"NFL Football is Back!" 2011 Season Thread

[Imran Siddiqui]

Ditka

[Al B. Sure!]

WTF! I thought Hue Jackson did a helluva job this year.

It was playoffs or bust, apparently. Another 8-8 season wasn't going to fly.

[Al B. Sure!]

First, the Bears 2012 success will be dictated by their O-line, schedule and injuries much more than anything else.
B. Haven't you figured out yet that Lovie is being allowed to call the shots here? The McCaskeys LOVE Lovie.
3. The fact that Lovie is part of the deal does not not mean the next GM will be incompetent at his core duties.

With a 71-55 record and 3 playoffs seasons out of 8, including a Super Bowl appearance, only Halas and Ditka have been more successful coaching here. I know you're no fan of Lovie Smith, but the simple truth is that he will be coaching Da Bears for the foreseeable future.

Lovie's a lot like Andy Reid.

[ColdWizard]

Children of the spread offense.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Bastard. You made me load a Gregggggggg article.

[-Jrabbit]

Great stat from that article, defining the precise borderline between playoff teams and everyone else...

Cincinnati ended the season 9-0 versus teams that missed the playoffs and 0-8 versus teams that made the playoffs.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Falcons O.C. Mularkey was hired as head coach of the Jaguars, and this Falcons fan is fine with it.

[-Jrabbit]

His total failure to have a 4th-and-1 play ready is unforgiveable.

But apparently he failed upward.

[Al B. Sure!]

Great stat from that article, defining the precise borderline between playoff teams and everyone else...

To be fair to Cincinnati, they had two divisional rivals, whom they played 4 times, in the playoffs. Couldn't beat them, though.

[OzzyKP]

The Sanchize getting some serious heat... from his own teammates:

Jets players rip Sanchez as 'lazy' amid dreams of Manning


The Mark Sanchez honeymoon in New York ended many moons ago, and according to a collection of Jets players, core questions persist about the quarterback's ability to guide his team into the future.


In searing comments made anonymously to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, teammates called Sanchez out for everything from his off-the-field preparation to his sometimes haunting and inconsistent play.

"We have to bring in another quarterback that will make him work at practice," one player told the newspaper. "He's lazy and content because he knows he's not going to be benched."

Changes are under way in New York, with offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer out the door and ex-Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano in line to replace him. It's a move that could impact Sanchez's future, although if Sparano's tedious courtship with quarterback Chad Henne in Miami is any indication, perhaps Sanchez will wear a longer leash.

His teammates aren't so patient. Asked about the possibility of pursuing Peyton Manning -- depending on what the Colts decide to do with their star quarterback -- one team source said Sanchez's career development shouldn't stand in the way.

“Come on. That's a no-brainer," the source told the Daily News. "If you have a chance to get a healthy 36-year-old Peyton Manning and you don't do it, then you're stupid. If I could get a healthy 36-year-old Peyton Manning, then, hell yeah, I would trade Sanchez."


Another player linked Manning to coach Rex Ryan's long-promised Super Bowl appearance: "We already have (Manning's) coach -- (offensive consultant) Tom Moore. Plus, he's a field general and will get everyone lined up. He will get his playmakers the ball. We can win a Super Bowl with Peyton."

Sanchez was a mixed bag this season, throwing for a career-high 26 touchdowns but relinquishing a personal-worst 26 turnovers, leading one teammate to question if he's capable of taking the team to the next step.

"How can we when he's not improving at all?” one player said. “He thinks he is, but he's not. He has shown us what he's capable of."

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d825e62b9/article/jets-players-rip-sanchez-as-lazy-amid-dreams-of-manning?module=HP11_headline_stack

That's pretty brutal.

[Imran Siddiqui]

His total failure to have a 4th-and-1 play ready is unforgiveable.

But apparently he failed upward.

It really is. That and I don't think he was ever sure what sort of offense he wanted the Falcons to be. Some weeks it would be focused on the running game with Michael Turner and other weeks it'd be focused on the passing game with Matt Ryan, Roddy White, & Julio Jones and sometimes he'd change his mind in the middle of games.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Speaking of the Jets, they have a new offensive coordinator. Sparano takes Schottenheimer's slot.

[OzzyKP]

It said that in the article.

[Al B. Sure!]

Article about Ricky Williams. If you saw the 'Run Ricky Run' ESPN 30 for 30, you already know about his anxiety issues.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=lc-carpenter_ricky_williams_ravens_010912

Ricky Williams sits alone.

Inside the Baltimore Ravens’ locker room the air is alive. Players argue about a bean-bag toss game they play after practices, then mock a teammate who has inexplicably decided to do an interview naked. Music thumps. Giant men laugh, and their laughter rattles off cinder block walls in the symphony of a football team that feels invincible.

Only Ricky Williams sits alone.

On the last game of the regular season he rushed for his 10,000th yard. It’s something only 26 men have done and it speaks to a certain commitment as a player even if Williams shrugs it off as something he will “think about later.”

After the game, Rice told the team about the accomplishment. The players clapped. They chanted “Ricky! Ricky! Ricky!” and asked him to stand up and make a speech.

“It was really a neat moment,” coach John Harbaugh said. “We caught each other’s eye there for a moment. It’s hard to explain how valuable those [instances] are.”

As for the speech the players called for?

“He did not provide one,” Harbaugh said.

“I do feel like a loner but I think it’s because I look at things differently than other people,” [Williams] says. “There’s a quote out of Carl Jung’s autobiography and … he’s talking about when he was a kid and he saw a pattern when he was a kid of aloneness and separateness because he sees things that most people don’t and he wants to talk about them, but most people don’t.

“And so I kind of feel like that. When you look at the world like that, especially as a football player, chances are you aren’t going to find a lot of people to relate to.”

[Imran Siddiqui]

Wait, Ricky Williams read Carl Jung's autobiography?!