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There are so many bad teams this year; I can't remember this many bad teams in one season. Indy hasn't really been challenged yet, and it looks like they'll only be challenged 3-4 times all year. Keep this in mind come playoff time; what will we really know about these Colts?

 

I'm a Viking fan and they're in a similar situation: nowhere near as dominant as Indy, but similarly easy schedule thus far and also unbeaten. Don't buy the Vikes just yet! I'm (trying) not (to).

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It wasn't pro ball, but an Auburn game (Auburn-USC?) game ended at 3-2.

 

I read ESPN's power rankings, and they say that it's possible that the Colts go 14-2. I looked, and it's entirely possible. Just absurd.

 

7 Sun, Oct 25 @ St. Louis

8 Sun, Nov 1 San Francisco

9 Sun, Nov 8 Houston

10 Sun, Nov 15 New England

11 Sun, Nov 22 @ Baltimore

12 Sun, Nov 29 @ Houston

13 Sun, Dec 6 Tennessee

14 Sun, Dec 13 Denver

15 Thu, Dec 17 @ Jacksonville

16 Sun, Dec 27 NY Jets

17 Sun, Jan 3 @ Buffalo

 

Tough teams are NE, Baltimore, Denver. And it's HIGHLY unlikely that they'll go 0-3 vs. them. They can easily sweep the rest. That is freaky business, man.

 

Brady seems to be "back", if he stays that way, things are shaping up for a Pats @ Colts AFC championship game

 

Sun 10/25/2009 Buccaneers

Sun 11/1/2009 vs Bye

Sun 11/8/2009 vs Dolphins

Sun 11/15/2009 @ Colts

Sun 11/22/2009 vs Jets

Mon 11/30/2009 @ Saints

Sun 12/6/2009 @ Dolphins

Sun 12/13/2009 vs Panthers

Sun 12/20/2009 @ Bills

Sun 12/27/2009 vs Jaguars

Sun 1/3/2010 @ Texans

 

I think they can split with Miami, and grab 1 out of 2 from the Saints and Colts. Panthers, Bills, Jags, and & Texans to close out the season! I'll take a 4 game winning streak riding into the playoffs

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Brady seems to be "back", if he stays that way, things are shaping up for a Pats @ Colts AFC championship game

 

I've always wanted the Colts to get another shot at an AFC championship in Foxboro...even though common sense tells me that the Colts are not madeup to play on a field in those conditions in Jan. And Teddy Bruschi will just end up taunting the Colts after the game.

 

I don't think you can rule out Denver. That defense is great but at somepoint this season Kyle Orton will get back to reality.

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Coughlin better be putting his foot in a couple of people's asses this week. That was a back-to-2005 type of performance last night. :realmad

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I’m not suggesting we do away with football, I just found the article is interesting and illuminating.

 

Not that I'm surprised that you got attacked from all sides in this thread for posting the Gladwell link - after all it is you - but I am concerned that everyone immediately reacted as though you were a lone gunman theorist coming in here to start shit. The effects of the brutal punishment NFL linemen take have been well documented for awhile (I recall a radio interview with Bill Romanowski around the time of his book release, where he focused almost totally on the connection between brain injuries and NFL play, even though his book barely mentions it), and Gladwell's article is another healthy step in the direction of raising awareness (which I think is all you were looking to do). I say shame on fans who push this issue aside; at least acknowledge the link exists.

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I say shame on fans who push this issue aside; at least acknowledge the link exists.

OK, fair enough. Although I think most of these guys would take a little brain damage in exchange for where they would likely be without football (read: likely nowhere).

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I've always wanted the Colts to get another shot at an AFC championship in Foxboro...even though common sense tells me that the Colts are not madeup to play on a field in those conditions in Jan. And Teddy Bruschi will just end up taunting the Colts after the game.

 

I don't think you can rule out Denver. That defense is great but at somepoint this season Kyle Orton will get back to reality.

 

Bruschi actually couldn't really taunt the Colts, since he retired. Anyways, I agree with your statement on the Colts winning in January, I was actually thinking about that today. As I see it there are 4 serious contenders for the AFC crown (assuming the Bronocs stay legit) I'd rank the Colts as #1 with the Broncos, Pats, and Steelers all tied for 2nd. The Colts can't win in Foxboro, the Pats can't win in Denver or Indy & the Steelers are my wild card. There is a serious collision course of these 4 teams, whomever has home field might take the AFC.

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Bruschi actually couldn't really taunt the Colts, since he retired. Anyways, I agree with your statement on the Colts winning in January, I was actually thinking about that today. As I see it there are 4 serious contenders for the AFC crown (assuming the Bronocs stay legit) I'd rank the Colts as #1 with the Broncos, Pats, and Steelers all tied for 2nd. The Colts can't win in Foxboro, the Pats can't win in Denver or Indy & the Steelers are my wild card. There is a serious collision course of these 4 teams, whomever has home field might take the AFC.

 

I know they are now two and a half games out of the AFC North, but I am still not ready to give up on the Ravens yet. I wouldn't be shocked if they beat any of those four teams even on the road. They're schedule gets a little smoother after they play Denver this week, and they could easily push for the second Wild Card spot in the AFC.

 

--Mike

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Guest Runaway Jim

I know they are now two and a half games out of the AFC North, but I am still not ready to give up on the Ravens yet. I wouldn't be shocked if they beat any of those four teams even on the road. They're schedule gets a little smoother after they play Denver this week, and they could easily push for the second Wild Card spot in the AFC.

