You know the saying that goes, “You don’t know that you have a good girlfriend until you’ve been with a bad one?” Well after watching Norv Turner’s coaching performance while the Chargers were getting shellacked by the Patriots yesterday, everyone in my group of friends felt like we just traded Kelly Kapowski for Glenn Close’s character in Fatal Attraction. I was really excited about this game and Norv Turner came by and boiled a proverbial rabbit in my kitchen. The Chargers looked unprepared, were outsmarted, and played like a team that was poorly coached. I’m not a Marty Schottenheimer fan by any means, but in their losses last year, they didn’t get blown out like they did yesterday. How demoralizing.
I’ve heard people say that the Chargers just ran into a buzz saw in the form of a Patriot team motivated by people questioning the credibility of their three Super Bowls. But while there may be some truth to this, the Chargers shouldn’t have gotten blown out the way they did. I saw a team that failed to adjust when the Patriots started the game off with the spread formation. I saw corners playing back when they should have been pressing. I saw no attempts at disguising their coverages or anything other than vanilla blitz packages. I mean what happened to all of those corner and safety blitzes I kept reading about in the preseason? Did someone forget to tell Ted Cotrell that the season started two weeks ago?
On offense Turner showed that he had the balls of a field mouse with some of his play calls. Let me tell you a couple of three things: They should have gone for it on 4th and 1 in the second quarter when they had the ball on their own 39-yard line. When you’re down 17-0 and have Lorenzo Neal -- who was like 20-for-20 in those situations last year, you gotta go for it. I don’t care where the ball was. And if they wanted to play it safe, they should have given Neal the ball the play before when it was 3rd and 1. On the next drive, it was 3rd and 1 again and they still didn’t give it to Neal! Instead they call a pass play that gets picked off and returned for a touchdown which made it 24-0 and marked the beginning of the end for the Chargers. Look, every game has a moment or two where the head coach decides to either “whip it out” or “keep it in their pants”-- let’s just call this the “Whip it Out Moment”. Turner had two chances to whip it out on the road against the best team in the League and both times he kept it in his pants.
The Chargers had a couple of other chances to make it a more competitive game but didn’t. They opened the second half with a touchdown but let the Patriots come right back and score to make it 31-7. And when the Chargers brought it to 31-14 and then recovered the ensuing kickoff at the Patriot 31 a touchdown would have made it a 10-point game. Instead Turner calls two pass plays that both resulted in sacks, they call some halfhearted passing play on 3rd down, punt, and that was that.
So where does this leave the Chargers?
For one thing, they need to get better on offense. The Chargers offense doesn’t exactly look like its being run by an offensive genius. They haven’t scored in the first half yet this year, the line is getting pushed around, and their receivers haven’t done squat. But the biggest problem right now is that Phil Rivers is absolutely killing us. He turned the ball over three times yesterday and the pick he threw to Adalius Thomas that got ran back was brutal. I don’t know what happened to him, but Rivers doesn’t look comfortable in the pocket and is having a really hard time dealing with the blitz up the middle. Come to think of it, this offense doesn’t really have an identity right now. Are we a power running team? Are we a short yardage passing team? Are we a play-action team? Are we going to at least try to throw the ball downfield? Hopefully we’ll figure this out in the next few weeks. They go to Green Bay and play a good defensive team this weekend and if they can handle the Packers they have the Chiefs at home and they’re looking at a 3-1 record in the first quarter of the season. During the second quarter of the season they play at Denver, Oakland, Houston, and at Minnesota so they should be 7-1 or at the very least 6-2 at the midway point which isn’t bad. After that, they have their next gut-check game against the Colts on November 11th so they basically have seven weeks get their crap everything squared away.
And that’s why I’m not worried. Unlike the guy who delivers mail at my office who earlier today bet me a case of beer the Chargers wouldn’t make the playoffs (true story), I’m not going to give up on the season because of one lousy game. I’m I pissed that we lost? Hell yes, I am. But if you look at the big picture it’s Week 3 and we’re 1-1 against two of the top five teams in the League even though we’re going through a coaching change, we haven’t scored an offensive touchdown in the first half, and our running back is averaging less than two yards a carry.
I got emails and comments this morning slamming me for picking the Chargers to win this game 30-14. Do I feel like a moron for thinking the Chargers would blow out the Patriots? Of course I do. In retrospect I was a little too confident in thinking that the transition between Schottenheimer and Turner would be smooth. But you know what? My expectations for this team still haven’t changed. This season isn’t about beating the Patriots in Week 2. This season is about winning a championship. And while they got embarrassed last night there’s still a whole lot of season left to go. Maybe we get another shot at those guys in January. And maybe, by then Norv Turner will have grown some balls and we can stop comparing Marty Schottenheimer to Kelly Kapowski.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
“Saw Things So Much Clearer…
Once you… were in my… REARVIEW MIRROR.”
--Pearl Jam
I think that just about sums up my Week 1 performance that saw me go a putrid 6-10 against the spread. Ouch! The good news is that I still won some scratch on a Charger-Colts parlay. Woot! Remember kids: It’s not about picking the right teams, it’s about betting on the right teams.
Let’s just hope they put that quote on my bust when I’m inducted into the Sam Rothstein Bettors Hall of Fame.
Here are my Week 2 picks (team listed first is the team that I picked):
LAY THESE ON THE WAY TO YOUR BETTORS ANNONYMUS MEETING:
Green Bay +1.5 at New York
Eli Manning has a bum shoulder, their defense gave up 45 points and Brandon Jacobs is on pace to become the fastest player ever to gain “Guy I Regret Drafting on my Fantasy Team” status joining Randy Moss, Felix Hernandez, 2006 Manny Ramirez, and Rich Harden. I think it’s safe to say the 2007 season hasn’t started off so well for the G-Men. I’m just looking forward to around Week 8 when the Giants are 1-7 and Peter King is interviewing a Tiki Barber who has six coats of make-up on and a grin so big you’d think he just ate a 42-ounce piece of turd.
Minnesota +3 at Detroit
I don’t know what games I’m getting on Sunday but I would like to make a special request to FOX: If you guys could find it in your heart not to saddle San Diego County with the Minnesota-Detroit game this weekend I would really appreciate it. I don’t know if there’s a game that would make everyone in my collective group say, “Screw it, let’s just play Madden until 1” but this one would really tempt us. Thanks!
In case you’re wondering, I went with the Vikings because I think the Vikings will be able to run the rock and Detroit won’t be able to score as easily as they did against Oakland last week.
Baltimore -7.5 vs. NY Jets
Both quarterbacks are hurt and I’m thinking Kyle Boller would fare better against the Jets defense than Kellen Clemens would against the Ravens defense.
ALMOST TOO CLOSE TO CALL:
Philly -7 at Washington
I went with Philly only because it’s a must-win game for the Eagles this week. They can’t lose their home opener and go 0-2 to start the season can they? Even though McNabb looked horrible last week, they would have won that game if it weren’t for those two muffed punts.
On the Redskins side, everyone says they looked good last week but they only beat the Dolphins by three points! It’s hard to take points on a road team when you don’t think they can win straight up.
San Francisco +3.5 at St. Louis
If I could take a mulligan on one of my preseason picks it would be the Rams winning the NFC West. “Piss Poor”, “Unprepared”, and “Sloppy” are three adjectives I would use to describe their performance last week against the Panthers. And now they’ve lost Orlando Pace for the season. Also, a couple of more bad games from Steven Jackson and I’ll be ready to introduce the “Never Trust a Black Football Player with Long Hair” corollary. I mean we already have Ricky Williams, Al Harris, and Cedric Benson. I just need a couple more instances before we can confirm this. I nominate Jackson and Lawrence Maroney to each fumble three times this week and Benson to miss the next 4-6 weeks with bruised ribs.
UNDERDOG SPECIALS:
San Diego +3.5 at New England
This is going to be the biggest game of the regular season. You wanna know why I think the Chargers will win? Let me break it down for you:
I don’t care about the spying. I don’t care about last year’s game. To be honest with you, I don’t care about what LT has to say about Belichick or what Rivers has to say about Hobbs or any of that crap. The Chargers are just going to line up on Sunday night and beat the living crap out of the Patriots. We’re going to stop the run with our front seven. We’re going to knock Brady around. We’re going to cover Moss with Jammer and a safety on top and the first time a ball is thrown his way, Moss is going to get smacked so hard he’ll be wishing he was back in Oakland smoking indo and running over meter maids. We’re going to use Cromartie on Stallworth and Florence on Welker and the Patriots “major acquisitions” are going to give their fans a nice big shit burger to eat. On offense, our line is going to maul their line. Do you hear me? MAUL. And since they’ll be loading up the box against LT, mark my words, Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd will have a field day against Asante Samuel whoever else they have on the other side.
To paraphrase Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men: “We’re going rip your head off and shit down your fucking throat. You fucked with the wrong team.”
Trust me Charger fans, it will be a joyous beat down that will leave us looking forward to the next beat down we give those over-hyped, east coast, scarf and glove wearing sissies in January.
Chargers 34 Patriots 14.
Tennessee +7.5 vs. Indy
I was very impressed with the Tennessee win over the Jags last week and while the Colts looked good too, I’m not 100-percent sold on Indy’s defense just yet. Now if they go on the road and cover against a Titan team that always plays them tough then I may change my mind. But as of now I see a Titan upset or Indy squeaking out a 25-24 win or something of that nature.
Houston +6.5 over Carolina
The current leader for the award for “The Over-Hyped Storyline that everyone’s laughing about by Week 5” goes to “Jake Delhomme is looking over his shoulders now because of David Carr.” Are we talking about the same David Carr who has a 75.5 career passer rating or is there another David Carr out there that I don’t know about?
Another fun story that’s been circulating is the “Mario Williams has more touchdowns than Reggie Bush” take. I think it’s safe to say that at the end of the day, Reggie Bush will have more touchdowns than Mario Williams this year. In fact when it’s all said and done I’m guarantee you that Reggie Bush will have more touchdowns this season than Mario Williams will have in his entire career. I’m even willing to go as far as to say that Reggie Bush will have more touchdowns this year and in his career than Mario Williams will have sacks this year or throughout his entire career.
I like Mario Williams and all, and he seems like a nice guy but he’s not even in the same stratosphere as Reggie Bush.
Hopefully somewhere in Houston, someone is reading this while repeatedly ramming his head against the wall.
SCOT WRIGHT SPECIALS (Seemingly easy picks that could end up screwing your parlay):
New Orleans -3.5 at Tampa Bay
I’m not ready to give up on my sleeper team just yet and to be honest with you, I was this close to picking the Bucs to cover this one. First of all, the Bucs were right in that game against the Seahawks last week until Jeff Garcia got hurt and secondly the Saints offense didn’t exactly look like world beaters against an undersized Colts defense. I picked the Saints but I think that this game will tell us a lot about both teams.
