Police Catch Adrian Peterson Going 109 MPH

*This is going to be the first of a series of articles that I will publish every Thursday that takes a real story and adds a humorous side to it.  Hope you enjoy.

Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson was pulled over late Saturday night as police clocked him going at 109 mph.

However, that is not what made headlines, because there was something that the police have never seen before, as Peterson was not actually driving when he was pulled over.

Peterson was on foot, running, when he was clocked at 109 mph.  Said Peterson of the incident, “I’m usually able to keep right around the speed limit, but I was running late so I had to hit triple digits, it’s no big deal really.  I even slowed down when I saw the cop car before they clocked me.”

But police, on the other hand, were stunned by seeing a man run 109 miles per hour.  “I’ve never seen a man run so fast in my life, there was a blur behind him, I swear I saw it,” said Officer Daniels, who gave Peterson the ticket.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said that he is going to meet with Peterson to discuss the incident and try to insure that it doesn’t happen again.

“We realize that Peterson is a special talent, but he shouldn’t be throwing it in everybody else’s face like that, he should be more respectful and we will look into what discipline we can use for his actions, expect seeing a multiple game suspension,” said Goodell.

But although Officer Daniels had never seen this event before, his partner, Officer Jameson, has seen these things happen multiple times before.

“Back in the day I would see Barry Sanders all the time, but he was always right at the speed limit.  Hell, just two nights ago we clocked Chris Johnson going 180, but we knew even in our squad cars we couldn’t catch him,” said Officer Jameson.

Although Peterson said that the event didn’t phase him, he ran for just 85-yards and fumbled the ball twice the next night against the Bears.

“I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with the incident, but it might be, I mean they’re starting corners at linebacker now I’m pretty sure,” said Peterson of the game.

Peterson was actually pulled over going 109 in his BMW, here is the link to the actual article .

I’m Joe W.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Tuesday Night Thoughts: Who Will Break First, Saints or Colts?

Welcome to my new weekly column, this will be published every Tuesday night, and it will be called Tuesday Night Thoughts.

I will be focusing on a big story from the week, then I will give my thoughts on some other big stories that are happening around sports.  For example, this week I will focus on the Saints and Colts both being 11-0, but then I will talk about Charlie Weis, Bobby Bowden, Tiger Woods, and Roy Halladay.

After those, I will give out a few awards for the week, mostly they will be humorous.  

Let’s get on with our very first installment of Tuesday Night Thoughts.

Can Perfection Strike Twice?

In college football, there are perfect seasons all the time, in fact, there is almost always one team that goes undefeated every year.  However, in the pros, that happens a lot less often.

We were all shocked when the Patriots where able to magically go 16-0, and it took 50 Tom Brady touchdowns to get it, and even they couldn’t grab the Lombardi Trophy.

But this season, there are two legitimate contenders for 16-0, the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts.

First, we will talk about the Saints, as they have gone through their entire schedule without much of a scare.

The closest game that they had was against the Rams, in which they won 28-23.  Sure, they were tied at halftime, but they moved out to an 11-point lead before a garbage time TD by the Rams made it a five-point game.

Other than that, the Saints have won every game by double digits thanks to an offense that doesn’t stop moving the ball and a defense that is great at getting takeaways.

Drew Brees has had six games with 300-plus passing yards and already has over 3000 yards on the season with five games to go.  He also has five games with at least three touchdowns and 27 on the season.

They also have a solid three-headed rushing attack, Pierre Thomas (648 yds and five TDs) has lead the team in rushing seven times, Mike Bell (564 yards, four TDs) has lead the team in rushing three times, and Reggie Bush (277 yards, 5 TDs) has lead the team in rushing once.

This means that teams never know how to defend the Saints rushing attack, having to prepare for all three rushers. This also means that defenses have to respect the run and allow Brees to be able to throw at will against most teams.

They also have some stars on defense.  Their defensive line is held down by Sedrick Ellis and Will Smith. Their secondary is highlighted by Darren Sharper, who has eight interceptions on the year.

