Goddammit. It’s the story of the Panthers - wasn’t there a period of time when Steve Smith was out for injuries for, like, three seasons in a row? Is there something written in the charter that somebody’s got to be the injury stalking horse?
I so want to believe that Newton’s performances in the last two games are real. NO ONE wants to believe that more than I do (except perhaps Ron Rivera). And they were mighty impressive performances, to be sure. But two games at the beginning of a season isn’t enough for me to exhale just yet.
And in spite of the Newton Show, my beloved Panthers still lost the two fucking games.
In other news - I loathe Tony Romo with the heat of a nova, but I gotta hand it to the guy who played with a cracked rib and helped his team win the game.
i was going to post about that hit twice today and decided against it both times. Partly because nobody cares - partly because everyone knows Vick takes hits that other QBs don’t and doesn’t get the flags others do. That was a big talking point for a week or two last season. That hit was egregious, Vick was parallel to the ground on impact. It was a dirty hit deserving of a penalty (unlike the one that eventually knocked Vick out)and as always with Vick, wasn’t called. I saw two hits in earlier games that were less obvious and both were flagged.
But on the flipside, both teams got away with hits to QBs that game. Cullen Jenkins lit Matt Ryan up on a sack in the 1st and went helmet to helmet. The play mentioned earlier where Ryan was dragged to the ground and held down would have been called in 95% of games. It wasn’t a dirty hit or even deserving of a penalty, but it was awkward looking enough to draw a reactionary flag.
It’s just maddening to see a game officiated differently for Vick when he’s just as deserving of referee protection as Brady and Manning. It’s especially maddening considering that the hit changed the outcome of a game. (It occured on the bogus interception-that-wasn’t-but-NBC-decided-should-be and would have nullified a turnover that led to 7 Falcons points)
$40,000 fine, which is less than he was fined last year for the same damn thing (although that was reduced from $50k to $25k on appeal). It’s like the NFL is trying not to be taken seriously on player safety issues.
Kolga, do you get to see the Panthers’ games? I know you’re out of market, so I’m not sure if you have the NFL ticket or not. Newton is really as good as it sounds. That doesn’t mean he’s going to be great, but he’s much, much better than I imagined. He has fantastic poise and presence for a rookie. Great arm strength, and more accurate than he showed in pre-season. He’s just good. It’s fun to watch.
I don’t have Dish, so I don’t get NFL Sunday Ticket. I do have RedZone (we have Comcast), so I do get to see at least part of the games.
He’s definitely better than I expected . I was seriously expecting overblown hype ala Tebow, and have been very surprised at Newton’s talents translating to the NFL. He does seem to be handling the rookie pressure well so far.
He is fun to watch, I agree. And certainly it’s better to watch him than the last year of Delhomme and Moore. I wish the Panthers had a little bit more running game - I think they’re relying a tad too much on that arm of his.
I just can’t trust it yet. Call it wariness after traumatic fan experiences. And it would help if the Panthers would win a fucking game. I know they’re supposedly playing the most difficult schedule of the league this year, but with those kinds of records, you kinda expect a W.
Oh, no doubt, the team has a long way to go. I’m just excited that at least so far it doesn’t look like they blew the #1 pick. He may still crap out, but it’s a relief that he’s playing well from the start. He’s not Tom Brady but he’s not JaMarcus Russell either.
I finally got a chance to watch the 40ers Cowboys game. I figured my 49ers lost when I saw the headline, “Romo shakes off broken rib.”
We had a couple losses like this last season, but this time, we looked downright competent on offense. Well, at least much of the time. The defense gave up some big plays, but in general, it was a hard loss because we had a big lead and couldn’t hold it.
Props to Romo for playing through the pain. Screw him.
Well, yeah, you definitely should’ve started with “body of work, postseason included” if you were planning on defending his shitty Super Bowl performances, but you didn’t. You started with the old “can’t argue with success” thing about how it’s a simple black and white question and rings = top 5 and no rings = not, but you didn’t stick with it. If the other games matter, which now we agree that they do, then obviously Rivers has done a whole hell of a lot, and you can’t turn around and go right back to the Super Bowl Hero Champion well.
Can I just go on the record and state that the Giants have the lamest uniforms in the NFL? They look like they are wearing leotards. They just look generic from afar, but up close they look cheap and comically bland. It’s almost as if they are starring in a really low budget commercial without NFL rights.
NFL jerseys re-imagined as Soccer Unis. Soccer sucks, but I actually thought a few of these were really interesting. This link is apparently old and it made the viral round back in February but I somehow missed it. I think the Pats, Vikings and Seahawks are by far the best. I’d actually buy those if I were a fan of those teams. Unfortunately he never finished the project and only about half the league is represented.
I’m not pleased that the Giants won, but from what I understand they looked awful. I didn’t get to see the game. Hopefully they roll over against Philly next week.
Meh. It wasn’t the same hit as last year; Maclin wasn’t a defenseless receiver. Still pretty bad, obviously, but Robinson broke like four rules last time and one and a half this time.
Coming from the guy whose team has the league’s ugliest uniforms of all.
And it would help if the Panthers would win a fucking game. I know they’re supposedly playing the most difficult schedule of the league this year, but with those kinds of records, you kinda expect a W.