Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribunepasses along the fact that the Bears ended the season tied for the top spot in the NFC in special teams in the ratings system popularized by Dallas Morning News writer Rick Gosselin.
The Bears were only fourth overall in large part because they ranked last in gross punting at 40.1 yards. Punter Brad Maynard has not been offered a contract and there is speculation that the Bears may be moving on without him.
John Glennon at The Tennesseanupdates the status of the Titan’s quest to fill out their coaching staff. There’s been no comment from the Titans regarding the reports that they are interested in Bears offensive line coach Mike Tice. as an offensive coordinator. It could be much ado about nothing.
The message is right but unfortunately the Packers aren’t the only thing that sucks in this video:
I will concede, however, that it’s better than I could do.
Elsewhere
Sports business analyst Rick Harrow tells ESPN that the labor negotiations are business as usual. At the same time he contradicts himself by saying that NFLPA president DeMaurice Smith is inexperienced and doesn’t realize that its not a war with the owners. That’s not business as usual. That’s real trouble.
“According to sources familiar with the talks, last week’s negotiations between the NFLPA and the NFL broke off when the union characterized its documents as an “illustration” that NFL officials believed represented a proposal for revenue sharing between owners and players.”
“When the NFLPA characterized documents labeled “NFLPA Proposal” as something other than a collective bargaining proposal, the NFL ended the session, a source familiar with the talks said.”
Translation: Misunderstandings aside, the NFL ultimately walked out of the talks because the union isn’t negotiating. The owners were looking for a proposal from the union in response to their own. They didn’t get it.
The Hall of Fame selection process is under scrutiny in the media, presumably in part because there’s not much else to talk about. Toni Monkovic at the New York Timessummarizes the arguments.
Florio also points out the irony in the league assuming responsibility for the Super Bowl seating mess when it is, in fact, most closely related to the mistakes on the part of the Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones. Jones is believed to be a strong voice in league meetings against more extensive revenue sharing:
“’Right now, we are subsidizing this market,’ Jones said in August 2009 regarding the Vikings and the place they currently call home. ‘It’s unthinkable to think that you’ve got the market you got here — 3 ½ million people — and have teams like Kansas City and Green Bay subsidizing the market. That will stop. . . . That’s going to stop. That’s on its way out.’
“So Jones doesn’t want his team to subsidize other teams by sharing revenues, but other teams will potentially be subsidizing the Cowboys by sharing in the expenses arising from his ultimately failed effort to cram 103,986-plus bodies into his new stadium for Super Bowl XLV.”
Brad Biggs, also writing for NFP, points out that the Williams Wall is crumbling, at least temporarily. Both defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams have undergone offseason surgery. They are also each facing possible four game suspensions and they are finally being forced to stand up and take personal responsibility for taking an illegal substance in the StarCaps fiasco.
Judd Zulgad at the Minneapolis Star Tribune interviews Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe. Shiancoe has looked closely at the Atlanta Falcon’s offense and likes what he sees. Atlanta was the home of new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and they used the tight end a a primary target. The bad news for Shiancoe? He’s not Tony Gonzales.
One Final Thought
Zulgad says Shiancoe isn’t talking about a new contract as he enters the final season of the $18.2 million deal he signed as a free agent in 2007:
“The thing is that you don’t ever want to be that complainer. You don’t want to bring any [problems] upon your team in any way, shape, form or fashion. It’s part of your job to know a when and where, a time and a place for certain things. That wasn’t a time or place to ever complain. That’s nothing you’ll ever see me do. I’ll never complain.”
“Broncos executive vice president of football operations John Elway recently said it’s not a sure thing that QB Kyle Orton will be traded, but a PFW insider said it would be very tough to bring the veteran back. While QB Tim Tebow may not give the team the best chance to win, he does have the backing of the fans in Denver. Elway has talked about reconnecting with the fans and could lose some credibility by sticking with Orton. A daily team observer said he gets the feeling that fans would rather win three or four games with Tebow than six or seven with Orton.”
