Archive for the ‘General’ Category
You are currently browsing the archives for the General category.
19
Aug
2010
NFL questions that must be answered (Part 1)
We’re just weeks away from the start of the NFL’s regular season, yet many questions remain.
In this series, we’ll dig through a few items in the days leading up to Week One — and we promise to veer away from Brett Favre and Dez Bryant (and Rex Ryan) in the weeks ahead.
Let’s deal with some of those men today, and move forward, shall we?
Jets coach Rex Ryan with his team in 2009. He's lost some weight since then -- but gained some moxie. (Source: Motleyball.com)
1. Will Favre stay healthy? It may be a stretch to question the durability of a quarterback who’s started 309 consecutive games (when I, myself, miss 20 days of work annually due to a laundry list of faked illnesses — but I digress).
Favre’s health is an issue because, after those 309 games, he’s 41 and playing on an ankle that’s only partially healed. “There is nothing on me that’s 100 percent. There wasn’t anything that was 100 percent last year or the year before,” Favre told The Associated Press Wednesday. “The surgery made me a little better.”
Let’s say Favre hadn’t thrown that fateful pick against the Saints — would he have played in the Super Bowl?
I suppose he and the team would have done everything possible to have him in there, but if you recall the hideous photos of his ankle in the days following the game, it’s hard to imagine him on the field.
Look, I don’t doubt Favre on any level — again, have any of us not missed a day of work in 19 years? Not even the super nerds among us can talk that jive.
If Favre can do 75 percent of what he did last year, the Vikings have a strong enough supporting cast to return to the NFC championship.
If Tarvaris Jackson starts more than three games, there will be issues. When I look at the 2009 Vikings, I see a team that had everything go right during the regular season. Very few injuries, young players emerging to play pivotal roles, and the team’s star having a career year. In the NFL, this almost never happens two years running.
2. Do the Jets live up to the hype? I, for one, believe they will — to a degree. I don’t see them flopping. They have too much talent, and no matter what you think about Ryan, the man loves his players, and communicates with them well. Watching HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” it’s so clear that Ryan knows how to motivate the roster and — despite the Jets’ star-studded roster — he cares as much for his fringe special teamers as he does for his headliners.
For the Jets to mature, quarterback Mark Sanchez needs to settle into his role. To paraphrase what Marty Schottenheimer said on “Hard Knocks,” during a visit to the team’s training camp — if a rookie quarterback has a good first season, if you can simply help him equal that in Year Two, you’ve achieved something as a coach.
Amidst all the Jets madness, some forget that Sanchez, statistically, was far from perfect in 2009.
While the team was a machine on the ground, they ranked 31st in passing. Sanchez threw 12 touchdowns and 20 interceptions and had a 63 rating, 28th in the NFL. By comparison, Drew Brees threw 31 touchdowns and 11 picks. Brady Quinn had a higher rating than Sanchez, on a much worse team. So did Marc Bulger and Mark Fitzpatrick.
Stats aside, what Sanchez did successfully was maintain his composure and help New York get within a game of the Super Bowl.
Understanding Marty’s point, I doubt the former coach — who knows something about losing AFC championship games — is suggesting that Sanchez simply needs to go out there and repeat last year’s numbers.
Sanchez must illustrate that he can shoulder the load when the Jets can’t run the ball and Darrelle Revis is home watching the game on television, waiting for more bags of money to arrive.
Jason Campbell has been welcomed in Oakland, and his presence makes the Raiders a threat to win the AFC West. (Source: AP)
I trust in the coaching Sanchez receives from Rex and Brian Schottenheimer — and I believe the Jets have something to teach 90% of the league when it comes to playing with confidence and a sense of destiny. They’ll be a factor all year long.
3. Which team will be 2010′s big surprise? Too often, preseason picks lack originality. It seems to boil down to a process of selecting between last year’s final four — and the Cowboys — as this year’s Super Bowl contenders.
