NFL 2014

[whadeezlrg]

we made it through September and October last season with only one wideout...we get aldon & bowman back before we play the seahawks, but after we play the saints in new Orleans again...our offense has the weapons to make up for a few more pts allowed on D, it's just a matter of proper use and execution...

no doubt about it home-field will be crucial, not that I don't think we couldn't beat the hawks @ c-link(recent history would suggest that, we haven't beaten them there since 2011...they haven't beaten the 9ers at candlestick in even longer)....and as of right now we're undefeated in the new stadium lol(preseason doesn't count! lol)

bababooey- I totally think that in most circumstances the suspensions should be held off until there is a conviction/plea bargain w/ enough evidence to suggest the charges are justified...I don't think however that goodell should play the role of judge, jury, and executioner. In Rice's case there was overwhelming evidence that suggested that allegations were justified, I don't have a problem with suspensions being effective immediately when you get caught doing it on video.

I'm thinking we might need more than a dead hooker, he seems like the kind of dude that's already brushed that one under the rug a few times lol

 

[Ottoman]

49ers are starting to worry me, I'll stick to my guns that they'll win it all but with another starter on D out for several weeks, I think the hawks are the clear favorite in that division. No bowman, mcdonald, smith, dorsey. Their backfield is beat up to boot, and I don't think Kaep is mature enough yet to carry this whole team on his back. Lets not forget the loss of whitner replaced by Bethea, good player but how much does he have left in the tank. You 9ers fans nervous at all? O yeah No carlos rodgers too he is a big CB.

 

[iTarzan]

I was just reading that the Broncos are prime for the picking early on. I was already thinking this because of their injuries, especially to their crazy good kicker.

I also was already thinking the Colts had a real good chance at beating them in Denver. They are 7 point underdogs but I think they cover and win outright.

I would love me a season opening Colt's victory over Denver at Mile High.

 

[whadeezlrg]

49ers are starting to worry me, I'll stick to my guns that they'll win it all but with another starter on D out for several weeks, I think the hawks are the clear favorite in that division. No bowman, mcdonald, smith, dorsey. Their backfield is beat up to boot, and I don't think Kaep is mature enough yet to carry this whole team on his back. Lets not forget the loss of whitner replaced by Bethea, good player but how much does he have left in the tank. You 9ers fans nervous at all? O yeah No carlos rodgers too he is a big CB.

Yes, definitely a bit worried, but the last few seasons have all started with question marks at various positions. The hawks are king of the hill until someone knocks em down but they also have some question marks; their WR core is pretty slim, harvin simply doesn't play enough to be a true #1 receiver, Baldwin is # 2 on the chart and behind them is Kearse and lockette...

keep in mind that Dorsey stepped in for Ian Williams last season after he broke his ankle in seattle wk 2...Williams beat Dorsey in camp, and he is ready to come back...so technically while the depth may be tested we have a solid starter at NT

My opinion of kaep and his growth differs from yours(homer glasses), he has looked like a very poised qb in the limited play that he's seen imho. he's made progressions through 3 and 4 reads, made the right check downs etc. He'll have the weapons at his disposal so we will see what he can make of it...

Rodgers got beat constantly last season, he got demoted to nickel cb, brown was a good corner but was a cap casualty...onto the guys we do have: brock started to explode last year, culliver was pretty good in 2012 but was on ir all last season with an acl...I'm not his biggest fan, he doesn't wrap up....seems to shy away from contact, isn't particularly game fast...he's pretty good in coverage though, at least good enough to give the line some time to collapse the pocket and hurry the throws a bit. Ward is looking GREAT, that kid is around the ball on every play, sticks his nose right into rb's, ball skills, cerebral player, the type that can make calls on the field...that kids a flat out baller. I'm really not as concerned with our secondary as a good majority of the media seems to be, maybe I'm optimistic or maybe I just see things differently...I like young quick corners.

I was/am a big fan of whitner mainly because I loved his hard hits, his style of play seemed to rub off on the rest of the d...he was the worst free agent casualty from a fan standpoint. that being said he would often blow coverage and take bad angles, his hard hits although generally clean/textbook hits drew a lot of flags, flags which kept opposing offenses on the field. Bethea may not be as hard of a hitter but he is a better coverage guy than dontae, and the reality is he's coming in and mentoring second year safety eric reid who has looked like the second coming of safety Christ lol I thinkthe combo of reid and bethea will be fine, I'm just hoping we don't see bethea's knees buckle from getting knocked the f out again bethea will be SS, he won't be moving around as much as reid, hopefully that will keep him a bit more fresh throughout the duration of the season.

my money would be on the broncs to cover the spread at their home opener, with a nicely upgraded d with von miller and ware, talib...but that's just me your goin down in the culture league tobor! lol

