NFL: Give an HONEST assessment of your team

The Game Room
21

I’ll go ahead and make a stab.

  1. your team
    Da Bears
  2. your team’s current record
    8-3
  3. can they (mathematically) make the playoffs?
    Certainly. 1st in the Division, 3rd in the NFC

3a) if yes, what would they have to do in order to make the playoffs?
Stay ahead of the Packers, Giants, and Eagles. While they’re leading the division, it’s only a one game lead right now. The Falcons or the Saints are probably going to get one of the Wildcard spots, meaning the Bears have to play pretty much perfect to keep everything tightened up.

  1. the good
    They’ve got momentum on their side after taking down the seeming invincible Vick and the Eagles. Cutler and Martz have apparently got this whole offense thing figured out. The defense is as strong as usual. And they’ve got one of the healthiest teams in the NFL right now.

  2. the bad
    “Inconsistent” is the one word commonly used to describe Cutler. While we’re riding high right now, it’s hard to shake the feeling we’re on the good side of Cutler right now, about to head to the wrong side. He’s still throwing pick-worthy passes, and every sports bar in Chicago goes silent every time the ball is in the air. We’re also about to head into the toughest stretch of the season. After heading to Detroit, we’ve got the Patriots (thankfully at home), a possibly rejuvenated Minnesota, the Jets, and finishing on the road against the Packers.

  3. future outlook
    If Cutler has really got this figured out and the Bears keep playing like they have been for the past few games, I could see the Bears becoming a real contender rather than just an occasional flash in the pan. Not to mention an exciting rivalry with Green Bay. Of course if it all falls apart, well…

  4. anything else you feel the need to share about your team
    Am I the only one that wonders what Lovie would look like in a Ditka style Bears sweater?

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I don’t know about this. They have different functions within their teams - Smith is the possession receiver that will pick up lots of first downs, while Jackson is the burner, always a threat to go the distance. Their yards per game is close, but Jackon’s ypc is more than 8 yards greater than Smith’s, and Jackson is a bigger scoring threat (5 more tds in 4 fewer games over their careers). Without even taking into account Jackson’s punt returning, I’d have to give the edge to the Eagle

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  1. Chicago Bears

  2. 8 - 3 (3 - 0 Div., 6 - 3 Conf.)

  3. Yes, obviously.
    3a) They control their own destiny. If they win out they secure a first round bye and have a good chance at the 1st overall seed. With the Packers 1 game back but holding the edge in tiebreakers, the final game of the season might cost the Bears the division. If the Packers win out and the Bears only lose the rubber match the Packers gain the division and the Bears fall to a Wildcard but would almost certainly face the NFC West Champ in which they’d be a heavy favorite. Both the Packers and Bears have similarly tough schedules the rest of the way and share 2 common opponents, so it’s unlikely both teams will win out but the odds are good that the final game will determine everything.

The odds are very good that the NFC North and NFC South will collect the 2 Wild Card bids though considering they both have an edge over the NFC East and the Eagles and Giants must play one another. It’s complicated in the NFC but missing the playoffs now would constitute a major collapse.

  1. The Good. The Bears are incredibly healthy. Injuries thus far have been a non-issue with the exception of exacerbating a already shaky O Line in the opening few weeks which contributed to a couple big losses. This can change at any moment, but for now we’re in good shape, something that only the Falcons can really say in the NFC.

The Defense is playing outstanding. I loathe the Tampa 2 and they give up too many yards, but they tend to not give up points and they win the war of attrition luring the opposing offenses into turnovers. I believe they lead the league in that stat. At home the Tampa 2 is especially dominant because the turf dampens opposition speed and the crowd noise helps in the redzone, not to mention kicking in Soldier Field is a nightmare. Long story short, the Tampa 2 works, even if it’s not scary. The pass rush and run defense led by the front 4 has been a revelation. Peppers is as good as advertised and seems to make everyone else better and I had no idea he was this good against the run. The secondary was where I thought the Bears were in the worst shape, but it’s been shockingly solid. Chris Harris struggles in coverage but is a better tackler than we’ve had in years. Jennings, Wright and Manning all took big steps forward. Bowman has disappointed but still contributes. The Linebackers are the best in the NFL, period.

