NFL Week 1 Discussion

Orioles · Post by **Orioles** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:36 am

A few thoughts on the opening weekend while getting ready for the Monday Night double-dip...

... RG3. Wow. I'll admit to not watching enough of him at Baylor to realize how talented of a thrower he is. I turned on that Redskins-Saints game and when Griffin was on the field I couldn't turn it off. Just an electrifying young talent at QB. He threw with accuracy and confidence from in and outside the pocket. Even more impressively, RG3 was Brees-like in spreading the wealth on offense, targeting 5 different receivers at least 3 times. Meanwhile the typically impartial Brees leaned heavily on top targets Graham and Colston. After watching a performance like that, it's usually wise to exercise some caution before gushing platitudes because after all he IS still an NFL rookie QB. However, anyone who sang Cam Newton's praises after his record-setting debut last season should be waving the flag for RG3 at this point considering Newton's performance resulted in 21 points and a loss to the Cardinals while Griffin's ended in 40 points and a road win over a formidable Saints team.

... the Jets offensive explosion seems to have caught everyone off-guard following their miserable preseason showing. As if we need anyone to tell us again that preseason means diddly-poo and squadoosh too. Most impressive was Mark Sanchez's performance in the face of a constant barrage of naysayers expecting him to wither and crumble in the face of St. Tim and his legion of worshippers. Give Sanchez his due for stepping up amidst the intense scrutiny surrounding the Jets, but don't forget about his O-line which kept him upright all day. The much-ballyhooed duo of Marcell Dareus and off-season prize Mario Williams combined for exactly 2 tackles and 0 sacks on the day.

... it didn't seem to me like the replacement officials blew many more obvious calls than the regular zebras do. Sure, there were some questionable PI calls, at least one bad miss of a clip on a punt return, and a few more ref huddles than usual (which there should be anyway to get the calls right, imo), but I thought they did a decent job. The aforementioned Mario Williams felt differently, it seems, complaining after the game of repeated illegal hands-to-the-face by Jet blockers. I'll admit to not having the keenest eye for fouls committed in the trenches, so I think it will be interesting to hear player input as to whether more holding calls were missed than usual. Considering there's holding on just about every play in the NFL, fans should really only be concerned about replacement officials catching the blatant fouls as frequently as the regular guys did. To that end, I'd be interested to know if sack totals and QB pressures are down from Week 1 2011.

... a few guys who reminded me how good they are: Reggie Wayne (still got it... yeah, Curtis Painter really was that bad), Andre Johnson (Texans fans should throw a parade for every game he survives intact) and Adrian Peterson (still the best back in the NFL when healthy... at least until Darren McFadden can make it through a full season without breaking down)

Cardinals · Post by **Cardinals** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:31 pm

The referees were absolutely horrible for the Green Bay/ San Francisco game, and pretty bad, but not as bad, for Denver/Pittsburgh.

Giants · Post by **Giants** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:39 pm

If I lose my fantasy game this week because of that Randall Cobb punt return I'll be annoyed, but otherwise I didn't find the officiating noticeably awful in the niners game, I just think all the mistakes are magnified and we're paying more attention. I was really surprised how in over his head Brandon Weeden looked, and boy is Russell Wilson short, I'd like to see him back to back with Flutie, I'm not sure he'd be taller.

Anyway, I really enjoyed Bill Barnwell's completely backing off of all of his 49er insults. I have to reiterate: ADVANCED FOOTBALL STATS ARE MORE OR LESS USELESS BECAUSE SAMPLE SIZES ARE TOO SMALL AND THERE IS TOO MUCH CHANGE YEAR OVER YEAR

Mets · Post by **Mets** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 4:17 pm

Anyone who judged the Jets based on preseason obviously did so blindly. The Jets did not want to expose their offense to any of their rivals taking notes - especially Tebow's potential usage. They employed a mostly stripped down version. My biggest concern for them was going to be the play of the the offensive line, which somehow figured it out between the entire preseason and yesterday.

