While many pundits jumped off of the Patriots' bandwagon this week--or at least cautioned that the New England-Pittsburgh game would be close--I declared, "a game that is going to be touted all week as an upset in the making will turn out to be a 14 point New England win. You heard it here first." I even offered three possible offensive tactics that the Patriots might employ to good effect: (1) flooding the Pittsburgh secondary with five receivers to burn the Steelers' blitz; (2) using screen passes to the running backs to beat the blitz; (3) running Maroney right at the blitzers to keep them on their heels. The latter two scenarios did not play out (Kevin Faulk only caught three passes for 15 yards and the Patriots only ran for 22 total yards) but the Patriots definitely flooded the Pittsburgh secondary with receivers as Randy Moss (seven receptions for 135 yards and two touchdowns), Jabar Gaffney (seven receptions for 122 yards and one touchdown) and Wes Welker (nine receptions for 78 yards and one touchdown) all had big days. Tom Brady completed 32 of 46 passes for 399 yards, tossing four touchdowns without throwing an interception or being sacked even once. So much for the theory that Philadelphia and Baltimore provided a "blueprint" for slowing down New England's record-setting offense. New England shut out Pittsburgh 17-0 in the second half en route to a 34-13 victory and the Patriots did all of this against a defense that still ranks first in the NFL in both points per game (14.5 ppg) and yards per game (245.5 ypg) even after the numbers from this contest are included in their totals.
Of course, little-used Pittsburgh safety Anthony Smith--whose 15 minutes of fame are now officially over--authored the prologue to one of this game's subplots by guaranteeing a Steelers victory; the Patriots wrote the remaining chapters with their play on the field. "No matter what you say during the week, it comes down to how you play," said Brady. "I think the receivers probably get more motivated than the quarterback. He just happened to have those plays on him. He's the one who has to go back to his team." Coach Bill Belichick does not often comment about players from other teams but even he took a shot at Smith after the game, saying, "We've played against a lot better safeties than him, I'll tell you."
ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli notes, "the Patriots called 33 consecutive pass plays, and they didn't have a designed run in the second half until only 2:49 remained in the game." Do you think that Smith's remarks influenced the Patriots' play calling a little bit? Is the sky blue? Does Bill Belichick wear a hooded sweatshirt? Are the Patriots trying to kill everybody? Yes, yes and yes. Moss offered this description of Brady, who is on the verge of rewriting the single-season records for quarterbacks: "Poise. Patience. And the determination to go out and kill you at any given time." Next up for the Patriots are the New York Jets, a 3-10 outfit coached by Eric "I sent the NFL after Bill Belichick and now I will have to pay the price" Mangini. No extra motivation there, right?
Moss is not impressed by what he has seen or heard from New England's two most recent opponents: "The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, as far as toughness and their mouths, have a lot in common. They do their talking during the week, and we do our talking on the field. I've played in the league 10 years, and I don't think I've ever heard a player say anything like that. To guarantee a victory--that was something hard. I don't know if his team had his back or not."
Speaking of Baltimore, the real Ravens stood up--or, more precisely, meekly submitted--versus the Indianapolis Colts in the Sunday night game. The Ravens are apparently so impressed with themselves for playing a close game with the Patriots--and so indignant about how the officials allegedly stole that contest from them--that they have nothing left in the tank. The Colts scored the game's first 30 points, cruising to a 44-20 win.
Baltimore and Cincinnati are surprise teams this season in the AFC North--but not for good reasons. The pleasant surprise in the division is the Cleveland Browns, who improved to 8-5 with a 24-18 victory over the New York Jets. The Browns made the win more difficult than it should have been, nearly squandering a 17-6 fourth quarter lead, but this is the kind of game that recent Browns squads have lost with depressing regularity; it is worth noting several reasons why this time was different:
(1) the Browns spent the third overall pick in the draft on left tackle Joe Thomas, who has shored up the offensive line, which now provides time for the passing game to click and also blasts open holes for the running backs. The Browns sealed the deal versus the Jets when Jamal Lewis' 31 yard touchdown run on third and four put Cleveland up 24-15 with 1:31 left in the game.
(2) Lewis is the most productive running back that the Browns have had literally in decades.
(3) Derek Anderson is a top notch quarterback who has a strong arm and usually does not look confused, two traits that have been sorely lacking in most of the Browns' recent quarterbacks.
The Achilles' heel for the Browns--and the reason that this team is competing for a wild card spot but is not a legitimate contender for a championship--is their defense. CBS' Randy Cross said that the defense plays well but it lacks consistency. Unfortunately, a couple things that the Browns' defense consistently does are give up a lot of yards (387 versus the Jets, nearly matching the team's league-worst average yield of 389.7 yards per game) and points (an acceptable 18 versus the Jets but a league-worst 27.4 ppg overall). If General Manager Phil Savage can add some playmakers to the defense to match the exploits of Anderson, Lewis, wide receiver Braylon Edwards, tight end Kellen Winslow and special teams wunderkind Joshua Cribbs then the Browns will finally be able to compete with Pittsburgh for supremacy in the AFC North.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Friday, December 7, 2007
Tom Brady is Unimpressed by Anthony Smith's Smack Talk
Pittsburgh Steelers safety Anthony Smith has just about used up his 15 minutes of fame. He has achieved some temporary notoriety for guaranteeing that Pittsburgh will beat the 12-0 New England Patriots this Sunday. Hopefully he is enjoying all of the extra attention and media coverage, because the next--and last--time a national audience will hear about him or see him is the inevitable lingering camera shot that will happen with about five minutes left on Sunday when the Patriots are up by a couple touchdowns. "There is Anthony Smith," the announcer will say as the camera shows a dejected figure sitting on the bench with his head down."His guarantee of a Steelers win became bulletin board material this week and we can all see the result."
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had the best answer to Smith's remarks: "Well done is better than well said. That's been the motto of the team." Coach Bill Belichick denies that Smith has provided any extra motivation for New England: "We can sit around and put a bunch of stuff up on a board and write stuff down on paper and all of that. I think in the end it comes down to whether you can outplay the other team on Sunday or not outplay them. On a priority basis, that's what our priority is, trying to prepare well and play well." However, a few years ago when Indianapolis kicker Mike Vanderjagt said of the Patriots "I think they're ripe for the picking," Belichick admitted that he did sometimes use trash talk from opponents as a motivational tool.
There are two kinds of trash talk: one comes from guys like Muhammad Ali, Reggie Jackson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan--sometimes it appears in the media, but often it is said under one's breath to a competitor in the heat of battle, and it is almost always backed up by championship level play; the other kind of trash talk comes from nobodies who think that bold talk means more than solid preparation.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had the best answer to Smith's remarks: "Well done is better than well said. That's been the motto of the team." Coach Bill Belichick denies that Smith has provided any extra motivation for New England: "We can sit around and put a bunch of stuff up on a board and write stuff down on paper and all of that. I think in the end it comes down to whether you can outplay the other team on Sunday or not outplay them. On a priority basis, that's what our priority is, trying to prepare well and play well." However, a few years ago when Indianapolis kicker Mike Vanderjagt said of the Patriots "I think they're ripe for the picking," Belichick admitted that he did sometimes use trash talk from opponents as a motivational tool.
There are two kinds of trash talk: one comes from guys like Muhammad Ali, Reggie Jackson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan--sometimes it appears in the media, but often it is said under one's breath to a competitor in the heat of battle, and it is almost always backed up by championship level play; the other kind of trash talk comes from nobodies who think that bold talk means more than solid preparation.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Were the Patriots Lucky to Beat the Ravens?
Today on ESPN's "First Take," former NBA guard Greg Anthony and Skip Bayless debated whether or not the Patriots were lucky to beat the Ravens last night. Bayless' take is that the Ravens would have won were it not for Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan calling timeout on one fourth down play where the Ravens appeared to have stuffed the Patriots and then the Patriots committing a false start on the next fourth down play that also seemed to be going nowhere; of course, New England converted a fourth and six after that penalty en route to scoring the game-winning touchdown. Anthony argued that players ease up after they hear an official's whistle, so it is impossible to say whether or not the Ravens really would have stopped the Patriots' initial fourth down play; as for the penalty being lucky, Anthony logically pointed out that in most cases when a team converts fourth and six against a good defense on the road that we praise that team for its execution. Listening to the two of them argue back and forth sounded very much like eavesdropping on someone who has actually competed at a high level and understands what that is all about trying in vain to explain those experiences to someone who has no idea what he is talking about.
Later on the show, former New York Giants Coach (and former Baltimore Ravens assistant coach) Jim Fassel offered his perspective on the timeout that Rex Ryan called. Fassel said that he had no problem with one of his assistant coaches calling a timeout provided it was a critical situation in the game and it was apparent that the team was not lined up correctly or had the wrong personnel on the field; there is not always time for the assistant to ask permission to call timeout or to have a whole discussion about it. As for the specific sequence in yesterday's game, Fassel said that he spoke with Ryan and what happened was the Ravens only had one defensive lineman on the field prior to the first fourth down play. The Patriots love to run a quarterback sneak right up the middle in such cases, so Ryan called the timeout to get the right personnel on the field; if he had not done so and then the Patriots successfully ran the sneak then Ryan would have been rightly criticized for having the wrong personnel group on the field. Fassel said that the smaller players that the Ravens had on the field went after the play so aggressively that it looked like maybe they would have stopped it anyway but that calling the timeout was the right thing to do strategically.
The bottom line is that, as Anthony correctly said, we will never know if the Ravens would have stopped the first fourth and one play if it had gone all the way through and we also will never know what would have happened without the false start penalty on the next play--but good teams find ways to win and bad teams find ways to lose. This year, the Ravens are a bad team and the Patriots are a very good team; the Ravens had an opportunity to stop the Patriots on a fourth and six play and did not do it. That--and other blown chances on both sides of the ball--is why the Ravens lost. Bayless always seems to look for ways to blame the losing team instead of praising the winning team for its poise and execution. Next time, Bayless should do what Fassel did: pick up the phone, talk to someone who was actually involved in what happened and apply that information to his analysis.
Later on the show, former New York Giants Coach (and former Baltimore Ravens assistant coach) Jim Fassel offered his perspective on the timeout that Rex Ryan called. Fassel said that he had no problem with one of his assistant coaches calling a timeout provided it was a critical situation in the game and it was apparent that the team was not lined up correctly or had the wrong personnel on the field; there is not always time for the assistant to ask permission to call timeout or to have a whole discussion about it. As for the specific sequence in yesterday's game, Fassel said that he spoke with Ryan and what happened was the Ravens only had one defensive lineman on the field prior to the first fourth down play. The Patriots love to run a quarterback sneak right up the middle in such cases, so Ryan called the timeout to get the right personnel on the field; if he had not done so and then the Patriots successfully ran the sneak then Ryan would have been rightly criticized for having the wrong personnel group on the field. Fassel said that the smaller players that the Ravens had on the field went after the play so aggressively that it looked like maybe they would have stopped it anyway but that calling the timeout was the right thing to do strategically.
The bottom line is that, as Anthony correctly said, we will never know if the Ravens would have stopped the first fourth and one play if it had gone all the way through and we also will never know what would have happened without the false start penalty on the next play--but good teams find ways to win and bad teams find ways to lose. This year, the Ravens are a bad team and the Patriots are a very good team; the Ravens had an opportunity to stop the Patriots on a fourth and six play and did not do it. That--and other blown chances on both sides of the ball--is why the Ravens lost. Bayless always seems to look for ways to blame the losing team instead of praising the winning team for its poise and execution. Next time, Bayless should do what Fassel did: pick up the phone, talk to someone who was actually involved in what happened and apply that information to his analysis.
Two Minute Drill: Patriots Narrowly Preserve Perfect Season, "Charlie" Browns Lose and Chad Johnson Racks up Some Empty Yards
The Patriots are no longer blowing teams out but after a 27-24 win in Baltimore they are still undefeated. The new, overused buzzword now is "blueprint": is there a "blueprint" to beat the Patriots? As usual, ESPN analyst Steve Young cut through the nonsense and hype and got right to the heart of the matter, noting that football always comes down to fundamentals and physicality. The Ravens pounded the Patriots with their running game to the point that Young felt that they were on the verge of making New England crack; however, Young added that New England deserves much credit for getting off the mat and doing just enough to win the game. In the fourth quarter, Baltimore missed opportunities to win the game on offense and on defense. Willis McGahee gashed the Patriots for 138 yards on 30 carries overall but in the final period he only had four yards on six carries.
Back when Mike Tyson was invincible, he used to always say that everybody has a plan until they are hit in the face. Football is much the same way. It is a violent, brutal game. I have to laugh when people say that Tom Brady or Peyton Manning sometimes make poor decisions if teams hit them a lot; there is not a quarterback alive who plays as well under constant physical duress as he does when he has good protection. The Eagles and the Ravens each slowed down the Patriots a bit because they have defensive coordinators who specialize in bringing pressure on quarterbacks (and because they have the necessary personnel on their rosters to execute such a game plan). Looking at the Patriots' remaining games (home contests versus Pittsburgh, the New York Jets and Miami followed by the finale on the road at the New York Giants), the Steelers and the Giants are also teams who can put a lot of pressure on opposing quarterbacks--but there is no magic going on here; whether or not the Patriots go 16-0 will be decided by how well they execute football fundamentals and whether or not they are more physical than their opponents.
A lot of attention is being focused on what supposedly is ailing the Patriots' offense but Young made some more cogent observations when he pointed out that even in New England's two "bad" games the Patriots have still gained a lot of yards and scored a lot of points; what has changed dramatically is how many yards and points the defense is giving up, which of course limits the amount of time that New England's offense is on the field. Linebacker Rosevelt Colvin is out for the season, so it will be up to Bill Belichick to go back in the lab and patch up his defense a bit for the stretch run.
Young concluded by saying that every great championship and playoff team that he was on in San Francisco went through a lull during some part of the season. What is remarkable about the Patriots is that, as he put it, they have had the "benefit of 'losing' two games without actually losing them." In other words, they have made enough mistakes for Belichick to feed them tons of the "humble pie" that his players joke about, yet they still have the chance to make history by winning all of their games. We are also seeing why it is so tough to have a perfect season; teams must overcome injuries, mental and physical fatigue and also the worsening weather that can act as an equalizer in the latter part of the season. The Miami Dolphins may have a "perfectly imperfect" 0-16 season, yet the weather and field conditions were so bad in Pittsburgh that they had a good chance to upset the Steelers. Similarly, the fierce, howling winds in Baltimore had an effect on New England's high powered passing game, though of course Belichick and his players would not use that as an excuse.
It will be interesting to see how the bookmakers react to New England's "setback." The Patriots have been favored by ridiculously large point spreads in recent weeks because the bookmakers have been trying to balance the action and get people to bet against New England. Depending on where the line goes, New England could be a good value next week against Pittsburgh. A lot of people are going to assume that the third time against a blitzing defense will be the charm and that the Patriots will lose but look for Belichick to make make one or more of the following adjustments: (1) flood the Pittsburgh secondary with five receivers and have Brady pick the defense apart just before the blitz reaches him; (2) entice the blitzers forward only to throw screen passes over them to running backs Faulk and Maroney; (3) keep the blitzers on their heels by running right at/past them with Maroney. Pittsburgh has been a subpar road team all season, so a game that is going to be touted all week as an upset in the making will turn out to be a 14 point New England win. You heard it here first.
Right after the Cleveland Browns gave their long suffering fans reasons to believe, they went to the Arizona desert and turned into Charlie Brown after Lucy pulled the football away. Things went south for the Browns as soon the game began: Derek Anderson received an intentional grounding penalty on the Browns' first offensive play and soon after that he threw an interception that Rod Hood returned 71 yards for a touchdown. Later in the first quarter, Browns defensive back Leigh Bodden received a delay of game penalty for kicking the football after the Browns stopped the Cardinals on third down; Arizona eventually converted that gift into a touchdown, taking a 14-0 lead en route to a 27-21 win. "Just dumb," Bodden said of his mistake, an apt description that also fits the Browns' other gaffes, including several turnovers, mental errors and penalties.
This loss is not the end of the world for the Browns, though; they are still holding on to the sixth and final AFC playoff berth and they showed a lot of determination by battling back from the early deficit to have a chance to win on the final play of the game. Tight end Kellen Winslow made a great catch but could only get one foot down in the end zone after being pushed out of bounds. A force-out situation is not reviewable, so the call on the field stood. "If we'd have gotten that call, I'd have said the Browns are going to the Super Bowl. We've been getting every call, it seems. We didn't deserve to win," Browns receiver Braylon Edwards said. Edwards had another big game, catching seven passes for 149 yards and a touchdown. The Browns shot themselves in the foot before their last drive when Simon Fraser received a personal foul call on a kickoff return play; Cleveland sure could have used those extra 15 yards.
Next week the Browns travel to New York to battle the 3-9 Jets. Obviously, that is a very winnable game but keep in mind that last year the Jets were a playoff team and the Browns were not but the Browns beat the Jets anyway. After that, the Browns have a vitally important home game against the 6-6 Buffalo Bills, who are contending with Cleveland, Jacksonville and Tennessee for the two AFC wild cards. The Browns close out the regular season by visiting the disappointing Cincinnati Bengals and hosting the downtrodden San Francisco 49ers.
