out is that I said going IN TO the season, not necessarily as things progressed through the season.

I'll just recap real quick...

1999: Coming off their 2nd Super Bowl, I thought they had enough talent even with Elway leaving to contend and possibly win it all. Obviously things just went from bad to worse.

2000: The return of TD, Griese showing promise, of course I thought they could contend. I honestly believe if it was Griese and not Frerotte that started the playoff game in Baltimore, they would've won.

2001: Coming off of an 11-5 season with Griese, and him coming back healthy. Yup, thought they would contend.

2002: This was probably the least optimistic of this whole bunch outside of 2010 & 2011. TD's final season, he never made it back to what everyone hoped he would.

2003: The signing of Plummer, I really, really thought they were going to win it all.

2004: Pretty much the same as '03, just with the acquisition of Bailey & Lynch, so even more optimism.

2005: I don't think I need to explain this one all that much. The optimism got stronger as the season went on, and I still blame the DC for their failure in the AFCCG. I also believe if on Pittsburgh's first drive, if the ball that when through Bailey's hands on a 3rd down and bounced to Ward for a 1st, was instead caught by Bailey, he takes it for a TD and Denver starts of 7-0, which changes the entire game, and they go on to beat Seattle in the Super Bowl. Then Cutler is never drafted and it literally changes EVERYTHING.

2006: Coming off an AFCCG appearance, of course.

2007: This one was a bit iffy, but I still believed, which actually had a lot to do with what happened in the '07 offseason actually.

2008: This was the least confident I'd been since 2002. After they started fairly well, but at the end I had more of a feeling of "they're going to blow this" than anything else.

2009: Call me crazy, but I actually believed they could do it. Everything was shaken up, but Cutler showed he folds when the pressure is on, so no big deal. I figured the defense would be much improved, which was true, though McDaniels screwed that up quickly.

2010: No, just no, I really didn't have much faith in that team honestly.

2011: Same as 2010. Even playing the Steelers in the playoffs, I was certain they were going to get hammered.

2012: After getting Manning, of course.

2013: Shouldn't have to explain this one at all.

Your faith in Jake Plummer amazes me.

[BBTV]

Nobody is giving the Panthers any respect. 4 out of the 5 guys on NFL Network picked the 49ers.

How is picking the better team considered disrespectful to the inferior team? Had they picked the panthers would that have been disrespecting the 49 ers? Or do you feel personally disrespects because they picked San Francisco?

[rams80]

Welp, I'm on board #TeamMeteor for next week's NFC Championship Game, as well as cheering for the winner of Denver-San Diego for the rest of the playoffs.

[ADW77]

I think we could see the AFC title game going through New England for the third straight year. The Broncos have worse luck as the no. 1 seed.

Don't count on it.

Your faith in your team blows my mind. I would NEVER have such faith in the Redskins, or really anybody I support for that matter.

In all the years I've watched the Broncos and been old enough to really appreciate it (around 1992 or 1993), there are only two seasons in which I went into the season not believing they could win the Super Bowl, 2010 & 2011. However, 2007 & 2008 were iffy, and at the end of 2008 I really had more of a feeling of "Cutler and that porous defense are gonna blow it" than anything, but I still went INTO the season believing they could win it all.

Really? All of those Brian Greise and Gus Frerotte years, you still thought they could win a Super Bowl?

First thing I want to point out is that I said going IN TO the season, not necessarily as things progressed through the season.

I'll just recap real quick...

1999: Coming off their 2nd Super Bowl, I thought they had enough talent even with Elway leaving to contend and possibly win it all. Obviously things just went from bad to worse.

2000: The return of TD, Griese showing promise, of course I thought they could contend. I honestly believe if it was Griese and not Frerotte that started the playoff game in Baltimore, they would've won.

2001: Coming off of an 11-5 season with Griese, and him coming back healthy. Yup, thought they would contend.

2002: This was probably the least optimistic of this whole bunch outside of 2010 & 2011. TD's final season, he never made it back to what everyone hoped he would.

2003: The signing of Plummer, I really, really thought they were going to win it all.

2004: Pretty much the same as '03, just with the acquisition of Bailey & Lynch, so even more optimism.

2005: I don't think I need to explain this one all that much. The optimism got stronger as the season went on, and I still blame the DC for their failure in the AFCCG. I also believe if on Pittsburgh's first drive, if the ball that when through Bailey's hands on a 3rd down and bounced to Ward for a 1st, was instead caught by Bailey, he takes it for a TD and Denver starts of 7-0, which changes the entire game, and they go on to beat Seattle in the Super Bowl. Then Cutler is never drafted and it literally changes EVERYTHING.

2006: Coming off an AFCCG appearance, of course.

2007: This one was a bit iffy, but I still believed, which actually had a lot to do with what happened in the '07 offseason actually.

2008: This was the least confident I'd been since 2002. After they started fairly well, but at the end I had more of a feeling of "they're going to blow this" than anything else.

2009: Call me crazy, but I actually believed they could do it. Everything was shaken up, but Cutler showed he folds when the pressure is on, so no big deal. I figured the defense would be much improved, which was true, though McDaniels screwed that up quickly.

2010: No, just no, I really didn't have much faith in that team honestly.

2011: Same as 2010. Even playing the Steelers in the playoffs, I was certain they were going to get hammered.

2012: After getting Manning, of course.

2013: Shouldn't have to explain this one at all.

Your faith in Jake Plummer amazes me.

He's still my favorite Broncos quarterback not named Elway.

[dbadefense1990]

Four of the five remaining playoff contestants have a west-coast flair.

Then there are the Patriots...