2008 NFL Season Thread- The Road to Super Bowl XLIII

Qwerty 42 · Post by **Qwerty 42** » 2008-09-07 08:28pm

The Dark wrote:
Metatwaddle wrote:I'm pretty impressed with the Eagles' new punt and kick returner - I think his name is DeSean Jackson. He's a rookie and had a good day today - no touchdowns, but a lot of long returns, including one that he ran down to the 9-yard line.
Jax is also a wideout - he had 6 receptions for 106 yards today. Not bad for a rookie who wasn't supposed to have any impact this year (which is what some of the analysts were saying during the preseason). He's just the punt returner, though - Quintin Demps is the kick returner (and a back-up safety).

I also love Hank Baskett's game. He's a 6'4" receiver with good speed. He's starting his third year, and has four career touchdowns. Three of them are over 85 yards, including today's 90-yard TD reception.

The surest sign of the receiving corps being decent is that even with Curtis and Brown (our #1 and #2 receivers) out, Westbrook only had two receptions.

Most reassuringly for Philadelphia, this game was probably a more complete game than even the Lions game last year: this time, they kept the Rams out of the endzone and still put up gaudy offensive statistics.

Qwerty 42 · Post by **Qwerty 42** » 2008-09-07 10:03pm

And 'tis true

NFL.com wrote:Brady's season over after injuring knee vs. Chiefs

Associated Press

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Reigning NFL MVP Tom Brady left Sunday's game against Kansas City after being hit on the left leg, depriving the New England Patriots of the quarterback who last season led them to a 16-0 regular season and their fourth Super Bowl appearance in eight years.

Brady suffered a serious knee injury against the Chiefs that will end his 2008 season, reports NFL Network’s Adam Schefter.

Meanwhile, free-agent quarterback Chris Simms is scheduled to arrive in New England Monday morning for a workout and a physical, Schefter reports. If all goes well, Simms could be a Patriot by the end of the day. Kansas City and Tennessee, each of whom had quarterbacks suffer significant injuries on Sunday, also have contacted Simms.

Brady, who has started 128 consecutive games, went to the turf clutching his left knee midway through the first quarter when he was hit in the pocket by Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard. After being tended to on the field, he walked off, limping, between two trainers.

Thursday, Sept. 4
» N.Y. Giants 16, Washington 7
Sunday, Sept. 7
» N.Y. Jets 20, Miami 14
» Atlanta 34, Detroit 21
» Tennessee 17, Jacksonville 10
» New Orleans 24, Tampa Bay 20
» Philadelphia 38, St. Louis 3
» Pittsburgh 28, Houston 17
» New England 17, Kansas City 10
» Baltimore 17, Cincinnati 10
» Buffalo 34, Seattle 10
» Dallas 28, Cleveland 10
» Arizona 23, San Francisco 13
» Carolina 25, San Diego 24
» Chicago at Indianapolis, 8:15 p.m. ET (NBC)
Monday, Sept. 8
» Minnesota at Green Bay, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
» Denver at Oakland, 10:15 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Brady, 31, went to the locker room and was not seen again on the sideline as backup Matt Cassel led the Patriots to a 17-10 victory. The two-time Super Bowl MVP was not available for comment after the game, and coach Bill Belichick said he had nothing to add to the in-game announcement that it was a knee injury.

The Chiefs also lost their starting quarterback when Brodie Croyle was sacked in the third quarter. The team said he had a bruised right shoulder and he was replaced by Damon Huard.

Brady was 7-for-11 passing for 76 yards, completing a 26-yard pass to Randy Moss on the play in which he was injured. Moss fumbled the ball away when he was tackled; the Patriots forced Kansas City to punt, then Cassel came in for New England.

"Since I've been here and been around Tom, he's always popped back up," Cassel said. "I didn't know (how serious it was). I just buckled my chinstrap and the guys rallied around me. I felt their support."

Cassel took over at his 2 yard-line and, after two handoffs nearly netted the Chiefs a safety, completed his first pass to Moss for a 51-yard gain. Cassel, Brady's backup for the past three years, finished the 98-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Moss that gave New England a 7-0 lead.

"This is something I've been preparing for for a long time," said Cassel, who threw just 33 passes while backing up Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at Southern Cal. "It's not something I expected to come up on opening day."

A former fourth-stringer who was the 199th overall selection in the 2000 draft, Brady himself took over at quarterback when longtime starter Drew Bledsoe sustained a life-threatening chest injury in a 2001 game against the New York Jets. Brady led the Patriots to their first NFL title that year, another in 2003 and another in 2004.

In the process, Brady has become one of the league's biggest stars and a crossover cover boy who has met the Pope and the president, dated actresses and supermodels and rewrote one of the NFL's most coveted records.

Last year, while leading New England to a 16-0 regular season, Brady set a record with 50 touchdown passes and improved his overall record as a starter to 100-27 -- the best in the Super Bowl era. The Patriots blew a chance at an unprecedented 19-0 season and a fourth NFL title with a 17-14 loss in February's Super Bowl to the New York Giants.