Speaking of the Bengals, they took the first step toward not fulfilling receiver Chad Johnson's vow that they would run the table, losing 24-10 to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Johnson led the Bengals with six receptions for 86 yards, but he did not have a touchdown and the best receiver on the field was Pittsburgh's Hines Ward, who caught 11 passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns. Ward's main claim to fame is being the MVP of Super Bowl XL; he is tough and he is a complete player, equally adept at catching and blocking. Johnson's main claim to fame--other than his "celebrations," which for some reason generate less criticism than those of the more accomplished Terrell Owens and Randy Moss--is becoming the first player since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger to lead a conference in receiving yards for four straight seasons (2003-2006; he ranks third in the AFC behind Reggie Wayne and Randy Moss this season). While this accomplishment does speak to Johnson's durability and consistency, it is not really the top achievement of its kind; Don Hutson led the entire league in receiving yards for four straight seasons (and a record seven times overall) and Jerry Rice led the NFL in receiving yards for three straight seasons (and six times overall). In contrast, Johnson finished fourth in the NFL in receiving yards in 2003, 341 yards behind Torry Holt and nearly 300 yards behind Moss, who also had 17 touchdowns compared to 10 for Johnson. Johnson ranked sixth in the NFL in receiving yards in 2004 and third in the NFL in receiving yards in 2005 before capturing his first NFL receiving yards title last season. Why bring this up now? One, it is important to provide some context to this oft-touted record of Johnson's. Two, a play late in the Pittsburgh game provided a great example of how Johhson is a guy who puts up numbers but does not necessarily help his team win games. The Bengals faced fourth and 17 from the Pittsburgh 44 with 1:24 remaining. Johnson ran a 13 yard pattern, caught a Carson Palmer pass and went out of bounds. NBC's John Madden said that he could not understand how a player could run a 13 yard route on fourth and 17; as he noted while play by play man Al Michaels chuckled, there is a huge marker on the sideline indicating where the Bengals had to go to get a first down, so there is no way that Johnson could not see it. In the boxscore and in the final season statistics, that play counts as a 13 yard reception but in reality it was a dumb play. Looking at the Bengals' record during Johnson's career, one suspects that there is a lot of similarly empty yardage in his conference-leading totals. In contrast, Hutson, Rice, Owens, Moss and Holt each played in at least one Super Bowl or NFL Championship Game.
Moving outside of the AFC North, much has been made of the final play of Buffalo's 17-16 victory over Washington when Hall of Fame Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs received a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for calling consecutive timeouts to ice Bills' kicker Ryan Lindell. Obviously, Gibbs should be familiar with the rule but what everyone (other than J.A. Adande on "Around the Horn") seems to have overlooked is that right after Gibbs called the first timeout Lindell nailed the kick from 51 yards. Gibbs took the blame for his gaffe but even without the timeout fiasco Lindell showed that he was capable of winning the game from the longer distance.
Back when Mike Tyson was invincible, he used to always say that everybody has a plan until they are hit in the face. Football is much the same way. It is a violent, brutal game. I have to laugh when people say that Tom Brady or Peyton Manning sometimes make poor decisions if teams hit them a lot; there is not a quarterback alive who plays as well under constant physical duress as he does when he has good protection. The Eagles and the Ravens each slowed down the Patriots a bit because they have defensive coordinators who specialize in bringing pressure on quarterbacks (and because they have the necessary personnel on their rosters to execute such a game plan). Looking at the Patriots' remaining games (home contests versus Pittsburgh, the New York Jets and Miami followed by the finale on the road at the New York Giants), the Steelers and the Giants are also teams who can put a lot of pressure on opposing quarterbacks--but there is no magic going on here; whether or not the Patriots go 16-0 will be decided by how well they execute football fundamentals and whether or not they are more physical than their opponents.
A lot of attention is being focused on what supposedly is ailing the Patriots' offense but Young made some more cogent observations when he pointed out that even in New England's two "bad" games the Patriots have still gained a lot of yards and scored a lot of points; what has changed dramatically is how many yards and points the defense is giving up, which of course limits the amount of time that New England's offense is on the field. Linebacker Rosevelt Colvin is out for the season, so it will be up to Bill Belichick to go back in the lab and patch up his defense a bit for the stretch run.
Young concluded by saying that every great championship and playoff team that he was on in San Francisco went through a lull during some part of the season. What is remarkable about the Patriots is that, as he put it, they have had the "benefit of 'losing' two games without actually losing them." In other words, they have made enough mistakes for Belichick to feed them tons of the "humble pie" that his players joke about, yet they still have the chance to make history by winning all of their games. We are also seeing why it is so tough to have a perfect season; teams must overcome injuries, mental and physical fatigue and also the worsening weather that can act as an equalizer in the latter part of the season. The Miami Dolphins may have a "perfectly imperfect" 0-16 season, yet the weather and field conditions were so bad in Pittsburgh that they had a good chance to upset the Steelers. Similarly, the fierce, howling winds in Baltimore had an effect on New England's high powered passing game, though of course Belichick and his players would not use that as an excuse.
It will be interesting to see how the bookmakers react to New England's "setback." The Patriots have been favored by ridiculously large point spreads in recent weeks because the bookmakers have been trying to balance the action and get people to bet against New England. Depending on where the line goes, New England could be a good value next week against Pittsburgh. A lot of people are going to assume that the third time against a blitzing defense will be the charm and that the Patriots will lose but look for Belichick to make make one or more of the following adjustments: (1) flood the Pittsburgh secondary with five receivers and have Brady pick the defense apart just before the blitz reaches him; (2) entice the blitzers forward only to throw screen passes over them to running backs Faulk and Maroney; (3) keep the blitzers on their heels by running right at/past them with Maroney. Pittsburgh has been a subpar road team all season, so a game that is going to be touted all week as an upset in the making will turn out to be a 14 point New England win. You heard it here first.
Right after the Cleveland Browns gave their long suffering fans reasons to believe, they went to the Arizona desert and turned into Charlie Brown after Lucy pulled the football away. Things went south for the Browns as soon the game began: Derek Anderson received an intentional grounding penalty on the Browns' first offensive play and soon after that he threw an interception that Rod Hood returned 71 yards for a touchdown. Later in the first quarter, Browns defensive back Leigh Bodden received a delay of game penalty for kicking the football after the Browns stopped the Cardinals on third down; Arizona eventually converted that gift into a touchdown, taking a 14-0 lead en route to a 27-21 win. "Just dumb," Bodden said of his mistake, an apt description that also fits the Browns' other gaffes, including several turnovers, mental errors and penalties.
This loss is not the end of the world for the Browns, though; they are still holding on to the sixth and final AFC playoff berth and they showed a lot of determination by battling back from the early deficit to have a chance to win on the final play of the game. Tight end Kellen Winslow made a great catch but could only get one foot down in the end zone after being pushed out of bounds. A force-out situation is not reviewable, so the call on the field stood. "If we'd have gotten that call, I'd have said the Browns are going to the Super Bowl. We've been getting every call, it seems. We didn't deserve to win," Browns receiver Braylon Edwards said. Edwards had another big game, catching seven passes for 149 yards and a touchdown. The Browns shot themselves in the foot before their last drive when Simon Fraser received a personal foul call on a kickoff return play; Cleveland sure could have used those extra 15 yards.
Next week the Browns travel to New York to battle the 3-9 Jets. Obviously, that is a very winnable game but keep in mind that last year the Jets were a playoff team and the Browns were not but the Browns beat the Jets anyway. After that, the Browns have a vitally important home game against the 6-6 Buffalo Bills, who are contending with Cleveland, Jacksonville and Tennessee for the two AFC wild cards. The Browns close out the regular season by visiting the disappointing Cincinnati Bengals and hosting the downtrodden San Francisco 49ers.
Speaking of the Bengals, they took the first step toward not fulfilling receiver Chad Johnson's vow that they would run the table, losing 24-10 to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Johnson led the Bengals with six receptions for 86 yards, but he did not have a touchdown and the best receiver on the field was Pittsburgh's Hines Ward, who caught 11 passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns. Ward's main claim to fame is being the MVP of Super Bowl XL; he is tough and he is a complete player, equally adept at catching and blocking. Johnson's main claim to fame--other than his "celebrations," which for some reason generate less criticism than those of the more accomplished Terrell Owens and Randy Moss--is becoming the first player since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger to lead a conference in receiving yards for four straight seasons (2003-2006; he ranks third in the AFC behind Reggie Wayne and Randy Moss this season). While this accomplishment does speak to Johnson's durability and consistency, it is not really the top achievement of its kind; Don Hutson led the entire league in receiving yards for four straight seasons (and a record seven times overall) and Jerry Rice led the NFL in receiving yards for three straight seasons (and six times overall). In contrast, Johnson finished fourth in the NFL in receiving yards in 2003, 341 yards behind Torry Holt and nearly 300 yards behind Moss, who also had 17 touchdowns compared to 10 for Johnson. Johnson ranked sixth in the NFL in receiving yards in 2004 and third in the NFL in receiving yards in 2005 before capturing his first NFL receiving yards title last season. Why bring this up now? One, it is important to provide some context to this oft-touted record of Johnson's. Two, a play late in the Pittsburgh game provided a great example of how Johhson is a guy who puts up numbers but does not necessarily help his team win games. The Bengals faced fourth and 17 from the Pittsburgh 44 with 1:24 remaining. Johnson ran a 13 yard pattern, caught a Carson Palmer pass and went out of bounds. NBC's John Madden said that he could not understand how a player could run a 13 yard route on fourth and 17; as he noted while play by play man Al Michaels chuckled, there is a huge marker on the sideline indicating where the Bengals had to go to get a first down, so there is no way that Johnson could not see it. In the boxscore and in the final season statistics, that play counts as a 13 yard reception but in reality it was a dumb play. Looking at the Bengals' record during Johnson's career, one suspects that there is a lot of similarly empty yardage in his conference-leading totals. In contrast, Hutson, Rice, Owens, Moss and Holt each played in at least one Super Bowl or NFL Championship Game.
Moving outside of the AFC North, much has been made of the final play of Buffalo's 17-16 victory over Washington when Hall of Fame Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs received a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for calling consecutive timeouts to ice Bills' kicker Ryan Lindell. Obviously, Gibbs should be familiar with the rule but what everyone (other than J.A. Adande on "Around the Horn") seems to have overlooked is that right after Gibbs called the first timeout Lindell nailed the kick from 51 yards. Gibbs took the blame for his gaffe but even without the timeout fiasco Lindell showed that he was capable of winning the game from the longer distance.
Monday, December 3, 2007
The BCS Mess Produces an Ohio State-LSU Championship Game: Let the Debate Begin!
One of the wildest and most unpredictable college football seasons ever will conclude on January 7, 2008 when #1 Ohio State (11-2) plays #2 LSU (11-2) in the BCS National Championship Game. Fox Sports' Jimmy Johnson made an excellent point when he noted that these two teams combined to hold the number one spot for most of the season and Chris Rose added that not long ago this was the matchup that most people probably wanted to see. Of course, in recent weeks each of these teams lost a game, only to move back into the championship picture after other contenders fell by the wayside.
Most fans do not believe that this BCS system is a good way to determine a national champion. Major college football is the only notable sport that selects its champion in such a haphazard manner and it is obvious that it would be a major improvement if the BCS were replaced with a playoff system. It is ridiculous to say that the entire football season is currently a playoff; if that were the case, then Ohio State and LSU would have both been eliminated already (as would everyone else except Hawaii, the only undefeated team).
How did we end up with the BCS system in the first place? To paraphrase Bill Walton, I am old enough to remember when the various bowl games had contracts with different conferences; for instance, the Big Ten champion always played the Pac-10 champion in the Rose Bowl. After all the bowl games were over, various polls would vote to determine the national champion. Sometimes the polls came to the same conclusion but often they did not. For instance, in 1988 Notre Dame was a consensus national champion, while in 1991 the AP selected Miami (Fla.) while the USA/Today ESPN voters chose Washington. Due to the traditional conference affiliations of the various bowls, the two top ranked teams did not necessarily face each other in a bowl game during that era.
In other words, the way that things were done in "the good old days" did not make any more sense than the way things are done now. That is why college football administrators started tinkering with the bowl format in the early 1990s. Their first move was to to create the Bowl Coalition, which lasted from 1992-94. The idea was to try to have the best of both worlds, preserving traditional matchups as much as possible while also trying to maximize the chance that the two top ranked teams played each other in a bowl game. In 1992, the system worked, as number two Alabama beat number one Miami 34-13 in the Sugar Bowl and won the consensus national championship. Number one Florida State beat number two Nebraska 18-16 in the Orange Bowl to claim the consensus 1993 national championship. Things got sticky in 1994 when Nebraska and Penn State each finished the regular season with undefeated records. Top ranked Nebraska beat third ranked Miami 24-17 in the Orange Bowl, while third ranked Penn State--by then already a member of the Big Ten, which was not one of the participating conferences in the Bowl Coalition--defeated number 12 Oregon (the Pac-10 champion) 38-20 in a traditional Rose Bowl matchup. The major polls all picked Nebraska first and Penn State second but any system that produced two undefeated teams at the conclusion of the bowl season was deemed unsatisfactory, so in 1995 the Bowl Coalition was replaced by the Bowl Alliance. The Big Ten and the Pac-10 still declined to participate but the new system guaranteed that the top two teams would face each other in a bowl game unless one of those teams was committed to the Rose Bowl due to being from the Big Ten or Pac-10. This format worked out for a couple years; in 1995, number one Nebraska beat number two Florida 62-24 in the Fiesta Bowl to win the consensus national championship and the 1996 season also produced a consensus champion when number three Florida State beat number one Florida 52-20 in the Sugar Bowl--but everything only worked out that time because number four Ohio State knocked off second ranked (and previously unbeaten) Arizona State in the traditional Rose Bowl matchup. The Bowl Alliance failed to produce a consensus champion in 1997: number two Nebraska beat number three Tennessee 42-17 in the Orange Bowl but after number one Michigan beat Washington State 21-16 in the Rose Bowl the polls disagreed: the writers kept Michigan in the top spot, while the coaches moved Nebraska up to number one--and that is what led to the creation of the BCS in 1998.
The BCS brought the Big Ten and Pac-10 into the fold but did not offer a good answer for what would happen if there were more than two undefeated teams at the end of the regular season--and that "doomsday" scenario was narrowly averted in 1998 when two of the three remaining unbeaten teams (Kansas State and UCLA) each lost their final regular season games, setting up a championship game matchup between 12-0 Tennessee and 11-1 Florida State. In 1999 the system worked without a hitch as two unbeaten teams, Florida State and Virginia Tech, played in the championship game. Things did not go quite so smoothly in 2000, as three one-loss teams vied for the opportunity to face undefeated Oklahoma; Florida State received the nod and Oklahoma beat the Seminoles to claim the title. If Florida State had won then Miami (which beat Florida State during the regular season) and Washington (which beat Miami during the regular season) would have had a legitimate beef.
In 2001, the Nebraska Cornhuskers lost their final regular season game after spending most of the season as the second ranked team but they retained that spot after several other teams suffered upset losses. Undefeated Miami beat Nebraska in the national championship game, which was hosted by the Rose Bowl, marking the first time in 55 years that the Rose Bowl participants were not the Big Ten and Pac-10 champions. The 2002 season may have been the best one of the BCS era: undefeated, second ranked Ohio State beat the undefeated, top ranked defending national champions Miami in double overtime in the Fiesta Bowl. Obviously, that matchup would have never happened prior to the BCS because Ohio State would have played in the Rose Bowl.
LSU claimed the 2003 BCS title by beating Oklahoma but AP voters selected USC as the national champion. In 2004, three teams were undefeated after the bowl season--USC, Auburn and Utah--but both the BCS and the AP voters tapped USC as the national champion. USC and Texas were the two top ranked teams throughout the 2006 season and Vince Young led Texas to a 41-38 Rose Bowl victory over USC to win the national championship. Last year, of course, Florida routed Ohio State in the first stand-alone BCS National Championship Game.
What we used to have in college football were traditional bowl matchups between rival conferences followed by polls to determine the final rankings. That method obviously could not be assured of producing a consensus champion every year but the various entities involved (the NCAA, college presidents, the television networks) could not agree on a playoff format, which led to the hybrid solution of the Bowl Coalition; that initial change was the first step toward destroying the tradition surrounding the bowl games and inevitably led us to where we are now: the old traditions are shattered yet we only end up with a consensus champion if everything breaks just right. The obvious, correct approach that should have been taken nearly two decades ago was to have a playoff after all the traditional bowl games were played; that would have kept tradition intact while at the same time maximizing the likelihood of producing a consensus champion. Now, several years after tradition has been cast aside, that solution would not fly because the involved parties are making too much money under the current system to accept a change. So how should the current BCS system be reformed? The obvious solution is still a playoff: select the top eight teams and have a three round postseason with the current bowl games being slotted into various rounds on a rotating basis. The NCAA, bowl presidents and conferences can work out the details about which bowls will host which games so that the financial ramifications (the number one concern of all the involved parties, despite their pious rhetoric about academics, tradition or anything else) are resolved to everyone's satisfaction. Obviously, even with an eight team playoff the ninth and tenth ranked teams will say that they have a beef but that would be preferable to the current system--and I seriously doubt that there will ever be a season when the ninth ranked team will have a legitimate claim to being the best team in the country (yes, Hawaii went 12-0 this year and is currently ranked ninth but that is because of their strength of schedule; if your program is trying to win a national title then you have to play tougher opposition).
