Mean Joe Greene's Coca-Cola commercial from the 1980 Super Bowl is one of the most famous--and touching--TV spots of all-time. For this year's Super Bowl, Coke Zero is having Troy Polamalu reprise Greene's role, but with a twist that will not be revealed until the ad runs during the game.
Here are the first 12 seconds of the new ad, plus some behind the scenes footage from the filming:
Here is Greene's take on the new ad:
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Super Bowl XLIII Preview
Super Bowl XLIII matches a Pittsburgh Steelers franchise with perhaps the NFL's top Super Bowl pedigree (six appearances, five wins, first team to win four Super Bowls) against an Arizona Cardinals franchise that has migrated from Chicago to St. Louis to Arizona but has not captured an NFL championship since 1947. If History and Tradition could put on jerseys and shoulder pads they clearly would be wearing Steelers black and gold but I keep thinking of the old cliche about "throwing out the numbers when these two teams meet"--not because the Steelers and Cardinals play each other that often but because a lot of the names and numbers that are mentioned regarding this matchup are out of date or just irrelevant.
As Rick Pitino might say, Jack Lambert is not walking through that door; Terry Bradshaw is not walking through that door. The Steelers' glorious Super Bowl history will not mean a thing once the game begins--nor will Arizona's mediocre regular season record or the embarrassing losses that the Cardinals suffered down the stretch; those setbacks feel like they happened even longer ago than when Lambert and Bradshaw were winning Super Bowls.
Super Bowl XLIII will be decided based on some intriguing player and coaching matchups. I think that the most important matchup will be Arizona's offense versus Pittsburgh's defense; one of those two units will set the tone for this game. The first inclination may be to assume that Pittsburgh's league-leading defense has the edge but Arizona poses some problems that the Steelers did not have to deal with in their playoff wins over San Diego and Baltimore. Everyone is talking about Larry Fitzgerald and rightfully so: he has already set an NFL postseason record with 419 receiving yards, gaining at least 100 yards in each of Arizona's three playoff victories. Kurt Warner was outstanding in the regular season and he has been even better in the playoffs. He and Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger each have already won a Super Bowl ring but while Roethlisberger went along for the ride when Pittsburgh won Super Bowl XL, Warner ranks first and second on the single game Super Bowl passing yardage list, throwing for 414 yards in St. Louis' 23-16 win versus Tennessee in Super Bowl XXXIV and compiling 365 yards in St. Louis' 20-17 loss versus New England in Super Bowl XXXVI. The most surprising statistic is that Edgerrin James leads all postseason rushers this season with 203 yards. James provides some much needed balance to Arizona's offensive attack and if he can crank out 75-80 yards on 18-20 carries then the Steelers are going to have their hands full dealing with him while also trying to not get burned by Warner and Arizona's dynamic passing game.
Pittsburgh's offense did not look very potent after Hines Ward was knocked out of the AFC Championship Game with a knee injury. No matter what anyone says, the kind of ligament damage that he suffered requires at least 4-6 weeks to heal, so he will not even be close to 100% in the Super Bowl. Could he still have a big impact? Sure; Jerry Rice had a tremendous performance in Super Bowl XXIX despite playing with a separated shoulder. However, the likelihood is that Ward will be hindered and this may enable Arizona to get away with single covering him, freeing up a defender to play against Pittsburgh's running game. In the days before last year's Super Bowl, Tom Brady was hobbling around in a walking boot while proclaiming that he would be fine during the game--but he was uncharacteristically unable to sidestep the pass rush as the perfect Patriots' season went down the tubes, so Ward can say whatever he wants but his injury may very well have cost the Steelers a potential championship.
The coaching matchup is very interesting. Arizona Coach Ken Whisenhunt and his offensive line coach Russ Grimm were assistant coaches on Bill Cowher's staff when the Steelers won Super Bowl XL. When Cowher retired they were both passed over in favor of Mike Tomlin, who has done a wonderful job as the Steelers Coach. If anyone knows not only what Roethlisberger is thinking but also how to attack Dick LeBeau's defense, it would be Whisenhunt and Grimm, two guys who worked with Roethlisberger on a daily basis while practicing against LeBeau's defense. I think that Jon Gruden's familiarity with the tendencies of his old Oakland team played a big role in Tampa Bay's triumph over the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII; Whisenhunt and Grimm may very well pull off a similar number against their old team.
This is truly a difficult game to handicap. I expect it to be close and I certainly could make a case that Pittsburgh will shut down Arizona's running game, harass Warner into some costly interceptions and win a low scoring game--but if Arizona does not turn the ball over and provide Pittsburgh with easy points then it will be difficult for the Steelers to score enough to win this game. Maybe this is just wishful thinking from an admitted Cleveland Browns fan but after considering all of the matchups, I think that Arizona will win Super Bowl XLIII, 30-24.
As Rick Pitino might say, Jack Lambert is not walking through that door; Terry Bradshaw is not walking through that door. The Steelers' glorious Super Bowl history will not mean a thing once the game begins--nor will Arizona's mediocre regular season record or the embarrassing losses that the Cardinals suffered down the stretch; those setbacks feel like they happened even longer ago than when Lambert and Bradshaw were winning Super Bowls.
Super Bowl XLIII will be decided based on some intriguing player and coaching matchups. I think that the most important matchup will be Arizona's offense versus Pittsburgh's defense; one of those two units will set the tone for this game. The first inclination may be to assume that Pittsburgh's league-leading defense has the edge but Arizona poses some problems that the Steelers did not have to deal with in their playoff wins over San Diego and Baltimore. Everyone is talking about Larry Fitzgerald and rightfully so: he has already set an NFL postseason record with 419 receiving yards, gaining at least 100 yards in each of Arizona's three playoff victories. Kurt Warner was outstanding in the regular season and he has been even better in the playoffs. He and Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger each have already won a Super Bowl ring but while Roethlisberger went along for the ride when Pittsburgh won Super Bowl XL, Warner ranks first and second on the single game Super Bowl passing yardage list, throwing for 414 yards in St. Louis' 23-16 win versus Tennessee in Super Bowl XXXIV and compiling 365 yards in St. Louis' 20-17 loss versus New England in Super Bowl XXXVI. The most surprising statistic is that Edgerrin James leads all postseason rushers this season with 203 yards. James provides some much needed balance to Arizona's offensive attack and if he can crank out 75-80 yards on 18-20 carries then the Steelers are going to have their hands full dealing with him while also trying to not get burned by Warner and Arizona's dynamic passing game.
Pittsburgh's offense did not look very potent after Hines Ward was knocked out of the AFC Championship Game with a knee injury. No matter what anyone says, the kind of ligament damage that he suffered requires at least 4-6 weeks to heal, so he will not even be close to 100% in the Super Bowl. Could he still have a big impact? Sure; Jerry Rice had a tremendous performance in Super Bowl XXIX despite playing with a separated shoulder. However, the likelihood is that Ward will be hindered and this may enable Arizona to get away with single covering him, freeing up a defender to play against Pittsburgh's running game. In the days before last year's Super Bowl, Tom Brady was hobbling around in a walking boot while proclaiming that he would be fine during the game--but he was uncharacteristically unable to sidestep the pass rush as the perfect Patriots' season went down the tubes, so Ward can say whatever he wants but his injury may very well have cost the Steelers a potential championship.
The coaching matchup is very interesting. Arizona Coach Ken Whisenhunt and his offensive line coach Russ Grimm were assistant coaches on Bill Cowher's staff when the Steelers won Super Bowl XL. When Cowher retired they were both passed over in favor of Mike Tomlin, who has done a wonderful job as the Steelers Coach. If anyone knows not only what Roethlisberger is thinking but also how to attack Dick LeBeau's defense, it would be Whisenhunt and Grimm, two guys who worked with Roethlisberger on a daily basis while practicing against LeBeau's defense. I think that Jon Gruden's familiarity with the tendencies of his old Oakland team played a big role in Tampa Bay's triumph over the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII; Whisenhunt and Grimm may very well pull off a similar number against their old team.
This is truly a difficult game to handicap. I expect it to be close and I certainly could make a case that Pittsburgh will shut down Arizona's running game, harass Warner into some costly interceptions and win a low scoring game--but if Arizona does not turn the ball over and provide Pittsburgh with easy points then it will be difficult for the Steelers to score enough to win this game. Maybe this is just wishful thinking from an admitted Cleveland Browns fan but after considering all of the matchups, I think that Arizona will win Super Bowl XLIII, 30-24.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
"Good Hands" Start in the Mind
"Good hands" are a highly prized trait in most sports. Certain players just seem to have a knack for controlling/hitting/catching any ball that is thrown, pitched or hit toward them. Tim Duncan is a marvelous example of such an NBA player. Larry Fitzgerald's "good hands" have helped carry the Arizona Cardinals to an improbable berth in Super Bowl XLIII.
What exactly distinguishes players who have "good hands" from players who bobble the softest pass? In other words, what is the difference in this regard between Tim Duncan and guys like Kwame Brown or Eddy Curry? I asked three-time NBA All-Star Mark Aguirre that question and he told me, "With a guy who is supposed to have bad hands, you can look at him a lot of times and see that he is out of rhythm with the pass. A guy with soft hands is always in rhythm with the pass. A guy with bad hands is always out of rhythm with the pass, so you can try to create a rhythm for a guy--teach him to get in rhythm with the ball and that will help him a little bit." When Aguirre was an assistant coach with the Pacers and Knicks he mentored their post players, teaching them proper footwork. He said of Curry, "What you have to understand is that when I don’t know where my man is I tend to not be able to keep a constant focus on where the ball is coming from. If I post up and I don’t know where my man is, then I take my eye off the ball and try to find him and then the ball is there. When I looked at film of him, I saw that he bobbles the ball if he doesn’t get locked in on the ball. When he sees the ball coming at him then he’s fine. That’s footwork and that’s leverage and that’s learning how to lock the defender. See, once I do those things I don’t have to look at you; I know where you are."
Aguirre's reasoning makes perfect sense regarding post players in basketball but there may be a scientific explanation for "good hands" that transcends the techniques involved in playing any one particular sport. A fascinating Wall Street Journal article by Reed Albergotti reports that cognitive psychologist Dr. Joan Vickers has done extensive research that suggests that "good hands" actually begin with how the mind processes the visual data provided by the eyes. She studied elite athletes in several sports--hockey, baseball, tennis and volleyball--by observing them play while they wore special goggles that contained cameras filming their eye movements. Dr. Vickers identified two traits that are shared by athletes who have "good hands": she calls one trait "the quiet eye" and she calls the other trait "predictive control."
The former refers to, as Albergotti phrases it, "The ability to maintain a level and strong gaze on a distant object for an unusually long period of time, even while moving." Albergotti adds that "predictive control" is "the brain's ability to gather information from the eyes and use it to predict what will happen next."
The photo accompanying Albergotti's article provides dramatic evidence of these traits in action: it shows Fitzgerald catching a pass with his eyes closed! Albergotti writes, "Dr. Vickers believes it could be a textbook case of an athlete using predictive control to know exactly where to place his hands."
What exactly distinguishes players who have "good hands" from players who bobble the softest pass? In other words, what is the difference in this regard between Tim Duncan and guys like Kwame Brown or Eddy Curry? I asked three-time NBA All-Star Mark Aguirre that question and he told me, "With a guy who is supposed to have bad hands, you can look at him a lot of times and see that he is out of rhythm with the pass. A guy with soft hands is always in rhythm with the pass. A guy with bad hands is always out of rhythm with the pass, so you can try to create a rhythm for a guy--teach him to get in rhythm with the ball and that will help him a little bit." When Aguirre was an assistant coach with the Pacers and Knicks he mentored their post players, teaching them proper footwork. He said of Curry, "What you have to understand is that when I don’t know where my man is I tend to not be able to keep a constant focus on where the ball is coming from. If I post up and I don’t know where my man is, then I take my eye off the ball and try to find him and then the ball is there. When I looked at film of him, I saw that he bobbles the ball if he doesn’t get locked in on the ball. When he sees the ball coming at him then he’s fine. That’s footwork and that’s leverage and that’s learning how to lock the defender. See, once I do those things I don’t have to look at you; I know where you are."
Aguirre's reasoning makes perfect sense regarding post players in basketball but there may be a scientific explanation for "good hands" that transcends the techniques involved in playing any one particular sport. A fascinating Wall Street Journal article by Reed Albergotti reports that cognitive psychologist Dr. Joan Vickers has done extensive research that suggests that "good hands" actually begin with how the mind processes the visual data provided by the eyes. She studied elite athletes in several sports--hockey, baseball, tennis and volleyball--by observing them play while they wore special goggles that contained cameras filming their eye movements. Dr. Vickers identified two traits that are shared by athletes who have "good hands": she calls one trait "the quiet eye" and she calls the other trait "predictive control."
The former refers to, as Albergotti phrases it, "The ability to maintain a level and strong gaze on a distant object for an unusually long period of time, even while moving." Albergotti adds that "predictive control" is "the brain's ability to gather information from the eyes and use it to predict what will happen next."
The photo accompanying Albergotti's article provides dramatic evidence of these traits in action: it shows Fitzgerald catching a pass with his eyes closed! Albergotti writes, "Dr. Vickers believes it could be a textbook case of an athlete using predictive control to know exactly where to place his hands."
Monday, January 19, 2009
Midnight Has Not Yet Struck for Cinderella Cardinals
Kurt Warner completed 21 of 28 passes for 279 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and a nearly perfect 145.7 passer rating while leading his Arizona Cardinals to a 32-25 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game. The Cardinals built a 24-6 halftime lead but had to come from behind after the Eagles scored 19 unanswered points. Warner responded by directing a 14 play, 72 yard fourth quarter touchdown drive that chewed up 7:52 on the clock. As announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman suggested, if Warner had not already assembled a Hall of Fame worthy resume then that one drive may very well have sealed the deal. The Eagles got the ball back with 2:53 left in regulation but Donovan McNabb completed just 3 of his next 8 passes--Philadelphia threw the ball on every single play--and the Eagles turned the ball over on downs. Arizona could not quite run out the clock but managed to pin the Eagles deep in their territory with just :09 left.
McNabb completed 28 of 47 passes for 375 yards, three touchdowns, one interception and a 97.4 passer rating. He has been a very good player for a number of years and it is obviously difficult to look at those numbers and then blame him for this loss--but this game is a microcosm of the way McNabb tends to perform in big games. McNabb was horrible in the first half as Arizona built what seemed to be a nearly insurmountable advantage but then, like a streak shooter in basketball, he got hot and put up points in bunches while Philadelphia's defense stymied Warner and the Cardinals. However, when push came to shove, Warner made the plays that gave his team a huge cushion and when his team trailed for the first time he promptly led the Cardinals down the field for the game-winning score. In my preview post I not only almost exactly nailed the score of the game (31-20 Arizona was my prediction), I concluded, "I expect Warner to outduel McNabb much like he did seven years ago" (when Warner's Rams beat McNabb's Eagles in the NFC Championship Game).
Is the "real" McNabb the one who helped his team make a gallant comeback? Or is the "real" McNabb the one who threw several inaccurate passes as his team quickly fell behind and then finished the game by again throwing several inaccurate passes? McNabb deserves credit for leading the Eagles to five NFC Championship Games but he has earned only one victory in that round. He seems destined to be remembered as a player who was very good but not quite good enough to carry a team to a championship.
As for Warner, he has been the lead actor in a similar drama before; a decade ago he helped to transform the St. Louis Rams overnight from a sad sack franchise into Super Bowl champions. Now he has guided the Cardinals--who have not won a championship in six decades--to the franchise's first ever Super Bowl appearance. Warner improved to 3-0 in NFC Championship Game play and he owns one of the top five career playoff passer ratings in NFL history.
The Cardinals are just the second team from a non-strike year to advance to the Super Bowl despite winning fewer than 10 regular season games. They looked dead in the water after losing four games in a five game stretch late in the season--giving up 37, 48, 35 and 47 points in those defeats--but they have scored at least 30 points in each of their three playoff games while holding their opponents to 24 points or less.
In the Super Bowl, Arizona's flashy, pass-oriented offense will provide a stark contrast with Pittsburgh's physical, pounding style but before too much is made of those differences it is worth remembering that during the playoffs the Cardinals have shown that they can play good, hard physical defense while the Steelers have demonstrated big play capability with their passing game. Other subplots include the duel between graybeard Warner and young gun Ben Roethlisberger--each of whom has already led a team to a Super Bowl title--and the coaching matchup between Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin and Arizona's Ken Whisenhunt, a former Steelers assistant coach who the Steelers passed over in favor of hiring Tomlin.
McNabb completed 28 of 47 passes for 375 yards, three touchdowns, one interception and a 97.4 passer rating. He has been a very good player for a number of years and it is obviously difficult to look at those numbers and then blame him for this loss--but this game is a microcosm of the way McNabb tends to perform in big games. McNabb was horrible in the first half as Arizona built what seemed to be a nearly insurmountable advantage but then, like a streak shooter in basketball, he got hot and put up points in bunches while Philadelphia's defense stymied Warner and the Cardinals. However, when push came to shove, Warner made the plays that gave his team a huge cushion and when his team trailed for the first time he promptly led the Cardinals down the field for the game-winning score. In my preview post I not only almost exactly nailed the score of the game (31-20 Arizona was my prediction), I concluded, "I expect Warner to outduel McNabb much like he did seven years ago" (when Warner's Rams beat McNabb's Eagles in the NFC Championship Game).
Is the "real" McNabb the one who helped his team make a gallant comeback? Or is the "real" McNabb the one who threw several inaccurate passes as his team quickly fell behind and then finished the game by again throwing several inaccurate passes? McNabb deserves credit for leading the Eagles to five NFC Championship Games but he has earned only one victory in that round. He seems destined to be remembered as a player who was very good but not quite good enough to carry a team to a championship.
As for Warner, he has been the lead actor in a similar drama before; a decade ago he helped to transform the St. Louis Rams overnight from a sad sack franchise into Super Bowl champions. Now he has guided the Cardinals--who have not won a championship in six decades--to the franchise's first ever Super Bowl appearance. Warner improved to 3-0 in NFC Championship Game play and he owns one of the top five career playoff passer ratings in NFL history.
The Cardinals are just the second team from a non-strike year to advance to the Super Bowl despite winning fewer than 10 regular season games. They looked dead in the water after losing four games in a five game stretch late in the season--giving up 37, 48, 35 and 47 points in those defeats--but they have scored at least 30 points in each of their three playoff games while holding their opponents to 24 points or less.
In the Super Bowl, Arizona's flashy, pass-oriented offense will provide a stark contrast with Pittsburgh's physical, pounding style but before too much is made of those differences it is worth remembering that during the playoffs the Cardinals have shown that they can play good, hard physical defense while the Steelers have demonstrated big play capability with their passing game. Other subplots include the duel between graybeard Warner and young gun Ben Roethlisberger--each of whom has already led a team to a Super Bowl title--and the coaching matchup between Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin and Arizona's Ken Whisenhunt, a former Steelers assistant coach who the Steelers passed over in favor of hiring Tomlin.
