OT: Early nominees for '08 surprise teams

[Kontradiction]

If anything, the Rams were the 'sexy' pick last year.

 

[bradmahn]

They had the #6 rushing offense in the NFL and managed to make Fargas a 1,000 yard back. I suppose it can depend on how you define "excellent," but the fact remains they ran for more yards than 26 other NFL teams. That's well above-average.

Lane Kiffin certainly helped that offense last season especially when you consider they never did have a serious threat for a passing game. On ESPN (I know, I know) this morning, they reported Kiffin is working on two back sets to take advantage of the depth at RB. They'll probably continue to have a really good ground game. I'm not sold on Walker or Russell, though, so I expect little from their air attack and the defense needed a lot of help after looking dreadful last season.

I don't see any way they make the playoffs.

The Jaguars could be a big-time contender this season. I think Jerry Porter could be a great pick up for them at receiver and has the potential to open things up in the passing game. I don't know how much of his suck the last two seasons has been because of Oakland (we know what that can do to a player) or him, but a change of scenery could revitalize his career. If that happens the Jags offense would become much more dynamic and an even bigger threat with Taylor and Jones-Drew at RB.

Their defense is good and the drafting of two pass rushers in the first and second rounds will help a lot if even one of them can contribute soon, but I'm a little concerned with the 6'6", 306 lb. hole left after the trade of Stroud. I think they have a very real opportunity to "dethrone" the perennial AFC South champs.

 

[Double G]

"I'll take Hobbs, Rodney (or Sanders) and Meriweather over their counterparts on the Giants." Sure you will, you don't have a choice. Rodney is a year older, Meriweather needs to take it up a notch and Hobbs is Hobbs. Wow.

"The Giants should have lost to either the Cowboys, Packers or Patriots - but they didn't." In none of those games did the Giants have the game lost and won it due to a boneheaded time out by a coach or a false start that negated a blown fourth down attempt; the Ravens game was gift wrapped with a bow on it.

"They played ugly in some of those games, but they won. When the Patriots played ugly in the final weeks of the season and won they "stumbled" and it's a precursor to a fall off in 2008." Correct, light finally dawns on marble head.

"Beyond Brady playing on a bad leg (not as bad as Rivers's, of course, but he wasn't healthy either)" Who said he was hurt, tell me as I need to know. The score was 21-12, it should have been a blow out with the players the Chargers were missing and/or were hurt.


"And I'd certainly argue that the '01 Patriots, who were 11-5 and the second seed in the conference, were a stronger team than the Giants of '07." And you have zero credibility with that statement.

I know it jerks a knot in your ass that the Patriots lost the Super Bowl, but try next time to engage your brain before posting such nonsense.

Your prediction on the Giants is based more on what you HOPE happens rather than what you THINK will happen, do you understand the difference?

 

[PonyExpress]

"I'll take Hobbs, Rodney (or Sanders) and Meriweather over their counterparts on the Giants." Sure you will, you don't have a choice. Rodney is a year older, Meriweather needs to take it up a notch and Hobbs is Hobbs. Wow.

"The Giants should have lost to either the Cowboys, Packers or Patriots - but they didn't." In none of those games did the Giants have the game lost and won it due to a boneheaded time out by a coach or a false start that negated a blown fourth down attempt; the Ravens game was gift wrapped with a bow on it.

"They played ugly in some of those games, but they won. When the Patriots played ugly in the final weeks of the season and won they "stumbled" and it's a precursor to a fall off in 2008." Correct, light finally dawns on marble head.

"Beyond Brady playing on a bad leg (not as bad as Rivers's, of course, but he wasn't healthy either)" Who said he was hurt, tell me as I need to know. The score was 21-12, it should have been a blow out with the players the Chargers were missing and/or were hurt.


"And I'd certainly argue that the '01 Patriots, who were 11-5 and the second seed in the conference, were a stronger team than the Giants of '07." And you have zero credibility with that statement.

I know it jerks a knot in your ass that the Patriots lost the Super Bowl, but try next time to engage your brain before posting such nonsense.

Your prediction on the Giants is based more on what you HOPE happens rather than what you THINK will happen, do you understand the difference?

Personally I think the Giants are a quality team. Unfortunately, there is good reason to believe their SB victory was due to media sabotage as much as their on field play. So you must understand the general skepticism about their ability to repeat such an aberration next season.

 

[bradmahn]

"I'll take Hobbs, Rodney (or Sanders) and Meriweather over their counterparts on the Giants." Sure you will, you don't have a choice. Rodney is a year older, Meriweather needs to take it up a notch and Hobbs is Hobbs. Wow.

"The Giants should have lost to either the Cowboys, Packers or Patriots - but they didn't." In none of those games did the Giants have the game lost and won it due to a boneheaded time out by a coach or a false start that negated a blown fourth down attempt; the Ravens game was gift wrapped with a bow on it.

