I would of thought that Mora jnr would end up a DC somewhere for the year maybe 2, then when T Whittingham is sacked as the Huskies coach he will go there. Wouldn't surprise me even if he ended up at Seattle as there DC for next season.

Not sure if this is the correct thread but leading british DT Lorn Mayers was shot in Islington.

BBC have it now

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6236627.stm

Peyton having another January stink-job against the Chiefs with three interceptions. Lucky for him that it's the third quarter and the Chiefs don't have a first down yet. :eek:

9-0 Colts.

Time of possession at the moment: Colts, just over 30 minutes. Chiefs barely over 10.

Tony Romo, oh dear. What a goat.

Go Hawks!!! :p

If you get the chance you have to watch the 4th quater of the Seattle/Dallas game. What a finnish and what a great tackle by Babs on the 2 yard line!! Poor ole Romo....not looking so good now!

Very funny perspective on the 4th quarter in Seattle last night:
http://tonyhomo.blogspot.com/2007/01...continued.html

Incredible game by the way.

I love being a Pats fan!
Brady had a super game. The jets played well and had us on the backfott--but Brady brought us back

Clinical performance by the Pats but so so dull ;)

Didn't think the Jets ever looked remotely like stopping the Patriots' offence if they needed to.

are we dull? it's hard for me to tell as I'm a complete maniac during pats games. I think we're exciting--faulk on a screen, dillon on third and two, run-stuffing defence! As ever the secondary is a concern, but i fancy us to beat the Chargers. But then i fancy us to beat anyone except the Colts, who always scare me to death.

what on earth has happened to the non-sky coverage of NFL now?! ITV seem to be carrying highlights, but no more live matches?! Have channel 5 or ITV got the superbowl? Or is it neither? Still no chance of the eagles getting there, but its nice to watch it anyway.

Asante Samuel's just registered. He wants a word with you about the Patriots' secondary (although Rodney Harrison's injury is huge, he really is some player).

Don't worry too much about the Colts. It's January after all.

Exciting weekend of Play-off games, other than the dull Pats blowout.

Tony Romo... oh dear. Great recovery from Babineaux to effectively win the game for the Hawks with that last ditch tackle - no one else was getting there.

I'm predicting Colts vs Chargers and Eagles vs Seahawks in the Championship games. I can see Rex Grossman going to pieces under such intense pressure and the fact that I want the Saints to win it means they have no chance. Apologies to the city of New Orleans for jinxing them.

From there, I'm going Seahawks vs Chargers, and an LT inspired win to cap his incredible season.

I think you will find highlights of the play offs tucked away on ITV2/3 or 4 at some silly hour. As for the superbowl this will be badly shown on ITV.

Samuel is playing out of his skin--contract year. I'm praying harrison will be back this week as he HATES the Chargers.

By the way there's a very enjoyable article by Adam Gopnik in the New Yorker on US football this week. It mentions one of my favourite books--Fred Exley's A Fan's Notes, which everyone who likes the NFL should read.

Just out of interest (and to put off revision), I'm looking at something.

Can everyone PM me a list of NFL teams.

Don't just copy and paste, or look on the internet or anything. If you can't name them all at the minute, that's even better. Just do it as they come into your head. Nicknames are fine.

I just want to know who everyone (subconsciously) thinks are the most non-descript, forgettable team out there.

Try and do it really quickly, just rattle them off.

Miami Dolphins
Buffalo Bills
New York Jets
New England Patriots
Cleveland Browns
Cincinnati Bengals
Pittsburgh Steelers
Baltimore Ravens
Jacksonville Jaguars
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Tennessee Titans
Oakland Raiders
Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs
San Diego Chargers

And the NFC:
Washington Redskins
New York Giants
Dallas Cowboys
Philadelphia Eagles
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Carolina Panthers
Atlanta Falcons
New Orleans Saints
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Rams
San Francisco 49ers
Arizona Cardinals

All 32, all grouped by division. I've been following this sport too long, although I might have missed out the Cardinals had I not got hooked on Deadspin.com - I love the nickname they've given them ("The Buzzsaw").

