2014-15 NFC North/NFL Thread

[tower912]

Interesting.  I think the O Line has done a great job in pass protection, but I wouldn't think of them as a top 3 line.  Certainly above average, but they have not run blocked well (and Lacy just hasn't run as well either).  Up until the Vikings game there were very few holes for Lacy to hit, and Lacy was hesitant to hit them when they were actually there.  It has improved a bit since then, but the run blocking and the running overall still hasn't been what most were expecting/hoping.

The Lions offensive line has done a TERRIBLE job in pass protection.   Stafford has already been sacked nearly as many time as he was all of last season.     The Lions offense has regressed.    The reason they are 5-2 is that it turns out that Gunther Cunningham and the wide 9 set has a hindrance and not a help.   Austin has the defensive front 7 punishing people this year.

Somehow, I read in Dillard's post that he was commending the Lions o-line.   Mea Culpa.   Time for remedial reading or new glasses. 

[LON]

If they can "split" 3 games there will have to be a tie, a very rare occurrence. Math continues to be a challenge for you.

They play Philly twice.

[ChicosBailBonds]

If they can "split" 3 games there will have to be a tie, a very rare occurrence. Math continues to be a challenge for you.

smh


Eagles game 1
Eagles game 2
Colts
Cardinals

TOTAL  4 games

Split...win 2 games, lose 2 games


Here's your chance at an apology....can you pull it off......

[Lennys Tap]

smh


Eagles game 1
Eagles game 2
Colts
Cardinals

TOTAL  4 games

Split...win 2 games, lose 2 games


Here's your chance at an apology....can you pull it off......

Sorry, my mistake. Contrary to your routine and obnoxious misstatements on the subject, I have no problem admitting mistakes and I'm quick to do it. Use your search feature...

[ChicosBailBonds]

Sorry, my mistake. Contrary to your routine and obnoxious misstatements on the subject, I have no problem admitting mistakes and I'm quick to do it. Use your search feature...

Search doesn't lie and it was you who was snarky and obnoxious on this one.  I will remember this day always....like a photograph where time stands still.

[Lennys Tap]

Search doesn't lie and it was you who was snarky and obnoxious on this one.  I will remember this day always....like a photograph where time stands still.

Another nonsensical reply.

Look, I was factually, demonstrably and unequivocally WRONG. Just as you were factually, demonstrably and unequivocally WRONG when you said that MU hadn't recruited a player ranked as high as Henry Ellenson since Joe Wolf.

Difference? I admitted my mistake immediately. You wrote paragraph after paragraph after paragraph defending your mistake to the point of getting hysterical about it. When multiple posters agreed that you had simply made a factual misstatement and gently suggested that you man up, you railed at them, too.

I owned my mistake. You tried to twist yours to mean something that you hadn't originally said. That's intellectually dishonest. Stop insinuating things about me and look in the mirror. A little less self promotion, a little more self reflection. In time, you'll be happier. Have a nice day.

[Dish]

Also should be said, that Cobb & Nelson are probably the best WR tandem in football.

Have to give Cobb a lot of credit, I thought two years ago he was going to become a superstar, and I know he got hurt last season, but I like how he's sort of redefined his game. In the red zone, he just finds ways to get open, really like how his game has evolved.

[tower912]

For now.   I hope to see what Tate and a healthy Megatron can do together. 

[MU82]

I'm saying his personality means that people crap on him, while they let other quarterbacks who toss interceptions (like Luck and Favre) off the hook.  

Favre won 61% of his games as a starter.  Cutler has won 54%.  Not significantly different.  But they are treated completely different, in many ways because of Cutler's demeanor.

Cutler is one of the many athletes who plays worse than his stats. (Conversely, there are many who are better than their stats. That's why the best stats don't always prevail.)

Favre and Cutler might be treated differently because of their demeanor, but I'm guessing they are treated differently by fans and the overall "football community" because of their results.

