The Dood's Super-Duper Blog of NFL Footballness

Winners & Losers on the NFL Schedule, Week 1

2011-08-21T20:38:00.002-04:00

This is a preview of a new feature I'll be doing as the season goes on. It's the good and bad game (or games, possibly) from each week of the NFL season.

Week 1 is absolutely stacked, so this should be one of the tougher weeks. We kick off the NFL regular season September 8th on NBC with Packers-Saints in Green Bay. The two latest Super Bowl winners. Even though they had a quick exit in the playoffs, the Saints did not drop off that much in 2010 from their championship season of '09. This game is my overall winner for Week 1, but since there are games on Sunday and Monday, we can't leave those out.

Honorable mention goes to CBS's marquee Sunday afternoon matchup of Ravens-Steelers. It's the Steelers and the Ravens. Need I say more?

My loser for the week is the Monday Night Football doubleheader of Patriots-Dolphins and Broncos-Raiders. I just can't get too excited about either of these games.

Honorable mention loser goes to FOX's "Game of the Week" or whatever the hell it's called. Giants-Redskins. I'm sorry, I know it's the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and all and the connections between New York and Washington D.C. that come with it, but still, is that the best you can do, FOX? Rant ends here. Have a good one.

NFL on FOX 2011 Announcing Teams Announced

2011-08-08T18:16:00.002-04:00

Wow, where have I been? Well, I am still alive and with football season approaching (thankfully), we can now look forward to broadcast schedules and the like. FOX has recently announced their announcer pairings and slots (as I like affectionately call batting order) for the 2011 season. And, unfortunately for viewers, the results are not spectacular.

1.) Joe Buck, Troy Aikman - No change from last year. Or the year before that and the year before that and the year before that, I think you get the picture.

2.) Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston - No change from last year for FOX's "B" crew, either. And they will still have the (dis)pleasure of Tony Siragusa, who offers nothing in the way of insightful analysis. Oh well.

3.) Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick - Same team, different slot. They've moved up a slot from last year, which is probably no matter. Brennaman will spell Buck during the baseball playoffs. Whee!

4.) Dick Stockton, John Lynch. Stockton was the "C" team announcer last year, who was paired with Charles Davis, who has slipped to 8th in the FOX batting order (and probably for the better). Lynch has moved up 2 slots from last year.

5.) Chris Myers, Tim Ryan - Ryan was the 5th slot analyst last year, but was paired with Sam Rosen, who unfortunately has slipped to 7th. Myers was the 7th slot announcer last year. This and FOX's 8th team (read below) may be the bottom of the barrel of NFL announcing teams for 2011 just because of Myers.

6.) Ron Pitts, Jim Mora Jr. - Pitts was the 6th team announcer last year, but Mora Jr. is a new addition. I see potential in this team.

7.) Sam Rosen, Chad Pennington - Whoo boy, gotta feel sorry for this team, as I feel they should be slotted much higher, but it's not up to me. The recently retired Pennington has always struck observers as one of the smartest and more cerebral quarterbacks, so he will potentially become a welcome new face to the NFL on Sunday.

8.) Gus Johnson, Charles Davis, Tim Brewster - Last and least is this crew, and (probably) thankfully they won't even work every NFL week (FOX rarely airs 8 games a Sunday).

So are the announcing pairs really that bad? Or are we lowering our standards for them and we'll get blown away by their performance this year. Who knows. NFL on FOX has a doubleheader Week 1 (September 11) with Falcons-Bears and Giants-Redskins the marquee matchups. (Does it surprise you that two NFC East teams that did not make the playoffs last year will be worked by the "A" crew?)

YouTube Finds: Jon Gruden Post -"Snow Bowl" Press Confrence & Al Davis' Post-Gruden Trade Press Confrence

2011-06-27T14:42:00.004-04:00

Yes, I'm still alive, believe it or not. There's just not much going on that I feel like talking about, with most of the NFL talk surrounding the frickin' lockout. The only "good" news is Marv Albert has joined the NFL on CBS crew, filling Gus Johnson's vacancy. This is good news providing a.) He does more prominent games than Johnson ever did, perhaps challenging Jim Nantz's A-crew spot (that's wishful thinking). Or b.) He does NOT challenge Greg Gumbel's B-crew spot with Dan Dierdorf. So where does that leave the YES! man? Well, actually, not too many places, unless he indeed becomes the fifth-tier announcer, but I could see them bumping his TNT partner Kevin Harlan down a spot and Albert becoming the 4th tier-announcer. We will see, providing there is football, of course.

Now, onto why I really decided to come out of hiding and post. It's regarding a couple of interesting NFL-related YouTube finds.

The first series of videos is then-Raiders coach Jon Gruden post "Snow Bowl" press conference regarding the call, the game, his relationship with the organization, and his future with the team.

The second is Al Davis' press conference the morning after Gruden's trade with the Buccaneers (I can't exactly find the exact date the trade took place, but from the sounds of things, it was after the Super Bowl).

Now for a little reaction from me. I really think this was a sudden situation, I don't think there was some grand conspiracy behind it. The Bucs fired Tony Dungy, and were in need of a head coach, especially after their primary candidate, Bill Parcells, turned the job down and Steve Mariucci decided to stay in San Francisco. Bucs management appealed to Gruden heart and appealed to Davis' wallet, essentially, and I guess Davis thought that his team could have long-term success without Gruden.

For better or for worse, it the press conferences paint Gruden as a mercenary. Despite two division titles and an improving offense, Gruden wanted to coach with a team his family had connections with and wanted to be near family (his brother Jay was the quarterback of the Arena League Orlando Predators) .

And regarding the conversations between Gruden and Bucs management after the loss in Foxboro, Gruden was best to keep them secret from the media, because at first, even Al Davis was in total disagreement, but they were able to make a deal at the last minute and the rest is history.

Now, for the draft picks the Raiders got as compensation. They got first and second round picks in 2002, which turned into Phillip Buchanon and Langston Walker, who weren't exactly busts (Buchanon was still in the league as of 2010), a first round pick in 2003 (Tyler Brayton, who also was still in the league as of 2010 and also not exactly a bust), and finally, a second-round pick in 2004 (Jake Grove, a lineman, who has been a backup with both the Raiders and the Dolphins. He is still a free agent and did not play with a team in 2010).

So while the draft picks the Raiders got as compensation did not turn out to be jackpot players, they were hardly busts, either.

Some speculate that another reason why Davis was willing to let Gruden go was because Davis did not agree with Gruden "West Coast" style of offense. If that were the truth, then why did Davis say he allowed Gruden to pick his own coordinators? You would think with Davis' influence, if he did not agree with a coordinator's hire, that he would intervene and handpick somebody instead.

Another speculation is that Davis was willing to let Gruden go because he would have been in the last year of his contract in 2002 and that Davis was thinking about not signing Gruden to an extension. That may hold water, but to me that fact is nominal in whatever compelled Davis to let Gruden go.

I think it was the lure of draft picks and money that wooed Davis to allow Gruden to essentially be traded. And it was the beginning of the end of Davis to be able to make rational decisions about hiring and firing coaches.

Gus Johnson To FOX...I Care Why?

2011-05-09T21:51:00.002-04:00

I am not a Gus Johnson fan in the least. I don't like his style, I don't like his calls. I don't like that his calls become part of the game. I don't like him, and apparently CBS doesn't, either. Gus, who worked at the eye network for 13 years for their NCAA basketball and NFL telecasts, was a favorite with younger fans a the blogosphere for reasons I'll never comprehend, but that's neither here nor there. What I hate the most his the blogosphere's love-affair for what I see as a sub-par announcer, that's the biggest problem I have.

He was never a top-tier announcer, obviously. In 1998, when football returned to CBS, Johnson and Steve Tasker were paired in the #4 spot on the CBS totem pole. In 1999 and 2000, Johnson was paired with Brent Jones in the #4 spot, where he would stay until 2006, when he and Steve Tasker dropped to the #5 slot (Jones left part-way into the 2005 season). Then the next season, Johnson and Tasker dropped to the #7 slot, where they remained until last season.

It has already been confirmed that Johnson will be lead announcer for FOX's college football telecasts for Pac 12 coverage and the Big 10 Championship Game (so we'll have to be exposed to his screaming every week, it looks like). Now, I'll be the first to admit that FOX's performances in college football have been pretty poor (except for last year's Cotton Bowl, which was handled very well by Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston).

Alright, now I'll digest and prognosticate Awful Announcing's piece about Johnson moving to FOX. It's not pretty:

He is heading to Fox and appears to be in line to be their #1 college sports announcer. With the Big 10 Championship Game and Pac 12 coverage coming to the network, Gus is a big coup to immediately lift Fox's coverage of college sports. Which, as you may remember, has a checkered history at best... ok, it was awful.

Yes it was a disaster but I think the jury is still out on whether or not Johnson will help FOX's college football coverage (I think FOX was desperate and CBS was desperate to cut ties with Johnson, as they probably should have been).

It appears that Gus' talents will also be used for Fox's NFL coverage, where he would be a welcome addition. Look at the stable of NFL on Fox play by play men - Joe Buck, Kenny Albert, Thom Brennaman, Dick Stockton, Sam Rosen, Ron Pitts, Chris Rose, Chris Myers... it's below average, especially compared to CBS. Gus Johnson should be #2 at worst. Let's not get our hopes up that he will replace Joe Buck anytime soon, but we can at least dream of Gus calling the Super Bowl if there's now no chance at the Final Four.

Actually the only one of those announcers that are really bad are Chris Rose and Chris Myers (Joe Buck isn't terrible but he is nowhere near great). FOX needs analysts, bad. They used to have great analysts (Bentley, Baldinger, Madden, Millen when he was sane), but now, not so good. At best I would put Johnson with Billick at #3 (or #4. It's unclear to me if Stockton and Davis are #3 or #4. Your guess is as good as mine).

Just for shits and giggles, here is my mock NFL on FOX batting order including Gus Johnson:

1 - Albert or Stockton, Aikman
2 - Albert or Stockton, Johnston
3 - Rosen, Ryan
4 - Pitts, Billick
5 - Johnson, Davis
6 - Buck, Lynch
7 - Brennaman, Holt/Mora

A CBS source who wanted Johnson back said not only money, but politics was an issue. The source said some of CBS Sports' college hoops voices were not thrilled with Johnson's rise to March Madness' most popular voice.

As they should have been. CBS had some great, and I mean great announcers for their NCAA Tornament coverage (Lundquist, Albert, Harlan, Brando). Apparently Johnson's co-workers and bosses did like his style and his gradual rise up the CBS totem pole.

Viewers will now tune into Fox's college football and basketball and NFL broadcasts because of Gus Johnson.

I agree with this statement, and this is one of the reasons I don't like Johnson, because as a result of his calls, he becomes bigger than the game, which is something an announcer should not become.

Not being a huge Gus Johnson fan, I don't really care what happens to him...but it seems as though he'll be doing some prominent college games for FOX, but it is unclear where he'll be put in FOX's batting order.

Lastly, here is a mock ordering of CBS commentators:

1 - Nantz, Simms
2 - Gumbel, Dierdorf
3 - Eagle or Criqui, Fouts
4 - Harlan, Wilcots
5/6 - Macatee or Criqui, Gannon or Beuerlien
7 - Dedes or Brando, Cross

I'd like to see either Brando come back to football telecasts and for Criqui to move up (he's still just as sharp as he was 30 years ago). Of course my dream CBS pairing would be for Gumbel and Simms to team up again for the top spot (this was their top team when I started watching football heavily).

Perhaps you're wondering why I don't like Gus Johnson very much? It has to do with a few different things. 1.) He's become bigger than the game. 2.) It worries me that so many people are attracted to him when he doesn't get his stuff right. He is just not a very accurate announcer and relies on the emotion of the moment to help the flow of his calls.

I feel like I'm going into "beating a dead horse" territory so I think I'll stop now.

TMQ Is Back, And It's Still Just As Bad As Ever

2011-04-26T21:42:00.003-04:00

TMQ has returned to mock the mock draft as he does, annoyingly, every year. However he devotes the first third of this column to the NFL labor dispute, only in the way TMQ can, basically saying both sides should have respectfully negotiated somewhere not taxpayer funded and that all these rich fucking crybaby assholes are in it for their own personal gain. Like I said, the only way TMQ can.

The NFL players and owners can't possibly be foolish enough to kill a goose that lays $10 billion worth of golden eggs each year, can they?

You would think not but somehow I think it will.

Don't answer that!

I just did.

As the historian Barbara Tuchman wrote, human history reflects a "march of folly" -- people and institutions go out of their way to do that which sabotages their own interests.

Yes, TMQ is a "march of folly". It is a person and an institution who goes out of its way to sabotage their own interests.

The previous agreement had room for improvement, of course. Health benefits for former players were poor. Bonuses for first-round draft choices were getting out of hand. But a routine negotiation could have handled such matters. There was no need for the owners and players to engage in a public meltdown that may damage both their interests.

I actually agree with this statement. Wholeheartedly, too. The problem is both sides wanted to get the fans involved and start lobbying their platform to them. What's worse is that at the onset of this the fans did not care, but both the players and the owners wanted to get them involved.

Are players and owners a bunch of spoiled crybabies, millionaires arguing with billionaires about who pays for the champagne? The simplest explanation is often correct, and this is the simplest explanation. But there is a crazed dynamic at work -- one that must end, so American taxpayers with a median household income of $53,000 can stop subsidizing federal courtroom time for wealthy crybabies to shout at each other. Here's what is happening:

This is a very cryptic way of saying, well, nothing.

That left the bossypants cohort of NFL owners smarting, wanting revenge on someone. Vying for revenge against your own players -- who are the product; not many people come to stadiums to watch the owners -- doesn't make a great deal of sense. But human history is a march of folly.

I seriously don't they wanted revenge. Perhaps they wanted to win, sure, but revenge? Sounds kind of crazy.

Believing they had "lost" the 2006 bargaining round, some NFL owners said words to the effect of, "Let's hire this [expletive] Batterman and crush the NFLPA."

Oh, hyperbole. I doubt this quote was every actually said.

Nevertheless, in 2008 the owners hired Batterman as labor counsel. He laid out a plan to create a lockout, and that's what happened. What does he care if an NFL season is canceled, and the league's popularity declines? He gets the same fee regardless.

Do you really think that the owners are that greedy that they will jeopardize their income (the team playing games, fans filling seats, selling beer, merchandise, etc) just to "win" the labor dispute. I actually don't think so but I'm sure some (Easterbrook included) do. However an outside counsel probably does not care since he'll get paid as Easterbrook said.

On the labor side: Upshaw, a former NFL player, was a gifted negotiator -- he won free agency for NFL athletes, steadily rising pay for them, and benefits for retired players. Because he'd been an NFL star, he was secure in his manhood. Because he'd played in the league, in all things he put the interests of the players first.

After Upshaw's death, DeMaurice Smith was elected head of the union. He is the second supervillain in this story. Smith never played pro sports -- for that matter, had no background in labor law or sports economics. He worked in the Justice Department, then became a litigator for Patton Boggs, a leading legal firm. The first impulse of litigators is to create conflicts; the second, to sustain them. The longer and nastier a conflict is, the more a litigator benefits, in fees and in personal importance.

I actually agree with this statement. It makes sense that the man representing the players should have, well, been a player. He gets paid regardless of what which side wins.

Actually the more and more I read in to this the more I side with the owners and not the players. According to TMQ, Smith and a few players (that were said to represent all players) filed a lawsuit that if it success would spell the end of the draft, free agency, and salary cap - scary thought.

Basically it stipulates that high salary players will continue to get paid their high salary, if not more (double their salary, perhaps), while less well-off players' salaries will decline.

I actually agree with TMQ's "The path to the solution" paragraph, but I think it's wishful thinking. I don't think the litigation will escape the courtroom.

What TMQ finds worrisome about Newton is … he played for a BCS title team. That's a major negative; see below. But first, TMQ's annual mock of mock drafts.

Only TMQ would not equate success with success. We'll see. If Newton is a bust, he's a bust. I don't see why it matters that he was a one-hit wonder or if his integrity is questioned (only by moralists like TMQ).

His next segment is what worries me about TMQ. Deadspin hit it on their rant about TMQ's rant about President Obama filling out a bracket. "This is the worst kind of sports column: irrelevant, pedantic, and completely in love with its own righteousness." That, my friends, is TMQ each week.

And then we get TMQ's short-sighted observations and pronouncements about Cam Newton.

Is there more to his recruiting scandal? It's easy to believe a starry-eyed teenager would not grasp that NCAA rules forbid cash in return for signing a college letter of intent. It's hard to believe Newton's father did not grasp this, and it's really hard to believe the full truth of the matter has come out. Any team that drafts Newton runs a risk the NCAA will at some point void Auburn's 2010 season, and Newton will return his Heisman. If this happens, a wave of negativity would wash over a franchise that's just given Newton a check for a staggering amount of money.

Only TMQ would continue to pound this into the ground because for some reason he has an axe to grind with Newton's character. There really is nothing else to say here other than TMQ I'm sure is the only person who still thinks this is an issue.

Why did he leave Florida? Newton was at three colleges in three autumns -- University of Florida, then Blinn, then Auburn. The situation at Florida seemed ideal for Newton: backing up Tim Tebow, learning from a master in Urban Meyer, with the likelihood that as a junior, he would become the face of one of college football's best-run programs. Why did he leave, and suddenly? Not for the challenge of leading Blinn to the NJCAA playoffs. Reports say Newton was about to be expelled from Florida for cheating, which the school will neither confirm nor deny. There's something not right about the whole Florida business.

Maybe because he wanted to play, perhaps? Just maybe? He knew that while Tebow was still there he wouldn't have a chance at starting. And maybe perhaps he knew that if he wanted a chance in the NFL he had to get out of Meyer stupid whatever you call it offense and get into a pro-style offense. Again, I don't know why TMQ has such an axe to grind with Newton.

He played for a BCS title team. In his one year at Auburn, Newton was surrounded by premium athletes. Newton had stars to hand off to and stars to throw to. The blocking was exceptional. Oh mighty football gods, if I am reincarnated as a quarterback, put me on a stacked team.

Of the 11 BCS title-winning quarterbacks to enter the NFL, all were hot stuff in college; nine did little in the pros: Tee Martin, Chris Weinke, Josh Heupel, Ken Dorsey, Craig Krenzel, Matt Mauck, Matt Leinart, Chris Leak, Matt Flynn. The 10th, Tebow, has been in the NFL only one season; the sole (albeit current free agent) NFL quarterback with both a BCS title and a solid pro career is Vince Young. Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Michael Vick, Matt Ryan, Josh Freeman, Philip Rivers, Joe Flacco -- none started on college title teams. They learned the hard way.

Newton sure looked great in 2010, but he looked great in a situation that would have made any quarterback look great. That's the big red flag.

Most of those quaterbacks mentioned above played at football factories or something close to it, they didnt' exactly have it the hard way. If teams were smarted, they would draft Newton to a team with either a veteran quarterback or a coach who can help and further coach Newton to NFL standards. And I wouldn't exactly say Vince Young's career is solid.

2011 NFL TV Schedules Are Out...

2011-04-22T18:23:00.002-04:00

...providing there is a 2011 NFL schedule, of course, but one can hope, right?

Let's start with the network that stunk it up in the regular season but shone in the playoffs capped off with great Super Bowl coverage - Fox

Week 1 they have a doubleheader, as always. Of the four games in the 4:15 spot the only one I forsee Buck and Aikman doing (if they are still the top team, which I assume they will be) is N.Y. Giants @ Washington.

Week 2 they have the singleheader capped off with Chicago @ New Orleans.

Week 3 is a doubleheader weekend - Green Bay @ Chicago. Good chunk of the country should see Atlanta @ Tampa.

Week 4 doesn't have great games for Fox on this singleheader weekend. Suppose Joebaby and Co. will do New Orleans @ Jacksonville. Could see them doing San Francisco @ Philadelphia, too.

Week 5, another singleheader weekend. I predict Joebaby and Co. at the Meadowlands for Seattle-N.Y. Giants.

Week 6 is a huge doubleheader weekend for Fox, as they're hosting the Patriots going up against the Cowboys.

They have another doubleheader weekend for Week 7. They're two games are St. Louis @ Dallas and Green Bay @ Minnesota. Chicago-Tampa Bay will be in London that Sunday as well (in the early slot) so Joebaby and Co. possibly will be there.

Week 8 is a fairly mediocre-looking singleheader Sunday. New Orleans @ St. Louis

For Week 9 the Giants will be facing the Patriots at 4:15, however, Green Bay is also at San Diego late.

(From this point on, games fall under flex scheduling)

For Week 10 they have a crappy doubleheader game (N.Y. Giants @ San Francisco). New Orleans @ Atlanta early, though.

Since Fox loves the NFC East they will probably do Dallas @ Washington for Week 11, but they could also do Tampa @ Green Bay.

Week 12 (other than being Thanksgiving) looks pretty crappy:

1:00 PM Minnesota @ Atlanta Arizona @ St. Louis Carolina @ Indianapolis Tampa Bay @ Tennessee

4:05 PM Washington @ Seattle Chicago @ Oakland

It's a toss-up, anyone's guess.

Week 13 looks to be a good doubleheader weekend with Green Bay at the Giants. Depending on what SNF has this game could be flexed though.

I stared at Week 14 for awhile and got nothing:

1:00 PM Minnesota @ Detroit Atlanta @ Carolina Philadelphia @ Miami Tampa Bay @ Jacksonville New Orleans @ Tennessee

4:05 PM San Francisco @ Arizona Chicago @ Denver

Week 15, Joebaby and Co. visit the Meadowlands (again) to for Redskins and Giants. (Any NFC East showdown is a good bet to be visited by Joebaby and Co.)

Week 16 (Christmas Eve), Philly-Dallas for the doubleheader.

Week 17 (New Year's Day) has Seattle @ Arizona as the sole doubleheader game (both networks usually get crappy games due to flex scheduling). Depending on how the Cowboys are this year Joebaby and Co. may do Dallas-N.Y. Giants early.

Now for CBS. It has been announced that Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will continue as the lead announcing team for the eye network. Now to the games.

Due to their coverage of the U.S. Open, CBS has not had a doubleheader since 2000, and this year is no different. It's been officially announced in the press release I saw that Pittsburgh-Baltimore will be their lead game.

Their first doubleheader game on Week 2 is San Diego-New England.

Week 3 is a singleheader weekend. My crystal ball says Nantz and Co. will do Jets @ Raiders.

They have a doubleheader Week 4. Your choices are Denver @ Green Bay, New England @ Oakland, and Miami @ San Diego. They could do the GB game to get the Super Bowl champs on.

They have another doubleheader Week 5 with Jets @ Patriots.

Singleheader for Week 6 (and only five games, oddly). I'd say either Bills-Giants or Jags-Steelers.

Week 7 is another singleheader Sunday capped off with San Diego-N.Y. Jets.

Week 8 is a bigtime doubleheader - New England @ Pittsburgh.

Week 9 is a pretty mediocre singleheader Sunday. I suppose they'll do Jets @ Bills.

Week 10 is another singleheader Sunday. Usually Nantz and Co. do Cowboys games when they're on CBS. In which case they'll do Bills-Cowboys, but for fear of doing two straight Bills games (and if the Jags are any good), they could do Colts vs. Jags.

Week 11 - San Diego-Chicago. That was easy.

Week 12. Your choices are New England-Philadelphia or Denver @ San Diego at 4:15.

There are three games involving NFC teams for Week 13: N.Y Jets @ Washington, Kansas City @ Chicago, and Denver @ Minnesota. Nantz and Co. will probably do KC-Chicago.

Even though Week 14 is a doubleheader Sunday, I could see Nantz and Co. doing Indy @ Baltimore early.

Week 15 is also a doubleheader capped off with the Jets at Philadelphia.

Week 16 (still Christmas Eve). It's a crap shoot:

Denver @ Buffalo 1:00

Miami @ New England 1:00

Cleveland @ Baltimore 1:00

Jacksonville @ Tennessee 1:00

Oakland @ Kansas City 1:00

San Diego @ Detroit 4:05

I have no idea why Jax-Ten is all boldface and huge.

And for Week 17 they have the doubleheader offerings of KC @ Denver or San Diego @ Oakland.

Here is the SNF schedule (pending, of course):

NFL Kickoff: New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers
Week 1: Dallas Cowboys at New York Jets
Week 2: Philadelphia Eagles at Atlanta Falcons
Week 3: Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts
Week 4: New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens
Week 5: Green Bay Packers at Atlanta Falcons
Week 6: Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears
Week 7: Indianapolis Colts at New Orleans Saints
Week 8: Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles
Week 9: Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 10: New England Patriots at New York Jets
*Week 11: Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants
*Week 12: Pittsburgh Steelers at Kansas City Chiefs
*Week 13: Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots
*Week 14: New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys
*Week 15: Baltimore Ravens at San Diego Chargers
Week 16: Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers (Christmas)
*Week 17: TBA

This schedule is absolutely stacked, even Week 6 Vikings @ Chicago.

Here is the MNF schedule, certainly not as strong as the SNF one.

Week 1: New England @ Miami, Oakland @ Denver
Week 2: St. Louis @ New York Giants
Week 3: Washington @ Dallas
Week 4: Indianapolis @ Tampa Bay
Week 5: Chicago @ Detroit
Week 6: Miami @ New York Jets
Week 7: Baltimore @ Jacksonville
Week 8: San Diego @ Kansas City
Week 9: Chicago @ Philadelphia
Week 10: Minnesota @ Green Bay
Week 11: Kansas City @ New England
Week 12: New York Giants @ New Orleans
Week 13: San Diego @ Jacksonville
Week 14: St. Louis @ Seattle
Week 15: Pittsburgh @ San Francisco
Week 16: Atlanta @ New Orleans

Tim Brown Ensenuates That Bill Callahan Changed Raiders' Super Bowl XXXVII Gameplan Out Of Respect For Jon Gruden

2011-03-31T19:39:00.003-04:00

It has been known for some time (probably since the game was played) that Bill Callahan changed the Raiders gameplan for their Super Bowl XXXVII bout against the Bucs, as this reveals.

The cliffnotes version of Brown's speech is that the Raiders went into the game with a running gameplan, and that the team had practiced that up to the Friday before the game. On that Friday, he totally switched the gameplan. Now, the Raiders are going to throw it 60 times against a defense that is primed for stopping the pass? And you know what? I believe Brown when he said that Callahan changed the Raiders' gameplan out of respect for Jon Gruden, and that it was one of the contributing factors for Barret Robbins' disappearance.

One would have to wonder, with the Raiders offense that dominant throughout the season and for putting up such a stinker performance in the Super Bowl...

My Thoughts About The Super Bowl (And The Pro Bowl, Too)

2011-02-07T12:37:00.002-05:00

Hey, what's up. I haven't posted in awhile. I figured now would be as good a time as any to share my thoughts about the Super Bowl. Yeah, Chrisitina Aguilera botched the national anthem and perhaps the halftime show was a bit lack-luster (I actually didn't think it was too bad, but I seem to be in the minority). I think they're finally moving in the right direction with the halftime show. I think they've finally shaken off the memory of the Wardrobe Malfunction from seven years ago so they went with a newer act (and you can't please everybody).

While I don't think this Super Bowl was one of the all-time greats, I don't see why this year's game won't top last year's in the ratings department, especially with the impending lock-out (this could quite possibly be the last NFL game we see in a while). Fox's broadcast was top notch. Buck and Aikman were at the top of their games. In fact, I think Fox topped CBS in throughout the playoffs, despite suffering in the regular season. I felt that Simms had too many miscalls and Nantz's inner Joe Buck was coming out. Unfortunately I missed the Ravens-Steelers game that Gumbel and Dierdorf called, but if their past work is any indication, the broadcast was probably solid. Over of Fox, Buck was not so boring and monotonous as he was in the regular season. And never once was the ghost of Brett Favre mentioned throughout the game, which I was glad for.

And yes, I watched something called the Pro Bowl last week...and the broadcast was a disaster. Contrastly, last year's Pro Bowl on ESPN was great even if interest in the game was low. But Fox's, uh-uh. I was hoping to get one last game from Albert and Johnston, but no, who do we get? Brennaman and Billick and Bradshaw - yuck!

So another NFL season is in the books. The ratings were phenomonal this season for nearly every game, and it's a shame that all indications point to a lock-out for next season. CBS rightly so topped Fox in the ratings and clearly their on-screen talent shows it. Football or no football next season, hopefully Fox's success in the playoffs can spear-head efforts to make refinements in their telecasts whenever football may return.

What The Hell Is Colin Cowherd Talking About?

2011-01-25T23:07:00.004-05:00

Colin Cowherd, to me, is a very polarizing ESPN figure. People either love him to death or hate his guts. Many used to be fans of his but now are not (I fall into this category). Now, before going on, if I were to run into him somewhere, I wouldn't call him an asshole or try to fight him or anything. In fact, there was a time he did his show from Columbus and I thought about going down except the weather was horrid that day, so I didn't.

He started off today's show basically by saying that fans hold onto their team's losses for too long and that players don't really care about losses at all because, besides, it's their job. I don't know if I've ever heard a more bullshit statement in my life than that. The hell they do! Players lament about losses, especially in big games, alot, especially in the correct setting. When they can't sleep I am willing to bet they will go back and think about that interception or that missed tackle that cost them the game. I bet they do, and if they don't, I will be the first to admit that I am wrong, but still, Cowherd's statement smells of bullshit to me.

He then went on to say that the reason the Jay Cutler might have quit on the Bears storyline caught on was because players and fans were making their opinions as such on Twitter, but that their arguments don't hold water to people over 40, because people over 40 have perspective and young people don't and that people over 40 don't know how to use or don't understand Twitter. OK. Fine. I agree with the first part of the argument. People were reading too much into Cutler's demeanor and it also didn't help that anybody from the Bears or Fox provided us with the real info. (By the way, I just threw out 40 as a blanket age. 'Herd said something like "a 45-year-old guy with perspective, a 54, 64-year old business owner") What I have a problem with is his multiple generalizations and stereotypes about...everything. I don't have a Twitter account and I'm 19. Perhaps I'm an outlier but none of my friends who are around the same age as me have Twitter accounts, either. Again, we may be outliers but so-be it.

Getting back to Cowherd, here are my main beefs with him:
1.) Making fun of his listeners, emailers, and callers for calling in and emailing for so much as caring about sports - sort of kills the point of having sports talk in the first place.
3.) His cutsie cultural references and motifs to cover up no real analysis whatsoever.
4.) His claims that's he's progressive only to use stereotypes and generalizations to get his point across ("Overweight people have low self-worth, that's why they're overweight." -- referring to Mark Mangino)
5.) His asinine opinions on the NBA and market size (listen to his show now that football is winding down and you'll figure out what I'm referring to).

I realize this whole post is sort of like letting the terrorists win or letting the playground bully get the best of me, but 'Herd's open today pushed me over the limit, and I just had to write about it. 'Herd used to be cool. He introduced compelling arguments and opinions, but that was several years ago when he was not as prominent. I mean, yeah, he told a caller to shoot themselves and said that all southern white males agree with each other, but, I don't know, it was less annoying. That all changed when he got a TV show. Then I think it all went to his head and he just sort of enjoyed listening to himself talk too much, and wants to take stances just to create controversy and hoopla (perhaps management is making him do this to garner more ratings, but I don't think so).

OK. I think I've decompressed now. Thanks as always for reading.

Jim Cornelison Sings "The Star-Spangled Banner"

2011-01-25T08:00:00.004-05:00

As you've probably heard already, Jim Cornelison sang two of the best renditions of "The Star-Spangled Banner" ever heard at both the NFC Divisional Playoff in Chicago and the NFC Championship Game. Well, in case you haven't seen it, or want to see it again and again and again, here it is from the Divisional Playoff Game:

Commentator Awards 2010 Follow-Up Post

2011-01-18T12:28:00.005-05:00

I have a couple of follow-up thoughts about my awards. Overall, I'm pretty happy with them. Although I feel I should have switched Fouts and Eagle and Simms and Nantz. Throughout the postseason, I have not been overly-impressed with Nantz and Simms, while I actually think Buck is honing in more on his skills and not being so monotonous. Unfortunately I missed the Ravens-Steelers game that Gumbel and Dierdorf did. And obviously I did not do a review of the second NBC team that did the Saints-Seahawks Wild Card game or one for the NFL Network team of Bob Papa, Matt Millen and Joe Thiesmann, but I'll take a wild guess and say they're pretty bad because of Millen and Theismann. I'll close with this, if you tune out Siragusa, Albert and Johnston are a good team, trust me. Just mute your set when "Goose" speaks. And is Dick Stockton really that terrible?

Looking Back On My Pre-Season Predictions

2011-01-10T15:41:00.008-05:00

Sorry about all the typos and mssing words and shit from my last post. That wasn't one of my better days. Anyway, I'd like to take a look back at my pre-season predictions from this NFL season and see just how good I was at picking the records of all 32 teams.

Bengals (10-6) - Actual: (4-12)

Man, was I wrong! But really, who forsaw the Bengals being one of the worst teams in the league this year?

Ravens (11-5) - Actual: (12-4)

Only one game off. Not too bad.

Steelers (6-10) - Actual: (12-4)

I guess I read too much into Ben Roethlisberger being suspended and his off-the-field issues last offeseason and that it would hamper their record or I forgot that Mike Tomlin is one of league's best, perhaps underrated, coaches.

Browns (4-12) - Actual: (5-11)

Surprisingly the Browns did better than what I actually predicted. While we were all expecting a big year from Jerome Harrison, he was cut and Peyton Hillis ran well for them instead. In the end though, sloppy and inconsistent quarterback play led to another lost season and another coach.

Colts (13-3) - Actual: (10-6)

Never before has Peyton Manning had to do so much in a season for the Colts. It seems as though they're always banged up but missing Clark and the Jaguars having a good season shook them up a bit. I figured, hey, with all this talent, how bad would they be?

Texans (11-5) - Actual: (6-10)

It seems like year after year under Gary Kubiak we think this will be their year...and it wasn't...again. Even with the NFL's leading rusher they could not garner a winning season. They do have players who play under the title of "defense", right? Perhaps a coaching aquisition in the offseason will change this.

Titans (6-10) - Actual: (6-10)

I'm right for once! The Titans shortcomings were terribly obvious before the season and during it too. I can't this was a great prediction on my part, just because what was there was blatantly obvious, but perhaps I'm being too modest.

Jaguars (9-7) - Actual: (8-8)

One game off here. Evidently the loss of Holt was not a big deal because Lewis, Walker and Thomas did so well for them, and of course there's Jones-Drew.

