Football (real)

[strike wolf]

What about McCoy? McCoy's stats don't match that of Bradford's but he did do more to help propel his team.

[SEAsportsfan]

What about McCoy? McCoy's stats don't match that of Bradford's but he did do more to help propel his team.

I like McCoy but, personally, I think that Tebow's a better leader.

[strike wolf]

I don't think anyone would argue that. It's hard to beat Tebow as the emotional leader. Though there are other ways to lead a team and in that category, I would say that there are probably multiple QBs who are better at it.

[spurgistan]

I don't think anyone would argue that. It's hard to beat Tebow as the emotional leader. Though there are other ways to lead a team and in that category, I would say that there are probably multiple QBs who are better at it.

I'd say Percy Harvin was the moral leader of that club, for that game, it seemed like the whole team responded when he was on the field.

[strike wolf]

In other news, Second round of playoffs starts today. I say Ravens beat Titans, Steelers beat Chargers, Panthers beat Cardinals and Giants somehow pull a late victory out against Philly.

[strike wolf]

Did someone replace Carolina with the Lions or something? That game was pathetic. On one side of the ball, you have Arizona who is playing very good football right now and on the other side you have Carolina who played a pretty shitty game of football.

[oVo]

Yeah, up until today I thought Carolina had the balance and talent to get to the Super Bowl, after going 8-0 at home and 4-4 on the road they certainly looked like a tough team to beat. I suppose the early vacation Arizona took at the end of the season paid off as they absolutely looked ready to play... and for a full four quarters this time out. This is definitely a birthday Jake Delhomme will want to forget.

[strike wolf]

I know I would. very poor performance from Carolina, very good performance from Arizona.

[oVo]

It was shocking to see the Cardinals keep the ball away from Steve Smith
and for three quarters they had caught as many Delhomme passes as the
Panthers had.

[king sam]

well...head to head he beat Bradford, and he was better than Harrell, so that leaves me with just Tebow...but since I don't vote for Heisman, I don't matter

(Talking about Tebow)

How can anyone not count in Colt McCoy. Tebow got the hype at the end of the season, but in all reality he should never have been considered higher then 3rd in the Heisman race.

Heres my breakdown of the top 5 candidates.

1. Sam Bradford (QB Oklahoma)
2. Colt McCoy (QB Texas)
3. Javon Ringer (RB Michigan State)
4. Michael Crabtree (WR Texas Tech)
5. Tim Tebow (QB Florida)

[king sam]

The best thing for Florida is that it could easily be them playing on this stage again next year.

And yes I agree, next year I will already predict another Big 12 - SEC battle, but my boys in burnt orange who got screwed from the National Championship spotlight will show the SEC a true Big 12 offense and will win by 14 plus points.

Hook em'

[king sam]

I've heard Crabtree --who is a sophmore-- is jumping too.

I heard that too, this guy will make an immediate impact on whatever team he gets drafted on.

crossing my fingers that my crappy niners get him, but know realistically he will be a top 10 pick and our main concern is a QB that isnt a total bust.

But he will be the possession WR, for quite possibly the stank ass Lions seeing as thats all they ever draft..LOL.

He reminds me of Andre Johnson, and Im a big fan of his. Hate him for that last second TD he did to my horns, but will definitely enjoy watching him at the next level.

For the record it was his dad that came out and said he would be entering, that the top 10 draft status was too hard to pass up.

[king sam]

Next weekend will be interesting.

I was one of the ones ready already counting Kurt Warner and the Man Beast they call Fitzgerald out until next year, but with the help of Carolina just not showing up..

(Let me correct myself, Jake Delhommey not showing up) the Cards have outlast most predictions.
The Eagles are playing great ball and its hard to bet against them, but I cant overlook Arizona again, espically at home.

So Im routing and out loud saying Arizona 28 Philly 24.

Same goes for the AFC, I was riding Baltimore's band wagon, with the way that Defense is playing and the ability of my QB I picked at draft time to succeed, its hard to bet against them.

But after seeing Fast Willie Parker look like he's back (taking 80% of the carries and being productive) and Big Ben slinging the rock down field in good places for his receivers, I dont think Baltimore will be able to keep up offensively enough to win.

