Official NFL Thread: 2013-2014 Season

Discuss the NHL, NFL, CIS, NCAA, Lacrosse, Soccer, Baseball, Basketball, Motorsports, Golf, Rugby, Amateur Sport, Curling, Wrestling ... Whatever Sport or Leisure activity you like!

Moderator: Team Captains

User avatar
notahomer
Hall of Famer
Posts: 6258
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2002 12:09 pm
Location: Vancouver

Robbie wrote:Who saw the Pro Bowl as a prelude to the Super Bowl?

It looks like just like the NHL all-star game, the NFL decided to make some twists and add some more interesting elements and that changed the outcome in many ways:

1. Instead of AFC vs. NFC, it was Team Rice vs. Team Sanders.

2. Instead of those high scoring Pro Bowl games over the last several years, a 22-21 win for Team Rice was a relatively low scoring game.

3. For the first time since 1972, a Defense and Offense MVP were selected - reminds me of the 1990 and pre-Grey Cups in which there such two MVP's plus the MVC.

4. Like several NHL all-star game MVP's but unlike NFL, MLB, NBA all-star game MVP's, the offensive Pro Bowl MVP was Nick Foles even though his Team Sanders was on the losing team.

5. And perhaps only in a Pro Bowl would the last play of the game consist of an improbable 67-yard field goal attempt by Justin Tucker that went short and the missed field goal was actually returned for the entire field with the help of the interference by the media who stormed the game and the likely record-setting missed field goal for a touchdown did not count.
I only saw the last three minutes but there was a lot in those last three minutes.......
-I would have cheered harder for Team Rice for so many reasons. I respected both coaches but Rice moreso. ANd Sanders made it clear he was 'going young'.
-I think excellent teams have a combo of vets/younguns.
-No kickoffs-every quarter and postscoring drive was started with a possession at the 25 yard line....
-Bump/run coverage was allowed (not sure about stunts/pulling blocking-past no-no's in ProBowls).
-Glad Foles did well. I think he's like Alex Smith. Not getting a lot of positive feedback but a good guy to have under your centre, IMO. Smith/Foles faced off against each other during the 3 or so minutes, I watched. They are the two QB's I feel are not getting the credit they deserve considering how we rave about other QB's. IOW, I don't think its fair to give a QB a system that doesn't play well to his strengths and then be surprised he's not playing like Manning. WHoa, I'm starting to rant here....
-I like a lot of the changes but feel the ProBowl should come after the Superbowl. No question Smith and Foles WOULD NOT have gotten a chance to play had it been a week after instead of a week before BUT too many ProBowlers went to the Superbowl instead (DUH) and therefore were unable to take advantage of their probowl spot. I know it must not mean much to some but if my boss wants to send me to Hawaii, I'd be willing to go..........
User avatar
notahomer
Hall of Famer
Posts: 6258
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2002 12:09 pm
Location: Vancouver

Caught a few minutes of Manning during media day. I'm sure there will be lots of coverage to get me caught up later on NFL network.

IIRC, they are having a big special on tonight involving Irvin and Faulk. They are calling it the M&M Superbowl special probably in part due to both their names starting with an M (Marshall, Michael). If the chocolate company is involved its probably due to the fact a Skittles superbowl special would have been seen as favouritsim towards the Seahawks :wink: I did hear a rumour that Skittles is introducing a new flavour playing in the fact its Lynch's favourite candy!

One drawback I am seeing in NFL networks coverage is they are teetering towards partisianship on some issues. Using american politics and its republican/democrat concept of partisianship, is it seems the NFL network has begun to do this a lot too. I guess it makes sense from a ratings perspective. You want fans of any/all teams to be tuning in. It just seems like they try to split the middle on their coverage like they don't want to offend so both sides get picked as the best at times. IOW, lets face it the Seahawks ARE CLEARLY the better defence. Manning is by far the better QB (at this point in time). It just seems like the guys picking the Broncos to win try to find ways to say the Broncos defence is close (its NOT, the Broncos best defence is having Peyton and the offence on the field) to the Seahawks. And Seahawk boosters try to give reasons why Lynch/Wilson are going to beat the Broncos (they are not, if the Seahawks win, the TEAM will win, not any two players). Its television and I guess its better to cover both rather than throw all your chips on one team/other. IIRC, that did seem to be the way football used to be covered even a short time ago. I CHEERED hard for the Giants but WAS STUNNED when they were actually able to beat the upto then undefeated Patriots........
TheLionKing
Hall of Famer
Posts: 25103
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 10:13 pm
Location: Vancouver

I see Mayor Rob Ford of Toronto is cheering on the Broncos
User avatar
notahomer
Hall of Famer
Posts: 6258
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2002 12:09 pm
Location: Vancouver

Just completed this book....Football Stadiums

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/pro ... Qgod7DcAYw

:thup: loved the photos/info. It will be out of date pretty quick though...... new stadiums coming all the time....
User avatar
notahomer
Hall of Famer
Posts: 6258
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2002 12:09 pm
Location: Vancouver

