NFL Offseason: Big Money, Big Draft, & Big Ben Follies

[figurefan]

The Ravens actually just have to win next week in Oakland, b/c of the tiebreak situation. Of course, with the way they played yesterday, that might be tougher than it appears. :slinkaway


Yeah and we Bengals fans and even the Steelers fans can tell you beating Oakland is not a given. Good luck to the Ravens! I would much rather see the Ravens in the playoffs than the Steelers.

The Bengals finally clinched so I can relax a little. I'm proud of my guys no matter how far they advance in the playoffs.

[Coco]

That was some game last night!!! What a shame Favre's last two touchdown drives went for naught!

[HeatherC]

The Bengals get NO PLAYERS in the Pro Bowl (http://cnati.com/cincinnati-bengals/bengals-shutout-of-pro-bowl-00983/) :angryfire

So the Bengals win the AFC North, go undefeated in their own division, have one of the biggest turnarounds ever in their record from one season to the next, but don't have any players good enough to be in the Pro Bowl?! I'm sorry but that's total crap. The Pro Bowl is just as bad as the MLB All Star game as far as picking the teams. I hope the Bengals use that as motivation to :kickass: and take names in the playoffs. :mad:

AFC Roster (http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AjYqrZhm1TyOe6dL5RwlHLlDubYF?slug=ys-10afcprobowlrosters&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)

NFC Roster (http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Ajv_GK_6nPg8q4CSrntM_rEZc9AF?slug=ys-10nfcprobowlrosters&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)

[Beefcake]

AFC Roster (http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AjYqrZhm1TyOe6dL5RwlHLlDubYF?slug=ys-10afcprobowlrosters&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)
FINALLY! Dallas Clark in the Pro Bowl, and he's the starter. It's been a tough last four or so years, where Clark has been bumped out by two of the all-time greatest tight ends. Glad to see him in there this time.

Also kudos to Indy's sackmasters Freeney and Mathis being named starters on defense. The Colts D has been very good this season, giving up some yards, but stopping them when it counts. Scoring Defense has been great.

That said, those guys, along with Peyton and Wayne ... well, pretty much all the guys from every team in the playoffs ... will be hoping NOT to play this game! "Other commitments", LOL. The Super Bowl is dumfoundingly the week AFTER the Pro Bowl this season. Who in their right minds would play the PB if he were playing the SB a few days later? Nobody, that's who, and the NFL has already communicated it expects all SB participants to withdraw from the PB.

Hey, Heather, if the Bengals make it we'll still have the full, original AFC Pro Bowl roster! Everybody wins. :P

[Beefcake]

Head over for the Bookies forum if you want to back up the big talk ... or perhaps jinx a team. vBets are up for "who'll win" the NFC and AFC Championships.

[HeatherC]

That said, those guys, along with Peyton and Wayne ... well, pretty much all the guys from every team in the playoffs ... will be hoping NOT to play this game! "Other commitments", LOL. The Super Bowl is dumfoundingly the week AFTER the Pro Bowl this season. Who in their right minds would play the PB if he were playing the SB a few days later? Nobody, that's who, and the NFL has already communicated it expects all SB participants to withdraw from the PB.

Hey, Heather, if the Bengals make it we'll still have the full, original AFC Pro Bowl roster! Everybody wins. :P

I agree that the schedule this year is totally insane. Why on earth would you make that game right BEFORE the Superbowl?! :huh:

Chad Ochocinco had an awesome tweet today about how he's kind of glad no one on his team made the Pro Bowl this year because they'll be too busy preparing for the Superbowl. :P And maybe no Bengals being picked means that the NFL also thinks they'll be playing in the Superbowl....I could totally get on board with that, LOL :saint: :D

[CaptCrunch]

Its a great idea to have the Pro Bowl the week before the Super Bowl. No one cares about the Pro Bowl and no one watches it. The season should end with the Super Bowl and now it will. If your team makes the Super Bowl then you don't play in the Pro Bowl. No player would have a problem with that.

Great idea that the NFL should have put in place a long time ago.

[HeatherC]

Well, the AFC playoff picture is becoming clearer and boy was today interesting.

Denver laid an egg against KC. :eek:

Jacksonville lost to Cleveland to shoot their playoff hopes in the behind.

Pittsburgh beat Miami only to watch the Ravens beat Oakland and eliminate the Steelers from the playoffs. Even though I'm not a Ravens fan, I enjoyed this scenerio a little too much because of how annoying the Steelers guys were all week, LOL :EVILLE:

New England lost to Houston which makes things a little interesting for my guys although the seeding doesn't make a difference to their opponent options. The Bengals game tonight will either end with them playing the Jets again in the first round next weekend with a Jets win or them playing Houston if they beat the Jets in NY. I'm kind of interested in knowing how the Bengals would play against Houston without being in mourning for the death of their defensive coordinator's wife (which is how they were the last time they played) but I like their chances better at stopping Mark Sanchez and the Jets in a road game (game is in Cincy) than figuring out Houston's offense with our slightly depleted defense. It should be an interesting game tonight and I all ready know that Chad wants to play the whole game, that Cedric Benson is inactive to get some rest, and Carson may or may not play the whole game. That's still up in the air. Either way the game ends up, I'm so excited that my guys get a playoff game in Cincy again. WHO DEY! :cheer2:

[Rhianna]

Jacksonville lost to Cleveland to shoot their playoff hopes in the behind.

