CARROLL SPLITS WITH USC, TECH HAS A NEW COACH & PLAYOFF REVIEW
The word out of SoCal tonight is that Pete Carroll has tendered his resignation as the Trojans' head coach. Several prospective recruits have already balked at keeping their commitment to USC & a couple of the people USC wanted to talk to about their coaching vacancy have already told A.D. Mike Garrett "thanks but no thanks." Jeff Fisher told them this morning he had 2 years remaining on his Titans' contract & he didn't want to leave. Oregon State's Mike Riley is being wooed by the Beavers to sign what amounts to a lifetime contract. Riley told OSU A.D. Bob De Carolis he'd like to be the "Joe Paterno of Oregon State." Riley played at Alabama for legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. The Beavers don't want Riley moving to USC, so look for a major commitment from the school to make sure he stays for a long time. The other names mentioned for this vacancy include Washington coach Steve Sarkisian, Carroll's former offensive coordinator at USC & he told The Seattle Times Saturday he was staying as the Huskies' head coach. The Jacksonville Jaguar's Jack Del Rio is the only one left from the preliminary list to not say no. He is going to his post season interview with owner Wayne Weaver & there's some speculation he may not return. Garrett needs to get someone on board ASAP before their 11th ranked recruiting class starts falling apart.
Texas Tech introduced Tommy Tuberville as their new coach today at a press conference. The former Clemson & Auburn coach seems to be an odd fit in Lubbock. Tuberville has always had power running football teams, not wide open spread teams, which is what the Red Raider team is stocked for now. Plus their recruiting class has been compiled by Mike Leach to fit his offense. Even more strange about this choice, Tech had defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeil as the interim coach for their Alamo Bowl win. McNeil has been at Tech for 10 years & openly campaigned for Leach's vacancy. The team was behind McNeil as well. Former receiver's coach Lincoln Riley had been promoted to offensive coordinator by McNeil & he faired pretty well in the bowl game. When asked about these two, Tuberville said he wanted to interview coaches outside the Tech program first & then he might interview some members of the existing staff. But Tuberville saved himself somewhat near the end, saying Tech would continue to air it out. He wants the "Air Raid" offense of Mike Leach to stay in place. Shocked the hell out of me. Laura Lynn Gongora, the chairman of the Team Leach Facebook Group, which boosts over 60,000 members, said today most of the group supports McNeil & there has been a lot of backlash regarding the Tuberville hire.
What happened to the Bengals down the stretch? Was it Chris Henry's death? Did they peak the 10th week of the season beating Pittsburgh on the road? After that, they lost at Oakland, barely covered Cleveland & Detroit before losing 3 of their last 4 after Henry's death. Their only win was barely a win over the Chiefs, 17-10 to clinch the division. Carson Palmer looks nothing like the quarterback he was earlier in his career. Yesterday Cedric Benson equaled the Jets' running game with 169 yards on just 21 carries. In spite of Benson's production, Cincy was never in the game. This team won on the road at Green Bay, Baltimore & Pittsburgh early on, but their collapse will be examined extensively in the Queen City. The Jets now travel to San Diego for the late Sunday start. I think they could've beaten Indy, but I don't see them whipping the Chargers.
I told you in my wildcard preview if Dallas won Saturday night, they would go to the Super Bowl. I'm standing by that, they looked good demolishing the Eagles two weeks running. I expect them to beat Minnesota next Sunday in the early game. Their running game will be the difference, since middle linebacker E.J. Henderson suffered a season-ending injury in week 11, the Vikings defense isn't what it was. The Cowboy defense is playing better than any other NFC squad right now. I have to single out my boy J-Mac, Jeremy Maclin, who set an NFL playoff record for rookie receivers with 146 yards, which also set the franchise record for any rookie performance. Maclin isn't even 22-years old yet. He has a great future.
