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Boy, I really did NOT get a lot out of today's practice shows. Tuesday's North practice, NFL Network gave us great looks at the passing drills and pass protection drills, but has never come close since. And today's South practice started late because their team bus got blocked by a train, (what, is this 1950?) so those drills hadn't even started by the time the show went off the air.
* SpagWatch. Steve Spagnuolo was shown at both practices, hanging out with Mike Tomlin during the North practice and John Harbaugh during the South's.
* Upgrades/downgrades. Mike Mayock believes Brandon Graham and Daryl Washington have worked their way up into the late first round, calling Washington an ideal 4-3 WLB. He's a 6'2", 226-lb athletic playmaker, a sideline-to-sideline 3-down linebacker. The Rams have to have Washington and Sean Weatherspoon on their radar for their 2nd-round pick. Meanwhile, I'm surprised at the decline of Taylor Mays' draft stock, to the point where he's now being discussed as a second-round pick. Wasn't he considered a top-10 prospect not that long ago? Myron Rolle has shown well in Mobile and clearly stayed in shape while in England, but did I hear correctly that he had only one INT in college?
* The WRs strike back. Finally looked like the wide receivers had a good day today. I liked Deron Dickerson of Pitt. He burned SydQuan Thompson deep and showed good hands and nice footwork on the sideline. Thompson reportedly broke up a bunch of passes in team drills, but it's also starting to look like he can't keep up deep with anybody. Jacoby Ford smoked Kyle Wilson right off the line and burned him for a deep ball. After witnessing his ridiculous custom RV with a giant picture of himself painted on it, it seems Wilson could use several downward ego adjustments like that.
* Well, not all of them. Riley Cooper continued to have drop problems, but the anti-Allstate award belongs to Joe Webb, who appears to have wet soap for hands. He even dropped one of the long sideline lobs the QBs throw when they're just warming up, the football equivalent of dropping an infield popup.
* Living up to hype. Mike Iupati continues to dominate pass-blocking drills at guard. He looked like a wall today. I haven't seen Arizona State guard Shawn Lauvao get beaten yet. When those two worked together against d-line stunts, there wasn't a thing getting by them. Though I'd avoid Penn State players like the plague, Jared Odrick would have had a tackle-for-loss and a sack, in a dominating performance in 11-on-11. And nice deep balls thrown today by Dan LeFevour and...... Tim Tebow.
* More defense. Washington LB Donald Butler's had a solid week and would have had a TFL in 11-on-11. We got to see the South do some zone blitzing drills, and Troy DE Cameron Sheffield broke up a pass while covering a tight end. Got beaten by an out route the next time, though. Still impressive.
* It's a basketball school? I don't know how Kentucky sent anyone to this game. What I've seen from any of their players has been brutal. Mike Mayock seems to love CB Trevor Lindley, but all I've seen of him is that he can't cover anybody. And Sarah Connor would have blitz-protected better than John Conner. Then again, Sarah would have had several large guns and a smoking-hot cyborg chick backing her up.
* Pick-up lines. The highlight of the day was the South's blitz pickup drills. The LBs usually dominate this drill, but here the RBs gave as good as they got. Ben Tate excelled; Mayock described the 5'11, 214-lb Auburn back as a Shonn Greene-type of runner. Also looking good there: USC RB Stafon Johnson and Miami TE Jimmy Graham, who's not well-reputed as a blocker. Mayock likes Dexter McCluster as an I-formation tailback, but he better do better against the blitz than he did against Darryl Sharpton here. Roddrick Muckleroy's name hasn't popped up much this week, but he was dominant in this drill; so was Eric Norwood of South Carolina. I'd have to agree with Corey Chavous that Dekoda Watson's performance was a little disappointing, though.
Two more practices and the game to go.
Notes on the second day of Senior Bowl practices, and yes, I know the actual game is going on right now...
* Spags and Devaney in the house. They were pictured in the stands during the North practice, and Lindsay Soto interviewed Devaney during the South practice. (Billy, did you ask Lindsay if she got any of my letters?) Unfortunately the interview was Devaney saying a lot of nothing. They're knee-deep in the evaluation process with a long way to go. They have a lot of information still to gather, especially on the juniors coming out. At 1-15, the Rams have a lot of positions they need help at and have a lot of directions they can go. He's confident they've identified their major needs (not that he'll share those with anybody). And he wishes they didn't have the #1 pick. Yawn.
* Crowded QB pack. Meaning, no one's breaking away. None of the QBs really impresses me so far, other than Jarrett Brown's velocity. The Tebow excuse machine, ER, NFL Network, was quick to make a big point of the wind at the South practice, and that he checked into the hospital the night before with strep throat and a 103 fever. (OK, I'll cut him some slack for that.) They gushed about Tebow's long pass to Dexter McCluster despite it being clearly underthrown. No mention that some of Tebow's early passes today wobbled like tires about to come off of wheels, but he seemed to smooth that out later.
* Dynasty DE. Alex Carrington of Arkansas State was one of today's standouts. He's 6'5, 284 and considered athletic enough to play all over the defensive front. He destroyed Zane Beadles during pass protection drills, pancaking him once. Definitely keep an eye out for Carrington.
* Bumper DB crop. The excellent depth of this year's defensive back class continues to demonstrate itself. Kyle Wilson ate Danario Alexander alive in passing drills. Chris Cook, a big CB from Virginia and Devin McCourty continue to look good. Brandon Ghee broke up a deep pass. Myron Rolle held his own well against Joe Webb. You'd never notice he's been away from football for a year.
* Dumper WR crop. (which is a shame because the Rams need serious help) Nobody stepping forward in a big way at WR. The top exceptions: Shea Hodge of Mississippi burned Trevor Lindley for a deep ball. Mardy Gilyard bounced back from cramps yesterday to whip SydQuan Thompson off the line for a deep ball that was overthrown. Thompson may be the most physical DB in the draft, but his lack of explosive speed hurt him there. Joe Webb looked poor, dropping a couple of passes. Riley Cooper's play looked very sloppy. Where Rams fans are concerned, Drew Bennett is the wrong WR for a young player to remind people of.
* Future Ram DB. Lindley looks terrible to me. I haven't seen him make a play yet. Furthermore, as I was posting this, I had the actual game on, and there's Gilyard burning Lindley on an underthrown deep ball that Lindley never looked back for and never knew was coming. That's when I reached the sad realization that he'll fit right in with the Rams' secondary. Sigh.
* McCluster has luster. Dexter McCluster is a Darren Sproles clone, 5'8", 165. Teams will be able to use him a number of ways, WR, RB, returner. Drilling at WR, he had a drop but also smoked Javier Arenas with a double move and made a diving catch of a Tebow bomb. Nice and physical route-runner who gets off the line well.
* Spooning out punishment. Missouri LB Sean Weatherspoon, 6'1, 241, may not be the talk of camp but he is the talker of camp. He's best when he can flow to the ball, but there's concern that he struggles too much to get off of blocks. Very athletic, and a big plus, he's a three-down LB. Mike Mayock gives him a late first-early second round grade.
* Winning and losing line. Winners and losers based on today's pass pro drills and other news:
Winner: Mike Iupati at guard. Was strong against Purdue DT Mike Neal and flattened DeAnthony Smith twice.
Loser: Mike Iupati at tackle. Carrington flattened him out there and Tyson Alualu threw him down.
Winner: Carrington; see also above.
Winner: Vladimir Ducasse. Brandon Graham smoked him with an inside move but didn't get outside of him the 2nd time. Ducasse got some work inside but looked bad and uncomfortable at it. Best news, though, all his family in his home country of Haiti is OK.
Winner: Graham. Whipped Beadles twice, smoking him with a spin move the 2nd time, and drew with Ducasse at the worst.
Losers: Beadles and Eric Olsen, who gave up way too much push up the middle.
Winner: John Jerry, who pancaked the highly-regarded Dan Williams. Also, Geno Atkins looked good at DE; Ciron Black looked good at OT. Antonio Coleman smoked Chris Scott once but Scott locked him down the second time. Unfortunately, NFL Network really skimped us on the South practice line drills.
Winner: Terrence Cody, 370 pounds of bull rush. Ordinarily you won't expect him to get to the QB, but teams can't run on him without using two blockers.
Unfortunate loser: Wisconsin DE O'Brien Schofield tore his left ACL and you'd have to highly doubt now that he'll contribute in what should be his first NFL season. Damn the luck.
OK, two days of practices and the game itself to go.
"It's disheartening that I have to address any alleged allegations 10 months later, but I have read the accusations made by Supriya Harris, and they are untrue. The accusations are especially hurtful because those who truly know me know that those actions would be out of character for me. Miss Harris is the mother of my son, a son that I love and that I willingly support emotionally and financially. I will address this matter thoroughly through the appropriate avenues, but not through the media. "
There's a fair amount of speculation in this article, but Howard Balzer's no sensationalist reporter, either. There's a real threat someone's buying the Rams to move them out of town.
Winners and losers if that happens:
* Loser: Dave Checketts. The quoted $600 million Checketts offer is so much lower than the rumored lead offer, it doesn't even look serious. And now, instead of the Blues' owner, you're now the guy who failed to keep the Rams in town.
* Winners: Chip and Lucia. They can pay their inheritance taxes and get their $100s of millions out of something their hearts are not in. And they can say they tried to keep the team in town but they got lowballed and couldn't afford any other alternative.
* Loser: St. Louis, naturally. Me specifically. I enjoy the heck out of watching this team and writing about this team, even at 1-15. But I can't see supporting the second team to spurn my hometown, especially after we supported it far more vigorously than the first team.
* Big fat mother-freaking loser: E. Stanley Kroenke. The scenario is being painted here that he'd rather sell the team and let it move out of town than make any effort to keep it here. I've said it before and I'll say it again, he'll be as big a villain as Bidwill if he sits back and collects his $300 mil (Oh hooray, he can buy Arsenal now) and lets it happen.
* Winner: Los Angeles, if that's where the Rams are ultimately headed. If the Rams are destined to leave, at least let them return to their old place and give the many fans out there still rooting for them a chance to re-connect.
Christ, between Eugene Parker, the Jackson allegations and now this, I can't remember a worse day to be a (St. Louis) Rams fan.
Steven Jackson has been accused of beating his (ex-)girlfriend, nine months pregnant at the time, last March. TMZ broke the story; if it's legit, it's devastating.
I've defended Leonard Little after his fatal DUI because it felt to me a lot like a kid making a dumb mistake. A tragic mistake born from ignorance, not malice. His subsequent DWI in 2004 represented severe ignorance at best, but when the charge didn't stand up in court, we were all allowed to forget it anyway, whether or not we should have. Thankfully, it hasn't happened again. That we know of.
I've been against the idea of Michael Vick in a Rams uniform because of his past. Is it worse that he killed and abused a bunch of dogs than Little taking a human life? No, not in a million years. Little got 3 months in prison; Vick got 18. On one hand, the penalty of the crimes doesn't match the damage done. But a penal system with any humanity or morality has to account for intent. Little caused an accident in which he was negligent. But Vick didn't accidentally do any of the things he did. Whether some want to forgive him and welcome him to their team is their choice. For a team like the Rams, who have been very pointed in saying they're about building around players with character, I believe that would be a bad choice. Build around the Jason Browns and Oshiomogho Atogwes of the world, not the Michael Vicks.
Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable punched out one of his own assistant coaches last training camp, then a few months later, ESPN broadcast allegations by two of his ex-wives and an ex-girlfriend that he beat them. I've considered Cable unfit to be an NFL head coach ever since, though he's apparently coming back for a third season with the Raiders. The D.A. dropped the charges in the training camp incident, and nothing legally has come of the domestic abuse charges.
And now there's Jackson, the player Ram fans had the most reason to be proud of last season, the player who emerged as a team leader, the best "pillar" Steve Spagnuolo had to lean on last year and going into next, accused of beating a pregnant woman. That's worse than Vick abusing animals. That's worse than Little's vehicular homicide. You don't accidentally beat a pregnant woman.
