Contributors
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2013 12:07 PM
From: Brian
Subject: Re: Zone Blitz- Together Again
To: Amy
Amy,
There are so many cheesy lyrics I could cite as an intro to bring attention to the fact that after a few weeks apart, we're together again. So I'll save the dramatics, and simply thank Nancy (week 11) and Biggie (week 12) for doing such a great job filling in. But now it is back to us, so let's get this party started.
Turkey Day Football
We'll start with Thanksgiving, where the three home teams all got much needed wins in their playoff push. Detroit was finally able to take advantage against a Green Bay team that is now done. For all of the focus on Green Bay's lack of Aaron Rodgers, my question is what has happened to the defense? Earlier in the year, they were minus Clay Matthews, and I know the secondary is a bit banged up, but even now that Matthews is back, they look hopeless out there. Add in the noodle-armed Matt Flynn, and the Packers have the look of a completely irrelevant team down the stretch. They're not as bad as the Colts were a couple of years ago without Manning, but they're still not a very good team without Aaron Rodgers, partly due to refusing to invest in a quality backup. Now, it looks like the Pack may just let Rodgers sit for the rest of the year, and fantasy teams around the country have officially been destroyed now that Rodgers, Lacy, Nelson, and Jones are all essentially worthless.
With that dominating win, coupled with a bad Bears loss on Sunday to the Vikings, it appears the Lions are finally going to stomp their foot on this division. When they look good, they look really good. Then again, it looked like that's what they'd do a couple of weeks ago, and it didn't work out that way for them. 9-7 isn't out of the realm of possibility for Detroit, but the good news for them is that it doesn't appear that either Green Bay or Chicago will be able to better that mark, and Detroit owns that all-important tie-breaker over Chicago.
Dallas won the late-afternoon tilt to help them keep pace with the Eagles. The Cowboys weren't overly impressive in their victory, but Oakland is a better team than people thought they would be. Even without Denarius Moore, Bill O'Brien's shining pupil himself, Matt McGloin has actually looked pretty good at QB for the Raiders. Unless something goes seriously wrong, I don't think he'll ever amount to anything more than a backup on a decent team, but he'll be a quality one for years. I can't tell you how unfathomable that statement is to me, considering I've followed his career as a walk-on at Penn State. He was not even a mediocre QB prior to O'Brien arriving on the scene. Yet somehow, he now reminds me a bit of a Bubby Brister-type. Good arm, feisty, and unafraid if pressed into a situation.
In the Turkey Day finale, the Ravens won a desperation game over arch-rival Pittsburgh. That game was much more important to Baltimore, considering they still have Detroit, New England, and Cincinnati on their schedule. They probably have to win 3 of 4 to get in, since Pittsburgh would likely still hold a tie-break advantage over them (not guaranteed, but likely), but a loss would have all but eliminated them. Unfortunately, as great a game as it was, it's now being overshadowed by a Jacoby Jones kickoff return. The prevailing narrative is that Tomlin intentionally put himself in position to interfere with the play. I'm not going to sit here and say that didn't happen, but I'm also not ready to just blindly admit that there was intent. I want to see a replay of Tomlin from the time the kick takes place. Did he move into that position once he saw that the play was coming up his sideline? From the replay I've seen, that doesn't appear to be the case. It appears that he was in that spot the whole time, based on the wide-angle view of the play. Now, whether or not he chose that spot intentionally, or simply found himself about 6 feet closer to the field than he thought, I don't know. Either way, he was clearly in an illegal spot on the field, and the officials should have called him for an unsportsmanlike penalty. The refs blew it. And if the NFL wants to take 10,000-15,000 out of his wallet, fine. Yes, I'm a fan of the Steelers. And if that had happened against the Steelers, I'd have been screaming for an unsportsmanlike penalty to be called. But to threaten a 6 figure fine and a loss of draft pick is, in my opinion, a huge overreaction by the league. Had he pulled a Sal Alosi, then I'd agree that the league should fine and suspend him. But if this had happened in the Browns-Jaguars game on Sunday, and not in a nationally televised game, would this be nearly as big of a deal? My guess is no, but perhaps I'm wrong. I'm curious where you come out on all of this.
Sunday
Of the Sunday games, the Eagles came up with a huge win over a very good Arizona team. The Cardinals have an excellent defense, but they can't defend the TE, having now allowed 14 TDs to opposing TEs this year, including 3 on Sunday. Also, the Philly defense is being overlooked, but has come together beautifully since their early-season struggles. The race between Philly and Dallas should come down to that final Sunday of the season in Jerry's World.
Also on Sunday, KC fought valiantly, but lost yet again to Denver. Unless something major happens, it looks like KC is now locked into that 5 seed, and will have to take on the role of road warriors in the playoffs. Meanwhile, I still get the sense that Denver is ripe for the picking. As good as they look, I still think the AFC is wide-open.
That's all I've got for now. I'll go ahead and leave most of the Sunday details to you. I'm also looking forward to hearing your thoughts on what transpired on Thursday.
