Zoneblitz Divisional Round Playoff Predictions

by | Jan 16, 2010 | NFL Gambling, NFL Picks, NFL Random Thoughts

Some people call NFL Divisional Playoff Weekend the best of the football season. This season I think they are absolutely right on.

I love this weekend’s games. I’ve been studying them as time allowed all week and I’ve spent the last hour scouring the Internet and two newspapers looking for information. And I can’t get a good grasp on any of the four matchups.

I’m coming off of a pretty good week though. I hit three of four both straight up and against the spread last week. Hopefully that trend continues. Here are my thoughts:
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Pearson, Foreman spar on Minneapolis radio

by | Jan 15, 2010 | NFL Random Thoughts

As the hype surrounding the playoff game between Dallas and Minnesota heats up much of the talk has centered on 1975.

That’s the year the 10-4 Cowboys came to Metropolitan Stadium to face the 12-2 Vikings in the NFC Divisional playoffs. The Cowboys won the game when Drew Pearson caught Roger Staubach’s “Hail Mary” pass with less than a minute remaining.

The controversy stems from whether or not Pearson pushed off on Minnesota defensive back Nate Wright. As a born and bred Minnesotan I was brought up to believe Pearson did interfere, though in truth I was only about 10 months old at the time.

I have little emotional attachment to the event outside of it involving the team I grew up cheering for and a team I grew up … not cheering for. But that’s not the case for many fans who were a few years older than I was at the time.

The controversy remains entertaining even nearly 35 years later and the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Jim Souhan wrote an interesting account of Pearson’s point of view on the play. Even more entertaining was an interview Pearson did with KFAN-AM’s Dan Barreiro Thursday afternoon. Pearson maintains there was incidental contact but no blatant push.

Former Viking running back Chuck Foreman, who called into the radio station while Barreiro was talking with Pearson, of course believes there was interference on the play.

The resulting conversation was one of the most entertaining interviews I have heard on the radio in quite awhile. Kudos to Barreiro, who knew enough to allow himself to be little more than a side player in the discussion, as Foreman and Pearson tweak each other and banter through a 20-minute or so segment.

And kudos to both players, both of whom obviously still feel very strongly about their team’s points of view from that game but who discussed the issue on the air with a great deal of humor and respect.

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Florio criticizes W. Va. running back for staying in school

by | Jan 14, 2010 | College Football, NFL Draft, NFL Random Thoughts

I know I just wrote 2,200 words the other day focused at least in part on describing why I think ProFootballTalk.com isn’t as good a site as it used to be.

And I hate to harp on the topic. But he wrote another post today that raised my ire. Today Mike Florio’s topic was Noel Devine, the running back from West Virginia who decided to pass on the draft and go back for his senior season.

Sure, there might be little for him to prove by staying a Mountaineer. And yes, the NFL might impose a rookie salary cap for the 2011 season. So it’s possible – even likely – that Devine might cost himself some money by staying in school.

But at the end of the day, even if the NFL imposes a rookie salary cap, if he’s taken in the first couple rounds of the 2011 draft (assuming there is one) he’s going to make plenty of money.

Isn’t it just possible that Devine is enjoying the college experience? Can it be that he likes his teammates and wants to make a run at a major bowl game? Perhaps a national championship? Or, maybe he wants to guard against the chances that an NFL career doesn’t work out by, cough, cough, getting a degree?

Many college players come out early. And sure, it’s hard to blame them with the payouts they see in front of them. But many stay in school, some because they just enjoy it.

So often college football players are criticized for pretending to be students and using the NFL as a springboard for a pro contract. It’s almost surprising with a good to great player when it goes the other way.

So whatever Devine’s reasons, can we just enjoy the fact – injury risks aside (yes, see the cases of Sam Bradford and Michael Bush) – that this guy might be in the college game for more than just the big payoff? He’s taking a risk. But there’s insurance for that. I applaud Noel Devine. I don’t watch a lot of West Virginia games but I hope this move pays off for you.

No matter what ProFootballTalk.com says.

Zoneblitz brings back predictions for playoffs

by | Jan 8, 2010 | NFL Gambling, NFL Picks

We dropped the prediction segment on the ZB Web site early in the season this year due to lack of cohesiveness, direction and readership. We’ll probably bring something pick-related, both straight up and against the spread, for next season. It’ll definitely be more organized than it was before.

That said, it’s the playoffs and with the beginning of the second season I thought I’d go back to making some foolish game picks.

So, for Wild Card weekend, here are my thoughts.
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Playoff setup fine; PFT not what it was

by | Jan 6, 2010 | NFL Media, NFL Random Thoughts

Mike Florio has done a nice job building his Web site into a national phenomenon. But he was better when he had to pick and choose the issues on which he weighed in because of time constraints stemming from his legal job (though it rarely seemed like he actually had any law-related work to do). Now it seems as though he feels he has to weigh in on every single little thing that comes up. And much of what he floats is simply ridiculous.

In recent weeks, he has posted his opinion that:

– The Vikings should bench Adrian Peterson because he fumbles too much – did he look up the per carry fumbles of other young, future star running backs like Eric Dickerson, Tony Dorsett, Walter Payton, et al? And when he fumbled at the end of the Chicago game (which by the way was lost at least equally if not more so by an ineptly played special teams performance and a defense that generated no pass rush and gave up 36 points to the Bears) it was his first drop in four games. Furthermore he ran for nearly 1400 yards and 18 touchdowns this season – and was criticized throughout the season for not breaking enough big runs. For those numbers in, potentially, a down season, I’ll take seven fumbles.

– The NFL eliminating supplemental revenue sharing likely wouldn’t affect the league’s competitive balance because it never has before. This simply ignores the fact that there has been a salary cap preventing teams from dramatically outspending their league brethren the way the Yankees outspend every other team in Major League Baseball. Does he seriously think that owners like Daniel Snyder and Jerry Jones wouldn’t do the same thing the Yankees do in an uncapped NFL?
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