DaveMage
Slumbering in Tsar
drothgery said:
You must have missed this:
http://www.kfmb.com/sports/chargers/story.php?id=78975
The Chargers had a wee bit of a problem....
Are you ready for some Football?!? (NFL)
- Thread starter Crothian
- Start date
You must have missed this:
http://www.kfmb.com/sports/chargers/story.php?id=78975
The Chargers had a wee bit of a problem....
Gunslinger
First Post
Dungannon
First Post
Well, the HoF class of '07 was announced today and I think it's an absolute TRAVESTY that Michael Irvin got in ahead of Art Monk. 
Monk: 940 receptions, 12,721 yards, 68 touchdowns, 3 Pro Bowls, 3 Super Bowl wins.
Irvin: 750 receptions, 11,904 yards, 65 touchdowns, 5 Pro Bowls, 3 Super Bowl wins.
Monk: 940 receptions, 12,721 yards, 68 touchdowns, 3 Pro Bowls, 3 Super Bowl wins.
Irvin: 750 receptions, 11,904 yards, 65 touchdowns, 5 Pro Bowls, 3 Super Bowl wins.
John Crichton
First Post
Super Bowl Pick
After much deliberation, over-analysis, NFL web surfing, radio listening, TV watching and more analysis I finally have my Super Bowl pick. Why did I wait this long? Because now it’s Sunday and I really give a hoot at this point. This should be a fun day for the last game of the season. So, without further delay…
Colts @ Bears
I could write pages about this game from all I’ve soaked in from the last few weeks. I could talk about Manning’s Legacy, the black head coaches' first time, the Colts being the heavy favorite and the Bears having a chip on their shoulder after hearing about it for 2 weeks, Devin Hester’s kick return ability against the Colts' dreadful kick coverage, Vinatieri’s clutch ability or Tank Johnson's firing range accuracy. Instead, I have 3 main points to be taken in no particular order.
Point #1: AFC vs. NFC
The NFC was the inferior conference this season, by far. If the Bears were in the AFC, there is a good chance they end up with 10 wins and probably a wild card. All year, the assumption was that whoever came out of the AFC would be the Super Bowl favorite and rightly so. It should have been the Chargers but instead the representative is the Colts, who are not a perfect team.
I won’t bore you with match-ups here (I’ll do that later!) but here is the road Chicago took to the big game: Seahawks at home in OT and Saints at home in the snow. They barely beat the ‘Hawks and the Saints game was much closer than the blowout score indicates. Chicago was in serious trouble early on in that game after jumping out to a big lead.
Here is the road the Colts took: Chiefs at home (a team that looked lost with a terrible game plan), Ravens on the road and the hated Pats at home. Those last two are very impressive victories against teams that were 13-3 and 12-4 respectively. The Bears' opponents were 9-7 and 10-6. Compare the challenge level of opponents and the Colts are the clear favorite.
Point #2: Quarterbacks
We have a Hall of Fame QB playing a guy with 25 starts. Grossman is a fearless passer, throws a great deep ball and has done enough to win, so far. The Colts won’t have to do much to rattle Grossman, who has looked very tight this week in interviews. As opposed to Manning, who looks all business and very loose. Grossman will have to squelch his ego, play a smart game and pick his spots to win. He doesn’t have to win the game for the Bears, but he could certainly lose it by trying to do too much and take on Manning pass-for-pass.
Manning played well at the end of the Ravens game and was great in the second half against the Pats. Grossman made a good throw in OT to help beat the Seahawks. I guess it comes down to which QB you would rather have with the ball, needing a touchdown with 2 minutes on the clock. If the game is close at the end, the choice is easy.
Point #3: Defensive Match-ups
There is plenty to look at but I think it boils down to the following: The Colts defense replicating the last 3 weeks performance against the run. I have no doubt that the Bears will try to use their 2-headed running attack to sustain long drives, minimize Grossman’s effect on the game and keep Manning on the sidelines like the ’90 Giants vs. the Bills' no-huddle offense. In that game, the G-men kept the ball for 40 minutes and still barely won. The Colts will stack the line and make Grossman throw. He throws good seam and post passes a but his short and medium game is still developing. KC and Baltimore were supposed to smashmouth the Colts and that didn’t work out too well for them. I believe the Bears' ground game is better than both of those teams, the problem is the passing attack and the inexperienced QB. I don’t think the Bears can run the ball as well as that Giants team, but we’ll see.
The Bears are excellent at creating turnovers. Kick returns and turnovers give their offense a short field where their running game and play-action passes can take over and strike quickly. Turnovers are an X-factor as they can’t be counted because the Colts protect the ball fairly well. And with the Bears' attack-the-ball attitude, tackling in the secondary tends to become suspect. However, their linebackers pursue and tackle well. Their corners are above average but their safeties can be pump faked out of position. This is something Manning is a master at, which opens up deep sideline passes to Harrison and Wayne. So it really comes down to the pass rush with 4 men on Manning, covering 3 very good receivers and stopping the running back (usually Addai) on check downs. That is something the Bears’ linebackers can handle with their great speed but this defensive scheme will leave running lanes open. It will be interesting to see how the Bears try to slow down Manning and company.
