LT vs Belichick

Hmmm. LT2 pretty much blew up (as far as LT is concerned) at the post game press conference after the Chargers nose dived out of the playoffs. Now, my take on this; I have never heard LT speak about another team/coach the way he did at that press conference. If something riles LT enough to make him talk that way then it must be something to it. I agree with LT in some respects in that, the Pats showed no class and looked like a team that had been out of the playoffs for years. On the flipside I believe (or would like to believe) that the antics were not aimed at the Chargers as a whole but mainly at Shawn Merriman who tends to be a little over confident in himself. I do think though that dancing on the symbol in the centre of the field is a no no; just like T.O. with his obsession for the Cowboys symbol.

All in all it was a pretty downbeat LT that was speaking; let’s not forget that the emotions of just getting drop kicked out of the playoffs would have been through the roof. Maybe that had as much to do with it as anything.

Madden 2001 Revisited

I just purchased Madden 2001 off ebay the other day, not to play but for prosperity so to speak. This was the 1st version of the Madden franchise that got The Dogg, The Mac and The Bowski hooked on the game. The game was waiting for me at home after work last night, and yes, I went straight to the PS2 and inserted the new old Madden. It’s quite amazing how far the graphics have come despite using the same console, but what is more apparent is how much the gameplay has evolved over the course of the series.
The main addition they made after 2001 is the ability to strafe on defence. You have no idea how hard it is to go back and play as a safety without the ability to strafe. I also realised why on this game it was so easy to make picks (I think I made 30 odd in one season but The Mac and The Bowski can cooborate this). Where ever the CPU receiver is on the field the pass is always thrown flat no matter whether you tap or hold the button.

We all slam EA Sports for the latest Madden games but, it’s not until you drop back to the first few (even up to 2004) that you realise how much the game has stepped up. Now I’m not excusing their basic mistakes on the new one but I will cut back the anger I feel towards them when something goes wrong. I still think they need to buck up a bit but I am amazed at how far the game has come.

In that regard I congratulate EA Sports.

The Dogg

Awards For LT2 and JT

Yes! Jason Taylor DE/DT/LB………got rewarded for possibly his greatest season yet by beating out Shawne Merriman for this years defensive MVP, good! I have nothing against Merriman, he is a fine athlete and is going to probably win his fair share of awards in the future, and probably be one of the greatest defensive players in the game. How do you block this man!! But not this year. Jason Taylor freelanced his way to this title, doing whatever he wished on any particular down. Most defensive awards are won through play calls, players follow a script that has been drummed into them for years. However this year the Dolphins experimented by giving Taylor a certain amount of ‘free’ plays. In essence Taylor could do what he thought was best for that particular moment. Congrats to Taylor, a well deserved award.

To close out; LT2 won the NFL MVP. Surprise? No. Deserved? Undoubtedly. Tomlinson had the best season of his career so far, racking up over 1800 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards. He scored 31 touchdowns (28 rushing 3 receiving) and was 2 of 3 passing with 2 scores. Basically he is the real deal. I wonder if the emergence of Larry Johnson last year had a lot to do with it? LJ was spectacular last season and going into this season people were calling for 2000 yards rushing, it was almost a dead cert (apparently) for him to emerge as the record holder for yards in a season, but it didn’t pan out that way. He lost good O’Lineman and a much underrated blocking FB in Tony Richardson. Still, he was great closing with around 1800 yards rushing, not shabby by any means. Maybe the media focussing on LJ rather than LT2 made Tomlinson set the record straight on who was the best RB in the NFL. I know one thing though. LT2 was at the top of every single one of my fantasy draft boards before this season began. I wasn’t wrong.

Congrats to LT2 and Jason Taylor for well deserved awards.

Raiders Shell Art

So the Raiders have sacked off Art Shell after a difficult year. I’m not surprised; however I do feel for the man. He was brought into an organisation which was sliding beyond belief and had no direction.
No although Mr. Petrol made no dent in overall record he certainly made a few key changes. The defence which was a sham last year was actually ranked rather highly this year, surprisingly so when compared to their final record. However with 2 inept Quarterbacks taking snaps and no O’line help the Raiders were doomed from the start. Everyone knows LaMont Jordan is a quality RB; just check his stats from last year. He’ big but explosive, the key attribute in a RB arsenal. Yet he had the same problems as The Edge in Arizona, he had no help up front. Randy Moss and Jerry Porter might as well have sprouted roots the effort they made this season. And the O’line needs some serious changes.
But the defence still played hard and well despite spending most of their time on the field whilst the offence relaxed on the sideline. In Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard the Raiders have a good core of LBs to work with, and Darnell Bing should be back next season. Pitch that in with a years worth of work for Michael Huff and you have a solid youth base to work from as well as the experienced (yet good) veterans up front in Derrick Burgess and Warren Sapp. Roll all that together and the defence looks solid if not spectacular.
So with Mr. Petrol gone the next coach has pretty much no pressure on him from the media and experts. He has a solid base on D to work from. I think it’s clear where the Raiders are going to look to get help from the draft and free agency, unless Al Davis pokes his nose in (Janikowski anyone!!!).

