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.
Showing posts with label Shockey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shockey. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Out With the Old...Within Limits
Playoffs week 1 went as well as could be expected. The Jets won and I went 3 and 1 on my picks against the spread. What could be better? Not even if Carlos Beltran were to come back in April from his latest surprise surgery and just start acting as a member of the team again, not even that would make me happier than that the Jets actually won a playoff game.
Can the Jets beat San Diego? Of course they can. Anything can happen in the NFL. If Rivers goes down, if LaDainian goes down, if Gates and Jackson and Sproles all turn in clunkers, the Jets can win again. But I don’t expect it. They’ll cover the spread though, which is currently at 7 ½ but had been even higher. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Taking things in order:
Sat 4:30 – New Orleans Superdome
SAINTS -7 Cardinals
I’m still mad. That the Cardinals beat the Packers at all is still killing me. The Packers played a stupid defense and stayed in it. It had to be heartbreaking for the Pack. I say it’s time to sweep out the old and bring in the new blood. Kurt Warner had his day. Saturday won’t be another for him.
When the Saints come marching in, they’ll be doing so at full strength. The Saints are back. Their defense will be intact for the first time in a long time. Jeremy Shockey will be back too. Shockey of the big mouth, big biceps, big tattoos and more important, big blocking ability and big receiving threat, will be on the field. Shockey makes a difference on that offensive line.
Drew Brees will finally get the time he needs to look downfield, the running game should get a boost, and the Cardinals will have every reason to quit, something they’ve shown themselves only too willing to do at times in the past.
A 7-point spread is big though and the over/under of 57 is huge. If the whistles stay quiet, this could be quite a different game. I look for the Saints to play a keep-away game, something they should be able to re-establish on Saturday. Look for the Saints to establish Pierre Thomas in the running game, something they haven’t been able to do since Week 13.
Since Week 13, the Saints haven’t run the ball. Their points scored suffered dramatically as a result. An offense that had been scoring in the 30’s and 40’s scored 17, 17 and 10 points respectively in Weeks 15 through 17. They managed to win against Atlanta in Week 14 with Shockey in the lineup. The Saints are undefeated with Shockey and 0-3 without him.
The Dome will be rockin’……Saints 30-17.
Sat 8:15 – Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
COLTS -6 ½ Ravens
The Colts are tough and they may win this one but it won’t be a romp for sure. The Colts took their first contest by a score of 17-15. They’re rested but have absolutely no momentum going into this game. But guess what? The Colts have an offensive line second to none. They’ll protect Manning, who, by the way, has never lost to the Ravens.
But the Ravens are playing better than ever. Both Ray Rice and Willis McGahee are pounding that rock and everybody’s playing inspired behind gimpy-hipped Joe Flacco. They have all the momentum in the world going into this one.
But Flacco made the big mistake in their first contest. He was intercepted in the final minutes after having negotiated a long drive to the Colts 12-yard line.
This will be a war……..Ravens 24-22
Sunday 1PM – Mall of America Field, Minneapolis
VIKINGS -2 ½ Cowboys
Out with the old, in with the new. Favre will find he’s got Boyz in his face. There’ll be none of the pump-fake nonsense he’s perpetrated against a lot of teams. Before pounding the hapless Giants, who could never defend anything, the Vikes had lost to the Panthers and Bears. The Panthers held the Vikes to 7 total points while the Bears simply outscored them 36-30.
Wade Phillips knows defense. Tony Romo knows offense. It’s Romo’s time. Favre has had his moments and Sunday looks to not be one of them. Look for the Boyz to stop Adrian Peterson, take an early lead, and then take a few INT’s from a desperate Favre down the stretch.
Look for the Vikes to put 20 on the board. Look for the Boyz to get a few more.
Cowboys 27-20
Sunday, 4:40 PM – Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
CHARGERS -7 ½ Jets
While I’d love to say “out with the old, in with the new” once again, we have Phillip Rivers, who isn’t that old, going against Mark Sanchez, who’s a little too young. As well as the Jets have been playing, the Chargers have been doing it better and longer. The Chargers have just the type of versatile offense to give the Jets fits.
The Bengals didn’t have enough weapons. Carson Palmer had no time and Ochocinco was blanketed by Revis. Their second wide-out was Laverneus Coles. There were no other targets to speak of and the Bengals missed two field goals. The Jets running backs ran wild and a great offensive game plan worked to perfection but under no real duress.
I’m expecting a great deal of duress Sunday afternoon. Although the Chargers haven’t been able to get their running game going, their passing offense hasn’t been stopped. The Chargers are for real with Vincent Jackson on one side and Malcolm Floyd on the other. Then there is Antonio Gates. They’re all tall and can catch the ball, unlike one Braylon Edwards, who’ll drop anything he has to think about.