The Offense is coming along. Martz has finally showing some balance and it’s actually paying off. Forte looks like a man again and the play-action passing game is becoming very effective. We still have a serious need at WR though, I’m happy with how Hester has been utilized, they are doing exactly what I argued for in the offseason and it’s working nicely, and Knox is his usual consistent self. Bennett is a very nice possession guy in the mold of Deion Branch which completely catches me by surprise. The hole is in the large possession/move the chains type WR. When Cutler scrambles or needs a 4 yard completion they don’t have a big guy who can screen off a corner or dominate press coverage, I thought Aromashodu would be that guy but he flopped.

The Special Teams are still special. Hester is back and the coverage units are steady. Not as dominant as years past in the coverage game, we used to never give up anything, but they still manage to prevent big plays. Maynard’s punting is faltering, he still avoids touchbacks on short punts. Gould is Gold. Overused pun, but it works. He’s even starting to find those long range kicks.

  1. The Bad. The Offensive Line is much improved from the start of the season and each week they stay together in the same positions the better they get but they are still a big weakness. The rookie RT Webb isn’t very good and he makes some serious mental errors, especially when teams blitz from the secondary. They have to get this cleaned up or Cutler is gonna get killed, you simply can’t have your RT standing around blocking no one. Chris Williams is improving at LG and might actually be a long term solution but he’s still making too many mistakes. It’s a better situation than it started at, but they have no depth and a really fierce defense could kill us in the playoffs. Injuries too could undermine the whole thing.

The running game is vastly improved but still not awesome. Forte can be very effective and his skills in the passing game are an asset, but he not a huge big play threat and he’s inexplicably a liability around the goal line. I love him as a between the 20s guy, but they need another player around the goal line a real speed threat to change pace. Chester Taylor has been a complete bust. I posted some stats in the off season that showed how poor he actually was last year statistically, and those have been proven true. Taylor has a knack for avoiding holes and running smack into the back of blockers. In the passing game he’s a big step down from Forte and he’s awful at the screen play. He seems to be a very slight upgrade between the tackles around the goal line, but that’s nothing to hang your hat on. Come playoff time we’ll see if the rushing attack can be relied on and if Martz will abandon it when they get down 10.

Cutler is still a complete wild card. He’s reining himself in nicely as of late but I’m not crazy enough to think that he’s cured. There will still be a Bad Jay day coming in the future but I just hope those are aggressive mistakes mixed with aggressive successes as opposed panic throws and brain damaged ego contests. One can only hope that hat next horrible game comes prior to the playoffs and doesn’t come against Green Bay. Still, his success seems to be a direct by product of a steady running game and he’s downright scary on play action. Fingers crossed.

Martz is sorta bound at the hip to Cutler and the running game. It seems like he’s been beaten into submission on the play calling and they’ve still been able to retain some of his inventiveness and skills at exploiting defenses. The WRs and TEs obviously still have some issues with understanding the system and timing and Martz lacks the flexibility to adjust to blitzes with audibles, but they’ve been improving at identifying the pressure and making hot reads. Hopefully he’s learned his lesson, but like Cutler he could just be one game away from another pass happy turnover fest that gets Cutler killed.

Brad Maynard is starting to deteriorate. His hang time and coffin corner kicks aren’t what they once were and it often costs us field position that our defense relies on. He often kicks the ball out of bounds at the 15 or 20 and occasionally shanks one out at the 30 or 35 to avoid a touchback and that isn’t always what we need. On kicks deep in our own end he surrenders returns now that he never used to. As a FA I hope they don’t resign him long term.

The coaching is still suspect. Lovie manages a game poorly and is terrible at using time outs and challenges, but this seems to be true of half the league. Tice and Martz are still working on this offense and I’m not entirely sold on them, these break downs in pass protection and play calling were OK in weeks 1-5, any now are inexcusable. The defense has shown results and as the weather turns they’ll get better, so that’s probably a point in Lovie and Marinelli’s favor but I’m still concerned about them overall.

