NFL

[M.]

Interesting first week, eh? Carolina looked a lot better than expected. So did San Diego. The Bucs (my favorite) were underwhelming against a depleted Dallas team. Will Dennis Green be able to shake up his Viking team again this year?

[Han Solo]

Yeah, San Diego looked good (against my poor Redskins!) But San Diego upgraded in a great way from last season, they're not the team that won only 1 game. I don't think that win surprised a lot of people, except for how well Tomlinson did. The big shocker to me was Carolina. And the Rams winning with ball-control and a defense! Go figure.

How did you think the replacement refs did? I thought they did an OK job.

And I like the edit feature here for correcting my horrible spelling.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Han Solo on 2001-09-11 12:21 ]</font>

[CJL]

I switched back to the MNF game just in time to see a couple of replays of McCaffrey's leg flopping about. Yikes!!!


How 'bout dem Bengals? They might be decent if they had gone for quality at quarterback instead of quantity.

Yes, sadly, I'm a Bengal fan. The 80's weren't so bad, but the 90's were a killer.

I thought the refs did pretty well, but I'm not one of those guys who spots the holding calls a lot. Also, I didn't watch much of the Raiders/Chiefs, but apparently they had a different experience than most of the other teams.

I actually thought that the refs did a better job with replay calls than the real refs did last year. Seems like most of the replay calls last week matched the announcers' and my thoughts, which was only true about half of the time last year.

[WWSituation]

Its the same old story for the Broncos! First its TD, then Olandis Gary, now McCaffery! Looks like there's always someone over there to step in. Will Eddie Kennison be the man? How will Rod Smith hold up as THE guy??

[CJL]

Rod Smith looked pretty good on Monday - I'd bet on him to hold up pretty well.

Speaking of WR's holding up - Darnay Scott looked pretty good for not playing at all last year. Helps to go up against an injured Patriot defense, but looked like a pretty good start. Peter Warrick looked good as well.

Cincinnati may not make the playoffs this year, but Corey Dillon will gain more yards than all but 2 or 3 backs in the league.

Who Dey!!!

[Fletch]

Bold prediction: Rod Smith will step up and lead the league in most receiving categories. The Broncos are pretty high on Kennison, but I haven't seen much of him. As a Broncos fan, I sure hope he can step in for Easy Ed.

I saw the Raiders/Chiefs game, as I now have NFL Sunday Ticket this year (I waited until I was done with exams to get it because I know I would've gotten a "1" on every fall exam if I'd done it sooner. And, yes, it rules.) Anyway, the officiating was pretty horrible in that game. I think in the long run, most teams & fans will suffer with the replacement officials.

[Han Solo]

Just remember, with every week the replacements will get better. At least they didn't mis-call any coin flips!

Easy Ed being out may not hurt the Broncos much. From looking at their running game Monday night, they are going to be strong there, and that will free up whatever receiver they put out there.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

I saw lots of correct calls. even in super-slo-mo, the calls were correct. There was a fumble that was dropped a split-second before the knee went down. There was a touchdown because the guy kept his knees off the ground for the split second that the ball crossed the goal line. There's always replay challenge for the critical calls.

I don't understand someone rejecting a 100% increase in salary over two years. While still having a first job. (Or maybe that's their leverage. Too bad there's plenty of replacements. It's not a unique skill.)

[CJL]

I completely agree - the regular refs WAY overestimated their importance. I say SCREW THEM. The replacement refs are guys who may have eventually been pros anyway. They'll only get better, and by the end of the season, no one will care about the original guys.

Not only did the regular refs screw up a coin toss, they're the ones who blew so many calls, including obvious, game-deciding calls (Vinny's "touchdown"), that they had to bring back instant replay.

I also must agree that Sunday Ticket rules. My wife is also a football fan, so we spend fall Sundays camped out on the couch in lazy football bliss.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

I had a hard tiome watching all the games, one at a time.
My buddy needs 8 TVs and 8 receivers. THEN Sunday Ticket will rule. Otherwise, the sports bar I frequent has all games, good tap beer, and pool tables. reasonable food, too. (Downside: too many Raiders fans -- too much emotion and beer in them.)