Seattle -2.5 at Arizona
Matt Leinhart looked like he’d rather be doing body shots off of Tara Reid in some club in LA rather than playing in the game against the Niners last Monday. He didn’t exactly look like the guy at USC who threw for like 380 yards and 4 touchdowns every game. Still, the Cardinals defense didn’t look too bad last week and the Cardinals did beat the Seahawks last year. Although I’m not picking them, the Cardinals are at home and if Leinhart can get it together I think they can pull this one off.
Dallas -4.5 vs. Miami
I initially picked Miami on this one but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the Dolphins have little to no talent on offense and I would be an idiot to pick them. And for the record, I’m glad Wade Phillips and Cam Cameron aren’t with the Chargers anymore. I thought both were ridiculously overrated. As Wade Phillips found out last week playing Cover 4 every down and relying on your front seven doesn’t exactly work when you don’t have Shawn Merriman. And after looking at the Dolphins I set years Cameron remains head coach at 2.
Denver -9.5 vs. Oakland
The Broncos should win this one going away -- especially with Josh McCown now hurt, but you have to figure in the Jay Cutler factor here. The Broncos out-gained the Bills 470-184 last week yet only won by a measly point. You wanna know why? Because Cutler had plays where, according to the game recap, he “blindly pitched a lateral to his left, over running back Selvin Young's head (forcing Young to punch it out of bounds) and putting the Broncos in a deep hole, facing third-and-23.”
If you have money on a team, under no circumstance do you ever want to see the quarterback blindly pitching a lateral to his left. None. You hear me? None.
FREE MONEY
Jacksonville -11 vs. Atlanta
This game almost made it on the previous category but although I don’t trust the Jags, the Falcons looked ridiculously bad. Six sacks and two interceptions returned for a touchdown while scoring only three points against the Vikings. This is one of the games you pass on because you think that the point spread is too high and all of a sudden its 14-0 in the second quarter and you’re wishing you had thrown some scratch down on the game.
Pittsburg -10 vs. Buffalo
Although it was against the lowly Browns, Pittsburg looks like a team that’s going to be in the mix this year. As for Buffalo, they lost two defensive players last week and now they have JP Losman and a rookie running back in a tough road game this week. They Bills may be able to keep it close in the first half but the Steelers are going to blow the game open in the second half.
Cincinnati -8.5 at Cleveland
Two stats courtesy of the good people at Pro Football Weekly:
1. Cleveland is 1-12 vs. AFC North competition in head coach Romeo Crennel’s tenure.
2. Cincinnati outscored Cleveland 64-17 and out gained Cleveland 869-504 last season.
You can’t put this one on your bet card fast enough.
Chicago -13 vs. Kansas City
Last week’s drubbing by the hands of the Houston Texans confirmed the obvious: The Chiefs suck! Now they go on the road and face a 0-1 Bears team that’s still pissed off about losing to the Chargers last week. Unless Rex Grossman completely craps the bed, this one looks like an easy bet.
Speaking of Rexy, look what Ron Rivera told the Charger linebackers according to Matt Whilhelm: “He told us that Rex was kind of a mental midget so you can get into his head and create that doubt." Since I dubbed Adam Eaton a mental midget a few years ago can we just call this the Adam Eaton Hall of Fame? I nominate Adam Eaton, Rex Grossman, Eli Manning, and Chris Webber to be in the inaugural class.
And you know what? That’s still not enough to deter me from picking against the Bears.
And if you don’t think I’m throwing J’ville, Pittsburg, Cincy, and Chicago down on what will probably be the easiest four team parlay this season, you’re crazy.
--Pearl Jam
I think that just about sums up my Week 1 performance that saw me go a putrid 6-10 against the spread. Ouch! The good news is that I still won some scratch on a Charger-Colts parlay. Woot! Remember kids: It’s not about picking the right teams, it’s about betting on the right teams.
Let’s just hope they put that quote on my bust when I’m inducted into the Sam Rothstein Bettors Hall of Fame.
Here are my Week 2 picks (team listed first is the team that I picked):
LAY THESE ON THE WAY TO YOUR BETTORS ANNONYMUS MEETING:
Green Bay +1.5 at New York
Eli Manning has a bum shoulder, their defense gave up 45 points and Brandon Jacobs is on pace to become the fastest player ever to gain “Guy I Regret Drafting on my Fantasy Team” status joining Randy Moss, Felix Hernandez, 2006 Manny Ramirez, and Rich Harden. I think it’s safe to say the 2007 season hasn’t started off so well for the G-Men. I’m just looking forward to around Week 8 when the Giants are 1-7 and Peter King is interviewing a Tiki Barber who has six coats of make-up on and a grin so big you’d think he just ate a 42-ounce piece of turd.
Minnesota +3 at Detroit
I don’t know what games I’m getting on Sunday but I would like to make a special request to FOX: If you guys could find it in your heart not to saddle San Diego County with the Minnesota-Detroit game this weekend I would really appreciate it. I don’t know if there’s a game that would make everyone in my collective group say, “Screw it, let’s just play Madden until 1” but this one would really tempt us. Thanks!
In case you’re wondering, I went with the Vikings because I think the Vikings will be able to run the rock and Detroit won’t be able to score as easily as they did against Oakland last week.
Baltimore -7.5 vs. NY Jets
Both quarterbacks are hurt and I’m thinking Kyle Boller would fare better against the Jets defense than Kellen Clemens would against the Ravens defense.
ALMOST TOO CLOSE TO CALL:
Philly -7 at Washington
I went with Philly only because it’s a must-win game for the Eagles this week. They can’t lose their home opener and go 0-2 to start the season can they? Even though McNabb looked horrible last week, they would have won that game if it weren’t for those two muffed punts.
On the Redskins side, everyone says they looked good last week but they only beat the Dolphins by three points! It’s hard to take points on a road team when you don’t think they can win straight up.
San Francisco +3.5 at St. Louis
If I could take a mulligan on one of my preseason picks it would be the Rams winning the NFC West. “Piss Poor”, “Unprepared”, and “Sloppy” are three adjectives I would use to describe their performance last week against the Panthers. And now they’ve lost Orlando Pace for the season. Also, a couple of more bad games from Steven Jackson and I’ll be ready to introduce the “Never Trust a Black Football Player with Long Hair” corollary. I mean we already have Ricky Williams, Al Harris, and Cedric Benson. I just need a couple more instances before we can confirm this. I nominate Jackson and Lawrence Maroney to each fumble three times this week and Benson to miss the next 4-6 weeks with bruised ribs.
UNDERDOG SPECIALS:
San Diego +3.5 at New England
This is going to be the biggest game of the regular season. You wanna know why I think the Chargers will win? Let me break it down for you:
I don’t care about the spying. I don’t care about last year’s game. To be honest with you, I don’t care about what LT has to say about Belichick or what Rivers has to say about Hobbs or any of that crap. The Chargers are just going to line up on Sunday night and beat the living crap out of the Patriots. We’re going to stop the run with our front seven. We’re going to knock Brady around. We’re going to cover Moss with Jammer and a safety on top and the first time a ball is thrown his way, Moss is going to get smacked so hard he’ll be wishing he was back in Oakland smoking indo and running over meter maids. We’re going to use Cromartie on Stallworth and Florence on Welker and the Patriots “major acquisitions” are going to give their fans a nice big shit burger to eat. On offense, our line is going to maul their line. Do you hear me? MAUL. And since they’ll be loading up the box against LT, mark my words, Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd will have a field day against Asante Samuel whoever else they have on the other side.
To paraphrase Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men: “We’re going rip your head off and shit down your fucking throat. You fucked with the wrong team.”
Trust me Charger fans, it will be a joyous beat down that will leave us looking forward to the next beat down we give those over-hyped, east coast, scarf and glove wearing sissies in January.
Chargers 34 Patriots 14.
Tennessee +7.5 vs. Indy
I was very impressed with the Tennessee win over the Jags last week and while the Colts looked good too, I’m not 100-percent sold on Indy’s defense just yet. Now if they go on the road and cover against a Titan team that always plays them tough then I may change my mind. But as of now I see a Titan upset or Indy squeaking out a 25-24 win or something of that nature.
Houston +6.5 over Carolina
The current leader for the award for “The Over-Hyped Storyline that everyone’s laughing about by Week 5” goes to “Jake Delhomme is looking over his shoulders now because of David Carr.” Are we talking about the same David Carr who has a 75.5 career passer rating or is there another David Carr out there that I don’t know about?
Another fun story that’s been circulating is the “Mario Williams has more touchdowns than Reggie Bush” take. I think it’s safe to say that at the end of the day, Reggie Bush will have more touchdowns than Mario Williams this year. In fact when it’s all said and done I’m guarantee you that Reggie Bush will have more touchdowns this season than Mario Williams will have in his entire career. I’m even willing to go as far as to say that Reggie Bush will have more touchdowns this year and in his career than Mario Williams will have sacks this year or throughout his entire career.
I like Mario Williams and all, and he seems like a nice guy but he’s not even in the same stratosphere as Reggie Bush.
Hopefully somewhere in Houston, someone is reading this while repeatedly ramming his head against the wall.
SCOT WRIGHT SPECIALS (Seemingly easy picks that could end up screwing your parlay):
New Orleans -3.5 at Tampa Bay
I’m not ready to give up on my sleeper team just yet and to be honest with you, I was this close to picking the Bucs to cover this one. First of all, the Bucs were right in that game against the Seahawks last week until Jeff Garcia got hurt and secondly the Saints offense didn’t exactly look like world beaters against an undersized Colts defense. I picked the Saints but I think that this game will tell us a lot about both teams.
Seattle -2.5 at Arizona
Matt Leinhart looked like he’d rather be doing body shots off of Tara Reid in some club in LA rather than playing in the game against the Niners last Monday. He didn’t exactly look like the guy at USC who threw for like 380 yards and 4 touchdowns every game. Still, the Cardinals defense didn’t look too bad last week and the Cardinals did beat the Seahawks last year. Although I’m not picking them, the Cardinals are at home and if Leinhart can get it together I think they can pull this one off.
Dallas -4.5 vs. Miami
I initially picked Miami on this one but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the Dolphins have little to no talent on offense and I would be an idiot to pick them. And for the record, I’m glad Wade Phillips and Cam Cameron aren’t with the Chargers anymore. I thought both were ridiculously overrated. As Wade Phillips found out last week playing Cover 4 every down and relying on your front seven doesn’t exactly work when you don’t have Shawn Merriman. And after looking at the Dolphins I set years Cameron remains head coach at 2.
