NFL 2009

[Thales]

I wanted a Jets vs Vikings Sueprbowl. Oh, well. (Actually I wanted Chargers vs Vikings, but that was not going to happen, was it?).

New Orleans goes to the Superbowl. The phrase looks, sounds and feels wrong. Almost like the phrase "Rational philosopher Emannuel Kant," only more absurd.

Anyway, that leaves the follwoing teams who've never been to the big game:

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Detroit Lions

The first two are recent expansion teams, and so there is a good excuse. The Lions, otoh, are doing as badly as the city of Detroit.

[D'kian]

The first two are recent expansion teams, and so there is a good excuse. The Lions, otoh, are doing as badly as the city of Detroit.

The texans have an excuse. The Jaguars not so much. The Panthers are as old as the Jags, and they've been to the Superbowl. The New Browns have a partial excuse.

On the other hand, think how long it took the 70s expansion teams, Tampa and Seattle, to reach the big one. Tampa nearly did it in 5 years, but lost that NFC championship to the then LA Rams (who then lost to the Steelers).

So Detroit not only has no excuse, they have no team, no future and no prospects. The team should move to LA. Thay may find money to build a team there.

[D'kian]

Well, the Pro Bowl (yawn) has come and gone. Much as I miss football, I didn't watch. But we still ahve to wait for the ratings and such before determining whether the new schedule was successful or not.

Anyway, next week we get football back. This year's game has some interesting coincidences.

The obvious one is that the Saints face Peyton Manning, son of long-time Saints' QB Archie Manning. the latter was one of the best QBs NO ever had (well, one of two good QBs they ever had). But there's more. Current Saints QB Drew Brees started his career with the Chargers. The Chargers, you may recall, wanted to draft Eli Manning in '04, but didn't when Eli made it clear he wouldn't sign with San Diego. They traded his pick to the Giants and drafted Phil Rivers, who replaced Brees as a starter when Brees was injured in a game against Denver.

Ok, this is tenuous at best. The story would ahve been better had the Chargers drafted Eli Manning to replace Brees, but the connection is there.

It would be bad for the Saints to be beaten by the son of their old QB, certainly. But that would not be the worst kind of defeat. No, that dubious honor goes to Dan Reeves. Mr. Reeves, you may recall, coached the Broncos for a long time, taking them to two Superbowls with John Elway as QB. they lost both. Later on he took the Atlanta Falcons to the Superbowl where they faced Denver, with John Elway as QB. The Falcons lost. I can't help but think Reeves must have said to Elway after the game "Now you win a Superbowl?"

[Steve D'Ippolito]

...of course the sting of that was lessened by the fact that Denver had won the year before as well.

And Reeves has to accept at least some of the blame for losing all three of those Superbowls.

[D'kian]

And Reeves has to accept at least some of the blame for losing all three of those Superbowls.

Actually, all the blame. Ultimately the head coach is responsible for the performance of his team.

You'll notice I didn't bring up Craig Morton again.

[Thales]

Actually, all the blame. Ultimately the head coach is responsible for the performance of his team.

You'll notice I didn't bring up Craig Morton again.

Oh no, Elway was the big reason the even got to those first three superbowls. After that they were over matched by teams like the 49ers.

[RussK]

It looked like an interception to me. I don't see how they could justify that being a fumble or an incomplete pass - Rodgers' arm was moving forward, the ball came out and the opposing player caught it. Regardless of what it was, the Cardinal did pull Rodger's mask - straight down. I saw it with my own eyes. Apparently this is another one of those rules that's simply a subjective call. Or maybe Rodgers just decided to tilt his head downward at the same instant the fingers were hooked around his grill, and due to the official's uncanny powers of perception he wase able to see that no force was actually applied . Either way, the ball came out before the penalty, so I put this botched play on the O-line and Rodgers, not the officials.

I do blame the officials for not calling a blatant helmet-to-helmet hit earlier in OT. The inconsistency with which roughing the passer is called is remarkable. Earlier today Kurt Warner got tapped on the helmet with a hand and they called a 15-yard penalty. Rodgers got blown up with a head-butt and they didn't see it. They should stop coddling quarterbacks all together; then I'd have no reason to gripe.

