NFL 2006

[Jae Onasi]

Well, seeing as the Cubs are 10 out of the wildcard at this point and I've declared 'wait til next year', and the Bears have reported to camp, it's time to move on to football.

 

Who has the most promise to go all the way to the Big Game?

 

If Urlacher is any indication, the Bears have a fire in their belly that's going to drive them far. As long as Jones, Benson, and Grossman can stay healthy and the receivers can avoid dropping balls in the endzone, they might have a decent chance at least at the playoffs.

Of course, I'll be delighted if the Bears beat the Packers. Especially in Green Bay.

[JediKnight707]

I hope that the Bears do well too. I'm not really a fan of there's per se, more of a fan of Grossman and Urlacher. Grossman, because I hope he does well, and Urlacher...just 'cause he kicks some serious @$$ in Madden

Did Brett Favre retire? Or is he coming back for another season?

As for who I think will win...I think that the Steelers might, though with the loss of Bettis, there kinda screwed in the run game. The Colts look promising, but they lost James, so Peyton will shoulder more of the responsibility.

[Jae Onasi]

Favre's back. But if he has no receivers and no linemen protecting him, he's going to be in the same boat as last year.

[JediKnight707]

Bah, he should have retired. He's going to get hurt, we're all gonna have a big ceremony when he misses the first game in like 13 years, and he'll finally retire, and tear up during the press conference.

[Mav]

I have to cheer for my Broncos, hopefully "The Snake" wont blow it in the playoffs again, but I've been a Bronco fan as long as I remember and Champ Bailey has been my idol so to speak (I played cornerback, runningback, slotback, punt/kick returner in highschool), I'd still be trying to play football if my college had a team . Anyway, I'm not too worried about our running game, we always seem to find one somewhere, our O-line will take care of things. Our linebackers are solid and we have a decent secondary so I'm confident we'll make the playoffs again. As for the Bears, didn't Cedric Benson get injured by Urlacher, or was that just a bruise? Anyway, best of luck to your Bears hopefully they wont play like Cubs, pun intended, ha... ha... ha... ok it wasn't that funny, sorry .

[Jae Onasi]

Anyway, best of luck to your Bears hopefully they wont play like Cubs, pun intended,

 

(groan) You'll have to pay a pun tax for that one.

 

Benson got hit by Urlacher and then Brown, according to this 5 Aug 06 Sun-Times article.

 

I read that x-rays were negative, which leads me to think that he had a partial dislocation. It doesn't take much force at all to cause a dislocation, so Urlacher and Brown could have indeed not hit him hard, just caught him the wrong way. All one of them had to do was hit him on his upper chest and then push up under his arm a little to dislocate it. Except for the x-ray, I'm speculating, however.

[Snafu7]

Favre's back. But if he has no receivers and no linemen protecting him, he's going to be in the same boat as last year.

I was just thinking about that this morning, all I know is they better fix their problems with the o-line, and then hope to God no one gets hurt this year, otherwise I'm in for a crappy fall.

[Hannibal]

Jae, Is jones happy again? I saw on ESPN he was mad because Da'Bears drafted a running back and he came to camp with an attitude.

 

I'm a Washington Redskins fan. Looks like we might be a little better than last year. With a improved defense and better depth at WR. If Brunell stays health (which seems not to likely) we'll be good.

[mimartin]

I was a Texans fan before the NFL draft. Now I'm rooting for the formers Texas Longhorn player on different NFL teams around the league. I hope the Texans pull a big 0-for this year. They deserve it for not picking Bush or hometown hero Vince Young. I was a HUGE Houston Oilier Fan before they left for Tennessee. With UT savor Vince Young now on the team I will again root for them. I’m also a fan of the Bears with Benson and Vasher on the team. I will also keep an eye on the Lions as they have 3 or 4 former UT players. That said my main focus as always will be college football.

[Mav]

It doesn't take much force at all to cause a dislocation, so Urlacher and Brown could have indeed not hit him hard, just caught him the wrong way.

 

Yea, I know that all to well, I dislocated my shoulder once and it hurts, but they give you a pretty sturdy brace for it, only thing is the brace makes it harder to catch, but him being a runningback he shouldn't have to worry too much. I also found out it doesn't take much to break an ankle, I snapped my fibia and tibia, I think those are the two... the bones running from your knee to your ankle. Anyway, I snapped those in half, that hurt a lot, lol.

[Jeff]

I'm putting all my faith in the Bengals as long as Carson Palmer is healthy by game 1. I'm not too impressed with what the hometown Lions have done this offseason.

 

Honestly I would have preferred they keep Joey Harrington, now they have no good QB. I mean, Kitna had one good year in Cinci and the rest of his career has been average. At least Joey's young and has potential, the West coast system just isn't right for him.

[Jae Onasi]

Vasher--now there's a guy who did some really unexpected great things last season. How many did he run back for TDs? 80 million?

 

Jimbo and I are Ohio State (and secondarily Northwestern, and thirdly Wisconsin) fans.

[Phantom Joker]

Jimbo and I are Ohio State (and secondarily Northwestern, and thirdly Wisconsin) fans.

Ohio State? Gah! I used to think you two had some class...

[Jae Onasi]

Oh, you must be a fan of "That School to the North". Ohio State students aren't allowed to say the M-word once they sign the acceptance letter to go to OSU.

