Into the Gridiron Background Information
Alright, basically "Into the Gridiron" will be a continuous series of articles about the NFL. It will basically be the same thing as a blog except on the forum. I decided to write this series because I was going to make a blog but after I got it set up I decided not to. Even though I don't show it in my posts I am actually a pretty good writer, especially for my age. I will try to write an article at least once a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. The main topic will always be in the title. I will usually try to get 4-7 topics in one article. All will be at least 150 words, most will be 200-500 words. This will be part of the article for about the first 5 articles.
Previous "Into the Gridiron" Articles
http://www.sportstimes.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=football&action=display&thread=4618]Into the Gridiron Article #1 - Are the Eagles a Dream Team or Overrated?[/url]
Into the Gridiron Article #2 Introduction
1.....Mike Vick's Contract
2.....Why I Like the Bills This Year
3.....Are the Lions a Playoff Team?
4.....Who Will Win the NFC West
Mike Vick's Contract
Just today Mike Vick signed a contract that has our members saying he shouldn't be getting paid that much. But honestly, why not? He has one of the best arms in the league and he tops that off with a set of legs that can run. Vick had the 4th highest passer rating which is ahead of Manning by 6 spots. He only threw 6 interceptions which is the third best in the league, also ahead of Manning. Those stats aren't even mentioning his running. Not only did he improve his stats though, he improved how he throws. When he was in Atlanta you would see so often that he looked for his first receiver and ran. Now, he looks threw his top three targets before stepping foot out of the backfield. And so what if he's getting paid on what he did in one year? That one year could have been an MVP year. When it comes down to it, you shouldn't be getting paid depending on your career. You should be getting paid on what you've done in the past two years. Granted, $100M may be a bit much, he still deserves to be getting paid like a top QB in the league.
Why I Like the Bills This Year
I don't know if you guys noticed but the Bills improved a lot as the season progressed last year and during the off-season. Last year the Bills started out 0-8, but once they started to get some chemistry on the field they finished the season off 4-4. That .500 record isn't bad, in fact, it's really nice for a team that started off so bad. Also, not only did we comeback to finish the year on a 4-4 record, we had 3 games go into overtime and 4 games that were within 3 points. So if the Bills had won all the close games, we would have been 8-8, that's pretty nice. Now we look at the off-season, the Bills did lose one key player in Paul Posluszny, but he's injury prone anyways. Other than him we didn't lose anyone major and only improved. Some of our key pick-ups include Nick Barnett, Kirk Morrison and Brad Smith. Prepare to see a lot of wildcat out of Buffalo, you have Thigpen who already has experience in the wildcat with Thigpen. You also have Brad Smith who can play QB, WR and possibly even RB. You also have CJ Spiller who can go out for a pass at any time. And don't forget Roscoe Parrish who's available for a reverse at any given time. Sounds like a pretty good wildcat too me. Then you have defense, which in my eyes, is looking the best it has in years. Our lineman look great with Dareus and Williams. Ask any NFL analysis, Kyle Williams is a top 10 NT/DT. Our linebacker corps are completely revamped. Shawne Merriman said he's feeling better than ever, he also said that he's almost "Lights Out" again. Nick Barnett has had 100+ tackles for the last 7 years and has nothing to prove besides how much better he can make the Bills defense. Kirk Morrison is an old linebacker that will need to prove himself though. The Bills secondary got a little bit of a boost from Aaron Williams setting us up for the future. We have Aaron Williams, Leodis McKelvin and Jairus Byrd to look forward too. I see the Bills possibly going 8-8 this year, however, I'm thinking 6-10, maybe 7-9.
Are the Lions a Playoff Team?
Before you can even mention the playoffs in Detroit you need to ask what Matthew Stafford's health is like. As much as I like the Lions this year, they just don't have a good enough backup QB to make it to the playoffs with out Stafford. Maybe if they signed a decent FA quarterback or took Tebow off the Broncos hands. But until they get a backup QB Stafford absolutely has to stay healthy for the Lions to have a playoff shot. Outside of Stafford the offense should be solid. Best is looking for a good year, I can see him racking up about 1,000 yards. Stafford to Johnson will be a crazy connection this year if Stafford stays healthy. I would say about 1,300 yards and 12 to 14 touchdowns for Calvin. I think Stafford also has a really good looking year in front of him too. The defense should be crazy this year, Suh is going to do great on the line. On the line Suh will have Williams, Vanden Bosch and Fairley with him. Avril is also looking pretty good. To answer the question, I think the Lions pretty much have a wild card locked up. I'm going to guess an 11-5 record for them. They have a relatively easy schedule in front of them that they should make the most out of.
