Stat of the week No. 1: Drew Brees threw for more than 300 yards and five touchdowns without an interception for the third time in his career, joining Tom Brady as the only players since 1970 to accomplish the feat at least three times (Brady has done it four times).
Stat of the week No. 2: Arian Foster became just the fourth player since the merger to run for 100 yards, have 100 receiving yards and score three touchdowns in the same game (2007- Brian Westbrook, 2002 – Priest Holmes, 1973 – Larry Brown).
Stat of the week No. 3: Denver Broncos are the first team since 1970 to come-from-behind to win after trailing by 15 or more points with three minutes remaining in a game.
Stat of the week No. 4: Since Art Monk retired as the NFL’s leader in receptions after the 1995 season, 11 players have passed him, including Derrick Mason this past Sunday.
Stat of the week No. 5: Cam Newton has seven rushing touchdowns, which is two more than Chris Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew, LaDainian Tomlinson and DeAngelo Williams combined.
Bonus Stat of the Week: In four career starts, Tim Tebow has two fourth-quarter comebacks from at least 13 points down. The same number John Elway had in 231 career starts.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The Falcons rounding into form and other NFL thoughts
(1) The Atlanta Falcons still don’t look like the Super Bowl contender that many people expected them to be at the beginning of the season, but they have shown a great deal of grittiness and determination over the last few weeks to turn around a very slow start. On paper, this version of the Falcons doesn’t seem to do anything particularly well, but they have reverted to an identity that has worked well for them in the past: a balanced offense led by the running game. In their three losses, the Falcons have averaged nearly 2.5 more pass attempts than running plays. Even though Matt Ryan is a better quarterback in his fourth year and they have added an elite playmaker in Julio Jones, the Falcons should not be throwing the ball an average of 42 times per game. Atlanta has been at its best over the last three plus seasons when they relied on a heavy dose of Michael Turner to soften up defenses and set-up the play action passing game. In their victories, it is clear from the numbers that the Falcons have focused much more on the running game, which has reduced the pressure on Ryan and paid dividends in the standings. When they have won this season, the Falcons have averaged sixty more yards rushing than in their losses and they have had essentially a 50-50 split between passes and runs. The bigger impact of the balanced offense has been a huge reduction in turnovers. One of the major reasons that the Falcons have lost three games is that they have turned the ball over, on average, nearly three times in those ballgames. Without the security of the running game, Ryan has had to drop back way too many times behind shaky pass protection, which has led to a far greater number of giveaways than expected. When Ryan and the pass blockers have been shielded by an effective rush attack, the Falcons have averaged only one turnover per game. This is the team that we have become accustomed to seeing over the last three seasons. This is the team that has averaged 11 victories in the last three years behind a power running game and steady quarterback play. This is the team that should have their rivals in the NFC South worried that the Super Bowl contender that we all envisioned has finally been awakened.
(2) Personally, I don’t get the excessive hype surrounding or the vitriol directed at Tim Tebow. Both extremes don’t do the kid any justice. It is great that he is the type of guy that you would like your daughter to date. It is great that his legend is as big as the state of Florida. It is great that his list of intangibles make the heads of teammates, coaches and personnel people spin. Does it mean that we have to spend countless hours fawning over, dissecting and/or criticizing a guy that has accomplished very little in the NFL? I would like someone to wake me when his acute case of the happy feet is cured or when he can consistently and accurately throw all of the routes that NFL quarterbacks have to throw in order to be successful or when his first instinct isn’t to tuck and run. Call me old school, but I just think that athletes need to accomplish something beyond being a cult hero in order to deserve all of the extra attention. It is the same reason that I can’t stand all of the attention that Danica Patrick receives or that Anna Kournikova got back in the day. What has Tebow accomplished since becoming a professional football player besides being the most popular back-up quarterback in NFL history? I believe that the hype surrounding Tebow is one of the major reasons why a percentage of football fans have to cover their mouths when they hear his name for fear of throwing up their lunch. Tebow didn’t ask to be covered by the media in this over-the-top fashion, but he still has to live with the repercussions. From all accounts, he has never tried to agitate for the starting job in Denver. Frankly, he has gone out of his way to downplay the controversy and be completely supportive of the Denver organization. Unfortunately, being the good solider had done nothing to change certain people’s perception of Tebow. The reason that people still “hate” him despite his best efforts is because he has cultivated an image that is easy to resent. He is the religious missionary do-gooder, who is saving himself for marriage and always says please and thank you. A segment of the population cannot stand anyone that presents themselves in such a perfect light. These “haters” are praying for his downfall, so that they can all point fingers and tell us ‘I told you so.’ Unfortunately, none of the things that people spend the most time talking about in regards to Tebow have anything to do with his ability to play football. The general public needs to spend less time analyzing Tebow the person and more time talking about Tebow the player. It is irrefutable that he is a winner, but that character trait alone will not guarantee success in the NFL. My plea is that we tone down the personal attacks and the doomsday predictions of his ability to succeed and allow the drama to play out on its own.
