General NFL discussion thread

[Lawrence]

With the start of training camp comes my favorite Green Bay tradion -

http://twitpic.com/610i8k

http://yfrog.com/kj8tqnqj

http://twitpic.com/610a0b

The daily ritual of the players riding kid's bikes from the stadium to the practice field. Some players pick one kid for the whole summer and some switch it up every day.

What a great tradition really seems like the kids love it. It's always nice to see things like that. Here in Dallas Jerry before every season picks a school walks into a classroom and peels off his face to reveal he is the Red Skull. Tradition is tradition though, you have to respect it.

[thefreakytiki]

With the start of training camp comes my favorite Green Bay tradion -

http://twitpic.com/610i8k

http://yfrog.com/kj8tqnqj

http://twitpic.com/610a0b

The daily ritual of the players riding kid's bikes from the stadium to the practice field. Some players pick one kid for the whole summer and some switch it up every day.

That is awesome stuff right there!


the Tiki

[thefreakytiki]

So I'm sure you all have heard that the Dark Knight is filming in Pittsburgh.  They recently converted Hienz Field into the home of the Gotham Rogues.

http://www.shockya.com/news/2011/08/07/the-dark-knight-rises-gotham-rogues-set-photos/

http://foresthills-regentsquare.patch.com/articles/regent-square-rogues-cheer-for-batman-experience-at-heinz-field#photo-7297362

But now many of the Pittsburgh Steelers will play the role of Gotham's Football team...

The Pittsburgh Steelers are going rogue.

About a dozen Steelers are playing members of the Gotham Rogues, the home team taking on the equally fictitious Rapid City Monuments in a new Batman movie currently filming in Pittsburgh.
Thousands of extras playing fans also have been recruited for Saturday's shoot for "The Dark Knight Rises" at Heinz Field.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that players getting their star turn include Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, Willie Colon, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Wallace, Heath Miller, Aaron Smith, Ryan Clark, Troy Polamalu, James Farrior and Casey Hampton.

"I don't think it will be a big part, It's not like we're chasing Batman down or anything," Roethlisberger said. "It's something neat that in 10 years or 20 years we can tell our kids we were in a movie."

Linebacker LaMarr Woodley told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he was a big Batman fan as a youngster and can't wait to be in the movie.

"I can tell somebody I was in `Batman,"' Farrior said. "That's going to be awesome."

Production on the film, director Christopher Nolan's third in the trilogy, will continue in Pittsburgh through the end of August. The film, scheduled to be released in July 2012, stars Christian Bale as the caped crusader and his alter ego, Bruce Wayne, along with Gary Oldman and Anne Hathaway.



the Tiki

[Swany]

wow a tough weekend to be an O-lineman in Pitt hey Tiki?

[thefreakytiki]

wow a tough weekend to be an O-lineman in Pitt hey Tiki?

How much salt are you bringing in to this thread for my wound?  Ouch!





the Tiki

[Jeff B.]

ooph, Steve Smith to the Eagles.   

I know the GMen were hesitant about his knee but of all the teams to go to.

Not sure where he is at but maybe a guy like Cotchery could be added for the Giants.  He still has some gas left in the tank and could fill the Steve Smith role, even though I think Smith is a better receiver.

As an aside, as a Vick owner, this concerns me about the health of Maclin.

[Wood]

ooph, Steve Smith to the Eagles.   

I know the GMen were hesitant about his knee but of all the teams to go to.

Not sure where he is at but maybe a guy like Cotchery could be added for the Giants.  He still has some gas left in the tank and could fill the Steve Smith role, even though I think Smith is a better receiver.

As an aside, as a Vick owner, this concerns me about the health of Maclin.

Yeah, the more I see of this Smith signing the happier I become. Coughlin made it crystal clear he wanted Smith back, AND that he wasn't considered an injury risk by the doctors as some NY media had rumored. Eli is PISSED, he lost his top two security blankets and two starting O-lineman this offseason.

 

Oh, and Cotchery signed with the Steelers.

[Jeff B.]

Yeah, the more I see of this Smith signing the happier I become. Coughlin made it crystal clear he wanted Smith back, AND that he wasn't considered an injury risk by the doctors as some NY media had rumored. Eli is PISSED, he lost his top two security blankets and two starting O-lineman this offseason.

 

Oh, and Cotchery signed with the Steelers.

Yeah, I am not so worried about losing Boss but the oline is a mess.  Not sure what the Giants are doing this offseason.  I think they went from a position of strength there to one of weakness in the blink of an eye. Eli threw 43,000 INTs last year with a solid line in front of him.  Granted his top receivers were injured.  Hopefully Nicks stays healthy and Manningham progresses... and Eli can throw on the run.  (gulp)

[Lawrence]

Yeah, the more I see of this Smith signing the happier I become. Coughlin made it crystal clear he wanted Smith back, AND that he wasn't considered an injury risk by the doctors as some NY media had rumored. Eli is PISSED, he lost his top two security blankets and two starting O-lineman this offseason.

 

Oh, and Cotchery signed with the Steelers.

He is going to pass his dumb-face, aww shucks quota well before mid-season. Love it.


I'm so freaking excited about the first twenty minutes of the Cowboys game tonight.  

[Jeff B.]

I'm so freaking excited about the first twenty minutes of the Cowboys game tonight.  

