The Pats Roll On N How To Beat 'Em

The Pats won again ... this time a whupping of the Steelers. Actually, this victory was already coming. I knew it the moment Mr. Smith said the guarantee. The Pats are the MASTER when it comes to this kind of motivation ploy. Never mind that they have won the last 3 out of 6SuperBowls ..

The remaining schedule for the Pats are Jets, Dolphins, Giants. Defeats ? .... nah, I personally think that they will remain unbeaten in the regular season, but I might be wrong.

I have always babbled on how to beat the Pats ... so here it is ...

1. Get Brady all the time.
.. lady and g's .. do not pity Brady when you are playing him. Give him an inch and he'll strike the dagger to your gut ... Philly n Ravens know what I mean. Pound him for 60 minutes ... he is the conductor of this offence.

2. Run and run at the Pats, especially the LBs
.. isn't it obvious that the Pats have an aging LB corp. Have your big bruisers run at them at the first 3 quarters ... in the fourth quarter, get your speedster in. Ravens did both using McGahee, and it almost worked.

3. Pass Defense

Work on your pass defense. The Pats have been passing a lot this season and doing an excellent job. I suspect it is more due to them not having a feature workhouse back ( Antione  Smith, Corey Dillion ). Somehow Maroney is not working out as much they like to.

--

Has anyone realized that the Pats are actually one dimensional offense team this season. The key has been Brady's excellent play, so that is why No. 1 above is very - very important ! :D

The Season So Far ( Noles )

Hello There :-) I am back ... ;-)

I am following the current season and thought it would be nice to write back with my review of the current season of my two favorite NCAA teams, starting with...

Seminoles ( 6-4 overall, 3- 4 ACC )

To be honest, I am not putting high hopes for the season due to the new staff that was just installed this season. From my experience, it usually takes about two to three seasons for the results to bear fruit.

Offence - QB play has been spotty with Weatherford n Lee doing okay work. As for the rest, they are playing as best as they can, at the moment.

Defence - Defence has been doing its best to keep the team in games. Full credit to the boys :-)

Results - the highlight must be beating then No 2 BC 27-17. The lows - the Clemson loss

Future : Beat Maryland and Florida and hopefully get to a Bowl game. Actually, there is a possibility that FSU might not go anywhere :-(

Tomorrow : Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Hiatus

To my dear readers, I am now on a blogging hiatus .... why ? Some issues running around my head ....

Later

Ome

ps/ subscribe to the blog feed as shown ... it might help when an update occurs

New Beginnings at FSU

This piece of the news brought a smile to my face :-)

FSU does have a lot of new staff for this upcoming season, but the one that a lot of Noles fan will be looking for is the new offensive coordinator, Jimbo Geathers, formerly of LSU.

Mr. Geathers, sir, if you bring us back the pre-Jeff Bowden days, a lot of Noles would run naked around Doak Campbell :-)

And not forgetting an old friend, Chuck Amato, formerly of NC State, who is back as linebackers coach.

Ahh .. I will be following spring practice more closely this season :-)

Colts lose June and Harper

Since the NCAA playoffs are now running, NFL's taken a backseat but this news is significant..

• LB Cato June goes to Tampa Bay Bucs, as shown here
• CB Nick Harper goes to the Titans, the news link here

Losing two starting vets from your defense isn't a piece of good news, but I hope the Colts know what they are doing. Granted, they are focused on keeping Feeney but Cato's loss could hurt 'em in the long run as he was their LB playmaker. Harper goes to a division rival which could help the Titans in knowing the ins and outs of Indy's defense.

2001 draft trivia

- do you know that out of the 31 first round picks, only two are not playing in NFL

10th pick - Jamal Reynolds - Green Bay - out of the football
24th pick - Willie Middlebrooks - Denver - FA since 2005

Skins Draft Picks During My College Years

I attended George Washington University during my final two college years , 1993 - 1995. It was there I was exposed fully to American football, became addicted to it and remain so ever since :-)

Actually, it was easy to pick up but took me a while to understand the game, especially, NFL and college ball differences and quirks. ;-) fyi, two feet inbound ( college ) and one feet inbound ( NFL ) for a catch to be ruled legal ... and the game scheduling. I understand you have to play the teams in your division, but the other opponents were determined by your win-loss and previous season schedule strength. It took me a while and still does :-)

Understanding the draft was another thing, especially when it came to coin toss reasons and compensatory picks, then came the supplementary draft .. okay.. that is understandable.. then came the signing bonuses, hold outs , etc.

