MVP for the NFL

Tom Brady is among those being talked about for Most Valuable Player of the year. Tom Brady is being lauded for having a record of 4-1 with losses at the line because of injury and the loss of Randy Moss. His numbers are not very impressive with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. Brady is still leading his team to victories. One person people tend to forget about is Peyton Manning. He has lead his team to a 4-2 record but has 13 touchdowns and only two interceptions for a league-leading passer rating of 103.4. Peyton Manning has had many injuries to his team at many offensive positions and still continues to have the best start to his career. Peyton Manning deserves the MVP award because he has more injuries to deal with along with better numbers. Peyton Manning has to play near perfect football every week to have a chance at winning and many times he does. The Colts would not win many games without Peyton Manning and that is what makes him the most valuable player to his team. While many teams have great players, not many have one as crucial to their success as Peyton Manning.

 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/don_banks/10/21/nfl.awards/index.html

Cover 3

I want to discuss the topic I had said I would discuss in this blog post. I had previously explained how the cover 2 works in its basic forms. I now want to discuss how the cover 3 generally works. Cover three means there are three defensive backs covering the deep part of the field. They can either divide the field up into three or they can divide it by ¼ ¼ and 1/2. Cover 3 means the middle of the field will be closed. By just looking at the middle of the field, a quarterback can identify whether it’s cover 2 or cover 3 or 1. Cover 1 also has the middle of the field closed. When playing cover 3, there will almost always be at least one safety covering a deep part of the field. There still need to be people covering the flats so that responsibility is left to a linebacker and a cornerback. Which corner back it is depends on cloud or sky coverage. If the call is sky the strong safety has the flat and the corner is deep. If the call is cloud the strong side corner has the flat and the strong safety is deep. I hope this helps people wishing to understand football a little better.

Injuries

I would like to say that I will continue with the cover 3 topic on my next blog. I recently learned that Indianapolis Colts tight-end Dallas Clark had surgery on his hand and has been placed on the injury-reserved list. For those who do not know what the injury reserve list is, the injury-reserved list is a list where players are placed when the team feels that a player can not return for the rest of the season. Once they are put on the list, they are not allowed to return until the next season. Why is this one injury so important? Well, Dallas Clark is pretty much Peyton Manning’s second option. Dallas Clark demands double-teams or he will carve up a defense. Clark is too fast to be covered by most linebackers and too strong to go one-on-one with a cornerback. Dallas Clark is an important part of this offence. With Indianapolis Colt’s wide receiver Austin Collie recently also having had hand surgery and wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez nursing a sprained ankle, another injury is the last thing the colts needed. Add to the list running back Joseph Addai who hurt his shoulder last week and backup running back Donald Brown. This is just one side of the ball. On Defense the Colts have lost many players to injury as well. Peyton Manning and the Colts have to play perfect football to have a chance with these many injuries.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81b86a50/article/wrist-surgery-ends-season-for-colts-te-clark?module=HP_headlines

Cover 2

Cover 3 or cover 2? Middle open or middle closed? This is one of the main things a quarterback looks for at the snap of the ball. Typically in a game, there are two safeties who share the field on defense. These two safeties usually are aligned next to each other and are the deepest defensive players on the field. Cover 3 and cover 2 refer to the coverage a defense is playing. Typically when playing cover 2, the two safeties split the field in half. They are responsible for any receiver that goes deep. The two safeties splitting causes the middle of the field to be exposed. Former head coach Tony Dungy helped create a defense which was basically a zone cover two. The safeties are responsible for the deep halves of the field and the cornerbacks are responsible for the flats while the linebackers cover the short middle. The only difference in Tony Dungy’s defense was that the middle linebacker had deep middle responsibilities. The middle linebacker, often referred to as the mike, would cover the deep middle of the field hoping to eliminate the exposed middle of the field that the regular cover two would leave open. The main weaknesses of a cover two are the open areas between the cornerback and the safeties and the open area in the middle of the field. The safeties are also left one on one against deep threats. On my next post, I will explain how the cover 3 works.

