The 2013-14 NFL football season thread

[63dot]

I'd slow down on that one. I'm a Patriots fan and I don't think they deserve the #1 spot. Consistency has been a problem, but hopefully with the offense back and healthy things will continue to improve. Losing our top 2 defensive players for the year just isn't something you easily overcome. So I'm happy, but bullish.



Come on, this is asinine. How on earth does Brady have a "curse"? Because he has 3 Super Bowls instead of 5? If that's the case, then most of the QBs to play the game are cursed. The SB is very, very hard to win in case anyone forgets it. Marino never won one, do we doubt he's one of the best to ever play? The team around you matters a LOT. Tom Brady is better now than he was in 2001.

NE destroyed Denver once they woke up so it's no contest as to who is the best AFC team. Power rankings also takes into account the last week as well as whole season and NE is peaking at the right time.

As for curse? Here's my take:

It's not bad to have 3 but what a lot of people, sadly, remember is that the last two times he was in the Super Bowl he lost, and against the same friggin team. Both times NE was heavily favored so yeah, it's a curse whether you call it the curse of Eli Manning (who isn't 1/10th the QB of Brady) or the curse of the NY Giants.

I too have loved a great team with a great QB for all time but we had a small item we had to deal with in the 1989 season:

Being a Niners fan, we went many years without beating Denver and Elway and while we then had three Super Bowls in three tries, it was a monkey on our backs. The press never let it go especially since we lost a few regular season games against them we shouldn't have. Even though at the time Elway had no Super Bowl wins, he was a Stanford guy who a lot of people in the Bay Area liked and many said the Niners were great BUT spent 8 or 9 years unable to beat Elway and Denver. What is with that? So when we did go against Denver for our 4th Super Bowl appearance, there was a little fear in us all that there was some "curse" that just would not allow us to beat Denver, or at least Denver with Elway at QB. So when we won that 4th Super Bowl, and by a big margin, it put that rumor or curse to rest. But after that, with Montana/Niners and his four rings in four tries, we still had Steve Young with everything going for him, top rated QB of all time, but with no ring. We weren't crybabies but when he hit the Super Bowl for the Niner's 5th time in 5 tries, we absolutely had to win that one because "Steve didn't have a ring as starting QB" even though he had two as backup QB. It doesn't look like it seemed like a bad thing for Steve but I felt for him. So Steve, maybe cursed with not playing and constantly being in the shadow of Montana, got rid of the curse against him or the monkey on his back. It was especially sweet since when Steve and the Niners faced Joe Montana and Kansas City early that season, they beat us and the press was all over Steve on blowing that one.

It's all scale.

If I were Brady, I would be hungry not to just go to Super Bowl or have a great season, but to win just one more championship. I don't want to go out winning first three and losing last two. If I had a choice, I would rather lose first two and win last three even though it's 3-2 either way. You want to leave this game a winner if at all possible and you better be sure that if guys like the Bus and Ray Lewis did it, and with post Super Bowl press dwelling on that, Brady would love to leave this a winner. Many lesser players left this sport holding the Lombardo Trophy, so why not Tom Brady?

The guy is the very definition of choke in these last 9 years, made most famous by having an undefeated season and then losing it in the Super Bowl, so there is a monkey on his back. Sure it's worse to go 0-16 and miss the playoffs and that would make you a choke, but you are a famous choke when you do WELL but then lose in Super Bowl when everybody thinks you are going to win easily. If you don't feel it, you don't understand Tom or Boston. Do you think Boston spent 8 decades being OK with not winning World Series because since they already had more WS rings than most teams before their amazing 2004 season?

 

[63dot]

I mean, you seriously think that Brady's legacy now is worse than it was in 2005 after he had won 3 super bowls in 4 years?

Yes.

He was on track to be the third guy to get 4 for 4, like Bradshaw and Montana. It didn't happen and that was a huge letdown. Brady's from my neck of the woods and we were seriously down. We considered him a norcal kid who grew up idolizing Montana who would also go on to go 4 for 4.

Yes Montana lost three, or maybe more, Conference championships but what he is remembered for is going to 4 Super Bowls and winning those all tying the feat done previously by Terry Bradshaw.

While Brady deserves to be put in same sentence in the pantheon of great postseason football quarterbacks as Montana and Bradshaw, he won't until he gets that 4th ring. Now if he gets that then he's golden and his overall stats will probably make people not even mention is two losses. He will be "Tom Brady who won four Super Bowls" or "Tom Brady who is tied for most Super Bowl wins as starting quarterback".

