The Week in Football: The Florida Job is Now Open, and New England and Green Bay are the NFL's Elite

On Sunday morning, the brutal, torturing, “oh my gosh, we suck!” Will Muschamp era at Florida mercifully came to an end, as it was announced that he’d step down at the end of the year. At least that’s what you’d think if you were a Gator fan; I was actually disappointed when I heard the news. Florida has been laughably bad on offense in Muschamp’s four years, and things weren’t going to get any better (Muschamp knows as much about offense as Screamin’ A. Smith knows about speaking at an appropriate volume). Just selfishly as a Vol fan, I love when Florida can’t score, find the right quarterback, or recruit any speedy skill position guys; basically, it’s awesome when they remind everyone of what the offense on the worst pee wee football team in the country looks like. Then again, Muschamp did beat Tennessee all four years, so I just want to take this time to thank Derek Dooley, Nathan Peterman, the grass in Gainesville that tore Justin Hunter’s ACL, and yes, Butch Jones (he defiantly stuck by Nathan Peterman for an entire half in 2013 even though he was the worst quarterback in the history of the program!) for allowing the Muschamp-led Gators to go 4-0 against you.

So where does Florida go from here? Obviously, it’s one of the best jobs in the country. They are the premier program in one of the most fertile recruiting areas in the nation. They’re in the SEC, the fans are rabid and care about the team succeeding, and they’ve got millions of dollars to pour into the football program every year. Plenty of people are going to be interested.

Whenever there’s a big job opening, the first two things I always look for in a replacement are as follows….

1. Was this potential coach an assistant (like an offensive or defensive coordinator) at this school before?
2. Does this potential coach have any ties to the area? Did he play football at this program, or did he grow up relatively close to where the school is located?

I always feel like former assistants, local guys, or former players are almost always popular hires, because the fans are familiar with them, and the athletic department can always spin it as, “We decided to hire a Florida guy” or “This guy was here when we had a lot of success, and he knows what it takes to win big at this program, because he was here when we did it”.

So who are the big time former Florida assistant coaches? Dan Mullen and Charlie Strong are the first that come to mind. I don’t think Strong would, after just one year at Texas (also a great job), quit and take another position somewhere else. So he’s out. I think Dan Mullen would be a very good hire for the Gators, because he can recruit, he seems to have run a clean program, he has an offensive background, and he’s got MISSISSIPPI STATE at 9-1 (no small feat). The offense thing is going to be really important in all of this. Muschamp got fired BECAUSE his offense sucked; Florida, whenever they’ve been really good, is a program that's been known for having an extremely explosive and devastating offense. Steve Spurrier had the Fun N Gun, and Urban Meyer had his spread attack, spearheaded by Tim Tebow, with weapons all around him like Percy Harvin, Riley Cooper, and Aaron Hernandez, to name a few. That’s the culture down there, and Muschamp never quite fit.

But back to Mullen; I don’t think he’ll get the job for the simple fact that he and Florida AD Jeremy Foley apparently have some sort of unexplained rift between them. I have no idea what it is, but I’ve heard that a bunch of different times, and read it in multiple places. So he’s probably out as well. Plus, ESPN reported today that both he and Rich Rodriguez will not be considered for the opening. In terms of guys that played at the school, or have direct ties to the area, I don’t see any, or any that are real serious possibilities. So where do the Gators go from here?

To me, two names stand out, though they might be unrealistic; Art Briles and Bob Stoops. Briles is an offensive genius (again, really important), and he’s built Baylor from a laughingstock into one of the best programs in the country. Then again, Briles is a Texan, through and through, a guy who’s spent 99.9% of his life in Texas (he’s probably spent as many days outside the state of Texas in his life as Kim Kardashian has spent working). I can’t really see him leaving Baylor for a job outside the state. And then we come to Stoops, who should be linked to every major college job from now until he retires. He’s headed for a 9-3 season at Oklahoma, and apparently the Sooner fans are growing dissatisfied with his consistent excellence every season. I’d love it if Tennessee could hire a football coach that would go 167-42, win a national title, and win 8 conference championships in 16 years. I know, that sucks right? Plus, he has SEC ties, as he’s was Florida’s defensive coordinator from 1996-98. And yes, Stoops does have an defensive background, but it’s not like he is clueless on the offensive end. They’ve scored a bunch of points since he’s been there. He’s a smart guy, and I think he’d be able to figure it out. Plus, there’s no question he’d be a huge slam dunk hire for them with the fans. Could the growing (and confusing) frustration by the Sooner fans, in addition to the wide open SEC East, and the challenge of coaching in the nation’s best conference, at one of the best jobs in the country, convince Stoops to jump ship and go to Florida? I’d say it’s a long shot, just because you almost always hear big time coaches being linked to big time jobs, though it almost never happens (Urban Meyer to Ohio State is an exception, not the rule. Most of the time you end up hiring Brady Hoke or Charlie Strong, solid coaches at the time, but not guys who have won a national championship as a head coach).

In terms of other potential guys, I think Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State (who gave us the best coach rant ever), Gary Patterson, and Hugh Freeze could all be possibilities. Plus, why not throw in these three controversial names: Bobby Petrino, Todd Graham, and…. Lane Kiffin? Of the three, I think Graham is the most realistic, because he really hasn’t failed miserably anywhere yet, and proved he shouldn’t be a head coach at a big time program ever again (like Kiffin did at USC), and he never had his mistress on the payroll (like Petrino). He just texted his director of football operations at Pittsburgh to tell the players that he was leaving AFTER ONE YEAR, rather than having a meeting with them, which is customary, and what you would do if you actually cared about the players as men. If Foley is smart, he won’t interview any of these guys. But stranger things have happened. Regardless of what happens, it’ll be an interesting winter down in Gainesville.

Are you kidding me Auburn?

The most puzzling result of the weekend was Auburn’s absolute crazy and unexplainable collapse in Georgia. 34-7? What? Nick Marshall was surprisingly bad (11-23, 112 yards passing, 41 yards rushing), and Georgia absolutely ran over, through, and around them the entire game to the tune of 289 rushing yards in Todd Gurley’s return, though he also suffered a devastating torn ACL late in the game (hopefully this won’t ruin his NFL future). This game just confirmed everything I’d been saying about Auburn all year; they were an overrated team who got way too much credit for a road win at K-State (because the Wildcats badly outplayed them the whole night) and a home domination of LSU, who was starting a freshman quarterback for the first time on the road. Their defense is terrible, and they don’t seem to have quite the same offensive firepower they did last year (besides the LSU game, I haven’t said “Wow, those guys are just executing on a higher level than anyone else” the entire season, like I did almost every week last year). Good luck traveling to Tuscaloosa for the Iron Bowl the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Could the vaunted Auburn Tigers really go 4-4 in conference this season? It’s in play.

Why isn’t Melvin Gordon the Heisman favorite?

The Badgers’ tailback rushed for 408 yards, a new NCAA record for yards in a game, on 25 carries (that’s 16.3 yards per rush!) and 4 TDs on Saturday, bringing him to a season total of 1909 yards and 23 TDs. He has four games over 200 yards rushing this year, and had by far the most impressive single game performance of anyone this season. I know guys like Dak Prescott and Marcus Mariota have had great years, but just looking at the numbers, has anyone been better than Gordon this season? Is it because he plays for a two-loss Wisconsin team that’s in a bad conference? Is it because his team isn’t a national title contender? Should team success even matter for Heisman voting? I thought the award was supposed to honor the best player in college football each season, not a really good player on a really good team. And if it does honor the best player in college football each season, than who out there has been better than Gordon?

