mojorizen7
12-03-2009, 03:35 PM
:wakeup
Week 13 Random Shots
by Joe Bryant, Exclusive to Footballguys.com
Hi Folks,
We do a lot of really insightful, thoughtful and serious features here at Footballguys with some very smart people thinking deeply for you. This is not one of those features.
This is a few pages of me downloading my goofy and dysfunctional mental hard drive that gets stuffed with way too many random items from 40 hours of watching and re-watching (God Bless TiVO) football every weekend. It's the only way I keep relatively sane. Here's hoping it has a tiny bit of value for you. Let's go.
Random Shots
Here's what happens when you sit an NFL Junkie down in front of multiple big screens with Sunday Ticket and fresh batteries in the remote.
A Twisted Look at The NFL And All That Goes With It
Pittsburgh WR Hines Ward seemed very Un-Steelerlike airing locker room stuff Sunday saying the locker room was divided over whether Ben Roethlisberger should have played. Of course he wasted no time inserting that he plays hurt.
"It's almost like a 50-50 toss-up in the locker room: Should he play? Shouldn't he play? It's really hard to say. I've been out there dinged up; the following week, got right back out there. Ben practiced all week. He split time with Dennis Dixon. And then to find out that he's still having some headaches and not playing and it came down to the doctors didn't feel that they were going to clear him or not -- it's hard to say. Unless you're the person [himself]. ... I've lied to a couple of doctors saying I'm straight, I feel good when I know that I'm not really straight."
Ward said the timing of the announcement and not finding out until Saturday was a problem. "That's where the frustrating part is," Ward said. "A lot of guys didn't find out until Saturday [morning]. It was very shocking to a lot of guys on this team."
I've gone ahead and hooked Ward up with a Footballguys subscription so he can get his news faster.
And of course he backpedaled like a cornerback Wednesday...
If I could come up with a Facebook app that allowed all the Mafia War characters to take out all the Farmville characters, I'd never have to work another day in my life...
I'm with my buddy Sigmund Bloom on this one. Sunday may have been Panther WR Steve Smith's worst game as a pro. Missed a hot read that resulted in a Pick 6, Lost the jump ball to Revis, and couldn't control the ball in the endzone. Trend or Exception? I hate to say that I'm leaning a little toward trend.
Peyton Manning threw multiple interceptions for the third straight game Sunday. This was the first time he'd done that since 2001. Don't sleep on the Titans this week.
He's still the Man though. Tiny little moment from the Houston game that says a lot about this team. Colts RB Joseph Addai caught a pass and then was blown up by Texans CB Dunta Robinson. It really was a Sports Center type hit. But Addai held on to the ball. And the Texans celebrated as if they'd done something more than just make a tackle. Manning quickly snapped the ball and caught the Texans off guard for the next play.
"Guy made a big hit," Manning said. "I felt like they were excited, maybe celebrating a little bit, so we quick-snapped them, went deep on them right away.
"That's the thing. You've got to play every play. We know that."
That IS the thing. These Colts may not be fun or flashy. But they are serious about winning Football games. With these guys and the Saints and Vikings, it's shaping up to be a fun post season.
Speaking of the Saints, I told you they'd roll...
(I picked the Patriots in Monday's night game. After going for it on 4th down and scoring and then Welker's return, I was thinking I'd made the right call. But that didn't last long.)
I don't see how the same company that comes up with the Miller Lite dating service or cliff commercials can also come up with the Kurt Busch "Taste of Greatness" spots.
I don't know that I've ever seen a QB as deadly accurate as Drew Brees. It's other worldly. If you haven't seen this video showcasing how ridiculously accurate Brees is you need to check it out here. The Saints start making a lot more sense after you see this.
Oakland punter Shane Lechler? was funny warming up before the game in Dallas Stadium. He was asked, "Can you hit the screen?"
Lechler said, "Oh yeah."
The reporter followed up with, "Are you going to?"