It's a big thing and this time he's in a good way, peaking now, to make it happen.

Football is no guarantee, but if Tom gets there, with whatever record and with whoever is healthy, he will win that 4th Super Bowl. Realistically it could be his last shot, and many a great player had their last shots at a younger age, so if Niners don't go there I would like to see Tom get this one for you, and for all of us in Northern California. We are well covered since there was also this one dude from Chico that is doing well now, too.

I don't know how important high school and college football is for you but it's a religion in the Pac 12 and it's almost as if Brady (born here), Elway (played here), Rodgers (born and played here), and Aikman (played for UCLA) are icons. Though Aikman is nationally known for the blue of the Cowboys, he is the light blue and gold of UCLA for us folks! Some say the SEC takes it more seriously but we have delivered some great players to the pros.

 

[zioxide]

It's not bad to have 3 but what a lot of people, sadly, remember is that the last two times he was in the Super Bowl he lost, and against the same friggin team.

The only people who "remember it" that way are those who hate the Patriots (like our friend MacNut ). They could win 10 Super Bowls yet the haters would still harp on the negatives.

When all is said and done, history will judge the resume, and the resume speaks for itself:

2× AP NFL MVP (2007, 2010)
8× Pro Bowl (2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)
2× AP First-Team All-Pro (2007, 2010)
AP Second-Team All-Pro (2005)
3× Super Bowl champion (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX)
2× Super Bowl MVP (XXXVI, XXXVIII)
5× AFC champion
Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year (2005)
Sporting News Sportsman of the Year (2004, 2007)
AP Male Athlete of the Year (2007)
23× AFC Offensive Player of the Week
2× AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year (2007, 2010)
3× AFC Offensive Player of the Year (2007, 2010, 2011)
AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year (2009)
PFWA NFL Comeback Player of the Year (2009)
New England Patriots All-time leader (Passing touchdowns, Passing yards, Pass completion, Pass attempt, Career Wins)
Most touchdown passes (Single season NFL record with 50)
Highest playoff win total (17-7)
Longest consecutive win streak (NFL record)
NFL 2000s All-Decade Team
Best Winning Percentage for any QB in league history
Only QB to ever be 100+ games over .500
10 AFC East titles (so far)

Both times NE was heavily favored so yeah, it's a curse whether you call it the curse of Eli Manning (who isn't 1/10th the QB of Brady) or the curse of the NY Giants.

Being "favored" by bookies doesn't mean anything whatsoever. It's about as relevant to what happens on the field as the colors of the player's shoelaces.

The guy is the very definition of choke in these last 9 years, made most famous by having an undefeated season and then losing it in the Super Bowl, so there is a monkey on his back.

lmao.

So Brady winning the division every year, taking his team into the playoffs in years that the team did not belong anywhere near there, winning two more AFC titles and going to the Super Bowl is a "choke"? That's laughable.

What's Manning's EIGHT first-round playoff losses then? What about the years between Montana's Super Bowl wins? Did he "choke" those years cause he didn't win it all? What about the other teams who didn't even make the playoffs in that span?

A "choke" is a game like we saw last night.. where one team has a huge lead and blows it. A choke isn't when two evenly matched teams battle it out in a great game, it goes down to the wire, and one team pulls it out in a situation where it could have gone either way.

If you don't feel it, you don't understand Tom or Boston.

I understand it perfectly here. Many fans here have unrealistic expectations after they've been spoiled the last decade.

Go back and ask some of the Patriots season ticket holders who've had tickets for 30+ years. They went through decades of nothing. Obviously everyone wants to win every year but these hardcore fans are thrilled they got to experience what they have for the past decade. No team in the free agency era has been able to remain competitive year in and year out like the Patriots have while simultaneously turning over nearly their entire roster multiple times.

Yes.

He was on track to be the third guy to get 4 for 4, like Bradshaw and Montana. It didn't happen and that was a huge letdown. Brady's from my neck of the woods and we were seriously down. We considered him a norcal kid who grew up idolizing Montana who would also go on to go 4 for 4.

Yes Montana lost three, or maybe more, Conference championships but what he is remembered for is going to 4 Super Bowls and winning those all tying the feat done previously by Terry Bradshaw.

While Brady deserves to be put in same sentence in the pantheon of great postseason football quarterbacks as Montana and Bradshaw, he won't until he gets that 4th ring. Now if he gets that then he's golden and his overall stats will probably make people not even mention is two losses. He will be "Tom Brady who won four Super Bowls" or "Tom Brady who is tied for most Super Bowl wins as starting quarterback".

