teams that did not meet my expectations: San Diego, New England, Baltimore, Texans, Bears teams that surpassed my expectations: jets, raiders (not russsell) This is russell's third year, and they still need to babysit him?
Makes you wonder if the Raiders could make a legit push for the division if they had kept Jeff Garcia.
As a team the Raiders look much improved. Russell has a cannon for an arm but has problems delivering an accurate ball and reading defenses. Dude might be able to play tight end if QB doesn't work out for him based on the way he was blocking down field on that end around.
A lot of mistakes in the first set of games but the one that takes the cake for me is the Buffalo return guy...with all of 2 minutes left...decides to run it out of the end zone in the 4th instead of taking the touchback. And, he was unapologetic for it saying he would do it another 100 times. I would say if you are down with 2 mins left...then by all means run it out. But, you are up with 2 mins left...you have to give the offense a chance to run the clock out by running plays and one first down would probably seal it. That's a dumb move anyway you look at it. Cost the team a victory. Noone plans to fumble a return...but it happens and the first mistake is you giving them the opportunity to force a fumble in that situation. You have to play smarter than that in that situation and with the time left. And, it appears lesson was not learned. Fail.
JaMarcus Russell is a fat doughboy that will probably eat himself out of the league in a couple of years.
I lied when I said it doesn't sting. This one kept me awake for a good hour. The defense just played so damn well in the 2nd half, but Jamarcus played so damn bad with his 3 and outs that kept forcing them right back on the field yet they still were shutting down the Chargers. Even then, a miraculous TD pass and then a great stop on special teams on the kickoff return and they can't even hold them to a FG... but again I'm not going to fault the Defense too much because they played their asses off the entire game. The score was 10-10 and it should have been at least a touchdown lead. The wiped off TD hurt so bad. I still don't understand how they can say it was indisputable evidence that he lost the ball. To me, it looked like he came down with both feet, his ass, and his elbow... and still the ball didn't pop out when he hit the ground. That 4 point (maybe even 7 point if you count the FG the Chargers added) swing ended up being the difference, and I know its ticky-tacky to blame the officiating, but that call really did change the game. But anyone who said the Raiders are wasting a first round pick on Richard Seymour is a fool. He had an immediate impact on the game. Look at the stat lines for first round picks Jamarcus Russell and Darrius Heyward-Bey, and tell me the Raiders would draft somebody worth a **** with that first rounder in 2011.
Not to mention he didn't even have the normal return team out there- it was the hands team. They weren't expecting to have to block for a return.
Clock was at 2:06. Get it under 2 and you've just blown a NE 'time out'. I thought the Bills player running it out was the 'smart' play. The guy did fail though, but just through execution. One armed with people hitting you? Are you kidding me?!?
Well, Shawn Andrews was placed on IR today. I think he may be done as an Eagle especially if Winston Justice has a good year. I'm rooting for Justice too.
LT with a high ankle sprain that's probably going to linger for a good chunk of the season. Good thing I picked up Sproles with a late pink in fantasy.
Moes, you guys did play a good game. I totally underestimated this raiders team. Much improved from last year. The td that was wiped off, at first I thought it was a total blown call, after the other replay I still thought it could've gone either way. I guess it just went ours. I would be very proud of the Raiders if I were a fan, great defense all night but you can't keep Rivers shutout the whole game. J-Marc has an arm but his accuracy is horrible, makes me wonder what would've happened if you guys kept Garcia... Anyways I apologize for underestimating the Raiders and I was totally wrong about Seymour, I thought he wasn't going to put the effort into it, but he did resulting in 2 sacks. Cromartie sucks, so does Hart. I think we should start Cason, no excuse why you should be that wide open on 4 and 15. I got a question, has your mind set changed on Jammer? I think he held his ground against one of the fastest receivers in the league no to mention a pick. Can't wait to play you guys again. I'd say good luck but you play in our division so I can't
I'm talking smack to my Raiders friend. I mentioned about that Dairus Heyward-Bey guy... at least he's neck to neck with Michael Crabtree!
Raider defense was much better than I expected. Seymour seemed great out there. I expected Russell to be better at this point. (Did he and Roethlisberger train at the same Cheesecake Factory?) I still maintain that I loved the trade (from a Steelerfan perspective). It makes NE worse now (hopefully Brady retires sometime around 2011), and I don't believe it pushes the Raiders over the top. Now of course, the Raiders will win that matchup. So, you're welcome. Short term they are the winners. A few more improvements and they'll win the long term aspect as well.
Well thanks for being a gracious winner. I think Jammer is a much better CB than Cromartie for whatever thats worth, Cromartie reminds me of Phillip Buchanon... all that flair and no substance... I think his act is already wearing thin and I'd be surprised if they continue to tolerate his BS. Red zone scoring chances are just so important. When you're talking about one team settling for 3 or 6 while the other gets 14. The TD pass to Jackson was perplexing, Routt was supposed to have the help coverage it looked like, and he seemed to read the pass and broke on the ball to make the deflection but his timing was a tad bit off and Rivers put it just over his reach and Nnamdi turned the wrong way. The dump off to Sproles on 3rd and 13 was the back-breaker, that changed everything from "Ok, I guess we're going to overtime" to "oh **** we're screwed." The LBs were so concerned about Gates the entire time they lost sight of him. Thats what having an All-Pro TE does for your offense I suppose. To some extent they got lucky with their coverage schemes, you can't get away with bump and run, 1 on 1 man coverage unless you've putting serious heat on the QB, so I think Seymour and Greg Ellis are making an instant impact in that regard. But Rivers did miss a couple of throws where he had some guys open. Russell was 3 for 18 on passes where he targeted WRs, that is just mind-numbingly putrid. I know 2 rookie wideouts are starting, but he misfired more often than not. I'm hoping Chaz Schilens will be back at full speed by Week 3 vs Denver, he's the only WR who really established himself in camp besides Muprhy, and they were really excited about him being Jamarcus' go-to-WR, and Jamarcus was going to him early and often in the first preseason game.
Real quick, this Murphy kid has deals of talent. The 4 and 15 pass looked like total blown coverage and it was but slightly. The route that he ran was just as it was written in the playbook but better. It's like as if he knew he was going to score from the moment the play started. The Jackson catch just shows River's talent. He did not throw that ball behind Jackson on purpose. He threw it behind him because he knew had the best corner in the league on him and even if he V-Jack is 6'6, I am sure Nmandi would've batted it down. Rivers has more game winning drives than both Ben Rothlesberger (sp?) and Eli Manning.. crazy right? He was getting pressure on EVERY down on that last drive because of Hardwick and Vasquez going down.. He just made the plays.. That's the positives of having a beast like Sproles (297 AP yards). Michael Huff is very impressive... A int. and FF.. definitely set the tone on defense early in the game. You guys have a promising backfield, Chris Johnson, Huff, obviously Nmandi... with the pressure Kelly, Seymour and Ellis put on, it only helps. Not to mention the linebacker that I think is most similar to Ray Lewis, Kirk Morrison... You guys just need to solve the QB issues. If you do that you should be fine.
In case someone hasn't seen the video, heres the play that caused Mcnabb's cracked ribs: <object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WJs23UhS-9A&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WJs23UhS-9A&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>
Repp'd, sir. You sure it wasn't this here one? <object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/U2bvgw4fQY0&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/U2bvgw4fQY0&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>
