That photo up above signals the end of the NFL season. Each year our neighbor has a party for the Super Bowl outside next to his backyard ice rink with the game projected on his shed and a warm fire roaring next to the beach chairs, beers and munchies. Guests strap on their skates and can watch the game while having fun under the stars. That shot is of Andy enjoying the Colts losing to the Saints, after a fun evening of skating. So now that the season is officially over, we thought it would be fun to look back on our pre-season predictions and see how we did...
1. Brett Favre will get a dicey reception upon his return to Green Bay on 11/01 as the QB of the rival Minnesota Vikings...Well, we weren't exactly going out on a limb with this one. He was booed heavily, but ignored it on his way to defeating his former franchise. CORRECT!
2. Brett Favre will change his mind about retirement a few more times just for good measure...He hasn't announced one way or the other yet. But he did appear in a funny commercial during the Super Bowl about being 50 and not knowing if he should retire or not. So I'd say he's still undecided, and making money off of it to boot. CORRECT!
3. RB Adrian Peterson will have another great year for the Minnesota Vikings in spite of Brett...Not exactly. AP fumbled the ball with terrifying frequency. And his rushing yards were down from last year. But his TD's were up. But in the end, Brett actually carried the Vikes to the post season - not Peterson. WRONG!
4. But RB Steve Slaton of the Houston Texans will try to give him a run for his money...Unless Slaton was trying to fumble more than Peterson, he failed in every other way. When he wasn't underperforming, he was benched or injured. WRONG!
5. WR T.O. will not enjoy Buffalo and the Bills will continue to flop...This was like taking candy from a baby. Too easy. Owens pouted and all but disappeared from relevance in Buffalo. And they finished last in the AFC East. CORRECT!
6. QB Michael Vick will return to the field and start a game for the Philadelphia Eagles because Donovan McNabb will get hurt - again...Well, McNabb did get hurt right off the bat and missed a few games. But Vick was still suspended at the time and wasn't available to go. Vick came in sporadically for trick plays here and there later in the season. No starts. WRONG!
7. QB Ben (packing on the pounds) Roethlisberger will underperform for the reigning Champion Pittsburgh Steelers and they will not repeat...Ben had a decent season, but nothing spectacular and the reigning champs were kept out of the playoffs entirely. CORRECT!
8. The Detroit Lions' futility as bottom dwellers will continue - along with the Oakland Raiders...Although they had company this year with the Rams, Bucs, Chiefs, Redskins, Browns and Seahawks, Detroit and Oakland once again had ugly losing seasons. CORRECT!
9. Mark Sanchez will struggle in his rookie QB season and the New York Jets will miss the playoffs...Oops. Nicknamed "Sanchise" during the season - because the validity of the franchise rests on his shoulders - Sanchez actually performed well enough to get the Jets all the way to the AFC Championship game where the Colts finished them off. WRONG!
10. The New England Patriots will end their drought and finally beat the Colts in Indianapolis - expect a re-match in the post-season...Ugh. This one hurts. The infamous "4th & 2" game where the Patriots had the lead as time was winding down and then a risky decision by their coach and poor execution led to the Colts winning a thriller to keep their undefeated status alive. The Pats were never quite the same after that game. A bow out in the first round of the playoffs by the Pats meant no re-match with the Colts in the post season. WRONG!
11. The Baltimore Ravens might actually find a passing game with rookie RT Michael Oher watching the blindside...Guess who beat the Pats in that first round of the playoffs? The Ravens. While QB Flacco wasn't all that impressive, his passing stats were improved. CORRECT!
12. The New York Giants look like the NFC team to beat...The G-Men looked and played awesome in the beginning, and then went into a mid-season free fall, missing the playoffs completely. WRONG!
13. QB Tom Brady won't miss a beat returning from last season's injury - making Randy Moss and Wes Welker very happy receivers indeed...Tommy played all season, looking at times like he was rusty, but Welker led the league in receptions - even though he missed several games himself before suffering a nasty knee injury the last game of the season that will cause him to miss most of next year and doomed the Pats in their playoff bid. CORRECT!
Well - we were right about half the time. But when we were wrong - boy were we wrong! Guess we'll stick to Fantasy Football and leave the predictions to the real world.
9 comments:
That looks like a fun Super Bowl party! I thought that Bret Favre (imagine me pronouncing it the way Been Stiller does in that Mary movie :)) was pretty funny in that commercial.
I've just finished a book and will now be able to mostly focus on W&P.
But I admire your moxy and posting these for all the world to see. Some were slam dunks, and others required you to go out on a limb. I don't think I would have been correct even half as much as you.
Hey that really isn't a bad record. My husband, for example, is only right about 10% of the time!
My general contractor (the one doing our bathroom) has decidedly gone into a pit of depression now that football season is over. Myself, I'm pretty jacked up for basketball.
"Ben had a decent season, but nothing spectacular."
Are you serious?
2009 stats: 4,328 yards, 26 touchdowns, 100.5 passer rating.
He also became one of only 3 quarterbacks (Pro Football Hall of Famers Y.A. Tittle in 1962; and Warren Moon in 1990) in NFL history to throw for at least 500-yards and three touchdowns without an interception in a game (against Green Bay) and just the 10th quarterback since 1950 to throw for 500 or more yards in a game.
Yeah, I guess that was nothing "spectacular"!
To Ben's Friend = All true stats. His QB rating was very good. But being sacked 50 times and costing your team almost 350 yards because of it is awful. Maybe that's why his yardage was high - he was playing from behind and trying to make up lots of yards. But sacks aren't all on the QB - the line takes blame for that too.
Look, I didn't see all of the Steelers' games this year. And you can manipulate stats to suit any argument. But to use the stats you focused on, 6 QB's had higher yardage than Ben - 5 of them went to the playoffs. 9 threw for more TD's - 6 of them went to the playoffs. 4 had better QB ratings - all of them went to the playoffs.
Ben didn't lead his team to the playoffs. That's why it wasn't spectacular. Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre all had better stats than Ben and took their teams deep into the playoffs. They had spectacular seasons.
Dave had Favre (or Favor, as he prounounces it) on his fantasy team so of course had to root for him and wants him to come back for at least one more year - but I'm sure Brett will change his mind multiple times over the off-season. We had a fun superbowl party with some friends from Louisianna - gumbo and jumbalaya!!
So with that thinking, Flacco had a "spectacular" season because his team went the playoffs? Lol
No - Flacco is a bad counter for your argument. His personal stats were less than ordinary, though his team's performance was successful - taking the spot the Steelers wanted.
Aaron Rodgers would be a better comparison for Roethlisberger. Rodgers' numbers were similar to, though better than, Ben's and he had the same terrible sacks that Ben did. Yet he was able to lead his team to the playoffs. So therefore did he have a spectacular season? Perhaps.
For me personally, post season appearances are a requirement for "spectacular" status. But not everyone that appears in the playoffs is spectacular - such as your example of Flacco, or Rex Grossman or Trent Dilfer. Top personal stats and post season success are the important qualities to me.
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