Word out of Oakland this morning is that Raiders special teams coach John Fassel is going to join Jeff Fisher's staff in the same role. Fassel had been with the Raiders since 2009. And yes, that name looks familiar: Fassel's father is former NFL head coach Jim Fassel. So if you're not buddies with Jeff Fisher, or not related to somebody, do continue not to send your resume to Rams Park.
Fassel was a Raiders special teams assistant in 2008 before taking over as coordinator the last three years. He was a special teams assistant for Baltimore from 2005-07, coming there after a two-year stint in Las Vegas. New Mexico. He was head coach for Division II New Mexico Highlands University. He has also been wide receivers coach at Bucknell and with Amsterdam in NFL Europe.
It'd be advisable not to give Fassel a ton of credit for Oakland's impressive kicking game, but at least give him credit for not messing up a good thing. The Raiders were almost the AFC's entire special teams unit in this year's Pro Bowl, placing kicker Sebastian Janikowski, punter Shane Lechler and long snapper Jon Condo. Unlike the Rams, the Raiders had the sense to keep a top-functioning snapper/punter/kicker combination together. Didn't somebody around here say Josh Brown and Donnie Jones were going to have it worse off last season without Chris Massey? And didn't they both have bad seasons? Fassel could become my favorite special teams coach of all time just by recommending the Rams bring Massey back.
Except here's how the Raiders' special teams units performed in Fassel's three seasons:
2011: 18th in kick returns (23.5 ypa), one TD. 24th in punt returns (8.9 ypa). (The Rams were 10th!)
Rookie Denarius Moore was the main punt returner. Jacoby Ford came into the season as the main kickoff returner, and had a 101-yard TD, but was injured much of the year.
The Raiders were a meager 27th in the league defending kickoffs (25.7 ypa). Perhaps not coincidentally, they were only 27th in touchback percentage (63.3%) despite the availability of one of the most powerful legs in NFL history in Janikowski. If there's a press conference to welcome Fassel to St. Louis, Question Number One needs to be why Seabass didn't just boot the ball into the stands more often.
NFL.com stupidly doesn't offer yards allowed per punt return, or rankings, but the Raiders were one of the very worst at covering punts, allowing a ridiculous 13.5 a return. Just eyeballing that, it has to be the worst in the league for 2011. Only Arizona gave up more total punt return yards.
The Raiders gave up two punt return TDs and a kickoff return TD in 2011. Those numbers tell me Fassel should have been FIRED somewhere, not hired here.
2010: Kick returns: just 16th, just 22.5 yards, even with Ford returning three kicks for TDs.
Punt returns: 26th, an anemic 7.0 yards, most returns by Nick Miller. Yes, he of the Rams'
punt return TD against Arizona this season.
Kick coverage: 18th, 23.1 yards allowed, also a TD. Unbelievably, only 31.2% of Janikowski's
kickoffs were touchbacks. And that was 2nd-best in the league! I know the tee
was five yards farther back, and I don't know if Janikowski was fighting any
injuries, but he's always had plenty of power to put kickoffs through the back
of the end zone from the 35 or the 30.
Punt coverage: 8.7 per return, roughly the lower-third in the league and about the same as
the Rams did that year.
Against the Chargers in 2010, the Raiders blocked a punt for a safety and another for a TD
(both in the same game). Those points plus Ford's TDs made them 2010's highest scoring
special teams unit in the league.
Fassel's old page on the Raiders website said the Raiders' special teams have led the NFL
in takeaways (10) and turnover margin (+7) the last two years.
2009: Kick returns: 18.2 yards, dead last in the NFL. Jonathan Holland and Gary Russell combined
for most of the returns. No one among 8 different kick returners averaged more
than 20 yards.
Punt returns: 29th with a pathetic 4.9 yards per return by Johnnie Lee Higgins.
Kick coverage: Also the worst kick coverage in the NFL. 25.7 yards allowed, with a TD.
Only 28.8% of Janikowski's kicks were touchbacks, though that was
6th-best in the league. Unleash the Seabass!
Punt coverage: Raiders punted more than any other team, and the practice appears to have
helped. Though it's difficult to eyeball (Thanks, NFL.com!), their 7.3 average
allowed looks like one of the better ones in the league that season.
Takeaway: If this coach's name were John Grabowksi, would he get many second looks? Fassel's coverage units in Oakland were dreadful for the most part. Punt coverage fell to worst in the league, and the punt return unit wallowed at the bottom of the league. Success forcing turnovers probably absorbed much of that blow. Fassel didn't mess up his kickers, and the kick return game did steadily improve. The Raiders blog gives him credit for Ford's development, for installing good blocking schemes and for creativity. NFL insiders seem to believe this is a great hire, and that Fassel is one of the best special teams coaches out there. Would that I got that at all. What I have to go on are the numbers, and they're not telling me that Fassel isn't even a step down from Tom McMahon, who the Rams probably could have kept. The Rams special teams have sucked ever since Frank Gansz, and I don't see that changing in the near future. C-minus
Ex-Rams updates:
- Speaking of McMahon, he has landed on the other side of the state and will coach special teams for the Chiefs next season.
- Jonathan Wade signed with Miami.
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Rams report, 1/30: new names in front office searches
The Rams' GM search has picked up the pace a little bit, with two interviews scheduled for today. They will talk with Jets VP of college scouting Joey Clinkscales and a new name to the list, Vikings director of player personnel George Paton. They'll join Les Snead, Ryan Grigson and Lake Dawson on the list of candidates the Rams have interviewed. Grigson, however, has already taken the Colts' GM job, and Dawson is an unlikely candidate here after getting a promotion in Tennessee.
Big Dead DPP Steve Keim was scheduled for an interview over the weekend but it had to be postponed. Uncertain at this time if talks will go through with Dolphins DPP Brian Gaine or Colts DPP Tom Telesco.
It has also been revealed that the Rams had interviewed Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano for their head coaching job. This only came out after the Buccaneers made Schiano their new head coach last week. Schiano would have been the Rams' Plan B if things had fallen through with Jeff Fisher.
In ex-Rams news, former defensive coordinator Ron Meeks has joined the Chargers' staff as secondary coach.
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Sources: NFL.com (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), ESPN.com
Saturday, January 28, 2012
STILL think the Rams aren't moving?
There are 8 to 10 finalists in the bidding for the Dodgers. Frank McCourt, selling the baseball team after going bankrupt last year, has agreed to identify the winner by April 1st. The team is expected to go for at least $1 billion dollars and could go as high as $1.5 billion. A group headed by Joe Torre, and another headed by Lakers legend Magic Johnson, are others still in the bidding.
Whomever ultimately gains control of the Dodgers (hard not to root for Torre here in STL), I think we can quit pretending Kroenke ever even intended for a minute to keep the Rams in St. Louis after taking over full ownership of the team from the Rosenblooms in 2010. This is a blatant maneuver by Kroenke to put some kind of marker on the L.A. market, though curiously, if Kroenke bought the Dodgers, and then, say, the Raiders moved to Los Angeles, it would be Kroenke who would be in violation of the NFL's cross-ownership rule. Again. (However, he would most certainly be allowed to own the Rams in Los Angeles.)
And, no, this isn't just Kroenke wanting real bad to be a baseball owner. He bought a minority share of the Rams in 1995; the baseball Cardinals were sold in 1996 without a peep from Stan I'm aware of. Certainly he had the cash; he bought the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche in 2000. I have yet to hear his name tied to the New York Mets, who, to oversimplify the story, will probably have to be sold off because their owner was implicated in the Bernie Madoff scandal. That'd be a fine big-market baseball team to own. So would have been the Chicago Cubs, which were sold just a couple of years ago. (But, of course, the Cubs SUCK.) This baseball flirtation and the London agreement are and always have been about L.A.
The St. Louis Conventions and Visitors Commission, responsible for delivering a proposal to bring the Dome up to terms with the "top tier" requirement of the stadium lease by Wednesday, may have fired the only bullet they have earlier this week when they notified the Rams that their agreement to play one home game in London each of the next three years is a violation of the lease. In contrast, Kroenke has already dropped two huge bombs on the CVC to set the stage for a move of the Rams back to Los Angeles. And their response to the CVC's contention? They pretty much could give a shit what the CVC thinks.
I despise Bill Bidwill with all my heart, but you know something? At least he owned a football team that St. Louis could call its own for 28 years. Fucking Kroenke is going to be out of here in five, taking the crown of biggest sports heel in St. Louis history with him.
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Sources: L.A. Times, Pro Football Talk
Friday, January 27, 2012
Senior Bowl 2012: South practice, day 3
* How did I miss Georgia OT Cordy Glenn on Tuesday? At 6'5.5", 346, it's not like he's hard to find. I thought he consistently got the better of Quinton Coples in 1-on-1, and I know he got the better of Courtney Upshaw in 11-on-11, repeatedly stonewalling the Alabama star's pass rush. And on what would have been a 25-yard run for Lennon Creer in 11-on-11, who's ten yards downfield making the key block? Glenn showed nice movement skills and excellent quickness off the ball for his size.
* Working on the side opposite Glenn, DE Melvin Ingram spent most of 11-on-11 in the offensive backfield. He usually made Zebrie Sanders and Melvin McCants look bad 1-on-1 as well, repeatedly blasting one or the other off his pins and walking him back to the QB. He showed excellent strength, ability to rush from the inside, a beautiful swim move and a strong rip move. Ah, to be young Mr. Ingram. Or at least his agent.
* Brandon Boykin looks like the South's best corner, and starred again Wednesday. He made a beautiful play 1-on-1 to close and break up a slant pass, and showed consistent ability to blanket deep speed, such as when he covered Joe Adams in 11-on-11.
* William Vlachos continues to impress at center. He dominated several reps and won a great battle with Ingram rushing him from an inside position. The guy is a rock, and if he can pass pro reliably against the likes of Ingram, I want him in a Rams uniform starting this April.
* Tennessee DE Malik Jackson (6'5" 285), who I believe came in late, made an impression in a hurry, running over McCants and using quick hands to whip formidable Will Blackwell in a rep as an inside rusher.
* If Donnie Avery didn't sour you on U of Houston WRs, have a good look at Patrick Edwards (5'9" 175). Unlike Avery in college, Edwards looks like a polished route-runner. He excels at the dig routes the Coryell system thrives on. Edwards absolutely tore Casey Hayward up, and had Dwight Bentley beaten deep off a double move, before, in true Avery fashion, pulling up lame with a hamstring injury. Well, for his route-running alone, he's worth a second look.
* I don't know what we're looking at any more with Hayward, who was as terrible Wednesday as he was good Tuesday. He showed no ability to handle any kind of speed. Edwards toyed with him 1-on-1 and Chris Rainey burned him to a crisp 11-on-11. Hayward wasn't just getting beaten Wednesday, he was getting beaten by yards. Inexplicable after watching him Tuesday, unless he's injured.
* Zebrie Sanders also struggled. Granted, he's facing topnotch competition in Ingram and Upshaw, but he's consistently getting knocked off-balance at the point of attack and driven backward. He shows enough talent, though, that I think he can be salvaged, whether in the weight room or by getting coached up not to play too high.
* A couple of other cornerbacks better quit playing on their reputations and clean up what they're doing on the field. Janoris Jenkins has the skill to stick with anybody but is constantly getting caught squatting on routes and getting burned deep trying to make a showy play. Like Jenkins, Bentley has all the tools to be a shutdown corner, but he interferes on every single play. These two should be coachable into excellent prospects but have big flaws to clean up.
* Baylor RB (FB?) Terrance Ganaway (5'11.5", 241) had a lot of trouble in the blitz protection drill but showed tough inside running in 11-on-11.
* Jeff Allen fared a lot better than he did Tuesday. He decisively won matchups against bad d-linemen and opened up nice holes in 11-on-11 for Ganaway and Creer. Ben Jones (Georgia, 6'2.5" 304) also showed little trouble with the lesser interior rushers.
* Those lesser interior rushers would be Tony Jerod-Eddie of Texas A&M and Kheeston Randall of Texas. Maybe they're mainly run defenders. Neither showed any ability to pressure the pocket Wednesday, getting stood up and shut down quickly, nor any moves to allow them to win with speed.
* San Diego State QB Ryan Lindley (6'4" 229) looked like the worst player on the field. He blew snaps, threw a terrible quick out that missed his receiver by yards, and launched a deep ball that I hope the receiver actually checked up on (didn't look like it), because he overthrew him by 40 feet. Looks way out of his league. Also in the what-are-they-doing-here category, the South coaches should really match Alabama safety DaQuan Menzie, who couldn't cover anybody Wednesday, up with Texas A&M WR Jeff Fuller, who can't get open for jack, and makes Brandon Gibson look like Torry Holt.
* Takeaway: Ingram and Upshaw look like high draft picks. Coples probably will be too, as long as he does well enough at the Combine to keep his hype meter on high. Vlachos looks to me like a first-day NFL starter. Glenn looked like one today, if you can figure out where to put him. I'm thinking right tackle. In Boykin, Jenkins and Bentley, there is plenty of cornerback talent, especially if you get the last two coached up. Hayward, who knows. Better run a good 40 in Indy. Chris Rainey is definitely the kind of multithreat player the Ram offense badly needs, and Edwards has the speed they badly need, if Jeff Fisher doesn't decide they're too small. Rainey's claiming he's going to run a 4.1 at the Combine. DTs like Jackson or Jaye Howard or Clemson's Brandon Thompson could be later-round steals. Also keep an eye on Blackwell, who fits the Rams' o-line need for a mauler, and TE Ladarius Green. And try to shield your eyes when Lindley gets behind center. Shiver.
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Senior Bowl 2012: North practice, day 3
Wednesday was revenge day for the North team. A lot of players that got shown up Tuesday bounced back.
* Kendall Reyes continues to look like the best player on the North roster. He almost beat the handoff on one run he broke up, and he and Nebraska LB Lavonte David (6'0.5" 225) also blew up a sweep. Reyes continues to show nice quickness off the ball, quick hands and is consistently beating blockers 1-on-1. Even when a blocker picks up his speed move, he adjusts and gets good push into the pocket.
* Michigan DT Mike Martin (6'1" 307) had a very good outing. He was very active and very effective on almost all the 11-on-11 run plays. In 1-on-1, he beat Tony Bergstrom with an outside rush, and impressed by disengaging from Rishaw Johnson and beating him after Johnson locked him up initially. Martin is definitely one of those scrappers who plays to the whistle.
* Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson (5'10.5" 203) looks like the best QB on either team. He will have to make up for his lack of size in the pros with top accuracy, and so far, he is. All of his throws are right on the money. Kirk Cousins (6'2.5" 209) has the strongest arm on the North team, though, and hit Iowa WR Marvin McNutt with a pretty touch pass during 11-on-11.
* Kevin Zeitler and Senio Kelemete wiped out the right side of the d-line to get Wilson forever to throw on one 11-on-11 play. And I mean wiped out. Zeitner pancaked his man, then Kelemete drove his man to the same spot and made it a stack of pancakes.
* Cam Johnson, though, smoked Kelemete for what would have been a sack in 11-on-11, and beat Mike Adams in 1-on-1 with an impressive swim move. He's "popping" out there, as Mike Mayock might say.