"They played ugly in some of those games, but they won. When the Patriots played ugly in the final weeks of the season and won they "stumbled" and it's a precursor to a fall off in 2008." Correct, light finally dawns on marble headI was pointing out the hypocrisy in this, not agreeing with you..

I'm not going to argue these points with you because it's beyond ridiculous. They are your opinions and you are entitled to believe them no matter how thoughtless or boneheadedly stupid I think they are.

"Beyond Brady playing on a bad leg (not as bad as Rivers's, of course, but he wasn't healthy either)" Who said he was hurt, tell me as I need to know. The score was 21-12, it should have been a blow out with the players the Chargers were missing and/or were hurt.

Were you paying attention to the team from AFCC to Super Bowl? Brady didn't practice on some days because of the ankle that was injured in practice the week before and then more in the game. And Brady had three interceptions, one in the Chargers endzone on third down. Now it's 24-12 with an offensive drive lasting the final 9 minutes of the game. That's a pretty big win.

"And I'd certainly argue that the '01 Patriots, who were 11-5 and the second seed in the conference, were a stronger team than the Giants of '07." And you have zero credibility with that statement.

The Giants outscored the '01 Patriots by two, but the Pats had a higher point differential by seventy-seven points. The Patriots also won more games and were the second seed compared to the Giants' fifth. And if you prefer FootballOutsiders, the Patriots were better according to their rankings as well.

The Giants were the statistically worst Super Bowl winner ever.

I know it jerks a knot in your ass that the Patriots lost the Super Bowl, but try next time to engage your brain before posting such nonsense.

Your prediction on the Giants is based more on what you HOPE happens rather than what you THINK will happen, do you understand the difference?

Why do I care about the Giants? I don't and we don't face them this year. I don't expect them to make it to the Super Bowl either, and that's because they aren't going to be as good as they were last season.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I'm not going to argue these points with you because it's beyond ridiculous. They are your opinions and you are entitled to believe them no matter how thoughtless or boneheadedly stupid I think they are.


Were you paying attention to the team from AFCC to Super Bowl? Brady didn't practice on some days because of the ankle that was injured in practice the week before and then more in the game. And Brady had three interceptions, one in the Chargers endzone on third down. Now it's 24-12 with an offensive drive lasting the final 9 minutes of the game. That's a pretty big win.



The Giants outscored the '01 Patriots by two, but the Pats had a higher point differential by seventy-seven points. The Patriots also won more games and were the second seed compared to the Giants' fifth. And if you prefer FootballOutsiders, the Patriots were better according to their rankings as well.

The Giants were the statistically worst Super Bowl winner ever.



Why do I care about the Giants? I don't and we don't face them this year. I don't expect them to make it to the Super Bowl either, and that's because they aren't going to be as good as they were last season.

And you think the Patriots are going to be as good as they were last season - Thats pure stupidity,This team will be competitive but NOT as good as last season - Book it

 

[Kontradiction]

"I'll take Hobbs, Rodney (or Sanders) and Meriweather over their counterparts on the Giants." Sure you will, you don't have a choice. Rodney is a year older, Meriweather needs to take it up a notch and Hobbs is Hobbs. Wow.

"The Giants should have lost to either the Cowboys, Packers or Patriots - but they didn't." In none of those games did the Giants have the game lost and won it due to a boneheaded time out by a coach or a false start that negated a blown fourth down attempt; the Ravens game was gift wrapped with a bow on it.

"They played ugly in some of those games, but they won. When the Patriots played ugly in the final weeks of the season and won they "stumbled" and it's a precursor to a fall off in 2008." Correct, light finally dawns on marble head.

"Beyond Brady playing on a bad leg (not as bad as Rivers's, of course, but he wasn't healthy either)" Who said he was hurt, tell me as I need to know. The score was 21-12, it should have been a blow out with the players the Chargers were missing and/or were hurt.


"And I'd certainly argue that the '01 Patriots, who were 11-5 and the second seed in the conference, were a stronger team than the Giants of '07." And you have zero credibility with that statement.

I know it jerks a knot in your ass that the Patriots lost the Super Bowl, but try next time to engage your brain before posting such nonsense.

Your prediction on the Giants is based more on what you HOPE happens rather than what you THINK will happen, do you understand the difference?

You do realize that the Pats late season struggles could have been due to the fact(s) of the overwhelming task of completing an undefeated season accompanied with relentless media coverage of the team, right? No team in the history of the NFL has ever seen their name be simultaneously dragged through the dirt AND mentioned as the best team of all time as much as we did last year.

 

[Double G]

Nope, not buying what you are selling. The game is played on the field, media members are not out on the field asking questions during the game. Professionals block all of that crap out and play the game.