Denver -9.5 vs. Oakland
The Broncos should win this one going away -- especially with Josh McCown now hurt, but you have to figure in the Jay Cutler factor here. The Broncos out-gained the Bills 470-184 last week yet only won by a measly point. You wanna know why? Because Cutler had plays where, according to the game recap, he “blindly pitched a lateral to his left, over running back Selvin Young's head (forcing Young to punch it out of bounds) and putting the Broncos in a deep hole, facing third-and-23.”
If you have money on a team, under no circumstance do you ever want to see the quarterback blindly pitching a lateral to his left. None. You hear me? None.
FREE MONEY
Jacksonville -11 vs. Atlanta
This game almost made it on the previous category but although I don’t trust the Jags, the Falcons looked ridiculously bad. Six sacks and two interceptions returned for a touchdown while scoring only three points against the Vikings. This is one of the games you pass on because you think that the point spread is too high and all of a sudden its 14-0 in the second quarter and you’re wishing you had thrown some scratch down on the game.
Pittsburg -10 vs. Buffalo
Although it was against the lowly Browns, Pittsburg looks like a team that’s going to be in the mix this year. As for Buffalo, they lost two defensive players last week and now they have JP Losman and a rookie running back in a tough road game this week. They Bills may be able to keep it close in the first half but the Steelers are going to blow the game open in the second half.
Cincinnati -8.5 at Cleveland
Two stats courtesy of the good people at Pro Football Weekly:
1. Cleveland is 1-12 vs. AFC North competition in head coach Romeo Crennel’s tenure.
2. Cincinnati outscored Cleveland 64-17 and out gained Cleveland 869-504 last season.
You can’t put this one on your bet card fast enough.
Chicago -13 vs. Kansas City
Last week’s drubbing by the hands of the Houston Texans confirmed the obvious: The Chiefs suck! Now they go on the road and face a 0-1 Bears team that’s still pissed off about losing to the Chargers last week. Unless Rex Grossman completely craps the bed, this one looks like an easy bet.
Speaking of Rexy, look what Ron Rivera told the Charger linebackers according to Matt Whilhelm: “He told us that Rex was kind of a mental midget so you can get into his head and create that doubt." Since I dubbed Adam Eaton a mental midget a few years ago can we just call this the Adam Eaton Hall of Fame? I nominate Adam Eaton, Rex Grossman, Eli Manning, and Chris Webber to be in the inaugural class.
And you know what? That’s still not enough to deter me from picking against the Bears.
And if you don’t think I’m throwing J’ville, Pittsburg, Cincy, and Chicago down on what will probably be the easiest four team parlay this season, you’re crazy.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Grinding It Out With the Chargers
This past weekend was a pretty solid sports weekend highlighted by the Chargers winning their season opener 14-3 and me drinking so much that I passed out sometime after the game ended as guests slowly filtered out of my house. I don’t know which Sunday performance was worse -- my drinking performance or Britney Spears’ performance at the MTV Music Awards. Rookie mistake not mixing in a glass of water here and there.
The lesson of course is that I’m an idiot.…
Here are some thoughts on the Charger game:
1. The Bears defense clearly limited the Chargers but if you think about it, the Chargers would have scored 24 points had Tommie Harris been called offside (which he definitely was) on the play at the Bears goal line where the Chargers turned it over, and had Nate Keading (who’s slowly entering “Idiot Kicker” status) not gotten a chip shot field goal attempt blocked.
2. The Charger defense looked very solid. Props to Shawn Phillips for smacking Rex Grossman in the first quarter, to rookie Eric Weddle for recording his first NFL sack, and to Marlon McCree for not getting the ball stripped from behind after his interception. Good all-around performance. Had Phil Rivers not thrown a stupid, stupid, interception the defense would have pitched a shutout.
3. Everyone looks at LT’s 25 rushing yards and says the Bears contained him but he also had 51 receiving yards (which makes it 76 total yards if my math is correct), ran for a touchdown and threw for a touchdown. It wasn’t a typical LT performance but a pretty good day by anyone else’s standards and a great day considering the competition and the fact that the Bears were loading up the box with up to 9 guys.
4. Antonio Gates: 9 receptions, 107 yards, 1 touchdown in what was the first of many great games for Gatesy this season.
5. Phil Rivers didn’t look that sharp. In addition to the aforementioned stupid, stupid interception he was a little scattered and didn’t handle the blitz well -- especially when they blitzed up the middle. Granted he was hurt by a few dropped passes, but Rivers needs to be a little sharper-- especially this weekend. Maybe he needs to go back to the clear visor or something.
6. The bottom line is that I was glad to see the Chargers win a game where they had to grind it out a bit. And as everyone was saying afterwards, it was a good thing that they remain composed after the Rivers’ interception, the blocked kick, and when the Harris call didn’t go their way. On a call like that a year ago, Schottenheimer probably gets a 15-yard penalty for going to midfield to argue, followed by the Chargers going into prevent defense, getting two pass interference penalties called on them, and giving up a touchdown pass that gets the Bears back into the game. This year, they collect themselves, force the Bears to punt, got the ball back and that was that.
Like someone on a six-hour drinking binge breaking things up with a glass of water here and there, the Chargers didn’t let things get out of control on Sunday. Maybe I can learn a thing or two from them this year…
Friday night was the only night all weekend where I caught a glimpse of the Padres. This past week they’ve lost series’ to the Diamondbacks and Rockies and are back in second place. Padre apologists will say they haven’t been doing so well offensively because Milton Bradley is hurt but I say it’s Kevin Towers’ fault that their offensive viability in the final month of the season heavily relies on an injury-prone player who’s never played over 120 games in a season.
In any matter the Pads play the Dodgers and Frisco this week. I’ll be playing Madden ’08...
I watched the UFC fight on Saturday and was pretty entertained. My homie Rampage “Chillaxin” Jackson beat Dan Henderson to unify the light heavyweight title although he didn’t knock Henderson out. The highlight didn’t occur until Sunday when my brother pointed out that the deaf guy in one of the under card matches had a speech impediment, which led to me ask how a deaf guy would even know whether or not he even had a speech impediment. UFC is good times.
(I know, I’m really going to enjoy those 500 degree cups of coffee every morning when I’m burning in hell)…
And finally, here are my thoughts on Week 1 of the NFL:
1. I watched most of the Patriot game and I’ll have to admit, they look pretty good. Of course, any team can look good when they steal their opponents’ signals. What a bunch of cheaters.
All I can say is: It’s on this Sunday!
2. My NFC Super Bowl pick didn’t do too hot last weekend as the Eagles lost to Green Bay. My sleeper team (the Bucs), and the teams I had winning the AFC South (the Jags) and NFC West (the Rams) also lost. I’m an idiot! But I guess you already knew that…
3. I watched most of the Bengals-Ravens game last night and I’ll say this, the Bengals defense looks like its improved tenfold since last year. And from watching the Steelers highlights, Pittsburgh’s offense looks greatly improved too. Looks like it may be a two horse race for the AFC North.
4. Vince Young keeps winning games.
5. There are few things more enjoyable than rocking out to the “San Diego Super Chargers” song. That song never fails to get me jacked up, which got me thinking, if I had to compose a list of “Songs that Invariably Get me Jacked Up” it would look like this:
- “San Diego Super Chargers” by unknown black man with a sweet, sweet voice
- “Gin and Juice” by Snoop Doggy Dogg
- “Fever Dog” by Stillwater
- “Traveling Riverside Blues” by Led Zeppelin
- “Roadhouse Blues” by The Doors
- “The Ultimate Warrior Theme Song” by Jim Johnson (Johnson actually discussed writing this song in the documentary “Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior”)
And you wonder why I went girlfriend-less in 2006…
I’m also posting on Wordpress now. Just another way to get the word out. Wordpress readers can read older blogs at http://www.lamlogs.blogspot.com/ and if you really want to go old school, go to www.xanga.com/phillam.
Alright, that’s it. Keep an eye out for the Week 2 NFL picks blog Thursday evening / Friday morning.
The lesson of course is that I’m an idiot.…
Here are some thoughts on the Charger game:
1. The Bears defense clearly limited the Chargers but if you think about it, the Chargers would have scored 24 points had Tommie Harris been called offside (which he definitely was) on the play at the Bears goal line where the Chargers turned it over, and had Nate Keading (who’s slowly entering “Idiot Kicker” status) not gotten a chip shot field goal attempt blocked.
2. The Charger defense looked very solid. Props to Shawn Phillips for smacking Rex Grossman in the first quarter, to rookie Eric Weddle for recording his first NFL sack, and to Marlon McCree for not getting the ball stripped from behind after his interception. Good all-around performance. Had Phil Rivers not thrown a stupid, stupid, interception the defense would have pitched a shutout.
3. Everyone looks at LT’s 25 rushing yards and says the Bears contained him but he also had 51 receiving yards (which makes it 76 total yards if my math is correct), ran for a touchdown and threw for a touchdown. It wasn’t a typical LT performance but a pretty good day by anyone else’s standards and a great day considering the competition and the fact that the Bears were loading up the box with up to 9 guys.
4. Antonio Gates: 9 receptions, 107 yards, 1 touchdown in what was the first of many great games for Gatesy this season.
5. Phil Rivers didn’t look that sharp. In addition to the aforementioned stupid, stupid interception he was a little scattered and didn’t handle the blitz well -- especially when they blitzed up the middle. Granted he was hurt by a few dropped passes, but Rivers needs to be a little sharper-- especially this weekend. Maybe he needs to go back to the clear visor or something.
6. The bottom line is that I was glad to see the Chargers win a game where they had to grind it out a bit. And as everyone was saying afterwards, it was a good thing that they remain composed after the Rivers’ interception, the blocked kick, and when the Harris call didn’t go their way. On a call like that a year ago, Schottenheimer probably gets a 15-yard penalty for going to midfield to argue, followed by the Chargers going into prevent defense, getting two pass interference penalties called on them, and giving up a touchdown pass that gets the Bears back into the game. This year, they collect themselves, force the Bears to punt, got the ball back and that was that.
Like someone on a six-hour drinking binge breaking things up with a glass of water here and there, the Chargers didn’t let things get out of control on Sunday. Maybe I can learn a thing or two from them this year…
Friday night was the only night all weekend where I caught a glimpse of the Padres. This past week they’ve lost series’ to the Diamondbacks and Rockies and are back in second place. Padre apologists will say they haven’t been doing so well offensively because Milton Bradley is hurt but I say it’s Kevin Towers’ fault that their offensive viability in the final month of the season heavily relies on an injury-prone player who’s never played over 120 games in a season.
In any matter the Pads play the Dodgers and Frisco this week. I’ll be playing Madden ’08...
