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The Colts head out west for a shot at the Black Hole. No, it isn't a commercial Manning did for an astronomy convention or (sigh) porn. With the Colts hitting a stride the Raiders have their hands full since they are a team struggling to be something with young talent and underachieving veterans. We truly face the best and worst of what the NFL has to offer. Come inside to see the breakdown and key players. **Cobra Edit: Before you do that, check out Paine's 'stache. It's nasty
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The Contender: (4-9) Oakland Raiders
Key Players: Stu Schweigert, Kirk Morrison
The Champ: (11-2) Indianapolis Colts
Key Players: At this point, improvement and victory is strictly a team based thing. Individual players can help the team break the whole thing open, but a the Colts continue to prove, the onus for victory falls to the guy that plays be he first string or third.
Where: The Coliseum. 4p.m. A historical sidenote:
For those of you wondering about the spelling of the word "coliseum"
you have good reason for confusion. A coliseum is an arena, a
non-specific noun pertaining to an arena like those used for
gladiatorial games. Many of you may have seen the word "Colosseum" and
believed it to be the same thing. It is, but not really. The
Colosseum is a proper noun applied to what is also called the Flavian
Amphitheater, or the big arena at the end of the Roman Forum. In this
case, the word "Colosseum" refers to the colossal statue of Nero (later
portrayed as Helios) that once stood at the location. In the location
Nero had once built a ridiculously opulent palace (Domus Aurea) that
ruined the fortunes of Rome. After his end, the palace was reduced in
a series of events and the Colosseum was raised in the area. Its
construction began under Vespasian in 70 ad. It is built of bricks and
wrapped in marble. Much of the marble was later used to build St.
Peters but it is so large that some remains. Earthquakes have damaged
it considerably but it remains still. It once seated between 50 and 70
thousand Romans (opinions vary) and had a retractable roof. It held
games for almost 6 centuries. It was so well designed that scholars
believe that the entire crowd could exit the arena in 8 minutes.
Bruce Paine: Interesting question. I will presumably be at
home on the couch. But in recent years I have made more of an attempt
to be closer to my food sources. Growing up on a farm has aided this
endeavor in that I am now taking left over hogs and butchering them for
my own purposes. It is excessively satisfying to not go to the store
for meat, even if it means I have to drive home and take care of the
business myself. Family wants to do it at 4 on Sunday, that may be a
problem.
Skinny: On to football.
Oakland is a team struggling to attain and identity, and by all rights,
should have it already. They don't because Al Davis, their owner, is
freaking bugnuts. He is the Larry King of NFL owners. While history
has shown him to be a revolutionary executive and tremendously
influential in the modern course of the game, their decline since the
failed Super Bowl visit in 2001. Fancy free agents have come and gone
with little or no effect and they have been the perennial whipping boy
of Denver and San Diego in the last 5 years. So what is this team?
Oakland has the right personnel to be a very interesting, young,
defensive football team with legitimate delusions of grandeur. As a
defensive squad they have talent in interesting positions. I love Kirk
Morrison, the young middle linebacker. He is up over 100 tackles with
a sack and 3 picks. A homegrown 3rd rounder with good size (6'2" 240)
and plenty of speed, he is a great tackler for the middle position and
tremendous in terms of seeing and flowing to the play. But Oakland is
31st in terms of stopping the run, you ask? Well, they have crappy
ends and one bad tackle in Gerard Warren and they play from behind a
lot when the opposition is predisposed to run. Warren Sapp slimmed
down to stay in the league but the guys around him have totaled less
than 10 sacks, and his 2 have come at the hands of constant double
teaming (at least in the three games of theirs I have watched). Their
secondary is pretty good, though, and is highlighted by two solid
corners. Fabian Washington and Nnamdi Asomugha are good, Asomugha may
be great. His numbers aren't where they were last year, but he is
still big for a corner (6'2" 210) and has amazing speed. Their
safeties have a big name from 2 years ago, Micheal Huff, but the guy we
have to look at is Stu Schweigert, the pride of Saginaw, Michigan.
I know what you are thinking, Old Paine has gone and picked another
homer from Purdue as a gamebreaker, and you are right. I was right,
too, in calling those guys out. They really worked the Colts. Now the
key is to beat Stu or get beat by him. Schwiegert was a highly
recruited kid out of Saginaw. Michigan wanted him bad, but told him he
would have to wait at least a year to see the field. Purdue stepped in
and said he could start as a freshmen. He became a Boilermaker and a
standout. He is fast if he doesn't have to change direction. He is
smart if he doesn't have too complicated an assignment. He hits like a
madman. He has solid ball skills and plenty of strength. The trick
will be to take him out of the run game, where he can be a clamp down
guy like Sanders is for us. To do that the gameplan must start at the
line of scrimmage. Saturday and Manning must effectively communicate
the blocking scheme so that the pass rush can be picked up by the line
alone. With Clark and Utecht free to come off scrimmage into the
pattern (instead of blocking) Schweigert can be taken vertical, where
he does not excel. In deep coverage Stu can break down in man to man.
He is too big for his frame, and it makes him stiff. It s something
that plagued him at Purdue but was masked by the college game. I would
hope that Peyton and Tom Moore see this and put Clark in the position
to take deep routes right at Stu, from either the slot or end position,
and open up the field. The key to defeating the Raiders, in my
opinion, Is to take the safeties deep and open up the underneath where
their outside linebackers must cover. They don't have great athletes
at either outside backer spot and I trust Addai, Utecht, and Gonzo to
be able to find the holes in their zones and run away from man coverage.
For the Colts, the defense has to be the defense we have seen for
14 weeks. They must tackle well early and not get beat deep. I hope
that Mathis can make an impact early so we can rest him later. Our
speed options at end are reducing drastically and I want him fresh in
four weeks. I am glad to see that he is really performing in the
absence of Freeney so that folks who aren't as attentive a fan as Paine
(like Jack Cobra for example) can see how exceptional he is. It would
also be nice if we could put Bob Sanders back in his cage for the
second half like we did last week. He needs all the rest he wants. I
wouldn't tell him no.
Oakland will finally get a chance to see JeMarcus Russell start from
what I have read. I think when you get older, and you see more
football, guys that do what it takes to move the ball down the field
are more impressive than guys that can do freaky stuff. Some of these
guys with big arms, they can throw it a mile but if they throw into
double coverage on third down when the halfback is open in the flat
with two yards to get I shake my head. He has all the flash, but he
and the Raiders front office have to be blamed for what was a fruitless
season on his part. They should have had him in camp and on the field
by week 4. You know that really ate at Sapp's ass who has has a reputation for being tough on guys that don't work hard in camp. Now they have floundered for most of the year and he is
still probably behind. They have problems at almost every position.
They have no dynamic presence at tailback because they spent too much
time trying to fix a  dumb situation at QB. They have never gotten
value out of Robert Gallery. He is a monster, and every time I see him
I think he is going to start eating children, but he doesn't perform.
He is so big he can't bend over enough to play end, and not explosive
enough to be a truly great guard. He is strong like bull but stinks
like sh!t. Because he bends at his waist instead of his knees and "sitting down" on blocks, he loses leverage and gets beat. He is strong enough that he should be ale to engage rushers with his hands and sit down and fend them off, but he ends up bending into them and turn him or fold him back. Crap technique. He is proof that the NFL game is a game of professionals who hone their craft with tremendous care and that size doesn't matter in every case. No, they don't teach 6'8" and 350, but they teach you how to beat it. Look at this photo and tell me who has who engaged with their hands. Granted, the play is over, but it hasn't been over long enough to not prove that Gallery was being worked. As long as Gary Brackett keeps the defense on the same page
they should handle Oakland. For Oakland to be in it they have to have
their special teams put the offense in good field position and the
offense has to run the ball effectively on first down. At least the
good field position is a possibility.
What I look for the from the Colts is a glimpse of what we have seen
for two weeks, the further development of a Marvinless offense that is
dynamic beyond Wayne. Gonzo looked better finding holes in zones on
curls and slants and Peyton appeared to be in rhythm last Sunday night
even when he had to step up. The difference for the offensive line
last week was that when the rush came, they gave Peyton a place to step
up into or slide over into. It is all he needs. In past weeks they
were collapsing at more than one point simultaneously, but against a
good front 7 in Baltimore they picked things up a bit and it showed.
They are playing well at a good time but lets not get ahead of
ourselves.
Colts 31 - Raiders 9
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Darth Vader rules
How did I know that you would put Stu as a key player...your eternal boner for Purdue players continues to grow!
Oh, Mike Dunleavy!
"No, it isn't a commercial Manning did for an astronomy convention or (sigh) porn."
--Curse you, Bruce Paine, for the visual images that sentence produced. I'll be near the wastebasket, keeping the remains of breakfast company. (gags again). Otherwise, it's your usual excellent analysis.
