2014-15 NFL season thread

[maflynn]

Congrats to Dallas, on the hard fought win. I missed most of the game because my children's birthday party but for what I saw, Detroit was ahead for most of the game. Regardless of the officiating that I did see, they were able to claw their way back.

I don't think they'll get pass Seattle though.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Congrats to Dallas, on the hard fought win. I missed most of the game because my children's birthday party but for what I saw, Detroit was ahead for most of the game. Regardless of the officiating that I did see, they were able to claw their way back.

I don't think they'll get pass Seattle though.

I watched most of the game and was surprised that Dallas came back to win.

 

[63dot]

Congrats to Dallas, on the hard fought win. I missed most of the game because my children's birthday party but for what I saw, Detroit was ahead for most of the game. Regardless of the officiating that I did see, they were able to claw their way back.

I don't think they'll get pass Seattle though.

I don't think anybody will get past Seattle and if Seattle thinks this too much, they may drop the ball, so to speak.

They may very well be the next NFL dynasty (I predicted this last year as have most Niner fans, thus the true hate on Seattle) but they have to face each game as an entity on to itself and then reap the rewards later.

You don't have to win pretty, but just do your best each down and play as if each down is your last down. What you can end up with is still being low on the radar, but get the win. Yes you have guys like Rivers, Brady, Romo totally tearing up the QB rating year after year, but I would rather be someone like Joe Flacco (mere 84.8 rating) who has a recent Super Bowl ring who has most recently gone 5 playoff games with 17 TDs and no interceptions. Brady has two losses in recent years, Rivers has no ring, and Romo has the all time "king of choke factor in December" moniker around his neck.

Before Dallas has to face a Seattle, they have to win the divisionals which will pit the two highest rated QBs in history (Rodgers and Romo). If it were just about offense I would give it to GB, but GB has one of the worst rated defenses on the pass and rush of just about any team who has gone before them. They rank in the bottom quarter of both defending against the pass and rush and this could play in the favor of someone like Dallas. But Dallas has to get their own D in order to stop Rodgers. It should be a great, but high scoring game.

 

[mscriv]

A fun trivia fact about the Dallas vs Green Bay game is that it will be an 8-0 team on the road (Dallas) facing and 8-0 team at home (Green Bay). From what I heard Sunday this has only happened a few other times in the NFL and the last time it happened was decades ago. I'm hoping for a fun game and would love to see a Dallas victory.

 

[63dot]

A fun trivia fact about the Dallas vs Green Bay game is that it will be an 8-0 team on the road (Dallas) facing and 8-0 team at home (Green Bay). From what I heard Sunday this has only happened a few other times in the NFL and the last time it happened was decades ago. I'm hoping for a fun game and would love to see a Dallas victory.

If Dallas wins, which I don't think is terribly likely, but still likely due to GB's awful D, how would they fare against a possible trip to Seattle for the NFC Championship? I think the road for Dallas doesn't go further than Seattle.

When Seattle gets to Super Bowl, which many think, I don't see them doing things any differently against a one dimensional team like Denver or NE and beat them in a fashion like last year, but how will Seattle possibly beat a team with talent more spread out like Indy or Baltimore? You can have a strong QB like Kap or Manning and totally frustrate them, but I don't exactly know how Seattle would do against a team that has hidden weapons everywhere like the lesser two (Colts and Ravens). You can't subdue Seattle from the passing game and that has been seen all too many times.

I would love to see Romo fight against Seattle and I will be first one there rooting for Tony, but what kind of passing game with your 97.8 career QB rating are you going to pull out against Seattle? You go deep you will be intercepted and they will predict that before the game and then prove it, and if you go short they will flatten you and maybe take you out of the game as is their less than gentle style, and you can't decide to go mobile against them because they will catch you behind the line as they did Kap and Romo don't have legs like Kap.

I would do the time of possession thing against Seattle and win with baby steps and somehow ignore the loud stadium.

 

[Peace]

Dallas won in Seattle earlier in the season. I think 28-23.

However, Seattle had a couple of injured players in that game and a problem in the locker room.

Seattle now has all of their 1st string players back, they are a happy team and they are on a roll and a mission.

If Dallas plays in Seattle good luck.

 

[63dot]

Dallas won in Seattle earlier in the season. I think 28-23.

However, Seattle had a couple of injured players in that game and a problem in the locker room.

Seattle now has all of their 1st string players back, they are a happy team and they are on a roll and a mission.

If Dallas plays in Seattle good luck.

I think Green Bay stands a better chance but then it would surprise me if GB can score much at all in Seattle.

Again like last year this time, it's Seattle's to lose and just about everybody knows it.

Sure there were Pats fans and Broncos fans beating their chests but it's funny how they all came to the realization that they knew Seattle would demolish anybody who entered into the Super Bowl against them. At the very least while Pats fans knew they would lose against Seattle, their best defense, after the big game, was that it wouldn't have been by that much.

