2014 NFL Season Thread

[Ari Gold]

Is there a CBR Pick 'Em Pool this season? Thanks.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

This is my NFL picks for the year. Wild cards in Italics. Division winners in Bold.



AFC East

New England Patriots
Miami Dolphins
Buffalo Bills
N.Y. Jets

This is gonna be a tougher division as the Dolphins will be hot on New England's heels the entire time. The Bills are going through 2nd year growing pains with the Bills. The Jets also are going through the same with Geno Smith. Is he gonna be the QB who looked decent back there or the rookie who threw 11 Ints and 1 TD in a 4-5 game stretch ? New England has Tom Brady who at 37 will have enough magic to win as usual. Brady will have to carry the Patriots as always.



AFC North

Pittsburgh Steelers
Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns


The Steelers youth movement continues . Rothlisberger really clicked with Haley's system once he went to the no huddle. I give them a slight edge over the Ravens...who get a wildcard. The Bengals themselves will be hard to compete as will the Browns. Who I expect will start Johnny Manzell halfway into the season. Before he should be pushed in.


AFC South

Indianapolis Colts
Houston Texans
Tennessee Titans
Jacksonville Jaguars


The Colts are gonna win the division as locks like the Patriots . They have the best young QB in NFL right now with Andrew Luck. Everyone will be back healthy and with Luck's weapons he will lead them. The Texans will shock a lot of people. This is a veteran team that basically O'Brien was handed. There isn't much you have to rebuild at all and it was a down year. O'Brien is a great coach who brought Penn State back from the ashes. The Titans still need to find a QB. Any QB because Jake Locker won't start more than 8 games this season. Take a bet on it...he gets hurt more than anyone. The Jaguars are basically the Jaguars and starting Chad Henne.


AFC West

Denver Broncos
San Diego Chargers
Oakland Raiders
Kansas City Chiefs


This is a "do or die" year for the Broncos. John Elway has such a huge sense of urgency as the sun sets on Peyton Manning that he handed $100 million to various players in a spending spree. Its Super Bowl or bust. Anything less is failure. The San Diego Chargers don't have the pressure the Broncos have. They just are a young team who took bigger steps and grow. The Raiders will likely try and bring Derek Carr along slowly and start Schaub once his elbow heals. The Chiefs just have too many holes at OL and WR. The team over achieved last year and it cost em a lot of players. But Reid knew he was gonna phase quite a many of them out.


NFC East

Philadelphia Eagles
N.Y. Giants
Washington Redskins
Dallas Cowboys


The Eagles will have to hope Nick Foles continues to do what he did last year. Foles showed he is the QB of the Future and led the team to some dramatic wins after a benching . Even though Kelly wanted Michael Vick to be his QB and run the system he wants , he realized Foles was just better and made it click in the NFL. The Giants will hope the west coast system works and helps Eli Manning rebound his career. Last year Manning was absolutely terrible and seemed destined to set a NFL record for Ints in a season. The Redskins have issues with RGIII and the system that Jay Gruden wants to run. RGIII struggled and it led to talk that Cousins may make it work better. The Cowboys just have a horrible defense. A bad back by Tony Romo isn't a good sign as he had 2 surgeries in a year. He can only carry that team so far.




NFC North

Green Bay Packers
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Minnesota Vikings


The Packers and Aaron Rodgers will be back at 100% when the season starts. The Packers will win a tougher division as the Bears will be pushing them harder. The Lions and Vikings have new coaches and new systems for the players.


NFC South

New Orleans Saints
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers


The New Orleans Saints will benefit from them having Sean Payton back for a full season. Drew Brees will love Brandon Cooks who adds yet another insane weapon for them. Atlanta will rebound as their team is healthy and they have young players ready. Plus it helps to have Matt Ryan . The Panthers meanwhile didn't help Cam Newton at all by cutting their all-time leading WR , Steve Smith and letting the 2nd leading one LeFell leave. Tampa Bay at least doesn't have Greg Schiano anymore. But crazy Lovie Smith hasn't helped his 2nd year QB Mike Glennon as he's told him he's the starter and then told him he wasn't. At last check Lovie told him he was the starter again.


NFC West

Seattle Seahawks
San Francisco 49ers
Arizona Cardinals
St. Louis Rams


The Seahawks will win the division again as they have the confidence and edge over the 49ers. It will be a tough battle but the 49ers will win a wildcard. The Cardinals meanwhile will be in between. Can Carson Palmer keep the job past 2014 ? The Rams have seemingly decided with Bradford's injury to bring in a young scrambler in the Farve mold ...Casey Keenum. He won't start a few weeks but will come in eventually as the team struggles.

