Things I know.
Bill Belichick deserves coach of the year. Patriots coach Bill Belichick has taken a roster full of young inexperienced defensive players and turned them into a force to be reckoned with. He traded away Randy Moss and replaced him with Deon Branch, who hadn’t done anything since leaving New England. Is there any doubt that the difference maker for New England is coaching? Sure Brady is good, dang good, but scheme matters and with so many offensive coordinators come and gone in New England, they keep scoring. I’m not BB fan, I think he’s cheated in the past and wouldn’t be surprised if he was cheating now, but he deserves recognition for an amazing feat this year.
The NFC South deserves more credit. The NFC South will almost certainly put two teams in the playoffs this year, possibly three. It shouldn’t be a surprise to those that pay close attention to the South. When comparing the NFC South to other NFC divisions since being created, the NFC South leads all divisions. No other division has more representations in the NFC championship game, SuperBowls and SuperBowl winners. Look it up. The South has 6 NFCCG appearances (5 East), 3 SuperBowl appearances (2 East and West) and 2 SuperBowl Champions (1 East). It’s time to accept that the NFC South is a tough division that produces winners.
The next few weeks are going to be great for the fans. Eagles-Giants and Jags-Colts are games that will decide divisions on Sunday. There are also inter-divisional games, such as the Saints-Ravens, Jets-Steelers and Packers-Patriots. Next week the Saints-Falcons, Giants-Packers and Jets-Bears games will highlight the week and finally in week 17 Bears-Packers, Rams-Seahawks and Bucs-Saints will all probably have big playoff implications. The tight races around the league have led to no single division winner set yet with three weeks to go. It’s hard to believe that all but one division has a team within one game of the leader and only the Patriots have a two game lead on the Jets, which could still be overcome, but it’s not likely.
Things I think I know.
The Jaguars deserve a city that shows up for them. The lackluster support the Jacksonville area show the Jaguars has been embarrassing. It’s time for the fans to support their team or lose them. The Jags are a good balanced team that is winning in nearly every phase of the game. They are atop the AFC South and have some entertaining players in MJD and Garrard. At 8-5 they face the Indianapolis Colts and could seal the division with a win and actually had problems selling out their stadium at times this year.
I think some players are proving size doesn’t always matter. At 5’9 ½”, 170 lbs, wide receiver DeSean Jackson is small for an NFL football player. Not below average. Small. Average American person sized. But he is fast. Very fast. 4 catches for 210 yards fast. Many didn’t think that Jackson could survive the pounding of the NFL. They apparently forgot that defenders have to catch Jackson first. Then there’s running back Maurice Jones-Drew or MJD, nicknamed the pocket rocket at 5’7”. Despite an impressive college career, MJD was passed over in the first round by all 32 teams because of his size (which is why he wears the number 32). Most running backs that weigh 200 lbs are not considered between the tackles running back. But when your legs are that size because your 5’ 7”, you have the power to do it.
I don’t think Michael Vick will make it through the playoffs. Vick’s style of play makes it hard for the refs to protect him like they do other QBs. IF Vick can make it through the next few games against the Giants, Vikings and Cowboys, he is going to have some tough defenses looking to beat him up. At just over 210 lbs, those linebackers and D-lineman try to lay the wood on Vick and when he becomes a runner, he has to learn how to slide. Maybe he’ll figure it out, but if he doesn’t, he probably won’t make it through the tough games in Dec and Jan.
Things I know I don’t know.
Six degrees from Dan Reeves? Instead of six degrees from Kevin Bacon, let’s see if we can connect Houston’s constant need to comeback to John Elway’s foibles under Dan Reeves. The legend has it that John Elway blamed Dan Reeves game planning for his need to constantly come back to win games. According to the story, Reeves would design conservative plays and restrain Elway until he was forced to let him loose to try to win the game. How is that connected to the Houston Texans? The entire time that Elway and Reeves were together, Gary Kubiak, the Houston Texans head coach was Elway’s backup. Maybe Kubiak learned game planning from Dan Reeves all those years. And after they get behind, he lets his offense run wild?
Is it finally over!?!? Ding. Dong. The king is dead. Favre’s streak of games started is finally over. Will he go away now? Can we have relief from the hostage situation the NFL has been in for the last 2 years? Heck 3 years? (4?) Please, please Brett, go ride a tractor in Mississippi and send dirty texts to women who are not associated with the NFL. Please? It’s not that Favre hasn’t been a great player and done incredible things for 2 decades. It’s just that the media has made his last few years a circus.
Are the injuries to Matt Cassel and Aaron Rodgers going to seriously affect the playoffs? Who would have thought that the Bears would have sole lead of the NFC North right now? Without Aaron Rodgers getting knocked out last week, the Packers probably win that game and have a much better chance against the Patriots this week. It’s unlikely that Rodgers shrugs off his second concussion of the season to come right back. It’s unadvisable at the least. If they lose this week, it’s likely they will be in a unrecoverable position for making the playoffs. The KC Chiefs looked like a completely different team without Cassell last week. They still have a one game lead over the Chargers, who they lost too last week, but it’s not looking good without Cassell. Suddenly the Chargers may be handed the AFC West again this year.
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