Weekend Media Gaffe
- During the Nets post game show, after a road win over the Lakers, a reporter asked coach Lawrence Frank how this win ranked in the context of his career? Frank was obviously dumbfounded by the question, a natural reaction when you consider the fact that he's won 18 playoff games AND that it's November. Was the reporter expecting Frank to say? I think this was the 56th best win of my career. OR - Of all the November wins in my career, I must say this was easily among the 9 or 10 best.
Philadelphia @ New England - AKA SUPER BOWL 39.5
A great game, 8.167 times closer than anybody would have expected when considering the game time pont spread favored New England by 24.5 points. I would have taken the points when choosing this game, with the logic that if the Patriots can cover a spread that large, against a team with very solid overall talent, then you just tip your hat to them. But then I psyched myself out - I remembered how the Patriots have dominated every team aside from the Colts, I factored in the home field advantage, the backup quarterback, and a Thursday Sal Paolantonio interview that I stumbled upon on ESPN radio, where he basically said that the Eagles were a team in complete disarray. Needless to say I, like a lot of people, were dead wrong.
If I were a fan of either team I would have punched my fist threw a wall watching this game.
From a Patriots perspective - Was it not the weirdest thing watching AJ Feeley and the Eagles wide receivers carve up the middle of the Patriots defense on In-Route after In-Route? Since when does a Bill Belichick led defense not make a single adjustment when their opponent is abusing on the same exact play, time and time again? My opinion is that Belichick's game plan was either dead set on stopping Brian Westbrook and would under no circumstances change their attack OR Coach Belichick wanted to eke out a victory so that his team would remain focused for the rest of their conquest towards perfection. As crazy as the latter may sound, how else could you explain the greatest defensive game-planner/adjustment maker not changing a single scheme when his team is getting killed by the same attack, time and time again? This would be akin to Tony LaRussa completely ignoring Jose Reyes on the base paths or Greg Poppovich not adjusting to an ultra-successful Utah Jazz pick and roll - Coaches of this magnitude always make adjustments.
From a Eagles perspective - Any Philadelphia fan, after recovering from the initial shock of not being down by 21 points at halftime, must have been pulling their hair out watching little Wes Welker catch 13 receptions for 149 yards. This would be like if David Lee lit up the Spurs on national TV (if the Knicks and were relevant) for 35 points and 18 rebounds. But at least this is somewhat explainable from the Eagles coaching standpoint - It was either single cover Randy Moss or take your chances against Welker, Stallworth, Gaffney, and Watson. This time the plan almost worked, but as the Cleveland Browns found out earlier in the season - When you rotate your entire defense towards stopping one player (Moss), Brady will make you pay. The difference here was that the Eagles mounted such a formidable pass rush against the Pats that Brady was somewhat limited in picking apart the Eagles secondary, though New England was a dubious Randy Moss interference call and a missed chip-shot field goal away from scoring their usual 41 points. BUT back to Eagles fans pulling their hair out - It was obviously extremely painful for any Philly native or fan rooting vehemently against the Patriot quest for a perfect season, when AJ Feeley made the biggest mistake of his life - overthrowing an Out-Route to Kevin Curtis for a pick, when he was literally throwing for 100% on In-Routes AND when the Eagles needed to milk the clock before scoring. I can make at least a dozen different analogies for how stupid this was but I don't want to kill AJ Feeley after playing the game of his life for most of 55 minutes. Even with Feeley throwing away the game, the Eagles now have a legitimate quarterback controversy on their hands.
Is there now a "blue-print" to beating New England? Were the Patriots exposed?
I think there was already a blueprint to challenging New England, just that nobody has been able to successfully execute it. The Eagles pressured Brady, were physical with the New England wide receivers, and tried to keep the Patriots offense off the field - no surprises there. The problem is there aren't a lot of teams with a defensive coordinator who can create pressure like Jimmy Johnson that have an elite level cornerback (Lito Shepard) who can get help over the top from an elite level safety (Brian Dawkins) when guarding Randy Moss.
I think we also need to be reasonable. We cannot expect New England to blow-out every team they play and we can't expect them to be UP 100% emotionally for every game they play. We must also consider that now that the Patriots have a huge bulls eye on their back, every team is going to prepare and play against New England like its the Super Bowl.
With that said, it is definitely possible that New England may lose a game this season because of their hubris - or excessive pride that ultimately leads to one's downfall. Why did the Patriots make no attempt to run the ball, especially when Tom Brady has a near perfect passer rating on play action passes? Why didn't the Patriots defense make any adjustments after being killed on the same passing routes on dozens of occasions? Why didn't Lawrence Maroney make his first appearance on the field until the 2nd half? These questions may only prove relevant to this single game. BUT if the arrogance that they don't need to run the ball and that they don't need to adjust their game plan persists - then 1972 Dolphins will be able to celebrate for another year.
Why so much of a discussion on the Patriots? What about the Giants and Jets?
