2014 NFL Regular Season, Week 2

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

How can the Raiders have been so bad for so long and not only still be awful, but also old?

The curse of jb...

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by BillJasper

I still think Tampa Bay would be better off playing Mike Glennon.

He's in a horrible spot. The guy who loved him is the guy everyone in Florida hates. He has little chance of ever succeeding with the Bucs. His best hope is to get traded.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by TroyF

Teams to make it to 2-0:

NFC
Carolina Panthers
Arizona Cardinals
(Eagles if they beat Indy tomorrow night)

AFC
Buffalo Bills
Cincinnati Bengals
Houston Texans
Denver Broncos


Next week for these teams

Pittsburgh @ Carolina (Sunday Night)
San Francisco @ Arizona
Washington @ Philadelphia
San Diego @ Buffalo (looking like a fun game all of a sudden)
Tennessee @ Cincinnati
Houston @ NY Giants
Denver @ Seattle

I think we have three likely losses there. Denver, Houston and Buffalo.

Troy,

Hoping Houston and Buffalo win because if they do then in Week 4-its the Buffalo at Houston game of undefeateds that no one ever expected!

[BillJasper]

Originally Posted by TroyF

He's in a horrible spot. The guy who loved him is the guy everyone in Florida hates. He has little chance of ever succeeding with the Bucs. His best hope is to get traded.

They fall to 0-4 or 0-5 and McCown continues to play poorly, Smith won't have a choice but to make a change or take a chance of losing the locker room.

[Lathum]

I have no faith in the Giants beating the texans. Watt is going to have about 7 sacks.

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by TroyF

He's in a horrible spot. The guy who loved him is the guy everyone in Florida hates. He has little chance of ever succeeding with the Bucs. His best hope is to get traded.

Actually, the general consensus is that Glennon is a good quarterback, but we know he'll need some sort of pass protection to survive because he's a lanky, immobile, skinny twig of a man. If he had a good offensive line, he would be a very capable quarterback in this league. Reality is what it is though, out of the two of them, Josh McCown is the only guy who has a shot at making something happen when every other play's protection breaks down. It leads to mistakes, but he's also got some escapability (scored 2 rushing TD's today, FWIW) but it's what we are stuck with right now.

[sabotai]

I'm fairly sure the Giants will find some hilarious way to lose to the Texans.

[NobodyHere]

You guys can thank me for Seattle losing.

I chose them in my pick 'em.

[Dutch]

Oh, and forget the QB controversy....at the end of the game today as the Bucs start off with 2 home games and 2 losses, I am sure that...



...this was every die-hard Bucs fans response when they got home from the game today.

[Abe Sargent]

TOO MANY FLAGS< NOT ENOUGH FOOTBALL....

[Coffee Warlord]

Bears defense is just dreadful.

[Coffee Warlord]

And this game needs more flags.

[Travis]

Originally Posted by TroyF

The Charger today are doing EXACTLY what you have to do to beat the Seahawks. And that starts with not giving a crap who is on one side of the field. They are making the 'Hawks play side to side. Sherman hasn't received the entire game off and Thomas hasn't been able to shade to one side the entire day.

The Seahawks are still making plays. They are still hard as hell to move the ball on. And knowing Rivers, he'll gift them a TD in the fourth to blow a lead. Yet he didn't walk into that game terrified that #25 was magical boss character in a video game who couldn't be beat.

Screw that, attack him and see what happens. Good on the Chargers, win or lose.

As for the Broncos/Chiefs game, the Chiefs are just getting banged up to hell. I knew they wouldn't be as lucky with injuries this year, I didn't think every pro bowler on the roster would go down in two weeks either.

Manning looks terrific. The running game is still a work in progress and the pass rush is too hit and miss right now. As I type this they rush three on a 3rd and 18, have I ever stated how much I hate that strategy?

Hit the nail on the head. Chargers played the exact game you have to. Be patient, execute the short passing game while making them have to respect the deep ball, be very effective on third down and don't turn the ball over. The fact that they managed to recover every fumble in the game was a big turning point as well. I was really hoping Wilson could lead the march at the end, but they tried to get way too cute with that jet sweep to start it off and the Chargers pass rush just smoked the offensive line after that.

And Antonio Gates, damn. Similar coverages to what Seattle used to shut down Jimmy Graham last year and Gates made them pay. He was fantastic.

Next weeks game is going to be just awesome.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

And this game needs more flags.

More flags!

[molson]

I thought the CBS pregame show was oddly compelling. Boomer going after AP hard, and emotionally, and saying he should never play in the NFL again. Charles Barkley (who was there, for some reason), defending AP's actions as a black southern thing a white guy like Boomer wouldn't understand, Jim Rome (who was there, for some reason), trying to throw Barkley a life preserver and seeing if he would distinguish "spanking" from what AP did, Barkley only kind of taking the help, and then Bart Scott, who's not at all network TV-ready, honestly drops that he's been in counseling to help with his rage issues, and then encouraged other players to seek similar help. I think Scott will get better and that he and Tony Gonzalez will be upgrades, entertainment-wise, over Sharpe and Marino.

And then, the football stuff wasn't too bad. I haven't followed things too closely but I felt like they delivered a good quick rundown of everything that was going on.

[Coffee Warlord]

That was a god damn catch.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Dutch

Oh, and forget the QB controversy....at the end of the game today as the Bucs start off with 2 home games and 2 losses, I am sure that...

...this was every die-hard Bucs fans response when they got home from the game today.

Bucs' fans are used to it. The early 2000s success was an aberration.

[Lathum]

Jeez, what a pick

[Abe Sargent]

Anyone know what the record number of flags thrown in a game is? (not accepted, or per team, just those thrown)

[Abe Sargent]

Holding on the TD run and the Flag Bowl continues.

