NFL

[QueenC 74]

Anyone else follow the draft?

I did Dan.....

And I really have no idea whether my 49ers did well of not, given I didn't know many of the names on the list.

The Colts did do a great job. Luck will be sensational, at least he looks ready made and given the fact he has his favourite Stanford target (Coby Fleener) coming along with him.

I would have loved Fleener to come to play for us in San Francisco as a damn good back up to Vernon Davis, while being bigger than the other TE's on the list (it also would have been conveinant for him!!). I also think that the Rams will be far better this season, with a new coach and a raft of offensive linesmen and wide receivers taken in the draft to help Sam Bradford, who was the worst protected QB in the league IMO then when he did get to throw the ball it was inevitably dropped. They should be better unfortunately.

The Browns are interesting as they have essentially replaced their very young (and improving) starting QB in Colt McCoy with Brandan Wheedon, who is closer to thirty and will not have the wonderous get out of jail card in Cleveland as he did at Oklahoma State in Justin Blackmon. In fact outside of Petyon Hillis there is very little going on. As for the Seahawks, they are an odd one. They traded for what seems to be a good albeit nearly untested QB from Green Bay and he will help given what they have had.

The one club that is causing great media question marks is Washington. They traded the world and a pretty good chunk of their present and future draft picks to the Rams to get a hold of their second pick so they could draft someone who they clearly believe is a potential franchise quaterback in Robert Griffen III and yet spent their fourth round pick on another quality QB (and a good on in Kirk Cousins), thus undermining both, especially Cousins who won't take a snap this season. Will be interesting to see how that one plays out........ http://espn.go.com/v...clip?id=7872352

Edited May 3, 2012 by QueenC

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

I did Dan.....

And I really have no idea whether my 49ers did well of not, given I didn't know many of the names on the list.

I hate/love the 49ers. They weren't supposed to be good last year, and yet, they were... and it was no flash in the pan. They've got the coach no-one saw coming, and a list of talent that suddenly is coing together. My opinion? You're right. They had very late draft picks courtesy of having an amazing year. The picks they took were all, I thought, a vote of confidence in Smith, as well as their defence which was absolutely fantastic last year. I like that they basically mixed it up getting Smith some weapons and some protection... They might not play a lot, but then, do they need to? The only hole in the 49ers really is the QB, and if that's your hole, then wow you're doing well. I like it cos you have all those weapons, and now, if you DO bail on Smith and go for a new QB at some point, it's plug and play with that team around him.

I also think that the Rams will be far better this season, with a new coach and a raft of offensive linesmen and wide receivers taken in the draft to help Sam Bradford, who was the worst protected QB in the league IMO then when he did get to throw the ball it was inevitably dropped. They should be better unfortunately.

Yup. Dead on the money there. But then we said that for last year too. And they put up awful numbers. They're a bit like the dees. Drafted talent upon talent... and much of it hasn't come through. So they drafted again, and now they have all these big picks, and are HOPING they'll come through. At some point, you're right, they will... but when is the only question. It really could be this year. Don't worry though, Seahawks are awful and Cards only a little better. I watched Kolb pretty closely at Philly when he was there, and I never saw what Reid saw in him. They'll never knock off a Harbaugh while Kolb is under centre.

The Browns are interesting as they have essentially replaced their very young (and improving) starting QB in Colt McCoy with Brandan Wheedon, who is closer to thirty and will not have the wonderous get out of jail card in Cleveland as he did at Oklahoma State in Justin Blackmon. In fact outside of Petyon Hillis there is very little going on. As for the Seahawks, they are an odd one. They traded for what seems to be a good albeit nearly untested QB from Green Bay and he will help given what they have had.

Yup. The Browns fascinate me as they seem to get names all over the joint, like Hillis and McCoy. And then lose them, or fail to develop them. They could either be the same old same old, or in two years, they lift their game to maybe threaten to push for 3rd in their division. One thing's for sure, there's no way they're getting past the Steelers, Ravens OR the Bengals all of whom are heavy hitters this coming year.

