Week 12 Monday Afternoon TPS Report
Nov 26th 2007ericjhoroTPS Report & NFL
A.J. Feeley….yes…yes…yes…noooo!!! And the Patriots are still undefeated—but at least I’m slightly less angry about it. Now let’s move onto the good stuff.
Deion vs. Tom Jackson—NFL Gameday vs. NFL Primetime
In the good old days of NFL Primetime, whenever a Hail Mary went up in the air Tom Jackson and Chris Berman would yell their refrain of “Knock it down!!.” On NFL Gameday last night Deion Sanders criticized the 49ers defenders who allowed Larry Fitzgerald to catch a Hail Mary by saying they should have caught the ball instead of trying to knock it down. Sorry Deion–I know you would have gone for the interception there (because int=$$$), but the right play is to knock it down.
Stephen Jackson Wants the Music Fixed
One reason for the Rams struggles? They’re not playing good music in the Edward Jones Dome. Stephen Jackson wants some hip hop. Uh, Stephen…you’re playing in front of a bunch of rich midwesterners. The closest you’ll get to hip hop is a black country singer.
Don’t Miss…
…The relationship between Roy Williams and Mike Martz getting a little bit icy
…How the Jets unusual alignment on their first play from scrimmage ruined a bunch of Cowboy’s streaks.
…Albert Haynesworth being too modest.
…Tommy Harris’ ability to see the future.
…What happens when a backup center has to snap the ball to a backup quarterback in a pressure situation.
…The officials screwing the Panthers by not granting them a timeout.
…Evidence for why you shouldn’t trust Owen Daniels about replay challenges.
…The potential end of the J.P. Losman era.
…Adrian Peterson will be back next week. The world is saved.
The Rams Will Begin Teaching a Clinic on How to Blow Games
The Rams had 1st and goal from the 4-yard line with a minute left. They had two timeouts. That’s enough time to pound Stephen Jackson four straight times. If his Nike commercials are any indication, Jackson would never let himself be denied those four yards. Instead, the Rams threw on first and second down, and they only ran Jackson on third down. He came up just short, and on 4th down Gus Frerotte did what Gus Frerrote does.
Shrewd Moves of the Week
Mike Shanahan
Conventional wisdom says the option doesn’t work in the NFL. The defensive ends and linebackers are just too fast. That’s true, but there is one condition—the defense has to be prepared to face the option. On Sunday Mike Shanahan ran some options with Jay Cutler and they took the Bears defense by surprise, particularly on Andre Hall’s 16 yard touchdown run. It’s nice to see that Shanahan has finally realized John Elway isn’t his quarterback.
Lovie Smith
Smith got creative as Devin Hester awaited a potentially game tying punt return late in the 4th quarter. Because it was 4th and 17 and the Bears didn’t have to worry about any kind of fakes, Smith sent a four man wall back to block for Hester. The Broncos responded by calling timeout and the whole thing fizzled, but it was some nice outside the box thinking from Lovie.
Mike McCarthy
Most teams play too conservative when they cling to a lead late in the 4th quarter. Joe Gibbs is the reigning expert on this subject. On Thursday McCarthy abandoned conservatism to stick with what had been working all day. After taking over with 6 minutes left, the Packers threw the ball on four of their first five plays. That aggressiveness paved the way for their game clinching field goal.
(Also, I don’t want to forget to mention that Joe Gibbs finally made a good decision to go for it on 4th and 1 in the redzone. The Skins didn’t get the first down, but at least Gibbs made the right move. Same for Herm Edwards with his decision to go for it on 4th an 1 late in the Chiefs loss.)
Bonehead Moves of the Week
Rod Marinelli
You know what I’m thankful for, getting a chance to watch Rod Marinelli continually botch his two point conversion decisions. On two different occasions in the 4th quarter Marinelli had an offside penalty enforced on the kickoff instead of attempting a two point conversion from half the regular distance. Because the Lions had trailed by 22, there was about a 98.3% chance they would eventually need a two point conversion.
To briefly go mathematical, teams convert a two pointer less than 50% of the time, and so the expected value of going for two is significantly less than 1.00 points. That’s why teams always kick. But when a team gets to try from the one-yard line the percentage jumps to over 50% and the expected value jumps to over 1 point. When that happens, teams should be going for two all the time, and they should especially be going for two if they know at some point they’ll need a two pointer to tie the game.
Andy Reid
Andy Reid coached one the best games of the year, but he made a mistake in the final minute. When the Patriots lined up to kick the ball back to the Eagles, Reid elected to set up a return instead of going after the kick. At that point blocking the kick was their only chance because it was obvious the Patriots would kick the ball out of bounds, or kick a high, short, unreturnable kick. Brian Westbrook could get nothing on the return and like a coke fiend crashing after a long night, the Eagles magical ride was over.
Mike Nolan
Before Vernon Davis’ first quarter touchdown catch, the 49ers had gone 11 quarters without reaching the endzone. You would think that when they had 3rd and goal from the 1-yard line early in the 2nd quarter they would be thinking about getting seven (translation: two runs up the middle). Instead Trent Dilfer threw incomplete on 3rd down and Nolan sent out the field goal unit on 4th down. Who knows? If Nolan didn’t make these kinds of decisions the 49ers could be as good as 4-7.
Ravens and Chargers Demonstrate Pooch Punt Ineptitude
Every week I explain why taking delay of game penalties to help a pooch punt is stupid. Well, on Sunday the Ravens were dumb enough to take one of these penalties, and the Chargers were dumb enough to decline it. I beg you Norv Turner—please stop doing these things.
Catch O’ the Week
Striped bass, and Bernard Berrian’s momentum defying game tying catch. The way in which Berrian was able to stop and turn his body to adjust to the ball was remarkable. If he had reacted a second later, turned his body at a slightly different angle, had his fingers in slightly different positions, or not made sure to get his knee down, it would have been no catch. Grossman make a poor throw and the adjustment Berrian made was amazing.
Stat O’ the Week
11. The number of quarters the Panthers have played at home without scoring a touchdown.
European Football Goal O’ the Week
Martin Petrov gives Manchester City the lead against Reading
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