NFL 2014-2015 Season: Super Bowl Champion Patriots

[Anacybele]

(like the Steelers, Giants, Falcons and Lions).

Er, the Steelers won eight games too. They finished 8-8. xP

Also, I wouldn't say Eli Manning is a good QB anymore. He's been throwing picks and messing up all over the place from what I've heard/seen. Can't comment on the Falcons or Lions though.

Edited July 19, 2014 by Anacybele

[Phoenix Wright]

the point was the jets' accomplishments matter more because their qb is bad. afaik, the steelers' qb, big ben, ain't awful. iirc the lions fought pretty fucking hard last year. it's at least possible that they'll do well this year.

Edited July 19, 2014 by Phoenix Wright

[ClevelandSteve]

Yeah, most actual Clevelanders like Hoyer more than Manziel, too. I do, my family does, most of my friends do, my boss where I used to work does. Most of the Manziel fanbase seems to be ESPN employees.

[Lord Raven]

the point was the jets' accomplishments matter more because their qb is bad. afaik, the steelers' qb, big ben, ain't awful. iirc the lions fought pretty fucking hard last year. it's at least possible that they'll do well this year.

I don't think Geno is that bad. Name their receivers? I can only name Holmes and Kerley - Holmes is injured a lot and he's unreliable and Kerley's a slot guy. Their offense was horrendous all around and they surrounded a rookie QB with sub-rookie talent, quite possibly the worst set of receivers in the league and a very mediocre to below average run game. At any rate, this would be the GM's fault and not Ryan's. I don't remember their oline being anywhere close to special, hovering around average. I remember their OC was kind of a quack as well.

Ryan's defense and their occassional gameplanning was what kept them in games. Now, with Vick possibly rotating in and out with Smith as well as Decker/Kerley and Chris Johnson (who is really overrated...) their offense should get a huge boost.

fyi Jets were good 3-4 years ago.. 2009-2010 both years they made the AFCCG.

[Anacybele]

Actually, I agree, Geno Smith isn't the worst. The Packers' backup QB was worse (his name escapes me atm). lol I mean, that Cortez Allen pick in Steelers vs Packers. Wow. XD

Edited July 19, 2014 by Anacybele

[Anacybele]

Got some updates. One Steeler fans should like and another that Ravens fans might not be so happy about. :P

The Steelers are gonna wear a decal in Chuck Noll's honor/memory. So neat. ^^

Secondly, Ray Rice is gonna be suspended, it seems. He beat his wife (then fiancee) into unconsciousness. :/ He won't be playing in the openers against the Bengals and Steelers.

Edited July 24, 2014 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

Before a shitstorm starts:

The whole story is that his wife was attacking him furiously (and he ended up with a couple injuries off of that) and he retaliated with an uppercut... so while he used excessive force he's not a wife beater like the media paints him (ie it's an isolated incident of a domestic dispute). I said it to someone on fb:

And FYI the only reason we are hearing so much is because Ray is a big name player, the precedent for first-time domestic abuse has been 1-3 games so they are merely following precedent. On top of that there's enough that happens behind closed doors that doesn't get reported in the media on the grounds that it doesn't follow their narrative - which effectively amounts to celebrity shaming. I don't think anyone really knows that his wife actually attacked him repeatedly and actually hurt him before he knocked her out. They were also intoxicated so impulse control is difficult. In other words they have marital issues that they need to resolve which should be far away from the media, which is twisting this into something that makes Rice look like a demon.

People love to bring up weed and whatnot but they get a yearlong suspension because they did not follow protocol and were a third time offender. Different offense, different scenario; you can complain about rules but at least they're consistent with enforcement.

I'm not really defending what Ray did but the way the media's portraying it makes him look like a complete asshole. He's really not, he had a lapse of judgment that resulted in something bad happening - that's between him and his wife because it was mutual disdain (with some bad PR following).

Edited July 24, 2014 by Lord Raven

[Anacybele]

I was wondering why they still got married even after that. I would've expected a breakup after the way the media painted the story. But I see now. :P

[metalsnowman3]

I'm with you Lord Raven on the whole Rice thing. Just listening to the stuff on the radio its basically 'he should have been kicked out of the league' and if you try to defend the league/Goddell it's basically 'why do you support domestic violence.' It is a weird situation but it is hard to really pass supreme judgement because a lot of the facts of what happen are unknown and it was his first offense (I hate the speculation that is like 'he obviously must beat his wife on a regular basis' with no proof at all'). Supposedly Rice and his wife talked with Goddell about it as well. I think the 2 game suspension is ok for it, though if he gets in trouble again like this then it's a different story.