You can't make these comparisons across eras based solely on championships in a vacuum. It doesn't work. Neither Bradshaw nor Montana's teams had to deal with free agency. There was like no turnover. It's a hell of a lot easier to win multiple championships when you have the same exact team back. That's just not possible anymore in the free agency era. Bradshaw wouldn't even be one of the top 10 quarterbacks if he was playing today. Thats how much the game has changed between free agency and stressing the passing game now.

Football is no guarantee, but if Tom gets there, with whatever record and with whoever is healthy, he will win that 4th Super Bowl. Realistically it could be his last shot, and many a great player had their last shots at a younger age, so if Niners don't go there I would like to see Tom get this one for you, and for all of us in Northern California. We are well covered since there was also this one dude from Chico that is doing well now, too.

I like our chances this year. This Pats team is winning games differently than they did a few years back when they were just lighting up the scoreboard. This team can handle adversity. That goes a long way come playoff time. And add in the fact that we're going to have a cold weather Super Bowl this year... if they make it back there, I like their chances. And if they do win, all this debate is over, and Brady goes down as the undisputed GOAT.

 

[Queen of Spades]

If I were Brady, I would be hungry not to just go to Super Bowl or have a great season, but to win just one more championship. I don't want to go out winning first three and losing last two. If I had a choice, I would rather lose first two and win last three even though it's 3-2 either way.

You don't think..Tom Brady is hungry for another Super Bowl? What do you think he's busting his ass in 22 degree weather for? You think he wanted to lose a Super Bowl? Are we speaking in reality?

edited

Nevermind, actually. It's the holidays and I'm in a good mood. Suffice to say I think you're 120% wrong on pretty much everything you've said re: Tom Brady. I'll leave it at that.

 

[rdowns]

Nevermind, actually. It's the holidays and I'm in a good mood. Suffice to say I think you're 120% wrong on pretty much everything you've said re: Tom Brady. I'll leave it at that.

I agree. I will now refer to him as the anti-Homer.

 

[Queen of Spades]

I agree. I will now refer to him as the anti-Homer.

LOL. Brilliant.

 

[Peace]

Curses. Who's better. This. That. It's the cats meow.

You guys do realize Manning has been hoped up on painkillers due to two ankle injuries right ?

Who else pumps their quarterback full of pain meds ? And gets away with it.

Seattle is losing one of it's main defensive guys for 4 weeks because of non-ped drugs ..

All the while Peyton stands there stoned out of his mind and you guys talk about dynasties.

There's more to the NFL than the high population NE coridor.

Ha !

 

[ucfgrad93]

Curses. Who's better. This. That. It's the cats meow.

You guys do realize Manning has been hoped up on painkillers due to two ankle injuries right ?

Who else pumps their quarterback full of pain meds ? And gets away with it.

Seattle is losing one of it's main defensive guys for 4 weeks because of non-ped drugs ..

All the while Peyton stands there stoned out of his mind and you guys talk about dynasties.

There's more to the NFL than the high population NE coridor.

Ha !

Sure you weren't pumped full of pain meds when you wrote this crap?

 

[Peace]

Sure you weren't pumped full of pain meds when you wrote this crap?

I'm quit sure.

 

[pachyderm]

You don't think..Tom Brady is hungry for another Super Bowl? What do you think he's busting his ass in 22 degree weather for? You think he wanted to lose a Super Bowl? Are we speaking in reality?



Nevermind, actually. It's the holidays and I'm in a good mood. Suffice to say I think you're 120% wrong on pretty much everything you've said re: Tom Brady. I'll leave it at that.

ya had to like brady and the pats last night.

and his numbers in cold weather(under 40*'s) is something like 44 - 7.

manning's numbers, remember he played in doors for a long time, are nowhere as good. although after a few more season in denver i'm sure that will change.

...and brady simply owns manning.

----

the big news is the RAIDERS might have an actual decent QB in this McGloin kid.

 

[63dot]

I like our chances this year. This Pats team is winning games differently than they did a few years back when they were just lighting up the scoreboard. This team can handle adversity. That goes a long way come playoff time. And add in the fact that we're going to have a cold weather Super Bowl this year... if they make it back there, I like their chances. And if they do win, all this debate is over, and Brady goes down as the undisputed GOAT.

I think this year's Pat team will go all the way for the AFC.