 

[Ottoman]

Whadeez, dont get me wrong I think Kaep has tremendous talent no doubt about it. My only hesitations on him being "mature" enough is that he falls into the catergory of QB that uses his legs. Their is not example of a QB that has won or won multiple SB's playing that style, all the SB's winners or HOF QB's are pure sit in the pocket passers, they are the model in the league. Guys like peyton, tom, and brees, never have to use their legs and can dominate. Its because they're mature enough QB's to process complex on-field information in a matter of of seconds. Kaep isn't quite their yet therefore has to use his legs a bit more which has absolutely proven to win games in the NFL, but still waiting for that model type QB to win SB's. I think as he gets older and uses run as a last option in the pocket he'll be even better. He already throws down the field really well I just want to see him do that over run the ball more often. Last year he had 10 games of under200 yards passing, I am sorry he can't do that this year if he wants to win it all especially if his D isn't gonna be as good as in the years past.

I'll take your word on the D I am sure you follow them much closer than I do, I just think whitner to bethea is a big downgrade and will show. I do think Jim has drafted some guys over the years that will play big roles in the coming years as well.


I'd take den -7 as well, that indy o-line is gonna get murdered in mile high.

 

[Bababooey]

Broncos have revamped their Def with some good players. Von miller might play as well. If the Colts o-line has issues, we'll find out about it. That will probably affect Trich more than Luck, but how much punishment can Luck take before it starts to show?

Kaep's always passed the ball better with Crabtree in the lineup, and all his receivers are healthy now, they have stevie johnson too. i think he'll sling it around more this year, especially if they get into some shootouts if their def struggles.
but yeah, ive started kaep enough these last couple years to know that his passing stats can be very pedestrian. his team still wins though, usually, and thats what counts to his employers.

 

[iTarzan]

It is time to put some predictions out. Lets see who the best pigskin prognosticator is.

Here are my upset specials.

Green Bay defeats Seattle.

Atlanta defeats New Orleans

Oakland defeats New York Jets

Jacksonville defeats Philadelphia

Dallas defeats San Francisco

Indianapolis defeats Denver

 

[whadeezlrg]

Whadeez, dont get me wrong I think Kaep has tremendous talent no doubt about it. My only hesitations on him being "mature" enough is that he falls into the catergory of QB that uses his legs. Their is not example of a QB that has won or won multiple SB's playing that style, all the SB's winners or HOF QB's are pure sit in the pocket passers, they are the model in the league. Guys like peyton, tom, and brees, never have to use their legs and can dominate. Its because they're mature enough QB's to process complex on-field information in a matter of of seconds. Kaep isn't quite their yet therefore has to use his legs a bit more which has absolutely proven to win games in the NFL, but still waiting for that model type QB to win SB's. I think as he gets older and uses run as a last option in the pocket he'll be even better. He already throws down the field really well I just want to see him do that over run the ball more often. Last year he had 10 games of under200 yards passing, I am sorry he can't do that this year if he wants to win it all especially if his D isn't gonna be as good as in the years past.

I'll take your word on the D I am sure you follow them much closer than I do, I just think whitner to bethea is a big downgrade and will show. I do think Jim has drafted some guys over the years that will play big roles in the coming years as well.


I'd take den -7 as well, that indy o-line is gonna get murdered in mile high.

avg niners O without crabs- 173 passing yards 308 total yards
avg niners O with crabtree- 214 passing yards 361 total yards

I believe you have forgotten about hall of famer, bearer of 3 rings Steve Young...let's not forget he paved the road for running qb's with his scrambling...now young was a better pocket passer than kaep but he also didn't start his sophomore season, was mentored by who many would consider the goat in montana(well not really mentored, but there's surely some game he picked up from), and was developed under the west coast chess master himself...and how could we forget about jerry, guys like him surely make the qb's job a whole lot easier. Sure, I think kaepernick is a bit more raw at this point but his upside is huge and in the right environment I can see him being a franchise qb for the long term like a brady, brees, manning, etc. fwiw the niners rarely ran the read option last year during the regular season, I truly believe having more than 2 legitimate receiving options(boldin,davis) to start the season will change those stats considerably

I've got my homer glasses on but I don't think my vision is too far off


niners had the 30th ranked pass offense last season, I could think of quite a few qb's that I'd rank below kaep today

pryor
shaub
mcgloin
locker
gabbert
cassel/
Bradford
rg3
Fitzpatrick
manuel
geno smith
tanehill
alex smith(I like alex, didn't like seeing him lose his job to kaep but I understand now)
hoyer/johhny 8ball
palmer
ponder
mcCown(let's not forget, he has always sucked until he stepped in last season)
Bradford
glennon
eli

you get the point, I wouldn't go so far as saying he's on the brees Rodgers manning level YET, but I think he could be in 2-3 years if the people that are playing around him are also playing at a high level. the recievers account for 50% of the qbs stats when you think about it, if they drop a perfectly thrown ball the qb still gets an incomplete pass on their stats...not every incomplete pass is a bad pass, sometimes it's on the receiver which I feel was a large part of last years dismal passing stats...that and the fact that the niners simply just didn't pass the ball as much as the majority of teams...

fwiw RW just got a ring, most would consider him and kaep to have fairly similar style of play.

who would you say is more likely to get a ring first? kaepernick or Dalton?

