NFL 2014-2015 Season: Super Bowl Champion Patriots

[Anacybele]

tryna talk smack despite a few beatdowns this season, cute

Uhhh...so?

So anyway, go Panthers and Bengals! Cat wars indeed!

[Lord Raven]

Anyway, I'm going to go back to this. I'm very interested in how the Jaguars progress because they have quite possibly the most unfortunate rebuilding project ever, and it's also cool because their owner is Pakistani (so my people have some representation in American sports!) Not like the Raiders, who shot themselves in the foot by keeping Dennis Allen for 2.25 seasons (and I think this game was that close because they fired him and Derek Carr was playing balls to the wall football) with a team showing absolutely zero signs of progress.

Cynthia, how long was the final kick? How do you think Bortles will pan out?

Edited October 13, 2014 by Lord Raven

[Jiac]

Anyway, I'm going to go back to this. I'm very interested in how the Jaguars progress because they have quite possibly the most unfortunate rebuilding project ever, and it's also cool because their owner is Pakistani (so my people have some representation in American sports!) Not like the Raiders, who shot themselves in the foot by keeping Dennis Allen for 2.25 seasons (and I think this game was that close because they fired him and Derek Carr was playing balls to the wall football) with a team showing absolutely zero signs of progress.

Cynthia, how long was the final kick? How do you think Bortles will pan out?

Woah I didn't expect Lord Raven to be Pakistani.

Anyways, Raiders seem better under Tony Sparano. Like how Dolphins went 11-5 on his first year as Head Coach after a season of 1-15. So I think Raiders are going to have a better record than expected this time around...then have a decline later.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Vermilia Scarlet

[Lord Raven]

Wasn't 2008 the season where they used the shit out of the wildcat?

[Jiac]

Wasn't 2008 the season where they used the shit out of the wildcat?

2010. Ronnie Brown did a Wildcat play. Everyone in the Chargers' fanbase wanted Ronnie Brown to do a Wildcat play against the Raiders, since he did a WildCat play when Tony Sparano was coaching Miami in 2010. Since we re-signed him after his release from Houston 2 weeks ago, after his 2012-2013 season with us.

[-Cynthia-]

Anyway, I'm going to go back to this. I'm very interested in how the Jaguars progress because they have quite possibly the most unfortunate rebuilding project ever, and it's also cool because their owner is Pakistani (so my people have some representation in American sports!) Not like the Raiders, who shot themselves in the foot by keeping Dennis Allen for 2.25 seasons (and I think this game was that close because they fired him and Derek Carr was playing balls to the wall football) with a team showing absolutely zero signs of progress.

Cynthia, how long was the final kick? How do you think Bortles will pan out?

55 yards, got blocked. Two turnovers in the red zone beforehand and not having 3 timeouts hurt (Gus Bradley y u make dumb challenges?)

Bortles looks very good, he managed over 300 yards with a bad offensive line, questionable receiving corps, and no running game (he was the leading rusher lol). So there's something to look forward to. Defense also played well for the second straight week.

[Lord Raven]

Who's the kicker? And yeah that's pretty remarkable - I am glad that people do realize (media-wise) how little Carr and Bortles have to work with.

2010. Ronnie Brown did a Wildcat play. Everyone in the Chargers' fanbase wanted Ronnie Brown to do a Wildcat play against the Raiders, since he did a WildCat play when Tony Sparano was coaching Miami in 2010. Since we re-signed him after his release from Houston 2 weeks ago, after his 2012-2013 season with us.

Ah, 2008 was Pennington, now I remember.

[Jiac]

http://imgur.com/xtog5bw (image too big)

Rivers' gets no love from NFL.com as usual.

I guess Philip Rivers can no longer impress.

Greatness is automatic, and expected.

[/shot]

Voted Joe Flacco because amazing game today.

I usually don't believe in NFL.com too bias, and the writers are terrible.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Vermilia Scarlet

[Lord Raven]

I think Carr outplayed Rivers pretty soundly, that int was a great play by the chargers D

EDIT: Ana you were saying about Flacco's arm?

If you don't want to do the math, basic application of Pythagorean theorem traveled over 65 yards through the air and landed perfectly into Steve Smith's hands. There are literally very few QBs in the NFL that can actually throw deep with around that accuracy.

http://gfycat.com/HarmoniousCraftyGuanaco

On top of the velocity or touch he put on the other four TD passes. Dude can throw anything from a rocket to a pass with perfect touch and the right amount of air underneath it. Rodgers might nail these more consistently, but Flacco is sure as hell capable of making these passes and hitting them with amazing accuracy too with a relatively clean pocket.