An eight team playoff this season using the final BCS standings would include Ohio State, LSU, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Georgia, Missouri, USC and Kansas. Wouldn't you like to watch those teams square off on the final two weekends of December, with the National Championship Game being played in the first week of the new year? There could still be complaints about seeding or about possibly having to play a team that you already beat in the regular season but at least each of these teams would have a chance to compete for the title on the playing field instead of having their coaches appearing on TV stumping for pollsters' votes.
Most fans do not believe that this BCS system is a good way to determine a national champion. Major college football is the only notable sport that selects its champion in such a haphazard manner and it is obvious that it would be a major improvement if the BCS were replaced with a playoff system. It is ridiculous to say that the entire football season is currently a playoff; if that were the case, then Ohio State and LSU would have both been eliminated already (as would everyone else except Hawaii, the only undefeated team).
How did we end up with the BCS system in the first place? To paraphrase Bill Walton, I am old enough to remember when the various bowl games had contracts with different conferences; for instance, the Big Ten champion always played the Pac-10 champion in the Rose Bowl. After all the bowl games were over, various polls would vote to determine the national champion. Sometimes the polls came to the same conclusion but often they did not. For instance, in 1988 Notre Dame was a consensus national champion, while in 1991 the AP selected Miami (Fla.) while the USA/Today ESPN voters chose Washington. Due to the traditional conference affiliations of the various bowls, the two top ranked teams did not necessarily face each other in a bowl game during that era.
In other words, the way that things were done in "the good old days" did not make any more sense than the way things are done now. That is why college football administrators started tinkering with the bowl format in the early 1990s. Their first move was to to create the Bowl Coalition, which lasted from 1992-94. The idea was to try to have the best of both worlds, preserving traditional matchups as much as possible while also trying to maximize the chance that the two top ranked teams played each other in a bowl game. In 1992, the system worked, as number two Alabama beat number one Miami 34-13 in the Sugar Bowl and won the consensus national championship. Number one Florida State beat number two Nebraska 18-16 in the Orange Bowl to claim the consensus 1993 national championship. Things got sticky in 1994 when Nebraska and Penn State each finished the regular season with undefeated records. Top ranked Nebraska beat third ranked Miami 24-17 in the Orange Bowl, while third ranked Penn State--by then already a member of the Big Ten, which was not one of the participating conferences in the Bowl Coalition--defeated number 12 Oregon (the Pac-10 champion) 38-20 in a traditional Rose Bowl matchup. The major polls all picked Nebraska first and Penn State second but any system that produced two undefeated teams at the conclusion of the bowl season was deemed unsatisfactory, so in 1995 the Bowl Coalition was replaced by the Bowl Alliance. The Big Ten and the Pac-10 still declined to participate but the new system guaranteed that the top two teams would face each other in a bowl game unless one of those teams was committed to the Rose Bowl due to being from the Big Ten or Pac-10. This format worked out for a couple years; in 1995, number one Nebraska beat number two Florida 62-24 in the Fiesta Bowl to win the consensus national championship and the 1996 season also produced a consensus champion when number three Florida State beat number one Florida 52-20 in the Sugar Bowl--but everything only worked out that time because number four Ohio State knocked off second ranked (and previously unbeaten) Arizona State in the traditional Rose Bowl matchup. The Bowl Alliance failed to produce a consensus champion in 1997: number two Nebraska beat number three Tennessee 42-17 in the Orange Bowl but after number one Michigan beat Washington State 21-16 in the Rose Bowl the polls disagreed: the writers kept Michigan in the top spot, while the coaches moved Nebraska up to number one--and that is what led to the creation of the BCS in 1998.
The BCS brought the Big Ten and Pac-10 into the fold but did not offer a good answer for what would happen if there were more than two undefeated teams at the end of the regular season--and that "doomsday" scenario was narrowly averted in 1998 when two of the three remaining unbeaten teams (Kansas State and UCLA) each lost their final regular season games, setting up a championship game matchup between 12-0 Tennessee and 11-1 Florida State. In 1999 the system worked without a hitch as two unbeaten teams, Florida State and Virginia Tech, played in the championship game. Things did not go quite so smoothly in 2000, as three one-loss teams vied for the opportunity to face undefeated Oklahoma; Florida State received the nod and Oklahoma beat the Seminoles to claim the title. If Florida State had won then Miami (which beat Florida State during the regular season) and Washington (which beat Miami during the regular season) would have had a legitimate beef.
In 2001, the Nebraska Cornhuskers lost their final regular season game after spending most of the season as the second ranked team but they retained that spot after several other teams suffered upset losses. Undefeated Miami beat Nebraska in the national championship game, which was hosted by the Rose Bowl, marking the first time in 55 years that the Rose Bowl participants were not the Big Ten and Pac-10 champions. The 2002 season may have been the best one of the BCS era: undefeated, second ranked Ohio State beat the undefeated, top ranked defending national champions Miami in double overtime in the Fiesta Bowl. Obviously, that matchup would have never happened prior to the BCS because Ohio State would have played in the Rose Bowl.
LSU claimed the 2003 BCS title by beating Oklahoma but AP voters selected USC as the national champion. In 2004, three teams were undefeated after the bowl season--USC, Auburn and Utah--but both the BCS and the AP voters tapped USC as the national champion. USC and Texas were the two top ranked teams throughout the 2006 season and Vince Young led Texas to a 41-38 Rose Bowl victory over USC to win the national championship. Last year, of course, Florida routed Ohio State in the first stand-alone BCS National Championship Game.
What we used to have in college football were traditional bowl matchups between rival conferences followed by polls to determine the final rankings. That method obviously could not be assured of producing a consensus champion every year but the various entities involved (the NCAA, college presidents, the television networks) could not agree on a playoff format, which led to the hybrid solution of the Bowl Coalition; that initial change was the first step toward destroying the tradition surrounding the bowl games and inevitably led us to where we are now: the old traditions are shattered yet we only end up with a consensus champion if everything breaks just right. The obvious, correct approach that should have been taken nearly two decades ago was to have a playoff after all the traditional bowl games were played; that would have kept tradition intact while at the same time maximizing the likelihood of producing a consensus champion. Now, several years after tradition has been cast aside, that solution would not fly because the involved parties are making too much money under the current system to accept a change. So how should the current BCS system be reformed? The obvious solution is still a playoff: select the top eight teams and have a three round postseason with the current bowl games being slotted into various rounds on a rotating basis. The NCAA, bowl presidents and conferences can work out the details about which bowls will host which games so that the financial ramifications (the number one concern of all the involved parties, despite their pious rhetoric about academics, tradition or anything else) are resolved to everyone's satisfaction. Obviously, even with an eight team playoff the ninth and tenth ranked teams will say that they have a beef but that would be preferable to the current system--and I seriously doubt that there will ever be a season when the ninth ranked team will have a legitimate claim to being the best team in the country (yes, Hawaii went 12-0 this year and is currently ranked ninth but that is because of their strength of schedule; if your program is trying to win a national title then you have to play tougher opposition).
An eight team playoff this season using the final BCS standings would include Ohio State, LSU, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Georgia, Missouri, USC and Kansas. Wouldn't you like to watch those teams square off on the final two weekends of December, with the National Championship Game being played in the first week of the new year? There could still be complaints about seeding or about possibly having to play a team that you already beat in the regular season but at least each of these teams would have a chance to compete for the title on the playing field instead of having their coaches appearing on TV stumping for pollsters' votes.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Why is There Always Controversy Surrounding Donovan McNabb?
Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer has a theory about why the Eagles seem to play better without Donovan McNabb: "The rest of the Eagles know that McNabb will absorb a disproportionate amount of criticism and blame when things go wrong. He is the lightning rod that keeps the rest of them from taking any direct hits from the fans and reporters...They play, and coach, better not for (Jeff) Garcia or (A.J.) Feeley, but to cover their own well-remunerated backsides." Most reporters are barely qualified to evaluate what actually happened on the field in terms of execution and Xs and Os, let alone make determinations about the psychological motivations of players and coaches. Film study no doubt shows that Garcia and Feeley, at least in recent seasons, are playing the quarterback position better from a technical standpoint than McNabb is. However, if we are going to ignore how the various Eagles' quarterbacks have performed and try to figure out why the other Eagles' players don't perform as well with/for McNabb then it is only logical to at least consider the possibility that those players don't perceive him to be a great leader--basically, a position completely opposite from the one that Sheridan takes. Sheridan claims to have great insight into how athletes think but it doesn't ring true to me that the Eagles players perform worse with McNabb because they supposedly realize that he is so great; truly great players bring out the best in their teammates--as the cliche states, they "make their teammates better" or, as I prefer to say, "Great players create openings and opportunities for their lesser talented teammates to do what they do well." I don't think that Feeley is a better quarterback than McNabb and the bloom may already be off the Feeley rose after he threw four interceptions in Phildelphia's 28-24 loss to Seattle--but I also don't buy Sheridan's dime store psychoanalysis of why some Eagles players seem to perform better when McNabb is not in the lineup.
John Madden is Not Impressed by Chad Johnson
The 4-7 Cincinnati Bengals face the 8-3 Pittsburgh Steelers tonight at Heinz Field. The Bengals need to run the table to have any realistic chance to make the playoffs, while the Steelers are trying to maintain their AFC North lead over the 7-4 Cleveland Browns and possibly catch the 9-2 Indianapolis Colts in the overall AFC playoff race. Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson says that his squad has an "excellent chance" to win five straight games but Hall of Fame Coach John Madden, who will be calling the Pittsburgh-Cincinnati game for NBC, is not impressed: "This isn't a talk league, this is a do league and it's not only a do league but it's when you do it. With all due respect to Chad Johnson, it doesn't make a difference what they say, they have to go to it. They have to go do it in the fourth quarter of the season." The Pittsburgh Steelers are a tough minded, physical team that has been dominant at home this season (6-0), while the Bengals are a mentally weak team that is 1-4 on the road. That means that tonight you are much more likely to see another Chad Johnson temper tantrum directed at quarterback Carson Palmer and/or the coaching staff than a Cincinnati win.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Clock Strikes Midnight for Favre, Cinderella Packers
Green Bay's fairy tale season ran headlong into reality on Thursday night in Dallas; the Cowboys knocked the seemingly indestructible Brett Favre out of the game early and then defeated the Packers, 37-27. Tony Romo completed 19 of 30 passes for 309 yards, four touchdowns and just one interception. Terrell Owens had seven receptions for 156 yards and one touchdown. Favre struggled mightily before getting hurt (5-14, 56 yards, two interceptions, no touchdowns) and the Packers actually looked better when his backup Aaron Rodgers (18-26, 201 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions) played. Favre suffered an injured right elbow and a separated left shoulder when he took a big hit by cornerback Nate Jones in the second quarter; Favre experienced numbness in the fingers on his right hand and left a game due to injury for only the fifth time in his career. The Packers don't play again for 10 more days, so it is unclear whether or not his record streak for consecutive games started (249) is in jeopardy.
This was the first time that two 10-1 NFL teams met since the San Francisco 49ers beat the New York Giants 7-3 on December 3, 1990. If New England's 24-20 victory over Indianapolis was "Super Bowl 41 1/2" then this game may have been "Super Bowl 41 3/4" and it probably decided who will represent the NFC in Super Bowl XLII. Favre and Romo had each posted five straight games with passer ratings of over 100, "the first time in NFL history that two such streaks have collided on the same night" in the words of NFL Network analyst Cris Collinsworth. I was a bit surprised before the game to hear several analysts predict a close game, including some who actually favored the Packers to win. I wrote a little over a week ago, "My suspicion is that the Cowboys will beat them (Green Bay) without too much trouble." The game turned out to be more closely contested than I expected but Dallas never trailed after the first quarter. Still, I agree with Deion Sanders' postgame assessment: "You've got to learn how to kill a gnat with a sledgehammer. When you get a team down, it's not a championship-type team if you can't put them away--and Dallas showed me today that they didn't know how to put the Green Bay Packers away."
Anyone who has watched NFL Films over the past few years has heard Terrell Owens declare, "Who can make a play? I can!" and, of course, "Get your popcorn ready." During Dallas' first possession, Collinsworth mentioned the "hocus pocus" that the Cowboys can do on offense due to all of the extra defensive attention that Owens, who he described as a "dominant" player, attracts. Only two opposing receivers had 100 yard games in Green Bay's previous 24 contests; Owens had six catches for 147 yards and one touchdown in the first half alone. He has now caught a touchdown in seven straight games. He had a quieter second half--and dropped a sure touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter--but Owens' first half production and the defensive attention that he drew throughout the game played an essential role in Dallas' win; also, as Collinsworth noted, when the Cowboys have a fourth quarter lead their modus operandi is to pound their opponents to death with the power running of Marion Barber. Owens became the first player in NFL history to have at least seven receptions and one touchdown in seven straight games and he tied the Cowboys' single season record with his 14th touchdown reception.
After the game, Dallas Coach Wade Phillips called Owens to the center of the locker room to address the whole team. The smiling wide receiver said, "We gave them the business! I like the way that we played." The sight of Phillips literally and figuratively embracing Owens is a marked contrast from how former Dallas Coach Bill Parcells kept Owens at arm's distance, referring to him as "the player." The NFL Network's Rich Eisen asked Owens how much Phillips has to do with Dallas' 11-1 record, the best start in franchise history. Owens responded, "Let me start out by thanking the Lord for giving me the opportunity just to come out and do what I did today. I couldn't do it without my teammates--Tony (Romo) and the offensive line giving him time. Wade has been very instrumental. He came in during the offseason, training camp, and he implemented his philosophy. I think that all of the guys have been very, very receptive to him and the record is a very good indicator of what he has brought to the team." Sanders asked Owens about his maturation process, exemplified by how Owens thanked the Lord and his teammates for his success: "Is that part of the 'new' TO or has that always been (part of you)?" Owens answered, "It's always been me. I think that now I have a great coach in Wade and a coaching staff that believes in me and utilizes me in the offense. We're just playing great as a team."
In a strange way it is fitting that Owens had a signature performance in perhaps the biggest game of the year but only a fraction of the NFL's fans could see it because it was televised on the NFL Network. Maybe the TV commentators and news columnists who have been riding this guy for several years now will give him the credit that they would have given Favre if he had authored a similar performance on such a grand stage--but I wouldn't count on it.
It is also worth mentioning that in addition to finally utilizing the full range of Owens' abilities, Phillips has led a defensive revival for the Cowboys. Last year, Parcells' defense leaked oil down the stretch, giving up 33 ppg and 425 ypg as the Cowboys went 1-3 in the last four games of the season, with all three losses coming at home. Overall, the 2006 Cowboys ranked 20th in points allowed per game (21.9) and 13th in yards allowed per game (322.8); coming into the Green Bay game, the Cowboys ranked 10th in points allowed per game (20.1) and seventh in yards allowed per game (299.1). Phillips and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett deserve all the credit that they are receiving for Dallas' tremendous offense but Phillips has done a good job shoring things up on the other side of the ball as well. The Cowboys' defense had a couple breakdowns versus Green Bay, including a 62 yard touchdown run by Ryan Grant on a 3rd and 1 play in the first quarter, but they came up big in the fourth quarter, holding the Packers to just a 52 yard field goal.
This was the first time that two 10-1 NFL teams met since the San Francisco 49ers beat the New York Giants 7-3 on December 3, 1990. If New England's 24-20 victory over Indianapolis was "Super Bowl 41 1/2" then this game may have been "Super Bowl 41 3/4" and it probably decided who will represent the NFC in Super Bowl XLII. Favre and Romo had each posted five straight games with passer ratings of over 100, "the first time in NFL history that two such streaks have collided on the same night" in the words of NFL Network analyst Cris Collinsworth. I was a bit surprised before the game to hear several analysts predict a close game, including some who actually favored the Packers to win. I wrote a little over a week ago, "My suspicion is that the Cowboys will beat them (Green Bay) without too much trouble." The game turned out to be more closely contested than I expected but Dallas never trailed after the first quarter. Still, I agree with Deion Sanders' postgame assessment: "You've got to learn how to kill a gnat with a sledgehammer. When you get a team down, it's not a championship-type team if you can't put them away--and Dallas showed me today that they didn't know how to put the Green Bay Packers away."
Anyone who has watched NFL Films over the past few years has heard Terrell Owens declare, "Who can make a play? I can!" and, of course, "Get your popcorn ready." During Dallas' first possession, Collinsworth mentioned the "hocus pocus" that the Cowboys can do on offense due to all of the extra defensive attention that Owens, who he described as a "dominant" player, attracts. Only two opposing receivers had 100 yard games in Green Bay's previous 24 contests; Owens had six catches for 147 yards and one touchdown in the first half alone. He has now caught a touchdown in seven straight games. He had a quieter second half--and dropped a sure touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter--but Owens' first half production and the defensive attention that he drew throughout the game played an essential role in Dallas' win; also, as Collinsworth noted, when the Cowboys have a fourth quarter lead their modus operandi is to pound their opponents to death with the power running of Marion Barber. Owens became the first player in NFL history to have at least seven receptions and one touchdown in seven straight games and he tied the Cowboys' single season record with his 14th touchdown reception.
