The 5 Step Drop 11.01.07: Regular Season Week 9
Posted by Javier Zuniga on 11.01.2007
A look at why the winner of this week's Colts vs. Patriots game should end up being considered THE greatest team in NFL history, why you should never let your franchise Quarterback party with Britney Spears the day before you give him $70 million, and why Maurice Jones-Drew is going to kill the Saints this week.
Welcome.
Hopefully you all had a fun Halloween. And now we can all turn our attention to what every major sport media outlet will say is THE GAME OF THE YEAR in the NFL.
That's right. Patriots. Colts. THE GAME OF THE YEAR.
Despite the fact that this week's schedule features a slew of intriguing match-ups, despite the fact that it is only Week 9, despite the fact that this isn't a divisional match-up and that both teams have a ton of tough games left (Colts go to San Diego and host the Jags and Titans; Pats go to Baltimore and play the Steelers), despite all that, every talking head on ESPN, Fox, MSN, Yahoo, CBS, NBC, ABC…everyone….will tell you that this is THE GAME OF THE YEAR!!! Hell, I'm pretty sure perezhilton.com will be doing a feature on the game based on which team has the ‘tightest buns.'
Here's the problem: they actually might not be hyping this game up ENOUGH. Because whoever wins THE GAME OF THE YEAR is going to end up as THE GREATEST TEAM IN NFL HISTORY.
Hear me out. Since the advent of true free agency it's been hard to build a truly GREAT team. Back in the early days of the NFL and on through the 1970s and 80s, franchises could regularly collect so much talent that they would simply roll through the regular season and dominate the post-season on the way to the Super Bowl. It was a lot like Major League Baseball is now where you might have the occasional team come out of nowhere and have a good year, but for the most part you knew who was going to be good on a year-in year-out basis.
The Packers from 1959-'67: Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor, Max McGee, Ray Nitschke. Coached by Vince Lombardi.
The Steelers from 1972-79: Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann. Great players overshadowed by a defense that featured GREATER players: 'Mean' Joe Greene, Mel Blount, Jack Ham, and the most ruthless man to ever set foot on a football field, Jack Lambert.
The Niners from 1981-1990: Joe Montana. Jerry Rice. Ronnie Lott. Three guys who are arguably the greatest ever at their position.
The Cowboys from 1992-95: The first "dynasty" broken up by the beginning of true free agency in the NFL featured a host of HOF caliber players on the offensive side of the ball – Aikman, Smith, Irvin – and a great defense anchored by Charles Haley, Darren Woodson, and one season of Deion Sanders.
Those weren't teams. They were juggernauts. You could've filled a wing in Canton with just the HOF'ers on these teams.
And that doesn't even take into account the Hank Stram Chiefs of the 60s, the Tom Landry Cowboys that won two Super Bowls during the 70s, the Dolphins of 72 and 73, the Giants and ‘Skins of the 80s, and maybe the greatest singular team in NFL history, the 1985 Chicago Bears.
Even teams that made it a habit to lose Super Bowls – the 70s Vikings or the Bills from 1990-1994 - are better than many of the NFL champions post free-agency period:
But not this year. Not these teams.
The Patriots have already won three Super Bowls. They lost in on conference championship and came within one Champ Bailey interception of heading to another. And yet this team is more talented by far than any of those teams. They have Pro-Bowlers at every level of the defense. They shuffle HOF LB's in and out of the line-up. They've been dominant despite the fact that arguably their best defensive player has missed the first seven games of the season. And offensively….it gets worse. Tom Brady has been winning with a collection of midget WRs and NFL cast-offs. This year, with a squadron of talented wide-outs led by Randy Moss, he's on pace to absolutely shatter every meaningful single season record for QBs, the team is scoring points at a record pace, and their margin-of-victory is unseen in the NFL. They are an offensive machine. The only thing that even approaches them statistically is the 1999 Rams.
As for the Colts….well, they're no slouches either. If they win this year, the Colts become one of those rare back-to-back champions in the NFL. Looking more closely, the Colts have had winning records in 7 of the last 8 seasons, are a combined 60-20 since Tony Dungy took over, and have won 4 straight division titles. Impressive considering how hard it is to maintain success in the NFL. On an individual level, they are not as talented as the Pats, but Marvin Harrison is a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, Reggie Wayne is getting there, and Payton Manning (especially if he gets another ring this year) will be considered by most people as the best quarterback who ever played the game.
That's why this game means so much. Whoever wins will probably host the AFC Title game. This will give them a huge advantage as they move towards winning the Super Bowl. And let's be real: barring injury or some HUGE upset, either the Colts or Pats are winning the Super Bowl this year.
And whatever team that is, they should be considered THE GREATEST TEAM IN NFL HISTORY.
And no, I'm not kidding. Let's take a closer look as we examine this week's match-ups.
Sunday, November 4, New England Patriots (8-0) @ Indianapolis Colts (7-0) : I always, always, always want to lean towards the Colts in the RCA Dome. And not just because of the track meet offense. The turf makes their defense, which has been tough this year anyways, even more effective. Especially Dwight Freeney and the rest of the Colts pass rush. That could make a big difference because the one thing that teams haven't been able to do is get any pressure on Tom Brady. And you can't blitz because if you do, that puts your corners in man coverage, and all you have to do is miss once and Randy Moss is 70 yards down the field standing in the end-zone making Raiders fans throw up in their mouths.