Pretty apt summary of the coaching carousel this offseason, from Peter King:

In saying that, not everything at si.com is accurate:
http://www.timothygoddard.com/deweydefeatsseahawks.jpg

I couldn't sleep last night so I watched a bit of the coverage on what i think was ITV1. It was well past one am. I quite enjoyed it even though I haven't watched the sport since it was on C4. Two point conversions and challenging the ref are new to me. They had the Dallas Seattle game which was a good watch.

Seahawks/Bears tomorrow, reckon the Seahawks have a bit of a chance in this one, depends which Grossman turns up.

Go Ravensssssssssssssss

I can see Peyton Manning being like Dan Marino, breaking lots of records etc but never winning the big one.

Sounds like someone who backed the Ravens. ;)

What a stink job by McNair. Horrendous.

Erm, balls :(

Wish we could have kept Viniateri. He takes a lot of the pressure off of Manning, as does that young running back they have, who played well today. The Ravens should have stuck with the run surely. If the Pats beat the Chargers we should be able to move the chains with short passes to Faulk and Maroney, screens, and a dose of Dillon. But Manning is due a big game. I really like the Colts to win it all.

Never knew this:

http://forums.cpfc.org/showthread.php?threadid=147183

Agree. The Sky Sports guys were implying Jamal Lewis didn't do enough - that's because he only had 13 carries! Bad game management by Billick if you ask me.

Agree with what you said about Viniateri. I'm pondering a theory that you need a good combination of coach, quarterback and kicker to win in the playoffs. Indy now have the most clutch kicker and a great coach (I know it was a running situation on that last drive but they took the ball out of Manning's struggling hands) - only question mark now is the QB.
Leading scorer in the World League in 1991. There was some talk of him getting an NFL position too. Honestly, he was that good then.
http://images.nfl.com/images/nfleuro...92000_alex.jpg

I've Sky plussed the Saints-Eagles game, where this snippet of news was discussed.

Would be amazing if true. :lux:

Ben, Elliott, you up for it?

Bit surprised the Giants will be involved but even so i would still go to this.

I would stick to supporting the Doug :D

Who would have expected the Ravens to outmuscled by the Colts.

Somewhat similar situation to the Eagles and the Saints, the Eagles ran their mouths all week about how they were going to outmuscle the Saints and they would stop the Saints running game :hmph:

Hoping the Seahawks win today and then I will get the chance to see a certain ex Bama running back :p

Bite your tongue! :grrr:

Come on the Bears! Stuff those seachicks.

Bloody Eagles! To be honest I didn't expect them to get so far! Time to see what they get upto over the close season.

Ah well time to put my eagles shirt away and get the bears out :D

Another Bears fan comes out of the closet ;)

Come on the Seahawks

S. Alexander 94 yards, Seahawks QB sacked yet again 2 seconds to go
:bash:

Bears win with a 49 yd field goal :veryangry

Looked like it could have covered at least another 5 or so yards, great kick :p

I hate Channel 4 and Big Brother "highlights" :veryangry.

Someone please tell me that Hasselbeck repeated his "We want the ball and we're gonna score" trick that he pulled in Green Bay a few years ago. That would be class. :D

:(

Proper Chicago weather next week please.

So the weather is the only thing that will help them :hmph:

Terry Bradshaw hit the nail on the head, the major difference was the QB's and that is not saying a greal deal.

No, I just prefer watching play-off games involving NFC teams with blizzards. Looks cool.

They sell blizzards in New Orleans, plus Hurricanes (drinks) :p

The Patriots are amazing. San Diego completelyu dominated, but some stupid mistakes, some bad coaching, some stupid decisions, and we win. Unbelievable. Brady's last pass to caldwell was unreal. we are, I will admit, lucky bastards.

