American Football: NFL Schedule

The NFL released their schedule for this season, and it turns out TO and his new home in dallas are going to be playing in philly this season. I wonder what kind of events can take place from this.

Also the manning brothers will be playing agaisnt each other in week 1, that should be interesting as well.

Any thoughts and opinon on this upcoming season?

Well, of course Dallas is playing in Philly, they are in the same division, meaning they play each other twice every season.

Personally, I think the NFC East battle will be extremely interesting. All four teams will be good, and all four could potentially win the division. As an Eagles fan, I think McNabb will be back stronger than ever. I just hope Andy Reid remembers to run the football, preferably with Ryan Moats. Even though I like Philly, my pick to win the East is Washington. Three teams from the East could make the playoffs.

In the AFC, I think Cincinnati will rise up and challenge Pittsburgh. The Steelers should win at least 13 games, as long as Roethlisberger is healthy. Look for Kansas City to win the West, and for Larry Johnson to make a run at the NFL single season rushing record. Indianapolis will still be good, but without Edgerrin James, they won't get very far in the playoffs. In the AFC East, look out for Miami. If Culpepper is healthy, I think Miami is going to light it up. They are my pick to win the division over New England.

Brad Johnson will make one great surge this year to accentuate the end of his career. Michael Vick will continue to decline in production this year. I also predict that three players will rush for over 1800 yards this year.

Super Bowl? Miami over Washington

Woa i love your predictions birds.... miami fan here. i think if and its a big if culpepper is ready for the opener dolphins will win that. wouldnt it be awsome for the dolphins to amke history again. 1st team to ever play in a super bowl at there home stadium..... so yea i think 11-5 with a great run in the playoffs will get the dolhphins there..... GO FINS..... (super bowl, Miami-W (depending on draft. washington, or eagles will be in the superbowl..... anywho GO FINS

Originally posted by BirdstheBest
Super Bowl? Miami over Washington

C'mon now, this isn't 1972

I like the addditions that Gibbs has made to the 'Skins so far, but it will be a hard fought battle this season. Miami will be tough this year, I think that they will end up winning the division at least, I'm not sure about them making it to the Super Bowl yet. Look for Arizona to make a run at the division title, too...

are the colts going to do just as well this season. OR will they fall flat in the playoffs once again.

Who thinks the stellers can repeat

I just dont' see how the Steelers can repeat this year. Face the facts, they got lucky to win the Super Bowl last year. Look at thier run through the playoffs.

The first game, they took out Carson Palmer right away. If he had been in the whole game, the Bengals would have won. And then they had the officials hand them the game in Indianapolis. Sure, Peyton didn't have a good game, and Vanderjagt missed the biggest FG of his career, but the officials hurt Indy more than they did. I'll give them Denver, that was an old-fashioned drubbing.

And then the Suer Bowl. That "pass interference" call that didn't exist, the pushoff in the end zone, made the difference in the game. Jackson didn't have a catch after it, and the tide of the whole game turned. (I think that Seattle still was leading in yardage t the half!)

I don't see the stars aligning again this year for the Steelers. They won the Super Bowl, but it very easily could have been, and likely should have been, another team. That won't work two years in a row.

DO NOT "GIVE THEM DENVER."

Denver had no more business being in that game than my neighbors and I did. If I were the Commissioner of the NFL, I would have investigated the officials who "handled" the New England/Denver game.

And please remember, I am a retired sports gambler who lives on the Pacific Coast, 1 mile from the ocean. This means: (1) I have very little in the way of allegiance to any team, having spent years rooting for whomever I picked (and, for those of you tempted to do the same, LOSING A TON OF MONEY); and (2) I am not a natural fan of either team, though I've developed a fondness for Brady at QB, despite his martinet of a coach.

My feelings about that New England/Denver game are those of a neutral party who was just flat OUTRAGED by the way a tight game, already badly officiated in Denver's favor, was destroyed by that outrageous phantom P.I. call in the endzone, then kept that way by a succession of horrible calls thereafter.

I'm not saying an asterisk should go by the Steelers' win. What they did was plenty impressive, though I, too, thought the Super Bowl was horribly officiated in their favor... nearly as bad as the New England/Denver debacle, and that's saying a lot.

It does make ya wonder: Did they get New England out of the way for Pittsburgh, knowing Pitt's chances up in New England would be slim indeed? Those Super Bowl officials sure did a good enough impersonation of 12th through 19th men, now, didn't they?

