This and That (What I Like about You)

[Zeus]

1. What I like about the 2013 New England Patriots is how they have taken the coaching of Bill Belichick to heart. They have faced adversity on and off the field. And yet, they have not given in to distractions and they have never, ever made a single excuse. Instead, they study film and practice hard. They focus on what they can control and they prepare, prepare, prepare. And most remarkably, no matter which 46 players dress for the game, when they take the field, they expect to win. How this works out in the tournament is anyone’s guess. But I think the Patriots have the resolve, focus and discipline to at least have a puncher’s chance. One game at a time …

2. Tony Dungy may be right when he calls the Broncos the team to beat in the AFC but goes too far when he says that he can’t see anyone in the AFC beating them. St. Tony’s longstanding man-crush on Peyton Manning has blinded him to certain facts obvious to even the most casual observer, most notably that the Broncos have already lost to three of this season’s AFC playoff qualifiers (Indianapolis, New England, San Diego). So Tony, just what is it that makes them unbeatable now?

3. The Pressure is Building - Dungy also conveniently ignores Mr. Manning’s well-documented penchant for competing in the postseason with a large bone lodged in his trachea. Manning is attempting to become the first QB to reach the Super Bowl without throwing a single spiral pass since Joe Kapp did it in 1969. The next two weeks of ruminating about past failures, lousy weather and the sorry state of his flaccid noodle-arm will clench Manning’s sphincter so tight that his lips will pucker, rendering his visage gaunt and toothless. While this year’s record-breaking performance has cemented his legacy as a greedy, stat-obsessed glory hog who is also one of the greatest regular season QBs in pro football history, Manning will once again take the field in the playoffs wallowing in a morass of uncertainty and self-doubt.

4. How the West was Won - Is it a coincidence that the Broncos are the top seed in the AFC while two other teams from the same division qualified for the tournament? Thank the pathetic NFC East. The Broncos, Chief and Chargers went a combined 11-1 against their so-called opposition from the NFC.

5. The NFL Rule Book has gotten overly prescriptive and far too technical to expect the current crew of geriatric part-time officials to enforce all of the rules with any degree of consistency. The idea that any problem, whether it be player safety or a short-term dearth of scoring, can be addressed with yet another arcane rule change, has gotten way out of hand and the byzantine interpretation of existing rules is beyond mind-boggling. Officials, coaches and players do not have a common understanding of what constitutes pass interference. Every week, the outcome of yet another game hinges on the enforcement a some bizarre, obscure, highly technical rule that no one has ever heard of before. When you can no longer shake the feeling that rule enforcement is random, subjective and capricious, the integrity of the game is called into question.

6. Hall of Blame - The roots of this go back to Bill Polian’s manipulation of the Competition Committee to change the emphasis and interpretation of pass defense rules. This was done not in the best interests of the great game of professional football, but rather in Polian's naked self-interest. There’s an especially hot corner in Football Hell for Mr. Polian whose greed and shortsightedness have irreparably damaged the game

7. Billionaire Boys Club – Today was Decision Day for the captains of industry, the high achieving, brilliant geniuses who guide the fortunes of the NFL. What a freak show:

• Jim Haslam (Cleveland) and the Glazer family (Tampa) did little to dispel the notion that they are petulant, impatient trigger-happy spoiled brats who will stamp their feet and fire everyone in sight if they don’t get their way, right away.
  
  
• The Ford family in Detroit mysteriously awakened from a catatonic stupor to find their talented football team in shambles, something that was apparent to Lion fans years ago.
  
  
• Erectile Dysfunction Icon Woody Johnson affirmed his lifelong commitment to mediocrity.
  
  
• Mr. Daniel Snyder added another notch to his belt, a testament to the fact that that Mr. Daniel Snyder is wholly incapable of establishing a constructive working relationship with a single sentient human being anywhere on God’s green earth.
  
  
• And Jerry Jones – oh, brother, don’t even get me started on Jerry Jones.

The fact that such obvious and epic mismanagement has no discernable detrimental effect on these owners’ ability to make huge money is tangible evidence of just how much people love the game of football. It’s a great business. But life needn't be fair, so while the coaches and players are held accountable for their transgressions, the owners can be monumental ****-ups for life and still end up rolling in cash.

8. Tournament Time – 256 regular season games are in the record books. Twelve teams enter the eleven game tournament to determine who gets to hold The Big Parade. It is the most compelling event in sports. The next five weeks are going to fly - I dread the end of the season almost as much as I love the tournament.

