BALTIMORE RAVENS
By: Frank White
There has been one story for this team during the past decade, and that is of show stopping defense and an offense that just can't quite cut it. After hoping for 10 years for an offense to show up, the defense still manages to give it everything it has. If that isn't being faithful I don't know what is. In their efforts to turn things around and make some noise they gambled on a small school rookie QB who started from day one (continuing the repression of a certain Heisman trophy winner) and changed their man at the top to one Mr. Harbaugh, who had no head coaching or coordinator experience before.
One might not expect to replace a Super Bowl-winning Brian Billick with a fresh face in order to make a comeback with a fresh face at QB as well. It'd seem even more unlikely given that Flacco was purported to not have played in front of big crowds, with big stakes, or with big time talent around him. Though Flacco barely did the part-time job they gave him, he still did it and showed that having thrown a ball competently before, a few more fans wasn't going to turn him into a bad day for Sage Rosenfels. Still, they took gambles at the top and on offense and it seemed to work out for them in a big way.
The Ravens made a lot of noise in the postseason last year, losing eventually in the AFC championship game to the Steelers. That was further than they were expected to go and there's no shame in losing to the Steelers in Pittsburgh, but it probably stings to get so far only to get shut down by someone you already had a pair of extremely narrow losses to during the regular season. I mean they lost games by 4 points, 3 points, and then with a 2 point deficit in the 4th quarter of the AFC championship game, 3-interception Joe decides to set the bar about ankle high.
Speaking of Flacco and Pittsburgh, they seemed to figure him out over the 3 contests last year, which means Flacco will have to get Cam Cameron to take big steps forward with the offense or have the Ravens' defense play offense too when they visit the Steelers next year. They'll have to do that while maintaining their dominating defense however and the departure of Rex Ryan could be a big blow. The Ravens seem to be able to lose players and coaches and keep on moving; it's rather remarkable the way they do it.
Now Mr. Ryan isn't just riding the coattails of great players but it doesn't hurt that the personnel is so good. Ed Reed still makes it happen and gives the coaches the versatility to do all kinds of things that few teams can replicate on the field or in practice. If your goals are Super Bowls and Super Bowls, it's plain to see that hasn't been enough. Then again even with the uncertainty at the top last season the Ravens bounced back from disappointment, so hopefully they can make even incremental gains going forward with more coaching changes.
The old defense, continuing to defy the common sense predictions of regression because of age has shown everyone and themselves that they are not pussies. Apparently that means a lot to them and we should acknowledge it directly. It's getting really old though, I'm talking like last years' Patriots defense old, and unfortunately it's the stars: Trevor Pryce, Samari Rolle, Ray Lewis, Kelly Greg are 32 or older, while Ed Reed is 30. After these guys leave the team probably won't feel the same at all, and it's coming. Maybe they'll start a nursing home team we can watch and the champion of the league gets the best graveyard plot. Or maybe Baltimore will just cancel football. We just don't know.
Looking to the future, can the offense show up soon enough to support their defense to a division and NFL title? It's young and should progress on its own, especially with Flacco, Gaither and now Oher to combine with good tough runners and interior linemen. Their addition of Michael Oher was a fantastic choice by the way. They'd made an ill-advised trade for Willis McGahee earlier to no effect, and will likely now let their two young tackles ferment to the point that the running game is back to where it needs to be to carry the team.
It seems likely that given the personnel involved on offense and the hopeful continued strength of the defense, they should be able to pace basically any game they get themselves into. I hate to say it but they could really use some young blood, or any blood at receiver but it seems likely they can continue to at least get by with just no-name guys who can catch. The passing game again should not be worrying too many defensive coordinators, so they should expect to get some fairly consistent man to man looks.
The trouble with the combination of defense and running and a little passing going forward is they need to beat the Steelers. Being a Chargers fan there's something you learn about the Ravens and the Steelers: you don't get to run on them. If you have great personnel, you might get 3 yards where you should have had none, but you will not win any games that way. This was again pretty apparent when Baltimore kept stoning the Dolphins. The wildcat has its place and is not the hated big deal the media made it out to be, but at its heart it's still a run play and that means that Baltimore won't be having it.
On that note, its conceivable that the Ravens could try taking more chances to find something that might allow their offense to be better against just this one team. You don't win the Super Bowl by beating one team, but as far as matchups go, the Steelers having a slightly worse defense and decent-good QB in Roethlisberger (no, Super Bowl wins aren't the QB's fault when you're a team like the Steelers) is not something that will favor the Ravens. If Flacco can step it up with his new help up front in the next year or two, it's pretty apparent the Ravens are giving themselves a wonderful chance to succeed. Their defense will fall apart sometime, but Flacco isn't ready for life without great field position. You can't ask for much more than that. I would like to mention again though that going 0-3 in a year by a total of 9 points (almost), even in low scoring games, you could probably just hope the butterfly's wings beat faster next time so you can win.
Speaking of Flacco, he's a hack. It's really asinine when you put a QB in a situation he can't possibly screw up and then laud him for not screwing it up. When you're 4th in the league in rush yards and 28th in the league in passing and everyone knows you aren't going to be passing with your small-school-gamble rookie QB, you don't have a good passer. There's essentially nothing that prescribes he can't be good, especially since they're bolstering the offensive line like sensible people, but it'll certainly cheapen the moment if he actually starts to deliver the ball to his own team. The Ravens gambled when they drafted him and they won. They gambled on their head coach who had no previous experience and they won. Somehow draft analysts feel that Michael Oher, who's remarkable life is being made into a movie to be released during his rookie season, was a gamble. It isn't a gamble, so they're 3 for 3. It seems they can do no wrong and I'd fancy a guess that it has something to do with their defense. You don't earn 2nd and 3rd in the league across the major defensive categories by being a slouch, and the defense was the one constant.