I was curious to know what happened to Skins first round picks during those years. For me, my first draft experience was the 1994 NFL Draft followed by the 1995 NFL Draft.

1994

3rd pick of the draft
Heath Shuler, QB, Tennessee

- in Tennessee, was 2nd in the Heisman voting for 1993 season.
- on the predraft, the Skins were flip flopping between him and Trent Dilfer. In the end, Shuler was chosen.
- first draft pick under coach Norv Turner
- held out of training camp until he signed a 7 year deal worth 19 million plus. His holdout costed him valuable training time. I saw him in the preseason game, Skins vs Chiefs, and he didn't impress me a bit.
- eventually, he was cut after the 1996 season and signed for the Saints for 1997 season.
- Played in 1997 season, was injured and cut from the team after 1998 season.
- in 1998, had a foot injury during the Raiders training camp, and retired.

Well, he became a real estate agent, later went into politics and is now a US House of Rep member for North Carolina 11th district.

He sucked at pro ball but went on to have a fine career after football.

Part of me wonders, what if Trent Dilfer was picked, but you cannot second guess that now. Or, if he went into training camp on time.

His career stats

             +---------------------------------------+-----------------+
               |              Passing                  |     Rushing     |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Year  TM |   G |  Comp   Att   PCT    YD   Y/A  TD INT |  Att  Yards  TD |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| 1994 was |  11 |   120   265  45.3  1658   6.3  10  12 |    26   103   0 |
| 1995 was |   7 |    66   125  52.8   745   6.0   3   7 |    18    57   0 |
| 1996 was |   1 |     0     0   0.0     0   0.0   0   0 |     1     0   0 |
| 1997 nor |  10 |   106   203  52.2  1288   6.3   2  14 |    22    38   1 |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
|  TOTAL   |  29 |   292   593  49.2  3691   6.2  15  33 |    67   198   1 |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+

1995

4th pick of the draft
Michael Westbrook, WR, Colorado

-was part of the triple threat option at Colorado, along with Kordell Stewart and Rashaan Salaam
- Played for 7 seasons with the Skins before traded to the Bengals in 2002. He had a good but unspectacular career with the Skins
- his best season was 1999 season, 65 receptions, 1191 yards and 9 TDs.
- was known for his brief altercation with Stephen Davis during training camp in 1997.
- also known for slamming helmet into the turf incident in 1997 season that costed the Skins their game against NY Giants.

- played his last season in 2002 with the Bengals and promptly retired.
- for some Skins fans, he is in the top 10 unpopular Skins players of all time.

Career stats

                +--------------------------+-------------------------+
               |          Rushing         |        Receiving        |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
| Year  TM |   G |   Att  Yards    Y/A   TD |   Rec  Yards   Y/R   TD |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
| 1995 was |  11 |     6    114   19.0    1 |    34    522  15.4    1 |
| 1996 was |  11 |     2      2    1.0    0 |    34    505  14.9    1 |
| 1997 was |  13 |     3    -11   -3.7    0 |    34    559  16.4    3 |
| 1998 was |  11 |     1     11   11.0    0 |    44    736  16.7    6 |
| 1999 was |  16 |     7     35    5.0    0 |    65   1191  18.3    9 |
| 2000 was |   2 |     0      0    0.0    0 |     9    103  11.4    0 |
| 2001 was |  16 |     2      8    4.0    0 |    57    664  11.6    4 |
| 2002 cin |   7 |     1      1    1.0    0 |     8     94  11.8    2 |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
|  TOTAL   |  87 |    22    160    7.3    1 |   285   4374  15.3   26 |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+

In short, I think I jinxed their draft ;-)

My Take On FA Deals And ...

