NFL 2014-2015 Season: Super Bowl Champion Patriots

[Lord Raven]

That's pretty good poise by Mettenberger if they managed to drive down the field so effectively after a pick six...

[Anacybele]

Yeah, but our secondary is still ass. That was the main reason. The pick-sixes Gay has gotten were very nice, but otherwise, the secondary has hardly been great lately.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

i cried that was awesome

[Dijon Mustard]

Jumping a route when there are 40 seconds left in a half and your opponent is at their own 20-yard line. That's how it's done, kids.

[Anacybele]

And Ben's throwing more interceptions. I'm getting as sick of this bullshit now as other fans are. But they can't blame Tomlin this time, he actually told them not to take the Titans lightly. He did his job. It's either Todd Haley or Ben right now. Probably Ben given how bad those interceptions were and that play where he somehow didn't see receivers WIDE OPEN way down the god damn field.

He needs to get his head together in the second half. We just can't go losing to bad teams anymore. We're SICK of it!

Also, William Gay blew his coverage in that last TD by the Titans. He can make pick-sixes, but can't keep his coverage in check?

Edited November 18, 2014 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

You know Titans have an above average secondary, talented receivers, and good pass rushers right? They might've improved a lot of things from that dumpster fire start during their bye week.

[Anacybele]

You do know that they have a losing record, right? That means they suck. And the Steelers can't play against a team that sucks. They're still showing it. Although this time, Ben's linemen failed him and he took sacks as well as a bad snap.

Cowher and Hines Ward were right, this team is way too soft. And there doesn't seem to be anything that can be done about it. Tomlin has done all he can do. He's told these chumps not to take their opponents lightly. We thought things were fixed when they had that three-win streak, but nooo, they completely collapse right after that.

This team had plenty of offensive talent and some defensive talent. But they can't use it consistently because they're soft. There's always SOMEONE not doing something right, whether it's Haley, Ben, the linemen, the secondary, whatever. And when someone messes up, they take the whole team down with him because they're upset like little babies. And when they finally do start doing well, it goes to their head and they soon collapse all over again. It's going to be years before this team is Super Bowl worthy again. You can't trade out an entire team in one offseason. It's gradual. I guess us Steeler fans just have to be patient for awhile. After all, look how long we waited for Super Bowl 40...

Edited November 18, 2014 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

Yeah I mean the Rams beat the Broncos, losing records mean nothing and matchups mean more...

(Though Broncos should in theory match up favorably against the Rams but I guess Rams pass rush was way too vicious, losing Sanders/Julius Thomas for the game is rough too)

Holy shit what a throw by Mettenberger.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Lord Raven

[Anacybele]

We're still losing to bad teams except for the Jaguars. There's no more to it.

EDIT: I love Le'Veon Bell. :D He needs a bell in Pittsburgh with his name on it! That was a shocking, but amazing comeback that he carried on his shoulders (along with a sweet TD by Antonio Brown)! Thank the lord for the savior that is Le'Veon Bell.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Anacybele

[-Cynthia-]

Picks for this week:

Kansas City at Oakland- Can the Raiders go 0-16?

Tampa Bay at Chicago- Both these teams surprisingly good last week, more faith in the Bears I guess

Detroit at New England- Patriots are crushing everyone and are always tough at home

Cleveland at Atlanta- Not trusting the Falcons to win a non-division game until they prove otherwise

New York Jets at Buffalo- Jets looked good in their last game, but Bills are probably still better overall

Green Bay at Minnesota- Packers are playing very well the last few weeks, Vikings are pretty bad

Jacksonville at Indianapolis- Don't really see a reason to pick the Jaguars here

Tennessee at Philadelphia- Eagles should be able to rebound at home against a bad team

Cincinnati at Houston- It's not primetime, so I think the Bengals can show they're the better team here

Arizona at Seattle- Cardinals have been very good this year, but Seahawks are at home and in a tough spot

St. Louis at San Diego- Chargers haven't looked good in a while, Rivers is banged up and looked bad against the Raiders- Rams front 4 is coming together like people thought it would

Miami at Denver- Broncos are still undefeated at home, although if the Dolphins can get pressure this might be interesting

Washington at San Francisco- Redskins are a mess

Dallas at New York Giants- Giants aren't really good at anything

Baltimore at New Orleans- Saints have looked bad even at home lately, but last time I picked against the Saints at home in primetime I regretted it

[Jedi]

I await the Washington game vs Arizona. Being a cardinals fan currently in Washington is rough due to the trash talk but I have heard Hawks fans grudgingly admit we have a good team.

I wanna see how it goes. It'll be an awesome game

[Lord Raven]

I'm very very iffy about our match against New Orleans. On one hand, the Saints looked extremely lethargic last week at home and they completely blew the 49ers game. On the other hand... Green Bay.. but our run D can stuff Ingram pretty handily especially coming off a bye week. Just a matter of covering the receivers and getting pass rush on Brees (which seems to be really easy), and hopefully Jimmy Graham plays like a pussy.

Here's hoping for an NFC South sweep.