[Lord Raven]

And I reacted so quickly to say that because hearing this shit from non-fans and fans alike in Baltimore is the most irritating thing. There's really no way to win if we keep him on our roster - there are two game suspensions handed out all the time for this kind of stuff and an isolated incident in Ray Rice is a much bigger deal than every other person who is suspended 1-3 games for domestic violence? It's not like Ray immediately had this kind of "haha I got away with it" attitude because charges were dropped on both ends. He's in a ton of counseling programs with his wife, almost immediately, and it didn't even look like a case of "sucks I got caught."

Edited July 25, 2014 by Lord Raven

[metalsnowman3]

The biggest thing was the video, like I thought I saw Greg Hardy got in trouble for assault but I haven't heard of any video of that so no one gives a **** apparently. He does deserve a suspension though.

Anyways, training camp is starting up, already pumped for the bears new players, the rooks are lookin good! (not that that means anything) I'm really curious to see how their defense shapes out with new players and if Shea McClellin can play LB.

[Lord Raven]

Hardy's situation was different - he was actually dealing with a crazy. The girl and her neighbors changed stories at the drop of a hat, and even changed stories during the phone call. They basically made shit up.

Also, if anyone wants to see me talk about my team, I wrote up a 60K character thing on /r/nfl effectively summarizing the Ravens' offseason. People love the depth I went into with this, but I want to hear from people about where I could be wrong or where I could be right.

[Anacybele]

Wow, 60,000 words?! That's more than I ever write in a single story chapter. o_O I admire your dedication, Lord Raven. Seriously.

So, I heard from my co-worker the other day that they predict another bad season for the Steelers...and that the Ravens will take the AFC North this time. Yeah, fat chance! Not saying the Ravens won't do good, but the Steelers had a good finish at the end of last season, they've got an improved roster, and Ben himself feels confident. AND they have Chuck Noll's death to motivate them to do well in his memory. Oh yeah, they shouldn't have to start without Le'Veon Bell and Heath Miller this time too.

But I hope the Ravens don't suck like they did against the Bengals though, I want to see more good Steelers vs Ravens matchups!

Edited July 26, 2014 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

no, characters, not words

i would never write 60000 words... its more like 8000 words, and in reality a lot of those characters were charts and links.

[Anacybele]

Oh. I didn't know that's what you meant by characters. Oops. xP

[Anacybele]

Here's another update! NFL Network held a voting thing for who fans think will win the AFC North this year. The standings once it ended:

1. Steelers (Hell yeah. ^^)

2. Ravens

3. Browns (wut)

4. Bengals (lolwut seriously)

After the Bengals' performance last season, I'd have never expected fans to believe that the Browns of all teams would do better than them. lol

Here's the link to the video that talks about this.

And some more unhappy news... The Steelers aren't the only team with motivation to do well from a sad event. The Texans have a cancer patient now and they're dedicating the season to him. Cancer sucks, man. :(

Edited July 29, 2014 by Anacybele

[Randa]

Here's another update! NFL Network held a voting thing for who fans think will win the AFC North this year. The standings once it ended:

1. Steelers (Hell yeah. ^^)

2. Ravens

3. Browns (wut)

4. Bengals (lolwut seriously)

After the Bengals' performance last season, I'd have never expected fans to believe that the Browns of all teams would do better than them. lol

Here's the link to the video that talks about this.

And some more unhappy news... The Steelers aren't the only team with motivation to do well from a sad event. The Texans have a cancer patient now and they're dedicating the season to him. Cancer sucks, man. :(

Don't underestimate the browns. Just because they made one of the most questionable decisions trading up to draft Manziel (What was it three spots) doesn't mean they don't have a kickass defense. And the bengals had a very poor offseason as far as I can tell. People don't have confidence in dalton, they didn't add that number 2 reciver to go across AJ green, and their defense is still pretty banged up.

The steelers are my choice to win this year, but they can't start slow like last year or they won't close the gap the ravens will inevitably make.

Also texans are a nice sleeper to bet on for representing the AFC this year. If they can get a top line QB they would by my pick to win it. That front seven is so sexy though. I'm guessing like 45-48 sacks this year.