My pick for AFC is Pitt 35 - Baltimore 17

And as much as I want the Cards to do it to the Steel Curtain in the Super Bowl the Pittsburgh defense will make Arizona 1 dimensional, and Big Ben will lead his team to a victory.

Superbowl Pick Steelers 34 Arizona 21

[strike wolf]

The best thing for Florida is that it could easily be them playing on this stage again next year.

And yes I agree, next year I will already predict another Big 12 - SEC battle, but my boys in burnt orange who got screwed from the National Championship spotlight will show the SEC a true Big 12 offense and will win by 14 plus points.

Hook em'

Florida will be a monster next year. If no one goes pro they would return 9 starters on offense and all 11 starters on defense.

I know that there is a good chance that some of them will go pro but they are on a team that has a very good chance at returning to the BCS championship for the third time in four years, I think the number will be diminished fairly significantly.

If Florida meets up with Texas next year assuming neither team has any serious injuries, Florida wins. It won't be a blow out but Florida will come out of it on top.

[strike wolf]

Next weekend will be interesting.

I was one of the ones ready already counting Kurt Warner and the Man Beast they call Fitzgerald out until next year, but with the help of Carolina just not showing up..

(Let me correct myself, Jake Delhommey not showing up) the Cards have outlast most predictions.
The Eagles are playing great ball and its hard to bet against them, but I cant overlook Arizona again, espically at home.

So Im routing and out loud saying Arizona 28 Philly 24.

Same goes for the AFC, I was riding Baltimore's band wagon, with the way that Defense is playing and the ability of my QB I picked at draft time to succeed, its hard to bet against them.

But after seeing Fast Willie Parker look like he's back (taking 80% of the carries and being productive) and Big Ben slinging the rock down field in good places for his receivers, I dont think Baltimore will be able to keep up offensively enough to win.

My pick for AFC is Pitt 35 - Baltimore 17

And as much as I want the Cards to do it to the Steel Curtain in the Super Bowl the Pittsburgh defense will make Arizona 1 dimensional, and Big Ben will lead his team to a victory.

Superbowl Pick Steelers 34 Arizona 21

I won't give numbers but Philly over Cards, Pitt over Ravens and most likely Steelers over Eagles.

[strike wolf]

I've heard Crabtree --who is a sophmore-- is jumping too.

I heard that too, this guy will make an immediate impact on whatever team he gets drafted on.

crossing my fingers that my crappy niners get him, but know realistically he will be a top 10 pick and our main concern is a QB that isnt a total bust.

But he will be the possession WR, for quite possibly the stank ass Lions seeing as thats all they ever draft..LOL.

He reminds me of Andre Johnson, and Im a big fan of his. Hate him for that last second TD he did to my horns, but will definitely enjoy watching him at the next level.

For the record it was his dad that came out and said he would be entering, that the top 10 draft status was too hard to pass up.

As far as draft is concerned, what effect if any will the success of Ryan and Flacco have on how teams make their draft picks?

[oVo]

The surprise of the NFL playoffs so far is the Arizona Cardinals' DEFENSE! All the experts know they have the offensive weapons to put some points on the board, but shutting down the rushing attack of both the Falcons and Panthers on consecutive weeks was a real eye opener.

btw... Tim Tebow says he will be back next year. I believe he still wants that perfect season.

[strike wolf]

The surprise of the NFL playoffs so far is the Arizona Cardinals' DEFENSE! All the experts know they have the offensive weapons to put some points on the board, but shutting down the rushing attack of both the Falcons and Panthers on consecutive weeks was a real eye opener.

btw... Tim Tebow says he will be back next year. I believe he still wants that perfect season.

Has that been said since the championship? Also that perfect season is very hard to accomplish in quality divisions like the Big 12 and the SEC. Auburn was the last one to go perfect in the SEC and that was after the refs handed them two games. So good luck Florida but even I doubt you can go 14-0. As for the Big 12, every year it's happened their it seemed like it was a bit of a down year for the division.

[SEAsportsfan]

Steelers over my Ravens- 24-7
Cards over Eagles- 34-21

Steelers over Cards- 17-3

[strike wolf]

Now for picking the conferences next year in College football.