The last few days, the free agency transactions have been quite interesting. A few involve my favorite teams, Skins and Raiders, so let's have a look at some key transactions


1) Pats signing of Adalius Thomas, Kyle Brady and Sammy Morris

In one shot, this was a shrewd move by the Pats. In signing Thomas, it showed that they were looking for someone to replace Willie McGinest, a hybrid defender, who can do everything in the box. Look for him to play end / lb positions all over the line. When the Pats spend money, be assured that they really need the player. Brady is a short term replacement for Daniel Graham whom they lost to the Seahawks, more known for his blocking. As for signing Morris, Pats have Maroney, vets Faulk and Morris. The Pats may rush more this season ;-) .... looks like RB tandems could be the trend this season.

2) The lineman are getting their blings2

So far this offseason, the lineman are getting serious dough ..

- Kries Dielman with the Chargers
- Leonard Davis with the Cowboys
- Steinbach with the Browns

Hmm.. I am a bit surprised about the Davis signing. What do the Boys see in him ? ...when he was drafted, the potential was enormous, but he didn't do much, in my opinion, to warrant that kind of money. Oh well, it is the market. Luckily, Skins didn't take him even though they could.

3) Raiders getting some running help

The Raiders still kept Lamont Jordan, by restructuring his contract. And what they did next was taking in the real Super Bowl MVP, RB Dominic Rhodes and FB Justin Griffith. And they got OL Jermaine Newberry earlier.

I was not suprised by this move, being the offseason, but what surprised me was the moves all made sense. They needed a young vet on the line ( Newberry ), a running back to complement Jordan ( Rhodes ), and a bruising blocking fullback, Griffith.

The backfield looks like Jordan - Rhodes, Griffith, and Newberry anchoring the line.

Maybe Al got some sense after all

4) RB moves

Have you guys seen the movement of the backs ? ... McGahee to Ravens, Droughns to Giants, Henry to Broncos, Thomas Jones to Jets, Jamal Lewis to Browns

These guys were starters with their respective teams yet ended being released / traded away. In a way, the Colts success in the last Super Bowl showed that a RB tandem could do a better job, so it is interesting to see how the concept develop next season.

PS / What's up with Class of 2001 NFL Draft ... how are they ?

Test Email Post

This is a test email post to my blog ;-) Updates coming up soon, later tonight, Malaysian time.
--
- author of My Pet Life ( http://ome20.blogspot.com ), The Mind Of Pet ( http://omecool20.blogspot.com )& American Football Malaysian Style ( http://nfl-malaysia.blogspot.com )

Skins News + 2001 Draft Ebook

Allegiance

I am raising up my hand and tell you where my allegiance lie in football ;-)

NFL - Washington Redskins, Oakland Raiders
NCAA - Florida State Seminoles, Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The links to those teams are under my Pigskin Links

Ok, now that is out of the way .... ;-)

Skins News

1. London Fletcher and Fred Smoot Signing

As now announced, Skins have signed up FA LB London Fletcher, to a 5 year, 25 million contract. He is expected to man the MLB spot that was problematic last season, and upgrade the defense that was ranked near bottom in the NFL.

On a nicer note, Fred Smoot is coming back after leaving the Skins a few years ago. He went to the Vikings for the money, had a tough time, off and on the field and was let go. He is not a shutdown corner like Champ, but he is still a good corner, so welcome back, Smooter !

2. Derrick Dockery Leaving For the Bills

It was kind of neat, Skins and the Bills exchanged players ;-) you give us Fletcher, we'll give you Dockery :-) .... Dockery was a good lineman but the price was too much. So, all the best Derrick, and thank you for the service

So far, I am happy the way Skins have been conducting the free agent offseason. Not as splashy as the last few years, but they are going after positions of need. I do think that their first pick in the upcoming draft will be on defense. Rumor has it that the team have their eyes on Gaines Adams of Clemson. Looks like a stud on the D-Line ;-)

====

There is no significant news on the Raiders. My one message to Al is simply, It's Time To Really Honor The Commitment To Excellence :-| ... this franchise is fast becoming ( if not already ), the Tampa Bay of the 80s.