After the game, Dallas Coach Wade Phillips called Owens to the center of the locker room to address the whole team. The smiling wide receiver said, "We gave them the business! I like the way that we played." The sight of Phillips literally and figuratively embracing Owens is a marked contrast from how former Dallas Coach Bill Parcells kept Owens at arm's distance, referring to him as "the player." The NFL Network's Rich Eisen asked Owens how much Phillips has to do with Dallas' 11-1 record, the best start in franchise history. Owens responded, "Let me start out by thanking the Lord for giving me the opportunity just to come out and do what I did today. I couldn't do it without my teammates--Tony (Romo) and the offensive line giving him time. Wade has been very instrumental. He came in during the offseason, training camp, and he implemented his philosophy. I think that all of the guys have been very, very receptive to him and the record is a very good indicator of what he has brought to the team." Sanders asked Owens about his maturation process, exemplified by how Owens thanked the Lord and his teammates for his success: "Is that part of the 'new' TO or has that always been (part of you)?" Owens answered, "It's always been me. I think that now I have a great coach in Wade and a coaching staff that believes in me and utilizes me in the offense. We're just playing great as a team."
In a strange way it is fitting that Owens had a signature performance in perhaps the biggest game of the year but only a fraction of the NFL's fans could see it because it was televised on the NFL Network. Maybe the TV commentators and news columnists who have been riding this guy for several years now will give him the credit that they would have given Favre if he had authored a similar performance on such a grand stage--but I wouldn't count on it.
It is also worth mentioning that in addition to finally utilizing the full range of Owens' abilities, Phillips has led a defensive revival for the Cowboys. Last year, Parcells' defense leaked oil down the stretch, giving up 33 ppg and 425 ypg as the Cowboys went 1-3 in the last four games of the season, with all three losses coming at home. Overall, the 2006 Cowboys ranked 20th in points allowed per game (21.9) and 13th in yards allowed per game (322.8); coming into the Green Bay game, the Cowboys ranked 10th in points allowed per game (20.1) and seventh in yards allowed per game (299.1). Phillips and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett deserve all the credit that they are receiving for Dallas' tremendous offense but Phillips has done a good job shoring things up on the other side of the ball as well. The Cowboys' defense had a couple breakdowns versus Green Bay, including a 62 yard touchdown run by Ryan Grant on a 3rd and 1 play in the first quarter, but they came up big in the fourth quarter, holding the Packers to just a 52 yard field goal.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Bill Willis' Achievements Should Never be Forgotten
Pro Football Hall of Famer Bill Willis passed away on Tuesday. Willis played on Ohio State's 1942 national championship team and on five Cleveland Browns' championship teams (four AAFC titles plus the 1950 NFL Championship), all while being coached by Paul Brown. Willis played both ways but made his mark by using his blistering quickness to cause tremendous disruption as a defensive middle guard. However, just as significant as Willis' accomplishments as a player is his role in helping to integrate the NFL. Hall of Famer Fritz Pollard was one of two black players who participated in the inaugural season of the American Professional Football Association (the forerunner of the NFL) in 1920 and in 1921 he became the first black coach in league history but within a few years pro football became a segregated sport. One year before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, Bill Willis joined with Cleveland Browns teammate Marion Motley and Kenny Washington and Woody Strode of the Los Angeles Rams to become the first black players in the modern era of professional football.
Bill Willis' achievements should never be forgotten--and it is heartening to see that the current Cleveland Browns' players understand that Willis paved the way for them. As running back Jason Wright said, "It's something that every player, not just the black players in the league, owes a ton of gratitude towards because one of the unique things about the football environment is that we really become a family, across racial lines, across socio-economic lines." Coach Romeo Crennel had previously made sure that his players knew about Willis and it is clear that wide receiver Braylon Edwards paid attention to the history lesson: "He (Willis) paved the way and showed that guys of our color could play. They gave him a chance and he ran with it. He did well. He basically paved the way for gentlemen like myself and I'm appreciative...It had to be hard. It wasn't just them vs. the opposition. It was them vs. players on their team, fans, organizations. To go through it and to maintain and stay focused and strong just says a lot about his character."
Willis was Ohio State's first black All-American and after he retired from the NFL in 1953 he worked for 20 years as the director of the Ohio Department of Youth Services. He retired from that position in 1983 but continued to live in the Columbus area. In 2003, Odessa, his wife of 55 years, passed away and this summer his house was broken into and vandalized and many of his mementos were stolen. Willis' son Clem told reporters that his father's Ohio State championship ring was recovered just hours before he passed away.
Bill Willis' achievements should never be forgotten--and it is heartening to see that the current Cleveland Browns' players understand that Willis paved the way for them. As running back Jason Wright said, "It's something that every player, not just the black players in the league, owes a ton of gratitude towards because one of the unique things about the football environment is that we really become a family, across racial lines, across socio-economic lines." Coach Romeo Crennel had previously made sure that his players knew about Willis and it is clear that wide receiver Braylon Edwards paid attention to the history lesson: "He (Willis) paved the way and showed that guys of our color could play. They gave him a chance and he ran with it. He did well. He basically paved the way for gentlemen like myself and I'm appreciative...It had to be hard. It wasn't just them vs. the opposition. It was them vs. players on their team, fans, organizations. To go through it and to maintain and stay focused and strong just says a lot about his character."
Willis was Ohio State's first black All-American and after he retired from the NFL in 1953 he worked for 20 years as the director of the Ohio Department of Youth Services. He retired from that position in 1983 but continued to live in the Columbus area. In 2003, Odessa, his wife of 55 years, passed away and this summer his house was broken into and vandalized and many of his mementos were stolen. Willis' son Clem told reporters that his father's Ohio State championship ring was recovered just hours before he passed away.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Two Minute Drill: Real Professional Football is Being Played in Cleveland!
The record book indicates that the Cleveland Browns returned to the NFL in 1999 but--except for a 9-7 blip in 2002--it could not really be truthfully said that professional football was being played in the city (at least not by the home team). That seems to have changed suddenly and dramatically this season.
After a 27-17 home win over Houston on Sunday, the Browns are 7-4, which is their best record at this stage of the season since 1994. This success has been largely built on the strength of a five game home winning streak, the team's best since 1994. Derek Anderson's 22 touchdown passes are the most by a Browns quarterback since Bernie Kosar also had 22 in 1987; Anderson has an excellent chance to break Brian Sipe's team record of 30, set in 1980 when Sipe won the NFL MVP.
This is a remarkable turnaround for a team that looked dead in the water after a 34-7 week one loss to Pittsburgh that was highlighted (lowlighted?) by the Browns committing four penalties on one play; that pitiful sequence and lopsided score epitomized how the Browns have usually performed since 1999 and strongly suggested that the rebuilding program being orchestrated by General Manager Phil Savage and Coach Romeo Crennel was going nowhere fast. That week one disaster convinced me that the Browns were not keeping pace with the three year time frame that Bill Walsh laid out for rebuilding a team but since then the Browns dumped Charlie Frye, installed Derek Anderson as the starting quarterback and have looked like a bona fide playoff team.
Two key differences between this year's squad and the previous teams are that the Browns now have Pro Bowl caliber players at several positions and have the depth to withstand injuries. Anderson, kick returner Joshua Cribbs, tight end Kellen Winslow, wide receiver Braylon Edwards and rookie offensive tackle Joe Thomas are all worthy of being Pro Bowlers; they may not all make it this year because established players from previously successful teams tend to receive such honors but the important point is that the Browns have drafted, acquired and developed several players who have top of the line talent. Running back Jamal Lewis may not consistently be playing at a Pro Bowl level but he is the best running back that the Browns have had in a long time; a strong running game is essential for any Cleveland team to do well, particularly as the weather turns cold. Lewis had 134 yards on 29 carries versus Houston, scoring one touchdown and helping the Browns to literally run out the clock at the end of the game. His eight rushing touchdowns are the most by a Brown since Kevin Mack had eight in 1991. Meanwhile, Anderson has the passing game clicking on all cylinders: Edwards has 11 touchdown receptions and is on course to break Gary Collins' franchise record of 13, set in 1963; Winslow tied Ozzie Newsome's franchise record with 89 receptions last season and with 62 receptions in 11 games he has a decent chance to become the first Brown to tally 90 receptions in a season. This is one of the best Browns' offenses ever and that is saying something considering the proud history of this franchise.
The defense is obviously still a work in progress but even on that side of the ball there are encouraging signs. Houston has displayed an explosive offense this season but the Browns held them to 17 points, probably the team's best overall defensive performance this season. The Browns did this without starting cornerback Eric Wright, who was replaced by nickel back Daven Holly, which forced rookie Brandon McDonald into service to fill Holly's normal role. McDonald's first career interception came in the second half and led to Lewis' touchdown, which gave the Browns a 27-10 lead and all but assured the victory. The Browns entered the game with the league's worst defense statistically but held the Texans to seven points and 106 yards in the second half.
This may sound like something that is insignificant, but the Browns looked different during their warmups. I went to the Browns' 19-14 opening day loss to New Orleans in 2006 and one of the things that bothered me most as a fan is how lackadaisical the team looked during warmups. Edwards dropped several passes during warmups and, sure enough, he dropped several passes during the game. I told several people after the game that I had a bad feeling about the season based on the lack of crispness and sharpness in the way that the team warmed up before the game and that assessment turned out to be correct. Things looked a lot different before the Houston game. Edwards caught a short pass and, like Jerry Rice used to do, he ran all the way to midfield (the Texans were practicing on the other side, so he could not run to the endzone); Rice, like the great ones in any sport or endeavor, took practice/preparation seriously and it is nice to see that Edwards apparently is now adapting this approach.
I will always root for the Browns, win or lose, but I really like this team. This is a fun team to watch; some of the previous squads did not prepare well or play hard and it was not much fun to watch them. Maybe this is the start of something special for the Browns and, if so, I could not be happier that my initial take on this year's team has turned out to be wrong.
Give Savage credit for his acquisitions and give Crennel credit for finally getting the Browns to look organized most of the time.
Here are some other NFL games that caught my eye this week:
***
We saw the best and worst of Kurt Warner in Arizona's 37-31 overtime loss to San Francisco on Sunday. The "best" is that Warner completed 34 of 48 passes for a career-high 484 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions despite playing with a torn ligament in his left (non-throwing) shoulder and a rib injury that he suffered during the third quarter. Warner's yardage is an NFL single-game high for this season and an all-time record for a San Francisco opponent. The "worst" is that the 49ers recovered a Warner fumble in the endzone to score the clinching touchdown in overtime.
Warner, a two-time NFL MVP (1999, 2001), is tied with Carson Palmer for seventh in passer rating this season (90.8) but ball security has often been a problem for him. According to Yahoo!Sports, Warner has lost 32 fumbles in 89 career games. This ratio is the worst one among the NFL's top quarterbacks (based on passer rating this season): the top ranked Tom Brady has lost 27 fumbles in 107 games; number two Ben Roethlisberger has lost eight fumbles in 52 games; number three Tony Romo has lost five fumbles in 43 games; number four David Garrard has lost five fumbles in 36 games; number five Brett Favre has lost 54 fumbles in 252 games; number six Jeff Garcia has lost 21 fumbles in 110 games; Palmer has lost 12 fumbles in 56 games.
Warner is a wonderfully gifted passer who generates a lot of offense but his turnovers also help the other team put points on the board.
***
The Philadelphia Eagles had an excellent game plan offensively and defensively. They executed it reasonably well. The New England Patriots were not as sharp as usual, yet they still won, 31-28. Even the greatest teams have at least one close call sooner or later; rather than a "blueprint" for how to beat New England this is more likely a wakeup call of sorts and may turn out to be the closest that the Patriots come to losing all year. You just know that Bill Belichick will be serving extra portions of "humble pie" this week and that his players will devour every crumb. That process actually seemed to begin during the game; New England adjusted to the pass rush pressure the Eagles brought by shelving the deep passing game to Randy Moss and utilizing Wes Welker on short, quick hitting pass patterns. Welker's 13 receptions tied for the second most ever by a New England player in one game. Tom Brady went 34-54 for 380 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. It was clearly his worst game of the year--and he still had a passer rating of 90.0, a number that would rank in the top ten for all NFL quarterbacks this season.
Donovan McNabb is supposedly the Eagles' franchise player and he certainly deserves credit for leading the team to four NFC Championship Game appearances and one Super Bowl. However, there are questions about his ability to perform in big games and there are also questions about how valuable he is at this stage of his career after sustaining so many injuries recently. The Eagles looked better last year with Jeff Garcia at quarterback than they did with McNabb calling the signals and they certainly did very well on Sunday with A.J. Feeley (27-42, 345 yards, three touchdowns, three interceptions, 83.9 rating) at the helm. McNabb's rating this season is 87.3, slightly above his career average, but he has been all over the map, from a perfect 158.3 rating in a week three 56-21 rout of Detroit to a .4 rating (that is not a typo) in a 17-7 win over Miami. When Terrell Owens was an Eagle he raised some eyebrows by publicly questioning McNabb's performance down the stretch in the team's Super Bowl loss to New England; the media jumped all over Owens and McNabb called Owens' comments an example of "black on black crime"--but most of the other Eagles were conspicuously reluctant to come to McNabb's defense and some of them reportedly even privately agreed with what Owens said. Owens may have been wrong to say what he did but that does not mean that what he said was wrong.
***
The Pittsburgh Steelers maintained a one game lead over Cleveland in the AFC North by beating Miami on Monday in a 3-0 slopfest at Heinz Field. The lowest scoring game in the history of Monday Night Football was delayed due to lightning and probably should have been canceled due to deplorable field conditions. One punt hit the turf and came to a dead stop as literally half the ball sank into the soggy, muddy quagmire that resembled quicksand. The Steelers had their first scoreless first half at home in a regular season game since 1955. As a Browns fan I would have loved to see Pittsburgh lose but I disagree with any suggestion that the bad field conditions hurt Miami's chances of pulling off the upset; the winless Dolphins are clearly inferior to the Steelers, who spent much of the game operating in Miami territory but were unable to score until just seconds remained in the contest. Without the leveling effect provided by the muddy field, the Steelers--who have been dominant at home all season--would probably have won by three touchdowns. Ben Roethlisberger set a Steelers record for single game completion percentage, going 18-21 for 165 yards. His only serious mistake was a first quarter interception by ex-Steeler Joey Porter.
Give Miami credit for fighting hard until the end. As ESPN's Steve Young noted, the Dolphins did not make many errors in terms of execution and played a lot better than one would expect from an 0-11 team. They have lost six games by three points or less but that will be little consolation if they end up becoming the first NFL team to go winless since the NFL expanded the schedule to 16 games in 1978. While the game was literally an eyesore, one of the highlights of any Monday Night Football game on ESPN is hearing Steve Young's pregame and postgame analysis. Young constantly provides interesting insights based on his experiences as a top quarterback and he steadfastly refuses to hype up players, teams or matchups that do not deserve it. After the Pittsburgh-Miami game he said simply that there was nothing that happened that was worth analyzing: the Steelers are the better team and they did just enough to win but due to the uniquely bad conditions this contest told us nothing about their ability to beat New England or Indianapolis, particularly on the road, which is the challenge that Pittsburgh will likely face in this year's playoffs. I always respected Young's approach to what he terms the "craft" of being an NFL quarterback and it is clear that he takes being an analyst just as seriously.
After a 27-17 home win over Houston on Sunday, the Browns are 7-4, which is their best record at this stage of the season since 1994. This success has been largely built on the strength of a five game home winning streak, the team's best since 1994. Derek Anderson's 22 touchdown passes are the most by a Browns quarterback since Bernie Kosar also had 22 in 1987; Anderson has an excellent chance to break Brian Sipe's team record of 30, set in 1980 when Sipe won the NFL MVP.
This is a remarkable turnaround for a team that looked dead in the water after a 34-7 week one loss to Pittsburgh that was highlighted (lowlighted?) by the Browns committing four penalties on one play; that pitiful sequence and lopsided score epitomized how the Browns have usually performed since 1999 and strongly suggested that the rebuilding program being orchestrated by General Manager Phil Savage and Coach Romeo Crennel was going nowhere fast. That week one disaster convinced me that the Browns were not keeping pace with the three year time frame that Bill Walsh laid out for rebuilding a team but since then the Browns dumped Charlie Frye, installed Derek Anderson as the starting quarterback and have looked like a bona fide playoff team.
Two key differences between this year's squad and the previous teams are that the Browns now have Pro Bowl caliber players at several positions and have the depth to withstand injuries. Anderson, kick returner Joshua Cribbs, tight end Kellen Winslow, wide receiver Braylon Edwards and rookie offensive tackle Joe Thomas are all worthy of being Pro Bowlers; they may not all make it this year because established players from previously successful teams tend to receive such honors but the important point is that the Browns have drafted, acquired and developed several players who have top of the line talent. Running back Jamal Lewis may not consistently be playing at a Pro Bowl level but he is the best running back that the Browns have had in a long time; a strong running game is essential for any Cleveland team to do well, particularly as the weather turns cold. Lewis had 134 yards on 29 carries versus Houston, scoring one touchdown and helping the Browns to literally run out the clock at the end of the game. His eight rushing touchdowns are the most by a Brown since Kevin Mack had eight in 1991. Meanwhile, Anderson has the passing game clicking on all cylinders: Edwards has 11 touchdown receptions and is on course to break Gary Collins' franchise record of 13, set in 1963; Winslow tied Ozzie Newsome's franchise record with 89 receptions last season and with 62 receptions in 11 games he has a decent chance to become the first Brown to tally 90 receptions in a season. This is one of the best Browns' offenses ever and that is saying something considering the proud history of this franchise.
