Steelers are team to beat in AFC

[Edge34]

Hey mistrpug,

Should've clarified...I don't think the Steelers are the team to beat, but they're one of many near the top of the AFC. My point was more that New England's run hasn't been exactly DOMINATING, relying on a lot of close games in which mistakes were made by others. Miami would've beaten them in OT had Mare not missed a 35-yard chip shot. Pittsburgh, New England still, and Indianapolis are my top 3 AFC teams.

Philly's the class of the NFL right now. They faced the tough Ravens D and still came out on top, and pulling out close games is how you win titles. I think they'll beat Pittsburgh too...but the Steelers are for real this year - and one of the few teams in the AFC with both a good offense AND defense.

-Edge

[Toro]

[quote- and maybe even showed how overrated one Tom Brady is.

And all this stuff about Dillon being so important...the Pats didn't even HAVE Dillon till this year...can't Brady win with his defense and Kevin Faulk in the backfield?-Edge

[/ QUOTE ]

What a terrible argument for showing that Brady is overrated. No they didn't have Dillon last year but they had Antoine Smith, a serviceable back. Faulk is not a full time back, only a third down specialist. He doesn't have speed or power, has trouble finding the hole and is prone to fumbling as we saw yesterday.

But that was only the half of it. Their top reciever was out and Troy Brown was forced into action and he's not 100%. They're starting right tackle was out and they were forced to go with a backup who has yet to play this year. Then Light went down and they had to move this backup right tackle to left tackle and then had to move their starting right guard to right tackle and of course have another backup at right guard. It was a disaster with Joey porter having a field day with this makeshift line.

Do a little research before making such a ridiculous statement.

[mistrpug]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey mistrpug,

Should've clarified...I don't think the Steelers are the team to beat, but they're one of many near the top of the AFC.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with that 100%.


[ QUOTE ]
My point was more that New England's run hasn't been exactly DOMINATING, relying on a lot of close games in which mistakes were made by others.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't agree with that at all. C'mon man. 21 games in a row. That's dominating. The fact that there were many close games makes it even more impressive.

[Edge34]

You're right, the injuries didn't help them at all - but lots of teams have had injured players and have still made plays and gotten victories. We'll throw that one out though, since I do agree that injuries helped Joey Porter and the rest of the Steelers D be all over Brady. But Tom Brady made a lot of terrible passing decisions that he could've easily avoided, being picked off what, 3 times?

In 2003, Brady threw 23 TDs and 12 Interceptions (9 QBs had more TDs, including Jon Kitna and Brad Johnson). In '02, it was 28 and 14. He's never been in the top 5 QB's in the NFL and isn't even in the top 10 this year. He makes a lot of poor decisions with the ball, and his Defense helps make him look like a genius by not allowing those mistakes to cost them a lot of ball games. That's basically the only explanation for their Super Bowl titles...heck, Carolina should've beaten them, but they just couldn't pull it off. Their injured line didn't help them at all against the Steelers, but those who hail Tom Brady as the next coming of Joe Montana are a little over-the-top. I'm not saying he isn't good, very good even, but the best? I think QBs like Peyton Manning are much more solid, at the position, than Brady.

Oh yeah, and Brady fumbled against the Raiders...I'm still a little bitter about that one.

[Edge34]

21 games in a row is a lot - the streak has been dominating, but their individual performances haven't. There have been multiple times they played poorly enough to be beaten, but were bailed out by the other team's mistakes. And as I said, I still consider the Pats among the top in the AFC, but if anything, this will shut everyone up about a perfect season and how they're the best team ever, at least. The New England defense has been incredibly solid through this streak, allowing them to overcome the mistakes frequently made by the Offense.

-Edge

[ThaSaltCracka]

I agree with everything you just said Edge.

[Toro]

Yesterday he had 2 interceptions and a fumble. The first interception his reciever fell down and the defender had a clear lane to the ball. The 2nd interception has on 3rd and long and he threw a long bomb which was intercepted on the 17 yard line, essentially the same result of an incompletion and a 4th down punt.

The fumble was on a strip sack when the pocket collapsed and he got the ball stripped from behind when he was attempting to pass.

Brady's had some bad days before but I don't put yesterday on him at all.

[tolbiny]

I guess i just don't get it. How do we measure the best Quterback or best team in the league? If i was building a team right now my choice for QB would be Brady, because he wins. It is a QB's job to do whatever is nessecary to win each individual game, and Brady is the best since Montana. Peyton Manning looks fantastic most weeks, but during week 1 when Brady knew that would have to score a ton to keep up he lit it up. manning threw a pick inside the 5 yrd line. All QB's make mistakes, but Brady's never seem to cost them the game. Maybe that's because of their Defense, or their coaching but what ever it is, it works and it works better than any other time in NFL history.
I will always keep in mind the reason i heired a guy, i couldn't care less if his portfolio isn't as well drawn up as another guys, just as long as his stocks outperform everyone elses.