Cutler is in his ninth season in the league, his eighth as a full-time starter. He famously has only made the playoffs once and has just one postseason win in his career despite being surrounded by some pretty good offensive talent much of that time.

Favre won his first playoff game in his second season as an NFL starter. By the time he had completed seven full seasons, which is the case with Cutler right now, Favre was 9-5 in the playoffs, including victories in two NFC title games and a Super Bowl.

While Cutler is a Coach Killer, Favre made Mike Holmgren a superstar coach.

I don't know how Favre's regular-season stats compared with Cutler's over seven full seasons, nor do I care very much.

Every time Cutler is compared to Favre, the football gods frown.

[Dish]

For now.   I hope to see what Tate and a healthy Megatron can do together. 

I love the Lions -4 this week. Early Sunday morning kick, in London, against a reeling Falcons team. Game feels like a 31-13 blowout.

[GGGG]

I'm only comparing them because someone brought up Favre when talking about Cutler's interceptions.  Favre is by far superior.  

[tower912]

I love the Lions -4 this week. Early Sunday morning kick, in London, against a reeling Falcons team. Game feels like a 31-13 blowout.

As a lifelong Lions let me suggest that whenever you start to get that feeling, lie down until it goes away.   And then bet the opposite.   

[Dish]

As a lifelong Lions let me suggest that whenever you start to get that feeling, lie down until it goes away.   And then bet the opposite.   

I'm overly excited for people to try to adjust their fantasy lineups at 10am Sunday morning, having no clue Lions/Falcons is already at the half.

[wadesworld]

Also should be said, that Cobb & Nelson are probably the best WR tandem in football.

Have to give Cobb a lot of credit, I thought two years ago he was going to become a superstar, and I know he got hurt last season, but I like how he's sort of redefined his game. In the red zone, he just finds ways to get open, really like how his game has evolved.

Yes.

[mu03eng]

I love the Lions -4 this week. Early Sunday morning kick, in London, against a reeling Falcons team. Game feels like a 31-13 blowout.

I think Mike Smith is the next coach fired, or at least should be.  Talk about a team under performing it's talent year after year.  He got away with it last year because of all the injuries, but I think he is generally a pretty terrible coach especially on game day.  I think he is secretly trying to be the next Art Shell.

[MU82]

I'm only comparing them because someone brought up Favre when talking about Cutler's interceptions.  Favre is by far superior.  

Fair enough.

I'd say a more reasonable comparison would be Favre's final 7 full seasons and Cutler's first 7 full seasons, as Favre got more careless with the football and was less "effectively wild," to steal a baseball term. And yet Favre usually still had better results when he was in his late-30s than Cutler did in his late-20s.

BTW, I am neither a Packers fan nor a Bears fan. I just like watching great QBs and wince at the sight of bad QBs.

Unfortunately for the Bears, Cutler isn't really a "bad" QB; if he were, they could give him a low salary and/or bench him when he stinks. But because he has great raw talent and is occasionally outstanding, he demands a 9-figure contract even as he delivers overall results one would expect from a mediocre (or worse) QB.

[GGGG]

I think Mike Smith is the next coach fired, or at least should be.  Talk about a team under performing it's talent year after year.  He got away with it last year because of all the injuries, but I think he is generally a pretty terrible coach especially on game day.  I think he is secretly trying to be the next Art Shell.

I think their talent is overrated, and they haven't drafted all that well since Thomas Dimitroff took over for Rich McKay back in 2008.  

For instance, trading five draft picks for Julio Jones back in 2011 was the height of stupidity.  Jones is a talent no doubt, but you can get good receivers down at the bottom of the first round without sacrificing the depth that those picks can give you.  Seriously, a 1st, 2nd and 4th in one draft, and a 1st and 4th in the next for Julio Jones?

This incompetence is masked by the fact that Cleveland did virtually nothing with these picks.  (ie, they didn't pull off what Dallas did in the Herschel Walker trade.)  I mean they used some of these, and other picks, to trade up for Trent Richardson.

