NFL 2014-2015 Season: Super Bowl Champion Patriots

[Lord Raven]

Id say 24 points in 3 minutes is lucky... You can shut down foster easily if you force them to get behind by 11 points and effectively force them to pass. Lebeau also dialed up the pressure because Fitzpatrick was not good against the blitz... But I was surprised at the entire first quarter. On top of that the Texans are the most overrated team in the NFL right now which is what I've been saying for weeks... Watt is amazing but if he has no help (and he generally doesn't get help) then he is likely to fizzle out. Ravens crappy OL in 2013 managed to shut him down because we managed to get three guys on him without having many issues against the other guys on that DL (and that DL isn't great outside of Watt).

At any rate...

http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/rushing/sort/yardsPerRushAttempt

If you asked me in August about Forsett I'd tell you he was just depth and would probably be unemployed by week 8. Thank god I'm wrong

Edited October 21, 2014 by Lord Raven

[Anacybele]

Hey, I did say that there was some luck involved. I just don't think it was all luck.

EDIT: Oh, both our RBs are in the top ten there. Niiice.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

I'd say more luck than you're willing to give it...

[Lord Raven]

EDIT: damn campus net right as you go off campus lol

Edited October 22, 2014 by Lord Raven

[Anacybele]

Eh, we'll just have to agree to disagree then. xP

Snoop Dogg thinks we'll be fine against both the Colts and the Ravens. But...honestly, what does he know? I don't want to doubt him, but the Colts stomped the Ravens who stomped the Steelers before that (although it was a home game for the Ravens). It'll be tough and I DO think the Steelers have the capability to win, I just cannot at all see it being as easy as this guy makes it out to be. If the Steelers do beat either of them or both, they'll be close games. Very close, methinks.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

I wouldn't say the Colts "stomped" us... we were pretty close to making the two necessary big plays that we needed to come back, it was 20-13 and we had the last non-kneeldown possession (and Marlon Brown didn't track the ball in the air whilst Torrey Smith had a drop... these Ravens receivers are killin' me).

It was a very dominant defensive performance by the Ravens given they forced like 4-5 turnovers, stopped them on 3rd and 4th downs repeatedly in the redzone, etc. Our red zone defense is the top of the league and the Colts have a very good red zone offense, meanwhile the Steelers don't have that luxury. I'm not saying you'll get stomped but it's very very very hard to be optimistic in favor of the Steelers.

Oh, and this is all still with a relatively dud secondary. Even our dud secondary is better than what the Steelers have got... cause the Steelers can't generate the pass rush that we can, and our pass rush has gotten better since the last time the Ravens and Steelers went against each other. Trust me when I say that this team has improved significantly everywhere except Special Teams (RIP Morgan Cox's ACL, also obligatory "what the fuck is up with Jacoby Jones") since Week 3.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Lord Raven

[-Cynthia-]

'Very dominant' Ravens defense against the Colts also seems like an exaggeration- Luck still had over 300 yards against them. The turnovers kept the Ravens from getting blown out, but the Colts definitely looked like the better team overall.

I also agree that the Steelers got somewhat lucky- that series of events at the end of the second quarter isn't something to count on. The Steelers defense holding up in the second half was good, but most teams they play will be better at throwing the ball than the Texans.

[Lord Raven]

'Very dominant' Ravens defense against the Colts also seems like an exaggeration- Luck still had over 300 yards against them.

Yards don't matter too much given the way we play. We're like #16 in yards and #1 in points allowed (and we haven't had a bye yet btw). It's a very irritating defense to watch sometimes, but given the improvements in our secondary over the past two weeks (let alone from the beginning of the season) I expect the turnovers to go up.

