Nov 22
AndrewSports Football, New York Jets, NFL
Question: Is Brett Favre Having a Renaissance Year?
Answer: It is hard to argue that Brett Favre looks reenergized with the New York Jets after squirming his way out of Green Bay during the offseason. He picked a good time (assuming he really had any competitive offers from other teams to consider) to join the Jets, who themselves have been playing second-fiddle to the New England Patriots for a long time, and could reasonably command the AFC East division this season.
After 10 games, the Jets are 7-3 (vastly improving on their 4-12 record from last year) and added a number of high profile good players to complement Favre along the offensive line (notably Alan Faneca and tight end Bubba Franks.) They didn’t wallop the Tom Brady-less New England Patriots, but they did pull out an overtime win in week 11, and have managed to dominate their division at least with wins over Miami in week one and Buffalo in week 9. That positions them for a great run over the final stretch of the season.
But since you asked about Favre, a little of Favre goes a long way. His problem has always been control issues when he’s trying to press down the field. That much, even at 39 years old, hasn’t changed even when he shed his Green Bay legacy. But New York has managed to tone that down by degrees without limiting Favre’s effectiveness and while integrating him into a new system. Frankly, I doubt anyone would have expected the coaching staff to have this much success.
Maybe by the end of the season, the stats will tell a different tale, but this is the same Favre that we saw in Green Bay. Even in 2005 when the Packers went 4-12, Favre’s overall stats have been fairly consistent from year to year. He thrives with a strong ensemble cast around him and plays hard and strong with little subtly. The control all comes from a good game plan and a willful coach. Now, who could have guessed that would come from Eric Mangini, who plays spoiled brat an awful lot, but maybe what Mangini needed was someone like Favre to gameplan for.
The Jets face off against the undefeated Tennessee Titans. A win puts them in rarefied company of spoiling an undefeated season, but a respectable loss wouldn’t be the worst outcome. The Titans are a physically tough team and they have the mystique of an undefeated team.
Sep 10
AndrewSports Football, NFL, Pats
The New England Patriots have signed Matt Gutierrez to the practice squad after cutting the 2nd year quarterback just before the beginning of the regular season. Gutierrez could possibly to join the team on the depth chart before the Jets game on Sunday. He would join starting quarterback Matt Cassel (try saying that five times fast) and rookie QB Kevin O’Connell.
All of this made possible by the season-ending knee injury to Tom Brady that was suffered 8 minutes into the first game of the season against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Gutierrez has 5 game appearances for the Patriots in 2007, but only 1 passing attempt (it was a completion for 15 yards if you care) giving him, get this, a career quarterback rating of 118.8. Tom Brady’s career QB rating? 92.9. (Okay, that was cheap. In fact, Brady’s QB rating last season was 117.2.) His strength, though, may be in knowing the Patriot’s playbook and being familiar with the terminology used by the team. The Pats declined to work out veteran quarterbacks on Monday to add to the roster in Brady’s absence. But adding Gutierrez to the practice squad gives them at least the possibility of having a third-string quarterback on the field Sunday.
Sep 07
AndrewSports Football, NFL, Patriots, Tom Brady
Did Tom Brady just take a season ending injury in the second possession of the season? Rumors are swirling that Brady tore a anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee which would conceivably sideline him for the entire season. Brady left the season-opener against the Kansas City Chiefs under his power and his return at the time was questionable. But depending how much truth there is to the diagnosis, that may be the last the Patriots see of him this season.
The Patriots organization typically keeps injuries close to the vest, as Bill Belichick is one of the cagiest head coaches when it comes to disclosure. It may take a day to sort out the truth from the rumor. But if so, that leaves Matt Cassel to take a starting role for the first time since high school. Cassel, a perennial back-up, led the Pats to a win today and completed the game with a respectable 13/18 for 152 yards. Even with an admittedly kind schedule, did the Pats ever plan to play the entire season behind Cassel?