Big mouth Sherman did get it right when he said the NFC Championship was the real Super Bowl last year and it's possible (if Green Bay gets there after absolutely routing Dallas, if that happens) that the NFC Championship will pit the two best teams of the NFL against each other. It would be fun to see a tight race in the NFC Championship game with the lead bouncing back and forth between Seattle and Green Bay only to be determined in last two minutes. I like to dream of such things even if the NFC game is a wash and one team dominates the other and it's truly over in the 1st quarter.

While the Niners are rebuilding and will look like the worst team in football for the next few years, I can only hope key Seattle players will end up on other teams outside the NFC West or better yet, in Niner uniforms. Maybe we can see a big mouth showoff, akin to Atlanta's Deion Sanders becoming a Niner en route to another SF Super Bowl win, turn into something similar to if Sherman ends up going to San Francisco. I would also like to see Russel Wilson become one of us. In pro sports, you just never know who will end up where thus reminding us that one can never get too cozy with any one player. To us fans, it's about our team, but to them, it's about being a professional for the sport (and not any one team) and often getting the best deal out there.

 

[Peace]

I think Green Bay stands a better chance but then it would surprise me if GB can score much at all in Seattle.

Again like last year this time, it's Seattle's to lose and just about everybody knows it.

Sure there were Pats fans and Broncos fans beating their chests but it's funny how they all came to the realization that they knew Seattle would demolish anybody who entered into the Super Bowl against them. At the very least while Pats fans knew they would lose against Seattle, their best defense, after the big game, was that it wouldn't have been by that much.

Big mouth Sherman did get it right when he said the NFC Championship was the real Super Bowl last year and it's possible (if Green Bay gets there after absolutely routing Dallas, if that happens) that the NFC Championship will pit the two best teams of the NFL against each other. It would be fun to see a tight race in the NFC Championship game with the lead bouncing back and forth between Seattle and Green Bay only to be determined in last two minutes. I like to dream of such things even if the NFC game is a wash and one team dominates the other and it's truly over in the 1st quarter.

While the Niners are rebuilding and will look like the worst team in football for the next few years, I can only hope key Seattle players will end up on other teams outside the NFC West or better yet, in Niner uniforms. Maybe we can see a big mouth showoff, akin to Atlanta's Deion Sanders becoming a Niner en route to another SF Super Bowl win, turn into something similar to if Sherman ends up going to San Francisco. I would also like to see Russel Wilson become one of us. In pro sports, you just never know who will end up where thus reminding us that one can never get too cozy with any one player. To us fans, it's about our team, but to them, it's about being a professional for the sport (and not any one team) and often getting the best deal out there.

Things will change in Seattle after this season. I see the OF and DC getting head coaching jobs. Dan Quinn has already been interviewed by 3 teams.

"According to a Friday tweet by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Quinn has or will be speaking with representatives from the New York Jets, Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons and Buffalo Bills on Friday and Saturday, making him one of the hottest head-coaching candidates in the league."

Here's one for you :

"The 44-year-old reportedly interviewed with the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday, per Fox Sports’ Mike Garafolo, but he’s not the only Seahawks aide in high demand."

 

[63dot]

Things will change in Seattle after this season. I see the OF and DC getting head coaching jobs. Dan Quinn has already been interviewed by 3 teams.

"According to a Friday tweet by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Quinn has or will be speaking with representatives from the New York Jets, Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons and Buffalo Bills on Friday and Saturday, making him one of the hottest head-coaching candidates in the league."

Here's one for you :

"The 44-year-old reportedly interviewed with the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday, per Fox Sports’ Mike Garafolo, but he’s not the only Seahawks aide in high demand."

Yes that would be nice.

Here's what I want to happen. After this postseason is over, we get Quinn and two things happen. First the Niners then become the team of the NFC West. The second would of course be Super Bowl titles.

It's not as it sounds that I want Seattle to do badly, but I simply want my SF team to avoid complete rebuilding freefall. Before Harbaugh, which was not long ago, it was often considered normal to have a less than 8-8 outlook for the season. I want the team to rebuild as quickly as possible and I couldn't think of a better way than to see Quinn, a Super Bowl winner and previously a Niners D coach, back on the payroll and helping us regain what momentum we had with the already good players we have.

Dan Quinn, Coach San Francisco 49ers. That has a great ring to it.

My winter would be totally complete with the acquisition of Dan Quinn for the 49ers and James Shields or Max Scherzer for the San Francisco Giants. Short of those two very expensive and possibly unrealistic moves, we could use a lefty batter in outfielder Nori Aoki and move outfielder Travis Ishikawa back to the infield as we need to ramp up our bats in Pablo Sandoval's absence.

