NFL 2011 Week 1

Watching Aaron Rodgers, all I can think is that the Packers may very well be kicking off a period of time much like that of the Patriots in the early 2000s. Rodgers is picking up right where he left off last year, where he went from good to elite tier. He looks like a quarterback about to permanently enter elite tier.

*Legion* wrote:

Watching Aaron Rodgers, all I can think is that the Packers may very well be kicking off a period of time much like that of the Patriots in the early 2000s. Rodgers is picking up right where he left off last year, where he went from good to elite tier. He looks like a quarterback about to permanently enter elite tier.

Your boy Vic has been raving about him in the live blog all night. I really must thank you for pointing him out. He's opened a whole new level of football appreciation for me.
If he moves again to a new team, there's no way I won't continue to read him every single day. Even if you're not a Packers fan, I really can't recommend his analysis and writing enough. It's stellar.

Phishposer wrote:

Your boy Vic has been raving about him in the live blog all night. I really must thank you for pointing him out. He's opened a whole new level of football appreciation for me.
If he moves again to a new team, there's no way I won't continue to read him every single day. Even if you're not a Packers fan, I really can't recommend his analysis and writing enough. It's stellar.

Link?

Packers Gameday, right below the box score.

Man I don't care if you are on the 1 yard line, there is no way I run the ball on the last play with the way that terrible Saints offensive line played the entire game.

Gumbie wrote:

Man I don't care if you are on the 1 yard line, there is no way I run the ball on the last play with the terrible way that Saints offensive line played the entire game.

QFT.

Grumpicus wrote:
Gumbie wrote:

Man I don't care if you are on the 1 yard line, there is no way I run the ball on the last play with the terrible way that Saints offensive line played the entire game.

QFT. :(

They tried a pass on fourth down earlier, and paid the price. I can't fault them for trying the run, when they'd had some success earlier.

Did Pierre Thomas get hurt or is Sean Payton really that stupid?

That game was insane. If special teams is this bad all year I think I'll be happy most kick returns are touchbacks instead of 3 or 4 tds a game.

1-0. This offense is going to be scary.

Good game.

I almost feel sorry for the Kentucky fans... they're really going to miss Randall Cobb. But that was pretty impressive tonight.

Phishposer wrote:

If he moves again to a new team, there's no way I won't continue to read him every single day. Even if you're not a Packers fan, I really can't recommend his analysis and writing enough. It's stellar.

That is exactly what I was saying when he was in Jacksonville ("must-read even if you aren't a Jag fan!") and sure enough, it's still a must-read for me now that he's in Green Bay.

What it comes down to is that most football writers don't have a real strong grasp of the game. Few know its history well, few know the "Xs and Os" beyond the high-school level basics, and very few have an actual eye for talent. Vic had all those. The history is probably his best part, but the eye for evaluating talent is what I miss most. The average beat writer knows how to write but truly has no eye for scouting. Vic has a scout's eye, as much as you could hope for from a sportswriter. His opinions on players mean something to me, and there's so few writers and media people of whom I could say that.

That was just an amazing game. Packers looked good throughout, and despite occasional mistakes the Saints looked amazing as well. Especially in that last drive. What an opening game for what I hope is many great games of football to follow.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed but I'm hopeful that if (IF!) the D gets its act together, we might just see a rematch in the post-season.

Kush15 wrote:

Packers (Since 2004, the kickoff game has been hosted by the defending Super Bowl Champions. SB Champs are (7-0), so the Packers should win

Make that (8-0)

Awesome game, the only thing that would have made it better was for the Saints to tie it up and have the game go to OT.

Was just a phenomenally great game. I am now officially terrified of the Packers offense. Randall Cobb is their FIFTH WR? Yeesh.

I believe a rule in life must be "no matter the situation, do not rush three vs. Drew Brees". Four minimum. You just can't give him the time.

The Packers are scary. Very, very scary.

As are the Saints. If either of those teams gets their defenses really going, they will be terrifying in a way that very few teams have ever been.

