2010 NFL Season Thread

[Flipper]

I was a Jets doubter going into the post season, but after seeing them take out Manning and Brady on the road in successive weeks...that team is for real. At least until this weekend at Heinz field.

And I must point out that of the three finalists, the Lions beat the two on the NFC side (that was a TD to CJ in week one damnit) and should have beaten the Jets. Upgrade the back 7 a touch...a LB or two and a CB and possibly a safety and the Lions are there.

[Jacobs4Heisman]

I don't think anybody who watched a few Lions games this year would be surprised if that team went 8-8 or 9-7 next year. They really need Stafford to stay healthy though.

As far as the AFCC. The Jets are a really great matchup for the Steelers. The Jets had to get a lot of breaks to barely hold on to a win a month ago - Smith return TD, and he was inactive yesterday, no Polamalu or Heath Miller for the Steelers, and Aaron Smith might be back (although Hood really played lights out Saturday). I was at that game, and the Steelers were just going through the motions, knowing they only had to beat Carolina and Cleveland to sew up the bye.

Another big problem for the Jets, is they built the Pats game up so much to basically be their Superbowl, I'm not sure how much success they'll have re-focusing for the Steelers. It just felt like they were all very proud of themselves after the game yesterday, and were breathing a collective sigh of relief. I could easily see them coming out very flat on Sunday. I have a real hard time seeing them come into Pittsburgh and having much success against that D.

[kdog27]

I'm sure this game will be "personal" again. Big Ben raped Ryan's sister or something.

I hope the Steelers destroy them.

[tiznow]

I'm sure this game will be "personal" again. Big Ben raped Ryan's sister or something.

I hope the Steelers destroy them.

So far it has been a love fest complimenting each other. Family has season tix, but the cost is ridiculous for this game. It was my turn to go but my sister is taking them, I will be happy to watch with some Yuengling on my couch.

Steelers 27-13. Steelers pull away late. Shaun goes 2-2 with one over 40. Hopefully he is not making tackles this week.

[Jacobs4Heisman]

Bill Simmons had an FBO guy on his podcast this week, and their advanced stats show that Sanchez is really really terrible against the blitz. He apparently has the biggest negative discrepancy of playoff QBs between when he's blitzed and when he isn't. Also said New England was really stupid and blitzed him only 6 times. I'll go out on a limb and say the Steelers will blitz a wee bit more than that on Sunday.

I expected Sanchez to be pretty crummy before I heard this information.

[VDub26Falcon]

All I really care about is the Packers winning the whole damn thing. Granted, if the Jets and Packers are in the Super Bowl I am guaranteed $150 bucks, but I really love the Packers and am definitely rooting hard for them! Go Clay!!!

[Jacobs4Heisman]

Packers/Steelers for all the marbles. Great matchup

[Flipper]

I'm thinking the Steelers have the edge...I'm concerned about Roger's brain pan. Dude's had a couple of concussions already this year and he took a nasty double shot from Peppers (helmet to helmet) and Briggs (slap to the head on the way down). He did not look good after that...when you have multiple concussions in a short period of time, the shot you could shrug off a couple of months ago scrambles your brain and it takes longer to recover each time. Will two weeks be enough?

So far as the Lions go...they should have been 8-8 this year. They got robbed in Chicago and they pissed away a sure home win against the Jets. The draft and FA should allow them to shore up the back seven. If Stafford can play most of the season, they should be 10-6 next year and in the playoffs...

[Jacobs4Heisman]

Jets came out very flat - you can get away with that sometimes at home, as the Steelers did last week, but not on the road in a game like this.

Packers favored early by 3. Might seem strange on it's face favoring a 6 seed over a 2 seed, but many people (myself included) have figured all along that Green Bay was the best or second best team in the league (NE being the other). To sustain the injuries they have and still be in the superbowl is remarkable. You could actually say the same for the Steelers. More of the same with Pouncey going down on the first drive yesterday. I've never seen an OL go through injuries like this throughout the course of a season.

These two team are actually very very similar. GB has a QB who was on fire until the 2nd half against Chicago, and a stable of very good receivers, whereas Pittsburgh has the superior rushing attack. Capers learned his defensive philosophies from Lebeau in the early 90s, and aside from the base formation, you'll see a lot of the same stuff from both defenses.

