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Now That the National Football League’s 2011 season is history, there’s not much in the way of NFL news worthy stories circulating other than two- the upcoming league draft in April, and the ongoing mini soap opera in Indianapolis revolving around Colts owner Jim Irsay and star quarterback Peyton Manning.

Ironically, both of those stories are linked together, given that the Indianapolis Colts have the first overall pick in the April draft, and everyone expects them to pick Stanford’s all-world quarterback Andrew Luck, which makes Peyton Manning expendable.

Peyton Manning could be elected Mayor of Indianapolis as a write in candidate. That’s how much he is adored by Colts fans.  Until Manning arrived in Indianapolis in 1998 the Colts had struggled in mediocrity and several different starting quarterbacks including Indianapolis native Jeff George.

Manning missed the entire 2011 season with a neck injury.  Without Manning the Colts finished with a 2-14 record, their worst since his rookie season when they finished 3-13.

If Peyton Manning never takes another snap as an NFL quarterback, he’s still all but guaranteed a spot in the Hall of Fame.  Manning’s career averages are very impressive.  Over 13 seasons he has averaged 4,218 passing yards, 30.6 Touchdowns, and 15.2 interceptions (exactly a 2:1 ratio), led the Colts to a win in Super Bowl XLI in 2007, and has been to the Pro Bowl 11 times.

The Colts have spent this off season cleaning house.  A new coaching staff has been hired, and the team seems prepared to go into next season without Peyton Manning for the first time in 14 years.

If Manning and the Colts can’t reach an agreement on Peyton’s contract before the March deadline then Manning may very well be with another team in 2012.  I am a fan of one of the Colts AFC South rivals, the Houston Texans.  However, as a Texans fan I can’t bring myself to dislike Payton Manning.  I have tried, and I just can’t do it.  He’s a gifted quarterback, and his TV personas in the commercials I’ve seen have been very funny.  Plus, he seems like a decent, humble guy.

That is why I personally do not want to see Manning in the uniform of another NFL team.  He needs to remain an Indianapolis Colt and retire as an Indianapolis Colt.  I remember several other players who tried to extend their careers with other teams while their careers seemed to be winding down:  Joe Namath as a San Francisco forty-niner, Dan Pastorini as an Oakland Raider, and, the most awkward example that comes to mind is from another Colts legend from their days in Baltimore, the great Johnny Unitas as a San Diego Charger? Sad is the only adjective that comes to mind.

So if I were granted an opportunity to sit down with Peyton Manning I would simply ask him to retire as an Indianapolis Colt, because his neck injury, which required 3 surgeries this year, is nothing to take lightly. 

To me, the only thing worse than seeing Peyton Manning in another team’s jersey would be seeing Peyton Manning in a wheelchair.

SL

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Week four of the sixteen game NFL regular season is over now, and we’ve hit the quarter mark in the season. There were four games played between teams from both conferences- New Orleans at Jacksonville, Minnesota at Kansas City, Denver at Green Bay, and Indianapolis travelled to Tampa to play the Buccaneers.  All of the other games played were conference games, as there were no games played between division rivals.

New England Patriots 31, Oakland Raiders 19:The Patriots flew 3,099 miles across all four time zones and played the Raiders in Oakland.  The Raiders were the team that suffered (does anyone actually enjoy it?) from jet lag evidently, as they could not keep up with Wes Welker and company, although Oakland quarterback Jason Campbell threw for more yardage than Patriots QB Tom Brady. Last week against Buffalo Brady threw four interceptions in a loss to the Bills, then the next day we hear the big news that Tom-Terrific cut his hair short. We can conclude from this that his hair was in his eyes last week when he threw all those picks, right? Of course this means that someone else besides Justin Beiber will play Brady in the after school special on ABC.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24, Indianapolis Colts 17:  The Colts miss future Hall-Of-Fame quarterback Peyton Manning terribly, and started third stringer Curtis Painter against Tampa Bay in Manning’s absence since reserve Kerry Collins was out due to a concussion.  The Colts didn’t need Painter to be a Picasso, but they did need more than a paint-by-number performance.  What they ended up getting from Painter fell somewhere between a homeless waif on black velvet and an abstract finger painting.  This year’s Colts are now 0-4.

Houston Texans 17, Pittsburgh Steelers 10: I saw this game, and the score is not indicative of how Houston manhandled the Steelers.  Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was sacked 5 times, twice by Houston linebacker Mario Williams, and the Texans had two TDs nullified by penalties. One bright spot for Pittsburgh was the play of wide receiver Mike Wallace, who led all players in receiving yards with 77.  Not bad for the former host of the CBS news show 60 Minutes.  What is he now, about 90 years old?

