Cash

I think his point was that Dick's 13-3 team was all smoke & mirrors, and that it's no surprise that they turned back into a pumpkin the next year & never returned to the playoffs. I wholeheartedly agree. I remember having multiple conversations during that season about how that Bears team may have been the luckiest of all time. This is the team that won OT games in back-to-back weeks on tipped balls returned for touchdowns. Yeah, Mike Brown (who returned them both) made two great returns once he had the ball, but both times the ball caromed right to him. Ridiculously lucky.

You forgot to double-count divisional opponents. You play 2 games against each team in your division, so you have to count those records twice. That gives our opponents a combined 116-140 record, and the 49ers' opponents a combined 114-141-1 record, barely edging us out for the #10 pick.

Very well put. Taken as a whole, Trent's performance has not been good enough. We need better QB play to make the playoffs. Trent may improve enough that he provides that better QB play, or he may not. I don't think anyone wants to ditch Trent at this point, but looking at things with a rational eye, we should be well-prepared in case he falls on his face.

San Fran barely edged us out in terms of having a weaker strength of schedule, 0.447-0.453, so they get pick #10 and we get pick #11. We had a shot to have the weaker schedule, but Oakland's win and the Giants' and Redskins' losses did us in. Also, San Fran played 0-16 Detroit, which really debacled their strength of schedule. Which, in the context of draft order, is a good thing.

Also, a free kick occurs from the spot of the ball (or the 20, after a safety), so it's 7 yards closer than if you tried a conventional FG from scrimmage. Plus, as mentioned above, it's possible to attempt a free kick with no time on the clock.

FYI, the free kick is also what happens after a safety. The kicking team is allowed to kick it however they want (without a tee), which is why it's called a "free" kick. After a safety, teams always opt to punt on the free kick, but they can kick it off with a holder if they want, or drop-kick it. I've always wondered why teams didn't opt for the holder option after a safety, but Rackers' shank today is probably a hint as to why teams go for the punt option.

Can't wait for the quotes this week: "Hey, we're 5-4, and that's pretty good, especially compared to what everyone was saying about us before the season."

No review? What kind of garbage is this?

Couldn't we have at least thrown the garbage-time TD to Evans, to help out my fantasy team?

We suck.

Not that it'll make a difference in the game, but that defensive holding call is exactly the type of BS call that gets called against the Pats, but not on them.

That one was unconscionable.

Game ain't over yet -- probably will be 20 points when it's all said and done. Also take a look at TOP -- it's probably very biased in their favor, because our defense has gotten 1 real stop all day.

Good thing we punted on 4th-and-10 at their 45 yard line. If we'd gone for it and missed, the Patriots might've been able to drive way down the field and run off a lot of clock. Oh wait, they did that anyway? Shucks.

No surprise here -- the D has started to stiffen, now that the worst damage is already done. At times, it does really seem as though the team's only goal is to not get blown out.

Wow. Discounting the kneel-down possession that took the game to halftime, the Patriots' shortest drive today has been 6 plays. That's not going to get it done. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, we can't run at all, can't consistently convert a third-and-1, and continue to turn the ball over from the QB position at a high rate. That's not going to get it done either. How can this be the same team that showed up for the first 4 weeks? I don't get it.

Did blitz on that play and it got picked up.

Yup. It's practically a fait accompli at this point.

While not defending Royal, who sucks, I'd like to also point out that if the pass was between the numbers, instead of 2 feet towards the defender, it would've been a much easier catch, and Royal could've shielded off Mayo with his body.

Well, there goes all our momentum. It's Moorman time.

It's Beast Mode time, baby! Let's go!

Randy Cross: "If you're a Buffalo Bills fan, this is exactly the kind of play you want to see." Talking about an on-target pass to a wide-open receiver that popped into the air, and he was so wide-open that no defender was within 5 yards of making the interception. I'd rather see what happened on the next play! That's what I'm talking about!

This is really depressing.

Another terrible pass. I don't know what's wrong with Edwards, but this was not the guy I was watching in the first half of the year, or the San Diego game. That's 2 turnovers already today.

When was the last time we ran a playaction pass? That's a serious question. I know we haven't run any today.