UNDERACHIEVERS OF THE NFL

[Bretsky]

Kind of stealing this idea from ESPN Mike Florico today

Time to call a spade a spade

GO AHEAD AND NOMINATE YOUR TOP NFL UNDERACHIEVERS IN THE AFC AND NFC

Feel free to give explanations; Here comes mine

[Bretsky]

AFC

San Diego Superchargers are no longer super

Have a QB playing at MVP levels
Have one of the best RB's of all time
A capable OL
Top TE in the NFL
Adequate WR's
What was suppose to be a very talented defense minus an injured Shawn Merriman

Yet, somehow this team is 4-7

I keep thinking they have playoff talent

Yet they look up record wise to

Buffalo, Miami, New England, Baltimore, Indy, Denver, JETS, Steelers, and Titans


BEFORE THE SEASON, How many of those teams did you think would be sitting better than the good ole SuperChargers


Time to say bye bye Norv

[denverYooper]

San Diego Chargers.

Preseason fave pick. They have a good QB and receiving corps. I don't know why they can't get Sproles the ball more and split his time more evenly with LT. I know LT used to be a beast but maybe they'd be better off in more of a time share sitch at RB. Their D is missing some key guys but is still hanging in there. They've had a lot of close games that could go either way but that they've lost. Last but not least, they're in a weak division that they should at least on paper be able to dominate.

Jeebus. They're not too different from another team I know of.

[Bretsky]

Time to call a spade a spade

And at this point in the season, the Green Bay Packers are the biggest underachiever in the NFL

13-3 to 5-6

Let's cut the Jenkins excuses; reality is last year he was hurt for much of the year and because of it we complained about him more than we praised him

We chose to let Corey Williams go; right or wrong we're still responsible to replace him
We knew KGB was aging and banged up
We took a step down at QB but we have the same RB's and a young OL
We gave some young DL another year to develop into better players
We still have one of the best CB tandems in football
Our safety play of Nick Collins has greatly improved

We had a first round pick and TWO second round picks

The Following NFC teams have better records

New Orleans Saints, Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Washington Redskins, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals, New York Giants, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Philadelphia Eagles

12th best record out of 16 teams; at this point we'd be in last place in 2 NFC divisions

[Freak Out]

Time to call a spade a spade

And at this point in the season, the Green Bay Packers are the biggest underachiever in the NFL

13-3 to 5-6

Let's cut the Jenkins excuses; reality is last year he was hurt for much of the year and because of it we complained about him more than we praised him

We chose to let Corey Williams go; right or wrong we're still responsible to replace him
We knew KGB was aging and banged up
We took a step down at QB but we have the same RB's and a young OL
We gave some young DL another year to develop into better players
We still have one of the best CB tandems in football
Our safety play of Nick Collins has greatly improved

We had a first round pick and TWO second round picks

The Following NFC teams have better records

New Orleans Saints, Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Washington Redskins, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals, New York Giants, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Philadelphia Eagles

12th best record out of 16 teams; at this point we'd be in last place in 2 NFC divisions

[Bretsky]

Every game I wait for the dam Chargers and dam Packers to break out. Against the Vikings, Bears, and Saints, I declared the Packers will win because the Packers are clearly the better team.

At this point I do wonder if coaches are not putting this team in the best positions to win. I also wonder if TT will dip back in free agency next year a bit more; I laugh at those who use terms like "overpay". It's about hitting on the right players; its alright to overpay if it's for the right person.
If every draft pick turns out as it should maybe FA may not be important. But if they underachieve gaps can be left.

Make no mistake about it; I had no Super Bowl Aspirations whatsoever for this team. But every time they come out and start looking like the up and coming team they should be they follow up that performance by looking like crap. I still think the Packers are definitely more talented and balanced than the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings.

I look at the Chargers roster and I think playoff team
I look at the Packers team and I think playoff team


They remain a mirrored image of each other

Maybe they both just have me fooled

[TravisWilliams23]

What Bresky said.

Both Green Bay and San Diego.

I really wanted TT to go after Greg Williams last year after the Redskins let him go. Our defense is so underachieving I can't stand to watch them.
Say what you want about Belichick but he has the coaching ability to change his defense every week to confuse the opposition. I don't remotely see any such ability on this staff.

I was hoping to see improvement throughout this season but it sure looks as if the team is regressing. That's on the coaching staff.

Can they turn it around? It's possible but they're running out of time fast.

[Bretsky]

What Bresky said.

Both Green Bay and San Diego.

I really wanted TT to go after Greg Williams last year after the Redskins let him go. Our defense is so underachieving I can't stand to watch them.
Say what you want about Belichick but he has the coaching ability to change his defense every week to confuse the opposition. I don't remotely see any such ability on this staff.

I was hoping to see improvement throughout this season but it sure looks as if the team is regressing. That's on the coaching staff.

Can they turn it around? It's possible but they're running out of time fast.

Good calls

Greg Williams...........plenty of us wanted him to replace the Vanilla Man

Bellichek- Best coach in the NFL; that hasn't changed in a while

This team may run the show from here; who knows. They are like Jekyll and Hyde. But we don't have a lot of recent evidence showing they can be consistent

[Patler]

I agree the Packers are underachieving this year, but be honest with yourself. Did you really think the Packers were a 13-3 team last year? Or were they a good team for which things just really went their way? Some years things fall your way, and last year was that for the Packers. Philly fumbling two punts, playing SD when they were at their worst, even winning the coin toss in overtime which vastly improves your chances to win. Avoiding injuries. Nothing went wrong for them last year to speak of. It was not a performance I expected to see repeated this year, although I was expecting something in the 10-6 or 11-5 area.

Seattle has to be up there in the list of disappointing teams, although they have very good reasons for their downfall.

