Category Archives: 2012 NFL Regular Season

NFL Week 8: The Buccaneers – Doug Martin & The Boise St 50 Club

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Doug Martin burst onto the NFL scene with last night’s dazzling performance on NFL Network.

“On any given Sunday” was the phrase coined by the late commissioner Bert Bell back in the 1950’s. Well lets extend that to Thursday nights as well. With NFL Network carrying a full slate of games this year, another stage has been added to showcase players who otherwise would be obscured outside of Sunday highlight shows. Enter Doug Martin of the Tampa Bay Buccanneers.

He powered the formerly 2-4 Bucs to a 36-17 victory over the 5-2 Vikings up in the Metrodome. This was an impressive win for Tampa. Going into the game the Vikings were 4-0 at home and had the NFL’s 11th ranked defense which only allowed 14.25 points per game in those 4 wins. Even NFC heavyweight San Francisco could only manage 13 points in the home of the Norsemen. So who was this group that came up north to wreak havoc on a former division rival??

Well avid readers of the Taylor Blitz Times know this doesn’t come as a shock to us. In Tampa’s previous 4 losses, they came by a total of 22 points, and one of those came courtesy of Eli Manning’s 245 yard 4th quarter (520 overall), 25 point performance when they faced New York. Even in that 41-34 defeat, they stared down the defending champion Giants and have scored 28 or more in 4 of their 7 games this year. Josh Freeman is back to how he looked in 2010 when he was second to Tom Brady in the touchdown to interception ratio with 14 TDs to only 5 interceptions. Here we predicted the Bucs to rise into possible wild card contention with the addition of Martin from Boise St. Even with our eye on him Martin’s start to the season has been slow and developing. His play mimics that of a team that showed flashes but hadn’t put a complete game together.

The Buccanneers learned to entrust Doug Martin with the football in his hands as the lead horse.

The big night began for Martin in the first quarter where he took a routine draw play 41 yards to the Vikings 16 to set up the first score of the night to make it 3-0. He finally showed the package of speed and burst this night that Boise St. Bronco fans had been accustomed to seeing.

Later in the first now up 10-0, from his own 46 yard line, Martin took off on a counter gap and completely plowed over Viking DB Jamarca Sanford (SEC / Ole Miss) for 12 more. A completely physical run, the type of attitude run that establishes dominance on a football field. On this night the Buccaneers ran him on counters, stretches, and draw plays that allowed him to gain over 100 yards by halftime.

Then early in the 3rd quarter came his signature play of the night. On a routine screen play, two Viking defenders converged on him, with a signature stiff arm to DT Letroy Guion (from Florida St.) he burst through 3 more Vikings and 64 yards later the Bucs were up 27-10. Ballgame!!

For the night Martin had 29 car. for 135 yards and 1 TD, to go with 3 receptions 79 more yards and another touchdown. Martin was the star of the game and did it on a national stage with the rest of the NFL watching.  Those that doubted his ability to play on this level have all shut their collective mouths for this was a strong performance.

Consider his next three games are against the Raiders (12th against the run), down on their luck Chargers (2nd against the run), and Carolina (19th against the run) he might be able to string together a few hundred yard games here.

For the season Doug Martin sits at 543 yards, which is more than halfway to the 1,000 yards The Chancellor of Football told you he’d get. Do you realize he’s only played 7 games?? Do you realize if he duplicated last night’s performance next week, it would put him on pace for a 1,356 yard season??

For all the Johnny Come-Lately’s we have been touting this talent here for more than two football seasons now. This was a gem we wrote to get some exposure out there about him when no other writer or pundit had anything good to say. It was us and no one else writer-wise. The only guy who did talk about Martin as a 1st round pick and will do great in the pros was fellow NFL analyst Mike Mayock. Ironically, he was the color analyst for last night’s game. We argued the merits of Doug Martin and the National Championship legitimacy of the Boise St Broncos against a tidal wave of naysayers… Which brings us to our next point…

Are you familiar with the Boise St 50 club?? I know you aren’t… The Boise St Broncos class of 2011 was the first Division I (we use old school terminology here) graduating class to win 50 games during their collegiate career. They should have played for the National Championship at least one of those years. Yet NCAA, CBS and BCS politics kept them from their legitimate place as one of the great teams in college football history because they didn’t play in the SEC or a BCS power conference. They were 6-0 against teams from BCS conferences, won 4 bowl games including 2 BCS bowl games, and had 2 undefeated seasons. Now those former colleagues that argued against The Chancellor’s points are nowhere to be found now that every skilled player from that Boise St. team made the NFL.

