Gahddamn I'm sick as a muhfuggah. But I like you guys. So I will fight through this head-exploding illness and share some insight with you peoples.
First off, happy belated thanksgiving. I hope there was too much food, copious amounts of alcohol, and plenty of football that you enjoyed with family and friends. At the start of the season I don't think anyone expected these games to be interesting really. Detroit was probably projected to win 6 games this season after their miserable showing last year, Miami is just Miami and they never win much, and no one saw the 49ers holding this good of a record. Granted, these three teams all ended up losing Thursday but they made for interesting games and everything was kept relatively close.
The biggest game of course was the match-up between Green Bay (10-0) and Detroit (7-3). The Cheeseheads are continuing down the road of perfection and came one step closer after defeating the Lions 27-15 to move to 11-0 on the season. However the biggest story to come from this game would have to be the antics of Ndamukong Suh. How stupid is this guy? Take a look at what he thought was a good idea in the middle of the Packers Lions game. Instant ejection from the game, Goodell came down on him and suspended him 2 games, and the commish is suggesting anger management courses for Suh for stomping on this guy like a thug. Not the smartest plan when your team is on the bubble for the playoffs this season and you are their leading pass rusher.
So here's what I took away from this week as teams start fighting for playoff spots, besides the fact that Stevie Johnson put on a top 3 touchdown celebration of all-time (Go Watch It).
1) Sound the Favre Horn?
Could it be that time? Will SportsCenter be once again consumed by the Brett Favre watch?
The Houston Texans lost their second quarterback yesterday in Matt Leinart who was hammered into the ground and dislocated his collarbone sidelining him for the remainder of the season most likely. That leaves the playoff hopes of the 8-3 Texans in the hands of fifth round rookie quarterback T.J. Yates out of North Carolina.
With the AFC South as tight as it is and the Titans finally finding their running back in Chris Johnson, I'd say they need a veteran quarterback and fast. When the Texans initially lost Schaub just 2 weeks ago, they held some workouts for washed up quarterbacks such as Jeff Garcia, Brody Croyle, Chase Clements, and Trent Edwards and will most likely sign one of them, but boy wouldn't it be something to give the old gunslinger a call and ask him to fill in for the season.
The upcoming schedule for Houston is relatively difficult with games against Atlanta (7-4), Cincinnati (7-4), and Carolina (3-8) with two of those three teams starting rookie quarterbacks as well. I'd look for a signing by Wednesday of this week in Houston.
2) The T-Ocho Show
Did anyone even watch that show? I remember trying to watch it one night and thought to myself "What the hell is this shit?"
The rumors are though that this crappiest show on turf could be reunited. Drew Rosenhaus has claimed that a team in the AFC division is "very interested" in signing veteran receiver Terrell Owens. T.O. hasn't played since April after having knee surgery which sidelined him for the remainder of the 2010-2011 season. During that span however, Owens had 72 receptions for 983 yards and 9 touchdowns which is a pretty good half-season. The veteran receiver is dying to play and starting to get desperate, offering to take pay cuts and holding public workouts (which no one shows up to) in hopes of someone signing him.
There has been some speculation that the Patriots may be interested in signing Owens for the remainder of this season to add depth to the wide receiver position. Personally? I think this is a horrible idea. Yeah sure make the argument that Belichick can fix and discipline any player and turn a bad personality into a star player. Compare the scenario to that of Randy Moss. Not relevant here.
First off, the Patriots have already taken two risks on personality troubled players this past offseason. One of them has been cut. The other has been irrelevant and claims to not even know the offensive playbook yet in Week 11 of the season.
Second is the past between T.O. and Ochocinco. They played together on the Bengals last season and have always had a goof around type friendship. Just imagine the two of them working together to learn the playbook. I guarantee that nothing would get done.
The Patriots are leading their division and will most likely win the division. After their display this past Sunday where they put up 38 against the Eagles their is no need to beef up the offense. Their concerns lie in the defense (clearly since they just let up 400+ yards to Vince Young...).
3) I'm not going to talk about it...
All I have to say here, first person to injure Tim Tebow will be my hero.
Better yet first coach to actually put him in a proper position that isn't quarterback will be my hero.
I applaud John Elway for not committing to Tim Tebow as the quarterback of their future. When Tebow beats a team that has more than 5 wins and throws for more than 200 yards is the day that I tuck my tail between my legs and walk away.
4) What Is Going To Happen In the City of Brotherly Love?
With the Eagles now sitting at a terrible 4-7 there are clearly some changes that need to be made this offseason. Question is, who is going to be job hunting? After their blowout loss to New England on Sunday the crowd is all done. The Eagles are now 1-5 at home this season and their fans want blood, with chants of "Fi-re An-dy" last night and critics calling Desean Jackson soft and afraid throughout the season.
Jackson is surely on his way out. Last night he dropped two critical passes that would have been touchdowns. And his punishment for those two drops was being benched for the entire fourth quarter. His hopes for a new contract and an extension during this season are slowly dwindling away if he keeps up this type of play.
Andy Reid I feel is a great coach. He is a quarterback's type of coach and can put together a solid offense that scores. With plenty of talent on both sides of the ball he can make plenty of changes this offseason to have his team prepared to win next year. I believe the fault here lies in the defensive coordinator. If a team has the talent and is healthy, yet is still unable to stop teams from putting points on the board, then the blame should fall on the defensive coordinator for not drawing up proper schemes between opponents. I look for the team to beef up their defensive line and find a new coordinator while their offense gets healthy and continues to gel together.
These next few weeks are some deciding games for a lot of teams on the cusp of playoff births such as the Jets, Bengals, Titans, Texans, etc. Coaches will be going all out for big victories and players will start to take more risks. If Favre comes back though all bets are off and the Texans are going to win it all. Nuff said.
As always leave your thoughts in the comment section below or find me on Twitter @iedlund or on Facebook and Google+.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Week 11 Wrap-Up
Fun Fact of the day: at least one player drafted from the University of Miami has scored a touchdown in 149 consecutive games dating back Week 15 of the 2002 NFL season... no matter what the scandal turns into that school will always be a powerhouse in the NFL draft class.
But back to stuff I'm supposed to write about.
Do the Philadelphia Eagles make sense to anyone? Go 3-6 with Mike Vick calling the shots and then end up beating the New York Giants with Vince Young under center. Granted the game was god awful and I didn't even have the stomach to watch the whole thing but come on; Vince Young was so 4 years ago.
I would have to think that due to the conference they are in and the wild card predictions that the Eagles are not playoff hopefuls. If they won out the season then maybe they could have a shot at a playoff spot. Look for the Eagles to play the spoiler card on teams for the remainder of the season and it will have a huge impact on standings.
As the weeks roll on look for a lot more of this to happen; teams becoming contenders while others turn out to be pretenders.
The team that really looked like a pretender this week would have to be the Buffalo Bills. Now this is the team that I remember from oh lets say last season? They have now lost three straight games and have been largely blown out in the contests (opponents are out scoring them 106-26 during the losing streak). The offense has lost its balanced attack on offense and the defense looks like it couldn't stop molasses from coming out of a jar.
I bet the fans are wishing to get some sort of rebate for the contract extension they gave quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Since signing the extension, Fitzpatrick has thrown eight interceptions, which brings his total on the season to 14. But the Bills are starting to fall into some tough times. Players on both sides of the ball are starting to go hard with some serious injuries. Just this week against the Dolphins cornerback Terrence McGee went down with what has to be a season ending knee injury since CBS wouldn't even play the replay of the injury it was so bad, halfback Fred Jackson suffered a minor calf injury, and wide receiver Donald Jones was carted off the field in an air cast on his ankle. Since week 8 the Bills have had to place three other key players on injured reserve.
Now into what I learned this week:
1) Time to start talking perfect?
The Pack continue to roll. After this weeks 35-26 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the Packers now sit at 10-0 and lead the NFC (obviously). Aaron Rogers is just playing stupid and can make a win for his squad in any situation. The Buccs kept this game relatively close throughout and were only down by 2 with 2:55 left in the fourth quarter. But then Rogers says "OK I guess I'll try now" and throws a 40-yard strike to Jordy Nelson to secure another win.
Is it too soon to start making the comparisons?
Not too long ago in 2007 the Patriots were able to finish off the regular season with a perfect 16-0 record. A quarterback by the name of Tom Brady was playing out of his mind; kind of like Aaron Rogers. He threw the ball to everyone and everyone scored; kind of like the Packers offense. The offense was putting up 36.8 points per game while their defense was only allowing 17.1 points per game, a point differential of 19.7 per game, close to what the Packers are holding now.
These teams are eerily similar on both sides of the ball; no running game, a feared linebacker core, a white wide receiver that tears it up, and a quarterback that does whatever he feels like and it works.
Probability wise the Packers are not going to go undefeated. There is just too much that can go wrong. Be it an injury, garbage games to close out the season, a surprise game where the team just isn't clicking, or just a hard fought game where the Packers end up losing. Too many variables can create obstacles on the road to a perfect season. This coming Thanksgiving game against the detroit Lions will be a big hurdle on that road and I certainly look forward to watching that one.
2) Daaaaaaaa Bears
Who would have thought that the Bears have finally pulled their act together. They have always been a good team, but seemingly just found ways to lose important games. After this weeks match against San Diego the Bears might be on the right track now.
Including this week the Bears have put themselves on a five game winning streak and are inching closer and closer towards the playoffs. But those playoff hopes may come to a crashing halt this week.
Jay Cutler, quarterback for the team suffered a broken thumb on his throwing hand in the fourth quarter of the game and preliminary reports say that there could be a season ending surgery in Cutler's near future. Without Cutler the hopes for this team in the postseason drop drastically. Caleb Hanie is definitely going to be taking over for Cutler this week and that is all we know at this point. Unless Cutler can come back within 3 weeks or Hanie can somehow continue this winning streak for the Bears then the chances at a wild card spot in the NFC is going to be a stretch.
3) The Future
Remember when the Lions went 0-16? That wasn't a good season for them. But, just 2 seasons later, the Lions have become the talk of the town. Sitting at 7-3 and tied with the Bears in the NFC North the Lions are fighting for a playoff spot via the Wild Card.
Who are the next Lions? My vote goes to CAAAAMMMMM!! The sensation that is sweeping the nation. The Panthers have been a great looking club even though their record doesn't show it (sitting 2-8 right now) and continue to improve weekly. There is much work to be done though. Their defense is ranked 17th in passing defense and 30th in rush defense. Can't be expected to win games if you can't stop the football from moving down the field.
Before the Lions went on their 5 game win streak at the end of the 2010 season they lost a lot of close games in the fourth quarter and blew some leads in the fourth quarter.
Enter the Carolina Panthers.
This season they have lost 3 games in the fourth quarter. On top of that they have had the lead going into halftime in 3 of their games in which the end result was a loss.
Now that the owners know that they have hope for a winning season for the first time in a few years look for them to invest this off-season to only improve the team and increase the win column.
4) I Hate Tim Tebow
Tim Tebo is the most awkward player to watch in the NFL. I refuse to watch any of his games. What sort of team thinks they can run the ball over 50 times in consecutive games and then win. How the Broncos continue to win baffles me.
In case you were wondering, Tim Tebow can't throw the football. He runs it a lot. He gives the ball to his running back to run when he gets tired.
Granted I love that they beat the Jets. The Jets defense is supposed to be one of the tops in the league, yet Tim Tebow can just run for a million yards and win the game of course on a QB draw play. I don't even know what to say to that. I don't even know what to say about Tim Tebow. I hate him. How he thinks the game is played is stupid. If you want to run with the ball a bunch go play a running position. Better yet just go back to the sidelines, put a football in your hand, and run run around there. Oh wait, that's right, you pray on the sidelines opposed to paying attention to the game. That's why you deserved this:
But back to stuff I'm supposed to write about.
Do the Philadelphia Eagles make sense to anyone? Go 3-6 with Mike Vick calling the shots and then end up beating the New York Giants with Vince Young under center. Granted the game was god awful and I didn't even have the stomach to watch the whole thing but come on; Vince Young was so 4 years ago.
I would have to think that due to the conference they are in and the wild card predictions that the Eagles are not playoff hopefuls. If they won out the season then maybe they could have a shot at a playoff spot. Look for the Eagles to play the spoiler card on teams for the remainder of the season and it will have a huge impact on standings.
As the weeks roll on look for a lot more of this to happen; teams becoming contenders while others turn out to be pretenders.
The team that really looked like a pretender this week would have to be the Buffalo Bills. Now this is the team that I remember from oh lets say last season? They have now lost three straight games and have been largely blown out in the contests (opponents are out scoring them 106-26 during the losing streak). The offense has lost its balanced attack on offense and the defense looks like it couldn't stop molasses from coming out of a jar.
I bet the fans are wishing to get some sort of rebate for the contract extension they gave quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Since signing the extension, Fitzpatrick has thrown eight interceptions, which brings his total on the season to 14. But the Bills are starting to fall into some tough times. Players on both sides of the ball are starting to go hard with some serious injuries. Just this week against the Dolphins cornerback Terrence McGee went down with what has to be a season ending knee injury since CBS wouldn't even play the replay of the injury it was so bad, halfback Fred Jackson suffered a minor calf injury, and wide receiver Donald Jones was carted off the field in an air cast on his ankle. Since week 8 the Bills have had to place three other key players on injured reserve.
Now into what I learned this week:
1) Time to start talking perfect?
The Pack continue to roll. After this weeks 35-26 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the Packers now sit at 10-0 and lead the NFC (obviously). Aaron Rogers is just playing stupid and can make a win for his squad in any situation. The Buccs kept this game relatively close throughout and were only down by 2 with 2:55 left in the fourth quarter. But then Rogers says "OK I guess I'll try now" and throws a 40-yard strike to Jordy Nelson to secure another win.
Is it too soon to start making the comparisons?
Not too long ago in 2007 the Patriots were able to finish off the regular season with a perfect 16-0 record. A quarterback by the name of Tom Brady was playing out of his mind; kind of like Aaron Rogers. He threw the ball to everyone and everyone scored; kind of like the Packers offense. The offense was putting up 36.8 points per game while their defense was only allowing 17.1 points per game, a point differential of 19.7 per game, close to what the Packers are holding now.
These teams are eerily similar on both sides of the ball; no running game, a feared linebacker core, a white wide receiver that tears it up, and a quarterback that does whatever he feels like and it works.
Probability wise the Packers are not going to go undefeated. There is just too much that can go wrong. Be it an injury, garbage games to close out the season, a surprise game where the team just isn't clicking, or just a hard fought game where the Packers end up losing. Too many variables can create obstacles on the road to a perfect season. This coming Thanksgiving game against the detroit Lions will be a big hurdle on that road and I certainly look forward to watching that one.
2) Daaaaaaaa Bears
Who would have thought that the Bears have finally pulled their act together. They have always been a good team, but seemingly just found ways to lose important games. After this weeks match against San Diego the Bears might be on the right track now.
Including this week the Bears have put themselves on a five game winning streak and are inching closer and closer towards the playoffs. But those playoff hopes may come to a crashing halt this week.
Jay Cutler, quarterback for the team suffered a broken thumb on his throwing hand in the fourth quarter of the game and preliminary reports say that there could be a season ending surgery in Cutler's near future. Without Cutler the hopes for this team in the postseason drop drastically. Caleb Hanie is definitely going to be taking over for Cutler this week and that is all we know at this point. Unless Cutler can come back within 3 weeks or Hanie can somehow continue this winning streak for the Bears then the chances at a wild card spot in the NFC is going to be a stretch.
