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NFL 2014 Week 17 |OT| - For the Division

K

Kastrioti

Persecution Complex
The_Darkest_Red said:
He is torn between posting that or the Suh one. Two tabs open in his browser, just trying to figure out which one to hit "post" on.
Click to expand...

This is true.

It's nice having this internal debate though. On one hand I can make an argument for a baller as fuck franchise QB.

On the other hand I can make a debate for a defensive who is in the same category as all time greats like Reggie White or Lawerence Taylor.

My vote for MVP goes to Suh. Watt is a hell of a player but Suh is head and shoulders above him and any other defensive player in the NFL.

Teams are rushing 63 yards a game against us. That is historically great, your teams run game is irrelevant against our team. And when that happens and you double/triple team Suh we're still getting after your QB.

Restore the Roar 2014.
 
S

Sweeney Tom

Banned
MechDX said:
Fuck you. Schaub was good until Haynesworth ate his damn foot. 2011 was our window :(.

Fuck the Bucs.
Click to expand...

He still did kinda okay after that. He was never the same after Suh kicked him in the nuts though.

At least his career went to shit in the manliest way. The only thing that could turn him bad in the end was getting hit in the jewels.
 
B

bionic77

Member
FTF said:
Because leading a team to the one seed and possibly best record in the NFL should get you no consideration right? The hate runs so deep with you.

Also, it'll probably be Rodgers. If somehow Houston sneaks into the playoffs at 9-7 sure, give it to Watt just to mix things up.
Click to expand...
It is not hate it is a serious flaw I have that I actually watch the games and use my brain to analyze what I see.

Is Brady really someone that anyone takes seriously as MVP? Did you actually watch the Jets game? That game and a handful of others were literally gifted to the Pats. If the Jets would have ran the ball 3 times after Brady throw a horrible INT at the end of the game then the 1 seed goes into the last week and it is no sure thing the Pats beat the Bills the way Tammy is playing. Instead Gino Smith saves the day and plays the position of qb about as badly as one can play it (or at least I thought so until I saw JFF, ugh).

The Pats are a really good team this year and I am a little afraid of what they could do in the postseason. But that is in spite of Brady not because of him. He has not had a good year, and most Pats fans not named Gata would admit that. And to be the MVP of the league you have to be great at your own job. Brady can't even complete a pass 15 yards past the line of scrimmage. You can't be a great qb if you can't do every facet of the job well.

Right now Brady is just a less talented version of Chad Pennington.
 
C

cdyhybrid

Member
Our receivers were good enough to win the Super Bowl last season.

They're good enough to get us the #1 seed if we can beat the Rams.

/shrug
 
M

MechDX

Member
Sweeney Tom said:
He still did kinda okay after that. He was never the same after Suh kicked him in the nuts though.

At least his career went to shit in the manliest way. The only thing that could turn him bad in the end was getting hit in the jewels.
Click to expand...

No it was the linsfranc injury in his foot. Never had a really strong arm to begin with but it was "enough" at that point. He could never plant with that foot again and it took even more off his throws. Those back to back games in 2012 where he threw for nearly 900 yards in 4 days just finished off whatever he had left in his arm. I remember reading an article on Linsfranc injuries after that happened and it is basically a death knell for a QB

Sadly I saw someone at BRB speculate what if 2011 was our window. Wade's defense that year was playing lights out. Harbaugh said after we lost to the Ravens in the playoffs that defense gave him all his offense could handle.
 
B

brentech

Member
Kastrioti said:
This is true.

It's nice having this internal debate though. On one hand I can make an argument for a baller as fuck franchise QB.

On the other hand I can make a debate for a defensive who is in the same category as all time greats like Reggie White or Lawerence Taylor.

My vote for MVP goes to Suh. Watt is a hell of a player but Suh is head and shoulders above him and any other defensive player in the NFL.
Click to expand...
I8kq0uJ.gif



Won't deny that suh is finally playing at a level he was expected to for years, but....nope. Rest of the defense is way too much better than Texans. Suh might not even be the best defender on the Lions with Levy around.
 
S

Spinluck

Member
Isn't all Mech saying that removing Luck from the Colts does more damage than removing Rodgers from the Packers? That is a valid argument. It's not necessarily saying Luck is better.

I don't think there's a good QB doing more with less at the moment than Luck. We had 10 rushes for 1 yard last week. I believe that's a franchise worst. And we lead the league in drops, I believe the second team behind us has 12 less drops than us. Our line is also shit.