[Dutch]

The ref's just wiped out a damned exciting play on a bogus holding call. WTF?

[Vince, Pt. II]

That was a terrible holding call.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Dutch

The ref's just wiped out a damned exciting play on a bogus holding call. WTF?

Maybe Vegas instituted a betting line on over/under for number of penalties called, and the refs have teh over?

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Bucs' fans are used to it. The early 2000s success was an aberration.

Oh trust me I know, The 80's called Lovie last week, said they were back in town...

[Dutch]

Okay, so the Football Gods have spoken, Touchdown, SF-Gore, and that's final.

[Dutch]

And that crown to the chest of Cutler was classic disregard for what the NFL is trying to do. Ouch!

[Dutch]

Dayum! Brandon Marshall is a phenomenal.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Can't help but feel like the 49ers should be up by more than ten right now.

[TroyF]

Watching halftime and then read up on all of the sports spots on the internet. Evidently he can yap to everyone in the world when he plays well and his team wins, but doesn't find it so easy to respond to his team losing. The Chargers said he was exposed (a gross misrepresentation) and he responds on twitter "3 catches, 0 TD, 0 explosive plays LOL" This is also a gross misrepresentation because:

1) The Chargers attacked his side all day, even when he wasn't the main target
2) I know for a fact 2 of those 3 catches were huge first downs on third down plays.

It isn't shocking. Every single time Seattle loses, Sherman blames someone or something else on the loss. Now he's chosen to not talk about it.

If nothing else, he's a fun, enjoyable villain for me to cheer against. I hate that Denver probably loses again to him next week. I can hope for some more Chargers teams to punk him though.

[Vince, Pt. II]

What it comes down to is Seattle is the best team in the league without question at home (though the 49ers made it a hell of a game in the NFC Championship), but they are nothing more than a good team on the road.

[Vince, Pt. II]

These drive extending penalties on third down are fucking killing me.

[Abe Sargent]

Chicago now in this

[Abe Sargent]

Dang Bears!

[Vince, Pt. II]

Kaepernick with 4 turnovers. This is not how you win football games.

[NobodyHere]

I've lost all faith in my ability to pick the winners of football games.

[tucker rocky]

Bills, Arz, Hou, Car, alone in 1st place???

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by tucker rocky

Bills, Arz, Hou, Car, alone in 1st place???

Yup, but I wouldn't consider that a surprise for Arizona or Carolina, since both had strong seasons last year.

[Abe Sargent]

This game should get a Delay of Game penalty

[Abe Sargent]

Good job Bears!

[Karlifornia]

Harbaugh made his choice: Steady Alex Smith, or feast or famine Kaepernick. I don't think he would have been wrong either way, but this what we've got

[Groundhog]

I liked a comment I saw on Twitter early: If it's 5 yards you need, Alex Smith will get you 5 yards. If it's 17 yards you need, Alex Smith will get you 5 yards.

[Sun Tzu]

Pretty embarrassing for the 49ers, who were clearly 2 classes above the Bears in talent. I haven't seen a team go into full-on meltdown mode like that in a while.

Unfortunately, Harbaugh's killer instinct (or lack thereof) reminds me of Mooch in the late 90's/early 2000's. This game could have been what it should have been (a blowout) if the 49ers hadn't let up on the gas at halftime.

Giving up 216 total yards and losing is laughable. 6 First downs for the Bears via penalty, and *multiple* scoring drives extended 2+ times via penalty.

[Sun Tzu]

Dola

In case anyone here is wondering if the 49ers are missing Bowman and Smith, arguably each being the best at their position in the league:

Michael Wilhoite, Bowman's replacement...had 3 tackles tonight. Willis had 8, 7 of which were solo.

Jay Cutler dropped back to pass 34 times, and was sacked once.

[kingfc22]

Just got home from Levi's. Good atmosphere but not an over-the-top crowd in terms of volume compared to the Stick. Hopefully, the noise picks up as the season continues especially when the team is on defense.

As for the game: flags, flags, flags, and more f'n flags. Holy geez that was brutal. And not just the sheer number of flags, but flags that had absolutely zero impact on plays granting teams first downs which drives me crazy.

Random thoughts: Niners need to be better in the redzone. Brandon Marshall is a beast and that TD catch was pretty incredible. Jonathan Martin was getting beaten like he stole something from Incognito's locker. Way too much read option today, not sure why Roman decided to not rely more on Gore and Hyde. Thank goodness this is only week 2.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Jonathan Martin was getting beaten like he stole something from Incognito's locker

Reminded me of this
Channing Crowder: Jonathan Martin will “get everybody’s best” | ProFootballTalk

[mrtourette]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

So how much is the NFL actually going to get hurt by all these scandals? Do the majority of NFL fans even care? By care I mean being pissed off enough to not watch games or buy merchandize or anything else that would hurt the league financially.

Nope - Tailgating Vikings Fan Wears Adrian Peterson Jersey And Wields Switch

[stevew]

This is the first year I've had Red Zone and holy shit is that guy on top of stuff. I doubt I'll watch a normal game again.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by mrtourette

Nope - Tailgating Vikings Fan Wears Adrian Peterson Jersey And Wields Switch

We'll see a "Petersen whips Team X" headline someday at some point.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

Maybe Vegas instituted a betting line on over/under for number of penalties called, and the refs have teh over?

Penalties are up a lot when compared to the last several years.

http://www.nflpenalties.com/index.php?&year=2014

[SteveMax58]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I have no faith in the Giants beating the texans. Watt is going to have about 7 sacks.

Think you have more faith in their o-line than me.