3) The Future
Remember when the Lions went 0-16? That wasn't a good season for them. But, just 2 seasons later, the Lions have become the talk of the town. Sitting at 7-3 and tied with the Bears in the NFC North the Lions are fighting for a playoff spot via the Wild Card.
Who are the next Lions? My vote goes to CAAAAMMMMM!! The sensation that is sweeping the nation. The Panthers have been a great looking club even though their record doesn't show it (sitting 2-8 right now) and continue to improve weekly. There is much work to be done though. Their defense is ranked 17th in passing defense and 30th in rush defense. Can't be expected to win games if you can't stop the football from moving down the field.
Before the Lions went on their 5 game win streak at the end of the 2010 season they lost a lot of close games in the fourth quarter and blew some leads in the fourth quarter.
Enter the Carolina Panthers.
This season they have lost 3 games in the fourth quarter. On top of that they have had the lead going into halftime in 3 of their games in which the end result was a loss.
Now that the owners know that they have hope for a winning season for the first time in a few years look for them to invest this off-season to only improve the team and increase the win column.
4) I Hate Tim Tebow
Tim Tebo is the most awkward player to watch in the NFL. I refuse to watch any of his games. What sort of team thinks they can run the ball over 50 times in consecutive games and then win. How the Broncos continue to win baffles me.
In case you were wondering, Tim Tebow can't throw the football. He runs it a lot. He gives the ball to his running back to run when he gets tired.
Granted I love that they beat the Jets. The Jets defense is supposed to be one of the tops in the league, yet Tim Tebow can just run for a million yards and win the game of course on a QB draw play. I don't even know what to say to that. I don't even know what to say about Tim Tebow. I hate him. How he thinks the game is played is stupid. If you want to run with the ball a bunch go play a running position. Better yet just go back to the sidelines, put a football in your hand, and run run around there. Oh wait, that's right, you pray on the sidelines opposed to paying attention to the game. That's why you deserved this:
That's my week wrap-up. Tebow made my brain explode. And if I read one more Skip Bayless tweet about how good and elite Tebow is I swear to god I will club a baby seal.
Get at me this week with some comments, suggestions, challenges, or death threats from you Tebow dickriders on Twitter @iedlund or find me on Facebook or Google+ (yes it's a real thing).
Excited for these next coming weeks and watching how the playoff races shape up. I'm going to post more this week as well. Possibly a Patriots post-game article or my rookie article (it's in the works) who knows so keep checking back!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Week 9 Wrapup
This week in the NFL was a proving ground for all those teams on the bubble of making the playoffs; those teams that have the potential to make the playoffs but aren't guaranteed to make it. Oakland's playoff chances continue to dwindle as they got upset by Tim Tebow and the Broncos with a 163 yard and 2 touchdown performance by Willis McGahee, the Ravens finally swept the Steelers in a season series with a 23-20 victory on Sunday night, and the Eagles continue to lose somehow after being beaten in the fourth quarter by Da Bears.
The highlight for this weekend though had to have been the replay of Super Bowl XLII through the Patriots vs. Giants game. An eerie similarity fell between the two games. Brady was under duress for most of the game, the Patriots didn't run the ball, a spectacular catch was made on the game winning drive, Eli won the game with little to no time left on a fade route. It's painful to recollect the game on which this matchup was based. The ruining of a perfect season never goes down well. I'll dive real deep into this game in another article this week and share my terrible thoughts.
So now onto what I took from this week's games:
1) Who You Calling a N00B
Is it just me or is it that the younger a player is and the less experience a player has equates to the crazier stats they put up and more impressive plays they flash. Demarco Murray, Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, Julio Jones, Tim Tebow (not a rookie but a first time starter), and Matt Stafford (again not a rookie but has yet to play a full season) are all becoming household names for their respective teams. Then, players like Roy Helu, Shonn Greene, Victor Cruz (reppin ZooMass boi), and John Skelton say hey we want to join this party. I'm also going to delve deeper into the topic of rookies in another article this week but man were they all impressive this week. Andy Dalton continues to put wins on the board for the Cincinnati Bengals (6-2!) and Demarco Murray has put up 466 yards in the past 3 games for the Cowboys after a 139 yard showing in Seattle this week.
The most impressive had to have been Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons though. This was the reason Atlanta traded so many draft picks for this rookie. He is a big play threat at all times. Long receiver, good speed, great vertical, and soft hands make him a constant threat, and he proved that threat to be a reality after catching 4 passes for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns to output a yards per catch of 43.7.
2) Are The Cheeseheads About To Go Unbeaten?
Face it. Aaron Rogers looks pretty unstoppable. The Packers have picked up right where they have left off from last season after winning the Super Bowl and sit at 8-0, the only team without a loss in the league. The Packers had a great game against the team that I cheer for with Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Chargers. It was a shootout from start to finish and the typical San Diego Chargers errors lost them the game (Rivers had 3 interceptions). Rogers put up his typical superhuman stats; 21 for 26 (80.8% completion rate) for 247 yards and 4 touchdowns, all while targeting 7 receivers throughout the game; and continues to watch his QB Rating rise.
The remainder of Green Bay's schedule is winnable. With teams like the Vikings, the struggling Raiders, and Tampa Bay in their near future the Packers have a shot at that 16-0 mark reached by the Patriots in 2008. My feeling is though that eventually there will be a loss for this team. The probability of an undefeated team is staggeringly low. Regardless of going undefeated or not through this season they have a good shot at a repeat as Super Bowl champions.
3) AFC East Shakeup
There are 4 teams in the AFC East, the Patriots, Jets, Dolphins, and Bills. 3 of those 4 teams currently have a record of 5-3 (Pats, Jets, Bills). Here is how everything plays out at this point within the division:
The Jets have beaten the Dolphins and the Bills but have lost to the Patriots
The Patriots have beaten the Jets and the Dolphins but have lost to the Bills
The Bills have beaten the Patriots but have lost to the Jets
Technically that leaves the Patriots still in first place of the division because they have less losses to AFC teams over all than the Jets (Patriots are 4-2 in the conference while the Jets are 4-3). This coming week, the Patriots get a rematch against the Jets who are currently on a three-game win streak. I'll talk more about this upcoming game in my Patriots article later this week (I also need time to think about game factors).
The AFC East game that did catch my attention though was the Bills vs. Jets game. This was much more what I was used to seeing. Buffalo struggling to move the ball downfield, the Jets controlling the clock and tempo of the game, Jets defense being stingy and not allowing big plays, and the Bills lost. That's what I was used to before this season. The Bills need to get back on the track they were traveling on and fast. The AFC East is for any team to win. If the Bills want to be in the running for the top of the division or even for a wild card birth they need to get back to winning.
The only thing that is certain in this division is that the Dolphins got their first win of the season this past week against Kansas City. Matt Moore finally stepped up to the plate and threw for 3 touchdowns and 244 yards while keeping his team composed and in check. Brandon Marshall sure seemed happy about the win and he expressed it in his late game touchdown grab
4) I Might Have Been Right
I don't know if you read my post from last week but I did predict the Ravens to win the Super Bowl this year. Their game Sunday night was a clear step in the right direction. Finally for the first time in forever the Baltimore Ravens were able to sack up and sweep the Steelers in their season meetings (2 games a season). And they did it the right way; with defense.
Flacco threw for 300 yards and a touchdown which are now seemingly average numbers for quarterbacks this season. Fits right in seeing as how Flacco is a mediocre quarterback. Ray Rice had a tough go against the always hard Pittsburgh front 7 (ranked 10th in rushing defense), only putting up 43 yards and a touchdown. But these are all good things. This shows that the players are falling into their rolls. Flacco is commanding his team and controlling the game with smart decisions with a lackluster receiving squad. Rice gets done what is expected of him, about >75 yards per game and I'd say a touchdown every other game would be acceptable.
The defense is where the Ravens win their games though. When you have players like Ray Lewis, Haloti Ngata, and ball-hawking strong safety Ed Reed your defense is balanced. Then if you build off of that with players like Terrell Suggs and Bernard Pollard your defense is scary and can become the focus of a teams game preparation. This squad was able to hold the Pittsburgh offense to under 400 total yards with 289 of it coming through the air and forced two turnovers (fumble and interception). It did come down to the last quarter as Big Ben started charging the Steelers for a comeback but in the end the Ravens defense held out for the win.
Fun Stat of the Day:
The San Francisco 49ers have yet to let up a rushing touchdown this season. Wow.
Leave a comment below or find me on Twitter @iedlund or on Facebook and let me know what you think and if you have some suggestions/input/corrections/guitar solos.
The highlight for this weekend though had to have been the replay of Super Bowl XLII through the Patriots vs. Giants game. An eerie similarity fell between the two games. Brady was under duress for most of the game, the Patriots didn't run the ball, a spectacular catch was made on the game winning drive, Eli won the game with little to no time left on a fade route. It's painful to recollect the game on which this matchup was based. The ruining of a perfect season never goes down well. I'll dive real deep into this game in another article this week and share my terrible thoughts.
So now onto what I took from this week's games:
1) Who You Calling a N00B
Is it just me or is it that the younger a player is and the less experience a player has equates to the crazier stats they put up and more impressive plays they flash. Demarco Murray, Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, Julio Jones, Tim Tebow (not a rookie but a first time starter), and Matt Stafford (again not a rookie but has yet to play a full season) are all becoming household names for their respective teams. Then, players like Roy Helu, Shonn Greene, Victor Cruz (reppin ZooMass boi), and John Skelton say hey we want to join this party. I'm also going to delve deeper into the topic of rookies in another article this week but man were they all impressive this week. Andy Dalton continues to put wins on the board for the Cincinnati Bengals (6-2!) and Demarco Murray has put up 466 yards in the past 3 games for the Cowboys after a 139 yard showing in Seattle this week.
The most impressive had to have been Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons though. This was the reason Atlanta traded so many draft picks for this rookie. He is a big play threat at all times. Long receiver, good speed, great vertical, and soft hands make him a constant threat, and he proved that threat to be a reality after catching 4 passes for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns to output a yards per catch of 43.7.
2) Are The Cheeseheads About To Go Unbeaten?
Face it. Aaron Rogers looks pretty unstoppable. The Packers have picked up right where they have left off from last season after winning the Super Bowl and sit at 8-0, the only team without a loss in the league. The Packers had a great game against the team that I cheer for with Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Chargers. It was a shootout from start to finish and the typical San Diego Chargers errors lost them the game (Rivers had 3 interceptions). Rogers put up his typical superhuman stats; 21 for 26 (80.8% completion rate) for 247 yards and 4 touchdowns, all while targeting 7 receivers throughout the game; and continues to watch his QB Rating rise.
The remainder of Green Bay's schedule is winnable. With teams like the Vikings, the struggling Raiders, and Tampa Bay in their near future the Packers have a shot at that 16-0 mark reached by the Patriots in 2008. My feeling is though that eventually there will be a loss for this team. The probability of an undefeated team is staggeringly low. Regardless of going undefeated or not through this season they have a good shot at a repeat as Super Bowl champions.
3) AFC East Shakeup
There are 4 teams in the AFC East, the Patriots, Jets, Dolphins, and Bills. 3 of those 4 teams currently have a record of 5-3 (Pats, Jets, Bills). Here is how everything plays out at this point within the division:
The Jets have beaten the Dolphins and the Bills but have lost to the Patriots
The Patriots have beaten the Jets and the Dolphins but have lost to the Bills
The Bills have beaten the Patriots but have lost to the Jets
Technically that leaves the Patriots still in first place of the division because they have less losses to AFC teams over all than the Jets (Patriots are 4-2 in the conference while the Jets are 4-3). This coming week, the Patriots get a rematch against the Jets who are currently on a three-game win streak. I'll talk more about this upcoming game in my Patriots article later this week (I also need time to think about game factors).
The AFC East game that did catch my attention though was the Bills vs. Jets game. This was much more what I was used to seeing. Buffalo struggling to move the ball downfield, the Jets controlling the clock and tempo of the game, Jets defense being stingy and not allowing big plays, and the Bills lost. That's what I was used to before this season. The Bills need to get back on the track they were traveling on and fast. The AFC East is for any team to win. If the Bills want to be in the running for the top of the division or even for a wild card birth they need to get back to winning.
The only thing that is certain in this division is that the Dolphins got their first win of the season this past week against Kansas City. Matt Moore finally stepped up to the plate and threw for 3 touchdowns and 244 yards while keeping his team composed and in check. Brandon Marshall sure seemed happy about the win and he expressed it in his late game touchdown grab
I don't know if you read my post from last week but I did predict the Ravens to win the Super Bowl this year. Their game Sunday night was a clear step in the right direction. Finally for the first time in forever the Baltimore Ravens were able to sack up and sweep the Steelers in their season meetings (2 games a season). And they did it the right way; with defense.
Flacco threw for 300 yards and a touchdown which are now seemingly average numbers for quarterbacks this season. Fits right in seeing as how Flacco is a mediocre quarterback. Ray Rice had a tough go against the always hard Pittsburgh front 7 (ranked 10th in rushing defense), only putting up 43 yards and a touchdown. But these are all good things. This shows that the players are falling into their rolls. Flacco is commanding his team and controlling the game with smart decisions with a lackluster receiving squad. Rice gets done what is expected of him, about >75 yards per game and I'd say a touchdown every other game would be acceptable.
The defense is where the Ravens win their games though. When you have players like Ray Lewis, Haloti Ngata, and ball-hawking strong safety Ed Reed your defense is balanced. Then if you build off of that with players like Terrell Suggs and Bernard Pollard your defense is scary and can become the focus of a teams game preparation. This squad was able to hold the Pittsburgh offense to under 400 total yards with 289 of it coming through the air and forced two turnovers (fumble and interception). It did come down to the last quarter as Big Ben started charging the Steelers for a comeback but in the end the Ravens defense held out for the win.
Fun Stat of the Day:
The San Francisco 49ers have yet to let up a rushing touchdown this season. Wow.
Leave a comment below or find me on Twitter @iedlund or on Facebook and let me know what you think and if you have some suggestions/input/corrections/guitar solos.
Bear With Me
So I've been struggling with what I actually want to write about this week while still keeping you readers interested.
Personally I'd love to write a novel this week on the woes of the Patriots this season. It hasn't been pretty. But then elsewhere around the league these rookies are tearing stat books up like they're seasons pros. Between Andy Dalton and the winning-record Bengals, Cam Newton just going H.A.M. in Carolina, Julio Jones having 43.7 ypc in a game, and Demarco Murray coming out of nowhere to put up 466 yards in 3 games over in the Big D they're setting a high bar for incoming draft classes.
So here's what I'm going to do for you. I'm going to write 3 entries for you through this week.
First, I'll have a normal article. Just take you around the league and catch you up on some stories, injuries, conference standings, etc.
Second, a Rookie Edition. Talk about all these rookies and first time starters and how they've overcome the direct impact they faced from the lockout and how they're helping to reshape this league.
And third, a Patriots Edition article. Just go in on this team and pick apart every aspect I can think of and give you some insight.
So feel free to read whatever interests you and leave me some feedback collectively this week.
Personally I'd love to write a novel this week on the woes of the Patriots this season. It hasn't been pretty. But then elsewhere around the league these rookies are tearing stat books up like they're seasons pros. Between Andy Dalton and the winning-record Bengals, Cam Newton just going H.A.M. in Carolina, Julio Jones having 43.7 ypc in a game, and Demarco Murray coming out of nowhere to put up 466 yards in 3 games over in the Big D they're setting a high bar for incoming draft classes.