Lechler didn't hesitate and said, "Naw, we got enough trouble."
The Cowboys continue their Jekyll-Hyde season. They scored more points in the first half this week than they'd scored in their previous two games.
Denver WR Brandon Marshall told coach Josh McDaniels he was going to "unleash the Beast" and he was true to his word. You've seen the one handed catches on replay by now. Marshall said QB Kyle Orton told him to "stop making him look bad because those were great balls. He said I could have caught them with two hands."
The Eagles opened the game against Washington with an onside kick? Interesting. I'm starting to think the onside kick may be like going for it on 4th down. I want to dig deeper into the numbers there and look at how many times you can expect to recover the onside kick vs how much yardage the kicking team typically gives up when they fail to recover the ball.
I'm pulling for the Bills. I like Perry Fewell and I'm still one of the handful of Football fans that likes T.O. But I'm loving QB Ryan Fitzpatrick too. He's smart (Harvard guy) and tough. The game was barely started and already he had a big teal Miami helmet mark across his helmet.
Hines Ward was going off about Pittsburgh about the same time Bears LB Brian Urlacher decided he couldn't take it any longer.
"I hate the way our identity has changed", said Urlacher. "We used to establish the run and wear teams down and try not to make mistakes, and we'd rely on our defense to keep us in the game and make big plays to put us in position to win...Kyle Orton might not be the flashiest quarterback, but the guy is a winner, and that formula worked for us. I hate to say it, but that's the truth."
The next day he was asked to clarify but didn't clear much up.
"I'm not taking a shot at Jay. I'm not one bit taking a shot at Jay. He throws it better, right? And we haven't tried to run the ball as much. That's true. But Kyle has won games. His formula works. So I'm not taking a shot at Jay or Kyle."
Many people were worried to see Atlanta rush back RB Michael Turner from what had been described as a high ankle sprain. Right on cue, Turner injured his ankle again and left the game. Although the team said this was a different injury and not related to the previous injury. Of course...
My buddy Kyle Lebeda of Katchop.com thought Jake Delhomme was channeling Ozzy Osbourne Sunday.
Is there a woman in America that isn't in a relationship with Tiger Woods? I'll joke about that but seriously, I don't get the fascination.
Love him or hate him, you can't deny Josh McDaniels isn't an enthusiastic guy on the sidelines. NFL Network captured a little more enthusiasm then they bargained for as they aired McDaniels dropping an F-bomb on his offense. Seemed to have the desired effect though.
The latest reason for the league to ditch the ridiculous pass interference rule and go to something like college football has was the Colts gift where Houston's Jacques Reeves barely touched Pierre Garcon and was flagged. The result was a 43 yard penalty. Surely common sense will eventually prevail on this one.
Andre Johnson dropping a sure TD pass? Don't see that a lot.
St. Louis QB Kyle Boller entered Sunday's game on an 8 game losing streak. Make it 9.
The Lions and the Packers are the only teams in the NFL to have met every season since 1932. Because I know you guys need to know that kind of thing.
Week 11 hero Matthew Stafford wasn't quite as successful in Week 12. He surprisingly played after missing practice during the week with a separated shoulder. In a move that surprised no one, coach Jim Schwartz said he isn't second guessing his decision to go with Stafford.
"No second thoughts at all," Schwartz said Friday. "Him throwing the interceptions had nothing to do with his shoulder."
Stafford's left arm could have fallen off and Schwartz would have said he'd made the right move.
Class move by Green Bay cornerback Charles Woodson. He donated $2 million to the new University of Michigan Mott Children's Hospital and Women's Hospital. Nice.
"He's really studied and tried to understand what the issues are in doing research in pediatrics," Dr. Valerie Castle said. "What most people don't know is that less than 10 percent of the National Institute of Health budget goes toward research in pediatric disease.
"When you study those patients, you often times get clues to adult diseases."
Woodson hopes to attract the world's best researchers who want to help children with cancer, heart disease, kidney disorders and autism.