The Saints have an easy schedule the rest of the way. They play two games against decent teams in the Falcons and the Cowboys, but they also play the Redskins, Buccaneers, and Panthers.

Without much of a challenge the rest of the way, the Saints have a solid opportunity to make it to 16-0 and make the Vikings visit Louisiana if they want to go to the Super Bowl.

The Colts also have a solid passing game that can leave teams wondering what just happened after a quick score.

Peyton Manning is widely considered the best QB of our time and one of the best of all time.  He has thrown for over 300 yards eight times this season and has only thrown for under 250 twice, never going under 200 yards in a game.

But unlike the Saints, they don’t have the strong rushing attack.  Joseph Addai has just 583 yards and seven TDs.

The Colts offense relies more on their passing game, with three receivers over 500 yards receiving.  Coming into the season, everybody knew about Reggie Wayne (987 yards and nine TDs), but second-year receiver Pierre Garcon (574 yards, four TDs) has emerged as a solid second receiver for Manning.

There is also Manning’s favorite tight end, Dallas Clark, who has been tearing it up again this season with 834 yards and five TDs on the season.

But there is more than just passing, they have a solid defense that has only allowed more than 20 points three times this season, while holding teams to 10 or fewer points three times.

The Colts have three straight tough games, going against the Titans, Broncos, and Jaguars. Although if they make it through those three games, they have the Jets and Bills left.

Their road to perfection will be much more difficult than that of New Orleans, however, they also have a lot of weapons to make it.

There is one more question that needs to be discussed when it comes to talking about these two teams: Will these two teams make it to the Super Bowl and who would win if they did?

Although I think that the Saints have a much better chance to make it to 16-0, they have a much harder road to the Super Bowl than the Colts, as they likely have to play Minnesota, who has one of the best running backs in the NFL and a quarterback who is playing with the body of a 22-year-old and the mind of a, well, 40-year-old.

The toughest challenge the Colts will have in the playoffs is New England, a team that both the Colts and the Saints have beaten.

But if we are lucky enough to have these two teams play each other in the Super Bowl, we will be treated to a game that will be a shoot-out and a back-and-forth contest throughout.

However, were they to play, I would have to give the edge to the Saints due to a more balanced offensive attack, even though the Colts, in my mind, have a better defense.

 

Roy Halladay Gives a Deadline

Roy Halladay has given the Blue Jays a deadline of Spring Training to complete a trade and get him out of there, however, he didn’t say that they absolutely have to trade him.

Although Halladay wants to go to a contender, he doesn’t want trade talks to sour his relationship with his teammates or his performance on the mound.  After last season’s distraction, Halladay is trying to avoid a repeat.

Because of this, Halladay has specifically said that he wouldn’t even discuss a trade after the offseason is over.

 

Charlie Weis Fired by Notre Dame

After losing four straight games, Charlie Weis has finally been booted by the Fighting Irish, who have really put up much less of a fight (get it?) since Weis has been in charge.

Under Weis, Notre Dame went 35-27, and now the time has begun for a search for the next guy to get run out of South Bend.

Although Irish fans want a big name like Urban Meyer or Bob Stoops, it is more likely that they will grab somebody from a smaller school like Brian Kelly out of Cincinnati.

 

Bobby Bowden Steps Down After 44 Years

If you are looking for a more distinguished college coaching career than Bowden’s, you will have to look hard, as he took a Florida State program that was down on it’s luck, and made them permanent contenders twice national champions.

Bowden was hoping to get another year at FSU, but after multiple bad seasons, it became clear that Bowden’s style of coaching was no longer working.

Bowden leaves with the second most wins in college football history with 388. He trails only Joe Paterno of Penn State.

 

The Tiger Woods Saga

Tiger Woods has had a distinguished career on the golf course, but has never really revealed anything from his personal life.  This, however, may have to change in the coming days after a car accident that may or may not have been caused by a confrontation with his wife.

There are even questions as to whether the car accident was what caused the damage to Woods, or if it was in fact his wife.

