The official NFL Discussion Thread

[Sir Clinksalot]

Usually with Stubhub you can find tickets that are E-tickets or pick-up at Will Call. Beware if they want you to pick up at an off-site location. There are a few places that are like that for Kings games here in LA and it's just a pain.

[Jew]

Stubhub will give you the delivery options. Since they are just the middlemen in the transaction, it is up to the seller how they will get shipped. There are e-tickets, will call, fedex, and even pick up at the local stubhub office (they have offices nearby most arenas and stadiums).

[cmullin]

So does anyone have a prediction on the 2014 Super Bowl champ?

[Hilltopper39]

It's still pretty early but I'll throw out some predictions.

 

AFC:

North- Somebody has to beat Baltimore but I like what Cincy has, this could be a big year for them

South- Houston, clearly the best in this division but Indy isn't far behind.

East- Patriots, they might be down a little bit but I don't see anyone else winning this division

West- Denver, they're they team to beat and I don't see anyone challenging them

 

NFC:

North- Green Bay,

South- I like Atlanta but New Orleans should be back to full speed with Peyton on the sidelines again

East- Who knows, I could see any of these teams winning the division but I'll go with the Giants,.

West- I like San Fran, but as we learned last year don't sleep on Seattle.

 

Sleepers: Chicago won 10 games last year and missed the playoffs, if Cutler isn't terrible I like them to contend for a wild card this year. I don't see Pittsburgh going 8-8 in back to back years and could see them stealing a playoff spot from Cincy or Baltimore. Carolina is a team that I feel like is ready to make a big step in the right direction if Newton can have some consistency, and a weak schedule and off season additions could help Kansas City see some major improvements.

 

Way to early Superbowl Prediction: Green Bay/Atlanta vs Denver/New England

[Sir Clinksalot]

As I mentioned above, anything less than a Super Bowl win for the 49ers is a huge disappointment.

 

I think the AFC is pretty much wide open this year and I think we'll see some surprises. I think that Cincinnati is going to surprise some teams as well as Cleveland. I think Baltimore is going to spiral downward ... quickly and won't even make the playoffs.

 

NFC:

East - NY Giants

North - Green Bay

South - Atlanta

West - San Francisco

 

Wild Cards - New Orleans/Seattle

NFC Championship - SF over Seattle

 

AFC:

East - Miami

North - Cincinnati

South - Indianapolis

West - Denver

 

Wild Cards - Kansas City/Houston

AFC Championship - Denver over Indianapolis

 

Super Bowl: San Francisco over Denver

[Hilltopper39]

^The only thing that concerns me about San Francisco is how will Kaepernick perform when the league has half a year of film on him and time to prepare. Last year he kind of took the league by storm when he took over the starting spot half way through the season but I have a feeling defenses might better prepared for him this year. Also with a guy like him your only one bad step or a freak play away from a season ending injury. I know a freak injury can happen to anyone at anytime but a pocket passer tends to be a little bit safer option. (All of the above also applies to RG3, and to Johnny Manziel)

 

Then again San Fran went 13-3 and lost in the NFC championship 2 years ago with Alex Smith so their defense and running game might be good enough to carry the team regardless of who plays QB.

[arby]

^^As a long-time Cleveland fan, anytime they do good it is a surprise to me.

 

Since I don't get to see many Browns games since I moved south a long time ago, I also pull for the Panthers. They have a lot of potential this year. If they can get their act together, they may surprise some.

[Sir Clinksalot]

^^ I'm concerned as well, but the difference between Kaepernick and a lot of other "running QB's" is that he's just as comfortable in the pocket as he is running down the field. I watched him a lot when he was at Nevada so I wasn't really surprised at what he was able to do last year.

 

As for teams "figuring him out", I'd be worried if we didn't have Jim Harbaugh as a coach.

[Hercules]

NFC:

East - Washington

North - Green Bay

South - New Orleans

West - Seattle

 

Wild Cards - Atlanta/San Fran

NFC Championship - Seattle over SF

 

AFC:

East - New England

North - Baltimore

South - Houston

West - Denver

 

Wild Cards - Cincinnati/San Diego

AFC Championship - Denver over Cincinnati

 

Super Bowl: Seattle over Denver

[Hilltopper39]

^^ I'm concerned as well, but the difference between Kaepernick and a lot of other "running QB's" is that he's just as comfortable in the pocket as he is running down the field. I watched him a lot when he was at Nevada so I wasn't really surprised at what he was able to do last year.

 

As for teams "figuring him out", I'd be worried if we didn't have Jim Harbaugh as a coach.

