Tebow, Sapp, Porter, and a wave of media bile.

So all this is coming off the back of the news that Peyton Manning is currently finalising a deal with the Denver Broncos, reported to be in the region of $95 million for 5 years. That's $19 million per year, or as we say in my neck of the woods, "what f**king mug agreed to give him that?".

Anyway, the result of this deal is that in all likely hood, Tim Tebow will be traded. There's talk about 5th round picks, maybe more, maybe less. Whatever it is, pretty much every media outlet has panned the idea that any team would be stupid enough to do so. They all claim it's a waste of a pick and the usual bandwagon bullshit about how Tebow will never win games as a starter in the NFL, joking about him moving to tight end etc.

The NFL Networks response was to ask Warren Sapp and Joey Porter what they thought if Tebow was brought onto a team that they were playing on. Porter responded by saying that he would want to know who "was to blame" for bringing Tebow to his team and that he would take the signing as an indication that his team wanted to lose all season to get a high draft pick next year. Sapp exclaimed that he would "want out", and that team mates of Tebow would have to get used to not being frustrated by pick sixes and being down by 24 points every game.

This, this right here, is one of the multitude of reasons that I've lost any interest what so ever in the NFL Network over the years. What a pile of ignorant horse shit.

Now I don't care if you like Tebow or if you don't, here's the indisputable truth. Last year the Broncos were 1-4 to start the season with Kyle "a pure pocket passer" Orton at the helm. Tebow comes in and the Broncos win 7 of their next 8 games, including a six game winning streak, before struggling in the final three games. As a result of this turn around, the Broncos made the playoffs.

This is why I couldn't help but laugh at Porter. Playing for a pick? What a late rounder? I suppose the Broncos didn't win those games no? And then Sapp's comments about pick sixes? Last year Tebow threw 6 interceptions against 12 touchdowns (Orton threw eight TD's and seven INT's in 5 games). He also ran in another 6. There are some quarterbacks in the NFL right now who can't even achieve a positive TD to INT ratio. It's one of the many oddities that people seem to over look when bashing Tebow as a passer.

By the way, did I mention the Broncos beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in a play off game? Thanks to a Tim Tebow pass? No? Oh well, there was that too.

Look, by no means do I consider Tebow to be an elite pocket passer, but a simple study of the film and in particular paying attention to the amount of dropped passes should tell the average fan that much of the crap you hear from the press is just that, crap.

With some better pass catchers and an offense that isn't afraid to actually allow him to go out and, you know, pass the ball, then I think you'll see a much better Tim Tebow. Tebow has shown, repeatedly, that he can throw passes accurately to receivers when given the opportunity. Whether they catch them or not is entirely down to them.

We also have to be wary of the numbers game here. The average accuracy rating for a good quarterback in the NFL is 60%. In one game Tebow threw 20 passes and completed 9. If he hits just three more passes in that game, hardly a massive leap in terms of on field production, then he achieves the holy 60% mark that everyone is so fixated by.

With the limited offense that he worked with in Denver, the difference between being deemed a success or failure in the eyes of the media was literally that thin. If the Broncos receivers weren't so bloody butter fingered, the Broncos might have won more games and Kyle Orton might not even have lost his job.

All I can say in the end is good luck to Peyton Manning. In exchange for the $19 million a year salary that you'll be receiving you have inherited; possibly one of the worst pass blocking O-lines in the NFL, a group of receivers that need a lot of work, a pretty good running game... that you wont use properly because you never do, and a defense that is very strong and will likely decide the fate of the Broncos in 2012.

Tuck in.

To Tim Tebow I say this; keep your chin up, work hard in the off season to improve yourself, find a bunch of young receivers who have no problem spending all day practicing with you, and then stick it to people like Sapp, Porter, Rich Eisen, Mike Florio, and all the other wider collective of dick head "analysts" on TV who have said you'll never make it.

Some observations from Week 16

One of these days I'll actually post my article about the three step drop. By the time I do, the damn play will have been banned from football, along with all forms of contact in football.

Anyway, the reason for the delay is because I want to pick up a couple of the main points coming out of the weekends games and I guess I might generally just run down some of the games, as and when things come to mind of interest. There are two main issues that I want to address though.

The first is to do with the Eagles and their defensive coordinator position currently held by Juan Castillo, the former offensive line coach. Basically with Steve Spagnuolo of the Rams likely to get the chop at the end of the season, many people are lining him up to replace Castillo as the Eagles Defensive coordinator for next year.

And I simply want to ask; why? In fact, let me ask you another question, just out of interest; Which team leads the NFL in sacks right now?

Answer; the Philadelphia Eagles.

See while everyone has been busy lately criticising Castillo for his schemes, people seem to have over looked the fact that the Eagles are actually one of the better defenses out there. They're not perfect, not by any means, but they're pretty good. They'll need some tweaking in the off season; getting the coverages sorted out to make the best use of the available talent, as well as sitting down with that young linebacker corps and watching some film to explain to them better about run fits etc. But otherwise that's not a bad defense and it can only get better in the off season with the right work.

The problem with the Eagles is not their defense. The problem with the Eagles is their offense.

Simply put, it sucks. And has sucked for most of 2011. The Eagles are practically in a league of their own when it comes to getting down into the red zone and then not producing a score. They are brilliant for 80 yards as they rip great chunks out of people in the open field, then they clam up (and stink it up) in those last 20 yards.

Juan Castillo is not the man to blame for the Eagles woes, it's Andy Reid. He's the guy that has at his disposal LeSean McCoy, Ronnine Brown, Mike Vick, Vince Young, DeSean Jackson, Riley Cooper, Jeremy Maclin, Jason Avant, Brent Celek and Jason Peters, to name just a few. That's an offense that a heck of a lot of teams in the NFL would kill for. And yet that is also an offense that has struggled to put points on the board when it mattered most, not to mention the hoard of turnovers they've given up.

All this finger waving at Castillo is pure bullshit. It's a distraction from the real issue here, which is that Andy Reid is struggling to get to his side of the "Dream Team" working the way it should. While the Panthers and Broncos have adjusted their respective offenses to accommodate the running abilities of their quarterbacks, what have the Eagles done? What adjustments have they made to get the most out of Vick?

And what about LeSean McCoy? McCoy is the second leading rusher in the league by yards. He leads the league in touchdowns with 17, which is three more than Cam Newton and five more than the closest running back (Marshawn Lynch). He leads the league in runs of 20+ yards with 14. And perhaps most tellingly, he leads the league in rushes for a first down, with 84, which is sixteen more than the next player on the list, Maurice Jones-Drew.

Yet he only averages 18 carries a game?

You have without doubt one of the most explosive players in the entire NFL on your team, yet you feed him the ball less than the 49ers feed Gore, or the Falcons feed Michael Turner. An especially odd decision given how much trouble the Eagles have had in the red zone.

All this means that I can't take criticism and talk of Juan Castillo being fired seriously. I don't mean that he wont get fired, just that I don't think he should. Considering this is his first season as a defensive coordinator I think he's done really well so far and again, I think an off season of work and preparation by the Eagles could yield some great results.

The question is whether the Eagles offense can lift its game next season and start to actually make that defensive work count for something. The Eagles have the personnel to make a Super Bowl run, I think everyone agrees on that. But until Andy Reid stops making excuses - and people stop making excuses for Andy Reid - then this same old sorry, tired Eagles saga will just repeat itself again season after season.

Now I'm going to take an interlude in my ramblings before I get to the second major issue I wanted to address, and talk about the Panthers. Mainly to give them a lot of credit for their 48-16 win against the Buccaneers.

All thoughts about the Buccaneers horrible run defense aside, I was impressed by the Panthers actually making use of running backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, who I've long pronounced to be the best running back tandem in the NFL. Long time readers will be aware that this has been a hobby horse of mine for a while, bemoaning the John Fox/Jake Delhomme era because of the absolute abandonment of an otherwise excellent running game.

It was nice then to see it revived on Saturday. It also points to what is - in my opinion - one of the funniest things about the Cam Newton story. When Cam throws the ball a lot he invariably racks up the yards, rushes for a score, does his stupid Superman celebration... and then the Panthers still end up losing the game. On the other hand when the Panthers manage the game better and lean on their rushing attack, they often end up winning, and doing so comfortably.

