NFL 2012 Week 8 Thread

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Football thoughts for the week:

  • MartyBall is suing the UFL for $2.3 million. Yet another entity fails to get the minor league football model right.
  • Variants of the pistol offense are sneaking into the NFL this year. I've seen numerous teams, including Washington and Buffalo, taking pistol-like snaps. San Francisco should try it - they have Kaepernick for god's sake, he's the reason for the rise of the pistol in the rest of the NCAA.
  • I guess the entire NFL discovered Gangnam Style this past week, because every celebration dance was it.
  • "What does Martellus Bennett look like?" #sh*tSicilianoSays
  • Victor Cruz keeps getting referred to as a slot receiver, but that is not the truth. He's an every-down player and the team's starting flanker. He will often move inside in 3-wide sets, but he spends the majority of his time out at the Z.
  • I don't know which defense was more painful to watch - Baltimore's or Tampa Bay's.
  • Tampa's goal-line fail was pathetic. Seriously, just leave LaGarrette Blount's ass on the bench.
  • I feel so bad for Kolb and Skelton, They are in a no-win situation behind that line. D'Anthony Batiste vs Jared Allen one-on-one was cringe worthy. Batiste remains at the bottom of Pro Football Focus's tackle metrics, putting further room between himself and his next-to-last-place teammate Bobby Massie. Every snap I've seen of the Cardinals offense tells me these grades are spot-on.
  • What a tackle on 4th down by Antoine Winfield on the QB bootleg keeper by Skelton. No DB tackles in space like Winfield.
  • I wish I could hate Andrew Luck. How can I hate a thoughtful, respectful, completely non-dickish guy? Dammit. I could hate on Manning Face easily. Luck is going to make this hard.
  • RG3 is like Christmas every Sunday for the Shanahans. It's like they finally found the guy their bootleg-heavy offense was meant to have.
  • A Shanahan offensive lineman got called for a leg whip. Yep, the Shanny offense is back.
  • Even on the road in St. Louis, when John Kuhn gets the ball, the stadium erupts into, "KUHHHHN!"
  • Cortland Finnegan tries to tear Jordy Nelson's helmet off. The guy can't even make a sideline tackle non-dirty.
  • Brandon Weeden's got a live arm.
  • "Shannon loves the tight end action." --James Brown. Excuse me, what?
  • Chris Johnson can now be spoken of on a week-to-week basis the way "good Romo" and "bad Romo" are. It was "good CJ" this week.
  • Dallas really needs Miles Austin to play like a top receiver. The offense looks completely different when Austin is playing to his ability.

    Pick 'Ems:

    Falcons at Eagles: Andy Reid played the scapegoat-Juan-Castillo card he's been holding in his back pocket for a while. Despite apparently running the same stuff over and over, the 12th ranked Eagles defense does not seem to be the source of the team's biggest problems. At 3-3, they're still in the thick of it in a competitive division. Atlanta sits at 6-0 but has looked vulnerable for three straight games. They are not playing like a team that will go undefeated deep into the season. This game's more dangerous than it ought to be for them, but I still pick the Falcons.

    Raiders at Chiefs: The battle for the bottom of the worst division in football. Oakland was getting carved up by the 32-ranked Jaguars offense before Blaine Gabbert left the game, while Kansas City worked an extra week of preparation in over the bye. The last game Brady Quinn played in and won was in 2009, against, hey, Kansas City. I... can't pick Brady Quinn to win. I just can't. Raiders

    Seahawks at Lions: If Seattle had a better offense, they would be a serious threat in the league right now. Their 5th rated defense is slowed by a 30th rated offense, which alternates between competent and stalled week to week, with their rookie QB at the helm (if only they had sought out a "franchise" QB in the offseason...). Detroit comes off a Monday night game in which their offense was completely shut down. As good as the Seattle defense is, I think it will be hard to hold the Lions down for two straight weeks like that, and I don't know if the Seattle offense will keep up. Lions.