Kellen Moore is in Detroit along with WR Titus Young, and WR Austin Pettis (Rams) who scored in last week’s game against the Packers. They were the winningest team in college football from 1999-2011. There are other notable Boise St Broncos in the NFL… Ask Aaron Rodgers and now Matt Ryan what they think of Daryn Colledge as a tackle. He started for the 2010 Super Bowl Champion Packers. Then go tap Peyton Manning on the shoulder and ask him what school his left tackle Ryan Clady went to.

Yet the lasting legacy of that group will be Doug Martin’s NFL career and he’s now off and running. He was the crown jewel of that group and last night was a glimpse into what he can do as a runner. Isn’t it ironic that Tamp Bay RB LaGarrette Blount became infamous for punching a Boise St player and now he sits behind one on the Buccanneer depth chart??

Thanks for reading and share the article.

Another friend to the Taylor Blitz Times is the Ray Ellis Show on Voice of America Sports. Talks about pro football on every Tuesday and has many former players on his show. The Chancellor has been on the show a few times talking football and being from Ohio he knows his football. Tune in on Tuesdays http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/64762/ray-ellis-sports

NFL Week 8: NFC North – New Beginnings

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Will Jay Cutler’s toughness be questioned after coming back from a frightening sack on Monday night??

In a gritty performance on Monday night, the Bears upped their record to 5-1 beating the Detroit Lions 13-6. The game wasn’t an artistic one for the Bears by any means but a win is a win is a win. Bear fans were thrown for a huge scare when Ndamukong Suh slammed Jay Cutler to the turf in the second quarter. As trainers attended Cutler, everyone flashed back to the 2010 NFC Championship Game. In that one he left with what looked like a questionable injury and his toughness has been in dispute ever since. The Monday night crew showed replay after replay and it looked like he may have suffered a serious injury to his shoulder or collarbone.

The silence at Soldier Field was deafening until he popped up and ran to the sideline. The uneasiness of losing Cutler could derail what looks like a possible super season for the Bears. Anxiety turned to appreciation when he jogged onto the field a few minutes later. A quarterback once questioned for his toughness, was now receiving a standing ovation for exhibiting such. There was something gained during those anxious moments between the Bears fan-base and Jay. It will be interesting to watch as we move forward on how he will be perceived. We believe a new found respect for Cutler and the Bears offense will emerge from this. They won more than a game a few days ago.

Lets take a look at the standings…

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Chicago Bears Bears 5 1 0 .833 162 78 3-0 2-1 1-1 3-1 W4 4-1
Minnesota Vikings Vikings 5 2 0 .714 167 131 4-0 1-2 1-0 3-1 W1 4-1
Green Bay Packers Packers 4 3 0 .571 184 155 2-1 2-2 1-0 3-2 W2 3-2
Detroit Lions Lions 2 4 0 .333 133 150 1-1 1-3 0-2 2-3 L1 1-4

Charles Tillman has been a Pro Bowl caliber corner for years. On Monday Night he turned into Optimus Prime, holding Megatron to just 3 receptions for 34 yards.

Now according to NFL accounting, the Bears field the 6th best defense in pro football. Yet what jumps out at you is they have only given up 78 points this season. In the last four games they have held three of their opponents to 10 points or less. An argument can be made against them since they haven’t beat a team with a winning record. However if you’ve looked at their schedule, seven of their last eight have winning records and we will know where this team is going facing that gauntlet. When our CEO did his Pro Bowl voting, he could only find spots for four of these defenders on his ballot. Charles Tillman, Henry Melton, Tim Jennings, and Taylor Blitz Times Defensive Player of the Year candidate Lance Briggs. Melton has reaped the reward of teams paying so much attention to Julius Peppers on the corner. His 18 tackles and team leading 4.5 sacks is best for NFC interior defensive linemen. As the season progresses and teams make Melton more of a focal point, it will free Peppers to make more of an impact.

