nfl offseason transactions, fired coaches, general nonsense 2012

http://i.imgur.com/kj7IT.jpg

hahaha

ha!

... and Greg McElroy threw it

with, of course, disclaimers about the valuelessness of preseason games, it is still pretty lol to note that the afc east went a combined 1-15

I didnt realize that Gary Anderson missed an 87 yard field goal in '98. That's the length he's attempting in that video game clip.

With the pros, its essentially once they get inside the thirty, they are just trying for a marginal 4 points.
― One Way Ticket on the 1277 Express (Bill Magill)

I just don't see overtime as a problem in football. I think the only other thing they could do is just allow the other team to get a kick off after a field goal in the regular system.

I think shutting down contact with recievers after the Pats manhandling of Marvin Harrison a few years ago really is the reason the passing stats went bonkers.

This cheaping and easing of throwing the ball has led to the running game being not worth the work, it's just too easy to just run a short passing game. Pass blocking is also easier to coach than the running game, as the linemen don't have to do near the complex movements, they pretty much block what's in front of them or just slide left or right. For all the pass game trigonometry, it's basically all pass patterns and doesn't take near the team coordinated movement as running the old Packer sweep. Even Parcells when he was at the Cowboys, who liked to run that Packer sweep when with the Giants said it was impossible to do in the modern game as you have too much turnover on the lines and running that type of game takes pretty fine coordination to do.

And the fact that every club basically does the west coast passing game where you are throwing often to short zones on timing along with that contact change is partially a reason why you getting more killer hits on recievers. All of those linebackers and DBs have been watching the same video and know where you are throwing the ball and since I can't touch the reciever to keep you from catching the ball, I'm just going to wait until you get to that same zone where the ball is being thrown and I'm going to launch myself like a cruise missle at you when you have no defense to break up the play.

I seriously think if they want to fix some of the concussion big hit play, you got to get the game balenced back and let the run game come back. Not that injuries don't happen in the running game, but a back or lineman in general is prepared from contact and often the person taking the brunt of the punishment in the run game is the defender. Either way, it isn't some guy up in the air back turned to some safety or linebacker in a passive position basically waiting to be destroyed.

I've said it before, but I think that is one place I would try to change the game.

I think OT would be better if it was just "first to 6 wins"; you need a TD or two field goals. Even though the result of the coin flip doesn't matter as much as you'd think, it's still too much variance to decide a winner.

xp what is the fix? allow more contact on receivers again?

with, of course, disclaimers about the valuelessness of preseason games, it is still pretty lol to note that the afc east went a combined 1-15

― Roberto Spiralli, Friday, August 31, 2012 8:09 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

the AFC east is going to be so, so bad this year. patriots prob gonna go 13-3 again.

I almost feel the Jets have to surpass expectations, they seem so set up to fail this year, every game they win is going to be a shock

the jets maybe will win 6 games

I'd take the over on that (I think Vegas has them at 8 which sounds about right, still the under looks like a good bet there)

i had no idea that vegas was in the interest of giving away money

the absolute most generous reading i could give of the jets in looking at their schedule is 8 wins

actually 8.5 was the line but it's moved down because they're getting heavy action on the under

yeah, you don't say

i never quite get how they do odds, but the idea is that it actually doesn't *mean* anything -- in terms of how many wins or losses vegas actually thinks, for example the jets will have -- it's just to make sure they have even betting on both sides? right?

Basically, yeah. For example, Super Bowl 42, when they put a ridiculous line of Pats -13, because at that time the public's perception of the Pats were that they were just unstoppable, even though the "true" line should have been -8 or so. That's the most egregious example I can think of. Anyway, the public perception of the Jets is that they're a disaster waiting to happen, so the o/u of 8 kind of implies that maybe Vegas thinks they have a good shot at 9?

their schedule is terrible but if you wanted even betting on both sides i'd put the line at, idk, 7.5

yeah after the bye their schedule is mostly a cakewalk (outside of the likely autolose vs. the Pats)

9/9 BUF @ NYJ W
9/16 NYJ @ PIT L
9/23 NYJ @ MIA L
9/30 SF @ NYJ L
10/8 HOU @ NYJ L
10/14 IND @ NYJ W
10/21 NYJ @ NE L
10/28 MIA @ NYJ W
Bye
11/11 NYJ @ SEA L
11/18 NYJ @ STL W
11/22 NE @ NYJ W
12/2 ARI @ NYJ W
12/9 NYJ @ JAC W
12/17 NYJ @ TEN L
12/23 SD @ NYJ L
12/30 NYJ @ BUF L

giving them (generously) 3 division home wins, a win at st louis and a split of the back to back road games in tenn and jax, i get them to 7 wins

even that seems extremely generous to me

has anyone written about schedule difficulty? i just took a look at philly schedule and (no jinx) it looks a lot easier than it has been for a number of years

nm found it http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/56896/2012-nfl-strength-of-schedule

actually 7th hardest

my problem w/ assessing schedule strength preseason is that the NFL is such a volatile league i.e. no one pre-2011 season would've counted an out-of-division game against the niners as one of the toughest draws in the league

it's hard for me to adjust to this new reality where panthers are a dangerous team

yeah, strength of schedule stats are out of date as soon as they are compiled.

looking thru quickly, nearly every team the eagles are playing has a chance of being decent this year. who knows what the skins will be like this year, and then divisional games can be a crapshoot anyhow, look at that division last year. i would say eagles really want to win those first two roads games vs cle and az

az is still a total mess at QB afaik?

yeah, worst team in league almost def

browns supposed to be actually legit this season?

if richardson turns out like ppl think and their defense plays well

big ifs

4-12

you don't think the Jets can win a road game in Arizona?

they could if they had one?

the browns are gonna suck

branch waived

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrfz8irPU21qkpr6fo1_400.gif

just want to point out that this gif is now a bit more accurate

Whoops, I meant Buffalo!

lol @ the idea of a wasted, decrepit jets team winning in buffalo on dec. 30

rex is 3-0 in buffalo so there is room for doubt but this is the worst jets team of his tenure and the best bills side

also, buffalo on dec 30

Rex says this is the best Jets team he's coached

rofl

cards reportedly name skleton starting qb

who is the cardinals gm btw do they have one

solitary posts that effortlessly summarize the arizona cardinals

‏@AlbertBreer
Can't recall a more disastrous trade for a club than the Kevin Kolb deal has been for Arizona. Just catastrophic for that club.