NFL/NCAAF Thread

[deathseer]

5 Chiefs make the Pro Bowl, yet Brees and Graham both get snubbed?

No wonder people want to do away with the game all together

[KickAsh]

RG3, Trent Williams, and Lorenzo Alexander all made the Pro Bowl, with London Fletcher and Alfred Morris as alternates.
Have to agree that RG3, Trent, and Alexander all deserved to make it (especially Trent) but I really think Morris should have made it over Frank Gore. Oh well.

I'm just stunned Jeff Saturday not only made the Pro Bowl, but had the most votes of any offensive lineman. He was mediocre all season long and was benched in Week 16.

But wait did 5 Chiefs seriously make the Pro Bowl

[GrizzlyB]

5 Chiefs make the Pro Bowl, yet Brees and Graham both get snubbed?

No wonder people want to do away with the game all together

Is it really snubbing them since there are fantastic players in front of them? (I mean, I'd take Brees over RG3, but I can see how he got in)

RG3, Trent Williams, and Lorenzo Alexander all made the Pro Bowl, with London Fletcher and Alfred Morris as alternates.
Have to agree that RG3, Trent, and Alexander all deserved to make it (especially Trent) but I really think Morris should have made it over Frank Gore. Oh well.

I'm just stunned Jeff Saturday not only made the Pro Bowl, but had the most votes of any offensive lineman. He was mediocre all season long and was benched in Week 16.

But wait did 5 Chiefs seriously make the Pro Bowl

I've been hearing that it takes a year to get into the Pro Bowl, and a year to get out. Which really sounds pretty accurate, looking across the rosters.

And the Chiefs actually have a lot of talent, and the only reason they're a two-win team right now is their atrocious offense. I remember a lot of preseason speculation saying they'd go at least 11-5 and win the AFC West. I'm pretty sure that people were mistaken in thinking that Matt Cassel was an adequate quarterback after he went 11-5 starting for the Patriots a few years back.

EDIT: And now the Texans lost like a bunch of dummies. Any takers on Dolphins>Patriots or Chiefs>Broncos? Yeah, me neither.

[FullMetalAlchemist]

I want the Chiefs and Patriots to win.

[Zenotwapal]

Bears won. Knocks the Giants out of play off contention (yeeeessss)

With that, it also turns tonight's game into a "Win or Go Home" scenario.
This is gonna be a good game. (go Cowboys obviously)


How about the Longhorns pulling it together last night to win the Alamo Bowl? I should've went, I live about an hour away from San Antonio but I couldn't get any tickets. They were all "partially obstructed view" tickets. Not even worth the 200 bucks they were going up for. But I'm glad they won. Ash put that team on his back in the second half.

[FullMetalAlchemist]

I knew Texas would win. They have one of the biggest fanbases in college football. The fact that they were playing only 75 miles from their campus was a big part of their win last night. Of course there have also been teams who weren't helped by playing close to home (or in one case, at home). Louisiana-Lafayette and UCF both made the most of their short travel distances, ULM, UCLA and San Diego State did not.

Vanderbilt plays what amounts to a 7th home game tomorrow. They have proven to be pretty dangerous at home this year - they have 4 home wins, and one of their 2 home losses was only by 4 points. And of course they're playing in a larger stadium, but when the fans do come they can be very distracting to the visiting team.

EDIT: Well the Bears aren't in despite 10 wins. I may hate the Bears as a Packer fan, but as a Browns fan I feel bad for them. The Browns were in this position 5 years ago, and haven't recovered since. I think the NFL should now go to 16 playoff teams so as to avoid this in the future. Before you start saying "the NFL shouldn't expand the playoffs", think about this: if it happened to your team, you'd change your views on it.

[Golden_Latias]

And the Lions finish 4-12. Oh well, at least they were competitive today.

I guess all we can do is see what happens in the offseason and hope that this year was a fluke. I know it's probably easy to dismiss 2011 as the fluke, but I don't know. :/ This year has felt far more fluky than 2011, what with all of their losses save two being by 10 points or less (and one of the two 10+ point losses involved Matthew Stafford having literally one of the worst games of his career) and everyone getting injured down the stretch.
For starters, Titus Young and Stefan Logan probably won't be with the Lions after this year, which is a good start. Hoping they'll change things up with their coordinators, as well, and see how they draft. Hopefully they draft defensively. They say this draft is deep defensively, so the Lions would be wise to take advantage of that.

Here's hoping for a better 2013 season, so I can laugh at all the Lions "fans" who think the Lions are doomed until the Fords sell the team (which will never happen), because "he cares more about the money than the team." Yeah, because the owners of the other 31 teams are TOTALLY not like that. >.>

[FullMetalAlchemist]

Now that the standings are final, here's who I think should visit Detroit on Thanksgiving next year:

Chicago.

