1/14/11

The Falcons sported a phenomenal home record going into this NFC Divisional game. The consensus was that the Falcons behind the running of Michael Turner and the arm of Matt Ryan would dominate this game. Someone forgot to send Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers the memo.

This game started off looking like it would be a shoot out, with the last team with the ball probably winning the game. The Falcons drew first blood, then the Packers struck back the next series. Eric Weems returned the ensuing Kickoff 102 yds. The Packers then responded with a 10 play 91 yd drive to tie it up at 14. Then Ryan was intercepted in the Packer endzone and the Packers drove 80 yds in 7 plays to take a 21-14 lead. In what I consider to be the biggest play of the first half, with 42 seconds left, the Falcons rolled the dice. In an attempt to gain some additional yardage for a field goal try with no time outs and 10 seconds left, Matt Ryan threw an ill advised out route that Tramon Williams intercepted and returned for 70 yds, and just like that the score was 28-14.

In the second half the Packers kept the momentum going, defensively the Falcons had no answer for Rodgers at all. The big question coming into this game was, would Atlanta be able to get pressure on Rodgers with a 3 and 4 man rush with John Abraham being the sole pass rush treat. The answer was a resounding no, as the Falcons began to bring pressure Rodgers made them pay. Many times the Falcons had the right blitz called, but time and time again Rodgers eluded the pressure like Houdini to complete passes and move the chains, frustrating the Falcons defenders. In the zone, Rodgers in the zone, shredded the Falcon defense for 366 yds and 3 TD’s.

Let’s give the Packer defense some credit in this win also, they were tremendous holding one of the premier running backs and hottest QB’s in the NFL in check. Turner 10 carries for 39 yds and Ryan 20-29 for 186 yds, 1 TD’s and 2 int’s. The combination of shutting down the run and falling behind made the Falcons one dimensional, and this worked in Green Bays favor. The Packer defense caused and recovered 2 fumbles, Tramon Williams had 2 int’s, one for a TD and they sacked Ryan 5 times, total defensive domination.

The truth is when you look at the play at the QB position, for all of the success that Matt Ryan had in the regular season, the pressure was too much in a game of this magnitude. He made uncharateristic mistakes and pressure tends to make you do that. Simply put the Green Bay Packers were a better team, leaving the Falcons to wonder what they need to do to elevate to the next level.

The Packers are the most dangerous team left in the playoffs, they are hitting on all cylinders right now. Offensively Rodgers is in the zone, they are getting some balanced production out of James Starks and with a diverse core of WR’s, with Jennings and Jones being the go to guys the Packers are peaking at the perfect time. And Dom Capers has this defense playing as well as any defense in the NFL.

January 17, 2011

After the last regular season meeting or should I say beat down (45-3) between these two teams the consensus was, how can the Jets even compete with this high powered Patriots offense? Fortunately for the Jets the game had to be played. Head Coaches will have major reservations about their players trash talking leading up to the game. But outspoken Jets coach Rex Ryan talks the talk and expects his players to talk the talk and walk the walk, and boy did they put up to make the Patriots and everyone else shut up.

The big question” MARK” coming into this game was, which Mark Sanchez would show up, the calm, cool and collected one, taking what the defense gives him and protecting the football or the gun slinging, chance taker, forcing throws and turning the ball over. And whether or not the Jets defense could get pressure on a hot Tom Brady without having to blitz and open themselves up to potential big plays was a big question also.

Give Rex Ryan and his staff credit, often times coaches fall into an ego trap, we are what we are, and come in with their guns blazing doing what they’ve done all season, because that’s who they are. On the defensive side of the ball this game was a huge step in the growth of Rex Ryan as a defensive coordinator and head coach. He showed the ability to step back and be more passive than he wanted to be and showing more creativity in his blitz packages was big. The Jets came with pressure but it was deceptive, showing 5, 6 and at times 7 rushers but dropping out and only rushing 3 or 4 for the most part, they confused Brady and screwed up the protection pickup of the Pats O-Line.

On the offensive side they made a conscious choice to keep the Pats honest on defense. They ran the ball more times than they threw it (29-25), yet Sanchez threw for 3 TD’s, becoming the beneficiary of good running behind Tomlinson (43 yds) and Green (76 yds) setting up play-action passing, bootlegs and their screen game. Jerricho Cotchery also had a big day, all of the Jets WR’s did, but Cotchery was pivotal in keeping the chains moving and putting pressure on the middle of the Patriots defense.