C'est la vie, as they often say in France (along with "We Surrender!!").

I was also excited about the 49ers win over the Seahawks, although there was a slight downer in that they gave up their first rushing touchdown of the season. Naturally people have been hailing Jim Harbaugh again, as they have been all season long, but forgive me if I don't hang a poster of the guy on the wall just yet.

See I'm a 49ers fan and as a result I've endured misery for years now. I'm delighted that finally the 49ers are winning games and going back to the playoffs, even doing so in style. However I don't see what Jim Harbaugh has to do with it. Harbaugh is an offensive coach, not a defensive coach. And this 49ers offense has been almost as bad as those that preceded it. Alright, so maybe they haven't turned the ball over as much this year, and maybe there hasn't been as many sacks this year, but fundamentally the offense still sucks balls.

On the other hand I still don't hear anyone talking about Vic Fangio. Without looking at Wikipedia, can you even tell me who Vic Fangio is? If you didn't know already then you've probably guessed that Fangio is the defensive coordinator of the 49ers. It's this man and his defensive staff who should be getting the plaudits, along with whoever the specific people were that drafted or approved the signing of Justin Smith, Aldon Smith, Issac Sopoaga, Ray McDonald, Navorro Bowman, Ahmad Brooks, Patrick Willis, Parys Haralson, Chris Culliver and Carlos Rogers, to name just a few.

I don't blame Harbaugh, there's not really a lot he can do about it. He doesn't write the articles in the press or force people to talk about him on sports radio. I just think it's unfair that he's getting all the credit for something that essentially happens on the opposite side of the ball. That's not to say that he doesn't have some influence on it - I'd be shocked if he didn't - but most of the donkey work throughout the year will have been done by Fangio and his staff, work for which they are not getting their dues.

Vic, in the incredibly unlikely event that you're reading this, I thank you and your staff on behalf of 49ers fans everywhere.

Also congratulations to Drew Brees who has now surpassed Dan Marino for the single season passing yardage record. I'm undecided yet as to whether this should be considered more or less of an achievement than when Marino set the record. Not that it really matters that much, either way it's still a heck of a thing to have done.

The question is whether or not you think that it's easier to break the record now because teams throw the ball more than they did back then, or whether you think that it's precisely because teams throw it more now - which means that defenses are built to stop the pass - that makes Brees's achievement superior. An interesting debate to have over a pint I think.

One quarterback who wasn't setting any records though was Tim Tebow. I'd be gutted to see Tebow and the Broncos stumble at such a late stage, but it was inevitable that he was going to have a shitty game at one point. No fourth quarter heroics this time. Just four fourth quarter picks.

It should be noted that once again the Broncos receivers continued to demonstrate why there will be little demand for their services in the offseason, dropping passes like the ball was smeared in shit. Of course as always that doesn't fit the main press narrative, so we very rarely get even an acknowledgement of that fact. The Broncos defense also struggled for a change, which means the Broncos season now comes down to the final game against the Chiefs; win and they're in the playoffs. Or they can lose, and if the Chargers beat the Raiders then they're still in, but that's playing it risky.

Right, finally back on track and the other thing that I originally wanted to talk about, which was Joe Webb and the Vikings.

One play after Adrian Peterson suffered a sick looking injury to his knee (he could be doubtful even for week one of the 2012 season), quarterback Christian Ponder suffered a concussion and was eventually yanked from the game. In his place came Joe Webb. Webb went on to throw for two touchdowns and run in another with his feet. After the game the press went wild. Everywhere you look now, people are calling for Joe Webb to be the starter next year. My advice? Just hold the fuck up a second. Let's just recap Webb's numbers from Saturday's game shall we?

4/5 for 84 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Yes, four of five. He threw five passes and now all of a sudden people are putting him up on a pedestal and talking about him like he's the greatest thing to happen to the Vikings since they dumped Brad Childress. All this despite the various warning signs around the league about this kind of thing, namely Caleb Haine, Matt Cassel and Kevin Kolb.

Those are three names that should remind people that sometimes things aren't always what they seem. Yes, sometimes players have great games, or at least very good games. But one or two good games does not suddenly anoint someone with starting quarterback traits. It's a good place to begin, but long term success is not guaranteed.

Now don't get me wrong, Webb is a good player and has done well in every appearance he's had off the bench and in pres-season in Minnesota. But people are talking about him like he's the instant answer to all of Minnesota's many woes, and I'm just a little amazed at how quickly people are prepared to give up on Ponder, a first round pick who has done pretty well in his first few showings.

There is still one game left this year and I suspect the Vikings will be unlikely to throw Ponder back into the fray just for that single meaningless game. That means Webb could get the chance to start an actual regular season game for a change. I'm willing to bet that it may not quite be the touchdown bonanza that people think it will, depending on what kind of team the Bears put out.

I'll just finish by reminding people that in his last five starts as quarterback (not including this week), Ponder has lead the Vikings offense to score an average of 23 points per game. When Ponder went down injured this week the game was tied at 10-10, so it wasn't like Joe Webb came on and turned around a lost game either. In an age of instant gratification I'm beginning to worry that everyone involved in the football world has lost their sense of perspective.

So that's Week 16 in the books. Pick wise I came in at 13-3 for week 16, taking my season tally to 159-84, which I've just discovered is better than any of the analysts at FoxSports.com (both for the week and the season) and only two behind Accuscore and Pigskin Pick'em (both of whom I beat for the week) with one garbage week left to go.

Tomorrow I expect to put up my article on the three step drop. Slightly ironic that a post about the quick passing game has taken so long to be released.

Tim Tebow and the option

Ahhh! Peace and quiet at last.

Time then to take a look at the Denver Broncos offense and in particular the option read/zone read (depending on your preferred terminology) that has propelled Tim Tebow to even higher levels of stardom, predominantly because it's seen as a contrary offense and because the option isn't supposed to work in the NFL... despite the fact that it's been working nicely all season for a number of teams.

This is probably the main reason that we need to look at this, because despite the immense success that Denver has been having people still seem to believe that such an offense can't work in the NFL. This, even in the face of week after week of evidence that should have dispelled that myth, a bit like the Lions being rated as a play off team (sorry Lions fans).

There are several reasons why this play works so well, not least because the Broncos offensive line is pretty good at run blocking, even if their pass protection is... shall we say, underwhelming? Then there's the fact that Tim Tebow ran this play God knows how many times during his college career with Florida, so he has a very good feel for the play and knowing when to keep the ball and when to give it to the running back.

But fundamentally it's about numbers.

See the problem that every offense has is that on any given run play they are basically short handed by two men; the quarterback and the running back. The quarterback hands the ball off and is in no position to block anyone, even if he were inclined to do so. The running back is carrying the ball and thus is also exempted from blocking duties. That leaves only nine men left to block eleven, and to be honest at least two of those blockers are likely to be wide receivers so it's more like seven on eleven, minus any cornerbacks who take the Deion Sanders "business decision" approach to tackling. Option plays try to remedy that problem to a degree.

Now I can already hear all the coaches out there currently repeating the oft used mantra of "It's about Jimmy's and Joe's, not X's and O's!" which when translated from coach speak into normal person speak, roughly means; "Winning in Football is about teaching players the skills of the game, motivating them and using an offense they can understand, not drawing pretty diagrams," or words to that effect.

And while broadly speaking I agree with that sentence, I also think pretty diagrams (or even ugly ones like mine) have an important role to play in helping offenses to mitigate some of their deficiencies, while maximising their potential. Option plays are a great example.

Basically the play involves the offense purposely leaving one player completely unblocked. Now that might sound like quite a stupid thing to do, but the offense has a plan. What they're going to do is to make that unblocked defender make a choice. They're going to give him two conflicting options and make him pick one. Let's throw up a quick diagram so we have a better idea of what I'm talking about;

As you can see in my superbly drawn diagram (stop laughing) I've circled the unblocked defensive player in red. The offense is going to make this player chose between chasing after the running back or staying "home" to defend against the quarterback. Due to the direction that the offensive players are running in (opposites), it's impossible for the defensive end to cover both men on the play. If he's to have any chance of making an impact then he has to make a decision and he has to make it early, committing himself to his decision.

This is where the "option" in option football comes in. The quarterback has the option of either giving the ball to the running back or keeping it himself, depending on the reaction of the unblocked defender; if he races hard down the line then the quaterback keeps the ball and runs around the exposed end himself. If the defender sits back cautiously and just watches the quarterback, or even comes hard up the field on a pass rush, then the QB hands it off to the back (imagine someone like Jared Allen trying to chase a running back down from behind when the back has a 4-5 yard head start).

To give himself a bit more time to make the read and to be sure of the defenders decision, the quarterback will often take two small sliding steps in the direction the running back is headed, all the while with his body turned towards the unblocked defender and the ball extended out into the path of the back (the "mesh" that you're always hearing about). He then either gives it to the back or pulls it out and takes it himself.

It's because this "give/take" decision has to be made in such a short time window - and because of the trickiness of the ball handling - that it really helps immensely to have an experienced quarterback (at least with regards to this play) like Tebow in there running it. This is not a play that you want to just run on a whim with any old quarterback, because the consequences of a bad read or a mishandled mesh can be serious, with your quarterback running right into the arms of a 270 pound defensive linemen or a fumble that is likely to bounce towards the waiting defense.

Now hopefully, after we've gone to all that trouble to fake out the end defender, our linemen should have made their blocks. Depending on the front used by the defense the offensive line will either have a numbers advantage, or at the very least have one on one blocks across the board ("a hat on a hat" as they say). Let's take a look at how this play can end up panning out;

As demonstrated once more by my elite drawing skills you can see at the top that when the end crashes down (or he could just be sitting in that hole) the quarterback will give the ball to the back. That leaves us with six linemen blocking six defenders and a running back looking for a hole. At the bottom you can see the unblocked defensive lineman is pressing hard down the line trying to get to the running back which - along with the blocks of the offensive line - leaves the backside of the play wide open for the quarterback to pull the ball and run through. In actuality the quarterback would take a slightly more horizontal first few steps just to make sure he got around that end ok, but I'm too lazy to go back and adjust the diagram now.

So we've seen how the option read/zone read works (the "zone" in "zone read" comes from the offensive linemen using zone blocking). The question now switches to the opposite side of the ball and the defense's perspective. Simply put; how do you stop this play?

The common approach touted by your TV talking head of choice is likely to go something along the lines of "you play sound, disciplined, assignment football". That is to say that each of the defensive players should stick to their normal run gap and fill it in exactly the same way that they would against any other running play.

Which is probably one of the worst things that you could do against this play.

See the problem you have by playing disciplined, assignment football is that your defensive end, the unblocked guy, is going to sit at "home" and play contain on the edge. He's going to attack downfield at the snap (he has to assume the offense might try and pass) but the second that he sees the quarterback making the read during the mesh with the running back, he's going to stop and start protecting the edge of the defense.

And the quarterbacks just going to hand the ball off every time to the running back.

With the end standing still he's effectively taken himself out of the play, which is precisely what the offense wants. In fact it's probably the best outcome for the offense, because it means you're giving the ball to your dedicated running back and not risking your quarterback taking a big hit. This is worth just settling on for a second because this is - at least in my opinion - going to be the primary limiting factor for this play in the NFL.

Not many coaches are going to be willing to risk their multi-million dollar quarterback taking too many lumps over the course of a full 16 game season every year. While it won't stop the zone read - any play that can surprise a defense and get yards will stay in the NFL for as long as it's effective - I do think that we'll see less and less of it as guys like Tebow and Cam Newton develop as passers. We'll still get the odd treat, just not as often.

Anyway, back to the defense. So if they can't play assignment football to beat the zone read, then what can they do? The simple answer is for the defense to pull a fast one and install a special defensive play just to counter the zone read. Now that might sound like a lot of effort for the defense just for the sake of one play, but it's really only a subtle variation on the way they would normally defend a play like this.

They key for the defense is understanding that the quarterbacks decision of whether to give or take is based on what the unblocked defensive man does. As we've seen, if the unblocked man drives hard down the line then the quarterback will pull the ball back and try to take it around the end himself.

With that in mind the defense can now take the initiative away from the offense and force the offenses hand. All you do is you tell that defensive end to crash down the line the second he sees the zone read play developing, safe in the knowledge that the quarterback will see it, take the ball, and run it himself around the edge. Now here's the clever bit.

Knowing that you've got the quarterback to react as planned (he sees the end crashing so he takes and runs) you now get your linebacker on that side to forget about chasing the running back and tell him that the second he recognises a zone read he should come charging down and fill the outside gap. The quarterback will come flying around the edge thinking he's in for a big gain when suddenly...

BOOM!!

He gets blown up by your linebacker scraping around the edge. Let's have a look at that in a diagram form. I know you can't wait to see more of my artistic talents on display;

As you can see from the large "BOOM!!" marker, the defense has tricked the quarterback into keeping the ball and trying to run around the edge, where he's met by the linebacker making a deliberate and immediate move towards the edge. In reality, obviously the quarterback often sees the linebacker coming and more often than not takes evasive action as only a quarterback can; by diving or sliding immediately into the dirt/plastic.

Which now puts the ball firmly back in the offenses court. If the defense is going to force the quarterback to carry it (he can try handing it off but if the running back so much as hesitates then he's dead meat) and the linebacker is just going to come down and fill that gap, what does the offense do now? Zone read stuffed?

Not quite yet.

If the defense is going to force the quarterback to keep it around the end and then bring a different player down to fill gap, then the logical reaction to this is to introduce another offensive player into the mix and simply read off the second defender; a triple option (quarterback, running back, wide receiver).

The best way to achieve this is to line up a receiver in the slot to the right (presuming the offense is set to the right as in the diagrams above) and then send that receiver in motion behind the quarterback (you can also line him up to the quarterbacks right side in a shotgun/split backs look). Just as he's approaching the rear of the quarterback you snap the ball and the quarterback makes the zone read as normal.

If he sees the unblocked defensive end chasing down the line then he keeps the ball and takes it around the end as he normally would on a zone read, except that now he's going to have a wide receiver running outside of him ready to receive a pitch. The quarterback is now looking out for that linebacker coming down to fill the gap. If he goes towards the quarterback then the quarterback pitches it to the receiver. If the linebacker tries to get wide and cover the receiver then the quarterback keeps it himself and runs right up through the ensuing hole.

Here's how it looks;

The wide receiver has to be careful to maintain the correct pitch relationship with the quarterback, making sure to stay slightly behind the quarterback so that any pitch doesn't go forward. If the quarterback crosses the line of scrimmage and then has to pitch the ball forward that's going to draw a flag.

Once again the offense has the defense in a bind. No matter what the linebacker does, he's going to be wrong. If he tries to take the quarterback then the ball is going to get pitched to the receiver. If the linebacker takes the receiver then he's going to let the quarterback run free inside of him.

All is not lost for the defense though. They will likely have a nickel back on the field covering the slot receiver, so when that receiver motions across the field the nickelback might get across in time to help out (or be as much help as a nickel back can be when it comes to tackling...)

Alternatively the defense can bring the free safety down and involve him in the option dilemma. In this case the defense can play a little game where they make the quarterback try and figure out whether the linebacker is covering him or whether the safety is. If the defense uses the linebacker to cover the wide receiver and brings the safety down to take the quarterback, then the quarterback can end up keeping the ball, running inside and running straight into the safety.

From there the offense can play its own games, by sending the slot receiver in motion, faking the initial step of the triple option play... but then having the fullback cut back to the outside and dive at the legs of the defensive end. Meanwhile the wide receiver stops and comes rushing back towards the quarterback to receiver a hand off going to the right, as the offense now plays a classic outside zone run;

And then of course there is play-action to be had off of that....

I think we'll leave it there for now. Suffice to say that the back and forth that started with a simple zone read can go on for hours as defenses figure out new ways of adjusting to and manipulating the offensive reads, while offense's finds new ways to make it harder for the defense to know who's being read, and hampering their efforts to cheat into position to take away certain plays, applying the constraint theory of offense.

That's one of the things that's so enjoyable about football; the back and forth that goes on between the coaches. And proof I feel that sometimes the X's and O's of football can be just as important as the Jimmy's and Joe's.

And even the Tim Tebow's.
Tomorrow I'll do my picks for this weekend and have a quick word about an interview that Cam Newton gave to ESPN, which I don't have time to write about now. See you then.