Elsewhere in the AFC East, Brett Favre led the New York Jets to a victory over division-rivals Miami Dolphins, led by former Jets starting quarterback Chad Pennington who was released when the Jets picked up Favre from the Packers. And supposedly, the Buffalo Bills had improved enough to make a legitimate run at a Wild Card spot (they beat NFC favorites the Seattle Seahawks 34-10 today). Unless Cassel has less of a learning curve than we thought, or Brady is faking as usual, the division is suddenly wide open for the taking.
The Patriots next opponent is the New York Jets next Sunday.
Sep 10
AndrewSports Football, NFL
Week 1
1. Green Bay Packers
Brett Favre is tied with John Elway for most victories for a starting quarterback after his team’s 16-13 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles yesterday. The win wasn’t authoritative, but for the Packers, who have been back and forth between winning and losing seasons, this season appears to be an upswing.
Packers head coach Mike McCarthy made it clear that he was going to rein in the wild west ways of his starting QB, but restraint has never been Favre’s cup of tea. It would be nice if the Pack didn’t have to live and die by Favre’s arm, and that appears to be what we learned from Sunday’s game.
The Packers won because of special teams play and on the shoulders of their defense. Favre was mostly the same gunslinger he always is, 23/42, no touchdowns and one interception. But by keeping the Pack in the game, the defense squashed Philadelphia’s mostly tepid offense, they were able to win on 3 field goals and a fumble recovery in the end zone.
That’s not a great recipe for the postseason, but for now, I’ll take it.
2. Minnesota Vikings
Was it just by virtue of playing the disheartened Atlanta Falcons, or are the Vikings ready to make a legitimate chase for a playoff berth, the first since 2004? Things could have been shaky under Tavaris Jackson, who is only in his first year as a full-fledged starter and only his second year in the league overall.
But his first game stats were decent. He finished with 75.1 quarterback rating, one touchdown and one interception and 13-23 passing attempts for 163 yards. The defense for the Vikings really stepped up their game, and hey, playing against Joey Harrington probably didn’t hurt either.
It’s disingenuous, though, to put the win on the Falcons poor play instead of giving credit to the Vikings. They suffocated Harrington and exposed an offense that wasn’t clicking. And Vikings rookie running back Adrian Peterson earned his keep, rushing for 103 yards on 19 carries. He also showed some nimble fingers.
In a crowded NFC North, where even the Lions are showing signs of life, the Vikings are going to succeed if they can get consistent production from week to week.
3. Carolina Panthers
I’m rooting for a good season from the Panthers. Last year, they finished 8-8 and were bounced from playoff contention in week 15 so that their last win against the Saints was meaningless as far as the postseason was concerned.
But it’s nice to see a resurgence of Steve Smith, who sealed the victory in the third quarter with a 68-yard dash to the goal line. And Jake Delhomme was one of the better quarterbacks in Sunday’s match-ups, with three touchdown passes and 18/27 for 201 yards. With a nice compliment of players around the superstars, it was refreshing to see the Panthers return to form.
More Notes from the Cheap Seats
I can’t let a week 1 column go by without mentioning the Chicago Bears. They don’t really fit in this column because, let’s face it, yesterday’s game against San Diego was more of the same. You can talk about the enormous expectations because of the Super Bowl appearance, or how they faced the San Diego Chargers, who legitimately had a case to make the Super Bowl themselves last season. But the bottom line is this: they gave away Thomas Jones to rely on Cedric Benson and the other Adrian Peterson (you know it’s bad when you’re a six-year veteran and you’re only getting noticed as “the other guy.”) And no matter what you say about the Bears, their starting quarterback is Rex Grossman. Here’s an snippet I wrote about Grossman back in January. The assessment today is virtually unchanged.
The key sequence in the New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys match-up last night was the 80-yard Giants possession that ended with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Ward. Then after a horrible interception that probably had Dallas fans cocking a pistol to their foreheads, the Giants scored again bringing the score within 3 points in the fourth quarter with four minutes of game left.