* Vinny Curry showed strength Wednesday to fight through blocks that were putting him on the ground on Tuesday. He also got to show off his ability to pass-rush from the interior, beating Zeitler with very quick hands.
* North team continues to have a ton of problems with the QB-center exchange, and beyond. Rishaw Johnson (Cal-Pa, 6'4" 310) constantly came up short with his shotgun snaps. Wilson and Doug Martin blew a handoff in 9-on-7.
* After impressively mauling people on Tuesday, Bergstrom had consistent problems with speed on Wednesday, getting beaten by Martin and by Cincinnati DT Derek Wolfe (6'5" 300). Wolfe had a very good 1-on-1 session, also beating Mitchell Schwartz with an impressive move. Punched him in the chest, then grabbed him and pulled him on by. Schwartz had stoned Jack Crawford earlier, so it's not like he's getting pushed around.
* In the pushed-around category, there's Johnnie Troutman, who got beaten pretty badly both times he was on camera. Mike Adams didn't look the part of elite OT, getting bull-rushed by Vinny Curry and by Cam Johnson's strong swim move.
* And when you think it can't get any worse for Billy Winn, it does. On one 1-on-1 rep, Kelechi Osemele pancaked him, and then sat on him. Winn shoulda just stood in bed.
* Didn't get much of a look at 1-on-1s between the DBs and receivers; not even sure NFL Network showed that much. They did show a little of the passing drill for the RBs and TEs, which mostly exposed people. Isaiah Pead smoked David to open the proceedings. George Iloka continued to get beaten badly. Wisconsin fullback Bradie Ewing had the worst drop of the day. Chris Polk was so jammed by Utah State LB Bobby Wagner on one rep he didn't even get off the line.
* Takeaway: Reyes has been the North's most impressive player. Curry looks like a good pass-rushing prospect who'll catch on quickly. Like Mike Martin's toughness. Cam Johnson's very intriguing but I'm guessing he'll go to a 3-4 team. Donnie Fletcher's the best North DB, Marvin Jones the best WR, but almost by default. Haven't gotten a lot of excitement out of either position. Isaiah Pead has got speed to burn and could be a good guy to have around. He'd be Jerious Norwood, if Norwood was still Norwood. Bergstrom, Kelemete, Zeitler are the kinds of maulers the Rams really need on the o-line, but they all look a little too inconsistent. Not sure what Billy Winn or Chris Polk are even doing there. And George Iloka needs to be something besides just big. Hopefully the Combine goes a lot better for them.
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Senior Bowl 2012: South practice, day 2
Here, though, are some players that look more than worth taking a gamble on:
* My favorite player of the session was Vanderbilt CB Casey Hayward (5'11" 188). He owned Arizona WR Juron Criner. He's a good, physical press corner who showed no problem staying with deep speed and no problem adjusting to routes that were supposed to get the receiver open by driving him deep. Reacts and closes on the ball extremely well in those instances. Again, I haven't seen a ton of Senior Bowl practices, but I haven't seen a group of DBs look anywhere near as good as the South team's did Tuesday.
* Quentin Coples gets a ton of well-earned buzz, but my favorite DE so far is Melvin Ingram (6'2" 276) of South Carolina. Watching some the position drills, you immediately get the sense he's a very smart, very coachable player. He also excelled in 1-on-1, killing Illinois' Jeff Allen with an outside move and killing Zebrie Sanders with a spin move. No contest either time, and Sanders looks like a good tackle. Ingram actually beat him twice.
* Baylor guard Philip Blake (6'2.5" 312) had an excellent session. He opened 1-on-1 with a beautiful recovery to hold up UNC DT Tydreke Powell after initially getting beat with a spin move. He won a couple more showdowns with Powell and also shut down Texas A&M DT Tony Jerod-Eddie (three first names, no last name!).
* Ladarius Green (UL-Laf, 6'6", 237) looked outstanding at tight end. Physical, with good size and soft hands. Also an excellent run-blocker. Looks as good as any TE the Rams have.
* Alabama DE Courtney Upshaw (6'1.5" 273) had one of the domination highlights of the day when he put UAB OT Matt McCants on the ground in a 1-on-1 rep. He also completely whipped the fullback for what would have been a sack in 11-on-11. Upshaw should be dominating these proceedings in little time; very legitimate top-15 talent.
* Florida's Chris Rainey (5'8.5" 174) is doing a little bit of everything. At WR, he blew by Janoris Jenkins in 1-on-1 like he was standing still. At RB, he bounced a run outside and would have broken off a big gain in 11-on-11. They say he also returns punts. The Rams have to keep their eye on players like Rainey, playmakers from multiple positions.
* Coples (6'6" 281), story of his senior season, was good but far from dominant. Won his share of 1-on-1's, but also got handled by Sanders, and even Allen. He beat Sanders in 11-on-11 to stuff a run, and also blew up a sweep, but also lost the edge on one of the big draw plays.
* Alabama C William Vlachos (6'0.5" 306) reminds me a lot of Rodney Hudson last year. Strong as a bull, locks onto guys well, keeps his man in front of him, strong drive blocker, difficult to move.
Also liked:
- How was Georgia CB Brandon Boykin not even on the South's original roster? Sure showed NFL-class speed and coverage skills today, sticking with the likes of Rainey and Arkansas speedster Joe Adams.
- LSU OG Will Blackwell (6'3.5" 314) won the majority of his matchups. Did get outmuscled once by Jerod-Eddie.
- Texas DT Kheeston Randall (6'4.5" 297) has a decent bull rush and can beat you with a spin move, too. He also helped Coples blow up a sweep in 11-on-11.
- Sanders (6'5.5" 308) more than held his own, considering he was going against Coples and Upshaw all day.
- UNC LB Zach Brown (6'1.5" 236) is rumored to have 4.4-or-better speed. Really stuck to receivers well.
- Alabama TE Brad Smelley (6'2" 233) has a terrible name but is a good route-runner with good hands. Future would seem to be at H-back/fullback.
- Adams (5'10.5" 174) looks like the South's best deep threat so far. Shows some suddenness off the line.
Not yet ready for RamView's endorsement:
* Jeff Allen (6'4" 306) did lock nicely onto Coples on one rep, but Coples had little trouble with him the other rep, and Allen was mostly today's designated victim. Looked way in over his head.
* Florida DT Jaye Howard (6'3", 292) is an interesting case. He has formidable quickness and had two clear wins in 1-on-1 vs. impressive competition in Blake and Blackwell. And he got an impressive win in 11-on-11 working on Vlahos, who couldn't budge him on what would have been a bull rush sack. Howard's issue is that he needs to get a LOT more interested in stopping the run. All the guy does is pass-rush every down, which resulted in the South D getting gashed by draw plays repeatedly during 11-on-11. They had four draw plays with huge holes and huge gains, and at least three of those were because Howard was way out of position looking for a sack. Gotta watch for the draw, kid!
* Arizona QB Nick Foles has a good play-fake, but looked like slop otherwise, screwing up handoffs, blowing the snap count, throwing behind receivers. Brandon Weeden has a pro arm, no question. He's also not even three months younger than... Steven Jackson.
* Texas A&M WR Jeff Fuller (6'4" 217) won the Ugly Drop of the Day Award and didn't look all that hard to cover.
* I'll get on the Dwight Bentley (CB, UL-Laf, 5'10" 176) bandwagon with the rest of NFL Network just as soon as he quits blatantly interfering on every play.
Second full-pads practice Wednesday afternoon.
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Senior Bowl 2012: North practice, day 2
* UConn DT Kendall Reyes has to have made himself a lot of money already this week. He looked positively dominant. He whipped Wisconsin guard Kevin Zeitler every which way. During drills, he did it once with a quick move off the ball and quick hands, and the second time, he drove Zeitler backward into the QB like a little, um, kid. When the fastest your feet move is when your opponent is shoving you backward, you're getting dominated. Reyes also would have stuffed a run in 11-on-11, and in that same drill, he flushed Kirk Cousins into scrambling with backside pursuit. Looks like the total package.
* Boise State DT Billy Winn probably saw Utah OG Tony Bergstrom (6'5.5" 315) in his nightmares last night. Bergstrom locked him down when power-rushing, and on one rep, Bergstrom put Winn on the ground with one punch. I hope Winn slipped, but I don't think he did. He just got flattened. I haven't seen a ton of Senior Bowl practices, but I've never seen anything like that. Keep an eye on Bergstrom.
* Another lineman just flattening people out there is OT Senio Kelemete of Washington (6"3.5" 300). In the 1-on-1 drill, he was just putting people on the ground. Vinny Curry would try to put that low speed rush move on him, and Kelemete would stay right on him and then say, ok, you're already close to the ground, here! Eat some turf. Strong tackle with feet quick enough to stay with speed rushers - if Kelemete keeps showing that, he'll be on his way up the charts with a bullet.
* Also liked: Penn State DE Jack Crawford (6'5" 278). Beat both Mike Adams and Mitchell Schwartz during 1-on-1 drills. Nice spin move, nice potential as a wide-9 rusher.
- Washington DT Alameda Ta'amu (6'2.5" 341). Would have had a couple of big run disruptions in 11-on-11.
- Marvin Jones still looks like the best receiver on the North team. Gerell Robinson won the hand fight and destroyed George Iloka on a slant route. Got himself open by yards. Looks like Iloka's working out at safety.
- Boston College CB Donnie Fletcher (6'0" 201) looks like the North's best cover corner.
* Guys you'll have to trust NFL Network on:
- Mike Mayock continues to pump up Nebraska CB Alfonzo Dennard (5'10", 203), even as he's making illegal contact with the receiver 20 yards downfield.
- The analysts have also been pumping up Washington RB Chris Polk (5'10.5" 224) for two days. The very first thing we saw today was Nebraska LB Lavonte David (6'0.5" 225) running over him in blitz pickup drill like a Mack truck turning a possum into road kill.
- Bucky Brooks says Appalachian State WR Brian Quick (6'3.5" 222) stands out. In a good way? Whenever he pops up on screen he looks like garbage. He got stripped by Penn State DB D'Anton Lynn (5'11.5" 208) during 1-on-1, which is inexcusable. He made an awful adjustment to a throw behind him in 11-on-11, like he was trying to basket-catch it or something. He hasn't looked all that hard to cover. For his sake, I hope this is a case of how the camera proverbially lies.
Another full-pads practice Wednesday morning. Last chance to impress the many of us scouting on TV!
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Rams report, 1/24: Rams sign a kicker
The Rams have signed kicker Garrett Lindholm, who had a tryout here earlier in the month. Lindholm was signed by the Falcons in 2010 as an undrafted free agent from Tarleton State. (If you knew that Tarleton State is in Texas, you get the star. My guess was North Carolina.) He kicked a 64-yard FG in college, which is tied for the 3rd-longest in NCAA history. He didn't make it into training camp with Atlanta, but he was the Colts' camp leg that summer. Lindholm's only pro experience was with the Milwaukee Mustangs of the Arena League last season. At least, I think so. Arena League websites really suck. Assuming it was a competition, Lindholm beat out Clint Stitser, who the Rams tried out at the same time.
Alumni news:
- Cord Parks signed with the Saints.
- Mikail Baker tried out with the Patriots.
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HA! Turns out I was thinking of Tareyton cigarettes. Perhaps Tarleton State's school motto is also "I'd rather fight than switch."
Alumni news:
- Cord Parks signed with the Saints.
- Mikail Baker tried out with the Patriots.
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HA! Turns out I was thinking of Tareyton cigarettes. Perhaps Tarleton State's school motto is also "I'd rather fight than switch."
Senior Bowl 2012: North practice, day 1
Quit focusing on undersized QBs, quit focusing on interviews nobody cares about with coaches nobody cares about, and get the camera on the action. Hell, Mike Mayock had to BEG the director a couple of times to get the shot on the meaningful drills instead of on handoff practice.
(Also, NFL Network, Heath Evans in for Stacey Dales? Terrible trade.)
Sparse coverage = sparse notes, but here we go:
* DT Kendall Reyes (6,4", 300, UConn) was one of the best players I saw; Charles Davis', too. Strong, quick off the ball, quick hands.
* Marshall DE Vinny Curry (6'3" 265) got good reviews. Gave Ohio State tackle Mike Adams (6'7" 323) all he could handle. Curry gets off quick and stays low. I'm not saying he's that good, but his form's reminiscent of Demarcus Ware's. Worth keeping an eye on. As for Adams, Mayock likes him a lot more as a pass-blocker than a run-blocker.
* I liked Ohio State center Mike Brewster (6'4", 310) but would like to see more consistency from him. He and Michigan DT Mike Martin had the best battles that made it onto TV. Brewster dominated when it came to power, but Martin got him with quickness half the time. Brewster practices with a nasty streak, I liked to see that. May not have the foot quickness to deal with quick moves. Would like to see more.
* A lot of the North linemen showed nasty practice streaks. A little too much, actually. Mayock talked about what a good job Cal OT Mitchell Schwartz (6'5" 317) did on a rep where he clearly held and went to his opponent's head with his hands. He also liked Wisconsin OG Kevin Zeitler (6'4" 315) even though Reyes whipped him on one rep and Zeitler clearly held, and went to his opponent's head, another time.
* Iowa State OT Kelechi Osemele (6 5.5" 333) did not appear to fare well. Slow off the ball and has major trouble with speed. Also about the only guy I saw get beat in 11-on-11.
* Virginia LB Cam Johnson (6'4" 267) had a couple of pass pressures in the little bit of 11-on-11 we got to see, working on Osemele.
* I thought Penn State OG Johnnie Troutman (6'4" 325) handled Boise State DT Billy Winn (6'3.5" 296) well and showed a good, strong initial punch. Mayock thought Winn beat Troutman up. YMMV, indeed.
* Bad day, no, bad broadcast, to find out much about what's going on at the skill positions. Russell Wilson looked like an accurate thrower. At his height, he'd better be Drew Brees. Kirk Cousins definitely has a fast ball. He was throwing quick slants about 90 mph. Naturally, in a year the Rams badly need to pick up receivers, we got to see a bunch of receivers dropping passes. The one WR who stood out in a good way was Cal's Marvin Jones (6'2" 198), who burned Iowa State corner Leonard Johnson (5'10" 198), this year's Ahmad Black, the DB who's undersized and can't cover but Mayock loves him anyway. For his part, Jones later got hit in the chest with a short pass but caught it on the rebound. Gerell Robinson (ASU, 6'3" 223) had a nice grab and had a drop. Guess we'll have to wait for the receivers to settle in. Cincinnati RB Isaiah Pead showed nasty elusiveness and some quickness in 9-on-7.
* Boise State has a DB there, George Iloka, who played some corner for them, at 6'3.5", 222. Let me guess... Seattle's looking at him?
Crossing my fingers for much more comprehensive and much better directed coverage of Tuesday's on-field action.
-$-
Monday, January 23, 2012
Rams report, 1/23: Line coaches lined up
According to reports by Jason LaCanfora over the weekend, the Rams have their new line coaches picked out.