Jared Gaither was a great pick a few years ago in the supplemental draft and appears to be the promising talent they projected him as. Willie Anderson has stepped down, so Oher might get some time immediately and we can see how he will develop. In the offseason Suggs received a giant $60 dollar deal. He's been good but the Ravens are great at moving on without great talents, like Adalius Thomas most recently, and that's quarterback type dough. Lock down your good players sure, but try not to set dangerous precedents. $60 million is serious walking around money. Their draft wasn't spectacular besides Oher but Paul Kruger is an interesting prospect since he switched directly from QB to D-line in college. Will Johnson also set a record for bench reps at his pro day, but unless his pre-snap stance involves lying down on the ground he'll have to get by with his 47 collegiate games played at a major program.
The bottom line is that the Ravens have a window to go all the way if they can avoid Pittsburgh or beat them when it counts. Everything is on the way up, ages included, but there should still be a year or two left before the wheels totally fall off. They'll have to make it count, and if Flacco doesn't improve even a little the running game and defense could still take it to the Super Bowl again like it's the 1960’s and they probably will.
We’re not only on whatever site this is on, we’re pimping it out on three different blogs, so don’t be a stranger:
B/R: http://bleacherreport.com/users/109002-2nd-and-wrong
Blogspot: http://2ndandwrong.blogspot.com/
Wordpress: http://2ndandwrong.wordpress.com/
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Atlanta Falcons: Off-Season Review
ATLANTA FALCONS
By: Benjamin Martin
Sorry for the lengthy delay, business had to be taken care of (if anyone knows the best way to get rid of hooker blood send me an email ASAP).
The Atlanta Falcons surprised many a football fan this past year going 11-5 and making the playoffs as a Wild Card. They’re in the division that claims each team is supposed to have a chance at winning every year, or the “bottom finishes at the top” division. I say that is poppycock. Teams win for a reason, not just because they finished in last place the previous year. And the reason the Atlanta Falcons turned it around is the ground game, plain and simple.
Michael “The Burner” Turner. He’s the new Michael Vick-esque player in Atlanta. Except he actually has talent. Vick wasn’t talented. I like to think of talent as being able to bring your skills together and deliver, whereas Vick just had a diverse skill set. He couldn’t pass the ball. At QB. Put DeAngelo Williams at QB, and he’ll rush for just as many TD’s and throw just as many. You’ve got to realize when it’s time to switch positions. How can you throw the ball a mile, but not hit a 10 yard in?
Enough about Vick. The ground game saved this team. Or resurrected it, because it was dead for a long time. Their O-line really showed up, which was nice to see. The left side is made of day one players from the last two drafts, and the other side just exceeded expectations. Roddy White also showed up, which helped open up the box. So basically you just had a bunch of offensive players coming into their own at the right time. Sam Baker will be healthy this year after being the Falcons’ first round pick last year, so that’ll be an added boost.
I’d like to take some time to talk about Turner though, because he’s special. It’s been said before about someone else but since you won’t remember and you probably have never heard it before I’m going to adapt it: Michael Turner runs like he caught somebody beating up his mom. This guy right now is one of the top running backs in the league. If I was to build a team tomorrow and had to pick one running back, I’m taking this guy. The speed and power that he runs with are unparalleled. Adrian Peterson goes to bed at night and wishes that he could be Michael Turner when he wakes up. It’s not like it’s his first year either. He had a 5.5 yards per carry average over his four years in San Diego as a spell back for LT, and that includes big games of 100+ yards that he posted when he got to see a near-feature role in the offense. He’s the real deal, and in my opinion the best running back in the league right now. But I have a boner for big, fast workhorse running backs. I’ll take Michael Turner’s manhood out of my mouth for a moment so I can mention Jerious Norwood, who is as a dynamic number two/compliment back as there is.
I don’t know if I can make this clear or not, but the Atlanta Falcons’ success had little to nothing to do with “Matty Ice”. If anything, they benefitted from his youth and inexperience and desire to not embarrass himself attempting throws he shouldn’t. Frankly, I think Matt Ryan is and will always be a par to sub-par quarterback. Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl with the Ravens and Brad Johnson won one with the Buccaneers. Those teams were anchored by their defenses, but they were also supported by a quarterback whose job was not to screw anything up. Turner and the running game opened up the field by forcing teams to crowd the box, making the necessary throws that much easier. Matt Ryan was inconsistent at Boston College with a sub-60% completion percentage. It doesn’t even list how many interceptions he threw on the official Boston College athletics website. His claim to fame came after leading his shitty team to a victory with two touchdown passes in the final two minutes over a shittier Virginia Tech team. Ah, there we go. 31 TDs vs. 19 INTs. Accuracy is overrated.
Enough about how much of a joke Matt Ryan is, it’s time for the defense. I’m going to be honest: when I think about the Falcons’ defense my mind just goes blank. Not exactly good, but it means they weren’t someone you could walk over. They seemed to get the job done at least some of the time since the team finished with a great record.
In terms of additions, the Falcons seemed to get the job done very well. On offense they’re obviously pretty set. They’re a relatively young team, so the only thing they need is time. They went out and traded for Tony Gonzalez though, which is a pretty excellent move. Gonzalez is still a great option, he keeps himself in great shape and he will add a wonderful outlet for Matt Ryan to increase his completion percentage, completed passes and will make people actually think he’s good. There’s nothing like a good TE to dump the ball off to. Gonzalez, however, is not the best tight end in the league right now contrary to what Warren Sapp thinks.
