2008 NFL Season Thread- The Road to Super Bowl XLIII

[Medic]

What an ass whooping. Fuckin big time congratulations to the Charger fans. I can't remember a bigger comeback in a divisional race to win a playoff spot.

That is because, apparently, it has never happened before. Congrats Chargers and especially Elfdart and SPC! Also, I think the Chargers are the first 4-8 team to ever make the playoffs. IIRC weren't they the first 0-4 team to make the playoffs some years ago too?

Thank you. It feels good too. Denver, to echo Elfdart, can suck it -- long and hard!

We're the 1st 8-8 division champion since the 1985 Cleveland Browns I hear. Also, this is in fact (according to Al Michaels) the 1st time a division-leading team (Denver) has been in that lead all season long and then given it up in the last week.

As for start 0-4 and make the playoffs? I don't believe so, aside from this year and last, when we've been good we've been good early and late, and rough in the middle. Hell, it's hilarious that in 2005 we went 9-7, gave the Colts their 1st loss (in Indy!) but lost a slew of less-than-10-point decisions, we failed to make the post-season. Then, the Broncos were actually a team. Now, they can't stop a fling, a prayer or a high school track team.

What we did do was, IIRC, be the 1st team to go 5-1 and then miss the post-season. (I think we finished 8-8 and it might've been a 6-1 start -- that was an historic meltdown, too, sad to say it, and in Charger blue) That was in either Doug Fluties (remember him?) waning years as starter or one of Brees' first attempts at the job.

FUN FACT: Whenever you see Brees take pressure and he responds by running backwards, putting his back to the pass rusher looking over either shoulder ... and then he whips his body and head around in the other direction buying a second or two to fling a pass downfield? He learned that from Flutie. Flutie did it (and crazier things, like jump passes ) on a regular basis and Brees was using it in his 1st year as starter for the Chargers and uses it to this day whenever I see him play.

[The Spartan]

Well, we managed to beat the Bears and somewhat salvage the end of the season. I'm still burning over not being 9 and 7, but, at the very least, 8 and 8 is not a step backwards.

Oh, and my condolences to the Lions fans...

[Falkenhayn]

Marinelli, Mangini and Crennel's heads have rolled. If Huizinga sells his shares under some new buyout deal, the Tuna could hit the market as well. Somewhat surprised by Mangini being axed, but its New York. Somebody think

The wind at the Bills game was un-fucking-believable. Gostkowski kicked in extra point, it made it about a foot inside the uprights, then blew straight up in the air about ten yards, and fell straight down. Some guy also ran out on the field and got his ass beat, and everybody cheered. Then a series of brawls broke out on the north side of the stadium, and I'm happy to report that the majority of fans arrested were from New England. That was the high point of the afternoon.

That's a lie actually. The Tailgate was spectacular. Lots of good company, good food, and we were forced to use liberal amounts of center cut, black pepper bacon to get the grill going. Some Niners fans (?) borrowed some grill space after the third round of brats and bacon cheeseburgers for Worcerstshire Steaks, so I switched over to Pigs-in-a-Blanket, Sam Adams and a Cigar.

This is my favorite Dick Jauron photo by the way.
Spoiler

[Darth Fanboy]

Wow firing Mangini is pretty fuckin' dumb. Who can the Jets get that would be an improvement?

[Qwerty 42]

I'm going to log mine extra early:

Atlanta at Arizona
Indianapolis at San Diego
Baltimore at Miami
Philadelphia at Minnesota

which would make the divisional round:

Indianapolis at Tennessee
Arizona at Carolina
Philadelphia at New York Giants
Miami at Pittsburgh

[Falkenhayn]

Wow firing Mangini is pretty fuckin' dumb. Who can the Jets get that would be an improvement?

Supposedly, Bill Cowher is interested in the job. The Jests have a pile of cash and a whole lot of the pieces already in place.

[Havok]

Wow firing Mangini is pretty fuckin' dumb. Who can the Jets get that would be an improvement?

Supposedly, Bill Cowher is interested in the job. The Jests have a pile of cash and a whole lot of the pieces already in place.