SEC

1. Florida-I don't see how they don't get here as long as they stay healthy. The team that is most likely to be in the national championship (again) next season.
2. Alabama-I expect to see something similar to this year's team though I don't think they will be undefeated coming into the SEC Championship next season
3. Ole Miss-the rising Rebels will continue to do so in '09
4/5. Georgia/LSU- I expect this to be turn around year for LSU coming up with a better record next season. Even without Knowshon and Stafford, Georgia still has a good offense that will keep them in the top half of the SEC.
6. Tennessee-this is a tentative pick. Tennessee will improve under the guidance of a talented coaching squad, however most of their success will come in the second half of the season.

Big 12

1. Texas-This will be Texas' year to dominate the Big 12. They may pick up a loss somewhere along the road but I expect them to finish first in this division and a fairly likely National Championship appearance.

Pac 10

1. USC-This is a no brainer. USC is a great team and they will most likely end up one win away from getting into the BCS Championship again.

Big 10

1. Ohio State/Penn State-A lot of factors here but I think these two teams will be on top of their conference again next season.

ACC

1. VT-I was going to pick Georgia Tech for this spot, at least until they got thrashed by LSU. I think that VT will take their great defense into another Orange bowl next season.

[king sam]

I aint naming every conference winner next year, but yes I heard Tebow announced he will be returning but he will be without the best player on their roster in Percy Harvin.

McCoy will also be returning and you better believe we will have a chip on our shoulder for losing out the national championship bid to a 5th place tie breaker rule that was completely horse caca..

Texas will play dominant football, and yes of course barring injuries should be in the Championship hunt along with Florida and USC.

My opinion as I stated earlier is that it will be a rematch between the 2 conferences this year, and any day of the week I will take a Big 12 offense as explosive like Texas has over a great SEC defense like Florida.

Yes Defense will win you games, but a high powered O will win you championships.. Ask Arizona February 2nd..

I tip my hats to Florida, but I have to also say that in that game I was extremely disappointing with Oklahoma's play calling. Much like Carolina did this weekend for the Cards, the Sooners handed that game to Tebow and the Gators.

As a disclaimer I was also extremely furious with the attitude or lack of desire that we had against Ohio State, if we didnt pull it out in the last 18 seconds it would have been a huge embarrassment, at least more so then it already is.

[king sam]

The surprise of the NFL playoffs so far is the Arizona Cardinals' DEFENSE! All the experts know they have the offensive weapons to put some points on the board, but shutting down the rushing attack of both the Falcons and Panthers on consecutive weeks was a real eye opener.

btw... Tim Tebow says he will be back next year. I believe he still wants that perfect season.

I couldnt agree more, Michael Turner, DeAngelo Williams, both top 5 rushers did nothing against a front line in Arizona that was last in defending the rush all season long.

Only proves that the only stat that matters is what you do when the time counts !!

[oVo]

There will be no shortage of great teams next year and it will be difficult for anyone in the major conferences to go undefeated. USC & Ohio State will meet again early in the year... much like the Longhorn/Buckeyes regular season scheduling of the Vince Young era... which is a very cool thing. I wish there was more of those inter-conference mixers between the traditional powerhouses... and this BCS controversy should encourage more teams who want to be taken seriously to drop some of the fluff from their schedules and take a few chances to improve their competitive rankings.

Texas may have drawn the short straw this year in the Big 12, but how else could a 3-way tie be settled? Texas Tech also had an equal stake in that pie and "head to head" just wasn't going cut it this time around. Don't you think Utah feels a bit short changed too? I can't say thier schedule matched USC, Texas or Florida, but they were the only team to "DOMINATE" the Crimson Tide... who had an awful long run as the #1 team in the nation before coming up short against the Gators in the SEC Championship. Florida was awarded the crystal football for this year's mythical national championship, but I can't say for certain that they would prevail against USC, Texas or Utah... but they are certainly a great team. The results of this season will be debated by everyone who loves college football for many years to come.

[Neoteny]

This is the real Football (real) thread. If we're going to talk about how much the Saints are going to suck this year, we should do it here and keep it all in one thread.

[Frigidus]

This is the real Football (real) thread. If we're going to talk about how much the Saints are going to suck this year, we should do it here and keep it all in one thread.

Ever since the 2006 NFC Championship Saints fans (at least ones on the internet) have been quite bitter over their loss, and it hasn't helped that they just kept losing to us since then. I always enjoy picking at the scab.

Edit: I've missed football season so much...I can't wait until the regular season.