Dallas QB Tony Romo redeemed himself with the final scoring drive of the game which sealed the win. What shouldn’t pass unnoticed, though, was that Giants quarterback Eli Manning showed some of the poise that makes his brother, Peyton, the outstanding quarterback that he is. The younger Manning still looks a little rough at times, but it is easy to forget he is only playing in his fourth season. If he can even bring half of what Peyton does to the field, the Giants are going to major contenders in the NFC East for years.
Tonight’s match-up of the Arizona Cardinals at the San Francisco 49ers is notable because both teams have the potential to improve their game tremendously. The Cardinals are their own worst enemy, but they have the players, and now the coach, to make a successful play-off run.
Last season was all about transition. They swapped starting QBs, benching Kurt Warner who was washed up three years ago, for rookie Matt Leinart, and shipping out head coach Dennis Green for a great hire in Ken Whisenhunt. But the fans are tired of transition and want to see some wins and maybe a playoff appearance. The postseason dry spell is verging on a decade.
Probably the biggest change is Ken Whisenhunt who will bring some creativity to the offense and hopefully some consistency to a generally inconsistent team. Leinart is starting is first full year as starter and he could establish himself as a splashy phenom if he can bring success to Arizona. It’s hard to put all the pressure to succeed on one QB, but Leinart is going to have to produce because Arizona is starving for something positive.
Sep 09
AndrewSports Football, NFL
Week 1
1. Indianapolis Colts
Did anything about Thursday night’s win over the New Orleans Saints convince you that Colts aren’t repeat favorites to at least make it to the AFC Championship game? Most of their major players on offense, Reggie Wayne, Joseph Addai and the inestimable Marvin Harrison, are back again this year. Peyton Manning looked sharp, throwing 288 yards and three touchdown passes. Hey, they even let Adam Vinatieri kick two 33 yard field goals for good measure.
The big difference this year is the Colts defense played remarkably. In the Saints post-game interviews, both coach and players accounted for their lack of productivity by calling it rust and distractions. But give credit to the Colts defense for stiffening the line, particularly on third down. The Colts recorded two interceptions, one for an 83 yard touchdown and held the Saints to 293 yards and just two scoring drives.
The Colts will dominate another season.
2. New England Patriots
My buddy said it best, “Coach Belichick loves to shove it down the Jets’ throat.”
Everyone was worried about the New England defense, which lost two key players this week (Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour; 4-game suspension for drug policy violation and minimum 6-games on the physically-unable-to-perform list respectively.) But the truth was much simpler, defense can be average if your offense is stellar.
Much was made of the improvements to the offense of the New England Patriots. Wide receiver Randy Moss was the big one (a steal in exchange for a fourth-round draft choice) but New England also sealed wide receiver Wes Welker with a 5-year contract and added tight end Kyle Brady and running back Sammy Morris and all four had an impact in Sunday’s game against the Jets.
The performance by Moss was a return to form from his Minnesota days (let’s face it, he’s going to bury his time as an Oakland Raider faster than Fox buried The Loop) 9 receptions for 183 yards, 1 touchdown. But in classic Pats fashion, Brady distributed the ball to 8 different receivers and the Pats gave running back Laurence Maroney a bigger role since Corey Dillon retired.
The Pats made a convincing case for a Super Bowl run, but this was the Jets. The game against the San Diego Chargers will be more of a challenge.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers are out to prove that last year was just a turn of bad luck. That, and they can dominate the AFC North without coach Bill Cowher, who is in the studio this year for CBS.
Like the Pats, this game was against a division rival, and the Steelers expected to burn them. The Browns, let’s face it, started Derek Anderson under center (refusing to give in to the pressure and start rookie Brady Quinn) and have an almost no-name rushing core. (In case you missed it, they signed running back Jamal Lewis in the offseason, whose offense production has been pretty consistent over the years.)
