[truexskills]

I don't read ESPN news or watch sports shows or anything, but I heard from someone that the Packers are looking to trade for Randy Moss and Dwight Freeney might possibly sign with the Packers. Any truth to these "rumors?"(Not as in they will actually happen but if these are real rumors)

About the Randy Moss trade, the majority of Packers fans and Wisconsin people wouldn't accept Moss but I could care less. If he came here and was motivated to be the great receiver that he once was, that's another guy for Favre to throw to and the Packers offense will be even better. You could have Driver and Moss as the starters and Jennings and Robinsin(when he comes back) as the 3rd and 4th. I could care less that Moss isn't welcomed here, but if he comes to help us be a better team, I'm all for it.

there are talks that favre expressed that he wanted the packers to pursue moss becuase he's definitely unhappy there and the gm i believe..said he would try to
but who knows
and no i believe that dwight freeney will stay in indy..the colts will do whtaever it takes to resign him

[tian`tian]

People rip on Grossman wayy too much.

It was his FIRST full season. For him to start basically every game and be able to take the Bears to the Superbowl [or regardless of his game play, however you want to look at it] makes the Bears a strong team. This was Manning's NINTH full season. I'm sure Grossman will become a solid QB. Everything just takes time and experience.

[Krn_Track_Star]

man the coaching in dallas is crazy how many coaches are you going to interview to coach your team. i dont get it. =(. ne wayz yea i dont blame rex either. he still has alot to learn but i am really happy for tony dungey on winning a ring i wanted him to win one because he been working soo hard and gotten sooo close soo many times.

congradz on the colts. =).

yall think they can repeat.

[edward1849]

This is so funny I want to share it here:

The Next Peyton Manning

DECATUR, Ill. (AP) -- How do you spell Scott Wiese?

In a few weeks, that'd be P-e-y-t-o-n M-a-n-n-i-n-g.

Wiese, a die-hard fan of the Chicago Bears, signed a pledge in front of a crowd at a Decatur bar last Friday night that if the Bears lost Sunday's Super Bowl, he'd change his name to that of the man who led the Indianapolis Colts to victory.

Final Score: Colts 29, Bears 17.

So on Tuesday, Wiese went to the Macon County Courts Facility and started the process of changing his name.

"I made the bet, and now I've got to keep it," said the 26-year-old, who lives in Forsyth, just north of Decatur.

Wiese will now have to advertise his intention in the local newspaper -- the Herald & Review -- for several weeks and then have a judge give him the OK to become, legally anyway, Peyton Manning.

The men have little in common, Wiese acknowledges.

Manning the quarterback is 30 years old, stands 6-foot-5 and has a contract with the Colts worth more than $100 million.

Wiese is 5-foot-11 and works at a Staples office-supply store for somewhat less.

"I think I kind of represent all Bears fans," he said. "Not that I'm saying they're all idiots like me, but I represent their passion because I really care about my team, you know?"

Wiese's lawyer and friend, Andy Bourey, is handling the paperwork. He said he admires Wiese's sense of honor.

"I never doubted him," he said. "He's a man of his word."

While he pledged to take on the new identity, Wiese isn't sure how long he's willing to keep it.

Say, maybe, until the Bears' next Super Bowl appearance? Not likely, given that their last trip to the big game was in 1985.

"I mean, well, it may be another 21 years."

Peyton Manning, who is in Hawaii preparing for the Pro-Bowl, cannot be reached for comment.

[truexskills]

People rip on Grossman wayy too much.

It was his FIRST full season. For him to start basically every game and be able to take the Bears to the Superbowl [or regardless of his game play, however you want to look at it] makes the Bears a strong team. This was Manning's NINTH full season. I'm sure Grossman will become a solid QB. Everything just takes time and experience.

man the coaching in dallas is crazy how many coaches are you going to interview to coach your team. i dont get it. =(. ne wayz yea i dont blame rex either. he still has alot to learn but i am really happy for tony dungey on winning a ring i wanted him to win one because he been working soo hard and gotten sooo close soo many times.

congradz on the colts. =).

yall think they can repeat.

