Welcome back to Touchdowns and Kicks with Jimmy on the team990.com
There is lots to cover from Week 11 so let us not waste any time.
The Rambling Gambling Man Does It Again
I hope that one day the media starts paying attention to Jaguars Head Coach Jack Del Rio. And not just because the Jags are 7-3. That part is obvious.
No, I am referring to Del Rio’s decision making abilities, in particular those made against the Titans last week and the Chargers yesterday.
Let’s rewind to last week’s game against the Titans.
Decision 1: Titans and Jags are scoreless, five minutes left in the first quarter. Ball on the Titans 33. 4th and 1.
Question: how many times has a coach sent in the field goal unit early in the game, using the theory that you do not gamble in the first quarter? The answer: too often.
Del Rio went for it. Got the first down. Four plays later, touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Decision 2: Jags up 7-0, 10 minutes left in the second quarter. Ball on the Titans 32 yard line, 4th and 1.
Field goal attempt? Forget about it. It is time to gamble. Jags get a first down. Six plays later another touchdown and it is 14-0 Jaguars.
Decision 3: Jags lead 21-13, 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter. Ball at the Titans 39 yard line, 4th and 2.
Question: how many times has a coach sent in the punting unit in a similar situation? The answer: always.
Why? Because if you go for it on fourth down and fail you end up giving up all that field position. The media will eat you alive if you end up losing the game.
What did Jack Del Rio do? By now you have already figured it out. Del Rio gambled. The Jags get another first down. Seven plays later, another touchdown and it is game over. 28-13 Jaguars win.
That’s three big time gambles for Jack Del Rio that paid off with both first downs and eventual touchdowns.
Now let’s take a look at yesterday’s game against the Chargers.
Decision 1: Jags lead 3-0, 3 minutes left in the first quarter, ball on the Charger 11 yard line.
Question: this early in the game what would the normal coach do? Kick the chip shot field goal and take a 6-0 lead.
What did Jack Del Rio do? He gambled. Result: first down.
Decision 2: same drive, three plays later. It is 4th and goal from the 1.
By this time I do not need to tell you what Jack Del Rio decided or what the end result was. Gamble. Touchdown. 10-0 lead. 24-17 victory. And the Jags are 7-3.
What will Jack Del Rio do next week against the Buffalo Bills? Visit Touchdowns and Kicks with Jimmy G on the team990.com for the full analysis.
With apologies to the Commodores, you had to feel bad for Browns field goal kicker Phil Dawson, regardless of whether or not you root for Cleveland. Let us recap.
Week 3 versus the Raiders: Dawson kicks a 40 yard field goal that gave the Browns a 27-26 victory over the Oakland Raiders. Except....except....Raiders coach Lane Kiffin called timeout a split second before the snap.
Dawson had to make the kick a second time. Unfortunately, he missed. Raiders win, Browns fall to 1-2.
Last week versus the Steelers: Dawson missed a 52 yard field goal as time expired that would have forced overtime.
And now yesterday against the Ravens. Dawson had to kick the football good and true from 52 yards out to force overtime. And he missed a big kick. Again. It hit the upright and came back out. Tough break. Not one, not two but three big missed kicks so far in 10 weeks.
But wait. The Ravens are in the dressing room celebrating, the Browns are dejected at 5-5 but wait....the referees huddle, and wait...the referees decide that the kick in fact hit the upright and came out, however it hit the inside upright, which makes the kick good and true.
So overtime it is for the Ravens and the Browns. And the hero is ...Phil Dawson from 33 yards out. The Browns are 6-4. The Ravens are 4-6. But why are the Baltimore Ravens 4-6?
Brian Billick And Play Selection: Won’t He Ever Learn?
I’ve already established that I am not a big fan of Brian Billick’s play calling. Please rewind my blog and you’ll read my thoughts on how Billick blew the opening Monday Night game against the Bengals and the Bills game from a few weeks ago with his atrocious playcalling.
How did Billick blow those games? By not running the ball in short yardage situations even though the clock was not a factor.
So what happened yesterday against the Browns?
