Tag Archives: Tom Brady

The Coach and The Doc Take… The Patriots

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment
tom brady surgery 218x300 The Coach and The Doc Take... The Patriots

Tom Brady

TAMPA… HEADING NORTH — There are people in the Heartland who believe that if Eli Manning wins Sunday’s Super Bowl, he’ll pass brother Peyton in all levels of the game. With a win on Sunday, Eli will be the bigger winner. Eli will be the greater leader. Honest, Eli will be a better quarterback than Peyton.

Poppycock.

Here are the numbers: Peyton has been named MVP four times, Eli none. Peyton has been to the Pro Bowl 11 times in 12 seasons; Eli, twice in eight seasons. Peyton has been first-team All-Pro five times, Eli none. Peyton’s career passer’s rating is 94.9, Eli’s is 82.1. Need more? Didn’t think so.

Peyton has one Super Bowl ring; Eli has one Super Bowl ring. Trent Dilfer has one Super Bowl ring.

Peyton is a better quarterback than his brother. Easy.

However, this weekend, Eli could join his brother with a ticket to the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, and that’s something nobody would expect with Eli’s numbers. If Eli ties Ben Roethlisberger and claims his second Super Bowl ring this Sunday aevening, Eli will punch his ticket to the Hall and that’s a surprise in itself.

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Eli Manning

This season, Eli was fourth in passing yards in the NFL with 4,933, 13th in passing percentage at 61.0, fifth in completions with 359, sixth in TD passes with 29 and seventh in interceptions with 16. He didn’t really have a great year, leading his team to a 9-7 record in the regular season, but he has been superb in the playoffs and that’s definitely when it counts the most.

Of course, on Sunday, Nov. 6, Manning threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns as the Giants beat New England 24-20. If Manning can do it again on Sunday, his legacy is set.

Sadly, The Coach and Dr. Football aren’t sure he can. In fact, our two experts — two experts who had terrific seasons picking winners this year — believe that Eli just might get his butt handed to him.

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Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis

SUPER BOWL XLVI

THE 2012 NFL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME FOR THE VINCE LOMBARDI TROPHY

SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT 5 P.M. CST

 

NFC Champion New York Giants (12-7) vs. AFC Champion New England Patriots (15-3)

Line: Patriots by 3.5

Super Bowl Sunday is widely regarded as the Thanksgiving Day of sporting events, and wings have become its turkey-like centerpiece. Americans will scoff down 1.25 billion chicken wings on Super Bowl Sunday alone, as well as 8 million slices of pizza, 46 million pounds of potato chips and 71 million pounds of guacamole, probably before Madonna hits the stage.

That’s a good afternoon.

There happens to be a football game as well. Here are a few predictions. New England’s Tom Brady will throw for a bunch of touchdowns. And after each one, NBC will remind us that he is married to a “super model”. Giants Eli Manning will also throw a bunch of touchdown passes, and after each one NBC will show his brother Peyton cheering him on from some millionaires suite. NBC will also remind us that Eli and Peyton are brothers as if we didn’t know.

Anyway, expect the Patriots to get their revenge and cover the 3 ½ point spread.

This season the Doc was 174-92 straight up and 149-117 against the spread. The Coach, who picked both the Giants and Patriots two weeks ago, 178-88 straight up and 146-120 against the spread.

DR FOOTBALL: PATRIOTS TO WIN AND COVER.

THE COACH: PATRIOTS TO WIN AND COVER.

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We Both Like New England. After That…

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment
tom brady photos1 219x300 We Both Like New England. After That...

The Brady

There will be four starting quarterbacks playing in this Sunday’s NFC and AFC championship games. Three of them were first round draft picks. Which one wasn’t?

If I didn’t know, my first guess would be Alex Smith. After all, as he toiled under a handful of second-rate offensive coordinators and off-and-on head coaches, Smith spent six seasons bouncing from the bench to the action and back to the bench. But the reality is this: Smith was the first overall pick in 2005 NFL draft out of the University of Utah.

So then, my second guess would be Joe Flacco. He doesn’t put up big numbers and he’s kind of inconsistent, playing on a team with a  monster defense that scares the crap out of most opponents. But no. He was the first round pick of the Ravens (18th overall) out of the University of Delaware in 2008.

Uh, oh. I know it wasn’t Eli Manning. He was the No. 1 overall pick by the Giants out of Mississippi in 2004. Knew that.

It’s amazing, isn’t it? After all of his championships (three Super Bowl titles), his huge numbers, his long list of record-setting performances and all his awards (two-time Super Bowl MVP), not to mention he was actor Bridget Moynihan’s baby-daddy and he’s married to super model Giselle Bundchen, Tom Brady was a sixth-round pick, (199th overall) by the Patriots in 2000 and didn’t even get a chance to play until Drew Bledsoe got hurt.

Amazingly, he is still the best all-around quarterback in football today and he will lead the Patriots into another Super Bowl this Sunday when New England demolishes Baltimore.

However, neither The Doc nor I can agree on what’s going to happen when two No. 1 overall picks meet in San Francisco. Will it be the Manning and the Giants or Smith and the Niners? For that answer, you’ll have to read on.

Last week the Doc was 2-2 (173-91) straight up and 1-3 (148-116) against the spread. The Coach was 2-2-(176-88) straight up and 2-2 (144-120) against the spread.

The Doc will write this week’s justifications and The Coach will do what he does best: Make snot-ass remarks.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

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Rob Gronkowski

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP

Baltimore Ravens (13-4) at New England Patriots (14-3)
Line: Patriots by 7

This game is tougher to pick than the Vegas spread makes it out to be. On Wild Card Weekend in 2010, the Ravens went into New England and whooped them 33-14 with Ray Rice rushing for 159 yards and 2 TDs so the Ravens have a little history on their side…but that’s about all that’s on their side. Sure the Ravens bring a defense that features some heavy hitters like Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata and Ray Lewis and a ball hawk like Ed Reed. They’re not going to give up 40 points like the Broncos did, but they will struggle containing Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez and Tom Brady’s also coming off a record setting performance and he is on a roll and I expect him to have another big game. The Patriots are heading to Indy. (Coach sez: As good as the Baltimore defensive secondary is, and it is good, they will not have an answer for Brady and his two tight ends).