EDIT: Brandin Cooks is out btw, which means our only matchup nightmare will be Graham... thankfully Daryl Smith and CJ Mosley are good cover linebackers. Colston and Stills don't scare me.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Lord Raven

[Anacybele]

Oh yeah, in all of Le'Veon Bell's torching of the Titans, I completely forgot about LeGarrette Blount. He seems kind of sour that he didn't get a single carry. But I don't blame him, I mean, Bell got all the attention over him. Sure, Bell was doing great and finished the game for us, but I'm sure Blount could've had a hand in it. He's pretty good at finishing things too. Besides, when the team uses Bell the way they did, they risk overusing and tiring him out. It might not have happened this time, but you never know. I hope Blount gets a chance after our bye. I do feel bad for him. :(

Speaking of which, I'm glad we're going into a bye with a win. The guys can practice with happy faces and prepare for week 13. Which is against Cincy who we need to sweep. And I hear we're getting our injured defenders back by then, so our D will be primed and set to shut down Andy Dalton and his guys!

EDIT: Oh, but I might've once again spoken a little too soon earlier when I was saying that the team wouldn't be Super Bowl worthy for awhile. I still don't think we'll get there with the way the Patriots play lately, but if we can take out the Saints and sweep the Bengals, we just might make it deep in the playoffs. Le'Veon Bell was the main reason the Steelers won last night, as Ben struggled and Bryant started dropping passes for some reason and Wheaton went back to being not on the same page. Dri Archer is still being thrown to in the back field when he's too small to power his way through linemen. Fun fact: he was one of the receivers that got wide open way down the field when Ben somehow didn't see them. Seriously, this kid isn't THAT small. >.> And if he's out there with the ball, he's gone. He's so fast, nobody should be able to catch him. This is why I said he should be playing WR or at least get tosses past the line of scrimmage.

Wheaton did well as a punt returner though, he got past the 20 every time.

EDIT: Welp, I can scratch what I said about LeGarrette Blount. The Steelers just released him and gave up some of our precious RB depth. WTF kind of decision was this? Was it only because Blount wasn't needed against the Titans? Sure Blount isn't the greatest RB in the world, but what about his performance alongside Bell against the Panthers? BOTH of them got over 100 rushing yards in that game and Blount did pretty nicely in a couple other games too. We can't rely completely on Bell for RB, we need more than just him and Dri Archer has obviously not been the answer.

I'm gonna miss Blount. He was better than Rashard Mendenhall or Isaac Redman ever were...

Edited November 18, 2014 by Anacybele

[Jiac]

Kinda nervous about Rams vs Chargers.

Our O-line is the shittiest of shit, so pretty much expect Philip Rivers to tear his ACL again and further fracture those ribs.

[Lord Raven]

The Hall of Fame committee just released their semifinalists list.

Kurt Warner

Edgerrin James

Isaac Bruce

Tory Holt

Orlando Pace

Junior Seau

Jerome Bettis

Kevin Mawae

Terrell Davis

Tim Brown

Roger Craig

Marvin Harrison

Joe Jacoby

Mike Kenn

Will Shields

Morten Anderson

Ty Law

Tony Dungy

Steve Atwater

John Lynch

Darren Woodson

Kevin Greene

Karl Macklenburg

Charles Haley

Jimmy Johnson

Don Coryell

I'm gunning for;

Kurt Warner

Isaac Bruce

Tory Holt

Orlando Pace

Don Coryell

But realistically, it really should be;

Don Coryell

Marvin Harrison

Orlando Pace

Junior Seau

John Lynch

HM: Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce, Tory Holt, Roger Craig, Tony Dungy, Jimmy Johnson

[Anacybele]

I knew Jerome Bettis was in that list, and I'm happy for him! I hope he gets in, he wasn't called the Bus for nothing. ^^

Steelers promoted a new RB from the practice squad named Josh Harris. We'll see how this works out in week 13 (which is actually against the Saints, but at home, my bad. Cincy is week 14). Fans were saying they should sign Ben Tate though, wtf. According to the reason why the Browns let him go, he wasn't producing much all season. What good would that do us?

[Jiac]

I knew Jerome Bettis was in that list, and I'm happy for him! I hope he gets in, he wasn't called the Bus for nothing. ^^

Steelers promoted a new RB from the practice squad named Josh Harris. We'll see how this works out in week 13 (which is actually against the Saints, but at home, my bad. Cincy is week 14). Fans were saying they should sign Ben Tate though, wtf. According to the reason why the Browns let him go, he wasn't producing much all season. What good would that do us?

Have you seen Ben Tate run? He can run pretty good but I think he isn't as suitable to the Browns simple offense as Isaiyah Crowell and Terrence West. They wanted their 3rd RB in the rotation to help in Special Teams so they waived him for that purpose.

[Anacybele]

Yeah, I've seen him run, though my memory is fuzzy on it, so you could be right.

[Lord Raven]

Have you seen Ben Tate run? He can run pretty good but I think he isn't as suitable to the Browns simple offense as Isaiyah Crowell and Terrence West. They wanted their 3rd RB in the rotation to help in Special Teams so they waived him for that purpose.

