The GBU presents: Grade your team for the 1st quarter

[steeljake]

Please post here or send a pm to me, or even email to gbu_central@yahoo.com. the question is simple: what grade do you give your team for the 1st quarter of the season? also feel free to post comments and/or critisms for your team. if the comment is good enough i will quote it for the gbu quarter pole (week4) edition coming out tomorrow night.

 

[Villain]

49ers - B+

They're 3-1 and could (probably should) be 4-0. They've exceeded my higher-than-usual expectations as far as victories go (I really thought they'd be 3-1 with a loss to the Eagles and not the Cowboys). There's still a lot of work to be done - especially on the offensive side of the ball. Defense, namely Patrick Willis, has been great. Special teams won at least one game - Teddy G in Week 1 comes to mind. I'd like to see better passing numbers from Smith and I'd also like Frank Gore to live up to his reputation and possibly establish himself as one of the best rushing threats in the game.

 

[Obst]

Jaguars - D

Such a poor offense, two different quarterbacks, no WR's, a shaky offensive line and horrible play calling. Just so frustrating to watch this year so far, our highest scoring game was 16 points. Only reason this team gets the D grade is because of the defense keeping them in games (besides the Jets, but I blame Luke McCown's 4 INT's for that) and they squeezed out a win against the 3-1 Titans.

 

[Bear Pand]

Colts

I - Incomplete

 

[KnightNoles]

D+ C-

Awful awful offensive line turns into a horrid run game. Not to mention the OC who will be un-named I doubted him before and after SBs just needs to be let go. Let Ben go no huddle which he is excellent in doing. Defense is getting older and we need corners and have harped on that the last few drafts. If the pass rush is going to be there and relentless we can live and die on the outside but really the only young guys are ziggy, woodley and timmons.

I just don't doubt the Steelers organization but I'm not seeing what they are, if I was is probably be getting paid for it. *damn*

I didn't watch the Texans live just followed by gamecast but have watched 3 of the 4...

Until our oline gets a little more stable it will be an up and down year, just gotta stay step for step with the freakin Ravens.

 

[KnightNoles]

maybe I graded too hard on my team :smug:

 

[Woy]

B+

Would be an A if it wasn't for the debacle that was the Jaguars game. I'll chalk that up as Pre-Season Week 5.

The passing offense has been nothing short of amazing, thanks in part to a rejuvenated Matt Hasselbeck, who has looked incredible in Chris Palmer's new offense. Kenny Britt will be missed for the remainder of the season, but Nate Washington has been solid as a #2 guy and young pups Damian Williams and Lavelle Hawkins have stepped up. The running game has struggled with an ineffective Chris Johnson coming back from holding out, but the interior line has been worse than last year when PFF gave them the worst grade in run blocking.

If it wasn't for Colt McCoy's garbage-time yards, the Titans would still hold the top slot in defense from a yardage standpoint. They currently lead in PPG over the Ravens, who they handled in Week 2. Cortland Finnegan has played like a man on a mission and is reminiscent to his '08 self, while players like Derrick Morgan, Jason Jones along with rookies Jurrell Casey and Karl Klug have given the Titans a familiar, successful defensive line rotation. Akeem Ayers is an early candidate for Defensive Rookie of the Year, while Jordan Babineaux has had his hand in big plays since taking over for an injured Chris Hope.

This isn't a Jeff Fisher coached Titans squad anymore, but a glaring negative that carried over from the Fisher era is the amount of bonehead defensive penalties. This extremely young team should be a factor in the AFC playoff race for the entire season.

 

[Mogriffjr]

C

The past two games we've seen LARGE chunks in our armor. The defense in the Raider game was exposed largely due to an amazing player but we always have trouble with fast RB's. The past game, our offensive line, which has been an issue most of the year was exposed but due to one of the best front 7's in the game.

I'm not worried about the defense...Revis, Cro and Wilson are one of the better CB units in the league. The run game we can beat power teams but we've had trouble a bit with fast RB's and running off tackle towards Devito...but again I feel confident that we can control that in time.

We struggle with TE's...Smith is a step slow, Leonhard is too small to cover TE's...Pool maybe our best bet unless one of the other safeties can show something.

This offensive line is what grades us this low to me, combined with offensive playcalling.

Ground and pound is done. Rex said he's going back to it full force this next week but we NEED Mangold back. Hunter is a liability so far and Slauson is ok but nothing special. Teams are loading up in the box to stop the run and Greene can't run behind a line that's not blocking because he doesn't have the speed to make moves. Get McKnight some burn please.

Passing wise teams are blitzing heavy. I'm not really concerned about Sanchez, but the playcalling does him no favors. It's just so out of wack now that something needs to be done ASAP. What's our identity on offense? Nothing. We can't control offense flow passing right now, nor running...something needs to be done.

