NFL: Season 2005/05

[Banger]

Of Course it didn't hurt his cause that the Kansas City Chiefs missed about 384 tackles in the game.

That's the most impressive thing: Tiki had a 220-yard rushing game against a team that hadn't given up 100+ yards rushing in 20 straight games!

 

[FicusFan]

What a terrible tragedy for Tony Dungy (death of his 18 year old son) the coach of the Colts. They say they don't suspect foul play, and some have said suicide. Truly heartbreaking. What an awful time for it too, not that there is a good time, but now his family will always think of his death at the holidays. It kind of puts everything else in perspective.

My heart goes out to the family.

 

[Eperitos]

My heart goes out to the family.

Absolutely. Thats just about the most terrible thing that can happen to a family. Losing a child is just not supposed to happen. I hope that the family can somehow pull together and try to get through this.

 

[Eperitos]

In less horrible news, THE GIANTS ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS thanks to the Minnisota loss. If they win next week they get to be home in the wildcard game.

I hope that Antonio Pierce can come back for the Playoffs because their run defense has been horrendous the past two games. Pierce's abscense is really being felt. The gnts' defense just hasn't been the same without him.

 

[FicusFan]

Well the Pats have beaten the Jets, and are rolling along. The last MNF game, it has its problems but I am sad to see it go. Too bad it couldn't have been for something worthwhile.

The Pats used the run a lot, though Tom still managed to go over 4,000 yards for the year during the game. A rather portly Ty Law picked him off (I want Ty Law to come home). I think the Jets got their first 1st down via a penalty about 20-30 minutes into the game. Very one sided even though they managed to score 21 points against the Pats. Our linebacker Mike Vrable caught 2 more passes for 2 more touchdowns. He now has 8 catches for 8 touchdowns (2 in playoffs).

Now we come back home and bring on Miami. They say we can go to the #3 seed if we win, and Cincy loses the next game. Don't know if #3 or #4 makes a difference.

Tedy Bruschi ended up with a leg injury of some kind. He went off the field in a cart, and didn't come back. I think Assante got knocked out, but he at least came back and sat on the bench, but they took his helmet away from him.

Of course there was no word on the injury to Tedy, though our local sports guys said that he walked to the bus at the end of the game with no cast, splint or crutch. Al Michaels said at one point in the game that the Pats were so closemouthed about injuries that you could be dead and Bellichick would list you as questionable.

 

[ezchaos]

WNow we come back home and bring on Miami. They say we can go to the #3 seed if we win, and Cincy loses the next game. Don't know if #3 or #4 makes a difference.

I believe if the Pats finish at #4 then they have to play the Jags.

The Pats did a good job last night, although the Jets helped them along with some very lackluster play. They look to be ready to play some golf.

 

[Eperitos]

The Pats did a good job last night, although the Jets helped them along with some very lackluster play.

Well of course. The Jets are still in the running for the Reggie Bush sweepstakes, they can't go out and win now can they.

Speaking of which who's excited about that San Fransisco-Houston game. I can picture it now.

Alex Smith: You take the ball
David Carr: No no, I insist, you take it.

 

[NeonKnight]

The GIANTS played badly this week and the Skins did not,so the division comes down to old buddy Kerry Collins in the black hole New Years Eve. (of course the refs had one of the worst games I've ever seen in DC last week .)

"Just Win Baby" in Oakland and the NFC East is ours once again. At 11-5 and division winners, I'm more than thrilled with this season, after many predicted last place over the summer for the GIANTS.

 

[Davis Ashura]

The Bengals have not looked good at all the last two weeks. Atrocious actually.
Predictions for the playoffs:
Cincinnati v. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh in a rout 38-21. I don't think Cincinnati will stop Pittsburgh's ball control offense from running the Bengals out of their own stadium.
NE v. Jags: Warm weather team playing the hottest team in the league in their cold weather house? Hmm. Who'll win. Oh yes, the team with Brady. Another rout for NE 35-14.

Don't care about the NFC because they are like the AFC used to be when Dallas, SF, and Washington were piling up Super Bowl wins: weak sisters.

 

[Mock]

Playoffs

Wildcard:

AFC:
Patriots vs. Jaguars
I'm definitely picking the Patriots—my home team—in this one. They're probably the hottest team in the NFL right now, despite their loss to Miami (no one really cares). The Jaguars are a good team, but not enough to beat the champion Pats.
Patriots, 24-10

Bengals vs. Steelers
Both solid teams. However . . .
First off, Cincy just got SPANKED by the Chiefs. The week before, they got run over by Buffalo. Meanwhile, the Steelers have walked ALL OVER their opponents the last four weeks. First, they manhandled Chicago's ridiculously good defense, 21-9. Then: 18-3 vs. Minny, 41-0 vs. Brownies, 35-21 vs. Lions. I don't care who the hell they just played. I don't care how bad the Browns and the Lions are. Their opponents averaged just 8.25 points last four games.
Steelers, 28-24 Cincy will put up a fight with Palmer's offense.

