It’s hard to figure, professional football outcomes. There are just too many variables.
For the Giants, it was another bad day at the office. A left-handed pass, a fumble down low, a bunch of penalties….geez, I expected them to lose, but who could have predicted that they would lose the way they did?
Let’s face it, their offensive tackles stunk last week, and now they came in without their center. Their tight end had been out. That they were favored in that game was ridiculous. The Titans are a pretty damned good team, year after year, and especially with their line play.
But it didn’t turn out the way I figured. The O-line was good and would have been great if not for their stupid penalties later in the game. Their defensive line, in fact, their whole defense, played admirably. But the Giants did lose anyway. Their special teams, and especially their new punter, Dodge, were awful.
Injuries are the order of the day in professional football. How a team weathers them determines their success. If the Giants had a backup center who was any good, if they had a better punter, they would have played. I didn’t see them, did you?
The Giants need some changes. Will they make them? No. They don’t make in-season changes. Almost every other team does. So they have a built-in disadvantage. They’re living in a different century.
Coughlin takes responsibility though….again. That makes me feel a whole lot better.
The Jets surprised me in a good way, showing me some unexpected toughness, not to mention skill, down in Miami. Mark Sanchez was great….again. He made some awfully nice passes. So was their tight end, Dustin Keller. So was Braylon Edwards, who scored on a cornerback slip, proving there really is no justice in this world. Ask Michael Vick.
But the Jets defense forced the Fish to pass. Ronnie Brown had 54 yards. Ricky Williams had 28. The Jets offense put the Fish in a hole, which forced them to pass. And pass they did, but it wasn’t enough and it’s really not their game. They’re used to running and wearing out the other team, keeping the opposing offense off the field.
The Jets overcame their defensive liabilities, their loss of run-stopper Kris Jenkins, their loss of pass-stopper Darrelle Revis. And they just scored more points than they usually do, even without Leon Washington, the running back they let go to Seattle, who scored twice yesterday to beat the Chargers.
It didn’t have to turn out that way. But the Jets have reserves all over the place. A fellow named Sione Pouha manned the center of the defense, just as capably as he did last year. A fellow named Antonio Cromartie partially made up for the loss of Revis. All their acquisitions were all too visible; LaDainian Tomlinson and Jason Taylor played key roles in the win too.
But in professional football, there are just too many variables to determine outcomes of games. Injuries are only the most glaring example. There is coaching, the game plan, the scheme and how it works against a particular matchup, and just plain luck.
But coaching is huge, not just for game-planning but for motivation as well. The Jets play the game as if it were fun, the Giants play as if it were a forced march, much as the Jets used to play under Mangini.
But the Giants won’t change coaches. They did win it all a few years ago. But that was before the departure of Steve Spagnola to the Rams, an organization on the upswing for sure. That team also had a fellow named Strahan, a leader on and off the field, and a younger offensive line.
The Forty- Niners, who had played like a team on a mission just last week against the Super Bowl champion Saints, lost yesterday to the uncharacteristically good Kansas City Chiefs 31-10. They fired their offensive coordinator today. The Giants will react to their problems sometime next year.
The quarterback sets the tone. Eli Manning, as good as his numbers may be, set the tone yesterday for the Giants and that tone was stupid. Throwing left-handed in the red zone just isn’t smart. Everybody worked too hard to get there. Maybe he hangs around with Favre too much.
Backup quarterback is arguably the second most important position on a football team. When the starter is injured, the backup becomes all-important. The Eagles and Steelers weathered the loss of their first-string guys quite nicely.
Their names were Michael Vick for the Eagles and Dennis Dixon, and then Charlie Batch for the Steelers. They all played great. The Lions just had backup QB Shawn Hill. They haven’t won yet. The Raiders had a fellow named Gradkowski backing up the disappointing Jason Campbell, and he lead them to what should have been a victory.
But then kickers can lose a game for you too. It happened in the Big Easy yesterday. And it happened in Arizona against the Raiders. Sebastian Janikowski, one of the best kickers in the league, missed the game-winner and so did Garrett Hartley for the Saints.
There are just too many variables. With around 50 players and 15 coaches, and an infinite number of game situations, just about anything can happen, and often does.
For example, the Jets just finished beating the Patriots and the Dolphins, both front-runners for playoff bids. They go to lowly Buffalo next week. But Buffalo just rid themselves of their former Number 1 quarterback, and are now involving talented running back C.J. Spiller into the game plan.
The Jets are riding high. How will that affect their attitude?
Those variables, especially injuries, affect fantasy teams too. My team continued its streak of good luck yesterday against a tough opponent despite the loss of its leading scorer, Jahvid Best, who injured a toe. Who could have foreseen a 12-catch performance out of Austin Collie while my opponent’s QB Matt Schaub had his worst game ever?