Here's wishing everyone a healthy, happy and fulfilling New Year!

 

[OhExaulted1]

Hey! uh huh huh

 

[OhExaulted1]

Manning is attempting to become the first QB to reach the Super Bowl without throwing a single spiral pass since Joe Kapp did it in 1969. The next two weeks of ruminating about past failures, lousy weather and the sorry state of his flaccid noodle-arm will clench Manning’s sphincter so tight that his lips will pucker, rendering his visage gaunt and toothless. While this year’s record-breaking performance has cemented his legacy as a greedy, stat-obsessed glory hog who is also one of the greatest regular season QBs in pro football history, Manning will once again take the field in the playoffs wallowing in a morass of uncertainty and self-doubt.

Ouch! Tell us what you REALLY think.

 

[PATS16N0]

I love you.

 

[supafly]

Exceptional writing, as usual. Thanks for all of your contributions.

The big concern that I have is that we're all counting on Manning to lose at home based on the fact that it's happened before. While I can obviously understand that thinking, I'm not as sure as some that it's definitely going to occur. Of course I hope that it does, and preferably prior to our team heading out west for the AFCCG. As you say though, one game at a time. Whatever opponent comes to Foxborough (KC, IND, or CIN) is definitely going to play very hard and there's no way I'm taking anything for granted on ANY level.

The thought of beating Denver in 2/2 games this season, along with 3x in a row has to be somewhat concerning to even the biggest homer on the forum though. It's a challenge of monumental proportions in my opinion, just due to the odds of beating a quality team like that so many times in a row--especially on their home field.

 

[DarrylS]

5. The NFL Rule Book has gotten overly prescriptive and far too technical to expect the current crew of geriatric part-time officials to enforce all of the rules with any degree of consistency. The idea that any problem, whether it be player safety or a short-term dearth of scoring, can be addressed with yet another arcane rule change, has gotten way out of hand and the byzantine interpretation of existing rules is beyond mind-boggling. Officials, coaches and players do not have a common understanding of what constitutes pass interference. Every week, the outcome of yet another game hinges on the enforcement a some bizarre, obscure, highly technical rule that no one has ever heard of before. When you can no longer shake the feeling that rule enforcement is random, subjective and capricious, the integrity of the game is called into question.

6. Hall of Blame - The roots of this go back to Bill Polian’s manipulation of the Competition Committee to change the emphasis and interpretation of pass defense rules. This was done not in the best interests of the great game of professional football, but rather in Polian's naked self-interest. There’s an especially hot corner in Football Hell for Mr. Polian whose greed and shortsightedness have irreparably damaged the game

Very well written...

Aside from the anointing of St. Peyton of Various as the greatest of all time, all the while hear the mediots echoing what would happen if Johnny Unitas was still playing.. makes no difference, Peyton had a very good year... but with his supporting cast makes me wonder if Josh Freeman could have been successful in that scheme with those players.

The greatest issue this year has been the obvious inconsistent play calling, we have witnessed several games that did not go our way because of this.. non-calls and the famous "push" call have tainted my view of any hope at consistency from the officiating crews. Every week it seems as though there are stories about how the officials made a mistake that could have effected an outcome written after the fact. Believe there was one last week in the KC game... too many mistakes. Have heard that is could be fixed by adding another official, and for some reason the owners are balking at paying about 16 more officials. Makes no sense, as why destroy or water down a multi million dollar product by not doing so.

OTOH is the refs do not understand the rules could add three more refs and it would make no difference.... some of the decisions on the field which effected outcomes are just plain stupid...

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

3. The Pressure is Building - Dungy also conveniently ignores Mr. Manning’s well-documented penchant for competing in the postseason with a large bone lodged in his trachea.

It's easy to understand when Dungy was the captain of the ship for theg reat majority of those early exits.

and loved the part of the billionaire boys club. And it's definitely a game that brings the money. Many of those owners haven't had success for quite some time. But, the idea of parity must work in the hearts and minds of people because teams can go from worst to first (especially NFCS). Most of these owners haven't figured out the common denominator of the failure and in Jerry Jones cases, he must be trapped in some type of mental state that makes him think 1993 wasn't 20 years ago.

 

[MassPats38]

3. The Pressure is Building - Dungy also conveniently ignores Mr. Manning’s well-documented penchant for competing in the postseason with a large bone lodged in his trachea. Manning is attempting to become the first QB to reach the Super Bowl without throwing a single spiral pass since Joe Kapp did it in 1969. The next two weeks of ruminating about past failures, lousy weather and the sorry state of his flaccid noodle-arm will clench Manning’s sphincter so tight that his lips will pucker, rendering his visage gaunt and toothless. While this year’s record-breaking performance has cemented his legacy as a greedy, stat-obsessed glory hog who is also one of the greatest regular season QBs in pro football history, Manning will once again take the field in the playoffs wallowing in a morass of uncertainty and self-doubt.

