N.f.l. 2012 (2 Viewers)

[tdubel]

A lot of warning signs for the Steelers in this one. They were soundly beaten at their own game. The Niners were tougher mentally and physically against one of the toughest teams in the league. If I understood correctly, the 49ers haven't given up a rushing TD all season! That's incredible. And they are likely only the second best team in the NFC.

That's correct about not giving up a rushing TD. That's the longest such streak since the Decatur Staleys (now known as the Chicago Bears). And they did it without Patrick Willis, the best middle linebacker in the NFL.

The 49ers may be the second best team but they are tied with the Saints so who is second best is still to be determined. Second best is still open to question. There were a lot of danger signals for the Packers in their loss so we'll have to see how this plays out. Due to injuries, their offensive line is now a little suspect and defense has been suspect all year.

The Steelers have played some ugly, low scoring games this year, e.g., the 13-9 (if I have the score correctly) game against the Chiefs. Also, the Browns game was similar. On the other hand, they have the potential to beat up on opponents, e.g., the Bengals so I wouldn't write them off yet. They are a very mentally tough team.

Theoretically, this win by the 49ers helped the Jets because now it means Ravens, to guarantee themselves a bye, may have to take the last game of the season against the Bengals seriously. Bengals and Jets are currently tied but all these crazy tie breakers favor the Jets.

You both are right on a lot of fronts...........BUT........as they say ,Any Given Sunday and this week proved that greatly. Sometimes on paper or analysis, doesn't translate into future happenings. Steelers will bounce back and do what they do, injuries are huge, NFL becomes a war of attrition at this point. Packers will have to figure that out too at O line. If you analyze the Steelers game, its easy, turnovers. The Defense did their job, they gave up under 300 yrds and 3 pts. The Offense did not, gave away 17 points by putting the D in an impossible defensive nature. ALl in all , its a LOSS, no matter how sliced, diced and quartered. IN the words of the Immortal Al Davis, it is "JUST WIN BABY" and that is what matters in the end, whether, ugly, pretty, perfect or just plain luck, that sums it up! I always wanted to quote that guy!

TD

 

[Peter Reuss]

The Vikings are in a dogfight of their own. At 2-12, we're tied for the 2nd worst record in football. I'm becomming a HUGE Colts fan...maybe we can fall to #1! Actually, if we end up being the biggest turkeys we'll be in a tight spot. We blew this year to get Ponder ready to play...do we then enter the Luck sweepstakes? He'd be VERY had to pass up.

Anyone know what the tiebreakers are for draft order for us lousy teams? We have to have something to 'play for.'

 

[jazzeum]

Vikings play Redskins and Bears in last two games. Don't see a win there.

Colts play Texans and Jags. Could be a win there.

NFL has some complicated tie breakers so who knows how this will break?

 

[Combat]

The Vikings are in a dogfight of their own. At 2-12, we're tied for the 2nd worst record in football. I'm becomming a HUGE Colts fan...maybe we can fall to #1! Actually, if we end up being the biggest turkeys we'll be in a tight spot. We blew this year to get Ponder ready to play...do we then enter the Luck sweepstakes? He'd be VERY had to pass up.

Anyone know what the tiebreakers are for draft order for us lousy teams? We have to have something to 'play for.'

Luck, Barkley and RGIII. Some good QBs are coming out this year. I don't see the Rams winning anymore games this season so they finish no better than 2-12. The good news for everyone else is they don't really need a QB. Just an entirely new team.

 

[Louis Badolato]

Neither New York team is making the playoffs this year. The Giants will beat the Jets Sunday, effectively ending their playoff hopes, and will then blow the season finale at home against Dallas (who, after having been blown out by the Eagles this week, will win the Division at 9-7). The Giants will finish at 8-8, one better than my 7-9 pre-season pick, and, if I am lucky, the whole coaching staff will be fired, and the Giants will hire Bill Cowher as their new head coach, draft or sign some linebackers and cornerbacks who can play, and have a chance to finally make the playoffs again after a 3 year absence. I had no expectations for the Giants this season, so I can live with this.