"I want to be part of that symbol of hope," Woodson said. "So that they can say, 'I know I can beat this thing and there's people out there who will help me beat it.'"
The Lions started strong Thursday as they scored first. Then gave up 27 unanswered points. It's almost as if Matt Millen never left...
Denver back on track. At least for one game. They scored their first offensive touchdown in 23 drives Thursday.
A little more on Josh McDaniels. There were reports that he'd jawed with San Diego players before their game a few weeks back. McDaniels denies he started anything. But Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark had an interesting idea on the topic.
"Honestly, my thought on that is, I would like to petition Mr. (Roger) Goodell and say, if a coach can talk to me like that, I should be able to fight him," Clark said. "I don't know where he's from, but where I'm from, when somebody talks to you like that, they've got a problem with you. And we should be able to fight".
"If a player talks that way, you get to hit him. When a coach talks that way, you don't really get to strike back. Who wants to have verbal jabs with a coach? That's no fun. Let's fight."
Ummm. Good luck with that one, Ryan.
Atlanta QB Chris Redman was the perfect example of what a backup QB is supposed to do. He wasn't great, but he was good enough. "I'm always ready at any time," Redman said. "That's what I'm here for."
Vince Young - Guy, you just pulled off one of the great game winning drives in NFL history. Do you not have a better shirt for the press conference?
The best treatment for Julius Jones' injury was watching Justin Forsett run wild Sunday. Amazingly, Jones feels much better this week...
Michael Irvin was spot on with the Vikings. "They have scorers. Not just playmakers."
C'mon Prince. Crack a smile. You're in luxury box watching the Vikings.
Nice day for BlackEyedJoe.com All Name Team RB Eldra Buckley. Eagles have a player there. Added bonus is he played not far from me at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Eagles DE Juqua Parker threw Washington QB Jason Campbell down like a rag doll well after the pass and didn't draw a flag. If that had been Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, they would have kicked him out of the league. I understand the double standard for stars, but that was ridiculous.
Cincinnati's new RB Larry Johnson looked like he'd turned back the clock. Can we actually be talking about the Bengals having a "system offense"?
Brett Favre's been playing a long time but I can't remember the last time I saw him hit five different receivers at least five times each. That's spreading it around.
Jeff Fisher was funny in the post game press conference. He stepped up to the podium and with a mock sigh and said, "You guys don't mind if I sit down and do this do you?"
Is there a classier guy coaching than the Colts' Jim Caldwell? He doesn't sound like the 11-0 start has gone to his head. "I understand the gravity of it, because so many great men have coached in this league,'' Caldwell said after becoming the first NFL coach to win the first 11 games of his pro career. "I am humbled. I am honored. I am fortunate to be in this position. I'm a traditionalist. I admired Vince Lombardi a lot growing up. On the den in my basement is a picture of George Halas, Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers. Being one of the 32 men to be a head coach in this league means a great deal to me.''
Victoria's Secret model Candice Swanepoel was on the NFL Today set Sunday. I've seen some people going nuts over it saying it was the worst promo ever and calling it a disgrace. Not seeing that. If anything, the comedy value of watching a suddenly tongue tied Bill Cowher was worth it.
You've seen the Matt Stafford miraculous win over the Browns. What you may not have seen yet is this mic'd up Stafford video from the game. I don't know what kind of QB this kid will turn out to be. But having the awareness to know he could go back in the game and push the doctors aside to go in and win the game was fantastic.
It won't happen but I think it's time Chris Johnson has to be included in the MVP talk. Aside from the fact he's not a QB, the reason it won't happen is Johnson has six times as many losses as Brett Favre, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees have combined.
Wasn't surprised at all to see the Giants come out flat as much as they whined about having to travel to Denver. Just go out and play.