Speaking of offensive lines - the Eagles were aweful. Vick hit the ground every single play. Some of it may have been poor decision making - but either the Browns defense is much better than anyone thinks or the Eagles line is absolutely awful. It was like watching David Carr's rookie season.

Astros · Post by **Astros** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 5:47 pm

Andrew Luck really impressed me, especially since there were 3 Bears in the backfield every day. The Colts have maybe the worst line in the league. His pocket awareness is great, he never took off and ran, always throwing to guys downfield and not forcing bad throws. One of his INTs was a bad call as a Bears lineman was clearly in the neutral zone and everyone assumed it was a free play so he took a shot down field. He's going to be good if he can stay upright. The defense will get better as they get used to Pagano's scheme. Five wins isn't out of the question, but this will be a long year. Of course all the pundits are ready to write Luck off as a bust after Griffin's day yesterday, because ESPN is full of morons

Rockies · Post by **Rockies** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 3:12 am

Athletics wrote:If I lose my fantasy game this week because of that Randall Cobb punt return I'll be annoyed, but otherwise I didn't find the officiating noticeably awful in the niners game, I just think all the mistakes are magnified and we're paying more attention. I was really surprised how in over his head Brandon Weeden looked, and boy is Russell Wilson short, I'd like to see him back to back with Flutie, I'm not sure he'd be taller.

Anyway, I really enjoyed Bill Barnwell's completely backing off of all of his 49er insults. I have to reiterate: ADVANCED FOOTBALL STATS ARE MORE OR LESS USELESS BECAUSE SAMPLE SIZES ARE TOO SMALL AND THERE IS TOO MUCH CHANGE YEAR OVER YEAR

Im not saying I lost this weeks matchup due to that play, but it sure added 6 points to my opponents D/Special teams. I ended up losing by 9. That hurt me as well. But its also my fault, second guessing myself and starting Eli over RG3. It didn't help to have victor cruz dropping 3 passes, gates dropping a TD pass in the endzone tonight, my kicker Crosby only netting me 2 fucking point afters, and neither McCoy or Lynch grabbing me a TD. Oh yeah, and Garcon going out after the 1st quarter.

Ugh, rough 1st week in my first fantasy football league in 5+ years.

Giants · Post by **Giants** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 3:11 pm

I ended up winning by 20, gotta love that Ravens defense coming through. What's interesting is that the officials called roughly the same number of penalties over the course of the whole weekend as the regular officials. The other officials probably aren't that good either...

DBacks · Post by **DBacks** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 12:10 am

we need an ibc league. but one that doesn't suck like every other past one we've done.

Rockies · Post by **Rockies** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 2:41 am

make it for money. incentive to keep active.

Giants · Post by **Giants** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 9:54 pm

Winner gets their pick of one player off of JBs roster, restore competitive balance to the league and and keeps people incentivized, problem solved!

DBacks · Post by **DBacks** » Thu Sep 13, 2012 12:34 am

Seconded.

Rockies · Post by **Rockies** » Thu Sep 13, 2012 3:37 am

So, who you starting and who you sitting week 2?

Rockies · Post by **Rockies** » Thu Sep 13, 2012 3:40 am

I think im going to go:

RG3, Cruz, Austin, McCoy, Lynch, Gates, Garcon, Crosby, Houston. Debating on Randall Cobb go a Thur start. Especially given Garcon's foot. By I also have Bowe and Collie on the bench.

Giants · Post by **Giants** » Fri Sep 14, 2012 12:53 am

This should probably go into a week 2 discussion thread and no one cares about anyone else's fantasy team, but I actually really like my team for the first time maybe ever this year so I'll throw my lineup out. 10 team league and instead of a kicker you have an extra flex that must be a rookie

QB: Drew Brees
RB1: Adrian Peterson
RB2: DeMarco Murray
WR1: Andre Johnson
WR2: Steve Smith
TE: Vernon Davis
W/R/T: BenJarvus Green-Ellis
Rookie: Russell Wilson
D: Ravens

People in my league apparently were averse to drafting veterans, Peterson, Johnson and Smith were picks 3-4-5