Along with their 102-87 win over then #8 Notre Dame, North Carolina has mowed through the competition thus far and do not face a serious test (on paper) until Jan. 8 when they play at #17 Wake Forest.
College hoops fans should be sure to tune in tonight to watch #9 UCLA face #8 Texas. The game is at 9 PM ET on ESPN2.
It’s always interesting in the NBA how some coaches and players interact through the media.
Andrew Bynum wasn’t happy about going to the bench midway through the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ loss Tuesday to the Indiana Pacers.
Coach Phil Jackson had a not-too-subtle and perhaps all-too-predictable response before the Lakers faced the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.
“That’s none of his business,” Jackson said. “He just goes out and plays. That’s his job. … He’s a kid, he doesn’t know any better.”
Jackson is always good for a condescending quote or two.
It seems like if a coach had a weekly 15-minute meeting with each player, locker rooms would be much more harmonious.
With the New York Jets positioned for an AFC East title and Green Bay’s playoff hopes on life support, some are seriously questioning the wisdom of the Packers’ decision to trade Brett Favre instead of giving him his starting job back. The thinking is that since the Packers made the NFC Championship Game last season and Favre is the most significant subtraction from that team, then his absence is the reason the team is struggling. While this is logical line of reasoning, it doesn’t paint an accurate picture of what is going on in Green Bay.
Back in July, I urged the Packers to bring back Brett Favre. At the time, they had two choices: (1) go with the known quantity or (2) roll the dice on the young guy. Given that the Packers were an overtime interception away from making the Super Bowl, at the time it made sense that the team should go with the proven commodity.
But things have changed. Aaron Rodgers owns the league’s 8th-best QB rating (91.2), and is 9th in yards (241.4) and 6th in touchdowns (20), meeting or beating Favre in all three categories. Some football purists might say that he doesn’t have the swagger or the moxy of his counterpart, and at this point in his career, he doesn’t. But much of that confidence and leadership comes with experience, so it’s not fair to hold it against him.
The bottom line is that Rodgers is not to blame for the Packers 5-7 record. Last week against Carolina, he threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns, but the Packers were done in by poor defense (4.8 ypc allowed) and poor execution in the running game on their second-to-last drive, when they couldn’t convert on two carries at the Panthers’ goal line. They had to settle for a field goal, and on Carolina’s next possession, Jake Delhomme’s 54-yard bomb to Steve Smith set up DeAngelo Williams’ go-ahead touchdown.
Are there areas in which Rodgers can improve? Absolutely. On the Packers’ final drive, he had 1:19 to play and two timeouts. Instead of just moving the chains, Rodgers tried to force a long pass to Donald Driver. It was picked off and the game was lost. In that situation, Rodgers needs to take a page from Favre’s book and just keep moving the chains. It’s fairly easy to do that when you’re down four because the defense is guarding against the big play. Get yourself on the Panthers’ side of the field and put yourself in a position where you can take three or four shots into the endzone. But, as we learned in the NFC Championship Game, even 38 year-old veterans are not immune to ill-advised passes in crunch time.
In these situations, Rodgers will improve with experience. After all, he is only 25 and is in his first season as a starter in the NFL. Still, despite the pick against Carolina, he has shown comeback ability this year. In Week 10 at Minnesota with the Packers trailing by one and 2:15 remaining, he threw a beautiful 19-yard pass to Driver to put Green Bay in position for a game-winning field goal. Even though the Packers were still at the edge of Mason Crosby’s field goal range, they got conservative and called two Ryan Grant runs, which totaled three yards and eventually led to Crosby’s 52-yard missed field goal. Is that loss somehow Rodgers’ fault? Of course not.
Just take a look at the defense. The Packers are 17th in total yards allowed. Last year, they were 11th. They are 27th against the run. Last year, they were 14th. They are 22nd in points allowed. Last year, they were 6th. The only area in which the defense has improved is against the pass (11th in 2007 to 5th this year), and that’s because they are so bad against the run. Oakland and Indianapolis are also in the Top 8 against the pass but are 29th and 25th respectively against the run. There are teams that are good against the pass and then there are teams that seem like they are good against the pass because they are so bad against the run.
