Early NFL talk - Who got better, who got worse?

Dr. Giganto

Well, following free agency and the draft, here are the teams that I think will have their forutnes drastically changed this year:

Improving:

Dallas Cowboys: Terrell Owens is a jerk, and he might start bitching about Drew Bledsoe by 2007, but for 2006, he should give Dallas a big boost, just like he did for one year in Philly

Arizona Cardinals: Leinart/Warner, Edgerrin James, Fitzgerald, Boldin. That's a hell of an offense right there. They might not be able to stop anyone, but they will put up hella points.

New Orleans Saints: They added a Pro Bowl QB and the most exciting draft prospect in years. Things are looking up for the Saints

Miami Dolphins: Daunte Culpepper's injury is a question mark, but if he's healthy, he should give this team a boost, following its strong close to 2005.

Regressing:

Green Bay Packers: They were not very active in free agency, and Brett Favre is coming back to throw another 25 INTs. However, they made a GREAT draft pick in AJ Hawk.

San Diego Chargers: They'll take a step back with Philip Rivers at the helm.

New England Patriots: Belichick is going to have to work some magic this year, but this team has lost a lot of talent the last two years. And how the hell do you let Adam Vinatieri walk???

Blitzkrieg

Teams that improved.. hmm..

Well, I love what the Cardinals did bringing in Edge. Last year the Cards threw for a bunch of yards, but they couldn't convert a lot of those long drives into TD's down in the redzone. Their running game was awful so in comes Edge and with him added to the Boldin/Fitzgerald combo, shit is getting scary real quick. I'm definitely thinking Cards in line for a wild card spot this season.

Then you have the Saints. I wasn't a huge Aaron Brooks fan, he was serviceable, but too inconsistent. Now you bring in Drew Brees who had a couple good years in San Diego and Reggie Bush with their 1st pick and all of a sudden their offense is much improved.. I still hate their D though.

How about the Cowboys? Well, they got Terrell Owens. I find it hard to believe that a team that wasn't bad last year would get worse with TO added to the mix. TO by himself will win some games either as a decoy and open things up for everyone else or making big plays.

The Giants. I'm really thinking possible Super Bowl year with this team IF Eli steps it up. To me it's all about Eli with the G-men.

Freak

D, how can you say the Packers didn't improve?

They're adding Charles Woodson to what was already the league's highest-rated pass defense. They brought in two very solid young defensive players in Ryan Pickett (DT, St. Louis) and Marquand Manuel (FS, Seattle). You've already mentioned that they added the best LB prospect the league has seen in years -- not to mention another rookie LB (Abdul Hodge) who I think is every bit as good as his college teammate Chad Greenway.

On offense they get both Ahman Green and Najeh Davenport back, not to mention a 23-year-old who rushed for almost 600 yards in just 5 starts last year. Their offensive line is healthy again, and they drafted two interior linemen very high in the draft, both of whom should shore up what was a trainwreck OG situation last year.

And then you have Favre, who started the season by throwing 14 TD and 8 INT in his first six games. Of course when you take away a QB's top two receiving targets, top FOUR running backs, and both his starting OG's from the previous season, he's gonna struggle. And Favre looked awful out there. But there's no way he throws 25 INT again, and there's no way in hell the Packers do worse than 4-12 again.

Sorry to go homerballistic on you, but I just think you're way off.

Dr. Giganto

I basically just hate Favre, and I'm not particualrly high on Woodson either. Plus, they are losing Javon Walker.

Actually, thinking about it, they were pretty bad last year, so it would be hard for them to be worse.

Blitzkrieg

I could see the Packers winning some more games like maybe 7 or 8, I mean that division is pretty awful. I don't trust the Bears, the Lions are a joke, and the Vikings who knows..

The Packers could easily win maybe 4 games in the division alone, but that's no saying I like them really.. I don't necessarily think they are playoff bound but I've seen bigger surprises in my lifetime.

IMO the Seahawks will be the team to beat in the NFC all year.

Danny Diamond

Founder/Admin

The Packers have no choice but to get better.

Freak you should hang up your cheesehead until Favre realizes that he really really stinks.

Until then they are a joke of a franchise. Loyalty is one thing, but when you are hurting your team by hanging onto a guy like Favre you are only asking for disaster.

Favre was only good when he had tough ass coaches like Holgrem and Mariucci hounding his ass. Now he is just like "Tra la la, lets see if I can needle this pass through 8 defenders on my back foot, Ooopsie it was intercepted again. Whoopsie Doodles"


When Favre makes stupid passes he is being "daring" and "unpredictable" when Bledsoe does it he is "stupid" and "blind"

Yes, I just compared Favre to Bledsoe. Moments of brilliance littered with mistakes but mostly average.

Freak

You've got to be kidding me.

Obviously it doesn't surprise me when sports fans are so short-sighted, but I can't believe how everyone has just turned on Favre just because he had the worst 10-game stretch of his career. The guy has played in like 250 straight games -- this shit is bound to happen.

What about the two seasons before last, when he threw for 30+ touchdowns in both? Under the coaching of Mike Sherman and fucking Tom Rossley, I might add. Seasons where he lead the Packers to the division title, too.

"A joke of a franchise" seems like your typical kneejerk reaction from your typical kneejerk sports fan, just because of one season in which they had a losing record for the first time since 1991. The same "joke of a franchise" that clocked in at #1 in a recent ESPN article ranking every franchise in the four major sports.

But I should settle. There were two things you said that just make you look clueless:

1. You honestly think the Packers would have been a better football team last year had they started Aaron Rodgers, a 21-year-old rookie quarterback.

2. You called Steve Mariucci a "tough ass coach." Allow Blitz and I to laugh you out of town.

Danny Diamond

Founder/Admin

Freak, have you ever noticed that you call people clueless and stupid whenever they disagree with you when it comes to sports?

Yes, I think that Bret Favre hurts the Green Bay Packers more than he helps them last year and this year. Just because you play every game means nothing. If anything these type of records end up hurting teams in the long run.

Mariucci may not have been a "tough ass" but he kept Favre until control, which was essentially the point the whole time.

I am not a knee jerk fan AT ALL, but I will admit that the "joke of a franchise" comment was a bit harsh about GB. It just makes me nauseous how much people love this guy.

Dr. Giganto

Favre was a great QB. I will never deny that. But he's made so many costly mistakes in big games recently, it's obvious his skills have significantly diminished and he needs to think about making way for his successor. He's not going to be around forever. And Aaron Rodgers may not be Brett Favre, but he's going to start eventually. You cant put it off forever

Blitzkrieg

I will say a couple things on Favre.. There were years where the guy was brilliant and there were throws that he made that I don't think anyone in the league could have done. Lets also not forget that he was a 3 time league MVP. Plus, at QB it's amazing that he's never been hurt..

The downside had been his mistakes. I've never seen a great QB make as many mistakes as Favre but people will say that if you take away the mistakes, you tke away Favre's total game, and you take awat his effectiveness. I'll agree that most of the time the good outweighed the bad..

The only thing, I do think he's a bit overrated when people try to throw him in the top 5 all time. That's too high for me.