So here's what I'm going to do for you. I'm going to write 3 entries for you through this week.
First, I'll have a normal article. Just take you around the league and catch you up on some stories, injuries, conference standings, etc.
Second, a Rookie Edition. Talk about all these rookies and first time starters and how they've overcome the direct impact they faced from the lockout and how they're helping to reshape this league.
And third, a Patriots Edition article. Just go in on this team and pick apart every aspect I can think of and give you some insight.
So feel free to read whatever interests you and leave me some feedback collectively this week.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
The Great Swami Says...
Here we are. Week 8 is in the books. Week 9 marks the midway point of the 2011-2012 NFL season. The point of the season where teams start prepping for their playoff runs. There are no more excuses for poor performances anymore. The "Lockout Hangover" is long over, playbooks should be engraved in players minds, chemistry should be good enough and only continue to grow. After watching the games up until this point and writing all these articles about the weeks of football I'm going to be that bold asshole and make my predictions far too early.
I'll start with who I see as playoff teams.
AFC
North: Pittsburgh Steelers
South: Houston Texans (FINALLY!!)
East: Buffalo Bills
West: Oakland Raiders (Bengals)
Wild Card: Baltimore Ravens
Bubble Teams: New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals,
NFC
North: Green Bay Packers
South: New Orleans Saints
East: New York Giants
West: San Francisco 49ers
Wild Card: Detroit Lions
Bubble Teams: Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys
Conference Champs
AFC: Baltimore Ravens
NFC: Green Bay Packers
Super Bowl Champions
Baltimore Ravens
And now for my individual performers.
Rookie of the Year
Cam Newton - Carolina Panthers
Stats thus far in the season
147/287 for 2,393 yards, 60.6% completion percentage, 11 TD, 9 INT, 87.1 QBR
63 Rushing Attempts for 319 yards, 7 TD
League MVP
Aaron Rodgers - Green Bay Packers
Stats thus far in the season
171/239 for 2,372 yards, 71.5% completion percentage, 20 TD, 3 INT
29 Rushing Attempts for 75 yards, 2 TD
Offensive Player of the Year
Aaron Rodgers - Green Bay Packers
Defensive Player of the Year
Jarius Byrd - Buffalo Bills
Stats thus far in the season
50 Tackles (39 Solo), 1 Sack, 4 Passes Defended, 1 INT, 1 Forced Fumble, 1 Fumble Recovered
Comeback Player of the Year
Steve Smith - Carolina Panthers
Stats thus far in the season
46 catches for 918 yards, 20.0 yards per catch, 4 TD
Dud of the Year
Chris Johnson - Tennessee Titans
Stats thus far in the season
107 attempts for 302 yards, 2.8 yards per carry, 1 TD
27 receptions for 160 yards, 0 TD
Well let's see how this all pans out. Do you agree/disagree? Comment below or message me on Twitter @iedlund and share your thoughts with the community. Come at me bro.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Week 7 in the NFL
#NowPlaying "Welcome to the Winner's Circle" @CurrenSy_Spitta as an ode to the fourth quarter winners, Cam Newton getting a monkey off his back, and yes, I sadly have to include the second coming of Christ Tim Tebow here.
Due to the fact that tonight's game is going to be awful, I'll get this out of the way today. This past Sunday was a mess in the NFL. Between quarterback carousels, running back injuries, fourth quarter collapses, and a final score of 6-3 (seriously...) there was a lot that went wrong.
A fair amount of teams had bye weeks this week so match ups were a bit limited. The only games that really interested me was the Detroit Atlanta game and of course the Chargers Jets game.
Atlanta finally found their running back this week! Its been on a bit of a vacation. Michael Turner came out and rushed for 122 yards on 27 touches (no touchdowns) while the Lions without any sort of rushing attack due to their loss of Jahvad Best were forced to throw a lot; and the Falcons' were able to hold Stafford to a relatively human game. *Note* Although he did throw to Calvin Johnson for 115 of his 183 yards and the 1 touchdown he did have. Matty Ice had a typical day in the office with 218 yards and a touchdown without the help of rookie wide receiver Julio Jones. Fortunate for Matt Ryan the two interceptions he threw were only converted to three points by the Lions offense.
This is the second straight loss for the Lions after a tough loss and royal rumble with the San Francisco 49ers. The loss of Jahvad Best is going to be big for the Lions come playoff time. For Stafford, who has yet to play a full season, his arm and football IQ are going to be tested by teams if their running game continues to be this poor.
Now I don't know what the San Diego Chargers are doing anymore. Every season they suck up until say week 5 or 6. This year they were 4-1 through week 6. Here's my logic on this matter. Ok you do good through the portion of your season where you tend to struggle and are entering the period where you usually have a winning record. Winning record + winning record = Win games. So when you have a lead in the fourth quarter you shouldn't be shooting for the end zone right? Well Phillip Rivers decided to throw that strategy out and go for gold against the Jets. Yeah... didn't really work out in his favor as he threw two consecutive interceptions to close out the game.
As I previously stated, I do not understand Norv Turner and the San Diego Chargers. They have great players, big names now on defense after this past offseason, and a fairly easy division. I hear it every year, "I like the Chargers as a Super Bowl Contender". There's a reason this always comes up. Come playoffs though the team always comes up short. They've never actually won a Super Bowl sadly.
So down to the things I learned this week.
1) I don't want to be a running back this season
And now people are wondering why this season is a throwing season. Have you seen the injury list of running backs throughout this season across all teams? I'm surprised Goddell hasn't eliminated the running back position altogether yet. I'm sure this offseason he will try and implement a new league rule to prevent injuries like players must stay 3 yards away from a running back while he is carrying the ball or something stupid like that.
Anyways back to real life.
Through week 7, there are now 18 out of the 32 NFL teams that have lost one of their top two running backs for at least one game. This week alone 6 running backs went down with seemingly serious injuries. Coaches and quarterbacks not being able to trust their running game or not wanting to risk injury to their rushers have caused running backs to get the call only 41.5% of the time, an all-time low.
On a positive note, there were 7 running backs that went north of 100 yards rushing; including rookie DeMarco Murray who had 253 yards on the ground and Arian Foster who put together 115 yards on the ground as well as 119 yards receiving, only the 32nd time in NFL history that a player has put up a 100-100 game. Fantasy owners also got a good taste in their mouth with Shonne Greene of the Jets who put up 112 yards on the ground.
2) And the Wheel Goes Round
This week was a fantasy nightmare personally. In a 12 team, 2 QB league, things can get a bit dicey. Once going from having three quarterbacks to losing two (one to trade one to injury) I got desperate. I'm sure this is how coaches and managers are feeling in real life football too.
Oakland losing Jason Campbell is a huge blow to their playoff chances after seeing the display put on by the tandem of Kyle Boller and Carson Palmer who threw 3 interceptions... each... against the Kansas City Chiefs.... enough said. I didn't see the point in starting Boller though. Granted, Palmer was only with the team for four days before this weeks game. But still, you can't put Boller in ahead of Palmer. It's just common knowledge.
Minnesotta went with their rookie pick Christian Ponder this week against the red hot Packers and I will admit, I was a little impressed. First play from scrimmage he hooks up with Michael Jenkins for a 72 yard bomb that was ruled a touchdown but then was reversed and placed on the 1 yard line. He eventually went on to throw a touchdown to his tight end. Overall Ponder was able to keep the Vikings in the game but they fell in the end by a final of 33-27. Rogers is just too good to stop.
Then there's Tim "Jesus" Tebow. I'm going to get a lot of hate for this one; but I honestly think he didn't play well at all. Granted his stats say he completed almost half of his passes for 161 yards and had 2 touchdowns and added to that 65 yards on the ground which are pretty good stats for a first game. Even in my fantasy league he put up 16 and a half points, which is higher than both of my quarterbacks combined (screw you Whitehurst). People are already calling this a historic game. Slow your roll there.
First off, they were playing the horrible Miami Dolphins (0-6) in Miami. Tebow built the entire state of Florida so throw out the home field advantage. Then the Terrible Dolphins went ahead the entire game and were leading 15-0 entering the fourth quarter. Being the Terrible Dolphins, they got lazy and figured oh well we can give up a score and still be winning. Come 5:23 left in the fourth quarter until Tebow finally puts together a scoring drive. So now its 15-7. Then Tebow pulls the God card and the Broncos recover an onside kick. Cheapskate. So the Broncos get the ball back with a short field and the Dolphins being as bad as they are let up another touchdown and BY THE GRAE OF GOD... not really I just like these religious associations to Tebow... they convert the two point conversion and oh what do you know, tie ball game. Go into overtime, Broncos win on a 52 yard field goal. Yippie.
Our final stop on this wheel of shittiness... wait what do you mean he wasn't shitty? John Beck actually had a solid game for the Washington Redskins replacing the Rex "I Lost My Sexy" Grossman. Granted his team lost but I would put that on other factors; such as Cam Newton, Mike Shanahan not knowing how to use a running back, and the woes of the Redskins. He put up a solid performance of 22/37 for 279 yards and a touchdown and kept plays alive with his feet even though he hasn't started a game in the past four years. Good signs for the Skins going forward if they decide to keep starting him.
3) Sweet Baby Breesus
So someone forgot to tell Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints that A) they are not a basketball team and B) the Colts don't know how to play football without Peyton Manning so you're supposed to go easy on them. With a 62-7 laugher in the Superdome the Saints were really clicking on all cylinders, which surprised me. My surprise factor for this game was an injury sustained last week to a key member of the team. I'm talking about head coach Sean Peyton of course. Last week he suffered a huge knee injury and underwent surgery this week to repair his meniscus and knee in general. Unable to move along the sideline and not even being able to attend a practice until Thursday this past week I thought that Brees might have been a bit flustered with play calling. Turns out I was dead wrong. Brees tacked up 325 total passing yards along with 5 touchdown tosses. However, he wasn't alone. The entire group of running backs that the Saints have collected racked up 236 yards on the ground; split between Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas, and Mark Ingram.
The Colts continue their journey towards a new era in Andrew Luck, now sitting at 0-7. If this trend continues this will be an interesting offseason for Peyton Manning. To retire, to be traded somewhere after an entire career spent with this team, or maybe to stay with the Colts and be a mentor for the new young quarterback. Who knows that's way too far away.
Next week will be an interesting one as the Patriots come off their bye to face the Steelers and the Eagles are back in action against the Cowboys. Next week is the halfway point in the season as well. I'll put together my thoughts/predictions on award winners, playoffs/Superbowl, and maybe some offseason moves if I feel ambitions.
Until then keep giving me some feedback here or find me on Twitter at @iedlund.
Due to the fact that tonight's game is going to be awful, I'll get this out of the way today. This past Sunday was a mess in the NFL. Between quarterback carousels, running back injuries, fourth quarter collapses, and a final score of 6-3 (seriously...) there was a lot that went wrong.
A fair amount of teams had bye weeks this week so match ups were a bit limited. The only games that really interested me was the Detroit Atlanta game and of course the Chargers Jets game.
Atlanta finally found their running back this week! Its been on a bit of a vacation. Michael Turner came out and rushed for 122 yards on 27 touches (no touchdowns) while the Lions without any sort of rushing attack due to their loss of Jahvad Best were forced to throw a lot; and the Falcons' were able to hold Stafford to a relatively human game. *Note* Although he did throw to Calvin Johnson for 115 of his 183 yards and the 1 touchdown he did have. Matty Ice had a typical day in the office with 218 yards and a touchdown without the help of rookie wide receiver Julio Jones. Fortunate for Matt Ryan the two interceptions he threw were only converted to three points by the Lions offense.
This is the second straight loss for the Lions after a tough loss and royal rumble with the San Francisco 49ers. The loss of Jahvad Best is going to be big for the Lions come playoff time. For Stafford, who has yet to play a full season, his arm and football IQ are going to be tested by teams if their running game continues to be this poor.
Now I don't know what the San Diego Chargers are doing anymore. Every season they suck up until say week 5 or 6. This year they were 4-1 through week 6. Here's my logic on this matter. Ok you do good through the portion of your season where you tend to struggle and are entering the period where you usually have a winning record. Winning record + winning record = Win games. So when you have a lead in the fourth quarter you shouldn't be shooting for the end zone right? Well Phillip Rivers decided to throw that strategy out and go for gold against the Jets. Yeah... didn't really work out in his favor as he threw two consecutive interceptions to close out the game.
As I previously stated, I do not understand Norv Turner and the San Diego Chargers. They have great players, big names now on defense after this past offseason, and a fairly easy division. I hear it every year, "I like the Chargers as a Super Bowl Contender". There's a reason this always comes up. Come playoffs though the team always comes up short. They've never actually won a Super Bowl sadly.
So down to the things I learned this week.
1) I don't want to be a running back this season
And now people are wondering why this season is a throwing season. Have you seen the injury list of running backs throughout this season across all teams? I'm surprised Goddell hasn't eliminated the running back position altogether yet. I'm sure this offseason he will try and implement a new league rule to prevent injuries like players must stay 3 yards away from a running back while he is carrying the ball or something stupid like that.
Anyways back to real life.
Through week 7, there are now 18 out of the 32 NFL teams that have lost one of their top two running backs for at least one game. This week alone 6 running backs went down with seemingly serious injuries. Coaches and quarterbacks not being able to trust their running game or not wanting to risk injury to their rushers have caused running backs to get the call only 41.5% of the time, an all-time low.
On a positive note, there were 7 running backs that went north of 100 yards rushing; including rookie DeMarco Murray who had 253 yards on the ground and Arian Foster who put together 115 yards on the ground as well as 119 yards receiving, only the 32nd time in NFL history that a player has put up a 100-100 game. Fantasy owners also got a good taste in their mouth with Shonne Greene of the Jets who put up 112 yards on the ground.
2) And the Wheel Goes Round
This week was a fantasy nightmare personally. In a 12 team, 2 QB league, things can get a bit dicey. Once going from having three quarterbacks to losing two (one to trade one to injury) I got desperate. I'm sure this is how coaches and managers are feeling in real life football too.
Oakland losing Jason Campbell is a huge blow to their playoff chances after seeing the display put on by the tandem of Kyle Boller and Carson Palmer who threw 3 interceptions... each... against the Kansas City Chiefs.... enough said. I didn't see the point in starting Boller though. Granted, Palmer was only with the team for four days before this weeks game. But still, you can't put Boller in ahead of Palmer. It's just common knowledge.
Minnesotta went with their rookie pick Christian Ponder this week against the red hot Packers and I will admit, I was a little impressed. First play from scrimmage he hooks up with Michael Jenkins for a 72 yard bomb that was ruled a touchdown but then was reversed and placed on the 1 yard line. He eventually went on to throw a touchdown to his tight end. Overall Ponder was able to keep the Vikings in the game but they fell in the end by a final of 33-27. Rogers is just too good to stop.
Then there's Tim "Jesus" Tebow. I'm going to get a lot of hate for this one; but I honestly think he didn't play well at all. Granted his stats say he completed almost half of his passes for 161 yards and had 2 touchdowns and added to that 65 yards on the ground which are pretty good stats for a first game. Even in my fantasy league he put up 16 and a half points, which is higher than both of my quarterbacks combined (screw you Whitehurst). People are already calling this a historic game. Slow your roll there.