DR FOOTBALL: PATRIOTS TO WIN AND COVER.

THE COACH: PATRIOTS TO WIN AND COVER.

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Eli Manning

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP

New York Giants (11-7) at San Francisco 49ers (14-3)
Line: 49ers by 2.5

I like the 49ers. Their defense is solid and their offense showed it can score. putting up 36 points in an exciting win over the Saints. But there’s something going on with the Giants. They made Green Bay pay for every mistake it made and they made every big play in the game in a huge win at Lambeau. QB Eli Manning was calculating and used all his weapons effectively in a game where very few people gave them a chance. The last time these two teams met, back on Nov. 13, the 49ers won 27-20, mostly without the services of their best player, Frank Gore. While the Giants’ defense has been good lately, their run defense is below average (19th in the NFL). One has to think that with a healthy Gore, the 49ers will head to Indy as well. (Coach sez: The Giants beat Green Bay on the road. That defense will roast the Niners).

DR FOOTBALL: 49ers TO WIN AND COVER.

THE COACH: GIANTS TO WIN.

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We All Say Dumb Things…

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment
dumb 300x240 We All Say Dumb Things...

Dumb

As the headline suggests, we all say dumb things. That certainly includes me. I’ll even say them on the radio.

Last week, on the Rise Up Show with Big Will and Miss Melissa on Streetz 104.7, I said three really dumb things. I didn’t say them all at once. I spread them out over the week so I could sound even dumber, more often.

I don’t normally say really dumb things, but when I do, it eats at me for days. This time, dumbness has eaten at me long enough. I said it, it was dumb, and with that, let me apologize for…

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Another Jose Calderon brick.

1. On Tuesday morning, I said I liked the way the Toronto Raptors played basketball. I said that. I said it out loud to a listening audience on Streetz that really likes basketball and knows a lot about the game.

I had just watched the Raptors beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 97-87. Man they looked good. Amir Johnson beat up Kevin Love and had 11 points and 19 rebounds. Andrea Bargnani scored 31. Jose Calderon ran the offence and shut down Ricky Rubio on D and he didn’t even throw up too many of those Jose Calderon clang-bang bricks. It was a nice effort.

So I went on the radio and said that the 4-5 Raptors were playing “good basketball,” and should break out of their early-season struggles.

Yeah, right. What a bonehead.

The Raptors proceeded to lose 93-78 to the dog-ass Washington Wizards, 98-91 at home to the D-League level Sacramento Kings, 95-90 at home to Indiana, 77-64 in Chicago and 93-84 to Atlanta (which really isn’t embarrassing at the worst of times). In that entire stretch of five straight losses, the Raptors had, maybe, three good quarters and Bargnani, clearly their best player despite those stupid spaghetti commercials he does, injured a calf muscle and missed three games.

When I said I liked the way the Raptors played, they were 4-5. By today’s admission that I was really dumb to say that I liked the way they played, they are now 4-10.

So dumb.

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Buck's Re-signing is not so obvious.

2. On Friday morning, I said two really dumb things. The first one was a doozy:

I said, “Blue Bombers general manager Joe Mack held a news conference yesterday to say that his off-season priorities were to sign a new offensive coordinator, quarterback Buck Pierce and offensive lineman Brendan LaBatte. Thank you Captain Obvious.”

Well, after a sober second thought, it wasn’t so obvious. The offensive coordinator part is obvious and Brendan LaBatte is really obvious, but Buck Pierce? Not so much.

Pierce wants big dough to return. Mack doesn’t really have to pay him big dough. With the seven other CFL teams set at quarterback next season, no other team is going to sign Pierce for the amount of money he wants ( a base of at least $200,000). Meanwhile, Mack knows that Pierce had virtually the same numbers as Michael Bishop did back in 2009 and we all remember that the local mainstream media laughed at Michael Bishop. There is no need to sign Pierce for more than he’s worth with Alex Brink and Joey Elliott ready to go.

In fact, you could argue that if Mack signs LaBatte and the offensive line continues to get better, Brink and Elliott could provide head coach Paul LaPolice with a great training camp battle at the QB’s position.

Joe Mack was not Captain Obvious because Buck Pierce, for too much money, is not an obvious signing.

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Tom Brady: Shoulda had more faith.

3. Also on Friday, I said the New England Patriots would beat the Denver Broncos by two touchdowns. What an idiot.

Sure, I picked New Orleans and Green Bay to win on Friday morning during our weekly Streetz NFL picks with Tahl East, but we both hedged those bets. Neither one of us was quite convinced that the Packers or Saints were a guarantee, and we both said so. In fact, we both took New Orleans while holding our noses.

But New England? I came right out and said “the Pats win by two touchdowns.”

Wrong. They won by five touchdowns. And if Tom Brady and Bill Belichick hadn’t called off the dogs late in the game, it could have been seven or eight. New England was so much better than Denver it wasn’t even a fair fight.

I should have known better. And, yes, it was dumb to think that Denver could finish within two touchdowns of that New England team.

Because Baltimore won’t, either.

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Ponder and Newton Will Soon Play Some Memorable Games

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment
Christian+Ponder+Dallas+Cowboys+v+Minnesota+Kw9Sr57XBXnl 205x300 Ponder and Newton Will Soon Play Some Memorable Games

Christian Ponder

They both have byes this week and it’s unlikely a lot of NFL fantasy football players will notice.  In fact, while most fans tuned into the Patriots at Pittsburgh last weekend or Dallas at Philly and while others got all giggly over the Lions’ seven sacks on Tim Tebow in Denver, the game of the future was actually being played in Charlotte, N.C.

It might have drawn a few yawns this week, but quite frankly, it’s unlikely to ever draw yawns again.

The folks in Charlotte and the fans back in Minnesota, people who will always follow their Vikings and Panthers through thick and thin, probably thought they were just doing what they always do on Sunday afternoon. It was another football game in the middle of a tough season

Heading into Sunday’s matchup, the Panthers were 2-5 while the Vikings were 1-6. Neither team was thinking about the playoffs and most NFL fans ignored the game like it was a blight on the sport.

