The Great iBoldin

God damn, this is the best I've ever seen Aaron Rodgers play, he's been dominant all series. Could be a long day for Chicago.

I don't really mind who wins, because I'd like to see Packer fans or DBF/Bears bandwagon eat crow, but I'll take the Packers, 24-17.

He was a scapegoat because he absolutely sucks. My arm strength is probably on par with Palmer.

Why do you think you deserve it more? That is completely asinine.

I have some privileges, but I do not believe I'm a full football mod.

I feel there are two real situations to let go of a coach. And yes, I mean let go, not fired. The second situation is a firing. 1. When you're striving to become a better team, and you know the coach you have isn't going to help you get "over the hump". This is the situation Oakland is in right now. I read Bob Ackles book (former Cowboys, Dolphins, Cardinals front office guy and one of the greatest people in CFL history) and he said he's fired several coaches. Not because he didn't like them, but they've either ran their course as a head coach, or simply bring no more to the table for the team that they're trying to develop. This is the situation Cable is in right now. He's done a great job, turned them around and gave them an 8-8 record. But, is he going to make that team a playoff team? This, combined with the situation that Oakland may lose Hue Jackson to another coaching position in a year or so makes this a fairly easy to decision for Undead Al. 2. Simply put, you're going to rebuilding or the guy is just an awful coach. See: Mike Singletary. EDIT: In essence, a good hire. Hue's revamped the running game, the offensive line is better, and the defense was very good last year. Could sneak into the playoffs next year.

Nice assessment, I agree with all of your points, especially the ones about Brady. He's been awfully average dating back to the Giants Super Bowl game. The Patriots need to give the line a little revamp - Mankins and Vollmer are the only starters that should be retained. He's bracing to get hit too often, will hold onto the ball too long and, quite frankly, I think he's scared to get hit. He's psychologically damaged goods when you get to him early and often as the Jets did. He's still arguably the best quarterback in the league, but man is he a sitting duck. He makes Ryan Mallett looks like Big Ben in the pocket. The Jets really do have the blueprint in beating both the Patriots and Colts now. You have to bring in great athletic talent, guys who are smart and can play man-to-man and linebackers who are decent in coverage. Even with Jim Leonhard out, and Brodney Pool injured as well, the Jets are still bringing safeties into the box and challenging teams to throw deep on them. Once Cromartie was in there to shut down Pierre Garcon in the Indianapolis game, it was all over. Wayne wasn't going to do anything and Blair White isn't a deep threat at all. With only Santi to worry about inside, the Jets could send a little extra pressure as well. In this Pats game, the lack of a deep threat (as ECN alluded to) destroyed any chance the Pats had in winning the game. New England actually had an upper hand in all of the formations and motions they were running pre-snap. The bunch trips screens, the motion quick outs to guys like Woodhead and Edelman were perfect counter actions to the Jets tight coverage. Get the ball out quickly and let your guys run for YAC. However, things like false starts, poor throws and awesome coverage really discouraged that at points. I know they had to let Moss go to keep the locker room intact, but even his presence could've given this game a whole different look. Brady had nothing down field. Is Brady's mystique in the playoffs gone though? I mean, it's inevitable, but the statistical passing stats of Brady's has evened out with the coinciding of his poor playoff performances.

The New England Patriots were finally exposed for what they really are, which is an over-rated team. Plus the Jets are really lucky.

IF you guys thought McDermott never blitzed, you're going to think he was Jim Johnson when you get a load of Dick Jauron. Have fun with that lol.

He basically ran a West Coast Offense with a lot of vertical passing at SDSU, but was more spread oriented at Ball State. What I said before about the defense likely reigns supreme with the offense as well.

Brady Hoke broke into tears when he got introduced as the Michigan coach. At least we know he cares, lol. One of the things I like about Hoke is his willingness to go away from his own defensive schemes to accomodate to the talent he has. A 4-3 base defense is what he runs, but he ran a year or two of 46 bear at Ball State and ran a 3-3-5 at SDSU. So we'll probably see some variation of the 3-3-5 at Michigan until he can bring in his kind of players. You gotta like that in a coach though.

With all of the potential midfielders with the Caps second first-round pick and the first pick of the second round, I wouldn't be surprised if they took Nagbe. Hopefully he does want to play in Vancouver, it's a great city.

I've heard rumors about the Whitecaps trading from 1 to 3 with DC United I believe. Apparently DC wants Kitchen or the kid from Akron. Either way, it'll be fun to watch as we'll be watching the new wave of kids for our new program here in Vancouver. Never been an MLS fan before but this should be fun, the Whitecaps might not be too bad either.