The key part was we stopped them from getting touchdowns on third and fourth down consistently (two misses towards the end of the game at any rate), we picked off Luck twice, and we forced around 3 fumbles. We also held the #1 scoring offense (who put up 31 ppg on average) to 20 points. The pressure we put on Luck was actually phenomenal, but Luck seems to be a master at both fighting off sacks, avoiding sacks, and getting the ball out quickly; if you can do that against a front 7 with CJ Mosley, Terrell Suggs, Elvis Dumervil/Pernell McPhee (they are rotational guys), Brandon Williams, Daryl Smith, and (at the time) Chris Canty, then I'd be terrified as a Steelers fan. 3 of these guys were rated among the top 5 OLBs in terms of pass rushing and/or run stopping (Dumervil is way outside of like the Top 20 for run stopping, but thankfully we only put him in on passing downs) too.

Dominant, relatively dominant, whatever. We still outplayed the other defenses that went against them by a good margin.

Our offense just fizzled out because Chuck Pagano and his defensive crew can apply pressure to the weakest part of the offensive line very well. In our case, our weakest part was our UDFA LT starting, and we did not given him any help from TEs or RBs this time. They were free to rush 5 at us and most of the time one of those dudes came in unblocked. The Steelers offensive line is considerably weaker and I can't imagine how much pressure they could get with their front 4 let alone a fifth guy rushing at them.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Lord Raven

[-Cynthia-]

I do agree that the Ravens defense looks strong this year- maybe #2 overall. Reports do have A.J. Green probably returning this week, so I doubt the Bengals will be as deficient on offense as they were last week (it'll honestly be difficult for them to be worse than last week regardless).

[Anacybele]

Antonio Brown should've gotten that TD he caught though. He showed proof that he was in during his interview recently and that overturning it was bullshit. That call almost cost them the game.

There were other dumb decisions made by the officials too. Harrison is flagged for a late hit (which was legit), but Watt gets off free every time he did it to Ben?

And an obvious PI on the Texans was missed in the Steelers' first drive. So they were kind of screwed at times too.

I'm starting to think that all the fans saying that the NFL is becoming a big joke and that Roger Goodell sucks are right. They say that the officials pretty much decide who wins and loses these days regardless of anything. I've seen more than just Steeler fans saying this too.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

Shut up about officials, for the love of god they don't even see the game the same way we do and Goodell doesn't do shit with officials aside from determine their pay.

Show me the late hit he was flagged for because I saw nothing but legal hits against Ben the entire time (if he can take two steps then he's late - if he takes a single step or something and has some momentum then he can hit him shortly after the pass, that's generally the ruler they use).

They call absolutely nothing ever on Flacco despite some very blatant late hits on him, by the way (and I do have the gifs to prove it, because they are like a solid second or two late and one of them led to Deandre Levy spraining his MCL which completely messed up his passing and scrambling for the last two games of last season) so don't think Ben's the only one.

Officials do have a part in the game but it's never significant enough to decide the game when you're already up by two scores, and the cancelled Antonio Brown TD would've put them up by three scores. On top of that it was quite an iffy call to begin with considering the fact that his foot imprint seemed to be on the line. It's no different than it's always been in terms of refs. Penalties are up because Illegal Contact and Illegal Hands to the Face are emphasized more, and on top of that they're allowing personal foul penalties to be reviewable come 2015. Stop reading articles and believing everything you see that goes towards your bias, use some critical thinking, and look up some facts. nfl.com and espn.com are shit for giving insight.

It only ever comes down to refs if a team decides to make it close and even then it's always 50/50 no matter what. Refs don't see everything. If it has to come down to one PI call then the team hasn't done their job. You do know that teams actually practice with refs to avoid this nonsense from happening right? In fact, the best coaches in the league - John Harbaugh, Sean Payton, and Bill Belichick spring to mind instantly - are phenomenal at making in-game adjustments and coaching on a game-by-game basis based on how refs are making calls. Many coaches, even good ones, aren't particularly good at this. It's a part of the game no matter how you slice it, and it's even worse when you a) have replacement refs, b) go down to the NCAA (where there are actually less rules anyway) and c) high school football is much, much worse.

Anyone from way back when can tell you that even in the days of Rozelle the refs were seen as incompetent.

And an obvious PI on the Texans was missed in the Steelers' first drive.

