It's been a little while so let's get right into it...
1. Reports of parity in the NFL have been greatly exaggerated. See - Week 5 scores. In six of the fourteen games this weekend the margin of victory was ten points or more, with five them being decided by at least twenty points. For years all of the talk has been about how the salary cap, revenue sharing, and free agency have evened the playing field for all teams in the NFL. For many years in the late 90's and early 2000's there was, this thought that teams could go from worst to first and back, and many teams did just that. I think during this time teams were evolving and getting used to the cap and free agency, but now the smart owners, GM's, and coaches are separating themselves. For the first time in a long time you have teams that you know are going to be bad, and teams that should be good. See also - Week 4 scores, 9 of 14 games decided by 10 points or more. Week 3 scores, 10 of 16 games decided by 10 or more.
Speaking of really bad teams...
2. The Redskins are bad....really bad. Fact: The Redskins have scored just 87 points in 5 games this year. The Saints could do that in 8 quarters. Fact: The Redskins two wins this year have come against teams that haven't won a game. Fact: The Redskins have been the team against which two different 0-fer teams ended their losing streaks. I have an 0-5 fantasy football team on Yahoo.com and I am scrambling to get on the 'Skins schedule so I can get off the snide. Fact: Owner Daniel Snyder is trying to put together a real life fantasy team. Fact: The Redskins have drafted two offensive linemen in the last four drafts. Those last two facts are the reason they are so bad. The offensive line is the key to the offense. A team can gather as many skill position players as it wants, but without a good cohesive O-line they are toast.
3. Lots of Redskins fans have moved on to the Caps already. See above.
4. The WNBA finals were between the Phoenix Mercury and the Indiana Fever, which is every hack sportswriter's dream...The Fever is up and the Mercury is Rising!!
5. The best plan for a rookie quarterback is to walk the sidelines with a headset and clipboard for a year or two, and then play. See - Dolphins QB Chad Henne. Henne was 20 of 26 for 241 yards, 2 TD's, and no interceptions last week. He also won on Monday Night Football against the hot shot Jets and their pretty boy Mark Sanchez. Lately a few quarterbacks have come in and won right away, but many more have fallen flat on their faces. Letting a quarterback learn without getting beaten up seems to be the best way to make sure they are successful. See also - Aaron Rodgers, Carson Palmer, Matt Schaub, Kevin Kolb.
6. Rush Limbaugh - who cares? If the man has the means to be part owner of an NFL team, let him. At the end of the day the NFL is a business and no amount of player protest is going to stop the machine.
Showing posts with label Things I learned. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Things I learned. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Things I Learned This Weekend 3, 9-29-09
1. If you started making a list of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, you would write down a lot of names before you got to Tony Romo, and I think the Cowboys are starting to realize this. I have been saying for a long time that when you have Marion Barber (the scariest man in NFL, in my opinion) in the backfield, and DeMarcus Ware on defense, you build the team around them. The 'Boys are starting to do that. They obviously want to be a running team. They currently lead NFL in rushing. Last night Romo mostly threw safe passes to Jason Witten, who has more catches this season than the next two receivers combined. He threw no touchdowns, but also no picks, and the Cowboys won the game running the ball and playing good defense.
2. If you started making a list of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, you would write a lot more names before you got to Jake Delhomme. He flat out stinks this year. He better be careful or Steve Smith might punch him in the face.
3. Speaking of punches in the face - the Raiders, already the worst franchise in the league, have taken organizational dysfunction to a level never seen in the NFL before. It's dumbfounding. On the field they are pitiful. QB JaMarcus Russell is starting to look like a bust of Ryan Leaf proportions. On Sunday he completed 12 passes for a total of 61 yards, ouch. They didn't trust him to throw deep after two picks on passes intended for Darrius Heyward-Bey, better known as the luckiest recipient of first-round money ever. Off the field they are even worse, and that starts at the top. Al Davis is a crazy person. And then of course there is Head Coach Tom Cable. Today is has come out that the police are now investigating the incident in which Cable...broke an assistant coach's jaw! This incident was first made public back in August, but today we learned that the police and lawyers are involved. One lawyer said it is a textbook case of felony assault. Great leadership, from the top down, yields great franchises. As Colin Cowherd said on ESPN radio today, you need a great owner, GM, Head Coach, and quarterback. The Raiders are a mess at at least three of those positions.
