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I'm debuting as a Buffalo Bills fan this weekend

After a longstanding neutral relationship, I tried cheering for the Ravens a few years ago. Didn't take. A brutalized franchise probably fits more with what I'm used to. So I'm going Bills who also have some geographic tie to my other Toronto teams

if tonight was any indication we're gonna see record number of touchbacks this year and it's annoying as hell. players safety be damned move the kickoff back to the 30

Yup, the new rule pretty much made punt and kick returners useless.

Dallas-Denver thoughts:
--Romo looked comfortable and ready to go.

--Kyle Orton in the red zone is a trainwreck. Maybe they let Orton get the team down there, then put in Tebow?

--Tyron Smith looked okay. Did a nice job getting out in front on a dump off pass.

--Von Miller was the best defensive player on the field for either team in his first preseason game. He's legit, folks.

--disappointed in Lonyae Miller, who my Cowboys people have been telling me is just as good as Marion Barber. No vision, though to his defense the Dallas guards are comically awful.

--even though he only caught one pass, I thought Eric Decker looked real good for Denver. Tebow didn't see him on a play where he crossed over his man a la Iverson and was alone on the sideline.

--Tebow moved the ball but it sure isn't pretty. IMO Brady Quinn was more impressive, though the long deep throw from Tebow was great.

studcrackers wrote:if tonight was any indication we're gonna see record number of touchbacks this year and it's annoying as hell. players safety be damned move the kickoff back to the 30

I didn't even know they moved the ball. To what? The 35?

Lame. And was it really for player safety? LOL. Maybe they should outlaw tackling too.

studcrackers wrote:if tonight was any indication we're gonna see record number of touchbacks this year and it's annoying as hell. players safety be damned move the kickoff back to the 30

i actually believe they should just eliminate the kickoff

way too risky injury wise

Pharmcat wrote:

studcrackers wrote:if tonight was any indication we're gonna see record number of touchbacks this year and it's annoying as hell. players safety be damned move the kickoff back to the 30

i actually believe they should just eliminate the kickoff

way too risky injury wise

lol


this new rule is ridiculous, the nfl just took away Billy Cundiff's biggest strength.

I watched the Jags/Pats game because I'm in Jacksonville and had nothing better to do last night. The fans in this city are not very happy with the state of the team (even before that atrocity last night) and I think a majority of people here think they have a few rebuilding years ahead.

Sadly for them, I don't think the Jags will be in Jax past 2013 and they don't look to be anywhere near the quality of even sniffing the playoffs soon. I would be surprised if this team gets 6 wins this season.

Jeff23 wrote:

Pharmcat wrote:

studcrackers wrote:if tonight was any indication we're gonna see record number of touchbacks this year and it's annoying as hell. players safety be damned move the kickoff back to the 30

i actually believe they should just eliminate the kickoff

way too risky injury wise

lol


this new rule is ridiculous, the nfl just took away Billy Cundiff's biggest strength.

They also just made Devin Hester worthless. I've mentally discounted the Bears two wins because of the loss of return game.

Some experts keep insisting that it won't go away because back when the kickoffs used to be from the 35 the percentage of returns was only like 5% lower than it was last year. But that was in an era where very few kickers had enough leg strength to get the ball to the end zone even from the 35. Morten Andersen, for my money the best kicker of his era, only got touchbacks on about 20% of his kicks from the 35. There are guys in the league that got higher than that from the 30 and the average FG distance made has increased by almost 6 yards in the last 15 years. Guys have bigger legs now, the field conditions are better, and it's easier to boot a ball off the new style of synth turf than the old Astroturf. I predict at least a 25% decline in number of kickoff returns.

Devin Hester (inexplicably) hasn't been doing kickoff returns for two years that often anyway. Something about wanting to get him more reps at WR. How much practice time does he need on kickoff returns at this point?

T-Jack is still trash (no surprise). Pete Carroll better comeback to reality before week 4.

id try and come back to reality after the season and tank for luck, the teams going nowhere and is in no mans land

Tampa's depth >>>> KC's depth

I'm still not sold on Tampa but that is a physically imposing team and I really like Josh Freeman. I still think their defensive front seven is going to scuttle them though. Josh Johnson looked real sharp as the #2.

Kinda surprised at how awful Ricky Stanzi looked, I had higher hopes for him than that. If I were the KC coaches and Stanzi lays a stinker like this again next week, that experiment would be over.

Pharmcat wrote:
i actually believe they should just eliminate the kickoff

way too risky injury wise

Why not? If the reason for the rule change is because they deemed kickoff returns too dangerous, then why have them at all? Is it somehow less dangerous for teams with lousy kickers? Of course not. If you're just going to make most kickoffs a touchbacks, why waste our time?

Josh Freeman is going to be one of the best QB's in the league in a few years if he stays healthy. What a beast he is. I love coach Raheem Morris also, i wish tampa would support that team more.

Yeah, I'm expecting a good year from Freeman as well as the Bucs. I'd like to see them make the playoffs. Although being in a division with NO and ATL is gonna make that tough.

GenshiYagyu wrote:

Pharmcat wrote:
i actually believe they should just eliminate the kickoff

way too risky injury wise

Why not? If the reason for the rule change is because they deemed kickoff returns too dangerous, then why have them at all? Is it somehow less dangerous for teams with lousy kickers? Of course not. If you're just going to make most kickoffs a touchbacks, why waste our time?

because then we miss out on 3-6 minutes of commercials!

The Niners look bad. Real bad.

Just got home from Jets/Texans. Impressions:
--Chris Ogbonnoya is gonna be a real tough cut, if he in fact doesn't make the Texans. It's either him or Ben Tate, and if Tate can't get on the field in the next week, sayonara to a 2010 2nd round pick.

--Nice to see an old draft prospect i stood for, Xavier Adibi, finally look comfortable and healthy.

--The Jets have garbage at WR beyond Holmes, Mason, and Kerley. I know Plax wasn't here but if they get any injuries to any of the above guys they're in deep doo-doo.

--JJ Watt looks great. Brooks Reed looked better than I expected. Shiloh Keo looks like a practice squad guy if he's lucky.

--If the Jets play Vlad Ducasse at tackle, the over/under on Sanchez is 9.5 games. He got whipped repeatedly by guys that aren't going to make the Texans. Slowest guy out of his stance I've ever seen.

--Pretty sure my 6-year old son has as live an arm as Greg McElroy

--Everyone in the press box immediately thought Bart Scott was faking the injury to get out of the rest of camp. I laughed at that, didn't know people saw him that way. Hopefully he's okay but the Jets have strong depth at ILB with Mauga and Bellore, both of whom looked good.

--the pregame posture of the teams said a lot. The Jets appeared just happy to be playing someone else, while the Texans were geeked up like it was a Week 17 division title game. The one exception was The Sanchize, who was very fired up pre-game. I still like him more in theory than in practice though, he stares down his primary receiver too often and he has no idea how to look off a safety. You'd think Brunell would teach him that already...