Situation: Tie game, Ravens ball, 2nd and 1 from the Cleveland 29 yard line. 38 seconds left. Browns hold all their timeouts, so they can stop the clock after every snap. Willis McGahee has run for 102 yards on 21 carries.
This is basic PlayCalling 101. A degree in rocket science is not necessary to figure out what Brian Billick should do next.
Run the ball. Billick didn’t run the ball against the Bengals in week 1. Lost. Billick didn’t run the ball against the Bills a few weeks ago. Lost.
These are the options that Brian Billick has at his disposal.
Option 1: Run the ball on 2nd and 1, if you get a first down then you can bring the clock to the end before lining up for the game winning field goal.
Option 2: Run the ball on 2nd and 1, if you don’t get a first down, you’ll still force the Browns to start using their timeouts.
Option 3: Having failed to get a first down on the previous play, you run the ball on 3rd and short. If you fail, you still would have forced the Browns to use their timeouts.
Why is it important for Billick to force the Browns into using their timeouts? Because the field goal attempt on 4th down would be from about 46-48 yards, hardly a chip shot. A miss from that distance would give the Browns great field position at their own 36 to 38 yard line. There would be no sense in giving the Browns great field position AND timeouts. One of the two would suffice, although running the ball guarantees that the Browns would not get the ball back unless they win the coin toss to start overtime.
So what did Brian Billick decide on? Pass on 2nd and 1. Incomplete. Clock stops. Browns don’t have to use a timeout.
So now it’s 3rd and 1. What did Brian Billick decide on? Pass. Incomplete. Clock stops. Browns again don’t have to use a timeout.
To the Ravens credit, Matt Stover did give them the lead with his 47 yards field goal. That is still no excuse for leaving 26 seconds on the clock for one last Browns drive.
When poor play calling takes place, bad things usually follow. The Ravens gave up a 39 yard return on the kickoff. Derek Anderson 2 completions for 6 and 18 yards to give Phil Dawson a 51 yard attempt to force overtime. Which he missed. No wait, it was good. You know the story.
Overtime. More bad news for the Ravens. Coin Toss. Lost. Kickoff. Excellent return by Cribbs to the Brown 41. Great field position for the Browns. Derek Anderson 4 for 4 for 34 yards, Jamaal Lewis 4 carries for 14 yards. Phil Dawson the winner from 33 yards.
Can The Ravens Make The Playoffs?
In a word: No.
Why ? There are FIVE reasons
(1)The Ravens are 4-6. That’s not good
(2)The Ravens are three games out of the wild card with 6 games to play
(3)The Ravens are two games back of the Browns for second place in the AFC North. If you add in the sweep at the hands of the Browns, that makes a three game deficit
(4)The Ravens next 3 opponents: San Diego, New England, Indianapolis. The Ravens would need to win all three to stand at 7-6 with three games to play. Maybe the Ravens can out-muscle and eke out wins against the Chargers and Colts, but against the Patriots? I do not think so.
(5)The Browns schedule: Houston, Arizona, NYJets, Buffalo, Cincinnati and San Francisco. No guarantees that the Browns are going to finish 10-6 or 9-7 just based on their easier schedule, however, just a 3-3 record would guarantee that the Browns would finish ahead of the Ravens.
And if the Ravens finish 3rd in the North even at 9-7, they will not have enough wins to catch either the Titans and Jaguars.
Stick a fork in the Ravens. They are done.
Jason Campbell, Al Saunders, Joe Gibbs And The Redskins: Failure Number Four
The Washington Redskins are going to have to learn to come from behind and win the big games. In 2007, they have not done so. Why is that?
Jason Campbell is a young quarterback. As such, Campbell is going to make mistakes.
It is the job of the head coach and offensive coordinator to work with a young quarterback to make sure the learning curve is quick and efficient with as few errors as possible, especially in the fourth quarter of close games.
That is why Joe Gibbs hired Al Saunders after the 2005 season. Saunders wanted the head coaching job in Kansas City when Dick Vermeil retired. Saunders didn’t get it.
So he went to Washington instead as the second highest paid assistant in the NFL, behind his Redskins colleague Gregg Williams.
