If you need anymore evidence as to why media day and the super bowl hype is the worst thing in professional sports, take a look at Plaxico Burress and “Guaranteegate.” (It doesn’t quite have the same ring as the other “gates.”)
A reporter who needed a story asked Burress for a prediction. Burress just said the first thing that came to mind. 23-17. He didn’t even specify which team would win. His intention was to both be funny and dismiss the question. Burress’ answer had nothing to do with the actual game or his feelings about the game. The two numbers were his high school basketball and football numbers.
Of course now the whole thing is one of the biggest stories of the week. Tom Brady is responding. Burress’ teammates are responding. And it’s all because of one stupid question that Burress decided to answer with a tongue-in-cheek response instead of a “no comment.”
Here’s the big question I’m getting at: Isn’t this terrible journalism? How does asking Burress for a prediction accomplish any of the things journalists are supposed to be doing? There’s no new information. There’s no twist on old information. Nothing of value is added. The only outcome from these stories in an insignificant fake news cycle about a lighthearted comment. I know people have jobs, but writing these kinds of stories is the equivalent to writing about what D-list celebrities are pregnant. Nobody cares. Tell us something interesting about the game.
The paparazzi are really shafting Bill Belichick with these Tom Brady pictures. Two weeks before the Super Bowl they’re letting the Giants know his star quarterback has a tender ankle. It all might turn out to be inconsequential, but Belichick can’t be happy if the Giants decide to try a little bit harder to get pressure on Brady. Perhaps this whole “scandal” is poetic justice for the most secretive, rule bending coach in the NFL. I’m still in shock that TMZ now has one significant deed to go up against the millions of insignificant one they’ve been a part of.
If anybody out there is a fan of teammate brawls there was a good one yesterday between Arsenal’s Emmanuel Adebayor and Nicklas Bendtner during a 5-1 loss to Tottenham. Bendtner emerged bloody amid reports of a powerful Adebayor headbutt. There’s something psychologically unique about two teammates fighting. You never hear about accounting firms where two employees attempt to beat the shit out of each other, but it happens all the time in professional sports. Yeah, athletes are competitive and passionate, but they’re on national television. Would you ever fight somebody (and risked getting your ass pummeled) if you knew millions of people would see it?
You know who else is fighting? Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Last week the Clinton campaign compared Brack Obama to Magic Johnson, calling him a “hyped rookie.” So what did the Obama people do in response? They sent out a list of Magic Johnson’s extensive rookie achievements. That’s some real solid campaign work.
Leandro Barbosa had his faith in human kindness put to the test. Next time he will use an alias.
Oh Norv. Just when you had everybody convinced your past coaching missteps were ancient history, you go ahead and do something like this.
The Chargers were down two scores with nine minutes left to play. They had 4th and 10 from the Patriots 36. And they punted.
It was a decision that was stupefying, indefensible, and moronic. I can’t even imagine being a Chargers fan at that moment. I would have thrown every object in my reach at the TV. Down two scores with nine minutes left Turner gave the ball back to the most prolific offense of all time in order to gain 25 yards of field possession. Right then and there any hope of a comeback disappeared.
Turner was counting on forcing an improbable three-and-out, getting the ball back with seven minutes left, scoring a touchdown, forcing another improbable three-and-out, and driving for a winning field goal. That’s called having too much confidence in your defense. Or being somebody with the brain the size of a pea.
Turner’s fatal decision was just the culmination of a completely botched set of downs. The Chargers had 1st and 10 on the 36. Everybody but Norv Turner knew then and there that the Chargers were in four down territory and had to get at least a field goal (which meant getting the ball at least to the 30-yard-line.) But instead of trying to pick up some smaller chunks of yardage the Chargers through the ball downfield. Even on the 3rd and 10, a draw would have been a good call. That would have brought up a manageable 4th and short or put the ball in Nate Kaeding’s range. The Chargers did neither, paving the way for a coaching gaffe that will live on in infamy.
Other thoughts from Sunday…
—I understand that it’s difficult to go 19-0, but I’d really feel better about the Patriots being anointed the greatest team of all time if they didn’t keep getting outplayed by inferior teams for 40 minute stretches.
—Outstanding decision by Tom Coughlin to for it on 4th down right before halftime. Coaches will almost always punt the ball in that situation even though they could easily throw a hail mary and not leave enough time for their opponents to do any damage. The Giants didn’t get anything out of it, but it was a good aggressive call.
