NFL... Training Camp & the Pre-Season

[rok]

well, i can't wait for an official NFL season thread to start, so we'll start with this, so we can talk about status for various teams, etc. something completely random that i saw on espn.com (since the saints used to be my home team) was this picture of reggie bush from training camp.

http://espn-att.starwave.com/photo/2006/0804/nfl_w_mwillrbush_412.jpg

holy CRAP do you see that bicep?!? and it's in full flex carrying a TOWEL. with arms like that, i can't imagine him ever fumbling... ever.

[Splinemodel]

Yeah, steroids are great.

Yes, it's probably not steroids, but they're all using some kind of drug, be it legal or not. Otherwise, you can't maintain 0% fat.

[CosmoNut]

We in K.C. have high hopes for Herm Edwards and the Chiefs. We may just pull together a championship team this year. I'm really excited!

[Brently]

Yea GO LIONS :lol: I'm really excited to lose another season.

[Flounder]

Hey, at least the didn't draft another receiver #1 again.

[SDW2001]

Anyone see the game last night? The Eagles lost 16-10, but of course their starters didn't play much after 1st quarter.

I am happy to say McNabb looked excellent. Westbrook was REALLY excellent as well. They shredded the Raiders defense on the first drive (granted, they sucked last year).

<whistle> Oh, bandwagon! I'm ready!!!

[trick fall]

We in K.C. have high hopes for Herm Edwards and the Chiefs. We may just pull together a championship team this year. I'm really excited!

Herm's a decent coach, but his time management sucks. He can also go way too conservative on offense. I predict my Jets will start off weak, but end strong.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Bold prediction

Alex Smith will have a QB Rating over 63.6

[DanMacMan]

As my sig states, college football is where its at...

[AgNuke1707]

Being a college student has turned most of my attention towards the college game, but I still have a special place in my heart for my Chicago Bears. I grew up around Cowboy fans in the Dallas areas and was too young to remember much of the Monsters of the Midway of the 1980's, and it has been tough suffering through a lot of 4-12 seasons since. I think if the offense can score some points, the defense should continue to be a terror. I predict another playoff berth, but inexperience (which killed them last postseason) might just keep them from advancing one more year. No matter what anyone says, I'll still believe the Cowboy WILL NOT make the playoffs and the Titans will put Young on the field (much to his detriment) by game 2 of the season.

You heard it here first...

[rok]

my bucs didn't do a heck of a lot on first-string offense, BUT a.) they never do in the first game and b.) the real story is how their 1st and 2nd round draft choices fare on the offensive line. O-line ineptitude has KILLED the bucs the last two years. two years ago, i started nicknaming kenyatta walker "kenyatta 'texas hold-'em' walker" for his ability to have at least one holding penalty EVERY GAME. if they work out, they could be rocks on the O-line like webb and sims were for the dolphins (though they were brought in to protect marino, so they excelled more at pass blocking, which, admittedly, is harder than run blocking, since you're on the defensive and backpedaling more in pass blocking schemes).

anyway, the bucs have all of the signs of a good offense, but my big concern is that they are REALLY beginning to get old on defense. derrick brooks will be great, as will ronde barber, but the bucs need to keep their fingers crossed that they don't get hit by injuries on defense, or it'll be gruden-raiders all over again: every game a track meet and you just hope the games end when you're leading. it actually kinda sucks that they were southern champs last year but didn't DO anything with it, because now they drew a tougher schedule, and with the saints and bush now not as laughable, the champ of the division may be only 9-7 or 10-6 at best and be bloodied by the playoffs.

gonna be fun to watch, though.

p.s. one thing i have learned about preseason: don't get too bummed over losses or too excited about wins. if your team is undefeated in preseason, it generally means they kept starters in too long against 2nd and 3rd stringers, because they needed the timing work, which means bad things for the season. also, if your team oes winless, i found it means the coaching staff never really got a good feel for when to swap out players, and make winning plays, etc. to get something good under the belt. this comes from TWNETY YEARS of watching very bad football in southern florida, by the way. generally, it's best if the team splits 'em. you're then coming out of the gates with some balance, good review of talent, without killing yourself to win ultimately meaningless games and risk injuries.

[rok]

sigh, just listened to deion's ragging on parcell's wanting t.o. in camp practicing. now this isn't a post about t.o. or parcells, but about deion unable to keep his trap shut and see the bigger picture. then again, i guess that's why t.o. is deion v2.0. deion says t.o. doesn't need the practice. that's something i would expect an "all about me" player to say, since a qb needs to get timing down with ANY new acquisition. hey, maybe this means bledsoe leads him too much or not enough because he's never played with him, but that'll give t.o. the opportunity to claim it was drew's fault (or whomever is unlucky enough to throw t.o. passes) for any incompletes. heck, i credit the manning/harrison combo for putting up such insane stats more because of their playing time together than anything else. they've played so long together (and yes, talent is there too, of course), they're like two sides of the same brain.

oh well, maybe it's just my anti-florida-state bias coming out (go gators!).

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Herm's a decent coach, but his time management sucks. He can also go way too conservative on offense. I predict my Jets will start off weak, but end strong.

Prediction of the year!

[Flounder]

Prediction of the year!

Indeed. Never have I seen an offensive game plan as bad as the Chief's last week.

The Colt's are especially bad at defending counters and draws. Did they do this? No! They ran right up the gut, running on 1st and 2nd down, and passing every 3rd down. It was just so predictable and bad. On top of that, they gave up on the run! LJ, after being over-used all year, carried the ball 13 times.

I thought they needed to start out with some play-action pass, (because they were selling out against the run) and then move to some counter and draw plays.

[trick fall]

Probably the only time I'll ever be right!