Week #2 - As I see It

Random thoughts and observations from the weekend of football.

• Obviously the big story in college football was the domination of a Big Ten team by one of America’s consistently successful football programs, led by a former NFL coach. Sure it has become cliché at this point, but it still must be said because it is clear who the greatest team in the country is this year. Clearly, the national championship runs through South Bend, Indiana.
  • I have made many jokes about Charlie Weis’ impossibly high waist but after he blew out basically all of the ligaments in his knee this past Saturday when a player was blocked into him, I will refrain making a cheap joke. A cheap joke like saying I actually expected his straight leg cast to extend all the way to the bottom of his manssiere. Nope, not going to make a cheap joke like that. That is just classless.
  • Seriously though congratulations to the Irish. They have now beat 2 teams that have combined for one win over a MAC team and losses to a Division 1-AA team and a Mountain West team. Clearly, the pride is back in South Bend. We can all expect at least one or two articles this week about how Notre Dame is a national championship darkhorse.
• On to the ‘The Collision in the Coliseum’ or rather the ‘The Continued Embarrassment of Buckeye Nation – West Coast Edition’
  • I know Mark Sanchez put his name at the top of the Heisman trophy candidacy list and he seems like a good enough guy but is it just me or is Joe McKnight the scariest player in the country? As Musburger said as he snapped the ankles of several Buckeyes on one play ‘he looks like he is playing a video game out there’
  • Speaking of the announcing team, I have to give credit to Kirk Herbstreit. Can you imagine trying to stay objective and professional while your former school and hometown team was getting slaughtered (yet again) on a national stage? I know, if I sat in an announcing booth while FSU got filleted like that I would have either gone very bitter and tried rationalize each busted play (‘that looked like a hold to me, Brent’) or become sarcastic and cynical (‘wow, they can tackle, I guess they were just giving the Trojans a head start’).
  • By the way, what was the point of announcing the day before that Beanie Wells wouldn’t be playing? Unless Tressel was worried about the crowd out in Las Vegas (kind of like someone else in his state – see below), is there anything gained by telling the world that your best player won’t be suiting up for the biggest game of the year? Sure, tell your team so that they can be prepared – but tell the press? Umm, ok.
• I traded messages with Turner on Saturday evening during the Sooner beatdown of the Huskies as he gloated over another Sooner domination of an over-matched team. It is pretty clear that Bob Stoops is still really bitter about the Pac-10 officials stealing that game from him a couple years ago at Oregon and is now taking it out on any Pac-10 team he faces (as long as it isn’t in a BCS bowl of course). I think if he really wanted to rub it in on the Huskies, he should’ve had his team intentionally throw the ball high in the air after each touchdown, just so Husky fans could see what a 35 yard extra point looks like – about 7 times over.

On to the NFL:

• Of course I must start with the Broncos / Chargers game. For all of you that were instead forced to sit through Captain America taking on the Evil Empire from Foxborough, you missed a really entertaining game. The Broncos and Chargers had as many touchdowns by halfway through the first quarter as you did all day – Favre or no Favre.
• Sure the defenses weren’t exactly stellar (942 yards of combined offense!) but it sure was a fun game to watch. Even the No-Fun-League couldn’t take the excitement out of this one.
• Much has been said and written about the ‘aggressiveness’ and ‘guts’ of Mike Shanahan going for two points at the end of the game rather than the extra point to send it to overtime. I actually had 2 other words come to mind when he made that call: job security.
• No coach worried about his job, would go for that play. Shanahan knows he will coach the Broncos as long as he wants – even if one of those 4 defenders that pass threaded through had knocked it down. Compare Shanahan to Romeo Crennel who has kicked a meaningless field goal in each of the first two weeks that accomplish nothing but make the final score slightly less embarassing (and maybe make some people out in the desert very happy) rather than go for a touchdown. Romeo probably has (at most) 14 games left as a head coach. You don’t think he wouldn’t love to get his rival into overtime?
• One final note on the Broncos: I have been talking about Brandon Marshall all summer and putting aside his organization-record 18 receptions for a moment and that he spent the entire day humiliating Antonio Cromartie (Seminole Alert!) one of the best corners in the game, one thing sticks out about his play. He catches everything with his hands. That displays not only great hands (obviously), but also a lot of confidence and it makes a ref’s job easy to give him close catches. His touchdown just before half was a thing of beauty. He catches that with his body and the refs have a lot of latitude to rule him out of bounds but by catching it with his hands (and even cleanly palming the ball with one hand) the only question the refs needed to determine was whether his feet were in.
• On to other games, I am a little surprised by our continued surprise at the Patriots. Sure, they aren’t going to set scoring records again but this team won 3 Super Bowls with a young quarterback managing a game and not making mistakes. Why shouldn’t they be able to do it now? This team finds a way, whether it is moving Troy Brown to defensive back, resurrecting Corey Dillon’s career or making Mike Vrabel a legitimate pass catching option at the goal line when they had limited receivers.
• So, how bad are the Chiefs? They play quarterback roulette (and come up double zeros) and get dominated at home by the Raiders. Yes, the same Raiders that got trashed by the Broncos on Monday night. The only one who might be more frustrated than Chiefs fans by what happened at Arrowhaed could be Justin Fargas. Get a little banged up and open the door just enough to let Darren McFadden show what he can do. 164 yards and a touchdown later and Fargas may not be seeing much more of the field this year. At least not if Lane Kiffin wants to keep his job. 
• By the way – have you seen that new NFL.com commercial? You know, I spend a lot of time in airports and I can honestly say no one that looks anything like Marissa Miller has ever sat next to me, let alone wanted to look over my shoulder to watch football. And can we all agree that the guy who gets annoyed by this is officially the dumbest person in America?
• One last comment from tonight’s Eagles / Cowboys match-up. When DeSean Jackson made that 70-yard catch in the 2^nd quarter I thought a new wrinkle had been added to my personal Jackson/Eddie Royal feud. Little did I know how right I was when it was ruled that Jackson actually dropped the ball on the 2 yard line in a slightly premature celebration…something I know nothing about. The optimist in me likes to think that Jackson’s ignorance or arrogance might have had some impact on the Broncos selecting Royal. Suddenly, Shanahan’s draft record improves in my eyes. Maybe I have been too hard on the guy. Maybe I just rushed to judgment. <gulp> Maybe I was wrong.
• Of course, then I remember this is the same guy who drafted Maurice Clarett in the 3^rd round and I don’t feel so wrong.

The Hard Knocks Effect

This must be what middle age does to you.

Sure, I have not yet technically hit middle age quite yet but I have noticed some changes. Maybe not changes quite as obvious as the annoying hair like that last ‘change’ about twenty years ago but there are changes nonetheless.

The first hint was when I found myself on occasion rooting for a Steve Spurrier coached team.

I know – it scares me too.

Just a decade ago, literally my entire week could be made by a Spurrier visor being ripped off his head and thrown to the turf. There was nothing I loathed more in this world than Spurrier (well, almost nothing. Ever smell someone throw up? Yeech).

Even five years ago, when he joined me in D.C. as the coach of the Redskins and the Super Bowl hype went through the roof, I enjoyed nothing more than watch his pathetic press conferences as the never-ending arrogance was slowly chipped off him like the funk in that disturbing Axe body wash commercial.

But now that he has left the Swamp and Fed Ex Field behind and become the relatively harmless coach of the Gamecocks, I have come to enjoy his antics and his taunting.

If this is maturity…I don’t like it.

So now that I wear my visor in concert with Spurrier (occasionally), I have noticed another equally frightening development over the last week. I…. (gulp)…(deep breaths)…almost like the Cowboys.

Damn you HBO.

For those of you not willing to pay HBO’s extortionate rates, the Cowboys are the subjects of this year’s Hard Knocks, HBO’s sort-of annual behind the scenes look at one NFL team’s training camp. Last year we were subjected to Herm Edwards’ endless stadium step running and his underachieving, uninteresting Kansas City Chiefs. Given the Chiefs are the fierce rival of my boys in blue and orange it was never a concern I would find myself cheering for them. In fact, a full year later, still the only redeeming quality of my hours of Hard Knocks viewing was my introduction to Mrs. Brody Croyle. When Brody is inevitably waived and his NFL career ends, I will be here to console her.

But this year is different. While I have always hated the Cowboys and reveled in their annual playoff failures, I have found myself enjoying the series and have come to start to like some of the players, even T.O.. Yes, the scourge of the Forty-Niners, Eagles and Skip Bayless comes across almost exactly like you would almost never expect – relaxed, having fun and coming across as a good guy. His stuffing of Jerry Jones’ grandson in a bucket of ice water was one of the best moments on TV not involving Michael Phelps in the last month.  

