Week 12 was a dud for me. Yeah, the Jets won, Plax was a hero and Sanchez had some time to throw. Even Shonn Green garnered some yards. But my fantasy team, one that has been slumping for quite a while now while still managing to win, could put together only one decent effort, that coming from our own Dustin Keller at tight end.
I had expected tough going this week as my premier running back, Fred Jackson was injured, only to be replaced by CJ Spiller in Buffalo. Other players I counted on earlier in the season, such as Miles Austin and Julio Jones, have been likewise hurt, but not badly enough to hit the injured reserve list; just badly enough to take up room on my roster.
My two remaining big guns play tonight, Drew Brees and Hakeem Nicks. But they’ll need a heap of production, even for them. No, it’s not a good day for Crabs. One thing I’ve had all season long though is luck. The one-point wins, the 3-point wins, the remarkable performances put up by the most unlikely players (or team defenses) in the least likely situations.
If tonight’s battle between the Giants and Saints unfolds the way I think it might, which is to say, a shootout between Eli and Mr. Brees, my chances become pretty good. In that kind of battle, Drew could put up 300 yards easily and 3 or 4 TD’s while Hakeem Nicks could see a 100-yard day and a touchdown. Maybe the Saints D will double on Victor Cruz. That would be a welcome change.
While I wait for all that to unfold, I can only try not to tear my hair out thinking about the ridiculously conservative approaches that teams take with their best players. Julio Jones for example has been out for weeks with a hammy but his status was changed to probable for Week 12. Julio must’ve been down by the school yard because he didn’t see even one friggin’ minute on the field. He and I got to watch as his replacement, one Harry Douglas, got his catches and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Sidney Rice, ordinarily Seattle’s first receiving option, hurt his “widdle” head quite early and that was the end of his day on the field.
Football can be an infuriating game. Just ask the Chicago Bears who saw an injury to their QB, Jay Cutler, seriously hurt their chances at a playoff spot. Ask the Houston Texans. They lost Matt Schaub the starter and Matt Leinart the backup in successive weeks. They managed to win though. The Bears were not so lucky.
In last night’s game we had to watch the Chiefs and their backup QB, one Tyler Palko, try to compete with the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger. They did acquire Kyle Orton, a serviceable or better QB who had the misfortune of preceding Tim Tebow in the early-season depth chart. Tebow won again yesterday in what has come to be the Broncos trademark fashion, lots of defense and lots of Tebow.
Compare and contrast Tebow to Ndamokung Suh or Stevie Johnson, the thug and the dipstick. It’s amazing to me how pleased with themselves some of these players are. Then they’re sorry afterwards. Suh especially deserves everything he might get in terms of penalties or suspensions. What irked me totally was his denial at first that he had done anything wrong (after stomping on an exposed leg). The next thing you know he’s apologizing. Stevie Johnson demonstrated his lack of brains and any class whatsoever by doing his Plaxico Burress impersonation in the end zone. He was later sorry too.
Even though I really don’t anyone who wears his religion on his sleeve (and tries to rub a little on your sleeve too), coming from Tebow, he seems so sincere that his continual religious references don’t really have any negative effect on me. He’s a big, strong, fast gentleman, maybe the only one in the NFL. I’ll take his behavior over some of these other meatballs anytime.
Meanwhile, the NBA lockout is over (or soon will be). Thank God this Holiday season that we won’t have to hear about the legal wranglings that would have been part and parcel of a continuation of the lockout.
I’m looking forward too to a reduced season as I had always thought that 82 games were too many. When the NFL season starts winding down and the playoff participants become all too clear, a little Knicks and Nets action will be just what the doctor ordered.
Rutgers failed to win the game they needed to advance to a BCS Bowl. Color me sad.
In my favorite sport, baseball (by an increasingly large margin) hot stove action has been really slow. We don’t know where Reyes is going if anywhere and the same goes for Pujols. The biggest signing though was sadly the Phillies signing of Papelbon, Boston’s terrific closer. Now the Phils seem to really have everything. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they go after Reyes too. Their shortstop is getting (and playing) a little long in the tooth.
The Philadelphia Eagles, erstwhile dream team, looked pretty dreadful against the Patriots Sunday. But it wasn’t Vince Young’s fault. He threw for 400 yards with just the one pick and yet the Birds weren’t really in the game after the first quarter. They didn’t play defense that you’d notice. Apparently the Pats are better than the Giants, who only managed to score ten points against them in their latest outing.
In any event Eagles head coach Andy Reid might be in a little trouble. All those weapons they acquired in free agency aren’t having much of an effect. Michael Vick, Vince Young, and all those offensive weapons couldn’t do much against the Pats, at least from a scoring standpoint, and the whole team seems to be playing lifeless ball.
Let’s hope the Giants fare better tonight against the Saints. Let’s have a good old-fashioned shootout.
Showing posts with label Saints. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saints. Show all posts
Monday, November 28, 2011
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Melodrama Without Chemistry
Is anybody else tired of all the melodrama surrounding the New York football teams? I think it shows a huge team character and chemistry deficit.
The Jets beat the Patriots, a huge win given their slow start, and all we hear about is Braylon Edwards. The Giants play one of their worst games ever, but all we hear about is Brandon Jacobs and his helmet, or Antrel Rolle, a new Giant, who says there’s no leadership on the team.
I’m really tired of it. If you want any analysis, you have to tune in to MLB or NFL or NBA Networks. The newspaper coverage is a wasteland. Can anybody tell me what the Giants are going to do about that horrible offensive line, when they’ll get their tight end situation fixed, or when they can rid themselves of David Diehl as the tackle on the left-hand side?
The Jets are a reality show. I don’t even care about them anymore, except for Rex Ryan, who seems to be a good man under all that baloney. Tom Coughlin has the Giants playing under his unique form of despotism again, after disbanding that pesky players committee after they won that Super Bowl. And his team played like a team that doesn’t care.
The Jets-Dolphins matchups over the years have been awesome, practically each and every one. This year’s game could be the best one of them all. Yet you’ll hear nothing about that in the papers.
It’ll be that tough Jets offensive line and running game facing off against a Fish defensive line that spit back Adrian Peterson after a few attempts inside the ten-yard line. It’ll be two young QB’s showing off their wares, Sanchez against Henne. Sanchez should have time but see no open receivers. Drew Henne, Miami’s QB, will see open receivers yet have no time to get the ball to them.
But underlying all the talents on the field is that indefinable team chemistry, a factor in football games more so than in any other sport. How will the Jets react to being told to tone it down after Braylon Edwards’s arrest ? How will the Dolphins come out after thrashing the Vikings this weekend?
Team chemistry…the Jets have some, the Dolphins have some, even the Kansas City Chiefs have some. The Giants have none. Neither do the Bills or half a dozen other teams, even some of those who spend big money for players.
The poster-boy for team chemistry would have to be the New Orleans Saints. On Monday night, before a packed house in San Francisco, they showed the timely combination of good offense and defense that just got the job done, no matter what the circumstances.
I’ve been a closet Saints fan for a few years now, and to me, their Monday night game against the San Francisco 49ers proved that a team that believes in its coach, and a coach who believes in his team, can accomplish wonders…..packed house, Jerry Rice Day, mad Mike Singletary….it just doesn’t matter.
You’ll seldom see a team play as hard as the Niners did Monday night. Their head coach, Mike Singletary, had been rabid all week after the Niners opening loss against the lowly Seahawks , a loss that was largely attributable to coaching. But Monday night, Singletary’s team came ready to play.
The Niners may have been too ready. After a bad snap for a safety and an early Drew Brees-engineered drive, the Saints took an early 9-0 lead. But, when backed up to their ten-yard line with the crowd screaming, the Saints played conservatively, using runs and short passes to gain ground. When they could not, they simply punted. There would be no Saints meltdown; the Niners would have to earn every yard.
The Niners kept coming though. Frank Gore was a battering ram, the un-Brandon Jacobs. But Saints CB Roland Harper intercepted an Alex Smith pass to thwart one drive, only to have the Niners force another Saints punt when they sacked Brees, who was fortunate to keep his grip on the football.
Then the Niners really started turning it on. Frank Gore, Alex Smith and a few different receivers put together a clock-eating drive to pull within 9-7. Then they forced another Saints punt to take control of the ball again with about 7 minutes left in the first half.
The Niners kept coming. Banging Frank Gore into the line and using some deft passing from Alex Smith, they drove again to the Saints 12-yard line. But the Saints kept their composure, and when Delanie Walker had the ball punched out at about the 4-yard line, it was the the Saints who swarmed to the ball, the Saints who would hold on to lead at the half.
In the second half, the Niners changed gears. Two long passes to Morgan and tight end Vernon Davis spearheaded their next drive, one that was good for an eventual TD that gave the Niners the lead 14-9, for the first time.
It was then that the Saints really showed their character. Using their big guns, Bush and Colston and Pierre Thomas, the Saints took the lead again on their very next possession. And their defense held, first by forcing a 3 and out, then intercepting a Smith pass.
Punting then became the order of the day. The Saints held on like bulldogs in a few sequences that included a nifty Brees batted pass to himself. But a Niners goal-line stand forced a Saints field goal. Instead of putting the game away, the Saints lead was only 8.
A TD and 2-point conversion could still tie it. The Saints finally blinked. The Niners took advantage and tied it. The crowd went wild. It looked bad for the Saints.
But the Niners left 1:19 on the clock, too much time against a QB like Brees, a coach like Payton and some great team players named Colston and Thomas. Hartley kicked the winning field goal with zero on the clock.
The Jets beat the Patriots, a huge win given their slow start, and all we hear about is Braylon Edwards. The Giants play one of their worst games ever, but all we hear about is Brandon Jacobs and his helmet, or Antrel Rolle, a new Giant, who says there’s no leadership on the team.
I’m really tired of it. If you want any analysis, you have to tune in to MLB or NFL or NBA Networks. The newspaper coverage is a wasteland. Can anybody tell me what the Giants are going to do about that horrible offensive line, when they’ll get their tight end situation fixed, or when they can rid themselves of David Diehl as the tackle on the left-hand side?
The Jets are a reality show. I don’t even care about them anymore, except for Rex Ryan, who seems to be a good man under all that baloney. Tom Coughlin has the Giants playing under his unique form of despotism again, after disbanding that pesky players committee after they won that Super Bowl. And his team played like a team that doesn’t care.
The Jets-Dolphins matchups over the years have been awesome, practically each and every one. This year’s game could be the best one of them all. Yet you’ll hear nothing about that in the papers.
It’ll be that tough Jets offensive line and running game facing off against a Fish defensive line that spit back Adrian Peterson after a few attempts inside the ten-yard line. It’ll be two young QB’s showing off their wares, Sanchez against Henne. Sanchez should have time but see no open receivers. Drew Henne, Miami’s QB, will see open receivers yet have no time to get the ball to them.
But underlying all the talents on the field is that indefinable team chemistry, a factor in football games more so than in any other sport. How will the Jets react to being told to tone it down after Braylon Edwards’s arrest ? How will the Dolphins come out after thrashing the Vikings this weekend?
Team chemistry…the Jets have some, the Dolphins have some, even the Kansas City Chiefs have some. The Giants have none. Neither do the Bills or half a dozen other teams, even some of those who spend big money for players.
The poster-boy for team chemistry would have to be the New Orleans Saints. On Monday night, before a packed house in San Francisco, they showed the timely combination of good offense and defense that just got the job done, no matter what the circumstances.
I’ve been a closet Saints fan for a few years now, and to me, their Monday night game against the San Francisco 49ers proved that a team that believes in its coach, and a coach who believes in his team, can accomplish wonders…..packed house, Jerry Rice Day, mad Mike Singletary….it just doesn’t matter.
You’ll seldom see a team play as hard as the Niners did Monday night. Their head coach, Mike Singletary, had been rabid all week after the Niners opening loss against the lowly Seahawks , a loss that was largely attributable to coaching. But Monday night, Singletary’s team came ready to play.
The Niners may have been too ready. After a bad snap for a safety and an early Drew Brees-engineered drive, the Saints took an early 9-0 lead. But, when backed up to their ten-yard line with the crowd screaming, the Saints played conservatively, using runs and short passes to gain ground. When they could not, they simply punted. There would be no Saints meltdown; the Niners would have to earn every yard.
The Niners kept coming though. Frank Gore was a battering ram, the un-Brandon Jacobs. But Saints CB Roland Harper intercepted an Alex Smith pass to thwart one drive, only to have the Niners force another Saints punt when they sacked Brees, who was fortunate to keep his grip on the football.
Then the Niners really started turning it on. Frank Gore, Alex Smith and a few different receivers put together a clock-eating drive to pull within 9-7. Then they forced another Saints punt to take control of the ball again with about 7 minutes left in the first half.
The Niners kept coming. Banging Frank Gore into the line and using some deft passing from Alex Smith, they drove again to the Saints 12-yard line. But the Saints kept their composure, and when Delanie Walker had the ball punched out at about the 4-yard line, it was the the Saints who swarmed to the ball, the Saints who would hold on to lead at the half.
In the second half, the Niners changed gears. Two long passes to Morgan and tight end Vernon Davis spearheaded their next drive, one that was good for an eventual TD that gave the Niners the lead 14-9, for the first time.
It was then that the Saints really showed their character. Using their big guns, Bush and Colston and Pierre Thomas, the Saints took the lead again on their very next possession. And their defense held, first by forcing a 3 and out, then intercepting a Smith pass.