Tell me this guy isn’t a future Darwin Award winner:
Elsewhere
Barry Rozner at the Daily Heraldthinks that there will be no games lost in 2011 due to a work stoppage. I hope he is right. I fear that he is wrong. To every argument I can only say one thing: “Remember 1994 when we lost and entire World Series”.
Daren Gannt at the Charlotte Observer highlights the decision of former Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Mike Trgovacto leave for a defensive backs position in Green Bay for less money. Trgovac seems happy but I wonder how pleased he’ll be when someone tries to interview him for a defensive coordinator position elsewhere only to have Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy block the move.
Agent Drew Rosenhaus is doing what he can to keep Plaxico Burress in the back of the NFL’s mind. Burress is serving out a two year sentence for accidentally shooting himself in the leg with unlicensed handgun while at a night club in November of 2008. He is expected to be released June 6.
The Bears need a go to wide receiver and Burress would be an ideal candidate to fill the position. But he hasn’t played in two years and he would have to come at the right price.
“Don’t be surprised if Matt Flynn follows the path of Matt Hasselbeck, Aaron Brooks, Mark Brunell and Kurt Warner and leaves Green Bay to become a starting quarterback elsewhere. Teams in need of a quarterback are taking a good look at Flynn, who performed exceptionally well against the Patriots in New England in December.”
“It seems there rarely are enough good cornerbacks to keep pace with all the good receivers. But the coming draft offers a deep group of cover men. April will provide the opportunity for teams to stock up and build depth at the position. As many as 19 corners could carry grades that would justify them being picked in the first four rounds.”
This fact has probably not been lost on the Bears. Playing a base cover-2, they have not traditionally invested a lot in the position. But they could arguably could use a good cover corner now as they mix in more single coverage against select NFL teams.
“On the same day Green Bay was dispatching the Steelers for the NFL title, the Bangor Daily News reported, a man was arrested on suspicion of breaking into an auto-parts store in Ellsworth, Maine.
“And in Iowa City, Iowa, The Des Moines Register reported, a man injured his back when an argument turned violent during a Super Bowl party.
“Their names: Vince Lombardi and Aaron Rogers.”
One Final Thought
Looks like there are plenty of players stirring up the usual amount of trouble as the offseason begins. Here are some samples:
Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworthhas been formally charged with assault in connection with a road rage incident.
And another Redskin, this time kick returner Brandon Banks, was stabbed outside a Washington D.C. night club. Nice group of high character players they’ve put together there. Can’t wait for Shaun Rogers to join the club.
1) New head coach Mike Munchak was the offensive line coach there and he would certainly see Tice’s value to the team as a replacement for himself. However Tice’s value as a coordinator is debatable.
Though he is definitely a leader of men and he would make a fine head coach, there’s been very little evidence that he would make a good X’s and O’s man. He seemed to recognize the value of the tight ends that he had in Minnesota and he knew how to use them. But I’m guessing that he had very little to do with designing any kind of a complex passing game involving multiple route combinations beyond creating some individual mismatches.
2) Lovie Smith and the Bears must give the Titans permission to contact Tice about the job. Ordinarily this is a no brainer. Smith has always been supportive of assistants who were seeking to advance and it would take an extraordinary circumstance, indeed, to prevent him from doing that. This might be that circumstance.
The Bears offensive line is a work in progress. Tice has been crucial to the training of young players such as J’Marcus Webb and Lance Louis. To lose him now would be a blow to thier development. In addition, the Bears are likely to add at least two more linemen to the mix over the next few months, at least one of whom may be a draft pick. Those linemen will need to be indoctrinated in the Bears offensive system.
But I don’t think that these factors would ultimately cause Smith to hold Tice back if it weren’t for one more major difficulty, as Biggs describes it:
“In mid-February, it would be difficult for the Bears to find a replacement for Tice, who Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo have called one of the league’s best line coaches. Most of the coach shuffling is complete so the pool of candidates isn’t deep.”
