# Official 2011 NFL Football Thread - Preseason Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 21, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-2011-nfl-football-thread-preseason-edition/589920 "2011-07-21T23:58:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 34
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-2011-nfl-football-thread-preseason-edition/589920/662 "2011-09-10T10:22:10Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > So FoieGras, with the title bet, are we good with “posting from the AFCN basement” until our team wins a game after that? I know you want to go the whole season but I’d feel bad punishing your silly optimism to such a degree. It’ll be about a month before the Bengals win something, so I feel that’s good enough. That’s just fine, and I don’t think my optimism is silly. This team won the division in 2009 and has improved since then in all areas except QB and CB. And CB isn’t too steep a dropoff and the QB situation may actually end up better overall in time. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-2011-nfl-football-thread-preseason-edition/589920/663 "2011-09-10T12:09:28Z")
> [@Jules\_Andre](#): > > Just so I have this right, I should wait to make my preseason wins/losses prediction until after the games have been played? What’s the point of making any predictions ever? I can’t extrapolate how I think things will go down based off of what I’ve seen and what I think will happen? _sigh_ Are you itching for a fight? It’s not the prediction, it was your declaration that the ONLY way to beat the mighty Eagles was to pound the ball and control the clock. Which is why I pointed out the myriad of ways for one NFL team, one not as good as on paper, beats another. It’s the NFL, that’s what happens. You’re really taking this too seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-2011-nfl-football-thread-preseason-edition/589920/664 "2011-09-20T15:40:08Z")
Steve Smith - 14 catches, 334 yards, 2 td’s. The #1 yardage WR in the NFL. Jason Avant - 4 catches, 69 yards, 0 td’s. The 89th yardage WR in the NFL. Just sayin’ ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-2011-nfl-football-thread-preseason-edition/589920/665 "2011-09-20T18:42:49Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Steve Smith - 14 catches, 334 yards, 2 td’s. The #1 yardage WR in the NFL. > > Jason Avant - 4 catches, 69 yards, 0 td’s. The 89th yardage WR in the NFL. > > Just sayin’ Not sure what you’re saying here. As far as I recall, the only discussion involving Jason Avant and Steve Smith was about the other Steve Smith, the one the Eagles signed. Eagles fans were skeptical at the idea that Smith would leapfrog Avant in the depth chart once he got healthy. Since Smith is already on the active roster, their skepticism may have been justified. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-2011-nfl-football-thread-preseason-edition/589920/666 "2011-09-20T18:46:14Z")
He’d have been an all-time great if he’d ever developed a reliable outside shot. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-2011-nfl-football-thread-preseason-edition/589920/667 "2011-09-20T18:54:59Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Not sure what you’re saying here. > > As far as I recall, the only discussion involving Jason Avant and Steve Smith was about the other Steve Smith, the one the Eagles signed. Eagles fans were skeptical at the idea that Smith would leapfrog Avant in the depth chart once he got healthy. It started with a discussion where Jules Andre was comparing the backups for mighty Eagles to the lowly Carolina Panthers. Jules was opining that Jason Avant, the Eagles #3 WR, was comparable to Steve Smith, the Panther’s #1 WR. While the other Steve Smith was discussed later in the thead, what was the main point of the digression, and what my latest post was emphasizing, was that Steve Smith (CAR) is much better than Jason Avant. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-2011-nfl-football-thread-preseason-edition/589920/668 "2011-09-20T21:00:21Z")
Ah, gotcha. ---
**Author:** ![Jules\_Andre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jules_andre/32/9334_2.png) [@Jules\_Andre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules_Andre)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-2011-nfl-football-thread-preseason-edition/589920/669 "2011-09-21T02:46:55Z")
I was just thinkig about this thread. It, uh, doesn’t look too good for me! Makes me look like an idiot, which might be an accurate picture anyway. So I can admit I was very wrong about what Smith still has in the tank. I was comparing the future-hall-of-famer Avant to him in 2010, and I stand by that comparison favoring Avant (for that season, don’t bring this up again if you don’t understand that distinction). I greatly exaggerated Smith’s decline though, obviously. I remember seeing him play once last season and it looked like he couldn’t separate from a scarecrow, he was awful. I guess most of that was that he didn’t think he’d get the ball anyway. So that was a stupid discussion. I still think my point was misrepresented by everyone arguing against me, but that’s okay. Good times! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-2011-nfl-football-thread-preseason-edition/589920.md?page=33)