Saunders’ most important task was to work with Jason Campbell to make sure that he would be ready to replace Mark Brunell at the quarterback position. With the Skins at 3-6 last season, Brunell was benched. It was now Campbell’s team. No pressure. The season was already in the tank.
Campbell played reasonably well in a no risk situation, going 2-5 and showing promise.
This year, the Skins are 5-5 with Campbell at the helm. Campbell has played well at times and most definitely has shown why he was a first round draft choice.
However, a disturbing trend has shown itself as it concerns Jason Campbell.
Four times Jason Campbell has had the opportunity to either win the game or force overtime with a late drive and four times Jason Campbell has failed.
Let us rewind the cassette on the Redskins 2007 season as a case study.
Week 3: The Skins are trailing the Giants by 7. 2:13 remaining. Campbell starts off with great field position at the Giant 35. Campbell is impressive to start: completing passes on 3rd and 21, 4th and 8 and 3rd and 13. However with the ball on the 1 yard line with one minute left, Campbell spiked the ball needlessly, threw two incompletions and then unnecessarily hurried his team to the line of scrimmage where the disorganization led to a failed 4th down run.
Week 5: The Skins are trailing the Packers by 3. 1:13 remaining, own 20 yard line, no timeouts.
Result: incomplete, sack, incomplete, 4th down completed pass but short of the marker.
Last week: The Skins trail the Eagles by 1. 3:10 left. Own 25 yard line. Result: 3 yard pass, incomplete, incomplete, fumble, Eagles recover.
However, Campbell got the ball back with 2:13 to play trailing by 8. Own 30 yard line. Result: 6 plays net 10 yards.
And yesterday against the Cowboys: Trailing by 5, 2:52 remaining, 2 timeouts, great starting field position at the Dallas 40.
Campbell started great, McCardell for 11, Randle El for 10, making it 1st and 10 at the Cowboy 19 with just under 2 minutes to play. However, yet again, there was no happy ending for Campbell and the Skins. Incomplete, incomplete, then a horribly forced pass that was intercepted by Terrence Newman.
That’s four games that went down to the wire. That’s four games that the Redskins lost.
Joe Gibbs has a contract that expires after the 2008 season. There is speculation that Gibbs will not fulfill the last year of his contract if things don’t go well in the next 6 weeks.
The key ingredient that will decide Gibbs’ future is the continued development of Jason Campbell. If Gibbs is satisfied that Al Saunders has tutored the young quarterback properly, then he will be back.
Can The Redskins Make The Playoffs?
In a word: maybe.
The Redskins are 5-5. Not great but not bad either.
The Lions hold the second wild card spot at 6-4, which means the Skins are only one game out of the playoffs.
Who do the Lions play to close out the season: Green Bay, Minnesota, Dallas, San Diego, Kansas City and Green Bay again. This is not an easy schedule.
This is also the Lions we are talking about. They haven’t won more than 6 games in a season since 2000. Everyone is waiting for them to fall apart. It may or may not happen.
What are the combined opponents records for all the wild card contenders, including the 7-3 Giants?
x-Giants 7-3 33-27 .550
x-Lions 6-4 40-20 .667
Cardinals 5-5 23-37 .383
Redskins 5-5 35-25 .583
Eagles 5-5 41-19 .683
Vikings 4-6 28-32 .467
Bears 4-6 33-27 .550
Panthers 4-6 34-26 .567
Saints 4-6 27-33 .450
x-signifies that these teams are currently holding a playoff spot
The data would suggest the following
(1)The Lions and the Eagles are going to have a hard time
(2)The Cardinals have the easiest remaining schedule
(3)The Saints don’t have a difficult schedule, however their 2 straight losses after getting back to .500 will end up costing them
This Man Had The Best Weekend Of Anyone In Football And It’s Not Even Close
Jon Gruden is the luckiest man in football this week.
Gruden’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers were 5-4 and had a bye heading into this week’s big divisional game against the improving Falcons.
The weekend was rife with risks for Gruden and the Bucs. They were only one game up on both Carolina and New Orleans, and a loss to Atlanta would put the Falcons only one game back, making the NFC South a legitimate four way race.
