The New York Giants will be playing in Super Bowl XLII
Hang on I need to capitalize that....
THE NEW YORK GIANTS WILL BE PLAYING IN SUPER BOWL XLII
Sorry for shouting.
But how can a New Yorker not be ridiculously excited after a game that had every break go against the Giants, two missed field goals setting up a situation that seemed a perfect deja vu to the infamous Jay Feely Seahawks game, and win the NFC Championship in the 3rd coldest game in NFL history in Lambeau Field.
Wow.
There are a few things that must be pointed out from this game:
1. Blown offsides call on Kabeer Gbaja Bjamala
He clearly and obviously jumped so Eli just went down and waited for a flag that didn't come. Seriously I have to question the officiating crew here. Every person watching the game saw that offsides, and yet every offficial missed it. There needs to be some sort of penalty for refs in these kind of games. I don't want to see any of those guys out there for a championship game again.
2. Emergence of Corey Webster
In the playoffs, because of the injury to Sam Madison, Webster was forced to start. This, I feared was the Giants achilles heel. Instead in the playoffs, Webster has shut down, in order, Joey Galloway, Terrell Owens and Greg Jennings while grabbing two key interceptions. This is a guy who USA Today, in their last draft preview issue, called the worst Giants draft pick in the last three years.
3. Michael Johnson's Punch
With less than two minutes to go, R.W. McQuarters returns a punt into Packers territory and fumbles for the second time. A fellow on the Packers named Jarrett Bush has a clear shot at the ball. And with the coaches on the sidelines assumedly shouting "FALL ON IT!" he attempts to pick up the ball. If he gets it, the Packers would've had the ball at midfield with a kicker (Mason Crosby) who once hit a 70 yarder during practice in Colorado. Instead, Michael Johnson dove and punched the ball out of Bush's hands and it was recovered by Domenik Hixon. That's a play that would not have been made during the regular season. This has been a changed Giants team since Week 17. It's as simple as that.
4. The Drafting of the New York Giants
The most important aspect of the Giants improbable playoff run. This past draft yielded Aaaron Ross, who has solidified one of the starting cornerback slots (1st Round). Steve Smith, who has come up with catch after clutch catch in the postseason and has been a solid third receiver for Manning (2nd Round). Kevin Boss who has taken over as the starting tight end and hasn't missed a beat, he's caught everything thrown to him and been a solid blocker as well (5th Round). Ahmad Bradshaw, who has had the biggest impact with the Giants these last few weeks. He's been the lightning to Brandon Jacobs' thunder. Tiki who? (7th Round). Michael Johnson made the aforementioned game saving play, but has also filled in as the starting safety this year and helped shore up a weak secondary (7th Round). And that's just this year's draft! Has there ever been a draft with so many impact players for one team in their rookie year? I don't think so. And in recent years, the G-men have picked up Corey Webster (2nd Round '05), Justin Tuck (3rd Round '05), Brandon Jacobs (4th Round '05), Matthias Kiwanuka (1st Round '06) among others. This playoff run has been built on youth, and there is only one more hill to climb: Mount New England.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Championship Sunday
On Saturday Clinton took the win in Nevada while McCain picked up South Carolina. Hopefully the New York to Arizona connection will be working again Sunday when the New York Giants face the Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots play the San Diego Chargers for a spot in Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Arizona. Primaries plus football got me thinking...which football team would represent each politician best, and maybe this could help determine the winners of this week's games...hmmm...well the given is...
HILLARY CLINTON=NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
This is the obvious choice, the sense of inevitability, the blowouts in early polls but the vulnerability shown a little in the Iowa Caucuses/Last half of the season and strong comeback showings in New Hampshire/Jacksonville. They both actually are the front-runners in the favored party/conference. Does this mean Hillary will win? Well first she'll have to contend with...
BARACK OBAMA=SAN DIEGO CHARGERS
The underdog who has performed better than anyone expected. He even looks a little like Norv... The truth is no one believed either one had a shot at beating Hillary in Iowa/The Colts and they did. So Saturday in Nevada, Obama took more delegates but Clinton won the popular vote and the momentum so...
Chargers (+14) over Patriots but Final Score: NE-35 SD-31
Now on to the Republican side where the overwhelming favorite is of course....
JOHN McCAIN=GREEN BAY PACKERS
The old veteran who's had a great career, wasn't doing well in recent years but mounting a surprise comeback with one last amazing campaign that's surmounted all expectations. Now they're favored and have all the momentum. But the one obstacle that stands in his/their way is the Florida primary/NFC Championship where they'll face...
RUDY GIULIANI=NEW YORK GIANTS
It's only fitting to have New York represented by it's mayor. Nobody thinks either has a chance to win it, but they both have a plan and they're sticking to it. Giuliani still leads in the polls in Florida and he's the conservative who can stop McCain there. Similarly, the Giants have the pass rush that no one else does that can threaten Green Bay. So with all the experts going with McCain/Green Bay, I'm calling the upset in the heat on Florida and the cold of Green Bay...
Giuliani (+5 Delegates) over McCain and
Giants (+7 1/2) over Packers with a final score NYG-27 GB-24
See you in Arizona.
HILLARY CLINTON=NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
This is the obvious choice, the sense of inevitability, the blowouts in early polls but the vulnerability shown a little in the Iowa Caucuses/Last half of the season and strong comeback showings in New Hampshire/Jacksonville. They both actually are the front-runners in the favored party/conference. Does this mean Hillary will win? Well first she'll have to contend with...
BARACK OBAMA=SAN DIEGO CHARGERS
The underdog who has performed better than anyone expected. He even looks a little like Norv... The truth is no one believed either one had a shot at beating Hillary in Iowa/The Colts and they did. So Saturday in Nevada, Obama took more delegates but Clinton won the popular vote and the momentum so...
Chargers (+14) over Patriots but Final Score: NE-35 SD-31
Now on to the Republican side where the overwhelming favorite is of course....
JOHN McCAIN=GREEN BAY PACKERS
The old veteran who's had a great career, wasn't doing well in recent years but mounting a surprise comeback with one last amazing campaign that's surmounted all expectations. Now they're favored and have all the momentum. But the one obstacle that stands in his/their way is the Florida primary/NFC Championship where they'll face...
RUDY GIULIANI=NEW YORK GIANTS
It's only fitting to have New York represented by it's mayor. Nobody thinks either has a chance to win it, but they both have a plan and they're sticking to it. Giuliani still leads in the polls in Florida and he's the conservative who can stop McCain there. Similarly, the Giants have the pass rush that no one else does that can threaten Green Bay. So with all the experts going with McCain/Green Bay, I'm calling the upset in the heat on Florida and the cold of Green Bay...
Giuliani (+5 Delegates) over McCain and
Giants (+7 1/2) over Packers with a final score NYG-27 GB-24
See you in Arizona.
Friday, January 18, 2008
The Fall of the Quarterback
(This article was originally published in the October 29th issue of the QC Knight News)
Defense wins championships. That's the old adage that has been preached in all of sports for many years. But one only had to look at Peyton Manning leading the Indianapolis Colts right past the vaunted Chicago Bears defense last January to question that assumption. In fact, the Super Bowls of recent years have been littered with highlights of Manning, Tom Brady, and Ben Roethlisberger firing pinpoint passes for touchdowns. But the number of teams with quarterbacks of that caliber is dwindling. In 1995, 14 quarterbacks had a passer rating of over 85, including greats like Brett Favre, Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Dan Marino, John Elway, Warren Moon and Jim Harbaugh. Last season, only 10 quarterbacks achieved the same rating. Among those 10, two have been replaced as their team's starter and others, such as Marc Bulger, Donovan McNabb and Philip Rivers, are languishing in the bottom tier of NFL quarterbacks when it comes to passer rating. In today's NFL, one can only find five or six consistently good quarterbacks on the 32 teams.What is the reason behind this change? In most sports, the athletic ability of players is improving, as new training methods and techniques are leading to records being constantly broken in all sports. Why then, is this most glamorous position in America's top-rated sport on a steady decline? The answer lies with the teaching these athletes receive. High school quarterbacks are recruited by college football powerhouses and taught to play their position in a manner very different than they would in the NFL. College coaches take advantage of these players' superior athletic skills, either by making them into hybrid-type players whose job is a mix of passing and running, or by putting them in a passing offense with quick short passes on almost 90 percent of the plays. This year Florida University's Tim Tebow became the first college player to run and throw for 20 touchdowns. Patrick White, of West Virginia, has run for 1144 yards this season, or 100 more than his team's star running back, Steve Slaton. On the other side of the spectrum Hawaii's Colt Brennan and Boston College's Matt Ryan have combined to attempt over 1,000 passes this season. All these players are prime NFL prospects and they all face a huge difficulty. The system they'll be forced to run in the pros is nothing like they're used to. In the NFL, defenses are much better at containing a quarterback who runs a lot. Michael Vick is a perfect example of a running NFL quarterback. His team never made it past the conference championship game, and in Vick's last two years before he went to jail, they missed the playoffs altogether. Over Vick's career he only completed a well-below-average 53 percent of his passes. Quarterbacks who run an exclusively passing offense in college are even worse off. Texas Tech has been renowned for their passing system in recent years. Their former quarterbacks, B.J. Symons and Sonny Cumbie, both own college football records for passing in the regular season and bowl games. Neither has played a snap in the NFL. Nowadays, quarterbacks are being mined from unlikely sources. Smaller schools, unable to recruit fantastic athletes, are compelled to play students who are pure passers in a balanced system. These players end up more NFL-ready than any others. Among the top five quarterbacks this season in passer rating, statistically speaking, are Roethlisberger (from Miami of Ohio), Tony Romo (Eastern Illinois) David Garrard (East Carolina) and Brett Favre (Southern Mississippi). Another is Tom Brady, who in college was a backup to former New York Yankee prospect Drew Henson. This trend will continue. Top prospects in the upcoming draft include Andre Woodson (Kentucky), Brian Brohm (Louisville) and Joe Flacco (Delaware). As college coaches adjust to the more athletic style of play, more teams may switch back to traditional systems. Until then, unless you're a lucky fan, you'll be agonizing over shoddy quarterback play for years to come.
Defense wins championships. That's the old adage that has been preached in all of sports for many years. But one only had to look at Peyton Manning leading the Indianapolis Colts right past the vaunted Chicago Bears defense last January to question that assumption. In fact, the Super Bowls of recent years have been littered with highlights of Manning, Tom Brady, and Ben Roethlisberger firing pinpoint passes for touchdowns. But the number of teams with quarterbacks of that caliber is dwindling. In 1995, 14 quarterbacks had a passer rating of over 85, including greats like Brett Favre, Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Dan Marino, John Elway, Warren Moon and Jim Harbaugh. Last season, only 10 quarterbacks achieved the same rating. Among those 10, two have been replaced as their team's starter and others, such as Marc Bulger, Donovan McNabb and Philip Rivers, are languishing in the bottom tier of NFL quarterbacks when it comes to passer rating. In today's NFL, one can only find five or six consistently good quarterbacks on the 32 teams.What is the reason behind this change? In most sports, the athletic ability of players is improving, as new training methods and techniques are leading to records being constantly broken in all sports. Why then, is this most glamorous position in America's top-rated sport on a steady decline? The answer lies with the teaching these athletes receive. High school quarterbacks are recruited by college football powerhouses and taught to play their position in a manner very different than they would in the NFL. College coaches take advantage of these players' superior athletic skills, either by making them into hybrid-type players whose job is a mix of passing and running, or by putting them in a passing offense with quick short passes on almost 90 percent of the plays. This year Florida University's Tim Tebow became the first college player to run and throw for 20 touchdowns. Patrick White, of West Virginia, has run for 1144 yards this season, or 100 more than his team's star running back, Steve Slaton. On the other side of the spectrum Hawaii's Colt Brennan and Boston College's Matt Ryan have combined to attempt over 1,000 passes this season. All these players are prime NFL prospects and they all face a huge difficulty. The system they'll be forced to run in the pros is nothing like they're used to. In the NFL, defenses are much better at containing a quarterback who runs a lot. Michael Vick is a perfect example of a running NFL quarterback. His team never made it past the conference championship game, and in Vick's last two years before he went to jail, they missed the playoffs altogether. Over Vick's career he only completed a well-below-average 53 percent of his passes. Quarterbacks who run an exclusively passing offense in college are even worse off. Texas Tech has been renowned for their passing system in recent years. Their former quarterbacks, B.J. Symons and Sonny Cumbie, both own college football records for passing in the regular season and bowl games. Neither has played a snap in the NFL. Nowadays, quarterbacks are being mined from unlikely sources. Smaller schools, unable to recruit fantastic athletes, are compelled to play students who are pure passers in a balanced system. These players end up more NFL-ready than any others. Among the top five quarterbacks this season in passer rating, statistically speaking, are Roethlisberger (from Miami of Ohio), Tony Romo (Eastern Illinois) David Garrard (East Carolina) and Brett Favre (Southern Mississippi). Another is Tom Brady, who in college was a backup to former New York Yankee prospect Drew Henson. This trend will continue. Top prospects in the upcoming draft include Andre Woodson (Kentucky), Brian Brohm (Louisville) and Joe Flacco (Delaware). As college coaches adjust to the more athletic style of play, more teams may switch back to traditional systems. Until then, unless you're a lucky fan, you'll be agonizing over shoddy quarterback play for years to come.
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