NFL Football 2005-2006 Season

[Brian Baldwin]

Wow. Carolina shut out the Giants. I didn't expect that at all to be honest. But at least Pittsburgh did its job. I'll hand it to Marvin Lewis though. He had Kitna well prepared to just step in. I've seldom seen a backup QB come in and play like that before. You'd have sworn he was the starter the whole time.

Next season won't be as easy. Cincy is going to just keep on improving. Palmer will come back from his injury and have a stellar season next year and reach the AFCC. Pittsburgh on the other hand will have some off season changes that may leave us out of the playoffs altogether next year. We'll see of course.

Its on to Indianapolis for the Steelers. Washington goes on to face Seattle. New England will head to Denver. And Carolina will go head to head with the Chicago Bears. What a week this was for football. Next week is going to be just as good.

Brian

A P.S. here. I really hope Palmer's injury isn't too serious. In otherwords, I hope any surgery required is minimal. (ACL tears always require surgery for an athelte.)

B

[Ryan Ruck]

Well... It was a good season while it lasted...

That injury to Palmer was a real

I have no doubt that had Palmer not been injured, it would have been an entirely different game. At first, I didn't think that the injury was going to be all that serious. I figured he would maybe be out until after the half with some ice and walking beforehand but, I had forgotten about the previous injury to that knee until the announcers had brought it up.

When Kitna came in, it was looking like he was going to be able to hold the team together and push on. But, after two quarters things just started falling apart. At one point, it looked like Kitna was just flat out panicing (no immedate pressure but decides to break out of pocket for some reason). Also , I noticed that Kitna made no real effort to throw to CJ.

I keep reminding myself that the Bengals have made remarkable progress to date and they are likely only going to get better.

There's always next season!

[Brian Baldwin]

I don't think Cincinnati has anything to feel bad about. Each year they're taking it further. Marvin Lewis is an amazing coach as I've said before. Were Palmer healthy it is unlikely Pittsburgh would have won by such a large margin. The Bengals let the loss of their QB defeat them as much as they let the Steelers. Their O-Line gave up penetration so Kitna became pressured. A few sacks later and you have a QB that runs from the pocket when he doesn't need to and throws high when he has plenty of time to make the play.

The Steelers on the other hand did their usual poor performance in the first half and then followed it with their real potential in the second half. If they even want a chance to beat the colts they're going to have to play each half like they do their second half. There will be no room for error regardless of how long the Colts have not played.

If Cincy can continue their incredible growth then I think we'll see a Denver - Cincy AFCC game next year with Denver likely going to the Super Bowl. Very few people will watch the offseason closely and they will miss the largest part of football. The offseason is where all the real moves are made. Marvin Lewis will tighten up the defense with Free Agency and Draft Choices. Bill Cohwer will seek to improve his O-Line in order to dominate the game further. The Broncos will likely try to find a couple more offensive weapons at the same time. San Diego will have some serious rebuilds in their offseason and will likely trade off Philip Rivers for some good loot. The team to really watch though will be Kansas City. They just secured Herm Edwards as head coach, (barring any unforseens), and will make some huge changes all for the better. They could become the new Patriots or even Colts depending on those changes.

The NFC is another story. They have owner and staff problems in spades. Green Bay, New Orleans, Vikings, and the Lions all have big coaching concerns that could determine whether or not they're even worthy of mention. Washington is their up and coming team and Joe Gibbs is the best of their coaches. Which I think Seattle will find out soon enough. The Giants will have some serious work to do with their star QB. Eli is more like his father than he is his brother. I imagine they're wishing right now they'd went after Big Ben instead of Eli. Not that Eli won't be a decent QB. He's just never going to be Peyton. Last season his passer rating was 55.4 and this season its 75.9. Much better but still pretty low for today's batch of QBs. While Big Ben Roethlisberger was 98.1 last year and 98.6 this year. Peyton averaged 93.5 overall through his career with his lowest being his rookie year at 71.2. I really doubt Eli is ever better than an average 85.5. The Giants will need many weapons to make it work for them.

