State of the DTs: Wilfork Eager for Payday; Pats “Braced” to Lose Him

[This article is one of eight in B/R contributor Jack Harver’s “State of the DTs” series, introduced here.]

Coming off a career year, both statistically and as a team leader, Vince Wilfork might have expected the New England Patriots to be willing when he broached the subject of a contract extension this offseason.

Wilfork had a personal best 66 tackles (45 solo) and two sacks while starting all 16 games on a defense that lost several veterans to injuries.  Safety Rodney Harrison, end Richard Seymour, and linebackers Adalius Thomas and Tedy Bruschi all missed starts; Harrison and Thomas finished the season on injured reserve.

But the Patriots’ front office, not a group disposed to depend too heavily on any one player, responded to Wilfork’s upcoming contract year stoically.  They have held firm in negotiations thus far, clinging to the bargain $2.2 million salary ($800,000 base plus $1.4 million in escalators) owed to Wilfork in 2009 and not willing to overspend to keep him a Patriot.

And in April, perhaps mindful of Wilfork’s contract situation, New England spent a second-round draft pick on Boston College defensive tackle Ron Brace—a 6’3″, 330-pound mauler who could eventually replace Wilfork at the nose.

At age 27, Wilfork is hardly a fading dinosaur on his last legs.  Of the 80 games the Patriots have played since using their 2004 first-round pick on him, Wilfork has played in 77 and started 67 of them.  Playing one of football’s most physically demanding positions, he has missed just three starts in five years.

After making his first Pro Bowl appearance in 2008, Wilfork wasn’t voted to the 2009 game.  Kris Jenkins and Shaun Rogers, two star newcomers from the NFC, had more buzz and better numbers, respectively.

But Wilfork, who also earned All-Pro honors for his play in that 2007-08 season, is still considered one of the NFL’s elite at his position.

“[Wilfork]’s just smart,” Oakland center Samson Satele told The Boston Globe.

“He knows when to fire out and when not to.  He’s been in the league for quite a while, so he knows some of the little tips.  If the guard looks at him, he knows that he is coming his way.

“He is a low center of gravity guy.  You can’t move him.”

With his combination of savvy and strength, Wilfork has been a crucial component of New England’s run defense in his four years as a full-time starter.  Over that stretch, the Patriots have consistently been in the league’s top 10 in terms of rushing yards allowed.

They took a step back to the middle of the pack in 2008, hampered by a combination of injuries and new starters at linebacker and safety.

Wilfork, too, struggled a bit as the Patriots missed the playoffs.  Former Baltimore defensive coordinator—and current Jets head coach—Rex Ryan points out that Wilfork wasn’t above occasional lapses in technique.

“Good [nose tackles] stay square,” he told The Boston Globe.  “I think when Vince makes a mistake, it’s because he turns his shoulder.”

On a defense missing several of its steady veterans, and with his own contract situation unsettled, Wilfork might have felt pressure to beat blocks and make more plays himself instead of sticking strictly to his two-gap role.

Brace, Wilfork’s rookie understudy, played second fiddle to Boston College teammate B.J. Raji for two years, generally taking on blockers while Raji racked up sacks.  Whether the Patriots think Wilfork’s form has slipped or not, Brace might offer enough of a continued bargain at nose tackle to allow them to focus on re-signing veterans like Seymour and guard Logan Mankins instead.

Regardless of whether New England ends up retaining him, Wilfork’s value has hardly diminished in the eyes of the rest of the league.

“I’d love to have him, no question,” Ryan added.  “Nose tackles are hard to find; everybody needs them, [and] he’s a good one.

“There will be a lot of takers out there if he’s a free agent.”

State of the DTs: Rogers, Browns’ Defense Must Sync to Improve in 2009

This article is one of eight in B/R contributor Jack Harver’s “State of the DTs” series, introduced here.

Shaun Rogers’ first season in Cleveland was a tale of two contrasting stats lines.