Bye bye Nick Saban. Is anyone surprised? The whole issue about him going to Alabama was settled weeks ago. No one lets an issue like this hover around for 5 solid weeks without there being some truth in it. Apparently he deliberated for 2 days, yeah right, and I have declared myself for this years draft. Nick, no one actually believed you were staying in Miami next year, you could have at least been honest with your former employers and the Dolphins fans, a bit of common decency would have been nice. It’s a small world Nick, a very small world.

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Reeling the changes at HQ

I suppose I should say a few words about the 2 main head coaching jobs that are now up for grabs. Bear in mind we are only a few days past the end of the season here.

Dennis Green has been axed in Arizona: This should come as no surprise due to the poor showing of the Cards this season. I know the Cards get a lot of stick because of their history of poor seasons but Green built a good offensive arsenal. He had a veteran QB who still had ‘it’ to some extent, he had an almost 2000 yard all purpose back and a pair of WR that could and did frighten opposing defences. However, he neglected to address the Cards major flaw for the last several seasons, the O’Line.
I have no sympathy for Green; he paid no attention to his O’line and therefore clearly didn’t put an emphasis on protecting his QB and giving his RB a head start. Now a poor O’line is never acceptable on any team, even when your QB is Vince Young or Michael Vick, but when your QB has the mobility of a large freight tanker it’s going to affect the offensive flow. It’s like putting a cardboard wall around your house when there is a herd of elephants coming your way. And why put your least mobile O’lineman in the most important position? Leonard Davis struggled at guard so lets put the 380lb man on the QB blindside and see what he produces!!! In all Green flunked because he let his QB get sacked and gave his RB no push up front. The Edge is a great RB, but I doubt that even LT2 could avoid 3 or 4 men in the backfield when the ball arrives in his midriff.

Jim Mora Jnr has been axed in Atlanta after getting steadily worse through his 3 seasons of being head coach.
Main problem? Vick. Not necessarily Vick’s seeming inability to pass accurately, more a complete miss management of his assets, which happen to be his legs and is ability to chuck the ball effortlessly down the field, whilst on the run as well. I couldn’t for the life of me see why they wanted Vick to be a pocket passer! Anyone who is anyone can see that when Vick is in the pocket he looks nervous and twitchy, hence the amount of times he misses WRs. He wasn’t helped by poor O’line work when in the pocket, nor by his WR deciding that being covered was better than staying open. I may be a bit harsh there though; Vick did make a few errors, more than a few but why not let Vick be Vick? It worked at the start of the season, then they seemingly reeled him back in again. He had 2 wonderful passing games back to back where he seemed relaxed was rolling out and therefore looking at only half the field. Then they changed the plays again!! They had Vick making 7 step drops, running backwards almost and Vick is not a drop back passer.
And towards the middle/end of the season, Mora’s defence that was stingy as you like during the first 4 or 5 weeks started to go A.W.O.L. Yes injuries played a part but with the state of the NFC (The Giants are in the playoffs at 8-8) and with a good record bettered only by the Saints the Falcons D collapsed. So I feel a slight hint of sadness for Mora, he was a fantastic D’Coordinator at my beloved 49ers and seemed to have jumped into head coaching and made a bed for himself instantly taking the Falcons to the NFC championship game in his 1st year. However, bad man management complete with the fiasco with comments made by his father and all the ‘joking’ about jumping at the chance to coach the University of Washington even if the Falcons were in the middle of a playoff run have sealed Mora’s fate. Will he coach another NFL team? Yes, but maybe not straight off the bat, maybe a stint at Washington Uni is on the cards!!??

The Dogg

A Terrible Start to 2007

Hello All.

Tragic news yesterday. Darrent Williams, Denver Broncos starting CB was murdered in a drive by shooting in downtown Denver at 02:00am on Monday 1st Jan 2007. I’m not going to write a brief report of what happened because it’s too distressing to type up. All the major news and sports websites have stories on this subject so I suggest you take a look at NFL.com, ESPN.com etc.

As I’m sure we all know, D Will was the Broncos 2nd round draft choice from 2005 out of Oklahoma St. his home town is Fort Worth and he has 2 children back in Texas. He cam out of the draft rated probably below his stock due to a few issues in his earlier life, he made his 1st career interception against the Raiders off Kerry Collins when he jumped on a route and ran 82 yards the other way for a TD. In the 2006 season he played 15 games, had 88 tackles (78 solo) and 4 interceptions. Along with Champ Bailey, the Broncos probably had the best starting CB pairing this year.

This is not the news anyone wants to hear at the start of 2007. D Will had a great future ahead of him, not only with the Broncos or as an NFL player but also as a person. When he was younger (12 – 17 from an interview he did in Denver in 2005) he hung around with ‘the wrong crowd’. He made a change in his life around the time he went off to Oklahoma St. and entered the NFL draft with the intention of opening up a free football camp in his home town to help those in similar situations he used to find himself.
The world misses people like Darrent and is worse off because of his death. I urge the NFL, it’s associates and partners as well as the Denver Broncos organisation to honour Williams not just in name or record books and awards, but to seek out a way to carry out his wish to open up his free NFL camp in his home town and incorporate his history/legacy into it.

My up most condolences and best wishes go out to those who held Darrent close to their hearts. From family and friends to team-mates and coaches and all those people who have known Darrent over his years. R.I.P. D Will and god bless your family and those close to you.

The Dogg