The NFL Thread

[Lethal Interjection]

Dedicated to NFL talk.

As for myself, I've become a pretty big fan over the past 7 years or so. (I had some very fleating CFL interest in the past, but nothing more than watching the Grey Cup if the Argos were in.) Didn't follow it at all, then had a Seahawks fan in my dorm who prompted some interest and a pretty killer Superbowl party.
Then a few years later I started doing fantasy with him and some other guys, which has grown my fandom of the league to pretty decent proportions. Plus our Superbowl parties are pretty legendary among a quite large group of friends (even non-fans want to attend because of our killer food and whatnot).
I have no real team alliance, alas. Tops might be the Bills, simply due to proximity. Though I'm not invested at all, I just am most interested in them as a team. I've been a pretty sturdy Saints fan over the past few years too. Though, I'm really just interested in the game in general.

[Frostbite]

Well I was born and raised in Dallas so I think you can guess what my team is. I'm not into it nearly as much as my roommate is though, he goes absolutely insane over the games. He nearly lost his mind after the loss to Pittsburgh this past weekend.

[ruotwocone]

TwoBuy and I are huge Seahawks fans. Honestly, I'm glad we finally got back to losing this season 'cuz it just didn't feel right when we were winning somehow. At least I'll always have my memories of getting robbed out of a superbowl by crooked refs. Also, I was at the game where Tony Romo bobbled the snap on the GW field goal in the playoffs. Classic. Never been to a place that loud after that happened. I also saw a guy with a Romo Seahawks jersey the next game I was at (the following season).

[Kidd]

I'm a giant Panthers fan. Not weight wise, I'm a skinny mother fucker, but in spirit. Regardless to say, this is a good year for me.


Detroit = worst team ever.

[ruotwocone]

Detroit = worst team ever.

This is true, although I think Seattle is having the worst sports year in the history of sports:
Our basketball and minor league hockey team (the only hockey team we have) both cut town, the Seahawks are only better than the Bengals and Lions and are in last place in their division, the Mariners were the worst team in the American League, and UW was the only Division 1A team not to win a game this year. The only thing in the entire state that's worth watching is the Gonzaga basketball team. If only they were within 250 miles i could go see them play.

[Kidd]

Yeah, Seattle is blowing pretty hard. Thank God I didn't take Hasslebeck in my fantasy draft.

Oh wait, I did because, although he isn't stellar in the TD category, he doesn't make many mistakes so I thought he'd be safe.

My fantasy draft went as follows:

Me: *thinking* I'm just gonna draft a big player and then all sleepers in the hope that it pays off.

I then drafted Randy Moss as my big name (in the 9th pick of the first round) then picked up the surprises of Roddy White, Joe Flacco, Hasslebeck, DeAngelo Williams, John Kasay, Tampa D (maybe not a sleeper...), Tony Sheffler, Bernard Berrian, and a couple other nobodies. I ended up losing the first few games and finishing on a seven game win streak, only to lose in the first round of the playoffs by two points. If DeAngelo had picked up just 4 more yards, I would have evenly tied, 4.5 yards and I win. I can't complain though. Cept for Hasslebeck. Fuck him.

[TwoBuy]

Cept for Hasslebeck. Fuck him.

Don't you speak about the Great Bald One that way you little shit. Hasslebeck will come out of your closet at night and impregnate your girlfriend so hard the baby would be unabortable. And since he has the super-genetics of every man in the world put together, you would pass the paternity test. Hasslebeck wants your girlfriend and he's gunna score!

Added the URL for you non-football fans...

[mountainmage]

Replace hasselback with hasselhoff and you have every German.

[Lethal Interjection]

I actually have had a pretty good NFL fantasy year (and so far my NHL fantasy year is looking great).
Top of the league in regular season (and had top total score), and playoffs start this week.
I managed to get Adrian Peterson with my first pick, third overall. First was Tom Brady (because of the way our league was set up, Brady had the same point differential to the next QB as LT had to the next RB, so it was a toss up). Then went LT. Then AP. I think the rest of the top picks were Steve Jackson, Westbrook, and Portis. Shallow league, as you can tell. Other than Portis, AP was the only consistent quality.
Second round I think I got Lynch. Who I expected to have a much better year. Still, he had a good 60y rush and 40y reception week average, with a touchdown on a semi-regular basis. Not a bad pick, but probably shouldn't have gone that high.
Third round I got Brees. He was pretty much who I wanted going in, so getting him was fantastic, especially after the guy before me grabbed Peyton.