On defense, the Falcons made noise. They spent their first 5 picks in the draft on defense, including a first round pick on Peria Jerry, DT. Even if I hadn’t been talking about Michael Turner before, then I would definitely be moist by now. The next two picks went to the secondary, with Williams Moore, S, being taken 2nd. He’s an intriguing prospect, and is supposed to be good value after being regarded as an upper-tier player until injuries in his final season slowed him down.
The Falcons D-line gets upgraded nicely with Jerry, and he will help free up John Abraham and Jamaal Anderson to make even more plays at DE. My favourite move that the Falcons made this offseason was the addition of Mike Peterson. He’s always been a terrific player and only lost face because he had a falling out with Del Rio in Jacksonville. Now he’s in Atlanta, behind a tremendous front 4, ready to make plays. The secondary is young and led by Erik Coleman but they’ll get better with every game played, and that’s not a good thing for other teams. The Falcons are a prime example right now of building through the draft and being frugal in free agency.
Frankly, if it weren’t for the Panthers being in their division I would guarantee that you’d see these guys in the playoffs again. It’s a tight division, but I don’t think New Orleans has enough to make it happen and that the Panthers are still the better team right now. There’s another team, but it speaks volumes that I don’t know who they are off hand. Hahaha, it’s the Buccaneers. Oh Tampa…
By: Benjamin Martin
Sorry for the lengthy delay, business had to be taken care of (if anyone knows the best way to get rid of hooker blood send me an email ASAP).
The Atlanta Falcons surprised many a football fan this past year going 11-5 and making the playoffs as a Wild Card. They’re in the division that claims each team is supposed to have a chance at winning every year, or the “bottom finishes at the top” division. I say that is poppycock. Teams win for a reason, not just because they finished in last place the previous year. And the reason the Atlanta Falcons turned it around is the ground game, plain and simple.
Michael “The Burner” Turner. He’s the new Michael Vick-esque player in Atlanta. Except he actually has talent. Vick wasn’t talented. I like to think of talent as being able to bring your skills together and deliver, whereas Vick just had a diverse skill set. He couldn’t pass the ball. At QB. Put DeAngelo Williams at QB, and he’ll rush for just as many TD’s and throw just as many. You’ve got to realize when it’s time to switch positions. How can you throw the ball a mile, but not hit a 10 yard in?
Enough about Vick. The ground game saved this team. Or resurrected it, because it was dead for a long time. Their O-line really showed up, which was nice to see. The left side is made of day one players from the last two drafts, and the other side just exceeded expectations. Roddy White also showed up, which helped open up the box. So basically you just had a bunch of offensive players coming into their own at the right time. Sam Baker will be healthy this year after being the Falcons’ first round pick last year, so that’ll be an added boost.
I’d like to take some time to talk about Turner though, because he’s special. It’s been said before about someone else but since you won’t remember and you probably have never heard it before I’m going to adapt it: Michael Turner runs like he caught somebody beating up his mom. This guy right now is one of the top running backs in the league. If I was to build a team tomorrow and had to pick one running back, I’m taking this guy. The speed and power that he runs with are unparalleled. Adrian Peterson goes to bed at night and wishes that he could be Michael Turner when he wakes up. It’s not like it’s his first year either. He had a 5.5 yards per carry average over his four years in San Diego as a spell back for LT, and that includes big games of 100+ yards that he posted when he got to see a near-feature role in the offense. He’s the real deal, and in my opinion the best running back in the league right now. But I have a boner for big, fast workhorse running backs. I’ll take Michael Turner’s manhood out of my mouth for a moment so I can mention Jerious Norwood, who is as a dynamic number two/compliment back as there is.
I don’t know if I can make this clear or not, but the Atlanta Falcons’ success had little to nothing to do with “Matty Ice”. If anything, they benefitted from his youth and inexperience and desire to not embarrass himself attempting throws he shouldn’t. Frankly, I think Matt Ryan is and will always be a par to sub-par quarterback. Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl with the Ravens and Brad Johnson won one with the Buccaneers. Those teams were anchored by their defenses, but they were also supported by a quarterback whose job was not to screw anything up. Turner and the running game opened up the field by forcing teams to crowd the box, making the necessary throws that much easier. Matt Ryan was inconsistent at Boston College with a sub-60% completion percentage. It doesn’t even list how many interceptions he threw on the official Boston College athletics website. His claim to fame came after leading his shitty team to a victory with two touchdown passes in the final two minutes over a shittier Virginia Tech team. Ah, there we go. 31 TDs vs. 19 INTs. Accuracy is overrated.
Enough about how much of a joke Matt Ryan is, it’s time for the defense. I’m going to be honest: when I think about the Falcons’ defense my mind just goes blank. Not exactly good, but it means they weren’t someone you could walk over. They seemed to get the job done at least some of the time since the team finished with a great record.
In terms of additions, the Falcons seemed to get the job done very well. On offense they’re obviously pretty set. They’re a relatively young team, so the only thing they need is time. They went out and traded for Tony Gonzalez though, which is a pretty excellent move. Gonzalez is still a great option, he keeps himself in great shape and he will add a wonderful outlet for Matt Ryan to increase his completion percentage, completed passes and will make people actually think he’s good. There’s nothing like a good TE to dump the ball off to. Gonzalez, however, is not the best tight end in the league right now contrary to what Warren Sapp thinks.
On defense, the Falcons made noise. They spent their first 5 picks in the draft on defense, including a first round pick on Peria Jerry, DT. Even if I hadn’t been talking about Michael Turner before, then I would definitely be moist by now. The next two picks went to the secondary, with Williams Moore, S, being taken 2nd. He’s an intriguing prospect, and is supposed to be good value after being regarded as an upper-tier player until injuries in his final season slowed him down.