TheLionKing wrote:I see Mayor Rob Ford of Toronto is cheering on the Broncos
So what dumb thing is he gonna do next week after attending a Superbowl party? He did get noticed on the late night talk shows doing his Jamacian accent at the 'Steak Queen' but that quickly faded. I hope he has a good time without adding to the drama........(I also hope he's disappointed due to a Seahawks win :wink: ).
South Pender
Legend
Posts: 2779
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:24 am
Location: Vancouver weekdays; Gulf Islands on weekends

notahomer wrote:Just completed this book....Football Stadiums

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/pro ... Qgod7DcAYw

:thup: loved the photos/info. It will be out of date pretty quick though...... new stadiums coming all the time....
That's interesting, nota. Are any Canadian stadiums in it? B.C. Place Stadium should be, I'd think.
User avatar
notahomer
Hall of Famer
Posts: 6258
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2002 12:09 pm
Location: Vancouver

South Pender wrote:
notahomer wrote:Just completed this book....Football Stadiums

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/pro ... Qgod7DcAYw

:thup: loved the photos/info. It will be out of date pretty quick though...... new stadiums coming all the time....
That's interesting, nota. Are any Canadian stadiums in it? B.C. Place Stadium should be, I'd think.

Hmmm, IIRC, Rogers Centre is but only due to the NFL games being played there. BC Place, NOPE. The other BC Place-like stadiums are in there. One didn't last nearly as long and one is nearly being written off (apparently the roof doesn't do well with a lot of SNOW on it, WHO KNEW? :wink: ).

I saw a recent special story on Candlestick Park (on NFL network,IIRC) and I learned a lot. How the original architect designed stuff that didn't make it to the final model, due to cutbacks AFTER construction started. Sucks, IMO. You design a thing expecting A,B,C,D,E,F DUe to circumstances beyond your control it gets built as A, B, L, X, Y, T and the cutters/redesigners don't take the fall for the chickenbleep salad sandwich (to quote CP).

Reading the book on stadiums really opened my eyes. So many cities are going and will be going through what we went through. Do we redesign or start from scratch? Obviously trends start happening. There was a dual purpose (baseball/football), then the air supported teflon roofs, and now there are other things happening too. Retractable roof, retractable field, open air etc.... This was one thing I enjoyed from the Operation Orange trip to Winnepeg. They built their new stadium BELOW grade, so the seats are quite steeply inclined and that is because the ground a major part of the eningeering. They used CenturyLink (see I remembered!!!! :wink: ) as a template because they wanted an outdoor stadium that seemed to reflect NOISE the way that stadium did.

I enjoyed the book on stadiums but alas BC Place was NOT and probably WILL NOT be in this edition or future editions......
South Pender
Legend
Posts: 2779
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:24 am
Location: Vancouver weekdays; Gulf Islands on weekends

notahomer wrote:
South Pender wrote:
notahomer wrote:Just completed this book....Football Stadiums

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/pro ... Qgod7DcAYw

:thup: loved the photos/info. It will be out of date pretty quick though...... new stadiums coming all the time....
That's interesting, nota. Are any Canadian stadiums in it? B.C. Place Stadium should be, I'd think.

Hmmm, IIRC, Rogers Centre is but only due to the NFL games being played there. BC Place, NOPE. The other BC Place-like stadiums are in there. One didn't last nearly as long and one is nearly being written off (apparently the roof doesn't do well with a lot of SNOW on it, WHO KNEW? :wink: ).

I saw a recent special story on Candlestick Park (on NFL network,IIRC) and I learned a lot. How the original architect designed stuff that didn't make it to the final model, due to cutbacks AFTER construction started. Sucks, IMO. You design a thing expecting A,B,C,D,E,F DUe to circumstances beyond your control it gets built as A, B, L, X, Y, T and the cutters/redesigners don't take the fall for the chickenbleep salad sandwich (to quote CP).

Reading the book on stadiums really opened my eyes. So many cities are going and will be going through what we went through. Do we redesign or start from scratch? Obviously trends start happening. There was a dual purpose (baseball/football), then the air supported teflon roofs, and now there are other things happening too. Retractable roof, retractable field, open air etc.... This was one thing I enjoyed from the Operation Orange trip to Winnepeg. They built their new stadium BELOW grade, so the seats are quite steeply inclined and that is because the ground a major part of the eningeering. They used CenturyLink (see I remembered!!!! :wink: ) as a template because they wanted an outdoor stadium that seemed to reflect NOISE the way that stadium did.

