SB Nation - Reggie Wayne

Monday "Practice Estimation"

shake n bake — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:20:19 -0000

Thursday night game means that to comply with the leagues requirement of 3 injury reports teams need to give a "Practice Estimation" on Monday, reporting which players they'd expect to hold out of practice if they were conducting a practice today. As you'd expect for the day after a game, the lists are long. Really it's more telling to look at who isn't listed. In the Colts case that list is actually shorter and we'll start with that.

Players Not Listed (count on them playing)

Curtis Painter, Mike Hart, Jacob Tamme, Gijon Robinson, Dallas Clark, Austin Collie, Hank Baskett, Micheal Toudoze, Mike Pollak, Jeff Saturday, Ryan Lilja, Antonio Johnson, Fili Moala, Erwin Baldwin, Philip Wheeler, Freddy Keiaho, Ramon Humber, Cody Glenn, T.J. Rushing, Jaime Silva, Devon Hall, Justin Snow, Pat McAfee, Matt Stover

Players that would've rested (likely playing)

Dwight Freeney, Antoine Bethea

The Injured (who knows?)

Joseph Addai (knee), Gary Brackett (foot), Raheem Brock (back), Donald Brown (chest), Melvin Bullitt (shoulder), Keyunta Dawson (knee), Kyle DeVan (shin), Ryan Diem (hamstring), Eric Foster (back), Aaron Francisco (ankle), Pierre Garçon (knee), Anthony Gonzalez (knee), Kelvin Hayden (knee), Tim Jennings (ankle), Charlie Johnson (foot), Jacob Lacey (Biceps), Peyton Manning (glute), Robert Mathis (quad), Daniel Muir (hamstring), Jerraud Powers (Hamstring), Jamey Richard (Shoulder), Tom Santi (hand), Clint Session (calf), Chad Simpson (back), Tony Ugoh (hip), Adam Vinatieri (knee), Reggie Wayne (foot).

Colts.com link

Know Your Colts History: Indy's Best Non-Peyton Passers of the Decade

JakeTheSnake — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:29:45 -0000

A day without #18 lining up behind center is like a day without sunshine. Of the 5,484 passes attempted by a Colts passer this decade, 5,312 were attempted by Peyton Manning. In other words, if you watched any pass since the start of 2000, 96.9% of the time Peyton was the one that threw the ball. Of the 3.1% of passes left, all were the result of Peyton either taking a backseat on a trick play or watching from the bench during a game that had no meaning or the late stages of a blowout.

Still, those relatively few passes have meaning to diehard fans like us. As the decade nears its close, we'll take a look back at the seven players beside Peyton Manning who were lucky enough to throw a pass for the blue and white this decade and see who comes out on top.

7. Reggie Wayne

His place as one of the greatest Colts receivers of all-time will never be in question, but you can't do much worse as a quarterback. The interception he threw against the Texans in Week 9 against the Texans is the only pass he has thrown in his career. When you have a career interception percentage of 100, you're going to find yourself at the bottom of just about every passing list you can find.

The Colts have another player with a 100% interception percentage in Hank Baskett, who threw his interception while with the Eagles. Who did he throw that interception against? Yep, it was the Colts.

Other notable players with a 100% interception percentage include: Cris Collinsworth, Travis Henry, Reggie Bush and another current Colt, Matt Stover.

6. Hunter Smith

He's become quite the offensive force in Washington this season, running in one touchdown and throwing for another. Unfortunately, he didn't have the same success in Indianapolis, despite having more time to work on his passing, since he didn't have to pass too much. In his time here, he only threw one pass and it ended up being an incompletion.

5. Mark Rypien

Like Hunter Smith, Mark Rypien saw his best days as a Redskin. He was in the twilight of his career in 2001 when he signed on as a backup for Peyton Manning. He is most famous for being the player who stepped in for the one play in Peyton's career that he had to sit due to injury. He ended up fumbling that snap, but he had a decent outing in garbage time against the Patriots a few weeks before. In the outing Rypien completed 5 of his 9 passes for 57 yards.

Someone on the opposing team got their first start as a quarterback in the same game, but for the life of me I can't seem to remember who it was.

4. Brock Huard

Huard appeared in two games the Colts won by a combined 65 points in 2003. He completed 2 of his 3 passes for 22 yards. The numbers may not blow you away, but he had no turnovers and also managed 8 rushing yards.

It might take a lot statistically to get on this list, but I'll put Brock Huard's numbers up against JaMarcus Russell's every day.

3. Ken Dilger

In a 2001 game against the Jets, Dilger hooked up with Marvin Harrison for a 39 yard touchdown pass that gave the Colts a lead in the 4th quarter. His efforts would be in vein as Vinny Testaverde led the Jets back down the field to win the game. His perfect completion percentage is nice, but it doesn't take the place of a loss.

2. Jim Sorgi

Years from now when you look up "career backup" in the dictionary, a picture of Jim Sorgi holding a clipboard will accompany the definition. It's only fitting that he ends up as the backup on this list as well.

His shoulder injury and subsequent placement on IR means he won't be able to pad his stats anymore this season once the Colts clinch home-field advantage (All you had to do was put the clipboard in your other hand, Jim! Split the workload 50-50!). Still, his body of work during this decade speaks for itself. In 14 appearances, he's completed 63.5% of his passes, throwing 6 touchdowns and only one interception. Not bad for a career backup.

1 Joseph Addai

Every pass he's thrown in the NFL has gone for a game-winning touchdown. It doesn't get any better than that. Why isn't he starting at quarterback?

Week 14: Friday Injury Report

shake n bake — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:27:37 -0000

No suprises, the only players ruled out have missed significant time, all the newer injuries have returned to practice (minus Diem who is backsliding after practicing Wednesday).

Out: Donald Brown (chest), Anthony Gonzalez (knee), Aaron Francisco (ankle), Adam Vinatieri (knee)

Questionable (days of practice): Keyunta Dawson (3), Ryan Diem (1), Charlie Johnson (2), Robert Mathis (1), Daniel Muir (1.5), Clint Session (2), Tony Ugoh (2),

Probable: Hank Baskett (baby), Gary Brackett (foot), Melvin Bullitt (shoulder), DeVan (shin), Hayden (ankle), Tim Jennings (ankle), Peyton Manning (glute), Jamey Richard (shoulder), Tom Santi (hand), Reggie Wayne (foot).

IFR relays Mathis, Diem and Dawson's strong beliefs that they will be on the field Sunday

Week Fourteen Preview: Broncos at Colts

BigBlueShoe — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:09:13 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

Indianapolis Colts coach Jim Caldwell. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

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The Denver Broncos and the Indianapolis Colts have significant history between one another. Whether it is nail-biting, smash-mouth-style games played in snowstorms, or playoff blowouts featuring Peyton Manning throwing about a gazillion touchdown passes to then-Colts wide receiver Brandon Stokley, some of the most memorable games for these modern Colts have been against the Broncos.

This Sunday, they renew their rivalry with some new faces.

Gone are head coaches Tony Dungy for the Colts and Mike Shanahan for the Broncos. Replacing Shanahan is the brash and cocky Bill Belichick protege in Josh McDaniels. The new head coach in Indy is the soft-spoken, even-keeled Dungy disciple that is Jim Caldwell. Both have different approaches to the game. Both have gotten a lot out of their football teams of late. And while some players are new to this party, like Brian Dawkins and rookie Knowshon Moreno, other players are very familiar with this rivalry, but are now "playing for the enemy"; namely the before mentioned Brandon Stokely and defensive tackle Darrell Reid. Both play for Denver now.

For the Colts, the lone "defector" in the rivalry is former-Broncos defensive coordinator Larry Coyer. He is now coordinating the Colts defense, and doing a great job.

With the Broncos regaining their form after dropping four straight, this game figures to be like any other match-up the Colts had had to deal with this year: Hard and physical.

The Broncos are a bit of an enigma in that you aren't quite sure what you are going to get when you play them, and that is necessarily by design. During their 6-0 start, they seemed to have a lot of breaks go their way, with the incredibly lucky Brandon Stokley tip-catch-TD at the beginning of the year to beat the Bengals as the best example of said breaks. When they lost four in a row, they seemed to get exposed a bit. Their only meaningful road win was a 43-23 victory over the Chargers, but that win was later avenged by the Chargers utterly dominating the Broncos 32-3. They righted their ship, somewhat, by beating a banged-up Giants team and then later feasting on the small children that litter their division (namely, the Kansas City Chiefs).

In terms of standard stats, the Broncos defense is tied with the Colts, giving up exactly 16.8 points per game. The Broncos have 34 sacks, are about even with the Colts in terms of run defense, and sport a dangerous return threat in Eddie Royal.

The big reason the Broncos are 8-4 is their defense. Though Josh McDaniels has done a good job with a Denver team many felt would only win 3 games this year, the fact is McDaniels has nothing to do with the Broncos defense. He doesn't coach it, scheme it, or call plays for it on gameday. Mike Nolan, the current Broncos defensive coordinator and former head coach of the 49ers, runs Denver's D.

The standard stats for the defense are impressive, but when you factor in shake n bake's ever lovable, huggable DVOA stats, the Denver defense is top notch. They are ranked #4 in DVOA.

Meanwhile, the Broncos offense is ranked 21st in the league using standard scoring stats (20 points per game) and 19th in DVOA. The also rank in the bottom half of the league on third down completion percentage.

OK, those were the stats. now, we move to the keys:

A key match-up in the game is between Denver's outstanding left tackle, Ryan Clady, going up against all-world defensive end Dwight Freeney. Clady is as good as they come. But, then again, so were potential future Hall of Famers like Jonathan Ogden and Walter Jones. Freeney routinely ate those guys for lunch, and unless Denver plans to give Clady help he could be another "skull on the pile" for Freeney. Gil Brandt of NFL.com has a write-up on this match-up.
Pressure on Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton is very key. Last year, Orton (who played his college ball at Purdue following Drew Brees leaving for the NFL and just prior to Curtis Painter's tenure) walked into the grand opening of Lucas Oil Stadium and lit the place up. He was able to do this because his pocket was clean and he was rarely, if ever, pressured. That, and he had Matt Forte galloping all over the field for him. The Colts cannot allow Orton to gain any kind of comfort zone. They must get into his face, and pressure him into mistakes.
The other key match-up for the game is Peyton Manning v. Brian Dawkins and the Broncos secondary. The DBs in Denver are rather geriatric by NFL standards. Dawkins has been in the league 14 years. Starting corner Champ Bailey has played for 11 years while nickel corner (and longtime Colts nemesis) Ty Law, who signed with the Broncos a few weeks ago after a long absence from the NFL, has played 15 years. Denver will likely look to mix coverages, allowing their corners to play one-on-one with safety help against Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark. This is the tactic the Patriots used a few weeks ago. This means players like Pierre Garçon and Austin Collie must continue to step it up. Denver coach Josh McDaniels acknowledged the development and growth of Garçon and Collie is a recent press conference they have as part of Colts.com's weekly Colts Up-Close, Online Edition.

As always, the Colts must take the field this Sunday against a hungry, playoff situated team that is looking to solidify their post-season chances. Just like most other "experts," I too am very surprised by Denver's current 8-4 record. But, you have to give them credit. I personally think much of the credit should go to Mike Nolan, but McDaniels deserves some props for hiring Nolan and for making some strong personnel moves this off-season along with new Broncos GM Brian Xanders.