The worst teams this year were Houston, Tennessee, Green Bay, San Francisco, Jets, Oakland, New Orleans, and Arizona with each of them having 5 or fewer wins. Likely the worst I've seen in all my many years of following football. They're evenly split between AFC and NFC at least. The main thing I've found between them all is that they also have about the worst owners and/or franchise staff. (meaning presidents, VPs, and GMs.) They fire coaches right and left and still manage to suck for the most part so obviously its the staff needing fired. we saw a record of about 8 coaches let go this year and I think the NFL powers that be are watching what takes place. I wouldn't be surprised to see a team or two relieved of their owners in the near future should this trend continue.

This just leaves the teams that deserved to be in the playoffs but just didn't manage to make it. I don't like the current way of doing the playoffs. I think the six best teams of each conference should be in the playoffs and not the division leaders and two wild cards. The NFC would have played out exactly as it did but the AFC would have had one change. K.C. would have been in and New England wouldn't have been. The Chiefs are a much better team too. They were cheated in my eyes. Undeserving teams should not have a chance at the Super Bowl while deserving teams get to stand around wondering what happened. But that's the way the ball bounces for now.

Brian

[ExplodedMind]

The Patriots come to Denver Saturday. My wife and daughter will be at the game, I will watch from home. Predicted weather is about 42 degrees at game time, dropping into the 30s by halftime, no snow in forecast. However, long-range forecasts here are notoriously inaccurate, so we will know more by Thursday.

The Pats are looking strong, Broncos will have to play their best game. Broncos are 8 and 0 at home this year. Despite defensive additions, good quarterbacks tend to pick Denver apart. The Broncos try to defuse that by keeping the ball as much as possible, and taking chances on defense to get turnovers.

I read this as a coaches' chess game, two of the best going at it here.

EM

[Brian Baldwin]

Another week has gone by and we had some interesting games. Cincinnati lost not only their first playoff game they've been to in 15 years but also their franchise Quarterback. Washington having very little in the way of offensive yards managed to beat the Bucs. Del Rio of Jacksonville proved why he needs to be replaced when he started a rusty still injured QB in place of the QB that had won 4 straight games. And Eli Manning proved why San Diego lucked out when he refused to play with them.

This week is a super matchup though. With the Redskins going to Seattle, Pittsburgh in Indianapolis, New England traveling to Denver and Carolina going to Chicago. Now some may think these games are locked in on who will win but I'm not going that route this time. This time I'm picking the underdogs for the most part. The reasons being explained below. So lets get started.

Washington at Seattle.

Here we have number one seed Seattle hosting the Redskins in a possible replay of their week 4 meeting. In that one Seattle lost to the hogs in overtime. But then they didn't lose again until week 17! Quite a streak. Washington under the tutelage of Joe Gibbs has managed an impressive streak of their own and overthrew the Bucs even though they were favorites. Now they're going to clash in a titanic battle of Run and Shoot. The Seahawks are the clear favorites here with their west coast offense hybrid mixed with an impressive run game. But they've yet to win in the post season and Joe Gibbs rarely loses in the post season. I'm picking Washington here because while they are underdogs they are very dangerous ones.

Washington 24 - Seattle 21

New England at Denver.

New England is oddly enough the favorite here. They're the lower seed and if the playoffs were structured the way I think they should be then they wouldn't even have been in the playoffs. Its appearant though that they have returned from the funk they suffered in the first part of the season and got back to playing the kind of ball they like to play. They're still weak on defense against the run though and that's important here. Because Denver is a smash mouth team capable of grinding the ball all day or going to the air as needed. Their defense is much improved over last year's and Tom Brady could easily find himself with a sore backside by the end of the game. With all of that the Pats could easily pull out ahead early and keep the game dominated if Denver doesn't contain their running game and sack Brady into the dark ages. And that's exactly what I think will happen.

Denver 28 - New England 17

Pittsburgh at Indianapolis.

