NFL 2012 Week 17 Thread

Enix wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
Gumbie wrote:

I think I'm going to become a full time 49ers fan. I can't take much more.

No. NO. That's my escape plan.

That's everybody's escape plan.

I dread the day when I see a bunch of people running around in Kaepernick jerseys. I'll be screaming at them, "I SAW HIM FIRST!"

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Ken Whisenhunt learns the painful lesson that you should, in fact, actually have at least one person on your team even vaguely capable of playing QB in the NFL. Flipping between John Skelton and Ryan Lindley is an insult to the concept of "Giant Douche" vs. "Turd Sandwich" and had to be the worst "QB competition" in recent memory.

It's too bad it took them so long to acquire Brian Hoyer. He was better than Lindley with zero time in the offense, and he'd probably be better than Skelton if he had an offseason in the offense.

*Legion* wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:

If the Rams have a smart off-season, I think they will be in line to compete for the division next year. They just really need to find some receivers.

Because f**k Amendola.

I love Amendola. But when a slot receiver is your only real threat, you are going to have trouble winning games.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Ken Whisenhunt learns the painful lesson that you should, in fact, actually have at least one person on your team even vaguely capable of playing QB in the NFL. Flipping between John Skelton and Ryan Lindley is an insult to the concept of "Giant Douche" vs. "Turd Sandwich" and had to be the worst "QB competition" in recent memory.

They did need a vaguely competent offensive lineman or two as well.

Stele wrote:
Paleocon wrote:

Wow. It looks like Seattle and Washington are very similar on offense, but the Seattle D is head and shoulders better than Washington's.

As much as I would love to see my Skins getting their first playoff win in decades, I am not holding a whole lot of hope for a V next week. Even still, we are playing with house money. I didn't see us going over 8-8 this year.

Seattle is 8-0 at home and 3-5 on the road. I think you have a great shot. They don't get the calls and crowd noise on the road. Can't wait to see them eliminated.

Their losses on the road were by 4, 6, 7, 4, and 3 points. So it's not like they've been blown out on the road. And I'd argue that this isn't remotely the same offense that took those first two losses. Russell Wilson was just a game manager at that point - and barely even that. They would hand the ball off on 1st and 2nd downs. If it was 3rd and long, they'd throw, otherwise they'd run. I think their offense is much different than it was in the SF loss as well, but I also don't know that that would make a difference. SF is really good, and I don't know that Seattle can beat them in their place.

FootballOutsiders puts SEA as a great offensive and defensive team at home and slightly above average on the road. SF, incidently, gets a bigger offensive boost at home but actually improves their defense on the road (everything here is based on DVOA, which I admit to understanding far less than I do the advanced baseball metrics).

All that said, Seattle is definitely better at home, and I'd give Washington the slight edge in this game because of that.

The longest tenured head coaches are now:

1- Bill Belichick (13 seasons)
2- Marvin Lewis (10 Seasons)
3- Tom Coughlin (9 Seasons)

tied for 4th with 7 seasons is Mike McCarthy, Gary Kubiak and Sean Payton, hired in 2006. That is crazy that 26 head coaches started with their team after 2006.

What's more amazing is Marvin Lewis still has a job after 10 seasons and not 1 playoff win, which could change this year, but I'm not putting money on it.

S0LIDARITY wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Ken Whisenhunt learns the painful lesson that you should, in fact, actually have at least one person on your team even vaguely capable of playing QB in the NFL. Flipping between John Skelton and Ryan Lindley is an insult to the concept of "Giant Douche" vs. "Turd Sandwich" and had to be the worst "QB competition" in recent memory.

They did need a vaguely competent offensive lineman or two as well.

This truth cannot be overstated. The Cardinals literally had the worst offensive tackle combo in the NFL, and whomever second place was (probably Chicago) wasn't even close. And if that wasn't bad enough, they ended up starting Adam Snyder at guard, who was one of the boat anchors that was dragging down the Niners line last year.

Of that entire line, only Daryn Colledge is worth keeping - he's become a pretty steady, average left guard, who probably would look even better if the rest of the line wasn't in shambles.

*Legion* wrote:
S0LIDARITY wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Ken Whisenhunt learns the painful lesson that you should, in fact, actually have at least one person on your team even vaguely capable of playing QB in the NFL. Flipping between John Skelton and Ryan Lindley is an insult to the concept of "Giant Douche" vs. "Turd Sandwich" and had to be the worst "QB competition" in recent memory.

They did need a vaguely competent offensive lineman or two as well.

This truth cannot be overstated. The Cardinals literally had the worst offensive tackle combo in the NFL, and whomever second place was (probably Chicago) wasn't even close. And if that wasn't bad enough, they ended up starting Adam Snyder at guard, who was one of the boat anchors that was dragging down the Niners line last year.

