Archive for November, 2008
No BCS Bitterness Here
Sportsdate 11 – 30 – 2008
I admit to being a Texas homer. That is the difference between those of us in sports radio / blog land and our ancestors in the print media. We admit that we have a fondness for certain teams that we cover. That said, I have no bitterness about today’s decesion to place OU in the Big 12 championship game. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under Captain's Blog : Comments (0) : Nov 30th, 2008
There’s something you don’t see every day
When was the last time you saw a 4-7 team favored by 5 points over a 7-4 team? Well, the Chargers are a 5-point favorite at home against the Falcons today. Most people probably wouldn’t handicap it that way, but clearly the oddsmakers believe the Chargers are better equipped to win. And I agree. I’m going with the Bolts on this one.
Another notable pick by the oddsmakers is that GB (5-6) is a 2-points favorite over Carolina (8-3). And I agree with that one too. In fact, I wouldn’t really even be comfortable with the Panthers and 3 points. They might stay in the game, but they also might give up 40 points and lose by 20 or so.
And here’s one that’s hard to understand: In the 8 games the Rams have played before and after their 3-game hot streak, their average margin of defeat was 26 points. So why is Miami favored by only 8 at St. Louis? We’re talking about a team that not only has suffered through 8 blowouts, but has been blown out by the Seahawks, 49ers, and Bears. I’m not really a betting man, but if I were, I wouldn’t dare take the Rams and 8 points against anybody. Well… maybe the Lions.
Scott
Filed under Cowboys / NFL : Comments (0) : Nov 30th, 2008
Sign another one
The Cowboys finally put starting left guard Kyle Kosier on injured reserved, which by rule ends his season. But the good news is… That opened up a roster spot, giving Dallas an opportunity to address it’s greatest area of need. They signed Steve Octavien off Washington’s practice squad. He’s listed as a linebacker, but they weren’t looking to convert a rookie 4-3 LB to the 3-4 to back up Bradie and Zach going in to end of the season. No way. They were looking for one thing and one thing only: help with special teams. A few weeks ago, they signed Carlos Polk who blocked the punt against SF. Last week they signed Tra Battle who made that open field tackle on the kickoff against Seattle to bury the Hawks inside their 20, and this week it’s Octavien. These guys should help. The Cowboys already had a few good special teamers, Keith Davis, Bobby Carpenter, Deon Anderson, and others, and given the addition of these three new players, they might finally be able to cover kickoffs. That would make a big impact on this team. Most fans don’t truly realize the importance of field position, but it very often determines who wins and loses. In fact, field position is the only reason that a fumble is worse than a punt. Field position is everything, and special teams is all about field position.
Scott Campisi
Filed under Cowboys / NFL : Comments (0) : Nov 30th, 2008
I’d really like to understand why
So let me get this straight. Details are still sketchy, but it seems Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg, at a NYC night club, with a gun that he didn’t have a permit to carry. Okay… I’m trying to look past the craziness of carrying a gun without a permit, because maybe he’s one of those people who believe you should always carry a gun. Maybe he feels the need to protect himself. I’m not questioning that, though I probably should. What I’m asking is why, why, why in the world did he pull said gun out in a public place? Was he just showing it off to a couple of friends? That would be really, really stupid, but it’s a lot better than the other reasons I’m imagining. Was he trying to threaten someone? To rob someone? To kill someone? Why else would you pull a gun at a night club?
I mean… if you and I go to a local night club, and we’re sitting around chatting or whatever, and suddenly I pull out a handgun and say, “Hey, look at my cool new gun” … does that seem like normal behavior to you? I’d like to believe that’s not how it happened, but if not that, then what? Was he planning to shoot somebody?
And according to reports I’ve heard, middle linebacker Antonio Pierce hid the gun for him. These guys could both get suspended. And that would hurt the Giants quite badly.
I really don’t believe Burress was trying to hurt anybody… but then that only leaves one other reason for this: stupidity.
Scott
Filed under Cowboys / NFL : Comments (0) : Nov 30th, 2008
What’ll it take?
The two most fun things to do this time of year are watch football and figure out scenarios for the NFL playoffs and the BCS pseudo-championship. So I’m spending my football nonwatching time working through these things, and there are a few interesting things working out here. Things could change quite a bit tomorrow, so I’ll update this next week, but here’s how it looks right now.
Let’s start in the AFC North: The Steelers are a game ahead of the Ravens, having beaten them in Pittsburgh, but they play in Baltimore on Dec 14. If the Ravens can win that game, that should even things out (the tiebreaker points toward the Steelers, but could change quickly), but still both teams have some tough opponenents in the last few weeks, so assuming the Ravens win on Dec 14, it’s anybody’s race. If, on the other hand, the Steelers win at Baltimore, then it would be very unlikely that the Ravens could win the division.
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Filed under Cowboys / NFL : Comments (0) : Nov 29th, 2008
Romo’s finger
It was obvious Sunday that Romo’s finger splint is still a serious problem. There were 6 or 7 occasions when an open receiver couldn’t get the ball in time because the pass was fluttering through the air like a wounded duck. If those had been completions, that game would have been a tremendous blowout. Another interesting point about that splint is that it seemed to affect Romo much less on deep passes where he could throw the ball up with nice touch and trajectory rather than straight on the proverbial frozen rope. If the Niners had known that going in to the game, they could have structured their defense to force Romo to throw behind the LBs and in front of the safeties. And that might have produced 6 or 7 more of those flutter balls.
But make no mistake: If I’m able to see it, then Mike Holmgren and Jim Mora will see it too. And if Romo’s splint affects him the same way on Thursday, expect to see Seattle force those underneath throws. If they can force enough incompletions this way and keep the Cowboys’ score reasonably low, they can keep Maurice Morris and Julius Jones running at that Dallas front 7, keeping the pass rush on its heels to give Hasselbeck a chance to rip up that injury-depleted Dallas secondary. If that happens Seattle can win this game. But if not, then the Hawks could have a long ugly day.
Scott Campisi
Filed under Cowboys / NFL : Comments (0) : Nov 26th, 2008
The Browns are what we thought they were
Isn’t it funny how quickly people blame the QB for whatever goes wrong? Take Cleveland’s interesting QB situation for example. Obviously, this team is struggling, so they come up with the solution: bench the QB. Of course, everyone in the know can tell you that the real issue here is not whether Derek Anderson was playing well or not. The real issue is that the Browns fans want the NFL’s most popular backup to become the starter. It doesn’t matter what Derek Anderson does. So in comes Brady Quinn. Of course, the problem here is that Quinn was walking into a pretty tough situation, and was doomed to face the same quarterbacking fate that Derek Anderson had faced. In fact, check out the similarity between their 2008 numbers:
In 8 starts (and 1 quarter… after coming in for the injured Quinn this past Sunday.) Anderson completed 49% of his passes averaging 5.9 yards per pass with 9 TDs and 8 INTs for a terrible rating of 66.
In 3 starts, Brady Quinn completed 50.6 % of his passes, averaging 5.8 yards per pass with 2 TDs and 2 INTs for a terrible passer rating of 66.6.
Those numbers are almost identical. How? Why? Is it because both of these guys are terrible? Exactly equally terrible? Is that it? Or could it be that these gentlemen are being limited by the team around them? When I see the similarity of those numbers I can’t help but think that any good QB in that situation would put up the exact same numbers. It’s hard for me to accept that these guys are exactly equally bad.
But now, Quinn is injured, and out for the season. So it’s back to the much maligned Derek Anderson. What’s going to happen? The same thing that’s been happening. But consider this: Next year in training camp, there will be a competition between these two guys for the QB position. But the fans want Quinn. So what if Anderson outplays him in camp? I say they’ll start Quinn anyway. That’s what’s wrong with the Browns organization.
Scott Campisi
Filed under Cowboys / NFL : Comments (0) : Nov 26th, 2008
Week 12
Only the Lions could do what they did on Sunday: It’s one thing to have a 17-point lead at home and lose, but it’s quite another thing to have a 17-point lead at home and get blown out by 18 points. That’s just awful.
Speaking of blowouts at home… what does it say about parity in the NFL that when the only remaining undefeated team finally has to play a team with a good record, they not only get beat, but get embarrassed on their home field by 21 points? As I told you last week, the Titans aren’t quite as good as their record says they are.
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Filed under Cowboys / NFL : Comments (0) : Nov 25th, 2008