National Football Post Tavern Talk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LEAGUE NEWS TODAY…

1.     The Jets have failed to score 20+ points in 6 of their last 7 home games and they need to figure out who they want to be this year on offense.  The Jets, from what I am hearing, have SOME internal second guessing going on around the building right now.  Their offensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer, (who is very good) must do what he thinks is best for his team and adhere to this advice:  “They have never dedicated a monument to a committee.”  Do it your way.  As for the Cardinals, 21 is the magic number over the last 2 seasons.  They are 0-5 when they fail to score 21+ points; they are 10-4 when they do score at least 21 points…

 

2.     The Vikings-Titans game will be a fun one to watch.  And the thing about the Titans defense is they are so multiple, they can beat you several different ways, playing man to man, playing zone or zone dogs.  This is the best defensive line the Vikings offense has faced all year and the right side of the Vikings line needs to step it up.  The Titans will need to have every screen and bubble pass in the game plan as they have to find a way for quarterback Kerry Collins to get rid of the ball quickly. 

 

3.     Someone reminded me today of the great play the Cowboys are getting from nose tackle Jay Ratliff.  He has proven to be a great seventh round pick and when you have a program in place, you can find players in every round.  It is much easier to find players when you know what you are specifically looking for in each player. 

 

4.     Last year, the Broncos swept the season series by outscoring Kansas City 68-18.  That might be the score this week alone.  How can the Chiefs keep up with the Broncos?  And I bet there will be a ton of empty seats by the half in KC.  I have been where the Chiefs have been and can tell you there is no worse feeling than knowing you have very little chance to win the game. 

 

5.     As bad as the Browns have been on offense, putting Brady Quinn in the game won’t improve anything.   Quinn is so unproven and will have to grow on the job before he can really make a difference.  Why don’t the Browns let running back Jason Wright run the ball more?  He has size, burst and power. 

 

6.     I would have a very quick hook with Texans quarterback Matt Schaub this week.  I am getting awfully tired of him completing passes and not being able to get the ball down the field.  Sometimes, you have to hold the ball a second longer and take the hit to get it down the field.  He has to start making plays in the deep passing game. 

 

7.     I watch every Denver offensive game and came away more impressed with Jay Cutler than ever before.  His foot quickness and his movement are very impressive and it makes no sense to bring blitzes from depth against him.  His eye control and ability to feel the rush is very, very impressive. 

 

8.     The Bucs defense surprised me watching tape yesterday, as they have given up way too many deep plays down the field and rank in the bottom third of the NFL in allowing plays of over 25 yards.  This is very unlike a Monte Kiffin defense.  And it looks like teams are doing a better job of attacking them after the half.  The 3^rd quarter has been an issue for the Bucs; they’ve been outscored 21-3 in 3^rd quarter this season.

 

9.     Changing a head coach now in St. Louis is going to fix this? Green was 0-5 as a starter in ’07…The Rams have been outscored 116-29 this season.  They’ve lost 7 straight overall and the last 6 by an average score of 39.7 to 14.3…The Rams are 7-23 in their last 30 games…over the last 30 games, the Rams have been:

• Outscored by 33 points in 1st quarter (38-0 this season)
• Outscored by 40 points in 2nd quarter
• Outscored by 73 points in 1st half
• Outscored by 69 points in 3rd quarter
• Outscored by 153 points in 4th quarter
• Outscored by 216 points in 2nd half and OT (+6 in OT)
• Outscored by 289 points overall
• They’ve allowed 27.9 PPG over their last 30 games

Vince Lombardi coming back won’t help the Rams.  And how many of you uniform buffs want the Rams to go back to the Blue and White uniforms?  Count me in. 

10.   I have a feeling knowing Rex Ryan, the defensive coordinator of the Ravens, that he has drawn every zero coverage blitz (that means the middle of the field does not have a free safety) he can think of last week after watching what Jim Johnson of the Eagles did to Pittsburgh.  I feel for Big Ben this week, with another team that will blitz from the time the bus gets to the stadium coming to play the Steelers.    And to borrow a line from a former coach I worked for: “I have seen enough of (insert player name here, in this case, Steeler guard 68 Chris Kemoeatu,) get him out of there.”  Kemoeatu needs to hit the bench for a while, or his man might hurt Roethlisberger.