And they got their shit pushed in in consecutive games against the Jets. Paper Tigers.
The Bears sucking has nothing to do with my analysis of the Bengals. Were I deluded into thinking the Bears were awesome then maybe you could talk.
All I will say is that were you a fan of this Cincinnati team, you would be equal parts proud that they overcame what they did to get there, and mystified at their late season performance. It isn’t easily definable.
I like the Bengals, I was rooting for them in '82 and '89. The Steelers and Ravens both fall in my top 5 most hated teams. I watched and liked Hard Knocks, I followed this team all season and know all about their drama. Doesn’t change the fact that what happened at the end of the season was fairly predictable. They were a one-dimensional and shallow team. Teams like that don’t usually finish strong. There was a reason the Bengals were something of a Cinderella story.
Huh? They weren’t really there last year either. Housh was in Seattle and Henry had 12 catches over 8 games. Coles and Caldwell don’t make a terrible 2/3 punch.
The Buccaneers won’t suck nearly as badly as this year. I think we can win six games.
I predict the Redskins will have a bad year (6-10 or worse), and Dan Snyder will blame it on the new coach.
I also predict that by the 3rd loss, there will be an outcry to change the team’s name.
Alex Smith now has an unprecedented SECOND year with the same coordinator! Imagine that! He’s better than the league thinks he is, and should do fine next year. The 49ers don’t need a “major improvement” at QB, although if one fell into their laps, I could see management taking it. Gore should be fine for this year at least. Like I said, the biggest area of concern is O-line. If that level of play goes up, it helps the QB and RB.
The thing about Henry though is that eleven of those twelve catches was either a first down or a touchdown. He averaged 20 yards a catch, and losing that 3rd down clutchness was one of the bigger reasons we struggled in the passing game, as the lack of a big downfield threat like he was allowed opposing defenses to zero in tighter on everyone else.
Couple that with the fact that our TE situation was ridiculously bad (both starters lost for the year in training camp, rookie TE Coffman can’t see the field because he can’t block, and the other two, Coats and Foschi, were pass-dropping machines) and that our oline had like 32 games combined starting experience, along with Palmer having his own struggles…and you get a team that can’t reliably pass the ball, move the chains or score points in the redzone.
Delhomme is still on the team, and early reports are that he’ll be allowed to fight for the QB spot in camp. Personally, I think he’s done, but he’s not gone (yet.) Matt Moore showed a little promise, but he’s far, far from a sure thing as a starting QB. With no first rounder right now, QB help looks unlikely, unless they go for Jason Campbell.
If they let Peppers go it’ll give them cap room for a FA (but, will there even be a cap?) Owner Jerry Richardson isn’t afraid to spend money, and after his heart transplant may be looking for the big one, before the big one comes looking for him.
They still have a fantastic running game, and if everyoen returns healthy, a strong O-line.
They desperately need a receiver and Boldin and Smith would sure be fun to watch.
Extrapolating Smith’s numbers over a full season he’d have thrown for 3,600 yards, 27 touchdowns and 18 picks. Quite good, really.
Here are my predictions:
– Jets and Ravens make a big play for Boldin to fill the deep threat hole both teams suffer from.
– Kurt Warner and Brett Favre: one or the other will retire, but not both. Either Arizona or Minnesota seriously entertains a quarterback deal with Philly and/or Washington.
– Delhomme is done in Carolina, Matt Moore is their starter.
– Titans make the playoffs next year
– Two of the following makes the playoffs next year: 49ers, Texans, Browns, Jags
– We’ll still underestimate the Patriots. We’ll still overestimate the Cowboys and Chargers.
– All the QBs in the draft will go lower than they should based on popular perceptions, not on scouting. Colt McCoy will end up the reincarnation of Mike Tomczak, Sam Bradford will be an IR queen, but Tim Tebow will surprise everyone as being the most “NFL ready” QB in the draft (but never get any respect for his play because he doesn’t fit the mold of a “typical” NFL QB should look like-- think Doug Flutie).
Why would the cap-free year mean *less *free-agent activity, not more?
Your use of “NFL ready” and “doesn’t fit the mold” don’t seem to mesh all that well. He’s already shown himself to not be NFL ready this week - he’s done horrendous in Senior Bowl practice. He can’t play under center - he was dropping snaps, and couldn’t drop back.
Not really, it now takes 6 years to become a unrestricted free agent and there are caps on what the playoff teams can spend. Like much of the NFL, the details are unbelievably complicated.
Well, duh. The entire point of my post was that next year will be just like last year.
Free agent classes are almost entirely defined by players who have completed either their first 4 years of service (UFAs) or 3 years of service (RFAs). With the expiration of the CBA those deadlines jump to 6 years and 5 years respectively. That means that 2 years worth of potential free agents are no longer entering the market. The only free agent options out there will be old, broken players who won’t contribute.
See here.
It’s worth noting that with no CBA, there is no veteran minimum, so these non-contributing old players don’t have to be paid too much, although they would take up a roster position if they make the team.
This is just nuts. Are you a Florida grad by any chance?
Tim Tebow won’t get respect, really; he has a problem with popular perception? If he’s ever a starter in the NFL at quarterback, he’ll probably be the most popular starting quarterback in the NFL.
Doug Flutie didn’t fit the mold because he was like five-nine and 175 pounds, but he was a phenomenal passer by college/USFL standards. Tim Tebow is the mold of what an NFL quarterback should look like. If an NFL scout could construct a quarterback, they’d take his body and his attitude, to start with. Only they’d make him right-handed, and only they’d have to actually add NFL quarterback skills, and that’s where the whole point falls apart. The only thing holding Tim Tebow back from getting respect as an NFL quarterback is that he’s never demonstrated the proficiency required from the position. He doesn’t fit the mold because he doesn’t take snaps from under center and throw the ball quickly and efficiently to his receivers, or throw the ball downfield against coverage, or, well, really, do any of the things that an NFL quarterback does as the bulk of his job.
My god, do you think NFL GMs wouldn’t go into conniptions at the idea of drafting a guy this universally beloved as their quarterback and giving him $100 million if there was any indication he could do it? It would be the no-brainer of all no-brainers, and the reason for that is… popular perception.
Maybe he’ll be an NFL quarterback, maybe it won’t, but there’s just no reason in the world to say that he’s been unfairly underrated in any respect. Just the idea that anybody would think that makes me want to burn down my house.
I seriously doubt NFL linebackers would have to respect his run-fake motion he used all the time at Florida, and he wouldn’t be able to outrun or overpower them.
Sometimes whom you play for in college elevates your status.
It’s worth noting 2009 was particularly non-chaotic. With very few exceptions, all the teams that we were sure would be good were good, and all the teams we were sure would be bad were bad. There were no huge jumps from good to terrible or vice versa (like Miami or Atlanta last year, or Baltimore the year before); all the rises and declines were teams moving either into or out of mediocrity (Cincinatti comes close to being an exception, but they weren’t really a *good *team, just an average one that won most all of it’s close games). 6 of the 8 divisions were won by the preseason favorites, which is quite unusual (last year it was only 3 of 8), and one of the two underdog winners (Dallas) was hardly a big surprise.
Anyway, the point is that next season will almost certainly be more chaotic than this season was, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be more chaotic than we should expect it to be in a typical year.