The NFL news continues to pile up this week as most teams start their offseason while the fortunate four prepare for conference championship weekend. The biggest news has to be the resignation/retirement of Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy. This didn't necessarily come as a huge shock as Dungy had intimated before the season that this could very well be his final run; he had even gone so far as to name a successor. The Colts followed through with the promise to name Jim Caldwell, the Colts' quarterbacks coach for the past several years, as the new head coach despite some of the big names available.
The other big news is the filling of arguably the most high-profile coaching job opening in the league. With the Broncos naming former Patriots' offensive coordinator (and recent high school graduate, or so I'm told) Josh McDaniels as their new head coach, the number of coaching vacancies has dropped to three, although there remains the possibility that the Chiefs will let Herm Edwards go. This became an even greater possibility, even a likelihood, with the Chiefs hiring of Scott Pioli as general manager. Pioli is another former Patriot, meaning that the Patriots are having an impact on almost half of the league in one way or another. Whether this is for the best remains to be seen.
Looking at the history of Bill Belichick alum, success has been hard to come by. The most recent Belichick coaches have been mediocre at best. The first to leave the nest, former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, have found significant difficulty in their time as head men. Weis had a great start at Notre Dame four years ago making a BCS bowl in his first season (with star quarterback Brady Quinn leading the Irish), but Notre Dame lost that bowl game in a rout and has been in decline since, even going just 3-9 in 2007 before "bouncing back" to 7-6 last year. Although Weis signed a 10-year contract extension after that first successful season, Irish boosters were still willing to put together the $10 million+ that it would take to buy him out (read: fire him). This hasn't happened... yet.
For Crennel, the success didn't come until his third year as Cleveland Browns head coach. With quarterback issues plaguing the team in its first two years, the Browns rode a great season (resulting in a Pro Bowl) by QB Derek Anderson to a 10-6 record in 2007, yet the brutal AFC prevented the Browns from making the playoffs. This also happened to be a contract year for the third year pro Anderson, meaning the Browns were forced to commit significant money to a one-year wonder in case he carried that 2007 season into a quality career. Signs point to no on that, although Anderson suffered multiple injuries in 2008 and the Browns back-slid with a 6-10 record and Crennel is gone.
The third Belichick disciple to leave was Eric Mangini, who had replaced Crennel as Pats defensive coordinator in 2005. In 2006, Mangini took over the Patriots' division rival New York Jets when the aforementioned Herm Edwards was fired, and Mangini found immediate success making the playoffs in his first season. The following two years were tumultuous, however, as the Jets went 4-12 in 2007 due to quarterback Chad Pennington's season-long battle with shoulder injuries and followed that up with the Year of Favre in 2008. This season the Jets started out extremely well with much fanfare after the trade for the future Hall of Fame quarterback, but as the year dragged on and the weather grew colder and more unpredictable, so did Favre. The Jets offense lost its ability to move the ball consistently and the defense wasn't good enough to make up for it, leading the Jets to finish a disappointing 9-7 and fail to make the playoffs, costing Mangini his job.
Mangini bounced back quickly, landing the Browns job from Crennel, but the fact remains that Bill Belichick's coaching tree, while large in number, has yet to find significant success outside of Massachusetts. Does this mean McDaniels and Mangini will fail, or that Weis and the Irish will not rebound, or that Crennel should be out of football? Of course not. At least I hope not as a Broncos fan. It just means that not all great coaches produce other great coaches, and not all great assistants become quality head coaches (just ask Cam Cameron).
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 13, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
What to Make of This Weekend
I've been saying all along that this has been one of the strangest NFL seasons I can remember, so I suppose the results from this weekend's games should not come as a huge surprise. When the best teams in the league are a Giants team that seemed to be riding its momentum from their 2008 postseason run (until their star wide receiver shot himself in the leg...) and a Titans team that abandoned its opening day starting QB after less than one game for a 36-year-old journeyman, I guess you can probably say things didn't exactly go as expected.
From week 1, we knew this was going to be an odd year. Other than the Titans benching an injured Vince Young for the well-aged Kerry Collins (Young's injury was minor, but the benching turned out to be permanent), we saw the prohibitive favorite New England Patriots lose the reigning league MVP, Tom Brady, for the year week 1, thrusting a player (Matt Cassel) into the starting lineup that famously hadn't started a game since high school. We also saw a hurricane again derail a team's season (although a brutal opening schedule for the Texans was already a probably going to keep them from succeeding) and a superstar quarterback, Peyton Manning, struggle with injury, seemingly for the first time in his illustrious career.
