Erm, Palmer was down for a good stretch of that 7-1 run with a nerve issue in his hand. Bruce Arians is really the guy who deserves most of the credit for Arizona's cinderella run. Unfortunately they're probably going to drop out of the playoffs at this point because you just can't take that many injuries and stay on top. I want them to, I'm 100% on their bandwagon this year, but Drew Stanton is a career 3rd stringer for a reason.

That roster is absolutely stacked. Plus, team sport, wins aren't a quarterback stat, etc...

Paul "Walrus" MacLean's been fired. FFS! What good can you expect from a team who, in the last 3 years, has replaced Jason Spezza with Alex Chiasson (lol), Daniel Alfredsson with Clarke MacArthur/Bobby Ryan (okay, fine) and Sergei Gonchar with precisely squat-diddly?

A very bad decision from the Sens, he fucking won the Jack Adams like 2 years ago. Definitely not his fault if he had a very young team and Kyle Turris as his #1 center lol. Your team has some problems when your best forward is a defenseman haha!

"Your best forward is a defenceman." Sad, but True!

Lions on top of the NFC North!

Let's see how long they stay there. The Lions are one of those teams that have been winning games but have yet to impress me. If they can go into Green Bay and win in 2 weeks, however, they might just convince me that they are contenders.

Dallas Eakins been tossed by the Oilers. Gotta hand it to him, a very gracious post-firing media interview. Of course, the fact that even the butt-last place Edmonton coach outlasted Paul MacLean, worries the crap out of me as a Sens fan.

Eakins like MacLean was not the problems with the Oilers. Lowe and MacTavish should go too, they're even speaking of trading Taylor Hall, their best player haha. Eberle and Yakupov should leave before him. Worst management in the league by far.

As much as I hate him, you know who could fix Edmonton? Fucking Torts, that's who. Dude would take no bullshit, get their defense in line, and probably punch out some people just for funsies.

I doubt even Torts could slap good defensive play out of a group led by Andrew Ference and Keith "Pylon" Aulie. I agree with Metantoine, it's management that ruined that team. In eight years of high draft picks, they haven't used one on a real cornerstone defenceman.

Watching the NFL, I often find myself wondering... Are offensive coordinators too smart for their own good? I often see teams go away from the run, even when they're consistently picking up 5 yards per carry! Baffling.

Kahlil Mack is a very bad man.

Well the Leafs have fucking done it. I guess we're starting our 30-game-losing-streak early this year. How do we go from manhandling Anaheim (1st in the league) 6-2, to being manhandled by Carolina (30th in the league) 4-1 in only 2 days?

I don't even mind the two overrated 2-starting goalie situation (I like Bernier a bit more), but I really have a problem with Phaneuf. I've seen Timbits players with better positioning than him, not to mention his skating ability. I swear to god that he's not worth 1/10th of his 49 million dollar contract. Some people like to point out that his +- is the highest on the team, but so are his penalty minutes (which is why he doesn't get scored on as often XD).

Anyways, please Toronto, get that pylon outta here!

Y'all have whooped the Ducks 6-2 also? Awww, here I was thinking the Sens had achieved something promising a turnaround of this season. Apparently anybody can slap Anaheim

Anybody can beat anybody in the NHL, the Panthers won against the Penguins yesterday etc.

The Leafs aren't bad at all, they just lose BIG when they do like this 7-4 game against the Flyers. I hope they make the playoffs, get to the Stanley cup final and lose it, this would be so much fun!

Well actually it seems like the team's goal is to beat the good teams and shit the bed against the others. Luckily for me, I've always been a fan of both Toronto and Montréal, so I get to be a chameleon. For example, if I meet someone and find out they're a Habs fan, I don't even mention anything I know about the Leafs at all... I'm a god damn cheater.

But I still hate Boston...

Metantoine: yeah that's true, but it is still tempting to look at a certain game (whether a win or a loss), as the turning point of somebody's season. Like that game last year where Ottawa had a 4-1 lead on the Habs with what 3 minutes left, then solidly shat their pants. Both teams went in opposite directions after that. Also, the Penguins lost? Goddamnit! Can't count on them to help Ottawa one friggin' time?

Frog: I can pass for a fan, or at least a friendly neutral, of any Canadian team too. I've even forgiven the Leafs for the Four Years of Night and wish them well now.

