NFL Thread 12-13

[Brown Notes]

You have to take some lumps with starting a rookie QB. Those corners for Philly are really, really good and so is their rush. There's no way Little gets to be grumpy since he's the guy that dropped a pass into their hands inside the 10. That offense is playing 5 rookies, 2 WR, RB, QB and RT. It's going to get a lot better. Weeden is getting lambasted in a general board hurricane of nuclear meltdown over there but it's obvious to me he's much more talented than the last 5-6 guys we've trotted out there.

Anyways as rough as the offense was for us the performance of the D was incredible. Way better than I even thought. If Fort, our UDFA starting at SAM holds onto that last pick we win the game.

If I was an Eagle fan I would be tremendously nervous about my pass protection and Vick's propensity to be rattled. You are right he threw several more picks that were not held onto. Really bad decisions. I doubt Vick has ever had that bad a game.

OTOH I gotta take my hat off to their front 7 though those guys were dominating all day. I'd brag on Trent blowing that LBs helmet off but that dude got the last laugh picking Weed's last pass. Still that play would have topped the list if the ESPN guys still did the "jacked up" thing.

 

[Brown Notes]

Manning is taking a huge dump all over the Steelers D. Wow, that's impressive missing a year coming into a new team in the twilight of his career.

 

[KatieMCR]

By the way, Alex Smith broke one of Steve Young's records today. It's time for Smith to start getting some respect. After all the crap he went through before Harbaugh, to play like he is now, it's pretty damn great.

And Smith was not just along for the ride. He broke the team record, previously held by Steve Young, for most consecutive passes without throwing an interception while orchestrating a balanced offensive attack.

"I thought he was great," 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said. "All game he used his legs, his arm, his mind, his toughness. He was really efficient tonight, and he had a heck of a ballgame."

Smith completed 20 of 26 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns for a passer rating of 125.6.

...

It was also a record-setting day for Smith, who now has attempted 185 regular-season passes without throwing an interception. Young held the record at 184, which he set in 1993. And Smith's mark does not include the 68 pass attempts in two playoff games without an interception.

"For me, just making good decisions and being smart with the football," Smith said. "It starts with that, and I think we did a good job of that tonight."

Link

 

[gregbroncs]

As a Broncos fan I was super excited for this season. After watching this game against Pittsburgh...Lets just say that I am really looking forward to the rest of the season.

 

[Beantown]

As a Broncos fan I was super excited for this season. After watching this game against Pittsburgh...Lets just say that I am really looking forward to the rest of the season.

Too bad there was still a bunch of teams that looked better.

 

[franklin]

By the way, Alex Smith broke one of Steve Young's records today. It's time for Smith to start getting some respect. After all the crap he went through before Harbaugh, to play like he is now, it's pretty damn great.

Please. Smith was getting credit for being the best QB in the league behind Rodge most of last season. After tonight it's plenty obvious Rodge is still the better QB & Smith is still getting plenty credit for his performance.

Green Bay's defense was the worst in league history last season (still went 15-1) & are incorporating several rookies into the system in a Goodell era that disallows rookies from having much contact. Crediting Smith's 49ers for a win against last season GB is jumping the gun & completely uncalled for. A true 49er fan would be pumping a defense stopping the best offense in the NFL instead of crying towels full of Smithy boohoo.

 

[Stifle Tower]

Yeah dude let's throw out the whole game and just focus on a couple of bad passes he had in the first half. Durrr

That wasn't my intent. Smith had a good game, yes. Is he a "great" QB? No. He has limited range and once he starts to move, you can essentially stop covering half the field as he's never a threat to stop and throw back the other way. And he's not going to get the ball deep downfield with any accuracy. I made reference to those two passes because it was essentially the same play run two consecutive times and he badly overthrew both of them. Almost looked like instant replay. So no correction on what should be a fairly routine throw for an NFL QB.

That said, he's improved tremendously in terms of eliminating poor choices and not turning the ball over. The fact he broke Young's consecutive attempts without an interception record bears that out. On the other hand, he was only 17th in yards per attempt. Translation: he often checked down to his safety outlet when pressured. What good does a 5 yard completiion do on 3rd and 8? It's only good if you then hand the ball over to the best punter in the league who can pin the other team back. And if you have the defense to hold them there.

With their great defense and solid running game, the 49'ers CAN win with Smith as their starting QB. He just doesn't have the same margin of error that others have.

