That was a blow to the head of Vick, Todd Herremans should totally be fined. 
No need to wait for the end of the season to begin the excuses, apparently.
The hit on Maclin was indeed a cheap shot, but it didn’t affect the game; Maclin held on to the ball and didn’t miss a down.
There was nothing wrong with the hit on Vick; the safety tackled him around the thighs and had no way of knowing when Vick got rid of the ball. I don’t really get why it’s his fault that Todd Herremans headbutted his own QB.
The horse collar on Ryan that lieu mentioned was dirtier than even the Robinson hit and didn’t even draw a flag.
How gullible is Kansas City? I can’t believe they fell for that “this year the pre-season is going to last seven weeks” joke.
Random thoughts:
I don’t like him, I don’t like his team, and I hate his owner, but Tony Romo gets major props for coming back with a fractured rib and leading the Cowboys to a much needed victory. Credit where credit is due.
Fred Jackson is one of the most underrated players in the game today.
How the hell do the Ravens go from whuppin the Steelers to losing to the Titans in one week? Especially when they held CJ2K to under 3 ypc? Joe Flacco is one big reason.
Charles Woodson, with 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery, should get DPoW.
Detroit is not just building a team, they’re building an attitude. Going for it on 4th down up by 17 points and getting a touchdown is … interesting. They’ve gone from underdog to bully pretty quickly.
I don’t know how or why, but the Bucs sure know how to win the close ones.
Jacksonville seems to be trying to chase away their fanbase so they can move easier.
I don’t mind seeing Pete Carroll’s teams suffer, even if it is at the hands of the Steelers.
I underestimated the Redskins. I don’t think they’re great, but they’re certainly better than “very bad”.
If I hear the word “Tebow” ever again, it will be too soon.
I’m rooting for karma to come around on Dunta Robinson.
I still get a kick out of “fat lineman running with the ball”. This week, it was Vince Wilfork who made me smile.
Flacco- like his counterpart Matt Ryan- is hugely overrated. He’s a solid NFL quarterback, but the talking heads make him sound like Peyton Manning.
I didn’t understand why Suh wasn’t the top pick in last year’s draft, but I bet every other NFL team understands they fucked up by not trading for him. Think about how scary that front four will be when Nick Fairley gets healthy.
Oh, that’s easy. John Freeman is how and why. I was really worried about losing Cadillac Williams in the offseason because he was Freeman’s fourth-quarter safety blanket last year (once he and the team figured out that he was an ideal third-down back) but Freeman doesn’t seem to care who he throws to on third down anymore.
They’re not leaving unless the team is sold. The Jaguars are Wayne Weaver’s legacy, and getting an NFL team in Jacksonville was pretty much his lifelong dream.
Seconded, from another Cowboys hater.
You ought to hear how the local sports talk radio goes on about Matt Ryan - you’d think he is Johnny Unitas come again.
OK, I’ll be fair here.
Flacco is a perfectly serviceable quarterback. I’ve seen him lots over the past few years and he has the potential to reach “the next level”, as it were. He simply can’t do it, for whatever reason. That game against Pittsburgh was a genuine fluke, that was his first career win head-to-head against Ben Roethlisberger and was, statistically, the best game of his career. Why he can’t do that every week is beyond me, but he can’t. The pundits see that potential and wonder why he doesn’t do it every week. That’s where the hype comes from.
Is he overrated? No. He may end up being an excellent quarterback for a long time, but as of right now he’ll never be a great one, and the pundits need to recognize that for what it is and stop making a big deal about it. The hype probably hurts him more than anything, if you assume he’s trying to force it to happen like most people would.
He’s no Peyton Manning, but he’s a top-15 quarterback.
He’s 22nd in passer rating. 23rd in yards. 31st in completion percentage. 21st in ypc, and tied for 8th in int’s.
I understand that the sample size this year is very small, but in Flacco’s case it includes his career game against the Steelers, which should overestimate his value.
There are about 5 or 6 elite level QB’s (Rodgers, Brady, P. Manning if healthy, Brees, Rivers, and so far this year, Stafford). A second tier of maybe 4 very good QB’s, (Rothlisberger, Romo, Schaub, Vick) There are 5 or 6 that have no business starting in the NFL (Campbell, T.Jax, L. McKown, K. Collins, A. Smith).
Then there is a huge swath of QB’s who are servicable. You can win games, maybe not championships, but games, with these guys. Flacco, Cutler, Eli, Ryan, Orton and on and on. Sure there are QB’s who are younger and need time to develop (Newton, Dalton, Bradford, Henne?), and QB’s who are older and placeholders (McNabb, Hasselback), but, by and large, there’s a mass of QB’s in the good to average range. Flacco is in that mass of QB’s.
At least that’s how I see it.
I was trying to convince my son (who claims he’ll watch no more Chief’s games this year), that going for the TD instead of kicking the gimme FG was potentially a ‘nicer’ move - it gives the opposition a chance to prevent the score (not that the Chiefs were likely to stop them).
That’s fair enough. I guess giving someone the benefit of the doubt can go too far.
