Preseason Week 1 Around The NFC North

by Brandon on Aug 14, 2008 1:05 AM CDT in News

I didn't watch any week 1 preseason games except the Packers, so I've got nothing to add beyond the box scores. The most important thing is to stay healthy, which some teams are having troubles with.

Detroit 13, NY Giants 10. The only NFC North team with a win. QB David Carr is trying to win the backup job in New York and went 10-13 for 104 yards and a TD. It never looks good when Carr has a good line against you. The big story for Detroit was the awful play of 1st round pick T Gosder Cherilus. He might be penalty prone, but after watching the Packers try numerous rookies/first time starters on the line in the past three years, it's reasonable to expect some struggles. This week, QB Jon Kitna is not happy, and WR Roy Williams is not practicing.

Kansas City 24, Chicago 20. Watching the highlights, Chicago's offensive line and defensive line looked good, unfortunately Kansas City's offensive line is one of the worst in the NFL, so that doesn't mean much. RB P.J. Pope was Chicago's leading receiver and he was on the Packers practice squad for most of the 2006 season. Unfortunately for fantasy football fans, Chicago might be looking to split carries between 2nd year RB Garrett Wolfe and rookie RB Matt Forte. The biggest problems in Chicago are that their 1st round pick, LT Chris Williams, is hurting, and they are watching out for the injury bug on defense.

Seattle 34, Minnesota 17. QB Tavaris Jackson looked good on the highlights, and got the ball to their big free agent pickup, WR Bernard Berrian. Minnesota was killed by 5 turnovers, but all of them came from backups except for a fumble by starting TE Visanthe Shiancoe. The biggest problem is that they've lost their other big free agent signing, S Madieu Williams, for a few weeks, and they may have to start combing the scraps in free agency for a veteran safety.

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I watched the Vikings-Seahawks replay on NFL Network

Some NFL Network analyst was moonlighting as a color man for the Vikings broadcast and he thought it was ridiculous that E.J. Henderson had not made a pro bowl. If only Brian Urlacher, Nick Barnett, Barrett Ruud, London Fletcher, Lofa Tatupu and Patrick Willis played in another conference.

Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words—"mank" and "ind". What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
-Jack Handey

by jobe on Aug 14, 2008 12:25 PM CDT 0 recs

Who?

In trying to be as level headed about this as possible, I would be willing to concede that Urlacher, Barnett, and Tatupu are great LBs and deserving of starting in the Pro Bowl. But there is no way you can say that Barrett Ruud, London Fletcher and Patrick Willis are better MLBs than Henderson.
As of right now I would have to look up what team Ruud even plays for and after a quick look, he plays for Tampa Bay where he had 114 tackles last season with no sacks. E.J. had 5 more tackles and 4.5 sacks. So numbers wise he has him beat, though I know Ruud is probably one of those guys that gets by on his rep.
The same will be said for Fletcher. He isn’t bad, by any means, but he has definately been getting by on his rep. He had more tackles, but again no sacks, but if you could name another starting linebacker for the Redskins right now I would give you five dollars.
And the would increase that bet to 20 bucks if you could name any of starter (Besides Clements) on the 49er D. Willis is a tackling machine, but he was a rookie and him getting in feels more like how 1st rounders get overpaid than he was the best LB in the league.
All this being said, I like that E.J. flies under the radar. It keeps him motivated and keeps RBs and Qbs from realizing how good he is till he pops them in the mouth. I do hope he gets some recognition before his career is done.

by vikingfuture8816 on Aug 14, 2008 5:25 PM CDT up 0 recs

I wouldn't be surprised if Patrick Willis is the best linebacker in the game next year

alot of people are saying this dude is super talented and hes gonna be a great player.
After Sean Taylor’s death last year, London Fletcher was the best player on a playoff defense: thats not getting by on reputation.
Barrett Ruud runs too far under the radar just like his teammates Tanard Jackson and Jeremaine Phillips. All I can say is the dude makes Urlacher-esque pass drops and I love watching him play

Being a Maryland Terrapins fan, I watched EJ Henderson his entire college career, I like the guy but he is not a pro bowler.

As far as the 9er’s go, their defense has some talent on it, like Walt Harris, Manny Lawson and Justin Smith. They won’t be as bad as people think.

by jobe on Aug 14, 2008 8:37 PM CDT up 0 recs

No Slight On Henderson

There should be no problem comparing Henderson to Ruud or Willis. They’re all great linebackers who seem similar; great tackling linebackers who are a force when moving towards the line in run support. Henderson is an elite run defender, but he could improve in pass coverage. At age 33, I expected Fletcher to decline last season, but he was solid and might be the best of the bunch in pass coverage.

S.F.‘s defense has some big names (Justin Smith, Willis, Clements) but isn’t a solid 11 man group yet. Football Outsiders had them rated as one of the worst defenses in 2007 and S.F. produces little pass rush. Signing Justin Smith and his 2 sacks in 2007 isn’t going to help much.

by Brandon on Aug 14, 2008 11:19 PM CDT up 0 recs

Patrick Willis is going to be in a class above EJ Henderson and Barrett Ruud

if he isn’t there right now.

by jobe on Aug 14, 2008 11:24 PM CDT up 0 recs

There was no disrespect intended...

but the argument could be made that E.J. is just as productive, if not more some then some of the players on that list. I do think Willis is going to be great consistently, but he is the only big playmaker on that team, while a guy like Henderson is part of a defense that has accomplished something that takes more than just him playing at a high level (#1 against the run two years running). Sure his passing D could use a little more work, but he could have used some help from the DBs with that as well.

by vikingfuture8816 on Aug 15, 2008 11:21 AM CDT up 0 recs