NFL Week Four Discussion

[J.R.]

Games of the week include:

Philadelphia at Kansas City, 1:00 p.m.
San Diego at New England, 1:00 p.m.
Minnesota at Atlanta, 4:15 p.m.
Chicago, Cleveland, Miami and Pittsburgh are on their bye week.

[LiAmTrAnSdEmOn]

I really want to see that Chargers/Patriots game. I want to see how Belicheck tries to stop LaDainian without Bruschi, Johnson, and now Harrison. Hopefully, Schottenheimer learned from last week and will actually give Tomlinson the ball so he rack up the yardage and better set up the pass and play action.

[J.R.]

Broncos try to avoid another Florida flop
DENVER (Oct 1, 2005)

If it's not the heat, it's the humility. The ineptitude began in 1966, a 24-7 loss to Miami at the Orange Bowl that came before any of the current Denver Broncos were born. It has continued right through this month with a 34-10 loss at Dolphins Stadium in which the Broncos were ill-prepared for the weather, the long trip or their opponent.

Denver's next trip to Florida comes tomorrow against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Broncos are 2-10 in their 46-year history in the Sunshine State, a combined 0-9 at Miami and Jacksonville.

"The hotter the better,'' Jaguars linebacker Mike Peterson said. "Two-and-10 doesn't sound right. I like two-and-11. That sounds better.''

In Denver's most recent Florida flop, the heat and humidity clearly played a factor.

Cornerbacks Darrent Williams and Lenny Walls cramped up and had to leave the game. When it was over, coach Mike Shanahan blamed the offence for the problems -- saying Denver's 1-for-12 on third-down conversions forced the defense to stay on the field for too long.

"If you can't get drives going and the defense is out there continuously, someone's going to wear out sooner or later,'' said Shanahan, who voiced no concerns with the way the team prepared for the conditions in Florida.

Temperatures are expected to be around 30 C and humidity this time of year can still be high. Both teams, however, are downplaying weather for this game. Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio is having his team wear dark uniforms.

"We're in October now,'' Del Rio said.

The Broncos, meanwhile, are preparing for business as usual.

"We're getting ready to play a tough Jacksonville Jaguars team,'' said defensive lineman Gerard Warren, who played his college ball at Florida. "The weather shouldn't be that big a deal.''

In Denver's only two trips to Jacksonville, weather has been a factor once. In 1999, a driving rainstorm soaked the second half of the Monday night game, bringing both offences to a halt. Until, that is, the very end, when the Jaguars outscored Denver 10-7 over the last 2 1/2 minutes en route to a 27-24 victory.

Last September, Jacksonville won 7-6 on a 25 C day -- unusually cool for that time of year.

While the heat may not have been a factor, some thought Shanahan's thought process was askew. With time running out, he opted against a go-ahead field goal, instead calling a running play that resulted in a botched exchange between Jake Plummer and Quentin Griffin and a lost fumble.

"I think they all stick with you when you lose,'' Shanahan said. "You go back and you take a look at the film. But that's history. You try to make sure it doesn't happen again.''

For all the problems these trips to Florida seem to cause, the Broncos don't seem to be attacking any of them head-on.

They didn't adjust their practice schedule to accommodate a 1 p.m. EDT start, which translates to 11 a.m. Denver time, until yesterday. They haven't focused on hydration or any of the heat-related issues that caused problems earlier in Miami. And they're not letting the fact that this is a short week -- they're coming off a Monday night game -- play into the preparation.

"Well, first of all, you don't think about those things that you just mentioned -- excuses,'' Shanahan said. "You either get it done or you don't.''

When they fly to Florida, the Broncos usually don't....

[leaferfan87]

This will be a tough game for the Broncos. The Jaguars have a very staunch defense and Byron Leftwich continues to improve everday. The Broncos have alot of momentum after beating Kansas City last week, however.