There are some solaces here. Jackson isn't accused of a lifelong pattern of abuse like Cable is. Furthermore, this disclosure appears to be tied to a child-support dispute between Jackson and the girlfriend. It could be the kind of incident that a criminal court can't prosecute but that gets trumped up to help win a civil case. So as with Little's 2nd DWI, an ethical fog may roll in and cover this unpleasantness up. An alleged assault becomes a "misunderstanding". I'm sure stories about Jackson's girlfriend's gold-digging aspirations are being worked up on somebody's word processor right now. Maybe Jackson firmly asserts his innocence, and we find out later his girlfriend's batshit crazy. Without a guilty verdict at a trial, the NFL hasn't done anything to Cable; they can't touch Jackson, either. If Jackson's a heel and hasn't made good on supporting his child, he'd deserve the firestorm, but that would be far less than this allegation, if its main intent was to get him to make good.
I've called Vick a potential nightmare the Rams wouldn't need. But now, Jackson's situation presents the Rams a nightmare they don't need. About all they can do, about all we fans can do, is to denounce domestic violence and assert that Steven Jackson is innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
And hope either he can honestly do the same, or hope enough ethical fog rolls in to obscure the possibility that the Rams' on-the-field leader could be a truly detestable human being, let alone a "pillar".
Since about week 14 of the regular season, it's been a near-certainty in Rams Nation that the man to select with the #1 pick of the 2010 draft would be Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh. This notion has been challenged by almost no one in the football media, where Suh's mentioned by some in the same breath as Reggie White.
There are a lot of parallels between this year's draft and the 1996 draft. The Rams picking first. The consensus top pick being a dominant lineman who won the Outland and Lombardi awards. And now, just like Orlando Pace did back then by signing with the Poston brothers, Ndamukong Suh has chosen an agent with a history of holdouts, Maximum Sports Management, starring Eugene Parker.
You'll remember Eugene Parker from such great summer hits as The Steven Jackson Holdout of 2008. Jackson held out all of training camp, dishonoring the final year of his old contract as leverage for his new one. Parker followed that up this past season with The Michael Crabtree Holdout, as the tenth pick overall held out into the regular season while demanding to be paid more than the WR drafted ahead of him. And, Ndamukong, you were getting $40 million guaranteed almost no matter what you did; why sign on with this lightning rod of an agent? Not to get screwed over for $43 million when you could have gotten $44 million?
(Disturbing point of reference: Matthew Stafford's contract: 6 years, $72 million (potentially $78 million with incentives), $41.7 million guaranteed. (only $17 million if his option is not picked up in 2014))
That's the bad news; the good news is that the Rams can start negotiating with their #1 pick in advance of the draft, and unlike 1996, it's now standard for the team drafting first to have that player already signed. I don't think it'll work if Eugene Parker tries to hold out on the Rams. Billy Devaney and Kevin Demoff should be able to take a quick temperature of the situation, and if it reads "holdout", they will be just as well off taking a QB #1 as they would drafting Parker's client only to have him waste his first season. Or they can pick Gerald McCoy; by all indications, he is his agent's first NFL client. He could be easier to sign, yet equally as good, the Walter Jones to Suh's Pace. (That's a borrowed analogy, but with apologies, I have forgotten whom to credit.)
The biggest risk the Rams could take would be to draft Ndamukong Suh without a contract. That would leave the possibility of a long holdout open. With this agent, Rams Nation will no doubt have an aggravating history of holdouts to look forward to (though who knows how the next labor agreement will affect things?). To be worth the trip down the multiple-holdout road that Suh appears willing to take with Parker, the road that Pace and the Postons took, Ndamukong Suh better damn sure be as good as Orlando Pace. And the Rams better not draft him unless they believe he is.
NFL Network started coverage of Senior Bowl practices yesterday with a 90-minute broadcast of the North team's first practice. Here's some observations from watching that, though I didn't start looking at it till after midnight, so some of it's bound to be foggy...
* Tebow's cons. They focused a lot on the Gators QB, and while acknowledging his storied college career, Mike Mayock indicated there's a lot to fix to get him up to par as a pro QB. His throwing motion has to be shortened significantly because he starts his windup from down by his thigh pad. His footwork and field-reading skills are raw as well. If the team that drafts him is going to use him, they may want to change their offense like the Titans did this year to suit Vince Young. At the end of the show, Lindsay Soto reported from the South practice (not televised) that Tebow also fumbled a bunch of exchanges from behind center, a big adjustment factor since he was a spread QB at UF.
Tebow grades out as a third-rounder as a QB but "intangibles" will very likely push him into the 2nd round. What I see so far, that sure isn't the Rams' second round pick.
* Coaching factor? Remember folks saying that Mike Martz ruined Andre Woodson's pro chances a couple of years ago when he coached QBs at the Senior Bowl? Does that mean all of the North players should be downgraded at least a round because they're being coached by Scott Linehan?
* Mays, maybe not. Taylor Mays of USC is 6'3, 231, has great range, great speed, and can tackle. He's built to be an NFL safety. He should be a top-15 pick. But why didn't the guy have more than 2 INTs his last three years in school? His stock could sink or rise on how much he shows up this week as a real playmaker at safety. There's some doubt out there.
* Tackling expert? Am I really listening to COREY CHAVOUS criticizing anybody's tackling?
* CB bull market. Some of the North corners turned in good work. Kyle Wilson of Boise State showed the best coverage skills and his name's been popping up a lot in draft conversations. He's one of the top corners coming out; I assume his 5'10" height isn't that big of a deal. Devin McCourty of Rutgers made some good plays and has added value as a special teams player. He can return kicks and he blocked a bunch of kicks in his college career. Mayock mentioned Perrish Cox as a great cover corner, but with bad hands. They also went over Syd'Quan Thompson of Cal, describing him as a terrific tackler but questioning his deep speed and his confidence staying with receivers deep. Still, throughout that rundown I thought of Thompson as Steve Spagnuolo's kind of CB.
* O-linemen to watch: Guard Mike Iupati of Idaho and tackle Vladimir Ducasse of UMass. Mayock is very high on both. Iupati should be the first guard drafted and has top-20 talent. Ducasse doesn't have a lot of experience but is a prototype LT who could really soar up the board.
* Downgrades. Like a lot of QBs coming out, Dan LeFevour ran a spread offense at Central Michigan, where 75% of his passes went 10 yards or less. Not thrilled to hear that... Cincinnati WR Mardy Gilyard had a bad case of the drops and weighed in at 179 (Rob Rang)... Bearcat QB Tony Pike came in at 212, (Rang) very light for his 6'6" frame. (Don't they feed their players in Cincinnati?) By means of comparison, Ben Roethlisberger is 6'5", 241... Meanwhile, the very definition of big, sloppy defensive tackle, Terrence Cody of Alabama came in at 370. Must be taking workout tips from Andre Smith. Down the board he goes...
* Your arms too short to block with God? Zane Beadles of Utah merits consideration for being a 4-year starter there, but his relatively short arms may limit him to RT at best. Illini guard Jon Asamoa was really downgraded for relatively short arms, and he came in at 300 lbs, 15 lbs lighter than expected. (Rang)
* Shocker of the night. I don't know if he just wants to be a contrarian, or wants Rams Nation to crap ourselves up until draft week, but Mike Mayock ranks Ndamukong Suh as the #2 defensive tackle, behind Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy.
Don't count on a daily report like this, but I'll review all the televised practices I can. I set the TiVo to get both practices today, supposedly for an hour apiece, but I'll bet they run long and I miss a bunch.
PREGAME
Now we go to Karma Bowl 2010, where the Colts have their Super Bowl aspirations blocked by the Jets team they let into the playoffs in the first place. Peyton Manning shouldn't expect a thank-you card from Rex Ryan, though.
Ryan has an intriguing day ahead of him. Planet Earth expects him to try to blitz Peyton's head off. What a challenge, though, firing blitzes at one of the best QBs against the blitz ever, against the best team in the NFL at picking up the blitz. And who should you try to make beat you in the most important game of the year, anyway: Peyton Manning, or Joseph Addai and the rest of the lame Colts RBs? Worst rushing team in the league. 1.7 yards per carry last week! Make 'em run, Rex! Ryan's usual strategy may still work - blitzing plus Darrelle Revis was certainly enough to cool off Philip Rivers last week - but this is Peyton Manning we're talking about. I say the more times Rex can fool Peyton into checking off into a stupid handoff, the better his chances of winning. But I'm expecting Rex to dance with what brought him, and for Peyton to carve it up. Revis still gives the Jets a shot if he's game MVP and is in on 3 or 4 turnovers, but I think that's a long shot this week.
And, again this week, with all the talk focused on the visitors' defense, don't forget the home team's. The Colts shut down the Raven running game last week. The Jets do have a better o-line than Baltimore, and Mark Sanchez looks a little readier to loosen up the Colts D than Joe Flacco did last week. Even at that, the Colts are still good enough to slow the Jet running game down. They're going to force Sanchez to make key plays. But they only have to be great those few plays. The Jets D has to be great every play. And when faced with a defense with something to prove vs. a defense that's been reading its press clippings and cocky head coach's quotes all season, I know who I'm siding with. Sorry, Colts, you're the pick.
But hey, I am 4-4 so far this season, already clinching a better record than I had last year....
FIRST QUARTER
Wait a minute, is somebody going to catch that eagle or are we going to have to delay kickoff?
On time this year, here's the blow-by-blow for the AFC Championship. CBS announcers: Phil Simms and Jim "The Adulterer" Nantz.
Colts win the toss and elect to receive; good return by Chad Simpson across the 30. Delayed safety blitz on the opening play, picked up by Joseph Addai; plenty of time for Reggie Wayne to beat Dwayne Lowry and Kerry Rhodes for 12. Addai over right guard for 2. Just a 4-man rush on 2nd down; Jim Leonhard breaks up the pass over the middle to Gijon Robinson. 3rd-and-8. Delayed overload blitz gets the Jets a sack and forces the Colts to punt. Addai picked up the blitzing DB but nobody got MLB David Harris coming in right behind him. Jeff Saturday looked like the only blocker who had a chance. Poor punt by the Colts, too; 36 yards, and this one is not off to the kind of start Indy wants.
Jets at their 29. Thomas Jones up the middle for 3. No gain on 2nd down, with Robert Mathis and Gary Brackett making the stop. Brackett's my pick for the NFL's most underrated player. 3rd-and-7, Sanchez already has to make a play. And he does. Robert Mathis tugged his jersey but Jerricho Cotchery pulls in a high ball and makes some nice sideline footwork for the catch at the 47. Afraid of losing a challenge, the Jets rush to the line and Sanchez sneaks for 2. Replay shows the play would have stood. Shonn Greene goes off left guard for 7, then 2 and another first down. Jets at the Indy 42, now the 21 after a quick slant to Braylon Edwards. Great, the Jets are going to the freaking Super Bowl. WHY DIDNT THE RAMZ HIRE REX RYUN, I can hear Bernie Miklasz wailing (again) already. Gary Brackett asks me to hold off on the Super Bowl prediction by trapping Greene for a loss in the right flat. 2nd-12. Brackett and Bethea blow up a play-action draw for Greene for another loss. 3rd-14. Jacob Lacey eludes the block on the smoke route and stops Brad Smith for no gain. Big sequence for the Colts there, and this postseason's most reliable kicker, Jay Feely, fades a 44-yard attempt just right. Still no score.
Colts at their 34, and Manning is sacked for the 2nd straight play. They brought Leonhard and a couple of LBs and Peyton basically took a dive. The blocking's been good enough on the two sacks; Manning just can't find anybody downfield. Except Darrelle Revis, I imagine. Addai gets 5 back off left tackle; 3rd-and-12. With Addai struggling to hold off the blitz, Strickland breaks up a pass for Dallas Clark that was short of the first down anyway. Jets are dictating this game on defense. You're kidding me, right? The Colts have given up 2 sacks already? And have only one first down?
Cotchery worms out to the 25 on the punt return. Dustin Keller doesn't turn for a quick flare and Sanchez clangs it off him incomplete. Inside handoff off a fake pitch only gets Richardson a couple. Colts are swarming like bees. HANDOFF to Jones gets maybe 3. Why the hell are you calling that when Sanchez has had some early success? Way to throw away a possession, dingleberries.
Colt punt returner incompetently lets the punt bounce down to the 11. Manning to Clark for 5. Donald Brown zings right up the middle between solid blocks by Saturday and Ryan Lilja for about 12. Pierre Garcon turns a quick slant into 27 after breaking Lowery's tackle. Colts are at the Jets 45, and the crowd, smelling a rat, boos Strickland's well-timed-to-slow-the-Colts-pace injury timeout.
Garcon beats Lito Sheppard with a difficult over-the-shoulder catch at the 9-yard-line. Timeout, Jets with 1:02 left in the quarter. As Jim Ross might say, business is starting to pick up.
