Rob's House

To be fair, I think the point of the power ranking is to judge teams based on a variety of factors: not just did they win or lose but how did they look doing it, who did they play, how well did they execute in various facets of the game, how balanced is the team. Just like I think we're better than we looked in the Jets game, I think the Pats are better than the 2-1 record reflected by two down to the wire losses to worthy !@#$ing adversaries. Although I predict if we win Sunday we will break the back of that team, crush its soul, & watch it come unglued. That's my hope, anyway.

I love the line of thinking here: The NFL is highly profitable RIGHT NOW so the league should capitulate to whatever demands the refs make for lifetime pay & benefits. Deep thoughts, guys. Deep thoughts.

I haven't formed a strong opinion b/c the devil is in the details (actually the devil is in my pants ) & I'm light on those, but it seems most, including everyone at ESPN take sides based on who has deeper pockets. It's awfully simple minded to say the league should capitulate to any deal demanded by refs that represents a relatively low % of profits. They should only cave if the deal is fair. I'd rather have them back but I'm enjoying this season as much or more than any I can remember.

Yeah, except he didn't. Seattle stopped him on the TD drive & the refs bailed him out with a bogus PI call. It makes sense. The defenses have had a few years to adjust to the new pass heavy offenses. Now that everyone's D is built to stop the pass it creates opportunities for those that excel in the run game.

That's my punter

Anyone remember that game a few years back where Ed Hochuli blew a call that cost The Chargers a game to Denver?

Let's take a reasonable scenario. Let's say they're down by 3 on the opponents 20 with 30 seconds left. Then it might make sense. Still a long shot, but at least there's a chance. Doing it when you have no chance in hell is a different story. Again, I don't think it's that egregious, but I can't cast what he did, in the situation he did it in, in a positive light.

Like he's going to cop to it now

http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/8420985/bill-belichick-said-meant-no-disrespect-grabbed-ref-new-england-patriots-loss As much as I hate everything to do with the Pats, after reading this I don't really thing Bellichick did anything all that wrong. Says he was just trying to stop the ref to ask if the play was under review.

If you don't know, now you know.

I would be okay with a lifetime ban.

The jokes on them. At the end of the day CJ gets on a plane, but they still live in Cleveland.

No we don't.

That's true, ya know, except for the times that it's not. I once saw a guy pick a fight w/ a Redskins fan at a sportsbar for no other reason than he was wearing a Redskins jacket and dude was pissed the Skins won the game. He started talking ****, and the guy was just some pusssy kid who'd probably never been in a fight in his life. He didn't even talk **** back, just tried to laugh it off and left. The guy followed him out into the parking lot and got in his face. All the kid tried to do was diffuse the situation; didn't once get aggressive or threatening. Finally, the instigator, realizing the kid wasn't going to take the bait, just hauled off and drilled him in the face. The kid looked stunned, just put his hands out grabbing the guys shoulders to defend himself. The instigator threw a few body shots and drove the kid about 30 feet into the front bumper of a truck. Less than a minute in, the instigator runs out of gas and says "it's over, dude." At this point the kid, who isn't hurt, realizes the other guy's done and he's fine. All of a sudden the look in his eyes instantly goes from terror and panic to amazed realization, relief, and then anger in a flash of a second; and all of a sudden he unleashes a flurry of punches. Now Billy Bad Ass is back peddling and taking shots to the face while this guy, who two minutes earlier was just some pusssy scared to death, is now charging, punching, and talking ****. That kid found something in himself that night he never knew was there. There's just something mystical about watching a bully get his ass kicked.

We beat the snot out of the Pats.

It certainly wasn't the most egregious thing a coach has ever done, but he does come off as a bit of a douche for it. If it was something done strategically where he had a chance of winning it'd be one thing, but now that everyone knows his routine it will NEVER work. And now he's just advertising for the rest of the league how big of a douche he is. I hope Tampa loses a key player for the season on one of these plays.

Teams should go after Landry's knees. The guy is a 1st class POS. It was a bit odd. I can't recall ever hearing an announcer go so far out of his way to act as a player's PR rep.

Brad Nowell

They need to ban dances across the board because not everyone is able to enjoy them. Some people are too shy or unattractive to get a date and are therefore left out and have to sit in the lonely corner with a longing gaze out at the dance floor watching others have what he/she can't. It's wrong, I tell you. Wrong!

I'm not terribly concerned with this election. If Obama wins again perhaps it will be cause for the Republicans to restructure as a fiscally conservative party and put this middle of the road triangulation strategy in the grave where it belongs. I prefer the strategy of educating people on why they should share your view than bending to try to accept theirs. Morons like Dave who think government spending to create demand creates growth are never going to swing your way no matter how many times their idiotic theory is tested and fails, but it seems there is a big effort to reach out to make the morons feel accepted. It might not matter any more anyway. The bus is going over the cliff, it's just a matter of how fast we get there and where we land. This election might just be to determine who's going to be behind the wheel when it happens.

It all starts in the trenches and for the first time in over a decade we have a strong O-line and a strong D-line. It's all coming together. That's when you get a team where you can plug and play "skill" positions and keep on rolling.

I agree. It's been much better since the bum left town.

I don't get people claiming superstar status for Newton. He's shown a lot of promise, but it's a little early to crown his ass.

Ugh!!! Not this argument again. That #1 D wasn't cranking out wins when QBs not named Flutie were under center.

Me too, I hated going to the playoffs.