[HowitzerJoe]

3. San Francisco 49ers (9-7): Their defense has been decimated by a combination of injury, suspension, and free agency departures. They added Stevie Johnson on offense, but Colin Kaepernick still doesn't look right as a pocket passer. His QB rating is rather average, and if he didn't have Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, and Anquan Boldin making him look so good, I don't know that he'd start. That being said, when he's allowed to use his legs, he's friggin' great. With Jim Harbaugh and 49ers management feuding all offseason, I think this is the year they take another step back, and end up missing the playoffs. The front office will use it as an excuse to trade, or fire Harbaugh.

If you're using a quarterback rating to evaluate a passer, then you need to reconsider your process for sizing up a QB. Even if you want to play that game, Colin had the 12th best passer rating last season at 91.6 ahead of the likes of Tom Brady, Matt Ryan, and Andrew Luck. How is that "average"? Passer rating is garbage. Colin has grown ever since he's been a starter in the NFL. This year he'll have the best cast of pass catchers entering the season since being in the NFL:

Michael Crabtree
Anquan Boldin
Stevie Johnson
Brandon Lloyd
Quinton Patton
Bruce Ellington
Vernon Davis
Vance McDonald

That is a solid group right there all around. And you could say "well if player didn't have XYZ he wouldn't be very good" about anyone. That is in fact a lazy argument. I mean come on. If Joe Montana didn't have Bill Walsh and his sophisticated system along with playing with a boatload of talented players, how good would he be? If Steve Young stays in Tampa would he go on to be a Hall of Fame quarterback? If Kurt Warner doesn't have Marshall Faulk, Issac Bruce, Torry Holt, Az-Zahir Hakim, Rickey Proehl, and Mike Martz coaching a specialized offense for him is he still a good player in 1999? If you take away Peyton Manning's arm, how many touchdowns does he have? Football is a team sport. Sure the quarterback position is probably the most important position on the team, but just having a talented player that can throw the football isn't going to make them legitimate. They still need pass catchers, a system that suits their strengths, and protection. A running game helps too.

And all of this fluff about Colin not looking good as a pocket passer is bogus. There really isn't any substance to it. He has a unique ability to use his legs and that is what makes Sports Center and NFL Network highlight shows so people with their lazy analysis assume he can't pass very well. When in reality when he is force to stay in the pocket he has shown he can light a team up. Last season against the Packers on opening day is a perfect example. Just because you have the ability to run doesn't mean you can't also be a great thrower of the rock.

And the 49ers deciding to trade Jim Harbaugh because they're frustrated with a lackluster season is just absurd. Yeah, they're really going to deal the dude that help turn the franchise around and get them to the Super Bowl because they're angry. Right. And Harbaugh and the 49ers organization were never "feuding all offseason". You either made that up or misunderstood the transactions that took place.

Oh, and who departed in free agency for the defense that isn't replacable? Carlos Rogers and Tarrel Brown are playing like **** in Oakland. Rogers was already done before he left. Donte Whitner maybe is a huge loss (he was a good leader), but I see Antonie Bethea as a lateral move. Missing Aldon will be a blow, but we went 5-0 without last year. He'll still be back for the second half push where our tougher schedule is with two games against the Seahawks. Same with Bowman. We have a lot of young talent that we acquired in this draft, and it's looking like the best we've had since 2011 maybe.

[HowitzerJoe]

The Chiefs are looking at what he did down that stretch offensively and that Indy playoff game with the same cast he had. Its just they didn't help Smith with that one area of OL.

Yeah I know you get your money for what you're going to do in the future, not for what you have done. At the same time I still think the Chiefs are stuck in a rut. Alex is decent, but I don't know if he'll ever take that next step. It's not like the Chiefs had a choice though. It's either give him the money or go back to the 4-12 days. The Chiefs have a lot of talent right now. Better to worry about the money problem down the line. If they don't protect Alex Smith this year though it will be a long season. Also, if Jamal Charles gets hurt.