Tennessee DOMINATED on Saturday

I’m not going to rail about not how infuriating it is that Josh Dobbs wasn’t starting at the beginning of the season again this week, because I’ve done that enough. Sheesh. The Vols absolutely dominated Kentucky on Saturday in all facets of the game, and with their 50-16 win, the Vols have scored 95 points in back-to-back SEC games (they had 45 against South Carolina two weeks ago), their most since 2003. They now just need to win one of their final two games (home against Missouri, at Vanderbilt) to be bowl eligible. I’m fairly confident they’ll be able to make it happen, particularly with Dobbs in there. And as excited as I am about Dobbs’ emergence, and the impressive play of the team as a whole late in the year, I’ll always look back on 2014 as a lost season. The SEC East was there to be won! It was wide open! I just need to move on before I turn into my Angry Old Man and start screaming and gargling about a bunch of nothing. It’s in my genes, and I’ll have to spend my whole life fighting it off.

My 4 Team Playoff

1. Alabama. The Tide established themselves as the best team in the country with their close 25-20 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday, mostly on the back of their defense. Dak Prescott was picked off three times, and they held the high scoring Bulldog offense in check for most of the day (MSU only scored 3 points in the first half). And like last week at LSU, when ‘Bama needed a big drive from their offense, Blake Sims and that unit delivered a touchdown drive that saw Sims convert two third and long plays with his legs. He wasn’t great all day (19-31, 211 yards, 1 passing TD), but he was smart, and didn’t turn the ball over, which is pretty much what Greg McElroy and A.J. McCarron were asked to do every week when they quarterbacked the Tide. This Alabama team is reminiscent of pretty much every Alabama team since Saban arrived there; they play great defense, don’t turn the ball over, and get a few big plays a game from their quarterback or skill position guys. I expect them to defeat Auburn in Tuscaloosa in two weeks, and win the SEC title a week after that. It’s ludicrous that they weren’t in the 4 team playoff last week; I think it’s safe to say they will be this week.
2. Oregon. I wrote last week that I think this is the best Ducks’ team since the one that lost to Auburn in the BCS Title Game, and I still believe that. The committee might even rank Oregon first this week.
3. Mississippi State. The Bulldogs still belong in the four team playoff despite their loss on Saturday. They did out-gain Alabama 428 to 335, they have wins over Auburn, Texas A&M, and at LSU, and they’re 9-1 in the best conference in the country. Ole Miss was horrible at LSU when they lost their first game, and they didn’t drop out of the 4 team playoff. MSU wasn’t awful on Saturday, Alabama’s just a better team right now playing at home. Should they drop out because of that? No, of course not.
4. Florida State. I’d love to drop the ‘Noles out of my playoff, and banish them to The Shadow Realm (that’s a joke for like five of you), particularly after another crappy performance on Saturday night at Miami. But, like always, FSU miraculously found a way to gut it out, come back, and win. It’s been the same story with this team every week. I guess it shows me something about their character as a team, because they’ve won every close game they’ve been in, but is really all that impressive to have to come from behind, or struggle every week with the likes of N.C. State, Virginia, and Louisville? That’s not a rhetorical question, because it’s not. Still, they are undefeated in a power conference, and there’s no way the committee will drop them out of the playoff because of that.

I’d have Baylor 5^th, TCU 6^th, and Ohio State 7^th. I’d also like to take a moment to thank the Horned Frogs for showing us how ludicrous it was that they’d be in the playoff over Alabama. There’s no way the Crimson Tide would struggle on the road at Kansas, maybe the worst power conference team in the country, and escape with just a 4 point victory like TCU did. Nice job playoff selection committee.

Now, onto the NFL…..

Green Bay and New England are the NFL’s two best teams (right now)

I ran through the scores of all the Patriots’ games since their embarrassing loss on Monday Night to the Chiefs on September 29^th (they’ve won every game by double digits with the exception of a Thursday game against the Jets). Last night looked like almost every Pats’ game over the last month and a half, as New England opened it up in the second half and won 42-20. And it shouldn’t have even been that close, as Brady threw one of the worst interceptions I’ve ever seen him throw near the end of the first half that gave the Colts a short field. I’m actually not surprised the Patriots have played this well, as it seems like they do something like this every year. All I really care about is what happens in the playoffs with them, and I, like every year, don’t think they can win a Super Bowl with the weapons they have, and I’ll stick to that until they actually do it. So congrats on the impressive regular season, once again. We’ll see if they can put it together for a magical run in the playoffs.

Green Bay has also been really impressive since Week 3 and Aaron Rodgers’ now famous "R-E-L-A-X" (excluding that puzzling loss on Sunday night in New Orleans Week 8), as they’ve gone 6-1 since then. I love what they’re doing with Clay Matthews (he’s playing inside linebacker a lot more, which has helped their run defense so much), and Aaron Rodgers should be the NFL MVP. They jumped all over Philly yesterday, and it almost felt like that game was over before it started. Of the two teams, I actually think the Packers have a much better shot to win the Super Bowl. They’ve got better skill position players, the best pass rusher (New England has some athletes that can get after the QB, but they don’t have a Clay Matthews-type guy), and they’ve got the best quarterback in the NFL in Rodgers. Plus, how good is the NFC at the top? Arizona could finish with best record in the NFC, and they start Drew Stanton at quarterback. Do you trust Stanton in a big playoff game? I certainly don’t. The other NFC contenders all have legitimate questions; Detroit (for the last 50 years) and Dallas (since 1997) have found multiple ways over the years to come up smaller than a Christmas Elf and break their fan base’s hearts. The NFC South is terrible (has there ever been a worse division leader in the history of the NFL after 10 games than the 4-6 Falcons? They’re one of the worst 10 teams in the league, and are 0-6 against teams outside their division), and the Eagles might not be good enough at quarterback or on defense to make any real noise in the playoffs. The Seahawks seem to have lost their home field aura of invincibility, and they can’t stop the run (Jamal Charles ran all over them yesterday, as he finished with 159 yards on just 20 carries). And then there’s the Niners, who start Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at quarterback, and just lost Patrick Willis, the best middle linebacker in football, for the rest of the season. At least right now, the Pack have to be the favorites in the NFC.

Lights out

Texans’ defensive end J.J. Watt might just be the best player in the NFL. So far this season, he has 9 sacks, 4 fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles, 1 interception, 2 receiving touchdowns, 1 interception return touchdown, and 1 fumble return touchdown. In fact, he’s scored more touchdowns this year than Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald, only two definite Hall of Famers. I’m not sure there’s a more consistently dominant defensive force week in and week out than Watt. No one makes more plays on the side of the ball than him. He might have the best motor in the NFL, he never takes a play off, and it always seems like he’s around the ball. And I like how down to earth and unassuming the guy is, as he actually Googled “What do rich people buy” after signing his 100 million dollar deal with Houston. He’s the best defensive player in the league, and he’s definitely the type of guy you’d want to invest in (he’s an extremely hard worker, does what he needs to, doesn’t get in trouble off the field, etc.). But for all the great things he does, his team is 5-5. Let me ask you this: If you switched Aaron Rodgers and J.J. Watt, Tom Brady and J.J. Watt, Peyton Manning and J.J. Watt, or any other great QB and Watt, would the Texans still be 5-5? There’s no way right? They’d be at least 7-3. So as great as Watt is, I’m not sure they should feel good about 100 million for a guy that can really only effect the game in a few ways, and doesn’t directly impact what his team does on every play, like the quarterback does. The only person in sports that I’d give that amount of money to is a great QB or a superstar NBA player. Watt’s great, but he’s not worth it.