Defensively given how they were torched the last time they played, the defense was the catalyst in today’s game. I have always said, spread offenses are finesse teams, the way you beat them is to get up and jam the wide outs to throw off the timing of the routes. This was the formula that the Jets used to beat both Brady and Manning in consecutive weekends. Because these offenses are so explosive and have multiple weapons, most teams do not have the personnel, talent or confidence to play them aggressively, and this plays right into their hands. The Colts and Patriots count on teams playing mostly zone, all of the routes are timing routes, the QB expects for receivers to be in certain places at certain times. When they aren’t the QB gets really nervous, hence Manning and Brady the last two weeks. Against man coverage is where they look to hit their homerun, but most of the time if the see man coverage pressure is coming. There are invariably only 2-3 defenses with the personnel to match up and play this style of defense. This is why these teams are so dominant during the regular season but loose in the post-season. The best defenses and offenses usually are the ones left during the last 3 weeks of the playoff.

The Pats can say we don’t need a Randy Moss to win, maybe not during the regular season, but in the playoffs with a receiving core of possession receivers that lack great speed and cannot stretch the field, you can see the Patriots deficiency. I bet you a million dollars Brady and Belichick wished he had Moss in this game.

But this game is about the Jets pulling off the improbable, continuing to move in the right direction and watching Mark Sanchez grow up, bit by bit. It was about watching this Jets defense and head coach reinvent themselves on the fly. This win is about Sanchez calming down after an erratic first quarter and reigning in his emotions to lead the offense, the Jets D-Line winning one on one battles, the secondary challenging the Pats WR’s and tackling well and the evolution of Rex Ryan as a great defensive mind.

January 25th, 2011

Lovie Smith came to his QB’s defense, stating that he was injured and questioned outsiders doubt to whether Jay Cutler was really hurt or quit on his team in yesterday. If a player is hurt that’s one thing, everyone is hurting at this point of the season, but if you are injured, that’s different. If you’re injured you can’t play at the level the team expects a player to play at, if a player is more of a detriment than a benefit to his team, then he should come off of the field.

What is Lovie and Cutler’s teammates suppose to say, of course they are gonna come to his defense. I’m not one to call a player out for his lack of toughness, but the message that his body language sent, his reaction when 3 team QB Caleb Hanie tossed the first TD and his ability to walk around on the sideline sent to everyone watching the wrong message. Everyone was asking the same question, if he could walk around, ride the bike and jump up and cheer, why didn’t he suck it up and play through the injury.

The fact and truth is they just don’t make players like they use to, for that matter neither do they make coaches like they use to. Old school coaches tried to toughen up players, the veterans made young players earn their way. Coaches and organizations try to protect players too much now. Football is a game for full grown men, everyone is hurting from the opening of training camp forward and injuries are an occupational hazard. The backlash coming from former players comes from the understanding that the opportunity before the Chicago Bears doesn’t come around that often. So for Cutler to not to exhaust every possible chance to get out on that field and give his team the best chance to win, brings to the forefront the question of whether he threw in the towel or not. With a 31.8 passer rating, 6-14 completions and 80 yds, a interception and being down 14-0 at the half, it’s easy to speculate why he may have shut it down. I don’t think the training staff did him much justice either. If he is hurt why did he not have ice on the knee, where were the crutches and why was he allow to move around on the sidelines.

I don’t question his toughness, I do question his will to fight through a tough situation. Only an injured player can know for sure whether he can go or not. The problem with Jay Cutler is his pervieved past public perception, and yesterday’s actions didn’t do much for his reputation. Legends are made sometimes by overcoming the circumstances, and sometime labels are hung on people for their lack of desire to show enough outward fight to overcome their obstacles, percieved or real.

After watching the AFC and NFC Championship games, it’s apparent to me that the mold of the prototypical QB has changed. With complex blitz packages and pass rush specialists, QB’s can’t sit on a spot to complete passes anymore.

Yes reading coverages and disguises will always be important, making adjustments are critical issues of the position, but the ability to move in and out of the pocket and extending plays is now a positional requirement.

Although both Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers are not know as running QB’s in the sense that Michael Vick is, they have learned to adjust their game by running or staying alive when necessary.

Taking what the defense gives you is an important part of managing the QB position. Offenses will not always be able to dominate and game plans don’t always pan out the way the coordinator plans. In order to extend drives, sometimes a QB will need to improvise.

The great ones understand that in man coverage there will be some opportunities when things break down to gain significant yardage. Likewise they also know that versus zone coverages the chance will be there to scramble for the sake of buying time, allowing receivers to get open to move the chains and keep the drives alive.

Now that these two QB’s are one game away from the promised land, how will their respective opponents stop them? One common thread they both share is they love to break contain in both directions to either extend plays or scramble for 1st downs.

