And with that we kick off what those of us that love the game live without for months on end. When it finally arrives again, it feels like an old friend is back in town and all is right. I watched the Seattle game last night. Is it just me or are they playing as if the games actually count? I saw some really hard hits, sweet long passes and, as always, some stupid ass rule changes...like say the new tighter horse collar rules. Can't grab the jersey from behind, at all. Really? Every single TD goes to the booth. So the officials are there to do what exactly? Only call penalties? Blow the whistle? The 5 yard kickoff rule makes little sense to me. Is it for the safety of the return runners? I'm pretty sure most of those animals on the special teams D-line can run over the returner whether they get a 5 yard start or a 10. Coming off the line (either one) like your shot out of a cannon is their job after all. None of that matters to me right now I am just so god damn happy it's back. The Packers play tomorrow, against the Browns. Yeah. I'm just going to leave that alone. It speaks for itself.
Here's the funny part: Seattle didn't actually draft him. He was actually drafted, coincidentally, by San Diego. Seattle traded for him last March for a 3rd-round pick in 2011, as well as a swap of 2nd-round picks in 2010. All because he sat on the bench for 4 years behind Philip Rivers. Derp!
After watching this SF game, fucking christ, we still won't know if Alex Smith is worth a goddamn thing because his O-Line is as tough as a wet 1-ply sheet of toilet paper. Where is he on the list of "QBs we can't say for 100% sure sucks because he's never been in a consistent system"? Has to be top 3 right? Oh, and the Buccaneers worry me. Drew Brees worries me more. Player organized workouts are for the winning.
Is Iupati supposed to be good, or was it all hype? I haven't kept up on him since he was drafted. Pretty sure they drafted a RT last year, too. Or maybe I'm thinking of some other NFC team... <--- Stupid goddamned bamboo's fucking with my head.
I didn't get to watch the Pats game, but I'm glad about the way Ryan Mallett played against the Jags - driving down the field effectively, making good passes. Brady's 34 and he's been playing pro football for 11 years now; even if he can go for another 5-8 years or so, it's good to have a contingency plan. Worst case scenario, this kid gets a chance to show his stuff in the regular season and we ship him off for draft picks like Matt Cassell. I liked the pick and I like the player.
I didn't check statistics or anything, but as far as I know Iupati had a pretty solid rookie campaign last year, and is going to be a good, if not pro bowl lineman. As for the rest of the line, I might chalk some of it up to people being moved around and some new faces. Give the o-line a few weeks and I think they'll be okay, though not stellar. As for the rest of the team, I'm praying Harbaugh gets something going by week 1.
Bears didn't want to pay Olin Kreutz and now Garza is letting in the defense like a Wal-Mart greeter. The Bills O-Line looks better, and when the fuck did Shawn Merriman become a Bill? Oh my. And Mike Martz is still fucking up our offense, Jay Cutler can't read the defense, or the receivers are terrible. Maybe all of the above...Johnny Knox just returned the ball 30 yds. The pro returners are always going to return it.
I don't understand why Buffalo let Evans go. They had a season last year that was a lot more solid than their W-L record indicated, and it's not like they had a glut of talented wide receivers and simply had to make some room. Yes, I know they have some new guys but after the record last season, I'd expect they'd want to hang onto their veterans. We'll see what happens. Also, I fucking hate the new kickoff rules. All in all, though, I'm just glad the season is back on. Drinking in the dark and crying quietly to myself is not a good way to spend a Sunday. Drinking while shouting at an inanimate object that will have no affect whatsoever on a game happening far away from me is much better.
And not the language I was thinking it would. The new kickoff rule is a joke. If it's this bad during preseason think of how it'll effect the regular season, let alone the playoffs. What is the process they have to go through before a rule change such as this becomes official? Because whatever it is, it sucks.
I had to google this because I wasn't aware they changed the rules. This is fucking stupid; moving kickoffs to the 30 yard line was one of the best rules changes they made in the past 20 years. What's next? Elimination of the 2 point conversion? Stupid NFL.
It certainly isn't a few people taking four seconds to think about what makes the game exciting to watch, that's for sure. I know there's an increased focus on injuries, but surely there are better ways to reduce the number of players getting hurt than by cutting the throat of the big ol' strategic decision that accompanies a change in possession.