They are playing team defense that hasn’t been seen since the 2008 Steelers or 2002 Buccaneers. Do you realize in 6 games, they have 21 sacks, 14 interceptions, 5 defensive touchdowns, forced 9 fumbles, recovered 7 of those to the tune of 21 turnovers?? Those are ’85 Bears numbers if you project them out to a full season.

As it appears the Packers have righted their ship, they lose a rudder with Charles Woodson going down with a broken collarbone. He is out indefinitely and this is a big loss. He is the reason they are able to juggle him around at safety, nickel corner on slot receivers, and can use a variety of blitzes with his man to man cover skills. Without him the Packers may change how they are calling plays from a defensive standpoint. Right now they are 14th in total defense and 17th against the pass while giving up 22 points per game. They will have to score to win.

Speaking of which, the Packers have sprung to life on offense averaging 33 points per game in their last three. All of them against defenses that rank in the top half of the league. After a slow start Aaron Rodgers has thrown 16 touchdowns in the last 4 games. That is a torrid pace and here comes the 24th ranked defense of Jacksonville to help pad his Pro Bowl stats. Yet in back to back games the Packers have been unable to run for 100 yards and this will eventually come back and haunt the offense at some point. This deficiency may not come back to bite them this week, but the week after against the 4th ranked Cardinal defense it may. Still a season on the brink in Green Bay.

Adrian Peterson is the heart and soul of the Vikings offense once again.

Is there a more below the radar 5-2 team than the Minnesota Vikings?? Whenever we hear the so called experts talking about the best team in the NFL no one mentions them. Everyone anoints the Niners the team to beat but these Vikings hammered them in week 3, 23-14. Not only does this team have a 2-1 record against teams with winning records, they are an RG III 76 yard touchdown run and an Adam Vinatieri field goal from being undefeated. Percy Harvin has been one of the league’s best players and received a Pro Bowl vote from our CEO. He has 53 receptions for 577 yards and teams never know where he’s going to line up.

As the season goes on, Adrian Peterson looks like he’s getting stronger with each game. With 652 yards on 136 carries (4.8 yd avg) and 3 touchdowns, already worthy of a Pro Bowl vote, we’re waiting for that breakout game during the second half of this season. It’s coming. Think back to Jamal Lewis who once played for the Baltimore Ravens. He tore up his knee in 2001, and after a slow 2002, burst out with a 2,066 yard season which was the second highest in NFL history. We see the same thing coming in Peterson and with his speedy recovery we expect him to be a tornado come playoff time. It’s not far fetched when you remember this guy holds the NFL rushing record of 296 in one game.

Then you take a look at the defensive side of the ball and you’ll see it’s a complete systemic effort. Pressure from the front four starts with Jared Allen (pro bowl vote) with 6 sacks, along with Brian Robison’s 4, only then do you realize they have more sacks than the Bears at 22. Is there anyone Chad Greenway (pro bowl vote) hasn’t tackled?? He has 75 and we’re not at the half-way point of the season! He is on pace to be over 160 for the season and deserves to be recognized for his steady play. With 55 tackles, 1 sack and 2 interceptions Antoine Winfield is having a great year, but can he keep it up at 35 years of age. As a group they don’t force a lot of turnovers yet are ranked a respectable 11th.

So we at Taylor Blitz Times understand what we see: A serious contender for the NFC North title and serious NFC representative for the Super Bowl if they can get through weeks 12-17, when the division faces one another. First off, they have tie break advantages over San Francisco and Arizona if they are both division champions or wild card participants. They play Seattle in two weeks where they could possibly have them under their thumb also. By the way, the Vikings are 4-0 at home and only have one loss in the conference. It’s all these tie breakers that will propel the Vikings forward and should come back to haunt Green Bay. As The Chancellor of Football has said many times “At some point you have to believe what your eyes are seeing.” Wake up!! That holds true when you think of this team and a new way to look at them as a contender.

