NFL 2010 Season

[Axl4Prez2004]

Randy STARTED the press conference by bringing up his contract.  He wasn't asked any questions about it.  He prompted the whole thing.  He does need coddling.  He was being paid more than fairly, at 9 million a year for 3 years.  Why haven't the Vikings swooped in and signed him to an extension yet?  Because it's just not good business to give big money to a 34 year old WR until AFTER the season.  Especially with the uncertainty of the collective bargaining agreement.  Belichick, Brady, and the rest of his Patriot teammates went out of their way to say good things about Moss and to make him feel welcome.  His issue was with his contract status.  Again, play out your contract and things will take care of themselves.  But he couldn't bring himself to do that.  Now he'll play nice with the Vikings and put up some monster numbers.

We'll find out how Wes and the Pats do without Randy soon enough.  I think they'll be fine though.  Brady led the Patriots offense fine before Moss came aboard, so I don't expect them to all of a sudden turn into the Carolina Panthers.  This team is only going as far as the defense allows them anyway.  And that was going to be the case WITH Randy Moss as well.  They had a dynamic offense in 2007 with a better defense and it wasn't enough.  They needed to change the offense to help keep the defense off the field.  Playing a more ball control offense doesn't cater to Moss' strengths.  Are they a better offense without him?  Obviously not.  But they felt a change was needed.  We'll see if they were right.

No coddling needed, just fair money.  9 mill aint nuthin' for a man with his production.
He may have started the press conference with that, but so what?  The length of the talk isn't dictated by him.  He answered the questions openly and honestly.
I wish your Patriots good luck with Ben Tate as a deep threat.  The Patriots are officially entering re-building mode now.  (not a severe re-build, more like a 8-8/9-7 record, work magic with extra draft pix hoping to strike gold type re-build)  No playoffs in Beantown this year.

[faldor]

Randy STARTED the press conference by bringing up his contract.  He wasn't asked any questions about it.  He prompted the whole thing.  He does need coddling.  He was being paid more than fairly, at 9 million a year for 3 years.  Why haven't the Vikings swooped in and signed him to an extension yet?  Because it's just not good business to give big money to a 34 year old WR until AFTER the season.  Especially with the uncertainty of the collective bargaining agreement.  Belichick, Brady, and the rest of his Patriot teammates went out of their way to say good things about Moss and to make him feel welcome.  His issue was with his contract status.  Again, play out your contract and things will take care of themselves.  But he couldn't bring himself to do that.  Now he'll play nice with the Vikings and put up some monster numbers.

We'll find out how Wes and the Pats do without Randy soon enough.  I think they'll be fine though.  Brady led the Patriots offense fine before Moss came aboard, so I don't expect them to all of a sudden turn into the Carolina Panthers.  This team is only going as far as the defense allows them anyway.  And that was going to be the case WITH Randy Moss as well.  They had a dynamic offense in 2007 with a better defense and it wasn't enough.  They needed to change the offense to help keep the defense off the field.  Playing a more ball control offense doesn't cater to Moss' strengths.  Are they a better offense without him?  Obviously not.  But they felt a change was needed.  We'll see if they were right.

No coddling needed, just fair money.  9 mill aint nuthin' for a man with his production.
He may have started the press conference with that, but so what?  The length of the talk isn't dictated by him.  He answered the questions openly and honestly.
I wish your Patriots good luck with Ben Tate as a deep threat.  The Patriots are officially entering re-building mode now.  (not a severe re-build, more like a 8-8/9-7 record, work magic with extra draft pix hoping to strike gold type re-build)  No playoffs in Beantown this year.