NFC:
Redskins vs. Buccaneers
This should be an interesting game. Don't have much to say about it except I think Washington will come up with an upset. They might be getting hot again, and the Bucs don't have a strong offense.
Redskins, 17-14

Panthers vs. Giants
Well, I hate to say it because I like the Giants, Eli Manning is way too inconsistent. He'll mature, but this year this problem could be what keeps the Giants from winning out in the playoffs. They are a real good team, but they won't take home the Lombardi Trophy.

On the other hand, I don't like Delhomme either. He's inconsistent as hell.
Wait.
Hell isn't inconsistent.
Wait.
Wait.
AHH!

Giants' sick offense is gonna slap Carolina in the face.
Giants, 38-24

Super Bowl:
Patriots vs. Seahawks
No one can beat the Seahawks, and the Patriots have the BEST man on the field: Bill Belichick. 'Nuff said.

Edit: Mmm, the Houston/SF game was funny. Crazies going at it; I WANT LAST PLACE AND I WANT REGGIE BUSH!

 

[FicusFan]

Well I take it one game at a time, so I won't look beyond Jax. I am sure you all know who my pick to win it all will be, but I won't say anything until they get further into the playoffs and see if they are for real in their end of season turn around.

It all depends on if Bruschi is well enough to play most of the downs. Its not just that he and the other 3 linebackers are so awsome at this point, but he is needed to help the young safeties and CBs get in the right set up, (Rodney we need you). That is our weakness again this year (Earthwind Moreland where are you), and if the front line can't hit the bejesus out of the offense -- our secondary will get picked apart (Please, Jets, Cut Ty Law, now, immediately, right this minute). So I hope they are able to hit and the other offense has to spend their time on the field looking for their teeth.

Don't know about the other teams. Can't really think clearly about them, though I don't like Delhomme. I think he spit at Mike Vrable when they played the Panthers in the SB.

Though I do hope that Cincy beats the Steelers, which could make us the lowest seed to survive Wildcard weekend, if we do (in the AFC). Then we could go into Indy, don't want to go to Denver. Two teams at home that are always tough for the Pats: Miami and Denver.

I am not sure that the football gods won't punish the Pats for tanking the game with Miami though. Very poor form.

 

[Eperitos]

The Giants are NFC East champs baby! The Panthers coming into Giant stadium should make for an interesting game. I really hope that the Giants will get back some of their linebackers. Pierce probably won't be ready but I hoping Emmons and Torbor will be back. And maybe Eli, who has shown something in pressure situations, can have a big game.

Other than the Giants game I am very much looking forward to the Steelers-Bengals game. The third meeting of the season between two teams that are big time rivals. That should be a good one.

My predictions.
Giants 27 Panthers 23
Bucs 20 Redskins 17
Pats 31 Jaguars 10
Steelers 24 Bengals 21

 

[NeonKnight]

NFC East Champs again! Needless to say, I'm thrilled with the GIANTS performance all season, and all GIANTS fans have to be just delighted with the gift of a home playoff game.

Despite all our LB woes and our vulnerable secondary, Tiki is going to do what it takes against old buddy John Fox and a defense hellbent to stop him. Tampa and Dallas have already provided the gameplan to be successful against Carolina's run D. Tiki may not get 200 yards, but he will get significant yardage with short dumpoff passes from Eli.

Of course the key to the game is Eli, Carolina wants to make Manning beat them, not Tiki. I think having a healthy Shockey will be crucial, and I also think, despite some shaky starts lately, Eli will have a solid game, maybe his best all around effort to date.

Steve Smith of course will do major damage as well, but I think our DL will force Jake into mistakes that turn into field position for the GIANTS.

GIANTS 33 - Carolina 20.

The rest of the slate is also very compelling:

TB 17 - Skins 14 (OT)
Pats 21 - Jax 17
Bengals 28 - Pitt 21

 

[Eperitos]

NK you are being very, very optimistic. Whoever wins it will be a close game. Remember the Giants have no linebackers, a horrible secondary, and Shockey if he plays will be very banged up.

 

[FicusFan]

I looked in a bit on the Bucs and the Skins, but it was too one-sided to watch. I also didn't really care who won other than I like Simms. So I watched the end of Real Genius (movie) and took a nap.

