2009 NFL Season/Off Season discussion

[faldor]

More drama in Denver, season seems to be ending just like it started.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/12731852

Broncos coach benches star receiver Marshall for season finale
Jan. 1, 2010
CBSSports.com wire reports   

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Just when they finally patched things up, Brandon Marshall and Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniels are back to Square 1, and another reconciliation appears farfetched.

McDaniels announced Friday he's benching Marshall, his Pro Bowl wide receiver, for the team's pivotal season finale against Kansas City on Sunday.

"Our word for the week has been accountability. And we're looking to put the 45 guys on the field on Sunday that want to play together, want to help us try to win and qualify for the playoffs," McDaniels said. "... And anybody that showed any indifference to that, we'll play without them."

Marshall suggested he couldn't have played anyway after pulling his right hamstring at practice this week.

In an extraordinary half-hour at Dove Valley, McDaniels insinuated on the podium that Marshall was exaggerating the extent of his injury and was unaccountable to the team. The Pro Bowl receiver responded from his locker by noting McDaniels never played in the NFL and hinting he might be getting called out by his coach because the Broncos' season is unraveling.

Since a sizzling 6-0 start, the Broncos have gone 2-7.

They'll try to make the playoffs Sunday without their 100-catch receiver or tight end Tony Scheffler, demoted to the scout team, and maybe minus wide receiver Eddie Royal, who has a head injury.

Marshall was voted to his second straight Pro Bowl on Tuesday after becoming just the fifth wide receiver with three consecutive 100-catch seasons. He spoke Wednesday about how fulfilling it was to bounce back after a tumultuous offseason that included a rocky start to his relationship with McDaniels, who rejected trade requests and demands for a new contract. McDaniels also suspended him for nine days during training camp for insubordination at practice.

Minutes later, Marshall was clutching his right hamstring after pulling up lame on a route and hopping to the sideline.

Marshall said an MRI showed no structural damage, "but when you try to explode and take off, if you don't have it, you don't have it."

He missed Thursday's practice, and when asked if his star receiver would work out Friday, McDaniels said Marshall would be deactivated for the game and noted it was "a coaching decision, not an injury issue."

"There's a number of players that are going to play on Sunday with things that are much more difficult to deal with than what he has," McDaniels said, a phrase he repeated three times during his news conference.

"It's never going to be acceptable while I'm here and while this staff is here and while we're trying to build our staff with this philosophy. I don't know if it was acceptable before, but it isn't going to be now and it never will be. And this isn't about sending a message, it's about fielding a team that wants to go out there and win and give us the best opportunity to do that."

Co-captain Daniel Graham said that while Marshall has been a good teammate this year, McDaniels was doing what was in the team's best interests.

Marshall said he respected his coach's decision, but couldn't play effectively with his tweaked hamstring. He also couldn't believe McDaniels was questioning his toughness.

"I don't think Coach ever played in the NFL, so for my hamstring to be feeling the way it felt, it's tough for me to go out there and expect to play at a high level," Marshall said. "I've battled through a whole lot of injuries before. I played the whole year last year with a tear in my hip. So, I don't think my toughness is in question here."

Marshall also took offense to the suggestion he wasn't buying into McDaniels' program.

"I'm a guy who's been giving it up a lot for this team," said Marshall, who has 101 receptions for 1,120 yards and 10 touchdowns. "I approached this year in a professional manner and I'm going to continue to do that. If he decides to take some personal shots because of the way the season's unfolding, it's not my fault. I've made big plays when I'm supposed to."

What about accountability?

"Well, accountability and injury is different, you know?" Marshall said. "I pulled, well, I wouldn't say I pulled my hamstring, it's definitely not that bad, but it's tough."

Marshall said he hopes he's available next week if the Broncos make the playoffs, which would make for an awkward situation given all the accusations flying around Friday.

Are the Broncos laying the groundwork for a separation? Will the sides ever be able to patch up their differences?

Marshall is in the final year of a contract that pays him $2.2 million this season. His earnings power might be limited this offseason if there's no new collective bargaining agreement, leaving him as a restricted free agent. That means the Broncos could offer only a modest raise of about $1 million -- providing they want to keep him.

McDaniels said he didn't know if contractual issues were at the root of his latest dustup with Marshall, but suggested the receiver was putting selfish interests ahead of the team's.

Asked if Marshall will even be in the stadium Sunday, McDaniels said: "I don't know."

Was this the last straw?

"Anything I do moving forward is going to be in a professional manner," Marshall said. "I'm not going to get into any he said/she said like we've done in the past. I think that's childish, and like I said, I don't think there's any question about my toughness, the way I play the game. It could be first-and-10 and if I gain 15 yards, I'm still fighting for 16 yards."

[D]

LOL, if they were playing Pittsburgh or Baltimore, I guarantee his ass would be on the field.

Denver, nother 2nd half choke.