Patriots (12-4) - Actual: (14-2)

In the games where I said they might have issues they won. (raises right hand) "I, state your name, will never underestimate a Bill Belichick defense again." (puts hand down)

Jets (11-5) - Actual: (11-5)

Let's see, they blitzed the Colts in last year's championship game and lost. In this year's Wild Card game against the Colts, they played coverage, and won (granted on a miracle last-second field goal). I'm not trying to sound like Gregg Easterbrook here, but I am seeing a pattern. "Let's go eat a goddamn snack."

I know Rex Ryan said it's personal against Peyton Manning, and while I'm not a huge fan of his trash talk, I can't imagine the feeling as a defense winning a playoff game against the league's best quarterback, especially when Revis covered Reggie Wayne like a blanket, holding him to one reception for one yard.

Dolphins (9-7) - Actual: (7-9)

What happened (to the Dolphins)? That's all I have to say.

Bills (3-13) - Actual: (4-12)

I guess I underestimated their badness? Although Ryan Fitzpatrick did not have a bad year at quarterback. That is about the only postive about this team.

Chargers (13-3) - Actual: (9-7)

The AFC West wound up being one of the more competative divisions in the league this year. A slow start by the Chargers was anticipated, however that Week 16 loss to the Bengals really hurt their playoff chances. I stll think its hilarious that everybody thinks that Norv Turner is a lame duck coach despite the fact that he is an offensive genius and has a 41-23 record with The Bolts.

Raiders (7-9) - Actual: (8-8)

I give myself a pat on the back for this one. It was bound to happen though, as over the past season or so the Raiders have looked improved (and naturally, it's all over). I guess it wasn't an earth-shattering prediction to have the Raiders win more than three or four games. I mean, yeah, they lost to Tennessee and Arizona and San Francisco, but still, it was nice when it lasted (undefeated within the division). And once again Al Davis has screwed the team by firing Tom Cable, but that's Davis. The Raiders as a franchise will go nowhere with him as the head honcho.

Broncos (6-10) - Actual: (4-12)

Perhaps I gave them too many wins with six, considering I basically said their players suck and they have a hard schedule. About the only bright spot was Tim Tebow starting, but other than that, a lost season.

Chiefs (7-9) - Actual: (10-6)

They had a really easy schedule in 2010, as they played the NFC West in their intra-conference games. They have good coaches though, although they'll lose one - Charlie Weis - to the college ranks.

Vikings (10-6) - Actual: (6-10)

Tough call on this one. I honestly thought Brett Favre was smarter than he actually is and that he would not play because he was old and still not 100% but he played anyway, which lead to alot of ugly throws, picks, and more injuries and pain. When I said this is Adrian Peterson's team, I meant to say this should be Adrian Peterson's team. Really, it should. About the only positive of this season is through Childress' firing they seem to have found their next coach.

Packers (12-4) - Actual: (10-6)

Well their offensive line still gave up way too many sacks but their defense has come together and they're still a Super Bowl contender.

Bears (8-8) - Actual: (11-5)

I said the Bears could go either way. They could be good or they could be bad, so I picked 8-8 just to be safe. Obviously they were good and they are in a mostly win-win situation with Mike Martz at coordinator.

Lions (2-14) - Actual: (6-10)

Did anybody notice they won their last four games? Perhaps they'll ride this streak into next season?

Saints (11-5) - Actual: (11-5)

I'M RIGHT! OK, they couldn't run the ball but they still played good defense. Somehow it seems fitting that they lost their playoff game even though Drew Bress threw 60 passes for over 400 yards and did not throw any interceptions.

Falcons (10-6) - Actual: (13-3)

They are mysterious, but basically what I said about them in my pre-season post still rings true, which is just plain scary.

Panthers (8-8) - Actual: (2-14)

Fail pick here. I really thought Matt Moore would build on the success of 2009, have a average to decent season, and help Jimmy Clausen develop...however that was not the case. Steve Smith, you still here?

Buccaneers (1-15) - Actual: (10-6)

I'll be a man and admit I was wrong. Clearly I vastly underestimated thier coaching staff in developing Josh Freeman and their defense played solidly.

Cowboys (13-3) - Actual: (6-10)

Me being wrong is really starting to get old. There is a complex series of reasons why the Cowboys sucked this year and basically all of them lead back to Jerry Jones. Although it seems, for awhile at least, that he's come to his senses and hired a coach that can get his players in line. However in three or four years he'll probably fire Jason Garrett for being too mean and hire another peachpuff coach. Tony Romo actually being healthy would probably win them a game or two, too, so there's that.

Giants (9-7) - Actual: (10-6)

One game off ain't so bad. As long as Eli Manning is the quarterback and Tom Coughlin is the head coach, the Giants should be okay. Their defense is nothing to scoff at either.

Eagles (7-9) - Actual: (10-6)

Well I'm a dumbass thinking them losing Donovan McNabb would hurt them, however I'm still not convinced Vick is a franchise quarterback they can hang their hat on, so they should keep Kolb around as a happy backup. You know what is one constant for the Eagles though? That Andy Reid guy. He might, just might have something to do with it.

Redskins (8-8) - Actual (6-10)

Actually I didn't miss on the Redskins too much. They did have a tough schedule and they do have a good coach but I don't think him and McNabb get along too well. And with Dan Snyder being the owner I don't see this franchise going anywhere, so there's that.

49ers (10-6) - Actual (6-10)

Another fail pick here. They need a quarterback. They have a coach, they just need a quarterback.

Cardinals (6-10) - Actual (5-11)

This time last year we had just come off of one of the wildest playoff games in NFL history where the Cardinals beat the Packers 51-45. They just simply lost too many of their quality players. Somehow (and very quietly) Larry Fitzgerald amassed 90 receptions for 1,137 yards, which are more yards than last year...but they still had Anquan Boldin then, too...and Kurt Warner. That seems like so long ago.

Seahawks (9-7) - Actual (7-9)

Well what I said about them wasn't entirely bullshit. Pete Carroll has a winning record as an NFL head coach even though everybody seems to hate him and hated him when he was in the NFL in the 90s. Their talent still is not bad if you ask me. See, I'm not entirely crazy when I make this stuff up. Oh, wait, I'm not supposed to say that...

I realize that for some reason I did not do a preseason pick for the Rams. Perhaps I thought they would be so bad that they deserved to not be in the NFL. They wound up being 7-9 and led the NFC West down to wire. Just to throw something out there - 3-13 for a pre-season pick.

My Reaction To TYT Calling Phil Simms Worst NFL Announcer

2011-01-08T12:09:00.010-05:00

The Young Turks is an Internet political talk show, who now I guess have branched off into sports a bit, as I discovered this YouTube video of them proclaiming Phil Simms as surpassing Randy Cross as worst NFL announcer. Technically, Phil Simms is not a announcer but an analyst, nor is Randy Cross. Jim Nantz is an announcer. Dick Stockton is an announcer. Simms and Cross are analysts, but anyway, their reasoning for naming Simms the worst "announcer" was laughable. It was during the waning moments of the Steelers-Ravens game from Week 4. Phil deduced that the Ravens should go for it on 4th & 2 but that they should run. (In actuality they passed and converted). There are a ton of reasons why that is not an outlandish prediction, which I won't go into here, but it all boils down to why is that such a bad prediction? And because he was wrong, he's the worst announcer? Have you not watch football for about, oh, about the past 15 years? He does that all the time! And most of the time, he's right (that's what being a cerebral quarterback for 16 seasons in the NFL does to you!)

Another bullshit reason of there's about why Simms is the worst announcer is because he said "nice hold" on a penalty. Again, was this their first game with Simms that they've watched? I doubt it. I am 99% sure he was joking. Again, I don't see why this is such a big deal if they know how Simms is as an analyst. The evidence tells me they don't.

Now I'm not a viewer or listener of The Young Turks, so I don't know know why they branched off into sports talk anyway, and it seems to me by reading the comments on their videos that their viewers don't like it either.

There are probably 15 or 20 announcers worse than Phil Simms, perhaps more. Trust me, he's one of the best. You want a bad announcer? I'll even give you an analyst to be along the lines with Simms - John Lynch. Steve Tasker. Rich Gannon (this kills me because I loved him as a quarterback). There.

Last Night's Cotton Bowl Broascast Not A Disaster

2011-01-08T11:54:00.002-05:00

I watched last night's Cotton Bowl until the final minutes waiting to nit-pick on how Fox fails at covered college football bowl games, and frankly, I found very little. Granted, the game was a game until the last few minutes. That probably dictated a lot of it and the kept John Lynch and Charles Davis' spiels to a minimum, but it felt like Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston were quite comfortable during the broadcast and knew the differences in rules between college and NFL football and they hinted at how they wished that they did more college game. (Note: This will change because Fox won the contract to televise the Pac-12 Championship game, and Fox Sports Network has televised Pac-10 games in past seasons).

Now, it will probably be awhile before the rating are posted, and whether or not they are good or not, the game itself was good and Fox's coverage of it was solid from the broadcasting side of things. I'm not sold with Chris Rose as studio host, but if that's the worst Fox does, I can live with that.

I'm glad that Pat Summerall did not do the play-by-play for this game, but it would have been a crime to leave him out of the telecast given his history with the game. He still has quite a voice, and he can still hold a conversation, despite the fact he's looking quite frail, so I'm glad he provided the voice-over for the open and the interviews he did with Jim Brown, etc.

My Commentator Awards For 2010

2010-12-27T18:30:00.007-05:00

I've finally decided to give this a try. I've tried my hardest to view games from every commentator team for both Sunday afternoon networks.

I wish it were possible to list some people individually (I suppose I could), because there is a difference between the skill levels of some teams. Dick Stockton and Ron Pitts I bet would be tiered higher if they had better analysts, as would Brian Billick if he were paired with a better announcer. Conversely, I think Jim Nantz would be doing worse if he were not with Phil Simms.

It seems stupid, but I applaud analysts and announcers to actually do what they're supposed to do (talk about the blocks, the coverage, who made the tackle, etc), because too few do. Some teams get too caught up in talking about the prominent players on the team or the dreaded storyline.

Play-by-play men are listed first, then analysts, with their network in parenthesis.

*****Five Stars*****

Sam Rosen, Tim Ryan (Fox) - Never heard of them? Chances are you haven't. They're fifth in the batting order according to the network, but they're money on Sunday afternoons. Rosen handles the game well, quick to identify substitutions, yardage, penalties, etc. I love that in football play-by-play, and not enough p-b-p guys do it. And Ryan, a former defensive end, obviously focuses more on what's going on in the trenches, but to my liking, he'll identify changes in the starting line-ups from what the network shows in their graphic (say, if the offense comes out three-wide and/or the defense counters with a nickel or dime). Rosen does this throughout the game, too.

Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf (CBS) - Gumbel could very well become the football play-by-play voice of a generation. CBS, when they came back to football, made Gumbel their lead play-by-play man in an effort to attract more African-American viewers to their telecasts. The network had him take a two-year hiatus to host CBS's Mickey Mouse pre-game show (more on that later), and since '06, he's been the #2 play-by-play man at the eye network.

Gumbel is usually very quick to identify yardage and penalties and will often get into a little analysis with his partner (in what little time there is allowed between plays). Example from this past week in fact: The Colts are out-rushing the Raiders. Reason why, Gumbel identifies the Raiders are keeping a safety or two more than 15-yards off the line of scrimmage and Peyton Manning keeps audibling to runs and Dierdorf is letting us know exactly what kind of defense it is play-in, play-out for a series. Sweet. Could use who actually made the tackle more, but I won't nit-pick, because nobody does it anyway. Will also let us know who of the skill position players are in on a given play, even if they are well known (perhaps this is their spotter).

I've gotten used to Dierdorf's pronouncements over the years, they don't bother me ("If this linebacker, quarterback, running back doesn't get into the Hall of Fame, it'll be the biggest travesty since...") because he can really get into some good analysis, and not just within the trenches or just with the quarterback, but everywhere on the field and is probably the best at telling the viewers just how a play developed.

Jim Nantz, Phil Simms (CBS) - Simms is hands-down the best analyst, and just based on that I'm giving this team a five-star rating. He'll point out and identify things that seem so mundane that one would think would not manner in the realm of football when in fact they do. However when I hear this I think he's either a genius or he's making it up. Another thing I absolutely enjoy is that his analysis goes beyond the X's and O's and will get into the emotion of the game and how if affects players and how they perform. Speaking of X's and O's, I would say on a healthy third of the plays of the game, Simms will correctly guess what the offense will do on a given play based up how the defense is lined up. It all goes back to his quarterbacking days. About the extent of the conversation between Nantz and Simms about the action would be Nantz asking a question and Simms answering. Nantz is good, and he deserves to be at the top of the batting order. He's smooth, and to my liking, identifies the subs well.

****Four Stars****

Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworksi, Jon Gruden (ESPN) - Second-year for Gruden, and it's going well so far. I actually knocked them off a star because a.) I want Gruden to go back into coaching and get the hell out of the broadcasting booth, and b.) I'm not fond of three-man broadcasting teams for football. Tirico is a top-notch p-b-p guy. He gets into it and will identify yardage and tacklers often, but because he is in a three-man booth with two other analysts, he rarely gets in on the between-the-play action (for some reason, I enjoy it when the play-by-play guy can carry on an intelligent conversation with their analyst. It means they actually have a "feel" for the game, even if they never played it.) Their slight downfall is when they get wrapped up in the storyline, whether its the Brett Favre lovefest or Mark Sanchez or whatever. Stuff about the quarterback seems to get Jaworski on a roll. I would say this team has Favreitis. I'm sure you know what that is, and working for ESPN, by default, you have it.

Don Criqui, Steve Beuerlein (CBS) - This team is probably the biggest disparity between the two individuals of the broadcast team that I can tell. You call tell Criqui is from the old-school because he is deadly accurate with his calls (meaning he called games before all the scrolls and on-screen graphics and such). He'll even call-out passing patterns on some plays and identify blockers, which is nearly unheard of from p-b-p. And while Beuerlein is not terribly insightful, this team is not terrible, and should probably being moved up the CBS totem pole. They are clearly better than a #7 team. Just for good measure I watch Houston-Denver, which was Tebow's second start. Not a whole lot about the ol' storyline or Tebow, other than stuff that is actually helpful toward his development. Beurlein, I think you can do more. Criqui play-in, play-out sets you up with stuff to digest for us on the replay, about the blocking and such. Criqui will say something like "Good blocking and he picks up 11." Beurlein, you should have the capacity to tell us why the blocking was good, not just about the athleticism of the quarterback and the receiver. Why am I spending so many words on a #7 team? Because I want them to do better and move up in the batting order. I think Beurlein can become a better analyst. There are flashes of how he can be an elite analyst, just do it play-in, play-out, OK? Oh, and please, CBS, you've got a good gig going, just be sure to move this team up in 2011, OK? Thanks.

Al Micheals, Cris Collinsworth (NBC) - Micheals is the gold-standard for football play-by-play. Collinsworth is an excellent analyst, but can, annoyingly, be a smart-ass, and will shower the telecast with I-told-you-sos when a rip is called for. Case and point, the finale of the San Francisco-Philadelphia game. Read an earlier post of mine for the details.

Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston (Fox) - First things first. Dump Siragusa. Most consider him a second analyst when he is basically a sideline guy who wants to talk about the dumbest, randomest stuff, and doesn't appear to put much effort into his spiels. If he's gone, then this team would almost be perfect, at least tie for best on Fox. Albert, unlike some play-by-play people above him on the Fox totem pole, actually has a "feel" for the game (that's the only way I can describe it). Albert does the stuff a play-by-play guy is supposed to do and does it well; identifying tacklers and the yardage on a given play. He probably got tips from his dad. It also seems this team has done their share of NFC West games, but never once have I heard them exhaustively yacking about how crappy the NFC West is and this and that. In a word, they show up, do their game, talk about the action on the field, and that's about it. They don't get caught up in the storyline or Favreitis. Johnston is one of the more articulate analysts out there (he doesn't sound like some half-wit ex-jock) and he does a solid job at analysing all aspects of the game.

Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts (CBS) - Fouts was an excellent college analyst, and unfortunately was just a sidenote for ABC's Monday Night Football with Dennis Miller as "the third guy," so we never really got to see his true colors as an NFL analyst. He quietly signed on as an analyst on CBS and was assigned the #3 spot with the now-retired Dick Enberg. Obviously being an-ex quarterback, that is where his expertese lies. Eagle is kind of lazy on his yardage, but again, that really doesn't bother me, but he is excellent at identifying tacklers and those who assisted on the stop. Lovely.

***Three Stars***

ESPN No. 2 Team Of Brad Nessler and Trent Dilfer (ESPN) - I was semi-surprised to not see the trio of Mike Greenburg, Golic, and Ditka this year, as it seems ESPN is promoting Mike & Mike so much lately. ESPN put in Nessler and Dilfer for the second game of their opening Monday doubleheader (Kansas City-San Diego). Nessler, who mostly does college football play-by-play, has a silk smooth delivery, but sort of lacks on accuracy; not indicating yardage alot of the time and only IDing tacklers some of the time. Dilfer is obviously good at describing the pass-catch side of the action, but other than that, not so good. He's not terrible, but I wanted more. Perhaps if they did more games then it might be better.

Dick Stockton, Charles Davis (Fox) - Stockton has always been a top-notch play-by-play guy. He is smooth despite his strong New York accent and does everything a solid play-by-play guy should do well. He would fare better in my ratings if he were paired with a better analyst (he has in the past).

Ron Pitts, John Lynch (Fox) - Pitts has done almost everything in the realm of football on TV. He's been a sideline reporter, an analyst, and now, a play-by-play man, and he's done a fantastic job at all three. The problem lies in his partner who I think still has not grown accustom to an NFL broadcasting booth. He's also not very smooth, either, and I always think he's trying to rap.

Kevin Harlan, Soloman Wilcots (CBS) - This team would be tiered lower if not for Wilcots, who is a fantastic, smooth, and low-key analyst, and has been for years. Like breakdown of the coverage? You'll get it here. Wilcots is an ex-defensive back. Yeah, Harlan IDs the subs, and of the certain offensive sets, but we'll get such obviousness like "The defense is in a 4-3" or "Four in the secondary." Both of those happen on the majority of defensive snaps, just sayin'.

**Two Stars**

Joe Buck, Troy Aikman (Fox) - This is really the highest I could go with this team. Aikman is solid analyst, maybe a little shakey on line play, but it really doesn't bother me. Aikman seems to also be able to describe the development of a play really well, which is good. The bad: Favreitis. New England-Minnesota, Favre love abounds, even after he was removed from the game and Tavarus Jackson was doing well for the Vikes and trying to bring them back, moreso from Aikman than Brennaman. Now for Joebaby, he just doesn't have it. He doesn't have it in his heart or in his head to do football play-by-play. Only points out the obvious stuff, does not concern himself with accuracy; who made the stop, yardage, penalties, etc. I know he speaks during a play, but they're just words. I don't know if he's lazy, he doesn't care, or if he really has no idea what's going on out there, but better should come from a #1 team.

Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick (Fox) - This team likes to plug the stars and talk about the old storyline a bit too much. We're all aware of the implications of the NFC West, we get it. They seem to have forgotton the fact that there is a game going on down on the field and instead talk about the quarterback or the star linebacker. I'm not saying that all time should be spent in the trenches, but at least give a majority of your attention to the action on the field. I have a feeling, though, that this team is going to move up the Fox totem pole for all the wrong reasons (to me). This season Brennman spelled Buck during the baseball playoffs when in the past it had been either Stockton or Albert (and honestly, it was a nice restbit from Buck). Brennaman is a Buck clone, very monotonus in his delivery and not terribly accurate on his calls, either.

Sometimes Billick will get on a roll and actually get to talking about what's actually going on in front of them. That I enjoy. Obviously he will talk about the coaching side of it and team chemistry, which is cool because that, typically, is a side of football that not covered enough in telecasts. He'll also do a pretty good job at explaining why a certain play was called on a certain down and distance. What I'm getting at is Billick is a solid analyst who, if paired with a better partner, may be higher rated.

Bill Macatee, Rich Gannon (CBS) - Just average all around. I saw them in several Cleveland games this season and the show was just very boring. A little love for Peyton Hillis sprinkled in from Gannon, but other than that very boring. But how much should we expect from a #6 team?

*One Star*

Gus Johnson, Steve Tasker (CBS) - The Denver-Oakland game where Tim Tebow started was by far the worst game from a broadcasting standpoint. It was just one big Tim Tebow plug, which a.) I've had my fill of, and b.) Tebow and the Broncos did not do well. So whatever the director or producer had lined up for Johnson and Tasker to talk about just blew up in his face, and they had nothing else to fall back on, which tells me that Johnson and Tasker just decided to keep talking about it, ignoring the play on the field. Tasker has always been a plugger for the stars, whether they're doing well or not. And Johnson, don't get me started. Even though he's done play-by-play for years I still don't think he has the feel of the game. Not accurate in his calls whatsoever, never has been. He's relied on being into the emotion of the game and being an annoying yeller, whether or not it's a big play. We CAN hear you, you know that, right?

Zero Stars

Chris Rose, Torry Holt (Week 13, Fox) - Fox had a musical chairs of commentators in their seventh and eighth spots. It was either Chris Myers and Kurt Warner or Chris Rose and somebody. Well for the Week 13 Cleveland-Carolina game, Rose was paired with newcomer to the booth Torry Holt and it was a disaster. Holt offered nothing in the way of analysis and had trouble on really simple things like finishing sentences and using the proper verb tense when he speaks. I'm not kidding. It was cover-your-ears awful.

This is a work in progress. I have one game with Chris Rose and Kurt Warner and from the NFL Netowork that was actually meaningful so I can sit though it (thank god for NFL Game Rewind).

Now for pre-game shows. They're all useless noise. I don't watch them, or I try my best not to. But I guess if I had a choice, I'd watch Fox NFL Sunday. Football Night in America is a complete and utter joke. Dan Patrick is making inhuman noises during highlights and Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison are just sort of there. Bring back Olbermann. Even though both Olbermann and Patrick have past experience as spors broadcasters, I don't know, I guess Olbermann made the show tolerable, even after they wanted to make it a spin-off of his regular MSNBC show, and gave it a bloated cast.

And since ESPN is just one big case of Farveitis, I never bothered to watch Sunday NFL Countdown or Monday Night Countdown. Same goes with NFL Live. Whether its Mark Schlereth or Trent Dilfer or Herman Edwards dick-riding Favre or Marcellus Wiley blabbering about god knows what - just stop!

Now let's move onto one final thing: why Fox sucks. Or, why their coverage this year has been so down. For whatever reason, Fox totally abandoned the Saints, or the whole NFC South for that matter in its national coverage, instead opting for whoever was playing in the NFC East, including three-straight Giants games or the Vikings. Here are their games below:

Week 1: Green Bay-Philly
Week 2: Chicago-Dallas
Week 3: Dallas-Houston
Week 4: Washington-Philly
Week 5: Green Bay-Washington
Week 6: Dallas-Minnesota
Week 7: Washington-Chicago
Week 8: Minnesota-New England
Week 9: N.Y. Giants-Seattle
Week 10: Dallas-N.Y. Giants
Week 11: Green Bay-Minnesota
Week 12: New Orleans-Dallas (Thanksgiving); Philly-Chicago (Sunday, #2 team)
Week 13: Dallas-Indianapolis
Week 14: N.Y. Giants-Minnesota
Week 15: Philly-N.Y. Giants
Week 16: N.Y. Giants-Green Bay
Week 17: Green Bay-Chicago

The games where Jim Nantz and Phil Simms of CBS were sent to were a little more varied:

Week 1: Cincinnati-New England
Week 2: New England-N.Y. Jets
Week 3: Indianapolis-Denver
Week 4: Baltimore-Pittsburgh
Week 5: Tennessee-Dallas
Week 6: Baltimore-New England
Week 7: New England-San Diego
Week 8: Jacksonville-Dallas
Week 9: Indianapolis-Philly
Week 10: N.Y. Jets-Cleveland
Week 11: Indianapolis-New England
Week 12: New England-Detroit (Thanksgiving); Jacksonville-N.Y. Giants (Sunday, #2 team)
Week 13: Oakland-San Diego
Week 14: New England-Chicago
Week 15: N.Y. Jets-Pittsburgh
Week 16: N.Y. Jets-Chicago
Week 17: Indianapolis-Tenneessee

I Can Finally Put Into Words Why I Hate Fox!

2010-12-27T09:37:00.005-05:00

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2010-articles/december/eric-shanks-is-an-idiotits-called-a-focus-group.html

Somebody else has put into words the way I feel about Fox, and I'm not going to take credit for the thought, either.

In case you haven't heard (and you very well may not have), Fox has decided to put in music during random parts of their NFL games at the direction of Fox Sports' new president, Eric Shanks, the guy behind the glowing puck in their hockey coverage. Worse yet, Shanks has proclaimed that the music will be used during the Super Bowl -- when hundreds of millions of people around the world will be watching.

Am I looking forward to Super Bowl? Hell no. You know why? Because Fox is covering it. It's going to suck no matter what teams play, because we'll have to listen to Joe Buck and random dramatic music that will probably be played during the most tense moments of the game, ruining the moment.

A commenter in the post I linked above basically gave the reasons I've been trying to explain why I don't like Fox Sports right now (I don't hate Fox the network or News Corp. It has nothing to do with that. I just don't like Fox Sports.)

Yes, Fox used to be cool. They were the pioneers of the scoring bug and the electronic first down line. But now they are just living on their past innovations and now just being arrogant and proposing outlandish ideas to try and enhance the sports on TV experience, which, for now, high definition does it enough.

I don't watch NASCAR, hell I don't even watch that much baseball, but I'm sure they suck because Fox is failing. Joe Buck simply cannot do play-by-play whether its baseball or football. Yes, he's boring, but actually that does not bother me. Pat Summerall (before he went senile) was dry and boring too, but he's one of the best announcers ever. Buck just doesn't have the "feel" for the game that so many announcers have. In football, he almost never bothers to announce yardage or who made the tackle. And Buck has said that he does not like doing baseball play-by-play, so why should he be kept? But if Buck likes football play-by-play then he should continue to do that, but do the obscure games like he used to (fourth in the batting order from 1994-98. Usually working with Tim Green).

Eagles-Vikings Game Postponed To Tuesday

2010-12-26T21:52:00.002-05:00

Due to the snowstorm blanketing much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, the Eagles-Vikings game scheduled for tonight has been moved to a Tuesday, 8:00 PM kickoff. Since the game was supposed to be a nationally televised game, I'm assuming Tuesday night's make-up game will be the same, unlike the Giants-Vikings game from two weeks ago that was only shown regionally.

And, to be honest, it would be silly to restrict this game from national coverage, which they did for the aforementioned Vikings-Giants game from Week 14 (although it was free to attend the game. That was the only consolation.)

The only problem with that is a.) I have nothing to do tonight. I guess I'll have to watch Top Gear, which the American version is nowhere near as good as the British version. And b.) access to NFL Game Rewind is blocked because there is normally a game during this time, so I can't watch the games from this afternoon that weren't shown in my area (read: the good ones)

I'm Sorry But This Weekend's Slate Of Games Suck

2010-12-23T22:02:00.002-05:00

I am seeing Browns-Ravens for my single game on CBS, Redskins-Jaguars for the first game of the doubleheader, and Giants-Packers for the second game. For the third straight week the Fox team of Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan will be in my living room. I think they both are underrated for how obscure games they frequently do, and I enjoy watching their games. One good thing about Ravens-Browns is that Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts are doing the game. I have yet to see a full game of theirs this season.

The Raiders game, called by Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf, is blacked out in the San Francisco market, so Chargers-Bengals (Johnson and Tasker) is being shown instead. Phil Simms and Jim Nantz will call the action of N.Y. Jets-Chicago.

I sort of wish San Francisco-St. Louis were being shown here. A.) I have yet to see a Rams game. B.) It's their "A" game in the early slot. Just because it's a west coast game doesn't mean it should not be shown here. It hasn't stopped WTTE before. Fox all season has clearly been behind CBS, particularly in their games and the selection of games picked by local affiliates week-in-week-out. I guess scheduling the Vikings and Cowboys for nearly every nationally televised game would do that, but it goes beyond that.

The problem is I don't where the blame lies. Is in the NFL? The network? Or the local affiliate's program director? Clearly there is a cog in the system that is distorting something from preventing the best action from being shown on Sunday afternoons, instead opting for the so-called "regional" matchup. Or, being a college town, showing a game of a team with prominent ex-Buckeyes (Troy Smith, A.J. Hawk, etc). I just realized something. Troy Smith is supposed to start this Sunday's 49er game, so maybe WTTE will switch!

The Tebow Love-Fest Has To End

2010-12-21T18:27:00.004-05:00

I'm blogging while watching Sunday's Broncos-Raiders game on NFL Game Rewind and my god, is the Tebow love rampid. So much so, it's sickening. And not just from one announcer, but from both. CBS was tracking Tebow like Fox or ESPN would do with Favre, with Gus Johnson giving us the play-by-play along the way ("There is Tebow talking with his quarterback coach about that last series." -- one that was a three and out). Hype. Hype. Hype. Storylines abound. Talk this about Tebow. Talk that. Talk about the awards. Talk about Tebow's college accomplishments and all the fluff that go with ("the most accomplished college player of his generation.") It was sick I tell you! Sick! I hate to sound like Paul Zimmerman here, but when a storyline gets in the way of the game action - especially when the player who all the talk is about is not doing well - it's just asinine!

I get it. He's a great athlete and a great person and an emotional leader and a Christian. Please end it there! I still don't think he's even a very good quarterback, which is not the same thing as being a good athlete. Where is all the love come from? It can't be one thing or another. Plenty of athletes are Christians. Plenty of athletes are capable and emotional leaders. But ever in NFL history has a single player been so hyped out of college and then hyped in the NFL before he has done a damn thing?! And even though the Rams are currently 1st place in the NFC West, it has been barely talked about how well Sam Bradford has played. What's been covered, annoyingly more, is how terrible the NFC West is and how the NFL should have a seeding system based on record. Everybody should have seen that the NFC West was going to be bad this year. Why is it such a surprise now?

Please, folks, let's stop the Tebow love - here and now.

In other NFL news, I don't know if you heard or not, but Brett Favre started against the Bears on Monday Night in a game that was played outdoors in the cold and snow in Minnesota, seperated shoulder and all. Favre knows how to grab the media's attention. He'll tell Ed Werner that he has no plans on starting and then seemingly majestically, he'll start. Is it too much to think that Favre intended on starting all along, but just kept telling the media that he won't for his own sick and twisted reason? I guess it's nice to be in a position to be able to hold the media hostage, with them biting their nails, wating on what you're going to say and do next. I don't think anybody, even the Vikings, would think that they would lose two quarterbacks to injury in the consecutive games, so I wouldn't have blamed them for starting a rookie, or getting a scab through free agency (in this case, Patrick Ramsey).

This was a wasted season for the Vikings and Favre a.) should not have came back, and b.) been benched early in the season. After the New England game at the latest. And it's a shame that Brad Chidress was sacrificed for his team's failure.

Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention this. In last week's TMQ, Gregg included an email from a reader where the reader basically told TMQ he was wrong and that his comparison was stupid and wrong.

I noted many big colleges have more staff in the athletic department than in the English department. Matt Howland of Penn State replies, "I think your comparison of ratios with employees serving the football team and the English department serving the entire student body is flawed. The proportionate amount of time needed to teach one student in one English class is tiny compared to the amount of time football players and other athletes spend time preparing to compete. I think a more fair comparison is relating the English staff to English majors, rather than to the entire student body."

One thing I have always thought about Gregg Easterbrook is that he has a relatively small ego - compared to, say, Colin Cowherd. I'm glad that TMQ was man enough to include this comment in his column.

I Rip Gregg Easterbrook Because His Column Has Turned To Shit

2010-12-17T19:54:00.002-05:00

Yeah. TMQ used to be cool. It used to be somewhat funny and had some insightful analysis, but now, uh-uh. Twice this season Gregg Easterbrook has made the focus of his TMQ not about sports and earlier this year wrote a dedicated column scathing "24". That was probably the beginning of the end for my interest in his column and usually I read it on The Bottom of the Barrel as well as their prognostication. One thing TMQ has going for it is that Gregg Easterbrook is the last ESPN personality that isn't dick-riding Brett Favre and the array of storylines that come with. And for that, I'm surprised he wasn't fired (yes I am being cynical).

For the first time in a while, Gregg offers up some real analysis for the focus of his TMQ before branching off into something only the Football Gods knows.

Sunday's snowstorms -- the Metrodome collapsed, blizzard conditions at Soldier Field -- remind us that alone in team athletics, football is a sport performed in the elements. Football begins in the sweltering heat and humidity of summer, proceeds through the rain and wind of autumn, and advances to snow and freezing cold. Most team sports are indoors most or all the time. Baseball clubs retire to Florida and Arizona in winter to train in ideal conditions, then call their games -- racing for shelter -- over anything more than a sprinkle. Football performs in heat, cold, wind, sleet, snow and rain.

What sucks is that right off the bat I agree with what Gregg is saying here. At one point or another during an NFL season a team is going to have to play a game in the elements; whether it's rain, snow or strong winds. About the only thing the NFL will stop for his lighting or wild fires.

Perhaps the collapse of the Metrodome was the football gods telling Brett Favre it's time to bronze his cleats.

(Rimshot)

This tells us you shouldn't be afraid to throw in snow: Bring a passing game plan, as Belichick brought to Chicago. Tom Brady threw 40 times for 27 completions and 369 yards, as if the game had been played on a flawless California blue-sky day. By halftime, New England held a 193-14 passing-yards lead, and the second half should have been canceled to let the crowd go home. In snow, when footing is bad, it's difficult to change direction -- so throw down the middle. Don't throw sideways patterns like outs, and forget sweeps and tosses. Guess what the Patriots did, and guess what the Bears did.

Anyone remember the Snow Bowl? The Patriots threw all over the Raiders in that one, and it was played during a steady snowfall. There is a basic defensive gameplan that a defense could use to stop the Patriots, where the defense plays tight coverage on the receivers, but doesn't pressure the quarterback or play really deep coverage.

And then, surprisingly, we get some actual analysis from Gregg that aren't outlandish or crazy.

All the above make New England the NFL's best team of the moment -- the only on-field criticism I can think of is they may be peaking too soon. But this being the Patriots, there's a dark side. In 2007, Belichick admitted to years of what seemed to everyone except him as cheating. If New England returns to the Super Bowl, the sports world might have to relive Spygate -- including the unresolved questions of why Belichick wouldn't come clean until forced, and why he never really apologized. If the Patriots win this year's Super Bowl, people might wonder if they are cheating still. Probably not, but considering the elaborate, systematic nature of their previous clandestine efforts, this can't be ruled out. Many football enthusiasts, including in the league front office, might not mind if the Patriots are knocked off early in the playoffs, and Spygate: The Sequel doesn't happen.