The Falcons D-line gets upgraded nicely with Jerry, and he will help free up John Abraham and Jamaal Anderson to make even more plays at DE. My favourite move that the Falcons made this offseason was the addition of Mike Peterson. He’s always been a terrific player and only lost face because he had a falling out with Del Rio in Jacksonville. Now he’s in Atlanta, behind a tremendous front 4, ready to make plays. The secondary is young and led by Erik Coleman but they’ll get better with every game played, and that’s not a good thing for other teams. The Falcons are a prime example right now of building through the draft and being frugal in free agency.
Frankly, if it weren’t for the Panthers being in their division I would guarantee that you’d see these guys in the playoffs again. It’s a tight division, but I don’t think New Orleans has enough to make it happen and that the Panthers are still the better team right now. There’s another team, but it speaks volumes that I don’t know who they are off hand. Hahaha, it’s the Buccaneers. Oh Tampa…
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Arizona Cardinals: Off-Season Review
Hello again!
This being our first official post, I think it goes without saying that it’s probably best to take it slow. After all, we’re just ordinary people. No need to jump right in and spend the next two hours awkwardly wrestling with certain topics, only to be left completely disturbed and unsatisfied.
So slow it is. Since we have zero history to draw from or build on, we might as well start big. What we’ll do for the next little while is go through the last 10 or so months in the football world. We’re not going to really examine how everyone did because that season is already over and we know how it all shook out. What we will do is look at what teams had and how they addressed their deficiencies in the offseason. Essentially, we’ll be recapping each team’s draft and off-season acquisitions, as well as adding in our own suggestions and expert insight. Because we’re the best. Hell yeah.
These will be divided up between my partner and myself, so you won’t hear from both of us on each team. I’m sure there are points where we’ll disagree and we’ll probably bring those disagreements to light on the blog. We will also review a few teams twice, just because there are certain teams that I absolutely hate and refuse to say anything nice about. Come to think of it, we’ll each review the Bengals and the Chargers, just because they’re each of our favourites. In the essence of fairness, of course.
Note: we HAVE already picked our four teams to shamelessly praise, so see if you can pick them out in the coming preview reviews. We’ll also be doing this alphabetically, just so you don’t get any hints. And if you do pick them out, don’t bother seeking our approval. We won’t let the answer slip until the end of the season.
Without further ado:
ARIZONA CARDINALS
By: Benjamin Martin
The defending NFC champs. Talk about a surprise. Or talk about saving it for when it counts. They really played that situation well. And at the same time you had the Patriots fans crying about it because their team went like 11-5 and didn’t make it. If, after half the season, you had clinched your division title and a playoff berth, why not rest up? Had Kurt Warner handled the ball better on the goal line in the second half, the Cardinals would’ve won the Super Bowl. Oh well. I think we can all agree that Larry Fitzgerald has a big ass and big, manly hands. And that Anquan Boldin is a grown ass man.
Aside from the Fitz’s anatomy though, let’s look at the team’s strengths and weaknesses. Straight up, this is one of those “I don’t know how they do it” teams, like the 2008 Super Bowl Giants. Well, I know how they did that. They spent the whole game in and around Tom Brady’s butthole, that’s how they did thatt. But seriously, this is one of those teams where everyone just decides to show up at the same time and they click.
Depth-wise, on paper the Cardinals don’t seem too bad. That could be why they made the Super Bowl. This stuff is definitely my true calling. For real though, not many weaknesses on paper. On offense, they have the most dynamic WR duo in the league, bar none (and seriously, Boldin needs to realize that his elite level of play is tied directly to the presence of Fitzgerald, and vice versa. Leaving Arizona would hurt both their values and production), and with that they have one of the best #3 WRs as well. Kurt Warner writes a new will daily, but he’s still one of the better options in the league. He’s at least top 32, so he deserves a starting spot somewhere, and with the best people in the game to throw to, he’s got room to work with. Leinart needs to get his shit together or else he’s going to lose what could be a very good team.
Their ground game has been their biggest problem in recent years, so they addressed that in the draft. They just did it totally wrong. Now, you’ll find in the coming months that we have a strict view on the running game, and the offense in general. It all comes from the offensive line. No blocks, no holes = no yards. That’s math. It’s an equation. LaDainian Tomlinson didn’t get all those TDs because he perfected the spin move. He got them because his line mauled people, and then he got all these one-on-ones in the open field. When you’re as shifty as he is, you tend to win those. He did a lot of the work by himself, but no O-line means lots of those TDs disappear. The Cardinals wanted to fix their running game, but they went about it all wrong. They signed an over-the-hill Edgerrin James, who is a role player (role: running behind a great line in Indianapolis into the box that was only filled with 3 guys because everyone was back in coverage trying to stop Peyton). Edge wasn’t going to carry any loads, not at that age. Tim Hightower showed up last year while Edge was busy crying, and then they went out and drafted Beanie Wells in the first round. Not necessarily a bad pick, except I’m pretty sure he has health issues and that the way he runs doesn’t exactly compliment Hightower. Wells is a big back, but I don’t know if he’s exactly a bruiser. He’s supposed to be fast, though I think he shit the bed at the combine. A 4.59 is fast for a running back his size, but you already have Hightower, so why not go with the DeAngelo Williams-style compliment? It seems like he’s kind of a tweener. He’s big, and fast for his size, but when he tries to lower the boom, he gets carted off the field. Not saying it happens all the time, but Ray Lewis broke Rashard Mendenhall’s shoulder by hitting him, so there’s some pain dished out in the big leagues. Apparently Wells also clocked a 4.34 at his Pro Day. But that was at his Pro Day. I just find it odd, having a power back, and then drafting a back that is seemingly just a quicker power back. Except he can’t take the hits a power back can. What they should have done was find some way to get their hands on an offensive lineman. If you want a better running game, get better blocking. I can run through open holes and I’m not a running back. You can always use an upgrade on the line, always. Just think about all the great runners and offenses in the league, and then look at their O-line. I’ll bet you know a lot of the names on it. I only know Levi Brown on the Cards. And Mike Gandy. That’s two out of 5. And they’ve only got two first-day players on the line (players taken in round 1 or 2). The draft isn’t just a random picking of players. The best are usually taken first. Sure, you can be like Ryan Leaf! Ki-Jana Carter! Akili Smith! But then I’ll be like Peyton Manning bitch, sit down. The Cards waited until the 5th and 7th round to address the line, and that just won’t be enough. There weren’t a lot of players available with the 31st pick, but Eben Britton went 7th in the 2nd round. Trade down, get a little more value, and don’t waste a pick.