But the story wasn’t the Browns failure but whether the Steelers could return to the dominance of their Super Bowl season. They pounded the ball down the Browns’ throat and Roethlisberger threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers. The Steelers dominated every statistical category except…turnovers.
Pittsburgh was handed a dream schedule by the NFL. Here are the next four games: Buffalo, San Francisco, at Arizona, Seattle. If the Steelers are for real, this is an easy 4-0 start.
Notes from the Cheap Seats
San Diego was one of the teams that showed some legitimate rust in the first half of their win against the Chicago Bears. The Chargers looked fast asleep until half time, but fortunately for them, Rex Grossman pulled a Rex Grossman yesterday, was an abysmal 12-23 for 145 yards and 1 interception. That gave the Chargers ample opportunity to shake off the drowsiness and charge back to a 14-3 win, scoring both touchdowns in the second half.
Quarterback Philip Rivers looked like a rookie (this is his second season as a starter) for most of the first half, and seemed flustered by the Bears and the refs. In the end, Ladainian Tomlinson led the charge. He had 25 rushing yards on 17 carries, 7 receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown pass to Antonio Gates. Sure it doesn’t sound great, but it was clearly all the spark the Chargers need to wake up.
Neither the Denver Broncos nor the Buffalo Bills looked sharp in their first game of the season. The Broncos outscored the Bills by 1 point, and most of their offensive productivity was the result of Jason Elam field goals. Elam is a veteran kicker with 14 seasons under his belt. But what does it say about your team when your best player is a kicker?
Jay Cutler was average, and his receiving team (which includes ex-Colt Brandon Stokley) was okay. But the only real offensive threat was Travis Henry (most recently of Tennessee by way of Buffalo.) I don’t feel great about the Broncos, which has pretty much been the case since Elway retired. Okay, I know it’s stupid to pin all their hopes on a quarterback that hasn’t played in ten years, but the Broncos in that entire span have looked completely flat, even in the 2005 playoffs.
Is it time to cheer for the Buffalo Bills? I’m not convinced. I really wanted the Bills to play with a little more inspiration, but their offense just looked limp. Their defensive unit put on a good show, keeping the Broncos scoring to all field goals but one. And considering how the Broncos offensive production was stirring compared to the Bills offensive (470 total yard to Buffalo’s 184,) it’s amazing the game was as close as it was. But the Bills lost three, three!, defensive starters in the game: Ko Simpson, Jason Webster, and Coy Wire (broken ankle, broken forearm, sprained knee respectively.)
The Bills look to stew in mediocrity for another season, which is tough to do in the AFC East. You know the Pats are going to dominate, but it’s a three-way tie for second because none of the other teams (including Miami and NY Jets) look good. Again.
Apr 12
AndrewSports NFL
Drew Bledsoe’s 14-year career comes to an end with his retirement as a quarterback for the National Football League. Bledsoe was drafted overall No. 1 by the New England Patriots in 1993 and played for the Pats right up until he was supplanted by Tom Brady in the Patriot’s 2001 Super Bowl season. The rise of Tom Brady was inexorable (and hard to argue, in hindsight) and Bledsoe went on to play in Buffalo and Dallas, but rarely had a moment when his role as a starter wasn’t under scrutiny.
In 2006, Bledsoe was replaced after six games as starter for Dallas by Tony Romo -- another rising star. Romo led Dallas to a 6-4 record as starter and the team finished with an overall 9-7 record before being bounced out of the playoffs by Seattle in the Wild Card round.
Bledsoe reportedly fielded offers to be a back-up quarterback in either Cincinnati or Seattle for 2007, but wasn’t interested in anything but a starter’s role (ah the ego of NFL quarterbacks.) He does have a Super Bowl ring to his credit (the 2001 Patriots) and was integral in the Patriots making it to the Super Bowl when he came in as relief for Tom Brady in the AFC title game, but he never regained his role as starter in New England. His time spent with Buffalo was wasted on a mediocre team, and Dallas was only marginally better even with the addition of Terrell Owens during the 2006 season.
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