Are you ready for some FOOTBALL - Playoff Edition

[joncha]

[Sava]

meh...

almost...


it would work on a regular loser living at his parents house...

but not someone like me living at home because his parents don't want him to blow his brains out

[Berzerker]

Yeah they proved how great their defenses were against each other earlier this year.

Washington - 13th in rush def, 10th in pass def, 9th in points and yards allowed

Tampa - 6th in rushing and passing yds allowed, 8th in points, and 1st in yards allowed

Would you argue Peyton Manning is mediocre based on one mediocre game?

[OzzyKP]

Originally posted by Jaguar
I'm betting I'll move out of my parents house before you do, sir.

Jaguar > Sava

[Sava]

uhmmm

maybe you should have read the next post before you posted that Ozzy



BUT ANYWAYS

Urlacher is named Defensive Player of the Year!!!

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9148817

[Apocalypse]

It looks like the other Vick is going to go out for the NFL draft now.

[reismark]

I am so going to enjoy pointing a finger and laughing at the so-called pundits tomorrow after Tampa beats Washington again.

/me stews over the lack of respect shown his team...

[Sava]

I'd prefer the Bucs to win, but I'm not too confident they can do it.

I guess I'll post my picks... I've got nothing better to do.

I'm picking all the home teams... except in the TB/WAS game... I think the Redskins will probably win... if only because I want Tampa to win

Tampa got the crap beat out of them by New England, then struggled to pull out a win against Atlanta, and coasted against New Orleans the last game of the season... whereas Washington finished strong against 3 division opponents... which includes the Giants, who are in the playoffs, and Dallas, who almost made it.

Tampa's defense is real good, but will the offense come ready to play? I dunno.

so my picks:

Patriots
Bengals
Redskins
Giants

oh, and if the Redskins win, I think they have they have a great chance to beat the Seahawks... but I'm not going to look ahead to next week quite yet.

sorry reismark... it's not that I don't respect Tampa... it's just that I suspect they are going to let me down. My picking them is like the KISS OF DEATH

[Frozzy]

Put it this way...

Chris Simms: limited NFL experience, no playoff experience
Cadillac Williams: rookie

Only things TB have going for them is HFA and Washington can't cover Joey Galloway (no Shawn Springs).

[Imran Siddiqui]

Herm Edwards is the new coach of the KC Chiefs (they gave a 4th round pick to the Jets, IIRC). Brad Childress, OC of the Eagles, has left to be the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. Marty Morningweg (former OC of the 49ers and HC of the Lions) has been elevated to OC at Philly.

[reismark]

Since I screwed Lombardi up between my job and my difficulties accessing Sportsline of this week (for some reason, whenever I open a page on Sportsline that uses Java for any reason, my computer crashes in flames, and I can't figure out why), I'll make my picks here too:

Bucs
Patriots
Panthers
Steelers

[reismark]

Originally posted by Apocalypse
It looks like the other Vick is going to go out for the NFL draft now.

Well, he'd kinda have to, considering that I-AA is his only other option for next year. I'm pretty sure it was the traffic suspensions while unlicensed that did him in, though; not the leg-stepping incident...

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by reismark
Well, he'd kinda have to, considering that I-AA is his only other option for next year. I'm pretty sure it was the traffic suspensions while unlicensed that did him in, though; not the leg-stepping incident...

He said he wasn't going to declare for the draft. Maybe it'll change after he talks to his family, but he could always go to a I-AA team to rehabilitate his image.

[Sava]

Lovie Smith is Coach of the Year

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9150386

Bears' Smith named Coach of Year

NFL.com wire reports

NEW YORK (Jan. 7, 2006) -- Lovie Smith was hired to resurrect a proud franchise in Chicago. He did such a strong job in 2005 that he was chosen The Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year.

And he beat out his mentor, Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy, for the honor.

In his second season as Bears coach, Smith guided the team to the NFC North title with an 11-5 record, earning a first-round playoff bye. Chicago had the league's stingiest defense, which figures because Smith made his reputation as a defensive mastermind, first in Tampa Bay under Dungy, then in St. Louis.

Now, he oversees a team that surged from 5-11 in his first year to a Super Bowl contender, armed with a defense that allowed only 202 points, just 61 of those at home.

"There are growing pains in anything worthwhile that I've seen," Smith said. "We definitely learned a lot from that experience last year. We definitely appreciate it right now.

"Our team having that bye week getting ready for this playoff game, I'm really excited about that. I'm also excited about the job our coaches were able to do. Our assistant coaches did a super job. To me, we are the team of the year."

If they aren't, then Dungy's Colts might be. Smith drew 24 1/2 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL. Dungy was next with 20 1/2.

Smith, who served as Dungy's linebackers coach from 1996-2000 in Tampa, recently attended the funeral of James Dungy, his close friend's oldest son, who died last month. Their bond remains strong and Smith often has credited Dungy with helping develop his leadership skills.

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo also worked for the Buccaneers.

"Lovie, when we went out and started our search for a head coach, it starts with leadership," Angelo said. "And (with) Lovie there've never been any doubts about that. I knew that firsthand. I had the benefit of working with him down in Tampa and saw that come to fruition even more so now that he's in charge."

Smith, who moved from defensive coordinator of the Rams to the Bears, chose Ron Rivera to coordinate the defense, but remains heavily involved with a unit sparked by Defensive Player of the Year Brian Urlacher. Chicago gave up 24 points in a loss to Cincinnati in Game 3, but otherwise never yielded more than nine points at Soldier Field in going 7-1 at home.

Rivera has become a prime candidate for some of the head coaching openings this month.

Urlacher, though, thinks Smith deserved the award because of how the offense remained together -- if ordinary -- when quarterback Rex Grossman was hurt in the preseason, then running back Cedric Benson, the fourth overall draft choice, held out, contributed little, and hurt his knee during the season.

"I realize a lot of other teams have had great seasons -- when you look at Tony Dungy and they were 14-2," Urlacher said. "Marvin Lewis did a great job at Cincinnati. But you look at what we had to deal with.

"Our starting quarterback went down. He had to bring along a rookie quarterback (Kyle Orton) who won 10 games for us. It seems like he always made the right moves.

"When we started out bad, 1-3, he never gave up on us, never changed the way he spoke to the media and to the team. I have so much respect for the guy just because of the way he is, the way he treats everyone."

Smith is the fourth Bears coach to win the award. George Halas, the founder of the franchise, won it in 1963 and '65. Mike Ditka was honored in 1985 and '88. Dick Jauron won in 2001.

A good omen, perhaps, for Smith: Chicago won the NFL championship in '63 and '85, the first seasons Halas and Ditka, respectively, took the award. The six total Coach of the Year awards are the most for any franchise.

Also receiving votes were New England's Bill Belichick (2), and one each for Seattle's Mike Holmgren, Cincinnati's Lewis and the New York Giants' Tom Coughlin.

San Diego's Marty Schottenheimer was the 2004 winner.

[-Jrabbit]

Washington
New England
New York
Pittsburgh