Cincinnati Bengals 23, Buffalo Bills 20: Well, thanks to the Cincinnati Bengals beating the Bills, I am now eliminated from the NFL Survival league that I’m in. Excuse me, the NFL Survival league that I was in. That’s the last time I drink Buffalo Kool-aid.  Sounds gross, doesn’t it?

San Diego Chargers 26, Miami Dolphins 16: San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers flooded all over the Dolphins, to the tune of over 300 yards passing and a touchdown toss.  San Diego was without injured tight end Antonio Gates for this game.  Wait a minute- Rivers? Gates? There’s a really bad pun about a flood in there somewhere….

Detroit Lions 34, Dallas Cowboys 30: The Detroit Lions (no relation) are the real deal folks.  For the second time this season, Detroit came back from 20 points behind or more to win a game, this time on the road in Big D.  The “Mr. Hyde” version of Tony Romo showed up this week for Dallas, as Romo threw 3 interceptions, two of them for scores, in the loss to Detroit. I would be remiss if I did not mention Romo dissing Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on the Dallas sideline late in the game.  I don’t have anything of worth to add about it, but I don’t like being remiss.

Kansas City Chiefs 22, Minnesota Vikings 17: This game featured a rematch of the two teams that played in Super Bowl IV in 1970.  It’s appropriate that the Roman numerals for four is IV because as of late, these two teams have played like they needed an IV drip.  Both teams were winless until Sunday.  There goes the quest for a perfect season, right?  I mean, somebody had to win.  Minnesota is 0-4, and the Chiefs are 1-3.

Green Bay Packers 49, Denver Broncos 23: This game was between two other former Super Bowl teams.  This was a rematch of Super Bowl XXXII.  Denver wide receiver Brandon Lloyd led all players in receiving yardage with 136.  I did not see this game, so I wonder if there was any clamoring for Bronco third string QB Tim Tebow?  Probably not, since the game was in Green Bay, but if Bronco starter Kyle Orton were to go down it would mean only one thing- backup QB Brady Quinn would get his uniform soiled, only this time it would have been from the outside.

Thanks for reading.

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Week four of the young NFL season is almost here, and I know this is a little late, but I would still like to make some observations about week three’s games.  Never wise enough for “pre” dictions, here are some “post”dictions. After all the week three games were over, two teams, the Buffalo Bills and the Detroit Lions, had both ended long time losing streaks to their opponents.

Buffalo Bills 34, New England Patriots 31:  Chan Gailey, yes that Chan Gailey, who coached the Dallas Cowboys several years ago, has the Buffalo Bills off to a 3-0 start.  The Bills (imagine that, 53 guys, all named William, who knew?) were down to the Pats 0-21 and came back to win by three points on a last second field goal by Ryan Lindell.  Imagine that folks, a coach that is a cast-off of Jerry Jones has his team at 3-0 and at the top of their division. Buffalo had not beaten New England in their last 15 regular season games. Chan Gailey has proven, at least to me that he can do a good job coaching, as long as his team owner does not interfere with the coaching decisions.

Detroit Lions 26, Minnesota Vikings 23:  Much like the aforementioned Bills, the Detroit Lions had toiled in futility for 13 straight regular season games against the Vikings; it had been that long since the Lions had beaten Minnesota.  Until week three, that is.  The Bills were like Detroit in another way too; they also had to come from far behind (20-0) to win against the Vikings. The Lions are led on defense by second year defensive tackle Ndamokong Suh.  An NFL team that features a Boy Named Suh- somewhere Johnny Cash is smiling….

San Diego Chargers 20, Kansas City Chiefs 17:  I picked San Diego as the winner in my survival league for week three. It saddens me a little to admit this, but the only reason I chose the Chargers was because of who they were playing.  Kansas City is off to the worst start of any team this season. I know, there are a couple of other teams that are also 0-3, but the Chiefs were the AFC West Champions last season, and that makes their bad start this year seem just a little worse than the others.  My ex-wife was a huge fan of the San Diego Chargers, until she found out the real reason they are called the chargers has nothing at all to do with either a credit card or a shopping mall.

New York Giants 29, Philadelphia Eagles 16:  The Giants seem to play well against their division teams, and they did against the Eagles last week.  Eagles quarterback Michael Vick complained during the post game presser that he doesn’t get the calls that other QBs in the league do.  Some radio commentators compared Vick’s statements to those of former Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who has a reputation for bringing his complaints about the game officials and other teams to the forefront of public consciousness by merely suggesting that they exist.  It’s sort of a “Zen” thing I guess, but to me it seems like Vick is diverting attention away from his play on the field, which from time to time tends to “go to the dogs”.  Sorry, but yes, I went there.

