I'm sick of 5-6 teams. There are nine of them. They're all in contention for something or other. If I were commissioner I'd outlaw them. And as for the 6-5s? Why, they are royalty, practically assured of a berth in what promises to be the dullest first two weeks of the playoffs in history. But one of those 5-6 teams is Philadelphia, which put up such a good fight against New England. That was the voice of reason speaking, and its reward is that from now on it will wear a muzzle. And here comes something that never will be muzzled, and you know what that is. (Send comments to siwriters@simail.com)
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The defensive scheme in the secondary is to overplay the boundaries, thus it is vulnerable to in-cuts and crosses over the middle, provided the opposing QB has enough time. That information was furnished by John Madden on Sunday night, one of the many helpful insights he offered during NBC's telecast of the game, and I am thankful for it. What I saw was that two of the four starters back there, Asante Samuel and Rodney Harrison, are guys not to be messed with, but RCB Ellis Hobbs and FS James Sanders can be exploited. But which teams coming up have the highly sophisticated passing attack, and that includes the protection, to do the exploiting? If Brett Favre and his run 'n shoot, five-receiver gnat attack were on the horizon, I'd say look out. But the slate now lists the Ravens, Steelers, Jets, Dolphins and Giants, and I don't see a highly developed pass-catch game anywhere there. Just more grist for the "Will-they-go-undefeated?" mill. |
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I think a big part of the Thursday nighter against Green Bay will be which officiating crew is assigned to the game. Various scribes and announcers have described Packers cornerback Al Harris as a "shutdown corner," which is nonsense. He doesn't shut anyone down, he roughs 'em up, and if it'll be the kind of crew that is fairly liberal, then he'll be in decent shape in his battle against T.O., which everyone assumes will take place all over the field. But if it's one of those prissy crews that calls everything tight, Al will get two, maybe three, interference calls and T.O. and Tony Romo will have a big night. |
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I'm really curious to see if they'll come out with the same run 'n shoot type of thing with which they deviled the Lions. I'm guessing they'll slam No. 25, Ryan Grant, into the Cowboy defense for openers, just as a kibbitz, and then voila! Here come the five wideouts spread across, with Favre snapping off his passes to them in 1.5 seconds, and then the Cowboys will start dropping their big, sleek pass rushers, 6-7 Chris Canty, 6-4 DeMarcus Ware, 6-6 Greg Ellis, 6-3 Anthony Spencer, back into coverage ... look, it's the old Zone Blitz! ... fouling up the passing lanes, batting passes in the air. And then, here they come, faking the drop and rushing all at once, the maniac blitz, trying to bloody Favre's nose. Oh yes, it'll be an orgy of strategy. Final score, Cowboys 31, Pack 27. |
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Here is what injuries do to you. Go back to the Chiefs game. RT Ryan Diem, who eventually had to leave the contest, was trying to gut it out on a bad ankle. DLE Tamba Hali blew by him and put a big rush on Peyton, who had to unload early, causing WR Aaron Moorhead to reach back, awkwardly, to make the catch. And while he was turned, LB Derrick Johnson put a devastating hit on him, knocking him out of the game. Last week Moorhead went on injured reserve with cracked something or other in his back (they didn't announce it), further thinning a thin receiving corps. And that's what is known as the progression of injuries. |
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David Garrard is the underground, superstar NFL quarterback, with no, repeat no, interceptions in 209 throws. Sunday he gets his big chance against the Colts, and let's look at his recent record against Indy. Last year he started in the second meeting and threw only 14 passes in the 41-17 Jaguar blowout that featured 375 yards rushing, remember? In the game last month, with the Colts leading, 7-0, he sprained his ankle, Quinn Gray came in and it was curtains, 29-7 Indy. And that was in Jacksonville, this one's in the Dome. But you never know, right? |
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You know how the Dolphins could have beaten them on Monday night? With superior punting, something that would have put the Steelers in a hole. It never happened. It's always amazed me, why an NFL team can't spend a couple of million or so to sign the most dynamic punter in the game. They're always yacking about how important special teams are, yet they won't spend a quarter to fortify that unit. It goes back to college, where I've seen some really high-powered teams with some scared-faced punter, popping a little weenie of a 3.4 hanger, shaking his head, etc. I mean how tough would it be to recruit some really dynamite high school boomer and give him a lovely scholarship and a job for his girlfriend and grandfather and whatever else he wants? |
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I mean I really like Jeff Garcia, and I respect that defensive Garde Ancien of Brooks, Barber and Kelly, but how many games can you continue to win when you keep putting up those embarrassing statistics? |
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OK, they've won five out of the last six, and in the sixth one, against Pittsburgh, they had the Steelers on the ropes, but I can't help feeling they won't get by the Cards in Arizona. Note to Cleveland fans, who are now in a terrible state of depression because of what they've just read -- I don't think I've called the Cardinals correctly all season. |
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Hoo boy, here we go again. Eli is getting ripped in print because he wasn't a snarling maniac after his four-interception afternoon against Minnesota. "Get outa my face ... I ain't answering any questions ... " -- those were the kind of things that would have made the writers happy in the postgame locker room. Instead they got logic from Eli and a kind of puckish quality to his answers. "What good would throwing a tantrum be?" "My postgame press conference isn't the problem." And here's the one I like best -- "Each interception had its own story." The Manning family is like that. Peyton was philosophical and low key, never nasty nor impolite, in his early years, when things weren't always so smooth. Archie displayed a wistful kind of humor, even after he had just absorbed some of the worst beatings I'd ever seen. Rip Eli for being scatter-armed, if you want, being skittish in the pocket, but for God's sake, don't try to change the guy's personality. |
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Patrick Kerney is a slender kind of DE who played too many years in a 3-4 system. I was wondering when he was going to cut loose with a monster game, as part of Seattle's 4-3. Well, it happened against the Rams -- three sacks, seven tackles, a forced fumble, an interception, two QB hurries, three hot dog vendors assaulted. Of course, he was going against one of the most desperate O-lines in the game, but let's not ruin what the TV announcers like to call the "story line." |
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