Tim's Two Cents-January 11

NFL Playoffs Have Finally Arrived.  It was a great first weekend of action in the NFL Playoffs.  I can't remember a time when the action included three rematches from week 17 of the regular season.  There was the Jets at the Bengals, the Eagles at the Cowboys and the Packers at the Cardinals.  The only game that wasn't a rematch was the Ravens and Patriots.

The action kicked off with the Jets and the Bengals on Saturday.  This was a relative close game throughout.  The Bengals were the first to get on the board with a 7 to nothing lead.  The Jets stayed in it though as Mark Sanchez did just enough to give the Jets a 24 to 14 win.  As the game moved along, the Jets defense became a problem for the Bengals offense who couldn't get it going on a consistent basis.  For their winning effort, the Jets will head to sunny San Diego to take on Phillip Rivers and the Chargers.

The Saturday night game was the another week 17 rematch between the Eagles and the Cowboys.  As we soon found out, the rematch played out like it did in week 17.  The Cowboys made the plays on offense and the defense bothered Donovan McNabb all night long.  He and the rest of the Eagles didn't have a chance in the 34 to 14 loss.  It is also clear that the Cowboys are playing some of their best football right now as they will head to Minnesota next week to take on Brett Favre and the Vikings.

The Sunday slate of games was equally as good as Saturday.  The Ravens and the Patriots were the early game.  Let's just say I wasn't surprised by the outcome as the Ravens blew out Tom Brady and the Patriots 33 to 14.  The Patriots this year weren't the 18-0 Patriots that went to the Super Bowl against the Giants a couple years ago.  Bill Belichick didn't seem to be the football god he has been in the past.  The most important factor for the Patriots struggles this season was a lack of veteran leadership in the locker room, and in sports, chemistry is vital to winning in the long run.  As for the Ravens, they will take their show on the road to Indianapolis to battle Peyton Manning and the Colts next week, and I wouldn't be shocked if they pulled out a victory.

As if those games weren't enogh to get the competitive juices flowing, the Packers and the Cardinals was the best of the weekend.  It didn't look like it was going to be much of a game as the Cardinals had a 21 point lead at 31 to 10.  It looked like the Packers were out of it at that point.  Not so fast my friend.  Quarterback Aaron Rodgers had one heck of a game in his playoff debut as he led Green Bay to a tie at 38.  It had turned into a shootout.  I guess both defenses decided to take the day off!  In the end, it had to be decided in overtime as Arizona prevailed with a 51 to 45 win thanks to Karlos Dansby recovering an Aaron Rodgers fumble inside the 20 yard line and the rest is history. It is ironic that the game was won on defense as Arizona punched their ticket to New Orleans next week. 

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and Keith Allison under CC-SA 2.0 License
  

Tim's Two Cents-January 5

Should NFL Teams Rest Their Starters in the Final Weeks of the Regular Season?  News spread over the weekend that the NFL would look into the policy of teams resting their starters during the final weeks of the regular season.  Until this weekend, I didn't even know that there was possibly such a policy in the league.  I always thought those decisions were left for the teams to decide for themselves.  This story is noteworthy because of what has taken place the last few weeks with teams such as the Indianapolis Colts and, more recently, the New England Patriots.  I really don't think there's that much Roger Goodell and the NFL can do by looking into this situation.  There's been rumors of extra draft picks to those teams, but I don't see something like that having a significant impact in the long run.  

You may remember that in week 16 Colts head coach Jim Caldwll decided to pull his starters out in the third quarter of what would be a 29 to 15 loss against the New York Jets, thus ending their pursuit of perfection.  It caused a lot of backlash this past week from the fans, as well as the media, who were seemingly disappointed that giving the starters some rest was far more important than trying for the perfect season.  That situation with the Colts is somewhat understandable, given their way of operating in the final weeks of the regular season the last few years when they had everything wrapped up.  I personally would have liked to seen them go for the perfect season, given what their place in history could have been. 

What I don't understand is why in week 17 in a 30 to 7 loss at Buffalo in the snow,  the Colts decided to play their starters just so they could reach certain milestones for the season.  Peyton Manning extended his consecutive start streak to 192 and tight end Dallas Clark got his 100th reception of the season.  It was no surprise that they were pulled after acheiving these milestones.  If I were in charge of the Colts, it would have made more sense to have kept the starters in longer during week 16 so they could acheive those goals as well as going for the perfect season.  It wouldn't surprise me if they fall behind early against their next opponent in two weeks time and start feeling the pressure to reach the Super Bowl as favorites in February.

In a similar, but at the same time different situation for the Patriots, they chose to play their starters in a 34 to 27 defeat against the Houston Texans on Sunday.  Today, Bill Belichick is probably wishing he should have done things differently.  Tom Brady has reportedly been playing with cracked ribs and a broken finger the last few weeks and Wes Welker, arguably New England's biggest play making wide receiver not named Randy Moss, reportedly has a torn PCL and MCL thanks to a knee injury he suffered early in Sunday's game. 

That's the dilemma these teams face when considering whether or not to rest their starters down the stretch heading into the playoffs.  To have the starters go out and attept to reach personal as well as team goals to end the season, or risk injury to star players in what essentially amounts to a meaningless game where everything has already been decided.             

Tim's Two Cents-December 16

With another week of NFL action almost here, I want to give my thoughts on a story from last week's action that I did not get to and what effect it will have on the coming week:

Randy Moss quitting on the Patriots?  That's what Chris Gamble and Chris Harris of the Carolina Panters have hinted at after Sunday's 20 to 10 loss to New England.  This is just the latest chapter in what has been an up and down season for the Patriots.  One that included the much talked about game against the Colts and where they have had only one win on the road, which came on a neutral field in London versus the Buccaneers.  I'm am not suprised by these latest accusations concerning Moss.  In the past few weeks, his production has decreased to the point where last Sunday he had a total of one reception and not running the proper routes.  On top of that, head coach Bill Belichick dismissed Moss and other players earlier this week after arriving late to a team meeting.  He is one of those star NFL receivers who has a boat load of talent but comes with excess baggage, like Terrell Owens of the Buffalo Bills.  By the way, New England plays host to Buffalo this week. 

If I were the GM of an NFL franchise, I would NOT take a chance on receivers like Moss and Owens because the off-the-field issues outweigh the production value on the field.  As for this week's game, I think the Patriots will win regardless of what kind of production Moss provides primarily because the game will be New England where the Patriots have yet to lose.

Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons and Keith Allison CC-BY License.