The Jets fans are in a completely different boat. My best friend Billy, a lifelong Jets fan (he had season tickets since when they played at Shay Stadium) thought this was the year they were going to finally get to a super bowl. They were going to finally have a pass rush, making their defense truly dominant, and Sanchez, maturing in his third year was going to add a dynamic passing game to their top of the league "ground and pound" running attack. Instead, he is faced with a Jets team with at best a bottom third of the league starting quarterback who has shown little or no improvement, a running game that has regressed to the bottom of the league, and a defense which cannot stop anyone at crunch time, period. Their offensive line is a mess, and they cannot pressure the quarterback. With the exception of Revis, they are an aging, slow defense. Same old Jets . . .

 

[Peter Reuss]

Luck, Barkley and RGIII. Some good QBs are coming out this year. I don't see the Rams winning anymore games this season so they finish no better than 2-12. The good news for everyone else is they don't really need a QB. Just an entirely new team.

My biggest fear is that the Vikes will pass on one of these quarterbacks, trade down, and end up benching Ponder after a couple years. Then again, even if they had the #1 pick they'd probably not get the pick made in time and would slide to #2...

 

[Warrior]

Neither New York team is making the playoffs this year. The Giants will beat the Jets Sunday, effectively ending their playoff hopes.................

The Jets are ahead of the Bengals and Chargers for the 6th and final playoff spot due to tiebreakers even if they finish at 9-7.

The Raiders beat them head to head and would get the 6th spot if they are tied with the Jets, but I see them finishing at 8-8 and missing the playoffs.

If the top 4 teams win out, this sets up a Patriots and Ravens bye, then the Texans play the Jets and the Broncos play the Steelers.

I see the Jets and Steelers winning, setting up two wars; Ravens/Steelers and Patriots/Jets.

The 49er's are the real deal, would love to see them vs the Packers in the NFCCG, that defense vs the Packers offense, what a game that would be.

 

[jazzeum]

Dream on Louis. I didn't feel good about the Eagles game but feel pretty good about this one.

Jets are the better team, not by much, but better. Moreover, when Rex does his thing, for some stupid reason it works. Plus, it's a home game.

As to your assessment, agree and disagree. Sanchez has made some progress but has been inconsistent. However, they are number one in the red zone and Sanchez has to get some credit. He seems to pull it off in crunch time.

Running game does seem bad at times but Greene will have a 1,000 yards. Go figure.

O line has been inconsistent. The need to do something at Right Tackle.

Defense has not been good at times but thay are 8th overall so must be doing something right. Still, they can't get a good stop when it counts. Safety is a disaster. Major upgrade needed. Overall disappointing.

They should make it through and could beat Texans. After that they're done.

 

[Louis Badolato]

Dream on Louis. I didn't feel good about the Eagles game but feel pretty good about this one.

Jets are the better team, not by much, but better. Moreover, when Rex does his thing, for some stupid reason it works. Plus, it's a home game.

As to your assessment, agree and disagree. Sanchez has made some progress but has been inconsistent. However, they are number one in the red zone and Sanchez has to get some credit. He seems to pull it off in crunch time.

Running game does seem bad at times but Greene will have a 1,000 yards. Go figure.

O line has been inconsistent. The need to do something at Right Tackle.

Defense has not been good at times but thay are 8th overall so must be doing something right. Still, they can't get a good stop when it counts. Safety is a disaster. Major upgrade needed. Overall disappointing.

They should make it through and could beat Texans. After that they're done.

We'll have to see, but I think the Giants are going to score 35+ against the Jets defense, which has stopped absolutely no one in the second half of the season, particularly now that they lost Jim Leonhard. I don't see the Jets scoring 30 against even the weak Giants defense with Sanchez and the lack of a running attack. As bad as the Giants played last week, if Nicks catches a wide open touchdown pass that hit him in the hands in the 1st quarter, and Ware catches a touchdown pass that hits him in the hands in the endzone cleanly, instead of bobbling it and catching it at the 2 yard line, the Giants win the game. The Giants are a much more talented team than the Jets at every position except linebacker and cornerback. Eli is way better than Sanchez. The Giants defensive line is way better than the Jets. The Giants receivers are way better than the Jets. If the Jets win this game its because their coaching staff does a way better job than Coughlin and his people (who stink on ice in my opinion) or because the Coughlin has already lost everyone on the team.