Since we’re talking about overrated, overhyped quarterbacks, why does Rivers get so much credit, and why doesn’t Roethlisberger get enough? He’s won 2/3rds of his games in his career, he has two championships (and nearly a third), he’s lead a boatload of 4th quarter comebacks, and he’s demonstrated the ability to pass for numbers. That he’s not asked to doesn’t make him any less of an elite player. Rivers, on the other hand, hasn’t done anything special.
Sure, but he was in the top 10 in every category except yards last year, which is a much more representative sample (and 11th in yards).
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Since we’re talking about overrated, overhyped quarterbacks, why does Rivers get so much credit, and why doesn’t Roethlisberger get enough?
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Rivers has played on teams of varying quality; Rpethlisberger has played on uniformly excellent teams. Game winning 4th quarter drives aren’t very impressive when the reason you’re behind is you couldn’t put up points in the first three quarters and the defense kept you in the game.
Ben’s best statistical year (4300 yards, 26 touchdowns) is Rivers’ average over the past three seasons.
I don’t get the love for Rivers. I have never seen him produce excellent results on a consistent basis.
Sure it is. Elway’s gotten endless post-career blowjobs for that very thing.
As for Rivers playing on teams of varying quality, I’d say that’s false. His teams have always been good, but Norv Turner is a teamkiller and Rivers hasn’t delivered in the clutch. Ben has spent his entire career running for his life behind horribly inept offensive lines that consistently hang him out to dry.
Do you mean that Roethlisberger should be considered elite, or that Rivers is overrated?
I fully admit to not being impressed by Roethlistbergers’ rings; they’re, to me, clearly like Eli’s, the result of playing with a very good defense and not making too many mistakes. He can be quite good (he can also be quite below average like 2006 and 2008), and he can put up better than average numbers, but he’s never truly carried his team like Brady, Manning, Rodgers, or even Rivers has.
Add in that Rivers has a higher passer rating than Roethlisberger every single season except 2007, and I think he’s a much better QB than Ben. He led the league in passer rating in 2008, was 3rd in 2009, and second last year. And he did those without a great defense or great running game. To me, that’s elite.
If you don’t think Rivers is elite, that’s fine. He’s right on the line, and there is certainly arguments to be made that he isn’t. But I also think he’s a better QB than Roethlisberger.
I certainly can. The Eagles had more than doubled the Falcons’ yards going into the second half. At the point Vick goes down the Eagles were driving to go up 10 and had made Matt Ryan look absolutely awful on the Falcons last three possessions (7 plays, 0 yards, an INT and two punts). That game was over, the Falcons wanted no part in it. Seeing Vick go down, with no second stringer active, gave the Falcons all the momentum. It was plainly obvious to anyone who watched the game.
The Falcons top two WRs had five catches for only 52 yards. Michael Turner was shut down until the Falcons final drive where he broke off his only long run of the night (20 carries for 53 yards). Ryan was sacked four times and picked twice. I would think the Falcons lose that game under those circumstances. They won because the Eagles turned the ball over three times (including a pick that wasn’t - which NBC has now apologized for not getting a replay in time to allow the Eagles to challenge) and that led directly to 21 Falcons points. All three turnovers started a Falcon drive inside Eagles territory.
Coming in a little late, I know, but for the Patriots: the score does not reveal just how terrible the Patriots defense is right now. Rivers was tossing to Jackson and Floyd (before he got hurt) with impunity. The corners and safeties could NOT cover any wideouts. Also, he was hitting running backs in the flat constantly (particularly Tolbert), who would then run for a good 6-8 yards and often more. SD running game was clicking along, too, but they didn’t bother with it too much because they were throwing so easily. There was absolutely no pressure on Rivers in the pocket all game. It seriously looked like the Pats were playing with 10 men on defense.
They had an excellent goal-line stand and a lucky INT from Wilfork - that’s the difference in the game right there.
Obviously, the offense continues to go on all cylinders, but we’re simply not going to be able to rack up 35 ppg to cover up the weakness of this defense. This new 4-3 scheme is absolutely not working, and I can only hope that Belichick can adapt and coach 'em up. Despite all that, it’s always a pleasure to beat the Chargers, though slightly less so without whiny-ass LT on the team.
He’s 17th in yards per game (Flacco was healthy all year last year). He’s a fine QB, but he’s not elite, hell, he’s not even very good. They don’t ask him to do too much, and he’s fine as long as he plays in the system. He is, as I said, just one of the mass of good to average QB’s out there.
Is it time to start the Favre to the Colts rumor yet?
No, although I’m not as horrified by it as I would have been two weeks ago.
So, they have Painter, Collins and Manning, plus a guy on the practice squad named Hartline. Is there a limit to how many QBs they could have on the roster? Which one would they cut? I can’t see them cutting Collins, unless a huge name like Favre is coming in. Has Painter ever done anything except cost them a perfect season? Would Manning hate them forever if they cut him for this season to get another functional QB?
I don’t think they’d need to cut him. Just put him on I/R.