And yet, the two people who were in control of the afternoon will, one day, be the Tom Brady-Ben Roethlisberger or Michael Vick-Tony Romo, of our future Sunday afternoons.

Sure, the teams were done. Eight weeks into the season and they were already thinking about Cabo, not Indianapolis, in January. Regardless, the two quarterbacks proved that they will soon be the guys everyone wants to watch. I guarantee it. In fact, this was the debut of the Ponder-Newton Extravaganza, a matchup that could last for the next decade… -plus.

Last Sunday’s final score read: Minnesota 24, Carolina 21. For Minnesota, rookie quarterback Christian Ponder went 18-for-28 for 236 yards and a touchdown. For Carolina, rookie quarterback Cam Newton went 22-for-35 for 290 yards and three touchdowns. However, with the help of a great runningback named Adrian Peterson, the Vikings emerged victorious. Peterson carried 21 times for 86 yards and a touchdown and caught five passes for 76 yards and another TD.

But while Peterson had already arrived, Ponder and Newton were the new kids on the block and they were the talk of the afternoon. Not because what they did was particularly spectacular, but because of the hints they handed football fans. This was just another game midway through a long season, but it was also a glimpse into the future. Cam Newton and Christian Ponder are the Next Ones.

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Cam Newton

Newton, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, had been nothing short of remarkable from the day he arrived in Charlotte. At 6-foot-5, 250-pounds he cuts an amazing figure on the football field. The fact he has 4.59 speed and a rocket arm doesn’t hurt either. As a rookie, he’s second to the Saints’ Drew Brees in passing yards with 2,393 already this season. He’s completed 60.6 per cent of his passes. He’s averaged 299.1 yards per game. He can also run, run for touchdowns, throw on the run and think on the run. He has every possible tool.  He will be this year’s rookie of the year and a future MVP.

The kid on the other side, who just happens to be 6-foot-2, 230-pounds was playing only his second game as a professional, but with the help of Peterson and his sidekick, the electrifying Percy Harvin, the rookie from Florida State sent a note to the rest of the NFL, “I can play, boys.”

Poised, bright and fearless, Christian Ponder proved that he was worth a No. 12 draft pick to acquire.

Here’s how good he was: On third downs requiring 10 yards or more to convert, Ponder was successful on four of his six attempts. And he did it with a sorry collection of receivers who had neither hands nor speed. Were it not for Peterson and Harvin – who were formidable – Ponder might have been out there alone.

“We just took what the defense gave us,” Ponder said. “We didn’t try to force the ball quite as much as we did last week against Green Bay. Whatever they gave us, we tried to exploit.”

Now let’s not go too overboard on Ponder. He did lead his team to a three-point victory, but this all might have been moot if veteran Carolina kicker Olindo Mare didn’t miss a 31-yeard chip shot in the dying seconds, a kick that would have sent the game into overtime and might have provided a different result. And let’s also give credit where it’s due: Newton deserved a better fate. He was terrific.

But Ponder provided the Vikings and their fans with exactly what many pundits claimed he would. He won. And there are people on the sidelines this week saying that if Ponder had started all eight games – the first six belonged to veteran Donovan McNabb – the Vikings might be 6-2 as opposed to 2-6.

That’s mere speculation, of course, but one thing is certain: Newton and Ponder will do this again. And there is perhaps a time in the not-too-distant future when they will do it in an NFC Final.

Even though both Carolina and Minnesota are now 2-6 and likely out of the playoff hunt, the two head coaches will probably be given a reprieve, thanks to the two young QBs. Fans are quick to forgive coaches who let rookie quarterbacks — young stars selected high in the draft — develop into regular starters and team leaders. Ron Rivera in Carolina and Leslie Frazier in Minnesota will now get a few weeks off before the vultures in the mainstream media and on the blogosphere start demanding their heads again.

Vikings fans have quickly learned that young Ponder can play well on the road and win. In Carolina, they already know that 2-6 isn’t Newton’s fault, it’s the fault of a defense that would have a challenge stopping the opposing team’s cheerleading unit.

In years to come, Sunday’s matchup between Cam Newton, 22, and the Carolina Panthers and Christian Ponder, 23, and the Minnesota Vikings will be as highly anticipated as today’s meeting between Brady and Brees or Rodgers and Roethlisberger.

Some day, and some day soon, Cam Newton’s trip into Minnesota to exact revenge for a loss to Christian Ponder on that beautiful North Carolina afternoon of Oct. 30, 2011, will be the talk of football.



(The Coach and The Doc will have their NFL picks on Friday, Nov. 4)

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A Look Back at Week 2 in the NFL

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Two weeks of NFL football are now in the books and seven teams remain undefeated — New England, Buffalo, the Jets and Houston in the AFC and Detroit, Washington and Green Bay in the NFC.

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Tom Brady Just Keeps Winning

Meanwhile, some of the Divisions look crazy after two weeks. Talk about parity (or mediocrity). In the AFC North, all four teams are 1-1. In the AFC East, the Pats, Bills and Jets are 2-0 while the Dolphions are 0-2. In the NFC East, the Washington Redskins are 2-0 while Philadelphia, Dallas and the New York Giants are all 1-1. And in the NFC South, the Saints, Bucs and Falcons are 1-1 while the Panthers, who have put up 854 passing yards in the first two games are 0-2.

Go figure.

It’s a huge week coming up in Week 3. Undefeated New England is at undefeated Buffalo; the Giants are at Philly, but it’s unlikely Michael Vick will be ready for the Eagles; undefeated Houston plays at New Orleans; two rivals, Atlanta and Tampa, go head-to-head at the Pirate Ship; in a pair of NFC North matchups, Green Bay is at Chicago while Detroit plays at Minnesota (the River City Sports Blog will be live at the Metrodome on Sunday); and on Monday night, undefeated Washington is at 1-1 Dallas.

