1. What does a 5-0 team like the Colts do on their bye week? I ask this since we know that struggling teams will look to mix things up by changing QB's, packages, etc what does an undefeated team do?
Sleep, rest, take the week off as best you can by cutting down on practices and meetings. Guys still have to lift and watch tape, and the coaches still work like idiots, but they really have to relax. It isn't that they are stepping up to teams and defeating them with some brand new, magical game plan, they just out execute you. They run their offense better than you run yours and they keep their energy up on defense better than you do. Essentially, they keep the game in front of them by relaxing, staying focused, and believing in their system. When a team like that gets a week off the number 1 thing to do is rest and shut your mind off. The coaches will have something for them next Tuesday to get them keyed up for the week.
2. Based only on their production as a Colt. Who do you take, Mike Vanderjagt or Adam Vinitieri?
Vinatieri. I think he gets along with the team better and has a more Hoosier-like attitude. The team trusts Vinny and they trust in his production. Vandy had all the tools, but he could be a bit of a nancy and that never flew well. I don't want to run Vandy down too much, though, because he was great as a Colt. The thing we have to remember, though, is that we are asking these guys to kick in nice conditions (dome), so overall production is going to be really similar. Since you asked for production alone, though, one thing we may have to look at is kickoffs, and Vinny is better than Vandy was by a good bit. It isn't so much leg as it is placement and attitude. I like Vinny. I could go fishing or hunting with Vinny but if I was hanging out with Vandy he would want to go to some chic store and buy a leather jacket or go get highlights in our hair, and I would shoot him in the foot.
3. This team, based on current team records, you could say only has three toss-up games (NE, Balt and NYJ or Denver) left. Could they go undefeated?
They could... The only one of those games that is away is Baltimore. Keep that in mind. Manning is also one of those few guys that seems to have the number of Baltimore's defense. He seems to be able to keep the pace slow, move the linebackers around, and make them react to him instead of the other way around. He also seems to be able to keep Ed Reed jumping like no one else is able to. Keep that in mind. I don't put much stock in the Jets just yet. They have dropped two straight and it seems like they are a little unable to adjust when things don't go their way. A team that is not flexible can't handle the Colts. You have to be able to be a counter puncher and a tactician to beat the Colts, you can't just be a brawler, ask the Bears. What really scares me is that New England has not had that one big wake up moment. At some point they are going to be down by two touchdowns against a team that is playing well and Brady is going to go out their and march 'em for two scores and then the team is going to believe again. That defense, which needs Richard Seymour, will discover that if they try just a little ahrder they will win more because Brady can march the team down in the waning moments. Then talk to me about New England. Not only that, but the Colts defense is less flashy, but functionally better than New England and the Jets. Beyond that, Denver is very tough and Houston will get two shots within 4 weeks. The Colts, though, have a calm swagger now that I don't recognize. It's the kinda thing you see in a guy who knows he has won the fight before the first punch is thrown. The Colts could go into every stadium in the league right now and knock the lights out of any team. I mean that. The Giants, Denver, Bolts, Boys, anybody. they could win by 21 anywhere. This is a pretty darn good team. Not only that, but I think we may be seeing one of the best road teams in history. Those things do not mean that they will win. The schedule is not rough, but the timings of the games are. They play a ton of night games, more will be back to back once the flex schedule kicks in. That is tough on a team.
4. I think the biggest concern for the Colts is their running game, are they going to be able to get it together or what changes do they need to make?
They need more push at scrimmage to be a better running team, and I think some of that is personnel. The thing is, they understand the passing premium and how to move the ball. When the run isn't clicking the screen, throw short, that sort of thing. There are lots of things they do well that can take the place of a bingobango running game. When they have been on the goal line this year they have been very good at running. That is new and perhaps the most important change in their run game.
5. Outside of Manning, Colts MVP for the first five games of the season?
Freeney. No question. He is the most gameplanned, and therefore the most feared, defensive player in the league. Guy has six sacks and he draws a minimum of a double team on every play. There is no tackle in the league that could hold him sackless for a whole game one on one. If he is being blocked one on one he WILL affect the play. Incredible impact on the game. Too bad that Robert Mathis doesn't get more notoriety, he can really play. Beyond them, Antoine Bethea and Ryan Diem have played really well.
6. The NFL still has four winless teams.....since your pick for the last winless team last week (Cleveland) actually won.....who is your new pick for last team to win a game?
Rams. They just can't score or keep anybody from scoring. Its not a good looking ball club. I think they are one of those teams who told themselves that switching to a 3-4 defense was going to open up the keys to the kingdom. It just doesn't work that way.
7. The best game this week is probably the Giants vs. Saints. Who is going to win the game and which team has the better quarterback?
A real tough call. I like the Saints at home but I wouldn't be putting a whole lot of money on it. Brees is tough to get to. He has good pocket brains and is a better athlete than a lot of people think. He can run a bit. That makes it tough for the Giants to get to him. If he can stay alive it is the Saints all the way, if the Giants get to him, Giants win. It is the same kind of dynamic you would see from the Giants/Pats SB. I like the matchup for the Giants wide outs. I think they might be able to spread the field a bit and make something happen.
8. Why doesn't a team try to work out a Herschel Walker type deal with the Rams to get Stephen Jackson?
Because it is dangerous. He could be a real good back with a Seahawks or a Cardinals, but I don't think GMs want to get into a single-back mindset right now. The investment versus the risk of having a single, feature back is hard on some franchises. I do think there are some GMs around the league who see a team on tilt like the Rams with no clear leadership or future and they are seeing chances to snatch up veterans for lower drafts picks around the spring.