Obviously, there are elements of McDaniels personality and coaching style that leave one feeling that he is a little bit of a punk. Though we've been bashing him for a few weeks now, Yahoo! Sports "expert" Michael Silver did write an interesting article this week detailing how "ugly" McDaniels has acted and carried himself this season. However, despite the slime trail McDaniels seems to leave behind him, you cannot discount that he has done a better job with the 2009 Denver Broncos than Mike Shanahan did with the 2008 Denver Broncos.

I recently said in this Mile High Report FanPost that Nolan was able to take a defense with, roughly, the same players that Mike Shanahan had and transform them into a top flight D.

Turns out, I was wrong.

According to Broncos fans (and it's reasonable to trust them on this), only Elvis Dumervil, Champ Bailey, and D.J. Williams are holdovers starting from last year's defense. Everyone else appears new, and they are buying in to the Broncos "Pats West-style" 3-4 defense.

Many thanks to Broncos fans at MHR for an excellent series of FanPosts, allowing communities from both blogs to interact. In the three FanPosts created (two on MHR, one here) we had close to 700 comments from Broncos and Colts fans alike with much of the discussion focused solely on football and the game itself.

In fact, our FanPost had less trash talk than the Tweets between Raheem Brock and Darrell Reid.

These Q&As between writers and readers might one of the best weeks we've had with another blog all season. Special thanks to ANGELSFAITH and John Bena.

This should be a hard fought game between two teams who might meet again in the post-season. We shall see.

Broncos Thoughts and Musings - Indy Week

Emmett Smith — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:38:06 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

8 days ago: Denver Broncos tight end Daniel Graham catches a short pass before running for a touchdown during the first quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009 in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

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There's nothing quite like back-to-back wins to put a shine into the work in the film room. The glow of the past two wins hasn't faded at all, but the upcoming contest against the Indianapolis Colts is starting to loom large. Before we get into our matchups and needs against the next foe, let's take some time to look back over what we've accomplished. Special teams, the nose tackle position and even raiderology are on today's menu. Let the feasting begin!

The Film Room I - KC Autopsy

A moment of silence for a team that has passed away, out of contention for the season and fighting for respect. It's a tough time to be a Chiefs fans, and I want to thank them for a week of intelligent football talk and good-spirited fun. Nice guys, over at Arrowhead Pride. But the nice guy's team, in this case, is finishing near last (if they don't awaken right now. You couldn't miss that on the tape.

I had mentioned that the game this past weekend, like most games, would come down to how Denver played in the trenches. The Broncos responded with a solid performance by the O-Line, prying open gaping holes more than large enough to pass a running back through. When Ryan Harris stepped out in the early second quarter and Tyler Polumbus replaced him, I wondered for a brief moment if we were seeing a very bad thing but there was no dropoff that I saw. Polumbus seems to have stepped up his game, as has Russ Hochstein. Both improvements are timely - and much needed.

Mistakes - Orton had an uncharacteristically bad red-zone play on the first drive, but he moved them well on the next drive. He was blindsided twice and lost the ball, but let's be real - if the defensive player hits the arm right, every QB loses those. Over his career Orton hasn't tended to that issue, so I'm not worried. I want to see those blindside hits stop, though. Orton was 'burping the baby again, an old and bad habit, but the O-Line doesn't get off scot-free, either. They bear some responsibility for the sacks and the one fumble. They really stepped up when they had to though, and that was the name of the game. They let KC get to the one and held them to a FG. INTs, negative plays, pressure and domination go a long way. They took us to an eighth win.

I've wondered about the progress of Richard Quinn of late mostly because I hadn't had the time to break down the ST work as well as I should. That's being fixed, and the guys on Upon Further Review have been kind enough to help me out. As I result, I've been seeing a lot of good things with Quinn and I'm pleased that he singlehandedly made a huge play on the faked punt. KC must have assumed that since others have caught the Broncos with those kind of plays, it would work again. Here's what Josh McDaniels had to say,

They went to a gadget-type formation and I know that there was a guy leaking out the other way and they had an opportunity to get that ball out there but TE Richard (Quinn) made a heck of a play. I don't know what happens if the ball gets thrown but it probably wouldn't have been too good for us. Whenever you break the formation and have a gadget-type play, we were prepared and we split out with them but you are never sure who they are trying to pick for or who they are trying to spring free. That was a big play in the game because we obviously took possession of the football in their territory.

It wasn't the only big play, either. The Broncos were unstoppable in the running game and despite some errors, still used the pass to score 2 TDs, which would have been enough by itself. The game was over when Cassel's QB rating hit 3.1. There isn't a mercy rule. Perhaps there should be. This was a good reminder of that fact.

The Broncos won despite some sloppy play that won't work in the upcoming weeks. In the final analysis, the Broncos committed too many errors and they can't win against the best if they do. But still, you get a sense of how the team can play, and there is a heck of a team in here. You have to balance the bad with the fact that we're seeing a lot of things getting fixed in the new systems the team has learned. When I go back to what I wanted to see from the team this year, that was at the top of the list. Nice work, guys.

Film Room II - The Special Teams

The emphasis on this week's review was the play of the Broncos' special teams this season. Everyone is in agreement that the STs can play better than they did in the first 10-12 weeks of the season. While there are now some obvious bright spots (David Bruton, Spencer Larsen, Darrell Reid, Darcel McBath), I felt that a major review might be in order. It was a great week to feel that way - wow, what a performance on special teams the Broncos put in place. Huge kudos to MHR favorite Spencer Larsen, who notched a huge 4 special teams tackles and to Darrell Reid, who trailed him with 3. Great job on ST! Eddie Royal looked comfortable and Mitch Berger was a monster - again. I don't know how he avoided the block on that one punt, but I was impressed. Berger has no history of frequently blocked punts; so despite his slower motion, he hasn't let it hurt the team.

How was our kicking game against KC? Take a look:

Extra Points Made-Attempts 5-5
Field Goals Made-Attempts 3-3
Red Zone Efficiency 4-6-67%
Goal-to-go efficiency 2-2-100%

That's the kind of efficient red-zone and ST play that wins games.

Some things are obvious. Royal hasn't had enough room to run on punt returns, mostly due to our tendency to let the offenses get into the 40/40 yard-line range, which lets the teams either punt into the coffin corner or just create a touchback, nullifying Eddie's chances of getting in a good runback. They got over that pattern during the past two games and had two wins. Are they connected? You decide. I'm going to vote yes.

Two names that I wanted to look more closely at this week were Richard Quinn and Russ Hochstein. I recalled Hochstein making a couple of serious errors on ST while we were losing and while I'd heard good things about Quinn's ST work, I hadn't caught him on film enough to develop an opinion one way or the other. that obviously changed in KC - his play on the fake punt was perfect and his blocking on kick returns was excellent as well. Nice to see!

The balance of veterans like Mario Haggan, Champ Bailey, Darrell Reid and Andre' Goodman with younger players such as Bruton, Larsen and McBath seems to have found an area of comfort. Lanes are being filled, discipline has improved, tackling is much better and, just as importantly, we haven't been pinning Royal back in coffin country. This is the first time I've seen us playing the way we need to on special teams in a long time. I can only hope it continues.

Safety in Numbers: It's also obvious that David Bruton was a heck of a 4th-round pickup and that Darcel McBath was a great investment. Over the next 5 years, with those two and Josh Barrett, we're in good shape at safety. There was pre-draft talk of moving McBath to CB if certain teams drafted him - McBath can cover very well and can tackle, too. Denver will keep him at safety, though, and for good reason. He won't replace Renaldo Hill anytime soon, but I love that our chances are that good at when we're covering folks.

The response to the recent rise in short-passing offenses (much like our own) has been a switch to fast, coverage safeties. I believe that McBath can be smoothly moved into the slot currently well-occupied by Renaldo Hill when Hill finally slows. Keep in mind that Hill, too, was a CB/S tweener who played CB during his first 4 years in the NFL. McBath seems to be very much in the same mold - he's also bright, like Hill, and was a team leader in college.

We can also go with two smart, effective covering safeties, and although I will miss Dawk's aggression and leadership when the time comes, Hill is an excellent leader and as mentioned, McBath was also a captain in his own right. I believe that David Bruton has the power to later fill many of B-Dawk's roles, although few will ever do so as well. Bruton was also a defensive captain, a pattern in McDaniels' pickups. Finally, Barrett's ability to cover the best TEs one-on-one and to interchange with Wesley Woodyard when needed is a nickel option that few teams can match. Although everyone, myself included, would love to see an Eric Berry on our team, we can establish safety as a lower-cost, high-return group at any point. The fact that all three have done good things on ST makes me even happier - that's a seventh of the game that we need to win, week in and week out. We're finally starting to win at it with a good mix of veterans and younger players. No surprise, then, that we're back to winning.

By the way, we've scored exactly 70 points in the past two games. Things have changed, and for the better. We still need to improve on our mistakes, but I like the direction things are going in.

raiderology

If I'm Al Davis, which is unlikely in the extreme, I'm having a contract meeting with Bruce Gradkowski's agent tomorrow. Gradkowski is on a one-year (2009) contract for $535,000, and in 2010 becomes a restricted free agent. That is one tough, talented guy and the raiders should get a clue: He's a good option right now and a good backup in the future. When's the last time they had a guy come on and win them games? It's ironic that he's the polar opposite of JaMarcus Russell - smaller and lighter, only 6'1" and 220 lbs, but he's smart, tenacious and can play this game. You don't need to waste a pick in the 1st round - you've got your QB in-house for this year and even next year if you want to make the effort to rebuild the team. The young man earned it. Consider his game against PITT:

Att/Comp Yds YPA TD INT QB Rating
20/33 308 9.3 3 0 121.8

Those are numbers that work for me. He has accuracy issues, no question, and his arm strength isn't what the team would like. I don't think that he's a long-term answer - he's just a heck of a lot better answer than Russell and they can keep him on as a backup when they find someone better. The Raiders love the vertical game too much to have a starting QB that doesn't have the arm for the long ball, but they still need one that has some common sense and drive. Mark Twain mentioned that the problem with common sense is that it ain't. That's been Problem 1 in raiderville for a long time and Russell is a perfect example of why. Right now, Gradkowski is a step up.

The raiders have some good running backs in Justin Fargas and Michael Bush. Darren McFadden fumbles too much, has always had issues with his upright style and injuries; he may mature well, but hasn't shown that consistently yet - so I don't count him. They have a fine young TE in Zach Miller, too. Their receiving corp will be mediocre or worse until they catch onto the fact that running fast is of no use if you can't catch the danged ball. They need a couple of possession receivers badly, preferably veterans who don't need to be bottle-fed. They also need to patch a couple of holes in the O-Line, as in much of it. If they can put together a couple of drafts that actually match their team needs, fine, then they can drop big dollars on a QB. Until then? Gradkowski is fine.

This is one example of how a person's feelings on the theory of team building color their approach to decision-making. I personally believe that you need an offensive line more than any other single factor in football. To me, there's no point in arguing about how to win a Super Bowl until you at least have a team that can contend for their division and I think that you start that with the O-Line and move on from there. The raiders seem to do everything backwards, so this is no shock, but they can buy a few wins for relatively few bucks with Gradkowski and they need to develop a longterm plan for a change.