The one club that is causing great media question marks is Washington. They traded the world and a pretty good chunk of their present and future draft picks to the Rams to get a hold of their second pick so they could draft someone who they clearly believe is a potential franchise quaterback in Robert Griffen III and yet spent their fourth round pick on another quality QB (and a good on in Kirk Cousins), thus undermining both, especially Cousins who won't take a snap this season. Will be interesting to see how that one plays out........ http://espn.go.com/v...clip?id=7872352

I have heard a lot of people call that a dumb call. And it is. But I can KIND of see the reason behind it. If you went into a draft with the QB core they had, basically ONLY Grossman and Beck, you would probably go into the draft and say, you know what? Screw it... let's just get RG3, and his backup all in one go, instead of stuffing around with some nuff nuff journeyman. It's the most important position in professional sports, so why not up your chances of succeeding there? Of course the reason you don't recruit two is because you can't be training a kid while also training his backup. I get that. But it COULD work. RG3 is going to take punishment, Cousins will probably take some snaps. The reason the logic falls down is that obviously if by some miracle the league gets to see that Cousins is ok, they will have to trade him... when they could have just traded the pick itself for something in next year's draft. It's definitely dumb, but if somehow RG3 fails, and Cousins becomes a star, people will think the Skinnies are geniuses. I'm pumped to watch RG3 play, but only cos I don't think he'll get them to the playoffs in the next 2 seasons. After that though, ouch. As if it's not bad enough going up against Eli and Romo in this conference. Now Vick has a 21 year old taller version of himself he's up against.

[JT9 104]

A bit late on this but... GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cant wait to see RG3 in action next year though

[Gorgoroth 12,950]

As a Rams follower we were in dire need of a offensive line that was big enough to stop the blits but they also need to be quicker, off front line was soooo slow.

[DemonDave 1,089]

I hate/love the 49ers. They weren't supposed to be good last year, and yet, they were... and it was no flash in the pan. They've got the coach no-one saw coming, and a list of talent that suddenly is coing together. My opinion? You're right. They had very late draft picks courtesy of having an amazing year. The picks they took were all, I thought, a vote of confidence in Smith, as well as their defence which was absolutely fantastic last year. I like that they basically mixed it up getting Smith some weapons and some protection... They might not play a lot, but then, do they need to? The only hole in the 49ers really is the QB, and if that's your hole, then wow you're doing well. I like it cos you have all those weapons, and now, if you DO bail on Smith and go for a new QB at some point, it's plug and play with that team around him.

A bit late to see these posts but here goes.

The biggest weakness last year for the Niners was their receiving corps. Crabtree is not and i dont think will ever be more than a slot receiver, certainly not the #1 target we were after. Josh Morgan took off to the Redskins after showing a bit, and Kyle Williams and ted Ginn Jnr..well..lets not relive the Giants game again..A team cant be relying, as good as they are, on two tight ends in Davis & Walker to make all of their big pass plays.

SO they picked up Mario Manningham from the Giants who had a very good year. We were always going to use our #1 pick on a receiver, but had no hope without trading up of getting Blackmon or Floyd. Jenkins was a surprise to many draft pundits, he has speed but his separation after catch isnt great. Time will tell. They also took a gamble on 36 year old Randy Moss, who is apparently in as good as shape as he's been after a year on the sidelines. Who knows if he will make the final squad or not, it didnt cost us anything to do though.

We lost our starting nose tackle Snyder, so used our third round pick on a replacement for him which was also understandable.

Not sure about our 2nd round pick, another running back, given we have AllPro Frank Gore, soph Kendall Hunter who showed quite a bit in his rookie year as a third down back, and picked up Brandon Jacobs from the Giants also.

I guess like any draft it will take a while to determine if it was a 'good' draft for teams or not.

Really looking forward to seeing RG3 in particular, he and Cam Newton may well become the prototype upon which future QBs are based. Luck will be more of a traditional pocket passer, and at the same time this type of QB has also flourished the last couple of years with yard records for passing regularly being broken by teams starters.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

As a Rams follower we were in dire need of a offensive line that was big enough to stop the blits but they also need to be quicker, off front line was soooo slow.

They were supposed to come good this last season. They still probably will this year. That'll make that division much more watchable. The Cards are on a hiding to nowhere, and the Seahawks aren't likely to be going to a superbowl anytime soon. So the door's wide open for the Rams to meet the 49ers head on.