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2013 7:05 PM
From: Amy
Subject: Re: Zone Blitz- Together Again
To: Brian
Tomlin
I agree with all your comments on the Turkey day games. So, I'll jump to Tomlin.
I am not a Steelers fan, as you know. However, I am a Mike Tomlin fan, after BB, he's my fave coach. I loved that he owned what he did post game, and I agree it should have been called. (On a side note, few media outlets are bringing up that the ref that ran behind Tomlin and didn't flag him was downgraded and might be suspended). I also agree that the Steelers should not lose any draft choices.
However, I do think a sizeable fine is warranted. I'd say in the 30 to 50k range. Here is why. First, he knowingly broke the rules, and, he did interfere with a play on the field. Second, the day before the game, the NFL sent a memo to all the teams that coaches were getting too close to the field, and that they needed to be behind the white area when plays are in progress. The *very next day* Tomlin is *on the field* during the punt return. He was, to my way of thinking, daring the NFL to act. I give him mad props for not running from it, like, say, Sean Payton, but, he does have to take the punishment like a man.
Quick Week 13 Recap
On Sunday, all I watched was the Pats game. We had no oil, so my downstairs was cooold! I braved it for the Pats, then retreted to warm for the rest of the day, I am glad we won, though, it would be nice to see us play a whole game at some point!
Ridley was not benched for fumbling, it was a matchup issue, like Welker with Tennessee week 1 last year. He should be back next week.
I was suprised by how easily Miami won, and by how much the Colts struggled. I was annoyed with KC choking. I think Denver will get the 1, then lose at home in the divisional round again.
Looking forward to the game tonight, and Pathers/Saints next week.
Date: Tue, 3 Dec 2013 2:33 PM
From: Brian
Subject: Re: Zone Blitz- Together Again
To: Amy
Updated view on Tomlin
The beauty of this article is that it's time-stamped, and occurs over the course of a couple of days. Since my last reply, I've been able to see new information regarding the Tomlin situation, which means that I now have a clearer and amended opinion of the situation.
From the videos that had been shown prior to KDKA in Pittsburgh releasing their own footage, it was hard to tell where Tomlin was prior to the play unfolding. With the video evidence presented by KDKA (and linked to above), it's clear that Tomlin took a pretty hefty-sized step toward the very edge of the sideline after Jones was already in the middle of his return.
The video evidence clearly shows, in my view, Tomlin's intent on the play in question. At the very least, it appears that he was trying to give Jacoby Jones something directly in front of him to look at, and potentially distract him. It's very hard to believe that he didn't intentionally take a step toward the field once he saw the play was coming down his sideline. And because of that, the NFL needs to act. I still don't think that punishing the organization with a loss of a draft pick is appropriate, but a hefty fine, and suspension for Tomlin is warranted. For appearances alone, Tomlin probably deserves to be suspended for the remainder of the season. And honestly, it wouldn't shock me if the Rooneys decide that it's a fireable offense.
Do I think it was intentional? Absolutely, after seeing that video. I can't say it with 100% certainty, but the evidence is pretty overwhelming. I'd still like to see a video from the time of the kick, and I'd also like to see video of him on other kickoffs, just to prove his claims that he always watches the jumbotron on a kickoff. Even if those pieces of evidence were to add to the plausibility that he didn't know exactly where he was on the sideline, it is still something the NFL should act on, especially considering the warning they had given about the sideline ettiquette for coaches the day before.
Honestly, I'm embarrassed to be a Steeler fan right now. That act is something that is completely contrary to everything that organization, and many organizations claim to stand for. And it's not something I would ever think to expect from him.
Then again, he did work for Jon Gruden and Mike Tice...
UPDATE: Tomlin does deserve some credit for taking full responsibility in today’s press conference. He refused to defend his actions, and called them “embarrassing, inexcusable, illegal.” Of course, he also called them a “blunder” and said it was “shocking” that his actions would be perceived as intentional. This is where I start to have a problem. Even using the word “blunder” is making an excuse, even as he says that he has no excuses. And if you watch the KDKA footage, it certainly looks intentional at the very least. Perhaps it was an instantaneous decision of gamesmanship on his part, without a full understanding of how bad it would look. But even if his actions were legitimately a “blunder”, I’m not sure using that word is in Tomlin’s best interest if he wants to truly apologize for his actions. I’d like to hear someone ask him why he took a significant and demonstrative step toward the field as Jacoby Jones was coming up the sideline.
Tripletted
Beyond the officiating mishap in Baltimore that could lead to a suspension for the official who missed the unsportsmanlike on Tomlin, we also had some interesting officiating to say the least at the end of the Sunday night game. To be fair, if the Redskins would have called a different play on 3rd and 1 than they did on first and 10, they'd have been wrong, since they couldn't have drawn up a more perfect play. It was not Jeff Triplette's fault that Fred Davis dropped that pass. But the refs making an error like that is inexcusable. Triplette's crew, and Triplette himself always seem to come across as clueless, but that was unacceptable. How he's still a referee is baffling.
