Why do I love football? Because in one game, just one game, these are some of the things
we saw: A late comeback, a pulse pounding last minute drive, a game-winning
field goal, the Packers drop to the 3 seed and lose the first round-bye, the 49ers
get the 2 seed and first round bye, a guy become the 7th guy to rush for 2,000 yards, that same guy come just nine yards shy
of the NFL rushing record, the Vikings make the playoffs and most importantly,
THE BEARS MISS THE PLAYOFFS! All those things happened in ONE GAME! I love the
NBA and I “like” MLB, (My team is the
Chicago Cubs so I’ve been a little out on baseball lately.) but drama like that, only happens in the NFL. As the curtain
closes on the 2012 NFL regular season, I’ll tell you the five biggest things I learned
and I’ll give you my two-cents on each team. (Maybe more depending on the team of course. Jacksonville fans, it’s
going to be two cents.)
- . You got NO CHANCE if you don’t have a QB. Think about all the teams that really sucked this year. Outside of a few teams (And one had to be MY TEAM) with a “decent” QB, you could point to a total dumpster fire at the QB position as the main reason for a large amount of the trouble those teams ran into during 2012. When you see the way Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, and Robert Griffin III played this season, there’s no reason you can’t believe that your team can’t turn it around like that when you have the right guy pulling the trigger.
- Coaching matters a lot more than we thought. With every game the Saints lost, the amount they had to pay Sean Payton went up about a million dollars. With coaches like Andy Reid, Norv Turner, and Romeo Crennel finding new ways to lose games, the value of quality coaching is more evident then ever. (That and the fact that 7 head coaches got fired on the Monday after the season ended. You’d think the NFL was Enron the way teams were handing people their walking papers.)
- It’s becoming impossible to defend the middle of the field and play safety. With the NFL cracking down on hits to the head, it’s become almost a guaranteed flag if a guy gets hit too hard. Even when defenders led with their shoulders they were getting flagged this year. The referees clearly believe that if a guy gets hit hard and gets up slowly it’s a penalty, regardless if they can see what happened or not.
- The NFL totally blew the whole “BountyGate” thing. They never had a shred of “real” evidence against the players and even the old Commissioner, couldn’t let that slide like they, the NFL, thought he would. I do find the irony of Paul Tagliabue coming back and letting MORE players off the hook very sweet. (He’s someone who was always called out for being too soft on the players.)
- Real referees know what they’re doing. It’s the reason the Packers are playing this weekend. You just knew that game was coming back to haunt them.
NFC EAST
Washington Redskins
(10-6) Division Champions, Playoff Berth
 |
| He's got a reason to be happy, as the Skins are back in the playoff for the first time since 1999. |
Simply put, the Redskins were so fun to watch this
year. From his opening game, RG3 has been the league’s most electric player and
must-see TV every time the Washington offense took the field. Having one seven
straight games going into the playoffs, they’re definitely one of the league’s
hottest teams. I credit the Shanahans for having the good sense to build their
team’s offense around its best player. The Redskins ate teams alive all year
with that spread option and no one's quite figured out how to stop it. I’ll be
really interested to see them in the playoffs. It’s the first time since the 1940’s that a
team’s going into the playoffs with two rookies as it’s leading passer and
rusher. Not bad for a team that had it’s own coach call them toast a few weeks
ago.
New York Giants
(9-7) Missed Playoffs
Hey, you know that really cool thing the Giants do every
year where they “flip a switch”, get hot down the stretch and win the Super
Bowl? Yeah, they didn’t do that this year. The Giants took that “wait till the
playoffs” thing a bit too far this season. Eli didn’t look close to the Eli of
last year. (Last year, he set an NFL record
for the most 4th quarter touchdowns in a season and threw for almost
5,000 yards. If it weren’t for the “other” QBs in New York he would have gotten
crushed. He should send Sanchez and Tebow a freaking thank you cards.) The
pass rush wasn’t nearly as dominant as it’s been in the pass few seasons and
they honestly looked like a team that thought a little too highly of
themselves. Funny thing, I’m sure this season motivates them to greatness next
season, so look out in 2013.