This may be part of the reason why the New York Jets denied the Titans permission to talk to offensive line coach/assistant head coach Bill Callahan. Tice is not an assistant head coach.
3) The fact that the Titans are looking to raid the Bears coaching staff rather than one of the Super Bowl staffs is as much of an indictment of Angelo as it is a compliment to Tice.
The Bears offensive line was roundly criticized and was generally believed to be one of the worst in the league. Its obvious that the Titans believe that Tice worked miracles with a talent depleted line and this offer is a general acknowledgement of this fact. Teams know that if Tice had any players to work with, the Bears offensive line would have been one of the best units, if not the best unit, in the NFL. Tice should be proud. Angelo should be ashamed.
Perhaps the Bears can offer Tice an assistant head coaching position and a bump in pay for him to stay. But if not, I think Smith knows what the right thing to do is. Generally speaking, you want the people around you to be happy. Good people do what they can to make that happen. If nothing else, on a professional level you want to make it so that other coaches and players around the league want to work for you. Long-term, that’s how you become the best.
Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy was roundly criticized by this blogger when he held quarterbacks coach Tom Clements back from interviewing for the Bear offensive coordinator position. I would hate to see the Bears sink so low.
Yeah, I couldn’t think of a better title than that. Sue me.
With the NFL Combine and the draft approaching, I thought it might be interesting to see who the experts around the country see the Bears taking with the 31st pick. I’ll update this list a few times as the offseason progresses along with a comment at the end.
“Chicago needs help at corner and Williams is a safe pick. A solid character guy with exceptional ball skills, he has good speed, awareness and above-average size for the position, at a hair under 6-1 and 192 pounds. A guy who excels at the takeaway, he’ll be able to deliver INTs for a coach who craves turnovers. He is also a very good special teams player.”
“If Liuget falls to this spot, the Bears will get a steal. He’s a top-20 pick in our rankings thanks to his strength, quickness, balance and motor. Chicago has bigger needs at offensive tackle and wide receiver, but Liuget is a better value than any player available at those positions.”
“The Bears have decent options when their turn comes around. They can get help for the offensive line that caused them so many headaches, particularly early in the season, or address their needs at either defensive tackle, receiver or cornerback. Sherrod is the highest-rated remaining tackle, but Texas cornerback Aaron Williams and LSU defensive tackle Drake Nevis would also make sense.”
“The Bears’ offensive line was disastrous in the 2010 preseason and worse than ever in a Week 4 loss to the Giants at New York, where Jay Cutler was sacked nine times in the first half. But slowly but surely, the unit came along. The running game excelled, Cutler had more time in the pocket and the offense clicked. That said, there’s still room for both depth and improvement across the line. At 6-9, 320 pounds, Solder is a mountain of a man. He is a terrific pass protector and could line up opposite Chris Williams as the other tackle but could also contribute right away at guard if needed. He had a strong showing in Mobile and solidified himself as a first-round pick. The Bears would be delighted to see him — pegged by some as a top-10 possibility — slip to them at 30.”
I, along with many Bear fans, I’m sure, am happy to see so many of these drafts have the Bears taking an offensive lineman. But knowing how these things typically work and knowing that general manager Jerry Angelo likes to take the best player available, I’m thinking McShay, Kiper and Nawrocki may have the right of it.
I will add one more thing. If the Bears are smart, they won’t automatically take the fifth or sixth best offensive tackle available if the best guard on the board is still there. The position is typically under valued and I think a guy like Danny Watkins out of Baylor might make more of an impact. With the team probably thinking about the future there, guard Mike Pouncey, who is also projected as a center, might make some sense as well.
Sean Jensen at the Chicago Sun-Times reports that the Bears won’t use the franchise tag. Not a big surprise, first because Angelo is known not to like ot use it and second because none of the Bears free agents warrants it.
Biggs’ bottom line: “The faces change but the helmet doesn’t and the Bears remain among the best in the NFL on special teams.” When is someone going to wake up and offer special teams coach Dave Toub a head coaching position?
