NFL 2012-2013

The NFL starts next week. Who do you guys think will win the super bowl? Dark horses?

I have never been more confident in the Bears. We are absolutely loaded on offense and have always had a good defense. If Cutler stays healthy, we win the division. Our defense is better than Green Bay's and our offense is close enough to theirs. I think we win the super bowl. Like I said, I'm confident. Basically this means we won't make the playoffs.

Think the Raiders are the team to watch out for. They have a great offense and Palmer has had a full preseason to get used to it. Very young team that has had a few seasons to get that all important experience. Probably should have won the division last year if Tebow didn't decide to pull out some miracles. Think they're good enough to be an AFC contender.

 

Bad stat heading into tonights game for Cowboy fans; SInce the NFL has arranged the schedule so the Super Bowl Champions open at home as the feature game (Monday night, Sunday night, or in this case Wed.) the Champs are 9-0.

I'll go with Baltimore (would pick the Houston Texans, but keeping Shaub and Andre Johnson healthy seems like an impossible task) and Atlanta in the Super Bowl. Justin, Da Bears having a legit chance, but just making the playoffs in that division is no cake walk.

 

I'm pretty confident in the Bears winning the division. This isn't hope either, I would put money on it if I had it. We have the offense to hang with anybody and the best defense in the division. The fact that we're not even mentioned as possible Super Bowl contenders is mind boggling.

 

The Browns have a new owner who is passionate and wants to win. If I was the rest of the NFL I would be very afraid. :twisted: Yesterday we almost beat a super bowl contender with a rookie QB, RB, and WR.

And thankfully now the average Cleveland sports fan has less of a reason to hate soccer.

 

Easy win over the Colts. That was always a guarantee and now it's time to put the Packers in a 2 game hole. I think we're going to actually win at Lambeau. Our offense will destroy their defense if they play like they did against the 49ers.

 

Broncos pulled it out against the steelers with a great 4th qtr pick 6. I thought manning looked great in the no huddle. Pretty worried about the defense though. I think at one point, the steelers were 14 of 15 on 3rd down. On the one they missed, they picked up on 4th down. When the broncos got up enough, it was great to watch Vonn Miller just speed rush and get the pressure on. Broncos will need some improved safety and middle linebacker play in the close games

 

I try not to make Super bowl predictions lest I inadvertently trip off some Instant Karma against folks. That, and other than the 2004-05 season, I get the teams wrong.

Eagles fan here. Expecting not much from them (Philadelphians are conditioned to have low expectations of all their teams, too bad that doesn't stop said folks from talking about how great their team is... it's a delusional dichotomy), and expectations were certainly met in their opener against the Browns.

Will have "Better" idea of what's what around Week 4, when the first rash of crippling injuries thin the herd out a bit.

 

Balmer looked really good in their opener. Because the Bengals can be so enigmatic, it's hard to judge just how good the Ravens are from that performance though. I liked them for the Super Bowl before the season and that performance did nothing to change my mind.

 

In the AFC I like New England in a weak East, Baltimore to shade the Steelers in the North, Houston in weak South and if they can keep Manning upright I like Denver in what I think is a stacked western conference although I think Oakland will be the weakest of the four teams.

The NFC is a far murkier subject because three of the four divisions look like they will end up in dog pile to me with only the 49er's being the clear front runners in the West. In the East I am going out on a limb and picking Washington and I don't know why. Ask me tomorrow and you'll probably get a different answer. In the North I like Chicago if they can protect Cutler. I thought the Bears were the best team going until Cutler went down last season and the addition of Brandon Marshall is only going to make that offense more potent. Give me Atlanta in the South.

Best division - The NFC North

Worst Division - No it is not the AFC South because Houston will be better than New England; Jacksonville will put up a fight all season and before the end of the year the Colts will be lighting up the scoreboard even if they can't stop anyone. The AFC East gets my nod because the Bills and Dolphins will be bottom feeders and the Jets fans shouldn't get too happy about beating a really bad Bills team. Yeah I know, this prediction could really bite me badly but that's my story and I am sticking to it. At least until week 6.