Fucking STEELERS. Good lord was the AFC North crazy this year - THREE teams in the playoffs! Of course now it means we have to play the Ravens in the playoffs since they beat the Browns, and the Ravens are always a tough team to beat, even at home. The offense has been on fire this season - Roethlisberger is tied for #1 passing yards in the league, Brown is #1 in receiving yards, and Bell is #2 in rushing yards. Not sure how well they're going to fair in the playoffs - got to beat the Ravens, the Patriots, and (probably) the Broncos just to make it to the Superbowl, which is a tall order for sure. Still, it was a great season and I won't be disappointed even if they don't go all the way.

It's about time the Cowboys are back in the playoffs. The close calls over the last few seasons were extremely frustrating. Ndamukong Suh's suspension ought to make the Lion's
very beatable though I don't know if we're good enough to get any further.

Agreed!

The ravens and Steelers is an epic rivalry and a game that is already stressing me out. I almost wish they would have lost and gone to Indy. I will say that all those new youngsters on defense are starting to shine and are a lot of fun to watch.

Any news on Bell and his knee?

I am hoping for a repeat of Superbowl 30 so everyone out here in Seattle can start up with the "Stealers" bs again...

Apparently there was no ligament damage (thank god) but Bell is unlikely to return for Sunday :/ Really bad news for our running game...luckily Flacco and the Ravens O have been doing pretty darn poorly of late. They're a mere shadow of the team that won the superbowl.

What a shit season. Kahlil Mack is really good, at least. Can Manning just retire already?

It has been since 1986 that a defensive player has won MVP, but I think Watt has as good a shot as anybody at getting it this year. Some people say Murray should get it, but I just don't think his season was that great. He got a ton more carries than anybody else, which says a lot about his durability, but I think lessens his chances considering his yards per rush were not amazing. The last 2 guys to win at the running back position were Peterson who averaged 6 yards a carry and ran for 2,097 yards, and Tomlinson who had 28 rushing touchdowns combined with 3 receiving TDs, and 2 passing TDs. Murray's season was very good, but not MVP worthy.

In terms of QBs, Manning, Brady, and Rodgers are always names in the conversation. Manning and Brady were unable to really put out an MVP season, as both had a few poor performances. As a huge Pats fan, I watched every one of their games. While there were points in the season where Brady looked as good as ever, there were other times where I was scratching my head. Manning has also had some very un-Manning like games. I think Rodgers has a good shot. His numbers are definitely some of the best in the league, but they do not compare to the numbers he put up in 2011, or Manning's numbers last year. Roethlisberger definitely had one of his better years, but I can't see him getting it over Rodgers.

Then we have Watt, who has only in 4 seasons been the only player with 2 seasons with 20+ sacks. His ability to deflect passes is unmatched. He is strong, fast, and smart, and also is a threat on offense.

I think the only people who can get the MVP are Murray, Rodgers, and Watt, but Watt should get it.

I think Roethlisberger had the best season by a qb this year. He was a bit less consistent, but I think his highs are enough to give the lead to him. As to overall MVP, I'd be good with Watt or Murray. 4.7 was Murray's ypc, but that's not far off from Shaun or Tomlinson, and he was a better receiver this year than Shaun was. Watt of course is the best defender in the game without question.

I just think that with more touchdowns and fewer interceptions, Rodgers has Big Ben beat. Rodgers also has a higher QB rating, and had to fight through injuries this season.

Alexander and Tomlinson had 27 and 28 rushing touchdowns respectively, and 28 and 33 total touchdowns respectively. Murray only had 13 total. His total yards are comparable, and his yards per carry isn't that far behind the other two (.4 and .5 less). Definitely a great season for him, just not sure it is MVP quality. I don't think any offensive players definitively stood out, whereas I do think that Watt did stand out.

On another note, I am really looking forward to seeing how the AFC playoff games pan out. Both the Broncos and Patriots have shown some signs of weakness late in the season, and a team like the Ravens or Steelers could easily make a run. I would have praised the Colts much more earlier in the season, but I'm not sure how much confidence I have in them after that ass-kicking from the Cowboys. The Bengals also played great against the Broncos two weeks ago. I think this is one of the best group of teams to represent the AFC in quite a few years. In the NFC, somebody is gonna have to figure out how to score on that Seahawks D. I think the Packers and Cowboys are the only teams that really have a chance to do that. I don't see anybody besides those three coming out of the NFC.