Punting then became the order of the day. The Saints held on like bulldogs in a few sequences that included a nifty Brees batted pass to himself. But a Niners goal-line stand forced a Saints field goal. Instead of putting the game away, the Saints lead was only 8.
A TD and 2-point conversion could still tie it. The Saints finally blinked. The Niners took advantage and tied it. The crowd went wild. It looked bad for the Saints.
But the Niners left 1:19 on the clock, too much time against a QB like Brees, a coach like Payton and some great team players named Colston and Thomas. Hartley kicked the winning field goal with zero on the clock.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
An Easy Transition to Baseball
Geez, I let myself get really lazy about writing, as there was nothing I cared about going on this week anyway. Winter Olympics, Lindsay Vonn, bad Rutgers and Seton Hall basketball teams, the Nets and Knicks…please. As I have spent considerable time re-watching the Super Bowl though, let me for one last time ruminate on that wonderful game for all Saints fans and for all proponents of the underdog…something that you may not have heard.
You may recall the pivotal play of the game…the Tracy Porter interception of Manning. I’ve heard that play discussed and re-discussed but nobody mentions that a Saints lineman, probably Will Smith but I can’t be sure, since the rush part of the play was so ignored by Phil Simms, makes Manning rush the throw. Yeah, it was a maximum blitz (against Simms’s advice), but still it was those defensive ends that got in there, the other one being Bobby McRae.
You hear Wayne was slanting in, Wayne was slanting out, Wayne was late in the break, Wayne should have broken up the play, all kinds of stuff about Wayne. They mention that Manning hurried the throw but not why very much. It seems to me that Manning doesn’t make that type of throw if not for Will Smith.
It looked to me like a slant that Manning should’ve waited out for one more tick or two to throw. Yeah, you could say Porter jumped the route, but only in the sense that he was right there. He just had to react to the throw, which was right there for the taking. Not to disparage Porter’s play…after all, he made the Favre interception too, that saved the Saints win against the Vikings…but he had a lot of help from that blitz.
Anthony Hargrove was a factor too. Hargrove actually got hurt on a prior play, making Manning hurry a throw to Collie that missed. Nobody mentions Hargrove’s desperate effort to get to Manning on the play. Nobody mentions Manning had to hurry the throw to Number 17 because of it.
Another guy that could have gotten more attention was Jonathan Vilma. He was great the entire game. But that game could have gone in a much different direction if not for his knocking down that pass to Collie in the endzone. It came on that 3rd and 5, forcing the Colts to make that critical decision of whether to go for the three or punt (or go for a first).
Of course, the field goal missed, the Saints lead was held to just one, and the failed kick gave the Saints great field position. The change in the attitude of both teams after that miss is almost palpable. The Colts are hanging their heads while the Saints look ready to kick ass. You could make an argument for Vilma kicking off that entire chain of events with his breakup of that pass.
The other somewhat neglected factor was the coaching. The obvious errors were pointed out, the decision to go for the field goal, the failure to put the ball in the air right before the half (thus giving the Saints their field goal opportunity back again). But there were other problems with the coaching too, the conservative defense that got victimized all game by Brees, and their failure to put the game away twice.
Everything was coming up roses for the Colts in that first quarter. That Colston dropped pass and an overthrow by Brees on his first series, put the Saints in a ten-point hole. If the Colts had stayed aggressive in the second quarter, they could have danced in the streets after the game instead of having to watch the festivities with their heads down.
Instead of putting the game out of reach, they played conservatively and the half ended at 10-6. After the Saints scored to take the lead, Manning and the Colts came right back and scored a TD of their own. That could have been another game-changer if the Colts had stayed aggressive. Instead it wound up being their final score and the Saints went on to score 18 unanswered.
Never has there been a better example of a lack of aggressiveness losing a game. Caldwell coached it as if he had the better team and all they had to do to win it was to not make the big mistake. So the Colts were playing to not lose while the Saints were going all out all the time. Similarly, never has there been a better example of aggressiveness winning a game. Sean Payton could have been MVP if coaches had eligibility for it.
Oh well, another football season is over. One good thing about protracting the NFL season is that baseball then becomes a thing right around the corner, so to speak. Perhaps just coincidentally, the Mets finally made some badly needed moves along with just about every other team doing the same. So the hot stove stuff coming to the forefront of things right now means I’ll never have to watch a basketball game. WooHoo!
My favorite Mets team had been beat up all over the dial for not making essential moves to strengthen the club. What about first base, what about another pitcher? What about yada yada? Well, Mike Jacobs, although he’s coming off a meager year, adds a power element to that first base position to team with Daniel Murphy, the much-maligned Mets incumbent there.
And they picked up a very good and well-seasoned Japanese pitcher in Hisanori Takahashi. He’ll be fighting to become either the fifth starter or a relief guy, but definitely adds to the competition in camp. It should be interesting to see how both he and Ryota Igarashi will develop and how they’ll interact with themselves and the rest of the team.
Yankees fans may scoff. None of these acquisitions are sure things, anathema to Yankees fans. But I look forward to them working out, making the pennant that much more enjoyable.
You may recall the pivotal play of the game…the Tracy Porter interception of Manning. I’ve heard that play discussed and re-discussed but nobody mentions that a Saints lineman, probably Will Smith but I can’t be sure, since the rush part of the play was so ignored by Phil Simms, makes Manning rush the throw. Yeah, it was a maximum blitz (against Simms’s advice), but still it was those defensive ends that got in there, the other one being Bobby McRae.
You hear Wayne was slanting in, Wayne was slanting out, Wayne was late in the break, Wayne should have broken up the play, all kinds of stuff about Wayne. They mention that Manning hurried the throw but not why very much. It seems to me that Manning doesn’t make that type of throw if not for Will Smith.
It looked to me like a slant that Manning should’ve waited out for one more tick or two to throw. Yeah, you could say Porter jumped the route, but only in the sense that he was right there. He just had to react to the throw, which was right there for the taking. Not to disparage Porter’s play…after all, he made the Favre interception too, that saved the Saints win against the Vikings…but he had a lot of help from that blitz.
Anthony Hargrove was a factor too. Hargrove actually got hurt on a prior play, making Manning hurry a throw to Collie that missed. Nobody mentions Hargrove’s desperate effort to get to Manning on the play. Nobody mentions Manning had to hurry the throw to Number 17 because of it.
Another guy that could have gotten more attention was Jonathan Vilma. He was great the entire game. But that game could have gone in a much different direction if not for his knocking down that pass to Collie in the endzone. It came on that 3rd and 5, forcing the Colts to make that critical decision of whether to go for the three or punt (or go for a first).
Of course, the field goal missed, the Saints lead was held to just one, and the failed kick gave the Saints great field position. The change in the attitude of both teams after that miss is almost palpable. The Colts are hanging their heads while the Saints look ready to kick ass. You could make an argument for Vilma kicking off that entire chain of events with his breakup of that pass.
The other somewhat neglected factor was the coaching. The obvious errors were pointed out, the decision to go for the field goal, the failure to put the ball in the air right before the half (thus giving the Saints their field goal opportunity back again). But there were other problems with the coaching too, the conservative defense that got victimized all game by Brees, and their failure to put the game away twice.
Everything was coming up roses for the Colts in that first quarter. That Colston dropped pass and an overthrow by Brees on his first series, put the Saints in a ten-point hole. If the Colts had stayed aggressive in the second quarter, they could have danced in the streets after the game instead of having to watch the festivities with their heads down.
Instead of putting the game out of reach, they played conservatively and the half ended at 10-6. After the Saints scored to take the lead, Manning and the Colts came right back and scored a TD of their own. That could have been another game-changer if the Colts had stayed aggressive. Instead it wound up being their final score and the Saints went on to score 18 unanswered.
Never has there been a better example of a lack of aggressiveness losing a game. Caldwell coached it as if he had the better team and all they had to do to win it was to not make the big mistake. So the Colts were playing to not lose while the Saints were going all out all the time. Similarly, never has there been a better example of aggressiveness winning a game. Sean Payton could have been MVP if coaches had eligibility for it.
Oh well, another football season is over. One good thing about protracting the NFL season is that baseball then becomes a thing right around the corner, so to speak. Perhaps just coincidentally, the Mets finally made some badly needed moves along with just about every other team doing the same. So the hot stove stuff coming to the forefront of things right now means I’ll never have to watch a basketball game. WooHoo!
My favorite Mets team had been beat up all over the dial for not making essential moves to strengthen the club. What about first base, what about another pitcher? What about yada yada? Well, Mike Jacobs, although he’s coming off a meager year, adds a power element to that first base position to team with Daniel Murphy, the much-maligned Mets incumbent there.
And they picked up a very good and well-seasoned Japanese pitcher in Hisanori Takahashi. He’ll be fighting to become either the fifth starter or a relief guy, but definitely adds to the competition in camp. It should be interesting to see how both he and Ryota Igarashi will develop and how they’ll interact with themselves and the rest of the team.
Yankees fans may scoff. None of these acquisitions are sure things, anathema to Yankees fans. But I look forward to them working out, making the pennant that much more enjoyable.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
All Saints - The Clock and the Rock
It’s finally time to choose. With about 29 hours left to Super Bowl whatever (I can’t make out all those L’s and X’s and I’s…always thought it was stupid), it’s high time to choose a winner. And after due consideration, I just have to go with the Saints.
I’ve been leaning towards them all year really. They justified my faith too for much of the year, before all kinds of injuries crippled their defense and then some of their offense too. They went from good to bad to worse…and then to good again just at the right time, for the games that counted.
And my reasons haven’t changed from my last column, the one that talked about how much Dwight Freeney meant to that Colts defense, and how the Colts beat two one-dimensional offenses in the playoffs, Baltimore and the Jets, while New Orleans had to kick butt against Arizona and especially the Vikings. I also intimated then that there was some kind of magic surrounding the Saints, who just seem luckier than everybody else.
Well, nothing that’s happened in this past week has changed my mind. If anything, my feeling for the Saints just got stronger. If I thought Freeney would play at even 75% of his best, or if I thought that his backup was strong, or if I thought those last-minute hurts and ow-ies were going the way of the Colts, I might have changed my mind.
For those of you who never played football, or for those of you who never played hurt, you can play through some injuries, as “PrimeTime” has pointed out to us all week. For a guy who never made a tackle in his lifetime, he surely says all that with certainty. My guess is, like many other idiots on television, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
A defensive end can’t play with a badly sprained ankle. Sorry, folks. Hamstrings hurt…fine. Shoulders hurt…fine. Even if your knee is a little out of whack…fine. Ankle?....forget about it.
Okay, say Colts fans….but the Colts have won without Freeney before and they haven’t missed a beat. Yeah? And who were they playing? Now, mind you, I’m not saying the Colts aren’t a great team. And I’m not saying that Manning and Company won’t put points on the board. And I’m not even saying the Saints will put up 30 or more versus that Colts defense without Freeney.
I’m just saying the Saints will put up more.
A look at this week’s last-minute injuries showed me a Colts wide-out who couldn’t finish practice. But no worries…it was only Reggie Wayne. The Colts have a nickel back ailing too. The Saints are doing fine, thank you, unless you count that kick-returner. Nothing’s really changed that much. The Saints still have a versatile offense with an opportunistic defense. The Colts still have Manning and a few force-fed young receivers, and a defense that never could stop a running team that also could pass the ball. (Please note that last phrase…it’s the big one).
I think we’ll be seeing a lot of Reggie Bush Sunday night. I just wish he hadn’t told the whole world that Sean Payton pretty much told him so. Nice poker face, Reggie, what an idiot! But no harm done really, the Colts had to figure the Saints would try to run. Besides, I think it’s a feint…they’ll be running Pierre Thomas straight ahead at that light but quick Colts defense. Reggie will probably be running to Freeney’s side…um, I mean the Freeney-less side of things.
Getting back to these young Colts wide-outs, how will they react to all that poking and swiping at the ball these Saints defenders like to do? If there is a wildcard in the deck, it’s that, fumbles. As these teams stand against each other now, this game is even. If there are turnovers, they should go the Saints way. They always seem to.
Against the Vikings, the Saints made Adrian Peterson a mess, even as he scored three touchdowns. As good as he was that day, he couldn’t knock the Saints out. He had to constantly worry about that thing he was carrying with the points on the end. They knocked Favre to the ground quite a few times too. And that defense was going for the ball the whole long afternoon. How often does Favre mess up a handoff to a running back?
The weather won’t be a factor. The report says it’ll be sunny with temps between 47 and 69 degrees. If the weather turns bad for some reason, and there doesn’t always have to be a reason for showers in Miami, that should also favor the team that can run the ball, the team that’s trying to strip that ball as a runner tries to regain his balance. (But I don’t expect bad weather).
The Vikings were a running and passing team. The Saints beat them. The Colts are a passing team only. They could try running Addai and Brown and whoever else they have in their stable of running backs but they’ll go nowhere. If the Colts should take a lead, they’ll have trouble running the clock. If the Saints should go ahead, it’ll be Thomas and Bush and a tick-tick-tock.
Then there are the intangibles. I have no idea which team has the advantage there. There was the Saints defensive coordinator saying they were going to go after Manning, there was Reggie Bush bragging about how often he’d be getting the ball, there was Dwight Freeney showing everybody his bare ankles, there were the rest of the Colts saying nothing.
