The NFL Discussion Thread - 2011/12

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
Justin Smith is my hero!!! (Along with Patrick Willis, of course!) And thanks to Jim Harbaugh for finding ways to get the best from each of our players.

NINERS!
 
Tim Tebow! Wow! How the heck is this possible? You do virtually nothing all game long and then in must have final drive march 95 yards for game winning TD - as you break tackles, running over best cornerback in NFL Revis, running all around feared Jets defense to score yourself in a miracle 20 yard dash with less than one minute to go in the game. As a football fan you have to admit this guy is something special, what kind of special I'm not sure, but special none the less. Denver 17 NY Jets 13

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/sh...TD-run-Tebow-turning-skeptics?urn=nfl-wp12066
 
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pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
I'm sorry, he is just awful. There is nothing special about a guy who is only even in the game because of his defense. He could barely get a first down all night against a tired and spent Jets defense that was shredded just a few nights ago. Just sickens me that Denver is going to be stuck with him if he pulls off enough miracles to be mediocre and give his little cult the power they need to keep ramming him down everyone else's throat. They will never be better than an 8-8 team with Tebow. Well, I guess the AFC West is bad enough that they could break 500.
 
Same with Mark Sanchez. He was only in the game because of his D. The difference was that Sanchez threw stupid pick six INT and Tebow had zero turnovers. Even lone TD Jets got was a stupid fumble by their RB on Denver one yard line that a lucky linemen fell on in the endzone. I'm not blindly gaga over Tebow with just a few NFL starts (and 4-1 as starter this season) but he's easier in some ways to defend than the 3rd year NFL starter - consistently mediocre Sanchez.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Oh let me say for certain that if Tebow is the most overhyped and overrated QB in the league, Sanchez is a clear #2. The difference is that Tebow is on a team I like while Sanchez is on one I thoroughly detest. So Sanchise it up as far as I'm concerned.
 
I agree completely that they are #1 and #2 most overhyped. And let me add Josh Freeman as #3. Everyone is saying the Bucs are underperforming this year, but if you ask me, they just overperformed last year.
 
Tebow is not a qb. He is a play maker. I hate the "he's a winner" excuse too. Last night they got a fg off of a fumble by NY and a pick 6. He drove them down on the last drive, but it's not like he did it with his arm and clock management. He's just a football player and a play maker. I'd hate to be Elway right now; he knows Tebow's not the long term answer, but if he pulls the plug on the Tebow experiment in the offseason he's going to have to deal with a whirlwind of negativity.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Still remember the time last year when Gronkowski had his coming out party and caught 3 TDs, essentially announcing that he would soon be the most dominant 2 way TE in the league and Tebow came in for some meaningless mop up and scrambled for a TD and won rookie of the week.

Fan voting = idiocracy.
 
Weekly awards are based on fan voting? I didn't know that. His 4th quarter performances thus far have been impressive, but most of that damage has been on the ground as expected. Defenses are soon gonna adjust and stop him, much like they started to do with Vick towards the end of last season. And Vick is 10 times the QB Tebow is. Actually, make that 30.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
I see the 49ers beating Baltimore tomorrow. Lions and Packers game is going to be a shootout. Should be an interesting Turkey day slay of games. Too bad I won't be able to watch =[.
 
I see the 49ers beating Baltimore tomorrow. Lions and Packers game is going to be a shootout. Should be an interesting Turkey day slay of games. Too bad I won't be able to watch =[.
I hope you are right about the Niners, but think Baltimore has the edge. It is just hard for a team to travel 3 times zones on a short week and still win against any team, much less a good team like Baltimore.
 
Har-bowl fun to watch with Ravens finally prevailing 16-6 over 49ers. Close and intense defensive battle throughout as expected. A very game Alex Smith under heavy pressure all night long - o-line definitely not up to its usual solid protection. At 9-2 Niners still have second best record in NFL and hopefully starting another win streak next week.
 
Har-bowl fun to watch with Ravens finally prevailing 16-6 over 49ers. Close and intense defensive battle throughout as expected. A very game Alex Smith under heavy pressure all night long - o-line definitely not up to its usual solid protection. At 9-2 Niners still have second best record in NFL and hopefully starting another win streak next week.
I'm still very sold on this team. Played tough against probably a top 3 NFL team (I don't care about the regular season record; in my book, the 3 Super Bowl contenders are Green Bay, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh, with NE just on the cusp and Houston and SF as dark horses); 2 plays from a win (the Ginn TD and the PI that set up the Ravens only TD).

Very much, for me, a "they are who we thought they were" game: defense was stellar but still missing great play from the secondary and pass rush that could have tipped the game; special teams was great again (a criminally underrated part of NFL football, 49ers fans should be keenly aware of how important it is after going from the Jose Cortez era to today); offense is decent, but probably not good enough to win us the biggest games without major help.

This team is still a year away from being a true contender- maybe if Aldon Smith blossoms that defense can become as suffocating as the Ravens was last night. Hopefully the last pieces fall into place soon; I would absolutely love to see Frank Gore win a Super Bowl with this team.

