Quick Outs
"We goin' be here all day baby! I like this kinda party! I like this kinda party baby!"
-Former NFL linebacker and current psychopath Lawrence Taylor
1) Yeah, the Steelers really showed me something yesterday.
What I really took away from it is that every single defensive coordinator and prospective defensive coordinator in the NFL was watching that game, and Peyton Manning will never have a sane moment on the field ever again; people will blitz him so hard and bring so much pressure that his obvious deficiencies when harried will come to the forefront. People talk about him not being able to win the big game, but I don't know if that's even the issue now. Teams are going to make him come out next season and prove he can win a game, any game. I'm serious. Blueprints were laid down by the San Diego Chargers earlier in the season, and Pittsburgh built a foundation showing everyone exactly how to make the Colts' pass protection look like swiss cheese. Granted, not everyone has the personnel to do it, but it's very simplistic. Maybe I'll draw up some diagrams later.
2) So Pete Morelli says that because Troy Polamalu's knee was still on the ground when he dropped the football, it's an incomplete pass, not an interception. If you follow that logic, if Troy had simply remained on the ground and given himself up before rolling twice and trying to jump to his feet, it would have been an interception, but because he tried to move with the ball and dropped it - dare I say again, after rolling twice! - he's in jeopardy of losing possession because he dropped it?
If this is the incorrect interpretation of the rule, then Morelli needs to be banished to Botswana. If this is the correct interpretation of the rule, then somebody on the NFL's competition committee is going to get an earful from Dan Rooney in the offseason, because this is clearly the single most idiotic rule on the books.
UPDATE: The NFL director of officials has since apologized; Morelli made the wrong call. Banishment, I say!
3) 2nd and two, 50 seconds left, Colts ball on the Steelers 29 yard line. I can see throwing the ball to Reggie Wayne in the endzone in this situation. If you score, that is endgame. Taking your shot on second down is a great call; Bryant McFadden just had great coverage, but...
Throwing the ball again on 3rd and 2...
when you can pick up a first down by catching the Steelers in man under by running the ball for the first time in ages for what likely would have been an easy first down...
when you can get even the slightest bit closer for your kicker...
when you have all the momentum in the world behind you...
when McFadden just broke up a well-thrown ball on the last play and is still in lockdown coverage on Wayne down the left side...
is positively inexcusable on the part of whomever made that call (I have to believe it was Manning, who left Edgerrin James in the backfield to rot in the second half despite the fact that Edge had 56 yards on only 13 carries against what is a very strong rush defense). If you make that first down running the football, you call timeout and still have one left, and a brand new set of downs to take your chance to bury that game. Say whatever you want about Indianapolis kicker Mike Vanderjagt being a total headcase - he is the most accurate kicker in the history of the NFL, I am always quick to point out - but his offense put him in position to fail on that 46-yarder.
4) Yeah, Seattle, whatever. I can't decide whether I'm impressed. Shaun Alexander was held to 9 yards on 6 carries before getting knocked out with a concussion. That seems foreboding, but on the other hand, Darrell Jackson makes all the difference. He can get open in places where Joe Jurevicius can't, and his return puts the Jurevicius/Engram tandem into favorable coverage matchups. Maurice Morris is my main man and Matt Hasselbeck played a heck of a game, but Washington had such an anemic offensive effort that the 'Hawks didn't win that game so much as the Redskins just plain lost it. Their offensive line play was awful last week and I just tipped my hat to a good Tampa Bay defense, but this week it was just as bad if not worse against a slightly less effective Seattle D. Granted, the 'Skins had a 43-year-old playing at tackle, but Ray Brown was playing there during their good stretch at the end of the season, too. What happened?
5) Chicago never impressed me either, and I was certainly not surprised when the notably inconsistent Carolina Panthers pretty much thrashed them. Steve Smith continues to play out of his mind - 12 for 218? You can't be serious. I don't think you can cover him. The only problem now is that DeShaun Foster broke his ankle in a game when they didn't necessarily need him, and now, they're down to third and fourth stringers at halfback. Do they need a running back? Not really, although having a running game is useful when you can guarantee that two defenders will be attending to Mr. Smith at all times.