Brady did not play in four exhibition games this summer -- all of them Patriots losses -- while trying to recover from a right foot injury.

"He's the face of the New England Patriots, and Tom being who he is it kind of hurts, to be honest with you," said Moss, who caught 23 of Brady's TD passes in 2007, also a record. "I know the show must go on. Hopefully Matt Cassel is ready to step in. I know the team is ready to embrace him and let him lead us."

So, to the complete surprise of many, two games that may have huge implications come January were played in upstate New York and south Florida today.

Cos Dashit · Post by **Cos Dashit** » 2008-09-07 10:32pm

As a Dolphins fan, I've gotten used to looking at the positive side of a bad game. Pennington looked good... that's about it. O-line was out of sync, Ricky and Ronnie were playing halfway decent, with a couple good plays. But what's with the unnecessary penalties? Kicking it out of bounds? Holding and tripping? Punting with the side of your fucking foot?

Despite all this, we damn near won the game. It was very, very close at the end. Chad's pass wasn't even bad, Teddy just had bad position, or rather, the defender had good position.

But: BRADY IS OUT FOR THE SEASON. This almost makes up for the loss.

EDIT: And does God/Buddha/Allah/FSM love Favre or something!? That no-look, fourth down, up for grabs pass for a TD? Are you fucking kidding me?

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2008-09-07 11:10pm

Elfdart wrote:Looks like you had it right regarding Alex Smith. If Mike Martz can't make you into a QB, then you truly suck.

It's not that Martz can't make him into a QB, it's that he can make JT O'Sullivan into a better QB. Yes, sir, this team has plenty of options at that position.

I was pretty disappointed in Martz' offense, today. It basically reverted to "run Frank Gore enough to show everyone why he's a terrifyingly gifted runner, then stop using him." They looked awful, today. At least their defense still looked okay, given that it was in bad positions all day because of all the turnovers.

The Spartan · Post by **The Spartan** » 2008-09-08 07:34am

A moment of selfishness: there goes my starting QB for fantasy football. At least I had the sense to pick up a decent back-up in Eli.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2008-09-08 10:40am

I know the Jets won but I wasn't terribly impressed with Favre. I think he mostly got lucky although he did have one fake handoff that was absolutely great.

What I saw were some strong hints of him looking like he did two years ago when he was constantly throwing off his back foot and just strong arming the ball. He did that on his first touchdown pass but lucked out that his receiver had beaten his man so badly that he could afford to wait up a little to catch the ball. He didn't have to wait that much but the back foot thing made me wonder if he might possibly melt down like he was doing the two years prior to last year.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2008-09-08 09:28pm

GODFUCKINGDAMMMIT

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2008-09-08 09:34pm

I'm sure Brady will find a hot super model to take care of him during his convalescence.

No need to worry.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2008-09-08 09:37pm

Col. Crackpot wrote:GODFUCKINGDAMMMIT

ha ha.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2008-09-08 09:50pm

Chardok wrote:
Col. Crackpot wrote:GODFUCKINGDAMMMIT

ha ha.

Oh now don't you start... you and Mercury Morris can kiss my Royal Irish Ass

starslayer · Post by **starslayer** » 2008-09-09 01:24am

And to no one's surprise, the Raiders fall on their ass. Again. What did the Bay Area do to piss off the football gods, again?

Qwerty 42 · Post by **Qwerty 42** » 2008-09-09 01:58am

starslayer wrote:And to no one's surprise, the Raiders fall on their ass. Again. What did the Bay Area do to piss off the football gods, again?

Traded Montana.

Falkenhayn · Post by **Falkenhayn** » 2008-09-09 12:33pm

Those two little numbers that everybody outside of boston are repeating: 42-58.

Not saying that The Hoody is a 7-9 coach without Brady, as he's still got the rest of the Pats, but we'll find out what the Genius of Our Time is made of.

Redleader34 · Post by **Redleader34** » 2008-09-10 01:01am

With Brady out, does that mean the pats are out of the playoffs, or do they have a chance. Also, Bret Favre performed decently, but still.. damn I knew Brady was going to be out, all those hits from last season had to come back to bite him somehow.

Metatwaddle · Post by **Metatwaddle** » 2008-09-10 01:36am

Falkenhayn wrote:Those two little numbers that everybody outside of boston are repeating: 42-58.

Enlighten me?

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2008-09-10 02:05am

Qwerty 42 wrote:
starslayer wrote:And to no one's surprise, the Raiders fall on their ass. Again. What did the Bay Area do to piss off the football gods, again?
Traded Montana.

Except that the Niners went to the Super Bowl the year they traded Super Joe (14-2 with one of those losses being to the Montana-led Chiefs). Then there was also the fact that the Raidurrs somehow managed a Super Bowl appearance in 2002.

