The NFL playoffs continue tomorrow and Sunday as the Divisonal round gets under way. This round is historically the most exciting and interesting weekend of the postseason as we get our final week of four-plus football games until August (gasp!) and we get to see the league's top four teams in action against the four hottest wild-card teams. Many of the greatest NFL games I've seen in my lifetime have come in this round. A few examples, you ask? Why, I'd love to! (In no particular order.)
1. "The Snow Game" AKA "The Tuck Rule Game" - In 2002, the playoffs for the 2001 season, the Patriots' dynasty was born in earnest on one of the most controversial and obscure calls in NFL history. New England hosted the Oakland Raiders as a massive blizzard slammed into the New England area and the field was barely visible in this night game that became an instant classic. On a crucial late-game Patriots drive, trailing by 3, Tom Brady was sacked by blitzing cornerback Charles Woodson of the Raiders and the ball came loose. The Raiders quickly jumped on the ball for what appeared to be a game-clinching turnover, but Patriots coach Bill Belichick, in either a brilliant or desperate move, challenged the play on a largely unknown rule, the Tuck Rule, that states that a QB that loses the ball when trying to bring it back into his body is considered to have thrown an incomplete pass. The call was overturned, the Pats made a game-tying field goal and went on to win in overtime on their way to their first ever Super Bowl win.
2. Two OT Game - In 2004, the red-hot St. Louis Rams hosted the Carolina Panthers in the game that effectively marked the end of the "Greatest Show On Turf" era in St. Louis. The Rams offense was well off its dominant pace of the regular season and the Panthers played steady defense to take a 23-12 lead in the fourth quarter. St. Louis rallied, however, and after a Marshall Faulk TD with a successful 2-point conversion, the Rams would recover an onside kick and drive down with a chance to win. In a baffling occurrence, the normally hyper-aggressive Rams head coach Mike Martz, inside the Panthers 20-yard line with under a minute left and a time out remaining, elected to play for the tie and sent the game into overtime. The game would end up going into a second overtime (which prompted most fans to start wondering if there would be a second halftime; turns out, their would have been), but on the first play of the second OT, Panthers QB Jake Delhomme hit Steve Smith for a game-winning 69-yard TD. The Panthers would go on to lose the Super Bowl to the Patriots.
3. The Drunken Canadian Kicker Game - In 2005, the Indianapolis Colts looked like they were going to finally get over the hump. The day before this game, the Colts arch rival New England had come up short against the Denver Broncos (27-13, yay!) in Denver, meaning a Colts win and they would face the Broncos at home for Peyton Manning's first shot at a Super Bowl. The Steelers were the #6 seed in the AFC and had "snuck in" with a 10-6 record, facing division rival Cincinnati in the opening round and dispatching the Bengals after blowing out Carson Palmer's knee in the first quarter. The game took a stunning turn as the Steelers jumped out to a 14 point first quarter lead and led 14-3 at halftime as Manning again struggled against a 3-4 defense. The Steelers would add another TD in the third quarter to lead 21-3, and the game looked like it was slipping away.
Then in the fourth quarter the Colts offense came to life, scoring two TDs to get within 3 points. With 1:20 to play, on fourth and 16, Manning was sacked at the Colts 2 yard line, seeming to end the game. But on the Steelers' next play, tailback Jerome Bettis, relegated to a goal-line back role in his final season, fumbled the ball (his first fumble of the season) on a dive play and Colts safety Bob Sanders picked up the ball with just one man to beat: Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben would make a miraculous tackle, though, and the Colts would take over at their own 42 with all three timeouts in hand. Manning would try to move the Colts for a TD, but after limited success Indy was forced to try a 46-yard field goal to tie with 0:17 to play, and Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt would miss the kick badly, wide right. The Steelers would go on to win the game and the Super Bowl.
The game would be even more memorable because of the infamous rant from Manning at the Pro Bowl that year where he called out Vanderjagt, who had gone on a talk show in Canada, his home country, and ripped Manning and Colts coach Tony Dungy for lacking emotion in their leadership. Manning fired back in a Pro Bowl interview calling Vanderjagt "our idiot kicker who got liquored up and ran his mouth off."
4. "4th and 26" - In 2004, this game became infamous for one play. In a tight game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers in which the Eagles had rallied from a 14-0 second quarter deficit, the Pack led 17-14 with 1:12 left in the fourth quarter. The Eagles had the ball and were facing 4th down with 26 yards to go, and Donovan McNabb found wideout Freddie "FredEx" Mitchell (FredEx because he "always delivers"... or maybe because that's where he works now...) for 28 yards as safety Darren Sharper had inexplicably dropped beyond the first down marker allowing Mitchell to run freely to the sticks. The loss would cost the Packers defensive coordinator his job and the Eagles would go on to win the game in overtime before losing to the Panthers in the NFC Championship game.