One was Rogers’ individual production: 76 tackles—61 of them solo—to go with 4.5 sacks (second-most in the NFL by a nose tackle) and four passes defensed.  Pro Bowl voters showed their approval by sending Rogers to Hawaii for the third time in his career.

The other was the Browns’ run defense.  With Rogers in the middle of their line, Cleveland allowed a 100-yard rusher in eight of their 16 games and gave up over 150 rushing yards per game on average—fifth-worst in the league.

In addition, Rogers’ Browns teammates tallied only 12.5 sacks.  Cleveland’s pass defense still managed to be a league-average unit in terms of yards allowed, despite the lack of pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

The picture painted by these two discordant sets of numbers is more complicated than a star in the middle of a bad defense.

As much havoc as he caused, Rogers can’t be blamed for the Browns’ deficient pass rush.  Nor should he be considered responsible for the play of ends Corey Williams—another of Cleveland’s offseason trade acquisitions—and Shaun Smith, which left much to be desired.

But Rogers did hurt the Browns’ defense by failing to play within coach Romeo Crennel’s two-gap scheme.

Crennel’s defenses in 2003 and 2004, his last two years as the New England Patriots’ defensive coordinator, were elite against the run.  Richard Seymour was coming into his own as a star end on those teams, but the scheme keyed on big bodies Ted Washington, Keith Traylor, and Vince Wilfork at nose tackle.

All three could move, which was a plus, but those teams stopped the run so well because all three were immovable.

In Rogers, Cleveland might have been expecting the second coming of Traylor—very big, athletic, and tenacious at the point of attack.  But his transition from an attacking role in Detroit’s four-man front to the less-glorified two-gap work required in Crennel’s defense, went poorly.

While Rogers was shooting gaps, accumulating the most solo tackles in any season of his career and defeating blocks in rare form, opponents were effectively running around him.  Instead of staying home on his blocker and clogging two rushing lanes, Rogers was often committing to one gap—an easy read block for even an average lineman.

Just as often as he was making plays, Rogers was being ridden out of the way, leaving a clear running lane in his wake.

Eric Mangini, Cleveland’s new head coach, ran the same two-gap 3-4 defense as Crennel’s successor in New England and as head coach of the New York Jets.  But, considering the dysfunctional defensive line he’s inheriting, he should consider scheming to harness Rogers’ bullish ability to plow through blockers.

Williams, who cost the Browns a second-round pick and has done little to warrant his six year, $38 million contract thus far, could thrive as an end in a one-gap scheme.  Like Rogers, Williams had his best seasons in an attacking role: he racked up 14 sacks from 2006-07 in Green Bay’s 4-3 defense before leaving for Cleveland.

Rogers could easily spend another year racking up sacks and tackles without corresponding team success.  He’s a phenomenal athlete for his size, and he’s at the peak of his individual game.

For the Browns to truly benefit from his grit and aggression, though, he’ll either need to play with more discipline in his two-gap role or be let loose in a new, attacking defense.

State of the DTs: If Healthy, All-Pro Jenkins Keys Jets’ Bully Defense

[This article is one of eight in B/R contributor Jack Harver’s “State of the DTs” series, introduced here.]

Kris Jenkins has conquered the kind of medical and personal problems that claim careers.

Coming into the NFL in 2001, he weighed 315 pounds at the NFL Combine.  Back then, the questions were just about his work ethic and discipline. 

Jenkins took his lumps as a rookie in Carolina, then blew up in his second and third seasons: 12 sacks, almost 90 tackles, and two trips to the Pro Bowl in two years.

He was well on his way to stardom as an athletic, aggressive tackle when a roller-coaster series of injuries and rehabilitation began.

First was a shoulder injury in Week 4 of the 2004 season that sidelined him for the rest of the year.  During the time off, Jenkins developed drinking and weight problems that undermined his rehabilitation.

In his first game back in 2005, Jenkins tore his ACL—a seemingly final setback.  Knee injuries are the bane of football players, debilitating and very prone to recurrence. 

But Jenkins scratched his way back into the Panthers’ 2006 starting lineup, reinventing himself as a space-eating roadblock and earning Pro Bowl honors for a third time.