As the season progressed, the good separated from the bad, but those on both ends came as huge surprises. The previously 1-15 Dolphins showed stunning signs of life, the Giants looked like a dominant force that was on a mission to repeat, the Titans were the final unbeaten team through 10 games, the Falcons were reborn with a new star QB (Matt Ryan) and a budding star RB (Michael Turner), and the entirety of teams in Western divisions looked like j.v. teams. On the other side, the much-hyped Jaguars never found any traction and eventually gave up on the season by week 10. The Detroit Lions finally rid themselves of GM Matt Millen, but celebrated by not winning a game all year. The also-hyped Browns suffered injuries and a major quarterback controversy before settling on Ken Dorsey to lead their failed season.
Why am I rehashing all of these old stories? Again, this is to give you the proper background for one of the most stunning postseason weekends in sports history.
On Saturday, the early game was one of two very popular upset picks: the Ravens over the Titans. I did not (and still don't, really) think the Ravens had the talent to compete with the Titans, and it showed on the field on Saturday. Unfortunately for Tennessee, talent alone does not win football games. The Ravens gameplan was very clear: control the ball, take very few chances and wait for the Titans to make mistakes. And they did. While the Ravens were very cautious offensively, picking their spots to take chances down the field, the Titans were aggressive and moved the ball very well. But the Ravens defense was its normal advantageous self, and each time the Titans made an error, the Ravens were there to pounce. I still feel the Titans are the better team, and it even showed, but luck was clearly on Baltimore's side (don't get me started on the blown delay of game call) and Baltimore took full advantage for the upset.
Little did we know, this was just the appetizer, and the best upset dish was to be served Saturday night. As I wrote on Friday, many Divisional round games have given us some great finishes, and often these games have come in the late-Saturday time slot. The Cardinals-Panthers game will not go down as a classic for one reason: only one team participated. Much of the criticism on Panthers coach John Fox in the aftermath of the stunning 33-13 blowout loss is on his defense's inability to adjust to the Cardinals offensive gameplan; that is, get the ball to Larry Freaking Fitzgerald. As if anyone thought the Cards would do otherwise. Yet L-Fitz was routinely single covered or running free in a zone while the Panthers secondary watched him go wherever he wanted.
Clearly, Carolina's inability to stop the Cards' greatest weapon doomed them, but let's not let the Panthers offensive gameplan off the hook. As much as we'd like to pile on poor Jake Delhomme for his career-worst performance, don't let the coaches get away easy. After the opening drive, the Panthers inexplicably abandoned the run and went into pass-wacky, air-it-out mode. Delhomme was constantly throwing deep (to Muhsin Muhammad, of all people) while the league's #3 ranked rush offense went under-utilized. Even knowing that they were behind by two scores fairly early, there's still no excuse for this. Not only did the Panthers abandon the run, but they also failed to use their RBs Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams in the passing game. Nor did they find a way to get arguably their best playmaker, WR Steve Smith, the ball in space with a chance to beat defenders 1-on-1.
Now, while it's easy to pick on the Panthers, credit certainly must be given to the Cardinals as well. Kurt Warner is playing at an elite QB level, largely because his offensive line is keeping him upright. There is no doubt that this has been the key to Warner's success in his career: keep him clean, and he'll win you games. If he gets knocked around, very bad things happen. (NOTE TO PHILADELPHIA: Get pressure on Kurt Warner!) As for the Cardinals defense, whoever found the on-switch for that unit deserves a big raise. They are playing with as much intensity and confidence as you'll ever see a defense have. They really remind me of the Colts defense the year they won the Super Bowl; it's been that kind of miraculous transformation from the regular season to the playoffs, although there's no single ingredient that has changed for Arizona like there was with Indy (Bob Sanders was hurt until the playoffs).
Sunday's games were a little less surprising, maybe because we were all so stunned still from the night before. The early game was probably the most-predicted upset (of the five Fox pre-game talking-heads, all except Michael Strahan (duh) picked the Eagles to win, although most of their reasons were weak at best) of the weekend. Philadelphia, legend has it, reminds everyone of last year's Giants. Fine, but they're facing this year's Giants, aka the NFC's best team, so is this some Bizarro football game, or what? Well, turns out Eli Manning really, really, REALLY, misses Plaxico Burress after all. The Eagles won the game by minimizing the damage the Giants could do on the ground and making Eli beat them, which he simply couldn't with that receiving corps.
