Rest of the NFL Thread

[lomaxgr]

I thought I would create this so we could be a bit more specific with our thoughts, rather than using the Random thoughts thread.

I guess the first bit of news from the AFC West is the Ryan Mathews injury. Bummer for SD, and although nobody likes seeing injuries, the Raiders must be secretly more confident now for their Week 1 game.

I am just watching the Chiefs game from last night, and our boys better be ready to man up for our games against the Chiefs. I bet their running game will be as good as any team in the NFL next year.
_________________
20 TIMES, 20 TIMES MAN UNITTTTTEEDDD

From the banks of the River Irwell, to the shores of Sicily

[BroncoinGermany]

[AntiSuperstar]

While it's foolhardy to try to make judgements after one game, I will say that the Bills Defensive Line looked pretty good against the Redskins. Mark Anderson however was not a starter as some people apparently expected and even the broadcast falsely reported, the much better Chris Kelsay(who was very good in the 3-4 last year) was the starter opposite Mario.

The Redskins struggled to get movement against the Bills 1s in the running game and there was a Defensive Lineman or Linebacker immediately in the backfield on several plays. Maybe a move to 4-3 gap concepts has helped Kyle Williams because he looked more consistant out there getting push to me, and played quite well(or maybe it was the team he played). Both Williams and Dareus looked pretty interchangeable but Dareus seemed to be more suited for being lined up directly over Center as a nose. All of the Redskins interior lineman struggled at times but the Center Montgomery was routinely driven backwards.

In terms of pass rush the Bills didn't do as much, but the Redskins also didn't line up in a lot of ways that allowed for the team to line up very wide and have great pass rushing angles, and they left in extra blockers pretty often. In any case it's worth noting that the Redskins Center isn't all that great anyhow, and that both guard positions and Right Tackle consisted of backups(one of them, Polumbus, Broncos fans will know), not to mention TE Fred Davis isn't a great blocker and Chris Cooley is not exactly ideal at Fullback(also a backup there), so one could argue the Bills faced easy competition.

Also I would like to note that the Bills nickel defense(you can consider it a dime depending on how you look at it) is actually where I think NFL defenses should more aggressively be moving. The way they line up and everything seems pretty standard except for the fact that one of the "nickel linebackers" is actually a big Safety(Bryan Scott) while the other guy is an everydown LB. To me, this is a great use of a lot of these types of players. Like, it's ridiculous to me LaRon Landry isn't used in this way for example. In any case, the Bills Safety group of Jairus Byrd, George Wilson, and Bryan Scott is probably the best in the league.

As far as the Redskins defense goes, their pass rush looked good with Orkapo(which is probably a sign of the Bills LT not being good) and less so when he dropped into coverage. Orakpo looks like he's improved with his ability to drop into coverage a bit and the Redskins moved him around more than they normally would. The other new wrinkle is that they're trying to move DeAngelo Hall inside as a nickel corner in nickel situations. It doesn't seem like a bad idea(this might be Hall's primary role in the future) except for the fact that the outside corner replacement Cedric Griffin didn't look very good out there. In fact in general I would say the Redskins base defense looked much better than their sub-packages. While this observation is awfully, premature, not a good sign.

For the Redskins, Merriweather was used sort of like a Strong Safety who plays man coverage a lot, and didn't look bad, while it's interesting that Tanard Jackson at present is playing with the second team defense.

Special Teams until late in the game consisted mostly of the Bills beating the crap out of the Redskins(and they kicked the ball in the endzone everytime on kick returns, so I didn't get to see that unit), and the Redskins punter didn't have a good game. Not good signs.

The only thing I'll say about either team's offense is that the people in general forum who described Pierre Garcon as a one-dimensional deep threat are idiots. I have felt before it's false to label Mike Wallace as such because he is a capable after-the-catch threat on simple short and medium range routes but just based on the way he moved, Garcon looked not good but dynamic out there. I had no idea he could run like that. I'll be very curious to see him in more after-the-catch situations because if he's as good as he looks the Redskins might not be out of their minds to think he's potentially a #1 receiver. Garcon was actually the most impressive player of the game to me(which is interesting because the Redskins for whatever reason lined up all of their first string receiver very tight, not allowing them to be traditional deep threats in the way Marvin Harrison and Garcon were in Indy).
_________________
Stop slobbering over Brian Dawkins

[JRebar913]

i wasnt impressed with the chiefs. it was the cardinals, even though its preseason. the cardinals are just not a good team. i think san diego is more of a threat than the chiefs. even without matthews, hasnt he missed the majority of his games anyway? and just to clarify, from what ive heard on the local sports stations, mccluster is going to be a slot wr, not working with their rb's

[JerseysFinest27]

Andrew Luck just came back on everybody's map. I'm not reading into a ton because it was against St. Louis' defense, but the kid clearly has the skills and intelligence to play in this league. I still like RGIII right now, long term.

Also, Russell Wilson put together one of the best QB performances of preseason so far. He proved to be everything I thought he was. I said in the offseason Id take him ahead of Tannehill and Weeden and hes showing the abilities, with a terrible supporting cast nonetheless. Im really excited for the kids future.


One more thing from the weekend games, you guys want to know my sleeper team this year? Buccaneers. Greg Schiano is going to get this team back to being a playoff team. I dont want to start the hype train but I think he can have the same impact that Tony Dungy had in Indy. Both defensive genius', taking over teams with pretty decent offenses already. My sleeper team.
_________________


Stop slobbering over Lance Ball.

[BroncoinGermany]

[lomaxgr]

[JerseysFinest27]

[omegaxla49]

[JerseysFinest27]

[lomaxgr]

Andrew Luck is far, far more of an athlete than Peyton Manning ever was. Just because he passes from the pocket, doesn't mean he is Peyton Manning. I would go as far as to say he is more athletic than Aaron Rodgers.
_________________
20 TIMES, 20 TIMES MAN UNITTTTTEEDDD

From the banks of the River Irwell, to the shores of Sicily

[Russell2Bailey]

Peyton Manning is a poor man's R2B.



/thread
_________________

Von Miller Stat Tracker- 68 Tackles. 15 TFL. 18.5 sacks. 6 FF. 3 PD. 1 Pick 6. 6 Man Cards.

[BroncoinGermany]

[AnAngryAmerican]

[JerseysFinest27]