During the 2007 season, his weight issues cropped up once more; at nearly 400 pounds, Jenkins effectively ate his way out of Carolina.  The Jets gave up third- and fifth-round draft picks—a bargain, considering the Panthers’ first-round asking price for Jenkins the year before—to acquire him, and signed him to a contract with $250,000 in incentives for dropping weight.

Through the first 11 games in 2008, no one could argue that the Jets hadn’t gotten their money’s worth.

Jenkins showed up to New York’s training camp at 360 pounds and keyed a run defense that was among the league’s elite.  The Jets allowed under 80 yards per game on the ground as they shot out of the gates to an 8-3 start; no opposing running back managed 100 yards against them, and they held five of their 11 opponents under 50 team rushing yards.

Then, having beaten alcohol, depression, weight issues, and injuries to his knee and shoulder, Jenkins started to feel the effects of a hip injury and a herniated disc in his back.

The back injury had happened back in a Week 3 loss at San Diego and nagged at Jenkins as the season wore on, but the physical wear and tear seemed to take over in December.  The Jets allowed 100-yard rushers in three of their final five games, going 1-4 over that stretch and missing the playoffs after their hot start.

New York fired head coach Eric Mangini after that collapse, replacing him with former Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan.

Ryan has come into the AFC East with guns blazing, signing linebacker Bart Scott and safety Jim Leonhard from his Ravens defense and talking smack with the Jets’ division rivals.  His history of success developing pass rushers like Terrell Suggs and Adalius Thomas has Jets fans optimistic about the prospects for former first-round pick Vernon Gholston and the defense as a whole.

But Jenkins is the unquestioned focal point of the defense.  The Jets acquired free agent lineman Marques Douglas, who played for Ryan in Baltimore, but traded end Kenyon Coleman to Cleveland.  New York’s ends weren’t able to pick up the slack in Jenkins’ absence last season, and the Jets shouldn’t expect them to this year, either.

In his 2006 Pro Bowl season, Jenkins showed that he is capable of coming back from worse injuries to play at a high level.  For their new coach to be able to tinker with his new defense—and he is tinkering, if Jenkins’ practice reps at defensive end are any indication—the Jets will need their nose tackle to start 2009 where he left off in Week 12 of 2008.

Jenkins’ play through those first eleven games earned him his first All-Pro nod since swelling above 350 pounds.  That “second coming” form will be crucial to New York’s defense going forward.

State of the DTs: After Getting Paid, How Will Haynesworth Fit in DC?

[This article is one of eight in B/R contributor Jack Harver’s “State of the DTs” series, introduced here.]

In sports, big paychecks come with big expectations.

(The same should—but can’t—be said about all industries.)

Coming into a front-loaded seven year, $100 million deal to join the Washington Redskins, defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth is confronting both sides of that truism.

The Redskins expect Haynesworth to turn the weakest position on the NFL’s fourth-ranked defense into a position of strength.  They expect him to get sacks and tackles, but they’ll also expect him to take on multiple blockers, giving rookie pass rusher Brian Orakpo good looks. 

The Pro Bowl?  That’s practically a given on Washington’s to-do list for their big-ticket acquisition.

He’s expected to be the best player on a defense featuring such standouts as London Fletcher and Laron Landry. Considering what they’ve invested, the Redskins arguably have a right to such great expectations.

But Haynesworth, thrust into a very bright spotlight by his All-Pro performance the past two years and the sheer size of his contract, is also dealing with a different set of expectations.

Between pessimistic fans, the ever-skeptical sports media, and even his tight-fisted former owners in Tennessee, a sizable chunk of public opinion expects Haynesworth to fail.

“With the contract, it’s going to be all on me,” he acknowledged in a press conference following his signing. “My goal is to be the best player on the field and to eventually get to that Hall of Fame status and be mentioned with Reggie White and Bruce Smith and all the greats.

“You’re not going to remember Albert Haynesworth as a bust.”