For whatever reason, they were not as good of a team down the stretch as at the beginning of the season, and BB coached teams usually are the 180 of that, they get better as the season goes along.

They played by far their worst game at the worst possible time; the last one.

 

[PonyExpress]

Nope, not buying what you are selling. The game is played on the field, media members are not out on the field asking questions during the game. Professionals block all of that crap out and play the game.

For whatever reason, they were not as good of a team down the stretch as at the beginning of the season, and BB coached teams usually are the 180 of that, they get better as the season goes along.

They played by far their worst game at the worst possible time; the last one.

Yep, no coincidence that it came after the coaching staff spent the last 36 hours pre Sb huddled with lawyers, that the team was smeared in front of friends and framily and the world, that they had to take the stage in front of 2 billion people unable to defend themselves against slander, that SB morning the head of the senate judiciary committee threatened to haul the starting QB in for interrogation that coming Tuesday... no coincidence the team played its worst game that afternoon. Keep waving your giant asterisks, er, I mean pompoms. Nobody takes your team seriously, and for good reason. Win it again for real and maybe people will care.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Nope, not buying what you are selling. The game is played on the field, media members are not out on the field asking questions during the game. Professionals block all of that crap out and play the game.

For whatever reason, they were not as good of a team down the stretch as at the beginning of the season, and BB coached teams usually are the 180 of that, they get better as the season goes along.

They played by far their worst game at the worst possible time; the last one.

WRONG - The worst game of 2007 for the Pats was the Baltimore game BY FAR.

The Patriots pulled that game out of thier asz

If it were not for a stupid timeout on the sidelines by that bonehead Balt. coach the Pats lose that game

In the Super Bowl the Patriots were in control of thier destiny in the late 4th quarter,they just could not stop the miracle play by Tyree - In Baltimore game the miracle timeout HELPED the Pats who were NOT in control of the game at that time and were outplayed nearly 4 quarters.

 

[bakes781]

My surprise team is the Browns. Not to say they'll get to the AFCG (it's not impossible either tho)but I think they'll make an even better showing than they did last year. They've got a solid QB, they've upgraded a lot and IIRC they had a great draft.
RAC was the first coach to figure out how to contain Moss last season too.
They came awfully close last season; they blew it obviously but also, had the Colts not tanked the Titans' game, the Browns would have been in.
RAC just never had enough talent to bring his Browns to the dance, but that seems to be changing. Without any horrific injuries I think he can get his team into the mix, plus I love RAC and Big Willie Mac, so I'm in a comfort zone too
Seriously tho, emotion aside, I'm going with RAC and his Browns for my surprise pick.

I agree! The Browns have developed into an exciting young team. I'll go as far as to say they'll win the AFC North.

 

[bradmahn]

And you think the Patriots are going to be as good as they were last season - Thats pure stupidity,This team will be competitive but NOT as good as last season - Book it

Why is that pure stupidity? The offense has a very real opportunity to be just as good - they probably won't score as much, but they can be just as potent. They could most certainly improve in the running game and having Maroney and Morris both healthy will help that. Not to mention Randy and Wes having another year in the system.

They could be better in the return game and they can improve on defense with a healthy Seymour, Thomas on the outside, and an infusion of youth in the middle of the LB crew. We don't know the extent of the impact Hobbs's injuries had on the rest of his game but there is little reason to believe he will not play at the same level as last year. Meriweather should be a bigger factor at safety and provide a more capable third safety in a rotation with Rodney and Sanders than Wilson last year. They didn't lose much in the way of nickelback, in my opinion, as Gay was an average defender last year and he should be ably replaced by one of Wheatley, Wilhite or the free agents. There is a downgrade at the LCB spot, but a schematic shift in the secondary, an improved secondary coach and improvements in the front seven and middle of the secondary should be able to pick up the slack left at that spot.

Now, do I think they'll go 19-0 this season? They have a better shot than anyone else in the league and have a pretty favorable schedule with the two back-to-back games on the West Coast instead of having four spread out. I think they have a realistic shot to match their 18-1 record of last season and come out with the victory in the last game (which would make them better than '07). Either way, I don't see them losing more than two games and would consider them the favorites to win the Super Bowl.

So why is it stupid to think that the Patriots could be just as good as last season? Because they lost Asante? That's overvaluing the effect that one player had on the team. Stallworth? Nope. Seau? Could still come back. Gay? He was the nickelback, and an average one at that. So why is it so stupid?

 

[Kontradiction]

Nope, not buying what you are selling. The game is played on the field, media members are not out on the field asking questions during the game. Professionals block all of that crap out and play the game.

For whatever reason, they were not as good of a team down the stretch as at the beginning of the season, and BB coached teams usually are the 180 of that, they get better as the season goes along.

They played by far their worst game at the worst possible time; the last one.