A bit late to see these posts but here goes.

The biggest weakness last year for the Niners was their receiving corps. Crabtree is not and i dont think will ever be more than a slot receiver, certainly not the #1 target we were after. Josh Morgan took off to the Redskins after showing a bit, and Kyle Williams and ted Ginn Jnr..well..lets not relive the Giants game again..A team cant be relying, as good as they are, on two tight ends in Davis & Walker to make all of their big pass plays.

SO they picked up Mario Manningham from the Giants who had a very good year. We were always going to use our #1 pick on a receiver, but had no hope without trading up of getting Blackmon or Floyd. Jenkins was a surprise to many draft pundits, he has speed but his separation after catch isnt great. Time will tell. They also took a gamble on 36 year old Randy Moss, who is apparently in as good as shape as he's been after a year on the sidelines. Who knows if he will make the final squad or not, it didnt cost us anything to do though.

We lost our starting nose tackle Snyder, so used our third round pick on a replacement for him which was also understandable.

Not sure about our 2nd round pick, another running back, given we have AllPro Frank Gore, soph Kendall Hunter who showed quite a bit in his rookie year as a third down back, and picked up Brandon Jacobs from the Giants also.

I guess like any draft it will take a while to determine if it was a 'good' draft for teams or not.

Really looking forward to seeing RG3 in particular, he and Cam Newton may well become the prototype upon which future QBs are based. Luck will be more of a traditional pocket passer, and at the same time this type of QB has also flourished the last couple of years with yard records for passing regularly being broken by teams starters.

Manningham is a good one. And yeah, Newton is amazing to watch, so RG3 might be similar. Vick and he in the same division will be awesome too...

[Gorgoroth 12,950]

Yeah the prob is the Rams were meant ot get good about years ago..........

[Macca 16,967]

They were supposed to come good this last season. They still probably will this year. That'll make that division much more watchable. The Cards are on a hiding to nowhere, and the Seahawks aren't likely to be going to a superbowl anytime soon. So the door's wide open for the Rams to meet the 49ers head on.

Manningham is a good one. And yeah, Newton is amazing to watch, so RG3 might be similar. Vick and he in the same division will be awesome too...

Heard a bit of news that Terrell Owens is heading to Seattle ? 1mil ? . Be good to see him run around again if true . Have you heard of any last minute player movement's ?

I'm starting to get keen for this NFL season to get going ! Though the practice games have already started .

Your blokes had a win over the Steelers ... Packers went down to the Chargers ... San Fran go around tomorrow and Houston the day after ... http://www.nfl.com/

Edit : I found this site (below) for all the player movements but I've no idea how up to date it is ... http://www.fftoolbox...ings.cfm?pos=QB

Edited August 17, 2012 by Macca

[QueenC 74]

Heard a bit of news that Terrell Owens is heading to Seattle ? 1mil ? . Be good to see him run around again if true . Have you heard of any last minute player movement's Dappa ? Or anybody else if you're reading this post . pantaloons ? DemonDave ?

I'm starting to get keen for this NFL season to get going ! Though the practice games have already started .

Your blokes had a win over the Steelers ... Packers went down to the Chargers ... San Fran go around tomorrow and Houston the day after ... http://www.nfl.com/

Edit : I found this site (below) for all the player movements but I've no idea how up to date it is ... http://www.fftoolbox...ings.cfm?pos=QB

I feel so sorry for the Seahawk Quarterbacks with TO on the way.......

He has already got into a snip with the coach, Pete Carroll, regarding the number the club assigned him. Funny footage!!!

As for my beloved Niners, they beat the Vikes pretty handily yesterday, but honestly pre-season is not exactly what we want to see. Although it was great to see both our QB's play some good ball. Especially since for a near champion team last year Alex Smith was easily the weakest of his kind out there.

[Macca 16,967]

I feel so sorry for the Seahawk Quarterbacks with TO on the way.......

He has already got into a snip with the coach, Pete Carroll, regarding the number the club assigned him. Funny footage!!!

As for my beloved Niners, they beat the Vikes pretty handily yesterday, but honestly pre-season is not exactly what we want to see. Although it was great to see both our QB's play some good ball. Especially since for a near champion team last year Alex Smith was easily the weakest of his kind out there.