(3) Quick Hits
• The hottest seat in the NFL still belongs to Tony Sparano, but Jim Caldwell is zooming up the charts following the Colts’ disgraceful display on national television on Sunday Night football. It looked to me like the Colts had quit in certain spots, which is the biggest indictment of a coach that you can find.
• DeMarco Murray submitted the 10th best rushing performance in NFL history and looks ready to carve out a significant role in the Dallas offense. Felix Jones is still the starter, but if he cannot stay healthy he might find his position usurped by Murray.
• The start of the Christian Ponder era in Minnesota wasn’t perfect, but it provided a glimpse of what Vikings’ fans can look forward to over the next 3-4 years: dominant running from Adrian Peterson and heady quarterback play from Ponder.
• The shine is officially off Matt Hasselbeck in Tennessee. After posting a QB rating of 93 or higher during the Titans’ 3-1 start to the season, Hasselbeck has looked putrid over the last two weeks culminating with disastrous performance against the Houston Texans at home following a bye. With a few more stinkers like this one, the Titans will be rolling out the red carpet on the Jake Locker era.
• The Steelers are rolling right now and their 2-2 start is all but a distant memory. Their defense is starting to play up to their reputation and their offense is building a big-play personality behind Ben Roethlisberger and Mike Wallace. Their recent stellar play comes at the right time as the Steelers head into a six week stretch where they play New England, Baltimore, Kansas City and Cincinnati (twice). This portion of their schedule will define whether the Steelers are truly a playoff team or just a pretender.
(2) Personally, I don’t get the excessive hype surrounding or the vitriol directed at Tim Tebow. Both extremes don’t do the kid any justice. It is great that he is the type of guy that you would like your daughter to date. It is great that his legend is as big as the state of Florida. It is great that his list of intangibles make the heads of teammates, coaches and personnel people spin. Does it mean that we have to spend countless hours fawning over, dissecting and/or criticizing a guy that has accomplished very little in the NFL? I would like someone to wake me when his acute case of the happy feet is cured or when he can consistently and accurately throw all of the routes that NFL quarterbacks have to throw in order to be successful or when his first instinct isn’t to tuck and run. Call me old school, but I just think that athletes need to accomplish something beyond being a cult hero in order to deserve all of the extra attention. It is the same reason that I can’t stand all of the attention that Danica Patrick receives or that Anna Kournikova got back in the day. What has Tebow accomplished since becoming a professional football player besides being the most popular back-up quarterback in NFL history? I believe that the hype surrounding Tebow is one of the major reasons why a percentage of football fans have to cover their mouths when they hear his name for fear of throwing up their lunch. Tebow didn’t ask to be covered by the media in this over-the-top fashion, but he still has to live with the repercussions. From all accounts, he has never tried to agitate for the starting job in Denver. Frankly, he has gone out of his way to downplay the controversy and be completely supportive of the Denver organization. Unfortunately, being the good solider had done nothing to change certain people’s perception of Tebow. The reason that people still “hate” him despite his best efforts is because he has cultivated an image that is easy to resent. He is the religious missionary do-gooder, who is saving himself for marriage and always says please and thank you. A segment of the population cannot stand anyone that presents themselves in such a perfect light. These “haters” are praying for his downfall, so that they can all point fingers and tell us ‘I told you so.’ Unfortunately, none of the things that people spend the most time talking about in regards to Tebow have anything to do with his ability to play football. The general public needs to spend less time analyzing Tebow the person and more time talking about Tebow the player. It is irrefutable that he is a winner, but that character trait alone will not guarantee success in the NFL. My plea is that we tone down the personal attacks and the doomsday predictions of his ability to succeed and allow the drama to play out on its own.
(3) Quick Hits
• The hottest seat in the NFL still belongs to Tony Sparano, but Jim Caldwell is zooming up the charts following the Colts’ disgraceful display on national television on Sunday Night football. It looked to me like the Colts had quit in certain spots, which is the biggest indictment of a coach that you can find.
• DeMarco Murray submitted the 10th best rushing performance in NFL history and looks ready to carve out a significant role in the Dallas offense. Felix Jones is still the starter, but if he cannot stay healthy he might find his position usurped by Murray.
• The start of the Christian Ponder era in Minnesota wasn’t perfect, but it provided a glimpse of what Vikings’ fans can look forward to over the next 3-4 years: dominant running from Adrian Peterson and heady quarterback play from Ponder.
• The shine is officially off Matt Hasselbeck in Tennessee. After posting a QB rating of 93 or higher during the Titans’ 3-1 start to the season, Hasselbeck has looked putrid over the last two weeks culminating with disastrous performance against the Houston Texans at home following a bye. With a few more stinkers like this one, the Titans will be rolling out the red carpet on the Jake Locker era.
