The first year he came back he was pretty good; after that, much less so.
— Alan
While I don’t like to see the injuries and concussions . . .
I do like that the Redskins defense is hitting people hard - haven’t seen that since Sean Taylor, to be honest.
Less hitting, more tackling. Wrap the guy up already. Washington’s defense has been atrocious this year – big plays on both sides, but we can’t get key stops.
The Patriots are yet again going to be that team no one is going to pick, but will somehow keep winning games just to piss off everyone outside of the NE.
The classic quotes have already started. Losing teams saying" we are better than them" “Wait until next time”
I already read these quotes in 2001, 2003 and 2004. I’m NOT saying they are a superbowl team, but this team is better than the pundits…and other teams think.
jeffd
2786
They’re really not. Part of that is because I don’t think any serious pundits are discounting them. The consensus is that they’re a good team, they’re in contention to win the AFC East and they’re a super bowl contender because they have Tom Brady as their QB. But their defense is way suspect.
Yeah. The Pats are shaping up very nicely, but this entire season they’ve been regarded as a good team with a lot of raw and unproven players, particularly on the defense. That’s still true, only the raw players are beginning to prove themselves.
Sarkus
2788
This is weird. Junior Seau apparently drove his car off a cliff. The fact that they aren’t immediately calling it an accident makes me wonder what is going on.
Just saw that. He was arrested for domestic abuse. I can only assume he was attempting to go out in a blaze of glory.
More like he was trying to put out his blaze of glory.
— Alan
Ephraim
2791
I’m a little confused by the fact that he’s been released. Is he, in fact, a danger to himself? Was this a suicide attempt? And they just send him home? Weird.
No one with comments on this riveting MNF game? Backup QBs in for both teams, and Jacksonville should now see why the Bills cut Trent Edwards. Kerry Collins has been executing textbook plays all night against Jacksonville. Jacksonville was getting booed because they kept calling running plays; of course, Edwards threw two incomplete passes and an interception at the end of that drive, so maybe they shouldn’t have complained.
Also, Jon Gruden won’t stop saying Jagwires. I hate that guy.
Lorini
2793
The ALCS was a lot more exciting.
Thoughts on the ‘devastating hits’ issue? I smell a paranoid lawyer who is afraid one day the league will get sued successfully for ‘allowing/encouraging’ the hits that are resulting in injury and concussion. Given the amount of dementia and depression that is seen among the ex-players, this issue probably is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
The thing about “devastating hits” is that hits can’t be judged “devastating” until after the fact, with the results. Players have no idea how to tell if a hit will be devastating or not when they’re about to make a tackle. Uncertainty is not a good thing.
JonRowe
2795
Erm… I think that the “devastating hits” thing has been getting worse and worse. Tackling seems to be moving from “how can I get this guy down to the ground” (Horrible movie title, by the way) to “how much can I jack this dude up?”
This is the problem James Harrison “I want to hurt people” Players are making concious decisions to go for those hard hits with the intent to “hurt”
Players don’t seem to make this fundamental connection. Concussions are an injury. “Hurting” players leads to injury. This is the most ridiculous mind set. I didn’t mean to injure him with my gun officer, I just meant to “hurt” him. The intent is there bucko. Basically, if you have this mindset, you are going to injure people un-necessarily.
I just read that the NFL will now be issuing suspensions for illegal hits. Good. People that are out there to “hurt” other players need to get their heads straight if they want to play ball. So, Mr. Harrison, if you want to “hurt” players, then have fun on the sidelines.
And don’t think I am preaching about this because of the Packer’s Injury woes… I am pretty sure our team is not drinking their milk or something. Brittle bones.
jeffd
2796
Re hits: clearly guys are going for highlight reel hits. This also pretty clearly has safety implications. And finally, fines are not a deterrent.
I’m not sure where the line is regarding what an illegal hit ought to be, but deterrence ought to start with a suspension and go from there. Perhaps also immediate ejection from the game.
Apparently he said he fell asleep before he rolled off the cliff (“cliff” is a relative term here, more like down an embankment).
— Alan
JonRowe
2798
Exactly, good punishing defense is different than players that walk the line between highlight hits and dangerous ones. Fines don’t mean shit in the NFL, sitting out a game does.
Desean Jackson should sit out quite awhile, if not the entire season. He had a concussion last year and the one he just had looked really nasty.
The NFL is doing the right thing getting on this. Players need to think they need to hit with their shoulders instead of their helmet or else they’re going to be ejected and suspended, and DBs need lay off receivers who haven’t made the catch. It’s clear now that a lot of DBs just want to take a free shot. They need to call those kinds of hits the way they call roughing the passer.
And maybe this makes it tougher to play defense, but so be it. It would be the same for all teams.
And I also think the review booth should be able to demand a review when they see a helmet to helmet hit that’s not called. There were several on Sunday that the refs didn’t flag. Stop the game, review the play, and if it’s flagrant eject the offender.
I think this comes from the major emphasis of the pass interference rules. If you notice most DB’s play off the WRs now to avoid the call, and now time the hit with the ball. If you allow more contact, like it used to be, there will be less of this. More whiney WR’s from Indy, but less spearing.