Also, after the Suh incident, it's great to know we are blessed with not just great talent but good, decent, hard-working men at every position. Singletary's influence on this team may yet be underrated.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
I'm ready to say that John Fox was a good hire now. The Broncos defense has just been stellar for most of the season and kept them in games they have no business being in.

Also - mad props to BB for challenging a meaningless 6 or 7 yards on a kickoff return. Not so meaningless after the Eagles drive stops inside the 5.
 
Certainly John Fox won't have to pray to save his job with what's happened so far this season in Denver. How about 22 rushing attempts for Tebow today - unheard of from that position in NFL. It seems like Tebow is starting to put a mark of the beast on heads of opposing defenses. They might want to put a voodoo spell on him and just load up in the box, daring him to pass. But then so often miracle-like, he makes correct read to confound them getting quickly to the second level. No question, Tim Tebow is probably most polarizing figure in NFL history, but seems you can't take your eyes off him, especially late in 4th quarter of games. The crazy fun continues. Denver 16 San Diego 13 (OT)
 
People can say what they want about Tebow but I am not sold, and probably will never be until he can routinely top 200 yards passing. I credit their defense for this streak, not Tebow. Since Tebow has become a starter they are 5-1, and have put up 18, 10 (L), 38, 17, 17, and 16 point games. You don't get 4 of those 5 wins without a good D.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
They've also done it against some pretty bad teams. I will agree with those who say Orton didn't exactly inspire confidence in the offense, though he is at this time a better QB, but really it is the defense that is winning these games. If they had any of the other 2nd or 3rd year QBs that are regularly starting right now they'd be killing it.

Anyhow, the Bronco facebook page is an absolute mess. People bashing Elway, praising Tebow and nobody else on the team, "team is winning because God is with them" talk - so God hates the other team??? This is probably the most trying time I've had as a fan of any team. They are winning and it is nice but these new "fans" are insufferable. I would be able to accept Tebow a lot more if they weren't around - of course without them he is on the bench right now, not throwing passes that miss their open targets by 10 yards after having 20 seconds of solid protection.
 
^In the game yesterday his receivers dropped a few catchable passes that were slightly off target. Can't fault him too much for that I guess, but like you said they should be on target with 8 seconds or more to get set. I dunno if it was a great O-line or just horrible charger D but he had all day back there yesterday.

I won't complain about the outcome if Turner is fired though. Found it odd yesterday that they went conservative at the end of the first half n ran out the clock with a minute n change left. Isn't that why Marty was fired in the first place, because "Marty Ball" was costing them important games (playoffs mainly as I believe he was fired after their 14-2 season)? And just as odd that Fox didn't use the timeouts to get a possession himself.

Edit: And can anyone explain the rule about where the ball is placed (east and west, not north and south) on the field? Teams run the ball before a game winning FG attempt to get a better angle for the kicker. I'm confused about how they decide where to place it since players get tackled all over the field all the time. Is it just spotted where the player is tackled as long as its in between the single yard line marks or something? I never did understand that rule, and honestly thought it was just a stupid CFL rule up until yesterday.
 
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pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
Fox not using the timeouts I think showed that he has far more confidence in his defense than in the offense. Rightfully so. At the end of the game Tebow wildly misthrew on at least 2 or 3 passes with all the protection in the world. I think it was on their first two failed OT drives. Then he gets bailed out by McGahee. I was watching the Pats game until the 4th quarter when CBS pulled the plug, so if his receivers were dropping catchable balls earlier I missed it. He looked good on the game tying drive but certainly not stellar.

Speaking of the Pats its amazing how Brady is putting together one of the top seasons in modern history and yet all I can think of are the 10 INTS and how "awful" that is compared to last year. Welker is getting all kinds of accolades too and I'm stuck on how he missed an easy catch vs. the Bills and somehow it wound up floating in the air after he bobbled it for a 14 point swing and they lost the game. I'm still not sure they are a good team but they should win out the season no problem given who's on the schedule.
 
It was only a few passes that they dropped, but he didn't throw much, and that receiving corps isn't necessarily Pro Bowl worthy either. Do you understand the spot rule I mentioned in my edited post earlier? Seems like you or Supes would be the ones to know the answer to that.

As for the Patriots, I think their offense is good enough to carry them perhaps even to the Super Bowl, but they're not beating Green Bay or New Orleans (or whoever else happens to win the NFC) unless their defense shows that they can make some stops. Nice clobbering yesterday but that was a depleted Eagles offense. And imagine how I'm feeling right now if you think that 10 INT's is a lot :p
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
From what I know from extensive video gaming experience, inside the hashmarks they are supposed to place the ball wherever it is downed, outside the hashmarks they place it at the east/west edge on the side the play was downed on. If it is a passing play resulting in an incompletion the ball remains at its last spot. After a touchback or missed FG (and maybe any turnover on downs???) the ball is spotted at the center.

And imagine how I'm feeling right now if you think that 10 INT's is a lot :p
That is the sheer madness of it, by any other standard he is having a spectacular season. But last year he had a 9:1 TD/INT ratio. That is just insane.
 
Disappointed in the Niners today. When you get 3 takeaways and commit 0 turnovers you should win the game. We need to get TD's in the red zone, not FG's, we've been surviving all season but it bit us in the *** today.