NFL Week 10 thread

[PCLoadLetter]

Interesting stat of the week:

Derek Carr: 30-47 192 yds

How is possible to complete 30 passes for less than 200 yds? Excepting the fact he's a Raider....

He completed 8 passes to James Jones for a total of 20 yards. The longest was a ten yard gain, meaning the other 7 completions totaled 10 yards. That's spectacularly inept.

 

[Batman]

I was just about to say it, but Tirico and Gruden beat me to it: How have both the Chargers and the Saints let Darren Sproles get away?

I think with the Chargers, it was a money thing. They franchised him once, then the Saints gave him a better offer the next year.
With the Saints, he was on the wrong side of 30, his production was declining and he was starting to break down.
He also wasn't making as many big plays as he did in his first two years there. He had four total touchdowns in 2013 -- all of them in two games. He had 14 games last season without a TD and didn't go over 100 combined yards rushing and receiving after Week 4.

 

[old_tony]

I was just about to say it, but Tirico and Gruden beat me to it: How have both the Chargers and the Saints let Darren Sproles get away?

I think with the Chargers, it was a money thing. They franchised him once, then the Saints gave him a better offer the next year.
With the Saints, he was on the wrong side of 30, his production was declining and he was starting to break down.
He also wasn't making as many big plays as he did in his first two years there. He had four total touchdowns in 2013 -- all of them in two games. He had 14 games last season without a TD and didn't go over 100 combined yards rushing and receiving after Week 4.

Chargers still had Tomlinson, no?

 

[Batman]

It's a shame that some teams never won more than one. The 1985 Bears and the 1996 Packers are my two entries. Both came in a little less edgy the following season and ended in disappointment.

When you look at the other top-tier NFC teams of that era 1983-1990 Era: San Francisco, Washington, NY Giants, with the LA Rams and, towards the end, Philadelphia at a second level, the NFC was so difficult to get past.

Ditka was never an innovator in a decade where he was up against Walsh, Gibbs and Parcells, including some of the all-time great teams (83 Redskins, 84 49ers, 86 Giants, 87-89 49ers -- not necessarily teams that won it all but teams that were already at the top level).

McMahon unable to stay healthy played a significant role but Ditka's inability to adapt after 1985 made Chicago a paper tiger after Super Bowl XX. I always had the sense that Walsh/Gibbs/Parcells would clean his clock late in the season because they simply were better at exposing weaknesses. Ditka just wanted to line up.

Warner / faulk Rams

They at least got back to the Super Bowl.

The '96 Packers got back, too, and lost to Elway and the Broncos as double-digit favorites. Of course, those Broncos were on a mission themselves after losing to Jacksonville the year before.
Manning's Colts are another one that should've won more, of course.

The Redskins' championships always confound me. On the one hand, winning three titles is damned impressive and doing it with three different quarterbacks seems insane. On the other, two of the titles came in strike years, so do those deserve an asterisk?
The '91 team is also ridiculously underrated in the GOAT discussions. It chewed through everybody. Yet it was a one-hit wonder. So-so years on either side of it, and they cratered by '93. They won the second most titles of any team in that era from 1981-91, yet they were probably the fourth best franchise overall if you look at the period as a whole.

 

[Batman]

I was just about to say it, but Tirico and Gruden beat me to it: How have both the Chargers and the Saints let Darren Sproles get away?

I think with the Chargers, it was a money thing. They franchised him once, then the Saints gave him a better offer the next year.
With the Saints, he was on the wrong side of 30, his production was declining and he was starting to break down.
He also wasn't making as many big plays as he did in his first two years there. He had four total touchdowns in 2013 -- all of them in two games. He had 14 games last season without a TD and didn't go over 100 combined yards rushing and receiving after Week 4.

Chargers still had Tomlinson, no?

They let Tomlinson go after the 2009 season, but drafted Ryan Mathews in the first round in 2010. That hasn't exactly worked out, but you have to roll with the guy if you take him that high. It's also obvious Sproles would not withstand the 16-game pounding a featured back would take. He's great in his role, and that isn't it.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

The 91 Redskins had so much depth they deactivated their best run-stuffer (Millen) when they saw they'd be playing Run and Shoot or high-octane passing offenses in that postseason.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

Cam Newton has been horrifically bad tonight, by the way.

 

[Mr. Sunshine]

Guy is still living off the first two games of his career.

 

[amraeder]

Sanchez > Cutler
Sanchez > Geno

Behold, the power of Chip.

 

[Spartan Squad]

well, if you want to believe that having 20 cops on the payroll -- one of whom travels with the team and who on that night got to the house before the 911 responders did and proceeded to interfere with the investigation -- is not an indicator of foul play, I guess I would have a hard time convincing you otherwise.

The 49ers came out forcefully because they are lying bastards who knew they had the fix.

Those 20 cops on the payroll and the cop who travels with the team really helped keep Aldin Smith out of trouble.

Look, I'm not saying McDonald isn't innocent nor that his friends didn't concoct something to bail him out, but I'm pretty sure paid off cops weren't the reason.

And the DA in the case is probably trying to keep his nose clean after judges and prosecutors in Santa Clara County were just exposed for corruption by the Mercury News. Seems like a bad time for any Bay Area county to try that shirt in this case.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Law enforcement has been helping out Aldon Smith for years. Consolidating his two completely different cases into one was helping him out. And your vaunted KNBR pipeline might not know it, but his neighbors are pretty familiar with Smith's behavior over the years. His house party where he got stabbed, that was a business venture from people who regularly threw such parties at Smith's house, featuring the same clientele that led to his stabbing and some related gunplay. Somehow none of that ever quite made it to the police either.

Law enforcement sure as heck was in the tank for Ahmad Brooks after he broke a beer bottle over a teammate's head.

 

[Double Down]

Wouldn't it be awesome if he just came out after a game like that and admitted he was into dudes? This is like the NFL equivalent of the Michael Jackson/Lisa Marie Presley kiss. (I know it's a few months old.)