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By the way, many thanks to The Artie Clear Show where The Chancellor was on talking football with Artie yesterday. The show is a friend to the Taylor Blitz Times in more ways than one. Check out all the former pro players, from all sports that he has on. Tellin’ it like it is except when he’s debating The Chancellor, give the show a listen. Especially with the baseball postseason going. He’s on it… http://www.theartieclearshow.com/

 

NFL Week 7: NFC East – Interesting Times In The Division

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Pierre-Paul brings down Alex Smith for one of New York’s 6 sacks last week.

Well there is one old adage that still serves: If you want to become a champion you have to beat the champion. The San Francisco 49ers had spent the better part of two weeks dispatching AFC East also-rans, in the Bills and Jets, to the tune of 79-3. Everyone anointed them the best in pro football yet forgot their next game was against the defending champion New York Giants. Now that the Niners have beaten Seattle and held 3 of their last 4 opponents to 10 points or less, you begin to understand how strong the Giants 26-3 win in Candlestick was.

Not only did Eli Manning come through in another big win on the road, Ahmad Bradshaw ran with more thunder than usual (116 yards/1TD). The Giants defense was as forceful as it was opportunistic with 6 sacks and 3 interceptions. The pendulum has swung on expert ideas on who the best team in the NFL is.

Now at 4-2 the Giants have to start taking care of business in their own division. With losses to Dallas and Philadelphia, here comes the NFL’s newest ultimate weapon in Robert Griffin III coming into The Meadowlands. Just as the Giants are coming off a confident and very focused win out west?? Should be interesting… Lets take a look at the NFC East standings

East Division

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New York Giants Giants 4 2 0 .667 178 114 2-1 2-1 0-2 3-2 W2 4-1
Philadelphia Eagles Eagles 3 3 0 .500 103 125 2-1 1-2 1-0 1-2 L2 2-3
Washington Redskins Redskins 3 3 0 .500 178 173 1-2 2-1 0-0 3-2 W1 2-3
Dallas Cowboys Cowboys 2 3 0 .400 94 119 1-1 1-2 1-0 2-2 L2 2-3

RG III eludes Viking defenders for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns in last week’s 38-26 win.

How can you not be impressed by the Redskins RGIII?? Most young quarterbacks rely on their running or scrambling ability as they get their understanding of the pro passing game down. Now most of these runs are of the 7-10 yard variety that are a nuisance to defensive co-ordinators, but what do you do when a QB can break a 76 yard TD gamebreaker?? Especially in the fourth quarter on a defense that has tired from chasing him all day. It happened to the Minnesota Vikings last week.

When asked before the season who would be better between RG III and Andrew Luck, it was this facet of his game that our CEO thought gave him the edge. Do you realize that in 6 games he has 379 yard rushing and 6 TDs. That projects to his becoming the second quarterback in history to rush for 1,000 yards (1,010) yards, and would break Cam Newton’s rushing touchdown record of 14 touchdowns with 16. All of this before we remind you he’s completing 70.2% of his passes for 1,343 yards and 5 TDs.

What makes RGIII’s season more remarkable is everyone thought the Redskins defense would be stout enough to allow him to make mistakes and ease into his role. No one expected a 27th ranked defense giving up 417 yards per game. We know the loss of Brian Orakpo was big, but Washington’s offense has to perform at a high level to bail out their defense.

This week they travel to New York to battle the Giants. The Redskins are a personal foul call away from being 3-0 on the road however this will be different than trips to New Orleans, St Louis, or Tampa. This front four can tee off with the most athletic defensive line in the NFL. Where everyone thinks the key is to stop RGIII first, is the wrong approach. Osi Yumeniora, Jason Pierre-Paul and that front need to stop RB Alfred Morris (538 yards / 5 TDs) first. Once they are one dimensional or forced into passing situations, look for delayed blitzes and combination coverages keeping the safeties in tight. They’ll need to be there when Griffin III can’t find his receivers and looks to run. Couple that with the crowd noise and you’ll understand why we take the Giants in this one.

Michael Vick’s 8TDs and 8ints. coincide with the Eagles record of 11-11 with him as a starter. Can he turn it around??

