Week 14 Analysis: New Orleans @ Atlanta

December 11th, 2007 1:51 am
by Big Dog

I’m not 100% sure what it means when the Monday Night Football team (Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser) spend most of the night NOT talking about the game, instead talking non-stop about Michael Vick’s 23 month sentence.

There’s no question that the news about Vick is big, and that it’s directly related to the performance of the Atlanta Falcons this season. That said, there was a game of football going on and while most of the good people of Atlanta chose to stay home, that doesn’t mean this game didn’t have anything riding on it. In particular, this game was a must win for the New Orleans Saints as they struggle to make the playoffs.

Saints QB Drew Brees had another good day, continuing to build on his solid reputation with 28 of 41 for 328 yards, 3 TD. He shared the ball around, his touchdown passes going to three different receivers, and made several good plays, scrambling when necessary and absorbing some good hits along the way. WR David Patten and WR Marques Colston came away with nine receptions each and S Roman Harper returned an interception for a TD. Overall New Orleans looked like a strong team with the right mixture of desperation and determination to make their run into the playoffs and perhaps even go a little further. Head Coach Sean Payton certainly demonstrated his aggressive style on the night and it was absolutely clear that he has this team in the right frame of mind to complete their mission. Watch out for the Saints.

It was also interesting to watch Falcons QB Chris Redman starting and running the game tonight, as Atlanta continue to experiment with their roster. Redman had a good night completing 23 of 40 for 298 yards, 2 TD and an INT. WR Michael Jenkins was his favourite target of the night with 9 receptions for 83 yards and a TD. RB Jerious Norwood had a lacklustre night with 6 carries for 21 yards. Right now the Falcons are clearly a team holding some genuine talent, but they are struggling to draw together as a team. One can only hope that with Vick’s sentence now handed down, the Falcons can finally and truly put this saga behind them and get on with being a competitive football team. The talent’s there, the team just needs to unite behind a QB and a plan, then the Falcons will get their chance to be great.

Posted in Analysis, Atlanta Falcons, Chris Redman, David Patten, Drew Brees, ESPN, Game, Jerious Norwood, Michael Jenkins, Michael Vick, Mike Tirico, Monday Night Football, NFL, NFL Coaches, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Players, NFL on television, New Orleans Saints, Roman Harper, Ron Jaworski, Sean Payton, Tony Kornheiser | No Comments »

Week 14 Analysis: Dallas @ Detroit

December 10th, 2007 6:54 am
by Big Dog

With most pundits declaring that the Detroit Lions are pretty much done for the season it looked today like QB Jon Kitna and the rest of the Lions may have had the fire to pull off an amazing upset win against the second best team in the NFL right now, the Dallas Cowboys.

The Lions took the early lead and stayed there for much of the game. Kitna managed to put up good numbers (22 of 36 for 248 yards) with no interceptions. The telling statistic was that he also had no passing touchdowns. The Lions also managed to gain 152 rushing yards against a Cowboys defense that is very tough on the run. In the end though, there were two drives that defined the outcome of the game. Early in the 4th quarter, the Lions had the chance to stretch the lead to more than a TD, with a 35 yard field goal attempt. Detroit K Jason Hanson would normally find this well within his range but this time the kick sailed just wide, to the right of the uprights. This missed attempt is sure to be haunting the Lions staff, players and fans.

The second key drive began when Dallas gained possession at their own 17 yard line with 2 minutes 15 seconds left on the clock and no timeouts remaining. Dallas QB Tony Romo led the march down the field, connecting regularly with TE Jason Witten (as he had all game). Detroit’s great sin was that they constantly allowed Cowboys receivers to find the sideline and stop the clock. In the end Romo connected with Witten for a 16 yard TD pass. The point after was successful and that sealed the win. This is the Cowboys’ ninth win from behind this season.

In many ways, it’s that statistic that makes the Cowboys’ record even more impressive than the Patriots. The Patriots are easily dominating almost every team that they meet and have only really been put to the test twice this season. Meanwhile, the Cowboys are having to work harder to get their wins, and the toughness that is bred by that sort of competition will serve them well when it comes to the playoffs.

