Is there a "favorite" in the AFC?

[SoonerPatriot]

The past several weeks, it's become fashionable by some in the media i.e. Peter King to break the AFC race down to two teams -- Baltimore and SD.

Shannon Sharpe seemed to say this last night, though he's a bit of a Ravens homer. Plus, he could have been talking about how to make a chocolate cake for all I know. I generally need close captioning when he talks.

IMO this is the most wide open the AFC has been in several years. The Pats will have a say in the outcome. So will Jax and maybe Cincy. I don't think Denver gets in and Indy is in a free fall but still dangerous in their RCA dome cocoon.

SD is very impressive but beatable. And until Marty hoists a Lombardi I'm not buying it, although this SD team is probably as close as it gets to being "Marty proof". Rivers is untested in the playoffs and I wonder about their ability to stretch the field with their WRs, not that they need to very often. I think we could run on their D.

Not sold on Baltimore either. Defense is excellent. But their offense is pop gun. McNair threw 4 ints Sunday. At some point, I think it gets them in trouble.

I guess that's why the Dolphins game doesn't bother me that much. The two media annointed contenders are flawed and there is still 3 weeks of football left to play. We were in the thick of it Sunday and we're still in the thick of it. Nothing has changed.

 

[edgecy]

Not sure if you can find much flaws with SD. And please don't tell me that Marty is like 2-12 etc etc. Those are history, things change. Just because somebody did poorly back then doesn't mean it will happen again. Brady was 6-0 against Manning and guess what happened.

SD has LT, Rivers and Merriman. They're the favorite to win it all imo

 

[carolinatony]

I think Indy may be done with the free ride every year in their division. The Titans are looking good for next year and Jacksonville always seems to beat them once at home. Image them as a widcard and having to play away from the Dome.
We stil have a chance in the playoff's but we need to get the passing game going or we may not win 1 game. We need a deep threat somehow.

 

[SoonerPatriot]

NEM, I really don' think McDaniels cares if fans on a message board are critcizing him. And if he did care to the point it bothered him, he shouldn't be coaching on this level.

 

[carolinatony]

Everything I see tells me S.D. is the team to beat except for one little thing.
Didn't most experts pick Indy last year. There was no way they could lose playing at home and yet...they lost
I do agree with most that our offense needs to be much better.

 

[SoonerPatriot]

I dont think he cares either, and I dont expect anything major to come of it either. However just the fact that someone started that web page, and there are more and more threads about McDaniels, it says something of what his cbility to hold down that position might be.

Do I expect anything to happen NOW? No, I dont. but lets see what happens, offensively, in the next three games...because if it goes bad.... then I have a feeling that something like this web site, and others, could have a bearing on his future.

Fact is, there is an awful lot of talk about his ability to be an OC...I may have been the first, many, many games ago, but now there is a lot, and I mean a lot, of people who see what I saw...and its not pretty.

Just took them a little longer to see it. And, possibly more to come if this Sunday is more of the same. Personally, I hope not...because winning games right now is far more important than the ill feelings I have for the little boy coordinator.

Well, in that case my advice to you would be to dig for the long haul ibecause he's not going anywhere. He'll be the OC next year and thereafter as long as BB is coaching the team.

 

[carolinatony]

What was McDaniels experience before this? He must have shown some ability if BB picked him.

 

[carolinatony]

thanks for the info

 

[carolinatony]

Just that he is Young...same age as my daughter.
I relize people have to start a job to get experience but to me I like a more experienced coach for one of only 32 jobs in the world.
If anything I would have expected a more WOW factor from a young coach..a innovator; rather than a conservative type coach.
Something like a Spurrier when he was @ Florida
But; BB must see something in him

 

[AzPatsFan]

The past several weeks, it's become fashionable by some in the media i.e. Peter King to break the AFC race down to two teams -- Baltimore and SD.

Shannon Sharpe seemed to say this last night, though he's a bit of a Ravens homer. Plus, he could have been talking about how to make a chocolate cake for all I know. I generally need close captioning when he talks.