I read on ESPN a couple of weeks ago that most likely the referee who was responsible for watching the QB had his field of vision blocked, so he couldn't see the contact to the face mask. No need to rehash old new though. Nothing will stop the crying from GB fans anyway.

When it comes to stopping the coddling of quarterbacks, I totally agree with you. I'm tired of seeing QB's get special treatment; some getting more than others from game to game. In general, I'm tired of the whole onslaught of ridding hard hitting from the NFL. For a few years now, if one wants to see hard hitting defense, college (FBS) has been the league to watch--depending on the teams on the field. Of course, that's slowly changing as well.

On the issue helmet to helmet, launching with the helmet, or whatever term for a hard hit, I support the Ray Lewis mentality. After getting fined $25,000 this season for a hit on Chad Ochocinco, Lewis said, "That's football. And if I had to do it again, I'd do it a million times the same way." Lewis also considers his most recent fine, for a hit in the playoff game against the Colts, and the coddling of QBs an "embarrassment" for the NFL.

[RussK]

I've seen a lack of excitement in the posts about the Super Bowl including the Saints. Not sure why, they are the dominant team the the NFC this year, and are exciting on both sides of the ball. I for one am excited about the Super Bowl; the Andouille and Boudin is on the way for some good party dishes. Maybe I'm a little more excited because I got on their bandwagon around mid-season, after understanding the Giants were trash; and I lived on the Gulf Coast for a long time, living through the later era of the Aints--although, I never gave a damn about them anyway.

I'll be pulling for the Saints, but I do think that the Colts will win. After the Vikings/Saints game, and the pissing and moaning that followed, the referees will be flag happy, throwing flags against contact on Manning (who will probably be falling to the ground on his own, as he usually does). In order for the Saints to win, their defense needs to get in and make Manning dance around nervously in the pocket, anticipating the hit he's about to receive; he will shut down much quicker than Favre. Hopefully Smith, Vilma, or Sharper will be able to put a helmet on him.

[FeatherFall]

Nothing will stop the crying from GB fans anyway.

A Superbowl win will. I'll cry until then.

Lewis also considers his most recent fine, for a hit in the playoff game against the Colts, and the coddling of QBs an "embarrassment" for the NFL.

Lewis is a tough guy. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that he opposed the coddling of stabbing victims as an embarrassment to night clubs.

[RussK]

A Superbowl win will. I'll cry until then.

Lewis is a tough guy. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that he opposed the coddling of stabbing victims as an embarrassment to night clubs.

I just noticed your location.

A lot of Green Bay fans that I know don't want Favre to win a Super Bowl with another team; they want him all to themselves (Green Bay), and to only be known for winning a Super Bowl with that team. I see that you wanted the Vikings to go to the Super Bowl, so that's kind of surprising. What's interesting though, is a lot of the GB fans that I know, who were criticizing Favre and asked for just about everything to happen to him short of death, were aghast and very sympathetic when he was taking all those hits in the Saints game. It's like they had totally forgotten everything they previously said about him, and the fact that he was playing for the Vikings.

Hats off to Favre for absorbing those hits the best he could. Even at his age and being in the league so long, one thing is certain: very few, if any, QBs would be able to stay so resilient in a similar situation.

Edited February 1, 2010 by RussK

[FeatherFall]

A lot of Green Bay fans that I know don't want Favre to win a Super Bowl with another team; they want him all to themselves (Green Bay), and to only be known for winning a Super Bowl with that team...

What's interesting though, is a lot of the GB fans that I know, who were criticizing Favre and asked for just about everything to happen to him short of death, were aghast and very sympathetic when he was taking all those hits in the Saints game. It's like they had totally forgotten everything they previously said about him, and the fact that he was playing for the Vikings.

It's very strange. I have a friend who's Scottish who joked that he'd bring a little of Europe to the states by throwing a road flare at Favre if he played against Green Bay in Lambeau. He kept that crap up all season until just before the Saints game. Anyway, there is a silent group in Green Bay that realizes that Favre wasn't playing simply to spite Thompson, Packer fans and everything that's holy. The rest of the town seems to think that a football player should lay down and die when we're done with him, like Reggie White did.