[Axl4Prez2004]

^ Apparently Scheffler was benched as well for a bad attitude.  McDaniels sure is cleaning house.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

If the Cowgirls win today, I hope to say:

Brett Favre!

Fuck yeah!

Three more times this season.

[faldor]

Wes Welker went down trying to make a cut after a catch on the opening drive in the first quarter today, untouched.  Looked like he blew his knee out or something.  Obviously didn't look good.  He was very upset and near tears as he was consoled on the bench before being carted off the field.

After that the Pats looked pretty good, taking a 14 point lead in the 4th quarter, only to give up 3 TD's and blow yet another 4th quarter lead on the road.  All in all, not a very good day for the Patriots.

Houston is still alive for a playoff berth, for the moment.

[Axl4Prez2004]

Wes Welker went down trying to make a cut after a catch on the opening drive in the first quarter today, untouched.  Looked like he blew his knee out or something.  Obviously didn't look good.  He was very upset and near tears as he was consoled on the bench before being carted off the field.

After that the Pats looked pretty good, taking a 14 point lead in the 4th quarter, only to give up 3 TD's and blow yet another 4th quarter lead on the road.  All in all, not a very good day for the Patriots.

Houston is still alive for a playoff berth, for the moment.

A lot of folks owe Colts' Coach Caldwell an apology.  Belichek fucked up BIG TIME!  Brady's got 2 broken ribs and Welker blew his knee out in a meaningless game.  Fucking stupid.

Why???   

[novemberparadise23]

Wes Welker went down trying to make a cut after a catch on the opening drive in the first quarter today, untouched.  Looked like he blew his knee out or something.  Obviously didn't look good.  He was very upset and near tears as he was consoled on the bench before being carted off the field.

After that the Pats looked pretty good, taking a 14 point lead in the 4th quarter, only to give up 3 TD's and blow yet another 4th quarter lead on the road.  All in all, not a very good day for the Patriots.

Houston is still alive for a playoff berth, for the moment.

A lot of folks owe Colts' Coach Caldwell an apology.  Belichek fucked up BIG TIME!  Brady's got 2 broken ribs and Welker blew his knee out in a meaningless game.  Fucking stupid.



Why???   

To be fair Im a life long Giant fan.  The reason we won the super bowl in the 07-08 season was because the last week of the season we played our hearts out in a meaningless game for us against the patriots. We had nothing to gain in terms of playoff seeding or anything but we needed to gain some momentum and mojo going into the playoffs. Despite the loss that game propelled us to bigger n better things in the playoffs and proved to the team that we could play with the best of the best since the pats were 15-0 at that point. Some teams have different theories but turning off n on the switch  i have never been a fan of because you can never be sure its gonna turn right back on. 

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

The Giants wanted a piece of the Patriots.  They wanted to spoil the party for them.

Fortunately, they did when it counted.

[novemberparadise23]

Yea they definitely wanted to spoil their party i agree....but they also weren't a super bowl caliber team at that point. That game propelled them to a team that was capable of taking the title. Obviously some teams need to rest players due to injuries and what not, but i feel that if you are injury free you should play the games. you don't want to mess up whats not broken in my opinion and you cant go into games expecting to get injured and play tentatively. I think its stupid when teams play there players for a half...whats the point in that?  they could still easily get injured in one half of football.

[faldor]

Wes Welker went down trying to make a cut after a catch on the opening drive in the first quarter today, untouched.  Looked like he blew his knee out or something.  Obviously didn't look good.  He was very upset and near tears as he was consoled on the bench before being carted off the field.

After that the Pats looked pretty good, taking a 14 point lead in the 4th quarter, only to give up 3 TD's and blow yet another 4th quarter lead on the road.  All in all, not a very good day for the Patriots.

Houston is still alive for a playoff berth, for the moment.

A lot of folks owe Colts' Coach Caldwell an apology.  Belichek fucked up BIG TIME!  Brady's got 2 broken ribs and Welker blew his knee out in a meaningless game.  Fucking stupid.

Why???   

I disagree.  We'll find out what frame of mind the Colts are in the divisional round of the playoffs, but taking 3 weeks off doesn't seem like the secret to success. 

The injury to Wes Welker, and any injury in football can happen on any play at any time.  It was a non contact injury and could've happened in week 1 or next week against the Ravens, or even in practice.  Are you gonna not let guys practice?  Just suit up for important games and see what happens.  He was healthy, so he played.  Wilfork and Warren were a bit banged up, so they sat. 

As for Brady, and the rest of those who did play.  The Patriots needed to continue their momentum forward.  All season long it's been 2 steps forward, 2 steps back.  They win a big home game, they lose on the road.  They played their best game in over a month last week in beating the Jags.  They needed to prove that wasn't a fluke and they could carry that onto the road against a playoff type team.  They did it for 3 quarters, but again blew a 2 TD lead in the 4th quarter.  So if the Patriots did anything wrong it was that they tried to win on the road and failed again.  If they had laid down and let the Texans win, they could've used that as an excuse.