All that being said, the Chargers will be facing a fired-up young squad that won’t quit. The Jets will undoubtedly have some success on the ground, but unless they can take and hold the lead against one of the NFL’s finest offenses, they’ll have to throw. It won’t work.
Chargers 24-20, Jets cover
Can the Jets beat San Diego? Of course they can. Anything can happen in the NFL. If Rivers goes down, if LaDainian goes down, if Gates and Jackson and Sproles all turn in clunkers, the Jets can win again. But I don’t expect it. They’ll cover the spread though, which is currently at 7 ½ but had been even higher. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Taking things in order:
Sat 4:30 – New Orleans Superdome
SAINTS -7 Cardinals
I’m still mad. That the Cardinals beat the Packers at all is still killing me. The Packers played a stupid defense and stayed in it. It had to be heartbreaking for the Pack. I say it’s time to sweep out the old and bring in the new blood. Kurt Warner had his day. Saturday won’t be another for him.
When the Saints come marching in, they’ll be doing so at full strength. The Saints are back. Their defense will be intact for the first time in a long time. Jeremy Shockey will be back too. Shockey of the big mouth, big biceps, big tattoos and more important, big blocking ability and big receiving threat, will be on the field. Shockey makes a difference on that offensive line.
Drew Brees will finally get the time he needs to look downfield, the running game should get a boost, and the Cardinals will have every reason to quit, something they’ve shown themselves only too willing to do at times in the past.
A 7-point spread is big though and the over/under of 57 is huge. If the whistles stay quiet, this could be quite a different game. I look for the Saints to play a keep-away game, something they should be able to re-establish on Saturday. Look for the Saints to establish Pierre Thomas in the running game, something they haven’t been able to do since Week 13.
Since Week 13, the Saints haven’t run the ball. Their points scored suffered dramatically as a result. An offense that had been scoring in the 30’s and 40’s scored 17, 17 and 10 points respectively in Weeks 15 through 17. They managed to win against Atlanta in Week 14 with Shockey in the lineup. The Saints are undefeated with Shockey and 0-3 without him.
The Dome will be rockin’……Saints 30-17.
Sat 8:15 – Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
COLTS -6 ½ Ravens
The Colts are tough and they may win this one but it won’t be a romp for sure. The Colts took their first contest by a score of 17-15. They’re rested but have absolutely no momentum going into this game. But guess what? The Colts have an offensive line second to none. They’ll protect Manning, who, by the way, has never lost to the Ravens.
But the Ravens are playing better than ever. Both Ray Rice and Willis McGahee are pounding that rock and everybody’s playing inspired behind gimpy-hipped Joe Flacco. They have all the momentum in the world going into this one.
But Flacco made the big mistake in their first contest. He was intercepted in the final minutes after having negotiated a long drive to the Colts 12-yard line.
This will be a war……..Ravens 24-22
Sunday 1PM – Mall of America Field, Minneapolis
VIKINGS -2 ½ Cowboys
Out with the old, in with the new. Favre will find he’s got Boyz in his face. There’ll be none of the pump-fake nonsense he’s perpetrated against a lot of teams. Before pounding the hapless Giants, who could never defend anything, the Vikes had lost to the Panthers and Bears. The Panthers held the Vikes to 7 total points while the Bears simply outscored them 36-30.
Wade Phillips knows defense. Tony Romo knows offense. It’s Romo’s time. Favre has had his moments and Sunday looks to not be one of them. Look for the Boyz to stop Adrian Peterson, take an early lead, and then take a few INT’s from a desperate Favre down the stretch.
Look for the Vikes to put 20 on the board. Look for the Boyz to get a few more.
Cowboys 27-20
Sunday, 4:40 PM – Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
CHARGERS -7 ½ Jets
While I’d love to say “out with the old, in with the new” once again, we have Phillip Rivers, who isn’t that old, going against Mark Sanchez, who’s a little too young. As well as the Jets have been playing, the Chargers have been doing it better and longer. The Chargers have just the type of versatile offense to give the Jets fits.
The Bengals didn’t have enough weapons. Carson Palmer had no time and Ochocinco was blanketed by Revis. Their second wide-out was Laverneus Coles. There were no other targets to speak of and the Bengals missed two field goals. The Jets running backs ran wild and a great offensive game plan worked to perfection but under no real duress.
I’m expecting a great deal of duress Sunday afternoon. Although the Chargers haven’t been able to get their running game going, their passing offense hasn’t been stopped. The Chargers are for real with Vincent Jackson on one side and Malcolm Floyd on the other. Then there is Antonio Gates. They’re all tall and can catch the ball, unlike one Braylon Edwards, who’ll drop anything he has to think about.
