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

MNF coverage crippled by commentary

September 18th, 2007 1:50 am
by Pro Set

Despite Joe Theismann leaving the booth, tonight’s MNF coverage really demonstrated how far matters have deteriorated since Al Michaels departed for NBC.

With a tight, hugely important divisional showdown in play, (yes, actually in play) the long-suffering viewers were treated to a torturous over-indulgence of Charles Barkley followed by a fourth quarter descent into storyline wonderland that was just infuriating.

Barkley entered the booth in the third quarter and made some prescient and insightful remarks on the pressures facing QB Donovan McNabb. This was a really interesting period as McNabb battled to keep PHI within striking distance with the fans on his back.

But the MNF crew just had to begin pontificating on the New England spygate incident. This had been covered, on national television, 24 hours previously when the Patriots were actually playing. The relevance and newsworthiness of the MNF input was negligible, at best. The story of the evening was the game in front of them, and the issue at hand was how PHI would convert its painful but stuttering drives into TD opportunities, whilst getting pressure on WSH QB Jason Campbell on the other side of the ball without letting the Redskins run freely.

Mercifully the enforced conversation created by Barkley departed at the end of the third quarter. I’m not sure that I could have coped if Mike (the Choirboy) Tirico had mentioned again that Barkley covers the NBA for TNT, and that “our (Tirico’s and Barkley’s) paths will cross many times during the (NBA) season.”

We all then suffered as Tony Kornheiser, who tries hard but does not seem to have the patience to appreciate a full game of NFL football, started soliloquising on the future of WSH coach Joe Gibbs. The relevance of this subject matter to the game at hand was zero. It’s Week 2 and the Redskins are 1-0 so the future of the coach is absolutely moot when a 2-0 start is one defensive stop away. My bet is that Joe Gibbs, as well as every interested viewer, was fully focussed on how to contain the threatened PHI comeback.

I felt that Kornehiser had saved this up for a large PHI lead to fill 4th quarter dead time, and refused to allow the game to dictate the storylines. This manufactured storyline is beloved by the MNF crew. It simply gives them an excuse to follow a prepared script and cue up something that gives the aura of preparedness.

I feel ungrateful criticising a crew that has replaced the Mike Patrick, Paul Maguire, Joe Theismann, Suzy Kolber human interest-athon that used to crush my will to breathe.

But Tirico insists on explaining the ultra obvious during the one game of the week that is on cable, and might be expected to draw the most discerning and knowledgeable audience. Kornheiser is a newspaper man and loves to focus on pre-game storylines that can be “followed up” and “developed.”

I yearn for the return of Dick Stockton and Matt Millen, or Ray Bentley and Ron Pitts.

Posted in Washington Redskins, Al Michaels, Tony Kornheiser, Dick Stockton, Matt Millen, Jason Campbell, Joe Gibbs, Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles, Monday Night Football, Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, NFL on NBC | No Comments »