Dan Pompei, also at the Tribune, answers your questions. He continues the wide receiver talk:
“Do you think we will make a play for free agents Sidney Rice or Vincent Jackson? Also, will the newly signed CFL WR Andy Fantuz make the team and make an impact? — Mike Ockhurtz, Frederick, Md.
“I don’t believe the Bears will go for a free-agent wide receiver with a big price tag. They have other positions that are more pressing. I am very intrigued by Fantuz, but it’s difficult to say how much of an impact he will have until we see him padded up and competing with NFL players. He looked great in Canada, but that’s a different game, and he was playing against inferior competition.
“What’s with Devin Aromashodu? Why didn’t the coaching staff let him play almost all year? Is he going to come back? — Mario, Eagle Pass, Texas
“I think Aromashodu is done with the Bears. He and offensive coordinator Mike Martz clearly were not on the same page. Aromashodu is a gifted player who never has been able to consistently realize his abilities, going back to his college days. His substandard blocking attempts did not endear him to the coaching staff.”
Yes, I had a feeling that this was the case. It wasn’t just the blocking. I don’t think Aromashodu liked contact much and Martz obviously felt he would be a liability when asked to go over the middle, something he was bound to be required to do.
“Any rumors how the Bears will respond to Caleb Hanie‘s RFA status? I imagine his agent’s phone has started ringing already. I don’t envision him being a career backup. — Mike, Forney, Texas
“I would expect the Bears to protect themselves with Hanie, assuming they can’t sign him to a contract prior to the start of free agency. But I don’t think they need to be concerned about another team offering him starter’s money. While Hanie has obvious potential, I don’t think he’s had enough opportunity to create that kind of market for himself.”
I expect that Pompei is completely right here but Hanie is never going to be a Martz favorite. Its obvious that he prefers a quarterback who will stand in the pocket, make a quick read and throw. That’s apparently not Hanie’s forte (though in fairness he hasn’t really had a chance to show that).
“Loads of history. Great players. Great coaches. Fantastic fans. But they have no Super Bowl victories since 1985. That hurts. Even so, this is a storied franchise that will always seem to be near the top of these rankings. Their pre-Super history is loaded with successes.”
According to Chris Russell of ESPN 980 (via Mike Florio at profootballtalk.com), Shaun Rogers will meet with the Redskins. There’s a another shock. Aaron Wilson at The National Football Post indicates that Rogers was released from the Browns because he had a bad attitude so he’ll fit right in.
How weak is the NFC North at the tackle position? ESPN’s NFC North blogger Kevin Seifertranks the Lions’ Jeff Backus as the best left tackle in the division. Having to put Green Bay’s Bryan Bulaga on the right isn’t a great statement either. On a side note the Bears rated only ONE offensive player on Seifert’s all-NFC North team.
Omar Kelly at the Sun Sentinelthinks Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland is “playing a dangerous game of Russian Roulette” with nose tackle Paul Soliai. Solairi is set to become an unrestricted free agent and his representatives haven’t heard from Miami regarding a new deal in weeks, if not months. With the proliferation of 3-4 defenses, nose tackles are becoming hard to find.
This report from Ian R. Rapoport at the Boston Herald is going to make free agent guard Logan Mankins a very unhappy man.
Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy talks offseason. He has a message for his team that Martz might want to listen to:
“We’ll just stay true to our mantra on offense and defense and special teams, and that’s less volume, more creativity.”
Get ready to see a lot of Clay Matthews [head shake].
Mel Kiper at ESPN talks draft. ESPN seems to have picked up on Cam Newton their “story” for the draft, thus setting some team up for major disappointment. Accuracy is still the name of the game and I just don’t see it. The Jake Locker comments are interesting, though.