I knew the spygate bug would return, especially with Gregg, who ripped the shit out of Belichick back in '07 (just look through Gregg Easterbrook's archives on his ESPN Page 2 site), calling him something to the effect of "The NFL's best coach, but the NFL's worst sport."

The actual analysis and down-to-earth statements end here, and the Gregg Easterbrook of 2010 rears its ugly head again.

In college football news, the Heisman went to Cam Newton. Considering the trophy is supposedly presented to the player who "best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity," it is another sign of the decline of standards that for the second time in six years -- Reggie Bush in 2005, Newton in 2010 -- an award for "excellence with integrity" went to a player with ethical question marks. The "integrity" part seems to have become a big joke to the Heisman voters.

I'm pretty sure Newton's integrity has never been questioned and it's been damn near proven it was his father and agents who were at fault. So why should Cam Newton be blamed for this? Deep down Gregg is just pissed that a quarterback won the award and not an obscure lineman. Because by Vince Lombardi, that's where football happens.

TMQ continues to maintain this award should be renamed the Heisman Trophy for the Quarterback or Running Back Who Receives Most Publicity. Awarded 76 times, the trophy has gone to 71 quarterbacks or running backs. No linebacker or offensive lineman has won, only one defensive back has won, and the two winners sometimes described as linemen -- Larry Kelley of Yale in 1936 and Leon Hart of Notre Dame in 1949 -- made their marks as receivers on offense, though also played defensive end, as in their eras many players went both ways. If John Heisman, who was a center and tackle for Brown and Penn before going into coaching, were alive and playing today, there's no chance he could win the award that bears his name.

Thank the Football Gods for AutoText.

TMQ thinks the best college football player of 2010 was left tackle Gabe Carimi of Wisconsin, recipient of the Outland Trophy. There were many tremendous performers at Oregon, Auburn, Stanford and other schools; Carimi was best from my perspective. Wisconsin piled up amazing rushing yardage with simple tactics, often "50" or "70" runs behind the left tackle. Carimi was never involved in recruiting monkey business. Unlike Newton, who may have cheated when at Florida, there are no questions about Carimi as a genuine student. Carimi made the 2010 Academic Big Ten team, which means at least a 3.0 GPA.

He was never recruited? So that means he was a crappy player in high school? Probably not (I don't know) Just sayin'. There are many football players who are recruited. So because a player is recruited means that they're an asshole in Gregg's "perspective".

Proof of solid classroom performance should be part of the Heisman search for collegiate "excellence." Instead, to the Heisman voters, integrity and academic performance have become irrelevant. All that matters is hype and ratings. This is a distressing message for the Heisman Trust to send about college football. If John Heisman were around, he might take his name off his own award.

The award has always, to a degree, been about hype. Even the players who won the award back in the days of "real football" created some buzz or hype. Seriously, this statement sounds like it came from a message board weasel in his mom's basement, bitching about the Heisman's "bias".

Another threat to Western civilization is the NFC West, in which no team has a winning record. At 4-9, the Arizona Cardinals are still in contention. The NFC West could have a division winner at 7-9, hosting a home playoff game, while a 10-6 team doesn't even make the postseason. Should the NFC West be an automatic qualifier for the BCS? Could any NFC West club make the New Mexico Bowl, which on Saturday will pair two schools that don't have winning records? A looming NFL playoff fiasco -- losing teams in, winning teams out -- is another argument for a seeded tournament.

Wow, there's a lofty pronouncement! Sound the cannons. Release the pigeons. Has this topic not been beaten to death already? A seeding system in the NFL is not going to, and should not, happen. There were cries about this years ago when the NFC had an overwhelming advantage over the AFC in the Super Bowl. And who says a 10-6 team won't make it to the postseason this year? Seriously, if the Packers stink up their last three games, they're out of contention. And it's very possible because their next three opponents are the Pats, Giants and Bears, probably the best the NFL has to offer.

Leading 7-0 in the second quarter at Tennessee, Indianapolis faced third-and-14 on its 37. Flaming Thumbtacks corner Cortland Finnegan, who's a lot better at starting fights than playing football, had man coverage on Reggie Wayne, who ran a simple "go." Rather than keep his eyes on the receiver -- proper technique for man coverage -- Finnegan made the high school mistake of looking into the backfield trying to guess the play. As Wayne was blowing past him, Finnegan was looking backward at Peyton Manning: 50-yard reception by Wayne, and soon the Colts led 14-0. Looking into the backfield not only is fundamentally poor, it shows Finnegan is lazy. He was hoping to see that the Colts' call was a draw or something short, which would allow him to quit on the play.

How sure are you it was man? And even if it was, could it possibly have been a breakdown of coverage? Maybe there was another safety who was supposed to be helping Finnegan if he got beat. Screams zone to me, and Wayne blazed through it. And if Finnegan were to abandon his zone, he would get chewed out by his coaches for not being disciplined. Of course I take offense to Gregg making generalizations when I made one myself, but nobody's perfect.

"Was by Leslie Frazier, when he turned in a lineup card with Brett Favre scratched. See the league's official Game Book here, under "Not Active."

It was sour because Favre's iron-man streak -- his first start came when the elder George Bush was president, when Charles and Diana were still married -- concluded. It was sweet because no quarterback ever started 297 straight NFL games before, and no one ever will again."

Now Blogger has decided to take a shit and make everything bold. I'm anticipating Gregg is going to get fired for speaking ill about Favre and positively about his benching. I usually agree with Gregg on Favre stuff.

"'Voyage of the Dawn Treader' -- TMQ's favorite of the seven Narnia books -- opened in big-budget special-effects format Friday. I shudder to think of attending after hearing the director say he altered the story to "improve" it."

So Gregg Easterbrook is an Narnia nerd (sort of like a trekie)? This amuses me because aren't the Chronicles of Narnia books for kids? Of course, last year, Gregg said his favorite movie of 2009 was Wall-E. And later on Gregg says Voyage of the Dawn Treader is his favorite because it has a Christian theme, and then proceeds to say that the filmakers should take Christian elements out of the story, only to say to keep them. Easterbrook's double-talk is what always gets under my skin.

"Instead, Mike Shanahan sent out the kicking team for a singleton to force overtime. This is fraidy-cat thinking: If Shanahan goes for two and the play fails he is blamed; if he does the expected and kicks, the players are blamed for any loss. Beyond that, it was plain dumb given the game situation. Struggling Redskins place-kicker Graham Gano already had missed a 24-yard field goal attempt and barely made his sole PAT kick. The odds of a blown PAT here -- what happened, of course -- were much higher than usual. But Shanahan wanted to shift the blame from himself onto the players. The players "made mistakes," Shanahan said in his postgame news conference. The Redskins are the team of the nation's capital, and the one thing Washington is good at is blame-shifting! "Snapper, Holder Shoulder Blame for Loss," read the headline of a Monday Washington Post story, which blamed the players and said almost nothing about the fact that 5-8 Washington might have gone for the win. Gano will be waived soon, if he hasn't been already, and Shanahan will blame him for the loss. Shanahan should blame his own poor decision."

I'm sure if the Redskins went for the deuce and didn't convert, then Gregg would have ripped them for that and said they should have gone for a singleton instead.

"Coaches have good and bad performances just like players. Shanahan's performance Sunday was cover-your-eyes awful."

Even Bill Belichick has a bad weekend. Week 9 of this year ring any bells?

"Trailing 27-21 with 4:14 remaining, their season sinking slowly into the west, the Tennessee Titans faced fourth-and-1 on their own 34 against the Indianapolis Colts. You need only a yard, are playing at home, and averaged 5.7 yards per offensive snap on the game -- go for it! You've lost four straight and need to reverse this losing psychology -- go for it! Boom was the sound of the punt, and now the Flaming Thumbtacks have lost five straight."

Their own 34? That's not what I would call great field position. That's still about five yards from the no-man's land where going for it would make sense. And to say that just because they punted means an automatic loss is lunacy -- just like Gregg Easterbrook.

"Often, defenses relax when an offensive star jogs off."

Oh yeah? Says who? Is this another made-up theory by Gregg Easterbrook to make himself sound smarter than all the players and analysts out there.

"Reaching first-and-goal at the Dallas 1, game scoreless, the Philadelphia Eagles came out in a shotgun spread while the Cowboys lined up in a dime. Perhaps it is just as well that Vince Lombardi did not live to see a dime defense versus a shotgun spread on first-and-goal at the 1. Noticing the Boys had no middle linebacker on the field, Michael Vick simply ran up the middle for the touchdown, with six blockers versus five defenders."

This play was pretty cool. And I'm glad Vince Lombardi isn't around today. He was an overrated coach to begin with, and besides, football has evolved alot since Lombardi. And even during his time he was seen as a bit of a simpleton with his coaching on both sides of the ball.

"No one has ever been a better "all-around" college football player than Marecic."

Is this a fact or just another outlandish statement? And he's a running back (okay, a two-way player, but still, a running back), so he should automatically be disqualified, damn it. And why aren't small schools considered in Heisman voting? Because there are enough players in D-1 to begin with and alot of D-II and D-III schools play teams that really, really suck and win huge and have exasperated stats. That's why.

The Single Worst Play of the Season So Far...until next week. I swear there have been like six of these this season. This TMQ started out well but then burst into flames.

And I promise I'll do announcer reviews. I have NFL Game Rewind now so I can now watch games with announcers I haven't heard for free.

Patriots-Bears (Somewhat) Live Blog

2010-12-12T16:01:00.024-05:00

Due to limitations of Blogger, I can't entirely blog the game "live".

4:04 - Watching bonus coverage of Jacksonville-Oakland. Maurice Jones-Drew just scored a touchdown with 1:34 to give Jax the lead. Finished watching the Cincy-Pittsburgh woofer, but Gumbel and Dierdorf doing the game made it a little better, and there was a fight on the field after the game was over between some players. That was cool. Unfortunately it wasn't snowing, but it will be in Chicago.

4:08 - Sideline mic just caught someone yelling "What the fuck!"

4:09 - Wow, Kevin Harlan, four in the secondary! That only happens on a majority of NFL defensive plays! He's another one I can't understand the blogosphere's love affair of. At least he's currently working with Soloman Wilcots.

4:13 - Just before the sack they showed a shot of Tom Cable on the sidelines and the ball boy standing next to him is wearing what looks like a real heavy parka while Cable is just sporting a sweatshirt. It's currently 60 degrees in Jacksonville.

4:14 - Raiders lose. They're probably out playoff contention.

4:11 - Darren McFadden, 209 yards and three touchdowns - nice.

4:15 - It's really fuckin' snowy and windy (30-40 MPH) and a wind chill of 9 in Chicago. Yay Jim Nantz and Phil Simms.

4:17 - Pats go five-wide on first down. Why am I not surprised? And it goes to Welker. Again, why I am not surprised?

4:18 - Pats go three-and-out, and still no one thinks the Bears are good, but Mike Martz has never had to call plays in the elements. And Hester just blazed down the sideline in the snow. He has better traction than my car.

4:21 - This is the sixth play of the game and still I have no idea what the yardage is. Oh, the NE 45. Guess I should pay attention to the on-screen graphics. Bears run on their first three plays and go three-and-out. And Phil Simms says the weather isn't bad enough for his liking.

4:24 - Pats go five-wide again...and it's to Welker.

4:26 - Alright! A quarterback breaking down line play. And on all of the Pats passing plays, they have gone Shotgun (note to Bears defense). And after two bad incompletions, Brady hits Welker on 3rd & 10 for a first down.

4:28 - Monsters of the Midway swarm Danny Woodhead! (And the Pats went Shotgun and passed!)

4:29 - Brady is throwing in the wind pretty well. I think because the rush is slowed down, it's actually easy to pass in the snow, but the wind is another thing. And while I was typing, the Patriots passed with Brady under center (it was a play fake).

4:31 - Pass tipped by Urlacher, clanged incomplete, almost picked off by Chris Harris.

4:31 - Rob Gronkowski is huge. He is a head taller than Wes Welker.

4:34 - "Surfin' U.S.A." by The Beach Boys playing on the P.A. system at Soldier Field. And Bill Belichick looks like a Turkish terrorist with his scarf covering half his face.

4:36 - I don't think the 2011 Jeep Wrangler existed during the Cold War (in reference to the commercial for Call of Duty: Black Ops).

4:39 - Does Vince Wilfork even tuck in his jersey?

4:40 - Terrible spot by the refs on the Knox reception.

4:45 - First quarter over already? At least there was a touchdown.

4:47 - Brady and Welker are shredding the Bears defense, with a little bit of Green-Ellis (at least Jim Nantz isn't saying his full name every time he touches the ball). Miami up on the Jets, as are the Chargers over the Chiefs.

4:52 - Cameraman bought the fake, but Nantz didn't.

4:55 - Yardage, Jim? You're not having a strong game to this point. Pats just scored another touchdown on an inside handoff to Danny Woodhead on a four-wide formation. Bears D getting smoked.

5:02 - That was a really wobbly pass. Knox's ass was down when it was ruled a fumble. Could go either way.

5:06 - Call stands. Pats up by three touchdowns.

5:13 - Bears go three-and-out again. What is their deal? The Patriots currently have the same amount of touchdowns as the bears do first downs (three).

5:17 - Just a little checkdown to Woodhead that was short of the first down. Wasn't there anybody deeper? Gotta check the tape. And Phil Simms just made an inhuman noise. Pats 24-0.

5:22 - Another Bears turnover. Did I just hear a cathedral bell ring?

5:26 - Pats 27-0. Jay Cutler standing there like a statue. He is probably in shock. And there is snow blowing upwards at Soldier Field because of the wind.

5:29 - Come on, Bears. You should be familiar with weather like this. Cutler just hit Forte on a curl-in, and I'm remember Warner and Faulk doing the same thing eons ago...

5:30 - Two-minute warning. Bears need to punt again, and that stupid iPad commercial is on

5:33 - Julian Edelman's punt return calling back by penalty. First hiccup by the Pats all game.

5:36 - Come on, Urlacher, pick that pass off!

5:37 Brady to Branch for six on the last play off the half. 33-0 Pats. Dinner time for me. Hopefully I'll be back by the third quarter. Bears fans boo.

5:58 - Okay, I'm back. Looks like we've switched to Miami-N.Y. Jets with Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts. My first look at this team this year I'm pretty sure.

6:01 - Eagle just spotted an extra lineman for the Jets by name and Fouts telestrated him. Good stuff! For how many games of the Jets I've seen, the last two ball handlers are guys I've never heard of.

6:02 - Hell, even Sanchez can't throw a good spiral. What is up with these quarterbacks?!

6:07 - It's 3rd and 15 and what do the Dolphins do? Two tight end set and they run a sweep. No attempt to convert whatsoever, and on top of that there was a holding penalty.

6:11 - We cut away and what happens? Hester breaks one that sets up a touchdown. Ian Eagle is right, Hester could run on ice.

6:13 - Cotchery could have gone all the way, and Sanchez's escape was magnificent. Too bad it failed and almost ended in an interception.

6:16 - Seam pattern by Fasano for a big gain, but more importantly, Ricky Williams was split out wide!

6:18 - Wow. Way to go Henne. Totally effed up the handoff. Yeah the ball was wet, but a wet football is not something a quarterback should be shocked about.

6:20 - I see this game is real sloppy too. I thought I'd like these games with the advert weather most of the country is having, the product is suffering.

6:28 - Nolan Carrol of the Dolphins hurt because a Jets player or personnel on the sideline tripped him. It's dirty but kind of funny (in an ironic way).

6:31 - Looks like the refs missed a pass interference on Braylon Edwards.

6:35 - End of the 3rd Quarter. Miami 10-3 over the Jets...still.

6:42 - Jets are getting it moving on offense. It's about time. Maybe they heard Ian Eagle say they haven't scored a touchdown in eight quarters.

6:46 - I was watching video of the roof collapse at The Metrodome during the commercial.

6:47 - That Brown to Marshall screw-up is sure to be on the next NFL Follies. I didn't know Ronnie Brown was left-handed either.

6:49 - This might sound racist to some but I seriously just saw the first McDonald's commercial I've seen in years with white people in it. Maybe I just don't pay close enough attention.

6:53 - Just realized I went a whole series without posting. Here you go. Did I pick the wrong weekend to live blog or what? 15 punts, 16 first downs TOTAL. Yikes. And Shaun Green is out.

6:58 - Finally a big play. Sanchez-Holmes for 43.

6:59 - And then Sanchez overthrowns Dustin Keller.

7:00 - POINTS! A field goal by the Jets! And no commercial between possessions? Whatever will the yaks yak about? Miscues. And Tony Sporano wearing sunglasses at night in the rain is just sweet. I know he is sensitive to light, but still. Crowd's back into it, too.

7:05 - No commercials between possessions again. Maybe all their sponsors went broke.

7:08 - "The Jets have been the Cardiac Kids all year." What do they go? Go three-and-out. And the Dolphins only have 32 passing yards. There's 2:33 left. We could have five more punts!

7:11 - Here we go! Punt number 10 on the afternoon for the Dolphins!

7:21 - Dolphins win 10-6. Two straight losses for the Jets. Dolphins still in it at 7-6.

Thank The Football Gods For NFL Game Rewind

2010-12-12T11:18:00.004-05:00

With the cancellation of this afternoon's Giants-Vikings game, all affiliates have to switch to a different game, and since it was Fox's "A" game, that is a majority of Fox's affiliates. What do they switch to? Well, it's not Tampa Bay-Washington, and not the later New Orleans-St. Louis collision, but fucking Green Bay-Detroit? Green Bay-Detroit. That's right, Green Bay-Detroit.

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

This is why I fucking hate Fox's NFL coverage. Rarely do they wish to share their good match ups with a majority of the country. I realize there are some NFL rules that regulate stuff like this and that storylines abound, but seriously, Green Bay-Detroit? How regional is that in Los Angeles? Or Bangor, Maine? The only non-regional affiliates showing St. Louis-New Orleans are Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. Kudos to them.

NFL Game Rewind is a great tool to watch the real games your local program directors shaft you out of - which would constitute basically every Fox game this week. And if you have a fast enough internet connection, you can watch your game in high definition.

I Should Be Mad But I'm Not

2010-12-08T09:24:00.003-05:00

WTTE is going with Rams-Saints at 4:00 this Sunday. Dick Stockton and Charles Davis are doing the game, which is sweet because I have yet to see a game with that team. I have yet to see a complete Rams game either and I'm pretty sure I have yet to see a Sunday afternoon Saints game (for being the reigning Super Bowl champs, they sure haven't been on too many nationally televised games). Buck and Aikman are doing Giants-Vikings. Yeah. Knew you'd say that.

The eye network is hosting a doubleheader, and their main game is Bears-Patriots, which for some reason everybody is pissed about. I realize there are three late games on CBS that have playoff implications, but, well, I shouldn't have to explain this.

Way too much of the west though is hosting Arizona-Denver. Two 3-8s should only be shown in their home markets, especially with all the other (better) games going on.

The early games on CBS are much less interesting. Cincinnati-Pittsburgh is being distributed to most of the country, but I would imagine more affiliates would switch to Jacksonville-Oakland, as that game becomes more important in terms of playoffs.

At 9-3 the Bears still have their doubters. What makes them tick are superior special teams and defense with limited skill position talent and low-voltage offense (which is interesting considering their offensive coordinator's history). And with Jay Cutler's history of inconsistent play, analysts think he can and will lose it at the drop of a hat sometime in the next four games. I'm not saying it won't happen, but Jay Cutler has never had an offensive coordinator like Martz (despite his play calling and personnel decisions, he knows quarterbacks and offense).

I'm seeing lots of comparisons to Matt Ryan and Tom Brady in his early years. Both in the media hype surrounding them and the style of offense they play. It's quite cliche to become enamored by young quarterbacks to do well, because so many of them fail and they are set up to fail when they come to the NFL. Ryan plays very efficient, as does Brady, but there are so many factors that come into a comeback more than just the quarterback. Usually, the defense loosens up and "plays not to lose".

Jets-Patriots Analysis: Not much to say here, other than they certainly talked the talk but sure as hell didn't walk the walk. It was cold, it was windy, and Sanchez is not weather-proof and Brady is and always has been (my one Brady man-love for the blog). Basically the Jets did what they do best; trash talk and try to intimidate and they failed, much like they did back in Week 1 against the Ravens. The Jets miss Jim Leohnard (or however the hell you spell his name). And since when have the Patriots crashed and burned on a big stage, other than Super Bowl XLI, and I could go into a spiel about that, but I won't.

More to come later. I'm writing in between stuff.

Simms Out, Fouts In

2010-12-04T12:22:00.001-05:00

Phil Simms will sit out tomorrow's game at San Diego tomorrow, recoving from back surgery. Dan Fouts will fill-in for him for that game.

Week 13 Boding Well for my End of the Year Commentator Awards

2010-11-30T14:38:00.004-05:00

Last week I struggled through the Carolina-Cleveland game with Chris Rose (yes, the former host of The Best Damn Sports Show Period) and Torry Holt. Needless to say, it was not pretty to listen to. Rose didn't do a bad job at PBP but I don't think Holt was ready. He frequently used the wrong verb tense and had trouble finishing sentences. By my count they are 8th or prehaps 9th in the batting order, and may very well not do a game again the rest of the season (this week Rose will team up with Ross Tucker for Carolina-Seattle).

Since I am lazy I am doing my Week 12 column and my Week 13 broadcasting assignments in one blog.

The Colts are now victims of the Super Bowl losing curse. Yep, I said it, folks. Injuries and a predictable offense are the Achilles heel of the Colts this season. And Sunday's loss to the Chargers was the worst of Peyton Manning's career at home (this is a statistic, not a statement!) It seems year-after-year the Colts do well with a banged-up team and little support from a rushing attack. But this season what has broke the camel's back are their skill position and offensive line injuries. Can they make a run? Absolutely.

Stat of the Week: 2010 is John Fox's first 10-loss season as a head coach.

We're 3/4 of the way through the NFL season and I still can't understand the Titans. They too have been decimated by injuries and distractions from Vince Young. (I'm sorry, Gregg Easterbrook, but Randy Moss is not the reason for the Titans' woes)

I do seem to get the Bears, though. It's their coaching, plain and simple. No, they're skill position talent isn't outstanding but their coaching is. They made the Eagles, another well coached team, look silly, basically playing an offense that keeps the opposing offense on the sidelines (they had a 15-play, 10:00 plus drive)

Everybody seems to be on the Rams bandwagon. I'm not. The Seahawks are 3-1 within the division. Think about that.

When the postseason rolls around, somebody is going to be upset. The Giants, Eagles, Packers, Bears, Saints, Falcons, Bucs, Seahawks, and Rams all have shots at making the playoffs. There's only room for six teams, somebody's going to be disappointed. I guess the 49ers still have a chance being only a game out of first place but that is still total crap that a 4-7 team has a chance. And what's even stinkier is that the 3-8 Cardinals are two games out of first place.

In the AFC, I just don't see the Chiefs winning the west. I don't even see the Chargers losing a game the rest of the season.

Monday Night Football Analysis: ESPN basically used the gargantuan matchup of two 3-7 teams to plug Super Bowl 441/2, Jets-Patriots next week on Monday Night. I did find Derek Anderson's little tirade after the game quite hilarious. I always think it's funny when local media in NFL markets hold their team in such contempt that when the lose, the players should act like they're at a funeral and that their sainted mother has just died. Lighten up, it's only a game.

College Football Score From Teams You've Never Heard Of: Mary Hardin-Baylor 69, Thomas More 7. D-III 2nd Round.

Fox again has the doubleheader next week, and Colts-Cowboys is America's Game of Week (Trademark, all rights reserved). And even though I think Tampa Bay is a fraud, Atlanta-Tampa Bay is not getting enough attention. It's basically an elimination game.

I guess CBS thinks Denver-Kansas City is going to be a good game, becuase most of the Midwest is seeing it. In years past, CBS always sent Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf to Minnesota and New York Giants home game on CBS. Not the case this weekend as they'll be calling the action of Miami-Cleveland. I was anticipating not seeing this team until the divisional round of the playoffs. Nantz and Simms are doing San Diego-Oakland, which is only being seen sparingly in the east.

Early on Fox, it's split pretty evenly between Green Bay-San Francisco and New York-Washington with a good amount of the south not caring about New Orleans-Cincinnati.

One last note, it was announced that TCU would join the Big East. Sweet! The Big East will now have a good team!

Week 12 NFL Crap on TV

2010-11-26T00:08:00.003-05:00

With Thanksgiving on Thursday, it sort of dilutes the product for Sunday. Nobody has byes this week, but three of the best teams in the league have already played their games. This weekend would be the best weekend to have DirecTV if you do not, especially if you live in a market who has local obligations to a losing club (like Columbus, Ohio) and gets continually shafted into not seeing the good games.

CBS has the singleheader:

1:00 PM EST Starts:

Jacksonville @ New York Giants - Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf
Tennessee @ Houston - Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts
Pittsburgh @ Buffalo - Kevin Harlan, Soloman Wilcots

4:00 PM EST Starts:

Miami @ Oakland - Gus Johnson, Steve Tasker
Kansas City @ Seattle - Bill Macatee, Rich Gannon

They're using Miami-Oakland as a fill-in game for an otherwise drab weekend on the eye network. It's basically an elimination game but I'm guessing since the Raiders have a national following, they are being shown to the majority of the country for the second-straight week. CBS has sent Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf to nearly every Giants and Vikings game on CBS over the past few seasons and this weekend is no different with Jacksonville heading to the Meadowlands. Pittsburgh-Buffalo is being shown to wa-ay too much of the country. Seriously, this game should not be shown outside its primary markets.

Fox has the doubleheader. Here are the early games.

Green Bay @ Atlanta - Thom Brennanman, Brian Billick
Minnesota @ Washington - Dick Stockton, Charles Davis
Carolina @ Cleveland - Chris Rose, Torry Holt

God, why do the Browns have to be on Fox this weekend? And worst of all they're playing the Panthers. It's good to see the Vikings not on the nationally televised game. I think finally the media have gotten it that the Vikings and Brett Favre are not a good team and have stopped dick-riding them. Rose and Holt are 7th in the batting order. Technically Stockton and Davis are slotted ahead of Brennanman and Billick and probably when they did the schedule everybody thought the Vikings would be good but because of the dominance of the Falcons and the Packers, they probably got switched (or more affiliates decided to go with the Packers game).

Here are the late games:

Philadelphia @ Chicago - Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston
Tampa Bay @ Baltimore - Sam Rosen, Tim Ryan
St. Louis @ Denver - Ron Pitts, John Lynch

Good to see more and more affiliates switching away from Tampa Bay-Baltimore to Philly-Chicago (I don't see Tampa-B'More being much of a contest). There is some Mickey Mouse NFL rule where the Redskins and Ravens can't play a home game on the same network, so that is why the Ravens game is on at 4:15. And just if you're wondering, Josh Freeman went to Kansas State, so that is why the Bucs game is being carried throughout Kansas.

If none of the Columbus stations switch between now and Sunday, the combined record of the teams playing on Sunday afternoon is 28-34.

And I've never understood the whole "since a player on Team X played college here, we're scheduling their game even though they play on a crappy team that has no local ties to this area." And yes, I live in a market with a football factory school, but I still don't get.

TheDood Goes To War Against Local Affilliates And Gus Johnson Calls Game, Blogosphere Collectively Jacks Off

2010-11-21T22:06:00.011-05:00

I'm storming the halls of local affiliates. Okay, actually only one. That's WTTE in Columbus, Ohio. A majority of Fox affiliates in the east had either Green Bay-Minnesota or Washington-Tennessee at 1:00 scheduled. What do those in Columbus (me) get? Tampa Bay-San Francisco Why? Because former Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith was starting for the 'Niners and Ted Ginn is a Niner receiver. That's it.

But what irks me more is that every non-doubleheader week on Fox, WTTE will only show a late game for what reason I don't know (I am 99.9% sure they can show an early game on a non-doubleheader Sunday). The last time Fox had just a single game was Week 9, and it just so happens that their "A" game was a late one (Giants-Seahawks). Before that, Cardinals-Seahawks. It was shown sporatically throughout the east. It was shown in the Cleveland and Columbus markets probably because former Ohio State running back Beanie Wells plays for the Cardinals and former Brown Derek Anderson was their quarterback. Week 5 we had Falcons-Bronws, which is understandable since it was an in-state team. Fine. Let's go further back.

Week 3. Jacksonville-Philly (switched from Detroit-Minnesota. The "B" game). About the only purpose that serves me is it's the only game I have this season with John Lynch and Ron Pitts. And finally, Week 2. Seahawks-Broncos, a "B" game however. But why? Why switch?

I doubt it's because of NFL rules, because why would we be scheduled for the "A" or "B" game in the first place? Obviously we would still be in compliance with NFL rules if that game is scheduled in the first place.

But the fun continues. Next week the Bengals play on the NFL Network and the Browns play on Fox. Jim Nantz and Phil Simms have Sunday off. CBS's "A" game is Jacksonville-New York Giants. What does WBNS schedule? Freakin' Steelers at Bills. I know there are a lot of Steelers fans in Columbus and it must be rough for them being subjected to the crap from the Ohio teams, but seriously, of all games, the Bills?

Overreaction Monday: I hate to bring up the Vikings and Brett Favre for the enth straight week, but late Monday, the Vikings fired Brad Childress, a coach with a 39-35 record. Is he cold? Yes. Does he not get along well with people? No. Was he a players' coach? No, but neither is Bill Belichick and neither was Bill Parcells. Needless to say, this is a dumb move on the part of the Vikings. It's not just one person's fault that the Vikings are 3-7. No, it's not even Brett Favre's fault, but he has a lot to do with it. See, when a team is struggling, the first place blame is placed is either on the coach or the quarterback, and since Brett Favre is so overly-respected and will never be benched, Childress was at fault, thus he was fired. It was clear that the Vikings season was done, but I was hoping that at the end of the season the organization would burn the bridges with Favre much in the way they did with Moss and give Childress another chance.

Stat of the Week: The NFC West went 0-4 on Sunday, the second time this season the NFC West has done so.

Stat of the Week 2: The Seattle Seahawks lead the NFC West with a 5-5 record.

Stat of the Week 3: The Jaguars had six turnovers and won.

It's clear that Norv Turner doesn't have too many fans, either in his players, the media, or followers of the Chargers. But a coach really doesn't need to. Whatever he does makes his teams built for the postseason and winning when his team needs a playoff spot. Currently the Chargers are 5-5, 2nd in the division. They play the Colts next week on Sunday night and after that they have an easy, easy schedule, playing all the AFC West teams again and the Bengals. 10-6 is not out of the question for this team. Imagine if they beat the Colts, though (upest alert?) Phillip Rivers is now 39-5 in the months of November, December, and January. And after losses to the Raiders and the Broncos, I don't have much confidence that the Chiefs have it for the playoffs.

Statgeekery: Don't buy too much into when you hear that Ryan Fitzpatrick is 7th in the league in touchdown passes. There are currently four quarterbacks with 18 touchdown passes (Fitzpatrick, Palmer, Cassel, Ryan). And with all the talk of Kyle Orton and his possible 5,000-yard season, don't forget that he is in fact fourth in the league in passing yards. Peyton Manning is the leader with 3,059. Manning is, however, on-pace for over 700 passing attempts, which would be a record. Rivers has a better chance of getting 5,000 yards than any of them. Conversely, the top 10 leaders in yardage are all on-pace for at least 4,000 yards, which even five years ago was unheard of.

Roddy White is on-pace to have an absolutely monster season. He leads the league in both receptions and receiving yards. So far, he has 79 grabs, a pace of 126, and 1,017 yards, a pace of 1,627 yards.

College Football Score From Teams You've Never Heard Of: Trine 45, DePauw 35. D-III Playoffs, First Round.

Final Note: I'm noticing something in all of the broadcasts with CBS #1 people that I've seen, and that's that the shots of the coaches on the sidelines are always blurry and out-of-focus and it seems that the camera operator is always trying to fix it, but to no avail. And during last Sunday's broadcast of Pats-Colts, Simms had a cold, and as each quarter would wear-on, his voice would go, but then during the commercial break between quarters, he would suck down a lozenge or spray that fake saliva stuff. And him and Jim Nantz have a short week as they'll be calling the early game on Thanksgiving, Lions-Patriots.

Week 11 Broadcasting Assignments With Maps

2010-11-17T10:31:00.003-05:00

This week presents quite a connundrum for WBNS, Columbus, Ohio's CBS affiliate. The Steelers, Bengals, and Browns are all playing at home on CBS at 1:00. In fact, Raiders-Steelers is being shown to most of the country early...but not in Ohio. Meanwhile WTTE hasn't hosed their market for over a month now. They're showing Vikings-Packers at 1:00, Fox's "A" game this Sunday.

Thursday November 18

Chicago Bears @ Miami Dolphins (NFLN, 8:20PM) Bob Papa, Matt Millen, Joe Theisman - Sun Life Stadium, Miami, FL

Can't forget about them even though I don't get NFL Network.

CBS Early:

Houston Texans @ New York Jets (CBS, 1PM) Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf - Meadowlands Stadium, E. Rutherford, NJ
Oakland Raiders @ Pittsburgh Steelers (CBS, 1PM) Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts - Heinz Field, Pittsburgh PA
Baltimore Ravens @ Carolina Panthers (CBS, 1PM) Kevin Harlan, Solomon Wilcots - Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
Buffalo Bills @ Cincinnati Bengals (CBS, 1PM) Gus Johnson, Steve Tasker - Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Cleveland Browns @ Jacksonville Jaguars (CBS, 1PM) Bill Macatee, Rich Gannon - Everbank Field, Jacksonville, FL

Everywhere north and west of Oklahoma and Alaska and Hawaii is seeing Steelers-Raiders. Most of the Midwest is seeing Texans-Jets. Most of New York is actually seeing Bills-Bengals. I would image that the markets across upstate New York are primary markets for the Bills but not the Jets. (Syracuse, Binghamton, Rochester, Watertown). And LOL at Fort Wayne. They are showing the Browns. Lots of West Virginians and Virginians are complaining about seeing Raiders-Steelers and not Panthers-Ravens. Hell, even Philadelphia is showing Raiders-Steelers.