No gain for Brown after bouncing a delayed handoff outside. Jets rush just 4 on 2nd down and Manning overthrows Wayne at the goal line, well-covered by Revis. Ryan Diem false starts, 3rd-and-goal at the 14. Jets overload blitz over LT, so Manning throws a quick screen right to Garcon, but he only gets to the 5. Moral victory for the Jets here. FG attempt will start the 2nd quarter.
End of first quarter: Jets 0, Colts 0.
SECOND QUARTER
Matt Stover's good from 25 to put the Colts ahead by a little. Not sure that merits "Bang The Drum All Day", but you go ahead and celebrate, Indy.
Colts 3, Jets 0.
After a touchback on the kickoff, 80 YARD TD PASS TO BRAYLON EDWARDS, beating the snot out of Jacob Lacey.
Jets 7, Colts 3.
Like I said, the freaking Jets are going to the Super Bowl. Not that I picked them to. Remember, Indy, YOU LET THEM GET HERE.
Might be about time for the Man of a Million Commercials to show us some moxie here and drive his team to the end zone, hmm?
Great replay work by CBS on the TD pass; Sanchez' pump-fake got Lacey biting AND saved Sanchez from getting sacked by the so-far-very-quiet Dwight Freeney.
Brown for 5 off left tackle. Austin Collie drops a first-down pass. You do NOT need another 3-and-out here, Indy. THEY HAND OFF????????? Brown comes up well short. What kind of idiotic call was that? Oh, maybe Manning was catching the Jets with 12 on the field. You sly dog. First down Indy on the penalty. Big play for 25 as Manning eludes a Leonhard blitz, Wayne gets open in front of Revis and puts a nasty hip shimmy move on him to gain at least 10 YAC. Addai's back from a shoulder injury and gains 9 off LT; nice blocks by Charlie Johnson and Clark. Addai then powers up the middle for 4 more. Three plays after it happened, Simms on behalf of the whole CBS booth figures out Manning called that run to catch the Jets with 12 men. At least I'm not the biggest dummy watching this game. Soo-weet jump cut by Addai gets him up the middle for 8. THAT's why I compared him to Marshall Faulk the year he was drafted. Revis swallows Wayne alive on 2nd down to force a Manning throwaway. Jets foolishly rush only 3 - really, Rex Ryan? - and Manning hits Austin Collie on a drag route, and Collie runs down to the 4. Lowery makes a fine play to break up a pass to Garcon at the goal line. Garcon got in front of him. Collie catches a quick dig at the 2 and dives to put the ball on the goal line, but the officials don't give it to him. Indy then tries to rush a QB sneak, and Manning ACTUALLY LOSES A YARD, thanks to super penetration by Mike DeVito WHO?? 4th-and-goal at the 2.
AND JIM CALDWELL OFFICIALLY LOSES THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP RIGHT HERE AND NOW BY PUSSING OUT FOR THE FG. I am surprised they didn't challenge the Collie play (replay shows the spot was correct, though), and I am shocked they settled for Stover's meaningless FG here.
Congratulations to the New York Jets on their first Super Bowl appearance since 1969.
Jets 7, Colts 6.
Brad Smith brings the kick back from DEEP in his end zone but can't elude Jerraud Powers at the 25. Bethea and Brackett close up a HUGE hole for Greene off LT and he only gets 4. 13 for Greene the same direction, though, with TE Ben Hartsock dominating Raheem Brock. 90 flip to Greene for 3 more. Ball at the Jet 43. Out of Wildcat formation, the Jets bluff a Brad Smith option toss to Greene and he hits Cotchery all the way down at the 12. 45-yard gain. Kelvin Hayden bit on the run there harder than Mike Tyson going after Evander Holyfield's ear. After a 4-yard run by green, Philip Wheeler gets away with a blow to Sanchez' helmet as the rookie QB gets away with a wild scramble and a wilder throwaway out of bounds. 3rd-and-6 from the 8 after Rex Ryan gets the Jets' 2nd timeout.
The Colts blitz a LB, and Sanchez is hit by a stunting Brock as he throws, but he hits Dustin Keller at the goal line in front of Melvin Bullitt to extend the Jets' lead. Bullitt had just returned to the game from an injury. He's not all that's going to be hurting in Indianapolis before this game is through.
WHY DIDNT THE RAMZ HIRE RYUN AND DRAFT SANCHEESE would be Bernie's whine right about now.
Jets 14, Colts 6.
Addai gets free on a sweep right and up the sideline for 9. 2nd-1 at the 38. He powers off RT for a couple more. Lowery is out injured now; you'd think Manning is getting ready to make James Ihedbigo famous. NOT AT ALL. WITH THE COLTS STILL IDIOTICALLY RUNNING, Calvin Pace nearly beats Addai to the handoff, lights him up and forces the ball loose. Jim Leonhard, who is everywhere, and whom the Rams had every opportunity to sign as a strong safety this offseason instead of James Butler, falls on the fumble.
WTF. The Colts are down by more than 7, and they hand off three straight times? Who had the lobotomy over the weekend? Besides their outstanding defense, the Jets have exposed their third straight coaching staff clearly not ready to cope with a big game.
Jets at the Indy 30. Jones off RT down to the 25. 3:24 till halftime. Jets get the ball after halftime, btw. Indy crowd lands their first false start of the day. Freeney and Mathis next show up for the first time today and trap Jones for a 3-yard loss. Colts use their first timeout with 2:23 left. 3rd-16 at the Colts 35. Draw play to Jones down to the 30. Timeout, Colts with 2:16 left. Feely bombs it through from 48.
Jets 17, Colts 6.
Colts will have 2:11 to move 80 yards, or move 78 and settle for a field goal. Manning throws out of bounds with Rhodes blanketing Clark. 18 to Collie at the 2:00 warning.
Manning beats a delayed blitz and a leaping attempt by Drew Coleman to hit Collie again, down to the Jet 16. Huge play for the Colts. And about a second later, Manning hits Collie again in the back of the end zone while the safeties Leonhard and Eric Smith look accusingly at one another. 1:13 till halftime, and Austin Collie has the Colts back in it. Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark have done bupkus this half; somebody had to step up. Good time to do it, kid.
Jets 17, Colts 13.
Smith out to the 22 with the kickoff. Jones around left end for a few as it looks like the Jets are just running out the clock. Which they do, though the Colts waste all of our time first by calling their last timeout.
Halftime score: Jets 17, Colts 13.
The late score by the Colts quickened the pace of this game a little more than the Jets would like. But they still won the first half, and they get the ball to start the second half. The game's going just about perfectly for them; now isn't the time to change a thing. The Colts are suffering from some prominent invisibility problems. Wayne and Clark on offense. Collie and Garcon are going to have to win their matchups against the lesser Jets DBs to help Peyton out. Freeney and Mathis haven't done a damn thing on defense. The Colts aren't going to win this game if they don't sack Sanchez.
Basically, what we've had here is a wake-up call for the Colts, and if their stars continue to hit snooze, well, at least they'll all get to play the Pro Bowl next week.
THIRD QUARTER
Smith returns another deep kick to the 28. Greene off RG for 7. He sweeps right for 4-5 more and leaves with an injury. Ribs, maybe. No, thigh. Short pass to Keller for 5. Jets are suddenly pass-happy now, and Sanchez boots right and spears Cotchery leaning out of bounds for another 1st down. They're already at the Colts 37. ANOTHER pass, dropped by Richardson. Wouldn't have gained much. Three passes in a row and no Colt near Sanchez. Short gain by Jones leaves 3rd-and-7. Sanchez doesn't get a lot of pressure but still air-mails one a mile out of bounds. Feely can't validate that decision, pushing the 52-yard FG attempt outside right.
Huge possession coming up, for both teams.
Play-action bomb for Garcon but Lowery has him blanketed. Short dig to Garcon at midfield leaves 3rd-and-3. Manning detects absolutely everything about the oncoming blitz, adjusting Addai, throwing left away from it, and hits Collie for 7. Manning fires a play-action pass that Garcon may have stolen away from Lowery at the 28. They go up top by Collie but it's off by a mile. The Jets have reached the point of the game where they need to quit blitzing for a while. Manning is eating it up, and the Jets aren't making the Colts waste any time with stupid handoffs. Quick screen to Addai, and he breaks about half-a-dozen tackles to get down to the 15. Quick slant to Garcon down to the 4 as the Jets haven't quit blitzing. And fittingly, Garcon beats Lowery on a fade route to put Indy back in front. And yes, the Jets were blitzing again.
When I told the Jets not to change a thing at halftime, I should have added that I meant on offense. I wasn't even thinking about their defense. Their failure to adjust to the Colts killing their blitz since the first-half 2:00 warning is killing them right now. Time to step up, Rex.
Colts 20, Jets 17.
Smith gets the kick return across the 30. Huge possession for them now. Jones up the middle for 12 with Alan Faneca pulling. Greene does indeed appear to have a rib injury and is still out. He bounces outside right for 6 more but we have a rare flag, holding on Wayne Hunter. That's a big penalty. Ryan is irate over a late hit on Sanchez by Bullitt. That's a couple of times the refs have essentially let the Colts rough Sanchez today. But after a short Jones run, Sanchez fires to a crossing Keller at the Colts 45 for a 1st down. D'Brick spoils that big play with a false start. Sanchez gets forever to throw the next play but it's too far out of bounds for a briefly wide-open David Clowney to pull in. Freeney, Mathis, where are you? Braylon Edwards drops a quick slant; there's a big surprise. 3rd-15. Mathis finally gets a little pressure on Sanchez and forces a useless dumpoff to Richardson. 4:30 left in the 3rd, that was a big hold for the Colts despite Phil Simms' efforts to paint it as a victory for the Jets. Um, Phil? They're still trailing right now.
Colts start at their 16, and with outstanding surge from the left side of the line, push the practically into their own sideline, and Addai cuts back left for 17. Brilliant call by Indy; Jets weren't blitzing, they called that run at the ideal time. Handoff to Brown doesn't go nearly as well as he trips after a yard. Just a couple to Clark as the Jets continue to lay back. 3rd-7. Now here comes a big blitz, but Manning can't make them pay, overthrowing Garcon. Huge stop for NY.
Cotchery fair-catches a huge Pat McAfee punt at the 10. Jones off LT for a couple. Wheeler, Mathis and Clint Session blow up a sweep on 2nd down, though. 3rd-10. Sanchez hits Cotchery perfectly on an out route for 12. Again, no pass rusher comes close. Freeney in particular is shaping up as today's LVP. Jones spins away from Brock but Eric Foster gobbles him up for no gain as the third quarter ends.
End of third quarter: Colts 20, Jets 17.
Well, I really called the second half wrong. None of the Colts' stars have stepped up save Manning, and they have taken the lead, and the Jets' problems came because they didn't adjust quickly enough on defense (though they did last drive), after I said they could pretty much stand pat (tho especially on offense).
FOURTH QUARTER
Sanchez hits Keller for a short gain and we'll have a very big 3rd-and-6 up next. Great grab by Cotchery at the 40 keeps the drive alive. Again, Sanchez has a Gibraltar-solid pocket to throw from. Jones off LT for 2. What looks like a screwed-up play-action pass just misses being a disaster when Sanchez' wounded duck manages to find a piece of open turf to land incomplete. He's gotten away with 2 or 3 dangerous throws like that today. Colts safety-blitz on 3rd down, Sanchez steps away from it and fires deep, but well past Edwards, who was well-covered by, of all people, Aaron Francisco anyway. Punt ends up in the end zone, and the Jets are in big need of another stop.
Wayne finally gets open, on a quick slant, and naturally has the ball punched loose by David Harris. The charmed Wayne falls on the loose ball for a 17-yard gain. Clark now with a dropped pass. Yeah, those stars aren't exactly stepping up. Collie's been Manning's best receiver today; where's he this half? There he is, a comebacker against Revis for 11 with the Jets blitzing. Have the Jets switched Revis to Collie? Manning spears Garcon at the Jets 46. Clark gets down to the 35 on an out route and also draws a face mask from Ihedbigo that was blatant enough that he should have been thrown out of the game. Though I think Ihedbigo was actually trying to reach and rip for the ball. Indy's in the red zone as a result, and boy do the Jets need a stop. From the 15, Clark is wide open at the goal line for the TD that probably has just sent the Colts to the Super Bowl. He just ran a long circle route, but the safety and MLB both bit on play-action to Addai. Colts by 10 with 9:00 left.