NOTE: Did you ever think we would see a summer in which the two greatest sporting moments would be a tennis match and a swimming relay race? I don’t even know what to think about this. But I have to admit, I am a little frightened.

All of this begs the question – if even I can feel a small ember of warmth in the cold of my heart for the Cowboys, why don’t more teams give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the team, so we start to realize that these guys (despite all outward appearances) are human?

Brian Billick was a genius at this. As the participant in the initial Hard Knocks after the Ravens Super Bowl win in 2001 and then allowing John Feinstein unlimited access for the book Next Man Up during the 2004 season, Billick seems to have realized long ago that being open and honest with the media and your fans goes a lot further then being secretive and paranoid.

It could probably even be argued that Billick’s persona kept him in the job of Ravens coach for a season or two longer than he would have if he viewed the NFL on par with national secrets like some of his coaching brethren.

It is a simple fact that it is much easier to complain about and disagree with faceless football uniforms or maniacal coaches on the sideline than someone you feel like you know personally.

Look at the rise of the internet. It is a lot easier to be mean, rude and insulting from the safety of your keyboard – not that I know anything about that. In a face-to-face conversation a lot of those inept, incompetent and insulting comments posted on the internet would probably never see the light of day.

I am as critical on Mike Shanahan as anyone and much of that can be traced directly to his secrecy and his seeming belief that he knows better than anyone else all of the time. A little transparency and openness might make his decisions a little easier to understand.

Unless he keeps reading playbooks while on vacation. That is just sad.

Just reading the book mentioned the other day – A Few Seconds of Panic – provides more understanding of Shanahan and the decisions he makes than anything else we as fans ever get to see. I still may not agree with some of his decisions but I have a better understanding of how he arrived at them.

Isn’t that all we ask for as fans?

So while I still may think that Wade Phillips and Tony Romo will never lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl title, I can at least understand why this team improved drastically under Phillips last year and I can understand why despite his public antics, T.O. is one of the best receivers in the game.

And to answer the un-asked question:

Yes, I think Bill Belichick would still be a total jerk if New England participated on Hard Knocks.

Mike Shanahan, Meet Britney Spears

Having successfully avoided all draft analysis over the last two days, it is time to present my in-depth , completely original analysis of the draft, not influenced by any professional, regardless of their hair. I’m not going to look at each team (I already told every team who they need to draft, I can’t be held responsible if they ignored my sound advice). Rather, let’s use the TMZ model and just focus on the biggest train-wrecks, because that is just so much more fun.

1 – Denver Broncos: I know it is hard to believe that I think that Mike Shanahan screwed up in the draft (I am nothing if not consistent) but I do. Anyone who has followed the Broncos knew that Shanahan’s OCD tendencies toward specific positions of need would rear its head at some point (see defensive backs 2004-2005, defensive line 2007). So after making a good first round pick (an actual offensive lineman!) it was only a matter of time until a wide receiver was drafted (given he has already signed Kerry Colbert, Darrell Jackson and Samie Parker this offseason). I actually got excited when DeSean Jackson, Limas Sweed and Malcolm Kelly were still on the board. So, of course the Broncos drafted…Eddie Royal from Virginia Tech. Huh?

Apparently, Shanahan chose Royal to also get his punt return abilities. Did Mike not watch any tape of Jackson? He scored 6 touchdowns and was a more dangerous punt returner in college than Devin Hester (who may have actually had input on the draft picks, since after last season’s Bears/Broncos game, he owns the Broncos! Thank you, thank you very much I will be here all week). At this point, I am almost more surprised when Mike does something I agree with.

Is this what Lions fans feel like?

2 – Chicago Bears: Sticking with the early 2^nd round blunder theme we move on to Chicago. How do I start? Do I mock who they did pick or who they passed on? Let’s start with who they passed on.

Generally, when your team has inspired its fans to start a website calling for the head of your quarterback, it might be time to consider drafting a new one. When two highly rated quarterbacks (one of whom would have been a top five pick if he had come out a year ago), slip out of the first round to you early in the second round, it might be time to consider drafting one. Apparently not when you are the Bears.

I’m not sure what the Bears team film shows but from what I have seen the root of much of their problems arises from having a player under center who is much more likely to fumble or throw an interception than throw a touchdown (52 turnovers to 31 touchdowns).