To truly avoid the “bust” tag, Haynesworth will need to provide an attitude adjustment for Washington’s “bend, don’t break” defense.

The Redskins gave up under 300 total yards per game.  But they struggled to make the game-changing plays that define elite defenses, managing only 13 turnovers and 24 sacks—among the league’s worst in both categories.

In signing Haynesworth, owner Daniel Snyder made a statement that he wants his defense to do less bending and more breaking their opponents. 

At tackle for the Titans the past two seasons, Haynesworth jackknifed into opposing backfields for 14.5 sacks in 27 games while keying one of the league’s top-five run defenses.

To earn his considerable keep, Haynesworth has to help Washington’s defense transform into a unit that terrorizes and imposes itself on opponents instead of reacting to them.  He’ll need to turn them into an eleven-man emulation of his own playing style.

Part of the challenge will be keeping himself healthy: Haynesworth has yet to start all 16 games in any season since entering the league in 2002.  He made 14 starts in 2008, missing Weeks 16 and 17 with a knee sprain, which was his best showing since starting 14 games in 2005.

That’s the yin and yang to Haynesworth, of course: if the Redskins are expecting him to repeat his past performance, they should be prepared to go a few games without him.

But when he’s on the field, Haynesworth has to add his aggression, his attitude, and even a bit of his recklessness to Washington’s smart, efficient defense. 

If that happens, he’ll have been worth every penny.

State of The DTs: Dockett’s Strong Playoff Could Mean Stardom in 2009

[This article is one of eight in B/R contributor Jack Harver’s “State of the DTs” series, introduced here.]

Coming into last season’s playoffs, Darnell Dockett—like the Cardinals as a team—had been inconsistent in the regular season, managing just four sacks and only one in Arizona’s last eight games.

Then, like the Cardinals, he showed up big-time.

It started with Arizona’s home wild-card game against Atlanta. 

Dockett and the Cardinals’ other defensive linemen caught on to rookie quarterback Matt Ryan’s unchanging snap count and harassed him, tallying three sacks and forcing the Falcons’ careful quarterback into throwing two interceptions.

Dockett didn’t nab one of those sacks to pad his stats line.  Instead, he took the field in the second half and changed the game.

The Falcons had scored 14 points in the last three minutes of the first half, taking a 17-14 lead and momentum into the locker room at halftime.  They had the ball to start the second half, looking to expand their lead.

On the drive’s second play, Ryan turned around to hand the ball off to running back Michael Turner—but Dockett, who had already beaten Atlanta guard Harvey Dahl into his gap off the snap, jammed his hand into the exchange and tore the ball free, right into the arms of Cardinals safety Antrel Rolle.

Touchdown, Cardinals—21-17, and a breach in the Falcons’ offensive line that opened a floodgate for Arizona’s defense.

Dockett performed well in the Cardinals’ next two games.  Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme was pressured into throwing five picks, and Dockett played to the last whistle against Philadelphia, intercepting a lateral on the game’s final play to seal the win.

But his shining moment came in defeat, harrying Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger snap after snap in the Super Bowl. 

Dockett’s three sacks and five tackles in the box score hardly do his Super Bowl performance justice.  He played like his hair was on fire, hitting his gap relentlessly, hustling in space, and forcing Roethlisberger to make some truly spectacular desperation plays to earn the win.  And the whole world saw it.

Going into the 2009 season and beyond, Dockett has the opportunity to turn that month of national exposure into legitimate stardom. 

Star-caliber tackles are described, past their statistics, in terms of their effect on running games and quarterbacks.  After chasing Roethlisberger around for four quarters, Dockett’s name should come up in pre-game chatter this season as the representative for the Cardinals’ pass rush.

That’s the kind of talk that makes the voting public aware of what opposing linemen, coordinators, and coaches have known for a few years.

Dockett’s nine sacks and Pro Bowl appearance in the 2007 season put him on the map, but the Cardinals’ new status as a playoff team will involve him in a higher level of conversation about the NFL’s elite defensive tackles.

