Ghost of Leonidas

It's not about second guessing (Janikowski was twice suspected of date rape/attempted date rape - you think he second guesses anything in his life?). The hardest part about long field goals isn't the leg strength needed to hit them, it's the amount of time the ball has to move wide. Those goalposts look a lot skinnier from 60 yards than they do from 30. Think about it: when was the last time you saw a FG miss short??

Yeah, except Tom Dempsey's kick was in New Orleans; Janikowski and Elam's kicks were in Denver. 63 yards in Denver = 58(?) yards anywhere else. Oh, and Dempsey did it with half a foot. His is still more impressive. Although the record will be broken at some point. Janikowski is primed to do it, but Matt Prater, David Beuchler could do it too. Mason Crosby has the leg, but he won't get the opportunity to in Green Bay. Rob Bironas in Tennessee could do it too. It might be slightly hyperbolic to say that the kick, while impressive, "doesn't really matter," but something tells me by your signature you've got hyperbole pretty well down to a science by this point.

I was a semi-pro kicker for three years. I was not very good, of course, but actually the onsides kick was one of the things I did better. Rules were basically college rules, so I'm not sure how they measured up to the NFL, but I don't believe technically you need a tee. I never saw anybody try it without a tee though, so it would certainly present a conversation. I highly doubt the referees would stop you though. For what it's worth, I was a barefoot kicker, so I did things a little differently anyhow. Last one in 20 years. That being said, the way I always kicked my onside kick was by "topping" the ball hard into the ground. That got a predictable, but still tricky bounce every time. That would be impossible to do without a tee. I did, however, know a kicker who actually turned the tee upside down for onside kicks. It's also worth noting that that maneuver only worked for 3" tees which are now illegal, I believe (as kickers got better they required kickers to use 1" tees, which eventually filtered down to lower levels). Don't hold me to that last part.

Did you notice who stuck the dagger in with less than a minute to go? That should bring back some memories.

Not a fan of Tim Graham personally, but that's a tremendous article and I thank him for writing it. I've always wondered how Kevin had been doing all these years.

The Raiders were one of the few teams that actually got worse in the off-season. They took a beating in free agency, losing LG Robert Gallery, CB Nnamdi Asomugha, and TE Zach Miller. Kevin Boss was signed to be Miller's replacement (although not quite the receiver Miller is), but there is no replacement for Asomugha and Gallery, despite busting at tackle, was a solid LG. They also lost QB Bruce Gradkowski who replaced an ineffective Jason Campbell at times last year. Last season the Raiders pass defense was second in the league. This was, in part, due to their porous run defense (similar to us). Expect that to drop precipitously with the departure of Asomugha. Stanford Routt is a solid corner, but there is a drop-off after him. There should be plenty of opportunities to pass the ball against this Oakland defense. And although their defensive line has Richard Seymour (who is still playing at a high level) and an overpaid Tommy Kelly, I wouldn't stay up late worrying about QB pressure. Their run defense, led by second-year man Rolando McClain, should be improved, but to what degree? On offense, Oakland has a formidable running attack led by former Razorback Darren McFadden and Michael Bush. Last year Oakland led the league in 20+ and 40+ runs, and were second in rushing touchdowns. They also brought in Rock Cartwright, but he's getting pretty old and wouldn't expect him to be much of a threat at this point in his career. Passing you've got the streaky Jason Campbell and a bunch of young, unknown receivers (sound familiar?). The WR I would be most worried about (especially with the injury to Murphy) is Jacoby Ford. He's just about the fastest man on the planet. Injuries: TE Kevin Boss (aforementioned) S Michael Mitchell (the bizarre 2nd round draft pick out of Ohio who most teams had a 7th round/FA grade on coming out of college) WR Louis Murphy (an up-and-coming Florida WR who was poised for a breakout 3rd season, overshadowing the disappointing Darrius Heyward-Bey) LB Darrius Blaylock (never heard of him) Hope this helps.

So you're drafting purely for need and not at all for value? Yeah, that's a great way to run a draft. Your post would have much more prudently posed as: "I hope we draft some linemen next year." Dumbest post I've seen in awhile.

Do you think Schopp (or the Bulldog - I don't know which one is which) would still take 1-1 after the first two games???

I go over there from time to time. I'll be there for the Oakland game for sure, but not for the KC or NE games.