Let’s take a look back at Week 2, just to set us up for Week 3. Dr. Football and I will have our picks posted on Thursday night.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

Tampa Bay 24 Minnesota 20

Despite the fact Adrian Peterson rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns, the Buccaneers scored in the final minute to win it. For the second straight week the Vikings blew it in the second half. Last week, Minnesota lead 17-7 at the half and lost 24-17, this week they led 17-0 at the half and lost 24-17.

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Matthew Stafford

Detroit 48 Kansas City 3

Detroit quarterback Matt Stafford was 23-for-39 for 294 yards and four touchdowns, but it was the Detroit defense that simply shut down the Chiefs.

Buffalo 38 Oakland 35

Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a six-yard TD pass to David Nelson with 14 seconds left to play to win it. The Bills scored TDs on all five of their second-half possessions to overcome a 21-3 halftime deficit. Fitzpatrick finished 28-for-46 for 264 yards and three TDs.

Green Bay 30 Carolina 23

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns while Carolina’s rookie quarterback Cam Newton threw for 432 yards and two touchdowns and lost. Newton became the sixth NFL quarterback in history to have two straight 400-yard passing games and the third to lose both.

Cleveland 27 Indianapolis 19

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Cleveland's Peyton Hillis

The Browns Peyton Hillis ran for 94 yards and two touchdowns while QB Colt McCoy threw for a touchdown as Cleveland improved to 1-1 and the Peyton Manning-less Colts fell to 0-2.

New York Jets 32 Jacksonville 3

Jets QB Mark Sanchez threw for two touchdowns while cornerback Antonio Rodgers-Cromartie had two of the Jets four interceptions. The Jags didn’t get inside the Jets 20.

New Orleans 30 Chicago 13

Saints quarterback Drew Brees was sensational going 26-for-37 for 270 yards and three touchdowns while the Saints defence beat up on poor Jay Cutler. Despite the loss, Brandon’s Israel Idonije had a tremendous game. He had three tackles, three assisted tackles and a sack.

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Pittsburgh's Mike Wallace

Pittsburgh 24 Seattle 0

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger threw for 298 yards and a touchdown. Receiver Mike Wallace caught eight passes for 126 yards and that single TD. The Steelers were much sharper this week. After turning over the ball seven times a week earlier against the Baltimore Ravens, the Steelers did not make a major mistake and were quite efficient against a Seahawks defence that was better than its offence. The Seahawks were terrible on offence and didn’t take an offensive snap on the Steelers’ side of the field until midway through the fourth quarter. Seattle was shut out  for the first time since their last visit to Pittsburgh in 2007. As all Vikings fans know, QB Tarvaris Jackson just isn’t the answer for Seattle.

Tennessee 26 Baltimore 13

A bit of a shocker as Tennessee quarterback Matt Hasselbeck went 30-for-42 for 358 yards and a touchdown. The Ravens held Titans runningback Chris Johnson to 53 yards on 24 carries, but Hasselbeck beat the vaunted Ravens defense through the air.

Dallas 27 San Francisco 24 (OT)

Receiver Jesse Holley caught a 77-yard pass from Tony Romo to set up the winning field goal. It was the third pass Holley had ever caught in the NFL. Dallas outscored the Niners 13-3 down the stretch. Romo broke a rib on the third play of the game and still came back to win it for the Cowboys.

Washington 22 Arizona 21

Graham Gano kicked a 34-yard field goal with 1:45 remaining to win it for Washington. The Redskins are now 2-0. Washington rallied from an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Cardinals for the eighth straight time.

Denver 24 Cincinnati 22

Denver RB Willis McGahee rushed for 101 yards and a and touchdown while QB Kyle Orton threw for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Tim Tebow played briefly for the Broncos, not as a quarterback, but as a “blocking” wide receiver. The Broncos have now lost nine players to injury — six starters.

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Houston QB Matt Schaub

Houston 23 Miami 13

Houston QB Matt Schaub went 21-for-29 for 230 yards and two touchdowns while Ben Tate carried for 103 yards. Tate became only the 11th player in NFL history to rush for at least 100 yards in each of his first two NFL games. He joins a list that includes, Alan (The Horse) Ameche, Earl Campbell, Ottis Anderson, Billy Sims, Marshall Faulk, Edgerrin James and Carnell (Cadillac) Williams. Meanwhile, Andre Johnson caught seven passes for 93 yards and a touchdown as the Texans improved to 2-0 and took sole possession of first place in the AFC South. Meanwhile, he Dolphins gave up a pair of turnovers, had a 22-yard field-goal attempt blocked and missed a 34-yarder to fall to 0-2 for the fifth time in the past six years.

New England 35 San Diego 21

Another great home opener for the Patriots who are now 61-12 (.836) since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002. Quarterback Tom Brady completed 31-of-40 passes for 423 yards and three touchdowns, two to tight end Rob Gronkowski. The Pats are now 2-0 this season and have 15 of their last 17 home openers. the Patriots have now won 10 consecutive regular-season games dating back to last season, the longest active streak in the NFL.

SUNDAY NIGHT

Atlanta 35 Philadelphia 31

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Tony Gonzalez (88) and Matt Ryan (2) of the Falcons.

This is how things went for Michael Vick in his return to Atlanta: Great first quarter, so-so-second quarter, a pretty decent third quarter and a concussion. Vick didn’t finish the game, but he left with a 31-21 lead. However, with Mike Kafka at quarterback, Philly did nothing, Atlanta outscored Philadelphia 14-0 in the fourth quarter and came back to win 35-31. Meanwhile, with seven catches on Sunday night, Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez moved past wideout Terrell Owens (1,078 career receptions) for fifth on the all-time receiving list.

MONDAY NIGHT

New York Giants 28 St. Louis 16

On Monday night football, the Giants took advantage of four huge mistakes by St. Louis to score four touchdowns and beat the visiting Rams. Eli Manning threw two touchdown passes and linebacker Michael Boley returned a fumble 65 yards for a touchdown. It was a tough loss for the Rams who moved up[ and down the field at will, but couldn’t convert in the Red Zone. Sam Bradford threw one TD pass while Josh Brown kicked three short field goals.

The Coach went 12-4 (23-9) straight up last week and 10-6 (19-13)  against the spread. As we prepare to enter Week 3, it would appear most teams are playing according to form and that’s rare, early in the season. 