On defense, this team showed up to play. Like good gosh darn. They have a pretty damn good line, and it showed (not that it takes much for Ben Roethlisberger to play terribly GO BENGALS). They spent a second round pick on a DE, which to me seems like a bit of a waste when you have other needs you could address. I’m of the mindset that you want to get good at all your positions, instead of just getting someone really good and then having everyone else be okay. You don’t go into the river in poker holding just one ace. You need at least a straight draw or a flush draw or a pair to make something happen. Their linebacking corps is pretty solid and probably the weakest link in their defense. Their secondary is impressive, with one of the best safeties in the NFL with Adrian Wilson. Their biggest weakness on defense though, if you watched the Super Bowl, is Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. If after the game you asked yourself “When did Santonio Holmes become that good?” the answer would be he didn’t. Cromartie blew coverage after coverage on him all night. Then again they weren’t so much blown coverages as he’d just give him too much space and then get beaten because he can’t tackle to save his life like 95% of the cornerbacks in the league. Cromartie handed him nearly every catch. That game-winner was a shame too. It was covered about as good as it could have been, and fades like that to the back corner are very tough to defend. But it should never have come to that point because a) Cromartie should’ve at least pretended he belonged in the NFL by covering him for at least HALF the game and 2) even I knew Ben was going to roll out of the pocket and try to run it on that play, but the defensive line must’ve thought he was a good passer or something so they stayed (don’t know where they got that idea from). Other than that, this defense has pretty much all you could ask for. Good pass rush thanks to Dockett and Co. Great secondary (except for Cromartie, but he was a rookie so he’s got an excuse… for now). Not too much I would’ve done on that defense. It was just an issue of motivation. The only thing I would’ve done is tried to get a good, solid LB or do the basic thing and look at improving the line, in this case the D-line. Evander Hood went one pick later, Laurinatis went in the top of the second, etc. There were lots of things they could’ve done on defense instead of upgrading the famed “pass rush”. The Cards, being the 31st overall team and having the resulting picks, didn’t have much to work with, but I think they could’ve handled it a bit better.
In free agency the Cards didn’t make much of a splash either. They resigned Warner, which was probably their best bet because Matt Leinart is perennially unable to get his shit together, and they mostly just stuck with resigning their other players. They signed Anthony Becht, TE, who at 6’5” 280lbs is more of a glorified extension to the O-line, and that is perfectly fine with me. The Cards also stole Dominique Byrd, TE, from the Rams, although they already have enough hands to put the ball in. They signed Bryant McFadden, CB, a good idea considering Cromartie’s vast inadequacies, but they also cut Rod Hood, CB, so I guess they have faith in Cromartie/didn’t watch any tape at all from the Super Bowl. That’s basically it. No big losses for this team, and no big additions either. They finally told J.J. Arrington to fark off, obviously in the best interest of the business since apparently he’s pretty lazy.
THE SHORT OF IT
Their division is terrible and not getting any better any time soon, so I would expect another playoff appearance. The only team to challenge could be Seattle, but they’re having about as much luck with getting their shit together as Matt Leinart is. If Cromartie gets his shit together, the team stays motivated when it matters (after week 6 usually, when their 4 wins have eclipsed the rest of the NFC West’s win total for the year) and if Kurt Warner doesn’t develop Alzheimer’s (which is 50/50 at this point) I’d say this team has a chance to make another splash. Not as big, because all you have to do is pressure Warner and it’s game over, but a splash nonetheless.
This being our first official post, I think it goes without saying that it’s probably best to take it slow. After all, we’re just ordinary people. No need to jump right in and spend the next two hours awkwardly wrestling with certain topics, only to be left completely disturbed and unsatisfied.
So slow it is. Since we have zero history to draw from or build on, we might as well start big. What we’ll do for the next little while is go through the last 10 or so months in the football world. We’re not going to really examine how everyone did because that season is already over and we know how it all shook out. What we will do is look at what teams had and how they addressed their deficiencies in the offseason. Essentially, we’ll be recapping each team’s draft and off-season acquisitions, as well as adding in our own suggestions and expert insight. Because we’re the best. Hell yeah.
These will be divided up between my partner and myself, so you won’t hear from both of us on each team. I’m sure there are points where we’ll disagree and we’ll probably bring those disagreements to light on the blog. We will also review a few teams twice, just because there are certain teams that I absolutely hate and refuse to say anything nice about. Come to think of it, we’ll each review the Bengals and the Chargers, just because they’re each of our favourites. In the essence of fairness, of course.
Note: we HAVE already picked our four teams to shamelessly praise, so see if you can pick them out in the coming preview reviews. We’ll also be doing this alphabetically, just so you don’t get any hints. And if you do pick them out, don’t bother seeking our approval. We won’t let the answer slip until the end of the season.