As someone who bet on New England today, the 1st quarter was truly ugly. Ray Rice goes 83-yards for a score on the game's first play & before the 1st quarter is over, the Ravens were in total control, 24-0. It was a total breakdown by the Patriots, one that painfully pointed to the defensive deficiencies I've spoken of all season. They need to invest in a lot of defensive players this April. This was New England's first home playoff loss since 1979 & their first home loss since 2006. Is Randy Moss going back to his old Raider days? He has looked terrible several times down the stretch & again yesterday. The Ravens looked like the same team that won two playoff games on the road last year with one exception. Joe Flacco's hip is obviously worse than they let on, he looked terrible yesterday. Ray Lewis seems to drink from the fountain of youth come playoff time, he looked 10-years younger against New England. This team can beat Indy next Saturday night if they can get more from Flacco. The Colts are last in the league in rushing, a bad stat when facing the Ravens. The way Indy chose to pack it in the last 2 weeks of the season while pursuing an undefeated season might have an effect on this game as well.
I said the Green Bay-Arizona game would be a shootout, but even I never envisioned a league playoff record 96 points. To say my 'over' bet was never in doubt is an understatement. But I didn't see the Cards scoring 51, not with Green Bay having the league's #2 defense. The game also featured 1,024 yards of total offense, 9 touchdown passes & 62 first downs. Kurt Warner was brilliant, 29 of 33, 5 touchdowns with no interceptions & a gaudy 154.1 passer rating. Anquan Boldin didn't even dress for the game either. After Green Bay won the toss in overtime, I thought they'd win in about 5-6 plays, unfortunately a corner blitz knocked the ball loose from Aaron Rogers, as he was going down the ball hit his foot keeping it airborne for a split second longer & Karlos Dansby snatched it out of the air, returning it for the game winning score. That game left you breathless. It was the only non-blowout of the wildcard round. Now the Cardinals go to "The Big Easy" for a Saturday afternoon kickoff against the Saints. New Orleans has looked very beatable lately & Arizona has now won 4 of their last 5 playoff games, you better believe they can win in Nawlins. The Cards ran for 156 yards with Beanie Wells leading the way with 91 yards on just 14 carries, something they didn't have last year in their run to the Super Bowl.
Some quick news & notes; Last night's game in Dallas might very well have been running back Brian Westbrook's last game. He didn't get a carry last night, catching only one pass. He doesn't seem to be the same back since he suffered two concussions earlier this season. Westbrook & Priest Holmes ran screen passes better than any back of this generation. Tim Tebow has decided to play in the Senior Bowl. His agent Jimmy Sexton told Tebow it's a necessity, he's right. Denver linebacker Robert Ayers was fined $5,000 for his body slam of Jamaal Charles in the last game of the season won handily by K.C. 44-24. I thought it should have been double that, he could have seriously injured Charles, it was a real cheap shot. How many of you enjoyed the fact the Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis left Larry Johnson off the active roster for the playoffs? I think LJ is going to have a tough time finding anyone to offer him a job next season.
Next up will be my 3-part analysis of the Chiefs' current roster plus what we can look forward to in free agency & the draft.
Texas Tech introduced Tommy Tuberville as their new coach today at a press conference. The former Clemson & Auburn coach seems to be an odd fit in Lubbock. Tuberville has always had power running football teams, not wide open spread teams, which is what the Red Raider team is stocked for now. Plus their recruiting class has been compiled by Mike Leach to fit his offense. Even more strange about this choice, Tech had defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeil as the interim coach for their Alamo Bowl win. McNeil has been at Tech for 10 years & openly campaigned for Leach's vacancy. The team was behind McNeil as well. Former receiver's coach Lincoln Riley had been promoted to offensive coordinator by McNeil & he faired pretty well in the bowl game. When asked about these two, Tuberville said he wanted to interview coaches outside the Tech program first & then he might interview some members of the existing staff. But Tuberville saved himself somewhat near the end, saying Tech would continue to air it out. He wants the "Air Raid" offense of Mike Leach to stay in place. Shocked the hell out of me. Laura Lynn Gongora, the chairman of the Team Leach Facebook Group, which boosts over 60,000 members, said today most of the group supports McNeil & there has been a lot of backlash regarding the Tuberville hire.