Green Bay was the one NFC playoff team I didn't want to see in the playoffs, but we've gotten lucky with opponents in the last two superbowl wins, so I can't complain.

Turnovers will probably tell the story, as they do in most NFL games.

[VDub26Falcon]

Just posted a blog (First in forever!) setting up the matchup between the offenses. I'm going to do the defenses on Thursday!

http://vdubssportsperspective.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

[Jacobs4Heisman]

Some good stuff there, but it's really tough to do a game preview by looking at both offenses or defenses in a vacuum. You really need to focus on match-ups. It really doesn't matter what Green Bay's offense did to Atlanta or what Pittsburgh's offense did against the Jets. I'd look more at just how good The Packers' deep passing game is, and how on a per-attempt basis, Taylor and McFadden have been pretty awful defending the deep ball.

Or look at how good Pittsburgh is running to the right behind Flozell, and how much Green Bay has struggled when teams run right at Clay Matthews' side. Those are two clear offensive advantages for each team, and that matters a lot more than how good each offense is on it's own.

Also, I would agree that Rodgers is a better passer than Ben, but you completely discounted how Ben is one of the best money QBs in the league. 10-2 in the playoffs with 2 rings, and a game winning SB drive. Rodgers is an absolute animal, and will soon be regarded as the best QB in the league, but he's never been here before. It can be argued that the experience advantage for Ben evens out or outweighs Rodgers' skill advantage. We've also seen that Rodgers' effectiveness can fall off a cliff if he takes big hits, and no defense in the league lays more big hits on the QB than Pittsburgh's. Both QBs are going to take some shots in this game. I know Ben will get up and keep rolling - will Rodgers?

I think the line for this game is about right. I think GB is slightly the better team. The Steelers need to take advantage of some presumed "wide-eyededness" from the Packers and grab an early lead. Let Woodley and Harrison get after Rodgers and prevent Ben from having to force passes into that brutal GB secondary.

I'll pick with my heart and say Ben leads a late TD drive to break Green Bay's heart - 31-28 Pittsburgh.

[tiznow]

Vdub, I agree with J4H, Ben is one of the top QB's in the game. His passer rating in the 4th quarter is one of the tops and his number of 4th quarter comebacks is off the charts. The arguement that he manages the game is completey false.

I also have an uneasy feeling about this game, but will say 24-23 Steelers. Suisham hits a 45 yarder to win it.

[kdog27]

Roethlisberger rarely gets the credit he deserves. Winning in the NFL begins and ends with your quarterback and the Steelers win. The guy could have three super bowl rings by this time next week. That's as many many as Brady and two more than Manning. All three of them do it in different ways but in no particular order I believe those are three best quarterbacks in the league. You don't have to throw for 300 yards, 3tds, and zero interceptions to be a great quarterback. You have to win games and more importantly win playoff games. He does that as well or better as those two other guys I mentioned. Ben extends plays that no other quarteback can and freezes defenses better than anybody. He will take sacks and he will throw interceptions but they are usually the type that don't hurt the team. His sacks are often on third down and his interceptions are often thrown far down field so they are much like a punt. I would take Ben on my team trailing in the fourth quarter before anyone else. Sometimes you have to leave your Browns haterade aside.

[BGFan]

Roethlisberger rarely gets the credit he deserves. Winning in the NFL begins and ends with your quarterback and the Steelers win. The guy could have three super bowl rings by this time next week. That's as many many as Brady and two more than Manning. All three of them do it in different ways but in no particular order I believe those are three best quarterbacks in the league. You don't have to throw for 300 yards, 3tds, and zero interceptions to be a great quarterback. You have to win games and more importantly win playoff games. He does that as well or better as those two other guys I mentioned. Ben extends plays that no other quarteback can and freezes defenses better than anybody. He will take sacks and he will throw interceptions but they are usually the type that don't hurt the team. His sacks are often on third down and his interceptions are often thrown far down field so they are much like a punt. I would take Ben on my team trailing in the fourth quarter before anyone else. Sometimes you have to leave your Browns haterade aside.

Perhaps if he wasn't such a DB he'd get more credit. From what I understand he hasn't changed since high school. (Cory-Rawson...or is that a town?....errr, ummm)

[Flipper]

I heard there's almost as much betting action on wh ether the blockhead from Findlay tries to assault Fergie duringthe halftime show as there is on the over/under. Isn't Cory Rawson the name of a waitress he assaulted back in 2007?