 

[jazzeum]

Spoken like a true Giants fan, who is about to be the second team in the city.

If, if. The world is made of ifs.

On offense, QB is better for Giants, running backs not. O line is terrible. Receivers better? Holmes and Plax probably cancel out your top two. Of course, your TE (and they're all hurt now) doesn't compare to Keller.

Jets special team. Not even a comparison there

Defense. Giants front line, if healthy, which it's not, is better. Right now it's only slightly better and that's because of JPP. Jets linebackers, superior. Corners. Don't go there. Giants safeties better.

Coaches? Captain Bluster vs Grandpa.

Are we done yet .

 

[Combat]

My biggest fear is that the Vikes will pass on one of these quarterbacks, trade down, and end up benching Ponder after a couple years. Then again, even if they had the #1 pick they'd probably not get the pick made in time and would slide to #2...

I can't imagine anyone will pass on Luck. Nothing is a sure thing when it comes to the draft and QBs, but the people in the know say he is the best since Elway. I wasn't too impressed with him this season, but he played on a team with no talented receivers or playmakers. So maybe he is much better than I saw. Barkley outplayed him hands down in the second half of the season.

 

[Peter Reuss]

Just got this from startribune.com:

So here's where the NFL's draft status tiebreaking procedures come into play with simple criteria that lead to many complicated computations:

If the Vikings were to wind up tied with St. Louis or Indianapolis record-wise, the team with the weaker strength of schedule would land the better draft pick. And strength of schedule, it should be noted, is determined by simply totaling the cumulative records of all 16 opponents.

Outsiders have two choices: a) wait another 12 days and let all the remaining NFL games sort the math out; or b) break out the calculator and go to town.

For example, the 16 opponents on the Vikings schedule currently have 127 victories. Before Monday night's Steelers-49ers game kicked off, the Colts' 16 opponents had 120 victories. The Rams' foes: 130.

So, I guess I have to figure out how to have each of the Vikings former opponents lose...and all of the Rams or Colts former opponents win...

 

[Louis Badolato]

Spoken like a true Giants fan, who is about to be the second team in the city.

If, if. The world is made of ifs.

On offense, QB is better for Giants, running backs not. O line is terrible. Receivers better? Holmes and Plax probably cancel out your top two. Of course, your TE (and they're all hurt now) doesn't compare to Keller.

Jets special team. Not even a comparison there

Defense. Giants front line, if healthy, which it's not, is better. Right now it's only slightly better and that's because of JPP. Jets linebackers, superior. Corners. Don't go there. Giants safeties better.

Coaches? Captain Bluster vs Grandpa.

Are we done yet .

Not even close. Jets are the number one team in this town? Then how come they can't sell all their PSL's and season tickets, and there is still a waiting list for Giants season tickets?

As far as receivers are concerned, Nicks Cruz and Manningham all have superior numbers to your top 3 receivers (Holmes, Burress and your tight end, Keller).

It also doesn't matter if your tight end is better, because your defense hasn't been able to stop any tight end this season.

As far as running backs, Bradshaw is healthy now, and the combination of Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs has won a superbowl, something neither of your backs can claim.

As far as O-line being terrible, yours certainly is. You have Mangold and I would cut the rest. The Giants, despite injuries, have allowed far fewer sacks than the Jets.

And lets talk quality wins: The Giants beat the Patriots in Foxboro and the Cowboys in Dallas, while the Jets have defeated . . . not a single playoff caliber team. The Jets got beat by every winning team they played (except Dallas, who handed them the game), including Baltimore (killed them), Oakland, New England (twice - once brutally), Denver (which isn't really any good, as the Patriots and Lions demonstrated) and Phildelphia (brutally).

What it really boils down to is Saturday. I stand by my prediction. Neither NY team is going anywhere this year.