Yes, the Bears who almost made the playoffs. A long time ago, the only team Detroit would play on Thanksgiving was the Bears. They have not met on that day, however, since 1999. Since the Packers, who I like, have had Detroit on Thanksgiving every odd year since 2007, I think another team should have a turn, and what better team to play Detroit on Thanksgiving than the Bears?

[Golden_Latias]

I agree, I wish it could be someone other than the Packers.

Still calling the Giants, though, since I know they're playing the Lions in Detroit next year.

[deathseer]

Well. This was the season from hell. No Sean Payton, coaching in flux, and the the league's most terrible defense. 7-9 is respectable considering the circumstances. Hoping to see Smith, Ellis, and Harper cut next season since they are the biggest liabilities on defense. I think Vilma may be back, considering the huge role he has and the fact that he can still make plays (Had a INT return for a TD today). Lofton, Hawthorne, and Vilma is a pretty good LB corp. Just a a few difference makers on defense in FA (Hoping they make a run at Ed Reed or Dashon Goldson, maybe bring Tracy Porter back if they can) or the draft and we've got something good going.

I expect next year the Saints will be back in playoff contention and a viable Super Bowl contender. Payton will be back and the statistically, they can't be worse than they were this year. Still have Bress, Graham, Sproles, Colston, and Moore on offense and one of the best offensive minds at the head of it.

[Sid87]

Seattle @ Washington next week, battle of teams that have combined to win 14 of their last 15.

[Golden_Latias]

Wait.

The Lions are playing the Bucs and not the Panthers next year? When did the Panthers go 7-9 and drop the Bucs to 4th in the division? Huh...

Oh well, at least it's not the Saints. I'll take the Bucs over the Saints any day.

Also, there are rumors that the Lions might fire Scott Linnehan (but that they are pursuing Pat Shurmar to replace him, which I hope isn't true) and that they might reorganize their FO and change GMs, but I doubt that's true.

[HoboJak]

So we go 10-6 and still miss the playoffs.... Nice. Ref's didn't do a good enough job giving the Packers points. Changing a rule on the spot so the Packers could get a TD? I lol'd.

EDIT: Well the Bears aren't in despite 10 wins. I may hate the Bears as a Packer fan, but as a Browns fan I feel bad for them. The Browns were in this position 5 years ago, and haven't recovered since. I think the NFL should now go to 16 playoff teams so as to avoid this in the future. Before you start saying "the NFL shouldn't expand the playoffs", think about this: if it happened to your team, you'd change your views on it.

I still disagree with this completely. Then you'll have teams that have this problem, except with worse records.

[Golden_Latias]

So we go 10-6 and still miss the playoffs.... Nice. Ref's didn't do a good enough job giving the Packers points. Changing a rule on the spot so the Packers could get a TD? I lol'd.

Out of curiosity, what do you think about the Bears firing Lovie? My dad thinks it was stupid and an overreaction.

[HoboJak]

Out of curiosity, what do you think about the Bears firing Lovie? My dad thinks it was stupid and an overreaction.

I doubt it'll work out. Good coaches don't grow on trees, and he was a good coach, imo. The players loved him, the staff loved him, they all tried hard to win for him. I doubt we'll get those same results out of whoever we hire. We were on our way to the playoffs last year when the injury bug hit us. We made it to the NFC championship two years back, and had it not been for a tired defence in an unlucky situation against the Seahwaks, we'd be in this year.
So yes, it was a stupid overreaction.

Lovie Smith, then, was fired after leading a team to a record better than that of last year's Super Bowl winner because a bunch of teams he didn't coach happened to have good seasons. Also, he failed to prevent Jay Cutler from getting a concussion.

Just read this in an article, pretty much sums it up.

[Kazekage]

Seattle @ Washington next week, battle of teams that have combined to win 14 of their last 15.

Hows the irrational hatred of Russell Wilson going?

[Zorocario]

I don't even know what to think of the Texans anymore, I don't know if I should cry or be angry. Damn you Texans! Damn you!

As long as they do better in the playoffs this season than they did last year I'll be happy.

[Golden_Latias]

Lions have fired their WR coach and RB coach.

WHY would they fire their WR coach? Ugh...

But if it means Scott Linehan is gone, then fine.

[HoboJak]

Looks like Tice will be gone soon, too. Emery said he wasn't going to fire any of the rest of the staff until they get a new HC or something along those lines - so he's probably gonna leave it up to the new HC, who; unless he's a moron, will fire Tice.

[Lucario95]

Denver Broncos will win this year's Super Bowl, Denver all the way!!