2012-2013 NFL Football Thread

A sight for sore eyes.

Aqib Talib practices with the Patriots:



And Roethlisberger's injury is worse than previously thought:

ESPN said:

Roethlisberger was stepping up in the pocket trying to extend a third-down play when Kansas City linebacker Justin Houston wrapped up his legs and teammate Tamba Hali drove all of his 265 pounds into Roethlisberger's chest and slammed him to the turf. The quarterback's right arm dug into his side at the moment of impact, dislocating the rib and sending a jagged edge perilously close to the aorta.

Roethlisberger said he's in considerable pain and has slept just four hours over the past two nights.

"I can move (the arm) around; that's not the issue," Roethlisberger said. "Sometimes when I do move it, the rib will kind of pop out of place again, which is pretty painful. I just try to keep it as still as I can for the most part."

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That sounds horrible. I honestly hope he heals up fully without issue.

I can't stand the team from Pittsburgh, but I don't wish injuries on anyone. I have a feeling he will be out for more than a week..

Patriots' Gronkowski to miss 4-6 weeks with broken forearm



Second time in two years Gronk gets injured toward the end of the season (watching him with a flat tire in the Super Bowl was brutal). The only saving grace is it's a broken arm, not a leg/knee injury, so he should be back in time if the Patriots make the playoffs. And maybe the 4-6 weeks off will help his nagging hip injury to heal up fully. Still, serious bummer. There's just no replacing him. Aaron Hernandez is expected back this week, so that'll soften the blow a bit, hopefully.

Queen of Spades said:

Patriots' Gronkowski to miss 4-6 weeks with broken forearm



Second time in two years Gronk gets injured toward the end of the season (watching him with a flat tire in the Super Bowl was brutal). The only saving grace is it's a broken arm, not a leg/knee injury, so he should be back in time if the Patriots make the playoffs. And maybe the 4-6 weeks off will help his nagging hip injury to heal up fully. Still, serious bummer. There's just no replacing him. Aaron Hernandez is expected back this week, so that'll soften the blow a bit, hopefully.

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We'll be alright. Gronk had surgery to put a pin in this morning and they said he'll be out a "few weeks". Unless there's some crazy complications, I think it's pretty much guaranteed he will be back for the playoffs, and maybe even before then. If they can put a cast on that doesn't prevent him from catching the ball, I wouldn't be surprised to see him only miss 3 or 4 games.

Lucky for us we have not one but two of the best tight ends in the league. It would be nice to get them both out there healthy at the same time for once though.

Hernandez could have played yesterday but they held him back for precautionary reasons. That looks like a genius move now with this injury to Gronk. He should be fine to play Thursday against the Jets, but we have plenty of other weapons (Hernandez, Welker, Lloyd, Edelman, Ridley, Vereen, Woodhead, Shiancoe, etc) who can step up and fill the void for a few games. Other than the 49ers and Texans, the rest of the games shouldn't be that difficult.


On a positive note.. solid game by both Aqib Talib and Alfonzo Dennard yesterday, which is extremely encouraging. Adding Talib was huge.. you could see the secondary gaining confidence as the game went on yesterday. Hopefully they can keep it up. Improved confidence in the secondary will let the coaches run more blitz plays which is when our defense is at it's most dangerous.

zioxide said:

We'll be alright. Gronk had surgery to put a pin in this morning and they said he'll be out a "few weeks". Unless there's some crazy complications, I think it's pretty much guaranteed he will be back for the playoffs, and maybe even before then. If they can put a cast on that doesn't prevent him from catching the ball, I wouldn't be surprised to see him only miss 3 or 4 games.

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Some good news on the Gronk front anyway:

Source: Gronk could only be out a few weeks

Tedy Bruschi said:

The projected time for him to miss is 4-to-6 weeks, per some reports. From my experience, it can be significantly less. Mike Vrabel broke his forearm one year. After surgery, they put in one plate and 11 screws. Vrabel missed two games. I know Gronkowski is tough, but Mike Vrabel's toughness was legendary. So it all depends on the player. I would doubt that Gronkowski is out the full six weeks. - source

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Again, I'm just glad it's not a leg injury. Here's hoping he heals up sooner rather than later.

zioxide said:

On a positive note.. solid game by both Aqib Talib and Alfonzo Dennard yesterday, which is extremely encouraging. Adding Talib was huge.. you could see the secondary gaining confidence as the game went on yesterday. Hopefully they can keep it up. Improved confidence in the secondary will let the coaches run more blitz plays which is when our defense is at it's most dangerous.

