NFL Week 3

[meatface]

As good as their defense is, particularly at home, they just can't put enough together offensively to push them over the hump, at least in my opinion.

We'll know more about the real KC after tomorrow night, but in the meantime, I'd list them in the "pretender" category, rather than "contender" category. It sucks they couldn't pull off the upset last Thursday night, though.

in that regard though its kind of odd how few teams are real contenders, who do you even have as a contender in the AFC other than the Pats and the suddenly rapistless steelers

 

[SVN]

Yes.

Indy is bigger mess than detriot. They wont beat denver. Not sure about cincy on the road as well. We shall see. Teams dont look the same as the first 3 weeks. Today manning was not the same 5 time sacked manning of the last 2 games.

 

[SVN]

Patriots Opponents: 5-1 in non-Pats games
Broncos Opponentd: 1-4 in non-Broncos games

True.but indy is no barometer , as we saw even the jets beat them. And we all saw how bad miami looked .Buffalo and pittsburgh are better teams than what broncos have played but hard to judge early. We saw how bad we looked vs KC last yr.
I want to see if Denver can get its running game going. Otherwise in the cold weather it could be a big factor with manning's arm.

 

[supafly]

in that regard though its kind of odd how few teams are real contenders, who do you even have as a contender in the AFC other than the Pats and the suddenly rapistless steelers

I think that's a very fair question to ponder, but I don't want to get into the mindset of "no one can compete with us," either. After all, it's way too early to play too many of these scenarios out for reasons you mention such as the suddenly rapistless team from Pittsburgh. Different scenarios will play out over the next few months, of course.

I'd have to guess that Indy turns things around enough to win their division and host a playoff game, so they'll likely end up right around where they were last year in terms of having the ability to pull off an upset and advance. The only real difference is that they didn't move forward and prove themselves to be the new darling of the NFL, at least through week #3 anyway.

There's always the possibility that Cincy has actually improved, and that their past postseason failures don't apply for the future, but none of us are going to believe that until we see a larger sample size. Either way, they can be a pain in the ass.

As I mentioned, Denver and Manning are probably going to be in the top few AFC teams, and there's always the possibility of seeing a wildcard contender like the NYJ of 2010. If that's the case, I suppose we'd probably put teams like Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and maybe KC in that grouping. Baltimore may get back on a better track and end up something closer to their usual 9-7 record, but it's not looking too good for them at the moment. The Jets could continue to compete and end up around 9-7 just as well, I suppose.

I think you make a great point though, in terms of the Pats being in a pretty good situation, at least as it pertains currently.

 

[TommyD4207]

True.but indy is no barometer , as we saw even the jets beat them. And we all saw how bad miami looked .Buffalo and pittsburgh are better teams than what broncos have played but hard to judge early. We saw how bad we looked vs KC last yr.
I want to see if Denver can get its running game going. Otherwise in the cold weather it could be a big factor with manning's arm.

Denver won't get their running game going, because their offensive line is ****, their running backs are awful, and they blew a high draft pick on a Wisconsin RB (that's always a good idea), and cut Montee Ball before the season started.

Also, Kubiak's offense is only effective if you can run the ball. If you can't, and you have, say, an old, decrepit QB running ****ing bootlegs, he's gonna get killed.

This is how sad Detroit is. They couldn't get near him, save for a couple of times.

Also, saying Denver's defense is "great", is like saying Notre Dame is "great" for putting 60-something on friggin UMass. Wait until they play an actual offense. Hell, I bet Oakland pushes them, they're doing a good job moving the ball so far.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Watching the Broncos/Lions game, I couldn't figure out what the heck Detroit was doing on defense. They kept getting burnt in the passing game and Denver can't run the ball. I'd expect NE to have a similar plan as the Steeler game and dare them to run. There are no Deangelo Williams on the Broncos.

 

[meatface]

I think that's a very fair question to ponder, but I don't want to get into the mindset of "no one can compete with us," either. After all, it's way too early to play too many of these scenarios out for reasons you mention such as the suddenly rapistless team from Pittsburgh. Different scenarios will play out over the next few months, of course.

I'd have to guess that Indy turns things around enough to win their division and host a playoff game, so they'll likely end up right around where they were last year in terms of having the ability to pull off an upset and advance. The only real difference is that they didn't move forward and prove themselves to be the new darling of the NFL, at least through week #3 anyway.

There's always the possibility that Cincy has actually improved, and that their past postseason failures don't apply for the future, but none of us are going to believe that until we see a larger sample size. Either way, they can be a pain in the ass.

As I mentioned, Denver and Manning are probably going to be in the top few AFC teams, and there's always the possibility of seeing a wildcard contender like the NYJ of 2010. If that's the case, I suppose we'd probably put teams like Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and maybe KC in that grouping. Baltimore may get back on a better track and end up something closer to their usual 9-7 record, but it's not looking too good for them at the moment. The Jets could continue to compete and end up around 9-7 just as well, I suppose.

