NFL on the way....

[Zeradul]

So get ready... I spose we can start with pre-season, but we won't count it, because pre-season is third, fourth and fifth stringers.

Remember Last Year?

Here’s how we did.  It was close at the top.  Can’t wait for next year…

Winning %
.669 - zera
.646 - spectre
.641 - zephyrX
.639 - devildoil
.615 - chew
.603 - xterm
.583 - law
.561 - H.B.
.516 - psychotron
.500 - servo
- - - - - -
.434 - briman
.407 - dazryte
.375 - qbert
.286 - githianki
.286 - dragonmage

[chew]

I am lookin forward to this coming season, should be exciting.  I am thinking the Eagles will make it back to the SB for another shot for sure.  Green Bay, Dallas and Denver look pretty promising.

[Zeradul]

What do you like about the Packers?  I have to admit, I don't has much hope for this season as I have had for any of the last 10 years.  We've still got Favre, Green, Franks and Henderson, which will be fun, but we lost Sharper (DB), and some of our O-line.  We still have our very effective D-Line, and LB's.  I dunno.  We've got holes at DB and Safety.  We'll need some rookies to really step it up.  If not we'll be a crazy offense without the ability to stop the long pass.  Lucky Moss is gone.

As far as the North Division, the Bears look like Crap, the Vikings look like a very random team now that they're missing their centerpiece, and the Lions still have Mariucci so who knows.  Mariucci = Awesome.

I don't see much different about the Cowboys either, I don't see any reason why they'll surpass last year's 6-10.  I think this is going to be a strange year.  I don't think the Patriots will earn home field advantage throughout, and they'll get beat before the AFC Championship game, The Steelers will be an interesting team to watch, REALLY interesting.  In the NFC I've got no idea.  Everyone looks like crap, which means it is the Eagles to loose.  They've got the personnel, but they don't have any team chemistry.  Owens is a douche, and no matter what anyone says this contract nonsense will continue to be an issue even if they agree now and drop it.

[chew]

I have always liked Green Bays game.  They always seem to be full of surprises and they handle the opposing teams offense pretty well.  Seeing Favre play another season is always fun.  He is one of my all-time fav QB's.  I wish my Bucs would come alive again, but I dont see it in the near future.

[GeleshkA]

I don't see much different about the Cowboys either, I don't see any reason why they'll surpass last year's 6-10. 

If you don't see any reason, then you either are not looking or don't know what to look for.

Reasons:

Julius Jones is healthy - Jones gained over 800 yards in 7 games and became the 3rd RB in the history of the NFL to have 3 30 plus yard games in a row ( Earl Cambell and Gayle Sayers were the other 2 I believe ) - He was hurt for 8 games last year.

Terry Glenn is healthy -  Terry Glenn got hurt in the 4th game last year, putting too much pressure on K.J. - before Glenn got hurt, the Cowboys were THE NUMBER ONE OFFENSE IN THE NFL - yes, even with the old man Vinny throwing it.

Dan Campbell is healthy - In addition to being our Starting Tight End ( at the time ) he was also one of our best blockers in the running game.  Cambells loss was huge - but one good side affect is that we found out we have the BEST tight end in the NFC in Jason Witten ( the pro bowler ).

We have 2 real live corner backs - we were playing corner backs from other peoples practive squads all last year on the right side - Jerry finally did the right thing and spent some money on this position. 

Defensive line will be MUCH improved - If they actually stay with the 3-4 defense, the Cowboys will have THE best defensive line rotation in the NFL.   Deep enough to where LaRoi Glover will actually be a BACKUP (lol - 4 times in the pro bwol IN A ROW ).  Ellis, Ferguson, Glover, Spears, Ware - yes please!
When they move to the 4-3 defense, they'll have Ellis, Gliver, Ferguson and Spears on the same line (!!) - yes please!

An improved OL - Our OL now has 3 pro bowlers on it...and improvement over last year, and even then, they kept the old man alive.


Roy Williams closer to the line again -  the line is where he wreaks havoc and the 3-4 and a REAL coner back on the right  side finnaly will let him do what he does best - lay the wood.  They didnt draft him to cover people in the passing game...they drafted him to destroy receivers and instill fear in the hearts of men.

