StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Since the first preseason game of the football season begins in three hours, it seemed time to make the thread that, if it works like years past, will carry us to February.

So, in League news:

The Green Bay Packers say that they will welcome back quarterback Brett Favre after the offseason drama involving a short-lived retirement. The story is just breaking on NFL.com, so no word on whether or not Favre will be starting over Aaron Rodgers, the presumptive starter through offseason activities. However, I can't imagine it working any other way. I'm disappointed in the Packers for their stance on this.

The Hall of Fame Game, the first preseason game and therefore the first action of the new NFL season, begins tonight at 8 EST on NBC in Canton, Ohio as part of the ceremony to welcome new Hall of Fame members. Washington will be the designated home team, while the Indianapolis Colts will be the road team. The Colts will be short an astounding number of star players, including Pro Bowl starting quarterback Peyton Manning, wide receiver Marvin Harrison, and NFL Defensive MVP safety Bob Sanders. In Manning's stead, quarterbacks Quinn Gray, Jim Sorgi, and Jared Lorenzen will be playing under center. Since it's a statistically irrelevant game, like all preseason games, all positions will feature a rotation as the game progresses.

The player I want to see in all of this is new Washington quarterback Colt Brennan, who was forecast to not have the tools to succeed at an NFL level despite an impressive collegiate career at Hawaii. I'm curious to see if people were right or not. Hopefully, a team will pick him up that's worth rooting for.

So, what do you think of the league in general?

Predictions are useless at this point, but for the AFC, I wouldn't be surprised if Jacksonville was the representative to the Super Bowl. David Garrard showed he could play with the big boys in his performance against New England last year. The question to the success of the Jaguars, I think, is whether or not

a. They can dethrone Indianapolis. Remember, winning a single game against the Colts last year sends the divisional title into tiebreakers for the Jaguars.
b. New England's defense can survive their gutting in the offseason. Tom Brady, Randy Moss, and Wes Welker should put up the gaudy numbers we saw last year, but the defense is aging, and several star players departed.

Also, watch for Buffalo to give New England a run for their money this year. They had a pliant defense last year, and it'll be interesting to see how they work with experienced Trent Edwards and Marshawn Lynch.

In the NFC, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Minnesota seem to be the most likely contenders. Both have competent if not stellar (New Orleans) offenses when healthy, and all shored up their defenses last year. Of course, of those three, only New Orleans and Minnesota play each other. Should be interesting, too.

I'm no Washington fan, but Colt Brennan looks absolutely frightening tonight. It's against the third and fourth string defenses, but he looks sharp.

Everyone looks sharp against 3rd & 4th stringers. Remember, NFL rosters only have 1st & 2nd strings, so 90% of those guys will be in other lines of work come Labor Day.

Not Brennan. Yeah he was playing against 3rd stringers, but his passes were right on. The kid looked damn good. If he doesn't make Washington's squad, he will certainly hit on some else's.

I've been kind of enjoying the Favre debacle.

I think it's funny that everyone seems concerned about how his potential return might screw up Aaron Rodgers or the chemistry of the team, but no one says anything about the teams that people keep speculating Favre might go to being screwed up.

How would you like to be the quarterback of the Jets or Bucs as you keep hearing rumors that your team wants a shot at Favre?

Better still, how about the Vikings? Their young quarterback has supposedly been working hard and making progress this summer, only to hear that his team is interested in Favre and that Favre is interested in his team. Same kind of kick to the confidence and team chemistry that Rodgers and the Packers have been going through.

Maybe this kind of shit is the sort of thing that you just have to get used to being a pro in the NFL.

Just how much would Favre have been slammed if he took the big payout from Green Bay to stay retired?

====

Anyway, I'm not getting my hopes up on the Cardinals being all that much better than last year. They probably have a decent shot of winning the NFC West but that's because the NFC West blows ass.

I also think that the team might be better off starting Warner instead of Leinhart, but then I've probably been reading the http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/ too much.