 

--Mike

 

I'll second that. I'm big on the Ravens. Picked up to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl this year. They're in the top 10 in all 4 major offensive per game rankings (yards, rush yards, pass yards, points) and their defense has underachieved.

 

I haven't been able to find anything yet, but I'm wondering how other 6-0 teams have faired in NFL history. Because I'm still not sold on the Broncos. Will be if they beat or come close to beating the Ravens this week.

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Not that I'm surprised that you got attacked from all sides in this thread for posting the Gladwell link - after all it is you - but I am concerned that everyone immediately reacted as though you were a lone gunman theorist coming in here to start shit. The effects of the brutal punishment NFL linemen take have been well documented for awhile (I recall a radio interview with Bill Romanowski around the time of his book release, where he focused almost totally on the connection between brain injuries and NFL play, even though his book barely mentions it), and Gladwell's article is another healthy step in the direction of raising awareness (which I think is all you were looking to do). I say shame on fans who push this issue aside; at least acknowledge the link exists.

 

I certainly didn't attack Good Old Neon for posting the link, but I have been attacking Gladwell at every opportunity. I agree with you that awareness of this very serious issue needs to be raised. I just found Gladwell's article to be cheap journalism. The fact remains that everyone, everywhere, is ignoring this issue. And the reason they do so is that everyone is getting rich. Owners, coaches, TV stations, ad execs, and yes, players.

 

Gladwell's attempt to compare this situation to dog fighting is a lame and lazy analogy meant to tug on heart strings. Dogs fight and march to their own death in a neverending and heartbreaking effort to please their owners. Football players do it for fame and fortune. Football players may not have all the info they need about the damage they are doing to themselves, but all they have to do is look around to see what players from the 70s and 80s look like. It isn't pretty.

 

Fans need to understand more about this issue because fans are the ones that line the pockets of the affected parties. To the extent that Gladwell's article raises awareness about the issue, my hat's off to him. As far as a coherent article, it falls apart upon remotely critical inspection. Like most Gladwell pieces.

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Above conversation got me thinking about how I'd rank the top teams in each conference. For fun:

 

NFC

New Orleans

NYG

Minnesota

------------

Philadelphia

Atlanta

Arizona

------------

GB-Dall-Chi-SF all with an outside shot at the playoffs, in that order

 

AFC

Indianapolis

Pittsburgh

New England

Baltimore

Denver

------------

Cincinnati

San Diego

Houston

NYJ

 

explanation: I based my rankings on who I think will have the best chance to win in the playoffs. Obviously, Denver could be alot higher at this point but, come playoff time, I think I'd expect the teams listed before them to beat them. Also, my list is limited to teams I think are in the playoff picture, or will be. The dashed lines divide the teams into subsections, within which I think each team is close to the others in potential (top 3 in NFC pretty close, next 3 not quite on that level but close to each other, etc.).

 

Anyone wanna play?

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Aside from New Orleans and Minnesota, I think the NFC is a jumbled mess. The Giants only have one decent win -- a last second field goal to beat Dallas. They got destroyed by the Saints and pretty much dominated by the Cardinals. I have the same reservations about the Eagles, which makes this weekend's game really interesting.

 

I would probably put the Cardinals third. Especially as their defense and Beanie Wells keep getting better. Plus, they should win their next 5 games, which would put them at 9-2.

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Above conversation got me thinking about how I'd rank the top teams in each conference. For fun:

 

NFC

New Orleans

NYG

Minnesota

------------

Philadelphia

Atlanta

Arizona

------------

GB-Dall-Chi-SF all with an outside shot at the playoffs, in that order

 

AFC

Indianapolis

Pittsburgh

New England

Baltimore

Denver

------------

Cincinnati

San Diego

Houston

NYJ

 

explanation: I based my rankings on who I think will have the best chance to win in the playoffs. Obviously, Denver could be alot higher at this point but, come playoff time, I think I'd expect the teams listed before them to beat them. Also, my list is limited to teams I think are in the playoff picture, or will be. The dashed lines divide the teams into subsections, within which I think each team is close to the others in potential (top 3 in NFC pretty close, next 3 not quite on that level but close to each other, etc.).

 

Anyone wanna play?

 

Yours is pretty close to mine, I am starting to trust Dallas a little more than Atlanta to make the playoffs. I'd have San Diego on top of the second group of the AFC (very good second half of the season team in recent years) and I'd swap the Bengals and Ravens for now. Even though Miami is 2-4, I am still not ruling out another second half run from them, but they have to get better play out of their secondary.

 

--Mike

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Aside from New Orleans and Minnesota, I think the NFC is a jumbled mess. The Giants only have one decent win -- a last second field goal to beat Dallas. They got destroyed by the Saints and pretty much dominated by the Cardinals. I have the same reservations about the Eagles, which makes this weekend's game really interesting.

 

I would probably put the Cardinals third. Especially as their defense and Beanie Wells keep getting better. Plus, they should win their next 5 games, which would put them at 9-2.

The Vikings could just be pretenders. It's a long season, they've had a fairly easy schedule so far, and Brett's not young. That said, they looked better against the Steelers than I expected they would. Having been a Vikings fan all my life, I just keep waiting for the shoe to drop.

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Guest Runaway Jim

I think the playoffs will wind up looking like this...

 

NFC:

Cowboys

Vikings

Saints

Cardinals

Falcons

Packers

 

AFC:

Patriots

Colts

Steelers

Broncos

Texans

Ravens

 

Still rooting for the Bears though!

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