Cover 4 - Brad's Blog

NFL Rule Changes

Wed Apr 09 00:00:00 -0700 2008

This post is inspired by an amazing article by Michael Silver, analyst for Yahoo! Sports, which you can read here: Link to article.

This article inspired me to write in support of his five rule proposals, which all rock my world.

1. Abolishment of the Tuck Rule

For crying out loud, who could argue against this. The tuck rule is completely ridiculous. This is the first of many rules that should be instituted in order to stop treating quarterbacks like toddlers. Believe it or not, even they should be held accountable for their mistakes (gasp!).

2. Ground causing fumbles

Another rule change to weed out the wuss rules. Don't let go of the ball. Period. If you do, it should be a fumble.

3. End-zone celebrations

My #1 crusade at the moment. There is nothing I find more disgusting about the NFL than its ability to put a clamp on creativity and fun. There's a reason that it holds the nickname of "No Fun League"... a very good reason. Total garbage. Definitely has been a contributing factor towards me not watching random NFL games that don't involve teams I care about. As a kid, I used to do that. Now, often, I do not.

4. End-zone possession rules

I don't even like the "football move" definition in the first place, and there absolutely needs to be a universal rule in place that applies to receptions. Something like the two-feet down before going out of bounds rule... until it becomes messed up by the subjective "shoved out of bounds" rule, which is horribly enforced. Basically, I'm tired of watching a receiver catch the ball and not know whether or not it was "officially" a catch. When I, as a fan, watch a slow-motion replay of a receiver catching a ball, I should be able to determine whether or not it's going to be a "catch" or not.

5. Acrobatic punt-downing

I am always annoyed when people attempt to down punts and fail miserably, but honestly never thought about changing the rule. After reading his point, it makes perfect sense. I'm a special teams fanatic, and I love the idea of giving more strategy and importance to punt returns. Genius.

Just thought I'd share how awesome this article was, and how much I agree with Mr. Silver's ideas. Just in case you'll ever read this Mr. Silver (I doubt it), hats off to you, good sir.

Brett Favre's Retirement

Wed Mar 05 00:00:00 -0800 2008

This will be the shortest blog post I ever make.

Brett Favre retires. Finally, it's about time.

Cowboys and Zach Thomas

Sun Feb 24 00:00:00 -0800 2008

Um... WHAT?!?!

Ok, here's the scoop: The Cowboys had to franchise our Pro Bowl free safety Ken Hamlin (and still need to sign him to a long-term deal), we still have to re-sign one of the best tackles in the game in Flozell Adams (which will cost a LOT of money), and we also still have to re-sign Marion Barber. All while staying under the cap.

Also, we run the 3-4. The 3-4 is designed to have large linebackers of a certain prototype. We have four good linebackers right now, including two good middle linebackers in Akin Ayodele and Bradie James in whom we have a lot of money invested, that fit that prototype.

This just in: Zach Thomas does not fit that prototype. Nor is he young. Nor is he healthy. Nor should he start.

Thus, why in the heck did we just spend money on him? I haven't seen the details of the deal yet, but it better have been cheap. If getting Zach Thomas costs us the ability to re-sign Adams or Barber, I'm going to be one livid fan.

Falcons cut Crumpler?

Sat Feb 16 00:00:00 -0800 2008

Ok, I'm basically completely baffled. So, let's say that you're in charge of personnel for the Falcons. Let's look at defense first: it's patchwork. Your three best players, Keith Brooking, John Abraham and DeAngelo Hall, can't do it themselves. Lawyer Milloy is past his prime, and one of their DT's (Montavius Stanley) is a practice squad cast-off from the Cowboys.

To offense: your only receiver is Joe Horn (Roddy White hasn't quite earned his stripes in my eyes yet), Warrick Dunn is probably going to get cut, you have NO quarterback, a horrible offensive line... and then you've got Alge Crumpler. One of the top five tight ends in the NFL, probably one of the top 3 receiving tight ends. I would argue that he's their best player on offense (although Joe Horn could still make a decent argument). So, what do you do if you're Falcons personnel? Apparently, you cut him. Wow.

Well, that explains why the Falcons are the worst team in football right now. If I were a Falcons fan I would cry myself to sleep at night and then switch team allegiances immediately. I mean, that's just disgraceful. I can't even put into words how pathetic the Atlanta Falcons franchise is right now... so I'm just going to stop writing before I become so upset that I being swearing.

My Birthday Team

Thu Feb 14 00:00:00 -0800 2008

On March 11th:

RB: Dexter Bussey

FB: Dan Kreider

WR: Lee Evans (he's got a ways to go, but amazing potential so far)

TE: Greg Olsen (again, potential)

T: John Fina

DB: Chris Gamble

DB: Shawn Springs

Not bad. Not great, but not bad.

Response to JT's Response to Pro Bowl

Wed Feb 13 00:00:00 -0800 2008

First off, Ben Roethlisberger isn't noticeably better than anyone, certainly not Tony Romo. TJ just made him look good with all of his amazing talent.

Second, obviously the reason Romo threw to Witten and Owens is because when he scrambled, he knew exactly where they would be and turned to his comfort blanket. I think that's a pretty crappy criticism, at best. He shouldn't be harped on for having a bunch of teammates with him in the Pro Bowl and using them appropriately because of their chemistry.

Third, blah, blah, blah... keep talking crap about T.O. He'll still get open because of sheer athletic ability and work ethic more than any other receiver than Randy Moss, and if he drops a pass here and there, I'm ok with that. And he'll still score a ton of touchdowns. Oh, that's right... more in the past two seasons than any other receiver in football. That's pretty much all I really have to say there.