 

Yeah, it's hard to find a flaw in the (arguably) pre-season favorite but one it's exists that's it.

 

Good point about Harbaugh, if Kaepernick gets hurt Harbaugh might just suit up and played the position himself! Okay that's a bit far fetched but you know the thought would cross his mind.

[Hilltopper39]

So this happened in a professional tackle football game last night, pretty nice play (the read and the hit and the fumble).

 

[youtu_be]http://youtu.be/Rwc082M9fds[/youtu_be]

 

Again, you can't put too much stock in the preseason, but I think the Bears will have a nice season this year.

[Sir Clinksalot]

^ Well, it was against the Chargers.

[Jew]

^^ I'm concerned as well, but the difference between Kaepernick and a lot of other "running QB's" is that he's just as comfortable in the pocket as he is running down the field. I watched him a lot when he was at Nevada so I wasn't really surprised at what he was able to do last year.

 

As for teams "figuring him out", I'd be worried if we didn't have Jim Harbaugh as a coach.

 

Making him a pocket passer is exactly what defenses want to do. He might still beat them through the air, but they'll have a much better chance at stopping him that way.

[cmullin]

^^ I'm concerned as well, but the difference between Kaepernick and a lot of other "running QB's" is that he's just as comfortable in the pocket as he is running down the field. I watched him a lot when he was at Nevada so I wasn't really surprised at what he was able to do last year.

 

As for teams "figuring him out", I'd be worried if we didn't have Jim Harbaugh as a coach.

 

Making him a pocket passer is exactly what defenses want to do. He might still beat them through the air, but they'll have a much better chance at stopping him that way.

Even so, it wasn't like Kaepernick was looking to run all the time, they would have a few designed run plays for him, but they wouldn't use all the time. He mainly ran if he got flushed out of the pocket, and that's going to happen this year, so he'll have his opportunities to run. But when Crabtree comes back, he'll have excellent receivers too.

[Jew]

^My point exactly. Defenses will let him be a pocket passer. They'll try to contain him in the pocket and make him throw instead of biting on the read option (which essentially lets someone have a free run towards the QB so the QB can react and find the uncovered man) or allow him to scramble.

[cmullin]

^ Yeah, if I were the other team, I would try really hard not to let him scramble, he scored on a 54 yard scramble against Green Bay in the playoffs.

[154bmag]

Dear Dennis Allen,

I have to words for you: Terrelle Pryor

Sincerely, An Oakland Raiders fan

[Jew]

^Naturally a raiders fan would misspell "two."

 

I have two words for the Raiders as well: Offensive Line. Pryor is going to be running for his life because the Raiders don't have one.

[Hilltopper39]

The Raiders and the Jaguars are both already in the "Downey for Clowney" sweepstakes, let the suck fest begin!

 

Just a thought, but there might be a few games this year where San Francisco embarrasses some people. I'm talking like 50-0 games, scores you don't normally see in the NFL. I don't think Harbaugh has a problem running the score up on a couple of teams either.

[154bmag]

^Naturally a raiders fan would misspell "two."

 

I have two words for the Raiders as well: Offensive Line. Pryor is going to be running for his life because the Raiders don't have one.

Damnit, I didn't use the spell check

[Philrad71]

Really impressed with E.J Manual for the Bills so far. Definitely some rookie kinks to iron out, but that was a nice comeback win over Carolina last Sunday. Granted, it was against the Panthers and yes there was the interference call on Keuchly and a blown coverage, but sometimes those breaks are what can give a rookie QB some confidence.

 

Also nice to see Mario earning his keep with 4.5 sacks in one game!

[cmullin]

Michael Vick was a solid grap in the 16th round of the fantasy draft, he's averaging 30 points a game. Also, Lesean Mccoy is having a ridiculous season, I don't think anyone thought he was going to be this good.

[Jew]

Remember when we were talking about Colin Kaepernick?

 

His numbers the past two weeks: 26 of 55, 277 yards, 0 TDs, 4 INTs

[Mechanic]

RG3 as well. It doesn't take the NFL long to figure out a gimmick.

[Sir Clinksalot]

When it comes to Kaepernick, I don't think the 49ers are actually using him correctly. They only ran the Pistol/Read Option 2-3 times the entire game. It's almost like they are trying to prove to the league that Kaepernick is a good pocket QB, which he is. I really expected yesterday to be a bounce-back game but I guess not. Not sure what's going on with my 49ers right now.

 

Alex Smith has got to be laughing his ass off right now. And deservedly so.