2008 NFL Season Thread

As much as my fellow football fans object, I've been a diehard Eagles fan since I knew the NFL existed. All of my other (former fans) friends have jumped on the bandwagon with other teams the worst of which are those horrible Cowboy fans who are quick to gloat when they win, but are eager to start fights when they're down 35 - 7 with 1:15 remaining. Even though we're 2 - 2 this year, I remain optimistic that we will once again see the playoffs and probably even the Superbowl. I see the Eagles ON FIRE this year, and when that happens, everyone knows the road to the Superbowl goes through Philly.

"Fly Eagles Fly..."

Cru

reply to post by CrusaderOne


Ahhh...

Another die-hard Eagles fan. I knew there had to be more than a few of us here at ATS.

And you're right by the way. We will catch fire this year, and look out when we do.

Wow...wow...wow...

I tried to avoid comparing Rodgers and Favre this year, but with the last two weeks, I don't think I can do it. Without a doubt, I would rather have Favre. Even if they were 2-3 with Favre as well, I'd rather have Favre.

Their defense: can't stop anyone. Their offensive line: can't stop anyone without committing penalties. Ryan Grant: not performing up to his contract. Rodgers: too easily rattled.

I hoped they could get back on track against Atlanta considering Atlanta is supposed to be bad on the road, but now, looking at their schedule, I don't see any certain win, or game I'm comfortable with, outside of Detroit.

Unless there is some currently unforeseen improvement, I don't think the Packers are going to the playoffs.

Now, to another issue...

What a terrible loss for Houston. I just don't know what to say about that. Hurricane Ike did more to that area than people know. It was much more than just a Category 2 storm. And sports, something that could lift the spirits in that city, to have the Texans lose like that...it's just unbelievable.

Sage Rosenfels single handedly screwed that up for them.

Originally posted by NovusOrdoMundi
I tried to avoid comparing Rodgers and Favre this year, but with the last two weeks, I don't think I can do it. Without a doubt, I would rather have Favre. Even if they were 2-3 with Favre as well, I'd rather have Favre.

Ryan Grant: not performing up to his contract.

Oh me too... me too. I find myself very pessimistic about the rest of the season with Rodgers. He's nursing his arm, and many of us already knew how injury prone he is. Can't wait to see our record when Flynn has to finish the season off for us. I'll be a die-hard forever... but I'm not too happy with the way the Packers are running things the last few months.

As for grant... I don't think it's anything like a one-hit wonder... when you have a Pass offense that noone really takes seriously (right now), it greatly affects the run game. I feel thats the reason Grant isn't getting his numbers. With Favre in there, it opened many holes in the defense to run through.

reply to post by NovusOrdoMundi


Were you at the game?

I watched the last of the game at the gym this afternoon and I actually thought of you potentially being at the game with head in hands.

reply to post by chissler


Nope. Some family problems came up and delayed me leaving yet again. I had to sell the tickets to the Colts, Dolphins, and Lions games. My first game will be against Cincinnati on the 26th.

I was flipping back and forth between the disasters of Houston and Green Bay though. It was brutal.

reply to post by NovusOrdoMundi


Did Rodgers end up playing?

I didn't catch the game or manage to see any hilights yet.

reply to post by chissler


Yeah, he played. His shoulder was fine for a little bit, but then it started to bother him. He stayed in there the whole game, but on some throws he was off. One example is a 30 yard or so pass that he threw to Jennings, who was WIDE open down field, that came up short and incomplete.

The Packers trailed most of the game, and only tied once. Never led. Early in the 4th, they tied it at 17. The Falcons went down and kicked a field goal on their next possession to make it 20-17.

On the Packers next possession, Rodgers tried to force the pass in to coverage and got it intercepted with about 5 minutes left. The Falcons turned that in to a touchdown to make it 27-17, and although the Packers did go down and score again, they didn't get the onside kick. That was it, 27-24.