I watched the UFC fight on Saturday and was pretty entertained. My homie Rampage “Chillaxin” Jackson beat Dan Henderson to unify the light heavyweight title although he didn’t knock Henderson out. The highlight didn’t occur until Sunday when my brother pointed out that the deaf guy in one of the under card matches had a speech impediment, which led to me ask how a deaf guy would even know whether or not he even had a speech impediment. UFC is good times.
(I know, I’m really going to enjoy those 500 degree cups of coffee every morning when I’m burning in hell)…
And finally, here are my thoughts on Week 1 of the NFL:
1. I watched most of the Patriot game and I’ll have to admit, they look pretty good. Of course, any team can look good when they steal their opponents’ signals. What a bunch of cheaters.
All I can say is: It’s on this Sunday!
2. My NFC Super Bowl pick didn’t do too hot last weekend as the Eagles lost to Green Bay. My sleeper team (the Bucs), and the teams I had winning the AFC South (the Jags) and NFC West (the Rams) also lost. I’m an idiot! But I guess you already knew that…
3. I watched most of the Bengals-Ravens game last night and I’ll say this, the Bengals defense looks like its improved tenfold since last year. And from watching the Steelers highlights, Pittsburgh’s offense looks greatly improved too. Looks like it may be a two horse race for the AFC North.
4. Vince Young keeps winning games.
5. There are few things more enjoyable than rocking out to the “San Diego Super Chargers” song. That song never fails to get me jacked up, which got me thinking, if I had to compose a list of “Songs that Invariably Get me Jacked Up” it would look like this:
- “San Diego Super Chargers” by unknown black man with a sweet, sweet voice
- “Gin and Juice” by Snoop Doggy Dogg
- “Fever Dog” by Stillwater
- “Traveling Riverside Blues” by Led Zeppelin
- “Roadhouse Blues” by The Doors
- “The Ultimate Warrior Theme Song” by Jim Johnson (Johnson actually discussed writing this song in the documentary “Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior”)
And you wonder why I went girlfriend-less in 2006…
I’m also posting on Wordpress now. Just another way to get the word out. Wordpress readers can read older blogs at http://www.lamlogs.blogspot.com/ and if you really want to go old school, go to www.xanga.com/phillam.
Alright, that’s it. Keep an eye out for the Week 2 NFL picks blog Thursday evening / Friday morning.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Week 1 Picks
I’ve always wondered how I’d fare against other gamblers when it came to picking against the spread. We’ll I’m about to find out. This year, I’m playing in the Bill Simmons / ESPN Pick’em Challenge. I’ll be blogging my picks each week a la Simmons and comparing how I do with other readers, most of whom are sure to gamblers themselves. Something tells me this is going to end with me maxing out three credit cards and moving in with my dad, brother and Cousin Jimmy.
Anyways here are my picks (team listed first is the team that I picked):
LAY THESE ON THE WAY TO YOUR BETTORS ANNOYNMOUS MEETING
Oakland -2.5 at Detroit
This will be the Josh McCown Bowl or as I’ll call it, “Crapfest 2007.” My litmus tests any time two bottom-of-the-barrel teams meet are:
1. Which is the team with the better defense? Since in any Crapfest, the team with the better defense will cause more turnovers, make more stops, and have the upper hand in wacky plays that invariably affect the outcome of the games when bottom-of-the-barrel teams meet.
2. Which is the team in the better division / conference? I call this the “Bigger Bully Theory” and it goes a little something like this: The whimp who gets beat up by a bigger bully will always beat up the whimp who gets beat up by a lesser bully since the whimp who gets beat up by the bigger bully will be a better fighter simply because he’s been beat up by a better bully…. Hopefully that makes sense.
In this instance the Raiders win both litmus tests.
Kansas City +1.5 at Houston
I watched Hard Knocks last night and came to one conclusion: The Chiefs suck. The last episode featured Tyrone Brackenridge screwing up in every way possible and somehow, at the end of the episode he makes the team! If Brackenridge can’t cover Marques Hagans, I can’t wait to see how he does against Vincent Jackson.
In any matter since Larry Johnson probably won’t tear his ACL until Week 4, and since Damon Huard did win some games for them last year I’m willing to take the points and KC against a Texan team that is perpetually rebuilding.
Atlanta -2.5 at Minnesota
If there’s a candidate for the first NFL game ever where no passing plays are called this is it. I don’t know if Matt Vasgersian is announcing football games this year but this one has his name written all over it. It’s Joey Harrington! Against Tavaris Jackson! Next! On Fox!
I’m went with the Falcons simply because they have a new coach although the more I think about it I probably should have went with the home team and taken the points.
I’m such an idiot.
St. Louis -1.5 vs. Carolina
If there was a football purgatory Carolina would be in it. They’re not quite good enough to be Super Bowl contenders but they’re not bad enough to where they should seriously start to rebuild. I went with the Rams at home on this one.
ALMOST TOO CLOSE TO CALL
Cincinnati -3.5 vs. Baltimore
I’m going with the Bengals on this one because:
1. Steve McNair is a pubic hair away from being done. If this were a game of HORSE he’d have a D-O-N.
2. The Ravens defense is getting kind of old.
3. The Bengals always seem to play well against the Ravens.
Arizona +3.5 at San Francisco
I think Frisco is overrated this year. Arizona has a better quarterback, better receivers, a better line and they just upgraded from Dennis Green to Ken Whisenhunt which is like going dumpster diving for dinner one night and then going to Ruth’s Chris the next.
By the way, the headline no one was talking about this offseason but should have been talking about would be “Overexposed Quarterbacks Having Kids with Their Ex-Girlfriends.” First Matt Leinhart and then Tom Brady. What’s the quarterback equivalent of getting the goalie pulled from you? Sadly, I spent the past 20 minutes thinking about this but couldn’t come up with anything. Horrible.
NY Giants +3.5 at Dallas
Something tells me this is going to be a three point game won by a field goal on the final play of the game. It just has that kind of smell.
UNDERDOG SPECIALS
NY Jets +5.5 vs. New England
New England will be without their two defensive stalwarts Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour, and Randy Moss didn’t play a single down for them in the preseason. Couple that with the fact that the Jets can run the ball now that they have Thomas Jones and the fact that Eric Mangini always looks to trump his mentor, plus the fact that the Jets are playing at home against a division rival and what do you get? Something a little closer than a five point game.
Tampa Bay +6.5 at Seattle
I can give you reasons why I picked the Buccaneers to cover but I think it would just be better if we called this one the “I’m backing my sleeper team this season” pick and call it a paragraph.
Tennessee +5.5 at Jacksonville
This one also has that “three point game” smell to it. I can see the Jags running the ball, Vince Young running around a bit and a disgusting final score of something like 15-12. Anyways, if Vegas took bets on things like “Team that Vince Young gets injured against” I would go with the Jags. Just wanted to make sure I got that on record before Young misses the next six to eight weeks with a partially torn MCL.
TREAD CAREFULLY
Denver -3.5 at Buffalo
On paper, the Broncos look like they should walk away with this one. But Buffalo is at home, and something tells me that if JP Losman can make a couple of big plays and Cutler throws a couple of picks the game will be a whole lot closer than it should be. Consider yourself warned.
Washington -3.5 vs. Miami
Here’s another one that seems a little too easy. If you played the Checkmark Game between the Redskins and Dolphins, the Redskins would have checkmarks on their side in almost every single category. Plus, they’re at home. This is one of those games that you have as an “easy win” on your parlay and it ends up screwing you. Or as I like to call it: “The Scot Wright Special”.
Actually, moving forward I’ll just call this section “The Scot Wright Special.”
FREE MONEY
Indy -6 vs. New Orleans
Ever since the NFL did the “Super Bowl winner from the previous season plays on opening night” thing, not only have the defending champs always won, they’ve always covered. Just thought that would be something you’d like to know.
Philly-2.5 at Green Bay
A rejuvenated Donovan McNabb out to prove he’s not injury prone against a Packer team that citing Bill Simmons, who’s citing Pro Football Prospectus was “4-8 (last season heading into Week 14) and lost to four teams with good defenses (the Bears, Pats, Eagles and Jets) by a combined 130-19 margin.”
Good times if you have scratch on Philly.
San Diego -5.5 vs. Chicago
You can call me a homer if you want, but depending on how many interceptions Rex Grossman throws, the Chargers are going to win this one by anywhere from 25 to 32 points.
Anyways here are my picks (team listed first is the team that I picked):
LAY THESE ON THE WAY TO YOUR BETTORS ANNOYNMOUS MEETING
Oakland -2.5 at Detroit
This will be the Josh McCown Bowl or as I’ll call it, “Crapfest 2007.” My litmus tests any time two bottom-of-the-barrel teams meet are:
1. Which is the team with the better defense? Since in any Crapfest, the team with the better defense will cause more turnovers, make more stops, and have the upper hand in wacky plays that invariably affect the outcome of the games when bottom-of-the-barrel teams meet.
2. Which is the team in the better division / conference? I call this the “Bigger Bully Theory” and it goes a little something like this: The whimp who gets beat up by a bigger bully will always beat up the whimp who gets beat up by a lesser bully since the whimp who gets beat up by the bigger bully will be a better fighter simply because he’s been beat up by a better bully…. Hopefully that makes sense.
In this instance the Raiders win both litmus tests.
Kansas City +1.5 at Houston
I watched Hard Knocks last night and came to one conclusion: The Chiefs suck. The last episode featured Tyrone Brackenridge screwing up in every way possible and somehow, at the end of the episode he makes the team! If Brackenridge can’t cover Marques Hagans, I can’t wait to see how he does against Vincent Jackson.
In any matter since Larry Johnson probably won’t tear his ACL until Week 4, and since Damon Huard did win some games for them last year I’m willing to take the points and KC against a Texan team that is perpetually rebuilding.
Atlanta -2.5 at Minnesota
If there’s a candidate for the first NFL game ever where no passing plays are called this is it. I don’t know if Matt Vasgersian is announcing football games this year but this one has his name written all over it. It’s Joey Harrington! Against Tavaris Jackson! Next! On Fox!
I’m went with the Falcons simply because they have a new coach although the more I think about it I probably should have went with the home team and taken the points.
I’m such an idiot.
St. Louis -1.5 vs. Carolina
If there was a football purgatory Carolina would be in it. They’re not quite good enough to be Super Bowl contenders but they’re not bad enough to where they should seriously start to rebuild. I went with the Rams at home on this one.
ALMOST TOO CLOSE TO CALL
Cincinnati -3.5 vs. Baltimore
I’m going with the Bengals on this one because:
1. Steve McNair is a pubic hair away from being done. If this were a game of HORSE he’d have a D-O-N.
2. The Ravens defense is getting kind of old.
3. The Bengals always seem to play well against the Ravens.
Arizona +3.5 at San Francisco
I think Frisco is overrated this year. Arizona has a better quarterback, better receivers, a better line and they just upgraded from Dennis Green to Ken Whisenhunt which is like going dumpster diving for dinner one night and then going to Ruth’s Chris the next.
