Calling all homers! (1 Viewer)

[JGalligan]

With the pre-season entering the fourth quarter of its lifespan, I felt it was necessary to get a handle on some of the biggest questions that teams may still have. Even though the pre-season solves many questions, it also creates new ones. Such is life.

I was in the midst of asking myself questions for each team when it dawned on me that it was 1) Incredibly weird and 2) Probably not a good representation of a teams actual questions. So, I'm asking for your participation. Pick one of your favorite NFL teams and ask the one burning question your team has and/or is faced with heading into the season.

Should there be multiple questions per team, the first one that is both legible and a quality question will get the nod. Also include if you want your display name used in the post to denote that you asked the question. Humor/sarcasm/wittiness is encouraged.

I figured it'd be a lot more fun this way especially with everyone involved.

Fire away!

The Already Taken List

Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Pittsburgh Steelers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Tennessee Titans

Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs

Oakland Raiders

San Diego Chargers

Dallas Cowboys

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Redskins

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Arizona Cardinals

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

St. Louis Rams

 

[ShoeHorn]

Who in the world will "step up" on the O-line and give the Ravens QB (whomever it may be) the ridiculous amount of time they need to make a decision with the ball? I fully believe the Ravens are in for a long season.

 

[JGalligan]

Who in the world will "step up" on the O-line and give the Ravens QB (whomever it may be) the ridiculous amount of time they need to make a decision with the ball? I fully believe the Ravens are in for a long season.

Okay, Ravens are taken. Only 31 teams left!

 

[Our Gang]

The fins lost 6 games by 3 or fewer last season. They had devestating unjuries. They had crappy coaching. The coach did not have any control of the team. They brought the toughness back and improved at qb,rb, oline and at almost every position. Are the Fins a true darkhorse wild-card contender?

 

[ImTheScientist]

Seahawks

Who the hell is going to step up and catch the ball from the WR position?

 

[Big Papi]

Bengals

Based on pre-season action, it looks like the Bengals Defense is a step ahead of their Offense. Will their O-Line continue to suck or will the return of Chad Johnson, TJ Houshmandzadeh and Rudi Johnson magically make it all come together and bring the offense back to prominence?

 

[MCguidance]

Jets: Is Brett Favre the answer? 10-6 two years ago, they lost many close games last year and took a step backwards, will they return to the playoffs?

 

[JGalligan]

Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Pittsburgh Steelers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Tennessee Titans

Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs

Oakland Raiders

San Diego Chargers

Dallas Cowboys

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Redskins

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Arizona Cardinals

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

St. Louis Rams

 

[bc0312]

GIANTS

Osi Osi Osi..Oy Oy Oy.....How much will the loss of Osi impact the D? Will Strahan come back?

 

[footballman_696969]

Rams:

Will the O-Line and offense in general be improved enough for Bulger to return to his 2003-2006 form? Or are we in for another 2007 like performance from Mr. Bulger?

 

[JGalligan]

Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Pittsburgh Steelers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Tennessee Titans

Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs

Oakland Raiders

San Diego Chargers

Dallas Cowboys

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Redskins

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Arizona Cardinals

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

St. Louis Rams

 

[Mister CIA]

Saints:

How will the stat pie get divided between the offensive players? In last night's game against the Bengals I got the sense that the Sean Payton has gotten back on his horse for calling a good game. Brees spread the ball to 10 different targets in the first half, iirc. The Saints' O had the Bengal D off-balance all game (I know, it's the Bengals, but I give more credit to the Saints O that the Bengal's D, or lack thereof).

While I'm higher than most on Bush this season, my gut says that Payton will call a game that does not rely too much on Bush. Will Duece be on a pitch count? Will an adequate Saints defense allow an excellent offense to get some extra run at garbage time production? If so, who benefits? My guess would be Pierre Thomas and Meachem, especially Thomas. While have nothing to base this on, if the Saints put a few games away early (and they have a pretty easy schedule on paper), I think they will feed the ball to Thomas, a lot.

As for Brees' targets, Colston is #1, but if Payton is committed to spreading the ball around to Patten, Meachem, Lance Moore and (most notably), Jeremy Shockey, his numbers could dip. BTW, I think Devery's drop in the end zone last night might lead to getting dropped. If so, that's a shame. The guy can get open with ease, but he just can't close the deal. I would not be surprised to see Devery end up in Dallas or Philly.

 

[JGalligan]

From this point on the taken list will just be updated from the original post. I figured it may get annoying if I kept replying with an updated list after every submitted question. Good looking out, I know, I know. I try.

 

[JGalligan]

Excellent questions so far, though! Keep em comin!

 

[JGalligan]

Still 25 teams left!!

 

[T Bell]

REDSKINS:

Can first-time play-caller and head coach Jim Zorn team up with Jason Campbell to take this passing offense to the next level of productivity?

 

[butcher boy]

With a defense that is improved at least on paper, a surprisingly decent looking JT O'Sullivan, and with Mike Martz injecting the team with his flashy offense, can the 49ers improve on their 5-11 record of last season and contend in the NFC West?

 

[logan]

KC Chiefs

Can Brandon Albert help a struggling oline when he returns from injury or will the line suffer worse than last year with Alberts growing pains and lack of talent outside of Waters?

Can Larry Johnson return to form even behind said suspect line?

Can Brodie Croyle win an NFL game?

Can Tamba Hali and Turk Mcbride put any pressure on the QB long enough for an aging verteran in Surtain and a rookie in Flowers to make the pass defense respectable on the outisde?

there are plenty more questions for the Chiefs but it's a start.

 

[AB in DC]

PATRIOTS -- How long will it take for the banged-up offensive line to come together, and will it perform as well as it did last season?

 

[PatrickT]

A couple for the Atlanta Falcons

Does Matt Ryan have the mental toughness to survive his baptism under fire?

Will Sam Baker prove to be the long term answer at left tackle?

Is Curtis Lofton the long term answer at MLB?

 

[hugebearsfansinceforever]

BEARS

Who will step up to be the #1 Receiver this season and what type of numbers would one expect with Kyle Orton as the starting QB.

Barring injuries will Kyle Orton start all 16 games; or will he at one point be benched for Grossman/Hanie/Simms?

 

[JGalligan]

Every single question has been great so far. Keep em coming! 21 teams left!

 

[QUEZILLA]

Bucs

-Who is going to emerge as the #2 wr? Stovall / Clayton / Bryant

-How much will the other RB cut into starter Earnest Grahams carries? (Dunn / Bennet / Caddy)

 

[49erBamBam52]

NINERS...

a few of them in this team...

Will Nolan be fired come the end of season?

Which WR will end up as O'sullivan's (Smith's) favorite target?

Will we have any pass rush at all this year?

BAM

 

[JGalligan]

17 teams left!

And yes, I know that my counting and tracking thus far has been quite questionable. I was actually counting a different list than the original post so, that's why my updates on how many teams were left made no sense.

 

[Captain Hook]

Since no one stepped up for the Cardinals, I will offer up a few questions:

1) How many games will Warner start at QB before injury or fumbleitis give Leinart another chance?

2) While rookie RB Tim Hightower has looked good - it Was pre-season play and at the same time Edge looked better than most of last year's games as well. Will Hightower vulture some goal line TDs from James?

3) Can Q keep his mouth shut and play some ProBowl quality WR - it is fairly obvious that the Cardinals will NOT trade him (nor should they he still has three years left on the contract he signed two years ago)

 

[JGalligan]

In the interests of getting this done before the pre-season ends, feel free to ask questions about more then one team. As long as it's a good question, I'm sure everything will be okay! Half the league down, half to go..

 

[eric rymer]

Ok I'll play along.

Will the the addition of Williams and Rogers help the Cleveland run D. Will they get enough pressure to help out the young corners? and no I don't want to talk about Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn. The other 87 threads on it are good enough. Who will step up to play ILB beside Jackson? Leon Williams, Andra Davis, Beau Bell?

 

[JTM]

DA' BOYS

My questions:

Who will be the emotional leader of this squad? We need another 'Plea-maker' minus the sniff-n-puff for us to take the next step from being a talented group of players to a championship football team.

Will Yoko Romo show up to any more games?

Will Roy Williams decide it's time to stop watching the ball and start murdering WR's again? Sounds obvious, but I'd rather have twice the amount of 15 yard penalties, fines, and 3-eyed WR's than the number of big plays he gave up in '07.

Will TO continue to understand that the Hall is not so nice to a**holes? I think so.

Will Pacman stay off of Loop 12 and NW Hwy?--area zoned for strip clubs here in Dallas.

Just off the top of my head...

 

[the turnip]

MINNESOTA VIKINGS

A lot of people are downgrading Adrian Peterson based upon the number of carries Chester Taylor received last year. As the season wore on it became obvious to everyone, eventually even Brad Childress, that AP was special. Will Taylor continue to receive enough carries to keep MN in RBBC by committee situation or will AP be an every down back with Chester Taylor only relieving him occasionally?

