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NFL Week 7 Thread

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by poindexter, Oct 15, 2013.

  1. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    Chiefs' remaining schedule:

    10/20 vs. Houston

    10/27 vs. Cleveland

    11/3 at Buffalo

    11/10 BYE

    11/17 at Denver

    11/24 vs. San Diego

    12/1 vs. Denver

    12/8 at Washington

    12/15 at Oakland

    12/22 vs. Indianapolis

    12/29 at San Diego

    (It helps to be matched up with the NFC East and the AFC South, which are probably the two weakest divisions in the NFL).
     
  2. Gutter

    Gutter Well-Known Member

    13-3 and a Wild Card road game.
     
  3. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Given the parity in the league, I can see anywhere from 4 to 7 losses in that group. Of course, teams change as the season goes along. Look at that schedule in August and you'd probably mark Houston and Washington down as almost certain losses. Now? Who knows?
     
  4. joe king

    joe king Active Member

    In fairness, I would like to point out that one of San Diego's East Coast road games is at Jacksonville, which takes a little of the sting out of that long trip.
     
  5. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Apparently, the Vikings are turning to Josh Freeman for an audition at quarterback this week.

    As a fan, very mixed feelings on this. I don't see why they brought him in. If he bombs, you're no better off than you were a month ago. If he succeeds, you open the door of temptation to sign to a long-term contract and you've got Christian Ponder, Chapter 2. In no way, shape or form is he the "quarterback of the future". At best, he's a stopgap. And for what? So you win six games instead of four and delay the inevitable rebuilding process?

    When Brett Favre retired in 2010, that was the end of the Super Bowl quest and the start of the rebuilding process. We all swallowed hard and acknowledged it was going to be a rocky 3-4 years of suckitude while the rebuilding commenced. Drafting Ponder was a major step in that process (anytime you spend a first-round pick on anyone, they have to be considered a major part of the puzzle). So now what?
     
  6. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    I've been telling my Charger friends that this is a perfect trap game. Short week after a Monday night win. Bye week coming behind that. Travel to the east coast for a 10 a.m. PDT start against a team that isn't going to overlook YOU while you are overlooking them.

    It's a lot to ask for Philip Rivers not to throw a pick in back-to-back games. This could well be a five-turnover nightmare for the Bolts.
     
  7. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    Actually, they're all three on the East Coast now that I look at it. The other two are at Washington and at Miami.
     
  8. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    I'm surprised the Chargers didn't have the league fix the schedule for their East Coast trips this year and stay back east, like the 49ers do every year and the Cardinals did earlier this year (at Saints, then at Buccaneers), and how it's done when East Coast teams have to go west multiple times.

    Chargers have already been to Philadelphia and Tennessee, they go to Jacksonville this week, then a bye and come out of it going to Washington. Then they're home and go right back to Miami the next week.
     
  9. NDJournalist

    NDJournalist Active Member

    Umm. Minnesota made the playoffs just last season.
     
  10. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    That was the worst possible scenario. Accomplished absolutely nothing except a major butt-whipping in the first game that further exposed all the weaknesses. Team was 6-6 at Thanksgiving and got hot/lucky to win four straight at the end. Sometimes, that gives a false sense of accomplishment and makes management overlook very obvious work to be done.

    I could tell after watching a couple of pre-season games that this was, at best, a 6-10 team. Lots and lots of holes to fill. I'm patient enough that I'd prefer to build the right way (like Dallas did in the 1990s and New England more recently) and not go for quick fixes.

    If Christian Ponder isn't your guy, so be it. Fire the whole scouting staff, cut or trade Ponder, start over and pick someone you feel you can commit to long-term, whether that be a rookie or veteran. Ditto for other positions. If you think you can get a king's ransom for Adrian Peterson (the way the Cowboys did for Herschel Walker), then trade him.

    My point is... don't worry so much about now or next year but envision what the team can look like 3-5 years from now. That's how the best teams are built.
     
  11. exmediahack

    exmediahack Well-Known Member

    The Vikings were fool's gold in 2012. Eeked into the playoffs against a Packer team merely trying to stay healthy and then got their doors blown off in the cold.

    Minnesota went 3-13 in 2011 and the playoff appearance kept Leslie Frazier as the coach and probably bought him a couple more years. Like Romeo Crennel's Chiefs upsetting the Packers in 2011, it actually stood as a stumbling block for the team's "long term".

    Let's say that Minnesota goes 3-13 in 2011 and then follows with 4-12 in 2012. Heads would roll. Change would occur.

    I would rather bottom out and hit the reset button than be consistently mediocre and not have any hope of a Super Bowl run.
     
  12. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Yep, yep, yep. Frazier got a contract extension after last season. I'm undecided on him going forward. I don't think the team has necessarily gone in reverse, but they haven't made the progress hoped for. The defense --- which has given up 30 or more points every week --- is in worse shape than the offense.

    You've got the best running back in the NFL, so he's got to be the focal point. Remember, the old Los Angeles Rams made the playoffs three straight seasons and got within a game of the Super Bowl with an offense that consisted of Eric Dickerson right, Dickerson left and Dickerson up the middle while they played Vince Ferragamo, Jeff Kemp, Dieter Brock and an aging Steve Bartkowski at quarterback. As coach John Robinson said "It's like trying to cross the Pacific Ocean in a row boat". But it can be done and they did it.

    I just don't see Freeman being a major upgrade over what they already had and I fear if they give him a long-term contract and don't go looking for a different quarterback, we're going to be having this same conversation two years from now.
     
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