NFL 2014-2015 Season: Super Bowl Champion Patriots

[chococoke]

Foles doesn't look like he's seeing the field as well as he did last season. He was bailed out big time by Sproles and McCoy last night.

I'm a Patriots fan and I've lost confidence since the season began. That being said, if the defense can continue to improve (especially with Chandler Jones playing in a more favorable position) and the offensive line makes significant improvements, they can go deep into the playoffs.

[-Cynthia-]

To be fair, the Patriots offense didn't really have to be great since they were blowing out the Vikings via turnovers. No reason for Tom Brady to throw it all over the place when they're up by a few scores.

Picks for this week:

Tampa Bay at Atlanta- Falcons offense is usually good at home, Bucs offense probably isn't good anywhere

Minnesota at New Orleans- Saints at home good pick, Vikings have drama

Washington at Philadelphia- Hard to imagine the Redskins being able to keep up, especially with offensive injuries

Indianapolis at Jacksonville- Colts can at least move the ball, Jaguars are bad at everything

Houston at New York Giants- Texans defense has been solid and they get another bad team here

San Diego at Buffalo- Chargers run D should be able to force Manuel to throw and I like Rivers over Manuel

Dallas at St. Louis- Cowboys defense may not actually be that bad, I dunno how the Rams will put up points

Tennessee at Cincinnati- Bengals look strong right now, especially on defense, Jake Locker looked like Jake Locker last week.

Baltimore at Cleveland- Browns have been scrappy, but I like the more proven team coming off a long week here.

Oakland at New England- You know how to pick this game if you've followed football at all this past decade.

Green Bay at Detroit- Both of these teams have bad defenses...I'll go with Aaron Rodgers I guess

San Francisco at Arizona- Switching to the Niners here, I don't think the Cardinals have enough offense with Palmer out.

Denver at Seattle- Seahawks at home are hard to pick against and they seemed to match up well the last time

Kansas City at Miami- Jamaal Charles injury makes the Chiefs one dimensional and they're not really good at throwing the ball

Pittsburgh at Carolina- Panthers defense looks dominating, Steelers looked bad at everything last week

Chicago at New York Jets- Nice win for the Bears last week, but they're pretty banged up on both sides of the ball right now.

Edited September 17, 2014 by -Cynthia-

[Da Bear]

Ana and Raven are already nearly to half of their postcounts for last season's topic. 2spam4therestofus

NFL.com released their power rankings for the week today. I'm thinking that the Bengals are too high and he dropped the Seahawks too low. I agree with the Niners plummeting though.

[Lord Raven]

Foles is a perfectly capable QB. The Eagles are lucky to be in the NFC East. They will probably end up being the #2 seed. Play-off success? Probably not. The NFC has way too many great Defenses.

Hell yeah, dude's got an arm and he's fairly accurate. Screens are huge in the nfl these days though and frankly there's no reason to not dump off if they work.

Of the 0-2 teams, the Raiders and Jaguars are definitely the 2 worst teams in the NFL. Does anyone think we will see a 0-16 team this year? I think the Raiders have the best chance to do it.

Raiders and Jaguars are nowhere near as bad as previous 2-14 teams have been, let alone 1-15 and the 2008 Lions.

[Anacybele]

Pittsburgh at Carolina- Panthers defense looks dominating, Steelers looked bad at everything last week

I agree, but things can still change pretty quickly, so I wouldn't count out the possibility of the Steelers winning entirely. The Ravens looked bad at everything against the Bengals, but then went and blew out the Steelers.

The Panthers winning is still the most likely scenario though, unfortunately.

Edited September 16, 2014 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

Ravens didnt look bad at everything against the Bengals, did you even watch the game?

[Anacybele]

What? I recall you saying that neither the offense nor the defense could do much against them. But in any case, they still looked much worse against the Bengals than they did against the Steelers.

Edited September 16, 2014 by Anacybele

[Da Bear]

What? I recall you saying that neither the offense nor the defense could do much against them. But in any case, they still looked much worse against the Bengals than they did against the Steelers.

That is probably because the Bengals are a far superior team....

Edited September 16, 2014 by Da Bear

[Anacybele]

Superior to the Ravens or the Steelers? I don't agree in either case though. I'd say both teams shot themselves in the foot big time, the Ravens with all those dropped passes and shit, and the Steelers with their penalties and crap. They can both normally play much better, as the Steelers showed in the first half of the Browns game and the Ravens showed against the Steelers. And this is coming from someone that would much rather cheer for the Bengals than the Ravens.