It's really exciting. The Offensive Line has been the best it has ever been in Flacco's entire career here BY FAR - it even trumps the 2012 NFL Playoffs OL and that OL was rock solid. There are a myriad more reliable weapons, or at least weapons being used properly, that Dennis Pitta's loss is missed but not as bad as last season. Owen Daniels, Kyle Jucyczyk, Torrey Smith, Steve Smith, and Justin Forsett are all turning out to be great overall weapons despite only one of them being the same as last year from Flacco. Marlon Brown, Jacoby Jones, Kamar Aiken, and Campanaro have shown enough flashes too (and Campanaro's scouting report reads exactly like Welker's to a T which has me even more excited) and Pierce is a good goal-line guy whereas Taliaferro is going to be the future with some more coaching.

I remember past Ravens offenses looking potent in the first 3 games of the season then fizzling out. So far we've looked somewhat impotent (but actually very constructive in the second half) against Cincy, great against Pittsburgh, pretty good against Cleveland, we had issues against Indy, and we torched Carolina and Tampa. Granted they are weak teams, but remember in 2012 we went 9-6 against a very very hapless Chiefs offense and in 2011 we went 12-7 against the rookie Gabbert-led Jaguars...

I also looked at the stats through PFR and Flacco's start has been significantly better than previous years. 12 TDs and 3 Ints - he's averaged around 8 TDs and 5-6 Ints by this time of year or so. This is also Flacco's lowest sack% - he's gotten sacked maybe 9-10 times by this point in the season but he was also throwing a lot less by this point of the season. (though his sack numbers have increased since his rookie season gradually - like 8 his rookie season by this point and in 2012 it hit 14ish, and last year he was at 19 sacks by this point - he's now at 7).

It's all in this new Gary Kubiak offense. We finally have good personnel and the entire right side is not only healthy, Osemele is doing amazing at LG (missed only one game as a precaution - but he missed the right game, and against the Colts he still played like a Top 3 Guard), Jensen is doing amazing at RT, Zuttah is like a Top 5 Center, and Yanda is playing like the best Guard in the league. Monroe is out but when he's back i'm sure he'll be an amazing LT, and the next man up (James Hurst) is doing admirably. I don't know why but against the Colts we didn't really give him much TE or RB help to on that side like we did against Carolina (and fuckin Tampa couldn't do anything rofl), because he is a UDFA rookie, but we haven't really skipped a beat. That fuck up against the Colts was a result of poor game planning and not giving him the support he needed in practice - confidence in the man, possibly - but we put some of it back today and our left side didn't skip a beat. That kind of gameplanning is excellent and brilliant offensive coaching - something we had never gotten under Cam Cameron as OC.

Shout outs to our new coaches. We have a new WR Coach in Bobby Engram (former Seahawks WR, he was reliable but not amazing, great route runner), RB Coach Wilbert Montgomery (aka the reason why Wisconsin has had record breaking rushing seasons), TE Coach Brian Pariani who coached Tight Ends in Houston for that Houston red zone TE-based passing game (which was very effective), and Rick Dennison as QB Coach (OC for the 2012 Texans who did well). We also kept OL Coach Juan Castillo, who coached some amazing offensive lines in Philly before Andy Reid went crazy and made him a DC, which he was horrible at. Flacco's footwork, mechanics, and rhythm are at a level far beyond anything I recall since the 2012 playoffs.

Furthermore, we've finally moved away from this raw 80s Coryell offense and into a modern West Coast approach with deep passing elements. Flacco now has receivers that are schemed open as opposed to forcing separation to get open (which made all of our receivers almost entirely shut down for the most part over the past six years - unless you were Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton and could run routes, but Mark Clayton didn't have good hands at all) in deep routes and fighting for the ball/making adjustments. There are many instances of an open receiver being there because the play design was as such. This rarely happened among the Ravens of the past six years. RARELY. Flacco had to throw into some very tight windows, but with a shoddy offensive line that seems to change and re-arrange every week (is Yanda an LG or RG or RT? Is Oher playing LT or RT? Who the fuck are these three new guys around Matt Birk that keep changing around? Well, now everyone's playing their natural position and we're putting the next man up on a hole in the line instead of re-arranging) these throws were incredibly difficult to make. Especially since we called a lot of 5 and 7 step drops for a lot of intermediate and deep ball stuff, and on top of that Cameron went crazy in 2011 and stopped calling run plays as consistently. Now we have many more 3-5 step drops with a 7 step drop there if we can find something there.

Our receivers are still inconsistent, mind you, and I still don't think the corps has good individual players, but it's still the best we've had, and in all honesty the Ravens have had a spotty record with home-grown receivers and we've been 50/50 on free agents or trades so I really don't have standards here. We had Derrick Mason and Anquan Boldin (who is still a slightly above average receiver, smh people treated him like he was some elite receiver during that playoff run, you needed a perfect pass that goes in a place only he can get it for Anquan to get the ball because Anquan is slow and can not get separation at all, on top of that he was told to run go routes which he would take forever to run) compared to Lee Evans and TJ Houshmanzadeh. The latter two were frustrating disappointments that knocked us out of the playoffs after a mediocre to shitty regular season outing.