These are just a few of the great games we've seen in this round this decade. Not included are a couple other famous Colts losses, the Giants upset of the Cowboys last year, and many others. Let's just hope the trend continues this year. Now on to the picks (as usual, the odds can be found here). I'm going with scores this time for a little added amusement.
Game 1 - Baltimore Ravens (+3) at Tennessee Titans (Saturday, January 10th, 3:30 CST)
The Take: I love the Ravens defense. They were the best unit to play last weekend, hands down. They can stop the run, they can pressure the QB, they can make big plays (turnovers, third down stops, etc.). Heck, they can even score from time to time. That said, there is a reason the Titans earned the #1 seed in the AFC. They have a great defense, too, and this has been lost over the last six games as the Titans went 3-3, but that was with stud defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch out and with Albert Haynesworth missing time at the end. The Titans say they're now healthy, and after a bye week I'm ready to believe it. As much as I love the Ravens defense, their offense scares the hell out of me. The Dolphins showed a little last week against Baltimore's offense, but I think we found out that Miami wasn't as good as I thought. The Titans' defense IS as good as we thought weeks 1-10 of the season, and they'll prove it tomorrow. This could be a great game to watch if you love defense, because neither offense is going to do much. In the end, though, I think the Titans get more out of their veteran QB Kerry Collins than the Ravens get out of their rookie QB Joe Flacco.
The Pick: Titans win and cover narrowly, 17-13.
Game 2 - Arizona Cardinals (+10) at Carolina Panthers (Saturday, January 10th, 7:15 CST)
The Take: By now you've probably heard all the reasons the Cards are dead in this one, but if not, here they are one more time: The Panthers were the only 8-0 home team in the league this year. The Cards were just 3-5 on the road. The Cards were winless in the Eastern time zone this season. The weather could be a factor and the Cards can't run consistently. The Panthers have a solid defense and a great rushing attack. The Panthers have an elite pass rusher in Julius Peppers and Kurt Warner likes to fumble when hit, or touched, or breathed on wrong. That enough? No? Then how about the Panthers game-breaking wideout Steve Smith who's been uncoverable this year and the fact that the Cards have no answer for him in their secondary? I think that about covers it.
The Pick: Panthers to win and cover, 34-21.
Game 3 - Philadelphia Eagles (+4) at New York Giants (Sunday, January 11th, 12:00 CST)
The Take: This seems to be the year of the Wild Card "dark horse." Everyone seems to love three of the four wild card winners (Eagles, Chargers, Ravens) to pull an upset. Frankly, I don't see it. As well as the Eagles played down the stretch of the season and in their win at Minnesota last weekend, the Giants are a whole different animal. Many want to point out that the Eagles beat the Giants in week 15, but how can anyone take a game seriously that was: a) meaningless to the Giants, b) critical for the Eagles, and c) the week after Plaxico Burress decided to take target practice in his pants. Certainly that Giants team was not the one we'll be seeing Sunday. My biggest question in this game is the health of Brandon Jacobs for the Giants, but I think this is only a minimal concern given how well Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw have run in his absence. Interesting note: amazing how neither of the #1 seeds currently have a "star" wide receiver (thanks to Plexiglass's shooting spree). Maybe those prima donna's aren't worth the headache after all.
The Pick: The Giants to win and cover, 20-10.
Game 4 - San Diego Chargers (+6) at Pittsburgh Steelers (Sunday, January 11th, 3:45 CST)
The Take: The size of this point spread is rather surprising considering how much love the Chargers seem to be getting in the media this week. It looks like the betting public isn't buying into the hype, and you can count me in on that. The Chargers are a nice story (unless you're a Broncos or Colts fan) and their turnaround is impressive, but I don't understand why everyone is underselling the Steelers the way they are. Pittsburgh has all the same ingredients this year as they had in 2005 when they won the Super Bowl: a great defense that can kill the run and rush the passer, a good running game (this has been less potent than the Steelers have had historically, but with a week off Willie Parker may be his healthiest of the year (they hope)) and a quarterback that has a knack for pulling off big drives in close games. Seems promising to me. Certainly Roethlisberger's health after his week 17 concussion is a question mark, but I don't think he has to be much better than average for the Steelers to pull this one out.
The Pick: Steelers to win, Chargers to cover, 16-14.
This is the point where I remind you that this is for entertainment purposes, only:
Last Weekend: 1-3 vs. spread, 1-3 choosing winners.