Nobody was talking about New Orleans last August; and before Favre won with the Vikings, he was dismissed a head case following a disappointing 2008 season with the Jets.
Naturally, everyone gets on board and acts like they knew all along.
When unheralded Kurt Warner and the Rams marched through the NFC to a Super Bowl crown in 1999, it wasn’t until midseason that people took them seriously.
Who plays that role this time around?
We can’t call a 2009 playoff team a surprise (although some try).
We can’t name a team that surged at times, showing strong signs of promise. For instance, the Miami Dolphins are not a surprise team.
I’m talking about some out-of-left-field squad that people are laughing at — or entirely ignoring — today.
I see Tampa Bay, Cleveland, or Oakland as 2010′s surprise playoff team. Not all of them — but one.
With a gun to my head, I think Oakland — despite their eccentric owner — may do a job on the Chargers and take the AFC West. I also believe next August we’ll be watching Al Davis and his boys on 2011′s “Hard Knocks.”
It may be the only way to top what we’re currently experiencing.
1
Jun
2010
The NFL Omnibus: A Q&A with ESPN’s Chris Sprow
With league OTAs in full swing, and the preseason around the corner, we talked with ESPN’s Chris Sprow, an editor and reporter who covers the NFL (with a focus on the Draft), along with a wide variety of others sports. Chris shared his thoughts on this year’s rookie quarterback class; assessed the bliss-level of the Holmgren/Mangini marriage in C-Town; and examined which head coach might soon be considered the league’s next “genius.”
Life under the microscope: Eric Mangini, Rex Ryan, Sean Payton, Martin Mayhew and Jim Schwartz all know this: Whether you're rebuilding the house, or reloading a Super Bowl champion, everyone's on the hot seat in this league. (Source: AP/photoshop)
THEDARKHORSE: Chris, thanks so much for joining us. You spent hours researching this year’s draft. As always, the rookie quarterbacks received tremendous hype — but five years from now, how will they be judged?
CHRIS SPROW: I recently touched on the subject of taking a year or more to develop a quarterback — not as a starter — and this year’s class offers a classic case in point for the belief that you can’t do anything better for a guy’s chances to be a really good NFL quarterback than to hand him a clipboard in his first year, and maybe his first couple. Sam Bradford has never really had to read defenses. I spoke for a while with his offensive coordinator at OU (Kevin Wilson) and Bradford — who is really a bright kid and should learn quickly — is a guy who was able to anticipate the open man in that system a lot more than he had to (yes, yes) read and react. He’s also never taken snaps under center, and that’s another massive change. I think Bradford has a chance to be really, really good. He’s super accurate, he’s smart, and he has plenty of arm. But if they rush him, it’s a mistake.
THEDARKHORSE: Some people suggest that Jimmy Clausen might be in the best scenario for success.
CHRIS SPROW: I think Clausen is going to be a good NFL quarterback. You just can’t forget that he really only had one year with competent surrounding talent in South Bend, he took a ton of hits, played in a pro style offense, and could have very well had a junior season where he threw 28 touchdowns and just one or two picks. He was unlucky on a couple of those. Again, he shouldn’t start as a rookie.
THEDARKHORSE: Then we’ve got a player who fell farther than some expected in Colt McCoy — and one who went much higher than initially predicted in Tim Tebow.
CHRIS SPROW: McCoy I find interesting because a lot of the reason he fell was the reason he was good. He simply didn’t have a lot of options or opportunity to throw the ball down the field as a senior given the ‘Horns personnel and, for the most part, he did a good job of taking what he was given. He’s another guy where, given a couple of years of marinating, he has as good a chance as any of these guys, because we know he has the head for it.
THEDARKHORSE: Looking at the hysteria surrounding Tebow, why the attention?