Colts 27, Jets 17.
Jets start the ensuing drive with a run but better think about airing it out pretty quickly here. Brad Smith drops a 2nd down slant, putting Sanchez in a pickle quickly, and Hayden tips away a pass for their go-to guy Cotchery. Rex isn't punting, is he? He is?
Congratulations to the Colts on their return to the Super Bowl. Guess that FG in the 2nd wasn't such an awful idea after all.
Indy's ball with 8:02 left at their 26. Addai gets a yard, and more importantly, a minute off the clock before Coleman resets the chains with illegal contact against Collie. Now Clark drops a pass, and um, now is the time to RUN, Indy. Quick dig to Garcon gets 7. On 3rd-3, the Jets blitz 2 LBs, and Garcon beats Lowery for a 1st down at the 48. Clock under 6:00. Addai cruises around left end for 15, the key "block" occurring when Dallas Clark swiped Kerry Rhodes' foot and tripped him. Clock under 5:00. Addai up the middle for 1. Colts are pretty much just putting the special sauce on this one. Back-shoulder cross-field throw for Garcon is incomplete at the 14. That's a strange call. Keep the clock moving! 3rd-and-9, 4:12 left, Jets blitz big and Garcon braces for and receives a big hit from Leonhard while still pulling the ball down. Game over, man, game over. The Colts will win this game thanks to a brilliant 2nd half plus 2:00 by Manning and his 3rd- and 4th- best receivers, Garcon and Collie.
The Jets start using their timeouts, but it looks like their impressive postseason run is coming to an end.
3:23 left. Colts bang Addai again to eat up another Jets timeout. Addai writhes down to the 3 to get a 4th-and-1, and darned if the Colts aren't going for it. I think I'd rather kick the chippie FG and make the Jets score 2 TDs. Simms argues that it might get blocked. How often does a PAT get blocked, Phil? That's what you're kicking here.
And here comes Stover. If the Jets block this I will poop my pants. Stover slants one through.
Colts 30, Jets 17.
Nantz just said Stover is on his way to becoming the oldest player to appear in a Super Bowl. Is that still Mike "The Janitor" Horan's record? Is nothing from the Greatest Show days sacred?
2:22 left with the Jets in desperation mode. VERY quietly, the Colts have held the fearsome Jet rushing game to 86 yards today. Keller gets out of bounds with a completion at the Jet 48. I'm going to be lucky to get this game done before the next one starts.
Nope, Hayden just picked off a deflection by Clowney, slightly overthrown, to deliver the coups de grace. Galvanizing performance by the Colts today, whom the Jets definitely had on the ropes.
Final score: Colts 30, Jets 17.
MVP: Garcon's stats were superior, and he was key to the TD drive that put the Colts in front to stay, and of course the Colts never get it done without Manning, but this game ball's going to Austin Collie. He caught every pass on the Colts' last drive before halftime, and if the halftime score's 17-6 instead of 17-13, we'd be talking about a completely different game.
Looking ahead: Outstanding, gallant performance by the Jets. Just before halftime, this game was going exactly the way they wanted it to. The Colts just had a little bit more. The future's bright for the Jets, too, with Sanchez and Greene (don't underestimate how much his absence affected their second half today) maturing and one of the NFL's best offensive lines returning. Don't be surprised if the Jets' first draft pick in 2010 is a cornerback. Of course they already have Revis, but Rex Ryan's always going to be looking for another shutdown corner who will enable him to blitz even more. And he can't feel real good that he got beat today by Indy's 3rd and 4th-best receivers. Their need pick may be WR, though they traded enough for Braylon Edwards that they may be stuck with him. His one catch was obviously big today, but I think that's all he had.
Imagine that, Fox is interviewing Brett Favre right now. We'll see how he does in a few minutes.
PREGAME
This has the makings of an aerial battle if my semi-ignorant feelings about the two teams' running games hold out. I don't see the Saints running on the Vikings. The Vikings' run D is too good, and Reggie Bush isn't going to do that (last week) again. Is he? Meanwhile, is Adrian Peterson, who's supposedly better than Steven Jackson, EVER going to rush for 100 yards AGAIN? I keep waiting for him to turn it on and ascend to that legend-making moment. Been waiting like 10 weeks, AP.
This looks like a game where both teams will have to look to set up the run with the pass in order to do any, and passing game vs. passing game, the Saints win it. Drew Brees has got too many receivers and I see him actually picking on a well-regarded Viking secondary, which doesn't have its leader, Antoine Winfield, at full speed. The Viking pass rush is the x-factor; for the Vikes to win, Jared Allen has to be the game MVP, which is within reason when he's going up against Jermon Bushrod. (Of course, Bushrod has game MVP potential if he shuts Allen down.) Brett Favre doesn't have near the big-game potential Brees does. His receivers aren't as good; Percy Harvin is a very big question mark for Sunday health-wise; the Saints' defense doesn't get enough credit, especially for their secondary. No Harvin; Jabari Greer's perfectly capable of dealing with Sidney Rice; Darren Sharper knows every move Favre's going to make. Especially when he has no one but Bernard Freaking Berrian to throw to and Will Smith bearing down on him again because Bryant McKinnie has blown another block. Sorry, Saints; you're still the pick.
FIRST QUARTER
Here's Buck and Aikman with the call, if they can recover from Pam Oliver asking Favre about spanking technique in a pregame interview.
Good grief, I almost stepped out of the room and would have missed the Rebecca Grant cleavage update. That update told me, or even any non-English-speaking person, absolutely nothing we didn't know already. Unless we hadn't seen the Verizon "update" before and didn't know Rebecca Grant has really nice, um, cleavage.
Percy Harvin will be in action for Minnesota but has to watch the opening kickoff roll out the back of the end zone. The Saints hit Brett Favre on his first throw and he misses Visanthe Shianco. Scott Fujita with the hit. Vikes throw again on 2nd down, and Favre finds Jim Kleinsasser all alone in the left flat for 12 up the sideline. He's going to have that all day. Quick hitch to Harvin for 5. Another quick one to Harvin for another 1st. Adrian Peterson isn't even on the field right now. Favre beats a big blitz and hits Berrian again, over the middle for 9-plus. Harvin gets the game's first handoff and gains 8 off left tackle. Ball at the NO 40. Screen to Chester Taylor for about 4. Hey, there's Peterson, who takes a 4-yard pass in the middle of the field, breaks a tackle and gets down to the 25. Peterson off RG for 6. The Saints are showing no clue of stopping the Viking offense right now.
And they sure don't the next play, as Peterson cuts back left inside Will Smith's too-jiggy overpursuit and dances away for a 19-yard TD. Good work by the whole Viking o-line crashing right that play, which the Saints really bought as a run right.
Vikings 7, Saints 0.
Hmm, the pass set up the run that drive. Where was I reading about that?
Saints to start at their 24. Brees rolls right and hits Lance Moore on the sideline for 5. Saints are in no-huddle. Brees gets forever to throw but misses Marques Colston squaring out at midfield. 3rd-and-5. Um, Saints, you need a first down. They get it, with David Thomas throwing a key block for Robert Meachem on a smoke route. 7 yards. Play-action to Colston for 13, and the Saints are at midfield. No hint of a Viking pass rush thus far. Pierre Thomas off RG for 8. Pat Williams jumps offside. Brees overthrows Devery Henderson the next play. 2nd-10 from the 38, the Saints work a screen pass to Thomas to perfection. They suck the whole d-line in. Jahri Evans kicks out and takes care of two guys with one block. Thomas slips an atypically-sloppy arm tackle by Ben Leber at the 15, cuts back inside, gets a last block from Jeremy Shockey, and it's bye-bye for the TD. Evans was incredible that play; besides picking off the two Vikings originally, he ran downfield ahead of Thomas most of the way and had a piece of the DB Shockey picked off.
We have a classic on our hands.
Vikings 7, Saints 7.
I just saw that today's referee is PETER MORELLI. Really? So Mike Carey's either working the Super Bowl or wasn't even good enough to get a playoff assignment this year? Same for Ed Hochuli. (Tony Corrente refereed the AFC Championship.)
From the 27, Favre just overthrows Berrian on a go up the near sideline. He throws away the next pass with a blitz coming and Sidney Rice well covered on the out route. Bobby McCray jumps a mile offside to give the Vikes 3rd-and-5. Favre takes a big hit from Roman Harper anyway. Way to protect the QB, Morelli. Favre badly overthrows Harvin on a short route, but it's because Harvin was being ridiculously held by Randall Gay. So the Saints hand Minnesota a first down. Berrian puts a Marshall-Faulk-spinaroonie on Tracy Porter after catching a quick screen and gets 15 yards out of the play. Vikings have crossed midfield. Harvin gets about 3 off an end-around. Bobby McCray once again appears to get away with cheap-shotting the crap out of a QB, this time clobbering Favre right after the handoff to Harvin. Morelli then calls a personal foul, and McCray's number, for "hitting a player out of bounds." Except nobody was hit flagrantly out of bounds on the play.
In other words, it's not OK for the very same person to do the very same thing to Brett Favre that he did to Kurt Warner last week.
BULL. SHIT.
Minnesota ball at the Saint 30 in any event. Peterson gets a lot of open ground on 1st down but Darren Sharper stops him for 3. Vikings again blocked hard right and ran left. Still waiting for Buck or Aikman to ask why that McCray penalty wasn't a penalty when he hammered Kurt Warner last week. Favre rolls right and overthrows Harvin in the far corner of the end zone. The Saints have blitzed pretty much every play so far. Again, Aikman and Buck won't shut up about the number of hits Favre has taken, with no one mentioning Warner's experience last week. Completion to Harvin down to the 9, and OH MAH GOD, FARVE GOT HIT AGAIN! Sharper did really drill him on the blitz. But to Buck and Aikman, it's like Favre's the only QB who's ever been hit! Oh, NOW Buck finally mentions Warner last week! Peterson gets nothing on 1st down, and Harvin gets 2 on a quick screen, leaving 3rd-and-goal from outside the 5. Favre hits Sidney Rice just inside the goal line for Minnesota's 2nd TD. Four Saints all around him but nobody making the play.
Vikings 14, Saints 7.
Saints really hurt themselves with penalties that drive, which should have been a 3-and-out. No way they're winning today if they keep making stupid mistakes, because they're not stopping anything on defense the way it is.
Buck continues to dramatize the number of shots Favre is taking like he's Christ himself bearing the cross. OH MAH GOD THEYRE LOOKIN AT HIS JAW ON THE SAHDLAHN! Chad Greenway stuffs a Thomas run. Reggie Bush runs practically back to his goal line on a reverse and winds up losing a yard. That thing could have lost as much as 15. 3rd-and-11. Um, the Saints better get a first down here. Vikings fake a blitz and give Brees all night, but Colston runs a 10-yard route on 3rd-and-11. Saints D did NOT need a 3-and-out by their offense there. Vikings appear to be taking over at their 16 after the punt and the end of the first quarter.
End of first quarter: Vikings 14, Saints 7.
Katy Perry feels dirty? She should, given her taste in men.
Back to the game. Peterson up the middle for 2. FARVE IS WEARIN EAR PLUGGS!! Gee, you'd've thought Brett Favre was the city that was destroyed by a hurricane 4 years ago and has never had its team go to a Super Bowl. How do you ignore that story during the game to blather about Favre's chin and Favre's jaw and Favre's ear plugs?!?!? After another run goes nowhere, Favre throws a sideline pass away, and the Saints get a critical stop.
Because of RamView, and because the Rams certainly aren't material for Fox's game of the week these days, I don't actually get to listen to Buck and Aikman that much.
Little did I realize how terrible they are.
Brees just overthrows Shockey open up the right seam. Kevin Williams' pressure blows up a screen to Thomas. Hmm, that seems familiar. Remember the Kyle Boller fumble TD against the Vikings? 3rd-and-10. Kevin Williams nearly gets Brees but Drew finds the mismatch, Reggie Bush vs. Ben Leber, for 28 yards. Minnesota has GOT to find its pass rush. Thomas gets 4 but not more thanks to Madieu Williams' open-field tackle. How many Williamses do the Vikings have? Brees hits Thomas down to the 20. Jared Allen nearly got to him after splitting a double-team. Thomas cuts back left into open space and gets inside the 10. That's the run play the Vikings have been getting big holes with. Brees earns a bouquet of wows the next play, stepping away from Allen's pressure after play-action and hitting Henderson in the far corner of the end zone for the tying TD.