 

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All You Need To Know About Week 1 in the NFL

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment
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Tom Brady, Awesome Again.

Before Dr. Football and I take on Week 2 in the NFL — our picks will be posted by Friday — we need to take stock of Week 1.

This week, as always, we learned 10 things:

1. The Baltimore Ravens and Chicago Bears made statements: “You guys can be madly in love with the Steelers and Packers if you wish, but we aren’t going to roll over and die.”

2. Tom Brady is still remarkable. His 99-yard TD pass to Wes Welker was jaw-dropping. The game itself was jaw-dropping. Brady and Miami’s Chad Henne combined to become the first duo of quarterbacks in NFL history to pass for 500 yards and 400 yards in a single game.

3. Despite what ESPN did by ripping Tim Tebow in order to help enable new Broncos GM John Elway to go with Kyle Orton, how long will it take before the Broncos finally go with the guy who wins as opposed to the guy who looks good losing?

4. The Detroit Lions might be legitimate.

5. Michael Vick could have a monster year. Matt Schaub and Phillip Rivers will be very good.

6. Three teams passed for more than 400 yards — and lost.

7. So much for all the whining about the new kickoff rule. Here’s the headline: “Three kickoff return touchdowns in Week 1 tied for the most in an opening weekend in NFL history (1970, 1998).” Looks like a good rule.

8. Like offence? There was a grand total of 7,842 net passing yards in Week 1. The most in a single week in NFL history. There were 14, 300-yard passers in Week 1, the most in a single week in NFL history.  The previous best was 13 in Week 10 of last year. And there were five games in which both quarterbacks threw for at least 300 yards, the most in any week in NFL history. Four 400-yard passers was the most in a single week in NFL history.

9. Carolina rookie quarterback Cam Newton had 422 passing yards, the most ever by a player making his NFL debut.

10. San Francisco’s Ted Ginn  Jr. became the 12th player in NFL history to return a kickoff (102 yards) and a punt (55 yards) for a touchdown in the same game.  Ginn accomplished the feat in just 59 seconds — the fastest in history.

Baltimore 35 Pittsburgh 7

The Ravens Joe Flacco threw three touchdown passes while runningback Ray Rice rushed for 107 yards and two TDs.

Chicago 30 Atlanta 12

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Brian Urlacher, Chicago Bears

Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher had an interception and returned a fumble recovery for a touchdown. If the Bears defence continues to rock, it will take pressure off Jay Cutler – who passed for 312 yards in the opener – and his offence. That will make the Bears a much better all-around football team. By the way, RB Matt Forte was brilliant once again and a strong running game will always work in a team’s favor.

Houston 34 Indianapolis 7

The Texans backup runningback Ben Tate rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown as Indy played without Peyton Manning. And without Peyton Manning, they were downright horrendous.

Cincinnati 27 Cleveland 17

The Browns fell asleep on defense late in the game and blew a 17-13 lead late. Cincinnati’s Cedric Benson carried 25 times for 121 yards and a touchdown.

Jacksonville 16 Tennessee 14

The Jags’ Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown.

Buffalo 41 Kansas City 7

Kansas City was 11-5 last year and won the AFC West but Buffalo sauntered into K.C. and scored 40 points in a season opener for the first time since 1992. Fred Jackson carried for 112 yards for the Bills.

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Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia 31 St. Louis 13

The Eagles Michael Vick was terrific. He threw two touchdown passes and ran for 98 yards. He now has 4,728 rushing yards, second most in the history of the game, behind only Randall Cunningham (another Philly QB) who had 4,928. Vick should break that record by Week 4.

Detroit 27 Tampa Bay 20

The Lions Matthew Stafford threw for 305 yards and three touchdowns. The Lions defense was very good, as expected. But the important thing for Detroit was that they beat a decent team on the road.

Arizona 28 Carolina 21

Arizona’s Kevin Kolb threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns while Carolina rookie Cam Newton threw for 422 yards and two TDs and ran for another touchdown. This one was all about Newton, even in defeat. The guy is going to be great if the Carolina coaches don’t screw with his game.

San Diego 24 Minnesota 17

The Chargers scored the final 17 points and the only 17 points of the second half as San Diego came back from a 17-7 halftime deficit.

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The Niners Ted Ginn headed to the end zone.

San Francisco 33 Seattle 17

Ted Ginn Jr. returned a kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown, then returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown, all in a minute’s span in the fourth quarter to give the Niners the win.

Washington 28 NY Giants 14

The Redskins Rex Grossman threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns.

SUNDAY NIGHT

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Mark Sanchez, New York Jets

NY Jets 27 Dallas 24

The Jets were down 14 points in the fourth quarter and came back to win AT Dallas. Nick Folk kicked a 50-yard field goal to win in with 27 seconds left. The Jets Mark Sanchez was 26-for-44 for 335 yards and two touchdowns.

MONDAY NIGHT

New England 38 Miami 24

Wow! What a night for Tom Brady. He was 32-for-48 for a franchise-record 517 yards and four touchdowns. Wes Welker had eight catches for 160 yards and two touchdowns. Miami’s Chad Henne completed 30-of-49 passes for 416 yards and two TDs (see above).

Oakland 23 Denver 20

The highlight of the game came from Oakland kicker Sebastien Janikowski who booted an NFL record-tying 63-yard field goal. Only Tom Dempsey and Jason Elam have matched that distance. By the way, when is Denver going to realize that QB Kyle Orton can’t win.

This week our three biggest games are: Chicago at New Orleans, as the Bears take on a 2010 playoff team for the second straight week; San Diego at New England in a battle of high-powered offenses; and Philadelphia at Atlanta as Mike Vick goes back to his original NFL home.

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More Moves, More Winners and Losers.

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment
Vince Young e1309451809140 300x197 More Moves, More Winners and Losers.

Vince Young

The National Football League’s training camps will open this weekend, but in the meantime the big moves just keep on coming:

1) Quarterback Vince Young, released by the Tennessee Titans yesterday, has been signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as Michael Vick’s backup. WINNER: The Eagles have had a great free-agent week. Young might be odd, but he can play and in the right circumstance, he can be a big help.