Fox (all):

Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings (FOX, 1PM) Joe Buck, Troy Aikman [National] - Metro Dome, Minneapolis, MN
Detroit Lions @ Dallas Cowboys (FOX, 1PM) Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa - Cowboys Stadium, Dallas TX
Washington Redskins @ Tennessee Titans (FOX, 1PM) Dick Stockton, Charles Davis, Jim Mora Jr. - LP Field, Nashville, TN
Arizona Cardinals @ Kansas City Chiefs (FOX, 1PM) Ron Pitts, John Lynch - Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO

Seattle Seahawks @ New Orleans Saints (FOX, 4PM) Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick - Super Dome, Louisiana, LA
Atlanta Falcons @ St. Louis Rams (FOX, 4PM) Sam Rosen, Tim Ryan - Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ San Francisco 49ers (FOX, 4PM) Chris Myers, Kurt Warner - Candlestick Park, San Francisco, CA

Fox has a whopping seven game on a non-doubleheader weekend for them. In Ohio, Cleveland and Cincinnati are getting Saints-Seahawks but Columbus and Dayton are showing Vikings-Packers. Indianapolis has Redskins-Titans. I'm thinking some affiliates have had enough of showing the Vikings that they are purposely switching away from the network's "A" game. Quite a colorful map, too.

There's no point in showing the map for the CBS late game because it is being carried by the whole network, however it is being blacked out in San Francisco, St. Louis, and New Orleans because those are home markets of teams that have late games at those times.

I really hope I get a job in a market that has no local obligations to an AFC team because I hate missing the good early CBS games. I plan on doing commentator awards at the end of the season and I still have yet to see a game called by Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf (CBS's #2 team). And since WBNS went with the Browns and not the Bengals I still have not seen a game with Gus Johnson and Steve Tasker either. This will be the fourth game I have with Bill Macatee and Rich Gannon. I'm pretty sure they're last in the batting order unless there are #8 and #9 teams which I doubt because rarely does CBS have eight games a Sunday.

Good Coaching Secret to Vick, Eagles' Success

2010-11-16T14:11:00.003-05:00

Instead of starting off my blog with another Brett Favre bitch-fest, I offer this change-up.

Micheal Vick has always been talented, but he has never had quality coaching to meet his talent. Sure, he had Dan Reeves, but Reeves was no offensive genius. And Jim Mora Jr., although he installed a West Coast offense in Atlanta, tried to limit Vick to a pocket passer, which he is not. However, Reid, an offensive genius and quarterback guru, is still allowing Vick to be spontaneous and run, but moreover wants Vick to always see the throw first and work through his progressions before taking off and running with it. This does come at a price, however. Vick has already been injured this season when he took off an ran and it is bound to happen again every time Vick takes off. That is why keeping Kevin Kolb is smart if you're the Eagles. Both of them will be free agents after this season, and the Eagles will be so much better off if they are resigned. Kolb, though, will have to be content with being paid backup-quarterback money, because that is what he is going to be.

Before last night's game Redskins' defensive coordinator Jim Haslett equated the Eagles offense to that of the Rams from a decade ago. When I first read that statement I though it was ludicrous. After seeing how many times Reid wanted Vick to pick up big gains on passing plays I could see where Haslett was coming from, not to mention he did a terrible job defending the Eagles' attack.

Andy Reid's coaching record is 114-70-1, a winning percentage of .62. 1999 and 2005 have been the Eagles only losing seasons with Reid at the helm.

To say that owners like Dan Snyder, Jerry Jones, and Al Davis are a dying breed in the NFL is an understatement. They are throw backs to the 70s and 80s when the NFL was trying to be flashy and attract fans with boisterous coaching and players and high-priced free agents making impacts on teams. That is not the NFL of the 2010s. It wasn't even the NFL of the 2000s. Do you know what the Eagles owner looks like? The Steelers? The Giants? Didn't think so.

Shrutebag was right this morning: "The NFL is a nuts-and-bolts, thinking man's league." I agree with that statement. The Giants with Bill Parcells, a nuts-and-bolts thinking man's head coach, won two Super Bowls at the twilight of the flashy NFL of the 80s and early-90s with nuts-and-bolts thinking man's players. There are too many players on those teams to count.

Al Davis, after years of losing and .500 seasons with high-priced, washed-up free agents, finally turned a corner and hired a young coach and largely this year's Raiders are built with young players through the draft. Yes, the Raiders went to a Super Bowl in the past decade with Davis' old formula, but the next season when many of their aged stars were injured, the Raiders were losers. Count 'em: Rich Gannon, Rod Woodson, Dana Stubblefield, Bill Romanowski, Trace Armstrong, Terrance Shaw all sustained career-ending injuries in 2003 and Raiders won only four games that year after winning 11 and a Super Bowl birth the previous year.

When Jerry Jones had a disciplinarian head coach (Parcells, Jones) the Cowboys were winners and were disciplined, having few penalties. The problem, in Jones' point of view was they wanted too much control over personnel decisions. Jones felt they had too much power, so they were fired and brought in puppets like Switzer, Gailey, Campo, and Phillips, the teams struggled and were not disciplined. Owners like Jones, Davis, and Snyder will never hire a general manager or allow their coach to make decisions for the good of the team.

Stat of the Week: The Broncos followed a 45-point loss up with a 20-point win. And I guess Tim Tebow threw his first touchdown pass. Big woop. It was like a one-yard square-out. He celebrated like he had just thrown a game-winning Hail Mary.

Meanwhile, I am just done with Favre and the Vikings. He turned the ball over four more times and was the sole reason for the Vikings defeat. The Vikings season is done. The players have no respect for their coach. That is what really pissed me off. I'm sorry, but I am not in the Childress is a bum boat. The Fox NFL Sunday put it nicely. Basically Jimmy Johnson said "man up, put your differences aside, and play some damn good football." The Vikings have done nothing but improved year-after-year with Childress and without the Vikings older stars like Moss and Culpepper; six wins, eight wins, 10 wins, 12 wins. And the Bears on an off-day, are now tied for the division lead.

College Football Score From A School You've Never Heard Of (Last Week of D-II/III Regular Season): California of Pennsylvania 57, Cheyney 6. Watch the replay.

Next Week: The Vikings are once again on national TV as they play at home against the Packers. CBS has the doubleheader. Gumbel and Dierdorf journey to the Meadowlands to call the action for Houston and the Jets. Nantz and Simms will be at Indianapolis-New England, which will be seen by the whole CBS network (there are no other late games on CBS). Cleveland-Jacksonville and Cincinnati-Buffalo are two lowest-rated games on CBS (I think they are the network's "D" and "E" games. Living in Ohio sucks sometimes!) Even if WTTE does not show a game at 1:00, Seattle-New Orleans at 4:05 should be good.

Week 10 NFL Broadcasting Assingments & Maps

2010-11-09T21:08:00.003-05:00

Let's see if this will work this week. Fox has the doubleheader, although they're showing some real woofers in their late slot.

Thursday November 11 - Veterans Day

Baltimore Ravens @ Atlanta Falcons (NFLN, 8:20PM) - Bob Papa, Matt Millen, Joe Theisman - Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA

Fox Early:

Minnesota Vikings @ Chicago Bears (FOX, 1PM) - Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa - Soldiers Field, Chicago, IL
Carolina Panthers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (FOX, 1PM) - Dick Stockton, Charles Davis, Jim Mora Jr. - Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
Detroit Lions @ Buffalo Bills (FOX, 1PM) - Ron Pitts, John Lynch - Ralph Wilson Stadium, Buffalo, NY

CBS Early:

New York Jets @ Cleveland Browns (CBS, 1PM) - Jim Nantz, Phil Simms [National] - Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, OH
Cincinnati Bengals @ Indianapolis Colts (CBS, 1PM) - Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf - Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, INTennessee Titans @ Miami Dolphins (CBS, 1PM) - Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts - Sun Life Stadium, Miami, FL
Houston Texans @ Jacksonville Jaguars (CBS, 1PM) - Gus Johnson, Steve Tasker - Everbank Field, Jacksonville, FL

Fox Late:

Dallas Cowboys @ New York Giants (FOX, 4:15PM) - Joe Buck, Troy Aikman [National] - Meadowlands Stadium, E. Rutherford, NJ
Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona Cardinals (FOX, 4:15PM) - Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick - University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ
St. Louis Rams @ San Francisco 49ers (FOX, 4:15PM) - Sam Rosen, Tim Ryan - Candlestick Park, San Francisco, CA

CBS Late:

Kansas City Chiefs @ Denver Broncos (CBS, 4PM) - Kevin Harlan, Solomon Wilcots - Invesco Field, Denver, CO

New England Patriots @ Pittsburgh Steelers (NBC, 8:20 PM) – Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth - Heinz Field, Pittsburgh PA

Monday November 15

Philadelphia Eagles @ Washington Redskins (ESPN, 8:30) - Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, Jon Gruden - FedEx Field, Washington DC

The Packers, Saints, Raiders, and Chargers have byes.

The Columbus, Ohio market is showing all of the network's #1 games at all times. Once again we see the the loser Cowboys on a nationally televised game. Oh, well. Despite being the #1 game, most of the country is seeing Broncos-Chiefs at 4:05 Eastern. Only small pockets of the midwest and northeast are seeing Jets-Browns. Most of the mid-atlantic, midwest, and west are seeing CBS's #2 game, Indy-Cincinnati.

The Kansas City markets has not been showing Rams game, which is upsetting many fans there, and rightly so. Watching the Cowboys stinking up the national TV scene has got to end, although I'm not sure seeing Seattle-Arizona is going to be any better. Their last game wasn't.

Week 9: Brett Favre Promoted To Saint, Chidress Still A Bum, ESPN Says

2010-11-08T11:47:00.007-05:00

We are now halfway through the NFL season, and thankfully some more storylines are emerging other than the infighting within the Vikings organization and the hapless Cowboys. I'm going to sound a bit like Colin Cowherd hear (pimping my own ego and how right I was when I made a prediction) but what did I say last week? The AFC West could be the most exciting division?! I still think I'm right. The Chargers, Raiders, and Giants are all on streaks where they look like they could dominate the latter part of the season. I'll say this again too. Teams that do well in the postseason are ones that have hot streaks in the middle of the season, allowing room to drop a few games at the beginning and the end. The Chargers have a peachpuff schedule from here on out and could easily be 6-5 going into their bout with the Raiders on December 5. Speaking of the Raiders, they have won three straight, and three of their five wins this year have come against AFC West opponents. Don't give up on the Chiefs yet though, they still lead the AFC West. Then we have the New York Giants, holders of the best record and best team in the NFC. They have won five straight and will get a sixth next week (they play the Cowboys at the Meadowlands). The Falcons too are 6-2, however they have the Ravens in the Georgia Dome next week.

My ESPN Rant of the Week: Let me make this clear. I am an ESPN hater by any means. Some of my favorite sports personalities work for the network (Chris Berman, Tom Jackson, Mike Tirico, Mike & Mike, Ron Jaworski). Jon Gruden is pretty good too, but I think his time would be better spent if he were to get back into coaching. I just don't like some of the people there (Trent Dilfer, Mark Schlereth, Colin Cowherd, Tony Kornheiser). Every Monday Trent Dilfer comes onto Colin Cowherd's show and basically they talk about how great Brett Favre is and how much of an asshole Brad Childress is. They do talk about other stuff but it usually boils down to Favre or other stuff Cowherd is comfortable talking about (I'm sorry, but he is just not a very good analyst). Well on Monday, Dilfer said that Favre's comeback on Sunday against the Cardinals was perhaps the second-best comeback in NFL history, behind "that Vinny Testaverde thing like 15 years ago". Tell if I'm wrong. Did he not say something to that effect? What about Peyton Manning against the Buccaneers in 2003? And besides, it was two freaking touchdowns! I think that happens fairly often, but not that common, but still, how short-sighted is that statement made by Dilfer? (Note: "the Vinny Testaverde thing" was in 2000, which last I checked was only 10 years ago)

Wade Phillips was fired on Monday. Who didn't see that one coming? Jason Garrett was promoted to interim head coach. Will it save the Cowboys' season? Doubtful. The Cowboys will still have to retool their entire coaching staff for next season whether there is football or not.

Stat of the Week: The Raiders are 3-0 against AFC West opponents. Divisional wins are paramount to getting to the playoffs.

Stat of the Week 2: The Browns have won their last two games by a score of 64-31.

Stat of the Week 3: Antwaan Randle El's career passer rating is 157.5, the highest for someone who has thrown more than 20 passes. A perfect passer rating is 158.3

Sweet Play of the Week: 1st and 10 at the Pats 11-yard line. Browns line up in a trick formation with Josh Cribbs and quarterback, receiver Chansi Stuckey literally right behind him, Peyton Hillis the deep back, and Colt McCoy split out wide. Quick snap, quick handoff to Stuckey, touchdown.

Amusement of the Week: Lions kicker Jason Hanson was injured, so 307-pound rookie defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh came in and made a PAT attempt. Unfortunately the try doinked off the crossbar, no good.

College Football Score From Schools You've Never Heard Of (D-I Edition): Michigan 67, Illinois 65 (3OT) in the highest-scoring game in Big Ten history.

College Football Score From Schools You've Never Heard Of: Mount Ida 69, Anna Maria 18.

College Football Score From Schools You've Never Heard Of With Pregame Meal Of Ambien And Warm Milk Score: College of New Jersey 7, Kean 0. Sole touchdown was scored in the fourth quarter.

Next Week: Sources say Brett Favre plans on shaving before the Vikings game at Chicago. ESPN will have up-to-the-minute coverage with breakdown on SportsCenter, First Take, NFL Live, and The Herd With Colin Cowherd afterwards.

Week 9 Broadcasting Assingments

2010-11-04T14:07:00.002-04:00

Blogger decided to take a shit on me, so basically I have nothing. Check out this weekend's broadcasting assignments on Awful Announcing.

Week 8; Vikings, Cowboys, Fix Your Teams in One Easy Step!

2010-10-31T12:41:00.010-04:00

I'm watching Fox NFL Sunday for once and they're talking about Brett Favre. I never thought I'd here Terry Bradshaw say something smart, but he just has. He remarked that every time a quarterback throws, he puts most of his weight on his left foot, which Favre has two broken bones in (as well as an injury in his elbow). Yes! Jimmy Johnson agrees! He also says that's it's okay to sit a game, and that Favre's good throws have been outweighed by his bad ones. Yes! Micheal Strahan says no coach has the balls (he said cajones, or however you spell it) to bench Favre. Yes! However Troy Aikman did his share of Favre-loving, especially after Favre took a big hit in the second half.

It is so refreshing to hear some media criticism of Favre, and not everybody apologizing for his bad plays and calling Brad Childress a lame-duck coach. Lately, I have gotten so tired of ESPN's love-affair of Favre that I have all but boycotted ESPN, other than Mike and Mike and the 11:00 SportsCenter ("The Blitz" segments only. The rest of the show I fast-forward through.)

How To Fix The Cowboys: Sorry to sound like a broken record, but Wade Phillips needs to go, and so does Jerry Jones. I've never like owners like Jerry Jones or Al Davis, who consider themselves "player's coaches". Players can't coach themselves, and when they're payed millions of dollars, they develop egos. To keep their egos in check, they need a powerful coach to keep them in line (Bill Parcells). The problem, according to owners like Jones, is that they want too much power, they want in on personnel decisions and the draft, which is how Parcells was ousted from New England after the Super Bowl loss to the Packers. It's not the players. The Cowboys are way too talented of a team to be 1-6. When Bill Parcells was the coach, he had inferior talent to what the Cowboys have now, but they were disciplined. They were not penalized a lot and players were not "larger" than the team. Also, JerryWorld is not exactly a stadium where home field advantage is much of a factor. See, it's so big that the crowd noise largely unaffects the opposing team. And even worse, every Cowboys game so far this season has been nationally televised.

Cowboys TV Schedule:

Week 1: Sunday Night
Week 2: #1 game of regional weekend on Fox (if an affiliate did not have local obligations, it is recommended they show this game, unless you're WTTE)
Week 3: #1 game of regional weekend on Fox
Week 4: Bye
Week 5: second game of doubleheader on CBS, shown to majority of country
Week 6: second game of doubleheader on Fox, shown to majority of country
Week 7: Monday Night
Week 8: #1 game of regional weekend on CBS
Week 9: Sunday Night
Week 10: second game of doubleheader on Fox
Week 11: play Lions. Likely not #1 game but stranger things have happened
Week 12: Thanksgiving Game on Fox
Week 13: second game of doubleheader on Fox
Week 14: scheduled for Sunday Night, could change because of Flex Scheduling
Week 15: play at 1:00 against the Redskins, might actually not be on national TV
Week 16: play Cardinals on NFL Network, Christmas
Week 17: play Eagles at 1:00

How To Fix The Vikings (Note: this was written before Moss was cut): ESPN's golden boy quarterback is the 30th-ranked quarterback in the NFL (there are 32 teams). He didn't play horribly last night and the Vikings were largely in the game for most of it but he did get hurt and had to be carried of the field. I'll say this again, there is no way the Vikings with Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, Randy Moss and their defense should be 2-5. No way. Favre has thrown costly interceptions in every game this season. Honestly how bad would Tarvaris Jackson be? Maybe they should reinstate the 5/8th clause? Where of every eight passes thrown, at least five should go to Randy Moss. And if you make him feel like an important part of the offense, he will catch all five passes that come his way. Favre will never want to not play unless he basically can't move, somebody (Childress) needs to take the initiative and do something. With their players, how bad would Jackson be?

So where should Moss go? How about Dallas? I haven't heard that discussed anywhere yet. That means it's either genius or stupid.

Chiefs (5-2), Raiders (4-4), Chargers (3-5), too much to say that the AFC West could actually be the most exciting division in football this season? The Chargers are making their late-season run and they have a relatively easy schedule from here on out. The Raiders have won their past two games by a combined score of 92-17, and are getting hot at the right time of the season, but so are the Chiefs, who happen to play the Raiders in Oakland next week and then the Broncos after that.

Thankfully the game in London was actually a game, which it has the perpetuity to not be. Hopefully the crowd did not know they were watching two of the worst NFL teams playing before their eyes. There was a Tim Tebow sighting, as I'm sure you know. And I'm sure you know too that he scored a touchdown. And how bad is the Broncos defense if they gave up 24 points and allowed Troy Smith (Troy Smith!) to complete 12 of 19 passes. Either that or Troy Smith is really good. Frank Gore also had 118 yards rushing.

Just for some amusment, here is a column from a local meatball, calling for the benching of Orton in favor of Tebow "to save the season" all the whille using the Tebow-as-a-Christian theme to fall the writers' cliches back on.

Then we have this lovely post from pro-football-reference. To sum it up: the Patriots are 6-1 for the fourth time in Belichick's career, but they're basically terrible; opportunistic on defense while giving up a lot of yards and who-dat talent (will they be Gregg Easterbrook's team he will gush about every week for having a few select undrafted or lowly drafted players that make plays once in awhile?)

I'll just say this as an argument against Easterbrook. Deion Branch, Patrick Chung, Brandon Spikes and Rob Gronkowski are second round picks. Jerod Mayo, Brandon Meriweather, and Devin McCourty are first round picks. Most of the defense is made up of highly drafted players, although running back Danny Woodhead, the Patriots MVP up to this point, went undrafted out of Chadron State (of Chadron, Nebraska).

College Football Scores From Teams You've Never Heard Of:

Score #1: Washington & Lee 49, Catholic U 14. Two guys beating a whole team? Impressive!

Score #2: Stonehill 41, St. Anelm 27

Next Week: The Broncos, Titans, Jaguars, Redskins, Rams, and 49ers have byes next week. A Bills upset against the Bears to get off the schnide possible? Lots of good divisional games next week (Bucs-Falcons, Chiefs-Raiders). And once again we get to see the loser Cowboys on national TV. Don't worry, there are only two weeks until flex scheduling beings, so hopefully we won't be seeing much of the Cowboys and Vikings on national TV.

NFL Week 8 Announcing Schedule & Coverage Maps

2010-10-29T10:42:00.003-04:00

Meant to do this earlier in the week. Anyway, here they are.

Fox early:

Green Bay Packers @ New York Jets (FOX, 1PM) - Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa - Meadowlands Stadium, E. Rutherford, NJ
Carolina Panthers @ St. Louis Rams (FOX, 1PM) - Dick Stockton, Charles Davis, Jim Mora Jr. - Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO
Washington Redskins @ Detroit Lions (FOX, 1PM) - Sam Rosen, Tim Ryan - Ford Field, Detroit, MI

Fox has the doubleheader this week, and most of the country is seeing Packers-Jets, except for the local markets of the other teams and the Dallas, Cincinnati, Kansas City, San Francisco, and San Diego markets who do not have early games due to NFL rules. For once Columbus is going with what everybody else is seeing early. I thought for sure they'd dump Detroit-Washington on us.

CBS Early:

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Dallas Cowboys (CBS, 1PM) - Jim Nantz, Phil Simms [National] - Cowboys Stadium, Dallas TX
Denver Broncos @ San Francisco 49ers (CBS, 1PM) - Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf - Wembley Stadium, London, England
Miami Dolphins @ Cincinnati Bengals (CBS, 1PM) - Kevin Harlan, Solomon Wilcots - Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Buffalo Bills @ Kansas City Chiefs (CBS, 1PM) - Gus Johnson, Steve Tasker - Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO

Sadly, nowhere east of the Lafayette, Indiana market are anyone seeing the London game for free. A good amount of the south is seeing Jax-North Texas. Why most of the northeast is seeing Cincy-South Florida is beyond me. As is Wisconsin having Tennessee-San Diego (the only late game on CBS). Why is Mississippi seeing Chiefs-Bills?

Fox late:

Minnesota Vikings @ New England Patriots (FOX, 4:15PM) - Thom Brennaman, Troy Aikman [National] - Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Arizona Cardinals (FOX, 4:15PM) - Chris Myers, Brian Billick - University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ
Seattle Seahawks @ Oakland Raiders (FOX, 4:15PM) - Ron Pitts, John Lynch - Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA

Most of the country is seeing Vikings-Pats, and for good reason, since there's a chance Favre won't play. Most of California isn't even seeing the Raiders game.

CBS late:

Tennessee Titans @ San Diego Chargers (CBS, 4PM) - Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts - Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA

Only are the local markets of these teams, Wisconsin, and Central Michigan are seeing this game. The New York market is seeing this as well.

Week 7, One Big Brett Favre Rant

2010-10-25T20:08:00.011-04:00

After Sunday night's loss to the Packers, Vikings coach Brad Childress basically threw Brett Favre under the bus in the postgame conference, blaming Favre for the loss, as he should (with a little help from the officiating crew). In case you didn't see it, a Vikings touchdown was overturned, even though Visanthe Shancoe clearly had possession as he hit the ground. There was also a pass interference call on Randy Moss that smelled of b.s. (see, I'm not a total Vikings hater).

Childress blamed Favre for the loss, and rightly so. I see a coach that is frustrated with losing and being 2-4. He knows his team is more talented than 2-4, and they are. There is no way a team with Randy Moss, Adrian Peterson, their defense and even Brett Favre should be 2-4.

Granted, Adrian Peterson is quietly on his way to an 1,800 yard season, but this simply cannot go on any longer. I know Favre will never be bench, but I would seriously consider it. Favre has already thrown 10 interceptions (he threw seven all of last season).

And of course ESPN, the network of Brett Favre apologists, basically ripped Childress for ripping Favre on the basis on "Oh, that's just ol' Brett. He always throws it to the other guys but to our guys more." ESPN has never taken Brad Childress seriously; poking fun at his headset and his orthodontist dimenor. Remember they won 10 games in 2008 with Gus Frerotte as their starting quarterback, and without Randy Moss.

Meanwhile, five of top ten passers on Sunday lost their games; Carson Palmer had a 400-yard effort in a loss, Ryan Fitzpatrick threw four touchdowns in a loss, Drew Brees tossed nearly 60 passes in a shocking loss.

Most Super Bowl teams hit their groove in the middle of season, meaning, it's not the end of the world if a team drops a game or two at the beginning or end of the season. The Giants, possibly the best team in the NFC, are on a four-game winning streak. The Jets, a five-game streak. The Patriots, a four-game streak. The Titans, a three-game streak.

Close Calls: Two contests on Sunday were decided by a point, four by three points and one by four. Conversely, there were contests decided by 45, 22, and 18 points.

Location Political Correctness?: Last year, the p.a. announcer at Sun Life Stadium (previously Land Shark Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Pro Player Stadium, Pro Player Park, Joe Robbie Stadium) addressed the crowd at the Super Bowl, "Welcome to South Florida!" I believe I heard that this year's Super Bowl will not be in Dallas, but in North Texas. I guess Coral Gables felt discriminated against, as will Fort Worth and Irving this year? Oy vey!

Super Bowl Spoilers: The Browns have beaten the defending Super Bowl champions in each of the past three seasons (Giants in 2008, Steelers last year, and the Saints this year).

Speaking of the Saints, as hard as it is to believe, Drew Bress leads the league in interceptions with 10 (Brett Favre does too, but that's no surprise).

College Football Scores From Schools You've Never Heard Of: Mercyhurst 31, California of Pennsylvania 21

Score #2. Maritime Bowl: Maine Maritime 28, Massachusetts Maritime 27

Bonus Score. Sominex Bowl: Indianapolis 6, Northern Michigan 5. All points scored in fourth quarter.

Patch Stat of the Week: The Raiders put up 59 points against the Broncos. Most ever for the franchise, ever, in history, even through the AFL days. They put up 52 three times; once in 2002, 2000, and then in 1963 (a 52-49 shootout against the Oilers).

Why Am I Watching This Game?: In the Columbus, Ohio market, the Seahawks-Cardinals snorefest was shown. Why? It was a regional matchup weekend on Fox. How regional are teams that are located 1,900 and 2,400 miles away? What's worse, this game was shown to countless other markets that I bet did not give two shits about this game. Buffalo? Kansas City? West Palm Beach? It was shown to 19% of Fox's affiliates! Even their so-called #1 game, Chicago-Washington was only (in the scheme of things) shown to 34% of Fox affiliates. Eagles-Titans, their #2 game, was shown to 33% of Fox's affiliates. WGRT in Dayton was the only Ohio Fox affiliate to host Redskins-Bears. None had Eagles-Titans. Am I the only one who does not understand the logic behind this?

Next Week: Luckily, Fox has the double-header next week (since Fox does not release what their broadcasting assignments are until the morning of an NFL Sunday, I can't share them). Pats-Vikings is the main 4:15 game. Jim Nantz and Phil Simms of CBS will be at Jax/North Texas, although 49ers-Broncos in London is slotted ahead of that with Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf in the booth. I'm pretty sure I have yet to see a game in London since the NFL has started that again due to local obligations (sometimes it sucks having four AFC teams that have fans in the area).

No Blog This Week

2010-10-18T20:53:00.002-04:00

I've been away this weekend and only got a chance to see Titans-Jags and Colts-Redskins, and even then I didn't watch them all that closely. With that said, my regular weekly blog will not be written this week.

Brett Favre Sends Out Naughty Pictures Of Certain Body Parts And The Decatur Staleys Have Returned to the NFL

2010-10-11T14:35:00.011-04:00

Before moving onto this past weekends collisions, I want to talk about something from last week. Chuck Cecil, defensive coordinator of the Titans, did not agree with a penalty against his unit in the game against the Broncos, so he gave the officials a middle finger, and CBS cameras happened to be pointed at him when he flipped the officials off. CBS's broadcast of the gesture was on YouTube for a few days before being removed for a copyright violation. CBS's broadcast team took in it stride. Kevin Harlan, who was handling the play-by-play duties for the game jokingly said something like "he fired off a Hawaiian peace sign!" And color commentator Soloman Wilcots did not even mention the gesture in his explanation of the penalty.

Cecil was fined $40,000 for the gesture and tied his middle and index fingers together for the game against Dallas on Sunday, this article explains. (Note: The comment by BobsCountryBunker made me laugh)

And now Cecil's half of a piece sign is my Blogger avatar, although for some reason it's really really small.

The Favre story to me seems really tabloidish and not that big of a deal. If you're not up to speed a female member of the Jets staff came out and said that Favre sent her inappropriate texts and pictures, including one of Favre's penis, to her when he was with the team in 2008. I think the Jets staffperson just wants the fame. I'm not saying it didn't happen, it most certainly may have. Call me a bad person that a married man would send such message but it's not a big deal to me. And why it took two years for this story to surface makes it seem more fishier.

Some recent personnel decisions by the Patriots have really puzzled me. Randy Moss gets temperamental and yes he doesn't give 100% on each and every play. He has never once in his career been cut or traded because he can't catch a football. He can. Why he was so quickly whisked away makes me think something else went on that hasn't been made public. Moss never ran his mouth (he said that he thought 2010 would be his last year with the Pats. So what? His contract was up anyway). I know it's Belichick and the Patriots, I'd like to know why Moss was simply written off on the Patriots' game plan. He was a complete non-factor. And now the Pats think they can win with 5'8" underneath guys (they have in the past), and they have traded back Deion Branch, whom they cut ties with after the '05 season.

Since Belichick came to New England, they've always been very finesse on offense. They were never a deep passing team until '07 nor were they a pound-the-rock running team, even with Corey Dillon or Antowain Smith. Seriously, watch the Pats during their Super Bowl run, lots of cutesie screens and rinky-dink stuff to the slot, Troy Brown and later Givens and Patten as well as sweeps and pitches. In '01, their only deep threat, Terry Glenn, was suspended and not awarded a Super Bowl ring and was traded to the Packers in the offseason, which paved the way for Troy Brown catch 101 passes.

In other NFL news the Decatur Staleys beat the Kewanee Walworths in a 25-7 blowout, er, I mean the Chicago Bears beat the Carolina Panthers 23-6, but their style of play was much like the Staleys of 90 years ago. Chicago had 218 yards rushing, helped by a cover-your-eyes bad performance by backup quarterback Todd Collins (6 of 16 for 32 yards and four interceptions). Chicago's defense tore up the hapless Carolina offense, giving up a mere 147 total yards. The Bears could still easily go 11-5 with many doubters, due to the weakness of their schedule.

The Falcons are 4-1 in case you haven't heard. They've beaten Cleveland, Arizona, New Orleans, and San Francisco, not exactly the best the NFL has to offer. I'm not counting them out but I'm not putting them up on a pedestal yet. Tony Gonzalez is on pace to have a huge year though.

The 1972 Dolphins did not have much time for their champagne to age. The Chiefs went down as the last undefeated team to be...defeated.

Useless Stats Section:

Stat #1: The Bears have 80 yards passing in their past two games where they have gone 1-1.

Stat #2: Yes the Browns are 1-4. Their three losses were by three, two, seven, and ten. Their sole win was by three. Expect the margin of defeat to get higher, as their next four opponents are Pittsburgh, New Orleans, New England, and the Jets.

Stat #3: All of the teams in the AFC South are 3-2.

Stat #4: The Lions have not put up more than 40 points since 2007.

Stat #5: The NFC West-leading Cardinals did not have an offensive touchdown despite putting up 30 against the Saints.

Stat #6: The Panthers have five touchdowns and 16 turnovers.

We're All Professionals Here: The first play of the Vikings-Jets collision was a reverse pass from Randy Moss to Brett Favre. Favre was flagged for ineligible receiver downfield. Next play, 1st and 15 from the Viking 35, fullback Jim Kleinsasser was flagged for a false start. On the next play, this time 1st and 20, Adrian Peterson gains four yards. Next play, false start on lineman Loadholt. It was that kind of night for the Vikings.

SNF Analysis: The 49ers, the team we all predicted would win the NFC West, are 0-5, dismal on offense, dismal on defense. Mike Singletary is mad and Alex Smith is still a bust, despite every intention of his coaches trying to make him a starter. They are in the cellar, there is no doubt about it. The end of the game came down to controversial slide by running back LeSean McCoy. It was 2nd and 13 at the Eagles' 17. He caught a short flare-out pass and scampered 11 yards before falling two yards short of the first down. He was going to be tackled anyway and it was doubtful that he would have gained two more yards, despite the I told you sos by Cris Collinsworth (he's known for doing that). On the ensuing 49ers drive, the Eagles played conventional defense, no mega blitzes, no wacky prevent, they mixed their coverages well. They did take one gamble, blitzing six, and they got to Alex Smith so fast that he didn't notice that Frank Gore was wide open with nothing but green in front of him. And then came the duck that Alex Smith threw to a wide open Travard Lidley...who plays for the Eagles...

College Football Scores From Schools You've Never Heard Of:

Score #1: West Chester 44, Shippensburg 43

Blowout Special: Willamette 69, Pacific U 7

Brett Favre Rant of the Week: I do not care about the so-called scandal with the Jets' staffperson, whether he sent naughty photos or texts or not, I DO NOT CARE! Favre has already thrown seven interceptions, which is the same amount that he tossed last year and they are 1-3 and still looking downright ugly on offense. Fortunately for the Vikings, they may still be able to win the division with a 9-7 record, which may end up happening with the toughness of their schedule.

The Chiefs, NFL's Passively Aggressive Team: The low-voltage chiefs tried to be aggressive, but that proved to be a moot point against the Colts. They started the game with an onside kick, which failed. And after an Adam Vinateri field goal, this was followed by a 15-play drive that resulted in no points because Matt Cassel's 4th and 2 pass from the Colts' 8 clanged incomplete. Moral of the story, don't try to out-Colt the Colts.

Next Week: Browns @ Steelers, 1:00 on CBS. Kevin Harlan and Soloman Wilcots in the booth. Fox has the doubleheader for Week 6. In the Columbus market, Saints @ Bucs will be at 1:00, with Cowboys @ Vikings (the Irrelevant Bowl) at 4:15. Colts-Redskins on Sunday Night and Jags-Titans on Monday Night.

Save Yourself: The Bills, Bengals, Cardinals, and Panthers all have byes next week!

A Quarter of the NFL Season is Over...

2010-10-06T17:25:00.004-04:00

I have been hella busy lately so that's why I haven't been writing as much. As hard as it is to believe, we are already a quarter of the way through the season, and some interesting patterns are developing in the NFL. I have no idea which storyline is a bigger surprise; Kyle Orton, LaDainian Tomlinson, the Rams, or Randy Moss. They all are equally compelling within themselves.

Note: This blog entry will be very stat-heavy.

Kyle Orton: Orton already has 1,419 passing yards, that's a 5,676 yard pace! And no, that's not the most through the first quarter of the season, it's second. (Kurt Warner in 2000 had 1,557 through the first four games of that season) Next question is, can you name a Broncos' receiver? Didn't think so. What's funny is we all thought the Broncos would be a dupster fire, and in actuality they're becoming a solid team.

The Rams: The Rams are 2-2. They haven't played a single good team yet. They haven't scored many points, but Sam Bradford has played solid at quarterback, about as well as a rookie can. Their defense though is 4th in the NFL.

LaDainian Tomlinson: LT's YPC is 6.1, the oldest player ever to average more than six yards per carry. A solid Comeback Player of the Year candidate.

The Colts: Apart from their hiccup against the Texans, the Colts seemed to have avioded the Super Bowl losing curse...for now. Reggie Wayne and Austin Collie are the two leading receivers in the league and Peyton Manning is off to the best start of his career. Could Peyton Manning possibly become a five-time MVP winner? I think so. Now the bad. The Colts have already lost two games, and are averaging less than 60 yards rushing per game, thus relying on Peyton Manning more.