So what ended up happening? Well, everything that could go right for Jon Gruden did go right.
Number 1: His Bucs beat the Falcons, effectively ending any chance Atlanta had of getting into the playoff picture.
Number 2: The Panthers lost to Green Bay, putting Carolina two games back of Gruden’s gang Number 3: The Saints lost to Houston, putting New Orleans two games back of Gruden’s gang
What does all this mean? It means that Tampa Bay holds a two game lead on both Carolina and New Orleans with 6 games to play. Factor in that Tampa Bay beat both Carolina and New Orleans earlier this season and the Bucs in effect have a 2.5 lead.
Barring a collapse, the Bucs will find themselves in the playoffs.
Why Football Is The Greatest Sport When You Have Multiple Television Sets
As always I found myself at the Team 990 studio on Sunday afternoon, working and watching three football games at once as well as listening to a fourth.
And in a two minute span, between 4:03 to 4:05, the following ALL happened.
(1)Trailing by 7, the Raiders get to the Viking 36 with 12 seconds left. However a false start penalty brought the ball 5 yards back and forced the Raiders into a failed Hail Mary once the 10 second run off was factored in.
(2)Trailing by 6, Jon Kitna was intercepted by Sam Madison at the Giant 33 yard line with 90 seconds remaining. Game Over.
(3)With the Chiefs and Colts tied, Peyton Manning with a quarterback sneak on 4th and 1 from the Chiefs 3 yard line, followed by Adam Vinatieri’s chip shot field goal at the final gun.
(4)Trailing the Jags by 7, Philip Rivers is intercepted with 90 seconds left at his own 46, effectively ending the game.
Wow! The best television investment a football fan can make is to ensure that they can catch as many of the Fox, CBS and CTV affiliates as possible, thus ensuring that they can watch as many games as possible.
That’s it for me. I’ll be back with my predictions for Week 12 on Wednesday night.
Don’t forget that the Team 990 will be broadcasting all three Thanksgiving Day Games this Thursday.
Enjoy the games and don’t forget to check back in with Touchdowns and Kicks with Jimmy G o the team990.com
There is lots to cover from Week 11 so let us not waste any time.
The Rambling Gambling Man Does It Again
I hope that one day the media starts paying attention to Jaguars Head Coach Jack Del Rio. And not just because the Jags are 7-3. That part is obvious.
No, I am referring to Del Rio’s decision making abilities, in particular those made against the Titans last week and the Chargers yesterday.
Let’s rewind to last week’s game against the Titans.
Decision 1: Titans and Jags are scoreless, five minutes left in the first quarter. Ball on the Titans 33. 4th and 1.
Question: how many times has a coach sent in the field goal unit early in the game, using the theory that you do not gamble in the first quarter? The answer: too often.
Del Rio went for it. Got the first down. Four plays later, touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Decision 2: Jags up 7-0, 10 minutes left in the second quarter. Ball on the Titans 32 yard line, 4th and 1.
Field goal attempt? Forget about it. It is time to gamble. Jags get a first down. Six plays later another touchdown and it is 14-0 Jaguars.
Decision 3: Jags lead 21-13, 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter. Ball at the Titans 39 yard line, 4th and 2.
Question: how many times has a coach sent in the punting unit in a similar situation? The answer: always.
Why? Because if you go for it on fourth down and fail you end up giving up all that field position. The media will eat you alive if you end up losing the game.
What did Jack Del Rio do? By now you have already figured it out. Del Rio gambled. The Jags get another first down. Seven plays later, another touchdown and it is game over. 28-13 Jaguars win.
That’s three big time gambles for Jack Del Rio that paid off with both first downs and eventual touchdowns.
Now let’s take a look at yesterday’s game against the Chargers.
Decision 1: Jags lead 3-0, 3 minutes left in the first quarter, ball on the Charger 11 yard line.
Question: this early in the game what would the normal coach do? Kick the chip shot field goal and take a 6-0 lead.
What did Jack Del Rio do? He gambled. Result: first down.
Decision 2: same drive, three plays later. It is 4th and goal from the 1.