BCS Bowls: 3-2 vs. spread, 3-2 choosing winners.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the blog, please post below or I can be reached at chrisf884@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
State of the Denver Nuggets
As I've mentioned numerous times before in this blog, I still consider Denver to be my hometown even though I currently reside in Houston. Therefore my "home" teams are still the Denver sports franchises (Rockies, Broncos, Nuggets, Avs). So when news breaks (no pun intended) that a Nuggets player has a broken hand and will miss 3-4 weeks, this stands out to me. When that player happens to be their best player, Carmelo Anthony, this is a big deal.
The Nuggets (24-12, #2 in the Western Conference) have been a completely different team this season since the acquisition of Chauncey Billups for "me-first" star Allen Iverson. Don't get me wrong, Allen Iverson is likely a Hall of Famer and in his prime he was a franchise-defining player that could carry a team single-handed. But now, Iverson still has the score-first mindset but without the remaining gas in the tank to be a game-changing player. The Nuggets knew this, and I have to believe the Pistons knew this, too, when they agreed to the trade. The decision for the trade from the Detroit perspective seems pretty clear: they knew their window was almost closed, with The Big Three in Boston and LeBron dominating in Cleveland, in the Eastern Conference Detroit, with its roster at the start of the year, was a second-round playoff team at best.
The choice to move Billups makes perfect sense in the salary cap era. Billups was an aging (while still very effective) guard with 3 years left on his contract, while Iverson was the same aging (yet much less effective) guard with 1 year left on his huge contract. In other words, the Pistons had to decide whether to be above average this year before potentially losing Rasheed Wallace in free agency, or be average this year with the chance to clear Wallace and Iverson off the cap next year and buy some new, younger talent. They chose the latter. We'll never know if they could have made a push this year, one more (last?) time, but we will know in a year or two if the path they chose was correct.
As for the Nuggets, Billups is the perfect player for them right now. It's been an interesting road that has led to this point for Denver. The first incarnation of the Nuggets with Anthony was their most effective run-and-gun style, with Andre Miller manning the point and Marcus Camby, a great defender with enough "hops" to be an effective alley-oop target, playing center. The addition of Kenyon Martin was questionable at this point, as his defense was good but his offense didn't seem particularly suited to the up-and-down the court style. When Melo was suspended for 15 games for an ill-advised cheap shot on a player in a fight against the Knicks, the Nuggets decided that they needed more scoring to replace him, and that a second scorer would give the team more offensive versatility in the long run. This led to the trade of Miller for Iverson.
At first, Iverson's time in Denver was a big success, but as had been the case throughout Anthony's young career, the team simply wasn't good enough defensively or consistent enough offensively to compete in the slow-it-down, every possession counts postseason. Again, Denver was one-and-done in the playoffs. So the Nuggets finally decided that a new direction was needed. When Denver traded Camby for effectively nothing this offseason (officially the rights to swap second-round picks with the Clips in 2010... aka NOTHING), it looked like a clear cost-cutting move as Camby was a highly-paid player at a position where they already had another highly-paid, yet younger, player in Nene. What accidentally happened was the Nuggets put themselves in a position to completely shift gears as a team.
While losing Camby significantly hurt the team's defense and rebounding, the Nuggets have been finding over the last two years or so that both Nene and K-Mart are becoming competent defenders and managing to stay healthy, a huge issue with both. Both are also showing to be plenty competent offensive players in a half-court set, meaning that the missing ingredient was no longer a scorer, but instead a point guard that could actually make plays for his teammates. Allen Iverson, this was not. So when the Pistons decided it was time to make a change (rumors are this trade was discussed in the offseason, although it wasn't consummated until a couple games into the regular season), the Nuggets jumped at it and George Karl, a solid coach that has always liked solid point guards that could defend, got the player he'd been seeking since coming to Denver.
So if Chauncey is so important to the Nuggets' success, why am I so worried about the injury to Carmelo? Simply put, Carmelo is still the heart of this team. One thing I have definitely seen over the first 2 months of the season is that every member of the U.S. Olympic basketball team, particularly the starters, from Melo to D-Wade to LeBron to Chris Paul to Dwight Howard, has shown a dramatic increase in both confidence and leadership ability. Each of these guys bought fully into the team concept and it was refreshing to see the way they functioned in Beijing. Now, this has spilled over into the NBA season as these players are all leading top teams in the NBA.
What's my point in all of this? Maybe I'm just trying to justify this being more than just another Nuggets team that wins in the regular season only. Or maybe there's more here than that. Maybe, just maybe, the Nuggets have finally found the combination that they've been needing all these years. The next few weeks will be very telling, because the Nuggets have to at least maintain a .500 record while Melo is out to avoid losing serious ground in the brutal Western Conference. But if ever there was a Nuggets team that could survive time without Melo, this just might be it.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the blog, please post below or I can be reached at chrisf884@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.