The Pats are playing as I write. 3:00 minutes to go, and the Pats are stomping the Jags 28 to 3. McGinest just got another sack and leads the league in post-season sacks ever. Givens set a record for Post Season TD catches and TB is now 10-0 in the Post Season and passed Bart Starr. Belicheck is 10-1 and has passed Lombardi.

It didn't start out too well. Both the Pats and the Jags had poor starts, and even the officials screwed up by getting in the way. The Jags seemed to recover sooner, and for a while it looked like they might win. It was very low scoring 7-3 and Leftwich and his receivers started to kill us. We had good field position and didn't capitalize, and the receivers kept droping or missing Tom's throws. It looked grim, but then we got to the half, and something changed because the Pats came out and took over.

The defense was good through-out, though some of the Jags were just so big they ran over the Pats secondary. But even though they are rookies, patchwork and much smaller they did pretty good. Hobbs and Assante especially.

The Pats are really good, but so often the offense sucks at the start (even in their 14-2 seasons). I have no idea why it takes them so long to get into the groove.

So now its wait and see if it will be Indy or Denver.

 

[Davis Ashura]

Whoever the Pats play in the next game, I think they'll be favored. If it's Indy, it's because they're in Indy's head. If it's Denver, it's because Jake Plummer will make too many mistakes and down go the Broncos. At this point, the way the Pats are playing, they have to be the favorites to come out of the AFC.

 

[FicusFan]

Well its one game at a time. Whether it is Indy or Denver next, both beat the Pats earlier in the season, so they could do it again. But with the way the Pats are playing, I think we have a chance.

I was sad to see Bruschi was out, but glad the D functioned without him on the field. The front 7 kept up their excellent resurgence, and the secondary seemed to finally stand on their own.

The O-line was weak though, they allowed the Jags to sack Tom 4 times. During one of our runs in the past the O-line didn't let Tom get sacked once the whole playoffs (the Carolina year maybe ?). They need to get it together, cause if he goes down we are done.

At this point I don't really care who we play next other than, I hate going into Denver, would rather go to Indy. If the Steelers win today and their next game, and we win our next game, the AFC Championship would be played in Foxboro, cause we are the higher seed, and we beat the Steelers in the regular season. A longshot, but something to think about.

On the Pats fan board someone posted a rant from the Jets fan board about the Pats that is really funny. Its about Patriots' Power and my favorite is

When the Boogeyman goes to bed he first checks his closet for Patriots.

Patriots' Power

I just wish the Jets weren't in such disarray, cause I still want Ty Law back and if they had a headcoach they would possibly cut him because they are way over the cap.

 

[FicusFan]

Almost forgot.

Good luck today Radone with Cincy. Perhaps the Steelers will get overconfident, and the Bengals will find themselves and beat the Steelers, again.

Good luck Neon and Eperitos with the Giants. Hope they beat the pants off the Panthers. I saw an interview with Tiki Barber on the NFL network. Wow is he amazing. Very thoughtful, articulate and mature.

The only bad thing about the playoffs is that we are winding down the NFL season. I just can't bring myself to care about Arena League -- its like playing football on a pool table.

 

[kater]

Patriots' Power

Some of the lines on the link are a touch offensive for members of a sensitive nature so be warned

I laughed my ass off at some of those, I've seen a few similar actual websites sprout up such as the chuck norris and vin diesel ones My personal favourite, run a close second by BB's balls was:

"The Patriots sold their souls to the devil for their rugged good looks and unparalleled football ability. Shortly after the transaction was finalized, the Patriots knocked the devil unconscious and took their souls back. The devil, who appreciates irony, couldn't stay mad and admitted he should have seen it coming. They now play poker every second Wednesday of the month."

 

[FicusFan]

Well I slept through the Giants and the Panthers. Was shocked when I woke up to find that the Panthers had a shut-out going. I hear Eli had 3 interceptions, but for a shut-out everyone had to be playing badly. That is so disappointing when that happens. You have a good team that is up for the game, and nothing goes right. Well there is always next year, and the Giants have something to build on.

I am watching the Cincy - Steelers game. They are in the AFC and the outcome determines where the Pats go. I went to the bathroom and when I came back Palmer was out of the game. What a heartbreaker. Even if the Steelers may give us a home AFC championship, I just can't root for them. They hit Brady like that in the 2001 Championship game in Pitt, and Bledsoe had to finish it. Then they took out Harrison earlier this season. I hate the Steelers. Go Cincy. Kitna seems to be holding up.