2006 NFL Season Preview

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JohnBM01

JohnBM01

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I don't have an official preview for the NFL, but I've decided to give out this thread with the increased amount of football merchandise in stores and starting of mini camp action. If you want to talk about the upcoming NFL season in ANY aspect, you are free to talk aobut the new season. Topics include:

* who will win it all?
* tournament dark horses
* what losing team will be the most improved squad?
* what winning team will fall apart?
* standout rookies
* who may make the Pro Bowl?
* Sunday Night Football on NBC and Monday Night Football on ESPN

...or whatever you want to discuss. Let's look forward to the new NFL season.
 
Ok John, I'll take the bait.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers Superbowl XLI. The Bucaneers will narrowly get past the New York Football Giants in the NFC Championship game while the Steelers will annihilate the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game. Superbowl XLI will be a defensive struggle, final score: 24-21, Buccaneers!
The Saints will be scary this year with Reggie Bush and Drew Brees. Brees had a stand out season last year with the Chargers with LT carrying the rock for him. Now he has #5 to carry the rock and Joe Horn to catch it. Not to mention the fact that the Saints have a nagging habit of beating the Buccaneers over the past three seasons--there goes my Superbowl prediction! Everytime I think about the Saints I get a little nervous.
I think the Colts are gonna fall apart this year--sort of. Yeah, they'll rip through a bunch of teams. Manning will throw and throw and throw through cover one and cover two defenses, the Colts' defense will continue to improve. . . but they'll fall apart in the playoffs . . . again! Man, if my sister saw me writing this she won't invite me over for Thanksgiving--but that's a couple of months down the road! I don't think she reads GT Planet anyway--no worries.
As for the rookies. Shoot, this year's rookie class is impressive. So many talented players, it's almost unreal. When was the last time we've seen so much talent coming out of the Draft-pool? Seven years ago? Ten? Twenty?
This is gonna be an exciting year in the NFL. I don't care if the Buccaneers don't make it so the Superbowl--But the HAVE to make the playoffs!!
 
i like the look of my titans this year. vince young... i don´t think he will have any struggles whatsoever... its like having a upgraded version of air mcnair for the next 15 years:dopey:

speaking of number 9, i think the ravens will finally have a good season, going to the playoffs...

i also think that owens will get a lot of spotlight and catches...

seahawks can get to the superbowl again if they don´t mess up.

colts and eagles are in a downfall in my opinion...

i also think miami is a great bet. they are loaded with talent... togheter with the chiefs, they can surprise a lot of people... if my titans make it to the wildcard, it would already be a great season, but i´m not sure they defense can deliver
 
I totally forgot about Vince Young! He's got scary speed! But I don't think Jeff Fisher will start him right away. The defenses in the NFL will eat him alive until he can read their fronts better. It's the case with all NFL rookie QB's . . .
If Vince starts, he's gonna need a descent running back just to take the heat off of him. Once the Titans get that--who knows, maybe LenDale White might be good--and once Vinnie get's used to NFL blitz packages and defensive stunts, the Titans will definitely have a shot in the playoffs!
 