I'm thinking the combined horrible Karma of Denise York/Al Davis/Obnoxious Raider Fans/Terrell Owens created a massive anti-karmatic black hole in the Bay Area and thus the present misery among both franchises in Northern California.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2008-09-10 02:07am

Metatwaddle wrote:
Falkenhayn wrote:Those two little numbers that everybody outside of boston are repeating: 42-58.
Enlighten me?

Belicheck is 42-58 lifetime as a coach without Tom Brady as his starting QB. It is unknown though how many of those games he "misinterpreted the rules".

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2008-09-10 02:52am

Redleader34 wrote:With Brady out, does that mean the pats are out of the playoffs, or do they have a chance. Also, Bret Favre performed decently, but still.. damn I knew Brady was going to be out, all those hits from last season had to come back to bite him somehow.

The rest of the Pats' roster is still significantly stronger than anyone else in the division. I think they definitely still have a chance to make the play-offs, particularly in the comparatively weak AFC East (Jets, Bills, Dolphins). Keep in mind, they have the easiest schedule out of any team this year, as measured by the won-lost record of teams last year, and they DID still win the game against KC, so if they win 9/15 for the rest of the year they're certainly in, and may need to win fewer than that.

The Spartan · Post by **The Spartan** » 2008-09-10 07:48am

The Spartan wrote:A moment of selfishness: there goes my starting QB for fantasy football. At least I had the sense to pick up a decent back-up in Eli.

Continuing in this vane: Shawn Merriman is out for the season now. And guess which defense I had picked?

And on top of that the Texans were terrible on Sunday. I was hoping for an 8-8 or even a 9-7 season this year. After that performance I just hope they don't lose more than 9 games...

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2008-09-10 08:34am

9 and 7 so far. If I stay over .500 I shall be happy

Qwerty 42 · Post by **Qwerty 42** » 2008-09-10 02:49pm

Predictions for the coming week:

Chicago at Carolina
Tennessee at Cincinnati- no call
Green Bay at Detroit
Buffalo at Jacksonville
Oakland at Kansas City
Indianapolis at Minnesota
New York Giants at St. Louis
New Orleans at Washington
San Francisco at Seattle
Atlanta at Tampa Bay
Miami at Arizona
San Diego at Denver
Baltimore at Houston
New England at New York Jets
Pittsburgh at Cleveland
Philadelphia at Dallas

Dark Flame · Post by **Dark Flame** » 2008-09-10 06:03pm

I missed last week, but I want in on this.

Chicago at Carolina
Tennessee at Cincinnati
Green Bay at Detroit
Buffalo at Jacksonville
Oakland at Kansas City
Indianapolis at Minnesota
New York Giants at St. Louis
New Orleans at Washington
San Francisco at Seattle
Atlanta at Tampa Bay
Miami at Arizona
San Diego at Denver
Baltimore at Houston
New England at New York Jets
Pittsburgh at Cleveland
Philadelphia at Dallas

Decided by who's better or who I like more, or hometown favoritism.

starslayer · Post by **starslayer** » 2008-09-10 06:17pm

Darth Fanboy wrote:Except that the Niners went to the Super Bowl the year they traded Super Joe (14-2 with one of those losses being to the Montana-led Chiefs). Then there was also the fact that the Raidurrs somehow managed a Super Bowl appearance in 2002.

I'm thinking the combined horrible Karma of Denise York/Al Davis/Obnoxious Raider Fans/Terrell Owens created a massive anti-karmatic black hole in the Bay Area and thus the present misery among both franchises in Northern California.

No, SF didn't go that year; they went (and won) in '94, the year Montana retired, and were 13-3; they didn't have a losing season until much later. The Raiders grand tradition of suck only appeared after getting creamed by the Bucs in '02; they almost always had at least a winning season before then.

You're right about Davis and the Yorks though; Davis needs to fucking retire already, and the Yorks, well, they just suck. Eddie DeBartolo was a big part of why the Niners won five Super Bowls and were so dominant for 15 years.

Qwerty 42 · Post by **Qwerty 42** » 2008-09-10 07:10pm

Darth Fanboy wrote:
Qwerty 42 wrote:
starslayer wrote:And to no one's surprise, the Raiders fall on their ass. Again. What did the Bay Area do to piss off the football gods, again?
Traded Montana.
Except that the Niners went to the Super Bowl the year they traded Super Joe (14-2 with one of those losses being to the Montana-led Chiefs). Then there was also the fact that the Raidurrs somehow managed a Super Bowl appearance in 2002.

I'm thinking the combined horrible Karma of Denise York/Al Davis/Obnoxious Raider Fans/Terrell Owens created a massive anti-karmatic black hole in the Bay Area and thus the present misery among both franchises in Northern California.

I was mostly being sarcastic, but yeah, the Bay has been terrible of late.

Qwerty 42 · Post by **Qwerty 42** » 2008-09-11 01:02am

So NFLTA has apparently made its Game of the Week for this week New York/ Miami.

The Favre hype is simply preposterous. How anyone could look at the Carolina/ San Diego game and say that the Jets/Dolphins game was better is being ridiculous.