Around The NFL - 2007

[QB Eagles]

Solid defense in place and if Ronnie Brown comes back strong next year, then they already have a solid rb too.

They had a solid defense the past few years. This year their defense is horrible, and it's a big part of why they suck so badly this year. They are giving up the second-highest number of points per game, and that generously includes the 3 points they gave up to the Steelers in a freak weather game. They are also generating a pitiful, Eagles-like number of turnovers.

[Feva]

I ain't gonna lie.  I seriously feel sorry for the Falcons.

No QB, no HC, no GM. 

[reese125]

Doesn't leave a lot of pieces for Parcells to piece together which means he can start building depth

Oh, theres plenty of pieces.

it damn well wasnt that fact that the defense is young and talented and the QB play looks promising that he took the job

amazing how weather can alter your decision.

[Geowhizzer]

Willie Parker's done - broken leg.

[Diomedes]

They can have Reno Mahe if they promise to take LJ Smith too.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Bill Simmons on the lack of top QB's in today's NFL

This is the first Simmons article I've read in a while.  Not bad.  Here's where the Eagles' trio falls:

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS
Marc Bulger, Donovan McNabb, Jon Kitna, Jake Delhomme, Kurt Warner (in his current state), Drew Bledsoe (in absentia)

Comments: You'd never want to settle down with them, and you'd constantly disparage them to your friends ... but as soon as they're not around for a week or two, you end up wishing they were around for a drunken 3 a.m. booty call. To my knowledge, nobody has ever married an FWB or won a Super Bowl with them. There's a lesson here.

THE GREAT UNKNOWNS
JaMarcus Russell, Kevin Kolb, John Beck, Aaron Rodgers, Brady Quinn

Comments: Seriously, we need ALL of these guys to make it. If I had to make Vegas odds for every possible combination here, I'd go with 35-1 for all five making it; 9-1 for four; 5-1 for three; 5-2 for two; and 1-10 for one. And if you had to rank them in order, it would go 2-1 for Rodgers, 3-1 for Kolb, 4-1 for Russell and Quinn and 15-1 for Beck. The best wager on the board is Kolb -- high-percentage numbers in college, perfect for the West Coast offense and the natural beneficiary for the Ewing Theory Eagles next season after McNabb finally leaves. I wish there was a way to wager on this.

JUST COMPETENT ENOUGH TO KILL YOU
Chad Pennington, Joey Harrington, A.J. Feeley, Kerry Collins, Jake Plummer (in absentia)

Comments: These are the "looking great for 3½ quarters until they kill you with a pick at the worst possible time" guys, as personified by Feeley's "timing pass" in the Pats-Eagles game this season. They're also the most painful QBs to have on your team because you spend an inordinate amount of time either talking yourself into them or talking yourself out of them.

Speaking of Harrington, I outdid myself with the final paragraph in the Falcons section of my 2007 NFL preview: "I believe in the '07 Falcons, I believe in Petrino ... and ... (gulp) ... I believe that Harrington could be a half-decent quarterback in the perfect situation. I'm even willing to hinge my 2007 Sleeper Pick on it. Stranger things have happened. Yes, stranger things than Joey Harrington leading Michael Vick's old team to the playoffs while Vick watches the whole thing unfold from behind bars."

(Note: If you want to spend your weekend sifting through my archives to find a Simmons prediction that worked out worse than that one, please, break out some egg nog and have some holiday fun at my expense. Not even my Okafor/Howard prediction worked out as dreadfully as that one -- the "I believe in Petrino" part pushed it to another level.)

[QB Eagles]

This is the first Simmons article I've read in a while.  Not bad.

Don't worry about it, it's the first decent one in a while.

According to this list, McNabb is the 18th best quarterback in the league.

[MDS]

But a top 5 black one

[QB Eagles]

As if the implosion of the Falcons couldn't get any worse, now DeAngelo Hall is going around saying that he basically hated Petrino and will demand a trade this offseason unless the Falcons get a "players' coach" kind of guy like Playoffs Jr.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3165415

[Diomedes]

Hall is a collosal douchebag..can't stand that punk.

[Diomedes]

PFT:

LEAGUE'S ANTITRUST EXEMPTION COULD BE THREATENED

Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports reports that the unavailability of the NFL's in-house network could result in an attack on the league's antitrust exemption.

On December 19, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Arlen Specter (R.-Pa.) sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suggesting such an outcome if the December 29 game between the Patriots and the Giants isn't generally available.

"The NFL appears to be moving incrementally closer to limiting distribution of its programming to subscription television," the letter said.  "Now that the NFL is adopting strategies to limit distribution of game programming to their own networks, Congress may need to reexamine the need and desirability of their continued exemption from the Nation's antitrust laws."

Earlier in the month, Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) wrote a letter to Goodell urging the league to find a way to make the game available to people throughout his state.

In response, Goodell offered to submit the league's lingering dispute with cable giant Time Warner to arbitration.  In response, Time Warner's CEO politely said, "Get bent."

"As I'm sure you are aware, over the years we've been able to successfully reach agreements with hundreds of programming networks without the use of arbitration.  We continue to believe that the best way to achieve results is to privately seek a resolution and not attempt to negotiate through the press or elected officials," wrote Time Warner big cheese Glenn Britt.

We suggested a few weeks ago that the NFL should auction the national broadcast rights to the game.  If New England is 15-0 come Sunday night, the league could reel in at least $100 million come Monday morning.

A lot more than $100 million could be riding on the outcome of this one for the league.  If the game that caps the first 16-0 regular season in league history can't be seen by anyone who wants to see it without going to a sports bar or installing a satellite dish, the league could be in hot water.

[ice grillin you]

colts reupped sanders
5 yr 37 mil

havent seen the sb yet

[rjs246]

shtein.

[Rome]

colts reupped sanders
5 yr 37 mil

havent seen the sb yet

Ahahaha.   There's about 20 dickheads on the EMB who are gonna get roasted over that one.



EMB: "THEY CAN'T AFFORD HIM!"

Me: "Uh, yeah they can.  He's going anywhere, imbeciles."

EMB:  "LOSER!"

[BigEd76]

$20M guaranteed

highest-paid safety in the NFL

and it allows Indy to tag Dallas Clark