2001 Draft Free Ebook

Yes ;-) The cat is out of the bag. I am drafting an ebook based on the 2001 draft. I cannot divulge the details yet, but rest assured, the developments will be updated here.

Free Ezine

At my personal blog, there is a free ezine offer. Go check it out, you know where the link is. :-)


======

check out 7 dollar secrets
... it could be your touchdown pass of 2007

Draft Style And Charlie Ward

How do teams draft ?

That is a popular question about the NFL draft.

The main question is do teams draft based on team needs or the best available athlete when their turn comes ?

Ever since I followed American Football, the NFL draft has been one of the most intriguing events where there is not an exact science.

My answer to the question has always been this :

Before a draft, the team has to evaluate their needs and base their draft strategy accordingly. Always have plan B, if the player that you covet. Teams with excellent draft usually do this, but teams that don't do well, their NFL results demonstrate the aftermath.

One particular example, was the 1997 Draft. It was widely known that the Raiders needed an OT were angling for Orlando Pace, OT from Ohio State. When the Rams maneuvered ahead to pick Pace, they took USC DE Darrell Russell and insisted that he was their choice all along. Pace is now a premier left tackle in the game, while Russell bombed out due to off the field issues, after a good start to his career, and is now deceased. If only the Raiders did their evaluation thoroughly and saw that there was another excellent OT available which was Walter Jones, who is also now a premier player in the position.

Charlie Ward

I want to give my props to Charlie Ward, the best QB and Heisman Trophy winner never to play in the NFL. I believe that he had been playing, he would have been a good player, as he was comparable to Michael Vick in terms of the dual threat option.

He was setting the scene alight in college sports, as the starting QB for the Seminoles football and starting point guard for the Seminoles basketball team. However, upon graduation, it was made clear that NFL teams were not considering him as quarterback, despite his obvious success there at the college level, as written here. So, he decided to play in the NBA and went on to have an okay career with the Knicks and the Rockets. A classic case of what might have been.

Last year, he was inducted into the College Football Hall Of Fame Class of 2006, for his achievements.

Top 5 Reasons Why The NFL Draft Is Important

Part 1

Why the NFL Draft is important to NFL teams

1. You want to replace your stars who left via free agency.

example : Denver Broncos running backs ;-) Portis to Anderson to T.Bell

2. The foundation of your team success hinges on the right choice

Colts had to choose between Ryan Leaf and Peyton Manning. No brainer, eh ?

3. Watch the drama regarding your pick

When the Chargers chose Eli Manning in 2004, I think they wanted the drama :-)

4. To find the signature trademark of your team

Arguably, in the NFL, when the phrase " Greatest Show On Turf ", people would remember the receiver group of Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt and Az-Zahir Hakim from the Rams 2001 team. All of them were drafted by the Rams :-)

5. Because the fans love the DRAFT :-)

This is the numero uno reason. The NFL Draft = pre, during, post .. is another event by itself ;-) The NFL gets excellent publicity , the teams get their college players ( hopefully, who will turn out okay ) and the fan would enjoy the hype and the event itself.

---

This is the beginning of the journey of my NFL Draft ebook. Coming soon ;-)

check out 7 dollar secrets
... it could be your touchdown pass of 2007

The Heat Is On

The project is on as this is a first time ever that someone is doing it ;-) Malaysia boleh :D

The past few days I have been doing some preliminary research, and there is a market for it. But the key is how to market it :-)

I have found this site, which is a great source on the 2007 NFL Draft. Check it out !

Meanwhile ... take a look at this project which inspired my ebook project.

Technorati Test

This is a technorati test " :-)

The Project Will Go On

Despite no comments or feedback ;-), the project will go on. I will use this blog to report on its updates.

The project will be something related to the NFL Draft.

Watch This Blog Space ! :D

NFL Draft EBook

Hmm, I had this idea running in my head for the past few days.

Would you be interested in an ebook about the NFL Draft ? More information in later post, as I get the details clearer.

Please leave your comments / suggestions. All are appreciated.