And the glory has been posted for you Bruce....
http://www.arinitout.com/2007/12/mustache_ride.php
Awesome, awesome, awesome stuff. Man, this was a good read. I love the stuff on Gallery, the knock on me and the comment on Russell. I've been perplexed on that entire situation as well.
Like a year ago I heard Colin Cowherd say this about the Raiders (not verbatim):
In the 70's the Raiders were running their organization like it was the 1990's..ahead of everyone else. Now it's 2007 and the Raiders are running their organization like it's the 70's.
Exactly. The problem, Al Davis may be genius enough to pull it off.
I know the IU guys hate it, but the fact is that I am dead on when it comes down to who has had game changing performance for and against the Colts.
Roosevelt Colvin was Purdue guy and his matchup and use as a donw lineman instead of an end was key to the Pats getting fourth quarter pressure and getting Manning off the field. Shawn Phillips played a game against the Colts that was as huge as anyone on the team. He was in mannings face all day. Pehaps Cromartie's INTs were bigger big plays, but three of those were gimmes caused by bad routes or pressure (that came from phillips). Schweigert is the next guy up. If he doesn't let Manning fool him then we won't be able to run away from them, if we get him, blowout in oakland. When the Colts play the Cowboys in the Super Bowl, rest assured the key player player involved won't be Akin Ayodele. IT WILL BE JACQUE REEVES! hahahahaha no seriously, it would.
I can't help it if Brock Spack is turning out very well prepared defensive athletes with confidence and a solid, aggressive mentality. He is clearly as much a part of Purdue's success as Tiller.
I read something on Najldajksjfmdi Asamoujgha before the season it stated that behind Champ Bailey, he is the best lock down corner in the league. Interesting.
Crappy update from ESPN's bottom line. In addition to Harrison, apparently Mathis and Brock will be out as well. Can we get an update on these injuries? Or is Dungy just resting them against an opponent we should be able to take out easily? I fear games like this...games that should be won handily, but could get messy against a team with decent defense and an occassionally good running game. If Jamarcus Russell comes in and makes a couple of big plays, we could have a game on our hands.
Well, Mathis got cut blocked on his knee last week and went out. He walked it off and came back in but sat out the second half. I figure Dungy is just exercising his customary caution. Brock has been in and out with a concussion/neck injury and, though he is not officially listed on the injury report, I figure he is getting extra time to heal/extra time to rest for the playoffs since he is our best DT at this point in terms of pass rush.
Its the NFL and anybody can win on a given day, but I have come to expect this sort of thing from Dungy. He always said he should have started sitting guys sooner during the 13-0 season and that their fatigue showed in the Pittsburgh playoff game that year. I don't fear Oakland as much now as I feared Tampa earlier in the season. Tampa's coach had a better, more disciplined team with mroe to play for than Oakland. The Raiders are very much discombobulated as a team and a franchise right now and I believe these kinds of teams are the ones that Dungy is best at beating. His discipline produces very "professional" teams that understand how to win and how to make adjustments and they will be able to stay a step ahead of Oakland. The game I really fear now is Houston. Yes its at home and yeah its Houston but they are starting to gel some with Johnson back and Willaims coming on. They aren't a playoff threat to anyone and dont really have a chance to take anyone out but they seem to be more motivated now than they have been all season. I look for that to be a fairly good game with the Cotls resting guys and Houston with something to prove for next season. The Titans will have a WC bid by week 1 and I expect that to be a pillow fight of subs and scrubs.
I don't know. The way I read that last line, it appears you're implying that the Titans will get that 6th playoff spot after Jacksonville takes the 5th. It is going to be a dogfight with the Browns (no pun intended) for that spot, and the Browns have a one game head start. Tennessee might have a more favorable schedule, but the Browns have a much more potent offense. Unfortunately for football fans, that is about the only excitement left in the AFC as the regular season concludes, other than watching to see if the Patriots can close it out undefeated (foregone conclusion in my mind). At 7-7, the Texans can still stick their hats in there too if either of those teams falters. I'm going to go with the Browns to fill the last wild card spot though.
Oh yeah, the Browns are legit, I was just giving Tennessee the benefit of the doubt because of the strength of their defense and the quality of their coaching. Both the Browns and the Texans can make great bids and in all reality be strong contenders. Who wants to go against Ryans and Williams in Houston? It is a real shame that the toughness of the AFC South and the AFC in general isn't examined in more detail by media bigger than CB. I think it is generally agreed that the AFC is the better conference, but questioning why and what makes it better is something that ESPN, SI, and others dont get into very often. I smell a post coming on...or is that the sandwich I didnt finish that got buried under my laundry and forgotten?
raiders rules