"NFL Football is Back!" 2011 Season Thread

[SlowwHand]

[DaShi]

Indeed. That's Dallas allover.

[-Jrabbit]

Tonight, Dallas actually made me feel a bit better about the Bears WR corps.
Although it does somewhat explain why Sam Hurd can't break into the starting lineup.

[SlowwHand]

That makes perfect sense.

[Al B. Sure!]

Elite? Hit it or pass it, Alby. Frankly, I think you've had more than enough.

EDIT: DanS'd while you change to good. Still going out on a limb.

DanS? Huh? I didn't edit my post. How could I possibly DanS and you see my original? You posted over 3 hours after my post. You bizarre liar. Why would you lie about something like that?

[Al B. Sure!]

ESPN Insider article so can't read the whole thing but here's the excerpt:

The vastly underrated Eli Manning

Across the back pages and radio dials in New York this week, Eli Manning ranks about ninth on the list of New York Giants heroes since Big Blue wrecked the Eagles on Sunday, someplace between rookie LB Jacquian Williams and Lawrence Taylor. (Although LT hasn't played in 18 years, he is on the top-10 list anytime anything good happens to the Giants.) But it's time to give credit where credit is due: With 254 yards on just 29 attempts, four touchdowns and no turnovers, Manning posted the third-best performance in the NFL last weekend (QBR of 81.2). And as surprising as it may seem, he continues to demonstrate value in ways that conventional statistics don't capture.

This season, 59.1 percent of NFL plays have been passes, up from 56.9 percent last year and 54.9 percent five years ago. And as passing continues to increase, there's a premium on what we call "ball discipline" -- avoiding sacks, fumbles and penalties. To see how each of these aspects of quarterback performance translates into value for teams, let's start with a specific comparison from last year: Eli versus Philip Rivers, the player he was traded for during the 2004 draft.

When Total QBR debuted, Manning's rating was a shocker. While he ranked just 17th in the NFL in passer rating in 2010, Eli had a QBR of 64.3, seventh-best in the league. Meanwhile, Rivers -- who threw for 708 more yards than Manning and had half as many interceptions led the NFL in yards per attempt and had a passer rating of 101.8 -- was just ninth in the league, with a QBR of 63.2.

But Manning's 2010 was better and Rivers' considerably worse than the raw numbers show. Rivers had a whopping 4,710 passing yards, but many of them came when the game was already decided. Last year, the Chargers outscored their opponents by an average of 20 points in their wins and won six games by three touchdowns or more, both by far the highest figures among all teams that won eight to 10 games.

In high-leverage situations (plays with clutch value above 1.0), Rivers was just slightly above average, with a QBR of 56, whereas his QBR was 80 in blowout conditions. Manning, on the other hand, was more efficient. QBR estimates that Manning's completions added 107.0 points to the Giants last year, or 2.67 points per 100 passing yards; Rivers' completions added 108.5 points, or 2.30 per 100 yards.

Looks like perception, at least among the experts, is turning.

[SlowwHand]

DanS? How could I possibly DanS and you see my original? You posted over 3 hours after my post. You bizarre liar. Why would you lie about something like that?

Idiot.

[Guynemer]

After watching the Cowboys' center flail all night against the Redskins, I'm looking forward to seeing how he handles Suh & Co.

[-Jrabbit]

4 botched shotgun snaps AT HOME. That was incredible, embarrassing. Credit to Romo that none of them ended up a turnover.
I wonder how Jerry Jones feels about letting Gurode walk now.

[Guynemer]

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH


Why in the **** isn't the Lions-Cowboys game on here in Columbus tomorrow? Why, instead, do we get the goddamned late afternoon Giants-Cardinals game? WHAT THE ****ING ****?!

[SlowwHand]

Columbus is full of haters.

[Demonbinder]

Not so good start by Bears defense and wish offense could have gotten seven on opening drive (at least they are running the ball), but D comes up big in second series with INT for TD. Yes!!

Then Merriweather doesn't stay to help and is late getting back to let them close and eventually score. All tied up again.

[Demonbinder]

Hester!!!

[Koyaanisqatsi]

****. Andre Johnson just self destructed again.

[Al B. Sure!]

What the ****? Anyone see that Ronnie Brown throw? What the hell was that?

Was Ronnie Brown trying to turn a botched run up the middle into an incomplete pass to circumvent the rules?