The fact that they could do it, like you say, in a different way is what will carry them through to the Lombardi Trophy.

I agree with all you and Queen say about Tom. I am not an anti-Homer per se but realistically looking at his two very painful SB losses (probably the biggest upsets I can remember), but how much more those hard knocks will fuel him.

Combined with their different style of play this year, champion attitude over adversity, and the need to get it done, the Pats are who I think is at least most likely to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl coming up.

I think you and Queen are wrong in how those two Super Bowl losses are NOT a monkey on Tom's back. If you have a strength, you see it like any casual fan, but a true fan also sees the negatives making a championship win that much more special.

Brady has as much pressure as Steve Young in his Super Bowl after following Montana's greatness or John Elway trying to get into the W column for the big game when the Broncos went there in Super Bowl XXXII in 1998. With Steve there were no Super Bowl losses and with John, there were three. But what they both had is perhaps more pressure on them to perform than a regular blank slate going into a Super Bowl. If Tom makes it into the Super Bowl and you don't think those prior two losses are not weighing heavily on him, then I have to say we simply disagree.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/575668-the-10-biggest-choke-jobs-in-super-bowl-history/page/10

 

[Queen of Spades]

the big news is the RAIDERS might have an actual decent QB in this McGloin kid.

I didn't get to see that game - so you think he's the future, rather than Pryor? Because Pryor looked very good early in the year, and I know people were excited about developing him.

And more importantly, do you think he could throw to Denarius Moore more frequently?

 

[pachyderm]

I didn't get to see that game - so you think he's the future, rather than Pryor? Because Pryor looked very good early in the year, and I know people were excited about developing him.

And more importantly, do you think he could throw to Denarius Moore more frequently?

he tried! yeah i do think he is the future. he is a QB pryor isn't. Jano missed 2 FG's and we dropped a few passes. and our secondary is ****.

but we could have had 6 more points if Jano hadn't missed.

but McGloin got better, and seemingly, smarter as he played on.

 

[63dot]

Just hang in there, don't blow it

27-6

We are still deep into the rankings list but still in it. Like I predicted New England is the top power ranking AFC team right now as should be the case. They look to be on collision course with either the Saints or Seahawks who are the top two teams on power ranking this week.


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...s-week-13-where-does-every-team-stand/page/33

While it's really iffy for the Niners to go all the way, I would love to see a Seahawks versus Patriots Super Bowl. I have given up hope on Niners getting the best of Seahawks this year in the NFC West but somebody has to spank them.

One guy who was a Niners fan, having lived in norcal for a long time, has reverted to Seahawks (his home town) this year and he never lets me forget of Seattle's superiority over the Niners. He changes teams all the time and the one year he picked Green Bay they won the Super Bowl. He talks about the Seahawks as if they already won the Super Bowl for the 2013-14 season. This is wrong on so many levels also since they haven't won the big dance yet. That being said, they do look to be the best team in the NFL all year. If the Seahawks go I hope somebody beats them by three touchdowns and this should take pressure off of Niners in future who can't seem to stop their offense. I don't want to play second fiddle to Seattle for a whole decade and I spent too many years watching Niners be the second or third team of the NFC West. We may not be the great NFC East as far as titles and superstars over many decades, but it's hard watching Arizona, the Rams, and now the Seahawks be the best in the west. It's a really competitive division.




Super Bowl wins/appearances per division

Division Wins
NFC East 12 Dallas(5) New York Giants(4) Washington(3)
AFC North 8 Pittsburgh(6) Baltimore(2)
AFC West 6 Oakland(3) Denver(2) Kansas City(1)
NFC West 6 San Francisco(5) St. Louis(1)
AFC East 6 New England(3) Miami(2) New York Jets(1)
NFC North 5 Green Bay(4) Chicago(1)
AFC South 2 Indianapolis(2)**
NFC South 2 Tampa Bay(1) New Orleans(1)

 

[63dot]

Oakland, wtf? We had them but they busted it out big in 4th. Not usually the team I consider a 4th quarter team, the Cowboys have had a few great games. They have a slim lead in their division and Raiders are numerically out of taking AFC West. There's always next year.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Super Bowl wins/appearances per division

Division Wins
NFC East 12 Dallas(5) New York Giants(4) Washington(3)
AFC North 8 Pittsburgh(6) Baltimore(2)
AFC West 6 Oakland(3) Denver(2) Kansas City(1)
NFC West 6 San Francisco(5) St. Louis(1)
AFC East 6 New England(3) Miami(2) New York Jets(1)
NFC North 5 Green Bay(4) Chicago(1)
AFC South 2 Indianapolis(2)**
NFC South 2 Tampa Bay(1) New Orleans(1)

Your chart is mislabeled. It should not read /appearances. Denver has been in the Super Bowl more than 2 times. Also, if you are counting appearances you don't have Buffalo and Minnesota's 4 appearances each.