    Patriots vs. Rams (at Wembley): After losing to Seattle, it took the Patriots overtime to take down the Jets in week 7. Meanwhile, the Rams put up a reasonably competitive performance against the Packers, but were ultimately outgunned. Good news for St. Louis: Danny Amendola has returned to practice, though it is uncertain if he will play in this particular game. Jeff Fisher described Amendola as "limited participation" at this point. St. Louis desperately needs their most productive receiver back in the fold. Their surprisingly potent defense has kept them competitive, but the top-ranked Patriots offense will be too much for them.

    And our die roll game...
    Giants at Cowboys: The smallest remaining point spread game, with the Giants two-point favorites over Big D at home. Oh, the wailing there is to be heard on Texas sports radio. Romo is completing passes left and right, with a 67.9% completion percentage, but his 9 INTs mean he's completing passes to the other team almost as frequently. Eli Manning, meanwhile, continues to make a fool of everyone that laughed at his "elite" comment last year. Maybe it's the power of positive thinking, because it was right after that comment that he started backing up the talk, and he's yet to fall off. We're on the cusp of having to admit that Eli is indeed an elite, tier one QB, and not just riding a hot streak. He's still a bit too INT-happy (7 so far this year), but that's about the only legitimate knock to his game right now. Eli has about 4 or 5 prime years ahead of him. This is the time when he'll fully write his place in the history books, be it a great QB or a very good footnote. At any rate, Dallas sucks, Giants for the win.

    Last week's results:

    Fedaykin wrote:

    Jeez, I'm picking the same teams as Legion this week. Terrible, right?

    Except you picked the Panthers instead of the Cowboys like I did. And that's why you're not 5-0 this week!

    *Legion*: 5-0
    Atras: 5-0
    billt721: 5-0
    Gumbie: 5-0
    Jasonofindy: 5-0
    Jayhawker: 5-0
    kaostheory: 5-0
    Kush15: 5-0
    oldmanscene24: 5-0
    sheared: 5-0
    thejustinbot: 5-0
    Xeknos: 5-0
    ODDSMAKERS: 5-0

    bighoppa: 4-1
    Enix: 4-1

    Fedaykin98: 4-1
    lostlobster: 4-1
    McFinn: 4-1
    MilkmanDanimal: 4-1
    peedmyself: 4-1
    sr_malo: 4-1
    Stele: 4-1
    TheGameguru: 4-1
    Zaque: 4-1

    AnimeJ: 3-2
    Certis: 3-2 (back to normal)
    fangblackbone: 3-2
    iaintgotnopants: 3-2
    karmajay: 3-2
    LeapingGnome: 3-2
    mudbunny: 3-2
    TempestBlayze: 3-2
    ukickmydog: 3-2

    boogle: 2-3
    Elliottx: 2-3
    Jolly Bill: 2-3
    tboon: 2-3

    FSeven: 0-5
    garion333: 0-5
    Minase: 0-5
    muraii: 0-5
    Paleocon: 0-5
    Secret Asian Man: 0-5
    willhouse4078: 0-5
    ZellbrigeN26: 0-5

    Season totals:

    Jayhawker: 25-8
    sheared: 23-10

    ODDSMAKERS: 22-11

    *Legion*: 21-12
    Kush15: 21-12
    Xeknos: 21-12
    TheGameguru: 21-12

    Stele: 20-13
    Certis: 20-13
    LeapingGnome: 20-13

    Jasonofindy: 19-14
    thejustinbot: 19-14
    McFinn: 19-14
    Jolly Bill: 19-14
    tboon: 19-14

    kaostheory: 18-15
    lostlobster: 18-15
    Zaque: 18-15
    AnimeJ: 18-15
    iaintgotnopants: 18-15
    karmajay: 18-15
    Elliottx: 18-15

    Gumbie: 17-16
    bighoppa: 17-16
    MilkmanDanimal: 17-16
    fangblackbone: 17-16

    Fedaykin98: 16-17

    Atras: 15-18
    billt721: 15-18
    oldmanscene24: 15-18
    Enix: 15-18
    peedmyself: 15-18
    boogle: 15-18
    ZellbrigeN26: 15-18

    garion333: 14-19

    ukickmydog: 13-20

    mudbunny: 12-21
    TempestBlayze: 12-21

    Paleocon: 10-23

    Secret Asian Man: 9-24

    Minase: 8-25
    muraii: 8-25
    willhouse4078: 8-25

    sr_malo: 5-28

    FSeven: 4-29

  • 20-13, maybe I should have been playing with real money this year.