 

[Houston]

B+

Loving our backfield options we have this year. Ben Tate has played more then solid, and Foster seems to be back to his regular self, a couple of times making a joke out of Troy Polamalu. Our D-line is good but our DB's are as shaky as ever. We lost to The Saints our first real test, but as I said earlier, a lot of people forgot to mention that they'd also be one of our hardest.

We allowed both the Saints and Steelers to hold on by shooting ourselves in the foot. We seem to still be the same Texans....just slightly better at closing the deal. So far this season it's been kind of hard to judge. Coming up we got Raiders, Ravens, and Titans. By the time those 3 games are over we'll know where we stand.

 

[kmanharris]

1st half of the game- A

Rest of game- B-

Tony Romo 2nd half- F

We look unbeatable at times, then Romo throws a pick (or 3) and we look like utter shit. Still 2-2 and in a VERY winnable division.

Lucky for me, I'll be dead from a heart attack before December.

 

[Primetime]

A

The Packers came into opening day poised to make another run at the championship. Aaron Rodgers only competition at MVP in the 1st quarter has been Megatron. The Packers opponents have a 7-5 record outside of our games while the Lions opponents have a 5-6 record outside of their games. It is definitely the Packers division to lose and I can't see anybody taking it from them. I still think the Lions are vastly overrated and remain the 3rd best team in the division, but that also shows how good the division is.

Week 1: The Packers came out against what could be the 2nd best team in football and completely dominated on the offensive side of the ball, while struggling to stop Drew Brees and the passing game of New Orleans. Although we struggled defensively, Green Bay made the big stops when they've needed it and they have continued to do that throughout the first quarter of the regular season.

Week 2: Cam Newton and the Panthers came out on the first drive and drove 80 yards, rather easily, for the first touchdown of the game. After that, the Packers made adjustments and held them to field goals on the next two possessions, despite the Panthers starting in Green Bay territory after a fumble by Cobb on the Packers first kick return, and a three and out early. Rodgers came back and dominated the Panthers secondary, while Newton threw into coverage all game and ended up throwing three interceptions. Again, the Packers gave up a lot of yards, but the aggressive play by the defense ended up being a great reward rather than a bad risk. Sadly, the Packers lost arguably their best defensive player and the captain of the defense when Jonathon Stewart practically sat on Nick Collins head. Collins is lost for the season, but Peprah played most of last season after Burnett was hurt, so he has all the experience needed to be a formidable player on the Packers defense.

Week 3: Green Bay went into Chicago and played their game. Ryan Grant proved he can still be a great back in this league. Rodgers continued to excel in the passing game and the Bears, safe to say, were not ready for Jermichael Finley. Finley was hurt for both matchups last season and Rodgers exploited the mismatch Finley causes for every defensive player in the league. The defense gave up a lot of yards yet again, but made the big plays when they needed them and caused the turnovers required to keep the momentum on the Packers side. People keep talking about a "phantom" holding call, but that just dead wrong. Whether it affected the play or not, it was clear holding and the correct call was made. Great play design, great execution for the most part, just a bad hold to bring it all back.

Week 4: Rodgers played like a God. First player ever to throw for 400 yards, throw 4 touchdowns, and rush for 2 more touchdowns. It was a weak opponent and Green Bay showed that they weren't going to lay down against this type of competition, but continue to play aggressive throughout the course of the game. We struggled to stop Willis McGahee, but forced Orton to make passes he didn't want to. Charles Woodson made an excellent read pre-play that lead to his interception returned for touchdown.

All in all, very strong first quarter of football. Clearly the best team in football and that feels great to say. Credit Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy, even though they take all the heat when a loss occurs.

Interesting Statistics:

PPG: 37.0 (1st in NFL)
3rd Down Conversion %: 54 (3rd in NFL)
TOP: 32:42 (5th in NFL)
TO Margin: +6 (5th in NFL)
Penalties: 22 (8th in NFL)
Penalty Yards: 159 (6th in NFL)
Rushing Defense: 284 (2nd in NFL)

We can definitely tighten up our passing defense, but I don't want to start playing conservative. We're 2nd in the league in forcing turnovers behind the Ravens and much of that success is from our league leading 8 interceptions. Morgan Burnett is the real deal. He looks solid every single week and I have nothing to complain about from him. In a defense that had a lot of weapons already, Burnett has been one of, if not the biggest weapon so far. Great tackler and great deep field coverage.

 

[Fox1994]

Objectively: C
Comparatively: B+

Beating the Broncos doesn't matter, they're 1-3. Beating the Jets is a better indicator, but they lost bad to the Ravens. And them beating the Cowboys and Tennessee are hard indicators of where they're at as well. Unless Tennessee's gonna pan out as really good later on. I'd be much more confident had the Patriots lost yesterday.

Subjectively, though, well, before last year the most games we'd won in at any one point since the Super Bowl was 5. We're almost halfway to that through 4 games.

