NATE KEADING, NORV TURNER, BILLY DAVIS, TONY ROMO & YOURS TRULY ALL STINK
Lots of crappy performances over the weekend in the playoffs. One thing I'd like to point out about the two championship games next weekend, all four teams weren't there last year or the year before. The NFL's version of the Final Four had been different the past three seasons, yes, 12 teams have made the Final Four, all different. Can baseball or the NBA say that? With a salary cap, realistic free agency & proper management, everybody has a shot in the NFL. I hope the owners give the players a better retirement package & stop with this 18-game regular season stuff. The players should all get a minimum wage hike based on years of service to the league. In return the player should agree to a rookie wage scale similar to the one used by the NBA. Giving guys like JaMarcus Russell $45 million to stink up the place is a problem, give 75% of that money to the vets or their retirement fund.
I'll have to admit I was surprised by three of the four games over the weekend. I wasn't surprised New Orleans beat Arizona, the margin of victory is what got me. The Cardinals looked nothing like the team that scored 51 points the week before, unfortunately, the Arizona defense that gave up 45 points to Green Bay the week before, duplicated the feat surrendering 45 more to Nawlins. Defensive coordinator Billy Davis who had replaced Clancy Pendergast appeared to have his guys playing better "D" this season. Couldn't really make a case for that the past two games. The beat down might have been Kurt Warner's last game. He'll be 39 before next season begins & he's taken a lot of hits. Reggie Bush came up big Saturday, can he do the same against a much tougher defense? The Louisiana Superdome has hosted 6 Super Bowl games, but until now, it's never been the site of an NFC Championship Game. The Saints are a 4 point favorite vs. Minnesota.
The Colts game was tough to watch as a Raven fan, for the Colts, it was a workmanlike performance. They did what they needed to do. They completely stifled the Raven offense, Baltimore needs receiving playmakers on that offense to give Joe Flacco a chance. Their running game is very good with a tough offensive line, Ray Rice & Willis MaGahee running the ball. WR Derrick Mason will retire most likely & now many-time All-Pro safety Ed Reed said he was beat up & might retire. This is still a very competitive team, but they need more playmakers & some secondary depth. The Colts made their own bed for the championship game. In what could be the ultimate irony, a team the Colts 'quit playing' against, allowing them to get into the post season tournament, must now face that same Jets team with the possibility of being knocked out by the team they should have finished off 3 weeks ago. If the Colts blow this one, Bill Polian will take so much heat from their fans & the national press, well they just better win that's all I'm sayin'. Indianapolis has been established as a 7 1/2 point favorite.
The game that really shocked me was the complete meltdown of the Dallas Cowboys yesterday. They moved the ball well in their first three possessions but had only a field goal to show for it. Once Dallas left tackle, Flozell Adams, went down with a calf injury, the Cowboys were never a threat again. The Vikings pass rush came after Tony Romo like a pack of sharks smelling blood. Meanwhile 40-year old Brett Favre was moving around, dodging the Dallas pass rush, hitting receivers downfield. He threw a personal best 4-touchdown passes. The 4th came with 1:55 left in the game to run the blowout up to 34-3. Cowboy linebacker Keith Brookings didn't like it & voiced his displeasure at the Viking bench & after the game in his locker room. Hey Keith, this isn't Georgia Tech, you're paid millions of dollars to keep people out of your endzone, stop whining. These two teams are scheduled to play each other next season in Minnesota, could be interesting.
I'm having to rewrite this entire post, my P.C. failed me again, it didn't autosave this entry every 5 minutes like it's supposed to do. Writing it once is hard enough for a pea-brain like me, but trying to recreate the whole thing is very trying to say the least. If only I could get 5 minutes with the scum that infected my beloved PC, I'd like to *&#@ing kill them.
Norv Turner reverted to his old self yesterday, getting totally out-coached in the playoffs by the Jets' Rex Ryan. He played right into the Jets hands by running L.T. nine times on first down against the best rushing defense in the league. Tomlinson managed just 24 yards on 12 carries. The Jets love 2nd & long situations & Turner obliged them repeatedly. Kicker Nate Kaeding who had made 32 of 36 field goals this season, missed three yesterday. I'll give him the 57-yard attempt right before half, that's not one many could make. But missing from 36 & 40 was inexcusable, good snap, good hold, he just missed. He had made 69 straight from the 40 & closer. Not yesterday. Then when the Chargers scored to close within 3 points with 2:14 left in the game, Turner made a colossal blunder by trying an onside kick. He had a timeout & the 2-minute warning to stop the clock after the kickoff but they went with the onside attempt, giving up all field position & totally deflating his team. Kick it deep, the clock stops after first down with the 2-minute warning. Use your last timeout after 2nd down. After third down the clock runs & Rex Ryan punts the ball back to you with about 1:15 left. The onside kick is such a low percentage play, you're telling everyone in the building you can't stop the Jets & this is your only hope. I'm not saying the Chargers would have won the game, I'm saying give your team the best chance to win & onside kicks don't do that. Bad call, bad outcome.
