NBA Blog

So I missed a few things when I made my preseason picks for the NFL.  I decided to put together a few notes regarding the events through Week 3 of the season.  (Well, most of week 3, the Chiefs and Broncos still have to play tonight.)

1. Kurt Warner still sucks.  And because of this, and a complete lack of offensive line push at the line of scrimmage, the Cardinals offense has been unable to do anything.  Shipp and Arrington have minimal, if any, running room which has forced the Cardinals into longer 2^nd and 3^rd downs.  This is exactly what the Cardinals did not want.  Warner cannot make throws down field.  He needs to get the ball out quick or he gets happy feet.  Happy feet are not a good thing, especially with a quarterback who is waaay past his quality years.  With the wideout weapons that the Cardinals have, they should be able to get Fitz and Boldin the ball on the outside and let them make plays. 
2. Which brings me to my next point.  The quarterbacks in this league are terrible.  Orton, Harrington, Warner, Brunell/Ramsey, Boller/Wright, Dilfer, Griese, Frerotte, Rattay, Pennington (his bad shoulder puts him here), Bledsoe, Plummer (terrible decision making, look at his career numbers), Losman, and Brooks are all incapable of winning games for their team against a quality opponent.  Fourteen teams in this league are stuck with terrible quarterbacks, with David Carr on the verge of falling into this category.  That would mean that half the league has inept players at the most important position in the game.  That’s just sad. 
3. 1. There are players in their second year as a starter and are already leaps and bounds above the rest of the league.  These quarterbacks are:  Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Byron Leftwich (slightly past the second year mark), and Carson Palmer.  Others like Drew Brees and Kerry Collins are playing better than they actually are.  With Favre and McNair looking almost completely washed up, things do not look good for the league outside the likes of Brady, Manning, and McNabb.
   2. The new crop of football coaches are the complete opposite of the quarterbacks.  These guys are good.  Mike Nolan, Jim Mora (no Jr.), Nick Saban, Marvin Lewis, and even Romeo Crennel are quality coaches.  For more on Nolan, see below.  Jim Mora is already leaps and bounds beyond his father, who’s inability to win in the postseason and his ability to completely tighten up when the going got tough, made Marty Schottenheimer look like Vince Lombardi.  Saban is awesome, and he could be the coach to finally prevent the annual Dolphins-Channukah flop.  Lewis is still new, because he’s only in his third year, and might be the winningest coach in
      Bengal history (sarcasm).  The Browns stink, but Crennel had them in the game late against the Colts.  There is no reason that should have happened.
4. Speaking of Favre, this is sad.  The Packers are absolutely atrocious.  They’ve got nothing to offer the league at this point.  It’s quite sad, because I’m a Packers (and Favre) fan.  Their defense is siv-like.  Their running game is inept.  Their receivers have a case of the dropsies, probably because they keep drafting Texas A&M receivers.  My girlfriend went to A&M, and I always visited her during Trinity’s bye-week, so I had plenty of opportunities to watch the Aggies live.  Their receivers always dropped easy passes in games.  (I played receiver in college at a small college.  Trust me, I noticed these things.)  And now Brett has reached the point where he still thinks he can force those balls into tight spots, despite the fact that the arm isn’t quite as strong as it was, which leads to multiple pick games.  This team cannot afford turnovers, but Brett is averaging two a game.  This is a bad recipe.  And to make it worse, Mike Sherman is their head coach.
5. This leads me to my next point, with the exception of Mike Nolan, there are no good coaches in the NFL with a first name of Mike.  Look at the list.  Mike Sherman (game management skills are nonexistent), Mike Shanahan (no more Elway-T.D. gravy train to ride), Mike Martz (dumber than Brick Tamland – see Anchorman), Mike Tice (team discipline?), Mike Holmgren (hasn’t won a playoff game without Brett Favre).
6. 1. Some of you will try to argue that Shanahan doesn’t belong, but you’re wrong.  Sure he’s been to the playoffs each of the last two years.  But look at what the Colts have done to him in those playoff games.
   2. On the flipside, I like Mike Nolan.  His 49ers have played hard in each of their games.  The talent just isn’t there yet.  Nolan is fighting a losing battle with the team he walked into.  Yet, the 49ers have been playing tough, hardnosed football.  In a few years, this could be an extremely dangerous football team.
7. Numbers 3 & 4 can be referenced while reading this note.  As a 49ers and Packers fan, I’m disgusted.  These teams are killing me.  (I KNOW.  You can’t like two teams that are good, or have been in the very near future, who end up playing each other.  I’ve struggled with this for a long time.  But, I was born in San Francisco and when they beat the Dolphins (brother’s favorite team) and the Broncos (hated Elway) they became a mortal lock in my heart.  My mother raised me as a Packers fan, because it was her favorite team.  So, I’m torn.  It’s confusing, but I root for them both, despite the fact that it breaks my own rules as a fan.)