What happened to the Bengals down the stretch? Was it Chris Henry's death? Did they peak the 10th week of the season beating Pittsburgh on the road? After that, they lost at Oakland, barely covered Cleveland & Detroit before losing 3 of their last 4 after Henry's death. Their only win was barely a win over the Chiefs, 17-10 to clinch the division. Carson Palmer looks nothing like the quarterback he was earlier in his career. Yesterday Cedric Benson equaled the Jets' running game with 169 yards on just 21 carries. In spite of Benson's production, Cincy was never in the game. This team won on the road at Green Bay, Baltimore & Pittsburgh early on, but their collapse will be examined extensively in the Queen City. The Jets now travel to San Diego for the late Sunday start. I think they could've beaten Indy, but I don't see them whipping the Chargers.
I told you in my wildcard preview if Dallas won Saturday night, they would go to the Super Bowl. I'm standing by that, they looked good demolishing the Eagles two weeks running. I expect them to beat Minnesota next Sunday in the early game. Their running game will be the difference, since middle linebacker E.J. Henderson suffered a season-ending injury in week 11, the Vikings defense isn't what it was. The Cowboy defense is playing better than any other NFC squad right now. I have to single out my boy J-Mac, Jeremy Maclin, who set an NFL playoff record for rookie receivers with 146 yards, which also set the franchise record for any rookie performance. Maclin isn't even 22-years old yet. He has a great future.
As someone who bet on New England today, the 1st quarter was truly ugly. Ray Rice goes 83-yards for a score on the game's first play & before the 1st quarter is over, the Ravens were in total control, 24-0. It was a total breakdown by the Patriots, one that painfully pointed to the defensive deficiencies I've spoken of all season. They need to invest in a lot of defensive players this April. This was New England's first home playoff loss since 1979 & their first home loss since 2006. Is Randy Moss going back to his old Raider days? He has looked terrible several times down the stretch & again yesterday. The Ravens looked like the same team that won two playoff games on the road last year with one exception. Joe Flacco's hip is obviously worse than they let on, he looked terrible yesterday. Ray Lewis seems to drink from the fountain of youth come playoff time, he looked 10-years younger against New England. This team can beat Indy next Saturday night if they can get more from Flacco. The Colts are last in the league in rushing, a bad stat when facing the Ravens. The way Indy chose to pack it in the last 2 weeks of the season while pursuing an undefeated season might have an effect on this game as well.
I said the Green Bay-Arizona game would be a shootout, but even I never envisioned a league playoff record 96 points. To say my 'over' bet was never in doubt is an understatement. But I didn't see the Cards scoring 51, not with Green Bay having the league's #2 defense. The game also featured 1,024 yards of total offense, 9 touchdown passes & 62 first downs. Kurt Warner was brilliant, 29 of 33, 5 touchdowns with no interceptions & a gaudy 154.1 passer rating. Anquan Boldin didn't even dress for the game either. After Green Bay won the toss in overtime, I thought they'd win in about 5-6 plays, unfortunately a corner blitz knocked the ball loose from Aaron Rogers, as he was going down the ball hit his foot keeping it airborne for a split second longer & Karlos Dansby snatched it out of the air, returning it for the game winning score. That game left you breathless. It was the only non-blowout of the wildcard round. Now the Cardinals go to "The Big Easy" for a Saturday afternoon kickoff against the Saints. New Orleans has looked very beatable lately & Arizona has now won 4 of their last 5 playoff games, you better believe they can win in Nawlins. The Cards ran for 156 yards with Beanie Wells leading the way with 91 yards on just 14 carries, something they didn't have last year in their run to the Super Bowl.
Some quick news & notes; Last night's game in Dallas might very well have been running back Brian Westbrook's last game. He didn't get a carry last night, catching only one pass. He doesn't seem to be the same back since he suffered two concussions earlier this season. Westbrook & Priest Holmes ran screen passes better than any back of this generation. Tim Tebow has decided to play in the Senior Bowl. His agent Jimmy Sexton told Tebow it's a necessity, he's right. Denver linebacker Robert Ayers was fined $5,000 for his body slam of Jamaal Charles in the last game of the season won handily by K.C. 44-24. I thought it should have been double that, he could have seriously injured Charles, it was a real cheap shot. How many of you enjoyed the fact the Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis left Larry Johnson off the active roster for the playoffs? I think LJ is going to have a tough time finding anyone to offer him a job next season.
Next up will be my 3-part analysis of the Chiefs' current roster plus what we can look forward to in free agency & the draft.
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