By the way, the headline no one was talking about this offseason but should have been talking about would be “Overexposed Quarterbacks Having Kids with Their Ex-Girlfriends.” First Matt Leinhart and then Tom Brady. What’s the quarterback equivalent of getting the goalie pulled from you? Sadly, I spent the past 20 minutes thinking about this but couldn’t come up with anything. Horrible.
NY Giants +3.5 at Dallas
Something tells me this is going to be a three point game won by a field goal on the final play of the game. It just has that kind of smell.
UNDERDOG SPECIALS
NY Jets +5.5 vs. New England
New England will be without their two defensive stalwarts Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour, and Randy Moss didn’t play a single down for them in the preseason. Couple that with the fact that the Jets can run the ball now that they have Thomas Jones and the fact that Eric Mangini always looks to trump his mentor, plus the fact that the Jets are playing at home against a division rival and what do you get? Something a little closer than a five point game.
Tampa Bay +6.5 at Seattle
I can give you reasons why I picked the Buccaneers to cover but I think it would just be better if we called this one the “I’m backing my sleeper team this season” pick and call it a paragraph.
Tennessee +5.5 at Jacksonville
This one also has that “three point game” smell to it. I can see the Jags running the ball, Vince Young running around a bit and a disgusting final score of something like 15-12. Anyways, if Vegas took bets on things like “Team that Vince Young gets injured against” I would go with the Jags. Just wanted to make sure I got that on record before Young misses the next six to eight weeks with a partially torn MCL.
TREAD CAREFULLY
Denver -3.5 at Buffalo
On paper, the Broncos look like they should walk away with this one. But Buffalo is at home, and something tells me that if JP Losman can make a couple of big plays and Cutler throws a couple of picks the game will be a whole lot closer than it should be. Consider yourself warned.
Washington -3.5 vs. Miami
Here’s another one that seems a little too easy. If you played the Checkmark Game between the Redskins and Dolphins, the Redskins would have checkmarks on their side in almost every single category. Plus, they’re at home. This is one of those games that you have as an “easy win” on your parlay and it ends up screwing you. Or as I like to call it: “The Scot Wright Special”.
Actually, moving forward I’ll just call this section “The Scot Wright Special.”
FREE MONEY
Indy -6 vs. New Orleans
Ever since the NFL did the “Super Bowl winner from the previous season plays on opening night” thing, not only have the defending champs always won, they’ve always covered. Just thought that would be something you’d like to know.
Philly-2.5 at Green Bay
A rejuvenated Donovan McNabb out to prove he’s not injury prone against a Packer team that citing Bill Simmons, who’s citing Pro Football Prospectus was “4-8 (last season heading into Week 14) and lost to four teams with good defenses (the Bears, Pats, Eagles and Jets) by a combined 130-19 margin.”
Good times if you have scratch on Philly.
San Diego -5.5 vs. Chicago
You can call me a homer if you want, but depending on how many interceptions Rex Grossman throws, the Chargers are going to win this one by anywhere from 25 to 32 points.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
2007 NFL Preview
Before we get to the football preview I have a couple of house keeping items to take care of. An anonymous reader correctly points out that in my “Deconstructing the Patriots” blog I said that Gerald Green was the defensive end for the Patriots when I really meant Ty Warren. Gerald Green was the Celtic who got traded for Kevin Garnett. Somehow I got them confused. Sorry about that. I should be dragged out back and beaten to a bloody pulp.
The same anonymous reader goes on to say: “Your logic of ‘The Patriots went out and signed these players b/c they 'knew' the Chargers were 3 TDs better’ is so backwards, but it does set an appropriate tone for the rest of your backwards analysis. Perhaps they look to improve their football team on a yearly basis? Regardless of what another team in another division did last year.”
Seems like this guy missed the point of the blog. I wasn’t criticizing the Patriots for trying to improve their team; they always make a move to improve their team. My point was that they took chances on players like Randy Moss that they never would have considered in the past. In the Patriots’ heyday they KNEW they could beat teams like the Steelers and Colts and they didn’t need to trade for guys like Moss-- an injury prone malcontent who admits he doesn’t play hard every game, or to draft guys like Brandon Merriweather. Think about it, Terrell Owens was available the year after they won their second Super Bowl and the Patriots didn’t even look in his direction. Likewise do you think the Patriots would have traded for Moss if they would have won the Super Bowl last year? Probably not. But after they lucked out in the Charger game and had nothing in the second half of the Colts game they knew they weren’t head and shoulders the best team in the Conference anymore. And while the Chargers didn’t do anything because they knew they had a championship-caliber team, the Patriots knew they had to take chances on players they otherwise wouldn’t have in order to get/stay on that level. Desperate teams do desperate things. The Chargers didn’t have to take any chances this offseason and the Patriots did. That was my point.
Not really backwards if you think about it.
Now that’s out of the way…
With apologies to Peter King, these are the 10 Things I Think I Think about the 2007 NFL Season:
1. I think these are the teams that are vastly overrated: Patriots (uncertainty in the secondary, their linebackers and receivers still aren’t that good), Saints (still not a Drew Brees believer and they have a putrid defense), 49ers (injury prone RB and the loss of Norv Turner), and Broncos (second year QB in a division with strong defenses)
And these are the teams that are vastly underrated: the Jaguars (great D and strong running game), Redskins (Jason Cambell’s a potential fantasy sleeper), Buccaneers (more on this later), Jets (any friend of Tony Soprano is a friend of mine) and Rams (most talented players in tossup division).
2. I think LT is going to win consecutive MVP awards, rush for over 2,000 yards and will break the touchdown record he set last season. And Shawne “Lights Out” Merriman will win the Defensive Player of the Year Award and break the single-season sack record.
For Offensive ROY I’ll go with Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson and for Defensive ROY I’ll remain a homer and go with the Chargers’ Eric Weddle.
3. I think the Buccaneers were the most impressive team during the preseason. I’m not kidding you about this. I’ve watched good chunks of three of their preseason games and each time they did something that impressed me. It makes sense if you think about it. They seriously upgraded their quarterback position and now have Jeff Garcia quarterback who thrives in the west coast offense and who’s not going to kill them with mistakes. Cadillac Williams and Michael Pittman are a good 1-2 punch in the backfield so they’ll be able to run the rock. They have Joey Galloway and up and comer Maurice Stovall at wide out and they signed the DUI-machine Jeremy Stevens at tight end so they have some receiving options. On defense, I like Gaines Adams. They have oldies but goodies in Derrick Brooks, Rhonde Barber and Phil Buchannan and they just signed Jeremiah Trotter over the weekend. You combine all of this with the fact that Jon Gruden is on the hot seat and what do you have? A bona-fide sleeper team that no one else is picking. Mark it down!
4. I think the NFC West is a total crapshoot. You can put any team in that division in any slot and make a solid, rational, argument for why they’ll finish there. I’ll use the Rams as an example since my friend Scot is supposedly a huge Rams fan even though everyone knows that deep down inside, in places he doesn’t like to talk about at parties, the Chargers are his favorite team.
You could say:
The Rams look like they can win 10-12 games this year and take the division. They have a solid quarterback and superstars at the running back and wide receiver positions. Their defensive line has immensely improved with Adam Carricker in the mix and as long as Leonard Little thinks before he drinks. Dante Hall brings a dimension to the Rams return game that they haven’t had since Az Hakim.
Or you could say:
Orlando Pace is on his last legs. Likewise, Isaac Bruce shouldn’t be a starting receiver for a playoff team anymore. Randy McMichael is a disappointment in fantasy football and in real life football. Remember Fakhir Brown? He used to play cornerback for the Chargers. I thought I saw him behind the deli counter at Vons the other day but I was wrong; he’s the Rams starting cornerback. The Rams’ linebackers are small and it will be tough in a division with Shawn Alexander and Frank Gore. They’re a .500 team at best and a Stephen Jackson hamstring pull away from being 4-12.
See what I mean? A complete tossup. I swear, you can do this for every one of those teams in that division.
5. I think from top to bottom the AFC North is the toughest division in the NFL. The Bengals, Steelers and Ravens are all teams that could make noise in the playoffs and if the Browns ever got their quarterback situation figured out they’d be decent team. (They have solid line, good wide outs and some playmakers on defense). The Steelers probably have the most well rounded team in that division, but I went with the Bengals because they will have a healthy Carson Palmer for an entire year and their offense will be absolutely ridiculous this year.
6. I think I had the Jaguars winning the AFC Central this year until they released Byron Leftwich over the weekend. I really like their RB tandem of Maurice-Jones Drew (or as I like to call him Moe-Joe Drew) and Fred Taylor, and I think their defense is rock-solid-physical. Plus I think the Colts are going to struggle this year. They play the Patriots and Chargers back-to-back. They always struggle against the run and play teams thrive on running the rock like Denver and Carolina. Plus they always struggle against the Jaguars and they usually split against the Texans and Titans. So assuming they lose to the Patriots and Chargers, they split against Denver / Carolina, and they split against the Jags, Texans and Titans you’re looking at a 10-6 team. Now what if they have a slipup and lose to the Saints on Thursday or to a team like the Ravens? Suddenly you’re looking at a 9-7 record, you’re a borderline playoff team, and maybe, just maybe the Jags can sneak right in there and win the division.
But it’s going to be tough now with David Garrard at the helm…. wait a minute… um, you know what?
Screw it. I’m sticking with my guns and going with the Jags to win the division even with Garrard at QB.
7. I think these are how the standings will look at the end of the season:
AFC Central
Jaguars
Colts
Texans
Titans
AFC East
Patriots
Jets
Bills
Dolphins
AFC North
Bengals
Steelers
Ravens
Browns
AFC West
Chargers
Raiders
Broncos
Chiefs
NFC Central
Bears
Lions
Vikings
Packers
NFC East
Eagles
Redskins
Dallas
Giants
NFC South
Buccaneers
Panthers
Saints
Falcons
NFC West
Rams
Cardinals
49ers
Seahawks
Wild Cards: Colts, Steelers, Redskins, Cardinals
8. I think I hate reading predictions where the writer pretty much picks the same exact team that won the division last year to win the division again this year. Look at this Why-o who picked the same division winners as last year in all but one division and picked Denver and St Louis to be the only new teams in the playoffs this year. I read Don Bank’s columns all the time but he didn’t exactly go out on a limb with his picks. When will prognosticators realize that unlike baseball, that’s not how the NFL works and its reason #23 why the NFL is so gosh darn great.
