Thoughts On Football So Far in 2007

1) The Chargers firing Marty Schottenheimer will go down as one of the biggest bonehead moves ever by a GM/owner. C’mon the guy went 14-2. He got a bye in the playoffs and lost to a team that’s been incredible in the playoffs over the last 5 years – not only that, the Chargers dominated the entire game. They only lost because of a bonehead play that most NFL players would probably get wrong because they’re too wrapped up in themselves. Had they won, I’m sure they were 50% to win the Superbowl – all they had to do was beat the Colts, which seemed like a tossup game, then whatever patsy the NFC spit out. So instead they’re hiring Norv Turner with a lifetime record that’s way below 50% wins. Not only that, their team has to learn an entirely new system on both sides of the ball, instead of spending the entire preseason perfecting the one they used so well the year before. And – shocker, their offense has been out of sync the first two games.

2) The timeout called by Andy Reid in the Eagles-Skins MNF game should go down as one of the biggest bonehead moves by a head coach. For those who didn’t see it, there were 14 seconds left in the half, and the Skins were facing 3^rd and goal from about the 15. They, in typical Gibbs fashion, chickened out and send the field goal unit onto the field rather than trying one last shot at a TD. This is clearly a mistake – your odds of being intercepted or knocked out of field goal range are very low. But the genius Eagles decided to call a timeout to “ice the kicker” on a short field goal – mostly they gave the other team a chance to realize their error. Next play they rethought, went for it, touchdown, and justice was served. A little advice for coaches: when your opponents are about to do something completely retarded… LET THEM!

3) Wow, the Patriots are scary this year – especially since two of their keystone defensive players aren’t even playing right now.

4) To Chad Johnson – if you’re going to hype your own touchdown celebrations ahead of time, you really should try living up to your own hype.

5) Besides being a mediocre coach at best, Norv Turner is a complete pansy. His team was down 17-0 to New England with 4^th and <5 around midfield and he punted. Then they were down 24-0 and had 4^th and <5 around midfield and he punted again. How do you make it to head coach in the NFL with such a poor understanding of the game?

6) If they want a chance in the next 10 years, the rest of the league needs to get together and prevent players like Adelius Thomas from going to the Patriots. Part of the reason their defense succeeds is it’s filled with versatile players who can play lots of positions. You can say what you want about the Patriots spying on opponents’ defensive signals – personally, I really don’t understand why they would need to risk this - but really it seems like it’s their defense that won them the three championships. The first one they completely shut down the Rams’ offensive juggernaut, if you remember.

7) Chumps of the year so far – The Bengals. They come out, get like 6 turnovers, and only beat Baltimore by a little, then give up 51 to a first-game QB on a team that’s expected to be the worst in the league.