Yayyy, football is back.  Getting Pats-Jags at 7:30 on the local channel here then Seahawks-Chargers on ESPN at 8   

[Lawrence]

Yayyy, football is back.  Getting Pats-Jags at 7:30 on the local channel here then Seahawks-Chargers on ESPN at 8   

Admittedly I am always so excited for the first game then when the starters leave and half time rolls around i'm nothing but anxious for the season start.

It's kind of been nice this year with the shorter pre-season. I'm sure its the same most places but here in Dallas as soon as the players start camp all of the local media is there both TV and radio. While I suck it all up it makes the pre-season seem like it last forever. This time everything has happened so fast and furious that I feel like this game has snuck up on me.

Oh and I can't wait for highlights! I enjoy baseball but I think the highlights suck. Oh, look a home run and another home run and another home run. Football just has so much uniqueness in each play that I love turning on the highlights after the games finish. Football!   

[Wood]

Always hard to get too worked up about the first preseason game, but how could I not LOVE the way the Eagles first units played? Vick marched down the field against the Ravens 1s like they were a bunch of practice squaders, and our defense was bringing the HEAT in spite of not having most of our new toys out on the field.

[judekill]

 

Yeah, I am not so worried about losing Boss but the oline is a mess.  Not sure what the Giants are doing this offseason.  I think they went from a position of strength there to one of weakness in the blink of an eye. Eli threw 43,000 INTs last year with a solid line in front of him.  Granted his top receivers were injured.  Hopefully Nicks stays healthy and Manningham progresses... and Eli can throw on the run.  (gulp)

At least they still have Osi  

[kinetic]

Always hard to get too worked up about the first preseason game, but how could I not LOVE the way the Eagles first units played? Vick marched down the field against the Ravens 1s like they were a bunch of practice squaders, and our defense was bringing the HEAT in spite of not having most of our new toys out on the field.

I watched some of the game and I gotta say the Eagles were impressive. Vick seemed alot cooler and just sat back and threw the ball. Didn't look like he was thinking of taking off down the field every other play. Cool and calm. Nice.

Looking forward to seeing the Steelers go around.

I wasn't happy seeing the Patriots game. Not a good sign.

[Wood]

I watched some of the game and I gotta say the Eagles were impressive. Vick seemed alot cooler and just sat back and threw the ball. Didn't look like he was thinking of taking off down the field every other play. Cool and calm. Nice.

Looking forward to seeing the Steelers go around.

I wasn't happy seeing the Patriots game. Not a good sign.

This is shaping up to be one of those years where there are a number of clearly elite teams and one of them is going to roll to the Championship.

In the NFC:  Green Bay, New Orleans, Philadelphia

In the AFC: New England, Pittsburgh, New York, Baltimore

[judekill]

This is shaping up to be one of those years where there are a number of clearly elite teams and one of them is going to roll to the Championship.

In the NFC:  Green Bay, New Orleans, Philadelphia

In the AFC: New England, Pittsburgh, New York, Baltimore

I see the Raiders as that scrappy underdog team with a couple of big upsets, but clearly not as talented as those mentioned above.

[bedrack]

I thought this lockout-shortened pre-season would be an interesting chance to examine the age-old question of whether lenghty training camps do more harm than good.  It's pretty well established that players hate the two-a-days, citing how it wears them down and affects their stamina later in the season. But the teams insist they need the time to evaluate talent and get their schemes in place. This year training camps will be condensed, so we can see if the players are right - maybe they'll look fresher as the season progresses. Running the risk of reading too much into week one of the preseason, a lot of first team offences have looked pretty sharp - are the players winning this debate? Is there any chance this preseason will change the way training camps operate in the future? 

[judekill]

'Sig was trying to get me to jump on last night, but I stayed in the chat room instead.'

Wood does that mean I'll have to go the audible forum to read your opinions on the Eagles/Steelers game last night. True it was just an exhibition game but I'm beginning to wonder if all the expectations and pressure are starting to get to Vick. He looked real real bad last night.

On the flip side I have to remind myself that the NE game was just a preseason game but-Damn they looked Good!!
Can't wait for them to play a contender in a meaningful game. This is going to be a fun defense to watch. At least three articles I read talked about how the linebackers are now being "unleashed", that has got to be one of my all-time favorite words.

[Jeff B.]

Watched parts of both games last night and I have to say, New England looked good but more to the point, the Bucs looks awful 

I have not seen a team come out more flat and play without passion in quite a while.  Their left tackle Penn was a turnstyle the entire time he was in there and he made Carter look like he was all world.  Multiple Pats were in the backfield on almost every play.  They are lucky no one was seriously hurt.

And on defense, both Hernandez and Ocho's TDs were blown coverages where they were just wide open down the seam.

I guess that is what the preseason is for but that was some uninspired football.

From the Pitt game, I thought Mendenhall showed some nice burst last night and had a very athletic one handed catch and run that was impressive.  For a banged up line I thought he ran hard and did well.  It's too bad the Eagles first string D didn't know there was a game   

Nate Allen got exposed on several plays and I am still trying to figure out what type of defense Asante Samuel was playing on that TD.  I would have liked to have seen more of Wallace, I am really struggling to figure out where he lies in the WR rankings this year.

[Jeremy G]

Dare I say it?  My Redskins are looking good!