Anyone can see why the Colts are favored here. Pittsburgh lost badly to them in the regular season as did most teams that played them. San Diego exposed their weakness' though and they're few enough. Stopping Edgerin James is the first step and Pittsburgh has the ability to do this. Pittsburgh has returned to last season's greatness late this season with one exception. They tend to play like a high school team in their first half and then come back strong in their second half. That WON'T beat the Colts! The Colts are obviously going to win unless their four week vacation has softened them up. I believe that it has too. So I'm going to take the biggest gamble of my season and pick the Steelers.

Pittsburgh 31 - Indianapolis 27

Carolina at Chicago.

What can be said here. You've got two strong running teams with great passing games and excellent defenses. This is a super bowl all on its own. Carolina is the actual favorite in many ways but Chicago holds the number 2 seed. The problem here is Rex Grossman. He has no experience in the playoffs and Jake Delhome has been to a super bowl. That's a huge thing believe it or not for confidence and the ability to make plays under pressure. But I actually think that Rex Grossman is so unaware of the playoff atmosphere that he may actually be at ease. A false sense of ease but still... So I'm really thinking that Chicago is going to pull this one off and head on to face Washington in the NFCC.

Chicago 24 - Carolina 17

So there we have it. Most of these picks are based on gut feelings rather than what the research has shown. I picked completely opposite of everything I normally would have. This playoff season has more talent and winning teams involved than any other playoff in the history of the NFL. So you could slide a hair between the difference of most of these teams in your picks and often times it comes down to a coin toss as to who goes home and who moves on. What a year. What a year.

Brian

[ExplodedMind]

Brain,

Point of information. In the Rocky Mountain News yesterday, the official line (Las Vegas?) showed Denver favored by 3 over the Pats. This game could go either way. Brady is the key, IMO. If he starts picking apart the Denver nickel/dime defenses, Denver is in trouble. If Denver can run the ball with success early, the Pats have a problem, as Denver will sit on the ball, grinding out long drives.

I'm curious to see if Denver will blitz to try to shake Brady, or use their favored technique of disguised defensive sets, which can lead to interceptions. I think they won't blitz much, Brady can burn the blitz.

Forecast right now is for cool but not cold weather, no snow. Field is in very good shape, footing should not be a problem.

EM

[Brian Baldwin]

Denver will do both IMO. They'll do much like the Steelers do; constantly moving guys to and from the line while the cadence is called. Brady won't know what's coming until its upon him. He's not Manning. That guy just knows.

Brian

[Brian Baldwin]

Denver won handily yesterday night and Washington found Seattle just too much for their tired team to deal with. If Washington had a couple more offensive weapons and a younger QB it could have been a different story, as the game was fairly tight through the first half. Mark Brunell is amazing for his age but he's so banged up from his Jacksonville years that I figure his retirement is around the corner.

Jake Plummer proved yesterday that Tom Brady isn't what made the Pats a great team. In the final shootout Plummer out played Brady completely. Sure... Brady has a couple of rings but that isn't exactly proof of greatness because several players that were cut in the offseason last year had them too. Brady is good. Not Superstar great like Marino or Montana or Elway could be considered. Or even Peyton Manning really.

On a personal level I was disappointed Brunell didn't make a Super Bowl come back. As a man that's getting on in years and each year passes me by quicker than the last... I seriously wanted to see that.

On that same personal level I was overjoyed to see Denver stomp New England. I'm soooooo tired of the media licking their boots. lol Maybe now the media will just lick the Colt's boots. Until the Steelers beat them tonight that is. Funny that... I found only one other person that picked the Steelers to upset the Colts and that was a comedian that did the voice for Sabrina's Cat Salem on Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

While I believe Seattle will wrap up the run for the Super Bowl... Finally... I almost want to see Chicgao win it all in the NFC due to rookie Rex Grossman and his being informed he can't because no rookie has. lol

Of course if they were to play against the Steelers in the Superbowl I'd want them to lose horribly. But that's only because I'm.... A Steelers Fan! lmao

Brian

[ExplodedMind]

Brady is not very mobile, and when put under pressure he becomes average. Denver was able to pressure him, he doesn't like to get hit, and obviously he doesn't want to run, which could entail getting hit some more. To avoid getting sacked, he throws, and you saw the results. The loud crowd caused his audibles to go unheard, which is why he was throwing outs to nobody in the 3rd quarter, the receivers weren't hearing the audibles. Denver choked the life out of the Pats in the 4th quarter, keeping the ball for almost 12 minutes.