My understanding is that the coaches made the proposal for the rule changes and the owners voted on it back in March. No input from the players at all. Even more confusing was how they cited what happened to Eric LeGrand as a reason for changing the rule, when LeGrand has spoken out in favor of keeping the rules the way they were. This just seems like a superficial move where they can claim they care about player safety in order to force 18 games on the players in a year or two. And completely destroy a major part of special teams play in the process. The owners suck. Edit: An interesting stat I just found: “The last time that teams kicked off from the 35- yard line was 1993 and there were only 4 kickoffs returned for touchdowns. Last season, the ball was kicked off from the 30 and there were 23 kickoffs returned for touchdowns.” <a class="postlink" href="http://www.opposingviews.com/i/sports/nfl/new-nfl-kickoff-rule-absolutely-awful" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.opposingviews.com/i/sports/n ... tely-awful</a>
Why in the fuck can't they just leave shit alone? Every single year we go through this shit in one form or another. I swear to God it's more about the owners flexing their dicks than anything else.
Thank you, NFL, for making Leon Washington, Josh Cribbs, and Devin Hester completely irrelevant to the game. Assholes.
Leon Washington is the blackest name I've ever heard. There's probably 5000 Leon Washingtons and all but one of them works at McDonalds.
The real question is, which one's the next Kurt Warner? My money's on the gym teacher. He's got the "pent up rage" factor going for him. Add me to the "new kickoff rule sucks" bandwagon. I don't get it. Are they trying to make the sport more boring? Kickoffs are already bookended by commercial breaks and pretty much irrelevant in the game-watching experience. The chance for a big return is the only thing keeping me from leaving for ten minutes after every touchdown. This just means more ad time and less "me watching the game" time.
Let me throw out this point about the kickoff rules: Being on the kickoff return team suuuuuucks. I was in the wedge in college, were I would start on the outside hash around the 30 or so, run back to the 10 yardline in the middle of the field to join with the rest of the wedge, and turn my head back to towards the other team just in time to see that the wedge busters, who are running at full speed, are now only about 10 yards away from me. So now you have to go from almost a complete standstill from turning around to trying to block someone who's sole purpose is to blow you the fuck up and get through to the return man. I got fucking DESTROYED at least a couple of times, and am lucky that I didn't get hurt worse. In the NFL, the wedge is illegal, but you still have the same thing on an individual player basis- you have the kickoff team running down their responsible lanes at full speed, and you have the return-men running backwards before turning back upfield to try and block their lanes. And its not college players doing this- this is the best of the best, the fastest and hardest hitting athletes available. There are some hits that take place during kickoffs that would make James Harrison puke. Its not the kick returner that the rules are trying to protect- its the other 21 guys on the field that are blocking and trying to make the tackle. That's where most of the injuries are happening. That said, I don't like the new rules, just like I don't like the rules limiting defensive players from making hard hits. I think that the rules cause players to pull back and not play at their full 100% for fear of being penalized/fined, and you're at more of a risk of being injured or injuring others if you're NOT going full speed, as strange as that sounds. Plus, the game has been played a certain way for what, 80 years? The players know the risks involved when they sign up. I say let them play. I just wanted to put the thought out there on why I think the kickoff rules were changed.
As I repped you, although it makes much more sense from a players standpoint, for the viewers, it does not. It slows the game. Matter of fact everything they "tweeked" this year does. I think it's almost more about that and the almighty buck (advertising) than anything else.
I tend to agree. I also tend to be a homer, and so does Caputo. I watched the game, and to me it looked like Dalton's helmet came off before Suh really even hit him. It made the play look a lot worse than it actually was. Nobody's denying that he basically body slammed him to the turf though. Here's the play for anyone who missed it. See my post here for more examples of the NFL screwing over Suh. Yes, I'm a homer, deal with it.
Ok now I'm all for hard hits and really allowing them to play the game the way it was intended to be played but, yes the helmet seems to be coming off prior to the body slam but that body slam was more of an around the neck head slam and THAT is why he should be fined. He could have easily taken the guy down around the torso/shoulders rather than the head/neck.