I've got news for you.  The Patriots have been in rebuilding mode for a few years now.  Their defense was getting old, so they made it a point to get younger, which they've done.  Until the defense grows up and is able to play consistently, like they did in Miami last week, they will remain in rebuilding mode.  However, while they're rebuilding they will remain competitive.  Not every offense needs Randy Moss to be successful.  How many teams have a WR like Randy Moss?  I'd argue, none, since he's so unique.  But let's say maybe 5-10 teams have STUD receivers that they rely heavily on.  Some of those teams are average at best (Houston, Dallas), some aren't good at all (Carolina, Detroit), some are good (Indy).  New Orleans won it all last year with a dominant offense and opportunistic defense and nobody close to Randy's skill set at the WR position.  They have a bunch of #2 and #3 WR's.  You could argue Colston is a #1, but he's still nowhere near as good as Randy.  The Patriots had some pretty good offensive clubs before Randy Moss arrived with a bunch of #2 and #3's like Troy Brown, David Patten, Deion Branch, David Givens, Reche Caldwell, etc.  I don't buy this theory that you need Randy Moss to be successful.  You could make an argument that Tom Brady could actually make better decisions without Randy on the field.  There were numerous times where he forced the ball to Moss, just hoping for the best.  Sometimes it worked out, but just look at the second half of the Jets game to see how poorly it worked on occasions.  I'm not taking anything away from Randy.  Obviously he played extremely well for the Pats and scored 50 TD's in 51 games.  They are not going to have ONE guy do that ever again.  But ONE guy does not make a team.  If he does then I guess the Vikings are Super Bowl bound now, and I'm sorry but I highly doubt that. 

9 million is not fair money for Randy?  How much does the top WR in the game get paid?  I don't know the answer, but I'd guess it's not much more than 9 million.  How much do you think the Vikings will offer him?  They're crazy if they offer him much more than that.

And it's Brandon Tate by the way.  And thanks for the well wishes.  Good luck to Randy and your Vikings tomorrow night, lord knows I'll be cheering heavily for them to take down the Jets.  Unfortunately, I don't see it happening.  Hopefully I'm wrong though. 

I like that you're now against the Patriots, as far as missing the playoffs, because you've picked them to win some big games in the past and most of the time you've been wrong.  I hope that trend continues.  Again, it all depends on how the defense plays.

[D]

What's wrong with Dallas?

Read it


http://simplysports.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=opinion&thread=45&page=1

[tim_m]

Very well put D. I agree with you completely. Phillips, Romo and Garrett need to go.  Romo just cannot win when it counts the most the playoffs. He always makes some stupid bonehead mistake. At this point in his career he should be better. You can just look at Mark Sanchez of the Jets and see this. He made the playoffs in his first season on a 9-7 team and he played very well and did not make a mistake that really cost them. If a rookie plays better then you in pressure situations something is not right.

[faldor]

Very well put D. I agree with you completely. Phillips, Romo and Garrett need to go.  Romo just cannot win when it counts the most the playoffs. He always makes some stupid bonehead mistake. At this point in his career he should be better. You can just look at Mark Sanchez of the Jets and see this. He made the playoffs in his first season on a 9-7 team and he played very well and did not make a mistake that really cost them. If a rookie plays better then you in pressure situations something is not right.

It's tough to compare players on different teams though.  Completely different situations.  The Jets have a much better defense and running game than Dallas.  Sanchez isn't asked to WIN games by himself.  He's more of a game manager.  In Dallas, they live and die with Romo and the passing game.  Garrett seems to completely abandon the run at times.  You put the ball up enough, you're gonna have some turnovers.  And their defense is spotty.

[D]

Felix Jones avg over 7 yards per carry yesterday.. but yet Dallas throw it 46 times to 23 runs

thats ridiculous

I absolutely hate time share inthe backfield. Not cause of fantasy football either. I think, if u have more than one featured back, u have none, cause they can't get into a rhythm. Its like taking a jumpshooter out of a basketball game every 2 minutes.

Look at how great the single backs do. Hell, look at Oakland. When Bush was injured, McFadden went nuts, McFadden is out, Bush goes nuts. Both play, neither have a good game. Deangelo Williams and Jonathon Stewart, same thing. When Stewart was injured 2 years ago, Williams had a career year. Over 1400 yds and 18 tds... together ,neither have big games except on a rare occasion.

just look at the Jets. How good would LT be, if Greene came in every other series? time share works for teams without a dominant back. but when u are leaving your best player off the field half the game, that hurts your offense.