First off, they were playing the horrible Miami Dolphins (0-6) in Miami. Tebow built the entire state of Florida so throw out the home field advantage. Then the Terrible Dolphins went ahead the entire game and were leading 15-0 entering the fourth quarter. Being the Terrible Dolphins, they got lazy and figured oh well we can give up a score and still be winning. Come 5:23 left in the fourth quarter until Tebow finally puts together a scoring drive. So now its 15-7. Then Tebow pulls the God card and the Broncos recover an onside kick. Cheapskate. So the Broncos get the ball back with a short field and the Dolphins being as bad as they are let up another touchdown and BY THE GRAE OF GOD... not really I just like these religious associations to Tebow... they convert the two point conversion and oh what do you know, tie ball game. Go into overtime, Broncos win on a 52 yard field goal. Yippie.
Our final stop on this wheel of shittiness... wait what do you mean he wasn't shitty? John Beck actually had a solid game for the Washington Redskins replacing the Rex "I Lost My Sexy" Grossman. Granted his team lost but I would put that on other factors; such as Cam Newton, Mike Shanahan not knowing how to use a running back, and the woes of the Redskins. He put up a solid performance of 22/37 for 279 yards and a touchdown and kept plays alive with his feet even though he hasn't started a game in the past four years. Good signs for the Skins going forward if they decide to keep starting him.
3) Sweet Baby Breesus
So someone forgot to tell Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints that A) they are not a basketball team and B) the Colts don't know how to play football without Peyton Manning so you're supposed to go easy on them. With a 62-7 laugher in the Superdome the Saints were really clicking on all cylinders, which surprised me. My surprise factor for this game was an injury sustained last week to a key member of the team. I'm talking about head coach Sean Peyton of course. Last week he suffered a huge knee injury and underwent surgery this week to repair his meniscus and knee in general. Unable to move along the sideline and not even being able to attend a practice until Thursday this past week I thought that Brees might have been a bit flustered with play calling. Turns out I was dead wrong. Brees tacked up 325 total passing yards along with 5 touchdown tosses. However, he wasn't alone. The entire group of running backs that the Saints have collected racked up 236 yards on the ground; split between Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas, and Mark Ingram.
The Colts continue their journey towards a new era in Andrew Luck, now sitting at 0-7. If this trend continues this will be an interesting offseason for Peyton Manning. To retire, to be traded somewhere after an entire career spent with this team, or maybe to stay with the Colts and be a mentor for the new young quarterback. Who knows that's way too far away.
Next week will be an interesting one as the Patriots come off their bye to face the Steelers and the Eagles are back in action against the Cowboys. Next week is the halfway point in the season as well. I'll put together my thoughts/predictions on award winners, playoffs/Superbowl, and maybe some offseason moves if I feel ambitions.
Until then keep giving me some feedback here or find me on Twitter at @iedlund.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Chill Bro
All I have to say after this week is "You Mad, Bro?"
Going into and even during some of the games this past weekend there was a lot of frustration, anger, disappointment by both players and coaches alike. First I'll start with Brandon Marshall, who, unfortunately, did not live up to the hype. Claiming to reporters before his game on Monday night that his mission was to be ejected from the game by the second quarter. He was planning on fighting the likes of Bart Scott or cornerback Antonio Cromartie but no such festivities lit up my television :(
Normally not the best plan for an all-pro receiver.
But his passion is understandable. The Miami Dolphins are now 0-6, the team's coach doesn't know what he is doing, their quarterback is some guy named Matt Moore, and the team's in shambles. With the type of talent that Marshall has he expects to win and wants to win every game. So when the team loses he puts it on himself as a leader of this offense. Saying he was going to get ejected or start a fight was his way of telling the Jets that he was taking his game up a notch or six.
Good for him to carry this burden. He knows he is a role model for some of the players on the Dolphins and can really be an impact player to help get their new quarterback comfortable throwing the ball.
Now of course I have to talk about the WWE Raw Sunday Matinée that broke out at the end of the San Francisco 49ers Detroit Lions game (watch the scuffle here). My reaction to it all? Hey Jim Harbaugh, chill bro. Jim Schwartz NAILED IT during his press conference afterwards in saying:
"When you win a game like that you're excited and things like that but I think there is a protocol that goes with this league"
Exactly. Sure you just had a huge game and a great win and all that. But show some composure. Act like you've done it before. Don't body bump the opposing coach to say good game. And in the turmoil don't be an arrogant shithead and say "I must have shaken his hand too hard." Yeah you did, as well as yell in his face, push him out of the way, and have absolutely no respect in that his team made you earn that win. I am glad to see that no fines were handed out byCommunist Commissioner Roger Goodell though. It was a heat of the moment thing, there's no previous incidents between the two, just emotions run high.
Onto what stuck out at me this week around the NFL.
1) The Patriots Defense Does Exist
This is the more aggressive defense that I have been waiting to see from the Patriots. The cover teams are still a bit questionable but they faired well against great receivers in Jason Whitten (4 catches 48 yards and 1 touchdown), Dez Bryant (4 catches 78 yards), and Miles Austin (7 catches 74 yards) and Kyle Arrington had an interception.
However, my focus is on the "should be dominant" Patriots front seven. FINALLY there was some pressure on a quarterback! Andre Carter is slowly making a case for being one of the top defensive ends in the NFL by adding 2 sacks to his total on the season and Wilfork continues to be a turnover machine with a forced fumble on running back Tashard Choice. Tony Romo ended up being hit 4 times through the game which shows some sort of pressure being created by New England's front line.
Overall, the 32nd ranked New England defense was able to hold the 4th ranked Dallas offense to 16 points and even better hold them in the red zone for only a 33% touchdown conversion rate with only goal to go for yards. Certainly a stepping stone for this defense to build on and hopefully can continue to produce this sort of result.
2) One Lucky Winner
I think it's official. The race for Andrew Luck is on. If you look at teams with a very losing record; I'd say Indianapolis, Miami, and Minnesota; the one thing they need desperately is a quarterback. With the Colts, they have officially proven that without Peyton Manthang they cannot win games.
Curtis Painter is a third year backup quarterback and wasn't expected to have to play when the Colts brought in interim quarterback Kerry Collins, who is now out with concussion like symptoms. He's starting to show some poise and starting to build some chemistry with the receivers but he isn't a star and has yet to win a game. I would hope that with the severity of Peyton's injury and how much work he has had on it he would retire. Dude's set for the Hall of Fame, won a Super Bowl, is in the record book, and has plenty of endorsements and money. Surely would make a case for Andrew Luck in the 2012 Draft.
Next we have the Dolphins. They lost the Chad! Chad Henne had season ending surgery a few weeks back on his shoulder and put the Dolphins in a bad spot. They were forced to turn to Matt Moore, their fifth year backup out of Oregon State. Thank god he sucks or else I would have lost my fantasy matchup this week. After watching him this past Monday night he just didn't look comfortable with the receivers and his Football IQ didn't look off the charts. Desperate need to start a new era for this franchise. Maybe with a new head coach and a new all-american quarterback?
And then the Vikings... I feel bad for them. Actually I feel bad for their quarterback Donovan McNabb. Why does absolutely everyone hate this dude? He consistently took the Philadelphia Eagles to the playoffs and won games there, always played hard, never really had media issues (that I recall). What's to hate? Then he gets banished from the Eagles on bad terms and sent to the Washington Redskins where he had a bad season and was sporadically benched throughout the season by coach Mike Shanahan and then desperately shipped off to the Vikings, where he is still struggling. Their number 2 quarterback is Christian Ponder, a rookie out of Florida State. My thought on this one is that he is tradable. Granted he was a first round draft choice and trading him would essentially be a waste of pick from the 2011 Draft. But the prospect of grabbing Andrew Luck off the board could be well worth it.
3) Don't Call It A Comeback
Ok finally. Up is up and down is down again. The Eagles walked into the team friendly FedEx Field where they have won 10 of their past 12 match ups and won their second game on the season against the Redskins. The Redskins have been playing surprisingly well this season at 3-2 and sitting about average across the board in all stats. However, "Sexy Rexy" Rex Grossman decided to try and lose his starting position (see Donovan McNabb) by tossing a total of 4 interceptions before heading to the bench in the fourth quarter.
Andy Reid put together a safe and conservative game plan just to ensure his job at first priority, but the short routes, three step drops, and limiting Vick's need to run produced a win to stop the team's bleeding. The Eagles are going into a bye week sitting at 2-4 and the NFC East is wide-open for the taking. I am looking for them to keep with this three step drop system and maybe start converting to a west-coast style offense.
That's all I really have for this week. I could talk about the Giants going back to their strong running game (finally) and beating the Bills or Jason Campbell breaking his collarbone and the idea of Terrell Pryor starting (won't happen and I'm looking for Carson Palmer to come back). I could also talk about the trade deadline and what happened during it (what did happen...?) or how the Steelers keep hobbling to victories. But I don't feel like it.
Going into and even during some of the games this past weekend there was a lot of frustration, anger, disappointment by both players and coaches alike. First I'll start with Brandon Marshall, who, unfortunately, did not live up to the hype. Claiming to reporters before his game on Monday night that his mission was to be ejected from the game by the second quarter. He was planning on fighting the likes of Bart Scott or cornerback Antonio Cromartie but no such festivities lit up my television :(
Normally not the best plan for an all-pro receiver.
But his passion is understandable. The Miami Dolphins are now 0-6, the team's coach doesn't know what he is doing, their quarterback is some guy named Matt Moore, and the team's in shambles. With the type of talent that Marshall has he expects to win and wants to win every game. So when the team loses he puts it on himself as a leader of this offense. Saying he was going to get ejected or start a fight was his way of telling the Jets that he was taking his game up a notch or six.
Good for him to carry this burden. He knows he is a role model for some of the players on the Dolphins and can really be an impact player to help get their new quarterback comfortable throwing the ball.
Now of course I have to talk about the WWE Raw Sunday Matinée that broke out at the end of the San Francisco 49ers Detroit Lions game (watch the scuffle here). My reaction to it all? Hey Jim Harbaugh, chill bro. Jim Schwartz NAILED IT during his press conference afterwards in saying:
"When you win a game like that you're excited and things like that but I think there is a protocol that goes with this league"
Exactly. Sure you just had a huge game and a great win and all that. But show some composure. Act like you've done it before. Don't body bump the opposing coach to say good game. And in the turmoil don't be an arrogant shithead and say "I must have shaken his hand too hard." Yeah you did, as well as yell in his face, push him out of the way, and have absolutely no respect in that his team made you earn that win. I am glad to see that no fines were handed out by
Onto what stuck out at me this week around the NFL.
1) The Patriots Defense Does Exist
This is the more aggressive defense that I have been waiting to see from the Patriots. The cover teams are still a bit questionable but they faired well against great receivers in Jason Whitten (4 catches 48 yards and 1 touchdown), Dez Bryant (4 catches 78 yards), and Miles Austin (7 catches 74 yards) and Kyle Arrington had an interception.
However, my focus is on the "should be dominant" Patriots front seven. FINALLY there was some pressure on a quarterback! Andre Carter is slowly making a case for being one of the top defensive ends in the NFL by adding 2 sacks to his total on the season and Wilfork continues to be a turnover machine with a forced fumble on running back Tashard Choice. Tony Romo ended up being hit 4 times through the game which shows some sort of pressure being created by New England's front line.
Overall, the 32nd ranked New England defense was able to hold the 4th ranked Dallas offense to 16 points and even better hold them in the red zone for only a 33% touchdown conversion rate with only goal to go for yards. Certainly a stepping stone for this defense to build on and hopefully can continue to produce this sort of result.
2) One Lucky Winner
I think it's official. The race for Andrew Luck is on. If you look at teams with a very losing record; I'd say Indianapolis, Miami, and Minnesota; the one thing they need desperately is a quarterback. With the Colts, they have officially proven that without Peyton Manthang they cannot win games.
Curtis Painter is a third year backup quarterback and wasn't expected to have to play when the Colts brought in interim quarterback Kerry Collins, who is now out with concussion like symptoms. He's starting to show some poise and starting to build some chemistry with the receivers but he isn't a star and has yet to win a game. I would hope that with the severity of Peyton's injury and how much work he has had on it he would retire. Dude's set for the Hall of Fame, won a Super Bowl, is in the record book, and has plenty of endorsements and money. Surely would make a case for Andrew Luck in the 2012 Draft.
Next we have the Dolphins. They lost the Chad! Chad Henne had season ending surgery a few weeks back on his shoulder and put the Dolphins in a bad spot. They were forced to turn to Matt Moore, their fifth year backup out of Oregon State. Thank god he sucks or else I would have lost my fantasy matchup this week. After watching him this past Monday night he just didn't look comfortable with the receivers and his Football IQ didn't look off the charts. Desperate need to start a new era for this franchise. Maybe with a new head coach and a new all-american quarterback?
And then the Vikings... I feel bad for them. Actually I feel bad for their quarterback Donovan McNabb. Why does absolutely everyone hate this dude? He consistently took the Philadelphia Eagles to the playoffs and won games there, always played hard, never really had media issues (that I recall). What's to hate? Then he gets banished from the Eagles on bad terms and sent to the Washington Redskins where he had a bad season and was sporadically benched throughout the season by coach Mike Shanahan and then desperately shipped off to the Vikings, where he is still struggling. Their number 2 quarterback is Christian Ponder, a rookie out of Florida State. My thought on this one is that he is tradable. Granted he was a first round draft choice and trading him would essentially be a waste of pick from the 2011 Draft. But the prospect of grabbing Andrew Luck off the board could be well worth it.
3) Don't Call It A Comeback
Ok finally. Up is up and down is down again. The Eagles walked into the team friendly FedEx Field where they have won 10 of their past 12 match ups and won their second game on the season against the Redskins. The Redskins have been playing surprisingly well this season at 3-2 and sitting about average across the board in all stats. However, "Sexy Rexy" Rex Grossman decided to try and lose his starting position (see Donovan McNabb) by tossing a total of 4 interceptions before heading to the bench in the fourth quarter.
Andy Reid put together a safe and conservative game plan just to ensure his job at first priority, but the short routes, three step drops, and limiting Vick's need to run produced a win to stop the team's bleeding. The Eagles are going into a bye week sitting at 2-4 and the NFC East is wide-open for the taking. I am looking for them to keep with this three step drop system and maybe start converting to a west-coast style offense.
That's all I really have for this week. I could talk about the Giants going back to their strong running game (finally) and beating the Bills or Jason Campbell breaking his collarbone and the idea of Terrell Pryor starting (won't happen and I'm looking for Carson Palmer to come back). I could also talk about the trade deadline and what happened during it (what did happen...?) or how the Steelers keep hobbling to victories. But I don't feel like it.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Apparently Third Is Better Than Second
It is upon us.
His Holiness Tim Tebow has finally assumed the position of starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos.
I have never seen so much support for an athlete that has done next to nothing during his time in the NFL. Do you know what the most selling player jersey was last season? You guessed it. Tim Tebow. The man had never taken a snap during a regular season game, yet stores couldn't even keep up with the demand for his jersey. It to this day baffles me how someone who had never played in the NFL has so much support.
I understand he's a great guy and he tries really hard during practices and he's great with the media. But that's what he gets paid to do. Every player in the NFL, starter or not, is expected to participate fully in practices and handle the media appropriately. "Oh but he loves Jesus!" And? Is that supposed to make me wish that this kid was a team's starting quarterback?
Going into the 2011-2012 NFL season, the Denver Broncos had three quarterbacks on their roster; Kyle Orton, Brady Quinn, and Tim Tebow. In the offseason there was an open competition for the backup roll behind Kyle Orton between Quinn and Tebow. Now Brady Quinn won this competition fair and square. He was listed as the number two quarterback on their depth chart.