I enjoyed the book on stadiums but alas BC Place was NOT and probably WILL NOT be in this edition or future editions......
One thing about new stadiums being built for teams that I find a little dubious in one sense is foisting the cost onto all taxpayers in the community. This is largely an NFL phenomenon, and there have been some big-time blackmail jobs perpetrated on some US cities by NFL-team owners wanting the public to finance the building of a new stadium for their plaything to play in. The deal is: build a new stadium (and I'm not interested in paying for it) with civic funds, or I move the team to X. Although being an avid football fan, I like the idea of nice, comfy, big, new stadiums, but I can see that, to the non-football-follower in these communities, it seems unfair that they should have bankroll the new gee-whiz team digs along with the football fans.
User avatar
notahomer
Hall of Famer
Posts: 6258
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2002 12:09 pm
Location: Vancouver

South Pender wrote:One thing about new stadiums being built for teams that I find a little dubious in one sense is foisting the cost onto all taxpayers in the community. This is largely an NFL phenomenon, and there have been some big-time blackmail jobs perpetrated on some US cities by NFL-team owners wanting the public to finance the building of a new stadium for their plaything to play in. The deal is: build a new stadium (and I'm not interested in paying for it) with civic funds, or I move the team to X. Although being an avid football fan, I like the idea of nice, comfy, big, new stadiums, but I can see that, to the non-football-follower in these communities, it seems unfair that they should have bankroll the new gee-whiz team digs along with the football fans.
St Louis seems to be under the gun on this and I learned that from the stadium book..... Big bucks are needed to build these places and you hope taxpayers have a limited exposure...........
South Pender
Legend
Posts: 2779
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:24 am
Location: Vancouver weekdays; Gulf Islands on weekends

Some interesting stuff on Pro Football Talk for a Thursday before the Super Bowl. So here it is:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/ca ... umor-mill/

Interestingly, both Michael David Smith and Mike Florio (the two main writers on PFT) are picking the Seahawks (by small margins) in the big one. Also, an interesting piece on Russell Wilson and what his goals are going forward.
User avatar
notahomer
Hall of Famer
Posts: 6258
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2002 12:09 pm
Location: Vancouver

South Pender wrote:Some interesting stuff on Pro Football Talk for a Thursday before the Super Bowl. So here it is:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/ca ... umor-mill/

Interestingly, both Michael David Smith and Mike Florio (the two main writers on PFT) are picking the Seahawks (by small margins) in the big one. Also, an interesting piece on Russell Wilson and what his goals are going forward.
I think the close point spread is causing some hedging by the pundits. IMO, its just too tough to call. I thought Colin K. would have his meltdown day and I feel he did just that in the NFC Championship game. The odds are just there, meaning that we have a bad day sometimes. Peyton certainly had a bad game versus the Saints that ended up with him not getting another ring. I just think it could be a bad day for the Seattle D or a bad day for Peyton. Weird because I'm leaving a huge part of the game out (Seattle's offence/Denver's D). If the highlighted part of either team struggles (Seattle's D or Denver's O) then I can see it being a BLOWOUT.

I really am hoping to watch a Seattle victory. I normally don't want BLOWOUTS (a prior agree to disagree we'd have before South P) but in this particular case, I'd be happy to see a Seattle BLOWOUT WIN, just because the nerves probably can't take it. I really do not want to have to sit through a blowout loss though.
South Pender
Legend
Posts: 2779
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:24 am
Location: Vancouver weekdays; Gulf Islands on weekends

Seven new NFL Hall of Famers Chosen (from Pro Football Talk):

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... ame-class/

All deserving, in my opinion.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And Ron Rivera selected as NFL Coach of the Year:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... -the-year/

I can see that. He engineered an amazing turnaround after being seen as on the hot seat (for firing) early in the season.
User avatar
notahomer
Hall of Famer
Posts: 6258
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2002 12:09 pm
Location: Vancouver

Tillman winning the Walter Payton Award was AMAZING. It meant so much to this Chicago Bear to win an award dedicated to a legendary Bear. Tillman then went on to dedicate the award to the five children that lost their battles this year......Amazing guy (and his wife too).

Can't watch anymore of the pregame show. I saw pieces of the NFL network and FOX pregames. The topics IMO........

85% PEYTON MANNING

10% SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

5% DENVER BRONCOS

Maybe this is normal, maybe NOT. Was it 80% Ray Lewis last year? I think a lot of it is just me. I USED TO WATCH every minute of the pregames for the GreyCUp and Superbowl. Now, I can watch a little but its the GAME that really matters to me...
TheLionKing
Hall of Famer
Posts: 25103
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 10:13 pm
Location: Vancouver

Watched a little of the pregame. Gross overkill. Had to turn it off
South Pender
Legend
Posts: 2779
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:24 am
Location: Vancouver weekdays; Gulf Islands on weekends

One thing that was a little unusual this NFL season is that, for the first time that I can remember, many of the preseason predictions about who would face off in the Super Bowl were right on the mark--Seahawks and Broncos. Both were seen as having the best chance of making it to the big dance well before the season started. Usually, some team comes out of nowhere (or, at least, is not the conference favorite) to make it to the SB, and often that's true for both conferences.
Post Reply