Vikings 14, Saints 14.
Safe to say this game's MVP will be an offensive player.
The Vikings start the next drive with a timeout. What, is Mike Martz their OC? Misdirection screen to Harvin gets 6. Play-action bubble screen to Taylor gets another 11. Rice makes a tough catch of a slant pass for 4 or 5. Saints continue to blitz every play and not get there. Peterson's stopped for 4 off left tackle after a big hit by Sharper. No, he got the first down. Circle route pass to Peterson gets Minnesota to midfield. Off left guard for 3 more. 3rd-and-4. Peterson's pissed off on the sideline for getting pulled. Saint blitz still doesn't get to Favre but he misses Berrian on an out route anyway, necessitating a punt. They wisely punt away from Bush and New Orleans' next drive will start at their 18.
I still think Dan Jansen was just untalented and kind of an idiot. Sorry.
Henderson drops a screen pass that looked overcomplicated anyway. Brees gets Minnesota offside with a hard count, which I figure out at least 30 seconds before Buck or Aikman. Brees avoids big pressure from Leber on a blitz and hits Thomas over the middle for 4. 3rd-and-1, Jasper Brinkley FLIES through and stuffs Lynell Hamilton for a loss. Suddenly we have a defensive battle with less than 5:00 till halftime.
Minnesota from their 24. Favre's nearly picked off trying to force a pass to Shiancoe at midfield, leaving 3rd-and-7. Blitz nearly gets there on 3rd down, and Favre overthrows Harvin's not-very-well-run route. ANOTHER 3-and-out?
Saints now at their 33, where Brees is nearly picked off by Leber. Leber probably kept one of his DBs from making the play. Shockey gets 8 over the middle. The Vikings shut down a 90-flip to Bush to force another punt. Super reaction by Allen to cut the play off, with Pat Williams taking care of Bush's cutback. Looks like the Saints are going for it? From their 43?
Dumbasses. Brees got the nose tackle to jump with a hard count, but the ball wasn't snapped. Timeout, Saints. I've never seen that play more poorly executed by the offense. You wanted to try to get them to jump offsides. They jumped offsides. And you DIDN'T SNAP THE BALL?
Punt will come after the 2:00 warning.
Saints took a delay-of-game before the 2:00 warning instead of using the timeout. Hmm. Darrius Reynaud calls fair catch, muffs the punt, then gets drilled after recovering it. Oh, Aikman's actually useful here, explaining the hit came after the whistle. Otherwise it had to be OK. Vikings at their 32 after the penalty. Favre misses Rice over the middle on first down. Peterson gets only 1 around right end on 2nd. Clutch throw by Favre to Berrian on the sideline at the 46. Saint blitz is registering hits but still no sacks. Favre throws the next pass away; looked like Rice ran the wrong route. Stupid draw to Peterson for 1. Saints use their first official timeout with 1:30 till halftime. With the Saints bailing madly out of a blitz look on 3rd-and-9, Favre badly overthrows Berrian on the sideline.
BUSH IDIOTICALLY TRIES TO RETURN THE PUNT WITH A DEFENDER ALL OVER HIM. He watches the defender, Eric (Is Live) Frampton, instead of the ball, and bobbles it away. Wah wah wah wah, Vikings ball at the Saints 10!
Holy crap, two plays later, Favre and Peterson blow the handoff and Scott Fujita saves the day for New Orleans by recovering the loose ball. Is that the lucky bounce of a team destined to win?
The Saints won't test that idea the rest of the half, running the clock out with Bush, who they surprisingly trust to hold the ball two plays in a row. And he surprisingly does.
Halftime score: Vikings 14, Saints 14.
So right after I say the game MVP is obviously going to be an offensive player, neither team scores again. Eh, screw all of you guys. The Saint blitz is starting to affect Favre, and it's about time since Gregg Williams has pretty much been blitzing him right off the bus. Minnesota hasn't really countered that with any quick stuff, which they might want to do since the Saint secondary seems to have figured things out in the 2nd quarter. Time for Peterson to step up, if he's EVER going to. Except for the TD run, he's been his usual most-non-descript-big-name-player-in-NFL-history self. Saints can also help themselves out a lot by cutting out the stupid penalties.
The Vikings have barely gotten in the same area code as Brees, and I can't believe another half with so little pressure on the Saint QB is going to lead to a successful result for them. Sure, it's worked for them so far, but I can't believe Sean Payton hasn't found a half-dozen different ways to pick them apart during halftime.
I think it's advantage, Saints in the second half unless the Vikings start getting to the QB.
THIRD QUARTER
Courtney Roby runs right through two tackles at the 25, pops out to the far sideline and flies down to the Minnesota 37. Exactly the start the Saints want, with Brees hitting David Thomas for 16 the next play. Then Pierre Thomas leg-drives off RG for 6, and off LG for 5 more and first-and-goal at the 9. That Roby return, its effect at least, is reminiscent of Tony Horne's kickoff return TD to start the 2nd half of the Rams' 1999 Divisional Playoff against these very same Vikings. Who fall behind for the first time today when Pierre Thomas cuts inside Carl Nicks' block and drives and dives at the goal line for a TD. Aikman points out Evans' impressive work on the play, PANCAKING Kevin Williams.
Saints 21, Vikings 14.
Ruh-roh, Thomas was actually down at the 1 on his TD run. Well, I wondered what the hell the Morelli crew was doing in a conference championship. Favre to Rice for 13 on a quick slant. Peterson tries to string a run around the left corner but Tracy Porter gets him stopped. Favre guns to a WIDE-open Shiancoe over the middle for 26, to the Saint 40. Fullback Naufahu Tahi SAVES PETERSON'S FREAKING BACON by recovering the fumble the RB supposedly better than Steven Jackson coughed up after running smack into ANTHONY FREAKING HARGROVE. But it's Shiancoe wide open AGAIN! on 2nd-and-20 for another 1st down. Vikings inside the Saint 30. Bubble screen to Harvin for 5. With Peterson obviously untrustworthy of hanging on to the damn ball, here's Chester Taylor cutting back left for 3. 3rd-and-2, a nifty lob to Shiancoe on a corner route ends in a one-handed catch inside the 2 and no flag for the blatant defensive holding committed against him. Peterson returns from exile with a 2-yard TD run inside Steve Hutchinson's strong block.
Vikings 21, Saints 21.
And still neither team is getting to the opposing QB.
Roby out to the Saint 35 with the ensuing kickoff. Huge pressure by Allen blows up Brees' millionth screen pass attempt of the day. Draw to Bush for 6. Announcers would shut up about kickers' inexperience being any kind of factor if they would watch college football games. That Texas kicker sure hit a big one to win the Big 12 Championship. He's not experienced. The Saints 3-and-out with an incompletion along the sideline. REYNAUD IDIOTICALLY RETURNS THE PUNT FROM HIS OWN ONE and is tackled at the 10.
Both these teams have gotten away with some serious f-ups today. I was originally picking the winner of this game to beat the Colts in the Super Bowl, but right now I have no freaking idea.
Peterson powers for 7 and pops up talking smack to Sharper. That's a lot of smack for 53 big yards, 19 on one carry. Next play, more AMAZING SHIT LUCK for Peterson, who about flings the ball away for a fumble on a nice run up the middle but manages to pounce on the loose ball at the 32. Favre misses Berrian badly on 1st down. Taylor up the middle for 5 or 6. Heh, the water boy's squirting water into Peterson's mouth on the sideline because he can't trust him to hold on to the bottle. Favre doesn't connect with Taylor on 3rd down, but draws a BULL SHIT roughing penalty on Anthony Hargrove. Hargrove had Favre wrapped up when he let go of the ball. Aikman's far more right than Buck here; the hit looked a lot worse than it was. Hargrove didn't body slam Favre as much as it was Favre coming off the ground after releasing the ball after Hargrove already had him wrapped up. Anthony Hargrove was an amazing knucklehead when he played here but he deserved a lot better than drawing a penalty for one of the game's key plays right there.
Justice about 3 plays later as I get done typing an actual pro-Anthony-Hargrove rant, as Favre forces a classic stupid Favre pass into triple coverage at the Saint 30 and it's intercepted by Jonathan Vilma. Remi Ayodele flatout falls on top of Favre on the ground well after the throw on a play that probably should have been called roughing, though he may have been blocked there.
Long story short, the big bullshit penalty is nullified by the idiotic Favre throw, and the Saints have the ball back.
Saints at their 31; Pierre Thomas off-tackle for 5. Favre was taken down funny and took a legitimate ankle injury on his last play. The Saints false-start with Minnesota fake-blitzing on 3rd-and-3. Brees steps up from the rush and throws an awful pass well over Meachem's head.
The Saints better god damn win this game, because I am NOT going to put up with two weeks of every media outlet in creation wondering about Brett Favre's damn ankle.
End of third quarter, by the way: Vikings 21, Saints 21.
Seriously, given her taste in men, why wasn't Katy Perry's biggest hit called "I Kissed A Toilet And I Liked It"?
FOURTH QUARTER
Harvin tries to lose the ball at the end of a run off LT but gains 11. ANOTHER handoff to Harvin - seriously, BACK-TO-BACK handoffs to Harvin? - blows up and becomes a disaster when he tries to cut back and Will Smith jiggies the ball loose. Harvin also fails to recover the bouncing loose ball, which Remy Ayodele - there's that name again - ends up with it down at the Viking 6. That stupid play-calling sequence deserved that disastrous result.
Seriously, 4th quarter of the NFC Championship and you're doing gadget handoffs to Percy Harvin TWO STRAIGHT PLAYS? Did the Vikings do that all season?
Pierre Thomas down to the 3 on 1st down, but Tyrrell Johnson BLOWS UP a slowly-developing outside run for a huge loss on 2nd down. 3rd-goal from the 5. Brees steps up from I think Ray Edwards' pressure and hits Bush at the sideline inside the 1. Johnson forced him out of bounds, and the officials call it 4th down, but the very good question Sean Payton's challenging is whether Bush got the ball inside the pylon. I don't think he did, and don't think Morelli will have enough to see it, but it's a good challenge. Also gives Payton plenty of time to think about his 4th down play. 4th and goal from inside the 1, they have to go for the TD imo.
Morelli says Bush broke the plane of the goal line, TD, New Orleans. Fox gets us a replay showing he kept the ball inside the pylon even though Johnson spun him around and down. From the head linesman's angle, though, I totally understand not calling that a TD originally.
Saints 28, Vikings 21.
Vikings at their 20, 12:39 left. Screen to Taylor for maybe 3. Peterson spins out of a tackle at the line of scrimmage, goes up the sideline and ACTUALLY DOES NOT FUMBLE THE FOOTBALL, for a 27-yard gain. The longest run in 9 games for the RB supposedly better than Steven Jackson. Jabari Greer DROPS a ball thrown right to him on 1st down. Rice helped break that up. Taylor falls down on the 2nd down screen pass, forcing a throwaway. Double-teamed by Porter and Gay, Berrian makes a terrific play to corral an underthrown ball at the Saint 20 for 30 yards. PETERSON GAINS 3 WITHOUT FUMBLING. Wow, he's better than Steven Jackson!
Game over? Favre hits Berrian at the 10, and Porter just punches the ball loose while taking him down. Vilma recovers at the 5. 4th Viking turnover, 3rd lost fumble, today. That one was especially painful, coming inside the 10 with Minnesota driving for the tying TD. Ouch.
Pierre Thomas for 3, then a flare to Henderson for 5. Brees drops the snap - OY VEY! - and picks it up and tries to dive for the first down, but comes up half a yard short. Wow, Payton's going to challenge the spot? Fox's yellow line will have to be WAY off for him to win this one. It's happened before, though.
Morelli confirms the previous play but doesn't bother to tell anybody the Saints spent a timeout and their last challenge on it. Buck at least tells us at home. Vikings have very good field position to try again to tie the game, their 43.
