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This is going around the blogosphere (hate that word), so you may have seen it already. If not, maybe you’ll find it fascinating (as I do):
It’s a week-by-week look at what parts of the country get which games. So, why do you think extreme SE Texas as well as the Philadelphia market (and a couple other strange locales) will be getting the Seahawks-49ers game…???? Got me!
|If it’s any consolation, the Seahawks’ offensive line wasn’t the only unit looking subpar during Week 1. Len Pasquarelli has an interesting review of the league-wide OL struggles, and offers some facts to explain what happened:
Of the 160 offensive line starters leaguewide in the opening week, 69 were either players with new teams, blockers playing new positions, or rookies. That’s an average of 2.16 new starters per team, and 10 clubs had three or more new starters.
Makes perfect sense to me….
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I know I’ve said before that NFL mags shouldn’t be allowed to make predictions until after baseball’s All-Star break, but ain’t nobody listening. Via USA Today comes word that five NFL mags have already posted their 2006 NFL predictions.
In a nutshell: none have the Hawks returning to the Super Bowl, but all have them winning the NFC West.
Here’s the recap:
Athlon: Indianapolis defeats Carolina. Lindy’s: Carolina defeats Denver. ProFootball Weekly: Carolina defeats Indianapolis. Sporting News: Pittsburgh defeats Carolina. Street & Smith’s: Carolina defeats Denver.
Three words: We’ll show them.
|Listening to all this talk of the MLB draft finishing 50 rounds in two days, I thought about how the NFL draft takes about five hours just to get through the 1st round, and it occurred to me …
Thank God the NFL doesn’t have a 50-round draft.
(Picture Mel Kiper on-air for 6-8 days straight without a break. SHUDDER)
|Another NFL draft, another success for Tim Ruskell and the Seattle Seahawks. Given that the team’s stated needs coming into the draft were an impact CB and a pass-rushing DE, it’s hard to imagine the Hawks could’ve done much better — at least on paper — than they did today.
Some early reaction and quotes about Miami CB Kelly Jennings and VaTech DE Darryl Tapp:
The Times’ Steve Kelley notes how odd it looks to see Tim Ruskell, who’s huge on drafting character guys, take someone from the Univ. of Miami, but says Jennings is the anti-Hurricane.
“He is a rarity in college football, a cornerback whose GPA is as high as his 40-speed is low. And he wasn’t satisfied getting one degree at Miami. He got a second degree in business administration.”
The Seahawks’ coaches say both Jennings and Tapp are potential starters on what was already a vastly improved defense.
Seahawks defensive coordinator John Marshall said the two new players will have chances to prove themselves — and soon.
“Believe me, they’re both going to log considerable playing time this season,” Marshall said. “Both have significant opportunities for starting roles.”
And over on the T-N-T blog, Mike Sando has lots of audio from today’s interviews with Hawks’ officials and the draftees, and also points out that the selection of Jennings likely kills any interest Seattle had in Ty Law.
Over on NFL.com, Vic Carucci says Kelly Jennings should “eventually” make a solid starter.
Ultimately, it’ll be how Jennings and Tapp perform that determines if this draft was a success, but for now it looks good.
—————-
So what about the rest of the draft?
– Mike Shanahan should be arrested and put in jail for stealing his way into the 11th pick (Jay Cutler) and for stealing Javon Walker from Green Bay. Incredible.
– On ESPN.com, John Clayton praises two of the Seahawks’ NFC West rivals — Arizona and San Francisco — as early winners from Day One. And his .com colleague, Michael Smith, does the same thing.
Hey — good for AZ in getting Matt Leinart, and good for them in signing Edgerrin James. But their offensive line is still crap, and until that’s fixed, they could have Joe Montana and Walter Payton in the backfield and it wouldn’t matter. As for the 49ers — congrats. You might win 6 games this year instead of 4.
|If you’re still not convinced that running backs are easy to find and easy to replace in the NFL, how about this: the leading rusher for the New England Patriots in each of their last two games has been … Heath Evans. Yes, the former Seahawk.
|Most importantly, thoughts and prayers are due for Rams’ coach Mike Martz, who appears to have a very serious heart condition.
All football things aside, he needs to take care of himself first and foremost. Here’s hoping he gets better — for his sake, and for ours. Whether you like the Rams or not (and I sure don’t), Martz is an incredibly creative guy who makes the Rams — and the NFL, for that matter — just a little more interesting because you never know what he’s gonna do. Proof? Last season on a Monday night game he opened with 11 straight running plays. In Week 10 against the Hawks he opened with 13 straight passes spread over two drives.
As for the football element this season, I tend to think this will help the Rams. First, there’s the obvious “rally around the fallen leader” factor which will surely come into play. Beyond that, Martz’ absence is sure to mean a more balanced offensive attack. The Rams were at their best last Sunday when Steven Jackson was getting the ball, not when they were throwing 25-yard out routes to Torry Holt. You have to expect the Rams offense to be more balanced in the coming weeks and make them a better team. (On the other hand, Martz’ absence is not likely to help their sieve-like defense at all….)
|This is nice. FO’s Michael David Smith saves you some money by reviewing the five major NFL pre-season rags. Heck, if all you care about is knowing who gets picked to win divisions, make playoffs, etc., the article has everything you need. Good stuff. FO rocks.
|Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think it’s gonna be that close. New England has too many things going for it, none more important than experience. Well, Belichick ranks above experience, doesn’t he? I don’t see the Eagles being able to solve Belichick and Crennel’s schemes. I see the Eagles D bothering Brady and the Pats O at times, but not enough. And I see New England winning the TO battle, including a defensive TD or two.
Patriots 30
Eagles 13
(This might be the point where I remind you that I’m the guy who said the Sonics wouldn’t win 30 games this season.)
|Sometimes the best commercials are the ones we don’t get to see.
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