Nfl 2008

Posted:
in AppleOutsider edited January 2014
a.k.a: Tom Brady's Faggoty Hat



a.k.a Eagles 2008 E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!



a.k.a How many times will T.O. embarrass his team?





Someone asked for it, so here it is. I'll begin.



NFC: The East is where it's at. The Eagles look to challenge the Cowboys. The Packers will be right in the mix. And, we have an improved Bears team. I still don't buy Minnesota as I don't like their QB. The Giants will have Super Bowl hangover, but will likely make the playoffs. The West is an unmitigated disaster, though the Cardinals will at least be a little better. Oh, and Daniel Snyder (WASH) is the dumbest owner in the NFL.



AFC: Dear Tom Brady, Bill Belicheat: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!. Sorry, better now.



East: I'm picking the Bills, though the Jets will give them a run. The Dolphins won't win only one game this year, they'll win four. The Patriots will make it into the playoffs and lose in the first round.



North: One word: Steelers.



South: The Colts should get their act together enough to win the division, mostly because it blows.



West: The Broncos are to the West what the Steelers are to the North. San Diego will feel the loss of Merriman more than expected.





Right now I'm looking at the Eagles, Cowboys or Packers in the Super Bowl for the NFC. On paper, it should be the Cowgirls, as much as I hate thinking about it. But one can hope for Philly.



It should be the Steelers or Broncos for the AFC. I don't buy the Colts or Chargers this year.



Your thoughts are welcome. Well, not really. But post anyway!



«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 34
    First time a Niners QB has thrown for over 300 yards since 2004.



    Eat it fellas!
  • Reply 2 of 34
    Let me know when they stop with the ridiculous salary cap. You say the NFC East is where it's at this year. The NFC East is always where it's at. It's the only division in the league that's competitive from top to bottom, every year, and it covers the four biggest markets. What the NFL does is ridiculous. No other major sports league is so obtrusive into the ability for certain teams to succeed with respect to others.
  • Reply 3 of 34
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Splinemodel View Post


    Let me know when they stop with the ridiculous salary cap. You say the NFC East is where it's at this year. The NFC East is always where it's at. It's the only division in the league that's competitive from top to bottom, every year, and it covers the four biggest markets. What the NFL does is ridiculous. No other major sports league is so obtrusive into the ability for certain teams to succeed with respect to others.



    How so? Please elaborate.



    I'm not sure where you're getting "competitive top to bottom, every year" from.



    Just in 2004, The Eagles won the Division at 13-3 and the Giants, Redskins, and Cowboys all finished 6-10.



    I wouldn't call that "competitive top to bottom"



    From 1997 to 1999, the NFC east was the picture of mediocrity, with records of 10-6, 10-6, and 10-5-1 winning the division. The NFC east was victorious in one playoff game in those three years combined.



    Also, how does the NFC east cover the four biggest markets? Chicago is not in the NFC East. Los Angeles doesn't even have an NFL team!



    There are a few competing forces in the NFL.



    1.) Cyclical churn of teams from good to bad, through a combination of salary cap and bad teams getting higher draft position



    2.) Teams that are well run organizations and generally maintain a high level of play, suffering only short lapses of mediocrity. See the Eagles, Packers, and Steelers as examples.



    3.) Teams that are poorly run / cheap organizations that consistently suck with fleeting moments of competence. This can happen even when they luck out and draft a franchise QB. See the Bengals as a prime example



    4.) Teams that are savy/lucky enough to land a great QB. See New England, Indianapolis, GB during the Favre years.



    Over longer numbers of years, teams can transition from one category to another. For example, Green Bay was firmly in category three for the entirety of the 70's and 80's. They got into Category 2/4 by 1) Hiring Bob Harlan who 2) hired Ron Wolf who 3+4) hired Mike Holmgren and traded for Bret Favre.



    SanFran was also firmly in category 2, and had the fortune to have two hall of fame QBs back to back. Even after Young retired, they were still good for several years. But family in-fighting led to incompetent management which continues to this day.



    As a GB fan, I'm quite aware that the Packers would probably have folded without the coming of the salary cap era. That would have been sad to see.
  • Reply 4 of 34
    If there was no salary cap my Niners would still be continuing their dynasty...
  • Reply 5 of 34
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Guybrush Threepwood View Post


    If there was no salary cap my Niners would still be continuing their dynasty...



    I actually kinda doubt that. Their ownership is a huge mess right now. When you hire Dennis Erickson as a coach, you've got big problems at the top of your organization.
  • Reply 6 of 34
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Flounder View Post


    I actually kinda doubt that. Their ownership is a huge mess right now. When you hire Dennis Erickson as a coach, you've got big problems at the top of your organization.