Peterson cuts back left for 4. 7:30 left. Greer breaks up a pass to Rice. Somebody predicted he'd be perfectly capable of dealing with Rice today; who was that? But Shiancoe beats Roman Harper like he's James Butler for a big first down. Vikes at the NO 37. Favre barely avoids a sack by Anthony Freaking Hargrove by throwing away toward a very well-covered Taylor. Peterson explodes off RG for 18 off a play-fake. Tahi the fullback had a big block to open up the hole. PETERSON HAS GONE OVER 100 YARDS. Alert the media. Favre throws a jump ball for Berrian in the end zone but Porter interferes with him. Put the ball at the 1. Hargrove and Marvin Mitchell wrap up Peterson at the 2. Peterson goes up the gut on 2nd-and-goal to score his third TD of the game.
Vikings 28, Saints 28.
4:58 to play. Roby runs into his own man at the 17. One of the big surprises of this game is that the Saints haven't stretched the field better. No time like the present. MINNESOTA GETS THEIR FIRST SACK OF THE DAY as Ray Edwards beats Jon Stinchcomb, AND BREES FUMBLES, but Jahri Evans saves the day with the recovery. Minnesota is AGAIN ALL OVER Brees' BILLIONTH screen pass today, and he throws a lollipop that Pierre Thomas can only manage to get a yard out of. 3rd-18, Brees hits Henderson over the middle, but a couple of yards short. Reynaud brings the punt to the 21, and we are less than 3:00 away from the Armageddon of fifty billion media speculations about Brett Favre's freaking ankle. C'mon, Saints; we need a stop. Peterson gets nothing off RT. Why run that play now, with its inherent turnover risk? The 2:00 warning is here. I guess the Vikings are going to try to eat up the clock while getting into position for Ryan Longwell.
Peterson gets only a couple off a draw play, with Sedrick Ellis and Vilma tripping him up. Saints use their 2nd timeout with 1:52 left. 3rd-and-8, Vikings. I really don't understand those last two running plays. Maybe Brad Childress will hand off to Harvin on 3rd down. Saints stupidly bring the blitz at Favre; he hits Berrian for about 6 and Porter BLOWS the tackle to give the Vikings a 1st down at their 33. Minnesota timeout now with 1:39 left.
Perfect pass to Rice up the right seam for about 20. Randall Gay was all over him. With the Viking center driving Hargrove backward like a blocking dummy, Taylor cuts through and breaks a couple of tackles down to the 33, putting Freaking Favre in freaking field goal range. Saints use their last timeout with 1:06 left.
No gain for Taylor, then no gain for Peterson off left tackle with 0:19 left. Childress is sure treating this near-50-yarder like it's going to be cake for Longwell. Has he watched any of this postseason? Astonishingly, Favre tries to waste Minnesota's last timeout, which he can't legally call when they've just called one, and the Vikings get penalized for 12 in the huddle. So they're at the Saint 38.
OH MY HOLY FREAKING GOD. Favre rolls right, tries to hit Rice in the middle of the field, BUT THAT'S THE CLASSIC STUPID FAVRE THROW, AND TRACY PORTER PICKS IT OFF. Porter returns it to the Saint 48 with 7 seconds left.
HOLY FREAKING COW, FAVRE, WHAT A STUPID THROW!
Brees attempts an outside pass but Kevin Williams bats it down, and the Vikings get about three guys in his face the last play of the game and force a throwaway.
The NFC Championship game is going into overtime.
OVERTIME
The Vikings get the coin toss wrong and will kick off.
Does anybody else replace "5-layer burrito" with "fish taco" when they're watching the new Taco Bell commercial? And, yes, I am 11 years old.
Suddenly it's Pierre Thomas returning the overtime kickoff, and a gimmick I insist always blow up in a team's face works instead - he returns it to the 40 yard line. Hell, the Saints are already in business!
Thomas up the middle for 3, then Bush off right guard for nothing, and the home crowd is actually BOOING their team in the first conference championship game any of them have ever gotten to experience. Asher Allen lets them off the hook by holding Colston. Great explanation by Buck that Allen is in for Cedric Griffin, injured on the kickoff. Ray Edwards blows up the TRILLIONTH attempted screen pass today, incomplete for David Thomas. 2nd-10 at the Saint 48. As he did two plays ago, Colston muffs a catchable ball into an incompletion. Tyrrell Johnson nearly intercepted this one. The Vikings blitz, stupidly, leaving Henderson open for a first down, but HE bobbles it and doesn't secure it for first-down yardage. 4th and a football. The Saint receivers are more nervous than a stray dog that just figured out it ran into Mike Vick's yard.
The booth is reviewing the spot of the last play, and taking their sweet damn time doing it. Morelli's crew got the call right, it turns out. Thanks for that, booth. 4th and inches at the 42. Troy thinks the best call here is a QB sneak. I thought that all my life until Peyton Manning got stuffed at the 2 in the AFC game. Thomas leaps over LG and gets the first down. This call's going to get reviewed, too. Hey, some of us have to work tomorrow, NFL.
Wow, Thomas may not have gotten the first down. One of the Vikings jarred the ball loose; he was lucky to come down with it, let alone also get the first down. I don't see how the hell Thomas came down with the ball for a first down, but Morelli says he did, so he did. Or else Goodell called the booth to remind them the Super Bowl WILL be Colts vs. Saints.
With Brees back-pedaling for a mile, Leber interferes with David Thomas up the far sideline. I think Thomas drew that, or dived for it, more than Leber really interfered with him. Leber then atones by dropping Bush in the backfield for a 4-yard loss. But the ball's at the Minn 35. FG range.
For sure now, as Brees hits a sliding Meachem at the 22. Meachem nearly dropped that pass. Looks like he held on, but the Saint receivers are more jittery than an ADD kid who accidentally took caffeine pills instead of Ritalin.
Childress called timeout to induce a review, and gets one, but I don't think this is even a Bert Emmanuel catch; it's a clean catch. And if either Fox announcer mentions Bert Emmanuel, I am flying down to New Orleans tonight and pissing in their bed.
Morelli correctly gives Meachem the catch, leaving 3rd-and-3 at the 22. Play-action screen, the QUADRILLIONTH of the game, is incomplete, bringing on kicker Garrett Hartley. No pressure, kid.
Childress calls the idiotic freeze-the-kicker timeout. I might have passed on that there.
Hartley strokes it right down the middle from 40 to send the Saints to the Super Bowl and Brett Favre home, for the sanity of us all.
Final score (OT): Saints 31, Vikings 28.
MVP: Beats the bejeebers out of me. For a supposedly-great offensive team, the Saints had no great offensive performances. No receiver over 40 yards. Pierre Thomas ran for just 61. Reggie Bush? 7 rushes, 8 yards and a fumble. Brees didn't even throw for 200 yards. Despite some bad plays, Tracy Porter may have done the most to save the game, not only picking off Favre on what would be Brett's last play of the game, but also popping a fumble loose from Berrian to stop a Viking drive inside the 10. So Porter gets it.
Honorable mention MVP: me, I was 2-0 this weekend; 6-4 for the playoffs. Guaranteed winning postseason!!!
Looking ahead: We'll be spared two weeks of wondering about Favre's ankle, but we're certain not to be spared another offseason of speculation about Favre's future. The Vikings better have an escape plan in case he bails like he did on the Jets. They also better have a recovery plan for Peterson, who is threatening to wreck a superstar career with all the fumbling. (P.S. He's not better than Steven Jackson.) Their biggest failing today wasn't a personnel failing, it was a game-long failure to adjust to the Saint blitz. The Vikings appear to be stacked at every position, on paper. They just need to put it all together. Of course, Favre was brought in to get them there. If they can convince him to stay, and sneak a RB onto their roster who can pick up a blitz or two, they should be a potent team again next year, still hungry, still having something to prove. Or Favre could quit, or dither about it in the spotlight the next seven months, and start the unraveling process. YGIAGAM.
The Saint secondary doesn't match up too badly with the Colts' WRs at first blush, but I don't see their d-line putting any pressure on Peyton Manning at all, and I don't see their feeble blitzing scheme really giving the Colt QB a lot of trouble. I don't know how they're going to stop Peyton from throwing it all over the yard. If the Saints work on stretching the field against the Colt D, I think they'll have a lot of success. Or, they could try to throw a quintillion screen passes like they did today. Not only won't that work, I expect the Colts to shut down the Saint running game.
Like the rest of planet Earth, I'm expecting a close and high-scoring Super Bowl. Old-school wisdom would never say to pick the Colts and their league-worst running game, a full yard per carry worse than the Saints.
Bet against Peyton Manning at your own peril, though. I'm not.
Colts 38, Saints 35.
There won't be a Ram in the Pro Bowl after all; Steven Jackson is not going to play and has been replaced by Frank Gore.
It's a shame; I had hoped Jackson was going to get some well-deserved limelight and show off for the rest of the league. But if he's still battling that back injury from the tail end of the season, it's by far the right decision to skip the Pro Bowl, an exhibition so insignificant it makes preseason look important by comparison.
If no news is good news, what is very little news equal to?
We learned earlier this week that Rams ownership is seriously considering the offers of three ownership groups for the team. We know one of those is Dave Checketts' group, and that group is committed to keeping the team in St. Louis. We don't know the other two groups at all, or their commitment to keeping the team here. We don't know if 60% (the Rosenbloom's share) is going to be sold or if the whole team is going to be sold. (The bids are apparently in the $700-800 million range, expressed as total franchise value). A decision might be made by April. Or not. The fourth option is the Rosenblooms holding on to the team, which they are considering. We don't know who the front-runners are to buy the team. We don't know what Stan Kroenke's going to do. Rumor is he's going to sit tight on his 40%.
It's a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing so far, like that one dude said once.
Here's Jim Thomas' original article. Good info though little to draw a conclusion from.
Tough losses didn't end in the regular season for the Rams; over the weekend they lost WR coach Charlie Baggett to the University of Tennessee.
So you can add Rams Nation to the (long) list of people pissed off at Lane Kiffin.
Baggett's loss is a tough one for this team. The WR corps -was- awful last year, and Donnie Avery regressed to a near-Kennison level, but Baggett works great with big receivers, and we saw that. Laurent Robinson became a capable go-to guy almost immediately, then sadly got hurt for the season almost as immediately. Brandon Gibson showed pretty good, and quick, progress here after coming in cold off the Will Witherspoon trade. Baggett's departure seems a significant break in those two's momentum toward becoming NFL-quality starters, and as bad as the Ram passing game was, it's going to be all the harder now to wait for a decent receiving corps to develop.
Isaac Bruce has quickly hit Rams Nation's wishlist for Baggett's replacement. He could be great, if coaching's what he wants to do next. Steve Spagnuolo could also promote offensive quality control coach Andy Sugarman, who worked with receivers for three years in San Francisco. That seems the best bet. RamView doesn't exactly have a coaches' Rolodex, but Google helped me come up with just-released Buffalo WR coach Tyke Tolbert, whom the Bills' website credited for Lee Evans' development. He was also Arizona's WR coach Anquan Boldin's rookie year (2003).
As far as the inevitable Spagnuolo/Giants/Eagles links, Mike Sullivan is the Giants' WR coach; David Culley holds that position for Philly. And as both are doing terrific jobs with young WR corps right now, I'd have to think either one would be nigh impossible to pry away.
Baggett and Culley are about the only WR coaches Pat Shurmur's worked with, going back to 1995 at Michigan State. Further research pending...
How 'bout that cushy 4th-place schedule the Rams got to play in 2009? Turns out they went up against three of the four teams in this year's conference championship games; not quite as easy as we were hoping for. We thought the Rams were getting the bunny slope and they got the black diamond.
Sign of the apocalypse: Jimmy Kennedy (Vikings) and Anthony Hargrove (Saints) are now one win away from the Super Bowl, and one of them's going to make it. Kennedy's found some success as a rotational DT in Minnesota. He made more plays against Dallas Sunday than he did his whole Ram career, even registering a sack and a big TFL, iirc. Sounds like he's found his niche; too bad the Rams blew a first-round pick finding out where his niche wasn't.
Hargrove's fought substance abuse problems I'd never heard about, and got kicked out of St. Louis after missing a practice due to an all-nighter at a local casino, so of course he gets straightened out in NEW ORLEANS. (Based on Hargrove's experience, if Tiger Woods is to fix his marriage, his next stop should be the Playboy Mansion.) I have Hargrove down for only a special teams tackle on Saturday, but he's had some success for them, strangely enough, as a DT, though he must be a good 50 lbs lighter than Kennedy.
The Saints have two more: C Nick Leckey and LB Scott Shanle.By my count, neither AFC team has an ex-Ram on their roster. FS Brannon Condren, who was very briefly with the Rams last season, is on the Jets practice squad.