• The Steelers are rolling right now and their 2-2 start is all but a distant memory. Their defense is starting to play up to their reputation and their offense is building a big-play personality behind Ben Roethlisberger and Mike Wallace. Their recent stellar play comes at the right time as the Steelers head into a six week stretch where they play New England, Baltimore, Kansas City and Cincinnati (twice). This portion of their schedule will define whether the Steelers are truly a playoff team or just a pretender.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Commish's Game of the Week: San Diego at New York
Preview
The San Diego Chargers have had a fast start to a season for one of the few times in the Norv Turner era, but the impressive record has largely been built against the bottom tier of teams in the NFL. Starting with this week’s match-up with the Jets, the Chargers face teams with a .500 record or better in eight of the last 11 weeks. The big question for San Diego is still related to their ability to finish the season strong. On paper, the Chargers appear to have a lot of the characteristics of an 11- or 12-win team. First of all, they have a top 10 offense led by a preseason MVP candidate at quarterback. Philip Rivers hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire this year, but you have to figure that things are going to start tilting in the other direction for the Pro Bowl quarterback. Secondly, there is no team in the NFL better than the Chargers at converting third down opportunities and keeping drives alive. San Diego has converted an astounding 56.5% of their third downs, which they have accomplished largely without any contributions from Antonio Gates. Finally, the Chargers have a strong defensive unit especially against the pass. Unfortunately, there are a couple of problem areas that could undermine their success on offense and defense similarly to their special teams’ breakdowns in 2010. The biggest area of concern has to be the -5 turnover differential. The most significant contributing factor to the awful turnover ratio has been Rivers’ inability to protect the football. Rivers has turned the ball over nine times (7 interceptions and two fumbles lost). The other area of concern, the Chargers’ inability to protect the quarterback, is probably one of the major reasons why Rivers has such a high number of giveaways this season. The silver lining is that San Diego has won four out of five games despite their offensive struggles. The optimist would say that it is a good sign for their mental toughness that they have been able to find ways to win games despite playing less than perfect football. The naysayers would counter by stating that the Chargers’ subpar efforts are good enough to beat the Kansas City Chiefs, but are going to come up woefully short when the schedule gets tougher.
The Jets, on the other hand, don’t have a lot of positives to hang their hat on this year. They have gone from being a popular pick to win the AFC East and make a Super Bowl run to a team that has lost its identity in the midst of poor play and a deteriorating locker room environment. The team from the last two seasons that wanted to run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense has largely disappeared in 2011. The injury to Nick Mangold has obviously had an impact on New York’s entire offense, but they should still be better than the 31st ranked rushing offense. The same can be said for the Jets’ defense, which has been carved up on a regular basis by opposing running games and enters Sunday’s match-up as the 28th ranked run defense. Ultimately, the Jets are going to have to assume the “Ground & Pound” persona again because Mark Sanchez and the talent at wide receiver are not ready to make the shift to being a primarily passing team. On the bright side, the Jets have a couple of positives on the defensive side of the ball that they can lean on while they work to correct their flaws. First of all, they have been one of the stingiest pass defenses in the league. You could say that their lofty ranking is the result of their opponents eschewing the pass to run the ball down their throats, but the presence of stellar defenders like Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie makes it feel like this is a legitimate strength of the New York defense. Secondly, the Jets have done a fine job sacking the quarterback through the first quarter of the season. More important than the 17 sacks is the fact that the Jets have had 10 different players register at least ½ a sack. Often times, an elite pass rusher can be neutralized by the opposing team’s offensive scheme, but a team, like the Jets, that can bring pressure with a variety of bodies is much harder to defend. The Jets were able to flex their lost muscle on Monday night against the woeful Dolphins, but San Diego is going to provide a whole different level of competition.
Keys to the Game
1. Third Down Efficiency – This game pits the best offense (San Diego) at converting third down opportunities against the best defense (New York) at preventing third downs from being converted. As the saying goes, something has to give. If the Chargers continue to convert at their present rate, then they will win this game in dominating fashion. The Jets’ best chance to win involves forcing their will upon the Chargers, especially on third down.
2. Protecting the quarterback – Neither of these teams has done a particularly good job of protecting the quarterback. The difference is that the Jets have a much more accomplished pass rush than the Chargers. New York has a clear advantage in this area, so they must continue to pressure the passer.
3. Control Rivers – The other strength of the Jets’ defense is their pass defense. Although they have a decent running game, the Chargers clearly want to lead with the pass. The Jets have to make sure that Vincent Jackson’s visit to Revis Island is an unpleasant one. Jackson is the Chargers’ best deep threat, so shutting him down will force San Diego to mount long, sustained drives, which increases the opportunities to create turnovers.