    York never would have been the owner.



    DeBartolo would have won more championships after 1994. The salary cap dismantled that '94 team, which was quite possibly the best team we've ever had.



    More championships would have equaled more money in DeBartolo's pocket. More money in DeBartolo's pocket would have prevented him from conceding ownership because of financial problems.



    Debartolo = Championships



    Championships = Dynasty



    Therefore...



    No salary cap = My Niners' continued dynasty



  • Reply 7 of 34
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Flounder View Post


    How so? Please elaborate. . . . .



    The problem with the NFC East teams' records is that they have to play 6 games each season against each other. Even when they aren't the best teams, they never stink and there is almost never a case where one or two of the teams are pushovers. Most divisions have at least one wimpy team.



    Their markets are huge. Between the Skins, Eagles, and Giants, the NFC East serves a huge chunk of the most populous areas of the eastern seaboard. South of Skins territory, it's more about college ball, and north of Giants territory it's more about the red sox. Even outside the cities, in this area, the population is fairly dense. Then there's Dallas, which serves another huge area. No other division serves anywhere close to that many fans. I would say it's probably a factor of two or three difference. ... West coast isn't as football crazy. There's the Raiders, yes, but that's not a ton of fans.



    Anyway, the salary cap is almost certainly here to stay because it allows the league to rake it in. There's really no competition with the NFL, so the product can suffer to a reasonable degree without fans going away. For what it's worth, we see the same economic factors in gasoline.



    Even if the salary cap stays, there are ways to be less ridiculous. For example: single league table with seeding for the playoffs. This would prevent the problem of having stacked divisions.



    Anyway, fuck it. The whole world knows that I barely watch the NFL anymore. The whole experience has gotten too slow and too contrived in the last ten years. It's merely a vehicle for TV ads.
  • Reply 8 of 34
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Splinemodel View Post


    The problem with the NFC East teams' records is that they have to play 6 games each season against each other. Even when they aren't the best teams, they never stink and there is almost never a case where one or two of the teams are pushovers. Most divisions have at least one wimpy team.



    Their markets are huge. Between the Skins, Eagles, and Giants, the NFC East serves a huge chunk of the most populous areas of the eastern seaboard. South of Skins territory, it's more about college ball, and north of Giants territory it's more about the red sox. Even outside the cities, in this area, the population is fairly dense. Then there's Dallas, which serves another huge area. No other division serves anywhere close to that many fans. I would say it's probably a factor of two or three difference. ... West coast isn't as football crazy. There's the Raiders, yes, but that's not a ton of fans.



    Anyway, the salary cap is almost certainly here to stay because it allows the league to rake it in. There's really no competition with the NFL, so the product can suffer to a reasonable degree without fans going away. For what it's worth, we see the same economic factors in gasoline.



    Even if the salary cap stays, there are ways to be less ridiculous. For example: single league table with seeding for the playoffs. This would prevent the problem of having stacked divisions.



    Anyway, fuck it. The whole world knows that I barely watch the NFL anymore. The whole experience has gotten too slow and too contrived in the last ten years. It's merely a vehicle for TV ads.



    I don't think the numbers bear this out. In 2003 The Giants were last in the Division at 4-12, tied for worst record in football. And Just in front of them, at 5-11, were the Redskins. The strongest division top to bottom that year looks like the NFC West, which of course currently is the worst division in football. Like I said, these things are cyclical. As I mentioned in my previous post, over the three year period of 1997-1999 the current NFC east won 1 playoff game, and the best record in that time was 10-5-1. The division was undeniably weak those three years. As a whole the division won two playoff games, but the other was current NFC West squad the Arizona Cardinals beating Dallas.



    Sure, it was a very strong division last year. 3 of the 4 teams made the playoffs! So what's wrong with that? Do you maintain Philadelphia got screwed? The AFC South was just as strong, with Indy, TN, and Jacksonville all making the playoffs. Did Houston, at 8-8 get screwed?



    Trust me, the NFC east is strong now, but it will not remain so in perpetuity. History bears this out.



    Basketball and baseball both have conferences with divisions in which you play your opponents more often. What in the world is wrong with that? This is how you build fan interest and rivalries. That's why when they re-aligned, Dallas stayed in the NFC east. The rivalries were too good to break it up.



    I certainly don't dispute the NFC east is composed of big markets with strong fan interest. But again, why is this objectionable?





    Just to add more to my case:



    The claim seems to be because they play each other twice, so they play more good teams and the division is better than it looks.



