* NFL Network is showing highlights of past Super Bowls, and right now it's the Panthers-Patriots Super Bowl from 2003. I went into that game the only person in America who firmly believed the Panthers would win (Stephen Davis, Steve Smith, Muhsin Muhammad, Jordan Gross, Julius Peppers, Kris Jenkins, Mike Rucker, Dan Morgan, Will Witherspoon, Mike Minter, John Kasay...that Panthers team had good players, and nobody seemed to realize it). Anyways, at the end of the first half, the Patriots scored a TD, and then squibbed the ensuing kickoff, which the Panthers returned to midfield. The short field allowed them to get in position for a 50-yard field goal, which Kasay hit to end the half.
My question is, why is the squib kick even a part of football strategy? I mean, okay, so you don't want to give up a long return, and this helps negate that. But how many times do you see a short squib kick that the return team brings back to midfield? All the time. It drives me, and I'm sure every other football fan, crazy. Why are we giving them such a short field? All year long I've felt that NFL teams should employ kicking the ball out of bounds, rather than squib kicking, as a strategy. Most squib kicks get returned to the 40 at least anyways, so why not just kick it out of bounds and not even risk something worse happening?
It just drives me nuts to see a team defend the opposing team's return game all game long, and then they decide to squib kick it and sacrifice a short field for the elimination (hopefully) of a long return. What are you so scared of? Kickoff returns for TDs don't happen that often; the Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn't have a single kickoff return for TD in their history until last season, I believe. Kickoff returners flame out quicker than any other position in sports. Remember Dante Hall? That lasted half a season. Devin Hester? Daniel Manning returns kicks for the Bears now. Explosive returns just don't happen that often; the problem is, we remember them vividly when they do.
But okay, there are times when you absolutely do not want a long kickoff return against you. Why not, then, just kick it out of bounds? This absolutely eliminates the possibility of a long return, plus it eliminates the possibility of the opposing team taking the squib kick back to the 45 or 50. The squib kick just seems stupid to me, and if you really want to eliminate the long return, then don't dick around with it and just kick it out of bounds. It'll look weak and pathetic, but it is 100% effective.
* Why is that the Pro Bowl rosters aren't broken down completely by position? And by that I mean, why aren't left tackles differentiated from right tackles? Left guards from right guards, weakside linebackers from strongside linebackers, etc. Am I the only one bothered by the fact that the AFC had nothing but left tackles on their roster? Left tackles and right tackles are clearly not the same position. They're both offensive lineman, but that's about the only similarity. When teams acquire offensive tackles, they don't view the positions as being interchangeable. Korey Stringer, for instance, was a good right tackle but I don't think the Vikings ever would have considered moving him to the left side. So why can't we differentiate for the Pro Bowl? Why do Joe Thomas and Jake Long get selected as starters when they play the same position? This is stupid.
Another thing that bothered me was seeing all of the pass-rushing LBs in the Pro Bowl. I don't think a single outside linebacker in the Pro Bowl was someone with actual coverage responsibilities with his team. James Harrison, Lamarr Woodley, Brian Orakpo, DeMarcus Ware...they may be good at what they do, but OLBs have other responsibilities besides rushing the passer. I just wish if we were truly honoring the best of the best (and with the Pro Bowl we're really not, but humor me), that we'd be truly specific about it to properly honor the players. OLBs in the Pro Bowl shouldn't simply be 3-4 pass rushers, just like offensive tackles shouldn't simply be the ones who play on the left side.
And if you wanted to really get picky, it's stupid to compare Wes Welker to, say, Brandon Marshall, because Welker spends his entire time playing out of the slot, while Marshall never plays in the slot. And you know what? I do want to get that picky. Maybe I'm a nerd about this stuff, but I appreciate when players are properly honored. 3rd down backs, blocking TEs, nickel corners, slot receivers, let's compare apples to apples here.
* I never wrote about this about the time, because I'm not in baseball mode yet, but I was very happy to see Zach Grienke and his mere 16 victories win the Cy Young. Maybe, just maybe, we're finally getting past juding pitchers by wins and losses. I mean seriously, how stupid is this? Can Zach Grienke control how many runs his team scores? The AL has the DH, so you can't even say he has a slight hand in that. The Royals are terrible, it's a freaking miracle he even won 16 games, and he was defnitely the best pitcher in the AL. Good to see the baseball writers overlook wins and actually search for the truly best pitcher in the league. Nothing will ever atone for giving Bartolo Colon a Cy Young over Johan Santana, but this is a start.
And also, the further and further we get away from it, the worse and worse Justin Morneau's MVP looks. It's pretty clear that Joe Mauer is, was and will always be (at least until his bat slows down) the AL MVP. A catcher who hits like that, and is also good defensively (unlike Piazza), is so unbelievably valuable that he should just be the default choice. Victor Martinez is also a good hitting catcher, but he's not very good defensively and plays some first and DHs. Mauer is the complete package, and for the Twins to get that production from that position is incredible. As good as Morneau is, good-hitting first baseman aren't exactly hard to find. See, this is where the idea of "value" comes in. Morneau was good, but the Twins weren't (and aren't) getting that much more production out of 1B than most teams get. But they are getting an incredible amount more from the C position than most teams. And frankly, even though I pretty much hate the man, Derek Jeter would have been a better MVP choice that season. He had a really good season and did it as a SS, another position that generally doesn't provide great offensive production (as the Twins, for instance, know all about).
Does this mean that only players at a difficult defensive position who provide offense can win the MVP? Not necessarily, but I do think players at the power positions (1B, corner OF, DH) should be held to a higher standard. When Barry Bonds was OPSing about a million...okay, he's a corner OF who would move better in a wheelchair but that's insane. Justin Morneau didn't do anything special for a 1B; Jeter and Mauer were pretty rare for their positions.
* Oh, I should also mention that even though I talked about the Pro Bowl, it really is a joke. Do you realize Antoine Winfield was invited to the Pro Bowl as an injury replacement? He backed out also due to injuries, but this is insane. Winfield was injured around midseason, missed about 6 games, and then when he came back was totally ineffective. Steve Smith killed him. Devin Aromashadu killed him. The Vikings had to put him in the slot and start Benny freaking Sapp just to stop the bleeding. And he got invited to the Pro Bowl. If you're going to take a Viking corner this season it's obviously Cedric Griffin, but he's not a Pro Bowl performer either.
And then the actual game...I only saw a few plays but it was embarrassing. I saw Elvis Dumervil have a chance at a free shot on Tony Romo, but he let up and simply put his hands in the air. This is football? Watching Jared Allen half-heartedly rush the passer is not something I need to see. Can we just cancel this game already?
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