Shiver's random musings
 

This Joe Flacco vs. Matt Ryan discussion amuses me. Right now it is way too early to call that one. Although I clearly have an inclination with who I would rather have, it is all conjecture. But most importantly both the Falcons and Ravens have been snake bit when it comes to the QB position, until now. It is about time that things went well for both teams.

Watch out for the Dolphins. They are only one game back and they have a cupcake schedule consisting of match-ups with the Raiders, 49ers, Rams, Chiefs. They also get the Patriots at home. I want to ask something as well: why is Chad Pennington out-playing Brett Favre? With worse receivers I might add.

I was underwhelmed with the Giants last year. They barely made the playoffs, and their Super Bowl run was both unprecedented and completely unexpected. No honest Giants fan expected them to transform the way they did. Somehow, someway they "clicked" and became a different team. This year they are still "that team."

The Titans are the only team in recent memory that seems to be perfectly imitating the 2000 Ravens model. They will win a lot of games in the trenches, they have the game's best CB, and Chris Johnson can be a game-breaker. With all of the "usual suspects" failing in the AFC, why not the Titans?

Mark my words: the Chargers will surpass the Broncos in the AFC West. They do not have a great defense this year, but they are still better than the Broncos in that regard. Philip Rivers is still my favorite of the '04 class, rings considering.

The Falcons get to play the Bucs and Panthers at home down the stretch, just sayin'. Besides the point, wasn't the NFC South supposed to be the "worst division by far." Nice prediction....

Is this the first year that there was no clear cut MVP? I really have no clue who will win it. But I will throw a name out there: Kurt Warner. He is playing like it is 1999 again and the Cardinals are four games up in the division.

Basically I was bored and wanted to post something.

Good stuff. I am sad this stuff doesnt come up every week like it used to.

And Finnegan is not the games best CB. Nnamdi Asomugha. If you had worded it as the games best CB that plays for a team that actually matters, then maybe you would be right.

And I agree about the Chargers. I see them getting hot and winning games based on River's arm, if nothing else. I really hope they don't get too hot by the time we play them.

As a giants fan, I didn't expect us to win the superbowl. I did expect playoffs and get out of the first round. We made the playoffs under two idiot coordinators, Tim Lewis and John Hufangel. And we fired both guys that were originally brought in with Coughlin. We promoted Gilbride, and hired spags. I expected this team to get out of the first round, which we did. I, however didn't expect us to win it all. I was very confident we could beat the Bucs because I felt we matched up well against them. After that it was all house money.

The difference between the 2000 Ravens and the 2008 Titans is as follows:

The ravens defense was marginally better.
The titans running game is marginally better.
The ravens had a better back 7.
The titans have a better front 4.

That's pretty much it. I think that the ravens were more dominant because of that. But the titans are clearly more balanced with Johnson/Lenwhale vs Holmes/Lewis

Don't worry Atlanta fans...the Giants defense will give you another edge in the Flacco-Ryan debates this upcoming week.

The guy in my sig is the best CB in the game.... Finnegan is top 5 or 10 this year

Its about time. He can't continue making a name for himself after playing OAK, CLE, and HOU all the time.

I Dont Read Threads Without Mentioning Tyler Thigpen!

he did make a name for himself leading a TD drive in PIT in the 2nd half to tie the game.

But either was it is obvious both Flacco and Ryan can become franchise QB, it is impossible to tell who will be better, say the Ravens want to still be a D minded team and build on the defense never getting Flacco offensive weapons, or they spend a ton on offense giving him several play makers. Or vice versa it is way to early to tell.

Well u obviously did :D

any who, i thought everyone knew that the NFC West is the worst division and then the AFC West, i thought that was always the case

T'was a joke.

Wouldn't it be awesome if the Titans signed Nnamdi Asomugha this offseason? Good luck passing on that secondary.

I don't think the Chiefs will be the cupcake as they may have been in Sept./Oct.does'nt mean they'll have any wins to show for it but it certainly will not be easy for the Phins IMO

As a Colts fan, I can honestly say it would not be awesome to see Nnamdi Asomugha in a Titans jersey.

that would be brutal.

I can't see Matt Ryan being much good against either defense and Tampa gets back Caddy. I think a lot of these games will depend on how the Falcon's opponents come into the game, rather than how good the falcons play, realistically if the Panthers or Buccs play flat and crap its the falcons to lose but if both teams are fired, the Falcons don't stand a chance.

Tom Cable said the Raiders had had the best week of practice before playing the Falcons. 24-0. Sean Payton had a bye and said the team had their best week of practice. 34-20.

If the Falcons defense can play like they did against the Saints, the Bucs and Panthers offense will hardly manage any points. Falcons offense vs Bucs/Panthers D should be interesting though.

The Panthers and Buccs both have better offensive lines and starting running backs than the Saints did. Plus, as good as Colston is, he's no Steve Smith.

I see what you're saying, but just because a coach says they practiced good, doesn't mean they played hard.

Hell Fox said the same thing about the Panthers going in to face Oakland and the offense was abhorrent. We get a nice tune up game against Detroit and then its on to Atlanta.

I still like our chances, not much has changed since you guys came to Carolina and I don't know if playing in the dome will be such a massive advantage that it will override the other issues the team had facing the Buccs and Panthers.

They'll be good games to watch, no doubts there, but Atlanta is the third horse in the race imo.

o ok I gotcha, I mean we both got franchise QBs, and I am not shocked at all that Ryan is doing better, go back to the draft and if you asked who was more NFL ready every single person would say Ryan over Flacco.

The Falcons team has been improving every week. All the gelling and learning of schemes is really coming through right now. A lot of the guys are on the same page now, which is different from before. I think playing in a familiar setting is going to help the Falcons a lot, because of the youth of this team.

Either way, the Falcons-Panthers and Falcons-Bucs games are going to be good. I have the Panthers game as a L and the Bucs game as a W.

I am pretty shocked about Flacco. I thought the fact that he was starting in his first season was ridiculous and a terrible decision (not that the FO had much of a choice though), especially if they wanted to contend. He is showing some good stuff right now though.

I just hope, whatever happens no injuries.

I am with you, I really predicted a top 5 pick when I heard he was starting, and I thought he was going to play like Tavares Jackson.

im not sure whose better. Finnegan or Revis

I'll dig up the quote later, but I believe I may have been the only person ever to predict the Dolphins run at the playoffs this season. Just thought I'd stick that in this thread since you're giving em props too, Shiv. A well put together O-line and thundering running game will take you far in this league.

As for the Chargers surpassing Denver; I think the next two weeks (at Pitt, Indy at home) will reveal a whole lot about who these Chargers are. They've got a history of playing up or down to their competition so maybe now that their backs are finally against the wall we'll see the team we've been waiting for. Rivers is having too good of a season to be at home in January.

and Kurt can have my MVP vote any day.