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[Big Al]

big AL

i'll give 'em credit. the boyz had a good year.

their defense is damn good.

i like roy williams he is a bad mofo

imo

i doubt they can win a playoff game on the road.

Yeah, it'll be interesting, to say the least. There are a lot of surprised 'Boys fans right now. Not many of us envisioned them being in the postseason so quickly.

Now if someone could just take that lame duck Larry Allen offa our hands!

[connoisseur series500]

marv lewis should be coach of the year

Bill Belicheck of course!

[Soulstation1]

i guess that's why brett favre is a hall of famer.

hell of a first half last night.

[Soulstation1]

lock of the week

minnesota - 8 1/2 vs cards

rest

under 45 1/2 points in the rams/lions game

over 45 1/2 points in the ravens/ steelers. lewis WILL get the rushing record vs the steelers

over 43 points the green bay/ denver game

colts - 7 1/2 vs vs houston

kc -7 1/2 vs bears

boys - 1 1/2 vs saints

browns

upset special

+ 7 1/2 vs bengals

the browns' LONG season is over

ss1

[Big Wheel]

Holy crap! I just watched the finish to the Vikings/Cardinals game. Talk about a shitty way to miss the playoffs! I wish they had shown a better angle on the beginning of the play, because I thought the Arizona quarterback might have been beyond the line of scrimmage when he heaved that pass. All the officials were looking at was the other end of the play, though.

[connoisseur series500]

Agree Wheel.

What a crappy way to miss the playoffs. Gotta blame the defense of course, and all results are justified by their outcomes, if that makes any sense. With a defence that would allow such a collapse, they did not deserve to make it to the playoffs.

How about St. Louis looking so lame aganst the Lions? I think it's important to go into the playoffs at the top of your game. Denver was comprehensively outplayed by Green Bay. They won't go far in the playoffs either.

In the meantime, Green Bay is looking like the danger team on the NFC side.

I don't really see any team in the AFC who can beat New England. They should make it to the Super Bowl.

[Big Al]

If the Cows "play" Carolina the way they "played" in the Big Easy today, the post-season will be over before it even starts!

10-6 my ass! They played a lot of crappy teams this year!

[Sahara Blue Orchestra]

Holy crap! I just watched the finish to the Vikings/Cardinals game. Talk about a shitty way to miss the playoffs! I w

Vikings were completely screwed over. Receiver was out of bounds without any help.

[Soulstation1]

what about the browns and their total destruction of the bengals?

at least the browns will get a nice draft pick this year.

eric dickerson was concerned when the game went into o.t. last night.

**** da steelers, how can cowher survive their terrible season?

if the pats can win three more games and they've won 13 straight, then they are the best team.

i'm rollin with the eagles the rest of the year.

my pre-season pick

mcnabb is the best qb in the league. imho

randy moss had his best year ever.

ss1

[Big Al]

i'm rollin with the eagles the rest of the year.

my pre-season pick

mcnabb is the best qb in the league. imho

I agree, and not because I hope they win.

Sure wish Rush had insulted Q-Kid this year!

[Dave James]

Those two DB's on the Vikings ought to have a whole lot of trouble getting to sleep between now and the beginning of training camp. Unfortunately for Viking's fans, they didn't seem to have any trouble at all nodding off when it most mattered yesterday. My God, at the very least, you take a pass interference penalty if it keeps the guy from catching the ball. Neither of those yahoos laid a hand on Poole until he was pushed out of bounds. And neither of them even jumped to try to knock the ball away or screw up his sight lines. I think you could watch the NFL for a long time and never see anthing quite like that again. Immaculate Reception II? Just goes to show you it's never over 'til it's over.

Now on to more pressing issues. My Eagles are as well positioned as they've ever been in the post-season. Even more so than last year cuz there isn't the kind of scary-good team like Tampa Bay lurking in the shadows. Home field advantage is going to be huge, assuming the Rams and Eagles wind up playing for the NFC title. Turf, playing outdoors and playing in the cold does not a good match make for the men of Martz.

Green Bay does fuss me some. Emotion is such an important part of football and right now, they're running on a full tank. Hopefully, some of that will have been drained off if they do make it to Philadelphia. I'll tell you one thing...no way do the HeeHawks have a prayer next Sunday at Lambeau Field. You can bet the house on that.

Up over and out.

[chris olivarez]

I'm pulling for the Eagles if for no other reason than to stick it to Limbaugh and in the AFC the Broncos but I know that's a longshot.

[connoisseur series500]

Eagles sure seem to have more than their share of supporters on this board. Well why not? They play good team ball, and McNabb is a classy leader. They look like the NFC version of the Pats in that they play good team ball.

Still think it's New England's year. If they win then Belichek's got two trophies in three years.

An observation:

The Super Bowl winner always influences all the other teams next year. When Baltimore won the big one, everyone went shopping for big defensive tackles primarily and defensive ends and linebackers. New England picked up Richard Seymour as the sixth pick of the draft, but he was already only the third highest rated DT coming out of college and two others went ahead of him. There was a big run on defensive tackles again in the 2003 draft after Warren Sapp's Buccaneers won the Super Bowl. The Jets even traded their two first rounders in order to snag Robertson. NE badly needed a DT after being unable to stop the run in 2002. They picked up Ty Warren who gets some playing time as a substitute. Before the season began, they picked up Ted Washington in free agency from the Bears.

When the Rams won the Super Bowl, everyone went looking for speedy receivers and hidden quarterback gems like Kurt Warner was.

When New England won based on team play and Belichek and Scott Pioli (personnel director) building up the team on cheap free agents and mid round draft picks, no one copied them at all! People still went after the big expensive free agents.

Now New England is one of the favorites to win the whole thing and again the team was built upon midround draft picks and unknown free agents. (Rodney Harrison is the exception)

When will the rest of the league get the message? What will it take? Belichek's model is the way to win in today's NFL with salary cap issues and big egos.

The offensive line has played extremely well this season. Two of the starters are rookies: Dan Koppen and Tom Ashworth. Neither went higher than the fourth round. Key substitute Dan Klecko was a fourth or fifth round pick. Starting free safety, Eugene Wilson was second round, I believe and Bethea Johnson was either second or third round. Belichek's got a fistful of midround picks lined up for 2004 draft.

Why didn't other teams get into a bidding war over cornerback Tyrone Poole? He leads the Pats with 7 interceptions and has numerous passes defended. He has completely shut down the left side of the field enabling Ty Law to focus completely on his side of the field. DE Hugh Douglas gets the huge salary while gems like Tyrone Poole are ignored.

The Pats put out big $$$ for LB Roosevelt Colvin and he went on injured reserve after the first game of the season.

Actually, I hope that the rest of the league never catches on to Belichek's and Pioli's approach. Then there will be fewer bargains out there. Let the Pats continue as they do and they will always win. Eventually, other teams will get the message.

Edited December 30, 2003 by connoisseur series500