Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Done...But Why?

So the Jacksonville Jaguars fired coach Jack Del Rio today. A move that had seemingly been coming for some time now. Del Rio hasn't had a winning season since 2007 and has only reached the playoffs twice in his eight and a half year stint with the Jags.

I don't think anyone was in any way surprised by the move (yours truly included) but let's have a look at the stats shall we.

Named head coach for the start of the 2003 season Del Rio, a career journeyman linebacker who had his best years statistically towards the end of his career with the Vikings, worked his way to a respectable if not stellar 68-71 regular season record with two playoff seasons in which he went 1-2 with no Superbowl appearances.

Del Rio was widely regarded as being a tough minded, defense first kind of coach. Probably a good thing considering his best quarterbacks in that tenure were Byron Leftwich and David Garrard. Also he looked damn good in a suit.

Now I'm not here to make an argument for or against Mr. Del Rio as a coach. Although truth be told I think the Jags could have done a lot worse. But his firing gets me to thinking about the multitude of coaches in the NFL who have been let go over the years. Either during the season or in the off season. Coaching an NFL team is hard work. Not many succeed. It takes a lot of hard work, a good deal of great players, and some good old fashioned luck.

Lets look at some of the older franchises in the league shall we ?

How about the New York Jets ? They won Superbowl three. They have been to two or three AFC title games and have played in 25 playoff games since 1966. (winning 12) Granted in that time the franchise has a loosing record 357-418-8 but I'm just getting started.

In that time the New York Jets Have had exactly 2, count them 2 , winning head coaches. 'SLANGING' Sammy Baugh went 14-14 but other than that you have only two men since 1960. Bill Parcels, arguably one of the top five coaches in the history of the NFL. (I actually have him at 7 but that's another blog) and the current "RYAN" incarnation. The former went 29-19 with a playoff appearance and the later is 25-15 with a 4-2 record in the playoffs. Neither one even made it to the big show.

Hell even the great WEEB EUBANK, the only coach in Jets history to actually win a Superbowl, or even go, only sported a sub five hundred 71-77-6 record over ten seasons. Seem too easy an argument ? Considering the Jets franchise has a loosing record ? OK how about the Denver Broncos ?

The Broncos have been around since before the merger and have enjoyed some success through the years. Since 1966 they have been to 6 super bowls, winning 2 . Won multiple division titles and enjoyed two long stretches of winning during the DAN REEVES and MIKE SHANNAHAN eras. Between those two coaches the Broncos had 17 winning seasons out of 26 with five 8-8 seasons mixed in.

And yet , again since 1966 , The 8 non-interim coaches were split down the middle. Kind of. 4 coaches with winning records, 3 with loosing records, and perennial nice guy WADE PHILLIPS went 16-16. With his only playoff appearance resulting in a loss.

Lot of good players for the Broncos over the years. More than one hall of famer there. You might say that the players made the coaches in this example and maybe you are right.

The point I'm trying to make is that all bad coaches might not have sucked. Yes WADE PHILLIPS was the coach in between REEVES and SHANNAHAN, but before REEVES chimed in a guy names REED MILLER took the Broncos to a Superbowl, compiled a 40-22 regular season record, was named coach of the year in 77, and was promptly canned after the 1980 season for having his first and only NON winning season. 12-2,10-6,10-6,8-8,........GONE! Boy , don't mess up in Denver !

Does it seem like I'm not supporting my own argument ? OK, how about Dave Wannstedt in Miami ? 41-23 before he started the 2004 season, then 1-8......GONE! Kind of a knee jerk reaction for an organization that couldn't win a Superbowl with DAN freaking MARINO !

Or what about Art Shell's first stint with the Raiders? 44-33 with three playoff appearances ? Damn I hate winning.

The late 80's BUDDY RYAN Eagles ? Three out of five 10 win seasons with a 31-17 record in the last three years alone ? In favor of RICHIE KOTITE ? .................................OK maybe that's a bad example. But here is a good one , on the flip side of the story.