The Nuggets (24-12, #2 in the Western Conference) have been a completely different team this season since the acquisition of Chauncey Billups for "me-first" star Allen Iverson. Don't get me wrong, Allen Iverson is likely a Hall of Famer and in his prime he was a franchise-defining player that could carry a team single-handed. But now, Iverson still has the score-first mindset but without the remaining gas in the tank to be a game-changing player. The Nuggets knew this, and I have to believe the Pistons knew this, too, when they agreed to the trade. The decision for the trade from the Detroit perspective seems pretty clear: they knew their window was almost closed, with The Big Three in Boston and LeBron dominating in Cleveland, in the Eastern Conference Detroit, with its roster at the start of the year, was a second-round playoff team at best.
The choice to move Billups makes perfect sense in the salary cap era. Billups was an aging (while still very effective) guard with 3 years left on his contract, while Iverson was the same aging (yet much less effective) guard with 1 year left on his huge contract. In other words, the Pistons had to decide whether to be above average this year before potentially losing Rasheed Wallace in free agency, or be average this year with the chance to clear Wallace and Iverson off the cap next year and buy some new, younger talent. They chose the latter. We'll never know if they could have made a push this year, one more (last?) time, but we will know in a year or two if the path they chose was correct.
As for the Nuggets, Billups is the perfect player for them right now. It's been an interesting road that has led to this point for Denver. The first incarnation of the Nuggets with Anthony was their most effective run-and-gun style, with Andre Miller manning the point and Marcus Camby, a great defender with enough "hops" to be an effective alley-oop target, playing center. The addition of Kenyon Martin was questionable at this point, as his defense was good but his offense didn't seem particularly suited to the up-and-down the court style. When Melo was suspended for 15 games for an ill-advised cheap shot on a player in a fight against the Knicks, the Nuggets decided that they needed more scoring to replace him, and that a second scorer would give the team more offensive versatility in the long run. This led to the trade of Miller for Iverson.
At first, Iverson's time in Denver was a big success, but as had been the case throughout Anthony's young career, the team simply wasn't good enough defensively or consistent enough offensively to compete in the slow-it-down, every possession counts postseason. Again, Denver was one-and-done in the playoffs. So the Nuggets finally decided that a new direction was needed. When Denver traded Camby for effectively nothing this offseason (officially the rights to swap second-round picks with the Clips in 2010... aka NOTHING), it looked like a clear cost-cutting move as Camby was a highly-paid player at a position where they already had another highly-paid, yet younger, player in Nene. What accidentally happened was the Nuggets put themselves in a position to completely shift gears as a team.
While losing Camby significantly hurt the team's defense and rebounding, the Nuggets have been finding over the last two years or so that both Nene and K-Mart are becoming competent defenders and managing to stay healthy, a huge issue with both. Both are also showing to be plenty competent offensive players in a half-court set, meaning that the missing ingredient was no longer a scorer, but instead a point guard that could actually make plays for his teammates. Allen Iverson, this was not. So when the Pistons decided it was time to make a change (rumors are this trade was discussed in the offseason, although it wasn't consummated until a couple games into the regular season), the Nuggets jumped at it and George Karl, a solid coach that has always liked solid point guards that could defend, got the player he'd been seeking since coming to Denver.
So if Chauncey is so important to the Nuggets' success, why am I so worried about the injury to Carmelo? Simply put, Carmelo is still the heart of this team. One thing I have definitely seen over the first 2 months of the season is that every member of the U.S. Olympic basketball team, particularly the starters, from Melo to D-Wade to LeBron to Chris Paul to Dwight Howard, has shown a dramatic increase in both confidence and leadership ability. Each of these guys bought fully into the team concept and it was refreshing to see the way they functioned in Beijing. Now, this has spilled over into the NBA season as these players are all leading top teams in the NBA.
What's my point in all of this? Maybe I'm just trying to justify this being more than just another Nuggets team that wins in the regular season only. Or maybe there's more here than that. Maybe, just maybe, the Nuggets have finally found the combination that they've been needing all these years. The next few weeks will be very telling, because the Nuggets have to at least maintain a .500 record while Melo is out to avoid losing serious ground in the brutal Western Conference. But if ever there was a Nuggets team that could survive time without Melo, this just might be it.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the blog, please post below or I can be reached at chrisf884@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Did Texas Do Enough?