2) Chad Ochocinco is on his way from the Cincinnati Bengals to the New England Patriots. The Bengals will receive a pair of draft picks in return. Ochocinco will be great in New England. WINNER: The Pats. They always win with reclamation projects. Ochocinco will be outstanding in New England and QB Tom Brady has already formally welcomed his new target.

3) With Donovan McNabb now in Minnesota, punter Chris Kluwe announced this morning on K-FAN in the Twin Cities that he will wear No. 4 this season while McNabb gets No. 5. Didn’t some other old quarterback wear No. 4 last year? Can’t remember. WINNER: The Vikings. If McNabb is happy, the Vikings will be happy. And who gives a rat’s ass about the punter anyway?

drc More Moves, More Winners and Losers.

dominique rodgers-cromartie

4) The deal was done quicker than we thought. The Philadelphia Eagles traded quarterback Kevin Kolb to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. A great trade for the Eagles. WINNER: The Eagles. Again. Rodgers-Cromartie is a dominant corner who will make the Eagles defensive immediately better. Kevin Kolb isn’t as good as the NFL’s fawning media experts made him out to be and he also lost his job to Vick. He wasn’t going to play in Philly. In fact, the Eagles are a lot better off with Vince Young.

5) The Carolina Panthers, who already signed linebacker Charles Johnson and runningback DeAngelo Williams made a deal yesterday to acquire tight end Greg Olsen from the Chicago Bears, signed linebacker Joe Beason tyo a five-year, $50 million extension and are now just hours away from signing rookie quarterback Cam Newton. WINNER: The Panthers. Because on Friday, they were last in the NFC South. Today, they could be third and with a quarterback, they could challenge.

Minnesota Vikings training camp opens on Tuesday. We will be there live next weekend.

*   *   *

LATE FRIDAY ADDITIONS

1) Minnesota free agent defensive end, Ray Edwards, has signed a free agent deal with the Atlanta Falcons. WINNER: Falcons, for obvious reasons.

2) After his release from Dallas wideout Roy Williams has found a home in Mike Martz’s offence in Chicago. WINNER: Chicago. Martz will find a way to use this guy to help make Jay Cutler a better quarterback.

3) Safety and kick returner, Danieal Manning has agreed to a four-year $20 million with the Houston Texans. WINNER: Houston. Manning gives the Texans a double-barrelled shot of speed.

4) Cornerback Eric Wright tweeted on Friday that he’s going to the Detroit Lions. WINNER: The Lions only because it’s another experienced body on a team that Ndamukong Suh says is going 16-0 this season.

5) Big name players who were cut on Friday: Jets — QB Mark Brunell; Steelers — T Flozell Adams; Jaguars — G Vince Manuwai; Falcons — DL Jamaal Anderson, WR Michael Jenkins, RB Jerious Norwood; 49ers — K Joe Nedney.

*   *   *

A QUICK WORD ABOUT THE BOMBERS…

Winnipeg now has a football team capable of winning the Grey Cup. As the ghosts have long said, “Offense draws crowds, defense wins championships.”

Thursday night, backup quarterback Alex Brink came off the bench in the fourth quarter, after an injury to starter Buck Pierce, and made a great run to set up a game winning touchdown pass to Terrence Edwards as the Blue Bombers beat the B.C. Lions 25-20 in front of more than 29,000 at Canad Inns Stadium last night. The Bombers trailed 13-6 at halftime and Pierce, who left the game with what’s being called a calf strain, got the home side going early in the second half with an 82-yard touchdown pass to Clarence Denmark on the first play of the third quarter.

On an emotional night honouring assistant coach Richard Harris who died of a heart attack on Tuesday, the Bombers defense was outstanding once again as Winnipeg improved to 4-1 on the season and matched their win total from all of last year. The Lions fell to 0-5.  The Bombers D is now No. 1 in every major statistical category in the CFL.

This D makes me think of Tyrone Jones, James West, Greg Battle, Paul Randolph, Rod Hill and Michael Gray. It’s good enough to win it all, no matter who plays quarterback.

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The Regular Season is Over. And a 7-9 Team is in the Playoffs

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

With the exception of the unfortunate fact that the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks, a team that is NOT significantly better than the Detroit Lions, is in the National Football League playoffs, it was a pretty good year for the NFL.

Tom Brady was sensational, Arian Foster was a horse, Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed and Ray Lewis remained the best defensive players in the NFL, our pal Israel Idonije had a great year in Chicago, the Lions got better, Kansas City stepped up, Oakland improved, Tim Tebow showed why he should be No. 1 in Denver, Peyton Manning willed the Colts back to the playoffs, Brett Favre retired, Sam Bradford arrived and the poor Minnesota Vikings finished the year with an interim coach, a collapsed stadium and a vantage point from the basement of the NFC North.

On Sunday evening, the NFL’s playoff schedule has been set. In the opening round, New England and Pittsburgh have the byes in the AFC while Atlanta and Chicago have the byes in the NFC. New England and Atlanta have home field throughout the playoffs. This Saturday, New Orleans plays at Seattle at 3:30 while the Jets play at Indianapolis at 7, both games are on NBC. On Sunday, Baltimore is at Kansas City at 12 Noon on CBS and Green Bay is at Philadelphia at 3:30 on FOX.

Let’s enjoy it because if the folks who run the league and the Players Association don’t get their collective act in gear, we might have nothing but the CFL, the UFL and BCS next season.

OK, Sport Select and Fantasy Players, here are your NFL scores and highlights for Week 17…

Sunday night…

Seattle 16 St. Louis 6

Just a horrible football game. Seattle wins the NFC West with a 7-9 record, the first sub.500 division champ in league history and they’ll get to play host to New Orleans on Saturday.

Sunday afternoon….

Detroit 20 Minnesota 13

The Lions won their final four games and finished ahead of the Vikings in the standings. It’s the first time since 1990 that the Vikes have finished last in the NFC North. And Brett Favre, who was inactive yesterday with a concussion, HAS retired. Detroit’s Shaun Hill threw for 258 yards and a touchdown. Minnesota’s only touchdown came on an interception return by Jared Allen. It looks like Leslie Frazier will keep his job as the Vikings head coach.