The defense is obviously still a work in progress but even on that side of the ball there are encouraging signs. Houston has displayed an explosive offense this season but the Browns held them to 17 points, probably the team's best overall defensive performance this season. The Browns did this without starting cornerback Eric Wright, who was replaced by nickel back Daven Holly, which forced rookie Brandon McDonald into service to fill Holly's normal role. McDonald's first career interception came in the second half and led to Lewis' touchdown, which gave the Browns a 27-10 lead and all but assured the victory. The Browns entered the game with the league's worst defense statistically but held the Texans to seven points and 106 yards in the second half.
This may sound like something that is insignificant, but the Browns looked different during their warmups. I went to the Browns' 19-14 opening day loss to New Orleans in 2006 and one of the things that bothered me most as a fan is how lackadaisical the team looked during warmups. Edwards dropped several passes during warmups and, sure enough, he dropped several passes during the game. I told several people after the game that I had a bad feeling about the season based on the lack of crispness and sharpness in the way that the team warmed up before the game and that assessment turned out to be correct. Things looked a lot different before the Houston game. Edwards caught a short pass and, like Jerry Rice used to do, he ran all the way to midfield (the Texans were practicing on the other side, so he could not run to the endzone); Rice, like the great ones in any sport or endeavor, took practice/preparation seriously and it is nice to see that Edwards apparently is now adapting this approach.
I will always root for the Browns, win or lose, but I really like this team. This is a fun team to watch; some of the previous squads did not prepare well or play hard and it was not much fun to watch them. Maybe this is the start of something special for the Browns and, if so, I could not be happier that my initial take on this year's team has turned out to be wrong.
Give Savage credit for his acquisitions and give Crennel credit for finally getting the Browns to look organized most of the time.
Here are some other NFL games that caught my eye this week:
***
We saw the best and worst of Kurt Warner in Arizona's 37-31 overtime loss to San Francisco on Sunday. The "best" is that Warner completed 34 of 48 passes for a career-high 484 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions despite playing with a torn ligament in his left (non-throwing) shoulder and a rib injury that he suffered during the third quarter. Warner's yardage is an NFL single-game high for this season and an all-time record for a San Francisco opponent. The "worst" is that the 49ers recovered a Warner fumble in the endzone to score the clinching touchdown in overtime.
Warner, a two-time NFL MVP (1999, 2001), is tied with Carson Palmer for seventh in passer rating this season (90.8) but ball security has often been a problem for him. According to Yahoo!Sports, Warner has lost 32 fumbles in 89 career games. This ratio is the worst one among the NFL's top quarterbacks (based on passer rating this season): the top ranked Tom Brady has lost 27 fumbles in 107 games; number two Ben Roethlisberger has lost eight fumbles in 52 games; number three Tony Romo has lost five fumbles in 43 games; number four David Garrard has lost five fumbles in 36 games; number five Brett Favre has lost 54 fumbles in 252 games; number six Jeff Garcia has lost 21 fumbles in 110 games; Palmer has lost 12 fumbles in 56 games.
Warner is a wonderfully gifted passer who generates a lot of offense but his turnovers also help the other team put points on the board.
***
The Philadelphia Eagles had an excellent game plan offensively and defensively. They executed it reasonably well. The New England Patriots were not as sharp as usual, yet they still won, 31-28. Even the greatest teams have at least one close call sooner or later; rather than a "blueprint" for how to beat New England this is more likely a wakeup call of sorts and may turn out to be the closest that the Patriots come to losing all year. You just know that Bill Belichick will be serving extra portions of "humble pie" this week and that his players will devour every crumb. That process actually seemed to begin during the game; New England adjusted to the pass rush pressure the Eagles brought by shelving the deep passing game to Randy Moss and utilizing Wes Welker on short, quick hitting pass patterns. Welker's 13 receptions tied for the second most ever by a New England player in one game. Tom Brady went 34-54 for 380 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. It was clearly his worst game of the year--and he still had a passer rating of 90.0, a number that would rank in the top ten for all NFL quarterbacks this season.
Donovan McNabb is supposedly the Eagles' franchise player and he certainly deserves credit for leading the team to four NFC Championship Game appearances and one Super Bowl. However, there are questions about his ability to perform in big games and there are also questions about how valuable he is at this stage of his career after sustaining so many injuries recently. The Eagles looked better last year with Jeff Garcia at quarterback than they did with McNabb calling the signals and they certainly did very well on Sunday with A.J. Feeley (27-42, 345 yards, three touchdowns, three interceptions, 83.9 rating) at the helm. McNabb's rating this season is 87.3, slightly above his career average, but he has been all over the map, from a perfect 158.3 rating in a week three 56-21 rout of Detroit to a .4 rating (that is not a typo) in a 17-7 win over Miami. When Terrell Owens was an Eagle he raised some eyebrows by publicly questioning McNabb's performance down the stretch in the team's Super Bowl loss to New England; the media jumped all over Owens and McNabb called Owens' comments an example of "black on black crime"--but most of the other Eagles were conspicuously reluctant to come to McNabb's defense and some of them reportedly even privately agreed with what Owens said. Owens may have been wrong to say what he did but that does not mean that what he said was wrong.
***
The Pittsburgh Steelers maintained a one game lead over Cleveland in the AFC North by beating Miami on Monday in a 3-0 slopfest at Heinz Field. The lowest scoring game in the history of Monday Night Football was delayed due to lightning and probably should have been canceled due to deplorable field conditions. One punt hit the turf and came to a dead stop as literally half the ball sank into the soggy, muddy quagmire that resembled quicksand. The Steelers had their first scoreless first half at home in a regular season game since 1955. As a Browns fan I would have loved to see Pittsburgh lose but I disagree with any suggestion that the bad field conditions hurt Miami's chances of pulling off the upset; the winless Dolphins are clearly inferior to the Steelers, who spent much of the game operating in Miami territory but were unable to score until just seconds remained in the contest. Without the leveling effect provided by the muddy field, the Steelers--who have been dominant at home all season--would probably have won by three touchdowns. Ben Roethlisberger set a Steelers record for single game completion percentage, going 18-21 for 165 yards. His only serious mistake was a first quarter interception by ex-Steeler Joey Porter.
Give Miami credit for fighting hard until the end. As ESPN's Steve Young noted, the Dolphins did not make many errors in terms of execution and played a lot better than one would expect from an 0-11 team. They have lost six games by three points or less but that will be little consolation if they end up becoming the first NFL team to go winless since the NFL expanded the schedule to 16 games in 1978. While the game was literally an eyesore, one of the highlights of any Monday Night Football game on ESPN is hearing Steve Young's pregame and postgame analysis. Young constantly provides interesting insights based on his experiences as a top quarterback and he steadfastly refuses to hype up players, teams or matchups that do not deserve it. After the Pittsburgh-Miami game he said simply that there was nothing that happened that was worth analyzing: the Steelers are the better team and they did just enough to win but due to the uniquely bad conditions this contest told us nothing about their ability to beat New England or Indianapolis, particularly on the road, which is the challenge that Pittsburgh will likely face in this year's playoffs. I always respected Young's approach to what he terms the "craft" of being an NFL quarterback and it is clear that he takes being an analyst just as seriously.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Marion Jones' Records are Gone: Is Barry Bonds Next?
Various reasons have been supplied for why Barry Bonds' numerous baseball records cannot be removed from the books even if he is convicted of lying to a federal grand jury about using steroids. Disgraced track and field star Marion Jones is in a very similar situation to Bonds; she never failed a drug test but she has admitted to lying about her steroid use (Bonds admitted to unknowingly using steroids but has been charged with perjury because the federal government believes that he knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs). The International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF), the governing body of track and field, has decided to completely eliminate all of Jones' results after Sept. 1, 2000. Jones, who is suspended from competing until October 7, 2009, has been ordered to return all the prize money--approximately $700,000--and awards that she received during that time period and will not be reinstated until she does so. Baseball pundits say that Bonds' records cannot be erased because this will create chaos--affecting pitchers' statistics, team won/loss records and so forth--but the IAAF seems to be completely unconcerned about similar ramifications for track and field; clean athletes who finished behind Jones will be moved up in the standings and if there are no clean athletes behind her in certain events then the gold medal position may simply be left vacated.
The IAAF solution may not be perfect but it sets a good example; cheaters like Jones try to achieve historical immortality, so the best way to dissuade future cheaters is to show that cheaters who are caught will not keep their records. What if someone who also cheated is moved up to replace Jones or Bonds? The investigation of drug use is ongoing, so just like it took some time to catch Jones it may take some time to catch other previously undetected cheaters--but just because every single cheater has not been caught and punished we should not let the ones who have been caught off the hook. The information in Game of Shadows alone presents a very compelling case against Bonds; even if he somehow skates on the federal government's perjury charges, MLB should demand that Bonds offer some explanation or refutation of the book's assertions. "Innocent until proven guilty" applies only to criminal charges; if MLB wants its record book to continue to have any meaning then it cannot afford to simply ignore the mountain of evidence that indicates that Bonds cheated and that his cheating directly correlated with an increase in his power numbers. Otherwise, MLB does a great disservice not only to the clean sluggers of the past decade but also the retired sluggers who Bonds has passed in the record book.
The IAAF solution may not be perfect but it sets a good example; cheaters like Jones try to achieve historical immortality, so the best way to dissuade future cheaters is to show that cheaters who are caught will not keep their records. What if someone who also cheated is moved up to replace Jones or Bonds? The investigation of drug use is ongoing, so just like it took some time to catch Jones it may take some time to catch other previously undetected cheaters--but just because every single cheater has not been caught and punished we should not let the ones who have been caught off the hook. The information in Game of Shadows alone presents a very compelling case against Bonds; even if he somehow skates on the federal government's perjury charges, MLB should demand that Bonds offer some explanation or refutation of the book's assertions. "Innocent until proven guilty" applies only to criminal charges; if MLB wants its record book to continue to have any meaning then it cannot afford to simply ignore the mountain of evidence that indicates that Bonds cheated and that his cheating directly correlated with an increase in his power numbers. Otherwise, MLB does a great disservice not only to the clean sluggers of the past decade but also the retired sluggers who Bonds has passed in the record book.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Lions Look Like Turkeys, Get Stuffed by Packers
Wait a second--Brett Favre just completed another pass against the Lions; when the tryptophan takes effect in Detroit, the Lions and their fans will have nightmare visions of Packers' receivers running down the field after catching passes from Favre, who set a team record with 20 straight completions en route to throwing for his most yards in a game in three years (381). Favre completed 31 of his 41 attempts, tossing three touchdowns and no interceptions as the Packers improved to 10-1 with a 37-26 victory in the traditional Thanksgiving Day game in Detroit.
Detroit actually got off to a good start, scoring a field goal on the first possession of the game and then kicking another field goal after recovering a Favre fumble. The problem with kicking two field goals, though, is that one touchdown wipes out your entire lead--and that is exactly what happened after Aaron Rouse intercepted Jon Kitna and returned the ball 34 yards to the Detroit 11 yard line. Favre threw a touchdown pass to Greg Jennings on the next play and Green Bay never trailed again. The Packers kept the Lions out of the end zone until the fourth quarter, stretching their lead to 31-12 before Detroit scored a couple late touchdowns to cut the margin to 34-26. Favre sealed the win with a 10 play, 72 yard drive that led to a field goal and--just as importantly--drained most of the remaining time.
Assuming that the Dallas Cowboys beat the New York Jets today, this sets up a very good matchup for next Thursday: 10-1 Green Bay visiting 10-1 Dallas in a game that will likely decide home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
Detroit actually got off to a good start, scoring a field goal on the first possession of the game and then kicking another field goal after recovering a Favre fumble. The problem with kicking two field goals, though, is that one touchdown wipes out your entire lead--and that is exactly what happened after Aaron Rouse intercepted Jon Kitna and returned the ball 34 yards to the Detroit 11 yard line. Favre threw a touchdown pass to Greg Jennings on the next play and Green Bay never trailed again. The Packers kept the Lions out of the end zone until the fourth quarter, stretching their lead to 31-12 before Detroit scored a couple late touchdowns to cut the margin to 34-26. Favre sealed the win with a 10 play, 72 yard drive that led to a field goal and--just as importantly--drained most of the remaining time.
Assuming that the Dallas Cowboys beat the New York Jets today, this sets up a very good matchup for next Thursday: 10-1 Green Bay visiting 10-1 Dallas in a game that will likely decide home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Tom Brady: "We're Trying to Kill Teams"
In an interview with WEEI Radio that was replayed on SportsCenter, New England quarterback Tom Brady frankly admitted what many people suspected anyway, namely that the Patriots are trying to blow out their opponents: "We're trying to play extremely well. We're not trying to win 42-28. We're trying to win--we're trying to kill teams, to blow them out if we can. You want to build momentum for each week. You don't want it to be 42-7 or 35-7 and then all of a sudden you look up and it's 35-21."
I realize that some people may have a problem with a philosophy that is so brutally aggressive and others may find it unseemly for Brady to say such things--but football is by nature a brutally aggressive game and there is no provision in the rules for the losing team to just concede defeat. New England's meticulous preparation and aggressive mindset are the reasons that the Patriots are obliterating the NFL record book. Instead of whining about what the Patriots are doing the other teams should be taking notes and fans should admire and respect a level of professionalism and dedication that has not been seen in sports since the Jordan-Pippen Bulls ruled the NBA.
I simply don't understand how fans who complain about overpaid, underachieving athletes can be mad at an organization that stresses playing hard until the final gun goes off. To put it bluntly, which team would you rather watch: the New England Patriots or the Cincinnati Bengals?
I realize that some people may have a problem with a philosophy that is so brutally aggressive and others may find it unseemly for Brady to say such things--but football is by nature a brutally aggressive game and there is no provision in the rules for the losing team to just concede defeat. New England's meticulous preparation and aggressive mindset are the reasons that the Patriots are obliterating the NFL record book. Instead of whining about what the Patriots are doing the other teams should be taking notes and fans should admire and respect a level of professionalism and dedication that has not been seen in sports since the Jordan-Pippen Bulls ruled the NBA.
I simply don't understand how fans who complain about overpaid, underachieving athletes can be mad at an organization that stresses playing hard until the final gun goes off. To put it bluntly, which team would you rather watch: the New England Patriots or the Cincinnati Bengals?
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Two Minute Drill: Double Doink Keys Browns Victory Over Ravens
Cleveland Browns fans do not usually think to themselves "Somebody Up There Likes Me." Usually, a more appropriate musing would be, "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" or, more concisely, "Misery." Perhaps that is finally starting to change this season: the Browns improved to 6-4 after a 33-30 overtime victory over the Baltimore Ravens. The Browns forced the overtime with what NBC's Keith Olbermann called "the longest field goal in NFL history." Phil Dawson's 51 yarder was not even the longest of his career in terms of distance and it fell 12 yards short of the NFL record shared by Tom Dempsey and Jason Elam but Olbermann's quip refers not to yardage but to time; it took the game officials about five minutes to determine that Dawson's attempt was in fact good. The ball struck the left upright (doink number one) then hit the support behind the crossbar (doink number two) before bouncing forward into the endzone. That last forward movement led one official to signal "no good" but the other official standing in the back of the endzone realized that the kick had in fact cleared the crossbar. Technically, this kind of play is not reviewable, so referee Pete Morelli went to great lengths to explain to the crowd and the TV audience that the officials reached their conclusion by consultation amongst themselves as opposed to using a video review. In any case, they made the right ruling, a bounce (actually, two bounces) and a call actually went the Browns' way and the Browns took advantage of this second chance (they blew a 13 point fourth quarter lead) to drive downfield during overtime and convert a perfectly normal field goal to seal the win. This is their second 33-30 overtime win in the past three weeks, placing the Browns firmly in the hunt for a playoff berth and reviving memories of the old Kardiac Kids who specialized in playing games that were not decided until the final moments.
While the Browns have emerged as perhaps the most surprising team of the season, their cross-state rival Cincinnati Bengals are one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL. At 3-7 they reside in last place in the AFC North. They have a talented roster and they have not suffered from an unusual number of injuries--unless you count the disease of selfishness that has apparently spread from mouthy wide receiver Chad Johnson to several other players on the team. As the team's most reliable wide receiver--T.J. Houshmandzadeh--put it after the Bengals' 35-27 loss to Arizona, "Talent doesn't win games, obviously. We're a good example of that." They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and if you are looking for a portrait of the self absorption that has led directly to the Bengals' collapse then look no further than this snapshot from the Arizona game: Johnson sitting on the field lost in thought (no doubt about how great he is), completely oblivious to the scrum directly to his left where players from both teams are fighting to recover a ball that he fumbled. The media has spent a lot of time singing the praises of "Ocho Cinco" while informing us that Terrell Owens, Randy Moss and Kobe Bryant are selfish players. Last I checked, those three players are performing very well for winning teams--but I would not hold my breath waiting for retractions of the criticisms of Owens, Moss and Bryant or rewrites of the breathless praise of Johnson.