Peyton is good for at least 5 scores per game. That’s a minimum of either 15 points (5 FGs) or 35 (5 TDs) so I'll split the difference and say that he’ll get the Colts at least 25 points. Baltimore is a better defense than the Bears and kept Manning out of the end zone. That was on the road and the Colts were forced to play a more conservative game. Can the Bears replicate that effort? Chicago can score but will they be able to keep up with Manning when even the Pats couldn't?
Extra Point: The Weather Conditions
As much as the Colts need to sweat Hester’s ability to return kicks the Colts should be worried more about the rain. Right now, there is a 40% chance that there will be rain at kickoff and will continue through the game. That is a big advantage for the Bears even though the field has a great drainage system, which will prevent the field from becoming a sloppy mess and destroy the Colts offensive timing. Anything that can take away some of Manning’s accuracy is good for the Bears. I would go as far as to say that the Bears would gain the upper hand in the game if the rains do come as it would presumably take away one of Manning's 5 theoretical scores.
The Bottom Line
The Bears drew their best match-up in this game. If the Pats or Chargers were their opponent they would be a 10 point underdog. A Ravens match-up would have been similar to this game, however Grossman would be a huge liability against that defense rather than simply a question mark. Historically speaking, there is a possibility that Peyton could drop 14 points on the Bears before they can blink, which leads to a blowout. The opposite is less likely to happen, barring multiple early Colts turnovers.
The Colts are battle tested against the best in both leagues. They only needed Manning to win 3 quarters so far in the post-season and the rest of the team, especially the defense, has stepped up. The Bears need too much to go right to win. I don’t know if the game will be good for a half, a blowout or a classic but the Colts will find a way to win this one. Manning gets his ring.
“Cut that meat!”
Enjoy the game, folks.
After much deliberation, over-analysis, NFL web surfing, radio listening, TV watching and more analysis I finally have my Super Bowl pick. Why did I wait this long? Because now it’s Sunday and I really give a hoot at this point. This should be a fun day for the last game of the season. So, without further delay…
Colts @ Bears
I could write pages about this game from all I’ve soaked in from the last few weeks. I could talk about Manning’s Legacy, the black head coaches' first time, the Colts being the heavy favorite and the Bears having a chip on their shoulder after hearing about it for 2 weeks, Devin Hester’s kick return ability against the Colts' dreadful kick coverage, Vinatieri’s clutch ability or Tank Johnson's firing range accuracy. Instead, I have 3 main points to be taken in no particular order.
Point #1: AFC vs. NFC
The NFC was the inferior conference this season, by far. If the Bears were in the AFC, there is a good chance they end up with 10 wins and probably a wild card. All year, the assumption was that whoever came out of the AFC would be the Super Bowl favorite and rightly so. It should have been the Chargers but instead the representative is the Colts, who are not a perfect team.
I won’t bore you with match-ups here (I’ll do that later!) but here is the road Chicago took to the big game: Seahawks at home in OT and Saints at home in the snow. They barely beat the ‘Hawks and the Saints game was much closer than the blowout score indicates. Chicago was in serious trouble early on in that game after jumping out to a big lead.
Here is the road the Colts took: Chiefs at home (a team that looked lost with a terrible game plan), Ravens on the road and the hated Pats at home. Those last two are very impressive victories against teams that were 13-3 and 12-4 respectively. The Bears' opponents were 9-7 and 10-6. Compare the challenge level of opponents and the Colts are the clear favorite.
Point #2: Quarterbacks
We have a Hall of Fame QB playing a guy with 25 starts. Grossman is a fearless passer, throws a great deep ball and has done enough to win, so far. The Colts won’t have to do much to rattle Grossman, who has looked very tight this week in interviews. As opposed to Manning, who looks all business and very loose. Grossman will have to squelch his ego, play a smart game and pick his spots to win. He doesn’t have to win the game for the Bears, but he could certainly lose it by trying to do too much and take on Manning pass-for-pass.
Manning played well at the end of the Ravens game and was great in the second half against the Pats. Grossman made a good throw in OT to help beat the Seahawks. I guess it comes down to which QB you would rather have with the ball, needing a touchdown with 2 minutes on the clock. If the game is close at the end, the choice is easy.
