NFL updates/news

[Io LoneWolf oI]

What are the odds of the Jets organization actually making a smart decision? Pretty rare if the past several years say anything. That's why New England is going to continue running that division and stacking up those AFC East championship titles and playoffs spots for at least another decade.

[Serpenth]

Glad Chip Kelly is close to a deal with the Browns. I understand that coaches admire Kelly in the NFL and have taken some parts of his philosophy but to me Kelly has "I'm going to try to run a college offense in the NFL" written all over him. As an Eagles fan I'm glad the team has said they are moving away from Kelly. I would much rather see Arians or Mccoy get the job.

However Reid was "95%" going to be the Cardinals coach two days ago. For all we know tomorrow it could be "Kelly is close to a deal with the Bills".

Oh and:

Texans over Bengals
Packers over Vikings
Colts over Ravens
Redskins over Seahawks

[Skarsguard]

Bengals over Texans
Packers over Vikings
Ravens over Colts
Redskins over Seachickens

[Jibjabb]

Yay me and Skars have the same picks. Looking forward to tomorrow I love me some playoff football.

[Io LoneWolf oI]

Bengals over Texans
Packers over Vikings
Colts over Ravens
Redskins over Seahawks (IF RG3's playing healthy and Morris has a good game regardless) (Otherwise Seahawks)

[Irony]

Texans over Bungles.
Packers over Vikings.
Ravens over Colts.
Seahawks over Redskins.

[Vetali]

My picks -

Bengals over Texans
Vikings over Packers for upset pick
Ravens over Colts (honestly the hardest pick)
Hawks over Redskins.

[buck008]

I'd say Packers, Ravens, Seahawks for sure. I think Bengals-Texans will be an awful game. Houston has done nothing lately to make me think they should win, but I don't think Cincy is very good either. I'll pick the Bengals, but I'm not overly happy about it.

[conscript]

Texans, Packers, Ravens, Seahawks. The Texans can't be as bad as they have looked over the last half of the season right? They haven't been good since two weeks before Thanksgiving. Starting with that Jacksonville game they have been downright bad. Sure they have won a few games, but they were against bad teams except the one Indy win. Shit you can go back further than even that. They weren't impressive at all in the Bears game, they only scored 21 on a horrible Buffalo team the week before that. Their last impressive game in which they looked like a legit contender was freaking week 7 against Baltimore lol. The Bungles have been pretty good over the last half, especially on defense, but I'm going to stupidly trust that Houston is going to actually show up this week before totally getting blown out next week.

[Vetali]

I'd say Packers, Ravens, Seahawks for sure. I think Bengals-Texans will be an awful game. Houston has done nothing lately to make me think they should win, but I don't think Cincy is very good either. I'll pick the Bengals, but I'm not overly happy about it.

That one was a tough one, but their losses are pretty big ones. If they don't get momentum fast I don't see them doing much.

[Neazy]

Bengals v. Texans -- Texans. It's in Houston and that defense is still nasty.
Seahawks v. Redskins -- Seahawks. They're too good to lose in the first game.
Colts v. Ravens -- Colts. For one reason: Andrew Luck > Joe Flacco.
Vikings v. Packers -- Packers. If you watched the game last week with these teams, the only reason the Vikings won is because Ponder hit a long completion on 3rd down with not a lot of time left. He's not gonna do that twice, and you can't rely on an RB to get long 3rd downs all the time. This one I think has the biggest upset potential though, if only because they can get up early and keep running.

[Deleted]

Texans beat Bengals
Redskins beat Seahawks
Colts beat Ravens
Can't decide on Vikings/Packers game - I have a hard time seeing AP going for a 3rd game in a row against the pack with 200 yards to keep them alive - but then again if any RB was to do that it would have to be him.

[buck008]

Colts v. Ravens -- Colts. For one reason: Andrew Luck > Joe Flacco.

Crazy stat of the week: Joe Flacco has more career playoff starts than every other QB in the opening round combined. He's also decent at home, and the Ravens on the whole play very well at home. Luck has been secretly average all year. The Colts had the easiest schedule in the league, they haven't really beaten anyone. I would be very surprised if the Colts won, I actually don't think it's even close.

So the shitty Bengals/Texans game leads off the weekend. Yay. Let's see which team decides to show up.

[conscript]

Bengals v. Texans -- Texans. It's in Houston and that defense is still nasty.
Seahawks v. Redskins -- Seahawks. They're too good to lose in the first game.
Colts v. Ravens -- Colts. For one reason: Andrew Luck > Joe Flacco.
Vikings v. Packers -- Packers. If you watched the game last week with these teams, the only reason the Vikings won is because Ponder hit a long completion on 3rd down with not a lot of time left. He's not gonna do that twice, and you can't rely on an RB to get long 3rd downs all the time. This one I think has the biggest upset potential though, if only because they can get up early and keep running.

Houston's defense hasn't been even close to good in the second half of the season. Their DVOA is somewhere in the mid-20s over that stretch, especially their pass defense. Watt has been good, everyone else has been freaking terrible.

