[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

out of curiousity, started to watch the skins/eagles game and OH THE MISERY.

i couldn't make it past the first half. it was like witnessing a murder in progress.

That is football. In fact, much like when the same thing happens in a soccer game, this was a battle of two completely different halves. In the first half, Eagles played some of the fastest, more break-neck and break peoples' neck on defense football I've ever seen. The second half? They couldn't possibly keep it up, so they switched to the classic college format, run the ball up the other teams ass to shave the clock one contested yard at a time. There was no way Eagles were going to keep the pace of the first half up the entire game, and its not a surprise the Redskins warmed up, caught a break, and got the game within a single touchdown finish. In that regard, it wasn't a murder at all, but an ass beating followed by a quick recovery. Had Redskins pulled off the win, it would have been considered about as epic a win as Denver pulled off against Baltimore. By the way, that final Ravens-Broncos score is deceiving, while Ravens got obliterated in the second half, in the first they totally dominated possessions and were up 17-14 in what could have been 28-14.. Baltimore like Philly couldn't keep their defense up in the second half, and had an epic implosion on offense because of injuries to Oher, which left Flacco vulnerable on the left side to QB hits and sacks.


I'm SOOOOOO damned happy for Michael Vick. Andy Reid initially revived Vick's career, but then came to destroy it. Last year, Reid was such a terrible coach that people almost forgot that Michael Vick got out of prison, in his fourth start annihilated the Redskins scoring 4TDs in the air, and rushing for 2 TDs HIMSELF, in what is still remembered as an all-time great game. However, last year was so bad, people forgot all about that 11-5 playoff right out of prison Vick, and honestly thought about Nick Foles. Foles? Over Vick? Vick is the ONLY QB in NFL history to both pass for over 20,000 yards and also RUSH for over 5,000 in his career. Nick Foles.... hahahahahahahah!! See ya on the bench Matt Barkley

[Bytor Peltor]

Vick looked good in Chip Kelly's system. There is do doubt it will give him opportunity go take advantage of situations.

However, running as many plays as the Eagles will, Michael will end up being hit twice as many times and time will tell if his body will be able to handle the abuse.

With Andy Reid's son dying the week before the season started, it was hard to imagine Andy or the team having a successful season.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

That is football.

i know, but it's my old home team, and watching it get trampled like that was a bit much. kinda like running into your old girlfriend nigella who married the wife beater.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

i know, but it's my old home team, and watching it get trampled like that was a bit much. kinda like running into your old girlfriend nigella who married the wife beater.

Again, then you would have especially enjoyed the second half where RG3 threw for over 300 yards, had 2 TDs, and got the Redskins within a chance to win!Literally, the Eagles were starting to shit it. By the way, I feel your pain, I'm a Ravens fan and I had to sit through the second half of that Broncos disaster last week

[!@#$%!]

yes, i know, i know. she clawed back and defended herself and almost survived the beating.



(also, like almost everyone else who lives/has lived in the dc area, i hate dan snyder)

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by Bytor Peltor

Vick looked good in Chip Kelly's system. There is do doubt it will give him opportunity go take advantage of situations.

However, running as many plays as the Eagles will, Michael will end up being hit twice as many times and time will tell if his body will be able to handle the abuse.

With Andy Reid's son dying the week before the season started, it was hard to imagine Andy or the team having a successful season.

Interestingly, that wasn't what killed it, it wasn't Reid being distracted or busy with grieving, the opposite, Reid over-worked the Eagles offense, had Vick trying to many non-Vick things convincing Vick he could become a pocket-passer. Instead, you saw Vick over-thinking it on every play and subsequently getting hit or sacked mercilessly as the Eagles o-line also by bad coincidence collapsed under injuries. Had Reid let Vick be Vick, we would have saw 2010 11-5 playoff Eagles, not the miserable can't score 8-8 Eagles. To win with Vick you have to (a) have at least one wide-out on every play, (b) only use one back and consider Vick the other while (c) not getting to complicated in the playbook (Vick has some of the best instincts in the game with the fastest snap and epic arm, but if he thinks too much or has too complicated a play he is trying to run, he ends up getting hit). What Vick needs are plays simple enough to allow him in under 3 seconds to decide to either pass it or run himself. If he has to think to much, he doesn't have time to run, and he ends up getting hit.