—The officiating in the Giants-Packers game was atrocious. There weren’t necessarily a slew of bad calls or one sided calls, but the officials made a ton of borderline game-changing calls that didn’t need to be made. The refs just didn’t let the players play.
For example, there are the two huge and unnecessary 3rd quarter personal foul calls. The first was a roughing the passer penalty on Nick Collins that kept alive the Giants go-ahead touchdown drive in the 3rd quarter. The call was borderline at best. There was nothing blatant and he didn’t do anything dirty. Two minutes later, on the Packers ensuing drive, the refs gave Green Bay a first down with an extremely subjective personal foul call on Sam Madison. Madison and a Packers defender were tussling after the play and the ref only saw what Madison did.
It simply wasn’t necessary to call either penalty. That’s the bottom line. I understand that the NFL needs to protect quarterbacks and keep players from brawling, but when it’s the second half of a conference championship game the league cannot allow officials to affect the outcome of the game by flagging an action that had zero effect on the play.
(By the way, my favorite part of that roughing the passer call was Eli Manning lying on the ground and pleading for a flag. Since roughing the passer could basically be called “The quarterback is too weak and girly to take a hit like a man,” it’s always funny when a quarterback is asking for it to be called.)
Oh Chris Mortensen, when will you learn. You’ve spent the whole year being a target of those who love to mock you for your faulty reporting (Eli’s out for the season?). Why would you go ahead and have your name attached to the report that Tony Dungy has not made up his mind about retiring? I don’t care if Dungy actually hasn’t made up his mind. Whenever he does finally make a decision, it’s obvious from the evidence (his son transferred, Caldwell isn’t taking another job, PFT is usually right) that he’s going to retire.
So why go through the trouble of having your name associated with the “Dungy not retiring” talk? It will only be bad in the long run. Even if what you technically reported is true, you’ll only be remembered for reporting something that refuted what ended up being the truth. If I were you I would work my ass off to make sure I’m the one who officially breaks the “Dungy is retiring story.” That could redeem yourself just a little bit.
While watching Ryan Grant slice through the Seahawks defense on Saturday, it suddenly hit me. This is the kind of running back Reggie Bush should be. A quick burst to turn the corner. Amazing cuts at full speed. The remarkable acceleration to blow by safeties even after being slowed by hits in the box.
Watch Grant get the corner below. Watch his other highlights from Saturday’s game.
Now take a look a this highlight video (or one of the many others ) of Bush at USC. Carefully watch some of Bush’s more standard runs. There’s a little more shake ‘n bake than with Grant, but the overall running style is pretty similar.
So what makes Grant the stud and Bush the dud? It’s hard to say. Probably Grant read his blockers better and therefore he’s able to hit the hole a split second faster. In the NFL that can make all the difference.
Jack Del Rio and the Jags defense had a decent gameplan on Saturday night. They took away the deep ball and made Tom Brady dink and dunk his way down the field—the hope was that a sack, penalty, or dropped pass would kill a few drives. At the very least, the Jags hoped that when the Patriots got deep into their territory, the short field would allow them be a little more aggressive and maybe, just maybe, hold the Patriots to a field goal.
Since the way to beat the Patriots is to not give up big plays, try and hold them to field goals, and hope your offense scores a touchdown every time, it was a pretty solid strategy.
The problem was that the Jags made two crucial mistakes. The first was that in an effort to take away the big play, the Jags made it way too easy for the Patriots to move the ball into their territory. They never blizted and they handed Wes Welker 9-yard catches on a silver platter. There’s playing it safe, and then there’s playing it too safe. The Jags were playing it so safe there was no chance of getting that penalty,sack, or dropped pass that would kill a drive.
(I actually think the Jags would have been better off onside kicking after every score. They were basically letting the Patriots stroll into their territory anyway—giving the ball to the Patriots at their 40 would have meant nothing, and they might have gained a possession or two.)
The second mistake the Jags made was not adjusting their strategy when the clock became a factor. In the 4th quarter it became clear the Jaguars needed a stop, and to get a stop they needed pressure on Tom Brady. Because the Jags front four hadn’t gotten a whiff of Brady all day, that meant blitzing. It was the 4th quarter. If Moss beats you deep, so be it. Getting pressure on Brady is what’s important.
Instead the Jags continued to rush four. They occasionally brought a 5th guy, but it was usually a defensive back or a linebacker on a delayed blitz. Nothing they brought was the pocket-collapsing type of stuff you need to force a Tom Brady incompletion. The Jaguars never got the stop and eventually they ran out of time.