Click below to read the rest of our interview with ESPN’s Chris Sprow
25
May
2010
Q&A with Brandon Kopceuch of 27Pitches and NFL.com’s Blog Blitz
This week, we have the privilege of sitting down to talk with Brandon Kopceuch, a writer for NFL.com’s Blog Blitz and www.27pitches.com. Brandon has been following the National Football League for years, and gives us his impressions of this offseason, and takes a look forward to 2010. Brandon can be reached at brandon@27pitches.com.
Are people too worked up over Sanchez and the Jets? (Source: nydailynews.com)
THEDARKHORSE: Brandon, thanks for joining us here at Read and React. It’s been an active few months for the National Football League. Give me your thoughts on one or two teams that have really improved this offseason.
BRANDON KOPCEUCH : Thanks for having me. I was saying it even before the draft, but, in my opinion, one team that has really impressed me this offseason is the Detroit Lions. Ever since they got rid of Matt Millen, they finally seem to be on the right path, and I can legitimately see them competing for the NFC North title as early as next year. Imagine if Millen was still in charge—he’d have drafted Dez Bryant and let the other areas of the team fall into ruin. But Martin Mayhew and Jim Schwartz actually seem to know what they’re doing. Matthew Stafford is the real deal and giving him a legitimate weapon in Nate Burleson opposite the beast that is Calvin “Megatron” Johnson will go a long way into opening up the field for them. Then going out and trading for one of the better receiving tight ends in the league in Tony Scheffler makes this a scary passing offense for their opponents to defend.
The other team I like is the Baltimore Ravens. They have given Joe Flacco a plethora of weapons and they should field one of the best offenses in the league next year, along with their normally stout defense, which got stronger with last month’s draft. Oh, and let me throw this out there: I think Flacco is, and will be, better than his quarterback draft partner, Matt Ryan. There, I said it.
THEDARKHORSE: How about a team that’s stumbled?
BRANDON KOPCEUCH: I have to say it’s the Broncos. Josh McDaniels has come in and gutted them of virtually every talented offensive player on their roster and now Kyle Orton will have to enter the season with Eddie Royal and Jabar Gaffney as his top-two receivers. Defensively they were solid last year until the final few weeks—and all of the credit for that has to be given to Mike Nolan—but McDaniels inexplicably ran him out of town. I just think McDaniels is in over his head and is trying too hard to put his own imprint on the team, but he simply hasn’t made the right decisions. He’ll be lucky if he gets the time to develop Tebow into the quarterback he apparently thinks he can be.
THEDARKHORSE: Who do you like in the always-under-a-microscope NFC East this season?
Click below to read the rest of our interview with Brandon Kopceuch.
6
May
2010
Coaches Roundtable (Part One), with TheDarkHorse and steverodgers
Tom Cable: Sitting in the dark in Alameda. (Source: AlltheAbove)
THEDARKHORSE: Alright, steverodgers, the draft has come and gone, Pac Man’s hanging out with Ochocinco, Tony Romo’s won a playoff game sans Jessica, and Big Bad Orton’s still the starter (barely) in Denver. When will the other shoe drop? What do you see in your 2010 crystal ball?
STEVERODGERS: What do I see…? I see another glorious NFL season. I see Kyle Orton making the leap and hitting some passes for over 10 yards. I see Brady Quinn flexing in the mirror, his clipboard watches mildly impressed. I see the Pats recording only five sacks for the entire season. I see Mangini and Holmgren on a road trip, the car is full of snacks, they listen to Journey and discuss secret offenses and the Mississippi Showboats 1984 USFL Season. I see my Sunday’s spent away from my family. I see John Clayton writing article after article that I completely disagree with. DH, what do you see? Where does the NFL go this year? Who will be the heroes, the villains, the ones left with their fans in stands wearing paper bags on their heads?
