NFL Rewind

Well crap, it sure has been awhile hasn't it? I suppose you could attribute my recent lack of blogging to laziness. But I prefer to look at it as extreme laziness. I do apologize, and I will try my best to get back into the swing.

Unfortunately, there really isn't much going on right now in the sports world. Baseball is slowly approaching, not that I have anything to root for now that Adrian Gonzalez is gone. We have reached that stage in the basketball season where we know who the top 8-10 teams are, so we really don't care until the playoffs hit. And college basketball is just a downer because the California Golden Bears lose games in triple overtime to Arizona and make me sad all day. So I suppose I'll take this time to review the 2010-2011 NFL season.

Seems to me like it was a pretty successful season for football. The Super Bowl once again set the record for most viewers (and the halftime show was decent, which was a nice change). You had a matchup with two storied franchises and lots of intrigue. You had the "everybody loves us" versus "everybody hates us" storyline because America loves the Packers and hates rape. And that's just the final game. We had a downright thrilling postseason, with all the upsets and close finishes. And as for the regular season, we saw a lot of parity, which i contend is always a good thing. Anyways, I thought we could take a look back at all 32 teams and see what went right and what went wrong. We'll start with the Packers and move down the list.

1. Green Bay Packers (10-6, 2nd in NFC North)
Super Bowl Champions (6th Seed)
Just a ridiculously talented team. Aaron Rodgers really came into his own, putting up huge numbers and putting his name in the "best QB's playing right" now discussion. Probably the biggest injustice in the history of forever that they finished behind Chicago in the standings. If they didn't suffer so many injuries throughout the season, I think they take the 1 or 2 seed and make their title run a little easier. I am personally happy for the Green Bay Packers and congratulate them on their flawless victory.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4, 1st in the AFC North)
Super Bowl Losers (2nd Seed)
Well what can you say? They're the Steelers. They play hard and they play for keeps. Pittsburgh is just one of those teams that's always in the running. Mendenhall has come in nicely to that power RB position, and Mike Wallace is lightning fast out there. The defense seemed to come together again after a lackluster 2009. Why didn't they beat the Packers? I don't know. Karma?

3. New York Jets (11-5, 2nd in the AFC East)
Championship Game Losers (5th Seed)
I don't know why the Jets are good. I don't get it. I hate it all. I hate Rex Ryan and I hate Mark Sanchez and I hate what LT has become. Remember how he used to score a TD and calmly hand the ball to the ref on his way to the bench? Those days are gone. Now he does the stupid dances like all his other Jet buddies. It's painful to watch. And it's not like the Sanchise is a superstar, and it's not like Revis did anything particularly impressive. They just won close games. Maybe I should start developing my foot fetish now. Maybe that's the secret.

4. Chicago Bears (11-5, 1st in NFC North)
Championship Game Losers (2nd Seed)
Let's get something straight ok? Jay Cutler is terrible. I don't want to hear about him turning the team around. He sucks. This is another one of those weird cases where things just line up perfectly for a mediocre team. Easy schedule, caught the Packers banged up in the regular season, first round bye, Seattle Seahawks at home in the second round. It doesn't get much more perfect than that. Give the Bears some credit for taking advantage, but ultimately realize that this was a fluke season for Chicago.

5. New England Patriots (14-2, 1st in AFC East)
Divisional Round Losers (1st Seed)
Remember when the Patriots used to win Super Bowls? It's been 7 years now since their trinity of championships and it just seems like they've lost the drive. They were unquestionably the best team all year. They were destroying teams on the way to a perfect 8-0 home record. They obliterated the Jets 45-3 in the regular season. But they laid a giant stinky egg in the playoffs. I mean they looked completely atrocious. They made Michelle Ryan's feet look good (last foot joke I promise). Not sure what's going on in that deranged mind of Bill Belichick, but it things just aren't as sharp as they used to be in New England.

6. Atlanta Falcons (13-3, 1st in NFC South)
Divisional Round Losers (1st Seed)
I was on the Falcons bandwagon all year. I called a Patriots - Falcons Superbowl back in August and it appeared to be heading that way as they combined for a record of 27-5. What happened in the playoffs? Atlanta ran into a white hot buzzsaw in the form of the Green Bay Packers. Give Matty Ice a little more time to grow and a slightly better defense and he'll get there. Give him a few years.

7. Baltimore Ravens (12-4, 2nd in AFC North)
Divisional Round Losers
Does anyone else just hate the Ravens offense? It's weird that they always seem to be in contention, always neck and neck with the Steelers and their offense is just so blah. I think I've made my decision on Joe Flacco: nothing special. And the same goes for Ray Rice. I'm just not impressed. Look at the numbers. 10th in the league in rushing; not bad. 1220 yards; respectable. But only 4 runs of 20+ yards. That's the killer. Not much explosive threat there. New York Jets wide receiver Brad Smith had just as many 20+ yard runs. The Chargers fullback, Mike Tolbert, had 6. Also, Rice notched just 5 rushing TDs, matching the number put up by Jaguars quarterback David Garrard. And don't try to tell me he's a recieving RB, because he only had 1 receiving TD all year. I'm just not a fan of the Ravens.

8. Seattle Seahawks (7-9, 1st in NFC West)
Divisional Round Losers (4th Seed)
Well gee where do I start with the Seahawks? First team to go under .500 and make the playoffs, so that's neat. They had a total point differential of -97, which I am 99.99% sure is the worst to ever make the playoffs but I haven't bothered to check, so you know... Matt Hasselbeck just celebrated his 77th birthday last week and his single remaining hair follicle fell out. Do I feel that their playoff victory over the reigning champions legitimized them? Absolutely not. That was a huge fluke and I will never accept that the 2010 Seahawks deserved to be a playoff team. Enjoy your 25th draft pick spot, Pete Carroll.