My only concern is that Kelley's murderously high-paced offense is going to get a QB like Vick hit too many times on the run, and he is going to get hurt. Even McCoy won't survive long getting hit 15-20 times a night for 16 games. It is a double-edged sword, probably ONLY Vick or Peyton Manning could possibly have enough speed and strength of arm to keep up with Chip Kelley's system, but the other side is that playing SO many possessions is going to mathematically translate into more hits per game, and more hits per game translate into more injuries per season. You saw this in the second half, Kelley went classic and tried to slow the game down by focusing almost exclusively on the run game (Vick threw 190yds in the first half, less than 40 in the second half) which slowed the pace, but also got Vick and McCoy HIT LIKE CRAZY. That is simply unsustainable, even if it was fucking ridiculously exciting football to watch

[Bytor Peltor]

Vanilla Ica to perform at halftime of the Texans game Sunday.

[Rob Instigator]

I hate Thursday games so much.

Hate them. Fucking NFL cashgrab for their bullshit network.

[chocolate_ladyland]

If Manning and Welker keep their shit together ain't no one stopping the broncos

[Bytor Peltor]

Week Two Power Rankings

[Rob Instigator]

Texans vs Broncos in the AFc Championship? I can see it

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

Texans vs Broncos in the AFc Championship? I can see it

Possibly, but it requires Texans to play their absolute best football AND for Ed Reed to get healthy enough to play ( a big if this season, now y'all see why the Ravens weren't for any reason going to pay him $8 million, as to Boldin, well he might have been worth it, but with the salary space we saved from trading him we picked up Canty, Dumervil, and Huff, three defenders were crucially needed)..

Broncos, well they got to stay healthy and sharp. Remember Miller is suspended, and Broncos didn't beat Ravens so much as Ravens beat themselves, so we need a larger sample size to really see if Broncos are real deal or is it a bunch of hype blowing up their ass. I mean, honestly, Broncos were favored (turns out their 13-3 record was grossly inflated by a relatively weak strength of schedule, they had literally the easiest schedule in the NFL last year by a sizable margin because simply put, their division is crap and it almost guaranteed 6 wins) almost unanimously to win last year, and look how that turned out for them

Originally Posted by Bytor Peltor

Week Two Power Rankings

I never thought I'd find Power Rankings that were even MORE shit than the hype machine popularity contest that ESPN spews out every week.

Its like, OK, the Broncos had a great game, sure, they are number one, but why are the Texans fourth? Because they won? Really, the Eagles win one game and their suddenly sixth, even if the first half was epic? I mean, the second half near collapse I think negates Philly out of the top-ten, considering where they were last year. Are the Chiefs really as bad as 18 right now, considering they shut out the Jags and Alex Smith had a near perfect (albeit low yardage) game? They should at least be somewhere around 10-12.. Giants seem fine at 15, statistically they had a top-5 game, but lost, in classic Giants format. Ravens are 21? Really? Considering they still scored 3TDs and were up at the half, are the returning champs, and were in most rankings top ten before the season, how does losing one game to what is admittedly the better team suddenly negate them ALL THE WAY INTO THE BOTTOM 20? Really?

HAHAHAHA.. That Texas bias was so obvious. Texans for no objective reason are fourth, and Ravens (their recent play-off rival) are 21st, also for no objective reason? I'm surprised they didn't diss the Cowboys and put them in the bottom 15 like they did the Chiefs

[Bytor Peltor]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

I never thought I'd find Power Rankings that were even MORE shit than the hype machine popularity contest that ESPN spews out every week.

John McLain is a columnist for the Houston Chronicle and covers the Houston Texans. McLain is highly respected and has covered the NFL for over 30 years.

There is no hype to his rankings. As the Weeks progress, the rankings will change. Before the season started, McLain had the Eagles listed at #23. After a somewhat dominate performance on the road, he moved them up to #6. If the Eagles can win their home opener against the Chargers, they will have the opportunity to move up. If they lose, I'm sure they will drop from the Top Ten.

I'm not defending Mr. McLain and rankings don't mean a damn thing, but as the Weeks progress, I believe you will see his rankings aren't too far off target.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by Bytor Peltor

I'm not defending Mr. McLain and rankings don't mean a damn thing, but as the Weeks progress, I believe you will see his rankings aren't too far off target.