“To me, there are two issues with this kid. Issue number one is he came out of a shotgun [formation], and if you watch the tape it’s basically a very simple offense. One read and either the ball was out or he was out. Can he adapt to, can he process and assimilate a very structured and complex pro offense against a complex pro defense? And secondly, and most importantly, when you get to a certain skill level in the NFL, which this kid certainly has, at the quarterback position what kind of kid is he? Is he going to be the first guy in the building? Is he a gym rat? Is he football smart? Is he a leader of men? All of those things to me are way more important than any workout in shorts.”
David Kaplan and Fred Mitchell at the Chicago Tribunetalk to former Bears and Colts general manager Bill Tobin about how he went about drafting two members of this year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame class: Richard Dent and Marshall Faulk.
Former NFL safety and current Chicago Tribune contributor Matt Bowen‘s needs for the Bears: offensive tackle, cornerback, wide receiver. The Bears surely do need all three but they probably see defensive tackle as a more critical need than both cornerback and wide receiver. Probably.
Looks like Todd McShayagrees with me. Maybe I should reconsider my position. Via ESPN’s NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert.
Having said that, Brad Biggs, also at the Tribune, continues his excellent positional review of the Bears, this time with the wide receivers:
“The Bears continue to value their receivers more than others do. They lack a difference-maker at the position and if they want to see Cutler flourish, it’s a position that will have to be addressed.”
Here is why there is no chance NFL owners and the NFL Players Association work out a new labor agreement by March 3: It takes only nine owners to shoot down whatever proposal both sides come up with.
This isn’t just a labor dispute in the eyes of some owners. It’s a battle for the future of the sport. Rich men do not like parting with their money, especially the richest and most eccentric of the bunch, and they can (and most likely will) block whatever proposal the two sides put together in the next three weeks until they get exactly the deal they want.
I get a kick out of it when people say that the people involved in this are “too smart” to let it go into the season next year. If the baseball strikes of the seventies, eighties and nineties taught us anything, its that this is definitely not true.
Chris Mortenson at ESPN talks about the labor impasse. Note that he thinks that the current labor deal has to be allowed to expire to get it out of the jurisdiction of the federal courts in Minneapolis. Very interesting but not surprising. The owners are not happy with judge David Doty.
“’Typically in the staff meeting after the season concludes, I pretty much a have the whole season laid out for our coaching staff,’ McCarthy said. ‘That’s not the case this year.’
“As a result, McCarthy said he and the staff have taken what he called a ‘prepare for the known’ approach to the offseason. Since the annual NFL Scouting Combine is being held as scheduled in Indianapolis in two weeks, and the 2011 NFL Draft is set for April 23-25, the staff is focusing on those set-in-stone events. McCarthy said the assistant coaches are off until Feb. 21, then will have some more time off after the scouting combine. They’ll then return to work to do their scheme evaluation work the first two weeks of March, another annual offseason ritual.”
ESPN’s Trent Dilfer thinks more of quarterback Cam Newton than I do.
I’ll give Dilfer his due as a former NFL quarterback. But I think the guys at Scouts Inc., who have Newton as the 28th rated prospect and who have undoubtedly studied a lot of tape rather than simply judging him based upon a workout, probably have a better handle on him.
The Sports Pickle reports that the NFL has made an interesting offer to those who were not allowed to sit in the seats they paid for at Super Bowl XLV.
“On spending the bulk of his career in the NFC Central: ‘Playing in the NFC Central, the old black-and-blue division, people really didn’t throw the ball. .?.?. It wasn’t the NFC East, where they threw the ball a lot, or the NFC West, where they threw the ball a lot. I could’ve gotten more opportunities, but you have to take advantage of what’s there.’’’
“But those of us who had the privilege to see Dent play every week don’t need statistics or honors to justify his place in the Hall.”
Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribunebreaks down the Bears’ safety position. What they do here depends largely upon who they bring back. If both free agent Danieal Manning and veteran Chris Harris are on the roster next season, they won’t do much of anything. Craig Steltz could be in some trouble.