And since we’re on the topic, ESPN the Magazine, Merrill Hodge, and Eric Allen are the only people / magazines I’ve read so far that picked the Chargers to win the Super Bowl. Not since Sean Salisbury’s performance in The Benchwarmers have I seen something so egregious. Except for a couple of guys who picked the Ravens and SI who picked the Chargers to lose to the Saints, everyone else picked the Patriots. What a joke.
9. I think my fantasy sleepers this year are: Kevin Curtis, Jerious Norwood, Brandon Jackson, Adrian Peterson of the Bears, Vincent Jackson, Phil Rivers, Cadillac Williams, Dante Culpepper and Jason Campbell.
And my fantasy busts are: Cedric Benson, Marquis Colston, Frank Gore, Larry Johnson, Drew Brees, Randy Moss, Vince Young, and Jay Cutler.
By the way, my fantasy team name this year is “Chillaxing” after what UFC Champion Rampage Jackson said he was gong to do after he beat Chuck Lidell in May. And in case you’re wondering I have Kevin Curtis, Jerious Norwood, Brandon Jackson and Adrian Peterson of the Bears on my team.
And in case you’re still wondering here’s what my fantasy team looks like: QB- Tony Romo, RB- Lawrence Maroney, RB- Brandon Jacobs, WR- Chad Johnson, WR- Tory Holt, TE- Chris Cooley, RB/WR- Jerious Norwood, WR/TE- Chad Curtis, D- Jaguars, K- Mike Nugent, B- Matt Leinhart, Brandon Jackson, Adrian Peterson.
God help me if I don’t win the Bada Bing! this year.
10. I think this year is going to be the Chargers’ year!
It’s going to be the Chargers and Patriots in AFC Championship Game, the Eagles and Bears in the NFC Championship Game with the Chargers beating the Eagles in Arizona and February 3rd 2008 will forever be remembered as The Day San Diego (Finally) Wins a Championship in a Major Sport.
The same anonymous reader goes on to say: “Your logic of ‘The Patriots went out and signed these players b/c they 'knew' the Chargers were 3 TDs better’ is so backwards, but it does set an appropriate tone for the rest of your backwards analysis. Perhaps they look to improve their football team on a yearly basis? Regardless of what another team in another division did last year.”
Seems like this guy missed the point of the blog. I wasn’t criticizing the Patriots for trying to improve their team; they always make a move to improve their team. My point was that they took chances on players like Randy Moss that they never would have considered in the past. In the Patriots’ heyday they KNEW they could beat teams like the Steelers and Colts and they didn’t need to trade for guys like Moss-- an injury prone malcontent who admits he doesn’t play hard every game, or to draft guys like Brandon Merriweather. Think about it, Terrell Owens was available the year after they won their second Super Bowl and the Patriots didn’t even look in his direction. Likewise do you think the Patriots would have traded for Moss if they would have won the Super Bowl last year? Probably not. But after they lucked out in the Charger game and had nothing in the second half of the Colts game they knew they weren’t head and shoulders the best team in the Conference anymore. And while the Chargers didn’t do anything because they knew they had a championship-caliber team, the Patriots knew they had to take chances on players they otherwise wouldn’t have in order to get/stay on that level. Desperate teams do desperate things. The Chargers didn’t have to take any chances this offseason and the Patriots did. That was my point.
Not really backwards if you think about it.
Now that’s out of the way…
With apologies to Peter King, these are the 10 Things I Think I Think about the 2007 NFL Season:
1. I think these are the teams that are vastly overrated: Patriots (uncertainty in the secondary, their linebackers and receivers still aren’t that good), Saints (still not a Drew Brees believer and they have a putrid defense), 49ers (injury prone RB and the loss of Norv Turner), and Broncos (second year QB in a division with strong defenses)
And these are the teams that are vastly underrated: the Jaguars (great D and strong running game), Redskins (Jason Cambell’s a potential fantasy sleeper), Buccaneers (more on this later), Jets (any friend of Tony Soprano is a friend of mine) and Rams (most talented players in tossup division).
2. I think LT is going to win consecutive MVP awards, rush for over 2,000 yards and will break the touchdown record he set last season. And Shawne “Lights Out” Merriman will win the Defensive Player of the Year Award and break the single-season sack record.
For Offensive ROY I’ll go with Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson and for Defensive ROY I’ll remain a homer and go with the Chargers’ Eric Weddle.
3. I think the Buccaneers were the most impressive team during the preseason. I’m not kidding you about this. I’ve watched good chunks of three of their preseason games and each time they did something that impressed me. It makes sense if you think about it. They seriously upgraded their quarterback position and now have Jeff Garcia quarterback who thrives in the west coast offense and who’s not going to kill them with mistakes. Cadillac Williams and Michael Pittman are a good 1-2 punch in the backfield so they’ll be able to run the rock. They have Joey Galloway and up and comer Maurice Stovall at wide out and they signed the DUI-machine Jeremy Stevens at tight end so they have some receiving options. On defense, I like Gaines Adams. They have oldies but goodies in Derrick Brooks, Rhonde Barber and Phil Buchannan and they just signed Jeremiah Trotter over the weekend. You combine all of this with the fact that Jon Gruden is on the hot seat and what do you have? A bona-fide sleeper team that no one else is picking. Mark it down!
4. I think the NFC West is a total crapshoot. You can put any team in that division in any slot and make a solid, rational, argument for why they’ll finish there. I’ll use the Rams as an example since my friend Scot is supposedly a huge Rams fan even though everyone knows that deep down inside, in places he doesn’t like to talk about at parties, the Chargers are his favorite team.
You could say:
The Rams look like they can win 10-12 games this year and take the division. They have a solid quarterback and superstars at the running back and wide receiver positions. Their defensive line has immensely improved with Adam Carricker in the mix and as long as Leonard Little thinks before he drinks. Dante Hall brings a dimension to the Rams return game that they haven’t had since Az Hakim.
Or you could say:
Orlando Pace is on his last legs. Likewise, Isaac Bruce shouldn’t be a starting receiver for a playoff team anymore. Randy McMichael is a disappointment in fantasy football and in real life football. Remember Fakhir Brown? He used to play cornerback for the Chargers. I thought I saw him behind the deli counter at Vons the other day but I was wrong; he’s the Rams starting cornerback. The Rams’ linebackers are small and it will be tough in a division with Shawn Alexander and Frank Gore. They’re a .500 team at best and a Stephen Jackson hamstring pull away from being 4-12.
See what I mean? A complete tossup. I swear, you can do this for every one of those teams in that division.
5. I think from top to bottom the AFC North is the toughest division in the NFL. The Bengals, Steelers and Ravens are all teams that could make noise in the playoffs and if the Browns ever got their quarterback situation figured out they’d be decent team. (They have solid line, good wide outs and some playmakers on defense). The Steelers probably have the most well rounded team in that division, but I went with the Bengals because they will have a healthy Carson Palmer for an entire year and their offense will be absolutely ridiculous this year.
6. I think I had the Jaguars winning the AFC Central this year until they released Byron Leftwich over the weekend. I really like their RB tandem of Maurice-Jones Drew (or as I like to call him Moe-Joe Drew) and Fred Taylor, and I think their defense is rock-solid-physical. Plus I think the Colts are going to struggle this year. They play the Patriots and Chargers back-to-back. They always struggle against the run and play teams thrive on running the rock like Denver and Carolina. Plus they always struggle against the Jaguars and they usually split against the Texans and Titans. So assuming they lose to the Patriots and Chargers, they split against Denver / Carolina, and they split against the Jags, Texans and Titans you’re looking at a 10-6 team. Now what if they have a slipup and lose to the Saints on Thursday or to a team like the Ravens? Suddenly you’re looking at a 9-7 record, you’re a borderline playoff team, and maybe, just maybe the Jags can sneak right in there and win the division.
But it’s going to be tough now with David Garrard at the helm…. wait a minute… um, you know what?
Screw it. I’m sticking with my guns and going with the Jags to win the division even with Garrard at QB.
7. I think these are how the standings will look at the end of the season:
AFC Central
Jaguars
Colts
Texans
Titans
AFC East
Patriots
Jets
Bills
Dolphins
AFC North
Bengals
Steelers
Ravens
Browns
AFC West
Chargers
Raiders
Broncos
Chiefs
NFC Central
Bears
Lions
Vikings
Packers
NFC East
Eagles
Redskins
Dallas
Giants
NFC South
Buccaneers
Panthers
Saints
Falcons
NFC West
Rams
Cardinals
49ers
Seahawks
Wild Cards: Colts, Steelers, Redskins, Cardinals
8. I think I hate reading predictions where the writer pretty much picks the same exact team that won the division last year to win the division again this year. Look at this Why-o who picked the same division winners as last year in all but one division and picked Denver and St Louis to be the only new teams in the playoffs this year. I read Don Bank’s columns all the time but he didn’t exactly go out on a limb with his picks. When will prognosticators realize that unlike baseball, that’s not how the NFL works and its reason #23 why the NFL is so gosh darn great.
And since we’re on the topic, ESPN the Magazine, Merrill Hodge, and Eric Allen are the only people / magazines I’ve read so far that picked the Chargers to win the Super Bowl. Not since Sean Salisbury’s performance in The Benchwarmers have I seen something so egregious. Except for a couple of guys who picked the Ravens and SI who picked the Chargers to lose to the Saints, everyone else picked the Patriots. What a joke.
9. I think my fantasy sleepers this year are: Kevin Curtis, Jerious Norwood, Brandon Jackson, Adrian Peterson of the Bears, Vincent Jackson, Phil Rivers, Cadillac Williams, Dante Culpepper and Jason Campbell.
And my fantasy busts are: Cedric Benson, Marquis Colston, Frank Gore, Larry Johnson, Drew Brees, Randy Moss, Vince Young, and Jay Cutler.
By the way, my fantasy team name this year is “Chillaxing” after what UFC Champion Rampage Jackson said he was gong to do after he beat Chuck Lidell in May. And in case you’re wondering I have Kevin Curtis, Jerious Norwood, Brandon Jackson and Adrian Peterson of the Bears on my team.
And in case you’re still wondering here’s what my fantasy team looks like: QB- Tony Romo, RB- Lawrence Maroney, RB- Brandon Jacobs, WR- Chad Johnson, WR- Tory Holt, TE- Chris Cooley, RB/WR- Jerious Norwood, WR/TE- Chad Curtis, D- Jaguars, K- Mike Nugent, B- Matt Leinhart, Brandon Jackson, Adrian Peterson.
God help me if I don’t win the Bada Bing! this year.