By this time I do not need to tell you what Jack Del Rio decided or what the end result was. Gamble. Touchdown. 10-0 lead. 24-17 victory. And the Jags are 7-3.
What will Jack Del Rio do next week against the Buffalo Bills? Visit Touchdowns and Kicks with Jimmy G on the team990.com for the full analysis.
Once, Twice Three Times A Big Missed Field Goal
With apologies to the Commodores, you had to feel bad for Browns field goal kicker Phil Dawson, regardless of whether or not you root for Cleveland. Let us recap.
Week 3 versus the Raiders: Dawson kicks a 40 yard field goal that gave the Browns a 27-26 victory over the Oakland Raiders. Except....except....Raiders coach Lane Kiffin called timeout a split second before the snap.
Dawson had to make the kick a second time. Unfortunately, he missed. Raiders win, Browns fall to 1-2.
Last week versus the Steelers: Dawson missed a 52 yard field goal as time expired that would have forced overtime.
And now yesterday against the Ravens. Dawson had to kick the football good and true from 52 yards out to force overtime. And he missed a big kick. Again. It hit the upright and came back out. Tough break. Not one, not two but three big missed kicks so far in 10 weeks.
But wait. The Ravens are in the dressing room celebrating, the Browns are dejected at 5-5 but wait....the referees huddle, and wait...the referees decide that the kick in fact hit the upright and came out, however it hit the inside upright, which makes the kick good and true.
So overtime it is for the Ravens and the Browns. And the hero is ...Phil Dawson from 33 yards out. The Browns are 6-4. The Ravens are 4-6. But why are the Baltimore Ravens 4-6?
Brian Billick And Play Selection: Won’t He Ever Learn?
I’ve already established that I am not a big fan of Brian Billick’s play calling. Please rewind my blog and you’ll read my thoughts on how Billick blew the opening Monday Night game against the Bengals and the Bills game from a few weeks ago with his atrocious playcalling.
How did Billick blow those games? By not running the ball in short yardage situations even though the clock was not a factor.
So what happened yesterday against the Browns?
Situation: Tie game, Ravens ball, 2nd and 1 from the Cleveland 29 yard line. 38 seconds left. Browns hold all their timeouts, so they can stop the clock after every snap. Willis McGahee has run for 102 yards on 21 carries.
This is basic PlayCalling 101. A degree in rocket science is not necessary to figure out what Brian Billick should do next.
Run the ball. Billick didn’t run the ball against the Bengals in week 1. Lost. Billick didn’t run the ball against the Bills a few weeks ago. Lost.
These are the options that Brian Billick has at his disposal.
Option 1: Run the ball on 2nd and 1, if you get a first down then you can bring the clock to the end before lining up for the game winning field goal.
Option 2: Run the ball on 2nd and 1, if you don’t get a first down, you’ll still force the Browns to start using their timeouts.
Option 3: Having failed to get a first down on the previous play, you run the ball on 3rd and short. If you fail, you still would have forced the Browns to use their timeouts.
Why is it important for Billick to force the Browns into using their timeouts? Because the field goal attempt on 4th down would be from about 46-48 yards, hardly a chip shot. A miss from that distance would give the Browns great field position at their own 36 to 38 yard line. There would be no sense in giving the Browns great field position AND timeouts. One of the two would suffice, although running the ball guarantees that the Browns would not get the ball back unless they win the coin toss to start overtime.
So what did Brian Billick decide on? Pass on 2nd and 1. Incomplete. Clock stops. Browns don’t have to use a timeout.
So now it’s 3rd and 1. What did Brian Billick decide on? Pass. Incomplete. Clock stops. Browns again don’t have to use a timeout.
To the Ravens credit, Matt Stover did give them the lead with his 47 yards field goal. That is still no excuse for leaving 26 seconds on the clock for one last Browns drive.
When poor play calling takes place, bad things usually follow. The Ravens gave up a 39 yard return on the kickoff. Derek Anderson 2 completions for 6 and 18 yards to give Phil Dawson a 51 yard attempt to force overtime. Which he missed. No wait, it was good. You know the story.