As far as I could tell, the defenses were above average to excellent through most of the game. Packers moreso than the Saints, but coverage was there throughout. Those QB's are just terrifying.

Jolly Bill wrote:

As far as I could tell, the defenses were above average to excellent through most of the game. Packers moreso than the Saints, but coverage was there throughout. Those QB's are just terrifying.

What he said. There was some bad defense here and there, but there was a lot more putting the ball in the only place it could be while staring down the rush (or being flushed out/up in the pocket).

Oh my god. And the Packers play Carolina next week. Cam Newton has got to be sh*tting bricks right now. I was just looking at them as a bad team before, but looking at their schedule now this year is going to be absolute hell for them.

Edit: Note to self. Don't start any Carolina players in Fantasy Football next week. Or ever.

kaostheory wrote:
Jolly Bill wrote:

As far as I could tell, the defenses were above average to excellent through most of the game. Packers moreso than the Saints, but coverage was there throughout. Those QB's are just terrifying.

What he said. There was some bad defense here and there, but there was a lot more putting the ball in the only place it could be while staring down the rush (or being flushed out/up in the pocket).

Some questionable tackling for the Packers and spotty pressure from the Saints (minus Will Smith). Otherwise we just saw two of the top 5 QB's in the league with full weapon systems go.

This might of been just a huge tease though. Some of the games come Sunday are going to be outright painful in comparison to watch.

My pick for game that sounds better then it actually is.... Sanchez vs Romo.... It has the chance to be a great game or we might see more total picks then passing tds.

Carolina has some winnable games this year; they go to Arizona in week 1 before Kolb has had a chance to get really comfortable. They also have shots at Jacksonville early (before Garrard's replacement can really get into the flow of things), Tennessee, Washington, and Minnesota. They should be able to win one or two of those, right?

Let's say Peyton does come back this year, and is still Peyton Manning. The last seven games of the year for Carolina will be a probably greatly-improved Detroit, Indy, Tampa, Atlanta, Houston, Tampa, and New Orleans. That is a really brutal end-of-year schedule.

Well, that game didn't go the way I had hoped. Drew Brees and co. looked awesome of course, but our vaunted defense apparently missed the plane and threw in some folks from the stands to fill in. Worst... tackling... ever! On the 108 yard kickoff return (and props to him for being aggressive like that!) I saw pretty much no Saint player with lane discipline. They just ran to the ball. Problem with that is one cutback against the grain and it is smooth sailing to the opposite endzone. I hope every high school coach shows that play to his players as a wonderful example of how NOT to execute a kickoff.

But man was Rodgers crazy good or what? Now people can see the real value of studying for a few years under a superior QB like Favre instead of throwing them to the wolves right away like Cam Newton. Who do you think will have the more successful career??

Jolly Bill wrote:

Oh my god. And the Packers play Carolina next week. Cam Newton has got to be sh*tting bricks right now. I was just looking at them as a bad team before, but looking at their schedule now this year is going to be absolute hell for them.

Yes, yes it will. I'm looking forward to the Cam Newton-Andrew Luck QB battle in camp next summer.

*Legion* wrote:

Skill position stars may be hard to come by in Jacksonville, but the lines are rarely allowed to atrophy. I've never once seen in Jacksonville what I saw Carolina fans had to live through from their offensive line when I game charted Clausen's performance in those two late season games.

On the list of Why The Panthers Sucked in 2010, the O-line ranked about 8th behind their lame-duck coach, a terrible O-coord, a cheap-ass owner, a wretched QB and a lot of damned injuries coupled with a lack of depth.

That's just 5? I'll throw in drafting that gets more horrible in retrospect and a secondary that couldn't keep a JV QB under 400 ypg.

Coolbeans wrote:

Now people can see the real value of studying for a few years under a superior QB like Favre instead of throwing them to the wolves right away like Cam Newton. Who do you think will have the more successful career??

