So the season is over, the dust has settled and the Indianapolis
Colts have been crowned World Champions of the National Football League. All
that’s left now is to sit and recall all those events over the past 5 months
that had us either screaming in elation or rationalizing the negatives inherent
in throwing your drink at the T.V over a bad call the officials just made.
Simply put, I’m sat on my bed recollecting the season and the following is
simply bullet pointed lines and sentences focused on the year gone by, coming up
and just general musings really. There’s no actual order, they are just simply
typed upon thinking about them.
• Will Devin Hester ever have the privilege of being able to return a kick-off
again?
• Peyton’s MVP award is tainted. It’s his by premise of reputation, not for
having a great game. Other player’s have had less statistically superior games
than Dominic Rhodes and won the accolade. Even Addai was a reception off of
Deion Branch’s record set 2 years earlier, which is even more impressive
considering he’s a running back!
• Is it really safe to continue wearing your Bengals Jerseys? What’s more
important: Supporting your team or risking arrest?
• Is the Rooney Rule really necessary anymore? I figured we’d be past the point
where we discriminate a coach on the basis of his skin color by now.
• One reason why I don’t think the Colts will pull a Steelers type performance
next year after winning the big one: Peyton doesn’t own a motorcycle.
• Is it just me who thinks the Franchise Tag is a real negative in game
nowadays. Who does it benefit really? The players tend to be disenfranchised
(Probably not the right term to use) with the team as they may have wanted to
test the water on the free agent market. The Team has to fork out a hefty one
year salary to the player. The Fans of the team know that their player may not
be their next season, as they are dealing with possible dissent in the locker
room just because you’re delaying the inevitable, and the fans of teams who want
to see a player cross borders and play for them end up unhappy because it won’t
happen.
• I don’t think anybody could have picked the playoff teams correctly earlier
this year. With regulars like the Steelers and the Broncos both turning in bad
report cards, we saw a wider range of playoff contenders this year, which can
only be a good thing.
• Now that player’s are excusing themselves from Pro Bowl duty based on
injuries, the “snubs” from earlier in the year when the ballot was announced
seem to be making the trip anyway. Is it any wonder why we even discuss snubs
anymore what with the amount of replacements needed.
• If Devin Hester really wanted to, how many TD’s could he accumulate this
Saturday? Then again, it is funny to see guys filling in one Special Teams when
they quite clearly haven’t played there in years. Elected special teamers Kassim
Osgood and Brendon Ayanbadejo will fell like men amongst boys come punt time.
• Who’s going to get the yearly unnecessary hit from Roy Williams this Saturday?
My bet: Andre Johnson.
• Titans fans everywhere are left
contemplating a possible “What If” season, after Vince Young’s impressive
performances put up later in the season. Replace Kerry earlier, and who
knows.
• Was Shawne Merriman’s performance a direct result of taking illegal
substances, or is he “That good”? I’ll go with “That Good” based on his numbers
coming off the suspension. Of course that is assuming the league tests players
coming off said suspensions more regularly. If they take the “He did it once and
learned his lesson” standing, then what stopped Merriman from doing it again.
It’s a shame really; he could have put up “Strahan-Like” numbers if he wasn’t
such a fool. Even if it was a substance he knew nothing about, he really should
be careful what he is ingesting.
• Does Larry Johnson crash and burn after he broke the record for carries in a
season? I doubt it, but it won’t stop me from taking Steven Jackson over him in
fantasy leagues next year.
• If Brady Quinn falls in the draft after the Raiders take the hereby dubbed
“J-Mac”, the Vikings could make a huge mistake if they pass on him. They’ve
already stated that they like 2nd round pick Travaris Jackson, but enough to
pass on a guy like Quinn? Difficult decision if you ask me.
• So apparently the Saints have become an offensive juggernaut. All it took was
2 bad decisions by the Dolphins and the Texans and presto. Throw in the drafting
of the almost Mr. Irrelevant, in Marques Colston and the Saints fans have a real
positive outlook for the future.