Overtime. More bad news for the Ravens. Coin Toss. Lost. Kickoff. Excellent return by Cribbs to the Brown 41. Great field position for the Browns. Derek Anderson 4 for 4 for 34 yards, Jamaal Lewis 4 carries for 14 yards. Phil Dawson the winner from 33 yards.
Can The Ravens Make The Playoffs?
In a word: No.
Why ? There are FIVE reasons
(1)The Ravens are 4-6. That’s not good
(2)The Ravens are three games out of the wild card with 6 games to play
(3)The Ravens are two games back of the Browns for second place in the AFC North. If you add in the sweep at the hands of the Browns, that makes a three game deficit
(4)The Ravens next 3 opponents: San Diego, New England, Indianapolis. The Ravens would need to win all three to stand at 7-6 with three games to play. Maybe the Ravens can out-muscle and eke out wins against the Chargers and Colts, but against the Patriots? I do not think so.
(5)The Browns schedule: Houston, Arizona, NYJets, Buffalo, Cincinnati and San Francisco. No guarantees that the Browns are going to finish 10-6 or 9-7 just based on their easier schedule, however, just a 3-3 record would guarantee that the Browns would finish ahead of the Ravens.
And if the Ravens finish 3rd in the North even at 9-7, they will not have enough wins to catch either the Titans and Jaguars.
Stick a fork in the Ravens. They are done.
Jason Campbell, Al Saunders, Joe Gibbs And The Redskins: Failure Number Four
The Washington Redskins are going to have to learn to come from behind and win the big games. In 2007, they have not done so. Why is that?
Jason Campbell is a young quarterback. As such, Campbell is going to make mistakes.
It is the job of the head coach and offensive coordinator to work with a young quarterback to make sure the learning curve is quick and efficient with as few errors as possible, especially in the fourth quarter of close games.
That is why Joe Gibbs hired Al Saunders after the 2005 season. Saunders wanted the head coaching job in Kansas City when Dick Vermeil retired. Saunders didn’t get it.
So he went to Washington instead as the second highest paid assistant in the NFL, behind his Redskins colleague Gregg Williams.
Saunders’ most important task was to work with Jason Campbell to make sure that he would be ready to replace Mark Brunell at the quarterback position. With the Skins at 3-6 last season, Brunell was benched. It was now Campbell’s team. No pressure. The season was already in the tank.
Campbell played reasonably well in a no risk situation, going 2-5 and showing promise.
This year, the Skins are 5-5 with Campbell at the helm. Campbell has played well at times and most definitely has shown why he was a first round draft choice.
However, a disturbing trend has shown itself as it concerns Jason Campbell.
Four times Jason Campbell has had the opportunity to either win the game or force overtime with a late drive and four times Jason Campbell has failed.
Let us rewind the cassette on the Redskins 2007 season as a case study.
Week 3: The Skins are trailing the Giants by 7. 2:13 remaining. Campbell starts off with great field position at the Giant 35. Campbell is impressive to start: completing passes on 3rd and 21, 4th and 8 and 3rd and 13. However with the ball on the 1 yard line with one minute left, Campbell spiked the ball needlessly, threw two incompletions and then unnecessarily hurried his team to the line of scrimmage where the disorganization led to a failed 4th down run.
Week 5: The Skins are trailing the Packers by 3. 1:13 remaining, own 20 yard line, no timeouts.
Result: incomplete, sack, incomplete, 4th down completed pass but short of the marker.
Last week: The Skins trail the Eagles by 1. 3:10 left. Own 25 yard line. Result: 3 yard pass, incomplete, incomplete, fumble, Eagles recover.
However, Campbell got the ball back with 2:13 to play trailing by 8. Own 30 yard line. Result: 6 plays net 10 yards.
And yesterday against the Cowboys: Trailing by 5, 2:52 remaining, 2 timeouts, great starting field position at the Dallas 40.
Campbell started great, McCardell for 11, Randle El for 10, making it 1st and 10 at the Cowboy 19 with just under 2 minutes to play. However, yet again, there was no happy ending for Campbell and the Skins. Incomplete, incomplete, then a horribly forced pass that was intercepted by Terrence Newman.
That’s four games that went down to the wire. That’s four games that the Redskins lost.