At the same time, some of Luck's shit play can't be excused. Even with this teams' offense collapsing around us.

Anyway JJ should get MVP. Fuck all the QBs this year.
 
C

cdyhybrid

Member
I think Luck is definitely carrying that team more than anyone else in the league, but that said, he's had stretches where he played pretty shitty, so I don't think he should be a leading contender for MVP.
 
C

chuckddd

Fear of a GAF Planet
Giants 360 ‏@Giants360 3h3 hours ago

NFL News: Sirius Radio just reported that the 49ers have given Jim Harbaugh permission to meet with the Oakland Raiders.
 
M

Mrbob

Member
Mech use your eyes. Rodgers is on another level than Luck. Perhaps Luck will get there one day but it isn't close at the moment. Rodgers is better than Luck at everything. Can't think of one thing Luck does better than Rodgers other than to go full Cutler at times.

Luck seems to be a more refined Favre to me than the heir apparent to Rodgers.
 
R

RBH

Member
If you guys read a news story on Sunday night about a guy lighting his penis on fire while sitting on a plane after hearing the score of the Falcons/Panthers game over the plane intercom.........that might be me. :(
 
K

Kastrioti

Persecution Complex
New York Times article on Coach of the Year, Jim Caldwell.

Thanks to a Cerebral Influence, the Lions Find Enlightenment
Detroit Lions Coach Jim Caldwell Finds Success With a Different Approach
Click to expand...

lions-articleLarge.jpg


ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Jim Caldwell stood before his Detroit Lions one day last week and addressed them.

In Finnish.

During the past 11 months, the Lions have come to learn what the Baltimore Ravens appreciated about Caldwell, and what the Indianapolis Colts and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did before that — how in word and in deed, he defies the stereotype of an N.F.L. coach.

He recites poetry and proverbs, draws from Nelson Mandela and Joe Torre, discusses humanism as naturally as he would a hitch route. He does not scream. He does not get angry. He does not curse, nor, longtime friends say, has he ever. If he cannot communicate his point without swearing, Caldwell reasons, then that is his fault.

“He’s always got something new for me,” defensive end Darryl Tapp said. “You can’t be stale in this league.”

With a firm but fair touch, Caldwell has transformed the Lions (10-4), who are tied with the Green Bay Packers atop the N.F.C. North and who clinched only their second playoff berth since 2000 when the Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Washington Redskins on Saturday.

Beyond restoring discipline to a team infamous for committing dumb penalties, Caldwell has reversed Detroit’s ball-security woes, coaxing a 21-turnover swing — to plus eight, from minus 13 through the same stage of last season, according to Pro Football Reference. A group that shriveled in close games, going 2-6 in contests decided by 4 points or fewer, now almost never loses: The Lions are 4-1 in those circumstances.

“There’s a different mentality to this football team of what it takes to be successful,” Detroit General Manager Martin Mayhew said. “Jim’s had a dramatic impact on the psyche of this football team.”

Yet one element of their sordid past remains unresolved for the Lions: their penchant for late-season collapses. To avoid one under his watch, Caldwell moved the team meeting to Finland, figuratively, on Wednesday.

A voracious reader, Caldwell plucked out the word “sisu” — loosely translated as the ability to carry out the burden of responsibility under pressure and extenuating circumstances — while learning about the Finnish skier Eero Mantyranta in “The Sports Gene” by David Epstein.

Sisu, Caldwell told his players, should define who they are and what they want to achieve.

Caldwell’s delivery (and language) may change from day to day, from week to week, but not much else does. He arrived in Detroit with instant credibility, having won Super Bowls as an assistant in Indianapolis and Baltimore and reached another in his first season coaching the Colts. He has tutored quarterbacks like Kerry Collins, Brad Johnson, Peyton Manning and Joe Flacco.

In his first speech, Caldwell, who through a team spokesman declined an interview request, told the Lions that he expected to win this season and that they should, too. He dismissed their popular portrayal as bad boys, instead praising their character. He told them that by playing in a respectful way, they would get the respect they craved.

To get to know his players, Caldwell, who turns 60 next month, took them to dinner, by position group, at a restaurant of their choosing. He asked about their backgrounds, their families, their favorite books and films. He shared stories about his career, his influences, his children and grandchildren.