As for the tight-rope walking Philadelphia Eagles… can you believe the Eagles are thinking of benching Michael Vick?? They also fired their defensive co-ordinator and promoted Todd Bowles. Listen, when you see teams making moves like this, it’s a sign of desperation. The Eagles have lost 3 of 4 and two of those came against losing teams in the Steelers and Lions. So they are a bad 3-3. We hate to say it but you’re looking at the end of the Andy Reid era in Philadelphia. After the public comment by owner Jeffery Lurie ”That a year without making the playoffs is unacceptable” pressure is mounting by the week.

One thing they can do is get the ball into LeSean McCoy’s hands more. With 111 carries for 459 yards and 1 touchdowns, he’s getting 18 carries per game but they need to push the limit of what he can take. Sure they risk burning him out but if it comes down to he and a more stationary quarterback, defenses will focus totally on him and limit his effectiveness completely. The Eagles are caught in an ugly vice and it’s all on Vick to save his and Andy Reid’s jobs. Horrible time for a bye week…& the clock is ticking.

Speaking of coaches who’s job is on the line…keep your radar locked in on Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. Dallas is 1-2 on the road after giving away a game to the Ravens last week, but now they play 4 of their next 5 on the road. Uh oh!! Considering that they were 2-6 on the road last year with the same cast of characters, tells us this losing will continue. Garrett is in deep, deep, trouble.

As for more on the Cowboys and week 7 : https://taylorblitztimes.com/2012/10/14/nfl-week-7-turning-points-the-dallas-cowboys/

Time is running out on this era of inconsistent Cowboys football. We here at Taylor Blitz Times are always saying “At some point, you have to believe what you are seeing.” This is an average ball club with average personnel and very average results. In their last 200 games, the Cowboys are 100-100. They are a mistake prone bunch that will give games away like they did last Sunday. Constant mistakes at the point where they’re concentration should be at their best says something about the damaged psyche of this football team. Can they straighten themselves out before this season is over as Jerry Jones would have you think?? The Chancellor just left our meeting shaking his head.

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NFL Week 7: AFC West – Illusions

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Peyton Manning showed true greatness in Monday night’s stunning come from behind win.

In the waning moments of Monday night’s comeback, we saw the true nature of the San Diego Chargers under Norv Turner and the possibilities for the Denver Broncos with Peyton Manning. First lets look at the perennial underachieving Chargers. When our CEO talks about championship football teams, it’s usually around signature wins that bolsters their confidence as they mature over a season. Before you can prove to the rest of the NFL that you’re a force to be reckoned with, you have to knock down a bully in your backyard.

Now wasn’t it one year ago Rex Ryan boldly stated “Had I coached the talent the Chargers have, I’d have Super Bowl rings”, in an obvious dig at Turner?? How did he and his team respond after being called out?? They came out and took a 21-10 halftime lead on the Jets only to show no fight in the end while losing 27-21.  http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201110230nyj.htm They were outscored 17-0 as the Jets promptly took their lunch money without much of a struggle.

Fast forward 358 days and here the Chargers were playing the odds on favorite to win the division in the Denver Broncos. This time they woke in the heat of battle up 24-0. Antonio Gates had just scored after the defense showed it could play Manning tough with Quentin Jammer’s 80 yard interception return for a touchdown. Their crowd was in it. Manning was having his struggles and Phillip Rivers looked like a world beater. So what happened???

Let’s take a look at the AFC West standings…

West Division

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Denver Broncos Broncos 3 3 0 .500 170 138 2-1 1-2 2-0 3-2 W1 2-3
San Diego Chargers Chargers 3 3 0 .500 148 137 1-2 2-1 2-1 3-1 L2 2-3
Oakland Raiders Raiders 1 4 0 .200 87 148 1-1 0-3 0-2 1-3 L2 1-4
Kansas City Chiefs Chiefs 1 5 0 .167 104 183 0-3 1-2 0-1 0-3 L3 1-4