I couldn't have been more wrong on my picks, Arizona & Dallas. After the home favorites won & covered easily in the 1st three games, I should have taken the Jets, all four home favorites were not going to win & cover, it's just not that easy. I fell asleep at the switch & it cost me.
One more creepy detail of Lane Kiffin's departure from the Tennessee campus last week. He failed to notify his quarterbacks coach, David Reaves, when he fled west to USC. Reaves had to see it on TV in a Knoxville restaurant where he & his family were dinning. No big deal you say? Reaves is Kiffin's brother-in-law, his wife's brother. What a guy!. Jay Paterno, JoePa's son & Penn State quarterbacks coach, compared the current crop of coaching moves to Wall Street. He said their greed & lack of integrity were similar, I think he's right. I don't understand how these guys can look parents in the eye & tell them they'll be around to look after their sons. Tell them they'll help mold their son's character. Hogwash, it's more "Don't do as I do, do as I say."
The Duke Blue Devils dropped three players from their football program this morning. Freshmen John Drew, Kyle Griswould & Brandon Putnam were banished from the school after they were charged with possessing & discharging a firearm on campus at 2:30 AM Sunday. Brilliant, just shows there's knuckleheads at every level of the academic scale, even at a prestigious school like Duke.
Donte Stallworth, of DUI-manslaughter infamy, is near reinstatement after concluding his community service & apparently passing a 2 1/2 hour interview with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Stallworth showed contrition thru out the entire legal process & paid a 7-figure settlement to the family of the man he hit. Since witnesses testified before the grand jury that the man jumped in front of Stallworth's Bentley, he was given only 30-days in jail. Yesterday at halftime of the Cowboy-Viking game,Stallworth Tweeted an offer of help to the Red Cross for Haitian relief. He said he would give $1 for every new follower he received before midnight Eastern time & his buddy Wes Welker would match it. At midnight Stallworth posted on his Twitter page he had received just over 15,000 new followers & that he & Welker had phoned in pledges for $15K apiece. It would be nice if every professional athlete would match Stallworth's pledge like Welker did. The Red Cross would have about $50 million in an instant, money they desperately need for the people suffering in Haiti.
I'll have to admit I was surprised by three of the four games over the weekend. I wasn't surprised New Orleans beat Arizona, the margin of victory is what got me. The Cardinals looked nothing like the team that scored 51 points the week before, unfortunately, the Arizona defense that gave up 45 points to Green Bay the week before, duplicated the feat surrendering 45 more to Nawlins. Defensive coordinator Billy Davis who had replaced Clancy Pendergast appeared to have his guys playing better "D" this season. Couldn't really make a case for that the past two games. The beat down might have been Kurt Warner's last game. He'll be 39 before next season begins & he's taken a lot of hits. Reggie Bush came up big Saturday, can he do the same against a much tougher defense? The Louisiana Superdome has hosted 6 Super Bowl games, but until now, it's never been the site of an NFC Championship Game. The Saints are a 4 point favorite vs. Minnesota.
The Colts game was tough to watch as a Raven fan, for the Colts, it was a workmanlike performance. They did what they needed to do. They completely stifled the Raven offense, Baltimore needs receiving playmakers on that offense to give Joe Flacco a chance. Their running game is very good with a tough offensive line, Ray Rice & Willis MaGahee running the ball. WR Derrick Mason will retire most likely & now many-time All-Pro safety Ed Reed said he was beat up & might retire. This is still a very competitive team, but they need more playmakers & some secondary depth. The Colts made their own bed for the championship game. In what could be the ultimate irony, a team the Colts 'quit playing' against, allowing them to get into the post season tournament, must now face that same Jets team with the possibility of being knocked out by the team they should have finished off 3 weeks ago. If the Colts blow this one, Bill Polian will take so much heat from their fans & the national press, well they just better win that's all I'm sayin'. Indianapolis has been established as a 7 1/2 point favorite.