We didn't get to see many of the 49ers games last season (Foxtel or OneHD) so it was a bit hard to judge Alex Smith unsighted . His numbers weren't ground breaking though and because there's quite a few 'Elite' QB's running around , the comparisons will come .

You've got a very good coach who had a decent career as a QB himself , therefore Smith may get better under his tutelage . I'm a Packers fan but there's quite a few other teams that I like to see do well . San Francisco is one of them - Joe Montana remains one of my all time favourite players .

Can't wait for the season to start .

Edited August 12, 2012 by Macca

[Gorgoroth 12,950]

So the Rams did well against the colts pre season..... I was looking forward to this after last season, Melbournes season and Bolton being relegated....... I think I need to give up on sport........

[Macca 16,967]

So the Rams did well against the colts pre season..... I was looking forward to this after last season, Melbournes season and Bolton being relegated....... I think I need to give up on sport........

So much depends on the QB in this sport . Sam Bradford may well step it up this season (assuming he's injury free and is the 1st choice starter) . Former overall no.1 pick so you'd hope he's got the goods .

I see Chad Johnson (Ochocinco) has been cut by Miami . With 32 teams all trying to contend he'll probably get another chance . Might have to sit it out for a little while though .

[Gorgoroth 12,950]

Bradford will be good, I have no doubt, we need a offensive line that can hold and let him settle and some recievers to have time to get down field a little.

[QueenC 74]

Bradford will be good, I have no doubt, we need a offensive line that can hold and let him settle and some recievers to have time to get down field a little.

I've always had faith in Bradford, he isn't the issue for the Rams......

But new coach (as well as Sam's third OC in as many seasons) will take a bit of getting used to.

The first half may be a little shakey but despite my need for them not to, I think the Rams will get better as the season goes on.

[Gorgoroth 12,950]

I hope so QueenC I hope so.

I'm going to do the NFL fantasy league this year for some laughs.

[Macca 16,967]

Just a sneak peak at week 1 of the season . You can click on any team for more news , information and fixtures .

THURS, SEPT 6

10.30 AM Dallas at NY Giants

MON, SEPT 10

3.00 AM Indianapolis at Chicago

3.00 AM Philadelphia at Cleveland

3.00 AM New England at Tennessee

3.00 AM Atlanta at Kansas City

3.00 AM Jacksonville at Minnesota

3.00 AM Washington at New Orleans

3.00 AM Buffalo at NY Jets

3.00 AM St. Louis at Detroit

3.00 AM Miami at Houston

6.25 AM San Francisco at Green Bay

6.25 AM Seattle at Arizona

6.25 AM Carolina at Tampa Bay

10.20 AM Pittsburgh at Denver

TUES, SEPT 11

9.00 AM Cincinnati at Baltimore

12.15 PM San Diego at Oakland

Edited August 22, 2012 by Macca

[Gorgoroth 12,950]

Can't wait for the season to start!!! even tho the Lions will [censored] us

[Macca 16,967]

Can't wait for the season to start!!! even tho the Lions will [censored] us

The Rams were 30th in passing yards last season so with the expected improvement in Bradford you should get much better in that area .

My team (the Packers) were ranked 32nd (300 yards) in opposition passing yards (last season) yet we only lost 1 regular season game . It's just as well we've got Rodgers who does so well on the other side of the ledger ! St Louis were ranked 7th with 206 opposition passing yards so if you keep up your defence ............

Of course , there's rushing yards to consider as well . I'm usually not big on stats but this sport (NFL) is way different and the stats can't be ignored .

Had a bit of a gander at your schedule and reckon much will depend on how St Louis go in their first 6 games . Get 3 or 4 wins in that period and ya just never know ! There's nearly always a couple/few teams that rise into contention . And other , more fancied teams can fall away .