That was an incredibly gritty performance by Peyton Manning. Where he could have packed it in after his pick 6, he kept on firing. One strong point to the comeback was they didn’t totally abandon the running game. This kept the Chargers honest and his intermediate passing lanes open. The clinic he performed was reminiscent of the 21 point 4th quarter deficit he erased when his Colts came back on the champion Buccaneers 38-35 in 2003. This time he performed surgery for 2 quarters. Of course we all remembered his epic comeback in the 2006 AFC Championship against New England. However this one seemed better than those..surreal. He has been trying to make it work with a new team, and if you dissect his season, it’s as though he has to realize the strengths of his personnel and what they present in match-ups to the opposition. He’s had to do this in every game and then he gets hot. Do you realize that with 1,808 yards and 14 touchdowns, he is on pace for 4,821 yards and 37 TDs?? Yikes!! Can he physically keep it up for the duration of the season??

So what are we talking about when we say illusions?? In all actuality the Broncos only raised their record to 3-3 and right now the defense is allowing 23 points per game. They do rank 11th in total defense and can play stifling defense in fits and starts. So are they as good as their 3 wins or as flawed as they appeared in their 3 losses?? Puzzling but this win over the Chargers was the first over a winning team as well as a first triumph on the road. As for the rest of the season they only face 3 teams who are .500 or better, and 5 of their next 8 games are on the road.

The Broncos could ride that momentum into a winning streak and a more impressive record. Yet playing good football in spotty fashion has dug to deep a hole against quality teams. With upcoming games against New Orleans, at Cincinnati, at Carolina, home to the Chargers, and then away at Kansas City: If the Broncos were to rattle off wins against these under performing teams and inflate their record, are they a true elite team in the AFC?? Our CEO just shrugged his shoulders at the thought of that…

As for the Chargers, here they were with an inflated record of 3-2 with wins over the back-pedalling Raiders, Titans, and Chiefs. When it was time to step up and show they were for real in a showcase game, they gave us another epic collapse. Just like that loss last year to the New York Jets, it showed this team lacks toughness and has a damaged fight or flight mechanism also. They became clock watchers and couldn’t turn the tide once momentum was on the side of Denver. With the loss of WR Vincent Jackson, this team has lost all of the playmakers they once had to turn a close game in their favor. From a psyche standpoint they will not stand up and fight. As long as Norv Turner is the coach, this team is not to be trusted as being a Super Bowl caliber group.

As for the Raiders and Chiefs…it’s been an optical illusion that they have even taken the field this year.

Thanks for reading and share the article.

We would like to entice readers to tune in to The Artie Clear Show which has been a place where Taylor Blitz Times has been on several times talking football. Artie tells it like it is and as of October 17th will be live on Fox Sports Radio as well. Congratulations Artie Clear! Guys and girls, tune in. The Chancellor of Football from Taylor Blitz Times will be on there talking football again.

http://www.theartieclearshow.com/

 

 

NFL Week 7: Turning Points & The Dallas Cowboys

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The Cowboys self destructed again today with untimely penalties and poor clock management in a 31-29 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

If you listen to the mainstream media or Jerry Jones, you’ll get the impression this team has the best personnel in pro football. From time to time they’ll put together a good game but will ruin the continuity of their play with an inability to finish drives, or quarters, that would give them command of football game.

Take what happened in the game earlier today. Leading 7-3 and at the Raven’s 15 yard line, the Cowboys incur two illegal shift formations and get thrown for a huge loss forcing them to kick a field goal and changes the complexion of the game. At the time Dallas had rushed for nearly 100 yards in the first quarter and were on the verge of taking a 14-3 lead on a Raven team that had not gained a first down yet. Instead they lose momentum and the Ravens put a drive together bolstered by a 57 yard reception by Ray Rice and make the score 10-10.

On the next drive Romo throws his fourth interception of the season, on third down, once he’s inside the Ravens 30 and the Cowboys played pensively the rest of the half. In fact the Cowboys had the Ravens held to a 3rd and 15 with less than 3:00 left in the half and Anquan Boldin, who was covered by a linebacker, makes the first down. Consequently Flacco gets hot and drives the Ravens to the go ahead score with a 19 yard touchdown to Torrey Smith with :41 left until halftime. In position to go up 14-3 they wind up being down 17-10 in a matter of minutes. Self induced errors kill this team time and time again. This turnaround sapped the confidence from a Cowboy team that was gashing the Ravens defense. Listen… DeMarco Murray had 13 carries for 90 yards with 8:00 to go in the first half!! Then they went to the air and abandoned the run the rest of the half.