They never get called if they're away from the play which it may have been. As I said, find me the gif or something of the thing and I'll see because the refs don't see everything we see on our broadcast. Edited October 22, 2014 by Lord Raven

[Anacybele]

tl;dr

Just because I'm agreeing with some fans doesn't mean I believe everything I read...

Also, I was never talking about an article. I was talking about Brown's interview, which is a live video, and the comments on an article (an article I disagree with).

[Dijon Mustard]

Some picks

San Diego @ Denver- Denver's D is much improved, and I'm not picking them to lose at home, even though I like this Chargers team.

Detroit @ Atlanta- Taking the Lions w/out Megatron on the road is usually a bad idea, but the Falcons can't stop anyone or protect Ryan.

Baltimore @ Cincinnati- Two teams trending in opposite directions since week 1. The Ravens will probably have a lot of success running the ball.

Buffalo @ New York Jets- I'm guessing Geno will make at least one mistake more than Orton does.

Seattle @ Carolina- The Seahawks have had the toughest schedule in football so far. Things start getting easier now.

Chicago @ New England- Like what are the Bears even? Picking the home team.

Houston @ Tennessee- Ryan Fitzpatrick ventures back to the house Ryan Fitzpatrick built. Sounds like Locker has been officially benched fwiw.

Miami @ Jacksonville- Miami DL should give Jaguars OL problems. The Dolphins O made some nice strategic adjustments last week too.

St. Louis @ Kansas City- The Chiefs have been legit good ever since they messed around in week 1 and got stomped by the Titans.

Minnesota @ Tampa Bay- Bridgewater should look more comfortable playing against a defense that's bottom 5 instead of top 5.

Philadelphia @ Arizona- The Cardinals aren't as good as 5-1 would make you think, and the Eagles OL is getting healthier.

Oakland @ Cleveland- My guess is that the Browns O will rebound.

Indianapolis @ Pittsburgh- Luck should have fun with this secondary. The Colts are actually great this year rather than "good team, awful division."

Green Bay @ New Orleans- The Packers aren't as sloppy as they were to start the season. Jimmy Graham is <100%.

Washington @ Dallas- Washington doesn't have the QB play to take advantage of the Dallas D, and Murray hasn't fallen apart yet.

[Jiac]

;n; Chargers gun git rekt. Flowers out, Verrett questionable.

[Anacybele]

Yeah, Pey-Pey and his Broncos are number 1 in the power-rankings right now too. They gotta be good enough to beat the Chargers at this point.

So, Twitter did a picture showing where each team's fanbase can generally, note generally, be found. It's not an accurate representation of how big each fanbase is because obviously certain states are a lot more populated than others, but it's still funny to look at. :P

Steelers dominate almost all of PA here (haha, sorry Eagles) AND also infect both Ohio and Maryland. XD Not to mention they have a couple counties as far west as Arkansas, damn.

Bengals look more like Kentucky's team here rather than an Ohio one. :P

lol Raiders.

...Wait, is that a county for the PANTHERS way out there in Idaho (and Nebraska)? Oh wow. XD

Edited October 23, 2014 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

Western Maryland is basically West Virginia culturally. Us folk from central and eastern Maryland look down on them western maryland folk

[Anacybele]

Ah, I see. That does explain a lot. :P

[Hawk King]

The Bills game-winning drive against Minnesota was ridiculous. I thought for sure we were going to lose and be talking about another losing season. The Bills offense converted on 4th and 20, 3rd and 12, and 2nd and 20 before they scored a TD with :01 left on the clock. Our offense committed 4 turnovers (2 fumbles by WRs and a fumble and INT from Orton) that either took points away from us or directly led to points for Minnesota. Regardless of how ugly the win was, overcoming 4 turnovers is something im happy about. This team is improving every week.

Watkins had a career best game and is looking like he is going to be a star in the NFL. And our D-line is so fun to watch with 3 players who have 5.5 or more sacks.

Both Spiller (8 weeks) and Jackson (4 weeks) are out but I think our back-up RBs will be able to fill in for them just fine. Our next 5 games (jets chiefs dolphins jets browns) are all winnable games.

