NFL Week 10 Nuggets

- I find it ironic that I really don't see much difference in the officiating between the replacement refs and the regular guys. It seems that the replacement guys made a lot of obvious mistakes but got some of the bigger calls right (the Green Bay/Seattle debacle notwithstanding). I see the regular refs make equal number of mistakes, if not more, but they are just not as obvious to the casual fan. I saw horrendous calls that possibly altered the game in the St.Louis/San Francisco, the New England/Bufalo, the Pittsburgh/Kansas City, the Carolina/Denver , and the Philadelphia/Dallas games. Maybe the replacement refs weren't so bad after all.

- I think the rules in place intended to protect quarterbacks within the pocket are proving to be more hurtful when they are outside the pocket. This week, we've seen concussions to at least four starting quarterbacks, two of which were vicious hits they took on the run (Alex Smith and Jay Cutler). I get frustrated just watching these ticky-tacky calls on defenders when they take a shot at a quarterback in the pocket, so I know the defenders must be frustrated as well. But once the QB starts running the ball outside the pocket, he's just like any other runner and you know defenders are licking their chops at a shot at the guy that is so protected by the NFL - they might as well just put a red jersey on him. I completely understand the business side of the NFL's decision to implement these rules. It's a QB-driven league and they are protecting their investment. I also understand the concern for player safety after decades of poor tackling form that starts as early as pee wee football and results in multiple concussions. But some of these calls against defenders is threatening the integrity of the game. These plays are so bang-bang, high speed, and the quarterbacks nowadays are all great emmy-worthy actors. I hate seeing a 3rd down stop by the defense nullified and a free 15 yards awarded to the offense on what should be a non-call.

- Two players that impress me even more now that they are coming off injury this year: Adrian Peterson and Peyton Manning. Either of them are a candidate for Comeback Player of the Year or the NFL MVP. I think AP impresses me the most because of how soon he came back from that injury and how amazing he has been thus far. A modern medical marvel. Running backs with ACL injuries seldom regain their form, and even then it takes them at least a season to work through it. AP tore his ACL last winter and by September he was back tearing up the league.

- As purely an idea at this point, they should allow coaches to challenge any two referee calls during the game (except for maybe pure judgement calls like when the play was blown dead). If the coach/team gets both of the calls to go his way, then they get an additional challenge - just like the current challenge system. I know the refs, generally, do an amazing job of officiating the game. But in this age of technology, there is no reason to have bad calls affect the outcome of the game. And don't give me that crap about the inconvenience of the game being stopped. If it affects fans so much, why aren't they flocking to watching soccer? NFL games have TV timeouts after every first down it seems like. No wonder the Chiefs games don't get many commercials.

- The Ravens caught a lucky break by possibly not having to face Big Ben in either of their regular division games. In a scheduling anomaly, the Ravens and Steelers face each other in 2 of the next 3 games. The first game is in Pittsburgh and Flacco and the Ravens have been atrocious away from Baltimore this year. Nothing has been confirmed yet but it looks like Big Ben is almost sure to miss the first game. He may be back in time for the game in Baltimore but the Ravens (and Flacco) are unstoppable at home. While on paper, this is a clear advantage for the Ravens, I would never rest easy knowing Mike Tomlin is across the field.

- Say what you want about the Kansas City Chiefs, they know their shortcomings at Quarterback. I thought I was watching the Jacksonville Jaguars last night as the Chiefs ran basically three plays over and over and over again. A run to the right, a play-action pass off the run action to the right, and a pass play with multiple curl routes. Like the Jags on Thursday night, the Chiefs also threw a pick as a defender jumped the curl route. In the end, the game was way closer than it should've been. But as a play-caller, I don't understand why they wouldn't change it up a little bit once the defense has shown that it has adjusted to your base plays?  I understand the weather factor, but that is no excuse. Both teams have to deal with that. I would hope Cassel isn't that bad. If he is, and if the coaching staff doesn't believe in him, why put him out there? Either way this team is the favorite to pick Matt Barkley this off season. 

NFL Nuggets

Just some thoughts I had on week 9 games I got to watch.

- Bills have to get the ball in CJ Spiller's hands more often. I agree that he is not a running back that you hand the ball off to 20+ times. But he needs to touch the ball 15-20 times a game whether that be via carries or catches.

- The Eagles offensive line is even worse than I thought they were. And losing their right tackle for the rest of the season is not going to make things any better. But all of that said, Vick has almost no pocket presence. In the Monday night game against the Saints (who sacked him 7 times!) I counted at least 2 sacks that I am comfortable blaming Vick for because the defense showed the blitz pre-snap and Vick didn't recognize it and then post-snap he continued through his progression instead of throwing a hot route. If I'm Andy Reid, I'm leaving in tight ends to help on passing plays, especially deep ones.

- The Eagles-Cowboys game this coming week is huge. I think this is a springboard game for each team to turn their seasons around. And the way the Giants and Eli are playing right now, 9-7 might be enough to win that division.

- Kansas City needs a quarterback worse than any team in the league right now. And they will probably have the first crack at it with the inside track to the #1 pick. I'm just not sure I'd want to be taking a quarterback that high in the upcoming draft. Nobody really excites me but in a QB-driven league the odds are pretty good that it will be a quarterback at #1 overall. Matt Cassel has proven to me, every year since he left the Patriots, that he's a system quarterback. And Brady Quinn....yeeeshh. It's too bad too because I thought he would end up being a pretty good one. He's just had no continuity of any kind in terms of coaching.

