NFL 2013: Week 9

Jasonofindy wrote:

I've been there and collapsing with no idea why is scary as hell. My hopes and prayers go out to Coach Kubiak and his family. Hopefully, it ends up not being serious.

Ditto for Denver Coach John Fox. Dude was golfing on Denvers bye week, got light headed and collapsed on the course. Was taken to the hospital and now will have a heart valve replacement done tuesday. Might make it back in time for the playoffs.

Difference is Denver's coach knew he had a problem and was trying to put off the surgery until Feb, after the season.

So the Chiefs are putting Reid on 24hr surveillance then right?

Have you all been following this hazing story out of Miami:

Richie Incognito's dad might be posting on Dolphins message boards, and Incognito apparently left some sociopathic voice mails for Jonathan Martin.

Good lord this is some crazy stuff.

I'm guessing that the aww-we-were-just-jokin'-around defense isn't going to fly here.

Richie Incognito was named dirtiest player in the nfl a few times iirc. It's a really weird story, I can only imagine how things would have turned out if Miami drafted Manti Te'o.

The Miami story is awful. If what's getting reported it is true, that dude needs to hide....

Maybe be more....

IMAGE(http://images.sodahead.com/polls/002443001/5330646328_2008_06_25_131330_puts_on_sunglasses_answer_4_xlarge.png)

Incognito

Incognito and Suh, two of the dirtiest players out there, both played for Nebraska in college. What are they teaching over there?

Leroyog wrote:

The Miami story is awful. If what's getting reported it is true, that dude needs to hide....

Maybe be more....

IMAGE(http://images.sodahead.com/polls/002443001/5330646328_2008_06_25_131330_puts_on_sunglasses_answer_4_xlarge.png)

Incognito

IMAGE(http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s149/MilkmanDanimal/1233928590_citizen20kane20clapping.gif)

Backup vs backup now.

Defense really needs to step up.

You can't expect much from Seneca.

Can both teams just agree to a tie now before more people get injured?

Kubiak had a mini-stroke last night.

Good news is that it helps him catch the problem before a big stroke hits. Hope he is able to get back to 100%.

In more humorous news:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/guy...

With the Bears going for it on 4th down last night I think we're seeing a change in the thinking of many coaches that going for it on 4th down makes more sense than playing it "safe". This is an offensive league, so take some more chances with your offense. I like it.

Bill Barnwell's been talking about going for it on 4th down for a while now, his Thank You For Not Coaching column is practically dedicated to this very topic. Ron Rivera's success on 4th down (and the subsequent wins) may be waking coaches up to the fact that playing it "safe" isn't always the best decision as holding the ball longer and scoring more points is generally preferable to settling for 3 points or a punt. The statistics don't lie, you are more likely to win if you get a TD instead of a FG.

garion333 wrote:

Bill Barnwell's been talking about going for it on 4th down for a while now ...

Yep. He thumped Rivera on that topic for two years. Once Rivera found fourth down religion, Barnwell has been one of his biggest fans.

Of course, it helps to have the right people. Carolina is a better-than-average running team, and Mike Tolbert weighs something like 800 pounds.

Then you have the success-breeds-success formula. CAR went for on 4th-and-1 Sunday vs. ATL (Carolina was at the ATL 14). CAR sent everyone into the line ... except for TE Greg Olsen, who was wide freakin' open on the right side of the end zone. So much for tendencies.

In unrelated news, I don't normally read the transactions on the Sports page of the paper, but two jumped out at me today:

The Bills cut QB Matt Flynn, who couldn't beat out Thad Lewis (Duke) and Jeff Tuel (unknown; I'm not even sure that's a real dude).

And the Niners cut former first-round pick CB Nnamdi Asomugha.

Once upon a time both those guys were stars. And then something happened. I always wonder what that something was.

If it was more than an inch I'm not sure if the Bears really made the right decision there. Especially considering Forte almost got stuffed 1.5 yards back.

They were punting the ball back to Seneca Wallace up 4 not 3.

Context is very important. Funny part is if it was vs Rodgers do they punt instead and watch him just waltz down the field?

Enix wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Bill Barnwell's been talking about going for it on 4th down for a while now ...

Yep. He thumped Rivera on that topic for two years. Once Rivera found fourth down religion, Barnwell has been one of his biggest fans.

Of course, it helps to have the right people. Carolina is a better-than-average running team, and Mike Tolbert weighs something like 800 pounds.

Then you have the success-breeds-success formula. CAR went for on 4th-and-1 Sunday vs. ATL (Carolina was at the ATL 14). CAR sent everyone into the line ... except for TE Greg Olsen, who was wide freakin' open on the right side of the end zone. So much for tendencies.

In unrelated news, I don't normally read the transactions on the Sports page of the paper, but two jumped out at me today:

The Bills cut QB Matt Flynn, who couldn't beat out Thad Lewis (Duke) and Jeff Tuel (unknown; I'm not even sure that's a real dude).

And the Niners cut former first-round pick CB Nnamdi Asomugha.

Once upon a time both those guys were stars. And then something happened. I always wonder what that something was.

I wouldn't say Flynn was a star, he was Matt Schaub, a guy who had showed something in preseason and in a couple games as a starter as injury replacement. Sometimes that sort of thing works out (Schaub, Matt Hasselbeck), sometimes, not so much (helllooooooo, Kevin Kolb!). Asomugha was an extremely physical guy who was really gifted, and those are the kind of people whose skills drop off quickly (see Polamalu, Troy). Yeah, he plummeted, but my guess is part of that was he wound up going to a system in Philly where he had to learn a new skillset at the exact time his body started to drop off, and those two combined finished him.