Unlike last year we also have a run game going. We have scored 18 TDs on offense; 6 rushing and 12 passing, and a Top 5 scoring offense. This has never happened in any year that the Ravens have been a team.

On top of that, our front 7 is impressive as hell. CJ Mosley is a wrecking ball, Daryl Smith is great at coverage and a good tackler, Suggs/Dumervil/McPhee are incredibly at dialing up the pressure and stopping the run (I think we are #2 in ypc allowed btw), and Haloti Ngata is back and healthy and playing DE like he was drafted as, not NT anymore, and he has a lot of his quickness and burst that he used to have. Brandon Williams is old but a very large man that clogs up the middle very very well. Canty was also old but he was a solid DE opposite Ngata, and Tyson did admirably when he was called in Canty's place given how bad we made Luck and Glennon look.

Our secondary is lacking depth. I have faith in Elam, and Brooks is a good Nickel Safety (I prefer him being in our nickel packages as a safety than a third corner, more on that in a second). Will Hill's suspension is now over, and he is an amazing free safety that can also play in the box - he was all over the ball as a Giant last year, has incredible speed, range, and instinct, and if he weren't stupid off the field could, and these are NOT my words but the words of NYG fans that were sad to see him go, match Earl Thomas as the best Free Safety in the league. His highlight reels of tackles include busted screens, runs that don't make it to the edge, busting past blockers, amazing and safe/legal hits, and great interceptions after baiting QBs. He is the void at FS we've been missing since Ed Reed even as old as he was in 2011. (Fucking love me some Ed Reed though).

Lardarius Webb is playing okay right now, he had a scare in the Tampa game but I'm pretty sure they withdrew him cause it was a blowout and it was precautionary. He was hurt but it seemed like nothing major - he walked off on his own strength and a receiver tripped over him. He's returning to form a little bit, little by little in fact, but he's not where he was in 2011 and early 2012 (where he was fucking elite but got snubbed from a Pro Bowl). I salivate sometimes at the thought of having Ed Reed, Lardarius Webb, Jimmy Smith (in his current state), Corey Graham (who we couldn't afford and he went to the Bills), and like Matt Elam. This could've happened last year or this year too but Ed Reed was too busy making a quick buck before the end of his career (which I cannot blame him for - 5 million is too much to turn down as a 34 year old that can't really do anything anymore, except catch 3 interceptions as a member of the New York Jets).

Furthermore, I'd like to draw some focus on this monster.

Harbaugh is obsessed with him. He keeps saying Jimmy will make history over and over again - and he will. If you are any receiver going against us in any week, you will rue the day you are lined up across from him. Imagine a cornerback in the Legion of Boom except quicker and with more flexible hips. That is Jimmy Smith.

He is as big as them, as strong as them, and can keep up with smaller, agile receivers like Antonio Brown which are the death of players like that (meanwhile someone like Corey Graham or Lardardius Webb - agile cornerbacks that can perform well as a nickelback - match up well against them). He will press you at the line, disrupt your route, and try to fight you for a chance to bat the ball down or catch it for himself. This season he has given up all of 67 yards in coverage, defended a good chunk of passes, and has not been thrown at often. He has grabbed one interception and has busted many, MANY screens and runs. In fact, you should see him on screens; he comes in like a motherfucker and takes you out behind the line. He hits hard, legally, and he is an amazing tackler. He also caught an interception today, and he caught an interception against Aaron Rodgers last year. His interception returns even look like Ed Reed is running himself - except Reed was a lot smaller and lighter so he could slip past a bunch of people if he needed to.

But he doesn't get attention because he's not a loudmouth and most importantly nobody throws in his direction. In fact, our opposite corners are the problem in our defense on top of another DB issue we have beside him. Asa Jackson was okay I guess whenever he played but Chykie Brown is atrocious. They always get thrown at to allow a first down. Whenever Jimmy gives up a play as well, it's because a) shit happens or b) he expects safety help, and that doesn't come in the most opportune way because our current Free Safety is Darian Stewart who had a pass go straight into his fucking gut and it bounced out. He was not anywhere he was supposed to be and Jimmy Smith has called them out in the most subtle way possible (on the sidelines, caught by someone tweeting it) saying "YOU MESSED UP A BASIC COVER 2, I WAS EXPECTING SAFETY HELP BACK THERE". Someone like that is not a good person to start a game with, but frankly we were so thing at FS and we didn't have the cap room for Jairus Byrd or something.

If we retain him this year, I am buying his jersey. Mark my words. I'm hoping we extend the fifth year option while we work on a long term contract, because he is a mixture of terrifying and softspoken. I'm not really saying he's a Hall of Famer, but he did end up doing his part in our Super Bowl victory, too.

There is very good reason that Harbaugh, former defensive backs coach and former defensive back himself, consistently talks so highly of him, consistently saying he will be one of the all-time greats. We just need to get him support; once he gets good CB play opposite him and passable FS play (neither of which we have) then he will stand out as one of the greats.