BTW, the guy who had Moss pooched pretty hard, but managed to snatch up Cutler, and Royal, and for a while, Scheffler. His attempt to get back into it was by going all-in with one team. Which helped him half the time, when the Broncos performed well. Not enough to get him out of last place.

[Lethal Interjection]

I would like to take this time to formally thank the Eagles.
1) For having a fantastic passing game.
2) For Andy Reid's throw-first mentality, to open up for the run later in the game.
3) For holding Cleveland firmly in place.
4) And lastly for playing Buckhalter when it was time to go to the ground more.

All of these factors gave me a semi-final win this week. I went in to last nights game being up 24 points. My opponent had D'Qwell Jackson and Westbrook (FYI we have an IDP, PPR league). Jackson had an okay night. But Westbrook didn't do much at all. Ran mostly in the first half with Westbrook, which was very sporadically. The Eagles went up nicely on Cleveland, and in the 4th did far more running. But I guess they decided to give Westbrook's knee more rest, by running Buckhalter. So I took the week with a ten-point win.
Huzzah!

[Lethal Interjection]

Are you ready for Wildcard Weekend? I'm rather looking forward to the Atlanta/Arizona game. The Indy/San Diego should be good too, but it doesn't hold the same interest for me.
3 top tier QBs, 3 poor running games. The only one that doesn't fit both of those is Atlanta, who has a great young QB (though not quite top tier, yet) and Turner, who while suspect early against tough defense, has redeemed himself late.

Who else thinks it would be really interesting to see a Dolphins/Atlanta Superbowl? One team was hugely bolstered by a good rookie QB, the other got the best deal out of the Favre situation. And both were bottom of the league last year.

[ruotwocone]

I'd be stoked for an Atlanta/Miami superbowl. Atlanta has been my de facto team to root for once the Seahawks started 2-11. My wife really likes both Mannings and is pulling for Giants/Colts - and I assume everyone in the media is as well with the ratings that'd bring. As long as Baltimore and Pittsburgh aren't in it, I really don't care though.

[Lethal Interjection]

I'd be stoked for an Atlanta/Miami superbowl. Atlanta has been my de facto team to root for once the Seahawks started 2-11. My wife really likes both Mannings and is pulling for Giants/Colts - and I assume everyone in the media is as well with the ratings that'd bring. As long as Baltimore and Pittsburgh aren't in it, I really don't care though.

Well, both of those scenarios are toast. I could find myself cheering for Arizona, but after that last bit of the season, it is hard to justify. Ultimately I was cheering for Atlanta as well, and while I like a lot about Arizona, the way they just gave it up at the end makes it difficult to cheer for them.

[mountainmage]

My friend was watching the miami/baltimore game (and therefore so I was I, by proxy) and we weren't doing too well. Will update later.

[Lethal Interjection]

Unfortunately none of the teams I was cheering for went through this weekend. Well, I actually didn't much care who one the Chargers/Colts game, but whatever (though Sproles was a delight to watch, even though I got so terribly sick of them mentioning that he is the smallest guy on the field).
While I'm not exactly cheering for Philly, I do hope they beat the Giants next weekend.
If Arizona plays like they did yesterday, I could see them beating Carolina, methinks. And I'm guessing the Baltimore/Tennessee game will probably be mostly a snooze-fest (much like the second half of the Philly/Minnesota game). Philly will probably put up a pretty good fight against the Giants.

Interesting to see how many teams in the playoffs don't really have clear #1 receivers. Minnesota doesn't (Berrian would probably be closest, but he doesn't see much, just makes big plays). Philly doesn't really (Probably Curtis, but he hasn't been around much of the season, and Desean Jackson is fantastic, and will eventually be elite, but isn't really the #1).
Without Burress, the Giants don't either (Toomer would be the obvious candidate, but he doesn't really see more action than Smith or Hixon). The Titans don't, really, and neither does Miami (Ginn is probably closest). Arizona doesn't, though I wouldn't really label that a problem...
Actually, come to think of it, did Baltimore even pass in that game? I watched it, but I don't recall even hearing the names Mason or Clayton. (Apparently they combined for 6 of the 9 catches and 86 of the 130yds).