Lions play like kitties on Thanksgiving

by | Nov 26, 2008 | NFL Random Thoughts

I heard it – I knew I would hear it eventually but I thought it’d be some cliche-spewing television announcer during the Titans/Lions pregame show. Hell, I predicted it about an hour ago in the Best Bets.

But it happened on the Dan Patrick Show this morning on the radio. There has been some discussion of ending the tradition of having both Dallas and Detroit host games every season on Thanksgiving. While Patrick was discussing the issue, someone named Tom called defending the traditional Detroit Thanksgiving game.

He said because the Lions are so bad it’s usually the only time he gets to watch them on television. And when further question by Patrick about whether or not he enjoyed watching bad football, Tom responded that the Lions generally put up a decent fight on Thanksgiving no matter how bad they are.

I have no strong feeling either way on the Cowboys/Lions debate. As long as there is football on Thanksgiving I’ll watch no matter who is playing. It’s part of the fabric of my favorite holiday.

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ESPN Monday Night Football is A Joke

by | Nov 24, 2008 | NFL Media, NFL Random Thoughts

So, I was sitting at a local chain restaurant having a quick bite to eat with my wife tonight, and had my eye on the TV watching a little bit of the pregame show before tonight’s Green Bay Packer vs. New Orleans Saints matchup.  Fortunately, we didn’t have any sound.

The pregame show is bad enough with the group of jokers that they have on set (including a bit with Trent Dilfer that appeared to be talking about what Tony Romo’s return has meant to Terrell Owens and the Cowboys–and I wouldn’t be shocked if he didn’t bother to mention the illegal contact and pushing off that TO appeared to do in every highlight).

But to make it an even bigger waste of time, they aired a segment that appeared to be a “Newlywed Game” type contest of who knows Reggie Bush better–between what I assume was a teammate and Bush’s girlfriend, Kim Kardashian.  That’s right, they devoted at least five minutes of airtime (and who knows how much production time) to a segment that featured a player that is not playing in tonight’s game, and his “celebrity” girlfriend/fiance that is most known for a) having a fat ass, b) having a not quite as famous as Paris Hilton porn tape, and c) getting booted off Dancing with the “supposed” Stars.

Congratulations, ESPN–you have sunk to a new low.

And, to make things worse, in a quick search before writing this, it appears that the Bush/Kardashian bit isn’t limited to Monday Night Pregame–it appears that they are in ESPN: The Magazine, ESPN: The Website, and presumably ESPN: The Vomit Bag.  At least, I hope so–I think I need one after seeing that.

NFL moving Pro Bowl to Super Bowl week, venue

by | Nov 24, 2008 | NFL Random Thoughts

Item F in Peter King’s Ten Things he Thinks he Thinks this week was that the NFL plans to move the Pro Bowl to the venue of the Super Bowl, playing the all-star game as part of the build-up to the game played for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

The Pro Bowl, played in Honolulu, HI since January 1980, has become irrelevant for many reasons, including the lack of star power due to players bowing out of participating and ridiculous rules, such as not allowing blitzing, which make football games lesser football games.

I think the NFL is reaching for solutions here. All-Star games in general just don’t have a lot of appeal these days, I don’t think. I’m not convinced that making the game part of Super Bowl week, which means no players from the participating teams will play, will add any interest to the game at all.

In fact the league could make the Pro Bowl a Powder Puff game featuring the best looking cheerleaders from each team as voted by the fans and I’d be only slightly more likely to watch. … Well, maybe more than slightly more likely. But not because the game would be played at the Super Bowl venue in the week leading up to the big game.

NFL Playoff system flawed?

by | Nov 18, 2008 | NFL Random Thoughts

The Philadelphia Eagles played a piss poor game against Cincinnati last weekend that they were lucky was held in Ohio rather than at Lincoln Financial Field, or the bad will from their fans might have blown Shayne Graham’s overtime field goal through the uprights.

The ugly tie left the Eagles in sole possession of last place in the NFC East with a 5-4-1 record and on the outside looking in at the playoffs as the standings currently sit.

I have little problem with forcing the Eagles to watch the playoffs from their respective living rooms – you can probably make a strong, solid case that a team finishing in fourth place in their own division doesn’t deserve to go to the playoffs. … Except for the fact that if they resided in the NFC North, they’d be in first place.

Yes, the last place team in the league’s best division is better than the best team in a couple divisions – a byproduct of the league’s conversion to the four division format a few year’s back. So far the switch hasn’t allowed any sub-.500 teams into the playoffs, but inevitably it sometime will. And I don’t suspect you’ll get the three North teams tied at 5-5 apologizing if they do make it in or offering the Eagles the spot.

There probably isn’t much the NFL can do about this minor injustice – and maybe they shouldn’t. It makes sense that division champions make the playoffs. There was some talk last year about after two Wild Card teams had better records than division winners about letting those Wild Card teams host first-round playoff games – that’d be a starting point reasonable for discussion.

After that, though, despite having allowed fewer and scoring more points (not that these are perfect measures, but what else are you going to use?) than the three tied NFC North teams that are likely competing to go to the playoffs ahead of the Eagles, there probably aren’t many ways to rejigger the system without completely tearing up the whole format and starting over.

Thoughts anyone?

Who cares if McNabb didn’t know about ties

by | Nov 18, 2008 | NFL Random Thoughts

Donovan McNabb was apparently confused at the end of Philadelphia’s tie with Cincinnati on Sunday, uncertain that that game was actually over.

During the postgame press conference he created somewhat of a shockwave by admitting he was not aware that games could end in ties.

That, along with his three interceptions, earned McNabb a D- ranking, for what it’s worth, from Ross Tucker at CNNSI.com. Granted, the Eagles’ tie with Cincinnati was ugly – and McNabb’s performance was pretty bad as well. Despite commentators saying as time was running out that the tie wouldn’t hurt them because it was a non-conference game, it does, in fact, hurt the Eagles because they play in the NFC East, where their 5-4-1 record leaves them firmly entrenched in last place. If the Eagles miss the playoffs, at the end of the season they’ll look back at this game as one reason why.

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Critics of Raiders offseason – including us – vindicated

by | Nov 14, 2008 | 2008 NFL Free Agency, NFL Random Thoughts

We here at Zoneblitz.com were moderately amused by – and critical of – several of the moves made by the Oakland Raiders during the last off-season. And we weren’t the only ones, not by a long shot.

The team threw eight-figure signing bonuses at a half-dozen players who, at least from an educated fan’s perspective, didn’t make any sense.

We even had the audacity in March to suggest that perhaps the team, ergo Al Davis, was trying to sign a collection of stiffs and dogs so gross that it would put Lane Kiffin in an unwinnable situation and give Davis a reason to get rid of him.

Well, it’s mid-November. The Raiders have the league’s highest payroll this year for yet another 2-7 record.
Kiffin is gone. A couple of the lesser-name guys like defensive end Kalimba Edwards, who has five sacks, have turned out to be solid additions. But as far as the big-name guys who backed Brinks trucks up to the front office complex to drive their bonus bucks home, we’ve been pretty close to right on the mark.

Here a synopsis of how some of the Raiders’ high-profile signings have worked out so far this season:
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