(He plays a hybrid role in Arizona’s defense, sometimes lining up over an opposing tackle as an end, but usually takes the inside gap and should be considered an interior lineman.)

If Dockett can produce in the coming season like he did in the playoffs, making big plays and chaos, his star will keep rising.

State of the DTs: Is Dallas’ Ratliff Too Workman-Like Second Pro Bowl Selection?

[This article is one of eight in B/R contributor Jack Harver’s “State of the DTs” series, introduced here.]

At 6’4″ and 295 pounds, Dallas’ nose tackle Jay Ratliff is too svelte to fit the stereotypical mold for his position in the Cowboys’ 3-4 defense.

Current Dolphins’ nose tackle Jason Ferguson, whose torn biceps as a Cowboy at the start of the 2007 season gave Ratliff his first starting gig, is shorter (6’3″), and, at 305 pounds, a good bit squatter. 

Casey Hampton, whose Steelers run an attacking 3-4 defense similar to the Cowboys, plays at 325 pounds, and looks like he’s yet to digest a beach ball.

Yet Ratliff manages to bang heads in the trenches with the best at his position. He fought through the trash for 7.5 sacks and a starting spot in the Pro Bowl in his first full season as a starter last year.

“The main thing is I’ve learned how to keep fat off and I’ve really benefited, as far as my endurance,” he told NFL.com’s Steve Wyche.

Keeping fat off is a novel concept at a position where most starters are built like tubby boulders to hold up against double-team blocks. Ratliff looks more like a 3-4 end: tall and solid, built to take on opposing tackles—the best athletes on the offensive line, one-on-one.

And yet he thrives against guards and centers built to move those big ‘uns in spaces designed to present small gaps and pit bulk strength on strength. 

Ratliff, who started his college career at Auburn as a tight end, uses his athleticism, grinding demeanor, and technical discipline to outwork opposing linemen.

That “nose to the grindstone” reputation made Ratliff the perfect candidate for the Pro Bowl this past season in a down year for NFC defensive tackles.

Chicago’s Tommie Harris, who had a streak of three consecutive Pro Bowl trips, had a so-so season as the Bears’ defense slipped a bit from the ranks of the elite. Kris Jenkins and Shaun Rogers left NFC teams to have Pro Bowl seasons in the AFC.

Ratliff, of course, had a career year statistically. His 7.5 sacks were far and away the most by a nose tackle last season (three ahead of Shaun Rogers’ 4.5, the second-most), and close to the eight put up by Tennessee’s Albert Haynesworth and Minnesota’s Kevin Williams, two perennial Pro Bowlers.

Good numbers always help win voters.

Oddly enough, the same workman-like mentality that Ratliff used to fight through offensive lines to sacks and Pro Bowl recognition might keep him out of a repeat selection.

“The first thing I did was forget about last season,” Ratliff said. “The Pro Bowl was a reward for last season. After that game was over, I put it behind me. I’m back to being a regular guy.”

“[We need to] be a team more than anything,” he said when asked about his aims for the Cowboys’ upcoming season. “That’s my goal. I’m going to go out and work hard to produce, but I’m not going to make it about me.”

If keeping his head down, and doing work means drawing blockers away from Dallas’ pass rushers instead of getting sacks—and, with veteran lineman Chris Canty gone in free agency, it might—Ratliff won’t complain.

But with Haynesworth moving to the NFC, and Arizona’s Darnell Dockett building a big-play reputation, Ratliff might be unsung once again after this year’s Pro Bowl votes are tallied.

State of the DTs: Cracks in Vikings’ Williams Wall, or Just Minor Issues?

[This article is one of eight in B/R contributor Jack Harver’s “State of the DTs” series, introduced here.]

Albert Haynesworth’s biggest competition for NFC Pro Bowl honors will come from Minnesota defensive tackles Kevin and Pat Williams.

During their past three seasons manning the middle of the Vikings’ defensive line, the Williams duo has been the engine room for the NFL’s stingiest rush defense. Minnesota’s opponents have averaged less than 71 yards per game on the ground during that span, and Kevin and Pat have been fixtures on the NFC’s Pro Bowl roster since .