The offensive line coach will be a blast from the past, Paul Boudreau. Boudreau has been o-line coach in Atlanta since getting canned here by Scott Linehan, a move that has yet to be figured out by anyone, (other than Linehan wanting to hire a buddy in Steve Loney) because Boudreau appeared to be getting a lot out of limited talent. The Rams may have tipped their draft hand slightly here, if Boudreau's thought of as well and as prominent as I think of him. Likely he's here to try to salvage Jason Smith and coach up the Rams' underperforming, overpaid offensive line, vs. the organization making another big-ticket player move on that unit for Matt Kalil with the #2 pick.
The defensive line coach will be Mike Waufle, last with the Raiders, but the key line on his resume is: Giants defensive line coach, 2005-2010. That alone makes me think his signing is a major coup for the Rams.
Bravo to Jeff Fisher for realizing a team has to be strong on the lines and for bringing in strong, successful coaches to run them.
Brian Schottenheimer was officially named Rams offensive coordinator this weekend. I still "owe" the blog bio entries on all-but-officially defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, along with the two new line coaches. Look for those before too long.
-$-
Update: Dave McGinniss has been added to the Rams coaching staff this afternoon as an assistant head coach. So now I owe the blog another one.
-$$-
The offensive line coach will be a blast from the past, Paul Boudreau. Boudreau has been o-line coach in Atlanta since getting canned here by Scott Linehan, a move that has yet to be figured out by anyone, (other than Linehan wanting to hire a buddy in Steve Loney) because Boudreau appeared to be getting a lot out of limited talent. The Rams may have tipped their draft hand slightly here, if Boudreau's thought of as well and as prominent as I think of him. Likely he's here to try to salvage Jason Smith and coach up the Rams' underperforming, overpaid offensive line, vs. the organization making another big-ticket player move on that unit for Matt Kalil with the #2 pick.
The defensive line coach will be Mike Waufle, last with the Raiders, but the key line on his resume is: Giants defensive line coach, 2005-2010. That alone makes me think his signing is a major coup for the Rams.
Bravo to Jeff Fisher for realizing a team has to be strong on the lines and for bringing in strong, successful coaches to run them.
Brian Schottenheimer was officially named Rams offensive coordinator this weekend. I still "owe" the blog bio entries on all-but-officially defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, along with the two new line coaches. Look for those before too long.
-$-
Update: Dave McGinniss has been added to the Rams coaching staff this afternoon as an assistant head coach. So now I owe the blog another one.
-$$-
Sunday, January 22, 2012
NFC Championship: Giants 20, 49ers 17 (OT)
FIRST QUARTER
No offense to James Laurinaitis, who gets to go to the Pro Bowl if San Francisco goes to the Super Bowl, but I am not rooting for the 49ers, now or ever.
49ers start with the ball. I assume the Giants won the coin toss and deferred? Missed it in the kitchen. Unlike last week, the 49ers are getting it to Frank Gore early and often. He appears trapped for a huge loss on a screen, but a big block by Joe Staley frees him to cut back up the middle for a first down. Mike Iupati's injured on a handoff to Kendall Hunter, but Gore's back up the middle for 7 the next play. 3rd-4, Alex Smith appears to throw behind Gore circling out of the backfield even though the Giant pass pressure wasn't great. Let the field position battle begin!
Giants will start out at their 15. Eli Manning's opening shot is an awful wobbler a mile behind Hakeem Nicks. OK, let the "Eli can't play in bad weather" theorists loose. It's 52 and raining in San Francisco. Carlos Rogers gets away with a TON of contact on a midfield bomb for Travis Beckum. 3rd-10. Manning hits Victor Cruz on the dig route for 11. While we wait for anyone to pressure a passer yet today, Manning converts another 3rd-and-long to Cruz. Giant running game gets nowhere, and they're looking at another 3rd-and-long when good pressure from Aldon Smith flushes Eli and Ray McDonald strips him. Very luckily for the Giants, Kareem McKenzie comes up with the loose ball.
HOLY CATS, guess who beats the bejesus out of the safety for today's first TD. The Giants couldn't see this coming? Perfect pass from Alex Smith to Vernon Davis, who burns the holy snot out of Antrell Rolle down the sideline for a 73-yard TD. Seriously, the Giants' plan for covering Vernon Davis isn't any better than that? You HAVE to know he's the only 49er receiver who can hurt you, right?
So much for the Giants being the better-coached team in this game, which is pretty much what I hung my hat on when I picked them.
The TD's reviewed to see if Davis stepped out of bounds, but Ed Hochuli spends more time than either Presidential candidate will take answering a question in this fall's debates explaining why he can't overrule it. 7-0 San Francisco as I realize that it's more important to our nation to get an out-of-bounds call correct than it is to have a solvent Social Security system, or to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
7-0 49ers
It would have been especially funny if the TD had been reversed, since Davis drew a penalty after the play for obnoxiously hot-dogging on one of Fox's camera platforms.
The penalty helps the Giants start out at their 32. You always hear that the "Lambeau Leap" is grandfathered into the illegal celebration rule; they're describing that particular move is ok in any stadium, right? I'm going to be pissed off if they wrote a special rule strictly for one team's fans. Anyway, diving catch by Hakeem Nicks, and the Giant running game finally does something as Ahmad Bradshaw gets outside for 5 and another first down. But he gets stuffed again, and with a 3rd-and-inches coming at the SF34, I have to think the Giants are passing. They do, but Manning well overthrows a well-covered Mario Manningham.
Tom Coughlin's going for it on 4th-and-1. Brandon Jacobs gets tripped up behind the line by NaVarro Bowman and pretty clearly does not get it. Nope. 49er ball. Jacobs has to be the most disappointing big back in the league.
The 49ers open this drive with a TERRIBLE call, attempting a reverse with a pitch to Kyle Williams, who is all thumbs, loses the ball, and I have no idea how Osi Umenyiora failed to recover it. 2nd-20. Give Iupati some credit for Umenyiora's failed recovery, which Williams fell back on. What are the 49ers doing with the idiotic trick plays the last couple of weeks? 49ers punt after Alex Smith appears to throw a ball end-over-end on 3rd-and-long.
Raining harder at Candlestick than I've been giving credit for. Manning overthrows Nicks at the 40. Jacobs off LT for 4, 3rd-and-6 for the Giants to start the 2nd.
SECOND QUARTER
Here come the Giants! Cruz burns Carlos Rogers on a corner route for 36 and sets them up inside the SF30. Bradshaw cuts back for 5. Center David Baas goes off injured before a key 3rd-and-4. Manning and new center Kevin Booth do get a few practice snaps in during the timeout, and Manning hits Cruz over the middle for six when we return.
Again, nobody tell me St. Louis has any kind of a fan problem based on all the CRUUUUUZ calls I hear in San Freaking Francisco during the NFC Freaking Championship.
While I'm ranting about that, the Giants pound down to the six-yard line. Eli has to burn a timeout on 1st-and-goal. Rogers breaks up a pass for Nicks in the back of the end zone. 2nd-goal, Manning orders his TEs to flop ends before the play, and Bear Pascoe, who lined up right and got moved left, uncovers at the goal line on a crossing pattern back to the right for the tying TD. When Eli re-shuffled the TEs, you had to know he was throwing to one, didn't you?
7-7
Kyle Williams gets behind the Giant secondary for a Smith bomb but it's overthrown. Smith Tebows for 8. Williams makes a short catch and collects an illegal hands penalty from Aaron Ross. Gore gets the ball for the first time in a while for 4, then bulldozes up the middle for 8 more. Anthony Davis and Michael Boley get into a scrum after the play, but it's Vernon Davis getting his second, STUPID, penalty of the day by trying to be the third man in.
After all that nonsense, it's still 1st-and-10 at the SF32. But the 49ers have Gore going now. He gets 7 up the middle and bounces outside right for another 9. 49ers near midfield. Chase Blackburn breaks up a play-action pass for Davis. Smith dodges a blitz and scrambles for 5. 3-man rush still flushes Smith on 3rd down, and Jason Pierre-Paul makes his first play of the day, tripping him up short after 3 yards.
Harbaugh's going for it, 4th and a long 1 outside the NY42. No, they were going for the offside, draw the delay of game and will punt. Will Blackmon makes a fair catch signal and then takes off like an idiot. That'll be a penalty.
Giants at their 19 with about 5:30 left. Bradshaw bounces left and runs through a tackle for 6. Hitch to Cruz nets 15 after Rogers falls down. Swing pass to Bradshaw for 6. Donte Whitner stuffs a draw to force 3rd and a long 2. The 49ers blitz Bowman and get to Manning before he can do anything. Bad blitz pickup by Danny Ware. I think Bowman gets the sack, but Isaac Sopoaga completely clogged up the lane and kept Eli from going anywhere.
2:51 left for Smith from his 16. Gore stumbles in the backfield and loses a yard. I had no idea Smith has only completed two passes all half. 1-6, 6 yards besides the Davis TD. 2:00 warning, 49ers appear to be in no hurry whatsoever.
Gore up the middle for a couple gets the Giants to stop the clock with a timeout. Seems like Harbaugh is turning Steve Spagnuolo here. They do drop back to pass on 3rd down, but the Giants blitz two and flush Smith to be tripped up by Justin Tuck. Nice punt return by Blackmon puts the Giants at their 36 with 1:36 left. No timeouts, though.
DROP by Jake Ballard. Had about six yards. 1:30
As Ware DESTROYS Aldon Smith with a chip block, Manning hits Cruz at midfield. 1:10
Chris Culliver breaks up a sideline pass for Manningham. 1:00
Eli to Cruz over the middle again, beating Rogers again, inside the SF40. 0:40
McDonald forces Eli up in the pocket, but it's a leaping catch by Cruz at the 21. Spike at 0:20
Cruz already has 112 yards receiving.
DELAY OF GAME, Giants.
dumpoff to Cruz, vs. 3-man-rush, for about 14. Spike at 0:06.
Lawrence Tynes from 31 to put the Giants ahead at halftime. Phew.
Giants 10-7
HALFTIME
Both teams should have a pretty clear idea who they need to stop in the second half. Manning has thrown for an impressive 181 in these slop conditions, 125 of it to Cruz. Has to be one of the poorest performances by the 49er secondary this season. They may have to step up the blitzing in the 2nd half. The Giants haven't given them a lot to worry about on the ground.
So, did the Giants stop Vernon Davis in the first half or not? He had only one catch. But it was for 73 and a TD. Gore's getting 5 a carry, and Smith is getting away from their pass rush too often. But it's ultimately hard to say they need to change a thing on defense. The 49ers better figure out a third person to make the Giants think about, or they could have trouble erasing even a three-point deficit.
Both teams have flirted with disaster, but neither has turned it over yet. Suspicious feeling here is that's going to change, and the game will change with it.
THIRD QUARTER
Bradshaw bounces outside and runs through Whitner for 9. Parys Haralson stuffs him on 2nd down. Bradshaw muffs a screen with Ahmad Brooks bearing down on him on 3rd down for the 3-and-out. Probably would have been a big loss anyway; Brooks was all over it. Good 3-and-out for the 49ers.
1st down at the 32, Smith wanted to go deep but got a spinebuster of a sack from Pierre-Paul instead. Giants have come out of halftime with their pass rushing shoes on. They get Joe Staley jumpy to force 3rd-and-19.
AND THEN AARON ROSS GIVES IT ALL BACK WITH AN ILLEGAL CONTACT PENALTY. That's almost as bad as a turnover.
1st-and-10 all over again. Hunter finds a seam after a pitchout and gets 14 behind Iupati. Gore moves the pile to midfield for 4. Good protection for Smith on 2nd down but he one-hops it to Davis, who was double-covered. Smith outruns a blitz and fires for an open Delanie Walker, but Jacquian Williams breaks it up. Despite Tuck running into punter Andy Lee, the punt dies at the 6.
Joe Buck says the last playoff game in Candlestick was "a heartbreaker in January 03". So where did the Saints play the 49ers last week, Kezar Stadium?
Quick slant to Cruz for 6. And another, for another 12. Haralson blitzes the empty formation, but Manning slips him and hits Jacobs for 3 on the hot read. 3rd-5, though. 49ers blitz the empty formation again, get Manning off balance, and he winds up throwing it away. Long line drive punt is very returnable for Williams, and he's out across the 45.
Pierre-Paul stops Gore for 2, but he's wide open in the flat on play-action the next play and rumbles down inside the 30. Play-action again, and guess who's wide open for the TD. VERNON DAVIS, burning the crap out of Kenny Phillips, who seems barely interested in chasing him, and Corey Webster mistimes a chance to hit him in the end zone for a possible break-up, or didn't want to hit him, or was afraid to. Still got a piece of him, but Webster really pulled his punch when his best option would have been to knock some slobber.
Giant defense has looked great today. Except for two plays.
49ers 14-10
16 to Nicks over the middle off play-action. Manning misses a quick hitch to Ware with a corner blitz coming. Draw to Bradshaw does little except set up 3rd-and-long. Because of a local weather alert, I can no longer see the Fox graphic that says score, time and down and distance. Ray McDonald beats David Diehl on 3rd (I guess) down to sack Manning. Big play by the 49ers with just 3:15 left in the 3rd.
49ers get away with ridiculous hold on Tuck on 2nd down but Pierre-Paul bats down the pass for Gore. 3rd-7, 4-man rush flushes Smith forward again, and his dumpoff to Gore doesn't get enough.Giants may have only 1 sack so far but Smith has had barely any time most plays he drops back.
Jacobs up the middle for 5 to the NY33. No one open for Eli on 2nd down, throwaway. 4-man rush nearly gets to Eli on 3rd down, and he gets away with a terrible pass that is not intercepted only because two 49ers ran into each other. Tarell Brown lost that collision with Dashon Goldson and is going to be down for a while. It looks like it could be a head or neck injury. They brought out the stretcher, but Brown's walked off the field with help instead.
49ers at their 12, inside a minute left in the 3rd. Gore off LT and inside a block by Walker for 10. A rare completion, to Walker at the 30, ends the quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER
No, make that a stupid personal foul on Chris Canty, though I don't know what set him off at the bottom of the pile. (How about a punch in a teammate's mouth?) Definitely the wrong time of the season to be making that kind of mistake.
49ers at their 45, then. Gore makes a man miss at the LOS and turns a loss into 5. Anthony Dixon nearly breaks a big run, but Rolle trips him from the ground. 3rd-1. As Buck ominously says the 49ers are 0-for-7 on 3rd down today, Blackburn and Chris Canty stuff Dixon for no gain. Yeah, don't put the ball in Frank Gore's hands there or anything. See if that doesn't turn out to be a key play. Harbaugh takes the delay of game to try to set Lee up, but a poor punt only comes down at the 20.
I'm smelling a big drive for the Giants here. Rogers stuffs a screen to Bradshaw for no gain. Then, apparently believing he has an hour to throw, Manning gets splattered by Aldon Smith. That was a rookie-bad play. 3rd-and-15. Long time for Manning again, but he throws an incomplete dumpoff for Bradshaw while bailing out. 49ers only rushed three as the Giant o-line suddenly went into a nosedive.
And those are some great instincts I have.
Then again... on 4th down, Williams misplays a bouncing punt and it appears to go off his knee. No referee sees it this way, though, and we're going to have a challenge from the Giants. Big play alert?
It's stunning to me that Williams doesn't go after the ball after it hits off his knee. He makes a move and then stops. How could you stop there?
