Hall of Fame nominees for 2014 reduced to 25 semifinalists

by | Nov 20, 2013 | Hall of Fame

Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Logo courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Six coaches and contributors are among the 25 finalists in the running for induction in the 2014 class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Super Bowl winning coaches Tony Dungy and Jimmy Johnson join Eddie DeBartolo Jr., George Young, Paul Tagliabue and Don Coryell as semifinalists.

The list’s next most prominent role is the position of pass rusher, where five men who played linebacker, defensive line or a hybrid between the two moved on to the next round.

Among the prominent first-time candidates are wide receiver Marvin Harrison, tackle Walter Jones and linebacker Derrick Brooks. Harrison joins long-time finalists Andre Reed and Tim Brown at the receiver position where, until Cris Carter was inducted this year, Reed, Brown and Carter each received enough support where their votes seemed to cancel each other out.

Other areas of intrigue are on the offensive line, where newcomer Walter Jones and returning semifinalist Will Shields are strong contenders for enshrinement, and safety, where Steve Atwater and John Lynch move to the next step at a position where voters have not inducted many previous candidates. (more…)

NFL Picks 2013: Week 12

by | Nov 20, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Picks

The last play of the Monday Night Football game not only raised the ire of New England Patriots fans who thought Rob weekly-picksGronkowski was either illegally contacted, held or interfered with on the last play of the game (and they are right). It also kept my brother from gaining any ground on me in our NFL picks segment.

I may not be able to bet worth a damn right now. But I’ve got the straight up thing going on. The Panthers’ narrow escape pulled me into a tie with Tony for Week 11 – we both hit 12 of 15 games.

Fantasy Guru Anthony Maggio and Contributor Rich also had solid weeks, both nailing 10.

So as we head into the regular season’s home stretch, here are the standings:

Week 11 Season totals
Andy 12-3 110-52
Tony 12-3 104-58
Maggio 10-5 98-64
Rich 10-5 97-65

As with last week, when a solid schedule was highlighted by Sunday night and Monday night games that actually mattered, this week’s slate of games is also entertaining. I count six divisional match-ups and a prime time Sunday nighter between Peyton’s Broncos and Brady’s Patriots. Should be some good watching.

Here are our picks for the week: (more…)

ZB Notebook 11-20-13

by | Nov 20, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Random Thoughts

Well, the best Monday Night Football game in quite awhile ended in controversy.

An officiating call – to pick up a flag on the last play of the game when pass interference or illegal contact or defensive holding or criminal assault almost certainly should have been called – overshadowed the fact that the Patriots/Panthers contest was one of the most entertaining games of the 2013 season.

That officiating keeps ending up in the news is disappointing. But all season long, officials have been ridiculously inconsistent in their approaches to pass interference and, in particular, roughing calls, particularly when related to helmet-to-helmet contact.

I’m all for eliminating the kill shot from existence. I don’t think the game’s founding fathers – or at least the helmet’s founding fathers – ever intended for the head gear to be a weapon. But when helmet-to-head contact is getting called when it’s actually shoulder-to-shoulder – or when the receiver ducks his head into a position where the defender has no chance to avoid the contact, something has to be tweaked.

And the pass interference rules … wow. Are they handing out different rule books to different officiating crews? The ref tandems are not even close to consistent. This brings to the forefront again the need for full-time officials.

Former Vice President of Officials Mike Pereira, who on twitter disagreed with Monday night’s decision to pick up the flag, told Fox Sports 1 in September that the rule book is too thick – well, Pro Football Talk has long made the argument that full-time officials would lessen the issues the part-timers face now.

With respect to the Monday night game, VP of Officiating Dean Blandino can say what he wants about this being a judgment call. It’s pretty straightforward to me. There was contact that prevented Rob Gronkowski from having any kind of a chance to make a play on Tom Brady’s last-second pass. A slow-mo video at Pats Pulpit makes it look to me like there were at least three steps taken by the interceptor after LB Luke Kuechly initiated contact with Gronk before the ball was caught.

Now, one play does not make the game. The Patriots should have played better, as Bill Belichick and Tom Brady acknowledged in the postgame interviews. And sure, Gronk being able to catch the ball may be a long shot. But the rules say he should have had that shot. And he didn’t. So it should have been a flag. Nobody is going to change my mind on that.

So … great game, otherwise (more…)

NFL Picks 2013: Week 11

by | Nov 13, 2013 | 2013 season, NFL Picks

Life always feels a little bit more complete during the football season and that’s never more true than when the bye weeks weekly-picksstart winding down and the games take on more importance.

That’s starting to happen now. After a few weeks of lesser inspiring match-ups and six-team bye weeks, there are finally some truly great games in store for the next three weeks.

That’s a relief. Collectively we weren’t very good at picking the winners last week. And if we can’t pick them correctly, we at least ought to be able to enjoy watching them.

Here are the standings so far:

  Week 10 Season totals
Andy 10-4 98-49
Tony 8-6 92-55
Maggio 8-6 88-59
Rich 5-9 87-60

So, with that mediocre week behind us, we now can look forward to a collection of games that includes Kansas City at Denver, New Orleans hosting San Francisco and even a Monday night match-up worth waiting up to watch as New England visits Carolina. Here’s who we think wins: (more…)