THEDARKHORSE: I think, even today, Holmgren calls Mangini down to his office, and–in a slowly developing friendship–Holmgren opens the little fridge, pulls out two PBRs, cracks his, cracks Mangini’s, and pushes it across the desk. They sit and talk Montana, Young, Favre, Elway, Brady (Tom not Quinn), McCoy. Mangini is concerned about the age along the defensive line. “I need you speak with Heckert–speak with Tom–I need a lean, quick, 5 technique defensive end to spell Smith–I need two young defensive tackles… we need this by June, Mike.” Holmgren dials his admin. “Yes, Mr. Holmgren.” “Vivian, can we get two steaks, medium, and a couple of baked potatoes in here?” “Yes, Mr. Holmgren. Do you want slices of cake?” “Yes, Vivian, two slices of chocolate cake.” Holmgren hangs up and looks at Mangini, “It’s gonna’ be OK, Eric. We’re on a trajectory here.” They sit deep into the night–drinking cans of PBR, probably 10 each–at one stage, Mangini draws up a brand-new NFL defense, the 1-8-2. “I call it ‘The Drunken Tot,’ and do you see what it does?”
Mangini draws up an opposing offense with rapid, efficient strokes on the dry-erase board. “Drunken Tot will nag, defuse, and destroy the ‘The Wildcat.’ We’ll wait. We’ll unleash this Week 13 in Miami. We’ll drop the hammer, Mike.”
Holmgren chuckles to himself, drifting back into his massive, plush-leather easy chair, staring out over the practice fields below, and the distant rooftops, neon, and church spires of quiet Berea, entering nightfall.
STEVERODGERS: The Big Rex down in N.Y. runs out of steam this year. Late in the season, he ransacks Mangini’s old office, hoping to find some Aspirin, maybe a warm beer–only to find Baby Ruth wrappers and postcards of Australia. The clock is ticking. He’s hungry, but he can only eat what his stomach allows. There are meals that he has to skip. He remembers boyhood meals, sitting around the table, huge meals of pasta, milks, sodas, fried chicken, canned-fruit salad, epic deserts, and football conversations. His father would sit in his chair after and talk about “Bringing the Heat.” He’d say, “Listen boys, in the end it’s all bullshit. Your front just needs to have more than their front. Reduce it to a brawl, just bring the heat.” He would drift off to sleep. The boys would retreat to their shared room and fill notebooks with trick plays and defenses. They based one defense on the original seven G.I. Joe members. He still has those notebooks, and every time he runs. or sees his brother run, the “Clutch, SnakeEyes Right,” he smiles. He sits in Mangini’s old office, one light is on, he remembers sneaking a beer for the first time at Randall Cunningham‘s wedding–everything was white that day. He remembers his mother, always there with a grilled cheese on Sundays in front of the TV. There will be more seasons, he thinks, this is just one season of my life. He finds a piece of paper, he writes “Bringing the Heat” at the top, in big block letters. He begins to diagram plays.
THEDARKHORSE: Tom Cable out in Oakland sits in his office with the lights shut off. Pitch-black. No windows. He’d asked for an office with no windows. He’d told the Raiders’ facilities man, “No windows. This Harbor Bay Parkway is a dump–and I don’t want to stare out at a dump all day and night, now do I, slim?” They’d created Cable’s office out of a refurbished maintenance bay–tall, concrete ceilings with piping running to and fro. In the darkness, Cable listened to the waterways–and thrived. The room was sparse–a desk; a blank, standard dry-erase on the wall; and a fully-stocked liquor cabinet. In a hollow, pea-green filing cabinet in the corner, he kept five handguns, a hunter’s knife, and a map of the Canadian forest. Cable lounged in his chair, silent, alone. Occasionally, a knock at the door, but they knew not to burst in. Hours would pass–no team meetings, not a phone ringing, nothing. Every day, at 4 p.m., like clockwork, the loudspeaker at the facility would crackle to life, followed by the sound of a raspy man, clearing his throat. “Raideerrrrzzzz………… men of Oakland,” Al Davis whispers to all living beings with ear shot. “Stay classy……. Raideeerrrrzzzz.” Then it would cut out. Cable on another planet. Dreaming about guns, whiskey, and the northern woods.