Prediction
San Diego 24 – New York Jets 20
The San Diego Chargers have had a fast start to a season for one of the few times in the Norv Turner era, but the impressive record has largely been built against the bottom tier of teams in the NFL. Starting with this week’s match-up with the Jets, the Chargers face teams with a .500 record or better in eight of the last 11 weeks. The big question for San Diego is still related to their ability to finish the season strong. On paper, the Chargers appear to have a lot of the characteristics of an 11- or 12-win team. First of all, they have a top 10 offense led by a preseason MVP candidate at quarterback. Philip Rivers hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire this year, but you have to figure that things are going to start tilting in the other direction for the Pro Bowl quarterback. Secondly, there is no team in the NFL better than the Chargers at converting third down opportunities and keeping drives alive. San Diego has converted an astounding 56.5% of their third downs, which they have accomplished largely without any contributions from Antonio Gates. Finally, the Chargers have a strong defensive unit especially against the pass. Unfortunately, there are a couple of problem areas that could undermine their success on offense and defense similarly to their special teams’ breakdowns in 2010. The biggest area of concern has to be the -5 turnover differential. The most significant contributing factor to the awful turnover ratio has been Rivers’ inability to protect the football. Rivers has turned the ball over nine times (7 interceptions and two fumbles lost). The other area of concern, the Chargers’ inability to protect the quarterback, is probably one of the major reasons why Rivers has such a high number of giveaways this season. The silver lining is that San Diego has won four out of five games despite their offensive struggles. The optimist would say that it is a good sign for their mental toughness that they have been able to find ways to win games despite playing less than perfect football. The naysayers would counter by stating that the Chargers’ subpar efforts are good enough to beat the Kansas City Chiefs, but are going to come up woefully short when the schedule gets tougher.
The Jets, on the other hand, don’t have a lot of positives to hang their hat on this year. They have gone from being a popular pick to win the AFC East and make a Super Bowl run to a team that has lost its identity in the midst of poor play and a deteriorating locker room environment. The team from the last two seasons that wanted to run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense has largely disappeared in 2011. The injury to Nick Mangold has obviously had an impact on New York’s entire offense, but they should still be better than the 31st ranked rushing offense. The same can be said for the Jets’ defense, which has been carved up on a regular basis by opposing running games and enters Sunday’s match-up as the 28th ranked run defense. Ultimately, the Jets are going to have to assume the “Ground & Pound” persona again because Mark Sanchez and the talent at wide receiver are not ready to make the shift to being a primarily passing team. On the bright side, the Jets have a couple of positives on the defensive side of the ball that they can lean on while they work to correct their flaws. First of all, they have been one of the stingiest pass defenses in the league. You could say that their lofty ranking is the result of their opponents eschewing the pass to run the ball down their throats, but the presence of stellar defenders like Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie makes it feel like this is a legitimate strength of the New York defense. Secondly, the Jets have done a fine job sacking the quarterback through the first quarter of the season. More important than the 17 sacks is the fact that the Jets have had 10 different players register at least ½ a sack. Often times, an elite pass rusher can be neutralized by the opposing team’s offensive scheme, but a team, like the Jets, that can bring pressure with a variety of bodies is much harder to defend. The Jets were able to flex their lost muscle on Monday night against the woeful Dolphins, but San Diego is going to provide a whole different level of competition.
Keys to the Game
1. Third Down Efficiency – This game pits the best offense (San Diego) at converting third down opportunities against the best defense (New York) at preventing third downs from being converted. As the saying goes, something has to give. If the Chargers continue to convert at their present rate, then they will win this game in dominating fashion. The Jets’ best chance to win involves forcing their will upon the Chargers, especially on third down.
2. Protecting the quarterback – Neither of these teams has done a particularly good job of protecting the quarterback. The difference is that the Jets have a much more accomplished pass rush than the Chargers. New York has a clear advantage in this area, so they must continue to pressure the passer.
3. Control Rivers – The other strength of the Jets’ defense is their pass defense. Although they have a decent running game, the Chargers clearly want to lead with the pass. The Jets have to make sure that Vincent Jackson’s visit to Revis Island is an unpleasant one. Jackson is the Chargers’ best deep threat, so shutting him down will force San Diego to mount long, sustained drives, which increases the opportunities to create turnovers.
Prediction
San Diego 24 – New York Jets 20
Week Seven Picks
Here are my picks for week seven (home teams in CAPS):
Chargers over JETS
Seahawks over BROWNS
LIONS over Falcons
BUCCANEERS over Bears
Broncos over DOLPHINS
PANTHERS over Redskins
TITANS over Texans
Steelers over CARDINALS
RAIDERS over Chiefs
Packers over VIKINGS
COWBOYS over Rams
SAINTS over Colts
Ravens over JAGUARS
Last Week: 9-4
Overall: 60-30
Chargers over JETS
Seahawks over BROWNS
LIONS over Falcons
BUCCANEERS over Bears
Broncos over DOLPHINS
PANTHERS over Redskins
TITANS over Texans
Steelers over CARDINALS
RAIDERS over Chiefs
Packers over VIKINGS
COWBOYS over Rams
SAINTS over Colts
Ravens over JAGUARS
Last Week: 9-4
Overall: 60-30
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Week Six Stats of the Week
Stat of the week No. 1: The Detroit Lions’ last two opponents at Ford Field, the 49ers and the Bears, committed 14 false start penalties.
Stat of the week No. 2: The Packers are 6-0 for the first time since 1965. They are the seventh defending champ to start at least 6-0 and the first since the 2007 Colts. They are the fourth defending champ to be the NFL’s final unbeaten team (1998 Broncos – won the Super Bowl, 1990 49ers – lost in NFC Championship Game, 1986 Bears – lost in Divisional Playoffs).
