Week 16 Monday Afternoon TPS Report
Dec 24th 2007eTPS Report & NFL
I Now Direct Your Microscope to Terrell Owens’ Ankle
The true status of Owens’ injured left ankle is about to become the most fiercely guarded secret in football. The Cowboys will do whatever it takes to convince future opponents that Owens’ is still capable of being a dangerous offensive weapon. That might entail hiring Nate Newton to guard the medical reports, or leaking stories about the healing powers of a new magical oxygen chamber. However serious Owens’ ankle injury is, the Cowboys will never let anybody know.
So far, the team has only said is that Owens will not play this week, and I suspect “questionable” will be soon be the word most commonly used to describe his status. When all is said and done, I bet Owens will do whatever it takes to come back, but he won’t be at full strength and he’ll end up a complete non-factor in a Cowboys loss. Then he’ll criticize Donovan McNabb’s leadership skills.
Herm Edwards: Master of Motivation
The Chiefs’ great second half arose from a very unconventional halftime. When players came into locker room at the end of the 2nd quarter Herm Edwards eschewed motivational speeches or discussions of strategy and sent them back out onto the field. “I told them maybe we shouldn’t go in at halftime, that maybe we should stay out on the field,” Edwards said. “So it was just like high school. We came in, went to the bathroom and went right back out.” You can’t argue with results. Edwards should continue trying to coach as little as possible.
Don’t Miss This Stuff…
—Nick Barnett still doesn’t know why he was strangled by an official.
—Warren Sapp can no longer say he’s never picked up three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on a single play.
—Titans tackle Tony Brown showed off a new move when he began rolling around in the grass after a sack. “The defense was on fire, so when you are on fire you have to put the fire out with the stop, drop and roll,” Brown said with a smile. “It was something I thought of right then and went with it.” I could definitely see this catching on. I’m still not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
—The Bears noticed Green Bay punter John Ryan looked shaky and they decided to go after him like he was a fat kid in dodgeball.
—Roddy White is over 1,000 yards on the season. So I guess Michael Vick did suck after all.
—Mike Rucker may have played his final home game as a Carolina Panther.
—Joe Mauer was an honorary horn-blower for the Vikings. The team could have used him at quarterback.
The Worst Spike in the History of Football
And guess what? It was executed by the Dolphins. What a shock. With 1:25 left in the first half Cleo Lemon completed a pass to David Martin that gave the Dolphins (still with one timeout) a first down at the Patriots 9-yard line. Lemon got his team lined up with 1:13 on the clock, but then he inexplicably spiked the ball. It made no sense. The Dolphins had a max of four more plays. Lemon could have called a running play and handed the ball off with 1:05 left on the clock, run it again with :40 seconds on the clock, run it yet again with :15 seconds on the clock, and then called timeout and thrown it on 4th down. Without that spike the ball the Dolphins still had time for four plays and up to three of them could have been runs. But instead of calmly calling a play, Lemon decided to spike the ball and waste a precious a down. A down he could have used when his 4th down pass fell incomplete.
Why the Common Opponents Tie-Breaker is Good
Next week the “record vs. common opponents” tie-breaker could lift the Titans into the playoffs and send the Browns home. For the longest time I hated this tie-breaker—it just seemed dumb and arbitrary. But lately I’ve come around to the belief that it’s a good thing—mostly because it’s one of the few places in sports were teams are graded on the same degree of difficulty. The Browns and Titans have five common opponents (
Just When I thought Joe Gibbs Couldn’t Get Any Dumber, He Go and Does Something Like This…and Totally Redeems Himself
Before we get to Joe Gibbs’ redemption, can somebody explain why the Vikings system for green-lighting a replay challenge is to have their coach stare at the JumboTron. Shouldn’t there be a guy upstairs and some sort of electronic communication involved?
On the other hand, what made Joe Gibbs think it was a good idea to go for two while winning 22-0 in the FIRST HALF? With the league success rate around 42%, Gibbs decision to go for it was worth -.15 points. Way to go Joe.
Advances in Halfback Passes
At some point in the last few years halfback pass enthusiasts on NFL coaching staffs have had an epiphany. That epiphany is something along the lines of “You know what? Running backs lack accuracy when they have to throw 50-yard passes on the run. Maybe it would be best if we only used only used half-back passes in the red zone.” Clinton Portis’ touchdown pass last night was the 23rd straight running back throw from inside the 30-yard line (that stat may be fabricated).
Onside Kick Defense Complaint O’ the Week
After the Vikings recovered a “surprise” onside kick in the 3rd quarter Al Michaels said that the tactic has worked about three quarters of the time this season. That’s an insanely high success rate. But for some reason teams still send a front line of five guys and position them at the 45-yard line. Why not send up a 6th guy? Why not move them forward to the 40-yard line? Why do teams find it so hard to break from the traditional but idiotic way of doing things? (And yes, I’ve mentioned this before—it’s in here somewhere)
Stat O’ the Week
15. The number of offensive plays it took Jacksonville to score their first 21 points.
European Football Goal O’ the Week
Some nifty footwork and passing ends with Mamadou Niang giving Marseille their only goal in a 1-0 win.
Also See…
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