Chad Ochocinco tweet of the day: "Media day right now during lunch and I just talked so much trash and can't remember a damn word I just said, I feel a fine coming? SMH"
http://www.footballguys.com/
Week 13 Random Shots
by Joe Bryant, Exclusive to Footballguys.com
Hi Folks,
We do a lot of really insightful, thoughtful and serious features here at Footballguys with some very smart people thinking deeply for you. This is not one of those features.
This is a few pages of me downloading my goofy and dysfunctional mental hard drive that gets stuffed with way too many random items from 40 hours of watching and re-watching (God Bless TiVO) football every weekend. It's the only way I keep relatively sane. Here's hoping it has a tiny bit of value for you. Let's go.
Random Shots
Here's what happens when you sit an NFL Junkie down in front of multiple big screens with Sunday Ticket and fresh batteries in the remote.
A Twisted Look at The NFL And All That Goes With It
Pittsburgh WR Hines Ward seemed very Un-Steelerlike airing locker room stuff Sunday saying the locker room was divided over whether Ben Roethlisberger should have played. Of course he wasted no time inserting that he plays hurt.
"It's almost like a 50-50 toss-up in the locker room: Should he play? Shouldn't he play? It's really hard to say. I've been out there dinged up; the following week, got right back out there. Ben practiced all week. He split time with Dennis Dixon. And then to find out that he's still having some headaches and not playing and it came down to the doctors didn't feel that they were going to clear him or not -- it's hard to say. Unless you're the person [himself]. ... I've lied to a couple of doctors saying I'm straight, I feel good when I know that I'm not really straight."
Ward said the timing of the announcement and not finding out until Saturday was a problem. "That's where the frustrating part is," Ward said. "A lot of guys didn't find out until Saturday [morning]. It was very shocking to a lot of guys on this team."
I've gone ahead and hooked Ward up with a Footballguys subscription so he can get his news faster.
And of course he backpedaled like a cornerback Wednesday...
If I could come up with a Facebook app that allowed all the Mafia War characters to take out all the Farmville characters, I'd never have to work another day in my life...
I'm with my buddy Sigmund Bloom on this one. Sunday may have been Panther WR Steve Smith's worst game as a pro. Missed a hot read that resulted in a Pick 6, Lost the jump ball to Revis, and couldn't control the ball in the endzone. Trend or Exception? I hate to say that I'm leaning a little toward trend.
Peyton Manning threw multiple interceptions for the third straight game Sunday. This was the first time he'd done that since 2001. Don't sleep on the Titans this week.
He's still the Man though. Tiny little moment from the Houston game that says a lot about this team. Colts RB Joseph Addai caught a pass and then was blown up by Texans CB Dunta Robinson. It really was a Sports Center type hit. But Addai held on to the ball. And the Texans celebrated as if they'd done something more than just make a tackle. Manning quickly snapped the ball and caught the Texans off guard for the next play.
"Guy made a big hit," Manning said. "I felt like they were excited, maybe celebrating a little bit, so we quick-snapped them, went deep on them right away.
"That's the thing. You've got to play every play. We know that."
That IS the thing. These Colts may not be fun or flashy. But they are serious about winning Football games. With these guys and the Saints and Vikings, it's shaping up to be a fun post season.
Speaking of the Saints, I told you they'd roll...
(I picked the Patriots in Monday's night game. After going for it on 4th down and scoring and then Welker's return, I was thinking I'd made the right call. But that didn't last long.)
I don't see how the same company that comes up with the Miller Lite dating service or cliff commercials can also come up with the Kurt Busch "Taste of Greatness" spots.
I don't know that I've ever seen a QB as deadly accurate as Drew Brees. It's other worldly. If you haven't seen this video showcasing how ridiculously accurate Brees is you need to check it out here. The Saints start making a lot more sense after you see this.
Oakland punter Shane Lechler? was funny warming up before the game in Dallas Stadium. He was asked, "Can you hit the screen?"
Lechler said, "Oh yeah."
The reporter followed up with, "Are you going to?"
Lechler didn't hesitate and said, "Naw, we got enough trouble."