STEVERODGERS: Cable is a madman! DarkHorse, I believe it’s happy hour here at ReadAndReact HQ. Let’s find Artie and C-O-U-R-T-N-E-Y! and put out some calls to see how Rookie Camp is going. Ears to the ground and bellies to the bar. We’ll meet here tomorrow to finish up with our Coaches Roundtable. As they like to say in Oakland: “The autumn wind, my friend. The autumn wind.” Beer time!
THEDARKHORSE: Can we get french fries?
STEVERODGERS: Yes.
4
Apr
2010
Happy Easter! At this point, we’re just waiting for the draft
Kiper Bunny is coming to town
Early April is generally a pretty slow time for NFL news. There have been a few minor moves and signings, and we had our annual player caught with gun story, but in general, things like the Final Four, MLB opening day, Easter with family (and for some of us, reruns of Hard Knocks on Hulu) are more interesting this time of year. And at this point, everyone is really gearing up for the draft, which is less than 3 weeks away.
There are mocks-O-plenty as prognosticators pretend to have a clue as to how the draft (in its new 3-day format) is going to play out. Meanwhile, teams fine-tune their value boards and conduct background checks on their top prospects. We’ve heard plenty of reports from pro days of the top college players, but sorry, we simply refuse to write about Tim Tebow before he actually does something in the NFL. He gets plenty of ink already.
So, before we head out to round up eggs and candy from the neighborhood kids, we’ll leave you with a few links from the past week:
- 8 USA Today analysts provide their 1st round mock drafts
- According to ProFootballTalk, everyone in the NFL hates Todd McShay
- Giving a little love to the unsung soldiers. The New York Times lists the best Right Guards in the league.
- Washington Redskins Chris Cooley and Fred Davis appeared at intermission of an NHL game this week. And raced each other. On tricycles. Poor sportsmanship ensued. Here’s the video, from Gunaxin:
Happy sunday!
16
Dec
2009
Sex Sting Got Your Tail?
News of Tiger Woods’ troubles have overshadowed another sexcapade: Pat the Patriot (which would be the Patriots’ mascot) was arrested in a prostitution sting in Rhode Island.
Now we know why Pat is smiling (photo: creativecameraconcepts.com)
Pat, aka Robert Sormenti, has been suspended by the team. The most fascinating angle to the story is that if “Pat” had gotten off just a month earlier he would have gotten off: prostitution was legal in Rhode Island until November 2009.
25
Nov
2009
VIDEO: 6-Year-Old Lays the Lumber
We’ve all seen football games where one person stands out as being clearly more physically gifted than the rest of the players on the field. In high school and college, you can generally spot the guys who are going to advance to the next level right away … and it’s generally fun to watch.
But at the Pop Warner level, that sort of difference in skill can be downright scary. Meet Nyrel Sevilla: the hardest hitting 6-year-old the world may have ever seen:
17
Nov
2009
Pats Paste Patsies (and the parents engage in a Smerlas campaign)
And here we thought that Bill Belichick was having problems. Over the weekend, former Patriots’ players played in a charity basketball game with some high schoolers. This feel good story quickly turned bad, though, when the Pats’ squad started roughing up their counterparts from Nashoba Regional High School. Now, the parents of the teens are fighting back, the police are involved, and one former Patriot, Garin “Gameday” Veris, may even lose his job over it is on the defensive over it. If you want to see video on the story, you’ll have to go here.
At the center of the bru-ha-ha is this man and his charity, All Pro Productions, who arranged the game:
Fred Smerlas
Smerlas, who as evidenced by the above photo was either a wrestler or a super hero in high school, apparently knows how to fight when he wants to:
Smerlas fought in high school. Smerlas’ charity team fights high schoolers now. Coincidence? Or culture of violence? You decide!
You may only recognize Smerlas when you see him wearing his 'stache.