On a side topic, what is it with Peyton Manning and Eli Manning's fluttery passes? For two players that can throw deep just fine, and can muster "zip" on their passes from time-to-time, they both throw some of the ugliest ducks you'll ever see. Don't get me wrong, they're both tremendously accurate with those ducks, but when they face bad weather (see: Peyton in New England in January, Eli at home any time after December 1st), those flutter-balls miss way too often. Can anyone explain the logic behind this?
Anyway, the Eagles played a very solid game. McNabb showed ample arm strength and escapability to survive the tough playing conditions and Andy Reid wasn't put into a situation where he had to make any real difficult decisions. The Eagles were clearly very well prepared for the game, and they had a great game plan: move McNabb around to free up short passes and occasionally throw deep. The running game was not used much, but it wasn't needed much as the Giants simply couldn't get to McNabb with their pass rush, no matter how obvious the passing situation was. You give the Giants a healthy Justin Tuck and Plaxico Burress, not to mention Osi Umenyiora, and this could be a much different game.
Finally, the universe returned to normal for the Sunday afternoon game between the Steelers and Chargers. As incredible (read: lucky) as the Chargers postseason run had been, they were clearly a flawed team throughout the season and it was just a matter of time before a team was able to exploit those flaws in a playoff game. Even if the Steelers hadn't done it, I don't doubt the Ravens would have themselves. Here's the flaw: their defense is only mediocre without Shawne Merriman and they can't stop the run. The plan of attack, as the Steelers showed, was to run, run, run and then throw deep when the safeties inevitably came up to help stop the run. Game, set, match. The Steelers were able to completely neutralize San Diego's running game, really eliminating Darren Sproles and Michael Bennett from the game entirely until Sproles's late, meaningless TD (on a catch, no less).
In the end, it was a crazy weekend of football, with the home teams going just 1-3, and with the three losing home teams combining for just 34 points. So the next question is: Is a first round bye really beneficial for the teams that get them? But that's a topic for another day.
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.
From week 1, we knew this was going to be an odd year. Other than the Titans benching an injured Vince Young for the well-aged Kerry Collins (Young's injury was minor, but the benching turned out to be permanent), we saw the prohibitive favorite New England Patriots lose the reigning league MVP, Tom Brady, for the year week 1, thrusting a player (Matt Cassel) into the starting lineup that famously hadn't started a game since high school. We also saw a hurricane again derail a team's season (although a brutal opening schedule for the Texans was already a probably going to keep them from succeeding) and a superstar quarterback, Peyton Manning, struggle with injury, seemingly for the first time in his illustrious career.
As the season progressed, the good separated from the bad, but those on both ends came as huge surprises. The previously 1-15 Dolphins showed stunning signs of life, the Giants looked like a dominant force that was on a mission to repeat, the Titans were the final unbeaten team through 10 games, the Falcons were reborn with a new star QB (Matt Ryan) and a budding star RB (Michael Turner), and the entirety of teams in Western divisions looked like j.v. teams. On the other side, the much-hyped Jaguars never found any traction and eventually gave up on the season by week 10. The Detroit Lions finally rid themselves of GM Matt Millen, but celebrated by not winning a game all year. The also-hyped Browns suffered injuries and a major quarterback controversy before settling on Ken Dorsey to lead their failed season.
Why am I rehashing all of these old stories? Again, this is to give you the proper background for one of the most stunning postseason weekends in sports history.
On Saturday, the early game was one of two very popular upset picks: the Ravens over the Titans. I did not (and still don't, really) think the Ravens had the talent to compete with the Titans, and it showed on the field on Saturday. Unfortunately for Tennessee, talent alone does not win football games. The Ravens gameplan was very clear: control the ball, take very few chances and wait for the Titans to make mistakes. And they did. While the Ravens were very cautious offensively, picking their spots to take chances down the field, the Titans were aggressive and moved the ball very well. But the Ravens defense was its normal advantageous self, and each time the Titans made an error, the Ravens were there to pounce. I still feel the Titans are the better team, and it even showed, but luck was clearly on Baltimore's side (don't get me started on the blown delay of game call) and Baltimore took full advantage for the upset.
Little did we know, this was just the appetizer, and the best upset dish was to be served Saturday night. As I wrote on Friday, many Divisional round games have given us some great finishes, and often these games have come in the late-Saturday time slot. The Cardinals-Panthers game will not go down as a classic for one reason: only one team participated. Much of the criticism on Panthers coach John Fox in the aftermath of the stunning 33-13 blowout loss is on his defense's inability to adjust to the Cardinals offensive gameplan; that is, get the ball to Larry Freaking Fitzgerald. As if anyone thought the Cards would do otherwise. Yet L-Fitz was routinely single covered or running free in a zone while the Panthers secondary watched him go wherever he wanted.