As far as I’m concerned, I really don’t think what caused the accident matters to us unless criminal actions have taken place.  That being said, I also really want to know what happened.  

I mean, I can be curious can’t I?

 

Awards Time!!!

Bonehead Move of the Week : Keith Ballard, who was apparently angry with goalie Tomas Vokoun and showed that he was by hitting him in the face with his hockey stick after Vokoun allowed a goal.

Although I don’t think he did so on purpose, it was pretty bad to watch and it was a pretty big bonehead move, it’s really not that hard to watch where you swing your stick. Come on now.

The best part about the whole thing was when the announcer said, “Nobody in the building feels worse than Keith Ballard.”  Yea, when I see somebody get jacked I feel so bad for the guy who hit the other guy, then I worry about the guy about to be taken off on a stretcher.

 

All-Star of the Week : Drew Brees. The man was playing a clearly outmatched Patriots defense, and it showed with his first half stats of 311 yards and four touchdowns.  He ended the game going 18-23 for 371 yards with five TDs.  He had a passer rating of 158.3, the highest rating possible.

 

Worst Player of the Week : Jake Delhomme. He has been awful all season, but somehow he can’t get benched.  He tried to help the case to give Matt Moore some playing time by throwing no touchdowns and four interceptions against the Jets.

He also threw for just 130 yards on 14-34 passing and he dipped below his Week One passer rating of 14.7 (yea, that’s right) with a new low of 12.7 (yea, thats also right) in his abysmal performance.

 

Question of the Week (answer in the comments) :

Which team is more likely to go 16-0, the Colts or the Saints, and why?

I’m Joe W.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

The Biggest Problem for Jay Cutler

Michigan freshman quarterback Tate Forcier found himself, just months removed from taking high school finals, playing in one of Michigan’s biggest rivalry games against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

He was up against a stout defense, an opposing offense that had highly touted QB Jimmy Clausen, and a team ranked No. 18 in the nation, his Michigan team was unranked.

But he took his offense down the field and won the game by throwing a passing touchdown with just 11 seconds left in the game.

On the day, he had 240 passing yards going 22-of-32 with two touchdowns and an interception, leading Michigan to 38 points on the day.

After the game, when asked if he was nervous on the final drive, he said, “I don’t get nervous.”

USC freshman quarterback Matt Barkley was off most of his big game against Ohio State, and although he had below 200 yards passing and didn’t throw a touchdown pass, he led the Trojans on their final drive down the field to win the game with about a minute left in the game.

What does this have to do with the Chicago Bears, whom this article is about?

Jay Cutler is known as a stud quarterback. He went to the Pro Bowl last season and threw for over 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns last season; however, that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Over the last three games of the season, only needing one win to clinch a playoff berth, he threw two touchdowns and four interceptions and didn’t have one game with a QB rating over 75. The Broncos lost all three games and missed the playoffs.

Now, being nervous is not always a bad thing, sometimes it can drive you to do great things, but to certain people, being nervous can completely take you out of your game and it can completely ruin any chance you have of doing great things.

Cutler admitted the night before the game that he was nervous, according to Chris Collinsworth. I don’t always agree with Collinsworth (people rarely do), but on this occasion, he was correct and it showed.

Cutler threw three interceptions in the first half of his debut against the Green Bay Packers, a game that was played at Lambeau Field against the Bears’ biggest rival.

He then threw another interception as the Bears got the ball back, down by six points with one minute to go and no timeouts.

After the game, Cutler said, “There were a lot of failures. We’ve got to go back and look at it. I think we’re still going to be a good football team; there’s no need to panic.”

Now sure, Nathan Vasher slipping while playing man coverage against Greg Jennings to allow the game-winning touchdown was a failure, but he played fine throughout the rest of the game, as did the entire defense.

And yes, Patrick Mannelly made a poor decision in calling the audible to a fake punt, an audible that Garrett Wolfe didn’t catch and maybe the Bears win the game if they just punt it.