 

[Sydde]

It was kind of creepy, I was in Fred's today (a store) and they had a madden sim of Carolina-Seattle running on two large TVs in the center aisle.

Which is kind of to say that Seattle does still have to jump over the Panthers to get one of those other teams to show up at the Clink.

 

[pachyderm]

Dallas won in Seattle earlier in the season. I think 28-23.

However, Seattle had a couple of injured players in that game and a problem in the locker room.

Seattle now has all of their 1st string players back, they are a happy team and they are on a roll and a mission.

If Dallas plays in Seattle good luck.

yeah, that sounds right.

was it you that kept saying SEA isn't the same team that were at the start of the season? kudos if so!

 

[maflynn]

Dallas won in Seattle earlier in the season. I think 28-23.

However, Seattle had a couple of injured players in that game and a problem in the locker room.

Seattle now has all of their 1st string players back, they are a happy team and they are on a roll and a mission.

If Dallas plays in Seattle good luck.

Yep, but then Seattle was not playing to their fullest potential, they are now and that does not bode well for any team that plays them.

 

[pachyderm]

Yep, but then Seattle was not playing to their fullest potential, they are now and that does not bode well for any team that plays them.

i'm pretty sure that is what he meant...

 

[maflynn]

i'm pretty sure that is what he meant...

I don't mean just injuries, they were not playing well, there was dissension in the club house (As Peace mentioned), and they were a bit sloppy on the field. They've largely pulled together and started playing well, with everyone (most?) being healthy that just makes them all the harder to beat.

To put it another way, player injured certainly impacted the team's performance negatively, but I think other factors, were bigger contributors to their early season struggles.

 

[63dot]

Driving to work I heard early odds with Seattle on top with 23% calling for win, NE just below that at 22%, GB at 20% followed by Denver.

Those four seem to be the favorites but don't count out Dallas or Indy as that could be the Super Bowl. Due to depth, and not just one player, I still like Indy's chances against the best of the NFC even though I think Seattle would be terribly hard to beat. I could see Indy giving GB a good fight.

For Dallas fans, this morning:

http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/2015/01/06/poll-will-the-dallas-cowboys-win-super-bowl-xlix/

 

[Peace]

i'm pretty sure that is what he meant...

I don't mean just injuries, they were not playing well, there was dissension in the club house (As Peace mentioned), and they were a bit sloppy on the field. They've largely pulled together and started playing well, with everyone (most?) being healthy that just makes them all the harder to beat.

To put it another way, player injured certainly impacted the team's performance negatively, but I think other factors, were bigger contributors to their early season struggles.

Ya. That's what I meant. I was trying to be nice but.

Percy Harvin was causing a lot of problems in the locker room and it caused the team to be out of synch.

After Percy left and Seattle got back a couple of starters ( injured a game before Dallas ) the team met in the locker room and re committed to being a team rather than 11 guys on the field.

And it has shown.

 

[63dot]

With all the attention that is around Seattle and people comparing the current team to the monster that was Seattle's team last year, there are as many instances where the overwhelming consensus of a best team doesn't go all the way.

Two years ago there was almost no doubt the 49ers would beat the lowly Ravens, and the year before that it was almost a given that New England was supposed to exact revenge and take out the upstart Giants. Both those Super Bowls were upsets.

Of course the two years previous to that had pretty evenly matched teams where either could have been the winner.

If it's Seattle against NE, Denver, or Indy, I wouldn't be surprised if the Seahawks only won by three points and not the blowout we had last year. Seattle could still be the winner at the end and the best team this season, but they are certainly not the team they had last year. I already hear people talking about them as the champion as if it's a foregone conclusion and they are the current dynasty in the NFL, but there's plenty of football left. Usually a team is a sports dynasty with 3 championships over a certain period of time, and I will gladly call Seattle a dynasty if they beat their opponent 43-8 in upcoming Super Bowl, but that remains to be seen. Will beast mode get yards, will Sherman stop the pass, and will Wilson throw for a lot of TDs and have them pull all that off in two playoff games and the Super Bowl?

Sure, another Super Bowl win will give them bragging rights, but it won't match the swagger they had last year by talking trash and backing it up (which they did ala Namath). They have put themselves in a tough position where they don't win and keep up with Seattle sized expectations unless they totally crush the competition. A beast mode doesn't live up the name in a Super Bowl win if he only has 60 yards and a single TD and averages two yards per carry which can happen Feb. 1. Wilson may only throw for two TDs and Sherman may not intercept anything so it would be interesting to see how they act in the future. Did anybody foresee what may happen if it's a low scoring game and Seattle wins the Super Bowl by a field goal? Of course Wilson isn't a braggart (everybody loves him) but it's the over the top Seattle fans who really bug me. I really thought I saw the worst of how annoying fans could be when the Cowboys were the it team in the 1990s.