B.H.N.

Of course, the Colts will be in the 2007 Super Bowl. But then I always think that.

I'm viewing not signing Edgerrin James as a huge blow. Edge had great value to this team as a running back and receiver, but one of his most valuable attributes was as a blocker. He was absolutely great at staying in the backfield for pass protection and picking up the blitz. I think that will be very hard to replace, at least with a rookie.

Of course, I also went ballistic in '99 when Edge was drafted ahead of Ricky Williams. I'm giving the GM, Bill Polian, credit for knowing what he's doing [since he always seems to]. This draft will be very interesting.

Anybody remember there was actually a controversy when Manning was drafted ahead of Ryan Leaf? Whew! We dodged that bullet. If they can get a viable replacement for Edge, maybe shore up the offensive line and get another playmaker on D, we'll be in the thick of it again.

How 'bout Colts vs Giants? The All Manning Super Bowl. :party-smiley-018:

Yeah, I'd forgotten that controversy. And as I recall, Leaf had the better arm of the two, if throwing downfield bombs or bullet-like line drives is your measure of a QB. But of course, if that were how one measured talent, Leaf and Jeff George and Bert Jones might be the greatest QB's ever, when in fact George was a huge disappointment and Leaf was probably the biggest draft bust of all time, no?

And, using the same shallow criteria, the greatest pitchers ever would be: (1) Ryne Duren, the 1950's and 1960's reliever who terrified batters and struck out a ton of them, but also walked a ton of them because nobody including him knew where the ball was going (41 hit batters in 589 career innings); (2) Nolan Ryan, whom every expert will tell you is the most overrated pitcher ever; and (3) above all, a freak named Steve Dalkowski, whom many people, including Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver, said threw AT LEAST 5 mph faster than Ryan, but retired without ever making the majors--with an average of over 2 K's per inning and over 2 WALKS per inning--some 25 years ago. If you're curious, do a Google on Dalkowski and have a hoot. There was never anyone like him, and my god, I can't imagine what courage it took to step into THAT batter's box.

YeahRight, back to your specific example: Can you imagine what kind of notoriety the person who called the shots on Indi's drafts would have taken if he actually took Leaf ahead of Manning? How'd you like to be the person who screwed that pooch? That might be a one-strike offense, so to speak. Or, for that matter, the person who did as you wished and took Ricky Williams ahead of Edgerrin James?

For the record, since you've confessed your retrospectively moronic opinion about Williams over James, I'll confess my own. I was among those who felt they should take Leaf ahead of Manning. And I felt especially vindicated in that belief when, the year AFTER Manning left Tennessee, they proceeded finally to win it all. But man, a team needed Ryan Leaf like it needed its best player to be stricken with lung cancer. What a guy.

BHN

Steve Dalkowski!! I'd forgotten about him. If you'd just related the story and asked for the name, I wouldn't have been able to come up with it. But I do remember the tales. There was a show on the other night about the top 10 most intimidating pitchers in history. Ryne Duren was there as was Don (Beanball) Drysdale. Randy Johnson was #2 and Bob Gibson #1.

When you mentioned Dalkowski, it made me think of Sidd Finch. Remember that? (Kind of a trick question).

You may recall it was Ditka at New Orleans that was so enamored with Williams and appeared on a SI cover in a wedding gown and dreadlocks with Ricky after the draft. Oops.

The only predictions I'll make are as follows:

1) The Eagles will be back atop the division this year and will find a way to blow it in the playoffs. I love the Eagles and this is the cross I bear.

2) Terrell Owens will lose a limb playing against the Eagles this year.

As an East Coast man, I am an Eagles man, not a Steelers fan. However, I did cheer for them in the playoffs, primarily because I like Jerome Bettis. Even though I was pleased with the final result, I was upset over the way it was obtained. I will admit that that Super Bowl had some of the worst officiating I've ever seen. Now I expect every game to have at least one bad call--that was ridiculous, though. However, I think the Steelers showed their dominance in the Indianapolis game. BTW, I am mystified with this talk about bad calls going against Indy in that game. Did you all see the same game I did? On ESPN after that game they were all saying it would have been "highway robbery" if the Colts had somehow won that game. And remember, that game was the only one in the playoffs with a call that caused the NFL to make a formal statement that a call was wrong. That call was the Polamalu interception that was overturned after review. The Steelers dominated that game! They were up 21-3 at one point and should have been up by more. If Bettis had scored instead of fumbling, the Steelers win 28-10.

