NFL Regular Season 2008

[Matt_Fury]

Wow. Roy Williams is a pretty good reciever but he certainly isn't worth 1st, 3rd, and 6th round picks. The Cowboys got hosed on that one.

Not if they win a Super Bowl.  How are defenses now going to stop Roy Williams, Terrell Owens, Jason Witten and Marion Barber at the same time?

I don't think we need to worry about that.  There my be a lot of talent on the team, but they play as a bunch of individuals.  Hence the killing they got today by the Rams.

Glad the Giants won today...it wasn't the prettiest, but an ugly win is still a win.

[evenflow]

The Jets should not be this bad. After the last 2 weeks i thought the offense was finally on the same page but sadly i was wrong.

In some odd way i was actually hoping for the tie.

[Matt_Fury]

Shouldn't be a problem...the Cowboys have completely imploded.

[Rob]

I hope so, but we'll hear a bunch of nonsense this week about wounded animals and backs against the wall and blah blah blah.

I guess a lot of it will depend on whether Romo comes back or not.  And after the way that Brad Johnson played, I'm sure they'll be shooting for a Romo start if it's at all possible.

[Jesse James]

Steelers embarassed a team that nobody thought it could get much worse.   Cincinatti's become as annoying to me as Cleveland, so that was just a satisfying win.  Especially watching our new RB tear **** up.  It wasn't against a fantastic defense, but that guy was bouncing the outside, and hitting the hole like a mack truck.  In general though, a great Steeler win.

[JediJman]

Steelers embarassed a team that nobody thought it could get much worse.   Cincinatti's become as annoying to me as Cleveland, so that was just a satisfying win.  Especially watching our new RB tear **** up.  It wasn't against a fantastic defense, but that guy was bouncing the outside, and hitting the hole like a mack truck.  In general though, a great Steeler win.

New RB?

[Jesse James]

Yeah, Melwede Moore...  Nobody here was familiar with him...  They only said he'd been with Tomlin over with the Vikings, so people figured he had something Tomlin liked.  He was surprisingly fantastic Sunday though.  I was pleased and liked his running style more than Parker...  Small guy too, for how he was pounding the ball.  He's not much larger than I am.

[JediJman]

Yeah, Melwede Moore...  Nobody here was familiar with him...  They only said he'd been with Tomlin over with the Vikings, so people figured he had something Tomlin liked.  He was surprisingly fantastic Sunday though.  I was pleased and liked his running style more than Parker...  Small guy too, for how he was pounding the ball.  He's not much larger than I am.

He never amounted to much with the Vikes.  I think what we saw this weekend was that Pittsburgh has a great offensive line and Cinci has a crap defense.  Fast Willie would have likely equalled or surpassed M&M's stats had he played.

[Ryan]

I think what we saw this weekend was that Pittsburgh has a great offensive line and Cinci has a crap defense.

I think there are a great number of people in Pittsburg (and around the NFL) that would have to disagree with you on that part.

[Rob]

Yeah, from everything I gather, the general consensus is that Pittsburgh's O-line isn't what it used to be.

[JediJman]

Yeah, from everything I gather, the general consensus is that Pittsburgh's O-line isn't what it used to be.

Being less than its prime is irrelevant.  If it's better than most teams this year, then I'd still call it great.  They may not be very good at giving Big Ben time, but they sure are opening holes for the running game.

[Jesse James]

I think what we saw this weekend was that Pittsburgh has a great offensive line

I'd wholeheartedly disagree, not that I'm happy about it...  Passblocking isn't even the most complex thing the O-Line does so if they can't do that they're definitely not opening many holes for backs.  Our line's big problems this year are we lost Allen Faneca who was the anchor (though he didn't have a great '07), and we're dealing with some injuries too, some new guys, etc.

I think it was more that we played a team bad against the rush on Sunday really...  Cincy is 0-7 afterall, but really Moore was bouncing outside when he didn't hit the hole head on...  He was finding gaps the line wasn't creating and exploiting them.  He's filling in for Parker nicely, I just hope it keeps up against more staunch defenses.  He's not much bigger than I am, and so with that in mind I tend to think he's more a speed guy, but he was really punishing guys trying to tackle him.

I'm more into those kinds of backs, like Bettis was...  The kind that will pick up 4 or 5 on sheer power.  He was showing that kind of spark Sunday...  Parker doesn't.  he bounces left or right till he finds a hole, and with our line he rarely finds one so he either has to turn it up on the outside or he's down.  Mendenhall was more the back style I liked but he got hurt right away.  I love a tough big short yardage back over speed/finesse...  especially with an O-Line you cannot count on for perfection.

Check the stats on Roethlisberger's sack rate this year and last year, and tell me it's that they just aren't blocking for him.  It's really a TON more than that.

Our defense is at least vicious, like always.  I really though Porter being gone would hurt us, but our two outside LB's have stepped up tremendously, and been really dominant d-guys.  Gotta be happy with that.

[JediJman]

To be fair, you've been down on Parker for a while.  Moore was nothing special in Minnesota and he had lots of chances.  I didn't catch much of the Steelers game, but the clips I saw had MM rushing up the middle, not speeding past guys on the outside.  I do agree that playing a bad defense definitely helps a guy look better.

[Jesse James]

I wouldn't say I'm down on Parker, I love the guy when he plays good...  It's just his style of running isn't matching a weaker offensive line, which is what we have.  We've always had an O-Line that can get it done to an extent, but they've diminished in the last couple years and now we're seeing them collapse on pass coverage, and they'll have days they don't open jack **** for Parker who NEEDS openings to perform.  He's too small to drag guys or hit the hole and make his own room...  Basically we went from Bettis doing that routinely to Parker who needs assistance getting through the line.

Moore was going through some holes dragging guys, breaking loose of a tackle here and there, and he bounced several to the outsides very nicely rolling off the pile...  All marks of a more powerful back than Parker who usually gets stood up when he tries rolling or hitting a filled hole.  When Parker makes it to any kind of room on the end of the lines though, look out.  he's bound to pick up 10 at that point, if not more.  He's a fright when there's room free...  Moore not so much, but he was getting it done every other way, and I like that.

I'm just more a fan of power than speed though.  It's more reliable I find, even against staunch defenses.

[Rob]

I'm just more a fan of power than speed though.  It's more reliable I find, even against staunch defenses.

I'm with you there.  Hence my man crush on Brandon Jacobs, and my great enthusiasm for Ernest Graham in the 4th quarter busting 25 yard runs against tired defenses.