The only way to beat the Patriots is to get pressure on Brady. The Ravens and Giants did it with three and four man fronts. The Eagles did it with all-out blitzing. However you do it, you need to get pressure because when Brady can sit back and stare at the defense for three of four seconds he’s automatic. That’s one reason why the Chargers might have a chance—they have a good pass rush, and in the end, that’s really all that matters when you play the Patriots. Right now, the most important player in what remains of the NFL season is Shawne Merriman. If he can repeatedly get to Brady, the Chargers have a shot at pulling off the upset. If he fails (and Aaron Kampman or Usi Umenyiora fail after him), the Patriots should have an easy road to a Super Bowl title.
The Steelers were trailing 28-17. Cedric Wilson had just caught a pass that gave his team a first down at the Jags 14-yard line. There was only one thing the Jags could do. It was time for some trash talk.
Brian Williams, the man who made the tackle, started jawing with Wilson. Hines Ward then stepped into the fray and he and Williams went at it—Ward undoubtedly telling Williams the lead was slipping away, and Williams surely responding with some variation of “look at the scoreboard.”
It was at that moment I realized that trash-talking is the NFL’s version of a hockey fight. It has no rhyme or reason, and no direct effect on the game. But when things aren’t going well you just do it in the hope of swinging momentum in your favor.
That moment in Pittsburgh was like when a hockey team has their 3-0 lead cut to 3-2. But instead of sending out an enforcer to start a fight (I don’t know what it is about watching two guys pummel each other that makes a hockey team to take it up a notch) Brian Williams decided to talk some trash. Unfortunately, Hines Ward is one of the best in the business. The guy is the Chris Pronger of the NFL—not only is he’s a great player, but you better not try and swing momentum by messing with him.
Considering that the Steelers went on to score 12 straight points, I think it’s safe to say that Ward won the battle. Now if only the refs had called holding on any of the four Jacksonville linemen who were holding on David Garrard’s 4th down scramble.
(That’s right, I’m going there. Get ready for a rant.)
Watch the video. The Steelers had the play defended perfectly. Troy Polamalu came on a blitz to the outside forcing Garrard to step up. James Harrison started up field, but then cut back to fill the running lane. The only problem was that Khalif Barnes had a firm hold on the jersey and so he couldn’t fill the running lane. You can also see Brett Kiesel and Casey Hampton getting tackled on the play. And guess what? Larry Foote thinks he was held too.
Yeah, I’m a bitter Steelers fan, but I just can’t get over how the league can allow referees to determine the outcome of a game. It all started with the bogus holding call on Sean Mahan that negated Hines Ward’s two point conversion catch. The refs hadn’t called holding all game. What were they thinking? Were they bored? Did they think people would forget about them? Then because the officials called it once, they had to give the Steelers a make-up call on the Jags next drive. The only problem then was that after the 2nd holding call the refs basically put a moratorium on holding calls for the rest of the game. So after completely screwing over the Steelers they decided to stay out of it. Thanks guys. Again. I mean it. From the bottom of my heart.
The Giants coaching staff did a lot of good things on Sunday. Then in the blink of an eye they put on a coaching clinic on how to let the Patriots beat you. Let’s begin early in the 4th quarter with the Giants facing 3rd and 11 and clinging to a 28-23 lead. Tom Coughlin and offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride decided to call conservative little quick out that resulted in a four yard gain and a punt.
Um…are the Giants insane? Were they trying to lose? (Those are all serious questions by the way.) How could they basically forfeit a posession when they knew they would need one or two more touchdowns to win the game? A quick out is an ok call if you can realistically expect to win the game 28-23. The Giants could not do that.
Let’s pick up the action again a mere 60 seconds later. The Patriots face 3rd and 10 from their own 35. Up until that point the Giants had been able to put an incredible amount of pressure on Tom Brady with just three and four man rushes. There was absolutely no reason for the Giants to ever leave their secondary shorthanded by blitzing. So what did the Giants do? They blizted, and Randy Moss caught a 65-yard touchdown pass. It was only a five man rush, but that was still 1-2 more rushers than the Giants needed. Take away those two awful decisions by the Giants coaching staff and at this moment Bill Belichick might be starting at that ugly little “1″ in his loss column.
Don’t Play Games With Keith Traylor
The Dolphins suspended Keith Traylor for Sunday’s game after the defensive tackle got into an “altercation” with two teammates on the team plane. The reason for the altercation has finally been revealed—it all began with some trash talking over an airplane game of dominos. Somebody call Samuel L. Jackson.
