Tuesday 10- Ten Things we Learned in the NFL- Week 3

1. I can't believe I have to do this again. Seriously people. I thought we had all gone over this sometime around 2010 and it wasn't something that needed to be said yet again. But apparently, I need to repeat myself... Special teams coaches in the NFL. I'm talking directly to you. Arrogant head coaches, get these guys in line. Kickers, you are the scholars on the football team, you know better than this. STOP KICKING THE BALL TO DEVIN F--KING HESTER!!!! The man has a very particular set of skills. Skills that make life a living hell for kickoff and punt coverage units. Let's set aside the times he's taken it back to the house for just a moment, and focus on simply return yardage. Since he entered the league in 2006, Hester has returned just under 500 punts and kickoffs combined. Of those, over more than 40% were returned for more than 20 yards. That number alone should tell you that the man can't be contained in any realistic fashion. Hester has also taken 10% of his total efforts over 40 yards...and half of THOSE end up you know where. The man just broke Hall-of-Famer Deion Sander's record for kick return TD's, and shows no sign whatsoever of slowing down. So seriously. Not joking. STOP IT. You are not the team that has his game figured out. Punting? Just punt it out of bounds, netting 30 yards is a win against this dude. Kickoffs, simple, kick it out of the end zone and let them start at the 20. Don't have a kicker who can do that regularly? Go get a new kicker. Seriously. Tampa Bay (0-3) was going to get stomped by Atlanta(2-1) anyway, but allowing Hester to make fools of them was just plain silly. 2. The Eagles (3-0) have trailed in each game this season, and won all of them. It's not a coincidence. Despite some noise from the locker room that Coach Chip Kelly is beating the team up in practice, they have, like a predictable tidal wave, run over (and through) everything in their way in the second half. Is it simply conditioning? Possibly, but I think Chip Kelly might be onto something, focusing efforts in the second half as defensive players get fatigued and consistent yardage is easier to come by. Want some proof that it's effective aside from them pulling off these three wins? OK, Philly has averaged 24.7 points per game...in the second half alone. That's more than all but seven other teams are averaging, per full game. Washington (1-2) has a stout rushing defense which did well to control McCoy and Sproles, but Philly QB Nick Foles simply distributed the ball to eight different receivers, averaging 12 yards per reception and 3 TD's. The Eagles can put a very large nail in the postseason hopes of the defensively depleted 49ers (1-2) next weekend if they can can go out to SF and execute the way they have thus far. 3. The Cardinals (3-0) are rolling again and with their win over SF last Sunday and predictably, some have started to question whether they can unseat the Seahawks (2-1) for the NFC West title. No. Stop. Please. Want to know why? Really? OK, let's start with this...Because Arizona wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. threw as many passes as he caught(one), and for more yards, making him the highest rated passer in the contest, edging out both Colin Kaepernick from the 49ers and his own QB Drew Stanton, who no one has ever heard of, even in Arizona. The Cardinals eeked out a win against the Chargers in week one, and since have done well to beat the hapless NY Giants and these injury and suspension riddled 49ers. They are winning games they should win. Nothing more. I can see them competing for a wild card spot, but I wouldn't bet anything on it. 4. Bengals (3-0). It's starting. Can you feel it? Last week I gave some kudos to them for strong defensive play, especially iNo,n the secondary. This week, everyone and their cousin wants to hand them the Lombardi Trophy. They look good and balanced, the Atlanta game was a good win, but beating a very distracted Baltimore team and the Titans does not make them the favorite in the AFC, much less the whole league. They are on a bye this weekend, but talk to me after weeks 5-7 when they face (in this order) New England(2-1...in Foxboro), Carolina (2-1) and the Colts (1-2 but currently ranked 3rd in both offensive yards and points...in Indy). That's a nasty gauntlet, even if the Pats and Colts aren't starting as hot as some expected. 5. Speaking of the Pats, that win over Oakland wasn't exactly a Tom Brady highlight reel, was it. Longest offensive play... 22 yards. Amendola, still M.I.A. Gronk, still working part time. Edelman, doing all the heavy lifting on his (ahem, officially) 5-10 shoulders. Defensively, this team is much improved, but we will see if that Mankins trade was too much to recover from. Right now, the offensive line is a mess and Brady is suffering...it looks like it was a serious miscue that could end up with a sidelined Tom Brady and a wasted season. The Pats face a tough Chiefs (1-2) team on the road before that home game against the Bengals. So we should have a good idea of their long term viability by the time they face the Division leading Bills(2-1) in Week 7. That defensive improvement I just mentioned is that the gamble to bring in Darrelle Revis seems to have worked, as they lead the NFL in pass defense, allowing just under 170yds/game. 6. Anyone want to guess which QB has the most TD's in the NFC thus far? Rodgers? Nope. Brees? Try again. Matty Ice down