Local Houston network, KTRK Channel 13 had a special called "Houston Texans Reconstructed." They REALLY need some reconstructing especially after being 7-9 two years ago, then 2-12 the year after. Many people are still upset that Mario Williams was drafted instead of Heisman winner (it should have been Vince Young, but the Downtown Athletic Club chose) Reggie Bush. The counterstatement I made was that the Texans needed defense about as much as offense. They struggled in defending the big play from opposing teams. They lost to a struggling San Francisco was gracious in beating Arizona. I hate to jinx anyone, but did you know that the Houston Texans have never lost a game in a shutout? They did shut out Jacksonsville one season (I believe), but never received a shutout in their four seasons of existance. They are also the first expansion team to win consecutive opening day games including a home 19-10 win over their Dallas rivals and a win on the road at Miami. Their opening day record is 2-2 after losing two straight opening day starts in 2004 and 2005. Reliant Stadium is a very nice stadium. I've been there to see a college football game when SWAC schools Prairie View A&M and Southern University played one Saturday night. Maybe not as wide-open or airy like Lambeau Field or the Alltel Stadium, but it's a very nice place to see a football game of any grade. I like David Carr, Jerome Mathis, and Andre Johnson. Eric Moulds will need to establish himself on the football field for the Texans. The majority of attention will be on Mario Williams. Simply put, Texans are fairly good on offense and need defensive help. ESPN sports reporters have jumped on the Texans for not taking Vince Young or Reggie Bush. I probably would have been happier if the Texans got some more O-line help for David Carr. Some commentator had to nerve to say that Carr is trying to be Michael Vick. Not at all. He's a very efficient passer and very tough. Won't cry to the high Heavens losing miserably or getting whacked hard on his bottom. He's just a tough SoCal player out of Fresno State. Some of you college football fans know that David Carr's number was retired at Fresno State. He's one of the names to put Fresno State on the 1-A map. Even more so considering how Fresno State put up a hell of a fight against the USoCal Trojans, even in a losing effort.

The best I hope for the Texans is that they finish with a winning record this season or next. For a fairly young team, they'll need to compete for at least a wild card bid in the AFC. Their best record was 7-9 two years ago. They'll need to repeat their performance when they finished 7-9 and do better. I'm not saying that that Houston is going to dominate the NFL or at least the AFC South. I'm just saying that the Texans have to really step up and silence their critics, especially about the Mario Williams draft pick. They still need to play their game and not be so stuck on the critics. Gary Kubiak is going to have to be vigilant in boosting the morale of the Texans as coach. Texans have a lot of Denver help for this Houston unit.

Arizona Cardinals football has plenty of Matt Leinart love for that new stadium I have yet to see in pictures. He was quite a juggernaut in college with his supporting cast. Question is, can he help make the Arizona Cardinals winning more than stinking? I like Matt Leinart. Just hope his boys can deliver.

Can Donovan McNabb do well with his team? Can Terrell Owens do his job in Dallas? Keep this preview going.
 
First preseason game tonight.

Colts vs Rams.

As a Rams fan I get a peak of whether or not Linehan will be a good match for the team and with Marshall Faulk out for the season (possibly career) due to knee surgery I will see whether Steven Jackson can carry most of the running load. Of course, we can't rule out former Wildcat Moe Williams who has been brought in for one year to fill in Faulk's short yardage spot.

Now that my joy of getting my first real taste of Rams football is back I can't wait. Of course, it is the Colts. :nervous:
 
I'm interested to see how the Cowboys end up during the season since they have aquired T.O... I'm not suspecting the Cowboys will do any better though. Eh, I've lost faith in the team. They always find some way to lose.
 
Silverzone
I'm interested to see how the Cowboys end up during the season since they have aquired T.O... I'm not suspecting the Cowboys will do any better though. Eh, I've lost faith in the team. They always find some way to lose.
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I picture Parcells and TO looking like this: :banghead: TO being the wall, of course.


-------

So is anyone doing fantasy football? I'm in a league with some friends but I still haven't even started on my draft picks yet. I'm putting it off until we set up the date so that I will have the latest possible news to go on.
 
Yo, JFM! Rams got it done against the Colts. How you feeling about this preseason victory?
 
JohnBM01
Yo, JFM! Rams got it done against the Colts. How you feeling about this preseason victory?
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Probably like I am. Yay, we won, but we lost the only possesion that counted.

Oh well, at least we ran the ball for a change.
 
FoolKiller
First preseason game tonight.

Colts vs Rams.

As a Rams fan I get a peak of whether or not Linehan will be a good match for the team and with Marshall Faulk out for the season (possibly career) due to knee surgery I will see whether Steven Jackson can carry most of the running load. Of course, we can't rule out former Wildcat Moe Williams who has been brought in for one year to fill in Faulk's short yardage spot.