Speaking of the dead, I found it interesting last week when Nnamdi Asomugha went on record as being against the moribund system that Al Davis has in place of not making defensive adjustments for other teams' systems. Davis stills lives and refuses to die on the theory that you play your own system come drought or flood and you ignore what other teams are doing. We all know how that's been working for Oakland. Since this is a team that we play again soon, I'm content to watch them ignore reality with aplomb, but it's interesting when your best player calls out your system in the media. In other cases, I think that kind of thing smacks of ego, but in this case, it smacks of a legitimate cry for help. One that will be ignored, though, like all the rest.

Concussions (briefly) Continued

The NFL is considering a rule change that involves the running back position. The idea behind it is to prevent the RB from using his head as a battering ram, a style of running that has become increasingly common. Running backs like this maneuver because it permits them to deliver a blow rather than just take them.

I'm torn on this. I'm greatly encouraged by the new guidelines for dealing with concussions, and I support rule changes that will reduce the number of head injuries and simply 'blows to the head', which we now understand to be equally bad or even worse, over the course of time. I recognize the the running backs have a legitimate point regarding this approach - they take so much punishment that it seems harsh to take away one of their few options in return.

However -- running in that fashion is going to increase the number of blows to the head that the athlete experiences. It's really that simple. Research has shown a link between frequent blows to the head, even if they do not induce a concussion per se, and increased brain damage. That's a huge problem - the cumulative effects of those blows are increasing the number of retired players who are experiencing loss of their cognitive faculties. What number of yards makes up for that?

From my admittedly-biased position as a retired doc, I'm in favor of this rule change. Using your head to hit people isn't, well, using your head. I'd like to see alternative techniques taught and coached. I'd like to see an end to the kind of problems that hits like Adrian Peterson's created when he used his head to smash into Detroit safety Louis Delmas. By bending down to where his head was only a foot or so from the ground, Peterson smashed his helmet into Delmas' helmet as Delmas came in to tackle him. It was deliberate, and damaging to both men, if more so to Delmas; the hit left Delmas on the ground. I also would like to see it prohibited to use the head to deliver any kind of hit by any player and would support considering a change in the way that tackling is taught. These changes will not greatly change the way the game is played - just how the players are taught.

I understand that many fans will think that if you change the way the game is taught, it's "not really football" anymore. I'm sympathetic, but let's be real here - no amount of money is worth becoming a walking vegetable in your later years. Demanding that players be willing to trade their own abilities in consciousness for the experience of the NFL is, frankly, barbaric. Yes, it's a tough sport. Yes, it's impossible to prevent all injuries and you shouldn't try. However - dropping some of the gladiatorial fervor in the name of living a normal life beyond football isn't an unreasonable approach. We shouldn't ask anyone to be willing to increase their chances of living with brain trauma just for the chance to be a professional football player -- or for any other sport's sake. I hope that we, as a culture, are willing to move beyond that kind of lower-consciousness belief.

QBs and Ratings

While we're considering the media, consider this from Kerry Byrne at si.com:

16.13 yards per attempt -- This is the number that truly leaps off the stat sheet to those who understand the Cold, Hard Football Facts.

Passing yards per attempt is probably the single greatest individual statistical indicator of success in football, and maybe in all of sports. Teams that win the passing yards per attempt battle win nearly 75 percent of the time and the great quarterbacks almost always have high averages per attempt, from Bart Starr and Johnny Unitas to the greatest winner of all, Otto Graham, whose career average of 8.63 YPA is the best in history. to

So, when you see a number like 16.1 YPA, it pays to investigate a little further. Turns out Brees is just the fifth player since 1960 to average more than 16 yards per pass attempt in a game (min. 20 attempts).

It brings up an interesting point: Many teams - most, in fact - have moved to a NE-style offense with an emphasis on the short pass. That doesn't exclude throwing deep, but it does mean that teams will see more of the short passing game, which will tend to skew that number in the statistics. Since many of the offenses that emphasize the short pass use it much as teams used to use the ground game -- picking up 2-8 years at a time, keeping the clock moving and controlling the ball -- you will see the numbers on yards per attempt lessening. It's still true, however, that yards per attempt can be increased by yards after the catch, and that's an area where the Saints have excelled.

The Broncos are starting to throw deeper passes more often, and experience and comfort level between Brandon Marshall and Kyle Orton is a big factor there. It paid off again, and was that Brandon throwing his TD ball to McDaniels? Nice...so much for Brandon leaving. He likes to talk, but they will open the checkbook to keep him (and Doom).

How many more longer passes? It isn't a vertical game onslaught, but this is from the list of the Broncos top-10 long plays each week:

49 4 3-6-DEN 24 (14:08) K.Orton pass short left to B.Marshall pushed ob at KC 27 for 49 yards (J.McGraw).
19 4 1-10-KC 41 (11:26) K.Orton pass deep left to T.Scheffler to KC 22 for 19 yards (C.Mays).
18 1 1-10-DEN 33 (14:55) K.Orton pass short left to E.Royal to KC 49 for 18 yards (B.Flowers).
17 2 2-6-50 (10:18) C.Buckhalter left tackle to KC 33 for 17 yards (M.Vrabel).

Orton added three plays for 14 yards, two to Marshall, one to Royal. The mid-range game is starting to work better and the running game was money all day long. Then there's the kind of rushing dominance that I hadn't seen in too long. The combination gives us a puncher's chance against anyone, if we can control the line of scrimmage.

Final Note: NTs come Full Circle

Pat Kirwan of NFL.com posted this last week:

3-4 nose tackles are scarce

Any team that plays a 3-4 defense knows that success starts up front with a massive nose tackle that plays over the center's head and forces double teams. In the NFL, 3-4 nose tackles are an endangered species. The Chargers lost Jamal Williams and somehow keep winning. The Jets have dropped three of four games since Kris Jenkins went down. Jason Ferguson of the Dolphins just found he is heading to IR, which leaves Paul Soliai to replace him. All three teams have playoff aspirations, but the lack of a quality nose tackle hurts their chances. So far, the Chargers have adjusted best.

He brings up an interesting point. Increasingly, we are seeing smaller NTs coming in and being effective through leverage and athletic ability -- as well as getting penetration. While it is essential that the NT be able to take up 2 or more blockers, it's not really important that he weight 365 lbs. when doing so. The ability to move other people, great technique and an explosive first step are even more important than size.

Since we are now at 12 teams using the 3-4 in some form full-time and many others that use some hybrid variation at least part of the time, we're not going to necessarily see every team moving to the traditional kind of huge player at NT. Players with skill, stamina and unusual strength and/or leverage as well as a scale-tipping 340 lbs will probably continue to be relatively rare. But as Marcus Thomas (314) has shown in Denver when playing behind Ron Fields (314), as the combination of Travis Johnson (311) and Ogemdi Nwagbuo (303) have shown in San Diego since their massive NT, Jamal Williams (348), went on IR and as Jay Ratliff (304) has shown in Dallas, there is more to the NT position than sheer size. Jason Ferguson comes in at 305, no larger than many 40-front defensive tackles. There's a pattern here.

One of the advantages that Denver has shown this season is that Ron Fields is obviously as good as the commentators who called him a steal believed. Even better, Marcus has shown considerable ability in coming in and handling the NT duties when Fields sits down. Thomas is a serious penetrator who obviously plays by relishing of the chance to compete at this level. If Chris Baker (329) develops this off-season, we may get to see Baker or Thomas showing us their skills at DE - personally, I'd love to see Marcus handling that position, but right now he's the second-best option at NT and a very close second at that. He is also said to really enjoy the position, so perhaps he stays there. An eventual flexible rotation that uses Fields, Thomas and Baker at NT, with Baker or Thomas rotating at DE at times isn't beyond possibility, either. That would be flexible and versatile, hallmarks of the amoeba approach.

Regardless of which one slides over (or whether they do - I'm suggesting an option, not predicting that we'll use it), the fact that we have some solid options in the pipeline at DL speaks well to the way the team will play next season. It also frees up a position in the draft, which always is a comfort. What I'm seeing is that we don't need a NT, thanks to good player evaluation last offseason.

Taming the Colts?

How will we handle Indy? Tough question, since they look like the cream of the league to me right now. If we do, we will do it much as we did against KC, even though Indy is so much better. We need for the running game to keep Peyton Manning off the field. It's the only real way to limit him - he's just too good. We need our coverage to be what it's been the past two weeks - or even better. I don't know if even Champ and Goodman can shut down Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark and friends, but for us to have a good chance, they will have to. It will be up to Ryan Clady and the offensive line to handle Dwight Feeney. Giving Orton time to throw and the right holes to our newly-empowered running game gives us the best chance. We will be mixing the zone blocking and gap blocking again - over the past two games, that has really begun to gel, right on time for a run at the wild-card slot.

We can't keep committing unforced errors. I suspect that our game will hinge on that -- too many players have contributed cognitive flatulence by taking stupid penalties this season. If we beat ourselves, we're toast. We need to show that we can play like a playoff team and make them beat us. Indy is a predator - always ready to pounce on the weaknesses a team manifests. We're moving two time zones and Indy is murder at home.

It's our toughest game of the year. I look forward to seeing where we measure up.

Go Broncos!

Potent Quotables - Wednesday Ramblings from Dove Valley

John Bena — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:24:57 -0000

More photos » by Gail Burton - AP

5 days ago: FILE - This is a Nov. 1, 2009, file photo showing Denver Broncos offensive tackle Ryan Harris leaving the field after an injury in the second quarter of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, in Baltimore. Harris is done for the season. The third-year pro was put on injured reserve Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009, with an injury to his right big toe. (AP Photo/Gail Burton, File)

Browse more photos »

HEAD COACH JOSH McDANIELS

Opening statement

"We placed (T) Ryan Harris on injured reserve. We signed (T) Herb Taylor to the roster. Hopefully, everybody will be out there at practice."

On placing Harris on injured reserve

"His toe was too injured for him to be able to play without having a procedure. We're going to take care of that. After that happens, (with) the length of time that he would need to recover from that, it wouldn't make any sense for us to not make this move at this time on our roster."

On Harris' injury

"It was a toe injury."

On if Harris returned to game action too early against Kansas City

"No, he was fine. The previous injury was not the same injury. That has nothing to do with the new injury. It's the same toe, but it's not the same injury to the toe. It's kind of a fluke deal. He was playing well until the time that it happened."

On T Tyler Polumbus' improvement over the past five weeks

"I've seen a guy who's gained confidence because obviously, in this league when you're playing in the games, that experience is more valuable than the experience that you gain in the offseason and all the rest of it. He knows what we're doing. He knows our system. He communicates well with the other players. He's playing beside good players. We think that we have a guy who's getting better each week. He'll have a big challenge ahead of him this week."

On facing Indianapolis' no-huddle offense on Sunday

"We're just going to get lined up and play our call. That's it. We're not going to try to run a bunch of guys in and out of the game. Nobody does against this team. We're not going to try to do it either. You've got to line up and play good football. There's no more simple answer than that. That's what we need to do. That's what we're going to try to do."

