Extra Points (College)

Another great weekend of College Football games this weekend. So let's get to top games this weekend and my thoughts about them:

1. Notre Dame v. Oklahoma: Here's the scenario the Fighting Irish have not been 8-0 since 2002. Bob Stoops, lost his very first game against the Irish. Brian Kelly has a superior defense but using two quarterback's has to catch up with them at some point. Landry is a senior QB facing a young secondary. This has the makings of a classic.

2. Miss. St. v. Alabama: In most years on paper the Mississippi St. Bulldogs would be completely over matched against the Crimson Tide and this year looks to be the same, except I think the Bulldogs can give Alabama some trouble. The Bulldogs schedule has been really soft up to this point but what they have is a good offensive coach that can make Saban raise his game on defense. In the end the defense of the Crimson Tide should carry them to victory but except the Bulldogs to keep it close.

3. Georgia v. Florida: If Georgia wants to turn its season around this game would be the game. Florida comes in No.2 in the BCS and by winning this game they clinch the SEC East. Georgia defense after playing well the first few games got torched by South Carolina and hasn't played a good game in three weeks. They have a chance to make the one-dimensional Gators pay. Florida has to throw the ball better if it wants a shot at a National Title.

4. Texas Tech v. Kansas St.: Texas Tech is 6-1 in the Big 12 South and K-State is undefeated in the North. This game is crucial for Colin Klein's Heisman hopes as well as a National Title chances. Tech is a great story because no one expects them to be in this position of spoiler and sleeper for a Big 12 title but they are. Think about how Tech took apart West Virginia and made Geno Smith look human. The Red Raiders defense is very good and will give Klein and Snyder trouble.

5. Duke v. Florida St.: Yes, that is the Duke Blue Devil Football team and not basketball. Probably the most underrated and unnoticed team and coach is the Blue Devils. Coach David Cutcliffe (who Ole Miss fans lose their minds when you say his name. The guy who coached Eli Manning and never made a real bowl game) has the Blue Devils bowl eligible at 6-2 and facing a Seminole team missing some key defenders. Its just weird talking about Duke football being good. Come to think of it the last time Duke was in a bowl game was in 1994. Way too long.

Extra Points (College and NFL)

1. Florida @ No.2?-I've been on record saying who the BCS simply doesn't like any schools in the western time zone. But for once I believe they have it right by putting the Gators AHEAD of the Ducks. My only objection this year is that the SEC is a little more overrated than most years, so while having the Gators in front now is OK, in the end Ducks, as long as they stay undefeated should be playing for the National Title. Alabama is superior to all others in the SEC, while LSU (has no offense), South Carolina (tough schedule and injuries sealed their fate) and Georgia (crumbled as usual) are not really as good as most people thought.

2. Any Reason For Saban To Leave?-No way Nick Saban is going to leave Alabama for Cleveland, right...No one truly believes this but with a new ownership group and fan base that is desperate for a winner, the Browns will talk to him and offer him most of Fort Knox to get him back to Cleveland. Saban is a smart guy and with an ego the size of Texas and the money and power that the Browns can offer will definitely have them flirting for a while. But why leave a place like Tuscaloosa for Cleveland? The challenge of matching his buddy Belichick and making up for his failure with the Dolphins. People forget that Saban desperately wanted Drew Brees while he was with the Dolphins because he knew that would turn the franchise around. Having that franchise quarterback makes life in the NFL a little easier. Just ask the Saints, who with Brees have won a Super Bowl.

3. Notre Dame Is Squeaking By-The Golden Domers are still undefeated after getting past BYU.Looks like they will finally get a BCS Bowl bid, barring a massive collapse. This team is playing a lot like Brian Kelly's Cincinatti teams minus the offense. Their defense has been devastating and the have a true defensive player as a Heisman candidate in Mantei Te'o. As long as they keep winning Te'o will be in New York City and the first defense player threatening to win the Heisman since Charles Woodson. 