6) Now the Denver Broncos? Fantastic win over those Patriots. I thought they'd win, and they did in fine fashion, causing a bunch of turnovers and making Tom Brady look like a mere mortal. Props to Jake Plummer, who I've always been very high on. On paper, Denver's athletic, speed defense resembles that of the Chicago Bears, and the Steelers mauled the bears in the power running game. Denver's defense isn't as good as the Bears', and this leads me to believe advantage Pittsburgh, because if the Broncos could only manage 3.5 yards a carry doing what they do best - running the football with Mike Anderson and Tatum Bell - then how are they doing to do it against Pittsburgh? They'll need more turnovers to win this game. Despite Champ Bailey's 100 yard interception return, he did not have a good game overall against the Patriots, and got burned on several occasions, most notably by a reception of over 50 yards by a marginal possession receiver, Andre Davis. If he does not play well against Pittsburgh, and I would go so far as to say he has to make a pick, the Broncos chances are severely damaged.
My concern is that the last team that beat Indianapolis (legitimately...sit down, Seattle, nobody important was playing in that game) followed up that performance by laying an egg in Kansas City. It's a huge drain to win a game like that, and coming back the next week with the same energy is very, very tough.
7) Nice weekend of football, but I will be very happy when the season is over. The 24/7, 365 inundation of the National Football League has been gradually wearing on me over the past few years, and I'm to the point where football is falling so far so fast on my list of favorite sports that I'd not be shocked if I just had it and quit watching by 2008. As soon as a team drops, the fans and press are immediately talking about the entry draft. Are you kidding? Give it a rest. But this leads to my last football-related thought of the morning.
8) Houston Texans, you are making a huge mistake. With the number one overall choice, you could have six or seven teams lunging at it with outrageous trade offers for a slew of picks and good players, because so many teams could improve themselves vastly with Reggie Bush/Vince Young/Matt Leinart. Get some linemen in there that can keep David Carr off his posterior. Dom Davis runs like a hero already - can you imagine what he'd be like if he actually had some blocking in front of him? You have Domanick Davis, Jonathan Wells and Vernand Morency. Are you really going to push a guy like Morency to fourth on the depth chart and naive enough to hope that USC's Reggie Bush can be good enough to take a 2-14 team and make something of it? He's not. Bush, too, had five linemen in front of him at Southern Cal who will all play on Sunday, not to mention two receivers, a quarterback and a backfield mate in LenDale White who will also be good if not great in the pros. Bush is no doubt fantastic, but he is still far too overrated in the fact that his skills alone cannot and will not translate into wins on the NFL level. Houston needs quality, but they need a heck of a lot of quantity too, and if you give me the choice between any running back other than Jim Brown vs. two high draft choices or two solid O-linemen, I will take the latter every. Single. Time. When will execs learn? If you don't have great players in the trenches, all of the skill guys in the world will not help you win. Ask the Arizona Cardinals. They had a former Super Bowl MVP at quarterback, two amazing receivers in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, and two very capable (and unfairly slighted) running backs in Marcel Shipp and J.J. Arrington, and they were nowhere near as good as they could be on offense (a slew of injuries on defense cost them so much of what lined up as a promising season). Can you imagine that team with good players on the offensive line? It's the Greatest Show on Turf all over again. Speaking of the GST, the Rams were perfectly fine until they made the ill-fated decision to go with John St. Clair at right tackle, and that's when the wheels started to come off for the aforementioned SBMVP. Coincidence? Hardly.
Houston fans are already riled up because the Texans won't be taking hometown hero Vince Young; wait 'till they see the disaster waiting to happen if they don't get some free agents in there in front of Carr and Bush, some actual defenders in the secondary, some actual defensive linemen, and somebody who can catch the ball down the field besides Andre Johnson. Yeah, it's that bad. Bush can't and won't repair it, and recommending they take Bush because he's a "once-in-a-lifetime" player is fine, but not wise. Barry Sanders was a once-in-a-lifetime player too, but since he played with a bunch of shmoes who no one can now remember, he came up with squat and retired early out of what I can only believe was sheer frustration.
I'm begging, now. Dump that draft pick and get some players around your already-strong nucleus.
9) The Fox Network needs help. They ditch a critically acclaimed show like Arrested Development (never actually saw it, but even the previews were funny), ditch a show like Firefly a few years ago...and the best they're coming up with is Skating With Celebreties...?
Sad thing is, I will not be surprised if the ratings come in higher.
10) This is filler for when I come down off all those words I just wrote. Hate to say it, but there'll be more.