The Texas Longhorns, likely the team most betrayed by the BCS system this year as they fell short of making the Big XII and National Championship games only because of the computers and formulas of the BCS, faced the Ohio State Buckeyes last night in yet another classic Fiesta Bowl. (How is it that the Fiesta Bowl seems to always get the best games year after year? This game, the infamous Oklahoma-Boise State game two years ago, the thrilling Miami-Ohio State national title game in 2002, etc.) Here are a few thoughts on the game and its ramifications.
Coming into the game, the Longhorns were an 8.5 point favorite (I took them to cover figuring they had much more to play for) and were looking to make a statement and argument for a portion of the title. Instead it took a late rally to survive the Buckeyes with a 24-21 win. Is this the statement they needed to make? Absolutely not. The Buckeyes showed much more than anyone outside of the greater Columbus area expected, but the fact that the Texas offense generated just 24 points after claiming all along that they were the best offense in the country was telling. Yes the Buckeyes had a strong defense all year, but there was little doubt that their defensive numbers were inflated, at least somewhat, by playing in the weak Big Ten conference. For Colt McCoy and crew to muster just 24 points (despite going over 400 yards offense) will be very damning, especially in the era of running up the score. Voters seem to be much more impressed by lopsided, poor-sportsmanship demonstrating blow-outs than they are quality games.
So how would my top five be shaping up right now? I'd have to put Texas in the number 5 spot, despite their 12-1 mark in the rough Big XII. At number 4, simply do to the fact that there are still tons of questions about how they'd do against the other top teams, I'd put the Utah Utes. Yes, they're the only unbeaten team and defeated four top-25 teams this year, but I still don't know that they'd beat any of the top 3 on a neutral field. At number 3 I'll go with the loser of the Oklahoma-Florida game on Thursday. Sure, that team will have 2 losses, but the teams that have defeated them (Texas for OU and a much stronger than expected Ole Miss team for Florida) are both top-10 caliber teams in my mind. Of course, this is assuming a close title game. A blowout and the loser drops to number 5 instantly.
At number 2 I'd have to put the USC Trojans. This team has the best defense I can remember seeing since I've started following college football. This squad is absolutely loaded with pro talent on both sides of the ball, and if not for a hiccup on a short week (remember, their loss against Oregon State was on a Thursday night and on the road), they'd probably be the clear #1. Obviously at number 1 will be the winner of the national championship game. As much as everyone likes to complain about how things have shaken out, I fully believe that both of these teams (OU and Florida) are as deserving of the title shot and the winner will have the best win on their resume in a postseason game of any of the top 5.
It's sad what college football has allowed itself to become: a beauty contest. (I'd say a popularity contest, but I think Texas is more popular than Oklahoma and yet the Longhorns got shafted worse than anyone else.) Teams are again expected to run up the score on inferior opponents (which also removes any motivation to schedule decent non-conference opponents because a close game hurts both teams) and causes poor sportsmanship to be accepted and even praised. Look at the Sooners this year: they mercilessly ran up the score against Missouri in the conference title game in order to get to the 60 point plateau for a record-setting fifth straight game, and they were roundly applauded for this lack of class. If the conference commissioners truly believe that constant criticism and venom toward their sport is good for the game, then by all means they should continue the BCS system. If not... well, I guess the "if not" is never going to happen.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the blog, please post below or I can be reached at chrisf884@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.
Coming into the game, the Longhorns were an 8.5 point favorite (I took them to cover figuring they had much more to play for) and were looking to make a statement and argument for a portion of the title. Instead it took a late rally to survive the Buckeyes with a 24-21 win. Is this the statement they needed to make? Absolutely not. The Buckeyes showed much more than anyone outside of the greater Columbus area expected, but the fact that the Texas offense generated just 24 points after claiming all along that they were the best offense in the country was telling. Yes the Buckeyes had a strong defense all year, but there was little doubt that their defensive numbers were inflated, at least somewhat, by playing in the weak Big Ten conference. For Colt McCoy and crew to muster just 24 points (despite going over 400 yards offense) will be very damning, especially in the era of running up the score. Voters seem to be much more impressed by lopsided, poor-sportsmanship demonstrating blow-outs than they are quality games.
So how would my top five be shaping up right now? I'd have to put Texas in the number 5 spot, despite their 12-1 mark in the rough Big XII. At number 4, simply do to the fact that there are still tons of questions about how they'd do against the other top teams, I'd put the Utah Utes. Yes, they're the only unbeaten team and defeated four top-25 teams this year, but I still don't know that they'd beat any of the top 3 on a neutral field. At number 3 I'll go with the loser of the Oklahoma-Florida game on Thursday. Sure, that team will have 2 losses, but the teams that have defeated them (Texas for OU and a much stronger than expected Ole Miss team for Florida) are both top-10 caliber teams in my mind. Of course, this is assuming a close title game. A blowout and the loser drops to number 5 instantly.