A win is a win :p

I've suffered for years!!

GOOD AS GOULD!!!!

Still can't believe we won that game. Why didn't the San Diego player just bat the ball down on 4th down rather than catch the ball and then fumble it? Why didn't they run a quick pass play to the sideline with eight seconds left? Why couldn't San Diego get a time out off when the saw Faulk lined up to take the snap on the two point conversion? Great stuff.

Prepare for what the sports guy calls the "Manning face." Or, more likely, Vinatieri nails us.
Still, I wouldn't bet against the Pats. It's surreal, being a Palace fan, also supporting such a team. Bets coach, best gameplans, best game adjustments, best QB, best franchise model, best resolve. We turn rejects like Gadney into world beaters over and over again. It all spells dynasty baby!

Wow went to bed astounded that we ( the pats) were only 4 down and wake up with a win. Tom brady is amazing, he always seems to find a way to win. Never dull with New England.

Was he talking about Hass and Grossman? If so then he was right. The Seahawks started 3-0 and were doing well and playing well, Hass and Alexander inclueded, but after Hass got injured against the Vikes he was never the same once he come back. Not sure if it was all done to injuries though, guess we will have to wait and see untill next season and see how he starts.

San Diego blew it when Schottenheimer wasted a timeout be challenging the interception then fumble. It was a stupid challenge and cost SD a timeout.

If they'd had that they'd have had plenty of time to get into field goal range at the end rather than rushing... but I still don't know why they went with central passes rather than trying to hit the outside like the Patriots did a few seconds earlier. If you watch the plays again though, notice the doubling up on Antonio Gates to stop Rivers targetting him for the big play.

The Pats are brilliant and I was cheering like a madman when they scored the TD and got louder when Gostkowski nailed the field goal!

Good to see LT throw his toys out the pram afterwards too :D

Also, I'd like to see the Saints make the Superbowl... but will only support them thereafter if they aren't playing the Pats :D

Cant believe both Seattle and my shoe in Chargers both lost. Both teams should have won but fair play to Brady and the Patriots who are just playoff machines.

Am now gonna cheer on New Orleans and hope that Payton Manning balls's up again. Not sure why but i have an intense dislike for the colts.

I hate the Colts and their stupid suburban 'mom and pop' whitebread 'fans' with their cosy indoor dome and nothing city (who's ever been to Indianapolis? clap-clapping along to whatever moronic message they put up on the scoreboard. Just as bad as those Orange County SUV driving San Diego morons holding up bolts for chrissake.

The playoffs need to be ouotdoors and ••••kking freezing, not indoors played in front of middle-aged gits who probably wind up the day with a quick trip to Pottery Barn.

Given how many teams play in domes, you're never going to get all the play-offs outside. And why should they be? Some of the outdoor fields are awful surfaces in September, let alone January. Even the Pats ripped up grass and put in field turf and even that isn't great... but at least the players aren't tripping over divots!

However, the AFC matchup is the first EVER AFC conference final to be held indoors.

I thought the turning point of the match came at 14-10, when the Chargers stopped a Patriots drive outside of field goal range only for a stupid personal foul from a defender whose name escapes me to gift a 1st and 10. New England drove into field goal range, Gostkowski kicked it to make it 14-13, and the momentum began to swing.

And what a miserable ending to an otherwise great weekend of football it was. I can't put into words how dull I find New England. That's despite the fact that, if someone handed me a green card, flight ticket, and guarantee of a flat and a job I'd move to Massachusetts tomorrow. (Preferably Boston, if any generous millionaires are reading.) Seriously, they could bore a professional paint dryer to tears. And they'll probably go on and win it all now. Instead of watching LT light up the Super Bowl, we'll have No Frills Belichick and Robobrady sending us all to sleep for the fourth time this century. Whoopdefriggindoo.