Randy Moss: In case you haven't heard, Moss was traded back to the Vikings today. For whatever reason, he just was not part of the Patriots game plan. Why I have no idea. Everybody knows what kind of a talent he is, and he didn't do anything really prima donna-ish to deserve to be ousted, other than he did not plan to be with the Patriots after this season (his contract was due to expire anyway).

Speaking of the Patriots. They, to me, are easy to figure out. They gameplan well, and start fast, but are not a good second half team. I say that because once they have executed their gameplan, they must rely on special teams and their novice defense to make plays. Despite giving up nearly 400 yards of offense, they still blew out the Dolphins on the strength of their special teams.

NFL on TV Note: CBS Sports periodically released press releases showing where its commentator and director/producer pairings will be over the next few games. It releases other material on this page too, including conference calls about CBS Sports and even invites the general public to listen in.

For those who care, here are where each CBS commentator pair will be next week:

1:00 PM, ET Starts:

Jacksoville @ Buffalo - Gus Johnson/Steve Tasker
Denver @ Baltimore - Ian Eagle/Dan Fouts
Kansas City @ Indianapolis - Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf

4:15 PM, ET Starts:

Tennessee @ Dallas - Jim Nantz/Phil Simms
San Diego @ Oakland - Kevin Harlan/Soloman Wilcots

Fox does the same thing too, but they only relase that information a few days in advance, as opposed to a few weeks like CBS.

On TV This Week: Since both the Bengals and Browns are on Fox and the Steelers are off, then that opens up WBNS' options as to what game to show. CBS has the doubleheader this week. Indy/KC is the #1 game at 1:00, and WBNS is broadcasting it and then they are showing Tennessee/Dallas at 4:15. WTTE's sole game is Bengals-Bucs at 1:00. The Sunday Night game is Eagles-49ers...yikes. Monday Night is Jets-Vikings, which suddenly has gotten a lot more interesting.

Brett Favre Rant of the Week:

Since the Vikings had a bye, Favre did not throw any more interceptions, miss any passes, or complain about how old he is. However he now has Randy Moss to throw to, which presumeably will go very well. We'll see. Since the Vikings are playing the Jets, I expect Favre to make a lot of mistakes.

College Stat of the Week: Hawaii quarterback Bryant Moniz threw for 532 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-21 win over Louisiana Tech. Receiver Kealoha Pilares caught 18 balls for 217 yards and two touchdowns. Two weeks ago Moniz threw for six touchdowns in a 66-7 blowout of Charleston Southern.

College Football Scores From Schools You've Never Heard Of:

Score #1: Delta State 41, West Alabama 37.

Bonus Score: Notre Dame 16, Central State 13. No that is not a typo. That is Notre Dame college which is located in South Euclid, Ohio. Central State is a black college located in Wilberforce, Ohio, which is in the southwestern part of the state of Ohio. Ohio just is a hotbed of obscure schools.

Blowout of the Week: Grand Valley State 71, Tiffin 10

Just To Plug My Own School, CFSFSYNHO Basketball-Football Score of the Week: Capital 60, Heidelburg 50

Wake Me Up When It's Over Score: Muskingum 3, Wilmington (OH) 0. So makes four obscure Ohio schools that have appeared in this blog!

Yes I Am Drinking The Bears' Kool-Aid

2010-09-28T14:35:00.005-04:00

Note: This has been a very busy week for me, so I'm slowly writing this blog day-by-day, so that's why this didn't come out on Tuesday.

Yeah both teams played sloppily Tuesday night and yes two Jay Cutler interceptions were nullified by penalties, that's Jay Cutler, he takes chances and throws interceptions. Does Peyton Manning take chances? Does Tom Brady? Newsflash: they do. The difference is Brady and Manning have better personnel, and in the case of the Colts, I would say elite. What the Bears have going for them is they have an elite coach in Mike Martz. Sportsyak like to bang on Martz for every little thing. Yes he is a control freak and gets mean when things don't go his way. Did he make mistakes as coach of the Rams? Absolutely. Remember in the off-season after the Super Bowl loss to the Patriots? He cut ties with several defensive superstars, including London Fletcher, and came under fire when ordering a field goal at the end of regulation in the playoff game against the Panthers. I would admit that Martz is not the best when it comes to personnel decisions but he is a bona fide offensive genious, and has been for the past decade.

What's different about Martz's offenses is that a.) a defense simply cannot scheme against it. You expect pass on every play, but if you defense for that, you'll get run and vise-versa. b.) his offense does not audibleize that much. They come to line, have crazy motions, and then snap the ball with very little pre-snap "chicken dancing" from the quarterback. c.) he likes to control the pace. If the game is flowing slowly, he'll loosen it up by passing. If it's going super quick, he'll slow it down by calling a few runs.

Martz has recognized that the Bears do not have the talent or the o-line the caliber of his St. Louis teams, so he does not call passes that involve Jay Cutler dropping back, holding the ball for seven seconds and heaving the ball 60 yards for a big gain. The Bears offensive line simply cannot handle that. Even when the Packers rushed just three, it seems they hurried Cutler into moving outside the pocket for time to throw.

The Bears' defense is opportunistic, which is scary. They don't steal the spotlight with mega-bucks talent or monster turnovers, they just play good defense, much like the Bengals. So while the sports media are drinking the Michael Vick Kool-Aid, I'll take the Bears.

In other NFL news, the Micheal Vick beat a crappy team and Steelers can win without Ben Roethlisberger and the Chiefs, the freakin' Chiefs are 3-0. Maybe from now on I should call them "Patriots West" because their quarterback, offensive coordinator, linebacker and defensive coordinator used to be with the Patriots.

Browns Rant of the Week:

Another new feature to this blog. Living in Ohio I see the Browns week-in and week-out. They are making progress somewhat, but it's painful to watch sometimes. I have my doubts about the Ravens. They gave up 173 yards rushing to the Browns and fullback Peyton Hillis. And they would have given up more if it had not been for the conservative play calling of the Browns. They had spurts of aggressiveness, like on their very first drive where they threw on the first two plays and picked up considerable gains. And then there were two third and longs where they threw a rinky-dink screen on one, and simply and run up the middle that got stuffed on another.

And then there's their defense. On the game-icing touchdown to Anquan Boldin, the Browns blitzed eight, leaving Boldin practically uncovered. Thankfully though, that was really the only Browns defensive blunder of the game.

They need a lot of work to become a good team; cut down on penalties and loosen up on offense. I do however think they have the coaches and talent to be a .500 team.

Adventures in Officiation: The conclusion of the Saints-Falcons overtime game was, well, interesting. With two minutes remaining in the first overtime period the Falcons attempted a 41-yard field goal to win the game. The kick was blocked by the Saints, but...Sean Payton called one of those stupid timeouts just as the ball was snapped, nullifying the try as well as the block. On the second try Matt Bryant's field goal was good, but...the Falcons were penalized for a false start, pushing them back five yards. On the third try, this time from 46-yards, the kick was good with no timeouts or penalties and the game was over. Anyone else think the sneaky timeout before the field goal think is kind of stupid?

Charlie Batch Best Backup QB Ever?: Charlie Batch, Steelers backup quarterback, is 36 and has been in the league for 13 seasons. A second-round pick of the Lions in 1998 he started 12 games for the team in his rookie year (which was Barry Sanders' last before his abrupt retirement) and went 5-7, accounting for all five of the Lions wins that year. Batch was the highest-rated of the three starting quarterbacks of the Lions that season, going 173 for 303 for 2,178 yards with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. Not bad for a rookie, especially one that was thrown into a less-than-ideal situation. And he did throw a 98-yard pass to Johnnie Morton, the longest pass of the season. The next season the Lions were 8-8 and made the playoffs even without Sanders. Batch started 10 games, going 6-4. Despite not being the leading passer for the team that year he still led the team in touchdowns with 13 and threw the same amount of INTs (7) as Gus Frerotte, who started the remaining six games.

The next season, 2000, the Lions were 9-7, which happens to be the last time the Lions have had a winning season. A miracle field goal by the Bears kept the Lions out of the playoffs. Batch was the primary starter, starting 15 games. Batch went 221 for 412 for 2,489 yards with 13 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.

2001 was a disasterous season for the Lions. They only won two games. Ty Detmer was coach Marty Mornhinweg's starter. But after throwing seven interceptions and a bad showing against the Rams, Detmer was benched and Batch became the starter.

Since 2002 Batch has been on the Steelers staff but has only started five games in that span, but has always been effective and efficient. And unless Roethlisberger really struggles or gets hurt, then it's doubtful that we'll see him again this year.

Useless Stats Section:

Stat #1: The Seahawks and Cardinals are tied for the lead in the NFC West. Remember when we all thought the road in the NFC playoffs would go through San Francisco? The 49ers will be lucky to have a winning season based on the way they look and the way things are going.

Stat #2: The Giants have turned the ball over 10 times so far this season, the Colts, twice.

Stat #3: The Vikings have the 29th ranked offense in the NFL.

Stat #4: With one more interception, Favre will match his total from last season...in the fourth game.

Stat #5: The Cowboys are on pace to throw 688 passes this season.

Brett Favre Rant of the Week:

Adrian Peterson has almost 392 yards rushing already this season, that's a 2,091 yard pace, and with Favre playing as bad as he is, he's going to need every one of those yards. Favre threw two more interceptions, bringing his total to six in this young season. If he throws one more he'll have the same amount of interceptions as last year. Not all hope is lost for the Vikings though, they'll just have to rely less on Favre this season, and it's still unclear if he's injured, in pain, or just plain old. Next week the Vikings have a bye.

College Football Scores From Schools You've Never Heard Of:

Score #1: Southern Connecticut State 28, American International 7

Bonus Score: St. John Fisher 34, Hobart 14

CFSFSNYNHO Basketball-Football Score: Macalester 44, Crown College 41

CFSFSNYNHO Blowout of the Week: Southwest Baptist 69, Southern Nazarene 27

On TV Next Week: This week Fox has the doubleheader. I'll be seeing the "Battle of Ohio 2010 1.0" at 1:00 on CBS. Meanwhile on Fox at 1:00 I'll be seeing Saints-Falcons and Redskins-Eagles at 4:15. The Sunday Night game is Bears-Giants and Monday Night is Dolphins-Patriots. The Chiefs, Cowboys, Buccaneers, and Vikings, a combined record of 8-5, have byes next week.

Almost Everything is Right in the NFL World and Brett Favre Still is Old and Still Needs to Retire

2010-09-21T09:43:00.013-04:00

It must be right because the Bengals won a game like the Bengals of last year; winning a slugfest game with opportunistic defense and exclusively riding the right leg of their kicker for points.

The Jets must have the Patriots number. But instead of smothering Tom Brady and their receivers, the Jets out-offensed the Patriots' defense. LaDainian Tomlinson averaged almost seven yards a carry and Mark Sanchez threw a career high in touchdown passes. In the first quarter, Mark Sanchez looked dismal - just like in the Baltimore game. Then, Jets coached loosened up the play calling and Sanchez flourished, throwing for 220 yards.

Yes there was the catch by Moss and yes Revis was injured, but the Patriots defense is ranked 25th in league through the first two weeks of the season and is just not looking good.

Well then it must be right, because Peyton Manning, who completed 77% of his passes in a blowout win and looked like the AFC Champions they are. The Giant defense is simply not what it once was before Steve Spagnolu left for St. Louis. The Colts - the freaking Colts - had a running game on Sunday Night. Addai had 92 yards rushing and even backup Donald Brown had 69. And unfortunately, Manning Bowl II was over by the end of the first quarter.

The Steelers have only two quarterbacks left on their roster, but their 2-0, thanks to seven turnovers by the Titans and the same old Vince Young - looking great in one game and then looking horrid in the next. Granted the Raiders defense is nowhere near the level of the Steelers.
The Bears, Packers, Dolphins, Chiefs, Texans, and Bucs are 2-0, as are the Steelers without Ben Roethlisberger and the 49ers, Dolphins, Cowboys, and Panthers are 0-2.

The Saints offense has looked much more low-voltage than it did last year. This is probably attributed to both defenses the Saints have faced to playing a lot more deep zones, preventing down-the-field passes. While Saints offense still looks sharp, they're taking little shots down the field and running the football.

Let's now shift to TV coverage of the NFL, a hot button issue with me. Through the first three weeks of the year, here are the games that have been shown on WTTE-TV, the Fox affiliate in Columbus, Ohio.

#1.) Steelers-Falcons
#2.) Eagles-Packers
#3.) Broncos-Seahawks
#4.) Eagles-Jaguars (that's what on the schedule)

Only in Week 1 did Fox have the doubleheader (CBS had it this week and has it next week). And in Week 1, there was tennis after the nationally televised Bengals-Patriots game, and football only in the local markets of the teams in play at 4:05. For some reason, they have not scheduled a 1:00 game when they didn't have a doubleheader. In my opinion, the Cowboys-Bears game should have been shown. That was the best matchup. It had the Cowboys, a team with a nation-wide following. So why not schedule it? And next week, their showing another 4:05 games with two teams that have markets nowhere near Ohio.

There two 1:00 matchups that are much, much better (Cowboys-Texans, Lions-Vikings). Yes Vikings-Lions is intriging because the Vikings have a shot at getting upset by the Lions. I know I complained last year when WTTE showed a Vikings-Lions game early last season, but now the Lions seem more competative and the Vikings are slipping.

Boy, does WBNS try. They try their damndest to show a healthy balance of Steelers, Bengals, Browns from week to week, and I usually have few complaints. This week, all three teams play at 1:00 and all three of their games are on CBS. I don't rail on them too much because they are obligated to show local matchups, unlike WTTE, where there are no NFC teams for hundreds of miles.

Useless Stats Section:

Stat #1: The Chiefs lead the AFC West.

Stat #2: The Bucs are 2-0, and for most of Sunday and Monday led the NFC South.

Stat #3: The Bengals have won their past eight collisions with AFC North opponents.

Stat #4: The Broncos have won 11-straight home openers.

I'm Glad Pro-Football-Reference Looks This Up And Not Me: The final score of the Titans-Steelers game, 19-11, had only happened twice before in NFL history. The final score of the Saints-49ers game, 25-22, had only happened seven times before in NFL history. Meanwhile, 20-17, the most common final score in NFL history, has happened 231 times.

Brett Favre Rant of the Week:

A new section of this blog, and it's pretty self-explanatory. I'm sure I can find something to bitch about Favre even if they start winning. This week, they played the Dolphins at home. Brett Favre looked 41 and missed a ton of passes and threw some flat-out bad ones too. The Vikings have the second worst offense in the league and Favre has already thrown four picks (he threw seven last year). Yes, Peterson is having a good season so far, but Favre is simply not throwing to his receivers.

Watch Out Drew Bledsoe!: Last year, it was Tom Brady filling the air with footballs early in the season. This year, it's Tony Romo, who has already thrown 99 passes - a 792 pace.

Speaking of lots of passing, Donvan McNabb and Matt Schaub combined for over 900 yards of offense, mostly through the air, in the Texans' first overtime win in franchise history. The Texans came back from 17-down where they converted a 3th & 15, a 3rd & 10, and a dandy 4th & 10 touchdown pass to Andre Johnson.

Who Looks This Stuff Up?: "Manning Bowl II" was touted as the 17,225th game in NFL History in a big, flashy NBC Sports graphic.

Sweet Play That Turned Really, Really Sour: 3:38 left in the game, 3rd and 13 from the Redskins' 46. Donvan McNabb play fakes and has time to load up. He throws a beautiful pass to the end zone. Joey Galloway is there for the catch, he's open...and he drops the ball like it's a live ferret.

College Football Scores From Schools You've Never Heard Of:

Score #1: Redlands 23, Whitworth 7

Blowout Special: Salisbury 84, Husson 7. Husson's only touchdown came in the fourth quarter.

Lehman Bros. Game of the Week: Newport News Apprentice 9, Greensboro 7

Why Can't It Be Next Week Yet?!: Steelers-Bucs at 1:00 on CBS, Cowboys-Texans at 1:00 on Fox, Colts-Broncos at 4:15 on CBS, Jets-Dolphins on Sunday Night, and Packers-Bears on Monday Night.

DSDBNF The Brett Favre is Old and Needs to Retire Edition (And Other Stuff From Week I)

2010-09-14T12:44:00.006-04:00

See, even Brett Favre needs training camp! Man, oh man did the Vikings look lost and out-of-synch in the season opener and man, oh man did the Saints look poised and sharp. This won't be like last season when the Vikings started off playing the likes of Cleveland, Detroit, and St. Louis. Their middle-of-the-season schedule is murder, with the Jets, Cowboys, Pats, and Packers - three of which are away games. Forget the fact that the Vikings didn't have two of their star wide receivers, Favre barely looked their way. It seems he's rustier than he ever thought he would be, and it seems in nearly every press conference I bother to watch of his, he going on and on about how is ankle still bothers him and how old he is. If you think you're that old and rickety, retire!

Now for the Saints. And even though they scored only 14 points, they looked sharp, and on-target. Brees completed 75% of his passes to nine different receivers, and Pierre Thomas had a good day running the football. Their defense looked just as good as it did last year and instead of blitzing, they played tight coverage on the Vikings, which caught them, especially Favre, off-guard.

The Bengals thought that the season started next week instead of at 1:00 PM on the 12th. Now even though they lost, their offense didn't look that bad, and there was a healthy balance of Owens and Ochocino (and they were effective), although Jordan Shipley had the better game receiving than those two did. I wouldn't worry about the Bengals yet.

I wouldn't even worry about the Colts who got shocked by Houston, the team that led the league in passing last season, racked up 257 yards rushing, and their defenders bothered Manning when the game was contested, forcing him to step up and throw hurriedly, most of the time incomplete. Is it too much to say that the Texans are for real? And how sweet would it be if the Texans are vying for a Super Bowl victory in JerryWorld this January.

Jerry Rice Seahawks Spokesman?: Rice is undoubtedly the best skill position player in NFL history. He has had strained relation with the 49ers, the team that made him a star, ever since they cut him after the 2000 season. Rice attended a Seahawks practice and fired up the team and may have been the catalyst for the Seahawks' upset victory over the Niners.

Speaking of the 49ers, Alex Smith looked horrid as usual. He threw 45 passes for a mere 225 yards and threw two costly interceptions and Frank Gore had only 38 yards on the ground. Painfully more, the Niners punted in the fourth quarter in Seahawk territory trailing 28-6.

Random Stat #1: Pete Carroll won his first game as an NFL coach since January 2, 2000, a 20-3 victory over the Ravens (Carroll was the coach of the Patriots then).

Random Stat #2: The past three times the Steelers and Falcons have met, the game has gone into overtime.

Matt Forte The Next Marshall Faulk?: Forte had 201 yards from scrimmage (151 receiving, 51 rushing). Very Marshall Faulk-like in that sense, however Forte fumbled twice, something Faulk seldom did. And remember too that the Bears offensive coordinator is Mike Martz.

Random Stat #3: The Steelers have not lost an opening day game since 2002.

We're All Professionals Here: Derek Anderson complete a mere 51% of his passes and Sam Bradford, 58%. While both quarterbacks made some key throws, neither looked spectacular. And if Rams' coaches keep radioing-in this many passes, then Bradford shall have plenty of in-game experience!

Sweet But Futile Play: It's too bad the Browns honked a 14-point lead because Mohamed Massaquoi's touchdown pass from Jack Delhomme was flippin' sweet. On the other hand, the Bucs have been so bad the past couple years that I forgot that Ronde Barber even still played in the NFL (he returned a key interception for a touchdown that sparked a Buc comeback!)

Stat #3: Some much for the Cowboys' high-powered offense - they have only scored one touchdown in their past two games (going back to last season).

College Football Scores From Schools You've Never Heard Of:

Score #1: Wilkes University 38, Waynesburg 35.

CFSFSYNHO Blowout Special: Missouri West 81, Lincoln 14. It was 38-0 at halftime.

More Proof that College Overtime Sucks: In the Towson-Coastal Carolina collision, which Towson won 47-45 in the fifth overtime, there were 10 scoring plays in overtime. Ay Carumba!

Next Week (yes, this deserves boldface): There will be 16 NFL games.

Tomorrow's Games

2010-09-11T18:24:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow is the first NFL sunday of the 2010 NFL Season. The Columbus, Ohio TV market will see Bengals-Patriots and Steelers-Falcons at 1:00, and Eagles-Packers at 4:00 with Redskins-Cowboys for the Sunday Night game. Sounds good!

This Made Me Laugh

2010-09-07T14:40:00.004-04:00

Early in the college football season there are usually one or two games a week that involve a powerhouse program beating up on a "cupcake" or lower-skilled Division I-AA school (the powerhouse pays the smaller school big $$$ to come and get beat up).

Well, this past Saturday, Ole Miss was ahead of Jackson State 31-10 at halftime when the impossible happened: Jackson State mounted a comeback a beat Ole Miss 39-38 in double overtime. It all began with an interception by Jackson State. And that ignited a three touchdown rally in the fourth that led to overtime.

Since we've now returned to college football season, I can bring back Scores From Schools You've Never Heard Of:

Unfortunately, TMQ took the score of my favorite obscure school, Colorado School of Mines. Curse you, Gregg Easterbrook!

Score 1: Bemidji State 27, Minot State University 24

Bonus Score: West Virginia Wesleyan 38, St. Paul's 28

Obscure Blowout of the Week: Midwestern State 52, New Mexico Highlands 6

Obscure Lehman Bros. GOTW: McDaniel 3, Juniata 0

Final Note: Again cursing Gregg Easterbrook, he failed to mention Montana whooping up on Western State 73-2!

Final Final Note: This is the most college football I will ever devote to a single post.

Final Final Final Note: Hey, the real NFL season starts this Thursday - Saints vs. Vikings!

Commentator Pairings For the 2010 Season Have Been Released

2010-08-27T19:55:00.003-04:00

I watch a lot of football, and quality commentary is important to me, so I take interest in seeing who the pairings are before the season starts.

For this season, CBS has changed a few things around, mainly due to the retirement of Dick Enberg, formerly the #3 play-by-play announcer (partnered with Dan Fouts). For 2010, Simms and Nantz and Gumbel and Dierdorf are still the same. Ian Eagle has moved from #5 to #3 to facilitate Enberg facant play-by-play spot. Kevin Harlan and Soloman Wilcots remain at #4, and Gus Johnson will be paired with Steve Tasker at #5, who have moved up a spot from last season. At #6 this season will see Bill Macatee and Rich Gannon. Macatee moved up from #8 and Gannon was moved down from #5. Don Criqui will remain as the #7 play-by-play announcer and will be partnered with Steve Beurlein, who was bumped up a spot from last season. Rounding out the last pair will be Spero Dedes and Randy Cross. Cross over the years has moved down CBS's commentating tree for whatever reasons. In 1998 he called games with Verne Lundquist, and was eventually moved

NFL Playbooks in PDF Form For Free!

2010-08-18T11:08:00.004-04:00

Yesterday on the pro-football-reference.com blog, they shared a link from Fast & Furious Football, a site solely of football playbooks, both college, pro and even high school, offensive, defensive, special teams and even instructions for workouts.

The link is found here: http://fastandfuriousfootball.com/free-playbooks.html

Just as a bit of teaser (or more incentive to check this fabulous site out), there are playbooks from all eras and offensive types; '66 Packers, '69 Redskins, as well as some more modern offenses like the '01 Rams, '03 Pats and quite a few West Coast Offense 49ers playbooks generated by Bill Walsh, Mike Holmgren and Mike Shanahan. It even has the playbook of my favorite all-time team, the 411-page playbook of the 2000 St. Louis Rams, who scored 540 points and racked-up 7,075 yards of total offense (don't expect similar numbers to a Bears team near you however).

2010 NFC Preview

2010-08-17T13:49:00.006-04:00

Last week, I did my AFC preview, and now a week into the preseason, here is my NFC preview.

Minnesota Vikings (10-6)

Whether or not Favre signs, this is Adrian Peterson's team. And honestly, Favre will maybe win an extra game (remember they won 10 games with Gus Frerotte and Tavaris Jackson at quarterback a couple years ago). Their talent remains mostly unchanged from last year, so I'm expecting another good season from the Vikings, however they have a tough first half of their schedule, so don't expect Favre to have quite as good a season as last.

Green Bay Vikings (12-4)

One of the NFL's elite team with an elite quarterback. Their one weak spot is their offensive line which gave up the most sacks last season. They have the weapons to win a Super Bowl and have an easy schedule too.

Chicago Bears (8-8)

The Bears could go either way. They have a ton of talent, especially on defense, but have an erratic quarterback. The addition of Mike Martz as offensive coordinator may help Cutler out, but Martz had success with the Rams with supreme talent.

Detroit Lions (2-14)

Umm, yeah, can we move on?

New Orleans Saints (11-5)

I'm expecting a bit of a Super Bowl hangover from the Saints, but not too much of a drop-off as their personnel has largely remained the same. If they can still run the ball and play defense the way they did last year, they will do fine.

Atlanta Falcons (10-6)

I know a lot of people are high on the Falcons, but I am not one of those. They have an easy schedule and they may be the best squad as a team, but I don't think they have the weapons do win the Super Bowl. Yeah they have Tony Gonzalez, but so did the Chiefs for 15 years and they went nowhere in the playoffs in that time span.

Carolina Panthers (8-8)

All of the NFC South teams have easy schedules, however I'm not predicting any spectacular or earth-shattering from the Panthers. They are perfectly average, and have remained as such during much of the John Fox-era.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-15)

Okay-yay, moving on.

Dallas Cowboys (13-3)

I'm not a huge Tony Romo or Wade Phillips fan, however they have so much other talent which makes them one of the league's best teams, especially Miles Austin. Expect Tony Romo to honk a game or two toward the end of the season but I don't rule out the Cowboys playing at home in the Super Bowl. They are helped by the fact that this is the first time in years that the NFC East may be a down division (I don't know what to expect from either of the three other teams).

New York Giants (9-7)

Well they have an easy schedule, but other than that I have no idea what to expect from the Giants.

Philadelphia Eagles (7-9)

I think the loss of Donovan McNabb will really hurt the Eagles and they have a really tough December; with games against the Texans and Vikings, and at the Cowboys and Giants.

Washington Redskins (8-8)

The Redskins will be a very talented team with a great coach and quarterback, however they have a tough schedule, especially in the middle of the season when teams usually pick up steam for the playoffs. The addition of Donovan McNabb has obviously created national attention for the Redskins, who will play two Sunday Night games (both at home against the Cowboys and Colts) despite being in the cellar last year.

San Francisco 49ers (10-6)

I'm going to grudgingly say that the 49ers will win the weak NFC West (and they may have home-field advantage in the playoffs), even though Mike Singletary is crazy. Yes they have Frank Gore (and now Brian Westbrook) and that's about it on offense. Shaun Hill really, really should start at quarterback instead of Alex Smith. Hill is 10-6 as a starter, 322 of 522 passing for 3,490 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. And they have an easy schedule too.

Arizona Cardinals (6-10)

I don't know what to make of them, so I'll say .500. They lost a lot of talent with Boldin and Rolle going to other teams and Warner retiring. I do not think Matt Leinert is a competent NFL starter. He's just another glory-boy quarterback who looked good at a powerhouse school, but cannot handle the NFL. I do however think the Cardinals still have one of the best coaching staffs in the league, but that only goes so far. Second-year running back "Beanie" Wells will have to step it up or the 2010 Cardinals' season will be a disaster.

Seattle Seahawks (9-7)

Another coaching staff begins anew with the Seahawks with the same talent, which is actually not bad. They have a relatively easy schedule and with a coach who has had success with other teams in the NFL with remotely the same talent level (Carroll is 33-31 as a coach, with a 1-2 playoff record).

AFC Season Predictions

2010-08-09T09:57:00.006-04:00

Yup. It's that time of year where we needlessly predict NFL teams' records for 2010. Today I'll do the AFC and then I'll do the NFC in a separate post.

Because I saw the Bengals play last night, I'll start with them:

Cincinnati Bengals (10-6)

Last year, they were the NFL's best team and I'm expecting a bit of a drop-off from last year because T.O. has historically not been much of team player and because they'll need to pass more because of T.O. and Ochocinco.

Baltimore Ravens (11-5)

Their defense isn't old, Ray Lewis is, and he's just as dominate as ever, however is focus of their team has shifted to their offense; Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, Anquan Boldin and Derrick Mason. And yes, I expect them and the Bengals to be neck-and-neck down the stretch for the AFC North title.

Pittsburgh Steelers (6-10)

I expect them to not be as dominate either, as this team has become Ben Roethlisberger and nobody else. He'll be suspended the first few games of the season where they'll struggle. Their offensive line is bad, which makes them not good at running the ball and bad at protecting Big Ben. Their defense is getting old and it was revealed that they are nothing without Troy Polamalu.

Cleveland Browns (4-12)

They're taking baby-steps to becoming a good team. I'm not sure if the acquisition of Jake Delhomme was all that good of an idea but that team could use some veteran leadership. Team President Mike Holmgren is an offensive genius and it's already been confirmed that coach Eric Mangini will run Holmgren's offense. Jerome Harrison could easily have a good season which will help out Delhomme and Cribbs when they go into the Wildcat. However they have a tough schedule so I don't expect them to win too many games because of that.

Indianapolis Colts (13-3)

Umm, yeah, it's the Colts with Peyton Manning, Joseph Addai, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon. How bad can they be?

Houston Texans (11-5)

The Texans are going to be my dark horse team this year. Because I'm expecting the Titans and Jaguars to have down seasons, I see no reason why they won't make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history (if they were in a different division, they would be). Andre Johnson is the best wide receiver in the league, and Matt Schaub has become an elite quarterback with the right coach (Gary Kubiak). Their lack of a running game may be their downfall though

Tennessee Titans (6-10)

I'm just not seeing it. Chris Johnson may have another 2,000 yard-season, but that won games in 1985, not 2010. Kerry Collins is extremely inconsistent and Vince Young, while a gifted athlete, is not a cerebral person whatsoever. Their skill position talent is not very good and their defense is below average (28th last season). Dare I say that if they don't win that Jeff Fisher is on the hot seat?

Jacksonville Jaguars (9-7)

Their skill position talent is better than the Titans, however their defense is just average. I'm not sure how the loss of Torry Holt will effect their passing game this season. To be honest I'm not sure if he was much of a threat last year. They have a tough-ish schedule (don't be surprised if they start 0-4) but a couple easy games in the middle of the season.

New England Patriots (12-4)

They'll have a dominate offense this season, there's no doubt about that, however their defense is just not good and expect that to cost them a game or two; namely against the Chargers and possibly the Packers.

New York Jets (11-5)

They have an easy out-of-division schedule, as they play the mushy NFC North, as well as the Texans and Bengals at home in November. And yes, they'll have a good defense but they're blitz-happy ways may cost them a game.

Miami Dolphins (9-7)

They too have an easy schedule, with the exception of having to travel to New England the last game of the season, however they have some woofers against Tennessee, Cleveland, Oakland and Chicago. Other than Brandon Marshall, their skill position talent isn't outstanding but they have one of the better coaching staff in the league, so that helps.

Buffalo Bills (3-13)

They play in tough division and don't have an easy schedule and they're not a good team. I have nothing else to say.

San Diego Chargers (13-3)

It's quite possible they have the easiest schedule in the NFL, and not because they play in a crappy division. They play the Jaguars and the 49ers at home.

Oakland Raiders (7-9)

They too are taking baby-steps to becoming a good team. They have an easy first 2/3 of their schedule, whereas it'll be tough in December, going to Pittsburgh, and having games against Indy and Miami.

Denver Broncos (6-10)

They have a tough schedule and don't have very good players. They have a tough beginning schedule, where the Broncos have historically won games in, but I'm not seeing it.

Kansas City Chiefs (7-9)

They have better coaching staff and decent skill position talent, however they have a tough beginning to their season but wrap it up with easy games.

Chris Johnson To Be The Next Terrell Davis? And Me Writing Anything and Everything About NFL Running Backs

2010-08-03T13:10:00.006-04:00

Titans' running back Chris Johnson had an astounding 2,006 yards on 358 carries. Stats back up that Johnson will have a short but productive career, much like Larry Johnson, Ricky Williams 1.0 and Terrell Davis. NFL History tells us that running backs who have consecutive 300+ carry seasons don't last long.

In 2006 Larry Johnson carried the ball an NFL record 416 times (and 336 times the season before). Johnson has not been the same since. He hasn't had a 1,000 yard season since.

Ricky Williams 1.0 had 775 carries over two seasons (2002 and 2003) and leading the league in rushing in 2002, then failed a drug test in training camp the next season and retired. He tried to come back both with the Dolphins and in Canada but either had drug troubles or injuries before Ricky Williams 2.0 emerged in 2008.

Terrell Davis had seasons of 345, 369 and 392 carries over three straight seasons. Then Davis had three more injury-plagued seasons before he retired after just seven NFL seasons.

The same thing could be said for running backs after 29 (if they even make it that long). O.J. Simpson seemed to hit a wall after 29, as did Eric Dickerson and LaDainian Tomlinson.

Defenses scheme better for these guys, and coaches keep radioing-in plays for them, which overtime leads to fatigue and injury. And it seemed to happen more often in the past 20 years with single back offenses emerging in the NFL.

However, this scenario does point to the greatness of players like Curtis Martin, Eddie George, Barry Sanders and LaDainian Tomlinson, who had multiple 300+ carry seasons and were largely their teams playmakers for years and years (Martin had two straight 300+ carry seasons after 30).

Ricky Watters was a controversial running back in his day because he would take plays off and run his mouth on occasion. But he was a rare breed of running back who routinely played well. He is the only back in history to have a 1,000 yard season with three different teams. Yes, he may have taken plays off, but it only helped out his longevity.

Marcus Allen was undoubtedly the longest-tenured NFL running back, playing for 16 seasons. He had a considerable slump in the middle of his career, which lead to his dealing to Kansas City, where he became a short-yardage back (picking up "garbage yards") and a pass receiver. Amazingly, he had 11 touchdowns at age 37.

So watch out, Chris Johnson. You're bound to be the next Terrell Davis, who has two or three outstanding seasons, and then quickly drop into obscurity due to injuries and lack or production.

Will Fox Change Its NFL Scoring Bug This Season?

2010-07-28T15:10:00.002-04:00

Normally every season an NFL televising network has the Super Bowl, that network changes their graphics. This past year, CBS changed their graphics during the preseason in anticipation of their co Super Bowl. The last time they did that was 2006... the last time they hosted a Super Bowl.

Fox too changed their graphics to their current scheme in 2006 as well, even though they did not have the Super Bowl until the end of the 2007 season. This season, Fox will have the Super Bowl, so does that mean they will debut new graphics and scoring bug?

