Ipsilon wrote:How'd your 9ers do last night, Sicky?

Fuckin' A! Arizona has Frank Gore's Kryptonite in their defensive line's gloves!!! Last year he was the 3rd best rusher in the NFL. He averaged 111 YPG against all teams except Arizona. Against them, he averaged 69 YPG. Last night, he had 55 yards against them late into the game.

This is why you need a balanced team, ladies and gentlemen. The 9ers were just hanging with Arizona and mostly because AZ tried to pass against the 9ers secondary way too much when it was apparent that the 9ers were having a hard time stopping their run.

As for offense, the 9ers pass defense put the offense in position to score field goals multiple times. And they did. The offense really didn't do anything with what they were given.

Until the last 5 minutes. Suddenly, Alex Smith looked like the journeyman QB he is running the patented SF 2-minute offense. A picture-perfect drive capped by a 2-yard end around by Battle.

And then the 9ers defense showed up. BIG. Arizona couldn't run. Arizona couldn't pass to the sidelines. They couldn't pass for less than 30 yards. They got shut down hard. In a desperate attempt, they went long and what happens? INTERCEPTED MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!

This team is well on the road to gelling. As for Gore's hand... yeah, it was pretty apparent it was hurting him in the latter part of the game but to be able to play and play that type of role in less than 2 months after the break is pretty impressive. As the season goes on, he'll get better.

Drakemd wrote:

Ipsilon wrote:Cleveland wanted to throw in a fiver and a Pizza Hut coupon, too, but Seattle said Frye would suffice.

LMAO!!!!


By the way, did Savage consult the Fox network when he decided to pull Frye after 1 game? Sounds a little familiar....

Thank you, thank you. That was my best joke of the month. Possibly the year. Good thing it's almost over.

To answer your second question, we'll go with... yes. Charlie Frye and Nathan Fillion are neighbors.

See? That wasn't funny. I'm done. Spent, I tell ya's!

I just hope Frye cried. I hope the tears stream from his face all the way to Seattle. I don't know why I have so much hatred for this kid (he's a kid... younger than me by a bit)... but I do. So there.

Word is, there are some seriously pissed off people in Cleveland. Team owner Randy Lerner supposedly went to the locker room early in the last game, unable to watch what was happening on the field. There was a team meeting, yesterday I think, and apparently it was decided to get rid of Frye. But the coach may well be next. We may see Quinn earlier than originally expected. These sort of things happen when the coach's job is on the line. So, will Crennel be fired first, or will Quinn start a game first? Cleveland needs to show up and at least play a competetive game against somebody. It may help that both Cinci and Baltimore looked pretty crappy yesterday. I will of course be rooting for Cleveland to beat those teams.

Thanks. Me too.

It's gonna be one hell of a season, regardless of what happens. It's kinda exciting.

Ipsilon wrote:Thanks. Me too.

It's gonna be one hell of a season, regardless of what happens. It's kinda exciting.

You do realize that there a LOT of people with a vested interest in the Browns' failure this season.

The Cowboys get the Browns' 1st round pick.

The worse the Browns do, the better pick the Cowboys get.

(I know this because I am surrounded by Cowboys fans on a daily basis.)

Benching the 1st string QB after the first week isn't unheard of. Benching and trading the 1st string QB after the first week is.

I don't believe it has ever been done before.

Anyway, it appears that the Cowboys are now the front-runners in the Darren McFadden sweepstakes, thanks to the Browns.

Corporal Hicks wrote:The Cowboys get the Browns' 1st round pick.

The worse the Browns do, the better pick the Cowboys get.

(I know this because I am surrounded by Cowboys fans on a daily basis.)

Yeah, there had to be a lot of Cowboys fans cheering when the Browns were getting wupped this past weekend. If I were them, I don't know that I'd want a first overall pick: you can get a proven player for a lot less than $60 million. Of course, from what I've heard about this McFadden guy, he's more than just the new "best player of the draft." He sounds like he may be a once-in-a-generation type (of course, so is Reggie Bush, supposedly); anyway, I've heard him compared to Bo Jackson.

Corporal Hicks wrote:Benching the 1st string QB after the first week isn't unheard of. Benching and trading the 1st string QB after the first week is.

I don't believe it has ever been done before.

I've read this is the first time this has happened since the merger.

Corporal Hicks wrote:Benching the 1st string QB after the first week isn't unheard of.

After all, he can't weigh more that . . . what? . . . 180-200 pounds.

Jack's Sorrow wrote:

Corporal Hicks wrote:The Cowboys get the Browns' 1st round pick.

The worse the Browns do, the better pick the Cowboys get.

(I know this because I am surrounded by Cowboys fans on a daily basis.)