In a shocking development, my Angry Old Man wasn’t mad this week, because his favorite television show ever, the 1960’s Batman with Adam West, is finally out on DVD. He wept tears of joy as he proclaimed, “This is the happiest day of my life, even happier than the day you were born,  when I realized you were going to be a burden on my daily well-being for the next 18 years”. However, there’s no way he’ll be able to stay that happy for long. Something or somebody we’ll disappoint him over the next week (in fact, it’s probably already happened as I’m writing this sentence), and he’ll be sure to call me up and yell at me for 15 minutes before violently hanging up the phone. It is what it is. A Zebra doesn’t change its stripes.

So enjoy Monday Night Football this evening, you deserve it.

Overcoming the Butt Fumble, Plus NFL and College Game Picks

The Butt Fumble. It’s one of the most memorable, bad, iconic plays of the last decade. We’ve all seen it, and when we think of Mark Sanchez, that’s the thing that comes to our mind before anything else. And in fairness, it was a bad play. It looked terrible. It was the “Worst of the Worst” on Sportscenter for so long that they eventually retired it because they thought nothing would ever be worse than that. However, I thought that play was less about Sanchez, and more about just how far the Jets had fallen under head coach Rex Ryan, and just how inept they had become. That play sent a message, or at least it did to me, that if they were ever going to be contenders in New York, they were going to have to fire Ryan and move on to someone else. You know what’s really sad? The date of “The Butt Fumble” was November 22, 2012. You mean to tell me that Ryan is still the head coach, even two years after that organization-wide embarrassment of a play? Sheesh. If you want to know why the Jets are now one of the worst teams in the NFL, you’ve got your answer.

 

But back to Sanchez. Mark had three huge obstacles early in his Jets’ career, two self-imposed, and one completely out of his control:

 

1. He threw his name into the NFL hat too early

Sanchez only really started one full season at USC (2008), and pieces of the 2007 season while John David Booty was injured, for a total of 16 career starts. For comparison, Andrew Luck started 38 games over 3 years (but spent 4 years in college), Matt Ryan started 36 games over 3 years (but spent 4 years at Boston College), and Joe Flacco started 26 games over 2 years at Delaware (but spent 5 years in college). You know, only three of the most successful quarterbacks to come into the league since 2008. At the press conference to announce that he was going pro, in a curious and never seen before or again move, his OWN HEAD COACH Pete Carroll was unhappy that Sanchez was leaving, saying things like “He’s going against the grain with this decision” and talking about how previous Trojan quarterbacks had spent as much time as possible in the program. A lot of media pundits at the time thought Carroll was just unhappy because he was losing his starting quarterback, someone that he wouldn’t be able to easily replace. I went a different way. Carroll, by all accounts, is an extremely nice and caring guy, someone who is legitimately interested and concerned for the well-being of everyone he encounters. I think he had spent a ton of time around Sanchez, and he’d seen his habits, and was concerned that he wasn’t ready to be an NFL quarterback. Should he have expressed those concerns at the press conference? No, probably not, but the point still remains that Carroll, who had coached this guy for FOUR YEARS, thought he needed some more experience under his belt.

 

2.  The Jets traded up to get him

To acquire Sanchez, the Jets traded their own first and second round pick, as well as three players, to the Browns for the right to move up to the fifth pick of the draft. This made Jets’ fans view him as the savior, and the one the quarterback that would return them to prominence after so many whiffs at that position over the years. And when things started to sour for Sanchez and the Jets in his third year (2011), they turned on him. Never mind that he had the worst weapons in the league, and an extremely reliable defense that suddenly got a little shaky.

 

3. The Infamous GQ Spread

I don’t really feel great about showing the pictures, because it’s a bunch of pictures of a shirtless man, but I’ll go ahead and link it here if you’re interested. While I don’t necessarily think it’s a big deal that Sanchez posed for any magazine, I think it was just further ammunition for Jets’ fans, as the team started slipping in 2011, almost immediately after that issue hit newsstands. It reminded them that Sanchez wasn’t really like them; he wasn’t a true “New Yorker”, an everyday grinder like them. He was just a pretty boy from Hollywood, and they hated him because of it.

 

Honestly, I think it’s a shame that “The Butt Fumble” and some GQ pictures are the defining moments of Mark Sanchez’s career to most people. Granted, he never lit it up in New York, and in many ways, he failed there. I don’t think he got any better at the quarterback position from 2009-2012 (his last year with the Jets), and in many ways, I’d say he regressed. Then again, the Jets never really put any solid, consistent weapons around him, and he introduced Rex Ryan as his head coach for the first four years of his career. I think he just got warn down by all the beatings, both from opposing teams and the media, that football probably stopped becoming fun for him, and maybe he didn’t put in as much time as he should have. But it wasn’t like his entire time with in New York was just “The Butt Fumble”. Let’s not forget that he won four road playoff games in his first two NFL seasons (which tied him for the second most in NFL history), and that he appeared in back-to-back AFC Championship Games. And as mediocre as his regular season stats are (68 TDs, 69 picks, 55.06 completion percentage), his postseason stats are actually pretty impressive (9 TDs, 3 picks, 60.5 completion percentage). And two of those road playoff victories were in Indianapolis and New England, against Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, only the two of the best quarterbacks of all time.

 

I don’t think Sanchez is a great quarterback, and I don’t think he’s even close to being one of the most naturally talented quarterbacks in the NFL. He doesn’t have an extremely strong arm, and he doesn’t move all that well outside the pocket. But if you put him in the right system, with the right head coach, I think he can be extremely successful. In Sanchez’s lone season starting at USC (2008), the Trojans played one of the toughest schedules in the last 15 years, as every single one of their games was against a team from a BCS conference. Sanchez and the Trojans beat all of them, except for a still confusing loss at Oregon State on a Thursday night. But that was still a really good team, and Sanchez was surrounded by pretty good talent on both sides of the ball. There was never a time where he could say that during his Jets’ tenure. You couldn’t even say that he had competent offensive personnel around him in New York.

 

I have no idea how long Nick Foles will be out in Philadelphia, but even if it’s for the rest of the season, I think the Eagles will be fine. They’ve been able to score points almost at will with Sanchez playing (just like they did with Foles), and they have a ton of talent at the skill positions, a pretty good defense (even with the loss of linebacker DeMeco Ryans), and one of the best coaches in the NFL, the offensive genius Chip Kelly. For the first time in his NFL career, Sanchez is in a stable environment, with the right head coach and the right front office. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m buying some stock in Mark Sanchez.

 

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Now, onto my Week 11 NFL picks (Home Team in Caps)……

 

SAINTS over Bengals

 

Cincinnati is crumbling. I have no faith in them to travel to New Orleans and escape with a victory. The Saints haven’t lost consecutive home games since 2009, and the Bengals defense is ranked 31^st in the league since their bye week. Plus, this is a huge game for Cincy, as they try to stay alive in one of the toughest divisions in football. When has Andy Dalton ever played well in a big game? He’s lost three straight playoff games, and his most recent showing in a big game, last Thursday against Cleveland, he finished the game 10-33 for 86 yards and three picks, before he was finally pulled. That’s Rex Grossman/Jamarcus Russell-level ineptness. I wonder how the Bengals feel about that six year, 115 million dollar deal they just gave Dalton now.

 

CARDINALS over Lions

 

I badly wanted to pick the Lions to win this game because of the Drew Stanton factor, but I decided to stick with the Cards. Arizona is undefeated at home this season, and their defense turns into the ’85 Bears in the 4^th quarter. I have no idea what gets into these guys during that period, but they’ve forced 12 turnovers in that quarter this season, good for a turnover margin of plus 11. After Carson Palmer tore his ACL last week, that defense started mauling the Rams, and had two defensive touchdowns, including a miracle pick six by Patrick Peterson. Detroit’s defense has been ferocious all season as well, and I could easily see this contest being an old fashioned, gut it out, 10-7 or 13-10 type of game. I’ll give the Cards the edge because they’re at home.

 

PACKERS over Eagles

 

Green Bay has played extremely well over the last few weeks, with the exception of that puzzling performance in New Orleans. They still aren’t great defensively (and probably never will be), but I liked how they moved Clay Matthews around last week. He started playing inside linebacker, and then would rotate to the outside from time to time. He did a great job in run support, and as always, did a great job of getting pressure on the QB when he was rushing from the edge. It gave that defense a different feel, and I hope the Pack continue to let him play like that. And while I expect Mark Sanchez to play well, Aaron Rodgers is playing so well that he should probably be the NFL MVP (25 TDs, 3 picks, 2407 yards), and they’re at home, playing in cold temperatures (there is a high on Sunday of 31 degrees, and a low of 15 degrees), with 13 mile and hour winds. The Packers will win.

 

Patriots over COLTS

 

The dirty little secret of Indy’s season is that their wins haven’t really been all that impressive, especially when you compare it to their losses.

 

Indianapolis wins:

At Jacksonville, home against Tennessee, home against Baltimore, at Houston, home against Cincinnati, at the Giants

 

Indianapolis losses:

At Denver, home against Philadelphia, at Pittsburgh

 

Jacksonville, Tennessee, Houston, and the Giants are all not playoff teams, Cincinnati is struggling to keep its head above water, and Baltimore hasn’t beaten a quality team either besides Pittsburgh in Week 2.

 

Meanwhile, New England has been extremely impressive since their embarrassing loss to Kansas City on Monday Night Football (except for the Thursday Night Game against the Jets)

 

New England wins since Kansas City:

 

New England 43, Cincinnati 17

New England 37, Buffalo 22

New England 27, New York Jets 25

New England 51, Chicago 23

New England 43, Denver 21

 

As you can see, they’ve been blowing everyone out just about every week. The Pats are also 10-4 off their bye week under Belichick, something they have the benefit of this week. New England is playing better than anyone right now, and I expect that to continue on Sunday night.

 

Other NFL Picks

 

DOLPHINS over Bills

 

I swear I had Miami over Buffalo in the first true playoff elimination game of the NFL season. I’m sorry Buffalo, it’s been a nice run, but it’s over now. Good luck digging your way out of a 5-5 hole. Like always, never trust a team that starts Kyle Orton at quarterback.

 

BROWNS over Texans

 

Falcons over PANTHERS

 

The “How the BLEEP are we still alive for a playoff spot, despite the fact that we actually suck?” bowl. Congratulations, NFC South.

 

Vikings over BEARS

 

Jared Allen told the Chicago media this week that the Bears aren’t out of it yet. I’m sorry, but did you watch what happened to you guys on Sunday night?

 

Broncos over RAMS

 

Seahawks over CHIEFS

 

49ers over GIANTS

 

The G-Men, at some point last week, decided they didn’t want to tackle Marshawn Lynch anymore (he had 4 rushing TDs). There only hope on Sunday is often ignored rule that it’s extremely hard for a team from the West Coast to play well in a game at 1 o’clock Eastern time, but I'm not even sure that will save them.

 

REDSKINS over Buccaneers

 

CHARGERS over Raiders

 

If San Diego loses this week to the hapless Raiders, then it is over for my AFC Super Bowl team. They can’t lose to Oakland can they? CAN THEY?

 

Steelers over TITANS

 

College Football

 

No, I haven’t forgot about the college game. It is disappointing that this week doesn’t quite have the same sense of importance that last week did. There were SIX legitimately huge games last week, and it was a great Saturday. At least Tennessee is back on the schedule again. Speaking of the Vols…..

 

TENNESSEE over Kentucky

 

A few weeks ago, I was really worried about this game, until Butch Jones finally decided it was a good idea to stop trotting out Nathan Peterman, and instead send out the best quarterback on scholarship, Josh Dobbs. Plus, the Wildcats actually started playing like the Kentucky team we all know and love, not the one that was competing in almost every game. They got beat down 41-3 by LSU, and didn’t show up until the second quarter (when it was too late) last week against Georgia. Dobbs changes everything for that offense and for that team, and I don’t expect that to be any different this week.

 

#20 WISCONSIN over #16 Nebraska

The most important game early in the history of the Big 10 West, as the winner would have the inside track at advancing to the Big 10 Championship Game. Minnesota is also a “contender” in that division, but they travel to both Wisconsin and Nebraska in their last two games, and they also have an extremely tough game this week in Minneapolis against Ohio State. Good luck. I don’t really have a solid reason for picking Wisconsin other than that I just haven’t been all that impressed with Nebraska this year. Granted, Wisconsin hasn’t been world beaters this season either, but they are at home, in one of the best home field advantages in the country, Camp Randall. Plus, the visiting team’s locker room, which used to be painted pink, was eventually repainted “prison blue” because they thought that the pink color was irritating their opponents. The new color is supposed to elicit a calming response, and is the same one used in the Wisconsin prison system. I have no idea if it works or not, but since the change, the Badgers are 43-4 at home.

 

#9 Auburn over #15 GEORGIA

 

The Bulldogs get their best player, Todd Gurley, back this week, and while I’m sure he’ll make a huge impact on the field this Saturday, I’m still sticking with the Tigers. I just don’t know what Georgia team is going to show up. Two weeks ago, against Florida, they played one of the worst games I’ve ever seen a ranked team play. They then followed it up last week with a dominating performance, from start to finish, against Kentucky. I know that Auburn’s defense has more holes than Swiss Cheese, but at least Nick Marshall and that offense are always going to show up. That’s really the only thing I’m assured of from week-to-week in this matchup. Plus, I just can’t see Auburn, with as much talent they as they have, getting their 3^rd loss of the season at this point in the year. And as much grief as I’ve given Clemson for blowing games, Georgia kind of does the same thing all the time. Last year’s Auburn game is a perfect example of this, as well as this year’s South Carolina game, where the Bulldogs had a first and goal late in the game, trailing by 3, only they ended up having to settle for a field goal (because they stupidly decided it was a good idea to not hand the ball to Todd Gurley three straight times) which they missed. I could easily see something like that happening again this week, and that’s why I can’t pick Georgia.

 

#5 ALABAMA over #1 Mississippi State

 

I’m siding with the Crimson Tide, mostly because I can’t bring myself to pick Mississippi State, a program that’s done mostly nothing but produce bad football year after year my entire life, to go into Tuscaloosa and win. The Bulldogs have really impressed me this year though, as they’ve got a really good defense, a Heisman-contender in Dak Prescott at QB, and a really smart head coach in Dan Mullen. The Tide have just been such a good team at home. Their most impressive victory of the season, the 59-0 blasting of Texas A&M, happened at home, as well as their 42-21 dismantling of Florida. I think, like last week in Baton Rouge, that this game will be a physical, hard fought, slugfest. But ‘Bama, on the strength of their defense and home crowd, will find a way to squeak this one out.

 

Personally, particularly if it’s close, I don’t think Miss St should drop out of the playoff if they lose this game. They’ve still got some really good wins (at LSU, home against Auburn, home against Texas A&M). Plus, they’re in the best conference in the country, and they never blew a 21 point 4^th quarter lead (I’m looking at you TCU). If I was on the committee, and Alabama wins this game, I’d move the Tide up to number 1, keep Oregon at number 2, leave FSU at number 3, and drop MSU to number 4. Regardless of the what happens next Tuesday though, I still expect this to be the best college football game of the week.

 

Other college picks

 

#8 Ohio State over #25 MINNESOTA

 

#22 GEORGIA TECH over #19 Clemson

 

#24 TEXAS A&M over Missouri

 

#17 Lsu over ARKANSAS

 

#3 Florida State over MIAMI

 

As badly as I wanted to pick the Hurricanes, I just couldn’t. They haven’t done anything (besides beating Duke) that really impressed me this season. Unfortunately, I think the Seminoles are going undefeated, which means they’ll steal a playoff spot from someone who is way more deserving and better than them.

 

So, like always, enjoy football this weekend. You deserve it.

My 2014-15 College Basketball Preview, Plus Early NBA Season Thoughts

The college basketball season officially tips off tomorrow, so, in celebration of that, I thought I’d run through a few of the highlights coming into the season….

 

Kentucky and their superstar freshmen are preseason number 1

 

Isn’t that a familiar sentence? Last year, the Wildcats, on the strength of “The Greatest Recruiting Class since the Fab Five” were also ranked number 1 coming into the season. However, it was an up and down season from the start, as Kentucky didn’t beat a ranked team all year, and had some puzzling defeats, including a loss at LSU, at South Carolina, and two defeats against Arkansas. After losing the SEC Tournament Championship Game to Florida, the selection committee slotted the Wildcats as an eight seed in the Midwest Region. Suddenly, something flipped for this team. After dispatching Kansas State in their first game, Kentucky improbably won 4 straight games against what would’ve been considered superior competition. They knocked off previously undefeated Wichita State in the next round, handed Rick Pitino his first ever loss in the Sweet Sixteen, as they beat Louisville in the Sweet Sixteen, ended Michigan’s season in the Elite Eight, and barely beat Wisconsin in the Final Four, before losing to one of the most surprising champions in NCAA Tournament history, Connecticut. Despite this, it was still a magical run for the Wildcats. They benefited from huge, game winning Aaron Harrison three pointers at the end of three tournament games, and got, in my opinion, the best coaching performance of John Calipari’s career. It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of Coach Cal (he will/has been a frequent target of mine in this space). He reminds me of a sketchy car/insurance salesman, someone who is always putting out a false, coldly concocted and controlled image of himself to the public. But not even I can deny that he’s a great basketball coach. Last year, Calipari became one of six coaches to take a program to three Final Fours in his first five years at the school, joining Harry Combes, Fred Taylor, Ed Jucker, Steve Fisher, and Ben Howland. Only Fisher, Howland, and Calipari have accomplished this feat with the modern, 64-68 tournament field, though Fisher had his ’92 and ’93 Final Four appearances vacated because Chris Webber took money while at Michigan. But the fact that he was able to take this team, one that relied heavily on five freshman, who had all struggled at various times throughout the season, (seriously, the Harrison twins were absolutely abysmal for almost all of last season, before they started to light it up in the tournament) to get their act together, start playing as one unit, and fully maximize their skills and abilities, is one of the most impressive coaching performances of my lifetime. And somewhere along the way, Calipari won me over, though I still trust “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” a million times more than I trust Cal.

 

As always, Calipari did an excellent job recruiting, but I’m actually more impressed with what they brought back. They did lose freshman stars Julius Randle and James Young, but both Harrison twins have returned, and if their strong play in the tournament is any indication, they should only get better this season. They also bring back Willie Cauley-Stein, a great defender/rim protector, and Alex Poythress, an up and down junior who finally showed flashes of being the player he was recruited to be. It’s been no secret that Coach Cal and Poythress haven’t exactly seen eye-to-eye since he committed to Kentucky. In fact, it wouldn’t be THAT much of a stretch to say that Poythress has spent more time in Calipari’s dog house than his own dog the last two seasons. But if he can keep his head on straight, and recapture some of that magic he showed at the end of last year, he could really make an impact for this team. I think the Wildcats will rip through the SEC this season, and they may only lose two or three games in the regular season. If they aren’t a number 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, then they had a disappointing regular season.

 

Kansas reloads better than any program in the country

 

As long as Bill Self is the coach at Kansas, I’ll go ahead and pencil them in as the Big 12 champions. It almost doesn’t matter who they lose year-to-year (and it’s a lot of guys, because college basketball has more roster turnover every season than all other sports combined), because they always seem to just fill in the gaps with another equally capable player. They’ve either won the regular season or conference tournament every season since Self’s second year (he’s been there 11 years). I’m not even worried that they lost Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid, their two best players from last year’s team, because I know Wayne Selden and Perry Ellis and a host of other guys will be able to step up and fill that void. It happens every single year in Lawrence, and I expect it to happen again. They’ll have a great regular season and get either a 1 or 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But that’s where Self’s trouble has been. In his 11 years at Kansas, he’s lost 4 tournament games to double digit seeds (including last year), one to a number 9 seed, and blew a 14 point lead in the final minutes to Michigan in 2013. It’s not like he’s stunk in the tournament (he won a national title in 2008, and lost in the championship game in 2012), it’s just that the Jayhawks haven’t exactly been reliable in the tournament. That’s the only question I really have with this team.

 

It’s all about Jahlil

 

Duke freshman Jahlil Okafor is a monster, and he was the only newcomer to the college game to be selected to the preseason All American team. He’s going to be extremely important for the Blue Devils if they want to go anywhere this season, because this is one of the weaker Duke rosters in recent memory. Rasheed Sulaimon, Amile Jefferson, and Quinn Cook are their best returning guys? I think they’re all solid basketball players, but I’m not sure they can win a title if they have to rely on those guys to be extremely important players for them. They have two other potential superstars in freshman Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow, but I hate relying on freshman-dominated teams. Only one has ever won a national title, 2012 Kentucky, and most of them end up finishing closer to the disappointing 2013 Wildcats than the group led by Anthony Davis. In all honesty, I actually like North Carolina in the ACC. They’ve got the best point guard in the nation in junior Marcus Paige. They’ll only start one freshman, and they return some good players from last year’s team, like Brice Johnson and J.P. Tokoto.

 

It’s going to be a long year on Rocky Top

 

This will probably be the Vols worst team since Buzz Peterson was on the sidelines in Thompson-Boling Arena. If Josh Richardson is your best returning player, you’re probably destined for a 11^th place finish in conference. And that might be generous. They’ve got no size (Armani Moore will start at power forward), and Donnie Tyndall hinted in late September that they’d be starting Kevin Punter, Devin Baulkman, and Willie Carmichael, names even the most devout Vol fans have never heard of. I’m interested to see how Robert Hubbs III (a Cuonzo Martin five star signing who had his freshman season ended by a shoulder injury), Memphis transfer Dominic Woodson, and four star late signee Detrick Mostella play this season, but I’m not crazy or delusional enough to expect them to be saviors for the program this year. It’s going to be a tough year in Knoxville, and I don’t expect this team to be a serious NCAA Tournament threat.