Baltimore's Playoff Run Revived Echoes of What Might Have Been for Cleveland
Hall of Fame tight end Ozzie Newsome spent his entire 13 year NFL career with the Cleveland Browns. After he retired, then-Browns Coach Bill Belichick hired him to be a scout. Newsome steadily worked his way up in the organization and by the time Owner Art Modell moved the franchise to Baltimore prior to the 1996 season Newsome was the team's director of player personnel, meaning that he was in charge of deciding who the Ravens would draft. Newsome's first two choices--Ray Lewis and Jonathan Ogden--became perennial Pro Bowlers and the cornerstones of the 2000 Super Bowl champions. Newsome became Baltimore's General Manager in 2002.
I have often told anyone who would listen that Bill Belichick was in the process of turning the Browns into a Super Bowl team when Modell ruined everything by announcing in the middle of the 1995 season that he planned to move the team, turning the final half of that campaign into a nightmare scenario for Belichick and his players. Modell "rewarded" Belichick's hard work and loyalty by unceremoniously firing him right after that season. Belichick had taken over a team that went 3-13 in 1990 and by 1994 the Browns were an 11-5 squad that won a playoff game (sadly, the Browns have not won a playoff game since then). No coach could have had a successful season under the circumstances that Belichick and his players had to endure in 1995 but I always believed that the next time Belichick got a head coaching job he would lead that team to a Super Bowl win. Obviously, Belichick has done that and more since arriving in New England.
With Belichick winning three Super Bowls as a head coach and his former scout Newsome winning a Super Bowl as an executive, it is only natural to wonder how many Super Bowls Belichick and Newsome would have won in Cleveland. Someone asked Newsome that very question prior to Baltimore's 23-14 loss to Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship Game and Newsome replied, "Would we have had the opportunity to get to a Super Bowl once, maybe twice? I'd say yes, we would have." The most bizarre thing about Modell's tenure as Browns owner is that he managed to not only drive his team to the brink of financial ruin but he also was on the verge of personal bankruptcy by the time he accepted the huge windfall offered by Baltimore--and despite all of that largesse he was in such dire financial straits just a few years later that he was forced to sell the team to Steve Bisciotti. Ironically, Modell had claimed that one of the reasons he left Cleveland was that he had wanted to keep ownership of the team in his family but despite the king's ransom he received to turn his back on loyal Browns' fans the team ultimately did not stay in the hands of the Modell family.
There have been plenty of bad NFL owners who put losing products on the field year after year but it is almost impossible to own an NFL team and lose money because the league is almost socialistic in the way that it divides up its various revenue streams (something that Dallas owner Jerry Jones has always resented, because he feels like his marquee franchise is generating more revenue than other teams and thus should get a bigger piece of the pie). Maybe someday someone will track down the real story of what Modell did with all of his money to go broke as an NFL owner not once, but twice; you can make fun of the Bengals, Lions or whoever else all you want but the owners of those and other sad sack NFL teams are laughing all the way to the bank with big profits: the only other modern NFL owner I can think of who went broke was Leonard Tose and he was a compulsive gambler.
Although some people say that the infusion of cash from Bisciotti enabled Baltimore to win the Super Bowl, Newsome disagrees with that assessment: "Those (cash) problems we endured in Baltimore, we were able to overcome those (before Bisciotti's infusion). We built this team in the first three years. We were operating off the same budget when we drafted Jonathan (Ogden), Ray (Lewis), Peter Boulware, Chris (McAlister)...The ownership didn't change until 2000." Therefore, Newsome insists that if Modell had not moved the team and had kept Belichick around then the Browns would have become a Super Bowl contender: "I'm saying we would have remained a good football team because it would have started with Belichick. And all of us were there together. You can't write the story without adding Belichick to it." The "all of us" who Newsome referred to is the top notch coaching and scouting staff that Belichick assembled in Cleveland, including not only Newsome but also Nick Saban, Phil Savage, and Scott Pioli--guys who have been involved in building championship programs in the NFL and/or college.
Since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, they have been a soft outfit on both sides of the ball, unable to control the line of scrimmage. That is exactly the opposite of the blueprint required to be successful in the AFC North, let alone to win a Super Bowl, as Newsome explains: "One thing you have to understand is the ability to control the line of scrimmage late in the season in this division, and I mean on both sides of the ball. Because the weather becomes a big factor. If you can't control the line of scrimmage, then you're going to have trouble winning."
Belichick and Newsome are long gone from Cleveland. They have made their bones elsewhere and are not coming back. Browns fans can only hope that new Coach Eric Mangini--who was on Belichick's Cleveland staff in the early 1990s--will be able to build the kind of team that Belichick put together a decade and a half ago before Modell broke Cleveland's heart by ripping away the team that is the city's pride and joy.
I have often told anyone who would listen that Bill Belichick was in the process of turning the Browns into a Super Bowl team when Modell ruined everything by announcing in the middle of the 1995 season that he planned to move the team, turning the final half of that campaign into a nightmare scenario for Belichick and his players. Modell "rewarded" Belichick's hard work and loyalty by unceremoniously firing him right after that season. Belichick had taken over a team that went 3-13 in 1990 and by 1994 the Browns were an 11-5 squad that won a playoff game (sadly, the Browns have not won a playoff game since then). No coach could have had a successful season under the circumstances that Belichick and his players had to endure in 1995 but I always believed that the next time Belichick got a head coaching job he would lead that team to a Super Bowl win. Obviously, Belichick has done that and more since arriving in New England.
With Belichick winning three Super Bowls as a head coach and his former scout Newsome winning a Super Bowl as an executive, it is only natural to wonder how many Super Bowls Belichick and Newsome would have won in Cleveland. Someone asked Newsome that very question prior to Baltimore's 23-14 loss to Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship Game and Newsome replied, "Would we have had the opportunity to get to a Super Bowl once, maybe twice? I'd say yes, we would have." The most bizarre thing about Modell's tenure as Browns owner is that he managed to not only drive his team to the brink of financial ruin but he also was on the verge of personal bankruptcy by the time he accepted the huge windfall offered by Baltimore--and despite all of that largesse he was in such dire financial straits just a few years later that he was forced to sell the team to Steve Bisciotti. Ironically, Modell had claimed that one of the reasons he left Cleveland was that he had wanted to keep ownership of the team in his family but despite the king's ransom he received to turn his back on loyal Browns' fans the team ultimately did not stay in the hands of the Modell family.
There have been plenty of bad NFL owners who put losing products on the field year after year but it is almost impossible to own an NFL team and lose money because the league is almost socialistic in the way that it divides up its various revenue streams (something that Dallas owner Jerry Jones has always resented, because he feels like his marquee franchise is generating more revenue than other teams and thus should get a bigger piece of the pie). Maybe someday someone will track down the real story of what Modell did with all of his money to go broke as an NFL owner not once, but twice; you can make fun of the Bengals, Lions or whoever else all you want but the owners of those and other sad sack NFL teams are laughing all the way to the bank with big profits: the only other modern NFL owner I can think of who went broke was Leonard Tose and he was a compulsive gambler.
Although some people say that the infusion of cash from Bisciotti enabled Baltimore to win the Super Bowl, Newsome disagrees with that assessment: "Those (cash) problems we endured in Baltimore, we were able to overcome those (before Bisciotti's infusion). We built this team in the first three years. We were operating off the same budget when we drafted Jonathan (Ogden), Ray (Lewis), Peter Boulware, Chris (McAlister)...The ownership didn't change until 2000." Therefore, Newsome insists that if Modell had not moved the team and had kept Belichick around then the Browns would have become a Super Bowl contender: "I'm saying we would have remained a good football team because it would have started with Belichick. And all of us were there together. You can't write the story without adding Belichick to it." The "all of us" who Newsome referred to is the top notch coaching and scouting staff that Belichick assembled in Cleveland, including not only Newsome but also Nick Saban, Phil Savage, and Scott Pioli--guys who have been involved in building championship programs in the NFL and/or college.
Since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, they have been a soft outfit on both sides of the ball, unable to control the line of scrimmage. That is exactly the opposite of the blueprint required to be successful in the AFC North, let alone to win a Super Bowl, as Newsome explains: "One thing you have to understand is the ability to control the line of scrimmage late in the season in this division, and I mean on both sides of the ball. Because the weather becomes a big factor. If you can't control the line of scrimmage, then you're going to have trouble winning."
Belichick and Newsome are long gone from Cleveland. They have made their bones elsewhere and are not coming back. Browns fans can only hope that new Coach Eric Mangini--who was on Belichick's Cleveland staff in the early 1990s--will be able to build the kind of team that Belichick put together a decade and a half ago before Modell broke Cleveland's heart by ripping away the team that is the city's pride and joy.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
AFC and NFC Championship Game Previews
Last year, I went 2-2 during the Divisional Playoff round, correctly picking New England and Green Bay but wrongly choosing a pair of 13-3 teams, the Cowboys and the Colts. This year, the top seeds in both conferences--the 13-3 Tennessee Titans and the 12-4 defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants--went belly up at home in the Divisional Playoff round. Those games, plus Arizona's stunning 33-13 road win over 12-4 Carolina (the worst home loss by a second seeded team since the NFL expanded the playoff format in 1990), meant that I went 1-3 during the Divisional Playoff round, with my only correct choice being the reliable Pittsburgh Steelers, 35-24 victors over the San Diego Chargers. The Steelers are now 11-1 in home games in the Divisional Playoffs since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger (they set a record of dubious distinction by losing four out of five AFC Championship Games at home from 1994-2004 but more about that shortly).
My playoff predicting record is a dismal 3-5 so far this season, so I need to be perfect the rest of the way just to match the 6-5 mark that I posted last season. All I can say in my defense is that this year's NFL playoffs have been more wide open and unpredictable than any postseason in recent years--or maybe ever. Home field advantage, playoff seeding, being a hot team or being a cold team--none of these factors seemed to matter at all.
Last week's games featured four rematches of 2008 regular season games and this week's Championship Games are also rematches. Here are my predictions:
NFC Championship Game
The 11-6-1 Wild Card Philadelphia Eagles visit the 11-7 NFC South West Champion Arizona Cardinals.
I've already picked against the Cardinals twice, while I correctly picked the Eagles to beat the Vikings but predicted that their playoff run would end versus the Giants. In other words, I did not expect either team to make it this far. Arizona is the first 9-7 team to host a conference championship game. Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner owns a 7-2 career playoff record, including a 1-1 Super Bowl mark and a 29-24 victory over Donovan McNabb and the Eagles in the 2002 NFC Championship Game when Warner played for the Rams. Warner completed 22 of 33 passes for 212 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and a 94.5 passer rating in that game, while McNabb--who has a 9-5 career playoff record, including 0-1 in the Super Bowl--completed 18 of 30 passes for 171 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a 73.1 passer rating. Although McNabb has a pedestrian 79.2 career playoff passer rating (Warner's career playoff passer rating is 92.6), McNabb has started in nine playoff victories, trailing only Joe Montana (15), Terry Bradshaw (14), Tom Brady (14), John Elway (14), Brett Favre (12), Roger Staubach (12) and Troy Aikman (11) on the career list. That group is top heavy with modern players due to the multiple expansions of the postseason format in the past few decades and it is worth mentioning that each of the quarterbacks ahead of McNabb won at least one Super Bowl title and made multiple Super Bowl appearances.
The Eagles smashed the Cardinals 48-20 in Philadelphia on Thanksgiving but don't count on the Cardinals playing like they are in a tryptophan induced stupor this time. After sleepwalking through the latter portion of the regular season, the Cardinals have discovered a running game and an opportunistic defense in the playoffs. Arizona defensive end Antonio Smith said, "We had to start it over. Push the reset button and go back to the type of football we were playing at the beginning of the season. Somewhere after we clinched (a playoff spot), we got a little too into ourselves and relaxed on some of the things we focused on before. That's the big difference. This defense has always been a good defense. If anybody watches film and watches us, they will see that." Or you could just ask Jake Delhomme, whose excellent season and fine playoff resume went up in smoke as he threw five interceptions and fumbled once in Carolina's loss to the Cardinals last week.
I would have never imagined that the Cardinals could make it to the NFC Championship Game, let alone host it, but now that they are one home win away from making the franchise's first trip to the Super Bowl I expect Warner to outduel McNabb much like he did seven years ago. Arizona will win, 31-20.
AFC Championship Game
The 13-5 Wild Card Baltimore Ravens visit the 13-4 AFC North Pittsburgh Steelers.
I expected the Steelers to make it to the AFC Championship but thought that they would be visiting Tennessee instead of hosting the Ravens. Baltimore's 13-10 win at Tennessee gave new meaning to the term "head-knocking"; I don't think I've ever seen so many helmets fly off of players' heads in one game. That was a bruising, brutal and ugly game that surely took a lot out of the Ravens mentally and physically. Meanwhile, San Diego hung with Pittsburgh for a half but the Steelers limited the Chargers to one offensive play--a Philip Rivers interception--in the entire third quarter as they cruised to a 35-24 victory.
Both the Steelers and the Ravens play bonecrushing defense and want to establish the running game on offense. The Steelers swept the regular season series between these division rivals, but only won those two games by a combined seven points--and that included an overtime period.
In this matchup of mirror image teams, the only real reason to go against Pittsburgh is that the Steelers are just 1-4 at home in the AFC Championship since 1994. However, two of those losses came at the hands of the New England Patriots--winners of three Super Bowls in a four year span--and the other two losses happened more than a decade ago with a different coaching staff and different players.
Baltimore's defense will probably keep the game close for a half but Pittsburgh will win, 24-9.
My playoff predicting record is a dismal 3-5 so far this season, so I need to be perfect the rest of the way just to match the 6-5 mark that I posted last season. All I can say in my defense is that this year's NFL playoffs have been more wide open and unpredictable than any postseason in recent years--or maybe ever. Home field advantage, playoff seeding, being a hot team or being a cold team--none of these factors seemed to matter at all.
Last week's games featured four rematches of 2008 regular season games and this week's Championship Games are also rematches. Here are my predictions:
NFC Championship Game
The 11-6-1 Wild Card Philadelphia Eagles visit the 11-7 NFC South West Champion Arizona Cardinals.
I've already picked against the Cardinals twice, while I correctly picked the Eagles to beat the Vikings but predicted that their playoff run would end versus the Giants. In other words, I did not expect either team to make it this far. Arizona is the first 9-7 team to host a conference championship game. Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner owns a 7-2 career playoff record, including a 1-1 Super Bowl mark and a 29-24 victory over Donovan McNabb and the Eagles in the 2002 NFC Championship Game when Warner played for the Rams. Warner completed 22 of 33 passes for 212 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and a 94.5 passer rating in that game, while McNabb--who has a 9-5 career playoff record, including 0-1 in the Super Bowl--completed 18 of 30 passes for 171 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a 73.1 passer rating. Although McNabb has a pedestrian 79.2 career playoff passer rating (Warner's career playoff passer rating is 92.6), McNabb has started in nine playoff victories, trailing only Joe Montana (15), Terry Bradshaw (14), Tom Brady (14), John Elway (14), Brett Favre (12), Roger Staubach (12) and Troy Aikman (11) on the career list. That group is top heavy with modern players due to the multiple expansions of the postseason format in the past few decades and it is worth mentioning that each of the quarterbacks ahead of McNabb won at least one Super Bowl title and made multiple Super Bowl appearances.
The Eagles smashed the Cardinals 48-20 in Philadelphia on Thanksgiving but don't count on the Cardinals playing like they are in a tryptophan induced stupor this time. After sleepwalking through the latter portion of the regular season, the Cardinals have discovered a running game and an opportunistic defense in the playoffs. Arizona defensive end Antonio Smith said, "We had to start it over. Push the reset button and go back to the type of football we were playing at the beginning of the season. Somewhere after we clinched (a playoff spot), we got a little too into ourselves and relaxed on some of the things we focused on before. That's the big difference. This defense has always been a good defense. If anybody watches film and watches us, they will see that." Or you could just ask Jake Delhomme, whose excellent season and fine playoff resume went up in smoke as he threw five interceptions and fumbled once in Carolina's loss to the Cardinals last week.
I would have never imagined that the Cardinals could make it to the NFC Championship Game, let alone host it, but now that they are one home win away from making the franchise's first trip to the Super Bowl I expect Warner to outduel McNabb much like he did seven years ago. Arizona will win, 31-20.
AFC Championship Game
The 13-5 Wild Card Baltimore Ravens visit the 13-4 AFC North Pittsburgh Steelers.
I expected the Steelers to make it to the AFC Championship but thought that they would be visiting Tennessee instead of hosting the Ravens. Baltimore's 13-10 win at Tennessee gave new meaning to the term "head-knocking"; I don't think I've ever seen so many helmets fly off of players' heads in one game. That was a bruising, brutal and ugly game that surely took a lot out of the Ravens mentally and physically. Meanwhile, San Diego hung with Pittsburgh for a half but the Steelers limited the Chargers to one offensive play--a Philip Rivers interception--in the entire third quarter as they cruised to a 35-24 victory.
Both the Steelers and the Ravens play bonecrushing defense and want to establish the running game on offense. The Steelers swept the regular season series between these division rivals, but only won those two games by a combined seven points--and that included an overtime period.
In this matchup of mirror image teams, the only real reason to go against Pittsburgh is that the Steelers are just 1-4 at home in the AFC Championship since 1994. However, two of those losses came at the hands of the New England Patriots--winners of three Super Bowls in a four year span--and the other two losses happened more than a decade ago with a different coaching staff and different players.
Baltimore's defense will probably keep the game close for a half but Pittsburgh will win, 24-9.
Monday, January 12, 2009
"Short, Compact, POW": Jim Rice's Sweet Swing Earns Long Overdue HoF Honor
Years ago, an article in Inside Sports described Jim Rice's deadly swing as "short, compact, POW!" In his last year of eligibility, Rice finally was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving 412 votes (76.4% of the ballots cast), narrowly surpassing the minimum requirement of 75% (405 votes).
In an era before steroids inflated muscles to cartoonish-sizes and owners shrank ball park dimensions because "chicks dig the long ball," Rice blasted 382 home runs, amassed 1451 RBI and batted .298 in a 16 year career spent entirely with the Boston Red Sox. Rice won the 1978 AL MVP after posting these tremendous numbers: first in slugging percentage (.600), first in home runs (46), first in RBI (139), first in hits (213), first in total bases (406), first in triples (15), first in extra base hits (86), second in runs (121), third in batting average (.315).
Rice finished in the top five in AL MVP voting during five other seasons (1975, 1977, 1979, 1983, 1986), made the All-Star team eight times and among knowledgeable observers was considered to be the AL's most feared slugger for more than a decade, leading the AL in home runs, RBI and hits from 1975-86. Rice led the AL in home runs three times (1977-78, 1983) and ranked in the top ten in that category seven times in an eight year run between 1976 and 1983. Rice had at least 39 home runs in four different seasons. That may seem like a pedestrian total in light of the numbers posted in the "Steroids Era" but no other slugger of Rice's era accomplished that feat; Mike Schmidt had three seasons with at least 39 home runs, as did Reggie Jackson.