    Falcons at Eagles

    Raiders at Chiefs

    Seahawks at Lions

    Patriots vs. Rams

    Giants at Cowboys

    1) I can see the Eagles winning, but it's close, so I'll go with the team I want to win.
    2) Brady Quinn.
    3) Lions have to come out of their funk at some point, right?
    4) Brady will want to show off for the Brits.
    5) Tony Romo.

    Heart over head (again)

    Falcons at Eagles

    Raiders at Chiefs

    Seahawks at Lions. (Russell Wilson!)

    Patriots vs. Rams

    Giants at Cowboys

    Hmm. That's a lot of road teams. Eh, whatever.

    Falcons at Eagles

    Raiders at Chiefs

    Seahawks at Lions

    Patriots vs. Rams

    Giants at Cowboys

    Falcons at Eagles - Rejuvenated defense, home advantage, and Vick always has some game where he doesn't suck.

    Raiders at Chiefs - Brady Quinn has to be one of the worst QBs to get multiple starts over multiple seasons. There isn't a single reason why he should even play in the NFL, instead he has a pop-gun arm, horrible decision making, immobile, and zero intangibles. Jamarcus had an arm and a gut.

    Seahawks at Lions - Russell Wilson, he just wins or sucks.

    Patriots vs. Rams - I hope this game will be closer but Patriots are a playoff team while Rams need a year or two of Jeff Fisher building.

    Giants at Cowboys - Looking forward to this one as whomever wins will be crowned legit playoff team by me.

    Ha! Well, I really am picking the exact same as you this week. Kind of interesting that I'm all alone at 16-17. I am the best of the losers, at the moment. And once again, let me remind y'all I took 0-5 the first week by forgetting to pick. Anyway:

    Falcons
    Raiders
    Lions
    Patriots
    Giants

    By the way, Legion, if you want me to pick differently than you, you can always either pick for the Cowboys, which I can't do, or against the Texans, which I won't.

    Fedaykin98 wrote:

    By the way, Legion, if you want me to pick differently than you, you can always either pick for the Cowboys, which I can't do, or against the Texans, which I won't. ;)

    What if they replaced Romo with Stephen McGee?

    Falcons at Eagles Matty Ice > Vick

    Raiders at Chiefs

    Seahawks at Lions

    Patriots vs. Rams

    Giants at Cowboys Road warriors!

    Eagles
    Raiders
    Seattle
    Rams
    Giants

    *Legion* wrote:
    Fedaykin98 wrote:

    By the way, Legion, if you want me to pick differently than you, you can always either pick for the Cowboys, which I can't do, or against the Texans, which I won't. ;)

    What if they replaced Romo with Stephen McGee?

    I thought they cut McGee?

    I don't know, though. I root for him when they put him in, no doubt. Martellus Bennett is an Aggie as well, so I cheered for him despite his being on the wrong team.

    I met Marty B at the airport once, in his college days. Seemed like a nice, normal dude. He's known in Aggie circles for being a bit of a clowner; at his commitment press conference in high school, he announced "I'm going to The University of Texas...A&M."

    Falcons at Eagles

    Raiders at Chiefs

    Seahawks at Lions

    Patriots vs. Rams

    Giants at Cowboys

    Falcons at Eagles

    Raiders at Chiefs

    Seahawks at Lions

    Patriots vs. Rams

    Giants at Cowboys

    garion333 0-5

    Man, my grandmother died on Sunday. Can't cut me any slack?

    /sympathycard

    Falcons at Eagles: New DC. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt as they're at home. Eagles.

    Raiders at Chiefs: I think the Raiders suck too much on defense. If the Chiefs give the ball to their best player enough times then Brady Quinn will have won another game. Chiefs.

    Seahawks at Lions: I want to believe in the Lions. Burleson is on IR now. Ugh. Lions.