“In 12 years, that’s the first time I’ve been to dinner with my head coach,” cornerback Rashean Mathis said. “Ask any guy in this locker room, would they mind living in his house growing up? They would say no. They would accept him as a father.”

In personality and in pedigree, Caldwell appealed to the Lions. After firing the feisty Jim Schwartz, they wanted an experienced coach — “we’re not a teardown,” Mayhew, the general manager, said — to maximize their investment in quarterback Matthew Stafford.

During the search process, Mayhew heard from the former Indianapolis and Tampa Bay coach Tony Dungy, who lauded Caldwell’s professionalism and rapport with quarterbacks; the former Colts general manager Bill Polian, who praised his steadiness; and Manning, who extolled his mastery of fundamentals.

Had Mayhew reached out to everyone eager to endorse Caldwell, he would still be on the phone. Rey Dempsey, a former coach at Southern Illinois, would have relayed how Caldwell, at 22, aced his interview there, a six-hour test of his football knowledge. Or how, after the restaurant that served the pregame meal forgot that the team was playing at home, Caldwell spent much of the morning in the kitchen, defrosting steaks.

“He knew you don’t make excuses,” said Dempsey, who hired Caldwell out of Iowa, his alma mater, where he spent a season as a graduate assistant. “He’d say, ‘We had to work hard where I came from.’ ”

Jamie Barresi would have described the coaches’ meetings 25 years ago at Penn State, during which Joe Paterno would veer from one thought to another to another, leaving his assistants scrambling to keep up. Not Caldwell, who, on his yellow pad, in perfect penmanship, would jot down Paterno’s every point.

“It was like you could relive the meeting by reading his notes,” said Barresi, who worked with Caldwell at Penn State and followed him to Wake Forest in 1992. “Jim had a way of sorting it all out for us and making it simple.”

Jeff Saturday would have explained how, at the beginning of every Colts practice, Caldwell went over the offensive game plan, imitating a strong safety or a weakside linebacker to give Manning different looks.

“You always respected his thoughts and ideas,” said Saturday, the Colts’ longtime center, who now works as an analyst for ESPN, “because you knew he had seen it from both sides.”

Recognized for his offensive expertise, Caldwell played defensive back at Iowa, and the first three position-specific coaching jobs he held — at Southern Illinois, Northwestern and Colorado — were on defense. His father, Willie, worked 35 years in the automotive industry, learning every job at the plant, and Caldwell approached his career with same curiosity.

At Louisville, where Caldwell coached wide receivers for a season, Howard Schnellenberger would say that he did not need computers because he had assistants.

Caldwell has detailed every meeting and every speech given by every head coach he has worked for — from Dempsey to Dennis Green, Schnellenberger to Bill McCartney, Paterno to Dungy — since arriving at Southern Illinois in 1978.

Before interviewing for the Lions’ job, Caldwell prepared by watching tape of every pass Stafford threw in 2013. He proposed to Detroit executives a detailed plan for improvement. Instead of tinkering with Stafford’s array of arm angles, Caldwell set out to correct his footwork and balance.

At practice, the Lions videotape Stafford from a ladder 10 feet behind him, to capture his mechanics in a tight frame. As Caldwell has done with every quarterback, he assigned Stafford a series of drills intended to expunge from his muscle memory the impulse to throw flat-footed or off his back foot.

“My warm-up has been the exact same every day since he’s gotten here,” Stafford said, referring to Caldwell. “I warm up the exact same way. I do the same drills almost every day. The repetition has made a difference.”

Stafford is on pace to throw for, by far, the fewest touchdowns and yards of his career, and the Lions’ offense ranks only 23rd in the league in yards per play (5.2) and scoring average (20.1).

But by taking fewer risks and minimizing mistakes, Stafford almost always puts Detroit in position to win, or at least not to lose. He has thrown only 10 interceptions — the team has committed 16 turnovers, four fewer than the franchise’s single-season low — and the Lions have excelled late in games. Holding a 24-17 fourth-quarter lead against the Jets in Week 4, Detroit gained two first downs and ran out the clock.

At a news conference then, Caldwell acknowledged feeling the need to teach the Lions how to win, saying he and his staff had stressed instilling poise at the end of games.

At every practice, Caldwell simulates a potential game situation. On Fridays, he shows the team decisive moments — and mistakes — from around the league the previous week: poor clock management, unnecessary penalties, a player’s running out of bounds instead of taking more time off the clock.

