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!
Showing posts with label Matt Forte. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matt Forte. Show all posts
16 November 2010
Good Coaching Secret to Vick, Eagles' Success
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.
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.
11 October 2010
Brett Favre Sends Out Naughty Pictures Of Certain Body Parts And The Decatur Staleys Have Returned to the NFL
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.
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.
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!
28 September 2010
Yes I Am Drinking The Bears' Kool-Aid
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.
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.
14 September 2010
DSDBNF The Brett Favre is Old and Needs to Retire Edition (And Other Stuff From Week I)
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
