NFL 2011 Week 14

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If I had a nickel for every time I heard "Christian Ponder versus the Christian ponderer..." *grumble*:

Eagles 14 - Spoilhawks 31: I guess we can stop talking about Philly, right?

Titans 23 - Bills 17: And the same goes for Buffalo. Shame, really; they actually were a pretty fun little team to watch.

Chiefs 10 - Bears 3: Chicago's jumping on the "Imploding Team" bandwagon while Kansas City was probably sitting on the sidelines watching Matt Forte leave the game saying to themselves, "See, now you know how we feel."

Raiders 14 - Dolphins 34: Miami's obviously a lot better than their record states, having won four out of their last five.

Tebows 35 - Vikings 32: Certain individuals may gag when they read the following stat, but Tim Tebow's quarterback numbers as a starter this year for Denver are now either on par or better than Kyle Orton's, such as his ten to his predecessor's eight. Yes, it's official: Tim Tebow is an NFL quarterback. And the Broncos are on the verge of becoming a playoff team.

Colts 24 - Patriots 31 : PLAYOFFS?! Yes, hard to believe that it was ten years ago when Jim Mora popped off at that press conference. He must have a good sense of humor about it, seeing how he's done those commercials and he sat down with ESPN to talk about it.

Bengals 7 - Steelers 35: Okay, so I was wrong about Cincy giving Pittsburgh a tougher challenge. Moving on.

Panthers 38 - Buccaneers 19: Okay, maybe Cam Newton's taken the top spot in the offensive rookie of the year talk.

Jets 34 - Redskins 19: Perhaps instead of pig snouts Washington fans should take to wearing shopping bags?

Falcons 10 - Texans 17: Houston's going to the playoffs most definitely, but will the team that gets there look anything like the one that started the season?

Ravens 24 - Browns 10: People keep showing up at the factory of sadness, it seems.

Packers 38 - Giants 35: Hmmmm, I've noticed lately that few if anybody pick the Packers as their wild card. Afraid that if you pick them, it'll put the jinx on them.

Cowboys 13 - Cardinals 19: I want the footage of Angry Jerry Jones on YouTube, stat! I want to be able to watch it whenever I feel down during the off season.

Rams 0 - 49ers 26: Speaking of fun clips:

IMAGE(http://nbcoutofbounds.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/aldonsmith.gif)

And, after intentionally keeping my mouth shut for weeks, I can officially call the Niners a playoff team.

Lions 17 - Saints 31: It's fairly obvious now that Detroit has a major problem when it comes to discipline and self-control. Titus Young and Brandon Pettigrew on Sunday night, Ndamukong Suh on Thanksgiving; a team's poise comes from the top and Jim Schwartz has lost his team. Wait, this is the same Jim Schwartz that flipped out over Handshakegate. Something's gotta change or else this team's immaturity is going to kill them game after game. /pauses for *Legion* to mention that Schwartz worked for Jeff Fischer in Tennessee.

Chargers 38 - Jaguars 14: Watching actual pot-roast cook in the oven might have been more entertaining than this game.

Week 14 Pick 'Em: Well, looks like some of y'all got done in by the Eagles and the Falcons and if not for the always dependable Colts as a fall-back for the wild card, some of you would have only eked out a single win. Now, before we continue, yes boogle did switch his pick at the last second from Philly to Seattle and since I didn't lay down any ground rules about changing one's mind before hand I won't ding him for it this time around. However, from now on, once you make your pick, you're stuck with it. Onto the results:

My record: 4-1

Your records:

boogle: 5-0

Nightmare: 4-1
oldmanscene24: 4-1
bighoppa: 4-1

TheGameguru: 3-2
Xeknos: 3-2
Enix: 3-2
garion333: 3-2
Gumbie: 3-2

MilkmanDanimal: 2-3
iaintgotnopants: 2-3
Minase: 2-3
Kush15: 2-3
Elliottx: 2-3
Jayhawker: 2-3
LeapingGnome: 2-3

Looks like this is turning into a four horse race, but if the guys at the top post a sub .500 showing it could let some of those further back get back into the hunt:

My record: 46-19

Your guys' record:

Nightmare: 49-16

boogle: 48-17

TheGameguru: 47-18

Minase: 46-19

MilkmanDanimal: 43-22
garion333: 43-22
Xeknos: 43-22
oldmanscene24: 43-22

Gumbie: 42-23
bighoppa: 42-23

iaintgotnopants: 41-24
Enix: 41-24

LeapingGnome: 40-25

Kush15: 39-26

Jayhawker: 37-28

Elliotx: 35-30

*Legion*: 34-31

Don't know why I still have *Legion* on the board. Pity? Anyway, here are the picks for this week:

Buccaneers at Jaguars: Quite possibly one of the bigger toss-ups I've ever devised. Both teams are strug-a-ling and have nothing left to play for but pride. Both have shaky quarterbacks but good running backs, though I'd put Maurice Jones-Drew ahead of LaGarrette Blount everywhere except within the octagon. Jacksonville Jaguars.

Bears at Broncos: Is this the game where Tim Tebow comes down to Earth (again)? Probably not. Tebows.

Bills at Chargers: I thought this might be closer until the Monday night game. I doubt Buffalo will travel well. San Di-ego Super Chargers.

Giants at Cowboys: I hereby dub this game the Face Palm Bowl, for that's what fans of both teams are probably doing a lot of this season. However, Dallas, while inconsistent, has consistently gotten a victory the week following a loss where they were under the national media's microscope. (How about) 'Dem Cowboys.

For my wild card, I'm going with New England over Washington.

Enjoy the week, folks.

Hey, when my gut changes, I follow the gut. 3 weeks of perfection island. Feels good man.

Don't know why I still have *Legion* on the board. Pity?

I think it is to make Elliotx and I feel better.

Texans bring in Jeff Garcia.

Whee 49ers!

garion333 wrote:

Texans bring in Jeff Garcia.

Houston radio awash with references to Jeff Garcia's wife. Eh. I mean, I would, but not my type.

Texans at Bengals this weekend; I believe they can get it done!

Btw Connor Barwin took to the Twitterverse to get nickname suggestions for their D unit, and the winning suggestions was "Bulls on Parade", which immediately began trending in Houston. Apparently, they played the song a lot at the game on Sunday, but I hadn't heard about this yet and wasn't paying attention. And who knows, it may not have been very audible to a TV viewer.

Barwin then suggested that Reliant Stadium be referred to as "The Slaughterhouse". Wait a sec, it's the BULLS (and heifers) who get slaughtered at a slaughterhouse, bro!

Dear Houston offensive line: Do not bother blocking, Jeff Garcia refuses to even acknowledge the existence of a so-called "pocket" anywhere on the football field.

Buccaneers at Jaguars: Bucs are in a sophomore slump after last year. They will be better. Next year.

Bears at Broncos: Seriously. He just wins. The Bears can only hope to get out without another catastrophic injury.

Bills at Chargers: Chargers change their usual modus operandi and stink in the middle of the season instead of at the beginning, but the December charge (get it?) is still part of their bag.

Giants at Cowboys: Cowboys continue their up-and-down ways. They were down last week, so, umm, yeah.

Wildcard - So many delicious blowouts to pick from this week. Packers over the Rrrrrrrraiders? Patsies over the Deadskins? Colts vs. Allen High School? Nope, give me a helping of Browns at Steelers

Buccaneers at Jaguars: I will put this in simple terms--Jon Gruden criticized Blaine Gabbert during MNF the other night. JON. GRUDEN. CRITICIZED. SOMEBODY. MJD is a monster, but Gabbert won't throw the ball more than five yards down the field; he looks utterly terrified to make a mistake. Part of this pick is that Freeman is hopefully back and I won't have to watch the super-erratic Josh Johnson show.

Bears at Broncos--Do I have the opportunity somewhere to be on there being more defensive than offensive TDs in a game?

Bills at Chargers--For all the inevitable "Should Norv Turner be fired" stories, the answer is, "Yes, years ago".

Giants at Cowboys--I guess I'll take the erratic home team over the erratic road time. I mean, I guess?

Wild Card: Browns at Steelers.

Buccaneers at Jaguars: Jaguars
Bears at Broncos: Broncos
Bills at Chargers: Chargers
Giants at Cowboys: Giants
Wild Card: Colts at Ravens: Ravens

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Buccaneers at Jaguars: I will put this in simple terms--Jon Gruden criticized Blaine Gabbert during MNF the other night. JON. GRUDEN. CRITICIZED. SOMEBODY. MJD is a monster, but Gabbert won't throw the ball more than five yards down the field; he looks utterly terrified to make a mistake.