My favorite time of year for the man. Enjoy the Brady experience of 2007, with all its offensive records, and the national expectations for the team, and add to it a history of first round exits from the playoffs with the fear this may be the last chance. It should be awesome.

If he gets booted out again in the first round, I believe I will celebrate by ordering a Papa John's pizza.

Great post, Zeus!

 

[UK_Pat37]

Very well written...

Aside from the anointing of St. Peyton of Various as the greatest of all time, all the while hear the mediots echoing what would happen if Johnny Unitas was still playing.. makes no difference, Peyton had a very good year... but with his supporting cast makes me wonder if Josh Freeman could have been successful in that scheme with those players.

The greatest issue this year has been the obvious inconsistent play calling, we have witnessed several games that did not go our way because of this.. non-calls and the famous "push" call have tainted my view of any hope at consistency from the officiating crews. Every week it seems as though there are stories about how the officials made a mistake that could have effected an outcome written after the fact. Believe there was one last week in the KC game... too many mistakes. Have heard that is could be fixed by adding another official, and for some reason the owners are balking at paying about 16 more officials. Makes no sense, as why destroy or water down a multi million dollar product by not doing so.

OTOH is the refs do not understand the rules could add three more refs and it would make no difference.... some of the decisions on the field which effected outcomes are just plain stupid...

It really doesn't bother me a tremendous amount. Whether you dumb it down further or not, officials will always make mistakes simply because they're human like you and me.

Every week we hear about an officiating mistake that may have cost someone the game...sure. But every week I hear of a player's mistake like a drop, bad pass etc. that costs their team a win.

Everyone in a football stadium makes a crucial mistake on a Sunday. The refs will make a bad call which can stall a drive at any point in a game (they can also miss one that keeps a drive alive), the coaches can make a bad play call, a player will miss a tackle or drop a pass and, finally, some idiot fan will get drunkenly thrown out or throw away way too much money betting on his team. They are all mistakes.

It's what football is ABOUT. It's what being human is about. Let us stop whining about it and holding any hope of anything different.

We haven't lost any of our four games by more than a one score margin...that tells me we could have done something ourselves about it and not just on the final drive of a game.

 

[resdubwhite]

Epic Zeus..

 

[hyperpat]

Great post, Zeus.


Agree that beating "3-yd TD pass" Manning and his receivership company won't be that easy. We can hope he melts and throws three picks, but he might also have a decent game in oxygen-deprived Denver and squeak past the Pats. The Donkeys did have the late lead in the game against the Ravens last year until Slack-Jaw Joe made another blind offering to St. Ballista for the winning TD.

 

[nabwong]

How about getting refs to wear google glass? Lol.

 

[SalemPats]

1. What I like about the 2013 New England Patriots is how they have taken the coaching of Bill Belichick to heart. They have faced adversity on and off the field. And yet, they have not given in to distractions and they have never, ever made a single excuse. Instead, they study film and practice hard. They focus on what they can control and they prepare, prepare, prepare. And most remarkably, no matter which 46 players dress for the game, when they take the field, they expect to win. How this works out in the tournament is anyone’s guess. But I think the Patriots have the resolve, focus and discipline to at least have a puncher’s chance. One game at a time …

2. Tony Dungy may be right when he calls the Broncos the team to beat in the AFC but goes too far when he says that he can’t see anyone in the AFC beating them. St. Tony’s longstanding man-crush on Peyton Manning has blinded him to certain facts obvious to even the most casual observer, most notably that the Broncos have already lost to three of this season’s AFC playoff qualifiers (Indianapolis, New England, San Diego). So Tony, just what is it that makes them unbeatable now?

I agree with these two things. I'm not going to say we don't deserve the #2 seed in the AFC, but i think with our injuries and changes it's suprising we got this seed. BB has done an excellent job and was extremely creative this year. What I love about BB is it doesn't matter who you are, if you outperform someone in practice you will get your opportunity. There are too many coaches who feel that the reputation or draft pick of a player should give them an opportunity. No bias aside, he is the coach of the year for 2013.