ADDED: Coaching links:
* Former Ram WR and WR coach Henry Ellard is the Jets' WR coach.
* Former Ram DB Rod Perry is a Colts defensive special assistant.
* And of course, it is what it is, one-time Rams interim head coach Joe Vitt is the Saints' LB coach and assistant head coach.
AFC Championship starts at 2 pm CST Sunday; NFC at 5:30. I'm not coming in late this year.
Yep, just as I guessed a couple of weeks ago when he ran the poll on his blog, here's Bernie Miklasz in a column this morning campaigning for Michael Vick as the next Rams QB, declaring the move safe from a PR standpoint because of that poll, which came in 62% pro-Vick.
Personally I think Bernie should be ashamed. "Vick would bring buzz to the Rams," says the columnist who apparently doesn't think the Rams have enough issues to deal with this coming offseason. Yeah, so would sticking your ass in a bucketful of hornets; I don't hear you recommending that. There's nothing about having a felon who's barely played for three years, isn't a remotely-accurate QB, isn't suited for the Ram offense, doesn't have that great a head for the game, doesn't remotely fit the team's commitment to building a roster of men with good character, that represents any kind of buzz this franchise needs to have.
Especially the felon part. But instead Bernie has manufactured, nurtured, and now sprung this "story" that at a minimum is going to be a distraction in Rams Nation until Vick signs somewhere (he's supposedly going to have multiple options if the Eagles let him go.)
It's crap journalism on Miklasz's part. The "buzz" he says he wants is all about him; it doesn't have anything to do with good football. It doesn't help this franchise or its fans. It's only an unwelcome, unthinkable distraction. It'll be crap football for any team to sign Michael Vick to do anything more than the gimmick role he had in Philadelphia this season. And I don't even want to see him here for that.
I implore Steve Spagnuolo, Billy Devaney, and Chip and Lucia Rosenbloom not to bring this half-assed publicity stunt by a bored columnist into fruition.
PREGAME
Like Ravens-Patriots last week, this game initially looks like one the road team was born to win, because they win by playing defense and stopping the run. San Diego's rushing game hasn't been that good; neither has their run defense. Seems like weak points the Jets can directly exploit.
But there are a lot of then-agains. Thomas Jones did nothing last week, and the Jet defense got run over by Cedric Benson. Plus Laveranues Coles made all kinds of catches before he got hurt. Darrelle Revis may take away Vincent Jackson, but Phillip Rivers has all kinds of other weapons, particularly Antonio Gates. And OC Brian Schottenheimer's been taking time away from preparing a game plan for San Diego to interview for Buffalo's head coaching job. A lot of supposedly-smart folks are saying to take the Jets because of the first paragraph. But they're ignoring the second paragraph, and at their peril, because that's where San Diego's likely to win this one.
FIRST QUARTER
The Jets won the coin toss, and deferred. That backfires big sometimes. Adulterer Jim Nantz and semi-intelligible Phil Simms on the call for CBS.
Chargers start from their 24. LaDainian Tomlinson bounces outside left for 5. Phillip Rivers to Antonio Gates, who fights through David Harris for a first down. Awful shotgun snap by Nick Hardwick is a near disaster, but Rivers falls on it for a 6-yards loss. Now a delay of game, and it's 3rd-and-23, Chargers. Jerome Boger is refereeing this game. I can't believe Mike Carey wouldn't get a postseason call, so I'm guessing we see him next week. Probably Ed Hochuli, too. Jim Leonhard comes untouched up the middle and Brian Thomas comes free to pressure Rivers into a throwaway. Opening the game on defense? Blitzing on 3rd-and-23? Everything's working for Rex Ryan so far as Mike Scifres punts.
Jets from their 26. Thomas Jones gets squat on 2 runs right, nearly losing the ball the second carry. They stupidly try a bubble screen to - is that Wayne Chrebet? - Danny Woodhead, Braylon Edwards doesn't even block for it, and it's a no-gain-three-and-out. The guy who was too sick to punt last week should have stayed in the nurse's office, flubbing a 28-yarder that sets San Diego up at their 45.
With Tomlinson emptying the backfield, Rivers hits Vincent Jackson, the nearer man on a double slant route, down to the Jet 40. Then Malcolm Floyd's wide open at the 22. Floyd blew Lito Sheppard right off the line. False start by a Charger team off to kind of a sloppy start nullifies a Tomlinson run. Screen with a couple of fake end-arounds gets a predictably bad result, losing LT 4. Nice tackle by Revis. Timeout, San Diego, 3rd-and-15 at the 27.
The Chargers pick up the blitz, but Rivers throws short for Darren Sproles, who doesn't quite get away from Drew Coleman. We do get our first view of the San Diego cheerleaders as a result, though.
NATE KAEDING THEN NEARLY HOOKS THE CHIPPIE FG ATTEMPT INTO THE CHEERLEADERS. WTF IS IT WITH KICKERS THIS POSTSEASON???????
Still no score. What a choking dog. It's like Kaeding senses it's the playoffs, time to start spraying kicks around like he's running the hose at a wet t-shirt contest.
Speaking of which, there's the San Diego cheerleaders again.
Jets start at their 26. Running game is still slow to start, though, and they quickly face 3rd-and-5. Greene picks up the blitz on 3rd down, but Sanchez overthrows Jerricho Cotchery by a mile, forcing another punt. We're not exactly getting that electrifying game we were hoping for sometime this weekend here, either. I should have known it would happen after saying after the Rams' last game that this was shaping up as one of the great postseasons ever.
Chargers at their 20. LT up the middle for a big 3. Each team's strategy today appears to depend on putting the other team to sleep. Well, it's working on me. LT right up the middle AGAIN, FOR NOTHING. Rivers beats a 6-man rush/blitz with a quick hitter to Gates, who runs through Eric Smith for a first down. Leonhard blows up a screen on 1st down, then Rivers blows San Diego's SECOND TIMEOUT ALREADY. What were the Chargers doing in the run-up to this game? Surfing? Because they sure don't look prepared for football!
Jackson's wide open over the middle at the Jet 42 for a 28-yard play. Revis was covering Gates, which apparently left Jackson free to prance up the middle with no one around for 5 yards. A failed run is then followed by a false start. Rivers guns to Gates on an out route for 11. Sproles picks up the blitz on 3rd down but Revis breaks up the 1st-down pass to Legedu Naanee. Then the Chargers false-start and commit unnecessary roughness on the punt. What a well-prepared team.
Jets get it at their 15 with 0:46 left in the quarter. Jones runs for 4, then Greene gains 4 more out of Wildcat formation, as the quarter ends. No? Penalty on Sanchez with 4 seconds left. He lined up under center, then went into motion and didn't come to a stop before the snap. 2nd-11 at the 14. Jones gains 7 as we're finally done with the first 15 minutes of this snoozer of a crapfest.
End of first quarter: Jets 0, Chargers 0.
SECOND QUARTER
Brad Smith in on 3rd-and-4. They try the option pitch to Greene but Steven Cooper blows that up for a huge loss. Looks like San Diego's already on to Brad Smith, then. Better use him as a decoy the rest of the game. Sproles returns the punt to midfield. Seriously, Steve Weatherford - thanks for making the U of Illinois proud, btw - has been such crap today, the Jets should go back to having Jay Feely punt.
ANOTHER undisciplined penalty, illegal hands to the face, moves San Diego all the way back to their 31. Except for Rivers being in a little groove, both teams have been absolute crap today. Jacob Hester sneaks out of the backfield for a 15-yard catch-and-run. Sheppard seemed to break up a pass to Floyd cleanly but drew a flag for DPI instead. Yeah, he grabbed him by the jersey early; we didn't see that live on TV. Huge play next, as the Chargers set up a screen on both sides, Rivers lobs left to Gates with a blitz coming, and Gates makes an impressive one-handed catch and chugs down to the Jet 16. A 25-30 yard play. The safety blitz gets there a touch late on 2nd down and Rivers hits a wide-open Wilson in the back of the end zone for a score, finally in this damn thing. Kaeding actually hits the extra point to top it off.
Chargers 7, Jets 0.
Jets really need to make something happen on the ground now. Wilson follows his TD by tackling Brad Smith at the 16 on the kick return. A false start on Damien Woody sure won't help their running game. Neither will Woody falling down in the hole, limiting Greene to a 2-yard dive on 1st down. Sanchez gets in trouble and has to throw away a play-action pass. 3rd-and-a-country-mile. Play-action again, Sanchez fakes deep and hits Tony Richardson with a useless swing pass. More punting for the Jets, who still don't have a first down.
A Charger TD could put this one away right here, right now. Instead Floyd appears to fumble a reception at midfield. He wasn't down? Elbow's down, Phil Simms. That's San Diego's ball. Norv Turner challenges and should get the call. Nice play by Leonhard either way. He made the hit and pounced on the loose ball, despite losing his helmet. That's the kind of guy you want on your defense.
Apparently I'm the only guy alive who thinks this is a completed pass to Floyd. Nantz proclaims it's either an incompletion or a turnover? Really? Because Floyd catches the ball, possesses it and makes a move with it. ("Football-related move" is such a dumb phrase. What was he going to do, make a bobsled-related move?
Simms and Nantz change their opinion to agree with mine in time for Boger to call the pass incomplete upon further review. I still think his elbow was down. Ah well, Leonhard deserved something for his defensive effort anyway. Kerry Rhodes keeps Gates from wheeling for a first down on 3rd-and-10. Punt team in on 4th-and-1. Cotchery is taken down immediately by Spillman on the return. And the Jets get called for holding. Sheesh.
There is so little happening in this game it's the rare game I haven't fallen behind blogging. Thanks for making me watch all the commercials, guys. Greene goes up the middle for 7 from his 7. He cuts back left and breaks a couple of tackles for 11 more. There's the sleeper player for your FFL draft next year, Shonn Greene. Greene for 5 more out to the 30. Sanchez beats a blitz with a swing pass to Richardson, who breaks a tackle for 4. Greene churns out the first down. Momentum starting to gather for Gang Green(e). Richardson gets beaten badly by Eric Weddle on a safety blitz and Sanchez gets sacked before he can even react. Terrible job by Richardson, who appears to be lobbying for an offside penalty. No dice. Greene goes up the middle for 7 behind a good block by Moore. Sanchez hits Braylon Edwards for 21 and a big play. The Jets call timeout after getting a run stuffed. About 3:00 till halftime.
2nd-and-9 at the Charger 42, Sanchez finds Greene for a short middle pass for 5. Jets pick up the Charger blitz but Quinton Jammer breaks up a pass for Dustin Keller. Weatherford to the punt again, returned to the 12 by Sproles.
Rivers goes deep for Jackson off play-action, but Revis has it blanketed. Incomplete. Tomlinson's run around the right corner gives us 3rd-and-about-5 after the 2:00 warning.
Make it 3rd-and-7 at the 15, and a vanilla handoff to Sproles gets squat. What a crap call. Scifres hits a 60-plus-yard moon shot and the Jets will start all the way back at their 32.
1:44 till halftime. Sanchez fakes downfield twice, then throws a dumpoff that Keller can't stay in bounds with. 7-yard completion to Cotchery against a safety blitz. Big completion to Edwards, though, puts them at the Charger 45 with a 1st down. 4-man rush that last play. Sanchez spikes with 0:55 to go. Overthrow to Edwards, well-covered by Antonio Cromartie. 3rd-10. The halftime highlights for this game may take 15 seconds, tops. Chargers blitzed a LB on 3rd down, Sanchez threw while hit, and the pass is well off. Yet another punt.
Chargers at their 20 with 36 seconds till the half. Inside handoff to Sproles for 9. Timeout. Offensive line sells the pass look beautifully and Sproles draws out across midfield for about 22. Rivers spikes there with 0:12 in the half. The Jets use their last TO because THIS HALF HASN'T TAKEN LONG ENOUGH ALREADY. Jackson gets inside the 40 with 6 seconds left. Jets only rushed 3. Kaeding is actually coming in to try a 57-yard FG after badly butchering a chip shot earlier. Of course he misses it. Revis fields it in the end zone and gives Chargers fans a small heart attack before Scifres the holder and Kris Wilson bring him down at midfield.
Halftime score: Chargers 7, Jets 0.