in Atlanta? Russel Wilson? Eli Manning? Nick Foles over in Philly? No, no, no, NO!!!! Try Jay Cutler, quietly making the Bears(2-1) a force in the always nasty NFC North. Oh, also...both of those wins have come on the road. Since he got speared in the chest last weekend, he has been almost unstoppable, and I think it might be because he just now realized that getting sacked wouldn't actually kill him. 7. That Superbowl rematch was kinda sorta everything we wanted the Superbowl to be wasn't it? Last minute Manning heroics, hard hits, an overtime nail biter. Some want to say that this means that the Broncos(2-1) still don't have enough to handle the Seahawks, but if that game happens on a neutral field... Your guess is as good as mine. One note about the Broncos, we need to keep an eye on their run game, because if Montee Ball (14 carries for 38yards) can't help fill the void left by Knowshon Moreno a bit better, Peyton Manning will need to make do without the threat of the play option. That won't be good. 8. The J-E-T-S (1-2) lost something of a heart breaker to Cutler and the Bears on Monday Night. But here's the thing. They had every chance on earth to win that game, and I don't mean in the final 2 minutes. The Jets went 1-6 in the red zone. Including one of Geno Smith's 2 INTs. The term "not ready for prime time" was made up specifically for this scenario. I feel bad for the entire New York/New Jersey area this year. It's going to be a long one. 9. The Jaguars(0-3) and Buccaneers(0-3) gave up a combined 100 points this weekend. They gave up 60 the week before that. but only 54 points in week 1. Just what exactly is my point here? It's that the Jags and Bucs are getting exponentially worse in a hurry, at least the Raiders (also 0-3) are trying to put up a fight. The draft pick sweepstakes is underway early this year, so I'm going to go out on a limb and coin the phrase before someone else does..."Don't try one iota, we want Mariota!!" Get your signs ready for next weekend Tampa Bay and Jacksonville. It's no "Suck for Luck", but then again, what is... 10. Sadly, we learned this week that the Ravens organization knew full well what happened in that Atlantic City elevator, and they did their level best to sweep it under the rug. I have a lot of friends in Maryland right now who are thinking long and hard about whether to pull on their purple camo pants this weekend. To you all, I can only say do what feels right. I suspect some will see the revelations of this cover up as an institutional failure by what we all thought was a "character first" organization and have a hard time supporting the Ravens without some embarassment. Some will feel that there are still plenty of good men to support on the field, and I think that's okay as well. Here's hoping that we can all learn from the mistakes and missteps, and be better going forward.

Off the Grid- I'm not telling you how to raise your kid. I'm telling you not to strike them. Period

Lovely. Just Lovely. Apparently the most dangerous men in the NFL are running backs who wear purple. (That's the only joke I'll be making in this column, so if you're looking for a laugh, best to stop reading here.) I was really hoping to get off of the societal problems and get down to some serious football related snark and punditry, but apparently the universe has different plans that do not include me writing about football as a distraction from modern life. As such- I've decided to work in a new segment for more serious issues. I'm calling it "Off the Grid" and will use this to separate the less savory and harder to swallow bits of following the NFL. Sports have always been a microcosm of American society, and as such, can make us consider things we don't wish to consider on a daily basis. The NFL, for whatever reason, seems specifically to be magnifying our societal problems and bringing them to the forefront in a forceful way which demands contemplation and conversation. I'm not so sure that this is a bad thing, if it leads to more widespread understanding of the problems at hand, whether it's racism (Riley Cooper), domestic violence (Terrel Suggs, Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, Ray McDonald, Johnathan Dwyer)or now, this week, child abuse (Adrian Peterson). The thing for us all to remember here is that the lessons learned and the outrage we feel shouldn't end with the punishment of a player by the league and must not be limited to situations where a camera phone captured a video. These are everyday problems, they need attention in our communities, not just in a league where grown men play a children's game for millions of dollars. Adrian Peterson, the best running back in the NFL and a hero to many for his very impressive return from catastrophic knee injury, is a child abuser. Somehow, the laws of our country allow for physical abuse, spanking, corporal punishment, whatever you choose to call it, up to a point (they shouldn't)leaving a vast grey area for abuse and horrific injuries to children. As for Adrian Peterson, in light of his indictment on charges related to endangerment and child abuse for allegedly whipping his four year old son with a "switch", leaving bloody marks and welts on the child's legs, buttocks and scrotum, the Vikings suspended Peterson for Sunday's game against the Patriots, but have since reinstated him, only to place him on paid leave pending his legal situation. He could very well be in jail for several years for his "mistake" or "overly enthusiastic discipline", but let's be clear about what he did. Physically injuring your child isn't discipline and it isn't a parenting choice. It's lashing out violently against a defenseless child who you are meant to protect because you are frustrated with their behavior. Earlier this week, a second case against Peterson, this time relating to a different child, with a different mother, has surfaced. This incident left the child scarred on his face because he "wouldn't sit still and take his whupping" resulting in him being struck in the face. Still think Peterson is a good person, worthy of your hero worship who was simply disciplining his child as he saw fit, a child who deserved it for acting up? What could that four year old boy possibly have done to deserve a bloody wound on his scrotum? I don't care if he burnt down Adrian Peterson's house and then peed on his father for good measure, whipping your child with a stick, belt or even your hand isn't a "parenting choice". Sorry. It's not. It's shameful, and it's child abuse. If you couldn't do it to a dog or a grown person in public, you can't do it to your child. I don't care if you consider it a private family matter. I'm sorry to those of you who sympathize with Peterson's religious southern upbringing and hear something familiar in his tales from his childhood. I don't care how you were raised, or if your parents somehow convinced you that it was for the best when they hit you, either with their hands, a belt or a stick. It didn't make you a better person. It didn't make you stronger. More importantly, you didn't deserve it. I know, America, that this is a hard pill to swallow, because you probably still love your parents who spanked you, hit you with a belt or whipped you with a switch, but if a child is hurt and/or bleeding at the hands of those who are supposed to protect them, that is child abuse, plain and simple. If you think that you have the right to physically hurt your child because that's what your parents did, or because the bible says it's OK, then I'm sorry, but you too are an abuser. We need to all consider very strongly how we choose to raise subsequent generations, and the mistakes of our parents generation and all the generations before them need not be repeated by ourselves. As for Minnesota, kudos for taking a step back and suspending AP with pay until all of this is resolved, though the idea of a child abuser making over eleven million dollars to NOT play football this year makes us all a little sick inside.

Tuesday's Ten Things we Learned in the NFL Week 2: Wednesday Edition

Taking a different path this week, as off the field issues seem to be dominating the headlines and I don't want to get bogged down permanently by that sort of topic. I'll be posting a new segment here on GridIronic called Off the Grid, to focus on off the field issues and societal situations relating to, but not necessarily ABOUT, NFL Football. But more on that in just a bit- Here's your Ten Things we Learned in the NFL This Week... 1. The Saints (0-2)are kicking themselves for letting Darren Sproles get away. In case you missed it on Monday night, Sproles exploded all over a completely unequipped Colts defense for 97 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries. Yes, you read that right. And he's their secondary running threat behind Shady McCoy. I said that the NFC East was a lock for these Eagles (2-0), and I meant it. 2. New Orleans on the other hand, they are inexplicably 0-2 and are apparently missing the threat that Sproles provides in the backfield. What threat you ask? The guy is ten years into his career and 5'6" tall. Try getting a hand on a Tazmanian devil, much less tackle one. That's the type of player Sproles is and Chip Kelly knows exactly how to use him in Philly. The Saints looked woeful, dropping a game to the Browns (1-1) thanks in part to an ill-advised pick 6 thrown by the normally steady Drew Brees. 3. The Bills (2-0) have legit wins over two legit teams and sit alone atop the AFC East. Will it last? Frankly, they look good, but I'm not sure. E.J. Manuel looks serviceable, and was reasonably efficient against a Miami (1-1) defense that did well stifling Tom Brady and the Pats after the first half, but the Dolphins lost their key offensive threat in Knowshon Moreno in the first quarter, leaving Ryan Tannehill to carry the load and he simply isn't capable of doing it by himself against a much improved Buffalo defense. I think the Bills will show what they really are in a tough game against the Chargers this weekend. 4. Speaking of the Chargers(1-1), while they didn't "go after" Richard Sherman as some boasted, they did show how time of possession, efficiency and being error free can stymie the champion Seahawks(1-1). Phillip Rivers to Antonio Gates is the password here. 3TD's and just under 100 yards from the duo. Seattle's offense played well, but simply didn't have time to keep pace with River's possession offense that never slipped. So here's your takeaway, and its no secret. If you want to beat the Seahawks...be perfect. Best of luck with that. 5. The NFL has shown some wisdom in revamping its drug policy to focus on performance enhancers. Wes Welker will be back in uniform immediately for the Broncos, while Josh Gordon's suspension was reduced to ten games. I know he led the league in receiving yards last year, despite giving everyone, Megatron included, a two game head start, but something tells me that 6 games won't be enough for him to repeat as the games leading pass catcher. Bryan Hoyer is silently dancing a jig somewhere though. 