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I haven't re-watched anything, but from my perspective it looked like Talib was okay, but not amazing. He gave up positioning a coupel of times, iirc on at least one TD throw and maybe two. The interception run back was fantastic, but the INT itself was fairly routine. Although he did catch it, I will give him credit for making the play. I think he'll be much better the more he's acclimated, which is to say I think his best is yet to come.

Although I agree with you 100% on the secondary appearing far more confident with Talib in there. And McCourty staying at safety for the rest of the year is the right move. I thought Dennard had a good game, for sure.

What an ugly, ugly win the Falcons notched yesterday
But I'll take it
9-1

Yes, the Falcons are flawed
But so is every other team out there
So far they have found a way to win

MacDawg said:

What an ugly, ugly win the Falcons notched yesterday
But I'll take it
9-1

Yes, the Falcons are flawed
But so is every other team out there
So far they have found a way to win

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good luck to you guys ...

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Queen of Spades said:

Patriots' Gronkowski to miss 4-6 weeks with broken forearm



Second time in two years Gronk gets injured toward the end of the season (watching him with a flat tire in the Super Bowl was brutal). The only saving grace is it's a broken arm, not a leg/knee injury, so he should be back in time if the Patriots make the playoffs. And maybe the 4-6 weeks off will help his nagging hip injury to heal up fully. Still, serious bummer. There's just no replacing him. Aaron Hernandez is expected back this week, so that'll soften the blow a bit, hopefully.

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i wonder if dating a porn star makes him feel better...

Niners now own second best record in NFC but without starting QB for now. I hope whatever happens from this point forward they can hold it together.

Big loss for the Broncos. McGhee has a torn MCL and could be out 6-8 weeks.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8652993/willis-mcgahee-denver-broncos-6-8-weeks

63dot said:

Niners now own second best record in NFC but without starting QB for now. I hope whatever happens from this point forward they can hold it together.

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sounds like they played fairly well last night...

I think the Niners looked pretty good. Coming in with a green QB, they really didn't miss a beat. Sure there was some missed plays etc, but I thought the new QB did pretty damn good. I don't know if Smith should be worried or not! But if this new QB plays like this again, he won't be sitting on the bench much longer for SF. Someone will want him!

rhett7660 said:

I think the Niners looked pretty good. Coming in with a green QB, they really didn't miss a beat. Sure there was some missed plays etc, but I thought the new QB did pretty damn good. I don't know if Smith should be worried or not! But if this new QB plays like this again, he won't be sitting on the bench much longer for SF. Someone will want him!

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KGO SF radio seems to think he's OK but not up to par yet with Niner's system. Smith was hit pretty hard so it's hard to know when he is back, if he is really back to his regular form. Even at his best, he's a marginal NFL qb at best over a full season.

The sports pundits here are paranoid with the loss of a key player and spell complete doom every quarter. We had the same folks telling us it was over when we lost MLB reliever Brian Wilson to surgery, then we "lost" Tim Lincecum who would never be the same on the mound again having lost his velocity and accuracy, and then losing Melky Cabrera to PEDs right before NLDS was sure to be the SF Giants' downfall. The final nail in the coffin was to put up the over the hill Barry Zito up against Verlander in the World Series! It would be almost too much for a small city like us to hope for both the baseball team and football team to make it into postseason and do well. It's one thing when you have Will the thrill Clark hitting home runs and Joe Montana taking snaps as was the perfect storm case in '89 when we went to WS and Super Bowl, but with who our city has had in sports recently, it is a big unknown and foolish to hope for too much.

Towns like Boston or Green Bay with Brady and Rodgers have no idea what it feels like just to be thrilled if the qb can get two scores in one game. SF Niners are nowhere in the same league of an Atlanta or Houston at this point and will have to rely on teams like that self destructing before it's all over. If we win 11 this season (going 11-4-1), I will consider that a huge accomplishment for the team.

63dot said:

Towns like Boston or Green Bay with Brady and Rodgers have no idea what it feels like just to be thrilled if the qb can get two scores in one game.

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They also don't really know what it's like to have a defense like San Francisco does right now.

Give and take.

I think San Francisco is a really good team. For some reason, the Rams seem to have their number, but I don't think the Rams are as terrible as their record shows.

I like Alex Smith. I don't think he's the kind of QB you expect to throw for more than 2 TD's in a game. You just expect him to manage the game well and not turn the ball over.

All the better teams in the league right now have good D's, which makes me happy. There was an offensive surge and now, finally, we are seeing defenses rising to the occasion. I know it's still an offensive league, but you see teams like Green Bay, who only last year were KILLING D's having a tough time getting back into their rhythm.