Personally, I don't put all that much weight on MVP. It's nearly as dependent on the team the player is with as on the player themselves. Look at Roethlisberger - his last few seasons were pretty lackluster, and now suddenly he's doing great - did something change with him, or is it having Antonio Brown to throw to, and a non-injured Maurkice Pouncy in front of him? Likewise, would Aaron Rodgers even be a contender if he were with the Raiders or the Jets?

As a Bears fan, Rodgers should probably win MVP, and if not him, then Brady. I really want Watt to win it because he had an absolutely fucking monstrous year, but if he's out of the lineup, the impact isn't nearly as huge as if Rodgers or Brady is out. Yeah McCarthy and Belichick are great coaches and can usually get a great performance out of anybody (remember the Cassel season or Flynn's one obscenely good garbage game?), so you can argue that against them, but the bottom line is that without Rodgers or Brady, Green Bay or New England aren't posting such phenomenal games and records, but without JJ Watt, Houston is markedly worse but they'd probably go from like 8-8 to 6-10.

Also fuck the Cowboys forever. Of the 122 professional sports teams in the big four leagues in North America, Dallas is my least favorite. Romo had a good year for a change and Murray was a beast, but I've just always hated them and that'll never change. Dallas V Detroit is time better spent masturbating or writing fan fiction.

But that's true of any team with a decent quarterback. It's the nature of the position - not really a fair comparison.

And that's the nature of the game nowadays. Believe me, I'd love to see it more balanced with stronger running games and stifling defense, but it's been kinda proven that you can be crazily successful with just a good O line and a talented QB. Yes, I'm well aware that Seattle just won on the strength of an amazing defense and ever since NE sort of figured out that you can have three mediocre running backs and no big name receivers and can still score 50 points, they haven't won a Super Bowl, but look at all the best teams in the league and then look at all the best quarterbacks. How many amazing QBs are on bad teams? Matt Ryan on Atlanta maybe and then nobody else because every other bad team coincidentally has a terrible QB as well?

^ The Saints had a down year, so Brees would be another on that list.

Also, why the Cowboys hate? There's not any kind of rivalry with the Bears that I'm familiar with.

There's no rivalry, I just hate them. Sports are irrational.

Y'all ready for the Cowboys and Patriots in the Super Bowl?

I would be shocked if the Seahawks didn't make the Super Bowl. Their defense is playing absurdly well, and Lynch and Wilson are both capable of making incredible plays despite poor offensive line play.

I'd love to see my team in the Super Bowl, but what makes you sure this will be the match-up?

If the Seahawks do make it to the Superbowl, I hope to god that they lose, I fucking hate that team. Bunch of arrogant pricks, even by NFL standards. I'm not exactly a Green Bay fan, more of a well-wisher, but the way the Seahawks acted after a bad call clearly handed them an undeserved victory during that ref strike a while back was just awful. Call me old-fashioned, but good sportsmanship means a lot to me.

True story, one of the scab refs for that game was the macroeconomics professor at my local community college. He mentioned it one day when I took a summer class and showed us the uniform hanging on his wall.

Yeah, I began disliking the Seahawks after that game as well. The way Golden Tate boasted about his "catch" really pissed me off. That is why I hope to see them in the Super Bowl against the Pats and then get destroyed.

I have always liked Lynch though, so I hope that he goes to another team so that I can hate the entire Seahawks.

NFL makes my head hurt. Again i was telling everyone KC should just lose a bunch of games so we could have a shot at Mariota in the draft, and i was laughed at. Here we are with the 18th pick and no playoffs but hey the season ticket sales didnt plummet so i guess we broke even right? We're letting the almost all-time sack leader in the NFL walk, if not franchise tagging him then letting him walk, we have 1 good o-lineman and he might walk in free agency as well, but we will make the fans think everything is ok by drafting a receiver 1st round and firing some assistant coaches. It seems like NFL is headed for where the NBA is, fluid teams diminishing fan loyalty and the sheer talent pool (namely offensive) eroding any sense of predictability or even sensibility with game outcomes. All that's going to remain constant is the great equalizer of injuries to keep things interesting, other than that you got your QB and a chance-determined group of 52 other dudes that may or may not gel for a year or 2 before money and contracts divides them again. Also common cause with MLB for hoping you draft enough young dudes that are good and win before they get paid and move on. I suppose i should be thankful because that is many many hours of my life freed up by not watching sports again, which is where i will be once NFL has lost its appeal to me. I give it less than a decade. Anyways sorry for the rant my SB prediction is actually NE and Dallas, should be fun to watch. Hope Detroit makes it further than expected the city needs a hero.