10. I think this year is going to be the Chargers’ year!
It’s going to be the Chargers and Patriots in AFC Championship Game, the Eagles and Bears in the NFC Championship Game with the Chargers beating the Eagles in Arizona and February 3rd 2008 will forever be remembered as The Day San Diego (Finally) Wins a Championship in a Major Sport.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Whoa-o, Mexico
Hola LamLoggers! Due to the Labor Day weekend I only blogged once last week. I’ll make it up to you guys this week with a blog today, a football preview blog tomorrow, and another blog on Thursday night / Friday.
God only knows how I can do this for you and still maintain a full-time job…
A lot of people have been asking me if I’ve gotten back with the Padres after breaking up with them a couple of weeks ago. Over the past two weeks the Padres have gone 10-4, are back in first place, and are averaging an astonishing (for them at least) 6 runs per game! This is like breaking up with your girlfriend because she's a fat slob, then watching her drop 25 pounds, dye her hair blonde and get breast implants. But to answer your question, no I haven’t gotten back with the Padres. They’ve done this crap every single year for the past three years! They start off OK, slump, and then squeak into the playoffs where their crappy lineup that’s filled with 6th and 7th hitters are exposed worse than Michael Vick. This happens every freaking single year. So no, I haven’t been watching the Padres and yes, I’m perfectly fine with my decision…
I was in Irvine on Thursday so I only watched a few minutes of the last Charger preseason game. By all accounts, the Chargers are ready for the season and gosh darn it, so am I. I’ve heard a little bitching here and there about the team and let me tell you something: People who complain about how the Chargers look in the preseason are the same ones who get offended from LT’s Nike commercial. Look, there are more important things to concern yourselves over than how Stephen Cooper looks in the preseason. And if I were the Bears, I’d be less concerned about LT’s Nike commercial and more concerned about the 5 interceptions that Rex Grossman is about to throw this Sunday.
It’s worth mentioning here that while in Irvine I stayed at the Embassy Suites which has something spectacular called “The Manager’s Hour” or something to that effect and it’s basically an open bar for all their guests from 5:30-7:30. So there I was Thursday night polishing off two bowls of nachos (which were also on the house), one regular sized 7 and 7 and three more double sized 7 and 7s. Man, what a treat.
(After that I went over to McCormick and Schmick’s and had an average dinner that could be described as: “An overpriced plate of blandness that wasn’t remotely gratifying.” But I guess anyone who knows anything about chain restaurants could have told me that.)
Thumbs up Embassy Suites, thumbs down McCormick and Schmick’s…
ESPN screwed up its fantasy baseball league at the beginning of the season so they gave everyone a free fantasy football team. My league’s draft was this Friday and I had the sixth pick. Here’s who I got:
Round 1: Reggie Bush
Round 2: Travis Henry
Round 3: Thomas Jones
Round 4: Antonio Gates
Round 5: Plaxico Burress
Round 6: Matt Hasslebeck
Round 7: Brandon Jacobs
Round 8: LaMont Jordan
Round 9: Joey Galloway
Round 10: Mike Bell
Round 11: Chris Chambers
Round 12: Michael Turner
Round 13: Broncos D
Round 14: Craig Davis
Round 15: LP Losman
Round 16: Jason Hanson
Sixth was a little high to pick Bush but it will be good cheering for the Regginator again and I’ve always wanted him on my fantasy team. In fact “I’ve always wanted him on my fantasy team” could be used as the reason why I drafted Antonio Gates and Plaxico Burress as well. I should just rename my team “Guys I’ve always wanted on my fantasy team.”
In the end, I really didn’t care. I just want to win the Bada Bing! this year. That’s the league that counts…
I was down in Mexico on Saturday so I didn’t watch most of the first weekend of college football. Two things that I would have like to have seen:
1. Appalachian State upsetting 5th ranked Michigan -- the first time a Division I-AA school beat a ranked opponent.
2. Notre Dame looking atrocious. I’ll just let the K’ster (an ND alum) take it from here:
“The ND game was awful. They didn’t even look good and basically gave me no hope for the rest of the season. The defense is still slow and the O-line is pathetic. Charlie should just instill a shotgun offense for the rest of the season. We are screwed. After the game I went home and sulked and wondered why every team could find the endzone except for ND.”
Well then… we’ll check back with her next week to see how she enjoyed Week 1 of the Jimmy Clausen era.
In case you’re wondering, Mexico was pretty fun. Here are some quick thoughts:
1. The first bar we were at we had two beers, two shots of tequila and a margarita and the tab came up to a whopping $27! Man, if I wanted to get overcharged for drinks I’d just go downtown.
2. The lobster in Puerto Nuevo was pretty good but I still prefer lobsters with claws… or as most call them, Maine lobsters.
3. I bought a couple of Cuban cigars, a toy bow and arrow set, and some firecrackers down there. I smoked the cigar after I ate some lobsters and lit some firecrackers on the beach in Rosarito. Good times!
4. Rosarito was like an episode of Girls Gone Wild. Girls were dressed like porn stars and there were drunken kids everywhere. I saw a girl passed out on the street and it was only around 8:00 in the evening! Am I getting old or what? Seeing drunken 19 year olds is fun when you’re 19, but somewhat disturbing when you’re 29…
Alright, that’s it. Keep an eye out for the football preview blog to be posted Wednesday night / Thursday.
God only knows how I can do this for you and still maintain a full-time job…
A lot of people have been asking me if I’ve gotten back with the Padres after breaking up with them a couple of weeks ago. Over the past two weeks the Padres have gone 10-4, are back in first place, and are averaging an astonishing (for them at least) 6 runs per game! This is like breaking up with your girlfriend because she's a fat slob, then watching her drop 25 pounds, dye her hair blonde and get breast implants. But to answer your question, no I haven’t gotten back with the Padres. They’ve done this crap every single year for the past three years! They start off OK, slump, and then squeak into the playoffs where their crappy lineup that’s filled with 6th and 7th hitters are exposed worse than Michael Vick. This happens every freaking single year. So no, I haven’t been watching the Padres and yes, I’m perfectly fine with my decision…
I was in Irvine on Thursday so I only watched a few minutes of the last Charger preseason game. By all accounts, the Chargers are ready for the season and gosh darn it, so am I. I’ve heard a little bitching here and there about the team and let me tell you something: People who complain about how the Chargers look in the preseason are the same ones who get offended from LT’s Nike commercial. Look, there are more important things to concern yourselves over than how Stephen Cooper looks in the preseason. And if I were the Bears, I’d be less concerned about LT’s Nike commercial and more concerned about the 5 interceptions that Rex Grossman is about to throw this Sunday.
It’s worth mentioning here that while in Irvine I stayed at the Embassy Suites which has something spectacular called “The Manager’s Hour” or something to that effect and it’s basically an open bar for all their guests from 5:30-7:30. So there I was Thursday night polishing off two bowls of nachos (which were also on the house), one regular sized 7 and 7 and three more double sized 7 and 7s. Man, what a treat.
(After that I went over to McCormick and Schmick’s and had an average dinner that could be described as: “An overpriced plate of blandness that wasn’t remotely gratifying.” But I guess anyone who knows anything about chain restaurants could have told me that.)
Thumbs up Embassy Suites, thumbs down McCormick and Schmick’s…
ESPN screwed up its fantasy baseball league at the beginning of the season so they gave everyone a free fantasy football team. My league’s draft was this Friday and I had the sixth pick. Here’s who I got:
Round 1: Reggie Bush
Round 2: Travis Henry
Round 3: Thomas Jones
Round 4: Antonio Gates
Round 5: Plaxico Burress
Round 6: Matt Hasslebeck
Round 7: Brandon Jacobs
Round 8: LaMont Jordan
Round 9: Joey Galloway
Round 10: Mike Bell
Round 11: Chris Chambers
Round 12: Michael Turner
Round 13: Broncos D
Round 14: Craig Davis
Round 15: LP Losman
Round 16: Jason Hanson
Sixth was a little high to pick Bush but it will be good cheering for the Regginator again and I’ve always wanted him on my fantasy team. In fact “I’ve always wanted him on my fantasy team” could be used as the reason why I drafted Antonio Gates and Plaxico Burress as well. I should just rename my team “Guys I’ve always wanted on my fantasy team.”
In the end, I really didn’t care. I just want to win the Bada Bing! this year. That’s the league that counts…
I was down in Mexico on Saturday so I didn’t watch most of the first weekend of college football. Two things that I would have like to have seen:
1. Appalachian State upsetting 5th ranked Michigan -- the first time a Division I-AA school beat a ranked opponent.
2. Notre Dame looking atrocious. I’ll just let the K’ster (an ND alum) take it from here:
“The ND game was awful. They didn’t even look good and basically gave me no hope for the rest of the season. The defense is still slow and the O-line is pathetic. Charlie should just instill a shotgun offense for the rest of the season. We are screwed. After the game I went home and sulked and wondered why every team could find the endzone except for ND.”
Well then… we’ll check back with her next week to see how she enjoyed Week 1 of the Jimmy Clausen era.
In case you’re wondering, Mexico was pretty fun. Here are some quick thoughts:
1. The first bar we were at we had two beers, two shots of tequila and a margarita and the tab came up to a whopping $27! Man, if I wanted to get overcharged for drinks I’d just go downtown.
2. The lobster in Puerto Nuevo was pretty good but I still prefer lobsters with claws… or as most call them, Maine lobsters.
3. I bought a couple of Cuban cigars, a toy bow and arrow set, and some firecrackers down there. I smoked the cigar after I ate some lobsters and lit some firecrackers on the beach in Rosarito. Good times!
4. Rosarito was like an episode of Girls Gone Wild. Girls were dressed like porn stars and there were drunken kids everywhere. I saw a girl passed out on the street and it was only around 8:00 in the evening! Am I getting old or what? Seeing drunken 19 year olds is fun when you’re 19, but somewhat disturbing when you’re 29…
Alright, that’s it. Keep an eye out for the football preview blog to be posted Wednesday night / Thursday.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Debunking the Charger Myths
The Chargers won their preseason game on Saturday, beating the Cardinals 33-31 on a last second Nate Keading field goal. I’d spent about 12 hours at the beach that day so by the time the game started I was as dead as a doorknob. I managed to watch each of the team’s first drives, a little bit before the half, and the last minute or so when the Cardinals took the lead before Billy Voleck drove the Chargers down the field to set up Keading’s field goal. Needless to say, I didn’t miss anything important. You gotta love preseason football.
As for the Chargers prognosis thus far: I think their offense is going to be “out of this world” good and I’m taking a “wait and see” approach on their defense. They haven’t really blitzed or done anything other than play their basic coverages so it’s hard to tell if they’ve improved. I’m assuming they’re saving it for the season so I guess we’ll “wait and see.”