I feel like the Falcons are a really good team, but I don't know if they'll win a Super Bowl over these other teams. Right now, my favorite for a Super Bowl is Houston (i'm slightly biased, because I LOVE Arian Foster. But i'm also biased in the other direction because I have a weird hatred for most things from Texas)

panda bear said:

I feel like the Falcons are a really good team, but I don't know if they'll win a Super Bowl over these other teams. Right now, my favorite for a Super Bowl is Houston (i'm slightly biased, because I LOVE Arian Foster. But i'm also biased in the other direction because I have a weird hatred for most things from Texas)

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That's too funny. I spent years disliking the Cowboys for obvious reasons. In the '90s they were a better team than the 49ers but I realized that they may have also been the best team (that specific crew with Emmett Smith) in NFL history. Aikman had so many great targets and if he didn't pass well in a game, which was rare, they could run the ball and control the clock. They took 3 super bowls in 4 years in seasons they dominated on every level. As for the Rangers, I didn't have a lot of reason to fear them until more recently. Having three postseasons in a row with two World Series appearances in a row, and no reason to think they will trade people away, they can be the AL's next dynasty (behind the Yankees). If the Giants keep up their mojo, I think they may meet the Rangers in a World Series and I will have more reason to dislike Texas. More than anything, with the Cowboys of the '90s and the Rangers of the '10s, I have a deep respect for them. It took every ounce of our region's A's to get past them including fifteen 9th inning showdowns in the season to catch the Rangers in the AL West. Had the Rangers beat the A's, they could very well be the ones with the 2012 ring. The best thing I could hope for is for Texas to trade away talent. The only other AL team I truly fear, every year of course, is the Yankees.

I am not fearful of the Cowboys though, but with career numbers like he has consistently posted, Romo is still a scary quarterback. If you give Dallas a slightly stronger defense and better protection of the qb, there's no telling how far that crew can go for the next few years. With the lack of an elite QB, we can't always rely on a great defense. We have to be well rounded to go all the way. Sure, there are a few exceptions, like Brad Johnson or Trent Dilfer, but I wish we had more depth at qb.

All that being said, I have never held anything against Texas basketball teams and have spent most of my time disliking the Celtics.

zioxide said:

Other than the 49ers and Texans, the rest of the games shouldn't be that difficult.

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I wouldn't look past the Jets... As bad as they are this year, they always get up for the Pats. Just look at that game in foxboro earlier in the season. Pats could have easily lost that game. I know most Patriots fans have this cocky "we can beat anyone not named Eli Manning" attitude.

bigjnyc said:

I wouldn't look past the Jets... As bad as they are this year, they always get up for the Pats. Just look at that game in foxboro earlier in the season. Pats could have easily lost that game. I know most Patriots fans have this cocky "we can beat anyone not named Eli Manning" attitude.

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The jets have turned in to a regular three ring circus this year. Sanchez practically had a career day in that first game this year and the Patriots still won. Our defense has improved since then so I think we'll be alright. Sanchez is awful.

bigjnyc said:

I wouldn't look past the Jets... As bad as they are this year, they always get up for the Pats. Just look at that game in foxboro earlier in the season. Pats could have easily lost that game. I know you Patriots fans have this cocky "we can beat anyone not named Eli Manning" attitude.

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You're wrong on this one. Most Patriots fans feel the defense is our achilles yet again, and considering we got beat by the Cardinals, Ravens, and Seahawks, I don't think anyone is overconfident.

And yes, Jets games are never a gimme, although Mark Sanchez is having a spectacularly awful year and that defense is not the same without Darelle Revis. It's just a tough break for the Jets, but you have to play the games in front of you.

That said, I don't think there's anything inherently cocky about expecting your team to perform well in games they're favored in. It's not like zioxide was pulling a Joe Namath on that one.

zioxide said:

The jets have turned in to a regular three ring circus this year. Sanchez practically had a career day in that first game this year and the Patriots still won. Our defense has improved since then so I think we'll be alright. Sanchez is awful.

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To be fair, the Jets have been a three-ring circus for years.

Luckily, it's Thanksgiving so I won't need an excuse to drink.

zioxide said:

The jets have turned in to a regular three ring circus this year. Sanchez practically had a career day in that first game this year and the Patriots still won. Our defense has improved since then so I think we'll be alright. Sanchez is awful.