We'll see, but I just can't objectively understand why Texans almost let Chargers beat the shit out of them and they/re 4th, and Chiefs went from last place last year to destroying the Jags and they get 18th? The Ravens lost bad, true, but all the way down to 21? SERIOUSLY? Biased if you ask me. Eagles played GREAT, I get that, but six? When they almost let Redskins come back and win? Again, the guy may know his shit, and have almost as many years in the analyst game as I've been alive BUT, I still don't understand how he designed these rankings, it almost seems completely arbitrary.

I didn't meant to imply his was hype, that is ESPN, but even the over-hyped rankings on ESPN seem to better reflect the current standings than this one.

[Bytor Peltor]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

Chiefs went from last place last year to destroying the Jags and they get 18th?

I can't speak for Mr. McClain, but I believe this one is fairly simple.

In his pre-season rankings, McClain had the Jags listed #31 (predicted 2nd to worse NFL team before season started). KC dominated the game, but based on the pre-season rankings, KC was predicted to.

I'm guessing if KC would have beaten a team with a higher pre-season power ranking (say the Top 10-15), KC would have climbed up even higher.

Yes - the Eagles dominated the first half and almost blew it in the 2nd half. The exact opposite is true for the Texans. They were dominated the first three quarters (and a few minutes of the 4th trailing 28-7 in the 4th) and still found a way to win.

With the Texans being back to back Division / playoff winners, I'm guessing this is why they started the season with a Top Ten ranking. The Eagles (not a playoff team) defeated a playoff team on the road and I'm guessing this is why they climbed as high as they did in Week One.

[Rob Instigator]

You try to play full contact football from 10PM-1AM. That is what the Texans had to do essentially, having to play opening night in San Diego.

[Rob Instigator]

Andre Johnson will be the first Texan in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

David Carr was the first Texan in the Pro Football Hall of SHAME

[Bytor Peltor]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

Andre Johnson will be the first Texan in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

David Carr was the first Texan in the Pro Football Hall of SHAME

Andre Johnson's last eight games played: 78 catches / 1147 yards

By comparison, this was Steve Smith's entire 2012 season: 73/1174

Shameful as it was in Houston, Carr stayed in the league for a long time.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by Bytor Peltor

I can't speak for Mr. McClain, but I believe this one is fairly simple.

In his pre-season rankings, McClain had the Jags listed #31 (predicted 2nd to worse NFL team before season started). KC dominated the game, but based on the pre-season rankings, KC was predicted to.

That may be true, but Bill Barnwell had a great analysis where he pointed out rare shut-out are, even against absolute shit teams. For example, the average score last year was I think was above 16 ppg, which suggests that even the WORST teams should be expected to score. So even shutting out a shit team is significant accomplishment, especially factoring in just last season Kansas City was the only team WORSE than Jacksonville or Oakland. That has to be factored. They have a NEW coach, a NEW starting QB, and several new players, and instead of regressing they improved, significantly at that! In other words, the guy totally shit on the Chiefs accomplishment this weekend. If the Eagles win puts them in sixth, the Chiefs definitely should put them between 12-15..

Yes - the Eagles dominated the first half and almost blew it in the 2nd half. The exact opposite is true for the Texans. They were dominated the first three quarters (and a few minutes of the 4th trailing 28-7 in the 4th) and still found a way to win.

True, but we can't factor out the reality that Texans defense let an absolute shit team like the Chargers eat them for breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, and ALMOST dinner. Yes, I think Texans are rightfully somewhere between 8-12 this year, but fourth? Really? For almost letting Phillip Rivers of all boneheaded QBs beat them?

The Eagles (not a playoff team) defeated a playoff team on the road and I'm guessing this is why they climbed as high as they did in Week One.

I can see that, but again, Eagles still ended up almost blowing that game, so it negates the improvement from last season, and puts them out of the top-10 for me, and don't get me wrong, I LOVE Michael Vick and am totally rooting for them to make the top-10, but this weekend didn't cut it..

[Bytor Peltor]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

You try to play full contact football from 10PM-1AM. That is what the Texans had to do essentially, having to play opening night in San Diego.

As a team, the Texans were slow going to start the game. However, the Texans defense was unbelievable holding the Chargers to TEN yards of offense in their final five possessions:

Five running plays = 2 yards
Nine passing plays = 8 yards

ZERO first downs

Grand total of 90 yards in the entire 2nd half.

Keep in mind this domination was done without Antonio Smith nor Ed Reed suiting up.

Can't wait to see how well they perform when not starting a game so late at night.