I think what would instantly silence Seahawks fans is if they faced the Ravens and lost by a huge margin.

 

[turtle777]

My prediction: the REAL Superbowl game will be played on 1/18: Seattle vs. Green Bay.

I don't believe NE (or Indy or Denver) will win the Superbowl, so whoever wins the NFC Championship will probably win the Superbowl.

-t

 

[Sydde]

… They have put themselves in a tough position where they don't win and keep up with Seattle sized expectations unless they totally crush the competition. A beast mode doesn't live up the name in a Super Bowl win if he only has 60 yards and a single TD and averages two yards per carry which can happen Feb. 1. Wilson may only throw for two TDs and Sherman may not intercept anything so it would be interesting to see how they act in the future.…

Which is basically their stats for XLVIII. But the thing about Marshawn is that he does not run for TDs, he walks. In the Arizona game, he went straight in untouched from the six and stood there shaking hands with his guys, just like in the SB. The Hawks are about getting it done. Sherman gets very few INTs because they are afraid to throw anywhere near him, and, in fact, in his most famous play, the INT went to some other guy, like #53 or somesuch.

Look at the first AFC WC game: Pittsburgh beat the stuffing out of Baltimore in almost every stat, except the one that counts, which was all over the other way.

I think it would be funny if Oregon and Green Bay were both the big winners, since they use the same colors.

 

[Peace]

Which is basically their stats for XLVIII. But the thing about Marshawn is that he does not run for TDs, he walks. In the Arizona game, he went straight in untouched from the six and stood there shaking hands with his guys, just like in the SB. The Hawks are about getting it done. Sherman gets very few INTs because they are afraid to throw anywhere near him, and, in fact, in his most famous play, the INT went to some other guy, like #53 or somesuch.

Look at the first AFC WC game: Pittsburgh beat the stuffing out of Baltimore in almost every stat, except the one that counts, which was all over the other way.

I think it would be funny if Oregon and Green Bay were both the big winners, since they use the same colors.

The same colors ? LOL

Not familiar with the myriad of uniforms for the Ducks are you.

 

[Sydde]

Cowboys star Jethro Pugh dies at age 70. I am not a Cowboys fan (to say the least), but I do remember that name. Now I am struggling to not feel old.

 

[63dot]

Which is basically their stats for XLVIII. But the thing about Marshawn is that he does not run for TDs, he walks. In the Arizona game, he went straight in untouched from the six and stood there shaking hands with his guys, just like in the SB. The Hawks are about getting it done. Sherman gets very few INTs because they are afraid to throw anywhere near him, and, in fact, in his most famous play, the INT went to some other guy, like #53 or somesuch.

Look at the first AFC WC game: Pittsburgh beat the stuffing out of Baltimore in almost every stat, except the one that counts, which was all over the other way.

I think it would be funny if Oregon and Green Bay were both the big winners, since they use the same colors.

I don't doubt that you will win it all and any smart gambler puts their money on them this year.

I just don't see a huge domination thing like a 43-8 rout. While the AFC is largely the same with actually smaller numbers throughout on top teams, Seattle's ability to crush an opponent is just not the same as last year. It will be more by 3-7 points that Seattle wins a Super Bowl and many will predict a real decline in the team if they don't come blasting out of the gates next year. Some of us in Niner land predicted the end to your dynasty this year when it appeared you may have some trouble, but in the end you won the division and bye to boot. Oh, and you also got home field throughout playoffs and eight weeks ago nobody would have thought all of that. When it's all over for your winning ways, you will probably be like Dallas in the 90s or NE in the 2000s and walk away with three championships. When things are on, like they are now with you again, it can feel like you will be there forever. We in San Francisco forgot that the division was something we had to fight for after 5 Super Bowls in 14 years. Now it feels amazing just to get 2nd place these days.

The hard thing about dynasties these days is that with players going every which way, and it's hard to expect the same level of play from adding new players or same players but a year older. You won't get any team dominating for nearly two decades the way Dallas did back in the Landry days who went to first or second place in division (except once) in his division from '66 to '83.

 

[Sydde]

The same colors ? LOL

Not familiar with the myriad of uniforms for the Ducks are you.

They remind me in a way of the Broncos in the late '90s: once they changed their uniforms to that nasty wavy stripy design, then they won a couple of SBs. The Ducks' strategy seems to be the same, to assault their opponents' eyes, putting them off-balance to make it easier to assault their bodies. Never underestimate the power of ugly.

 

[AustinIllini]

In an unexpected move, the Chicago Bears have hired Ryan Pace as their next General Manager.

 

[Sydde]

The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network is installing monitors at the Clink to measure for potential beastquakes in Saturday's game (there is an annotated breakdown of the 2011 event on the linked page). Perhaps they will display realtime info on the screens, which could incite the audience to make even more noise.