The big question at the top of the AFC North is whether or not the Steelers are for real. The answer depends on what one means by "for real." Pittsburgh is the best team in the division, owning a one game lead over the Browns that is really a two game lead because they swept the season series over Cleveland. The Steelers are dominant at home but shaky on the road. One would think that their formula of running the ball on offense while playing teeth rattling defense would travel well but that has not been the case this season. Pittsburgh will win the AFC North and will survive in the AFC playoffs until they have to go on the road, where they will be road kill at the hands of New England or Indianapolis.
Turning to the NFC--also known as the conference that will offer up a sacrificial lamb to be destroyed by the Patriots in the Super Bowl--it is hard to know what to make of the Green Bay Packers. They have been mediocre at best for several years and their best player, quarterback Brett Favre, is playing as well as he ever has despite reaching an age at which some of his greatest predecessors rapidly declined. For most of the season the Packers could not run the ball but now they have shown signs of life on the ground. The real secret with this team is that they play very good defense. I keep thinking that the whole thing is a mirage and that one week it will all collapse like a house of cards but 10 weeks into the season I have to admit that they are not a fluke. It will be very interesting to see what happens when they play the Cowboys in week 13. My suspicion is that the Cowboys will beat them without too much trouble.
Thought of the Week: I'm sick of hearing complaints that the Patriots are running up the score. In the second half of the Buffalo game--as NBC's Al Michaels and John Madden quite correctly pointed out--the Patriots were using running backs no one has ever heard of on simple plays up the middle and they were still gaining huge chunks of yardage. This is not pee wee football; there is no mercy rule. I think that the complaints are coming from fans and media members and not the teams themselves but if any player or team has a problem with what New England is doing then they should take a page from boxing or chess: throw in the towel or resign. Of course, neither of those options is available in the NFL, so both teams are required to play until the final gun.
Thought of the Week II: I disagree with how Bill Parcells used Terrell Owens last season but I like the way that Parcells handled Owens' not so veiled criticism of him. ESPN ran the clip of Owens saying that this year's coaching staff is using him better than last year's coaching staff did and then Monday Night Countdown host Chris Berman asked Parcells for his response. Parcells smiled and said simply, "I agree with everything he said. They are using him better. He is playing better." I also have no problem with what Owens said or how he said it; coaches publicly criticize players all the time and what Owens said was very measured, so much so that even Parcells himself had to admit that Owens is right.
Thought of the Week III: We have often been told that quarterback is the most important position. We also have often been told that Peyton Manning may be the greatest quarterback of all-time. It is very interesting to see that without Marvin Harrison he has suddenly become not just mediocre but actually bad--in fact, his passer rating for the past three weeks (55.5) is lower than the full season passer ratings of every single qualifier listed in the league's official rankings! In the past three games, Manning has completed just 66 of 115 passes (.574) for 716 yards (6.2 yards per attempt) with three touchdowns and eight interceptions. In the first seven games of the season, he had a 97.9 passer rating, completing 138 of 232 passes (.595) for 1833 yards (7.9 yards per attempt) with 13 touchdowns and three interceptions. We've seen Tom Brady win Super Bowls with receivers who could not even start for Indianapolis and this season we are seeing what Tom Brady can do with a first rate receiving corps: rewrite the record book. Now that we have a good idea of what Brady would have been doing for years if he had had Marvin Harrison, don't you wonder what Manning would have been doing if he had had Brady's receivers? Somehow, I don't think that Manning would have been winning three Super Bowls.
What does all of this mean? 1) Manning is a talented player but Brady is without question the best quarterback of this era. 2) Quarterback may be the most important position but no one player can win games by himself in a team sport, no matter what the media tries to tell you.
While the Browns have emerged as perhaps the most surprising team of the season, their cross-state rival Cincinnati Bengals are one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL. At 3-7 they reside in last place in the AFC North. They have a talented roster and they have not suffered from an unusual number of injuries--unless you count the disease of selfishness that has apparently spread from mouthy wide receiver Chad Johnson to several other players on the team. As the team's most reliable wide receiver--T.J. Houshmandzadeh--put it after the Bengals' 35-27 loss to Arizona, "Talent doesn't win games, obviously. We're a good example of that." They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and if you are looking for a portrait of the self absorption that has led directly to the Bengals' collapse then look no further than this snapshot from the Arizona game: Johnson sitting on the field lost in thought (no doubt about how great he is), completely oblivious to the scrum directly to his left where players from both teams are fighting to recover a ball that he fumbled. The media has spent a lot of time singing the praises of "Ocho Cinco" while informing us that Terrell Owens, Randy Moss and Kobe Bryant are selfish players. Last I checked, those three players are performing very well for winning teams--but I would not hold my breath waiting for retractions of the criticisms of Owens, Moss and Bryant or rewrites of the breathless praise of Johnson.
The big question at the top of the AFC North is whether or not the Steelers are for real. The answer depends on what one means by "for real." Pittsburgh is the best team in the division, owning a one game lead over the Browns that is really a two game lead because they swept the season series over Cleveland. The Steelers are dominant at home but shaky on the road. One would think that their formula of running the ball on offense while playing teeth rattling defense would travel well but that has not been the case this season. Pittsburgh will win the AFC North and will survive in the AFC playoffs until they have to go on the road, where they will be road kill at the hands of New England or Indianapolis.
Turning to the NFC--also known as the conference that will offer up a sacrificial lamb to be destroyed by the Patriots in the Super Bowl--it is hard to know what to make of the Green Bay Packers. They have been mediocre at best for several years and their best player, quarterback Brett Favre, is playing as well as he ever has despite reaching an age at which some of his greatest predecessors rapidly declined. For most of the season the Packers could not run the ball but now they have shown signs of life on the ground. The real secret with this team is that they play very good defense. I keep thinking that the whole thing is a mirage and that one week it will all collapse like a house of cards but 10 weeks into the season I have to admit that they are not a fluke. It will be very interesting to see what happens when they play the Cowboys in week 13. My suspicion is that the Cowboys will beat them without too much trouble.
Thought of the Week: I'm sick of hearing complaints that the Patriots are running up the score. In the second half of the Buffalo game--as NBC's Al Michaels and John Madden quite correctly pointed out--the Patriots were using running backs no one has ever heard of on simple plays up the middle and they were still gaining huge chunks of yardage. This is not pee wee football; there is no mercy rule. I think that the complaints are coming from fans and media members and not the teams themselves but if any player or team has a problem with what New England is doing then they should take a page from boxing or chess: throw in the towel or resign. Of course, neither of those options is available in the NFL, so both teams are required to play until the final gun.
Thought of the Week II: I disagree with how Bill Parcells used Terrell Owens last season but I like the way that Parcells handled Owens' not so veiled criticism of him. ESPN ran the clip of Owens saying that this year's coaching staff is using him better than last year's coaching staff did and then Monday Night Countdown host Chris Berman asked Parcells for his response. Parcells smiled and said simply, "I agree with everything he said. They are using him better. He is playing better." I also have no problem with what Owens said or how he said it; coaches publicly criticize players all the time and what Owens said was very measured, so much so that even Parcells himself had to admit that Owens is right.
Thought of the Week III: We have often been told that quarterback is the most important position. We also have often been told that Peyton Manning may be the greatest quarterback of all-time. It is very interesting to see that without Marvin Harrison he has suddenly become not just mediocre but actually bad--in fact, his passer rating for the past three weeks (55.5) is lower than the full season passer ratings of every single qualifier listed in the league's official rankings! In the past three games, Manning has completed just 66 of 115 passes (.574) for 716 yards (6.2 yards per attempt) with three touchdowns and eight interceptions. In the first seven games of the season, he had a 97.9 passer rating, completing 138 of 232 passes (.595) for 1833 yards (7.9 yards per attempt) with 13 touchdowns and three interceptions. We've seen Tom Brady win Super Bowls with receivers who could not even start for Indianapolis and this season we are seeing what Tom Brady can do with a first rate receiving corps: rewrite the record book. Now that we have a good idea of what Brady would have been doing for years if he had had Marvin Harrison, don't you wonder what Manning would have been doing if he had had Brady's receivers? Somehow, I don't think that Manning would have been winning three Super Bowls.
What does all of this mean? 1) Manning is a talented player but Brady is without question the best quarterback of this era. 2) Quarterback may be the most important position but no one player can win games by himself in a team sport, no matter what the media tries to tell you.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Terrell Owens: Future Hall of Famer
How many active NFL players can legitimately be said to be future Hall of Famers? Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Marvin Harrison immediately come to mind. Terrell Owens is a player who many fans and media members love to hate but it is indisputable that he has already put up Hall of Fame caliber numbers--and he shows no signs of slowing down even though his 34th birthday is less than a month away.
In Dallas' 28-23 win on Sunday over division rival Washington, Owens produced all four of the Cowboys' scores, tying Bob Hayes' franchise record for TD receptions in one game. Owens finished with eight receptions for 173 yards, his fourth straight game with at least 100 yards receiving. He ranks 10th all-time in career receptions (859), 11th all-time in career receiving yards (12,743) and third all-time in career receiving touchdowns (126; add in his two career rushing TDs and Owens now ranks sixth in total career TDs, just ahead of Jim Brown and Walter Payton). Owens' production this season makes it painfully obvious that he was right all along that former Cowboys' coach Bill Parcells did not involve him enough in the offense. Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones told ESPN.com, "From the coaches on down, all of us wanted to use (Owens) more than he was used last year. Everyone on this staff felt that way. And (receivers coach) Ray Sherman has been a difference-maker with him."
Owens is sometimes knocked for dropping passes but he also has produced a lot of big games, including 29 contests in which he has caught at least two touchdowns; that is tied with Cris Carter for second on the all-time list behind Jerry Rice (44), who ranks first in every meaningful career category for receivers. This season, Owens leads the NFC with both 1028 receiving yards and 18 receptions of at least 20 yards. Like basketball stars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, Owens cannot be guarded one on one and when he is double-teamed that opens up opportunities for his teammates to make plays.
People act like Owens brought down the Philadelphia Eagles when the reality is they played their best ball when he was there and they have been on the decline since he left (for a multitude of reasons, but lack of a big play wide receiver is a major one). All Owens wanted in Philadelphia was to to be involved in the offense and to renegotiate his contract so that it reflected his value to the team and recognized that he potentially risked his career by playing with a broken ankle during the Super Bowl. I guess the Eagles sure have taught him a lesson for wanting to be a big play receiver and for wanting to be compensated like one.
You cannot mention Owens' name this year without mentioning Randy Moss' name and vice versa. After Owens' four touchdown game on Sunday afternoon, Moss responded with four touchdown receptions in the first half of New England's 56-10 rout of Buffalo on Sunday night. Statistically, Moss has been the best receiver in the NFL this season, with 66 catches (fifth in the NFL) for a league-best 1052 yards and 16 touchdowns, but Owens is right on his heels in all three categories (58 receptions, 1028 yards, 12 touchdowns). I've seen various TV analysts debate which player they'd prefer to have. I would choose Owens, narrowly, for a couple reasons: (1) he is bigger and stronger than Moss, which means that it is tougher to jam him at the line of scrimmage and which also helps him be a better blocker; (2) Owens has been productive for each of the three teams he played for and with a number of different coaches and quarterbacks but Moss seemingly went on hiatus while he was in Oakland. Worse than that, Moss' comments and actions strongly gave the impression that he was not all too concerned about whether or not his team won.
Clearly, Moss has been a model citizen in New England and a perfect fit with quarterback Tom Brady but Owens seems to be tougher, more self motivated, better able to play hurt and more willing to play through adversity. Moss is playing hard now but it is impossible to forget how he almost let his career go down the drain in Oakland. I understand that he was not working with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady out there but I'm talking about effort and attitude more than his statistical production during those years. Belichick obviously did his homework and found out that Moss would indeed fit in with the "Patriot way" but Owens has been consistently productive for playoff teams in San Francisco, Philadelphia and Dallas.
In Dallas' 28-23 win on Sunday over division rival Washington, Owens produced all four of the Cowboys' scores, tying Bob Hayes' franchise record for TD receptions in one game. Owens finished with eight receptions for 173 yards, his fourth straight game with at least 100 yards receiving. He ranks 10th all-time in career receptions (859), 11th all-time in career receiving yards (12,743) and third all-time in career receiving touchdowns (126; add in his two career rushing TDs and Owens now ranks sixth in total career TDs, just ahead of Jim Brown and Walter Payton). Owens' production this season makes it painfully obvious that he was right all along that former Cowboys' coach Bill Parcells did not involve him enough in the offense. Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones told ESPN.com, "From the coaches on down, all of us wanted to use (Owens) more than he was used last year. Everyone on this staff felt that way. And (receivers coach) Ray Sherman has been a difference-maker with him."
Owens is sometimes knocked for dropping passes but he also has produced a lot of big games, including 29 contests in which he has caught at least two touchdowns; that is tied with Cris Carter for second on the all-time list behind Jerry Rice (44), who ranks first in every meaningful career category for receivers. This season, Owens leads the NFC with both 1028 receiving yards and 18 receptions of at least 20 yards. Like basketball stars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, Owens cannot be guarded one on one and when he is double-teamed that opens up opportunities for his teammates to make plays.
People act like Owens brought down the Philadelphia Eagles when the reality is they played their best ball when he was there and they have been on the decline since he left (for a multitude of reasons, but lack of a big play wide receiver is a major one). All Owens wanted in Philadelphia was to to be involved in the offense and to renegotiate his contract so that it reflected his value to the team and recognized that he potentially risked his career by playing with a broken ankle during the Super Bowl. I guess the Eagles sure have taught him a lesson for wanting to be a big play receiver and for wanting to be compensated like one.
You cannot mention Owens' name this year without mentioning Randy Moss' name and vice versa. After Owens' four touchdown game on Sunday afternoon, Moss responded with four touchdown receptions in the first half of New England's 56-10 rout of Buffalo on Sunday night. Statistically, Moss has been the best receiver in the NFL this season, with 66 catches (fifth in the NFL) for a league-best 1052 yards and 16 touchdowns, but Owens is right on his heels in all three categories (58 receptions, 1028 yards, 12 touchdowns). I've seen various TV analysts debate which player they'd prefer to have. I would choose Owens, narrowly, for a couple reasons: (1) he is bigger and stronger than Moss, which means that it is tougher to jam him at the line of scrimmage and which also helps him be a better blocker; (2) Owens has been productive for each of the three teams he played for and with a number of different coaches and quarterbacks but Moss seemingly went on hiatus while he was in Oakland. Worse than that, Moss' comments and actions strongly gave the impression that he was not all too concerned about whether or not his team won.
Clearly, Moss has been a model citizen in New England and a perfect fit with quarterback Tom Brady but Owens seems to be tougher, more self motivated, better able to play hurt and more willing to play through adversity. Moss is playing hard now but it is impossible to forget how he almost let his career go down the drain in Oakland. I understand that he was not working with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady out there but I'm talking about effort and attitude more than his statistical production during those years. Belichick obviously did his homework and found out that Moss would indeed fit in with the "Patriot way" but Owens has been consistently productive for playoff teams in San Francisco, Philadelphia and Dallas.
Friday, November 16, 2007
The Least of Barry Bonds' Concerns Now is an Asterisk
Barry Bonds' baseball career is likely over now that the federal government has indicted him on four charges of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. ESPN.com's Gene Wojciechowski probably put it best and most succinctly: "Essentially, Bonds perpetrated a fraud." After a thorough investigation, the government concluded that Bonds knowingly took steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs and lied about his actions to a federal grand jury that was investigating BALCO. Bonds potentially faces up to 30 years in prison but ESPN's legal analyst Lester Munson explains that if Bonds is convicted he will likely receive a one to two year sentence.
As I wrote after Bonds' last game this season, "It did not have to end this way--and Barry Bonds has no one but himself to blame that it did." That is actually true in two ways. One, Bonds has so much natural ability that he could have easily been a Hall of Famer without breaking the law (yes, folks, even if MLB's steroids rules are fairly recent, the use of performance-enhancing drugs without a prescription has been illegal for quite some time). Two, the federal government offered to give Bonds immunity from prosecution from any drug use that he might have engaged in as long as he agreed to testify truthfully. Instead, Bonds, like Marion Jones, chose to lie. Now, like Jones, he will have to pay the price for years of criminal activity and deception.
