At the owners committee today, four new rules were passed, all concerning player safety:
1. A blindside block deliver to a defender's head with the blocker's head, forearm or shoulder will result in a 15-yard penalty. While football is undoubtedly a contact sport, head protection has long been one of the important issues surrounding rule changes, and it's good that the defenders are getting a little protection on the blindside. No offense to Hines Ward, but I trust that most people who witnessed his Week 7 block on Kieth Rivers will agree that it is worthy of being considered for a penalty call.
2. Initial contact to the head of a defenseless reciever is also punishable by a 15-yard penalty. As with the first rule change, this is to protect the player's head in a vulnerable situation (Eric Smith on Anquan Boldin, anyone?). Good rule change from where I'm standing.
3. On kickoffs, any single blocking wedge can be limited to only two players. I'm not familiar with what the previous size was limited too, but I think this is a somewhat detrimental rule. The unpredictablily of the return game is one of the things that makes the NFL exciting, and removing the ability to block with more than two players in a single wedge would seem to make returning a kick to the house a more difficult proposition.
4. On an onside kick, the kicking team can have no more than five players pursuing the ball. This rule seems to stack the odds of the recovery of an onside kick even more in the favor of the recieving team. Don't quote me on this, but most onside kicks fail anyway. I could understand the logic behind this rule if onside kicks were being recovered on a regular basis, but I don't believe that no NFL team currently has a kicker capable of consistently delivering an onside kick just right. I don't see how this affects player safety, and it will likely only marginally affect gameplay.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Terrel Owens' New Bull Ride
Last week, Terrell Owens was traded by the Dallas Cowboys to the Buffalo Bills. Despite the concerns many people have voiced regarding the controversial reciever's arrival, I think this is one of the best moves the Bills could have made. The Bills passing attack has ranked poorly (and that's being generous) over the past few seasons, and aside from Lee Evans the don't have a big play threat. Despite Roscoe Parrish's amazing return skills, he has not proven himself as a reciever, and second-year man James Hardy has yet to prove his worth to the Bills. So who better to sign as a target for a quarterback on the rise than such an established star as Terrell Owens?
One of my friends, an life-long Bills fan, dismissed the trade as a mistake, citing TO's reputation for controversy, especially when things go bad. People on the Web have also pointed out that having a reciever as controversial and demanding as TO could have a negative impact on both the short-term play and the long-term development of Trent Edwards. I must respectfully disagree. To succeed in the NFL, particularly in the competitive AFC East (where the Bills hold the inauspiscious title of being the only team to go under .500 last year), a team has to take risks. And signing TO certainly is a risk.
But it's a risk that could pay off for them in the long run. Now they have a recognizable threat at wide reciever opposite Lee Evans, which should give significantly more running room to former first-round pick Marchawn Lynch and allow the Bills to utilize their powerful offensive line. The addition of Owens will also give an immediate and much-needed shot in the arm to the Bills' passing game. It should be noted that TO produces wherever he goes; even in Dallas, he played alongside a young quarterback in Tony Romo and still averaged a double-digit touchdown count in his four years with the Boy's, so playing with a young quarterback is not unfamiliar to him. Even if Trent Edwards isn't the best deep thrower in the league, TO has proved time and time again that he is effective at gaining yards after the catch, and even at 35 he has shown few signs of slowing down.
Last but most certainly not least: TO's reputation as a locker room cancer. Despite his past feuds with Donovan McNabb and others, nobody can deny that Owens let it get to him on the field (as it did with a certain #18 with the Oakland Raiders. No matter what happens, Owens gives it his all on the field, and anyone who says he's selfish should see his tearful post-game press conference after the divisional playoff loss to the New York Giants two years back. After that, tell me truly that he doesn't care about the team and about winning.
So until time convinces me otherwise, I must say that the Bills made the right move in signing TO.
One of my friends, an life-long Bills fan, dismissed the trade as a mistake, citing TO's reputation for controversy, especially when things go bad. People on the Web have also pointed out that having a reciever as controversial and demanding as TO could have a negative impact on both the short-term play and the long-term development of Trent Edwards. I must respectfully disagree. To succeed in the NFL, particularly in the competitive AFC East (where the Bills hold the inauspiscious title of being the only team to go under .500 last year), a team has to take risks. And signing TO certainly is a risk.
But it's a risk that could pay off for them in the long run. Now they have a recognizable threat at wide reciever opposite Lee Evans, which should give significantly more running room to former first-round pick Marchawn Lynch and allow the Bills to utilize their powerful offensive line. The addition of Owens will also give an immediate and much-needed shot in the arm to the Bills' passing game. It should be noted that TO produces wherever he goes; even in Dallas, he played alongside a young quarterback in Tony Romo and still averaged a double-digit touchdown count in his four years with the Boy's, so playing with a young quarterback is not unfamiliar to him. Even if Trent Edwards isn't the best deep thrower in the league, TO has proved time and time again that he is effective at gaining yards after the catch, and even at 35 he has shown few signs of slowing down.
Last but most certainly not least: TO's reputation as a locker room cancer. Despite his past feuds with Donovan McNabb and others, nobody can deny that Owens let it get to him on the field (as it did with a certain #18 with the Oakland Raiders. No matter what happens, Owens gives it his all on the field, and anyone who says he's selfish should see his tearful post-game press conference after the divisional playoff loss to the New York Giants two years back. After that, tell me truly that he doesn't care about the team and about winning.
So until time convinces me otherwise, I must say that the Bills made the right move in signing TO.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Cutler and Broncos in Standoff
The Denver Broncos and disgruntled quarterback Jay Cutler have yet to reach any sort of settlement. In fact, things have only looked worse for both parties as the staredown has worn on.