Now that my joy of getting my first real taste of Rams football is back I can't wait. Of course, it is the Colts. :nervous:
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ARRRGGH!!! I HATE THE RAMS!!!:grumpy:
I was 10 when the Buccaneers lost to the RAMS during the NFC Championship Game near the end of the '79 NFL Season. 9-0 was the final. The RAMS won with 3 field goals . . . and to this day I have that image of the RAMS kicker gloating like a drunk during Mardi Gras!! The Kicker?!! To see a kicker--of all players on the field gloat like that!! It was obscene!
And the RAMS ended the Buccaneers season again during '99 season in another NFC title fight. I've got more than 20 years of seething hatred buildt up for the RAMS. But it's penny-ante stuff compared to my hatred for the Philadelphia Eagles!!!! But I won't get into that--at least not now.

I have a feeling that you and I are gonna be laying down the smack all season. I want to be the first to say good luck. I hope the RAMS do well and I hope the Buccaneers will see them during the playoffs!👍
 
Thundercat
and to this day I have that image of the RAMS kicker gloating like a drunk during Mardi Gras!! The Kicker?!! To see a kicker--of all players on the field gloat like that!! It was obscene!
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Tell me you are not a kicker hater. Kickers get no respect. They usually are the highest scoring member of the team, they come in at clutch times to save the game when the offense fails, and they set up the defense to give them more room to stop the drive.

Honestly, the kicker has what appears to be the easiest job and they look bad on paper (which is why fantasy football practically ignores them), but they can turn a game quicker than any other guy on that field. How many Super Bowls have been won by kickers? Hell, how many important games all around have been won by kickers?

It's like last night's game. The Rams' first punt landed on the 2 or 3 yard line. Two plays later, SAFETY! Sure we credit the guy that made the sack, but if not for the kicker it wouldn't have happened.

I give all my love to the kicker, but still pick him last in my FFL. I wonder if I can get a kicker jersey anywhere.

I have a feeling that you and I are gonna be laying down the smack all season. I want to be the first to say good luck. I hope the RAMS do well and I hope the Buccaneers will see them during the playoffs!👍
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You'll get less smack from me than you will JFM, the creator of this thread. Of course, I do talk smack, even when no one wants to argue with me about it. You can see me trashing rivals in the college basketball thread from last year and no one was there to argue. :sly:
 
FoolKiller
Tell me you are not a kicker hater. Kickers get no respect. They usually are the highest scoring member of the team, they come in at clutch times to save the game when the offense fails, and they set up the defense to give them more room to stop the drive.

Honestly, the kicker has what appears to be the easiest job and they look bad on paper (which is why fantasy football practically ignores them), but they can turn a game quicker than any other guy on that field. How many Super Bowls have been won by kickers? Hell, how many important games all around have been won by kickers?
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Hey, You're absolutely right!! Kickers do save the day for their teams more times than a lot of us care to admit. And they get little to no respect. My sister, though, loves kickers! They're her second favorite player on the field behind quarterbacks--go figure!
Do you remember Superbowl XXV? Buffalo Bills Vs. The New York Football Giants, score was 19-20, with 8 seconds left . . . Scott Norwood lines up to put the Bills ahead and misses!!!!! Can you imagine how sick he must've felt?

Well the Buccaneers go up against the Jets tonight. Don't know what to make of this match-up. It's not gonna be televised live, but at least I can catch a later re-airing on the NFL network. If the Bucs win by 3 points I make sure to give the kicker his props!

Later
 
Thundercat
Hey, You're absolutely right!! Kickers do save the day for their teams more times than a lot of us care to admit. And they get little to no respect. My sister, though, loves kickers! They're her second favorite player on the field behind quarterbacks--go figure!
Do you remember Superbowl XXV? Buffalo Bills Vs. The New York Football Giants, score was 19-20, with 8 seconds left . . . Scott Norwood lines up to put the Bills ahead and misses!!!!! Can you imagine how sick he must've felt?

Well the Buccaneers go up against the Jets tonight. Don't know what to make of this match-up. It's not gonna be televised live, but at least I can catch a later re-airing on the NFL network. If the Bucs win by 3 points I make sure to give the kicker his props!

Later
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You mean this kick?