At number 2 I'd have to put the USC Trojans. This team has the best defense I can remember seeing since I've started following college football. This squad is absolutely loaded with pro talent on both sides of the ball, and if not for a hiccup on a short week (remember, their loss against Oregon State was on a Thursday night and on the road), they'd probably be the clear #1. Obviously at number 1 will be the winner of the national championship game. As much as everyone likes to complain about how things have shaken out, I fully believe that both of these teams (OU and Florida) are as deserving of the title shot and the winner will have the best win on their resume in a postseason game of any of the top 5.
It's sad what college football has allowed itself to become: a beauty contest. (I'd say a popularity contest, but I think Texas is more popular than Oklahoma and yet the Longhorns got shafted worse than anyone else.) Teams are again expected to run up the score on inferior opponents (which also removes any motivation to schedule decent non-conference opponents because a close game hurts both teams) and causes poor sportsmanship to be accepted and even praised. Look at the Sooners this year: they mercilessly ran up the score against Missouri in the conference title game in order to get to the 60 point plateau for a record-setting fifth straight game, and they were roundly applauded for this lack of class. If the conference commissioners truly believe that constant criticism and venom toward their sport is good for the game, then by all means they should continue the BCS system. If not... well, I guess the "if not" is never going to happen.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the blog, please post below or I can be reached at chrisf884@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.
Monday, January 5, 2009
The Weekend That Was
Starting with Friday night's Utah-Alabama game, we were treated to some very good football games over the weekend and there were a lot interesting happenings in these matchups. Perhaps this wasn't an abnormally strong weekend of football, being that none of the games stood out as all-time greats, but we got a good collection of close games on Friday and Saturday and two dominant performances on Sunday.
Let's start with Friday night's Sugar Bowl. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm three for three against the spread in the BCS bowls so far, but I was wrong on the winner in this one. As a Mountain West graduate and fan, I was optimistic that the Utes would be able to at least keep the game close against an Alabama team that I believed was physically superior. Instead it was the Utah team imposing its will on the Crimson Tide in the first quarter, jumping out 21-0 and never really looking back. The most impressive aspect, in addition to Brian Johnson's 300-yard passing day, for Utah was their total dominance defensively. While Alabama scored 17 points, their TDs came on a short field and on a punt return, neither on long, controlled drives. Now Tide fans are arguing (and rightly so) that they were handicapped by the suspension of star left tackle Andre Smith, possibly the best offensive lineman in the country and a key cog in the Alabama running attack. This certainly made things more difficult on the Alabama offense, but I'd hardly call this the difference in the game. Utah was dominant on both offense and defense, and clearly has made a case for being the #1 team in the country, finishing as the lone unbeaten.
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Next let's look at the Arizona Cardinals win over the Atlanta Falcons. As I patted myself on the back for the BCS bowl picks, I'll admit I was just 1 for 4 on the weekend in picking the NFL. The funny thing is, none of the results I was incorrect on were particularly surprising. First, the Cardinals win was one I missed, and I regretted this pick Saturday as I started watching the game. I can't believe I bought into the hype of a rookie quarterback being favored on the road. Not so smart. This isn't to say that Atlanta's Matt Ryan was the reason the Falcons lost. On the contrary, it was inspired play by the Cardinals defense, particularly their run defense, that was the stunner of this game. Just three weeks after being gashed by Adrian Peterson in a 35-14 home loss and two weeks after giving up over 200 yards rushing to the Pats on the road, the Cards used the crowd to fuel an impressive performance and shut down the league's #2 rusher. Michael Turner was stuck in his backfield all game, finding no room to run and even being in the middle of a Cardinals touchdown when he and Ryan were hit before they could even complete the exchange on a handoff. Maybe the Cardinals still aren't the better team, but they stepped up to the challenge while the Falcons failed to execute.
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The late game Saturday was brutal. Absolutely brutal. I'm a big Peyton Manning fan. Let's get that out in the air right now. I also have a more-than-slight dislike for the Chargers, considering that I'm a Broncos fan. That said, the Colts kind of gave this one away, and the Chargers can completely thank punter Mike Scifres for this victory. First, the Colts: where is your vaunted offense? Come on! Indianapolis failed to get any real productive drives going late in the game when they were protecting a 3-point lead. On their final possession, with just over two minutes left and a chance to seal a victory with a first down, the Colts managed to give up a sack. Maybe Peyton Manning isn't the one that struggles with the 3-4 defense; maybe it's the Indy offensive line and their coaches that are the problem. How a team missing its best pass rusher could get constant pressure on Manning AND shut down the Colts running game is beyond me. There's no doubt in my mind that the Colts' offensive struggles were the reason they ultimately lost, because their defense seemed like it was on the field the entire second half.