Stat of the week No. 3: Ray Lewis is the only player in NFL history to amass 40 sacks and 30 interceptions in a career.
Stat of the week No. 4: Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are now tied with Dan Marino and Don Shula for the most wins by a QB/Head Coach tandem with 116 wins.
Stat of the week No. 5: Jimmy Graham joined Tony Gonzalez as the only tight ends in NFL history to have four consecutive 100-yard receiving games in a single season.
Stat of the week No. 2: The Packers are 6-0 for the first time since 1965. They are the seventh defending champ to start at least 6-0 and the first since the 2007 Colts. They are the fourth defending champ to be the NFL’s final unbeaten team (1998 Broncos – won the Super Bowl, 1990 49ers – lost in NFC Championship Game, 1986 Bears – lost in Divisional Playoffs).
Stat of the week No. 3: Ray Lewis is the only player in NFL history to amass 40 sacks and 30 interceptions in a career.
Stat of the week No. 4: Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are now tied with Dan Marino and Don Shula for the most wins by a QB/Head Coach tandem with 116 wins.
Stat of the week No. 5: Jimmy Graham joined Tony Gonzalez as the only tight ends in NFL history to have four consecutive 100-yard receiving games in a single season.
Harbaugh's histrionics and other NFL thoughts
(1) After the amazing start to his NFL head coaching career, there is little doubt that Jim Harbaugh is one heck of a coach. The San Francisco 49ers have been one of the laughing stock of the NFL prior to Harbaugh’s arrival and he has them poised to be a division winner and possible a top-two seed in his first year. Unfortunately, Harbaugh has left little doubt that he has no use for class, protocol or anything else that professional football coaches extend to each other. His over the top post-game handshake with Jim Schwartz was just the latest example of his disdain for his opponents. Frankly, throughout his time as a head coach, Harbaugh has come across as a huge jerk that doesn’t care about the impact of his words or his actions. When he was first hired at Stanford, he made statements about Pete Carroll leaving USC within a year, which was an obvious tactic to hurt the recruiting machine that Carroll had built in Troy. He later made disparaging comments about the academic standards of his alma mater, Michigan, which were supported by fact but were nonetheless unnecessary. Finally, he made postgame remarks to his team, following last year’s 41-0 drubbing of the Washington Huskies, in regards to kicking the ass of the “highest-paid coaching staff around.”
Harbaugh’s supporters would say that these are examples of his ultra-competitiveness getting the best of him. In my opinion, that is only an excuse for a guy that makes these statements in a purposeful way to ruffle the feathers of his rivals. My advice to Harbaugh would be to shut his mouth and tone down his antics, so that the success of his football teams is the main attraction rather than the actions of the head coach. It is a shame that we are focusing on the infantile confrontation between two NFL coaches rather than an excellent football game played between the Detroit Lions and the 49ers. The focus today should be about San Francisco’s ability to take the Lions’ best shot and still come away victorious on the road. We should be talking about Frank Gore’s outstanding day on the ground and the stifling defensive effort led by Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman. Instead, we are talking about Harbaugh’s ridiculous attempt to show up his peer and Schwartz’s equally childish attempts to chase Harbaugh into the locker room and start a fight. Unfortunately, as long as Harbaugh continues to win, he isn’t going to stop his pompous routine because he doesn’t care about anyone that doesn’t work for the 49ers’ franchise. The only way to stop him is to beat him so badly on a regular basis that the York family has no choice but to fire him. Based on his track record, I think that is wishful thinking.
(2) The Washington Redskins are blowing an opportunity to take control of the NFC East because they have one of the three worst quarterback situations in the National Football League. It should come as no surprise that the Skins are struggling at the quarterback position considering the options that they started the season with, but their deficiencies at this key position have been magnified by the fact that their division is eminently winnable. The New York Giants have been beset by injuries and can be best described as up-and-down. The Dallas Cowboys are a disaster waiting to happen and the Philadelphia Eagles have failed miserably in their attempt to build their own fantasy football team. Unfortunately, Washington is blowing their chance because they foolishly decided to go all in with Rex Grossman as their starter and John Beck as the back-up quarterback. The Washington coaching staff wanted us to believe that they really liked what they had at quarterback, but everyone could see that their choice wasn’t going to work out well. It was amazing to me that the Redskins’ brain trust didn’t seem to remember that Grossman’s best NFL days involved riding an elite defense’s coattails to the 2006 Super Bowl. Other than a few good moments during the 2005 season and resulting playoff run, Grossman’s NFL career can be summed up in one word: bleh. They also didn’t seem to notice that Beck hadn’t had anything remotely close to a good day in the NFL. Nevertheless, the Skins rolled the dice that Sexy Rexy could rekindle his glory days when he tried to not make mistakes and allowed his dominant defense to win games. Instead, Grossman has turned the ball over 11 times in five games and has basically wasted a defense that is allowing only 16.6 points per game. He has saved his worst performances for the times that Washington has lost this year with over half of his turnovers coming in those two games. The Redskins lost by two points to Dallas and by seven points to Philadelphia, when Grossman threw three interceptions inside the Eagles’ 30-yard line, so it is safe to say that the Redskins have been just a Grossman away from being undefeated. Now, Mike Shanahan is in the unenviable position of having to choose between two flawed choices to lead his team into their next game. As a result of their huge disadvantage at quarterback, I predict that the Skins will be watching the playoffs yet again instead of participating in them.