Rice also led the AL in RBI twice (1978, 1983) and ranked in the top ten in that department nine times between 1975 and 1986; during those same years, Rice ranked in the top ten in batting average six times, including a career-high .325 in 1979. Rice led the AL in total bases four times (1977-79, 1983) and ranked in the top ten nine times.
Rice only received 29.8% of the votes in 1995, his first year of HoF eligibility, but his candidacy steadily gained ground. He was not the most popular player among sportswriters and it is shamefully and painfully obvious that many voters held that against him. Fortunately, they either moderated their views, felt that Rice had done enough "penance" for his perceived "crimes" or else were replaced by younger, less biased people. Just like he did during his career, Rice spoke the truth after being informed that he made the HoF cut: "I don't think I was difficult to deal with for writers. I think the writers were difficult to me. I wasn't going to badmouth my teammates. When you start talking about my teammates or what goes on outside baseball, I couldn't do that. I don't know why it took me so long. I don't even want to think about it. I'm just happy I'm in and that's what I'm going to cherish...I guess everything was just timing, because my numbers have not changed over the last 14 years."
Rice is joined in this year's HoF class by first ballot inductee Rickey Henderson and Veterans Committee selection Joe Gordon, who will receive the honor posthumously.
In an era before steroids inflated muscles to cartoonish-sizes and owners shrank ball park dimensions because "chicks dig the long ball," Rice blasted 382 home runs, amassed 1451 RBI and batted .298 in a 16 year career spent entirely with the Boston Red Sox. Rice won the 1978 AL MVP after posting these tremendous numbers: first in slugging percentage (.600), first in home runs (46), first in RBI (139), first in hits (213), first in total bases (406), first in triples (15), first in extra base hits (86), second in runs (121), third in batting average (.315).
Rice finished in the top five in AL MVP voting during five other seasons (1975, 1977, 1979, 1983, 1986), made the All-Star team eight times and among knowledgeable observers was considered to be the AL's most feared slugger for more than a decade, leading the AL in home runs, RBI and hits from 1975-86. Rice led the AL in home runs three times (1977-78, 1983) and ranked in the top ten in that category seven times in an eight year run between 1976 and 1983. Rice had at least 39 home runs in four different seasons. That may seem like a pedestrian total in light of the numbers posted in the "Steroids Era" but no other slugger of Rice's era accomplished that feat; Mike Schmidt had three seasons with at least 39 home runs, as did Reggie Jackson.
Rice also led the AL in RBI twice (1978, 1983) and ranked in the top ten in that department nine times between 1975 and 1986; during those same years, Rice ranked in the top ten in batting average six times, including a career-high .325 in 1979. Rice led the AL in total bases four times (1977-79, 1983) and ranked in the top ten nine times.
Rice only received 29.8% of the votes in 1995, his first year of HoF eligibility, but his candidacy steadily gained ground. He was not the most popular player among sportswriters and it is shamefully and painfully obvious that many voters held that against him. Fortunately, they either moderated their views, felt that Rice had done enough "penance" for his perceived "crimes" or else were replaced by younger, less biased people. Just like he did during his career, Rice spoke the truth after being informed that he made the HoF cut: "I don't think I was difficult to deal with for writers. I think the writers were difficult to me. I wasn't going to badmouth my teammates. When you start talking about my teammates or what goes on outside baseball, I couldn't do that. I don't know why it took me so long. I don't even want to think about it. I'm just happy I'm in and that's what I'm going to cherish...I guess everything was just timing, because my numbers have not changed over the last 14 years."
Rice is joined in this year's HoF class by first ballot inductee Rickey Henderson and Veterans Committee selection Joe Gordon, who will receive the honor posthumously.
Friday, January 9, 2009
NFL Divisional Playoff Predictions
This year's Wild Card Weekend was a bit odd, as the road teams were favored in all four contests. After looking carefully at each matchup, I decided that there were good reasons that the home teams were underdogs but when the dust cleared two of those home teams won, so I only correctly picked the outcome of two of the four Wild Card Weekend games. However, the only result that really surprised me was San Diego beating Indianapolis; even though the Chargers have played the Colts very tough in recent years, the Chargers were a banged up 8-8 team while the Colts were the hottest team in the NFL down the stretch and featured the league MVP, Peyton Manning. I had Atlanta squeaking by Arizona 27-24 but acknowledged that the Cardinals had a "puncher's chance if Warner puts a lot of points on the board and avoids committing costly turnovers" and that was exactly what happened in a 30-24 Cardinals win. I knew that Baltimore and Philadelphia would prove to be superior to Miami and Minnesota respectively.
Perhaps the most intriguing thing about the four Divisional Playoff games is that they are all rematches of 2008 regular season contests. Here are my predictions:
Saturday's games:
The 12-5 Wild Card Baltimore Ravens visit the 13-3 AFC South Champion Tennessee Titans.
On paper, Tennessee and Baltimore are about as evenly matched as possible. The Titans posted the best regular season record in the NFL this season but these teams tied for the best point differential (8.8 ppg). The Titans won the regular season matchup 13-10 at Baltimore but the Ravens have won four of their previous seven games versus Tennessee. Both teams have bruising running attacks and fierce defenses.
The Titans are a bit banged up on both the offensive and defensive lines; Kyle Vanden Bosch and Albert Haynesworth are expected to play but center Kevin Mawae's status is less certain and that could obviously have a major impact on Tennessee in both the running game and the passing game.
The Ravens are coming off of a convincing win against a hot Dolphins team but they have to play on the road against a well rested division champion. The key factor will be that Tennessee quarterback Kerry Collins must avoid throwing costly interceptions (hint: be aware of where Ed Reed is and do not throw the football anywhere near him).
Tennessee will win, 24-13.
The 10-7 NFC West Champion Arizona Cardinals visit the 12-4 NFC South Champion Carolina Panthers.
Arizona looked terrible in the last few weeks of the regular season but surprised a lot of people by beating Atlanta in the Wild Card game. Still, the Cardinals had a negative point differential during the season, went 0-5 in the Eastern time zone and have lost five of their last seven games to Carolina, including a 27-23 road loss this season. Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner threw for 381 yards and two touchdowns in that game but the Panthers did not lose at home this season and are not likely to do so versus Arizona.
Carolina will win, 31-17.
Sunday's games:
The 10-6-1 Wild Card Philadelphia Eagles visit the 12-4 NFC East Champion New York Giants.
These division rivals split their 2008 games, with the Giants winning 36-31 at Philadelphia before losing 20-14 at home. The Eagles have won 10 of the previous 17 meetings overall and the Giants have not been quite the same since losing the services of troubled wide receiver Plaxico Burress. Despite New York's superior record, the two teams had virtually identical point differentials. The winner will be the team that is more physical, does a better job of establishing a running game and is able to avoid costly mistakes. New York is the defending Super Bowl champion, a team that made their title run by putting together a record setting road winning streak. They are well rested and I don't think that they will lose to a talented but inconsistent Philadelphia squad.
New York will win, 24-10
The 9-8 Wild Card San Diego Chargers visit the 12-4 AFC North Champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
Pittsburgh beat San Diego 11-10 this season but that score is very deceptive; the referees erroneously nullified a late Pittsburgh TD, the Steelers outgained San Diego 410 yards to 213 and Ben Roethlisberger completely outplayed Philip Rivers, posting a 96.4 passer rating compared to a season-low 44.4 rating for Rivers. The fact that San Diego has beaten Pittsburgh in both of their playoff matchups is meaningless trivia, because those games took place in 1982 and 1994. The only negative for Pittsburgh going into this game is that Roethlisberger suffered a concussion in the season finale versus Cleveland. Assuming that he is not bothered by any aftereffects from that injury, Pittsburgh should dominate this game.
Pittsburgh will win, 27-7
Perhaps the most intriguing thing about the four Divisional Playoff games is that they are all rematches of 2008 regular season contests. Here are my predictions:
Saturday's games:
The 12-5 Wild Card Baltimore Ravens visit the 13-3 AFC South Champion Tennessee Titans.
On paper, Tennessee and Baltimore are about as evenly matched as possible. The Titans posted the best regular season record in the NFL this season but these teams tied for the best point differential (8.8 ppg). The Titans won the regular season matchup 13-10 at Baltimore but the Ravens have won four of their previous seven games versus Tennessee. Both teams have bruising running attacks and fierce defenses.
The Titans are a bit banged up on both the offensive and defensive lines; Kyle Vanden Bosch and Albert Haynesworth are expected to play but center Kevin Mawae's status is less certain and that could obviously have a major impact on Tennessee in both the running game and the passing game.
The Ravens are coming off of a convincing win against a hot Dolphins team but they have to play on the road against a well rested division champion. The key factor will be that Tennessee quarterback Kerry Collins must avoid throwing costly interceptions (hint: be aware of where Ed Reed is and do not throw the football anywhere near him).
Tennessee will win, 24-13.
The 10-7 NFC West Champion Arizona Cardinals visit the 12-4 NFC South Champion Carolina Panthers.
Arizona looked terrible in the last few weeks of the regular season but surprised a lot of people by beating Atlanta in the Wild Card game. Still, the Cardinals had a negative point differential during the season, went 0-5 in the Eastern time zone and have lost five of their last seven games to Carolina, including a 27-23 road loss this season. Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner threw for 381 yards and two touchdowns in that game but the Panthers did not lose at home this season and are not likely to do so versus Arizona.
Carolina will win, 31-17.
Sunday's games:
The 10-6-1 Wild Card Philadelphia Eagles visit the 12-4 NFC East Champion New York Giants.
These division rivals split their 2008 games, with the Giants winning 36-31 at Philadelphia before losing 20-14 at home. The Eagles have won 10 of the previous 17 meetings overall and the Giants have not been quite the same since losing the services of troubled wide receiver Plaxico Burress. Despite New York's superior record, the two teams had virtually identical point differentials. The winner will be the team that is more physical, does a better job of establishing a running game and is able to avoid costly mistakes. New York is the defending Super Bowl champion, a team that made their title run by putting together a record setting road winning streak. They are well rested and I don't think that they will lose to a talented but inconsistent Philadelphia squad.
New York will win, 24-10
The 9-8 Wild Card San Diego Chargers visit the 12-4 AFC North Champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
Pittsburgh beat San Diego 11-10 this season but that score is very deceptive; the referees erroneously nullified a late Pittsburgh TD, the Steelers outgained San Diego 410 yards to 213 and Ben Roethlisberger completely outplayed Philip Rivers, posting a 96.4 passer rating compared to a season-low 44.4 rating for Rivers. The fact that San Diego has beaten Pittsburgh in both of their playoff matchups is meaningless trivia, because those games took place in 1982 and 1994. The only negative for Pittsburgh going into this game is that Roethlisberger suffered a concussion in the season finale versus Cleveland. Assuming that he is not bothered by any aftereffects from that injury, Pittsburgh should dominate this game.
Pittsburgh will win, 27-7
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Will Mangini be Able to Turn the Browns Around?
The Cleveland Browns have hired Eric Mangini, the franchise's fifth head coach since rejoining the NFL in 1999. Like his predecessor Romeo Crennel, Mangini is a former Bill Belichick assistant coach who helped the New England Patriots win Super Bowl titles and has previous ties to the Browns franchise. Unlike Crennel, Mangini is a young coach who had previous NFL head coaching experience prior to becoming Cleveland's head coach. Mangini went 23-25 in three years with the New York Jets, leading the team to two winning records and one playoff berth. The Jets fired him last week in the wake of the team's collapse to 9-7 from an 8-3 start.
Cleveland owner Randy Lerner apparently felt love at first sight with Mangini, because as soon as he became available Lerner scarcely considered anyone else before offering Mangini the job. On the other hand, it does not seem like former Super Bowl winning coaches Bill Cowher or Mike Shanahan intend to take head coaching jobs right now so Mangini may in fact be the best available coach. Although Crennel and Mangini both worked for Belichick they have different personalities and coaching styles. Crennel is a laid back "player's coach" but that style backfired this year when his players took advantage of Crennel's easy going ways and played without much discipline; in contrast, Mangini is much more like Belichick and Bill Parcells, a hard driving, no nonsense coach. It certainly seems like that is exactly what the Browns need but just as important as changing the style will be to change the substance: the Browns must continue to add talent to the roster, so it will be critically important that Mangini and whoever becomes the team's new general manager are on the same page and that they don't make as many mistakes as the Browns' previous talent evaluators have.
The team that the Browns need to surpass and should be trying to emulate is their division rival Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have had three head coaches since 1969--Chuck Noll (four-time Super Bowl winner), Bill Cowher (one-time Super Bowl winner) and Mike Tomlin (two playoff appearances in two seasons on the job). Noll, Cowher and Tomlin were each young, defensive-minded coaches when the Steelers hired them. Noll and Cowher enjoyed long, successful careers and Tomlin appears to be on that same track. The best case scenario for Cleveland is that Mangini will turn out to be a similar success story; the worst case scenario is that, like Crennel, he will be revealed to be a very good assistant coach who thrived under the watchful eye of Belichick but is not equipped to run his own program.
It is ironic that each time Belichick's staff has been raided by teams seeking to steal some of his "magic" there have been critics who suggested that the Patriots would not be the same because that particular assistant coach played such a key role in their success--but the Patriots have kept right on rolling as Belichick continues to find and develop talented assistants. Also, while it is true that none of Belichick's proteges have yet had great success as NFL head coaches, a number of them have been successful as collegiate head coaches, including Nick Saban (who won a national championship with LSU in 2003), Kirk Ferentz (two Big 10 titles at Iowa) and Pat Hill (92-61 record at Fresno State). Belichick arrived in Cleveland in 1991 after a depleted Browns team went 3-13 and three years later he had transformed the Browns into an 11-5 playoff team. While in Cleveland, Belichick hired and mentored a number of talented people who have gone on to be successful in other locations, including not only Saban, Ferentz and Hill but also Ozzie Newsome (architect of the 2000 Super Bowl champion Ravens).
It is also worth noting that for many years some people said that Belichick had done nothing more than ride Bill Parcells' coattails but Belichick has now won three Super Bowls as a head coach while Parcells has yet to win a playoff game as a head coach or team executive without having Belichick on his coaching staff; Belichick won two Super Bowls as a Parcells assistant coach (1986, 1990 New York Giants) and his Browns beat Parcells' Patriots the only time the two coaches met head to head in the playoffs (1994).
If Mangini does not do well in Cleveland, the false rap that was once applied to Belichick about riding Parcells' coattails may in fact be more accurately said of guys like Crennel, Notre Dame's Charlie Weis and other Belichick aides who built big names for themselves with Belichick's Patriots but have yet to make a mark on their own.
Cleveland owner Randy Lerner apparently felt love at first sight with Mangini, because as soon as he became available Lerner scarcely considered anyone else before offering Mangini the job. On the other hand, it does not seem like former Super Bowl winning coaches Bill Cowher or Mike Shanahan intend to take head coaching jobs right now so Mangini may in fact be the best available coach. Although Crennel and Mangini both worked for Belichick they have different personalities and coaching styles. Crennel is a laid back "player's coach" but that style backfired this year when his players took advantage of Crennel's easy going ways and played without much discipline; in contrast, Mangini is much more like Belichick and Bill Parcells, a hard driving, no nonsense coach. It certainly seems like that is exactly what the Browns need but just as important as changing the style will be to change the substance: the Browns must continue to add talent to the roster, so it will be critically important that Mangini and whoever becomes the team's new general manager are on the same page and that they don't make as many mistakes as the Browns' previous talent evaluators have.
The team that the Browns need to surpass and should be trying to emulate is their division rival Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have had three head coaches since 1969--Chuck Noll (four-time Super Bowl winner), Bill Cowher (one-time Super Bowl winner) and Mike Tomlin (two playoff appearances in two seasons on the job). Noll, Cowher and Tomlin were each young, defensive-minded coaches when the Steelers hired them. Noll and Cowher enjoyed long, successful careers and Tomlin appears to be on that same track. The best case scenario for Cleveland is that Mangini will turn out to be a similar success story; the worst case scenario is that, like Crennel, he will be revealed to be a very good assistant coach who thrived under the watchful eye of Belichick but is not equipped to run his own program.
It is ironic that each time Belichick's staff has been raided by teams seeking to steal some of his "magic" there have been critics who suggested that the Patriots would not be the same because that particular assistant coach played such a key role in their success--but the Patriots have kept right on rolling as Belichick continues to find and develop talented assistants. Also, while it is true that none of Belichick's proteges have yet had great success as NFL head coaches, a number of them have been successful as collegiate head coaches, including Nick Saban (who won a national championship with LSU in 2003), Kirk Ferentz (two Big 10 titles at Iowa) and Pat Hill (92-61 record at Fresno State). Belichick arrived in Cleveland in 1991 after a depleted Browns team went 3-13 and three years later he had transformed the Browns into an 11-5 playoff team. While in Cleveland, Belichick hired and mentored a number of talented people who have gone on to be successful in other locations, including not only Saban, Ferentz and Hill but also Ozzie Newsome (architect of the 2000 Super Bowl champion Ravens).
It is also worth noting that for many years some people said that Belichick had done nothing more than ride Bill Parcells' coattails but Belichick has now won three Super Bowls as a head coach while Parcells has yet to win a playoff game as a head coach or team executive without having Belichick on his coaching staff; Belichick won two Super Bowls as a Parcells assistant coach (1986, 1990 New York Giants) and his Browns beat Parcells' Patriots the only time the two coaches met head to head in the playoffs (1994).
If Mangini does not do well in Cleveland, the false rap that was once applied to Belichick about riding Parcells' coattails may in fact be more accurately said of guys like Crennel, Notre Dame's Charlie Weis and other Belichick aides who built big names for themselves with Belichick's Patriots but have yet to make a mark on their own.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
NFL AP Awards are Puzzling
Three days ago, Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning was the landslide winner of the AP's 2008 NFL MVP, receiving 32 of 50 votes cast by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Miami quarterback Chad Pennington and Atlanta running back Michael Turner tied for second place with four votes each; New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, who nearly broke Dan Marino's 24 year old single season passing yardage record, did not receive any votes. The Colts, Dolphins and Falcons each made the playoffs while the Saints did not, so perhaps that explains the voting. Certainly, under Manning's direction the Colts were the hottest team in the NFL down the stretch, winning their final nine regular season games; their first round playoff loss does not diminish the value of that success and, in any case, that defeat took place after the MVP votes had already been cast.
Today the AP announced the winner of its 2008 NFL Offensive Player of the Year. You would assume that Manning took this honor as well, right? Wrong. Brees received 22 first place votes from a 50 member media panel (I'm not sure if these were the same 50 people who voted for MVP), while Manning and Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson tied for second with nine votes each.
Manning and Brees each had excellent seasons but what possible logical explanation can there be for Manning winning the MVP and Brees winning Offensive Player of the Year, let alone each player winning his award by large margins? Did Manning win the MVP based on his contributions defensively or on special teams? How can Brees be considered the best offensive player in the league but not receive a single MVP vote when seven other offensive players received MVP votes? This just does not make any sense.