 

[whadeezlrg]

It is time to put some predictions out. Lets see who the best pigskin prognosticator is.

Here are my upset specials.

Green Bay defeats Seattle.

Atlanta defeats New Orleans

Oakland defeats New York Jets

Jacksonville defeats Philadelphia

Dallas defeats San Francisco

Indianapolis defeats Denver

my predictions-

green bay isn't ready to open up the season vs the nfc west again, they simply cant hang in the physical football department...hawks will be FIRED up and they damn sure will not lose their home opener(the first real game they have played since the embarrassment bowl)

I think atl vs NO is a toss up, not a game I would put a cent on could go either way but I lean saints moneyline(don't know the spread off the top) because their rob ryan D is serious and underestimated.. saints rb core > steven Jackson and jaquizz, it ultimately comes down to ryan vs brees for me though, and while I sincerely hope for my fantasy teams sake that ryan goes off I feel like it's more than likely that brees puts up 28/340/3 than ryan

I like Oakland over the jets as well, it's the island of misfit old toys but I think they pull it off, carr looked f'n awesome vs the hawks 2's and 3's which are surely better than the jets 1's...and the black and silver has inherited some of that 2011-2013 niner D

I might consider the jags upset if we were talking a bortles Blackmon connection...no way henne, shorts, and gerhart make it happen over the 2014 nfc east champs imho

there is no D in dallas, romo is coming off of another neck surgery, dez and murray are both beasts, vegas see's big things for witten this season....its gonna be a great way to start the season for my 9ers...the boys are homedogs which is scary....I don't know if the niners cover(-5) but I say we start the season 1-0

broncos vs colts: read seattle vs greenbay, broncs cover.

Vikings over rams

the burg over the browns

ravens over cinci

bears over bills

chiefs over titans

pats over phins

Texans over skins

bucs over panthers

lions over giants

and im leaning cards over bolts...that's a real close one for me

 

[iTarzan]

I like Vikings over Rams. And Chargers always start slow so I am going with Cardinals.

Every year Philadelphia is overhyped and every year they start off stinking up the joint. Nick Foles is coming back down to earth. This is my only true wtf upset pick. The others are possible.

Dez Bryant is going to explode this year. Let's just call him uncoverable by any team out there. San Fran is going to be the first to find out.

Welker was suspended 4 games and Denver does not have their kicker to bail them out with a 60 yard FG.

 

[iTarzan]

Let the record reflect that I have actually been winless in picks many, many times.

 

[whadeezlrg]

I like Vikings over Rams. And Chargers always start slow so I am going with Cardinals.

Welker was suspended 4 games and Denver does not have their kicker to bail them out with a 60 yard FG.

kinda what I was thinking for bolts, and az needs to start the season on fire to try and snag a playoff spot...

Denver d > colts d
manning > luck
ball > t rich & broken brooks
Julius > fleener
demarius > wayne
sanders < Hilton
arians > pagano lol

welker had his role, but him being gone certainly doesn't stalemate manning

I'd say a fair majority of kickers would be able to hit a 60yd fg in mile high...akers 63 yarder in lambeau..now that was a kick for the ages.

sorry to keep razzin your colts dude! lol I like the colts too I just don't think they come out of Denver with the dubya...and hey what kinda league would we be in if there wasn't a fair amount of trash talk

I'd really like the sf dallas game to turn into a shootout...I really want to see what all these nice new weapons can do on the range...and dallas' d is about as open range as were going to see all season

 

[iTarzan]

Kap and 49ers are 0-1 vs Luck

Wilson and Seahawks are 0-1 vs Luck

Manning and Denver are 0-1 vs Luck and soon to be 0-2

Those are some pretty incredible numbers that many don't realize. Fact is Andrew Luck and the Colts pounded the crap out of those teams last year. The Colts are better this year. I don't think the other 3 teams are better than last year.

I don't know how anybody can write them off this Sunday. The pressure is all on Denver.

Denver does not have a good defense. Example #1 Super Bowl Example #2 39 points to Colts and a loss 39-33.

Thank god there is a great game on Thursday because I can't wait until Sunday night.