I've always been one to blame the SB loss on the Giants' D-Line but you can also attribute some of it to the media circuis that took place two days before the big dance. Specter threatened to haul Brady into his office for questioning and Brady responded by horribly missing throws that he normally made with ease. Add the Specter thing on top of the pressure to go 19-0 on top of the Giants defensive game plan ON TOP of the pressure to just win a Super Bowl and you have a disaster on your hands. Did media scrutiny and an out of control Senator spoil our Super Bowl? No. Not by themselves. But they did have a big hand in it. Call me a homer all you want but the signs were present in the game.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Why is that pure stupidity? The offense has a very real opportunity to be just as good - they probably won't score as much, but they can be just as potent. They could most certainly improve in the running game and having Maroney and Morris both healthy will help that. Not to mention Randy and Wes having another year in the system.

They could be better in the return game and they can improve on defense with a healthy Seymour, Thomas on the outside, and an infusion of youth in the middle of the LB crew. We don't know the extent of the impact Hobbs's injuries had on the rest of his game but there is little reason to believe he will not play at the same level as last year. Meriweather should be a bigger factor at safety and provide a more capable third safety in a rotation with Rodney and Sanders than Wilson last year. They didn't lose much in the way of nickelback, in my opinion, as Gay was an average defender last year and he should be ably replaced by one of Wheatley, Wilhite or the free agents. There is a downgrade at the LCB spot, but a schematic shift in the secondary, an improved secondary coach and improvements in the front seven and middle of the secondary should be able to pick up the slack left at that spot.

Now, do I think they'll go 19-0 this season? They have a better shot than anyone else in the league and have a pretty favorable schedule with the two back-to-back games on the West Coast instead of having four spread out. I think they have a realistic shot to match their 18-1 record of last season and come out with the victory in the last game (which would make them better than '07). Either way, I don't see them losing more than two games and would consider them the favorites to win the Super Bowl.

So why is it stupid to think that the Patriots could be just as good as last season? Because they lost Asante? That's overvaluing the effect that one player had on the team. Stallworth? Nope. Seau? Could still come back. Gay? He was the nickelback, and an average one at that. So why is it so stupid?

As far as being a Pats player in 2008 - Have you seen Hobson play yet?- Have you seen the Lions castoff Bryant play yet? - Have you seen Tank Williams play yet? - Have you seen Jerod Mayo or any rookies play yet? - Has Seymour got his rhythm back?

There are alot of questions regarding the defense before you can make a homeristic ludicrous statement like better than 2007

I think 12-4 is realistic and if those guys I mentioned are at least decent players on this D in the early season then maybe more wins than 12 but right now you are in fantasyville.

 

[bradmahn]

As far as being a Pats player in 2008 - Have you seen Hobson play yet?- Have you seen the Lions castoff Bryant play yet? - Have you seen Tank Williams play yet? - Have you seen Jerod Mayo or any rookies play yet? - Has Seymour got his rhythm back?

There are alot of questions regarding the defense before you can make a homeristic ludicrous statement like better than 2007

I think 12-4 is realistic and if those guys I mentioned are at least decent players on this D in the early season then maybe more wins than 12 but right now you are in fantasyville.

Okay... thanks for that wonderfully refreshing and insightful post.

 

[Lampshade]

typical pats fan, picks the 3 teams who were NE's biggest rival's last year, to be the 'bad'

I wouldn't say typical, considering it's the only post like it in the entire thread.

My picks:
I think Cleveland will improve again.
Rams, Bears, Jets to be better than expected.

Buffalo to be the team who most flatter to deceive, and end up with just enough wins to be the hot team again next year.
Pitt to take a small step backward and miss the playoffs.

 

[Leave No Doubt]

I agree! The Browns have developed into an exciting young team. I'll go as far as to say they'll win the AFC North.

We are now officially on record- the Browns WILL surprise! (This way we'll have bragging rights later on:singing: )
I thought I also read somewhere that they have a fairly "easy" schedule, but I'm not sure.
Big Willie's going to retire,too; I'd love to see him go out on a great note

 

[blackglass3]

We are now officially on record- the Browns WILL surprise! (This way we'll have bragging rights later on:singing: )
I thought I also read somewhere that they have a fairly "easy" schedule, but I'm not sure.
Big Willie's going to retire,too; I'd love to see him go out on a great note

I don't think saying the Browns will suprise should count. Most people think the Browns will "suprise" this year.

Now, if you posted this last year, I would be impressed.

 

[blackglass3]

Since I have criticized twice, I might as well make my picks. The Rams and Raiders will make the playoffs. The Jaguars won't.

 

[Leave No Doubt]

I don't think saying the Browns will suprise should count. Most people think the Browns will "suprise" this year.

Now, if you posted this last year, I would be impressed.

LOL! I didn't see anyone else pick them in this thread, so it counts. I did pick the Browns last year, but not til mid season