Today the AP announced the winner of its 2008 NFL Offensive Player of the Year. You would assume that Manning took this honor as well, right? Wrong. Brees received 22 first place votes from a 50 member media panel (I'm not sure if these were the same 50 people who voted for MVP), while Manning and Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson tied for second with nine votes each.
Manning and Brees each had excellent seasons but what possible logical explanation can there be for Manning winning the MVP and Brees winning Offensive Player of the Year, let alone each player winning his award by large margins? Did Manning win the MVP based on his contributions defensively or on special teams? How can Brees be considered the best offensive player in the league but not receive a single MVP vote when seven other offensive players received MVP votes? This just does not make any sense.
Friday, January 2, 2009
The Real Team Obliterator
Skip Bayless often calls Terrell Owens "Team Obliterator" but this season we saw the real "Team Obliterator" in action: Brett Favre, the supposed savior of the New York Jets who instead led the NFL in interceptions as his team imploded down the stretch. It turns out that, contrary to what the media has tried to sell to the general public for years, Favre is not such a great teammate or such a beloved figure in the locker room (in contrast, when the media tried to stir up a hornet's nest against Owens in Dallas, players from both sides of the ball spoke up in defense of the beleaguered wide receiver).
The Jets got rid of Chad Pennington, who just two years earlier had led them to the playoffs, in favor of Favre; now Pennington has guided the Miami Dolphins to the AFC East title and outdueled Favre head to head in the final game of the season. Thomas Jones, the Jets running back who led the AFC in rushing, recently blasted Favre's performance in that game, declaring, "We're a team and we win together...but at the same time, you can't turn the ball over and expect to win. The other day, the three interceptions really hurt us. I mean, that's just reality. If I were to sit here and say, 'Oh, man, it's okay,' that's not reality. The reality is, you throw interceptions, I'm (ticked) off, I don't like it. You know what I'm saying? I don't like it, I know everybody else on the team doesn't like it. If somebody is not playing well, they need to come out of the game. You're jeopardizing the whole team because you're having a bad day. To me, that's not fair to everybody else. You're not the only one on the team."
I do not generally put much stock in anonymous comments, because there is no way to verify who said what or to know what kind of agenda is being pushed by the reporter and/or the anonymous commenter but this Newsday story carries a mixture of attributed and anonymous statements about Favre and none of them are flattering. Safety Kerry Rhodes said, "If he's dedicated and he wants to come back and do this, and do it the right way...and be here when we're here in training camp and the minicamps and working out with us...then I'm fine with it. But don't come back if it's going to be halfhearted or he doesn't want to put the time in with us." That certainly seems to refer not only to the fact that Favre missed training camp but also suggests that Favre's effort seemed "halfhearted" after the Jets acquired him. Otherwise, why use that word at all? An anonymous player criticized Favre for being "distant" from his teammates and having a "me first" attitude; that player also said that now-fired Coach Eric Mangini rarely called out Favre after he made mistakes and several players agreed with his assessment that "Eric wasn't the reason that we didn't make the playoffs."
The Jets could have made the playoffs while being led by Pennington, a quarterback who is young enough to have several more good seasons. Instead, they shipped a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback to a division rival in order to go for broke with a 39 year old who annually pulls an Achilles in the tent routine about whether or not he really wants to go into battle. Well, the Jets went for broken and now they are broken: they missed the playoffs while strengthening a team that they will have to play two times a year and next season they will have to start over with a new coach and a new quarterback.
The Jets got rid of Chad Pennington, who just two years earlier had led them to the playoffs, in favor of Favre; now Pennington has guided the Miami Dolphins to the AFC East title and outdueled Favre head to head in the final game of the season. Thomas Jones, the Jets running back who led the AFC in rushing, recently blasted Favre's performance in that game, declaring, "We're a team and we win together...but at the same time, you can't turn the ball over and expect to win. The other day, the three interceptions really hurt us. I mean, that's just reality. If I were to sit here and say, 'Oh, man, it's okay,' that's not reality. The reality is, you throw interceptions, I'm (ticked) off, I don't like it. You know what I'm saying? I don't like it, I know everybody else on the team doesn't like it. If somebody is not playing well, they need to come out of the game. You're jeopardizing the whole team because you're having a bad day. To me, that's not fair to everybody else. You're not the only one on the team."
I do not generally put much stock in anonymous comments, because there is no way to verify who said what or to know what kind of agenda is being pushed by the reporter and/or the anonymous commenter but this Newsday story carries a mixture of attributed and anonymous statements about Favre and none of them are flattering. Safety Kerry Rhodes said, "If he's dedicated and he wants to come back and do this, and do it the right way...and be here when we're here in training camp and the minicamps and working out with us...then I'm fine with it. But don't come back if it's going to be halfhearted or he doesn't want to put the time in with us." That certainly seems to refer not only to the fact that Favre missed training camp but also suggests that Favre's effort seemed "halfhearted" after the Jets acquired him. Otherwise, why use that word at all? An anonymous player criticized Favre for being "distant" from his teammates and having a "me first" attitude; that player also said that now-fired Coach Eric Mangini rarely called out Favre after he made mistakes and several players agreed with his assessment that "Eric wasn't the reason that we didn't make the playoffs."
The Jets could have made the playoffs while being led by Pennington, a quarterback who is young enough to have several more good seasons. Instead, they shipped a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback to a division rival in order to go for broke with a 39 year old who annually pulls an Achilles in the tent routine about whether or not he really wants to go into battle. Well, the Jets went for broken and now they are broken: they missed the playoffs while strengthening a team that they will have to play two times a year and next season they will have to start over with a new coach and a new quarterback.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
2008 NFL Year in Review/Playoff Preview
In 2007, I correctly picked six of the eight NFL division champions but whiffed on all four Wild Cards; in my 2008 NFL Preview, I also correctly picked six of the 12 playoff teams but in a much different fashion: I only correctly picked two of the eight NFL division champions (Pittsburgh and San Diego) but two teams that I picked as Wild Cards made the playoffs as division champions (Tennessee and the New York Giants), while my other two Wild Card choices (Indianapolis and Philadelphia) were correct. I certainly would like to have been right about at least 75% of my choices but--as I have repeatedly said in this space--more teams go from worst to first (and vice versa) in the NFL than in just about any other league for three reasons: (1) one key injury can wreck a team's season, (2) one loss in a 16 game NFL seasons carries the proportional weight of five NBA losses or 10 MLB losses and (3) many NFL games are not decided until the last couple minutes, so a small number of plays can make the difference between being 10-6 and 6-10.
Some of my picks were just flat out wrong but teams like New England--at 11-5, the Patriots posted a better record than three division champions--and Dallas could very easily have made the playoffs, as I'm sure that most people expected that they would. As for the rise of the Miami Dolphins, I did not see that coming, though I did say that I would not be surprised if Chad Pennington outperformed Brett Favre, which clearly happened throughout the season and in the last game, which was in effect a playoff game for both the Dolphins and Favre's New York Jets. I correctly did not buy the playoff hype about my beloved Cleveland Browns, but I did not foresee that they would finish in last place.
I was right that the Super Bowl champion Giants would return to the postseason--which is not a given considering that 12 Super Bowl winners missed the playoffs the next year, including the Giants after their 1986 and 1990 championships--but I did not expect them to be so dominant with both Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan missing from the pass rush that was so vital to their title run. My projected AFC Championship (New England-San Diego), NFC Championship (Dallas-Tampa Bay) and Super Bowl (New England-Dallas) matchups are all out the window.
For comparison purposes, here are how the preseason picks from five major publications panned out:
Sports Illustrated: 3/8 division champions, 7/12 playoff qualifiers.
Lindy's: 3/8 division champions, 4/12 playoff qualifiers.
Sporting News: 2/8 division champions, 4/12 playoff qualifiers.
Athlon Sports: 2/8 division champions, 3/12 playoff qualifiers.
Pro Football Weekly: 1/8 division champions, 4/12 playoff qualifiers.
My record does not look so bad compared to the records compiled by full-time NFL writers who have credentialed access to the league; I correctly picked more playoff qualifiers than everyone on this list except for Sports Illustrated. Everyone other than PFW correctly picked Pittsburgh and San Diego as division champions; SI and Lindy's were also right about the Minnesota Vikings winning the NFC North.
Here are my picks for this weekend's playoff games and my (updated) selections for the AFC Championship, NFC Championship and the Super Bowl. Last year, I went 3-1 on Wild Card Weekend, 2-2 in the Divisional Round, 1-1 in the Championship Games and 0-1 in the Super Bowl (6-5 overall*).
Saturday's games:
The 12-4 Wild Card Indianapolis Colts visit the 8-8 AFC West Champion San Diego Chargers.
The Chargers were expected by some people to be Super Bowl contenders but only made it to the playoffs because of Denver's unprecedented collapse: the Broncos were in first place every week of the season except for the week that counts the most, when they got drilled 52-21 by San Diego. The Colts got off to a slow start as Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison recovered from knee surgeries, but they are the hottest team in the league now, owners of a nine game winning streak. The Colts beat the Chargers 23-20 in San Diego on November 23; this time around, Indianapolis will win 31-21.
The 11-5 Wild Card Atlanta Falcons visit the 9-7 NFC West Champion Arizona Cardinals.
The Cardinals clinched a weak division and then clocked out for the last month or so, going 2-3 in their last five games. The Falcons, the surprise team of the year other than the Dolphins, won their final three games and four of their last five. Arizona is a good home team with a powerful offense led by Kurt Warner--the 1999 and 2001 NFL MVP who also won the Super Bowl XXXIV MVP--so the Cardinals have a puncher's chance if Warner puts a lot of points on the board and avoids committing costly turnovers but the Falcons just look like the better team overall. Atlanta will win, 27-24.
Sunday's games:
The 11-5 Wild Card Baltimore Ravens visit the 11-5 AFC East Champion Miami Dolphins.
Both teams enter the playoffs playing well, with the Dolphins riding a five game winning streak and the Ravens winning four of their last five, including their final two games. Although they have identical records, the Ravens were a much more dominant team in terms of point differential (9.1 ppg compared to 1.6 ppg). That fact, coupled with Baltimore's 27-13 victory at Miami on October 19, suggests that Baltimore will win, 21-14.
The 9-6-1 Wild Card Philadelphia Eagles visit the 10-6 NFC North Champion Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings won four of their last five games to edge out the Chicago Bears, while the Eagles also won four of their last five, including their stunning 44-6 rout of division rival Dallas in the last game of the season with the final playoff spot on the line for both teams. Although Minnesota has the slightly better record, the Eagles have a significantly better point differential (8 ppg compared to 2.7 ppg). Donovan McNabb can be an up and down player at times but I trust him in a playoff game more than anyone the Vikings can put on the field at the quarterback position. These teams did not play this season, but the Eagles have won the four previous meetings, three of them by at least 11 points. Philadelphia will win, 34-17.
I expect the Tennessee Titans to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game and the New York Giants to defeat the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship Game. My Super Bowl pick is Tennessee over New York.
*1/8/09 correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that I was 0-2 in the Divisional round and 4-5 overall.
Some of my picks were just flat out wrong but teams like New England--at 11-5, the Patriots posted a better record than three division champions--and Dallas could very easily have made the playoffs, as I'm sure that most people expected that they would. As for the rise of the Miami Dolphins, I did not see that coming, though I did say that I would not be surprised if Chad Pennington outperformed Brett Favre, which clearly happened throughout the season and in the last game, which was in effect a playoff game for both the Dolphins and Favre's New York Jets. I correctly did not buy the playoff hype about my beloved Cleveland Browns, but I did not foresee that they would finish in last place.
I was right that the Super Bowl champion Giants would return to the postseason--which is not a given considering that 12 Super Bowl winners missed the playoffs the next year, including the Giants after their 1986 and 1990 championships--but I did not expect them to be so dominant with both Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan missing from the pass rush that was so vital to their title run. My projected AFC Championship (New England-San Diego), NFC Championship (Dallas-Tampa Bay) and Super Bowl (New England-Dallas) matchups are all out the window.
For comparison purposes, here are how the preseason picks from five major publications panned out:
Sports Illustrated: 3/8 division champions, 7/12 playoff qualifiers.
Lindy's: 3/8 division champions, 4/12 playoff qualifiers.
Sporting News: 2/8 division champions, 4/12 playoff qualifiers.
Athlon Sports: 2/8 division champions, 3/12 playoff qualifiers.
Pro Football Weekly: 1/8 division champions, 4/12 playoff qualifiers.
My record does not look so bad compared to the records compiled by full-time NFL writers who have credentialed access to the league; I correctly picked more playoff qualifiers than everyone on this list except for Sports Illustrated. Everyone other than PFW correctly picked Pittsburgh and San Diego as division champions; SI and Lindy's were also right about the Minnesota Vikings winning the NFC North.
Here are my picks for this weekend's playoff games and my (updated) selections for the AFC Championship, NFC Championship and the Super Bowl. Last year, I went 3-1 on Wild Card Weekend, 2-2 in the Divisional Round, 1-1 in the Championship Games and 0-1 in the Super Bowl (6-5 overall*).
Saturday's games:
The 12-4 Wild Card Indianapolis Colts visit the 8-8 AFC West Champion San Diego Chargers.
The Chargers were expected by some people to be Super Bowl contenders but only made it to the playoffs because of Denver's unprecedented collapse: the Broncos were in first place every week of the season except for the week that counts the most, when they got drilled 52-21 by San Diego. The Colts got off to a slow start as Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison recovered from knee surgeries, but they are the hottest team in the league now, owners of a nine game winning streak. The Colts beat the Chargers 23-20 in San Diego on November 23; this time around, Indianapolis will win 31-21.
The 11-5 Wild Card Atlanta Falcons visit the 9-7 NFC West Champion Arizona Cardinals.
The Cardinals clinched a weak division and then clocked out for the last month or so, going 2-3 in their last five games. The Falcons, the surprise team of the year other than the Dolphins, won their final three games and four of their last five. Arizona is a good home team with a powerful offense led by Kurt Warner--the 1999 and 2001 NFL MVP who also won the Super Bowl XXXIV MVP--so the Cardinals have a puncher's chance if Warner puts a lot of points on the board and avoids committing costly turnovers but the Falcons just look like the better team overall. Atlanta will win, 27-24.
Sunday's games:
The 11-5 Wild Card Baltimore Ravens visit the 11-5 AFC East Champion Miami Dolphins.
Both teams enter the playoffs playing well, with the Dolphins riding a five game winning streak and the Ravens winning four of their last five, including their final two games. Although they have identical records, the Ravens were a much more dominant team in terms of point differential (9.1 ppg compared to 1.6 ppg). That fact, coupled with Baltimore's 27-13 victory at Miami on October 19, suggests that Baltimore will win, 21-14.
The 9-6-1 Wild Card Philadelphia Eagles visit the 10-6 NFC North Champion Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings won four of their last five games to edge out the Chicago Bears, while the Eagles also won four of their last five, including their stunning 44-6 rout of division rival Dallas in the last game of the season with the final playoff spot on the line for both teams. Although Minnesota has the slightly better record, the Eagles have a significantly better point differential (8 ppg compared to 2.7 ppg). Donovan McNabb can be an up and down player at times but I trust him in a playoff game more than anyone the Vikings can put on the field at the quarterback position. These teams did not play this season, but the Eagles have won the four previous meetings, three of them by at least 11 points. Philadelphia will win, 34-17.
I expect the Tennessee Titans to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game and the New York Giants to defeat the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship Game. My Super Bowl pick is Tennessee over New York.
*1/8/09 correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that I was 0-2 in the Divisional round and 4-5 overall.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Week 17 Quick Hits: Eagles Soar, Favre Misfires, Browns Stink
Last season, the New England Patriots became the first NFL team to post a 16-0 regular season record. They lost 2007 MVP Tom Brady to a season-ending knee injury in the first quarter of their first game in 2008 but rallied behind Coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Matt Cassel to post an 11-5 record. Incredibly, that is not good enough to qualify for a playoff field that includes one division champion with an 8-8 record (San Diego) and another division champion that is 9-7 (Arizona).
Of course, New England's disappointment and frustration does not compare to Detroit's; this year the Lions "achieved" a dubious form of record setting "perfection," becoming the first NFL team to post an 0-16 regular season record.
The adoring media tried their best to turn 2008 into some kind of coronation for Brett Favre but his on field production simply never measured up to the hype and his season in New York ended exactly as I predicted it would: without a playoff berth.
Here are some quick hits about some of the Week 17 games:
*The Patriots concluded the season by beating Buffalo 13-0 on the road in a game that featured winds that were strong enough to literally bend goal posts. During the pregame reports, I thought that ESPN's David Amber was going to be whisked off to the Land of Oz; I've never understood why weather reporters and sports reporters file their reports from outside no matter what. In both cases, we know exactly where they are reporting from so why do they literally have to risk life and limb? Would you not believe that it is windy in Buffalo unless you saw Amber and his cameraman being tossed around Ralph Wilson Stadium?
Obviously, the blustery conditions all but eliminated the passing game; Cassel was an efficient 6-8 for 78 yards, which may not sound like much but translates into a 105.2 passer rating. Coach Belichick took the wind after the Patriots won the opening coin toss and he preserved that advantage by using his timeouts when the wind was at New England's back. Late in the game, he surprised the Bills by having Cassel unleash a 57 yard quick kick on third down and that huge shift in field position helped to seal the win. This is what is called "situational football": planning ahead so you know what is the right call no matter what situation develops (as opposed to what the Cleveland Browns do, which could politely be called "snafu football"--not planning ahead and thus being clueless about what to do even in situations where the right call should be obvious).
In order to make the playoffs, the Patriots needed the Jaguars to beat the Ravens or the Jets to beat the Dolphins. Neither of those results happened, so Belichick and company failed to qualify for postseason play for the first time since 2002; New England went 14-2 and won Super Bowl titles in each of the next two seasons, so whether Brady or Cassel is at the helm in 2009 the Patriots figure to be back in the playoff mix.
*Dallas-Philadelphia has been a heated rivalry for decades and the temperature for this week's matchup turned up a few degrees when events lined up to turn the game into a "win or go home" situation for both teams (when the day began, only Dallas had been in position to clinch a playoff berth merely by winning but that changed in light of the results of some of the 1 p.m. games). It would not have been surprising to see either team win an intradivisional matchup with playoff implications--but it was surprising to see one team basically roll over and die to the extent that early in the second half the announcers were already talking about the Eagles resting their starters for next week's playoff game.
The Cowboys committed five turnovers--including two fumbles and one interception by Tony Romo--and numerous mental errors in an embarrassing 44-6 loss. It sure looked like Terrell Owens (six receptions, 103 yards) was the only Cowboy who really showed up to play--and that is why it is baffling that in the first half, with the outcome still very much in doubt, the Cowboys inexplicably tried to feature receiver Roy Williams, who apparently does not even know how to properly run pass patterns; Williams had one reception for -4 yards (that is not a typo) in the first half. Do you think it might have made more sense to find more ways to get the ball in Owens' hands?