He also trashed on Shanahan or something after the loss to the Texans where he rushed like three times for -9 yards.

[Anacybele]

Well, whoever becomes our new number 2 RB, I'm just glad the Steelers are playing the Saints at home. The Steelers have shown that they're nothing but brutal beasts on their own turf lately. And the Saints have lost more away games than anyone in the league, I think. Not to mention that we're getting our injured defenders back so our D gets some much needed help. So I know the Steelers can win this game and it's a must-win to stay in the AFC North race. Our guys just need to watch out for Mark Ingram and Jimmy Graham. The front seven also needs to do what it did to Andrew Luck and pressure the hell out of Drew Brees. I don't think Brees is near as good as Luck is either.

Oh, and our front seven did decently enough holding down Arian Foster in the Texans game, so I think they can handle Mark Ingram. It's Jimmy Graham I'm more worried about because our secondary was never as good as the front seven even when fully healthy and with Troy Polamalu in the mix.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Anacybele

[Dijon Mustard]

after consulting a crystal ball, I have some week 12 picks

Kansas City @ Oakland - The Alex Smith 2.82 Air Yards Per Attempt offense will outduel the Derek Carr Bubble Screen offense.

Tampa Bay @ Chicago - Chicago's star wideouts finally looked themselves last week, and that should continue against the Bucs.

Detroit @ New England - The Detroit DL might make life miserable for Brady, but the Detroit offense will make life miserable for the Detroit DL.

Cleveland @ Atlanta - Brian Hoyer will complete more than 40% of his passes. The Falcons really aren't even playing good offense right now.

New York Jets @ Buffalo - The Jets are approaching competency with Vick and Harvin, but the Bills are better at just about everything.

Green Bay @ Minnesota - Rodgers is in 2011 MVP mode right now jfc.

Jacksonville @ Indianapolis - Jonas Gray ain't walkin' through that door, and the Colts usually mask their issues against non-great teams.

Tennessee @ Philadelphia - The Titans had the 2nd-worst run defense in the NFL before giving up 200 yards to LeVeon Bell.

Cincinnati @ Houston - I'd pick the Texans if I was confident in Arian Foster's health, but as it is, Dalton will chuck it to A.J. Green enough to win.

Arizona @ Seattle - These teams will struggle to score, but the Cards should hit the 1 or 2 big plays they need since Seattle's DL is in tatters.

St. Louis @ San Diego - Almost went with the upset, but I don't trust the Rams' secondary or offense enough just yet.

Miami @ Denver - Denver's D has looked great when Gronk isn't around, and the Broncos usually work things out at home. Again, no Branden Albert.

Washington @ San Francisco - The Niners D has held up well, and they're remembering to hand the ball to Frank Gore sometimes.

Dallas @ New York Giants - This already feels dumb, but I'm guessing ODB, Donnell, and a healthier Rashad Jennings will make some plays?

Baltimore @ New Orleans - Brees just hasn't handled pressure as well this season as he usually does, and the Ravens have a good front 7.

[Lord Raven]

Kansas City @ Oakland - The Alex Smith 2.82 Air Yards Per Attempt offense will outduel the Derek Carr Bubble Screen offense.

Detroit @ New England - The Detroit DL might make life miserable for Brady, but the Detroit offense will make life miserable for the Detroit DL.

I can see this as that random "New England comes back down to earth" game

Cleveland @ Atlanta - Brian Hoyer will complete more than 40% of his passes. The Falcons really aren't even playing good offense right now.

Brian Hoyer might even break 60%!

Green Bay @ Minnesota - Rodgers is in 2011 MVP mode right now jfc.

*beating up on weak teams

Baltimore @ New Orleans - Brees just hasn't handled pressure as well this season as he usually does, and the Ravens have a good front 7.

Also our run D is stout, Brandin Cooks is gone, and its entirely possible our secondary is at least better than Pittsburghs right now (considering they got torched by Mettenberger whereas we basically held the entire team to 48 yards after the first quarter).

[Anacybele]

Our secondary was also still missing Ike Taylor and Troy Polamalu, you know. With those two, it's not so sucky. It's not spectacular, but it's not terrible either.

[Lord Raven]

And our secondary is missing a corner that is far better than Ike Taylor and for a while we didn't play our best Safety because he was coming off an 8 game suspension, so whats your point?

[Anacybele]

My point is that the reason a rookie managed to torch them is that they didn't have their best guys, one of which is the defensive CAPTAIN (Polamalu). The leader being on the field works a lot better than him being off the field.

The evidence? Mike Mitchell forced a receiver to fumble in week 7, before Polamalu was injured. But after that, Mike Mitchell tried to copy Polamalu and he made himself look like a total idiot.

Brice McCain, a SECOND STRING CB, got a pick-six against Jacksonville and explodingly recovered a fumble against your Ravens. He also returned it for a nice number of yards. But after Polamalu went out, he started getting penalties.

Polamalu is needed badly. Ike Taylor too. The fact that Dick LeBeau has managed to do ANYTHING well with these jokers the way they are now is surprising, however, and this team's next draft really needs to load up on better CBs and safeties.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Anacybele