 

[Peace]

The NFC West part doesn't show Seattle in the Super Bowl either. Remember ? The one where Pittsburg stole the game ?

 

[63dot]

Your chart is mislabeled. It should not read /appearances. Denver has been in the Super Bowl more than 2 times. Also, if you are counting appearances you don't have Buffalo and Minnesota's 4 appearances each.

I just cut and pasted it from bleacher report or espn. I think the other column which I didn't put up has their number of appearances win or lose. I think this column I cut and pasted from the site is Super Bowl wins.

They should also put up a column of what it's like for a man to come home after a shift from work when his team won, but beat his lady's team. I just pulled a delivery just now and one guy on the route was jazzed his Cowboys won in a late blooming game, but he's going to come home to a brokenhearted Raiders fan of a girlfriend. She's the one cooking Thanksgiving dinner and I don't suspect he will get much tonight after work! The columns could read 1) didn't eat 2) slept on couch, or 3) didn't eat and slept on couch

My wife is a NY Jets fan and a NYY fan, due to her home town, and I sincerely hope Niners never face the Jets in Super Bowl nor the Giants face off against the Yankees in the World Series. For peace of mind, I would hope the New York teams win in that case.

 

[pachyderm]

Your chart is mislabeled. It should not read /appearances. Denver has been in the Super Bowl more than 2 times. Also, if you are counting appearances you don't have Buffalo and Minnesota's 4 appearances each.

looks like it is just wins but i'm not sure they got that right either...

here is a comprehensive list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Super_Bowl_champions

 

[pachyderm]

Oakland, wtf? We had them but they busted it out big in 4th. Not usually the team I consider a 4th quarter team, the Cowboys have had a few great games. They have a slim lead in their division and Raiders are numerically out of taking AFC West. There's always next year.

I like McGloin. I think he will be a very good NFL QB... and sooner rather than later.

 

[rhett7660]

Oakland, wtf? We had them but they busted it out big in 4th. Not usually the team I consider a 4th quarter team, the Cowboys have had a few great games. They have a slim lead in their division and Raiders are numerically out of taking AFC West. There's always next year.

How about them Cowboys!!!!!

 

[63dot]

How about them Cowboys!!!!!

I have to give them props. They are only one of two teams ever that I truly hated. Of course that was in the 1990s when they bested the 49ers most of the time. The triplets were unlike anything before them. The Cowboys in the last few years have the same talent, no doubt, but it had just been a way to get far and then choke.

Right now, the team to hate is the Seahawks. They don't cheat or pull off cheap shots, but they are as designed as a team to beat the Niners like the Cowboys of the 1990s. But back in their AFC days, they usually foiled the Raiders in the most key games. In typical Cowobys fashion to rub it into the west coast, their QB is a California boy.

 

[pachyderm]

How about them Cowboys!!!!!

how about them? i dunno. they probably should have beaten us by 14 or more...

so how about them?

i think maybe they did get screwed on that opening play fumble call. that seem to set the tide for most of the 1st half.

that said, they did beat us. so congrats. you barely beat one of the worst teams in the league.

 

[rhett7660]

how about them? i dunno. they probably should have beaten us by 14 or more...

so how about them?

i think maybe they did get screwed on that opening play fumble call. that seem to set the tide for most of the 1st half.

that said, they did beat us. so congrats. you barely beat one of the worst teams in the league.

I don't care if you are the last place team..... a win is a win. Any team can beat any team on any given day.

If we beat you by one, it is still a win.

So yup how about them Cowboys.

 

[63dot]

So yup how about them Cowboys.

Sometimes a Super Bowl champ team goes thru a series of close late wins, and unconvincing play, like a Baltimore. But they served us our first Super Bowl loss and congrats to them.

You're definitely still in good postseason shape and I don't count you out...your fellow NFC East buddies, the NY Giants went all the way twice with nobody predicting it so it's easily within the realm of possibility.

While Romo is a postseason and often 4th quarter choker he is still a 97 rated quarterback in 2013 and thus dangerous with you guys at 7-5 and leading the NFC East.