Man that turned out longer than I expected. I just started rambling, because nobody here has any idea just how different this Ravens offense is to the last six years and why exactly Flacco was put into a position to score all those TDs the other day. Not many QBs would really succeed in Flacco's situation, and Brees didn't look too hot in San Diego until 2004 or 2005 and even then had struggles when Cameron was calling the shots there - the difference being that Flacco didn't have anyone on the same caliber as LaDainian Tomlinson, Michael Turner, Antonio Gates, or Lorenzo Neal alongside him (for the record: there are two hall of famers in that list, and one of the best FBs of the past 25 years). It's also nice to talk about the state of our secondary and why you all should be afraid of James motherfucking Smith. (Fun fact: In the first and second round of the 2011 draft, we drafted James Smith. One is a Cornerback, the other is a Wide Receiver you may know as Torrey Smith. Also Matthew Stafford's first name is John). If you're patient enough, have a funny gif from the Dolphins game yesterday.

Dolphins. Always giving the funny gifs.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Lord Raven

[Randa]

Raven do honestly expect anyone to read that post?

[Anacybele]

Seriously, what he said. I don't need an essay about why Flacco is a good QB. I know he is one. I underestimated his arm a little bit, but I still thought he had a good one anyway.

Sometimes I wonder why make/post in these threads though. Nobody but me is interested in the teams I cheer for, even when they're bad and have to make changes. I don't want to see Mike Tomlin fired (though Haley, on the other hand...) like some other fans want, so I really hope he does his job right here. I mean, my stepdad told me that even Bill Cowher had bad seasons when he ran the Steelers. So just because Tomlin's having a few bad ones doesn't make him a bad coach. Haley just doesn't seem to know what he's doing with this offense anymore and LeBeau needs to retire.

LeBeau will be hard to replace though, so I still expect our D to go through a couple bumps. But yeah.

As for the Panthers, they seem to be great, just riddled with too many injuries and a not-100% Cam Newton. Regardless, they're doing pretty dang good aside from a couple big butt-kickings by two certain AFC North teams.

[Lord Raven]

It's a sentence about Flacco. None of the rest is related to you and most of that is not even about Flacco. Learn to know when to be wrong, and if anyone actually at least skimmed it they'd realize that it's about our season so far.

Dick Lebeau is going nowhere until retirement. He's been dealt a very bad hand. He doesn't have a system so much as adapting to his personnel.

What does todd Haley do that makes you say he has no idea what he's doing?

Raven do honestly expect anyone to read that post?

3am ramblings. No. Edited October 14, 2014 by Lord Raven

[PerfectD]

Anyways...

Why does Demarco Murray have to be carrying the cruddy Cowboys..

And when was the vote that titled them America's team?

I think Bortles will be decent if they buld around him some more.

They should have won that game.

He compete's. He has guts when the game is on the line.

Nowadays a lot of QB's are only game managers.

This guy is going to be the reason they win games.

Carr is a stud too.

Not as big as an arm as Bortles.

But the same winning mentality.

People that will put the games on there back and get it done.

Regardless if its pretty or not.

[Anacybele]

What does todd Haley do that makes you say he has no idea what he's doing?

A lot of things.

- Making Blount get a hand-off in a long down instead of Bell. He's not fast enough for that. He's better for shorter lengths that require a heavy guy like him shoving his way through people. Bell is the RB that can take care of longer yardage.

- Ignoring Antonio Brown for scrubs like Justin Brown. Antonio Brown had to have gotten fewer throws than anyone else against the Browns.

- Not using Heath Miller at ALL against the Browns wtf

- Constantly running the ball and barely throwing it

- And Haley says he wants to protect Ben better. He sure isn't doing that great of a job on this. Occasionally Ben gets a lot of time to do something, but this is rare.

The special teams coordinator seems to be stupid too.

- Making Blount return punts instead of someone faster and more dodgy like Dri Archer and Antonio Brown (even though Archer could still learn a thing or two from Brown himself)

- Trying to fake a field goal attempt when Suisham wasn't even NOTIFIED of it, what the freaking hell? Suisham thought he had kicked the ball at first because nobody told him it was planned to be faked.

And Dick LeBeau NEEDS to retire, that's what I'm saying.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Anacybele

[-Cynthia-]

Scobee is the Jaguars kicker, usually pretty reliable so trying the 55 yarder wasn't a terrible idea.

Snoop Dogg agrees with Ana about Todd Haley- for what that's worth.

[Dijon Mustard]

I was kinda rooting for Scobee to make that kick because I'm already at the point with the Titans where I want them to lose so they can draft Mariota (or whoever else can throw Kendall Wright a football).

btw I would co-root for the Rams if they permanently brought back these '99 throwback unis they're wearing on MNF.

[Jiac]

If you could make a perfect QB using parts from current QBs to make it?

