Football Thread

[Blackrosefencer]

Just thought that in the wake of our very brief football discussion we had Out of Character in the PRG thread, I would start a football thread here where we can (obviously) talk football. I don't know how many football fans we have here, but as we are wrapping up the regular season, this would be a good time to start a football thread. It goes without saying, that I'm referring to AMERICAN football (NFL)....not soccer. lol.

I LOVE football and I'm a die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan (as I'm sure you've noticed). I also cheer on the Eagles (only because I was born and raised in PA and have to support any and all PA teams....except the sixers, I absolute refuse to acknowledge their presence), but I wouldn't really call myself a fan. My favorite players are Troy Polamalu, Rashard Mendenhall and LeSean "Shady" McCoy.

So.....what about you all? Any other football fans out there? Do you play fantasy football? What teams and players do you follow? Who do you want to see make it to the play-offs? Who are you predicting will be playing in the Superbowl in 2012?

[Alak]

My top 3 teams are Cardinals (home team), Vikings (born there & best friend plays for them), and Broncos (grew up watching them). Favorite players are Larry Fitzgerald (WR), Adrian Peterson (RB), and Champ Bailey (CB). I'm part of two fantasy leagues and I'm only winning in one of them right now.

Ideally, I'd like to see the Broncos go to the Super Bowl since they're the only one of my favorites to have an actual chance of doing so. Packers are without a doubt the best team in the NFC right now. Saints might challenge them, but Week 1 already proved who was the better of the two teams. Patriots would get my vote being the best AFC team, although the lack of defense means the Steelers could easily take the conference title. On the other hand, the Broncos historically have been shown to beast the Pats over and over again despite being inferior on the stat sheet. I'm hoping the Broncos could "Tebow" the Pats this year and survive the Steelers.

[Phoenix]

Hmm.. by only debating American football and not international football (soccer), that pretty much rules out the interest many of the people here might have for the sport. Personally I always preferred soccer, but I've never really been a fan of either. I live in the wny region, so even though we have the Bills, most people much prefer hockey and the Sabers games tend to crowd many of the places we go out to eat.

[Blackrosefencer]

I also got into fantasy football. I was in two leagues last year and came in second in both, but the one I was almost undefeated up until the very last game!! Michael Vick carried my team all the way through the season...and then chose that last play off game as his game to play really horribly.

This year I'm in three leagues. I'm not doing quite as well as last year. I think I'm in second in the one so far though, 7th in the one and 8th in the other. But I won two out of three of my games this weekend...the last one is riding on Mike Tolbert, RB for the Chargers. I'm also in the Pigskin Pig 'Ems through Sirius XM, but it's more of a "pick which team you think is going to win" type of contest. And I think I'm like 1,000th or something out of like 8 or 9,000 people!!! I'm also in another type of contest thing, but I'm doing horrible in that one.

I'd obviously love to see the Steelers in the superbowl. I kind of like the idea of Green Bay being undefeated. Not that I particularly like GB, but it'd be neat to see a team go undefeated....as long as its not the Pats. I pretty much root for any team that's not the Jets or the Pats. I also usually cheer against the Ravens too even though Edgar Allan Poe is my favorite author! lol.

Anyway, @ Phoenix, you're more than welcome to talk about the other football (soccer) too. I just don't know anything about it. I love American football and I love baseball....but I don't really watch any other sports....besides fencing of course!!!

[Alak]

You could just re-title this thread so it says "American Football Thread". If anyone wants to talk about soccer, then make them create their own topic about it. The two have no similarities aside from name so I don't think it's a good idea to mix them up.

[Phoenix]

Or rename this thread 'blackrosefencer and Alak's football thread'. I don't think too many others here are that interested in just American football, but I could be wrong about that.

[Alak]

There are others, but it appears that most watchers here are Philadelphia fans. I like Philly, but I have a feeling as soon as they match up against one of my teams, I'm gonna be outnumbered real quick lol. Oh, and no offense to Blackrosefencer, but I'm hoping the Ravens win the division. They're an inconsistent enough team to allow the Broncos to go far in the AFC


***EDIT***

They should've rearranged the schedule for this week. Watching two trash teams play on MNF is just sad. Packers vs. Giants would've been much more entertaining.

[Blackrosefencer]

No offense taken! I mean, I'm a die hard fan, but I'm not gonna beat you up for trash-talking the Steelers!!

*eyeroll* And I guess we can let someone else have a chance for a change...