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
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.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Dumb Luck and Just Dumb
What’s better than this? It’s 70 degrees, and the Mets got a complete game out of a really nice guy, it would seem anyway, a fellow named Dickey. He’s 35, he’d been in the minors forever, nobody really noticed, and then he figured out how to throw a knuckleball.
Anyway, this guy Dickey has a weird knuckleball, a harder than “normal” one, and it only gets hit when it decides to do nothing, to just sit there and say, “hit me”. But that isn’t very often. Most times, the batter will be out, in spectacularly boring ways.
Anyway, this Dickey guy won his 11th game last night, and he should be up to at least 15 by now. He’s unassuming, he has no attitude except for a refreshing positive nature, he’s high on his team, and naturally, the Mets will probably wind up losing him some way, or pissing him off, or making him crazy.
Naturally I’m reminded of Carlos Beltran, who FINALLY is looking something like himself. But I don’t think he’s trying very hard. I saw him on the front end of a double play and he just ducked. Oh well. Tendinitis, operations the management gave him trouble for, in the last year of his contract, who could expect anything more.
He’ll get his numbers if he can but, until someone talks to him about an extension or a trade, he’ll hit his long balls, he’ll play a pretty good outfield (meaning fast and smart if uninspired), and be scary to opponents. That’ll be good enough for me, even at 16 million, given our Jason Bay experience.
But one again, it’s a beautiful day. Why sully it with Mets talk. It’s just depressing. They coulda been a contender, as Marlon might have said.
The Giants, on the other hand, were great on Sunday, much to my delighted surprise. That Carolina team killed them last year. Even with all the new guys, that whole infusion of talent, I never expected them to come together as a unit. They didn’t really show much in the exhibitions.
The Giants stopped the run, they covered receivers pretty well, they rushed the passer. Hell, they did everything a defense is supposed to do. Manning to Nicks was there all day. The running game didn’t look that good but it’s early yet. But defense will not be absent this year.
For whatever reason, whether it was Sheridan, or guys who couldn’t cover, or just a general malaise, the Giants stunk it up last year on defense. And it took the management all year to figure it out. The Giants almost never make big in-season moves. They should have. This isn’t 1956, it’s 2010, the era of just in time inventory systems. Gimme a break.
But it’s really nice to have football back. That’s for sure. Aside from the Giants and Jets, there’s all the action around the league. I thoroughly enjoyed Sunday if just because my fantasy opponent had some of the most horrendous luck I’ve ever seen.
Kevin Kolb was his quarterback and, ordinarily, he could put up some big numbers. He got hurt very early in that Packers game. His most dangerous wide receiver, Calvin Johnson, got totally screwed, along with his Detroit Lions team, on a sure touchdown pass that didn’t fulfill all the “process” requirements for a TD in today’s NFL. Who’s making the rules, Eric Mangini?
Another fantasy opponent who scared me was none other than MJD, Marcus Jones Drew of the Jacksonville Jaguars. MJD did quite creditably with 98 yards rushing, but that’s all he had. Jags quarterback David Garrard decided to have the best game of his career, throwing three TD passes on the day.
So my fantasy team survived a rather moribund performance from its quarterback, Drew Brees, and a horrendous effort thrown in by Percy Harvin, who couldn’t connect with Bret Favre all day long. Instead I got lucky, saved by touchdowns scored by players having just average days or worse.
Jahvid Best had two scores but just hadf 20 yards rushing. Knowshon Moreno managed to get one by the Jags and Ahmad Bradshaw and the G-men came on in the second half of their game to start rushing effectively.
The Jets were horrible on offense and no team ever deserved defeat more than that bunch against Ryan’s former team, the Ravens. It turns out you can’t play great when you have no left guard. And you can’t just maul receivers running down the field, imagine that, what a concept! The Jets went down the hole with their braggadocio.
Of course, all things aren’t going my way. The Yankees won last night in a big game against the Rays, a game the Rays could’ve won despite everything else, if Carl Crawford hadn’t pulled a Carlos Beltran by trying to steal third on a short fly ball with two outs and a shaky Mariano on the mound. I truly dislike the Yanks and still do. The Rays are the better team. Crawford should have known better.
And I was terribly disappointed with the performance of the Niners against the lowly-rated Seattle Seahawks. The Niners were as bad as the Jets. Maybe Pete Carroll really can coach in the NFL. And maybe Mike Singletary isn’t as good a coach as I had hoped.
Dallas looked really awful in their debut and, once again, Wade Phillips helped them lose the game with a ridiculous fancy shmancy (and chancy) play call on the last play of the second quarter, allowing the Skins DeAngelo Hall to recover a fumble and score for the only Skins TD of the game, in what turned out to be the game-winner. Not that I’m a Cowboys fan but Miles Austin is my fantasy #1 wide receiver and at least he had a good game.