Posted in Analysis, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Game, Jason Hanson, Jason Witten, Jon Kitna, NFL, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Players, New England Patriots, Tony Romo | No Comments »

Week 13 Analysis: New England @ Baltimore

December 4th, 2007 1:25 am
by Big Dog

First things first, the Baltimore Ravens defense dominated much of this game. On offense, RB Willis McGahee earned his money and then some, as he carried major responsibility for a Ravens strategy that included keeping the New England Patriots offense of the field for as long as possible.

Baltimore led this game from the early stages and were managing to stay in front as the Patriots were at best only able to equalise. Each time they did that the Ravens came back to score with confidence and QB Kyle Boller did an excellent job of making some critical passes in the face of tough pressure from the Patriots pass rush.

The Ravens have been renowned for their defense for years and tonight that squad’s skill and experience showed as they limited the Patriots and managed to apply significant pressure to New EnglandQB Tom Brady, sacking him several times. Importantly, they were twice able to hold the Patriots to field goals and maintain a lead. In the end the Ravens defense still had to spend a lot of time on the field and the toll of their workload was showing in the latter stages of the fourth quarter.

New England’s final drive was what decided the game. The Patriots took possession with a little over three minutes left on the game clock and were moving downfield. The Ravens had held the Patriots to 4th and 1 on the Baltimore 30 with just under two minutes to go. The Ravens sideline called a timeout just before the ball was snapped and as the play was whistled off, the Ravens defense stopped the play for what would have been a turnover on downs if the timeout hadn’t been called.

After the reset, the Ravens again stopped the following play for a turnover on downs, but a flag on the play called a false start on the Patriots offense for 4th and 6. Brady scrambled for the 1st down on the following play.

That series of plays was decisive. After investing nearly 60 full minutes of emotional, mental and physical energy, the Ravens defense just imploded. The rest of the drive was dogged by penalty calls against the Ravens. Every time that the Ravens defense got the upper hand, there was another call that let the Patriots off the hook. The frustration was tangible.

The Patriots snatched the lead with a passing TD to TE Benjamin Watson, that will live in infamy for Baltimore fans as Watson held the ball in the fingertips of both hands for the completion. The play was reviewed by the booth and upheld, on replay it clearly was a caught pass.

Kyle Boller and the Ravens offense made a huge effort to race back down the field in the final minute and try to either get into field goal range to tie the game or make the long play for a TD and win. The final play of the game was an awe-inspiring 52 yard shot from Boller to WR Mark Clayton who was on the 2 yard line and unable to make it to the endzone.

In the end, Baltimore’s troubled season continued and the pressures within the team once again boiled over. On the other hand, the Patriots stayed cool and committed to the end, making the plays when the plays needed to be made. This is two weeks in a row that the Patriots have been tested and both times they have passed. The Patriots aren’t without their weaknesses, but nobody has yet been able to make New England’s weaknesses overcome their strengths.

Posted in Analysis, Baltimore Ravens, Benjamin Watson, Game, Kyle Boller, Mark Clayton, Monday Night Football, NFL, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Players, NFL on television, New England Patriots, Tom Brady, Willis McGahee | No Comments »

Week 13 Analysis: Cincinatti @ Pittsburgh

December 3rd, 2007 1:20 am
by Big Dog

It was another wet night at Heinz Field as the Pittsburgh Steelers played host to the Cincinnati Bengals. Even with the rain, the field was in much better condition than last Monday night, and this made for a much more eventful game.

In the early stages Cincinnati QB Carson Palmer and the Bengals looked to be in excellent form, despite the conditions, as they moved down the field smoothly and opened the scoring for both teams with a touchdown. While Palmer looked like he was handling the wet comfortably, Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger looked anything but comfortable. The ball was coming out of his hand in an awkward fashion with most of his early passes being high and wobbly.

The momentum shifted early in the second quarter as Roethlisberger found his rhythm and got into the flow of the game, leading the Steelers on a 67 yard drive that ended in a six yard dive from Roethlisberger to score Pittsburgh’s first TD. From there on Pittsburgh dominated the scoring, piling on a further 17 points that included two TD passes to FL Hines Ward that saw Ward passing the Steelers’ All Time team record for TD receptions.