On if the Broncos will use sub packages frequently against the Colts on Sunday

"We will not try to do something that is impossible to do, and that's impossible to do when you don't have the right time. If the ball hasn't been thrown down the field 40 yards, if there's not a timeout on the field, you don't try to do that and disrupt the entire flow of your game by allowing them to create situations where you have to call timeouts or you get five-yard penalties that keep the drive going and all the rest of it. We're going to play with the guys who are out there, and when we feel like we can substitute without issue, then we will substitute if we need to. If we don't need to substitute, then we're just going to play."

On Indianapolis Defensive Coordinator Larry Coyer's game plan

"I would say it's mostly the same philosophy, but you can tell that he's added a few different things that they haven't really done a lot of in the past. I'm not saying that that has taken over what they do. It certainly hasn't. The base things that they do, they're fairly simple in terms of the amount of volume of calls that they use, but they play faster than every team in the league. Everybody on this defense is fast. Their front is fast, they play fast, they stunt fast, they blitz fast (and) they cover fast. Everything that they do is about speed. That hasn't changed. He's added a few blitz-zones and some different coverage wrinkles here or there. They're playing as well as anybody in football on defense. They create a lot of turnovers (and) do a great job of stopping people in the red zone and on the goal line. Larry's done a great job with them."

On why opponents can't take advantage of Indianapolis' size on defense by running the football

"There's a quarterback on the other side who usually puts them ahead. I said the other day it's the best complimentary football team in the NFL, and it is. They play to each other. The offense tries to get out front. The defense rushes the passer and creates turnovers to give the ball back to the offense, which scores more points. Then you're behind by 14 or 21 points, and then if you hand the ball off three times in a row, you get booed. First of all, let me say this: they are not a bad run defense. If you could run the ball 40 times against them-that isn't going to be easy because again, the way that they stop the run is not the same way that we would stop the run, necessarily, or some other teams stop the run. They stunt and create disruption by picking people off or making two of your guys block one of their guys so that one of their fast players is free to the football. That's what they do. There are a lot of ways to skin a cat, and they do it a different way than some teams do, but they're really, really good at it and very effective. Everybody knows their job. They're extremely unselfish when they play run defense because there are a lot of people in that front who know, ‘Alright, I know I am not going to make the tackle on this play, but I'm going to go run in there and I'm going to take the guard and the center out, and now, somebody else is going to make the tackle behind me.' They have great trust and faith in their players."

On ranking Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning amongst all-time NFL quarterbacks

"I don't know where he stands in that. I'm not judging him or saying-I know he's one of the greatest of all time. He's unbelievable to prepare for. You can't beat him with a play call. You make the right call against some teams, and sometimes you have a better call than the other quarterback's coordinator made on their sideline, and hooray for you and you won one. With this guy, if he sees something or you show him something too early, it doesn't make any difference what the guy on the sideline called. He's going to make sure that he changes it to something that's going to hurt you. When he makes a decision to do that, usually, it ends up in a big play. There's a difference between him and everybody else because some other teams try to get out of a bad play and into a play that's a decent play. He tries to get out of a bad play and score a touchdown. He's an aggressive quarterback who gets rid of the football before you can get there most of the time. They've only (allowed) 10 sacks this year, and he's a great part of that. Their offensive line does a great job, but he does a great job, too. He attacks you at your very weakest point in every coverage, and that's what makes him so good."

On the Broncos secondary facing Manning

"When you play with a veteran secondary against him, that can help you. Certainly, we have to play well. The bottom line is when (WR) Reggie Wayne is out there, it doesn't make any difference who's on him. They're going to throw it to him. You're not going to put one guy out there on Reggie Wayne and say, ‘Okay, he won't throw it to Reggie today.' He's a great player. The two young kids who they have who are playing a lot, (WR Austin) Collie and (WR Pierre) Garcon, I don't know that I could imagine two young players coming into the league and then adapting to a difficult system and being able to work in pressure situations with a guy like Peyton Manning as well as those two have. It's remarkable what they've been able to do with those two kids. They're only going to get better. (TE Dallas) Clark is incredibly difficult to defend. You can try to take away some things, but ultimately, like I just said, he's going to throw it to the guy who you didn't take away, and you better be on him and you better be on him tight. You better try to get a pass rush on him because if you sit there and give him too much time and let him see what the coverage is, he's going to throw it to the right place."

On how Indianapolis TE Dallas Clark compares to Atlanta TE Tony Gonzalez or San Diego TE Antonio Gates

"(He has) great hands. I would say (he is) as good as a route runner as those guys you mentioned. He's one of those guys who has a knack for getting open. He can do things with his body. He has great body control when he runs routes. He can sell things and then do something different off of it. The thing about all of their receivers, including Clark, is they don't need much space. If he's from-me-to-the-microphone (approximately six inches) open, the ball is going to be ‘here,' and he's going to catch it because he's got great hands and he's got a good quarterback throwing him the ball. They've got so many weapons. You can't double-team everybody. We've got good players on defense, and we've got to play good defense."

On his decision to practice inside today

"It's sunny, it's zero degrees and we're playing indoors (at Indianapolis on Sunday)."

On how to beat Indianapolis

"I think there have been a lot of teams that have played them tough, and there have been a lot of close games. They've won seven games (by less than) a touchdown this year, which tells you that they execute in those pressure situations and have executed in those pressure situations better than their opponents have. It's not out of the question for you or for any other team to be close and to be in the game in the second half or to be ahead in the second half. You can't play 56 minutes. If you've played 56 good minutes, you might have a smile on your face and you're going to lose. If you play 58 good minutes, it might be the same situation. You've got to play 60 minutes or longer if it takes longer, and you've got to continue to come back to the sideline and say, ‘Alright, what are we going to do the next series?' and go out there and play well again. You've got to battle them, and you've got to play really, really good football down in the red zone, on third down and in two-minute (situations) because that's where a lot of their games have been decided in those crucial situations at the end of the game. They've made more plays than their opponents have, and that's why they've won 12 in a row and 21 straight in the regular season. If you can take care of the football and you can play your best football down there when it matters most, you've got a chance to be in the game and then to win the game."

QB KYLE ORTON

On T Ryan Harris being placed on injured reserve

"He's certainly a good player for us and brings toughness and a little nastiness to the line, so it's disappointing to hear about it. (T) Tyler (Polumbus) will step in. He's played before and he's played well for us, and he's going to need to the rest of the year."

On if the offense changed during the four weeks Harris missed

"No, I don't let it affect me. The guys have a job to do, and they're expected to do it. Tyler is expected to do it just like Ryan does. He's done a good job. I don't feel the pressure anymore. We have tough task this week, obviously. Everybody knows that, but we expect to go out and play well."

On if play calls are different when Polumbus is in the game

"No, I don't think so. We've kind of gotten away from doing some empty stuff, but I don't think that has to do with Tyler. I think that's just where we're at as an offense. I don't think we've done a whole lot to specifically help Tyler."

On being aware of each play's timing when facing Indianapolis' pass rush

"All 11 guys on offense have to be aware of it. Receivers have to have urgency getting open, I have to have urgency getting the ball out and the offensive line has to do a great job of running them by and giving me a chance to step up. Not just myself, but all 11 guys have to be aware of that."

On having to play well against Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning

"When you're playing a 12-0 team, I think you've certainly got to bring it, but Peyton is one of the best there is and one of the best who ever played. I'm not going to sit here and try to outdo him, for sure. We'll have to play smart football, and we'll have to play turnover free and mistake free on offense and try to hold the ball as long as we can and let him sit on the sideline and have fun over there."

On the term "franchise quarterback"

"That's all on the franchise. That's all on the organization. That's probably the only way you can decide that is if the organization thinks you're one, then you're one. I guess we'll just wait and see."

On if Manning is a franchise quarterback

"Peyton is a Hall of Fame quarterback. There are big differences between franchise quarterbacks and Hall of Fame quarterbacks. Peyton is a Hall of Famer, and there are not many of those around."

On Manning's star power in Indiana

"Well, he's the Colts. When you think of the Colts, not only in Indiana but across the country, you think of Peyton Manning. He's a premier player, and he has been for a long time. I know how important he is back in the Midwest."

On playing on the road late in the season

"There's a disadvantage going on the road, I would probably say, this time of year. We're playing good teams, and it's tough to win on the road. You go into a dome, and it's going to be extremely loud. They're a dome team. There's no question about it. They're built for the dome. They're fast. This will be the fastest defense that we see all year. We're going to have to handle the operation, have to handle the crowd noise and with all that, have to be able to handle the edge and everything with their (defensive) ends. It'll be a tough task."

On the challenges Indianapolis' defense presents

"They just tell their ends to go the quarterback, and everybody else rallies to the run. The ends really have no responsibilities other than to come back with the quarterback. They get there a bunch and cause a lot of havoc. Everybody else on that defense is extremely fast and they rally to the ball. There are usually five or six of guys there to make the tackle and try to strip the ball out."

On Indianapolis DE Dwight Freeney

"He's great. He's a great player, no question. He's done it for a long time. (DE Robert) Mathis is a great player. (LB Gary) Brackett is a great player. They've got young players-this is a younger team than when I played them last year, but their two secondary players are young and fast and they're not getting beat on the outside. We've got a lot of guys who we've got to account for this week."

On running the ball against Indianapolis' aggressive defensive ends

"A lot of draws are run against this team. A lot of screen passes, obviously, are run against this team, but like I said, they're so fast by the other nine guys who everybody rallies to the ball and they're there to make the plays. They play great team defense."

On scoring points against Indianapolis' defense

"We just know that we've got to go on 10-, 12-play drives. First of all, I think they've given up just a handful of plays over 15 yards, and that's in the run game and the pass game. To sit here and think we are going to have three-, four-play drives and hit big plays on them is kind of well wishing. We'll have to execute and take five yards and take five, six yards and take the backs and just know going into the game to be successful, we're going to have to drive the ball down, and when we get into the red zone, certainly, we're going to have to come away with touchdowns."

On the Broncos' offensive weapons helping him develop as a quarterback

"Everybody on our team has. This is the most talented offense I've played with, and obviously, it starts with the guys up front just giving me a bunch of time to throw and make my reads. I just feel that I'm a smart enough player that if I do have the time to sit back and read the defense, I am going to go the right place with the ball most of the time."

On if he has ever had to prepare for a defense that is playing as well as Indianapolis'

"Yeah, we've had to do it. Every year you've got to play defenses like this that are playing great. We feel like we're well matched with this team, and if we go out and do our job, we'll be just fine and win the game."

S BRIAN DAWKINS

On facing Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning

"A couple of times we've faced him, and they've won, I think, both of the times we played them. (It is a) very challenging preparation, as usual, for a good quarterback. This time is definitely no different with him having the weapons that he is using on the field right now."

On attacking Manning

"You can't let him know what (coverage) you are in. You have to do the best that you can to disguise what you are trying to do. From there, you've got to play football. Once the ball is snapped, you play football, and that is the end result in all the checks and all the things both sides of the ball that we will be doing defensively and offensively. When the ball is snapped, you have to make plays on the ball (and) you have to make tackles. We are in for a 60-minute game."

On if Colts' opponents try to disguise coverages

"You just do what you do. We have a veteran group in the secondary, obviously. We are going to do our best to make sure that we don't make the game easier for him than it already is for him. It is going to be, like I said, a 60-minute game of doing that, not getting tired of disguising."