I think you make a great point though, in terms of the Pats being in a pretty good situation, at least as it pertains currently.

But that seems to get into the pretender category, I mean technically everything could break right and the Colts or chiefs could go to the super bowl but I just cant see Cinn, Bal, KC or any of these other teams being able to beat a GB or Arizona.

 

[meatface]

Denver is surprisingly terrible for a 3-0 team but im sure a lot of people will ignore that. I actually want to see what happens when they play Minn

 

[TommyD4207]

Watching the Broncos/Lions game, I couldn't figure out what the heck Detroit was doing on defense. They kept getting burnt in the passing game and Denver can't run the ball. I'd expect NE to have a similar plan as the Steeler game and dare them to run. There are no Deangelo Williams on the Broncos.

Yeah, they've got Ronnie JAG Hillman and C.JAG. Anderson on lock.

Detroit is a "do what we do" team.

That means they don't adjust to ****ing anything. I don't understand why fans of like, 25 teams stand for that stuff.

Detroit has the same defense they had last year, except no Suh, and the Traffic Cone who is The Artist Formerly Known as Heloti Ngata. We saw what the Patriots did to them a year ago. It's no surprise that Denver was able to score on them.

But they're not going to win much putting up 19 PPG or whatever it is. It's not the 85 Bears defense they've got.

 

[supafly]

Denver is surprisingly terrible for a 3-0 team but im sure a lot of people will ignore that. I actually want to see what happens when they play Minn

They play them at Mile High, so Minny's road woes probably need to be taken into account, but yes--they have the capacity to pull off the upset under the right conditions.

 

[supafly]

But that seems to get into the pretender category, I mean technically everything could break right and the Colts or chiefs could go to the super bowl but I just cant see Cinn, Bal, KC or any of these other teams being able to beat a GB or Arizona.

I'm just speaking for the AFC alone in terms of competition for the NEP, but yes I agree with you 100 percent. I try and temper my expectations a bit personally, just due to the fact that it's so early on yet.

 

[TommyD4207]

They play them at Mile High, so Minny's road woes probably need to be taken into account, but yes--they have the capacity to pull off the upset under the right conditions.

Controlled, short passing game (which Bridgewater does pretty well), combined with pounding Peterson between the tackles.

Edge runs are a terrible idea against the Broncos. Their LBs are just too fast.

Which means, of course, we'll see end arounds, toss sweeps, and plenty of 7-step drop with hard playaction.

 

[rochrist]

I don't think anyone should be losing sleep over a team like Denver, but there were some here who suggested some type of downfall with them, which was ridiculous. They'll almost certainly head into their bye week at 6-0.

Even if they only go 6-4 after that, they still end up 12-4 for the year and likely battling for one of the two byes.

The combination of Manning's cerebral ability (as you saw when he threw the last TD pass) and experience reading pre-snap looks PLUS the very good defense certainly make them something of an AFC contender.

I wouldn't be surprised to see them lose to the Vikings. Peterson seems to be fully up to speed at this point.

 

[rochrist]

in that regard though its kind of odd how few teams are real contenders, who do you even have as a contender in the AFC other than the Pats and the suddenly rapistless steelers

Speaking of him, results of the MRI sprained MCL, bone bruise out 4-6 weeks.

 

[TommyD4207]

Speaking of him, results of the MRI sprained MCL, bone bruise out 4-6 weeks.

Roethlisberger announces tomorrow he has 7 broken legs, and 15 ACL tears.

 

[meatface]

Cincinnati versus Baltimore was the best game of the day, just as we all thought

 

[supafly]

I wouldn't be surprised to see them lose to the Vikings. Peterson seems to be fully up to speed at this point.

Anything is possible, although I have a feeling that MIN at home is a bit different from MIN on the road, particularly at Mile High. It's certainly not out of the realm of possibility, but I wouldn't go putting the house up with the Vikings' lack of realistic receiving options and what appears to be a very good Denver secondary/back seven.

 

[TommyD4207]

Anything is possible, although I have a feeling that MIN at home is a bit different from MIN on the road, particularly at Mile High. It's certainly not out of the realm of possibility, but I wouldn't go putting the house up with the Vikings' lack of realistic receiving options and what appears to be a very good Denver secondary/back seven.

Meh. They're good. The LBs can be run on, and I have no idea why teams don't just double move Talib to death. He bites on playaction and jumps routes all the time. That's what he does.

 

[VectorPrime]

Speaking of him, results of the MRI sprained MCL, bone bruise out 4-6 weeks.

The rapist gets off easy yet again.

 

[TommyD4207]

The Patriots were 11-14 on 3rd down today? Holy crap.