Packers fans should give it up for Ted Thompson

by | Jan 17, 2011 | NFL Random Thoughts

Okay, I don’t get it, Packers fans.

Green Bay is on a tremendous roll right now having ripped through two division champions on the road despite an injury-plagued season and is a game against long-time rival Chicago away from reaching the Super Bowl.

And for the second time in four years the green and gold has reached this point, last losing to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game on a frigid night at Lambeau Field, after Brett Favre threw a bad interception to end the season.

That was an upset loss, as Green Bay was the top seed following a 13-3 regular season in 2007. But that stuff happens. Any given Sunday, yada, yada.

How about sustained success? The team is 21-11 the past two regular seasons with two playoff appearances, and, again, the Packers are in the NFC Championship game for the second time in four seasons. Furthermore, with a lot of depth and a collection of young skill players on both sides of the ball, the team would appear destined to stay competitive well into the future.

Yet many Packers fans still can’t stand Ted Thompson. (more…)

NFL playoffs continue with divisional games

by | Jan 15, 2011 | NFL Picks, NFL Random Thoughts

I haven’t had a very good handle on the NFC all season long. I thought the Bears were going to suck. I was wrong. I thought the 49ers were going to win the NFC West. I was wrong — although in fairness to me, there really wasn’t a team that ended up deserving to win that putrid, dreck-filled division.

Anyway, the trend continued last week. I hit the two AFC matchups, even nailing the scenario in which the Jets would beat Indy, almost to a T.

But the NFC games stymied me. But what the hell. Let’s have another go at it this week, eh? (Pointspreads via Vegas.com)

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Pro Football Hall of Fame 2011 finalists announced

by | Jan 9, 2011 | Hall of Fame, NFL News

The list of candidates for the 2011 Pro Football Hall of Fame class has been narrowed to 15 and it includes three running backs making the cut in their first years of eligibility.

Marshall Faulk, Jerome Bettis and Curtis Martin all survived the winnowing if the list. So did multi-time finalist wide receivers Tim Brown, Cris Carter and Andre Reed, as well as tight end Shannon Sharpe.

First ballot tackle Willie Roaf and multi-time finalist center Dermontti Dawson represent offensive linemen on the list while defenders still under consideration include linemen Richard Dent, Chris Doleman, Charles Haley and Cortez Kennedy. Defensive back Deion Sanders, another first ballot candidate, rounds out the players.

Ed Sabol, founder of NFL Films, is also a finalist as a contributor.
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Raiders fire Cable? Really?

by | Jan 4, 2011 | NFL Random Thoughts

The Oakland Raiders have broken ties with Tom Cable, sending the head coach careening to the unemployment line.

Really, Al Davis? Really

You’re going to hire the guy even though he goes just 4-8 after replacing Lane Kiffin five games into the 2008 season?

You’re not going to fire the guy in August 2009 when he allegedly punched assistant coach Randy Hanson?

Or after he leads the team to another inept 5-11 record during that 2009 season?

But you’re going to fire him now? After the team had eight wins for the first time since the 2002 Super Bowl season? After Darren McFadden finally displayed some semblance of the talent that caused the team to draft him in the first round three years ago?

The reports indicate that the leading candidate to replace Cable is Hue Jackson. Jackson has a good resume and I’m sure he contributed a lot to the team’s turnaround this year.

But that’s just it – the team made a ton of progress this year. Instead of winning four or five games, the team improved to eight wins, including going undefeated in the AFC West division with sweeps over rivals Kansas City, Denver and San Diego.

The team looked far more competent than it has in nearly a decade and, though it does not yet have playoff talent, looked as though it was on the way toward again competing for the postseason with a couple of tweaks.

And the players looked like they wanted to play for the guy. Hue Jackson might end up being a great coach. That’s not the point. The point is that this is a team that appears to be on the upswing and now the owner has inserted a major, dramatic unknown. You know what you have in Cable. He’s not perfect. But for all the stuff Cable could have been fired for over the last couple years, he wasn’t. And, again, he appeared to have the Raiders going in the right direction.

Is this a shrewd move? Or is it Al Davis making one more mistake upon dozens of mistakes he’s made in running this team in recent years?

Based on the recent past, Raiders fans, I’d be less than anxious to find out.