And Jeff Tuel went to Washington State. Yes, I feel dirty for knowing that.

I guess I overstate my case with Flynn. He's a guy who has been penciled in as the starter for a few different teams now and each time something happened. Maybe he wasn't ever that good but was oversold.

In any case, he was thisclose from starting at Seattle a year ago, and now he's not even capable of keeping a job as a backup with two of the worst franchises in pro football. Kind of stunning, I think.

Enix wrote:

I guess I overstate my case with Flynn. He's a guy who has been penciled in as the starter for a few different teams now and each time something happened. Maybe he wasn't ever that good but was oversold.

In any case, he was thisclose from starting at Seattle a year ago, and now he's not even capable of keeping a job as a backup with two of the worst franchises in pro football. Kind of stunning, I think.

So the Packers are going to pick him up this week then?

They might need him. You want a backup who's competent, and I'm not sure from the little I saw last night that Wallace gets to that level. Then again, Flynn might not even be at Wallace's level.

What's the word on Rodgers?

Enix wrote:

They might need him. You want a backup who's competent, and I'm not sure from the little I saw last night that Wallace gets to that level. Then again, Flynn might not even be at Wallace's level.

What's the word on Rodgers?

The word is he holds onto the ball to much and was flirting with an injury like this for a long time /vent

3 weeks supposedly from ESPN 'sources'.

Philly, Giants, Minny.

I already hated our early bye this year and the team is pretty injured as is. If the Packers go 1-2 and hes back for the Thanks Giving Lions game thats probably all I can hope for.

From a bears fan, Jowner, I hate to see Rogers injured and hope he has a good/speedy recovery.

Enix wrote:

I guess I overstate my case with Flynn. He's a guy who has been penciled in as the starter for a few different teams now and each time something happened. Maybe he wasn't ever that good but was oversold.

In any case, he was thisclose from starting at Seattle a year ago, and now he's not even capable of keeping a job as a backup with two of the worst franchises in pro football. Kind of stunning, I think.

The fact the Bills dropped was because he was meant to be a warm body in case Tuel went down with an injury. He was never intended as a long term solution. The middle of the season is a poor time to pick up a long term solution (see: Minnesota). Manuel is back this week, so the Bills have the people they want to play QB.

Anyway, Flynn's game tape from the Packers clearly earned him a ton of money, but teams now know what he is it seems and are using him as a warm body to fill roster spots.

I think the Packers will pick him up, just because they do need another body and Flynn has experience in the system. He'll be Wallace's backup until Rodgers comes back, at which point he can enjoy unemployment again.

And the Niners cut former first-round pick CB Nnamdi Asomugha

I called this in the offseason.. Not sure WTF happened in Oakland that garnered him his rep..but that rep translated to terribad performance week in and week out in Philly.. the guy just flat out cannot cover anyone man to man. I saw midget receivers outbox him and out-jump him for balls routinely. But then conversely he looked lost and unsure of his role in any sort of zone scheme we tried to put in for him.

TheGameguru wrote:
And the Niners cut former first-round pick CB Nnamdi Asomugha

I called this in the offseason.. Not sure WTF happened in Oakland that garnered him his rep..but that rep translated to terribad performance week in and week out in Philly.. the guy just flat out cannot cover anyone man to man. I saw midget receivers outbox him and out-jump him for balls routinely. But then conversely he looked lost and unsure of his role in any sort of zone scheme we tried to put in for him.

He can't play zone well, but I am shocked at how badly his man coverage skills have fallen off.

Signing him to a 1-year show-me deal was a good move for San Francisco, and he was a better warm body to stick on the field when they lost multiple corners to injury, but the guy at 31 cannot play like he could at 26.

I was pretty impressed with McCown's performance yesterday. I feel he played a better game than some starters. He made passes under pressure, put balls in good position, moved in the pocket well, threw away the ball when needed and no turnovers (packers should of had one int). Nice time for a bye giving the backup 2 weeks to prepare.

The Bears defense was lacking again last night. There were some serious confusion in gap assignment. I know we are injured in defense but there seemed to be some glaring coaching/discipline errors too. I hope Mel Tucker gets that group together. The safeties and LBs need some serious work.

I wouldn't pencil in McCown as my permanent starter, but there's a reason he's been floating around the league for so long. He's always had talent, but a penchant for turning the ball over.

Secret Asian Man wrote:

I was pretty impressed with McCown's performance yesterday. I feel he played a better game than some starters. He made passes under pressure, put balls in good position, moved in the pocket well, threw away the ball when needed and no turnovers (packers should of had one int). Nice time for a bye giving the backup 2 weeks to prepare.

The Bears defense was lacking again last night. There were some serious confusion in gap assignment. I know we are injured in defense but there seemed to be some glaring coaching/discipline errors too. I hope Mel Tucker gets that group together. The safeties and LBs need some serious work.

I want to believe that the Packers suddenly have a running game but then you watch some of the holes the Bears were giving up...

McCown definitely played well but just as I want to believe in the running game I can't in the Packers D. That was lots of McCown but a certain portion the Packers D.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

I think the Packers will pick him up, just because they do need another body and Flynn has experience in the system. He'll be Wallace's backup until Rodgers comes back, at which point he can enjoy unemployment again.

Ian Rapoport ‏@RapSheet 1m
Matt Flynn and Nnamdi Asomugha have cleared waivers

I guess they could still pick him up but yea not so sure.