1) This is going to be refreshing...: ...not having to hear from Mark May/Colin Cowherd/random assortment of Trojan apologists about USC getting screwed out of the National Title game for once. A USC team that is clearly nowhere near the level they have been in recent years finally got exposed in a 47-20 beating at "the Zoo". The funniest part about this game is that you could see this loss coming a mile away. For two weeks in a row USC's defense got torched by Notre Dame and Oregon State and it was only a matter of time before it cost them. Jeremiah Masoli (who was labeled as a terrible QB by Colin Cowherd about a month ago) completely abused USC's secondary with his vertical passing game, and kept the defensive backs from cheating on the pass by running his zone-read running game to perfection. This the only instance I can recall where Pete Carroll was soundly outcoached for an entire game. Chip Kelly went Urban Meyer on the Trojans; when he got the lead he refused to let up and continued to press the boot harder and harder on USC's throat. Great win for Oregon, but I keep getting this feeling that USC will still back in to the Pac-10 title and BCS bowl despite having 2 losses. If USC gets in to the BCS as an at-large team over an undefeated Boise State or TCU, a full investigation should be launched as it would be a criminal offense against more deserving teams.
2) Obligatory Referee Bash; Week 9 Edition: With the SEC and Pac-10 having so much fun messing up games, the Big 10 was getting lonely actually doing a decent job and decided to join in.
The scene of the crime: Kinnick Stadium.
The involved parties: Indiana Hoosiers and Iowa Hawkeyes.
The evidence: Exhibit A has to do with a brutally incorrect replay that pulled a touchdown off the board for the Hoosiers. When the viewer at home can tell it's a clear cut touchdown and the announcers can also tell, you screwed up. The exact point in the game escapes me at the moment, but the blown call came at a time where Indiana was looking to completely bury the Hawkeyes and their schizo QB Ricky Stanzi. With the TD call overturned, the Hoosiers were forced into a field goal try, which of course they missed. Seven point swing for the home team.
Exhibit B involves said schizo QB and a phantom unnecessary roughness call in the 4th quarter. As Stanzi was on his way out of bounds (key words - on his way out) he was hit relatively hard by a linebacker. Up went the flag for unnecessary roughness - leading with the helmet, and on went 15 yards to the play. Surprise, surprise, replay showed the defender clearly hit him with nothing but his shoulder while he was still well in bounds.
Let's see, that makes the score Iowa - 0, Indiana - 0, incompetent referees - 2. Not a bad score considering Iowa is competing for a BCS bid. Wonder if the fact they were playing a down and out Indiana team had anything to do with the preferential calls? Bring on the tin foil hats!
3) Welcome back, Florida Gators: Brandon Spikes' eye gouging nonsense aside, Florida's performance against Georgia was exactly the performance we've been waiting to see. Finally, the Gators actually did something to stake their claim as the #1 team in the country. Tim Tebow returned from his vacation in time to toss two first quarter TD's to his roommate, Riley Cooper, and they never looked back. Georgia was completely over matched in this game, and Florida finally laid a beat down that reflected this fact. I still think Alabama has a better resume for #1 at the moment, but a razor thin win or the Vols heading in to a bye week is just cause for the swap for now. If and when the Tide takes care of LSU I'll be right back to campaigning for their spot atop the college football polls.
4) Random thoughts:
- The BCS is going to be a mess this year and I couldn't be happier
- Iowa has Minnesota Vikings syndrome (win alot but never play a full game)
- TCU would truck Boise State and the polls should reflect that
- Texas still beats OK State with Dez Bryant, but it's a lot more competitive
- Golden Tate should be considered for the Heisman ahead of Jimmy Clausen
- Case Keenum is the next Colt Brennan/Timmy Chang/Graham Harrell. Pure system QB
- Remember Jevan Snead? No, neither does anyone else. The hype>>>the skill
5) Vikings-Packers Breakdown: Seeing as no football analysts can put their love of Brett Favre aside and breakdown a game logically, I suppose I'll do it. Here's how Minnesota won this game.
- Percy Harvin returns kicks for the Vikings. The Packers have Ahman Green. This gives Minnesota a short field on every drive. Green gives the Packers nothing. Green Bay usually ends up taking a holding penalty anyway, putting them at their own 10-15 yard line to start.
- Aaron Rodgers was sacked 6 times. Brett Favre was hit less than 6 times. All day to throw vs. get rid of it immediately or get run over by Jared Allen. Guess who wins that one?
- Threat of Adrian Peterson for the Vikings. Non-threat of Ryan Grant for Green Bay. If the Packers line can't pass block, what are the odds they can get a push and open up running lanes for Grant? Answer, zero chance.
- Because the Vikings can pass rush on the Packers, they can drop more players back in to coverage. Green Bay had to bring the house to even partially collapse the pocket around Favre, leaving only 3 or 4 defensive backs in zone coverage. With a QB who likes to throw slant passes as much as Favre, you really can't play zone and not expect to get burned.
It's a sad thing to watch because Aaron Rodgers is the most efficent QB in the NFL and he's playing for a team that seems content to watch him get killed. 30+ sacks in 7 games is entering expansion year Houston Texans levels of futility. Cris Carter said it best on "Mike and Mike in the Morning" when he said that if you took both QB's and switched teams, the Vikings still win but by a much wider margin. It's tough to argue that point when even with a slapped together offensive line, Rodgers still puts Green Bay on his back and makes games close. Look what happened to the Browns when they couldn't get to him: 15-20 for 246 yards and 3 TD's. If the Packers could do this against teams other than one that would struggle in the CFL, they might actually have stood a chance in that game.
6) Even with 1 win, the Browns are worse than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Yeah, they're that bad. The Browns got smacked by the Bears, a week after Chicago was flat out embarrassed by the Bengals. Mangini finally did something right by yanking Derek Anderson from the game after he launched 2 picks (one for a TD) and fumbled the ball away once. Problem is the game was already over when Brady Quinn hit the field for his one and only series, a swift 3 and out. Nothing this team does is good, decent, or anything north of awful. Porous defense, non-existent offense, and a heavy dependance on special teams makes this team a bigger disaster than the Bucs, Raiders, Rams, etc. My favorite fact to come out this weekend is this: The New Orleans Saints have more defensive TD's (6) than the Browns have offensive TD's (5). This situation in Cleveland has "fire sale" written all over it and it's likely going to start at the bottom and continue until the entire franchise collapses.
Plus, I really wanted to work this photo in here somehow
No caption necessary.
No comments:
Post a Comment