Football discussion

[Gen. Volkov]

Almost as bad as New England losing 31-0 in their season opener (they went on to win the Super Bowl)

When was this?

They lost 1 game and it was to the defending champs, who are outside of their conference. If you're gonna lose a game (and you will) it might as well be one like that since it's pretty far down in the tie breaker procedures. Surethe play was definately substandard but it's a long season, plenty of time to change it up.

Let's put it this way, it's not that they lost, it's that they scored exactly 3 points on offense. It's that Colts destroyed them at every level of the game. They looked nothing like the team that made it to the Championship round of the playoffs last year. They are going to have to improve drastically to even have a shot at making the playoffs. It doesn't matter that the Colts are outside their conference, they are going to have to play other teams outside their conference too, and will have to play a team from the AFC if they do somehow make it to the SuperBowl. If you are a Colts fan, it was a very encouraging game. If you are a Saints fan, it was a most disheartening game. If they are the best team in the NFC on paper, they sure as hell didn't show it. They also showed none of that NFL leading offense they had last year.

[Kraken]

Notre Dame 10 (14) Penn St 31

only one team has went undefeated in the NFL and won the super bowl...come on, i know you know who it was.

[Nuclear Raunch]

2004, Patriots lost to the Bills 31-0 in week 1, and went 14-1 for the rest of the season and beat the Panthers in the Super Bowl.

Incidentally their last game of the season was against the Bills and the Patriots won 31-0.

[Gen. Volkov]

Yes, I know who it was, the 1972 Miami Dolphins, though the Bears almost did it in the 1985 season.

2004, Patriots lost to the Bills 31-0 in week 1, and went 14-1 for the rest of the season and beat the Panthers in the Super Bowl.

Uh no, they played the Colts in week 1 in 2004. They lost to the Jags 31-0 in the preseason though... You are right about the Pats going 14-2 though.

In 2003, the Bills did shut out the Pats 31-0. But in 2003, the Bucs won the SuperBowl.

Yes, I saw that Kraken. I also saw this:

Oregon 39 Michigan 7

I never in a million years thought I'd say this, but Notre Dame's first win of the season might be against MICHIGAN!!! Either way, one team is going to have their first win next week in Ann Arbor.

Clausen played well, he just couldn't get any help from the offensive line or the receivers. No one was getting open, and the offensive couldn't hold their blocks. The defense played great, until they just became exhausted. Last year it was the offense that played well, and the defense who couldn't stop anything. This year the defense is playing well and the offense can't move the ball. It's gotta click into place sometime. One of these years, ND is going to have a good offense and a good defense, and just dominate.

This year, look for Penn State to make it far in the Big Ten. Ohio State and Michigan both suck, and Penn State has a monster defense combined with a middling offense. ND has played two high caliber teams, right off the bat, in a rebuilding year. Of course they got crushed. This game was not the utter blowout I thought it would be though.

[Nuclear Raunch]

2004, Patriots lost to the Bills 31-0 in week 1, and went 14-1 for the rest of the season and beat the Panthers in the Super Bowl.

Uh no, they played the Colts in week 1 in 2004. They lost to the Jags 31-0 in the preseason though... You are right about the Pats going 14-2 though.

In 2003, the Bills did shut out the Pats 31-0. But in 2003, the Bucs won the SuperBowl.

It was the 2003 season but the SuperBowl was played in Feb of 2004.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XXXVIII#The_Patriots_go_for_two_out_of_three

[Gen. Volkov]

Right, then you should have said the 2003 season, because that's when the game occurred, even if the SuperBowl was in 2004. Of course, I did confuse myself a little. The year the Bucs won was the 2002 season, even if the Superbowl for it was played in 2003.

For the Saints, well, we shall see how they play this next week then. But I must say, they looked really pathetic against the Colts.

[Nuclear Raunch]

Tough weekend for Buffalo, 3 season ending injuries, one looks like it may be career or even possibly quality of life threatening. To add insult to injury they lost on a last second FG. Their back up TE (forget his name) had a pretty serious spinal cord injury and had to be rushed to the hospital for an emergency neck surgery.

Chicago had a pretty good game against a very potent SD offense but Grossman's Jekyll/Hyde routine hurt them way too much. Didn't catch much of the Pack's game but I did see Favre's post-game press conference and I must say he is lookin friggin ancient. Oakland's game was pretty entertaining and the offense played relatively well, special teams sucked ass and really killed their chances with 3 missed FGs, defense was overmatched for the most part but they did have flashes.