(3) With the early success of Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco and Mark Sanchez and the impressive debuts of Cam Newton and Andy Dalton, I think it is time for the Minnesota Vikings to hand over the starting quarterback job to Christian Ponder. Honestly, I’m not sure why it has taken six weeks to even get to the point where Ponder is a viable candidate to run the show. Anyone that has watched Donovan McNabb play this year can see that he has lost his fastball completely, so he probably should have been replaced a couple of weeks ago when any magic that Ponder could have mustered might have been able to save the Vikings’ season. At this point, Minnesota has nothing other than pride to play for, so Leslie Frazier should make the switch to his rookie quarterback. He will be throwing his youngster to the wolves against the defending Super Bowl champs this Sunday, but a week eight match-up in Carolina and a week nine bye should allow Ponder to get better acclimated to being an NFL quarterback. In the best case scenario, Ponder has some early success a la Andy Dalton and the Vikings win a few games that they would have lost with McNabb short-hopping throws to open receivers. In the worst case scenario, Minnesota continues to lose but Ponder earns some valuable experience like Blaine Gabbert in Jacksonville. Either way, the Vikings are finding out what they have in the future right now instead of blindly handing the football to McNabb on a weekly basis as he kills the spirit of his teammates’ and fans’. The sad part is that a classy veteran like McNabb is going to finally have to face the facts that he is no longer a starting quarterback in the NFL. He has to decide whether or not he wants to hold a clipboard for the next couple of years and collect a few more checks or if he wants to hang up the cleats with his pride still intact.
Harbaugh’s supporters would say that these are examples of his ultra-competitiveness getting the best of him. In my opinion, that is only an excuse for a guy that makes these statements in a purposeful way to ruffle the feathers of his rivals. My advice to Harbaugh would be to shut his mouth and tone down his antics, so that the success of his football teams is the main attraction rather than the actions of the head coach. It is a shame that we are focusing on the infantile confrontation between two NFL coaches rather than an excellent football game played between the Detroit Lions and the 49ers. The focus today should be about San Francisco’s ability to take the Lions’ best shot and still come away victorious on the road. We should be talking about Frank Gore’s outstanding day on the ground and the stifling defensive effort led by Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman. Instead, we are talking about Harbaugh’s ridiculous attempt to show up his peer and Schwartz’s equally childish attempts to chase Harbaugh into the locker room and start a fight. Unfortunately, as long as Harbaugh continues to win, he isn’t going to stop his pompous routine because he doesn’t care about anyone that doesn’t work for the 49ers’ franchise. The only way to stop him is to beat him so badly on a regular basis that the York family has no choice but to fire him. Based on his track record, I think that is wishful thinking.
(2) The Washington Redskins are blowing an opportunity to take control of the NFC East because they have one of the three worst quarterback situations in the National Football League. It should come as no surprise that the Skins are struggling at the quarterback position considering the options that they started the season with, but their deficiencies at this key position have been magnified by the fact that their division is eminently winnable. The New York Giants have been beset by injuries and can be best described as up-and-down. The Dallas Cowboys are a disaster waiting to happen and the Philadelphia Eagles have failed miserably in their attempt to build their own fantasy football team. Unfortunately, Washington is blowing their chance because they foolishly decided to go all in with Rex Grossman as their starter and John Beck as the back-up quarterback. The Washington coaching staff wanted us to believe that they really liked what they had at quarterback, but everyone could see that their choice wasn’t going to work out well. It was amazing to me that the Redskins’ brain trust didn’t seem to remember that Grossman’s best NFL days involved riding an elite defense’s coattails to the 2006 Super Bowl. Other than a few good moments during the 2005 season and resulting playoff run, Grossman’s NFL career can be summed up in one word: bleh. They also didn’t seem to notice that Beck hadn’t had anything remotely close to a good day in the NFL. Nevertheless, the Skins rolled the dice that Sexy Rexy could rekindle his glory days when he tried to not make mistakes and allowed his dominant defense to win games. Instead, Grossman has turned the ball over 11 times in five games and has basically wasted a defense that is allowing only 16.6 points per game. He has saved his worst performances for the times that Washington has lost this year with over half of his turnovers coming in those two games. The Redskins lost by two points to Dallas and by seven points to Philadelphia, when Grossman threw three interceptions inside the Eagles’ 30-yard line, so it is safe to say that the Redskins have been just a Grossman away from being undefeated. Now, Mike Shanahan is in the unenviable position of having to choose between two flawed choices to lead his team into their next game. As a result of their huge disadvantage at quarterback, I predict that the Skins will be watching the playoffs yet again instead of participating in them.