4. Speaking of bad leadership...How about those Cleveland Browns? Head Coach Eric Mangini has not yet named a starter at quarterback for this weekend's game. On Sunday he benched Brady Quinn at halftime and in the second half Derek Anderson came in and promptly threw three interceptions. One of the oldest mantras in professional football is the team needs to know who the QB is going to be, so they have a direction and can prepare properly. At some point it is better to just name someone the starter than have no one.
5. Apparently Diana Taurasi is going to be named the WNBA MVP. Until today I thought she was still a UCONN Husky.
6. The MLB playoffs this year are going to be exciting. Eight teams make the playoffs and this year it is likely that six of those spots could be filled by teams that have recently won a World Series (NY Yankees, Boston, Detroit, LA Angels, Philadelphia, St. Louis), and it's possible that another recent World Series participant (Colorado) could make it as well. In other words, this year playoffs are going to be stocked with teams that know how to win.
7. If you started making a list of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, you wouldn't write down too many names before you wrote Brett Favre. He has still got it. He is the quintessential risk/reward QB. Every so often he has one of those 76-yard 4-int. games, but more often he does what he did Sunday, which in case you didn't see, was complete a touchdown pass at the back of the endzone with 2 seconds left to win the game. Now, as far as the play, I give the receiver a little more credit because his catch was incredible. But, Favre gets more credit for knowing what to do in that situation. In the post game press conference he said he knew he had to rifle the ball into the endzone to give his receiver the best chance to catch it. He said if he had lofted the ball, like most QB's would do there, it would give the defenders a chance to get to the ball, because they were in a zone, just playing to spots. He also said he knew he was going to be hit, and yet he stood there, took the hit, threw a bullet, and give his receiver the best chance to catch the ball. That's why the talking heads say Favre is worth four wins a year. There are times when Favre, and only Favre, can win you the game.
8. New York football fans, of which I am one, are really obnoxious. Are the Giants and Jets good? Yes. Are the Giants going to start the season 5-0? Most likely considering the cupcakes they have coming up on their schedule. Are the Jets for real? Yes. Are they going to meet in the Super Bowl? That is an absolute meta-physical certainty...if you ask a typical Giants or Jets fan. This type of hysteria happens every time a New York team has success. Both teams start 3-0 and the crazies go around the corner. It makes it hard to say out loud that I'm a Giants fan. I think tomorrow I'll go buy a Texans hat so I can get pity instead of scorn.
9. Rex Ryan don't play. He just suspended a piss ant receiver for tweeting about playing time. Damn.
10. Junior Seau hosted a bull riding event and got run over by a bull. The bull made Junior...wait for it...say ow...get it? Seau, Say Ow?
2. If you started making a list of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, you would write a lot more names before you got to Jake Delhomme. He flat out stinks this year. He better be careful or Steve Smith might punch him in the face.
3. Speaking of punches in the face - the Raiders, already the worst franchise in the league, have taken organizational dysfunction to a level never seen in the NFL before. It's dumbfounding. On the field they are pitiful. QB JaMarcus Russell is starting to look like a bust of Ryan Leaf proportions. On Sunday he completed 12 passes for a total of 61 yards, ouch. They didn't trust him to throw deep after two picks on passes intended for Darrius Heyward-Bey, better known as the luckiest recipient of first-round money ever. Off the field they are even worse, and that starts at the top. Al Davis is a crazy person. And then of course there is Head Coach Tom Cable. Today is has come out that the police are now investigating the incident in which Cable...broke an assistant coach's jaw! This incident was first made public back in August, but today we learned that the police and lawyers are involved. One lawyer said it is a textbook case of felony assault. Great leadership, from the top down, yields great franchises. As Colin Cowherd said on ESPN radio today, you need a great owner, GM, Head Coach, and quarterback. The Raiders are a mess at at least three of those positions.