Without further ado:
ARIZONA CARDINALS
By: Benjamin Martin
The defending NFC champs. Talk about a surprise. Or talk about saving it for when it counts. They really played that situation well. And at the same time you had the Patriots fans crying about it because their team went like 11-5 and didn’t make it. If, after half the season, you had clinched your division title and a playoff berth, why not rest up? Had Kurt Warner handled the ball better on the goal line in the second half, the Cardinals would’ve won the Super Bowl. Oh well. I think we can all agree that Larry Fitzgerald has a big ass and big, manly hands. And that Anquan Boldin is a grown ass man.
Aside from the Fitz’s anatomy though, let’s look at the team’s strengths and weaknesses. Straight up, this is one of those “I don’t know how they do it” teams, like the 2008 Super Bowl Giants. Well, I know how they did that. They spent the whole game in and around Tom Brady’s butthole, that’s how they did thatt. But seriously, this is one of those teams where everyone just decides to show up at the same time and they click.
Depth-wise, on paper the Cardinals don’t seem too bad. That could be why they made the Super Bowl. This stuff is definitely my true calling. For real though, not many weaknesses on paper. On offense, they have the most dynamic WR duo in the league, bar none (and seriously, Boldin needs to realize that his elite level of play is tied directly to the presence of Fitzgerald, and vice versa. Leaving Arizona would hurt both their values and production), and with that they have one of the best #3 WRs as well. Kurt Warner writes a new will daily, but he’s still one of the better options in the league. He’s at least top 32, so he deserves a starting spot somewhere, and with the best people in the game to throw to, he’s got room to work with. Leinart needs to get his shit together or else he’s going to lose what could be a very good team.
Their ground game has been their biggest problem in recent years, so they addressed that in the draft. They just did it totally wrong. Now, you’ll find in the coming months that we have a strict view on the running game, and the offense in general. It all comes from the offensive line. No blocks, no holes = no yards. That’s math. It’s an equation. LaDainian Tomlinson didn’t get all those TDs because he perfected the spin move. He got them because his line mauled people, and then he got all these one-on-ones in the open field. When you’re as shifty as he is, you tend to win those. He did a lot of the work by himself, but no O-line means lots of those TDs disappear. The Cardinals wanted to fix their running game, but they went about it all wrong. They signed an over-the-hill Edgerrin James, who is a role player (role: running behind a great line in Indianapolis into the box that was only filled with 3 guys because everyone was back in coverage trying to stop Peyton). Edge wasn’t going to carry any loads, not at that age. Tim Hightower showed up last year while Edge was busy crying, and then they went out and drafted Beanie Wells in the first round. Not necessarily a bad pick, except I’m pretty sure he has health issues and that the way he runs doesn’t exactly compliment Hightower. Wells is a big back, but I don’t know if he’s exactly a bruiser. He’s supposed to be fast, though I think he shit the bed at the combine. A 4.59 is fast for a running back his size, but you already have Hightower, so why not go with the DeAngelo Williams-style compliment? It seems like he’s kind of a tweener. He’s big, and fast for his size, but when he tries to lower the boom, he gets carted off the field. Not saying it happens all the time, but Ray Lewis broke Rashard Mendenhall’s shoulder by hitting him, so there’s some pain dished out in the big leagues. Apparently Wells also clocked a 4.34 at his Pro Day. But that was at his Pro Day. I just find it odd, having a power back, and then drafting a back that is seemingly just a quicker power back. Except he can’t take the hits a power back can. What they should have done was find some way to get their hands on an offensive lineman. If you want a better running game, get better blocking. I can run through open holes and I’m not a running back. You can always use an upgrade on the line, always. Just think about all the great runners and offenses in the league, and then look at their O-line. I’ll bet you know a lot of the names on it. I only know Levi Brown on the Cards. And Mike Gandy. That’s two out of 5. And they’ve only got two first-day players on the line (players taken in round 1 or 2). The draft isn’t just a random picking of players. The best are usually taken first. Sure, you can be like Ryan Leaf! Ki-Jana Carter! Akili Smith! But then I’ll be like Peyton Manning bitch, sit down. The Cards waited until the 5th and 7th round to address the line, and that just won’t be enough. There weren’t a lot of players available with the 31st pick, but Eben Britton went 7th in the 2nd round. Trade down, get a little more value, and don’t waste a pick.
On defense, this team showed up to play. Like good gosh darn. They have a pretty damn good line, and it showed (not that it takes much for Ben Roethlisberger to play terribly GO BENGALS). They spent a second round pick on a DE, which to me seems like a bit of a waste when you have other needs you could address. I’m of the mindset that you want to get good at all your positions, instead of just getting someone really good and then having everyone else be okay. You don’t go into the river in poker holding just one ace. You need at least a straight draw or a flush draw or a pair to make something happen. Their linebacking corps is pretty solid and probably the weakest link in their defense. Their secondary is impressive, with one of the best safeties in the NFL with Adrian Wilson. Their biggest weakness on defense though, if you watched the Super Bowl, is Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. If after the game you asked yourself “When did Santonio Holmes become that good?” the answer would be he didn’t. Cromartie blew coverage after coverage on him all night. Then again they weren’t so much blown coverages as he’d just give him too much space and then get beaten because he can’t tackle to save his life like 95% of the cornerbacks in the league. Cromartie handed him nearly every catch. That game-winner was a shame too. It was covered about as good as it could have been, and fades like that to the back corner are very tough to defend. But it should never have come to that point because a) Cromartie should’ve at least pretended he belonged in the NFL by covering him for at least HALF the game and 2) even I knew Ben was going to roll out of the pocket and try to run it on that play, but the defensive line must’ve thought he was a good passer or something so they stayed (don’t know where they got that idea from). Other than that, this defense has pretty much all you could ask for. Good pass rush thanks to Dockett and Co. Great secondary (except for Cromartie, but he was a rookie so he’s got an excuse… for now). Not too much I would’ve done on that defense. It was just an issue of motivation. The only thing I would’ve done is tried to get a good, solid LB or do the basic thing and look at improving the line, in this case the D-line. Evander Hood went one pick later, Laurinatis went in the top of the second, etc. There were lots of things they could’ve done on defense instead of upgrading the famed “pass rush”. The Cards, being the 31st overall team and having the resulting picks, didn’t have much to work with, but I think they could’ve handled it a bit better.