When Fox won the NFC package from CBS in 1994, they were the first network to use a scoring bug (called the "FoxBox.") It was a simple see-through box that displayed the score, quarter and time, which Fox used for several years until 1998.

ABC began using both a scoring bug and the electronic first down line in 1997 and their graphics were changed every year until ABC lost Monday Night Football in 2006.

NBC has basically been using the same graphics since they returned to the NFL in 2006. They have only hosted one Super Bowl so they may switch them up next season when they will host their next Super Bowl.

NBC hosted Super Bowl XXXII in 1998. Their coverage of the game was rather boring and uninterested. They used no scoring bug, no electronic first down marker, no nothing.

Meanwhile, Fox updated the FoxBox in 1998 in anticipation of hosting Super Bowl XXXIII and CBS was back with the AFC package (beating out NBC for the bid) and they used their own rendition of the FoxBox (which was updated of the years until this past year, where they opted for a scoring banner).

CBS changed their scoring bug in 1999 and used it through 2000. A new one debuted for Super Bowl XXXV and it was kept through 2001.

In 2001, Fox's year in the Super Bowl rotation, the FoxBox was retired, and Fox debuted a generic scoring banner that has been updated a few times over the years (the same thing was done for their baseball coverage too).

Personally, I have not like Fox or CBS' graphics since 2005, especially Fox's, because I feel it's too small and too hard to read (even though it covers the whole screen!)

Is it a big deal with me? No, but with how much football I watch I notice it.

Catching 1,000 Passes Does Not Matter in the NFL Anymore

2010-07-27T19:36:00.003-04:00

10 years ago, there was only one receiver in the 1,000 receptions club, and that was Jerry Rice, of course. In 2000, Cris Carter caught his 1,000th pass, and in 2002 Tim Brown caught his 1,000th. The fourth receiver to catch 1,000 passes was Marvin Harrison, and he did so in 2006. In 2008 Isaac Bruce caught his 1,000th and then the next season T.O. did as well. If tight end Tony Gonzalez catches exactly one pass this year, he will have caught 1,000, the first tight end to do so And this year both Randy Moss and Torry Holt have legitimate shots at joining the club.

The next two to reach these sort of numbers are no-brainers: Larry Fitzgerald and Andre Johnson. Johnson has played seven season and has 587 receptions. Fitzgerald has played one less season and has 523 receptions. I see no reason to think that these guys will also have their 1,000 if their numbers stay the same over the next seven seasons. Antonio Gates also has a pretty good chance of catching 1,000. He has 479 receptions and has played the same number of seasons as Johnson.

Every time a receiver has caught 1,000 passes, it has become less of a big deal. In 2002 when Tim Brown caught his 1,000th pass, (on a Monday Night game against the Jets) the game was stopped for five minutes when his family members, friends and coaches came onto the field to congratulate him. (And as a fun fact, on the next play Rich Gannon threw a touchdown pass to Jerry Rice) I do not recall when Harrison caught his thousandth, to be honest. I found out by wondering who would be the next after Brown and looking on pro-football-reference.com and I saw that Harrison had already caught 1,000. When Bruce and Owens did it, they certainly did not stop the game for them.

Yes, Torry Holt Still Plays in the NFL

2010-07-27T19:20:00.003-04:00

EDIT: This post was made before Holt was put on injured reserve, which means he will miss the entire season, and possibly will retire too. Oh, well. Read this post anyway.

Anyone remember "Big Game" Torry Holt? I'm sure you do. He played 10 plentiful seasons with the Rams. He was cut by the Rams in March of 2009 and was subsequently picked up by the Jaguars and started 12 games last season, catching 51 passes for 722 yards with no touchdowns - the least productive season of his career. Holt was released by the Jags on February 11th and signed with the Patriots in April.

Of all the latest Patriots talk surrounding Tom Brady, Wes Welker and Randy Moss, I have heard no mention of Holt, one of the most productive receivers in NFL history, whatsoever. I wonder why. Yes, he will be 34 this season, but Jerry Rice was one of the league's best receivers well into his 40s. And his teammate, Randy Moss, will be the same age too.

Holt was the fastest receiver to reach 10,000 yards receiving and currently stands at 920 receptions. If his numbers stay on their current path and he plays in 2011, or whenever football may return, he will be the seventh or eighth receiver catch 1,000 passes. I say "or eighth" because Randy Moss currently stands at 926 receptions. Barring any injury or downturn in production, he will catch his 1,000th pass this season as well.

Am I an idiot to think that Torry Holt will have a big year this year and have a resurgence in his career? In the Patriots system and with Tom Brady at quarterback, I don't think so. He can't possibly throw every pass to Welker and Moss.

Holy Crap, We're Like Two Months Away From the Start of Football Season

2010-06-21T15:42:00.003-04:00

Today is June 21st, the first day of Summer. Two months from now will be August 21st, and we'll be well into the NFL preseason, when interest and excitement about the NFL is high, even if the football is bad. College football too, will be starting up in a couple weeks.

In July, NFL training camps will be taking place, which means the likes of Peter King and other NFL writers and reporters will be touring the nation in search of stories. And, undoubtedly, Brett Favre will be a subject of a lot of speculation.

I'm not the hugest fan of Favre, but not for the obvious reasons. I think he's always been just plain overrated. When his supporting cast was average, he was average. And I have never appreciated his "gunslinger" manner he conducts his play either, but that's just me.

And I think that without a doubt he will play. His supporting cast is too good and his ego is too big for him to not play this season, even though he will turn 41 during the season.

Just hang on people, football season will start eventually.

Once Again I Mock TMQ

2010-06-15T13:47:00.002-04:00

Since I have the day off and have nothing better to do, I'll mock another old TMQ just for the hell of it. This time it'll be his "analysis" of the 2003 Super Bowl between the Raiders and the Bucs. What you have to remember about TMQ is that he thinks it would be best for the Super Bowl teams to do the total opposite of what got them to the big game.

"Why are you punting?" -- Jan. 28, 2003

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=tmq/030128

Gregg first starts off by saying that Tampa saved their best performance for last and did not show an attitude that it was just great being there.

These things said, to TMQ the determining factors were not the Tampa zone nor the big interceptions, but the Tampa offensive game plan and the breakdown of the Raiders' offensive line. Throw in rookie coach Bill Callahan going fraidy-cat with what may be the Single Worst Call in Super Bowl history, and you've got a formula for being punched out. Let's take these in turn.

No Tampa's defense and the big interceptions were the deciding factors as they scored more points than the offense did in that game (and Gregg even mentioned it later). The "fraidy-cat" call was Oakland punting on 4th and 2 after going three-and-out at the beginning of the second half, trailing 20-3. I seriously doubt this was the worst call in Super Bowl history, but maybe it is to Gregg.

Tampa's Offensive Game Plan: A top defense stopped a top offense for the nth consecutive time in the Super Bowl. But the performance of the Bucs' offense was as important.

No argument about the top defense stopping the top offense. The top offense has never beaten the top defense in the Super Bowl. I don't think the performance of the Bucs' offense quite that important. Just ask the 2000 Ravens. Their defense was their offense.

The Raiders all season had trouble stopping the run. The pass they were fine against but were a little shaky against the run. In fact, they lost four straight games against the Rams, Chiefs, Chargers and 49ers, teams that had great running backs in 2002. And then they had a fifth loss late in the season against the Dolphins and Ricky Williams.

Bear in mind that it was Tampa 6, Oakland 3 in the middle of the second quarter, very much anybody's game. Jon "I Was A Teenaged Coach" Gruden then did the smartest thing a Super Bowl coach could possibly do -- he took TMQ's advice. Last week, TMQ's Super Bowl prediction was, "The game will be won by whichever team surprises the other with a rushing-oriented game plan." At the eight-minute mark of the second, Gruden switched out of an ineffective hurry-up passing game and went to the ground game.

Here is where Gregg's lack of football knowledge comes to play. Tampa scripted their first 15 plays, most of which were passes and they were ineffective. If they switched to a run-oriented attack in the second quarter, then they obviously didn't come in to the game with a run-oriented offensive gameplan. What else was Gruden supposed to do?

The Bucs put in two tight ends, while, much to TMQ's pleasure, Pro Bowl "fullback" Mike Alstott actually lined up at fullback and threw blocks. For the remainder of the half, Tampa rushed 11 times for 49 yards, threw five times for 43 yards and picked up three first downs on Oakland penalties, as the Raiders defense, expecting a pass-wacky look, seemed to have no idea how to respond to power running. Tampa scored touchdowns on both these second-quarter possessions when it went to the ground, making the count 20-3 at halftime. Everything about the switch to running worked. Two touchdowns in two possessions; Oakland's offense kept off the field while the clock ground; Oakland down 20-3 at the half, its drip-drip-drip attack not designed for comebacks.

Yes, Gregg, it had nothing to do with the fact that Tampa intercepted two passes and their speedy defense held the Oakland to like 60 yards of offense in the first half. Asshole.

Then, on his first possession of the second half -- knowing the Raiders spent halftime adjusting to the run -- Gruden went play-action, to fine effect. Tampa's first possession of the second half was an 89-yard, eight-minute touchdown drive that put the Bucs ahead 27-3 and caused TMQ to write the words "game over" in his notebook, though considerable entertainment remained. On that drive, the Bucs ran seven times and passed seven times, four of them play-action. This was masterful manipulation of an opponent. The effect carried over to help Tampa's defense; the Oakland offense lost heart trying to climb out of a scoreboard hole.

I can't say I disagree with Gregg here. The Bucs did start throwing off play action at the beginning of the third quarter to much success. Although TMQ almost wrote "game over" in his notebook too soon, as the Raiders closed the gap to less than two scores and were well on their way of making it one. But if the Raiders had pulled off a miracle comeback, I doubt if Gregg would have mentioned that...

As for TMQ having called this shot -- I am available, my price is two No. 1s, two No. 2s and $8 million.

Don't forget to tip the waitresses.

Just how bad was Raiders Pro Bowl tackle Lincoln Kennedy, winner of the TMQ Non-QB Non-RB MVP award? Game tied at three in the first, Oakland on the Tampa 43. Kennedy barely so much as brushes Simeon Rice as he blows in to pressure Rich Gannon into throwing a pick; Kennedy looked like he was courteously stepping aside for the Queen's carriage. Instead of Oakland moving into scoring range, the Bucs drive for a field goal the other way. Kennedy gave up two sacks, had no push and once appeared simply to let go of Warren Sapp to give him a free shot at Gannon as the pass was released. Maybe the international publicity and nonstop mega-babes went to Kennedy's head after he was named TMQ Non-QB Non-RB MVP, but he looked seriously awful. On one snap, Tampa's Greg Spires blew past Kennedy to sack Gannon. Spires is a waiver-wire gentlemen who has bounced around the league. Kennedy made him look like Derrick Thomas in his prime.

Speed kills. Guys like Rice and Quarles were really speedy and fatasses like the Raiders O-Line couldn't keep up.

The desertion of Raiders Pro Bowl center Barret Robbins -- see Single Worst Play below -- was treated by bobbleheads and sportswriters as an odd sidebar, but may have been the determining moment of the Super Bowl.

I actually agree with TMQ here. Barret Robbins was the best Center in the NFL and I think the Raiders missed him much too much in the Super Bowl.

The Oakland OL produced one of the worst blocking performances TMQ has ever winced through, in part because its schemes were disrupted. On most plays, one of the guards, Mo Collins or Frank Middleton, helped reserve center Adam Treu handle his man, leaving the Raiders' tackles "on islands." Left tackle Barry Sims usually gets guard help. With Robbins out and Treu getting the help, Sims was cover-your-eyes, too, on two occasions barely so much as waving at Rice before the gentleman blew in to paste Gannon.

I agree that the Raiders for some reason changed their blocking schemes, but TMQ never mentioned just how fast the Bucs defense was and how well they pursued. Adam Treu was no fraud either. He started 14 games for the Raiders in 2001, so why Raiders coaches felt they needed to give him guard help I have no idea.

What Gregg didn't mention is that Tampa primarily played nickel defense (five defensive backs) and when they did blitz, the speedy Ronde Barber was usually right in Gannon's grill.

Note that the game's final phase, when the Tampa defensive line was tired and Gannon had time to scan the field, the Raiders put up two fairly easy-looking touchdowns. Once Gannon had time, suddenly his offense was powerful again and the City of Tampa defense was human again. What we saw in the final 17 minutes of the Super Bowl was the tight, tense, exciting duel we would have seen through the entire game, had Robbins not flaked out and the Oakland line played per usual. In this sense, by disappearing AWOL, Robbins not only shafted his teammates, he shafted the nation, depriving us of a tight, tense, exciting Super Bowl.

Once again Gregg forgets to mention Tampa's special teams breakdown as they directly lead to two of Oakland's second half scores and glimmers of hope for a comeback.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Oakland blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown to make the score 34-15. Then on the ensuing Bucs drive Tom Tupa mishandled a field goal snap and Oakland then scored a touchdown a few plays later to make the score 34-21.

Whether or not the Bucs defense got tired is hard to say. I think Oakland coaches finally started calling deeper pass patterns which is how you counter the "Tampa 2" zone, not the rinky-dinky stuff that Oakland called previously.

Next, Gregg uses several paragraphs saying that Oakland should not have punted on 4th and 2 from their own 35 at the beginning of the third quarter when trailing 20-3.

'Tis Better to Have Rushed and Lost Than Never to Have Rushed at All: Super Bowl tied at three at the end of the first quarter, Oakland faced third-and-two on the City of Tampa 43. It's anybody's game. The Bucs stopped a short run on the previous play, so won't be expecting another run, and they have the league's No. 1 pass defense, while their run defense is human. You can't win the Super Bowl unless you can run for two yards; plus, given the field position, if you pick up one yard, then you go for it on fourth. Run! Instead it's an empty-backfield roll-out play, Rich Gannon sprints backwards, bad pass, intercepted, Tampa scores on its possession. You can't win the Super Bowl if you can't run for two yards.

At the start of the third quarter the Raiders again faced third-and-two and again Gannon sprinted backward, this time for an incompletion. You can't win the Super Bowl if you can't run for two yards.

Lots of teams pass on 3rd and 2, although one would think that it would be one of the easiest conversions ever. And I wouldn't exactly have called Tampa's run defense "human".

Stat of the Week: The Tampa defense outscored the Oakland offense, 21-15.

Thanks, Gregg for once again proving my point and completely contradicting yourself.

Stat of the Week No. 8: The cumulative passer rating of Tampa opponents through all 17 games was 44.8. Ryan Leaf's career rating was 50.

Says something about Tampa's defense. Even the 2000 Ravens weren't that good.

Gregg then uses 839 words and eight paragraphs for his sci-fi complaint of the week.

Raiders: Don't Walk Out Over This One, Okay? Going for two after making it 34-21 with six minutes left, Oakland threw to Jerry Porter, who appeared to catch it in the air and be pushed out. TMQ thought it was a classic force-out and that the catch should have counted; the zebra on the scene thought otherwise; Callahan challenged and announcers talked about how a force-out cannot be reviewed, as by quirk, some rulings including force-out are not subject to review; after review, the play stood as called, no catch. Please, Raider Nation, don't claim this is more evidence of the international Zionist-Hindu conspiracy against you. (When TMQ lived in Pakistan, local newspapers were full of talk of "Zionist-Hindu" schemes to control the world.)

Everyone missed that the zebra on the scene did not rule that Porter was out of bounds -- he ruled pass incomplete. Porter held the ball, flew through the air and then, as he came down, the ball hit the ground and bounced. NFL rules now say that if a receiver catches in the air and appears to have possession and control, but the ball bounces when he hits the ground, it's incomplete. TMQ has doubts about that rule -- in common-sense terms, Porter's play looked good to me. Just as, in common-sense terms, Charles Woodson sure made Tom Brady fumble in the Snow Bowl. But in terms of the rules, Brady didn't fumble and Porter did not make the catch. Zebras were right both times.

The only reason referee Bill Carollo allowed the Raiders to challenge is that what they were challenging was a ruling of incompletion, not force-out: a complete/incomplete judgment can be reversed. All you had to do to know this was to watch the zebra immediately give the sign for incompletion, not the sign for receiver out of bounds.

This was a dumb rule that force out did not apply in two-point conversions but it did everywhere else and I'm surprised that Carollo allowed Callahan to challenge. Basically Porter caught the ball in mid-air while being hit and landed out of bounds, thus an incomplete pass. I hate it when the rules get in the way of common sense but that's the way it goes. And Brady fumbled too.

Sweet Play of the Day: Leading 13-3, Tampa had first-and-goal on the Oakland five with 34 seconds in the half. Receiver Keenan McCardell split right, covered by Charles Woodson. For this situation, NFL teams have fallen in love with the "fade," in which the receiver runs shallow to the pin at the corner of the end zone, looking over his shoulder back across the defender. McCardell took off as if for a fade, and Woodson turned to defend a ball coming over his head. Brad Johnson then deliberately underthrew the pass, and McCardell turned the other way to catch it behind his body as Woodson kept watching for the fade action. This is a modern variation on the old deliberate-underthrow that Joe Namath used to Don Maynard, on plays that cornerbacks thought were fly patterns, and it was the beauty play of the Super Bowl.

I too thought this was a sweet play because I hate fades near the goal line because they rarely work and aren't pretty to watch. But Johnson didn't deliberately underthrow the ball.

Sweet Play If It Had Come, Oh, Two Quarters Sooner: Oakland trailing 34-15 with six minutes left, Gannon hit Jerry Rice on beauty post route for a 48-yard touchdown and the Raiders' last-gasp. Fifty-four minutes had ticked off the clock, and this was the only the second time Gannon had thrown down the deep middle. No one has ever beaten a two-deep zone defense by throwing nothing but outs and to the short middle, which is what the Raiders had tried to this point. The post is Rice's best route -- remember how he killed the Bolts with it in the Niners-Chargers Super Bowl? -- yet Oakland had Rice spend the day running sideways. Yumpin' jiminy.

Once again I agree with Gregg. The Raiders spent too much time trying to "nickel and dime their way down the field" and not throwing deep, which the Raiders seemed to do with great success -- when they did.

And In My Memories, I Was Constantly Being Asked Out by Hot Babes: After Oakland missed its third of three two-point conversion attempts and trailed by 13 instead of 10 points as it would have been had the Raiders taken singletons, John Madden reminisced, "When I was coaching in this league, I never went for two until the very end, regardless of the scoreboard. I believed in always taking one point unless it was the very end."

Surely, Madden is in sync with TMQ's immutable law of the conversion: Take One Till the Fourth. But John -- when you were a head coach, there was no two-point option. Madden ran the Raiders from 1969 to 1978. The old AFL two-point rule was ended when the AFL and old NFL merged in 1967. The deuce conversion option was not reinstated until 1994.

Only in Easterbrook's dreams will he be surrounded by hot women. And why Madden said this really puzzled me, but Madden said a lot of things that puzzled me, so I was not surprised.

And then Gregg talks about a lot of non-football crap that I didn't even bother to read.

And of course there is a bullshit plug about Gregg's book, surprise surprise.

Gregg Easterbrook Hates "24" and TV In General Because It's Unrealistic and Offensive. TheDood Shakes his Head in Puzzlement.

2010-06-15T09:21:00.004-04:00

Gregg Easterbrook wrote a special off-season "TMQ" just to complain about "24" when that show wrapped up last month. I only remember Gregg going on old-man rants about the show this year and not even mentioning in in the other eight years the show was on. But remember who we're dealing with here and his so-called thought process. And what got me the most is that ESPN picked it up because it's not about sports at all. There is no mention of anything sports in the column.

(Note: TheDood is a huge 24 fan, so the whole idea of this exclusive post by Easterbrook really annoys him)

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/100525_24_finale

The Fox series "24" concluded Monday night, and not a moment too soon. It had become so preposterous; it was more like science fiction than drama. Through the course of the eight-year series, the United States had five presidents, and the fifth was about to announce her resignation as the series ended.What Gregg failed to note was that there was anywhere from 18 months to two years between seasons, so the show did not in fact take place over eight years. And when was 24 ever a drama? Seems to me it was more of an action series.

Through the eight years depicted, a nuclear bomb went off near Los Angeles, a former president was murdered by the CIA, Air Force One was shot down, martial law was declared, U.S. nuclear missile launch codes were stolen, Russian nuclear missile launch codes were stolen, the Secretary of Defense was kidnapped and government computers were taken over. Jack Bauer solved all these problems (except the Los Angeles explosion) single-handedly, always by running from place to place, shouting at everyone he met, then shooting people using one of those special guns that never runs out of bullets, while thousands of rounds fired back at him at close range missed their target.

Yeah this statement is really untrue. 24 had a huge and great supporting cast and Jack got shot quite a few times. Granted though, he was a bit of a Superman a lot, but this is freaking TV!

And you can't forget that Jack could get to anywhere in L.A. in five minutes or less! That rat bastard!

Bauer also single-handedly foiled a nerve gas attack on diplomats, a radioactive dirty-bomb attack on New York, five other nuclear bomb attacks on U.S. cities, and an attempt to cause several U.S. nuclear power plants to melt down. This veered well beyond nonsense, even given Jack's amazing ability to move across town -- or across country -- during commercials. Another sci-fi aspect: The countless conspirators of "24" endlessly discuss their conspiracies, in specific language, over cell phones!

I have always wanted to know what, if any, TV shows and movies Gregg Easterbrook watches. He is probably the worst person to watch a TV or movie with because he will point out and rant and complain about things that are unrealistic and illogical. He seems to always go on old man rants about action series being too violent and unrealistic. And the same could be said for him and sci-fi even though he is a self-proclaimed sci-fi "fan".

"This veered well beyond nonsense," IT'S FREAKING TV!

", even given Jack's ability to move across town -- or across country -- during commercials."

Gregg fails to mention that the show is in real time and I never once remembered Jack traveling cross-country during a commercial break. But the producers have said in the past that they use commercials to have characters travel.

Here is my favorite sci-fi line from the series: "The president has ordered the media not to report any criticism." And how did that work for you, George W. Bush?

Only Gregg Easterbrook thinks this show was sci-fi. But then again he thinks every show is sci-fi because they're all unrealistic. And I thought Gregg Easterbrook was a Republican. And when does the government actually do what it says?

In the final two episodes, Jack killed a dozen people, including five Russian bodyguards standing in a hotel room, all of whom died instantaneously on the first shot, without any of them ever getting a shot off at him. Clint Eastwood can only envy that scene. Plus, lots of gunshots were fired in a fancy hotel and no policemen came. Also, Jack rescued a woman from a CIA-defended cell, then attacked an ex-president's motorcade and kidnapped him in central Manhattan without anyone noticing. At one point, Jack is running down a Manhattan street holding only his never-empty pistol, then a scene later has a large backpack with sniper weapons and electronics. Where did the large backpack come from? Through the course of the series, Jack killed, with guns or knives, perhaps 1,000 people. I doubt there has ever been a human being who killed that many people in any form of face-to-face encounters, including during war; certainly there has never been a law enforcement officer who's killed more than a few people. (Most law enforcement officers retire without ever having fired their guns except on the training range, let alone killing anyone.)

All I'm going to say (again) is that this is a work of fiction and you're supposed to be entertained. If it were realistic or not silly than it would be damn boring.

When Jack kidnapped ex-president Logan (notice he never used names here, which leads me to believe that he doesn't actually watch the show, or if he does, not very closely), they were in either a parking garage or a loading dock (I can't specifically remember), so no one would have noticed anyway.

Gregg probably just looked at some watchdog group or something (I'm sure they're out there, mainly against the show's violence and depiction of torture in the past) and got his material for this column from there, because it certain doesn't seem like he actually watched the show.

I think both Gregg and I have made our points. But does he finish? Hell no. And there are places on the internet where you look up how many people Jack killed

And yes it's television, which means absurdity.

Thanks for making my point, Gregg!

But the big buildup to the final scene of the series turned on whether the president would sign a treaty with fictional Kamistan -- a treaty that Bauer alone knew to be a Russian plot. As the series' climatic scene begins, the setup is that if the president signs, the United States will be sold out to the Russians. The U.N. Secretary General pronounces, "By signing, you commit your respective countries to abide by the terms therein." Signing any treaty is a symbolic gesture! In the United States, treaties only acquire force once ratified by the Senate. I admit I don't know how these things are handled in Kamistan. Come on, Hollywood. Isn't there anyone on the scriptwriting staff with a passing knowledge of the U.S. Constitution?

Do you, Gregg, pass knowledge of U.S. Constitution? And if the treaty went to Senate, why wouldn't they ratify it?

This leads to the disturbing thing about "24" -- not its blood, but its distorted depictions of how U.S. government works. Not only did the show present warped pictures of the constitution, the military and the legal system, it went beyond to the most negative, cynical view of the United States ever seen on television. Throughout the series, hardly anyone is honest or patriotic -- most high White House officials, and practically everyone in the military and in national intelligence, is either corrupt or a traitor or both. The CIA, especially, is depicted as employing traitors exclusively -- like a hiring requirement. In the series' penultimate scene, as the valorous Chloe finally regains control of the fictional super-secret CTU, she orders everyone but Ortez and Arlo out of headquarters -- because everyone else in the CTU is a traitor.

If I were a U.S. military officer or intelligence official, I would be offended by "24" and its depiction of the United States government and national security apparatus as dens of lawbreakers and turncoats. What a relief it's over.

This is why the show is a work of fiction and only dumbasses who can't think for themselves like Gregg don't like this show because that's the way they feel the government work because 24 says it does. And a lot of people feel that government officials are corrupt and are in it for themselves. And when did it show a "warped picture of the military"? There is a lot of secret stuff in the military, and since 24 is a work of fiction, the writers can only speculate on how the secret stuff works.

Throughout the series, hardly anyone is honest or patriotic -- most high White House officials, and practically everyone in the military and in national intelligence, is either corrupt or a traitor or both.

Since when are White House officials honest or patriotic? Just kidding. Again I think Gregg is way off in this statement. Throughout the show there were plenty in the White House inner-circle and the military who could be trusted, but you don't remember them. Or in Gregg's case, they didn't exist because he only watched the show in its final season and not in the past when the White House was more involved.

If I were a U.S. military officer or intelligence official, I would be offended by "24" and its depiction of the United States government and national security apparatus as dens of lawbreakers and turncoats.

Actually many in Washington including President Obama are fans of the show. Only Gregg who thinks that all television is realistic would be offended. I would think if you are given the chance to work in government and military intelligence than you would be smart enough to realize that this show is a work of fiction and is in no way realistic.

What a relief it's over.

Yeah and too bad for Gregg it's not because there's going to be a movie. It's been confirmed. I think it's already written, so actually 24 isn't over. But given Gregg's aloofness about 24's past, I'm not surprised he didn't know about that. Maybe his "clean TV" watchdog groups didn't know about it either.

I was unpleasantly surprised that Gregg Easterbrook wrote a special "TMQ" about the finale of 24 and that ESPN picked it up because it is not about sports whatsoever. I think this poo-poos both ESPN and Gregg Easterbrook for reasons I am sure you can figure out on your own.

"In the next TMQ, Gregg goes inside the military and learns of their secrets and will be published in the next TMQ so he can complain about 24 and about TV and movies in general -- only on ESPN.com Page 2."

Me Ripping "TMQ" - The 2001 Edition

2010-06-14T20:52:00.003-04:00

Gregg Easterbrook has been writing his Tuesday Morning Quarterback column for 10 years now, much to my annoyance and enjoyment at the same time. Let me explain. I cringe at his perceived lack of football knowledge and his lack of an imagination when talking about... anything from a TV show or movie. However at the same time I enjoy ripping his work, his stupid nicknames for NFL teams and the tastefully named Gregg Williams... er... wait... I don't enjoy Gregg Williams, an ex-head coach and current Saints defensive coordinator.

Before getting too far, somebody on Blogger has beat to the chance at harshly critiquing on Easterbrooks columns and sport journalism in general. That is The Bottom of the Barrel blog located at http://bottom-of-the-barrel.blogspot.com/. For the past two seasons those guys (or gals if there are any) have been ripping Easterbrook's every TMQ (which is only during the regular season and draft, unlike Peter King's MMQB, which is year round).

Easterbrook began writing his column for Slate Magazine in 2000. He then moved to ESPN.com in 2002. A few weeks into the 2003 season he was fired by ESPN for comments that were perceived as anti-semantic in another column he was writing. He wrote briefly for Football Outsiders before being picked up by NFL.com later that season. He moved back to ESPN in 2006 and has been there ever since. All of his columns except for the ones he wrote for NFL.com are still available, including the ones for Slate from 2000 and 2001.

One thing that needs to be remembered is that his TMQs are long, very long, sometimes upwards of 10,000 words and he often goes on tangents.

Note: I have just picked a random TMQ column and will now prognosticate it.

"Once More Into the Breach Against the Local Affiliates!" -- Oct. 30, 2001

http://www.slate.com/id/2057875/

Saints at Rams, Raiders at Eagles, Niners at Bears—wow, what an attractive Sunday card, combined record 24-7 for these hot teams. So which of the headliner games was shown in the nation’s capital, where TMQ lives? None. The nation’s capital saw only Jax at Baltimore and Giants at the Chesapeake Watershed Region Indigenous Persons, combined record 9-14. New York, the nation’s largest city, saw neither Rams-Saints nor Niners-Bears, both barn-burners. What, are terrorists controlling football programming now, too?

Believe or not, some loyal fans of certain teams enjoy watching and recording their teams' games in their entirety without any interruptions. Obviously Gregg isn't a Redskins fan, not that I blame him though.

One common theme in his TMQ always has been bitching about network program directors.

Basically he goes on and complains about program directors only scheduling regional games, no matter how bad the local teams may be, using the Pacific Northwest as an example.

Recognizing their smart-bomb-like flair for homing in on the worst possible game, a few local affiliates do the democratic thing and allow viewers to vote. As reader Ravi Nanavati points out, WBBM, the CBS affiliate in Chicago, lets fans pick what matchup the station will show in non-Bears slots. (Vote for this week’s possibilities here.) Why don’t other affiliates employ this sensible system?

I wonder if that vote's still open?

Meanwhile the insidious home-sellout penalty refuses to die. Since 1973, when Congress voted to compel the NFL to air sold-out home games, there has been a catch: When a station shows a sold-out local game, it cannot show any other NFL game that day. This rule cancels the doubleheader if the sold-out home game is airing on the same network holding the doubleheader that week. (By contract, Fox and CBS rotate doubleheader weeks.) For cities that perpetually sell out their stadia—Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, Washington among them—the effect is to block about half the season’s doubleheader Sundays. In New York, where the two-team, always-sold-out Meadowlands stadium hosts a home game weekly, for years the effect has been to show fans in the nation’s largest city strictly the Giants and Jets. During 1999, for example, in 11 of the 17 NFL regular-season weeks, New York on Sunday afternoon saw the Giants and Jets and nothing else.
Problems with the blackout catch are two. First, it penalizes fans for selling out the local stadium. Second, it penalizes owners by limiting ad revenues since so many good games aren’t shown in major cities; showing them would improve ratings and ad revenue. Meanwhile all bad local affiliate decisions reduce ratings and thus revenue. It’s not like viewing of the top games appreciates and can be marketed later. Viewing is worth quite a bit while the games are in progress and is worthless one second after they end.

I too think the idea of a blackout is pretty stupid. Back before 1973 games were blacked out in their home TV markets even if the game was sold out. What people would often do is journey to hotels just outside the limits of that TV market so they could see their home team (for instance going to Connecticut to see Giants games, going to Ohio to see the Steelers). But still, if a game is not sold out, it still will not be scheduled in that home market. Another weird rule is that only one network in each market can show a double-header.

Then Gregg goes on to say that DirecTV is the best route, but that it comes at a price and not all regions of the country can be reached by their satellites.

In other NFL news, corks popped at 4:33 p.m. ET Sunday as the previously undefeated Rams left the field mumbling “No. !!%@&!&*” at the Dome at Center of the Observable Universe, or whatever the St. Louis stadium is now called. In one of the sweetest traditions in sports lore, each season on opening day, each surviving member of the 1972 Miami Dolphins—the sole NFL team to complete a perfect season—sets aside a bottle of champagne to cool. The cork is loosened when the last remaining undefeated team honks, ensuring the record is safe for another year. And it’s genuine champagne, not the blueberry-almond sparkling-style chlorine-infused beverage-type substance passing for bubbly these days. Gentlemen of 1972, TMQ hopes you enjoyed your draught. You are likely to sample it again annually until the day the football gods summon you to Asgard for song and feasting.

Another thing about Gregg's column is that he used Auto-Text way too much and this quote he rehashes every time the last undefeated team is, well, defeated. He just changes the time and the team that no longer has a naught in their "L" column.

Best of the Week. (Best Non-Plays): Game tied at 31, the Saints had first and goal at the Rams’ 8 with 1:48 remaining and St. Louis bereft of time-outs. New Orleans made no attempt to score a touchdown. Instead kneel down, kneel down, kneel down, then the winning field goal with one second left. St. Louis was bereft of time-outs because earlier, coach Mike Martz challenged a fumble ruling that was obviously correct. TMQ warned last week that the football gods would punish the Rams for the hubris of their onside kick when leading by a big margin against the Jets.

Ah yes, we are introduced to the football gods. Basically whenever a team does something not-nice, like win a game by a large margin, Gregg proclaims that they are running up the score, and that the Football Gods will punish them.

Best Merriment: Mike Brown returned an overtime pick for six to cap Chicago’s big comeback against the Niners. He concluded the winning play by diving into the end zone—except he was already 5 yards into the end zone when he dove.

Uh, okay?

Worst Plays of the Week: Facing fourth and an inch at the Ravens’ 8 in a scoreless first quarter, Jax lined up with an empty backfield, not even bothering to show run. You have to pass to gain an inch? Incomplete, change of possession, the Jaguars went on to lose by one. This also demonstrates the potency of TMQ’s law: Kick Early, Go for It Late.

Much of Gregg's prognostication stems from "this team should have done the opposite". And like that an event in the first quarter no less determined the outcome of the game. That's Gregg Easterbrook logic for ya.

Worst No. 2: Trailing 10-3, the Arizona (CATUION: MAY CONTAIN FOOTBALL-LIKE SUBSTANCE) Cardinals had possession on their 1, third and 10. The Az-Men came out in a shotgun, forcing QB Jake Plummer to stand near the back of the end zone. He retreated almost to the end line, then launched a wild heave-ho that was intercepted and returned for six. Arizona would have been much better off running to improve punt position or taking a deliberate safety. The shotgun from your own 1!

First of all, what the hell does "in a shotgun" mean? He could have said "came out in the shotgun" or "came out in a shotgun formation". And I bet he would have ripped the Cardinals if they had taken a "deliberate safety" as he suggested, he would have called them pussies and put them in the "Buck-bwuck-bruckkkkk" segment.