SAM WYCHE.....ya you heard me. 61-66 all time with the Bengals. Five of his eight seasons with the Bengals were 8 wins or less, and one was nine. Yet after the first four years of the Wyche regime totaled a sub par 29-34 record with only one wining season the Brown family decides to stick with him and ....boom 12-4 with a Superbowl appearance. A Superbowl appearance which....by the way, they would have won if Joe Montana hadn't remembered that he had Jerry Rice AND John Taylor in the 4Th quarter.

And if you are STILL not convinced that some NFL coaches just need a little more time .....then I would like you to consider the Pittsburgh Steelers. Consider BILL COWER.

He takes over the team in 1992 and proceeds to have 6 consecutive winning seasons, compiling a 64-32 record that included one Superbowl appearance. He lost that game, but who didn't loose to the Cowboys in the mid 90's ? WHO I ASK YOU ? Those Bills fans in the back know what I mean.

Anyway after the 1997 season the BILL COWER Steelers went 7-9,6-10, and 9-7 without so much as making the playoffs. Most coaches would have been fired twice in that time frame but the Steeler ownership realized that the best quarterback they had was Kordell Stewart and that Bill Cower, despite the last three seasons, knew what he was doing.

In 2001 and 2002 the Bill Cower Steelers rebounded to post a 13-3 and then a 10-5-1 season.

**********************AUTHOR'S NOTE*******************************************
THE FACT THAT THERE WAS A TIE GAME IN 2002 MAKES EVERY MINUTE OF RESEARCH WORTH IT
******************************************************************************

They still didn't win a Superbowl, or even go, but they were back right ? Great decision by the Steelers right?.....WAMMO ! 6-10 IN 2003. Oops, guess the organization should have given him the axe huh? Well, not so fast now. The Steelers AGAIN decide to hold on to Cower despite popular opinion and what happened?

15-1 in 2004, where they lost to the eventual champion Patriots in a GREAT game and then 11-5 in 2005, where they qualified as the 6Th seed in the AFC Playoffs before they decided to get straight up magical and slap the upstart Bengals right out of the dance, squeak out the Peyton Manning Colts in a nail biter, then bash the Jake Plummer Broncos, who had just made the Patriots look human, on the way to a convincing win over the Seahawks in the Superbowl.

By the way they did all that with a 2nd year QB and a running back who couldn't walk down his own staitcase without an injection.

My point of course is this.....it is hard as hell to win a game in the NFL. Always has been. To win a lot of games, or god forbid a title, is damn near impossible.

Did Jack Del Rio deserve to get fired? Ya , probably. But I wonder, if they had stuck with the coach, and somehow found a franchise quarterback in the upcoming draft????.....................Jack Del Rio might have become a hall of fame coach.

Think about it.

Monday, December 6, 2010

NFL thoughts after week # 13

Well first off , considering the fact that the name of my article last week (week 12 ) was "NFL week 13 WTWF", it seemed only fair that I write an article that ACTUALLY had something to do with week 13.

Anyway the big Monday Night Game is over and so is week 13 so lets have a look at where we all stand shall we. I'll start with the AFC.

The Sunday Night-Monday Night schedule must have made his highness the almighty "Commishioner Goodel" and the powers that be froth at the mouth to say the least. Any time you can have the four best teams in a conference play each other on back to back nights it's a big win for the League. Pittsburgh and Baltimore did what they do (kinda) in a dirty little northern division game between 8-3 teams that both thrive on pissing off the commish with their bone jarring hits. And the East division featured it's top two teams battling it out on Monday night.

The Patriots (9-2) absolutely took the Jets (9-2) apart. It was one of the soundest thrashings I have ever seen. For all the smack the Jets talk, and for all the young guys on the Patriot's team, Tom Brady went 21 of 29 for 326 yards with 4 TD's and no picks. Mark Sanchez threw 3 picks and the Pats went on to win 45-3. WOW !

Now as entertaining as those two games were , in effect it was really only a battle for positioning in the playoffs. All 4 teams are basically already in. The two winners, Pitt and New England moved into 1st place , but the two losers still are clearly the AFC front runners for the wild card spots. What should be more important are the other two divisions and their ramifications.