Who Will Win the NFC West?
You can look at the NFC West in two ways, the worst division in the league or the most competitive division in the league. I can't really stick to one of those answers because the Seahawks picked up a lot of talent and the Rams are looking good too, but when you have bad teams, you can't exactly say it's competition. As for who will win, it'll be tough this year. The 49ers are almost certainly knocked out of the race with out a QB so you can just forget about them. The Cardinals are an interesting team because they have a good quarterback, but an unproven one. There defense also isn't very top of the notch either. So that kicks them out of the picture for me. Now we're down to the Seahawks and Rams. The Seahawks picked up a great talent in Sidney Rice but I think they should have secured Matt Hasselback and made sure he was in a Seattle uni for 2011. He left though and they quickly replaced him with Tavaris Jackson. Jackson is another unproven QB. I have high expectations of Jackson though and think he can do good for the Seahawks. He'll also have some help in the backfield from Lynch. The Rams I think are going to surprise a lot of people this year. Steven Jackson is an underrated RB but with an actual QB throwing the ball this year he is going to do great. Sam Bradford will make it so that defenses have to focus on more than just the run like previous years. Even though Bradford will be taking pressure off of Steven Jackson, he'll also be taking some of Jackson's carries away. Bradford will make good use of them extra snaps though, I got him throwing for 30+ touchdowns and 3,500+ yards this year. Last year I thought the Rams had the division sealed and I'm thinking the same thing this year. They just have that upper edge over the Seahawks all around the lineup. As for the records I have the 49ers going 4-12, Cardinals 6-10, Seahawks 9-7 and Rams 10-6. This division can go anywhere this year though, and I look forward to an exciting race for the division title.
Alright, basically "Into the Gridiron" will be a continuous series of articles about the NFL. It will basically be the same thing as a blog except on the forum. I decided to write this series because I was going to make a blog but after I got it set up I decided not to. Even though I don't show it in my posts I am actually a pretty good writer, especially for my age. I will try to write an article at least once a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. The main topic will always be in the title. I will usually try to get 4-7 topics in one article. All will be at least 150 words, most will be 200-500 words. This will be part of the article for about the first 5 articles.
Previous "Into the Gridiron" Articles
http://www.sportstimes.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=football&action=display&thread=4618]Into the Gridiron Article #1 - Are the Eagles a Dream Team or Overrated?[/url]
Into the Gridiron Article #2 Introduction
1.....Mike Vick's Contract
2.....Why I Like the Bills This Year
3.....Are the Lions a Playoff Team?
4.....Who Will Win the NFC West
Mike Vick's Contract
Just today Mike Vick signed a contract that has our members saying he shouldn't be getting paid that much. But honestly, why not? He has one of the best arms in the league and he tops that off with a set of legs that can run. Vick had the 4th highest passer rating which is ahead of Manning by 6 spots. He only threw 6 interceptions which is the third best in the league, also ahead of Manning. Those stats aren't even mentioning his running. Not only did he improve his stats though, he improved how he throws. When he was in Atlanta you would see so often that he looked for his first receiver and ran. Now, he looks threw his top three targets before stepping foot out of the backfield. And so what if he's getting paid on what he did in one year? That one year could have been an MVP year. When it comes down to it, you shouldn't be getting paid depending on your career. You should be getting paid on what you've done in the past two years. Granted, $100M may be a bit much, he still deserves to be getting paid like a top QB in the league.