So, who did the Bears draft at pick #44 rather than Brian Brohm or Chad Henne? Matt Forte a running back from Tulane. It is true that the Bears have a need at running back thanks to bust-tastic Cedric Benson but like the Broncos and Mr. Royal was Forte really the best still available? I see Ray Rice, Kevin Smith (not Silent Bob, to be clear), Steve Slaton and Mike Hart (among others) still on the board. I follow college football as much as anyone and I can’t say that Forte left much of an impression in actual games.

A related note: I was also prepared to vilify both the Dolphins and Vikings when they passed on the same two quarterbacks early in the second round. Both teams, however, redeemed themselves later, the Dolphins grabbing Henne with the 57^th pick and the Vikings getting John David Booty in the 5^th round. Excellent work fellas. It hurts to not be able to mock the Dolphins. I miss Cam Cameron so.

3 – Green Bay Packers: Let’s play a little game. Let’s look at the stat line of a quarterback in three consecutive years:

Year #1

Rating: 84.5   Comp. %: 58%   Yards: 4089   TDs: 27    Interceptions: 20

Year #2

Rating: 90.2   Comp. %: 61%   Yards: 3366   TDs: 18    Interceptions: 7

Year #3

Rating: 68.8   Comp. %: 55%   Yards: 1994   TDs: 11    Interceptions: 13

Any guesses as to the mystery guest?

That’s right, those are the stats for our old friend Jake Plummer in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 seasons. He of the grandest beard in the game.

So, what changed in that 1 year? Yes, during the offseason the Broncos’ running game disappeared faster than those ’19-0’ t-shirts made by the Patriots but without a doubt, the biggest factor was the Broncos trading up to draft Jay Cutler in the 2006 draft.

As evidenced by Plummer, it is not easy being the quarterback of an NFL team while constantly looking over your shoulder at your replacement, knowing any little mis-step could send you to the bench.

So, I wonder, if a quarterback with 10 years of professional experience was that affected by being labeled ‘Dead Man Walking’, what is going to happen to Aaron Rodgers?

Rodgers has played significant time in one game – at the ‘best team in the NFC’ last season going 18 of 26 for 1 touchdown and no interceptions (passer rating: 105). Yet, the Packers felt they should pull the trigger on Brian Brohm in the 2^nd round of the draft. As if hearing ‘Favre wouldn’t have done that’ after every little mistake wasn’t enough to affect his performance, now he will also be looking over his shoulder at his potential replacement.

I am going to go out on a limb and say this is not going to end well for Mr. Rodgers and his Green Bay neighborhood.

One final note on a quarterback just drafted. Let me start by saying that I am not Ron Jaworski (as if that weren’t self-evident) but I have to say I am glad I am not a Ravens fan. The highlight package of Joe Flacco made him look awfully busty to me, and not in a good way. In my view, the highlights they picked simply showed a quarterback with a strong arm, who likes to chuck the ball down the field and hope for the best. I equate that to Brady Quinn’s college career, throw the ball and hope that your receivers can beat the defense to the ball.

And I think I have made it pretty clear how I feel about Brady Quinn.

Sorry Joe.

Wait, what’s the name of this site?

For weeks now I have been writing about just about anything but the sport for which this web site is named. I’ve covered fantasy baseball, NCAA basketball and even NBA basketball (Mark, I am still waiting for those credentials). I’ve forced thousands of words down your throat about picking NCAA brackets (which I apparently suck at, please ignore all of my advice - seriously). I’ve regaled (which is latin for ‘bored’) you with tales from weekends at fantasy drafts and days spent at March Madness games.

In all of this time, have we discussed pro football? Umm, no. Sure there was that rant about the combine and signing day which could’ve led you to believe that not discussing these items was more of a personal stance against the hype of these fairly meaningless events than me getting distracted by more interesting events (umm, in fact, let’s go with that – it was a personal decision reflecting my deeply held beliefs) but other than that, nothing.

Let’s change that. We have now passed Opening Day and finish up the college basketball season tonight, so let’s start turning our attention back to football and counting the days until first the draft and then the opening days of training camp in July.