Cowher is an idiot if he takes a New York job, and he is going to hate it. The only place he could go with LESS stability is either Washington or Oakland, but after leaving the pinnacle of stability of Pittsburgh? Every team is going to seem nuts to him. As much as I fucking loathe the Steelers and want the whole organization and fans to get tactically nuked after going 0-16, 3 or 4 years in a row, and after they trade Polomalu to the Niners, I sure as hell wish we had that kind of stability here in SF.

[weemadando]

Baltimore CANNOT, WILL NOT go down to Miami - we've beaten them already this season, we can do it again.

[Chardok]

Baltimore CANNOT, WILL NOT go down to Miami - we've beaten them already this season, we can do it again.

Right - and who was the only win Miami had against last season? B-B-B-BALTIMORE! Sorry - Ravens are going down long and slow in Miami. It will be an ugly, ugly game punctuated by stingy defenses and curmudgeonly clock-grinding. I doubt it's going to be much fun to watch; HOWEVER the following week Vs. the Steelers is going to be...woo hoo....that'll be something.

EDIT____________________________
And what the hell are you talking about - you're in Oz, right? Why do YOU care about american pussy-pseudo-rugby-not-soccer?

[Falkenhayn]

Cowher has signed a one year extension with CBS. So the greater NY area is sitting around with its pecker in its hand. Ha Ha. I love the Jests.

Closer to my damaged, damaged heart, there is supposedly pandemonium at One Bills Drive. Jauron has got some powerful friends, and the Players have been steadfast in their support. However, Ralph has been told that a significant number of luxury box and season's ticket's holders won't renew if Crafty Richard stays on. On top of that, a faultline is opening between Tom Modrak and Russ Brandon over expanded authority in football operations, as we don't have a dedicated GM since Marv left.

Near as anyone can guess, Turk Schonert is gone, regardless, and Ralph may order Dick to can Turk himself. Dick's been very loyal to Turk, the feeling is he won't do it, and quit. So yes, a cluster-fuck of epic proportions may well be in the offing.

The no-brain solution, if we're going to keep the HC job "in the family" is to promote Bobby April. Our special teams has been a Satan to the AFC east for the last five years; the only consistently scary part of our organization.

So...Ax Dick and Schonert, Promote Bobby, and go find our third OC in four years. Oh yeah, and hire the fuckin' Tuna as GM if he goes on the market.

[Chardok]

So...has anyone else noticed that (facially) Tony Sparano looks a lot like Mike Ditka?

[weemadando]

Baltimore CANNOT, WILL NOT go down to Miami - we've beaten them already this season, we can do it again.

Right - and who was the only win Miami had against last season? B-B-B-BALTIMORE! Sorry - Ravens are going down long and slow in Miami. It will be an ugly, ugly game punctuated by stingy defenses and curmudgeonly clock-grinding. I doubt it's going to be much fun to watch; HOWEVER the following week Vs. the Steelers is going to be...woo hoo....that'll be something.

EDIT____________________________
And what the hell are you talking about - you're in Oz, right? Why do YOU care about american pussy-pseudo-rugby-not-soccer?

Believe me, I remember that shameful show from last year. Which is why I am really hoping that it's not repeated.

And I follow NFL because a) it's way fucking better than Australian Rules (but still not as good as Union), b) I was born in Canada and my father loved NFL so I got indoctrinated a little and c) I played American Football for my Uni. I just like the game.

[Chardok]

Baltimore CANNOT, WILL NOT go down to Miami - we've beaten them already this season, we can do it again.

Right - and who was the only win Miami had against last season? B-B-B-BALTIMORE! Sorry - Ravens are going down long and slow in Miami. It will be an ugly, ugly game punctuated by stingy defenses and curmudgeonly clock-grinding. I doubt it's going to be much fun to watch; HOWEVER the following week Vs. the Steelers is going to be...woo hoo....that'll be something.

EDIT____________________________
And what the hell are you talking about - you're in Oz, right? Why do YOU care about american pussy-pseudo-rugby-not-soccer?

Believe me, I remember that shameful show from last year. Which is why I am really hoping that it's not repeated.

And I follow NFL because a) it's way fucking better than Australian Rules (but still not as good as Union), b) I was born in Canada and my father loved NFL so I got indoctrinated a little and c) I played American Football for my Uni. I just like the game.