After a dismal 1-3 start for Denver and another game heading down the drain, John Fox said screw it, it's Tebow Time. Let me remind you; Brady Quinn is the backup quarterback, Tim Tebow is the backup quarterback for the backup quarterback.
So what happened to Quinn? That's really all I pulled from this entire season in Denver. What about Brady Quinn? He proved his value, proved he deserved the backup quarterback spot, has never been in the media speculating why he wasn't given a chance on the field, and doesn't have plays just for him in the offensive playbook. Yet he doesn't work as hard as Tebow or isn't a good enough person to be named the starter? Give me a break.
He has more NFL experience than Tebow and he already proved that he was better than Tebow during the offseason. Quinn was actually a starter on the Cleveland Browns for 12 of their games in the 08 and 09 seasons and put up numbers expected by a young quarterback on a struggling team. But why wasn't he put in this past Sunday and why is Tim Tebow now the official starter for the team?
There are only three possible scenarios: 1) Somewhere during this season John Fox decided that Tebow was better than Quinn; 2) Fox is giving up on the season and plans to use both quarterbacks and plan for the future; or 3) Peer pressure got the best of the coach and he put in Tebow for the fans.
If the crappy campaign efforts on behalf of Tim Tebow got him this starting role, then by god that opens a lot of possibilities.
His Holiness Tim Tebow has finally assumed the position of starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos.
I have never seen so much support for an athlete that has done next to nothing during his time in the NFL. Do you know what the most selling player jersey was last season? You guessed it. Tim Tebow. The man had never taken a snap during a regular season game, yet stores couldn't even keep up with the demand for his jersey. It to this day baffles me how someone who had never played in the NFL has so much support.
I understand he's a great guy and he tries really hard during practices and he's great with the media. But that's what he gets paid to do. Every player in the NFL, starter or not, is expected to participate fully in practices and handle the media appropriately. "Oh but he loves Jesus!" And? Is that supposed to make me wish that this kid was a team's starting quarterback?
Going into the 2011-2012 NFL season, the Denver Broncos had three quarterbacks on their roster; Kyle Orton, Brady Quinn, and Tim Tebow. In the offseason there was an open competition for the backup roll behind Kyle Orton between Quinn and Tebow. Now Brady Quinn won this competition fair and square. He was listed as the number two quarterback on their depth chart.
After a dismal 1-3 start for Denver and another game heading down the drain, John Fox said screw it, it's Tebow Time. Let me remind you; Brady Quinn is the backup quarterback, Tim Tebow is the backup quarterback for the backup quarterback.
So what happened to Quinn? That's really all I pulled from this entire season in Denver. What about Brady Quinn? He proved his value, proved he deserved the backup quarterback spot, has never been in the media speculating why he wasn't given a chance on the field, and doesn't have plays just for him in the offensive playbook. Yet he doesn't work as hard as Tebow or isn't a good enough person to be named the starter? Give me a break.
He has more NFL experience than Tebow and he already proved that he was better than Tebow during the offseason. Quinn was actually a starter on the Cleveland Browns for 12 of their games in the 08 and 09 seasons and put up numbers expected by a young quarterback on a struggling team. But why wasn't he put in this past Sunday and why is Tim Tebow now the official starter for the team?
There are only three possible scenarios: 1) Somewhere during this season John Fox decided that Tebow was better than Quinn; 2) Fox is giving up on the season and plans to use both quarterbacks and plan for the future; or 3) Peer pressure got the best of the coach and he put in Tebow for the fans.
If the crappy campaign efforts on behalf of Tim Tebow got him this starting role, then by god that opens a lot of possibilities.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Week 5 NFL Rundown
Here we are. Two weeks strong. Such a meaningful accomplishment. I'd like to thank... oh screw that you just want some football talk.
Week 5 was a very emotional week around the league for players, coaches, owners, etc alike. The passing of a football legend occurred on Saturday when Al Davis passed away at the age of 82. Al Davis was the longtime owner of the Oakland Raiders and lived by the montra "Just Win, Baby", and his team took that to heart going up against the Houston Texans this week. They did their late owner proud and came away with the win. Granted, Oakland did not play one of their best games. But they stayed with it and showed their true colors winning by a final of 25-20. Going into an easier stretch of their schedule, don't be surprised when you hear the words Oakland and playoffs in the same sentence coming to the close of this season.
The passing of Al Davis is truly a tragedy for this league and its effects will be felt for weeks to come. He was always the person everyone loved to hate. Always making very questionable calls and odd draft picks (kicker Sebastian Janikowski was a first round draft pick for the team) people always took shots at him. But over his tenure as the owner of the Oakland Raiders he has built a very respectable franchise and worked with greats such as John Madden and Jim Plunkett.
A Hall of Fame owner that will not soon be forgotten.
Elsewhere around the league, the presence of the saying "Just Win, Baby" was heavily felt. Big upset wins by the Bills and the Seahawks shook up the league a bit and created some headlines that I will get into further down the article.
But first I gotta talk about my Patriots.
Big Week 5 match-up for them facing off against bitter rival and divisional opponent the J-E-T-S SUCK SUCK SUCK (god that feels good every time). With the Bills, another AFC East team, pulling an upset over the Philadelphia Eagles during their 1 o'clock game, the Patriots match-up had a lot greater implications.
Scenario 1: Patriots win and Jets lose. Puts the Patriots in a tie for first place in the toughest division in the NFL (I think) and technically in second behind Buffalo (the Patriots one loss) and the Jets fall to 2-3 and have a big hole to crawl out of.
Scenario 2: Patriots lose and Jets win. Would have dropped the Patriots into a tie for second place (technically third because of losses to the Jets and Bills) at 3-2 and given the Jets momentum in the division and, as Tim Thomas would say, pump their tires going forward in their schedule.
Thank god scenario one happened.
All week, per usual, the Jets were talking about their game-plan to stop Brady and how their offense was going to show its dominance and players were saying how much they hated Brady or the Patriots in general. The Patriots took all that chatter and turned it around on Rex Ryan and his team. Brian Schottenheimer and Rex Ryan wanted to go back to their "ground and pound" style of offense and just grind out runs and ware out the defense.
Bill Belichick said hey we can do that too.
Led by Benjarvis Green-Ellis, the Patriots out grounded and out pounded the Jets defense to a 30-21 victory. "The Law-firm" (Green-Ellis) had a career day with 136 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns on 27 carries. This running back is a quiet little stud. Since the beginning of last season, he is leading the league in touchdowns with 18 and averages 4.3 yards per carry for his career. He got a heavy workload this week with Woodhead out with an injury. He took over Woodhead's role as pass protection this week and delivered.
Over the course of the game, the play selection for New England was relatively 50/50 with 35 running plays to 33 passing plays, unexpected after the type of numbers Brady has put up the first four weeks of the season. But Coach Bill was smart and went all the way back to that stupid playoff loss last season and studied that defense. They frequently put six or fewer players in the box, practically encouraging the Patriots to run the ball. But with a lacking run offense, they would come out throwing, and play right into the Jets' defensive strength. He knew he needed to build up the running squad for this game. And it paid off well.
I'm going to end this rant with a follow-up to my post last week about GQ Jr. Mark Sanchez. After his the absolute beating he took last week against Baltimore he had a chance to show his mental toughness this week. That didn't happen. This entire game and in articles I've read this morning I have come to this hypothesis.
Mark Sanchez is a baby.
Reference number one to back up this theory. During the broadcast of this game, one of the commentators said that during practice this week, the offensive coordinator and coaches took away Sanchez's privileges of reading the defense and making play calls at the line and left those duties to veteran center Nick Mangold.
Reference number two. In this article by Rich Cimini right here he talks about how Sanchez's ability to change play calls or make audibles were limited in order to "reduce his mental burden." Where's Ochocinco when I need him. CHILD PLEASE! If Mark needs to be babied like this week to week then he's more of a princess than I thought.
Anywho now onto what I learned from this weeks games.
1) Heisman Part 2?
Jesus Christ Cam Newton. We get it. You wanted to prove that you were an NFL caliber quarterback. No need to go ape shit all over the league and put up numbers saved for future Hall of Famers.
This week Newton and his Carolina Panthers faced off against the offense heavy New Orleans Saints. Anyone see that kind of shootout coming? The final score of the game was 30-27 and it really did come down to the final possession for Drew Brees and his offense. Newton put his team ahead in the beginning of the fourth quarter. Unable to get any sort of drive going with 10 minutes left in the fourth, there was more than enough time for Brees to get his team downfield and score the game winner.
Carolina has been a struggling franchise for a few seasons now. To see the addition of Cam Newton have this sort of ability to keep them in games against such top-tier teams really means something. The addition of a few more pieces and they could be the next Detroit Lions. Granted, their record says 1-4. However, consider the fact that their 4 losses have been by a combined of 22 points... that's a step in the right direction if I've ever seen one.
2) Speaking of 1-4
Hey Philadelphia. Uhhhh whatcha doin over there? Oh losing more football games? Ok that's cool have fun with that. Us analysts are just going to sit here and rip you a new one if that's cool.
Yet another loss for thedream-team Eagles. I don't know if I can agree that this is an upset by the Bills though. On paper, the Eagles should be the best team in the league hands down. But so far it hasn't worked out for them. The Bills on paper should be one of the worst teams in the league. But so far they are 4-1 and people are beginning to bandwagon. The Bills have started to prove their legitimacy as a playoff contender being led by MVP candidate Fred Jackson and the Eagles have proven they have a lot to work on. I've always been a fan of Mike Vick (not the jail and dog stuff) and loved watching him play. But he's being asked to do too much to make up for other holes in their program. All this extra work he is being asked to carry is causing him to lose his focus. Already Vick has thrown for 7 interceptions over the season.
So who/what is to blame for the Eagles lackluster season thus far? Is it team chemistry, coaching, player ego? I would say the blame has got to fall on Andy Reid their head coach. His players don't look like they are well disciplined at all, example Juqua Parker jumping offsides on fourth and inches with little to go in the fourth quarter to extend Buffalo's drive and eventually end the game, they're unorganized, and haven't quite gelled yet. So here is the proposal.
If not now, then when?
They have got to step up their game and start winning or a lot of that staff will find themselves on the hot seat by the end of this season.
3) Quiet Thunder
Has anyone been watching the San Francisco 49ers? Well just a heads up, they're 4-1 and 2 games ahead of the Seattle Seahawks in their division.
This past Sunday they laid a 48-3 smackdown on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. At this point last season, the 49ers were 0-5, players were revolting, and Mike Singletary was shooting lasers out of his eyes at anyone that got in his way.
Enter new head coach Jim Harbaugh.
He has taught his team patience, encouraged them to learn the reason why they run certain routes or why they need to be in this specific spot for this play, and formed a single unit that plays together. And as Delanie Walker said after the game "You act like your coaches." Harbaugh wants to know everything about everything pertaining to his team. He attends all meetings that pertains to his players, he spends time with his players, he is a piece of this squad.
Their quiet efficiency has gotten them this far. This week, quarterback Alex Smith only threw 19 passes and completed 11 of them for 170 yards... but 3 touchdowns. Oh and he sat out the entire fourth quarter. Frank Gore, the most important piece of their offense, has found himself back on the right track with a 100 plus yard game for the second week straight. But their defense if just as quiet as their offense. No huge names, no flashy plays. Just the ability to shit down a team's run game and the ability to turn the ball over.
It's no wonder why they have been winning games.
4) The Tim Tebow Watch
Grantland has recently become one of my favorite sports blog collections to read. In their weekly wrap-ups for the NFL they include something called The Tim Tebow Watch. It's a collection of Tebow's actions at different points through the four quarters. Up until this point it has shared things such as:
"Tebow is fully suited, mouthpiece in, and helmet on. Waiting for the coaches call."
"Tebow is stretching again on the sideline. Man this guy stretches a lot."
"Tebow is on the sideline by John Fox (head coach) with helmet in hand and a properly fitted and adjusted hat on."
Well wait no longer. The Tim Tebow Watch is in full effect. He finally got the chance that all of Denver has been asking for. Starter Kyle Orton was benched after halftime and replaced with Tim Tebow to see what would happen. Orton has yet been able to inspire any sort of spark in this Denver Broncos' offense and has quite frankly been terrible (record of 6 and 22 in his last 28 starts). Tebow came into the third quarter behind by 16 points to the San Diego Chargers and somehow managed to give his team a shot by the end of the game.
As in he almost won the game.
As in he showed promise of actually having some sort of talent.
Tebow scored two touchdowns in his two quarter span of commanding the team and they looked alive and glad to see him on the field. It came down to a hail mary at the end of the game and it was almost caught in the back of the endzone, but Denver fell 29-24.
So now after seeing this game fans and coaches have got to be saying it's time for some Tebow. With the team sitting at 1-4 going into a bye week this week, John Fox has got to make the swap. For the sake of his team. For the sake of the team's fanbase. For the sake of all humanity! Too much? Maybe. It'll be interesting to see how he fits into this offense and what types of changes the Broncos make to their playbook to adapt to his style as a quarter back.
Quick Hits
The frail Pittsburg Steelers beat the Tennessee Titans this week off of Roethlisberger's 5 touchdown tosses. Big Ben powered through a sprained left foot and rallied his injury ridden troops to pull out a big win... The Seattle Seahawks upset the New York Giants despite a minor pectoral injury to starting quarterback Tavaris Jackson. Despite Charlie Whitehurst winning this game, coach Pete Carroll stated that Jackson will still be the starter after this weeks bye... In Houston's loss to Oakland, they lost key defensive figure Mario Williams to a pectoral injury. It was confirmed today that he could be done for the season. The Texans are now 20-24 in games decided by 7 points or fewer... Rookie Andy Dalton out dueled other rookie Blaine Gabbert in a 30-20 win for Cincinnati.
Week 5 was a very emotional week around the league for players, coaches, owners, etc alike. The passing of a football legend occurred on Saturday when Al Davis passed away at the age of 82. Al Davis was the longtime owner of the Oakland Raiders and lived by the montra "Just Win, Baby", and his team took that to heart going up against the Houston Texans this week. They did their late owner proud and came away with the win. Granted, Oakland did not play one of their best games. But they stayed with it and showed their true colors winning by a final of 25-20. Going into an easier stretch of their schedule, don't be surprised when you hear the words Oakland and playoffs in the same sentence coming to the close of this season.
The passing of Al Davis is truly a tragedy for this league and its effects will be felt for weeks to come. He was always the person everyone loved to hate. Always making very questionable calls and odd draft picks (kicker Sebastian Janikowski was a first round draft pick for the team) people always took shots at him. But over his tenure as the owner of the Oakland Raiders he has built a very respectable franchise and worked with greats such as John Madden and Jim Plunkett.
A Hall of Fame owner that will not soon be forgotten.
Elsewhere around the league, the presence of the saying "Just Win, Baby" was heavily felt. Big upset wins by the Bills and the Seahawks shook up the league a bit and created some headlines that I will get into further down the article.
But first I gotta talk about my Patriots.
Big Week 5 match-up for them facing off against bitter rival and divisional opponent the J-E-T-S SUCK SUCK SUCK (god that feels good every time). With the Bills, another AFC East team, pulling an upset over the Philadelphia Eagles during their 1 o'clock game, the Patriots match-up had a lot greater implications.
