Re: The NFL Thread
Sorry, your critique of him amounts to just being a Tom Brady-spoiled Pats fan. I'm not saying he's a great QB, but the guy has barely even played 2.5 NFL seasons worth of games and has been surrounded by mediocrity for most of them. No consistency in coaching either. The successful NFL QBs have that. Are people sticking a fork in Cam Newton because he's played crummy this year? No. Bradford has played 10 more games than him at this point in his career. You're exaggerating in my opinion.
I will grant that the fact that we've had one of the best QBs in NFL history as our QB for the majority of the time that I've been a Pats fan has colored my view of things. The majority of weeks, I get to see a great offensive performances, something which a lot of teams can't expect. Look, I've seen more than I've ever wanted to of Sam Bradford, and I'm still not convinced. Until he does something noteworthy as a QB, I'm never going to think he's anything more than mediocre. Cam Newton has taken a step back this year, but the sophomore slump often occurs, so I'm not throwing him under the bus for that, but I did expect more out of this season than he's shown. In fact, with a weakened NFC this year, I thought that the Panthers could nab the second wildcard spot, not possibly be a 4-12 team. I thought 7-9 was the minimum that we'd see out of the Panthers this season.
We just played the NFL's best defense in probably the best divisional match-up going in the NFL. A win is a win in divisonal games and that's the ONLY thing that matters when playing the Steelers. It's always close and it's always ugly. We're the walking wounded on top of that. This is the first time in Harbaugh's tenure that we've had as many key injuries as we do now.
I stated that a win is a win.
And I have no idea what you're trying to imply with the 13-17 points thing. It's just incorrect. We've failed to score less than 20 points three times this year and we still won two of those games. We're fourth in the league in points per game and have been scoring points at a level never seen before from the Ravens. We just broke our single-game scoring record last week against the Raiders. It's because of this we've been able to withstand our defense taking a step back in most categories, but we're still the best Red Zone defense in the league. So it's very much bend but don't break some weeks.
Perhaps my view has been colored by the fact that some of the bigger games have resulted in lesser point totals for the Ravens. The Chiefs game two weeks ago was shocking, although it was a Baltimore win. I know that the Ravens broke their single game scoring record last week, but that boosts your point total for the season and perhaps makes you look better than you are.
That "bend but don't break" thing is what was discussed in terms of the Pats defense the last two or three seasons, which isn't a positive thing.
What is this "what if" scenario man?
It has no basis in reality, we scored what we scored. I never said good special teams makes up for any and every shortcoming, but to sort of discount it like you have is silly and you're just flat-out wrong about our offense. A TD is a TD.
I'm not wearing rose-tinted glasses. There's something about this team that is underwhelming. I don't know if it's hurt pride from watching teams just run all over out defense some weeks or what. I still think our game and time management is suspect, as well as the offensive play calling. But we're 8-2, only two teams have better records than us. We have some tough games coming up for sure though.
You always have to look at hypothetical situations. We nearly found ways to lose games to the Jets and the Bills, and we found ways to lose to the Seahawks and the Cardinals.
The problem I'm discussing is the games against the Steelers and the Chiefs where things could've so easily gone wrong. A TD is a TD, but not scoring an offensive TD is a problem. Of course, you don't have to always play well offensively if your defense or ST gets it done, but come playoff time, this may not get it done. I fear this Ravens team a lot less than the Ravens teams of the last three seasons.
The Texans, a team who got wrecked by a passing giant in the Packers, ended up decimating the Ravens this season. It's not just how teams can run all over the Ravens at times, it's that putting too much pressure on Flacco isn't a great idea in my opinion.
At this point, I don't see any AFC team winning the SB, as all three contenders, the Texans, Ravens, and Pats all have problems. Perhaps the Packers will find a way to win another SB or something.
Kill me now
