Sucker Punched

Let's start with the good news, football is back, actual NFL football, albeit preseason games played mainly by players struggling to flesh out the bottom end of NFL rosters throughly the league, but NFL football nevertheless.

Against this backdrop of games we have the ongoing Tom Brady saga, as they used to say in Seinfeld - Yada, Yada, Yada! But this week we had the additional story of Geno Smith!  Who has had to have his jaw wired shut after apparently being sucker punched by a teammate over $600.

Two things stand out here, apart from the now departed Jet is probably set to be the team MVP for this season.  There is obviously a whole lot more to this story, as $600 to starting QB salaried players is a drop in the ocean.  The second takeaway from this is quite simply, what the hell!

The story of this incident goes that it happened in the locker room and the offending player walked up to Smith and punched him.  Now a sucker punch would (correct me if I am wrong here) be one you don’t see coming.  Are we believing that a starting QB whose livelihood depends on being able to operate in a spirt where people are paid big money to hit you and hit you hard, did not notice someone walking up to him and punching him?

Are the reactions of this supposed NFL starter so bad that he couldn’t have avoided or blocked him? What about Smith’s teammates who are supposed to have the QB’s back regardless, did none of them not notice this happening?  You think anyone gets near Drew Brees in this manner, or the aforementioned Tom Brady? Not a chance. 

I am not condoning the violence involved here of course, but as unappetising a prospect as Ryan Fitzpatrick may be, I think this may actually work out in the Jets favour and we probably see that team rally round Fitzpatrick in a way they never did with Smith.  Don’t forget Fitzpatrick has previous experience and arguably the best years of his career with the new offensive coordinator.

On the field things were little better for the Jets, going down to the Lions whilst only scoring 3 points, things will improve on the field whilst the Lions could be a sneaky pick this year.  They had big plays from Golden Tate and rookie Ameer Abdullah and didn’t even need Megatron in this one.

Around the rest of the league the offseason from hell ended in defeat for the 49ers at the JJ Watt-less Houston Texans but at least it signalled actual on field action, and for all they have been through there were signs that this Niners team may yet have some life.  Meanwhile those of you watching Hard Knocks will have noticed two things, Bill O’Brien is not afraid to drop a F bomb or two, and you can not fail to appreciate the work ethic and character of Watt.  Vince Wilfork can play hoops too.  I can just see a play in red zone where Wilfork and Watt are both on the field and one of throws a TD to the other.

Now one preseason game does not a football season make, is what Shakespeare might have said if he had seen this wonderful game we all live so much, so whoever is your team, regardless of if you won or lost, remember the proper season is just a few weeks away.  All our teams have that short space of time to figure out their depth charts etc…just enjoy the next few weeks as a chance to see your team, hope no one gets injured and maybe that rookie you were unsure of turns into a star.

 

Have fun, guys!

The Coach Killer

When a player is labelled a coach killer, it usually means that to borrow a phrase from Jerry Glanville, that for that player NFL stands for Not For Long, I say usually as in this modern age the money invested in certain players does tend to tip the balance back towards the player rather than the coach.

 

In recent years there have been two examples of this, I present the careers to date of Robert Griffin III and Jay Cutler.  Both have shown great promise and possess extreme natural talent of that there can be very little argument, but both have so far failed to really deliver on that ability and promise at the expense of their coach, as the respective owner / GM is more reluctant to admit mistakes at the QB position over the coach.

 

Let's look first at the two seasons Marc Trestman had in charge of the Chicago Bears, Trestman has been an offensive coordinator and QB coach both in the NFL and in Canada and although largely unheralded as a head man, it was thought he could be the man to get the best out of the big sulk himself (Cutler).  Trestman’s first season actually went quite well and the Bears had a chance at a Wild Card till reasonably late in the season.  I remind you though that for much of the season Josh McCown was the Bears QB after Cutler went down. 

 

McCown played well enough in that half season under Trestman to win himself a big payday as the starter for Tampa Bay last season and is expected at this time to be opening day QB 1 at Cleveland this time around.  None of that would be possible without the influence of Trestman.  Yet when Cutler returned last year, the Bears fell to their worst record in years.  So who was the problem the coach who performed magic with the backup the previous year or the starter who didn’t seem to be on the same page with his options.  The team had chosen to reward Cutler with multi million $ contract when they let McCown go, therefore when sifting through the rubble of last season, Trestman was let go.

