In depth: St. Louis Rams

After several tough seasons, the St. Louis Rams went 7-9, finishing one game from the playoffs in 2010. They had a new quarterback in rookie Sam Bradford and, seemingly, all the momentum in the world. I thought they had the best chance in the division of winning the NFC West.

I was way, way wrong. For our second post-season, in-depth segment, Ryan Van Bibber, editor of Turf Show Times, joined Zoneblitz this week to share his thoughts on what went wrong in 2011 and what has to happen for the Rams to turn things around again in 2012.

Zoneblitz: After 2010 I believed St. Louis would be in the mix for the NFC West championship. What happened that derailed that so dramatically? (more…)

You’re doing a great job, Jonesie

Good news, Cowboys fans. Jerry Jones plans to look in the mirror and “make some changes,” according to a story on the WFAA-TV website.

Not sure what those changes are going to be, since he pretty much said after the season he wasn’t hiring a general manager.

It’s a poor comparison with regard to the importance of the issues at hand, of course, but I’ve always sort of envisioned Jones’ mirror talking to him similarly to how President George W. Bush spoke to Michael Brown during a press conference when the latter was getting criticized for FEMA’s questionable response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans: “You’re doing a great job, Jonesie.”

Jones’ self-assessment that he is providing the coaching and the player personnel as the team’s general manager rings as hollow considering the team’s performance over the years.

The Dallas Cowboys might be the most valuable team in sports and Fortune may have named Jones the National Football League’s fifth-best owner, but the team  with the billion dollar stadium is far from the top of the list when it comes to fielding competitive teams over the last 20-some years. (more…)

In depth: Indianapolis Colts

It’s hard to stay completely up to date on every detail of each of the NFL’s 32 teams. So we’ve decided to try and reach out to the blogger community to help provide some insight.

Over the next few weeks we’re going to get in touch with someone who covers each team to get their thoughts on how the 2011 season went, how they see the draft and free agency playing out and what they expect and hope for in 2012.

The plan is to do a post every couple of days in the same order as the draft. As such, we start with the Indianapolis Colts.

Few teams went from penthouse to outhouse as quickly as Indianapolis did, thanks in large part to the neck injuries that afflicted Peyton Manning all season. So was this a one year aberration? Or are there deeper problems the Colts must address before they can think of being competitive again?

We asked Brett Mock, managing editor and head writer at The Colts Authority, for his thoughts on that and much more. Here’s what he had to say:

Zoneblitz: Peyton Manning’s injuries were obviously a large reason for the Colts’ struggles in 2011, but I was stunned by the level to which the team fell apart. What else factored in?

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Hall of Famer Ward? Hines looking at retirement

This could be turning into a pretty good year for big-name retirements. There’s Jason Taylor for sure. Seems LaDainian Tomlinson is considering hanging it up. And if reports from around the Interwebs are true, Steelers wideout Hines Ward is about to say goodbye to the NFL, as well. (EDIT: Or perhaps not …)

Taylor and Tomlinson would seem to be sure thing inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame at this point. But Ward is an interesting case. He’s close — right on the borderline either way. His numbers were very, very good, but was he that good? Or did he benefit from playing in the NFL as the game — and the long-time run-heavy Steelers — transitioned more and more toward the pass? (more…)

NFL Best Bets 2011 season, Wild Card weekend

I opened last week’s betting post by saying week 17 was going to provide a difficult slate of games to predict, given the varying motivations teams had entering their games. That was the only guess I got right. After a sizzling hot six week stretch put me five games over .500, I ended the season with a 0-4 thud, dropping my record to 34-33-1. That isn’t going to satisfy bettors anywhere, though I can’t complain too much given how poorly I started out. I at least maintained enough of a bankroll to have something left for the playoffs.

My brother, on the other hand, needed a 3-1 week 17 to improve to 31-37 for the year, a mark so low he ran out of money for the rest of the season. So, while he participated in our straight-up picks on who would win the games, he’s sitting out the point spread segment for the playoffs. Here are my best guesses for what this week’s wild card weekend will have in store.
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NFL Picks, 2011 Wild Card playoffs

Well, for the first time in several years we actually made it through a season making picks every week. And with a 12-4 record in week 17, I conquered my brother, who made some obviously grasping picks during the season’s final week in an effort to overtake my lead. His 10-6 record brought his season total to 169-87, three games behind my 172-84. For these efforts I win … bragging rights, I guess.

So, we’ve decided to take this show through the playoffs. The format will change a bit. We’re going to not only provide our pick for who will win the game but some meaningless thoughts about why, as well. So sit back and enjoy.  Or something. (more…)