 

@Hannibal--well, Jones is getting paid a decent salary to play whether he's happy or not. The guy ran for 1300 yards or so last season--he's got a very good chance at being starter unless the other 2 just blow him away at camp/pre-season play or he gets hurt again (heaven forbid).

I can't begin to explain why the Bears spent their pick on a running back when we have so many other positions that really needed more depth.

[stingerhs]

well, if Big Ben doesn't get back on his crotch rocket, the Steelers stand a good chance of making it very far yet again. in all honesty, i believe that they could repeat if they can consistantly play as well as they did in the playoffs. if they revert to the way they played in the Super Bowl, well, i wouldn't count on them making it very far.

 

as for my other team, the Carolina Panthers, i'm looking forward to them making the Super Bowl this year. with a great recevier lining up across from the incredible Steve Smith, i believe that Carolina could easily have one of the most under-rated passing offenses in the league. i really believe that this could be the year Carolina wins the Super Bowl.

[Mav]

^^^

Carolina lost me $1,000 in their last Superbowl appearence, therefore I am never cheering for them again, stupid Superbowl pool... *kicks dirt* and *pouts*

[Bob Lion54]

The Colts look promising, but they lost James, so Peyton will shoulder more of the responsibility.

I really don't think the loss of James will be that bad. He is a phenominal runner, when he is healthy. Problem is, he just misses too many games. Indy is a passing team anyway. Sure, you're not going to do well without a good running game and passing game, but the rest of their backs have been playing pretty well when James is out. I think they will be just fine.

 

Now, on to my team. Geaux SAINTS! Yep, Louisiana boy here. Grew up watching them, grew up crying into my pillow every sunday at 3pm. (Yea, I know. I made the same joke last year. heh)

 

Anyway, they had a great off season. They have a rookie head coach so they are bound to have a few problems. No rookie head coach has ever made it all the way to the Super Bowl.

 

However, the have made some very sweet roster moves this off season. Mr. number 2 of the draft, aka Reggie Bush. I'm one of the few people that kinda questioned this pick because of the great Deuce Mcallister. He did miss a good portion of last season due to injury, but it was the first time he missed more than a game or two because of getting hurt. More often then not, he dosen't put up the big plays until later in the season when he is hurt. heh. Do doubt though, Bush is a phenomon. With Bush and McAllister, they Saints running game will give defenses a lot of trouble this year. It will be interesting to see how things go next off season. I'd hate to see McAllister go, but it seems likely.

 

The other roster move I love is the acquisition of Drew Brees. Aaron Brooks put up great numbers. If you look at his stats, he looks like a great quarterback. Problem is, he made too many mistacks at the worst possible times. It seems the Saints finaly have a quartback that won't screw up when the team needs him. The only concern I have with Brees is if he will be able to be the excellent quarterback he was in San Diego. He really didn't start playing well until his job was in jeopardy with the drafting of Philip Rivers. I just hope he will be able to keep the form he had the last two seasons with San Diego and not revert to the way he played when he didn't have to worry about lossing his starting job. With the Saints, he is the unquestioned starter. More than that, he is looked upon by many as the savior of the position. It will be interesting to see how he reacts.

 

Anyway, I could go on and on about every roster move but those are the main ones. I'm very excited about this year and think the Saints will supprise a lot of people!

 

GEAUX SAINTS!

[Jeff]

I think the combo of Reggie Bush and Duece McAlister will work out fine in New Orleans because in college Bush never had all of the carries anyways, he would carry 8-12 times per game usually I believe. And it should help take some of the load off of Duece.

[T.Nova]

I'm not sure if Bush will bring that much success to the Saints. The NFC South is a pretty fast division. I never thought of the PAC-10 as a particulary athletic conference, I believe that much of Reggie's success at USC was due to the fact that he could virtually outrun most of the players in the PAC-10.

 

However at the Rose Bowl, Reggie actually confronted some fast defence with Texas. And it shows when Reggie only had about 82 yds. Lendale had much more success due in part because of his power.

[Commander Obi-Wan]

Go Bengals!

 

I also think Arizona will do well. Also, the Steelers will lose just because I don't like them.

 

And Dolphins will do just fine without Ricky Williams.

 

 

Plus he broke his arm playing in the CFL!

 

[Jae Onasi]

That's OK, Ricky Williams can't find the stadium in the first place through the fog of funky smelling smoke.

[Phantom Joker]

Oh, you must be a fan of "That School to the North". Ohio State students aren't allowed to say the M-word once they sign the acceptance letter to go to OSU.

M-word? M-word...M-word... Miami University? Naw, my allegiances lay to the south of the Mason-Dixon line.

 

And Dolphins will do just fine without Ricky Williams.

Better without him, in fact. Just think of the money they'll save on Twinkies alone.

[Jae Onasi]

Heard today that Maurice Clarett got arrested again. Here's one article. Talk about incredible talent that's been completely wasted. He was a great running back at Ohio State, and he should have stayed in college instead of trying to force the draft issue. I think he would have been able to stay pro if he'd had another year or 2 of college seasoning under his belt.

 

I'll never figure out why people think they can outrun cops on a highway. You might outrun an individual car, but you can't outrun the radio waves that let the cops several miles down the road know that you're coming.

[Mav]

I can't believe my Broncs wasted a draft pick on that loser... pathetic

[Casso]

this could be the bears' year. No. 1 defense, strengthening passing game, top 10 running game. we could have it all this year. i hope to see us going deep into the playoffs. hey, maybe we'll even make a superbowl appearance or take home a big, shiny trophy.