[Marvell2100]

I can take a sub-500 season by the 'Boys if they continue to rebuild this team through the draft with some solid picks. I like the way they're rebuilding the O-line with Fredricks, Smith and Martin. The receiver corps is solid but we need to get replacement for Whitten. And we definitely need to find a QB in the late 2nd early 3rd round to replace Romo. But our next priority should be rebuilding the D-Line like we've done with the O. There are a lot of good linemen coming out in the next few years and we need to take advantage of that now.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Yeah I know you get your money for what you're going to do in the future, not for what you have done. At the same time I still think the Chiefs are stuck in a rut. Alex is decent, but I don't know if he'll ever take that next step. It's not like the Chiefs had a choice though. It's either give him the money or go back to the 4-12 days. The Chiefs have a lot of talent right now. Better to worry about the money problem down the line. If they don't protect Alex Smith this year though it will be a long season. Also, if Jamal Charles gets hurt.

The Chiefs had to get this deal done for Smith because they wanna tag Justin Houston next year. Its clear he's gonna be tagged unless he signs a new deal. They drafted Ford to basically replace Hali soon if he goes.

As far as helping Charles , the Chiefs are gonna give Knile Davis more work at RB. He had some fumble issues and pass blocking problems and Reid punished him during the season. He will get more work since he's worked on that. The idea is they want Charles to get 250-300 touches with the ball this year. Catching and receiving.

[Paradox]

I think my 'Phins will squeeze out an 8-8 season, probably by winning a few meaningless games at the end of the season.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

I can take a sub-500 season by the 'Boys if they continue to rebuild this team through the draft with some solid picks. I like the way they're rebuilding the O-line with Fredricks, Smith and Martin. The receiver corps is solid but we need to get replacement for Whitten. And we definitely need to find a QB in the late 2nd early 3rd round to replace Romo. But our next priority should be rebuilding the D-Line like we've done with the O. There are a lot of good linemen coming out in the next few years and we need to take advantage of that now.

Knowing Dallas, they'll go .500, just missing the playoffs but prompting Jerrah to swear up and down that they're on the right track. Just like every year.

[THE KZA]

can't believe that football starts this thursday!

is there a fantasy football league/pick em/survivor league?

[worstblogever]

And all of this fluff about Colin not looking good as a pocket passer is bogus. There really isn't any substance to it. He has a unique ability to use his legs and that is what makes Sports Center and NFL Network highlight shows so people with their lazy analysis assume he can't pass very well. When in reality when he is force to stay in the pocket he has shown he can light a team up.

And people that say this, to them, I say, "Did you not see how out of his element he looked when he played Seattle last year? Especially in Seattle? And you're citing that he could move the ball against Green Bay, ranked #24 in overall defense, a one game outlier as your proof that he's a good passer?

Sorry man. He's mediocre in the pocket. At best. With the talent he has at receiver, he should be unstoppable.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I can take a sub-500 season by the 'Boys if they continue to rebuild this team through the draft with some solid picks. I like the way they're rebuilding the O-line with Fredricks, Smith and Martin. The receiver corps is solid but we need to get replacement for Whitten. And we definitely need to find a QB in the late 2nd early 3rd round to replace Romo. But our next priority should be rebuilding the D-Line like we've done with the O. There are a lot of good linemen coming out in the next few years and we need to take advantage of that now.

Problem is, you've got Jerry Jones making those critical picks. Do you trust him to do that?

[CSTowle]

I started a league on NFL.com, private league called "CBR Pick'em". Password is comics. Only 2 of us so far, but if more are willing now's the time. Games start in 2 days (how awesome is that?).

[CSTowle]

Also love Dave Dameshek (of NFL.com and the network) and his features "the Shek (formerly Shame) Report" and the "N-if-L" (kind of a What If.. only with football). This newest N-if-L has appearances by the Infinity Gauntlet, Westeros, and Koko B. Ware. How can you not check this out? What if the Bengals hosted the 2014 Season Opener:

http://www.nfl.com/videos/n-if-l/0ap...tter_video_kap

[Ari Gold]

I started a league on NFL.com, private league called "CBR Pick'em". Password is comics. Only 2 of us so far, but if more are willing now's the time. Games start in 2 days (how awesome is that?).

Joined. Thanks.

And, awesome!

[Marvell2100]

Problem is, you've got Jerry Jones making those critical picks. Do you trust him to do that?

Three of the past four years have been pretty good with our first picks. The O-Line is coming together nicely. The one bad pick sp far seems to be Claiborne. And Jerry has been listening to others in the camp like his son Stephen. So yeah, as long as he listens to the scouts like's he's done lately, I'd trust him.

He had the sense to pass on Manziel so that's a good sign.