[Edge34]

Hey tolbiny,

As far as the Best QB/ Best Team thing, the best team is probably going to be the one that wins the most. The problem with that is, of course, any team can win on any given Sunday.

The best QB, however, is the one I believe to be more important to their team, from a "we couldn't win without..." point of view. In this regard, a guy like Peyton Manning is probably much more important to his team, since he has precisely NO defense to keep the other team from scoring a ton of points. Brady looks a lot better in large part due to his Defense shutting down the other team and allowing 14-21 points to win a game. The Patriots, all credit given, won their Super Bowls as a team, with basically a collection of role players making it work (kinda like the Lightning winning the Cup, or the Pistons winning the NBA Finals.)

QBs like Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb are more talented position players than Brady. Of course, if I could, I'd make Peyton my top AFC QB and Brady his solid, role-playing backup. Very serviceable, and very talented, no doubt...but he's not Joe Montana. Elway did the job better than Brady when he was still playing.

-Edge

[Bulldog]

[ QUOTE ]
Big Ben is the real deal. The defense is playing pretty well, too. They totally outplayed the Patriots yesterday, on both sides of the ball - and maybe even showed how overrated one Tom Brady is.

And all this stuff about Dillon being so important...the Pats didn't even HAVE Dillon till this year...can't Brady win with his defense and Kevin Faulk in the backfield?

KC and Tennessee both suck, the only way KC wins is when they play a team with an equally poor D (yes, like the Colts), and Tennessee...well, they just can't keep players on the field. Pitt's winning with a rookie QB who can handle the pressure, and a solid backfield and D. Philly oughta be careful, but I think they'll handle Pitt.

-Edge

[/ QUOTE ]

From http://www.fantasyindex.com/Scheduletron.html

SCHEDULETRON -- SO FAR
Based on the combined win-loss records of opponents, the Rams have played the easiest schedule so far (their opponents have gone a combined 17-29 - 3-4 against the Rams, and 14-25 against other teams). The Lions, Colts and Browns, meanwhile, have played the hardest schedules. The complete list:
W L Pct.
14 25 .359 St. Louis
12 20 .375 Washington
15 24 .385 Tampa Bay
14 22 .389 Green Bay
13 20 .394 Pittsburgh
15 23 .395 New Orleans
16 23 .410 Denver
13 18 .419 Baltimore
16 21 .432 Atlanta
14 18 .438 NY Jets
15 18 .455 Seattle
18 20 .474 Oakland
16 17 .485 Houston
16 16 .500 Minnesota
20 19 .513 Tennessee
19 18 .514 Miami
17 16 .515 San Francisco
16 15 .516 New England
20 18 .526 Jacksonville
17 15 .531 Chicago
18 15 .545 Arizona
18 15 .545 Buffalo
18 14 .563 Dallas
18 14 .563 NY Giants
19 14 .576 Cincinnati
19 14 .576 Kansas City
18 13 .581 Philadelphia
20 14 .588 Carolina
23 16 .590 San Diego
21 14 .600 Cleveland
21 14 .600 Indianapolis
20 12 .625 Detroit
SCHEDULETRON -- REMAINING (WIN-LOSS)
Based on the combined win-loss records of opponents, the 49ers and Panthers project to play the easiest schedules the rest of the way (based on current win-loss records). Washington and Green Bay, meanwhile, project to play the hardest schedules in weeks 8-17. The complete list:
W L Pct.
23 40 .365 San Francisco
27 40 .403 Carolina
26 37 .413 Arizona
24 34 .414 Tampa Bay
25 35 .417 Atlanta
25 35 .417 San Diego
27 36 .429 Seattle
26 34 .433 Denver
28 35 .444 New England
27 32 .458 New Orleans
30 32 .484 Philadelphia
28 29 .491 Jacksonville
28 29 .491 Tennessee
31 32 .492 Detroit
34 34 .500 Kansas City
30 30 .500 Oakland
32 31 .508 Buffalo
32 31 .508 NY Jets
28 27 .509 St. Louis
33 30 .524 Chicago
33 30 .524 Indianapolis
33 30 .524 Minnesota
30 26 .536 Miami
31 25 .554 Cleveland
34 27 .557 NY Giants
37 29 .561 Houston
35 27 .565 Cincinnati
35 26 .574 Dallas
38 24 .613 Baltimore
38 24 .613 Pittsburgh
38 23 .623 Washington
35 21 .625 Green Bay


Benny's fortunes may change, likely starting this weekend...

The Dillon argument has already been refuted well by others (don't forget the fact that Faulk got almost no reps in practice this week).