Tennessee finally figured that out with CJ and got rid of Lendale.

[Axl4Prez2004]

I agree with D on the backfield by committee being overrated, but that said, it does have a benefit...$$$$$.  A stud running back scoring 20+ touchdowns (plus a league minimum scrub back-up) are usually going to be paid a lot more money cumulatively than two or three running backs where all three are tallying 7 to 9 touchdowns a piece.  I honestly think a lot of teams take goal-line carries away because they know they don't want that player asking for tons o' money (Patriots, I'm lookin' at you!  )  That money saved can be spread around other positions.

That said, D, I disagree on the Romo point.  Comparing Sanchez to Romo is extremely unfair.  Put Romo behind that awesome o-line and he'd look ten times better, and yes, better than Sanchez.
Dallas loaded up on star skill position players and neglected its aging o-line.  Games are won and lost in the trenches.  Dallas is paying for it right now.
I feel like I'm alone on this...I still think Romo's a quality qb. 
How 'bout Dallas' Defense?
Dallas' problems go way beyond Romo. 

GO VIKES!!!   

[tim_m]

A good o-line is not gonna help a quarterback that makes bonehead decision after bonehead decision. Sanchez last year had the best o-line and look at all the mistakes he made. A good line will not help stupidity.

[D]

Last few years, not this one, but last few years, many hailed Dallas as having the best or at least top 5 O lines.

Romo throws bad ints that have nothing to do with pressure.

over the last 5 years, Dallas selected Marion Barber over Steven Jackson,Felix Jones over Chris Johnson and Bobby Carpenter over Demeco Ryans.

Think about that for a second.

[tim_m]

Conclusion? Cowboys have made some awful personnel decisions.

[tim_m]

And the J-E-T-S are 4-1 and all alone in first place in the AFC East. It wasn't pretty the viking d kept our offense in check and the rain played a part too but the defense won us that game. They struggled in the 4th quarter but made plays when they had to.

[D]

Dont care what anybody says, when Sidney Rice comes back, Vikes are gonna be unbeatable. Teams better hope they are out of playoff chase by then

Last part of 3rd and 4th, minnesota showed some potential.

Favre had one pic.... LOL! give me some for that double Entendre  too many!

[tim_m]

They did and nearly came back in a game they should have never been in. The Jets had numerous chances to put them away and couldn't do it until the final two minutes. They were able to manhandle the vikes d-line and move the ball but just couldn't finish the drives in the redzone and had to settle for too many field goals.

[AxlsMainMan]

That was a slobberknocker of a game albeit with a heart-breaking finish

[faldor]

That was a slobberknocker of a game albeit with a heart-breaking finish

That was a typical Brett Favre finish.  You could see that coming from a mile away.  We've seen it countless times before and I'm sure we'll see it again.  That TD pass to Moss by Favre was FANTASTIC!  A perfectly thrown ball.  But then he throws that pick 6 when it matters most.  That's what Brett Favre does.  Some things never change.

Also, horrible management on the failed 2 point conversion try.  First off, it was a bad decision.  I'm of the belief that you don't go for 2 until you absolutely have to.  The 4th quarter had just gotten underway, so there was still plenty of time left.  But to make things worse, there was confusion on the subject.  At first they were going for 2, then they changed their minds and sent the extra point unit out, then they changed their minds again and called timeout to go for 2.  You never want to waste timeouts, especially in that fashion.

[tim_m]

I'm just glad that doing it this time helped us seal the victory instead of costing us it. The going for two play was really stupid on their part. If they went for one the score would've been a one point game. I was again very impressed by Sanchez. He did nearly throw two INT's but he got away with them and he made some incredible passes. The drive after the vikes made it close really impressed me. He did what he had to drove his team down field and got a touchdown to make it a 9 point game. That is exactly what you expect a good quarterback to do.

