by Andy | Feb 22, 2013 | Hall of Fame
Jeff Saturday & Matt Birk
Matt Birk announced his retirement today meaning that the 2012 season was the last for two of the NFL’s most prominent centers over the last decade and change.
Birk joins Jeff Saturday in hanging up his cleats. The Vikings and Ravens center goes out on top, having helped Baltimore to its second Super Bowl championship. It was his only ring despite having played for 15 years.
In addition to winning the Super Bowl once, Birk finishes his career with six Pro Bowl appearances. Saturday leaves the league after a 14 year career that was primarily spent in Indianapolis. He made six Pro Bowl appearances, though the last one this season (with Green Bay) was earned despite his having been benched toward the end of the season. Saturday adds two appearances on the Associated Press NFL All Pro First Team.
So, where do these two greats fall on the all-time list of NFL centers? Both of them were very good to great players but I’m uncertain whether they belong in the Hall of Fame. Using Pro Bowls as a comparative stat has its shortcomings because of fan involvement and all the guys these days who are getting appearances due to superior players pulling out of the game. But offensive linemen are particularly difficult to judge, so comparing their postseason profiles with respect to Pro Bowls and AP All Pro appearances with counterparts who were on the last three NFL All-Decade teams seems a logical place to start. (more…)
by Tony | Dec 29, 2012 | 2012 season, NFL Gambling
As we’ve mentioned time and time again, our bets have sucked all season. We maybe had a two or three week stretch where it looked like things were coming around, but for the most part it’s a good thing our time in Vegas this season was limited to one three night stretch for Andy.
That said, we both did pretty well last week, recovering if only briefly from terrible stretches, posting 3-1 marks in week 16. That improves Andy’s record to 29-34-1. Tony rebounds from back-to-back 0-4 weeks, improving his season record to 27-37.
As we wrap up the regular season, here are our bets for week 17. Use these at your own risk:
(more…)
by Andy | Dec 4, 2012 | 2012 season, NFL Random Thoughts
One of the highlights of the 2012 season continues to be the play of rookie quarterbacks throughout the league. Andrew Luck of the Colts and Robert Griffin III are the most highly publicized, and both continued helping their respective teams toward turnarounds on Sunday and Monday night.
But Russell Wilson also had another career-defining moment, helping the Seahawks to a comeback win over Chicago. In a year without Luck and Griffin, Wilson himself might be in consideration for the Rookie of the Year award.
Brandon Weeden continued his improvement in Cleveland’s win over Oakland. And while Ryan Tannehill and Nick Foles, who showed dramatic improvement Sunday night over what he looked like during the first game against Dallas a month ago, also have had moments.
The game Sunday wasn’t Luck’s best, but he got the job done, particularly when it mattered. The surprising Colts are 8-4. Griffin pulled the Redskins to within a game of the first-place Giants and evened Washington’s record at 6-6. It’s been years before this team has been relevant in December.
Of the league’s 32 teams, six are starting rookies and another seven are starting second-year guys right now. We’ve started some research on how these guys look at this point. We’ve got a ways to go before we’re ready to put anything out, but as guys like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees (still three of the top five or six in the game) continue aging, it does appear as though the league is in good hands in its search for the stars of tomorrow. (more…)
by Tony & Andy | Nov 29, 2012 | 2012 season, NFL Gambling
We’re getting into the latter stages of the regular season and, with that, come rivalry games and divisional contests that are notoriously difficult to pick. And yes, that is a blatant excuse for why last week – which I predicted upfront would be a tough one – didn’t go so well.
Tony managed a split. His 2-2 mark brought him to 22-26 for the season. I hit my upset – Washington over Dallas on Thanksgiving – but after two straight 3-1 weeks, I managed only a push and two losses in my other bets during week 12. So I’m at 20-27-1 on the year.
Week 13 is tough again, but hopefully it can’t be any worse than last week. Here goes: (more…)
by Andy | Nov 15, 2012 | 2012 season, NFL Gambling
Well, what do you know? We had a decent week. My 3-1 and Tony’s 4-0 make it look like we actually have a clue what’s going on in the NFL.
We were due. The wins bring him to 18-22 while I “improve” to 16-24. Are we about to get on that midseason roll? Time will tell.
Here are our picks for week 11. (more…)
Loading ...
Paul I guess but did you see my other comment
There is a tight timeline of only a few weeks to schedule these, perhaps Joe and Jerry had previous commitments
I’m surprised Charles Haley and Ronnie Lott knocked on the door of Roger Craig I thought it would be Joe…
Paul totally but would you agree it would make a great book
Thought many times about writing one but would take inside knowledge from those who were there (voters) to really have…