Favre is not and never will be a teacher. Rodgers got very little coaching from him.
I'm not taking anything away from Favre's amazing career, but his style of play is not something I'd want to teach any young player. He did a ton of things very wrong and somehow still managed to be (mostly) successful. He didn't earn his career interceptions stat with solid fundamental play
I think Rodgers benefited more from the time with the coaching staff than with Favre himself.

Phishposer wrote:
Coolbeans wrote:

Now people can see the real value of studying for a few years under a superior QB like Favre instead of throwing them to the wolves right away like Cam Newton. Who do you think will have the more successful career??

Favre is not and never will be a teacher. Rodgers got very little coaching from him.
I'm not taking anything away from Favre's amazing career, but his style of play is not something I'd want to teach any young player. He did a ton of things very wrong and somehow still managed to be (mostly) successful. He didn't earn his career interceptions stat with solid fundamental play
I think Rodgers benefited more from the time with the coaching staff than with Favre himself.

A chunk of it also has to be attributed to (A) sitting in the green room so long on draft day and (B) the way Favre diva'd his way around. I'm sure Rodgers still keeps himself pissed off to this day about all of that stuff, and it helps drive and focus him.

Also, he may have sold his soul to the devil for passing accuracy.

Enix wrote:

On the list of Why The Panthers Sucked in 2010, the O-line ranked about 8th behind their lame-duck coach, a terrible O-coord, a cheap-ass owner, a wretched QB and a lot of damned injuries coupled with a lack of depth.

That's just 5? I'll throw in drafting that gets more horrible in retrospect and a secondary that couldn't keep a JV QB under 400 ypg.

To be fair, things like injuries and bad drafting and coaching and a cheap-ass owner were all contributing factors to the O-line being bad.

Phishposer wrote:

I think Rodgers benefited more from the time with the coaching staff than with Favre himself.

I'm not even sure of that. I've seen little evidence that Rodgers wouldn't have been able to play earlier, even right away.

When he finally took the field, it was obvious that he wasn't just ready, but he was long overdue. I don't think waiting to year 4 did him any favors at all. I think it mostly just delayed him getting the playing time he needed to continue his development path right up into elite status.

*Legion* wrote:
Phishposer wrote:

I think Rodgers benefited more from the time with the coaching staff than with Favre himself.

I'm not even sure of that. I've seen little evidence that Rodgers wouldn't have been able to play earlier, even right away.

When he finally took the field, it was obvious that he wasn't just ready, but he was long overdue. I don't think waiting to year 4 did him any favors at all. I think it mostly just delayed him getting the playing time he needed to continue his development path right up into elite status.

I'm trying to throw a bone to Coolbeans, and you have to go and play the asshole
What it really does is validate Ted Thompson's choice to let Favre go when he did.
This also raises a question. How long until we really believe Favre is truly retired? One full season? I think I'll need to see two full Favre-less seasons before I'll believe he's really done.

Phishposer wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
Phishposer wrote:

I think Rodgers benefited more from the time with the coaching staff than with Favre himself.

I'm not even sure of that. I've seen little evidence that Rodgers wouldn't have been able to play earlier, even right away.

When he finally took the field, it was obvious that he wasn't just ready, but he was long overdue. I don't think waiting to year 4 did him any favors at all. I think it mostly just delayed him getting the playing time he needed to continue his development path right up into elite status.

I'm trying to throw a bone to Coolbeans, and you have to go and play the asshole
What it really does is validate Ted Thompson's choice to let Favre go when he did.
This also raises a question. How long until we really believe Favre is truly retired? One full season? I think I'll need to see two full Favre-less seasons before I'll believe he's really done.

Now, without question. Last year wasn't just a bad year, it was a humiliatingly bad year. He played terribly, got injured, and had the whole "seriously, at some point people should realize texting pictures of your junk is a bad idea" thing. It was a complete, utter train wreck, and I think he's just going to hide for a few years until his reputation recovers and he marches into Canton, all beloved again.