But the Bears would not be in that position if you hadn’t thrown the ball up for grabs every time the Packers blitzed.

The only touchdown that the Bears allowed before the final big touchdown was on a two-yard drive that was set up on an interception against Cutler.

In fact, the defense allowed only one drive of over 50 yards the entire game, so you really can’t blame them.

Devin Hester had four catches for 90 yards and a touchdown, and fifth-round draft pick Johnny Knox had a big catch that almost went for a touchdown, but guess how that drive ended.

For those of you who thought touchdown, you are unfortunately wrong, as Cutler threw an interception to 325 lbs defensive lineman Johnny Jolly.

Although the interception was extremely acrobatic, especially for a man of his size, the fact remains that he should have recognized the lineman staying back and not thrown that pass.

Finally, Jay Cutler gets his chance to completely redeem himself. One last drive, he can live up to all the comparisons that he used to have to deal with and be just like John Elway.

Go through adversity and come out the other end confident and ready to win the game.

However, on the first play of the drive, Cutler threw his fourth interception of the game, ending any chances the Bears had of pulling out a Week One victory over their hated rivals.

Now I don’t think that Cutler is going to go out there and throw four interceptions a game. I fully expect that he will be able to lead the Bears to a respectable record, maybe even get to the playoffs.

The problem I have is that, when he is in crunch time fighting to save the season, is he just going to wilt under the pressure?

These are questions that should linger in the back of Bears fans’ minds when he is going out there and dominating teams like Detroit later in the season. Yes, he will look good, yes he will have stats, but what will he do when the game is on the line.

The Bears get to come back home and face the Steelers next weekend, and that is an even more daunting task than facing Green Bay, even with Troy Polamalu and his amazing hair sidelined.

The Bears’ offensive line isn’t a great one, and he needs to realize that he needs to make plays or get rid of the ball.

Although he is a very good gunslinger, he is no Brett Favre, and he can’t thread the needle into triple coverage like Favre could in his heyday.

The problem is, Cutler didn’t realize that. He routinely tried to find a covered receiver when he was scrambling outside of the pocket instead of throwing it away.

If he had thrown it away on half of those interceptions, the game could have ended in a much different way with the stellar way that the Bears defense was playing.

Although this may be something for a different story, big props to Johnny Knox and Al Afalava, two late-round draft picks making plays in their rookie season.

As for Cutler, in a sticky situation with having to go against one of the best defenses in the NFL in Pittsburgh next week, and if he can’t prove himself against a stout defense under immense pressure, Bears fans will only have to wonder if he can carry this team through the playoffs.

If we can come to expect big performances in big games out of people fresh out of high school, we should be able to expect a Pro Bowler to hold his own in a season opener, no matter how much pressure is there.

And if Cutler can’t prove himself under pressure, the Bears may be stuck with a great QB who can’t get it done when the spotlight is on him.

I’m Joe W.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Brett Favre Signs With Vikings, Why They Still Won’t Win the Super Bowl

I woke up this morning a little groggy just like every morning, and as I woke up, I did my usual routine, including checking my phone, which gets texts from ESPN whenever there is breaking news.

This morning, the news was especially breaking to me, as this is what was said in the text.

“WCCO-TV (Minneapolis): QB Brett Favre is expected to sign with Vikings on Tuesday.”

Now this news is the final in a series of reports that hinted that Favre was extremely considering coming back, including a report from Jay Glazier that many Vikings players were expecting Favre to sign with the team, even saying that it’s a done deal.

That deal was announced this morning, as Brett Favre is probably taking a physical as I type to make finish the signing that will pay him between 10-12 million dollars.

With a Hall of Fame quarterback, the Vikings are now favorites to win the Super Bowl right?  Hell, if you ask a Vikings fan, they are going to go undefeated, winning every game by at least 50 points, and Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson will win co-MVP’s.

However, I’m here to get you past the ESPN hype/Minnesota hype and tell you what is really going to happen once Brett Favre is wearing Minnesota purple.