I’m a big believer in pressure though. Put enough pressure on anything and it will eventually break. The veteran Saints are treating this as only a big game. The younger Colts remember their chances for an unbeaten season going down the hole in the name of keeping players healthy.
But their players got hurt anyway. The Saints got well. (Tick tock).
Saints win…..27-23.
I’ve been leaning towards them all year really. They justified my faith too for much of the year, before all kinds of injuries crippled their defense and then some of their offense too. They went from good to bad to worse…and then to good again just at the right time, for the games that counted.
And my reasons haven’t changed from my last column, the one that talked about how much Dwight Freeney meant to that Colts defense, and how the Colts beat two one-dimensional offenses in the playoffs, Baltimore and the Jets, while New Orleans had to kick butt against Arizona and especially the Vikings. I also intimated then that there was some kind of magic surrounding the Saints, who just seem luckier than everybody else.
Well, nothing that’s happened in this past week has changed my mind. If anything, my feeling for the Saints just got stronger. If I thought Freeney would play at even 75% of his best, or if I thought that his backup was strong, or if I thought those last-minute hurts and ow-ies were going the way of the Colts, I might have changed my mind.
For those of you who never played football, or for those of you who never played hurt, you can play through some injuries, as “PrimeTime” has pointed out to us all week. For a guy who never made a tackle in his lifetime, he surely says all that with certainty. My guess is, like many other idiots on television, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
A defensive end can’t play with a badly sprained ankle. Sorry, folks. Hamstrings hurt…fine. Shoulders hurt…fine. Even if your knee is a little out of whack…fine. Ankle?....forget about it.
Okay, say Colts fans….but the Colts have won without Freeney before and they haven’t missed a beat. Yeah? And who were they playing? Now, mind you, I’m not saying the Colts aren’t a great team. And I’m not saying that Manning and Company won’t put points on the board. And I’m not even saying the Saints will put up 30 or more versus that Colts defense without Freeney.
I’m just saying the Saints will put up more.
A look at this week’s last-minute injuries showed me a Colts wide-out who couldn’t finish practice. But no worries…it was only Reggie Wayne. The Colts have a nickel back ailing too. The Saints are doing fine, thank you, unless you count that kick-returner. Nothing’s really changed that much. The Saints still have a versatile offense with an opportunistic defense. The Colts still have Manning and a few force-fed young receivers, and a defense that never could stop a running team that also could pass the ball. (Please note that last phrase…it’s the big one).
I think we’ll be seeing a lot of Reggie Bush Sunday night. I just wish he hadn’t told the whole world that Sean Payton pretty much told him so. Nice poker face, Reggie, what an idiot! But no harm done really, the Colts had to figure the Saints would try to run. Besides, I think it’s a feint…they’ll be running Pierre Thomas straight ahead at that light but quick Colts defense. Reggie will probably be running to Freeney’s side…um, I mean the Freeney-less side of things.
Getting back to these young Colts wide-outs, how will they react to all that poking and swiping at the ball these Saints defenders like to do? If there is a wildcard in the deck, it’s that, fumbles. As these teams stand against each other now, this game is even. If there are turnovers, they should go the Saints way. They always seem to.
Against the Vikings, the Saints made Adrian Peterson a mess, even as he scored three touchdowns. As good as he was that day, he couldn’t knock the Saints out. He had to constantly worry about that thing he was carrying with the points on the end. They knocked Favre to the ground quite a few times too. And that defense was going for the ball the whole long afternoon. How often does Favre mess up a handoff to a running back?
The weather won’t be a factor. The report says it’ll be sunny with temps between 47 and 69 degrees. If the weather turns bad for some reason, and there doesn’t always have to be a reason for showers in Miami, that should also favor the team that can run the ball, the team that’s trying to strip that ball as a runner tries to regain his balance. (But I don’t expect bad weather).
The Vikings were a running and passing team. The Saints beat them. The Colts are a passing team only. They could try running Addai and Brown and whoever else they have in their stable of running backs but they’ll go nowhere. If the Colts should take a lead, they’ll have trouble running the clock. If the Saints should go ahead, it’ll be Thomas and Bush and a tick-tick-tock.
Then there are the intangibles. I have no idea which team has the advantage there. There was the Saints defensive coordinator saying they were going to go after Manning, there was Reggie Bush bragging about how often he’d be getting the ball, there was Dwight Freeney showing everybody his bare ankles, there were the rest of the Colts saying nothing.
I’m a big believer in pressure though. Put enough pressure on anything and it will eventually break. The veteran Saints are treating this as only a big game. The younger Colts remember their chances for an unbeaten season going down the hole in the name of keeping players healthy.
But their players got hurt anyway. The Saints got well. (Tick tock).
Saints win…..27-23.
Monday, February 1, 2010
That Fickle Finger of Fate
I know it’s finally Super Bowl week because I’m actually watching the Saints de-plane at Miami International. Oooh Boyy! There’s Jeremy Shockey and Reggie Bush…woohoo! And there’s the fabulous Benson family. And I can look forward to more hours hearing about Katrina.
Well, in at least one respect, it’s good. At least one team has shown up. That indicates there indeed will be a game…eventually. But it won’t be before a zillion interviews and about 5 zillion clichés. And I can only hope that wild and crazy guy, Colts head coach Jim Caldwell, will kinda keep to himself this week.
This game, when it’s finally played, will hinge on Dwight Freeney’s leg hinge, his sprained ankle. When you think of offense, you think Peyton Manning. When you think of defense, you think of Dwight Freeney. If Freeney, whose main asset is speed, is hampered by an ankle sprain, he becomes just another guy who takes up a lot of space.
The Colts have been the best team in football this season. I really don’t think there can be any question about that. Manning is the real fly in the ointment for opponents. That fact was characterized most perfectly against New England, whose coach of coaches Bill Belichick elected to go for a fourth and one in his own territory with the time winding down rather than have to watch Manning drive the length of the field to beat him. Of course it didn’t work, Belichick’s Pats had to give Manning the ball about 40 yards closer to the endzone than they would have otherwise, and it was all over but the shouting (speaking of clichés).
The Saints had been undefeated too. But with each successive win, they won less convincingly. They did it with unlikely interceptions and forced fumbles and it seemed every win was an act of God. Yes, they had Drew Brees and Marques Colston, Shockey and Meacham, but they also had unlikely heroes almost all the time, guys like Devery Henderson and Pierre Thomas.
But what ultimately stopped the Saints was defensive injuries, in the secondary and defensive line. It seemed those turnovers just weren’t coming anymore, putting more pressure on the offense to outscore the opponent. And it just didn’t happen those last three games of the season.
The Colts had a very different ending to their regular season. They just gave it up, their perfect record, their chance at NFL history, their opportunity to put a lid on Don Shula and those Miami Dolphins of yesteryear, Csonka and Mercury Morris and Jim Kiick, and that feared 53 defense. They gave it up to avoid injuries for the playoffs.
So, as luck would have it, the fickle finger of fate landed on Dwight Freeney’s foot in the playoffs. Those 13 ½ sacks he had in the regular season would be meaningless. He came out of that Jets win with either a bad ankle sprain or some kind of ligament injuty, take your pick, but either one is pretty bad for a guy who depends on speed for his game.
The Colts were awesome in the playoffs though. They looked anxious to prove a point in thrashing the one-dimensional offenses of both the Ravens and the Jets, even though the Jets surprised them early with a passing game they really hadn’t shown all season.
While the Colts had it easy, the Saints had to face Arizona and Minnesota. There would be no Joe Flacco or Mark Sanchez barking out signals on the other side of the line from that opportunistic Saints defense. They had to face Kurt Warner and Brett Favre, two sure future Hall of Famers. But they came out on top, absolutely pulverizing Warner and the Cards while just squeaking by the much tougher and more versatile Vikings.
While it could be argued that the Vikings gave the game away, Childress and then Favre having found imaginative ways to throw the game away in the final minute, the Saints had to deal with the best running back in the NFL, Adrian Peterson, and their craftiest quarterback, who they may have forced into retirement.
The Vikings had a fearsome defense too. The Vikes had everything. The Vikes held the Saints offense to one of their lowest outputs of the season. But they couldn’t win the game. They fumbled the ball time after time and kept giving the Saints life when things looked the darkest for the black and gold. That fickle finger kept pointing at Peterson and Berrian and, in the final analysis, pointed straight at Childress and Favre.
If the Colts weren’t the best team in the NFL, the Vikings were. But they couldn’t beat the Saints. That same fickle finger made all those Saints injuries go away. It seemed to poke the ball out of Vikings’ hands and, down the stretch, that finger maybe even stuck itself through Favre’s ear right into his cerebrum.
And now Freeney’s hurt. While the injury could be just a ruse, I don’t think the Colts’ braintrust is that imaginative. There is no Belichick to mislead, confound and confusticate, just earnest Jim Caldwell and his hard-working band of real football players, which is still saying a lot, Freeney or not.
Without Freeney, Brees will have time to find all those receivers down the field, and pass defense was never the strength of the Colts, not this year anyway. The Saints could score early and often, putting enormous pressure on Manning, a master of pressure situations if there ever was one.
But when will enough become too much for Manning? He has already complained of being tired, after the Jets game, when the New Yorkers had taken that early lead that Manning had to take back. And he was brilliant, finding Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie and that elusive tight end of theirs.
It’s still early but even the great Manning may have trouble scoring at will against pesky veteran defenders who always seem to come up with the ball.
Well, in at least one respect, it’s good. At least one team has shown up. That indicates there indeed will be a game…eventually. But it won’t be before a zillion interviews and about 5 zillion clichés. And I can only hope that wild and crazy guy, Colts head coach Jim Caldwell, will kinda keep to himself this week.
This game, when it’s finally played, will hinge on Dwight Freeney’s leg hinge, his sprained ankle. When you think of offense, you think Peyton Manning. When you think of defense, you think of Dwight Freeney. If Freeney, whose main asset is speed, is hampered by an ankle sprain, he becomes just another guy who takes up a lot of space.
The Colts have been the best team in football this season. I really don’t think there can be any question about that. Manning is the real fly in the ointment for opponents. That fact was characterized most perfectly against New England, whose coach of coaches Bill Belichick elected to go for a fourth and one in his own territory with the time winding down rather than have to watch Manning drive the length of the field to beat him. Of course it didn’t work, Belichick’s Pats had to give Manning the ball about 40 yards closer to the endzone than they would have otherwise, and it was all over but the shouting (speaking of clichés).
The Saints had been undefeated too. But with each successive win, they won less convincingly. They did it with unlikely interceptions and forced fumbles and it seemed every win was an act of God. Yes, they had Drew Brees and Marques Colston, Shockey and Meacham, but they also had unlikely heroes almost all the time, guys like Devery Henderson and Pierre Thomas.
But what ultimately stopped the Saints was defensive injuries, in the secondary and defensive line. It seemed those turnovers just weren’t coming anymore, putting more pressure on the offense to outscore the opponent. And it just didn’t happen those last three games of the season.
The Colts had a very different ending to their regular season. They just gave it up, their perfect record, their chance at NFL history, their opportunity to put a lid on Don Shula and those Miami Dolphins of yesteryear, Csonka and Mercury Morris and Jim Kiick, and that feared 53 defense. They gave it up to avoid injuries for the playoffs.
So, as luck would have it, the fickle finger of fate landed on Dwight Freeney’s foot in the playoffs. Those 13 ½ sacks he had in the regular season would be meaningless. He came out of that Jets win with either a bad ankle sprain or some kind of ligament injuty, take your pick, but either one is pretty bad for a guy who depends on speed for his game.
The Colts were awesome in the playoffs though. They looked anxious to prove a point in thrashing the one-dimensional offenses of both the Ravens and the Jets, even though the Jets surprised them early with a passing game they really hadn’t shown all season.
While the Colts had it easy, the Saints had to face Arizona and Minnesota. There would be no Joe Flacco or Mark Sanchez barking out signals on the other side of the line from that opportunistic Saints defense. They had to face Kurt Warner and Brett Favre, two sure future Hall of Famers. But they came out on top, absolutely pulverizing Warner and the Cards while just squeaking by the much tougher and more versatile Vikings.
While it could be argued that the Vikings gave the game away, Childress and then Favre having found imaginative ways to throw the game away in the final minute, the Saints had to deal with the best running back in the NFL, Adrian Peterson, and their craftiest quarterback, who they may have forced into retirement.
The Vikings had a fearsome defense too. The Vikes had everything. The Vikes held the Saints offense to one of their lowest outputs of the season. But they couldn’t win the game. They fumbled the ball time after time and kept giving the Saints life when things looked the darkest for the black and gold. That fickle finger kept pointing at Peterson and Berrian and, in the final analysis, pointed straight at Childress and Favre.
If the Colts weren’t the best team in the NFL, the Vikings were. But they couldn’t beat the Saints. That same fickle finger made all those Saints injuries go away. It seemed to poke the ball out of Vikings’ hands and, down the stretch, that finger maybe even stuck itself through Favre’s ear right into his cerebrum.
And now Freeney’s hurt. While the injury could be just a ruse, I don’t think the Colts’ braintrust is that imaginative. There is no Belichick to mislead, confound and confusticate, just earnest Jim Caldwell and his hard-working band of real football players, which is still saying a lot, Freeney or not.
Without Freeney, Brees will have time to find all those receivers down the field, and pass defense was never the strength of the Colts, not this year anyway. The Saints could score early and often, putting enormous pressure on Manning, a master of pressure situations if there ever was one.