Point #3: Defensive Match-ups
There is plenty to look at but I think it boils down to the following: The Colts defense replicating the last 3 weeks performance against the run. I have no doubt that the Bears will try to use their 2-headed running attack to sustain long drives, minimize Grossman’s effect on the game and keep Manning on the sidelines like the ’90 Giants vs. the Bills' no-huddle offense. In that game, the G-men kept the ball for 40 minutes and still barely won. The Colts will stack the line and make Grossman throw. He throws good seam and post passes a but his short and medium game is still developing. KC and Baltimore were supposed to smashmouth the Colts and that didn’t work out too well for them. I believe the Bears' ground game is better than both of those teams, the problem is the passing attack and the inexperienced QB. I don’t think the Bears can run the ball as well as that Giants team, but we’ll see.
The Bears are excellent at creating turnovers. Kick returns and turnovers give their offense a short field where their running game and play-action passes can take over and strike quickly. Turnovers are an X-factor as they can’t be counted because the Colts protect the ball fairly well. And with the Bears' attack-the-ball attitude, tackling in the secondary tends to become suspect. However, their linebackers pursue and tackle well. Their corners are above average but their safeties can be pump faked out of position. This is something Manning is a master at, which opens up deep sideline passes to Harrison and Wayne. So it really comes down to the pass rush with 4 men on Manning, covering 3 very good receivers and stopping the running back (usually Addai) on check downs. That is something the Bears’ linebackers can handle with their great speed but this defensive scheme will leave running lanes open. It will be interesting to see how the Bears try to slow down Manning and company.
Peyton is good for at least 5 scores per game. That’s a minimum of either 15 points (5 FGs) or 35 (5 TDs) so I'll split the difference and say that he’ll get the Colts at least 25 points. Baltimore is a better defense than the Bears and kept Manning out of the end zone. That was on the road and the Colts were forced to play a more conservative game. Can the Bears replicate that effort? Chicago can score but will they be able to keep up with Manning when even the Pats couldn't?
Extra Point: The Weather Conditions
As much as the Colts need to sweat Hester’s ability to return kicks the Colts should be worried more about the rain. Right now, there is a 40% chance that there will be rain at kickoff and will continue through the game. That is a big advantage for the Bears even though the field has a great drainage system, which will prevent the field from becoming a sloppy mess and destroy the Colts offensive timing. Anything that can take away some of Manning’s accuracy is good for the Bears. I would go as far as to say that the Bears would gain the upper hand in the game if the rains do come as it would presumably take away one of Manning's 5 theoretical scores.
The Bottom Line
The Bears drew their best match-up in this game. If the Pats or Chargers were their opponent they would be a 10 point underdog. A Ravens match-up would have been similar to this game, however Grossman would be a huge liability against that defense rather than simply a question mark. Historically speaking, there is a possibility that Peyton could drop 14 points on the Bears before they can blink, which leads to a blowout. The opposite is less likely to happen, barring multiple early Colts turnovers.
The Colts are battle tested against the best in both leagues. They only needed Manning to win 3 quarters so far in the post-season and the rest of the team, especially the defense, has stepped up. The Bears need too much to go right to win. I don’t know if the game will be good for a half, a blowout or a classic but the Colts will find a way to win this one. Manning gets his ring.
“Cut that meat!”
Enjoy the game, folks.
Last edited:
John Crichton
First Post
Halftime thoughts:
I'm sure I'm not the only one shocked that Vinatieri missed that short FG. But the Colts get the ball back and should run another 5-6 minute drive.
At this pace, the Bears' defense will have nothing left for the 4th quarter.
If not for Hester's TD return the Bears would simply look terrible right now. I wonder why hasn't been back there on the last 2.
6 turnovers in one half?!?
Grossman looks bad. Really bad. I'm not surprised. He's going to need to win this game for the Bears as the running game isn't working - with the exception of that one run.
Sloppy but fun game so far.
I'm sure I'm not the only one shocked that Vinatieri missed that short FG. But the Colts get the ball back and should run another 5-6 minute drive.
At this pace, the Bears' defense will have nothing left for the 4th quarter.
If not for Hester's TD return the Bears would simply look terrible right now. I wonder why hasn't been back there on the last 2.
6 turnovers in one half?!?
Grossman looks bad. Really bad. I'm not surprised. He's going to need to win this game for the Bears as the running game isn't working - with the exception of that one run.
Sloppy but fun game so far.
DaveMage
Slumbering in Tsar
Yeah, I have to give the edge to the Colts so far, though I don't think Grossman has looked *that* bad (he is 6 of 8 passing, albeit for only 32 yards).
Although if Vinatieri misses any more field goals (!) - anthing is possible.
Should be interesting...
On a side note, are these some of the lamest super bowl ads ever, or what???
Although if Vinatieri misses any more field goals (!) - anthing is possible.
Should be interesting...
On a side note, are these some of the lamest super bowl ads ever, or what???
John Crichton
First Post
Heheh, it's not the 4th quarter yet. He's missed in the SB before but that was a short one. Surprising.DaveMage said:
Some are good and there are certainly a few duds in there. I've liked the Bud Light ones so far and the Connectile Dysfunction one.DaveMage said:
