QUOTE: “Life — a culmination of the past, an awareness of the present, an indication of a future beyond knowledge, the quality that gives a touch of divinity to matter.” – Charles Lindbergh
Rams putting a plan in place
The challenge that awaits the Rams, and most specifically as it applies to first-rounder Sam Bradford, is when to name him the starter. But much like buying your first home, there is never a right time. It just all comes together. You think you can’t afford the house, but you get approved for a mortgage (not the subprime kind) and life goes on. And that’s exactly what awaits the Rams. There is never a right time; it will just happen. However, before all this gets started, the Rams must first get Bradford under contract in the next eight weeks.
I like that head coach Steve Spagnuolo named A.J. Feeley the starter “for right now,” making no short- or long-term commitment. Once Spagnuolo knows he has Bradford under contract, his tune will change. Essentially, the Rams will not have two different types of offenses for each player, in large part because to have any success on the field they must get their young players to execute, which means keeping their offense very basic — which helps Bradford's development. It won’t take Bradford long to know the offense, but what will take time is getting used to the speed of the game, along with being able to control and call the proper protections. Bradford will give the Rams the best chance to win now and in the future, so once he signs, his path to the starting lineup will be very short.
Overtime rules
Next week is another NFL owners meeting, which doesn’t include the head coaches – just owners and lawyers. This means there will not be any objection to moving the overtime rules from the playoffs only into the regular season -- which makes sense. This new rule should be tried and tested in the regular season before being introduced in the postseason. The head coaches -- especially the ones who are overseeing playoff teams -- should now vote for the rules to be moved into the regular season, allowing them to at least learn the practicality of the rules before the playoffs.
The May meetings are usually reserved for the business of football along with the selections of Super Bowl sites, and this meeting will, in fact, have a Super Bowl vote for 2014. New York/New Jersey will be up for vote, and based on the brand new state-of-the-art Giants/Jets stadium sitting off exit 16W of the New Jersey Turnpike, we will have our very first cold-weather Super Bowl in 2014. I’m not sure how that’s going to work, in part because I need to determine the wind element of the new stadium and how it will affect passing games, especially as the gales of winter enter the east.
But I do hope the owners vote to bring the overtime rules to the regular season — which might not come into play next year, but at least we might be able to examine the practicalities of the rules.
Have a great weekend, and come back for the Sunday Post.
Follow me on Twitter: michaelombardi
Dare to dream - a Super Bowl at Lambeau Field.
The horrible weather would remove the bogus celebrity element and ridiculous halftime show. I'm probably in the minority on this but I think it would be great. Imagine if a team like the "greatest show on turf" had had to play in those conditions (or even outdoors in the rain).
That is football.
Overtime should have a wider set of field goal posts placed on the field, from the ground up, like Aussie Rules football, for additional scoring. Since it isn't sudden death the other team could kick one point field goals to keep the game going. After all, nobody wants regular sudden death overtime, do they? Just remove the end zone back line markers and insert a couple tall poles for measuring the extra point kick. If you can run a touchdown through the back line inside those poles score another point as well.
There, now we've added more scoring and ended the rule where a team who could not win in regulation still gets a chance to win. A win for not being good enough to Cowboy up a scoreboard lead in the first four quarters, the time when you are supposed to win games.
So, it could take a game out of the ref's hands. By the time a game hits overtime, they've already made enough bad calls to rob one team anyways. This just makes it more likely they'll decide the outcome the same way, on the rebound.
The cold weather at the Super Bowl will have no effect on my tv . As far as Sam Bradford , I wouldn't play that guy until the o-line is legitimately capable of protecting him .
I'm really impressed that Charles Lindberg would have had anything to say about anything on the 80th anniversary of his famous flight given that, in 2007, the year of the 80th anniversary, Lindberg (1) was 105 years old and (2) had been dead for 33 years.
Mr. Murder
Your comment makes absolutely no sense whatsoever
It's actually from a Reader's Digest article in the mid-60s where Lindbergh was making a case for natural resourse conservation. It was Lindebergh though.
Well, it was being a bit sarcastic. IMO they're looking for a way to make OT games where you can still apply the spread lines to them instead of the game pushing to a straight pick on the winner.
As a "Bradford" myself, I approve of the Rams giving Sam Bradford a chance. Good luck to him, except when the Rams play the Broncos this season! As for the owner's meetings, I sincerely hope that the stalemate that could percolate into a lockout is resolved shortly, but we'll see what happens. Thanks, Lombardi, keep up the good work, fellow Italian!
"Mr. Murder Your comment makes absolutely no sense whatsoever"
@Tmoney, don't tell me you just now figured out not to read anything Mr. Murder posts. He's the original ramblin man, usually a whole bunch of hokey that he's seen work on his kid's 8 year old Pop Warner team.
My favorite is when he says " the Cardinals really should give that young kid from LSU a chance, the kid is a blazer". Meanwhile you have no idea who he is talking about as the team has about 8 guys from LSU on the team, and because he doesn't name anybody it appears he doesn't know the name either. As a general rule, one can only deduce that he doesn't know shinola about football.
If I were an NFL owner and someone started talking about having a Super Bowl anywhere north of a border or gulf coast state, I would ask my other colleagues if anyone wanted to join me in ceceding from the NFL, and forming the CFL (Confederate Football League).
If you can't deal with the cold weather what would you like to do Sloan , maybe abolish all the teams from the north to further pansify the game and you fair weather fans ? Get a clue !! Football is ideally an outdoor game and if you can't handle it stay home. And yes I know pansify isn't a word , but it fits you're pansy statement .
You know,gjecat, I can't even enumerate how many times the Bucs' home games have been switched to later kick-offs early in the year so as not to be "unfair" to the visiting team ( & I predict right her & now it will happen Sept. 12 when the precious Brownies come to town).So who exactly is the "pansy" when that happens,gjecat??
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May 21, 2010
11:36 AM
Quick and nice article this week Lombardi. Thanks.
I like the analogy of the quarterback and your first home. That brings back a lot of memories.
I am anxious to try a cold-weather Super Bowl. I think weather is and should be part of the game and excluding that element from the season finale isn't really logical. I don't think anyone (except maybe Bears fans) looks back at the weather effected Super Bowl 41 and thinks that game was any less enjoyable (even with 4 straight turnovers).
As with everything, if you embrace unpredictability, it can and will lead to a greater enjoyment of the event. Surprises are what make life interesting.
I also love the fact the ultra-conservative and controlling NFL powers that be might not have control over this one thing. And that's an interesting case study in itself.
Go Blue Hens!!!