Don't look to schedule for answers
Posted: Sunday November 22, 1998 03:27 PM
If I hear one more newspaper man or commentator tell me who's going to make
the playoffs because of strength of schedule, I'm going to laugh. It's a
ridiculous method of projecting how teams will finish.
For example, I'm sure last year at this time, people looked at every
playoff contender which had Detroit on its schedule and thought "There's a
win" because the Lions were 4-6 after 10 games. Well, Detroit won five of
its last six -- including two over Minnesota -- and got itself into the
playoffs, knocking the Jets out of postseason contention along the way.
Or take Seattle. The Seahawks were 6-4 after 10 games last year, and many
people looked at their schedule and penciled in wins against 2-8 Atlanta,
3-7 New Orleans, and 4-6 Baltimore -- they lost all three!
A bit of advice -- forget the schedule and the records. A week ago, people
thought the 6-3 Jets had no concerns with the 1-8 Colts, especially after
the beating they gave them the first time. And look what happened there.
104 yards, made easy
Aaron Glenn's field goal attempt return for a touchdown made all the
highlight shows this weekend. But it really wasn't that surprising a feat.
Now I worked with Glenn for three years and I have the utmost repect for
him, but think about this touchdown. Here's a guy who led the AFC in
kickoff returns last year and he's lined up against probably the 11 slowest
players on the Colts. You have nothing but linemen blocking for field
goals, another player is on his knee holding for the kick and the kicker
and everyone else on the unit just stands around and watches to see if the
kick is good. Not only that, but after the snap, the entire unit takes a
step down inside compacting the 11 slow players. They had no chance against
a speedster like Glenn.
That touchdown will affect special teams play for the rest of this year and
beyond. Coaches don't want to have to worry about playing defense when
trying to kick a field goal. And I predict it will be a long long time
before anyone else tries a 63-yarder again.
Pat Kirwan brings 12 years of NFL front office, coaching and scouting
experience to CNNSI.com and offers up regular columns throughout the 1998
season.
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