—Andy Reid is so paranoid about the Philly media he didn’t even want to tell them that Kevin Kolb was the team’s backup quarterback for Sunday’s game. “I just didn’t want [the media] making a big stink about it and I didn’t have to answer all of your questions,” Reid said.
—The Bills got a break with their travel schedule next year. And look, the Patriots got screwed. This is the beginning of the end for you Belichick. (Also, Randy Moss was overtaken by Mason Crosby.)
—The Falcons season is finally over. That means it’s time to take a field trip to Virginia.
—The Jets finally did something to stop the drunken “show us your tits” abuse that goes on in their stadium.
—Winston Justice’s reign as the worst offensive lineman of all time may now be over. Congratulations Winston.
The 12th Man Continues to be a Bandwagon Fan
At halftime of Sunday night’s game the Colts added a “12th Man” inscription to the team’s Ring of Honor, making them the latest team to jump on the whole “we appreciate our fans” fad. Perhaps now Texas A&M and the Seahawks can put their differences aside and join forces to sue the Colts for using the term. Of course if that did happen the Colts would just say that the 12th man doesn’t refer to the crowd, but rather the guy who pumps in crowd noise when the Colts are on defense.
So Long Brian Billick
It’s tough to say whether firing Brian Billick was the right move. He never did bring any offensive firepower to Baltimore, but he won a Super Bowl and the team exceeded expectations last year by about 9 wins. Then this year he had to play most of the season without his starting cornerbacks and with Kyle Boller as his starting quarterback. The one game the Ravens were relatively healthy (against the Patriots) Billick showed what kind of things he could do with the team. Still, sometimes it’s best to just cut the cord and start fresh—that certainly worked this year for the Steelers when they chose Mike Tomlin over Ken Whisenhunt or Russ Grimm. And so, I bid you farewell Coach Billick. You will always have your place in NFL history for winning a Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer.
It’s Time for Assistant Coaches in the Playoffs to Get Screwed
The Dallas Cowboys are one of a few playoff teams whose coaching staff is in high demand from teams seeking new leadership (the Falcons are already swirling overhead.) The thing is, it’s likely that none of the Dallas assistants will get jobs because the NFL idiotically allows teams to hire new coaches before the playoffs end. If Jason Garret goes to an interview he might take a few hours off from watching tape of the Cowboys upcoming opponent in order to prepare. But if an assistant from a non-playoff team gets an interview, he has days or even weeks to prepare. Who do you think is going to get the job? This is one reason it took so long for guys like Marvin Lewis and Ken Whisenhunt to become head coaches. It’s time for the NFL to do something about it.
Stat O’ the Week
168. The number of catches Marques Colston has in his first two NFL seasons. That’s the most ever by anybody in their first two years.
European Football Goal O’ the Week
Julio Baptista’s right foot makes all the difference in Real Madrid’s 1-0 win over Barcelona
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.
—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 (Tennessee is 4-1, Cleveland is 3-2). Based on those five games, you can objectively conclude who is a better team over that five game span.In a way, it’s like the Browns, Titans, and those five teams are in a seven team division, and the Titans have a better division record.It’s just a shame that there’s no way a comparison can be made between the other 11 games on each team’s schedule.
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?
Anyway, last night Joe Gibbs proved that he is in fact familiar with the NFL rule book.Regardless of whether he was told about the 12th man or noticed it himself, Gibbs deserves credit for making sure the play was challenged.
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.
Have you ever wondered exactly how much each game affects your team’s playoffs chances? Check out this site which shows how each NFL game affects the Browns postseason prospects. It’s fun for the whole family. In case you were wondering, last night’s Steelers victory decreased the Browns chances by 1.5% and lowered their expected playoff seed by .45.
the report that Tony Dungy has not made up his mind about retiring? I don’t care if Dungy actually hasn’t made up his mind. Whenever he does finally make a decision, it’s obvious from the evidence (his son transferred, Caldwell isn’t taking another job, PFT is usually right) that he’s going to retire.
a few drives. At the very least, the Jags hoped that when the Patriots got deep into their territory, the short field would allow them be a little more aggressive and maybe, just maybe, hold the Patriots to a field goal.
Brian Williams, the man who made the tackle, started jawing with Wilson. Hines Ward then stepped into the fray and he and Williams went at it—Ward undoubtedly telling Williams the lead was slipping away, and Williams surely responding with some variation of “look at the scoreboard.”