The shoulder made a difference. Under throwing Jennings on what was a definite touchdown, and throwing a pretty bad pass that got intercepted were the two big signs that his shoulder wasn't right.

This game wasn't all Rodgers' fault. The defense could not stop anyone at all. The Falcons did what ever they wanted, outside of a few drives here and there where the defense decided to show up.

As I said earlier, I can't help but compare him and Favre. Favre fights through the injuries. Favre finds a way to complete the tough passes. Favre finds a way to get his team going and finds a way to win.

Rodgers can't do that. Hopefully at some point in his career he will be able to, but right now, if he throws an interception or gets sacked, he's rattled for a little bit. Or in the case of the Tampa Bay game, the whole game.

That doesn't happen with Favre. Nothing phases him. He accepts his mistakes, he accepts the mistakes of the players around him, and he goes out there the next play and gives 110%.

It's inevitable that comparisons between the two will be drawn. Maybe that's unfair to Rodgers, but he was the guy chosen over Favre even when Favre wanted to play.

If Rodgers had simply replaced a retired Brett Favre, then I would say it was a little more unfair. But Rodgers was chosen by the Packers over an UNretired Brett Favre. That says to me that the Packers felt Rodgers was more right for this team and better suited for this team right now than Favre was.

So you know what, if that's the case, then prove it. To this point, I haven't seen the proof. This is what I see:

Brett Favre: 935 yards, 12 TDs, 4 INTs, 110.8 QB Rating, 2-2
Aaron Rodgers: 1,274 yards, 9 TDs, 4 INTs, 95.5 QB Rating, 2-3

Not a big difference, right? Yeah, well, Favre is in a new offense with new players who he didn't have the opportunity to form chemistry with, and he's still doing better. That says all I need to know about who the better quarterback is.

[edit on 10/5/08 by NovusOrdoMundi]

Packers at Seahawks

The Packers started off sluggish yesterday, but I'm happy with how they closed out the game. They got the lead and finished like they did so well last year. I hope this is a sign of a turnaround, but it just can't escape me that it was because Charley Frye was at quarterback.

The penalties were kept relatively low this week. They only had 5, which is their lowest total this year. So thats an improvement and hopefully it stays.

Aaron played pretty well. Good enough to win, which is all he really needs to be. Even though I'd like him to be like Brett, I know it's not going to happen. The fumble was his fault. He held on to the ball too long.

How about Aaron Kampman? We've come to expect the 4 tackle, 2 sack type of game from him, so it's easy to not appreciate it as much as we should. But the guy never quits. He's always pushing and always running, going after the ball. It's really exciting to watch. One of the sacks was even on a play where he was double teamed, which is pretty embarrassing for that Seattle O-Line.

I say he's a lock for yet another Pro Bowl, even this early in the year.

Overall, a good and very much needed win. The NFC North is all locked up at 3-3, except for the Lions of course

Ah, man. The good ol' Lions. You gotta love 'em.

The Rest

We had a lot of close games yesterday. Atlanta, Houston, Minnesota, and St. Louis all won in the final seconds, and all on field goals, except for Houston. Since Houston and St. Louis won, that leaves Detroit and Cincinnati as the last winless teams. Who will break up the perfect season and win first?

Brett won again up in New York, which is good. Although I don't think they'll catch Buffalo for the division, I'm hopeful they can make the Wild Card.

In other news, Baltimore got blown up.

And can you tell Tom Brady is gone? Matt Castle just isn't getting the job done. I think the Patriots are just about done this year. I don't see anything hopeful in their future for the rest of this season.

Last, but certainly not least....Dallas....

HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Man that's beautiful. Tony Homo is down 4 weeks AND they lose!

You Cowgirl fans are lucky you have a bye week on that fourth week. You'll only get three losses instead of four in that stretch.

[edit on 10/13/08 by NovusOrdoMundi]

So...

Who thinks the Lions can do it? I have faith in them. I'd be disappointed if they didn't finish what they started.