Scenario 1: Patriots win and Jets lose. Puts the Patriots in a tie for first place in the toughest division in the NFL (I think) and technically in second behind Buffalo (the Patriots one loss) and the Jets fall to 2-3 and have a big hole to crawl out of.
Scenario 2: Patriots lose and Jets win. Would have dropped the Patriots into a tie for second place (technically third because of losses to the Jets and Bills) at 3-2 and given the Jets momentum in the division and, as Tim Thomas would say, pump their tires going forward in their schedule.
Thank god scenario one happened.
All week, per usual, the Jets were talking about their game-plan to stop Brady and how their offense was going to show its dominance and players were saying how much they hated Brady or the Patriots in general. The Patriots took all that chatter and turned it around on Rex Ryan and his team. Brian Schottenheimer and Rex Ryan wanted to go back to their "ground and pound" style of offense and just grind out runs and ware out the defense.
Bill Belichick said hey we can do that too.
Led by Benjarvis Green-Ellis, the Patriots out grounded and out pounded the Jets defense to a 30-21 victory. "The Law-firm" (Green-Ellis) had a career day with 136 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns on 27 carries. This running back is a quiet little stud. Since the beginning of last season, he is leading the league in touchdowns with 18 and averages 4.3 yards per carry for his career. He got a heavy workload this week with Woodhead out with an injury. He took over Woodhead's role as pass protection this week and delivered.
Over the course of the game, the play selection for New England was relatively 50/50 with 35 running plays to 33 passing plays, unexpected after the type of numbers Brady has put up the first four weeks of the season. But Coach Bill was smart and went all the way back to that stupid playoff loss last season and studied that defense. They frequently put six or fewer players in the box, practically encouraging the Patriots to run the ball. But with a lacking run offense, they would come out throwing, and play right into the Jets' defensive strength. He knew he needed to build up the running squad for this game. And it paid off well.
I'm going to end this rant with a follow-up to my post last week about GQ Jr. Mark Sanchez. After his the absolute beating he took last week against Baltimore he had a chance to show his mental toughness this week. That didn't happen. This entire game and in articles I've read this morning I have come to this hypothesis.
Mark Sanchez is a baby.
Reference number one to back up this theory. During the broadcast of this game, one of the commentators said that during practice this week, the offensive coordinator and coaches took away Sanchez's privileges of reading the defense and making play calls at the line and left those duties to veteran center Nick Mangold.
Reference number two. In this article by Rich Cimini right here he talks about how Sanchez's ability to change play calls or make audibles were limited in order to "reduce his mental burden." Where's Ochocinco when I need him. CHILD PLEASE! If Mark needs to be babied like this week to week then he's more of a princess than I thought.
Anywho now onto what I learned from this weeks games.
1) Heisman Part 2?
Jesus Christ Cam Newton. We get it. You wanted to prove that you were an NFL caliber quarterback. No need to go ape shit all over the league and put up numbers saved for future Hall of Famers.
This week Newton and his Carolina Panthers faced off against the offense heavy New Orleans Saints. Anyone see that kind of shootout coming? The final score of the game was 30-27 and it really did come down to the final possession for Drew Brees and his offense. Newton put his team ahead in the beginning of the fourth quarter. Unable to get any sort of drive going with 10 minutes left in the fourth, there was more than enough time for Brees to get his team downfield and score the game winner.
Carolina has been a struggling franchise for a few seasons now. To see the addition of Cam Newton have this sort of ability to keep them in games against such top-tier teams really means something. The addition of a few more pieces and they could be the next Detroit Lions. Granted, their record says 1-4. However, consider the fact that their 4 losses have been by a combined of 22 points... that's a step in the right direction if I've ever seen one.
2) Speaking of 1-4
Hey Philadelphia. Uhhhh whatcha doin over there? Oh losing more football games? Ok that's cool have fun with that. Us analysts are just going to sit here and rip you a new one if that's cool.
Yet another loss for the
So who/what is to blame for the Eagles lackluster season thus far? Is it team chemistry, coaching, player ego? I would say the blame has got to fall on Andy Reid their head coach. His players don't look like they are well disciplined at all, example Juqua Parker jumping offsides on fourth and inches with little to go in the fourth quarter to extend Buffalo's drive and eventually end the game, they're unorganized, and haven't quite gelled yet. So here is the proposal.
If not now, then when?
They have got to step up their game and start winning or a lot of that staff will find themselves on the hot seat by the end of this season.
3) Quiet Thunder
Has anyone been watching the San Francisco 49ers? Well just a heads up, they're 4-1 and 2 games ahead of the Seattle Seahawks in their division.
This past Sunday they laid a 48-3 smackdown on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. At this point last season, the 49ers were 0-5, players were revolting, and Mike Singletary was shooting lasers out of his eyes at anyone that got in his way.
Enter new head coach Jim Harbaugh.
He has taught his team patience, encouraged them to learn the reason why they run certain routes or why they need to be in this specific spot for this play, and formed a single unit that plays together. And as Delanie Walker said after the game "You act like your coaches." Harbaugh wants to know everything about everything pertaining to his team. He attends all meetings that pertains to his players, he spends time with his players, he is a piece of this squad.
Their quiet efficiency has gotten them this far. This week, quarterback Alex Smith only threw 19 passes and completed 11 of them for 170 yards... but 3 touchdowns. Oh and he sat out the entire fourth quarter. Frank Gore, the most important piece of their offense, has found himself back on the right track with a 100 plus yard game for the second week straight. But their defense if just as quiet as their offense. No huge names, no flashy plays. Just the ability to shit down a team's run game and the ability to turn the ball over.
It's no wonder why they have been winning games.
4) The Tim Tebow Watch
Grantland has recently become one of my favorite sports blog collections to read. In their weekly wrap-ups for the NFL they include something called The Tim Tebow Watch. It's a collection of Tebow's actions at different points through the four quarters. Up until this point it has shared things such as:
"Tebow is fully suited, mouthpiece in, and helmet on. Waiting for the coaches call."
"Tebow is stretching again on the sideline. Man this guy stretches a lot."
"Tebow is on the sideline by John Fox (head coach) with helmet in hand and a properly fitted and adjusted hat on."
Well wait no longer. The Tim Tebow Watch is in full effect. He finally got the chance that all of Denver has been asking for. Starter Kyle Orton was benched after halftime and replaced with Tim Tebow to see what would happen. Orton has yet been able to inspire any sort of spark in this Denver Broncos' offense and has quite frankly been terrible (record of 6 and 22 in his last 28 starts). Tebow came into the third quarter behind by 16 points to the San Diego Chargers and somehow managed to give his team a shot by the end of the game.
As in he almost won the game.
As in he showed promise of actually having some sort of talent.
Tebow scored two touchdowns in his two quarter span of commanding the team and they looked alive and glad to see him on the field. It came down to a hail mary at the end of the game and it was almost caught in the back of the endzone, but Denver fell 29-24.
So now after seeing this game fans and coaches have got to be saying it's time for some Tebow. With the team sitting at 1-4 going into a bye week this week, John Fox has got to make the swap. For the sake of his team. For the sake of the team's fanbase. For the sake of all humanity! Too much? Maybe. It'll be interesting to see how he fits into this offense and what types of changes the Broncos make to their playbook to adapt to his style as a quarter back.
Quick Hits
The frail Pittsburg Steelers beat the Tennessee Titans this week off of Roethlisberger's 5 touchdown tosses. Big Ben powered through a sprained left foot and rallied his injury ridden troops to pull out a big win... The Seattle Seahawks upset the New York Giants despite a minor pectoral injury to starting quarterback Tavaris Jackson. Despite Charlie Whitehurst winning this game, coach Pete Carroll stated that Jackson will still be the starter after this weeks bye... In Houston's loss to Oakland, they lost key defensive figure Mario Williams to a pectoral injury. It was confirmed today that he could be done for the season. The Texans are now 20-24 in games decided by 7 points or fewer... Rookie Andy Dalton out dueled other rookie Blaine Gabbert in a 30-20 win for Cincinnati.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Week 4 Rundown
So I'm going to give this a shot. A weekly rundown of the week's games in the NFL. Be prepared to give it a read on Monday or Tuesday (depending on the MNF game).
Week 4 seems like an appropriate and fair start for critical evaluations. Chemistry should be pretty well built, new players should know the new playbooks *cough* Ochocinco *cough*, and there should be some fair feeling as to the rankings/standings through the league.
This week's match-ups featured a lot of coaches or players returning to where it all began. Rex "I Love Feet" Ryan going back to face the tenacious defense that he created in Baltimore, Richard Seymoure seeking his vengeance against the Patriots for trading him to the, at that time, abismal Oakland Raiders, and long time Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren, now president of the Cleveland Browns, and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, now throwing for the Tennessee Titans, got to face off. Going into this week I had my eye on a few games; Pittsburg at Houston, New York (Jets) at Baltimore, San Francisco at Philadelphia , Detroit in Dallas, and Minnesotta playing in Kansas City.
I saw a lot of comeback wins and last second heroics as well as some surprising victories (Cincinnati over Da Bills?!?). 6 of sundays games all were won in the fourth quarter actually, most impressively Detroit coming back from double digits to stay undefeated over the Cowboys. Some pretty entertaining t.v right there. This week also featured the return of Arian "I'm Still A Fantasy Stud" Foster and the surprising fast-track recovery of Marques Collston's collarbone.
*Sidenote* I stupidly sat Foster this week expecting more of a split carry strategy from Houston but now we know he's the go to guy.
Anyways, let's get into what I learned this week from the games besides comebacks and Arian Foster's dominance.
1) MoTown is starting to Boogie
Detroit is on a special sort of track. 4 and 0 this season, 8 and 0 including the preseason, and (I think) 11 and 0 if you go back and include December's games to end last season. This young team is really starting to blend together and show a lot chemistry. Stafford is proving that when healthy he has a hand cannon and can compete with any other gunslinger. Certainly worth that overall first draft pick in 2009 this season. And with a target like Calvin "Megatron" Johnson they always have a chance. This receivers abilities are freakish. Playing like he is as tall as Yao Ming and having hands like Randy Moss (circa the Minnesotta days with Dante Culpepper) it's incredible to watch. On the other side of the ball they have Ndamukong Suh, and unfair presence on the line. Bulldozing through offensive linemen like he pounds through stacks of pancakes at iHop shows the future of upcoming linemen yet to be drafted or developed.
But veteran receiver Nate Burleson has it right. "We haven't done anything yet." It's been an amazing first four weeks for this team and they have truly inspired the struggling city of Detroit. But this team can't let this be the highlight of their season. It needs to stay on this track of improvement and show that they are actually a playoff team.
2) The Miami Eagles
I call it Lebron Syndrome. It should be medically validated and put into a journal. Anything that Lebron touches, speaks about, or if something symbolizes him or his way of life, consider whatever it is to fail.
Example A: Miami Heat. Spent a couple extra dollars to create the tandem I like to call the "Super Friends". That experiment failed. Only the Yankees can buy championships let's get real here.
Example B: The Boston Red Sox. There are actually 2 parts to this one, hence why it crashed and burned like it did in September. First came this offseason in the aquisition of A-Gon and Carl Crawford. Great additions to the team but really stirred up the clubhouse and messed with some good things that Tito had going with his players (we will miss you). Part two involved Lebron directly. The Boston Red Sox front office took some wild turn somewhere and went out and bought an English Premere soccer team, Liverpool. After the partnership was finalized and settled, Lebronbron comes into the picture and is allowed to purchase a minority share of the team. Chain reaction, and boom goes the dynamite (2:28) the Sox pull of the worst collapse in history.
Now here we have the 2011-2012 Philadelphia Eagles. They made the biggest moves this offseason signing big names like Nnamdi Asomugha, Steve Smith (Giants), Ronnie Brown, Jason Babin, and Cullen Jenkins. Then having names already like Desean Jackson, Mike Vick, LeSean McCoy, and Jeremy Maclin the Eagles front office went out attempting to build a super team. If only I wrote this article a few months ago. They would have known it's a recipe for disaster.
3) Houston Might be Legit/Dallas is Still Fake
It is all on the shoulders of the Houston Texans to lose the AFC South. With the helpless Colts in the running for the Andrew Luck draft and Jacksonville still rebuilding (wouldn't need to if you kept my man Garrard!) it's between Houston and the surprise 3 and 1 Tennessee Titans. Depending on how serious this Andre Johnson injury is, I have to give it to Houston. Foster proved he's still legit, Schaubb can win games and not have to put up Rogers/Brady type numbers, and their defense has a tremendous amount of potential. With 5 more divisional games and fairly easy opponents otherwise, they should pull away with it. However if Johnson is out for an extended amount of time then some pressure could fall on Schaubb to get on his high horse and move the ball downfield.
Since everything in Texas is bigger, including the state itself, there's another team there. However, clearly not as promising as the Texans. Yes I'm talking about the team that plays in a mansion only big enough to hold Jerry Jones' ego; the Dallas Cowboys. Yet again the incredible teamwork of Tony Romo and Jason Garrett found a way to watch a lead slip away and eventually become a loss. This could potentially be the most confusing team in the NFL. On paper they are crazy good. Romo has great stats, his targets are Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, and Jason "Chasin' Kittens" Witten, and they have players like Demarcus Ware and Terence Newman on defense. Lots of all-stars, not a lot of playoff wins. They had a 27 to 3 lead over the Detroit Lions with 12:23 left in the third quarter. Then Romo throws 2 interceptions for touchdowns and Jason Garrett thinks it's a good idea to leave Calvin "Megatron" Johnson in single coverage on the final drive of the game (hint: the result was a touchdown for Detroit to win). I don't think I need to provide examples of when this has happened before (just look through this season's games).
4) There Can Only Be One GQ Model in This League
It was good to see the Baltimore defense back to it's old self. Reminded me of their 2000 team (which Rex Ryan was a part of). Blitzing about 75% of the game, causing 3 turnovers, scoring 21 of the Ravens' 34 points, and KILLING Mark "Dirty" Sanchez. God that was great to see. Granted his offensive line was in shambles going into this game without center Nick Mangold. But after that first Jets possession, which resulted in Ed Reed stripping Sanchez and the Ravens recovering for touchdown number one, Mark had no confidence in the pocket and it only got worse for there. Here is the GQ model comparison; Sanchez vs. Tom Brady. Granted any day Brady is the better man under center but here is the point I want to make. Whenever an NFL player models for a magazine, they always get shit from teammates and reporters and analysts. However, Brady has the swagger and confidence to handle both situations. He will go shoot an UGG comercial and then come back and tear apart a defense. Or he will go out and have a terrible game statistically (e. week 3 against the Bills) but still give his team a chance at winning. Sanchez showed last night that as soon as things are no longer going for him, he doesn't have the mental ability to get back on the horse and progress forward.
That's all I really wanted to cover this week.
I got a kick out of watching the Kansas City vs. Minnesotta game. Someone has to come away with a victory and it just so happened to be KC.
Sucks to see Bradford and the St. Louis Rams sitting at 0 and 4 after such a promising season in 2010 but without someone to throw to Bradford will continue to struggle.
How the San Francisco 49ers are at 3 and 1 boggles me, especially after the terrible start Frank Gore was off to.
Patriots defense I don't even want to talk to you right now. Just be thankful Tom Brady is your quarterback and not on the other team. Granted Belichick has always preached that it's about points not stats, but when Vince Wilfork listed at a solid 6' 2" and 325 pounds is leading your team in interceptions that is not a good sign.