Why I Like the Bills This Year
I don't know if you guys noticed but the Bills improved a lot as the season progressed last year and during the off-season. Last year the Bills started out 0-8, but once they started to get some chemistry on the field they finished the season off 4-4. That .500 record isn't bad, in fact, it's really nice for a team that started off so bad. Also, not only did we comeback to finish the year on a 4-4 record, we had 3 games go into overtime and 4 games that were within 3 points. So if the Bills had won all the close games, we would have been 8-8, that's pretty nice. Now we look at the off-season, the Bills did lose one key player in Paul Posluszny, but he's injury prone anyways. Other than him we didn't lose anyone major and only improved. Some of our key pick-ups include Nick Barnett, Kirk Morrison and Brad Smith. Prepare to see a lot of wildcat out of Buffalo, you have Thigpen who already has experience in the wildcat with Thigpen. You also have Brad Smith who can play QB, WR and possibly even RB. You also have CJ Spiller who can go out for a pass at any time. And don't forget Roscoe Parrish who's available for a reverse at any given time. Sounds like a pretty good wildcat too me. Then you have defense, which in my eyes, is looking the best it has in years. Our lineman look great with Dareus and Williams. Ask any NFL analysis, Kyle Williams is a top 10 NT/DT. Our linebacker corps are completely revamped. Shawne Merriman said he's feeling better than ever, he also said that he's almost "Lights Out" again. Nick Barnett has had 100+ tackles for the last 7 years and has nothing to prove besides how much better he can make the Bills defense. Kirk Morrison is an old linebacker that will need to prove himself though. The Bills secondary got a little bit of a boost from Aaron Williams setting us up for the future. We have Aaron Williams, Leodis McKelvin and Jairus Byrd to look forward too. I see the Bills possibly going 8-8 this year, however, I'm thinking 6-10, maybe 7-9.
Are the Lions a Playoff Team?
Before you can even mention the playoffs in Detroit you need to ask what Matthew Stafford's health is like. As much as I like the Lions this year, they just don't have a good enough backup QB to make it to the playoffs with out Stafford. Maybe if they signed a decent FA quarterback or took Tebow off the Broncos hands. But until they get a backup QB Stafford absolutely has to stay healthy for the Lions to have a playoff shot. Outside of Stafford the offense should be solid. Best is looking for a good year, I can see him racking up about 1,000 yards. Stafford to Johnson will be a crazy connection this year if Stafford stays healthy. I would say about 1,300 yards and 12 to 14 touchdowns for Calvin. I think Stafford also has a really good looking year in front of him too. The defense should be crazy this year, Suh is going to do great on the line. On the line Suh will have Williams, Vanden Bosch and Fairley with him. Avril is also looking pretty good. To answer the question, I think the Lions pretty much have a wild card locked up. I'm going to guess an 11-5 record for them. They have a relatively easy schedule in front of them that they should make the most out of.
Who Will Win the NFC West?
You can look at the NFC West in two ways, the worst division in the league or the most competitive division in the league. I can't really stick to one of those answers because the Seahawks picked up a lot of talent and the Rams are looking good too, but when you have bad teams, you can't exactly say it's competition. As for who will win, it'll be tough this year. The 49ers are almost certainly knocked out of the race with out a QB so you can just forget about them. The Cardinals are an interesting team because they have a good quarterback, but an unproven one. There defense also isn't very top of the notch either. So that kicks them out of the picture for me. Now we're down to the Seahawks and Rams. The Seahawks picked up a great talent in Sidney Rice but I think they should have secured Matt Hasselback and made sure he was in a Seattle uni for 2011. He left though and they quickly replaced him with Tavaris Jackson. Jackson is another unproven QB. I have high expectations of Jackson though and think he can do good for the Seahawks. He'll also have some help in the backfield from Lynch. The Rams I think are going to surprise a lot of people this year. Steven Jackson is an underrated RB but with an actual QB throwing the ball this year he is going to do great. Sam Bradford will make it so that defenses have to focus on more than just the run like previous years. Even though Bradford will be taking pressure off of Steven Jackson, he'll also be taking some of Jackson's carries away. Bradford will make good use of them extra snaps though, I got him throwing for 30+ touchdowns and 3,500+ yards this year. Last year I thought the Rams had the division sealed and I'm thinking the same thing this year. They just have that upper edge over the Seahawks all around the lineup. As for the records I have the 49ers going 4-12, Cardinals 6-10, Seahawks 9-7 and Rams 10-6. This division can go anywhere this year though, and I look forward to an exciting race for the division title.