Kevin, who has 42.5 career sacks in his six pro seasons, is considered the better pass rusher of the two. Pat, who has played at 320 pounds for the Vikings since arriving at 335 pounds from Buffalo in 2005, uses his massive frame to occupy blockers, freeing the Vikings’ linebackers and other down linemen to make plays. He’s deceptively quick, taking on double teams with his fast movements and sheer bulk.

Minnesota had a few scares involving these two cornerstones of their defense toward the end of last year—situations worth watching going into the 2009 season.

After taking the NFC North lead with a Week 13 win against Chicago, both Willams were suspended for testing positive for a banned weight-loss diuretic. Both Kevin and Pat hunkered down against commissioner Roger Goodell in court just like they’d done against opposing running backs, filing an injunction that stalled the suspension and allowed them to play out the season.

Opinions differ on whether the Williamses will win their protracted legal battle with the NFL as they continue to fight tooth and nail to clear their names and play.

The stakes are particularly high for their reputations: if they are eventually suspended, criticism from pundits and sports fans—already disillusioned by the seeming prevalence of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball—would likely be severe.

Point-blank; if Kevin and Pat Williams come out of court with anything short of a complete victory, they’ll likely be tainted in the public eye. Fair or unfair, they’d have long odds to be voted into the Pro Bowl.

On the football field, Kevin shows no signs of slowing down. A Pro Bowler in four of his six NFL seasons, he has missed only two games in his career—a knee sprain sidelined him for Weeks 13 and 14 in 2005—and is coming off his highest one-season sack total (8.5) since exploding onto the big-league scene with 10.5 and 11.5 in his first two seasons.

Pat, on the other hand, seems to have a few chinks in his formidable armor. He missed the Vikings’ last three games this past season after breaking a bone in his shoulder, but the real points of concern are his offseason surgeries. He had work done on his elbow in 2008, and recently underwent a minor procedure on his knee.

Turning 37 this October, the heftier of Minnesota’s two top-caliber tackles is no spring chicken. Joint injuries tend to nag and recur; while Pat’s level of play may not drop, medical problems might keep him out of enough games to miss out on a fourth consecutive Pro Bowl appearance.

Why Couldn’t Romo Admit He Was Hurt During the 44-6 Loss?

I’ll gladly tell you why.

Even if it was made known that he was hurt, idiots would have just blew it off and call anyway.

Still confused?

The process of making up stories takes many twists and turns. On the one hand, you have the player who is obviously hurt but not saying nothing about the injury.

Next, you have the moronic media. The media’s job is to report on what they see and hear, basing their story on facts nothing else, and then submit the report for final approval.

The problem is that only a certain percentage is facts. The rest is basically garbage opinion, which is then allowed on the air where the mindless idiots who hang off the media’s every word accept it.

Now, ask me what all this has to do with Romo and the loss.

He said nothing about the injury because he clearly he knew, just like all the rest of us with brains, that if he reported he was hurt, there would have been all kinds of spin.

Many would claim it was just a excuse; others would claim something else. So, why in the hell should he say anything? He did the smart thing and let all of the morons believe what they wanted to believe.

Call it being phony tough or crazy brave, but he got the better of you idiots who just wanted to claim that it was an excuse and then run away.

Now you know the truth.

NFL: The World’s Best League?

Clearly, the NFL is the world’s greatest sports league.  But for those of you that still can’t see that, I’m going to tell you why.

You’re reading this article because you’re a sports fan, right?  Everything we sports fans look for in a sport or league you can find in the NFL.  The NFL brings to the table sportsmanship, controlled violence, excitement, unpredictability from game to game and season to season, strategy, passion…I could go on for days.

The short 16-game season makes each week in the NFL very, very important.

For example, Major League Baseball’s 162-game season means teams are going to lose quite a few times no matter how good they are.  If you’re watching an MLB game in May and your team plays awful for that one game, you don’t go crazy and act like the world is coming to an end. 

