Official 2010-11 NFL Thread

[iamshack]

FWIW, Cutler hasn't had a winning team as a starter, before this year, since high school.

I LOVE this stat....because Cutler played at one of the traditional college powerhouses like Ohio State or Florida or USC, right? The guy played in the toughest conference in football for Vanderbilt! Not incredibly shocking that he didn't have a winning season there.

[nitetrain8601]

I don't see anyone beating the Patriots in the afc playoffs.

 

I don't see anyone beating them the rest of the year honestly. The only thing that concerns me is their secondary. Now if Mark Sanchez was a good QB, he could easily exploit that, but he's probably the most overrated QB in the league.

[iamshack]

One other thing before I forget....I love how Mike & Mike used to be all over Cutler's jock at the beginning of the 08' season during Cutler's last season with Denver, but now Golic basically laughs and insults Cutler whenever his name comes up. Now if they want to admit they were just wrong, fine...but they act as if they never saw anything in Cutler to be impressed about, and that he is just some no talent ass clown now that he is on the Bears.

[nitetrain8601]

i think lovie would be fighting for his job even if he won in 06. this city never has embraced him like they did with ditka and probably never will. he doesnt scream and yell and kick at things enough

 

Agreed. I've loved Lovie Smith as a football coach. Ever since his days with the Rams actually. The Bears' fanbase will never embrace him for being a players' coach. They have one image in their head when it comes to a football coach and that's Ditka. For some stupid reason, Lovie will never live up to that. I remember wanting Lovie to get hired as the Cowboys coach for a long time. I think he's probably the most underrated coach in the league behind Raheem and Reid.

[SoxFan562004]

I don't see anyone beating them the rest of the year honestly. The only thing that concerns me is their secondary. Now if Mark Sanchez was a good QB, he could easily exploit that, but he's probably the most overrated QB in the league.

Pats are on a hell of a roll right now, but I second your secondary concerns! I can really see an AFC team exploiting that in the playoffs

[iamshack]

I don't see anyone beating them the rest of the year honestly. The only thing that concerns me is their secondary. Now if Mark Sanchez was a good QB, he could easily exploit that, but he's probably the most overrated QB in the league.

I think it's REALLY hard to say this about New England considering their offense relies a TON on the short passing game (although they have been running the ball much better as of late), and their defense is extremely mediocre, if not downright poor. The Pats, and Tom Brady for that matter, could certainly win out from here, however, should they run into some nasty weather, I think they could easily get their asses handed to them by a physical running team that plays good defense, i.e. the Jets/Ravens/Steelers/Chiefs.

 

I love what the Pats do, and Bellichick is insanely brilliant, and Brady is incredibly talented. But I just worry about what a game in the snow and wind might do to their offense come playoff time...

[SoxFan562004]

Agreed. I've loved Lovie Smith as a football coach. Ever since his days with the Rams actually. The Bears' fanbase will never embrace him for being a players' coach. They have one image in their head when it comes to a football coach and that's Ditka. For some stupid reason, Lovie will never live up to that. I remember wanting Lovie to get hired as the Cowboys coach for a long time. I think he's probably the most underrated coach in the league behind Raheem and Reid.

the one who I was surprised turned around on Cutler is Schlereth (sp?) He ripped him but now he compliments him... I just ignore the Cutler haters, he is doing a hell of a job with that offensive line, and his strong arm makes those short plays work extremely well

[BigSqwert]

I think it's REALLY hard to say this about New England considering their offense relies a TON on the short passing game (although they have been running the ball much better as of late), and their defense is extremely mediocre, if not downright poor. The Pats, and Tom Brady for that matter, could certainly win out from here, however, should they run into some nasty weather, I think they could easily get their asses handed to them by a physical running team that plays good defense, i.e. the Jets/Ravens/Steelers/Chiefs.

 

I love what the Pats do, and Bellichick is insanely brilliant, and Brady is incredibly talented. But I just worry about what a game in the snow and wind might do to their offense come playoff time...