Second, Mike Scifres may have had the best day of any punter in NFL history. All six of his punts pinned the Colts inside their 20 yard line, and four of those put the Colts inside their own five. This includes the most crucial punt, pinning the Colts at their own 1 late in the fourth quarter when the Chargers were still trailing and needed to get the ball back with good field position to have a chance. An absolutely incredible performance.
Last point on this one, and I won't dwell on it because things like this usually come off sounding like sour grapes, but what game, exactly, were the officials watching? Seriously. How in the world could the Chargers only be flagged three times, and only once on offense, while the Colts were flagged three times on the Chargers' game-winning drive ALONE. Indy was penalized a total of nine times, to the aforementioned three against the Chargers. This cannot possibly be accurate, and may well have been the difference in the game. I don't necessarily ask that the refs keep the flags in their pocket all game, but at least TRY to call the game evenly, and maybe not throw the flag on close calls late in a tight game (like the crushing defensive holding on 3rd and 8 on San Diego's final drive).
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The Miami-Baltimore game is probably the one pick I most wish I had back. I had the feeling that this game would turn out exactly the way it did, but I hoped the Dolphins would prove me wrong. Yes, I said I thought that Chad Pennington would be the difference in the game, and I was right, in the wrong sense. Pennington struggled to deal with the constant pressure that Baltimore put on him, making poor throws and questionable decisions throughout the game. The reason for this was that the Ravens completely shut down the Dolphins' running game early on, and then they put together a lead that made the Phins have to pass to try and come back. This, of course, was the ultimate recipe for disaster. As good as Pennington and Miami's offense have been this year, they have never shown the ability to put up points quickly or in bunches, so any kind of a significant deficit (two scores or more) was likely to spell doom for the Dolphins. Indeed, I could well have called it game over as soon as Baltimore's Ed Reed made his first pick and took it back for a score. At this point, you just had to have the feeling that the Dolphins weren't going to be able to come from behind in that game, and quickly the mistakes and turnovers piled up and the game was out of reach.
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The game I got right! Yay! The Eagles-Vikings tilt was rather easy to call, and the only thing that might have changed the equation was if the Vikings had done the smart thing and played Gus Frerotte instead of Tarvaris Jackson. With the Vikings missing two starting defensive linemen, and Donovan McNabb playing extremely well toward the end of the season, the Vikings were behind the eight-ball to begin with. As good as Adrian Peterson is, he cannot carry the team if there is absolutely no threat of a passing game, which was the case for most of the game for Minnesota. The Eagles led early and the Asante Samuel TAINT (TD after INT; copyright Bill Simmons, ESPN.com) took the Metrodome crowd largely out of the game, something the Eagles had to do to really have a chance. In the end, after Brian Westbrook had successfully proven that he's the best receiving back in football with a 71-yard catch and run on a screen pass, Jackson was asked to win the game for the Vikings and this just wasn't going to happen. All told, the Eagles may be the "scary team" in the NFC playoffs this year, so maybe the Vikings were just victim #1.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the blog, please post below or I can be reached at chrisf884@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.
Let's start with Friday night's Sugar Bowl. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm three for three against the spread in the BCS bowls so far, but I was wrong on the winner in this one. As a Mountain West graduate and fan, I was optimistic that the Utes would be able to at least keep the game close against an Alabama team that I believed was physically superior. Instead it was the Utah team imposing its will on the Crimson Tide in the first quarter, jumping out 21-0 and never really looking back. The most impressive aspect, in addition to Brian Johnson's 300-yard passing day, for Utah was their total dominance defensively. While Alabama scored 17 points, their TDs came on a short field and on a punt return, neither on long, controlled drives. Now Tide fans are arguing (and rightly so) that they were handicapped by the suspension of star left tackle Andre Smith, possibly the best offensive lineman in the country and a key cog in the Alabama running attack. This certainly made things more difficult on the Alabama offense, but I'd hardly call this the difference in the game. Utah was dominant on both offense and defense, and clearly has made a case for being the #1 team in the country, finishing as the lone unbeaten.
