Beanie’s toe…
12 September 2008With the USC game looming tomorrow, Ohio State running back Beanie Wells is still bothered by an injury to his big toe. This is a bigger problem than it might seem.
Beanie has tremendous power in his hips and legs. That power is transmitted to the ground through a small patch of tissue — the ball of his foot, and his big toe. If that tissue isn’t fully healthy, the pressure will cause it to deteriorate quickly.
I used to think that “turf toe” only bothered the weak. After all, it’s just a toe, right? Then i got one. (Gotta love karma.) It is extraordinarily debilitating.
If Beanie’s toe is still fragile, Ohio State shouldn’t play him against USC and risk further injury. Losing this one game won’t destroy the Buckeyes’ season; losing the Big Ten title to a tough Wisconsin or a resurgent Penn State most certainly would.
As much as the USC game means for ego and for positioning in the polls, the Big Ten championship must remain the first priority. If Beanie’s injury is hot, Jim Tressel should not jeopardize his availability for conference play by risking him against the Trojans.
Super Bowl: How the Giants won…
3 February 2008The Giants won by doing three things on defense, all designed to attack the Patriots in their strength — quarterback Tom Brady:
1) Their defensive line sold out to rush Brady, playing the run along the way. The Giants have the most talented pass rushing front four in the NFL, and they treated this game like a one-on-one drill in practice.
2) They blitzed Brady early and often. This forced running backs and tight ends to pick up the blitz rather than double team the defensive linemen.
3) Their secondary played aggressively on the line of scrimmage – up in the face of the Patriots’ receivers. This eliminated the short routes that Brady counts on to beat the blitz, forcing him to hold the ball long enough for the pass rush to get there.
In this, their gameplan was the opposite of Jacksonville’s in their Divisional playoff game. The Jaguars did not blitz, and played their secondary deep to take away big plays. Brady completed 92.9% of his passes, with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Giants rightly figured that they had to hammer Brady to have any chance. Hammer they did, sacking Brady five times and hitting him many more. That was the difference.
Super Bowl: Why the Giants will win…
3 February 2008My heart is with the Patriots. What a privilege it would be as a fan to see the culmination of the greatest single season in NFL history by arguably the greatest quarterback ever to play the game.
Earlier in the week, I picked the Patriots to win, 31-24. But as we approach game time, I have a nagging suspicion that the Giants will pull this out.
The Patriots have gone undefeated this year in part because they have turned distractions into motivation. But now that task is exponentially more daunting. They have the most to lose of any team ever to play in a Super Bowl. If they fail to win, they will fall from history’s greatest season to history’s greatest missed opportunity.
The Giants, on the other hand, have nothing to lose, with expectations nonexistent. All week long, they have been relaxed. Eli Manning, most importantly, seems to be unfazed by the pressure.
I’ve been watching TV all day leading up to the game. The Giants still look absolutely at ease.
Because of that, they will pound Tom Brady even more than they did in the three-point loss in week 17. A team with nothing to lose can sell out to the pass rush and not worry about the consequences — and New York has the most talented pass rushing defensive line in the NFL. They will keep the score close until the end. And then they will take over with Brandon Jacobs and the power running game.
Kickoff is in a few minutes. Having seen how relaxed the Giants are, I think they will end New England’s dream.
Spygate: Arlen Specter’s Hail Mary…
3 February 2008Congress is wallowing in its lowest approval rating in history. And from time to time they remind us why.
In a post on January 12th entitled “Steroids: Congressional Perfection,” I chided Congress for their grandstanding at the expense of Major League Baseball.
Now Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter says he wants to look into Spygate — the Patriots’ taping of opponents’ signals. (More on Spygate in a post dated November 15, 2007. Click the NFL category and scroll back.) Specter appeared on the Sunday morning shows today to voice his concerns. Oh, and by coincidence, today just happens to be Super Bowl Sunday.
This is pure grandstanding. Specter knows that the Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Patriots in the 2005 Super Bowl, and that Pittsburgh Steelers fans hate them. The good Senator currys favor among PA fans by trashing the Patriots.
But he also diminishes the Patriots’ accomplishments. Should they win today to finish 19-0, Specter assures that the greatest season in NFL history will be smeared even more thickly by the accusation that cheating gave them a competitive advantage.
If the Patriots gained an advantage by taping signals, it’s their opponents’ fault. Every team must always assume that their signals have been deciphered, and take countermeasures. We did it all the time on the offensive line by making pass calls on running plays, run calls on passing plays, and dummy calls all the time. There are ways to disguise your true signals.
Specter doesn’t know that. But he does know when to sling a subtle smear to generate publiticy and favor among Pennsylvania voters.
Think of it this way: If he were sincere about the integrity of the game, he would have waited until after the Super Bowl to voice his concerns, rather than inject himself into the middle of it on game day.
I hope it is merely that the Senator doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. Still, if he wants to throw some mud on the Patriots based on a limited understanding of how signals work, at least he could have waited until tomorrow.
Super Bowl fans’ guide: The amazing Junior Seau…
2 February 2008What to watch for: Is New England linebacker Junior Seau making a lot of tackles behind the line of scrimmage?
Seau is in his 18th season, and is no longer as fast on the track as he used to be. But he is still fast on the football field because of preparation. He compensates for diminishing physical skills by mastering his opponents’ tendencies based on down and distance, field position, hash mark, personnel group, and formation.