4. Kansas State Came From Nowhere-The Wildcats of Manhattan have completely caught many people off guard with their play. Colin Klein (as of right now leading the Heisman vote) is like Tebow but his passing is worse. Bill Snyder is proving that you can win in your late 70's and has the resurgent Wildcats threatening for the National Championship. The tough part of the schedule is behind K-State and the most difficult games are at home. No one expected this team and the coach to be in the hunt but they are proving it with tough play. The problem is if they are undefeated and Oregon is, who would the people want to see face Alabama?

5. Is Your NFL Team Moving?-The NFL had an owners call this past week and stated to all the owners, don't plan on moving your team to L.A. in 2013. 2014 is the target date for teams to move.Still believe the candidates are Oakland, San Diego, St. Louis and Jacksonville. Eventually L.A. will have two teams to balance out the league but the first step is getting one of those teams to move. I believe its a toss up between the Rams and Raiders. Both have stadium issues and both cities are dragging their feet to get the teams what they want. The clock is ticking....

6. Jay Cutler got Crushed-By Suh. Suh is such a dominating force but I thought the was a little much. It will be interesting to see if the league fines him.

Thanks for reading....

Extra Points

1. Not Cool Booing Your Own Guy-Matt Cassel in my humble opinion is not a good QB, however, Kansas City Chief fans should be ashamed of themselves by booing Cassel when he got hurt. Everyone knows the season isn't going the way you guys thought it but to boo your team player when he is hurt is classless. These guys go out and perform at high levels, some guys play a lot better than others and that's OK. When a player makes boneheaded mistake after boneheaded mistake then booing is acceptable, even if it is your own guy. Booing an injury, especially to your own guy tells how far we have come in society.

2. The Promise (Lambeau Version)-"I set the bar high and I expect to play at a higher level. (I've) been making just some mistakes I'm not used to making," Rodgers said."My solemn promise is I'm going to work every day to get better," Rodgers said. "I'm going to clean up some of the things I'm not doing as well as I should. But, the proof is in the pudding. Right now, I'm not getting it done. I've got to look at myself first."
Does this sound familiar? Tim Tebow said something similar as a Gator and Florida went on to the championship game. If the 2-3 Packers season turn around after this and they win the Super Bowl, a statue will be erected in Green Bay and these words of Rodgers will be inscribed on it.

3. Mama Said Knock You Out-If RGIII keeps acting like Sonny Liston or Mike Tyson sparring partner by staying in bounds and taking big hits, his career will not be long. The way officials officiate the game with a running quarterback versus a pocket-passer is completely different. RGIII needs to sit down with Steve Young or Randall Cunningham and learn from them on how they played the game. He's too talented to have his career cut short by playing so recklessly. (For those of you who didn't get pop reference the headline is from LL Cool J)

4. I think Brees Is A Good Quarterback But-What's more important to be have a record that Johnny Unitas held or have your team in contention for a playoff spot. Football is about championships not records and the last few years Brees has racked up the records. But the game has changed and it is geared more towards offense, especially quarterback putting up big numbers. Brees has benefited from paying in this era and having that Super Bowl win helps solidify his place in history. Just wonder if the emphasis on the old records when the game was different is fair.

5. Pretty sure The Chargers-Are wondering where the replacement refs are? The regular officials had 2 egregious calls that could have cost them the game.

6. Really, Jimbo Fisher? Really!?!?-After a devastating loss in the final seconds to N.C. State that cost his team a shot at playing , Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher told reporters that his team still controls its own destiny in the ACC. The ACC, the ACC!!! Memo to Jimbo: The ACC doesn't matter!!! Winning Championships, do!!! Apologize for screaming but sometimes coaches just frustrate me.

7. South Carolina Destroyed Georgia-But why does it feel like the Gamecocks will lose one of their next to games.Those next two games are at LSU and at Florida. They can thank the schedule makers for those two beast of a game.

8. My Apologies To The Country On Saturday Afternoon-Because CBS has Alabama at Missouri and that game will not be pretty. Missouri will be missing their starting quarterback and two offensive linemen. Getting queasy thinking about the potential outcome.

Going to watch the Florida Gators and Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday!!! Pics and updates forth coming.