And oh, the Facebook status updates about it were amusing.

[KHenry14]

The NFL is finding themselves with a real problem how teams who are in the playoffs tank games just to make sure their players don't get hurt. And Wes Welker's injury today is an example as to why they do it. But the integrity of the games come into question when this happens, and it's beginning to become an issue. I mean, the Bengals tank today, which allows the Jets into the playoffs, and other teams opportunities go by the wayside, but for the wrong reasons.

I don't know the answer to this issue, but something has to be done.

[jeffisjeff]

I don't see a problem with teams sitting their starters. The ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl. The top teams are simply acting accordingly. How can the NFL force teams to play their starters? And if they did, wouldn't those starters just play conservative (and boring) games? Also, I think it is great that some of the second stringers get a chance for some real playing time.

Anyway, it is a moot point now. Wes Welker's injury ensured that Goodell won't be able to do anything. But I'll still miss those beautiful blue eyes during the playoffs. :wuzrobbed

[Beefcake]

the integrity of the games come into question when this happens, and it's beginning to become an issue.
I wasn't happy with Indy's passing by a pretty easy chance for 16-0. However, that bell was rung "last" week. I had no problem with them playing subs yesterday (and losing again).

I don't believe it's a crime to rest starters when there's nothing (but pride, stats, and fan enjoyment) to play for. I'd not want to hold a ticket to one of these turkey games. However, IMO a team can - and should - be allowed to rest guys anytime in the season for exhaustion, injuries ... and yes pure strategy. It would be unfair to penalize a team for what is 100% preparation for the playoffs. If the league tried, teams would just list multiple people as "injured, day-to-day". How would this be disproven?

The Jets' good fortune? Happens pretty much every year; a team sneaking in when already-clinched teams rest their stars. Luck of the draw! The Jets can thank the schedule makers for putting their two toughest opponents in the last two weeks of the season ... if it were mid-season NY would like have had two losses to show for it, and Houston would've finally lived up to its playoff promise.

Ala catching a team in early season before its stars have aligned, or catching it when its QB or RB is injured ... lucking into these final weeks match-ups is "just one of those things".

Re: Welker's injury*. It was early in the game, and a freak non-contact type, so IMO resting or not resting wasn't a variable. However, Belichick IMO "was" decidedly non-genuis in playing all of his other stars - incl. Brady - the entire game. WTH? Brady and Co. are old guys football-wise, and have to play six days later. i.e. more time neeed for the body to recover from rough n' tumble. Why were these guys playing so late into a game with nothing at stake but a #3 versus #4 seed?

*Pats are in trouble w/o Welker methinks ... probably lose to the Ravens now that Moss will more easily double-covered

[BigB08822]

Why should any team have to play their starters? It makes perfect sense to rest starters when you are assured a play off spot already. Why risk injury, especially when most teams already have plenty of injuries to deal with without worrying about any more. What if they force teams to play starters, and then those teams simply take a knee on every single possession? Would that be a better outcome? Teams are made up of ALL the players and playing 2nd or even 3rd string players is still using the team that they have. There is a rule that 3rd strings can only play when 1st and 2nds are injured, right, isn't that why Drew Brees was listed as 3rd QB during this last game so he couldn't play unless something really odd happened? I realize it ruins other teams hopes of play offs but the truth is those teams had all season to get some more wins and they didn't.

[Debbie S]

*Pats are in trouble w/o Welker methinks ... probably lose to the Ravens now that Moss will more easily double-coveredYou think? Based on the way the Ravens have been playing lately, I think they're in trouble, although I would of course love to see them go deep into the playoffs. ;)

My father thinks the offensive line doesn't like Flacco, hence not protecting him. I sure hope there's no infighting on the team - playing the Pats (and any future playoff opponents) will be tough enough w/o extra drama.

[Beefcake]

Wow, none of the top four seeds for last year's playoffs -- Titans, (defending champions) Pittsburgh, Carolina, NY Giants -- made the playoffs this year. OTOH, Arizona shook off the "defending Super Bowl runners-up curse" and easily made it back to the playoffs.

While the playoffs begin, the "other" teams have the draft and the now-determined next year's opponents (nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8157a75c&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true[/url) to ponder.

Pittsburgh, with its 3rd place schedule, should recover nicely ... perhaps even challenge for a top two playoff seed next year. San Diego and Indy don't seem to have murderer's row schedules for '11 considering they're both "1st place schedule" teams.

Conversely ...

:yikes: New England's got it rough! Includes ...
Home: Indy, Minnesota, Green Bay, Cincinnati & Baltimore
Away: San Diego & Pittsburgh

And Dallas better ride its great momentum "this season" as it's got a killer road game slate next year ... Philadelphia, Green Bay, Minnesota, Houston, Indianapolis, & Arizona. :cold: