Nfl

[Captain America]

I saw that. If Ray Lewis gave anyone a speech they could probably run through a brick wall!

[Woodsinho]

I'd run through a brick wall for Ray Lewis. Out of fear. Fear that he'd put me through the brick wall himself if I didn't do exactly as instructed.

[Spoonie]

We're sitting top of the table in the North and if we win our last two games, we'll probably be playing the tem who lost that fixture in the semi final and (if we beat them) the Warriors in the final. It's a big ask, but I sincerely hope that Ray Lewis isn't giving them pre-game speeches by the time they get to Britbowl!

[ca_gere]

Thoughts on the wknds games?

Some great talking points - RGIII, Akers' 63yd field goal, Payton Manning being Payton Manning. I thoroughly enjoyed the Jets game. Ok, the Bills were pretty awful but I thought Sanchez looked strong and in charge and their receivers look pretty handy. Noob question... Tebow took a turn at WR - is this 'normal'? I mean, i've never seen a QB play anywhere else other than QB.

[Captain America]

Thoughts on the wknds games?

Some great talking points - RGIII, Akers' 63yd field goal, Payton Manning being Payton Manning. I thoroughly enjoyed the Jets game. Ok, the Bills were pretty awful but I thought Sanchez looked strong and in charge and their receivers look pretty handy. Noob question... Tebow took a turn at WR - is this 'normal'? I mean, i've never seen a QB play anywhere else other than QB.

They thought Tebow might switch positions when he came to the NFL as his throwing style isn't suited to the NFL level so when he was doing the combine a year and a half ago or so they got him to run a few WR routes and he was also considered a decent idea at RB as he basically does that when he plays QB anyway. But no it's not really "normal" especially when he is listed as a QB on the Jets roster.

My niners beating the Packers was amazing to watch. Thought we looked capable at passing which we weren't last year and still a bruising defence with probably the best two inside linebackers in the league and Justin/Aldon Smith rushing the passer. Great looking for this season! Especially when pundits on the NFL Access shows and the website were suggesting the Niners weren't going to make the playoffs this season and the Seahawks would win the division.

[Spoonie]

Some awesome performances, as described!

Yeah, they use wildcat formations, where they put an RB at WB and occasionally put QBs at WR but it's still pretty rare because if a defensive player gets a clean shot at a QB, he'll light him up. One big thing tho is that the NFL isn't a league where you see much variation in ideas, NCAA football is MUCH more varied in formation, play calling, etc

[Woodsinho]

David Akers' field goal was amazing as was the 49ers team in general. I had a good feeling about them coming into the game on Sunday but didn't expect them to dominate the Packers to the extent that they did. In other news, apparently the Centre for the Redskins played 2 and a bit quarters of the match against the Saints with a broken arm. TOUGH BLOKE.

[Spoonie]

The 49ers looked legit. they'll be a force if tehy keep playing like that. Even old man Moss was getting in on the action!

That's pretty hardcore, especially for a Center. That was the position I played and there's no way you could manage that at our level because of the amount of contact in the trenches, so dealing with 300lb guys crashing into you at full tilt every play is ridiculous.

Lawrence Taylor once played three games with a fractured tibia and Jack Youngblood did taped up a broken leg and played in a Superbowl!

[Captain America]

It was the long snapper. He's still well 'ard but that's only going to be a limited number of plays he'll have had to go through.

[Spoonie]

Yeah, specialists don't have the same workload and also the longsnapper is protected from contact for a certain period of time after the snap (1 sec I think) because his head is down. If you want a hardman who played Center, look no further than Jim Otto from the Raiders. Center and longsnapper and he didn't miss a single snap in 308 straight games. Even had offseason knee replacement surgery more than once, during his playing career. Hard as nails.

[ca_gere]

watched a total of 3 and a half games this week. Some points:

The end of the Giants game was just utter mayhem. As superbowl champions they look ropey as hell but are sure to provide some entertainment this season.

Turner from the the Broncos has the largest thighs of any player I've ever seen.

The Jets are gonna have the ultimate up and down season. At times they look excellent in offense and defence but at times they look clueless. They got found out by the Steelers.

Rothelsberger is a machine. The man just does not know how to go down when players attempt to sack. He brushed off guys on at least 4 occassions.

Peyton Manning needs a lot of time to settle. He should get a pass for those interceptions - new team, new plays, etc. You can still tell he has an excellent football brain and showed it on enough occassions last night to prove he's on his way back.

Ray Gonzales is very likeable.

[Captain America]

I think Payton is doing pretty well considering he was out an entire season and now has a completely new team. He was still leading a comeback in the 4th quarter as he used to.

49ers really took care of the Lions in week 2. That's two playoff caliber teams the 9ers have beaten so far, just got to hope they don't peak to early and can avoid injuries. The defence really is amazing. If it keeps playing on that level it will rival the 2000 Ravens and other great defences.