  1. Future Outlook. All in all, it’s pretty positive but I’ve got a long standing issue with this team’s management. They are atrocious at managing a draft and scouting players. Jerry Angelo gives me zero confidence in our ability to restock our lineup in the coming seasons. He’s under contract for one more season which is an issue with the lockout looming. Lovie is an idiot and it’s unclear how much culpability he has in the depth and draft issues on this team. I suspect he wields a lot of power there and some of the foolish contract extensions doled out are probably his fault on the defensive side. The winning record probably means he’ll be back and I suppose I could be talked into seeing what Lovie could do with a better talent evaluator at the top managing our draft. Whether these two will ever be separated seems unlikely though. I worry about Martz and Marinelli as well. The growing pains and stubbornness are not good traits and I fear that Marinelli has been artificially buoyed by the Peppers signing. We’ll see, I have a hunch they’ll all be back for one more rodeo though.

The Stars. Cutler is locked up for a few more years and I’m happy with that. He’s maddening but I’m onboard for getter or worse. He’s a punchable prick and a occasional train wreck, but he’s my prick and train wreck. His athletic skills are outrageous, both his arm and legs, and I’ve never once had a QB to cheer for who was like that. It’s a hell of a lot more fun than rooting for scrappy, try hard, game managers anyways. People forget that he’s still young and there’s still time to get his head right. Hester is finally getting back to where he was in the return game while still being a very positive force one offense. He’s probably overpaid for that role, but he’s truly unique and effective now. Sadly on the offensive side of the ball that’s where the “stars” end. I like Forte and will be glad to have him as a piece of the puzzle but he needs a complementary back with him and he’ll probably never be a force between the tackles in short yardage. Defensively Peppers has been worth the money so far and should be an anchor for as long as his body allows. Hopefully he’ll have a Randy White-like tail end. Urlacher is healthy and while no longer dominant he’s still as sound as can be in the middle and tends to shut down tight ends and screens, his real value is probably as a captain and leader. Briggs has replaced him as the best LB on the team and between the two of them we’re rock solid in the middle. I suspect all three of those guys are a little over paid and their contracts run a little too long, but in the era of unguaranteed contracts that’s acceptable.

Offensively we’ve got a ton of role players and too few difference makers. I like Knox, Bennett and Olsen but none of them really strike fear into opponents and good defenses can take them away. That as much as anything is the root of Cutler’s issues. We don’t have any developmental guys at the skill positions who have any potential to become Pro Bowlers in my opinion. That doesn’t bode well for the future and is an indictment of the GM. This coming draft needs to be an absolute home run. The offensive line is a hodgepodge and what’s working now if paper thin. One injury could put us in a terrible spot. they are very young aside from Kruetz which bodes well for the future, but I’m not sure you want to be betting on a bunch of late round picks to gel into a Pro Bowl group.

Defensively things are looking up. We’re aging but we’ve got a few more years before the wheels come off. Tillman is playing great and the Safeties are sound. Major Wright looks like a pro and should step in readily at either spot if Harris or Manning falter. Jennings was a bit of unexpected depth at CB and we’ve got some youngsters in back waiting for a chance. Surprisingly the secondary has become a strength this year. The LBs are stout and deep. The D line is also an unexpected strength. We’ve moved 3 of last years starters and begun rotating Tommie Harris more than we want to yet all the fresh blood we’ve brought in have completely revitalized this group. There’s some young guys there providing depth and the jury is still out on them, it’s hopeful though.

  1. I think I’ve talked enough and bored everyone to tears. The Packers suck though. So there’s that.
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Agreed. Though if you swap that around and put a healthy Nicks against Jackson I think you have a case. Jackson’s the upside guy, but Nicks is way more steady and his effectiveness in the redzone is golden. A healthy Smith versus Maclin is also close and I think I’d tilt it in favor of Smith, though Maclin didn’t have Vick to benefit from last year. I actually think Maclin is a more skilled WR but Smith is better suited to his teams system. Maclin’s not an ideal Andy Reid guy.

Holy mother of god no! Take that back. That sweater would need to be burned and buried and the land salted.

That would be FANtastic! I’d totally be on board with every part of that and I’m neither a Cleveland or Denver fan, in fact I kinda dislike both teams. Nicely done! I wish I could find the post around here that I made after watching Josh McDaniels first press conference. I basically predicted all of this based solely on the way he spoke to the media. He seemed like a smug dullard at the time.

