Thought I’d go ahead and start this since we have a real game tonight. I love NFL football. I am so happy that it’s back. Even if my team (Bengals) traditionally sucks, I watch 'em anyway because I just love watching my adopted hometown team play.
So…Cowboys v Giants should get us out of the gate pretty nicely, I think. Dallas as usual has a bunch of talent and a lot of hype…the Giants just won the Superbowl and have Eli Manning and the Gang…
So don’t forget to set your fantasy lineups, go Giants and let’s have some real football!
Yeah, the off season as always lasted waaaay too long. Good to see 'em start tonite even if my Boys likely will start 0-1. At least I can rely on the Texans Sunday. Anyone else in a confidence pool? I found it boosts my interest and enjoyment of all the games as opposed to just the usual suspects.
I’m really, really hoping poor officiating doesn’t cast a pall over game quality for too much longer. C’mon guys, share the wealth.
Here in the greater NYC area Cablevision finally has the NFL Network, so I’ve been overdosing on NFL and Giants propaganda for the past week. So excited the new season is finally here.
So glad to have real football, even if I am the type of sick individual who devours and dissects preseason games, training camp and Hard Knocks like it’s the Zapruder film. This is the stuff. Obviously I’m really fired up for the Bears this year, a detailed breakdown coming to the NFC North thread sometime before Sunday I hope, even if there are some big red flags.
I think tonight’s game could be a bit of a surprise. There’s a weird dynamic around both of these teams this preseason, the Giants after winning a Super Bowl have been flying under the radar somehow. Ironically, everyone recently noticed this and public opinion has boomeranged around to the point that they are suddenly the trendy pick. The Cowboys with the Dez Bryant news, Witten injury and general malaise seem to be everyone pick to flop spectacularly and Cowboys fans are even tempering expectations.
I’m not sure what each teams’ season is going to end up like, but I have a feeling the the Pokes are going to surprise a lot of people by winning this one. Big game from Romo and Bryant. The Giants O-Line is going to get chewed up a bit and the Giants secondary is gonna get torched.
It’s a really hard schedule, and their secondary is already nearly as banged up as last year. I’m not saying they won’t make the playoffs, just that they’ll have to do it with 10 wins at best.
FO’s projection system spit out a 25% chance of New England’s winning the Super Bowl; that’s nuts. Not nuts like unrealistic, but no one is ever such a heavy favorite for them (only five teams are above 4.5%, only two above 10%). Basically, FO says they’ll a defense that regresses towards the mean and then some, a crazy-good offense, and (most importantly) a crazy-easy schedule.
Also: Holy shit do the Rams ever have a crappy projection, San Fran is projected to mostly suck, and the Giants are given a 3% chance to repeat (killer schedule).
I typically don’t complain about officiating, but in this circumstance: that particular kind of defensive holding is a call that the real refs just never miss.
Eh, it was a really bad call, but I think you give the real Refs too much credit. They miss these type of calls, especially in the red zone, all the time but the broadcasters are just way more diplomatic about it. That type of route in this part of the field is always a battle and it almost always could be called either offensive pass interference on the push off or holding on the DB.
First, when Coe batted the ball away in the end zone: “That could have really cost Romo. It could easily have been his first interception in 100 throws.” Really, Cris? Romo threw 100 passes since the first quarter when he was picked by Boley?
Second, before the deluge of penalties ground the miserable fourth quarter to a halt: “But on the whole, the refs really haven’t affected the game in a major way.” Except for the pretty clear missed non-call on the defensive holding in the end zone, right? After all was said and done it didn’t matter; the Cowboys just outplayed the Giants. I foresee around 6 straight wins of the Cowboys over the Giants, since the NFC East just goes streaky like that.
Other observations:
The lead ref looked autistic. His eyes were weird. I did appreciate his decisiveness and terseness, though.
I want it added to the official record: The New York Football Giants led the league in rushing for 39 minutes in the 2012 season. I kept a running count, and they surpassed the Cowboys rushing total when my DVR said 21 minutes in. The Cowboys took it back (and never looked back) when my DVR said 1:00. Laugh all you want, I’m hanging my hat on that.