Uh, oh. You've done it now.

Enix wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Buccaneers at Jaguars: I will put this in simple terms--Jon Gruden criticized Blaine Gabbert during MNF the other night. JON. GRUDEN. CRITICIZED. SOMEBODY. MJD is a monster, but Gabbert won't throw the ball more than five yards down the field; he looks utterly terrified to make a mistake.

Uh, oh. You've done it now.

Hey, I still hold that your earlier Jimmy DoucheFace-Gabbert comparisons were way off; Clausen is a mistake-making machine, and Gabbert is the polar opposite--he seems scared to screw up. Everything is a short little pass. I do have to say he looked pretty good for about a quarter the other night, but a lot of that was MJD being, well, MJD. I am curious to see if the new coach changes the approach/builds Gabbert's confidence enough to where he starts actually trying to do something, but he's really looked astoundingly timid out there.

So, Gabbert is the second coming of Matt Leinart? Except that Gabbert doesn't have any real receivers to throw to.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Hey, I still hold that your earlier Jimmy DoucheFace-Gabbert comparisons were way off ...

Except for the part where I noted that both QBs played for lousy teams, had lame-duck head coaches and unimaginative OCs, threw to lousy receivers who dropped more than their share of passes and are completing only about half of their throws ... yeah, I was way off.

But, hey, Gabbert has eight TD passes this year. That's five more than Clausen!

Bucs
Tebows
Chargers
Giants

Wild Card: Steelers over the Browns

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Buccaneers at Jaguars: I will put this in simple terms--Jon Gruden criticized Blaine Gabbert during MNF the other night. JON. GRUDEN. CRITICIZED. SOMEBODY. MJD is a monster, but Gabbert won't throw the ball more than five yards down the field; he looks utterly terrified to make a mistake.

There is a bit of that, and Dirk Koetter needs to break it.

Under Del Rio, Koetter's marching orders for the offense were to not make any mistakes and allow the defense to keep them in the game.

Del Rio is gone now, and this team is not making the playoffs. It is time to line up 3-wide, 4-wide, and make the young QB uncork some passes down field, even if a few get picked off.

What Gruden failed to point out is that pretty much the only downfield routes Jaguar receivers were running were zone clearing routes to open up an underneath throw. For Gabbert to throw down the field, they need to call some plays with downfield route concepts. (And someone needs to get open, which is the other problem).

Trying to stay in games by playing it close to the vest and running MJD 30 times is just wasting everyone's time at this point.

All this badmouthing of Jacksonville... but is Freeman even going to start for the Bucs? I really don't think Josh Johnson is going to get it done.

Stele wrote:

All this badmouthing of Jacksonville... but is Freeman even going to start for the Bucs? I really don't think Josh Johnson is going to get it done.

Josh Johnson is an occasionally-capable backup who is one of those guys who looks to throw a bit and then runs. I've heard him referred to as the fastest QB in the league and he can certainly move; it's just he doesn't have the accuracy/arm strength to consistently play at a high level. If Josh Johnson starts, it's going to be a Bears-Broncos sort of "first to three defensive TDs wins" kind of game.

I have a question about arm strength. It's often referred to when it comes to QBs, but I can't help but have the luddite thought of "why not just work out more?"

Certis wrote:

I have a question about arm strength. It's often referred to when it comes to QBs, but I can't help but have the luddite thought of "why not just work out more?"

There are simply limits to what a body can do; I could work out every day, and I couldn't throw the ball as deep as an NFL QB. Furthermore, as you add strength, you often lose flexibility and range of motion, and that could significantly impact accuracy. Add to that a large portion of having an NFL arm is not only being able to throw hard, but also being able to not throw hard (have actual touch on a pass), and that's a pretty special ability.

It's one of those "born with it, or not" kind of things.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
Certis wrote:

I have a question about arm strength. It's often referred to when it comes to QBs, but I can't help but have the luddite thought of "why not just work out more?"

There are simply limits to what a body can do; I could work out every day, and I couldn't throw the ball as deep as an NFL QB. Furthermore, as you add strength, you often lose flexibility and range of motion, and that could significantly impact accuracy. Add to that a large portion of having an NFL arm is not only being able to throw hard, but also being able to not throw hard (have actual touch on a pass), and that's a pretty special ability.

It's one of those "born with it, or not" kind of things.

tl;dr How far you throw isn't a direct correlation with how strong you are.