- Speaking of teams that need a quarterback, I think Jacksonville needs to be looking for one next year but they probably won't because they invested such a high pick on Blaine Gabbert - who is turning out to be a bust so far. They also need to get him some help on the offensive line and play calling. You can't call the 8-yard curl route 15 times a game and expect it not to be picked off.

- I don't understand how/why they did not review the Andrew Luck 2nd rushing "touchdown" in last night's Colts-Jags epic match up. Supposedly the ref got the call from upstairs that it was reviewed and relayed to the head official on the field however the latter never made any announcement to the fans/coaches which led to Mike Mularkey blowing a gasket at the 20 yard line. I think that was a goal line stand. There's a brief second where you can see on the replay that the ball looks to be over the goal-line but it also looked like Luck did not have complete control over it at that point. Either way, I don't necessarily have a problem with the call on the field but that there was not communication from the head official before the extra point that the previous play was reviewed upstairs and upheld.

RGIII v. Andrew Luck - mid season review (Part 2)

Part 1 here

In my last post I concluded that based on stats alone RGIII is clearly out-performing Andrew Luck thus far. However, stats rarely tell the whole story. Let's dive in a little bit.

For all the hoopla about RGIII's arm strength and deep ball accuracy, the Redskins coaching staff haven't quite turned him loose yet. Most of this throws have been short ones or on the run. Essentially they are putting their young signal caller in the best position to win right now and that is by utilizing his skills but making up for his obvious deficiencies being a rookie in the league. Griffin has had only 5 completions in 15 total attempts this season that traveled more than 20 yards downfield. On the contrary, Luck is 12 for 35 on throws more than 20 yards. So the Colts have been allowing Luck to take a lot more shots down the field - more than double that of the Redskins with RGIII.

When I watch the tape, I notice RGIII getting rid of the ball very often after his first read, sometimes after his second read. I see him making quick decisions with the ball and getting it out in the hands of his receivers in space. I don't see him going through his entire progression on most plays. On the other hand, I see Luck doing the opposite more often than RGIII. Now, no quarterback should be going through all or even most of his progressions on most plays - that would be a sign that either a) his receivers just can't get open or b) the quarterback is being indecisive. But I do notice the Colts giving Luck a lot more progressions to go through than the Redskins are with RGIII.

Then there's the rushing ability. Obviously RGIII has an advantage in that department. He is the one with special talent as a runner and a coaching staff that is obviously willing to let him run, despite concerns over exposing him to big hits such as the one he took against the Falcons. In half a season, RGIII has proven to be a dynamic runner. But long term, this trend is disturbing, in my opinion. On the other side, Luck has actually been running the ball a healthy amount of times as well. 26 attempts for 143 yards and 3 TDs. That's definitely more than your average quarterback in the NFL.

Based on the three points above, my conclusions are as follows. The Colts are throwing a much more conventional NFL offense at Luck and are likely putting a lot more plays on Luck's plate than the Redskins are with RGIII. The Redskins are protecting their franchise guy by nurturing him as a passer. I wish they'd do the same with him as a runner. The Colts are, ironically enough, taking the Peyton Manning approach with Luck. They are giving him the whole playbook and allowing him to go through his growing pains. They don't seem to be spoon feeding or watering down the playbook because Luck is a rookie. And Luck is doing pretty well, given the circumstances. He's got the Colts at 4-3 and in the AFC landscape as it stands today that might be good enough to get into the playoffs. Whereas, the Redskins do seem to be watering down the playbook and giving Griffin short, high-percentage passes while taking the occasional deep shot. They're also allowing Griffin to use his 4.41 speed by calling designed runs and option plays. Obviously both franchises are hoping that their respective rookie quarterback turns into a franchise guy for the long run and are developing him as such. But it would seem that the Redskins are in a little bit more "win-now" mode than the Colts but are receiving opposite results as they are just 3-5 and in a tough NFC. Obviously there's a lot more that goes into the records besides just the way the team manages their quarterbacks and how those guys perform. Both teams have played different opponents, their defenses are different, etc etc.

In the long run, I think both teams are taking the right approach (for the most part) with their respective rookie quarterback. I have always been impressed with Luck's knowledge and cerebral approach to the game and he's showing that he can handle the full playbook. Whereas RGIII works best when he's allowed to just go out there and make plays instead of trying to make him a pocket passer that will go through multiple progressions before throwing the ball. The one issue I do have though is how Washington has been constantly putting Griffin in a situation where he is exposed to big hits. He is not Cam Newton. He is fairly small in stature in comparison to the prototypical NFL quarterback. He will not be around for many games if he keeps taking those type of hits. I understand that it's part of his game, maybe even the best part of his game, but you can't get short-sighted with your franchise quarterback.

I'll try and do another review at the end of the season. I'm interested to see if these trends continue or if anything changes. Hope you found it interesting and I always welcome a healthy debate on any of the posts I make. Feel free to comment below.

RGIII v. Andrew Luck - mid season review (part 1)

First off, I hope you were not too affected by "Superstorm Sandy." I imagine if you were, you probably wouldn't be reading this blog until maybe next week. In any case, I hope you and your loved ones are all safe and sound and are not too inconvenienced in the aftermath of the storm.

I kinda took this week to look at some things on my blog and have decided on a new format. I won't be doing the weekly picks and predictions or the week in review. Frankly, I just don't get the opportunity to watch as many games as I'd like over the week and you can probably get posts like that on any of the major sports sites. Instead, I'd like to delve a little deeper into a particular team or player's performance based on what I see for that week or even over a few weeks.

In light of the new format, I thought a good way to kick it off would be a mid-season review between Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III - the #1 and 2 overall pick, respectively, in this year's draft.