In any matter, the NFL regular season is a little more than a week away and naturally I’ve been an information whore on anything Charger related. What gets me is that the Chargers are so strong from top to bottom that it almost seems like the media is nitpicking their team for weaknesses. There is no reason why the Chargers should be rated behind the Colts or the Patriots in the various power rankings out there.
So because I’m such a nice guy, I’ll take the time to breakdown some of the myths out there about these so called “weaknesses” the Chargers have:
Myth #1: “Norv Turner won’t hack it as a head coach of the Chargers because of his 58-81-1 record as head coach of the Raiders and Redskins.”
First of all, it’s completely unfair to compare those Raiders and Redskin teams to the team Turner has now. We’re talking Aaron Brooks and Gus Ferotte compared to Phil Rivers. LaMont Jordan and Terry Allen as opposed to LaDanian Tomlinson. Doug Gabriel and Stephen Alexander compared to Antonio Gates. In 2004 with the Raiders, Turner’s leading rushers were Zach Crockett and Amous Zereoue and his quarterback was the immortal Kerry Collins. (I went to Zereoue to try and get a comment about this but his shift manager at Wendy’s said he couldn’t take a break until guy working at the fry station showed up.)
I mean, how in God’s name did anyone expect Turner to win with a team like that?
People forget that Bill Belichick was 36-44 in five years with the Browns and a year with the Patriots before he turned it around with that team. Remember the back page of the New York Post called him “Beli-Chicken” after he resigned as Jets coach one day into the job so he could take the Patriots gig? I’m not saying Turner’s the next Belichick. I’m just saying there are some parallels. Belichick was once slapped with that “only a coordinator” label too and a lot of people didn’t think he was outspoken enough to be a head coach either. Before we evaluate him, Turner deserves a shot with a good team. The way I look at it, if he rolls off 13 or so wins this year, wins the Super Bowl and rolls off another 13 wins or so and wins another Super Bowl his record won’t look so bad and suddenly everyone will be calling him an offensive genius and the next Don Coryell.
Myth #2: “The Chargers don’t have a proven #1 wide receiver.”
This is like when a woman decides another woman isn’t hot because of something totally unrelated to hotness.
Example 1: Jennifer Hewitt isn’t hot because she has a long neck.
Example 2: Pamela Anderson isn’t hot. She looks like a bimbo.
Example 3: Jessica Simpson looks fake.
(For the record these are things that I’ve actually heard other women say)
Appropriate response to any of these absurd criticisms would be, “Yeah, but take a look at her (fill in appropriate body part).”
In this case: Yeah the Chargers don’t have a proven #1 receiver but take a look at LT and Antonio Gates.
When someone is indisputably good (or good looking) snide comments like are just plain ridiculous.
Myth #3: “The Chargers don’t have a back-up nose tackle.”
I read some guy dock the Chargers for this last week and I thought it was the most absurd thing I’ve read during the month of August. How many NFL teams even have a good nose / defensive tackle to begin with? Who’s the Patriots backup nose tackle?
Granted, the Chargers defense wouldn’t be as good without Jamal Williams but chastising them for not having a quality backup doesn’t make sense -- especially when the schmuck who wrote it probably doesn’t even know who the backups are (for the record they are Brandon McKinney and Ryon Bingham and they are not bad players.) and 2/3rds of the teams out there don’t have a decent defensive tackle to begin with.
Absurdity to the nth degree.
Myth #4: “The Chargers are going to miss Donnie Edwards.”
I heard Peter King say this over the radio and I’ve gone 10 rounds with the guy who delivers mail in my office about this. Let me tell you five things:
1. Matt Whilhelm is a younger, more physical player than Donnie Edwards.
2. Matt Whilhelm will make more plays than Donnie Edwards ever did.
3. Matt Whilhelm will become a fan favorite.
4. Matt Whilhelm’s backup, Tim Dobbins is also better than Edwards.
5. AJ Smith never, ever, ever… ever, ever, ever misses on a personnel call. Never. It just doesn’t happen.
The same people who are upset about losing Edwards are the ones that were worried when the Chargers to let go of Drew Brees, Toni Fonoti, Hanik Milligan.
Remember in Goodfellas when Henry Hill comes into the bar all worried that the cops are onto them about the Lufthansa heist and Jimmy Conway grabs him and says, “Don’t worry, everything is beautiful..” That’s me when I hear complaints about moves the Chargers make. When AJ Smith is in charge, there’s nothing to worry about. Of course everything wasn’t exactly beautiful for those guys in Goodfellas but… whatever. I’m just rambling. Let’s move on.
Myth #5: “The Chargers defense will be less aggressive under Ted Cotrell.”
From what I saw, the Chargers under Wade Phillips, were aggressive in their front seven but passive in the secondary. From what I’ve seen and read so far this Charger defense -- under Cotrell and linebackers coach Ron Rivera-- will more aggressive all around.
I think I got an erection this morning when I read in the paper that the Chargers were thinking about blitzing their corners and disguising their coverages better. Holy crap, you mean you shouldn’t just play prevent all the time? I’ve already noticed that they’ve been trying to strip the ball on tackles (like the Bears who were coached Rivera) and if this team can force a couple of turnovers a game, they’re going to be unstoppable.
So there you have it. Stop trying to nitpick the Chargers. Just admit that they are a perfect team and enjoy watching their Super Bowl run(s).
As for the Chargers prognosis thus far: I think their offense is going to be “out of this world” good and I’m taking a “wait and see” approach on their defense. They haven’t really blitzed or done anything other than play their basic coverages so it’s hard to tell if they’ve improved. I’m assuming they’re saving it for the season so I guess we’ll “wait and see.”
In any matter, the NFL regular season is a little more than a week away and naturally I’ve been an information whore on anything Charger related. What gets me is that the Chargers are so strong from top to bottom that it almost seems like the media is nitpicking their team for weaknesses. There is no reason why the Chargers should be rated behind the Colts or the Patriots in the various power rankings out there.
So because I’m such a nice guy, I’ll take the time to breakdown some of the myths out there about these so called “weaknesses” the Chargers have:
Myth #1: “Norv Turner won’t hack it as a head coach of the Chargers because of his 58-81-1 record as head coach of the Raiders and Redskins.”
First of all, it’s completely unfair to compare those Raiders and Redskin teams to the team Turner has now. We’re talking Aaron Brooks and Gus Ferotte compared to Phil Rivers. LaMont Jordan and Terry Allen as opposed to LaDanian Tomlinson. Doug Gabriel and Stephen Alexander compared to Antonio Gates. In 2004 with the Raiders, Turner’s leading rushers were Zach Crockett and Amous Zereoue and his quarterback was the immortal Kerry Collins. (I went to Zereoue to try and get a comment about this but his shift manager at Wendy’s said he couldn’t take a break until guy working at the fry station showed up.)
I mean, how in God’s name did anyone expect Turner to win with a team like that?
People forget that Bill Belichick was 36-44 in five years with the Browns and a year with the Patriots before he turned it around with that team. Remember the back page of the New York Post called him “Beli-Chicken” after he resigned as Jets coach one day into the job so he could take the Patriots gig? I’m not saying Turner’s the next Belichick. I’m just saying there are some parallels. Belichick was once slapped with that “only a coordinator” label too and a lot of people didn’t think he was outspoken enough to be a head coach either. Before we evaluate him, Turner deserves a shot with a good team. The way I look at it, if he rolls off 13 or so wins this year, wins the Super Bowl and rolls off another 13 wins or so and wins another Super Bowl his record won’t look so bad and suddenly everyone will be calling him an offensive genius and the next Don Coryell.
Myth #2: “The Chargers don’t have a proven #1 wide receiver.”
This is like when a woman decides another woman isn’t hot because of something totally unrelated to hotness.
Example 1: Jennifer Hewitt isn’t hot because she has a long neck.
Example 2: Pamela Anderson isn’t hot. She looks like a bimbo.
Example 3: Jessica Simpson looks fake.
(For the record these are things that I’ve actually heard other women say)
Appropriate response to any of these absurd criticisms would be, “Yeah, but take a look at her (fill in appropriate body part).”
In this case: Yeah the Chargers don’t have a proven #1 receiver but take a look at LT and Antonio Gates.
When someone is indisputably good (or good looking) snide comments like are just plain ridiculous.
Myth #3: “The Chargers don’t have a back-up nose tackle.”
I read some guy dock the Chargers for this last week and I thought it was the most absurd thing I’ve read during the month of August. How many NFL teams even have a good nose / defensive tackle to begin with? Who’s the Patriots backup nose tackle?
Granted, the Chargers defense wouldn’t be as good without Jamal Williams but chastising them for not having a quality backup doesn’t make sense -- especially when the schmuck who wrote it probably doesn’t even know who the backups are (for the record they are Brandon McKinney and Ryon Bingham and they are not bad players.) and 2/3rds of the teams out there don’t have a decent defensive tackle to begin with.
Absurdity to the nth degree.
Myth #4: “The Chargers are going to miss Donnie Edwards.”
I heard Peter King say this over the radio and I’ve gone 10 rounds with the guy who delivers mail in my office about this. Let me tell you five things:
1. Matt Whilhelm is a younger, more physical player than Donnie Edwards.
2. Matt Whilhelm will make more plays than Donnie Edwards ever did.
3. Matt Whilhelm will become a fan favorite.
4. Matt Whilhelm’s backup, Tim Dobbins is also better than Edwards.
5. AJ Smith never, ever, ever… ever, ever, ever misses on a personnel call. Never. It just doesn’t happen.
The same people who are upset about losing Edwards are the ones that were worried when the Chargers to let go of Drew Brees, Toni Fonoti, Hanik Milligan.
Remember in Goodfellas when Henry Hill comes into the bar all worried that the cops are onto them about the Lufthansa heist and Jimmy Conway grabs him and says, “Don’t worry, everything is beautiful..” That’s me when I hear complaints about moves the Chargers make. When AJ Smith is in charge, there’s nothing to worry about. Of course everything wasn’t exactly beautiful for those guys in Goodfellas but… whatever. I’m just rambling. Let’s move on.
Myth #5: “The Chargers defense will be less aggressive under Ted Cotrell.”
From what I saw, the Chargers under Wade Phillips, were aggressive in their front seven but passive in the secondary. From what I’ve seen and read so far this Charger defense -- under Cotrell and linebackers coach Ron Rivera-- will more aggressive all around.
I think I got an erection this morning when I read in the paper that the Chargers were thinking about blitzing their corners and disguising their coverages better. Holy crap, you mean you shouldn’t just play prevent all the time? I’ve already noticed that they’ve been trying to strip the ball on tackles (like the Bears who were coached Rivera) and if this team can force a couple of turnovers a game, they’re going to be unstoppable.
So there you have it. Stop trying to nitpick the Chargers. Just admit that they are a perfect team and enjoy watching their Super Bowl run(s).
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