Football

Bounty System

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Do you remember Super Bowl 44?  Of course you do.  Who could have forgotten the New Orleans Saints beating the Indianapolis Colts.  What you probably forgot about was what was said before the game started.  
Saints defensive coordinator went on a Nashville radio station and said his defense was going to get after Colts QB Peyton Manning. And when they did get to him they would give him some ‘remember me’ shots.  At the time it was a topic of discussion as to what Williams meant by his comments.  Was it an issue for the NFL? Hardly.
Fast forward to today.  Former Saints defensive coordinator and the new defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams, Gregg Williams is in some hot water.  The NFL became aware that he had set up a ‘bounty system’ as the defensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints.  An accusation that he doesn’t deny.  Neither does Saints head coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis.
The NFL also says that Gregg Williams was doing it as far back as his days with the Washington Redskins (2004-07) as their defensive coordinator.  And when he was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills (2001-03).  
Now what is a ‘bounty system’?  Simply put Williams was paying his players when they knocked opposing players out of a game. Now with this knowledge lets go back to that Super Bowl year for the Saints.  Remember the knockout shot the Saint put upon Arizona Cardinals QB Kurt Warner in the divisional playoff game? Remember the beating Minnesota Vikings QB Brett Favre took in the NFC Championship game? 
Now with all this said I’m not surprised by any of this.  I have made it known that I find the NFL’s stance on player safety a little suspect.  They have been promoting big hits ever since they started to gain national notoriety.  I’m not saying the NFL shouldn’t take player safety into account.  I’m just looking at it with a skeptical eye.  
Are the New Orleans Saints the only team to have a system like this in place?  No.  Are the Saints the only team this past season to have a system like this in place?  Absolutely not.  They are the first ones to have been caught though.  And with that there will be a huge precedent when commissioner Roger Goodell hands down punishment for the Saints franchise.  
With the emphasis now on player safety and the many lawsuits by former players coming at the NFL.  They know they must make it clear that this is wrong on every level.  Suspensions, taking draft picks, fines, you name it.  All forms of punishment should be taken into account.
That includes the Saints head coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis.  Both had to have known about this at some point over the three seasons Gregg Williams was there.  We all wondered why they didn’t sign QB Drew Brees to a long-term contract before they gave him the franchise tag.  Now we know. They were distracted by this NFL investigation.
The only thing that does surprise me is the participation of the players.  Yes the league is setup in a way where only a certain few players make a lot of money.  But to inflict that kind of injury on another player knowing full well that not just his career, but his life could be at stake down the line is surprising to me.  
It’s a wake up call for the NFL.  They know full well that 10, 20, 30 years down the road a lot of potential football players will go play a different sport with the fear of long-term health problems in the back of their minds.  Whether that happens or not it’s best that we remember the NFL isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Super Bowl XLVI Recap

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Final: New York Giants 21 New England Patriots 17
It wasn’t the best all around game that I’ve ever seen.  But it sure was a good chess game.  I expected the pass rush of the Giants to be all over Tom Brady.  To the Patriots credit they did a great job protecting Brady.  The Giants only had two sacks the entire game.  I also thought that the game would end on a last second field goal.  But that prediction came up short.
Either way it sealed one quarterbacks legacy and brought to light the others.  Tom Brady is this generations greatest quarterback. You don’t get to 5 Super Bowls on pure luck.  However, if you want to be in the conversation of the greatest of all time you have to most if not all of them.  Brady has now lost two straight Super Bowl games.  
For Giants QB Eli Manning his legacy is now beginning to take shape.  He is now among the top 5 best quarterbacks in the NFL today.  For me the list includes Brady, Eli, Peyton Manning (when healthy), Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees.  You can put them in whatever order you would like, but those are the top 5.  
The Giants did just enough when they had to.  They started the game with a safety on the Patriots first possession.  Then Eli threw his only touchdown pass to this years breakout player WR Victor Cruz.  New York was down 10-9 going into halftime and at the start of the second half they were down 17-9.  That didn’t matter.
New York picked away at the lead with good defense and two field goals to make it 17-15 in the 4th quarter.  Then when they needed it most Eli made a perfect throw that had a perfect catch by WR Mario Manningham near the sideline.  Not near the David Tyree type of catch back in Super Bowl XLII, but pretty impressive nonetheless.
The result was an Ahmad Bradshaw touchdown run that gave the Giants the lead for good.  Tom Brady still had a chance to win the game for the Patriots.  And that proves just how great he is when he still can win a game for you when it doesn’t seem possible.  
Under Tom Coughlin the New York Giants have been an opportunistic team.  When the time is right they will make a run at a championship.  Just like I have been saying the last couple years, I can’t seem to figure out any of the teams in the NFC East. Maybe now I’ve figured out the New York Giants.