P.S. Thanks to Teoita for the inspiration for this article! If you have something you think I should write about or a subject you'd like to know more about, you can e-mail me at; keepingthechainsmoving@live.co.uk

Andy Reid in trouble, but not Tim Tebow

So two things first, then some diagramming. Then... we'll you can do whatever you want. I'll be off to go watch some College games with a view to keeping an eye on the 2012 and 2013 draft classes. Better to get a look in as early as possible I guess.

Anyway, at the risk of sounding like your boss in a morning meeting, the first thing on the agenda is the Andy Reid situation in Philly. As pointed out before on these pages, any kind of failure to live up to the wild hype was going to end in tears in Philly. It was inevitable from the moment they started spending money on big names. The Vince Young quote just made it worse.

Now as expected the Philadelphia press is turning on Andy Reid big time. As always, people seem to assume that bringing in a new coach now will solve all the problems that the Eagles have. It won't. We're five weeks into the season. A new coach would barely have enough time to get his head around who all his coaches are, who the players are and how the various systems are run by the time the season ends. Like it or not Eagles fans, Andy Reid is your best shot for the rest of the season.

That's not to say that he's without fault. Ultimately the Head Coach is responsible for everything that happens on his team. The defense may not be your speciality, but tough. You should know enough about it to know how it works and how to deal with problems in it. Juan Castillo may be in charge of the defense, but you're the guy that put him in charge, so you're the guy responsible for a) making sure he was up to the job and b) making sure he has all the support he needs to do his job. The buck stops at the top.

The good news for the defense - and for Juan Castillo - is that only one of the Eagles problems is down to that side of the ball. It's a problem they know about and it's an eminently fixable problem. And despite the hysteria in the Philadelphia press, it has nothing to do with "wide nines". It's the linebackers.

This is something I brought up a while back, when coming to the defense of Casey Matthews. People in the Philadelphia (and wider) press have been bitching about how easy it is to run inside of the wide defensive ends that the Eagles use. Of course this seems like a valid argument on the surface, but anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of how defenses are put together will know that it's not the job of the defensive ends to protect that inside running lane.

If you follow the link to the Matthews article you'll see the diagram of a 4-3 defense like that used by the Eagles, complete with marks to show which gaps the players are responsible for in the running game. As you can see, the defensive ends are responsible for the gaps to the outside of the offensive tackles. This is basic, day one installation of the 4-3 defense stuff.

The Eagles problems have nothing to do with wide nines and everything to do with not filling the gaps by the linebackers and the defensive linemen. The "Will" linebacker should be filling the gap between the Left Tackle and Left Guard. The defensive tackle in the "three technique" position should be filling the gap between the Right Guard and Right Tackle.

(In my diagram the defensive end was lined up inside the tight end. All that happens in a wide nine situation is that he lines up a little further outside and now the "Sam" linebacker takes the gap between the Right Tackle and the Tight End).

It really is that simple. There are kids across the US, probably practicing right at this minute as I type this, who understand it. It has nothing to do with the ends. It's not their job. Their job is to rush the passer and contain running plays, funnelling everything inside to other people. It's the job of the others to fill the missing gaps.

Of course there are other ways of doing this. You can line up the defensive tackles head up on the guards and make them "two gap", that is to say they'd be responsible for the gaps on either side of the guards. Using a controlled pass rush they can get into the backfield, pushing the guards backwards to close the pocket from the inside, while also keeping themselves at arms reach from the linemen and ready to make a tackle. I'll admit it's not exactly conventional to mix up the gap scheme like that, but needs must, as they say.

Really though it's the linebackers and their discipline that needs to be addressed. The Eagles need to sit their linebackers down in a room, with the linebacker coach Mike Caldwell, coordinator Juan Castillo, Head Coach Andy Reid and just for kicks, offensive line coach Howard Mudd. Show the linebackers the gaps on film. Show them examples of what you mean, how to fill the gaps, using old tape. And then ram it home, time after time for a good hour until they can repeat the instructions in their sleep. Of course, there is something else the Eagles could do to help....

STOP. TURNING. THE. FUU... FREAKING. BALL. OVER. ON. OFFENSE.

Through five games now, Mike Vick has seven interceptions and seven fumbles, three of which have been lost. Mike Kafka has another two interceptions to add. The Eagles have also suffered three more fumbles, all lost. Put against their defensive interceptions and fumble recoveries, that leaves the Eagles minus 10 in the turnover stakes. Couple that with their - at times - shocking red zone performance and you have your answer.

See the trouble is this. The Eagles defense is not built to stop the run. That's not what they do. Their defense is built to stop the pass. Why? Because the offense is so explosive. The Eagles lead the league in rushing yardage. Yes, trust me, they do. LeSean McCoy is a touchdown run waiting to happen. Vicks running has been incredible and receivers like Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson are more than capable of ripping off big yardage.

Thus the defense is built to attack opponents who are trying to play catch up. The whole point of the wide nine defensive ends is to give them a better angle to rush the passer (Jason Babin has seven sacks already). Their secondary is replete with playmakers who can gamble and get you interceptions. It doesn't matter if they give up big yards or big scores every now and again, because the offense is supposed to be high powered enough to compensate. It's a gamble, but a calculated one at that.

The big problem is that it's the Eagles offense who are turning it over right now. Vick's fumbles and interceptions are killing his team, just as sure as the turnovers of Tony Romo are killing the Cowboys. The Eagles don't need to fix their defense. They need to fix their offense. And they need to do it quick.

Whatever it takes, the Eagles need to find a way to stop turning the ball over so much while still getting the ball to their play makers. They also need to find ways to turn yardage into points in the red zone. It's not easy, I understand that. But it's not like the Eagles are short of good players on offense. In fact, they're pretty much loaded up at all positions.

Which, come to think of it, is the responsibility of Andy Reid. After all, he calls the plays. In fact, maybe if someone else was calling the plays, the Eagles would score more points and they would make the playoffs. Hey....

FIRE ANDY REID!!

No wait, what am I saying? I hate the Eagles. I don't want a potentially good team like that making the playoffs and possibly disrupting the nefarious plans of the 49ers to slip through to the Super Bowl despite being - at heart - shit. Hey!

KEEP ANDY REID!!

You know what, I dunno any more. Let's go back to me being your boss in the morning meeting and quietly move things along to the second item on the agenda. Which is Tim Tebow. Or rather, the fact that John Fox has announced to his team that Tim Tebow will be starting for the Broncos in week seven when they play the Miami Dolphins (who as it happens will be honoring Tebow and his former Florida Gators team mates. Because that's just how the Dolphins luck is right now).

So, what do I think about it? Well I'm glad you asked.

I like Tebow. I've said before, I don't buy all the bullshit about him not being able to throw and I don't buy all the crap about his throwing motion either. I won't go over that again here. Suffice to say that if you haven't read it already, the article is here, including videos and stuff.

What I'm trying to figure out is if this was a genius move by Coach Fox, or whether he just kind of blundered into it. The blundering angle would involve him just pulling Orton and saying "you know what, this game is over, let's just roll with the Kid and see what he's got."

For it to qualify as a genius move it would require a bit of foresight on Fox's part. See the Broncos have next week off for the bye. Was Fox thinking about that when he put Tebow out? Was he thinking "you know what, if Tebow turns out to be ok, we could spend two weeks over the bye slotting him into our offense" while subtley rubbing his chin and making that noise that people do when they think they've just hit on a master plan.

Or it could be even more subtle, and devious, and slightly nasty. Maybe he was thinking "this Tebow guy sucks. I know what will do for him. I'll make him start on the night in Miami, on the same night they're honoring him. I'll get the OC to call bad plays and embarrass him in front of the Miami crowd..."

Or it could be even more subtle, more devious, less nasty, but slightly more genius. Maybe he was thinking "What I'll do is put Tebow in for the Miami game. They need a quarterback. Maybe if I show him off, they'll trade for him?"

Or you know what, I could just be grossly over thinking this. My guess is that with the bye week just around the corner and realising that Orton wasn't getting it done, Fox decided to just give Tebow a look against the Chargers. He did well, so now he has two weeks to build an offense that works, preferably one that doesn't involve Tebow risking injury quite as much as he does right now. To be fair, he's a big guy and has demonstrated his toughness on multiple occassions now. Still not sure I'd want him playing the concussion lottery each week though.