BIG PLAY ALERT! Giants ball at the SF29. Devin Thomas recovers the muffed punt. Is this the game-turning turnover?
3rd-and-7, and the Giants have completely quit protecting Manning. He gets splattered by Justin Smith as he gets the 2nd down throw away. But he beats a corner blitz by hitting Nicks down to the 12. With Tarell Brown out of the game, I don't know about corner blitzing with a scrub in his place. Bradshaw bangs up the middle for 6, but there's a flag.
HOLDING ON BAAS. Put the ball back at the 22. Nicks drops a pass thrown behind him inside the 10. Flare to Bradshaw for about 5.
SF rushes only 3 on 3rd-and-5, Manning steps up into a very solid pocket and hits Manningham in front of Brown's replacement, Tramaine Brock, for the lead TD. 8:34 to go.
17-14 Giants
But, like Danny Woodhead in the first game, Williams immediately atones for his earlier turnover with a kick return out close to midfield. Smith just overthrows Walker streaking down the sideline, but illegal hands on Phillips makes it first down at the 50. Linval Joseph nearly breaks through on Smith, but he scrambles away instead for a 17-yard gain. That's a good omen for the home team. Hunter runs through a terrible tackle on a toss sweep left and gains 18. Pitiful tackle try by Boley. Smith looks for the end zone but dumps off to Gore at the 10. Interesting play action by Smith was supposed to get Williams open in the end zone, but he's well-covered and it's a throwaway instead.
And SF continues to shoot blanks on 3rd down, with Webster knocking Michael Crabtree out of bounds after just two yards on a flare pass. Akers chip shot ties the game with 5:39 to go.
17-17
Have a feeling it's going to take a TD to win this. Dangerous screen to Beckum for a whole 2. Eli overthrows Manningham, open on a go route. 49ers blitz and Patrick Willis stops Beckum short of the first down. Willis hasn't had his name called a whole lot, has he? Big play, though.
Poor punt by Weatherford spotted at the 35. 49ers have a shade over 4:00.Gore falls on what was supposed to be a play-action screen and Smith fires one out of bounds. INSIDE HANDOFF to Gore for 3. Interesting call there for a team that's 0-for-9 on 3rd down. 3rd-7. Mattias Kiwanuka makes it 0-for-10 by sacking Smith. I believe he stunted around Joe Staley.
Some superb clutch defensive play here. These have been two freaking good football games today.
Giants at their 26, 3:05 left. Manning idiotically eats another sack on a corner blitz with a dog blitz by Willis, who gets the sack. 2nd-21, Bradshaw gets 5 of it back after flipping Willis ass over teakettle on a blitz pickup. The 49ers rip the ball free, but forward progress was correctly called. I don't want to hear a peep of controversy about that call. 2:00 warning.
Story I've completely overlooked in the 2nd half is that the 49ers have shut Victor Cruz down. Don't think he's had a catch since early in the 3rd.
49ers corner blitz again, and Cruz pushes off Rogers to get open at midfield, but also pushes himself off-balance and can't field the pass.
1:47 left for SF at their 29. Is Rams Nation doomed to the most despicable Super Bowl imaginable, Patriots vs. 49ers? Suddenly I find myself wishing the lockout had lasted a lot longer.
Smith escapes Joseph again and fires an incompletion. 1:39
Giants 4-man rush does little, but Smith fires a poor pass at Crabtree's feet. 1:33
Weird pass to nobody in particular falls harmlessly at midfield. I don't even know who that was intended for, and Smith wasn't under that much pressure when he threw. 1:29
The Giant pass rush has pretty clearly gotten into Smith's head.
Giants at their 18 now, with 1:18 and two timeouts left.
Cruz falls on his cut and the pass falls incomplete. 1:14
Manning holds the ball FOREVER again, gets a key block late from Diehl, and hits Bradshaw up the sideline near midfield.
DRAW to Bradshaw for 2, Giants let clock run, 0:45
Manning under heavy pressure again, dumpoff to Bradshaw gets a few. Timeout #2 at 0:32
3rd-4 from the SF46. Manning has to throw off his back foot under heavy pressure, throws too high for Cruz, who can't quite make the juggling catch. Punt coming at 0:27, and it looks like overtime unless something freaky happens.
49ers try for the punt block but almost didn't need to. Weatherford's punt is a TERRIBLE 29 yards and Williams returns it to the 35. 19 seconds is enough time to get in long FG position, and who are you going to trust more with a clutch FG this year than David Akers?
Smith steps up into pocket and dumps off to Gore for a WHOLE THREE YARDS. And he didn't get out of bounds. Timeout #2 at 0:12
Tuck and Pierre-Paul collapse the pocket around Smith and Tuck gets him for a sack or a very small gain.
Four seconds left. The 49ers used their last timeout. Smith barely avoids a sack and hits Walker around the NY32, but time runs out.
With the Giants harking back to their 2007 run this postseason with the win over the Packers, it's worth noting they won that season's NFC Championship in overtime before going on to beat the Patriots.
FIRST OVERTIME
Ed Hochuli's doing a perfect job describing the new overtime rules, it just takes fifteen minutes. Giants win the toss and choose the ball as the hardest rain of the day begins to fall, both in Candlestick and here at home.
Giants start at their 20. Screen to Hynoski, who runs through a tackle for 9. Manning hangs up a bomb for Cruz, and idiot Goldson costs his team an interception AGAIN, hitting Rogers while going after the ball himself. Bradshaw up the middle for 4. 3rd-down pass is through Jernell Jernigan's hands and would have been well short anyway. I believe this means we are officially in sudden death. Next score of any kind wins.
49ers start at their 22. Giants cover all options on the rollout pass and Smith fires a ground ball. Pierre-Paul blows up an inside handoff to Gore for a 2-yard loss. Ha! The last play of regulation was SF's first 3rd-down conversion of the day. They come up a yard short here as Phillips and Rolle are all over the pass to Vernon Davis.
Giants now at their 36. Bradshaw for 6 off I believe Chris Snee's block. Quick slant to Beckum for 5 and a first down. Hynoski's briefly wide open in the flat but Willis shuts it down for only a yard. 49ers take timeout on 2nd-8, ball at midfield.
Brooks in the neutral zone, 2nd-3 at the SF46 now. Brooks gets back by hitting Manning on the throw the next play, and it comes up well short. 49ers bring a big blitz on 3rd-and-3 and Justin Smith bulldozes Diehl to get today's sixth sack of Manning.
BIG PLAY ALERT! Jacquian Williams punches the ball loose from Kyle Williams on the punt return and Devin Thomas recovers for the Giants at the 24. That punched ball may be a ticket-puncher for the Giants.
Bradshaw bounces outside for 8.
Bradshaw again, bursts through the right side of the line down to the 10.
And now down to the 6. So when's the FG team coming out?
Eli takes a couple of steps left and goes down a yard behind the line to set Tynes up in the middle of the field. It'll be a 26-yard attempt.
? No, it'll be a 31-yard attempt, after the Giants get called for delay of game. We still have the inevitable last nanosecond timeout from Harbaugh coming, too. Not really last-second, but Harbaugh spends it.
And we have our Super Bowl XLII rematch, Giants vs. Patriots.
Giants 20-17
Postgame show
Total winner of a game for me. Had Giants outright and the under, the latter thanks to the weatherman. 2-0 today, 1-1 vs. the spread and the o/u.
Guess here is that the Patriots will be favored by 6, but I don't care what the number is. Damned if I'm betting against these Giants. Or the over.
Nothing against Eli, but I think the way to go with Star of the Game is to give it to the Giant defense. The pass rush was completely inside Alex Smith's head the whole second half for sure. And every play but two, they took Smith's best receiver away from him. And throw in Devin Thomas for two fumble recoveries on special teams. Jason Pierre-Paul had six tackles, a half-sack, made big run stops and was in Smith's face a ton, so SotG goes to him. If Cruz had not disappeared in the 2nd half, it would have gone to him for sure.
Whether they do something in free agency or the draft, San Francisco's biggest need heading into next season seems almost definitely to be wide receiver. Looks like WR's going to be pretty picked over by the 2nd round of the draft if I'm right, so it might behoove the Rams to strike early there in April, no?
Enjoy the Super Bowl!
-$-
No offense to James Laurinaitis, who gets to go to the Pro Bowl if San Francisco goes to the Super Bowl, but I am not rooting for the 49ers, now or ever.
49ers start with the ball. I assume the Giants won the coin toss and deferred? Missed it in the kitchen. Unlike last week, the 49ers are getting it to Frank Gore early and often. He appears trapped for a huge loss on a screen, but a big block by Joe Staley frees him to cut back up the middle for a first down. Mike Iupati's injured on a handoff to Kendall Hunter, but Gore's back up the middle for 7 the next play. 3rd-4, Alex Smith appears to throw behind Gore circling out of the backfield even though the Giant pass pressure wasn't great. Let the field position battle begin!
Giants will start out at their 15. Eli Manning's opening shot is an awful wobbler a mile behind Hakeem Nicks. OK, let the "Eli can't play in bad weather" theorists loose. It's 52 and raining in San Francisco. Carlos Rogers gets away with a TON of contact on a midfield bomb for Travis Beckum. 3rd-10. Manning hits Victor Cruz on the dig route for 11. While we wait for anyone to pressure a passer yet today, Manning converts another 3rd-and-long to Cruz. Giant running game gets nowhere, and they're looking at another 3rd-and-long when good pressure from Aldon Smith flushes Eli and Ray McDonald strips him. Very luckily for the Giants, Kareem McKenzie comes up with the loose ball.
HOLY CATS, guess who beats the bejesus out of the safety for today's first TD. The Giants couldn't see this coming? Perfect pass from Alex Smith to Vernon Davis, who burns the holy snot out of Antrell Rolle down the sideline for a 73-yard TD. Seriously, the Giants' plan for covering Vernon Davis isn't any better than that? You HAVE to know he's the only 49er receiver who can hurt you, right?
So much for the Giants being the better-coached team in this game, which is pretty much what I hung my hat on when I picked them.
The TD's reviewed to see if Davis stepped out of bounds, but Ed Hochuli spends more time than either Presidential candidate will take answering a question in this fall's debates explaining why he can't overrule it. 7-0 San Francisco as I realize that it's more important to our nation to get an out-of-bounds call correct than it is to have a solvent Social Security system, or to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
7-0 49ers
It would have been especially funny if the TD had been reversed, since Davis drew a penalty after the play for obnoxiously hot-dogging on one of Fox's camera platforms.
The penalty helps the Giants start out at their 32. You always hear that the "Lambeau Leap" is grandfathered into the illegal celebration rule; they're describing that particular move is ok in any stadium, right? I'm going to be pissed off if they wrote a special rule strictly for one team's fans. Anyway, diving catch by Hakeem Nicks, and the Giant running game finally does something as Ahmad Bradshaw gets outside for 5 and another first down. But he gets stuffed again, and with a 3rd-and-inches coming at the SF34, I have to think the Giants are passing. They do, but Manning well overthrows a well-covered Mario Manningham.
Tom Coughlin's going for it on 4th-and-1. Brandon Jacobs gets tripped up behind the line by NaVarro Bowman and pretty clearly does not get it. Nope. 49er ball. Jacobs has to be the most disappointing big back in the league.
The 49ers open this drive with a TERRIBLE call, attempting a reverse with a pitch to Kyle Williams, who is all thumbs, loses the ball, and I have no idea how Osi Umenyiora failed to recover it. 2nd-20. Give Iupati some credit for Umenyiora's failed recovery, which Williams fell back on. What are the 49ers doing with the idiotic trick plays the last couple of weeks? 49ers punt after Alex Smith appears to throw a ball end-over-end on 3rd-and-long.
Raining harder at Candlestick than I've been giving credit for. Manning overthrows Nicks at the 40. Jacobs off LT for 4, 3rd-and-6 for the Giants to start the 2nd.
SECOND QUARTER
Here come the Giants! Cruz burns Carlos Rogers on a corner route for 36 and sets them up inside the SF30. Bradshaw cuts back for 5. Center David Baas goes off injured before a key 3rd-and-4. Manning and new center Kevin Booth do get a few practice snaps in during the timeout, and Manning hits Cruz over the middle for six when we return.
Again, nobody tell me St. Louis has any kind of a fan problem based on all the CRUUUUUZ calls I hear in San Freaking Francisco during the NFC Freaking Championship.
While I'm ranting about that, the Giants pound down to the six-yard line. Eli has to burn a timeout on 1st-and-goal. Rogers breaks up a pass for Nicks in the back of the end zone. 2nd-goal, Manning orders his TEs to flop ends before the play, and Bear Pascoe, who lined up right and got moved left, uncovers at the goal line on a crossing pattern back to the right for the tying TD. When Eli re-shuffled the TEs, you had to know he was throwing to one, didn't you?
7-7
Kyle Williams gets behind the Giant secondary for a Smith bomb but it's overthrown. Smith Tebows for 8. Williams makes a short catch and collects an illegal hands penalty from Aaron Ross. Gore gets the ball for the first time in a while for 4, then bulldozes up the middle for 8 more. Anthony Davis and Michael Boley get into a scrum after the play, but it's Vernon Davis getting his second, STUPID, penalty of the day by trying to be the third man in.
After all that nonsense, it's still 1st-and-10 at the SF32. But the 49ers have Gore going now. He gets 7 up the middle and bounces outside right for another 9. 49ers near midfield. Chase Blackburn breaks up a play-action pass for Davis. Smith dodges a blitz and scrambles for 5. 3-man rush still flushes Smith on 3rd down, and Jason Pierre-Paul makes his first play of the day, tripping him up short after 3 yards.
Harbaugh's going for it, 4th and a long 1 outside the NY42. No, they were going for the offside, draw the delay of game and will punt. Will Blackmon makes a fair catch signal and then takes off like an idiot. That'll be a penalty.
Giants at their 19 with about 5:30 left. Bradshaw bounces left and runs through a tackle for 6. Hitch to Cruz nets 15 after Rogers falls down. Swing pass to Bradshaw for 6. Donte Whitner stuffs a draw to force 3rd and a long 2. The 49ers blitz Bowman and get to Manning before he can do anything. Bad blitz pickup by Danny Ware. I think Bowman gets the sack, but Isaac Sopoaga completely clogged up the lane and kept Eli from going anywhere.
2:51 left for Smith from his 16. Gore stumbles in the backfield and loses a yard. I had no idea Smith has only completed two passes all half. 1-6, 6 yards besides the Davis TD. 2:00 warning, 49ers appear to be in no hurry whatsoever.
Gore up the middle for a couple gets the Giants to stop the clock with a timeout. Seems like Harbaugh is turning Steve Spagnuolo here. They do drop back to pass on 3rd down, but the Giants blitz two and flush Smith to be tripped up by Justin Tuck. Nice punt return by Blackmon puts the Giants at their 36 with 1:36 left. No timeouts, though.
DROP by Jake Ballard. Had about six yards. 1:30
As Ware DESTROYS Aldon Smith with a chip block, Manning hits Cruz at midfield. 1:10
Chris Culliver breaks up a sideline pass for Manningham. 1:00
Eli to Cruz over the middle again, beating Rogers again, inside the SF40. 0:40
McDonald forces Eli up in the pocket, but it's a leaping catch by Cruz at the 21. Spike at 0:20
Cruz already has 112 yards receiving.