A bit of randomness that just occurred to me. As a Bears fan and a Illini grad Orange is pretty much my color. I just realized that I hold a bit of inexplicable animosity towards all the other NFL teams that wear orange for essentially no reason. The same holds true in college, I always root against Syracuse and Clemson for little purpose. I suppose there are other reason to explain these biases, but the color thing seems to be a subconscious part of it. Maybe I’m just crazy…probably.

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  1. your team
    The New York Giants.

  2. your team’s current record
    7-4

  3. can they (mathematically) make the playoffs?
    Yes.

3a) if yes, what would they have to do in order to make the playoffs?
Two possibilities:
A) Win their division. Seems simple enough, but pretty unlikely, since Philadelphia has 4 easy games left (plus the rematch with the Giants). Even if New York beats Philly in Week 15, there’s a good chance they lose the division anyway (and they have to win the game even to have a shot). One projection gives New York a 37.6% chance to win the division, which seems a little generous to me. (I’d say more like 25.74%.)

B) Beat the Packers at Green Bay in Week 16. Standings. The NFC-S is getting at least one of the wild cards: Atlanta pretty much can’t finish worse than 11-5 (13-3 is more likely), and the Saints are only finishing worse than 11-5 if they lose each of their last three games (@Bal, @Atl, TB) – theoretically possible, but very unlikely. That leaves the Giants competing for the final WC slot with Tampa and whichever of GB/Chi fails to win the North. But Chicago will probably go 11-5 (that’s assuming they lose 2 out of 3 versus NE/NYJ/@GB); Tampa has three wins in Weeks 14-16 (@Was, Det, Sea), and will go either 10-6 or 11-5 (the latter if New Orleans has nothing to play for in Week 17); Green Bay is harder. They’re 7-4. They’ll win their next two against Sf and Det for 9-4. Say they lose @ NE (9-5). In the last week they host Chicago, but whether they win or lose that game, for the Giants to beat them out for a Wild Card (or, for that matter, to win the East) they’ll probably need to defeat the Packers heads-up. So, assuming that the games which aren’t close go as planned (and/or that the surprise upsets more or less cancel each other out), Week 16 @GB is the pivotal game for the whole Giants season.

  1. the good
    Eli is one of the better QBs in the league. The defensive front has indeed played very well, *usually *getting good pressure even when not tallying actual sacks. The secondary has been pretty good. The Giants have built a (sneakily) excellent WR corps when healthy: Nicks looks like a star, Steve Smith = Wes Welker - 10%, and Manningham would be an above average #2 WR, but is in effect the Giants #3 (he does most things just average-good, but with the ball in his hands he’s great).

  2. the bad
    It’s cheap to complain about injuries, but the Giants really have been hit hard. Otherwise: The special teams are just awful; Matt Dodge has been a disaster at Punter, the coverage teams are bad, and the return game is worse. When the pass rush is ineffective, the Giants’ Defense suffers more than most. The Linebackers are an unimpressive lot (not real bad, but likely below average). In general, while they don’t have a lot of weaknesses, the Giants’ strengths tend not to be overpowering enough to make up for injuries or occasional ineffectiveness from this or that position.

  3. future outlook
    If the front office can make a serious effort to address the aging offensive line this offseason, the offense should be very good going forward (would it have been so hard to draft Maurkice Pouncey instead of the predictably-struggling Jason Pierre-Paul? I’m still pretty confident that they totally wasted that 1st Round pick.). Defense is harder to judge. They need to get better at Linebacker, either by bringing in new players or by significant improvements from ILB Goff and OLB Sintim (which are entirely possible, btw). In the secondary, I’m still not completely sold on the Corners and Safeties. They’re perfectly acceptable, no doubt, and they have very good depth, AND a team can win a lot of games with the group the Giants have. I just get the feeling that the ceiling for this group is “good,” and since the floor is pretty much also “good,” I fear that that will disincline the front office to make an effort to improve the group, though a little shove would be all that’s needed to make them excellent.

  4. anything else you feel the need to share about your team
    I wish they’d go back to their uniforms from the mid-80s through the 90s.