As I wrote after Bonds' last game this season, "It did not have to end this way--and Barry Bonds has no one but himself to blame that it did." That is actually true in two ways. One, Bonds has so much natural ability that he could have easily been a Hall of Famer without breaking the law (yes, folks, even if MLB's steroids rules are fairly recent, the use of performance-enhancing drugs without a prescription has been illegal for quite some time). Two, the federal government offered to give Bonds immunity from prosecution from any drug use that he might have engaged in as long as he agreed to testify truthfully. Instead, Bonds, like Marion Jones, chose to lie. Now, like Jones, he will have to pay the price for years of criminal activity and deception.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Ron Jaworski: "The Polish Rifle"
During last week's Monday Night Football game, ESPN showed a highlight from one of Ron Jaworski's appearances on MNF--not as a broadcaster, the way that most young fans know him, but as a player with the Philadelphia Eagles. "The Polish Rifle," as Jaworski was known because of his ethnic heritage and rocket arm, dropped back to pass on November 12, 1979 as Howard Cosell explained that Jaworski had been in a slump recently but was performing very well on this night, a 31-21 Eagles win over the Dallas Cowboys. As Mike Tirico and Tony Kornheiser teased Jaworski about Cosell's backhanded compliment, something that Tirico said struck me: that clip was from 28 years ago. I had never thought about it until that moment but football fans who are college-age or younger now not only don't remember Jaworski's playing days but they weren't even born during them.
I very clearly recall Jaworksi's success with the Eagles because it coincided with one of the most exciting times to be a Browns fan, the brief but memorable "Kardiac Kids" era when quarterback Brian Sipe led the team to several dramatic wins, capturing the 1980 NFL MVP along the way. The Browns seemed to be a team of destiny in 1980 but those hopes died suddenly and brutally after Sipe's late interception in a 14-12 playoff loss to the Oakland Raiders (a play call known forever to long-suffering Browns fans as "Red Right 88"). Jaworksi was the best quarterback in the NFC in 1980, leading the Eagles to Super Bowl XV, where they suffered their own heartbreak at the hands of the Silver and Black, losing 27-10 (yes, kids, the Raiders were once upon a time an excellent organization that annually produced winning teams).
The first Super Bowl that I remember--and still the most exciting ever, in my book--is Super Bowl XIII, Pittsburgh's 35-31 win over Dallas, a game that was played a few months before the old Jaworski clip that Tirico, Kornheiser and Jaworski chuckled about last week. As Tirico mentioned, that was 28 years ago. Twenty eight years prior to that takes one back before Jim Brown's career even started to when Otto Graham was annually leading the Browns to the NFL Championship Game. In 1979, that seemed like ancient history to me and as I watched the Jaworski highlight it dawned on me that to many young viewers Jaworski's playing career is every bit as ancient as Graham's was to me as a kid.
Obviously, Jaworksi was no Graham but he had a very solid career and along the way he formed the habits and outlook that shape the way that he analyzes games today. A couple weeks ago, Steve Sabol's outstanding program "NFL Films Presents" looked back at Jaworski's career, from his high school days in Lackawanna, New York to his emergence as one of the NFL's best passers to his current role as an MNF analyst.
Jaworski played for Youngstown State and he tells Sabol about a time when he and some of his college buddies went to Buffalo during a bye week to watch the Bills play against Joe Namath and the New York Jets. Jaworksi recalls thinking to himself that he could throw a ball as well as Namath did. He laughs about that with Sabol and says that whether or not he really could throw as well as Namath that he believed it at the time and it gave him confidence going forward.
Jaworksi began his career with the L.A. Rams. He only played sparingly in his first three seasons but he was the starting quarterback (12-23, 203 yards, 1 TD) as the Rams beat the St. Louis Cardinals 35-23 in a playoff game in 1975. Coach Chuck Knox did not start Jaworski the next week versus Dallas, though Jaworski did eventually play in the 37-7 loss to the Cowboys. "I think Coach Knox would have to answer that question," Jaworski replies when Sabol asks why he did not start in the NFC Championship Game. After the 1976 season, Jaworski was traded to the Eagles. Philadelphia is where Jaworski got his nickname "Jaws," a tag applied by Sixers' All-Star guard Doug Collins because, as Jaworski tells it, Collins said to him, "Your lips are always flapping. You never shut up" (ironically, both of them are now TV commentators); Philadelphia is also where Jaworski really hit his stride as quarterback, thanks to the tutelage of Coach Dick Vermeil, who was a father figure to him. Jaworski tied for third in the NFL in TD passes in his first year with the team but he also threw 21 interceptions and received the typical Philadephia greeting after each and every one of them. The fans were not convinced that Jaworski was the right man for the job but Vermeil had unwavering faith in him, as memorably displayed in two clips from the NFL Films archive. In the first one, Vermeil calls Jaworksi over to him on the sideline and tells him, "I want you to hear me when I say this: you never have to worry about me jerking you (out of the game)." The second one shows Vermeil speaking to assembled members of the media: "Guys, you might as well write this: I am not going to let the fans substitute my quarterback. They've been doing that here for years and they've never come up with a quarterback that can win for them. I've got one that can win for us." Jaworski tells Sabol, "I can't explain what a euphoric feeling it was to have the coach have that confidence in me. It really was a galvanizing moment in my career." As the saying goes, if a coach listens to the fans then he will soon be sitting next to them. Vermeil's loyalty, strength and wisdom were soon rewarded as Jaworski led the Eagles to a 12-4 record in 1980, reaching career-highs in yards (3529) and TDs (27) and earning the UPI's NFL Player of the Year award. Five years after not starting against Dallas in the NFC Championship Game, Jaworski led the Eagles to a 20-7 win over the Cowboys to earn a trip to the Super Bowl; to this day, Jaworski wears the 1980 NFC Championship ring to as a reminder of the greatest triumph of his NFL career.
Jaworski candidly admits that his goal for the 1980 season was to win the NFC Championship and that he was very happy to accomplish this but he quickly adds that this is not why the Eagles lost to the Raiders. "From my own personal standpoint, I tried too hard to make every play," Jaworski says of his performance in the Super Bowl. "I didn't let the game come to me. I tried to force things."
"Ron was such a competitor that from time to time he could be too competitive," Vermeil recalls. "'Let me at 'em, I'll get 'em, it doesn't matter what they're doing, I am going to throw this strike.'"
Jaworski is known for his perpetually sunny disposition, so it would not be completely accurate to say that he never got over this loss but it did leave a mark on him and that mark has not faded with time. "Here we are, 27 years later, and it hurts worse. It actually hurts worse," Jaworski says. Part of the reason that the pain is worse now is that in 1980 Jaworski and the Eagles expected to have more chances to win the Super Bowl. However, things quickly unraveled. First came the players' strike, which Jaworski says affected the timing and rhythm of his team more than it affected other squads; then Vermeil famously became the poster child for burnout, resigning as the Eagles Coach in 1982. Jaworksi believes that were it not for the strike and Vermeil's departure that the Eagles would have eventually won a Super Bowl.
Jaworski paid a price for his NFL success--including 32 concussions and numerous broken bones--but he displayed remarkable durability, starting 116 straight games, a record at the time for quarterbacks (Brett Favre later shattered that mark). A broken leg ended his consecutive game streak in 1986 and his Eagles career came to a stunning end after that season when the team simply released him. He later returned to the city for a preseason game as a Miami Dolphin and the crowd enthusiastically cheered him, something that writer Ray Didinger calls the city's "apology" for how much Jaworski was booed during his time there. Jaworski simply says that he appreciates the respect and that he feels that now the fans better appreciate how much toughness he showed by playing through so many injuries.
Jaworski retired after the 1989 season. Interestingly, he hardly planned on becoming a football commentator on TV. He had made some investments in real estate and golf courses but Sabol had a different idea: he wanted Jaworski to break down games for a show called "Zenith Monday Night Match-up." That eventually led to Jaworski being hired by ESPN and now, not quite two decades later, he is one of the most well known and respected football analysts.
I very clearly recall Jaworksi's success with the Eagles because it coincided with one of the most exciting times to be a Browns fan, the brief but memorable "Kardiac Kids" era when quarterback Brian Sipe led the team to several dramatic wins, capturing the 1980 NFL MVP along the way. The Browns seemed to be a team of destiny in 1980 but those hopes died suddenly and brutally after Sipe's late interception in a 14-12 playoff loss to the Oakland Raiders (a play call known forever to long-suffering Browns fans as "Red Right 88"). Jaworksi was the best quarterback in the NFC in 1980, leading the Eagles to Super Bowl XV, where they suffered their own heartbreak at the hands of the Silver and Black, losing 27-10 (yes, kids, the Raiders were once upon a time an excellent organization that annually produced winning teams).
The first Super Bowl that I remember--and still the most exciting ever, in my book--is Super Bowl XIII, Pittsburgh's 35-31 win over Dallas, a game that was played a few months before the old Jaworski clip that Tirico, Kornheiser and Jaworski chuckled about last week. As Tirico mentioned, that was 28 years ago. Twenty eight years prior to that takes one back before Jim Brown's career even started to when Otto Graham was annually leading the Browns to the NFL Championship Game. In 1979, that seemed like ancient history to me and as I watched the Jaworski highlight it dawned on me that to many young viewers Jaworski's playing career is every bit as ancient as Graham's was to me as a kid.
Obviously, Jaworksi was no Graham but he had a very solid career and along the way he formed the habits and outlook that shape the way that he analyzes games today. A couple weeks ago, Steve Sabol's outstanding program "NFL Films Presents" looked back at Jaworski's career, from his high school days in Lackawanna, New York to his emergence as one of the NFL's best passers to his current role as an MNF analyst.
Jaworski played for Youngstown State and he tells Sabol about a time when he and some of his college buddies went to Buffalo during a bye week to watch the Bills play against Joe Namath and the New York Jets. Jaworksi recalls thinking to himself that he could throw a ball as well as Namath did. He laughs about that with Sabol and says that whether or not he really could throw as well as Namath that he believed it at the time and it gave him confidence going forward.
Jaworksi began his career with the L.A. Rams. He only played sparingly in his first three seasons but he was the starting quarterback (12-23, 203 yards, 1 TD) as the Rams beat the St. Louis Cardinals 35-23 in a playoff game in 1975. Coach Chuck Knox did not start Jaworski the next week versus Dallas, though Jaworski did eventually play in the 37-7 loss to the Cowboys. "I think Coach Knox would have to answer that question," Jaworski replies when Sabol asks why he did not start in the NFC Championship Game. After the 1976 season, Jaworski was traded to the Eagles. Philadelphia is where Jaworski got his nickname "Jaws," a tag applied by Sixers' All-Star guard Doug Collins because, as Jaworski tells it, Collins said to him, "Your lips are always flapping. You never shut up" (ironically, both of them are now TV commentators); Philadelphia is also where Jaworski really hit his stride as quarterback, thanks to the tutelage of Coach Dick Vermeil, who was a father figure to him. Jaworski tied for third in the NFL in TD passes in his first year with the team but he also threw 21 interceptions and received the typical Philadephia greeting after each and every one of them. The fans were not convinced that Jaworski was the right man for the job but Vermeil had unwavering faith in him, as memorably displayed in two clips from the NFL Films archive. In the first one, Vermeil calls Jaworksi over to him on the sideline and tells him, "I want you to hear me when I say this: you never have to worry about me jerking you (out of the game)." The second one shows Vermeil speaking to assembled members of the media: "Guys, you might as well write this: I am not going to let the fans substitute my quarterback. They've been doing that here for years and they've never come up with a quarterback that can win for them. I've got one that can win for us." Jaworski tells Sabol, "I can't explain what a euphoric feeling it was to have the coach have that confidence in me. It really was a galvanizing moment in my career." As the saying goes, if a coach listens to the fans then he will soon be sitting next to them. Vermeil's loyalty, strength and wisdom were soon rewarded as Jaworski led the Eagles to a 12-4 record in 1980, reaching career-highs in yards (3529) and TDs (27) and earning the UPI's NFL Player of the Year award. Five years after not starting against Dallas in the NFC Championship Game, Jaworski led the Eagles to a 20-7 win over the Cowboys to earn a trip to the Super Bowl; to this day, Jaworski wears the 1980 NFC Championship ring to as a reminder of the greatest triumph of his NFL career.
Jaworski candidly admits that his goal for the 1980 season was to win the NFC Championship and that he was very happy to accomplish this but he quickly adds that this is not why the Eagles lost to the Raiders. "From my own personal standpoint, I tried too hard to make every play," Jaworski says of his performance in the Super Bowl. "I didn't let the game come to me. I tried to force things."
"Ron was such a competitor that from time to time he could be too competitive," Vermeil recalls. "'Let me at 'em, I'll get 'em, it doesn't matter what they're doing, I am going to throw this strike.'"
Jaworski is known for his perpetually sunny disposition, so it would not be completely accurate to say that he never got over this loss but it did leave a mark on him and that mark has not faded with time. "Here we are, 27 years later, and it hurts worse. It actually hurts worse," Jaworski says. Part of the reason that the pain is worse now is that in 1980 Jaworski and the Eagles expected to have more chances to win the Super Bowl. However, things quickly unraveled. First came the players' strike, which Jaworski says affected the timing and rhythm of his team more than it affected other squads; then Vermeil famously became the poster child for burnout, resigning as the Eagles Coach in 1982. Jaworksi believes that were it not for the strike and Vermeil's departure that the Eagles would have eventually won a Super Bowl.
Jaworski paid a price for his NFL success--including 32 concussions and numerous broken bones--but he displayed remarkable durability, starting 116 straight games, a record at the time for quarterbacks (Brett Favre later shattered that mark). A broken leg ended his consecutive game streak in 1986 and his Eagles career came to a stunning end after that season when the team simply released him. He later returned to the city for a preseason game as a Miami Dolphin and the crowd enthusiastically cheered him, something that writer Ray Didinger calls the city's "apology" for how much Jaworski was booed during his time there. Jaworski simply says that he appreciates the respect and that he feels that now the fans better appreciate how much toughness he showed by playing through so many injuries.
Jaworski retired after the 1989 season. Interestingly, he hardly planned on becoming a football commentator on TV. He had made some investments in real estate and golf courses but Sabol had a different idea: he wanted Jaworski to break down games for a show called "Zenith Monday Night Match-up." That eventually led to Jaworski being hired by ESPN and now, not quite two decades later, he is one of the most well known and respected football analysts.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Two Minute Drill: Strange Statistics Abound
Was there a full moon this weekend? Something strange was definitely in the air in several NFL stadiums and the result was some very odd statistics:
1) Peyton Manning threw a career-high six interceptions in Indianapolis' 23-21 loss to San Diego. That is the most interceptions by a quarterback in one game since Chris Chandler had six in his debut as a Rams starter in 2004. When was the last time you heard Peyton Manning and Chris Chandler in the same sentence? Manning's interception fiesta also set a franchise record and is more than four teams have thrown all season. Not surprisingly, Manning had a career-low 30.6 passer rating (nothing kills a passer rating faster than interceptions). Despite protecting the ball with all of the dexterity of Edward Scissorhands, Manning put the Colts in position for Adam Vinatieri--Mr. Reliable--to kick a 29 yard game-winning field goal. Vinatieri, who had earlier missed a field goal during a fire drill-like sequence as time ran out at the end of the first half, stunned everyone by missing again; he had made 16 of 18 attempts this season prior to this game and one of those misses was from farther than 50 yards. Vinatieri had not missed two field goals in one game since November 6, 2001 and had made 96.6 percent of his career field goal attempts of less than 30 yards prior to the Chargers game.
2) That Manning-Vinatieri duet of futility was strange but what Detroit did simply defies belief. If you simply sat in your chair and did not move backwards for three hours while watching your favorite team play on Sunday then you gained 18 more yards rushing than the Lions, whose -18 yards rushing in a 31-21 loss to Arizona is the fewest by a team in a regular season game since 1947.
3) The Cleveland Browns were outgained 401 yards to 163 by the Pittsburgh Steelers but still almost won the game. How did they do that? Easy--"hidden" yardage (i.e., yardage not included in statistics for total offense) from kickoff and punt returns, mainly by Joshua Cribbs, who racked up 223 return yards, including a 100 yard kickoff return for a touchdown and a 90 yard kickoff return that set up another touchdown. Take away Cribbs' special team heroics and you have another typical Cleveland-Pittsburgh game in which the Steelers controlled the line of scrimmage and pounded away with their running game (159 yards on 35 attempts, leading to a 38:17 to 21:43 advantage in time of possession); the Browns had two first downs in the entire second half and they both came in the last minute. Browns quarterback Derek Anderson had a very good first half (10-15, 80 yards, three touchdowns, 114.6 passer rating) but was just 6-19 for 43 yards and a 40.9 passer rating in the second half, with most of his meager production coming when Pittsburgh was in prevent defense mode.
The Browns have come a long way this season but they are not in the Steelers' league just yet. There is also still at least some reason to question how good the Browns really are. Two of their wins came against the horrible Miami Dolphins and St. Louis Rams. The Browns shot themselves in the foot late in the Steelers game with some mental errors, including burning two timeouts after Pittsburgh took a 31-28 lead; the Browns used one right after the Steelers' go-ahead touchdown and lost the second one after their replay challenge of that play was not upheld. After the game, Coach Romeo Crennel explained, "I'm not sure what happened but a timeout was called on the field. And I followed it up with a challenge. Put it on me." OK, we will, because that mixup--plus a key holding penalty on the Browns' final punt return--led to the Browns having to try a 52 yard field goal that fell just short at the end of the game. In a game of inches and seconds, those lost yards and lost time made a big difference.
4) The Bengals beat the Ravens 21-7--nothing unusual there, until you realize that the 21 points came on seven field goals. Carson Palmer led the Bengals up and down the field without even once setting foot in the end zone.