The Vikings and Atlanta is an intriguing matchup. The Falcons are a little banged up in their secondary so hopefully Culeppeper will be able to take advantage of that. What scares me is the Falcons running game, Michael Vick, T.J Duckett and Warrick Dunn can hurt you on the ground and with the calibre of linebackers that the Vikings have it could be a huge problem tommorrow.

[LiAmTrAnSdEmOn]

I don't think the LBs for the Vikings are the problem. I think the Vikings need to do something with the D-line to contain Vick and put pressure on him. Pat Williams is big enough to clog up the line on the run. They have plenty of talent on defense, they just need to play like they have it.

[PDO]

So I put money on the Pats..

And they ****ing choke. I hate them. So much.

[Leafs_Fa_Life]

The Eagles started off slowly, but now they're beginning to pull away from the Chiefs. Somewhere J.R. is smiling right now.

[LiAmTrAnSdEmOn]

So I put money on the Pats..

And they ****ing choke. I hate them. So much.

And if you paid any attention to my predictions you wouldn't have lost that money. :nod:

[J.R.]

The Eagles started off slowly, but now they're beginning to pull away from the Chiefs. Somewhere J.R. is smiling right now. Everyone say it with me: 'Overrated.'

They can't run. They can't stop the run or the pass.

Yes, it does make me very pleasant, thank you.

The Denver Broncos collected just their third win in the State of Florida in 46 years by beating the Jaguars 20-7. Mike Anderson got the majority of the carries and ran for 115 yards, as Shanahan's RBBC continues. The two touchdown catches were caught by a tackle - Dwayne Carswell - who only had those two receptions for a total of three yards. It was funny seeing that. Twice.

Don't look now, but the Broncos lead the AFC West at 3-1 and have three of their next four games at the Height of One Mile, before going into their bye week.

[leaferfan87]

The Vikings might possibly have the worst offensive line in the history of professional football.

[LiAmTrAnSdEmOn]

JR, you need to stop with this "the Chiefs can't run the ball" crap. They can. They have ran over the entire NFL for the past 3-4 years. No matter who had the ball they were pickin up yards and puttin the ball in the endzone.

I will agree that their defense over the past 2 games has looked dreadful, but if they play like the first two games of the season, I have no doubt that they will finish ahead of the Broncos.

[Leafs_Fa_Life]

The Chargers will finish ahead of both teams.

[LiAmTrAnSdEmOn]

I also believe the Chargers will win the AFC West, especially after they went into Foxboro and beat the Pats, handily. If they give the ball to LT, then they will be very difficult to stop.

[J.R.]

JR, you need to stop with this "the Chiefs can't run the ball" crap. They can. They have ran over the entire NFL for the past 3-4 years. No matter who had the ball they were pickin up yards and puttin the ball in the endzone.Ohhh, their "two-headed monster" crap combined for 118 yards this week. That's pathetic, when you consider how much hype they get for being such an amazing tandem. I'll continue to say that Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson aren't as great as people like you make him out to be. As the season progresses, they'll continue to prove me correct.

[LiAmTrAnSdEmOn]

I'm sorry, show me where I said that Priest Holmes and Larry Johnoson are as good as people make them out to be. You won't find it because I never said it. In fact, I find Holmes overrated because of how great people say he is. I'm sayin that the KC running game is the best in the league. It's not the RB, it's the O-line and system that Vermeil uses. Do you think it's any coincidence that All-Pro Willie Roaf misses the last two weeks and the Chiefs don't look right. But you go back to last year and the couple years before that when Holmes went down with an injury and the team didn't miss a beat running the ball. You will find out, as soon as Roaf is healthy, that the O-line is the best in the game, and Holmes will be gettin his 100 yards and 2 TDs a game again.

[Leafs_Fa_Life]

Exactly Liam, any level headed person knows Holmes isn't as good as his stats make him out to be. However, that doens't mean KC's running game is any less lethal. When that line is healthy it's the most dominant in the game, and a big reason why KC is the best running team in the league.

