10.27.2005
Thursday Football
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I've got something to say here, so just two games for now.
Maybe more later.
New Orleans Saints:
Below, under the stats, I put an asterik next to Ernie Conwell. The stats say he didn't have a catch, but that's because both he and the Saints were absolutely screwed by the NFL's so-called replay policy.
Dear Socrates:
"I think that football doesn't need instant replay. It's better off without it."
"How can you say that? Think about how silly it would be that a game may be decided by a wrong call and in this age of technology and instant everything, we can't use a tv monitor to get the play right."
"Okay, agreed. So tell me why it is then, that every play isn't reviewable.
Why are plays 'blown dead'? Why do we need 'challenges' under your arguement? "
The above story is a dramatization of this:
-The current use of NFL replay is horrible. Refs purposely let plays go on so that they can be reviewed, but if there isn't enough evidence to overturn, the plays stays the same, despite what that ref may have originally thought. And that only can happen if a team has and chooses to use a challenge.
The NFL has the best referees in the world.
Why don't they use them.
Make every play a reviewable play. Let refs call the game as they see it.
Make every play a reviewable play.
Oh, and the Saints aren't playing bad football. They were rolling over the Rams in this game for the first quarter. But they're not playing good football either, or else they would have continued to blow out St Louis.
TARGETS(catches):
Stallworth- 11(4)
Hakim- 9(6)
Stecker- 7(3)
Henderson-6(2)
Smith- 3(2)
Conwell- 2(0)*
Hilton- 1(0)
Karney- 1(1)
St. Louis Rams:
If the Saints had any luck at all, it would still be bad luck (or however that saying goes). St Louis trailed this game 7-17 in the fourth quarter, but they could have easily been down by 20 instead of 10. To their credit, the Rams never moved from their game plan, and they steadily pulled their way back into contention. But don't let the final score fool you, this was a game that the Rams could have very easily lost (see above rant).
St. Louis might have injuries at key positions all over the field, but their offensive line did a real good job in this game allowing Jamie Martin operate the offense.
Jeff Wilkins missed a 48 yard field goal in the first quarter. It was right down the middle, and about five yards short. He must have had the wind in his face or something.
TARGETS(catches):
McDonald- 8(2)
Faulk- 6(5)
Curtis- 5(4)
Looker- 3(3)
Jackson- 3(2)
Manumaleuna- 1(1)
Thompson- 1(1)
Pittsburgh Steelers
What can you say. These guys tell you what they are going to do and most of the time, they do it. Run. Stop the run, pressure the quarterback. The recipe on how to beat them is there, but many can't or don't use it. Oh, and look at how many players caught a pass from Ben.
TARGETS(catches):
Miller- 6(4)
Ward- 4(3)
Wilson- 3(0)
Randel El- 2(0)
Cincinnati Bengals
If you'd ask Charlie Weis how to beat the Steelers defense, he'd probably say stretch the field with 4 and 5 wideouts, and throw short passes. And why did Cincinnati struggle to move the ball in this game? They ran mostly 2 and 3 wide sets and fell victim to what Pittsburgh does best. If you only give them three guys to cover, they'll blitz you from all sides and still be able to play a safe cover 2- under man.
The best way to beat that is to declare off the line of scrimmage 4 or 5 wide and make them put a man on each of them. It's something Indianapolis hasn't been able to do to New England, and it's something Cincinnati didn't do to Pittsburgh.
The IND/NE comparisons don't stop there for me. This Steelers/Bengals matchup is very similar in so many ways. Cincinnati reminds me a lot of the 2002 or 2003 Colts and I'm afraid they may have just as hard of a time beating the Steelers as the Colts do the Pats.
And as many expected, the Bengals defense had a hard time stopping the Steelers' run game. They are too undisciplined, and too inexperienced to do what they need to do.
Chris Henry, you have to catch that first touchdown throw. You just have to. The Bengals scored their first and only touchdown of the game with a minute and fifty seven seconds left in the fourth quarter. I said last Thursday that the Steelers would have been my best bet for the week if I knew on Thursday (when we submit our picks) Ben Burger was playing. He did, and it really was that easy for the Steelers.
TARGETS(catches):
TJ- 11(7)
CJ- 8(4)
Perry- 5(5)
RJohnson- 4(2)
Henry- 3(0)
Washington- 2(1)
Kelly- 2(2)
JJohnson- 1(0)
- posted by jrf @ 10/27/2005 08:28:00 PM
