It's the 90th Season of the NFL and the 50th anniversary of the founding of the AFL.
Defending champions: Pittsburgh Steelers NFC Champions: Arizona Cardinals AFC Champions: Pittsburgh Steelers
Season Schedule Hall of Fame Game
Buffalo Bills vs Tennessee Titans Regular Season
September 10th - January 3rd 2010 Playoffs start
January 9th 2010
Superbowl XLIV
Febraury 7th 2010, Miami Florida
Rule Changes for the coming season.
1.A blindside block cannot be initially delivered by a helmet, forearm or shoulder to an opponent's head or neck.
2.The initial contact to the head of a defenseless receiver is also prohibited.
3.On kickoffs, a blocking wedge cannot consist of more than two players.
4.During onside kickoff attempts, the kicking team cannot have more than five 5.players bunched together.
The replay system will now be allowed to cover the following situations
1.Whether a loose ball from a passer is definitely a fumble or an incomplete pass.
2. Whether a loose ball actually hit the sideline.
Other new rules include
1.If onside kick does not go 10 yards, goes out of bounds, or is touched illegally at anytime during the kick, the ball is immediately awarded to the receiving team
2.On all fumbles and laterals that go out of bounds, the clock will immediately start when the referee signals ready for play instead of waiting until next snap.
3.The NFL Draft order is modified, beginning with the 2010 selection meeting, so that all playoff teams will pick after non-playoff teams, and in the order in which they were eliminated from the postseason tournament. Previously, teams were primarily sorted by regular season records first regardless if they qualified for the playoffs or how far they advanced in the postseason.
Intraconference
AFC East vs. AFC South
AFC North vs. AFC West
NFC East vs. NFC South
NFC North vs. NFC West Interconference
AFC East vs. NFC South
AFC North vs. NFC North
AFC South vs. NFC West
AFC West vs. NFC East
__________________
"The future is not set." terminator 1991
Predictions 29th June(obviously very loose and on first predictions)
NFC North:Bears(if cutler works there)
NFC East: Eagles(if we build on the end of last season)(and if Jim johnson is back or not)
NFC West:Cardinals(Best of a crap lot and they are NFC champs)
NFC South:Falcons (They weren't far behind last year)
NFC Wildcards: Panthers and Giants
AFC North: Steelers(Cant see past them)
AFC East: Dolphins(I dont think brady will be as good as before his injury and TO cant help a shite team)
AFC West: either the chargers of 49ers(NFC and AFC west are shit divisions)
AFC South: Titans
AFC Wildcards: Colts and Ravens
__________________
"The future is not set." terminator 1991
Predictions 29th June(obviously very loose and on first predictions)
NFC North:Bears(if cutler works there)
NFC East: Eagles(if we build on the end of last season)(and if Jim johnson is back or not)
NFC West:Cardinals(Best of a crap lot and they are NFC champs)
NFC South:Falcons (They weren't far behind last year)
NFC Wildcards: Panthers and Giants
AFC North: Steelers(Cant see past them)
AFC East: Dolphins(I dont think brady will be as good as before his injury and TO cant help a shite team)
AFC West: either the chargers of 49ers(NFC and AFC west are shit divisions)
AFC South: Titans
AFC Wildcards: Colts and Ravens
Patriots nearly won the division without him and will surely win it with him back.
__________________
"Maybe if we were a cynical team somebody would have pulled your man down but I suppose that is not in our DNA." Jack O'Connor
Patriots nearly won the division without him and will surely win it with him back.
If he returns as the player that we saw lead the pats to 18-1 then ya they might win. My predictions as of today, as nobody has seen tom brady play since the week 1 of last season.
__________________
"The future is not set." terminator 1991
Would be amazed if the Dolphins won the AFC East. Last year their success was based on a combination of factors that are unlikely to be repeated this year - a) the easiest schedule in the NFL (no trips to the West Coast, unlike the Pats/Jets who had to make 4), b) Pennington staying injury free for an entire season, c) catching teams by surprise with their wild-cat formation and d) nobody really taking them seriously until week 12-13 due to their 1-15 record the year before.There will be no hiding place or surprise element factor this year, which when coupled with a brutal schedule (v AFC South, v NFC South, Pittsburgh and a road trip to San Diego) I think they will struggle to reach 8-8.
Pats should win the division if Brady can stay upright and hit even 70-75% of the level of performance he showed in that 16-0 season. Pats also now have Joey Gallaway at WR and a potentially much-improved secondary which was their achilles heel last year. Hard to see the Pats not winning 11 or 12 games.
Other than that would fancy the Steelers, Titans and Chargers to win their respective divisions (Ravens and the Jets picking up wild-cards) with the Giants, Vikings, Saints and the Cardinals to do likewise in their NFC divisions (Eagles and Cowboys as wildcards)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair, who led the famous Tennessee Titans drive that came a yard short of forcing overtime in Super Bowl XXXIV, was found dead Saturday with multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head. Police said a pistol was discovered near the body of a woman also shot dead in a downtown condominium.
Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron identified the woman as 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi, whom he called a "friend" of McNair's. She had a single gunshot wound to the head.
Police said the 36-year-old McNair was found on the sofa in the living room, and Kazemi was very close to him on the floor. Aaron said the gun was not "readily apparent" when police first arrived.
Autopsies were planned for Sunday.
Aaron said McNair's wife, Mechelle, is "very distraught."
"At this juncture, we do not believe she is involved," he said. "Nothing has been ruled out, but as far as actively looking for a suspect tonight, the answer would be no."
Fred McNair, Steve McNair's oldest brother, said some family members likely will travel to Nashville on Monday to consult with Steve McNair's wife.