Just like J.R.'s Broncos. Clinton Portis IMO is the only good running back they've had since they've won their last Super Bowl (and some will even debate that), yet season after season they continue to produce 1000 yard rushers. It's the line and the system that makes a great running team, not the half back.

[Bob burns]

So I put money on the Pats..

And they ****ing choke. I hate them. So much.

Hehe, makes my day. :stir: :giggle:

What a day, I would have gone 10-3 in o/u's if that TD for Detroit wasn't called off. That and the Seahawks and Texans lost, other than that there was some interesting ball on the tube. If Seattle had made that last field goal with a second left, that would have capped a beautiful fourth quarter comeback.

[Iced Tea]

I was glad to see the Patriots get their butts kicked by the Chargers. Brady sucked, hehehehe. The Patriots were schooled/beaten senseless/trounced/flattened by the Chargers. Hahahaha, man I hate the Patriots. They are my Yankees of the NFL. I just hate them so much. Hopefully they go on a major slide and miss the playoffs, oh that would be sweet. No Superbowl for New England this year, major sweet.

The Chiefs got out to a major lead and then totally blew chunks while allowing the Eagles to come back and win. Vermeil needs to kick some butt in practice this week.

Sad to see Seattle unable to beat the stinkin Washington Redskins. Is this the year that Dan Snyder finally gets results for the millions he's thrown at the Redskins? Also, I had forgotten that
As of 2004, Forbes Magazine values the [Redskins] franchise at over $1 billion, the highest in the NFL and of any U.S. sports franchise.Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Redskins) says so. You'd think that a NFL team that has done something in the past few years might be worth more.

[Amoroq]

I was glad to see the Patriots get their butts kicked by the Chargers. Brady sucked, hehehehe. The Patriots were schooled/beaten senseless/trounced/flattened by the Chargers. Hahahaha, man I hate the Patriots. They are my Yankees of the NFL. I just hate them so much. Hopefully they go on a major slide and miss the playoffs, oh that would be sweet. No Superbowl for New England this year, major sweet.

The Chiefs got out to a major lead and then totally blew chunks while allowing the Eagles to come back and win. Vermeil needs to kick some butt in practice this week.

Sad to see Seattle unable to beat the stinkin Washington Redskins. Is this the year that Dan Snyder finally gets results for the millions he's thrown at the Redskins? Also, I had forgotten that
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Redskins) says so. You'd think that a NFL team that has done something in the past few years might be worth more.FIGHT FOR OLD DC!!!!

[MadDevil]

The Vikings might possibly have the worst offensive line in the history of professional football.

Actually, at this point I think they may have the worst team in the history of professional football. They can't run the ball, they can't pass protect, they can't stop the run, and they're giving up plays in the passing game. But hey, at least their punter is good this year.:curse:

The offensive line is absolutely atrocious though, Culpepper has been sacked an average of 5 times a game this season, and when he starts getting hit, he starts making poor decisions. The Vikings only have 319 total yards on the ground this year, while giving up 712. I think they'll be lucky to make it back to .500 on the year.

[leaferfan87]

Actually, at this point I think they may have the worst team in the history of professional football. They can't run the ball, they can't pass protect, they can't stop the run, and they're giving up plays in the passing game. But hey, at least their punter is good this year.:curse:

The offensive line is absolutely atrocious though, Culpepper has been sacked an average of 5 times a game this season, and when he starts getting hit, he starts making poor decisions. The Vikings only have 319 total yards on the ground this year, while giving up 712. I think they'll be lucky to make it back to .500 on the year.

Well it all starts with the offensive line. Without a descent O line you can't run the ball or throw it. We all knew that losing Birk was going to hurt, but this badly!

22 Norwegians on
discovery voyage from
Vinland over (the) west we
had camp by 2 skerries one
days journey north from this stone
we were and fishe(ed) one day after
we came home found 10 men red
with blood and dead.

[MadDevil]

Well, at least the entire division sucks this year, it's not just the Vikings. The entire NFC North has a combined record of 3-10 so far this year.:laughing: