Glanvilles Grits

I really expect the Chargers to have a great season. Everything was looking up last season, they're going to be tough to beat this year. I don't think 12-4 is out of the question by any means.

I'm starting to believe a couple of things coming from your argument. One being that you haven't ever, or at least rarely ever watch dirt racing. Two, that you haven't been inside a race car before. Tony Stewart was at the bottom of the race track. Pretty close to what they consider the forbidden zone because of how soft the clay gets near the bottom at Canandaigua (A track I've actually been to quite a few times). The problem is that Kevin walked down the track, way further than anyone would have ever anticipated to begin with. Several other drivers almost hit him before Stewart actually came around the turn. There's probably only a good 8-10 feet from the right of Tonys car to the bottom tire barriers, there was no room outside of Kevins car either. Kevin never should have been down that far. Just terrible. Much more to believe Tony Stewart would hit him intentionally is asinine. He's been in much more heated confrontations in higher levels of racing, where something was actually on the line for him, and not intentionally tried to hit a driver giving him the business on the track. The radio systems in these race cars aren't like the ones you are accustom to in NASCAR's top series. You rarely know that the yellow is out until you hit the start-finish line. Much more, sprint cars are unique and sensitive race cars. You're not going to stop a sprint car on a dime. A sprint car is designed to swing the rear as you turn, him jerking the wheel or hitting the brakes/throttle to avoid Kevin probably would have ended in the same result. It's a tragedy that no one expected and it's terrible, but this wasn't a malicious act.

I can play this thread a lot of different ways. Last season, despite all the injuries we endured and all the problems we saw on the offensive line, it seemed that there were so many big games that we were right on the cusp of winning. Games that were so close that it could have gone either way, and it went the wrong way. That's a huge testament to how the team and the coaching staff should bounce back this year with the return of a lot of big names. So, without going further into a rant, here's my prediction: Week 1: New Orleans Saints - WIN Last season the Falcons were swept by the Saints. Week 1 we lost by 6 points after two failed red zone opportunities to take the win. Week 12 was a 4 point loss despite all the injuries. We always play the Saints tight, I think we come out with a win at home week 1. Week 2: @Cincinnati Bengals - LOSS Week 3: Tampa Bay Buccaneers - WIN Week 4: @Minnesota Vikings - WIN Week 5: @New York Giants - WIN Week 6: Chicago Bears - LOSS Week 7: @Baltimore Ravens - WIN Week 8: Detroit Lions - WIN Week 9: Bye Week Week 10: @Tampa Bay Buccaneers - LOSS Week 11: @Carolina Panthers - LOSS Week 12: Cleveland Browns - WIN Week 13: Arizona Cardinals - WIN Week 14: @Green Bay Packers - LOSS Week 15: Pittsburgh Steelers - WIN Week 16: @New Orleans Saints - LOSS Week 17: Carolina Panthers - WIN 10-6. Very good chance of also going 11-5 or 8-8 depending how you view the match-ups. A lot also depends on the linebacker core too. They need to cover the middle of the field. I think 8-8 is worst case scenario right now.

Also, anyone who believes after watching the video that the car kicked out because of Tony hitting the gas doesn't have much knowledge, if at all, about Sprint cars and how they react when you drive. Or even, how any high powered car reacts on the track when you hit the gas. That car was in no way reacting to Stewart hitting the throttle. No malicious intent here.

I'm already sick of the Stewart vs Ward accident argument. May Kevin Ward Jr rest in peace, and his family find the comfort they need. Also may Tony Stewart find the comfort he needs to move on from this horrible accident. People need to realize that Mr Ward shouldn't have been running down a dark track in a black fire suit towards oncoming cars. That's just not common sense. People also need to realize that Sprint cars don't have the best sight lines, Stewart is not psychotic, and the motor you hear rev in the video was probably not his. The video was being shot across the track, and that rev was more likely from a car on the front straight. At the moment you hear that rev, the back of Stewart's car jerks to the left, not to the right. If he had gassed it, it would have went right because he was turning left. However, Stewart shouldn't have been that high on the track either, unless he truly didn't know where the accident was, even though he should have been able to see it in his mirror on the previous lap. There are only two people who will ever really know what happened, and one of them will never tell us. The other already told those who needed to know. The rest is all speculation. Tony Stewart isn't psychotic and this wasn't a purposeful act. Bad judgement, absolutely, but intentionally hitting him? Absolutely not. This is an absolute tragedy. If the police don't see any further reason to investigate, then we shouldn't either. Let's all move on for now, and hopefully the silver lining in this will soon follow (be it new rules, more safety improvements, a new charity, what have you). Until then, just let it go.

Unfortunately for Smith, I'm not sure he's going to get that kind of payday without taking a deal like Dalton did. It's obvious at this point that the Chiefs view Smith just as many people who track the NFL think of him, a game manager. Albeit a great one this day in age. I think if they thought of him differently, they would have already jumped on this contract extension.

What you said in your first paragraph really hits the mark IMO. Nearly every quarterback in the league right now (note I said nearly) has the ability to hit on one of these streaks. The problem is that you can't calculate or even possibly begin to guess when it's going to come to fruition. Much more, if it will at all. So is it worth it to these teams to take that chance and give these guys big money contracts where they will then be chained to this guy for years to come? It's almost like saying: "I think my friend could be a pretty good simmer even though he hasn't yet shown me that he can swim. I'm going to chain myself to him and we're going to jump into the middle of the lake together, surely we will be able to swim back to shore, right?" Just seems like we see more and more teams jump before actually evaluating what they have, and what it means as a franchise to sign these guys. The option after year two basically protects both the Bengals and the 49ers, but, what happens when teams aren't able to get players to accept this type of contract? I really hope to see the teams take a stand in the next few years and put a little taste of reality back into the quarterback market. Paying a mid-level quarterback this much money is insane.

Not sure if I'm missing something, they only ranked the top 7? I actually love the way they figured out this ranking system. I would love to see what the top 100 looks like, or even the top 50. Want to see more of this Impact Tackles.

Jeremy Hill will rush for 700 yards and 8 TDs

My complete reactions so far: - Kelvin Benjamin made one hell of a catch. The fact that he was able to keep his eyes on the ball as he stumbled to the ground is absolutely amazing. They may have hit something special, but theres no need to over-react just yet. As somewhat of a skeptic on the Panthers passing game actually being relevant this year, it was a huge plus. I'm still not that impressed with his route running, but that's something that gets better with time. - EJ Manuel and Sammy Watkins definitely need to work on their chemistry. They seem completely out of sync. Again though, that's something we'll see get better with time. I still think Watkins is going to be a stud for the Bills. - Carlos Hyde looked every bit of a starting NFL running back. Lattimore who? I think the 49ers found their replacement for Frank Gore in this kid. He's on the bigger side, but man he's got some speed to go with that size. If he carries his first performance right through the pre-season, we're going to see him take a lot of carries from Gore. - Johnny Manziel looked like a rookie. Nothing particularly great in his performance, his ability to escape trouble looks like it could be nice to have. Other than that, he looked average. - Blake Bortles may be the quarterback the Jaguars have been looking for. He's definitely got confidence in the pocket. He's not afraid to trust his receivers. Another performance like that, and he could be in the drivers seat in the competition. - Zac Stacy has nothing to worry about right now. Tre Mason looked solid, but in no way did he look like a guy that could threaten the starting job. - Jeremy Hill was stout. 6 carries for 36 yards. The Bengals have a gem in Hill, I think that people high on Bernard this season are going to be in for a surprise, it seems like the Bengals love what they have in Hill, I think he and Bernard will end up splitting time. - Matt Cassels job to lose: Bridgewater looked skiddish in the pocket. Cassel will need to really screw it up in order to lose the starting spot this year. - Rashad Jennings is a legitimate starting running back in the NFL. Not sure why everyone has been sleeping on Jennings. While Williams has looked solid, I'm not sold on him just yet. Jennings seems to always step up. The Giants are sold on him as their guy at this point. - Antonio Gates taking a back seat to Lardarius Green at this point. I think Green is going to have the torch passed to him this year. The Chargers clearly love what they have in Green, he's a big target with playmaking ability. - Nick Foles is showing us everything we were concerned of. Last year there were a lot of times where Foles looked shaky in the pocket and threw the ball a little too soon, fortunately for him last year it worked out majority of the time. He was picked off twice against the Bears on questionable throws. Only the first pre-season game, but I think it's safe to say that Foles will take a step back this year. - Falcons run defense looked stout, and all the while in the nickel formation the entire game. Not going to get too excited though on that, it is the Dolphins afterall. Nolan kept the defense in the Nickel all game, clearly trying to feel out our safety situation, excited to see a few other formations as preseason progresses.