Interesting tidbit of information (sorry if it was already posted), but this is actually Fitz' second action on opening day. The first time was in 2007 with Cincinnati where Fitzpatrick (as backup QB) had to come in and hold, dropped the snap, and forced the Bengals to miss the extra point in a game against Baltimore.

THEY'RE STILL TALKING ABOUT IT....

WGR is killing him, mercilessly. This is difficult to listen to. One of them just said they would "take 1-1" after week 2, that going "1-1 would be progress." Really? 803-0550. Somebody give them hell, please.

He's technically a redshirt junior. He has one more year of eligibility left after this year, so if he doesn't want to come out he doesn't have to.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

QB: Fitz, Thigpen, Smith RB: Jackson, Spiller, White FB: McIntyre WR: Johnson, Jones, Easley, Nelson, Parrish, Roosevelt (and Smith) TE: Chandler, Martin, Nelson (one of the last ones I added, but having 3 TE's isn't unheard of, and Nelson's upside is still off the charts) OT: Bell, Hairston, Pears, Howard (can play guard in a pinch) OG: Levitre, Rinehart, Urbik C: Wood, Hangartner DE: Dareus, Johnson, Edwards DT: Williams, Troup, Heard (haven't seen Jasper make any plays to warrant him making the team this season) OLB: Batten, Moats, Merriman, Carrington, Kelsay ILB: Barnett, Morrison, Sheppard, Davis CB: McKelvin, McGee, Florence, Williams, Corner (although I'm not a fan of Corner, as a 5th corner I suppose he'll suffice) S: Byrd, Wilson, Searcy, Scott, Corto (ST) K: Lindell P: Moorman LS: Sanborn Did I miss anybody?

Just read the article. What's the problem? You think Fitz should be higher? Maybe, but not much higher. The guy did average more than one interception per game last season, and that was easily the best season of his career. I love the guy, don't get me wrong, but don't let your bias cloud your judgement.

Sean Taylor's been dead for years. How long ago was that hit? I know you're trying to be funny, but that's just stupid...

I live there right now, and you're just plain wrong. Nobody likes the Giants up here. It's true that the Patriots do - and always will - take a back seat to the Sox in this town, but the fans (as irritating as they can be) are not fair-weather fans.

"Rating of almost 160." You do realize that a 160 is not technically possible, right? That a 158.3 is considered a "perfect" rating??

I could see a scenario where we eek by KC, beat Oakland, and crush Cincy, only to lose to NE by a "close" score of like 24-14 where we're really never in it, only to be 3-1 with a glimmer of hope and a have little national chatter begin en route to a 4-12 finish a la 2007. Just my $.02.

Seems spot-on. The homers here won't like it, and you won't make many friends with these words, but we're a terrible team. Might as well come to that realization now rather than have your hopes and dreams shattered by week six. My guess is 1-5 against the division (splitting with Miami), splitting with the AFC West, and beating up on the Bengals. 6-10 at absolute best, 2-14 at absolute worst; another 4-12 season seems likely.

This is all revisionist history. First off, do you remember how bad our CB's were in '07 that prompted us to draft one in the first round? Greer had not yet solidified himself as a starter in the league, McGee had played solidly but not spectacularly, and we had Ashton Youboty/Kiwaukee Thomas battling it out for the nickel as Brady passed for a thousand yards on us in two games. Does anybody remember the '08 draft? Our top positions of need were WR and CB, but there were no WR's worthy of a first round pick, so we took a CB first. McKelvin and DRC were the top two ranked CB's, but the knock on DRC is that he couldn't tackle. He has certainly turned out to be the better cover corner thus far, though. Second, the next four corners are better than McKelvin? I'm not so sure about that. DRC played so well he got shipped off to be a backup in Philly. Aqib Talib can't seem to stay out of prison. Mike Jenkins has played well, but there was a lot of talk of him moving to safety early on (imagine if we had drafted a potential safety at #11). Besides, wasn't he the one burned twice by Sidney Rice in the playoffs two years ago? The fourth is Antoine Cason in SD, I can't speak to his production. Third, it was a pretty underwhelming draft class, who would you preferred we draft? Sure, now we're weak at tackle, but then we had Jason Peters anchoring the left side and Langston Walker on the right. We certainly weren't in the market for a first or second round tackle. Is McKelvin a bust? Certainly not. But he has not lived up to expectations thus far.

Wait...when was I wrong???