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Airman Doors covered the Steelers pretty well. One thing I’ll add is that they took a gamble when Aaron Smith (Left Defensive End and a very underrated key to the defense) tore his biceps by not placing him on IR. They lost a (potentially) very good young linebacker because of it but it may pay off. Tomlin hinted during this week’s press conference that there could be some good news coming regarding Smith’s prognosis. They’ve been holding Polamalu out of practice to try and keep him healthy down the stretch and if they get back Aaron Smith wait and see how much better the linebackers and secondary suddenly appear. We’ll see…

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I’ll expound.

  1. Your team’s current record.

2-9

  1. Can they (mathematically) make the playoffs?

Click.

  1. The good

The defensive line might be the hardest working group in the National Football League. Their effectiveness determines the effectiveness of the defense as a whole. You could see what the ceiling is and what the problem is in the Thanksgiving game. In the first half, they hit, pressured, and harassed the quarterback, chased down screen plays, and made tackles, or got in on them downfield. In the second half, the Patriots made the adjustment and torched the (really, really) bad secondary. The offensive line has actually been pretty solid, and has enabled Shaun Hill to put up some points as quarterback, and has shown the development of Matt Stafford, until his injury.

  1. The bad

Hoo boy. The secondary, aside from Louis Delmas, is atrocious. The linebackers are pretty crappy too. The running game has been nonexistent. I wonder about the coaches being able to make the right adjustments.

  1. Future outlook

Calvin Johnson’s gonna walk. I don’t see any way they can keep him, so they’ll have to trade him, which will decimate the offense. I didn’t want to draft Stafford, I wanted the offensive tackle at the number one pick a couple years back. Stafford showed some amazing arm strength his rookie year, and kept that up this year, as well. Unfortunately, he’s been getting hurt. I don’t think he’s “injury-prone”, I really do think it’s a combination of a couple of unlucky breaks and flashes of shittiness by the offensive line. One of the big questions is that clearly the Lions get another top-3 draft pick in this coming draft. Do they take Andrew Luck or Jake Locker if they’re in their lap? I say yes. If you’re concerned about Stafford, you have to hedge your bets. If Stafford ends up fine, and so does this quarterback-to-be-drafted-later, then you’re in the enviable position of having two young stud quarterbacks.

  1. Anything else?

I want to point out that the Detroit Lions team that went 0-16 a couple of years ago was probably the worst football of all time. The Lions have won (so far) 4 games in three years. Despite that, this year’s Lions team is CLEARLY better than the one last year, and leaps and bounds ahead of the one from 2008. Also, I really dig those Thanksgiving Day uniforms they wear. I wish they’d be the standard uniforms.

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I think you are missing another “bad” - the inability to put lesser teams away, combined with a growing habit of losing the close ones. 4 losses - all by 3 points or less, two in overtime, the other two on (essentially) the last kick of the game. The Bears, Dolphins and particularly the Skins shouldn’t have been in the game at that point - there’s a softness in the coaching that bothers me somewhat.

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I don’t see how the team can afford this. That’s tying up a lot of money in two quarterbacks (one of whom won’t even be playing).

30

Team: Denver Broncos

Assessment: Fucked.

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  1. The New England Patriots

  2. your team’s current record: 9-2

  3. can they (mathematically) make the playoffs? Yes

3a) if yes, what would they have to do in order to make the playoffs? If they beat the Jets this week, they’re in good position to win the division. If they lose to the Jets, they are probably a wild card team.

  1. The good: The offense is playing very well, especially lately. They have a future HoF QB and coach. They lead the league in points scored. They are undefeated at home this season.

  2. the bad: The defense, especially the secondary, is soft. They rank 31st in yards allowed and 32nd in pass yards allowed (and 22nd in points allowed). They need to score a lot of points each week to win - which, fortunately, they’re good at.

  3. future outlook: almost certain to be in the playoffs, barring a meltdown. Although the next three weeks are critical: Jets, Bears, Packers. Then finish with the Bills and Dolphins. If they play as well as they have been lately they should win at least 3-4 of those and get into the postseason.