[PerfectD]

Ana and Raven are already nearly to half of their postcounts for last season's topic. 2spam4therestofus

NFL.com released their power rankings for the week today. I'm thinking that the Bengals are too high and he dropped the Seahawks too low. I agree with the Niners plummeting though.

If anything it's Denver at #1..

Bengals or Philly should be up there.

Both of the Broncos games so far have finished with Manning sweatin bullets..

The Colts and Chiefs could have won the game at the end easily.

They didn't, but the opportunities were there.

This brand new shiny upgraded defense of Denver's is barely holding on.

Manning can only carry them so far.

[Da Bear]

Superior to the Ravens or the Steelers? I don't agree in either case though. I'd say both teams shot themselves in the foot big time, the Ravens with all those dropped passes and shit, and the Steelers with their penalties and crap. They can both normally play much better, as the Steelers showed in the first half of the Browns game and the Ravens showed against the Steelers. And this is coming from someone that would much rather cheer for the Bengals than the Ravens.

Have you been watching the Bengals this year? They look really good, a few analysts are saying they have a top 3 defense. They also have a nice run game, if Green comes back (I haven't heard news on him) they're easily the best in the division.

If you want proof of how good their defense is look at the most important defensive stat, points allowed, they've given up the 3rd least amount of points, the teams ahead of them are the Texans (Gave up 20, they played the Redskins and the Raiders so lol) and the Panthers (gave up 21, Bucs and Lions). The Bengals have given up 26 against the Ravens and the Falcons.

Edited September 16, 2014 by Da Bear

[-Cynthia-]

I don't think it's too serious, last injury report I saw had Green listed as probable for Week 3.

[Anacybele]

Have you been watching the Bengals this year? They look really good, a few analysts are saying they have a top 3 defense. They also have a nice run game, if Green comes back (I haven't heard news on him) they're easily the best in the division.

The Steelers crushed the Bengals in their last matchup and I don't think much as changed with the Bengals' roster since then. Someone agreed with me earlier in the thread that the Steelers have a slightly better D too, but if the Bengals have a top 3 defense now, that's probably incorrect now.

Lord Raven seemed pretty sure that the Ravens would've beaten the Bengals if it wasn't for mistakes on the Ravens' part. And I'm inclined to believe him since he seems quite knowledgeable on the NFL.

Edited September 16, 2014 by Anacybele

[PerfectD]

Bengals defense is injury free right now..

That is why there so much better.

Geno Atkins is in top three of DT's in NFL.

Leon Hall is there best corner.

Both are back and its evident..

If they ever get a better MLB to go with Burfict. (Who has been getting quite a few concussions)

There D will be set for another 3-5 years..

It's mildly scary.

[ClevelandSteve]

Well, the Browns are in for a tough matchup once again. Of course, when you're the Browns, EVERY matchup is a tough matchup. We lucked out against the Saints, but "lightning doesn't strike the same place twice" and whatnot (actually, that thing about lightning is not scientifically accurate, but that's besides the point). We have one more tough game, then an early bye week, then from weeks five through nine we only have one really tough opponent (of course, like I said, when you're the Browns, no opponent is an easy opponent): the Steelers in Week 6. This is the time we need to build up momentum for the long string of much tougher opponents at the season's end. Of course, since we're the Browns, we'll probably win just enough games to keep us from getting one of the 2-3 players in the draft that are guaranteed superstars.

[-Cynthia-]

Bengals defense is injury free right now..

That is why there so much better.

Geno Atkins is in top three of DT's in NFL.

Leon Hall is there best corner.

Both are back and its evident..

If they ever get a better MLB to go with Burfict. (Who has been getting quite a few concussions)

There D will be set for another 3-5 years..

It's mildly scary.

Based off of the 2 games this season and last season, a statement like the Steelers defense being better than the Bengals doesn't seem true at all. The Bengals look like the strongest team in the AFC North- this is from someone who doesn't have a vested interest in any AFC North teams. Perhaps they'll lose their next 14 games like the Texans did last year, but difficult to predict that based on what we've seen.

[Jiac]

Yet the Bengals choke even with owning a team that can potentially rival the Broncos. inb4ChargersvsBengalsandPlayoffdrought.

Edited September 16, 2014 by Zephyr

[metalsnowman3]

The bengals had the 2nd best defense last year even after geno atkins went down. They have a much better D than the steelers and they are a better team than the steelers atm.

The steelers D is better than last years but that isn't saying anything cause they were bad last year. If they don't pick it up they could be a 500 team.

[Anacybele]

The steelers D is better than last years but that isn't saying anything cause they were bad last year. If they don't pick it up they could be a 500 team.