Joe Gibbs has a contract that expires after the 2008 season. There is speculation that Gibbs will not fulfill the last year of his contract if things don’t go well in the next 6 weeks.
The key ingredient that will decide Gibbs’ future is the continued development of Jason Campbell. If Gibbs is satisfied that Al Saunders has tutored the young quarterback properly, then he will be back.
Can The Redskins Make The Playoffs?
In a word: maybe.
The Redskins are 5-5. Not great but not bad either.
The Lions hold the second wild card spot at 6-4, which means the Skins are only one game out of the playoffs.
Who do the Lions play to close out the season: Green Bay, Minnesota, Dallas, San Diego, Kansas City and Green Bay again. This is not an easy schedule.
This is also the Lions we are talking about. They haven’t won more than 6 games in a season since 2000. Everyone is waiting for them to fall apart. It may or may not happen.
What are the combined opponents records for all the wild card contenders, including the 7-3 Giants?
x-Giants 7-3 33-27 .550
x-Lions 6-4 40-20 .667
Cardinals 5-5 23-37 .383
Redskins 5-5 35-25 .583
Eagles 5-5 41-19 .683
Vikings 4-6 28-32 .467
Bears 4-6 33-27 .550
Panthers 4-6 34-26 .567
Saints 4-6 27-33 .450
x-signifies that these teams are currently holding a playoff spot
The data would suggest the following
(1)The Lions and the Eagles are going to have a hard time
(2)The Cardinals have the easiest remaining schedule
(3)The Saints don’t have a difficult schedule, however their 2 straight losses after getting back to .500 will end up costing them
This Man Had The Best Weekend Of Anyone In Football And It’s Not Even Close
Jon Gruden is the luckiest man in football this week.
Gruden’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers were 5-4 and had a bye heading into this week’s big divisional game against the improving Falcons.
The weekend was rife with risks for Gruden and the Bucs. They were only one game up on both Carolina and New Orleans, and a loss to Atlanta would put the Falcons only one game back, making the NFC South a legitimate four way race.
So what ended up happening? Well, everything that could go right for Jon Gruden did go right.
Number 1: His Bucs beat the Falcons, effectively ending any chance Atlanta had of getting into the playoff picture.
Number 2: The Panthers lost to Green Bay, putting Carolina two games back of Gruden’s gang Number 3: The Saints lost to Houston, putting New Orleans two games back of Gruden’s gang
What does all this mean? It means that Tampa Bay holds a two game lead on both Carolina and New Orleans with 6 games to play. Factor in that Tampa Bay beat both Carolina and New Orleans earlier this season and the Bucs in effect have a 2.5 lead.
Barring a collapse, the Bucs will find themselves in the playoffs.
Why Football Is The Greatest Sport When You Have Multiple Television Sets
As always I found myself at the Team 990 studio on Sunday afternoon, working and watching three football games at once as well as listening to a fourth.
And in a two minute span, between 4:03 to 4:05, the following ALL happened.
(1)Trailing by 7, the Raiders get to the Viking 36 with 12 seconds left. However a false start penalty brought the ball 5 yards back and forced the Raiders into a failed Hail Mary once the 10 second run off was factored in.
(2)Trailing by 6, Jon Kitna was intercepted by Sam Madison at the Giant 33 yard line with 90 seconds remaining. Game Over.
(3)With the Chiefs and Colts tied, Peyton Manning with a quarterback sneak on 4th and 1 from the Chiefs 3 yard line, followed by Adam Vinatieri’s chip shot field goal at the final gun.
(4)Trailing the Jags by 7, Philip Rivers is intercepted with 90 seconds left at his own 46, effectively ending the game.
Wow! The best television investment a football fan can make is to ensure that they can catch as many of the Fox, CBS and CTV affiliates as possible, thus ensuring that they can watch as many games as possible.
That’s it for me. I’ll be back with my predictions for Week 12 on Wednesday night.
Don’t forget that the Team 990 will be broadcasting all three Thanksgiving Day Games this Thursday.
Enjoy the games and don’t forget to check back in with Touchdowns and Kicks with Jimmy G o the team990.com
No comments:
Post a Comment