First off, people assume that having Brett Favre under center is better than having Sage Rosenfels or Tarvaris Jackson under center.  According to the stats from last season, that statement couldn’t be more false.

Brett Favre threw 22 touchdowns, 22 interceptions and had a QB rating at 81.0.  Gus Ferrotte and Tarvaris Jackson threw 22 touchdowns, 17 interceptions and had a QB rating of, hold your breath, 81.5.

Now, lets look at the statement that Favre is much better later in the season than either Rosenfels or Jackson.  For this, I will let Jackson prove them wrong.

Favre threw two touchdowns and eight interceptions in the final four games of the regular season, never having a QB rating above 61.4.

Jackson threw eight touchdowns and just one interception in the final four games of the regular season, never having a QB rating below 88.5.

Now, yes, Favre had shoulder problems later in the season and he had to have surgery in the off season, and of course now that he is throwing again, there is no way that he is going to get injured again.

However, the reason Favre got hurt is because he was old people.  Yes, shoulder problems are extremely common for older people such as Brett Favre, who is trying to continue his playing career at the ripe old age of 39 (he turns 40 the day before the Vikings play the Rams in Week 5).

However, Favre’s age has been hindering him for years, as he hasn’t been the old Brett Favre since 2004, since then, his QB ratings have been 70.9, 72.7, 95.7 (but he threw the season ending interception that year, so we’ll count it), and 81.0 (this was last season, which we have already looked at in depth).

In the past four seasons, Favre has thrown more touchdowns than interceptions just once, and this is the guy that is supposed to win the Vikings the Super Bowl?

Now I hope that I have given you enough information, based on statistics, that Brett Favre will do nothing but cost the Vikings any chance to win the Super Bowl.

And hey, if I’m wrong, the deal is a two-year deal so we can go through this whole thing again next season.  Then again, we would probably go through it again next year if I’m right as well.

I’m Joe W.

Who Makes What Happen: A Profile on the Coaches of the Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are a team with a highly defensive mentality, but with the addition of Jay Cutler, the coaching staff is working on creating a new identity with a defense that still has holes and a suspect offensive line.

But who are the people that will be trying to make a defensive team that relies on the power running game a team that can air it out.

From Head Coach Lovie Smith to Offensive Line Assistant Luke Butkus, each coach is pivotal to a team trying get back to dominance in a weak NFC North.

Lovie Smith, Head Coach

When Smith was hired, he said he had three goals.  Win the NFC North, win a Super Bowl, and beat the Green Bay Packers.

Smith has won two NFC North titles, has one Super Bowl appearance, and is 7-3 against the Packers.

Although there have been some backlash against some of his play calling (see the squib kick against the Falcons that allowed them to come back and win the game), he has been good at keeping an aging defense strong and the running game solid.

He also took a Bears team with an injured quarterback and went 11-5 in his rookie season, winning the Coach of the Year award.

Ron Turner, Offensive Coordinator

Turner is in his second stint with the Bears, this time he is in his fifth consecutive season.  In-between his times in Chicago, he was also head coach for the University of Illinois football team.

However, if Turner isn’t able to bring some stability to an offense that could possibly have one of the best quarterbacks in team history, he could be on his way out the door.

Bob Babich, Defensive Coordinator/Linebacker Coach

Babich is entering his third season as the defensive coordinator of the Bears and his sixth with the team in general, however, with the fall of grace by the Bears defense under Babich, Smith is now calling plays on defense and Babich is mostly working with linebackers.

Babich was brought to the Bears with Smith, who was a coach with Babich while in St. Louis.

Dave Toub, Special Teams Coordinator

Probably the most consistent coach for the Bears, Toub always has the Bears special teams among the best in the NFL.

Toub is entering his sixth season as the Special Teams Coordinator and has kept his unit ranked in the top third of the league according to the Dallas Morning News’ ranking system, also having two units that ranked at the top in 2006 and again in 2007.

Pep Hamilton, Quarterbacks Coach

Hamilton will be given the task of getting new addition Jay Cutler ready for the upcoming season.