At this point I should probably think about moving on to the diagrams, but you know what? This post is already too long and it gives me something to do tomorrow. So tomorrow I will be back with a piece on the outside zone running play that most teams are now using in the NFL.

I've also just noticed that almost every time I write an article about the Eagles I also seem to end up writing about Tim Tebow. I'm not quite sure why that is, but there you go.

For now I'm off to go and watch some College ball. Don't forget to hit the Facebooky like thing if you haven't done so already. Or you could e-mail your co-workers a link to this, instead of sending them chain letters or pictures of dogs wearing hats.

Your choice.

A word on Tim Tebow

For basically the last three weeks, the subject of Tim Tebow has constantly been popping up across the mainstream media and the Internet. There are lots of reasons for this, but no doubt prime among which is the fact that controversy gets people talking. It makes your website stand out on Google searches and gets people to click on your website and come take a look. Page views go up, thus potentially so does advertising revenue.

But lately it's been getting ridiculous. For those of you who - like me - drop in on ProFootballTalk.com each day to browse the headlines, you'll have noticed that Tim Tebow seems to crop up on a practically daily basis. I wouldn't mind so much to be honest if it wasn't for the fact that Mike Florio spends most of the time that he devotes to the subject of Tim Tebow - like a lot of people in the media - talking out of his fucking arse.

The common thread at the minute appears to be that Tim can't throw. This has been brought up in God only knows how many articles and TV segments, and frankly it's starting to piss me off. It's as if last season didn't happen, that Tebow never went onto the field and never threw a pass. We're told by many "expert" sources that Tebow doesn't have the correct throwing action to be an NFL quarterback. Or that he isn't accurate enough. Or that he doesn't know how to throw NFL passes full stop.

So here's what I did. I went to YouTube and I typed in "Tim Tebow Denver Broncos". I found the first video I could that had clips of him from last season playing with the Broncos and I present this video to you now.






Now you tell me. Watch the video again and tell me whether you can see any completed passes? I can. Presumably you can to. I dunno though. Apparently he can't throw these kind of passes. He's unable to. Well, at least that's what all the QB experts on the TV and Internet keep telling people.

See I'm confused. I don't know what to think anymore. My eyes, they're telling me that I can see Tim Tebow making passes. Short passes, off play action. Screen passes. I can see intermediate level passes. I can see deep passes. Well, at least I think I can. That's what my brain is telling me that my eyes can see. But apparently not.

See when I go over to ProFootballTalk.com they keep telling me that Tebow sucks. They keep pointing me towards articles by respected people in the football world who tell their audiences that "Tim Tebow can't make NFL throws" etc.

So who do I believe? The experts? Or my own eyes?

Funnily enough, I've become very attached to my eyes over the years. They're not 100% trustworthy, but more often than not they are. And no matter how many times I watch the video above, it appears to show Tim Tebow playing for an NFL team, running an NFL offense, throwing NFL passes, against NFL defenses.

So frankly I'd like to invite Mike Florio, his bitch Rosenwhateverhisnameis and every other person who insists that Tebow can't make NFL passes to just sit back, relax, and drink a nice big cup of shut the fuck up. In fact, I'll even give you something to watch while you have your drink.

Because the other big knock on Tebow has always been his throwing motion. Apparently, so I'm told by experts, having such an elongated throwing motion, where the ball dips low before being brought back up over the shoulder, should not work. In fact, we're confidently told that it will not work. Ever. Never has, never will. Least not in the NFL.

Defenses are too quick, too smart. NFL defenders will see the arm motion and break on the ball with time to spare, providing it isn't ripped from Tebows arm for the 40th time that game before he can throw it.

Well... I'm calling Bullshit on this.

Not least because of the simple fact that everyone who has ever spoken on this subject has constantly affirmed that Tebow should adapt his motion to be more like Dan Marino's, which is considered to be a cleaner, more precise motion, with less wasted downward movement.

And while that sounds great in principle, the simple fact is it's complete bollocks of the highest order. Dan Mario's throwing motion was as cack handed and elongated as Tim Tebows. How do I know this? Because unlike BSPN and the army of sycophants who are all looking for a job on their news desk, I actually bothered to go back and have a look.

Yes that's right; research.

I understand that in the world of modern sensationalist journalism such a word as "research" is often considered up there right alongside "integrity" as words that should be kept quiet, locked up in an underground vault somewhere never to be seen or heard from again. But I happen to find research can be quite useful. It has a tendency to help prevent one from talking out of ones arse, though this is a general rule not a precise one, as I've personally proven in the case of Mark Herzlich and others.

So again I'm going to furnish you with a YouTube video for your perusal. This is of Dan Marino, Quarterback, Miami Dolphins. What in particular I'd like you to notice is that fact that Marino had a penchant for holding the ball down near his back hip, one handed no less, which then required the ball to be brought up from this low position to behind the shoulder, and then forward. Literally the only difference between Marino and Tebow is that Marino took a slightly less curved path and he moved his arm at lightning speed.

The fact remains though, his motion was not the paragon of muscular efficiency and technical artistry that it is often made out to be. He was just bloody quick. Here's the proof;






And you know what? I'm in the mood for showing off. Taking the piss as it were. So I'm going to throw in another video just for good measure. This time we're going to look at Joe Montana, one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. Of course my opinion on Montana has nothing to do with being a 49ers fan...

Anyway. The purpose of this next video is to demonstrate that even a slightly elongated motion can produce results. It may not be the picture perfect throwing motion desired by modern analysts, but it just plain worked. Adhering to Bill Walsh's often repeated mantras of 1) making sure the tip of the ball doesn't dip below the waist and that 2) the ball is released above the shoulder, Joe Montana went on to have a mildly successful career.

Well, who doesn't have four Super Bowl rings these days?

I should also point out that Montana, like Marino, and so far like Tebow, managed to avoid the issue of the constant strips which we were assured by experts, and continue to be assured by them, would be the every other play consequence of a dipping throwing motion.

I'm particularly keen on this video because Montana's motion is a bit more akin to Tebow's than Marino's was. The path of travel of the football is a much closer match, as was the speed at which Montana used to throw. Here it is, with some great slow mo action to help you make a comparison.






Now adding all this up, does this mean Tebow will be the next Montana or Marino? Well frankly it's a little early to tell. All I'm trying to do here is to disprove the current hypothesis expounded by seemingly everyone that can get themselves close enough to a keyboard or a microphone; that Tim Tebow can't throw NFL passes and that his throwing motion is inadequate for the NFL.

There is obviously more to quarterbacking than throwing passes. Tebow will have to master the mental aspects as well, from learning plays, protections and reads, to developing the requisite skills of leadership and the command of the huddle, to name but a few.

I personally believe that in time, and if given a proper shot, he will. I'd love it even more if that team were the San Francisco 49ers whom I follow so dearly and regularly shout at so profanely. Most of all though I just want Tebow to get his chance. He seems like a great kid who has come under a lot of unnecessary scrutiny since leaving college, and I simply can't wait to see the day when he makes a rather large amount of people choke on their fucking words.

Go on Tim. I'm a Tebowliever!! As are many others. You can do this.

Eagles "Dream Team" and Tim Tebow

No, I'm not suggesting the Eagles trade for Tebow. These are two separate stories that I want to address. Normally I would give it some sort of comedic title (at least by my sense of humour) like, "Eagles prepare to shit on everyone from a great height" or "Eagles looking to soar to heaven... where they see seat with 'reserved for Tim Tebow' sign on it" etc.

But apparently that's not good for business. If you want to haul in the views you have to literally explain in the title what you're talking about and use words that people type into search engines. Boring but necessary it would seem. Ah well, let's get on with it.

So the Eagles "Dream Team" has expanded to include wide receiver Steve Smith. No, not that one. The one that used to play for the Giants. The one who now probably regrets pitching in to the LeSean McCoy/Osi Umenyiora off season spat by asking how many Super Bowl rings the Eagles had. Whoops!

Anyway, I'm now starting to get very interested in the Eagles for the simple reason that this season could have serious implications on the future of the NFL. Yes, the Eagles. See, there are two sides of the free agent debate.

One side believes that you can flash the cash in all directions and essentially buy the Super Bowl. The other side would point at teams like the Redskins in recent years and then laugh for probably a little longer than is actually necessary. The Eagles performance this year could go a long way to helping people take sides in the debate.