During the game CBS put up a stat that Tony Romo is rated last in quarterback rating on 3rd down in the NFL. Now its hard to keep harping on a team for it’s shortcomings but when a team continually beats itself, how do you not talk about it??

Dez Bryant scores the Cowboys final touchdown before the fateful 2 point attempt.

After the Cowboys give up a kickoff return for a touchdown to Jacoby Jones, they rediscover their running game. Felix Jones and #34 Tanner who chipped in several impressive runs. After performing possibly a team and season defining drive to tie the score the Cowboys hit the self destruct button once again. They ran the ball down the Raven’s throats (226 yards most ever against Raven defense by the way)and then almost faltered once they made it to the goal line again. First they had another illegal shift penalty before Romo hit Dez Bryant with the touchdown to bring them within two at 31-29. Then on a carbon copy throwback fade that gave them the touchdown, Dez Bryant drops a perfectly thrown ball with less than 1:20 to go in the game.

Then came the end of the football game where the final few plays illustrated the damaged fight or flight mechanism of Tony Romo. After recovering an onside kick, Romo had the chance to get off a few plays to put themselves in position for a more manageable game winning kick. After a first down, the clock was down to :25 left in the game. Romo caught the Ravens in a blitz and had both Miles Austin and Craig Ogletree running fly patterns with single coverage. What does Romo do?? The check down that would be fine if it were the middle of the game, saw Dez Bryant tackled in bounds with the clock running. He should have taken a shot down the field. Even though they had a time out left, they don’t call it and had to wait for those receivers to make it back to the line of scrimmage. Bryant was tackled with :15 left in the game. They let almost ten seconds burn off the clock before calling timeout. This forced a young kicker, Dan Bailey to kick a 51 yard field goal that was wide left with :01 to go.

All of these doomed the Cowboys to a loss that drops them to the NFC East basement with a 2-3 record. With the Redskins beginning to feel their oats and the Giants putting the wood to the perceived best team in San Francisco today. When are the Cowboys going to turn this around?? They completely outplayed the Ravens today and were too afraid of success to close the deal. Have the Cowboys really not practiced what to do when there are seconds left in the game?? Of course they have but the Cowboys keep blowing situations and that is the fault of coaching. This team is one loss away from the buzzards circling overhead for Head Coach Jason Garrett. Time and time again if it isn’t a Romo short circuit: Not throwing the ball downfield or using the timeout to preserve 10 seconds it’s Garrett’s play-calling. First abandoning the run when Murray was averaging 6.6 yards per carry and Jones with 5.1 yards at points during each half. http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2012101406/2012/REG6/cowboys@ravens#tab=recap&menu=highlights

Bottom line is they gave this game away today. The Ravens didn’t win it, the Cowboys found a way to lose it.

Time is running out on this era of inconsistent Cowboys football. We here at Taylor Blitz Times are always saying “At some point, you have to believe what you are seeing.” This is an average ball club with average personnel and very average results. In their last 200 games, the Cowboys are 100-100. They are a mistake prone bunch that will give games away like they did today. Constant mistakes at the point where they’re concentration should be at their best says something about the damaged psyche of this football team. Can they straighten themselves out before this season is over as Jerry Jones would have you think?? The Chancellor just left our meeting shaking his head.

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NFL Week 6: Culture War

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Back in the 1990’s, former UCLA basketball legend John Wooden was being asked what he thought of North Carolina’s Dean Smith. He felt that Smith should have more titles but felt that he “over-coached”. In other words he was too wrapped up in gimmicks he pioneered like his “four corners” offense instead of just playing basketball. Too busy showing off his genius ideas instead of just conducting his team. The same can be said for offensive play-calling in the NFL right now.

