Season ends with Super game

by | Feb 5, 2011 | 2010 season, NFL Gambling, NFL Picks, Super Bowl

I have a confession to make. I’m not really a fan of the Super Bowl.

It’s partially because as I was growing up many of the games failed to meet expectations. As entertaining as some of the advertisements can be, in my eyes they’ve never made up for sitting through a 56-10 drubbing in what is supposed to be the NFL’s showcase game.

It’s also partially because my team has never managed to win the big one, so yes, I admit to some sour grapes.

But primarily it’s because it means the season is ending and we’ll be subjected to several months before the next meaningful matchup. This year’s big game in Dallas is even more bittersweet, as the out-of-touch honchos of the National Football League and its Players Union have shown little urgency in their efforts to solve the collective bargaining issues — meaning there’s a shot this could be the last game in a long, long time.

So, while I like the marathon of the season and the chase of the playoffs more than the Super Bowl itself, at least this years version should provide an interesting game.

Pittsburgh vs Green Bay (-2.5) at Dallas: Over/Under 45.5

Both of these NFL heavyweights have been around forever. The Steelers have six Vince Lombardi trophies. The Packers have three. The Packers have Aaron Rodgers, who can complete finish the masterful job he has done replacing legendary Brett Favre with a win Sunday. The Steelers have Ben Roethlisberger, who can take another step in rehabilitating his image by winning a third Super Bowl ring. (more…)

Randy “Woody” Moss? Weird season getting weirder

by | Dec 17, 2010 | 2010 season, NFL Random Thoughts

Let’s see, Randy Moss allegedly was run out of New England this season because he wasn’t getting along with teammates and/or coaches.

He was run out of Minnesota, after Bill Belichick stole a third round pick from the Vikings for him, when he allegedly tried to get then-coach Brad Childress fird and berated a catering company serving lunch to team players and officials.

And he’s been nearly invisible, even getting benched, in five games with the Tennessee Titans.

Has he sunk to calling a radio show under the pseudonym “Woody” and ripping another coach, Jeff Fisher?

The recording isn’t entirely conclusive to my ears. But Clay Travis from Fanhouse believes it probably was Moss who called a show co-hosted by Travis ripping Fisher for a multitude of perceived sins (There’s a recording of the show linked to the story linked above that contains the audio in question).

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Moss to Tennessee just might work

by | Nov 4, 2010 | 2010 season, NFL Random Thoughts

Picture 1998. Randy Moss is a rookie. He’s ticked. Twenty teams passed on him in the draft before Minnesota took him in the draft. He plays with a chip on his shoulder. All season long he runs straight down the field. Randall Cunningham wings the ball deep. As often as not Moss catches it for a big play.

Moss tallied 17 touchdowns that season, tied for the second most prolific of his amazing and enigmatic career.

Now it’s 2010. He’s definitely no longer a rookie but Randy Moss, despite having lost a step or two, is still extremely athletic and able to trick defensive backs into thinking he has no chance to make a play only to suddenly snag the ball before it hits the turf … when he wants to. Will the Tennessee Titans figure out a way to coax the mercurial wide receiver into maximizing those talents this season now that they have claimed Moss off waivers?

Time will tell. But there are some interesting similarities between his situation in 1998 and his situation now that lead me to believe Jeff Fisher and the titans might have a chance to make this move really pay off.

Randall Cunningham was the Vikings quarterback most of 1998. He was not always the most accurate passer, nor was he always adept at reading defenses. But he was incredibly athletic, moving around to make plays, and he had a fantastic arm. I remember watching some of those long passes rainbow through the air seemingly forever, which gave Moss time to make a move, speed up, slow down, come back to the ball or do something else spectacular in order to make a play.

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Green Bay Packers fans suffer rough Tuesday

by | Oct 5, 2010 | 2010 season, 2010 Trades

The Green Bay Packers escaped Sunday afternoon with a tightly contested win over Detroit. It’s hard to win in the NFL and the Pack did, so despite the closer-than-expected score, it was a good day for the green and gold. The weekend ended even better for Green Bay fans when the New York Giants exposed Chicago on Sunday Night Football.

It’s been downhill since.

Tuesday opened with the news that safety Morgan Burnett had torn his ACL and would miss the rest of the season. This was a pretty good-sized blow for a secondary already missing Al Harris.

Still, the secondary has been pretty good this season. The Packers are seventh in the league in pass defense through four weeks, giving up 185 yards per game. And Atari Bigby will be back eventually, so Burnett’s loss alone won’t kill Green Bay’s chances to compete for a Super Bowl.

But the news got worse.

A few hours later news leaked that the Buffalo Bills had traded Marshawn Lynch. To Seattle. For a fourth round pick next year and a conditional pick in 2012. Really? Ted Thompson wouldn’t cough up a fourth round pick to improve a run game that, so far, has looked anemic since Ryan Grant was shelved after a week one leg injury?

The Packers are averaging 94.5 yards per game through the first quarter of the season, 22nd in the league. The team averages 3.9 yards-per-carry (tied for 19th) and 24 attempts per game (21st). They have four rushing touchdowns, which ties them for fourth in the league, but so far Brandon Jackson and John Kuhn are far from proving they can carry the load they’ve been asked to take over since Grant went down.

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