All that being said, the Chargers will be facing a fired-up young squad that won’t quit. The Jets will undoubtedly have some success on the ground, but unless they can take and hold the lead against one of the NFL’s finest offenses, they’ll have to throw. It won’t work.
Chargers 24-20, Jets cover
Monday, October 19, 2009
A Lost Sunday
It was a lost Sunday. For the Giants and Jets, that is, and anybody silly enough to root for them. I knew the Giants would be in trouble, facing Drew Brees & Company with somebody named C.C. Brown at safety and, well, I never put much faith in Dockery. The Jets were a surprise flop though, losing in miserable fashion to one of the worst football teams in the league.
Mark Sanchez has regressed a lot from the quarterback he was against New England. It’s a shame really. He’s aiming the ball. He’s doing almost everything required of a quarterback badly. He even made Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Bills horrible quarterback, look good, a feat I would have thought was impossible before yesterday.
For the Jets, the game wasn’t the only bad news. They also lost Kris Jenkins, their huge defensive tackle, to a fairly serious knee injury. So there goes the run defense for the rest of the season too.
And it’s easy to second-guess but I would have got Sanchez out of there. He was clearly dazed and shaken, and not likely to come out of it, which he didn’t. He seems to have lost any confidence he may have had, and clearly, it’s time for a change. At the very least, it’s time to institute some rules, like Joba rules, in a way. Three picks and he’s out.
Not that it even makes a difference anymore. Any team that could lose so easily to one of the worst teams in the league cannot be expected to win many more. Forget the playoffs, forget even mediocrity, this team is bad, bad, bad. Of course, any team with a bad quarterback will be bad. We can only hope that the regression of Sanchez isn’t a reflection of the coach’s ability. Most people like Ryan, and I do too, but maybe he shows too much confidence in people? It’s optimism gone amok.
I have to admit that, while the Giants clock was being cleaned, I was enjoying every bit of it as my fantasy team roster includes Brees, Colston and Shockey. They all had their way with the Giants, especially Colston, who seemed to just outduel anybody covering him for the ball. I knew he was good but I didn’t realize he was great.
The Giants made every Saint look great though, so it’s hard to tell how really good Colston may be from yesterday’s game. I have to think the result would have been much different if there had been any kind of coverage at all. All I saw was guys in blue running with guys in gold, but when the ball was in the air, the guy in gold went up and got it. The blue guy stayed cemented to the ground.
Just about everybody who could have caught a pass caught one. Not just Colston and Shockey, but Meacham, Moore….Well, seven different players scored touchdowns for the Saints. It was pretty much a massacre.
It was sad to see Eli do so badly in his hometown. Equally as sad was to see him lose his cool with running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who zigged when he should’ve zagged on one play, resulting in horrific pressure on Manning and ultimately, an interception.
There is hope for the Giants though. The Saints may be the best team in the league, and they had an extra week to prepare for this game. They exposed every Giants weakness, quite often actually. But the Saints offensive line did its job pretty well too, keeping what had been a fierce defensive front in check all day. Even a hint of defensive pressure up front could have made a big difference.
I’ll try to take solace in the fact that, as bad as the locals were, there were some other teams that looked just as bad or worse. The first team that comes to mind is the Eagles, who lost to the awful Raiders, but the Titans were absolutely humiliated by the Patriots and the hapless Redskins lost to the previously winless Kansas City Chiefs.
The most revealing statistic of them all might be the fact that the Redskins had faced a winless team in each and every game they’d played this season but had only won two of them. Harried Skins head coach Jim Zorn was relieved of his play-calling responsibility yesterday and quarterback Jason Campbell was finally relieved at halftime in favor of Todd Collins, who at least led the Skins to some field goals.
What happened to the Eagles at Oakland is beyond me. I knew Oakland was capable of fielding a very decent pass defense, what with the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL residing in their secondary (Asomugha got hurt), but I didn’t realize they could stop the run. Evidently, it was not a big part of their game plan.
The Eagles did lose their offensive tackle, Jason Peters, in the first quarter, which probably doused any Eagle thoughts of running. But McNabb was sacked six times, indicating some really big problems up front. And Akers missed two field goals, McNabb called a timeout he didn’t have, and they still should have won that game.
The Cowboys had their bye week and got to watch everybody else lose. Not too shabby. They’re coming off two fairly good weeks of play, having lost a close one to the undefeated (for now) Broncos and having beat the Chiefs by six in Kansas City. They get an extra week to prepare for the very tough Atlanta Falcons next week, and they seem to have found a wide receiver they didn’t know they had.