Vision (Eyes): Peyton Manning

Height: Joe Flacco

Legs: Colin Kaepernick

Arms: Aaron Rodgers

Mentality: Philip Rivers

Body: Cam Newton

Decision making: Tom Brady

Talent: Tackle Breaking (Ben Roethlisberger)

Edited October 14, 2014 by Vermilia Scarlet

[Lord Raven]

- Making Blount get a hand-off in a long down instead of Bell. He's not fast enough for that. He's better for shorter lengths that require a heavy guy like him shoving his way through people. Bell is the RB that can take care of longer yardage.

Like on third and long? Explain the situation because it sounds like a Draw play where they just give up on the down and see what they can make of it without turning the ball over. Also possibly Bell needing to catch his breath; you don't always put in the same RB for every play to run it like the Cowboys do.

I could say the same for any team that rushes someone over their best runner but there's always a good reason and it has to do with giving each RB a break. Forsett didn't run on every down last week even though he was largely effective, instead we put in Pierce and Taliaferro at times even though they're not as effective.

- Ignoring Antonio Brown for scrubs like Justin Brown. Antonio Brown had to have gotten fewer throws than anyone else against the Browns.

He got 7 receptions for 118 yards against Cleveland... in fact he averages 7 receptions per game. Do you want Ben to throw to him 30 times a game or something? Because 7 is above average for receptions.... And 19 is the record. 10 is considered a very large amount of receptions.

- Not using Heath Miller at ALL against the Browns wtf

Was he in the formation or just not targeted? Because the guy who was probably covering him was Karlos Dansby who is possibly the best or somewhere close to the best coverage linebacker in the league.

- Constantly running the ball and barely throwing it

Nothing wrong with this. Run helps setup the pass and you need as much room to pass as you can get.

- And Haley says he wants to protect Ben better. He sure isn't doing that great of a job on this. Occasionally Ben gets a lot of time to do something, but this is rare.

That's on the OL Coach and personnel. It's possible that they're putting in Blount or Bell in pass protection, or an extra TE and even they're not even because the offensive line is bad. OC has very little control over these things. This easily goes back to why Heath wasn't looked at; using an extra TE to block with futility.

- Making Blount return punts instead of someone faster and more dodgy like Dri Archer and Antonio Brown (even though Archer could still learn a thing or two from Brown himself)

A few things. You don't want to make your starter return punts due to injury risk, and returning punts is also much different to returning kicks. There's a very good reason Percy Harvin is KR on the Seahawks but not the PR; both injury risk and the ability to read blocks and read whether or not to fair catch it or let it go instantly. It's quite possible that Dri Archer cannot do this, and then they don't want to risk Bell or Brown doing this either. Blount may have been the best case scenario.

Also you can have good hands and still not be a good fair catcher/punt returner. Look at Earl Thomas. Elite FS, great hands, did terrible on punts in the season opener.

- Trying to fake a field goal attempt when Suisham wasn't even NOTIFIED of it, what the freaking hell? Suisham thought he had kicked the ball at first because nobody told him it was planned to be faked.

A lot of holders do this, and this is entirely on the head coach and the punter (who is the holder) and has very little to do with Todd Haley or the special teams coordinator. The holder is told to make it a fake field goal if the field goal blocking unit is in a certain formation. A lot of field goal kickers aren't notified of fake field goals because it does even more to help sell the fake.

And Dick LeBeau NEEDS to retire, that's what I'm saying.

You still haven't explained why. Nobody's "figured" him out, he's a coach who goes week-by-week and doesn't swear by any single system. He is a flexible guy and he is very good at using his personnel as best he can - he just has really bad personnel. This is on the management, this is not on the DC.

Vision (Eyes): Peyton Manning

Height: Joe Flacco

Legs: Colin Kaepernick

Arms: Aaron Rodgers

Mentality: Philip Rivers

Body: Cam Newton

Decision making: Tom Brady

Talent: Tackle Breaking (Ben Roethlisberger)

What does Peyton Manning's eyes have to do with anything?

I agree with your list except for Mentality and Decision Making - I'd take Peyton Manning on both easily. Brady's is better when he has like 5 seconds, it's very very good when he has 3 seconds, but Manning can operate under any circumstance.

I'd say I'd take Luck's ability to break tackles over Ben.

I was kinda rooting for Scobee to make that kick because I'm already at the point with the Titans where I want them to lose so they can draft Mariota (or whoever else can throw Kendall Wright a football).

You want your team to tank...? That would probably put Ken Whisenhunt on the hot seat sooner and you don't want that because he's a good coach dealt a bad hand.... Edited October 14, 2014 by Lord Raven

[Anacybele]

Like on third and long? Explain the situation because it sounds like a Draw play where they just give up on the down and see what they can make of it without turning the ball over. Also possibly Bell needing to catch his breath; you don't always put in the same RB for every play to run it like the Cowboys do.