DELAY OF GAME, Giants.
dumpoff to Cruz, vs. 3-man-rush, for about 14. Spike at 0:06.
Lawrence Tynes from 31 to put the Giants ahead at halftime. Phew.
Giants 10-7
HALFTIME
Both teams should have a pretty clear idea who they need to stop in the second half. Manning has thrown for an impressive 181 in these slop conditions, 125 of it to Cruz. Has to be one of the poorest performances by the 49er secondary this season. They may have to step up the blitzing in the 2nd half. The Giants haven't given them a lot to worry about on the ground.
So, did the Giants stop Vernon Davis in the first half or not? He had only one catch. But it was for 73 and a TD. Gore's getting 5 a carry, and Smith is getting away from their pass rush too often. But it's ultimately hard to say they need to change a thing on defense. The 49ers better figure out a third person to make the Giants think about, or they could have trouble erasing even a three-point deficit.
Both teams have flirted with disaster, but neither has turned it over yet. Suspicious feeling here is that's going to change, and the game will change with it.
THIRD QUARTER
Bradshaw bounces outside and runs through Whitner for 9. Parys Haralson stuffs him on 2nd down. Bradshaw muffs a screen with Ahmad Brooks bearing down on him on 3rd down for the 3-and-out. Probably would have been a big loss anyway; Brooks was all over it. Good 3-and-out for the 49ers.
1st down at the 32, Smith wanted to go deep but got a spinebuster of a sack from Pierre-Paul instead. Giants have come out of halftime with their pass rushing shoes on. They get Joe Staley jumpy to force 3rd-and-19.
AND THEN AARON ROSS GIVES IT ALL BACK WITH AN ILLEGAL CONTACT PENALTY. That's almost as bad as a turnover.
1st-and-10 all over again. Hunter finds a seam after a pitchout and gets 14 behind Iupati. Gore moves the pile to midfield for 4. Good protection for Smith on 2nd down but he one-hops it to Davis, who was double-covered. Smith outruns a blitz and fires for an open Delanie Walker, but Jacquian Williams breaks it up. Despite Tuck running into punter Andy Lee, the punt dies at the 6.
Joe Buck says the last playoff game in Candlestick was "a heartbreaker in January 03". So where did the Saints play the 49ers last week, Kezar Stadium?
Quick slant to Cruz for 6. And another, for another 12. Haralson blitzes the empty formation, but Manning slips him and hits Jacobs for 3 on the hot read. 3rd-5, though. 49ers blitz the empty formation again, get Manning off balance, and he winds up throwing it away. Long line drive punt is very returnable for Williams, and he's out across the 45.
Pierre-Paul stops Gore for 2, but he's wide open in the flat on play-action the next play and rumbles down inside the 30. Play-action again, and guess who's wide open for the TD. VERNON DAVIS, burning the crap out of Kenny Phillips, who seems barely interested in chasing him, and Corey Webster mistimes a chance to hit him in the end zone for a possible break-up, or didn't want to hit him, or was afraid to. Still got a piece of him, but Webster really pulled his punch when his best option would have been to knock some slobber.
Giant defense has looked great today. Except for two plays.
49ers 14-10
16 to Nicks over the middle off play-action. Manning misses a quick hitch to Ware with a corner blitz coming. Draw to Bradshaw does little except set up 3rd-and-long. Because of a local weather alert, I can no longer see the Fox graphic that says score, time and down and distance. Ray McDonald beats David Diehl on 3rd (I guess) down to sack Manning. Big play by the 49ers with just 3:15 left in the 3rd.
49ers get away with ridiculous hold on Tuck on 2nd down but Pierre-Paul bats down the pass for Gore. 3rd-7, 4-man rush flushes Smith forward again, and his dumpoff to Gore doesn't get enough.Giants may have only 1 sack so far but Smith has had barely any time most plays he drops back.
Jacobs up the middle for 5 to the NY33. No one open for Eli on 2nd down, throwaway. 4-man rush nearly gets to Eli on 3rd down, and he gets away with a terrible pass that is not intercepted only because two 49ers ran into each other. Tarell Brown lost that collision with Dashon Goldson and is going to be down for a while. It looks like it could be a head or neck injury. They brought out the stretcher, but Brown's walked off the field with help instead.
49ers at their 12, inside a minute left in the 3rd. Gore off LT and inside a block by Walker for 10. A rare completion, to Walker at the 30, ends the quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER
No, make that a stupid personal foul on Chris Canty, though I don't know what set him off at the bottom of the pile. (How about a punch in a teammate's mouth?) Definitely the wrong time of the season to be making that kind of mistake.
49ers at their 45, then. Gore makes a man miss at the LOS and turns a loss into 5. Anthony Dixon nearly breaks a big run, but Rolle trips him from the ground. 3rd-1. As Buck ominously says the 49ers are 0-for-7 on 3rd down today, Blackburn and Chris Canty stuff Dixon for no gain. Yeah, don't put the ball in Frank Gore's hands there or anything. See if that doesn't turn out to be a key play. Harbaugh takes the delay of game to try to set Lee up, but a poor punt only comes down at the 20.
I'm smelling a big drive for the Giants here. Rogers stuffs a screen to Bradshaw for no gain. Then, apparently believing he has an hour to throw, Manning gets splattered by Aldon Smith. That was a rookie-bad play. 3rd-and-15. Long time for Manning again, but he throws an incomplete dumpoff for Bradshaw while bailing out. 49ers only rushed three as the Giant o-line suddenly went into a nosedive.
And those are some great instincts I have.
Then again... on 4th down, Williams misplays a bouncing punt and it appears to go off his knee. No referee sees it this way, though, and we're going to have a challenge from the Giants. Big play alert?
It's stunning to me that Williams doesn't go after the ball after it hits off his knee. He makes a move and then stops. How could you stop there?
BIG PLAY ALERT! Giants ball at the SF29. Devin Thomas recovers the muffed punt. Is this the game-turning turnover?
3rd-and-7, and the Giants have completely quit protecting Manning. He gets splattered by Justin Smith as he gets the 2nd down throw away. But he beats a corner blitz by hitting Nicks down to the 12. With Tarell Brown out of the game, I don't know about corner blitzing with a scrub in his place. Bradshaw bangs up the middle for 6, but there's a flag.
HOLDING ON BAAS. Put the ball back at the 22. Nicks drops a pass thrown behind him inside the 10. Flare to Bradshaw for about 5.
SF rushes only 3 on 3rd-and-5, Manning steps up into a very solid pocket and hits Manningham in front of Brown's replacement, Tramaine Brock, for the lead TD. 8:34 to go.
17-14 Giants
But, like Danny Woodhead in the first game, Williams immediately atones for his earlier turnover with a kick return out close to midfield. Smith just overthrows Walker streaking down the sideline, but illegal hands on Phillips makes it first down at the 50. Linval Joseph nearly breaks through on Smith, but he scrambles away instead for a 17-yard gain. That's a good omen for the home team. Hunter runs through a terrible tackle on a toss sweep left and gains 18. Pitiful tackle try by Boley. Smith looks for the end zone but dumps off to Gore at the 10. Interesting play action by Smith was supposed to get Williams open in the end zone, but he's well-covered and it's a throwaway instead.
And SF continues to shoot blanks on 3rd down, with Webster knocking Michael Crabtree out of bounds after just two yards on a flare pass. Akers chip shot ties the game with 5:39 to go.
17-17
Have a feeling it's going to take a TD to win this. Dangerous screen to Beckum for a whole 2. Eli overthrows Manningham, open on a go route. 49ers blitz and Patrick Willis stops Beckum short of the first down. Willis hasn't had his name called a whole lot, has he? Big play, though.
Poor punt by Weatherford spotted at the 35. 49ers have a shade over 4:00.Gore falls on what was supposed to be a play-action screen and Smith fires one out of bounds. INSIDE HANDOFF to Gore for 3. Interesting call there for a team that's 0-for-9 on 3rd down. 3rd-7. Mattias Kiwanuka makes it 0-for-10 by sacking Smith. I believe he stunted around Joe Staley.
Some superb clutch defensive play here. These have been two freaking good football games today.
Giants at their 26, 3:05 left. Manning idiotically eats another sack on a corner blitz with a dog blitz by Willis, who gets the sack. 2nd-21, Bradshaw gets 5 of it back after flipping Willis ass over teakettle on a blitz pickup. The 49ers rip the ball free, but forward progress was correctly called. I don't want to hear a peep of controversy about that call. 2:00 warning.
Story I've completely overlooked in the 2nd half is that the 49ers have shut Victor Cruz down. Don't think he's had a catch since early in the 3rd.
49ers corner blitz again, and Cruz pushes off Rogers to get open at midfield, but also pushes himself off-balance and can't field the pass.
1:47 left for SF at their 29. Is Rams Nation doomed to the most despicable Super Bowl imaginable, Patriots vs. 49ers? Suddenly I find myself wishing the lockout had lasted a lot longer.
Smith escapes Joseph again and fires an incompletion. 1:39
Giants 4-man rush does little, but Smith fires a poor pass at Crabtree's feet. 1:33
Weird pass to nobody in particular falls harmlessly at midfield. I don't even know who that was intended for, and Smith wasn't under that much pressure when he threw. 1:29
The Giant pass rush has pretty clearly gotten into Smith's head.
Giants at their 18 now, with 1:18 and two timeouts left.
Cruz falls on his cut and the pass falls incomplete. 1:14
Manning holds the ball FOREVER again, gets a key block late from Diehl, and hits Bradshaw up the sideline near midfield.
DRAW to Bradshaw for 2, Giants let clock run, 0:45
Manning under heavy pressure again, dumpoff to Bradshaw gets a few. Timeout #2 at 0:32
3rd-4 from the SF46. Manning has to throw off his back foot under heavy pressure, throws too high for Cruz, who can't quite make the juggling catch. Punt coming at 0:27, and it looks like overtime unless something freaky happens.
49ers try for the punt block but almost didn't need to. Weatherford's punt is a TERRIBLE 29 yards and Williams returns it to the 35. 19 seconds is enough time to get in long FG position, and who are you going to trust more with a clutch FG this year than David Akers?
Smith steps up into pocket and dumps off to Gore for a WHOLE THREE YARDS. And he didn't get out of bounds. Timeout #2 at 0:12
Tuck and Pierre-Paul collapse the pocket around Smith and Tuck gets him for a sack or a very small gain.
Four seconds left. The 49ers used their last timeout. Smith barely avoids a sack and hits Walker around the NY32, but time runs out.
With the Giants harking back to their 2007 run this postseason with the win over the Packers, it's worth noting they won that season's NFC Championship in overtime before going on to beat the Patriots.
FIRST OVERTIME
Ed Hochuli's doing a perfect job describing the new overtime rules, it just takes fifteen minutes. Giants win the toss and choose the ball as the hardest rain of the day begins to fall, both in Candlestick and here at home.
Giants start at their 20. Screen to Hynoski, who runs through a tackle for 9. Manning hangs up a bomb for Cruz, and idiot Goldson costs his team an interception AGAIN, hitting Rogers while going after the ball himself. Bradshaw up the middle for 4. 3rd-down pass is through Jernell Jernigan's hands and would have been well short anyway. I believe this means we are officially in sudden death. Next score of any kind wins.
49ers start at their 22. Giants cover all options on the rollout pass and Smith fires a ground ball. Pierre-Paul blows up an inside handoff to Gore for a 2-yard loss. Ha! The last play of regulation was SF's first 3rd-down conversion of the day. They come up a yard short here as Phillips and Rolle are all over the pass to Vernon Davis.
Giants now at their 36. Bradshaw for 6 off I believe Chris Snee's block. Quick slant to Beckum for 5 and a first down. Hynoski's briefly wide open in the flat but Willis shuts it down for only a yard. 49ers take timeout on 2nd-8, ball at midfield.
Brooks in the neutral zone, 2nd-3 at the SF46 now. Brooks gets back by hitting Manning on the throw the next play, and it comes up well short. 49ers bring a big blitz on 3rd-and-3 and Justin Smith bulldozes Diehl to get today's sixth sack of Manning.
BIG PLAY ALERT! Jacquian Williams punches the ball loose from Kyle Williams on the punt return and Devin Thomas recovers for the Giants at the 24. That punched ball may be a ticket-puncher for the Giants.
Bradshaw bounces outside for 8.
Bradshaw again, bursts through the right side of the line down to the 10.
And now down to the 6. So when's the FG team coming out?
Eli takes a couple of steps left and goes down a yard behind the line to set Tynes up in the middle of the field. It'll be a 26-yard attempt.
? No, it'll be a 31-yard attempt, after the Giants get called for delay of game. We still have the inevitable last nanosecond timeout from Harbaugh coming, too. Not really last-second, but Harbaugh spends it.
And we have our Super Bowl XLII rematch, Giants vs. Patriots.
Giants 20-17
Postgame show
Total winner of a game for me. Had Giants outright and the under, the latter thanks to the weatherman. 2-0 today, 1-1 vs. the spread and the o/u.
Guess here is that the Patriots will be favored by 6, but I don't care what the number is. Damned if I'm betting against these Giants. Or the over.
Nothing against Eli, but I think the way to go with Star of the Game is to give it to the Giant defense. The pass rush was completely inside Alex Smith's head the whole second half for sure. And every play but two, they took Smith's best receiver away from him. And throw in Devin Thomas for two fumble recoveries on special teams. Jason Pierre-Paul had six tackles, a half-sack, made big run stops and was in Smith's face a ton, so SotG goes to him. If Cruz had not disappeared in the 2nd half, it would have gone to him for sure.
Whether they do something in free agency or the draft, San Francisco's biggest need heading into next season seems almost definitely to be wide receiver. Looks like WR's going to be pretty picked over by the 2nd round of the draft if I'm right, so it might behoove the Rams to strike early there in April, no?
Enjoy the Super Bowl!
-$-
NFLPA Collegiate Bowl 2012
NFLPA Collegiate Bowl
Carson, California
One thing to note about the second of Saturday's college all-star games is that this one's got even less
star power than the Shrine Game. The Shrine Game is a game for
third-day picks; this game looks like it contributed mostly
seventh-rounders and UDFAs to the league last year. It was formerly
called the Texas vs. the Nation Game, then the NFLPA Game last year,
and wasn't even expected to be held in 2012 for a while before being
announced in November.
The second thing to note is that the
Rams BETTER get some good inside intel out of this game. DICK VERMEIL
coached one of the teams, and St. Louis favorite Jim Hanifan was his
offensive line coach. Also, former Ram Corey Chavous was one of the
announcers (along with former Bucs QB Shaun King, who looks like he
ate Warrick Dunn).
The Rams have found players in this
game recently. Josh Hull played in 2010. Most famous this season as
turnstile to Chris Clemons, Kevin Hughes played in last year's game.
Practice squad o-lineman Tim Barnes and two training camp cuts, TE
Schuylar Oordt and QB Taylor Potts, also played. The most notable
players from last year's game: Raiders WR Denarius Moore and Texans
QB T.J. Yates.
This is a game full of undersized guys,
obscure-school guys and guys who played less than a full season due
to injury or discipline issues. There were runt RBs, midget DBs,
tweener LBs, and “high-motor” DTs all over the place. There were
players from every school imaginable this side of Faber, South
Central Louisiana State and ITT Technical. And a mess of football
family members, including Darrell
Green's son, Mike Singletary's son, Mike Iupati's brother and Nick
Folk's brother.
Vermeil avenged his loss in Super Bowl
XV, as his “Nationals” beat Tom Flores' “Americans” 20-14
(box score) before a crowd that looked like about 500. There were probably more
marching band members there than actual ticketholders. My scouting
effort for this game isn't even professional enough to do a
positional breakdown like I did for the Shrine Game, but here are players who stood out to me:
* Asa Chapman, DT, Liberty. Oh
hell yeah you bet I'm starting with this guy, who I cannot believe
was not mentioned even once during the broadcast, even though He.
Weighs. Four. Hundred. Pounds! His strength looks like a serious
question, though. He looks like a guy who's used to leaning on guys
100 or more pounds less than him for success. Hanifan's guys would
typically double him at the snap, but it never took more than one to
finish him. He's too big to be explosive enough to split those
double-teams quickly, or to re-gather his momentum quickly after the
hit from the double-team. He's always moving forward, and has pretty
quick hands. Any decent linebacker play at all behind him would have
brought attention to his obvious success occupying blockers. But
instead of lifting cheeseburgers, he needs to get in the weight room
and turn about 10% of that mass into muscle. I can see him in a
training camp but not as a draft pick.
* Gerald Gooden, DE/OLB, Purdue.
Shouldn't be any surprise that
Purdue has a player in this year's draft who can really get after the
QB. Gooden may have been the dominant defensive force of the game.
Had a sack, drew a hold that saved the National team a TD, and
pressured the QB pretty much every play.
* Marrell Evans, LB, Michigan.
Was not only one of the best defensive players in the game, but he
also had two tackles on special teams. Got faked out badly by G.J.
Kinne on a TD run but he made a ton of plays. Spent a lot of the game
in the opposing backfield. Solid against the run and also made a nice
play downfield to break up a pass. Was all over the field. This
performance, plus his good size at 6'3” 238, would seem to make him
one of the best prospects in this game.
* Jonte' Green, CB, New Mexico
State. Definitely Chavous'
favorite player and the best defensive back in the game. A hair
shorter than six feet. Made a diving interception. Good physical
presence, good hitter. Excellent closing speed and open-field tackler
on quick screens. Pretty much owned Jared Green. I have a feeling he
must fail the stopwatch test. In this game he looked easily like a
4th-round talent, or better.
* Max Holloway, DE, Boston College.
A very lightweight 242, but his
quickness made him one of the defensive stars of the game. National
team tackles had difficulty handling him. Spent a lot of the game in
the opposing backfield. Flashed in a couple of times to blow up runs
and pressured the pocket consistently.
* G.J. Kinne, QB, Tulsa. Officially
the star of the game, Kinne was 6-9-79 with an impressive 20-yard TD
run where he put ankle-breaking fakes on Evans and on Ahkeil White.
Also showed a strong, accurate arm. The QB talent in this game in
general had stronger arms than we saw in the Shrine Game.
* Bo Levi Mitchell, QB, Eastern
Washington. Very live arm. The
only QB with over 100 yards in this game, largely because he's the
most confident QB I saw this weekend flinging it deep. Throws very
well on the move. Flick of the wrist and it's gone. 6'2.5”, 199,
intriguing prospect.
* Jarrett Lee, QB, LSU. Threw
a TD pass and looked like the most accurate QB in the game, with a
strong arm to go with it. Would have liked to see more of him.
* Antwan Bailey, RB, Syracuse. One
of two notable RBs from the game, Bailey is not even 5'7” but comes
in at a pretty solid 195. It may have been the level of defensive
competition, but the running backs in this game looked consistently
faster than the Shrine Game's. There was also much more cutback
running. Bailey's quick, makes people miss, and takes full advantage
of his size making him hard to find.
* Jacquise Terry, RB, Kent State.
Like his size: 6'0 191. Good
and quick, good cutback runner, bounced plays outside well when he
had to.
* Jason Ford, Illinois.
Another game that criminally underused a solid Illini player. And the
American team seemed to be messing around with him at fullback, which
I don't see as his forte. Broke a 20-yard run that allowed him to
lead the American team in rushing, with 27 yards.
* Tracy Robertson, DT, Baylor.
Really took over down the
stretch. Got a lot of pressure on the pocket and had the 4th-down
sack that sealed the game for the Nationals. Also stuffed a run. Only
goes 275-280, though.
* Zack Masch, DT, Hawaii. Definitely
undersized at 278, but strong enough to bull-rush Tulsa G Matt Romine
almost over the QB for a sack. Also deflected a pass. Romine appeared
to have trouble with speed, and I imagine he'll face better in
training camp.
* Patrick Butrym, DT, Wisconsin.
Another undersized DT who gave
the American o-line fits. Had a pass pressure that forced a
throwaway, deflected a pass and also stuffed a run for a loss, I
think all in the second half.
Those last three are all nice performances, but I'm just not sure a lot of NFL interior offensive linemen stay awake at night worrying about getting beat by defensive tackles that don't even top 280.
* Peyton Thompson, CB, San Jose
State. A shade over 5'11”.
Hung pretty well with secondary mate Jonte' Green, blowing up a
screen and making a sweet play on the sideline to break up a perfect
pass for Jared Green.
* Scott Wedige, OL, Northern
Illinois. 6'5” 304. Believe
he played center but was also listed at guard. Showed he can really
tie up the nose tackle and destroyed Andrew Iupati on one run.
* Jared Green, WR, Southern.
Intriguing size (6'1.5” 190).
Intriguing bloodline (father is Hall-of-Famer Darell Green). But he
struggled miserably in this game, even given multiple chances to
handle the ball. He dropped passes, ran wrong routes, fumbled the
exchange on an end-around attempt. Unfortunately for the Rams, this
game wasn't a showcase of WR talent. Jason Barnes had a couple of
drops. Been there, done that. Nearly 6'6”, Lavasier Tuinei ran
through three tackles on a slant route TD and had another nice catch,
but struggled in the 2nd
half and had a drop.
* Takeaway:
Like I said, the Rams ought to be able to get info from Vermeil and
Hanifan about a lot of these players that other teams won't be able
to get. I thought Marrell Evans and Jonte Green were the best players
who could help the Rams right away at their positions. Also liked
Jacquise Terry. Quite a bit of legitimate pro talent available.
-$-
AFC Championship: Patriots 23, Ravens 20
FIRST QUARTER
Yep, didn't think I'd be able to stay away. Looks like I'll have to draw the line for not live-blogging postseason games at the Super Bowl again this year.
The NFL's latest hip new trend: winning the coin toss and deferring, which the Patriots do here and which I'm sure the winner of the coin toss of the second game today will do.
This game starts a lot better for the Patriots than their last playoff game against the Ravens. They stuff Ray Rice for no gain instead of giving up a long TD run. I have to charge Anquan Boldin with a drop on 2nd down, and Rob Ninkovich flushes Joe Flacco out of the pocket for an opening 3-and-out. Patriot D off to a strong start.
The Ravens answer in kind. Haloti Ngata is heard from early with a deflected pass, and despite Tom Brady getting all day to throw on 3rd down, Ed Reed breaks up the pass for Deion Branch to force a 3-and-out.
I'm not sure many predicted the Patriots to have the dominant defense today, but dominating, they are. They stuff Rice again, and on 3rd down, Vince Wilfork turns Ben Grubbs into a grocery cart and sets up a sack for old RamView draft day favorite Mark Anderson. Third straight 3-and-out today.
The Law Firm thumps out the game's first 1st down to get the Patriots to midfield. Branch wheels away from Bernard Pollard for 10 more. Julian Edelman gets a HANDOFF and makes a diving 3rd-down catch at the Raven 28 a play later. Illegal contact on Ladarius Webb vs. Wes Welker for another first. Took away an INT, but really caused it. Brady badly overthrows what should have been a TD to Rob Gronkowski, but hits him over the middle at the 11 the next play. Paul Kruger whips rookie Nate Solder to sack Brady at the 16. Good pressure on 3rd down forces a quick pass for Welker in the end zone that isn't quite there. And Ray Lewis had Welker blanketed. Steven Gostkowski puts New England on top.
New England 3-0
Solder reminds me to mention not to trust the NFL Network guys on evaluating offensive linemen in the draft. Nobody there smelled out that Jason Smith would be a bust. Tyron Smith has done well for Dallas, but nobody had Solder as the top o-lineman in the 2011 draft class, which he clearly has been. Mike Mayock (and I, I must confess) were all over Anthony Costanzo, who has been brutal, and Gabe Carimi.
Wilfork drops Rickey Williams for a HUGE loss, and once again this week, I cannot fathom Cam Cameron's reluctance to put the ball in the hands of Ray Rice. Like the bomb for Torrey Smith, but Flacco overthrows it. My thought is that Smith will burn the Patriots at least once today. Wilfork continues to dominate the first quarter by beating the center on a 3-man rush. Flacco had no one open and needed to throw that one away. Edelman idiotically loses 5 on the punt return but the Patriots are still set up at their 40.
Brady to Aaron Hernandez across midfield, but Lardarius Webb continues his impressive postseason with a leaping pick of a seam pass for Edelman at the 30. Big play for the Ravens, if their offense can get out of park, let alone first gear.
AND THERE'S YOUR BOMB TO TORREY SMITH. Safety bites HARD on play action and Flacco hits Justin King's worst nightmare for 42. TD if the pass isn't underthrown by a lot. Rice gets his third carry, but the Patriots are keying on him. The Ravens get blindsided on the play by an injury to Michael Oher. 3rd-and-5.
Another clutch play to Torrey Smith, who beats Kyle Arrington in the flat at the 12 for a first down.
SECOND QUARTER
The Patriots just barely hold the Ravens short of another first down inside the 5, stopping Anquan Boldin short of the 2 on 3rd-and-5. Wow, like Phil Simms, I was expecting a Harbaugh brother to go for it here, but here comes the FG team. Billy Cundiff ties it up with a pitching wedge. Wonder if the Oher injury had any influence on Harbaugh's decision. (Or that Ray Rice hasn't done a darn thing yet.) It's 3-3, but that drive was still a win for the Patriots.
3-3
Law firm up the middle for 13, then he bangs off a tackle for 11 more. An untold story this postseason is how well the Patriots are running. Hernandez can't pull in a too-long pass from Brady. Tom hasn't looked especially accurate so far, but on 3rd down, he beats a zone blitz with a bullet to Welker. 21 to Gronk puts the Patriots back in the red zone. Crucial facemask penalty on Dannell Ellerbe while trying to bring down the Law Firm puts the Patriots at the 8, and the Law Firm wins the appeal the next play with a TD run off Logan Mankins' solid block.
I'm not seeing a lot of solutions for the Ravens here. They're getting beaten on the line of scrimmage just like last week. They just don't have T.J. Yates to bail them out.
Patriots 10-3
Solder drove his man into the end zone on that last TD run. Flacco opens the drive by hitting Lee Evans for 20. A couple of plays later, Boldin goes through a slop tackle by Arrington for 37. Perfect pass by Flacco, and the Ravens are inside the 20. Rice pops off right tackle for 7. Great block by Marshall Yanda sprung him. 3rd-and-a-foot at the 8, I'm definitely running right behind Vonta Leach. The Patriots smell that and nearly stuff Rice, but he gets two feet with an extra effort.
Great improv by Flacco on 2nd-and-goal. He gets outside the pocket, and Dennis Pitta does a fine job staying with his scrambling QB at the goal line, and they connect for the tying TD.
10-10
Ravens have to waste a timeout before this drive ever starts because they only had 10 on the field. Drag route to Welker for 13. Hernandez eludes Ellerbe for another first down. Play-action to Gronk across midfield for 12 more. Welker wide open in the flat for 8, then play-action to Hernandez for 17 more, losing Ellerbe again. Patriots back in the red zone. Terrell Suggs embarrasses Solder to pressure Brady into a throwaway on 2nd down, and Gronk catches a lob pass inside the 10 on 3rd down, but apparently didn't keep both feet in. Gostkowski hits the gimme putt.
Patriots 13-10
Ravens at their 20 with 3:00 till halftime. They pick up a LB blitz and Flacco dumps to Rice for 11. Late pressure from Anderson forces Flacco to rush a bomb for Smith that would have been a TD otherwise. STUPID handoff call by Cameron leaves 3rd-and-9 at the 2:00 warning.
Oher goofs his way into a false start, apparently thinking he was going to catch a Patriot in the neutral zone. Linemen aren't paid to think, Michael. 3rd-and-14.3-man Patriot rush gives Flacco plenty of time to hit Pitta for the first down. 8 more as Flacco continues to throw a Pitta party. Flacco just avoids a sack by Ninkovich the next play. Ninkovich nowhere near the factor he was against Denver last week. Ed Dickson can't dig a low pass on 3rd-and-2, sending the ball back to Brady with 0:58 to go.
Belichick catches his home crowd by surprise by kneeling out the half. Harbaugh catches the football world by surprise by using none of his timeouts in turn. What a strange way to end the half.
HALFTIME
It's a close game on the scoreboard, but the Ravens are in a lot more trouble than it looks. They're getting beaten at the line of scrimmage. They're getting out-run more than two-to-one. They're having real trouble controlling Hernandez and Gronkowski, who are a combined 7-84. The Ravens do not impress me as a successful bend-but-don't-break defense. They'd better find a way to get to Brady in the 2nd half. They need more out of T-Sizzle, and Haloti Ngata continues to have a strangely quiet postseason.
Rice ended up with 10 carries in the first half, but with 21 yards, isn't getting anywhere. If one exists, they need a solution for Wilfork, who's giving the Patriots a defensive edge the Ravens aren't getting from Ngata. Their play mixture has actually been pretty good. They need to take better advantage of the opportunities they're getting downfield. A nice draw or screen early could do a lot to get the Patriots on their heels and really open things up. But the purple and black defense better stop Brady and Co. out of halftime to keep the offense from pressing. This can still be anybody's game, but the Patriots are playing the best hand heading into the 2nd half.
Ha! I thought so. Gronk wasn't out of bounds on that lob pass, which Boomer Esiason points out at halftime. The main reason I didn't argue that call strongly is that Belichick the Genius didn't challenge it. Turns out he should have.
THIRD QUARTER
CBS' halftime show highlighted the number of poor passes so far by Brady, and he misses an open Hernandez on 2nd-and-6 before spearing Gronk out to the 45 for an initial 1st down. Belichick then breaks the sweep to Hernandez back out for almost 10. Brady does his best Tim Tebow impression to get the first down, then pops up and trash talks Ray Lewis. Law firm continues to run hard and takes a draw for 7. 5 more as Jim Nantz points out that Ngata hasn't even been in the game. The Ravens are bending again. Hernandez fools Pollard badly for another first down inside the 15. This drive has been all Hernandez. He's had three carries, and now another catch, at the 6. 3rd-and-2. Ravens are realllllly bending.