In the end, the Steelers held on for the win, although it looked more comfortable than it was. Turnovers were a big part of the story and the only statistic where the Bengals performed better than the Steelers. Officially the Bengals had one turnover to the Steelers’ four. This figure doesn’t include the fumble by Steelers’ HB Willie Parker that was overturned after a challenge by Head Coach Mike Tomlin. It also doesn’t include the fumble by Parker that was ruled down by contact on the field and upheld after the challenge by Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis. It also doesn’t count the safety scored by the Bengals that was reversed by an illegal holding penalty and it doesn’t include the turnover on downs that the Bengals would have won late in the game which was also reversed by a penalty call.

For the Bengals the biggest issue is clearly team discipline, but we’ve all known that for years. Either Cincinnati will find a way to deal with this problem, or all their players will retire. It’s just a question of which happens first.

For the Steelers, Parker’s fumbling troubles have got to be a major concern coming into the business end of the season and given the current injury concerns surrounding Parker’s replacement HB Najeh Davenport. The question is, did Parker just have a bad night in bad conditions? Or is there a bigger problem? This is bound to be something that the New England Patriots will test next week.

Posted in Analysis, Ben Roethlisberger, Carson Palmer, Cincinnati Bengals, Game, Hines Ward, Marvin Lewis, Mike Tomlin, NFL, NFL Coaches, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Players, NFL on NBC, NFL on television, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Willie Parker | No Comments »

Week 13 Analysis: NYG @ Chicago

December 2nd, 2007 9:08 pm
by Big Dog

There’s no pretty way to say this. The Ney York Giants and their battling QB Eli Manning got lucky today. In a game where Manning was continuing his recent and struggling form with two interceptions and a lost fumble, he managed an unexpected fourth quarter comeback that will finally give fans and media in New York something positive to talk about. The best feature of Manning’s game was that he didn’t allow the pressure to get to him. He stayed focused on his job and waited for things to start working. This is a character trait that I’ve long admired in Eli, he copes very well with the additional scrutiny and pressure that is applied to him as a result of his big brother’s stellar career. Eli plays his game and he clearly has the mental toughness to win.

The conditions at Chicago’s Soldier Field were troublesome for both teams. With heavy rain in the morning, and swirling winds throughout the game, it was a difficult game for anyone to get going in the air. Even so, Chicago QB Rex Grossman put in an excellent effort in difficult conditions to complete 25 of 46 passes for 296 yards and a TD. That completion number looks low, but Grossman was especially impressive with his clock management and decision making within the final two minutes of both halves. Good clock management was a real feature of his work and he certainly demonstrated that despite his difficulties earlier in the season, this young QB’s still plenty to offer the Bears. The only consistent flaw in his game today was that he kept getting sacked (6 sacks this game) for big losses by dropping back to allow plays to develop. He should have realised earlier that the best way to beat the Giants’ pass rush (which applied no real pressure on the inside) was to step up into the pocket and buy an extra couple of seconds that way. Doing so would also afforded him better vision of the field.

So, in a simple quarterback comparison, Chicago should have won. As we all know there’s a lot more to football than that. I still believe that there are serious questions to be asked, not just of Eli Manning, but the entire Giants offense and especially Head Coach Tom Coughlin. Manning and his key receivers (WR Plaxico Burress, TE Jeremy Shockey and WR Amani Toomer) have being playing together for several years now and it needs to be asked why these guys haven’t built a better playing relationship. To all appearances they get on very well together and when things work, they work really well, but by now I’d be expecting to see these guys have a better feel and knowledge of what each other is doing on the field. That said, it also needs to be asked of Coach Coughlin, when the QB of the team is struggling with an offense that runs a very vertical passing system, why aren’t there more options in the New York playbook? Where are the mid-range passing plays? Where are the options and adjustments in game?

It’s clear that there are fundamental problems with the Giants offense, but I am unconvinced that the problem is with the players. I have a feeling that it might just be that the team doesn’t know what to do with the players they have. Until the Giants resolve these issues, the best they can hope for is these unconvincing and somewhat fortunate victories.

Posted in Amani Toomer, Analysis, Chicago Bears, Eli Manning, Game, Jeremy Shockey, NFL, NFL Coaches, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Players, NFL on FOX, NFL on television, NY Giants, Plaxico Burress, Rex Grossman, Tom Coughlin | No Comments »