Extra Points (NFL)

The fashionable question to ask quarterbacks is if they believe they are elite. Which franchise has their guy that can lead them to the promise land. But I have a different question, which is what franchise quarterback is setting them farther away from a Super Bowl? Here are a couple of suspects:

1. Matt Cassel-The Chiefs have paid a lot of money to the former Pats backup and he has not produced. Outside of 1 playoff appearance, that was really on the legs of Thomas Jones and Jammal Charles, Cassel has been terrible. Cassell has not protected the football and has not been able to lead this franchise back to respectability in the mediocre AFC West. Scott Piolo, the GM, was trying to create the Patriots of the Midwest by bringing Cassel over, has put his job in jeopardy. The backups are Brady Quinn and Ricky Stanzi  which neither guy is impressive. It looks like the Chiefs will have to use a high draft pick to get a quarterback.

2. Blaine Gabbert-It might be too harsh to say this after two years but Gabbert has been just awful in Jacksonville. What makes his stats even worse is MoJo (Maurice Jones-Drew) is in his prime and a good ground game normally helps a young QB grow faster, Gabbert is just the opposite. He has regressed from his rookie season and his new head coach is quarterback coaching guru. The Jags may be better off either getting an established QB so Gabbert can learn or just starting over in the draft. Who knows maybe Tebow is on the horizon.....

3. Carson Palmer-At first glance of the trade of Palmer, everyone said the Raiders got the better end of the deal because Palmer was a perennial Pro-Bowler, he was coming home and hit was the missing link to the Raiders success. Boy were they wrong!! Late last year, the Raiders were contending in the weak AFC West but this year, the offense looks confused, out of sync, and Palmer looks disinterested in playing. Losing can do that to you. The Bengals on the other hand look great with Dalton and Green and have used the Raiders pick to begin building a more stable franchise. Yes that last sentence was actually typed. The Cincinnati Bengals are in way better shape as a franchise than the Raiders.

4. Tony Romo-As previously chronicled in my prior post Extra Points, Romo is not the answer in Dallas.

Honorable mentions to this list are: Josh Freeman, Mark Sanchez, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Kevin Kolb or John Skelton.

Other points:
The Rams were terrible few years with Steve Spagnulo at the helm, so is it any surprise that Saints defensive side is awful this year with him in charge. Look Spags is a good guy but he has lost his touch in developing talent and inspiring players. For a team that is already void of leadership, his passive style of coaching is not helpful.

Jeff Fisher has the Rams over .500 for the first time since 2006 and I'm not surprised. The Rams have had a ton of top picks but no one to lead them, this why Fisher is the right coach for this franchise. The Rams play harder, do not quit and play inspired on offense and defense. Kudos to Fisher for making them relevant again.

The NFC West, once the laughing stock of the league know has arguably the best defense's in the NFL. The Niners, Seahawks, Rams and Cardinals all have had games of 5 sacks or more on a quarterback. Defense reigns supreme in this division.

Enjoy the games....

Extra Points (College Football)

After a week of duds in football, this weekend is a good one to put off doing that honey-do list and eat really unhealthy foods and watch some football. Here's why:

1. Big Ten Showdown-Nebraska travels to Ohio St. which shapes up to be a good one. I think if you wore blue to the Horseshoe, I know you will standout. The difference in this game will be which quarterback can complete more passes because both defenses are pretty good against the run.

2. Pac-12 Track Meet-Can you name a team that is more fun to watch than the Oregon Ducks? They play fast, and faster and just exploit teams with their speed. Speaking of speed, Nick Saban is complaining about the spread and how it puts team at a disadvantage. "I just think there's got to be some sense of fairness in terms of asking, 'Is this what we want football to be?' "
 "The team gets in the same formation group, you can't substitute defensive players, you go on a 14-, 16-, 18-play drive and they're snapping the ball as fast as you can go and you look out there and all your players are walking around and can't even get lined up. That's when guys have a much greater chance of getting hurt when they're not ready to play."-Saban on his radio show this week.