Dallas Cowboys
(8-8) Missed Playoffs
 |
| This look says it all. |
Philadelphia Eagles
(4-12) Missed Playoffs
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| You'll find a job, don't worry. |
Damn, it seems like the Eagles should have been so much
worst. Or at least they’re record should have been worst. Looking back at their
schedule, they could have and SHOULD HAVE lost every game this season. Here are
the winning scores of their four victories; 17-16 over Cleveland. (Needed a late TD to win.) 24-23
over Baltimore. (Needed another late
TD to win.) 19-17 over the Giants. (Needed
a late FG to win.) 23-21 over Jacksonville. (Needed a LAST PLAY OF THE GAME TD to win.) Four wins by a combined
6 points! Sadly, for all the “talent” they have I think they need a complete
retooling of the roster. Anyone not named “McCoy” can get the hook if you ask
me. All of the personal trouble he had to start the season aside, Andy Reid had
to go. Sometimes you just need a new start and so does your team. This is the
classic case of both parties needing
a fresh start. Not sure who they get to take his place however. I’m sure he
won’t be jobless very long and neither will his former QB Michael Vick because
he’s out of Philly too. Vick was a turnover machine this year and I think we’re starting to see all of those hits finally take their toll on him. He
can’t stay healthy, he doesn’t have the wheels he use to have, and he reads
defenses about as well as a blind QB would. It’s going to be a long, long,
offseason in Philly.
NFC North
Green Bay Packers
(11-5) Division Champions, Playoff Berth
This team looks scary good, lost to the Vikings not withstanding,
and they honestly look primed for another championship run. Back in 2010, the
Packers got healthy at the end of the season and rode that wave all the way to
a Super Bowl. The defense is still super suspect and I don’t totally trust them to make a big stop
when they need it. But the Packers do have the one thing on there team that no
other team in the league has; Aaron “I can make any throw because I’m an alien
and my arm isn’t from Earth” Rodgers. When you got the best QB in the league
you always got a chance to win it
all.
Minnesota Vikings
(10-6) Wildcard, Playoff Berth
The rotting stinking corpse known as the 2012 Vikings were dragged
into the playoffs by Superman. I mean Adrian Peterson. It seems like science
has finally reached the point where they really can rebuild you and make you better. Peterson’s 2,097 rushing yards are
second all-time and just 9 yards shy of the NFL record. All this, facing 8 to 9
man boxes and the opposing defenses’ complete and total knowledge that HE WAS
GETTING THE BALL ON DAMN NEAR EVERYPLAY! That said, I don’t think the Vikings get past the
Packers this weekend. Do you really think Christian Ponder wins a
playoff game in Lambeau Field? (Only
with the help of “Christ” in his name
that is.) Even though he’s been great all year and he was just great against them, I don’t see
Peterson having another 200-yard day against Green Bay. Peterson may not have rush for the record but he ran the Vikings into the playoffs and he may have rushed himself into the league’s MVP award.
Chicago Bears
(10-6) Missed Playoffs
 |
| It's a sad day when 10-6 gets you fired. |
At first
glance you’d think, “How can you fire a guy that was 10-6?” But looking deeper
you’ll find out that the Bears only made the playoffs three times in Lovie Smith's nine
seasons and only once in the last six. Ouch! Now in an economy like this, I
normally wouldn’t say a “brother” should lose his job, but with a track record
like that, no way was Lovie coming back. You can only change offensive
coordinators so many times. I still like the pieces that the Bears have on the
offensive side of the ball but the defense showed their age down the stretch
and Jay Cultler got banged up again. Strange thing is, this team was once 7-1
and looking like a clear-cut Super Bowl contender. That seems like a really
long time ago now.
