Week 15 played out as easily the oddest week in the NFL season to date. The weather for some of the games was just absolutely ridiculous! Most of all was the Bill and Browns in Cleveland. Wow, that was pretty awesome to watch, unless you like people facing on their faces, slipping and sliding every time they try to make a cut, and a total of eight whole points scored. Still, watching some of the players perform in those conditions was marveling. Braylon Edwards come to mind in this game. He made some unbelievable catches and deserved to go to the Pro-Bowl. Onto the week in review...
HIGHS
Congratulations to the Miami Dolphins for winning their first game of the season. Boy, what does that say about the Ravens? Keep reading below and I'll tell you. The Dolphins made the plays, the Ravens got way too conservative later in the game and the Dolphins won. Do you think it had anything to do with all the great '72 Dolphins that were on hand for the game? I thought it would have been a way cooler story line had the Dolphins been winless going into their game with the unbeaten Pats, and then find a way to pull the biggest upset in NFL history. Now that's a story.
I loved watching the Houston Texans pound the Denver Broncos last Thursday Night. I don't know if matters to me who is kicking the #### out of the Broncos, as long as they're doing it. The Broncos have been eliminated from the playoffs for a second straight season and I popped the champagne bottles to celebrate!
Congratulations to Ben Roethlisberger, Willie Parker, Alan Faneca, James Harrison, and Troy Polamalu for making the AFC Pro Bowl Team.
LOWS
The Steelers found another way to lose this past weekend. It came down to not being able to stop the run late in the game and the inability of the defense to tackle. I'm sorry, but Fred Taylor is not THAT good! I said it last week; Aaron Smith being out for the year would hurt this defense more than anything else. At least the weather can't be a factor this week as they go play the Lambs in a dome. The Steelers still control their own destiny at this point which is all you can ask for with only two games to play. They should win this week, but I'm starting to get a bit worried. One last thing about the game against the Jags. The second TD pass bothered me. The Jags motioned into trips bunch left then snapped the ball. I saw what was coming as soon as I saw the formation; it bothers me that our defense didn't see it at all. So here it is, the classic illegal pick play. The middle receiver runs an 8yrd hook, the inside receiver runs an out-slant and the outside receiver runs an in-slant, picking off the defender of the inside receiver as he goes by. The inside receiver is now on the outside, wide open in the flat for the TD!!! Was there a flag? I don't even need to say it.
The Baltimore Ravens are a sad, sad team. They've got nothing to play for going into this past weekend, yet they played so tight to the vest. Brian Billick is supposed to be the offensive guru, ha, yeah right! He's going to start Kyle Boller this week. Are you kidding me! Why would you go with this guy now when you've already said he's not good enough to be your starter. I'm sorry to say this, but Troy Smith for President. Get this guy in the game! So what if he's short, he's got a cannon for an arm and can make plays with his feet if need be. What's the problem? You drafted this guy right? What do you have to lose, except two more games I guess.
Week 13 is in the books and there were some happenings that got me thinking. What is the NFL, really? It's a business. And what's the best thing for business? Interest and excitement. The only way a business can be successful is if it is selling and making money right? That's what a cell phone company wants, it's what Wal-Mart or Target wants, and it's the same for professional sports. In a business product life cycle, there are ups and downs. The goal is to try to keep things going in the ups direction. The best way to do that is to modify your product slightly so that a larger target audience will become interested, thus bringing their spending money to your product. There are many ways a business can accomplish this feat.
HIGHS
The NFL is expanding. They've played games outside the U.S. for a few years now and this year marked the first time a regular season game was played outside the country. The NFL looks to continue this global expansion to get some of the rest of world's money and attempt to generate a larger fan base.
The Pittsburgh Steelers won again Sunday Night as they easily handled the Bengals. One thing that concerns me was the Steeler's inability to run the ball late in the game and close the game out in boring fashion. Najeh Davenport was a late scratch from the line-up with a foot injury and the effects were rather apparent. Santonio Holmes' absence was another big factor for the Steelers. It's amazing that everyone knew that Hines Ward would be getting the ball, but they couldn't stop him anyway. What's even more amazing is that the "experts" at ESPN swear up and down that Ward is over the hill and no longer able to be productive. The Steelers get their crack at beating the undefeated Patriots and I think they've got a great chance at doing it. The Steelers run a very effective zone-blitz scheme that is the key to slowing down Tom Brady and the Pats. Here's the key Steelers coaching staff, stop Wes Welker!!! He runs three pass patterns underneath, in, out, and hook. Play your safeties over the top to stop Moss and Stallworth and drop a linebacker into the middle zone to protect the crossing patterns. The front 6 will be able to stop the run and apply enough pressure to disrupt the Pats offense. The final key to win is to hit the #### out of Tom Brady and the WR's. Randy Moss will give up if you hammer him enough.
LOWS
The NFL has a vested interest in seeing the Patriots go undefeated this year. It's a new generation and the new fans need to have something monumental like this occur in their time so they can stay interested in the game and bring the next generation into the game. It's a want based on need to continue the success of the game. The '72 Dolphins are boring to this generation. Nobody knows more than a handful of players from that team and their time appears to now be limited. The Baltimore Ravens should have won. Three things happened to permit the glorious Patriots team from being blemished. 1)The Refs illegally granted the Ravens a time-out on a fourth and 1 play late in the game. The rules state that only a player on the field of play or the head coach may call a time-out. It's the Refs responsibility to verify that the legal personnel are calling the time-out. 2)A terrible illegal-contact penalty was called on the Ravens on a fourth and 5 a few plays later. The replayed did not show the TE being impeded in any fashion during the throw. 3)The TD catch to win the game was incorrectly called and reviewed. The replay clearly showed that the ball was moving in the receiver’s hands before he was able to get both feet in bounds. This is just what happened on the final possession of the game. There were numerous penalties throughout the game that clearly favored the Patriots including one where Moss ran down field, tried to run through a defender that had position, went down, and a defensive holding penalty was called. WHAT!?! Oh yeah, it's not personal, it's just business.
The Buffalo Bills join my list of teams to hate for what happened Sunday. The Redskins announced in advance that they would take the field for the first play on defense with only 10 men. Showing immense respect and sorrow for the loss of Pro-Bowl safety Sean Taylor. So what do the Bills do, they run a play and roll of like a 20-yard gain. This to me is a slap in the face to Sean Taylor. You know what you pathetic, sorry excuse for a football team, take a knee!!! You now join my most hated list that consists of...
I am an avid Football Fan. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA how could one not be! I love my Steelers, but more, I love the game of Football. I moved to the Bay Area of California about six years ago and boy do I feel sorry for the sports fans who live here. I currently reside in San Ramon, CA with my lovely wife Kelly and our new son Dillon, future NFL quarterback.