I could say the same for any team that rushes someone over their best runner but there's always a good reason and it has to do with giving each RB a break. Forsett didn't run on every down last week even though he was largely effective, instead we put in Pierce and Taliaferro at times even though they're not as effective.

He got 7 receptions for 118 yards against Cleveland... in fact he averages 7 receptions per game. Do you want Ben to throw to him 30 times a game or something? Because 7 is above average for receptions.... And 19 is the record. 10 is considered a very large amount of receptions.

Was he in the formation or just not targeted? Because the guy who was probably covering him was Karlos Dansby who is possibly the best or somewhere close to the best coverage linebacker in the league.

Nothing wrong with this. Run helps setup the pass and you need as much room to pass as you can get.

That's on the OL Coach and personnel. It's possible that they're putting in Blount or Bell in pass protection, or an extra TE and even they're not even because the offensive line is bad. OC has very little control over these things. This easily goes back to why Heath wasn't looked at; using an extra TE to block with futility.

A few things. You don't want to make your starter return punts due to injury risk, and returning punts is also much different to returning kicks. There's a very good reason Percy Harvin is KR on the Seahawks but not the PR; both injury risk and the ability to read blocks and read whether or not to fair catch it or let it go instantly. It's quite possible that Dri Archer cannot do this, and then they don't want to risk Bell or Brown doing this either. Blount may have been the best case scenario.

Also you can have good hands and still not be a good fair catcher/punt returner. Look at Earl Thomas. Elite FS, great hands, did terrible on punts in the season opener.

A lot of holders do this, and this is entirely on the head coach and the punter (who is the holder) and has very little to do with Todd Haley or the special teams coordinator. The holder is told to make it a fake field goal if the field goal blocking unit is in a certain formation. A lot of field goal kickers aren't notified of fake field goals because it does even more to help sell the fake.

You still haven't explained why. Nobody's "figured" him out, he's a coach who goes week-by-week and doesn't swear by any single system. He is a flexible guy and he is very good at using his personnel as best he can - he just has really bad personnel. This is on the management, this is not on the DC.

Well yeah, I never said Bell had to run on EVERY running play. That would tire the poor man out. I'm saying put Bell in first when it's like first and 10, then use Blount to steamroll the rest of the way. Blount is also good at closing things up. Just look what he did against the Panthers. He doesn't have much burst or speed though (a little, not a lot), so he's not reliable when you need a lot of yards. Except when the opponent's defense is getting tired.

If the kicker shouldn't be told about a fake field goal attempt, why was it botched because he thought he kicked it? He didn't realize for a second that the guy holding the ball still had it and was trying to run off with it, so he couldn't throw in a block in time. It was garbage communication.

As for Heath, they never really put the camera on him, so I had no idea who was covering him.

Also, the players have shown the ability to crush the opposition. The Panthers game proved that this team has talent. The defense did lose a few good guys to injury, but the backups did wonders against the Jags (forcing turnovers) and they still forced two three-and-outs in a row against the Browns. And the offense ran all over the Panthers' D. The question is, WHY AREN'T THEY DOING THIS MORE CONSISTENTLY??

This is why most fans are blaming the coaching staff, including Mike Tomlin. I don't think Tomlin is really the problem, but I do agree on Haley, LeBeau, and maybe whoever else they say. Tomlin, all he needs to do is get more in control like some of the other fans say. They say he's more like a spectator. He DID manage to reduce penalties by inviting officials to practice, but the other problems are still there, and a player once in awhile still gets a stupid ass post-play flag.

In short: Tomlin, put your fucking foot down already!

[Lord Raven]

I'm saying put Bell in first when it's like first and 10, then use Blount to steamroll the rest of the way.

Lots of teams do stuff like this.

If the kicker shouldn't be told about a fake field goal attempt, why was it botched because he thought he kicked it?

It's not that he shouldn't know, it's that often times they don't. It's the play design. If the holder sees something in the blocking unit he likes, then he's instructed to take off with it. It's quite possibly that was intended to be a field goal but the punter/holder saw it and went for it.

A good example of this is last year's San Diego/Kansas City game in OT. Weddle was instructed to do something similar on a 4th and short (except this was a punt). It was originally planned to be a punt but there was a hole in the punt blocking unit that they wanted to take advantage of so they did, the punter didn't know but Weddle signaled to the long snapper to do it.

Also, the players have shown the ability to crush the opposition.

At this point that may have been a fluke because Cincy allowed 37 points to them and they are significantly better on defense.

The defense did lose a few good guys to injury, but the backups did wonders against the Jags (forcing turnovers)

Cause other teams haven't caused the Jags to turn the ball over...? Jags are pretty bad in terms of their turnover margin.

And the offense ran all over the Panthers' D. The question is, WHY AREN'T THEY DOING THIS MORE CONSISTENTLY??

So you complain about running the ball and then you complain about the fact that when you did run the ball it worked... pick a side. It's also due to run blocking, btw.

