NFL Quick Hits

A Four Pack Of NFL Thoughts...


1. Sit'em Or To Play'em

With the Colts and Saints being undefeated, there is a question on whether they should sit their players or go for the record. I like Sean Payton's approach with his teams and that is to go for the record. The '72 Dolphins and the '07 are the only two teams to go through the regular season undefeated, with the Dolphins being the only team winning the championship. Now the Colts have been in this position before and resting their players has backfired on them. The one team that is built to beat the Colts and have a nice little streak going themselves is the San Diego Chargers. The Colts have so much trouble with them in the playoffs. Peyton Manning and the rest of his teammates should be playing to keep themselves in rhythm. The Colts offense is predicated off timing, less playing will throw their offense off kilter. The Saints on the other hand have the Vikings breathing down their neck for homefield advantage. The Saints can play in the Metrodome, but never having to travel is a nicer luxury to have. Having a the Vikings chase them keeps New Orleans in playoff mode throughout the rest of the season. I say playing is better because the stats say the teams that have home field advantage, often have a losing record playing the wild-card team. Mercury Morris and the rest of the '72 Dolphins want these teams to sit their starters so they can pop their champagne...



2. You Are What Your Record Says You Are






I was talking to my cousin yesterday and he reminded me of this quote by Bill Parcells. This is so true when it comes to the futility that is in the NFL. The Rams, Lions and Browns are bad. No other word or words can describe these three teams. I was on the fence about who was worse the Rams or Lions and I can now say its the Rams. These team has absolutely no talent, no direction and no leaders. The Rams biggest mistake was trading away the Jay Cutler pick and keeping Marc Bulger. That has set this franchise back five years. So Cutler isn't setting the world on fire in Chicago, pair him with Steven Jackson and you are at least .500.The Rams could have rectified this problem by drafting Mark Sanchez but they went with an offensive linemen, this just should the ineptitude of this franchise. The Browns are in the same situation. You need a franchise qb to build around, and Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson is not the answer. This team hates their coach and lays down weekly against their opponents. The reason why the Lions are a little better, they have Matthew Stafford. At least he provides the Lions with a ray of hope along with Calvin Johnson. I nearly forgot Tampa. They are probably in the same positions as the Rams. I just don't see any talent on that team but they drafted a quarterback and will build around him.








3. Speaking Of Bad Teams...

Coaches on the hot seat or that will be fired. Eric Mangini is most likely gone. As mentioned before, his players despise him, and I believe most of Cleveland dislikes him. Mangini just seems to rub people the wrong way. Excessive fines, no commitment to a qb are just a few of the things that will get him run out of Cleveland. John Fox will be out and you will probably see Bill Cowher in Carolina. Buffalo has already fired their coach and Mike Shanahan and a host of others have been linked to this job. Washington will have a new coach and so will Dallas. A sleeper to me is the Houston Texans. Gary Kubiak team should have made the playoffs and now they are in danger of finishing below .500 again. I would include the Raiders but they might keep Cable because no one else would want that job.













4. MVP

MVP is a tough call. You got Brees, Favre, and Manning. If Brees and Manning were not putting up Madden video game like numbers, Aaron Rodgers and Chris Johnson would also be great candidates.The sentimental pick would be Favre because of the age and the last two years of him playing hurt. For me I have to go with Drew Brees. He is playing out of his mind. The Saints score when they want to. Brees makes all the throws you want your qb to make. He has resurrected a downtrodden franchise and city. You rate a MVP by if he wasn't there, would their team be that good. The Saints or the Colts for that manner would not be that good. I just give the slight edge to Brees.