Yeah, there had to be a lot of Cowboys fans cheering when the Browns were getting wupped this past weekend. If I were them, I don't know that I'd want a first overall pick: you can get a proven player for a lot less than $60 million. Of course, from what I've heard about this McFadden guy, he's more than just the new "best player of the draft." He sounds like he may be a once-in-a-generation type (of course, so is Reggie Bush, supposedly); anyway, I've heard him compared to Bo Jackson.

Let's hope he has a better hip. Having been a 'tweener to teenager during Bo's career, I've got a pretty good memory of him and he was definitely to be feared until his hip went south on him. I can only imagine the records that guy would have set and the force the Raiders would have been for most of the 90's had he not fallen apart by the beginning of the decade.

Oooh, I forgot about that. I may have to start paying attention to Arkansas games now to see how he does.

Unfortunately, the Boys don't really seem to need a RB. The two-headed monster of Julius Jones and MB3 do pretty well, and both guys are relatively young.

If this guy is truly considered the best player in the draft by a good margin, and if he is considered a truly transcendent player, than I think that Jerry Jones would not pass him by, particularly considering the Cowboys, while having good running backs, do not have a Pro Bowl type runner. It will of course depend on what the Cowboys consider their major needs going into the draft, what players are available, and how the scouting shakes out. Also, whether or not the Browns can win any games.

Right now it is admittedly early, but the "promising" candidates at this point for the number one pick are probably considered to be Cleveland (Dallas), Atlanta, Kansas City and Oakland. Cleveland has some talent in their defensive back seven and on the offensive line; they do not have a solid vet quarterback and will be breaking in a rookie at that position before long, and they also play in what some consider the toughest division in the league, and they are not part of the reason it is considered the toughest division in the league.

It is often hard to pick which teams got worse going into a new season, as almost every team has reasons as to why it thinks it has improved, but Kansas City was the easy choice for a team that has regressed. They looked even worse than a lot of people expected on Sunday, getting demolished by the erstwhile lowly Texans. Their offensive line has lost all of its great players, their receivers continue to suck, their defense continues to suck, they traded their good quarterback and replaced him with a journeyman (who admittedly played well last year) and a youngster, and their running back set a league record last year for carries which generally is considered to mean he's broken busted in and will never be as sweet and tight again. They also play in the same division with what many consider to be the most talented team in the league, and also a perennial playoff contender in Denver. The upshot is they play in the same division as Oakland.

Oakland has a very strong defense, rated 3rd in the league last year in yards given up. They also had the worst offense in the league last year, scoring less than one touchdown a game (this probably helped their defensive rating a little, as teams didn't have to try and score many points against them). Presumably their offense will be slightly less bad this year and they will win a couple of more games, probably against Kansas City.

Atlanta has been a decently talented team the past few years, and they lost Michael Vick. I don't believe that's bad enough of a loss to make them the worst team in the league, but they replaced him with Joey Harrington. Matt Schaub, where art thou? Well, last week he was destroying the Kansas City Chiefs, which leads me to believe that if he was still in Atlanta he would be on a team good enough to at least destroy the Kansas City Chiefs. He's not, though. Do Atlanta and KC play this year? If they do, it could be a colossal encounter. I'll just go ahead and predict Kansas City as the worst team in the league, and inheritor of the first pick in the draft. Huzzah!

Okay, I was just doing a mental check of what games have been played, and I realized that Oakland played Detroit and San Diego played Chicago, meaning the AFC West is matched up against the NFC North this year, so no games betweeen either Oakland or Kansas City and Atlanta. I know the AFC North plays the NFC West, so that leaves either the AFC East or South against the NFC South. There haven't really been enough interconference games yet to figure this out. A quick look at Wikipedia reveals AFC South vs NFC South this year, meaning Matt Schaub gets to return to Atlanta: that might be interesting.

Way to go, Cleveland! The Browns defeated the Bengals 51-46 in a classic defensive struggle. This leaves the Steelers standing alone, dominant atop the AFC North. The Steelers play the 49ers and Cardinals in the upcoming weeks, meaning their status atop the division is assured for several more weeks, at least.


Excellent.

That was a hell of a game (Jack, did you actually get to watch it?)! I couldn't believe it was the same team I watched last week. Actually, it wasn't the same team.

I guess frying Frye (see what I did there?) was the kick in the ass the Brownies needed.

Check back with me on that, next week, though.

No, I watched the Steelers. I was following the Browns score online, though.

It was a crazy game.

I will definitely be rooting for Cleveland to have a miracle season. Anything to keep Dallas from getting a high draft pick. God but I do hate the Cowboys!!

Ipsilon wrote:
I guess frying Frye (see what I did there?) was the kick in the ass the Brownies needed.

Or maybe the Bengals defense just sucks that badly. Or maybe it was just one of those games.

Let. Me. Have. My. MOMENT!