 

[jazzeum]

Since you mention SB, what have the Giants done in the last three years>? Yeah, that's right: bupkiss! The big bagel. Jets: AFC Championship Game last two years. Yeah, that's right!

But I agree with you on one thing. Neither team is really going anywhere.

As I told someone tonight, Saturday is the Desperation Bowl!

Time to retire Grandpa!

 

[Warrior]

Time to retire Grandpa!

Coughlin is my favorite NFL coach, his antics on the sidelines are must watch TV, he's going to have a stroke at some point soon they way he gets so torked off, his pressers are must watch too, thought he was going to rip the microphone out of the stand and fire it through a wall last week, his blood pressure kept going up with each word during that one..........

Don't ever change Tom.

 

[jazzeum]

Actually my son coined that expression. I like him. I know Louis wants him gone but the guy has won a SB so he can't be all bad. He'd gotten better about those pained expressions but seems to have let him get the better of him. When I hear him interviewed he sounds on top of things.

It's funny but the times they show Rex on the sidelines (usually when the team is screwing up), he seems to have a calm demeanor but he must be bubbling inside. Although he's doing his Rex thing, the players aren't saying much. I'm sure they and the Giants realized the predicament they've both put themselves in.

 

[MapleLeaf]

Brady and the boys ALL THE WAY

 

[jazzeum]

As the big game approaches -- and if you have to ask which game, then all I have to say is :rolleyes2: -- the New York Times is having Brian Bassett of the Jets Blog and Ed Valentine of Big Blue View post thoughts about the game.

Today's entries:

Died in Blue: Giants Weigh in on Ryan

What do Giants fans think of Jets Coach Rex Ryan? Rather than give my opinion, let’s find out from members of the Big Blue View community.

They offered a range of responses. And while there is more respect for Ryan as a coach among Giants fans than many people might think, there also is disdain for his trash talk.

Here are some of the most notable responses:

“Rex is an intelligent, well prepared, defensive minded head coach that does a great job at motivating his team, then diminishes them, himself and their results by unnecessarily channeling his inner bombast.” Unknown Jints Fan

“He [is] a good leader and a great defensive mind. Truthfully, if he was the Giants coach we’d all love him and the Jets fans would hate him.” TheGifford

“Rex Ryan is the first N.F.L. head coach to truly embrace America’s modern media culture. He may be over the top for many traditional fans’ tastes, but from reality TV, to bombastic personality traits, to trash talking and bravado … these are all things that the American public buys like crazy.” Oppenheimer919

From a Giants fan who headlined his comment “I prefer Coughlin”: “TC at least is genuine, not bombastic and really cares about his team. Just seems helpless in trying to get more out of his talent from his decimated Defense, which is meager. RR is an egomaniacal loudmouth.” Marfar

More comments about Ryan can be found at Big Blue View

Bleeding Green: Giant Fans Owe Coach a Break

Few N.F.L. coaches today can be correctly described as class acts, but for Giants Coach Tom Coughlin, the phrase fits quite well. When Coughlin started with the Giants in 2004, players knew him to be a no-nonsense drill sergeant. Since then, the coach has adjusted; his players now see him as approachable, even affable.

Coughlin meets with players regularly in one-on-ones. Though he has softened, Coughlin will still do what he deems right — as evidenced by his benching of Ahmad Bradshaw for the first half against Dallas two weeks ago, over breaking team rules. It was a game the Giants could ill afford to lose, but Coughlin stood by his principles.

Still, there must be a reason the words “Tom Coughlin” and “job security” have been part of a refrain over each of the last four seasons. The Giants’ Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots in 2008 was nothing short of remarkable, but David Tyree’s famous catch occurred just a month after grave questions circulated about Coughlin’s viability with the Giants. His Super Bowl win tamped the doubts — until the next fall.

Too often Giants fans on sports talk radio chide Rex Ryan over what he says and does. Callers say Ryan talks too much and should be more about winning than about sound bites, the way Coughlin is. The contradiction is that for all the lectures about winning and principles that Big Blue’s fans administer, many fail to support their own coach.