And seriously, Andrew Luck is better than Flacco? In what world?
Joe Flacco: 317/531 59.7% 3,817 yards 22TD, 10 INT 7.2 ypa 87.7 rating
Andrew Luck: 339/627 54.1% 4,374 yards 23 TD, 18 INT 7.0 ypa 76.5 rating
They are at worst comparable. Had Flacco thrown an equal number of times his stats would have blown out Luck. Don't confuse high quantity for high quality. Here is a little secret. Andrew Luck has not been good this year. HE HASN'T. Luck has been arguably the 7th WORST starting QB in the NFL (Cassel, Sanchez, Henne, Weeden, Locker, Tannehill behind him). Thinking Luck has been this tour de force is exactly the same trap as thinking Matt Stafford is a good QB. He isn't, he just throws the ball a metric fuckton driving up his stats like crazy while in actuality he is one of the least efficient QBs in the NFL, is incredibly mistake prone, and often puts his team in deep holes that he has to throw like crazy to get out of. Don't buy into the hype that a team that had one of the worst QB situations in the NFL ever last season, dealt with one of the biggest morale boosts ever this year (Chuckstrong), and played arguably the easiest schedule in the NFL in a completely shit division is actually a good team. The Colts are not a good team and Luck has not been anything more than an average at best QB this season.

Holy fuck I just defended Joe Flacco in an argument. BRB showering.

[Pendulous]

Holy fuck I just defended Joe Flacco in an argument. BRB showering.

But you're right on all of it, and I don't get why people think he's great. On top of that, RG3 isn't anywhere near the MVP god-like all-bow-down-to-the-almighty that people put him on. He had a very efficient season, but that's it. He plays with an inexplicable amazing run game.

I guess I'll make picks before the games start.

Texans: too good to stay inconsistent, and the Bengals are lucky to even be in the playoffs.
Seahawks: Throwing home/away records out the window, Seahawks are much better.
Ravens: Hate Flacco, think the Ravens are dead in their run these past x years, but they still are much better than Indy
Packers: Really, with them being healthy, I don't see them losing to the Minnesota Adrian Petersons

[buck008]

If it makes you feel any better, conscript, Flacco is shockingly competent at home. I just looked it up for something I wrote for myself earlier:

Home: 2363 yards, 62.2 comp%, 15 TD, 5 INT, 99.0 rating, 14 sacks
Away: 1454 yards, 56.9 comp%, 7 TD, 5 INT, 74.9 rating, 21 sacks

The team is also 6-2 at home. I just don't see why people think the Colts are going to win this game. Crazier things have happened, but my money would be on Baltimore.

You also didn't include the 10 fumbles in Luck's stats for 28 total turnovers. That's not good. His touchdown to interception ratio is 1.3. Tony Romo was 1.5, Jay Cutler was 1.4, Mike Vick and Matt Stafford were 1.2. Prestigious company, to be sure.

[Vetali]

Why I like NBC sports much more than any other station, free legal stream on their site in great quality.

[Neazy]

Houston's defense hasn't been even close to good in the second half of the season. Their DVOA is somewhere in the mid-20s over that stretch, especially their pass defense. Watt has been good, everyone else has been freaking terrible.

I'm not gonna bet against them based on 7 games or whatever it is that they've been in a slump. Out of the last 2 years, they've been a good team for 1.5 of them and I have more faith in the Texans bouncing back than I do in the Bengals greatly improving.

And seriously, Andrew Luck is better than Flacco? In what world?
Joe Flacco: 317/531 59.7% 3,817 yards 22TD, 10 INT 7.2 ypa 87.7 rating
Andrew Luck: 339/627 54.1% 4,374 yards 23 TD, 18 INT 7.0 ypa 76.5 rating
They are at worst comparable. Had Flacco thrown an equal number of times his stats would have blown out Luck. Don't confuse high quantity for high quality. Here is a little secret. Andrew Luck has not been good this year. HE HASN'T. Luck has been arguably the 7th WORST starting QB in the NFL (Cassel, Sanchez, Henne, Weeden, Locker, Tannehill behind him). Thinking Luck has been this tour de force is exactly the same trap as thinking Matt Stafford is a good QB. He isn't, he just throws the ball a metric fuckton driving up his stats like crazy while in actuality he is one of the least efficient QBs in the NFL, is incredibly mistake prone, and often puts his team in deep holes that he has to throw like crazy to get out of. Don't buy into the hype that a team that had one of the worst QB situations in the NFL ever last season, dealt with one of the biggest morale boosts ever this year (Chuckstrong), and played arguably the easiest schedule in the NFL in a completely shit division is actually a good team. The Colts are not a good team and Luck has not been anything more than an average at best QB this season.

Holy fuck I just defended Joe Flacco in an argument. BRB showering.

I don't think the Colts are good, but I don't think the Ravens are either. And Luck's 7 fourth quarter comebacks are enough to make me say that "ok, even though he makes lots of rookie mistakes, I feel comfortable saying this guy can lead his team to a victory". I don't feel that way about Flacco. I feel like the Ravens win in spite of him a lot of the time.

[Jibjabb]

Who is this commentator for the Texans game hes really starting to get on my nerves and Im usually not bothered by most. First hes bitching that the defensive coordinator for the Bengals of all teams isnt a Head Coach saying he should be, than right after starts bitching that people care too much about Head Coaches and not the ones under them that now have to take care of their families without a job. Yes lets have a pity party for people coaching in the NFL they have it sooo bad. Makes me think NBC shouldnt be having playoff games if this is the guy they are gonna put on there.

[conscript]

Hey, Andy Dalton finally got out of negative passing yardage! The Texans should be annihilating the Bengals right now. Dalton can't hit anyone, Gresh has dropped a couple easy catches, and Houston is moving the ball. Hope they don't regret not creating the space they should have at this point.

---------- Post added 2013-01-05 at 06:08 PM ----------

Andy Dalton and the Bungles passing offense at the half
4/10, 3 yards passing, -6 net yards, 47.9 rating
AJ Green (you know, their pro bowl receiver) 0 targets
They trail by 2...