Super Bowl XLI

As most of you football folks know, the Colts have won the SuperBowl XLI, beating the Bears, 29 - 17, in Miami.

Here in good ol Malaysia, the game was shown live on satellite television, on ESPN. Thank God, for ESPN :-).. I have missed a few past Super Bowls, but I didn't want to miss this one. However, I did not catch the live telecast, as it was a normal workday ( Monday morning ). I did follow the game through the Net using Yahoo Sports live boxscore of the game. And I did catch the repeat of the game later on early Tuesday morning ( 2.30 - 5.30 Malaysian time ). It was kinda maddening following it on the Net ;-) but, as a football fan, you can follow how the game goes ... but it does not beat watching it the actual game on TV ;-)

A little confession, I was rooting for the Colts, as I knew that it would be a historic event if Tony Dungy n Peyton Manning get their Super Bowl win. Dungy, as the first African-American coach to win it, and Manning, to establish himself as HOF QB ( not that he needs any more validation :-) )

Pre-game

There were several angles before the game started. Among them,

1. The Bears D vs Colts Offence ... Colts Offense rocks !
2. The African American coaching firsts ... Dungy is the first !
3. Peyton vs Rex ... Peyton's and he got the game MVP ;-)

Highlighted in red, is the result :D ...

Game time comments ( following the online boxscore )

1. The early TD by Devin Hester ...dang ! the kid did it again ;-)
2. The stats between QBs .. I noticed that Peyton's numbers were not great, but he was spreading it all over the field .. not necessarily Reggie Wayne n Marvin Harrison ... I guessed that he was passing it here and there .. short to mid passes ..not many long ones ...
3. The Colts RB were doing great damage to the Bears D ... and I wondered what was going on with Bears running game .. ( turns out Cedric Benson was out early .. a loss to them and messed up their game plan )
4. Colts O was methodical in dissecting the Bears D

Game time comments ( watching the game on TV )

1. Devin Hester's return was electric !!
2. Peyton was doing a better job than Rex Grossman in managing the game. It was obvious that Manning was figuring out the Bears D in the first quarter, and finishing it up on the next three. Rex ? I think the coaches were telling him to just do it ... but gotta give him props for the TD pass, that was tight.
3. Dominic Rhodes n Joseph Addai were the twin punchers ... Rhodes was straight up, Addai was the slasher .. and they combined to soften up the Bears D .. Thomas Jones was contained by the Colts D as he was a slasher ... the Bears missed Benson ...

Post game comments

In the end, it was a good game to watch. The weather conditions didn't make it an ideal game though .. a few fumbles and slip-ups. As a fan, I appreciate seeing how the Colts worked their way against the Bears, methodically dismantling them bit by bit.

Things Colts did right

- recognizing the Bears D were doing Cover 2, Peyton went went dinking n dunking

- used Rhodes n Addai wisely, in wearing down the D

- didn't go into panic mode at 6 - 14 down

Things Bear didn't do right

- trust Rex : With Benson down, my suggestion was they should have used Jones and mixed short passes to build up Rex as the game goes on. Rex strikes me as a streaky QB.

- The Bears D said they didn't tackle well. True and their Cover 2 wasn't their basic D. They should have played their man to man and let the Colts figure that out. I bet they had too much respect for Manning, and didn't want to give up big plays.

It was a historic game as Dungy became the first African American headcoach to win a Super Bowl. This guy is pretty classy, ever since I followed the game. He is seen to be a calm and collected coach, who doesn't rave and rant, a trait few other coaches have. To coach Lovie Smith, you will be back here again, I have a feeling that you would be as successful as coach Dungy.

As for Peyton, it was a great win and it took off a monkey from his back, on how he couldn't perform on the big stage. And, finally he has beaten The Gators :-), if you know what I mean ....

Till next Super Bowl then !

Links on all SuperBowl news here.

Intro Part I

Hi there :-)

What this blog will be about is about American Football ( NFL and NCAA, specifically ) from a Malaysian who is still passionate about the game ;-)

Why American Football ? I think it is a complete sport .. brawn + brains + life ...

;-) later

Pet