 

[Bronco70]

Smith haters will never change their minds. No, he's not better than A-Rod, but he's better than average, IMO. But the observation that the Niners' defense should be getting the props is spot on. They shut down a potent offense for most of the game. Last season their secondary was hit and miss, but today they took care of business. Hopefully they keep it up for the rest of the season. It does the offense a huge favor when the defense plays so well.

 

[franklin]

Smith haters will never change their minds. No, he's not better than A-Rod, but he's better than average, IMO. But the observation that the Niners' defense should be getting the props is spot on. They shut down a potent offense for most of the game. Last season their secondary was hit and miss, but today they took care of business. Hopefully they keep it up for the rest of the season. It does the offense a huge favor when the defense plays so well.

Smith's 49ers are definitely in the conversation at this point & well prior to. Noone's forgetting they took a cinderella Giganticasses into OT last offseason & now pummeled GB on the road game one. From what I understand they have a young intact team plus drafties--hard to bet against that.

 

[Bronco70]

Smith looked good. The two garbage throws prior to the Akers FG were just ultra conservative shots at a few more yards. I think Alex's directive was, get a few yards, if possible, but do not, under any circumstances, turn it over.

 

[UGLI baby]

That wasn't my intent. Smith had a good game, yes. Is he a "great" QB? No. He has limited range and once he starts to move, you can essentially stop covering half the field as he's never a threat to stop and throw back the other way. And he's not going to get the ball deep downfield with any accuracy. I made reference to those two passes because it was essentially the same play run two consecutive times and he badly overthrew both of them. Almost looked like instant replay. So no correction on what should be a fairly routine throw for an NFL QB.

That said, he's improved tremendously in terms of eliminating poor choices and not turning the ball over. The fact he broke Young's consecutive attempts without an interception record bears that out. On the other hand, he was only 17th in yards per attempt. Translation: he often checked down to his safety outlet when pressured. What good does a 5 yard completiion do on 3rd and 8? It's only good if you then hand the ball over to the best punter in the league who can pin the other team back. And if you have the defense to hold them there.

With their great defense and solid running game, the 49'ers CAN win with Smith as their starting QB. He just doesn't have the same margin of error that others have.

I agree mostly.

I'm not a homer that thinks Alex Smith is an elite QB. I just think everything he does gets picked apart more than any other QB.

He will probably never get his due because of his No. 1 pick status and early career struggles, but he's still young and hopefully has a great career ahead of him. He's overcome so much adversity so it's awesome to see him playing well the last couple years.

 

[Beantown]

I think we must also give a shout out to RG3. Amazing first game.


And a shout out to me for selecting him in the second round of my fantasy draft.

 

[Former Member]

I think we must also give a shout out to RG3. Amazing first game.


And a shout out to me for selecting him in the second round of my fantasy draft.

Second round... dang. I drafted him in the fourth round and received a round of heckles. However, I'm pretty sure I won't be getting heckled tomorrow morning.

 

[UGLI baby]

I think we must also give a shout out to RG3. Amazing first game.


And a shout out to me for selecting him in the second round of my fantasy draft.

Wow. Sorry dude but I don't see that working out all that well for you. He was awesome today though. Guess we'll see.

 

[Gyp Rosetti]

Good game Eagles. That was down to the wire.

Yep. I almost feel like we lost and Vick did too which is probably a good thing and a wake up call for week two when Baltimore comes to town, thankfully on a short week.

 

[Gyp Rosetti]

Please. Smith was getting credit for being the best QB in the league behind Rodge most of last season..

Uh, yeah, I'm pretty sure that never happened.

 

[Gyp Rosetti]

BTW, I said this in the off-season. Alex Smith will end up in the top five in MVP voting.

 

[bigb]

Smith looked good. The two garbage throws prior to the Akers FG were just ultra conservative shots at a few more yards. I think Alex's directive was, get a few yards, if possible, but do not, under any circumstances, turn it over.

I'm 75% sure he intentionally threw those passes away. The receivers were well covered on both plays. He was fighting the clock. He had to get rid of the ball, so he threw it 5 yards over their heads. They were actually good plays.

 

[gregbroncs]

Too bad there was still a bunch of teams that looked better.

Not too many offenses. The Broncos defense is built to hold a lead. One of the worst matchups is a team like the Steelers who are ball control and kept the ball away from manning a ton in this game.

The Broncos had the ball for 36 seconds in the 3rd quarter and still outscored the Steelers in the quarter 7-3.

 

[Beantown]

Wow. Sorry dude but I don't see that working out all that well for you. He was awesome today though. Guess we'll see.

We play a two QB league. I jumped the gun for Newton last year too and he's the reason I won. Hoping to strike gold twice.