NFL 2008-09 Season

You could have put any OK to decent player into Harrison's position and the Steelers would be where they are now. The Colts without Peyton Manning would be watching the playoffs, not participating in them. Harrison has some nice stats, sure. An ILB on his own team had 30 more tackles, but 12.5 less sacks. DeMarcus Ware had 17 fewer tackles, but 4 more sacks and zero votes for MVP.

All this should be argument over Defensive player of the year, which Harrison probably has a good shot given his team is in the playoffs and after a great performance during the season.

If the Saints had half a defense and Brees had 20 more yards, he'd have been the MVP.
 
You could have put any OK to decent player into Harrison's position and the Steelers would be where they are now. The Colts without Peyton Manning would be watching the playoffs, not participating in them. Harrison has some nice stats, sure. An ILB on his own team had 30 more tackles, but 12.5 less sacks. DeMarcus Ware had 17 fewer tackles, but 4 more sacks and zero votes for MVP.

All this should be argument over Defensive player of the year, which Harrison probably has a good shot given his team is in the playoffs and after a great performance during the season.

If the Saints had half a defense and Brees had 20 more yards, he'd have been the MVP.

I disagree, Harrison was clearly the best player on the Steelers D this year followed by Troy Palomalo.
Without Harrison, they may have won thier division, or maybe not, Baltimore played well ALL year.
 
IMO James Harrison deserved the MVP, but because he isn't an offensive player, he didn't get it.:rolleyes:

:up:up:up I don't want to take anything away from Manning's amazing season, but defense never seems to get any credit in this vote. Much like the Heisman. Quick, name a defensive player who has won either award? The Heisman was actually won by a defensive player not long ago.
 
:up:up:up I don't want to take anything away from Manning's amazing season, but defense never seems to get any credit in this vote. Much like the Heisman. Quick, name a defensive player who has won either award? The Heisman was actually won by a defensive player not long ago.

I agree:up
 
Not to knock Pennington or the Dolphins because what they did was impressive, but Pennington is no MVP. Pennington comes from the Trent Dilfer school of QBing; just don't f*** things up for us. The guy is good at managing a game, but he does it by throwing for 150 yards and not turning it over. The league MVP award is for someone who blows it out of the water statistically and wins. Peyton does that. As was mentioned earlier, Manning's performance against the Jags. It would take Pennington a month to get 360 yards passing. You could make an argument for Drew Brees except that the Saints sucked so all his stats were meaningless.

NO...because for what you JUST MENTIONED above, there is an award called "Offensive player of the Year". The Colts had enough talent to possibly make the playoffs without Manning....without Pennington, the Dolphins would be a notch BELOW my Raiders.
 
Don't expect Cleveland to be push-overs next year. We had a down year, primarily made worse by injuries. We'll be back next year and will kick Oakland's ass.

....I assume you FORGOT where I said "based on this years tally"...:rolleyes:

You are only as good as your last season....based on the Browns last season(this one) and the Raiders last season(also this one), your Browns stunk more than my Raiders.

I don't expect ANY TEAM to be a pushover. On the contrary, many teams are expecting my Raiders to be pushovers....they proved they were not at the end.;)
 
"Daze Of Our Lions" Post apocalypse edition

Time to grade out this record setting team.

Offense - F

QB's - F
When you have 5 QB's, you have no QB's. Plain and simple. I doubt that we will see any more of Kitna. Culpepper is under contract for next season. Orlovsky is a free agent, and if I were him I would sign with the first team that calls him. Stanton may be viewed differently with a new coaching regime, and Hansen is most likely gone. A sad collection, any way you look at them.

RB's - D
I'll single out Kevin Smith for a B-, he showed promise in the second half of the season, falling 24 yds. short of 1,000. Rudy Johnson was out of talent when he arrived, and I can't even remember who the other RB's are. Obviously, outside of Smith, a forgettable group.

WR's + TE's - D
Calvin Johnson gets an A from me. 1,371 yds., 12 TD's, 78 rec.s. If we had a QB that could find him, his numbers would have been extraordinary. Future pro-bowler. The Barry Sanders of this generation, deserves a better fate than this. Shaun McDonald and Furrey spent the season injured/ignored. We finished the season with 4 "walk-ons". TE's staffed by a series of role players. No talent there.