As for the New England/Denver game, yes, there were a couple questionable calls, most notably the pass interference one, but give the Broncos some credit. They controlled that game and made Tom Brady look like a fool. That interception he threw in the end zone changed the game entirely. I always say that very rarely does an official's call actually decide the outcome of a game. Sure there were some bad calls in the playoffs, but did any of them really change the final outcome?

That said, I think the Steelers have an excellent chance of repeating--provided Ben Roethlisberger stays healthy. When he was healthy last year, the Steelers were dominant. Just take a look at the run they made at the end of 2005. I was particularly impressed with their dismantling of the Bears. They challenged one of the best defenses in the league and just ran the ball down the Bears' throats. Do you all remember the touchdown where Bettis basically runs over the entire team, making Brian Urlacher look like Brian Bosworth? When they had their QB, they were excellent. Also, their defense impressed me in the playoffs, especially in the Colts game. For most of the game, they made a mockery out of Peyton Manning.

As for the Eagles, I'm not particularly optimistic. If Andy Reid can get it into his thick skull that they need to run the ball, they should be good. Last year they forgot to run it while McNabb was in, and he ended up throwing the ball 40+ times almost every game. Then when he was out, they started running the ball (Ryan Moats looked good) more--and with success, too. Now that the poisonous TO is gone, they will be on a more even keel. As a fan, I always remind other people that Philly was a winning team before TO, so they can be a winning team again after him.

Steelers repeat? Highly unlikely. Miami making the playoff? Unlikely too imo. 1 man does not a team make. As said, Wash should make great strides this year, to the SB? M'eh, damn tough division, will they survive the injuries?

Here's a thought, will NE be able to turn it back up a notch again?

Sorry for my absence guys, life has been damn busy.

Originally posted by BaseballHistoryNut
DO NOT "GIVE THEM DENVER."

B.H.N.

BHN, I am refering simply to the game that was played on the field, the Steelers vs. the Broncos. Yes, the Broncos were handed the game over New England. But, the next weekend, they proved they were not the team that should have been there. The Steelers owned them in that game, at least from what I can recall (I think I had somehting else going on during that game) Anyway, that's what I'm referring to.

truenorth, with the additions that Miami has, a solid, possibly great D, and the emergence of that rookie RB, it's not a stretch for the 'fins to go dep into the playoffs...

of course, this analysis is coming from one who predicted a Vikes/Jags Superbowl last preseason...



take my comments with many grains of salt...

EDIT - I can't type!!!

[Edited on 4/12/2006 by Gibbs Baby!!!]

I 100% agree Indi had all the best of the horrible officiating in the Pitt-Indi game. The league even apologized for it and took no action against the Pitt player who accused the officials of skewing their calls because they wanted Peyton in the Super Bowl. When I heard that guy on TV, I thought he might have to sit out 1/4 to 1/2 of the next season, without pay, because those are the remarks you just don't make. But the officiating was so execrable that he didn't even get bloodied for what he'd said.

On the New England-Denver game, however, New England did not begin falling apart until a succession of dreadful calls, of which the worst was that horrendous P.I. in the end zone, the single worst call I have ever seen, one the official who was right on the play tried to talk that blind-or-corrupt C.S. (and no, that has nothing to do with chickens) in the other side of the endzone out of, since he could--and probably should--have called offensive P.I.

As I said, the worst call I've ever seen, and the score was 3-3 at that point, but only because of a succession of other awful calls and non-calls, all of which went in Denver's favor.

I will state what I believe, but in advance, I want to say I am not a big believer in conspiracy theories, except where a certain person's "elections" are concerned, and even there, it took a lot to make me believe #2 was fixed. In general, I roll my eyes and tune someone out when he/she talks to me about major conspiracies, and fixing an NFL playoff game would certainly qualify as such, but:

I think they really did want Peyton to get into the Super Bowl. Obviously it would have been a lot better for the league than a matchup like they got. I think that's why that can-you-believe-this? fumble call was made against that Pitt defensive player, who then made remarks about the officials which would cost me my law license and some jail time if I ever made comparable ones about judges (First Amendment doesn't protect lawyers in that spot). Instead, the remark got blown off by the league so it went away.