I don't like that frame of mind though.  Now Welker is out.  But that's not even what worries me the most.  What worries me is they have a defense that has given up 3 TD's in the 4th quarter TWICE this season, squandering 14 point leads.  Wes Welker has nothing to do with that.  They'll try and beat the Ravens at home and keep their undefeated home record intact.  But IF they survive, I can't say I have much faith in them winning @SD or Indy.  Why would I?  And it has to be weighing on them as well.

The one saving grace is, they didn't play with all their starters today, namely Wilfork and Warren.  With them in the lineup, they're a tough defense to run on.  Without them, guys like Arian Foster can light them up and make them look pedestrian.

Bottom line, what happened today doesn't make what the Colts did "right".

[Axl4Prez2004]

On NBC they just said Brady has a fractured index finger on his throwing hand.  I respect your opinion Faldor, but I do believe they f'd up in Houston.

[tim_m]

Wow.. the jets spank the Bengals and make the playoffs for a rematch against the Bengals. If i were the Bengals i'd be worried about the jets next week.

[Bill 213]

Wow.. the jets spank the Bengals and make the playoffs for a rematch against the Bengals. If i were the Bengals i'd be worried about the jets next week.

Absolutely because the Bengals played everyone minus Cedric Benson and still came up short 30-0 against the Jets before finally taking everyone out.  I am glad we have them the first week because if there is any team we can beat, it's them.  As long as our run game and D shows up and we ease up on Sanchez throwing the ball, we will be solid.  Go Jets!!!

[D]

I have no problem with teams taking off week 17 if everything is clinched

NE were retarded

Indy were still retarded cause they had history to play for, plus 3 weeks off will be hard. If Indy can survive the first half, they will be fine, but will be interested to see how out of sync they are.

Imagine going 3 weeks without running and then trying to run a marathon............... not a good idea. Im sure u could still complete it.. but are u going to hit your pace?

[Bill 213]

Just bought my tickets for Cincy and the Jets next week!!!! Real cheap too only 9th row!! Making the 8 hour drive to Cincy Sat morning early, hoping the weather will be nice!  23 out yikes!!

[D]

Just bought my tickets for Cincy and the Jets next week!!!! Real cheap too only 9th row!! Making the 8 hour drive to Cincy Sat morning early, hoping the weather will be nice!  23 out yikes!!

Poor guy

what a crapfest u had to sit through.


I got a blog/article thing on the NFL and how they n eed to try and fix this sitting players bullshit cause it kills the integrity of the game and rips off the fans

http://www.unrivaledsports.smfnew.com/index.php?topic=56.0

[tim_m]

Wow.. the jets spank the Bengals and make the playoffs for a rematch against the Bengals. If i were the Bengals i'd be worried about the jets next week.

Absolutely because the Bengals played everyone minus Cedric Benson and still came up short 30-0 against the Jets before finally taking everyone out.  I am glad we have them the first week because if there is any team we can beat, it's them.  As long as our run game and D shows up and we ease up on Sanchez throwing the ball, we will be solid.  Go Jets!!!

There were a few others not in there that they mentioned during the game. I still like our chances though. Our D owned them tonight and the offense moved the ball at will.

[D]

I am a Dallas fan but I fully Expect Philly to tear us a new asshole next week.

[gilee7]

I am a Dallas fan but I fully Expect Philly to tear us a new asshole next week.

God, I hope so.

The Eagles were just pathetic yesterday. It's like they didn't even want to win. Nobody showed up. Defense couldn't stop the Cowboys from marching down the field. They weren't blitzing, which is what the Eagles do best; yet they were still leaving guys wide open. Horrible tackling. Offense wasn't any better. McNabb would have a guy wide open and throw behind him. Then when McNabb would throw a perfect pass, the receiver would simply drop it. No running game whatsoever. No Vick appearance. DeSean looked like he was running half-ass routes, either that or he was injured a little bit. I know that game was already out of reach, but McNabb threw a long pass to Maclin and the replay showed that Maclin never even looked at the ball; he was watching the safety the whole time, not wanting to get hit. Terrible effort by everyone.

I'm trying to find the silver lining. A first-round bye would've been nice, but it doesn't seem to matter much in the playoffs anymore. It's hard to imagine the Cowboys beating the Eagles three times in one season, especially back to back. Hopefully the Cowboys will be overconfident now, and the Eagles, embarrassed and angry, will be frothing at the mouth for revenge. I kinda felt like the Eagles were due a loss, so it's better to have a bad day in week 17 than in the playoffs. The Eagles know how to win in the playoffs (at least up until the NFC Championship game). The Cowboys don't.

[JuicySwoos]

Skol Favre!

4,202 pass yards, 33 TD passes, 7 ints, 107.2 QB rating.  First QB in history with 33+ TD passes and 7 or less INTs.  Not bad for an old man who is washed up, broken down, etc.

Thanks Dallas.