You mean they were bad at the BEGINNING of last year. They had a pretty strong finish.

[Lord Raven]

Steelers D was baaaaaad last year. Holding that Browns team to 7 points isn't much of an accomplishment, but Green Bay without Rodgers put up 31 on them, and the Pats put up 55 despite being anemic on offense. I'd argue this Steelers D is worse than last year, because this Steelers D seems like a trainwreck so far.

Superior to the Ravens or the Steelers? I don't agree in either case though. I'd say both teams shot themselves in the foot big time, the Ravens with all those dropped passes and shit, and the Steelers with their penalties and crap. They can both normally play much better, as the Steelers showed in the first half of the Browns game and the Ravens showed against the Steelers. And this is coming from someone that would much rather cheer for the Bengals than the Ravens.

Superior to the Steelers, jury's out on the Ravens.

What? I recall you saying that neither the offense nor the defense could do much against them. But in any case, they still looked much worse against the Bengals than they did against the Steelers.

Never said anything about the defense. They were burned on screens but they held them to 15 points in 7 drives in the first half. One defensive mismatch led to another TD and they ended up surrendering 23 points total (someone mentioned the Bengals holding teams to 26 points - we've held teams to 29, come on mane). We outplayed them in the second half, outscoring them 16-8, and the game was in contention until a minute left in the game when we got inopportunely sacked on fourth down. Aside from that receivers were getting open and Flacco was throwing the ball to exactly the right spot, there was just some iffy hands at play.

Still though, fuckin screens, Dalton got like 130 yards on YAC that day or something. Probably because when he throws it across the middle or downfield against the Ravens he gets fukked

Better not lose to the fucking Browns on Sunday. Does anyone know if Will Hill will be back this week? :( :( :(

[Jiac]

Wanna know what bothers me when I talk to Seahawks fans about the last game...

"The damned heat."

How come San Diego does not get the excuse when they lost to the Patriots when it's freezing cold in the winter like a mofo. It's usually only like 80 degrees here too so we had to endure the heat as well. It's not like it's automatically cooler for us. We are more better adapted to the weather, yes. But I doubt it made a big difference. Jerseys though may have made a difference.

[Lord Raven]

Phoenix Wright; the following are hall of fame eligible.

Kurt Warner

Isaac Bruce

Torry Holt

Orlando Pace

Dick Vermeil

Preliminary hall of fame ballot: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/09/16/preliminary-hall-of-fame-ballot-announced/

Edited September 17, 2014 by Lord Raven

[PerfectD]

Fantasy Update:

Picked up "Captain" Kirk Cousins off of the waiver wire.

Would love to see him permanently take starting role in WSH.

Then see RGIII get traded next year. Haaa.

On a lesser note:

Jamaal Charles has officially ruined my whole season this year.

Knew I shoulda picked Forte.

[Randa]

Wanna know what bothers me when I talk to Seahawks fans about the last game...

"The damned heat."

How come San Diego does not get the excuse when they lost to the Patriots when it's freezing cold in the winter like a mofo. It's usually only like 80 degrees here too so we had to endure the heat as well. It's not like it's automatically cooler for us. We are more better adapted to the weather, yes. But I doubt it made a big difference. Jerseys though may have made a difference.

Though I do agree that Seahawks fans need to find a better excuse. I honestly belive playing in the heat is significantly worse than playing in the cold. Even if you are used to it. The reason teams struggle going to northern cities at the end of the year is the wind and potential for snow. Both of which limit their options on offense. It's not inherently the cold that is the problem. You have a shit ton of gear on and, unless you play o-line, under armor. In addition you are constantly moving keeping your body warm. In the heat though you still have most of that gear on, and there's no way to cool down. It has a relatively large effect on stamina, particularly around the late third early fourth quarters. #themoreyouknow

[Anacybele]

Steelers D was baaaaaad last year. Holding that Browns team to 7 points isn't much of an accomplishment, but Green Bay without Rodgers put up 31 on them, and the Pats put up 55 despite being anemic on offense. I'd argue this Steelers D is worse than last year, because this Steelers D seems like a trainwreck so far.

Well, I think I know what the problem is now. Dick LeBeau is probably mostly to blame. He's been the Steelers' DC for so long that everyone knows his tricks now. He was great for awhile because no one could predict him. It's really time for him to retire, as much as I hate to say it.

The D still has great guys on it. Shazier is a beast for a newbie, Jarvis Jones can also wreck shit, Polamalu still plays like he's 21, Ike Taylor can still make some nice plays despite still being a penalty magnet (when is he going to stop that BS?), etc. But if their coach is making them do things every one can predict, their talent is going to waste.