    So here are some stats from one of my favorite websites, footballoutsiders, which uses advanced stats. One of these, Team DVOA, looks at the team as a whole and adjusts for opponent:



    http://www.footballoutsiders.com/sta...fficiency-2000



    The rankings of the NFC East from this century (not including Arizona the years they were in the division):



    2000: 10, 11, 15, 25

    2001: 2, 14, 22, 26

    2002: 3, 15, 23, 28

    2003: 7, 14, 25, 29

    2004: 6, 21, 22, 24

    2005: 7, 8, 15, 18

    2006: 3, 8, 10, 23

    2007: 3, 11, 12, 15



    As can be seen above, the last three years, and in particular last year, the NFC East was strong. But as can also be seen, they were definitely nothing special prior to that. Other than the top team (Philidalphia) in 2001 and 2002, the division downright stunk.



    Of course, interestingly enough, according to these stats Phili was good enough to be a playoff team last year. But hey, that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.
  • Reply 9 of 34
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    So...last night.



    Holy hell. What a game. I'm disappointed my birds lost, but jesus...I don't think I've ever seen a game like this between these teams. My observations:



    1. The Eagles defense did not play well. They gave up big plays and didn't sack Romo. They got run over by Barber and Jones.



    2. The Cowboys defense played fairly well, but allowed the Eagles to drive. They did shutdown the running game pretty well.



    3. McNabb looked AWESOME. It's too bad about the fumble in the 4th Q. That was really the game. It may have ended up 44-34 or 40-34.



    4. How much crap is Desean Jackson getting today? hahaha.



    5. The Eagles cannot give up plays like the T.O. touchdown and the kick return. It simply cannot happen, not with these players. The three best corners in the league got smoked. Dawkins was slow and didn't play well. The bright spot was Quentin Mikell. He was all over the place.



    6. We really felt the loss of Andrews in this game. McNabb really didn't have the time he needed in the second half.







    Overall: I'm very concerned about the defense right now. They MUST do better agains the run. I'm also concerned about not running the ball enough. Where was Hunt? Where was Booker?



    But I'm encouraged as well. The Cowboys and Eagles are clearly the best teams in the league right now. I also think the only remaining challenges this year for the Eagles are the next Cowgirls game, the Steelers this week and maybe the Giants. Looking at the schedule :

    • Pittsburgh: They are going to be tough, but the Eagles should win, I think.

    • Chicago: This should be a win.

    • Washington: They suck. Win.

    • San Fran: Suckage. Win.

    • Atlanta: Less sucky than last year, but still bad. Win.

    • Seattle: El Suckador. Win.

    • New York: Possible loss if the G-men keep playing the way they are.

    • Cincinnati: Suck-a-roo. Win.

    • Baltimore: This should be a win. But it may be close.

    • Arizona: Again, less sucky than last year. But the birds will win.

    • New York Part II: Toss up. Too early to predict. Possible loss.

    • Cleveland: HAHAHAHAHA. Win.

    • Washington Part II: Take a guess. Win.

    • Dallas: Toss up, but let's count it as a possible loss.

    I see this as an 11-5 season at worst. More likely, I think we're looking at 12-4. 13-3 is optimistic. Anything less than 11-5 and I'm not going to be happy. I think what's most likely is we'll split with NYG and Dallas, and lose one other game unexpectedly.
  • Reply 10 of 34
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    I'm looking forward to the GB / Dallas Sunday night game. We'll see what the pack is made of.



    I think GB has as much, or more, overall talent at the skill positions, but my concern will be the line play. The GB offensive line did not play well against Detroit, and if they don't play better against Dallas, Rodgers will get sacked a LOT.



    The GB defensive line has played well and gotten good pressure on the QB thus far. They must get pressure against the big Dallas offensive line, or Al Harris will get thoroughly abused.



    I'm not particularly optimistic about GBs chances, but we'll see.
  • Reply 11 of 34
    SDW,



    Care to place a little wager on the Niners/Eagles game?



    Loser has to contribute $10 to the presidential candidate of the winner's choice...
  • Reply 12 of 34
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Flounder View Post


    I don't think the numbers bear this out.



    THe "numbers" are very difficult to assume. I'm not interested in going deep, but there are a great many variables that go into the success or failure of a sports team, and in the NFL format record alone is not a great gauge. Even the single tables of major soccer leagues don't always tell the whole story ... see Italy two years ago.