This was classic Shanahan strategy. Denver can always run the ball late at home, due to the opposing defense being gassed. If Denver leads in the 4th, they are very had to catch, they just swallow you slowly and completely, like a python eats a rat. The Patriot sideline realized it was over with about 10 minutes to go.

It was pressure defense and home field advantage that slayed the Pats. All Plummer had to do was avoid disaster, and capitalize on Patriot mistakes. We are rooting Steelers today, hoping for another home game next weekend. Wife and daughter had a great time last night, and are ready to go again if Steelers can win.

EM

[Brian Baldwin]

Steelers 21 Indianapolis 18

Brian

[ExplodedMind]

Steelers at Broncos should be a barnburner of a game. Steelers looked great today, very physical as always, but also very smart in their game plan, kudos to Cowher. How about that shoestring tackle by Ben R to save the game?

ExplodedWife is hoping her voice recuperates by Sunday, she is still pretty hoarse today from Saturday's festivities at the stadium.

EM

[Brian Baldwin]

Steelers at Broncos will be true smash mouth. After seeing Jake Plummer play Saturday I think this is going to be one helluva game. Sorry you're going to lose though. lol

Brian

[Aplomb]

Gotta stop by with the beers and tell you guys it has been very entertaining watching you all here with such heart and frustration and spectator antics.

But there is this one thing...

I've got a horse in this race.

[ExplodedMind]

Now that's what I'm talkin' about! Go Broncos!

Hey Brian, any word on Ben R's hand/arm? It looked like he was having issues after he took a hit on the triceps late in the game. He only threw twice after that, once short, and once wild.




EM

[Brian Baldwin]

Ever hit your funny bone? It was something like that. He should probably be ready to go fully at kick off time.

The refs in that Indy game did a lot to try to foil the Steelers it seemed. I say seemed because I'm not one that buys into the whole "bought off" refs thing. When the NFL actually has to come forward the next day and say an official's call was wrong then there's a problem. Personal interpretations of the rules (ref's wording) is not in my mind a place where we want this to go. The interception fumble turned into an incomplete pass just like that... How? Much like moderating forums... You must be fair and impartial even when its against someone you like. This is how we maintain order and avoid violence either verbal or physical. Its the same with game refs.

Now because of this you see a Steelers player saying that the Refs tried to take the game away from them. And while Porter is a bit of a loudmouth, its still the exact situation you wish to avoid. Because of that one call being "personally interpreted", the Steelers could have indeed lost that game. Instant replay was instituted to stop just such interpretations.

Luckily such calls are rare. And hopefully the attention this one drew will keep there from being another such call for a long time. Because in the end you want these games decided by how the teams played and not by how they were officiated. Otherwise what's the point?

Carolina is going to Seattle and Pittsburgh is traveling to Denver this weekend. These should be the best games of the season. The teams are matched up quite well. I feel badly for Seattle and Denver though as the "experts" are already picking them as clear favorites around the country. This does three things. It lulls the favored team into believing they have it tied up. It fires up the team that "gets no respect". And it changes how fans will react at home. I think predictions for wins should be set aside for later in a week after the teams have already set their path for what they feel is their best bet to win. Media influence as any political BBS knows, is a powerful thing. Just look at what it did to New England and Indianapolis. Or helped to do anyway.

Just some thoughts.

Brian

[Aplomb]

I feel badly for Seattle and Denver though as the "experts" are already picking them as clear favorites around the country.

reading between the lines/snip

Media influence as any political BBS knows, is a powerful thing.

Hmmm. Me thinks he's scared, EM.
GO BRONCOS!!!

[ExplodedMind]

Aplomb: If I was coming to (gasp!) 5,280 feet, I would be very, very worried about facing a good running team at altitude, in one of the loudest stadiums in the country. The Steelers better try to get a big lead early, cuz they will be gassed by the 4th quarter. Also the new stadium was specifically designed to be loud, the seats hang over the field. This resulted in 4 false starts by the Pats, and audibles didn't work as no one could hear. The Broncos talked about the "12th man" a lot after the game, they said they had never heard it so loud. As for the Eastern media, they are sulking because their favored darling teams got nowhere. I'm glad Ben R is OK, I want to face the Steelers at their best, whatever the outcome.