9. Does the Denver/San Diego match-up lose some luster because the Cutler/Rivers rivalry is no longer there?
Yes, right up until Dawkins pops Chambers in the mouth for the second time and Chambers gets up talking and Dawkins tells him to sit back down and this guy says that and that guy says this and then its on like Donkey Kong. Rivers likes to talk trash and gets fired up easily and D-linemen around the league are tired of having the refs throw flags at them for doing their job. This game has playoff implications right now. This will be a hot blooded game without Cutler.
10. Is Jon Gruden actually the most interested party in the outcome of the Notre Dame/USC game on Saturday?
Frontbutt catches a lot of Hell for not already winning 5 titles with the Irish, but I think its time settle down. That program was pretty severely broken, not necessarily by Willingham or anyone else, but by its inability to adapt. Taken at face value, this season is going pretty well. They are 4-1 with a very good team coming in. Is the season a total loss if they lose this game and go 10-2 or 9-3? NO by any reasonable definition. They went back to the bowl circuit last year with a sophomore QB. Their Junior QB has matured well and is seeing the field. A lot of people look at their close games and say, "Crap they are lucky," but it is more than that. They Irish make their own luck at the end of games and the do it the way a team has to do it, they pass block. The Irish can pass block like nobody's business and that keeps you in games. Jimmy and the line and Golden Tate are good enough to win games together. The Irish defense might not be able to keep up with USC, but the offense will be able to do something. If the fan base and administration of Notre Dame are looking at this game against USC as a dealbreaker for their coach and program they are making a terrible mistake that will lead them back to the ruin they started with. Frontbutt deserves to keep his job a little longer. As long as he is there he will be able to attract a QB, just like he did with Clausen (who was a Cali kid). If this Irish team had a few more athletes on defense we wouldn't even be talking about it. ND fans should settle down and think. Their school (and town) does not have great weather, a great beach (though the Indiana Dunes are nice), or smoking hot chicks walking around looking to take their bikinis off for a potential NFL player, so recruiting will be tougher for them than it is for Florida, Miami, USC, or Texas no matter who the coach is. The Reggie Bushes of the world won't go to South Bend to snuggle with pale assed coeds when they can get paid to go to USC. Don't waste money trying to go after Jimmies and Joes you won't get by hiring a new coach every couple years. I think Gruden is a better coach than Weiss, but he does not develop talent well, so I would avoid him for a college job but he could win games in Dallas.
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2008 Cubs Preview
I like this all very much. Yes, I do. I look forward to the Rams victory this week to go along with Jackson's huge day for my fantasy team.
Yeah, its easier for me to just answer questions then it is for me to come up with something original. Also, it is hard for me to conceptualize things people would be interested in knowing because everything is so obvious to me, and the bounds of my tumescent intellect are so distant, that I often don't think to offer them for discourse.
And yes, now that I said the Rams suck they are going on a winning streak. Also, as a point of policy, I was wondering if the above picture is too risque? you can almost see a nipple there and I don't want to flirt with the edge of impropriety too much if I can avoid. Those tits are fuckin huge, though.
Did you see what I did there? I said i didn't want to be naughty and then I used the words "fuckin" and "tits" in the next sentence. I enjoy behaving like that.
Oh, and the answer to the second part of #7 is Drew Brees. Better accuracy and decision making.
Ok, let's play Mr. Hindsight, we need to come up with a better name than that.
#6: Man, so close to a Rams win. That would have been nice.
#7: Saints win but that probably wasn't the best game of the weekend as I had said.
#8: SteveJax had over 100 total yards yesterday, one of his best games of the season. It's no coincidence that the Rams almost won. They need to start using the 'Marshall Rules' on him like they used to do with Faulk. Dude has to touch the ball 30 times a game for that team to have a chance at victory.
#10: Down with Weis. He's been recruiting supposedly big time DB's the past three or four years yet they can't get within 10 yards of the USC wideouts. Pathetic. I would say the rest of ND's team played a little above average on Saturday. There was a point where they showed a bunch of USC players standing next to ND players and it looked like a Father standing over a son because there was such a physical difference between the two.
Saw the same thing watching Purdue play Ohio State and the Boilermakers won. The difference being that Terrel Pryor is a horrible QB and Purdue's D gameplanned him perfectly. If you want to make some money, bet against Ohio State from here on out, Purdue drew up the blueprint.
(I have to admit, though, that Purdue had two close losses to decent teams, so they aren't total shit)
Brees versus the best defense in the league was supposed to be a little more interesting than Brees dominating for 3 quarters, but it wasn't
Right now Brees is like Manning a few years ago in the fact that it doesn't really matter what defense he's playing, he's going to produce. I still don't think the Saints get to the NFC Championship game and they certainly don't get to the Super Bowl without having home field advantage. I'd also watch out for them to flame out towards the end of the season because it's tough to play at such a high level week in and week out. To me, that's why Dungy would pull back on the reigns once the Colts clinched but I'm not sure Sean Payton will do the same even though they should win the West by like six games.
It all starts with the QB in college, the better the QB the better your chance at winning. I haven't watched enough OSU to get a feeling on what they're doing with Pryor but it's my understanding that Tressel made recruiting promises to the kid that he wouldn't just turn him into a running QB, although that worked out pretty well (financially) for Vince Young and Mike Vick, so he's having to call a certain number of pass plays per game. They are a young squad so next year will be the true litmus test for Pryor.
Pryor is pretty terrible as a QB. I think he is a WR by the end of next season.