Despite being poorly utilized this year by the Cowboys, Owens still finished with 69 receptions, 1052 yards (15.2 yards per reception average) and 10 touchdowns. This is his eighth season with at least 1000 yards and 10 TD receptions. Here is the list of receivers in NFL history who have compiled more such seasons than Owens: Jerry Rice (nine). Owens is one of the greatest receivers in NFL history and he is still highly productive but, make no mistake, his numerous enemies in the media will be sure to spin the story of Dallas' collapse--not just in this game but throughout this disappointing season--so that Owens is the primary scapegoat. When someone says that Dallas lacks "chemistry" that is usually a code word to mean that Owens "poisoned" the locker room. Guess what? The Shaq-Kobe Lakers lacked "chemistry" but they won three championships and made it to the Finals a fourth time; the 1970s Oakland A's lacked "chemistry" but won three straight World Series titles. What you need to win championships is talent (obviously) and a group of players who are committed and focused. The Cowboys are not committed to playing winning football and many of their players obviously lack focus.
The more I watch Dallas play, the more I am convinced that Coach Wade Phillips is a big part of the problem. The record shows that he has coached seven full NFL seasons and parts of two others without winning a single playoff game. Even more disturbingly, he's the "genius" who watched Doug Flutie lead the Buffalo Bills to 10 wins in 15 starts in 1999, then ostensibly rested him for the 16th game before benching Flutie for Rob Johnson in the playoffs. Johnson looked like a quarterback out of central casting (6-4, strong arm) while Flutie--generously listed at 5-10--did not. The only problem is that Flutie could actually play, while Johnson only looked the part on the sidelines but consistently came up short under fire. I've never completely trusted Phillips as a coach after that horrible lapse in judgment but Dallas' 13-3 record last year made me think that maybe he had become wiser with age. However, the undisciplined, disorganized team Dallas put on the field this season has Phillips' fingerprints all over it. During the Eagles game, Phillips had a dazed and confused look that has not been seen on NFL sidelines since Bruce Coslet was coaching the Bengals so ineptly that Corey Dillon refused to even go back into a game and participate in the farce (Bill Belichick, a real NFL coach who made Dillon a key player on a Super Bowl winning team, demonstrated that Cincinnati's problems had more to do with Coslet than Dillon).
Dallas owner Jerry Jones pledged before the Eagles game that he would not change coaches no matter what happened in that contest. Do you think he might want a mulligan on that one?
*The Browns finally fired General Manager Phil Savage, giving him the ax shortly after the team finished a 4-12 season with a 31-0 thrashing at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coach Romeo Crennel will soon follow Savage out the door. Savage and Crennel arrived in Cleveland amid much hype about how they would run the organization better than Butch Davis did. Here's the bottom line: the Browns were 24-40 with no playoff appearances during the four year Savage-Crennel regime, while the Browns were 25-39 with one playoff appearance during the previous four years. Savage is a legend in his own mind as a talent evaluator but as Mary Kay Cabot notes, Savage's Cleveland legacy is a roster that not only lacks talent at key positions but is filled with overpaid underachievers; Savage also depleted the Browns' supply of draft picks through trades that hardly turned the Browns into a contender for anything other than NFL records for futility, such as their ongoing streak of 24 straight quarters without scoring an offensive touchdown; even the legendary 0-26 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and this season's inept Detroit Lions were not that impotent offensively.
Miami and Atlanta proved this season that rebuilding a football team does not have to involved enduring years and years of futility. Cleveland owner Randy Lerner owes it to the many loyal Browns fans to hire a real General Manager who actually understands how to build a football team and then Lerner must let that GM hire a coach who is on the same wavelength with him so that the management is not signing players who the coaching staff does not want to or know how to use. That sounds simple and obvious but for some strange reason Savage was bringing in players that Coach Crennel did not think fit into his game plans. Crennel took the high road publicly at all times, while Savage openly said that he had built a good roster and it was up to the coaching staff to get the most out of all of the wonderful players he had signed. It is pretty clear now that Ozzie Newsome, not Savage, is largely responsible for building Baltimore into a Super Bowl team previously and into a playoff contender once again; the Ravens sure have not missed a beat since Savage left the organization. If I owned the Browns, I'd basically write a blank check to Newsome to come back to Cleveland and help save the team for which he was a Hall of Fame tight end.
*The irony of the Brett Favre-Chad Pennington situation is so thick you could not cut it with a machete: before the season, the New York Jets cast aside Pennington like yesterday's newspaper in order to bring in Favre, a 39 year old quarterback whose offseason training program consisted of throwing some passes with some local high schoolers. Pennington proceeded to outplay Favre over the course of the season and then, with the AFC East title on the line in a game played in Favre's new home stadium, Pennington outplayed Favre decisively to help the Miami Dolphins to a 24-17 victory, winning the division and closing the door on New York's playoff hopes. Pennington went 22 of 30 for 200 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 113.2. This is the fourth straight game that Pennington has posted a passer rating of at least 100 and the Dolphins won each of those contests; he had a passer rating of at least 100 in eight of Miami's 16 games and finished the season with a rating of 97.4, second best in the NFL.
In contrast, Favre went 20 of 40 for 230 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions and a passer rating of 45.1 versus Miami. He did not post a passer rating higher than 61.4 in New York's last five games, four of which they lost, and he finished the season with a rating of 81.0, 21st out of the 32 passers who had enough attempts to qualify for the leaderboard. In those five games, Favre had two touchdowns and nine interceptions. Favre has recently been dropping not so subtle hints that he has a shoulder injury that may be affecting his passing. I realize that his consecutive games streak is precious to him--and that record is mindboggling--but the old saying is that if you are hurt you can play but if you are injured then you should sit out; if Favre is hurt, then he should have played without complaint (like just about everyone in the league is doing by this time of year) but if he is injured then he should have sat on the bench until the injury healed.
Pennington led the league in completion percentage and was among the league leaders for lowest percentage of pass attempts that were intercepted, while Favre led the NFL with 22 interceptions, four more than any other quarterback. Pennington also ranked sixth in the league in yards per attempt (7.67)--belying his reputation for not being able to connect on deep passes--while Favre was 22nd in the league (6.65) in this category.
It is an injustice that Favre--a mediocre quarterback at best this season--received a Pro Bowl nod but that Pennington did not. Perhaps Favre will rest his injured arm and give Pennington the opportunity to go to the Pro Bowl for the first time.
Of course, New England's disappointment and frustration does not compare to Detroit's; this year the Lions "achieved" a dubious form of record setting "perfection," becoming the first NFL team to post an 0-16 regular season record.
The adoring media tried their best to turn 2008 into some kind of coronation for Brett Favre but his on field production simply never measured up to the hype and his season in New York ended exactly as I predicted it would: without a playoff berth.
Here are some quick hits about some of the Week 17 games:
*The Patriots concluded the season by beating Buffalo 13-0 on the road in a game that featured winds that were strong enough to literally bend goal posts. During the pregame reports, I thought that ESPN's David Amber was going to be whisked off to the Land of Oz; I've never understood why weather reporters and sports reporters file their reports from outside no matter what. In both cases, we know exactly where they are reporting from so why do they literally have to risk life and limb? Would you not believe that it is windy in Buffalo unless you saw Amber and his cameraman being tossed around Ralph Wilson Stadium?
Obviously, the blustery conditions all but eliminated the passing game; Cassel was an efficient 6-8 for 78 yards, which may not sound like much but translates into a 105.2 passer rating. Coach Belichick took the wind after the Patriots won the opening coin toss and he preserved that advantage by using his timeouts when the wind was at New England's back. Late in the game, he surprised the Bills by having Cassel unleash a 57 yard quick kick on third down and that huge shift in field position helped to seal the win. This is what is called "situational football": planning ahead so you know what is the right call no matter what situation develops (as opposed to what the Cleveland Browns do, which could politely be called "snafu football"--not planning ahead and thus being clueless about what to do even in situations where the right call should be obvious).
In order to make the playoffs, the Patriots needed the Jaguars to beat the Ravens or the Jets to beat the Dolphins. Neither of those results happened, so Belichick and company failed to qualify for postseason play for the first time since 2002; New England went 14-2 and won Super Bowl titles in each of the next two seasons, so whether Brady or Cassel is at the helm in 2009 the Patriots figure to be back in the playoff mix.
*Dallas-Philadelphia has been a heated rivalry for decades and the temperature for this week's matchup turned up a few degrees when events lined up to turn the game into a "win or go home" situation for both teams (when the day began, only Dallas had been in position to clinch a playoff berth merely by winning but that changed in light of the results of some of the 1 p.m. games). It would not have been surprising to see either team win an intradivisional matchup with playoff implications--but it was surprising to see one team basically roll over and die to the extent that early in the second half the announcers were already talking about the Eagles resting their starters for next week's playoff game.
The Cowboys committed five turnovers--including two fumbles and one interception by Tony Romo--and numerous mental errors in an embarrassing 44-6 loss. It sure looked like Terrell Owens (six receptions, 103 yards) was the only Cowboy who really showed up to play--and that is why it is baffling that in the first half, with the outcome still very much in doubt, the Cowboys inexplicably tried to feature receiver Roy Williams, who apparently does not even know how to properly run pass patterns; Williams had one reception for -4 yards (that is not a typo) in the first half. Do you think it might have made more sense to find more ways to get the ball in Owens' hands?
Despite being poorly utilized this year by the Cowboys, Owens still finished with 69 receptions, 1052 yards (15.2 yards per reception average) and 10 touchdowns. This is his eighth season with at least 1000 yards and 10 TD receptions. Here is the list of receivers in NFL history who have compiled more such seasons than Owens: Jerry Rice (nine). Owens is one of the greatest receivers in NFL history and he is still highly productive but, make no mistake, his numerous enemies in the media will be sure to spin the story of Dallas' collapse--not just in this game but throughout this disappointing season--so that Owens is the primary scapegoat. When someone says that Dallas lacks "chemistry" that is usually a code word to mean that Owens "poisoned" the locker room. Guess what? The Shaq-Kobe Lakers lacked "chemistry" but they won three championships and made it to the Finals a fourth time; the 1970s Oakland A's lacked "chemistry" but won three straight World Series titles. What you need to win championships is talent (obviously) and a group of players who are committed and focused. The Cowboys are not committed to playing winning football and many of their players obviously lack focus.
The more I watch Dallas play, the more I am convinced that Coach Wade Phillips is a big part of the problem. The record shows that he has coached seven full NFL seasons and parts of two others without winning a single playoff game. Even more disturbingly, he's the "genius" who watched Doug Flutie lead the Buffalo Bills to 10 wins in 15 starts in 1999, then ostensibly rested him for the 16th game before benching Flutie for Rob Johnson in the playoffs. Johnson looked like a quarterback out of central casting (6-4, strong arm) while Flutie--generously listed at 5-10--did not. The only problem is that Flutie could actually play, while Johnson only looked the part on the sidelines but consistently came up short under fire. I've never completely trusted Phillips as a coach after that horrible lapse in judgment but Dallas' 13-3 record last year made me think that maybe he had become wiser with age. However, the undisciplined, disorganized team Dallas put on the field this season has Phillips' fingerprints all over it. During the Eagles game, Phillips had a dazed and confused look that has not been seen on NFL sidelines since Bruce Coslet was coaching the Bengals so ineptly that Corey Dillon refused to even go back into a game and participate in the farce (Bill Belichick, a real NFL coach who made Dillon a key player on a Super Bowl winning team, demonstrated that Cincinnati's problems had more to do with Coslet than Dillon).
Dallas owner Jerry Jones pledged before the Eagles game that he would not change coaches no matter what happened in that contest. Do you think he might want a mulligan on that one?
*The Browns finally fired General Manager Phil Savage, giving him the ax shortly after the team finished a 4-12 season with a 31-0 thrashing at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coach Romeo Crennel will soon follow Savage out the door. Savage and Crennel arrived in Cleveland amid much hype about how they would run the organization better than Butch Davis did. Here's the bottom line: the Browns were 24-40 with no playoff appearances during the four year Savage-Crennel regime, while the Browns were 25-39 with one playoff appearance during the previous four years. Savage is a legend in his own mind as a talent evaluator but as Mary Kay Cabot notes, Savage's Cleveland legacy is a roster that not only lacks talent at key positions but is filled with overpaid underachievers; Savage also depleted the Browns' supply of draft picks through trades that hardly turned the Browns into a contender for anything other than NFL records for futility, such as their ongoing streak of 24 straight quarters without scoring an offensive touchdown; even the legendary 0-26 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and this season's inept Detroit Lions were not that impotent offensively.
Miami and Atlanta proved this season that rebuilding a football team does not have to involved enduring years and years of futility. Cleveland owner Randy Lerner owes it to the many loyal Browns fans to hire a real General Manager who actually understands how to build a football team and then Lerner must let that GM hire a coach who is on the same wavelength with him so that the management is not signing players who the coaching staff does not want to or know how to use. That sounds simple and obvious but for some strange reason Savage was bringing in players that Coach Crennel did not think fit into his game plans. Crennel took the high road publicly at all times, while Savage openly said that he had built a good roster and it was up to the coaching staff to get the most out of all of the wonderful players he had signed. It is pretty clear now that Ozzie Newsome, not Savage, is largely responsible for building Baltimore into a Super Bowl team previously and into a playoff contender once again; the Ravens sure have not missed a beat since Savage left the organization. If I owned the Browns, I'd basically write a blank check to Newsome to come back to Cleveland and help save the team for which he was a Hall of Fame tight end.
*The irony of the Brett Favre-Chad Pennington situation is so thick you could not cut it with a machete: before the season, the New York Jets cast aside Pennington like yesterday's newspaper in order to bring in Favre, a 39 year old quarterback whose offseason training program consisted of throwing some passes with some local high schoolers. Pennington proceeded to outplay Favre over the course of the season and then, with the AFC East title on the line in a game played in Favre's new home stadium, Pennington outplayed Favre decisively to help the Miami Dolphins to a 24-17 victory, winning the division and closing the door on New York's playoff hopes. Pennington went 22 of 30 for 200 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 113.2. This is the fourth straight game that Pennington has posted a passer rating of at least 100 and the Dolphins won each of those contests; he had a passer rating of at least 100 in eight of Miami's 16 games and finished the season with a rating of 97.4, second best in the NFL.
In contrast, Favre went 20 of 40 for 230 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions and a passer rating of 45.1 versus Miami. He did not post a passer rating higher than 61.4 in New York's last five games, four of which they lost, and he finished the season with a rating of 81.0, 21st out of the 32 passers who had enough attempts to qualify for the leaderboard. In those five games, Favre had two touchdowns and nine interceptions. Favre has recently been dropping not so subtle hints that he has a shoulder injury that may be affecting his passing. I realize that his consecutive games streak is precious to him--and that record is mindboggling--but the old saying is that if you are hurt you can play but if you are injured then you should sit out; if Favre is hurt, then he should have played without complaint (like just about everyone in the league is doing by this time of year) but if he is injured then he should have sat on the bench until the injury healed.
Pennington led the league in completion percentage and was among the league leaders for lowest percentage of pass attempts that were intercepted, while Favre led the NFL with 22 interceptions, four more than any other quarterback. Pennington also ranked sixth in the league in yards per attempt (7.67)--belying his reputation for not being able to connect on deep passes--while Favre was 22nd in the league (6.65) in this category.
It is an injustice that Favre--a mediocre quarterback at best this season--received a Pro Bowl nod but that Pennington did not. Perhaps Favre will rest his injured arm and give Pennington the opportunity to go to the Pro Bowl for the first time.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Monday Night Football Quick Hits: Overtime Win Helps Bears Stay Alive in Playoff Hunt
As ESPN's Mike Tirico noted, it is often said that football is a game of inches and Chicago's 20-17 overtime win versus Green Bay certainly illustrated that: the Bears scored the game tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter after getting a first down by literally an inch, Alex Brown then blocked Green Bay's game-winning field goal attempt near the end of regulation and the Bears won the overtime coin toss after the coin doinked off of Brian Urlacher's helmet before landing on the ground as the players and officials scurried to find it. The Bears hardly looked like a division champion but if they beat Houston next week and Minnesota loses to the New York Giants then Chicago will capture the NFC North title with a 10-6 record; failing that, the Bears are also alive for a Wild Card berth in certain scenarios.
The Bears and Packers have met 176 times in the regular season, more than any other franchises in NFL history. Green Bay never trailed until Robbie Gould made the game-winning field goal and the Packers led from midway through the first quarter until Matt Forte's three yard TD run at the 3:11 mark of the fourth quarter. The Packers led in time of possession (35:42-27:50) and total yards (325-210) but did not parlay those advantages into enough points. After starting out 5-5, the Packers have lost five straight games, with the last four defeats coming by four, three, four and three points. Those close losses may lead you to think that if the Packers had not replaced Brett Favre with Aaron Rodgers that they could have won those games but the truth is that Rodgers has not been the problem: his passer ratings in those games were 96.3, 104.2, 87.8 and 87.6 while throwing eight touchdowns and four interceptions. Against the Bears, Rodgers positioned the Packers to attempt a game-winning field goal with :25 left in regulation and he never had a chance to do anything with the ball in overtime as the Bears marched straight down the field. There is no rational reason to believe that Favre would have led the Packers any farther this year than Rodgers has; in fact, Rodgers has actually been more productive this year than Favre has even though Favre is supported by a better running game and a better defense.
Here are some notes/comments about Sunday's action:
*Before talking about Sunday's games, I can't let this week go by without mentioning the passing of Sammy Baugh, who had been the last surviving member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's inaugural 1963 class. He spent his entire 16 year career (1937-52) with the Washington Redskins, leading them to the NFL Championship Game five times (1937, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1945), winning NFL titles in 1937 and 1942.
Baugh was a one of a kind player who was far ahead of his time, setting records that stood for decades--and in some cases still stand to this day. Baugh excelled as a passer, punter and defensive player; he led the NFL in passing, punting and interceptions (as a defensive player) in 1943, becoming the first of just three "triple crown" winners in NFL history; the only other players who ever led the league in three statistical categories in the same season are Steve Van Buren in 1945 and Bill Dudley in 1946. Baugh's 51.4 yard punting average in 1940 is a record that my never be broken; no other punter has even averaged 50 yards per punt for a season. Baugh was the first player to intercept four passes in one game, which is still tied for the single-game record.
Baugh holds NFL career records for most single season passing titles (six; the criteria for determining single season passing leaders changed several times during Baugh's career) and most single season punting titles (four). The current passer rating system was first officially used by the NFL in 1973, but applying that formula retroactively Baugh topped the NFL in passer rating in four different seasons, including a 109.9 rating in 1945, the highest rating posted until 1960.
When Baugh retired, he held the NFL career records for total punts (338), passing yards (21,886), passing attempts (2995), passing completions (1693) and passing touchdowns (187). He still is Washington's career franchise leader in TD passes. His NFL single season passing yardage record (2938 yards in 1947) stood for 13 years; he held that mark longer than anyone other than the current record holder, Dan Marino, whose 1984 standard of 5084 yards will remain safe for another year unless Drew Brees throws for 402 yards in the last game of the season. Baugh's .703 completion percentage in 1945 is still a Redskins record and was the NFL record until 1982.