Hope I can keep this up every week for your reading enjoyment. Leave some comments of something you might like to see in here or what you think about the article. Find me at @iedlund on the twiterverse.
Week 4 seems like an appropriate and fair start for critical evaluations. Chemistry should be pretty well built, new players should know the new playbooks *cough* Ochocinco *cough*, and there should be some fair feeling as to the rankings/standings through the league.
This week's match-ups featured a lot of coaches or players returning to where it all began. Rex "I Love Feet" Ryan going back to face the tenacious defense that he created in Baltimore, Richard Seymoure seeking his vengeance against the Patriots for trading him to the, at that time, abismal Oakland Raiders, and long time Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren, now president of the Cleveland Browns, and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, now throwing for the Tennessee Titans, got to face off. Going into this week I had my eye on a few games; Pittsburg at Houston, New York (Jets) at Baltimore, San Francisco at Philadelphia , Detroit in Dallas, and Minnesotta playing in Kansas City.
I saw a lot of comeback wins and last second heroics as well as some surprising victories (Cincinnati over Da Bills?!?). 6 of sundays games all were won in the fourth quarter actually, most impressively Detroit coming back from double digits to stay undefeated over the Cowboys. Some pretty entertaining t.v right there. This week also featured the return of Arian "I'm Still A Fantasy Stud" Foster and the surprising fast-track recovery of Marques Collston's collarbone.
*Sidenote* I stupidly sat Foster this week expecting more of a split carry strategy from Houston but now we know he's the go to guy.
Anyways, let's get into what I learned this week from the games besides comebacks and Arian Foster's dominance.
1) MoTown is starting to Boogie
Detroit is on a special sort of track. 4 and 0 this season, 8 and 0 including the preseason, and (I think) 11 and 0 if you go back and include December's games to end last season. This young team is really starting to blend together and show a lot chemistry. Stafford is proving that when healthy he has a hand cannon and can compete with any other gunslinger. Certainly worth that overall first draft pick in 2009 this season. And with a target like Calvin "Megatron" Johnson they always have a chance. This receivers abilities are freakish. Playing like he is as tall as Yao Ming and having hands like Randy Moss (circa the Minnesotta days with Dante Culpepper) it's incredible to watch. On the other side of the ball they have Ndamukong Suh, and unfair presence on the line. Bulldozing through offensive linemen like he pounds through stacks of pancakes at iHop shows the future of upcoming linemen yet to be drafted or developed.
But veteran receiver Nate Burleson has it right. "We haven't done anything yet." It's been an amazing first four weeks for this team and they have truly inspired the struggling city of Detroit. But this team can't let this be the highlight of their season. It needs to stay on this track of improvement and show that they are actually a playoff team.
2) The Miami Eagles
I call it Lebron Syndrome. It should be medically validated and put into a journal. Anything that Lebron touches, speaks about, or if something symbolizes him or his way of life, consider whatever it is to fail.
Example A: Miami Heat. Spent a couple extra dollars to create the tandem I like to call the "Super Friends". That experiment failed. Only the Yankees can buy championships let's get real here.
Example B: The Boston Red Sox. There are actually 2 parts to this one, hence why it crashed and burned like it did in September. First came this offseason in the aquisition of A-Gon and Carl Crawford. Great additions to the team but really stirred up the clubhouse and messed with some good things that Tito had going with his players (we will miss you). Part two involved Lebron directly. The Boston Red Sox front office took some wild turn somewhere and went out and bought an English Premere soccer team, Liverpool. After the partnership was finalized and settled, Lebronbron comes into the picture and is allowed to purchase a minority share of the team. Chain reaction, and boom goes the dynamite (2:28) the Sox pull of the worst collapse in history.
Now here we have the 2011-2012 Philadelphia Eagles. They made the biggest moves this offseason signing big names like Nnamdi Asomugha, Steve Smith (Giants), Ronnie Brown, Jason Babin, and Cullen Jenkins. Then having names already like Desean Jackson, Mike Vick, LeSean McCoy, and Jeremy Maclin the Eagles front office went out attempting to build a super team. If only I wrote this article a few months ago. They would have known it's a recipe for disaster.
3) Houston Might be Legit/Dallas is Still Fake
It is all on the shoulders of the Houston Texans to lose the AFC South. With the helpless Colts in the running for the Andrew Luck draft and Jacksonville still rebuilding (wouldn't need to if you kept my man Garrard!) it's between Houston and the surprise 3 and 1 Tennessee Titans. Depending on how serious this Andre Johnson injury is, I have to give it to Houston. Foster proved he's still legit, Schaubb can win games and not have to put up Rogers/Brady type numbers, and their defense has a tremendous amount of potential. With 5 more divisional games and fairly easy opponents otherwise, they should pull away with it. However if Johnson is out for an extended amount of time then some pressure could fall on Schaubb to get on his high horse and move the ball downfield.
Since everything in Texas is bigger, including the state itself, there's another team there. However, clearly not as promising as the Texans. Yes I'm talking about the team that plays in a mansion only big enough to hold Jerry Jones' ego; the Dallas Cowboys. Yet again the incredible teamwork of Tony Romo and Jason Garrett found a way to watch a lead slip away and eventually become a loss. This could potentially be the most confusing team in the NFL. On paper they are crazy good. Romo has great stats, his targets are Dez Bryant, Miles Austin, and Jason "Chasin' Kittens" Witten, and they have players like Demarcus Ware and Terence Newman on defense. Lots of all-stars, not a lot of playoff wins. They had a 27 to 3 lead over the Detroit Lions with 12:23 left in the third quarter. Then Romo throws 2 interceptions for touchdowns and Jason Garrett thinks it's a good idea to leave Calvin "Megatron" Johnson in single coverage on the final drive of the game (hint: the result was a touchdown for Detroit to win). I don't think I need to provide examples of when this has happened before (just look through this season's games).
4) There Can Only Be One GQ Model in This League
It was good to see the Baltimore defense back to it's old self. Reminded me of their 2000 team (which Rex Ryan was a part of). Blitzing about 75% of the game, causing 3 turnovers, scoring 21 of the Ravens' 34 points, and KILLING Mark "Dirty" Sanchez. God that was great to see. Granted his offensive line was in shambles going into this game without center Nick Mangold. But after that first Jets possession, which resulted in Ed Reed stripping Sanchez and the Ravens recovering for touchdown number one, Mark had no confidence in the pocket and it only got worse for there. Here is the GQ model comparison; Sanchez vs. Tom Brady. Granted any day Brady is the better man under center but here is the point I want to make. Whenever an NFL player models for a magazine, they always get shit from teammates and reporters and analysts. However, Brady has the swagger and confidence to handle both situations. He will go shoot an UGG comercial and then come back and tear apart a defense. Or he will go out and have a terrible game statistically (e. week 3 against the Bills) but still give his team a chance at winning. Sanchez showed last night that as soon as things are no longer going for him, he doesn't have the mental ability to get back on the horse and progress forward.
That's all I really wanted to cover this week.
I got a kick out of watching the Kansas City vs. Minnesotta game. Someone has to come away with a victory and it just so happened to be KC.
Sucks to see Bradford and the St. Louis Rams sitting at 0 and 4 after such a promising season in 2010 but without someone to throw to Bradford will continue to struggle.
How the San Francisco 49ers are at 3 and 1 boggles me, especially after the terrible start Frank Gore was off to.
Patriots defense I don't even want to talk to you right now. Just be thankful Tom Brady is your quarterback and not on the other team. Granted Belichick has always preached that it's about points not stats, but when Vince Wilfork listed at a solid 6' 2" and 325 pounds is leading your team in interceptions that is not a good sign.
Hope I can keep this up every week for your reading enjoyment. Leave some comments of something you might like to see in here or what you think about the article. Find me at @iedlund on the twiterverse.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Where's the Answer?
Ew.
Here it is. 7 games left in the season and the Red Sox are only 2 games up on the Tampa Bay Rays for that final spot for the MLB postseason. With 1 win and 2 losses to a terrible Baltimore Orioles in this current 4 game series in Fenway Park, things certainly do not look pretty.
There is really only one thing to talk about that is causing this problem, pitching. Starting with John "Dumb as a Rock" Lackey. My goodness is he bad. Finishing his second year in a 5-year $80somethingstupid million contract, he has managed to post a major-league worst 6.49 ERA and is now the worst pitcher in Red Sox franchise history when it comes to an ERA (minimum 150 pitches of course)... but he has 12 wins? Anyways I can't bare to watch him throw in the postseason. Something clearly is not right with him (injury?) or he is really just that bad. Hard to imagine when he was an ace for the Angels just a few years ago in the World Series and a Cy Young candidate as well. My real issue with this guy is his attitude. Sure show some emotion it's all good bro, but when Scuttero doesn't make a play or a ball lands between two outfields don't shit your pants. When you give up 8 runs in 5 innings to the Orioles that's on you dude. Also when your manager comes to pull you out of the game don't stare him down; that's Terry fuckin Francona.
On a positive note for the pitching staff, Clay Buckholtz is on schedule and I actually think he's throwing off a mound today. If he continues this pace, he is scheduled to pitch out of the bullpen for the Sox on their last game of the series in Baltimore. If successful and the Red Sox manage to squeak into the playoffs, he will be a valuable asset for the relief squad. But with Paplebon not coming through in the clutch like he should and other relievers having ERAs close to 5 and above, it's hard to find someone to rely on when the game is on the line. Where's Pedro when I need him god damnit.
The offense looks like they're out of their slump at least. They do have the third best run support in the league so by that stat they should be competing for the best record in the bigs; except their pitching rotation decided to break down and die in the first half of the season so we are scrapping together wins. I have faith in Terry to figure out a master plan and get this team in fighting condition for October.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Surrounded by White Noise
Experiments always have a chance of failure when they are first conceived. If it fails, look back at your process, reevaluate your techniques, and set it for success. The New England Patriots and Bill Belichick took on 2 extensive experiments this offseason in defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth and wide receiver Chad Ochocinco. So far one is looking on the upside and the other is about to explode in the organizations face. I'm talking about you Chad. Since you love all the criticism and attention here's my two cents.
If you haven't heard or aren't one of Ochocinco's 2.7 million followers on Twitter, Chad likes to fill in those 140 characters more than the Steelers like to turn the football over. He has somehow managed to turn it into a self-branding and promotion; probably one of the first athletes to start an account as well. The biggest debate over Ochocinco has been if the account is distracting to his game. Ever since he has been on the Bengals it gets brought up once a season at least. Well... Teddy Bruschi has had enough of the Twitterverse nonsense and had to put his foot down on Ocho. After Monday night's performance against the Dolphins, Chad sent out a tweet regarding Tom Brady's stellar performance and the fluidity of the Patriot's offense:
@ochocinco: Just waking up after a late arrival, I've never seen a machine operate like that n person, to see video game numbers put up n person was WOW.
Seems pretty harmless. He hasn't been a part of this offense before during a regular season game. Brad and the offense did look pretty good. This is the full transcript of Bruschi's beatdown on Chad's actions the next day:
"Drop the awe factor, OK, Ocho, Chad, drop the awe factor. You're not a fan, all right? You're not someone who's on another team or watching TV. You're not an analyst. You're a part of it. They want you to be a part of it. So get with the program because obviously you're not getting it and you're tweeting because you're saying, it's amazing to see? It's amazing to see because you don't understand it! You still don't understand it and it's amazing to you because you can't get it. Stop tweeting and get in your playbook. … Close your mouth. Put your hand under your chin and close your jaw. Then open your eyes and watch some film. That's what you need to do. If you're still in awe that means you don't get it because you don't understand it."
Sweet baby Jesus. Talk about going apeshit. Sad part is, Teddy knows probably the most about that organization outside Belichick and the front office. 13-year vet, 4 Super Bowl appearances, 3 Super Bowl wins; that's his resume with this one team. Probably bleeds Patriot colors.
Ocho certainly didn't have a very good game (1 catch, 15 yards, 18 plays on the field). Considering the lockout and when he arrived in the New England organization I would have to give him a bit more leeway than Teddy wants to. But this is what Ocho gets with his type of flaunting personality, lots of attention and lots of criticism. So until he can prove he is worthy of a Patriot uniform, no one will question Bruschi's comments.
I want to tie in one more Patriots story here that happened this week with the beautiful UGG wearing of a quarterback named Tom Brady. He didn't have the hotest media week either. Within the past day or two he had this to say about the fans at their home opener this coming Sunday. When asked if he had a message for the fans this coming Sunday, he responded with this:
"Yeah, start drinking early," Brady said with a snicker. "Get nice and rowdy. It's a 4:15 game, a lot of time to get lubed up. Come out here, and cheer for the home team."
And contrary to popular belief, he isn't talking about water and being properly hydrated. You have officially heard it all people. The prettiest face in the NFL encourages getting hammered. I am all for it. Here's where it ties back to Sir Ocho. Brady says go get drunk and yell a bunch, but because he is Brady it's no big deal. Being one of the most popular players in the NFL kind of earns you that right it seems. Of course he's receiving a bit of criticism for it. But he is right. Gillette Stadium is one of the quieter places within the league. But Chad, being one of the more hated players by analysts and players, can't burp in public without getting chewed out by someone somewhere.
I am going to end with this. Bill Belichick is the man. Master of media control. Expert in player remodeling. This is the message he will be sharing with Ochocinco. As you exit here, read closely the sign hanging by the door. "IGNORE THE NOISE". Who cares what people are saying outside this team and off that field. If you find your way to perform and you start playing football, it'll all go away.
If you haven't heard or aren't one of Ochocinco's 2.7 million followers on Twitter, Chad likes to fill in those 140 characters more than the Steelers like to turn the football over. He has somehow managed to turn it into a self-branding and promotion; probably one of the first athletes to start an account as well. The biggest debate over Ochocinco has been if the account is distracting to his game. Ever since he has been on the Bengals it gets brought up once a season at least. Well... Teddy Bruschi has had enough of the Twitterverse nonsense and had to put his foot down on Ocho. After Monday night's performance against the Dolphins, Chad sent out a tweet regarding Tom Brady's stellar performance and the fluidity of the Patriot's offense:
@ochocinco: Just waking up after a late arrival, I've never seen a machine operate like that n person, to see video game numbers put up n person was WOW.
Seems pretty harmless. He hasn't been a part of this offense before during a regular season game. Brad and the offense did look pretty good. This is the full transcript of Bruschi's beatdown on Chad's actions the next day:
"Drop the awe factor, OK, Ocho, Chad, drop the awe factor. You're not a fan, all right? You're not someone who's on another team or watching TV. You're not an analyst. You're a part of it. They want you to be a part of it. So get with the program because obviously you're not getting it and you're tweeting because you're saying, it's amazing to see? It's amazing to see because you don't understand it! You still don't understand it and it's amazing to you because you can't get it. Stop tweeting and get in your playbook. … Close your mouth. Put your hand under your chin and close your jaw. Then open your eyes and watch some film. That's what you need to do. If you're still in awe that means you don't get it because you don't understand it."
Sweet baby Jesus. Talk about going apeshit. Sad part is, Teddy knows probably the most about that organization outside Belichick and the front office. 13-year vet, 4 Super Bowl appearances, 3 Super Bowl wins; that's his resume with this one team. Probably bleeds Patriot colors.
Ocho certainly didn't have a very good game (1 catch, 15 yards, 18 plays on the field). Considering the lockout and when he arrived in the New England organization I would have to give him a bit more leeway than Teddy wants to. But this is what Ocho gets with his type of flaunting personality, lots of attention and lots of criticism. So until he can prove he is worthy of a Patriot uniform, no one will question Bruschi's comments.