 

Take it from a Raider fan...they'll be fine in the snow.

 

 

 

[lostfan]

Agreed. I've loved Lovie Smith as a football coach. Ever since his days with the Rams actually. The Bears' fanbase will never embrace him for being a players' coach. They have one image in their head when it comes to a football coach and that's Ditka. For some stupid reason, Lovie will never live up to that. I remember wanting Lovie to get hired as the Cowboys coach for a long time. I think he's probably the most underrated coach in the league behind Raheem and Reid.

Lovie has definitely pissed me off since he's been here from time to time, but yeah I really don't understand Bears fans' fixation on personality for coaches. Ditka was also a miserable failure in his second go-round in the modern NFL and made one of the dumbest personnel moves of all time + 1st and 3rd for Williams. Then you have someone else with that kind of personality and no other apparent coaching skills in Singletary and he's failing badly, too.

[nitetrain8601]

Pats are on a hell of a roll right now, but I second your secondary concerns! I can really see an AFC team exploiting that in the playoffs

 

Only team I can see knocking them off is the Steelers because of the Big Ben to Mike Wallace/Hines Ward connection. And it has to be a clear day. If its snow conditions, Brady will take care of business.

[MurcieOne]

I LOVE this stat....because Cutler played at one of the traditional college powerhouses like Ohio State or Florida or USC, right? The guy played in the toughest conference in football for Vanderbilt! Not incredibly shocking that he didn't have a winning season there.

 

Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus never played in a single postseason game. They must be losers too. Trent Dilfer won more Super Bowls than Dan Marino, Jim Kelly and Warren Moon. Thus, he must be the better than all three.

 

Jay still needs to prove himself. He hasn't been nearly consistent enough to earn the benefit of the doubt. All things aside, Jay has the ability to play the position at an elite level and has taken a steps in his development this season. Trent Dilfer and those who quickly dismiss Jay for his past performances haven't been paying attention. Jay decision making has been markedly better since the Washington debacle and he has been playing some really good football lately.

 

I just hope Vince Wilfork doesn't injure him next sunday.

[SoxFan562004]

Only team I can see knocking them off is the Steelers because of the Big Ben to Mike Wallace/Hines Ward connection. And it has to be a clear day. If its snow conditions, Brady will take care of business.

Flaco can be erratic, but he has the arm to exploit that secondary, if the O-line for Ravens play well in a Pats playoff game, I can see them. Again, Pats are easily my AFC super bowl pic right now, but I can see them losing due to the D

Edited December 7, 2010 by SoxFan562004

[nitetrain8601]

Lovie has definitely pissed me off since he's been here from time to time, but yeah I really don't understand Bears fans' fixation on personality for coaches. Ditka was also a miserable failure in his second go-round in the modern NFL and made one of the dumbest personnel moves of all time + 1st and 3rd for Williams. Then you have someone else with that kind of personality and no other apparent coaching skills in Singletary and he's failing badly, too.

 

Agreed. Bad thing for Lovie is that his career is in Angelo's hands. It will be Jerry's bad player personel moves which will be the death of Lovie in Chicago.

[Rowand44]

The Pats are definitely good but the Jets, Ravens and Steelers can all beat them in the playoffs.

[LittleHurt05]

I don't see anyone beating the Patriots in the afc playoffs.

 

Especially in Foxboro. They will have a one-game lead over Pitt & they beat them head-to-head, so they are in the drivers seat for home-field.

[Chisoxfn]

I don't think the Jets can beat the pats in the playoffs, especially since they'd have to go to Foxboro and win. Maybe the Ravens. I don't think teams that don't have above average passing attacks can beat the Pats though. Pats rush defense is solid, their pass defense is atrocious (32nd in the league).

[Chisoxfn]

Agreed. Bad thing for Lovie is that his career is in Angelo's hands. It will be Jerry's bad player personel moves which will be the death of Lovie in Chicago.

