The 2012 NFL thread

[Pies4shaw]

Well, so much for Patriots v the Giants in pre-season final round. Eli took 8 snaps and then retired for a hard-earned rest and Tom Brady (and virtually all of the rest of Pats' starting line-up) had the game off completely. Final result 6:3 (who cares which way?)

Meanwhile, Sav's team (the Washington Redskins) thrashed Tampa Bay 30:3. Sav himself had only one punt - but it went inside the Tampa Bay 20 and was not returned, so it was a good 41 yards.

In the third game, so far, Dallas beat the Dolphins 30:13. Romo didn't play, so the damage was done by two QBs that probably won't even be on the Dallas roster this time next week.

Roll on (real) round 1.

[Yarra Falls End]

I'll be keeping an eye on Matt Flynn at the Seahawks and the old boys Philbin and Sherman at Miami.

Are the Lions our main concern again this year?

[Pies4shaw]

Yes, probably. Our main external concern, anyway. Our biggest concern is probably still whether the Pack's defensive line can step up.

As for the Lions, I have to say that Stafford's passing is an absolute delight to watch (provided he's not drilling them against our team).

[Yarra Falls End]

Looks like our defence had plenty of practice in the first quarter against KC.
Had my pre-season hit out this morning following the game on nfl.com at work.I'm ready for the real stuff next week.

[Pies4shaw]

Looks like One HD is going to broadcast the first regular season game (Dallas at Giants) live (this Thursday morning, 6 September 2012, 10.30 am, Melbourne time).

I also believe that Steelers at Denver will air on Monday the 10th (our time) at 10.20 am. It will be interesting to see whether Peyton Manning can keep out of the clutches of the boys on the Steelers' defensive line - and Polamalu. I suppose he should just be grateful he isn't facing up to Mean Joe and Jack Lambert. Just remember, Peyton: it's a long season and intentional grounding in the first round is ALWAYS an option!

I understand that One is going to show about 3 games per week (much like last year). At the moment, the usual sites don't contain much information (and the best one seems to be temporarily off-line) about Australian coverage - but as soon as something goes up, I'll try to post a useful link.

Meanwhile, for anyone interested in big predictions, the ESPN "expert" predictions are posted at http://espn.go.com/nfl/preview12/story/_/id/8295463/espn-experts-nfl-predictions-2012

Of the 16 experts, 9 pick Green Bay as SB winners, 4 pick the Patriots and 1 has gone for each of the Eagles, the Falcons and the Cowboys.

9 (not the same 9) have gone for Rodgers to be MVP; 3 have gone for Brady.

The link also contains everyone's picks for Divisional Champs and Wild Card positions.

As usual, it will be interesting to look back at this at the end of the season and see just how wrong everyone was.

[OEP]

[Pies4shaw]

Thanks for the analysis, OEP. FWIW, I was very impressed by Stafford's work for Detroit last year - surprisingly he's still ranked in the mid-20s among the NFL's starting QBs by the ESPN "experts" - I thought that was a bit harsh. He looks to me like he has a top 5 or top 10 arm (but what would I know?), so I think there's more improvement from the Lions to come.

And good luck for round 1. I think we can both agree that we want to see Alex throw 3 in the game against the Pack. It's just that you'd prefer they were TDs, rather than interceptions.

[Pies4shaw]

Dallas leading (on the strength of a 10-yard TD pass from Romo) Giants 7:3, just before half-time in the season opener.

[Pies4shaw]

Final score 24:17, Dallas over Giants.

Dallas seemed to have control of the game after half-time - and a lot of stand-out performers, eg:

Passing: T. Romo (DAL) - 307 YDS, 3 TD, 1 INT

Rushing: D. Murray (DAL) - 20 CAR, 131 YDS

Receiving: K. Ogletree (DAL) - 8 REC, 114 YDS, 2 TD

[Pies4shaw]

The Monday line-up pf games (Melbourne time) for 10 September 2012 is apparently 3.00am Bears and Colts; 6.15am Packers and 49ers and 10.15 am Broncos and Steelers.

I finally found a link to the game schedules (FTA, pay and NFL game pass): http://ussportsdownunder.com/nfl/watch/tv-guide/australian-nfl-tv-guide-2012-nfl-season-week-1-edition

[Pies4shaw]

Well, there you go. Peyton Manning's Broncos beat the Steelers 31:19 and Chicago looks like it may have an offense (41:19 over the Colts), while Andrew Luck for the Colts looked like he could be The Next Big Thing in that game - his debut stats were remarkably similar to Peyton's all those years ago.

In other games, Philly pipped Cleveland with a late TD, 17:16; Detroit also won with a late TD 27:23 over the Rams; the Pats beat the Titans 34:13; the Atlanta Falcons won 40:24 over the Chiefs (Matt Ryan threw 3 TDs and ran in a 4th); the Vikings beat the Jaguars in OT 26:23 (and it was wonderful to see Adrian Petersen run 17 times for 84 yards and 2 TDs in his first game back after his season-ending injury last year - he can still come play for the Pack ANY time he wants); Washington beat the 'Aints 40:32 (Sav held a couple of field goals and punted a couple of times, reasonably efficiently - 3 punts for a total of 139 yards and an average of 46.3); the Jets snapped out of their pre-season lethargy, beating the Bills 48:28 (Sanchez threw 3 TDs and, unsurprisingly, Tebow didn't); the Texans beat the Dolphins 30:10; the Cardinals beat the Seahawks 20:16; and Tampa Bay won a game (16:10 over the Panthers).

There was a game at Lambeau Field, too, apparently - I did not get to see it (mainly because I was covering my eyes for fear of seeing the Packers' running game at work). I am fairly confident OEP will give you a full run-down on that one soon. My short take on the game is that: Frank Gore was his usual hard-running self (16 caries for 112 yards and 1 TD), it should be a source of concern for Green Bay that A-Rod led its rushing stats (5 for 27 yards) while Cedric Benson could only get 18 yards on 9 carries, Alex Smith passed efficiently, Randy Moss was used sparingly as a receiving target but looked like an improvement for the 49ers, Aldon Smith is scary-quick and a real threat in the 49ers defense and Randall Cobb played almost all the football for Green Bay on the day - 9 receptions for 77 yards and 3 punt returns for 80 yards (including a 75 yard TD) and 3 kick returns for a total of 73 yards - gaining 230 yards himself - if a couple other Packers had been told the season had started they might have made a game of it.

[punkologist]

Any other Raiders fans on here?

I'm waiting in anticipation for the capper to upload the game to nhltorrents. looks like i'll have to wait until tomorrow.

[blackmissionary]

Of the games that I saw, the 49ers looked real good. Packers looked one dimensional in offense. Giants rusty, Cowboys quite good considering their outs and the penalties they gave away.

[Pies4shaw]

Who do you support, bm?

[Yarra Falls End]

A part of me is sort of happy we lost.No doubt we were outplayed and didnt deserve to tie the game in the end.Last season we probably won 4-6 close games, which in hindsight may have been better to lose one or two them to highlight defeciences before the playoffs.

Some positives.
Matthews with 3 sacks
The second string receivers Cobb,Jones and Finley were good
Thought defence was overall better but like in last years playoff against the NYG we gave up a few ctitical 3rd and longs.Miss Nick Collins greatly and now Desmond Bishop is out for the season.

P4S, is da bears game on TV this Friday? Cannot see it advertised on foxtel or ONE.