As for the Broncos, they are the favorites by a good margin, they earned the #1 seed and have a prolific offense. Peyton is comfortable at home. Saying that, the Broncos defense has been bad and we know that in cold weather, especially snow, timing gets disrupted and Peyton is rattled. Peyton is not as patient as Tom and in bad field conditions, cold weather, he is affected more than others because his timing is off. His quick release and adjustments at the line are negated by sloppy routes and bad conditions.

I'm expecting a Patriots/Broncos AFC final and i think we can do it.

 

[Tunescribe]

My favorite time of year for the man. Enjoy the Brady experience of 2007, with all its offensive records, and the national expectations for the team, and add to it a history of first round exits from the playoffs with the fear this may be the last chance. It should be awesome.

If he gets booted out again in the first round, I believe I will celebrate by ordering a Papa John's pizza.

Supporting Papa John's with your purchase will only encourage him. I suggest Pizza Hut.

 

[goheels22002]

Supporting Papa John's with your purchase will only encourage him. I suggest Pizza Hut.

Click the link and read the story about Peyton Manning's top-selling PJ's franchise and the employees being forced to work after being robbed at gunpoint. Peyton Manning's Papa John's -- Employees Quit After Armed Robbery ... They Forced Us to Work During Traumatic Ordeal | TMZ.com

The Patriots ought to trade the rights to Aaron Hernandez as a security guard to Papa John's for a large extra cheese pizza.

 

[MassPats38]

Supporting Papa John's with your purchase will only encourage him. I suggest Pizza Hut.

I was going for a Silence of the Lambs approach with the rare lamb dinner after listening to Jodie Foster's traumatic lamb slaughter story. It seemed only fitting.

 

[NormZauchin]

7. Billionaire Boys Club – Today was Decision Day for the captains of industry, the high achieving, brilliant geniuses who guide the fortunes of the NFL. What a freak show:

• Jim Haslam (Cleveland) and the Glazer family (Tampa) did little to dispel the notion that they are petulant, impatient trigger-happy spoiled brats who will stamp their feet and fire everyone in sight if they don’t get their way, right away.
  
  
• The Ford family in Detroit mysteriously awakened from a catatonic stupor to find their talented football team in shambles, something that was apparent to Lion fans years ago.
  
  
• Erectile Dysfunction Icon Woody Johnson affirmed his lifelong commitment to mediocrity.
  
  
• Mr. Daniel Snyder added another notch to his belt, a testament to the fact that that Mr. Daniel Snyder is wholly incapable of establishing a constructive working relationship with a single sentient human being anywhere on God’s green earth.
  
  
• And Jerry Jones – oh, brother, don’t even get me started on Jerry Jones.

The fact that such obvious and epic mismanagement has no discernable detrimental effect on these owners’ ability to make huge money is tangible evidence of just how much people love the game of football. It’s a great business. But life needn't be fair, so while the coaches and players are held accountable for their transgressions, the owners can be monumental ****-ups for life and still end up rolling in cash.

I have a different take on the incompetence of billionaire owners in the NFL. Having had a front row seat to observe the foolishness of Mr. Daniel Snyder, I am struck by his talent for making money paired with his inability to create a winning Redskins team. My conclusion: In an arena with set and enforced rules that strictly govern owner behavior with regard to the acquisition and disposal of both athletic and management talent, Mr. Daniel Snyder has shown himself to be a fool. In the larger world, where rules (laws) govern primarily criminal behavior and give great scope in the economic arena, Mr. Daniel Snyder is a big winner. He can add obstructed view seats to FedEx Field, increase the price of food and drink to insane levels, sue 125 season ticket holders who asked to be released from their contracts because of financial emergencies like loss of jobs, and influence the local government to make it illegal to cross a road leading to the stadium, thus preventing use of free parking beyond FedEx field property. To me it shows that many of the most wealthy are not free market geniuses, but merely 21st century freebooters, doing whatever is necessary to make their millions.

 

[Gwedd]

Zeus wrote:

8. Tournament Time – 256 regular season games are in the record books. Twelve teams enter the eleven game tournament to determine who gets to hold The Big Parade. It is the most compelling event in sports. The next five weeks are going to fly - I dread the end of the season almost as much as I love the tournament.

Here's wishing everyone a healthy, happy and fulfilling New Year!

This.

Fear & Loathing in New England.

I'm either going to go one a two-week bender if we lose, or a two week bender if we win out. hard to decide which, just now.

The only GOOD thing about not having football to discuss for a couple months is that it forces me to get stuff done around the house that would otherwise be set aside while the season is on.

Best wishes to everyone for a Wondrous and Prosperous New Year!

GO PATS!