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NFL Mock Draft 2009 Draft of 2009 Lacks Star Power NFL Draft 2009: Getting Started Super Bowl Well Worth Tuning In For
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| NBA | |
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Prospects On Center Stage NBA Preview 2008/09: Final Call
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Talk About Unpredictable... By Ron Jumper The NFL regular season is over and wow is there a ton of things to talk about right now. I'm struggling to keep up as the week goes along, I literally fear that I'm going to get halfway through this article and something else crazy will happen so I have to rewrite the whole thing. There are crazy storylines any way you slice it: -The Cowboys not even making the playoffs, with the Eagles sneaking in -The Chargers coming back from 5-8 to win the division and now they host the Colts at home -Chad Pennington goes back to the Meadowlands to beat the Jets and win the AFC East -Matt Ryan being within a last-second Panthers field goal of winning the NFC South with the Atlanta Falcons -Four head coaching jobs are now available (See, you are out of breath already aren't you?) Before the season started, I really thought this could be a good Cowboys team. They seemed loaded across the board and I really liked their draft. I even thought Adam Jones would try to behave and realize this was his last shot in the NFL. They started off 3-0, averaging 32 points a game! However, it all must have just been too good to be true. Before anyone rips into Wade Phillips or Jerry Jones too much though, I will say if Romo hadn't gotten hurt then they would have beat the Rams in week 7 and had at least a fighting chance against the Giants in week 9. I'll also say that if Barber never got hurt then they would have been able to hold on to that 13-3 lead in the 4th quarter over Pittsburgh in week 14 because, let's face it, running out the clock in the 4th is when Barber is at his best. (I know, I know. All the what if non-sense doesn't matter. Other teams had injuries and issues come up along the way, so on and so on. This is all just food for thought. Don't get your panties in a wad just yet, I haven't even talked about Brett Favre!) Norv Turner needs to be thanking his lucky stars, counting his blessings, saying a prayer to whatever God he worships, or at least sending the Broncos a Thank You card. The Broncos were 8-5 and injuries just really started to take a toll on them, as they lost their last 3 games by a total of 58 points and missed the postseason. In fact, the injuries they had wouldn't even seem possible on Madden 2009. Apparently, the key to the Broncos success is not solidifying the defensive line or finding weapons for Jay Cutler to utilize. Nope, just hiring a competent training staff would have done the trick. Had all this not transpired, how could you not fire Norv Turner if they didn't win this pathetic division and not even make the playoffs despite having as talented a team as there is in the NFL? LT, Rivers, Gates, Cromartie, etc. The Jets are the typical "modern" offense that drives me crazy. The biggest problem I saw from the loss to the Dolphins wasn't Favre throwing three picks or the Jets D allowing Miami to basically do what they wanted on offense in both the running and passing game. Nope, my biggest complaint is how does Thomas Jones only carry the ball 10 times? It wasn't as if they were getting beat by several scores and they had to play catch up. The largest lead the Dolphins had was 14-6 in the first half. There was just no reason to throw 40 times and just give Thomas Jones and Leon Washington 10 carries a piece. The numbers strongly back up my theory. The Jets are 6-1 when Jones gets at least 18 carries, 3-6 when he has 17 or less. Of the Jets last 5 games, in which they went 1-4, only once did Jones get to 20 carries and that was also the only game they won over that stretch. Does this seem like rocket science to anyone else? It seems pretty simple to me. Not only would they have a more balanced offense, but Favre wouldn't have thrown so many picks. In those same 7 games that Jones got 18+ carries, Favre threw 14 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions. In the other 9 games, Favre threw only 8 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. So the Atlanta Falcons are 11-5 and made the playoffs. THE ATLANTA FALCONS ARE 11-5 AND MADE THE PLAYOFFS! What is the world coming to? How can this be? But seriously, I have been a huge fan of Matt Ryan and thought he was going to be dynamic since he was a junior at BC (feel free to scour through old NFL Draft articles if you must). I thought Michael Turner could be a starter in the NFL, but I didn't envision this kind of success for him this season. All that being said, the guy I really was blown away by how good of a season he had was Roddy White. Out of Alabama-Birmingham, White has received little attention for his outstanding play the last 2 seasons. I think it is time to give him his due, as he had 1202 yards receiving in 2007 and improved that total to 1382 this season. White's 2584 yards receiving is an impressive fourth behind Larry Fitzgerald (2840), Reggie Wayne (2655), and Brandon Marshall (2590) over that same 2-year span. While that stat would be a great Did You Know question at your next awkward social gathering, it also solidifies White as an upper-echelon wide receiver in the NFL. I said at the top that I feared I would get halfway through this and have to rewrite it, just as I thought, Mike Shanahan was fired shortly after I began working on this article. I think the NFL goes in cycles because, after awhile, doing the same thing just doesn’t work anymore. It can be for a number of different reasons, but changing things up and going in a whole new direction is virtually unavoidable. Ten years from now, most Broncos fans and players will look back fondly on the Shanahan era and reminisce over the good years. However, the front office better be careful and hire a good coach though. A simple rule (brought to the forefront by Auburn) is that you don’t make a controversial fire unless you know you can make a great hire. The fan base’s mood going into next season will be dictated by who this new coach is. It is a great job with loyal fans, a great young QB, and a definite home-field advantage at Mile High so landing a solid coach is more than doable. January 1, 2009 |
| NCAA Football | |
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Be Careful What You Wish For
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| NCAA Basketball | |
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Jumpology: My Bracket Jumpology: Scouting The Heavyweights Jumpology: Reviewing The Bracket
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