  4. anything else you feel the need to share about your team: Anything can happen in the playoffs, but I wouldn’t want to face a team with a strong passing attack and decent defense (like Indianapolis, who we barely beat a few weeks ago). I also wouldn’t want to have to go back to New York for the AFC title if it came to that.

32

1) your team
Baltimore Ravens

2) your team’s current record
8-3

3) can they (mathematically) make the playoffs?
yep.

3a) if yes, what would they have to do in order to make the playoffs?
Win a few more games. Right now they’re tied with PIT for third in the AFC, behind NE and NYJ. 10 wins might be enough to reach the postseason, but 11 will almost certainly clinch a playoff berth.

The bigger question is what they need to do to get a home game or two. For that, they need to beat Pittsburgh Sunday night and keep winning - that’s a much tougher road.

4) the good
Flacco is maturing well. He’s still got some growing to do, but he’s led a few high-pressure, late-game drives against good teams. He led a game-winner against the vaunted Steelers D, and got a lead-changing TD (that didn’t win the game - see “the bad” below) against the Falcons. He still has some down games (@CIN was a debacle for him), but he’s improved steadily from his rookie year, and I think he’s got tremendous upside.

Last year’s team was plagued with penalties. A lot of them were PI calls because the secondary couldn’t cover my grandmother, but there were far too many boneheaded mistakes - 15 yards for playing after the whistle or making unnecessary hits, false starts, that kind of thing. These mistakes aren’t happening this season, and that’s a credit to the coaching staff.

They’ve got some great young stars on the team - I talked about Flacco above, and Rice and Haloti Ngata are among the best players in the league at their positions. Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are a little older and a little slower, but they’re still great players and loads of fun to watch.

5) the bad
The secondary is weak. Not as weak as last year, and it’s helped by an improved pass rush, but it’s still a glaring weakness in the team. They seem to wear down over the course of a game, and the can’t stop teams with a decent QB running a two minute offense - Tom Brady and Matt Ryan torched them in the fourth quarter, and they gave up a couple of long drives to the Bills that forced OT. Closing out games, especially against opponents that aren’t that good, has been a huge problem.

On the whole, they’ve been pretty healthy, but they did suffer a couple of alarming injuries Sunday. LT Michael Oher twisted his knee, and S Dawan Landry sustained a concussion. Both are expected top play Sunday (and both will be needed), but it remains to be seen how well they do. The Steelers are banged up too, at least.

Tough schedule the rest of the way. The season closes with games vs. PIT, @ HOU, vs. NO, @ CLE, and vs. CIN. None of those games is going to be easy, and the Pittsburgh games always end with the guys on both teams banged up. The Ravens can definitely win two or three of them, but they’ll have to play hard in every one.

6) future outlook
The team’s been living on it’s defense, and that’s currently changing. The offense looks to be in better shape for the future - Flacco, Rice, and FB LeRon McClain make for a great young backfield. The O-line is surprisingly young - aside from center Matt Birk (who’s 34), the next oldest player is Chris Chester at 27. Oher’s growing into a solid presence on the end of the line, and they’re playing well together.

The defense is a different story. Ray Lewis (35) and Ed Reed (32) aren’t going to be there forever, and the Ravens need to fill not only their positions, but the leadership roles they occupy on and off the field. Underrated nose tackle Kelly Gregg is 34, and replacing him is going to be tougher than people think.

I like the coaching staff - I mentioned the improvement in the penalties above, and they’re making decent in-game adjustments as well. There’s a lot about coaching that you don’t notice unless it goes wrong (clock management, getting plays in on time, stupid penalties, egregiously bad playcalling), and I’m not seeing any of that.

7) anything else you feel the need to share about your team
They’ve got prime time games in the next two weeks, so you all can decide for yourselves if I’m full of shit. :smiley:

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I fully agree with everything you just said. I actually came in the lament about the injuries and our sucktastic Special Teams.

I love my New York Giants, but I think it’s safe to say they’re not as good as their record this year. The Giants do best when they fly in under the radar (think the 2007 season); the worst thing you could do for them is predict that they go to the Super Bowl.

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  1. your team
    The Oakland Raiders

  2. your team’s current record
    5-6

  3. can they (mathematically) make the playoffs?
    Yes

3a) if yes, what would they have to do in order to make the playoffs?
They have to win out, and have KC lose at least one more other than the game they play against each other.