On playing the undefeated New England Patriots in 2007 with the Philadelphia Eagles

"It seems like a decade ago as far as me playing with the Eagles and going against the Patriots in that situation. I just remember it was a hyped game. We were very jacked up because of the underdogs we were. I remember that, but that is a completely different ball team, completely different situation as far as I'm concerned, as far as where we are with this team and what we are looking to do. I don't think we are focused on that, to tell you the truth."

On if he will practice this week

"That's the plan. That's the plan: to practice and go out and be on the field with my teammates, doing what I can to help this football team this weekend. That is the intention."

On his physical condition

"I feel great. This is football. This is a contact sport. Things happen at different times. (You) may go through a stretch where you feel absolutely great, and then other times, especially late in the season, you are going to have to play through some things. This is nothing new for me."

On Indianapolis' winning streak

"What good is it going to do to be focused on somebody else's winning streak or what they are not doing? That is not what we are about. We are about this one game and what we have to do to see if we can pull out a victory (in) this one game. All those other victories and losses, whatever, even our losses, none of that stuff, means anything as far as this game is concerned. This is the most important game of our season right now at this point. That is what we need to focus on."

On where Manning ranks amongst all-time NFL quarterbacks

"I'm not going to tell you anything different. He is one of the best that I've ever faced as (far as) what he does with the football, his accuracy, his diagnosing defenses (and) him being able to put the ball where it needs to be to his receivers when he does check. I'm not telling you guys anything that you don't already know. He is one of the best to ever play this game."

On DL Vonnie Holliday's contribution to the defense

"Tremendous. Tremendous. He is a vocal guy. He is a guy that understands how to play his position in this defense. I think that has benefited some of the other guys who haven't played in this defense, allowing them to understand how to play their gaps and how to control different gaps and allow the linebackers to run free sometimes. He has been a tremendous, tremendous benefit for this team, and I'm so happy we were able to talk him into coming here."

On RB Correll Buckhalter's performance

"This is what I expect from Buck when he is healthy because this is what he did in Philadelphia when they gave him the chance. They didn't give him a lot of chances, having (Philadelphia RB Brian) Westbrook in front of him, but when he got in the game, he was one of the guys that gave us big plays. I remember last year in our stretch run, he was one of the guys that kept giving us play after play, even receiving the ball out of the backfield, giving us 50- and 60-plus yards after the catch. This is what I expect from him, and I don't think this is anything he doesn't expect from himself. I think he expects the same thing from himself. I'm just happy, and the Lord is blessing him to stay healthy."

On Buckhalter's comment that he may currently be faster than ever

"He is a blessed man of God. He is, and he knows that. He is a humble guy and throughout all that adversity, I was in his ear and I was always praying for him. Coming out the other end of that perseverance, he is a stronger person from it. You see the speed on the football field. Like I said, I'm just excited to be able to enjoy this with him the way it is happening right now."

Packers-Ravens Retroactive Live-Blog

Mitchell_M — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:13:49 -0000

It's been two months since I've really been active on the site. For some of you, that is a terrible tragedy. For many, many more, it is a source of endless joy. But today I decided to cater to the minority and make my presence known by throwing a mini-fiesta with my DVR, a bowl of Reese's Puffs, and a strong pot of coffee.

Before we get going with the retroactive live-blog, let me just share some of the knowledge I've gained over the course of working for 80 out of a possible 168 hours in a week:

There are few things more traumatic than the transition from college-life to real-life. I imagine it's somewhat like being born, except you're slightly more conscious and slightly less sticky.

Unlike most co-eds, I worked my way through and avoided drinking my way out of school, but nothing can truly prepare you for the real world. There's chores? You have to do them, otherwise you're living in filth. There's bills? You have to pay them, otherwise a large Italian gentleman will break your ribs. There's family gatherings you'd rather not attend? You have to go to them, because you don't have the homework excuse anymore.

Real life blows, I'm going to grad school.
Trying to keep in shape? Don't work overnights. You will have no energy whatsoever during the daytime hours. I play basketball to keep myself in shape and satisfy my over-competitiveness, and I love it. But I haven't played in two months, and I've gotten noticably soft. Amazing, considering I've lost weight.
Dry spells. Guys, when women say that they're too tired, it's generally a toss-up between them actually being tired and not wanting to deal with you. When a guy says it? Definitely tired.
Caffeine has an odd effect after consuming too much for it. The most noticeable symptom is when you're lying down after finally getting home and you get the ringing in the ears. It keeps me up for at least half an hour, and my mom (who worked 3rd shift for over a decade) says it doesn't go away. Awesome.
Watching sports is a major hassle. Not only do I miss the majority of my Sunday NFL-watching, but working nights has ruined any chance I have of watching any NBA games during the week. DVR has been my best friend, but it somehow isn't enough.

On to the live-blog! I DVR'd this last night and watched it immediately as I got home. I did not check the score at any time on Monday night, and I have no knowledge whatsoever of the outcome. Enjoy!

Pre-game observations:

I forgot how cool of an environment Lambeau is on national TV at night. Other cities have their stadiums surrounded by other big buildings with big, bright lights, but Lambeau sort of stands alone in the still-tiny Green Bay. It's kind of cool, even though it's quaint.
Another thing I forgot? Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski are still in the MNF booth. Let's put it this way: it took roughly two minutes for Gruden to make the first (of what I predict will be many) "Mr. Rodgers' Neighborhood" jokes. Ugh.
Ed Reed is announced as inactive for the game. Good timing to get the Ravens without their ball-hawk extraordinaire, not to mention good time by ESPN's cameras, who immediately cut to Reed spitting an enormous loogie. Between that and the beard, he looks like a homeless guy (who makes roughly 100,000x my salary).
Ray Lewis may have lost a step or four, but he's still quite the motivational speaker. It's like if Lil' Jon was coherent and dread-less.
The Nike Kobe and LeBron puppets are back. Frowny-face.
And here comes the Ray Rice love. Am I pleasantly surprised by my alma mater's best football product? Yes. Am I ecstatic to have drafted him (against my then-better judgement) in the ninth round of my keeper league? Yes and yes.

Alright, enough of that. Let's play some ball, gentlemen.

First Quarter!

15:00 - Green Bay receives, and Jordy Nelson avoids both tacklers and fumble-itis all the way to the 43-yard line. Decent start.

14:34 - A play-action draw pass? Sounds terrible, but it gained 7.

13:59 - So that's why we still have Brandon Jackson. Excellent scramble by Rodgers to find Jackson in the flat for the first down.

12:44 - Ravens call a timeout (symptom of missing Ed Reed #1), and the next thing we see is Jimmy Football. If someone were to kick him in the groin, I would not object. Extra points for wearing a Billy Mays mask and demanding royalties from Budweiser.

12:32 - ESPN shows a graphic illustrating Aaron Rodgers' awesomeness on 3rd down, and he promptly finds James Jones for a first down. Outstanding blitz pickup by both Chad Clifton (the blocker) and Scott Wells (the center).

11:22 - Korey Hall and Josh Sitton pancake Ray Lewis, opening a hole for Grant to gain a first down. In other news, Did you know that Ryan Grant is 8th in the league in rushing yards? When did that happen?

10:08 - ESPN continues the Rodgers love-fest by displaying his red-zone stats. Apparently, he has 30 TDs and 0 INTs over the past two seasons when inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Yikes.

9:17 - Mark Tauscher comes up with a tipped pass and gets tackled for a loss. I'd criticize his decision to catch it versus batting it down, but whenever linemen get the ball, they seem so damn happy. I can't ruin it for him.

8:41 - Mason Crosby nearly shanks a 28-yarder. The Green Bay offense stalls in the red zone again, settling for the "easy" 3. Sadly, neither are surprises this season.

8:30 - Le'Ron McClain's smile is hilarious. Mark Clayton looks like 50 Cent. I can't wait to see the offensive linemen.

8:30 - And for good reason. Not only is Marshal Yanda's name funny, but he looks like an uncomfortable 7th grader who hasn't gotten used to his new body yet.

7:40 - Good containment on Ray Rice in the flat, but not good enough. First down, Baltimore.

7:01 - Flacco tightropes for a just-barely first down after being flushed out of the pocket. He may have looked like an idiot doing it, but it was probably better than getting pasted by Cullen Jenkins. I'll make fun of him either way.

5:05 - Bad decision by Nick Collins to go for the pick instead of batting down the ball. Another first down for Baltimore.

4:18 - Well, a fumble recovery certainly absolves Collins of any wrongdoing on the previous play. Clay Matthews is closing in on the "if a huge defensive play happens he must've had something to do with it" status currently held by Charles Woodson.

4:08 - Ryan Grant tries to return the favor, but his right knee looked like it could be down. Maybe. Possibly. Could go either way. This time, it goes the Packers' way.

3:48 - A great play by Dominique Foxworth that was (un)fortunately flagged as interference. The replay shows a grab or two, but probably

3:39 - No matter, Rodgers throws it directly to Tom ~~I-can't-spell-his-last-name-unless-I-check-the-recap-which-will-ruin-the-ending~~ Zbikowski.

2:06 - Now that's how you commit pass interference! Thanks ~~Atari Bigby~~ Tramon Williams! /facepalm

1:52 - Nick Collins makes everyone forget about Williams' transgression by picking off an ill-advised flea-flicker pass into quadruple coverage. Yeah, Flacco shouldn't have done that.

0:00 - An underwhelming first quarter filled with above-average defense and one boneheaded interception for both sides. 3-0, Green Bay.

Second Quarter!

14:52 - B.J. Raji sheds a block and drops Ray Rice for a big loss. Lucky he didn't get called for face masking, but a good play nonetheless.

14:12 - Derrick Mason just barely misses a catchable ball to force 4th down. I thought veteran receivers were supposed to make that play? I guess having Donald Driver on your team gives you a skewed expectation for aging wideouts.

13:14 - Great adjustment by James Jones to come back and grab the ball for a first down. He's definitely taken control of the 3rd WR spot on this team lately.

11:59 - By my count, that's three catches in this game that Jennings should have had but failed to come up with. This troubles me.

11:55 - Punting inside the 50-yard line? Greg Easterbrook would be appalled, then proceed to write a 10,000 word article about it. Shoot, if I included random interstellar factoids, referred to certain teams by ridiculous self-coined nicknames, and added superfluous cheerleader facts that allowed me to post their photos, I'd be Greg Easterbrook.

11:13 - Trey Wingo informs us that Jimmy Clausen will be entering the 2010 NFL Draft. Brady Quinn advises him to stay in school.

11:06 - Charles Woodson gets busted for mauling Derrick Mason. The groping wasn't necessary, Chuck.

11:01 - Clay Matthews asserts himself all over Joe Flacco. Jared Gaither doesn't know what just happened.

10:21 - Offsides on Clay Matthews? Jared Gaither claims to know what happened on the previous play.

9:48 - I know Jordy Nelson was dynamite at Kansas State, but I haven't seen enough promise out of him to merit keeping him on punt returns. Then again, it's more important to keep Woodson and Williams fresh, and Will Blackmon made his yearly trip to I.R. early this season.

8:30 - Haloti Ngata owns Daryn Colledge to drop Ryan Grant at the line. I wonder how long until Colledge loses his spot?

7:51 - It's plays like this that got Frank Walker traded. Thanks for the yardage!