    Patriots vs. Rams: Don't think the Rams secondary will be able to keep up with Brady & Co. Patriots.

    Giants at Cowboys. I'm glad Jason Garrett stayed in Dallas. Giants.

    Falcons at Eagles

    Raiders at Chiefs

    Seahawks at Lions

    Patriots vs. Rams

    Giants at Cowboys

    Eagles
    Raiders
    Lions
    Rams - What?
    Cowboys - Any time I pick Dallas it's because I'm starting Romo on my fantasy team. That's the only reason I'm picking them.

    Falcons
    Raiders
    Lions
    Patriots
    Giants

    Fedaykin98 wrote:

    I thought they cut McGee?

    Yes, but he's their Brian St. Pierre - the guy that doesn't have any practice squad eligibility left, so he stays in shape and waits by the phone, as the team is only carrying 2 QBs on the roster.

    I'm not saying there's a good chance just trying to pit the Aggie fan against the Texans fan. It's not my fault there aren't enough good Aggies to fill the Dallas roster.

    Hey for once it pays to be in the Tampa Bay TV area. Free NFL network tonight simulcast on one of the local networks.

    *Legion* wrote:
    Fedaykin98 wrote:

    I thought they cut McGee?

    Yes, but he's their Brian St. Pierre - the guy that doesn't have any practice squad eligibility left, so he stays in shape and waits by the phone, as the team is only carrying 2 QBs on the roster.

    I'm not saying there's a good chance just trying to pit the Aggie fan against the Texans fan. It's not my fault there aren't enough good Aggies to fill the Dallas roster. ;)

    Hey, the coach of the Raiders team you're picking is an Aggie!

    Just got back from six days at Cocoa Beach. Slept like crap last night, kids are exhausted and cranky, had to run through the Atlanta airport to catch a connecting flight that was delayed. I am utterly effing wrecked right now.

    That being said, off to Thursday Night Football at the dome. I feel Tampa's got a decent shot; teams can throw deep against them, but the Vikings don't do that anyways. Their real strength is stopping the run, and that's clearly the Vikings' strong suit. I also don't trust Minnesota's secondary at all, and Freeman's been throwing deep like hell the last two weeks.

    Falcons
    Chiefs
    Seahawks
    Patriots
    Cowboys

    MilkmanDanimal wrote:

    Just got back from six days at Cocoa Beach. Slept like crap last night, kids are exhausted and cranky, had to run through the Atlanta airport to catch a connecting flight that was delayed. I am utterly effing wrecked right now.

    That being said, off to Thursday Night Football at the dome. I feel Tampa's got a decent shot; teams can throw deep against them, but the Vikings don't do that anyways. Their real strength is stopping the run, and that's clearly the Vikings' strong suit. I also don't trust Minnesota's secondary at all, and Freeman's been throwing deep like hell the last two weeks.

    Well damn. I just realized I took Vikes in my pickem cause I was to lazy research this game and after those points I should of snuck in for the upset.

    Falcons:The Falcons are arguably the most balanced team in the NFL this year. The Eagles aren't for real. McCoy is being seriously underutilized. I wonder if Andy Reid has started talking to realtors.

    Raiders:Bring on The Mighty Quinn. It won't help.

    Lions:A one trick pony. Throw to Megatron. However, Seattle's offense is worse.

    Patriots:A great offense coupled with a fair-to-midland defense. Throw deep and you can beat the Pats. Sam Bradford can't do that.

    Giants:Dallas beat them once this year. Time for payback.

    Vincent Jackson kinda proves what a QB can start becoming once you give him a credible target.

    Well worth the $$$ IMO.

    Falcons at Eagles

    Raiders at Chiefs

    Seahawks at Lions

    Patriots vs. Rams

    Giants at Cowboys

    Have seen three LaGarrette Blount jerseys. Would like to trade those fans to a different team please.

    Falcons
    Chiefs
    Lions
    Patriots
    Giants

    Doug Martin: OROY? Gonna be RGIII or Luck isn't it?

    Eagles
    Chiefs
    Lions
    Patriots
    Giants

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