Former Rams star running back Marshall Faulkcommenting upon the Bears wide receivers on Chicago Tribune Live. Via Fred Mitchell and David Kaplan at the Tribune:
“But every time I see Johnny Knox run a slant he goes behind the defender and you see an interception go the other way and everyone looks at Jay Cutler and says, ‘How did he throw that pass?’ That is going to be a mistake no matter who the quarterback is.”
“I see no pure wideout. When we ran [Mike] Martz‘ offense in St. Louis we had three or four pure wideouts. … If you are still teaching that stuff to your wide receivers then in this offense you can’t blame the QB.”
Corey Wooton goes over goes over the getting off the ball in this YouTube video.
Dan Berstien and Terry Boers at WSCR in Chicago – Lovie Smith is a Liberian?
Elsewhere
From Pro Football Weekly‘s Audibles. This feature is a collection of anonymous quotes from NFL men around the league:
“Everyone got all excited about Michael Vick — and there was reason to be excited early — but if you look at how he finished the season, you see (that) teams started to figure out that if you make him play quarterback, he is not that good. He’s not a great three-step, five-step, read-and-throw-to-the-open-receiver quarterback. And he takes more hits because he does not read it quickly. Look at the Indy game when (Colts MLB Gary) Brackett drills him. If his primary (receiver) is not there and he has to go through the thought process, he holds it for an extra second to second-and-a-half, and in this league, that is the difference between a defender breezing by — like they do with Peyton Manning, barely touching him — or getting drilled. If I’m Michael Vick, I’m digging up every game that Steve Young played late in his career when he made his transformation, and I’m studying it.”
Joe Reedy at the Cincinnati Enquirer provides an update on the Carson Palmer situation. Despite a change at offensive coordinator, Palmer apparently still wants out of Cincinnati. And despite the owner stating that he won’t be traded he still apparently believes he will be. He is selling his house.
Speaking of the Bengals, I can’t wait to see new offensive coordinator Jay Gruden run a West Coast style offense with a running back who flat out refuses to catch the ball out of the backfield.
James Walker at ESPN.com reports that the Cleveland Browns have made some interesting roster cuts. Included on the list of players is defensive tackle Shaun Rogers and former Bear – and Ram – offensive tackle John St. Clair.
The Sports Pickle thinks that the Packers Super Bowl title should be revoked over this video. Sounds good to me.
“I was very, very thirsty for (the Hall)… Once you play the game a certain way, people start telling you, ‘You know, you may have the opportunity to be in the Hall.’ A bunch of people don’t understand the (Hall) process. I don’t understand the process.”
“I was patient, didn’t care to call anybody out… My day has come.”
Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune continues his analysis of the Bears position by position. Here he writes about the tight ends. As most fans would expect, he sees this as a low priority need in the offseason.
Jon Greenberg, also at ESPNChicago.com, looks at sports-related dates to look forward to now that football “won’t be back until August”. Yeah, yeah. Just tell me when the Combine begins and leave me alone.
Elsewhere
Michael Wilbon at ESPN talks about watching the Super Bowl at the White House with Bears fan Barak Obama. Oh, yeah. He’s the President of the United States, as well.
Neil Hayes at the Chicago Sun-Timesreviews the major issues involved in the current labor negotiations:
“The worst-case scenario is the type of grudge match that wiped out the 1994 World Series and the 2004-05 NHL season. Although possible, there are too many billions at stake for the sides not to eventually come to their senses.”
Baseball fans said the same thing in 1994.
I’ve gotten a definite impression that there are a least some owners who are more interested in breaking the union than getting an agreement. I get the impression that DeMaurice Smith is more interested in making sure he doesn’t give much if anything in his first negotiation than he is in looking after the best interests of the game and, therefore, the players. Its a bad combination.
I’m not holding my breath waiting for the next season to start.
“Chargers: Is this their last season in San Diego? They are the clubhouse favorite to relocate to Los Angeles, and the NFL will be looking to move back into the nation’s second-largest market once the CBA is resolved. If the Chargers can’t get a stadium deal in San Diego — and the prospects of one are looking bleaker by the day — they will be looking to exercise the escape clause in their Qualcomm Stadium lease.”