6. The Chiefs (0-2) almost took the AFC West leading Broncos (2-0) down a peg after hanging with Peyton & company from start to finish despite KC QB Alex Smith throwing zero TD's. None. People in KC get rankled when you call him a game manager, but that's what he is... It came down to the final seconds with the ball in Alex Smith's hands and a chance to tie the game, but in the end, Alex Smith is Alex Smith and that's why he's not the QB for the San Francisco 49ers anymore. 7. Speaking of the 49ers (1-1), new QB Colin Kaepernick had easily his worst performance since taking over for Smith against the Bears(1-1), throwing 3 interceptions and garnering a healthy fine for abusive language on the field. I can't really blame him though, the Niners defense is NOT what it has been for the past few years and the fourth quarter double digit lead should have been safe. 21 unanswered points later, people are again asking if Jay Cutler is THE MAN in Chicago... 8. He's not. Jay Cutler is still just a middle of the pack guy at QB, and Brandon Marshall can make anyone look good, though I will award him some tough guy points. Well deserved points at that, given that Cutler continued to play after Quentin Dial tried to kill him with his helmet. 9. RGIII is made of glass. There, I said it. His slight frame was a point of concern for several teams when he was drafted, especially since his mobility and the threat of him running improves his throwing options significantly. This time around, he dislocated an ankle before his first pass attempt, creating the opportunity for Kirk Cousins, who shredded the hapless Jaguars (0-2). Cousins was very solid, putting up 41 pts and winning a game that had to be won by Washington (1-1). Will Cousins be the face of the franchise? I'm not sure, but I have a feeling he might make this a difficult decision. 10. Man, the Bengals (2-0) defense looked great this weekend, tearing apart the Falcons (1-1) and laying claim to the top spot in the AFC North. They made Matt Ryan look worse than he actually was with three athletic and skillful interceptions that made the game a no doubter for Cincinnati. That offense is good, but not gaudy, and I'm not entirely sure I trust Andy Dalton with the game on the line (he's a ginger, they have no souls) but with a defense that strong and savvy, he might well be enough for a deep playoff run.

Ten things we learned in the NFL: Week 1

Welcome to GridIronic, the logical extension of my longwinded FB ramblings of yesteryear... Why are we just starting now you might ask? Well, because A) I don’t believe in over-hyping the season like some other sources and B) Preseason football isn’t football. In fact, it isn’t even close to football, so we are just going to pretend it doesn’t exist. Sound good? What’s that? Oh, yeah, right…you want my opinion about Johnny Football? Well, he hasn’t played in the NFL yet, so I’ll be calling him Johnny Clipboard, or Johnny Bench(warmer) until further notice, if we refer to him at all. ‘Nuff said? So, without further ado- here’s this weeks Ten things we learned in the NFL- Week 1. 1. There’s an elephant in the room, so we will obviously start there. There is a huge problem in our country with violence of all types. Particularly, domestic violence, which is often overlooked, disregarded or ignored systematically. The laws to protect victims are insufficient and repeatedly subject victims to increasingly dangerous situations, or simply can’t protect them until the abuse has reached an extreme level of physical violence (such as a left-hook knockout punch in an elevator). For some reason, both the Ravens and the NFL were going to give Ray Rice a slap on the wrist for knocking his wife (then fiancée) Janay out cold. The revelation of the elevator video from TMZ stopped the presses and forced the NFL and the Ravens to do what they should have done in the first place, as they clearly knew what had happened. In a sport like football, which glorifies violence itself, we must be prepared for outbursts of physical contact in the heat of the moment from the men who play the game, but that does not mean that we should trivialize or ignore that violence when it occurs away from the playing field. Too often we have heard of crimes being swept under the rug by good old boy networks in power claiming that these crimes, many of them against women, are simply “boys being boys” or “family situations”. At all levels of the game, from the ignored sexual assault by Steubenville, OH. high school players, to the citywide whitewashing of Jerry Sandusky’s molestation of young boys at Penn State, to the NFL and the several current cases of domestic abuse happening with current players at this very moment, the game and those who are involved in it are being put before the safety of those around them. Make no mistake, we MUST learn from this, grow beyond it and eliminate those who commit crimes as well as those who create an environment where violence, sexual assault and other crimes are washed away for a few points on a score board. Everyone has a right to earn a living, but criminal acts have consequences and those consequences need to exist for the good of society. Taking away a man’s multi-million dollar football contract isn’t taking food out of his family’s mouths, it is simply returning them to the plane of existence where