Worst Attempt at Divine Intervention: The “review assistant,” the anonymous gentleman in the NFL box who alone can challenge calls in the final two minutes, challenged both the Bears’ last-second touchdown and the ensuing last-second deuce conversion to force overtime. Both plays were upheld.

Umm... okay?

Worst Coaching No. 1: QB guru genius Mike Holmgren left Trent Dilfer—on a 20-4 run as a starter—on the bench as Matt Hasselbeck, 1-3 lifetime, honked to the Marine Mammals.

Yes I am sure that the reason the Seahawks lost to the Dolphins was solely because Hasselbeck started in place of Dilfer. It couldn't possibly be because the Dolphins, the better team, outplayed the Seahawks. More Easterbrookian logic.

Worst Coaching No. 2: Trailing Miami 24-20 with two minutes left, Seattle faced fourth and four at the Dolphins’ 10. Guru genius Holmgren sent in the kicking unit, gambling his underachiever defense could get the ball back immediately for another field goal attempt to win. The 28-yarder doinked; game over. But Seattle was doomed in any case for violating an immutable law: Kick Early, Go for It Late.

And tell me how the field goal missing was Holmgren's fault? Because he ordered it? And what if the fourth down conversion failed. Gregg would have made up another "immutable law" or some crap that the "Football Gods" did to say that they should have kicked a field goal.

Worst Rodomontade: As the gun sounded on the Persons’ win over the Giants, players doused coach Marty Schottenheimer with Gatorade. Washington is 2-5.

What's wrong with being proud of a win? But still at 2-5 that is kind of silly, but whatever.

Worst Ridiculous K2 Survival Gear: Each time he came to the sidelines in Chicago, Niners quarterback Jeff Garcia put on a ski cap and pulled it over his ears. Kickoff temperature was 53 degrees.

Bastard...

Gregg throws up more random-ass stats that I can't even pontificate on.

Sensors Detect Temporal Anomaly in the Arrowhead Sector: Taking over with 45 seconds left in the half and three time-outs, trailing by seven, the Chiefs drove to the Horsies’ 30, where they kicked a field goal on second down because the clock was almost zeroed. During the possession, Kansas City never called time out. On the plus side, the unused time-outs can be donated to charity.

A win is a win is a win no matter how it comes. Seems pretty routine to me. Maybe they were able to utilize the sidelines.

Forget the Titans: With last night’s loss, Tennessee is on the ropes at 2-4 and is 2-5 since the end of the 2000 regular season, when it had compiled the best AFC record and was the purist’s choice for the Super Bowl. Ye gods, what happened? Tuesday Morning Quarterback will report the shocking truth next week.

TMQ will make up a reason five minutes before he writes next week's column. Although I think Gregg made up that it was the fault of their "46" defense, even without the tastefully-named Gregg Williams.

Next is his cheerleader of the week, which is kind of sick for a middle-aged, married guy with kids. He posts pictures too and I doubt if he even gets permission from the woman or the team she cheers for.

Researchers Note Rice Envy Syndrome: Two years ago, as he closed in on becoming the No. 2 receiver all-time behind Jerry Rice, rather than acting happy, Andre Reed became an incredible jerk—throwing tantrums on the sidelines, denouncing his teammates for not revering him enough. Now Cris Carter, who just passed Reed as No. 2 all-time behind Rice, has become an incredible jerk—throwing tantrums on the sidelines (against Tampa, Carter on the sideline looked like he needed milk, crackers, and a bedtime story), denouncing his teammates for not revering him enough. Sure, anthrax is the priority. But couldn’t some biologist devise a vaccine for the debilitating effects of Rice Envy Syndrome?

Receivers have and always will be divas. Even the great Jerry Rice was one at one time or another, but not all that often. Did it ever occur to Gregg that maybe Carter and Reed deserved to be revered? Yeah they weren't Rice but they were still all-time great receivers. And I hate it when coaches go on power trips and don't give their most gifted athletes chances at making plays. That's what makes players complain (and contracts too).

Stop Me Before I Blitz Again! Persons 27, G-Men 21, seven minutes left, Persons facing third and 19 at their 24. All New York needs is to play straight coverage, get a stop (the average NFL pass attempt yields 6.2 yards), and the punt puts the Giants in excellent field position. Instead, it’s a blitz! Journeyman Michael Westbrook is one-on-one with part-time CB/full-time tawdry pitchman Jason Sehorn and scorches Sehorn for the 76-yard TD that seals the game.

Another Easterbrook classic, although sometimes he does have a point. But seriously though if the Giants had forced a punt, Gregg probably would have called the Redskins wusses for punting. Again it comes down to me questioning Easterbrook's logic a lot, and guessing what he would say if the team did the opposite.

The Football Gods Chortled: For this year’s office Halloween party, TMQ came wearing a big magnet: costumed as a babe magnet! In a cruel twist, all the attractive women from the office came dressed as men, so the magnet had no effect. It was touch-and-go whether it would even work on TMQ’s wife.

This sounds like something straight from an episode of According to Jim. I'm going to hold my tongue now.

Obscure College Score of the Week: Wisconsin-Stevens Point 34, Wisconsin-Stout 24. Stevens Point, whose foreboding modernist campus is centered around a vast concrete sun dial that looks like the main deflector dish of a crashed starcruiser, boasts that it finished fourth in the 2002 U.S. News ranking for “top public Midwestern universities—master’s.” (The U.S. News college ranking franchise is sprouting so many categories, it makes the Academy Awards seem restrained.) The school’s Faculty Constitution (access it here) runs 42 pages—formatted as a Word general document, the U.S. Constitution is 12 pages—and contains such earth-shattering specifications as, “Subject to review by the Senate, the committee shall have the authority to encourage programs with an international emphasis.” Lifestyle bonus: Beer aficionados consider Stevens Point Brewery one of the country’s top micros. Gape at the frightening Point Maple Wheat beer here.
Bonus Obscure Score: Muhlenberg 23, Ursinus 20. Located in the pastorally named Collegeville, Pa., Ursinus is “a Dell Laptop Campus,” issuing every incoming frosh a Latitude deck. (So Mom and Dad, that tuition is really only …) Its admissions page points potential customers to an article deriding the myth that “if you don’t get into Harvard, Yale or Princeton, your life is ruined … [this is] like saying that without Armani and Prada, we’d have nothing to wear.” TMQ’s life was ruined when he failed to get into the University of Miami, farm team for the Dolphins’ cheerleaders. And Ursinus appears to suffer the same genus confusion as the American Academy for the Advancement of Science. An essay by Ursinus President John Strassburger says students “burst into applause” when a professor asked them, “What does it mean to be human?”
Double Bonus Obscure Score: Norfolk State 7, Howard 0 in OT. This game was 0-0 after four quarters and came tantalizingly close to TMQ’s ultimate football final, 2-0 in overtime. Norfolk State emerged victorious despite gaining 49 yards in regulation. Howard threw 25 times for a net of 2 yards.

I actually rather enjoy the obscure college scores. And even my school showed up in one although it was long before I began attending it.

Basically the rest of the column is devoted to Dennis Miller (the "comedian" on Monday Night Football) and haikus submitted by readers.

So there you have it. I haven't touched on all Easterbrook cliches, but I think I got most of them. It is interesting to go back and read this stuff just to remember the teams and players from "back then".

NFL 1990s First-Team All-Decade

2010-05-14T12:59:00.003-04:00

Once again, I'm going to create a roster (actually in this case two) rosters of NFL players who played the entire decade of the 90s - truly an "All-Decade" team.

But before I start, here is the official NFL All-Decade team for the 90s and the years they played (First-Team only):

QB- John Elway (1983-98)
RB- Barry Sanders (1989-98)
RB- Emmitt Smith (1990-2004)
WR- Jerry Rice (1985-2004)
WR- Cris Carter (1987-2002)
TE- Shannon Sharpe (1990-2003)
T- Willie Roaf (1993-2005) and Gary Zimmerman (1986-97)
G- Bruce Matthews (1983-2001) and Randall McDaniel (1988-2001)
C- Dermontti Dawson (1988-2000)
DE- Bruce Smith (1985-2003) and Reggie White (1985-2000)
DT- Cortez Kennedy (1990-2000) and John Randle (1990-2003)
LB- Junior Seau (still active, since 1990), Derrick Thomas (1989-99), Kevin Greene (1985-99)
DB- Deion Sanders (1989-2000, 2004-5), Rod Woodson (1987-2003), Steve Atwater (1989-99), LeRoy Butler (1990-2001)
K- Morten Andersen (1982-2007)
P- Darren Bennett (1995-2005)
KR- Michael Bates (1993-2003)
PR- Deion Sanders (1989-2000, 2004-5)

So there you have it. The "official" NFL All-Decade Team. Pretty good list, huh? 20 of these players played all 10 years of this decade.

With that said, here we go with my list.

QB- Dan Marino (1983-99)

There were a ton of quarterbacks who played all 10 seasons of the 90s, not just Marino (Steve Young, Warren Moon, Rich Gannon, Vinny Testaverde, Neil O'Donnell, Randall Cunningham, Troy Aikman, Elvis Grbac, Steve Walsh, Steve Bono, Steve Beurlein). Officially anointed signal caller John Elway missed the cut by a season, retiring after the 1998 season. Whereas fellow 1983 draftee hung on for one more season in '99. Not much else to say here, I think we all know the significance to Marino's career. He on the second team of the 1980s All-Decade (I think we all know who was first team).

RB- Emmitt Smith

No deviance from the NFL list here. There actually weren't too many running backs who played the whole decade, unlike in the 2000s. However I am one of those who felt that the 90s Cowboys were kind of overrated but because Smith carried a lot of the load, he's not overrated in my book.

FB- Daryl Johnston (1989-99)

I decided to put a fullback on the team (instead of second running back) and I'm pretty sure that Johnston was the only true fullback who played all 1o years, as the role of a fullback in the 90s became more and more invisible. Was a true blocker and did not have many carries or pass receptions.

WR- Jerry Rice and Cris Carter

Again not deviating from the official list. There were a bunch of wide receivers who played the entire decade, which is mainly why I created a second team (to be seen later). These two guys are pretty self-explanatory.

TE- Howard Cross (1989-2001)

I'm not really the hugest fan of Shannon Sharpe as a tight end mainly due to his physical specs (6'2" 230 lbs.). I highly value his receiving stats but would not be against putting him in the Hall of Fame as a wide receiver and not a tight end. Unfortunately my favorite all-time tight end, Ben Coates, was a rookie in 1991, so would not be eligible for this list. So, I decided on the big (6'5" 270 lbs.) Cross. He was the only member of the rather forgettable 2000 Giants who was on the 1990 team who beat the Bills in the big game. Judging by his receiving numbers he was strictly used as a blocker. His single season high for receptions was 31, which was in 1994.

T- Bruce Armstrong (1987-2000) and Lomas Brown (1985-2002)

Armstrong was one of the best pass blocking tackles of all-time and help protect Drew Bledsoe from being sacked even though he dropped back 600+ times three-straight seasons. I think this may be my only homer pick of this list because I was a fan of the Parcells-era Patriots (not so much now though). Lomas Brown wasn't bad either, making seven Pro Bowls and one First-Team All-Pro (1995). Brown had the notoriety of being a member of the "Barry Sanders-era Lions" and then went to Arizona and then Cleveland. He and the Giants lost the Super Bowl in 2000 and he finally earned a Super Bowl ring in his final season with the Bucs, although he did not play in the game (he must have been injured).

G- Bruce Matthews and Randall McDaniel

Not deviating from the official list, and for good reason. These are probably the two best guards ever. Matthews may be the best overall o-lineman ever. Matthews made a record 14 Pro Bowls over his 19-year career. He primarily played at guard, although he played tackle early in his career and played center for the Run & Shoot Oilers before switching back to guard. And in looking at his p-f-r page it looks like Matthews played center in his last season in 2001 (and he made the Pro Bowl too). McDaniel made Pro Bowls in all of his seasons played except for his first and last and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009.

C- Dermontti Dawson

The Steelers hit two homeruns with centers over the years. First with the long career of Mike Webster in the 70s and 80s and then with Dawson in the 90s. And not to sound too cliche, but again we're not changing from the NFL's list.

My First-Team defense is exactly same the same other than with my defensive backs. They are Darrell Green, LeRoy Butler, Deion Sanders and Rod Woodson. I took Steve Atwater out and put him on my Second-Team and have him switch spots with Darrell Green (who was on the NFL's Second-Team). I guess I prefer speedy guys over hard hitters, because that's what Atwater was, whereas Green, Sanders and Woodson were all superior athletes.

K- Gary Anderson (1982-2004)

Anderson was on the NFL's Second-Team. His perfect season of 1998 influenced my decision greatly, because even back then kickers were not as automatic as they are now.

P- Sean Landeta (1985-2005)

There were two times I went "wha-huh?" when glancing over the NFL's 1990s All-Decade Team. One was why Darren Bennett was selected as punter. Although he was the first Australian Rules player to have success in the NFL, he did not start playing until 1995. The other one was selecting Ronnie Lott to the Second-Team defense. He made Pro Bowls and All-Pros in 1990 and 1991, but did not do much else in his last couple years after that. So instead I picked Sean Landeta as my team's punter.

KR- Eric Metcalf (1989-2002)

Metcalf could easily play a third down back or another wide receiver too. Another one of the best all-around players in NFL history (he really blurred some of the skill positions, playing returner, receiver and running back).

PR- Deion Sanders

Either guy could play either position. I just including Deion because of his athleticism. He also would come in on offense on my team.

The Second-Team will be in another upcoming post.

The Real NFL All-Decade Team

2010-04-22T20:48:00.008-04:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted something, but this just popped in my head; creating a "true" all-decade team, meaning one completely made up of players who played every year of the 2000 decade, and interestingly, it's easier than I thought it would be.

Before I start, here is the official NFL 2000s All-Decade Team (first team only):

QB: Peyton Manning

RB: LaDainian Tomlinson

(RB: Edgerrin James)

FB: Lorenzo Neal

TE: Tony Gonzalez

WR: Marvin Harrison

WR: Randy Moss

Tackles: Walter Jones and Jonathan Ogden

Guards: Alan Faneca and Steve Hutchinson
Center: Kevin Mawae

DE: Dwight Feeney and Michael Strahan

DT: Warren Sapp and Richard Seymour

LB: Derrick Brooks, Ray Lewis, and Brian Urlacher

CB: Champ Bailey and Charles Woodson

S: Ed Reed Brian Dawkins

K: Adam Vinatieri

P: Shane Lechler

KR: Josh Cribbs

PR: Dante Hall

Of this list, 25 players are still active, and 15 played the entire decade. On that note, here goes my list:

QB: Peyton Manning

No diversion from the official list here. In fact, the second team quarterback, Tom Brady, played the entire decade, too. To be honest, I was not a fan of Peyton Manning at all, until a couple years ago, but now he is just so commanding on the field that he is the best quarterback in the league, bar none.

RB: LaDainian Tomlinson

Again not differentiating from the official list here. L.T. was a rookie in 2000.

FB: Tony Richardson

I was originally not going to have a fullback, however I remembered the accomplished and lengthy career of Richardson and decided to go ahead and put him in. Has blocked for Marcus Allen, Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, Chester Taylor, and Thomas Jones (not all at the same time though!)

WR: Terrell Owens, Randy Moss

Although I'm not a huge T.O. fan, he has been around since '96, and played every season this decade. Randy Moss was voted to the second team, mainly because of his "dark years" with the Raiders, but he has been around since '98.

TE: Tony Gonzalez

Again, no diversion from the official list. He was hugely productive in every year this decade, too.

Offensive Linemen: Walter Jones, Flozell Adams, Alan Faneca, Mike Goff, and Kevin Mawae.

I grouped all o-linemen together, but I managed to find two guards, two tackles, and a center who were "all-decade" guys. Even though Mawae only played in six games in 2005, he is going on his 17th season in the league (remember him with the Seahawks way back when?) Mike Goff started seven games this past season, but started more than a dozen in the other nine years of the decade. Was a third round pick of the Bengals in 1998. Flozell Adams has played with one team in his (continuing) 13-year career - the Cowboys.

Defensive Linemen: Jason Taylor, John Abraham, Cornelius Griffin, Grady Jackson

I guess my all-decade defense will be a 4-3, as is the NFL's. The only guy I took from the official list is Jason Taylor. I did not even know Grady Jackson was still around, I remember him as a Raider in the late-90s and early last decade, I guess he's younger than I think he is. He's definitely a journeymen player, mainly because he's shown up to multiple camps overweight (he's officially listed at 345). Griffin was a rookie in the Giants' Super Bowl blunder against the Ravens, and has managed to stay with the Redskins since '04, despite a volatile front office. Abraham was an all-pro wa-ay back in 2001. He had 16.5 sacks in 2008, too.

Linebackers: London Fletcher, Ray Lewis, and James Farrior

Lewis and Urlacher are on the official team. London Fletcher is my favorite NFL defensive player. He has played in all but one game this decade. Why it took him until this year to make a Pro Bowl really baffles me, and even then, it was as an alternate. Urlacher would have made the cut, but because of his injury this past season, he isn't eligible. And what isn't there to say about Ray Lewis? He's made six all-pros in the oughts and one in the 90s and there really is no end in sight for him. Farrior was an all-pro in 2004 and a pro bowler in '08. Junior Seau could have easily been on a real all-decade team for the 90s and 00s (he was a rookie in 1990), however has only been a backup lately, so he also doesn't make my cut.

Defensive Backs: Champ Bailey, Charles Woodson, Brian Dawkins, and Darren Sharper

Two safeties, two corners. I was tempted to pick Ty Law over Woodson, but he played very little this year, and therefore I wasn't inclined to pick him for my all-decade team. Darren Sharper is another workhorse player who started a whole bunch of game in the oughts, much to my delight. Was an all-pro all the way back in 2000, however he lead the league in interceptions this year with nine, which was the same number he had in 2000. Did you know that Brian Dawkins has been around since '96? I do now.

Kicker: Jason Hanson

I'm a devout Belichick-era Patriots hater, therefore I couldn't stand myself if I picked Adam Vinatieri as my kicker. Hason has played with one team - the Lions - for the past 18 seasons!

Punter: Jeff Feagles

Feagles has played in the NFL for 22 seasons now, and probably is the best directional punter ever. I'm not saying that Shane Lechler didn't deserve his recognition, I just felt like being different.

Returners: Ahman Green and Derrick Mason

Green was another player who I had to be reminded by the internet that he was, in fact, still active. He was a returner early on in his career and did it rather unsuccessfully this year with the Packers. Unfortunately, kick and punt returner is a rather non-descript decision, and usually they don't last too long (Dante Hall, first team punt returner and second team kick returner, was in the league for nine seasons). And Josh Cribbs, while a sensation, has only been in the league the past five seasons. Derrick Mason led the league in all-purpose yards in 2000 (662 punt returning, 1132 kick returning, 895 receiving, and one rushing), and thus was an all-pro, although he has not touched a kick-off or punt since 2004, he is an "all-decade" returner.

In hindsight, it's interest to note how many players actually lasted and were successful in every year of the 2000s decade, especially some of the skill position guys (there are a ton of receivers who lasted a long time). All in all, I'm pretty satisfied with this roster

No AutoText Was Used In The Writing Of This Blog

2009-11-30T16:28:00.006-05:00

So Vince Young is now the best quarterback in NFL history, better than Montana, Brady, Favre, and Manning combined! The Titans will surely go to the Super Bowl and win 198-8 on and Young will own the passing record in the first quarter! NOT SO FAST. In case you hadn't heard, the Titans beat the Cardinals 20-17. Vince Young took the Titans on a game-winning, 99-yard, game-winning drive. What was lost was Chris Johnson's 154 yards rushing on a mere 18 carries. Man, are the Titans looking good, and probably all it was attributed to Vince Young getting the start. He may not be the smartest, most cerebral guy, but he is one great athlete. In other NFL news, the Colts clinched the AFC South division because the Jaguars loss - in embarrassing fashion, to the 49ers. And Jake Delhomme, second in the league in interceptions, threw four more, bringing his total to 18. One again, I attribute it to Cat's coaches calling too many passes. They radioed in 38 of them (sacks plus attempts) to 25 rushes. Plus, the Cats only gained 176 yards of offense and six points.

There's been some talk about changing the rules about the Thanksgiving NFL games to include the "hot" teams at the time. Remember, NFL skeds are decided at least five years in advance. Besides, it's tradition, the Lions always play on Thanksgiving and they've been bad for years. I doubt that viewers pay that close of attention (the productions people surely don't) because most of them are with families. And by halftime of the second game, viewers are more concerned about stuffing their faces and not football. As for the third game, nobody can watch so I can't speak of it.

Useless Stats Section:

#1: The Colts have won 20 straight regular season games mostly with receivers named Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie

#2: The Titans finished a winless, eight-game streak with five-straight wins.

#3: Chris Johnson of the Titans is on pace to rush for over 2,000 yards

#4: Brett Favre has still only thrown three interceptions.

#5: Are the Bengals really winning the AFC North?

#6: Are the Steelers really only 6-5?

#7: The 49ers rushed for 52 yards and won.

#8: A Mike Singletary-coached team threw 42 passes and won. Note: no 49er quarterback was sacked.

#9: The Browns have scored seven or less points in seven games this season.

#10: The Cowboys gave up their first touchdown on Thanksgiving in four years - against the Raiders.

Worst Plays in a 36-10 Blowout Win: On the last play of the first quarter, Brett Favre was sacked for a 14 yard lost - the line of scrimmage was the Bears' one. On the said play, the Vikings sent a tight end split wide - a dead give-away to the defense that the play was going to be a pass, the play was a rollout right and then when Brett Favre saw a rusher coming, he dropped back more! Al Afalava, a defensive back, came in for the sack. Now, fast forward to the fourth quarter. Adrian Peterson scores to give the Vikings a 36-10 lead and the Vikings go for two! Why? Could it possibly be to run up the score? If I were TMQ, I'd say the Football Gods would have their revenge.

Reasons Why The Lions Are 2-9: In the fourth quarter, the Lions punted on fourth and three and Jason Hanson kicked a 22-yard field goal later on. Oy vey!

College Football Scores From Programs You've Never Hear Of:

Score #1: Saint Thomas 34, Coe 7 (D-III Quarterfinals)

Score #2: California of Pennsylvania 57, West Liberty State 35 (D-II Quarterfinals)

Score #3: Albright 27, Delaware Valley 3 (D-II Football Championship - Second Round)

Wha-huh?: Burger King touts that their 1/4 lb Double Cheeseburger is bigger than McDonald's flagship Quarter Pounder With Cheese.

Congratulations are in order for Marc Trestman, a down-and-out college and NFL coordinator who has compiled a 26-10 record in the CFL, with two Grey Cup appearances (and one victory, which took place last Sunday with the Montreal Alouettes). Trestman was the play-caller for some of the most prolific NFL offenses of the last 25 years, beginning with the Browns in 1989, who went all the way to the AFC Championship and receiver Webster Slaughter set the franchise record in receiving yards. After holding the position of quarterbacks coach in Minnesota for two seasons, Trestman left football until 1995 where he became the 49ers offensive coordinator. The '95 49ers were the league's best offense. 49er quarterbacks compiled nearly 4,800 yards passing and Jerry Rice had his best season ever, where he caught 122 balls for 1,848 yards and 15 touchdowns. The next season, the 49ers again made the playoffs with Trestman radioing-in the plays. Although, the 49ers playoff shortcomings undoubtedly led to his firing, along with head coach George Seifert. Immediately, Trestman was hired by Detroit at the same position. Barry Sanders rushed for 2,053 yards, Herman Moore caught 108 passes for 1,293 yards, and quasi-quarterback Scott Mitchell had his last season as one. The Lions had a quick playoff exit that season and Trestman was shipped to Arizona, where he radioed-in plays for the first Cardinals team to reach the playoffs in 25 years. The coach held that position until 2000, after two seasons where the Cardinals were the second-worst and worst offenses in the league. In 2001 he was on Oakland's staff where he reunited with Jerry Rice and Rich Gannon (Trestman was his quarterbacks coach in Minnesota), but when Jon Gruden was "traded" to the Buccaneers, Trestman was promoted to the offensive coordinator position. The 2002 Raiders were the league's best offense, Rich Gannon was the league MVP and Jerry Rice had his first Pro Bowl season since '98, although you have to believe that Oakland's success was attributed to their superior offensive line play, which is also what cost them the Super Bowl. Oakland had a 4-12, injury-plagued season in 2003, after which the entire coaching staff was let go and Trestman would never again be an NFL coordinator. For two seasons beginning in 2005, Trestman was the offensive coordinator of the North Carolina State Wolfpack (with a 2005 Meineke Car Care Bowl victory to boot). And then in 2008, Trestman was hired on as the head coach of the CFL's Montreal Alouettes, where they lost the Grey Cup and then this year they won the collision, by a point, 28-27.

"Tuesday Morning Quarterback" Spoof

2009-11-25T22:38:00.004-05:00

This whole blog was sort of inspired by TMQ a.k.a. Gregg Easterbrook (you can read it on ESPN.com Page 2). I enjoy reading his columns a lot but it's easy to poke some fun at him because he's so unique.

Here we go:

Verily, the football Gods wept because Bill Belichick once again kept his starters in as the Flying Elvii took a 17-point lead with 12:53 left in the fourth quarter. Surely, the football gods will have their revenge! Clearly, no NFL coaches or managers read TMQ. How dare they? And the Saints once again called 53 passes to only 11 runs in a game where they never trailed. In fact, they won it by 14! Once again, I will go to war with local affiliates, as I pretend to relate to you, even though I have DirecTV in seven rooms of my house, all with the obnoxious NFL Sunday Ticket available to them. KFKS in Glendive, Montana showed every coma-inducing snap of the woofer Raiders-Colts game as the more exciting Flying Elvii-Marine Mammals collision was going on when they had the rights to the game.

Four games went into overtime on Sunday and all of them were won by the home team, who won the coin toss. It is so unfair to the losing team because they never get the ball!

Ye Gods.

Stat of the Week No. 1: Excluding losses, the Cardinals have won 441 straight games.

Stat of the Week No. 2: The Colts, Raiders, Eagles, Dolphins, Browns 49ers, Chiefs, and Broncos have a combined record of 29-65.

Stat of the Week No. 3: The thrilling 58-57 Bengals-Chargers collision had a combined 1,284 yards passing and 54 yards rushing. Ye gods!

Stat of the Week No. 4: Barack Obama has made 176 speeches since he became president.

Sweet Play of the Week: Vikings have second and goal with a three-point lead in the third quarter and come out with four-wide receivers, Brett Favre takes the snap and pitches left to Adrian Peterson who goes into the end zone untouched by human hands. TMQ likes this because too many teams try to power run up the middle on goal-to-go situations.

Soul Play of the Week: Who-dat receiver Devery Henderson scores a 46-touchdown to give the Saints a five-point lead against the Redskins. Highly over-paid defensive back DeAngelo Hall "looked into the backfield" like the middle-schoolers I coach, trying to guess the play and got burnt by the underpaid, who-dat Henderson.

Sweet 'n' Sour Play of the Week: Brett Favre play-faked the run and threw a pass to Sidney Rice for a 23-yard touchdown. The play-fake was sweet. The fact that the defense was comprised mainly of men who did not graduate from their respective colleges, and therefore do not understand the nuances of the play fake as TMQ does, was sour.

80% Of This Column Was Written Using Autotext!: DirecTV has a monopoly! There is "dark matter" in the universe! CEO's who fly private planes are fucking assholes! Coaches only make decisions that will make them look good! No one touched the running back on that run! He shouldn't get any credit! Official child of TMQ, Spenser is very advanced and will ruin the curve for your unintelligent child!

Why Are You Punting?: Trailing by three in the first and having a fourth and 10 from their own one, the Seahawks bommed a mincing, fraidy-cat punt. TMQ guessed what happened next, the Bucs ran 13 plays for a touchdown and TMQ wrote the words "Game over." in his notebook.

'Tis Better to Have Rushed And Lost, Then Never to Have Rushed at All: Game tied at zero with 14:56 left to go in the first, run out the clock and victory is secure. The Cardinals go pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, run, pass, pass, pass, pass, run, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, run, pass pass, and I think you know the rest. Kurt Warner went 18 of 35, for 277 yards in the first half. They led by nine at halftime but because I hate it when teams are one-dimensional I played to the football gods for revenge. In the endgame the Titans won by a point because the Cardinals only had 14 yards rushing and can't possibly think about running out the clock. Ye gods.

Fortune Favors The Bold!: The Bills, whose punter broke his leg in pre-game stretches, went for it on all two of their fourth down attempts and they won by 28! Surely, the football gods smiled.

Stop Me Before I Blitz Again!: The Packers had third and five. It's a blitz! Five Green Men Group gentlemen cross the line and Aaron Rodgers hits Donald Driver for barely a first down!

TMQ Exclusive: Tuesday Morning Quarterback has exclusively learned on an exclusive basis that Marvin Lewis's playbook contains runs and passes. Remember, this is a TMQ exclusive.

Coaching Is Overrated: Even though Bill Parcells is (for the time being) not a head coach, I still like to complain because I don't like him and he's not a good person. First, it's long been clear that (Bill) Parcells is an egomaniac in both the casual and, perhaps, clinical senses of that word. Lately he's gone downhill to simply becoming a nasty person, spitting and snarling at everyone around him. What's Parcells going to do next, demand worship? When I look at Parcells, the phrase that comes to mind is "failed human being." (A failed human being who has won two championships and will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame one day. But has he ever discussed free trade agreements? TMQ does not like equating succeeding with success.). TMQ coaches middle-schoolers, where Official Child of TMQ, Gunnar, plays quarterback. We never blitz on third down, never punt and we've won 20 straight games (excluding losses). TMQ is clearly smarter than all 32 NFL head coaches combined.

Running Up The Score Watch: The Patriots had a 10-point lead against Marine Mammals in the fourth. Why is Tom Brady still in the game! And then he throws a pass to Randy Moss for a touchdown even though the defender fell down. Surely, Moss could've just run out of bounds! The Football Gods will surely have their revenge. If you're leading by, say, 17 at halftime, a coach should bench their starters and just kneel down for the rest of the game.

Why Everybody Else But Me Contribute To Global Warming: TMQ thinks that global warming is a myth, but still motorists should still turn off their engines while stopped at stoplights to save .000000019939489 gallons of gas because TMQ does.

Obscure College Score of the Week: Pittsburg of Kansas 2, California of Pennsylvania 0 (10OT). In the most exciting game TMQ has ever seen, TMQ's two-favorite obscure schools battled it out and in the endgame the score was TMQ's favorite, 2-0.

TMQ writes for six magazines you've never heard of, all about different things. And Gregg Easterbrook is clearly a Christian because he's said time and time again that I'm anti-gambling but I like boobs. And you are inferior to me if you don't have obligations to your Maker and your fellow men and women; it's best not to lose sight of that because remember, football is about teaching and having fun, and not the competition.

Evolution of the Shotgun Spread

2009-11-24T21:06:00.002-05:00

The Shotgun spread is taking the NFL by storm. This is the first year where I have seen nearly every team go with five-wide receivers on a consistant basis. Although, the Shotgun has been around for years, it hasn't been so prevalent until recently.

The Shotgun has it roots in San Francisco, where 49ers coach Red Hickey introduced the formation into the offense in 1960 because he figured that using time or energy to drop back was a waste so he figured that he would have his quarterback already dropped back! Although, in the beginning, the same personnel was on the field whether the quarterback was under center or not (two running backs, two wide receivers and a tight end). Also, the formation was only used on obvious "passing" downs. No other NFL teams used it until 1971, when the New York Jets, with the immobile Joe Namath began to use it. In 1975, Cowboys coach Tom Landry introduced it to help out his young offensive line give Roger Staubach more time and to use it as a "change-up" because they sometimes used it on downs other than third. When Bill Walsh's trademarked West Coast Offense came into use, he did not put it in his playbook because he said that it forced the quarterback to look at the ball and not the defense.

In the 80s, most teams used the Shotgun spread, with either three or four receivers on third down and other passing situations. Even ball control teams like the Bills of the early-80s, Mike Ditka's Bears and Bill Parcells's Giants used it to pass more effectively, while "passing" teams like the Packers, 49ers, Bengals and Vikings didn't (mainly because their offenses and some of their roots with either Walsh or Paul Brown). There were two other holdouts, too. Namely, the Chargers' "Air Coryell" offense and Joe Gibbs' two-tight end offense.

Even though the West Coast Offense is stereotyped as a pass-happy system, it really wasn't. Just check out pro-football-reference.com and look at the 49ers in the 80s, they either passed the same amount as they rushed or even rushed more than passed. Walsh theorized that if a team throws the ball early, that the opposing defense will tire and that will open up holes for the running game.

Nearly every NFL offense in the 90s and some West Coast aspects in it and teams used the Shotgun less and less. The Patriots in 1994 threw 699 passes, all of which were from under center and both Super Bowl teams (Chargers and 49ers) didn't use it, either. Then there's the Run & Shoot, an offense whose teams did not have any tight ends on their rosters. It was a fad that came and went after the Oilers honked three playoff games after building up seemingly insurmountable leads where they scored too quickly and kept passing in to the second half, allowing the other team time to come back. Despite all this passing and four-wide receiver sets, they didn't use the Shotgun (although the offense lives on at the college level where you'd be hard-pressed to find a play where the offense isn't in the Shotgun).

In to the 2000s the Shotgun began to make a comeback. The West Coast Offense was becoming old and teams looked more toward ball control schemes. Even conservative coaches like Marty Schottenheimer and Dan Reeves used the Shotgun spread in passing situations and to "throw a change-up". But still, only a handful of teams had five-wide receivers, most used four and kept a running back in to block or run a short, safety valve pattern on passing situations.

Super Bowl XXXVII was the last Super Bowl to see no Shotgun snaps (because both team's offenses were the same) and the Seahawks of 2005 were the last Super Bowl team to not use the Shotgun. Nowadays, many teams used the Shotgun spread on either non-passing downs or on third and short. I always enjoy it when teams use misdirection near the goal line. Not too many teams do it and try to score by pounding it up the middle from "Big" or "Jumbo" formations with multiple tight ends and blockers. In 2001, the Browns came out Shotgun spread on a goal-to-go situation against the Ravens and sent a receiver in motion and put him in the backfield. The call went to the motion man and he scored. The next week, the conservative Falcons did the same thing with fullback Bob Christian in a goal-to-go situation and he scored a touchdown.

TheDood thinks it would be cool if an NFL offense were to completely get rid of the Shotgun all together just for old time's sake. Some of the NFL's all-time great offenses didn't use it like the '98 Vikings. Even Mike Martz's Rams seldomly used it and scored over 500 points in three straight seasons.

