It's Time I Become A Football Coach

(This image comes from the Houston Chronicle and AP)

I'm serious, I should be a football coach and this is coming from a guy who hasn't played Madden since being priced out of PS3 and XBox 360. I'm sure anyone playing Madden four hours a day would be better coaches than me, which really indicates how bad the coaching in the NFL has become and how bad the coaching always is in college football.


College football should just create co-coaches and get it over with. You would have the one who can recruit all the talent and practice with the team, while the other one can handle game management. I mean look at the travesty of a final drive Les Miles handled last week against Ole Miss. After lucking into a onside kick, LSU hit a WR screen to get into field goal range at the 32. Then, Miles being to call some bad plays, a couple of slow developing pass plays, then a foolish RB screen on 3rd and 19. Then, the ultimate sin by a coach was committed when he waited 15 seconds to call timeout with :09 on the clock. He failed to have his team ready should they make the 4th and 26, which they did. With :01 on the clock, either set up the field goal or throw for the end zone; LSU did neither. In college, I blame the coaches more than the players because the coaches need to know better and Les Miles last Saturday didn't.


However, watching coaches like Bob Stoops and Pete Carroll have shown me over the years that college football is easy as long as you can recruit. The NFL is supposed to be tougher to coach, you're supposed to have a clue of what's going on. Yet, there's a reason coaches change at least seven times in the offseason. Look at the following coaches: Wade Phillips, Norv Turner, Andy Reid, Marvin Lewis, Brad Childress. Each of these coaches head teams who would be in the playoffs, despite not being good coaches. Whether it's questionable challenges, playing not to lose, losing control of the team and just anything that makes you shake your head, each of these coaches fall into that category. And I haven't gone into the worst examples.


Let's begin with Eric Mangini, who I have called the Rich Kotite of this era (meaning a bad coach on a respectable team, who then goes to a worse team and makes them awful). He should have never been given another team this soon after the Jets meltdown, but the Browns felt like they needed to continue hiring failed Belichick assistants because of the outstanding performance Bill had when coaching the Browns. Two great moves by Mangini: going for the fake field goal pass at the end of the 1st half against the Lions, despite the Lions being ready, thus they get the first down and have to kick anyway. But that didn't matter, unlike the last play of the game. You know you're not coaching well when your team is the one team who commits a pass interference on a Hail Mary. He makes things worse by calling timeout before the untimed down. Normally, it's not awful, but Matt Stafford got hurt pretty bad on the previous play and Daunte Culpepper was going to take the last snap cold. Mangenius' timeout allowed Stafford to come back in, because obviously, you want the guy who's torched your defense for 400 yards to throw one more time over a backup QB who's erratic and is just as capable of throwing a 100-interception than he is a touchdown. What a moron.


Of course, the reason I'm even writing this was because of the Texans game Monday night. It started with a Tweet about the 3rd down play by Houston with :08 seconds left. This was before Kris Brown missed the game-tying field goal, giving the Titans the win. Now, the Titans clearly played for the field goal, because Jeff Fisher knew Rob Bironas knew he could consistently hit 50 yard kicks. If anyone knows Kris Brown, you know that he hooks every big kick left. The Texans still had a timeout, yet Gary Kubiak decides to fall on the ball. No, no and no. You have to try to get closer, because you can't depend on Brown making a 49 yard kick. As a matter of fact, if you life was on the line based on Brown making a big kick, you can start buying burial plots and coffins. Conversely, if Vegas put a spread on Brown hooking a kick left, it would come off the board because everyone knows he misses there. Thus, the Texans need to make the kick easier for Brown, since I can't say don't kick in any circumstance. Trust your quarterback, which Matt Schaub isn't to be confused with a Trent Edwards or a Jake Delhomme, and try for the first down to Andre Johnson, Kevin Walter or David Anderson, turning a 49 yarder into a 39 yarder and then it's all on Kris Brown. However, Kubiak didn't know his team and the Texans are now 5-5, on their way to another 8-8 season and Kubiak's last. Once again, another guy I can out-coach.


Here's my Thanksgiving Day picks and from me here at The Cycle, I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Home team in CAPS.

DETROIT (+11.5) over Green Bay- Normally I would believe the Lions would fail to show up and get pasted, but I think they will play close in a rare sellout.
DALLAS (-13.5) over Oakland- Unlike the Lions, the Raiders won't show up in big D. Plus, the Cowboys can expect a huge game from Tony Romo, Mr. Thanksgiving and I consider that akin to Mr. May.
DENVER (+6) over Giants- Having a game in Denver three days after playing in New York will be difficult. Unless the Broncos player-only meeting failed and they continue self-destructing, I think it will be hard for the G-Men tonight.

NFL Preview Part III

If you read through Part I and Part II of my NFL preview, you're wondering why I never told you my Super Bowl pick. Well, I set the stage with things that could happen for all 32 teams. Now it's time for my predictions on the upcoming season. I gave away predictions, such as the Patriots and Chargers winning their divisions and the Lions getting a win this season. Here's 10 more (that actually will expand to more than that):


1. The Eagles won't make the playoffs. It seemed like once Michael Vick joined Philadelphia, they were instantly made the favorites in the NFC. However, as I said when he was signed, Vick won't make a huge impact on this team. He may have looked okay during the preseason, but the game is played at 80 percent in August. Once the season starts, everyone plays at 100 percent and I just don't believe you can just sit for two years and comeback like it was two days. Add to that, Donovan McNabb played every game last season for the first time since 2003, I can't see that happen again (not to mention Philly fans calling for Vick after every interception). Let's also remember that Brian Westbrook also misses about five games a season.