the rest of us live, struggle and survive. Additionally, I am particularly troubled that the Harbaugh brothers have both shown themselves both to be men of little character who put their needs on Sunday before the health and safety of those in their community. From John’s inexcusable support of wife beaters Terrell Suggs and Ray Rice, to Jim’s horrendous handling of Aldon Smith’s total breakdown last year and his current wife beater Ray McDonald (currently not under suspension and scheduled to play this Sunday), these are not leaders of men to be admired. To me, that’s a shame, as they both had the opportunity to do the right thing several times over, but chose repeatedly not to, choosing instead to both hide behind a farce of a system which has neither the inclination, nor the motivation to actually punish these men in an appropriate manner. The latest revelation that the NFL and its investigators had access to the elevator footage, plus audio, from a source in the police department is damning enough that it should force Roger Goodell to step down, unless he just keeps lying to protect to protect the “shield”, and his own ass… After that, there’s nothing else happening in week 1 of the NFL that really merits any conversation in my opinion- but here are nine more things to think about, just in case you might like some distraction from fallen heroes and a sham of a legal system. 2. What the hell were the Patriots thinking trading away Logan Mankins, the Pro Bowl guard that covers Tom Brady’s aging butt for a mediocre tight end and a 176th round draft pick? That trade might have cost the Pats the division (they are now in sole possession of last place in the AFC East for the first time since…uhmm…well…anyone?), much less a potential Super Bowl run if the O-line doesn’t figure out how to protect Tom Brady, who no longer even has what we like to call “limited mobility”. An injury on the O-Line or to Gronk will very likely doom this team to mediocrity, Brady and Hoodie or not… 3. Megatron. Seriously? 164 and 2TD’s. And he was being violated (badly) by the Giants secondary all night long. Wow. This guy makes Matthew Stafford look like a top ten QB by catching balls that no human should be able to…if he’s on your fantasy team and Eli Manning is NOT your QB, start spending your winnings now. But don’t get fooled, the Lions will still squander his efforts, missing the playoffs or choking in the first round. 4. The champs look as likely to repeat as any SB winning team in the last two decades. That dismantling of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers was a lot more convincing than anyone expected, with lots of folks (myself included) planning on seeing the Packers giving the Seahawks a reality check. Instead I saw a well-coached, disciplined Seattle team that seemed to handle a future Hall of Fame QB and newly vigilant refs with equal vigor. The proof? A total of only four penalties in the game. Impressive, since the zebras were looking to make an example of them. 5. The battle for the NFC South is going to be straight up awesome, and at least one very worthy team will be playing golf too early come playoff time. The same could be said of the NFC West. I’m pretty sure some crazy tiebreakers will get involved at the end of the season to decide who wins these divisions and who gets the wildcards. 6. The battle for the NFC East might be the saddest spectacle in years. Philadelphia might lock up his division by week 13. Seriously. The Giants, Cowboys and Washington all looked lost and out of their league, which…perhaps, they are. 7. Peyton Manning is a machine. That Bronco’s defense, however, is not. Andrew Luck started to make old man completion percentage look really, REALLY uncomfortable on the sidelines in the second half (though not nearly as uncomfortable as the Dolphins made Brady look). 8. Vikings and Lions atop the NFC North? Is this real? Is this the year? Sorry, but that’s fool’s gold. The winner of that division is 0-1 right now. Neither of those teams has what it takes to go the distance. The Lions look good, but they actually made the Giants look better than they are. Sad but true. 9. With the amended drug policy in the works, it could mean that both Wes Welker and Josh Gordon could be in uniform far sooner than we expected. For the Broncos, this might be a slight boon to their chances, but I think even without a concussion prone Welker, they are in the driver’s seat in the AFC West. The Browns on the other hand…a reversal here could be a serious reversal of fortune…Gordon is just as important to them as Megatron is to the Lions, and they are in a very, VERY winnable division. If he comes back, that division gets weird in a hurry. 10. Let’s be honest folks, the NFL is in a serious state of disarray. The demand for football is such that it would take an earthquake to derail the money train at this point, so I’m not suggesting that the sport will go the way of the dodo this season or next, but didn’t we say the same thing about baseball a generation ago? As the generation that made football America’s game gives way to a generation that prefers Futbol to Football, who knows what might happen. The fan base for baseball eroded slowly over time, and I don’t think it’s impossible to predict that with frustration over the inherent dangers of the game, coupled with rampant drug abuse/cheating and other criminal malfeasance in all levels of the sport, football might gradually suffer the same fate.