I know that the Chargers are only one of many teams that have talked of relocating. But I think this one might be the real thing. There’s absolutely no way they’re going to get a stadium in San Diego.
“With players, the way we look at it when we’re going to new teams is the city appeal, how we feel about the location, and then it’s, ‘What was it like when I played that team?’ Certain teams you play against, you’re like, ‘Them guys were soft. I don’t want to be part of that organization. I don’t want to play for them.’ Or, ‘They were arguing on the sideline, I don’t want to be part of that type of disruption.’
“‘I know there’s some teams that we played, some guys were like, ‘It’d be all right to go to war with those guys. They show up on game day. They show up to fight.’ And that’s what we do.'”
I think the NFC North as a group holds up pretty well in this respect. The Vikings, perhaps, didn’t show as much fight as you’d like to see. Other than that, the the division has some pretty tough, high football character teams.
Charlie Walters at the Pioneer Pressthinks the Vikings are looking at last place next year. I’m not so sure. There’s a lot of talent on that team. If Les Frazier gets them to play like they did in 2009 with the addition of even a decent quarterback, they’ll be as dangerous as anyone.
On the other hand, Jeremy Fowler, also at the Pioneer Press, points out that DT Pat Williams is unlikely to be back. If DE Ray Edwards leaves via free agency and DT Kevin Williams actually has to serve a suspension stemming from the Star Caps case, they could have some trouble on the defensive line next year. That’s the strength of their team.
According to Geoff Mosher at the Delaware News Journal, the Eagles have shot down a rumor making the rounds through cyberspace that Jon Gruden, a former Super Bowl champion coach and current ESPN analyst, would be replacing Andy Reid as Eagles head coach. Via benmaller.com.
Those who claim that sports books always go with the spread that gives them a 50:50 split, listen up. The Las Vegas casinos as a whole made less than a million dollars on the Super Bowl with some suffering rare losses. The books who lost stuck with the “dead number” not moving thier odds despite heavy betting on the Green Bay Packers. The strategy is risky but it maximizes profits if the initial number turns out to be the right one.
George Bretherton at The New York Timesthinks the Steelers should have run the ball more in the second half of Super Bowl XLV. I generally agree, especially as he has laid it out. But more generally the Steelers made it very tough on themselves throughout the game with harmful penalties that consistently put them in holes they had to try to pass their way out of.
“’The problem with Jay is, because he’s so athletic, you don’t want to curtail him too much because that takes from that part of his game,’ said Miller, an analyst for Comcast SportsNet and Sirius NFL Radio. ‘But I get upset watching him because he could be so much better. He could be lights-out if he cleans up his footwork and fundamentals. All those things are correctable.’”
“’Jay can get there, but he has to have the ‘want to’ to be great, and the discipline to be able to do that. He did a much better job this year of checking himself and not throwing dumb interceptions. Now if he can take it to the next level, with his footwork and things like that, then he can play to the level of an Aaron Rodgers.’”
Over and over again I’ve tried to point out that Cutler’s problems with leadership, with the media, with his peers, all reflect one fundamental difficulty. That despite his immense physical talent, people doubt whether he has what it takes to do the little things he needs to do as a player to be great.
That’s what Miller means when he uses terms like “want to” and “discipline”. He’s not talking about “toughness”. He’s talking about what keeps a man in front of a screen until midnight watching tape. He’s talking about, not spending 20 minutes twice a week working on footwork but spending hours on it, drilling and drilling and drilling.
Renowned psychiatrist Anna Freud once said, “I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time.”
Cutler needs more time with Martz, who is probably the first decent quarterback coach they’ve had since Greg Olson left. But he needs a lot more than that. He needs the desire and force of will that it takes to overcome all obstacles and be the best. That can’t from a coach. It can only come from within one’s self. We can only hope that it is buried somewhere deep within Jay Cutler.