It might also not matter which quarterback they choose because of other elements of the team. I'm certainly not sold on the running game. The last time a Cardinals team had what I thought of as a decent running threat they were still playing in St. Louis and it was Ottis (O.J.) Anderson carrying the ball for them.

CHFF is the SDN of football.

When he's healthy, Warner is one of the best QBs in the NFL, so they should start him until he can't play or Leinart can beat him out of the job. Making someone a starter based on contract or draft position already cost Dennis "Crown "Em" Green his job.

Going to go out an a limb her and predict the the Lion will not be going all the way, in fact I will be surprised if Detroit get a winning season. I know it's risk to make such a call this early, but I'm feeling it

Elfdart wrote:CHFF is the SDN of football.

When he's healthy, Warner is one of the best QBs in the NFL, so they should start him until he can't play or Leinart can beat him out of the job. Making someone a starter based on contract or draft position already cost Dennis "Crown "Em" Green his job.

He sure performed better last year even when Leinart was able to play. I totally agree that they should be starting him until Leinart can prove that he's who should be in the lead spot.

So Jason Peters have offseason sports hernia surgery, but made the pro-bowl, and was an all-pro selection. He has yet to show up to any staffed Bills work out, practice or training camp, ostensibly because he wants a new contract, in year 1 of a deal he signed last year. No Bills medical/training/coaching staff have seen him since the surgery, and he's holding out.

This isn't going well, and its not ending well. Its not like Ralph Wilson has been stingy with the cash when it comes to performance (look at the payday Schobel got when he put up a 14.5 sack year and made Probowl and All-pro). All he's got to do is show up to camp, get checked out by the staff, and the Bills will sit down. Something smells fishy...

I predict a banner year for my 'phins. 3-13.

I know, it's a bit optimistic, but I like their special teams to make some spectacular plays.

Wow, triple the number of wins they had last year?

That still sucks, Chardok. I think they'll go 5-11, maybe 6-10. Granted, the players you have are terrible but Miami gets first crack at that waiver wire!

Is it wrong that I'm actively hoping Favre doesn't get what he wants and ends up stuck on some shitty team that ends up with a losing record if he plays at all?

I have high hopes this year for the Texans. I'm going to go ahead and say this will be the first winning season we have. At least, I hope it is; I have season tickets...

Not necessarily a trip to the playoffs but maybe a 9-7 record. Maybe a shot at a wild card berth. Maybe.

Just barely sticking my head into Hurricane Favre's media blitz, I can tell you that he, apparently, was tossed out of Packers Camp by the Packers themselves. Loose talk from the ESPN types about him wanting a trade to Tampa Bay.

Or he could just have stayed retired. Moron.

Falkenhayn wrote:Just barely sticking my head into Hurricane Favre's media blitz, I can tell you that he, apparently, was tossed out of Packers Camp by the Packers themselves. Loose talk from the ESPN types about him wanting a trade to Tampa Bay.

Or he could just have stayed retired. Moron.

No. Moron, because he shouldn't have retired in the first fucking place.

That said, as punishment, I want him to be traded to the Jets. That way when they get their asses handed to them by the Patriots, he can see what he gave up in Green Bay. (Great, supportive fans)

And hav's wish comes true. Favre to the NY Jets.

As a Packers fan, hopefully Aaron Rodgers does well.

EDIT: Changed the Link.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!![/Vader]

He could have played for the Bucs. My dream of wearing a Favre Buccaneers Jersey shall never come true...

Still... Dick move, Green Bay.

Flagg wrote:NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!![/Vader]

He could have played for the Bucs. My dream of wearing a Favre Buccaneers Jersey shall never come true...

Still... Dick move, Green Bay.

Huh? Favre was the bastard who retired, let the team begin reorientating themselves around Rodgers, and then decided "Oh, I wanna come back."

Steve wrote:

Flagg wrote:NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!![/Vader]

He could have played for the Bucs. My dream of wearing a Favre Buccaneers Jersey shall never come true...

Still... Dick move, Green Bay.

Huh? Favre was the bastard who retired, let the team begin reorientating themselves around Rodgers, and then decided "Oh, I wanna come back."