Well, then you are partially forgiven - Still.....Canadian...*shudder*

I haven't been this excited for playoffs in YEARS. which is strange because by and large this whole season across the league has been mediocre at best.

Also - what in God's name happaned in Nashville? Have the titans just been perpetually hung over the past few weeks?

[Medic]

Wow firing Mangini is pretty fuckin' dumb. Who can the Jets get that would be an improvement?

Ol' Marty, if he's still hireable. (<< that's not a word? )

However good his track record at turning teams around (Washington, to an extent but definitely San Diego) and his reliable consistency (at display with his tenure's in Kansas City and San Diego) his age, post-season failures and ... nothing so much as taint with his last loss in particular (bias speaking now) seem to have made him an outcast. I don't know if he's neither looking or teams aren't asking, to be honest.

edit: Wow, I just have to respond to this, cause it's the complete opposite I'm picking.

Atlanta at Arizona
Indianapolis at San Diego
Baltimore at Miami
Philadelphia at Minnesota

Atlanta will pound the rock against Arizona, and I don't care how many points they can put up, Atlanta's no slouch either and is not exactly facing a defensive wall in Arizona.

I have to pick San Diego, I'm from there... and they remain my Super Bowl pick, since we're in the post-season, I'm not wrong yet! Yeah, the Colts are hot... but they are not hot in a vacuum. We are too, we've been here before and with stakes greater than this (Divisional round, last year) we beat them on their turf. Ron Rivera's had time to make his changes and the defense now is not the completely lackluster unit it was earlier in the season. Plus LT is on track, like he is every year, in December and beyond. (when that applies) In other words, we're peaking at the right time.

Baltimore is in the same mold as Miama, tough defense and few turnovers football, and to reiterate the "already beat them crowd" -- they already beat the Dolphins. Plus they still have Super Bowl veterans -- they have a huge playoff-experience advantage. That screams "upset" to me. (upset in the sense, they are the away team)

And... Minnesota. I'll be honest, I don't know the teams' respective stats on offense and defense and how they "match up" against one another, this one's just a gut call. Minnesota with their fleet-of-foot runners, on turf, give me confidence, I don't care how hot the Eagles are. That was the Cowboys, so it was sort've personal. If anything, are they not throttling down emotionally, after stiff-arming Dallas out of the post-season? I say again: gut call.

In summary, I'm picking both teams with starting rookies, a largely unplayoff-tested Minnesota against an anything-but in the Eagles and the only team in the post-season without a winning record. )
That looks like so much shit if I'm wrong on all 4.

edit2: so my Round 2 looks like:

AFC
San Diego @ Pittsburgh (that looks winnable -- maybe I should hope the Dolphins win)
Baltimore @ Tennessee

NFC
Minnesota @ Carolina
Atlanta @ New York

[Elfdart]

I'll take the Chargers, Ravens, Eagles and Cardinals. I don't like inexperienced QBs in playoff games -unless they have the Ravens' defense to fall back on.

[Medic]

Here's an insignificant thought: LT hasn't thrown a pass yet this year. For that matter, not since the 1st game of last year (a touchdown to Antonio Gates against the Bears if memory serves me right)

He's overdue so watch for that.

edit: Oh yeah, Mike Shanahan of the Broncos was fired. So the Broncos (our one legit divisional rival) have just fired the rock of their stability, however much that's degraded over their last 3 playoff-less years.

I can already feel the 2009 season. Feels like -- post-season!

[Elfdart]

Mike Martz just got fired, too. The 49ers will suck and suck hard for years to come.

So the Chargers not only won the division, they got one GM and two (probably three since Herm Edwards looks like toast) division rival coaches fired. 8-8 never looked so fucking awesome!

[Falkenhayn]

So let me get this straight.

Shanahan and Martz get axed, Dick Jauron stays. Are you fucking kidding me? What the hell kind of planet do we live on?

[Elfdart]

Ralph Wilson said he'd come to a decision tomorrow. Jauron isn't out of the clear yet. I just wonder how much Wilson wants to pay a coach to sit on his ass for the next few years.

EDIT: Speaking of which, the Donkeys are going to pay Shanahan $20 million (the remainder of his contract) to sit for three years.


EDIT #2: Just heard that Jauron gets to stay.