I'm thinking of getting me a Detroit Lions 2008 Pre-Season Champions t-shirt to celebrate if they can pull this off.

reply to post by NovusOrdoMundi




It's too bad that the Lions picked this year to make such a strong run at a perfect season. I can't think of any college player that could step in and help them out. It seems to be a pretty weak senior class.

Maybe they will go for Crabtree out of Texas Tech. I am sure they could use another WR with their 1st round pick.

reply to post by NovusOrdoMundi


Oh man


I didn't know they went 4-0 in the preseason...

this is great...
If they go 0-16 it would be worth having one of those shirts

Wow...

Nothing more needs to be said.

reply to post by NovusOrdoMundi


The Broncos are the most inconsitent team in the league. They somehow still control thier own destiny @6-5 they are two games up on SD. If we make the playoffs who knows which team may show up? Could be interesting. Ha! Wishful thinking after that Raiders thrashing but again, we are in 1st place in the awful AFC West.

ColoradoJens

For those writing off the Patriots and Matt Cassell, they are in 2nd place in the AFC East. Cassell had 415 yards passing on Sunday as they extracted revenge for an earlier loss to Miami. That is his second consecutive 400+ yard passing week! He is doing a great job filling in for Brady. Too bad he may be too expensive for the Pats to keep next year; some have actually suggested keeping him and trading Brady.

The Jets are a surprise this year; they whooped the Titans on Sunday and hold onto a one game lead over the Pats.

reply to post by jsobecky


Patriots fans were probably one of the first fans to write them off when Brady went down.

And anyone contemplating trading Brady is a moron. But I wouldn't mind if that were the case because my team needs a real quarterback.

reply to post by NovusOrdoMundi


New England fans are the toughest in the nation. Of course they thought the worst when Brady went down. Cassell had no experience leading that team. All in all it means nothing.

Don't hold your breath waiting for Brady. Your team couldn't afford him. But he's not going to be traded anyway.

Lots of buzz going around the wires today about Mcnabb being a Viking next year. I cant decide if it would be a good or bad thing.


Granted he has potential to be a great player for several years, he would have Peterson and Chester to hand off to, a good corps of WR's (better than Philly anyway) and a top 5 defense to help.

Then again he is the same guy who has lost virtually every big game for the Eagles when it mattered, he is sporadic and at times looks completely lost, he is known to throw up in the huddle (he even barfed during the Superbowl) and Im not so sure I want a QB who is that closely associated with Chunky Soup.

Gus is old and mediocre, T-Jack is a #3 at best, yes there are a lot of talented QB's coming out in the draft next year. Also Derek Anderson, JP Losman, Alex Smith, Matt Cassell and a bunch of other QB's will be on the market after the season.

One thing is for certain....I enjoyed that shelacking Green Bay took on national TV last night (no offense Novus)...always good to see the enemy get their butts handed to them.

Tied for 1st in the Norse...and I still want to fire Childress!!!!


SKOL Vikings

Originally posted by BlackOps719
always good to see the enemy get their butts handed to them.

Which is why I hope your next game ends in a 56-56 tie. Both defenses would be exposed and you make no progress. It's perfect.

Then again, that would require Gus Frerotte and Kyle Orton having the ability to lead their teams to that many points.

reply to post by NovusOrdoMundi




Hey it almost happened the first time around this season!!!


I have the advantage over you cheese fans in the fact that I KNEW that we weren't going to the playoffs this year...and I still dont think we will.

Doesnt matter how good the supporting cast may be...no QB = .500 at best. I came to terms with this in pre-season even though the other purple faithful were already drinking the kool aid.

Now wait until next year after we have found a franchise QB, fired Childress and brought in the Chin to coach...then it is on...lol.

I bet the Fudgers wish they had Bert back right about now....it must be hard watching him MVP it up on another team. That would have to be like watching your best girl get it on with the better looking guy down the block