[Lord Raven]

hes gonna be a star in my fantasy league, i traded calvin johnson for him and justin forsett and it's a keeper league so if I give up my 8th rounder next year then I can keep Sammy Watkins.

I think I got away with highway robbery because my team is making a turnaround. I've been 2-1 since the trade and was 0-4 before it.

Edited October 23, 2014 by Lord Raven

[Anacybele]

Dang, that DOES sound crazy. But I don't blame you, I feel similarly about the Steelers coming back from a 13-0 deficit to make it 24-13 at the end of the first half in just three minutes. There was some luck involved there, but I still think it was more skill than that, and it shows that these guys are trying really hard just like last season. And even if it was mostly luck, it's still a win that we really needed. And win, lose or tie, I'll always love my Steelers. <3

Elliot Harrison predicts that they'll play a close game with Indy, btw. He thinks the score will be 34-30 Colts. But even in a loss like that, I think that would say something about the Steelers. They would have played better than either the Ravens or the Bengals did against them for one thing, and it would show that they're better than most of us thought. Better than I even thought. I thought they were the worst team in the league for awhile after losing to the Bucs and Browns and not exactly blowing out the Jags. They just needed to work out a bunch of kinks and they're really missing those injured LBs and Ike Taylor.

What needs to happen and can very well happen for a scenario such as this to occur is that the offense needs to be consistent and keep all the most talented guys going strong since I don't expect our defense to do much against Luck and his men. And it helps that we currently have the number one receiver in da league! Nobody has more yards right now than Antonio Spiderman Brown, baby! :D (sorry lol I just have to keep calling him that now) And he got the second most yards of all receivers last season too. He's fast, can dodge defenders, and make sick catches. We need him, so make sure he doesn't get hurt AT ALL during the game!

Oh, and we'll need Le'Veon Bell too, he still ranks as number 3 in RBs. The Colts don't have either an RB or a WR above Brown or Bell and even the Ravens D got cut up by Bell a couple times (the rest of the team just totally blew it in that case...). Bell and Brown will be keys in this game. I still don't really expect a win, but I do think a close game is possible and would still be nice enough.

Also, for the love of GOD, don't even think about putting Cortez Allen on T. Y. Hilton. -_- Our secondary is shaky all around, but Allen is still having issues despite two picks on the season (one of which was luck because the intended receiver hurt his leg while running for it) and Hilton is third in receiving yards in the league. He'd be the WORST choice here. I don't even know why Allen was playing against Houston, he was supposed to be benched and replaced with McCain. McCain WAS playing as stated, but still.

Edited October 23, 2014 by Anacybele

[Jiac]

Thank the football gods hallelujah! Verrett playing tonight, I'm slightly worried about Richard Marshall, he gave too much cushion causing most receivers to have a 1st down xP.

[Anacybele]

Thank the football gods indeed! I discovered a little while ago that Ike Taylor returned to practice! That means he'll be coming back soon, hopefully in time for the second game against the Ravens. :D

[Lord Raven]

I don't know how your whole secondary will function against Colts receivers. If they cover Hilton, then they have to worry about Hakeem Nicks, Dwayne Allen, and Coby Fleener. (I think Wayne is out). Then there's Ahmad Bradshaw...

[Anacybele]

Yeah, that's what I worry about too. If we put even just two guys keeping Hilton in check, that gives more freedom to the rest of those buggers. And I'm not even sure if our front seven can handle the run game well enough. That's why I said the offense will matter the most here and that Ben, Antonio Brown, Le'Veon Bell, and the rest of Ben's guys are going to be keys in playing a good game. But who knows, maybe the defense will surprise like they did against the Texans... You never know.

Fun facts, btw: Antonio Brown grew up with Hilton and David DeCastro is buddies with Andrew Luck.

Edited October 24, 2014 by Anacybele

[Jiac]

Dammit, the refs really stole this game. A holding penalty where there was no holding, and a kick return by the Broncos ruled down rather than a fumble...

5-3 ;n;

Now we need to win everything from week 9 and beyond. I'll settle with 5 more wins.

Edited October 25, 2014 by Vermilia Scarlet