NFL '13 SEASON THREAD

[LAWeaver]

Freeman wants out of Tampa Bay as well. By that, I mean he wants traded. I'm wanting to say Jacksonville is the only place he could go at this point. That is unless NYJ, MIN, OAK, or CLE give up on their QBs. Based on what Cleveland has already done, they need to stop dealing for now and use what they have. Yes, they won last week. But it could be their only win. Use what you've got, Cleveland.

[BlueSky]

Are you implying that the 2007 Florida defense was NFL calibre?

Sure, there were future NFL-ers on that team, but the shoddy D that year is the reason why Florida didn't win three straight championships. 2007 was Tebow's finest year.

No, sorry, I was addressing RBs who didn't fumble much in college but fumbled in the NFL.

[Cosmic]

Freeman wants out of Tampa Bay as well. By that, I mean he wants traded. I'm wanting to say Jacksonville is the only place he could go at this point. That is unless NYJ, MIN, OAK, or CLE give up on their QBs. Based on what Cleveland has already done, they need to stop dealing for now and use what they have. Yes, they won last week. But it could be their only win. Use what you've got, Cleveland.

The Bills could bite if the price is right. Kevin Kolb is probably done for his career; our backup right now is an undrafted FA rookie, and there's not even a third QB listed on the depth chart on their official site. I expected the third guy to be some schlub off the street, but we don't even have that right now.

[ninersdd]

Paul Oliver, former Charger DB, commits suicide. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/chargers/2013/09/25/paul-oliver-chargers/2870397/

[See Red]

I'm curious to see how fast the Eagles offense tries to play against the Broncos. I know they like to play fast, but I can't imagine they want to keep letting Peyton back on the field with how weak their defense is.

[dbadefense1990]

I think its time for Roger Goodell to go, he may be an even worse commissioner than Gary Bettman for this plan.

I came to that same conclusion the moment Goodell piped a shotgun to the head of unique Super Bowl logos and pulled the trigger.

[ninersdd]

St Louis has some serious issues.

The refs haven't been good as well.

[dfwabel]

St Louis has some serious issues.

The refs have been awful as well.

Half of STL's issues are that 39 of the 53 man roster have four seasons experience or less in the NFL (since 2010). They are d@mn young. They have 38 guys who are 25 years old or younger and 14 of them start. All STL RBs are under 25 with 2 total years of NFL experience. They start two rookies defensively and essentially their elder statesman is Chris Long, who was drafted in 2008 is now is age 28. They have committed to young players.

The other half, I'll just leave to STL FANATIC from Sunday:

I don't think the Rams really suck, but they sure sucked today. And that's all three games this year in which they've been underwhelming, including two losses. Some of it is poor execution. A lot of it is the game plan they're being asked to execute.

I'm still high on Jeff Fisher as an overall leader of this program, but I am not high on the overall coaching ability of this staff.

Brian Schottenheimer is handcuffing Bradford as much as he did to Mark Sanchez (or any other Jets QB). Attempts 6 yards or less, equate to pass plays 6 yards or less.

Now, neither rookie WVU receiver may understand the playbook, or getting open, but STL as is not taking shots down the field they cannot even try to run the ball with their inexperienced RBs.

[FiddySicks]

Much better game from Colin Kaepernick. Not a light up the lamps performance like it was against the Packers, but 167 yards and two TD's is pretty solid.

[rams80]

St Louis has some serious issues.

How does Brian Schottenheimer still get work in the NFL? And is there some sort of religion that only Ram offensive coordinators subscribe to that renders them incapable of designing a play that goes past the first down marker? The Religious Society of Football Friends if you will?

Also nepotism sucks and coaches should never have their children follow them into the profession.

EDIT-Oh I also think Cortland Finnegan hurt his thigh after Fisher clobbered it with a 2 by 4.

[dfwabel]

They start a rookie CB and a 2nd year CB. In year 3, Austin Pettis is their most veteran WR and he is 25. There is nobody to teach the younger players since 70% of the roster is "young". Coaching is an issue, but the ability to respond to coaching is something which Fisher and Kara Henderson's hubby need to address immediately.

Again, look at the Rams Roster.

[NJTank]

St Louis has some serious issues.

How does Brian Schottenheimer still get work in the NFL? And is there some sort of religion that only Ram offensive coordinators subscribe to that renders them incapable of designing a play that goes past the first down marker? The Religious Society of Football Friends if you will?

Also nepotism sucks and coaches should never have their children follow them into the profession.

EDIT-Oh I also think Cortland Finnegan hurt his thigh after Fisher clobbered it with a 2 by 4.

Mlktose vanilla offenses a Schottenheimer family tradition

[theSLVRBCK]

Found this on reddit .... I laughed.

