"NFL Football is Back!" 2011 Season Thread

[SlowwHand]

Former Arizona RB Tim Hightower was traded to the Redskins for 14-year veteran DE Vonnie Holliday and a draft pick.

Seahawks cut star LB Lofa Tatupu.

Good for him.

[SlowwHand]

ASHBURN, Va. -- The Washington Redskins have acquired running back Tim Hightower from the Arizona Cardinals for defensive lineman Vonnie Holliday and an undisclosed draft pick.

Interesting. Holliday is pretty old.

[MRT144]

Former Arizona RB Tim Hightower was traded to the Redskins for 14-year veteran DE Vonnie Holliday and a draft pick.

Seahawks cut star LB Lofa Tatupu.

Our whole LB corp is bad right now and tatupu is over the hill.

[MRT144]

Bears sign former Seahawks Center Spencer, so Kreutz is done in Chicago.

Who will Bears fans blame now?

[Donegeal]

Management and coaches.

[-Jrabbit]

Gotta blame the GM, Angelo. They are way under the cap and a half-million apart on a 1-yr deal for Kreutz.
Monumentally stupid IMHO.

He hasn't signed anywhere yet, so cooler heads may still prevail. (Or maybe I'm just hoping...)

[Guynemer]

Knowing that I'm a big pessimist (realist) by nature, how hopeful should I be about the upcoming Lions season?

They seem to be a trendy wild card pick, and I just don't get why. Yes, the defensive line should be dominant. The back seven still sucks; the receivers consist of Megatron and any given warm body yanked off the street; the offensive line is mediocre on their best days; the quarterback is as likely to tear every ligament in his body as he is to throw a TD. What am I missing?

[Lord Avalon]

What am I missing?

The Kool-aid? I think the Lions will make a run at the playoffs, but I don't know if they'll get in. As a longtime Lions watcher, I'll believe it when I see it. And then I'll do a triple-take.

[-Jrabbit]

Knowing that I'm a big pessimist (realist) by nature, how hopeful should I be about the upcoming Lions season?

They seem to be a trendy wild card pick, and I just don't get why. Yes, the defensive line should be dominant. The back seven still sucks; the receivers consist of Megatron and any given warm body yanked off the street; the offensive line is mediocre on their best days; the quarterback is as likely to tear every ligament in his body as he is to throw a TD. What am I missing?

I'm officially predicting the Lions will finish higher than 4th place. Presumably they get a soft-ish schedule. Adding Tulloch behind those stud tackles is potentially lethal. LeShoure gives them a nice thunder-and-lightning RB combo.

If you don't want to be bitterly disappointed, set your sights on a .500 season. But if they can keep the QB upright, they have a shot. Sure, why not?

[SlowwHand]

The Lions are going to rock. If not this year, very soon.

[Ben Kenobi]

Albert, Bresus is a damn good QB. Pity the Chargers treated him like dirt so LT was robbed out of a superbowl ring.

[SlowwHand]

Phillip Rivers is very good, but I don't see him on any commercials here. I've seen Brees.

[Ben Kenobi]

Winning the superbowl will do that. Not much Cherger hype out here.

[SlowwHand]

Did you see the commercials with Eli Manning? They always had Peyton in them, too.

[Al B. Sure!]

Knowing that I'm a big pessimist (realist) by nature, how hopeful should I be about the upcoming Lions season?

They seem to be a trendy wild card pick, and I just don't get why. Yes, the defensive line should be dominant. The back seven still sucks; the receivers consist of Megatron and any given warm body yanked off the street; the offensive line is mediocre on their best days; the quarterback is as likely to tear every ligament in his body as he is to throw a TD. What am I missing?

Lions suck.

The only thing going for them is that the rest of the NFC North seems to be in a malaise with no desire to improve. The Packers have made zero additions and lost defensive stalwarts Cullen Jenkins and Nick Barnett. The Vikings added McNabb but lost their best WR and will probably lose the Williams Wall. And the Bears, almost laughably, are stockpiling former first round busts and Cowboys rejects.

That means that, on paper, every other team in the NFC North besides the Lions has gotten worse!

The Lions secondary is still questionable. The addition of Eric Wright is a worthy flyer since Wright had some moments in Cleveland but ultimately was a disappointment. Durant and Tulluch are not elite but are good enough. Really, the Lions may be counting on hearkening back to the 2007 Giants with their defensive line. Remember, the Giants defense was dominant but only because of that super-talented defensive line that more than made up for a really weak secondary and linebacker corps. It's conceivable that the questions in the back 7 may not matter when you have a D-line like that...

Offensively, the running game will likely improve with Best and Leshoure. I would not be surprised to see the Lions play an almost Brian Billick in Baltimore offense with 2 TE's (Pettigrew and Scheffler), two backs, and Calvin Johnson as a lone receiver. It's not the most exciting offense but they have the personnel for it and it might protect Stafford.

Which brings me to the weakest link on the Lions: that china doll of a QB.

Whatever problems the other teams have, they still have Rodgers and Cutler (and who knows? Maybe a resurgent McNabb). That gives them a clear edge over the Lions and their quarterback.


The Lions will probably go 7-9 or 8-8, helped by the fact that all other teams in the NFC North seem to be regressing.


And, I have to ask, who is picking the Lions to make the playoffs? Wildcard? Not possible. Not with the current teams in the NFC. One of the big dogs (GB, CHI, PHI, NYG, ATL, NO, and even TB and DAL) would have to take one hell of a fall for a Lions' wildcard spot to be possible.