And that‘s the other thing: the Colts corners. Kelvin Hayden and Marlin Jackson haven't looked bad this year. The team is actually first in the NFL in passing yards allowed. But they haven't exactly faced any great passing teams. Statistically, the Saints in Week 1 were the toughest passing team they've faced this year, and they were a mess back then. Does anyone honestly believe that those two no-name corners are gong to slow down these wide-outs? No way. And if you can't even begin to slow down the passing game, then you can't stop this offense. You are literally hoping for Tom Brady to make a mistake and force a ball into coverage. Good luck with that.
On the other side of the ball, the Colts offense is ….the same as the Colts offense usually is: Great! Precisely run. Balanced. Very few mistakes. The Colts are going to score points. And the Pats defense has shown it will give up points. But it won't be easy. And the Patriots always do at least one thing exactly the same whenever they play the Colts: they beat up the wide receivers. They aren't dirty. They are just physical and every time a Colts receiver catches a ball they do get punished and that does tend to slow them down as the game goes on.
In the end, I think this game plays out much like the Patriots-Cowboys game a few weeks back. The Colts will be close for three quarters. They may even take a lead late. But the Patriots offense just does not seem stoppable. And the Pats eventually figure you out. Pats win.
Go ahead and get out the history books. This is a team you'll be telling your grandchildren about.
Sunday, November 4, Dallas Cowboys (6-1) @ Philadelphia Eagles (3-4): I woke up Tuesday morning to two bits of Cowboys related news: First, it seemed as though QB Tony Romo had finally signed his extension. At 6 years, $67.5 million, it actually was well in line with the salaries of other top NFL QBs and I thought it was smart for the team to take care of this business before the play-off run so it didn't become a distraction. Plus, realistically, if the Cowboys continue this pace and end up in the NFC Title game or beyond Romo could've easily demanded quite a bit more. My reaction? Pretty positive, actually.
My reaction to this? ARE YOU F***'N KIDDING ME? YOU'RE ABOUT TO SIGN A GIGANTIC CONTRACT AND BECOME THE FRANCHISE PLAYER FOR THE MOST HIGH-PROFILE TEAM IN THE NFL AND YOU'RE RUNNING AROUND WITH SOME BLOATED HAS-BEEN WHO'S LIFE IS AND CAREER IS FLUSHING DOWN THE TOILET!!! EVERYTHING THAT PIECE OF TRAILER TRASH TOUCHES TURNS TO SH*T AND YOU'RE LETTING HER GRIND ON YOUR D*CK FOR A PHOTO-OP AND STORY IN PEOPLE?
ARE YOU MENTAL?
Seriously, it's Los Angeles. There are hotter looking girls strolling down Melrose. Miss Tubby probably didn't even know who you were, Tony. Maybe you just smelled like bacon.
Of course the team had a laugh about it during the press conference to announce the extension. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones even dropped this zinger:
"I've told Tony that sometimes they can smell fresh cash."
HAHAHA… No!!! This must be stopped. It should be a clause in the contract. You can NOT have your franchise quarterback involved with this walking train-wreck. Is this what you want to deal with the night before a big game?:
Exactly who I'd want hanging out with MY star QB before the NFC Title Game.
Exactly. The Cowboys are the better team, but because of the emotional devastation, and the fact that Donnie McNabb regularly lights the Cowboys up like a Christmas tree, I say the Eagles win this week.
Sunday, November 4, Carolina Panthers (4-3) @ Tennessee Titans (5-2): The Panthers are back to their schizophrenic ways. They have enough talent on paper to be one of the better teams in the NFL. But their offense is very inconsistent. They don't even know who their starting QB will be. And even their defense, which used to be the one thing they could depend on, is among the bottom third of the NFL. However, they are still a play-off contender and their game with the Saints on November 25th will more than likely decide the division.
Unfortunately, the Titans are in the AFC South which is the toughest division in football and even at 5-2 will be fighting for their postseason lives for the rest of the year. But at least they've found an identity. They punch you in the face on defense and run it down your throat on offense. Every once in a while they ask Vince Young to make a big play with his arm or with his legs. They actually remind me a lot of that Titans that went to the Super Bowl in '99.
The Titans are the better team. But I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Steve Smith is going t have one of those days where he takes over the game and the Panthers get the upset.
Sunday, November 4, Jacksonville Jaguars (5-2) @ New Orleans Saints (3-4): The Saints have won three straight and are back on track in the NFC South. The offense is clicking again and Reggie Bush has been surprisingly productive since becoming the full-time #1 RB. Unfortunately, they are facing exactly the wrong team to continue this roll.
If you've read any of my columns, you know I have nothing but respect for this Jaguars team. They are big, tough, physical, they don't make many mistakes, they have an A+ run game, and they get just enough out of their QB position to win games. The fact that this game is indoors on turf doesn't even bother me. The Jags win.
Also....my one piece of fantasy advice for this week: Maurice Jones-Drew is going to go nuts. Have you ever heard him talk about how he felt about being passed over in the draft? He plays with a GIANT chip on his shoulder. He loves paying back the teams that didn't draft him last year. MJD has spent his entire life hearing the Reggie Bush is better than him and now he gets to go to New Orleans? It's going to take four guys to tackle him on every down.
Sunday, November 4, Green Bay Packers (6-1) @ Kansas City Chiefs (4-3): Much like the Saints, the Chiefs have finally started to get their act together. And much like the Saints, they are playing the exact wrong team to continue their roll. The Chiefs are good defensively, but they are erratic offensively and without a consistent running game to keep Favre off the field, the Pack is going to run them out of Arrowhead. Packers win.
That's it for this week. Lotta straight up football talk I this column. I think it's appropriate considering the significance of this week. We'll return to our regularly scheduled shenanigans in Week 10.