7:42 - Ahman Green exhibits remarkable blitz pickup to spring Jermichael Finley on a big gain. Mike Tirico noted this, and Gruden promptly refers to him as Brandon Jackson (twice!) before correcting himself.

5:08 - Jermichael Finley makes another big play, thanks to another great third down throw from Rodgers. First and goal, Packers.

4:35 - I'm no psychic, but as soon as I saw Finley split out wide, I saw the quick fade coming. Fantastic throw, outstanding catch, b-e-a-utiful play. 10-0, Packers.

4:35 - I just remembered my fantasy football situation. Going into this week, three teams in my division were 7-5, with me among them. I play one of them this week and the other next week, and the other already has his victory wrapped up. I'm up 130-24 in a game I need to win to move into a tie for first place and help secure a playoff spot next week (the final week of the season). My opponent has Aaron Rodgers, Jermichael Finley, and the Packers defense playing. I have Ray Rice. Man, am I glad that his other players (Adrian Peterson, Reggie Wayne, Ricky Williams) all laid eggs.

2:00 - The two-minute warning comes up, and Mike Tirico just got done "highlighting" the Packers' 38-28 loss to Tampa Bay. In the team meeting the described, he said that the offensive line stood up and said something to the effect of "hey, you have to help us out too". I hope I misheard him.

1:50 - Rodgers gets the first on a sneak, and a fight nearly breaks out because Brandon Jackson is protecting Rodgers from what he thought was a late hit. Whether he was right or wrong, it is nice to see that kind of fight in your team.

1:24 - Donald Driver goes flying, earning Baltimore its 11th pass interference penalty on the year, leading the league.

1:18 - Green Bay ruins the momentum by giving up their first sack of the game. /facepalm

1:09 - And Rodgers gets it right back with a 20-yard scramble right up the middle. I take back my /facepalm.

0:38 - Rodgers delivers a Jon-Gruden-Quarterback-Fraternity-Approved LASER to Greg Jennings' back shoulder. Nice, except for Gruden's rambling.

0:32 - Rodgers connects with Donald Driver for a score, punctuated by two acrobatic leaps by Driver (one into the end zone, one into the stands). The Packer fan in me is ecstatic: the fantasy football owner is frantic.

0:00 - A solid defensive stand by Green Bay keeps the shutout alive. 17-0 Green Bay, at the half.

Halftime observations:

None. I have to be at work again in 8 hours (as of 1 PM), and I haven't slept yet. But the score doesn't lie. This game is totally worth staying up for.

Third Quarter!

14:07 - I don't know how they practiced for the past week and a half, but Green Bay is absolutely starving Ray Rice. He's trying his damndest, but he can't make anything happen. Why'd I start him against the #1 defense again?

12:31 - Brad Jones notches a sack from the strong side. Rookie 7th round pick? No matter. Boring name? Who cares? Buried on the depth chart? Not for long, I hope.

12:05 - Ryan Grant doesn't gain a ton of yards on this play, but it looks as if he's churning his legs and fighting for extra yardage more than I'm used to seeing from him. Did anyone else notice this?

9:57 - Rodgers gets time in the pocket, makes even more time, dances around, and finally gets sacked. Somehow, the play is negated by an illegal hands-to-the-face penalty. It seems like one of those games for Green Bay tonight.

9:30 - Then Scott Wells gets called for holding. Yep, it's definitely one of those games for Green Bay tonight, even if the score doesn't reflect it.

9:04 - Wow, I'm going to stop complaining about stupid penalties. I almost feel bad for Ravens fans. P.I. number twelve on the year for Baltimore.

8:27 - Jermichael Finley re-injures his knee. Not at all happy to see that.

8:23 - Nice connection to Driver that results in a fumble that quite possibly could be ruled an incompletion, if it was reviewed. Blah, a 17-0 lead in the third quarter shouldn't be this frustrating.

8:01 - Jon Gruden: "Somebody has to rescue the Ravens' offense right now." Yeah, that's Ray Rice's job, and he didn't come in today.

7:50 - As if on cue, Ray Rice rips off a big run. Jon Gruden gets to feel smart, and I lose a little bit of my soul.

6:07 - Jon Gruden praises Charles Woodson's ball-raking ability. The adolescent-me giggles uncontrollably.

5:18 - "Nobody strips a ball like Charles Woodson!" Adolescent-me is now crying with laughter.

5:13 - Todd Heap drops a sure-fire 1st and goal, then Tramon Williams forces Mark Clayton to drop one in the end zone with a slightly-more sneaky arm bar. Illegal? Yes. Effective? Absolutely, that's why it's illegal.

3:35 - I don't know what the refs were talking about before this drive, but they are letting the defense play. You don't see many drives last this long against a defense that's getting away with everything.

3:28 - A free play and a Kelley Washington touchdown deflates the stadium. The play gets challenged, but I'm skeptical.

3:28 - Modern Warfare 2 commercial, set to Eminem's "Til I Collapse". Best 30 seconds of non-football I've seen today. Get that game, if you can handle it.

3:28 - Turns out that I was right; the score stands. Green Bay is out of challenges for the game, unless of course they used the item cheat and got one for free. 17-7, Packers.

3:22 - Evan Dietrich-Smith comes up with the kickoff. My immediate thought: "This cannot end well." Of course he fumbled, but Green Bay was lucky enough to regain possession.

3:14 - Jared Johnson gets an interception off of Driver's shin. I'm not liking this third quarter. Too much bad mojo.

3:07 - More bad mojo with Tramon Williams' P.I. in the end zone. Actually, this one is relatively tame compared to other plays the refs have allowed tonight (today?).

2:58 - Willis McGahee pushes his fantasy-irrelevant self in from the 1. Makes my Ray Rice decision feel even better. 17-14, Packers. /double facepalm

2:43 - Jennings manages a nice gain on a 3rd and 10 slant. I was just about to start considering wondering whether or not Green Bay was possibly maybe starting to lose it.

1:52- Ray Lewis nearly decapitates Greg Jennings, and the flag takes forever to come in. But it does, which is all that matters.

0:42 - A Mark Tauscher hold takes Green Bay out of the red zone the same way they got in: on the yellow cloth road.

0:00 - I knew this game seemed too sloppy to be a blowout. 17-14, Packers, but our guys are in scoring position.

Fourth Quarter!

14:50 - Mason Crosby shanks a field goal, leaving the drive with nothing to show for it. Same score, same story. I sure hope the defense can regain its first-half composure.

13:53 - Flacco unleashes the dragon deep, Derrick Mason gets past Charles Woodson and makes the catch over him, but somehow got called for offensive pass interference. At this point, I don't know which team is trying to give the other team more breaks, honestly. And an unsportsmanlike penalty on Mason is tacked on at the end of it. A huge gain turns into a huge loss in a heartbeat. 3rd and 32 (!).

13:05 - So of course Baltimore decides to run the ball and Ray Rice nearly fumbles. Green Bay gets the ball back with decent field position.

12:30 - And here comes the replay of the Mason interference/unsportsmanlike penalties. There was definitely a hook-and-push around Woodson's waist, and Mason follows up that number with a plea for leniency to the referee. Pretty standard, right? Nah, just kidding, he pretty much shouted in the ref's face, "What the f--- was that, man?" Yeah, that's a flaggin'.

10:31 - Jermichael Finley gets another touchdown after a couple of nice short passes to get within 20 yards. Aaron Rodgers' red-zone stats improve, Jermichael gets the "Mr. Monday Night" nickname, my fantasy team starts to quiver in terror, and the score jumps to 24-14, Packers.

10:21 - Ah, Green Bay special teams, you never cease to disgust me. A massive kick return puts the Ravens deep into Green Bay territory. Then again, how hard is it to juke out Mason Crosby? The goalposts do it to him on a weekly basis.

9:46 - Tramon Williams earns yet another pass interference flag in the end zone. I thought there was a cap to how many times a player could get flagged for the same thing over and over?

/conveniently forgetting the Ahmad Carroll era

9:30 - How? How? How does a cornerback make that play? Tell me how Charles Woodson just stopped McGahee when he had a massive opening to go through? Between that and flustering the Ravens to the point of calling a timeout, I'm pretty sure Charles Woodson should gain an edge for the DPOY award after tonight.

8:47 - Joe Flacco rolls nearly 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage, avoids a sack, and tosses it nicely into Tramon Williams hands. Mike Tirico exclaimed "That is terrible!" as the ball was still in the air! I cannot believe Flacco made that throw. Downright Bad Favre-esque. Kudos to Williams for not retreating into the fetal position after all the penalties tonight.

8:38 - Still trying to figure out the last three plays of that Baltimore drive. Tackle for loss, timeout, interception, all from within the 5-yard line. When's the last time Green Bay came up with that kind of stop?

7:12 - Baltimore's defense forces a 3-and-out as the King of Third Down and James Jones miscommunicate on a fly-stop route.

6:48 - Yeah, Joe Flacco's having a bad day. This time he throws it right into the hands of A.J. Hawk, who was quietly having another solid game (which is EXACTLY WHY WE DRAFTED HIM! FOR QUIET, SOLID GAMES!) before this play. Back-to-back interceptions for the Unibrow, and I'm almost sad to see it. Remember, my fantasy team is up 130-24, but I'm playing Rodgers, Finley, and the Packer defense while starting Ray Rice. The offense I can deal with, but this stifling defense is killing me!

6:00 - Ahman Green smashes his way to gain a short first down, and the running out of the clock commences. How much time can they milk from the clock?

2:56 - Turns out they can burn a whole lot of time. Interesting graphic on Green Bay receivers, going from Sharpe to Brooks to Freeman to Driver to Jennings.

2:15 - "Hey Coach Gruden, I found a pair of your old practice shorts." If there's a better setup for a pasty white guy wearing green-and-gold short-shorts in below-freezing weather, I've never seen it.

1:56 - Crosby avoids the shank-osaurus and makes it 27-14, Packers. Solid lead.

1:52 - Gruden brings up the possibility of a Vikings-Packers rematch in the playoffs. I say, don't get ahead of yourself, but the prospect of facing what might be a slowly-fading Favre, a possibly nicked-up Peterson, and a banged-up defense in Minnesota isn't nearly as terrifying as it seems.

0:29 - Fittingly, Clay Matthews chases Flacco down for his second sack of the day. Ted Thompson deserves all the slack in the world for having the stones to trade up for this guy. He could draft Jimmy Clausen next season and I'd still like him.

0:00 - The sack is the last play of the game, and the Packers earn the win, 27-14.

Post-game thoughts:

Not many, again due to my exhaustion. But I will say this: the offense played relatively well, Aaron Rodgers carried the team with his passing. The defense was stifling for much of the game, and Charles Woodson should be the front-runner for DPOY, and even in the conversation for defensive-players-who-deserve-the-MVP-but-won't-get-it-because-they're-not-a-quarterback-or-running-back (if he wasn't already). The playcalling was really well thought out on both sides of the ball, and the execution of many of the plays was awfully impressive.

But two things stand out as glaring negatives. First was the penalties. So many penalties. If Baltimore didn't flag it up more than we did, it would stand out more. Tramon Williams has a lot of talent, but he cannot ~~get caught using~~ use that armbar anymore. It simply costs too much yardage. And Chad Clifton needs to get his business together, because he's smarter than he's playing.