i think grossman CAN develop into a good quarterback, but with the bears as a team that is so in their prime and ready to burst, im not sure if they can take the chance of waiting for grossman to mature. i think that when he's had his good games, they were great, and when they weren't, it was terrible, but thats something everyone knows. what makes me disapproving of him is that how can he have a full season + 5-6 games experience and end up with a QB rating of 0 THREE TIMES in the season? even rookies such as vince young or jay cutler havent been that bad. EVEN LEINART WITH ONE OF THE WORST OLINES IN THE LEAGUE wasnt half bad during the season. i think they need to draft a qb within the top 10-12 in the draft that can step in and MANAGE the games to not win the game for the bears, but not to lose it either. grossman had a great line and defense to help him out, and he failed the team in my eyes. bad decisions and bad throws totally sabotaged this team. (as well as playcalling blunders, defense being overhyped and underperforming.) however, i dont think that they an get someone efficient as a quarterback this year, especially with the 31st pick and only maybe 2-3 quarterbacks worth looking at (and two of them are projected to be top 10 picks) so i think they need to bring someone in as some SERIOUS competetion so that the bears can look at how grossman will play out within the next two years and if they need to invest in someone else for the future. that way they can throw in the other quarterback, bench grossman, hope they make out well in 07, and draft someone/groom someone for the 08 season and beyond.

or..you know they can give us their first (and possibly 3rd) and we'll give them schaub, the number 1 quarterback out on the market?

and simple answer to colts:
no they can't repeat. no cap space, even if manning does restructure his contract. from what i heard they have
2 starting guards (lilja and whoever)
2 starting cbs (nick harper, and whoever)
1 rhodes
1 freeney
and several other backups
with something like 10.5 mil cap room, no way they repeat. they've had holes this year and they can' tpossibly keep the same team and fill the holes in the team to become a possible repeat superbowl winner.
chargers are obviously the favorite to win it next year.

[Trungy]

You also forgot one big player.. Cato June. The guy may not be the next Ray Lewis or Brian Urlacher, but the guy can play.

[HERMIT]

chargers are obviously the favorite to win it next year.

As much as I'd like to believe that, I have my doubts.
They just lost both of their coordinators to head coaching vacancies, Cameron to the Dolphins and now Phillips to the Cowboys. Even Schottenheimer is a lame duck head coach next year, with only the one year remaining on his contract and likely to be out at the end of it (given the strained relationship with GM AJ Smith). It could be argued that the reason the Chargers were so good this past year is that Marty allowed the coordinators to call the games, taking pretty much a 'hands off' approach. The Chargers hardly succumbed to playing the infamous conservative "Martyball", with probably the exception of their loss to the Ravens. Now, it could conceivably be that Marty will now take the reigns of the playcalling with Cam and Wade hightailing it out of dodge for head coaching opportunities. And with Marty calling the shots, I guess the only encouraging thing is that AJ Smith has amassed a squad in which the main core of players are young, talented, and strategically tied up contractually through 2009 or later. The only question is: who will coach theM over the long haul?

[LolitaMan]

I think the bears have a better chance to repeat as nfc champs than colts nfl champs.

[HERMIT]

^
I could buy that.

Compared to the AFC, the NFC is like the NFL junior varsity conference. With Chicago arguably among the cream of the mediocre crop.

[BoSoxdirtdog]

You also forgot one big player.. Cato June. The guy may not be the next Ray Lewis or Brian Urlacher, but the guy can play.

June, Thomas, and Briggs. I hope the pats get one of these guys in the off season. I heard Briggs doesn't want to play the 3-4 and Thomas is more of a run stopper. Fletcher from the Bills is also a FA but guess he's older.

[truexskills]

one thing i really hope doesn't happen.
the bucs get calvin johnson
this kid is BEAST. no doubt one of the best wide receiver prospects in manymanymany years
thats why i want us to deal schaub out to oakland or detroit for a first/maybe randy moss (would involve a more complicated trad ethen)

but the raiders need a quarterback and al davis loves the big armed ones (russell), but i think davis took the chance of taking the offense in a totally different direction when he hired GREGKNAPP (RAIDERS WILL BE IN HELL FOR THE NEXT 3 YEARS). who likes to overuse the run, be totally vanilla/predictable with it, and uses the WCO, which schaub has been in for 6-7 seasons now. and schaub is tall, quite mobile, and has a pretty good nfl arm. he's considered the best quarterback in the market this offeseason, and because he's been in the system for so long, hed be WAY more experienced, understanding of a system than any rookie out there. schaub could step in right away as a starter. same w/ detroit, except that martz likes the deep ball, but kitna is getting old, and detroit needs a replacement.