What Saban is doing here is planting a seed about his team and not being able to match-up against teams and their speed. Saban also knows if he wins out and Oregon wins out they could face each other. What he should know the that bigger should always win out but if Oregon or any other team who runs the spread offense correctly, can keep scoring points, his offensively challenged team may not be able to keep up. 

Can you tell he is a Belichick disciple? Stop the whining and line up and play ball. If you want to compete and you are such a defensive genius Saban, then study the tape and expose their weaknesses. Auburn did it and I'm pretty sure you can figure it out.

3. Geno Smith vs. Texas D-That's all you can say about this game is if Texas can hold West Virginia to 35 points they may have a chance to win. This game is huge for Geno's Heisman hopes because this is the first defense that he will see with a few potential pro prospects. If Smith can play well and lead his team to victory over Texas, then the Heisman race might be over before November.

4. SEC Doubleheader-No.4 LSU travels to No.10 Florida and No.5 Georgia heads to No.6 South Carolina, enough said.

5. Purple Shout-Out Part II-Northwestern Wildcats are 5-0 and face Penn State tomorrow and if they win tomorrow and next week they could be hosting Nebraska and be in the top 15 in the country. Kudos to the Fighting Fitzgerald's.

NFL thoughts tomorrow......

Extra Points (NFL)

1. Didn't Know Romo Was On The Bears-I seriously thought Tony Romo was playing for the Bears last night. 5 interceptions, with two for scores I'm sure Cowboy fans thought the same thing. Two of the picks were not Romo's fault (more on that in a second) but after 7 years in the league and being a starter in Dallas isn't it time for the Cowboys to start looking elsewhere at that position. Romo has led just two scoring drives in the last three weeks. How much longer can Jones and co. keep making excuses for him?

2. In Dez They Trust?-There was a reason why Bryant would have dropped in the draft. His off-field problems in Stillwater and Dallas are well chronicled. From a football standpoint I don't understand why the Cowboys would play Bryant in the spot the Miles Austin was in and move Austin who is just as explosive and more reliable receiver. This just shows you how dysfunctional and poorly coached the Cowboys are. All their hopes are placed in a player who stops short on routes, runs the wrong route and is very immature.

3. Cutler Is Talented But...-Jay Cutler is uber-talented. Cutler has replaced Favre and the modern day gunslinger in the NFL. Like Favre, Cutler throws the ball off the wrong foot, into double coverage just like Favre would do. There is one difference between Jay and Brett. Cutler is not coachable. Jay has utter disdain for his Offensive Coordinators from Mike Martz, whom he cursed out, now to Mike Tice, whom Cutler walked away from while he was talking to him. Favre was coachable and although he would change the play, he still respected his coaches. Cutler on the other hand, believes he is smarter than all of his coaches and changes the play and if it doesn't work he blames his teammates and not his decision. Cutler needs to win more so that everyone buys into his genius. Otherwise he comes off as smug and a bad teammate and I'm not sure how long people will continue to tolerate that attitude when you can't win.

4. Purple Shout-Out-If you had the Vikings at 3-1 to start the season with wins over the 49ers and Lions, then go out and buy me a couple of lottery tickets. Christian Ponder is the only quarterback in the NFL that doesn't have and interception, which is saying a lot after four weeks of play. My only concern with the Vikes is the carries they are giving Adrian Peterson, who is coming off a serious knee injury. Most teams would err on the side of caution but the Vikes are working Peterson like normal and making their run at a playoff now. The NFL is better when the Vikes are competitive.

5. Refs are Refs-Everyone is so happy that the regular refs are back. Fans are giving them standing ovation, players are hugging the refs, all seems happy in NFL-ville. Except when you look at the numbers, the replacement refs actually called the same amount of penalties as the regular refs (14.9 to 15.3) and the game times were slightly longer (3.5 to 3.7 hours). The biggest difference is supposed to be the confidence in major calls. Well the Packers nearly got hosed again in their game against the Saints, when the officials missed a fumble that would have given the Packers fantastic field position. What everyone has to realize is the refs are human and they are going to make mistakes whether they are replacements or not.