The AFC landscape in 2007

[dhamz]

The Pats are still going to be the class of the East. The Jets will be the flavor of the month like Miami was this past year.

San Diego has the most talent in football but you just have to wonder what is going on in that organization. They have essentially told their coach that next year is his last year which is always a terrible idea - especially with some of the nutcases he has to deal with in that locker room.

Denver, Cincy and Pittsburgh will all likely bounce back. There is too much talent in those places for them not to. Baltimore goes into next year with the same good defense, bad offense, no QB team they always have. They will fall back.

The Colts are going to easily win their division again. They have a great offense and will again next year. That is more than enough to walk to 10-12 wins in that division even if their D isn't improved. Houston will still be terrible. Jacksonville still will have 2 QBs who can't play. Tennessee will better but is not close to being a contender.

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

Cmon, Ryan.

Do you really think that same fans who were predicting cap hell for the Colts in 2004, in 2005, in 2006 are going to stop their refrain in 2007???

Given their track record, I would not find any of their reports of a Colts implosion in 2007 to be very credible.

Cries of the Colts falling apart bore me too, but you have to admit that either the Colts did a great job of predicting the cap would go up by a lot or got really lucky.

If they saw the cap increasing significantly then you give them credit and can't really blame fans who were wrong because they didn't share this insight. Without this knowledge some of their contracts looked foolish.

If they simply got lucky, then the people predicting their future cap hell weren't that far off.

 

[Miguel]

Cries of the Colts falling apart bore me too, but you have to admit that either the Colts did a great job of predicting the cap would go up by a lot or got really lucky.

If they saw the cap increasing significantly then you give them credit and can't really blame fans who were wrong because they didn't share this insight. Without this knowledge some of their contracts looked foolish.

If they simply got lucky, then the people predicting their future cap hell weren't that far off.

The possible unstated presumptions behind this are
1.) that those who were predicting cap hell for the Colts in 2006 were also predicting that the CBA would not be extended.
2.) that the Colts needed all of the unexpected increase not to be in cap hell.

The cap in 2006 was indeed larger than expected. Do I think that anyone in the NFL thought that it would be $102 million??? No. Do I think that the anyone in the NFL thought that the CBA would not be extended?? If the CBA was extended, it would be reasonable to presume that the 2006 cap would be greater than if the CBA were not extended.

What did the cap have to be in 2006 in order for the Colts to be in cap hell??
$100 million???$97.5 million???$95 million??

Did the Colts use the LTBE move this year?? If so and I think that they did (the cap numbers for Proehl and Ulrich look out of place to me), they did not use all of the their adjusted cap and therefore could have comfortably dealt with a smaller cap.

IMO, those who had predicted cap hell in 2006 for the Colts would have needed luck for their predictions.
1.) the CBA could not have been extended. IIRC, no Pats fans predicted that.
2.) they would have to known that a special master would not allow the Colts to convert the roster bonuses of Manning and Harrison to be converted to signing bonuses. IIRC, no Pats fans predicted that.

 

[everlong]

Th
What did the cap have to be in 2006 in order for the Colts to be in cap hell??
$100 million???$97.5 million???$95 million??

On the Colts Cap hell subject I'm a moderate. I think they have managed the cap really well and will probably continue to do so however if the Cap was only 95 would they have had enough Cap room to grab McFarland? That's not a small point he played very solid for them and I don't think they can fix their run defense without that pickup.

Going forward I don't think they over pay for June or Morris because they'll find guys in those positions they can coach up and into their system for much less money.

And I don't think they resign Freeney. I think this guy is seriously over-rated.

Super Bowl Stat Line: no tackles, no sacks.
AFC Championship Stat Line: 2 tackles, no sacks.
Divisional Round Stat Line: no tackles, no sacks.
Wild Card Round: 3 tackles, 2 sacks

Season Stat line: 16 games 29 tackles, 5.5 sacks.

I know stats don't tell the entire story but this guy is like A-rod in baseball. He loads up his stats beating on the bad teams and in garbage time and does nothing against the good teams or in big games. The Ravens, Pats and Chicago were not double and triple teaming him he was handled one on one a lot or one on one with a chip from a RB or TE.

Watch them add a DE at the end of the first round to replace Freeney much like Addai replace Edge.

They'll be back and you know what? Why don't we want them back? I for one would love to be the team to knock them off and end the dynasty talk.