Lovie still needs to win two games to secure a playoff spot, but he's done a tremendous job this year and is on the verge of earning another year and with a solid postseason I have no problem if the Bears start kicking the tires around an extension as early as early next season (whenever that might be). Lovie is a great CEO as a head coach and he's now got very good coaches and the players respect him.

 

He's done some things that irritate me, but I'm ok with Lovie Smith.

[iamshack]

I don't think the Jets can beat the pats in the playoffs, especially since they'd have to go to Foxboro and win. Maybe the Ravens. I don't think teams that don't have above average passing attacks can beat the Pats though. Pats rush defense is solid, their pass defense is atrocious (32nd in the league).

Agreed, but I don't even think it is as bad as that stat would suggest. The Pats are the highest scoring team in the league and so a lot of teams will be forced to throw a ton and accumulate a lot of yards and points in garbage time when the game is all but settled. If you look at the first halves of the last several games, the Patriots defense has played very well, limiting the Steelers to 3 points, the Colts to 14 points, and the Jets to 3 points. Now they obviously gave up some first half points to the Lions, but they clamped down in the second half.

 

I think the Pats pass defense is probably more like middle of the road then dead last...

[Chisoxfn]

Agreed, but I don't even think it is as bad as that stat would suggest. The Pats are the highest scoring team in the league and so a lot of teams will be forced to throw a ton and accumulate a lot of yards and points in garbage time when the game is all but settled. If you look at the first halves of the last several games, the Patriots defense has played very well, limiting the Steelers to 3 points, the Colts to 14 points, and the Jets to 3 points. Now they obviously gave up some first half points to the Lions, but they clamped down in the second half.

 

I think the Pats pass defense is probably more like middle of the road then dead last...

I completely agree with you by the way and I think that is one of the may reasons why sometimes you have to take stats with a grain of salt. However, I don't think the Pats have an elite defense. It does have some good young talent though and it is improving and they obviously have a stellar defensive mind in Bellicheck.

 

I also think that is part of why Orton has put up the numbers he has. He's been behind and they have no rushing attack so he's dropping back and constantly passing. Opposing defenses play softer defense in those situations and you can crank up the yardage. Not taking anything away from Kyle cause he's been better than I expected, but just another example of stats sometimes not being an end all be all.

[iamshack]

I completely agree with you by the way and I think that is one of the may reasons why sometimes you have to take stats with a grain of salt. However, I don't think the Pats have an elite defense. It does have some good young talent though and it is improving and they obviously have a stellar defensive mind in Bellicheck.

 

I also think that is part of why Orton has put up the numbers he has. He's been behind and they have no rushing attack so he's dropping back and constantly passing. Opposing defenses play softer defense in those situations and you can crank up the yardage. Not taking anything away from Kyle cause he's been better than I expected, but just another example of stats sometimes not being an end all be all.

Yeah, agreed about the Pats.

 

As for Orton, the only beef I would have with your analysis is that you'd think you would see a lower completion percentage and a higher number of interceptions. Being forced to throw a lot also should result in increased pressure as defenses tee off on you and that should mean more incompletions and more interceptions.

 

Kyle Orton has had a really wild couple seasons in Denver.

[chw42]

If the Pats did this to the Jets, I don't want to know what's going to happen this Sunday.

[Soxbadger]

Well the Jets just lost THE Jim Leonard so obviously their defense is in disarray.

 

In reality I think the Bears have a better chance than the Jets did. Cutler > Sanchez

[iamshack]

The Pats carve up defenses that try and pressure them. You've got to stay patient, make tackles, and hope to limit them to some field goals instead of touchdowns. If you can hold them to 21-28 points, and your offense plays well against their mediocre defense, they can be beat. But you must remain patient. The Steelers and Jets both got frustrated, missed tackles, then tried to gamble with pressure and Brady exploited them.

[knightni]

If the Pats win by 3.5 tonight, I'll have gotten 13 right in my spread picks this week.

 

[Chi Town Sox]

Does anyone remember when nobody was going to beat the Pats in the 07-08 season too?