I'm fairly certain right now that the Eagles will make the playoffs and do pretty well overall in the regular season. I've seen this happen several times over here in English soccer with teams being bought out by billionaires who then stop at nothing to buy a championship. Even if they fall short of the ultimate goal, the sudden increase in talent level across the board usually has enough of an impact to overcome lesser opposition with ease.

The key will obviously be whether they make it to the big game and if they do, how will they fare?

My guess right now is not well. The reason I say this is because team cohesion is a big factor in teams winning titles, from what I've seen at least. The ability to get a group of players to come together and work for each other can make a big impact on the field. That is always the risk that you assume when you spend highly in free agency; you're bringing guys like Steve Smith into your locker room who just a few weeks ago were bashing your organisation.

Another problem that is common derives from simple numbers. There are only so many spots on the field at the start of the game. You can't start five wide receivers, and two running backs, and two tight ends all at the same time. Well, theoretically you can, but some of those guys are going to have to settle with being offensive linemen.

This creates friction. Lots of friction.

Egos clash as everyone believes that their talents should be highlighted. Just look at the corner situation with Asante Samuel, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Nnamdi Asomugha. Most are betting that if Samuel is still around in week 1, then Samuel and Asomugha will be starting. How is Rodgers-Cromartie, a talented corner who has seen plenty of action in his career so far, going to take to suddenly being an occasional nickel back?

It'll effect his career no doubt. Starting in Arizona DRC had the chance to show off his skills and build up his potential value for free agency. Now? He's going to spend a lot of time hidden away, either on the bench or covering the number 3 guy. How long before the quite murmurs behind closed doors become an angry rumble on Twitter?

The same applies to guys like receiver Jeremy Maclin. How long before he gets tired of Steve Smith taking his spot? Or maybe its the other way around? Maybe Smith gets annoyed that he used to be considered a top receiver in New York and now he's just an auxillary on the "Dream Team"?

Which brings us to probably the most difficult part of this process for the Eagles. However much Coach Andy Reid tries to play it down, the cat is out of the bag now. The Dream Team moniker is here to stay for 2011-12.

Given how rabid the sports press in Philadelphia has a reputation for being in general, how long before they start piling on the pressure now? And trust me, it wont just take a loss to get them going. Oh no! Teams with as much hype and expectation as the Eagles - and who have spent as much money - are held to a far more critical standard.

Take english soccer team Chelsea F.C. for example. A few years ago now they were bought by Russian billionaire businessman Roman Abramovich, who has spent over a half billion dollars purchasing players from around the world to play for his team (that's before you even start counting the enormous wages paid). As a result, the expectations on Chelsea are ridiculous. Beating a poor to intermediate quality team is not enough. Anything less than a severe thrashing is considered failure, not to mention the "win the title every season" type expectation with regards to the premier league.

This is the world that the Eagles have literally and unintentionally bought into. Forget about the Super Bowl. Forget about the playoffs. Forget about the NFC East divisional crown. The scrutiny of the Eagles begins in week 1 of the regular season at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri. Anything short of trouncing the Rams (a team that will be very much considered the underdog) will result in backlash and speculation.

The sports pages in Philadelphia will be covered with headlines reading "IS THIS IT?!!" or words to that effect if the Eagles can only scrape a one or two score win. Already people will get nervous about why the Eagles aren't blowing other teams off the field with a shockwave of footballing brilliance. Eventually this will find its way into the locker room and manifest itself in finger pointing.

"We're not winning because you don't throw me the ball enough!"
"If you let me rush the passer more often coach, we'd get way more sacks!"
"We're not running the ball enough coach, you should let me carry it a few more times!"

If things don't go exactly according to the pre-season script, and given the volatility that we're accustomed to from professional sports players and the media who cover them, this has the potential to get real ugly, real quick. I personally expect the Eagles will win maybe 11-12 games, but something tells me that won't be enough to hold back the waves of criticism.

Don't forget, this is a city that ran quarterback Donovan McNabb out of town after he took them to 5 NFC Championship games (four consecutively) and one Super Bowl appearance!

This also leads us nicely to Tim Tebow, as we stick with the theme of high expectations.

Because (I know smartass) the hype around Tebow and his failure to win the starting job in Denver is getting bloody ridiculous. He's a kid. A young player learning the ropes. Alright, he got drafted in the first round. I get that. Yes, the Broncos gave up a lot to get him. I understand. But I don't care if he was drafted number one overall, the fact is he's still young.

This is what the draft is supposed to be about. Your supposed to pick up promising young players who you think have potential, then develop them over time. Look at Joe Montana for example. And no, I'm not saying the two are the same. But just look at Montana with the 49ers. Did he walk in and become number one right away? No he didn't. He was a project. Bill Walsh built him up, encouraged him, worked with him, taught him, developed him.

Eventually yes, he hit the field as the number one guy and barely looked back. Sort of. But the point is, it takes time to acclimate a rookie and bring them up to speed, to teach them the ways of the NFL. Tebow is doing that. He's learning. To expect him to supplant a good quarterback like Kyle Orton right away is stupid. And yeah, I think Orton is a good quarterback who doesn't get enough credit as it is.

So what if Orton is beating Tebow out? You should expect him to. That's why Orton is a starting quarterback in this league, while Alex Smith has to compete for his job every year. All I'm saying is that people need to give Tebow time. He has talent. Anyone that says he can't throw needs to go and check his old Florida tape, as well as his game time from last season.

Does he occasionally make mistakes? Yeah, surprise, surprise, he does. It's called being human. I don't care how often he goes to church and prays, he's still a human being and no amount of hyperbole will change that fact. Now, does Peyton Manning make mistakes? Yep. What about Drew Brees? Yep. Tom Brady? Yep. Philip Rivers? Yep. See where I'm going with this?

Tebow is a victim of his own success in college. Given that he dominated so many games in his career the expectations on him now are to rule the NFL single handed. Which is ridiculous. Is Tim Tebow failing in Denver as many people believe? No, I don't think he is.

I think what's happening is that like Philadelphia, people have annointed him with a title that is based on their own unrealistic assessment of the situation. They've allowed their own agendas, either positive or negative, to cloud the issue and now everyone is caught along for the ride.

Me personally? I think Tebow may see some intermitent action this year - mostly garbage time - depending on how things go. If things go bad offensively then expect people to call for a change, because apparently all you have to do these days is change the quarterback in order to kick start an offense. I think he'll learn from watching Orton and grow mentally as an NFL player. Give it another year or two and I think he could be a good, legitimate starter in the NFL.

Is he ever going to win a Super Bowl? Pff, how about you get your crystal ball out and tell me what teams he's going to play for during his career and what pieces will be around him? Then I'll tell you. Just look at Peyton Manning for example. He's probably the best pure quarterback in the league right now and yet he only has one ring.

All I'll say is that I think eventually Tebow will find a starting job and eventually I expect him to have some success. It's just a matter of the one thing that seemingly no football fan, football writer, coach, general manager or owner seems to possess anymore; patience!

Now if you're looking for a less hyped team that might just be in with a Super Bowl shout, look at New England. I know they're hardly a footballing minnow, but they're going largely under the radar right now and yet Coach Belichick is assembling quite a nice little team up there in Foxborough. You have been warned.

Which reminds me, ahhhhh football is back! Well. Kind of.

Pres-season begins today and as yet it's still unclear how teams are going to go about apportioning time to their players. We may get full games with starters at some point, but most likely it'll be your usual mish mash of starters playing halfs then coming out in favour of the younger/fringe type players.

New England will be entertaining Jacksonville which means we might get our first look at QB Ryan Mallett. I like Mallett and it'll be interesting to see whether many teams are left ruing the chance to pick him up in the draft. For Jacksonville I'm rooting for back up running back Rashad Jennings. C'mon kid, let 'em have it!

The "Dream Team" will get its first showing against Baltimore, something which I'm not entirely sure Andy Reid will be relishing. I'm particularly interested in rookie running back Dion Lewis and linebacker Casey Matthews for the Eagles. For the Ravens it has to be rookie corner Jimmy Smith (one of my favourite corners in the draft) followed by wide receiver Torrey Smith (one of my favourite receivers).