 

Your 2015 NCAA Tournament Champions will be……

 

The Wisconsin Badgers. My Angry Old Man might have a heart attack reading this, because while I made fun of Badger center Frank Kaminsky for almost the entire tournament, he staunchly and ardently defended him, before it eventually devolved into him gargling a bunch of nothing. What can I say? Kaminsky looks like the type of guy that would sit in his parent’s basement all day playing World of Warcraft and downing Dr. Pepper’s. Look at this picture!

He’s just goofy, and that’s why it took me a while to be a believer in Frank the Tank. I was even shocked when ESPN ranked him as the best player in college basketball in the preseason, before I remembered just how good he was in last year’s NCAA Tournament. He was unguardable and unstoppable in the Elite Eight against Arizona (he finished the game with 28 points and 11 rebounds), and was the number 1 reason they played in the Final Four. They’re one of the most experienced teams in the country, as they return 4 starters, including 3 seniors (Kaminsky, Josh Gasser, and Traevon Jackson), a talented junior (Sam Dekker), and the uber athletic sophomore Nigel Hayes. It’s the best starting lineup in the country, and this experienced group will carry Wisconsin to their first national title since 1941.

 

-

 

We’re two weeks into the NBA season, and while I don’t like to make sweeping declarations about the association until we’re about 20-25 games in, a few things have happened since the opening Tuesday that I feel the need to touch on.

 

KEEP FIRING ‘EM UP KOBE!

 

Bryant has been putting up shots at an alarming and extremely inefficient rate this season, as he’s shooting 38.8% from the floor on 24.5 field goal attempts a game. Here’s his game by game shooting performances:

 

Game 1: 6-17 from the floor, 35.3% shooting, 19 points

Game 2: 11-25, 44%, 31 points

Game 3: 6-15, 40%, 21 points

Game 4: 12-28, 42.9%, 28 points

Game 5: 14-37, 37.8%, 39 points

Game 6: 7-20, 35%, 21 points

Game 7: 10-26, 38.5%, 28 points

Game 8: 10-28, 35.7%, 33 points

 

He’s chipped a lot of paint off the rim this season. 44% is his best shooting percentage in a game this year? That may be one of the main reasons why the Lakers are an abysmal 1-7. Obviously, they have a terrible roster, but it doesn’t help when your 36 year old two guard decides to break the offense on multiple occasions throughout the game and start putting up as many shots as he pleases.

 

One more Kobe tangent: on Tuesday, Bryant surpassed John Havlicek as the all time leader in missed shots in NBA history. I thought it was curious that many media pundits raced to defend Kobe. Honestly, I don’t really think it’s that big of a deal. Anybody that’s watched basketball for Bryant’s entire career knows he’s a gunner, and someone who will go down shooting in every single night. It makes sense that the Black Mamba, an almost indestructible athlete that’s played with so many ailments over the years (broken finger, torn wrist ligament, multiple knee issues that he had to fly over to Germany to solve) who also happens to have a propensity to put up as many shots as humanly possible, would break this record. He’s played 18 years and been given free reign to shoot as many times as he wants. We shouldn’t be shocked that this happened. In fact, I think this record perfectly captures Kobe’s career; a volume scorer who was just good enough at putting the ball in the basket to justify all of his misses.

 

Derrick Rose alienates the entire city of Chicago

 

Rose’s comments about sitting out because he didn’t want to be sore when he was older were understandable, yet also a little concerning at the same time. Just as a basketball fan, I don’t really care if he’s out there gutting it out every night right now, because it’s November, and these games largely don’t mean all that much. I’d much rather him be healthy and flying around in April and May than now. Then again, I can certainly understand why Chicagoans would be upset. That’s a tough, gritty city, and a lot of people in their 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, and beyond, who never played professional sports, wake up in that city sore every day. Heck, I’m 21, and sometimes I wake up feeling discomfort somewhere. It happens to almost everyone. Plus, a ton of people in that city are dropping hundreds or thousands of dollars every year on Bulls’ tickets, only to hear that Rose won’t be playing because he doesn’t want to be sore when he goes to his children’s high school graduation. Add in the fact that the city has two terrible baseball teams, and a football team that plays worse defense than any other Bear team has before, and that Rose is making more than 18 million dollars this year, and I understand the city-wide frustration. I really do. Rose’s biggest problem was that he was TOO honest. Obviously, telling the truth is really important, but sometimes, holding back some details isn’t the worst thing in the world. You may not want to be sore when your older, but you can’t say that, because those words are so contrary to the character and image of Chicago, and frankly, the character and image of the team he plays for. That’s a physical, defense-first team that includes players like Joakim Noah, who played with the extremely painful plantar fasciitis all of last season and never really complained about it. Regardless, I hope Rose is able to get healthy, and find his way back on to the court full-time once again. Because the NBA is better when it’s full of athletes like him.

 

The Greatest Draft Class in the History of the NBA?

 

Early returns haven’t been as great as projected on this class, particularly at the top. Andrew Wiggins is averaging 10 points and 3.1 rebounds on 43.8% shooting, while Jabari Parker is averaging a slightly better 10.9 points and 5.9 rebounds on 41.9% shooting. Not a great start for these two, though we are only two weeks into the season. I haven’t been able to watch as much of Jabari as I would like, but I did watch almost all of the Rockets-T’Wolves game last night. Athletically, Wiggins looks like he belongs on the court, and defensively he’s going to be fine. But it’s still a nightmare to see him on the offensive end. Originally, I thought he was cut from the Ben McLemore/young Rudy Gay mold, an extremely talented basketball player who could spend entire stretches of the game just drifting, not touching the basketball or do anything noteworthy. But after watching him the first two weeks, he just looks like he doesn’t know what to do on the offensive end. He can’t create a shot for himself, and he doesn’t do a good job of moving when he’s off the basketball. He doesn’t have a consistent jump shot, and when he does dribble, it doesn’t go anywhere. Wiggins won’t be able to get by on athleticism alone anymore. I’m more worried than ever that he’ll end up becoming a more athletic Tony Allen, one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, as well as a guy who couldn’t make a 20 footer if his life depended on it, and someone who will never sniff an All Star team. Then again, it is early, and Wiggins is just 19. He’s got a whole career ahead of him.

The Week in Football: Auburn's luck ran out, Alabama wins in Tiger Stadium, and the Niners save their season

 

 

It was, like always, a great football weekend. In fact, the most enjoyable thing about it was the Auburn loss. You know, Auburn, the program that’s caught more breaks than anyone the last 5 years? On Saturday though, it appeared that, finally, the Tigers’ luck had run out. Texas A&M blocked a field goal and returned it for a touchdown on the last play of the first half, and they were also gift-wrapped two Auburn fumbles in the last 2:37 of the game. Last week I wrote that I was tired of their luck, and that I was going to root against them in every game for the rest of eternity. So to say I was “happy” about them Clemsoning a winnable game against a mediocre team would be more of an understatement than saying Honey Boo Boo was an annoying television program. This was the most overjoyed I could be on a Saturday that didn’t involve a Tennessee victory.