New Orleans Saints 40, Houston Texans 33:  Houston’s inability to convert in the Red Zone proved to be their downfall in this game.  Three times in the first half they penetrated the red-zone of the Saints, only coming away with 3 points for each drive.  Sure, they scored each time, but if they had been touchdowns instead of field goals they would have won the game.  As it was Houston essentially left 12 points on the field.  There was one bright spot for Houston- in the fourth quarter the Texans scored a TD on a pass to Kevin Walter that ricocheted off of no less than two Saints before Walter pulled it in and raced to the end zone for the score.  Last year in a game against Jacksonville the ball was batted into the hands of a Jaguar wide receiver for the game winning Jacksonville touchdown. It’s good to see the ball bounce Houston’s way at least once.

Pittsburgh Steelers 23, Indianapolis Colts 20:  The Steelers went into Indianapolis and just barely beat a Colts team that is depleted at key positions.  The most notable is at quarterback while Peyton Manning is out mending his neck after surgery.  The Colts were led in tackles by second year linebacker Pat Angerer.  He makes me so mad!

Well for what it’s worth (I know, not much) there are some post-dictions of week three’s NFL games. Now I have to get a nap in before the weekend because let’s face it- all those games are not going to watch themselves. 

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Week two of the NFL season is now history.  All of the games played were between teams in the same conference except for two:  Kansas City traveled to Detroit to play the Lions, and the Seattle Seahawks flew to Pittsburgh to do their business with the Steelers.

Before I make my post-dictions about week two, I’d like to make one more about week one since they both share a common theme, that theme being quite simply that thanks to Arian Foster and his hamstring, or more specifically his hamstring injury, my fantasy team has for the first two weeks anyway, inhaled canal water.

It wouldn’t bother me so much except that I’m commissioner of this league. It’s a 10 team head-to-head league which I started mainly to keep in touch with family members.  Week one I lost to my soon to be son-in-law, and week two I lost to my nephew.  Family reunions will bite for me for some time to come, I’m afraid. Now on to some thoughts about week two games.

Detroit 48, Kansas City 3: What has happened to the Kansas City Chiefs? Last season’s AFC West Champion has started out 2011 with an 0-2 record having been outscored 89-10 by the Bills and the Lions respectively. The Chiefs lost running back Jamaal Charles for the season to a knee injury.  Lions RB Jahvid Best led all running backs with 72 yards.  No matter how many yards he gains or doesn’t gain it will always be the “Best” he can do.

Washington Redskins 22, Arizona Cardinals 21: Quarterback Rex Grossman threw for 291 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Redskins. Washington’s win over the Giants in week one was viewed by some NFL pundits as an upset. Maybe, but I do know that for much of his career Grossman has been maligned for one reason or another. If the Redskins keep winning Rex’s play might be far from described as “gross man”.  It’s a reach, I know.

Green Bay Packers 30, Carolina Panthers 23: Carolina’s rookie quarterback Cam Newton has thrown for 854 yards in his first two professional games which is more than any other rookie in league history.  However, that’s not why I mention this game.  I mention it because the Carolina Panthers are my second favorite team.  Why?  Because if you rearrange the letters in Panthers it spells “her pants”.  I know.  Sorry.

Tennessee Titans 26, Baltimore Ravens 13: This game was between two teams whose owners have similar histories.  The Ravens are a reincarnation of the old Cleveland Browns franchise, and the Titans were once the Houston Oilers before moving to Tennessee.  The Ravens are owned by Art Modell and the Titans owner is Bud Adams.  Both men have been vilified by their original fan bases. I have a feeling that Modell and Adams were probably in the same luxury box at the stadium with drinks in hand and cigars smoldering each tapping their fingertips together and muttering in a manner like Montgomery Burns of the Simpsons, and repeating to themselves diabolically “excellent”.

Dallas Cowboys 27, San Francisco 49ers 24: Every time these two teams play ESPN’s Chris Berman shows the video of himself covering the playoff game these teams played in, where Dwight Clark made “the catch” of Joe Montana’s now famous desperation pass in the corner of the end zone in Candlestick Park. I’m sure he has his loyal fans, but I find Berman to be an irritant of the worst kind.  The NFL pregame show he anchors is now 3 hours long.  I stopped watching it years ago, because over the years Berman has caused be to fully appreciate the mute button on my TV remote.  Can someone tell me why his “Two Minute Drill” on the occasional Sports-Center program lasts for 8 minutes?