They get no glory when they do it right and pure hatred when they miss one. It's like the CIA of the NFL. :D

Anyway Adam Sandler tells it like it is here in The Lonesome Kicker.

 
Super Bowl XXV--that's exactly what I was talking about! And since we're talking about kickers; the Giants needed 5 field goals from Matt Bahr to beat the 49'ers to make it to the Super Bowl in the first place. Talk about ironies! Thanks for sharing the videos! Man, you are right on the money.👍

Adam Sandler's crazy!
 
The 2006 Houston Texans looked pretty good up against the K.C. Chiefs at Reliant Stadium. I've seen a much different lineup and a much more composed team as compared to last year's horrid unit. The Texans won 24-14, but may have won 28-24 had a touchdown run not get called back after a foolish Holding penalty. I think I know who my buddy JFM is going for because my Texans are going to go into St. Louis to face the Rams August 19th. As far as individual players go, Mr. Lundy has done very well rushing the ball for the Texans offense. I don't know too much about plays in general, so the notion of the Texans getting rid of a 3-4-4 lineup to a 4-3-4 lineup is rather interesting. David Carr wasn't sacked a single time for what I know. Texans put up a few sacks on the Chiefs. I credit Kubiak on a job well done. If his boys can stay healthy for the 16-game swing, they should do a lot better than their best-ever 7-9 finish. I don't see the Texans winning the AFC South. I think the best they can go for is the AFC Wild Card. They'll have to bring it if they want it.

Locals here in Houston who like the Texans will see this lineup of home games for the Texans:

TEXANS HOME GAMES

9/10 vs. Eagles
"/24 vs. Redskins
10/1 vs. Dolphins
"/22 vs. Jaguars
11/19 vs. Bills
12/10 vs. Titans (match I'm looking forward to)
"/24 vs. Colts
"/31 vs. Browns

I think this will be a good year for the Texans. Whether or not it will be a great year will depend on how well they play and how bad they want to have a breakout year. They may stage their greatest campaign since the 2004 season.
 
Suprisingly, The cowboys won their first pre-season game against the Seahawks. I didn't catch the game, but I'm still pretty pessimistic about their season as a whole though.
 
I say Chiefs all the way. :dopey:


No, really.


And the home of the.....



CHIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEFFFFFSS!!!!

I feel that the gods are smiling upon the only stadium worth going to in the truman sports complex.
 
We're sharing some love of teams here. So let me ask you another set of questions:

A.) What team will be the most improved from last season? the least imrproved?
B.) What dominant team may fall apart this season?
 
JohnBM01
We're sharing some love of teams here. So let me ask you another set of questions:

A.) What team will be the most improved from last season? the least imrproved?
B.) What dominant team may fall apart this season?
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WISH LIST

A) RAMS!!!
B) Patriots

REALISTIC LIST

A) Packers (Can't do much worse)
B) Colts (I think the loss of James will hurt them)
 
I think the most improved team from last year will be either the Ravens or Dolphins. For the dominant team that might take a step is the Steelers.
Oh watch out the Panthers they could be potentially dominant.
 
Most Improved Team: New Orleans Saints
Team that may Crash & Burn: Indianapolis Colts. For the Colts I think it's SuperBowl or bust! Their fans are HUNGRY for a SuperBowl appearance. HUNGRY. If they don't make it, I don't see T. Dungy--as much as I respect him--afterall, he did build the Buccaneers defense--back for the 2007 season.
 
Thundercat
Most Improved Team: New Orleans Saints
Team that may Crash & Burn: Indianapolis Colts. For the Colts I think it's SuperBowl or bust! Their fans are HUNGRY for a SuperBowl appearance. HUNGRY. If they don't make it, I don't see T. Dungy--as much as I respect him--afterall, he did build the Buccaneers defense--back for the 2007 season.
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I forgot about how the Saints have rebuilt this year but I still think they are going to need half a season to get it all meshing well.

kjb, you might be right about the Steelers. I just heard this morning that Cowher ended contract negotiations and won't be back next year. So, ujnless things change there is definitely some issues there. Between that Ben's face-plant into a windshield it might be a rough year for them. Still, I am sticking with the Colts. Their running game is going to be developing with a new back this year and I am a firm believer in how a running game is a key to a good offense.
 