5) Speaking of strange scores, Denver beat Kansas City 27-11 but for a while the scoreboard looked like it was from a Rockies-Royals interleague game: it was 5-3 K.C. before Denver hit a three run home run to make it 6-5 but then K.C. answered with a home run of their own to make it 8-6. Buffalo defeated Miami by the "normal" score of 13-10 but early in the game Miami led 3-2 before a seven run inning made it 10-2. Miami's "bullpen" blew the "save" to preserve the Dolphins' perfectly imperfect record. I bet that whoever supervises the scores that crawl across TV screens was scratching his head more than once on Sunday.
6) Boy, that Monday night game was a real barn burner, wasn't it? In keeping with the wacky numbers theme, here are some gems relating to Seattle's 24-0 drubbing of San Francisco. The 49ers remain the only NFL team to not score at least 20 points in a single game this season; they had just one first half first down and, as Mike Tirico mentioned more than once, that last second Hail Mary pass probably should have been ruled an incompletion. Their six first downs for the entire game is the second lowest total in the NFL this year, "bested" only by Baltimore's five in last week's Monday night game. Here is a nugget that should win a few bar bets (unless your mark watched the game until the bitter end--or reads this post): this was Seattle's fifth shutout on Monday Night Football, an all-time record. In fact, the Seahawks held the record prior to this victory, which is truly astonishing when you consider how often teams like the Steelers, Cowboys, 49ers, Dolphins (when they were good) and Raiders (ditto) have appeared on Monday Night Football.
The best part of the telecast was when Steve Young joined the broadcasting crew in the booth and talked about quarterbacking. Earlier, in reference to the struggles of San Francisco's Alex Smith and some of the other quarterbacks who have been drafted number one overall, Ron Jaworski said that teams spend a lot of money on scouting but that they evaluate the wrong things. Young agreed with this, noting that teams are too often wowed because a guy is 6-6 and can throw a ball 70 yards from his knees--things that have nothing to do with actually being productive in game situations. I have not scientifically studied this--and I have more direct experience talking with NBA scouts and talent evaluators than their counterparts in the NFL--but it seems to me that NBA teams are less prone to fall for a player who has a certain body type but no game or to disregard a player who does not have the "right" body type but does have game. Kevin Durant did notoriously poorly on the bench press test but still was selected with the number two overall pick in this year's NBA Draft. This is not to say that NBA scouting is perfect--obviously, it is not--but how many number one overall draft picks in the NBA have careers that mirror those of, say, Tim Couch or David Carr? Quarterback is the most important position in the NFL, yet as Tony Kornheiser mentioned it seems like it is hit or miss when teams use a first round pick on a quarterback. Some of this may just have to do with differences in the nature of each sport. I remember that prior to the 1999 NFL Draft--which included Donovan McNabb, Daunte Culpepper, Tim Couch, Akili Smith and Cade McNown--more than one NFL talent evaluator publicly said that one or two of those guys would probably become a star, one or two would be decent and one or two would turn out to be a bust; the trick was to figure out which guys would fall into which category.
Young and Jaworski said that as former quarterbacks they can watch a guy and get a pretty good sense of whether or not he has what it takes to be a good NFL quarterback; prior to Young's arrival in the booth, Jaworski implored NFL teams to hire scouts who had played the position and who understand what to look for in a prospect in terms of fundamentals, technique and so forth. Young added that years ago he noticed that something was "off" as soon as he saw 49ers draft pick Jim Druckenmiller on the practice field; on the other hand, Tom Brady and Jeff Garcia have that certain intangible something that enables them to be productive. Young always speaks eloquently about what he calls the craft of quarterbacking, he steadfastly refuses to play along with either Stuart Scott's shtick or ESPN's incessant attempts to overhype things and I wish that he had a more prominent role in ESPN's NFL coverage. Nothing personal against Drew Carey, the other in-booth guest this week, but I'd rather have one more segment with Young talking about the NFL than listen to Carey.
1) Peyton Manning threw a career-high six interceptions in Indianapolis' 23-21 loss to San Diego. That is the most interceptions by a quarterback in one game since Chris Chandler had six in his debut as a Rams starter in 2004. When was the last time you heard Peyton Manning and Chris Chandler in the same sentence? Manning's interception fiesta also set a franchise record and is more than four teams have thrown all season. Not surprisingly, Manning had a career-low 30.6 passer rating (nothing kills a passer rating faster than interceptions). Despite protecting the ball with all of the dexterity of Edward Scissorhands, Manning put the Colts in position for Adam Vinatieri--Mr. Reliable--to kick a 29 yard game-winning field goal. Vinatieri, who had earlier missed a field goal during a fire drill-like sequence as time ran out at the end of the first half, stunned everyone by missing again; he had made 16 of 18 attempts this season prior to this game and one of those misses was from farther than 50 yards. Vinatieri had not missed two field goals in one game since November 6, 2001 and had made 96.6 percent of his career field goal attempts of less than 30 yards prior to the Chargers game.
2) That Manning-Vinatieri duet of futility was strange but what Detroit did simply defies belief. If you simply sat in your chair and did not move backwards for three hours while watching your favorite team play on Sunday then you gained 18 more yards rushing than the Lions, whose -18 yards rushing in a 31-21 loss to Arizona is the fewest by a team in a regular season game since 1947.
3) The Cleveland Browns were outgained 401 yards to 163 by the Pittsburgh Steelers but still almost won the game. How did they do that? Easy--"hidden" yardage (i.e., yardage not included in statistics for total offense) from kickoff and punt returns, mainly by Joshua Cribbs, who racked up 223 return yards, including a 100 yard kickoff return for a touchdown and a 90 yard kickoff return that set up another touchdown. Take away Cribbs' special team heroics and you have another typical Cleveland-Pittsburgh game in which the Steelers controlled the line of scrimmage and pounded away with their running game (159 yards on 35 attempts, leading to a 38:17 to 21:43 advantage in time of possession); the Browns had two first downs in the entire second half and they both came in the last minute. Browns quarterback Derek Anderson had a very good first half (10-15, 80 yards, three touchdowns, 114.6 passer rating) but was just 6-19 for 43 yards and a 40.9 passer rating in the second half, with most of his meager production coming when Pittsburgh was in prevent defense mode.
The Browns have come a long way this season but they are not in the Steelers' league just yet. There is also still at least some reason to question how good the Browns really are. Two of their wins came against the horrible Miami Dolphins and St. Louis Rams. The Browns shot themselves in the foot late in the Steelers game with some mental errors, including burning two timeouts after Pittsburgh took a 31-28 lead; the Browns used one right after the Steelers' go-ahead touchdown and lost the second one after their replay challenge of that play was not upheld. After the game, Coach Romeo Crennel explained, "I'm not sure what happened but a timeout was called on the field. And I followed it up with a challenge. Put it on me." OK, we will, because that mixup--plus a key holding penalty on the Browns' final punt return--led to the Browns having to try a 52 yard field goal that fell just short at the end of the game. In a game of inches and seconds, those lost yards and lost time made a big difference.
4) The Bengals beat the Ravens 21-7--nothing unusual there, until you realize that the 21 points came on seven field goals. Carson Palmer led the Bengals up and down the field without even once setting foot in the end zone.
5) Speaking of strange scores, Denver beat Kansas City 27-11 but for a while the scoreboard looked like it was from a Rockies-Royals interleague game: it was 5-3 K.C. before Denver hit a three run home run to make it 6-5 but then K.C. answered with a home run of their own to make it 8-6. Buffalo defeated Miami by the "normal" score of 13-10 but early in the game Miami led 3-2 before a seven run inning made it 10-2. Miami's "bullpen" blew the "save" to preserve the Dolphins' perfectly imperfect record. I bet that whoever supervises the scores that crawl across TV screens was scratching his head more than once on Sunday.
6) Boy, that Monday night game was a real barn burner, wasn't it? In keeping with the wacky numbers theme, here are some gems relating to Seattle's 24-0 drubbing of San Francisco. The 49ers remain the only NFL team to not score at least 20 points in a single game this season; they had just one first half first down and, as Mike Tirico mentioned more than once, that last second Hail Mary pass probably should have been ruled an incompletion. Their six first downs for the entire game is the second lowest total in the NFL this year, "bested" only by Baltimore's five in last week's Monday night game. Here is a nugget that should win a few bar bets (unless your mark watched the game until the bitter end--or reads this post): this was Seattle's fifth shutout on Monday Night Football, an all-time record. In fact, the Seahawks held the record prior to this victory, which is truly astonishing when you consider how often teams like the Steelers, Cowboys, 49ers, Dolphins (when they were good) and Raiders (ditto) have appeared on Monday Night Football.
The best part of the telecast was when Steve Young joined the broadcasting crew in the booth and talked about quarterbacking. Earlier, in reference to the struggles of San Francisco's Alex Smith and some of the other quarterbacks who have been drafted number one overall, Ron Jaworski said that teams spend a lot of money on scouting but that they evaluate the wrong things. Young agreed with this, noting that teams are too often wowed because a guy is 6-6 and can throw a ball 70 yards from his knees--things that have nothing to do with actually being productive in game situations. I have not scientifically studied this--and I have more direct experience talking with NBA scouts and talent evaluators than their counterparts in the NFL--but it seems to me that NBA teams are less prone to fall for a player who has a certain body type but no game or to disregard a player who does not have the "right" body type but does have game. Kevin Durant did notoriously poorly on the bench press test but still was selected with the number two overall pick in this year's NBA Draft. This is not to say that NBA scouting is perfect--obviously, it is not--but how many number one overall draft picks in the NBA have careers that mirror those of, say, Tim Couch or David Carr? Quarterback is the most important position in the NFL, yet as Tony Kornheiser mentioned it seems like it is hit or miss when teams use a first round pick on a quarterback. Some of this may just have to do with differences in the nature of each sport. I remember that prior to the 1999 NFL Draft--which included Donovan McNabb, Daunte Culpepper, Tim Couch, Akili Smith and Cade McNown--more than one NFL talent evaluator publicly said that one or two of those guys would probably become a star, one or two would be decent and one or two would turn out to be a bust; the trick was to figure out which guys would fall into which category.
Young and Jaworski said that as former quarterbacks they can watch a guy and get a pretty good sense of whether or not he has what it takes to be a good NFL quarterback; prior to Young's arrival in the booth, Jaworski implored NFL teams to hire scouts who had played the position and who understand what to look for in a prospect in terms of fundamentals, technique and so forth. Young added that years ago he noticed that something was "off" as soon as he saw 49ers draft pick Jim Druckenmiller on the practice field; on the other hand, Tom Brady and Jeff Garcia have that certain intangible something that enables them to be productive. Young always speaks eloquently about what he calls the craft of quarterbacking, he steadfastly refuses to play along with either Stuart Scott's shtick or ESPN's incessant attempts to overhype things and I wish that he had a more prominent role in ESPN's NFL coverage. Nothing personal against Drew Carey, the other in-booth guest this week, but I'd rather have one more segment with Young talking about the NFL than listen to Carey.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Browns Seek to Exorcise Their House of Horror
The 5-3 Cleveland Browns visit 6-2 Pittsburgh this Sunday in a battle for first place in the AFC North. Pittsburgh has been a house of horror for the Browns for the majority of the years since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger placed the teams in the same division, first known as the AFC Central before it was renamed and reconstituted in 2002. The last season that the Browns had a really good team was 1994, when Bill Belichick was Cleveland's head coach; the Browns went 11-5 in the regular season, with two of those losses coming at the hands of the Steelers. Cleveland beat New England 20-13 in the Wild Card round and then got blasted by the Steelers 29-9 in the Divisional round. The last time that the Browns made the playoffs was 2002, when they snuck in with a 9-7 record; naturally, they dropped both regular season games with the Steelers and then lost to Pittsburgh 36-33 in the first round of the playoffs, a defeat made all the more painful because the Browns blew a 24-7 second half lead. Even when the Browns have been good, they still have had trouble dealing with the Steelers. Of course, since the Browns returned in 1999, they have generally been pretty bad and this is reflected in their particularly gruesome record against Pittsburgh since that time: 3-14 (15 if you count the 2002 playoff loss), including the past eight contests. Many of these games have been ghastly blowouts, including a 41-0 shellacking in 2005, a 27-7 loss in 2006 and a 34-7 decision in week one of this season.
The week one loss, "highlighted" by four Browns penalties on one play, was so horrible that it convinced me that the Browns would not go anywhere with Romeo Crennel as coach, and when the Browns made the seemingly knee jerk reaction to trade starting quarterback Charlie Frye to Seattle the franchise seemed to be more adrift than it had ever been, which is really saying something. I don't feel bad about being skeptical early in the year about the Browns' program under Crennel; the team has looked undisciplined during most of his tenure and it is safe to say that absolutely nobody could have predicted that after elevating Derek Anderson to the starting quarterback position that the Browns would suddenly have one of the most potent offensive attacks in the NFL and the best one that the team has had since the twilight of its glory days in the 1960s. Obviously, if Crennel had realized how good Anderson could be then he would not have been flipping a coin to decide between Frye and Anderson.
The Browns rank fourth in the league in scoring (28.4 ppg), behind only New England (39.4 ppg), Dallas (33.1 ppg) and Indianapolis (30.5 ppg) and just ahead of Pittsburgh (27.8 ppg). The Bernie Kosar-led Cleveland Browns in the 1980s peaked at 24.4 ppg in 1986 and 1987, while the Brian Sipe-led Kardiac Kids in the late 1970s and early 1980s topped off at 22.4 ppg in 1979; the only Browns teams that outscored the current squad were the 1964 NFL champions (29.6 ppg) and the 1966 squad (28.8 ppg) that went 9-5 the year after Jim Brown retired. Anderson is on track to break Sipe's single-season franchise record for touchdown passes (30; Anderson has 17) and emerging star Braylon Edwards may eclipse Gary Collins' team-record for touchdown receptions (13; Edwards has nine). Anderson, Edwards, tight end Kellen Winslow and running back Jamal Lewis are the headliners on the offense but, as is often the case, their success is made possible by excellent offensive line play. The Browns drafted left tackle Joe Thomas with the third overall selection in the 2007 draft and he and his linemates have done a great job providing protection for Anderson, who attempted 48 passes in last week's win against Seattle without being sacked once.
The Browns are saying all the right things leading up to Sunday's showdown but what matters is not what is said but what is done. The Browns had never won in Three Rivers Stadium until Kosar led Cleveland to a 27-24 win there in 1986. That game, as much as anything else, announced that the Browns were serious contenders, and the team made it to three of the next four AFC Championship Games. A victory in Pittsburgh this Sunday would mean more to Browns' fans than scoring records, Pro Bowl selections or any other accomplishments that are within reach for this team and its top players; a victory in Pittsburgh could be the first step in exorcising Cleveland's house of horror and a statement that this Browns team is really going places.
The week one loss, "highlighted" by four Browns penalties on one play, was so horrible that it convinced me that the Browns would not go anywhere with Romeo Crennel as coach, and when the Browns made the seemingly knee jerk reaction to trade starting quarterback Charlie Frye to Seattle the franchise seemed to be more adrift than it had ever been, which is really saying something. I don't feel bad about being skeptical early in the year about the Browns' program under Crennel; the team has looked undisciplined during most of his tenure and it is safe to say that absolutely nobody could have predicted that after elevating Derek Anderson to the starting quarterback position that the Browns would suddenly have one of the most potent offensive attacks in the NFL and the best one that the team has had since the twilight of its glory days in the 1960s. Obviously, if Crennel had realized how good Anderson could be then he would not have been flipping a coin to decide between Frye and Anderson.
The Browns rank fourth in the league in scoring (28.4 ppg), behind only New England (39.4 ppg), Dallas (33.1 ppg) and Indianapolis (30.5 ppg) and just ahead of Pittsburgh (27.8 ppg). The Bernie Kosar-led Cleveland Browns in the 1980s peaked at 24.4 ppg in 1986 and 1987, while the Brian Sipe-led Kardiac Kids in the late 1970s and early 1980s topped off at 22.4 ppg in 1979; the only Browns teams that outscored the current squad were the 1964 NFL champions (29.6 ppg) and the 1966 squad (28.8 ppg) that went 9-5 the year after Jim Brown retired. Anderson is on track to break Sipe's single-season franchise record for touchdown passes (30; Anderson has 17) and emerging star Braylon Edwards may eclipse Gary Collins' team-record for touchdown receptions (13; Edwards has nine). Anderson, Edwards, tight end Kellen Winslow and running back Jamal Lewis are the headliners on the offense but, as is often the case, their success is made possible by excellent offensive line play. The Browns drafted left tackle Joe Thomas with the third overall selection in the 2007 draft and he and his linemates have done a great job providing protection for Anderson, who attempted 48 passes in last week's win against Seattle without being sacked once.
The Browns are saying all the right things leading up to Sunday's showdown but what matters is not what is said but what is done. The Browns had never won in Three Rivers Stadium until Kosar led Cleveland to a 27-24 win there in 1986. That game, as much as anything else, announced that the Browns were serious contenders, and the team made it to three of the next four AFC Championship Games. A victory in Pittsburgh this Sunday would mean more to Browns' fans than scoring records, Pro Bowl selections or any other accomplishments that are within reach for this team and its top players; a victory in Pittsburgh could be the first step in exorcising Cleveland's house of horror and a statement that this Browns team is really going places.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
