While football is by far and away my favorite sport, the media's seemingly constant barrage of overreactions throughout the course of the season is enough to drive a sober person drunk. The main reason for this is, in football, teams play one game per week, whereas teams play multiple games every week in baseball, basketball, and hockey. So while a star player or team may have an awful game in baseball, basketball, or hockey, talk and overreactions are typically kept to a minimum, unless that player or team start going into an extended slump. In football, however, if a star player or team has an awful game, it tends to get talked about ad nauseam for a full week. Often times, these comments come across as extreme overreactions, which tend to get debunked a week or two later.
Remember the New England Patriots just a year ago? After getting pummeled 41-14 by Kansas City on Monday night football to drop Bill Belichick's team to 2-2 on the season, many ESPN analysts said the Belichick-Brady run was over, Brady was getting too old, and the team's magical formula was obviously no longer working. Last I heard, this same team went on to win the Super Bowl.
Early this season, much of the talk was about Denver Broncos starting quarterback Peyton Manning, as ESPN analysts have said his arm strength isn't what it was, that he's getting old, isn't the player he once was, and we have to finally admit that he's lost it. Following last night's 24-12 victory over the Detroit Lions, the Denver Broncos improved to 3-0, good for 1st place in the AFC West division.
With Tom Brady now being 38-years-old and Peyton Manning 39-years-old, no, neither player is in their prime, however, they continue to make adjustments and get the job done. The New England Patriots' personnel was different last year and it took Brady and his new receivers time to gel with one another. After the embarrassing Monday night defeat at the hands of the Chiefs, the Pats made the proper adjustments on offense, and went on to win 7 straight. Manning's numbers are down so far this season, but he's improved in all three of the team's games, and based on his solid performance against the Lions last night, he is anything but done in my opinion. Also, like Joe Theismann once said, "When things are going well, the quarterback receives too much of the credit and when things go poorly, the quarterback receives too much of the blame." The Broncos are 3-0, so things could be a lot worse for the team. Not only that, while Manning's passing numbers are down overall at this point in the season, a big reason for this is the lack of a running game. Denver currently ranks 31st (out of 32) in rushing yards per game at 57.0. This has severely hampered the play action passing for Manning and the Broncos, as defenses haven't needed to respect the run, which has left the play action much less effective than in years past. So, like last year with respect to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, let's cool it with the overreactions with regard to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.
Unfortunately, some big name quarterbacks have gone down to injury in the first three weeks of the season. Jay Cutler (Chicago) and Drew Brees (New Orleans) will likely only miss a game or two a piece, while Tony Romo (Dallas) and Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh) are expected to miss a few more than that. Oddly enough, among these four teams' back-up quarterbacks (Jimmy Clausen of Chicago, Luke McCown of New Orleans, Brandon Weeden of Dallas, and Michael Vick of Pittsburgh), Michael Vick of the Pittsburgh Steelers has received the most criticism. Apparently, with him starting for 4-6 games for Pittsburgh, the 2-1 Steelers' season is all but over. Again, let's cool it with the overreactions. In the NFC East, an 8-8 record could win the division, so as long as Weeden can lead 2-1 Cowboys to a .500 record by the time Romo returns, the team could still make a playoff run. Chicago and New Orleans are a combined 0-6, so does it really matter who plays quarterback at this point? There are better odds the two teams are thinking about top 5 draft picks than a possible playoff berth. With regard to Vick, ESPN analysts point to his numbers with the New York Jets last year, the only year he was with the team.
Let's get something straight; when he was coaching the New York Jets, Rex Ryan understood how to run an efficient offense about as well as my Siberian Husky knows how to read Arabic. The New York Jets had less talent on offense than most SEC teams last year. Chris Ivory and Chris Johnson led the team in rushing yards, averaging slightly over four yards per carry. Who were the team's leading receivers? Eric Decker, Jeremy Kerley, Percy Harvin, Jace Amaro, and Jeff Cumberland, with Decker and Cumberland being the only two to start 14 or more games. The Pittsburgh Steelers offense has more weapons as back-ups than the Jets had as starters a year ago. Le'Veon Bell is back from suspension to lead the team on the ground. Back-up DeAngelo Williams was among the league's leading rushers before Bell returned. Not only that, but Vick will have the always dangerous Antonio Brown to throw to, as well as Markus Wheaton, and the ever reliable Heath Miller at tight end.
The thing about Michael Vick at this stage of his career isn't what ESPN analysts think they know, it's what we don't know. Vick has played sparingly since the 2012 season with the Philadelphia Eagles. In Chip Kelly's first year with the Eagles, Vick got hurt before the midway point, only to relinquish his job to then back-up Nick Foles, and hasn't consistently started ever since. It's possible that Vick will prove these analysts right, prove that he's washed up, isn't the player he once was, and will be lucky to last one more year in the league. However, let's not pretend like Vick has played much over the past 2-3 years and we have a full grasp of where he is as a player at this point in his career. From 2010-2012, Vick threw 1,146 passes for the Eagles, starting 35 games for them in the stretch. From 2013-2015, he's only thrown 268 passes, starting just 9 games in that span. No, Vick isn't the player he once was, but he shouldn't be judged by one bad year under head coach Rex Ryan in New York, and at 2-1 with a veteran at quarterback at the helm, the Pittsburgh Steelers' season shouldn't be viewed as a lost cause just yet either.