    The point is, the NFL to me just isn't about the fans. It's about making owners and the league rich (especially the league). Wealth is a fine pursuit, but the product suffers to the point at which I've lost interest in the NFL. The NFL has not been successful at expanding into new markets where there is competition with fan-first sports leagues ... in other words, anywhere outside of the USA.
  • Reply 13 of 34
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Splinemodel View Post


    THe "numbers" are very difficult to assume. I'm not interested in going deep, but there are a great many variables that go into the success or failure of a sports team, and in the NFL format record alone is not a great gauge. Even the single tables of major soccer leagues don't always tell the whole story ... see Italy two years ago.





    Did you read my entire post? I agree record alone is not a great gauge. That's why I gave you a whole series of numbers from football outsiders that are NOT based on won/loss record that prove my point.



    The DVOA stat is explained here:



    http://www.footballoutsiders.com/info/methods



    Here's the pertinent part of my post again:



    Quote:

    The claim seems to be because they play each other twice, so they play more good teams and the division is better than it looks.



    So here are some stats from one of my favorite websites, footballoutsiders, which uses advanced stats. One of these, Team DVOA, looks at the team as a whole and adjusts for opponent:



    http://www.footballoutsiders.com/sta...fficiency-2000



    The rankings of the NFC East from this century (not including Arizona the years they were in the division):



    2000: 10, 11, 15, 25

    2001: 2, 14, 22, 26

    2002: 3, 15, 23, 28

    2003: 7, 14, 25, 29

    2004: 6, 21, 22, 24

    2005: 7, 8, 15, 18

    2006: 3, 8, 10, 23

    2007: 3, 11, 12, 15



    As can be seen above, the last three years, and in particular last year, the NFC East was strong. But as can also be seen, they were definitely nothing special prior to that. Other than the top team (Philidalphia) in 2001 and 2002, the division downright stunk.



    Of course, interestingly enough, according to these stats Phili was good enough to be a playoff team last year. But hey, that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.



    Anyways, I'm not trying to convince you to like the NFL. I'm just trying to convince you that your assertion that the NFC East has consistently superior teams or is a always a tougher division to play in is erroneous.



    It's an extremely strong division right now, yes. In 2004, it was the very definition of mediocre.
  • Reply 14 of 34
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Guybrush Threepwood View Post


    SDW,



    Care to place a little wager on the Niners/Eagles game?



    Loser has to contribute $10 to the presidential candidate of the winner's choice...



    Done! Also, I should tell you I do still like the niners. I just don't think they are on track at all during this decade.
  • Reply 15 of 34
    iposteriposter Posts: 1,560member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SDW2001 View Post


    So...last night.



    Holy hell. What a game. I'm disappointed my birds lost, but jesus...I don't think I've ever seen a game like this between these teams. My observations:



    4. How much crap is Desean Jackson getting today? hahaha.







    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SDW2001 View Post


    5. The Eagles cannot give up plays like the T.O. touchdown and the kick return. It simply cannot happen, not with these players. The three best corners in the league got smoked. Dawkins was slow and didn't play well. The bright spot was Quentin Mikell. He was all over the place.



    Dawkins will be 2nd string by the middle of the season. He's lost too much of his speed, hate to say it, but it's time.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SDW2001 View Post


    6. We really felt the loss of Andrews in this game. McNabb really didn't have the time he needed in the second half.



    Reminds me, I need to check on his injury status, hope it's not too serious!





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SDW2001 View Post


    The Cowboys and Eagles are clearly the best teams in the league right now. I also think the only remaining challenges this year for the Eagles are the next Cowgirls game, the Steelers this week and maybe the Giants.



    Agreed, they put on quite a show last night. Reid just needs to quit playing not to lose in the 4th quarter and Philly would be an elite team. He's been doing it his whole time as head coach.
  • Reply 16 of 34
    Fuck.



    Hope SDW is back before he has to contribute $10 to Obama...
  • Reply 17 of 34
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Guybrush Threepwood View Post


    Fuck.



    Hope SDW is back before he has to contribute $10 to Obama...



    Well, I may have to do that seeing as how the Eagles SUCK right now. I am officially on the fire Andy Reid bandwagon. It's the same shit every year. There is simply no excuse for their performance in the Chicago game, nor the Redskins game. Reid is still calling the plays, and he sucks at it. And if I see ONE more dropped ball by Lewis and company, I'm going to lose my shit.
  • Reply 18 of 34
    Well at least you guys are the best 2-3 team I've ever seen...
  • Reply 19 of 34
    Get your wallet out SDW...



    Today's the day.
  • Reply 20 of 34
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Guybrush Threepwood View Post


    Get your wallet out SDW...



    Today's the day.







    Eagles 40

    Niners 26
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