Green Bay 10 Chicago 3

Aaron Rodgers one-yard pass to tight end Donald Lee gave the 10-6 Packers all they needed in the fourth quarter to win the game and lock up a playoff berth.

NY Giants 17 Washington 14

The 10-6 Giants got the win but they didn’t get the help they needed to make the playoffs. The Packers win eliminated New York.

Indianapolis 23 Tennessee 20

Peyton Manning threw two touchdowns passes and Adam Vinatieri kicked the winning field goal with no time left on the clock as the 10-6 Colts made the playoffs again.

NY Jets 38 Buffalo 7

Veteran Mark Brunell threw two TD passes for the 11-5 Jets as Mark Sanchez rested for the playoffs after the first series of downs.

Tampa Bay 23 New Orleans 13

Tampa finished 10-6 and missed the playoffs. Bucs QB Josh Freeman threw for 255 yards and two TDs. The Saints finished 11-5 and will head off to the post-season.

New England 38 Miami 7

The Pats’ Tom Brady went 10-fort-16 for 199 yards and two touchdowns. His new favorite target, Rob Gronkowski caught six passes for 102 yards and a TD. The 14-2 Patriots won their final eight games. Dolphins coach Tony Sparano could lose his job this week.

Pittsburgh 41 Cleveland 9

The Steelers Ben Roethlisberger went 15-for-22 for 280 yards and two touchdowns as 12-4 Pittsburgh clinched the AFC North title. Expect the Cleveland coaching staff to be fired en masse today. (Note: Eric Mangini was fired Monday morning before 9 a.m.)

Baltimore 13 Cincinnati 7

The Ravens offence did nothing, but Ed Reed had two interceptions and Ray Lewis recovered two fumbles. Baltimore will enter the playoffs on a four-game winning streak.

Atlanta 31 Carolina 10

Matt Ryan threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns as the Falcons finished 13-3 and earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Dallas 14 Philadelphia 13

Jason Garrett will be go from interim to semi-permanent head coach of the Cowboys (all coaches are semi-permanent). Stephen McGee threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Jason Whitten with 55 seconds left to give Dallas the victory. Michael Vick did not play for the Eagles, but will start this coming Sunday against Green Bay.

Oakland 31 Kansas City 10

The Chiefs Matt Cassel was awful – 11-for-33 for 115 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. Oakland’s Michael Bush carried 25 times for 137 yards and a touchdown. The 8-8 Raiders went 6-0 within the AFC West Division and missed the playoffs. The Cjiefs won it at 10-6.

San Francisco 38 Arizona 7

It was likely Alex Smith’s final game for the 49ers and he was pretty good. He threw for 276 yards and two TDs.

San Diego 33 Denver 28

Chargers rookie Ryan Matthews ran for 120 yards and three touchdowns. For Denver, QB Tim Tebow threw two touchdowns passes and ran for another.

Houston 34 Jacksonville 17

The Texans’ Arian Foster rushed for 180 yards and two touchdowns and won the NFL rushing title.

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Minnesota Falls in Chicago, Brady Great in Pittsburgh Again

Posted on November 15, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

This morning on Streetz 104.7 here in Winnipeg, co-host Big Will had an astute comment about the Minnesota Vikings: “They look and sound like the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of America.”

Indeed. Sunday afternoon the Vikings went into Chicago and were beaten 27-13 by the Bears. While the local Twin Cities media continues to whine about Brett Favre’s interceptions, Brad Childress’s coaching shortcomings and struggles in the red zone, here are the real problems:

(1) The Vikings have no receivers. Randy Moss was released. Sidney Rice didn’t suit up. Bernard Berrian was hurt in the warm-up (gawd???) and Percy Harvin was hurt in the game. Greg Lewis, Greg Camarillo and Hank Baskett just won’t cut it in big time pro football.

(2) The Vikings might have the worst offensive line in NFL history. Bryant McKinnie plays like he’s on roller skates and Phil Loadholt couldn’t block my wife. When you have no time to throw and you’re throwing to people who can’t get open, you will lose. No wonder Brett Favre says this is his last season — absolutely, positively.

Meanwhile, Detroit lost because they couldn’t score, Cleveland lost because they couldn’t match last week’s performance against New England and New England won because Tom Brady just beats Pittsburgh.

Here’s a fond look back at Week 10:

Sunday Night…

New England 39 Pittsburgh 26

The Pats’ Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes to tight end Rob Gronkowski and ran for one himself. Brady has beaten the Steelers in six of the teams last seven meetings. The Steelers simply stink against New England.

Sunday afternoon….

Chicago 27 Minnesota 13

The Bears Jay Cutler went 22-for-35 for 237 yards and three touchdowns. The 3-6 Vikings have to run the table if they hope to make the playoffs.

Miami 29 Tennessee 17

The Dolphins used three different quarterbacks to stop a five-game home losing streak.

NY Jets 26 Cleveland 20 (OT)

Jets QB Mark Sanchez hit Santonio Holmes on a TD pass with 17 seconds left in overtime to win it.

Buffalo 14 Detroit 12

The Bills Fred Jackson carried 25 times for 133 yards and a touchdown while Detroit’s Calvin Johnson caught 10 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown. It was Detroit’s 25th straight road loss and Buffalo’s first win of the season.

Indianapolis 23 Cincinnati 17

The Colts Kelvin Hayden returned an interception for a touchdown. Cincinnati had five turnovers.

Jacksonville 31 Houston 24

The Jags’ Mike Thomas scored on a 50-yard TD pass with no time left to win it. David Garrard who threw that pass completed 24-of-31 passes for 342 yards and two touchdowns while Maurice Jones-Drew ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns.

Tampa Bay 31 Carolina 16

Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman completed 18-of-24 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown as Tampa improved to 6-3.

Denver 49 Kansas City 29

Kyle Orton threw a career-high four touchdown passes. Matt Cassel completed 33-of-53 passes for 469 yards and four touchdowns and he lost.

Seattle 36 Arizona 18

Matt Hasselbeck threw for 333 yards and a touchdown.