This Weekend Was Painful....

2009-11-23T16:21:00.005-05:00

The NFL week must've been pretty bad when the most exciting game was played between the Browns and the Lions. They totaled 913 yards, 48 first downs and 75 points. And how painful was it watching the Raiders-Bengals collision? Either the Bengals relaxed because they heard they were playing the Raiders, or the Raiders are playing really, really well, ever since Bruce Gradowski was put in at quarterback. Or maybe it was that cross-country flight, where the Bengals were fed an in-flight meal of Ambien and warm milk (at least it seemed like it). In other NFL news, two games on Sunday went into overtime and the home team won. In other NFL news, the Saints and Colts remain unbeaten (still) and should be destined for a meeting in Miami in February, but one only hopes. Interestingly, 10 games this week were decided by a touchdown or less.

Useless Stats Section:

Stat #1: The AFC North went 0-4 on Sunday.

Stat #2: The AFC West went 3-1 on Sunday and the one loss was in a intradivisional game.

Stat #3: The NFC East went 3-1 on Sunday and the one loss was in a intradivisional game.

Stat #4: The Colts have won 19 straight regular season games.

Stat #5: The Saints are on-pace to score 590 points this season, which is only one more than the NFL record set by the '07 Patriots.

Adventures in Officiation: On Matt Stafford's last-second heave-ho, where the Browns' Hank Poteat was called for pass interference. Stafford was injured on a legal hit by a Browns' lineman and came off the field. The refs charged a timeout to the Lions. One problem: the Lions didn't have any timeouts? Would this have changed the outcome of the game? No, because a game can't end on a defensive penalty and the Lions had the ball put at the one (because the penalty was in the end zone).

Coaching Pressure Analysis - Browns-Lions: After the said play above, the Lions lined-up at the one with Daunte Culpepper in at quarterback. As the Lions were ready to snap it, Eric Mangini called a timeout, which allowed Matt Stafford to come back in! Daunte Culpepper came into the game cold and the play was shaping up to be a run up the middle that would be undoubtably stuffed, the game would end and the Browns would win. I know Eric Mangini has taken a lot of criticism, but what was exactly was the point of that timeout, Mr. Mangini?

More Useless Stats:

Stat #6: Matt Stafford is the first rookie quarterback to throw five touchdown passes in a game.

Stat #7: Brett Favre has become the Toyota Prius of quarterbacks, it only took him 18 years, but he's there. He's only thrown three interceptions and 21 touchdowns, has the league low interception percentage (1%), and leads the league in quarterback rating. Brett's said that this is the most talented team he's ever been a part of (even though he played with Sterling Sharpe in the early part of his career) and I don't doubt that even though he's been to two Super Bowls.

Stat #8: Cleveland's 37 points are the most for that franchise since they put up 41 against the Dolphins on October 14, 2007. To point out how bad the Browns' offense has been over the past season and a half, they haven't even scored more than 20 since they played the Bills on November 17th of last year and they scored more touchdowns in the first quarter than they had scored in the entire season.

College Football Scores From Schools You've Never Heard Of (Note: We're Now In The Playoffs):

Score #1: Central Washington 27, Tarleton State 6.

Score #2: California of Pennsylvania 26, Shippensburg 21.

Score #3/Running Up the Score Watch: Delaware Valley 66, Susquehanna 7. DV score 21-points in the fourth quarter.

CFSFSYNHO Basketball/Football Score: West Liberty State 84, Edinboro 63.

CFSFSYNHO Blowout Special: Wisconsin Whitewater 70, Lakeland 7. Whitewater scored no points in the fourth quarter.

Cupcake Watch: As a scrimmage before their bout with Florida State, the number one-ranked Florida Gators whipped up on Florida International 62-3, where the Gators scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter on passes of 16 and 31 yards. Additionally, Chattanooga was embarrassed by number two-ranked Alabama 45-0.

What Happened To Oklahoma?: This season, the University of Oklahoma Sooners were supposed to be stocked with NFL-caliber players and put up a fight against Texas for a share of the Big 12 title. Instead, this season was very underwhelming, which saw quarterback Sam Bradford get hurt and saw losses to BYU, Nebraska and Texas Tech. Now, Texas Tech has been an interesting team, TheDood enjoys their pass-wacky offensive scheme and that Mike Leach can take a seemingly nobody quarterback and make him a star. It seems like they have a couple games a year where they have games where they play better than their record shows. And this season was no different, where they beat Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and dealt with a tight loss to secondplace Oklahoma State.

Week X

2009-11-15T15:12:00.007-05:00

So, did you hear that Bill Belichick went for it on fourth and two from the Pats' own 28 and they didn't convert? By the way, Bill Belichick went for it on fourth and two from the Pats' own 28 and they didn't make it. That was the story that was all over ESPN and chided by sports bobbleheads all across this nation. See, whenever a coach goes for it on fourth and loses, the coach typically gets a cascade of "I told you sos" by the commentators of the game, ESPN's ex-jocks and ex-coaches, and sports bobbleheads on sports radio all across the country. Am I the only one who feels that Bill Belichick's decision was defensible? I think so. You have to break it down: the Patriots had no momentum whatsoever in the second half and Peyton Manning was torching the Pats defense in that time span, as well. However, I feel that the play was poorly executed. They could've easily ran an outside run or even faked the punt to succeed. I also believe that that play showed how much Bill Belichick has changed; it seems since their mythical season in 2007, they've been running more and more plays from the Shotgun formation that any other team in the NFL. In case you didn't see it, Tom Brady threw a junky, safety valve pass to Kevin Faulk from a five-wide receiver set who had a defender practically stuck to him, and he was immediately taken down and was thrown backwards across the first down line.

The Patriots under Bill Belichick have always been a head-scratcher to me, it seems in big games they win, they get outplayed (all of the 2001 playoffs) and in games in which they outplay the other team they lose (the 2005 playoff game that they lost against the Broncos, the 2006 AFC Championship and last night). In fact, in Super Bowl XXXVI, Tom Brady did not have 100-yards passing until "The Drive". Bill Belichick's defensive game plan last night was very similar to any games where he plays a high-octane offense, he'll routinely play five or more defensive backs play very tight coverage on the opposing receivers and rarely blitz.

In other NFL news, Josh McDaniels is the worst NFL coach, and the Cowboys suck, right? Not so fast, the Cowboys have always been a willy-nilly team and we knew the Broncos had a tough schedule in the second half of the season (although, the Redskins are hardly tough. More on that later.) How 'bout them Bengals? Every week a different part of their team shines and carries the team to victory, in this case, their kicking game. Stud/running back Cedric Benson was out and the offense clearly struggled, obviously they did not score an offensive touchdown, although they were able to get into field goal range five times throughout the game (they converted four of those). The Bengals are clearly play the best football as a team, while they have a few superstars (namely Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco), most of their team consists of who-dats and young guys who are playing well. Plus, Marvin Lewis is one hell of a head coach, who carried his team through all of last year's debacle and managed to not get fired.

You've got to feel bad for Brian Westbrook, who played a bit on Sunday, after recovering from a concussion, and suffered another one on Sunday.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Useless Stats Section:

Stat #1: Donovan McNabb passed for 450-yards and 55 attempts and the Eagles lost

Stat #2: Steven Jackson alone ran for 131-yards and the Rams lost.

Stat #3: In Week 10, six of the 10-leading passers lost their games

Stat #4: In Week 10, six of the 10-leading rushers won their games

Stat #5: The Colts have won 18-straight regular season games

Stat #6: Peyton Manning had a perfect passer rating against the blitz in the second half of the Colts-Patriots collision

Stat #7: The Bengals have sweeped both the Steelers and Ravens this season and need to beat the Browns next week to be undefeated in the division.

Stat #8: The last time the Bengals sweeped the Steelers was 1998

Stat #9: The Ravens scored two touchdowns in 15-seconds

Cat-Stat #1: In 1998, the Bengals two wins against the Steelers encompassed 66% of their wins (their only other win was against the Lions in Week 2

Cat-Stat #2: Neil O'Donnell, who owns the lowest interception percentage in NFL history, played in 13 games for the '98 Bengals and tossed a mere four interceptions.

Cat-Stat #3: Corey Dillion rushed for 1130-yards for the '98 Bengals. He only had four rushing touchdowns, though.

Cat-Stat #4: The Bengals have swept the Ravens only four times since the Browns moved to Baltimore: 1996, 2005, 2007, and this season.

Fake Punt/Figgie = Victory (Again): For the second-straight week, a team with nothing to lose decided to go for a fake punt for field goal and won the game. In this case, it was the Redskins who went for a fake punt in the fourth quarter to ice the game against the Broncos. Hunter Smith took the snap and rolled to his right and threw a heave-ho to fullback Mike Sellers who walked in for the touchdown.

Who-Dat Guy Play: Colts receiver Pierre Garcon, from Division III powerhouse Mount Union, scored a touchdown to begin the Colts comeback on Sunday Night. The Pats came on a delayed blitz, a fifth rusher "shot the gap" to pressure Peyton Manning and he fired the pass in Garcon's direction. He was smothered by a Pats' defender, but managed to make a one-handed catch for the touchdown.

Cool Play: Colts ball on the Pats' 14 with a minute-20 remaining and after huddling up, normally in this situation a team would try to run as many passes and plays as possible, but instead, Joseph Addai scampered up the middle for a 13-yard gain, bringing the ball to the one.

Sour Play #1: On the next play from the one listed above, Joseph Addai was stuffed for no gain. A play-action pass would've worked nicely. And on the next play, the Colts scored on one of my most hated plays: a fade route at the goal line.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TNF Analysis: I don't get NFL Network so I can't tell you much. It was a really woofer matchup pitting sputtering teams, seems just the game for NFLN, doesn't it? Yeah, the 49ers picked off five passes, but they gave up a boat-load of yards and allowed the Bears to move up and down the field despite this. It was a really, really ugly game for both teams.

College Football Scores From Schools You've Never Heard Of:

Score #1: Lewis & Clark 30, Puget Sound 27

Score #2: Adrian 45, Olivet College 20

Score #3: Washington & Jefferson 35, Waynesburg 12

Bonus CFSFSYNHO Basketball/Football Score of the Week:

Tarleton State 57, Texas A&M-Kingsville 56 (OT, NCAA D-II playoff)

Bonus CFSFSYNHO Blowout of the Week/Running Up The Score Watch:

Coe 56, Cornell 7. Coe scored 21-points in the fourth quarter.

Cupcake Watch: This Saturday, number one-ranked Florida will face Florida International and number two-ranked Arkansas will face Southern conference-cupcake Chattanooga for automatic, 50-point wins for both clubs. All in the name of bowl eligibility, right? This and the prevalence of spread offenses lead many to think that scoring is up in college football. Trust me, it isn't. Remember the Texas-Oklahoma collision from earlier this season? The final score was 16-13. Also, big, powerhouse programs will schedule their out-of-conference games against D-IAA cupcakes for an auto 50-point win all in the name of bowl eligibility and not their pride, not to mention the cupcake school will get a nice payment for their athletic boosters, so it all works out in the end. Two weeks ago, LSU throttled Tulane, a D-IAA, Conference USA school, 42-0. Ohio State swept up New Mexico State, a WAC cupcake, 45-0, and Arkansas whipped up on D-IAA Eastern Michigan 63-27. Oy vey!

Hooray To Teams With Who-Dats And Nobodies

2009-11-08T11:36:00.007-05:00

What a week in the NFL: City of Tampa is off the schnide, the Giants honked another game (see below), the Bengals have their best record in 20-years, the Titans won their second straight, and the Browns were off. Whoo-hoo!

Coaching Pressure Analysis Part One - Cowboys @ Eagles: The Eagles actually had a balanced offense, even after they began to trail. However Andy Reid managed to use up all of his timeout in the third and early-fourth quarters. At the end of the game, he crawled into his little conservative hole as many coaches do when it's late in the game and down by 10 or less with five, or so minutes left and the other team has momentum. With just over five minutes to go, trailing 20-14 the Eagles faced third and 10 at the Dallas 43 and Donovan McNabb was sacked, although it was just for a loss of one. Andy Reid figured that he could kick a figgie and let his defense stop one of the best rushing offenses. Well, he did, on fourth and 11 from the Dallas 44 and David Akers' 52-yard field goal was good, which was a mistake. The way things usually go, when a team goes for it on fourth down the opposing defense will big-blitz, and boom, a big play for the offense. If they scored a touchdown they would've been ahead by one. Even if they don't convert, they would've put the Cowboys in bad field position. However, ever thing seemed to go the Eagles' way when Akers' kickoff boomed 69-yards, which pitted the Cowboys around their own 20. Because the Eagles had used up all their timeouts, the Cowboys were able to milk away the remaining 4:27 for the "W".

Sweet Play #1: The Cowboys faced third and 14 near midfield. Tony Romo threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to the pride of Monmouth, who-dat receiver Miles Austin, with three Eagle defenders sucking wind after him. Even though the Eagles are typically a big-blitz team, they didn't blitz on this play, so Austin wasn't necessarily wide-open.

Sweet Play #2: DeAngelo Williams' 66-yard touchdown on only the second play of the game. He blazed through New Orleans' five-man front and four linebackers.

Sour Play #1: Seldom-used Bengal fullback Jeremi Johnson was so shocked that he was wide-open on the Bengals' first drive of the game that he dropped a touchdown pass like the ball was a live ferret.

Sour Play #2: The Ravens faced third and three near midfield in the first quarter and Bengals defensive back Leon Hall ran a better route than Derrick Mason and dropped a interception like Joe Flacco's pass was a live ferret. Despite these two sour plays the Bengals had a huge, gigantic win against the Ravens and are 6-2 for the first time since 1988, their last Super Bowl season.

Coaching Pressure Analysis Part Two - Chargers @ Giants: Now that it's the middle of the season, the Chargers slow start is over and now they'll roar back to maybe (make that an iffy-maybe) earn a wildcard spot. However, Tom Coughlin went into his little conservative coaching shell at the end of the game leading by a field goal, the Giants took the ball on San Diego four-yard line. Surely they'll score, right? Wrong! On first down, Brandon Jacobs ran to about the one-inch line but it was called back by a hold on Chris Snee. So, first and 14, now. Eli Manning threw a junky, safety valve pass to Hakim Nicks for no gain. On second and 14, Brandon Jacobs ran up the middle for five yards. On third and nine (remember we're at the nine), Jacobs ran again and it was stuffed. On fourth down, the figgie boomed and all the Bolts had to do was score a touchdown to win and that's exactly what they did.

Careful: I really wonder about ESPN bobblehead/analyst Ron Jaworski. While he can analyze tape until his eyes bleed, he gets things wrong a lot: like calling reverses "double reverses" and swearing that Miami had added new plays to the Wildcat. Well, he's done it again by saying something to the effect of"Remember back in 2002 when the Patriots and Josh McDaniels called like 25 straight passes against the Steelers." While the Pats did call 25 straight passes against the Steelers in the Monday Night opener that year, Charlie Weis, not Josh McDaniels called plays for the Flying Elvii. In fact, McDaniels was a defensive coaching assistant for the Pats in 2002. D'oh!

Useless Stats Section:

#1: The Colts have won 17-straight regular-season games.

#2: The Cardinals are the most lopsided team in the NFL on offense. They've throw 325 passes and have 169 rushing attempts. Yet they keep annoying the football purists and are 5-3.

#3: Last week Kurt Warner had one of the worst games of his career, going 27-for-46 for 242-yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions. This week, he bounced back to have one of the best games of his career, going 22-for-31 for 261-yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. TheDood has always liked Warner, he came from a tiny, D-IAA school and made it in the NFL based on smarts and a lightning-quick, low (almost sidearm in some cases) release in an era where quarterbacks from powerhouse schools with cannons for arms are the sexy choice (like his backup Matt Leinart).

#4: The Giants are on an 0-3 steak, while the Titans are on a 2-0 streak.

#5: Ever since over-paid, diva/wide receiver Michael Crabtree came to the 49ers, they've lost every game (working on an 0-4 streak after starting 3-1). And get Shaun Hill back on the field! Alex Smith is going back to his usual ways of throwing a more interceptions than touchdowns.

#6: The bye week were +4 over the Browns (OK, they weren't but they should've).

#7: The 8-0 Saints have scored 303-points this season. They're on pace to score 606 points this season. The NFL record is 589 points by the 2007 Patriots.

#8: The City of Tampa won their first game since November 30th, 2008.

College Football Scores From Schools You've Never Heard Of:

Score #1: Coe 31, Buena Vista 20.

Score #2: Colorado School of Mines 69, New Mexico Highlands 27. TheDoods favorite obscure school, Colorado School of Mines, now at 8-3, beat New Mexico Highlands, now at 1-10. Only Nebraska-Kearney has better record in their division than CSM.

Score #3: St. Olaf 20, Gustavus Adolphus 7. I've found out that many of these really, really obscure schools happen to be rated as some of the highest in the U.S., and St. Olaf, located in Northfield, Minnesota, is no different.

CFSFSYNO Blowout of the Week: Valdosta State 70, Edward Waters 6. Well, of course an entire team would beat up on a single guy.

CFSFSYNHO Basketball/Football Score of the Week: Crown College 69, Eureka College 63.

Christmas Creep: There are two FM radio stations in the Colubmus, Ohio markets that play Christams music beginning the first of November. Beginning at midnight on December 26th, they go back to their usual "Soft Rock" lineup. Oy, vey.

A Win Is A Win, Is A Win

2009-10-31T22:24:00.004-04:00

Corks popped in the locker rooms of the Rams and Titans on Sunday as they got off the schnide, finally. Not to mention, the games they played in were pretty good. In other news, the NFL was saved from some woofer games because the Chiefs, Buccaneers, and Redskins all had byes. One more undefeated team went down, as the Broncos got blown out by the Ravens. I'm worried though, because they seemed rather somber after their loss, like they had lost the Super Bowl, or if New Mexico State had beaten Ohio State. Hopefully, they will (they should) rebound and put this loss behind them. In other, other NFL news: we've had a Terrell Owens sighting! He took an End Around for a 29-yard touchdown in the Bills forgetful loss to the Texans. Additionally, how bad do the Giants look? They're coming off three embarrassing losses to teams they should beat. Once again, it seems that their once aggressive defensive line is getting no push and are allowing opposing quarterbacks to sit back and pick them apart. In addition, it seems that the Cardinals and Panthers swapped roles, the Cardinals were turnover-wacky and the Panthers played mistake-free, not to mention, the Cardinals got blown out (like the Panthers have this season). It was a vengeful win for the Panthers, as they avenged a 34-13 thumping in the playoffs last year, where Jake Delhomme threw five interceptions. And lastly, once and for all, we now know which team is supreme in the NFC North, despite what Favre-haters think, he is making that team infinitely better. While the Vikings are talented, they're not Super Bowl-caliber without Favre. Plus, Brad Childress is not an elite head coach. The Packers have loads of problems on all three sides of the ball (why is Ahman Green returning kicks?) that are not Aaron Rodgers' or Mike McCarthy's faults.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Useless Stats Section:

Stat #1: The Jets gave up 104-yards of offense and lost

Stat #2: Brett Favre is 41 of 59 for 515-yards for seven touchdowns and no interceptions against the Packers

Stat #3: On Sunday, the St. Louis Rams won their first game since October 19th, 2008, a 34-14 win against the Cowboys

Stat #4: On Sunday, the Tennessee Titans won their first game since December 21st, 2008

Stat #5: The City of Tampa Buccaneers did not lose this week. Although, they did not win, either (they had a bye)

Stat #6: highly-overpaid, under-performing Marine Mammals receiver Ted Ginn Jr. outoffensed his entire team by 195-yards, returning two kicks for 299-yards and two touchdowns

Stat #7: in the Titans-Jaguars collision, there were four rushing touchdowns of over 70-yards

Best play by skinny, six-foot tall guy: Rams kicker Josh Brown threw a pass to fullback Daniel Fells for a 36-yard touchdown and first win in over a calender year.

Best Blocks: The clinching blocks on both of Maurice Jones-Drew's long touchdowns were by quarterback David Gerrard. Normally, quarterbacks just hand-off and then stand there and watch the play unfold. But not David Gerrard. That's called leaving it all the field, because all this effort was for naught, as the Titans lost 30-13.

We're All Professionals Here: In the Jets-Miami collision there were three two-point conversion attempts and all three failed.

Why The Raiders Lost: JaMarcus Russell continues to wear stocking caps on the sideline during Raiders games, and this past weekend was no different, as he wore one on the sidelines in San Diego, despite an average temperature of 70-degrees in the month of November there.

College Football Scores From Schools You've Never Heard Of:

Concordia University of Illinois 22, Concordia University of Wisconsin 21.

Maine Maritime 76, Coast Guard 49. What? The Coast Guard has a football team? Apparently, they do. They're known as the Bears (as opposed to something more Coast Guard-like). Maine Maritime, located in Castine, Maine, specializes in nautical training and education, and is one of only two colleges in the U.S. that boast a Navy ROTC unit. How's that for obscure.

Nebraska-Kearney 24, Colorado School of Mines 12. Of all these obscure schools, the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers are my favorite for no apparent reason.

Bonus CFSFSYNHO Blowout Score:

Millsaps 61, Sewanee: The University of the South 7. Well, it's impressive when a single college beats a university for an entire region of the United States, especially a blowout. Millsaps was rated the 89th best liberal arts college by the U.S. World & News Report and Sewanee, the 36th.

Bonus CFSFSYNHO Basketball/Football Score:

MacMurray 68, Crown College 62 (OT). Typically, one or two of these obscure schools will end up playing in a football game with a basketball score, and this one was no less than that.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Christmas Can't Come Soon Enough, I Guess: A 12-pack of Diet Coke that was purchased by yours truly the last week of October is adorned with snow flakes. Yimpin' jimmity.

NFL Week Eight on TV: Down & Dirty

2009-10-28T22:23:00.003-04:00

On Sunday, Fox will once again have the double-header. In the Columbus, Ohio TV market, WBNS will show a Browns-Bears pillowfight. Over on WTTE, it will be Colts-49ers at 1:00. This could be considered a "local" matchup, because one fourth of Columbus's football fans are Colts fans. At 4:15 will be undoubtedly the game of the week: Vikings at Packers, Brett Favre's triumphant return to Green Bay for the first time since his retirement from retirement from retirement.

Once More Unto the Breach Against Local Affiliates

2009-10-25T16:45:00.014-04:00

Well, once again, the local affiliates in the Columbus, Ohio market have wooed us with woofer games this weekend and sticking with them once they're out of hand for the "local" team. See, Columbus is a weird city, where Ohio State football dominates the town, but the city's NFL fans are split in nearly four equal parts into Browns fans, Bengals fans, Steelers fans, and Colts fans. Meanwhile, WBNS and WTTE, the city's CBS and Fox affiliates that broadcast NFL games on Sunday afternoons typically schedule "local" matchups. Now, that's fine. What really irks me is when A.) they continue to broadcast the game when it's way out of hand for the "local" team and there's a better game out there that they keep showing those game breaks, almost teasing us because we're watching a bad game, or B.) when there's a Browns-Bengals double-header on WBNS and WTTE, who by NFL rules, can only show one game that afternoon, shows a woofer game with no "local" implications. Instead, they should show Fox's #1 game on their lineup that will be called by Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. They have the opportunity to, so why don't they!

On Sunday, WTTE stuck with the Browns-Packers pillowfight into the second half when it was 27-3 and then 34-3 Packers. They could've easily switched to the more exciting and competitive Steelers-Vikings collision. Now, in CBS's defense, none of the games on their lineup were any good, and the affiliate in Columbus showed Jersey/B at Oakland at 4:05. Maybe all the Steeler fans in my area have DirecTV/NFL Sunday Ticket and can watch what games that aren't on SNF or MNF on Sunday afternoons.

It's Not A Double Reverse!: Two ESPN bobbleheads (Chris Berman and Hannah Storm) called Reggie Bush's 10-yard touchdown a "double reverse", which probably has not occurred in the NFL since Super Bowl XIII in 1978, when Drew Pearson took the double reverse from Tony Dorsett and fumbled (check out the complete game on YouTube, it occurred on the fifth play of the game). And more than likely, the Fox commentators said the same thing, too, although I did not see Fox's broadcast. Okay, here's what happened: Drew Bress faked the give to Mike Bell and gave the ball to Devery Henderson coming around from his slotback position (if nothing else would've happened this would simply have been an end around). Then, Henderson gave the ball to Reggie Bush who was coming around from his split end position. The ball only reversed direction once, thus this play was simply a reverse, not a double reverse. Get it right, guys!

Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf, CBS's #2 commatating pair, have called both Raider games against New Jersey (combined score of 82-7 in favor of New Jersey). Aye carumba!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In other NFL news, maybe the unwritten rule that the over-dressed coaching staff loses the game applies to players, too. JaMarcus Russell wore a stocking cap on the sidelines, despite a gametime temperature in Oakland in the low-70s. Another unwritten rule of football is a successful fake punt/figgie = victory. This was true against the Raiders on Sunday, as the Jersey/B punter Steven Weatherford took a fake punt for 16 yards and a first down. Speaking of Jersey/B, what was Mark Sanchez doing on the field in the fourth quarter! And what was Cedric Benson doing on the field in the fourth quarter for the Bengals! Can't the scabs run up the middle for a few minutes and let the stars cool off?

How about that Cardinals-Jersey/A game, huh? It had to have been one of the best wins in the 110-year history of the Cardinals franchise. The game itself was pretty professional, although there were more than a few turnovers. But, the Giants are really reeling. Their defense just isn't what it was ever since Steve Spagnuolo became head coach of Les Mouflons. In the past two seasons, their defensive line would just make lunch meat of opposing o-lines. But now, their pass rush in rather vanilla and has given too much time for human automatic rifles Drew Brees and Kurt Warner. Whereas the Cardinals defense has been re-vamped. Although their new defense is blitz-wacky, they do it on first and second downs, and play straight coverage on third down (both teams played alot of straight defense on third down). It was nice to see the Cardinals defense win the game for them on a night when their offense wasn't firing on all cylinders.

Who Leads The NFL In Touchdowns Passes?: Why, it's Peyton Manning, of course, with 17.

Can't Anyone Run Up The Middle For A Yard, Anymore?: Apparently no, as the Cardinals forced an Ahmad Bradshaw fumble and took over at their own 42 with 3:52 remaining in the game. They lead by a touchdown. They went incomplete, six-yard pass to Fitzgerald, incomplete, punt. Even if they still wouldn't have gotten a first down, they still would've ran more time off than what they had done. Thankfully, Ben Patrick's punt was good and forced the Giants to start a possible comeback drive at their own nine.

Jim Zorn, whose job title would read "Head Coach of the Washington Redskins" did next to nothing on Monday Night, because "Chainsaw" Dan Snyder yanked play-calling duties from him. Most of us seriously doubt that play-calling are the reasons for the Redskins' woes. It's, well, Snyder himself (and that the Redskins have no talent)! Since he "relieved" Zorn of play-calling duties, Snyder thought Zorn would resign, but because Zorn is such a smart guy, he'll wait for the end of the season so he can get all of his contract money from "Chainsaw" Dan. This act however, was not expected on the part of Mr. Snyder. Dan Snyder, Al Davis, and Jerry Jones are the three menaces to society that are owners of NFL teams. It's scary stuff (just in time for Halloween).

Who Leads The NFL In Rushing?: Why, it's Cincinnati Bengal Cedric Benson, silly!

Sweet Play That Turned Sour: Antrel Rolle, a safety for the Cardinals, lined up at quarterback in the Wildcat and threw a picture-perfect pass to a wide-open Larry Fitzgerald that he dropped as if the ball was a beaker of H1N1. Not to mention, there was a tick-tacky hold called on tight end Ben Patrick.

Useless Stats Section:

Alex Smith, in relief of Shaun Hill, threw more touchdown passes than Matt Schaub and the Squared Sevens lost. Amazingly, Smith threw less interceptions than touchdowns.

Brett Favre threw 51 passes for 334 yards and the Vikings lost.

The Flying Elvii have won their last two games by a combined score of 94-7.

You've just got to feel sorry for Steven Jackson, who himself rushed for 134 yards and Les Mouflons lost their 17th straight game.

The New Orleans Saints have scored 238 points so far this season. They are on-pace to score 634 points. The NFL record is 589 by the 2007 New England Patriots.

The Lucky Charms have won 15 straight regular season games.

Jersey/B has 628 yards rushing in the past two games.

The Broncos did not win a game this weekend (they had a bye).

The Flaming Thumbtacks did not lose a game this weekend (they had a bye).

NEW!! College Football Scores From Schools You've Never Heard Of:

Stillman 42, Lane 20. Stillman, a D-II school located in West Tuscaloosa, Alabama whose mascot is the tigers. Sammie Lee Hill and Brian Witherspoon (no, you're not supposed to know who they are) are alumns in the NFL.

Norwich 48, Anna Maria 0. Well, of course an entire town would beat a single lady! Now, that's not very respectful now, is it?

Concordia-St. Paul 57, Upper Iowa 56 (2OT). A basketball score from two obscure schools. Now, that's what I call football!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is an exclusive video of Reggie Bush's reverse-not-double reverse on ESPN:

Here is another exclusive video of Mark Sanchez eating a hot dog on the sideline. A generous fine is probably on the way (because eating stadium food on the sidelines is against NFL rules).

This Weekend of Yuck

2009-10-21T12:04:00.006-04:00

This weekend, Columbus, Ohio's Fox affiliate will be having a Browns-Bengals double-header (they're playing the Packers and Bears, respectively). Over on the city's CBS affiliate will be Jets at Oakland at 4:05. Normally, I would be screaming as to why they scheduled such a crappy-looking game, but the other choices on CBS's schedule are pretty much of equal caliber (Chargers-Chiefs, Colts-Rams, Pats-Bucs [in London], Bills-Panthers and the aforementioned Jets-Raiders). Once again, it looks like Phil Simms and Jim Nantz of CBS will be calling another powerhouse blowout of another cupcake opponent, but in the confines of Wembley Stadium in London, England, where the Pats will not travel to until Friday. I guess this game would be my choice to watch on the eye network, even if the game is bad, at least I'll be getting quality commentary.

This weekend is one where DirecTV's bogus Sunday NFL Ticket package would make sense because three of this Sunday afternoon's premiere matchups will be on Fox (Vikings-Steelers at 1:00 and Falcons-Cowboys or Saints-Dolphins at 4:15).

Six teams have byes this week (Ravens, Broncos, Titans, Jaguars, Lions, and Seahawks). Notice that the teams with byes could be split three ways: cover-your-eyes bad, average and elite. It's amazing that when just two great teams are off, it throws the balance of the TV schedules off so greatly that the "premiere" games of this Sunday afternoon are with the average teams.

SNF is Giants-Cardinals, which was a good one last year, as it should be once again this year. MNF is Redskins-Eagles. Look for the Eagles to pass 40-45 times and rush 10-15 times despite the game either being tied at zero or lead by the Eagles. This is merely an observation, as I enjoy passing teams that are successful because it annoys the purists.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One More Useless Stat To Ponder: If you extrapolate Drew "Human Automatic Rifle" Brees's current passing stats, he's on pace to throw only six interceptions this season and be sacked only 13 times.

Important: The Pats Did Not Run Up The Score Against the Titans

2009-10-19T16:36:00.009-04:00

As much as I'd like to think that the Pats ran up the score on Sunday, they really didn't, despite winning 59-0. 45 of those points came in the first half, and their final touchdown came with the backup offense on the field in the third quarter. I watched the game until CBS cut away after New England scored their 52nd point. The second reason why the Patriots were able to score that many points was because the Titans just did not show up at all. They really didn't. Despite having 193 yards rushing, the Titans only complied -7 yards passing on only two completions. And obviously their defense was non-existent, giving up 619 yards of offense (426 by the pass, 193 on the ground) and 32 first downs.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In 2008, the Titans and Buccaneers had a combined record of 24-10. Through week 6 of 2009 they are a combined 0-12.

The New York Jets compiled 312 rushing yards and lost.

Drew Bledose's Single-Season Pass Attempts Record is Safe: Tom Brady has thrown 241 passes so far this season. He is on pace to throw 642 passes this season, well short of Drew Bledsoe's mark of 691 from 1994.

Joe Flacco passed for 385 yards and the Ravens lost.

All four of the Washington Redskins' losses have come to teams that were previously winless (Giants, Lions, Panthers and Chiefs).

The two wins by the Redskins were by differentials of two (9-7) and three (16-13).

Derek Anderson, who has taken nearly all of Cleveland's offensive snaps in the past two games, has 11 pass completions during that span. One of which was a win.

In the first three weeks of this season Mark Sanchez threw four touchdowns to two interceptions. In the past three weeks, he has thrown one touchdown and eight interceptions.

The Giants-Saints game kicked off shortly after 1:00 PM Eastern. The game ended at 4:30 PM Eastern. It did not go into overtime (the Saints won 48-27). Reason being: both teams kept throwing the ball well into the fourth quarter, prolonging the game.

The Jets-Bills game kicked off shortly after 4:00 PM Eastern. The game ended at 8:07 PM when Rian Lindell, who honked an earlier kick, booted the game-winning figgie with 2:49 left in overtime.

The Falcons-Bears game kicked off shortly before 8:30 PM Eastern. It ended at 11:27 PM Eastern (roughly two hours and 59 minutes in length), becoming one of the shortest games in TheDood's recent memory.

The Over-Dressed Coach Won!: One thing I notice is that the team with the over-dressed coaching staff loses. This was untrue last night as Josh McDaniels of the Broncos wore a hoodie and baseball cap, when the average high in San Diego in October is still 75. Losing coach Norv Turner sported simply a polo shirt.

Going back to last season's playoffs, Jake Delhomme has thrown 15 interceptions in the past six games and threw another pick-six against City of Tampa on Sunday.

Ay Carumba!

2009-10-15T10:31:00.002-04:00

WBNS, the CBS affiliate in Columbus, OH decided to show Oranges (Release 3.0b) at Steelers, which should be over by halftime, instead of Moo Cows at Cats at 1:00 PM Eastern. Ay carumba. And if it's 45-3 Steelers going into the 4th Quarter, they will undoubtedly show every coma-inducing snap of the final 15 minutes. The only consolation is that over on WTTE, Columbus's Fox affiliate, will have Jersey/A at Saints.

The second half of CBS's double-header will be Flaming Thumbtacks at Flying Elvii (upset special, anyone?). There is no game on Fox in my area at 4:05 or 4:15.

The best game of the week should be on Sunday night, just the way the NFL wants it to be (Bears at Falcons). And the Monday night game is the 5-0 Broncs and the 2-2 Bolts. Again, should be a good one.