  1. the good
    The running back’s have finally turned it on this season, and are starting to run like crazy. Not just McFadden but Bush too. Both of them have played phenominally for at least 10 weeks.

Rookie WR Jacoby Ford may in fact be a star in the making. He has speed and more importantly he has hands. Some of the catches he has come down with have been mind boggling.

For most of the season our defense has been pretty good too. We have a lot of youth on that end and I only see things getting better as the rookies start to grow up.

  1. the bad
    We have no quarterback that is worth anything. We have only 1 wide reciever who is capable of actually catching a ball. We have an O-Line that couldn’t prevent a pack of grandma’s from getting to the QB, we have at least 2 starters who don’t belong on a professional football field, we have players on defense who are crushingly dominant when they want to be, but don’t seem to want to be right now, and we have coaches who can’t make up their minds about what kind of team they want this to be.

Oh, yeah, we also have Al Davis mucking things up.

  1. future outlook
    IF, and it’s a big if, but if we have another good draft and manage to keep some continuity from this season to next, I think we can actually be contenders next year. We need a solid center and right offensive tackle, and we need them badly. We need one more good CB and a replacement for Michael Huff at Safety. We need to get a a quality veteran wide receiver who can teach the kids how to catch.

We really need a new QB, but that isn’t going to happen, so we need to figure out how to make Jason Campbell a decent QB.

That’s a whole lot of needs, but even getting half of them would turn this team around a whole lot.
7) anything else you feel the need to share about your team

Jacoby Ford is so good it’s insane. Seriously, go look up some highlight footage. Freaking nuts! He quite literally took badly thrown interceptions out of the hands of the other team’s defenders, twice. If he can keep up that level of play and we figure out our passing problems then that kid is going to be a star.

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  1. I’m a Giants fan, so my honest assessment is bound to be incoherent, because I just can’t figure this team out.

  2. 7-4

  3. Yes, they can definitely make the playoffs, and probably should… but I wouldn’t bet real money on it, because I could see them finishing either 4-1 or 1-4!

  4. The defensive line is often awesome, and occasionally Eli Manning looks like Peyton.

  5. The linebackers are bad, the offense has way too many injuries, and the team as a whole makes way too many dumb mistakes

  6. The future outlook… I have no idea. This team doesn’t make sense. I’ll say… they go 10-6 and grab a wild card, then lose to the first good team they face in the playoff.

  7. I really think Tom Coughlin has to go. He’s SUPPOSED to be a disciplinarian, but the Giants are a sloppy, mistake-prone team. Either he can’t instill discipline or the team has tuned him out.

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I don’t see how they can afford the pick, no matter who they take. Might as well go whole hog with it.

37

The Lions will probably be picking in the 4-6 range, I think they win another game, maybe two. As you noted they might be losing Megatron which means the smart pick is AJ Green, the monster WR from Georgia. If CJ stays they’re stacked at the position, if he goes they aren’t crippled. I think Stafford is never going to be healthy but you simply cannot draft another QB unless you trade or cut Stafford, there’s way too much money locked up there otherwise. The other alternative is to draft a top CB, and they might considering the expected criticism any time the Lions draft a top WR, but I think the WR is a safer bet.

38

Agreed; I was at the Packer/Dolphin game, and it was danged frustrating to watch. On the other hand, it’s possible that they have come around on that in recent weeks, with the pantsings that they gave the Cowboys and Vikings.

39

TEAM: Donkeys

ASESSMENT: They lost to fucking OAKLAND. And not just by a little bit. Good God it’s painful to even think about how bad Oakland beat the Donks.

FUTURE OUTLOOK: Excellent. But it’ll take a plane crash.

40

This thread has got me starting to scout Mel Kiper’s Big Board and project the Bears picks. Hmm. Lots of OTs in the 19-25 range and a couple potential stud Centers available. My early money is on trying to nab Mike Pouncey to replace Kruetz at the back end of the 1st round and then taking the best available WR by trading up in the 2nd round, maybe Jonathan Baldwin. It’s not in the Bears make up to trade up, but recent history has had them being aggressive. Too Early?