I want to tie in one more Patriots story here that happened this week with the beautiful UGG wearing of a quarterback named Tom Brady. He didn't have the hotest media week either. Within the past day or two he had this to say about the fans at their home opener this coming Sunday. When asked if he had a message for the fans this coming Sunday, he responded with this:
"Yeah, start drinking early," Brady said with a snicker. "Get nice and rowdy. It's a 4:15 game, a lot of time to get lubed up. Come out here, and cheer for the home team."
And contrary to popular belief, he isn't talking about water and being properly hydrated. You have officially heard it all people. The prettiest face in the NFL encourages getting hammered. I am all for it. Here's where it ties back to Sir Ocho. Brady says go get drunk and yell a bunch, but because he is Brady it's no big deal. Being one of the most popular players in the NFL kind of earns you that right it seems. Of course he's receiving a bit of criticism for it. But he is right. Gillette Stadium is one of the quieter places within the league. But Chad, being one of the more hated players by analysts and players, can't burp in public without getting chewed out by someone somewhere.
I am going to end with this. Bill Belichick is the man. Master of media control. Expert in player remodeling. This is the message he will be sharing with Ochocinco. As you exit here, read closely the sign hanging by the door. "IGNORE THE NOISE". Who cares what people are saying outside this team and off that field. If you find your way to perform and you start playing football, it'll all go away.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Mom Always Said Practice Made Perfect
The effects are obvious. The dictators of the No Fun League are now seeing the consequences of this past 2011 offseason. After brushing up on my football highlights (long weekend for me) it's clear that the NFL has made the flip from defense heavy to offense heavy due to the lockout. Scores were outrageously high, unheard of offensive weapons were tearing it up, and defenses looked confused and tired, minus you Baltimore.
Here is a tweet from Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) that boggled my mind:
"NFL teams passed for 7,842 net yards and returned 8 kicks and punts for TDs. Both represent the most in any week in NFL history, via Elias."
Mind you, this includes stats from 2 and a half rookie quarterbacks; Newton, Dalton, and I still consider Stafford one since he hasn't seen a full season yet; that got very limited exposure before Week 1 and didn't include my fifth overall QB Peyton Mannthang. If you take a look at the stats from who I consider the top 4 quarterbacks (fifth being Manning) it sounds like I'm playing Madden on rookie level.
1)Tom Brady- 32 for 48; 517 Passing Yards for a 10.8 Average; 4 TD; 121.6 QB Rating
2)Aaron Rogers- 27 for 35; 312 Passing Yards for an 8.9 Yard Average; 3 TD; 132.1 QB Rating
3)Drew Brees- 32 for 49; 419 Passing Yards for an 8.6 Yard Average; 3 TD; 112.5 QB Rating
4)Philip Rivers- 33 for 48; 335 Passing Yards for a 7 Yard Average; 2 TD; 85.0 QB Rating
These guys were just throwing at will to whomever they wanted and it was working. But stats like these are expected of the elite quarterbacks throughout a season. What if I threw Harvard Alum and professional white person Ryan Fitzpatrick or the Sally-Mae I like to call Tony Romo into the mix? Add an additional 650 yards to the total pot. The biggest surprises have got to be Cam Newton and Matt Stafford though. Newton threw for an outrageous 422 Yards and 2 TD while Stafford had a seemingly easy 305 Yards and 3 TD. Quarterbacks all around really did look top-notch and were controlling defenses as to the direction of the game. ESPN wasn't messing around when they called 2011 the Year of the Quarterback.
(P.S. Don't even try and think Mike Vick is a top 5 QB. One of my favorite players of all time but read this article here by my friend Jay Gildea and educate yourself. #readabook)
The other heavy effect the Lockout had on players leading up to Week 1 and during those games were injuries. Steven Jackson, Dan Koppen, Marques Colston, Nate Kaeding, and Willie Colon all suffered serious injuries resulting in season-ending or long term IR time. I know the purpose of this new collective bargaining agreement was to make the game safer but no one considered the Lockout itself to be detrimental to the players. Nothing really prepares these players for a game-time hit, but training camps certainly do help them get comfortable. The most common injury throughout the league was a surprising one however; cramping. When offenses went to their no-huddle sets and kept the ball moving, defenses were winded, dehydrated, and suffered a lot of leg cramps. The shockers to me were the Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins especially. Playing in such hot weather all the time I would have thought the two teams would have been better conditioned.
It should certainly be an interesting 2011-2012 NFL season. After Week 1 I can't even think of playoff let alone Super Bowl predictions. I am rooting for Cam Newton Rookie of the Year though. Hopefully after Week 4 or so teams will start to gain their composure and the league might become more realistic.
Here is a tweet from Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) that boggled my mind:
"NFL teams passed for 7,842 net yards and returned 8 kicks and punts for TDs. Both represent the most in any week in NFL history, via Elias."
Mind you, this includes stats from 2 and a half rookie quarterbacks; Newton, Dalton, and I still consider Stafford one since he hasn't seen a full season yet; that got very limited exposure before Week 1 and didn't include my fifth overall QB Peyton Mannthang. If you take a look at the stats from who I consider the top 4 quarterbacks (fifth being Manning) it sounds like I'm playing Madden on rookie level.
1)Tom Brady- 32 for 48; 517 Passing Yards for a 10.8 Average; 4 TD; 121.6 QB Rating
2)Aaron Rogers- 27 for 35; 312 Passing Yards for an 8.9 Yard Average; 3 TD; 132.1 QB Rating
3)Drew Brees- 32 for 49; 419 Passing Yards for an 8.6 Yard Average; 3 TD; 112.5 QB Rating
4)Philip Rivers- 33 for 48; 335 Passing Yards for a 7 Yard Average; 2 TD; 85.0 QB Rating
These guys were just throwing at will to whomever they wanted and it was working. But stats like these are expected of the elite quarterbacks throughout a season. What if I threw Harvard Alum and professional white person Ryan Fitzpatrick or the Sally-Mae I like to call Tony Romo into the mix? Add an additional 650 yards to the total pot. The biggest surprises have got to be Cam Newton and Matt Stafford though. Newton threw for an outrageous 422 Yards and 2 TD while Stafford had a seemingly easy 305 Yards and 3 TD. Quarterbacks all around really did look top-notch and were controlling defenses as to the direction of the game. ESPN wasn't messing around when they called 2011 the Year of the Quarterback.
(P.S. Don't even try and think Mike Vick is a top 5 QB. One of my favorite players of all time but read this article here by my friend Jay Gildea and educate yourself. #readabook)
The other heavy effect the Lockout had on players leading up to Week 1 and during those games were injuries. Steven Jackson, Dan Koppen, Marques Colston, Nate Kaeding, and Willie Colon all suffered serious injuries resulting in season-ending or long term IR time. I know the purpose of this new collective bargaining agreement was to make the game safer but no one considered the Lockout itself to be detrimental to the players. Nothing really prepares these players for a game-time hit, but training camps certainly do help them get comfortable. The most common injury throughout the league was a surprising one however; cramping. When offenses went to their no-huddle sets and kept the ball moving, defenses were winded, dehydrated, and suffered a lot of leg cramps. The shockers to me were the Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins especially. Playing in such hot weather all the time I would have thought the two teams would have been better conditioned.
It should certainly be an interesting 2011-2012 NFL season. After Week 1 I can't even think of playoff let alone Super Bowl predictions. I am rooting for Cam Newton Rookie of the Year though. Hopefully after Week 4 or so teams will start to gain their composure and the league might become more realistic.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
It's Official...
The 2011 NFL season is underway and Week 1 of the preseason is in the books. I have to hand it to the players; after dealing with the lockout and having a shortened offseason they didn't look like they missed much. Traded players looked like they were clearly still learning but had the ability to still be a part of plays and the rookies were quite impressive, especially the quarterbacks. Cam Newton, rookie quarterback for the Carolina Panthers and number 1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft looked a bit shaky, going 7 for 13 for 134 yards and no scores. Andy Dalton, rookie quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals and expected starter for the 2011 season looked consistent going 11 for 15, but a lot of those passes were underneath as he only threw for 69 total yards with an interception.
The biggest surprise to me came from the rookie quarterback Ryan Mallett; third string quarterback for the New England Patriots. Playing the entire second half, Mallett completed 12 of his 19 passes while racking up 164 yards and a touchdown in his debut. Let's talk about bang for your buck. Mallett dropped into Belichick's lap this past NFL draft and came as a steal in the third round at the 74th overall pick. There's no denying that this kid was a stud in college playing for the Arkansas Razorbacks racking up stats like 16.3 and 14.5 yards per completion while maintaining a 55.8 and 64.7 completion percentage in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Much like Brady, Mallett is strong in the pocket and shows good tempo and command of the offense. He's a huge athlete (6' 7") and not so mobile (even though he did show some moves agains Jacksonville), which means he requires a strong offensive line. If Mallett can continue to perform this strong during the preseason, look for some trades to be offered to the Patriots of players that were drafted higher in recent drafts.
The biggest effect that the 2011 NFL lockout will have on the preseason and first few weeks of the regular season will be injuries to players. It's only entering week 2 of the preseason and there are teams that don't even have a healthy running back (Houston Texans). Granted injuries during the preseason can be a good thing for a coach because it truly tests your reserves to find out just how deep your depth chart is. However, the starters are the ones that should be taking the reps in practice because they are the ones that will eventually be playing come the regular season. If coaches have to become so focused on finding players that can play for a preseason game, then they lose sight of preparing for the actual week 1. Just doing minimal research I have compiled a list of 20 starters from the 2010 season that are currently unable to play or practice due to injury. Tack on another 5 to the 20 if you include rookies from the 2011 draft class.
After watching some of the first weeks features, I saw the effects of the new rules implemented by the NFL after the lockout, mainly just two; the new kickoff from the 35-yard line and the review of every scoring play. Let me summarize them for you in one word... SHIT. I felt like I was going to blow my brains out after every called touchdown. Specifically last night during the Houston Texans and New York Jets game. There was one perfect example string of plays that exposed just how stupid this rule is.
Texans receiver caught a nice pass, tripped, and fell with possession of the ball into the end zone. Referee had a perfect view of the play and ruled it a touchdown. But with this new rule the play had to be reviewed upstairs by off-field officials. They found evidence that the player was down by contact before the ball crossed the plane into the endzone. So they then had to page the on-field official to review the play in the booth. After reviewing it there for a few minutes it was announced that the play was in fact not a touchdown and the ball was placed on the half yard line. Offense and defense set up their plays, Texans running back runs the ball into the endzone. Touchdown. Extra point followed. Commercial break after that. So there is rule one that I have a major issue with.
Just a side note, another point to consider in regards to this review rule is that coaches no longer have to run the risk of throwing challenge flags on the goal line. The play gets reviewed for them and that challenge can be used on ball spots and complete catches come crunch time.
Rule two comes into effect directly after the return from commercial break. The new ruling for kickoffs states that teams are now required to kick of from the 35-yard line opposed to the 30-yard line. This rule was put into effect to reduce injuries that occur during kick returns. Granted, it does make sense. Special teams players are often young, unexperienced, and always play to prove something. So stupid things are bound to happen. Now when kickers were place-kicking from the 30-yard line, it was easy for them to reach 4 to 5 yards deep in the endzone. Now move the ball up 5 yards. That easy kick is now reaching 9 to 10 yards deep. For those of you that don't know, an endzone is only 10 yards deep. In 2010, 16.4 percent of kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. With this new rule look for that percentage to double. If you really want to get into the value of a touchback, read this article here and have your mind blown because I honestly did. A thought to consider for the mentality of a coach in this situation is bringing on a cheaper, not as strong kicker to take kickoffs. Think about a non-kicker taking the kickoff. There are plenty of utility players out there (ex. Ndamuking Suh and Ochocinco) who can get the ball down field and in play off the kick.
Anywho continuing with my example. So Houston scored went to commercial and now for the kickoff. Boom you guessed it, TOUCHBACK. Play is dead offense and defense prepare to come out and my TV is back on a commercial. Return from commercial. So play that entire example out in your head and watch how much time it takes to process the entire scenerio. Then multiply it by 2. That's how long it takes in real life. I felt like at least 10 minutes had gone by. Is this what we are to expect for every close play by then endzone? I hope not.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
The League
As soon as the NFL was unlocked you want to know what the first thought that crossed my mind was? Fantasy Football baby. Now don't get me wrong, I am still fairly new to the game (I've only been playing since '07ish) but when I'm in, I'm all in and want that title as league champion (which I was back to back my first two seasons). This year we decided to change things up a bit with a live draft a month before the first game of the season, have a 12 person league, and some deep rosters. A little risky but it's all we could manage for a time to get everyone together.
A lot of people don't really understand how in-depth this type of game can get; all the angles to consider. You have to look at team schedules, past performances, projected stats, injury prone players, people coming back from season ending injuries; the list could go on forever. The biggest factor that I have found to consider is time. The lockout has only been over for around 2 weeks and players have been flying all over the map. These trades have crucial impact on individual players. The other time aspect to consider is time between end of lockout and week one. Training camps have taken a huge toll and whats taught to players normally is now crammed into a month's worth of work. Consider this; Donnovan McNabb was traded to the Minnesota Vikings very recently. Something that I would think about that would make a decision to draft him or not could be the timing between the offensive line and him. They have to get used to how a brand new quarterback calls plays, audibles, drops back, and the timing of his release. And they only have a month to do it; ontop of conditioning, individual workouts, and learning a playbook. That's how in depth fantasy football can get. I'm just beginning to realize that the people who are consistently good in multiple fantasy football leagues are pretty smart when it comes to sports.
So this year I decided I need to really get into the pre-draft research because a live draft takes out a lot of insider resources, a.k.a. the internet and Adam Schefter, and separates the diehards from the wannabes. I've been reading magazines, doing mock drafts, analyzing picks and recognizing patterns, yet I still feel like I am completely hopeless. Why? Because there is a wildcard in every league. The one person that does the completely unexpected and just shits on your draft. Luckily I have a high draft pick so I have some guarantees.
So I'll provide my readers with a little bit of insite from my brain with some sleepers, busts, top rookies, all that fun stuff. Hopefully it's useful.
NFL MVP: Adrian Peterson, RB, Vikings: The addition of McNabb and the loss of Sidney Rice makes A.P. the best option on every down for the Vikings. Expect McNabb to rely heavily on the veteran running back.
Return to Fantasy Prime: DeAngelo Williams, RB, Panthers: He has a lot to prove after only playing 6 games last season due to injury. With Cam Newton most likely the future of this franchise, I think Williams will want to add his two cents and help get the team off the ground.
Biggest Bust: Peyton Hillis, RB, Browns: So did anyone know who Peyton Hillis was before last season? I know I didn't. The Browns do not have a strong offense and now that opposing defenses know what he is capable of he will become their primary target.
Top Rookie: Daniel Thomas, RB, Dolphins: Ronnie Brown is gone. Ricky Williams smokes a bunch of weed. That leaves a lot of work for Thomas to do and expect him to carry that load well.
Sleeper 1: Danny Woodhead, RB, Patriots: Woodhead solidified a spot amongst the tandem of Patriots running backs with his breakout season last year. He's small, quick on his feet, and strong enough to break a few tackles.
Sleeper 2: Lee Evans, WR, Bills: You probably know him most for his wide open, game-winning, touchdown... dropped pass. He has a lot to prove still even though he is the first string wide receiver for the Bills.
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