Dallas 33 NY Giants 20

Jon Kitna threw for 327 yards and three touchdowns and Jason Garrett won his debut as Cowboys head coach.

San Francisco 23 St. Louis 20 (OT)

Joe Nedney’s 29-yard-field goal in overtime won it.

Tonight, in the Monday Nighter, it’s the Philadelphia Eagles at Washington to face the Redskins.

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The Sports Media Never Disappoints. Another Week of Stunning B.S.

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Scott Taylor| 1 Comment

I promised myself I would not criticize the mainstream media this week. Like far too many of THEM, I was becoming a one-trick pony.

Then the bull cupcakes hit the industrial-sized fan and we were blasted by a another week of utter insanity.

So with apologies to those who think I’m getting a little obsessed with this crap, here’s another look at another week of the mainstream media’s crazy talk.

1) The Winnipeg Football Club sent out a news release on Monday announcing that ticket renewals were running at a 97 per cent pace for 2010. And very few of those renewals had come in since the firing of Mike Kelly late last week.

Nice job. Good for the football club. Is it true? Who knows? But if it is, it means that almost every word written by our local papers during the last football season was a fabrication.

We all read this stuff every day. Both papers made it sound as if Kelly’s presence would mean that every single Bomber fan would cancel his season tickets. According to the papers, the fans all hated Mike Kelly so much, they were never going to go back to another game. They were never going to buy another ticket, period.

We were told that most of the Bomber board was so worried that if Kelly stuck around, the club might never sell another ticket again.

Well, apparently all the people screaming about never buying another ticket, never bought one in the first place. 97 per cent renewals?! That’s damn good.

If that’s true, only one thought comes to mind here: Liar liar pants on fire.

And we’re not referring to the Bombers. We’re referring to the newspapers. If the 97 per cent renewal thing is true, why would you believe a word written in a Winnipeg newspaper? The entire Kelly mess was the creation of a group of people so embarrassed by the fact the local football coach called “B.S.” on ‘em, that they waged war. The papers won, but apparanetly they did it with what we now see as outright lies.

2) There has not been a major trade in the NHL this year and there are fewer major trades every year, thanks in no small way to the NHL’s salary cap. However, if you read the Winnipeg Sun on Sunday, you’d think teams were making deals daily.

Sun Media’s Bruce Garrioch, who writes in Ottawa, now has every player in the NHL with the exception of Joe Thornton, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin on the trading block. This weekend, the Sun had Sheldon Souray, Vincent Lecavalier, Teemu Selanne and Eric Staal on the road to different teams, while almost every starting goalie in the NHL was apparently heading to the Philadelphia Flyers. Just for fun, the Ottawa Sun added Philly’s Jeff Carter and Edmonton’s Shawn Horcoff and Lubomir Visnovsky to the list of players about to be moved, “Any second. Maybe now. Tomorrow. Next week. We’re sure of it. Unnamed sources told us. Who nows?

Oh, poppycock.

Sun Media’s NHL trade rumours have gone way past just the rumour stage. It’s now reached the level of completely silly.

3) The Associated Press is convinced that Brett Favre and Brad Childress dislike each other and Favre is righteously angry at Childress because the coach even suggested that he might take Favre out of a game.

The game was Sunday night’s debacle against Carolina, a 26-7 loss  in which there wasn’t a member of the offensive line who could block the Panthers’ Julius Peppers — or anybody else for that matter. Favre was getting killed in there and Childress said on Monday that he suggested to his quarterback that it might be safer if he came out of the game.

Favre didn’t like the idea, the two talked about it and Favre stayed in. And then he nearly got his head ripped off by a Carolina defensive line that had a field day with a lethargic Vikings O-line.

Monday, I listened to the Childress news conference and the coach made an interesting point. He said: “We don’t do anything in a vacuum. On the sidelines we talk a bout a lot of things. In terms of my question to Bret, it was something that was talked through. I wish I could remember how it finished.”

It was no big deal, but the AP, along with a few other outlets, wanted to turn it into a big deal. Just like they turned “Unhappy Randy Moss hates Tom Brady,” into a story that wasn’t a story two weeks ago.

In guess you missed it, Moss was absolutely tremendous last week in a 17-10 Patriots win in Buffalo and the mainstream media was wrong. Again.

I guess when you’re not selling any papers and your business model has virtually collapsed, manufacturing stories works a lot better than the truth.

4) Because I’m always criticizing, I must admit that I go on daily searches looking for good stuff. Found a nice rant yesterday afternoon on ESPN radio, when host Kevin Cowherd went after a caller who suggested the National League was more exciting than the American League because the NL does not have the designated hitter.

Cowherd went nuts. And in a good way. He asked the caller why the NL is better without a DH and the guy responded, “the strategy,” and Cowherd echoed everything I’ve been thinking for years.

“When baseball was in trouble in the 1990s, what saved it?” Cowherd asked, “strategy or home runs? You don’t even have to answer that.

“Home runs saved baseball. McGwire and Sosa saved baseball. Strategy? Nobody goes to baseball games to watch strategy and don’t start handing me this ‘baseball traditionalists’ stuff either. Nobody cares about strategy. Strategy doesn’t make you hot. Home runs make you hot. The old double-switch. I love the old double-switch. Oh, that’s exciting. Your girlfriend gets so hot after the double-switch that she says, ‘Honey I’m so hot, I have to go back to the hotel right now.’ What a crock!

“Home runs saved baseball. Two-out bunts by pitchers didn’t save baseball.”

Then he got personal with the caller, who just happened to be from St. Louis.

“Even in St. Louis, the only person who cares about strategy is Tony LaRussa and yet his best friend is Mark McGwire. His best friend on the field right now is Albert Pujols, a guy who hits home runs.  David Eckstein is strategy. Yeah, everybody loves David Eckstein. The biggest heroes in St. Louis are Albert Pujols, Mark McGwire and Stan Musial — all power guys! Strategy nearly killed baseball. Home runs saved it. I’d rather watch a DH hit than a pitcher hit every single day. And there is nothing more boring than the old double-switch. Baseball is entertainment, not homework.”

Kevin Cowherd is a our media monster of the week.

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