Contract Holds

Every year you hear about NFL players holding out for a better contract. They sign a contract, play good football and ask for more money. When they are not given the money asked for, they hold out. I don’t think people working other jobs go up to their boss and demand more money after doing well. NFL players think they should get more money than they originally agreed to if they feel like they are playing at a higher level, but would they return money if they underperformed. The answer is no. NFL players are quick to ask for money when they over perform their contract but usually never give money back when they under perform. A contract is a contract for a reason and players should stick to it and not bring up unnecessary drama by holding out and not playing. NFL athletes are usually looked up to by younger kids and this example of holding out when they do not get what they want is harmful to kids. They are better off playing it out and getting awarded after they continue to work hard. NFL athletes are already getting enough money as it is and they do not need to behave this way to receive more. These are just my thoughts on contract holds by some NFL players.

Randy Moss Trade a Bad Thing?

Earlier this week, the New England Patriots traded wide receiver Randy Moss to the Vikings. The trade was made for a third and seventh round pick of next year’s draft. Randy Moss helped Tom Brady in making their 2007 offense one of the best offense’s in NFL history. During Randy Moss’ stay at New England, he managed to break the record for most touchdowns in a season. He was always a deep threat with the potential to get a touchdown on every catch. This trade would seem like bad news to an already struggling New England team. Tom Brady no longer has a deep threat to take off coverage from Wes Welker and other receivers. What this trade does allow though is the ability for Tom Brady to just throw it to his open receiver like he did before Randy Moss arrived. He would force throws to Randy Moss which would occasionally end in interceptions because their game plan and Moss’ ego would call for that. Now he has the freedom to just hit the open receiver. Tom Brady can now go back to his old form and let his receivers get open. Randy Moss was going to be let go after this season so they were able to get something for him. Now the Patriots can look to develop other younger receivers who will eventually be able to make New England’s offence potent again.

Jacksonville vs Indianapolis

During this weeks Jacksonville-Indianapolis matchup, the two teams went out on a shootout that ended in Jacksonville’s favor. The Jaguars ran all over the Colts once again while Peyton Manning tried to do what he does best. The Jaguars started off the game by scoring a touchdown on a run by Jaguars’ quarterback, David Gerrard. The Colt’s answered back with a touchdown of their own. The two teams battled it out staying within a touchdown of each other throughout the game. During the third quarter, the Jaguars made a touchdown to make the score 21-14. Indianapolis answered back with a  96 yard drive that ended with a 2 yard run from Joseph Addai. Once again Jacksonville scored another touchdown to take the lead at 28-21. This time it was a touchdown pass from David Gerrard to Mercedes Lewis. Peyton Manning rallied another comeback with a one yard touchdown pass to Austin Collie. The Jaguars got the ball with very little time left. The game appeared to be headed into overtime. The Jaguars got into what appeared to be field goal range with just under 15 seconds left. They attempted a pass to get closer but Colts’ cornerback Kelvin Hayden nearly intercepted the pass. His dropped interception would come back to haunt him. With five seconds left, Josh Scobee attempted a 59 yard field goal. The field goal was good and made the score 31-28 to end the game.

18 Game Regular Season

There is word that an 18 game regular season is in the future. Although this makes for more football for us to watch and more money for the owners, the players and coaches are not for it. Rookies especially, who are trying to make a team, will have less preseason games to play in and show what they have to offer. The increase in the regular season will mean a decrease in the preseason by two games. That’s 120 minutes less to evaluate rookies and players. It’s 120 minutes less for the starters to get the feel of the game again. The time during the preseason is crucial for developing a rapport between players and for teaching the rookies the ropes of NFL football. Receivers who need time to practice their timing with quarterbacks will have less time and in effect be less effective during games. The added two games also means there will be greater chance for injury during the season. In a time where the NFL is trying to lower the amount of injuries, the NFL increases the chance of injury by adding two additional games. Teams that make it to the Superbowl will have to play 22 games in one season. Sure we would all like to see more football on Sundays, but at what cost?

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100927019