So if Favre were still in Green Bay, the team would probably be 5-7, or 6-6, or maybe even 4-8. QB play has very little to do with the defense, other than to put the unit in a tough position by throwing bad interceptions (and Favre has thrown more picks than Rodgers). We could also point a finger at the special teams, which allowed Mark Jones back-to-back 51-yard and 45-yard kick returns that set up two fourth-quarter touchdowns for the Panthers. Throw in Crosby’s missed field goal against the Vikings and there’s clearly plenty of non-QB blame to go around.
Finally, you have to think about the future. If the Packers had brought back Favre, Rodgers wouldn’t have re-signed. He would have looked for an opportunity elsewhere, especially when Favre inevitably started his whole retirement dance the following summer. So, removing the names for a second, which QB would you rather have?
QB1 – 39 years-old, 90.4 QB rating, 20 TD, 14 INT
QB2 – 25 years-old, 91.2 QB rating, 20 TD, 10 INT + a second-round pick
Assuming the Jets make the playoffs, that’s how this trade is going to work out.
Despite the team’s current predicament, the Packers made the right decision.
If the regular season ended today:
1. Giants (11-1)
2. Buccaneers (9-3)
3. Vikings (7-5)
4. Cardinals (7-5)
5. Panthers (9-3)
6. Falcons (8-4)
Outside looking in:
7. Cowboys (8-4)
8. Redskins (7-5)
9. Eagles (6-5-1)
10. Bears (6-6)
11. Saints (6-6)
12. Packers (5-7)
Outlook:
– The Giants are essentially a lock and a win over the Eagles this Sunday would clinch the NFC East.
– The Bucs have two tough road games against the Panthers and Falcons the next two weeks, but then have two very winnable games against the Chargers and Raiders. Tampa has the second best defense in the NFC after the Giants and has already beaten Carolina and Atlanta in convincing fashion this season. Wins over the Panthers and Falcons the next two weeks would secure the NFC South Crown.
– The Cardinals just need one more victory or a 49ers’ loss and they’ll win the pathetic NFC West. And with the Vikings possibly set to lose both of their run stuffers due to suspension, they should take a hold of the No. 3 spot in the playoffs, which would guarantee them at least one home game in the postseason.
– The NFC North is a mess and things are far from decided. The Vikings are currently playing the best in that division, but losing Kevin Williams and Pat Williams to suspension will be a huge blow. And after they play the Lions on Sunday, the have the Falcons, Cardinals and Giants the rest of the way. Of course, Arizona and New York would both of secured playoff spots by then, which means they might rest starters and give Minnesota an easier road to the postseason.
– The Panthers got themselves back on track with an impressive win in Green Bay last Sunday, but things don’t get any easier. They host Tampa on Monday night, host Denver, and then finish at the Giants and at the Saints. We’ll know a lot more after the Panthers play the Bucs on Monday night. If they beat Tampa, first place in the NFC South is up for grabs. If they lose and Atlanta beats New Orleans on Sunday, the Panthers and Falcons would flip-flop places in the playoff picture.
– The surprising Falcons have a very manageable rest of the season. They play a depleted Saints team on Sunday, host the Bucs next week, play a possibly Williams-less Vikings team in Minnesota and then finish the year against a hapless Rams team at the Georgia Dome. The division title might be a reach, but the playoffs certainly aren’t and that’s amazing to think after some media publications predicted the Falcons to finish 1-15 this year.
– The Cowboys have a brutal stretch to end the season: at Steelers, vs. Giants, vs. Ravens, at Eagles. They could easily go 1-3 the rest of the way out, which means an 9-7 finish and no playoffs. If the Cowboys fail to make the playoffs because of one game, how much does that Week 7 loss to the Rams come back to haunt them.
– The Redskins are still very much in the playoff chase, although they might need some help. They’ll probably need to win three of their last four games, which is possible given their remaining schedule (at Ravens, at Bengals, vs. Eagles, at 49ers). A win this week in Baltimore would go a long way. The Eagles essentially have the same task, although a much tougher road because they have to face their NFC Division rivals one more time before the end of the season. Their only break is vs. Cleveland in two weeks.
– The Bears and Packers just got new life with the news that the Vikes’ Williamses will be suspended for four games. But both Chicago and Green Bay have their own issues (mainly defensive issues). The Packers actually have the easiest schedule, but they’ll have to win out and hope the Vikings crash and burn without their stud DTs. (Assuming of course that the suspensions hold up.)
Anybody up for predictions on how this thing will play out?
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