[Anacybele]

The Browns have never been good though, and the Bengals whooped the AFC North hard last season. And the main problem with the Browns is that they can never find a QB to stick with. I don't expect that to change any time soon either.

And I have confidence that the Steelers won't repeat last season's bad start. They won't be without Le'Veon Bell and Heath Miller this time for one thing (they better have them from game one, anyway) and seeing as Ben and Todd Haley finally got on the same page during last season, there won't be any crap between them.

Also, mah man Troy Polamalu revived himself! He looked like his good old self again after having to sit out most of the season before last because of injuries. ^^ And he's been known to save the Steelers from losing.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Anacybele

[Randa]

I'm gonna run through the browns and bengals schedules and say how I think it'll go for them.

[spoiler=Bengals]

Sun. 9/7 at Baltimore

Don't think the bengals are gonna be able to win this one. 0-1

Sun. 9/14 ATLANTA

Probably not gonna win this one either, that receiving core healthy should shred the bengals. 0-2

Sun. 9/21 TENNESSEE

Win. 1-2

--BYE--

Sun. 10/5 at New England

AJ green meet revis. The rest of the receiver core is now facing that secondary, with browner coming off suspension. Pats win 1-3

Sun. 10/12 CAROLINA

Carolina is in for a rough season with that offense. Doesn't help Stewart got injured again. 2-3

Sun. 10/19 at Indianapolis

Sorry I'm picking Indy to go the Super Bowl this year. 2-4

Sun. 10/26 BALTIMORE

See above. 2-5.

Sun. 11/2 JACKSONVILLE

lol. 3-5

Thu. 11/6 CLEVELAND

This ones harder than I would like it to be. I'll give it to the bengals but it won't be easy. 4-5

Sun. 11/16 at New Orleans

lol. 4-6

Sun. 11/23 at Houston

I already talked about what I think of the texans this year. 4-7

Sun. 11/30 at Tampa Bay

Yeah I think they got this one. 5-7

Sun. 12/7 PITTSBURGH

In my opinion they don't got enough weapons to beat the steelers. 5-8

Sun. 12/14 at Cleveland

I can see it going either way. I'm in favor of the browns at home though. 5-9

Mon 12/22 DENVER 8:30 p.m.

lol. 5-10

Sun. 12/28 at Pittsburgh

See above. 5-11

[spoiler=Browns]

1 STEELERS

Don't think they got it. 0-1

2 SAINTS

lol not happenin. 0-2

3 RAVENS

Mayber. Probably not. 0-3

4 BYE

5 TITANS

Yeah I think they win this. 1-3

6 AT STEELERS

Nope still don't got it. 1-4

7 AT JAGUARS

Duh. 2-4

8 RAIDERS

^ 3-4

9 BUCCANEERS

Harder but I still think they win this. 4-4

10 AT BENGALS

Already talked about this. 4-5

11 TEXANS

I already voiced my opinion on the texans.4-6

12 FALCONS

Yeah I think they win this. 5-6

13 BILLS

^ 6-6

14 COLTS

Nope. 6-7

15 BENGALS

Yep. 7-7

16 AT PANTHERS

Nope. 7-8

17 AT RAVENS

Nope. 7-9

Also I think the wins goes down if they start Manziel.

Of course not counting injuries or trades.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Janus bet valnich

[Anacybele]

You forget that in one game the Bengals play against the Steelers, they play on Steeler turf. And the Steelers are way better at home than away. And even then, they beat the Bengals away from home last season, I believe. I know they got one win against them anyway.

I can see the Ravens putting up a fight against us though. I mean, they're the Ravens.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Anacybele

[Randa]

I said the bengals would lose to the steelers twice.

[Anacybele]

Ack, I misread your post. My bad. >_<

[Da Bear]

Sun. 9/7 at Baltimore

Don't think the bengals are gonna be able to win this one. 0-1

Sun. 9/14 ATLANTA

Probably not gonna win this one either, that receiving core healthy should shred the bengals. 0-2

Sun. 9/21 TENNESSEE

Win. 1-2

--BYE--

Sun. 10/5 at New England

AJ green meet revis. The rest of the receiver core is now facing that secondary, with browner coming off suspension. Pats win 1-3

Sun. 10/12 CAROLINA

Carolina is in for a rough season with that offense. Doesn't help Stewart got injured again. 2-3

Sun. 10/19 at Indianapolis

Sorry I'm picking Indy to go the Super Bowl this year. 2-4

Sun. 10/26 BALTIMORE

See above. 2-5.