The game that really shocked me was the complete meltdown of the Dallas Cowboys yesterday. They moved the ball well in their first three possessions but had only a field goal to show for it. Once Dallas left tackle, Flozell Adams, went down with a calf injury, the Cowboys were never a threat again. The Vikings pass rush came after Tony Romo like a pack of sharks smelling blood. Meanwhile 40-year old Brett Favre was moving around, dodging the Dallas pass rush, hitting receivers downfield. He threw a personal best 4-touchdown passes. The 4th came with 1:55 left in the game to run the blowout up to 34-3. Cowboy linebacker Keith Brookings didn't like it & voiced his displeasure at the Viking bench & after the game in his locker room. Hey Keith, this isn't Georgia Tech, you're paid millions of dollars to keep people out of your endzone, stop whining. These two teams are scheduled to play each other next season in Minnesota, could be interesting.
I'm having to rewrite this entire post, my P.C. failed me again, it didn't autosave this entry every 5 minutes like it's supposed to do. Writing it once is hard enough for a pea-brain like me, but trying to recreate the whole thing is very trying to say the least. If only I could get 5 minutes with the scum that infected my beloved PC, I'd like to *&#@ing kill them.
Norv Turner reverted to his old self yesterday, getting totally out-coached in the playoffs by the Jets' Rex Ryan. He played right into the Jets hands by running L.T. nine times on first down against the best rushing defense in the league. Tomlinson managed just 24 yards on 12 carries. The Jets love 2nd & long situations & Turner obliged them repeatedly. Kicker Nate Kaeding who had made 32 of 36 field goals this season, missed three yesterday. I'll give him the 57-yard attempt right before half, that's not one many could make. But missing from 36 & 40 was inexcusable, good snap, good hold, he just missed. He had made 69 straight from the 40 & closer. Not yesterday. Then when the Chargers scored to close within 3 points with 2:14 left in the game, Turner made a colossal blunder by trying an onside kick. He had a timeout & the 2-minute warning to stop the clock after the kickoff but they went with the onside attempt, giving up all field position & totally deflating his team. Kick it deep, the clock stops after first down with the 2-minute warning. Use your last timeout after 2nd down. After third down the clock runs & Rex Ryan punts the ball back to you with about 1:15 left. The onside kick is such a low percentage play, you're telling everyone in the building you can't stop the Jets & this is your only hope. I'm not saying the Chargers would have won the game, I'm saying give your team the best chance to win & onside kicks don't do that. Bad call, bad outcome.
I couldn't have been more wrong on my picks, Arizona & Dallas. After the home favorites won & covered easily in the 1st three games, I should have taken the Jets, all four home favorites were not going to win & cover, it's just not that easy. I fell asleep at the switch & it cost me.
One more creepy detail of Lane Kiffin's departure from the Tennessee campus last week. He failed to notify his quarterbacks coach, David Reaves, when he fled west to USC. Reaves had to see it on TV in a Knoxville restaurant where he & his family were dinning. No big deal you say? Reaves is Kiffin's brother-in-law, his wife's brother. What a guy!. Jay Paterno, JoePa's son & Penn State quarterbacks coach, compared the current crop of coaching moves to Wall Street. He said their greed & lack of integrity were similar, I think he's right. I don't understand how these guys can look parents in the eye & tell them they'll be around to look after their sons. Tell them they'll help mold their son's character. Hogwash, it's more "Don't do as I do, do as I say."
The Duke Blue Devils dropped three players from their football program this morning. Freshmen John Drew, Kyle Griswould & Brandon Putnam were banished from the school after they were charged with possessing & discharging a firearm on campus at 2:30 AM Sunday. Brilliant, just shows there's knuckleheads at every level of the academic scale, even at a prestigious school like Duke.
Donte Stallworth, of DUI-manslaughter infamy, is near reinstatement after concluding his community service & apparently passing a 2 1/2 hour interview with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Stallworth showed contrition thru out the entire legal process & paid a 7-figure settlement to the family of the man he hit. Since witnesses testified before the grand jury that the man jumped in front of Stallworth's Bentley, he was given only 30-days in jail. Yesterday at halftime of the Cowboy-Viking game,Stallworth Tweeted an offer of help to the Red Cross for Haitian relief. He said he would give $1 for every new follower he received before midnight Eastern time & his buddy Wes Welker would match it. At midnight Stallworth posted on his Twitter page he had received just over 15,000 new followers & that he & Welker had phoned in pledges for $15K apiece. It would be nice if every professional athlete would match Stallworth's pledge like Welker did. The Red Cross would have about $50 million in an instant, money they desperately need for the people suffering in Haiti.
Comments