Before we get swallowed up by dissecting which of the Long boys should be drafted first overall (too bad, Jay Bilas doesn’t do NFL drafts, we could learn which Long is longer) let’s cover some of the recent happenings in the NFL:

o       Before diving into the latest maneuvering in the NFL I have one final comment on Basketball Festivus. During Day one at the Pepsi Center a few weeks ago, Turner and I made a bet. Once we saw Big Pimpin leading the George Mason band, he was sure that he would get a cameo during One Shining Moment. I argued GMU had to make the second round for him to make the final cut. After Notre Dame finished beating down GMU that night, the bet was on. Sure enough as we both held our breath on Monday night, there he was 1:24 into the song, rocking out with Gang Green. So props to Turner, now on to the NFL…

o       As someone once said, ‘write what you know’. Sure, I ignore that advice pretty much every time my finger touches a key but for once let’s take heed. As you probably did not notice Mike Shanahan has successfully deflected blame for another disappointing Broncos season. Last year, he strung up his defensive coordinator. This year his defensive coordinator jumped ship before he could be the sacrifice so General Manager Ted Sundquist had to go. From a budgetary perspective this move made sense, I don’t think there is anyone who thought poor Ted actually got to Generally Manage the Broncos with Shanahan down the hall.

o        As I have said before, Shanahan has managed this team directly from an AFC Championship game to mediocrity for the foreseeable future in a short two years. Ignoring a pathetic pass rush for years, focusing more on bringing in 17 different cornerbacks and then drafting a quarterback (NOT a position of need for a team who had thrown for 4,000 yards on the way to the AFC title game the previous year), seems to have cemented that Shanahan’s genius reputation is falling faster than the odds on the Packers winning the next Super Bowl. Speaking of the Packers…

o       I admit I have mixed feelings about finally seeing the end of the Favre era. His annual game of will he/won’t he off-season retirement chicken had worn a little thin for some of us (I hear John Madden hung on every word of every press conference though). However, after a year in which his team made it to the NFC Title game and he played better than he had in years, it seems like an odd time to hang it up. Being surrounded by so much great, young talent you would think, he could muster one more year before retiring to a life of backyard football games in his Wrangler jeans.

o        I am happy for Aaron Rodgers though. Not only does he seem to be single-handedly trying to continue the legacy of the Jake Plummer shaggy quarterback look (which is sorely lacking in the straight-laced NFL), but has any other first-round draft pick ever sat on the bench for 3 years without even having an opportunity to battle for the starter’s job? I hope for his sake, he isn’t the one piece keeping the Packers from the title next year or we could end up with the Roger Clemens-esque return of Favre to the field in about week #10 next year. Speaking of Clemens…

o       Did you hear Clemens was implicated for taking steroids and HGH? Speaking of steroids and HGH…

o       Shawne Merriman sat out a whopping four games for testing positive for steroids. Bonds and Clemens have had their entire career record wiped out and never tested positive for anything. There is little doubt both put things in their bodies, but equal outrage for NFL players only seems fair. Speaking of things being put in your body…

o       Did you catch Matt Leinart’s offseason workout? A hot tub full of non-descript co-eds? How the mighty have fallen. Get Matt back to L.A. ASAP! Could we be reaching the point that Matt’s career peaked when he dipped into ‘the toxic slurry that is Paris Hilton’? (Thanks DJ). That would be quite a legacy to leave, though it is starting to feel right. Speaking of right…

o       It’s only right that my old friend Warrick Dunn was cut loose from the nightmare that is the Atlanta Falcons franchise. Warrick is too classy of a guy to have his legacy be defined by his time in Atlanta. Here’s hoping that having a solid line-up around him in Tampa helps to give him one last run at a title. There are few guys in the NFL more deserving. Speaking of deserving…

o       Jason Elam deserved a better deal than was offered to him by the Broncos. Essentially, the Broncos let one of the best players to ever wear the blue and orange and one of the last connections to the Super Bowl teams walk out because they weren’t willing to match the guarantees offered by the Falcons –yes, those Falcons. Elam deserved to spend his whole career in a Bronco uniform. Speaking of the Broncos…

o        I am unspeakably frightened that as long as Shanahan is running the show, one of the NFL’s greatest and most successful franchises (if not the most ignored) will slowly fade into obsolescence.

o        If you think this is using the same prognostication skills that lampooned the thought of four number-ones making the Final Four or the Giants having any chance at winning the Super Bowl, as a reverse jinx to spurn a great Bronco resurgence…you might have better prognostication skills than I do.