Jarret Johnson makes a key play, though, filling the hole and then taking the Law Firm down for no gain. Belichick settles for his pitching wedge again. Let's see if that 3rd-down stop turns out to be a key play.
Patriots 16-10
Rice finally hits a big gainer with a sweep left for 12. Lee Evans makes a sideline catch across midfield to bail Baltimore out of a third-and-long after that. A bad dumpoff pass for Leach leaves them 3rd-and-6, but Flacco and Pitta make another clutch connection for 8.
And now it's Torrey Smith making the clutch play, catching a quick hitch on third down, making someone named Sterling Moore look like, of course, Justin King, and running down the sideline and diving for the pylon for what's ruled a (29-yard) TD. Alberto Riveron will have to see if Smith kept his feet in bounds once he got inside the 5. As Simms said, perfect call by Cameron, beating a Patriot blitz. And, two big plays today by Torrey Smith.
Ravens 17-16
Eww, what was Brady drinking on the sideline? It looked like water from out of a mud puddle. I guess they're serious in Boston about lovin' that dirty water.
Uh-oh, as they say on NFL.com, BIG PLAY ALERT. Danny Woodhead is stripped on the kickoff return by LaQuan Williams, two Patriots fail to corral it, and Emanuel Cook falls on it for the Ravens inside the 30.
And now Flacco scrambles down to the 10. He barely misses Dickson in the end zone on first down, and a Patriot blitz on 3rd down drops him back outside the 20. Cundiff extends the Raven lead, but that could have gone a lot worse for New England.
Ravens 20-16
Woodhead redeems his prior mistake by weaving out to the 38 with the kickoff. Brady and Gronkowski beat a blitz for 22 to the Ravens 40, but he definitely turned his ankle on the play. QUIT REPLAYING IT!
14 over the middle to Welker puts the Patriots in easy FG range to start the fourth quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER
With the Ravens rushing only 3 on 3rd-and-long, Welker beats Webb at the 15 for another 1st. Inside handoff to Woodhead makes it first-and-goal at the 4. He surges down to the goal line on an identical play.
And it's Brady sneaking around left end to put New England back in the lead. Or not.
OOOH, replay shows he definitely came up short. It should be 3rd and about a foot.
Whoops, thought it was 4th down. Corrected. Brady has to shush the brilliant Patriot fans. Green-Ellis tries to knife his way in but runs smack into Ray Lewis. Yep, that's not happening.
But on 4th-and-goal, it's Brady with the leap and the reach across the goal line. Patriots retake the lead with 11 1/2 minutes to go.
Patriots 23-20
Wow, Phil Simms has actually been a useful announcer today, pointing out the good blocks by Leach and Oher on a 9-yard Rickey Williams run and noting that the Ravens' deep success in the first half has opened up the underneath passing game in the 2nd half. That's what you get paid for when you're a TV analyst! Rice and Williams are really taking it to the Patriots now, banging all the way out to the NE40.
But then - BIG PLAY ALERT - brilliant 1-handed interception by Brandon Spikes for the biggest turning point of the game so far with about 7:30 left. I'm going to accuse Flacco of underthrowing that pass, but Spikes made a nifty play. Thought it was a good call to play-action there, too. Sometimes the other team just makes a play.
Hee! I love football. BIG PLAY ALERT! Brady goes for the jugular with a bomb for - Matthew Slater?!?!? - in the end zone, but Bernard Pollard brilliantly tips the ball to teammate Jimmy Smith. The Raven DBs in the end zone then alertly get Smith to get back up and run it out past the 35.
3rd-and-1 near midfield, with Rice limping off to the sideline, the Patriots leave Dickson wide open in the zone for 15. Ravens are back across the Patriot 40. 5:00 to go.
Belichick has been blitzing Spikes a ton this second half but isn't getting a lot of results out of it. Williams gets 7 before Rice returns, but Dickson hurts them with a false start. Rice up the middle for 5. 3rd-and-3 at the 30.
DRAW TO RICE?!?!? is blown up by, yep, Wilfork, for a loss of at least 3. This is going to be a pretty long FG for Cundiff, so Harbaugh is going for it. 4th-and-6 at the 33. Harbaugh calls timeout with 2:53 left. That's a good one; this next play is probably the season.
Here we go. Three-man rush, AND WILFORK WINS, grabbing the tail of Flacco's jersey. Flacco's desperation heave isn't close to his receiver on the far sideline. Patriots ball. They beat the Ravens on the most important play of the season with a THREE MAN RUSH.
THROWING with 2:45 left, Brady hits Branch for 7. Williams and Pollard help drop the Law Firm for a loss at the 2:00 warning. 3rd and a long 4. The Ravens still have two timeouts.
Gotta believe they're looking for the TE here. Ed Reed did, and breaks up the stick route to Hernandez. Baltimore's ball at their 21 with 1:44 left after the punt.
3-man rush, Flacco throws it away beyond Boldin, covered by EDELMAN. 1:39.
3-man rush, Pitta in the flat, stumbles, does NOT get out of bounds, 5 yards.
4-man rush, Boldin beats EDELMAN at the sideline at the Ravens 40. 1:09.
4-man rush, DROP by Rice that would have gotten 5 at best. Good play by Jerod Mayo. 1:05.
Patriots dog a LB, diving slant catch by Boldin should be good for 9. Harbaugh uses 2nd timeout. 0:58.
3rd-and-1 just short of midfield.
WILFORK IS ON THE BENCH, 4-man rush, Boldin ALL ALONE in the flat, gets a downfield block from Pitta and races up the sideline for 29. Ravens in easy FG range.
4-man rush, Flacco to Boldin for 9 more, fumble out of bounds. Clock under :30 and running.
Flacco fires for Evans in the end zone for what appears a certain TD, but STERLING MOORE knocks it loose to save the game for the Patriots. 3rd-and-1.
Moore makes another huge play with 15 seconds left, batting down a pass intended for Pitta by a scrambling Flacco. Cundiff brings in the nine iron.
AND SHANKS IT.
Patriots win, 23-20, on the worst postseason clutch kick since Mike Vanderjagt. The snap and hold looked good enough. Cundiff just hooked it into the woods.
Holy cats.
Postgame show
The Patriots are on to their seventh Super Bowl. I was my typical gambling self. 1-0 outright, 0-1 spread, blew the over/under, too. I do thank the Patriots for preventing a Harbaugh bowl. I assume the Patriots will be favored in the Super Bowl, but it can't be by a lot, and I'm not sure I'd even pick them. Maybe I'll know after the second game.
Star of the game is clearly Vince Wilfork, who was dominant. Pressured Flacco on a lot of key plays and was a big part of stuffing the Raven run in the first half. If this had been the Super Bowl I would hope the voters would have had the sense to pick him. Brady pretty much stunk, at least for him, and neither of the super TEs had a TD. Yay, good choice by CBS.
I just wish the Rams were set at a tenth as many positions as the Ravens are for next season. They definitely don't need me to tell them who or how to draft. I'd look to beef up the d-line and get Ray Lewis better help in the LB corps. The Ravens aren't a team that should be getting pushed around on the LOS as much as they have been in both playoff games this year.
On to the NFC game.
-$-
Yep, didn't think I'd be able to stay away. Looks like I'll have to draw the line for not live-blogging postseason games at the Super Bowl again this year.
The NFL's latest hip new trend: winning the coin toss and deferring, which the Patriots do here and which I'm sure the winner of the coin toss of the second game today will do.
This game starts a lot better for the Patriots than their last playoff game against the Ravens. They stuff Ray Rice for no gain instead of giving up a long TD run. I have to charge Anquan Boldin with a drop on 2nd down, and Rob Ninkovich flushes Joe Flacco out of the pocket for an opening 3-and-out. Patriot D off to a strong start.
The Ravens answer in kind. Haloti Ngata is heard from early with a deflected pass, and despite Tom Brady getting all day to throw on 3rd down, Ed Reed breaks up the pass for Deion Branch to force a 3-and-out.
I'm not sure many predicted the Patriots to have the dominant defense today, but dominating, they are. They stuff Rice again, and on 3rd down, Vince Wilfork turns Ben Grubbs into a grocery cart and sets up a sack for old RamView draft day favorite Mark Anderson. Third straight 3-and-out today.
The Law Firm thumps out the game's first 1st down to get the Patriots to midfield. Branch wheels away from Bernard Pollard for 10 more. Julian Edelman gets a HANDOFF and makes a diving 3rd-down catch at the Raven 28 a play later. Illegal contact on Ladarius Webb vs. Wes Welker for another first. Took away an INT, but really caused it. Brady badly overthrows what should have been a TD to Rob Gronkowski, but hits him over the middle at the 11 the next play. Paul Kruger whips rookie Nate Solder to sack Brady at the 16. Good pressure on 3rd down forces a quick pass for Welker in the end zone that isn't quite there. And Ray Lewis had Welker blanketed. Steven Gostkowski puts New England on top.
New England 3-0
Solder reminds me to mention not to trust the NFL Network guys on evaluating offensive linemen in the draft. Nobody there smelled out that Jason Smith would be a bust. Tyron Smith has done well for Dallas, but nobody had Solder as the top o-lineman in the 2011 draft class, which he clearly has been. Mike Mayock (and I, I must confess) were all over Anthony Costanzo, who has been brutal, and Gabe Carimi.
Wilfork drops Rickey Williams for a HUGE loss, and once again this week, I cannot fathom Cam Cameron's reluctance to put the ball in the hands of Ray Rice. Like the bomb for Torrey Smith, but Flacco overthrows it. My thought is that Smith will burn the Patriots at least once today. Wilfork continues to dominate the first quarter by beating the center on a 3-man rush. Flacco had no one open and needed to throw that one away. Edelman idiotically loses 5 on the punt return but the Patriots are still set up at their 40.
Brady to Aaron Hernandez across midfield, but Lardarius Webb continues his impressive postseason with a leaping pick of a seam pass for Edelman at the 30. Big play for the Ravens, if their offense can get out of park, let alone first gear.
AND THERE'S YOUR BOMB TO TORREY SMITH. Safety bites HARD on play action and Flacco hits Justin King's worst nightmare for 42. TD if the pass isn't underthrown by a lot. Rice gets his third carry, but the Patriots are keying on him. The Ravens get blindsided on the play by an injury to Michael Oher. 3rd-and-5.
Another clutch play to Torrey Smith, who beats Kyle Arrington in the flat at the 12 for a first down.
SECOND QUARTER
The Patriots just barely hold the Ravens short of another first down inside the 5, stopping Anquan Boldin short of the 2 on 3rd-and-5. Wow, like Phil Simms, I was expecting a Harbaugh brother to go for it here, but here comes the FG team. Billy Cundiff ties it up with a pitching wedge. Wonder if the Oher injury had any influence on Harbaugh's decision. (Or that Ray Rice hasn't done a darn thing yet.) It's 3-3, but that drive was still a win for the Patriots.
3-3
Law firm up the middle for 13, then he bangs off a tackle for 11 more. An untold story this postseason is how well the Patriots are running. Hernandez can't pull in a too-long pass from Brady. Tom hasn't looked especially accurate so far, but on 3rd down, he beats a zone blitz with a bullet to Welker. 21 to Gronk puts the Patriots back in the red zone. Crucial facemask penalty on Dannell Ellerbe while trying to bring down the Law Firm puts the Patriots at the 8, and the Law Firm wins the appeal the next play with a TD run off Logan Mankins' solid block.
I'm not seeing a lot of solutions for the Ravens here. They're getting beaten on the line of scrimmage just like last week. They just don't have T.J. Yates to bail them out.
Patriots 10-3
Solder drove his man into the end zone on that last TD run. Flacco opens the drive by hitting Lee Evans for 20. A couple of plays later, Boldin goes through a slop tackle by Arrington for 37. Perfect pass by Flacco, and the Ravens are inside the 20. Rice pops off right tackle for 7. Great block by Marshall Yanda sprung him. 3rd-and-a-foot at the 8, I'm definitely running right behind Vonta Leach. The Patriots smell that and nearly stuff Rice, but he gets two feet with an extra effort.
Great improv by Flacco on 2nd-and-goal. He gets outside the pocket, and Dennis Pitta does a fine job staying with his scrambling QB at the goal line, and they connect for the tying TD.
10-10
Ravens have to waste a timeout before this drive ever starts because they only had 10 on the field. Drag route to Welker for 13. Hernandez eludes Ellerbe for another first down. Play-action to Gronk across midfield for 12 more. Welker wide open in the flat for 8, then play-action to Hernandez for 17 more, losing Ellerbe again. Patriots back in the red zone. Terrell Suggs embarrasses Solder to pressure Brady into a throwaway on 2nd down, and Gronk catches a lob pass inside the 10 on 3rd down, but apparently didn't keep both feet in. Gostkowski hits the gimme putt.
Patriots 13-10
Ravens at their 20 with 3:00 till halftime. They pick up a LB blitz and Flacco dumps to Rice for 11. Late pressure from Anderson forces Flacco to rush a bomb for Smith that would have been a TD otherwise. STUPID handoff call by Cameron leaves 3rd-and-9 at the 2:00 warning.
Oher goofs his way into a false start, apparently thinking he was going to catch a Patriot in the neutral zone. Linemen aren't paid to think, Michael. 3rd-and-14.3-man Patriot rush gives Flacco plenty of time to hit Pitta for the first down. 8 more as Flacco continues to throw a Pitta party. Flacco just avoids a sack by Ninkovich the next play. Ninkovich nowhere near the factor he was against Denver last week. Ed Dickson can't dig a low pass on 3rd-and-2, sending the ball back to Brady with 0:58 to go.
Belichick catches his home crowd by surprise by kneeling out the half. Harbaugh catches the football world by surprise by using none of his timeouts in turn. What a strange way to end the half.
HALFTIME
It's a close game on the scoreboard, but the Ravens are in a lot more trouble than it looks. They're getting beaten at the line of scrimmage. They're getting out-run more than two-to-one. They're having real trouble controlling Hernandez and Gronkowski, who are a combined 7-84. The Ravens do not impress me as a successful bend-but-don't-break defense. They'd better find a way to get to Brady in the 2nd half. They need more out of T-Sizzle, and Haloti Ngata continues to have a strangely quiet postseason.
Rice ended up with 10 carries in the first half, but with 21 yards, isn't getting anywhere. If one exists, they need a solution for Wilfork, who's giving the Patriots a defensive edge the Ravens aren't getting from Ngata. Their play mixture has actually been pretty good. They need to take better advantage of the opportunities they're getting downfield. A nice draw or screen early could do a lot to get the Patriots on their heels and really open things up. But the purple and black defense better stop Brady and Co. out of halftime to keep the offense from pressing. This can still be anybody's game, but the Patriots are playing the best hand heading into the 2nd half.
Ha! I thought so. Gronk wasn't out of bounds on that lob pass, which Boomer Esiason points out at halftime. The main reason I didn't argue that call strongly is that Belichick the Genius didn't challenge it. Turns out he should have.