[supa'Wanki]

AFC will beat NFC. Peyton Manning!

[joonage]

Brees dislocated his elbow ... wow ...

Having a All-star game for football ain't safe imo ...

Just replace it with the Lingerie Bowl.

[Krn_Track_Star]

man i cant believe marty schottenheimer got fired. well gl with the chargers doing good next season. itz stupid on how the coach and the GM cant get along. itz like the cowboys back in the 90's when jimmy johnson and jerry jones got into a huge arugment and left jimmy johnsong to leaving then next season the cowboys did horrible. itz sooo stupid but then again some other team has the golden opporunity to get a great coach. i hope the cowboys can get him. that would be great.

[truexskills]

man i cant believe marty schottenheimer got fired. well gl with the chargers doing good next season. itz stupid on how the coach and the GM cant get along. itz like the cowboys back in the 90's when jimmy johnson and jerry jones got into a huge arugment and left jimmy johnsong to leaving then next season the cowboys did horrible. itz sooo stupid but then again some other team has the golden opporunity to get a great coach. i hope the cowboys can get him. that would be great.

besides, i think like someone pointed out, the chargers are no longer the favorites to win the superbowl, and netiher are the colts. the chargers lost both of their coordinators anyway, so might as well get rid of their coach

i think marty is a good coach for young players to get motivated and to learn to be good players from, but i dont think he is a very good game planner or coach who can handle pressure and pull off big wins. this year he let his coordinators take full control and 'martyball" disappeared until their playoff game..

i think the cowboys are developed enough and dont need marty..many teams dont. most of the terrible teams replace dtheir coaches last year anyway so.

[HERMIT]

i think marty is a good coach for young players to get motivated and to learn to be good players from, but i dont think he is a very good game planner or coach who can handle pressure and pull off big wins. this year he let his coordinators take full control and 'martyball" disappeared until their playoff game..

The point about letting the coordinators have more control of the game is a good point and important in considering why Marty got fired. Up until this past year, Schottenheimer was more involved in the playcalling - which of course translated into the frustratingly conservative, play-not-to-lose, "Martyball" style of football. But the success of the team this season was due to Marty being more hands-off and trusting of the talents of Wade Phillips and Cam Cameron. He even admitted as much during the season in the San Diego papers. Shoot, he hardly wore the customary coaching headset on the sideline, merely managing the more general aspects of the game and not getting too bogged down in the fine details and play-making decisions, unless he felt compelled to overrule a coordinator's call. Given his past hands-on approach and sometimes questionable and conservative play-calling, his relinquishing of some coaching control proved to be the one adjustment that might very well explain why the Chargers were what they were last year. They let loose with the offense and they won a lot of games.

Am I upset that Schottenheimer was fired? No, I'm not upset about it - just saddened that it happened at a time where the timing was just all wrong. I have nothing against Marty - I think he is a good motivator and proponent of good football fundamentals upon which a team can build upon - but like the post above, he just didn't have the knack to advance any further than just a great regular season. Nor am I surprised by the firing because the writing was already on the wall, what with the GM and Marty having long been at odds even before this past season started. I'm more disappointed that this move wasn't just done earlier when the coordinators were still part of the Chargers organization. Who knows, Phillips or Cameron could have easily been the next Chargers coach and maintained some semblance of continuity within the coaching ranks. But again, as trueskills alluded to above, when both coordinators jumped ship - and they were the two that principally ran the show - then there really is no point in keeping the head coach, who apparently relied upon them a lot.

Who would I like to see take over the Chargers? It's hard to tell. The problematic thing that San Diego faces is that there are still some assistant coaches from the old regime that are still under contract throught the upcoming year - and in the case of a couple of them, were just hired. Will the Bolts be able to find a coach that would be willing to work with these guys? Most incoming new coaches, I would imagine, typically like to bring in their own guys so I don't know how much this impacts interested candidates. Maybe the Chargers will just fire the other assistants too and eat the money - but I really doubt that that would happen.