Of that entire line, only Daryn Colledge is worth keeping - he's become a pretty steady, average left guard, who probably would look even better if the rest of the line wasn't in shambles.

Okay, but explain to me the Cardinals QB situation outside of when Warner wasn't winning games for them. The Cards were respectable there for a few years, but outside of the defense not much is working there since Warner retired.

Oh, and Lovie Smith being fired isn't that strange to me. He's been on the almost hot seat for a while and at some point you need to blame someone for not making the playoffs over the past however many years (five?).

Also, having Martz as your OC was clearly a bad decision and WE all knew that.

garion333 wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
S0LIDARITY wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Ken Whisenhunt learns the painful lesson that you should, in fact, actually have at least one person on your team even vaguely capable of playing QB in the NFL. Flipping between John Skelton and Ryan Lindley is an insult to the concept of "Giant Douche" vs. "Turd Sandwich" and had to be the worst "QB competition" in recent memory.

They did need a vaguely competent offensive lineman or two as well.

This truth cannot be overstated. The Cardinals literally had the worst offensive tackle combo in the NFL, and whomever second place was (probably Chicago) wasn't even close. And if that wasn't bad enough, they ended up starting Adam Snyder at guard, who was one of the boat anchors that was dragging down the Niners line last year.

Of that entire line, only Daryn Colledge is worth keeping - he's become a pretty steady, average left guard, who probably would look even better if the rest of the line wasn't in shambles.

Okay, but explain to me the Cardinals QB situation outside of when Warner wasn't winning games for them. The Cards were respectable there for a few years, but outside of the defense not much is working there since Warner retired.

You know, Kevin Kolb on a per-play basis has actually been reasonably productive when on the field. Particularly this year - 8 TDs to 3 INTs and an 86 passer rating is downright heroic behind that line. You'd be fairly hard pressed to roll 2012 footage of Kolb and point to very many spots and say, "here, he's playing poorly". (The Cardinals were 4-2 after all in the first 6 games, before Kolb was knocked out. Although, as with all things Kolb, the sample size is small).

But, he can't stay on the damn field. I'd really like to know what a 16-game Kevin Kolb would look like on the Cardinals, but it seems like an impossible dream.

Then, at running back, Ryan Williams went on IR again, and Beanie Wells sat out half the season again, and nobody could run behind that line anyway.

The offensive line was pretty awful even when Warner was there, but Warner's skill set is that of a quick triggerman, which is how the Mike Martz scat-protection-every-damn-play offense worked in St. Louis.

Kush15 wrote:

The longest tenured head coaches are now:

1- Bill Belichick (13 seasons)
2- Marvin Lewis (10 Seasons)
3- Tom Coughlin (9 Seasons)

tied for 4th with 7 seasons is Mike McCarthy, Gary Kubiak and Sean Payton, hired in 2006. That is crazy that 26 head coaches started with their team after 2006.

What's more amazing is Marvin Lewis still has a job after 10 seasons and not 1 playoff win, which could change this year, but I'm not putting money on it.

Wow hard to believe Belichick is at 13 years! Seems like just a few years ago that he rebuffed the J-E-T-S..Wise choice Bill, wise choice..

Kush15 wrote:

I'm waiting for Carolina to give confirmation on Ron Rivera. One more year for him?

Or Dallas. Forgot about them.

Rivera's staying for now. The Panthers have an interim GM after tossing Marty Hurney overboard about halfway through the season. Jerry Richardson will let the new GM decide Rivera's fate.

As for Jason Garrett, geez, fire him already. The Cowboys have won one playoff game in 16 years. I don't see Garrett making it two (or three or four) in 17 years.

Enix wrote:

Rivera's staying for now. The Panthers have an interim GM after tossing Marty Hurney overboard about halfway through the season. Jerry Richardson will let the new GM decide Rivera's fate.

This sounds like what's happening in Jacksonville too. Not a word has been spoken on the topic of Mularkey staying or going, but the team is moving fast on the GM front, so I imagine that means letting the new GM make the coaching call.

Enix wrote:

As for Jason Garrett, geez, fire him already. The Cowboys have won one playoff game in 16 years. I don't see Garrett making it two (or three or four) in 17 years.

I think Jerry Jones just likes him too much. He's a home grown product and all.

garion333 wrote:
Enix wrote:

As for Jason Garrett, geez, fire him already. The Cowboys have won one playoff game in 16 years. I don't see Garrett making it two (or three or four) in 17 years.

I think Jerry Jones just likes him too much. He's a home grown product and all.

Plus, most qualified coaches have little interest in working under Jerry's thumb.

Not quite Al Davis bad, but the next closest thing.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

The whole Chicago situation actually reminds me a bit of Tampa in the early 2000s, in that you've had a really solid defense that simply couldn't overcome the offensive deficiencies. In Tampa's case, it was a lack of skill players, with Chicago, they've borked their offensive line so badly that the skill players can't help it. Somewhere, my Gruden Alarm is going off; I wonder if he likes deep-dish pizza . . .