IMO this is the most wide open the AFC has been in several years. The Pats will have a say in the outcome. So will Jax and maybe Cincy. I don't think Denver gets in and Indy is in a free fall but still dangerous in their RCA dome cocoon.

SD is very impressive but beatable. And until Marty hoists a Lombardi I'm not buying it, although this SD team is probably as close as it gets to being "Marty proof". Rivers is untested in the playoffs and I wonder about their ability to stretch the field with their WRs, not that they need to very often. I think we could run on their D.

Not sold on Baltimore either. Defense is excellent. But their offense is pop gun. McNair threw 4 ints Sunday. At some point, I think it gets them in trouble.

I guess that's why the Dolphins game doesn't bother me that much. The two media annointed contenders are flawed and there is still 3 weeks of football left to play. We were in the thick of it Sunday and we're still in the thick of it. Nothing has changed.

I agree nothing has changed. The two powers with both an Offense and a Defense in the top ten, are the Bolts and Pats. All the others are pretenders as much as they are contenders. peter king does his urtmost to reward the top club du jour and thsi week he farcically has two NFC clubs among his top teams. What a joke !

 

[thesmee1]

I was glad I had to work on Sunday. Even my husband had to change the channel. I have no doubts that the Pats will bounce back, but the Bolts remind me of the 2003/2004 Pats. For a long time, they were at the bottom of their division, just like us. There are so many similarities, I'd love to see them both play in the AFCCG. Just sayin..

 

[BruschiOnTap]

I haven't been a fan of the playcalling this season or last year, I felt it was Belichick doing the least he had to win football games without showing too much on game film... paranoia will destroy-ya as they say, the offense has been so vanilla that we're not making the most of opportunities and we're instead putting forth the most effort we can and still losing...

But I have noticed when our backs are against the wall that suddenly the playcalling gets much more aggressive, but always too late in the game. Going back to last season, once we made the playoffs I remember our offense picking it up and looking much more different than it did during the regular season and I'm still hoping that's what happens this year... But it doesn't matter if we keep turning the ball over, losing the battle for field position, and Brady has to keep hurrying his throws

At this point, however, the tops of the conference is unclear, we're none of us perfect. So chin up!

 

[Rob0729]

Can I ask how this thread has been a predominant discussion about McDaniels and not on the original topic? I guess if I started a post on this board about how I think Jessica Alba is hot, it probably would only take three or four posts until someone spun it to she is only hot because we need beautiful things in the world to counteract McDaniels' play calling.

I don't think they is a favorite in the AFC this year. San Diego is the obvious choice, but Schottenheimer has had the best team in the regular season several times before and not won a single playoff game. He hasn't won a playoff game since 1992. I think his lifetime playoff record is 5-12. This could be the year he overcomes his playoff woes, but I am not ready to bet on it.

Baltimore is another choice, but they just got beaten pretty badly by the Bengals just last week and their win on Sunday could be the extra two days of preparation.

Indy looks to be done. They have lost three out of four and both their defense and offense seems to be getting worse.

The Jets seems to have fooled people after two big wins against two bad teams. Buffalo may have shown what they really are - an average team that can beat up on the bad teams and struggle against better teams.

Cincy scares me a bit. I think we can match up against them, but they are surging at the right time.

We need to cure our turnover problems, but I think we still have a shot. It definitely won't be easy, but we could still have a shot.

 

[mgcolby]

Not sure if you can find much flaws with SD. And please don't tell me that Marty is like 2-12 etc etc. Those are history, things change. Just because somebody did poorly back then doesn't mean it will happen again. Brady was 6-0 against Manning and guess what happened.

SD has LT, Rivers and Merriman. They're the favorite to win it all imo

They have flaws. Over dependent on LT and Gates they account for 68% of the offense. Rivers has not played in the playoffs remember what happened to Brees in 2004 when they got in? The defense puts up great individual stats but they also give up a lot of points.

No team is playing consistent football. What will people say and think if KC beats SD again this week, if Cleveland plays Baltimore tough again-this time in Baltimore and the Pats kick the sh!t out of Houston?