In free agency the Cards didn’t make much of a splash either. They resigned Warner, which was probably their best bet because Matt Leinart is perennially unable to get his shit together, and they mostly just stuck with resigning their other players. They signed Anthony Becht, TE, who at 6’5” 280lbs is more of a glorified extension to the O-line, and that is perfectly fine with me. The Cards also stole Dominique Byrd, TE, from the Rams, although they already have enough hands to put the ball in. They signed Bryant McFadden, CB, a good idea considering Cromartie’s vast inadequacies, but they also cut Rod Hood, CB, so I guess they have faith in Cromartie/didn’t watch any tape at all from the Super Bowl. That’s basically it. No big losses for this team, and no big additions either. They finally told J.J. Arrington to fark off, obviously in the best interest of the business since apparently he’s pretty lazy.
THE SHORT OF IT
Their division is terrible and not getting any better any time soon, so I would expect another playoff appearance. The only team to challenge could be Seattle, but they’re having about as much luck with getting their shit together as Matt Leinart is. If Cromartie gets his shit together, the team stays motivated when it matters (after week 6 usually, when their 4 wins have eclipsed the rest of the NFC West’s win total for the year) and if Kurt Warner doesn’t develop Alzheimer’s (which is 50/50 at this point) I’d say this team has a chance to make another splash. Not as big, because all you have to do is pressure Warner and it’s game over, but a splash nonetheless.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Beginning
Welcome, gentlemen and ladies, to the inaugural posting of the most sensational blog on the internets, 2nd and Wrong. If you’ve arrived here, it means you can’t use Google correctly or you just want some hard ass, realistic football commentary. You’re in luck. Too often in today’s society of sports commentary the various writers and “experts” are plagued with what we like to call an affliction of being “bat shit retarded”. It leads them to say stupid things and make claims with absolutely no basis or support. It should be taken in full though, because they are the experts after all. So if you want a realistic look at what’s going on in the football world, with an added twist and heaping loads of satire, you’re in the right place. If you can’t handle the truth (which I’m thoroughly aware that most people can’t) then it is highly recommended you start making your way towards the exit.
One of the first things that we would like to get out of the way is a short biography. I, myself, who will be writing a majority of the entries, will focus supremely on the NFL. For our time here, you can call me Benjamin Martin. Something I believe to be of the utmost importance is allegiance, or at least the making aware of said allegiance to avoid claims of favouritism. I personally am a fan of the Cincinnati Bengals. That is my team. However, you will find that apart from their most recent draft I will not speak highly of them, except for Carson Palmer, or as I like to call him: Jesus. Now my comrade in arms will also be handling the big, thick NFL load with me as well. You can refer to him as Frank White. However, he is also a fan of college football, whereas I am not, so he will ride that train occasionally. We will usually write and edit the NFL posts together, whereas I don’t want anything to do with the NCAA, unless it’s to spread slander. His allegiance lies with the Michigan Wolverines and the San Diego Chargers. I believe the knowledge of our allegiances to be absolutely fundamental to avoid any callings of shenanigans on us. For example, if the Bills play the Jets and you’re a Jets fan and the Bills crush the Jets and we say the Bills crushed the Jets, I don’t need a bunch of feedback calling me a homer. It is what it is. And that’s what you’ll get here. It. Because that what’s it is. And we have it. And we want to give it to you. Hard.
Now this isn’t going to be just your normal, hostility-filled blog. Everyone needs a gimmick, and as such, we’ve developed one. Not really developed, more like borrowed. Every season we shall take two teams from each conference and mercilessly and shamelessly praise them. Why? Because sportswriters do it already. You’ve always encountered the “do no wrong” team of the year. Even when they lose, they’re still the best and can’t be beat. We would like to do this too, but with purpose, and like assholes. Because it will make it all the more enjoyable. We will not, however, tell you what teams we have chosen. It will be up to you to decide. It’s not a contest or anything, just a little game you can play with yourself that has no prize except for self-satisfaction. And I think we all know it’s best to play with yourself. We’re not completely bitter assholes either, so it won’t exactly be 100% easy to pick this out. It won’t be in a separate section. It will be seamlessly integrated into the whole of our blog. We won’t be talking smack about the remaining 28 teams just because we’ve decided to be nice to 4. If teams do well, we’ll say. Like I said, it is what it is.
For a brief overview of the content we will be showcasing. We’ll divide it into sections every week and they will stand as thus:
Game RundownWe go over the games from the week (if there are any). This will likely exclude most preseason games.
In The Now
We go through what’s happening in the league. Be it trades, signings and apparently an overview of all the legal cases against the NFL’s players, since they’ve all got something going on (Go Bengals)
Depantsing The Establishment
This is quite literally what it states. Even though they suck, we have to get sports news from sports writers most of the time. So we have to read their tripe. We’ll take their tripe, and make fun of it for you. So you can get tripe-free news from us. And isn’t that what we all want? Talk about living the dream.