The fact Pitt won that game is a testament to their superiority that day, and to how badly Indi (not just the kicker) fell apart. And it further validates MY belief that the game was lost by the G.M., who should have told Dungy that he could give all the pre-game talks he wanted, and supervise all the workouts he wanted, but that someone who has just lost a child--something ANY shrink will tell you is the most shattering, mindbending loss anyone can suffer--has no biz calling the shots in an NFL game a month or so later. Nobody's enough of an unfeeling machine (and certainly not Dungy) to do that. So clearly one of the coordinators should have been calling the shots that day and not, for instance, making that ludicrous call which Manning found it necessary to disobey.

In other words, I obviously agree Pitt took all the worst of the horrible officiating in that game. And if the New England game hadn't happened, I might even call that the worst officiated playoff game I've ever seen.

But I did see the New England-Denver game, and I don't think the league wanted a teetering Indi team to have to face New England, for obvious reasons. And THAT, I believe, is the reason for all those mind-bending bad calls, topped off by one which I believe should be criminally investigated, that bent New England's normally solid mental composure to the point they went on tilt in the second half--while the bad calls continue to flow like wine.

I've made no secret of the fact that, after many, many years and some huge amount of money, I've given up betting on sports. (I actually retired while $$ ahead of baseball, but betting on that sport ruins it for me, and I don't want to ruin, e.g., post-season baseball.) One or two more post-seasons like that, and I will simply give up watching the NFL. We don't watch all year long to have the biggest games (New England/Denver, Pitt/Indi and the Super Bowl) decided by corrupt or blind zebras.

I'm too old, too big and too naturally slow-footed to take their places, but I'll bet that with two years of practice and poring over the rules book, most of you younger guys with decent eyes could do far better jobs than what we've seen, as long as you are willing to keep your eyes off the scoreboard and never officiate from your heart (or from what the league wants).

And all this multi-zillion dollar league has to do is hire full-time, professional officials--like the other three, far less lucrative, major sports--and then tell them to play it straight at all times.

BHN

[Edited on 5/5/06 by BaseballHistoryNut]

Yeah, I'd have to say that I agree with you about that pass interference call in that NE-Denver game. It was bad. As for the worst I ever saw, that's tough to say. Remember that interference call on Dallas's Benny Barnes in Super Bowl XIII? If anyone interfered, it was Lynn Swann. This past Super Bowl was the game--for me--that saw one team getting stiffed so much worse than the other. Before that, I'd have to say it was Washington against SF in the 1983 NFC title game. There were three really bad calls against the Niners in that game, including a completely phantom interference call against Ronnie Lott.

Regarding the Patriots, I must say that I have had my suspicions about conspiracy. It sometimes seemed to me that the league wanted them in the Super Bowl, and then they would get the breaks they needed (remember the "tuck rule" game?). But after I survey the situation more, I can see that probably is not plausible. BHN, you're a lawyer, so I know you have all sorts of feelings about the OJ Simpson trial. The defense made it look as if there was some mass conspiracy to nail OJ, and some of the jurists bought it. But when you look back on the idea, it is virtually impossible. I mean, think of all the people who would have to be on the same page. The same is true about sports: a whole lot of people would have to be collaborating for the conspiracy to work.

The only area of conspiracy I sometimes see is in the breaks NBA officials give to superstars. They let the players get away with so much so that those players can score more and thereby draw more fan interest and bring more revenue. I love Larry Bird, but I will be the first to admit that he got away with stuff all the time (most notably his arm hook move). Jordan palmed the ball and traveled a lot. Karl Malone was such an actor when he got touched (he is the all time leader in FT attempted and FT made). Dennis Rodman turned the flop into an art form.

Sorry, enough on basketball.

I think New England will bounce back, but I also think the rest of the AFC is catching up. Even when healthy last year, NE was challenged. Had some of those early games gone a little differently, they could have had a losing record last year. If they can avoid the rash of injuries they had in 2005, they can make the playoffs. However, I think Miami can and will win the division.

Birdsthebest, I just noted your siggy:

Philly teams all the way!
Larry Bird is the all-time greatest

I'm guessing that Dr. J is rolling around in his Beamer.

Hey truenorth, I see you are a Niners fan. I was a follower of the team for many years (they were sort of my #2 team from 1981 until Jerry Rice left). Steve Young is my second favorite player of all time, next to Walter Payton. I honestly feel he is the best all-around QB who ever played the game.

As for the Doc, I think he was the most graceful high flyer in NBA history. His moves were so fluid (unlike Jordan's, which were sort of herky-jerky). It seemed so effortless.