maddog

Good one.

Indianapolis had better win the Super Bowl this year or next year. I just cannot see them keeping all of their talent around. James, Freeney and Wayne are all going to want big dollars. I know Polian said he is committed to keeping James, but if he does, how do you keep Freeney and Wayne as well? I think Freeney will make huge money if/when he becomes a free agent. I'm not sure when that is though.

That's what I expected to see when I opened the article.

If San Diego truly believes Rivers will be a successful NFL QB, then you absolutely trade Brees now. It's all about value and you will never get more value for Drew Brees than right now.

Do you really think Indy would have done anything with Jim Sorgi at QB?

Peyton Manning deservedly won the AP NFL MVP. But somehow, one sportswriter or broadcaster voted for Michael Vick. Come on! I know Atlanta was drastically improved, and everyone has their own definition of MVP but Michael Vick over Peyton Manning! Gimme a break.

The NFL realigned to eight divisions after the 2001 season. Since that time (three seasons), the AFC East has easily been the most dominant division in all of pro football. Take a look at the out-of-division records and winning percentage of the respective divisions: AFC East 72-48 .600 AFC West 65-55 .542 NFC South 63-56-1 .529 AFC South 62-58 .517 NFC East 60-60 .500 AFC North 57-62-1 .479 NFC West 51-69 .425 NFC North 49-71 .408 One may think that New England has wind-aided the division, however all four AFC East teams have winning non-division records over this time period: New England 23-7 NY Jets 17-13 Buffalo 16-14 Miami 16-14 To be fair, when assessing the Bills performance over the last few years, one should keep in mind that perennially we play in the toughest division in football. Interestingly, in the last three years, the division has had only one wild-card entrant (this year's Jets). Could you imagine if Indy was still in the division?

Green Bay, the chic pick to win the NFC and go to the Super Bowl, played a total of three games this year against teams with winning records. They lost all three - at Philadelphia, at Indy and home to Jacksonville. Many columnists are taking shots at the Bills 2-6 record against winning teams. But when you're close to a .500 team, what do you expect? You' re going to beat most of the teams worse than you (less than .500) and lose most of the games against teams that are better than you (better than .500).

They don't kick field goals off a tee in college anymore.

I have no idea why so many on this board detest Nate Clements. He and Spikes are by far the biggest playmakers on the defense. Anyway, Len Pasquarelli of ESPN put him on his 1st team All-Pro. That's right, one of the best two cornerbacks in the entire NFL this past year. It's just one writer's opinion but high praise for #22. By the way, Spikes and McGee (KR) and Shelton were on the team as well.

When looking at our team stats a bit more in depth, I believe our defense is a bit overrated (still good though) and our offense is not as bad as it may appear. Here's why: Only 3 of 16 games were against teams with an offense ranked in the top 10, however 8 of 16 games were against teams with a top 10 defense. Only 3 of 16 games were against teams with a defense ranked in the bottom 10, however 6 of 16 games were against teams with an offense ranked in the bottom 10. Basically, we played alot of games against teams with bad offenses and good defenses. We didn't play many games against teams with good offenses and bad defenses. Finally, as Mark Gaughan pointed out in a recent Buffalo News article, this was one of the worst "wind" years in recent memory at the Ralph.

I generally have been supportive of Lindell, however after looking at the following stats, I think it may be time to move on. These are stats for the first five years of each kickers career (Lindell has five years exp). The kickers were chosen because they generally kick in outdoor stadiums in cold weather and have at least five years experience: Less than 40 yards: Akers 87 of 92 94.6% Stover 78 of 86 90.7% Dawson 63 of 70 90.0% Lindell 71 of 79 89.9% Longwell 86 of 97 88.7% Vinatieri 95 of 108 88.0% Christie 76 of 89 85.4% Edinger 57 of 70 81.4% 40 plus yards Akers 49 of 67 73.1% Edinger 53 of 76 69.7% Longwell 45 of 65 69.2% Christie 33 of 48 68.8% Vinatieri 41 of 61 67.2% Dawson 21 of 33 63.6% Stover 30 of 48 62.5% Lindell 28 of 51 54.9% Akers is phenomenal. Lindell's results outside of 40 yards is quite subpar. It's not that he doesn't have the leg (he's 7 for 14 career from 50+). It's just that he has not been accurate. It should be pointed out though that Lindell's contract is not above average for kickers. He is about in the middle of the pack.

AD, The board is getting out of control.

Quotes like this reinforce why athletes think so little of the sports viewing public.

Right on. However, your thinking is waaaay too logical for most of the contributors to this board.