So where does the blame lie? In this writer's humble opinion, it is at the feet of both Cutler and new Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels. Niether of them have handled this situation at all adeptly, and while both of them have reason to defend their own side they are each individually at fault.
Cutler voiced immediate displeasure towards the firing of previous head coach Mike Shanahan. While Cutler claims that Broncos owner Pat Bowlen told him that former offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates would be retained for next season, Bowlen denies that any such conversation ever took place. While it is his right to voice his displeasure (even if it is a breach of professional courtesy), I think Cutler has overreacted towards the coaching changes instituted by McDaniels. Change is rampant in the NFL, with quarterbacks adapting to new systems every year. Why should Cutler by any different? His case for feeling betrayed by Bowlen does not constitute a schism of this magnitude. The rumors about a trade, however, do.
This is where McDaniels takes the fall. Even if Matt Cassel succeeded in the Patriots system last year, there is no telling what Cutler could accomplish until he learns it. McDaniels seemed a little hasty in shopping around for a three-way deal to bring Cassel to Denver, especially when he has a Pro-Bowl caliber quarterback already in camp. While some people have stomped on Cutler for his decision-making last year, he threw more than 600 times (616, to be exact) last year, second only to the Saint's Drew Brees. Since the zone blocking and run game that has become Denver's crutch over the last decade and a half was largely unavailable due to a plethora of injuries to their runningbacks (in fact, it got so bad that Broncos linebacker Spencer Larsen started the game at fullback, making him the first player to start on offense and defense since 2003), Cutler was forced to throw early and often. The 28th-ranked total defense (30th in points allowed) didn't help much either.
Even so, the Broncos had the 2nd-ranked offense in the league, and Cutler has all the tools (elite arm strength, accuracy, and a certain degree of on-the-field leadership) to succeed. Conclusion: if McDaniels tried to leave an indelible mark on Denver, he has certainly done so, but he went about doing it the wrong way. Even if he is trying to follow the creed of his old Patriots team—team first, stars second—McDaniels has violated an even older guideline: don't fix what isn't broken. Even a offensive-minded guy like McDaniels should have realized that the Denver offense was ready to go from the start; in fact, he should have had an easier time seeing it. The defense was what held the Broncos back. Now, he has a rift with perhaps his best player and certainly his most important player.
I still think the best solution is for Cutler to stay in Denver. With a familiar group of players around him, I think Cutler would adapt well to the kind of Patriots-style offense that McDaniels brings to the table. Now that Cassel is out of the equation, Cutler is the Broncos' best chance, and if McDaniels realizes that will keep a great player and, even better a hold over the locker room; if he resolves the Cutler situation, things should be much less tense in Denver. Both player and coach are professionals and will hopefully be able to resolve their differences.
[All stats come from www.nfl.com]
So where does the blame lie? In this writer's humble opinion, it is at the feet of both Cutler and new Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels. Niether of them have handled this situation at all adeptly, and while both of them have reason to defend their own side they are each individually at fault.
Cutler voiced immediate displeasure towards the firing of previous head coach Mike Shanahan. While Cutler claims that Broncos owner Pat Bowlen told him that former offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates would be retained for next season, Bowlen denies that any such conversation ever took place. While it is his right to voice his displeasure (even if it is a breach of professional courtesy), I think Cutler has overreacted towards the coaching changes instituted by McDaniels. Change is rampant in the NFL, with quarterbacks adapting to new systems every year. Why should Cutler by any different? His case for feeling betrayed by Bowlen does not constitute a schism of this magnitude. The rumors about a trade, however, do.
This is where McDaniels takes the fall. Even if Matt Cassel succeeded in the Patriots system last year, there is no telling what Cutler could accomplish until he learns it. McDaniels seemed a little hasty in shopping around for a three-way deal to bring Cassel to Denver, especially when he has a Pro-Bowl caliber quarterback already in camp. While some people have stomped on Cutler for his decision-making last year, he threw more than 600 times (616, to be exact) last year, second only to the Saint's Drew Brees. Since the zone blocking and run game that has become Denver's crutch over the last decade and a half was largely unavailable due to a plethora of injuries to their runningbacks (in fact, it got so bad that Broncos linebacker Spencer Larsen started the game at fullback, making him the first player to start on offense and defense since 2003), Cutler was forced to throw early and often. The 28th-ranked total defense (30th in points allowed) didn't help much either.
Even so, the Broncos had the 2nd-ranked offense in the league, and Cutler has all the tools (elite arm strength, accuracy, and a certain degree of on-the-field leadership) to succeed. Conclusion: if McDaniels tried to leave an indelible mark on Denver, he has certainly done so, but he went about doing it the wrong way. Even if he is trying to follow the creed of his old Patriots team—team first, stars second—McDaniels has violated an even older guideline: don't fix what isn't broken. Even a offensive-minded guy like McDaniels should have realized that the Denver offense was ready to go from the start; in fact, he should have had an easier time seeing it. The defense was what held the Broncos back. Now, he has a rift with perhaps his best player and certainly his most important player.
I still think the best solution is for Cutler to stay in Denver. With a familiar group of players around him, I think Cutler would adapt well to the kind of Patriots-style offense that McDaniels brings to the table. Now that Cassel is out of the equation, Cutler is the Broncos' best chance, and if McDaniels realizes that will keep a great player and, even better a hold over the locker room; if he resolves the Cutler situation, things should be much less tense in Denver. Both player and coach are professionals and will hopefully be able to resolve their differences.
[All stats come from www.nfl.com]
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