Sun. 11/2 JACKSONVILLE

lol. 3-5

Thu. 11/6 CLEVELAND

This ones harder than I would like it to be. I'll give it to the bengals but it won't be easy. 4-5

Sun. 11/16 at New Orleans

lol. 4-6

Sun. 11/23 at Houston

I already talked about what I think of the texans this year. 4-7

Sun. 11/30 at Tampa Bay

Yeah I think they got this one. 5-7

Sun. 12/7 PITTSBURGH

In my opinion they don't got enough weapons to beat the steelers. 5-8

Sun. 12/14 at Cleveland

I can see it going either way. I'm in favor of the browns at home though. 5-9

Mon 12/22 DENVER 8:30 p.m.

lol. 5-10

Sun. 12/28 at Pittsburgh

See above. 5-11

Week 1: Why not? Ravens will be missing Ray Rice and I doubt Flacco's ability to turn around what he was last season without him.

Week 2: You mean the core that lost their star TE? Julio will tear them up but idk how Roddy will do (he's 32 and coming off of a season where he was injured most of the time, doesn't inspire confidence in me). Also consider that the Falcons secondary is trash, AJ will tear them apart just as much and Marvin Jones will probably look good against them. Bengals also have Giovani Bernard and judging by last season Bernard >>>> Steven Jackson. Especially when Bernard won't have to fight past Geno Atkins?

I don't buy them dropping both to the Steelers, your argument of not enough weapons is dumb, Green, Jones and Bernard > Brown, whoever Pittsburgh's #2 is and Bell imo.

I don't buy them losing to the Browns either. Manziel/Hoyer are both inferior to Dalton. Whoever their RB is is inferior to Bernard and Green is worth more than the entire Brown's receiving core and Cameron.

They'll probably nab a few other that you didn't give them too.

Your post is reaaaallllyyyy underrating the Bengals. They've been to the playoffs all of the last three seasons for a reason.

[Anacybele]

The Bengals may have AJ Green, but I'd argue that Le'Veon Bell was one of the best rookie RBs. He pulled all kinds of cool stunts last season, including JUMPING over defenders to get more yards.

And Antonio Brown is better than people give him credit for. What about that ALMOST TD at the end of the Dolphins' game? He's also fast and good at breaking tackles. And he can make punt return TDs. Oh yeah, and did I mention that he got more yards than any other receiver in the league last season?

Also, Big Ben >>>> Andy Dalton and Steelers defense > Bengals defense. The Steelers D has guys like Troy freaking Polamalu, Cortez Allen, Jarvis Jones, Ike Taylor, etc. and they ripped apart the Packers' offense last season. And anyone knows Green Bay is good. Though they didn't have Aaron Rodgers at the time.

Oh yeah, and let's not forget the awesome Heath Miller. He literally takes defenders with him, he's so strong and huge.

Edited July 30, 2014 by Anacybele

[Da Bear]

The Bengals may have AJ Green, but I'd argue that Le'Veon Bell was one of the best rookie RBs. He pulled all kinds of cool stunts last season, including JUMPING over defenders to get more yards.

And Antonio Brown is better than people give him credit for. What about that ALMOST TD at the end of the Dolphins' game? He's also fast and good at breaking tackles. And he can make punt return TDs.

Also, Big Ben >>>> Andy Dalton and Steelers defense > Bengals defense. The Steelers D has guys like Troy freaking Polamalu, Cortez Allen, Ike Taylor, etc. and they ripped apart the Packers' offense last season. And anyone knows Green Bay is good. Though they didn't have Aaron Rodgers at the time.

Oh yeah, and let's not forget the awesome Heath Miller. He literally takes defenders with him, he's so strong and huge.

Giovani Bernard is pretty close in talent I'd say actually.

Brown is good but Green is arguably the second best receiver in the league, there just isn't a comparison between the two that Green doesn't win.

The Packers without Aaron Rodgers are mediocre, not a real good case. I will agree on the steelers having a better QB and slightly better D.

Miller is getting old (especially for one of the most physical positions in the NFL) and while he's definitely a good TE I wouldn't say he's THAT good.

Edited July 30, 2014 by Da Bear