So life is good. The Mets aren’t getting any worse, the Giants have a defense and the NFL kicked off with a bang. And the Yanks look vulnerable to me.
Anyway, this guy Dickey has a weird knuckleball, a harder than “normal” one, and it only gets hit when it decides to do nothing, to just sit there and say, “hit me”. But that isn’t very often. Most times, the batter will be out, in spectacularly boring ways.
Anyway, this Dickey guy won his 11th game last night, and he should be up to at least 15 by now. He’s unassuming, he has no attitude except for a refreshing positive nature, he’s high on his team, and naturally, the Mets will probably wind up losing him some way, or pissing him off, or making him crazy.
Naturally I’m reminded of Carlos Beltran, who FINALLY is looking something like himself. But I don’t think he’s trying very hard. I saw him on the front end of a double play and he just ducked. Oh well. Tendinitis, operations the management gave him trouble for, in the last year of his contract, who could expect anything more.
He’ll get his numbers if he can but, until someone talks to him about an extension or a trade, he’ll hit his long balls, he’ll play a pretty good outfield (meaning fast and smart if uninspired), and be scary to opponents. That’ll be good enough for me, even at 16 million, given our Jason Bay experience.
But one again, it’s a beautiful day. Why sully it with Mets talk. It’s just depressing. They coulda been a contender, as Marlon might have said.
The Giants, on the other hand, were great on Sunday, much to my delighted surprise. That Carolina team killed them last year. Even with all the new guys, that whole infusion of talent, I never expected them to come together as a unit. They didn’t really show much in the exhibitions.
The Giants stopped the run, they covered receivers pretty well, they rushed the passer. Hell, they did everything a defense is supposed to do. Manning to Nicks was there all day. The running game didn’t look that good but it’s early yet. But defense will not be absent this year.
For whatever reason, whether it was Sheridan, or guys who couldn’t cover, or just a general malaise, the Giants stunk it up last year on defense. And it took the management all year to figure it out. The Giants almost never make big in-season moves. They should have. This isn’t 1956, it’s 2010, the era of just in time inventory systems. Gimme a break.
But it’s really nice to have football back. That’s for sure. Aside from the Giants and Jets, there’s all the action around the league. I thoroughly enjoyed Sunday if just because my fantasy opponent had some of the most horrendous luck I’ve ever seen.
Kevin Kolb was his quarterback and, ordinarily, he could put up some big numbers. He got hurt very early in that Packers game. His most dangerous wide receiver, Calvin Johnson, got totally screwed, along with his Detroit Lions team, on a sure touchdown pass that didn’t fulfill all the “process” requirements for a TD in today’s NFL. Who’s making the rules, Eric Mangini?
Another fantasy opponent who scared me was none other than MJD, Marcus Jones Drew of the Jacksonville Jaguars. MJD did quite creditably with 98 yards rushing, but that’s all he had. Jags quarterback David Garrard decided to have the best game of his career, throwing three TD passes on the day.
So my fantasy team survived a rather moribund performance from its quarterback, Drew Brees, and a horrendous effort thrown in by Percy Harvin, who couldn’t connect with Bret Favre all day long. Instead I got lucky, saved by touchdowns scored by players having just average days or worse.
Jahvid Best had two scores but just hadf 20 yards rushing. Knowshon Moreno managed to get one by the Jags and Ahmad Bradshaw and the G-men came on in the second half of their game to start rushing effectively.
The Jets were horrible on offense and no team ever deserved defeat more than that bunch against Ryan’s former team, the Ravens. It turns out you can’t play great when you have no left guard. And you can’t just maul receivers running down the field, imagine that, what a concept! The Jets went down the hole with their braggadocio.
Of course, all things aren’t going my way. The Yankees won last night in a big game against the Rays, a game the Rays could’ve won despite everything else, if Carl Crawford hadn’t pulled a Carlos Beltran by trying to steal third on a short fly ball with two outs and a shaky Mariano on the mound. I truly dislike the Yanks and still do. The Rays are the better team. Crawford should have known better.
And I was terribly disappointed with the performance of the Niners against the lowly-rated Seattle Seahawks. The Niners were as bad as the Jets. Maybe Pete Carroll really can coach in the NFL. And maybe Mike Singletary isn’t as good a coach as I had hoped.
Dallas looked really awful in their debut and, once again, Wade Phillips helped them lose the game with a ridiculous fancy shmancy (and chancy) play call on the last play of the second quarter, allowing the Skins DeAngelo Hall to recover a fumble and score for the only Skins TD of the game, in what turned out to be the game-winner. Not that I’m a Cowboys fan but Miles Austin is my fantasy #1 wide receiver and at least he had a good game.
So life is good. The Mets aren’t getting any worse, the Giants have a defense and the NFL kicked off with a bang. And the Yanks look vulnerable to me.
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