What defenses have not done a good job of is, making them step up rather than sideways. Defensive ends at the prospect of getting a sack lose their outside integrity, and out the gate they go.

Rodgers killed the Eagles and Falcons because their Ends lost contain, and Roethlisberger hurt both Baltimore and the Jets in the same manor.

Looking forward to the Big Game, both Dom Capers and Dick LaBeau will spend considerable time devising ways to make each opposing QB a pure pocket passer.

Both teams are loaded on the offensive side of the ball, but I believe that the team that walks away with the Lombardi Trophy, will be the team with the QB that plays a phenomenal game from the pocket and has the support of a decent running game.

Playoff time is exciting within itself, the intensity is ramped up another 20% and an additional 5% each round.

With that let’s look at this weekend’s matchups.

In one conference, the NFC things are pretty quiet, while in another the AFC, there’s been more bulletin board quotes in one week to last a season. Rex Ryan got the ball rolling during the Wildcard week with his comments about Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

How Manning’s success stems from him running his own show and calling his own plays, to Brady’s success coming from the input of coach Belichick. Belichick attempted to persuade his team not to take the bait, but Brady responded to both Ryan’s comments and Cromartie’s finger pointing accusations.

Some of Brady’s teammates have commented to support their QB, but nothing bulletin board worthy.

It is a foregone conclusion that a team takes on the identity of its coach, but with the likes of Darrelle Revis on the other side and the way the Jets got torched the last time these two teams met, Cromartie should be the last bird chirping.

It’s obvious that there’s no love lost between the Steelers and Ravens. These two teams are so evenly match that if you don’t like defense you may want to skip this one………not!! This will be an all out brawl. Arguably the two most physical teams in the NFL, they meet for the rubber match of the season, splitting the two previous meetings.

While the Ravens are getting their talk and swagger on early, the Steelers haven’t said much at all. Harbaugh’s comment about his pleasure in Roethlisberger’s pain and Suggs dirty birding the Steelers makes the week interesting. These two teams know each other well and respect each other, but respect has nothing to do with liking each other, it’s safe to say that they hate each other.

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On the NFC front we haven’t heard a word out of either team. It’s almost like, let’s not give our opponent any motivation, like they need it anyhow. So the only thing we have to go on here are the facts. Atlanta against Green Bay: the Eagles achilles heel was their young defense, you can run in the regular season but you can’t hide in the playoffs. James Starks is no longer a surprise and the Falcons will be ready to address him.

Starks makes these two teams similar in the fact that with a running game like Michael Turner provides for Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers will benefit from real play-action passing and an open playbook.

With that being said both defenses and special teams will probably be the focus. Field position and turnovers are usually the deciding factors when teams are evenly matched. Whose will can be imposed and ground game controlled will be the defining factors.

Mums the word out of Chi-town and Seattle as well. Neither team is known for talking too much, although Da Bears bring some serious defensive swagger to the field. I get the sense that the Seahawks are pinching themselves to see if it’s really real that they’ve won a division with a 7-9 record and won a Wildcard game all in a two week span.

Can Seattle bring their Northwest game to the Midwest?

Their short quick passing game bodes well in keeping QB Matt Hasselbeck upright and healthy, but Da Bears corners will get up and challenge recievers to throw off the timing. Marshawn Lynch, after a monster game last week could be a huge help to Hasselbeck, but don’t count on it, the Bears D is one of the best vs. the run, and trust me they know how important it will be to make Seattle one dimensional.

The most interesting matchup in this game will be Chicago’s offense against the Seahawk defense and both special teams. Jay Cutler has been on a roll lately, newly revitalized under Mike Martz. But how will he handle playoff pressure, will he revert or have the habits taken hold?

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No doubt continued success on the ground with Matt Forte and Chester Taylor are sure to ease the burden, but how will he react if he has to put it up 40 times under duress? The Seahawk D played hard and fast last week, and with little playoff experience and playing at such a high emotional level last week, can they rise to the occasion once more?

Lastly the X factor for both teams will be the return game, if I am Seattle, Devon Hester doesn’t see a ball unless Cutler throws it to him. Leon Washington garners similar respect. In the playoffs you make offenses earn their points, do not allow the game to fall into the hands of your special teams on a return.

While one conference is selling wolf tickets, the other is hoping to sneak up on their opponent in silence. If fired at sometimes it can be hard to hold your peace, even in such an emotional situation as this, but sometimes it’s best not to write a check your @#$ can’t cash.

Oh I’m sure the depositor believes he can cash it, but having to eat crow on the largest of stages can be humiliating, sometimes it’s best to just line up and play and let the chips fall where they may. Those who have to eat crow, always wind up with pie on their face.