Clearly, Carolina's inability to stop the Cards' greatest weapon doomed them, but let's not let the Panthers offensive gameplan off the hook. As much as we'd like to pile on poor Jake Delhomme for his career-worst performance, don't let the coaches get away easy. After the opening drive, the Panthers inexplicably abandoned the run and went into pass-wacky, air-it-out mode. Delhomme was constantly throwing deep (to Muhsin Muhammad, of all people) while the league's #3 ranked rush offense went under-utilized. Even knowing that they were behind by two scores fairly early, there's still no excuse for this. Not only did the Panthers abandon the run, but they also failed to use their RBs Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams in the passing game. Nor did they find a way to get arguably their best playmaker, WR Steve Smith, the ball in space with a chance to beat defenders 1-on-1.
Now, while it's easy to pick on the Panthers, credit certainly must be given to the Cardinals as well. Kurt Warner is playing at an elite QB level, largely because his offensive line is keeping him upright. There is no doubt that this has been the key to Warner's success in his career: keep him clean, and he'll win you games. If he gets knocked around, very bad things happen. (NOTE TO PHILADELPHIA: Get pressure on Kurt Warner!) As for the Cardinals defense, whoever found the on-switch for that unit deserves a big raise. They are playing with as much intensity and confidence as you'll ever see a defense have. They really remind me of the Colts defense the year they won the Super Bowl; it's been that kind of miraculous transformation from the regular season to the playoffs, although there's no single ingredient that has changed for Arizona like there was with Indy (Bob Sanders was hurt until the playoffs).
Sunday's games were a little less surprising, maybe because we were all so stunned still from the night before. The early game was probably the most-predicted upset (of the five Fox pre-game talking-heads, all except Michael Strahan (duh) picked the Eagles to win, although most of their reasons were weak at best) of the weekend. Philadelphia, legend has it, reminds everyone of last year's Giants. Fine, but they're facing this year's Giants, aka the NFC's best team, so is this some Bizarro football game, or what? Well, turns out Eli Manning really, really, REALLY, misses Plaxico Burress after all. The Eagles won the game by minimizing the damage the Giants could do on the ground and making Eli beat them, which he simply couldn't with that receiving corps.
On a side topic, what is it with Peyton Manning and Eli Manning's fluttery passes? For two players that can throw deep just fine, and can muster "zip" on their passes from time-to-time, they both throw some of the ugliest ducks you'll ever see. Don't get me wrong, they're both tremendously accurate with those ducks, but when they face bad weather (see: Peyton in New England in January, Eli at home any time after December 1st), those flutter-balls miss way too often. Can anyone explain the logic behind this?
Anyway, the Eagles played a very solid game. McNabb showed ample arm strength and escapability to survive the tough playing conditions and Andy Reid wasn't put into a situation where he had to make any real difficult decisions. The Eagles were clearly very well prepared for the game, and they had a great game plan: move McNabb around to free up short passes and occasionally throw deep. The running game was not used much, but it wasn't needed much as the Giants simply couldn't get to McNabb with their pass rush, no matter how obvious the passing situation was. You give the Giants a healthy Justin Tuck and Plaxico Burress, not to mention Osi Umenyiora, and this could be a much different game.
Finally, the universe returned to normal for the Sunday afternoon game between the Steelers and Chargers. As incredible (read: lucky) as the Chargers postseason run had been, they were clearly a flawed team throughout the season and it was just a matter of time before a team was able to exploit those flaws in a playoff game. Even if the Steelers hadn't done it, I don't doubt the Ravens would have themselves. Here's the flaw: their defense is only mediocre without Shawne Merriman and they can't stop the run. The plan of attack, as the Steelers showed, was to run, run, run and then throw deep when the safeties inevitably came up to help stop the run. Game, set, match. The Steelers were able to completely neutralize San Diego's running game, really eliminating Darren Sproles and Michael Bennett from the game entirely until Sproles's late, meaningless TD (on a catch, no less).
In the end, it was a crazy weekend of football, with the home teams going just 1-3, and with the three losing home teams combining for just 34 points. So the next question is: Is a first round bye really beneficial for the teams that get them? But that's a topic for another day.
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
The Best NFL Weekend of the Year
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.
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.
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.
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