San Diego will play host to Seattle. I'm hoping to see rookie Chargers center Colin Baxter, mainly because I think he's awful and is going to get his quarterback killed. Defensive Linemen Corey Liuget is one to watch though, for good reasons. For Seattle, I like rookie tackle James Carpenter and guard John Moffitt. Moffitt especially so. In the secondary, corner Byron Maxwell has potential in time, and I absolutely love Mark LeGree. I hope he plays because I think he's gonna be great.

Dallas will welcome Denver for their first pre-season game. I literally have no interest in Dallas. None. Not a thing. Denver however throws up a few names. Tim Tebow of course. Rookie Tight end Virgil Green, Offensive Linemen (should be a guard) Orlando Franklin, pass rusher Jeremy Beal (watch out for this guy, might play outside linebacker, maybe defensive end. Should get sacks) and safety Rahim Moore. So just a few then.

Finally, Oakland are at home to Arizona (blurgh!). For Oakland rookie running back Taiwan Jones, wide receiver Denarius Moore and offensive guard Stefen Wisniewski (at least against the pass). For Arizona, all eyes will be on rookie corner Patrick Peterson. I'm interested in seeing him largely because I don't think he's going to be all that good, but we'll see. Other than Peterson, I'm looking at rookie running back Ryan Williams and linebacker Quan Sturdivant.

So that's that for today. I'll probably be back tomorrow depending on my work schedule, but until next time, have a great day.

Spell it out

Before I get round to finishing my AFC South preview, I just want to have a moan, because God knows I love me a moan. I want to moan about the fact that TV pundits have turned otherwise decent/quiet fans into half knowledgeable ass hats. I was reading an article about Tim "My Parents Couldn't Have Wished For A Better Poster Child On Their View Of Abortion" Tebow. In the comments section I noticed someone bashing Tebow. Now this is not a freak occurrence. Lot's of people bash Tebow. But this was not your normal Tebow bashing. Normally people will just say "he sucks" without any qualifier, which allows me to laugh at their simple brains and bask in my own shining wisdom (uhm, didn't you say at the end of your last post that "Cam Newton sucks" without a qualifier?) This one was different though. It was something about horrible accuracy and not being able to fit the ball into tight windows. This is patently nonsense, as we've seen in his brief NFL career that Tebow can both a) throw accurately and b) fit the ball into tight windows. What we're seeing then is the product of someone who has spent way too much time listening to Sirius Radio and not actually watching what's happening on the field. They're simply regurgitating an answer that was probably provided by their favourite pundit in response to the question "What do you think of Tim Tebow?" What's more worrying for me is it is another example of the English Language (both English UK and English US. Why you people couldn't just call it "American" is beyond me. But I'm digressing... in brackets no less), another example of the English Language being progressively stripped of it's meaning and relevance by overuse, buzzwords and management speak. Tight Windows. Dynamic Playmaker. These kind of terms seem to get thrown up every two minutes and attached to every player that moves. Apparently everyone can either throw into tight windows or they can't. Seemingly anyone capable of running 40 yards in less than 5 seconds is considered dynamic. And while I try to explain why I like certain players and what their particular skills are that attract my attention, all too often I get the feeling lately that TV pundits - and subsequently your average fan - have just got a list of adjectives and superlatives (technically almost the same thing) written on a card somewhere with a key guide to point out which ones to use for good players and which ones to use for bad. It's becoming increasingly hard to figure out just why some pundit or former executive likes this player or that. Instead we just get lists of generic-to-the-position attributes. Maybe it's for the same reason that NFL scouts are notorious for hedging their bets; because generic, catch all statements allow you to leave more doors open than a torture chamber for people with OCD. I'd just like to see people be more committal with their evaluations and stop feeding the public cookie cutter lines that make no sense and share little in common with the facts of the matter. P.S. Cam Netwon still sucks. P.P.S. I've just had a phone call to go out drinking. The AFC South will have to wait till tomorrow.

Thursday Night Football pick, plus a rant (or two).

Some stuff to get through today, so cracking on would seem the best course of action: -- The NFL has convened a meeting of it's Head, Neck and Spine committee. And no, I didn't know they had one either. I'll get into the details in a minute but first; why the simple and all encompassing name of "Player Safety Committee" couldn't be used is a mystery. Well not exactly. It seems an odd and beauracratic thing to do, because it is. The NFL is worried about its image in the public (and political) eye and wants to be seen to be doing everything it can to get safe. It also has to show the players that it "cares". If the league wants the players to agree to an 18-game schedule it has to prove it's trying to make the game safer. Now if all this sounds like me being rather cynical then that's because I am. You should try reading my info thingy to the right >>> What jumped off the cynicism scale for me though was the apparent schedule juggling by Commissioner Roger Goodell. We're told that he was very busy yesterday, but in the name of player safety and showing that he "cares", he put all that other stuff to one side so he could come and listen to the folks recommendations. What a nice guy huh? Bullshit. In a season where concussions are the hot topic, and fines and penalties are being dished out left, right and center, does anyway honestly believe that Goodell didn't have this date ringed on his calender in big red pen? I can't stand it when people like Goodell try and make it out like they went out of their way to drop a bunch of important meetings in order to find time for this. It just serves to further reinforce my belief that Goodell is the slimiest of the slimy, a true snake. All smiles and "we're clean as a whistle Governor, honest", when in fact Goodell is as dirty and rotten as anybody walking the halls of power in Washington. But I digress. The point of the meeting was to allow helmet manufacturers to come forward with new ideas and research that they'd come up with. Now what intrigued me the most were two designs. One was a helmet with a soft outer shell designed to absorb impact and the other was a helmet that appeared to contain a two-fold layer of concussive protection; a series of transparent cells that appear to be filled with air/water/some fluid, who knows. This was topped by a layer of soft, squashy foam (it's the second helmet shown in the clip I'm going to link to, the one where you can see inside). In fact, here is the link. I bring this up only because I'm an intolerably smug individual who suggested these ideas for helmets not so long ago. Thinking about it, I actually think the helmet with the hard exterior and the crush able foam interior padding might be the best choice. -- Jason Pierre-Paul, DE, New York Giants. I bloody knew I'd missed someone yesterday. Pierre Paul is another player that in hindsight should have been on the watch list but I missed completely. Why? Only a single year playing at the highest level of college football, coupled with a concern that his game was all about his physical skills and not about technique. Ooops! -- Tim Tebow. With the sacking of Josh McDaniels comes the speculation that Tebow will be following shortly, traded away or even cut by the new Head Coach. As a result, many are already labelling Tebow a bust, berating Daniels for drafting him and for not having a plan for his development. All of which I find laughable. I think Tebow, quite apart from his rushing skills, is just straight up a very good quarterback. Very good. I think a first round pick for Tebow was fine. And I believe his development was coming along nicely. The trouble is though we're in an age when everybody wants everything now. They want Tebow on the field, winning games single handedly, and they want it yesterday. But that's not how things work. McDaniels's use of Tebow in short yardage and goal line situations reminds me of the story of a another quarterback during his development phase; Joe Montana. Despite what some peoples glossy memories may recall, Montana started his career in San Fransisco as Mr. Fill In. He was brought in for the odd play here, a drive or two maybe towards the end of game etc, but for his first season he was nothing more than a situational quarterback. Montana subsequently went on to be a half decent quarterback (I have no smilies, so I'm literally going to have to type *wink*). Cast your mind back as well to last season. Remember the name Michael Vick. Remember that in Philadelphia he was worked back into the team largely through his use in short yardage and goal line situations. That story didn't turn out too bad now, did it? (*wink*. So far...). In fact, the parallels between Tebow and Montana are more than you'd think. You're going to have to trust me on this one but you need to go back and watch Joe Montana throwing. In a bit, I'm even gonna lay on a video for you. What you'll see is very much a Tebow-esque release (or is Tebow using a Montana-esque release?). Montana's dipping motion with the ball isn't quite as pronounced and he sometimes uses a much faster motion, but trust me it's there, on film, on game day. So all this utter nonsense about Tebow's motion being unacceptable in the NFL is ridiculous. It's analyst speak for "we need to cover our butts in case he doesn't pan out". Well I for one have no intention of covering on this. I think Tebow is someday going to be a great quarterback. There it is. In writing. If I'm wrong, then damn it, I'm wrong. But I vehemently believe that Tebow deserves a chance and I think people are wrong about bashing Josh McDaniels for having the courage and audacity to pick him and try to develop him. Now here's your film clip, part of a seven part series that I probably have already posted on here before. Ah well, it's definitely worth posting again. You'll have to nip over to YouTube yourself to watch the other six parts : Right, time to get my pick in for tonight's game. Indianapolis Colts @ Tennessee Titans: Colts win. Job done. Allow me though to explain. I know that Peyton Manning threw four picks in week 14. I get that, he's having a bad year. But even though he threw four interceptions, and even though two were returned for touchdowns, the fact remains that the Colts still took the Cowboys to overtime. Manning completed 36 of 48 passes for 365 yards and two touchdowns. Freeney and Mathis both had sacks. The Colts had a rushing touchdown, and they made a big play on special teams as well. But let's not forget the most convincing reason that they should win; They're playing the Titans. The Titans. And yeah, I know the Titans have Chris Johnson, but that doesn't matter. This is the Titans we're talking about. I've learned that just because I would cram the ball down Indy's throats with the running game until they started puking up stitches, doesn't mean that the Titans will actually do that. Last week against the Jaguars they handed the ball to Johnson just 13 times. That was it. Now do you think Kerry Collins is going to tear up the Colts secondary instead? I don't see it. The best hope the Titans have is if their D-line can get back to making big plays against the pass. Like the Chargers and Cowboys before them, they need to get to Manning. Anything less will not suffice. That could be a problem though given the Titans recent knack of leaking rushing yardage. The Colts may not exactly be the masters of the rush, but against a 6-man front they can block to a reasonable degree, enough at least to victimise the wobbly looking Titans defense. All in all, I just can't see the Titans offense being able to keep up. As the score mounts the Colts options on offense get more flexible while the Titans offense becomes more one dimensional. As a result, the Titans let the game slip away and give Colts fans some hope. At least for now. Colts win. Have a great day everyone.