We're already a quarter of the way to last year, so if we maintain this level of play we'll retain .500. I'd rather we earn 9 or 10 wins, but I won't be blown away if it doesn't happen. We're playing well in some phases (running game especially), just wish we could get consistency across the board.

 

[1ke]

Bears.

C-

The offense was just about what I expected, maybe a little worse due to the fact that the right side of the O-line is a revolving door of players. 4 players to play at 2 spots on the right side has made everything even more difficult for the already under water Oline.

The defense however has been a huge area where the team has yet to hot their stride. Other than Urlacher, everyone seems to be underachieving. And on Sunday against Carloina, they couldnt get off the damn field and made Cam's inaccurate ass look like Brady. Not to mention 30 aginst NO and 27 against the Pack. They really need to step up for the next quarter untlil the offense can resemble something of a NFL offense.

But, I gave them a C- cuz their first three games were fucking brutal. Atl, NO, and GB. 1-3 was very popular. But they came out of it 2-2.

-Highlight of the 1st quarter so far has to be Marion's 340 degree flip. LOL

 

[Maynard]

Browns D

at 2-2 you might think thats pretty solid for a team that nobody is expecting anything from. But that 2-2 could easily be 0-4. getting smashed by the titans and losing to a pathetic bengals team accounts for the 2 losses. But the 2 wins against a manning-less colts team and a lucky comeback win over a real bad miami team doesnt equal a happy 2-2.

the coaching is down right horrendous. We lost to the bengals due to bad coaching. The got burned because they were not set on dee and nobody thought, hey lets call timeout. And dont forget the 8 flags (7 accepted) called in the 1st quarter of that game. Say what you will about Mangini, but he would never have allowed that to happen.

Game 3 over miami had some of the worst playcalling ever. the dee kept us alive and McCoy showed some clutch by driving down for the go ahead TD. But a celebration penalty and a horsecollar penalty on the kickoff gave miami the ball on the browns side of the field. Needing nothing more then 10 yards for a FG shot to win the game, Miami manage to throw 4 incomplete passes to lose that game

Week 4 vs the titans was down right nasty. We got burned repeatedly on defense. Bad coaching allowed guys to blow coverage, miss tackles, take a horrible angle on an 80 yard TD and allow 2 DB's to get picked for another long pass play. The titans didnt need to much because the Browns dee made them look spectacular. McCoy threw the ball 61 times while the browns best offensive weapon had just 10 carries. all thru the 2nd half when we all knew the browns had lost, McCoy continued to throw check downs over and over as though it was his first read. I was yelling at the TV for him to at least try and throw one deep. everything was middle 10 yards, or 2 the flats. It was painful to watch.

Players are now complaining about their role in the games. Why are they not being played. shit like that. based on the post game interviews it would seem Shermer is losing the locker room....after 4 fucking weeks....CMON

Lets talk about the White Rhino. where the fuck is he? why didnt he play in week 4? he was 100% but only had 10 runs and even when the browns still had a shot he stood on the sidelines while Hardesty continued to drop passes. Now today we have rumors of players saying he basically was a pussy for not trying to go against Miami when they sent him home with Strep throat. On top of that he is in a contract dispute and now we have talk of a bye week trade coming. A TRADE? WTF! isnt this the same guy who busted his ass last year. got the cover of madden and is the only identity the browns have on offense?

i gave them a D....but lets change that to an F

 

[NAHSTE]

LOL at steeljoke branding all of these threads with "GBU presents" as if he's some media mogul and this is his corporate entity.

Do you have business cards too?

 

[red33]

rams F. fuck them for not going after a stud WR in offseason.

 

[Buzzman]

Interesting Statistics:

PPG: 37.0 (1st in NFL)
3rd Down Conversion %: 54 (3rd in NFL)
TOP: 32:42 (5th in NFL)
TO Margin: +6 (5th in NFL)
Penalties: 22 (8th in NFL)
Penalty Yards: 159 (6th in NFL)
Rushing Defense: 284 (2nd in NFL)
Passing Defense 335 (31st in the NFL)

Thats just about the main reason I think the Lions can beat the Packers.

 

[Awesometrax]

A+

I'd be foolish to be at all disappointed with how Green bay has played this year. Even in a situation where they went down by more than 7 for the first time since the '09 playoffs, they still managed to come back and win. Having Ryan Grant and Jermichael Finley has made Rodgers look even better than last year, and the defense has played great even without one of their best players in Nick Collins (who I'm hoping recovers from the injury for next season). I am concerned about the Lions game but I do think it is a winnable game.

 

[mgoblue2290]

B+

Despite being 4-0 their is plenty of room for improvement for our team. Like not getting down by so many points. It is nice to know that this team does not quit and never believes that we're out of it, but it isn't a good sign that we start so slowly.

 

[Deviant]

Thats just about the main reason I think the Lions can beat the Packers.

But I believe that's more credited to the fact that teams are forced to pass in order to try and comeback after Aaron Rodgers gives them an ass whooping.