Go Cowboys!
So, a month or two ago I picked up a few of the NFL preseason magazines when they hit the stands – Athalon Sports and the like.
As I read each of the NFC East previews and found that these writers were unanimous in picking the Giants to be dead last in the division, I became a bit concerned. Yes, Eli looked a little shaky towards the end last season, but there are plenty of positives to look forward to, right? Or were these guys privy to some bit of damning info that I missed?
After watching Big Blue dismantle KC at every level last night, I realized the problem: You’ve got to be a complete fucking moron who knows nothing about the game to write for these rags.
Daaaaamn, am I pumped for this season!
I think we need another NFC East thread this year, though I’d rather not be the guy who starts it. hint hint
You’re right, they didn’t win the division. However, that statement is deceiving. They finished with the same record as the division champion (Cincy), losing the crown based solely on the SECOND tie-break criteria. I’m not saying they won the division, I’m saying it doesnt’ matter, especially since they BEAT the division champ in the rubber game between the two in the first round of the playoffs.
I think it will be VERY hard to repeat, but here’s hoping! I’m pumped…I’m going to the 2nd pre-season game tomorrow, so it should be fun! I also get to go see them on the 15th of October when the Chiefs come to town.
GO STEELERS!
It’s been a couple of days and I know that preseason doesn’t mean much so there’s been no traffic to this thread thus far, so I’ll keep this short and to the point:
HAHAHAHAHA!!! I told you Cowgirls fans that you were screwed when T.O. showed up! He’s a cancer. Everybody knew it. And today he got fined $9,500, merely the first of many fines to come as he tears that team apart from within.
You know, even if the Steelers don’t repeat I’ll still be smiling at the end of the season when the Girls are sucking hind tit in the NFC East and are completely self-destructing for years to come because of that butthead. God, but I hate the Cowboys.
As for the Steelers, well, let’s just hope that a) they don’t play like this when it starts to count, and b) that “Shotgun” Boyd never gets into the game. That is all for now.
What is up with the rumor that Cower is leaving? I will be very sad to see him go, if indeed, he leaves.
Apparently, he’s bought a house somewhere in North Carolina, which is leading to the rumors.
Robin
More a prophecy than a prediction, but I think Roethlisberger is going to go down sometime this year. So do the Steelers’ hopes go with him? I think so.
And make a few allowances for the usual home-town boosterism, but I think the Pats look pretty solid this year. Harrison is back, linebacking looks solid, D line and O line good, QB as usual, etc. Some questions at WR, but clearly the Patriots haven’t had any trouble scoring this preseason. They’ve made Branch look like a fifth wheel, which can’t be good for his exaggerated hopes. The Pats will probably get somebody off the boneyard this week, and it’s a formula that’s been very successful for them over the years.
But 13 wins for the Steelers? You get points for bravado, I’ll say that.
I can tell that you only just signed up late this past year. I’m only just now getting points for bravado? Note the subtitle to this thread. At this point my predictions are, well, predictable. There’s nary a football fan on this board that hasn’t chimed in on my threads in the past four years. Everybody knows exactly where I stand.
BTW, the Pats won’t even make the playoffs this year. Only one team gets out of that division and I’m calling it for Miami. In fact, the Patsies will be lucky to have a winning record. I’ll be surprised if they mount a genuine challenge in that division.
Between the NFC North, Titans, Texans, and NYJ/BUF twice, the Pats should be at least 8-2 assuming Brady has at least 2 functioning limbs.
Ben misses games every year; I’d be stunned if he started all 16+ games in 2006.
See, here’s where the line between trash talking and serious opinion gets a little murky for me. Do you really see the Pats as an 8-8 team? How so?
In honor of Big Ben, I’m riding my bile without a helmet this weekend.
Don’t tell your gallbladder.
Sure do. The Pats lost Adam Vinatieri, Ted Washington, and Willie McGinest. They have no proven receivers. Deion Branch is on his way out.
The formerly star-laden team now pretty much consists of ham-and-eggers. Just as Holmgren and Johnson saw their fortunes decline when they didn’t have the talent, in spite of their reputations as great coaches, I suspect that Belichick will see the same thing happen to him. I’m old enough to remember his terrible seasons in Cleveland, and I remain unconvinced (yes, I know he won three Super Bowls) that he can do well with an average or below average team. Even Chuck Noll stunk up the joint until he had the most talented team in the league.
Vinatieri wasn’t even the best kicker in the league last year, Ted Washington has been gone for years and has been ably replaced by Vince Wilfork, and McGinest is aging and expensive. No stars? How about Tom Brady, Richard Seymour, Rodney Harrison, Mike Vrabel, Tedy Bruschi, Corey Dillon, Junior Seau, Daniel Graham, Troy Brown?
Depend on it – with a proven coaching staff and front office, a cadre of stars, some great new players like Laurence Maroney, and solid offensive and defensive lines, the Patriots are one of the more bankable teams in the NFL.
I find myself both agreeing with you and rolling my eyes. Troy Brown? Daniel Graham?! Please tell me you didn’t just list Daniel Graham as a “star.”
Also, your last sentence is a reach. The Patriots are without question the class of the AFC East, but it’s a shit division. They had their run; they don’t suck, but it’s over.
Vinatieri was your clutch guy, and was so coveted that Indianapolis paid a fortune for him. You can write that off if you like, but he will get Indy a few wins this year, just as he has for the Patsies in the past.
What’s Tom Brady gonna do when he has nobody to throw to? What’s Richard Seymour gonna do with nobody else there? Bruschi better stand on his head this year, a subpar year will kill them. Corey Dillon? Ha! How do you think he’ll do with 8 in the box? Seau is a castoff, he doesn’t have it anymore. As for Troy Brown and Daniel graham, you’re in fantasyland. Stars?
They sure are. I’m banking on them stinking up the joint.
Ellis Dee, you’re right about Graham. I don’t know where that came from. But Troy Brown I think is consistently underrated. His numbers are down in recent years because he’s been hurt and forced to play defensive back, but he’s been in the league a long, long time, and been a very effective player on three Super Bowl teams. If you want to say he lacks star quality, I’d probably agree – though in today’s world, that sometimes just means that he’s not a jerk.
As to your larger point, AFC East versus everyone else, the jury’s still out, and I’m not that knowledgeable the other parts of the football universe. But still, an organization and a quarterback that have won three Super Bowls, a team with legitimate stars on both sides of the ball – is that so easily discounted?
Meanwhile – allow me to be the first to point this out – the Steelers have won exactly 0 preseason games, which puts them in the august company of Buffalo and Tennessee. Sure, the games don’t count in the standings, but isn’t there generally some correlation between how teams do in the preseason and in the regular season?
No. Indy won their first 13 games last year after going winless in the preseason. Preseason doesn’t matter.