A weaker schedule - people forget that the Cowboys played the leagues 2nd hardest schedule ( while the eagles had the leagues 2nd easist - go figure ) - this time around, their schedule is much weaker ( especialy in the middle ).  that alone should be enough to be better than 6-10.

I could go on.....

[Zeradul]

Julius Jones - How could he have 3 consecutive 300 yard games and only gain 800 yards last season?  Anyways, he's an unproven player, lot of question marks there, injury wise, maturity wise, etc...

Glenn - He played for us remember?  He's frail, he's old, and he can only contribute on routes that he won't be tackled on, and the defenses know it.  He'll get injured early.

Tight end - Yea a healthy tight end is good, but again, its just one peice of the team, coming off injury, with some question marks.

Defense sounds fine, but it doesn't sound THAT much better than the defense that limped in a 6-10 last year.

And who's your quarterback?

[briman]

300 yards doesnt have to come from running...that would be an NFL record for rushing in a game wouldnt it?? Or did J.Lewis set it over 300??

[joel]

Glenn? I don't think SHE can catch passes anymore on any type of consistent basis.

[Mnementh]

Don't forget about the Seahawks! We have a couple of new receivers who will hopefully not drop the damn ball so much.  And Shaun Alexander will keep the threat of a running game, which should open up the receivers.

[CycloWizard]

Go Horse!  Colts all the way this year, Redskins the next. 

[xterm]

<--------   

[GeleshkA]

DOH!  not 3 300 yard games...
3 games with 30 carries or more.


3 games in a row with over 300 yeards each would be super-human  lol

[GeleshkA]

Glenn? I don't think SHE can catch passes anymore on any type of consistent basis.

Joel - check the stats for the 1st 3 games last year ( before Glenn got hurt )  Vinny had like a 400 yard game each game...and Glenn was the main threat.

I'm highly looking forward to this season

[Zeradul]

DOH!  not 3 300 yard games...
3 games with 30 carries or more.


3 games in a row with over 300 yeards each would be super-human  lol

That's what I thought, which is why it didn't make sense.  It also doesn't make sense to count number of carries as a significant stat, especially if he had those 90 carries in three games that were part of 7 games that only earned him 800 yards, that is not a great performance.  That might even be below average, if you give other running backs that many carries, especially since you have so many pro-bowl O-Linemen.

[briman]

That's what I thought, which is why it didn't make sense.  It also doesn't make sense to count number of carries as a significant stat, especially if he had those 90 carries in three games that were part of 7 games that only earned him 800 yards, that is not a great performance.  That might even be below average, if you give other running backs that many carries, especially since you have so many pro-bowl O-Linemen.

What are you talking about?? Even if he had 30 carries in all 7 games that is still almost 4 yrds a carry and that is damn good. And since he didnt have 30 carries in every game, it was probably more like 5! He would have been on pace for something like 1800 or so yards, and I don't know what you consider good, but if that isn't a good season then all the backs in the NFL miswell go home now!!

And I found this and think Gel would love it

[Zeradul]

I spose, I guess I've only been paying attention to the best RB's stats.  Ahman Green has average 4.7 Yds per carry so far in his 7 year career. http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/12404 

Ladainian Tomlinson - 4.3 (Career) http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/235249
Priest Holmes - 4.7 (Career) http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/1645

And even someone as mediocre as Ron Dayne is sitting at 3.5 for his career. http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/187386

Jones' 8 games at 4.2 per carry http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/492974  It doesn't really matter, I guess it just doesn't really stand out as that big of an accomplishment to me, He is a young guy, he certainly has potential if he can stay healthy.

[briman]

and the difference between 3.5 and 4.5 is one is avg and the other is great =D

my team (oakland) signed lamot jordan, and when he was in NY even behind curtis martain he still has a career 4.7 i think it was. so now that he is in the spot light, he'd better shine damn it!

[GeleshkA]

And I found this and think Gel would love it

baddest saftey in the nfl.....

[Ruckus]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  DAYAM !!!!    SHAZAAM !!!

[QB3RT]

.375, i didn't even play last year.

 

[Zeradul]

and the difference between 3.5 and 4.5 is one is avg and the other is great =D

Right, which is why I see 4.2  over 7 games as a rookie and think decent performance for a rookie, but injury prone, and he definitaly hasn't proven himself yet, IMO.

my team (Oakland) signed lamot jordan, and when he was in NY even behind curtis martain he still has a career 4.7 i think it was. so now that he is in the spot light, he'd better shine damn it!