[RJax55]

I think their talent is overrated, and they haven't drafted all that well when Thomas Dimitroff took over for Rich McKay back in 2008. 

What talent? They have Ryan and Jones, that's it. Roddy White is an aging vet on the backside of his career. Same can be said for Stephen Jackson. Falcons may have the worst lines in football.

Agree on Dimitroff. His drafting and draft strategy has been poor.

[Loose Cannon]

I was guilty of using hyperbole; sorry about that. All I meant was that he has a lot of apologists who tend to blame others around him more than blaming him. And if that's what I meant, that's what I should have said.

My bottom line with Cutler:

Of big-money, big-reputation QBs, Cutler ranks quite low on the list of those I would trust to deliver in a must-win game. He picks freakishly wrong times to make outlandishly idiotic decisions, often undermining his team.

I can not argue with his career numbers.   I can not argue with his physical talent. I do believe he has the Fire and Grit taking a lot of hard hits and keeps coming back.

So what's left?  He seems to me to lacks the same Connections, other QB's have with their teammates after a great play, his emotion is more like a workman reaction, without much of a team ship emotion. I wonder if this might be interrupted by his teammates as not having a full TEAM ALL IN Commitment.  This guy has too many gifts to have the unsuccessful team career he has had to date!  Something is missing.

[brandx]

Jeff George II

Except Jeff reached the playoffs more often

[Spotcheck Billy]

Yea. Lots going on.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/story/_/id/11729610/brandon-marshall-chicago-bears-calls-loss-unacceptable

Interpret this specific part of Marshall's rant as you choose: "Same mistakes, same mistakes, same mistakes," Marshall said. "We've got to protect the football. We've got to protect the football. We've got to execute the game plan. We've got to adjust when things don't go as we saw on the film. We've got Alshon Jeffery, Martellus Bennett, Matt Forte. We've got a stud offensive line. We've got a great, great group of guys, and this is unacceptable. What did we put up, 14 points? Was it 14 points? That's unacceptable."

Hmm... good WRs, good TE, good RB, "stud" offensive line...

I wonder what comments Marshall will add to this on his Inside the NFL appearance this week

[reinko]

I'm overly excited for people to try to adjust their fantasy lineups at 10am Sunday morning, having no clue Lions/Falcons is already at the half.

This game on national TV?  Think I would be down to watch this in the AM.

Edit.  Just checked it my local guide, it is.

[MU82]

I can not argue with his career numbers.   I can not argue with his physical talent. I do believe he has the Fire and Grit taking a lot of hard hits and keeps coming back.

So what's left?  He seems to me to lacks the same Connections, other QB's have with their teammates after a great play, his emotion is more like a workman reaction, without much of a team ship emotion. I wonder if this might be interrupted by his teammates as not having a full TEAM ALL IN Commitment.  This guy has too many gifts to have the unsuccessful team career he has had to date!  Something is missing.

I guess something was missing in Denver, too.

Especially the year the Broncos needed only one win in the final three weeks to make the playoffs and then Cutler choked like a Cubbie.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I knew Matthew McConaughey was a college football fan (Texas Longhorns), but had no idea he was such a beloved Redskins fan.  Hard to grow up in Texas and be a Redskins fan.  Has some interesting takes.

http://www.avclub.com/article/matthew-mcconaughey-defends-rom-coms-washington-re-210765

Big game this coming Monday night.  I'm predicting the highest rated MNF game of the year in terms of tv ratings.

[mu03eng]

I knew Matthew McConaughey was a college football fan (Texas Longhorns), but had no idea he was such a beloved Redskins fan.  Hard to grow up in Texas and be a Redskins fan.  Has some interesting takes.

http://www.avclub.com/article/matthew-mcconaughey-defends-rom-coms-washington-re-210765

Big game this coming Monday night.  I'm predicting the highest rated MNF game of the year in terms of tv ratings.

Are you predicting that related to the name change or the fact that it's the only half decent Monday night match-up on the schedule all season?