FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Fall has truly arrived in all its New England splendor out here...just a gorgeous sight.  This is amazing, because back in Seattle, fall isn't really a season.  Summer abruptly halts, and then you're stuck with 6 months of gray skies and mist.  So to have a real fall again is great.  That crisp fall air, the leaves changing colors, smells of cider, pumpkins....and football on the couch.

While gaining a fall is a great thing, gotta say the West Coast has a better setup for watching football on the TV.  Games start at 10am, and the final bell sounds at about 8:30.  Just the perfect setup...roll out of bed, have some breakfast while watching the early games...grab lunch before the late games start...and have dinner while watching the Sunday Night game.  Plus, the games are over in time to watch a movie with the wife.  This not starting till 1pm thing is whacky...just feels like the morning is spent waiting for football...don't like that feeling.  And the Sunday night game doesn't end till midnight...luckily this week's game was boring, so didn't feel the need to stick around.  Maybe it just takes some getting used to...but so far, the West Coast has the better setup for that.

The other great thing about the NFL on the West Coast...my daughter was able to enjoy more of the games with me.  Her nap causes her to miss most of the first game, and she goes to bed before the Sunday night game...just cuts into the bonding time.  But even with this obstacle she's becoming a great football fan...don't worry, we'll cover this in a bit...

Random thoughts from the couch...

Forgot how much I loved watching Thomas Jones play.  He's not a super flashy back, but he gets the job done.  No dancing around, just 1 good move and get up field.  And he knows how to make a screen work.  For all those people wondering what's wrong with the Bears offense...the answer is playing for the Jets.  Look back over last year; he was the one constant in the offense.  Why I thought we'd be fine without him, I have no idea.

"Physicality" is not a word...and yet broadcasters continue to use it.  And you can't "Out Physical" someone.  Just like you can't "Out Mental" someone...you "out think them".  Physical is not a verb people, you can be physical, you can't physical.

What is the success rate on end-a-rounds?  My guess is 1 in 20...and that's totally made up numbers...they just seem like a horrible idea.  It's a total boom or bust play...huge gain, and huge loss...hate to see a team calling them a lot.

Okay, if my wife asked me to cook dinner, and she returned home to Pizza Hut...the words "I love you" would not be her response...her response would end up as a bunch of asterisks on the site, so it's not worth the time to type it.

During the Cowboys-Rams game, Troy Aikman stated "The league should find a way to slow down the offense so they can't rush to the line to avoid a coaches challenge on a play".  What!?  There are so many things wrong with this, it's hard to know where to start...

The last thing we need to do is slow down the game, bad idea.

Rushing to the line is a risk for the offense and defense.  It's basically sacrificing the outcome of the next play for the outcome of the previous one.  It's not a huge advantage to the offense at all.

A no-huddle hurry up offense is doing just as much to "cheat" the defense as hurrying to the line to avoid a challenge...it stops the other team from subbing in personnel...man, we should do something about that, unfair!!

Aikman is normally a solid color man, and says a lot of insightful things, that's why this one just floored me.  When challenging a play, a coach should rely on 3 things...his gut, his eyes, and his players.  Slowing down the game to give them time to review film...is just silly.

Is there a greater let down in Football, than "Settling for a Field Goal" and then having the kicker shank it?  Both the Rams and Jets did it while still very much in the game, and both went on to lose...just a demoralizing feeling.

Dallas' Offense truly plays street ball out there...Romo breaks contain and his receivers know where to go.  And the whole botched snap that Romo turned into a first down...just an amazing play.  Sorry, I feel like Madden talking about Favre...I'll stop now.

Don't know if you caught it, but Terry Bradshaw made the comment "Brett Favre, only the best QB I've ever seen play...."  Would have loved to have him say that on the CBS set next to Marino...just to see the reaction...

Speaking of Favre...why did Peter King feel the need to bring up his father?  "Hey Brett, you just broke an amazing record, don't you wish your dead father was here?"  Why is that question needed?  Don't you think the guy misses his father everyday of his life?  The same thing happened when Michael Jordan won the Championship after his father died...just ridiculous.  If the athlete brings it up, then it's fine, talk about it.  But don't be the one to rain on the parade...let the guy enjoy the moment...he's on top of the world.  Tomorrow he can return to normal life.  Asking that question is like congratulating the guy, and then kicking him between the legs.  Sports has enough drama, we don't need to bring more into it...especially forcing it in.

A final Favre thought...my wife decided to try to annoy me by getting my daughter to cheer for Favre or anyone besides the Bears...she kept saying..

"Say, Go Favre!"

"Say, Go Colts!"

"Say, Go Patriots!"

"Say, Go Packers!"

My daughter responded every time with a "Go Bears!!"  You couldn't find a more proud papa than me last night...

Here are the numbers from the weekend...9 of the top 25 fell in College football, and there were 6 upsets in the NFL...just a nutty weekend all around.

Finally, one last thought and then I'll shut up...

McNabb looks horrible.  I've seen his last 3 games now...and he's looked amazing against the HORRIBLE Lions D (they let the Bears score 27, by far the most all year by them)...and he's looked awful against the Skins and Giants.  Against the Skins he couldn't hit an open receiver if you gave him 5 tries.  And against the Giants...he looked like Grossman...holding the ball too long, and being smacked by the rush.  He has no sense of the pocket right now...NONE.  There were 3 games that I followed closely...Dallas-St Louis, Indy-Denver and Philly NYG...Romo has some of the best pocket awareness I've ever seen...Manning doesn't move much, but he gets the ball out of there before trouble hits...but McNabb...man, he was running INTO trouble all game.  Watch the game again...he actually runs into several sacks and hurries.  Grossman-like is the way to describe that performance...and that's not a compliment.

If the Patriots beat the Bengals tonight, I'll have managed a 9-5 for my picks this week...not to shabby with the nutty week we just had....but in the end, it doesn't matter...any fall Sunday spent on the couch is a good one.