In fantasy football I did very well and should wind up with either the first or second highest score in the league with the 3rd place guy a distant second, unfortunately as always the guy I'm close with happens to be the guy I'm playing. I'm down by 6 with Boldin and Rackers, he has Fitzgerald to go. This one can definately go either way.

[Kraken]

ahhhh....week 1 coming to a close....

i watched the Jacksonville/Tennessee game and was really impressed with Jacksonvilles QB.
i also watched the ending to the GreenBay/Philidelphia game in which the packers won due to a field goal via a fumble from a punt. exicting finish in which Farve tied Elways record for most wins from a starting QB. although he did have 0 touchdown passes and 1 interception which gave me only 3 fantasy points as he was my QB
i also watched the Chicago/San Diego game. what a whopper that was. i thought that Chicago was going to win it until LT opened up on thier arses with two touchdowns. Defense has won many a team a superbowl or at least got them there, but i still think that Grossman has to go.
then there was the high scoring Dallas/NY Giant game. Eli showed his ability as a decent if not growing QB and Romo showed that he is for rizzle! of course, i had Romo as my other QB on fantasy and should of used him....oh well, a fan cannot show fair weather signs!
WTF is up with ESPN showing 2 Monday night Football games!??!!?!!!!!
who the hell has time for that on a Monday night!??!?!!!!
of course, i dont have cable so the point is moot for me.

nuke: what is your fantasy team(s)?
i have two teams in two leagues.
i will show mine if you show yours

[Gen. Volkov]

LT wasn't that much of a factor really. Not that many rush yards. Just the two short yardage TD's, one on a trick play. Disappointing finish, but as usual, the defense played very well. I more blame the two running backs for this one than Grossman. Those two fumbles hurt them bad. I didn't catch any other games, I was at work most of the day.

[Kraken]

well, those two touchdowns won the game didnt they?
i just heard on the radio that the San Diego punt that they recovered for one touchdown actually hit a guy wire that suspends the overfield cameras causing the ball to go astray at the last minute and produced the fumble which San Diego recovered.
i have often wondered if these cameras that gives us such great views would hinder the game, but the odds of a ball hitting the wires seem to slim. but it is instances like this that make it not worth it.

here is an interesting article that will lead into a full scale investigation: NFL investigating claims Patriots stole Jets' signals; Camera confiscated at the Patriots vs Jets game.
here is the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3012989
according to the article: it is nothing new for the Patriots. what i want to know is if any other team does this. my answer is: you betcha.

[Gen. Volkov]

well, those two touchdowns won the game didnt they?

Yes, but otherwise he was held to 25 yards rushing. Practically any running back could have made it into the endzone from the position they were in. And that halfback pass was more luck than anything.

About the "fumbled" punt return. Well... it hit a Bears player on the BACK, possibly after it hit the wire. Bad luck for the Bears.

The Bears screwed up a few times on offense and luck favored the Chargers. The Bears were moving the ball pretty effectively on the Chargers defense. It wasn't until the very last drive that the Chargers really managed to do anything against the Bears defense. One thing I didn't understand was, why didn't the Bears put Devin Hester on kickoffs and punt returns until the end of the game? When they finally put him in, he nearly broke that return for a TD. He could have changed the game with just one good return earlier in the game.

[Nuclear Raunch]

I can't believe the punishment talk being considered (by those out of the loop) for the Pats getting caught cheating redhanded. Most people are talking about making them forfeit a second day draft pick or two with no suspensions of any type. Now tell me what team wouldn't be willing to trade a huge competitive edge for a 4th round pick? Call me harsh, but I would suspend the coach for 1-2 games and make them forfeit their entire draft in 2008, plus a hefty fine.

If screwing up off the field can get a player suspended for years then cheating of that type should get a hell of a lot worse than a 4th round draft choice.

[Kraken]

yeah, the latest report on it :http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3014677
is interesting. the thing is, like said before in less words, all teams are guilty of this. i betcha

[Nuclear Raunch]

Just about all basball players are guilty of juicing, does that mean they shouldn't be punished? All soccer fags are guilty of diving, should that be legal? Or basketball players flopping, or drivers speeding, etc.

[Nuclear Raunch]

And as expected the NFL's darlings got a slap on the wrist. The lack of real punishment is especially pronounced given that the punishment was announced on the same day that the WMSC announced their fines for a team accused of spying. The NFL's fines were 500k for the coach and 250k for the team. WSMC fined the team $100 mil. Now that is a punishment with some bite to it. Additionally the team lost all contructor points (the NFL docked no wins) and drivers were spared only because they testified under condition of immunity. In the NFL no Pats players testified and none suffered any repercussions. They also lost 1 or 2 draft picks depending on whether or not they make the playoffs.