Best Evar
The blatant misspelling of the word “ever” is done on purpose. In this section, we will take the “Best Evar” and compare it to someone who is actually the Best Ever. The “Best Evar” is usually the player who is the flavour of the month/year that can do absolutely no wrong in the eyes of sports writers. If you don’t understand it exactly, wait for the first post and you’ll soon get the idea.
Givin’ Em The Business
Here we’ll talk about the business of the NFL. And that business is pain. And by pain, we mean discussing things like offensive and defensive schemes, positional importance, etc.
Best Name Of The Week
This is also exactly what it sounds like. We’re just going to find awesome names and deliver them to you for your amusement.
This is the content we can provide. These sections aren’t set in stone, and may be too hard or boring to continually deliver to you. Or we may add new ones. Some may appear bi- or tri-weekly rather than weekly. It all depends on what we have to work with. Also, don’t be surprised to see completely random things put in at the end of blogs that strike our fancy. They could involve other sports, or just popular news from the day.
A few disclaimers:
I am foul-mouthed, deal with it.
This is primarily an NFL blog, so think of us as a seasonal blog. Don’t expect many posts over the summer months. We’ll start before the first week, and end frequent posts shortly after Free Agency and the resulting Draft. In short, expect weekly posts during the season and the postseason, but find a hobby to occupy your summer.I cannot guarantee that our posts will not degrade into arguments between my comrade and myself.
Any comments or concerns can be directed to us at: 2ndandwrong@gmail.com
One of the first things that we would like to get out of the way is a short biography. I, myself, who will be writing a majority of the entries, will focus supremely on the NFL. For our time here, you can call me Benjamin Martin. Something I believe to be of the utmost importance is allegiance, or at least the making aware of said allegiance to avoid claims of favouritism. I personally am a fan of the Cincinnati Bengals. That is my team. However, you will find that apart from their most recent draft I will not speak highly of them, except for Carson Palmer, or as I like to call him: Jesus. Now my comrade in arms will also be handling the big, thick NFL load with me as well. You can refer to him as Frank White. However, he is also a fan of college football, whereas I am not, so he will ride that train occasionally. We will usually write and edit the NFL posts together, whereas I don’t want anything to do with the NCAA, unless it’s to spread slander. His allegiance lies with the Michigan Wolverines and the San Diego Chargers. I believe the knowledge of our allegiances to be absolutely fundamental to avoid any callings of shenanigans on us. For example, if the Bills play the Jets and you’re a Jets fan and the Bills crush the Jets and we say the Bills crushed the Jets, I don’t need a bunch of feedback calling me a homer. It is what it is. And that’s what you’ll get here. It. Because that what’s it is. And we have it. And we want to give it to you. Hard.
Now this isn’t going to be just your normal, hostility-filled blog. Everyone needs a gimmick, and as such, we’ve developed one. Not really developed, more like borrowed. Every season we shall take two teams from each conference and mercilessly and shamelessly praise them. Why? Because sportswriters do it already. You’ve always encountered the “do no wrong” team of the year. Even when they lose, they’re still the best and can’t be beat. We would like to do this too, but with purpose, and like assholes. Because it will make it all the more enjoyable. We will not, however, tell you what teams we have chosen. It will be up to you to decide. It’s not a contest or anything, just a little game you can play with yourself that has no prize except for self-satisfaction. And I think we all know it’s best to play with yourself. We’re not completely bitter assholes either, so it won’t exactly be 100% easy to pick this out. It won’t be in a separate section. It will be seamlessly integrated into the whole of our blog. We won’t be talking smack about the remaining 28 teams just because we’ve decided to be nice to 4. If teams do well, we’ll say. Like I said, it is what it is.
For a brief overview of the content we will be showcasing. We’ll divide it into sections every week and they will stand as thus:
Game RundownWe go over the games from the week (if there are any). This will likely exclude most preseason games.
In The Now
We go through what’s happening in the league. Be it trades, signings and apparently an overview of all the legal cases against the NFL’s players, since they’ve all got something going on (Go Bengals)
Depantsing The Establishment
This is quite literally what it states. Even though they suck, we have to get sports news from sports writers most of the time. So we have to read their tripe. We’ll take their tripe, and make fun of it for you. So you can get tripe-free news from us. And isn’t that what we all want? Talk about living the dream.
Best Evar
The blatant misspelling of the word “ever” is done on purpose. In this section, we will take the “Best Evar” and compare it to someone who is actually the Best Ever. The “Best Evar” is usually the player who is the flavour of the month/year that can do absolutely no wrong in the eyes of sports writers. If you don’t understand it exactly, wait for the first post and you’ll soon get the idea.
Givin’ Em The Business
Here we’ll talk about the business of the NFL. And that business is pain. And by pain, we mean discussing things like offensive and defensive schemes, positional importance, etc.
Best Name Of The Week
This is also exactly what it sounds like. We’re just going to find awesome names and deliver them to you for your amusement.
This is the content we can provide. These sections aren’t set in stone, and may be too hard or boring to continually deliver to you. Or we may add new ones. Some may appear bi- or tri-weekly rather than weekly. It all depends on what we have to work with. Also, don’t be surprised to see completely random things put in at the end of blogs that strike our fancy. They could involve other sports, or just popular news from the day.
A few disclaimers:
I am foul-mouthed, deal with it.
This is primarily an NFL blog, so think of us as a seasonal blog. Don’t expect many posts over the summer months. We’ll start before the first week, and end frequent posts shortly after Free Agency and the resulting Draft. In short, expect weekly posts during the season and the postseason, but find a hobby to occupy your summer.I cannot guarantee that our posts will not degrade into arguments between my comrade and myself.
Any comments or concerns can be directed to us at: 2ndandwrong@gmail.com
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