[Axl4Prez2004]

Dont care what anybody says, when Sidney Rice comes back, Vikes are gonna be unbeatable. Teams better hope they are out of playoff chase by then

Last part of 3rd and 4th, minnesota showed some potential.

Favre had one pic.... LOL! give me some for that double Entendre  too many!

Couldn't agree more D.  Great post. 
I can't believe the line on the Dallas-Minnesota game is even to minus 1.  The Vikes should be favored by 3 or 4.  The negativity surrounding Favre's pic situation is clouding people's judgment. 
Minnesota is going to dismantle Dallas on Sunday afternoon.  (ugh, did I just make a prediction?  My predictions SUCK!) 
Seriously, how does Dallas win that game...at Minnesota...no rain...horns blaring...both teams with their backs against the wall.  Now THAT is going to be a great game.  Now if I can only find a way to mute Joe Buck. 

[pilferk]

Dont care what anybody says, when Sidney Rice comes back, Vikes are gonna be unbeatable. Teams better hope they are out of playoff chase by then

Last part of 3rd and 4th, minnesota showed some potential.

Favre had one pic.... LOL! give me some for that double Entendre  too many!

I agree...unless the Vikes are 1-4 or 1-5.  That's a hole I don't think they can climb out of.  And they have a TOUGH schedule over the next few weeks:

Dallas
AT Green Bay
AT New England

That's not a great stretch for them.  If they end up 1-4 or 1-5, they may have to content themselves to play "spoiler" late in the season.

And all that's predicated on the assumption Favre isn't going to be punished/suspended for these alleged shennanigans.

[D]

I get Favre did wrong.. but people saying he should get same suspension as Ben etc are wrong. Favre didn't get accused of anything criminal. it's an embarrassing thing to go through and makes the league look bad, but you can't suspend him the same amount as someone like Ben who had a 2nd accusal.

Maybe 1-2 games tops.

This is the worst NFC probably ever.. Honestly, nobody is any good right now. If i had to pick a best team, definitely would go with the Giants. They are playing some great football right now.

[Axl4Prez2004]

Dont care what anybody says, when Sidney Rice comes back, Vikes are gonna be unbeatable. Teams better hope they are out of playoff chase by then

Last part of 3rd and 4th, minnesota showed some potential.

Favre had one pic.... LOL! give me some for that double Entendre  too many!

I agree...unless the Vikes are 1-4 or 1-5.  That's a hole I don't think they can climb out of.  And they have a TOUGH schedule over the next few weeks:

Dallas
AT Green Bay
AT New England

That's not a great stretch for them.  If they end up 1-4 or 1-5, they may have to content themselves to play "spoiler" late in the season.

And all that's predicated on the assumption Favre isn't going to be punished/suspended for these alleged shennanigans.

Like I said earlier, Dallas is going down hard up in the Dome.
Green Bay's getting obliterated by injuries...they're not the same team that started the season.
At New England will be a very difficult matchup. 
If we go 2-1 over those 3, we'll be 3-4. 
Then we've got Cards, Bears, Pack in the Dome...that's the 3 game winning streak as the offense gels.  6-4.
Then a tough road matchup in Washington DC...possibly 6-5.
Bills, Giants, Bears all at home...potential for another 3 game sweep, but as D mentioned, the Giants look tough.  We'll say 8-6 now.
At Philly and at Detroit to round it out.
I see 10-6 with a possibility of 9-7...the former is likely to lock up the North crown...the latter would be a tie-breaker possibility for a wildcard.

I seem to remember another old man leading his 9-7 team to within seconds of a Super Bowl Championship a few years ago...Warner's Cards bare some resemblance to this Vikings team.
Somebody's gonna catch fire in the NFC.  It will be interesting to see who emerges. 

...and yes D, to equate Big Ben's 2 (not one) but 2 accusations of sexual assault with bullshit text messages is ludicrous. 
that said, the Steelers are THEE team to beat in the AFC in my opinion.