 

[iTarzan]

Wayne, Nicks, Hilton, Allen, Fleenor, Moncrief, Whalen and Rogers >Julius, Damarius and Sanders

Allen>Julius You will soon see.

Wayne or Nicks>Demarius

T Rich and Bradshaw > Ball(6 fumbles 3 running 3 receiving) and Hillman

Arians and Pagnano are both average at best.

Manning has never beaten Luck Luck>Manning

Those fumbles by Ball could be difference makers Sunday.

 

[Ottoman]

Problem with that list you put up deez is that even though we both can agree kaep is a much better QB than all those guys, almost all those guys were on team with a better passing offense and that is a little scary.

Also I don't think steve youngs game is comparable to Kaeps at all, you even said they still even have a little package of plays for kaep to run. I don't feel their were plays like that for Young or even Wilson for that matter. I actually think Wilson is a better comparison to young than kaep is. Guys that stand in the pocket until their is absolutely nothing let and they can use their athletic ability to make a big gain on their feet or simply elude a blown block for a decent gain. I mean even Aaron Rogers will run for 300 yards in a season, and we don't consider him a scrambler. Yes Kaep has those guys ability to use their feet probably even better IMO. I just don't think he's got the pocket presence....yet. With time agree I think he'll blossom. Like I said his football IQ may not be what Brady, Peyton, Rodgers (these guys make bad receivers good ones which kaep doesn't do yet), but he makes up for it in being probably the most athletic person person on the field every Sunday which has proven to win games no doubt about it. I just think if he wants that super bowl ring he gotta pass better even with Crab in the game, 214 passing yards a game needs to get better IMO. I'll take less rush yards from Kaep for more passing yards any day of the week. P.S. just so you know I am not a Kaep hater I have him on one of my fantasy teams, lol.

I don't like the excuse of his WR's crop being bad because if he is that good he should make the people around him better, and yes some drop balls do happen I know this isn't his fault. But If Tom Brady can use Julian Eldeman as a #1, Kaep can use V.Davis

 

[Ottoman]

ITarazn, its hard to compared denver D this year from last so many different players it kind of not fair to say weather they're good yet or not.

As far as games go I will guess but not actually bet any money til week 4ish, every year we think some teams are gonna be good and others terrible, I like to see things pan out over the first couple weeks. I have been eying the O/U on the hawks/pack....saw it at 45 last time, I think it goes over no problems.

 

[Storm Shadow]

Monte Ball is going to be Edge James 2.0 ... I cant wait to see the Broncos offense (fantasy reasons)

I think Percy Harvin is going to be a monster and Steven Jackson is going to show how he pimped everyone T.O style with his fake injury during all of training camp and preseason..

Remember the Madden song last year.....Do the Julio....Do the Julio.....Do the Julio!!

Good Times begin tomorrow gentleman

 

[iTarzan]

Storm last year when Harvin came back at the end he did look crazy explosive and scary. I would not bet against your thoughts on him.

I can't help remember the two years I had him on my FF team and he missed many games due to migraines mostly but some due to injury.

Ottoman I stopped betting on football when I was in 9th grade and bet all my paperboy odd job money on the Colts to beat the Jets and cover the 16.5 or more spread.

I stopped all betting when I saved all my money the summer of 1969 and lost all of it betting on the Baltimore Orioles to beat the Mets.

They were my favorite teams. Orioles, Colts and The Bullets.

I lost a few hundred bucks which was pretty good back then but even more for a kid.

It was unbelievable to me and still is. They were two of the greatest teams in their sport and they lost back to back. Super Bowl for 1968 season was in 1969 and then the 1969 World Series.

Jets combined with Mets equaled no more bets.

Thank god the Giants beat the undefeated Patriots because that game now replaces the Jets upsetting the Colts as the number one Super Bowl upset. They would play that game every year before the Super Bowl and rip off the scab covering the wound in my soul.

I hate the song "Summer of 69" real bad. Real bad!

 

[MIMedHead]

Kick off tomorrow night. This shit is about to get real...... wish we had an icmag fantasy football league

 

[whadeezlrg]

harvin won't play more than 5 games this season, bet the house on it....I think you might be losin it SS....steven Jackson, really? you think he's really got anything left in the tank? he's looked pretty awful for the last couple of seasons imho...I guess roddy and Julio will keep the D backed up a bit but jacksons a lot like t-rich...2 yards and a cloud of dust. he's also the oldest back in the league correct? old rb's are a scary thing in fantasy imho...the floor may be slightly higher but the ceiling is falling in on the living room

sounds like you're a horrible bettor iT lol

guess we gotta wait and see what 2014 has in store for kaep and his passing abilities, I've seen the dude win games with his arm, seen him win with his legs...at the end of the day it's all about the dubya's....and it starts in your boys house otto cheer's to a formidable way to start the season!