I had always hoped that the Packers would beat Minnesota in the NFC championship and go on to win the Superbowl. Short of that, I wanted Favre to win. I want him in the discussion of Greatest Quarterbacks ever, even if it means he has to contract zombie-rot and win the next 46 Superbowls in a row, with an army of undead pro-bowlers taken from the teams he slaughtered... But maybe hoping for Favrageddon is a little weird.

Edited February 1, 2010 by FeatherFall

[D'kian]

So Friday after making a very early trip 60 miles out of town and eventually returning, I had to get to another town 100 miles away. Except the main highway was closed due to flooding and the usual 2 hour trip took for hours, plus another four hours returning. Then I stayed awake at work until 3 am.

I mention this because it looks like the Saints won the Superbowl, and just can't possibly be so. I'm awaiting for the hallucination to clear, hopefully by tomorrow, and then I'll read the paper.

[Thales]

So Friday after making a very early trip 60 miles out of town and eventually returning, I had to get to another town 100 miles away. Except the main highway was closed due to flooding and the usual 2 hour trip took for hours, plus another four hours returning. Then I stayed awake at work until 3 am.

I mention this because it looks like the Saints won the Superbowl, and just can't possibly be so. I'm awaiting for the hallucination to clear, hopefully by tomorrow, and then I'll read the paper.

That's just great. You're supposed to be the local football expert and you miss the big one!

It was a pretty good game. It'd say the real surprise was the way the New Orleans defense stepped up and made it hard for the Colts to score. That was the story of the game.

[D'kian]

That's just great. You're supposed to be the local football expert and you miss the big one!

Oh, I saw it. All of it. I just don't believe what I saw. I mean, there are three thigns you can depend on: death, taxes and the Saints suck.

Ok, realistically the Saints are not the worst ever NFL team. Neither are the Lions (!). THat honor belongs to the Atlanta Falcons, notwithstnading their 98 Super Bowl appearance. This year the Falcons did something the franchise had never done: they had two consecutive winning seasons for the first time. Even the Saints, under Jim Mora, managed to do that before the Falcons.

Anyway, if the world makes any kind of sense, the Saints ought to follow the 85 Bears into partial obscurity.

It was a pretty good game. It'd say the real surprise was the way the New Orleans defense stepped up and made it hard for the Colts to score. That was the story of the game.

Well, NO did prove something I've been pondering for a long time: the best time for an on-side kick is when the other team doesn't expect it. Naturally such times there's no reason for it. But I think that play completely stunned the Colts for the second half. My guess is we'll see a few third quarter on-side kicks next season. it will be the Wildcat for 2010.

[RussK]

There was a point in the second half where the Saints scored and cameras panned over to show reaction from Payton Manning; instead of his calm demeanor he was animated. Many of the people watching the game at the party noticed this, and I think it was one of the turning points. I think he just got himself too hyped up.

It was the best Super Bowl I've watched--I wasn't able to catch the last three. Congrats Saints.

[dadmonson]

he was animated.

I've watched many Colts games and Manning has frequently done that when they have failed to score on a drive. I don't think that was the turning point. In football you quickly learn that anything can happen on any given Sunday no matter how good your team may be. It's the team that plays the best that day or has the less mistakes that day, that wins.

I wonder why the Colts didn't blitz Drew Brees at all?

Edited February 10, 2010 by dadmonson

[D'kian]

Thus far I've counted only one item blaming the Colts' traditional late season slow-down for hteir Superbowl defeat. But I've been busy and haven't had time to read many postmortems.

I don't think so. They played well enough in the playoffs, very convincing wins. I think people are just sore the Colts dind't provide the undefeated season drama. For that matter, it may be for the best. Imagine if they'd reached the big game undefeated and lost the Super Bowl, like the Pats did 2 years ago. That must be worse.

BTW in the last 15 years I think we can safely anme Brett Favre and Peyton Manning as two of the best QBs of that period. Altogether they've won two Super Bowls, the same as Ben Roethlisberger. Tom Brady, also among the best of this era, has won three. More on that later.