To be honest, I discuss the Patriots almost every week because they've been on national television A LOT this season and I'm captivated by the story - like most members of the sports media are. Another way to put it is that when following a sport, there are only 2 truly important story lines: 1) The progress of the team you root for. 2) Figuring out who will ultimately contend for the title, this year and in future seasons. It is almost irrefutably evident after watching 12 weeks of professional football, that the only way another team is going to win Super Bowl 42 (or 43) is if they find a way to knock off New England. So in essence, analyzing the strengths, weakness, and vulnerabilities of the Patriots - or in other words, taking their temperature every week, is an essential part of being an NFL fan if you're going to perform the second essential duty of following a sport - figuring out who will ultimately contend for the title.
So how about those Jets and Giants? Does anybody really want to read the notes I took on Giants/Vikings and Jets/Cowboys when both game could be successfully summed up in a nutshell? I mean, these games were painful to watch, neither being worthy of attention after the 3rd quarter. But here's what we can take away from each game.
The Giants:
I've been comparing Eli Manning to one of Mike Vick's pit bulls for 2 weeks now, and he finally bit the Giants and their fans in the face. No other analysis of the game is necessary when your quarterback plays that poorly - its simply impossible to win. I just can't believe that he laid such an egg against the worst pass defense in the NFL. Well maybe I can. But you've got to feel bad for Eli Manning after playing that poorly when his superstar brother came to Giants Stadium to watch the game. Can you imagine if you were playing Willy Lohman in a local production of Death of a Salesman, and your older, critically acclaimed, Tony Award winning brother, flew across the country for the sole purpose of watching you on stage. Then imagine if you forgot all of your lines and the audience promptly exited the show before the start of ACT II. Now you have a better grasp of how Eli Manning feels 6 to 8 times a year.
The Giants defense played fine. Knowing what we know about the Giants secondary, the fatal error(s) made in pass coverage shouldn't come as much of surprise, save for the fact that the Vikings are amongst the worst passing teams in the NFL. Anyways, next week's game against the Bears is not without significance.
Though the Giants are still in excellent shape as they control their own playoff destiny, a loss to the Chicago would bring them to 7-5. If you pencil them in for a loss in week 17 against New England, that means the Giants would have to play very pressure packed football weeks 13-16. But a win against the Bears has the G-Men sitting pretty at 8-4, with 11-5 or 10-6 final record easily in reach.
So if you're a Giants fan, don’t be too upset with a loss to an inferior opponent on your home field. YES, that last sentence sounds bad, but you know that Giants under Tom Coughlin are good for at least one loss against a team they have no business losing too - just don't make it a habit. And that's not a cheap shot or a slight of any kind - any Giants fan knows their team has a tendency to play down to their competition after periods of winning football. And talk about playing down, the Giants looked so bad at one point Sunday that analyst Daryl Johnston wondered aloud if the Giants offense practiced at all during the week.
The Jets:
The Jets to a substantial degree have a dearth of talent - especially offensively when they're missing Lavarenus Coles. They also start a quarterback with less than 6 games of experience. In order for the Jets to win a game in 2007, one of two things has to happen.
1. They have to play a team of comparable or lesser talent. That is how they defeated Miami.
2. They must impeccably execute a well thought game plan, limiting what a team can do offensively through misdirection. That explains the Jets upset win over the Steelers and also accounts for in the neighborhood of six of their victories in 2006.
It is clear to see why the Jets had no chance at Texas Stadium on Thanksgiving Day. You can't expect this current Jets team, with only 3 days of preparation to compete with a vastly superior in talent NFC Juggernaut like the Cowboys, on the road nonetheless.
Random Thought from Week 12...
- When will it become officially gay for a non-Saints fan to wear a Reggie Bush jersey? Now hear me out because I don't throw around that word loosely. Reggie Bush hasn't been a good NFL player in what is now 1.5+ seasons, though this is not to say he won't rebound and be spectacular. So for a non-Saints fan to wear a Reggie Bush jersey at this point it would mean that either 1) He simply enjoys the color schemes of the Saints jerseys. 2) Likes Reggie Bush for his charisma or boyish good looks. ESPN.com lists 41 running backs that have enough rushing attempts to qualify for its statistical listings. Of those 41 running backs Reggie Bush is listed 39th in yards per carry. What I'm trying to say is, Brian Leonard also averages 3.6 yards per carry, but non-Rams fans don't buy his jersey. So for all of you Reggie Bush jersey owners who do not root for the Saints, myself included (Christmas Present), you better hope Bush starts taking the league by storm OR the only place that jersey will be appropriate is Cherry Grove and San Francisco.
I'm an Idiot because...
- After a Brandon Lang/John Anthony/Sam Rothstein type 3-week handicapping run, I had my worst week against the spread in recent memory - a painful, disgusting, hideous, hippyish 3-12. Again, for the pop culture impaired, those names comes from the movies Two for the Money & Casino
What to look for tomorrow:
- A huge NBA entry, including a TOP-10 players list among many others thoughts.
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