Anyway, the other games were great, chiefly because the teams I wanted to win all advanced. I can understand people disliking Manning but the way he works the field is incredible, and you couldn't help but be impressed by the Colts' run defense on the day. Saints are the story of the season so it was good to see them go through, and Chicago was the first place in the US that I ever visited - a city I instantly fell in love with - and I've followed them closely every since.

This time out, however, I want New Orleans to go all the way. It'd be a truly incredible story and the perfect ending to a dream season for Sean Payton. There are so many individual success stories which fit with it: Drew Brees capping an almost unbelievable first year in Louisiana; the McAllister-Bush running back combo; Jeff Faine doing a superb job at centre; Marques Colston's stunning emergence from nowhere; the defense's ongoing improvement.

The good thing is I can see the Saints beating the Bears. The bad thing is that I envision New England sneaking past Indy (possibly with that rarity of rarities: a shanked Vinatieri field goal, and against his former side to boot) then grinding out victory in The Big One. But then, you knew that part already.

would be sweet. be nice to first beat Indy and then have all that Katrina crap (city reborn, hope at last, what it would mean to the city to win it all, greatest comeback story ever blah blah blah) ended by New England grinding out win.

Can't see us beating the Colts though. Unless Rodney Harrison is back. Then we might just do it.

I think the press will be interesting to watch this week. If a lot gets made of Colts receivers getting an easy time of it then it will be interesting to see what the officiating will be like on Sunday. Cris Collinsworth apparently has already made an issue of it in the Colts-Chiefs game.

Also worth noting that the Colts have probably come up against the two worst performing QBs of the play-offs so far (Green and McNair).

that's a very good point. I don't remember the Pats being whistled for one pass interference call yesterday, but they always struggle against Harrison. I think we ned to do what we do best, close down their running game and wear them out with ours, and hope for the best.

So does everyone else. The guy is amazing.

So Bears vs Saints, and Patriots vs Colts...

My moneys on a Saints v Patriots super bowl! ;) EVen if Bears have the best offence, and Colts the best Defence, I can see a major upset! :lux:

Eh?

And eh?

And neither Pats nor Saints winning would be upsets.

I think either the Colts or Pats to win. I'll go with the Colts.

Nearly...

Bears have a crap O (and a good D) and colts have a piss poor D (and a good O)

"Tonight Matthew I want to be half as successful as my older brother..."

http://slamonline.com/online/wp-cont.../2007/01/1.JPG

Brohm's going back to uni, so in all likelihood there goes our chance of taking a QB in the first round. Russell and Quinn will be gone by that point and Smith is too much of a gamble to go that early. Bugger!

Think he meant that even if the Bears O steps up and has a great game, the Saints will still win. Similarly, if the Colts D has a great game, the Pats will still beat them.

I think that's what was meant, anyway!

That's a pile of bull... they know how to get the job done. Are you telling me the Pats didn't play their part in the best play-off game of the weekend?

Compared to the Colts/Ravens game which WAS dull compared to the other 3 matches, the Pats were brilliant and they did what they need to.

What about when the Ravens turned up at the Superbowl a few years back barely able to score but on the back of a miserly defence? The fact the Pats aren't great defensively (although they have the best D in Pats history points-wise this season) means the offence has to step up. Brady might be a machine but isn't that what all teams want? An ice-cold QB who can score under any pressure??

True benzhyi you are being harsh. The first Super Bowl win, against the Rams, was one of the great upsets of all time; the second, against the Panthers, was, after the first quarter, one of the most exciting Super Bowls of all time. We've also had the Snow Bowl (no matter what you think of the Tuck Rule, it was pretty exciting there at the end), won two AFC Championships in Pittsburgh, and twice shut down one of the great offences of all time against the Colts. How much more exciting could the Chargers game have been? Brady doesn't throw it long all that much, but we never blow anyone out, and so nearly all of our games are close. As a Pats fan, you never feel safe.

Rodney Harrison could be back for Sunday, which gives us more of a chance.