The second thing was the final score. 27-14 seems like a solid win, but with all of the opportunities that the Ravens gave up, it should have been a much wider margin. Playoff teams win games like this soundly, which the Packers did. They should, they're a playoff team. But championship teams beat their opponent senseless when they come up with as many takeaways as they did (4).

All that said, this is Green Bay's fourth straight win after falling to 4-4. You can't ask for a better setup for the final quarter of the season.

And my fantasy team? They hung on for a 137-80 victory, largely because I had actually started Rashard Mendenhall instead of Ray Rice. See what working third shift does to you?

Anthony Gonzalez still not ready to practice or play

BigBlueShoe — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:33:16 -0000

More photos » by AJ MAST - AP

3 months ago: Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez is helped off the field after being injured in the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009, Indianapolis. The Colts won 14-12. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

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On the Bill Polian Show last night, the big redhead gave us a few updates on the status of players, like injured wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez, who has not played since he suffered a a knee injury in Week One against the Jaguars. Per usual, John Oehser does the yeoman's work, picking out the important quotes from the show and transcribing them for us lazy bastards who would rather play Left 4 Dead 2 than listen to Bill talk about the "pragnosticators," the "pundits," and the "Pa-tree-ots." Love that Hard Rain campaign:

Gonzalez, who began the season as the Colts’ starting wide receiver opposite three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Reggie Wayne, sustained a knee injury in that game. After having a setback, Gonzalez has yet to play, and Polian said the hope is still that he will return this season.
"Anthony is a bit behind schedule," Polian said Monday on his weekly radio show on Hank FM 97.1 in Indianapolis. "We thought perhaps that he might be back starting to practice this week, but as you know, he had a setback. He had to have some arthroscopic surgery to just tweak the knee a little bit. My hope is that we get a breakthrough here one of these weeks and that he’ll be back before the season is over.

"Part of the problem here – and it’s true with any injured player – is the doctors give you a prognosis, but it’s only that. It’s a prognosis. It’s an estimate. Players heal – and human beings heal – at different rates. Anthony’s just been a little slow coming around. But we know what the issue is and we know it will come around probably sooner rather than later and we’re hopeful it will be even quicker than that."

Here is what I do not want: A repeat of the Marvin Harrison situation in 2007. If Gonzo cannot play by Week Seventeen, he should be IRed. While I absolutely love Gonzo and think he is a very good football player, the fact of the matter is the Colts have not missed him. They currently have the #2 passing offense in football, averaging 309 yards a game with 8 yards per completion. Pierre Garçon and Austin Collie have developed very well, and a big reason for their quick development has been the unfortunate absence of Gonzo. Hank Baskett, signed after Gonzo went down, has also played well on special teams.

While it seems Polian holds out hope that Gonzo will pull a Brandon Stokley, circa 2003, I am not holding my breath. If Gonzo comes back, then GREAT! I am as happy as a clam. However, if Gonzo is not playing in a live game by Week Seventeen, my sense is to IR him. Why have the distraction of "Will he? Won't he?" looming over the team as they enter the post-season, especially since Garçon and Collie have played so well.

Tip to Z.Pain

Potent Quotables - McDaniels Monday Meet-up

John Bena — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:14:33 -0000

More photos » by Ed Zurga - AP

8 days ago: Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels calls in a play during the second quarter of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009, in Kansas City, Mo. The Broncos won 44-13. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

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Opening statement

"After evaluating the film, we certainly did some things that we identified as keys for us to win the game yesterday. I think it started with our performance in the kicking game. We knew that that had been a strength of Kansas City's, and we felt like we really challenged them in every phase of our special teams. (WR) Eddie (Royal) did a nice job returning the football. He handled every ball against a punter (Dustin Colquitt) who certainly has given returners some fits. Credit him for doing that. There were a few that were over his head, and he went back and got them and had a big day returning the football. (K Matt) Prater kicked the ball well. (ILB/FB) Spencer Larsen had four tackles (on special teams). All in all, we just really handled the kicking game well.

"Defensively, obviously, any time that you force turnovers and you can turn them into points, that's a huge help on the road. We did a nice job of creating some three-and-outs, which I know a lot of the time the offense gets credit for time of possession, but when the defense forces 10 three-and-outs or better, that certainly lends itself to the offense having the ball for a long time. The defense certainly gave it back to the offense yesterday.

"Offensively, we did a nice job in the running game at the line of scrimmage. We only had one negative run in 45 carries, which we've talked a lot about that this year. We really did a nice job of controlling the line of scrimmage (and our) backs ran well. We improved our red-zone production as well. It's been something that's been a little bit of an Achilles heel for us. We got down in there six times and came away with four touchdowns. (There's) still room to improve and get better, but (it was) much better than what it's been. We scored on a screen play, which was a big deal to us.

"All in all, (we are) happy with the way our team approached the game yesterday. We are excited for the opportunity to get ready for the Colts this weekend."

On ILB/FB Spencer Larsen's contribution on special teams

"Toughness, consistency, effort (and) attitude. He works at his craft. He does his job every time he's out there. He's a great leader for that group. We've got a lot of leaders who play a lot on special teams, (ILB Wesley) Woodyard, (OLB/DE Mario) Haggan, Larsen, (S Darcel) McBath, (S David) Bruton and (S Josh) Barrett. There are a lot of them, (OLB/DE Darrell) Reid, who are out there all of the time on those kicking units. They enjoy it. They accept the challenge. They want to be out there. I think a lot of times in the kicking game, that's part of it is wanting to be out there and run down on the kickoff, block people and sometimes take on double teams. It isn't always pretty, but Spencer attacks all of those challenges head on. It's great to have him out there."

On starting CBs Champ Bailey and André Goodman contributing on coverage units

"Those plays are just as important as the other plays in the game that they may be on the field for. We knew going into yesterday-they've been playing that role for a while now. I think that just shows our team how important we feel the plays are, and it also shows the rest of our players that those guys are out there working hard to try to help us in any way they can. We've got a very unselfish team. I don't think there is any player on our team who wouldn't do anything we asked of him in the kicking game. Those two are good examples."

On if it is unconventional to have two defensive starters on coverage units

"I don't think so. There are some teams that have maybe more starters than others (on special teams), but (Kansas City RB) Jamaal Charles was right beside the kicker on the opening kickoff yesterday. Each coach and each team has a different set of players and a different set of philosophies on that, but I think the kicking game is a huge phase for us and is very important. We don't treat it as any less than offense or defense. We would like to have the best players we can on the field."

On Bailey, a potential NFL Hall of Famer, being willing to play on coverage units

"Like I said, I don't think he would consider it ‘willing to play.' I just think he would consider it as we asked him to play that role, and he's saying yes. I don't think it's one of those things where we present it like, ‘Hey, would you mind?' We don't do that. We try to put the best 11 (players) on the field every time we can, whether it's an extra point, a field goal, a field goal block, punt team or whatever it may be. The guys we feel like can give us the best opportunity to win that play, we hope, are out there all the time, within reason. There are certainly plays where you can't have a whole bunch of starters out there because they just played 12 plays or something. We, again, appreciate everybody's attitude and effort in the kicking game here in Denver."

On RB Correll Buckhalter carrying 10-15 times a game

"We don't call the game offensively based on who's in the game at the running back spot. I'm not going to say I don't know who's in the game, but I almost don't care who's in the game. It's not like we're running a bunch of different plays because ‘Buck' is in there, and then when (RB) Knowshon (Moreno) goes in there, it's a whole different set of plays. We don't do that. I just think both of them had a good day. (RB) Peyton Hillis had another good day, too. He ran the whole six-and-a-half minutes off the clock in the four-minute offense. It doesn't really change what we do. We feel comfortable with both of them in there. (‘Buck') did have a good day. He was close (to breaking a big run) on a couple of those."

On factors influencing his decision to run the ball more late in the season

"I think it is a combination of a lot of things. I don't think it's just that year (2007), but I think every year that I've been in the National Football League, the weather, obviously, plays a role. What you do at the end of the year if you're an east-coast or cold-weather climate team that's going to have to deal with those conditions, you certainly are going to have to be able to do more of that, maybe, later in the year. I think all defenses and all offenses and all coaches at this point kind of know you better than what they maybe did Week 2 or Week 3 of the season, certainly. Whatever their plan is going to be, it may dictate that they want to play with more defensive backs, they want to play with the safeties back, with the safeties down, more man coverage or whatever it may be. There are a lot of circumstances that go into what you do. You've just got to take it for what it is that week and try to do the best thing you can with your game plan."

On the Broncos' offensive identity

"It's week by week, I think. Our identity, I am not big on saying what our identity is, but we try to do whatever we think is in the best interest of beating the opponent we have on the schedule this week, which changes quite a lot. A few weeks ago, it was more four-wide receiver (sets), and yesterday, it was none of that. It might be a bunch of blitzing one week and not much the next week depending on who you're playing and what you think you have to do to beat them or what you think you can be successful with. That goes back to the players being able to handle those adjustments. Sometimes the swing is huge from one week to the next. Sometimes it's not. We just try to put them in a good position to be successful and hope that we can execute our plan against whoever we play."

On wanting to keep Indianapolis from finishing the season 16-0

"My big focus this week is beating them because it'd mean we're 9-4. I think that's the most important thing for me and our team. If in some way it can derail history, then it is what it is."

On beating Indianapolis

"This is a very talented team that doesn't make mistakes, is very well coached (and) a great organization. I've had the opportunity to play against them a number of times in New England. It's always been a great challenge to get ready for them. They give you a lot of different things to get ready for. Certainly, the offense with (QB) Peyton Manning and their ability to throw the ball and score a lot of points certainly poses a huge challenge. Defensively, I think they're leading the league in points allowed. They get to the quarterback. In their kicking game, they're fast, they do a good job of kicking the football, they return the ball well, they cover well (and) they've got great speed. This is, to me, kind of the ultimate complimentary football team. They get ahead of you, and then they send rushers at you and don't give up many big plays on defense, which forces you to go a long distance and run a lot of plays to score on them. I think they count on making a few negative plays along the way, and if they get you in second-and-15 or third-and-13, it's hard to convert on them. Once you get behind and you start making it a passing game, it becomes a problem."

On Indianapolis' ability to win

"They've won a lot of different ways. They were behind 17-0 to Houston a couple weeks ago. Miami had the ball for 45 minutes. They were down by 17-20 points in the second half to New England, and they win that one. I don't think this team ever flinches. They don't lose their composure. They're confident and focused on what they need to do. They have a tremendous amount of playmakers on their team, not just on their offense, on their team. They have two of the best pass rushers (DE Dwight Freeney and DE Robert Mathis) in all of football on their defensive line. They have quite possibly one of the best receivers in all of football in (WR) Reggie Wayne, one of the best tight ends in all of football in (TE) Dallas Clark and one of the best quarterbacks in football in Peyton Manning. I could go on and on. They're not even playing with (injured DB) Bob Sanders. It's a talented football team that you have to play a really solid football game in all three phases, but I think one of the things you really have to do is you've got to play 60 full minutes because it doesn't take them long to make big plays. You just pointed out the Miami game. They don't need 32 minutes of time of possession to score a bunch of points."