I would say that what makes a QB awesome is such a complicated mix of talents and skills that separating any one aspect as "THE" aspect is almost impossible.

Buccaneers at Jaguars: I'm going to safely say the leading receiver for both teams will be the ground.
Bears at Broncos: The Bears only have a defense right now and the one thing Tebow does right outside of thanking god for everything(seriously I bet he does it when he gets a prize inside a box of Cracker Jacks) is not turning the ball over.
Bills at Chargers: Cause the Chargers are annoying.
Giants at Cowboys: Time for annoying Cowboys in the playoffs chatter.
Wild Card: Colts at Ravens: I will take the easy pick for $100 Alex.

And Legion, boy do you suck at picking winners. Last place? ouch!

Elliottx wrote:

And Legion, boy do you suck at picking winners. Last place? ouch!

Failing to submit any picks for the last 2 weeks had a little something to do with that.

I'm going to chime in:

Buccaneers at Jaguars: Jaguars Cause I said so.
Bears at Broncos: Broncos Tebow is playing, so there.
Bills at Chargers: Bills I think they may find their early season magic.
Giants at Cowboys: Giants I think the Giants came off an emotional game and will carry that confidence into this one.
Wild Card: Colts at Ravens: Ravens This is a no brainer

Certis wrote:

I have a question about arm strength. It's often referred to when it comes to QBs, but I can't help but have the luddite thought of "why not just work out more?"

From what I've heard, throwing things athletically has more to do with kinetics than anything else, although strength is obviously some factor. Scouts really love form, and the ability to throw effortlessly. You can coach form, and Tiger Woods and other athletes have coaches trying to perfect their various motions, but it can be hard to change your habits. It's harder the longer you've been doing it wrong.

I speculate that coaches/scouts think that one of the harder things to coach is perfect technique, so if you can find someone who has it, you can coach the other things.

Edit: And I'm no physicist, but I'm guessing that good form translates the energy spent the most efficiently, and bad form is a serious limiter. Hence the imperfect correlation between arm strength and distance thrown.

Certis wrote:

I have a question about arm strength. It's often referred to when it comes to QBs, but I can't help but have the luddite thought of "why not just work out more?"

Tom Brady did.

However, Milkman is right. There are innate limits to the body, and everyone's limits are different. In Tom Brady's case, his physique as a draft prospect was not at his body's maximum potential.

Generally, though, with modern training, you're not going to see many QBs failing to maximize their arm's potential by the time they reach the NFL level. The real change has happened at the high school level. "Big time" high school football is even more demanding than college football, as the NCAA places strict limits on how often a college team can practice - a limit that many big-time high school teams easily exceed.

It's exceedingly rare for a QB to enter the NFL and make a significant increase in throwing power, and do so without having everything else (control, touch, release, etc) go straight to hell. "Arm strength" isn't just raw power, but rather, "how hard can you throw while retaining pinpoint accuracy and getting the ball out of your hand quickly?"

Fascinating, thanks guys. Wait, does this mean Tebow's weird throw will never change? Because even I can tell that thing is WHACK.

Certis wrote:

Fascinating, thanks guys. Wait, does this mean Tebow's weird throw will never change? Because even I can tell that thing is WHACK.

If I remember correctly they've tried to get him to fix it before without any success.

Certis wrote:

Fascinating, thanks guys. Wait, does this mean Tebow's weird throw will never change? Because even I can tell that thing is WHACK.

Part of Tebow's problem is that he's too thick and bulky. He isn't able to generate a lot of torque with his shoulders and hips.

That weird motion you see is him working around that. He's generating power through a loooong wind-up because he is unable to generate that power with that elastic *snap* of the shoulder and hips.

What we call "arm strength" is really a whole body thing, and the emphasis is more on elasticity than muscle. (This, of course, is why someone like Tim Lincecum can be a rocket-throwing major league pitcher while having the body of a pre-teen girl).

This is why Tebow's throwing motion isn't really "fixable". You can make him throw like other quarterbacks, but then he can't generate the power needed to push the ball where it needs to go (something he already struggles with).

*Legion* wrote:

(This, of course, is why someone like Tim Lincecum can be a rocket-throwing major league pitcher while having the body of a pre-teen girl).

I almost brought Lincecum up a an example of how some guys can throw hard despite not having much size to them at all.

I hadn't even realized that Legion had been daydreaming about the kid.

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