But when will enough become too much for Manning? He has already complained of being tired, after the Jets game, when the New Yorkers had taken that early lead that Manning had to take back. And he was brilliant, finding Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie and that elusive tight end of theirs.
It’s still early but even the great Manning may have trouble scoring at will against pesky veteran defenders who always seem to come up with the ball.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Ridiculous to Absurd to Tawdry
Well, those Divisional Championships came out more or less as I had expected, in result if not in content. The Jets lost but didn’t really stay as close as I had thought. The Vikings, although they lost, did manage to cover the 3 ½ point spread.
That the way the Jets lost it was really painful is beside the point. I’d never have expected either a 45-yarder out of the wildcat or an 80-yard Sanchez to Edwards bomb. Neither did the Colts, for sure. I hadn’t expected a Jets lead at all, at any point in the game. But then I didn’t expect the Jets secondary to look like the Giants for long stretches.
Jets fans are filled with hope now for next year, and everywhere it seems there is already talk of how great Sanchez will be next year. Although I’d have to agree that he’ll be better, I don’t think he’ll ever be much better than he was down the stretch this year. He looked good and played about as well as a quarterback could play….including yesterday. He’s got great feet, a good brain, and an accurate arm.
Remember Dwight Gooden? He was absolutely great early on, and everybody drooled about how much better he’d become. It never happened. Drugs happened. Same thing with Strawberry. My only point with this is to be happy with what you have. Don’t expect much more. If every Jet had played like Mark Sanchez yesterday, they’d have come out on top.
The same optimism is being shown for the Jets in general….how a pass rusher would obviate the need to blitz so much, how another cover guy like Revis would shore up that unit, how a healthy Kris Chambers would solidify the run defense, how another wide-out would provide some better targets for the rookie.
Well, the game is football. Anybody can get hurt and they usually do. Shonn Greene is a perfect example. Joe Namath is another. He was way better as a young QB than he was later on as his knees got taken out in Detroit, I think it was. Then he became rather stationary.
I’m just saying that what makes Sanchez so exciting is his feet, which are attached to his legs, and he already sports a brace on one knee. I’m certainly not wishing him ill but unless he has the luck of Brett Favre or Fran Tarkenton, or even Peyton Manning for that matter, he really can’t be much better than he was in the playoffs this season. He could certainly get more opportunities to shine. That wouldn’t be hard, but I won’t count on him getting much better in absolute terms. He’s been great.
When I heard that Lito Sheppard wasn’t starting yesterday, I cringed. I gave up hope that the Jets could win. The Colts had Lowery for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Pierre friggin’ Garcon made him look very bad. I can’t stomach corners who don’t look for the ball. That’s Lowery. I know the Jets were concerned about Sheppard against Manning, but give me a break….Lowery’s better?
The Saints-Vikings game was just ridiculous. The Vikings were better in every respect except for the turnovers. But you really can’t say that…turnovers are the biggest part of the game. So now we get to see the Saints play the Colts in the Super Bowl, the second-best NFC team for sure.
The only solace I can take from this game is that Favre got hit about a million times and looked bad in the game, especially down the stretch. I loved his cross-the-field INT to put an end to the regulation game. And I loved seeing him talk about retirement again…and his allusion to talking it over with his family. When you’ve already gone from ridiculous to absurd, what’s left…tawdry?
Let’s look at the game itself and Favre’s part in it. Favre blew a hand-off to Peterson from the ten-yard line that would have just about destroyed the Saints after Reggie Bush’s fumbled punt. Favre must’ve sensed Adrian may have scored on the play, meaning somebody besides him may have become the star. As it was, Peterson got three scores. Favre’s 2nd INT, as I’ve mentioned, closed any chance Minnesota may have had in regulation to win the game. His first INT was also in New Orleans territory just outside their 30-yard line. His QB rating for the day was 70.
Brad Childress deserved no better fate either as he managed to get too many men on the field at the critical juncture of the game, when the Vikings were in field goal range, only to be pushed out again, shortly followed by Favre’s INT. Furthermore, he never was able to control Favre.
New Orleans took the day and nobody was ever happier for that result than I was. But they didn’t do much against that great purple defense. They did take advantage of every opportunity though, or so it seemed. They won the turnover battle; they gave Brees time to throw; they played better than the Vikings on special teams overall, and they definitely held together as a team, something the Vikings can only wish for this Monday.
The Colts are currently 4 ½ point favorites to beat the Saints in the Bowl and I suspect that spread will only increase, especially if people start really analyzing these games. The Colts have everything, although you may say they have no running game. I think they elect to have no running game. They run only well enough to enable Manning’s play action passes. They have a terrific offensive line, a very good defensive line, and fast linebackers and secondary. All those assets are in addition to some very fine wide receivers, Reggie Wayne, Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon. The Colts are very similar to the Vikings in that they have all that versatility.
What the Colts don’t have, though, is personality. And, if I see any more colorless quotes from that coach of theirs…..UGH!!
That the way the Jets lost it was really painful is beside the point. I’d never have expected either a 45-yarder out of the wildcat or an 80-yard Sanchez to Edwards bomb. Neither did the Colts, for sure. I hadn’t expected a Jets lead at all, at any point in the game. But then I didn’t expect the Jets secondary to look like the Giants for long stretches.
Jets fans are filled with hope now for next year, and everywhere it seems there is already talk of how great Sanchez will be next year. Although I’d have to agree that he’ll be better, I don’t think he’ll ever be much better than he was down the stretch this year. He looked good and played about as well as a quarterback could play….including yesterday. He’s got great feet, a good brain, and an accurate arm.
Remember Dwight Gooden? He was absolutely great early on, and everybody drooled about how much better he’d become. It never happened. Drugs happened. Same thing with Strawberry. My only point with this is to be happy with what you have. Don’t expect much more. If every Jet had played like Mark Sanchez yesterday, they’d have come out on top.
The same optimism is being shown for the Jets in general….how a pass rusher would obviate the need to blitz so much, how another cover guy like Revis would shore up that unit, how a healthy Kris Chambers would solidify the run defense, how another wide-out would provide some better targets for the rookie.
Well, the game is football. Anybody can get hurt and they usually do. Shonn Greene is a perfect example. Joe Namath is another. He was way better as a young QB than he was later on as his knees got taken out in Detroit, I think it was. Then he became rather stationary.
I’m just saying that what makes Sanchez so exciting is his feet, which are attached to his legs, and he already sports a brace on one knee. I’m certainly not wishing him ill but unless he has the luck of Brett Favre or Fran Tarkenton, or even Peyton Manning for that matter, he really can’t be much better than he was in the playoffs this season. He could certainly get more opportunities to shine. That wouldn’t be hard, but I won’t count on him getting much better in absolute terms. He’s been great.
When I heard that Lito Sheppard wasn’t starting yesterday, I cringed. I gave up hope that the Jets could win. The Colts had Lowery for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Pierre friggin’ Garcon made him look very bad. I can’t stomach corners who don’t look for the ball. That’s Lowery. I know the Jets were concerned about Sheppard against Manning, but give me a break….Lowery’s better?
The Saints-Vikings game was just ridiculous. The Vikings were better in every respect except for the turnovers. But you really can’t say that…turnovers are the biggest part of the game. So now we get to see the Saints play the Colts in the Super Bowl, the second-best NFC team for sure.
The only solace I can take from this game is that Favre got hit about a million times and looked bad in the game, especially down the stretch. I loved his cross-the-field INT to put an end to the regulation game. And I loved seeing him talk about retirement again…and his allusion to talking it over with his family. When you’ve already gone from ridiculous to absurd, what’s left…tawdry?
Let’s look at the game itself and Favre’s part in it. Favre blew a hand-off to Peterson from the ten-yard line that would have just about destroyed the Saints after Reggie Bush’s fumbled punt. Favre must’ve sensed Adrian may have scored on the play, meaning somebody besides him may have become the star. As it was, Peterson got three scores. Favre’s 2nd INT, as I’ve mentioned, closed any chance Minnesota may have had in regulation to win the game. His first INT was also in New Orleans territory just outside their 30-yard line. His QB rating for the day was 70.
Brad Childress deserved no better fate either as he managed to get too many men on the field at the critical juncture of the game, when the Vikings were in field goal range, only to be pushed out again, shortly followed by Favre’s INT. Furthermore, he never was able to control Favre.
New Orleans took the day and nobody was ever happier for that result than I was. But they didn’t do much against that great purple defense. They did take advantage of every opportunity though, or so it seemed. They won the turnover battle; they gave Brees time to throw; they played better than the Vikings on special teams overall, and they definitely held together as a team, something the Vikings can only wish for this Monday.
The Colts are currently 4 ½ point favorites to beat the Saints in the Bowl and I suspect that spread will only increase, especially if people start really analyzing these games. The Colts have everything, although you may say they have no running game. I think they elect to have no running game. They run only well enough to enable Manning’s play action passes. They have a terrific offensive line, a very good defensive line, and fast linebackers and secondary. All those assets are in addition to some very fine wide receivers, Reggie Wayne, Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon. The Colts are very similar to the Vikings in that they have all that versatility.
What the Colts don’t have, though, is personality. And, if I see any more colorless quotes from that coach of theirs…..UGH!!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Ground and Pound or Lost and Found
Well, these 2010 playoffs continue Sunday afternoon with Jets-Colts at 3 PM followed by the Vikings-Saints at 6:40 PM. I've been doing better than okay with these playoff picks so far, at 5-3 for the two weeks, but that doesn't minimize the effect on me of the surprising nature of some of these games.
Last week I had the Saints and my score prediction was even pretty close but, even though I had joked that it was possible, I didn't expect the enormity of the Saints rout of the Cardinals. I had the Jets to cover but certainly not to win and, of course, they pulled it out. I had the Cowboys and Ravens too and both teams were awful, more awful than I thought possible., the biggest surprises being the ferocity of the Vikings and Colts defenses, against both run and pass.
So here they come again....those very tough defenses facing off against very different teams and very different circumstances too. The Colts were home against the Ravens and they'll still be home for the Jets. The Vikings have to travel to New Orleans to face the Saints.
Sat 6:40PM – New Orleans Superdome
SAINTS -3 1/2 Vikings
The Saints will be at home again but can be had, especially if Darren Sharper is limited. If the Vikings can run the ball all day, the game will be over. If that Saints offense is on the sidelines for long stretches and then, when they do take the field, they find the likes of the Vikings defense facing them, it'll be a very tough day, home or away.
So, for the Saints, they'll need big days from Jonathan Vilma, and no-names Sedrick Ellis and (a real tongue-twister now) and Remi Ayodele in the middle. Somehow, I don't get an extraordinary boost from that lineup, especially if Sharper is limited. (Who knows really with these injury reports)?
I'm pretty sure Reggie Bush won't have quite the success he had last week (vs the Cards) against the Vikings. Brees will do the best he can without a running game, but the pressure from the Vikings, not to mention the situation, will wear on him. And my least favorite quarterback, Brett Favre, won't find the pass rush from the Saints any more troublesome than was that of the Cowboys. He may even have time to throw some kisses to his fans in the stands, yes, even in New Orleans.
The Vikings can run the ball too, bigtime, with a big, strong, fast fellow named Adrian Peterson.
Percy Harvin's supposed to be sick. I believe it but how sick can he really be? Sharper will probably be his old self too, but Favre won't have to throw. Third and three, he can still give it to Adrian. (as in yo). Can we say the same thing for Reggie Bush? I don't think so.
The over-under is at 53, with a 3 1/2 spread, so the great betting populace is saying the score will be around 28-25 in favor of the Saints. I say, "Nah."
The Vikes run and run and run some more. Favre will pass off the run, of course, if just to bolster his stats, and get a couple of TD's. Figure Peterson for two and they might even get a field goal here and there. I'm figuring the Vikes can score 31.
The Saints will have big trouble on the ground, and then there'll be all those big and fast Vikes defensive linemen in his face. I figure they can score 3 TD's tops and a field goal or two. That's 27.
I hope I'm wrong but logic says the Vikings take this game. I hate logic too. I'd love to pick the Saints. But all those Saints I mentioned will have to play better than I give them credit for right now. So, sadly.....it'll be:
Vikings 31-27
Sunday 3PM – Mall of America Field, Minneapolis
COLTS -8 Jets
I saved the best for last. I can't even call them "my Jets" although I would like to. My sorry-ass team is the Giants.
The Jets played their best game of the season Sunday to overtake the Chargers, who couldn't stop the run at all. I'd expect the Colts to do a better job. The pressure will then be on the rook to produce in the face of some very mean defensive linemen that even those big and talented Jets offensive linemen will have trouble handling.
Peyton Manning will be looking at the same situation (trouble running the ball) but he's been through it before. He'll be careful with the ball more often than not, and he may even throw it to some Jets once, but if he limits the INT's to 1, I figure he'll be able to put two in the endzone (to any of his receivers) at least and add a couple of field goals. That'd make 20.
Not that the Jets won't make a lot of stops. They'll have to. I'm expecting a lot of Jets punts because they'll need to pass more than run against these Colts, especially towards the end of the game. They'll run with some success and will most likely get a TD or even two, but only because they are pretty tough in the red zone. I just don't expect that many drives to take them into Colts territory.
I'd figure the Jets to get in scoring position a maximum of five times. But I'd be guilty of over-optimism if I didn't expect either a fumble or INT on one or two of those drives. Shonn Greene hasn't fumbled recently but that could easily change. And Sanchez had just the one pick against the Chargers but these are the Colts.