Deion Sanders was rightly praised for excelling as a defensive back and a kick returner but that does not compare with setting records on offense, defense and special teams; it is safe to say that the sport will never again see someone like Sammy Baugh.
*"Bretty and the Jets" are completing the slide to mediocrity that I predicted for them at the start of the season when I wrote: "You may have heard that the Jets have a new quarterback--some guy named Favre. What no one seems to be paying much attention to is that the Dolphins also have a new quarterback--Chad Pennington, who used to be the Jets' quarterback. A lot of people rag on Pennington's arm strength but he is the NFL's career completion percentage leader and just two years ago he started all 16 games as the Jets went 10-6 and made it to the playoffs. Won't ESPN and the rest of the mainstream media circus have a fit if Pennington has a better season than Favre? If Pennington stays healthy--granted, a big if--don't be surprised if he does just that." I wonder how many other football commentators predicted that before this season?
Any objective observer realizes that Pennington should have received an AFC Pro Bowl nod instead of Favre, who should start his next retirement early and cede that spot to the Dolphins' QB (although I'm not sure if Pennington is even the first alternate). NBC's Cris Collinsworth offered a perfect summation of Favre's season: "I think that we have to be honest here with what we're seeing over the past four games. Brett Favre has been the issue as much as he has been the solution for the Jets and, especially when you juxtapose it with what Chad Pennington is doing in Miami, it has been ugly indeed. Brett Favre in the snow, against Seattle--this is exactly why he was brought to this franchise, to be able to handle these big late game situations in the snow, in the bad weather, in the wind and thus far Brett Favre, God love him, has not delivered for the New York Jets."
The Jets have now lost three of their last four games, including an ugly 13-3 decision versus Seattle on Sunday that may have cost New York a playoff berth; during that four game run, Favre has one touchdown and six interceptions (he has thrown a league-high 19 interceptions this season). His passer ratings in those four games were 60.9, 60.8, 61.4 and then 48.7 versus Seattle. Favre now ranks 18th in the NFL in passer rating (84.0), while Pennington (96.4) is second only to Philip Rivers (104.0); Aaron Rodgers--Favre's replacement in Green Bay--ranks eighth in passer rating (91.4) .
Favre had a couple shining moments this season that briefly made me consider the possibility that I had written him off too soon but down the stretch of the season he has reaffirmed that my initial assessment before the season was correct: the Jets went for broke seeking a short term solution, while the Dolphins obtained a quarterback who is better than Favre at this stage and still has several good years ahead of him.
I recall the ESPN Countdown crew canonizing Favre when the Jets signed him, while Keyshawn Johnson and Cris Carter mocked Pennington's arm strength; I believe that former players often have special insight about their sport but if they don't do their homework and/or are biased against certain players or teams for whatever reason then their analysis will not be correct. That is what happened in this instance and that is also what happened with Carter repeatedly calling Matt Cassel a "high school quarterback." I wonder if some of the outlandish things that these commentators say are instigated by directors and producers who are trying to create controversy and drama? To his credit, during Monday Night Countdown, Carter admitted, "It really was a season of miscalculation for me. I miscalculated how good Matt Cassel would be in that offense in New England but also the miscalculation with what they did with the Jets and Miami as far as Chad Pennington. The Jets miscalculated Brett Favre and his inability to be in an offseason training program--what it would do to his body, because I believe his body right now is failing him. You cannot NOT train in the offseason in the NFL and walk out there and think you are going to lead a football team. The season is too long. And Chad Pennington, they miscalculated--two years ago he had shoulder surgery. It looks like that shoulder is healthy now." I can't be mad at Carter now, because he is man enough to step up and admit that he was completely wrong; anyone can make a mistake but you have to have character to admit that you were wrong: there are far too many people who constantly say and do stupid things but will never, ever admit that they are wrong (such people are to be avoided at all costs). That said, Carter and Tom Jackson both were shockingly off target about Favre, as I stated quite definitively several months ago:
Before the season began, ESPN's Tom Jackson said repeatedly that quarterbacks travel to Hawaii and prepare for the Pro Bowl in just a few days so it will not take Favre very long to learn the Jets' system. To borrow one of Jackson's pet lines, "Really?" In the Pro Bowl, the defenders basically have to count "steamboats" before they rush the passer, exotic defenses are forbidden by rule and everyone is just trying to look good and not get hurt; there is absolutely no sensible, logical comparison between learning a simplified, Pro Bowl offense and learning a full offensive playbook that a team uses over the course of a 16 game season.
In that same post, I also noted that Steve Young--who has quickly become my favorite NFL analyst--had the correct take on the situation:
He correctly predicted that the Chargers would blow out the Jets--I love how he is one of the few ESPN commentators who never buys the hype or tries to falsely build up a matchup--and he said that it will be a 10 week process for Favre to really learn the Jets' offense. Emmitt Smith then quite logically asked if the Jets brought in the wrong guy. Young replied, "I think they got the right guy; they just got him a month too late. The thing dragged on and I think they wanted to get him in early August or late July so that they could have that time before the real bullets flew."
*New Year's Eve is rapidly approaching and the Cleveland Browns have not scored an offensive touchdown since before Thanksgiving. On Sunday, they were shut out 14-0 by the Cincinnati Bengals. There is often talk about how important it is for the Browns to beat Pittsburgh in order to become a threat in the AFC North but under Romeo Crennel the Browns have not even been able to establish dominance over the pitiful Bengals, falling to 2-6 against their intrastate rival since Crennel took the helm in 2005. It looks more and more like Cleveland's 10-6 record last season was an aberration, a product of playing against a weak schedule while getting peak performances from several players who did not come close to playing at that level this year. Miami went 1-15 last year but after hiring Bill Parcells and Tony Sparano they already have 10 wins with a game to go and may very well win a division title this season--but the Browns have been puttering around mostly at the bottom of the standings since 1999. That is simply unacceptable and the problem starts at the top with the ownership, first Al Lerner and now his son Randy Lerner; neither man hired the right general manager/coach combo to build a solid football team.
I don't want to be too hard on Ken Dorsey--he is obviously a third string quarterback for a reason--but he has played horribly since being pressed into duty as a result of injuries to Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn. Everyone knows that Dorsey lacks the arm strength and athleticism to be a top flight NFL quarterback but he is supposed to be a cerebral player who understands the game and knows how to read defenses. That reputation is apparently grossly exaggerated, because most of his seven interceptions have been the result of terrible reads. The Browns' offensive troubles began before Dorsey took the field but their offense is a disaster area with him running the show; the Browns don't look like they could score an offensive touchdown even against the soon to be 0-16 Detroit Lions. Right now, with the players they are currently putting on the field, the Browns are the worst team in the NFL. Again, this is unacceptable--and the onus is on Randy Lerner to fix this mess. After his father Al sat on the plane with Art Modell as Modell sold the Browns fans down the river, after nearly a decade of embarrassing performances, he owes this to Cleveland.
*After a season filled with twists and turns for both teams, Dallas travels to Philadelphia with the opportunity to clinch the final Wild Card berth by beating their NFC East rivals. The ironies and subplots are rich for this contest, with most of them centering around former teammates Terrell Owens and Donovan McNabb. A big part of the Eagles' problems this year can be traced to them not having a game-breaking receiver--in other words, a player like Owens, who ranked third in the league in TD receptions in his lone full season in Philadelphia despite missing two games due to injury and who ranked first and third in the NFL in TD receptions in his first two seasons as a Cowboy. Owens is currently tied for fourth in receiving TDs this season, just two TDs behind leader Anquan Boldin. The Eagles unceremoniously dumped Owens in 2005 and have not adequately replaced him since that time. Meanwhile, although Owens has been productive this season (in addition to his TDs, he is also averaging 15.3 yards per catch, which is better than his career average) it is obvious that the Cowboys have not fully taken advantage of his playmaking skills. If the Cowboys figure out that it makes sense to use the one weapon they have that the Eagles cannot match then they will beat the Eagles, make it to the playoffs and have an opportunity to redeem what has so far been a disappointing season. A two or three touchdown day by Owens could help him capture his fourth receiving TD crown and help the Cowboys put up a point total that the Eagles will be hard pressed to match.
The Bears and Packers have met 176 times in the regular season, more than any other franchises in NFL history. Green Bay never trailed until Robbie Gould made the game-winning field goal and the Packers led from midway through the first quarter until Matt Forte's three yard TD run at the 3:11 mark of the fourth quarter. The Packers led in time of possession (35:42-27:50) and total yards (325-210) but did not parlay those advantages into enough points. After starting out 5-5, the Packers have lost five straight games, with the last four defeats coming by four, three, four and three points. Those close losses may lead you to think that if the Packers had not replaced Brett Favre with Aaron Rodgers that they could have won those games but the truth is that Rodgers has not been the problem: his passer ratings in those games were 96.3, 104.2, 87.8 and 87.6 while throwing eight touchdowns and four interceptions. Against the Bears, Rodgers positioned the Packers to attempt a game-winning field goal with :25 left in regulation and he never had a chance to do anything with the ball in overtime as the Bears marched straight down the field. There is no rational reason to believe that Favre would have led the Packers any farther this year than Rodgers has; in fact, Rodgers has actually been more productive this year than Favre has even though Favre is supported by a better running game and a better defense.
Here are some notes/comments about Sunday's action:
*Before talking about Sunday's games, I can't let this week go by without mentioning the passing of Sammy Baugh, who had been the last surviving member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's inaugural 1963 class. He spent his entire 16 year career (1937-52) with the Washington Redskins, leading them to the NFL Championship Game five times (1937, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1945), winning NFL titles in 1937 and 1942.
Baugh was a one of a kind player who was far ahead of his time, setting records that stood for decades--and in some cases still stand to this day. Baugh excelled as a passer, punter and defensive player; he led the NFL in passing, punting and interceptions (as a defensive player) in 1943, becoming the first of just three "triple crown" winners in NFL history; the only other players who ever led the league in three statistical categories in the same season are Steve Van Buren in 1945 and Bill Dudley in 1946. Baugh's 51.4 yard punting average in 1940 is a record that my never be broken; no other punter has even averaged 50 yards per punt for a season. Baugh was the first player to intercept four passes in one game, which is still tied for the single-game record.
Baugh holds NFL career records for most single season passing titles (six; the criteria for determining single season passing leaders changed several times during Baugh's career) and most single season punting titles (four). The current passer rating system was first officially used by the NFL in 1973, but applying that formula retroactively Baugh topped the NFL in passer rating in four different seasons, including a 109.9 rating in 1945, the highest rating posted until 1960.
When Baugh retired, he held the NFL career records for total punts (338), passing yards (21,886), passing attempts (2995), passing completions (1693) and passing touchdowns (187). He still is Washington's career franchise leader in TD passes. His NFL single season passing yardage record (2938 yards in 1947) stood for 13 years; he held that mark longer than anyone other than the current record holder, Dan Marino, whose 1984 standard of 5084 yards will remain safe for another year unless Drew Brees throws for 402 yards in the last game of the season. Baugh's .703 completion percentage in 1945 is still a Redskins record and was the NFL record until 1982.
Deion Sanders was rightly praised for excelling as a defensive back and a kick returner but that does not compare with setting records on offense, defense and special teams; it is safe to say that the sport will never again see someone like Sammy Baugh.
*"Bretty and the Jets" are completing the slide to mediocrity that I predicted for them at the start of the season when I wrote: "You may have heard that the Jets have a new quarterback--some guy named Favre. What no one seems to be paying much attention to is that the Dolphins also have a new quarterback--Chad Pennington, who used to be the Jets' quarterback. A lot of people rag on Pennington's arm strength but he is the NFL's career completion percentage leader and just two years ago he started all 16 games as the Jets went 10-6 and made it to the playoffs. Won't ESPN and the rest of the mainstream media circus have a fit if Pennington has a better season than Favre? If Pennington stays healthy--granted, a big if--don't be surprised if he does just that." I wonder how many other football commentators predicted that before this season?
Any objective observer realizes that Pennington should have received an AFC Pro Bowl nod instead of Favre, who should start his next retirement early and cede that spot to the Dolphins' QB (although I'm not sure if Pennington is even the first alternate). NBC's Cris Collinsworth offered a perfect summation of Favre's season: "I think that we have to be honest here with what we're seeing over the past four games. Brett Favre has been the issue as much as he has been the solution for the Jets and, especially when you juxtapose it with what Chad Pennington is doing in Miami, it has been ugly indeed. Brett Favre in the snow, against Seattle--this is exactly why he was brought to this franchise, to be able to handle these big late game situations in the snow, in the bad weather, in the wind and thus far Brett Favre, God love him, has not delivered for the New York Jets."
The Jets have now lost three of their last four games, including an ugly 13-3 decision versus Seattle on Sunday that may have cost New York a playoff berth; during that four game run, Favre has one touchdown and six interceptions (he has thrown a league-high 19 interceptions this season). His passer ratings in those four games were 60.9, 60.8, 61.4 and then 48.7 versus Seattle. Favre now ranks 18th in the NFL in passer rating (84.0), while Pennington (96.4) is second only to Philip Rivers (104.0); Aaron Rodgers--Favre's replacement in Green Bay--ranks eighth in passer rating (91.4) .
Favre had a couple shining moments this season that briefly made me consider the possibility that I had written him off too soon but down the stretch of the season he has reaffirmed that my initial assessment before the season was correct: the Jets went for broke seeking a short term solution, while the Dolphins obtained a quarterback who is better than Favre at this stage and still has several good years ahead of him.
I recall the ESPN Countdown crew canonizing Favre when the Jets signed him, while Keyshawn Johnson and Cris Carter mocked Pennington's arm strength; I believe that former players often have special insight about their sport but if they don't do their homework and/or are biased against certain players or teams for whatever reason then their analysis will not be correct. That is what happened in this instance and that is also what happened with Carter repeatedly calling Matt Cassel a "high school quarterback." I wonder if some of the outlandish things that these commentators say are instigated by directors and producers who are trying to create controversy and drama? To his credit, during Monday Night Countdown, Carter admitted, "It really was a season of miscalculation for me. I miscalculated how good Matt Cassel would be in that offense in New England but also the miscalculation with what they did with the Jets and Miami as far as Chad Pennington. The Jets miscalculated Brett Favre and his inability to be in an offseason training program--what it would do to his body, because I believe his body right now is failing him. You cannot NOT train in the offseason in the NFL and walk out there and think you are going to lead a football team. The season is too long. And Chad Pennington, they miscalculated--two years ago he had shoulder surgery. It looks like that shoulder is healthy now." I can't be mad at Carter now, because he is man enough to step up and admit that he was completely wrong; anyone can make a mistake but you have to have character to admit that you were wrong: there are far too many people who constantly say and do stupid things but will never, ever admit that they are wrong (such people are to be avoided at all costs). That said, Carter and Tom Jackson both were shockingly off target about Favre, as I stated quite definitively several months ago:
Before the season began, ESPN's Tom Jackson said repeatedly that quarterbacks travel to Hawaii and prepare for the Pro Bowl in just a few days so it will not take Favre very long to learn the Jets' system. To borrow one of Jackson's pet lines, "Really?" In the Pro Bowl, the defenders basically have to count "steamboats" before they rush the passer, exotic defenses are forbidden by rule and everyone is just trying to look good and not get hurt; there is absolutely no sensible, logical comparison between learning a simplified, Pro Bowl offense and learning a full offensive playbook that a team uses over the course of a 16 game season.
In that same post, I also noted that Steve Young--who has quickly become my favorite NFL analyst--had the correct take on the situation:
He correctly predicted that the Chargers would blow out the Jets--I love how he is one of the few ESPN commentators who never buys the hype or tries to falsely build up a matchup--and he said that it will be a 10 week process for Favre to really learn the Jets' offense. Emmitt Smith then quite logically asked if the Jets brought in the wrong guy. Young replied, "I think they got the right guy; they just got him a month too late. The thing dragged on and I think they wanted to get him in early August or late July so that they could have that time before the real bullets flew."
*New Year's Eve is rapidly approaching and the Cleveland Browns have not scored an offensive touchdown since before Thanksgiving. On Sunday, they were shut out 14-0 by the Cincinnati Bengals. There is often talk about how important it is for the Browns to beat Pittsburgh in order to become a threat in the AFC North but under Romeo Crennel the Browns have not even been able to establish dominance over the pitiful Bengals, falling to 2-6 against their intrastate rival since Crennel took the helm in 2005. It looks more and more like Cleveland's 10-6 record last season was an aberration, a product of playing against a weak schedule while getting peak performances from several players who did not come close to playing at that level this year. Miami went 1-15 last year but after hiring Bill Parcells and Tony Sparano they already have 10 wins with a game to go and may very well win a division title this season--but the Browns have been puttering around mostly at the bottom of the standings since 1999. That is simply unacceptable and the problem starts at the top with the ownership, first Al Lerner and now his son Randy Lerner; neither man hired the right general manager/coach combo to build a solid football team.
I don't want to be too hard on Ken Dorsey--he is obviously a third string quarterback for a reason--but he has played horribly since being pressed into duty as a result of injuries to Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn. Everyone knows that Dorsey lacks the arm strength and athleticism to be a top flight NFL quarterback but he is supposed to be a cerebral player who understands the game and knows how to read defenses. That reputation is apparently grossly exaggerated, because most of his seven interceptions have been the result of terrible reads. The Browns' offensive troubles began before Dorsey took the field but their offense is a disaster area with him running the show; the Browns don't look like they could score an offensive touchdown even against the soon to be 0-16 Detroit Lions. Right now, with the players they are currently putting on the field, the Browns are the worst team in the NFL. Again, this is unacceptable--and the onus is on Randy Lerner to fix this mess. After his father Al sat on the plane with Art Modell as Modell sold the Browns fans down the river, after nearly a decade of embarrassing performances, he owes this to Cleveland.
*After a season filled with twists and turns for both teams, Dallas travels to Philadelphia with the opportunity to clinch the final Wild Card berth by beating their NFC East rivals. The ironies and subplots are rich for this contest, with most of them centering around former teammates Terrell Owens and Donovan McNabb. A big part of the Eagles' problems this year can be traced to them not having a game-breaking receiver--in other words, a player like Owens, who ranked third in the league in TD receptions in his lone full season in Philadelphia despite missing two games due to injury and who ranked first and third in the NFL in TD receptions in his first two seasons as a Cowboy. Owens is currently tied for fourth in receiving TDs this season, just two TDs behind leader Anquan Boldin. The Eagles unceremoniously dumped Owens in 2005 and have not adequately replaced him since that time. Meanwhile, although Owens has been productive this season (in addition to his TDs, he is also averaging 15.3 yards per catch, which is better than his career average) it is obvious that the Cowboys have not fully taken advantage of his playmaking skills. If the Cowboys figure out that it makes sense to use the one weapon they have that the Eagles cannot match then they will beat the Eagles, make it to the playoffs and have an opportunity to redeem what has so far been a disappointing season. A two or three touchdown day by Owens could help him capture his fourth receiving TD crown and help the Cowboys put up a point total that the Eagles will be hard pressed to match.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Monday Night Football Quick Hits: Eagles Fly Over Inept Browns
The Philadelphia Eagles thrashed the Cleveland Browns 30-10 and the beating was truly worse than even that lopsided score suggests; if the Eagles had any kind of red zone offense they could have easily dropped 50 points on the hapless, helpless, hopeless Browns, who are still mired in the longest stretch of time without an offensive touchdown in franchise history. Donovan McNabb completed 26 of 35 passes for 290 yards, two touchdowns and one interception en route to a 105.7 passer rating, his third highest single-game rating this season. He sat out most of the fourth quarter or he could have easily notched a 300 or even 400 yard game. "This is like seven on seven (practice drills with no linemen)...Donovan is getting no pressure on him," ESPN's Ron Jaworski said early in the third quarter.