THIRD QUARTER
CBS' halftime show highlighted the number of poor passes so far by Brady, and he misses an open Hernandez on 2nd-and-6 before spearing Gronk out to the 45 for an initial 1st down. Belichick then breaks the sweep to Hernandez back out for almost 10. Brady does his best Tim Tebow impression to get the first down, then pops up and trash talks Ray Lewis. Law firm continues to run hard and takes a draw for 7. 5 more as Jim Nantz points out that Ngata hasn't even been in the game. The Ravens are bending again. Hernandez fools Pollard badly for another first down inside the 15. This drive has been all Hernandez. He's had three carries, and now another catch, at the 6. 3rd-and-2. Ravens are realllllly bending.
Jarret Johnson makes a key play, though, filling the hole and then taking the Law Firm down for no gain. Belichick settles for his pitching wedge again. Let's see if that 3rd-down stop turns out to be a key play.
Patriots 16-10
Rice finally hits a big gainer with a sweep left for 12. Lee Evans makes a sideline catch across midfield to bail Baltimore out of a third-and-long after that. A bad dumpoff pass for Leach leaves them 3rd-and-6, but Flacco and Pitta make another clutch connection for 8.
And now it's Torrey Smith making the clutch play, catching a quick hitch on third down, making someone named Sterling Moore look like, of course, Justin King, and running down the sideline and diving for the pylon for what's ruled a (29-yard) TD. Alberto Riveron will have to see if Smith kept his feet in bounds once he got inside the 5. As Simms said, perfect call by Cameron, beating a Patriot blitz. And, two big plays today by Torrey Smith.
Ravens 17-16
Eww, what was Brady drinking on the sideline? It looked like water from out of a mud puddle. I guess they're serious in Boston about lovin' that dirty water.
Uh-oh, as they say on NFL.com, BIG PLAY ALERT. Danny Woodhead is stripped on the kickoff return by LaQuan Williams, two Patriots fail to corral it, and Emanuel Cook falls on it for the Ravens inside the 30.
And now Flacco scrambles down to the 10. He barely misses Dickson in the end zone on first down, and a Patriot blitz on 3rd down drops him back outside the 20. Cundiff extends the Raven lead, but that could have gone a lot worse for New England.
Ravens 20-16
Woodhead redeems his prior mistake by weaving out to the 38 with the kickoff. Brady and Gronkowski beat a blitz for 22 to the Ravens 40, but he definitely turned his ankle on the play. QUIT REPLAYING IT!
14 over the middle to Welker puts the Patriots in easy FG range to start the fourth quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER
With the Ravens rushing only 3 on 3rd-and-long, Welker beats Webb at the 15 for another 1st. Inside handoff to Woodhead makes it first-and-goal at the 4. He surges down to the goal line on an identical play.
And it's Brady sneaking around left end to put New England back in the lead. Or not.
OOOH, replay shows he definitely came up short. It should be 3rd and about a foot.
Whoops, thought it was 4th down. Corrected. Brady has to shush the brilliant Patriot fans. Green-Ellis tries to knife his way in but runs smack into Ray Lewis. Yep, that's not happening.
But on 4th-and-goal, it's Brady with the leap and the reach across the goal line. Patriots retake the lead with 11 1/2 minutes to go.
Patriots 23-20
Wow, Phil Simms has actually been a useful announcer today, pointing out the good blocks by Leach and Oher on a 9-yard Rickey Williams run and noting that the Ravens' deep success in the first half has opened up the underneath passing game in the 2nd half. That's what you get paid for when you're a TV analyst! Rice and Williams are really taking it to the Patriots now, banging all the way out to the NE40.
But then - BIG PLAY ALERT - brilliant 1-handed interception by Brandon Spikes for the biggest turning point of the game so far with about 7:30 left. I'm going to accuse Flacco of underthrowing that pass, but Spikes made a nifty play. Thought it was a good call to play-action there, too. Sometimes the other team just makes a play.
Hee! I love football. BIG PLAY ALERT! Brady goes for the jugular with a bomb for - Matthew Slater?!?!? - in the end zone, but Bernard Pollard brilliantly tips the ball to teammate Jimmy Smith. The Raven DBs in the end zone then alertly get Smith to get back up and run it out past the 35.
3rd-and-1 near midfield, with Rice limping off to the sideline, the Patriots leave Dickson wide open in the zone for 15. Ravens are back across the Patriot 40. 5:00 to go.
Belichick has been blitzing Spikes a ton this second half but isn't getting a lot of results out of it. Williams gets 7 before Rice returns, but Dickson hurts them with a false start. Rice up the middle for 5. 3rd-and-3 at the 30.
DRAW TO RICE?!?!? is blown up by, yep, Wilfork, for a loss of at least 3. This is going to be a pretty long FG for Cundiff, so Harbaugh is going for it. 4th-and-6 at the 33. Harbaugh calls timeout with 2:53 left. That's a good one; this next play is probably the season.
Here we go. Three-man rush, AND WILFORK WINS, grabbing the tail of Flacco's jersey. Flacco's desperation heave isn't close to his receiver on the far sideline. Patriots ball. They beat the Ravens on the most important play of the season with a THREE MAN RUSH.
THROWING with 2:45 left, Brady hits Branch for 7. Williams and Pollard help drop the Law Firm for a loss at the 2:00 warning. 3rd and a long 4. The Ravens still have two timeouts.
Gotta believe they're looking for the TE here. Ed Reed did, and breaks up the stick route to Hernandez. Baltimore's ball at their 21 with 1:44 left after the punt.
3-man rush, Flacco throws it away beyond Boldin, covered by EDELMAN. 1:39.
3-man rush, Pitta in the flat, stumbles, does NOT get out of bounds, 5 yards.
4-man rush, Boldin beats EDELMAN at the sideline at the Ravens 40. 1:09.
4-man rush, DROP by Rice that would have gotten 5 at best. Good play by Jerod Mayo. 1:05.
Patriots dog a LB, diving slant catch by Boldin should be good for 9. Harbaugh uses 2nd timeout. 0:58.
3rd-and-1 just short of midfield.
WILFORK IS ON THE BENCH, 4-man rush, Boldin ALL ALONE in the flat, gets a downfield block from Pitta and races up the sideline for 29. Ravens in easy FG range.
4-man rush, Flacco to Boldin for 9 more, fumble out of bounds. Clock under :30 and running.
Flacco fires for Evans in the end zone for what appears a certain TD, but STERLING MOORE knocks it loose to save the game for the Patriots. 3rd-and-1.
Moore makes another huge play with 15 seconds left, batting down a pass intended for Pitta by a scrambling Flacco. Cundiff brings in the nine iron.
AND SHANKS IT.
Patriots win, 23-20, on the worst postseason clutch kick since Mike Vanderjagt. The snap and hold looked good enough. Cundiff just hooked it into the woods.
Holy cats.
Postgame show
The Patriots are on to their seventh Super Bowl. I was my typical gambling self. 1-0 outright, 0-1 spread, blew the over/under, too. I do thank the Patriots for preventing a Harbaugh bowl. I assume the Patriots will be favored in the Super Bowl, but it can't be by a lot, and I'm not sure I'd even pick them. Maybe I'll know after the second game.
Star of the game is clearly Vince Wilfork, who was dominant. Pressured Flacco on a lot of key plays and was a big part of stuffing the Raven run in the first half. If this had been the Super Bowl I would hope the voters would have had the sense to pick him. Brady pretty much stunk, at least for him, and neither of the super TEs had a TD. Yay, good choice by CBS.
I just wish the Rams were set at a tenth as many positions as the Ravens are for next season. They definitely don't need me to tell them who or how to draft. I'd look to beef up the d-line and get Ray Lewis better help in the LB corps. The Ravens aren't a team that should be getting pushed around on the LOS as much as they have been in both playoff games this year.
On to the NFC game.
-$-
Saturday, January 21, 2012
East-West Shrine Game 2012
E-W Shrine Game
St. Petersburg, Florida
I guess the first thing to note about
this year's game is that I don't think much anybody of note came out
of last year's game. Marvin Austin was the best player in the game,
and was drafted by the Giants in the second round, but blew out his
knee in training camp. The Titans took Iowa DE Karl Klug
in the 5th round and got 7 sacks from him. Delone Carter was game MVP, was a 4th-round
pick of the Colts, and ran for just 377 yards and 2 TDs for a team
that didn't have a go-to tailback. After them....
I'm open to argument, but nobody. One of my favorite players from the
game, Richmond DT Martin Parker, didn't make it out of training camp
with the Giants and didn't get picked up by anybody else. Another,
Florida DE Justin Trattou, is on the Giants' roster now after being
on their practice squad most of this season. I'm guessing he's mainly
played on special teams. So, unless there's a rare exception like
Austin, most of the players in this game are third-day picks at best.
Well, we know the Giants are watching.
The question for this game: is there anybody worth the Rams and Jeff
Fisher watching? Less-than-professional scouting notes by position:
QB: The West team won a
less-than-electrifying 24-17 game. Tyler Hansen (Colorado) looked
like the best QB to me. He seemed to have the strongest arm. He made
one of the game's nicer long throws and ran well. Made some of the
tough sideline throws as well. Has a nasty pump fake. Also liked B.J.
Coleman (UTC). Solid WCO QB who made a couple of excellent deep
throws to his TE. Good play fake. Needs better timing on his slant
passes. Would have liked to see more of Austin Davis (USM).
Definitely has the arm to make all the throws and gets the ball out
quickly. John Brantley (Florida) unimpressive, Dan Persa
(Northwestern) terrible-looking in very limited action.
RB: Marc Tyler (USC, son of Wendell),
Lennon Creer (La Tech), Taurin Poole (Tennessee) all solid interior
runners. Creer probably the best of the three, though he had a brutal
dropped pass. No elite speed, so I didn't see any improvements on
Cadillac Williams here. Alfred Morris (Fla. Atlantic) ran like a
mini-Steven Jackson. Could not be arm-tackled. Excellent yards after contact. Bobby
Rainey (WKU) got off to a rough start with a dropped pass and showed
no instinctive running, but he settled down in the 2nd
half and took advantage of some big holes. Dave Meggett's son Davin
(Maryland) very unimpressive. Indecisiveness made him look slow.
WR: Jarious Wright (Arkansas) made at
least one deep catch and was the best deep threat in this game.
Disappointed A.J. Jenkins (Illinois), who I consider a poor man's
Brandon Lloyd, didn't get more action. Wasn't thrown to until after
halftime, just one catch on a pretty comeback route. If he wasn't
getting open in this game (no press coverage), there may not be a lot
of pro hope for him. No way for me to know if that was the case or if
he just wasn't getting on the field. Tim Benford (TN Tech) showed
some ability to break big plays, but he carries the ball less
securely than a loaf of bread. LaRon Byrd (Miami) made good catches
as a possession receiver but I have serious questions about his
speed. Adjusts very well to the ball, though. Thomas Mayo (Cal-Penn)
had several catches on Shaun Prater, considered the best DB there.
TE: If the Rams draft only one player
out of this game, I want it to be UCLA tight end Cory Harkey. And I
don't think they even threw him the ball. Kid blocks like nobody's
business, though. He was the engine that made the West running game
go, to the point it was noticeable when he was off the field. If a
blocking TE could be MVP of a game, this was the game. The Rams
desperately need guys who can play like Harkey did today. Several
catches for George Bryan (NC State). Looks like a reliable release
valve. Chase Ford (The U) is the most intriguing TE prospect. Jimmy
Graham-like body. Made a sweet catch in traffic early in the game and
ran through some pathetic tackling for a 64-yard gain. That may have
been his only catch. He dropped a similar pass later. Mike Mayock
said he wants to hold judgment on Ford until he see how well he
blocks. Yeah, Mayock, Hurricane TEs are so well-known for their
blocking.
O-line:
I apologize that I did not get a very good read on the East's
offensive line. The West's, though, was dominant. That unit, along
with Harney, was the best unit in this year's game. BYU left tackle
Matt Reynolds pushed guys around for yards when run-blocking. He can
handle big bull-rush pass rushers, but showed serious problems with
speed a couple of times. But he looked as good as Adam Goldberg ever
does, with apologies for the faint praise. At a minimum you could
move him inside. Huge guard Brandon Brooks (Miami OH) and center Moe
Petrus (UConn) just bulldozed the East line at times. Ryan Miller
(Colorado) looked terrific at RT. Punishing, dominating run-blocker,
looked good in pass pro to boot. They even had a ringer from Canada,
guard Ben (The Brain) Heenan, who looked good in pass pro and really
locked onto guys run-blocking. These five blew open monster holes for
the RBs and almost always gave their QB a solid pocket. The Rams
would do well to acquire as many of them as possible. And if they're
still looking for an o-line coach, I recommend West coach Mark
Mangino. That line was a well-oiled machine.
D-line:
The East had two defensive ends, Kyle Wilber (Wake Forest) and Julian
Miller (West Virginia), who gave as good as they got. Wilber, who
looks like a 3-4 OLB, gave Reynolds serious trouble with his speed,
and also showed a nice punch, using each to blow up a couple of
plays. Miller got good pressure on the QB, came in unblocked for a
sack, stuffed a run play and nearly picked off a screen pass with a
leaping effort. DE Tyrone Crawford (Boise State) got decent pressure
on most plays for the West and stuffed a couple of runs to boot. That
40 jersey was confusing; he looked quick enough at times to be a
safety. DT Dajohn Harris (USC) was a pretty good presence in the
middle. Had a tackle-for-loss but also really lacked any push at
times. Obviously he's a guy you had to see practice; his game play
didn't match the pre-game hype from the broadcast booth. Jabaree
Tuani (Navy) was the best defensive tackle in the game. Blew up a run
with a great jump off the snap and also deflected a pass. Military
commitment makes it difficult to draft him, though.
LB:
Josh Kaddu (Oregon) got a heap of pre-game hype from Charles Davis
and then looked AWFUL early, missing tackles and overrunning plays
badly. He settled down in the 2nd
half, though, after making a big hit on a punt. He blew up a sweep
for a big loss and looked good staying with TEs on long routes. Jerry
Franklin (Arkansas) and Tank Carder (TCU) did solid work early,
stuffing several runs. Shawn Loiseau (Merrimack) showed excellent
sideline-to-sideline speed, made nice open-field tackles and had a
TFL. Fast enough to run down receivers!
DB:
Charles Brown (UNC) looked like the best corner in the game. Hard for
a press corner to show well in this game, but he did. Also a good
kick returner. Shaun Prater got a lot of good reviews, and looks the
part, but got beat by Mayo a lot. Again, hard for a press corner to
show well here. West defense did some poor tackling early, but safety
Blake Gideon (Texas) took the cake. He made Craig Dahl look like Troy
Polamalu. Terrible missed tackle on the long Ford catch followed a
play where he wussed out on a sideline tackle and let the RB run
through him. Justin Bethel (Presbyterian) closed quickly and tackled
well in the open field. Aaron Henry (Wisconsin) brought some lumber
and supported the run well.
Special
teams: The Rams are in no position to do this, and I NEVER recommend
to do this, but punter Bryan Anger (Cal) looks like a draftable
talent, hitting two absolute moonshots. (Must have been three. I see from the box score that he averaged 60 on three attempts: 59, 60 and 61 yards.) Punt returner Devin Wylie
(Fresno) looked like a smaller Danny Amendola. Got a couple of nice
long returns.
Takeaway: Loved the West offensive line, Harkey, Julian Miller, Crawford and Loiseau. Any of them would be good late-round additions for the Rams.
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