Now, that would bew a god-send against the previously mis-firing Manning, Snr... no, not Archie :D

I'm not disputing how good the Pats are; I was merely trying to get across how dull I find them. To me they're like the NFL's answer to Chelsea: effective but, if you're not a fan, tedious to watch. Though I was rather over-egging the point for what was supposed to be comic effect.

And I didn't enjoy the second half of the Chargers game because I was desperate for them to go through and could see they were going to blow it. :)

I mean this as a compliment - I think of the Patriots like the Germans. Very efficient, ruthless, not prone to defeating themselves.

Another good day for Ron Mexico.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive...71mexico1.html

The Bears don't have a crap O, as it happens. They have a mediocre O that plays like crap far more often than it should, but if it plays to its potential it is good enough.

It has a serviceable tight end and a bunch of very good posession receivers, albeit without a pure gamebreaker in the mix. It has two very good running backs (which is one more than most teams have) neither of whom is great. And it has a quarterback who can be very, very good indeed but as often is not is simply awful. All of that hides behind a first class offensive live anchored by a Pro Bowl class centre. To call the Bears O "crap" is facile, and suggests a lack of understanding of the game. Underachieving is more like it. There's never been a 13-3 team half of whose starting personnel are crap. Trust me on that.

And what's your field, Saxon? The company I work for is HQd in Boston and I spend about 10 days or so there a month. Better PM me and I'll see if I (or anyone I know) can help.

But I'd call West Ham crap, and what you say about Bears is very applicable (in a highly translated form) to the Hammers.

Calling them mediocre is hardly a step up from crap in my opinion.

I think this guy's mock draft is way off the mark, but would be quite happy to see Quinn fall to the Dolphins at no. 9.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slu...yhoo&type=lgns

I can certainly see Russell being the number one pick as the Raiders definitely need a new QB - Brooks has been poor and Walter doesn't look like he'll ever make it. A lot of the other sides above us in the order have young guys coming through: Cards have Leinart, Skins have Campbell, Vikings have Jackson. Texans have Carr and while he's had a poor season I can't see them writing him off yet. And Kitna's not the Lions biggest weakness, so I make that two teams above us in need of a quarterback: Cleveland and Tampa. And even then there's a chance that the Browns will stick with Frye and Anderson and Tampa with their three options, although Gradkowski's did bugger all last season. Probably too early to judge him realistically though.

So maybe we could end up with Quinn.

Alternatively, we could make a play for Matt Schaub in the off-season. Perhaps I'm baised because I played as Atlanta on Madden for so long, but he's looked in superb nick whenever he's been thrown into the mix and is the only notable free agent QB.

I like Matt Schaub.

I'd worry that Matt Schaub would be AJ Feeley all over again (although in saying that I don't think Feeley was ever given a chance to succeed in Miami).

Are you guys interested in meeting up if the Fins play at Wembley? Official announcement is two weeks today. www.nfllondon2007.com

Quinn and Ginn, Jr will go higher than 9 and 10. And is Troy Smith not entering the draft this year? Apart from an O-line collapse in the BCS game, he showed up much better than Quinn in the regular season.

He is going in the draft but will not be picked until the second day according to most polls here now. Many reckon he is just too small and is not great under pressure

I've just read something similar on the NCAA website. How do you rate him compared to Quinn though? Right now, I'd pick Smith but then that's probably why I'm not involved in the NFL and I'm stuck behind a desk :D

Smith might go towards the end of the first round, but he's unlikely to be picked above Russell or Quinn. I agree that he had a narrowly better season than Quinn, but the latter is considered more of an orthodox NFL QB. Having said that Vince Young has shown what an asset an athletic QB can be (and demonstrated more consistency in his first season than the considerably talented Mike Vick) so perhaps someone will take a chance on Smith earlier than expected.