Edited August 20, 2012 by Macca

[pantaloons 2,019]

Very happy to see that OneHD is still covering the NFL this season. Three games a week again. Bring it on. I thoroughly enjoy getting up a couple hours early on a Monday morning for some NFL. Good times.

http://nfldownunder.com/read/news/one-hdten-sport-tv-announces-coverage-of-2012-nfl-season

[Gorgoroth 12,950]

Well we just gave KC a touch up, watcxhed the highlights (you can watch the pre season games live on the official NFL site)

[Macca 16,967]

Very happy to see that OneHD is still covering the NFL this season. Three games a week again. Bring it on. I thoroughly enjoy getting up a couple hours early on a Monday morning for some NFL. Good times.

http://nfldownunder....2012-nfl-season

Yeah , it's good news and OneHD usually cover different games to Foxtel (except of course , SNF) . Nice having a choice of games to view .

One of the great things about the sport is that a number of other games are played at the same time . It's a very busy few hours on a Monday morning - trying to keep up with everything soon wakes you up !

Had a bit of a look at the schedule and this season there is a Thursday night game (Friday 10.20 am / 12.20 pm AEST time ) EVERY week until week 16 . Some great match-ups too - many of them divisional games . Ditto for SNF and MNF .

The best bit is that there is rarely a let down with regards to the anticipated start to the season . There's always upsets , controversies and shocks .

Here's my tips for the season ...

NFC East : Philadelphia

NFC North : Green Bay

NFC South : Atlanta

NFC West : San Francisco

AFC East : New England

AFC North : Baltimore

AFC South : Houston

AFC West : Denver

4 Wild cards : NY Giants , New Orleans , Pittsburgh and San Diego

NFC Championship : Green Bay / Philadelphia

AFC Championship : Baltimore / Houston

Super Bowl : Green Bay / Baltimore - winner Green Bay (who else!)

Improvers - Kansas City , Washington , Indianapolis , Arizona , Carolina and St Louis .

Anyone else care to have a go ?

Here's last year's standings ...

http://espn.go.com/nfl/standings/_/year/2011/seasontype/2

[pantaloons 2,019]

Macca, I'll take 5 of those division winners - Green Bay, San Francisco, New England, Baltimore and Houston. I'll also have Kansas City winning the West. The NFC east is always a bit of a coin toss, but I'll take the G-Men. I'd normally have the Saints in the South, but after their offseason I might join you and take Atlanta. Wildcards: AFC - I'm trying to squeeze three teams into two spots, but I'll be boring and pick Denver and Pittsburgh. Buffalo was the other, I think they've made some great moves. NFC - I'll say Dallas and Detroit. There's not a great deal of expertise to my NFC picks though.

[Gorgoroth 12,950]

Kansas may want to play better as we gave them a touch up on the weekend, saw highlights and they did not look great.

[pantaloons 2,019]

Kansas may want to play better as we gave them a touch up on the weekend, saw highlights and they did not look great.

You can't get excited about the preseason. KC won convincingly the week before but that matters not. These four warmup games for KC are about getting previously injured players up to speed and through unscathed. KC was without a good chunk of its secondary in Flowers and Lewis on the weekend, and will particularly need Flowers back soon.

Last season, the Chiefs suffered an injury apocalypse and missed the playoffs by a blown FG. Including the returns of Charles, Berry, Moeaki and Cassel (who despite his obvious limitations is a below average but not disgraceful QB), the Chiefs have made some other significant additions to the youngest team in the NFL, and the team that won the division in 2010 before last season's farce.

Believe me when I say I am one of the most pessimistic Chiefs fans around. I understand we have had an ordinary history since SB IV and have historically had cheapskate ownership hinder our progress, but this Chiefs team looks good. Not Super Bowl good, but good enough to win a playoff game and well and truly good enough to win the West. ESPN's AFC West writer Bill Williamson has picked KC and I'd say he will be in the majority. Denver faces a tougher schedule, with games against new England and Houston instead of the Chiefs' games against Cleveland and Indy.

With all this said, this is not the NBA where you can pretty much predict the champion before each season starts. One or two injuries or close losses and it changes everything. We could finish 12-4 or 6-16 with a few factors tipping it either way.

Bring it on.

Edited August 22, 2012 by pantaloons

[Gorgoroth 12,950]

Yeah, I don't know a heap about the chiefs to be honest, but what I saw in the pre season game was not that good, we got a lot of free recievers in the backfield.

I think this year will be very interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing how tebow goes this season after last years breakout.