San Francisco at Seattle
Dallas at Atlanta
Cleveland at Baltimore
Detroit at Green Bay
Houston at New England
Jacksonville at Tennessee
Miami at Buffalo
N.Y. Jets at Minnesota
Pittsburgh at Carolina
Tampa Bay at Chicago
Washington at New Orleans
Denver at Arizona
Philadelphia at N.Y. Giants
St. Louis at Oakland
Kansas City at San Diego
Cincinnati at Indianapolis
It better be on locally, or I’m going to flip out.
San Francisco at Seattle
Dallas at Atlanta
Cleveland at Baltimore
Detroit at Green Bay
Houston at New England
Jacksonville at Tennessee
Miami at Buffalo
N.Y. Jets at Minnesota
Pittsburgh at Carolina
Tampa Bay at Chicago
Washington at New Orleans
Denver at Arizona
Philadelphia at N.Y. Giants
St. Louis at Oakland
Kansas City at San Diego
Cincinnati at Indianapolis
San Francisco at Seattle
Dallas at Atlanta
Cleveland at Baltimore
Detroit at Green Bay
Houston at New England
Jacksonville at Tennessee
Miami at Buffalo
N.Y. Jets at Minnesota
Pittsburgh at Carolina
Tampa Bay at Chicago
Washington at New Orleans
Denver at Arizona
Philadelphia at N.Y. Giants
St. Louis at Oakland
Kansas City at San Diego
Cincinnati at Indianapolis
Q13
…
Isn’t that what I said earlier? :p
San Francisco at Seattle
Dallas at Atlanta
Cleveland at Baltimore
Detroit at Green Bay
Houston at New England
Jacksonville at Tennessee
Miami at Buffalo
N.Y. Jets at Minnesota
Pittsburgh at Carolina
Tampa Bay at Chicago
Washington at New Orleans
Denver at Arizona
Philadelphia at N.Y. Giants
St. Louis at Oakland
Kansas City at San Diego
Cincinnati at Indianapolis
I haven’t done this all year, but what the heck…
San Francisco at Seattle
Dallas at Atlanta
Cleveland at Baltimore
Detroit at Green Bay
Houston at New England
Jacksonville at Tennessee
Miami at Buffalo
N.Y. Jets at Minnesota
Pittsburgh at Carolina
Tampa Bay at Chicago
Washington at New Orleans
Denver at Arizona
Philadelphia at N.Y. Giants
St. Louis at Oakland
Kansas City at San Diego
Cincinnati at Indianapolis
Tonight’s Seahawks game should be interesting with all of the nasty weather coming into the Seattle area.
— Alan
That’s true. I always forget that Seattle is actually close enough to get the same weather systems as us. Like the snow game, even though my car was iced up and the power had been knocked out for three hours, it surprised me to see snow in Seattle.
If this really is the biggest storm of the week, it should help the Niners. Their QB is worse than the Seahawks and their RB is better, so weather that disrupts passing for both teams is a positive.
Not sure how the weird structure of the stadium affects wind on the field in the game, but the strange gaps must create havoc along the intermediate levels at the very least and alter the kicking game. With winds predicted at, what, 40-60 in the Seattle proper (and what, 70-90 to the north? jeez) and the stadium being right up against the water, could be just a bit runfest.
— Alan
Frank Gore is better than Shaun Alexander?
Well, this season, obviously. Going into the future if I had to take my pick, it would be Gore. Gore has been the quiet MVP of the season, getting it done on a team with almost no passing game and that is always playing from behind.
I’ve never felt Alexander was a particularly great runner, I’ve always thought he was soft, lacked any real power, and benefited from a great OL. For such a big guy he sure did avoid contact a lot, never ran hard between the tackles, and really seemed to benefit a lot from marching into the second level relatively untouched and then being able to use his size and speed against smaller DBs and corners.
He’s not a BAD back by any means, but I think there are probably at least 5 other backs I’d rather have than him (especially considering his contract).
Absolutely. Alexander is averaging 3.5 yards per carry and 84.4 per game. Gore is averaging 5.6 per carry and 103.6 per game. Even last season, when Alexander had his career year (playing the weakest schedule in the league) he only averaged 5.1 per carry. And Gore’s on a losing team with a QB who doesn’t scare anybody, which means fewer offensive plays and safeties playing closer to the line of scrimmage. I don’t see any way you can read it where Gore isn’t the better back.
I’d go alot higher than five. Off the top of my head, here are a list of guys who are better than Alexander:
Ladainian Tomlinson
Larry Johnson
Tiki Barber
Frank Gore
Clinton Portis
Brian Westbrook
Steven Jackson
Deuce McAllister
Rudi Johnson
Fred Taylor
Warrick Dunn
Tatum Bell
See, now you’re turning me into a Shawn apologist. Please tell me how many people on your list have had a career like Mr. Alexander’s? After Tomlinson the answer is a big fat 0.
Yeah, he hasn’t had a great year this year. Hopefully that will change and he’ll bounce back next year. Maybe not (he is 30 now). But you can’t fault his entire career because this year hasn’t been as good.
San Francisco at Seattle
Dallas at Atlanta
Cleveland at Baltimore
Detroit at Green Bay
Houston at New England
Jacksonville at Tennessee
Miami at Buffalo
N.Y. Jets at Minnesota
Pittsburgh at Carolina
Tampa Bay at Chicago
Washington at New Orleans
Denver at Arizona
Philadelphia at N.Y. Giants
St. Louis at Oakland
Kansas City at San Diego
Cincinnati at Indianapolis
I’m not talking about careers, or anything other than this year. If I were, I would’ve included Edgerrin on the list :)
However, as Mr TastesGood points out Alexander has made the majority of his yards without being hit by linemen and linebackers. His OL took care of them for him, so he only had to break tackles from DBs. I think the difference between this year and previous seasons is that now, he doesn’t have a clear path to run through. He has to break tackles from guys who get paid to tackle RBs, and he’s not doing it. For a big guy, he runs pretty small. Frank Gore runs a lot bigger than he is.
Frank Gore is basically a younger Ahman Green. Same leg strength, same ability to take a short gain and turn it into a 5,6,7 yard run, same burst to take a run 50+ yards in the right circumstances, same fumbling problem. Gore probably doesn’t have asthma, though. He’s very good, but he’s not great yet.
I hate to defend the guy because I’ve never been a fan, but here goes:
Shadarr’s List:
Ladainian Tomlinson… no contest, LT is the best in the game
Larry Johnson… you have no objective criteria by which to make this claim
Tiki Barber… you’re kidding, right? Tiki is better than Maurice Morris, maybe, but not Alexander.
Frank Gore… a more visibly impressive runner (I like his willingness and ability to run guys over) but his fumbling is a big minus. Call it a push.
Clinton Portis… injury prone, so no
Brian Westbrook… no way
Steven Jackson… huh?
Deuce McAllister… I agree, I like Deuce better as a runner and as a blocker (Alexander can’t pick up a blitz for anything)
Rudi Johnson… no way… he’s only good for the same reason James was good in Indy
Fred Taylor… maybe five years ago, not today
Warrick Dunn… too small, would be Alexander’s backup on any team in the league if the two were together.
Tatum Bell… dream on