And I don't know why people blame the coaching staff when it seems like the talent is poor. People in Baltimore bitched about Juan Castillo last year. This year our OL is amazing and that's probably due to our coaching and our terrible personnel on OL last year. We changed 3 starters on offense this year and even have a rookie backup at LT and our OL is still solid.

[Dijon Mustard]

You want your team to tank...? That would probably put Ken Whisenhunt on the hot seat sooner and you don't want that because he's a good coach dealt a bad hand....

He'll be safe as long as this season isn't a Cam Cameron- or '06 Art Shell-tier disaster (firing a coach after 1 year is a bad look that scares candidates away, and this is the same team that offered Mike Munchak a contract extension). It's more about not putting Whisenhunt in the same situation he failed in at Arizona, where he went back and forth through a large group of Mettenberger-like quarterbacks at dumb times. Giving him a highly touted QB means taking one more personnel decision out of his hands, which is generally considered to be the right direction to go in, while allowing him to show off how great of an offensive coach he is. The Titans have also invested very heavily in non-QB offensive players the last couple years. It would be nice to evaluate what those players look like with competent QB play (and how well or poorly the GM did in assembling those players around Jake Locker, whom he didn't draft) before it's time to either resign them or move on. Of course, hoping their team somehow falls into a franchise QB is what fans do.

[-Cynthia-]

Picks for Week 7:

New York Jets at New England- Brady at home, Jets are terrible etc.

Miami at Chicago- Not sold on the Dolphins, but the Bears are an inconsistent team who have lost every home game this year so who knows. I haven't picked a Bears game right this season actually (for the record I have 3 teams I've picked perfectly, so I blame Chicago)

New Orleans at Detroit- Lions offense is questionable without Megatron, but that D looks like the best in the league. Picking Saints to win on the road hasn't worked so far.

Carolina at Green Bay- Panthers have dealt with their injury issues better than expected, but I like Rodgers at home

Cleveland at Jacksonville- Browns are looking like a solid team after last week

Atlanta at Baltimore- Falcons are a mess, Ravens are good at home

Minnesota at Buffalo- Vikings offense just doesn't have much going for it

Cincinnati at Indianapolis- Bengals pass defense looks questionable, which is not a good thing against Luck

Tennessee at Washington- Both bad teams here- go with the home team. Cousins looks better than Locker or Whitehurst I guess.

Seattle at St. Louis- Seahawks should be able to rebound against a weak Rams team

Kansas City at San Diego- Chiefs are not that bad, but Chargers have looked very good especially at home

Arizona at Oakland- Nice effort last week by the Raiders, but still not picking them.

New York Giants at Dallas- Cowboys have been the more consistent team this year and looks like no Victor Cruz for the Giants

San Francisco at Denver- Niners on consecutive road games after a Monday night looks good for the Broncos

Houston at Pittsburgh- Steelers look terrible really. They did bounce back from Week 2 to Week 3, but it's hard to pick them right now.

[Lord Raven]

NYJ@NE is going to be a trainwreck on one side. Unless they manage to get some pressure on Brady then Jets are screwed. New England takes it given that the Jets just lost their up and coming corner.

MIA@CHI, I'm not sure how to feel about either team so I'll give it to Miami.

NO@DET should be a landslide because NO is playing like shit on every phase of hte ball

CAR@GB... Carolina's secondary though? The only way for Carolina to take this is in a shootout a la Cincy.

CLE@JAX, I don't see it happening the other way.

ATL@BAL, you guys know that the Falcons put their starting TE in the RT spot at some point because their depth on OL was so poor right? The Falcons just suck and their only good players are a few guys in their secondary, their QB, and two of their receivers.

MIN@BUF, Buffalo was in the New England game until the last 3-4 minutes whereas Minnesota's not been great lately, Buffalo's good with pressure and Bridgewater is still a rookie so...

CIN@IND, AJ Green is out meanwhile Indy at home may as well be a lock this season

TEN@WAS

ALL HAIL THE CLIPBOARD JESUS

I really have no reason to pick this, I just think the Redskins are a wreck and the Titans aren't as bad of a wreck

SEA@STL, @STL has been historically troubling for Seattle and Doug Baldwin tipped off to an air of complacency in the organization. Seahawks are definitely mortal. Upset pick.

KC@SD, KC was overrated last year and they're still kinda weak. I think SD is getting overrated at this point though but this won't be the game where they come crashing down to earth.

AZ@OAK - Oakland still sucks.

NYG@DAL, holy Victor Cruz people

SF@DEN, the Niners aren't impressive either cause their secondary still blows. Kaepernick is definitely bout to be stopped and contained by Miller and Ware.

HOU@PIT, if Houston managed to make an almost comeback against the Colts then I'd be worried as a Pittsburgh fan, especially since nothing on that Pittsburgh offense except maybe Bell is on par with the Indy offense, and I don't think anything on that Pittsburgh defense can stop Arian Foster or Andre Johnson.