9. New Orleans Saints (11-5, 2nd in NFC South)
Wild Card Round Losers (5th Seed)
What a disappointment, huh? The Saints really missed the PT Cruiser this year; they couldn't get anything going on the ground, averaging under 95 yards a game and scoring only 9 rushing TDs. But Drew Brees carried them to the playoffs because that's what he does. Looking back, the Saints just weren't very good. They suffered losses to the Cardinals, Browns, and Buccaneers and beat only 2 quality opponents in Pittsburgh and Atlanta. Most of their other wins were close games against bad teams. In the end, they simply play a poor game against a poor team and paid the price. Now they can stop playing all those Saints commercials I totally wasn't getting sick of.

10. Philadelphia Eagles (10-6, 1st in NFC East)
Wild Card Round Losers (3rd Seed)
You know what? I'm happy for Mike Vick. The guy made some bad life decisions but he served his time and that shouldn't be relevant when we talk about him as a football player. He is clearly a terrific talent and the NFL is better with him in it. The Eagles were one of the most exciting teams to watch, what with Vick and McCoy running around with blinding speed. Throw in Jackson and Maclin flying down the sidelines and Andy Reid managing the clock, it was a breathtaking, heart-stopping season for Philly. Unfortunately they pulled the most ridiculous 6 seed in playoff history and lost in a close one to Green Bay. Tough end to the season.

11. Indianapolis Colts (10-6, 1st in AFC South)
Wild Card Round Losers (3rd Seed)
I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but Peyton Manning is getting old. And I don't mean in the joking "Matt Hasselbeck is 77 years old" sense. I mean legitimately. Despite the 4700 yards (career high) and 33 TDs, Manning wasn't the same old Manning. He threw 17 interceptions, his highest since 2002. He had a 91.9 passer rating, his lowest since 2002. And his average yards per attempt was 6.9, his lowest since his rookie season in 1998. He seems to have lost his edge and he can't carry a mediocre team anymore. Clean and simple.

12. Kansas City Chiefs (10-6, 1st in AFC West)
Wild Card Round Losers
What a joke. People were so focused on how awful the Seahawks were, they didn't realize that the Chiefs sucked too. Remember, the Chargers clobbered them 31-0 in a meaningful December game. You know how many playoff teams the Chiefs beat in 2010? One, Seattle. A high school team could have gone .500 against the Chiefs schedule. Matt Cassel is worthless. Jamaal Charles and Dwayne Bowe are beasts but two good players does not a worthy team make. Hopefully their shameful 30-7 loss to the Ravens in the playoffs revealed them as the frauds they were.

13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-6, 3rd in NFC South)
If it weren't for 4 total games against the Saints and Falcons, the Buccs might have had an easier schedule than the Chiefs. 9 wins for this team against Carolina (twice), Cleveland, Cincinnati, St, Louis, Arizona, San Francisco, Washington, and Seattle. The 10th was a meaningless game against the Saints. I don't buy it. You can bitch all you want about the 7-9 Seahawks getting in while the 10-6 Buccs watched the playoffs from home, but did they deserve it any more than Seattle... Yes, yes they did. But I need to see some quality wins from this team before I believe they are good.

14. New York Giants (10-6, 2nd in NFC East)
If anyone deserved to make the playoffs, it was the Giants. They played am entirely respectable schedule, they were in the top ten in all 4 major categories (passing yards, rushing yards, opponents' passing yards, and opponents' rushing yards). Eli Manning threw for over 4000 yards and 31 TDs. The thing that killed them was massive turnover problems. Manning threw 25 INTs, leading the league in the stat. Plus, Ahmad Bradshaw fumbled 7 times. The Giants really just shot themselves in the foot all year. Getting swept by the Eagles did not help either.

15. San Diego Chargers (9-7, 2nd in AFC West)
I recently watched the 2010-2011 Chargers highlights. There was no shortage of big plays from the offense, and the defense was number 1 in the league for the majority of the season. However, I started to notice a worrisome pattern. At least 75% of the clips started with the Chargers trailing in the game. I don't know if Norv Turner just can't get the guys going or what, but there's definitely a problem here. On the other hand, the Charger fan in me wants to blame the failed season on injuries and missing players, which is something you cannot argue against. There was a time in which we were missing Vincent Jackson, Antonio Gates, Malcolm Floyd, and Legedu Naanee. Those are our top 4 receiving options. Not to mention persistent injuries to Kid Rhino (a.k.a. Ryan Mathews). Seeing as we missed the playoffs by one game and started 2-5 with all those injuries, I have to wonder if we could have made a playoff run with better luck.

16. Oakland Raiders (8-8, 3rd in AFC West)
Fun Fact: The Oakland Raiders are the first team to go 6-0 in the division and not make the playoffs. And not only that, but they finished THIRD. Only the Raiders could pull such a feat. If you do the math, you will realize that their 6-0 division record means a 2-8 record against everyone else. Abysmal. They were swept by the AFC South, and added losses to San Francisco, Arizona, Miami, and Pittsburgh. What a waste. At least Darren McFadden finally did something of note, breaking 1000 yards rushing and 500 receiving yards for the first time. He had a sultry 5.2 yard per rush average. In the end though, the Raiders just suck. Also, their first round draft pick belongs to New England... Are you surprised?

Since I don't want this to be the world's longest blog post and since I don't want it to seem like I'm trying to make up for the last few months by making it the world's longest blog post, I'll split it into 2 parts. Stay tuned for part 2.