Super Bowl XLVI Preview

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New York Giants (9-7) vs. New England Patriots (13-3)
Ranks 
Offense
Giants – 8th
Patriots – 2nd
Defense

Giants – 27th
Patriots – 31st

I have made it through two weeks of the non-stop conversations on ESPN and the NFL Network about this game.  It has become an unnecessary circus the last 10 years at least with everything except the actual game.  This year offers us the rarity of a rematch, but in a not so classic way.  There are some similarities with the personnel involved, but both teams have different philosophies this time around.  It should bode for an interesting chess match.

Coaches

Two of the oldest and without a doubt the most knowledgable head coaches in the NFL today.  The question came up whether Bill Belichick or Tom Coughlin would retire if they won this game.  It’s an interesting question, but I don’t think either one would.  They absolutely would consider it, but if I were to pick one who would walk away I would say Coughlin.  He has had to put up with a lot in the New York media and frankly I would understand if he retired after winning another Super Bowl.  ‘Go out on the high note’ we always say.  But he does have his work cut out for him again going against Bill Belichick.  He is this generations best coach and it will be tough to beat him twice in this game, but if anyone can do it, you have to think Tom Coughlin can do it.

Players to Watch

We all know who the quarterbacks are.  Eli Manning for the New York Giants and Tom Brady for the New England Patriots.  If you don’t by now, best of luck to you.  But I want to watch a couple other players that should get the most attention in this game.  And no one of them isn’t Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski and his ankle. Instead it’s his fellow teammate TE Aaron Hernandez and for the New York Giants it’s DE Jason Pierre-Paul.  With Hernandez it does have to do with Gronkowski’s ankle.  Hernandez has benefited from being in single coverage all year long.  If Gronk’ has be absent for any length of time or is ineffective can Hernandez step up and be Brady’s go-to guy?  With Pierre-Paul he wasn’t around for the last Super Bowl, but DE Osi Umenyiora, DE Mathias Kiwanuka and DE Justin Tuck were.  Put those four together and you have one hell of a defensive line to combat Tom Brady and the Patriots passing attack.

Key of the Game

It’s a simple one.  Knock the quarterback on his butt.  The Giants know that’s what they have to do to beat the best quarterback in the NFL.  And the Patriots know that is the only thing that’s going to slow down or even stop Eli Manning from having another come from behind victory.  Both teams don’t really run the ball enough to offset the opponents pass rush, but they will be trying to set up the defense for the big pass plays.  Make no mistake that whoever wins will have the most sacks at the end of the game.

Who will win?


Last year I came pretty close to the score, but I predicted exactly how the Green Bay Packers were going to pull away with the victory.  To refresh your memory I said that Aaron Rodgers would throw a game winning touchdown pass to Greg Jennings.  This time around I’m going to a different route.  The final score will be the New York Giants beating the New England Patriots 27-24 thanks to their kicker Lawrence Tynes kicking the game winning field goal just before time expires.  It won’t be as good as the original, but this sequel should be good right til the very end.