The first question The Chancellor has is : What’s the rush?? Why does it seem every NFL team is lined up in multiple receiver sets 60-70%of the time even when they have deficient quarterbacks?? Take last night’s game betweeen the Cardinals and Rams. Arizona’s Coach Wisenhunt was asking Kevin Kolb to perform like Kurt Warner. This offense has struggled mightily even though they were 4-0. Why not trim the number of multiple receiver sets and run the football out of traditional sets which would make Kolb’s reads easier??

The tactic of running the football at a defense wears them down from a physical point. The other factor is when you stay with traditional sets (1 or 2 running backs/ 2-3 receivers/ 1-2 tight ends) it forces a defense to stay with 3-4 linebackers and 4 defensive backs. Constant running of the football slows down the pass rush, and makes the linebackers a step slower in defending the pass. Why?? They have to wait until the quarterback doesn’t hand the ball off before they drop into coverage. How many times last night did it seem Kolb threw a 15 yard pass and it seeemed like 20 Rams were around the football?? This is “over-coaching”

When you’re coaching a football team you have to adjust to what your personnel is best suited to. If you have a quarterback that struggles against exotic defenses, don’t put him in multiple receiver sets that forces him to face them.

Over the last four weeks, many teams in the NFL have suffered from this affliction. Take the Buffalo Bills versus New England last week. After taking a 21-7 lead in the 3rd quarter, the Bills stayed in multiple receiver sets and promptly had 3 straight 3 and out series allowing the Patriots to roar back. One problem was by not running down the clock any, they gave the Patriots too much time to come back. How much time?? Enough for the Patriots to score 45 points in a little more than a quarter. That’s pathetic.

Teams are getting away from simple tactics that wear down a defense. We addressed running the football but what about getting to the line of scrimmage quickly and forcing the defensive line to be in their stance for 15-20 seconds?? Anyone who has played defense will tell you how this fatigues the body. If a quarterback is mixing his cadence here he can cause a few encroachment (defensive offside penalties) as well. Drain the play clock down to 5, or 3 seconds.

The reason you don’t see this is because everyone is in shotgun and the ball is snapped with a silent snap count once the quarterback lifts his leg. So the defense KNOWS when the ball is snapped too! Another lost advantage in how you can slow down a defense a step.

Did we say everybody?? That’s not totally true and what we are seeing are several teams still adhere to many of these tried and true tactics. The Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings, and the SanFrancisco 49ers are the vanguard of these old school tactics. Look at their combined records. Carolina has lost a couple of slugfests but the commitment to the run has been there. These teams are wearing teams out by pounding the football and resting their defense. They use the clock to their advantage and use play action passing where the quarterback has 1-2 quick reads and the ball is gone. Plays set up by the running game.

This culture war between teams in a myriad of formations versus these traditional teams has been very lopsided. In weeks 1 & 2, San Francisco bloodied the noses of Green Bay and Detroit while feeding them heavy doses of Frank Gore (the U) and Kendall Smith. Not the gimmicky draws from four receiver sets. We’re talking seven man sled, knuckles in the dirt, firing off the ball power running plays. The only game the 49ers lost was when Minnesota did it to them.

Now we just watched the Vikings put it to the Lions last week in Detroit no less. Sure Percy Harvin got the game off to a roaring start returning the opening kickoff, but the Vikings beat em up for the next 80 plays of that game.

Understand this, the more a team practices wide open offense, the more they will have trouble powering for 3rd and short and goalline situations. They’re not conditioned for it. You’re also conditioning your defense to not be prepared to play against a power running team. This has afflicted the Dallas Cowboys for the last three years, yet their fans put it all on Tony Romo. The problem is systemic and goes back to their coach, Jason Garrett, over-coaching.

So it’s at this point, you have to start to believe what you’re seeing. Minnesota is for real and may be there in the end to fight for their division crown. Seattle has a shot at theirs and Arizona might if they stop trying to ask too much of their quarterback. Of course the 49ers and Falcons look to be on a collision course for the NFC Championship, but we’re only a quarter of the way through the season. Besides the Chicago Bears and those Vikings should have something to say about it.

Who is going to win this culture war?? Our CEO thinks one of the power running teams will. Teams have caught on to Green Bay’s offense and the only pass first teams that will go deep in the playoffs reside in New England and Pittsburgh.

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