Steelers @ Broncos

-- Steelers 17 @ Broncos 34: Who needs offense, defense or special teams when you have penalties? The Steelers committed 11 for a grand total of 93 yards, which is a better showing than any running back on either team put up. The Broncos tried, but could only muster 8 penalties for a mere 67 yards. The fact that most of these penalties were for 'Unnecessary Roughness' and 'Roughing the passer' (technically one and the same, to a degree) is not surprising in a league where any contact is gradually being frowned upon more and more. Roethlisberger and Orton both did ok in their brief outings, but in keeping with the earlier established theme I want to focus on the back up spots. Naturally I have to start by laughing at Brady Quinn, who came into replace Orton after he took a knock and promptly got himself sacked. Quinn finished with a stunning 1/2 for a whole 2 yards. Tebow then was poised to become the man of the hour. But it started a little rocky. Taking the ball from under center he looked uncomfortable, but that's natural given his history. At least he kept his poise and still got his passes off. Then, looking to his right he wound up and launched a bolt... to Steelers rookie Crezdon Butler. At least he chased him back down the field and 'forced' him out of bounds 5 yards shy of the goal line. Not to be deterred, he came back and led a 5 play, 74 yard drive, capping it with TD pass to Eric Decker. And to be honest, I can't see why scouts were moaning so much before the draft. Yes the wind up is begging to be stripped, but other than that he looks like a steal for the 25th overall pick. His feet were quick, he anticipated his receivers breaks well (ahem, for the most part) and his ball placement on the throws was very good. Given that he's a rookie and will get to sit behind Orton for the season, developing himself (and his center/QB exchange) the future looks bright for Mr. Tebow. Perhaps less so for Pittsburgh fans (all together now; hahahahaha. Good). Dennis Dixon went 9/16 for 94 yards and two interceptions (and two sacks). The first INT was right down the sideline into the end zone... and into the waiting arms of rookie corner Perrish Cox (see the rookie watch list from the other day). The second went to old hand Andre Goodman who took it back 77 yards for the score (note to corners; I think it was Dre Bly who last year demonstrated the dangers of doing your stupid little dance before you get into the end zone. Dixon nearly had him). Byron Leftwich was poised then to have the day to himself. Of course he probably would have done, had he not thrown 4 passes and connected on precisely zero percent of them. It was left to Charlie Batch to come on and restore some sort of dignity by going 3/4 for 44 yards and a TD. He however, decided that things were going a little too well and thus decided instead to play his part in "The Great, let's make Chris look like he knows what he's talking about conspiracy" by throwing a pass way short to his right which was promptly picked off and returned 48 yards for a TD by rookie Syd'Quan Thompson (see again, rookie watch list). Thompson added the 'coup de grace' by returning a punt on the next Steelers possession for 62 yards. On the ground we finally got a good look at rookie Steelers RB Jonathan Dwyer, who showed quick feet and good vision to finish the game with 89 yards and a TD from 13 carries. Dennis Dixon was the next best Steelers rusher, scrambling three times for 33 yards. The Broncos also looked pretty good on the ground. LenDale White went for 34 yards and a TD off 12 carries, while 2nd year back Lance Ball led the Broncos with 75 yards from 10 carries (biggest run was 43 yards). So there we have it. Pre-season week 3 done. One more week to go and it's time for those rookies and fringe guys to bust out some big efforts. And of course I'll be previewing all the action and eventually recapping it, right here. Till then, Have a great day everyone.

Steelers @ Broncos

-- We begin today with some news and as teams start making roster cuts (they have to narrow their roster to 75 by the end of the month), the Bengals have finally ended the speculation and let go of WR Antonio Bryant. Bryant has struggled all through camp trying to recover from a knee injury and having already been paid something in the region of $7 million, the Bengals appear to be cutting their losses and running. The Bengals will now fall back on Terrell Owens and their excellent crop of rookie and reserve receivers to supplement Chad Ochocinco. Bryant will hit the market as an unrestricted free agent and interest could be quite high as teams look back on the pre-season and reflect on the state of their receiving corps. Now, game time. -- Steelers @ Broncos: The Battle of the Back Ups comes to Mile High stadium. Big Ben Roethlisberger will start for the Steelers. Kyle Orton will start for the Broncos. Of this much we can be pretty certain. Everything else is a little up in the air. The expectation is that Dennis Dixon will get a shot with the offensive starters after Roethlisberger has been pulled and that Brady Quinn will likely fill in for Kyle Orton, as Tebow still nurses his sore ribs. But there is still a game within the game to be played. Or rather two games within the game. Dixon vs. Leftwich. Tebow vs. Orton. Now as well as sounding like a WWE show, it should prove to be a promising football clash. Dixon has already piled the pressure on Leftwich with some good showings, in particular the use of his mobility and how this effects the defenses mentality. The question still remains though as to how Dixon will cope under pressure. When facing Baltimore in the regular season last year I thought Dixon did really well, but then Leftwich has been no slouch himself. Overall Leftwich is a slightly better pocket passer, which may not be a good thing in the Steelers offense, that seems tuned to to the skills of Big Ben (e.g. everyone fan out and wait for Ben to evade some pressure and make the play). As for Tebow/Orton, we may not even get a look at the player who has caused a huge amount of squabbles, arguments and controversy without even taking a regular season snap (no, I mean Tebow). Although the Broncos are playing it coy over his injury, you just get the feeling that both Head Coach and player want to see him out there at some point. Brady Quinn will hope not, but hoping is never a good substitute for going out there and winning the job yourself. The trouble with Quinn has always been the lack of any real big plays. He can do a lot of the dink and dunk stuff, but he rarely seems to be able to find those down field bombs that make the "Madden" crew at EA Sports salivate so much. On defense, the Steelers are the Steelers. Nothing less than hard hitting, run stuffing, pass deflecting brilliance will suffice, at least not in the eyes of Steeler fans. I'll accept the slightly less demanding goal of just not being terrible in the back end when Troy Polamalu isn't on the field. The Broncos D do need to step up though. With Dumervil out for the long haul there is talk of him going on injured reserve, which means the rest of that defense will have to discover their inner pass rusher pronto. So, it's all set. One more game and then pre-season week 3 is done. I'll be back later to recap and share my thoughts on the game. Then that leaves just one more week of "exhibition" games to go, in which the fringe players will be going all out to live the dream and win those last coveted roster spots on an NFL team. Then we'll finally be there, within touching distance of week one of the 2010 regular season. Have a great day everyone.