The Chiefs and Jaguars held serve while the Chargers and Colts both lost to inferior teams. Or so we thought. The Colt's loss to the Cowboys has left them on the brink of missing the playoffs, (as I noted recently) like wise the Charger's loss to the Raiders leaves them 2 games back of the Chiefs. Neither one of these teams can hope to get a wild card spot so both need to find a way to win their respective divisions. It's still do-able for both as the Colts have 3 of their last 4 games versus division opponents (1 vs Jacksonville) and the Chargers have 4 winnable games left.

But let me say this about the AFC West , you may not have noticed but the Oakland Raiders are 4-0 in the division , if they somehow catch the Chiefs , and they would have to beat the Broncos and the Chiefs in December , they would hold all the tie breakers by way of that division record. I'm just saying. Check out the AFC playoff scenario with 4 weeks left.

NE------------10-2
PITT----------9-3
KC------------8-4
JACK----------7-5

JETS----------9-3
BALT----------8-4

COLTS---------6-6
RAID----------6-6
SD------------6-6
MIA-----------6-6

ON TO THE NFC

Truth ? This is getting a little weird. Not only are the Falcons and Bears the 1-2 seeds right now, but it's becoming more and more apparent that a team with a really good record is going to left out of the dance by way of the fact that the winner in the West is guaranteed a spot. Much like the winner of the Big East getting a BCS game by default, someone has to win the West in t he NFC. Here is what I mean.

In the NFC, there are currently 6 teams with 8 or more wins and one with 7. None of them reside in the West. No , I'm afraid that the West is currently deadlocked with two 6-6 teams (STL and SEA) fighting for the backdoor into the playoffs. Not to mention a first round home game.

The top two teams in all four NFC divisions won this week.

Eagles,Giants,Bears,Packers,Falcons,Saints,Rams and Seahawks all won this week by varying degrees. The lone exception on this list of playoff worthy teams in the NFC was Tampa Bay. Who lost to Falcons (no shame there) and are still 7-5. But the sad fact of it all is that someone will win the West and take a spot from a more deserving team. And it IS entirely possible that the winner of the West could finish 7-9. Hell, it's conceivable that it could be 6-10. Mathematically only , but still.

Even without that anomaly somebody would still be left out , but because of the West it will be two good teams watching from home this year. Just look at this madness.

Division winners

ATL-------------10-2
CHI-------------9-3
PHILI-----------8-4
STL-------------6-6

WILD CARDERS

NO--------------9-3
GIA-------------8-4

HOPEFULLS

GB--------------8-4
TB--------------7-5
SEA-------------6-6

Green Bay and Tampa could very well be left out , but considering the schedules of all these teams so could the Bears,Eagles, or the Saints. Actually almost anyone BUT the Falcons is at risk the way the schedule ends up this year in the NFC. I rarely give props to the NFL's schedule makers but look at this stupidity. If you like big games , then you will love how the NFC ends this year.

ATL--------------@ CAR, @ SEA, NO , CAR
CHI--------------NE, @ MINN, JETS, @ GB
PHI--------------@ DAL, @ GIA, MINN, DAL
NO---------------STL, @ BALT, @ ATL, TB
GIA--------------@ MINN, PHI, @ GB, @ WASH
GB---------------@ DET, @ NE, GIA, CHI
TB---------------@ WASH, DET, SEA, @ NO

I mean COME ON ! Every single game will be do-or-die! Any one of these teams (good as they are) could loose 3 of 4 easy. This is gonna be the best December in recent history for the NFC.

I've been hearing the word "parody" used to describe the NFL a lot in recent years,I hate that. I've always called it competition. If you don't like this , then you don't like football. Parody , ya right, it's a league full of studs that creates an environment of winners by small margins. Any team can change it's fortunes in a few short years with the right game plan and a little luck.

Don't believe me Buffalo ? Well consider that the Raiders haven't swept the Chargers since 2001. Look closer at the 5-7 Browns. For heaven's sake just draft a freakin Quarterback for once ! You might find that the forward pass is a good thing.

It's the way it should be folks, if your team stinks, just remember that they are not that far away from going 10-6.

POTENTIALLY.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

NFL WEEK 13 - WTWF

There are big games a plenty in the NFL this week, but the one I'm watching may surprise you.