• The U.K like American Football: Fact. A whopping 500, 000 tickets have been
requested for the Phins Vs G-Men game in October next year.
• The Chargers being an early favourite for next year? Unlikely. They’ve lost
their offensive AND defensive coordinators. They certainly reaped the benefits
of a dominant season and bolted when the time was right (Excuse the Pun). Throw
in the fact that Marty has a one year contract and is essentially a lame duck.
Don’t be surprised if they squeeze into the playoffs as a wildcard because of
it. Saying that, L.T’s running back coach has been upgraded to O-C. More carries
in the year ahead then?
• Jake Plummer to the Texans? If he’s that impatient with David Carr, what’s
McNair going to be like with the wildly inconsistent Snake. Plus, the offensive
line just seems to let Carr get sacked. How will they adapt to Plummer’s
rollout, out of the pocket style. The Broncos made it work because of their
great zone-blocking scheme. I can’t say the same about the Texans line.
• Wow, Favre’s back again. Déjà vu anyone? I wonder whether the Packers will
ever say “Look, we’re looking to move into the new era of Packers football and
we think Aaron is ready”. If he doesn’t retire next year, I think they should
just leave him be. He’s past his prime now, and there’s only so much coddling a
team can give one of their ex-stars. I bet when Brady starts contemplating
hanging up his cleats, Belichick will make no bones about dropping him for the
future benefit of the team.
• Brady Quinn or J-Mac (See it’s catching on, you’ll all be saying it soon)?
I’ll be honest and say I haven't watched J-Mac’s entire time at LSU and mostly
the last half of this season, but in that period, the guy was immense. His
intangibles are off the chart, and when a rookie joins the league and doesn’t
get things the way he wants, he looks like a lost puppy underneath a huddle of
rabid linebackers. I just get the feeling this guy will be like trying to pull
down a brick wall with your bear hands. For this reason, and his supposed 40
yard throw on his ass he’s my consensus pick for best QB available.
• Early picks for Offensive and Defensive rookies of the year: Adrian Peterson
and Jamaal Anderson.
• Reggie’s antics in the NFC Championship game will come back to haunt him.
Taunting Brian Urlacher is just begging to get smacked down.
• Colts repeat? Maybe.
• Giving Michael Vick the freedom to call audibles at the line of scrimmage is
like giving a delinquent child a packet of matches. It’s not going to end well.
• Just to annoy them a bit more: The 85 Bears D wouldn’t have played like that.
• Anyone else think the Bears respected Manning too much? Thus opening the
running lanes for Addai and Rhodes to gash them. Brady beat them earlier in the
season by passing? Maybe they didn’t want a repeat, and Peyton adapted.
• Its just plain disturbing that a team can give up nearly 400 rushing yards in
one game, and continue on to be world champions. Just adds weight to the old
adage “Any Given Sunday” really.
• It gets me thinking just how important Colonel Sanders is to the Colts D. You
could really tell the difference when he was in the line-up. That difference
being about half the rushing yards allowed. If I were the Colts I would make
sure they lock him up for the future.
• My first article on this sight was about the benefits of sharing carries
between backs. I like to think my opinions are partially validated by the Addai/Rhodes
performance.
• Not to diss Roger Goodell but his voice just won’t have the same ring to it,
as we have become accustomed to with Tag’s come draft day when he says those
infamous words.
• What on earth has happened to the NFC? The Seahawks winning a division with an
8-8 record! Both wildcards coming from the only really contested division in the
conference (And that’s only because they can all be equally erratic as each
other).
• For the first time in his illustrious career, Edgerrin James didn’t log a run
of over 20 yards all season. In fact his longest run was for 18 yards. He may
have said he was rooting for the Colts before the superbowl, but I reckon he
wishes he was there. Here’s something to chew on Edge: Maybe they’re there
because you left. Nah that’s cruel, and wildly untrue. Give him a better line,
and let’s hope to see him back to his old self.