(3) With the early success of Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco and Mark Sanchez and the impressive debuts of Cam Newton and Andy Dalton, I think it is time for the Minnesota Vikings to hand over the starting quarterback job to Christian Ponder. Honestly, I’m not sure why it has taken six weeks to even get to the point where Ponder is a viable candidate to run the show. Anyone that has watched Donovan McNabb play this year can see that he has lost his fastball completely, so he probably should have been replaced a couple of weeks ago when any magic that Ponder could have mustered might have been able to save the Vikings’ season. At this point, Minnesota has nothing other than pride to play for, so Leslie Frazier should make the switch to his rookie quarterback. He will be throwing his youngster to the wolves against the defending Super Bowl champs this Sunday, but a week eight match-up in Carolina and a week nine bye should allow Ponder to get better acclimated to being an NFL quarterback. In the best case scenario, Ponder has some early success a la Andy Dalton and the Vikings win a few games that they would have lost with McNabb short-hopping throws to open receivers. In the worst case scenario, Minnesota continues to lose but Ponder earns some valuable experience like Blaine Gabbert in Jacksonville. Either way, the Vikings are finding out what they have in the future right now instead of blindly handing the football to McNabb on a weekly basis as he kills the spirit of his teammates’ and fans’. The sad part is that a classy veteran like McNabb is going to finally have to face the facts that he is no longer a starting quarterback in the NFL. He has to decide whether or not he wants to hold a clipboard for the next couple of years and collect a few more checks or if he wants to hang up the cleats with his pride still intact.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Commish's Game of the Week: Buffalo Bills at New York Giants
Preview
The battle for supremacy in the State of New York has finally arrived with Buffalo’s visit to the Meadowlands to face-off against the Giants. On the surface, this game pits two teams going seemingly in opposite directions, but a closer look reveals that the final outcome is much more in doubt than you would imagine. The Bills enter this game with a 4-1 record and a lot of confidence but their depth will be tested due to a recent rash of injuries. They are missing a ton of wide receivers and they will likely play Sunday without defensive stalwarts Kyle Williams, Nick Barnett and Shawne Merriman. I don’t believe that the injuries will impact the offensive side of the football that much because Ryan Fitzpatrick has done a wonderful job of spreading the ball around to all of his receivers, but the missing defenders could have a disastrous effect on Buffalo’s ability to win this game. Even with all of their players healthy, the Bills have not been a very good defensive team. They don’t get after the quarterback with only four sacks on the season and they are the 30th ranked defense in the NFL. The Bills really haven’t stopped their opponents from doing anything. Their saving grace has been their ability to force their opponents into turnovers. They lead the NFL with a +11 turnover differential, which includes a league-high 12 interceptions. Most impressively, the Bills have returned an interception for a touchdown in the last three games. Obviously, forcing a lot of turnovers is a great indicator of success, but at some point the Bills are going to have to stop someone with sound defensive execution. With the game being on the road and the injuries mounting, I don’t believe that Buffalo is going to find the magic defensive pixie dust this week. I think that the Giants will take advantage of Williams’ absence and re-establish a running game that has been missing for most of the 2011 season. If the Giants are able to run the ball, then it will reduce the pressure on Eli Manning and reduce the number of opportunities that he has to throw the football to the other side.
The other area that I think deserves a lot of focus is the battle between the Buffalo offensive line and the New York pass rush. The Bills have been the stingiest offensive line in the NFL when it comes to allowing sacks as their opponents have reached Ryan Fitzgerald only four times in five games. On the other side, the Giants lead the NFL in sacks with 18. New York will likely be without Justin Tuck again, but they have more than enough depth with Osi Umenyiora, Jason Pierre-Paul and Mathias Kiwanuka to pick up the slack. I’m willing to say that Fitzgerald will face the most pressure he has faced all season, which will lead to at least two turnovers for the Giants’ defense. The great neutralizer for Buffalo is likely to be their 11th ranked running game, which averages 5.0 yards per carry. The Bills must continue running the football with success in order to take some of the steam out of the Giants’ potentially devastating pass rush. The Bills’ best chance to win involves Fred Jackson running for 125 or more yards on the ground and getting two or three opportunities to burn the aggressive New York defensive line in the screen game. Jackson is the x-factor in this game because he is the one player capable of keeping the wolves at bay. However, I believe that the Giants will play better against the run than they have all season, which will put the Buffalo offense in longer third down situations. At this point, the Giants will be able to pin their ears back and get after Fitzgerald, which is where the game will be ultimately won.
Three Keys to the Game
1. Protect the quarterback – The Bills have protected the quarterback better than any other team in the NFL, while the Giants have allowed nearly three sacks per game. However, the two teams are at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of collecting sacks. I believe that the Giants’ ability to pressure and sack the quarterback will overcome the great protection that the Bills have afforded Fitzpatrick through the first five games.