- OR -

Will Tavaris Jackson develop into a legitimate NFL quarterback? One who is capable of making opposing defenses pay for stacking 8 and 9 men in the box to stop the run.

the turnip

 

[JGalligan]

Where are all the AFC South fans?

14 teams left to go!

 

[KoolKat]

Broncos

Will the Broncos have any sort of a pass rush besides Dumervil, and if so, who steps up?

Will they be able to stop the run?

Will Clady be as dominant as is hoped?

Will Royal become a viable option at WR2, and will he help our dismal return game?

Will Marcus Thomas, Brandon Marshall, and Travis Henry be charged with conspiracy to smuggle hundreds of kilos of coke from Matt Jones' yacht in the everglades up to the Rockies?

Is Nalen done?

 

[Gr00vus]

My questions about the Chargers:

1) Which line will be worse, offensive or defensive, and how much worse in relation to 2006 (yes 2006, they weren't great in 2007)?

1b) Relatedly, when will center Nick Hardwick return?

2) The obvious one now is will Merriman play, if so how much will his game suffer due to the torn knee ligaments (I can't believe he's considering playing on that knee) and if not is Jyles Tucker really ready to step in (he's done well in preseason)?

3) How bad are the ILBs going to be? This is now even more problematic with the Merriman injury. Cooper is their best ILB and he'll be out the 1st 4 games on suspension. It appears Wilhelm is clinging to his starting job as nobody has really stepped up to claim it. Derek Smith is the nominal fill in for Cooper, but we haven't seen much from him this preseason. It could be a real mess.

 

[coolnerd]

Where are all the AFC South fans? 14 teams left to go!

I was actually waiting on someone else because I am always talking Texans,, but if I were to boil it down one question it would not be about RB, but what can the texans do to generate a consistent pass rush from someone not name Mario Willimas?

 

[JGalligan]

Almost there.. just 11 more teams to go! The forum is open to all! Feel free to ask a question about a different team even if you've already asked one. I want to get this finished so I can stop annoyingly bumping it to the top of the SP.

 

[Rovers]

Is there some point to all of this?

This is like a bad Q&A with no A's.

The Jets Q is weak. Favre, the obvious.... will the addition of two new starting O linemen (both guards) help the running game? Will the addition of Jenkins at NT and Pace at DE vault the Jets D into the upper half of the league?

Is there some point to this excersize?

 

[JGalligan]

Is there some point to all of this? This is like a bad Q&A with no A's.The Jets Q is weak. Favre, the obvious.... will the addition of two new starting O linemen (both guards) help the running game? Will the addition of Jenkins at NT and Pace at DE vault the Jets D into the upper half of the league? Is there some point to this excersize?

Did you read the beginning?

I was in the midst of asking myself questions for each team when it dawned on me that it was 1) Incredibly weird and 2) Probably not a good representation of a teams actual questions. So, I'm asking for your participation. Pick one of your favorite NFL teams and ask the one burning question your team has and/or is faced with heading into the season.Should there be multiple questions per team, the first one that is both legible and a quality question will get the nod. Also include if you want your display name used in the post to denote that you asked the question. Humor/sarcasm/wittiness is encouraged. I figured it'd be a lot more fun this way especially with everyone involved.

I guess I should have added that all the questions, complete with answers would be posted in another separate thread. I think it would have gotten too messy with the answers in here..

 

[plapla]

Eagles

Does McNabb stay healthy and produce for the entire season? If he does he holds off Kolb for another year, Another injury and we are looking at the beginning of the Kolb era next season.

 

[PatrickT]

Nothing for most of the AFC South?

Colts:

How bad is Manning's knee, really?

Can Marvin Harrison return to semblance of his previous greatness?

Jacksonville

What will end up being the split between Fred and MJD?

Who will FINALLY step up at WR? (Reggie Williams is my pick there)

Titans

When will the real VY show up? Or has he already?

Does Chris Johnson overtake White this season, and when?

Is there a WR on that team worth having?

 

[sho nuff]

Packers...

-Can the Dline hold up after trading Corey Williams?...outside of the question on Rodgers, IMO, this is their biggest issue.

-Can the oline open up the same holes they did last year with Rodgers at the helm now...will teams respect Rodgers arm enough for them to effectively run the ball?