Offensive line - F
They actually played better than last season, but not much better, just a little. I'm sure we gave up less sacks than last season, and our rushing attack moved up to 3rd worst in the league, from worst. The running game actually improved will C Dominic Raiola was hurt.

Defense - F

I won't bother breaking this down. I've posted all the numbers in previous columns. Maybe 2 players I would hang on to here. Ernie Sims OL and Cliff Avril DE. The rest should be given there releases, and a good kick in the ass out the door. Absolutely the worst defense to ever take a NFL playing field. One interception by the secondary all season! That pretty much sums that up.

Special Teams - C
Jason Hansen should have gone to the Pro-Bowl. He missed on kick all season. 8 for 8 from over 50yds., including his 41st from that distance, both NFL records. Punter Nick Harris was also outstanding. A's for those two, but the return and coverage groups just sucked all season. F's for them.

Coaching - F-
Marinelli should have been fired after last season's second half collapse. In over his head, with no on-field talent to save him. Made bad personnel decisions, and even worse choices on his staff. Stayed on message all season, but the message was wrong. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Now the fun stuff -

First sign of the Apocalypse -

11 1/2 minutes into the first game of the season against Atlanta, the Lions were down 21-0. I knew in my heart that the season was over. Same old sh*t, different season.

Best running play of the season -

Tatum Bell, after being cut at the teams Allen Park training facility, caught on security cameras, stealing Rudi Johnson's luggage and running 100yds, untouched, in 10 seconds flat to his car. Johnson got his bag back, minus cash, credit cards and Perry Ellis under drawers.

Managerial Highlights -


- Firing Matt Millen 4 seasons too late.

- Raising ticket prices before the season, so that Lions fans could save even more money by not coming to games.

- Trading malcontent WR Roy Williams to the Cowboys, for an unbelievable 3 draft picks.

- Taking John Kitna out of his misery by putting him on IR, even though he claimed he was healthy.

- Failing to sell out 5 home games, which took Lion's fans out of the misery of having to watch this wretched excuse for a team.

- Firing Marinelli, one season too late.

Team Highlight -

Going 4-0 in the preseason, fooling all the NFL pundits into thinking that this team had turned the corner and would make the playoffs. HA, HA, HA.

Team Lowlights -

There's 16 of them, take your pick. At least I got to see history being made. Orlovsky rolling out of the back of the end zone for a safety will be a Youtube video for the ages.



So what's wrong with the Lions? It would be a shorter list to explain what is right.
 
Sources: Raiders trying to sell more stake in team

By Chris Mortensen
ESPN.com

Updated: January 4, 2009, 1:04 PM EST

The Oakland Raiders, through owner Al Davis and Raiders chief executive Amy Trask, are negotiating to sell off another percentage of the team, this time to a billionaire who has been trying to buy a franchise with designs on moving it to Los Angeles, according to league sources.

Trask has been spearheading negotiations with a group headed by C. Dean Metropoulos in a transaction that would sell at least 10 percent stake in the Raiders, sources said. Forbes Magazine has estimated the Raiders' value at a little more than $800 million, but league sources say the calculation is closer to $700 million.

The Raiders sold 20 percent of the team in October 2007 to three businessmen to get more cash infusion, which is also the goal on the latest transactor, the sources said. However, the 2007 sell-off did not give those investors an option to purchase the team and Davis remained in control as majority owner.

Metropoloulos' lead broker is trying to negotiate a purchase option on the Raiders within 3-5 years upon closing the deal, sources said.

Metropoulos had been identified previously by the Philadelphia Daily News last offseason as an aggressive buyer with a desire to relocate a franchise to Los Angeles. He has publicly denied his reported attempts, but sources confirm their veracity.

The Raiders and Jaguars were teams previously identified among those franchises and the latest round of talks with Oakland have been renewed after Jacksonville owner Wayne Weaver rebuffed Metropoulos' bid because he opposed any plan to relocate the franchise, sources said.

Chris Mortensen is a senior NFL analyst for ESPN.

[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3809431"]Sources: Oakland Raiders working to sell off part of team - ESPN[/ame]
 
:up:up:up I don't want to take anything away from Manning's amazing season, but defense never seems to get any credit in this vote. Much like the Heisman. Quick, name a defensive player who has won either award? The Heisman was actually won by a defensive player not long ago.