Respect

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“Respect your fellow man”
“Think before you act”
“Do unto others as you would have others do unto you”
Those are some basic principles that I adhere to in my life.  They should be for everyone, but no one is perfect.  First and foremost I am a lifelong San Francisco 49ers fan.  With that knowledge I will admit that watching my team play I, like most sports fans, can get emotional watching a game.  Especially in my younger days, but over time I have learned that these are just games.  It’s not like the world is going to end if my team loses.
With that said I was appalled at what transpired after the 49ers loss to the New York Giants this past Sunday in the NFC Championship game.  Twitter and Facebook can both bring out the best and worst in us as a society.  The worst was shown just after the 49ers defeat.
Kyle Williams (#10 jersey above) fumbled a punt return in overtime that gave the New York Giants an opportunity to kick a game winning field goal to advance to the Super Bowl.  The kick was good and almost immediately the vitriol of so-called 49ers fans was on full display.
I won’t repeat what was said here, but some of the most despicable things imaginable were said including threats on Kyle Williams’ life. Thankfully the beauty of Twitter and Facebook was on full display as well.  Kyle’s teammates were supporting him throughout the night and the following day on twitter.
From 49ers LB Patrick Willis Twitter feed
“ keep ur head up. U r my brother n teammate N I would put u back there all over again. We all lost this game tonight not u.”
Many 49ers fans were showing their support as well through social media.  The good always outweighs the bad.  It is sad though that some people will still be that vicious to someone they don’t even know over a game.  It makes me wonder if Bill Buckner, Don Denkinger and Scott Norwood would have had even more threats with the existence of social media during their time?
If you look closely at the picture above you will see that Kyle’s teammates did not let him sit by himself off in a corner on the sidelines.  He was right there with his teammates and they were supportive of him the whole way.  It is an image I won’t soon forget as this team showed ‘respect for their fellow man’ when he was down on himself.
I too respect Kyle Williams as a man.  His response afterwards is one that should be looked up to.
“I made a mistake in a key situation, but people realize I’ve busted my tail all year and I think my teammates realize that, too. Things happen in the game of football and you’ve got to bounce back from it. You’ve got to realize that you’ve made a mistake and own up to it.”
I could have gone on a rant or a crazy tirade on Twitter like some did during and after the game, but I didn’t.  The only things I said relating to Kyle Williams was as follows;
“Kyle Williams scares me”
“Again Kyle Williams scares the hell out of me.  That looked like he touched it.  Crap”
“Why Kyle Williams.  Why?”
I’m a 49ers fan, but I thought before I tweeted.  In those moments that was my initial thought.  I did not show malice towards him.  I know it’s a game and it was a great game to boot.  This was my final tweet when the game ended;
“It was a hell of a year boys.  As a life long #Niners fan I’m very proud of what you guys did this year.  #49erFaithful”
Not a single ounce of bad blood after the game.  I feel terrible for Kyle Williams.  That could happen to anyone.  But he and no one deserves to be threatened over a game.  Never.
If we all would ‘think before we act’ or tweet in this case I wouldn’t be talking about this.  Instead I would be talking more about how Kyle Williams showed us all how to handle adversity when it seems easier to run away.

 

NFC and AFC Championship Game Recaps

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The AFC was up for grabs
For most of the season I had no idea who was the best team in the AFC.  You could have made an argument for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Although look what happened when they relied on Ben Roethlisberger and his one good ankle.  At one point you could have said it was the Houston Texans, but injuries caught up with them and their rookie quarterback showed he’s still a rookie. Looking at this years AFC Championship game it was down to the two best teams.  Baltimore needed to have a great game from QB Joe Flacco and they did just as the 1st quarter came to an end. As soon as the Ravens intercepted Patriots QB Tom Brady for the first time a spark was lit on the Ravens offense.  RB Ray Rice did not have a great game, but Flacco was carrying them to near victory.  The Patriots did not play their best game offensively, but their defense played their best game of the entire year.  A bit of luck was involved with the Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff missing, what looked to be for him at least, a 32 yard field goal to take the game to overtime.  But before that happened the Patriots defensive back Sterling Moore knocked the ball out of Ravens WR Lee Evans hands a split second before his second foot came down in the endzone.  That was the game winner for Baltimore which turned out to be the play of the game for New England.  Either way the Patriots know now that their defense isn’t the worst in the NFL after this performance.  But they will need QB Tom Brady to be on his A game if they are to win another Super Bowl.
Defense reigned supreme

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more nerve racking game before in the NFL.  It also was the first time that you didn’t see an offensive shootout this year in the NFL.  Both teams defenses were on display in the NFC Championship game.  Early on I was impressed with the way Giants QB Eli Manning was playing, especially on 3rd down.  By no means were they 3rd and short yardage situations. Either way he was converting those 1st downs with ease.  That is until the 49ers defense got into their groove.  Eli was sacked 6 times for the entire game, which ended in overtime.  He was also hit 20 times throughout the course of the game.  He took tremendous punishment and still delivered in critical situations. 49ers QB Alex Smith didn’t have a terrible game either as he threw 2 touchdowns, both to TE Vernon Davis.  But he couldn’t recapture that magic from a week ago against the Saints.  The Giants hardly blitzed in this game and that’s because they have 4 defensive ends that can rush the passer together just like they had in 2007.  From the second half on Alex Smith wasn’t comfortable in the pocket for more than two consecutive plays.  There were a lot of 3 and outs for both teams.  It was a closely fought contest.  Exactly what the NFL needed.  A good defensive struggle to show that you still need a great defense if you want to win a Super Bowl.  This one went in the Giants favor.