Pitt is strong on the road, 8-2 over their last 10 road games I believe. Put that up against an 11 game home win streak by Denver. I think this game will be decided just as the Pats/Denver and Pitt/Indy games were decided, by mistakes.

The Broncos and the Steelers look very evenly matched to me, which means Denver should be favored by 4-5 points for home field advantage. Usually home field gets 3 points, but this field is good for a couple extra, IMO.

EM

[Brian Baldwin]

LOL. Denver should be favored at home. But make no mistake. Both New England and Indy were favored also. The underdog should never be taken for granted. a mile of altitude isn't that bad. Breathing problems really don't begin until you break 7,000 feet. I don't count that at all. If your crowd shows up they may well make a difference. But Pittsburgh has been preparing for that event for awhile now. The Indy crowd made no difference at all.

I doubt seriously either team is affraid of playing the other. If Pittsburgh gets out ahead early the Denver crowd will be silenced. But again. The Steelers aren't concerned with the crowd noise anymore. They're more concerned with Lynch and Bailey. For good reason too. For the same reason Denver will worry about Troy P. These guys are always around the ball. They make big plays and change games quickly.

EM is exactly right when he says it'll come down to mistakes. Whomever makes the most will lose. And rightfully so. This is the type of matchup football fans really love. These aren't sissy little "finesse" teams. These are smash mouth in your face football teams. This will be the AFC equivalant of the Super Bowl. And whoever wins this one WILL win the Super Bowl in Detroit.

Brian

[ExplodedMind]

Brian: I'm in general agreement with your take, though the Steelers better worry about some fellows such as Ian Gold, Al Wilson, D.J. Williams and Trevor Pryce as well.

Disagree here:

As for altitude, 5,280 makes a large difference. I live at 5,500 and I'm a runner. When I go to my place in the mountains, at 7,600, I notice quite a difference. Traveliing from 1,200 to 5,280 will have an effect. One of my friends just located back here from Florida and thought he was going to die for about 6 weeks.

We are taking nothing for granted. Our fans and team have a high degree of respect for the Steelers. One or two mistakes spell probable disaster...we know that.

EM

[Brian Baldwin]

I'll probably be done with all my research on the two teams by Thursday and give a prediction then.

The high altitudue shouldn't effect the players since the effect only kicks in under 7,000 feet after a 48 hours. Until then the body produces enough red blood cells to counter it. That was my meaning. Its when you get over 7,000 feet that the effect is instant. The Steelers won't show up there except 24 hours before game time. Figure in the heavy practice and game play and its tight. But still doable. Just be glad none of us have to play in Flagstaff AZ. lol

I don't think the Steelers are [unconcerned] about any football players they come across. after all... The worst in the NFL is still one of the best out of the college level. The term any given sunday is always observed. Take last year when Miami beat an unbeatable New England team. Or when the Steelers were undefeated at home and lost in the AFCC at home.

Hunger and desire. For each team is going to be high. Both are physical teams. Denver didn't rest when they clinched and Pittsburgh didn't have the chance. So there's no rust anywhere. Both teams are so well matched that its a coin toss between who's better. Fans are biased of course.

I of course want the Steelers to win. As you of course want the Broncos to win. But I have to remain true to myself and follow the stats/injuries/matchups/staff/fatigue/locale/home/away/weather/record of the whole of the game. That's where my prediction will come from. And there's right now a bit less than 33% chance I'll be wrong. I've done this kind of thing for over 20 years now. I won't pick the Steelers if the Broncos are going to get it. I won't pick the Broncos if I see the Steelers getting it. Many times I've picked against my Steelers and hoped I would be wrong. lol

Don't misunderstand me though. I keep the two activities distinct. My predictions and my fandom. When I finally make my pick I'll stick to it. But I'll cheer the Steelers regardless or inspite of come Sunday.

Brian