You could not conceive of a bigger contrast than the one between the Eagles' offense--at least until they reached the red zone, when things got a little dicey--and the Browns' offense, "led" by third string quarterback Ken Dorsey, who completed 11 of 28 passes for 156 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions, accumulating a 28.3 passer rating on the heels of his 49.6 passer rating last week in his first start of the season, a 28-9 loss to Tennessee. Dorsey has a peashooter for an arm and absolutely no mobility; his strength is supposed to be his ability to read coverages but that was hardly evident during this game. He totally misread a coverage and threw a pass that Asante Samuel intercepted and ran back for a touchdown late in the second quarter, extending Philadelphia's lead to 17-3. Dorsey's second pick also looked like it was the result of a terrible read and he could easily have had two more interceptions if Eagles' defenders had held on to the ball.
Here's a bizarre stat for the Browns: they have started six different quarterbacks in their last six Monday Night Football appearances, each of whom faced some kind of adversity either in that game or soon afterwards, beginning with Bernie Kosar in 1993 (waived by the Browns later that season) and then continuing with Eric Zeier in 1995 (started just one more game for the Browns), Kelly Holcomb (2003, benched during that game and did not play for the rest of the season), Derek Anderson (2008, benched three weeks later and then suffered a season-ending injury) and Brady Quinn (2008, broke his finger and is now out for the season). It is safe to assume that Dorsey does not have too many starts left in his future, either.
The Eagles effortlessly marched 64 yards on their opening drive to take a 7-0 lead. The Browns answered with their only productive drive of the game, going 63 yards before stalling at the Eagles' nine yard line and settling for a field goal. The Browns' offense did not reach Eagles' territory again until the second half.
Even when the Browns made a big defensive play they found a way not to score. After McNabb and the Eagles used horrible time management during a two minute drill near the end of the first half, McNabb threw a pass into the end zone that Brandon McDonald intercepted. Often, such picks are run back for TDs because the offensive players are so spread out. McDonald took off down the sideline but Brian Westbrook and Hank Baskett did not give up on the play, combining to run McDonald down as time expired. McDonald's 98 yard return is the longest interception return in regular season NFL history that did not result in a touchdown. Either McDonald is slow, Westbrook is really fast or the Browns are just cursed.
McDonald must have been destined to score in this game, though, because after McNabb went to the bench in the fourth quarter McDonald picked off Eagles' backup Kevin Kolb and raced 24 yards, somersaulting into the endzone to avoid a tackle attempt. That ended the Browns' touchdown-less streak--which had extended to 15 quarters--but the Browns' offense has not reached the endzone since Cleveland's 29-27 Monday Night Football win over Buffalo on November 17. Oddly, the Browns went 2-1 on Monday Night Football this year, beating the Super Bowl champion New York Giants and a Bills team that looked pretty good in mid-November. McDonald had at least one interception in each of Cleveland's three MNF games this year, an MNF first.
Braylon Edwards has been terrible for most of the season--leading the league in dropped passes after making the Pro Bowl last year--but even with the weak-armed Dorsey at the helm he caught five passes for 102 yards, thereby exceeding the 100 yard plateau in each of Cleveland's MNF games; only Jerry Rice and Torry Holt have had three 100 yard games in three MNF appearances in the same season.
Although a few individual players shined, this game was a microcosm of Cleveland's disastrous season. "It's really an embarrassment for Cleveland," Tony Kornheiser said after McNabb stood in the pocket unmolested for seemingly an eternity before throwing the TD pass that put the Eagles up 30-3. "It's everything that they've spent the whole year being: collapsing on offense, collapsing on defense, making no effort."
In many ways, the Browns resemble an expansion team now and, although injuries to the top two quarterbacks have played a part in that recently, the team did not look great for the most part even when Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn played. The Browns returned to the NFL in 1999 after the skunk Art Modell moved the original Browns to Baltimore and it must be said that virtually everything that has happened with the Browns since 1995--the team's final season in Cleveland--stinks. It started with Modell's underhanded moves that resulted in one Super Bowl title for his Baltimore Ravens and three Super Bowl wins for the New England Patriots, who smartly hired Bill Belichick a few years after Modell unceremoniously dumped the last Browns coach to win a playoff game. A lot of people seem to have forgotten that when Modell signed the deal to move the team Al Lerner--who later became the owner of the "new" Browns--was literally right by his side. If you believe in conspiracies, you could say that things worked out perfectly for the two good friends: Modell got to move his team, received a pile of money and even managed to get his long coveted Super Bowl championship, while Lerner got the opportunity to be the majority owner of the Browns, something that otherwise would never have happened because Modell was determined to keep control of the team in his family (ironically, he again got into financial trouble in Baltimore and had to sell controlling interest in the team). The only people who got screwed are the loyal Browns fans. Al Lerner has since passed away and his son Randy now owns the team but he seems more interested in the fate of his soccer team. I think that it is fair to say that Randy Lerner owes it to the Browns fans to put a much better and more professional product on the field. He has largely gotten a pass from the media and fans but the actions--and lack thereof--of he and his family have a lot to do with the sorry history of the Browns since 1995.
Here are some notes/comments about Sunday's action:
*Everyone has offered his or her two cents' worth about the drama in Dallas but I only heard two objective voices who made sense: Steve Young and John Madden. It is unfortunate that Young has such a limited role in ESPN's coverage because he is by far their best NFL analyst. Prior to Dallas' 20-8 win over the New York Giants, Young offered his prescription for the Cowboys to move forward: as the quarterback, Tony Romo should publicly take the blame for misreads/poorly thrown balls but in private Romo should assert himself when necessary and make sure that the lines of communication are open between he and all of the other offensive players. Young said that is the best way to defuse any potential controversies; considering that Young played with Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens and other receivers who wanted to have a lot of passes thrown in their direction, he definitely has a lot of credibility to explain how a quarterback should nourish his relationships with his teammates.
Madden made two interesting technical observations:
1) He watched the game film of the Dallas-Pittsburgh game and determined that Owens was indeed open but did not receive the ball, which has been Owens' contention (and which many other Dallas players also believe, despite the media's attempts to portray Owens to be a troublemaker).
2) During the New York game, Madden noted that a screen pass to Owens' side of the field is very effective because Owens attracts so much extra defensive coverage.
The bottom line is that Owens is a playmaker and he is a competitor who wants to be involved in the offense. The Cowboys should want to get the ball in his hands as much as possible; I've never heard it suggested of any other future Hall of Famer that he should not want the ball or that his team should not try to get him the ball. That is just ignorant. People can say that Owens destroys teams but the 49ers were a playoff team during five of his eight seasons in San Francisco and have not once been a .500 team since he departed after the 2002 season. The Eagles were a Super Bowl team with Owens and have barely been above .500 overall since they got rid of Owens. The Cowboys missed the playoffs two years in a row before Owens arrived but made the playoffs in each of his first two seasons with the team and are on the verge of qualifying for the playoffs again this year.
As Madden indicated, Owens not only makes plays but he attracts so much coverage that he enables less talented teammates to have opportunities to make plays. I just laugh when I hear people talk about how the Eagles need a game-breaking wide receiver to make their offense complete. They had one in Terrell Owens and Owens helped them to reach the Super Bowl but because McNabb is sensitive and the owner was too cheap or stubborn to pay Owens what he was worth--after Owens risked his career to come back from a devastating injury to have an MVP-level performance in the Super Bowl--the Eagles can derive temporary joy from beating the Browns before they are eliminated from postseason contention next week or in the final game of the season.
Most commentators took the easy route and bashed Terrell Owens in a variety of ways. I have said it before and it must be said again: the last person on Earth who should say anything about Owens is Keyshawn "Just Give Me the Damn Ball" Johnson, a player who was let go by a Super Bowl champion due to his insubordination and who--as Owens has rightly noted--is a commentator now at the age of 36 (just one year older than Owens) because Owens took his spot in Dallas. Talk about combining hypocrisy and conflict of interest in one sound bite! When Johnson talks about how a wide receiver should properly deal with his quarterback I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Johnson criticizes Owens' route running skills but Owens ranks second in NFL history in touchdowns, sixth in receiving yards and seventh in receptions, so this reminds me of the late, great Ralph Wiley's response to critics who said that baseball great Rickey Henderson did not always play hard: if a guy can put up those kind of numbers without playing hard (or, in this case, despite supposedly being a bad route runner) how great must he really be?
The problem here is that most people apparently cannot distinguish between athletes whose bad attitudes bring down their teams--like Chad Johnson--and athletes who are intense and passionate about winning and get frustrated when things aren't being done properly. I remember when then-Bengals running back Corey Dillon sat down on the bench in disgust and would not go back in the game because Coach Bruce Coslet's team was so undisciplined and unprepared. The media killed him but I always said to Bengals' fans that I hoped that the Browns would get Dillon because he was a great back on a sorry team. Bill Belichick saw through all the media nonsense and signed Dillon, who became a key contributor on a Super Bowl champion. In the NBA, Dennis Rodman may have seemed to be eccentric or worse but he had an extremely high basketball IQ. When he had high IQ basketball coaches like Chuck Daly and Phil Jackson he helped his teams win championships but he did not have patience for teammates and/or coaches who were soft or unprepared. One time, he was in the locker room when a coach was diagramming a defensive scheme and Rodman just went off, saying that the whole thing was BS, that Jackson's Bulls never played that kind of defense and it just won't work. Certain players just cannot be in situations that are not structured properly. Since coming to New England, Randy Moss has proven that even though he blatantly dogged it at times on previous teams he can be a winning player with the right structure around him.
Another aspect of the whole Owens situation that is strange is the "thrown to" numbers that have suddenly proliferated out of thin air. That is not an official NFL stat and I don't know how "thrown to" statistics are compiled; the numbers that have been bandied about in the past few days that purport to show that Owens has been "thrown to" more than Jason Witten this year seem bogus to me, unless "thrown to" includes balls that are thrown away and are uncatchable; the number of catchable balls thrown in Owens' direction this season has not been nearly as high as it should be (yes, Owens has dropped some catchable balls, too, but he has a track record of making big plays when he gets enough opportunities to do so).
By my count, here is the breakdown for Owens and Witten in the New York game:
Owens:
1) Dropped deep pass on 3rd and 10.
2) 25 yard reception on 2nd and 13.
3) Six yard reception on 1st and 10.
4) Overthrown ball on 1st and 10; illegal contact called on Giants, resulting in a five yard penalty and an automatic first down. If Owens had not been held, he likely would have had a huge gain on the play.
5) Seven yard reception on 2nd and eight.
6) Overthrown deep pass on 2nd and 13.
Owens finished with three receptions for 38 yards and drew one penalty that resulted in five yards and an automatic first down. He dropped one catchable pass and two of the balls thrown in his direction were not catchable.
Witten:
1) Off target, incomplete pass on 2nd and 10.
2) Dropped short pass on 3rd and 13.
3) Three yard reception on 1st and 10.
4) Five yard reception on 2nd and six.
5) Overthrown pass on 3rd and 11.
6) Underthrown pass on 1st and 10.
7) 12 yard reception on 1st and 10.
8) 13 yard reception on 2nd and nine.
9) 11 yard reception on 3rd and nine.
Witten also committed a false start penalty. Apparently, the second ball thrown to him was not "officially" recorded as a drop but the ball hit him on the hands and then hit the turf before he could control it. If that is not a drop then I am not sure what is.
After the game, Witten and Owens both told NBC's Andrea Kremer that their supposed feud had been blown completely out of proportion. "It was a lack of professionalism on (ESPN reporter) Ed Werder's behalf," Owens insisted to Kremer. In his postgame press conference, Owens added, "I don't know where he (Werder) got his information but it was a lie. It's unfair. I had to deal with this all week. I don't know where he's getting his sources from but whatever his source was, they told him a blatant lie." ESPN anchor John Buccigross said that the network stands by its story.
*"Bretty and the Jets" were bailed out by Buffalo's boneheaded playcalling but that does not change the fact that neither Brett Favre nor his team are performing well down the stretch. Favre had passer ratings over 100 in three straight wins to help the Jets improve to 8-3 but since that time they have limped to 9-5 as Favre threw four interceptions and just one touchdown pass while compiling ratings of 60.9, 60.8 and 61.4. At least he is consistent. Yes, Favre's old Green Bay team has crashed and burned this season but that has little to do with the performance of Favre's replacement, Aaron Rodgers, who has nearly duplicated Favre's 2007 stats and is having a better season this year than Favre is: Rodgers ranks eighth in the league in passer rating (91.8) and has thrown 23 TD passes while averaging 7.4 yards per attempt and only tossing 12 interceptions. In contrast, Favre ranks 15th in the NFL with a passer rating of 86.5 and he has 21 TDs, 17 interceptions--the most in the NFL--and is only averaging 6.8 yards per attempt, tied for 20th out of the 32 quarterbacks who have thrown enough passes to qualify for the league rankings. Last year, Favre had a 95.7 rating, 28 TDs, 15 interceptions and a 7.8 yards per attempt average.
New York's 31-27 win over Buffalo was a gift--the Bills had the lead and the ball with barely two minutes remaining before J.P. Losman inexplicably rolled out to pass and fumbled the ball, enabling the Jets to score the game-winning touchdown. The Jets have won three other games this year in which Favre had passer ratings of 76.0 or worse. Even though the Jets control their own destiny due to a favorable tiebreak situation, don't be a bit surprised if they end up right where I've said all along that they will be: sitting at home when the playoffs begin. Meanwhile, as I predicted in my season preview, ex-Jet Chad Pennington has gone to Miami and had a better season than Favre (though I was not bold enough to also predict that the Dolphins would improve their record as much as they have): Pennington ranks fourth in the NFL with a 95.1 passer rating and he has 14 TDs compared to just six interceptions. He is averaging a robust 7.8 yards per attempt (the same that Favre averaged in 2007 when he was considered an MVP candidate and one yard per attempt better than Favre this year) and he has 35 completions of at least 20 yards, two more than Favre in 32 fewer attempts. The knock on Pennington was that he does not have a strong arm but this season he has had more success throwing downfield than Favre has. Isn't it strange that Miami has the same 9-5 record as New York and that Pennington has had a better year than Favre while playing for a team that had been much worse (although the Jets were 4-12 in 2007 they were a playoff team in 2006, while the Dolphins were 1-15 in 2007 and 6-10 in 2006) but Favre has received much more media attention and praise than Pennington? If you go strictly by the numbers--not just passer rating but also completion percentage, yards per attempt and other key stats--then Philip Rivers, Pennington and Peyton Manning should be the AFC Pro Bowl quarterbacks this year. It will be interesting to see if Favre gets the nod instead due to how much the media pumps him up.
You could not conceive of a bigger contrast than the one between the Eagles' offense--at least until they reached the red zone, when things got a little dicey--and the Browns' offense, "led" by third string quarterback Ken Dorsey, who completed 11 of 28 passes for 156 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions, accumulating a 28.3 passer rating on the heels of his 49.6 passer rating last week in his first start of the season, a 28-9 loss to Tennessee. Dorsey has a peashooter for an arm and absolutely no mobility; his strength is supposed to be his ability to read coverages but that was hardly evident during this game. He totally misread a coverage and threw a pass that Asante Samuel intercepted and ran back for a touchdown late in the second quarter, extending Philadelphia's lead to 17-3. Dorsey's second pick also looked like it was the result of a terrible read and he could easily have had two more interceptions if Eagles' defenders had held on to the ball.
Here's a bizarre stat for the Browns: they have started six different quarterbacks in their last six Monday Night Football appearances, each of whom faced some kind of adversity either in that game or soon afterwards, beginning with Bernie Kosar in 1993 (waived by the Browns later that season) and then continuing with Eric Zeier in 1995 (started just one more game for the Browns), Kelly Holcomb (2003, benched during that game and did not play for the rest of the season), Derek Anderson (2008, benched three weeks later and then suffered a season-ending injury) and Brady Quinn (2008, broke his finger and is now out for the season). It is safe to assume that Dorsey does not have too many starts left in his future, either.
The Eagles effortlessly marched 64 yards on their opening drive to take a 7-0 lead. The Browns answered with their only productive drive of the game, going 63 yards before stalling at the Eagles' nine yard line and settling for a field goal. The Browns' offense did not reach Eagles' territory again until the second half.
Even when the Browns made a big defensive play they found a way not to score. After McNabb and the Eagles used horrible time management during a two minute drill near the end of the first half, McNabb threw a pass into the end zone that Brandon McDonald intercepted. Often, such picks are run back for TDs because the offensive players are so spread out. McDonald took off down the sideline but Brian Westbrook and Hank Baskett did not give up on the play, combining to run McDonald down as time expired. McDonald's 98 yard return is the longest interception return in regular season NFL history that did not result in a touchdown. Either McDonald is slow, Westbrook is really fast or the Browns are just cursed.
McDonald must have been destined to score in this game, though, because after McNabb went to the bench in the fourth quarter McDonald picked off Eagles' backup Kevin Kolb and raced 24 yards, somersaulting into the endzone to avoid a tackle attempt. That ended the Browns' touchdown-less streak--which had extended to 15 quarters--but the Browns' offense has not reached the endzone since Cleveland's 29-27 Monday Night Football win over Buffalo on November 17. Oddly, the Browns went 2-1 on Monday Night Football this year, beating the Super Bowl champion New York Giants and a Bills team that looked pretty good in mid-November. McDonald had at least one interception in each of Cleveland's three MNF games this year, an MNF first.
Braylon Edwards has been terrible for most of the season--leading the league in dropped passes after making the Pro Bowl last year--but even with the weak-armed Dorsey at the helm he caught five passes for 102 yards, thereby exceeding the 100 yard plateau in each of Cleveland's MNF games; only Jerry Rice and Torry Holt have had three 100 yard games in three MNF appearances in the same season.
Although a few individual players shined, this game was a microcosm of Cleveland's disastrous season. "It's really an embarrassment for Cleveland," Tony Kornheiser said after McNabb stood in the pocket unmolested for seemingly an eternity before throwing the TD pass that put the Eagles up 30-3. "It's everything that they've spent the whole year being: collapsing on offense, collapsing on defense, making no effort."