He also got them to how many superbowls?

Don't get me wrong, I hate it when athletes retire and then unretire, but this is Brett fucking Favre.

Flagg wrote:

Steve wrote:

Flagg wrote:NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!![/Vader]

He could have played for the Bucs. My dream of wearing a Favre Buccaneers Jersey shall never come true...

Still... Dick move, Green Bay.

Huh? Favre was the bastard who retired, let the team begin reorientating themselves around Rodgers, and then decided "Oh, I wanna come back."

He also got them to how many superbowls?

Don't get me wrong, I hate it when athletes retire and then unretire, but this is Brett fucking Favre.

He went to two Super Bowls with Reggie White on the team.

F-A-V-R-E, FAVRE!, FAVRE! FAVRE!

Favre probably fills a need better for the Jets but it would have been interesting seeing him on the Bucs, Vikings or Bears. I'm still kind of hoping that the Jets will decide to fuck the Packers and trade Favre to Minnesota.

It's usually a condition of a trade that the team getting the player agrees not to trade him to a team in your division.

Elfdart wrote:It's usually a condition of a trade that the team getting the player agrees not to trade him to a team in your division.

I pretty much figured that was the case but thinking of the Jets boning the Pack was good for a nice private evil cackle.

Chardok wrote:I predict a banner year for my 'phins. 3-13.

I know, it's a bit optimistic, but I like their special teams to make some spectacular plays.

No, no. No. No.

No.

8 - 8. I want to see them sodomize Favre and the Jets opening day. Well, of course I want that, but I have a feeling it's going to happen. I can see Favre and the Jets being completely over-confident and having their asses handed to them. Against the Jets, 2 - 0. The Pats, 1 - 1. Bills, 1 - 1.

I have a lot of hopes about this new Sparano/Parcells system, looking forward to the change to a 3 - 4 defense; this should improve the worst run defense in the league, as of last year. Loved Thomas and Taylor, but Thomas wasn't performing and Taylor was just being a dick. Ricky and Ronnie should both be putting up big numbers this year, both'll be getting 800+ yards running. Add the fact that Brown is a threat catching the ball, too. Worried about the QB situation. Not a big fan of the three they have, but I'm hoping they play Henne, although that is a long shot. Maybe we'll get Pennington. Ted Ginn Jr. should be beautiful on both ST and offense.

^^^ The Dolphins did indeed get Pennington.

As for Favre, I used to like him. I'm not so much a fan of his anymore. The whole situation was handled badly by the Packers and Favre, they both suck. I hope the Jets continue to suck.

Anyways, with a ridiculously tough schedule this year, I'm hoping my Browns can manage to repeat their 10-6 record from last year, and win at least once against the Steelers.

In their first preseason game, the first team offense and defense flat out owned the Jets. That may not be saying much, but I'm pretty excited for them. The backups weren't as impressive, but that's why they're backups.

From the article on the trade:

The draft pick traded for Favre turns into a third-round selection if he plays in 50 percent of the plays this season, a second-rounder if he plays in 70 percent of the plays and the Jets qualify for the playoffs, and a first-round pick if he plays in 80 percent of the plays and Jets make it to the Super Bowl.

I'm laughing my ass off. As for why the Jets went for him? Gods only know. They needed a better quarterback (Pennington, however good he was young, had suffered so many injuries that it's amazing he's still playing, and playing as a starter. And Clemens was reliable, but uninspiring.), but Favre will probably only last a year. Maybe two at best. Which leaves us right where we were before at the end of the year but down a draft pick and looking for a quarterback.

OK: The New England Patriots. IIRC, had one of (or the) toughest schedules in the league last year. They go 16-0, 18-1. This year? One of (or the) easiest schedules in the league. Virtually by definition the Patriots will do worse this year, but is it really implausible expecting 15-1 or maybe another undefeated season? Just saying.

Speaking of Strength of Schedule, as a Seahawks fan I'm wondering if this is the year the rest of the NFC West finally wakes up. C'mon Arizona!