I’m not one for predictions, but looking at the stats on paper, it’s hard to. Most will say a high-powered, quick paced offense like Oregon is sure to dominate, to boot my son is rooting for the Oregon Ducks, I think it’s the multiple uniforms, by Nike.

When you look at the numbers and size, the game plan for Auburn has to be to limit the possessions of Oregon by running the ball and chewing up clock. Looking at the size of the two teams says a lot, the Ducks are built for speed, with the exception of LaMichael James they are a finesse team. The Tigers can beat you with finesse or power. The average offensive lineman for the Tigers is 6′ 4″, 304 lbs, the heaviest being 319 lbs, the lightest 291 lbs. The Ducks D-Line averages 6′ 3″ 256 lbs, the heaviest 289 lbs and the lightest 231 lbs. Clearly the game plan has to be to lay on them for 2 and a half quarters to wear them out, then they can have their way. The Ducks are ranked 16th in the FBS in rushing defense, consider that most of their opponents are Pac-10 rivals that don’t or can’t run the ball. Most of the time their opponents are behind and running the ball is pointless. Time of possession and number of possessions will be critical in tonight’s game. Although I have great respect for what the Oregon Ducks have been able to do over this season, I will go back to the old debate. How many Pac-10 teams could or would compete in the SEC. It is a different brand of football, in the Pac-10 few teams play good defense, they try to just out score each other. SEC football is a more complete style of football, running it to set up the pass, with good play-action and good defense is a must if you have BCS aspirations. The beginning of this game will be boring as both teams feel each other out, taking a conservative approach not wanting to be the first to make a mistake. By the time the second half rolls around you can bet both teams will be pulling out all the stops. Cam Newton caps off a stellar year and career tonight on the biggest stage of all, and silencing his protractors and haters. Yes I wanted to write it before the game, so no one could call me a bandwagoner. If the Ducks pull it out I know I’ll have to eat crow, it won’t be the first or last time.

While Saturday’s games were much more thrilling, Sunday’s games were anything but, with the exception of how the Eagles game ended.

The Ravens rolled into Kansas City and took care of biz in convincing fashion. The Ravens defense yielded only 162 yds and created 5 turnovers. Normally 2 TO’s in the playoffs will get you beat. KC’s Jamal Charles had a big first half keeping the Chiefs close 10-7, but the Ravens D laid down the law in the second half shutting down Charles, putting Matt Cassel under the gun, then victimizing him with pressure causing 3 Int’s. The Ravens offense did what it need to do to get the W. Showing great balance with 40 runs and 34 passes, Flacco threw for 2 TD’s and the Ravens rushed for another score and Cundiff kicked 3 FG’s. The Ravens methodically took the overmatched Chiefs apart, the Chiefs also had a hand in their own undoing, but from a defensive prospective, they were dismantled by Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and company.

The same issues that plagued the Eagles at the end of this season and last continued to persist yesterday. Which make you wonder how much Andy Reid and his Eagles are learning from their experiences. Constant pressure on Michael Vick, a gimpy DeSean Jackson and no commitment to run the ball were the Eagles undoing again. The Green Bay Packers seemed to find a running game behind rookie James Starks that had been non-existent all season. Aaron Rodgers was his usual calm cool and collected self, taking what the defense gave him and taking advantage of opportunity when it presented itself. The Eagle D seemed to be lost all day, poor LB and secondary play, improper gap control against the run. Jaqua Parker learn nothing from the Minnesota game where he let Webb out of the pocket to extend plays that hurt the Eagles in that loss. Time and time again Parker, Trent Cole or the outside rusher in a blitz lit Rodgers  escape to convert 3rd down plays that really hurt the Eagles. Michael Vick had to run for his life once again, because of bad protection and bad play calling. Vick dropped back 36 times, ran it or scrambled 8 times and LeSean McCoy had only 12 carries. Despite Player inefficiency and coaching missteps the Eagles still had a chance to win. With a 1:45 seconds left and the Eagles trailing 21-16, Vick drove the Eagles to the Packer 27 yard line with 33 seconds left and tried to get it all on one play, and was intercepted by Tramon Williams to ice the game.

Seth Joyner

Super Bowl 44 participants New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts both were eliminated from the tournament on this Wildcard Saturday. If this is any indication of how the rest of the playoffs are going to play out, we are in for some exciting football.