2. This year's MVP will be a defensive player. At least in this blog, in real life, no one will vote for a defensive player because they never do. As for me, unless the offensive player had a year like Tom Brady in '07, it can't be always better than a defensive player's year. I thought James Harrison should of been in the hunt for MVP last year. I know Ed Reed, Osi Umenyiora and DeMarcus Ware are all worthy of consideration in a given year. I will say that Ed Reed will be the MVP of the league this year as he gets 10 INT's and runs three of them for a touchdown. You're top offensive players with be Drew Brees and Knowshon Moreno as top rookie, while Aaron Curry will be top defensive rookie.


3. One of the eleven first year coaches will be fired. The NFL has increasingly become harder to maintain work because the object of winning is too prevalent in the state of the game. Seeing three offensive coordinators, including long-time coach Chan Gailey, lead me to think that some of these coaches who were just hired will certainly be fired. Now Tom Cable certainly could be fired, but he doesn't count because the Raiders are bizarro world. But, I definitely could see Eric Mangini let go, in fact, here it is. The Browns will finish 4-12, the players will cause a revolt and he will be gone. Of course, we will lose more coaches than the new ones.


4. The Brett Favre experiment will crash and burn and Brad Childress will be the fall guy. You all knew that I would go out in this point of view, but I just don't see Brett Favre only handing the ball to Adrian Peterson and throw safe passes. He's a gunslinger and the only way for a gunslinger to stop slinging guns is to shoot him. While that works in Westerns, in football, they just don't get signed to $12 million contracts after a while. Sure the Vikings can start 4-1, but their stretch of Baltimore, at Pittsburgh and at Green Bay will do them in and they won't recreate the early momentum. Childress will be fired as a result and he will have company; Dick Jauron will finally be let go after a failed season with TO, same for Wade Phillips when the Cowboys finished last in the NFC East (albeit at 7-9).


5. The most disappointing team this year will be the Falcons. I know the offense can be good, but it won't be and the lack of defense and harder schedule against NFC and AFC Easts will lead to another year where Atlanta won't have two winning seasons in a row. They will be joined by the Panthers who will be 7-9 and that will end the Jake Delhomme era. It actually could be considered a successful one that almost beat the Pats in the Super Bowl, but he has lived off that Super Bowl loss for way too long. As for the AFC, the most disappointing team will be the Titans. I know you saw them play well tonight, but I just can't believe Kerry Collins is capable of two good seasons in a row; trust this Giant fan, I know. Finally, the Super Bowl curse continues, the Cardinals will finish 6-10, Kurt Warner gets hurt and miss the playoffs.


6. Seattle will just miss the playoffs and fail in their sleeper status this year. I think too many people are on their bandwagon. I just think they finish 9-7 and lose out on a playoff berth. Now if the Seahawks don't make the playoffs, the sleeper of the year is the San Francisco 49ers. I believe in Mike Singletary more than Jim Mora Jr. and even though Michael Crabtree not being there hurts, I think Frank Gore plays great and they stop enough on defense to also go 9-7 and win a tiebreaker.


7. Houston will be the AFC sleeper, though they really aren't one. This is a team that is getting picked by people who know that 5+ teams are new to the playoffs each year. I just love that offense and Mario Williams will be a beast (another player who could win my MVP). It's also a winnable schedule with games against Miami, the Jets, Buffalo, Cincy, St. Louis, Arizona, Oakland and I'm sure they can win at least 4 more. They join the Ravens as the AFC Wild Cards as the Chargers, Colts, Steelers and Pats win divisions again.


8. Washington and New Orleans also make the playoffs. The Saints become the latest team in the NFC South to go from the cellar to the postseason as the division champ, while the Redskins surprisingly carry their defense in the playoffs like in the past few years. They will be joined by obviously the Niners, Bears as the wild card and Packers and Giants as division winners.


9. This season will continue as The Tyson Zone of sports seasons. Simmons is right, the stories in the league will only get crazier; I won't be surprised to hear that a player smoked crack an hour before a game, like in Playmakers. Two serious issues facing the league, the drop in attendance this year coming up and the potential lockout. Somehow, the experience of watching a game live has to get better, because I'm better off watching at home or a friends place with NFL Sunday Ticket. Pricing has to go down so the real fans can watch the game and effect it with crowd noise. As for the lockout, do everything in your power Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith to avoid it. Problem is the owners don't know what they want, which almost derailed things in 2006. I hope sports fans are prepared because 2011 is shaping to be a year which both the NFL and NBA could have a work stoppage and MLB and the NHL have to have contracts expire around that time as well.


10. Here's the final picks: AFC playoffs have Pittsburgh beating the Texans and Baltimore beating Indy in Round 1. The Chargers beat the Colts while the Steelers upset the Patriots in Round 2. San Diego knocks off the defending champs in the AFC Championship game. The NFC starts with the Bears beating the Niners, while the Saints take care of the Redskins. The Packers beat Chicago in Round 2 as the Giants beat the Saints in the final game at Giants Stadium. The Pack get their revenge on the Giants and head to the Super Bowl. Our winner, Green Bay sticking it to Favre as they beat the Chargers. Regardless of who goes to the Super Bowl, this one will be not be thought of as a great one immediately following the game.