Before the snap, he has the possible play narrowed down from hundreds to two or three. He uses that knowledge to get a jump start on the offensive line, which makes him look faster than he really is.
Against San Diego in the AFC Championship Game, he made several key tackles to stop drives by shooting the backside gap to make the play behind the line of scrimmage.
If you see Seau bursting through gaps unblocked to make tackles for a loss, you will know that he has the Giants’ gameplan pegged.
Super Bowl fans’ guide: Playing the officials…
2 February 2008What to watch for: Are the Giants getting frustrated by extracurricular physicality by the Patriots?
Super Bowl officials don’t want to interfere with the flow of the big game. In their desire to let the players decide the outcome rather than the penalty flags, they will allow a bit more leeway before they call penalties.
The Patriots have twenty players who have won the Super Bowl; the Giants have only a handful who have even played in one. This gives New England a small but important edge: They know that they can hit later and jam harder than in a normal playoff game; they know where the new edge of the envelope is.
Most of the Giants will be experiencing this for the first time. Before they get into the flow, will they get flustered early by non-calls on hands to the face and late hits?
Super Bowl fans’ guide: Giants defensive key…
2 February 2008What to watch for: Are the Giants’ defensive backs playing aggressively near the line of scrimmage, or laying back to take away the big play?
The Giants’ chance to slow down the Patriots is to hammer Tom Brady. Not necessarily sack him, but hit him as he throws, which causes errant passes and creates the best chance for turnovers.
But Brady gets the ball out so quickly it is difficult to get to him, even if New York’s great defensive linemen are able to beat their blockers.
The key is the secondary. They need to play the Patriots’ receivers aggressively to take away the short and medium passing zones, which would smother the outlet routes and force Brady to hold the ball long enough for the pass rush to get there.
This strategy would risk big plays over the top. but at least it would create an opportunity to hit Brady enough to disrupt his rhythm. Jacksonville proved that letting Brady sit back and pick them apart is a losing proposition.
Super Bowl fans’ guide: Giants offensive key…
2 February 2008What to watch for: Can the Giants gain at least three yards on first down?
If they can, they can stay committed to the run. If they pound the middle of the Patriots defense early and often, they stand a good chance of controlling the clock late in the game.
But they must gain at least three yards on first down. Second and 7 is a running or passing down; second and 8 is a more of a passing down.
No matter how well he plays, Eli won’t outperform Tom Brady. The Giants must attack the Patriots a la Sun Tsu — identify their center of gravity, attack there. Their center of gravity is Tom Brady; you attack him in part by keeping him off the field with a strong running game.
And you have a strong running game by gaining yards on first down so you can keep handing it off, instead of having to pass on second and long.
Giants: Eli’s greatest moment…
1 February 2008Eli Manning’s most lasting satisfaction relative to the Super Bowl won’t be playing or winning the game.
He has been in big brother Peyton’s shadow all his life. No matter how great Eli’s accomplishments growing up, Peyton was always older and achieving even greater glory.
The greatest moment for Eli was when Peyton called him and asked: “Um, can I get some tickets?”
Patriots: Sneaky sneaky…
27 January 2008Is he hurt, or are we being duped?
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was recently seen walking around New York City wearing an orthopedic boot that is typically used to immobilize an injury to the foot or ankle.
Brady may indeed be injured, but I smell a rat – a brilliant, Patriotesque rat.
First of all, the what…
If Brady indeed has an injury that would require being immobilized, it is unimaginable that he would be walking around NYC on it. If another Patriot were doing that during Super Bowl preparation, Brady would be the first to get in his face and excoriate him. The Patriots have the most focused, unselfish team culture in the NFL.
It would be far out of character for him. The Tom Brady we see is humble, tightly disciplined, and relentlessly focused. When have we ever seen him out of character at all, much less this far out?
The fact that he has not been on the field during the first few minutes of practice — the only time the media is allowed to watch — fuels speculation that he is too injured to even work out with his team mates.
Now, the why…
Receiver Randy Moss has disappeared in the playoffs, having caught only one pass in each of the two post-season games. Granted, Jacksonville and San Diego strived to limit his receptions, but he is much better than that regardless of what the defense is doing — especially with Brady throwing him accurate passes.
The reason appears to be that Moss has been distracted by a woman’s highly publicized accusations that he assaulted her. Legal procedings begin this week in Florida.
In the absence of other juicy news – and with the Patriots, there is rarely any juicy news – the focus of the Super Bowl media circus would be Moss’ travails.
What if Bill Belichick hatched a plan to take the heat off of his star receiver? What if Brady agreed to bait the press with the boot and a limp, and only joined practice after the media left? What if the entire team was in on a ruse to dupe the media into ignoring Moss for the more tantalizing possibility that Brady might be too injured to play in the Super Bowl?
This is pure speculation, of course. But as a former NFL player familiar with the focus and self-sacrifice of great athletes like Brady, I just can’t shake this nagging feeling that he wouldn’t have done a walkabout in Manhattan on an injured ankle.
I’d love it if it actually did turn out to be a ruse, and a healthy Brady played flawlessly on the way to his fourth Super Bowl victory. That would be the perfect Machiavellian cherry on top of the greatest season in NFL history.