The Seattle Seahawks stunned the defending world champs behind a huge day by Matt Hasselbeck and Marshawn Lynch. Seen as a huge underdog, most thought Seattle had no shoot. Early in the game that looked to be the case, Hasselbeck threw an interception on 3rd and 1 on the Seahawks first possession, setting the Saints up to take an early lead. Then they got into rhythm running the ball with Lynch and Hasselbeck passed for two TD’s to John Carlson and one to Brandon Stokley to claw back to a half time lead of 20-24. Hasselbeck and company looked like they would run away with the game in the second half with a 38 yd TD to Mike Williams and a 39 yd field goal by Olindo Mare. Drew Brees rallied the Saints in the 4th quarter, but Marshawn Lynch sealed the deal with a 67 yd run that included 8 missed tackle by the Saints defense. The Seahawk defense played their game, making the Saints settle for the short passing game, because they couldn’t run the ball. This is the most unlikely of upsets because the Seahawks limped into the playoffs with a 7-9 record, there’s a reason they play the game.

Rex Ryan and the New York Jets finally get the Manning monkey of their backs. The first quarter and a half both teams didn’t do much, feeling each other out. The blitz happy Jets took a different approach against the Colts today, playing  mostly coverage against Peyton Manning, making the Colts one-dimensional by controlling the Colts running game. The one time the Jets gave Manning a one safety look he burned them with a 57 yd TD to Pierre Garcon. That one big play was enough to convince Rex Ryan to stick to his game plan. The Jets took the field for the second half resolute to run the ball, with back to back 10 play, 63 yd and 17 play, 87 yd scoring drives, they dominated the 3rd quarter. Manning brought the Colts back to take a 2 point lead with 53 seconds left, but Antonio Cromartie returned the ensuing kick off 47 yds to the NY Jets 46 yd line. Five plays and 41 yds later and a big 2nd & 8, 18 yard completion to Braylon Edwards, Mark Sanchez put Jets kicker Nick Folk in position for the 32 yd game winner. The same things that always plague the Colts when they lose did them in Saturday. An inability to control the run on the defensive side and good coverage by the Jets secondary, limiting Manning to few big plays.

I don’t know what is going on with players in today’s game. First Albert Haynesworth, now Vince Young, you can throw Ben Roethlisberger into this category. I could start my own reality show called ”American Idiots,” pro athelets. With all of the gatekeepers around these guys, one has to wonder why they do such dumb, idiotic things. Vince Young forced Bud Adams and Jeff Fisher’s hand, they had no other choice but to part ways. Whether anyone feels that Fisher is still the man for the job or not is irrelavant, to keep Young on this team would set a bad precedent and send the wrong message to the team, as well as the rest of the players in the NFl.

Jeff Fisher stuck his neck out for this kid, whether he felt that Jeff trusted him or whether or not he felt it necessary to be looking over his shoulder is irrelevant. The way you earn trust on and off the field from both teammates and coaches is by playing with consistency, making steady improvement, winning and conducting yourself in a mature manner, that’s proof you are a leader. Leadership is what the position of QB requires and when you look at his on and off the field actions, they just do not reflect a leader. Bud Adams was the enabler here, Young never believed Adams would cut him loss. Vince knew that Bud loved him and that’s where entitlement became a big issue. You see it more today than ever, I’m a 1st round pick so I can put it on cruise control because the team won’t let me go, they have too much invested in me. What these young players are seeing now, are organizations that are willing to cut their losses rather than deal with divisive players on their team. Although I’m not one that buys into the belief of distractions, I find them more of a scapegoat than anything else. If you are paid to prepare, practice and play games on Sunday, once the game is underway, the last thing you should be thinking about is what’s going on off the field. The media makes it a distraction by continuously bringing it up. But the owner, fans and coaches see these types of players as a distraction and that’s the issue.

Let’s deal with player image first, what team does Vince Young think wants him on their roster after his childlike tantrum. You can’t trust a player like him or Haynesworth, Albert is telling coaches when and in what system he will play, Vince is sending the message that he wants to be the decision maker for the team, instead of the head coach. They’ve both painted themselves into quite a corner. Next, let’s look at the money these guys are throwing away. Young was set to make $12.5 Million dollars next season, he’ll be luck if he gets $1.25 million to play next year. And Haynesworth signs a deal for $100 million and screws up that kind of money? I don’t get it, these players seem to have forgotten what humble beginnings they come from, to thumb their noses at that kind of money.

I am perplexed at the attitude of today’s athlete, why put yourself in these predicaments. Favre and his texting, Roethlisberger and his antics, Haynesworth and his refusal to play in a 3-4 scheme, and now Vince Young throwing a temper tantrum that gets him ushered out of Music City. What a perfect environment for reality show, these young guys need to get real.