To be continued....
-Former NFL linebacker and current psychopath Lawrence Taylor
1) Yeah, the Steelers really showed me something yesterday.
What I really took away from it is that every single defensive coordinator and prospective defensive coordinator in the NFL was watching that game, and Peyton Manning will never have a sane moment on the field ever again; people will blitz him so hard and bring so much pressure that his obvious deficiencies when harried will come to the forefront. People talk about him not being able to win the big game, but I don't know if that's even the issue now. Teams are going to make him come out next season and prove he can win a game, any game. I'm serious. Blueprints were laid down by the San Diego Chargers earlier in the season, and Pittsburgh built a foundation showing everyone exactly how to make the Colts' pass protection look like swiss cheese. Granted, not everyone has the personnel to do it, but it's very simplistic. Maybe I'll draw up some diagrams later.
2) So Pete Morelli says that because Troy Polamalu's knee was still on the ground when he dropped the football, it's an incomplete pass, not an interception. If you follow that logic, if Troy had simply remained on the ground and given himself up before rolling twice and trying to jump to his feet, it would have been an interception, but because he tried to move with the ball and dropped it - dare I say again, after rolling twice! - he's in jeopardy of losing possession because he dropped it?
If this is the incorrect interpretation of the rule, then Morelli needs to be banished to Botswana. If this is the correct interpretation of the rule, then somebody on the NFL's competition committee is going to get an earful from Dan Rooney in the offseason, because this is clearly the single most idiotic rule on the books.
UPDATE: The NFL director of officials has since apologized; Morelli made the wrong call. Banishment, I say!
3) 2nd and two, 50 seconds left, Colts ball on the Steelers 29 yard line. I can see throwing the ball to Reggie Wayne in the endzone in this situation. If you score, that is endgame. Taking your shot on second down is a great call; Bryant McFadden just had great coverage, but...
Throwing the ball again on 3rd and 2...
when you can pick up a first down by catching the Steelers in man under by running the ball for the first time in ages for what likely would have been an easy first down...
when you can get even the slightest bit closer for your kicker...
when you have all the momentum in the world behind you...
when McFadden just broke up a well-thrown ball on the last play and is still in lockdown coverage on Wayne down the left side...
is positively inexcusable on the part of whomever made that call (I have to believe it was Manning, who left Edgerrin James in the backfield to rot in the second half despite the fact that Edge had 56 yards on only 13 carries against what is a very strong rush defense). If you make that first down running the football, you call timeout and still have one left, and a brand new set of downs to take your chance to bury that game. Say whatever you want about Indianapolis kicker Mike Vanderjagt being a total headcase - he is the most accurate kicker in the history of the NFL, I am always quick to point out - but his offense put him in position to fail on that 46-yarder.
4) Yeah, Seattle, whatever. I can't decide whether I'm impressed. Shaun Alexander was held to 9 yards on 6 carries before getting knocked out with a concussion. That seems foreboding, but on the other hand, Darrell Jackson makes all the difference. He can get open in places where Joe Jurevicius can't, and his return puts the Jurevicius/Engram tandem into favorable coverage matchups. Maurice Morris is my main man and Matt Hasselbeck played a heck of a game, but Washington had such an anemic offensive effort that the 'Hawks didn't win that game so much as the Redskins just plain lost it. Their offensive line play was awful last week and I just tipped my hat to a good Tampa Bay defense, but this week it was just as bad if not worse against a slightly less effective Seattle D. Granted, the 'Skins had a 43-year-old playing at tackle, but Ray Brown was playing there during their good stretch at the end of the season, too. What happened?
5) Chicago never impressed me either, and I was certainly not surprised when the notably inconsistent Carolina Panthers pretty much thrashed them. Steve Smith continues to play out of his mind - 12 for 218? You can't be serious. I don't think you can cover him. The only problem now is that DeShaun Foster broke his ankle in a game when they didn't necessarily need him, and now, they're down to third and fourth stringers at halfback. Do they need a running back? Not really, although having a running game is useful when you can guarantee that two defenders will be attending to Mr. Smith at all times.