 

Alabama and Mississippi State are head and shoulders above every other team

 

Why? They have two things, unique only to them, that have happened this season:

 

1. Both teams have won night games in Tiger Stadium
2. Neither defense has been completely torched and stomped on by an opposing offense

 

I can’t state strongly enough just how impressive both those things are. There isn’t a venue in college football that’s harder to play at then night in Death Valley, and both teams escaped victorious. Les Miles only had two losses in home night games at LSU before this season, but these teams doubled that total this year. The Bulldogs were dominant through most of their victory, before having to hold on late to prevent a furious LSU comeback. And Alabama took every body blow the Bayou Bengals could throw and were never fazed, including what could’ve been a soul crushing fumble deep in their own territory late in the game by TJ Yeldon.

 

In this era of football, where defense has no shot on a week-to-week basis, the fact that both these teams haven’t had that, “We can’t generate a pass rush, stop the run, tackle any ball carriers, or prevent receivers from running through the Grand Canyon-sized holes in our secondary” is extremely impressive, and that’s ultimately why I think these are the nations two best teams. Alabama has been great on defense since Saban’s second year, and that’s really why they’ve been able to dominate college football since 2008. Mississippi State, at least this year, has been the same way. Having a defense you can count on is so rare in football now, but it helps so much when you have that inevitable offensive stinker game (which both schools have had this season).

 

Interestingly enough, these teams play each other this week, in Tuscaloosa. At least right now, I’m leaning towards the Tide, solely because they’re at home. And much like Saturday in Death Valley, I expect it to be a 60 minute slug fest. But more on this game later in the week.

 

It’s time to for me to stop doubting Ohio State

 

I gave the Buckeyes almost no shot to go into East Lansing and beat the Spartans. As always, I was an idiot. Superstar freshman QB J.T. Barrett was fantastic (300 yards passing, 3 passing TDs, 14 carries, 86 yards rushing, 2 TDs), and Ohio State proved they’d come a long way from that embarrassing home loss to Virginia Tech earlier in the season. I’d been sitting back all year, watching them from a distance, doubting their accomplishments, because I just rationalized it in my head that they were doing all of this in an abysmal Big 10, and it was ultimately meaningless. But now, after Saturday night? Sheesh. J.T. Barrett for Heisman? I think it’s a possibility.

 

Right now, regardless of where they played, I’d take them over Florida State. The ‘Noles struggled again on Saturday, this time with Virginia. Really? I’m supposed to believe FSU is one of the four best teams when they’ve trailed 4 times at halftime this season, and could’ve lost five games? They’re in the ACC! That league sucks! If they were actually a top 4 team, they’d be blowing everyone off the field, like they did last year. No disrespect to Duke, but you’re probably not in a great league if the Blue Devils have a chance to win back-to-back Coastal Division titles. It’s ridiculous. And the sad thing is, Florida State is probably going to struggle and look awful a few more times this year, only they’ll win because their schedule is full of a bunch of cupcakes. What a shame. They’re taking a playoff spot away from a really good team.

 

Baylor is the most playoff-deserving team in the Big 12

 

TCU is getting a lot of love right now, which is understandable, because they have a flashy offense that scores a ton of points, but if I had a vote, I’d rank the Bears higher than the Horned Frogs. Why? Because when they played on October 11^th, TCU played matador defense, blew a 21 point lead in the 4^th quarter, and lost. Assuming that both these teams win out and finish with just one loss, that game should be the most important factor when these teams are compared. They played head-to-head, and Baylor proved by winning that they were the better team. And if both teams do finish with just one loss, Baylor will be the Big 12 Champion. How would it make any sense to put the second place team in a conference in the playoff over the conference champion, particularly when that conference champion beat that team head-to-head? You’re right, it wouldn’t. I’d put Baylor 5^th, and keep them above TCU until they lose, which might not happen the rest of the year. Plus, how great did the Bears look on Saturday? I know TCU also had a blowout victory over K-State, but Baylor went into Norman and put it on them for almost the entire game, scoring 45 unanswered points. Baylor should be that team on the fringe of the playoff, not TCU, and I hope the committee wakes up and realizes it.

 

The Fighting Irish punched themselves in the face, and out of the playoff conversation

 

This game was more about what Notre Dame didn’t do than what Arizona State did. Everett Golson played well in stretches, particularly during their comeback from a 34-3 deficit, but he also threw 4 interceptions, and had 3 turnovers in a 4 minute stretch in the first half that all but doomed the Irish from the start. Golson’s actually been a turnover machine this year; including his five on Saturday, he now has 17 in his last 6 games. 17! That’s almost three a game! I hate to put all the blame (or the praise) on one player, particularly the quarterback, after a loss (or win), because that’s such an oversimplification of what happens each week, but in this case, it’s hard not to point at him. Those turnovers were so debilitating, and it put them in an almost impossibly difficult and deep hole at the beginning of the game. And how did Arizona State let them come back? I have no idea. Imagine if Golson had just taken care of the ball just a little bit better. Regardless, those turnovers doomed their entire season, and eliminated them from playoff contention.

 

My 4 Team Playoff

 

1. Mississippi State. It’s the same story every week with this team. They’re undefeated in the best conference in the country, they’ve got Dak Prescott, a Heisman contender, at quarterback, and a great defense.
2. Alabama. I’ve bought some Blake Sims stock, particularly after this week. I still had some questions about his chops in big games, and while he wasn’t spectacular on Saturday (just 209 yards with 2 TDs, all while completing less than 50% of his passes), he did lead them into field goal range, going 55 yards in 50 seconds, on their most important drive of the season, against a swarming and physical LSU defense in the most hostile environment in college football. That’s extremely impressive, if you ask me. But with as good as that defense is, they don’t even really need him to be great every week. They just need him to make a few plays in the passing game and with his legs, and not turn the ball over. I think he can manage that.
3. Oregon. I bumped the Ducks up to number 3 this week, because they’ve been more impressive this season than Florida State ever dreamed of being. They went into Utah and absolutely whipped the Utes like it was nothing, just like they’ve been doing recently. Since their loss to Arizona on October 2^nd, Oregon’s smallest margin of victory has been 12, against UCLA, a game that wasn’t as close as the score would indicate. This, in my opinion, is the best Ducks’ team since the one that lost to Auburn in 2010 BCS Title Game.
4. Florida State. As much as I’d love to leave the Seminoles out of the top 4, I really can’t, because as an undefeated team from a power conference, they’re going to be in the playoff. As much as I don’t like it, I’ll just have to deal with it.

 

Now, onto the NFL…..

 

San Fran silenced their critics, and saved Jim Harbaugh’s job, at least for another week

 

Such a huge win for the Niners. They needed this game badly, and got off to a great start, as they led 21-10 at halftime. But when New Orleans came out and dominated the second half, and took the lead on a Drew Brees to Jimmy Graham TD pass with 1:52, I thought it was over for San Fran. There have been so many times over Colin Kaepernick’s career, in late game situations, where he’d made a horrible decision with the football that led to a game ending turnover. Last year’s interception in the NFC Championship Game (when he challenged Richard Sherman deep, who had great coverage on Michael Crabtree, only to have the ball batted away and picked off) is a perfect example of this, as is last week’s fumble against the Rams near the goal line. And there was no way I thought he’d convert that 4^th and 10. Only, he did, accomplishing it in the most Jekyll and Hyde way possible, a 51 yard bomb to Michael Crabtree, putting them in field goal range. For all the mistakes and bad decisions Kaepernick makes, this guy always seems to make at least one play a week that amazes you. That’s why he’s got so many people who defend him, because he’s got all the tools and skills to consistently be one of the best quarterbacks in the league.