I figure the Jets for 2 or 3 field goals and 2 or just 1 touchdown. It'll be that kind of day. Figure the Jets to get 20 points tops. That result would take the game into an overtime period. More likely than not, though, there'll be some "lost and found" to go with that "ground and pound." And the Jets will get around 16.
But the game still has to be played and this game is almost eerily similar to the last two playoff games these Jets have played. They were about the same class of dog against the Chargers away and a lesser dog vs. the Bengals away but a dog nonetheless.
But they didn't play like dogs. They just played relentlessly. Ground and pound indeed. The Colts are a little undersized, they say. And I guess they could get ground down by this Jets running game too. But I just think the Colts won't fold. They faced a pretty tough Ravens running game and came out on top.
And then there's the outrageous fortune the Jets have experienced, with the ball bouncing crazily and the field goals going hither and yon. And there's crazy Rex Ryan to turn up the Jets. And I think he's just lucky too.
But, if I had to pick just one team, it'd be the Colts in a close one. Logic says the Jets will cover, as I picked them to cover and not win versus the Bengals and to cover but not win versus the Chargers. Geez, how many times can you roll seven? (And I sure hope they can do it one more time). But my brain says:
Colts 20 - 16
But if it can stay "ground and pound" rather than "lost and found" for the Jets, they'll do it one more laughingly ridiculous time.
Last week I had the Saints and my score prediction was even pretty close but, even though I had joked that it was possible, I didn't expect the enormity of the Saints rout of the Cardinals. I had the Jets to cover but certainly not to win and, of course, they pulled it out. I had the Cowboys and Ravens too and both teams were awful, more awful than I thought possible., the biggest surprises being the ferocity of the Vikings and Colts defenses, against both run and pass.
So here they come again....those very tough defenses facing off against very different teams and very different circumstances too. The Colts were home against the Ravens and they'll still be home for the Jets. The Vikings have to travel to New Orleans to face the Saints.
Sat 6:40PM – New Orleans Superdome
SAINTS -3 1/2 Vikings
The Saints will be at home again but can be had, especially if Darren Sharper is limited. If the Vikings can run the ball all day, the game will be over. If that Saints offense is on the sidelines for long stretches and then, when they do take the field, they find the likes of the Vikings defense facing them, it'll be a very tough day, home or away.
So, for the Saints, they'll need big days from Jonathan Vilma, and no-names Sedrick Ellis and (a real tongue-twister now) and Remi Ayodele in the middle. Somehow, I don't get an extraordinary boost from that lineup, especially if Sharper is limited. (Who knows really with these injury reports)?
I'm pretty sure Reggie Bush won't have quite the success he had last week (vs the Cards) against the Vikings. Brees will do the best he can without a running game, but the pressure from the Vikings, not to mention the situation, will wear on him. And my least favorite quarterback, Brett Favre, won't find the pass rush from the Saints any more troublesome than was that of the Cowboys. He may even have time to throw some kisses to his fans in the stands, yes, even in New Orleans.
The Vikings can run the ball too, bigtime, with a big, strong, fast fellow named Adrian Peterson.
Percy Harvin's supposed to be sick. I believe it but how sick can he really be? Sharper will probably be his old self too, but Favre won't have to throw. Third and three, he can still give it to Adrian. (as in yo). Can we say the same thing for Reggie Bush? I don't think so.
The over-under is at 53, with a 3 1/2 spread, so the great betting populace is saying the score will be around 28-25 in favor of the Saints. I say, "Nah."
The Vikes run and run and run some more. Favre will pass off the run, of course, if just to bolster his stats, and get a couple of TD's. Figure Peterson for two and they might even get a field goal here and there. I'm figuring the Vikes can score 31.
The Saints will have big trouble on the ground, and then there'll be all those big and fast Vikes defensive linemen in his face. I figure they can score 3 TD's tops and a field goal or two. That's 27.
I hope I'm wrong but logic says the Vikings take this game. I hate logic too. I'd love to pick the Saints. But all those Saints I mentioned will have to play better than I give them credit for right now. So, sadly.....it'll be:
Vikings 31-27
Sunday 3PM – Mall of America Field, Minneapolis
COLTS -8 Jets
I saved the best for last. I can't even call them "my Jets" although I would like to. My sorry-ass team is the Giants.
The Jets played their best game of the season Sunday to overtake the Chargers, who couldn't stop the run at all. I'd expect the Colts to do a better job. The pressure will then be on the rook to produce in the face of some very mean defensive linemen that even those big and talented Jets offensive linemen will have trouble handling.
Peyton Manning will be looking at the same situation (trouble running the ball) but he's been through it before. He'll be careful with the ball more often than not, and he may even throw it to some Jets once, but if he limits the INT's to 1, I figure he'll be able to put two in the endzone (to any of his receivers) at least and add a couple of field goals. That'd make 20.
Not that the Jets won't make a lot of stops. They'll have to. I'm expecting a lot of Jets punts because they'll need to pass more than run against these Colts, especially towards the end of the game. They'll run with some success and will most likely get a TD or even two, but only because they are pretty tough in the red zone. I just don't expect that many drives to take them into Colts territory.
I'd figure the Jets to get in scoring position a maximum of five times. But I'd be guilty of over-optimism if I didn't expect either a fumble or INT on one or two of those drives. Shonn Greene hasn't fumbled recently but that could easily change. And Sanchez had just the one pick against the Chargers but these are the Colts.
I figure the Jets for 2 or 3 field goals and 2 or just 1 touchdown. It'll be that kind of day. Figure the Jets to get 20 points tops. That result would take the game into an overtime period. More likely than not, though, there'll be some "lost and found" to go with that "ground and pound." And the Jets will get around 16.
But the game still has to be played and this game is almost eerily similar to the last two playoff games these Jets have played. They were about the same class of dog against the Chargers away and a lesser dog vs. the Bengals away but a dog nonetheless.
But they didn't play like dogs. They just played relentlessly. Ground and pound indeed. The Colts are a little undersized, they say. And I guess they could get ground down by this Jets running game too. But I just think the Colts won't fold. They faced a pretty tough Ravens running game and came out on top.
And then there's the outrageous fortune the Jets have experienced, with the ball bouncing crazily and the field goals going hither and yon. And there's crazy Rex Ryan to turn up the Jets. And I think he's just lucky too.
But, if I had to pick just one team, it'd be the Colts in a close one. Logic says the Jets will cover, as I picked them to cover and not win versus the Bengals and to cover but not win versus the Chargers. Geez, how many times can you roll seven? (And I sure hope they can do it one more time). But my brain says:
Colts 20 - 16
But if it can stay "ground and pound" rather than "lost and found" for the Jets, they'll do it one more laughingly ridiculous time.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
On Football, Radio and Refs
I have to be honest. After visiting my Dad down in Toms River and having watched a particularly uninspiring first half of Jets-Chargers action, if you want to call it that, I got in my car for the long ride home. But for about the first agonizing 25 minutes of my ride home, in a driving rainstorm, mind you, I had station 1050 on my dial blasting so as to hear the game thru the static.
The next hour or so, though, was terrific. You should really try it sometime. Once the signal came in clearly, there’s nothing like a car radio and a slightly-crazed announcer in a playoff game to shorten a ride home (except perhaps for windshield wipers….well, maybe the defroster too). By the time I hit the bridge, the Jets were ahead on an agonizingly drawn out call of Sanchez’s rollout and zing to Dustin Keller in the right corner of the endzone.
Of course it got even better from there as the Jets held and then extended the lead. And the call on Shonn Greene’s blast through the Chargers line and safety for the TD making it 17-7 was outstanding. But I was still in the car for Jackson’s catch down the right sideline and by the time that dust settled, I was all the way to Morris Avenue, thrilled that the Chargers gave the Jets 15 yards back on one of the stupidest, most selfish emotional displays ever.
Well, I won’t replay the entire game. We all know what happened. By the time the much-maligned Kerry Rhodes snatched the onside kick, I was in my driveway and I actually got to watch the 4th down burst by Thomas Jones to ensure a Jets berth in the AFC Championship Game. (I can scarcely believe I get the chance to compose that sentence).
The post-game show was just gravy, marred only by the extraordinary analyses of Norv Turner’s decision to go for the onsides kick and Rex Ryan’s decision to go for the first down on 4th and 1. Although both decisions were similar in kind to me, i.e. making a rather bold move to win the game, Ryan’s decision was lauded and Turner’s was panned, over and over and over….
While I had picked the Jets to cover, I never expected them to win. In fact, if they played that same zone garbage in the second half, they would have lost. But Ryan’s instincts are good. Hell, they’ve been impeccable, which, of course, has been the difference between winning and losing, his handling of Rhodes, his handling of Sanchez, his handling of the media….
I must say, though, Ryan’s instincts notwithstanding, that the Jets have had some incredibly good luck as well. First there were the Colts and Bengals not giving a damn for their last two games, and then they got missed field goals in key situations from two pretty good kickers in both the Bengals and Chargers playoff games.
I’m not even a Jets fan, really, although I used to be, before having to witness Stalag Mangini. While I hate to change allegiances from the Giants, it’s not as if I’d have no justification for it. After all, it took Coughlin forever to drop that automaton of a defensive coordinator, which only served to lose the Giants any chance of a playoffs berth. But it may not have been his call. When have the Giants ever dropped a coach mid-season? I’ll give them one more year.
Besides, who would I root for if not the Jets…Favre and Childress and the Vikings? I don’t think so. I’m firmly on the Saints this weekend, hoping against hope the home field noise at the SuperDome and resultant hard counts from Brees will effectively slow that Vikings defensive line. That alone would boost both the Saints’ running and passing games, both of which would come in handy, to say the very least.
While Favre got all the applause Sunday, it was Sidney Rice who was the real star to me, along with a totally clueless Dallas secondary. The first touchdown was absolutely ridiculous. The corner had his back turned. Any play on the ball whatsoever and that catch isn’t made. On another TD, Rice made a nice block, got up, and still Favre had enough time to deliver the ball to him.
The Saints were awesome versus the sorry Cards, a result I did foresee, what with Shockey’s return along with the rest of their defense. They pressured Warner all day. He never had a chance, much as that sorry Cards defense had no shot against either the running of Reggie Bush or the downfield shots from Brees to Colston and company.
I was wrong on the Ravens , I guess, even though I still feel the refs did them in. The calls went the Colts way all game, huge calls, season-altering calls for both teams. The call against Ray Lewis was the only big call that I gave any credence too. The pass interference call on Reed’s interception was horrible. I hate to say it, but these calls seem like “Manning calls.”
I thought I was watching the NBA. If you’re a star, you’re untouchable. If you’re on the stars team, you have an edge. If your name is Manning (or Jordan or LeBron James, etc.), you are the closest thing to God on earth. The Jets will have no chance if he and his team get the same preferential treatment this Sunday, especially with respect to pass interference and hits on the quarterback.
Even give the horrible calls, the Ravens still might have won if not for some extremely questionable play-calling by the Ravens right before the half. They ran almost no time off the clock, giving Manning all the time he needed to break their backs. That game was virtually over at the half.
I’ll be picking the Saints and Jets, hoping the Jets can get a fair shake from the refs.
The next hour or so, though, was terrific. You should really try it sometime. Once the signal came in clearly, there’s nothing like a car radio and a slightly-crazed announcer in a playoff game to shorten a ride home (except perhaps for windshield wipers….well, maybe the defroster too). By the time I hit the bridge, the Jets were ahead on an agonizingly drawn out call of Sanchez’s rollout and zing to Dustin Keller in the right corner of the endzone.
Of course it got even better from there as the Jets held and then extended the lead. And the call on Shonn Greene’s blast through the Chargers line and safety for the TD making it 17-7 was outstanding. But I was still in the car for Jackson’s catch down the right sideline and by the time that dust settled, I was all the way to Morris Avenue, thrilled that the Chargers gave the Jets 15 yards back on one of the stupidest, most selfish emotional displays ever.
Well, I won’t replay the entire game. We all know what happened. By the time the much-maligned Kerry Rhodes snatched the onside kick, I was in my driveway and I actually got to watch the 4th down burst by Thomas Jones to ensure a Jets berth in the AFC Championship Game. (I can scarcely believe I get the chance to compose that sentence).
The post-game show was just gravy, marred only by the extraordinary analyses of Norv Turner’s decision to go for the onsides kick and Rex Ryan’s decision to go for the first down on 4th and 1. Although both decisions were similar in kind to me, i.e. making a rather bold move to win the game, Ryan’s decision was lauded and Turner’s was panned, over and over and over….
While I had picked the Jets to cover, I never expected them to win. In fact, if they played that same zone garbage in the second half, they would have lost. But Ryan’s instincts are good. Hell, they’ve been impeccable, which, of course, has been the difference between winning and losing, his handling of Rhodes, his handling of Sanchez, his handling of the media….
I must say, though, Ryan’s instincts notwithstanding, that the Jets have had some incredibly good luck as well. First there were the Colts and Bengals not giving a damn for their last two games, and then they got missed field goals in key situations from two pretty good kickers in both the Bengals and Chargers playoff games.
I’m not even a Jets fan, really, although I used to be, before having to witness Stalag Mangini. While I hate to change allegiances from the Giants, it’s not as if I’d have no justification for it. After all, it took Coughlin forever to drop that automaton of a defensive coordinator, which only served to lose the Giants any chance of a playoffs berth. But it may not have been his call. When have the Giants ever dropped a coach mid-season? I’ll give them one more year.