Best off season acquisition - Brandon Marshall

Rookie of the year - RGIII. The Skins are far superior to the Colts so there is no way RG does not have a better rookie year.

 

We are going to find out how good the Bears are tonight. I believe we will win, and possibly by a lot if that Green Bay defense doesn't improve. If we don't win then I'm going to look for some indicators on how good we are. Did the line protect Cutler? Can the other receivers step up if Marshall is the focus of the Packer defense? Is Forte still one of the best all purpose backs in the league? Can the line get pressure on Rodgers? How did the secondary hold up?


That's pretty much the list that most Bears fans wanted answers too going into the season. We did well against the Colts, but if most of those questions are answered with them doing well then we're going to be fine throughout the season. The Packers are going to look to really put their foot down and win big, if possible. If we beat a Packers team going all out then I would be more than comfortable putting us at the top of the NFL.

 

The secondary was fine. Jennings and Tillman had good games. Our entire defense was pretty damn good.

The offense questions that I laid out all had failing answers, except for Forte. The line was horrible and Cutler felt the need to force the issue which always leads to picks. The receivers sucked, including Marshall. Our offense was really bad.


Am I worried? Nope. We will fix our problems and have a favorable schedule for the next few weeks. The loss sucked, but it's good to know that it was our fault and not really what the Packers did. If we can fix our problems then we can win at Lambeau field.

 

Why not? The Niners did.

 

Ugh, Brownies now 0-3. Gonna be another long season.

 

The Bears defense is one of the best in the NFL. That's a good thing because our offense has not performed well at all. If it starts to play well, my prediction of super bowl will be accurate. We have made every offense we played look bad. Have the talent on offense to be top ten, only have to perform.

 

The blown call heard around the world in Seattle last night. The locked out refs had to be dancing, as the national games of the week (Sunday and Monday night) were butchered to the point where a deal has to get done. Green Bay took advantage of a horrible call to take the lead, and Seattle got payback on 2 horrendous calls before the debacle on the last play of the game. Lost in the controversy is my Seahawks have perhaps the fastest defense in the NFL and made Aaron Rodgers run for his life. Add the 49ers and Arizona and it ain't the NFC Worst anymore.

Back to the refs for a second, not going to hate on these guys too much, you know they are trying their best, but these guys normally ref small college. Basically it's the equivalent of going from the English Conference (Macclesfield v Tamworth) then being asked to go to Old Trafford and control a match...NOT going to happen.

 

^Agree.
Packers fans seem to forget that the TD to take the lead should never have happened - the drive was extended by a bogus PI call. The bad calls went both ways. And the regular refs were responsible for screwing Seattle in the Super Bowl a while back; I doubt Seattle fans feel too sorry for finally catching a break.

Either way - the refs have been disastrous, but highly entertaining. Love that Goodell (who could give a rip about the players and their saftey, despite the lip service) comes out looking like a fool.
Long live the Replacement Refs!

 

I had my doubts the NFL would respond so quickly with the refs after that debacle in Seattle, but they have.

Hopefully GB makes the playoffs and the whole thing becomes a footnote. I'm a bit burned out on replacement ref talk at this point.

 

The Bears whipped the Cowboys ass in Dallas. I don't know if there's going to be another dominant win like that for any team all year. If we're this good all year, then a super bowl is a possibility. Right now, I'd say we're the best team as long as we're not playing in Green Bay.

 

We (Dallas) have a habit of making other teams look really good. That said, the Bears defense was awesome. However, a team with an actual running game (not the 2.5ypc that the 'Boys are averaging this year) should be a much better test for that Cover 2 scheme. Will anybody have the patience in the current NFL (heck - even the Steelers are a passing team now) to run consistently enough to unlock that scheme?
Bears look good moving forward, but the hyperbole above makes me chuckle - plenty of one-sided affairs await all around the league.

The Cowboys once again showed that they are not well coached, ill-disciplined, and just not smart. Dez Bryant and Tony Romo (our 'best' offensive players) made horrible mistakes - not for the first or the last time. We will never be a very good team depending on guys like that.

Congrats all around to Da Bears.