[Falkenhayn]

Bills.com says he's staying.

It's just that dumb, really

Chris Brown, the franchise reporter, has removed four of his articles from the fan boards in the last ten minutes. The shit is coming down in buckets.

[Elfdart]

Are they keeping the same offensive coach? When two of your top wideouts average 10 yards a catch, something is fucked up with your offense. Those are TE/RB numbers.

On the plus side, sometimes it's best not to fire a head coach after a bad season. The Bills have talent and if Jauron will remove his head from his ass once in a while, they can make a playoff run next year. A veteran QB to back up Edwards would do wonders. Getting rid of Losman and bringing in help for the d-line and linebackers would also help. I think they're 1-2 seasons -or 1 season with a good draft- away.

[Falkenhayn]

Are they keeping the same offensive coach? When two of your top wideouts average 10 yards a catch, something is fucked up with your offense. Those are TE/RB numbers.

The insiders are saying that Dick's been catching bullets meant for Turk Schonert for at least a month. So far, there's been no other talk concerning our OC.

On the plus side, sometimes it's best not to fire a head coach after a bad season. The Bills have talent and if Jauron will remove his head from his ass once in a while, they can make a playoff run next year. A veteran QB to back up Edwards would do wonders. Getting rid of Losman and bringing in help for the d-line and linebackers would also help. I think they're 1-2 seasons -or 1 season with a good draft- away.

We haven't won a playoff game since 1995. Our last playoff appearance was the Music City Miracle. We're tied with Detroit for longest playoff drought. And we've got about $50 million in contracts tied up in Aaron Schobel and Chris Kelsay. Schobel's 32 next year, and Kelsay was paid about $2 million a sack this season. Clearly, the front office are brains of the first order.

Marcus Stroud and Kyle Williams were the bright spots on our D-line this year. Kawika Mitchell, Terrence McGee, Leodis McKelvin and Bryan Scott were the only folks in the back 7 making plays. We've moved from a Cover-2 to a Blitz 43...except our blitz schemes suck, and our personnel suck at blitzing.

The defense still dosen't have an identity. The interior is fairly stout, but our safety play is average, our DE's are underachieving and increasingly fragile, and with the exception of Mitchell, our LBs are too small to get after the QB. Until somebody gets their head on straight, our first round pick could go anywhere.

Then again, if Jason Peters pulls his bullshit (how does an LT allowing 11.5 sacks go to the Pro Bowl?), we may have more than 1 first rounder.

[Havok]

Wow. All the shit I could talk about and all I want to talk about is that the NFL moved the Pro Bowl to the week before the Superbowl for 2010. WTF? What about the players in the Superbowl that got voted to the PB? Do they have to forfeit? Is this a good idea? I've always been torn on the PB. I like that players get recognized by peers and fans, but the games usually suck and have zero emotion. Fuck man... I dunno.

Fucking christ Singletary! Get your ass on the phone with Shannahan for the OC job RIGHT NOW! Well, Bill Walsh said that after about 10 years, you should fold up your tent. He went 14, so this may work out well for Shannahan. Back to Oakland anyone? Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up in Detroit, if he doesn't want to take a break.

I dunno about Martz getting canned. I think he and Singletary would have balanced each other out well. I am happy to see the 22 step drop back passing game go bye bye though. I still think a West Coast system would suit the Niners well. I also think it may give Alex Smith, whom I still like and want to stay, new life in San Francisco. It would probably benefit Hill as well as, while he throws a decent deep ball, he seems to get indecisive with to much time in the pocket. Not as bad as O'Fumblin' though.

I'm not up on Buffalo, but I like Jauron. I agree with ED. One or two seasons out. Then it is one for the thumb in Buffalo.

Gonna laugh my ass off if the Browns hire Manginni.

[Havok]

Oh yeah... Speaking on Manginni. I think that move pretty much writes off Farve in the Jets mind. At 39, I'm sure they realize and doubt he is going to want to put in the time it is going to take to get used to a new coach and a possible new offensive system, again. If he doesn't "retire", they will probably release him of throw him on the block and see what they can get for him. He is probably still worth a 2nd rounder.

[MKSheppard]

Tony Romo tried to kill himself ...but the bullet was intercepted.