Photos from www.coachpass33.com and http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/bc/genrel/auto_action/FredSmerlas.jpg
11
Nov
2009
ReadAndReact Mid-Season NFL Awards
Yep, it’s that time of year again! Time for bloggers and sportswriters across the land to create meaningless mid-season NFL awards lists!
And who are we to buck the system? If nothing else, this exercise allows us to take a step back to examine the first 9 weeks of action, and heap accolades on those whose performances have set them apart from the pack thus far (in either a good or not-so-good way).
So without further adieu, here they are, the inaugural ReadAndReact Mid-Season NFL Awards:
Why yes, the crow does taste fine. Thanks for asking (Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
MVP: Brett Favre, MIN - As much as we hate to admit it, the old man has been the difference maker in Minnesota, and is the main reason they’re sitting atop the NFC central. So far. It’s mainly about the attitude he brings, and the belief the rest of his teammates now have in their chances. But so far, Favre has put up excellent numbers (16TDs vs 3 INTs), and shows no signs of slowing down. But then, we were saying the same thing about Favre and the Jets at this point last year. We’ll see how the arm holds up come week 16.
Coach of the Year: Josh McDaniels/Mike Nolan, DEN – in a total shocker to everyone in the league, McDaniels has come into Denver and changed the team culture in record time, leading the team out to a fast 6-0 start. And Nolan’s defense – currently 3rd in the NFL in Total Yds/Gm, and 1st in defensive touchdowns (8 so far) – has been the main reason for their success.
Still pointing at us (Photo: C. Schneider/AP)
Offensive Player of the Year: Drew Brees, NO – I’m taking Brees over Peyton Manning here, mainly because we’ve come to expect this sort of ruthless efficiency from Peyton, but Brees seems to have entered a new stratosphere in 2009. He’s playing about as well as you can at the position (106 QB Rating), and has the Saints leading the NFL in total offense.
Defensive Player of the Year: Darren Sharper, NO – With a league-leading 7 interceptions (3 of them returned for TDs!), Sharper has changed the attitude of the Saints defense, and helped turn them into a force. Is it scary that a Saint is getting the award for both offense and defense? Yes, and it’s why I like the Saints to go all the way this year.
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Percy Harvin, MIN – One of the most exciting offensive playmakers to come along in a while, Harvin is a threat to score every time he touches the ball. With 5 TDs in 8 games – 3 via reception and 2 via KO return – Harvin has challenged the Vikings coaching staff to develop more ways to get the ball into his hands.
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Jairus Byrd, BUF - The first-year DB has been a ball-hawking machine, with multiple interceptions in 3 consecutive games! With 7 interceptions so far, Byrd is tied for the NFL lead, and is on pace for 14 this season, which would tie an NFL record.
Continue reading after the jump for more RnR Mid-Season Awards
10
Nov
2009
A Browns Fan Dreaming: Holmgren Aloft
Marching Towards Cleveland: for Frodo!
Mike Holmgren floats above the sky. He sees taco carts, cans of Tecate, young men in Browns jerseys. He sees the ghost of Otto Graham and they shake hands in the borderlands. They make a promise to get gin and tonics, sidecars and gin fizzy’s, and they stare into the distance. They imagine a different future for the Browns. They are in an old bar in North Beach and the bartender is talking about a suicide pool. The radio clicks on to a college station and a girl with a thin voice is talking about the time she read “Big Sur” in high school and that’s when she decided to go to Berkeley. She now plays “California Zephyr.” A pretty waitress listens and doodles pictures of cats wearing capes on her notepad. Holmgren hears the song and smiles. He remembers the summer he spent working at a YMCA camp in Ely, Minnesota and suddenly he knows that the only place he will be taking the Browns is to the Super Bowl. He finishes his drink, heads out into the fog and diagrams new plays in his mind as he hails a cab to SFO.
Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard \”California Zephyr\”