Remember the New England Patriots just a year ago? After getting pummeled 41-14 by Kansas City on Monday night football to drop Bill Belichick's team to 2-2 on the season, many ESPN analysts said the Belichick-Brady run was over, Brady was getting too old, and the team's magical formula was obviously no longer working. Last I heard, this same team went on to win the Super Bowl.
Early this season, much of the talk was about Denver Broncos starting quarterback Peyton Manning, as ESPN analysts have said his arm strength isn't what it was, that he's getting old, isn't the player he once was, and we have to finally admit that he's lost it. Following last night's 24-12 victory over the Detroit Lions, the Denver Broncos improved to 3-0, good for 1st place in the AFC West division.
With Tom Brady now being 38-years-old and Peyton Manning 39-years-old, no, neither player is in their prime, however, they continue to make adjustments and get the job done. The New England Patriots' personnel was different last year and it took Brady and his new receivers time to gel with one another. After the embarrassing Monday night defeat at the hands of the Chiefs, the Pats made the proper adjustments on offense, and went on to win 7 straight. Manning's numbers are down so far this season, but he's improved in all three of the team's games, and based on his solid performance against the Lions last night, he is anything but done in my opinion. Also, like Joe Theismann once said, "When things are going well, the quarterback receives too much of the credit and when things go poorly, the quarterback receives too much of the blame." The Broncos are 3-0, so things could be a lot worse for the team. Not only that, while Manning's passing numbers are down overall at this point in the season, a big reason for this is the lack of a running game. Denver currently ranks 31st (out of 32) in rushing yards per game at 57.0. This has severely hampered the play action passing for Manning and the Broncos, as defenses haven't needed to respect the run, which has left the play action much less effective than in years past. So, like last year with respect to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, let's cool it with the overreactions with regard to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.
Unfortunately, some big name quarterbacks have gone down to injury in the first three weeks of the season. Jay Cutler (Chicago) and Drew Brees (New Orleans) will likely only miss a game or two a piece, while Tony Romo (Dallas) and Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh) are expected to miss a few more than that. Oddly enough, among these four teams' back-up quarterbacks (Jimmy Clausen of Chicago, Luke McCown of New Orleans, Brandon Weeden of Dallas, and Michael Vick of Pittsburgh), Michael Vick of the Pittsburgh Steelers has received the most criticism. Apparently, with him starting for 4-6 games for Pittsburgh, the 2-1 Steelers' season is all but over. Again, let's cool it with the overreactions. In the NFC East, an 8-8 record could win the division, so as long as Weeden can lead 2-1 Cowboys to a .500 record by the time Romo returns, the team could still make a playoff run. Chicago and New Orleans are a combined 0-6, so does it really matter who plays quarterback at this point? There are better odds the two teams are thinking about top 5 draft picks than a possible playoff berth. With regard to Vick, ESPN analysts point to his numbers with the New York Jets last year, the only year he was with the team.
Let's get something straight; when he was coaching the New York Jets, Rex Ryan understood how to run an efficient offense about as well as my Siberian Husky knows how to read Arabic. The New York Jets had less talent on offense than most SEC teams last year. Chris Ivory and Chris Johnson led the team in rushing yards, averaging slightly over four yards per carry. Who were the team's leading receivers? Eric Decker, Jeremy Kerley, Percy Harvin, Jace Amaro, and Jeff Cumberland, with Decker and Cumberland being the only two to start 14 or more games. The Pittsburgh Steelers offense has more weapons as back-ups than the Jets had as starters a year ago. Le'Veon Bell is back from suspension to lead the team on the ground. Back-up DeAngelo Williams was among the league's leading rushers before Bell returned. Not only that, but Vick will have the always dangerous Antonio Brown to throw to, as well as Markus Wheaton, and the ever reliable Heath Miller at tight end.
The thing about Michael Vick at this stage of his career isn't what ESPN analysts think they know, it's what we don't know. Vick has played sparingly since the 2012 season with the Philadelphia Eagles. In Chip Kelly's first year with the Eagles, Vick got hurt before the midway point, only to relinquish his job to then back-up Nick Foles, and hasn't consistently started ever since. It's possible that Vick will prove these analysts right, prove that he's washed up, isn't the player he once was, and will be lucky to last one more year in the league. However, let's not pretend like Vick has played much over the past 2-3 years and we have a full grasp of where he is as a player at this point in his career. From 2010-2012, Vick threw 1,146 passes for the Eagles, starting 35 games for them in the stretch. From 2013-2015, he's only thrown 268 passes, starting just 9 games in that span. No, Vick isn't the player he once was, but he shouldn't be judged by one bad year under head coach Rex Ryan in New York, and at 2-1 with a veteran at quarterback at the helm, the Pittsburgh Steelers' season shouldn't be viewed as a lost cause just yet either.
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