1997 - Charles Woodson, Michigan Cornerback

1986 - L.T.
 
Sources: Raiders trying to sell more stake in team

By Chris Mortensen
ESPN.com

Updated: January 4, 2009, 1:04 PM EST

The Oakland Raiders, through owner Al Davis and Raiders chief executive Amy Trask, are negotiating to sell off another percentage of the team, this time to a billionaire who has been trying to buy a franchise with designs on moving it to Los Angeles, according to league sources.

Trask has been spearheading negotiations with a group headed by C. Dean Metropoulos in a transaction that would sell at least 10 percent stake in the Raiders, sources said. Forbes Magazine has estimated the Raiders' value at a little more than $800 million, but league sources say the calculation is closer to $700 million.

The Raiders sold 20 percent of the team in October 2007 to three businessmen to get more cash infusion, which is also the goal on the latest transactor, the sources said. However, the 2007 sell-off did not give those investors an option to purchase the team and Davis remained in control as majority owner.

Metropoloulos' lead broker is trying to negotiate a purchase option on the Raiders within 3-5 years upon closing the deal, sources said.

Metropoulos had been identified previously by the Philadelphia Daily News last offseason as an aggressive buyer with a desire to relocate a franchise to Los Angeles. He has publicly denied his reported attempts, but sources confirm their veracity.

The Raiders and Jaguars were teams previously identified among those franchises and the latest round of talks with Oakland have been renewed after Jacksonville owner Wayne Weaver rebuffed Metropoulos' bid because he opposed any plan to relocate the franchise, sources said.

Chris Mortensen is a senior NFL analyst for ESPN.

ESPN - Sources: Oakland Raiders working to sell off part of team

The plot thickens!!:eek:


Al Davis blasts ESPN report that he's selling part of Raiders
The Raiders dismissed an ESPN report Sunday that said managing general partner Al Davis is negotiating to sell part of the team to a group with designs on moving it to Los Angeles.

The report was written by ESPN's Chris Mortensen, who Davis called "a professional liar" on Sept. 30 for his penchant for writing stories about the Raiders without attributing them to named persons employed by the Raiders.

Al Davis blasts ESPN report that he's selling part of Raiders - Inside Bay Area
 
The plot thickens!!:eek:


Al Davis blasts ESPN report that he's selling part of Raiders
The Raiders dismissed an ESPN report Sunday that said managing general partner Al Davis is negotiating to sell part of the team to a group with designs on moving it to Los Angeles.

The report was written by ESPN's Chris Mortensen, who Davis called "a professional liar" on Sept. 30 for his penchant for writing stories about the Raiders without attributing them to named persons employed by the Raiders.

Al Davis blasts ESPN report that he's selling part of Raiders - Inside Bay Area

Hmmmm......cool! LMAO!
 
Disagree very much on this statement.

Ya, borderline contradictory there now... the Colts beat the Steelers (and proposed slighted MVP Harrison) by 4, and the Patriots by just a couple during their nine game winning streak. Either of those victories swing the other way and the Patriots are the wildcard, if not winners of their division and Colts and Miami are 11-5 and tiebreakers decide who goes.

6 of those games were won by 7 or fewer.

Not a big Manning fan either, but he's deservedly MVP.
 
Again...I say "POSSIBLY". There was alot more talent there than on the Dolphins.

That's just hedging so you don't have to backup what you're saying, they could have put Tony Dungy in at QB and possibly made the playoffs.

Also, Miami was in the thick of things due to good offensive scheme and great QB/RB/TE/Defensive play for the most part. Like the Chiefs' spread, their gadget offense isnt the kind of thing that sticks around in the NFL, it works till teams adapt appropriately and then it doesn't at all. They shocked New England with it, 1 less win and they do not make the playoffs. The Colts divisional record allowed them to even lose one more game and they'd have owned tiebreakers (hence resting week 17 against a resting Titans).
 
Speaking of the Lions, it was on this day in 1992 that they won that playoff game against Dallas.

Hard to believe it's been 16-17 years since Wozniak could brag about being a Lions fan!
 

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