Besides, who would I root for if not the Jets…Favre and Childress and the Vikings? I don’t think so. I’m firmly on the Saints this weekend, hoping against hope the home field noise at the SuperDome and resultant hard counts from Brees will effectively slow that Vikings defensive line. That alone would boost both the Saints’ running and passing games, both of which would come in handy, to say the very least.
While Favre got all the applause Sunday, it was Sidney Rice who was the real star to me, along with a totally clueless Dallas secondary. The first touchdown was absolutely ridiculous. The corner had his back turned. Any play on the ball whatsoever and that catch isn’t made. On another TD, Rice made a nice block, got up, and still Favre had enough time to deliver the ball to him.
The Saints were awesome versus the sorry Cards, a result I did foresee, what with Shockey’s return along with the rest of their defense. They pressured Warner all day. He never had a chance, much as that sorry Cards defense had no shot against either the running of Reggie Bush or the downfield shots from Brees to Colston and company.
I was wrong on the Ravens , I guess, even though I still feel the refs did them in. The calls went the Colts way all game, huge calls, season-altering calls for both teams. The call against Ray Lewis was the only big call that I gave any credence too. The pass interference call on Reed’s interception was horrible. I hate to say it, but these calls seem like “Manning calls.”
I thought I was watching the NBA. If you’re a star, you’re untouchable. If you’re on the stars team, you have an edge. If your name is Manning (or Jordan or LeBron James, etc.), you are the closest thing to God on earth. The Jets will have no chance if he and his team get the same preferential treatment this Sunday, especially with respect to pass interference and hits on the quarterback.
Even give the horrible calls, the Ravens still might have won if not for some extremely questionable play-calling by the Ravens right before the half. They ran almost no time off the clock, giving Manning all the time he needed to break their backs. That game was virtually over at the half.
I’ll be picking the Saints and Jets, hoping the Jets can get a fair shake from the refs.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Colts-Saints by any Measure
It’s amazing that after all these weeks, we still don’t really know which teams are the best. The quality of teams is entirely dependent upon injuries and current form, so the “best” becomes a moving target. Some teams come on at the end, as the Giants did in 2007. The Cowboys, if they can keep it up for another couple of weeks, may be that team this year, as unlikely as that may seem.
But, in the NFC, there’s slim pickin’s. The Saints proved their vulnerability to the Cowboys. The Vikings were shellacked by the now 6-8 Panthers. The Eagles beat a pretty good Niners team and the Giants pasted the Skins. But it would be hard to rate any of the NFC teams with the AFC Colts or Chargers. The closest candidate might be the Eagles.
Week 15 was a horror for some of those NFC teams, and myself for that matter. Nothing figured. If a monkey made my weekly picks, he would’ve killed me.
Minnesota was vastly disappointing. I know this because my best early-year fantasy pickup was Sidney Rice. His QB, Favre, had no time at all. Period. And the great Adrian Peterson did nothing against the now 6-8 Panthers, who proved their inconsistency once again, in a good way.
The Saints looked awful but that might have been the Cowboys doing. Drew Brees had no time to throw. DeMarcus Ware was everywhere. Brees, my fantasy QB, had his first truly bad performance. But if anybody ever had an excuse, it was Mr. Brees. The Cowboys were gangbusters.
The Eagles played a nice game vs. Mike Singletary’s 49ers, and in so doing, to my mind climbed up a few notches. Much as baseball pitchers can have quality starts, teams can have quality wins…good offense, defense and special teams. And it was their 5th win in a row.
The Packers have a great aerial attack and they showed that once again against the Steelers. But their defense leaves a whole lot to be desired, so they lost to Big Ben and the Steelers in the final seconds….just a horrible loss.
While I’m happy the Giants did play better, can they do it two weeks in a row against those same Panthers that kicked butt against Minnesota? While the Skins win proves they can perform with their backs against the wall against a team in turmoil (bye bye Coach Zorn), can they show up again this Sunday?
Personally, I don’t think so. They’ll have to show me.
The Cards kept the lowly Lions in the game till the very end. The Cards will drive you crazy…totally schizo for two years running, but they did do just enough to hold on. And you get the feeling that they’re always a little better than your eyes are telling you.
So, if I had to rate the NFC right now, it’d be Saints, Eagles, Cards, Cowboys, Vikings and Packers. Sorry Giants, you just missed my cut, and you’ll probably miss the actual playoffs cut too. It’s interesting to note that the QB’s involved are Brees, McNabb, Warner, Romo, Favre and Aaron Rodgers, quite the respectable group.
In the AFC, the Colts beat the Jags but sure gave up a lot of points in doing so. The Pats just did what was absolutely necessary against the Bills. Then there are the Bengals and the Chargers, but not in that order.
The Bengals had a lot to play for but the Chargers didn’t let the Bengals take it away from them sheerly on intensity. That’s really saying a lot. Phillip Rivers did his weekly thing with Vincent Jackson and Antonio Gates and their defense did just enough.
There are really only four legitimate AFC playoff teams. The rest are pretenders, the strongest being the Ravens, but all are moderately to seriously flawed. But, with feet held to the fire (I’d feel sorry for the fire), the best AFC teams are the Colts (big surprise), Chargers, Patriots and Bengals; then there are a host of “coulda-beens” headed by Baltimore, and then the Broncos, but Pittsburgh and five other teams are 7-7, and still eligible.
Even the Jets are still in the hunt.
Incidentally, the four best AFC teams are qb’d by Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Tom Brady and Carson Palmer. The Ravens, led by Jersey Joe Flacco and the Broncos, led by Kyle Orton, would seem to be a step behind but the Steelers, should they make the dance are lead be Big Ben Roethlisberger.
The others don’t deserve mentioning, though some might make a case for the Texans’ Matt Schaub. I wouldn’t.
I like using the differential between points scored and points against as a measuring stick . In the AFC, the Colts have the best differential at 146. Second best is, a surprise, the Ravens, at 125, then the Pats at 121. Every other differential is ridiculously small by comparison.
In the NFC, the Saints differential is 185! The Vikings have a 127. Pack 100 and the Eagles a very nice 113. The Cards, on the other hand, have only a 55. If you’re curious, the Giants have a 44, the Cowboys 70. I won’t bore you with the rest.
They say defenses win championships. In the AFC, the Ravens, of course, have a great defense, which contributes mightily to their point differential. They have fewer points (225) scored against them than any other team except the Jets, who lead at 221. But they’ve scored only 282.
In the NFC, the best pure PA stat belongs to the Cowboys, at 250. The next best defense as measured by PA belongs to the 49ers, a non-contender. The other NFC teams really aren’t that great defensively, including the Saints at 298. The Giants have a horrible 342, hardly the stuff of contenders.
Then there’s that axiom “You are what your record says you are”. The Colts are 14-0. The Saints are 13-1. It would seem pretty clear by that measure.
But, in the NFC, there’s slim pickin’s. The Saints proved their vulnerability to the Cowboys. The Vikings were shellacked by the now 6-8 Panthers. The Eagles beat a pretty good Niners team and the Giants pasted the Skins. But it would be hard to rate any of the NFC teams with the AFC Colts or Chargers. The closest candidate might be the Eagles.
Week 15 was a horror for some of those NFC teams, and myself for that matter. Nothing figured. If a monkey made my weekly picks, he would’ve killed me.
Minnesota was vastly disappointing. I know this because my best early-year fantasy pickup was Sidney Rice. His QB, Favre, had no time at all. Period. And the great Adrian Peterson did nothing against the now 6-8 Panthers, who proved their inconsistency once again, in a good way.
The Saints looked awful but that might have been the Cowboys doing. Drew Brees had no time to throw. DeMarcus Ware was everywhere. Brees, my fantasy QB, had his first truly bad performance. But if anybody ever had an excuse, it was Mr. Brees. The Cowboys were gangbusters.
The Eagles played a nice game vs. Mike Singletary’s 49ers, and in so doing, to my mind climbed up a few notches. Much as baseball pitchers can have quality starts, teams can have quality wins…good offense, defense and special teams. And it was their 5th win in a row.
The Packers have a great aerial attack and they showed that once again against the Steelers. But their defense leaves a whole lot to be desired, so they lost to Big Ben and the Steelers in the final seconds….just a horrible loss.
While I’m happy the Giants did play better, can they do it two weeks in a row against those same Panthers that kicked butt against Minnesota? While the Skins win proves they can perform with their backs against the wall against a team in turmoil (bye bye Coach Zorn), can they show up again this Sunday?
Personally, I don’t think so. They’ll have to show me.
The Cards kept the lowly Lions in the game till the very end. The Cards will drive you crazy…totally schizo for two years running, but they did do just enough to hold on. And you get the feeling that they’re always a little better than your eyes are telling you.
So, if I had to rate the NFC right now, it’d be Saints, Eagles, Cards, Cowboys, Vikings and Packers. Sorry Giants, you just missed my cut, and you’ll probably miss the actual playoffs cut too. It’s interesting to note that the QB’s involved are Brees, McNabb, Warner, Romo, Favre and Aaron Rodgers, quite the respectable group.
In the AFC, the Colts beat the Jags but sure gave up a lot of points in doing so. The Pats just did what was absolutely necessary against the Bills. Then there are the Bengals and the Chargers, but not in that order.
The Bengals had a lot to play for but the Chargers didn’t let the Bengals take it away from them sheerly on intensity. That’s really saying a lot. Phillip Rivers did his weekly thing with Vincent Jackson and Antonio Gates and their defense did just enough.
There are really only four legitimate AFC playoff teams. The rest are pretenders, the strongest being the Ravens, but all are moderately to seriously flawed. But, with feet held to the fire (I’d feel sorry for the fire), the best AFC teams are the Colts (big surprise), Chargers, Patriots and Bengals; then there are a host of “coulda-beens” headed by Baltimore, and then the Broncos, but Pittsburgh and five other teams are 7-7, and still eligible.
Even the Jets are still in the hunt.
Incidentally, the four best AFC teams are qb’d by Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Tom Brady and Carson Palmer. The Ravens, led by Jersey Joe Flacco and the Broncos, led by Kyle Orton, would seem to be a step behind but the Steelers, should they make the dance are lead be Big Ben Roethlisberger.
The others don’t deserve mentioning, though some might make a case for the Texans’ Matt Schaub. I wouldn’t.
I like using the differential between points scored and points against as a measuring stick . In the AFC, the Colts have the best differential at 146. Second best is, a surprise, the Ravens, at 125, then the Pats at 121. Every other differential is ridiculously small by comparison.
In the NFC, the Saints differential is 185! The Vikings have a 127. Pack 100 and the Eagles a very nice 113. The Cards, on the other hand, have only a 55. If you’re curious, the Giants have a 44, the Cowboys 70. I won’t bore you with the rest.
They say defenses win championships. In the AFC, the Ravens, of course, have a great defense, which contributes mightily to their point differential. They have fewer points (225) scored against them than any other team except the Jets, who lead at 221. But they’ve scored only 282.
In the NFC, the best pure PA stat belongs to the Cowboys, at 250. The next best defense as measured by PA belongs to the 49ers, a non-contender. The other NFC teams really aren’t that great defensively, including the Saints at 298. The Giants have a horrible 342, hardly the stuff of contenders.
Then there’s that axiom “You are what your record says you are”. The Colts are 14-0. The Saints are 13-1. It would seem pretty clear by that measure.
Monday, December 7, 2009
On A Wacky NFL Week 13
What an NFL Sunday! The Giants inexplicably (or is it?) beat the hated Cowboys (ask Tuck), the world-champion Steelers lose once again, the Saints flash the luck of the Irish coming back to beat the tough but sorry Skins and my Niners and Singletary lose in Herm Edwards style in Seattle.
Then the Pats and Tom Brady not only lose but look bad doing so as they practically give the game away to the Dolphins in Miami. And did anybody else think the Arizona Cards would shock the powerful Vikings? I know I didn’t.
And it’s not over yet. The craziness continues tonight as the Ravens take on the Packers in Green Bay, a big game for each team that will go a long way towards determining their respective playoff chances.
The G-Men-Boyz game was classic. They looked beaten during the week. I thought they’d crumble. I thought that big lug Jacobs would give us more of the same, that their defense would even be worse than usual after having demoted Osi, and that Barber and Jones and Choice would run over them. I thought they’d be soft and fold.
Wow! It didn’t work out that way.
Jacobs actually ran hard into the middle of the Cowboys line, the offensive line gave Eli some time to throw and charged straight ahead on the runs, and then ,when it looked as if the G-Men, after playing so well all afternoon, would blow it by settling for that late field goal, Domenick Hixon finally showed some creativity, not to mention speed, by returning the ensuing punt about 80 yards to put the game out of reach.
The defense squashed the run so effectively that the Boyz just stopped trying. And Romo picked them apart but it didn’t prove fatal. The defense held. The demotions worked. The Giants coaching staff looks brilliant. And Osi came through with a big fumble recovery and runback. New blood came through as Clint Sintin, the high draft choice linebacker, came through in some big spots and Hakeem Nicks caught another touchdown pass.
The game even had a fight (what more could we ask). That nasty Flozell Adams, the same guy who hurt Tuck on a dirty play earlier in the year, seemed to think it’d be cute to push Tuck to the ground from behind. Tuck didn’t think so.