After his work with making Orton a passable quarterback for most of the past season, Hamilton will likely have a breeze getting Cutler in NFL shape.  Hamilton is in his third season with the Bears.

Tim Spencer, Runningbacks Coach

Spencer has been the runningbacks coach for the Bears for six years.  He was the guy who coached the tandem of Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson into one of the better one-two punches in the NFL.

Despite Benson being a bust under his guidance, he also made Matt Forte a rookie sensation last season, and will look to create another great running tandem with Forte and veteran Kevin Jones.

Darryl Drake, Wide Receivers Coach

Despite the poor receiver production over the past few years, Drake has still done a good job as the receivers coach when he had talent to work with.

Drake took third round pick Bernard Berrian and made him into a deadly speedster, then watched him leave and come back to tie the longest catch in NFL history with a 99-yard catch against the Bears.

Drake will try to work with a group of receivers who would likely be third on the depth chart at best for most teams.  However, he will look to exploit the history between Cutler and sophomore receiver Earl Bennett.

He also will start the process of getting rookie Juaquin Iglesias ready for the NFL.

Rob Boras, Tight Ends Coach

Under Boras’ six season with the Bears, the tight end position has been a staple in the offense.

With the tandem of Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen, Boras has an easy job, with Olsen making the Pro Bowl as an alternate last season.  Boras has done a great job of transitioning Olsen from being a star in college to a smaller role in the NFL.

Harry Hiestand, Offensive Line Coach

The Bears offensive line has been extremely inconsistent throughout Hiestand’s five seasons as the offensive line coach.

However, he hasn’t had great talent through his term either.  With the addition of Orlando Pace and Frank Omiyale, he will look to get his line in shape so that they can keep Cutler on his feet and open holes for Forte.

Luke Butkus, Offensive Line Assistant

Butkus became the Bears offensive line assistant three years ago, and has been working with Hiestand to create more stability on the line.

Butkus moved to coaching after a failed attempt to play, he was undrafted out of college despite being third-team All American his senior year.  He played two seasons in Europe and attempted to play in the NFL before moving to coaching.

Rod Marinelli, Defensive Line Coach/Assistant Head Coach

Marinelli is entering his first season as a coach for the Bears after leading the Lions to the first win-less season since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did so in 1976, although the Bucs were an expansion team at the time.

Marinelli will look to get the Bears d-line better at rushing the passer, after quarterbacks were given plenty of time and were sacked rarely last season.

Gill Byrd, Assistant Defensive Backs/Safety Coach

Under Byrd, the secondary has been very spotty as of late.  However, a lot of those problems could be blamed on injury.

Also, under Byrd, Kevin Payne emerged as a starter after being drafted in the fifth round two seasons ago.  Payne was a big play threat as a defender and had four interceptions last season.

Jon Hoke, Defensive Backs Coach

Hoke was hired after spending seven seasons with the Houston Texans.  Under Hoke, the Texans secondary had a knack for interceptions, grabbing the seventh highest percentage of the teams interceptions in the NFL.

Hoke will look to bring the tandem of Charles Tillman and Nathan Vasher back to the dangerous duo they once were.  He will also look to use Payne to replace veteran Mike Brown, who left the team this off-season.

Rusty Jones, Strength and Conditioning Coach

Jones is one of the best strength and conditioning coaches in the NFL, winning the 2006 National Professional Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year by the Professional Football Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society.

Jones’ workout and nutrition programs are renowned around the NFL as one of the best in the business.

Eric Washington, Defensive Backs Assistant

Washington will look to help Hoke learn about the defensive backs in the system and get him acclimated to how things work in Chicago.

Entering his second season, Washington spent four seasons as the defensive line coach at Northwestern University prior to coming to Chicago.

Chris Tabor, Special Teams Assistant

Tabor is still a young coach and is entering his second season working under Toub.

Tabor has worked his way up from coaching high school and community colleges before working his way up the university ranks and into the NFL.

I’m Joe W.

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