4. Speaking of bad leadership...How about those Cleveland Browns? Head Coach Eric Mangini has not yet named a starter at quarterback for this weekend's game. On Sunday he benched Brady Quinn at halftime and in the second half Derek Anderson came in and promptly threw three interceptions. One of the oldest mantras in professional football is the team needs to know who the QB is going to be, so they have a direction and can prepare properly. At some point it is better to just name someone the starter than have no one.
5. Apparently Diana Taurasi is going to be named the WNBA MVP. Until today I thought she was still a UCONN Husky.
6. The MLB playoffs this year are going to be exciting. Eight teams make the playoffs and this year it is likely that six of those spots could be filled by teams that have recently won a World Series (NY Yankees, Boston, Detroit, LA Angels, Philadelphia, St. Louis), and it's possible that another recent World Series participant (Colorado) could make it as well. In other words, this year playoffs are going to be stocked with teams that know how to win.
7. If you started making a list of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, you wouldn't write down too many names before you wrote Brett Favre. He has still got it. He is the quintessential risk/reward QB. Every so often he has one of those 76-yard 4-int. games, but more often he does what he did Sunday, which in case you didn't see, was complete a touchdown pass at the back of the endzone with 2 seconds left to win the game. Now, as far as the play, I give the receiver a little more credit because his catch was incredible. But, Favre gets more credit for knowing what to do in that situation. In the post game press conference he said he knew he had to rifle the ball into the endzone to give his receiver the best chance to catch it. He said if he had lofted the ball, like most QB's would do there, it would give the defenders a chance to get to the ball, because they were in a zone, just playing to spots. He also said he knew he was going to be hit, and yet he stood there, took the hit, threw a bullet, and give his receiver the best chance to catch the ball. That's why the talking heads say Favre is worth four wins a year. There are times when Favre, and only Favre, can win you the game.
8. New York football fans, of which I am one, are really obnoxious. Are the Giants and Jets good? Yes. Are the Giants going to start the season 5-0? Most likely considering the cupcakes they have coming up on their schedule. Are the Jets for real? Yes. Are they going to meet in the Super Bowl? That is an absolute meta-physical certainty...if you ask a typical Giants or Jets fan. This type of hysteria happens every time a New York team has success. Both teams start 3-0 and the crazies go around the corner. It makes it hard to say out loud that I'm a Giants fan. I think tomorrow I'll go buy a Texans hat so I can get pity instead of scorn.
9. Rex Ryan don't play. He just suspended a piss ant receiver for tweeting about playing time. Damn.
10. Junior Seau hosted a bull riding event and got run over by a bull. The bull made Junior...wait for it...say ow...get it? Seau, Say Ow?
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Things I Learned This Weekend, no. 2, 9-22-09
1. The Jets' Darelle Revis might be the best corner in the league. He is a legit shutdown corner that you can leave on an island against the league's best receivers. This week he held Randy Moss to 4 catches and 24 yards. Last week he shutdown the Texans Andre Johnson. That's two of the three best receivers in the league in two weeks. This looks a lot like the first thing I learned last weekend.
2. The New York Jets are for real, and they have Rex Ryan to thank for that. He brought his crazy chaotic defense with him from Baltimore and it is giving trouble to every team they play.
3. The Giants gave the rest of the league the formula to beat a Tom Brady led team when they beat the Pats in the Super Bowl two years ago. Harass him to disrupt his timing. Brady plays with such precision that when it goes right, he looks perfect, but he makes mistakes when things are just a little off.
4. The WNBA gets no respect. The Eastern Conference Finals had to change venues because Sesame Street was in town. The Western Conference Finals had to move because of a Britney Spears concert. Who really cares though? I wouldn't watch the WNBA playoffs if they were being played in my living room.