It’s not that big of a deal is it? OK, you’re going to finish 99-63. OH NO! Really?

But in the NFL, each game means everything.  Losing one game can mean the difference between home field advantage, a division championship, or even making the playoffs at all.  Each game is so important; that’s why the fans are so passionate about each week.

This time we’ll use the NBA.  In basketball, often there are games in back-to-back days or every other day.  With your favorite team playing day after day, the anticipation for the next one can be diminished.

In the NFL, normally you have to wait a whole week for the next game.  That can kill a person!  (Make sure to see your doctor if you have this problem. He’ll probably prescribe a magical pill called NFL Network…it has worked great for me!) 

The anticipation is just so much greater, which keeps fans glued to their televisions each and every Sunday.

The NFL playoffs rule over every other system in sports. 

The NFL has four rounds of playoff games, but what makes the NFL far superior is that they use just one game each round.  With just one game, if your team loses you can’t say: “We’ll get ’em tomorrow!” 

If you lose in the NFL, it’s over—done. You have to wait another eight long months to see another game!

Finally, the salary cap gives the NFL its pure greatness.

Having a salary cap is why the NFL is so competitive, and why a team can go from worst to first in one season. 

Just go back and look at 2008.  The Miami Dolphins went from 1-15 to 11-5 and AFC East champs.  The Atlanta Falcons went from 4-12 to a playoff team.  The Ravens went from 5-11 to the AFC Championship Game in one season.

It’s these types of turnarounds that make the NFL so unpredictable and why each new season is so anticipated by fans.  We’ve all been making predictions for 2009 already…Heck, I made predictions myself. 

We just can’t help it!

With the salary cap, no NFL team can go Yankees on the league.  NFL teams cannot “buy a championship.”  But in baseball you see teams like the Yankees go out and spend ridiculous amounts of money that teams like the Pirates couldn’t even dream of having.

In the NFL, each team has the same limit of spending money.

I could continue all day, but I’ll stop here.  I think you get the point: 

The NFL is the best league on Earth!

Detroit Lions Head Coach Jim Schwartz: I’m Starting to Like This Guy!

Just caught this article from WDFN.

And I gotta say, I am starting to like this guy.

Outside of what is going to be a monumental job in turning the Detroit Lions around, Schwartz also feels an obligation and a responsibility to the City of Detroit.

When was the last time a Detroit Lion head coach said that?

While there have been some detractors, most recently Dan Reeves, about players and coaching living in Michigan, Schwartz was told that he would love it there.  He recounts someone telling him, “Your perception of being an outsider is a lot different than what it’s actually like.”

I have to agree.  While the job environment forced a move out of Michigan for my wife and I in 1993, we try to get back as often as we can. 

The people are great, the food you can find to eat is endless and of course, Michigan, Detroit in particular, has some of the best, most passionate and knowledgeable sports fans I’ve ever been associated with.

While many of us can’t even fathom that William Clay Ford, Sr. is considered one of the best owners in the NFL, he is attempting to give Schwartz everything he needs to succeed.  If Schwartz fails, it won’t be due to a lack of support from Ford.

What really got me liking Schwartz was this statement:

“We have everything we need here to be successful and it’s up to us to get that done,” said Schwartz. “I feel a tremendous amount of responsibility, not only to the Ford family, but to the city of Detroit. This isn’t an opportunity to me, this is a responsibility. We have to get this thing turned around for this city.”

There seems to be a sense of commitment from Schwartz that I didn’t get from Marinelli or Mariucci and definitely not from Matt Millen.

Yeah, I know, he hasn’t won a game yet…hasn’t faced any critical decisions with 80,000 fans screaming at the top of their lungs with 15 seconds on the clock and his team is down by four and need a touchdown to win (throw it to CJ!).

But the mere fact that he knows the weight he carries, the knowledge of what it means to the city if the Lions start to win, speaks volumes for his awareness.

I think this will serve him well as head coach of the Detroit Lions.

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