[Anacybele]

Lots of teams do stuff like this.

Then why doesn't it feel like these Steelers are doing it very often?

It's not that he shouldn't know, it's that often times they don't. It's the play design. If the holder sees something in the blocking unit he likes, then he's instructed to take off with it. It's quite possibly that was intended to be a field goal but the punter/holder saw it and went for it.

A good example of this is last year's San Diego/Kansas City game in OT. Weddle was instructed to do something similar on a 4th and short (except this was a punt). It was originally planned to be a punt but there was a hole in the punt blocking unit that they wanted to take advantage of so they did, the punter didn't know but Weddle signaled to the long snapper to do it.

Okay, now this is making more sense to me. Clears up a lot of confusion. Even the announcers couldn't quite grasp what the hell happened in that Steeler play.

At this point that may have been a fluke because Cincy allowed 37 points to them and they are significantly better on defense.

Or maybe before we lost Ike Taylor, Jarvis Jones, and Ryan Shazier, our defense was better. The Steelers only allowed the Panthers to get 16 or 17 points or something like that. They were three of our most talented guys on that side of the team. The only talent that's left there now are Cortez Allen, Brett Kiesel, and Troy Polamalu. Allen's been getting picks while Polamalu has been tackling guys in the fricken back field. They probably stuck him in linebacker again every now and then because the team is out two others.

Oh, and James Harrison. I totally forgot about him. He hasn't been mentioned since he rejoined the team! I'm actually rather surprised since even at his age, he's been able to do some things in the past. Not as much as Polamalu or the others I mentioned, but still. Our pass rush has been fairly decent aside from some stupid decisions since we still have Polamalu and Allen. I mean, when Hoyer tossed that one long ass pass, guess who finally made the tackle? Brett Kiesel. KIESEL. What the hell was he doing covering a god damn receiver?! That's not his job! He's part of the front seven! The fact that he managed to save the TD surprised me. Our front seven has most of the issues because of the lack of LBs and shit, but still. This is why LeBeau needs to retire.

Cause other teams haven't caused the Jags to turn the ball over...? Jags are pretty bad in terms of their turnover margin.

Yeah, you're right about that, but it still proves that LeBeau CAN do something with the backups, he's just not doing it the way he used to be able to anymore. Age has finally caught up with him. He's fricken SEVENTY SEVEN.

So you complain about running the ball and then you complain about the fact that when you did run the ball it worked... pick a side. It's also due to run blocking, btw.

I was talking about the ENTIRE offense, not just the run game. Yes, running the ball worked wonders against the Panthers, but Ben threw the ball plenty of times too. This game was where the team was doing shit right. But the coaches aren't repeating that!

And I don't know why people blame the coaching staff when it seems like the talent is poor. People in Baltimore bitched about Juan Castillo last year. This year our OL is amazing and that's probably due to our coaching and our terrible personnel on OL last year. We changed 3 starters on offense this year and even have a rookie backup at LT and our OL is still solid.

No talent?? NO TALENT?! I know you hate the Steelers, but seriously, do you know anything about their players? Our offense has plenty of talent and we'd have one of the best in the league if Haley knew what the hell he was doing. Big Ben's one of the elite QBs in the league, Antonio Brown is currently 3rd in receiving yards this season, Le'Veon Bell is 2nd in rushing yards, we've got good ol' Heath Miller who is still great despite his age, and we've got speedsters in Dri Archer and Markus Wheaton. I believe these two can grow into monsters given time and become better than either Emmanuel Sanders or Jerricho Cotchery ever were. And we've got LeGarrette Blount as a great game finishing and steamrolling for small yardage RB. He's the lesser of all this talent, but he can even hurdle people like Bell can, and this guy is massive. I couldn't believe it when I saw him jump like that!

I will agree that the o-line still needs a bit of work even if Markice Pouncey and David DeCastro are pretty good. They just need help and can't do the work all by themselves.

And I already talked about the defense. It DID have more talent before Shazier, Jones, and Taylor went down, though probably not quite as much as the offense. Shazier ALONE got eleven tackles and a pick in ONE quarter and that was in his first game EVER in the NFL (the first preseason game). The game against the Bucs is a good example of why LeBeau has finally lost his touch. The defense kept forcing the Bucs to go to 3rd down, but all of a sudden they held back for some reason and stopped pressuring the QB. And the Bucs SUCK.

And as I said before, the defense still could do stuff when they put their minds to it even now. They forced two three-and-outs in a row against the Browns.

Edited October 14, 2014 by Anacybele

[metalsnowman3]

If you could make a perfect QB using parts from current QBs to make it?

Vision (Eyes): Peyton Manning

Height: Joe Flacco

Legs: Colin Kaepernick

Arms: Aaron Rodgers

Mentality: Philip Rivers

Body: Cam Newton

Decision making: Tom Brady

Talent: Tackle Breaking (Ben Roethlisberger)

>insert Andrew Luck pic here