Lamont Jordan hasn't really played yet.  He was a backup and was only in on 25% of running plays.  Which means, his 4 years are really one 1 year, and when he then carries the ball in those special situations and has an average of 4.9, that again is statistically insignificant, because he's 3 times more rested than anyone else on the field, he's in special situations where the coaches think that a play designed around him has an advantage.  So his stats are insignificant, in 4 years, he's played one year.

[briman]

wow, you are quick to try and dog everyone arn't you zera?

He has played 4 seasons in the NFL, no matter what weird formula or % game you try to play, he has 4 years experience. He was still at the practices, still took just as many practice snaps as everyone else, and from what I heard on NFL Network, he won't be the 100% back anyways, he will be splitting with wheatly and there other tailbacks, so he isn't going from blocker/short yard guy to full go main feature guy, but he is stepping up and will get more carries and hopefully LOTS of yards and touchdowns! yay go oakland!

[Zeradul]

Nope, just talkin football !

I know he has 4 years experience, but he's only gotten the ball 25% of the rushing plays.  Anytime you have two backs, the secondary back can be more specialized, which can easily result in way more yards per carry, not only because he's more rested that everyone else on the field, but because he's got special plays for him designed to exploit certain situations.  That's how football works.  He wouldn't have a 4.9 average if he was the only running back on a given team.

Oh and I figured it out exactly, the percent is 17%.  He's gotten the ball on 17% of running plays for the team he's on in the past 4 years.  On the same team as Curtis Martin who averaged 4.1 per carry.

http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/235223
http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/1132

[-Spectre-]

First of all .. GO PACKERS!!!!!


ok, im with Gel on Dallas. I think they will surprise many pple. As far as SB prediction goes ... I think the Steelers will win it. 

and TO > Eagles.

[QB3RT]

lets do a yahoo fantasy football jbpow league

[Zeradul]

Yea? Does Yahoo host that kind of thing for free?

[QB3RT]

yes Free

i can set it up  its easy

http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1

best of we have 10 peeps.  more than likely though, i assume 10 won't be enough.  so if we start to get this going, then first come first serve.

[Zeradul]

I have the rough idea of how Fantasy Football works, but I'm sure they vary a little bit, so can you give us a little run down Qbert?  How do the 'live drafts' work?  When does that start?  How does the draft order work?  What about the other types of drafts?

Would we do a head to head?  Or a Points League?

I'm very interested, but I've never done it, so those of you who know what is more fun should discuss which we'll do, and then I'll read the rules.

http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/football/frules/frules-01.html

[Ruckus]

DA PANTHERS BAYBEE !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wanna see another Carolina game this year but I dunno if I'll make it down there.

If we could keep at least half the team off the IR this year we should do good !!!

[QB3RT]

Draft is easy, before the draft you move your players around by position to the order you think they'll perform for the year.  You'll have to look at Points/Scoring to understand how players get points by positions.  The default yahoo settings are usually very good and only a few changes need to be made but not many if any.  The regular season picking up players that are going to start and injuries is what decides who wins the league.  and having manning doesn't hurt either.

Then draft day comes and yahoo selects randomly who gets the 1st pick by position.  If you picked 1st in Qb, you won't pick first in RB.  People are selected by the order of the players.

I forgot exactly what the standard football league looks like on game day for starting players, but you will have enough players to fill any starting slots and have people on the bench and be able to swap out if someone gets hurt or has a bye week.

i think its 1qb, 2 rb, 2 wr, 1 te, 1 kicker, and then 3 random players Rb/TE/WR.
Then the new standard is like 2 definisive teams.   Another old standard is actually 3 defensive players that get points by tackles and stuff.

the games are head to head... 10 players in the league, 5 games head to head.  person with the most points in the head to head wins the game that week and gets a W.  The Loser gets a L. 

The regular season ends around week 13.  4 teams with the most wins make the playoffs.
Week 14 has 2 games.  Week 15 settles the championship. 

Weeks 16 & 17 are such wash weeks in the nfl for player performance that its best not to use them.
Some players don't play because they don't want them to be injured before the playoffs ETC...

its easy and fun & free.  And will give us some good material to bitch at each other and make fun of each other.

it only takes about 10 min of maintenance a week.