 

But it wasn’t just Kaepernick who stood out. For the second time this year, the Niners, with their backs against the wall, in a big spot, hit the field and gutted out a must-win. The first time it happened was in Week 4, when they beat the Eagles in San Fran to avoid starting 1-3. They won that game with great defense and their famous physical, pounding, running style. They did the same thing this week, running for 144 yards on 32 attempts, holding Brees below 300 yards passing, picking him off twice, and forcing him to fumble in the overtime, which allowed them to kick the game winning field goal. They might not make the playoffs, but they certainly won’t be eliminated from playoff contention without kicking and screaming the entire way there. There’s just too much pride in that locker room for them to go away quietly.

 

The curious case of Dez Bryant

 

Bryant, by all calculations, is one of the best receivers in the NFL, and proved as much yesterday, as he did just about whatever he wanted to against Jacksonville (6 catches, 158 yards, 2 TDs). I could throw out so many more stats to indicate this guy’s greatness (48 career TD catches, almost 5000 career receiving yards, and he’s only played 4 and a half seasons!), or I could show you videos like this one. And the Cowboys know this. They know he’s one of the best 3 receivers in the NFL. But they, understandably, have concerns about Bryant off the field. It was concerning, though not completely shocking, to hear yesterday that the police had been called to Bryant’s residence SIX times to deal with multiple incidents. This is also the same guy that got suspended for almost his entire junior season at Oklahoma State for lying to the NCAA. He also had an extremely questionable and troublesome upbringing, as he was born to a 14 year old mother who was arrested for dealing crack when he was 8 years old. Throw in the fact that he lived in 8 different homes during high school, as well as the fact that he didn’t really ever have a solid and consistent father figure growing up, and it’s really concerning, yet also extremely sad. Should the Cowboys’ really feel comfortable committing guaranteed millions to a guy with so many issues in his personal life? It’s not a completely unreasonable question. Obviously, I don’t know Dez, but if one thing is evident about his character, it’s this: that guy is so freaking competitive, and I’ve never seen him slog through a game, looking like he doesn’t care about what’s going. On game day, that guy is ready to go. He’s out there making plays, throwing a few blocks, and doing whatever his team needs him to do to win. He’s not a quarterback, meaning I don’t really need him to be a leader on my team. I just need him to show up and continue to do Dez Bryant things, which I don’t have any doubt he’ll be able to keep on doing. Plus, it’s not like the Cowboys haven’t been taking almost every precaution possible with him. I mean, they’ve got someone basically baby sitting him 24-7. Give him the money, and keep the baby sitter around. Plus, I think it would be good for Bryant to have some continuity in his life. In his 26 years, he really hasn’t had any consistency in his life (again, no father figure, 8 different homes in high school, mother in jail, etc.) No authority figures have ever made a long term investment in this guy, and allowed him to constantly be involved in something with consistent structure, like a professional football team. Even with all the faults Jerry Jones has, I’d never criticize him for the way he cares about, and takes care of his players. Once you’re a Cowboy, you’re a Cowboy for life. That’s how Jerry does it, and I ultimately can’t see him not trying to do everything he can to help Bryant succeed, not only as a football player, but also as a person. He needs that consistency, and I think Jerry knows that. He’ll get his money, and he’ll be a Cowboy for a long time.

 

Stick a fork in the Cardinals?

 

Last week, I wrote that I believed Arizona, at the midway point in the season, was the best team in the NFL. Carson Palmer’s play at the quarterback position was one of the reasons for that, as well as one of the reasons as to why I thought they’d be Super Bowl contenders throughout the rest of the season. Well, Arizona suffered a huge blow yesterday when Palmer, on a strange play with hardly any contact, tore his ACL in left knee for the second time in his career, ending his season. Drew Stanton was thrust into duty for the second time this year, and actually threw a huge TD pass to John Brown on his first pass. Stanton was serviceable in the 4 games he played this year (3 TDs, no picks), but after hearing that Arizona was fearful Palmer had torn his ACL, I pondered the question I asked about the Dolphins and Chiefs last week: can I see a scenario where that starting quarterback (in this case, Drew Stanton) could be lifting up the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the year? Meaning, could Stanton get hot for 3 or 4 weeks, play extremely well, and propel his team to a Super Bowl victory? You aren’t going to win the Super Bowl without great quarterback play (it hasn’t happened since 2002 with Tampa Bay and Brad Johnson); is there a chance I’d ever say, “Man, Drew Stanton is great!” Unfortunately, I don’t think there is. I still think the Cards will make the playoffs, and they may even win their division, and get the one seed, but somebody with a hotter quarterback, and a defense that can get consistent pressure on the QB, will defeat them in the playoffs.

 

Now quickly, from my Angry Old Man, who called me on the phone on Friday, ranting and raving about new Tennessee basketball coach, Donnie Tyndall, who is now under NCAA investigation for things that happened at his previous job, Southern Miss. My Old Man wasn’t a fan of the hire to begin with. I couldn’t understand all of his points, because he just started snarling about halfway through, making strange, angry noises. Here’s what I caught:

 

“Aargh! I wanted Gregg Marshall, not this smiling buffoon! I don’t even care that his wife is way better looking than him! How is it possible that Buzz Williams (the former head coach at Marquette) took a pay cut to go to Virginia Tech, one of the worst jobs in the ACC, when Tennessee, which I think is a pretty good job, was open? And for all this talk about how they couldn’t hire back Bruce Pearl because of his NCAA trouble, how could they hire a guy who is now potentially in NCAA trouble? If it’s proven he lied to UT on signing his ‘Memorandum of Understanding’, he should be fired immediately! Let’s not be hypocrites! Maybe if your hearing wasn’t so impaired from that dumb boom bang music, or rap crap, or whatever you dang kids call it, you’d actually be able to learn something from your pops instead of making crappy football picks every week!”

 

He then violently hung the phone up, as he often does when he’s riled up (which is just about all the time). However, he did make some good points. I never liked the hire in the first place, just because I felt like Tennessee is the type of program that could make more splashy hire than that. I mean, really? Donnie Tyndall? I’m not saying I won’t be rooting for him to do well, and I hope he wins a national title, but I’m not overly optimistic about the program with him in charge of it. I just don’t understand how they weren’t able to hire a bigger name, someone like a Buzz Williams, a guy who has had a lot of success at Marquette. You’re not going to be able to convince me that Virginia Tech is a better basketball job than Tennessee. The Vols’ program has more fan support than any program in the SEC besides Kentucky (they have the enormous Thompson-Boling Arena, which is packed for almost every game), they’ve got great facilities, and you can win big there. They’ve been to the Sweet Sixteen four times in the last eight years! If you can win back-to-back national titles at Florida (a program with less fan support), you should be able to win ONE at Tennessee.

 

Now, if it comes out that Tyndall was dishonest, and lied to Tennessee, should he be fired? It certainly would make sense, and be consistent with what the Vols did in the past, particularly with Pearl. And why even hire a guy like Tyndall, who already got in trouble at Morehead State for committing NCAA violations? My only concern about firing Tyndall would be that this season is now, more than likely, a lost year. This team was already going to have a down season (they lose Jordan McRae, Jarnell Stokes, and Jeronne Maymon, only their three best players), and I can’t imagine firing a coach just days before the season starts will help. But if he was dishonest, and Tennessee is concerned about being perceived as hypocritical, then he probably should be gone.

 

Speaking of college basketball, with the season tipping off on Friday, I'll have some sort of preview for that later in the week, as well as something NBA related. So keep an eye out for that.

 

Enjoy Monday Night Football, and have a great week.