The Cowboys continue their Jekyll-Hyde season. They scored more points in the first half this week than they'd scored in their previous two games.
Denver WR Brandon Marshall told coach Josh McDaniels he was going to "unleash the Beast" and he was true to his word. You've seen the one handed catches on replay by now. Marshall said QB Kyle Orton told him to "stop making him look bad because those were great balls. He said I could have caught them with two hands."
The Eagles opened the game against Washington with an onside kick? Interesting. I'm starting to think the onside kick may be like going for it on 4th down. I want to dig deeper into the numbers there and look at how many times you can expect to recover the onside kick vs how much yardage the kicking team typically gives up when they fail to recover the ball.
I'm pulling for the Bills. I like Perry Fewell and I'm still one of the handful of Football fans that likes T.O. But I'm loving QB Ryan Fitzpatrick too. He's smart (Harvard guy) and tough. The game was barely started and already he had a big teal Miami helmet mark across his helmet.
Hines Ward was going off about Pittsburgh about the same time Bears LB Brian Urlacher decided he couldn't take it any longer.
"I hate the way our identity has changed", said Urlacher. "We used to establish the run and wear teams down and try not to make mistakes, and we'd rely on our defense to keep us in the game and make big plays to put us in position to win...Kyle Orton might not be the flashiest quarterback, but the guy is a winner, and that formula worked for us. I hate to say it, but that's the truth."
The next day he was asked to clarify but didn't clear much up.
"I'm not taking a shot at Jay. I'm not one bit taking a shot at Jay. He throws it better, right? And we haven't tried to run the ball as much. That's true. But Kyle has won games. His formula works. So I'm not taking a shot at Jay or Kyle."
Many people were worried to see Atlanta rush back RB Michael Turner from what had been described as a high ankle sprain. Right on cue, Turner injured his ankle again and left the game. Although the team said this was a different injury and not related to the previous injury. Of course...
My buddy Kyle Lebeda of Katchop.com thought Jake Delhomme was channeling Ozzy Osbourne Sunday.
Is there a woman in America that isn't in a relationship with Tiger Woods? I'll joke about that but seriously, I don't get the fascination.
Love him or hate him, you can't deny Josh McDaniels isn't an enthusiastic guy on the sidelines. NFL Network captured a little more enthusiasm then they bargained for as they aired McDaniels dropping an F-bomb on his offense. Seemed to have the desired effect though.
The latest reason for the league to ditch the ridiculous pass interference rule and go to something like college football has was the Colts gift where Houston's Jacques Reeves barely touched Pierre Garcon and was flagged. The result was a 43 yard penalty. Surely common sense will eventually prevail on this one.
Andre Johnson dropping a sure TD pass? Don't see that a lot.
St. Louis QB Kyle Boller entered Sunday's game on an 8 game losing streak. Make it 9.
The Lions and the Packers are the only teams in the NFL to have met every season since 1932. Because I know you guys need to know that kind of thing.
Week 11 hero Matthew Stafford wasn't quite as successful in Week 12. He surprisingly played after missing practice during the week with a separated shoulder. In a move that surprised no one, coach Jim Schwartz said he isn't second guessing his decision to go with Stafford.
"No second thoughts at all," Schwartz said Friday. "Him throwing the interceptions had nothing to do with his shoulder."
Stafford's left arm could have fallen off and Schwartz would have said he'd made the right move.
Class move by Green Bay cornerback Charles Woodson. He donated $2 million to the new University of Michigan Mott Children's Hospital and Women's Hospital. Nice.
"He's really studied and tried to understand what the issues are in doing research in pediatrics," Dr. Valerie Castle said. "What most people don't know is that less than 10 percent of the National Institute of Health budget goes toward research in pediatric disease.
"When you study those patients, you often times get clues to adult diseases."
Woodson hopes to attract the world's best researchers who want to help children with cancer, heart disease, kidney disorders and autism.