Let's be honest, we may not get another moment like this, so just let me enjoy it.

[JACK WALKS HAUGHTILY (HIS BUTTOCKS CLENCHED HIGH AND TIGHT) UP TO SICKNESS, REMOVES HIS LEATHER STEELERS GLOVE WITH QUICK JERKS TO EACH FINGER, THEN SLAPS THE GLOVE STINGINGLY ACROSS SICKNESS'S ASTONISHED FACE]


49ers at Steelers this Sunday.


It is on.

Actually, it's on, over and off. The Niners are still the Not Yet Ready For Primetime Players of the NFL. If they put together 55 minutes of awesome football, I'll make a trip to the board to slap you back since it's only ever really ON in the last 5 minutes for them.

So, if the 9ers are still in it going into the last five minutes, they unleash their A-game, eh? Fortunately, it will probably be over by then. I haven't really followed San Fran, but from what I understand they are averaging less than 200 yards a game, and their strength on offense is Frank Gore. One thing the Steelers do better than anything is stop the run. I assume the 9ers are playing good defense to be 2-0 without scoring many points, so it'll be interesting to see what the Steelers offense can do against them. I'll predict Pittsburgh 20-10.

Their defense has been awesome against the pass but only slightly above dependable against the run. *Grumble* That's how AZ and STL stayed in it for so long: running. 4 YPC is not great but when you can do it 3 downs straight, you get 3 more to do it and that plus the occasional 10-15 yard run or a pass out in the hook is how those teams made most of their movement against the Niners.

But if the Niners can play the first 55 minutes of this game the way they've played the last 5 of their first two, your precious Steelers better watch the hell out.

Sickness, I don't know if you want to know this, but through my various contacts I've managed to learn a snippet of Mike Tomlin's game plan for this week: "Crush the 49ers linemen, drive their linebackers before you, and hear the lamentations of their cheer-whores." I don't think he's playin around.

Actually, if there's something I'm sure Pittsburg can't do, it's crush the 49ers line (defensive or offensive) and nullify their linebackers in a pass situation. Bulger and Leinart (who are two of the better up-and-comers as QB's go in the league) spent a lot of time running and they were behind lines improved over their lines of the last couple years. The Niners' defensive line has been awesome on pass rushing and their backers have basically cut out the screen, the flat and the hook forcing their opponents to throw into bad situations in the fly, corner and post routes where the secondary has done a commendable job. Meanwhile, their offensive line has given Smith all day to throw. He just doesn't seem to find any openings until it's do-or-die late in the game.

Even though Bettis is gone, I'm still fearing the Pittsburg run. That's the Niners' real weakness on D right now but they are switching from 25 years of Man-to-Man, Zone and Man-Zone defenses to a 4-3/3-4 scheme. That'll take a few seasons for any organization to get right. They may have to make some personnel changes among their linebackers before next season to really shore up their run defense, though, since this is Nolan's third year. After 3 to 4 years, any such change should be settling into place.

I wouldn't call Bulger an up-and-comer: he's pretty well established, and really has probably plateaued as far as his effectiveness. He's also played primarily in an offense with great weapons around him. From what I've heard, they've had trouble in pass-protection and run blocking through the first two games, even before Pace was hurt. Leinart is still more hype than production for me at this point, and he's got a noodle arm. I don't really know that much about the 9ers lines other than they traded with the Patriots to draft Staley this year, and they still have Bryant Young, who's like a hundred years old but whom I've heard is still playing at a high level. If the 9ers O-line is playing that well, it should be an interesting challenge for the Steelers defense that generally stuffs the run and has ten sacks through 2 games.

The Steelers running game is pretty good. Fast Willie runs with better power than some people give him credit for, and their line has played very well through two games. Cleveland's D-line offers no challenge, but the Bills at least have good ends, though I don't know about their tackles. The Bills run a pretty straightforward defense, though: I expect to see a lot more chicanery from the Frisco schemes. The Steelers lead the league in plays of 20-yards or more thus far, though I doubt they rank very high in plays of 30-yards or 40-yards and more. The past several years, they've been very good in the intermediate to long range passing, but really have gone more for short to intermediate routes so far. This last game saw a lot of three step drops, maybe anticipating more pressure from the defense. They were above 50% in converting third downs for the game, executing a number of long drives and only punting once on the day (also one interception). Pittsburgh's biggest problem on offense the last couple of years was going against teams with powerful defensive tackles that have disrupted their interior line and speedy defensive ends that could gain the perimeter on their tackles. Promoting Willie Colon to right tackle has really helped with the pass protection on his side, but there are still certain to be challenges ahead. I don't think the Steelers offense will have as easy a time this game as they've had through the first two, but I'll have to see the 49ers offense score on this defense before I'll believe they can do it.