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Sadly thats probably an understatement. I think the Jets really need to reflect on the idiotic moves they made this off-season..... like extending Sanchez's contract and bringing in Tebow, signing Sparano instead of Haley.... Anyway that being said I think they could have done alot better and possibly won some of those close games with Revis healthy and possibly Holmes (although I say Holmes through gritted teeth) As bad as Sanchez is you have to admit that they have set him up for failure in some way.... He has no weapons to throw it to and no running game to keep defenses honest. Jets have the worst set of skill players in the NFL right now lol.

Moyank24 said:

To be fair, the Jets have been a three-ring circus for years.

Luckily, it's Thanksgiving so I won't need an excuse to drink.

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It's always a good idea to drink during Jets/Pats games. Like you, I plan to be three sheets to the wind by the time that game rolls around.

bigjnyc said:

Sadly thats probably an understatement. I think the Jets really need to reflect on the idiotic moves they made this off-season..... like extending Sanchez's contract and bringing in Tebow, signing Sparano instead of Haley.... Anyway that being said I think they could have done alot better and possibly won some of those close games with Revis healthy and possibly Holmes (although I say Holmes through gritted teeth) As bad as Sanchez is you have to admit that they have set him up for failure in some way.... He has no weapons to throw it to and no running game to keep defenses honest. Jets have the worst set of skill players in the NFL right now lol.

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I know it's hard, but if I were a Jets fan, I swear I'd be rooting for them to lose out. They need a franchise QB, and they have a much better chance of finding one with a top 10 pick. The baseball draft isn't even the same, but I swear by the end of the season I was rooting for the Red Sox to continue their tanking ways.

Queen of Spades said:

It's always a good idea to drink during Jets/Pats games. Like you, I plan to be three sheets to the wind by the time that game rolls around.

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Great minds....

I know it's hard, but if I were a Jets fan, I swear I'd be rooting for them to lose out. They need a franchise QB, and they have a much better chance of finding one with a top 10 pick. The baseball draft isn't even the same, but I swear by the end of the season I was rooting for the Red Sox to continue their tanking ways.

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I've had this discussion with other Jets fans - I'm perfectly fine if they don't win another game (of course when you root for them to lose, they end up beating the Rams. ). My worry, though, is that Tannenbaum and company haven't made good drafting decisions (among other decisons they've made) - they would definitely find a way to screw it up. Tannenbaum deserves to be fired, so hopefully they'll have a new regime going into the draft next year - but with the Jets you never know.

Sanchez has been bad and I'm perfectly willing to admit that. He never deserved an extension (I do think that was more of reworking his contract) and it's laughable that they went out and found the only QB worse than he was and traded for him. And for what? He has been a non-issue on the field and a distraction everywhere else.

And as bigjnyc said, he also hasn't been given much help. His wideouts are awful - bad routes, bad drops (coughStephenHillcough). He's never been an accurate QB, but bad targets, a bad running game, and Tim Tebow breathing down his neck are a recipe for disaster.

And win or lose, they are absolutely painful to watch. Just another season in the life of a Jets fan. *sigh*

bigjnyc said:

Sadly thats probably an understatement. I think the Jets really need to reflect on the idiotic moves they made this off-season..... like extending Sanchez's contract and bringing in Tebow, signing Sparano instead of Haley.... Anyway that being said I think they could have done alot better and possibly won some of those close games with Revis healthy and possibly Holmes (although I say Holmes through gritted teeth) As bad as Sanchez is you have to admit that they have set him up for failure in some way.... He has no weapons to throw it to and no running game to keep defenses honest. Jets have the worst set of skill players in the NFL right now lol.

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Hey send Tebow or Sanchez over to Niners as the rest of our team is filled out nicely! If we had a Tebow, Sanchez, Rivers, Ryan, or Romo, we could be a dynasty again like our '81-'98 seasons, when we put the world on notice with the catch by Clark all the way up to the catch II taking down the Packers in Young's last season.

63dot said:

Hey send Tebow or Sanchez over to Niners as the rest of our team is filled out nicely! If we had a Tebow, Sanchez, Rivers, Ryan, or Romo, we could be a dynasty again like our '81-'99 seasons.

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You're kidding.....right?

63dot said:

Hey send Tebow or Sanchez over to Niners as the rest of our team is filled out nicely! If we had a Tebow, Sanchez, Rivers, Ryan, or Romo, we could be a dynasty again like our '81-'98 seasons, putting the world on notice with the catch all the way up to the catch II taking down the Packers.

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LOL! sure just send us Kapernik, I'd take him over the Sanchbow mess we have going on any day.