Other than that, I'd thank the NFL if they'd not try to force another Redskins game on a national audience this season. I get why they wouldn't flex out of Sunday's game, since they had a Thursday game in Baltimore (even though Philly-Arizona would have been an excellent choice, and was also relatively close in proximity to Baltimore), but we don't need to be subjected to that again. On RGIII, I agree with John Madden. Physically, I think he looks ok. But to expect a 2nd year player to basically take an offseason away from the game, then come back and pick up where he left off, was completely unrealistic. I think Griffin will be fine once he has a full offseason to develop and fine-tune his skills even further.
{But at least we get Houston-Jacksonville on Thursday!!!}
Final Thoughts
This just in, but Seattle is really good. And now, with the tie-break advantage over both NO and Carolina, it looks like a foregone conclusion that the NFC will have to travel through the Emerald City. I think the biggest potential kryptonite to Seattle's Super Bowl aspirations would potentially be Carolina, but the main thing we'll find out over the next few weeks is whether or not Carolina can act as a kryptonite for the Saints. Even a split of the 2 games would likely put Carolina in a really good position to grab the 2 seed in the NFC.
Other than Carolina-New Orleans, we have a very big game in Philly with the Lions coming to town. Also, Indy has a chance to clinch the South with a win on Sunday over Cincinnati, the Steelers have an elimination game at home (without Tomlin?) against the Dolphins, and the Seahawks have a chance to slam the door shut on San Francisco.
Then of course, we have the start of the fantasy football playoffs. I have a bye this week in each of the 3 FP leagues, but to those that have a playoff matchup this week, don't forget to set your lineups. It's all futile anyway, as I fully intend on finshing at the top of all 3 leagues when it's all said and done.
Back to you Amy to close up shop for the week. As week 14 approaches, what are you most looking forward to?
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2013 7:05 PM
From: Amy
Subject: Re: Zone Blitz- Together Again
To: Brian
Defending Pittsburgh
Warning - Irony alert! In a shocking turn of events, I'm defending the Steelers! Yes, what Tomlin did was intentional. Yes, there should be a penalty. I'd fine him 30k. Maybe a 1 game suspension, maybe. Nothing more. He doesn't deserve a 4 game suspension, he definately doesn't deserve to be fired. He's a very good coach. Let's not forget that flagging coaches for being in that white area/on the field when play is happening was supposed to be a POE this year, and, yet, to my knowledge, no flags have been thrown for it. So, can you really blame him for trying?
Sophomore Slump
I'm a huge RG3 fan. I think part of his issue is the knee recovery, part of it is the Sophmore slump. Cam had it last year, and you can make the case that RG3, Luck, and Kaepenick are all having it this year. However, part of it is Shanahan! Mike Shanahan was 47-17 with Elway as his QB. He is 122-117, as of right now, with any other QB. He is an average coach, not imaginative, who gained his success with one of the greatest QBs of all time, and a blocking scheme that's mostly outlawed now. There's no sign at all the locker room in DC loves him. He could easily be the wrong guy for RG3. I fully expect RG3 to be fine next year.
Saints Exposed
The Saints are a soft team. You hit them in the mouth and they cave, on and off the field. Compare how the Pats and Dolphins handeled Spy and Bully gate. The Pats said 'Hey, we did it.', took it like a man, and played on. The 'fins argued about doing it, but have taken it like a man, and are playing on. The Saints cried like schoolgirls.
It translates to on the field, too. Remember the year after they won the Super Bowl. They failed to win the division, had to go to 7-9 Seattle in the WC round, and got schooled. And cried about having to travel. It's a common theme. Hit them in the mouth early, and they fold. The Jets did it to them earlier this year. Seattle did it last night. That game was over at 10-0. If the Panthers do it to them, they'll fold again.
Carolina is underrated. They should be 10-1 right now, with wins over Seattle and the Bills in weeks 1 and 2. I think they split with the Saints, and 2-0 over them is plausible. While they have a great D, they are #3 in the NFL in point differential, behind Seattle and Denver.
The Real Deal
As for Seattle, they are good. But, while everyone has said 'Hey, KC had a soft schedule, are you aware that of the 12 teams in the playoff field at the moment, Seattle is #01 on strength of schedule, only the Ravens and Lions have had an easier one to date. Denver has risen to #1, if you're curious.
Week 14 Lookahead
I'm looking forward to Panthers/Saints the most. However, if the Pats beat the Browns, and the Steelers beat Miami, we clinch the AFC East. That would be 11 times in 13 years, so, I'm pulling for it, just to get it out of the way. Also, Indy at Cincy is big, too. Not only for seeding, but because the Bengals have the tie breaker over the Pats. If we win and they lose, we have a 2 game lead with 3 to go. That's better than a 1 game lead, or even no game lead, with 3 to go.
Not that it all matters, since the Super Bowl will be Pats/Panthers in a snowstorm at MetLife. Seattle and Denver will be watching from afar as we get a rematch of 2003 in 2013!