It's not huge, but it's definitely a small win for the players. I agree though, it's lopsided toward the schools convenience. There are going to be more rulings in the near future, and I bet they will get better as time goes forward. These guys need to be paid for what their doing.

Needing 2 more owners.

Wish Smitty would take his head out of his ass and give Antone Smith some meaningful carries. We saw it last year too. Every time Smith gets the football, he's a home run threat. He's no good up the middle, or in pass pro really, but man, give him the ball and let him hit the gas pedal and he's gone! Devonta Freeman could be a starter in this league, easily. He looked absolutely fantastic. How about that over the shoulder grab!! Man, can't wait to see what else this kid has for us to see.

All I know is that I've been big on Wright since he came out. The touchdowns aren't there, but I attribute that to poor usage and so-so quarterback play. I'd love to see what the guy can do when he's used properly.

Draft officially set for Sunday, August 31st @ 9pm EST.

As an Atlanta Falcons fan, I'm going to tell you right now that the "it's the coordinators/coaches fault" argument will not work at this message board.

Both Hawley and Biermann have been acting like complete jackasses all camp long. Biermann has been getting into shoving matches nearly every day, yesterday he was shoving Jake Matthews after Matthews completely blew Biermann up. Apparently Biermann has been trying to make Matthews look silly, but it's been going the opposite way! Ha. Everything from camp is pointing toward Matthews being an absolute stud!

If Dallas doesn't resign Dez, it will be one of the biggest blunders in recent memories. You don't let a player like Dez walk. No freaking way. He's going to get paid, no doubt about it.

Screw that! LOl Update on Baldwin:

Manziel taking first team snaps.

The way the market is for QB's now (stupidly outrageous), they really didn't have a choice on this one in my opinion. Is he the guy that will get the Bengals over the hump? That's still anyones guess, he's not bad, but like a lot of other QBs who have got paid as of late, he hasn't pushed HIMSELF over the hump, much more shown the ability to do so for the entire team. I like this deal, I like the way it was structured. Basically a two year contract and then a "Well, we will see where we're at then". I'm not so sure that the Bengals would experience a performance drop with a downgrade at QB at this point. That team is unbelievable right now.

They're saying down in New England now that Ryan Mallet has had the best training camp he's had yet and that he looks like a legitimate starter... Uh, yeah sure, against second team defenses of course he should.

False reports. Hageman has no fractures or broken bones. *breathes again*

Baldwin is a guy with all the physical tools to make it. I really thought coming out that he had the opportunity to be up there with Green and Jones in that draft class. I guess he just couldn't keep his focus on football and adjusting to the NFL. I don't really see him making it with any other teams at this point.

Just fucking stupid shit. Joe Hawley and Hageman had it out and that's why this happened basically. Hageman absolutely blew up Hawley (our center) in a drill and put him on his back. Hawley was slow to get up after collecting himself and started talking trash toward Hageman. Hageman punched Hawley in the helmet. Just stupid shit. Hageman has potential to be a stud lineman for us. He's got ridiculous intensity when he's on the field but he needs to tone it down a little bit. This is sort of run of the mill though for us so far this off-season ever since the draft. We've brought in a lot of hard-nosed rookies who play with a bit of grit and a ton of intensity. Our veterans aren't really taking to it too well. Earlier in the day before the Hawley/Hageman incident, Kroy Biermann was giving Jake Matthews extra shoves because of Matthews playing past the coaches whistle. These guys just aren't using their head now. I'm not so much worried about camp fights, I think those can help a team a lot of times, but man it's not good when guys start getting injured. Hageman was a big piece of our plans moving forward, hopefully he's ready to go for week 1.