The Steelers without Polamalu aren’t the same team. After Big Ben put them ahead with time running down, they let a rookie quarterback take the Raiders right down the field…no trouble at all, thank you very much, and I guess it doesn’t matter what Mike Tomlin says. It does show how delicate the sanctity of a defense can be, even if it’s just one long-haired freak (a really good one though) who’s missing.
The Saints were just great. So were the Skins for that matter but they have a choking kicker and a safety of their own who really contributed nothing to safety yesterday. Double moves by two different Saints wideouts sucked him in totally, two mistakes that were good for 14 Saints points.
You have to wonder whether the Saints can keep winning this way though. Their secondary, that was great against Brady and New England, got torched for about 400 yards by Jason Campbell. Luckily for them, they had Brees and Colston and especially Meacham, who literally stole 7 points and scored 7 more on his double-move.
As disappointed as Skins fans may have been (after all, it’s been like this all year for them), they couldn’t have been more crestfallen than Niners fans, who could only watch as Mike Singletary mistook Alex Smith for Peyton Manning or Dan Marino, at any rate a much better quarterback (and team) than the one he had out there.
With 51 seconds left in a tie game, from deep in their own end, the Niners came out throwing. It didn’t work very well…surprise! They had to punt, and since they had left time on the clock and had given the Seahawks great field position, all it took was one nicely placed Hasselbeck pass to put the Hawks in field position for the game-winning field goal. Sickening….and season-killing.
A team has to know who they are. The Niners are, or should be, a conservative team that wins games with its strong defense, much like the Broncos, who absolutely slaughtered the Chiefs yesterday as their quarterback amassed all of 187 yards. The Niners seem to think that, since they finally signed Crabtree and since they have an All-Star tight end, they can be the Cardiac Cards from yesteryear. They aren’t. And, for the rest of this year at least, they’ll be something else…irrelevant.
When I picked the Pats to beat the Dolphins last week, I was aware that the Pats always had big trouble winning at Miami. But I told myself it had nothing to do with this game. Surely the Pats would come back strong against the Fish, after the thrashing they had taken on national TV last week against the Saints.
Once again, a team has to know who they are. The Pats seem to think they’re Tom Brady. They were ahead by 14 but twice failed to put the game away from inside the Fish 10-yard line. Last time I looked, they had a pretty fair running game. They didn’t really use it yesterday. After the game, Brady had what seemed like gall to me as he blasted his team for not fighting hard enough at the end of games. To me, it seemed as if they were trying to pad some individual stats on the way to a win they thought they had.
Last night’s game seemed to say a lot about who the final NFC Super-Bowl representative would be. I thought it would be the Vikings or Saints. The Vikes have Brett Favre and Peterson.. The Saints have all kinds of weapons. But the Cards have defense. Hmm.
Tonight we’ll see what the Pack can do.
Then the Pats and Tom Brady not only lose but look bad doing so as they practically give the game away to the Dolphins in Miami. And did anybody else think the Arizona Cards would shock the powerful Vikings? I know I didn’t.
And it’s not over yet. The craziness continues tonight as the Ravens take on the Packers in Green Bay, a big game for each team that will go a long way towards determining their respective playoff chances.
The G-Men-Boyz game was classic. They looked beaten during the week. I thought they’d crumble. I thought that big lug Jacobs would give us more of the same, that their defense would even be worse than usual after having demoted Osi, and that Barber and Jones and Choice would run over them. I thought they’d be soft and fold.
Wow! It didn’t work out that way.
Jacobs actually ran hard into the middle of the Cowboys line, the offensive line gave Eli some time to throw and charged straight ahead on the runs, and then ,when it looked as if the G-Men, after playing so well all afternoon, would blow it by settling for that late field goal, Domenick Hixon finally showed some creativity, not to mention speed, by returning the ensuing punt about 80 yards to put the game out of reach.
The defense squashed the run so effectively that the Boyz just stopped trying. And Romo picked them apart but it didn’t prove fatal. The defense held. The demotions worked. The Giants coaching staff looks brilliant. And Osi came through with a big fumble recovery and runback. New blood came through as Clint Sintin, the high draft choice linebacker, came through in some big spots and Hakeem Nicks caught another touchdown pass.
The game even had a fight (what more could we ask). That nasty Flozell Adams, the same guy who hurt Tuck on a dirty play earlier in the year, seemed to think it’d be cute to push Tuck to the ground from behind. Tuck didn’t think so.
The Steelers without Polamalu aren’t the same team. After Big Ben put them ahead with time running down, they let a rookie quarterback take the Raiders right down the field…no trouble at all, thank you very much, and I guess it doesn’t matter what Mike Tomlin says. It does show how delicate the sanctity of a defense can be, even if it’s just one long-haired freak (a really good one though) who’s missing.
The Saints were just great. So were the Skins for that matter but they have a choking kicker and a safety of their own who really contributed nothing to safety yesterday. Double moves by two different Saints wideouts sucked him in totally, two mistakes that were good for 14 Saints points.
You have to wonder whether the Saints can keep winning this way though. Their secondary, that was great against Brady and New England, got torched for about 400 yards by Jason Campbell. Luckily for them, they had Brees and Colston and especially Meacham, who literally stole 7 points and scored 7 more on his double-move.
As disappointed as Skins fans may have been (after all, it’s been like this all year for them), they couldn’t have been more crestfallen than Niners fans, who could only watch as Mike Singletary mistook Alex Smith for Peyton Manning or Dan Marino, at any rate a much better quarterback (and team) than the one he had out there.
With 51 seconds left in a tie game, from deep in their own end, the Niners came out throwing. It didn’t work very well…surprise! They had to punt, and since they had left time on the clock and had given the Seahawks great field position, all it took was one nicely placed Hasselbeck pass to put the Hawks in field position for the game-winning field goal. Sickening….and season-killing.
A team has to know who they are. The Niners are, or should be, a conservative team that wins games with its strong defense, much like the Broncos, who absolutely slaughtered the Chiefs yesterday as their quarterback amassed all of 187 yards. The Niners seem to think that, since they finally signed Crabtree and since they have an All-Star tight end, they can be the Cardiac Cards from yesteryear. They aren’t. And, for the rest of this year at least, they’ll be something else…irrelevant.
When I picked the Pats to beat the Dolphins last week, I was aware that the Pats always had big trouble winning at Miami. But I told myself it had nothing to do with this game. Surely the Pats would come back strong against the Fish, after the thrashing they had taken on national TV last week against the Saints.
Once again, a team has to know who they are. The Pats seem to think they’re Tom Brady. They were ahead by 14 but twice failed to put the game away from inside the Fish 10-yard line. Last time I looked, they had a pretty fair running game. They didn’t really use it yesterday. After the game, Brady had what seemed like gall to me as he blasted his team for not fighting hard enough at the end of games. To me, it seemed as if they were trying to pad some individual stats on the way to a win they thought they had.
Last night’s game seemed to say a lot about who the final NFC Super-Bowl representative would be. I thought it would be the Vikings or Saints. The Vikes have Brett Favre and Peterson.. The Saints have all kinds of weapons. But the Cards have defense. Hmm.
Tonight we’ll see what the Pack can do.
Friday, November 27, 2009
On Jets and Giants and Week 12 Picks
Week 11 was very very good to me as the best bets were all good for the first time in six weeks, putting me up $4 as I picked up the ten-spot. The weekly cumulative record was 9-6 to put my season cumulative at 63-46, not too shabby.
My favorite Week 11 best bet was the Niners, who appeared to be getting blown out before coming back to once again cover the 6 ½ point spread. The Eagles were another narrow winner as they edged the Bears by 4 against a spread of 3. The other two picks looked easy as the Falcons covered against the lowly G-Men and the Skins nearly beat the Boyz outright.
Once again, I keep thinking I’m due for a bad week, so bet with your head……and remember who’ll be on the bench or worse this week. Injuries are mounting all around the league.
Anyway, here’s the picks:
Favorite Spread Underdog 4 Best My Pick Reason
Ind 3 ½ HOU Ind Texans have failed easier tests
CIN 14 Cle * Cle Browns found out they can play
MIN 11 Chi MIN Vikes cover a lot
PHI 9 Was * Was Skins looking good-they’ll cover
Mia 3 BUF * Mia Rick-eeeeee
TEN 3 Ari * Ari Warner’s okay, so line is nuts
Sea 3 STL Sea Bulger to Boller for Rams
ATL 12 ½ Bucs Bucs Bucs will find ATL easier than last
NYJ 3 Car Car This is the Pick Bowl
SF 3 Jac SF Niners are my friend
SD 13 ½ Kcy Kcy Chargers nothing after Steelers
BAL 1 ½ Pit BAL Big Ben a target and no Polamalu
NO 2 Pats NO Saints have real desire
The best bets for Week 12:
Cleveland – The Bengals are hurting all over. The Brownies came so very close against the Lions last week and found out they can have an offense too, much like a non-Mangini team. No Cedric Benson figures hugely.
Skins – well, they DO have a Defense. They’re perfectly capable of slowing down those Eagle big-play threats and hey! They have Rock Cartwright too.
Fish – Buffalo’s wagons shot thru with arrows. Circling them will accomplish nothing versus Rickee and all those crazy wildcat options. Also no Marshawn for Bills, jus ol’ Fred.
Arizona – Let’s see, the Cards went to the Super Bowl, the Titans lost their first six and are currently riding a horse named Vince Young, who’ll discover the Cards don’t kid around. Warner will once again be emcee.
Biggest game of the week for me will be the Monday Night showdown between the undefeated Saints and the tough-luck Pats, who managed to lose to the Jets early and then went for a first down on 4th and 2 from their own 28. If they’re not yet tired of Belichick’s nonsense, they soon will be.
I do think the Saints will be more motivated than the Pats, even knowing that the arrogance of the Pats will force them into playing hard. But they’ll be playing for the wrong reasons, i.e. to punish another team for the audacity of playing to a perfect record. The Saints motivation will be more pure, just to win a big Monday Night game to remain unbeaten.
It says here that the Saints have the better team. It won’t be so much Brees vs. Brady as it will be the overall balance of the Saints compared to the Pats. They have a better running game and they have more receivers to go to, not just the same tired Brady to Welker, Brady to Moss combinations. Stop those two guys and stop the Pats.
Meanwhile, I’m almost sorry I picked on Brandon Jacobs as he looked even worse than I thought he would vs. the Broncos. The Giants pass defense was about par for them, which is to say they were lousy, bad, clueless, Sheridan-ian even. Oh well, at least they have Danny Ware, um, I mean DJ.
Seriously, there’s Cory Webster back there and…..well, that’s it. Pick your Johnson, they can’t cover, and then there was the specter of C.C. Brown again. And there’s nobody better at tackling after watching a receiver catch the ball than Boley. It’s hard to imagine he had been the Defensive Player of the Week….ever.
I keep asking myself what’s different about this defense until I really think about it. Pierce’s absence alone could account for a TD or two and they never replaced the likes of Phillips at safety. Then Aaron Ross is still listed as the third corner. What you see is what you get, the likes of Johnson and Johnson and Rouse. God help us.
Although I didn’t pick our Jets to cover the 3-point spread against the Panthers, I am looking forward to the game itself, which will either break a record for interceptions in a single game or go totally the other way as both the crazy rookie and the crazy veteran have been made quite aware of their shakiness. If caution takes over, there could be a lot of punts. If both QB’s just let it fly, it could be a shootout, in an obverse sort of way.
New York’s favorite coach’s latest big brain fart of sitting that rich safety Kerry Rhodes seems to signal that the Jets are looking to the future officially. But what better QB to sit your safety against than the scatological Jake Delhomme? I have to admit though that I’d feel better if two other secondary men weren’t out at the same time. The whole thing makes as much sense as the war in Afghanistan.
But Rex will be funny after the game. Of that we can be sure. Proud and funny and humble all at the same time. I sure hope he knows something the rest of us don’t. Otherwise, maybe the next move will be Tannenbaum’s.
Here’s hoping the rest of Week 12 will be better than the first three games. The Lions and Raiders just mailed it in. The Giants…..?
My favorite Week 11 best bet was the Niners, who appeared to be getting blown out before coming back to once again cover the 6 ½ point spread. The Eagles were another narrow winner as they edged the Bears by 4 against a spread of 3. The other two picks looked easy as the Falcons covered against the lowly G-Men and the Skins nearly beat the Boyz outright.
Once again, I keep thinking I’m due for a bad week, so bet with your head……and remember who’ll be on the bench or worse this week. Injuries are mounting all around the league.
Anyway, here’s the picks:
Favorite Spread Underdog 4 Best My Pick Reason
Ind 3 ½ HOU Ind Texans have failed easier tests
CIN 14 Cle * Cle Browns found out they can play
MIN 11 Chi MIN Vikes cover a lot
PHI 9 Was * Was Skins looking good-they’ll cover
Mia 3 BUF * Mia Rick-eeeeee
TEN 3 Ari * Ari Warner’s okay, so line is nuts
Sea 3 STL Sea Bulger to Boller for Rams
ATL 12 ½ Bucs Bucs Bucs will find ATL easier than last
NYJ 3 Car Car This is the Pick Bowl
SF 3 Jac SF Niners are my friend
SD 13 ½ Kcy Kcy Chargers nothing after Steelers
BAL 1 ½ Pit BAL Big Ben a target and no Polamalu
NO 2 Pats NO Saints have real desire
The best bets for Week 12:
Cleveland – The Bengals are hurting all over. The Brownies came so very close against the Lions last week and found out they can have an offense too, much like a non-Mangini team. No Cedric Benson figures hugely.