6) Now the Denver Broncos? Fantastic win over those Patriots. I thought they'd win, and they did in fine fashion, causing a bunch of turnovers and making Tom Brady look like a mere mortal. Props to Jake Plummer, who I've always been very high on. On paper, Denver's athletic, speed defense resembles that of the Chicago Bears, and the Steelers mauled the bears in the power running game. Denver's defense isn't as good as the Bears', and this leads me to believe advantage Pittsburgh, because if the Broncos could only manage 3.5 yards a carry doing what they do best - running the football with Mike Anderson and Tatum Bell - then how are they doing to do it against Pittsburgh? They'll need more turnovers to win this game. Despite Champ Bailey's 100 yard interception return, he did not have a good game overall against the Patriots, and got burned on several occasions, most notably by a reception of over 50 yards by a marginal possession receiver, Andre Davis. If he does not play well against Pittsburgh, and I would go so far as to say he has to make a pick, the Broncos chances are severely damaged.
My concern is that the last team that beat Indianapolis (legitimately...sit down, Seattle, nobody important was playing in that game) followed up that performance by laying an egg in Kansas City. It's a huge drain to win a game like that, and coming back the next week with the same energy is very, very tough.
7) Nice weekend of football, but I will be very happy when the season is over. The 24/7, 365 inundation of the National Football League has been gradually wearing on me over the past few years, and I'm to the point where football is falling so far so fast on my list of favorite sports that I'd not be shocked if I just had it and quit watching by 2008. As soon as a team drops, the fans and press are immediately talking about the entry draft. Are you kidding? Give it a rest. But this leads to my last football-related thought of the morning.
8) Houston Texans, you are making a huge mistake. With the number one overall choice, you could have six or seven teams lunging at it with outrageous trade offers for a slew of picks and good players, because so many teams could improve themselves vastly with Reggie Bush/Vince Young/Matt Leinart. Get some linemen in there that can keep David Carr off his posterior. Dom Davis runs like a hero already - can you imagine what he'd be like if he actually had some blocking in front of him? You have Domanick Davis, Jonathan Wells and Vernand Morency. Are you really going to push a guy like Morency to fourth on the depth chart and naive enough to hope that USC's Reggie Bush can be good enough to take a 2-14 team and make something of it? He's not. Bush, too, had five linemen in front of him at Southern Cal who will all play on Sunday, not to mention two receivers, a quarterback and a backfield mate in LenDale White who will also be good if not great in the pros. Bush is no doubt fantastic, but he is still far too overrated in the fact that his skills alone cannot and will not translate into wins on the NFL level. Houston needs quality, but they need a heck of a lot of quantity too, and if you give me the choice between any running back other than Jim Brown vs. two high draft choices or two solid O-linemen, I will take the latter every. Single. Time. When will execs learn? If you don't have great players in the trenches, all of the skill guys in the world will not help you win. Ask the Arizona Cardinals. They had a former Super Bowl MVP at quarterback, two amazing receivers in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, and two very capable (and unfairly slighted) running backs in Marcel Shipp and J.J. Arrington, and they were nowhere near as good as they could be on offense (a slew of injuries on defense cost them so much of what lined up as a promising season). Can you imagine that team with good players on the offensive line? It's the Greatest Show on Turf all over again. Speaking of the GST, the Rams were perfectly fine until they made the ill-fated decision to go with John St. Clair at right tackle, and that's when the wheels started to come off for the aforementioned SBMVP. Coincidence? Hardly.
Houston fans are already riled up because the Texans won't be taking hometown hero Vince Young; wait 'till they see the disaster waiting to happen if they don't get some free agents in there in front of Carr and Bush, some actual defenders in the secondary, some actual defensive linemen, and somebody who can catch the ball down the field besides Andre Johnson. Yeah, it's that bad. Bush can't and won't repair it, and recommending they take Bush because he's a "once-in-a-lifetime" player is fine, but not wise. Barry Sanders was a once-in-a-lifetime player too, but since he played with a bunch of shmoes who no one can now remember, he came up with squat and retired early out of what I can only believe was sheer frustration.
I'm begging, now. Dump that draft pick and get some players around your already-strong nucleus.
9) The Fox Network needs help. They ditch a critically acclaimed show like Arrested Development (never actually saw it, but even the previews were funny), ditch a show like Firefly a few years ago...and the best they're coming up with is Skating With Celebreties...?
Sad thing is, I will not be surprised if the ratings come in higher.
10) This is filler for when I come down off all those words I just wrote. Hate to say it, but there'll be more.
To be continued....