 

The Ravens have inherited Trestman now who reverts to a coordinator role once again, I have heard some Raven fans worry what they are getting because of the Bears last season.  As Aaron would say R-E-L-A-X!  Joe Flacco is much more a McCown type than a Cutler.  The Ravens will be just fine and have a great shot at the AFC North this year.  As for Cutler he has inherited Adam Gates as his new coordinator in Chicago.

 

Gates has worked with Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning and won playoff games with both, Cutler certainly falls somewhere in the middle of those two, but will we see an improved Cutler in 2015, I just don’t know. 

 

RG3 came in as the number 2 pick overall of course and Washington gave up 3 first round picks to St Louis to get him.  That debut season was one for the ages and the Redskins made the playoffs on the back of the arms and legs of RG3.  One injury to his knee and the RG3 hype train came to a shuddering halt.  Trying to find that form has cost Mike Shanahan his job already and Jay Gruden’s relationship with the QB is far from comfortable.

 

Griffin returned physically but not mentally in my opinion.  The supreme confidence he had in his own ability was shaken by the injury and robbed of his physical abilities Griffin played nowhere near the level expected of him.  Free of injury now, Griffin has managed to get through offseason and conditioning and looks from all accounts to be very sharp in camp.  Whether he is back to RG3 rookie season good remains to be seen when the games actually matter.

 

Injury to DeSean Jackson certainly won't help Griffin’s cause, but Dan Snyder seems to still believe in him so Gruden will be hoping for big things from Griffin, pulling QB’s like last season may just cost Gruden his job as well.

 

Out of the two, I think RG3 has the best chance of shaking off the negativity surrounding him, sorry Bears fans but I think despite the money invested you will need a new QB next year, for your sake I hope I am wrong!

Best receiver in the League

In recent weeks there has been much discussion about just who is the best Wide Receiver in the NFL.  Pouring fuel on the flames of this discussion would be the recent contract extensions given out in Dallas and Denver respectively, (did they collude? So what if they did?, maybe it's more probable than not, is that all the proof NFL investigators need these days?)

 

Let's just get one thing out of the way very early on here, the best receiver in the NFL right now is Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions.  Megatron reigns supreme over all the would be kings at this position.  There are several very good receivers, don’t get me wrong, out of that bunch the one currently closest to Megatron for me has to be Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  The next tier is where you should find, your Dez Bryant, Julio Jones, AJ Green, and Demaryus Thomas.

 

Most of the time I think NFL players know who the best of the best actually is, the Maverick to their IceMan if you will.  The recent NFL players top 100 poll showed quite clearly that Megatron is still regarded as the best, being the only receiver to make the top 10.  The one player who seems to have a problem with this natural order of things is Dez Bryant.

 

The Cowboy can not keep himself out of the news, be for fights at training camp, contract disputes, or his own outspoken statements comparing himself to Johnson.  Dez, I am sorry but you are not consistent within one game, frequently disappearing from the game plan for chunks at a time.  When the pressure is on, your own QB looks at his tight end not towards you.

 

Johnson on the other hand is model of consistency, racking up 1,000 yard seasons, even when like last year he only saw meaningful action in 8 games.  It was Johnson who broke Jerry Rice’s single season record, no one else has got that close.  Also Johnson has achieved what he has when just about everyone knows the ball is coming to him and still can’t be stopped, even at times by triple coverage.

 

Brown is the youngster emerging from the pack, he has the benefit of having Le;Veon Bell in the backfield to loosen some coverages, but when Big Ben drops back, Brown is the man he is looking for, proven by the streak of games with at least 5 catches, which the Steelers were at pains to continue at times last year.  Brown is leading the charge of the smaller, faster receivers and can expect a big payday soon.

 

But Calvin Johnson is still the class of the field, who else could play 3 or so games as basically a walking distraction and still draw double coverage, as happened in the 2014 season.  They say it is a QB league and a passing league, but to pass the ball the QB needs a target and Megatron provides that better than anyone else.

 

The NFC West is normally regarded as the best division in football, maybe that's true when you add in the defence too, but the 3 best offensive players in the league at the 3 main offensive skill positions all belong in the NFC North. With apologies to Bears fans

 

Best QB.     Aaron Rodgers, Packers

Best RB.     Adrian Peterson, Vikings

Best WR.    Calvin Johnson, Lions

 

Will be a fun division to watch for sure, best Tight End at least is outside of the North, in the AFC East in the shape of Gronk.