Skins – well, they DO have a Defense. They’re perfectly capable of slowing down those Eagle big-play threats and hey! They have Rock Cartwright too.
Fish – Buffalo’s wagons shot thru with arrows. Circling them will accomplish nothing versus Rickee and all those crazy wildcat options. Also no Marshawn for Bills, jus ol’ Fred.
Arizona – Let’s see, the Cards went to the Super Bowl, the Titans lost their first six and are currently riding a horse named Vince Young, who’ll discover the Cards don’t kid around. Warner will once again be emcee.
Biggest game of the week for me will be the Monday Night showdown between the undefeated Saints and the tough-luck Pats, who managed to lose to the Jets early and then went for a first down on 4th and 2 from their own 28. If they’re not yet tired of Belichick’s nonsense, they soon will be.
I do think the Saints will be more motivated than the Pats, even knowing that the arrogance of the Pats will force them into playing hard. But they’ll be playing for the wrong reasons, i.e. to punish another team for the audacity of playing to a perfect record. The Saints motivation will be more pure, just to win a big Monday Night game to remain unbeaten.
It says here that the Saints have the better team. It won’t be so much Brees vs. Brady as it will be the overall balance of the Saints compared to the Pats. They have a better running game and they have more receivers to go to, not just the same tired Brady to Welker, Brady to Moss combinations. Stop those two guys and stop the Pats.
Meanwhile, I’m almost sorry I picked on Brandon Jacobs as he looked even worse than I thought he would vs. the Broncos. The Giants pass defense was about par for them, which is to say they were lousy, bad, clueless, Sheridan-ian even. Oh well, at least they have Danny Ware, um, I mean DJ.
Seriously, there’s Cory Webster back there and…..well, that’s it. Pick your Johnson, they can’t cover, and then there was the specter of C.C. Brown again. And there’s nobody better at tackling after watching a receiver catch the ball than Boley. It’s hard to imagine he had been the Defensive Player of the Week….ever.
I keep asking myself what’s different about this defense until I really think about it. Pierce’s absence alone could account for a TD or two and they never replaced the likes of Phillips at safety. Then Aaron Ross is still listed as the third corner. What you see is what you get, the likes of Johnson and Johnson and Rouse. God help us.
Although I didn’t pick our Jets to cover the 3-point spread against the Panthers, I am looking forward to the game itself, which will either break a record for interceptions in a single game or go totally the other way as both the crazy rookie and the crazy veteran have been made quite aware of their shakiness. If caution takes over, there could be a lot of punts. If both QB’s just let it fly, it could be a shootout, in an obverse sort of way.
New York’s favorite coach’s latest big brain fart of sitting that rich safety Kerry Rhodes seems to signal that the Jets are looking to the future officially. But what better QB to sit your safety against than the scatological Jake Delhomme? I have to admit though that I’d feel better if two other secondary men weren’t out at the same time. The whole thing makes as much sense as the war in Afghanistan.
But Rex will be funny after the game. Of that we can be sure. Proud and funny and humble all at the same time. I sure hope he knows something the rest of us don’t. Otherwise, maybe the next move will be Tannenbaum’s.
Here’s hoping the rest of Week 12 will be better than the first three games. The Lions and Raiders just mailed it in. The Giants…..?
Friday, October 2, 2009
A Week for Comeuppances
NFL Picks is something I don’t ordinarily do but after checking out the Friday NFL coverage in the local newspapers, I’m going to start. Pathetic coverage really, and it’s Friday, when you’d ordinarily expect to read some good articles, or at least the odds and the picks.
But no, once again, nothing good is happening in print media. So you’ll find my picks below, but I will have some things to say about the Jets especially and the rapidly-concluding baseball season following my picks.
NFL Matchups
Giants -9 @ KC Hard to imagine the G-Men not letting down after the easy win vs. TB. Are the Bucs better than Kansas City? Not bloody likely…but still, Giants by 9 is the spread – the home crowd should put KC in contention at least……………… KC
Jets @ New Orleans – 7 – The Jets just keep coming…they’ll shut down the Saints running game but will get victimized by a short passing game, I see Reggie Bush having a big game and a Jets come-uppance is in the offing……. Saints
Bengals -6 @ Cleveland – I like the Bengals big here, Cincinnati defense will dominate…..Mangini struggles will continue….Browns just out of it… Bengals
Lions @ Bears -9 ½ – Lions looked really passable vs Skins, they’ll be close vs Bears
That’s the effect a real QB can have……………………………… Lions
Oakland @ Houston -9 – The silver and black are just awful, they’ll continue being awful, that big lunk of a quarterback just can’t throw ……………………… ..Houston
Seattle @ Colts -10 ½ - Seattle will surprise here, they’re just not that bad overall, neither is Seneca Wallace………………………………………………………………. .Seattle
TB @ Skins -7 ½ - Skins will be fortunate to win never mind cover….. TB
Titans -3 @ Jags – this will be a war….Titans will win the war in a game nobody watches, a shame really but there it is…………………………………………… Titans
Ravens @ Pats -2 – another come-uppance game, Pats at home and feeling kinda insulted, can’t blame them really…… PATS
Bills -1 ½ @ Miami – I like Bills big here….Lynch back, Fish without Pennington, T.O. may catch a few balls or more……………………………………………………… .Bills
Rams @ Niners -10 – I like the Niners but not by ten, come on, this is a Mike Singletary team……………………………………………………………………………… …Rams
Cowboys -3 @ Broncos – things happen for a reason, Broncos record no mistake,can the Boyz stop anyone – Wade Phillips just not coming across here…. Broncos
Chargers @ Steelers -6 – Steelers minus anything is a joke lately…………. Chargers
Packers @ Vikings -3 – Packers haven’t shown much yet…………………… Vikings
First Bye week – Arizona, Eagles, Atlanta, Carolina
Despite the paltry width of the local Sports section, I’m psyched for the weekend. I might for the first time this season be able to sit back, have some chips or popcorn, maybe even drink some beer, and just enjoy the games at home. Thank God for the Redzone…TV commercials will not dominate my Sunday, not anymore.
Of course the Jets game is definitely the bigger New York game. The Giants play the year after year bad Kansas City Chiefs while the Jets have to butt heads with a real live team, the best team in the NFL right now, lowly Aints no more.
The biggest difference between this year’s version of the Chiefs is the coach….no Herm Edwards. Then there’s a new quarterback and a bit of a better defense too. Taking those advantages and a rabid KC crowd too, the G-Men could definitely have some troubles.
Eli is due for a clunker, Jacobs just isn’t that scary and Ahmad Bradshaw is hurt. They may ultimately prevail but it won’t be easy. They’ll be missing that safety Phillips for sure. And I think the Giants linebackers can be had.
As scary as the Jets can be for opposing offenses, the Saints ain’t just anybody. Drew Brees just doesn’t make that many mistakes, he’s got some formidable weapons in Reggie Bush, Colston and Jeremy Shockey, there’s a running game too, and they just seem to be able to win any way they want to.
In Buffalo last week, for example, they won easily, using just their running game for the most part. Before last week, they were ripping defenses with their awesome passing game. It was almost as if they were just practicing against the Bills, who, by the way, have a pretty good run defense.
The Jets will blitz and Brees will find Bush again and again. You’ll likely see a lot of screens and draw plays, anything to neutralize that fearsome rush. The Jets will get Pace back too but it may not help that much. Brees will be anxious to minimize that pressure right away and we saw what the Titans were able to do through the air when the Jets just rush three or four.
Not that Ryan’s bullies won’t be partially successful but they won’t be able to stop all of the weapons that that black and gold team brings to the table. The Jets’ve been running at the mouth too, especially that obnoxious Scott. His “How dare you?” speech left me particularly cold. I know I’d go out of my way to punch him in the mouth and my guess is that the Saints will too.
In baseball, it’s all about the Twins, two full games behind the Tigers with just three games left to play. And they can’t control the Tigers who close out vs the White Sox. A lot of things have to go their way. They won’t. But that doesn’t mean Joe Mauer may not win the AL MVP. He surely deserves it.
I know the Yanks fans will say it should be Teixeira but they’d be wrong. He’s good but only one player in the American League brought a mediocre team to the last week of the season still in contention for the playoffs. The Yanks would win without Teixeira, the Yanks are loaded.
The NL MVP is less clear-cut but Pujols will probably get it. I can only lament that it won’t be a guy named Beltran.
But no, once again, nothing good is happening in print media. So you’ll find my picks below, but I will have some things to say about the Jets especially and the rapidly-concluding baseball season following my picks.
NFL Matchups
Giants -9 @ KC Hard to imagine the G-Men not letting down after the easy win vs. TB. Are the Bucs better than Kansas City? Not bloody likely…but still, Giants by 9 is the spread – the home crowd should put KC in contention at least……………… KC
Jets @ New Orleans – 7 – The Jets just keep coming…they’ll shut down the Saints running game but will get victimized by a short passing game, I see Reggie Bush having a big game and a Jets come-uppance is in the offing……. Saints
Bengals -6 @ Cleveland – I like the Bengals big here, Cincinnati defense will dominate…..Mangini struggles will continue….Browns just out of it… Bengals
Lions @ Bears -9 ½ – Lions looked really passable vs Skins, they’ll be close vs Bears
That’s the effect a real QB can have……………………………… Lions
Oakland @ Houston -9 – The silver and black are just awful, they’ll continue being awful, that big lunk of a quarterback just can’t throw ……………………… ..Houston
Seattle @ Colts -10 ½ - Seattle will surprise here, they’re just not that bad overall, neither is Seneca Wallace………………………………………………………………. .Seattle
TB @ Skins -7 ½ - Skins will be fortunate to win never mind cover….. TB
Titans -3 @ Jags – this will be a war….Titans will win the war in a game nobody watches, a shame really but there it is…………………………………………… Titans
Ravens @ Pats -2 – another come-uppance game, Pats at home and feeling kinda insulted, can’t blame them really…… PATS
Bills -1 ½ @ Miami – I like Bills big here….Lynch back, Fish without Pennington, T.O. may catch a few balls or more……………………………………………………… .Bills
Rams @ Niners -10 – I like the Niners but not by ten, come on, this is a Mike Singletary team……………………………………………………………………………… …Rams
Cowboys -3 @ Broncos – things happen for a reason, Broncos record no mistake,can the Boyz stop anyone – Wade Phillips just not coming across here…. Broncos
Chargers @ Steelers -6 – Steelers minus anything is a joke lately…………. Chargers
Packers @ Vikings -3 – Packers haven’t shown much yet…………………… Vikings
First Bye week – Arizona, Eagles, Atlanta, Carolina
Despite the paltry width of the local Sports section, I’m psyched for the weekend. I might for the first time this season be able to sit back, have some chips or popcorn, maybe even drink some beer, and just enjoy the games at home. Thank God for the Redzone…TV commercials will not dominate my Sunday, not anymore.
Of course the Jets game is definitely the bigger New York game. The Giants play the year after year bad Kansas City Chiefs while the Jets have to butt heads with a real live team, the best team in the NFL right now, lowly Aints no more.
The biggest difference between this year’s version of the Chiefs is the coach….no Herm Edwards. Then there’s a new quarterback and a bit of a better defense too. Taking those advantages and a rabid KC crowd too, the G-Men could definitely have some troubles.
Eli is due for a clunker, Jacobs just isn’t that scary and Ahmad Bradshaw is hurt. They may ultimately prevail but it won’t be easy. They’ll be missing that safety Phillips for sure. And I think the Giants linebackers can be had.
As scary as the Jets can be for opposing offenses, the Saints ain’t just anybody. Drew Brees just doesn’t make that many mistakes, he’s got some formidable weapons in Reggie Bush, Colston and Jeremy Shockey, there’s a running game too, and they just seem to be able to win any way they want to.
In Buffalo last week, for example, they won easily, using just their running game for the most part. Before last week, they were ripping defenses with their awesome passing game. It was almost as if they were just practicing against the Bills, who, by the way, have a pretty good run defense.
The Jets will blitz and Brees will find Bush again and again. You’ll likely see a lot of screens and draw plays, anything to neutralize that fearsome rush. The Jets will get Pace back too but it may not help that much. Brees will be anxious to minimize that pressure right away and we saw what the Titans were able to do through the air when the Jets just rush three or four.
Not that Ryan’s bullies won’t be partially successful but they won’t be able to stop all of the weapons that that black and gold team brings to the table. The Jets’ve been running at the mouth too, especially that obnoxious Scott. His “How dare you?” speech left me particularly cold. I know I’d go out of my way to punch him in the mouth and my guess is that the Saints will too.
In baseball, it’s all about the Twins, two full games behind the Tigers with just three games left to play. And they can’t control the Tigers who close out vs the White Sox. A lot of things have to go their way. They won’t. But that doesn’t mean Joe Mauer may not win the AL MVP. He surely deserves it.
I know the Yanks fans will say it should be Teixeira but they’d be wrong. He’s good but only one player in the American League brought a mediocre team to the last week of the season still in contention for the playoffs. The Yanks would win without Teixeira, the Yanks are loaded.
The NL MVP is less clear-cut but Pujols will probably get it. I can only lament that it won’t be a guy named Beltran.
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