Here is a link for the jets blog

 

[lancer]

I haven't looked at the various outcomes riding on the Jets-Giants game, but what happens if it ends in a tie? Will that kill both teams or neither? -- Al

 

[Louis Badolato]

As the big game approaches -- and if you have to ask which game, then all I have to say is :rolleyes2: -- the New York Times is having Brian Bassett of the Jets Blog and Ed Valentine of Big Blue View post thoughts about the game.

Today's entries:

Died in Blue: Giants Weigh in on Ryan

What do Giants fans think of Jets Coach Rex Ryan? Rather than give my opinion, let’s find out from members of the Big Blue View community.

They offered a range of responses. And while there is more respect for Ryan as a coach among Giants fans than many people might think, there also is disdain for his trash talk.

Here are some of the most notable responses:

“Rex is an intelligent, well prepared, defensive minded head coach that does a great job at motivating his team, then diminishes them, himself and their results by unnecessarily channeling his inner bombast.” Unknown Jints Fan

“He [is] a good leader and a great defensive mind. Truthfully, if he was the Giants coach we’d all love him and the Jets fans would hate him.” TheGifford

“Rex Ryan is the first N.F.L. head coach to truly embrace America’s modern media culture. He may be over the top for many traditional fans’ tastes, but from reality TV, to bombastic personality traits, to trash talking and bravado … these are all things that the American public buys like crazy.” Oppenheimer919

From a Giants fan who headlined his comment “I prefer Coughlin”: “TC at least is genuine, not bombastic and really cares about his team. Just seems helpless in trying to get more out of his talent from his decimated Defense, which is meager. RR is an egomaniacal loudmouth.” Marfar

More comments about Ryan can be found at Big Blue View

Bleeding Green: Giant Fans Owe Coach a Break

Few N.F.L. coaches today can be correctly described as class acts, but for Giants Coach Tom Coughlin, the phrase fits quite well. When Coughlin started with the Giants in 2004, players knew him to be a no-nonsense drill sergeant. Since then, the coach has adjusted; his players now see him as approachable, even affable.

Coughlin meets with players regularly in one-on-ones. Though he has softened, Coughlin will still do what he deems right — as evidenced by his benching of Ahmad Bradshaw for the first half against Dallas two weeks ago, over breaking team rules. It was a game the Giants could ill afford to lose, but Coughlin stood by his principles.

Still, there must be a reason the words “Tom Coughlin” and “job security” have been part of a refrain over each of the last four seasons. The Giants’ Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots in 2008 was nothing short of remarkable, but David Tyree’s famous catch occurred just a month after grave questions circulated about Coughlin’s viability with the Giants. His Super Bowl win tamped the doubts — until the next fall.

Too often Giants fans on sports talk radio chide Rex Ryan over what he says and does. Callers say Ryan talks too much and should be more about winning than about sound bites, the way Coughlin is. The contradiction is that for all the lectures about winning and principles that Big Blue’s fans administer, many fail to support their own coach.

Here is a link for the jets blog

As a Giants, fan I have no problem with Rex Ryan, except for the fact that every year he writes a check the Jets have not been able to cash since 1969, and if its superbowl or bust, losing the AFC Championship game is a failure. The Jets are not the New York Yankees, and, frankly, should be thrilled with appearing in 2 straight AFC Championships, an accomplishment diminshed by their coach's annual promises. That being said, classy or not, he has obtained better results than any other Jets coach than Weeb Eubank.

As far as Tom Coughlin is concerned, as I just mentioned concerning Rex, you don't judge a coach on his class, you judge him on results. With the exception of an incredible 4 game run in 2007, where he crawled into the playoffs as the last wildcard team after losing 4 of his last 6 games, which culminated in a Superbowl that had more to do with his quarterback, offensive line and defensive line playing over their heads than any kind of great coaching strategy, Coughlin's Giants have had a colossal meltdown in the second half of every single season he has coached them. Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, seven times is a trend. Whether its the way he makes them practice, or his inability to make adjustments as the season progresses, or his bombast, he loses his team by the 9th week of the season every year. I am sorry, but classy or not, he is not the coach for the Giants.