The Yanks had the day off after beating the suddenly sorry Angels and seem a 50-50 chance of winning still another at 4PM today, Pettite vs. Saunders. Arod’s been great; he saved the game Saturday.
The Phils killed LA behind Lee to go up 2-1. They’ll face Wolf tonight behind big Joe Blanton. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dodgers tie the series.
Mark Sanchez has regressed a lot from the quarterback he was against New England. It’s a shame really. He’s aiming the ball. He’s doing almost everything required of a quarterback badly. He even made Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Bills horrible quarterback, look good, a feat I would have thought was impossible before yesterday.
For the Jets, the game wasn’t the only bad news. They also lost Kris Jenkins, their huge defensive tackle, to a fairly serious knee injury. So there goes the run defense for the rest of the season too.
And it’s easy to second-guess but I would have got Sanchez out of there. He was clearly dazed and shaken, and not likely to come out of it, which he didn’t. He seems to have lost any confidence he may have had, and clearly, it’s time for a change. At the very least, it’s time to institute some rules, like Joba rules, in a way. Three picks and he’s out.
Not that it even makes a difference anymore. Any team that could lose so easily to one of the worst teams in the league cannot be expected to win many more. Forget the playoffs, forget even mediocrity, this team is bad, bad, bad. Of course, any team with a bad quarterback will be bad. We can only hope that the regression of Sanchez isn’t a reflection of the coach’s ability. Most people like Ryan, and I do too, but maybe he shows too much confidence in people? It’s optimism gone amok.
I have to admit that, while the Giants clock was being cleaned, I was enjoying every bit of it as my fantasy team roster includes Brees, Colston and Shockey. They all had their way with the Giants, especially Colston, who seemed to just outduel anybody covering him for the ball. I knew he was good but I didn’t realize he was great.
The Giants made every Saint look great though, so it’s hard to tell how really good Colston may be from yesterday’s game. I have to think the result would have been much different if there had been any kind of coverage at all. All I saw was guys in blue running with guys in gold, but when the ball was in the air, the guy in gold went up and got it. The blue guy stayed cemented to the ground.
Just about everybody who could have caught a pass caught one. Not just Colston and Shockey, but Meacham, Moore….Well, seven different players scored touchdowns for the Saints. It was pretty much a massacre.
It was sad to see Eli do so badly in his hometown. Equally as sad was to see him lose his cool with running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who zigged when he should’ve zagged on one play, resulting in horrific pressure on Manning and ultimately, an interception.
There is hope for the Giants though. The Saints may be the best team in the league, and they had an extra week to prepare for this game. They exposed every Giants weakness, quite often actually. But the Saints offensive line did its job pretty well too, keeping what had been a fierce defensive front in check all day. Even a hint of defensive pressure up front could have made a big difference.
I’ll try to take solace in the fact that, as bad as the locals were, there were some other teams that looked just as bad or worse. The first team that comes to mind is the Eagles, who lost to the awful Raiders, but the Titans were absolutely humiliated by the Patriots and the hapless Redskins lost to the previously winless Kansas City Chiefs.
The most revealing statistic of them all might be the fact that the Redskins had faced a winless team in each and every game they’d played this season but had only won two of them. Harried Skins head coach Jim Zorn was relieved of his play-calling responsibility yesterday and quarterback Jason Campbell was finally relieved at halftime in favor of Todd Collins, who at least led the Skins to some field goals.
What happened to the Eagles at Oakland is beyond me. I knew Oakland was capable of fielding a very decent pass defense, what with the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL residing in their secondary (Asomugha got hurt), but I didn’t realize they could stop the run. Evidently, it was not a big part of their game plan.
The Eagles did lose their offensive tackle, Jason Peters, in the first quarter, which probably doused any Eagle thoughts of running. But McNabb was sacked six times, indicating some really big problems up front. And Akers missed two field goals, McNabb called a timeout he didn’t have, and they still should have won that game.
The Cowboys had their bye week and got to watch everybody else lose. Not too shabby. They’re coming off two fairly good weeks of play, having lost a close one to the undefeated (for now) Broncos and having beat the Chiefs by six in Kansas City. They get an extra week to prepare for the very tough Atlanta Falcons next week, and they seem to have found a wide receiver they didn’t know they had.
The Yanks had the day off after beating the suddenly sorry Angels and seem a 50-50 chance of winning still another at 4PM today, Pettite vs. Saunders. Arod’s been great; he saved the game Saturday.
The Phils killed LA behind Lee to go up 2-1. They’ll face Wolf tonight behind big Joe Blanton. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dodgers tie the series.
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