In many ways, the Browns resemble an expansion team now and, although injuries to the top two quarterbacks have played a part in that recently, the team did not look great for the most part even when Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn played. The Browns returned to the NFL in 1999 after the skunk Art Modell moved the original Browns to Baltimore and it must be said that virtually everything that has happened with the Browns since 1995--the team's final season in Cleveland--stinks. It started with Modell's underhanded moves that resulted in one Super Bowl title for his Baltimore Ravens and three Super Bowl wins for the New England Patriots, who smartly hired Bill Belichick a few years after Modell unceremoniously dumped the last Browns coach to win a playoff game. A lot of people seem to have forgotten that when Modell signed the deal to move the team Al Lerner--who later became the owner of the "new" Browns--was literally right by his side. If you believe in conspiracies, you could say that things worked out perfectly for the two good friends: Modell got to move his team, received a pile of money and even managed to get his long coveted Super Bowl championship, while Lerner got the opportunity to be the majority owner of the Browns, something that otherwise would never have happened because Modell was determined to keep control of the team in his family (ironically, he again got into financial trouble in Baltimore and had to sell controlling interest in the team). The only people who got screwed are the loyal Browns fans. Al Lerner has since passed away and his son Randy now owns the team but he seems more interested in the fate of his soccer team. I think that it is fair to say that Randy Lerner owes it to the Browns fans to put a much better and more professional product on the field. He has largely gotten a pass from the media and fans but the actions--and lack thereof--of he and his family have a lot to do with the sorry history of the Browns since 1995.
Here are some notes/comments about Sunday's action:
*Everyone has offered his or her two cents' worth about the drama in Dallas but I only heard two objective voices who made sense: Steve Young and John Madden. It is unfortunate that Young has such a limited role in ESPN's coverage because he is by far their best NFL analyst. Prior to Dallas' 20-8 win over the New York Giants, Young offered his prescription for the Cowboys to move forward: as the quarterback, Tony Romo should publicly take the blame for misreads/poorly thrown balls but in private Romo should assert himself when necessary and make sure that the lines of communication are open between he and all of the other offensive players. Young said that is the best way to defuse any potential controversies; considering that Young played with Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens and other receivers who wanted to have a lot of passes thrown in their direction, he definitely has a lot of credibility to explain how a quarterback should nourish his relationships with his teammates.
Madden made two interesting technical observations:
1) He watched the game film of the Dallas-Pittsburgh game and determined that Owens was indeed open but did not receive the ball, which has been Owens' contention (and which many other Dallas players also believe, despite the media's attempts to portray Owens to be a troublemaker).
2) During the New York game, Madden noted that a screen pass to Owens' side of the field is very effective because Owens attracts so much extra defensive coverage.
The bottom line is that Owens is a playmaker and he is a competitor who wants to be involved in the offense. The Cowboys should want to get the ball in his hands as much as possible; I've never heard it suggested of any other future Hall of Famer that he should not want the ball or that his team should not try to get him the ball. That is just ignorant. People can say that Owens destroys teams but the 49ers were a playoff team during five of his eight seasons in San Francisco and have not once been a .500 team since he departed after the 2002 season. The Eagles were a Super Bowl team with Owens and have barely been above .500 overall since they got rid of Owens. The Cowboys missed the playoffs two years in a row before Owens arrived but made the playoffs in each of his first two seasons with the team and are on the verge of qualifying for the playoffs again this year.
As Madden indicated, Owens not only makes plays but he attracts so much coverage that he enables less talented teammates to have opportunities to make plays. I just laugh when I hear people talk about how the Eagles need a game-breaking wide receiver to make their offense complete. They had one in Terrell Owens and Owens helped them to reach the Super Bowl but because McNabb is sensitive and the owner was too cheap or stubborn to pay Owens what he was worth--after Owens risked his career to come back from a devastating injury to have an MVP-level performance in the Super Bowl--the Eagles can derive temporary joy from beating the Browns before they are eliminated from postseason contention next week or in the final game of the season.
Most commentators took the easy route and bashed Terrell Owens in a variety of ways. I have said it before and it must be said again: the last person on Earth who should say anything about Owens is Keyshawn "Just Give Me the Damn Ball" Johnson, a player who was let go by a Super Bowl champion due to his insubordination and who--as Owens has rightly noted--is a commentator now at the age of 36 (just one year older than Owens) because Owens took his spot in Dallas. Talk about combining hypocrisy and conflict of interest in one sound bite! When Johnson talks about how a wide receiver should properly deal with his quarterback I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Johnson criticizes Owens' route running skills but Owens ranks second in NFL history in touchdowns, sixth in receiving yards and seventh in receptions, so this reminds me of the late, great Ralph Wiley's response to critics who said that baseball great Rickey Henderson did not always play hard: if a guy can put up those kind of numbers without playing hard (or, in this case, despite supposedly being a bad route runner) how great must he really be?
The problem here is that most people apparently cannot distinguish between athletes whose bad attitudes bring down their teams--like Chad Johnson--and athletes who are intense and passionate about winning and get frustrated when things aren't being done properly. I remember when then-Bengals running back Corey Dillon sat down on the bench in disgust and would not go back in the game because Coach Bruce Coslet's team was so undisciplined and unprepared. The media killed him but I always said to Bengals' fans that I hoped that the Browns would get Dillon because he was a great back on a sorry team. Bill Belichick saw through all the media nonsense and signed Dillon, who became a key contributor on a Super Bowl champion. In the NBA, Dennis Rodman may have seemed to be eccentric or worse but he had an extremely high basketball IQ. When he had high IQ basketball coaches like Chuck Daly and Phil Jackson he helped his teams win championships but he did not have patience for teammates and/or coaches who were soft or unprepared. One time, he was in the locker room when a coach was diagramming a defensive scheme and Rodman just went off, saying that the whole thing was BS, that Jackson's Bulls never played that kind of defense and it just won't work. Certain players just cannot be in situations that are not structured properly. Since coming to New England, Randy Moss has proven that even though he blatantly dogged it at times on previous teams he can be a winning player with the right structure around him.
Another aspect of the whole Owens situation that is strange is the "thrown to" numbers that have suddenly proliferated out of thin air. That is not an official NFL stat and I don't know how "thrown to" statistics are compiled; the numbers that have been bandied about in the past few days that purport to show that Owens has been "thrown to" more than Jason Witten this year seem bogus to me, unless "thrown to" includes balls that are thrown away and are uncatchable; the number of catchable balls thrown in Owens' direction this season has not been nearly as high as it should be (yes, Owens has dropped some catchable balls, too, but he has a track record of making big plays when he gets enough opportunities to do so).
By my count, here is the breakdown for Owens and Witten in the New York game:
Owens:
1) Dropped deep pass on 3rd and 10.
2) 25 yard reception on 2nd and 13.
3) Six yard reception on 1st and 10.
4) Overthrown ball on 1st and 10; illegal contact called on Giants, resulting in a five yard penalty and an automatic first down. If Owens had not been held, he likely would have had a huge gain on the play.
5) Seven yard reception on 2nd and eight.
6) Overthrown deep pass on 2nd and 13.
Owens finished with three receptions for 38 yards and drew one penalty that resulted in five yards and an automatic first down. He dropped one catchable pass and two of the balls thrown in his direction were not catchable.
Witten:
1) Off target, incomplete pass on 2nd and 10.
2) Dropped short pass on 3rd and 13.
3) Three yard reception on 1st and 10.
4) Five yard reception on 2nd and six.
5) Overthrown pass on 3rd and 11.
6) Underthrown pass on 1st and 10.
7) 12 yard reception on 1st and 10.
8) 13 yard reception on 2nd and nine.
9) 11 yard reception on 3rd and nine.
Witten also committed a false start penalty. Apparently, the second ball thrown to him was not "officially" recorded as a drop but the ball hit him on the hands and then hit the turf before he could control it. If that is not a drop then I am not sure what is.
After the game, Witten and Owens both told NBC's Andrea Kremer that their supposed feud had been blown completely out of proportion. "It was a lack of professionalism on (ESPN reporter) Ed Werder's behalf," Owens insisted to Kremer. In his postgame press conference, Owens added, "I don't know where he (Werder) got his information but it was a lie. It's unfair. I had to deal with this all week. I don't know where he's getting his sources from but whatever his source was, they told him a blatant lie." ESPN anchor John Buccigross said that the network stands by its story.
*"Bretty and the Jets" were bailed out by Buffalo's boneheaded playcalling but that does not change the fact that neither Brett Favre nor his team are performing well down the stretch. Favre had passer ratings over 100 in three straight wins to help the Jets improve to 8-3 but since that time they have limped to 9-5 as Favre threw four interceptions and just one touchdown pass while compiling ratings of 60.9, 60.8 and 61.4. At least he is consistent. Yes, Favre's old Green Bay team has crashed and burned this season but that has little to do with the performance of Favre's replacement, Aaron Rodgers, who has nearly duplicated Favre's 2007 stats and is having a better season this year than Favre is: Rodgers ranks eighth in the league in passer rating (91.8) and has thrown 23 TD passes while averaging 7.4 yards per attempt and only tossing 12 interceptions. In contrast, Favre ranks 15th in the NFL with a passer rating of 86.5 and he has 21 TDs, 17 interceptions--the most in the NFL--and is only averaging 6.8 yards per attempt, tied for 20th out of the 32 quarterbacks who have thrown enough passes to qualify for the league rankings. Last year, Favre had a 95.7 rating, 28 TDs, 15 interceptions and a 7.8 yards per attempt average.
New York's 31-27 win over Buffalo was a gift--the Bills had the lead and the ball with barely two minutes remaining before J.P. Losman inexplicably rolled out to pass and fumbled the ball, enabling the Jets to score the game-winning touchdown. The Jets have won three other games this year in which Favre had passer ratings of 76.0 or worse. Even though the Jets control their own destiny due to a favorable tiebreak situation, don't be a bit surprised if they end up right where I've said all along that they will be: sitting at home when the playoffs begin. Meanwhile, as I predicted in my season preview, ex-Jet Chad Pennington has gone to Miami and had a better season than Favre (though I was not bold enough to also predict that the Dolphins would improve their record as much as they have): Pennington ranks fourth in the NFL with a 95.1 passer rating and he has 14 TDs compared to just six interceptions. He is averaging a robust 7.8 yards per attempt (the same that Favre averaged in 2007 when he was considered an MVP candidate and one yard per attempt better than Favre this year) and he has 35 completions of at least 20 yards, two more than Favre in 32 fewer attempts. The knock on Pennington was that he does not have a strong arm but this season he has had more success throwing downfield than Favre has. Isn't it strange that Miami has the same 9-5 record as New York and that Pennington has had a better year than Favre while playing for a team that had been much worse (although the Jets were 4-12 in 2007 they were a playoff team in 2006, while the Dolphins were 1-15 in 2007 and 6-10 in 2006) but Favre has received much more media attention and praise than Pennington? If you go strictly by the numbers--not just passer rating but also completion percentage, yards per attempt and other key stats--then Philip Rivers, Pennington and Peyton Manning should be the AFC Pro Bowl quarterbacks this year. It will be interesting to see if Favre gets the nod instead due to how much the media pumps him up.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Dallas Drama: Media Tries to Divide and Conquer Cowboys Locker Room
It is very interesting to watch the latest Dallas Cowboys drama unfold, particularly in terms of how the national media slants the coverage; the story that the media wants to tell--regardless of the truth of the matter--is that Terrell Owens is, as the already cliched phrase goes, "throwing his quarterback under the bus," as he is alleged to have done previously. That is the only story that sells, from their perspective; any other story is not nearly as interesting to them.
The most important thing to note is that no outsider--including ESPN's breathless reporters--are privy to whatever was said in any closed door meetings that the Cowboys may have held in recent days. That means that anything that any reporter says about such meetings is hearsay--second or third party information that may have been spun in any number of ways, whether by that reporter or by someone with an agenda who told something to the reporter.
What I found fascinating about Ed Werder's SportsCenter report is that he felt compelled to preface the fact that the Dallas defensive players support Owens by saying "Believe it or not." That is an editorial comment, not a fact based report. Furthermore, why should anyone be surprised that Dallas defensive players want their future Hall of Fame receiver to get the ball more often? Don't most teams in any sport figure out ways to get the ball to their best playmakers?
Another thing that is fascinating about this story is how ESPN has hastened to supposedly calculate exactly how many times Romo has thrown to Owens and to tight end Jason Witten. I'd like to know how those numbers are derived, because a pass that is "thrown to" Owens that sails four feet over his head and goes out of bounds hardly constitutes a reasonable attempt to get him the ball. The suggestion that Romo has recently thrown to Owens more than he has thrown to Witten does not pass the eyeball test for anyone who has watched the games--and whether or not Romo threw to Owens more often than Witten one year ago is irrelevant to the Cowboys' current situation.
Here are some indisputable numbers:
1) Terrell Owens is the active career leader in TD receptions with 138; he ranks second on the all-time list to the incomparable Jerry Rice.
2) Owens has led the NFL in TD receptions three times and ranks second this year despite being underutilized.
3) Owens has a career 14.9 career yards per reception average and is averaging 15.4 yards per reception this season.
4) Owens has 55 receptions for 848 yards and nine touchdowns this season.
5) Witten has 24 career receptions in his six season career--which is 13 fewer than Owens has caught in his three seasons in Dallas.
6) Witten has never caught more than seven TDs in a season.
7) Witten has a career 11.5 yards per reception average and is averaging 12.0 yards per reception this season.
8) Witten has 64 receptions for 771 yards and three touchdowns this season.
What those numbers show is that Owens is a playmaker--he makes big plays, both in terms of yardage and in terms of putting points on the board. He has been significantly more productive in those areas this season than Witten has despite having fewer opportunities. Owens' speed and ability to break tackles stretch the defense, which opens up the middle for Witten and opens up running lanes for the running backs. There is no reason for the Cowboys not to put the ball in Owens' hands as much as possible. The Dallas defensive players--who don't have an agenda other than wanting to win games--understand this and that is why they want Owens to get the ball more often.
You may recall that during the whole Owens-Donovan McNabb situation the media tried to make Owens the bad guy but you never heard any Philadelphia players criticize Owens or take McNabb's side; even after the Eagles got rid of Owens that never happened. Think about that for a moment. The media want you to believe that Owens is some kind of locker room cancer but the guys who are in the locker room with him--other than the specific player who he rightly criticized for not performing up to par in the Super Bowl--won't say anything bad about him on the record, even after he is no longer on the team. What does that tell you?
We all know that on Sunday NFL Countdown, Keyshawn and the boys will line Owens up in their crosshairs and fire away with both barrels. Before you join that firing squad in spirit, look at the numbers and think about what Owens' teammates have said--and have not said--publicly. Don't be swayed by "anonymous sources said" reports. Only believe what you see and hear with your own eyes and ears. That is the real story--and here is a great quote to consider, from Dallas defensive back Terence Newman: "I don't know why people want to kind of bash TO about being the bad guy and complaining about not getting the ball, because he hasn't said one word to anybody. There are more players on this team who have went to TO and said, 'Why aren't you getting the ball? Why is Witten getting all the balls' rather than TO saying (that). If you ask me as a defensive player, I like to see TO get the ball because it excites us and we know good things are going to happen. If you look at all of our games this year, when TO gets the ball we win football games and if he's not catching the ball then we struggle a little bit."
The most important thing to note is that no outsider--including ESPN's breathless reporters--are privy to whatever was said in any closed door meetings that the Cowboys may have held in recent days. That means that anything that any reporter says about such meetings is hearsay--second or third party information that may have been spun in any number of ways, whether by that reporter or by someone with an agenda who told something to the reporter.
What I found fascinating about Ed Werder's SportsCenter report is that he felt compelled to preface the fact that the Dallas defensive players support Owens by saying "Believe it or not." That is an editorial comment, not a fact based report. Furthermore, why should anyone be surprised that Dallas defensive players want their future Hall of Fame receiver to get the ball more often? Don't most teams in any sport figure out ways to get the ball to their best playmakers?
Another thing that is fascinating about this story is how ESPN has hastened to supposedly calculate exactly how many times Romo has thrown to Owens and to tight end Jason Witten. I'd like to know how those numbers are derived, because a pass that is "thrown to" Owens that sails four feet over his head and goes out of bounds hardly constitutes a reasonable attempt to get him the ball. The suggestion that Romo has recently thrown to Owens more than he has thrown to Witten does not pass the eyeball test for anyone who has watched the games--and whether or not Romo threw to Owens more often than Witten one year ago is irrelevant to the Cowboys' current situation.
Here are some indisputable numbers:
1) Terrell Owens is the active career leader in TD receptions with 138; he ranks second on the all-time list to the incomparable Jerry Rice.
2) Owens has led the NFL in TD receptions three times and ranks second this year despite being underutilized.
3) Owens has a career 14.9 career yards per reception average and is averaging 15.4 yards per reception this season.
4) Owens has 55 receptions for 848 yards and nine touchdowns this season.
5) Witten has 24 career receptions in his six season career--which is 13 fewer than Owens has caught in his three seasons in Dallas.
6) Witten has never caught more than seven TDs in a season.
7) Witten has a career 11.5 yards per reception average and is averaging 12.0 yards per reception this season.
8) Witten has 64 receptions for 771 yards and three touchdowns this season.
What those numbers show is that Owens is a playmaker--he makes big plays, both in terms of yardage and in terms of putting points on the board. He has been significantly more productive in those areas this season than Witten has despite having fewer opportunities. Owens' speed and ability to break tackles stretch the defense, which opens up the middle for Witten and opens up running lanes for the running backs. There is no reason for the Cowboys not to put the ball in Owens' hands as much as possible. The Dallas defensive players--who don't have an agenda other than wanting to win games--understand this and that is why they want Owens to get the ball more often.
You may recall that during the whole Owens-Donovan McNabb situation the media tried to make Owens the bad guy but you never heard any Philadelphia players criticize Owens or take McNabb's side; even after the Eagles got rid of Owens that never happened. Think about that for a moment. The media want you to believe that Owens is some kind of locker room cancer but the guys who are in the locker room with him--other than the specific player who he rightly criticized for not performing up to par in the Super Bowl--won't say anything bad about him on the record, even after he is no longer on the team. What does that tell you?
We all know that on Sunday NFL Countdown, Keyshawn and the boys will line Owens up in their crosshairs and fire away with both barrels. Before you join that firing squad in spirit, look at the numbers and think about what Owens' teammates have said--and have not said--publicly. Don't be swayed by "anonymous sources said" reports. Only believe what you see and hear with your own eyes and ears. That is the real story--and here is a great quote to consider, from Dallas defensive back Terence Newman: "I don't know why people want to kind of bash TO about being the bad guy and complaining about not getting the ball, because he hasn't said one word to anybody. There are more players on this team who have went to TO and said, 'Why aren't you getting the ball? Why is Witten getting all the balls' rather than TO saying (that). If you ask me as a defensive player, I like to see TO get the ball because it excites us and we know good things are going to happen. If you look at all of our games this year, when TO gets the ball we win football games and if he's not catching the ball then we struggle a little bit."
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