This post has nothing to do with any NFL teams. I'll just have to remember to keep seeing NBC for the Sunday Night games with the tandem of Al Michaels and recent Hall of Famer John Madden. The NBC package looks pretty nice, though I kind of liked the ESPN Sunday Night action a bit more with Mike Patrick, Joe T., and Paul McGuire(?). Monday Night Football on ESPN is the tandem of Mike Tirico, Joe T., and a very familiar face to PTI fans (myself included)- Tony Kornheiser. The graphics showing the score and everything looks like maybe a boxing match is going on. I do think Tony Kornheiser lends his insane comments out into the announce booth for Monday Night Football. I'm more used to Tony Kornheiser debating topics with Michael Wilbon on Pardon the Interruption, but it doesn't seem like old times when Tony's on the road doing Monday Night games. I sometimes had a tough time of recognizing Joe T. from Tony Kornheiser. Tony's voice is a bit deeper. Having seen PTI for about two years now, I should be able to tell what Tony sounds like on TV.

As for us locally, the Texans are going to pay a visit to St. Louis for a Saturday night preseason game. They'll still be on the road for the Saturday after. Then they return home for their final preseason game on August 31st.
 
The Texans are looking pretty good this preseason. They knocked off the Rams 27-20. I think if we can keep up the good work, we may easily get our first winning season. The best I think the Texans can go for is the AFC Wild Card. The Texans will stay on the road and play... someone. I don't know who we have next. I do know that we are at home August 31st vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I like Lundy as far as rookies go. I think the area the Texans have to improve is in offensive line coverage. Some like David Carr, some don't. I like Carr because he's an efficient passer. I just question if he'll have some weapons downfield. I think he's very efficient in the short passing game. His mid-range attack is a little hit-and-miss. I do want to see him throw a nice bomb at about... 20+ yards deep or farther. And it would be nice to see Verand Morency or Andre Johnson pick up the scraps. The main criticism we'll get on the national stage is that we didn't take Bush, didn't take Young, or didn't take Leinart. Texans say it's a football decision to not take Bush. But it if it means that the Texans performed better even without those collegiate studs, then so be it. Oh... another thing I like about David Carr, he's tough. He's been sacked 76 times in his first year and got up from almost every sack and every hard hit. Carr admires Brett Favre. Should be an interesting year for all of us here in Southeast Texas.

Since it's Monday, we'll get to see the Dallas Cowboys take on the New Orleans Saints with Mike Tirico, Joe T., and Tony Kornheiser call down this game. Who you got in this game?
 
The Dallas Cowboys blew out the New Orleans Saints 30-7. So there you have it.
 
Here locally, the Texans will play in Denver for some Sunday Night prime time action. Gary Kubiak brought a lot of Denver to the Texans. Now it's time to see how our boys do playing in Invesco Field at Mile High this Sunday.

As an off-topic note, Madden NFL 2007 is here for you gaming fans. So I'm sure some of you avid gamers would love to see what this new installment of Madden has to offer.
 
JohnBM01
As an off-topic note, Madden NFL 2007 is here for you gaming fans. So I'm sure some of you avid gamers would love to see what this new installment of Madden has to offer.
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Same stuff, better graphics, with a higher price tag.

When the NFL gave EA the sole rights it was a sad day. I miss my $20 football games. I am still playing the last of the 2K series in protest of the video game monopoly of NFL titles. I just can't see paying $50-$60 every year to get the most up-to-date version of what is essentially the same game.

I will give Madden some credit though, that is how I learned about football. I had no interest in football until I played a Madden game at a friend's house and liked it, so I bought my own copy. That was six years ago. I went from only knowing that a touchdown was 6 points to being able to describe entire plays and winning fantasy football leagues. Now I glue myself to the TV during games, unless UK basketball is on (of course).
 

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