Fourth, Antonio Cromartie was the best corner in football this season. I think it's time he gets his due. He definitely smoked Champ Bailey this year.

Fifth, and finally, I agree with everything you said about the time, place, voting structure, and participation incentive regarding the Pro Bowl. Currently, it's a complete waste and the only benefit of the game itself was to show off some awesome new technology like camera and sound advancements.

Super Bowl Prediction

Sun Feb 03 00:00:00 -0800 2008

There's no need for more analysis. If you want it, there are a million places you can find it. I'll simply give my prediction for the score:

Giants 24, Patriots 21.

It's more hope than logic, but I'd rather pick it this way and be wrong than pick it the other way and be wrong.

Result of Patriots vs. Chargers

Sun Jan 20 00:00:00 -0800 2008

A lot closer game than anyone expected, it was a decent contest. Despite the injuries, San Diego managed to stay in the game much longer than any of us anticipated, mostly because of the play of their defense. They forced Brady to throw more interceptions that I thought he would throw in the entire playoffs: 3. However, they were unable to overcome their difficulties on offense and fell to the still undefeated New England Patriots.

Here's how the analysts stacked up:

Andrew: predicted the Chargers would win, so finished 4th on this one

Jed: predicted a Pats win 42-24, with a point differential of 33 from the actual score (21-12)

JT: predicted a Pats win 37-20, with a point differential of 24 from the actual score

Brad: predicted a Pats win 31-17, with a point differential of 15 from the actual score

Winner: Me. Yes, that is correct. Now for the NFC Championship game... and brutal weather.

NFC & AFC Championship Games

Sat Jan 19 00:00:00 -0800 2008

Well, the time of analysis and talking is up. It's time for football. Who's going to play in the Super Bowl? Here are my picks:

Patriots defeat Chargers, 31-17

Even I can face it now, regardless of whether I like it or not, there is no way the Patriots are going to lose this game. With LT and Phillip Rivers not healthy and Antonio Gates with problems, they've got a lot to overcome. They're playing the best team in football, and their top three offensive players are suspect. Doesn't bode well. Micheal Turner is a very capable backup, but there is no way (despite his performance last weekend) that Volek can carry the team. It's just not going to happen. Even if the big three start, they won't be 100%. This game is over before it starts. The potent Chargers pass rush will be lining up against one of the best O-lines in football, and they'll be ready.

Packers over Giants, 24-21

Eli Manning plays a mediocre game, the Giants pass rush can't get pressure on Favre because the Packers staff will have an excellent offensive game plan, mixing up the run and the pass with screens, draws, and play-action to keep the defense off-balance and prevent them from pinning their ears back. The Giants secondary is going to be cake for Favre to pick apart, as injury-ridden as they are. Ryan Grant will be put to the test again, but because of that game plan, he'll be at least moderately successful.

The Cowboys and Skip Bayless

Thu Jan 17 00:00:00 -0800 2008

Sorry for the delay guys, been dealing with stupid crap for my car lately. I almost have it back now. Almost.

Ok, my first post: why in the heck did the Cowboys lose that game?

Time of possession, total yardage, etc. all in the Cowboys favor, an obvious talent advantage, and home field advantage should have given them the win. What happened?

Discipline happened. Fundamentals happened. A huge penalty disparity is what inevitably cost the Cowboys the game. Not those dropped passes by T.O. and Crayton (although those didn't help), and definitely not Tony Romo's performance (which was good), but penalties. How many times did the Cowboys offense have a drive halted by a stupid penalty? How many times were the Giants allowed to continue a drive after being stopped because of a stupid penalty? This is the NFL, folks. You can't give NFL teams second and third chances and still think you're going to win a playoff game.

Summary: I think the Cowboys had better talent and better team chemistry (just look at what happened to the Giants last year), but their coaches failed the team by not getting them well enough prepared to play. There was a ton of time off before the game and absolutely no excuse for them to be penalty-ridden, but they still made the stupid mistakes.

Will Wade Phillips be fired? I have no idea. Should he? Again, I don't know. I'm not sure if Garrett is ready, or if Wade should bear the responsibility for the loss. He led the team to a 13-3 record, which should speak for itself. I do know that if Sparano leaves for Miami and Garrett accepts the Ravens position he's been offered, the Cowboys are in for a world of hurt, and will have to hold onto Wade (who still hasn't won a game in the playoffs).

Here are a couple of things that are very true: if the Cowboys (with this much talent) don't start winning in the playoffs, their fans will start rioting.

The only positive to take away from this is that T.O. did not in any way attack Tony Romo, instead backing him up in the most public and vocal way he could, even crying during an interview. Maybe Skip Bayless should finally shut the heck up about "Team Obliterator" and finally talk about something actually worth time on ESPN. Oh, wait... it's Skip Bayless. He doesn't have anything to talk about that's justified. His arguments are all worthless. He's the Anne Coulter of sports: he has no idea what he's talking about, he just makes outlandish statements to get attention. Well, sorry Skip. Looks like you're going to have to move on to your next ridiculous campaign. T.O. is here to stay, and backed up his QB.

Can you actually believe Skip Bayless blamed the last six games of the Cowboys regular season and the playoff game on the fact that Tony Romo was dating Jessica Simpson? I mean, seriously. Doesn't someone actually have to learn how to make logical, realistic arguments about sports before they are allowed air time on ESPN? It's a darn shame.