"I want to be part of that symbol of hope," Woodson said. "So that they can say, 'I know I can beat this thing and there's people out there who will help me beat it.'"
The Lions started strong Thursday as they scored first. Then gave up 27 unanswered points. It's almost as if Matt Millen never left...
Denver back on track. At least for one game. They scored their first offensive touchdown in 23 drives Thursday.
A little more on Josh McDaniels. There were reports that he'd jawed with San Diego players before their game a few weeks back. McDaniels denies he started anything. But Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark had an interesting idea on the topic.
"Honestly, my thought on that is, I would like to petition Mr. (Roger) Goodell and say, if a coach can talk to me like that, I should be able to fight him," Clark said. "I don't know where he's from, but where I'm from, when somebody talks to you like that, they've got a problem with you. And we should be able to fight".
"If a player talks that way, you get to hit him. When a coach talks that way, you don't really get to strike back. Who wants to have verbal jabs with a coach? That's no fun. Let's fight."
Ummm. Good luck with that one, Ryan.
Atlanta QB Chris Redman was the perfect example of what a backup QB is supposed to do. He wasn't great, but he was good enough. "I'm always ready at any time," Redman said. "That's what I'm here for."
Vince Young - Guy, you just pulled off one of the great game winning drives in NFL history. Do you not have a better shirt for the press conference?
The best treatment for Julius Jones' injury was watching Justin Forsett run wild Sunday. Amazingly, Jones feels much better this week...
Michael Irvin was spot on with the Vikings. "They have scorers. Not just playmakers."
C'mon Prince. Crack a smile. You're in luxury box watching the Vikings.
Nice day for BlackEyedJoe.com All Name Team RB Eldra Buckley. Eagles have a player there. Added bonus is he played not far from me at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Eagles DE Juqua Parker threw Washington QB Jason Campbell down like a rag doll well after the pass and didn't draw a flag. If that had been Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, they would have kicked him out of the league. I understand the double standard for stars, but that was ridiculous.
Cincinnati's new RB Larry Johnson looked like he'd turned back the clock. Can we actually be talking about the Bengals having a "system offense"?
Brett Favre's been playing a long time but I can't remember the last time I saw him hit five different receivers at least five times each. That's spreading it around.
Jeff Fisher was funny in the post game press conference. He stepped up to the podium and with a mock sigh and said, "You guys don't mind if I sit down and do this do you?"
Is there a classier guy coaching than the Colts' Jim Caldwell? He doesn't sound like the 11-0 start has gone to his head. "I understand the gravity of it, because so many great men have coached in this league,'' Caldwell said after becoming the first NFL coach to win the first 11 games of his pro career. "I am humbled. I am honored. I am fortunate to be in this position. I'm a traditionalist. I admired Vince Lombardi a lot growing up. On the den in my basement is a picture of George Halas, Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers. Being one of the 32 men to be a head coach in this league means a great deal to me.''
Victoria's Secret model Candice Swanepoel was on the NFL Today set Sunday. I've seen some people going nuts over it saying it was the worst promo ever and calling it a disgrace. Not seeing that. If anything, the comedy value of watching a suddenly tongue tied Bill Cowher was worth it.
You've seen the Matt Stafford miraculous win over the Browns. What you may not have seen yet is this mic'd up Stafford video from the game. I don't know what kind of QB this kid will turn out to be. But having the awareness to know he could go back in the game and push the doctors aside to go in and win the game was fantastic.
It won't happen but I think it's time Chris Johnson has to be included in the MVP talk. Aside from the fact he's not a QB, the reason it won't happen is Johnson has six times as many losses as Brett Favre, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees have combined.
Wasn't surprised at all to see the Giants come out flat as much as they whined about having to travel to Denver. Just go out and play.
Chad Ochocinco tweet of the day: "Media day right now during lunch and I just talked so much trash and can't remember a damn word I just said, I feel a fine coming? SMH"
http://www.footballguys.com/