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:

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!

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.