On comparing all-time great quarterbacks as a youth

"Certainly, I grew up in what I would call an exciting time to be a kid who loved football (with) (former Denver QB) John Elway, (former San Francisco QB) Joe Montana and (former Miami QB) Dan Marino, among others. There were a lot of guys that you could really appreciate and kind of fall in love with if you liked football and liked quarterbacks. I think it's very similar now. There are a lot of guys that you can really appreciate and could talk about up there with the best of all time. Who am I to say who the best of all time is, but I know the guy who we're playing this week is right there at the top of the list."

Football Outsiders and the 49ers: Player Stats through Week 12

Florida Danny — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:00:23 -0000

Yesterday, I noted some pretty promising statistical improvements for the 49ers' OFF. Today, we'll see whether stats and rankings for the Niners' offensive players have also improved as one would expect; or perhaps the whole is greater than the sum of its parts? To this end, I'll be adding the same kind of change stats I've started presenting in my other posts this week. Again, it's the direction of change, not necessarily its magnitude, that's more important from my perspective.

This week, QBs need a total of at least 90 passes to qualify as having valid FO stats, RBs need at least 96 carries, WRs need at least 38 targets, and TEs need at least 18 targets. Therefore, the players I'll be breaking down this week are Alex Smith, Frank Gore, Michael Crabtree, Josh Morgan, and Vernon Davis. I'll also, of course, be presenting FO stats for the OL, the defensive front 7 (DF7), and the secondary.

QUARTERBACKS

Here are Smith's stats through 208 passes this season (bold = ranked 8th or better [top 25% of starters]; italics = ranked 25th or worse [bottom 25% of starters]):

	This Week		Last Week		Change
Statistic	Value	Rk	Value	Rk	Value	Rk
DYAR per Pass	0.20	24	0.20	25	0.00	+1
YAR per Pass	0.50	23	0.12	25	+0.38	+2
EYds per Pass	5.31	25	5.23	25	+0.08	0
Yds per Pass	5.78	25	5.81	24	-0.03	-1
DVOA	-7.9%	24	-7.9%	25	0.0%	0
VOA	-3.2%	23	-9.2%	25	+6.0%	+2

As you can see, the only things that have showed any meaningful improvement are Smith's unadjusted stats, YAR/P and VOA. Not surprisingly, the 49ers' unadjusted OFF Pass VOA is what showed meaningful improvement among their team stats. Obviously, Smith threw every pass against the Jaguars, so this is kind of a "duh" finding. However, the important point is that Smith and the Niners had a productive passing attack against JAX, but more than just "productive" is what was expected against the 31st-ranked JAX pass DEF. Nevertheless, you have to crawl before you walk, so Smith and the Niners' pass OFF need to pass well against bad pass DEFs before he/they can start passing well against good DEFs.

After the jump, I'll present and discuss the rest of the stats ...

RUNNING BACKS

Here are Gore's stats through 128 carries so far this season (bold = ranked 8th or better; italics = ranked 25th or worse):

	This Week		Last Week		Change
Statistic	Value	Rk	Value	Rk	Value	Rk
DYAR per Run	0.48	20	0.58	17	-0.10	-3
YAR per Run	0.30	25	0.48	20	-0.18	-5
EYds per Run	4.20	22	4.38	22	-0.18	0
Yds per Run	5.03	5	5.46	3	-0.43	-2
DVOA	3.3%	19	6.2%	16	-2.9%	-3
VOA	-0.9%	24	3.6%	18	-4.5%	-6

Interesting, eh? Gore's stats - adjusted and unadjusted - got worse across the board, yet, the 49ers' Rush OFF VOA improved after the Jags game and their Rush OFF DVOA stayed essentially the same. What gives?

Well, there are two phenomena at play here. First, realize that play-by-play efficiency as a team is compared to the average of other NFL teams, whereas play-by-play efficiency as an individual is compared to the average of other players at that position. So, it seems as though the Niners' running game is getting better relative to the rest of the league, but Gore's running is getting worse relative to other RBs. Second - and this should be far more obvious - Gore's not the only player carrying the ball in the Niners' run OFF. As it specifically relates to the Jags game, remember that Delanie Walker had an 11-yard carry on 2nd & 2, and Alex Smith had a 10-yard scramble on 2nd & 7, both of which are considered highly efficient plays according to DVOA.

So, keep these two points in mind as we move forward in the post. They're going to reappear a few more times before we're done.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Here are Crabtree's stats through 44 targets so far this season (bold = ranked 16th or better; italics = ranked 49th or worse):

	This Week		Last Week		Change
Statistic	Value	Rk	Value	Rk	Value	Rk
DYAR per Target	-0.43	67	-0.22	60	-0.21	-7
YAR per Target	-0.02	61	0.03	58	-0.05	-3
EYds per Target	5.16	71	5.47	67	-0.31	-4
Yds per Target	7.86	36	8.11	33	-0.25	-3
DVOA	-18.9%	69	-15.7%	62	-3.2%	-7
VOA	-13.1%	62	-12.3%	58	-0.8%	-4

Like Gore, we see decline across the board when it comes to Crabtree. However, you'll notice that each of his adjusted stats declined more drastically than his unadjusted stats. So, his stats display similar opponent-dependent characteristics to that of Smith. Hope you're sensing a theme here. Regardless, though, I'll say the same thing I did last week: I'm not worried about Crabs, no matter what the stats say.

Here are Morgan's stats through 51 targets so far this season:

	This Week		Last Week		Change
Statistic	Value	Rk	Value	Rk	Value	Rk
DYAR per Target	-0.41	65	0.16	55	-0.57	-10
YAR per Target	0.10	57	0.42	50	-0.32	-7
EYds per Target	5.67	67	6.56	54	-0.89	-13
Yds per Target	6.82	55	7.09	51	-0.27	-4
DVOA	-18.0%	66	-10.5%	55	-7.5%	-11
VOA	-11.5%	58	-7.3%	50	-4.2%	-8

OK. This is a little bit more problematic for me because these are massive declines across the board. It almost defies belief that Morgan's EYds/T can drop that much from targets 44 to 51 on the season. I still say that Morgan will be fine in the long-run as a productive #2 WR once he learns his new position. However, what his stats show is that, contrary to how the saying goes, a rising tide does not necessarily lift all boats. Having only 2 successful plays in 8 targets, and only 1 reception go for more than 10 yards, against the 29th-ranked pass DEF against #2 WRs pretty much defines inefficiency.

TIGHT ENDS

Here are VD's stats through 92 targets (bold = ranked 8th or better; italics = ranked 25th or worse):

	This Week		Last Week		Change
Statistic	Value	Rk	Value	Rk	Value	Rk
DYAR per Target	1.18	18	1.08	17	+0.10	-1
YAR per Target	1.21	18	1.10	19	+0.11	+1
EYds per Target	7.80	19	7.53	21	+0.27	+2
Yds per Target	7.28	19	7.24	22	+0.04	+3
DVOA	11.8%	18	10.4%	18	1.4%	0
VOA	12.2%	18	10.6%	18	1.6%	0

If I could call Alex Smith "the #25 QB in the NFL" last week based on the consistency of his rankings, then I can dub VD "the #18 TE in the NFL." Of course, that's far more tongue-in-cheek than my Smith evaluation. We all know VD's much better than his stats show, and, after last week's post, we should all know that the reason these stats are what they are is because VD's tied for 2nd-most-targeted TE in the NFL. So bottom line is, don't freak out.

What is accurately reflected in the table is the fact that the Niners' overall pass OFF improvement has ridden the wave of VD (Aside: Sorry for all the nautical references today. I'm trying to give the STD references a week off.). It's clear that, based on his number of targets, the pass OFF goes as VD goes; based on his increasing EYards/T, VD goes as his new downfield-passing QB goes; and based on his DVOA, the Niners' level of efficiency in the passing game goes as throwing the ball downfield to VD goes.

Finally, as this is my last chance to really mention it, I'll just also quickly note that the Smith did a really good job of spreading the ball around against JAX. Specifically, among the 3 pass catchers I've detailed today, VD had 9 targets, Morgan had 8 targets, and Crabtree had 7 targets. For sure, this is a pleasant development. Having 3 legitimate options in the passing attack definitely beats having 1, which seemed to be the case just 8 weeks ago.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Here's the OL's directional run-blocking chart (bold = top 8; italics = bottom 8):

In my enthusiasm over Adjusted BS Rate, I totally forgot to mention the fact that the 49ers' OL is now ranked dead last in the league. Granted, their actual ALY only dropped 0.02 yards per carry, but it's still an ignominious achievement. Once again, though, it's interesting to see how, although the Niners' Rush OFF DVOA has gotten considerably better since Smith took over at QB, the OL deserves very little, if any, of the credit. This doesn't really fit well with my theory related to the run-blocking benefits of increased shotgun, so I'm pretty much stumped. All I can think of is that perhaps (a) more of the rush OFF's short gains are ending up as "successful plays" because of the down and distance, and/or (b) adjusting line yards for the caliber of an opponents' DF7 is different than adjusting Rush OFF DVOA for the caliber of an opponents' rush DEF overall. In other words, it's déjà vu all over again in this post.

With respect to directional ALY, not much has changed. The OL continues to improve in LE ALY, but that's still most likely due to a regression to the mean; and the same thing probably goes for RE ALY given they don't run the ball in that direction very much either. Otherwise, the glaring problem remains. Jimmy Raye loves to run the ball up the middle despite the fact that his OL absolutely sucks blocking in that direction.

DEFENSIVE FRONT SEVEN

Here's the DF7's directional run-stopping chart (bold = top 8; italics = bottom 8):

The big changes here occurred on runs up the middle and behind RT. Essentially, the DF7 got struck by a triple whammy of (a) having JAX run the ball fewer times in those directions than the 49ers were previously accustomed to, (b) having those runs go for more yardage than the 49ers were previously accustomed to allowing, and (c) having those yards allowed come via the directions in which the otherwise-top-tier JAX OL were least proficient. Add those 3 things up and you have a DF7 whose C/G ALY ranking dropped 6 spots (up 0.40 yards per carry), and whose RT ALY ranking dropped 3 spots (up 0.13 yards per carry). At least in this instance the changes in player stats matched the changes in team stats: remember, the Niners' Rush DEF DVOA got 1.4% worse after the JAX game.

DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD

Finally, here's the chart showing stats for the secondary against various intended receivers (bold = top 8; italics = bottom 8):

Pretty much everything is the same here, including the fact that starting Dre Bly didn't seem to adversely affect the Niners' pass DEF against opposing #1 WRs. Of course, defending Mike Sims-Walker is just a tad bit easier than defending Andre Johnson, Reggie Wayne, and Greg Jennings. There is one descent-sized change, though: DVOA against receiving RBs. Another week, another game full of screen passes that gouge the 49ers' pass DEF.

BOTTOM LINE

OK, so through 11 games, we can draw the following conclusions about several players on the 2009 49ers:

Alex Smith: Still better than Hill, though not as instrumental in the pass OFF's improvement as you might think.
Frank Gore: Making the 49ers' run OFF better, but not making his own stats better.
Michael Crabtree and Josh Morgan: Give them time.
Vernon Davis: Instrumental in the pass OFF's improvement.
The OL: Now officially the worst in the league.
The DF7: Great when not encountering triple whammies.
The secondary: Still better without Nate Clements; not better with Dre Bly.

Later this morning: 49ers-Seahawks game matchup.

**DVOA, DYAR, EYds, and ALY statistics used to produce this article were obtained from Football Outsiders.