[Bretsky]

I agree the Packers are underachieving this year, but be honest with yourself. Did you really think the Packers were a 13-3 team last year? Or were they a good team for which things just really went their way? Some years things fall your way, and last year was that for the Packers. Philly fumbling two punts, playing SD when they were at their worst, even winning the coin toss in overtime which vastly improves your chances to win. Avoiding injuries. Nothing went wrong for them last year to speak of. It was not a performance I expected to see repeated this year, although I was expecting something in the 10-6 or 11-5 area.

Seattle has to be up there in the list of disappointing teams, although they have very good reasons for their downfall.

ON the other hands, be honest. What NFC teams were better than Green Bay last year ? Maybe the Giants and Cowboys. So record aside, we're underachievers so far.

Indy had some injuries so you could argue we played them at the right time...like maybe SD last year.

We were probably fortunate to beat MN with a Will Blackmond punt return and one could compare that win to Phily last year.

Most thought hands down GB was top 5 in NFC; some top 2-4.

[red]

i'm with ya B

[bobblehead]

I agree the Packers are underachieving this year, but be honest with yourself. Did you really think the Packers were a 13-3 team last year? Or were they a good team for which things just really went their way? Some years things fall your way, and last year was that for the Packers. Philly fumbling two punts, playing SD when they were at their worst, even winning the coin toss in overtime which vastly improves your chances to win. Avoiding injuries. Nothing went wrong for them last year to speak of. It was not a performance I expected to see repeated this year, although I was expecting something in the 10-6 or 11-5 area.

Seattle has to be up there in the list of disappointing teams, although they have very good reasons for their downfall.

Bedard had a great point in his chat. He said that according to some site he had a lot of faith in the packers played the 29th weakest schedule last year, and are playing the 16th this year. He then said that they had a healthy KGB early last year, and a healthy Jenkins later in the year...basically that we were healthy all year. He didn't even point out that clifton has dropped off the map. This team is probably not as good as they looked in going 13-3, but not as bad as they look at 5-6 right now.

I am still optimistic as I'm pretty happy with MOST of the positions. We got a great future at all the skill positions, the dbacks, and I even think the LB's are solid. We need a healthy jenkins, and emergent harrell and we need our maturing linemen to take the next step. If some of this happens we probably are an 11-5 team, if it all happens we challenge for a superbowl next season. If none of it happens we are a .500 team. Oh yea, for god's sake get a new punter.

edit: I picked San Diego in the superbowl thread, so I obviously think they are the underacheivers of the NFL.

[Rastak]

I agree the Packers are underachieving this year, but be honest with yourself. Did you really think the Packers were a 13-3 team last year? Or were they a good team for which things just really went their way? Some years things fall your way, and last year was that for the Packers. Philly fumbling two punts, playing SD when they were at their worst, even winning the coin toss in overtime which vastly improves your chances to win. Avoiding injuries. Nothing went wrong for them last year to speak of. It was not a performance I expected to see repeated this year, although I was expecting something in the 10-6 or 11-5 area.

Seattle has to be up there in the list of disappointing teams, although they have very good reasons for their downfall.

ON the other hands, be honest. What NFC teams were better than Green Bay last year ? Maybe the Giants and Cowboys. So record aside, we're underachievers so far.

Indy had some injuries so you could argue we played them at the right time...like maybe SD last year.

We were probably fortunate to beat MN with a Will Blackmond punt return and one could compare that win to Phily last year.

Most thought hands down GB was top 5 in NFC; some top 2-4.

It is a sensitive subject but a guy who was in the running for MVP did leave. Anyone who thought they wouldn't miss a beat was probably fooling themselves.

In addition, more injuries this year slowed down the defense.

I disagree with your assement that the Packers are CLEARLY better than the Vikings. I thought they were marginally better, but now as we factor in everything else, I think it's very close.

[Bretsky]

I agree the Packers are underachieving this year, but be honest with yourself. Did you really think the Packers were a 13-3 team last year? Or were they a good team for which things just really went their way? Some years things fall your way, and last year was that for the Packers. Philly fumbling two punts, playing SD when they were at their worst, even winning the coin toss in overtime which vastly improves your chances to win. Avoiding injuries. Nothing went wrong for them last year to speak of. It was not a performance I expected to see repeated this year, although I was expecting something in the 10-6 or 11-5 area.

Seattle has to be up there in the list of disappointing teams, although they have very good reasons for their downfall.

ON the other hands, be honest. What NFC teams were better than Green Bay last year ? Maybe the Giants and Cowboys. So record aside, we're underachievers so far.

Indy had some injuries so you could argue we played them at the right time...like maybe SD last year.

We were probably fortunate to beat MN with a Will Blackmond punt return and one could compare that win to Phily last year.

Most thought hands down GB was top 5 in NFC; some top 2-4.

It is a sensitive subject but a guy who was in the running for MVP did leave. Anyone who thought they wouldn't miss a beat was probably fooling themselves.

In addition, more injuries this year slowed down the defense.

I disagree with your assement that the Packers are CLEARLY better than the Vikings. I thought they were marginally better, but now as we factor in everything else, I think it's very close.

Agree on first point
Jenkins was not effective until late last year and Jolly was out the second half last year; I think it's comparable...a bit worse this year

I really think GB has a much more balanced team and more talent than MN

I can't figure out what I think of your offensive playcalling and coaches

But I think we have very subpar on the defensive side coaching while MN is strong there

[GrnBay007]

It is a sensitive subject but a guy who was in the running for MVP did leave. Anyone who thought they wouldn't miss a beat was probably fooling themselves.

Underachievers, overachievers....it's fun to guess and watch. It's the NFL! And like they say, on any given Sunday...and that's why they play the games!