Houston Texans 23, Miami Dolphins 13: The leading ground gainer in this game was Miami’s Daniel Thomas.  Remember when his daughter Marlo played “That Girl” on TV back in the sixties?  Oh wait, sorry, different guy.

Atlanta Falcons 35, Philadelphia Eagles 31: The Eagles may have lost this game, but one of the highlights was an interception by their recently acquired cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. I only bring this up because the name Nnamdi Asomugha makes my spell-check go crazy. The guys a great player, and from what I’ve heard in interviews a decent guy, but his name reminds me of an eye chart in a doctor’s office. I know- my name’s nothing to boast about either.  I’m just making an observation.

Well, if you’re still with me thanks for reading my little post.  I have to make these observations or my head will explode, and let’s face it, nobody wants to clean that up.  Now I have to decide whether or not to make an Arian Foster voodoo doll.

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Week one of the National Football League 2011-2012 season has come and gone.  I’ve never considered myself clever enough to make predictions and, since hindsight is 20-20, here are a few week one “post”-dictions.  This is not to be confused with a cheap excuse for blogging material that I used to do on a previous site.  It’s not to be confused because it’s exactly the same thing.

Of the opening weekend’s games there were 8 games between divisional rivals, 5 games that featured teams from the same conference and 2 games that were between teams of each conference.  Here are my thoughts on a few of the week one games.

The Pillsbury Bowl: Baltimore Ravens 35, PittsburghSteelers 7:  Six of the last seven games between these two teams have been decided by 3 points or less, so the Ravens drilling of the Steelers was quite a surprise.  Pittsburgh committed almost as many turnovers as Pillsbury, and that’s hard enough to overcome at home, but the Steelers were on the road, which makes it even more difficult to get past.

The Orange Bowl: Bengals 27, Browns 17:  Being in the same division, the AFC North, these two teams play each other twice a year.  The highlights of this game gave me a headache.  Both teams’ uniforms feature a strong measure of the color orange.  How much is a strong measure? I believe the technical term is “too much”.  Every time these teams play it looks like an intrasquad scrimmage.  I suggest the coaches of both teams need an intervention- The NFL’s version of “What Not to wear”.  Where’s Stacey London when we need her the most?  Oh well, there is one consolation: at least neither team’s color is “burnt” orange…

The MVP Bowl: Houston Texans 34, Indianapolis Colts 7:  The MVP in this case is the “Most Valuable Peyton” because the Colts just simply are not the same team without Manning in the game.  Here are some observations by a Texans fan: #1: although he’s been responsible for the majority of the Texans misery over the last decade, I just can’t dislike Peyton Manning.  I have tried, mind you, but I just can’t.  He’s a great quarterback, and he seems like a pretty decent guy off the field too.  As long as he’s not playing against Houston, he is just flat-out fun to watch play.  That’s why if I could I would send him an open letter asking that he just retire.  Not because the Colts play in the same division (well, there’s a little bit of truth to that) as my Texans, but because the human neck is fragile and not to be trifled with.  I’d much rather see Manning retired than in a wheelchair.  #2: Kerry Collins looks like Bret Favre’s older brother. The gray in the beard and the short hair makes him actually look like he could be kin to Favre, only as the older brother he moves much slower. #3: Is the Texans defense that good, or is the Colts offense that bad (without manning)?  Some Texans web sites and Facebook pages are touting a Super Bowl run, but I think we should not put the cart before the horse. Let’s get enough wins to make the playoffs first, shall we?

The Baldwin Brothers Bowl:  San Francisco 33, Seattle 17:  I was looking over the stats from this game and noticed that the leading pass catcher was a player named Doug Baldwin… Who???  When I first saw this I thought to myself (I’ve found that it’s better to think that way otherwise people can hear you) ‘The Baldwin Brothers are everywhere”!  Alec, Billy, and the third one, whatever his name is, are all actors and now a fourth one is in the NFL?  My mistake. This Baldwin is a rookie wide receiver from Stanford.

The French-Irish Bowl: Philadelphia 31, St. Louis 13:  This game featured the Eagles running back LeSean McCoy as the leading rusher with 122 yards and 2 touchdowns.  With a name like “LeSean McCoy” both the French and the Irish get some pub.  Way to strike a blow for the minorities LeSean.

Well that’s about all I have for week one’s game observations. I don’t know if I’ll do this every week, but as my warped mind moves me I will put something up when I can.  I suppose a subtitle to this piece could be “Observations about week one by a weak one”.  Thanks for reading.

SL

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