[sc49erfan15]

I absolutely love that there was a fair catch kick last night. I was at a 49ers fan club meetup, and as soon as the fair catch happened I tried to explain what the 49ers should do (which probably sounded something like "OMG THERES THIS LEFTOVER RULE FROM RUGBY AND THEY SHOULD TOTALLY TRY A 75 YARD FIELD GOAL HERE") and everybody looked at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my ears.

And then they started lining up for a free kick field goal.

Only wish it would've gone in. The longest field goal record is my all-time favorite sports record, and I get excited when there's the possibility of a 63+ yard try. Somebody's eventually going to nail one of these and shatter the record.

[STL FANATIC]

Rams still suck even, though they shouldn't. dfwabel's point about being young is accurate, but I'm not sure I like it as a valid excuse. They were young last year too. They played better than this.

I LOVE Steven Jackson. But I simply don't buy the idea that a 30+ yr-old running back is the sole reason this team has no running game, and I certainly don't believe his loss leadership is the reason the defense suddenly can't stop anybody.

Something is weird. Too much talent to be this bad.

And that's why I won't throw in the towel. In plenty of years we see a team start horrifically bad, but then find themselves. I don't blame anyone for doubting it. This team looks as bad as any of the Rams teams in the past ten years, a stretch that included the worst 5-year span of football in history. But I just can't believe that's who this team really is, so I'm looking for the Rams to flip that switch this week.

A win over Jacksonville (and the Rams haven't earned the right for that to be anything remotely approaching an assumption) wouldn't prove anything no matter how big. But it would be an important step. And the next week vs. Houston would be the real test.

I'm an optimistic homer who is oddly at his most optimistic when everyone else is down. So this is par for my course. But I still think they can get things right. I hope so because I just don't understand how things could have gotten so wrong.

As a side note, if anybody has never been to an NFL game and wants that experience and can get to St. Louis next weekend, I'd anticipate that being some of the cheaper tickets you'll ever see. You could get seats from just over $12 for last night's game (I took advantage of the prices). I can only imagine how low it'll get for next week's.

And I know I won't change anybody's mind on this, but I think if you blame the fan base for that you're out of your mind. I can't blame anyone for writing off a franchise that's been so hapless so often. And in a year in which they were supposed to take that next step, or at least make a run at it, they've instead put themselves in the running for a top-5 draft pick. Oy vey.

On the plus side, so have the Redskins. Even if you assume the starts for Washington and St. Louis have been a bit out of line with what they'll actually end up doing, the Rams should have a decent set of draft picks to take advantage of next season. That's cool, but I'm pretty tired of it.

[rams80]

If the fanbase could at least avoid wearing Cardinals T-Shirts for one day that would help. Particularly when the Cardinals have the day off and the Rams are playing a team that uses red as its primary color.

[STL FANATIC]

Yes, that is exceedingly stupid. But let's not Joe Strauss it and pretend that a handful of people represent the fanbase. Walking through the dome I didn't notice anybody wearing Cardinals gear (besides a navy hat, which isn't so bad).

I believe and guarantee some people were, just saying it's not a big issue.

And I almost don't blame them. For the 2.5 glorious seconds when they begin to doze off during Brian Schoettenheimer's offensive thriller, they caught a glimpse of their Cardinals t-shirt and got to forget where they were.

[Sport]

If the fanbase could at least avoid wearing Cardinals T-Shirts for one day that would help. Particularly when the Cardinals have the day off and the Rams are playing a team that uses red as its primary color.

We have that same phenomenon in Columbus where people wear red Ohio State gear to Blue Jackets games when they're playing the Red Wings. Drives me nuts.

Go one day without wearing something OSU. Just wear a blue shirt, everybody has a blue shirt. Oh it's cold out and you're only winter coat is an Ohio State starter jacket? Grow the f*** up and get a regular normal adult human winter jacket that doesn't have a logo on it you doofus.

[NJTank]

I heard someone say this on the radio and it was so true. The Rams look like the 2011 Jets offense, uncreative and Sam Bradford is looking unsure and confused like Mark Sanchez. Can anyone say Shottenheimered

[rams80]

Yes, that is exceedingly stupid. But let's not Joe Strauss it and pretend that a handful of people represent the fanbase. Walking through the dome I didn't notice anybody wearing Cardinals gear (besides a navy hat, which isn't so bad).

I believe and guarantee some people were, just saying it's not a big issue.

And I almost don't blame them. For the 2.5 glorious seconds when they begin to doze off during Brian Schoettenheimer's offensive thriller, they caught a glimpse of their Cardinals t-shirt and got to forget where they were.

There was a lot of red in that lower bowl last night. And it didn't all look like seats or Niner fans.