Quick Hits from the NFL

Just a couple of quick thoughts about the NFL from over the weekend.

The biggest news over the weekend was about the Marque Sunday night game between Tom Brady and the Patriots versus Peyton Manning and the Colts. It seems that every time these two teams meet there is something large at stake. This time it was a chance at home field advantage in the AFC playoffs. The Pats were 2 games behind the undefeated Colts and looking to gain ground and get back on top of the AFC rankings.

The Pats controlled the majority of the game, even amassing a 17 point lead in the fourth quarter. They were putting on quite a showing. And then the Pats got timid and got, what many people thought was careless and stupid.

Up 6 points with 2:08 remaining in the game, the Pats decided to go for 4th and 2 from their own 28 yard line. Now I'm going to play Good cop, Bad cop here just for some fun.

Good Cop:
Why would you not go for it? You have one of the best quarterbacks in the game. You have done this many times before. You are the freakin' New England Patriots. You don't want to give the ball back to Peyton Manning. I mean, it's Peyton Manning for crying out loud!! He has been nothing short of dominant this year. Did you see what he did to the Dolphins earlier this year. That was in prime time too. He had 1/4 the time of possession in that game and still won. Don't ever give Peyton the ball with a chance to win. Ever.

Bad Cop:
How do you go for it on 4th down and 2 from your own 28?!?!??! This isn't Pee Wee football! This is the NFL! HOW COULD YOU GO FOR IT ON 4TH AND 2 AT YOUR OWN 28 YARD LINE!!!! No one in their right mind does that. Hell, even in video games you don't do that. Its dumb. Make Peyton go 70 yards in 2 minutes, have faith in your GOOD defense and you will stop the Colts. Peyton even looked human tonight. The NFL average of drives going 70 yards in the final 2 minutes is less than 50%. Want to bet it's higher when the teams only have to go 30 yards? Idiot, hoodie wearing coach.

Ok, so what do I really think? I have been wavering on this all day. I originally said, "Eh, I would do everything I could to keep the ball out of Peyton's hands too." And then more recently I thought, "You have to make anyone, Peyton, Drew Brees, Brett Favre, Keanu Reeves in The Replacements, go 70 yards. They are bound to screw up. They have to."

And in all honesty, the straw that broke the camels back was the video game argument. Seriously. I think there is a point in every 20 something male's life where he has made a tough decision based upon a video game. I would not go for a 4th and 2 from my own 28 in a video game only up 6. The majority of the time. There are certain circumstances that this would not hold true (say the computer or my opponent had lost all of their starting linebackers and they had drafted the QB that I had created to dominate the world on their team, then I would go for it), but the majority of the time there is no way I would go for it.

No on to other video game related NFL news. Maurice Jones-Drew just did a late in the game video game move, making it only the second that I can remember this year. With the Jags needing only a field goal to beat the Jets, and just over a minute left on the clock, the speedy bowling ball of a running back took a knee at the 1 yard line instead of scoring the go ahead touchdown. No one ever does that.

The Jags kicked a field goal that was even shorter than an extra point, got the W and kept their playoff hopes alive by getting to 5-4.

Earlier this year, the Broncos Brandon Stokley ran along the goal line on a game winning TD catch with about 20 seconds left, and essentially making it impossible for the Bengals to mount any kind of a comeback. Just like it always happens in video games. I don't think this gets played up enough.


Finally, the Chiefs got another point in the win column by beating a Raiders team that they should have dismantled for the second time this year. Jamaal Charles got over 100 yards rushing and the Chiefs defense didn't look too bad. But don't read too much into this. This was a terrible Raiders team, who can't stop the run, and can't gain yards on offense. The former number 1 pick, Jamarcus Russell, played so bad that the Raiders put in MAC product Bruce Gradkowski to try to get a comeback late in the game. The Raiders are awful and the Chiefs are just bad. Awful is worse than bad, and that was good for the Chiefs.




Finally, College Basketball starts tonight with 24 hours of straight live coverage from ESPN. With the first Top 25 matchup of the year with Gonzaga playing Michigan State. I can't wait.

Until later,

DDSF