Detroit Lions
(4-12) Missed Playoffs
I’m a Lions fan and a friend asked me, “Hey what’s wrong
with the Lions this year?” I laughed and said, “Nothing, they’re just the
f***ing Lions!” The great season of a year ago didn’t fool me. Jim Schwartz
survived the "bloodbath" on Monday but I’m not sure he
should have. The Lions are incredibly undisciplined and that’s always a
coaching problem. Although he did break a major receiving record, Calvin
Johnson had the greatest garbage time stats season of all time. (Total empty calories in my opinion. ’11
Stats: 96 Catches 1,681 Yards and 16 TDs = 10 wins. ’12 Stats: 122 Catches 1,964
Yards 5 TDs = 4 wins.) I’m still not totally sold on Matt Stafford. He
seems like he has all the physical tools to be a franchise QB, but that “it”
factor seems to be missing. The Lions also need to improve their rushing attack
to gain some balance on offense and upgrades on the defensive side of the ball
wouldn’t hurt either. Never has a team seemed so close but yet so far.
NFC South
Atlanta Falcons
(13-3) Division Champions, Playoff Berth
This team could have gone 16-0 and I still would not have believed in them. Atlanta’s been crushed too
many times in the postseason for me to think anything they do in the regular
season matters. Matt Ryan had a career year leading a very powerful aerial
attack and he’s a borderline MVP candidate but they’re offense ranks 29th
in rushing. That’s a huge red flag going into the playoffs when you don’t have
a QB named Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady. Michael Turner is a shell of a shell of himself. Their defense is in the top half of the BACK
of the NFL. Never a “good” thing, but they did seem to make a lot of timely
stops this season. In the end, a very
nice season but we’ve heard it all before Atlanta. Go win a game in the
“second-season” and I’ll start taking you more seriously.
Carolina Panthers
(7-9) Missed Playoffs
The Panthers seemed like the same team they were a season
ago. The record was close, 6-10 a year ago versus 7-9 and another four-game win
streak to close out the year again. Like last year, it took the Panthers a
whole season to figure out how to actually “win” games. After looking more like
“Clark Kent” in the beginning of the season, Cam Newton seemed to get into a
groove down the stretch, but it was a little too late. I’d like to see them add
a weapon or two in the off-season. Maybe a receiver because Steve Smith is
getting up there in age. The DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart dual
backfield has “backfired” and their defense was only “okay”. Not bad or good
but just “okay. That’s good enough to win games and I think their close but
their “losing seven out of eight games during the middle of the season and then
running off four victories to end the year” strategy doesn’t seem to be a winning
formula. I know, crazy that that
doesn’t work huh.
New Orleans Saints
(7-9) Missed Playoffs
 |
| He changed his name to changed to Sean "Pay-Him". |
This season has been like a bad dream that the Saints just
couldn’t wake up from. “BountyGate” pretty much doomed them from the start. As I mentioned in
the top-five things I learned, coaching is really important. No way you lose
one of the best coaches in the league and still
be a playoff team. There’s a reason those guys, NFL coaches that is, make more
than any other coaches in any other sport. Two greatest examples of the
importance of coaching; Sean Payton this year and Bill Belichick making Matt
Cassel look like a Pro-Bowler back in 2008. To me, the Saints are fine. The
defense was never that good and Brees just threw for 5,000 yards… again and 40
plus TDs… again. He’s the first and only guy to do that in back-to-back seasons.
All the Saints need is their head coach back.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
(7-9) Missed Playoffs
At one point this season I really, really liked the Bucs.
They had the whole “new coach comes from college and turns the team around in
one year” thing going for them with Greg Schiano. (Think Jim Harbaugh with the 49ers last season.) At one point, they were 6-4, riding a four-game winning streak, Josh Freeman was looking like a Pro
Bowler and then the wheels came off. They lost five of their last 6 games and looked
really bad doing it. (They lost 41-0 to
the Saints. They couldn’t score a point against the worst defense in the
league. 10 friends and I can score a field goal on the Saints.) They have some
really nice pieces on offense and they have the number one defense against the
run but they were dead last against the past. When Aqib Talib was traded it was
only a matter of time until their secondary fell completely apart. Sure that up in the
draft and I think we’re looking at a playoff team next season.