• Bets on who the Redskins’ high priced free agent acquisition will be this
year? They may make a run at one of the linebackers if they want to further
tighten the noose.
• It’s interesting how people applaud Marvin Harrison for keeping himself to
himself and avoiding interviews, but when Bill Belichik gives his less than
eventful and somewhat boring post game interviews, everyone’s on his back for
not co-operating with the media. I understand that the coach gets more air time,
but jeez.
• Does anyone else think the Sprint advert with the two guys in the locker room
discussing the “perks” of their new Sprint cell phones a work of genius? If you
havn’t seen it, I won’t spoil it for you, but find it on the net now!
• I’m fully behind Tiki retiring: If he doesn’t want to make the Hall. Because
he won’t. It’s commendable however that he’s thinking about the future and
doesn’t want to further batter his body.
• What do the Ravens do now? They went out and acquired a savvy veteran
quarterback, which was supposedly the missing link. After their performance
against the Colts in the playoffs, it clearly wasn’t. They have an offensive
line that was very good in pass protection, and a great Tight End. So what went
wrong? Lack of running game? Lack of a game changing receiver. Whichever it is,
look for them to address the problem this off-season.
• On a similar not, what do the Panthers do now? They were the consensus pick
between experts to make the superbowl this year. It’s not as if they were
ravaged with injuries. The problem probably lies with their 3rd down conversion
percentage: 31.1%. That’s worse than teams like Buffalo and Detroit, and even
Oakland! With players like Steve Smith, Keyshawn Johnson and a reasonably strong
offensive line, stats like that are unacceptable.
• Am I the only one who thinks the Jets benefited from an incredibly easy
schedule and are not necessarily a playoff team for the future yet?
• Sean Payton will be working wonders for Tony Romo’s confidence. He told Romo
he’s holding in the Pro Bowl. If he drops another it’ll be priceless. Still, I
kind of feel bad for the guy, but I’ll get over it.
• Will the Patriots finally start paying their stars some of the Benjamin's? CB
Asante Samuel, who enjoyed an All-Pro season, albeit Pro Bowl free, and TE
Daniel Graham are both scheduled to be free agents and would be welcome on any
team in the league. If they don’t pay, they have to make the freed up cap space
useful and make a run at a free agent like Adalius Thomas if he isn’t franchised
(Note my negative feelings on the Franchise Tag earlier). Otherwise fans may
start to become a bit unhappy after enduring big free agent losses last season
and seeing minimal return in the way of talent.
• I guess we know which defense plays better in the clutch this season. The
Ravens held the Colts to 5 Field goals and no touchdowns, whereas Da Bears
couldn’t hold anyone. Now the real debate rages: Ray Lewis or Brian Urlacher. I
say Urlacher, you?
• To the people who predicted the Dolphins were a superbowl caliber team, hang
your heads in shame. You were shown up, Big Time.
• So who drafted LaMont Jordan and Cadillac in their fantasy drafts? See above
for directions.
• To Mathias Kiwanuka: Tough break on that play with Vince Young. You know the
drill (Clue: Look Up)
• To Marlon Mcree: Nice Pick in the Divisional Championships. Do I even need to
say it?
• Belichik may be smiling now, after his Rookie kicker Stephen Gostkowski was
perfect on all of his attempts in the playoffs, but he must have some second
thoughts about letting Adam go earlier in the season when the Rook suffered a
blip in the mid-season. Gostkowski certainly showed he had Mini-Vinatieri like
ice watered veins against the Colts. He knew it would come down to him kicking
multiple Field Goals late in the game, not just one.
Well I’m dry of random thoughts for now. Thus completes my look back and look
forward over the season. The order is incredibly erratic, I know. I suppose it
gives everyone a first hand view of how unbalanced my thoughts can be. I'm out.
- Jay Hyland
Comments and criticisms welcome at My E-Mail Address: jayhyland11@hotmail.com