2. Run the football with success – Both of these teams want to run the football, but Buffalo is the only one that has had success on the ground so far. Furthermore, the Giants will be without Brandon Jacobs and right guard Chris Snee, which should weaken their already weak running game. Nevertheless, I believe that the Giants will focus on the run and take advantage of a Buffalo defense that allows 5.5 yards per carry. Also, I believe that the Giants’ defense will slow down Fred Jackson just enough to keep this part of the game even.
3. Keep turnovers at a minimum – The Bills’ defense has been the definition of opportunistic and Eli Manning has a history of being turnover prone. With these facts as our backdrop, Buffalo should have a huge advantage when it comes to the giveaway/takeaway ratio. However, the combination of a stronger Giants’ running game and the lack of a pass rush from Buffalo will keep Manning’s mistakes to a minimum and allow the Giants to take full advantage of Buffalo’s overall weak defense.
Prediction
New York Giants 21 – Buffalo Bills 17
The battle for supremacy in the State of New York has finally arrived with Buffalo’s visit to the Meadowlands to face-off against the Giants. On the surface, this game pits two teams going seemingly in opposite directions, but a closer look reveals that the final outcome is much more in doubt than you would imagine. The Bills enter this game with a 4-1 record and a lot of confidence but their depth will be tested due to a recent rash of injuries. They are missing a ton of wide receivers and they will likely play Sunday without defensive stalwarts Kyle Williams, Nick Barnett and Shawne Merriman. I don’t believe that the injuries will impact the offensive side of the football that much because Ryan Fitzpatrick has done a wonderful job of spreading the ball around to all of his receivers, but the missing defenders could have a disastrous effect on Buffalo’s ability to win this game. Even with all of their players healthy, the Bills have not been a very good defensive team. They don’t get after the quarterback with only four sacks on the season and they are the 30th ranked defense in the NFL. The Bills really haven’t stopped their opponents from doing anything. Their saving grace has been their ability to force their opponents into turnovers. They lead the NFL with a +11 turnover differential, which includes a league-high 12 interceptions. Most impressively, the Bills have returned an interception for a touchdown in the last three games. Obviously, forcing a lot of turnovers is a great indicator of success, but at some point the Bills are going to have to stop someone with sound defensive execution. With the game being on the road and the injuries mounting, I don’t believe that Buffalo is going to find the magic defensive pixie dust this week. I think that the Giants will take advantage of Williams’ absence and re-establish a running game that has been missing for most of the 2011 season. If the Giants are able to run the ball, then it will reduce the pressure on Eli Manning and reduce the number of opportunities that he has to throw the football to the other side.
The other area that I think deserves a lot of focus is the battle between the Buffalo offensive line and the New York pass rush. The Bills have been the stingiest offensive line in the NFL when it comes to allowing sacks as their opponents have reached Ryan Fitzgerald only four times in five games. On the other side, the Giants lead the NFL in sacks with 18. New York will likely be without Justin Tuck again, but they have more than enough depth with Osi Umenyiora, Jason Pierre-Paul and Mathias Kiwanuka to pick up the slack. I’m willing to say that Fitzgerald will face the most pressure he has faced all season, which will lead to at least two turnovers for the Giants’ defense. The great neutralizer for Buffalo is likely to be their 11th ranked running game, which averages 5.0 yards per carry. The Bills must continue running the football with success in order to take some of the steam out of the Giants’ potentially devastating pass rush. The Bills’ best chance to win involves Fred Jackson running for 125 or more yards on the ground and getting two or three opportunities to burn the aggressive New York defensive line in the screen game. Jackson is the x-factor in this game because he is the one player capable of keeping the wolves at bay. However, I believe that the Giants will play better against the run than they have all season, which will put the Buffalo offense in longer third down situations. At this point, the Giants will be able to pin their ears back and get after Fitzgerald, which is where the game will be ultimately won.
Three Keys to the Game
1. Protect the quarterback – The Bills have protected the quarterback better than any other team in the NFL, while the Giants have allowed nearly three sacks per game. However, the two teams are at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of collecting sacks. I believe that the Giants’ ability to pressure and sack the quarterback will overcome the great protection that the Bills have afforded Fitzpatrick through the first five games.
2. Run the football with success – Both of these teams want to run the football, but Buffalo is the only one that has had success on the ground so far. Furthermore, the Giants will be without Brandon Jacobs and right guard Chris Snee, which should weaken their already weak running game. Nevertheless, I believe that the Giants will focus on the run and take advantage of a Buffalo defense that allows 5.5 yards per carry. Also, I believe that the Giants’ defense will slow down Fred Jackson just enough to keep this part of the game even.
3. Keep turnovers at a minimum – The Bills’ defense has been the definition of opportunistic and Eli Manning has a history of being turnover prone. With these facts as our backdrop, Buffalo should have a huge advantage when it comes to the giveaway/takeaway ratio. However, the combination of a stronger Giants’ running game and the lack of a pass rush from Buffalo will keep Manning’s mistakes to a minimum and allow the Giants to take full advantage of Buffalo’s overall weak defense.
Prediction
New York Giants 21 – Buffalo Bills 17
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