With San Diego being the team that hasn't scored under 20 points once all season, this game is actually still going the Jets' way as much as anything. They're only one play out of this game, and that could easily be a defensive play as sloppily as the Chargers have played all day. Rivers is doing an excellent job of throwing away from Revis. If his teammates cut out the stupid penalties, they'll be hard to catch. Neither team has run all that well, which hurts the Jets a lot more than it's hurting the Chargers. The Jets should probably keep feeding Greene. I'd like to see a little more Sproles for the Chargers, especially as a receiver. Get him into the open field against a Jet blitz, and, as Emeril would say, BAM.
THIRD QUARTER
Brad Smith bounces off a tackle and brings the second half kickoff out to the 40. Jones goes for 8 off the right side off a Richardson block. Jones goes up the middle and across midfield for the 1st down. They go deep for Edwards in the end zone, but nothin' doin' against double-coverage. Have to like the shot, though. 3rd-7 at the SD 45, Cotchery lobbies for, and gets, a very late flag. Did look like Jammer held him up. Jets now at the 37. Banging Jones a couple of times only gets them 3rd-and-5. Jammer makes a terrific play to undercut Keller along the sideline a yard short of the first down. Simms' idea to use a challenge here is one of the stupider things I have ever heard. It's 4th-and-1, the Jets don't need to blow a challenge to maybe get a few inches closer, you goofball. They call timeout, and it appears they're going for it when we come back.
Remember when I called Rex Ryan's offensive approach "Spagnuolian" last week? That manifests itself again as he brings on Feely, who strokes the FG pure and true to put the Jets on the board.
Chargers 7, Jets 3.
Sproles out to the 26 with the kickoff, reminding us that Brad Smith is pretty much responsible for the Jets being on the board now. Simms continues to IDIOTICALLY argue that Ryan should have challenged the 4th-down spot earlier so he could have decided to go for it. FROM A WHOLE FOOT CLOSER. PHIL, IF RYAN WAS GOING TO DECIDE TO GO FOR IT, HE WOULD HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT A CHALLENGE, BECAUSE IT WAS STILL FOURTH AND 1. Does Phil Simms really think coaches have a different mindset when it's 4th-and-two-feet vs. 4th-and-a-yard? Gawd.
Rivers steps up and appears to get his arm hit on a 1st-down pass. Floyd nearly makes a nice play on a third-down jump pass but the ball hits the ground. Strickland the DB actually popped it loose. Another three-and-out for San Diego, though I refuse to believe that was their third three-and-out ALL YEAR as Nantz just said. He meant today, right?
Then again, this is San Diego's first game in 2010.
OOH, Revis is getting worked on on the sideline.
From the 19, Greene sweeps right for 3. He follows that with a 9-yard cutback run behind blocks by Faneca and Mangold. First-down pass to Keller for 12. End-around to Cotchery blows up, but at least they're mixing things up. According to the stat book, the Jets have run 23 times and passed 19; how 'bout that? Pass #20 goes very badly for Sanchez, though. He gets it away before the blitz gets him, but Steven Gregory tips it to Jammer, who returns to the Jet 38. This game has finally had a big play.
Jackson appears to turn a dumpoff into a 23-yard gain but a flag brings it back. Illegal block on Floyd. 1st-12 at the Jet 40. Thomas stuffs a 2nd-and-9 screen to LT. 3rd down, Jet blitz forces Rivers to throw a kind of jump-hook pass. Jackson grabs it over Revis, but loses it coming down and actually kicks it over to the Jet DB. New York ball, and this game has had a second big play.
Excellent call by the officials on that last play, btw. Kevin Burnett blows up a 2nd-down Greene run to leave the Jets 3rd-and-10. Cotchery's wide open underneath the Charger cover-2 for 15, though. Ball at the 38. Jones gains 7 on a couple of runs. Cotchery and Sanchez seem to cross wires on the 3rd-down pass and it's way incomplete along the sideline. In what may prove a pivotal play, the Jets down the punt at the 2.
Or the 4. The Jets stuff LT up the middle. Then, making me a prophet, Rivers throws AN ABSOLUTELY AWFUL PASS right to Leonhard for an INT. The throw is so bad, even Simms can't figure out wtf Rivers was trying to do.
Jets at the Charger 16. Green goes up the middle to the 14 as the 3rd quarter expires. Make it the 7 after Boger calls Shawn Phillips for a head-butt after one of his trademark hour-long on-field conferences.
End of third quarter: Chargers 7, Jets 3.
FOURTH QUARTER
But hoo boy, do we have a game here, and the Chargers in peril of committing an epic choke job.
First and goal, Jets, at the 7. Greene gets maybe a yard off right tackle. He goes up the middle again, inside the 3. The Chargers initially cover the play-action routes beautifully, but Sanchez does a fine job buying time on the rollout, and fires a low bullet that Keller makes an excellent play on for the Jets' first TD of the day. Uh-oh, San Diego.
Jets 10, Chargers 7.
Antonio Cromartie is returning this kickoff for some reason, and has the ball knocked away, but Sproles recovers. Chargers hugely lucky to get the ball at their 29. The home crowd boos a 1-yard run by LT. 13 minutes left, gang. Rivers beats a blitz with a pass to Tony Tolbert on a circle route, but he runs right into Brian Thomas and gets schmeared. Injury timeout.
Back to the fumble on the kickoff return: why do special teams coaches insist on having guys return kicks in crucial situations who haven't done it much? Just another stupid case of coaches making special teams far harder than it actually is.
3rd-and-3 for the Chargers. Gates is all alone in the flat for 9. Good job by Simms to show us how Revis could never get to Gates thanks to the trips formation. Mike DeVito? WHO? sacks Rivers with a good bull rush. Dumpoff to Sproles only gets 2 and it's 3rd-and-13. Yep, the Jets are blitzing, bringing a couple, and Rhodes gets Rivers from the blind side untouched and drops Rivers for a huge loss.
Cotchery returns the punt to the 35 and it's all falling apart for San Diego right now. Brandon Manumaleuna missed the blitz pickup on Rhodes but it's not clear he really had much of a chance.
The way this game's going, I'm expecting the Jets to put together about a 7-minute FG drive. Greene up the middle for 4. Outside left for a couple more. Sanchez threads a 6-yard pass to Cotchery with just a 4-man rush coming. First down at the 47.
And heh, what did I say? Greene blows up the middle and crashes off Eric Weddle for a 53-yard TD run. Kevin Gregory appeared to have an invisible piano on his back as Greene pulled away.
Holy freaking cats.
Jets 17, Chargers 7.
Before we give the Jets too much credit, coming next, IT'S THE GOD DAMN STUPID SQUIB KICK, returned by Manumaleuna to midfield. IDIOTS! KICK DEEP! The Chargers lose a big play when Gates drops a short pass on 2nd-and-2 with nothing but open space between him and the goal line. 3rd-and-2 at the Jet 44, 15-yard catch and run by Gates. Rivers hits Jackson for 5 while bailing out from pressure. Throwaway on 2nd down. Quick slant to Floyd comes up a couple of yards short. They're kicking here? 0-for-two Kaeding is kicking here.
Fire Norv, and Kaeding, right now. The 40-yard attempt misses by a mile, and the Jets have the ball with 4:38 left. Looks like I'm a god damn moron for insisting they would win easily. What a bunch of damn jokers. And chokers. They're the Carolina Panthers of this year. Tools.
Charger timeout stops the clock on 3rd-and-5 with 3:50 left. Bryant McFadden just texted me to thank Kaeding for replacing him as the 2009-10 Postseason LVP. You're welcome. Pitch left to Greene is good for maybe 3. The Jets got San Diego to use 2 TOs and took a minute off the clock; they don't mind. Hester misses blocking the punt by a blink. Cromartie smartly grabs a high-bouncing kick at the 37. Charger ball.
11 to Gates, but then a false start on the RG. I don't know how he does it, but Jackson somehow gets both feet in on a jump ball at the 20. Rex Ryan challenges with 3:00 left. I couldn't believe it live, but it's a catch. JACKSON IDIOTICALLY KICKS THE CHALLENGE FLAG AND GETS A 15-YARD PENALTY FOR IT. They'll get the ball eventually here, but at the Jet 35. I'd wager that's about 33 yards out of Kaeding's range yet.
Fine call by the refs again on the Jackson catch. Good point by Simms on the necessity of that unsportsmanlike call on Jackson at this juncture of the game. I know I'd be complaining like hell about it if it happened to the Rams (see: 2008 game in Washington). Sproles takes a flare pass and slips Eric Smith down to the 16. Two Jets nearly get Rivers before he scrambles away for 3. 2:45 to go. Rivers throws for Gates in a crowd and Harris knocks it down. 3rd-and-7. With the Jets rushing 3 the 2nd straight play, Rivers hits Jackson wide open underneath. I have no idea how he failed to score, but the refs mark it just outside the goal line. Rivers hustles them up and sneaks the TD in himself. Can Kaeding make the PAT? Wow, yes, he does. 2:14 left.
Jets 17, Chargers 14.
Onside kick should be on the way. Chargers have one TO left. I think Simms is actually arguing the Chargers should kick deep. Well, they need a stop either way. Rhodes hauls in Mike Scifres' remarkably high-bouncing kick, on the rebound, at the SD 38.
Simms doesn't have a bad point for a change; San Diego needs a stop either way, and if they do get it, a deep kick would have given them better eventual field position. The onside kick, though, gives them a chance to get the ball back they wouldn't have otherwise. Worth the risk to me. This situation's been argued in Rams Nation more than once.
Greene off the right side for no gain. San Diego lets the clock run down to 2:00.
Greene gets up the middle to the 35. Hmm, that's long FG range. San Diego's last timeout comes at 1:55. Wow, Greene gets damn close on 3rd-and-6. The clock stops for a measurement. 4th and about a yard for New York. I can't decide what to do. It appears Ryan's going to go for it. That actually seems like the safest play. There's a lot of risk to a FG and it doesn't get you much. A punt doesn't get you a lot more. The 4th-and-1 appears a good percentage deal here. The Jets have their destiny in their hands and can clinch it. Plus the field position is much more favorable than it was when Bill Belichick went for it on 4th down against Indy. The Jets let the clock run to 1:09 and call timeout.
THOMAS JONES PLUNGES OVER THE LINE FOR THE FIRST DOWN AND THE NEW YORK JETS ARE ON THEIR WAY TO THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP.
Holy cats.
Kneel, kneel, game over. Nice choke job, you San Diego morons.
Final score: Jets 17, Chargers 14.
MVP: Game ball's going to Jim Leonhard, 2nd on the Jets in tackles with 6, a dangerous part of New York's blitz all game long and his INT, though a gift from Rivers, was certainly the turning point of this game. LVP to Kaeding for being a choking dog and to Norv Turner, whose team was unforgivably sloppy. And that onside kick is looking more and more like a bad idea, which I guess makes me a bad coach as well. I think I'm conditioned to think I need to be able to stop the clock three times to kick it away there, and Norv had just 1 timeout and the 2:00 warning.
Looking ahead: San Diego needs to rev their running game back up. Sproles and Tomlinson gained only 57 yards today, LT 24 on 12 carries. Hard as it is to believe, LT is clearly on the decline, and San Diego reacted too slowly to find a workhorse back to replace him. Well, there's this offseason.
Despite the success of the Jets' formula so far, I'm sticking with the Colts in the AFC Championship next week. Revis didn't exactly take anybody away today; Jackson was 7-111, Gates 8-93. I don't think Manning will have to worry about losing Wayne or Dallas Clark. The blitz really bothered Rivers today, but that's a buzzing fly to Peyton if he's on top of his game, and again, Indy picks blitzes up better than anybody. Also, while Rex Ryan and the Jet defense get all the pub, don't ignore that Indy defense that shut down Ray Rice last night and can certainly shut down the Jet running game as well. I like the Colts for all those factors.
Karma is the big question. The Colts let the Jets end their undefeated streak Week 15. In fact, the Jets wouldn't even have made the playoffs had the Colts not quit their game in the second half (with only a narrow 15-10 lead) by pulling the starters. The Colts let the Jets in the door; now the Jets are the team standing between them and the Super Bowl. If you think Jim Caldwell made the right decision Week 15, it'll be justice if the Colts beat the Jets next week. If you think he didn't, justice would be the Jets coming back to bite him.
I actually think the AFC game will be the better of the two games next week. It'll certainly have no lack of story lines. But ultimately, I ain't betting against Peyton Manning. Colts in a close one.