Thanksgiving football was watchable this year for once. The Patriots and Jets both held serve against weaker ( but game ) teams to improve their records to 9-2 setting up a blockbuster match up next Monday night. Keep in mind that the Jets already beat the Pats in week 2 and another victory would essentially put them up 2 full games in the AFC East and give them the front running spot for the number one seed in the AFC this year.

In the NFC the good but not quite as impressive as last year New Orleans Saints escaped a resurgent Dallas team to improve to 8-3 on the year. Good thing too as they are locked in what is arguably the toughest division battle in football. The upstart Tampa Bay Bucs are 7-3 going into a huge game against Ray Lewis and the Ravens (also 7-3) in Baltimore. Winners of two straight the Bucs could go to 8-3 as well and with 2 division games left could make the playoff chase more than a little interesting. Not to mention the NFC South !

On top of that the first place Atlanta Falcons (8-2) have a chance to keep a one game lead on both this week. But only if they can beat the tied for 1st place in the North Green Bay Packers who have now won 4 straight despite a plethora of injuries. So what is essentially a battle of first place teams in the NFC (Pack 7-3 vs Atl 8-2) should prove to be a good one.

Speaking of the NFC, we also have another first place game ( due to the tie in the North ) the super hero esque, Michael Vick led Eagles stroll into Chicago to face the 7-3 Bears. Another potential blockbuster. And if the Giants beat the Jaguars it will only serve to further the gridlock at the top of the NFC. All of those games have huge implications of course but none of them involve the team with the most to loose this week. But first let's recap the big games of week # 13 so far.

Pats,Jets,and Saints win to improve to 9-2,9-2,and 8-3 respectively.

7-3 Packers go to 8-2 Falcons
7-3 Eagles go to 7-3 Bears
7-3 Bucs go to 7-3 Ravens

and if you are a fan of the AFC ( west in particular) 6-4 Kansas City goes to 5-5 Seattle and 5-5 Miami goes to 5-5 Oakland.

Boy this is great right ? Of course it is , but there is one more game to discuss. The most important of the week in my estimation. The Sunday night game. Winners of 3 straight, notorious late starters, and bona fied Colt crushers take their 5-5 record into Indianapolis to face the 6-4 Colts who are more than a little depleted with injuries. The same could also be said for the Chargers though.

Now we all know that the Chargers and Colts have had some epic games over the last ten years. If not for the whole Pats v Colts rivalry this may be the most exiting AFC match up around. The Chargers always seem to have a little something extra for the Colts no matter what the situation. The Chargers may start slow every year but one thing is for sure , Phillip Rivers will have those boys primed and ready come the post season. As for the Colts, they usually start fast and continue that right on in to the post season. But this year is different.

Has anyone realised that if the playoffs started last week that the Colts would have been left out ? Oh yeah , believe it or not the Jags have them beat on the Division record tie breaker right now. They are only 6-5 ! When was the last time the Peyton Manning Colts lost 5 games before December , or in a season you ask ? Well it was in 2002 when they 10-6 and lost in the wild card to the Jets.

As I said earlier the Jets and Pats have already moved to 9-2 in the East. The Steelers ( who look great right now ) and Ravens are both 7-3 and both have games they should win this week. The 6-4 Chiefs look like they are for real this year and the Chargers (5-5) are coming on strong at the right time. The four teams in their own division are only separated by 2 games and the bottom two are Tennessee and Houston ! The Jags are actually above them based on tie breakers.

If the Colts loose to San Diego tomorrow it will leave them at 6-5 with a 1-2 division record and a 4-4 conference record. They could still be tied for the division lead if Jacksonville looses to the Giants but those are not good numbers for a team trying to make the playoffs.

The bright side for Colts fan is this. The Colts remaining games after San Diego tomorrow are Dallas , at the Titans , Jacksonville , at the Raiders and the Titans at home to finish it off. Now those are all games that the Colts could,should, and probably will win. But if they loose to San Diego this week ( and I think they will ) that leaves them at 6-5 with the rejuvenated Cowboys , a freaky weird Raider team , Maurice Jones Drew and Chris Johnson twice , left on the schedule.

Moral of the story ? The Indianapolis Colts had better bring their A game the rest of the year. Because if they drop one or two and don't win the South, they may not make the playoffs at all.