5. Drinking your own urine doesn't make you a better boxer. See - Juan Manuel Marquez.
6. Robert Henson is a dope. Reaction to his twitter comments about Redskins fans are all over the media, the best being Mike Greenberg's rant this morning on Mike and Mike on ESPN. Henson is an idiot who will probably be working side by side in some office with one of these "dimwits" in the next year or so. Who am I kidding? This dummy wouldn't have an office job.
7. (BRS Homer alert no.1 ) The NY Giants can't score touchdowns in the red zone.
8. (BRS Homer alert no. 2) The Packers offensive line can make even Antwan Odom look like a star.
9. There are too many Pierres making noise in the NFL. That number would be two, Pierre Thomas and the ultra-French sounding Pierre Garcon. There should be a one Pierre limit.
10. UVA football has a bye this weekend...and the bye is favored by a touchdown. (That is one of the oldest jokes in sportswriting history, but it's always funny.)
2. The New York Jets are for real, and they have Rex Ryan to thank for that. He brought his crazy chaotic defense with him from Baltimore and it is giving trouble to every team they play.
3. The Giants gave the rest of the league the formula to beat a Tom Brady led team when they beat the Pats in the Super Bowl two years ago. Harass him to disrupt his timing. Brady plays with such precision that when it goes right, he looks perfect, but he makes mistakes when things are just a little off.
4. The WNBA gets no respect. The Eastern Conference Finals had to change venues because Sesame Street was in town. The Western Conference Finals had to move because of a Britney Spears concert. Who really cares though? I wouldn't watch the WNBA playoffs if they were being played in my living room.
5. Drinking your own urine doesn't make you a better boxer. See - Juan Manuel Marquez.
6. Robert Henson is a dope. Reaction to his twitter comments about Redskins fans are all over the media, the best being Mike Greenberg's rant this morning on Mike and Mike on ESPN. Henson is an idiot who will probably be working side by side in some office with one of these "dimwits" in the next year or so. Who am I kidding? This dummy wouldn't have an office job.
7. (BRS Homer alert no.1 ) The NY Giants can't score touchdowns in the red zone.
8. (BRS Homer alert no. 2) The Packers offensive line can make even Antwan Odom look like a star.
9. There are too many Pierres making noise in the NFL. That number would be two, Pierre Thomas and the ultra-French sounding Pierre Garcon. There should be a one Pierre limit.
10. UVA football has a bye this weekend...and the bye is favored by a touchdown. (That is one of the oldest jokes in sportswriting history, but it's always funny.)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Things I Learned This Weekend...
1. A true shutdown corner is the rarest player in the NFL, and goes a long way to helping his team win. See - Nate Clements, SF 49ers. Clements essentially single covered Larry Fitzgerald all day. Fitzy did catch for 71 yards and a touchdown, but that is an off day in his world. San Fran left Clements on an island with Fitzgerald, Clements slowed him down, got a pick, and San Francisco won the game. See also, Antoine Winfield, Minn.
2. Good teams play well, great teams know how to finish. See - Buffalo vs. New England on MNF. Buffalo was playing a great game, especially on defense. They were shutting down Tom Brady and the Pats, and moving the ball even with T.O. being almost non-existent. Buffalo had the lead for the first 58 minutes of the game. But in the 4th quarter you could see the Pats picking up steam. In the final two minutes Tom Terrific threw 2 TD passes which sandwiched a Leodis McKelvin fumble on a kick-off. Final score, Pats 25 - Bills 24. The Bills are young and need to learn how to win. See also - Oakland vs. San Diego
3. Buffalo has a decent defense, and will get better with experience. Aaron Schobel is great. Paul Posluszny is great when he isn't injured. The defensive backfield could be amazing, in time, with McKelvin, Terrance McGee, and Donte Whitner. And to think, this team also used to have Nate Clements and Antoine Winfield (see no. 1).