I don't rate the Jets at all. The beat the pretty bad Bills handily in week 1 but got shown up for what they really are this week as ca_gere said. Just an average football team. With bad QB play and a coach whos mouth writes checks his team cant cash.

Dallas managed to revert to the Dallas we all know and love this week as well. Which is always nice to see as Jerry Jones continues to try and play fantasy football with his team.

[Spoonie]

watched a total of 3 and a half games this week. Some points:

The end of the Giants game was just utter mayhem. As superbowl champions they look ropey as hell but are sure to provide some entertainment this season.

Remember that we went 9-7 last year and still took the prize! Mayhem is all part of the package

Not sure I'd class the Lions as a playoff caliber team. they've been shit for a long time and belief is a bit low in that camp

Jets are a shower of shit. Rex Ryan is hilarious tho! Did you see Hard Knocks in 2010 with him?

[ca_gere]

Remember that we went 9-7 last year and still took the prize! Mayhem is all part of the package

Not sure I'd class the Lions as a playoff caliber team. they've been shit for a long time and belief is a bit low in that camp

Jets are a shower of shit. Rex Ryan is hilarious tho! Did you see Hard Knocks in 2010 with him?

Hard Knocks is definitely on my watch list. Haven't checked if it's on Netflix but seeing as the Jets are my boyhood team (/Robbiekeane) I better check it out somehow.

What happened to the Lions? Were they not a huge joke team a few years back and lost every game? New owner or something?

I'm looking at tickets to see the Jets this season. They're hoorin expensive but still a good whack less than Giants tickets. My GF is an Eagles fan so will maybe make it to that.

[Woodsinho]

The Lions were terrible mostly because of the President/CEO/General Manager/ALL ROUND HEAD HONCHO Matt Millen. He fucked up big style on the player recruitment side from 2001 'til he got the hook before the 2008 season so they were stuck with a load of shite and it's only in the last couple of years that they've managed to shift some of the shite players he brought in to turn things around.

[Captain America]

Also they have MEGATRON!

Who is pretty immense.

[Spoonie]

Exactly as said above, they made frankly awful draft choices for a long time. They've really turned around now and are definitely on the rise, but they're still not in what I'd call the elite group of teams.

I've got all of the series of Hard Knocks on my laptop. The Cowboys recent one is hilarious too. TO just behaving like a tool throughout!

[ca_gere]

Thursday night NFL is just ace. Well done to everyone involved in making that decision.

[ca_gere]

No idea how the Jets managed to win that one. It was pretty dire from start to finish. They just seem to have no game plan whatsoever. Revis being injured is gonna be a huge blow.

Am annoyed I turned off the Pats Ravens game in the 4th quarter. Seemed to be meandering towards a pats win conclusion. Absolutely amazing for the lad who lost his brother just a few hours earlier. To get the game-winning touchdown (well bar the conversion) - you just couldn't get a better end to the story.

Another noob question - When a team needs to score in the last possession of the game with like 1 min remaining, they almost always make 1st down after 1st down and advance up the field really quickly. Why in the world don't they do this from the start? RG3 yesterday was just pummeling the ball up the field in the last minute - I think they got something like 5 1st downs in a row to push for the winner. I guess that's pretty much what a no-huddle offense does normally but it just seems they are more successful when pushed to the wire.

[Woodsinho]

I recorded the Pats v Ravens game to watch tonight. It just cut off at the 2 minute warning with the Ravens picking up the ball at their 20 yard line. Bit annoyed about that.

[Captain America]

Are the Jets your adopted team ca_gere? Or the Giants?

Who's everyones team actually?

Spoonie is Giants I think

I'm San Fran 49ers

Lets get some rivalry all up in this thread!

[Woodsinho]

Titans for me. Hella good win against the Lions yesterday. Loved the punt return touchdown we got when the returner on the left of the field threw the ball across the right to an open guy who had a straight path to the endzone. MEGA.

[ca_gere]

Yup, as a dons fan i'm somehow drawn to perpetual disappointment mixed with an air of unwarranted entitlement so it's the Jets for me.

Your lot got mugged... lol

[Captain America]

Yeah it looked like they went in expecting an easy win. Which is terrible and unusual as Harbaugh is a bit of a badass who gets them prepared for every game.

Also they basically abandoned the run when they went down by like 10 early and never went back to it. Just awful.

Still think we'll be in the mix this year though.

Also I like your rational for going with the Jets.

Woods I don't get how the Titans have been so bad thus far. You have Chris Johnson you should be getting eaaaaaasy points he was scoring fir fun 2 years ago! 80 yard runs every other week.

[ca_gere]

Um... wtf was that?!

I live downstairs from a set of rowdy Seahawks fans. Their team doesn't get prime time coverage often and you definitely know it when they do. Was watching the game streaming with a slight delay and from the huge din they were making I knew something crazy happened on the last play. Didn't expect that though. You couldn't even argue simultaneous possession - Jennings clearly had the ball. The refs must be trolling or getting paid to prove the point of the lockout. That moment where one ref waved for an interception and the other for a touchdown was classic.