One intriguing name that's been put out here in San Diego: Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan (son of Buddy Ryan). I read from SI's Peter King that this guy is head coach material and is surprised that he hasn't gotten much consideration. But the thing I like is that he's put together a very good defense there in Baltimore and can only imagine what he could make out of an already pretty decent Charger defense. With former runnings backs coach Clarence Shelmon promoted to offensive coordinator (Shelmon is already well-versed with Cameron's offensive philosophy and should preserve much of it), San Diego has yet to name a defensive coordinator. Maybe Ryan could be the guy to head the team and oversee the defense as well.

[truexskills]

The point about letting the coordinators have more control of the game is a good point and important in considering why Marty got fired. Up until this past year, Schottenheimer was more involved in the playcalling - which of course translated into the frustratingly conservative, play-not-to-lose, "Martyball" style of football. But the success of the team this season was due to Marty being more hands-off and trusting of the talents of Wade Phillips and Cam Cameron. He even admitted as much during the season in the San Diego papers. Shoot, he hardly wore the customary coaching headset on the sideline, merely managing the more general aspects of the game and not getting too bogged down in the fine details and play-making decisions, unless he felt compelled to overrule a coordinator's call. Given his past hands-on approach and sometimes questionable and conservative play-calling, his relinquishing of some coaching control proved to be the one adjustment that might very well explain why the Chargers were what they were last year. They let loose with the offense and they won a lot of games.

Am I upset that Schottenheimer was fired? No, I'm not upset about it - just saddened that it happened at a time where the timing was just all wrong. I have nothing against Marty - I think he is a good motivator and proponent of good football fundamentals upon which a team can build upon - but like the post above, he just didn't have the knack to advance any further than just a great regular season. Nor am I surprised by the firing because the writing was already on the wall, what with the GM and Marty having long been at odds even before this past season started. I'm more disappointed that this move wasn't just done earlier when the coordinators were still part of the Chargers organization. Who knows, Phillips or Cameron could have easily been the next Chargers coach and maintained some semblance of continuity within the coaching ranks. But again, as trueskills alluded to above, when both coordinators jumped ship - and they were the two that principally ran the show - then there really is no point in keeping the head coach, who apparently relied upon them a lot.

Who would I like to see take over the Chargers? It's hard to tell. The problematic thing that San Diego faces is that there are still some assistant coaches from the old regime that are still under contract throught the upcoming year - and in the case of a couple of them, were just hired. Will the Bolts be able to find a coach that would be willing to work with these guys? Most incoming new coaches, I would imagine, typically like to bring in their own guys so I don't know how much this impacts interested candidates. Maybe the Chargers will just fire the other assistants too and eat the money - but I really doubt that that would happen.

One intriguing name that's been put out here in San Diego: Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan (son of Buddy Ryan). I read from SI's Peter King that this guy is head coach material and is surprised that he hasn't gotten much consideration. But the thing I like is that he's put together a very good defense there in Baltimore and can only imagine what he could make out of an already pretty decent Charger defense. With former runnings backs coach Clarence Shelmon promoted to offensive coordinator (Shelmon is already well-versed with Cameron's offensive philosophy and should preserve much of it), San Diego has yet to name a defensive coordinator. Maybe Ryan could be the guy to head the team and oversee the defense as well.

yeah, I think that Rex Ryan could be one of the top prospects for the job, especially because he's been able to work so well in a talen filled ravens defense and he could proobably bring his success over to the chargers..

but I hope that they sign jim mora jr.

[jurassic5]

Norv Turner? haha


i'm sorry San Diego. You better hope he is the Terry Francona of the NFL.

[edward1849]

Niners have to find yet another offensive coordinator.

[truexskills]

wow.
Norv Turner
BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1. if norv turner can't win with THIS team, hell end up being a failure.
2. he will nto get another chance if he screws this up

I can't wait till the draft.
I HOPE HOPE HOPE HOPE HOPE McKay trades up to get Calvin Johnson..give up schaub, first, 3rd, and a 4th or 5th or 6th to move up to the 1st or 2nd overall pick! i do NOT want this beast of a receiver to rip the falcons apart 2+ games each year for the next 15 years...

calvin johnson has everything. this kid is the best wide receiver prospect in over 30 years.
HE'S 6'4 AND RUNS A 4.3!!!!!!!!
he's got great character-went overseas over the summer to help out in sanitation project instead of working at a housing complex down the street

but best of all..
HIS HANDS ARE AMAZING
plus, he played with REGGIE BALL and STILL ranked as the best receiver in the nation.
nuff said.