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Next let's look at the Arizona Cardinals win over the Atlanta Falcons. As I patted myself on the back for the BCS bowl picks, I'll admit I was just 1 for 4 on the weekend in picking the NFL. The funny thing is, none of the results I was incorrect on were particularly surprising. First, the Cardinals win was one I missed, and I regretted this pick Saturday as I started watching the game. I can't believe I bought into the hype of a rookie quarterback being favored on the road. Not so smart. This isn't to say that Atlanta's Matt Ryan was the reason the Falcons lost. On the contrary, it was inspired play by the Cardinals defense, particularly their run defense, that was the stunner of this game. Just three weeks after being gashed by Adrian Peterson in a 35-14 home loss and two weeks after giving up over 200 yards rushing to the Pats on the road, the Cards used the crowd to fuel an impressive performance and shut down the league's #2 rusher. Michael Turner was stuck in his backfield all game, finding no room to run and even being in the middle of a Cardinals touchdown when he and Ryan were hit before they could even complete the exchange on a handoff. Maybe the Cardinals still aren't the better team, but they stepped up to the challenge while the Falcons failed to execute.
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The late game Saturday was brutal. Absolutely brutal. I'm a big Peyton Manning fan. Let's get that out in the air right now. I also have a more-than-slight dislike for the Chargers, considering that I'm a Broncos fan. That said, the Colts kind of gave this one away, and the Chargers can completely thank punter Mike Scifres for this victory. First, the Colts: where is your vaunted offense? Come on! Indianapolis failed to get any real productive drives going late in the game when they were protecting a 3-point lead. On their final possession, with just over two minutes left and a chance to seal a victory with a first down, the Colts managed to give up a sack. Maybe Peyton Manning isn't the one that struggles with the 3-4 defense; maybe it's the Indy offensive line and their coaches that are the problem. How a team missing its best pass rusher could get constant pressure on Manning AND shut down the Colts running game is beyond me. There's no doubt in my mind that the Colts' offensive struggles were the reason they ultimately lost, because their defense seemed like it was on the field the entire second half.
Second, Mike Scifres may have had the best day of any punter in NFL history. All six of his punts pinned the Colts inside their 20 yard line, and four of those put the Colts inside their own five. This includes the most crucial punt, pinning the Colts at their own 1 late in the fourth quarter when the Chargers were still trailing and needed to get the ball back with good field position to have a chance. An absolutely incredible performance.
Last point on this one, and I won't dwell on it because things like this usually come off sounding like sour grapes, but what game, exactly, were the officials watching? Seriously. How in the world could the Chargers only be flagged three times, and only once on offense, while the Colts were flagged three times on the Chargers' game-winning drive ALONE. Indy was penalized a total of nine times, to the aforementioned three against the Chargers. This cannot possibly be accurate, and may well have been the difference in the game. I don't necessarily ask that the refs keep the flags in their pocket all game, but at least TRY to call the game evenly, and maybe not throw the flag on close calls late in a tight game (like the crushing defensive holding on 3rd and 8 on San Diego's final drive).
###
The Miami-Baltimore game is probably the one pick I most wish I had back. I had the feeling that this game would turn out exactly the way it did, but I hoped the Dolphins would prove me wrong. Yes, I said I thought that Chad Pennington would be the difference in the game, and I was right, in the wrong sense. Pennington struggled to deal with the constant pressure that Baltimore put on him, making poor throws and questionable decisions throughout the game. The reason for this was that the Ravens completely shut down the Dolphins' running game early on, and then they put together a lead that made the Phins have to pass to try and come back. This, of course, was the ultimate recipe for disaster. As good as Pennington and Miami's offense have been this year, they have never shown the ability to put up points quickly or in bunches, so any kind of a significant deficit (two scores or more) was likely to spell doom for the Dolphins. Indeed, I could well have called it game over as soon as Baltimore's Ed Reed made his first pick and took it back for a score. At this point, you just had to have the feeling that the Dolphins weren't going to be able to come from behind in that game, and quickly the mistakes and turnovers piled up and the game was out of reach.
###
The game I got right! Yay! The Eagles-Vikings tilt was rather easy to call, and the only thing that might have changed the equation was if the Vikings had done the smart thing and played Gus Frerotte instead of Tarvaris Jackson. With the Vikings missing two starting defensive linemen, and Donovan McNabb playing extremely well toward the end of the season, the Vikings were behind the eight-ball to begin with. As good as Adrian Peterson is, he cannot carry the team if there is absolutely no threat of a passing game, which was the case for most of the game for Minnesota. The Eagles led early and the Asante Samuel TAINT (TD after INT; copyright Bill Simmons, ESPN.com) took the Metrodome crowd largely out of the game, something the Eagles had to do to really have a chance. In the end, after Brian Westbrook had successfully proven that he's the best receiving back in football with a 71-yard catch and run on a screen pass, Jackson was asked to win the game for the Vikings and this just wasn't going to happen. All told, the Eagles may be the "scary team" in the NFC playoffs this year, so maybe the Vikings were just victim #1.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the blog, please post below or I can be reached at chrisf884@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.
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