Remarking that teams often take on the personality of their coach, safety Glover Quin said the Lions did not panic when they trailed Atlanta by 21-0 at halftime (they won, 22-21) or New Orleans by 23-10 with 5 minutes 24 seconds left (they won, 24-23).

After making a critical interception in last weekend’s victory against Minnesota, Quin referred to a quotation Caldwell had presented the night before: “Opportunities multiply when they are seized.”

With the postseason beckoning, Caldwell has conditioned his players to believe that tomorrow does not exist until midnight. Before the Lions clinched a berth Saturday, obviating the need to beat Chicago the next day, he compared thinking about the playoffs to texting while driving — distorted vision, he called it.

“We’re in this opportunity because we took advantage of the other opportunities,” Mathis said. “Now we just have to finish.”

With Finnish. As they say in Helsinki, sisu.
Click to expand...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/s...s-success-with-a-different-approach.html?_r=0
 
T

TheAbsolution

Member
RBH said:
If you guys read a news story on Sunday night about a guy lighting his penis on fire while sitting on a plane after hearing the score of the Falcons/Panthers game over the plane intercom.........that might be me. :(
Click to expand...
The Falcons will win that game. You gotta believe.
Where are you flying to?
 
W

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
MRSA said:
If we had to send an ambassador to a GAF convention who would it be? Kas or Gata?
Click to expand...

I am the clear choice here. Besides, not like I have anything football left to care about. Gata would just sit in a corner and Kas would be trying to convert everybody over to the Church and All-You-Can-Eat Fried Shrimp Buffet of Stafford.

Barring that, maybe Kave if he took his meds that day.
 
J

Jarnet87

Member
I opted to not re-sub for PS Plus as there were no deals this Black Friday. I felt like I didn't even get $30 of value, why pay full price. Cool I get a bunch of free games 6 months to a year later then if I had just bought them for $1.99 on Steam, what a bargain ! The service is down half the time lol. I'll sign up again when they begin to add the launch games and full price titles. These assholes couldn't even deliver on the free trial of drive club, which was a really cool selling point for getting PS Plus.
 
K

Kastrioti

Persecution Complex
brentech said:
Won't deny that suh is finally playing at a level he was expected to for years, but....nope. Rest of the defense is way too much better than Texans. Suh might not even be the best defender on the Lions with Levy around.
Click to expand...

Let me put my Al Bundy hat on and school you on some defensive football, especially a 4-3 defense.

DeAndre Levy is a fucking stud and one of, if not, the best linebacker in the NFL. My main flaw and things that coaches and my linebacking teammates would try to tell or coach me on (one who played at Oregon State, the other a Division 2 Colorado college) would be to shed the offensive lineman who would pull and come after linebackers on running plays.

Shedding an offensive lineman coming for a linebacker means giving them a nice pushoff so the offensive lineman can't go and block the linebacker as he tries to make the play on the running back or Quarterback.

Thing is as a defensive end I was third on the team in tackles (1st in sacks of course) and the only two players ahead of me were the two linebackers who went onto play college ball. A defensive end is not supposed to have as many tackles as I did, and I didn't give a fuck about shedding an offensive lineman because my ass was going to make the tackle whether it was on the Running Back or the Quarterback wherever they were on the field. Even our third Linebacker or Strong Safety did not have more tackles than me. You don't see that from a defensive end.

One thing that was always emphasized for me was keeping contain as a defensive end. Nobody ever got outside of the pocket or the Junior defensive end I took under my wing who went on to play at University of Colorado.

/Al Bundy

Point being, Ndamakung Suh makes everyone around him better. He makes the whole defense better, he is THAT GOOD. Players like him, Reggie White or Lawerence Taylor come around very rarely and that's why he needs to stay a Detroit Lion.

DeAndre Levy is baller as fuck like I said and an amazing Linebacker but some of his success is because he has Ndamakung Suh shedding offensive lineman coming after him which opens him up to have more solo tackles than any Linebacker in the NFL.

Oh yeah, and just look at him:

3321d1358087623-rotoworlds-nfl-free-agent-master-list-13-pxfuj.jpg


God damn, that beard. He doesn't give shit about your snow or stadium. He's going to go to Green Bay tomorrow and like the rest of our defense fuck Aaron Rodgers shit up.

Restore the Roar 2014.
 
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