Out of interest, which sides in the top eight do you see drafting QBs? As I mentioned earlier nearly all of them are already grooming a youngster for the starter position (Leinart, Gradkowski, Jackson, Campbell to name four) so it'd make no sense to draft another quarterback when they need to strengthen elsewhere.

Actually, maybe only Oakland.

Frye needs more time at Cleveland and Gradkowski the same at Tampa, IMO. As you said, Cards have Leinart (excellent), Skins have Campbell (improving), Vikings have Jackson (improving), Texans have Carr (not sure!) and the Lions have Kitna (???).

The only way the Lions or Texans would go for a QB would be if they thought they had someone they could throw in almost straight away.

At the start of the season, I saw the Browns lose at home to the Saints and all the fans were calling their season "the race to get Brady". And I still think he'll go #1 to Oakland despite what I said about Smith.

And I guess given I've just persuaded myself that only one or two of the top 8 need a QB, maybe Smith will get bumped down quite a way!!!

Still think Ginn, Jr will be top 5 though. I won't talk myself out of that one :D

Seriously. Troy Smith's stock has dropped enourmously since his mauling by Florida. He was a late first round pick before that game now they are talking about round 4 and lower.

Him and Quinn are quite difficult to compare although id have to say Quinn is better as he did well(ish) behind the dross that was the ND offensive line. Although Quinn has bottled every big game he has played in. Despite Smith's Disasterous last game he has a good record in crunch games.

I think many see him as a Vince Young type player but he is just too small to have a major impact in the NFL

While I agree with everything you say, having read the press, I think you have to look at Quinn's big match temperament... which as you say is not great.

Last year, the draft included some excellent players (Bush, Leinart, Young, Cutler, Hawk, Williams, even Colston being drafted low down as a TE, Maroney, Addai) and they've all stepped up this season as rookies.

The draft for 2007 looks very empty in comparison and I don't think it is such a good year to have early picks. The Texans must regret not taking Bush as first overall...

I definatly think that the Texans not taking Bush will be talked about for years as one of the biggest blunders ever for a first round pick. This years draft does include some very exciting prospects all across the board. i think it is a more well rounded draft than last years with fewer outstanding standout players and more good ones.

i dont think there will be too much trading of picks this year with people wanting or needing to pick certain players. I agree that those with early picks this year can feel themselves a bit unlucky, but as you always see there are hidden gems in there.

Im sure New Orleans just played crap last year to get Bush :D

They lucked out that Houston didn't take him!

They are officially the best "turnaround" team ever - no team has ever made the conference final on the back of a 13 defeat season the year before!

Weird stuff can happen between now and the draft. Last year Vince Young had all kinds of junk written about him, apart from the fact he was the most important player on the college champion Texas team. Leinart, a year removed from winning the Heisman and a national title slipped from being a possible number 1 to number 10.

The year before that Aaron Rodgers was tipped to possibly go at number 1 to San Francisco. He ended up being picked 24th. :eek:

I am going to Wembley (assuming that they let BCAFL teams have an allowance).

If they don't, I'm quitting the game out of anger.

Samardzija's given up football to play baseball... there goes a potential great first or second round pick for somebody.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2736354

Guaranteed money innit.

N.B. Sorry, to be clear, MLB contracts are guaranteed through the life of a contract. If you want to cut a player you have to pay the contract in full, which I don't believe is the case in the NFL.

Looking forward to tonight

Hoping its a Saints/Colts Superbowl

Ugh, thought it was starting at 6pm. It's starting at 8pm instead. :(

I see the Colts President is talking AGAIN about receivers being bumped downfield. So not content with actually changing the rules, he's trying to bully the refs into decisions. I guarantee you'll see one or two crucial pass interference calls against the Pats tonight. After all, we have to guarantee that Manning gets to the Super Bowl don't we.
Fingers crossed for a rematch from 1985. We owe the Bears!

Wasn't surprised when I heard that on a PTI podcast. Has there been any response from New England?

If I were a Colts fan I'd worry that they're getting their excuses in early.