4. Oakland will never learn to win as long as Al Davis is their owner. He is a crazy person.
5. Fantasy football almost made me forget that I have a first place fantasy baseball team to maintain.
6. A lot of my friends on Facebook care about their fantasy football teams and their favorite NFL teams.
7. Many more of my friends on Facebook care about Kanye West.
8. Having a sophisticated fan base leads to interesting things in the stands. See - UVA vs. TCU. I attended this game with my buddy Brad, a lifetime UVA fan and season ticket holder. With about six minutes to go UVA was down 30-0 because their we'll-tell-the-media-it's-a-spread-but-it's-really-a-bad-single-wing-offense could barely get into TCU territory, much less score. Then, they finally threw their first downfield pass of the game. The ball sailed over the receiver's head and landed about eight yards in front of him. Everyone in the stands stood, clapped, and gave what I can only describe as the loudest and most sarcastic, patronizing cheer I have ever heard at live sporting event. I have never heard such enthusiastic "it's about time" or "what good is that?" or "nice throw!" This bizarre cheering was topped on the next play when the UVA quarterback threw another deep pass, overthrew his intended receiver again, but had a different receiver catch the ball and take it in for a touchdown. See also - English soccer fans, who chant, "If you won the war, stand up.", when they play Germany.
9. ESPN's games that you allow to bet on games, i.e. Streak for the Cash, College Pick 'em, Pigskin Pick 'em, Eliminator Challenge etc., occupy too much of my thinking. See also - all of these same games on Yahoo.com, or Sportingnews.com, or Cbssports.com.....you get the idea.
10. I couldn't think of a tenth thing, so here is a tribute to two fallen legends.
2. Good teams play well, great teams know how to finish. See - Buffalo vs. New England on MNF. Buffalo was playing a great game, especially on defense. They were shutting down Tom Brady and the Pats, and moving the ball even with T.O. being almost non-existent. Buffalo had the lead for the first 58 minutes of the game. But in the 4th quarter you could see the Pats picking up steam. In the final two minutes Tom Terrific threw 2 TD passes which sandwiched a Leodis McKelvin fumble on a kick-off. Final score, Pats 25 - Bills 24. The Bills are young and need to learn how to win. See also - Oakland vs. San Diego
3. Buffalo has a decent defense, and will get better with experience. Aaron Schobel is great. Paul Posluszny is great when he isn't injured. The defensive backfield could be amazing, in time, with McKelvin, Terrance McGee, and Donte Whitner. And to think, this team also used to have Nate Clements and Antoine Winfield (see no. 1).
4. Oakland will never learn to win as long as Al Davis is their owner. He is a crazy person.
5. Fantasy football almost made me forget that I have a first place fantasy baseball team to maintain.
6. A lot of my friends on Facebook care about their fantasy football teams and their favorite NFL teams.
7. Many more of my friends on Facebook care about Kanye West.
8. Having a sophisticated fan base leads to interesting things in the stands. See - UVA vs. TCU. I attended this game with my buddy Brad, a lifetime UVA fan and season ticket holder. With about six minutes to go UVA was down 30-0 because their we'll-tell-the-media-it's-a-spread-but-it's-really-a-bad-single-wing-offense could barely get into TCU territory, much less score. Then, they finally threw their first downfield pass of the game. The ball sailed over the receiver's head and landed about eight yards in front of him. Everyone in the stands stood, clapped, and gave what I can only describe as the loudest and most sarcastic, patronizing cheer I have ever heard at live sporting event. I have never heard such enthusiastic "it's about time" or "what good is that?" or "nice throw!" This bizarre cheering was topped on the next play when the UVA quarterback threw another deep pass, overthrew his intended receiver again, but had a different receiver catch the ball and take it in for a touchdown. See also - English soccer fans, who chant, "If you won the war, stand up.", when they play Germany.
9. ESPN's games that you allow to bet on games, i.e. Streak for the Cash, College Pick 'em, Pigskin Pick 'em, Eliminator Challenge etc., occupy too much of my thinking. See also - all of these same games on Yahoo.com, or Sportingnews.com, or Cbssports.com.....you get the idea.
10. I couldn't think of a tenth thing, so here is a tribute to two fallen legends.
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