In all serious, I'm sometimes partial to seeing the underdogs doing well for a change. I mean, if the Steelers have to give up their spot in the Superbowl, I'd rather see it go to a team that could use a big moment for a change. Like, I think it'd be great to see the Houston Texans in the Superbowl. If I'm not mistaken, they've never even been in a Superbowl. I mean they were only established in like 2002.

But the Broncos? I dunno...maybe...but the Raiders are also 7-5....so the Division title could be anyone's game there. No one in the AFC is clinched yet. So in a couple weeks, we could be seeing completely different stats there! I just want someone to knock the pats out of the running! The Pats, Ravens, and Jets are the only three teams I blatantly root against. But the Broncos had a GREAT game this weekend!!! That was awesome!

As for the NFC, the niners and the packers are clinched for the division title, obviously.....but I don't want to see the niners winning a Superbowl! Then they'd have six rings too!! I wouldn't be opposed to seeing the Packers go undefeated. I think that'd be really neat. I don't even particularly like the packers, I just think it'd be neat to see a team go undefeated. It's been a while since that's happened and I think the last time it did, the team in question ended up losing in the Superbowl. lol.

And I kind of feel bad that the Colts are 0-12. But that's what you get for relying too much on one player. The Steelers have to watch....they could fall into that same trap if they're not careful. I love my Steelers, but Big Ben just drives me crazy sometimes!! He holds onto the ball when he should throw it...he has the most sacks in the whole NFL. And he should not play when he's not feeling at his best. But all of our secondaries are really average QBs....

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

I am a Colts fan (runs in the family) despite how terrible they are this year. I'm not really a diehard fan, though, of any sports. I don't own any apparel or anything. Have to admit, though, Peyton Manning is a talented QB. It's like he was born to play pro football.

I was born and raised in Pennsylvania as well but the only professional PA team I like is the Phillies. I despise the Eagles, and how many of their fans are completely obnoxious (excluding Blackrosefencer ). It's always the same nonsense from that team and Andy, "We have to do better. " No duh! They say that after EVERY loss! So DO BETTER! They blow it every time, especially when they actually make it to the Super Bowl. Most of my co-workers are Eagles fans as well and I just laugh at them when they complain and cry about their losing team year after year. Waaah, what? Hey, guys, there's always next year!

[Alak]

I despise the Eagles

..............

Honestly, I was not expecting you to say that lol. Everybody who was born, grew up, lived, or just even visited Philly seems to adore the Eagles. Anyway, I hope the Colts finish with the worst record in the NFL and that's for two reasons:

1) They deserve to win the "Suck for Luck" competition so that they have a great QB in the reserves.

2) When Peyton Manning comes back next year and destroys everybody, the entire nation will realize that there is no MVP candidate more worthy than him.

With that being said, I don't want Peyton to come back. He's dying to return to the field, but if he gets hurt then that's automatic retirement. Colts need to keep him seated since their season is pretty much screwed anyway.

[WorpeX]

BROWNS!!!!

[Blackrosefencer]

BROWNS!!!!

You're silly.

They're definitely going down tonight! HERE WE GO, STEELERS! HERE WE GO! GO BLACK AND GOLD!!!

[Alak]

That was a surprisingly close game. Much respect to the Browns for keeping it close.

[Blackrosefencer]

That was a surprisingly close game. Much respect to the Browns for keeping it close.

That should not have been that close at all. They were not playing at their best....and Charlie Batch can't throw to save his life. Poor guy. How low must that poor guy's self-esteem be? They only put him in when we have enough of a lead that even he can't screw it up.....and then this one time he actually got a chance to be the glue that holds the team together, they took him out so that the injured starting QB could play since he didn't even complete one pass. I kinda felt bad that all over facebook people were hoping they'd put Hines in.

[Blazemane]

I am not the most dedicated fan (unlike many others in my family who join fantasy football leagues, play their own games on some Sunday afternoons, shout at terrible calls and affirm the need to fire Millen), but I do enjoy following the my team's progress and watching their games... semi-often.

And my teams is the Lions. That gets interesting.

I mean, my reasons for liking them aren't terribly profound. I live in Michigan and my favorite animal is the lion. There you go. But... they're still worth rooting for.

This year has been really interesting. We were like... trouncing everyone. And I like the whole second-half sudden reign of terror we had going, even though the first halves were making me feel depressed.

And then, I don't know what happened. And then Stafford couldn't throw. And then he got his glove off but we had to play the Packers, and...

I'd love it if we made it into the playoffs this year, though. Then maybe our mid-season slump wouldn't feel so bad anymore. Or how about the Super Bowl?

No, no, don't laugh. Getting to the Super Bowl is still possible. And it would be awesome.