NFC West
San Francisco 49ers (11-4-1)
Division Champions, Playoff Berth
The 49ers may have punched their ticket to the Super Bowl
when they moved Colin Kaepernick into the starting QB spot. God love Alex Smith
but he’s just not going to get the 49ers over the hump and they knew it. It
takes some balls to move the QB with the 3rd highest QB rating in
the league at the time out of the starting lineup but I really think it was the
best move. Kaepernick makes you have to fear the 49ers offense a lot more than
you would with Smith pulling the trigger. They have a top-five defense in all
the key stats. (4th against
the pass and the run and 2nd in points allowed.) That same defense
did get “boat raced” by both Seattle and New England in back-to-back games at
the end of the year but I still like them a lot. Not having to go to Seattle or
Green Bay to win a playoff game really helps them and the taste of losing last year’s NFC Championship game still has to be motivating them.
Seattle Seahawks
(11-5) Wildcard, Playoff Berth
 |
| Wilson and the Seahawks look ready to roll. |
I really, really want to have the guts to say that the
Seahawks are going to win the Super Bowl. I love their defense. 6th
against the pass, 10th against the rush and 1st in points
allowed. They can run the ball. 3rd in rushing and Lynch finished 3rd
in rushing in the league. I love their QB. Russell Wilson, not Luck or RG3,
finished with the most passing TDs for rookie QB. Seattle was in every game this season and they didn’t get blown out all
year. The only, and I mean ONLY, reason I’m not picking them is they have to go
on the road to win the Super Bowl as a wildcard team. That home-field advantage
in Seattle is crazy. It’s almost college like. If they were at home they’d win
it all or at least get there. I love their team and I LOVE Russell Wilson, but
no way I’m picking a rookie QB to lead a wildcard team to the Super Bowl. I do think he can lead them past the Redskins. Both teams run a similar style of offense but I give the edge to the Seahawks because they have a better defense.
St. Louis Rams
(7-8-1) Missed Playoffs
The Rams looked “okay” this season. A lot better than last
year that’s for sure. I really like how they responded to Jeff Fisher as their
head coach. He took a team that was at the back of the NFL last year and moved
them into the middle of the pack. (18th
in passing, 19th in rushing, 15th against the pass and
run.) But all I’ll say is click on this link and read the first paragraph
about RG3 and the Rams.
Arizona Cardinals
(5-11) Missed Playoffs
This team authored some of the worst, no, THE WORST
quarterbacking I’ve ever seen at ANY level of football in my life. I really
felt like I was going to see Larry Fitzgerald snap and start choking the QBs in
the huddle at some point this season. They were the second worst team I saw
all year long. (And yes, the Lions lost
to them, snapping their nine-game losing streak. I need to stop now before I
start ranting about the Lions again. UGH! I HATE THE LIONS!) I’m not
totally sure Ken Whisenhunt should have been fired because he’s a good coach that's been saddled with really bad quarterbacks. You got to remember,
when he had Kurt Warner the Cards made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons
including a run to the Super Bowl. Mind you, a Super Bowl that they almost won. He led the Arizona Cardinals to a Super Bowl! (RE READ THAT LAST SENTENCE.) I like a few of their pieces on
defense, especially Patrick Peterson but they need a complete retooling on the offensive side of the ball.
Dead last in rushing and 28th in passing. I mean they need so many new parts on
the offensive side of the ball it’s almost comical and a new QB is number one on that "needs list".
Check the top of this post. NO QB… NO CHANCE IN HELL… PERIOD.
Thanks for reading and don't forget to subscribe and share the blog. Join in the discussion by leaving a comment below. Follow me on twitter @ParisLay. Until next time... Enjoy the View!
Thanks for reading and don't forget to subscribe and share the blog. Join in the discussion by leaving a comment below. Follow me on twitter @ParisLay. Until next time... Enjoy the View!
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