I have the game on my PVR ready for me to watch it. However I've caught bits and pieces of the game, including Dyer's run. I'm not clarified on the exact rule but I think it was the right call. I'm not going to get into it though. Both teams played very spirited games. For all the talk we heard about how the offenses are going to take over, both Auburn and Oregon's defensive attacks held very high-octane offenses to respectable amounts, a victory in itself. There is no reason for Oregon to feel badly about the way they played. They took chances, ran the usual routine, they just caught a bit of bad luck on the Dyer run and the rest is history. I thought Nick Fairley was absolutely fantastic and looked the part of a number one overall selection. He's going to have a lot of fines come his way with the way he plays, but at least he plays on the edge and the coaches don't need to get him fired up. He played awesome. Thought LaMichael James looked injured maybe, he was limping and didn't have his usual explosiveness. Jeff Maehl, as he's been all year, was great. Auburn's offensive line played well and Dyer had a great game. A good end to a great college football season. A lot of parity, but I thought this was the right choice for the NC game. Now onto the Draft.

DBF love fest of Jay Cutler - 3 Danny's/DBF's really awkward lines (such as rubbing Hasselbeck's bald head) - 5

This is going to be one [expletive]ed up pre-game thread by the time next week comes around. DBF and Danny's teams going head to head? It's started already too.

I could see him in Philadelphia or Dallas the most, one of the two.

Arguing who's the better corner is arguing semantics. They're both insanely talented and have the tape to back it up.

I think Pelini is fairly satisfied with the Nebraska job, but you never know what anyone would do if LSU's job became open. It's probably a top-five or seven job in the country. I still think Malzahn could make that offense absolutely dominant.

In before ECN proclaims him as a Patriot already and New England Super Bowl Champions for the next four years.

All they needed was 16 points to win the game, the defense has to step up to the plate and actually make a play to help them win a game. Against a defense such as the Jets 16 points is commendable, in a playoff game as well. I can't believe you're actually suggesting Manning lost them this game tonight.

Some of the notable movement the past few days includes... (rumors included) - Les Miles to Michigan - Chris Petersen to Stanford - Tom Bradley to Pitt Gary Patterson signed an extension through 2018 with TCU and Jimbo Fisher signed a five-year extension today. If Les Miles heads to UM I could see Malzahn taking over at LSU. That'd be a fantastic hire.

What's your major? Sounds like you're taking Gen Ed classes right now, you're a freshman?

When is the last time that happened in a situation comparable to Andrew Luck's situation? Where a guy was an assured number one pick, came back to school and he suffered a career-ending injury? This kid is getting an Architecture degree from the University of Stanford, I don't think he has to worry about salary, he can make plenty of it both ways, football and designing houses, stadiums, you name it.

I think it's a fine decision, there are a lot of variables suggesting why he should and shouldn't come out, all of which are valid. However, we shouldn't ridicule a personal decision. He's doing what he thinks is best for him. I'm certainly no expert, so I'll take his opinion over anyone. The fact that the rookie payscale will be in effect the next time the NFL kicks off their season assists Luck, it doesn't deter him. In this age of uncertainty in the NFL, no player is ever going to make 50 million guaranteed out of college anymore. Sam Bradford is probably lucky enough to be the last guy to really rake in the cash. But that's okay, because it WILL strengthen the NFL. If it's going to sway a player like Luck's decision not to enter the draft early, then it shouldn't be a problem. Luck was simply not going to make 50-60 million guaranteed. No way. This is a kid who goes to a top five school academically in the country, taking an extremely tough major. Not too mention Oliver Luck is a former NFL quarterback and the AD at a successful athletic school in WVU. Money is not a problem for Luck. If it was, he would've entered, but it's not, so it's a moot point. Back to Stanford. We all know Stanford is a prestigious school. He's the man on campus, he's scheduled to graduate early. Team wise, Stanford's in a great position to come back and win a National title with Luck at the helm, Harbaugh or not. I actually think part of Luck's decision to announce that he's coming back early is to erase all doubts in hopes to sway Harbaugh to leave after next year. If Harbaugh comes back I have no qualms putting this team five or six in my inaugural rankings next season. He's losing a few receivers, and a couple of offensive lineman but they'll return arguably the best interior lineman in all of college football in DeCastro and would still have the same systems in place. When's the last time someone was seriously injured and fell because of it? With as good as a surrounding Andrew has? Jake Locker is the easiest example because it happened this year. However, we have to realize Washington's receivers also dropped 45 balls and the skill level on the offensive line is comparable to a JuCo school, it's absolutely horrendous. Plus his two tight ends were kicked out just before the season. Luck doesn't have to worry about that. He really doesn't have to worry about anything but a guaranteed season of football and national championships aspirations, both of which are either assured or in the running for.