"It's still kind of hard to believe," Fred McNair said. "He was the greatest person in the world. He gave back to the community. He loved kids and he wanted to be a role model to kids."
He said he did not know who Kazemi was.
The bodies were discovered Saturday afternoon by McNair's longtime friend Wayne Neeley, who said he rents the condo with McNair.
Aaron said Neeley told authorities he went into the condo, saw McNair on the sofa and Kazemi on the floor but walked first into the kitchen before going back into the living room, where he saw the blood.
Neeley then called a friend, who alerted authorities.
Police said a witness saw McNair arrive at the condo in the upscale Rutledge Hill neighborhood between 1:30 and 2 a.m. Saturday and that Kazemi's vehicle was already there. The condominium is located within walking distance of an area filled with restaurants and nightspots, a few blocks from the Cumberland River and within view of the Titans' stadium.
Two days ago, Nashville police arrested Kazemi on a DUI charge while driving a 2007 Escalade registered to her and McNair. McNair was in the front seat, but didn't break the law and was allowed to leave by taxi.
The arrest affidavit said Kazemi had bloodshot eyes and the smell of alcohol on her breath, but refused a breathalyzer test, saying "she was not drunk, she was high."
In June, McNair opened a restaurant near the Tennessee State University campus. It was closed Saturday evening, but had become a small memorial, where flowers, candles and notes had been placed outside the door.
On the restaurant's windows were messages: "We will miss you Steve" and "We love you Steve."
A note attached to a small blue teddy bear read, "We will never forget you, Steve. Once a Titan, always a Titan."
"We don't know the details, but it is a terrible tragedy and our hearts go out to the families involved," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.
McNair, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, led the Titans within a yard of forcing overtime in the 2000 Super Bowl, which they lost 23-16 to the St. Louis Rams. He also played for the Baltimore Ravens before retiring in April 2008.
His most noted drive, the last one in that Super Bowl, came when he led the Titans 87 yards in the final minute and 48 seconds, only to come up a yard short of the tying touchdown. Kevin Dyson caught his 9-yard pass, but was tackled at the 1-yard line by the Rams' Mike Jones.
McNair accounted for all of Tennessee's yards in that drive, throwing for 48 yards and rushing for 14. The rest of the yardage came on penalties against the Rams. Before that, he brought the Titans back from a 16-0 deficit to tie the game.
"If you were going to draw a football player, the physical part, the mental part, everything about being a professional, he is your guy," former Ravens and Titans teammate Samari Rolle said. "I can't even wrap my arms around it. It is a sad, sad day. The world lost a great man today."
McNair became a nationally known college football star playing for Alcorn State, a Division I-AA school in his home state. His performance in the Southwestern Athletic Conference was so dominant, he became a Heisman Trophy contender and national media flocked to the school in Lorman, Miss., to get look at "Air McNair." He still holds the Division I-AA (now known as Football Championship Subdivision) records for career yards passing (14,496) and total offense (16,823).
McNair began his NFL career in 1995 with the Houston Oilers, who eventually became the Titans, and finished with 31,304 yards passing and 174 touchdowns. McNair played with pain for several years, and the injuries ultimately forced him to retire.
"On the field, there isn't player that was as tough as him, especially at the quarterback position," the Ravens' Derrick Mason said. "What I have seen him play through on the field, and what he dealt with during the week to get ready for a game, I have never known a better teammate."
During a five-game stretch at the end of the 2002 season, McNair was so bruised he couldn't practice. But he started all five games and won them, leading the Titans to an 11-5 finish and a berth in the AFC championship game for the second time in four seasons.
McNair played all 16 games in 2006, his first season in Baltimore, and guided the Ravens to a 13-3 record. But he injured his groin during the season opener last season and never regained the form that put him in those Pro Bowls.
"I am deeply saddened to learn of today's tragic news regarding the death of Steve McNair. He was a player who I admired a great deal," said New England Patriots senior football adviser Floyd Reese, who was GM of the Titans when McNair played for them. "He was a tremendous leader and an absolute warrior. He felt like it was his responsibility to lead by working hard every day, no matter what."
Titans coach Jeff Fisher was out of the country, taking part in the first NFL-USO coaches tour to Iraq.
Ozzie Newsome, Ravens executive vice president and general manager, said he immediately thought of McNair's four sons.
"This is so, so sad. We immediately think of his family, his boys. They are all in our thoughts and prayers," he said "What we admired most about Steve when we played against him was his competitive spirit, and we were lucky enough to have that with us for two years. He is one of the best players in the NFL over the last 20 years."
No funeral arrangements have been made.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
__________________
"The future is not set." terminator 1991
Quarterback Brett Favre has decided to remain retired and will not join the Minnesota Vikings this season, the team's head coach Brad Childress said.
Favre, one of the NFL's greatest quarterbacks, played last season for the New York Jets after a long career with the Green Bay Packers that included a Super Bowl title.
The 39-year-old had retired from the Jets in February saying he was bothered by a partially torn bicep in his throwing arm, and was released by New York on April 28.
Favre, who had changed his mind frequently about retirement in his twilight years, later negotiated a possible return to the Packers' division rival Vikings.
His retirement decision came one day before players begin reporting to Minnesota's training camp in Mankato.
"It was a rare and unique opportunity to consider adding not only a future Hall of Fame quarterback but one that is very familiar with our system and division," Childress said.
"That does not detract from the team that we have. As we have consistently communicated, we feel good about our team and they have put forth a tremendous effort this offseason preparing for the season ahead," he added.
Favre's decision leaves Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels to compete for Minnesota's starting quarterback job.
__________________
"Maybe if we were a cynical team somebody would have pulled your man down but I suppose that is not in our DNA." Jack O'Connor
The 2009/2010 NFL thread
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