I agree. Lack of skill players and lack of a quality offensive coordinator this season. I'm kinda sad to see Lovie go, but Mike Tice should have been canned about halfway through the season.

MacBrave wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

The whole Chicago situation actually reminds me a bit of Tampa in the early 2000s, in that you've had a really solid defense that simply couldn't overcome the offensive deficiencies. In Tampa's case, it was a lack of skill players, with Chicago, they've borked their offensive line so badly that the skill players can't help it. Somewhere, my Gruden Alarm is going off; I wonder if he likes deep-dish pizza . . .

I agree. Lack of skill players and lack of a quality offensive coordinator this season. I'm kinda sad to see Lovie go, but Mike Tice should have been canned about halfway through the season.

Yep, I think he was canned for being unwilling/unable to do anything about improving the offense.

garion333 wrote:

Oh, and Lovie Smith being fired isn't that strange to me. He's been on the almost hot seat for a while and at some point you need to blame someone for not making the playoffs over the past however many years (five?).

Bears won the division in 2010, and hosted the NFC Championship, but lost to Green Bay. The only reason they didn't make the playoffs this year is because Minnesota found a near impossible path to the playoffs by beating Houston and Green Bay in back-to-back weeks. If I had to pick one guy who didn't deserve to be fired, it would be him.

And the answer to what team the bad call in the Green Bay/Seattle game affected the most, it's possible it was Chicago. If Green Bay wins that game, both Seattle and Chicago would have had (7-5) conference records, so not sure who the tie-breaker would have went to, but it may have cost Chicago a playoff spot. It definitely cost Green Bay a 1st round bye.

Kush15 wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Oh, and Lovie Smith being fired isn't that strange to me. He's been on the almost hot seat for a while and at some point you need to blame someone for not making the playoffs over the past however many years (five?).

Bears won the division in 2010, and hosted the NFC Championship, but lost to Green Bay. The only reason they didn't make the playoffs this year is because Minnesota found a near impossible path to the playoffs by beating Houston and Green Bay in back-to-back weeks. If I had to pick one guy who didn't deserve to be fired, it would be him.

And the answer to what team the bad call in the Green Bay/Seattle game affected the most, it's possible it was Chicago. If Green Bay wins that game, both Seattle and Chicago would have had (7-5) conference records, so not sure who the tie-breaker would have went to, but it may have cost Chicago a playoff spot. It definitely cost Green Bay a 1st round bye.

Ah, forgot about that. Thought it hadn't been since 2007 or whatever.

Also, Josh McDaniels isn't interviewing for any positions (this coming season). Smart move on his end, imho.

Kush15 wrote:

And the answer to what team the bad call in the Green Bay/Seattle game affected the most, it's possible it was Chicago. If Green Bay wins that game, both Seattle and Chicago would have had (7-5) conference records, so not sure who the tie-breaker would have went to, but it may have cost Chicago a playoff spot. It definitely cost Green Bay a 1st round bye.

Seattle still beat both the Vikings and the Bears. No matter what happened, they had the 5th seed, and the Vikings finished ahead of the Bears in the division so they get the 6th.

Seattle still beat both the Vikings and the Bears. No matter what happened, they had the 5th seed, and the Vikings finished ahead of the Bears in the division so they get the 6th.

Yes, the only team that benefited was SF, and the only team that lost out was GB. I hope Seattle gets the opportunity to go to GB in a few weeks. Nothing would infuriate the cheeseheads more than beating them on their turf for a trip to the Super Bowl, fair and square.

The 49ers are worried about Akers kicking in the playoffs (for good reason) so they go out and get Billy Cundiff?

IMAGE(http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t22/Gumbie84/rrDOk.gif)

Good grief.

Better rethink that 49ers fan conversion Gumbie. One of those kickers is going to break your heart.

Minase wrote:

I hope Seattle gets the opportunity to go to GB in a few weeks.

Me too.

Looks like Arizona is going to hire Andy Reid. Not sure what week it will be, but Arizona will travel to Philadelphia next season.

Giant's fan here rooting for the Broncos. A slight root for RGIII even though they are NFC East rivals.

Kush15 wrote:

Looks like Arizona is going to hire Andy Reid. Not sure what week it will be, but Arizona will travel to Philadelphia next season.

He's interviewing with the Chiefs today. We'll see how many other offers he gets. I imagine he'll get his choice of just about any team.

TempestBlayze wrote:

Giant's fan here rooting for the Broncos. A slight root for RGIII even though they are NFC East rivals.

I was so drunk man, all I got was a slight root.

Avatar changed to reflect football AND have my tag still make sense.