Lorini
3141
Bengals nearly overcame the disastrous turnovers. It was competitive til the end. The steelers are going to have to do better than giving away TD’s though.
This is true. I mean a lot of analysts labeled the Cowboys “Superbowl contenders,” the Eagles “playoff hopefuls,” the Redskins “dumpster fires” and the Giants…I swear it’s like nobody pays attention to this team, I guess winning a Superbowl 2 years ago doesn’t mean anything. Mad props to Tom Coughlin for changing his coaching style so that players don’t tune him out and further props to Eli Manning for not being The Younger Other Manning Kid because he keeps his shit together as well as his brother or any QB in the league.
That it is. So many games really do come town a play or three. That said, the last two Cowboy losses are because that team has quit.
Yeah, the Giants are for real. They’ve been a pretty consistently good team, and I’m not sure why people sleep on them every year. Oddly enough, they don’t have a lot of big names, especially at skill positions. You have Eli and then what? I’m not saying they don’t have talent. They clearly do. I’m saying that they don’t have a lot of superstar names, like Dallas apparently does.
But maybe…just maybe, having a solid team is more important.
I can see people being cool on the Giants leading into this year because of how much they collapsed down the stretch last year.
Lorini
3145
The Giants have yet to beat anyone of note. They still have to play Philly twice and Green Bay. Losses to those teams may still get them in the playoffs if beat the remaining teams on their schedule.
I figure the Giants and Eagles will split when they face each other. I doubt one team will win both games. I think both teams are better than they’ve been given credit for up to this point in the season, though. If you look at power rankings and whatnot, the Falcons are usually rated higher which IMO isn’t the case.
It probably doesn’t matter who’s good in the NFC though, because the top AFC teams are just better. I think this is the year the Ravens win another Super Bowl.
Sarkus
3147
Why in particular did you pick the Ravens? While their defense is good, it’s not as good as it has been in the past. And so far their offense, while solid, isn’t anything special. The Steelers and Jets have both had better defenses so far this year.
An interesting statistical note: looking at overall yardage and yards/play, the Giants and Chargers(!) are among the top five teams on both offense and defense.
The Chargers have been near the top for offense and defense all year. If anyone ever says special teams aren’t important, point them at this season’s highlights!
Sarkus
3149
Looks like Stafford may be out for the season with this latest shoulder injury. Like I said earlier, the Lions need a better plan B for this guy.
I don’t know what Stafford’s injury is, but if it’s similar to what Bradford had in college, he should get that operation done. Brees had the same operation. It actually makes the shoulder stronger, according to the doctors.
And the Lions need to draft some offensive line help. They knew that was a weakness before the season started. As good as Suh is, they might have been better off trading down a spot or two and getting a topnotch LOT.
No way. They have O-line needs and should address them, but you don’t pass on a guy like Suh. He was the closest thing to guaranteed production that the draft ever offers. When he played for Nebraska I was constantly afraid he’d be disqualified from playing by the NCAA because they suspected him of cyborg enhancement. I couldn’t think of another way to explain his superhuman strength and endurance.
There are plenty of ways to cobble together a good o line. Lower draft picks, free agency, etc. There was only one chance to get Suh, so they took it and it was the right move. Fix the o-line ASAP, but don’t ever regret drafting Ndamukong Suh.
This is fair enough but I am still not completely sold on Green Bay and I am not certain Philly will be able to sweep them.
Good coaching. Strong leadership in the locker room and a will to win that trumps their warts. The Ravens have finally found a QB that can take them to a Super Bowl and I think Ray Lewis and friends on the defense know the clock is ticking. They have to win now and the tools are there on both sides of the ball.
They were in the Divisional game last year and I think they’ve only gotten better on offense since that time. They also know they can beat the Steelers on the road if it comes to that.
The NFL is very close these days so no team is a sure thing and as good as you think you are, it’s easy to lay an egg. Just ask the Colts and Patriots about that. The Ravens are always right there in the game, win or lose, which I think gives them a leg up on those two teams.
Yeah, Ravens look as solid a team as any - moreso, with all of their guys getting healthy and other contenders in the AFC remaining/getting injured (Colts, Steelers).
What he said. Suh is a verifiable monster on the field. I haven’t seen anyone destroy offensive lines like he does. There have been plenty of guys who are terrors on the line – I watched football enough at a young age to appreciate the end of Reggie White and Bruce Smith’s careers, but Suh is just discarding blockers on most every play. It’s a treat to watch, and he’ll make that entire defense better just by breathing.
Just a single stat to illustrate that point: Suh’s over/under on sacks for the season, before the season started, was 7.5. Before Sunday’s game, he was already at 6.5. I haven’t seen the stats from that game, so I don’t know if he passed it or not, but he’s clearly come in even better than Las Vegas expected him to be.
dwolfe
3157
***when the Steelers are starting their fourth-string quarterback. ;)
dwolfe
3158
Baring injuries and contract disputes, Suh will be a keystone player for the Lions for the next decade. If there’d been a left tackle of his caliber in the draft, or any other player, they’d have taken him I hope.
NEXT year, they need that left tackle if there’s a great one available. Part of the problem is that they drafted so high last year, they needed that guarantee of a non-bust player, and Suh was the guarantee. If they’d drafted in the teens or so, they could have gotten a solid but not outstanding player if there was available (e.g. Pouncey, starting center as a rookie for the Steelers, and doing an outstanding job, but no Suh) but I don’t recall any left tackles even meeting those standards in this year’s draft.
Joe_M
3159
Not much of a stretch considering the health of the Steelers offensive line.
That’s a poor comparison, Sarkus. The reason why the Cowboys are so talented is because of what Parcells did; he drafted or developed most of their talent. When he hired Parcells, Jones took a step back, and look what happened.
Snyder, until hiring Allen this year, hadn’t taken that step back. Well, there was the year that Marty Schottenheimer basically remade the team completely, and had the Skins set up to be competitive for the future (he won 8 games with Tony Banks as QB!!). But, he only got a year before the Steve Spurrier sideshow began. And Snyder was fully involved in the talent process every other year (even under Gibbs) with his puppet Vinny Cerrato (yes, that’s Vinny “acting.”)
When Jones decided not to meddle, it worked. However, I’m not sure he really enjoyed being put in Time Out by Parcells, and I don’t know if he’ll be able to stomach it again.
