LDOtL Presents: The Gregg Easterbrook Thread

[Gregs Kite]

Then I was disheartened during the Panthers-Bucs game. Tampa's first-round draft choice Mark Barron made a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit on Carolina's Steve Smith at the sideline. "Ooooo, Smith gets rocked, that will look good on highlights ... he's a hard-hitting safety," Fox announcer Ron Pitts said admiringly.

...

Officials did not flag Barron. But Roger Goodell has said that vicious helmet-to-helmet hits not penalized during a game can result in fines and suspensions when the front office reviews film. Commissioner -- no one will believe you mean this until there is a suspension, and Barron should be suspended. One vicious play like his, held up for admiration on network television, nullifies a whole year of work by the NFL to promote safety.

Yeah, totally Barron's fault it ended up being helmet to helmet. He didn't go to hit then Smith lower his own helmet into the hit. What a dick.

Damn it's fun to be right. Not even fined.

Fuckin A right dude. You showed......



Someone.




Who might care.

[The Long Dick of the Law]

Last week after Bucs safety Mark Barron inflicted a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit on a Panthers' player, Schiano praised him.

Because, again, Steve Smith lowered his helmet into Barron's hit and the NFL didn't fine Barron a dime so.... yeah it was a good hit.

Stats of the Week No. 9: Against Concordia University Chicago, Hope College gained 654 yards on offense, and lost. See below.

:cryingnon-graduatedooze:

The NFL Referees Association is angry about an NFL offer that would raise officiating salaries to an average of $189,000 annually for part-time work.

No, the NFL wants officials to give up their regular jobs and be full time NFL officials.

Last week I said the Niners have "the best linebacker in the league." You thought I meant Patrick Willis? I meant this guy. Most teams have Mike, Will and Sam backers. In San Francisco, all three linebackers play the same style, which is one of the team's strengths. Watch for NaVorro Bowman to make the Pro Bowl along with Smith.

Really going out on a limb there, the guy was only 1st team All-Pro last year.

Schiano the Weasel made one of the worst calls TMQ has ever seen. Bucs leading 27-19 midway through the fourth quarter, Tampa faced fourth-and-1 at midfield. That cannot be the punt unit trotting on!

...

Schiano the Weasel traded possession of the ball, the most important factor in football, for a small gain of field position against a team his defense couldn't even slow down. Ye gods.

Too true, couldn't slow, that's why NYG had 19 whopping points midway through the 4th. Plus, not like Eli had been picked 3 times or anything.

Miami leading 21-10 at the start of the fourth quarter, Oakland faced fourth-and-4 on the Marine Mammals' 10. When novice coach Dennis Allen sent in the field goal unit -- you must get touchdowns, and you're close to pay dirt! -- he might as well have waived a white flag.

Yeah, silly Oakland, why make a 2 possession game a 1 possession game at the start of the 4th Q?

I'd like some of whatever Reggie Bush is having for breakfast: Bush had two tackle-breaking long touchdown runs. Suddenly he's not the "finesse" back Pete Carroll left off the field when USC needed to gain 1 yard to win a national championship.

Umm... probably because that LenDale White guy (at the time) was pretty studly between the tackles. Also:



Loogit who's on the field when USC needs to game 1 yard.

No "Kiffin weasel coach" comment My TMQ meter must be off.

[Freddy Fernandez]

Pulaski went for it 10 times on fourth down, converting seven. Normally a stat line like that that would mean certain victory. A team that commits to rarely punting knows there will be games in which the tactic either doesn't work or doesn't help -- but that over the course of a season, the team will win more often than if it did the "safe" thing and punted. Pulaski has opened 1-2; my chips are still on the Bruins.

I love it. He is following this high school coach that is refusing to punt and the team is 1-2. I hope this team goes 1-11 and TMQ keeps running the same BS about how punting is the worst thing you could do.

[JichaelDick]

I thought Greggggggggg had established that punting with a lead was cool.

[The Long Dick of the Law]

Coaches such as Bill Belichick and John Fox who screamed at the replacement officials in public have done football no favors, undermining the authority of the people trying to control the game.

Well they've already failed to control the game. And coaches like Fox and the Shannys could lose their jobs based on the outcomes of these games the replacement officials can't control. Frustration is allowed in such situations. Belichick is watching playoff positioning worsen and home field advantage elude him thanks to some of them Balmer calls (and vice versa for Harbaugh). If Minnesota lost their game thanks to those 2 free challenges and time outs the Niners got, Leslie Frazier would have been completely justified in yelling at anyone in a black and white striped shirt. They're fined for any lil thing said against the NFL, work 18+ hours a day, every day in a high stress job where all their work and preparation gets undone by incompetent boobs. This leads to incredulity, frustration, anger, and the dark side.

With each week, players have tried to get away with more -- the 24 accepted penalties Monday night happened in part because players were trying to get away with things they normally wouldn't -- or to influence the replacement officials by exaggerated gestures and lobbying. These players have done football no favors either.

If an O-lineman gets beat and grabs the guy to save his QB the hit and doesn't get flagged, he's going to do it again. And a lot of those accepted penalties were BS pass interference calls or that roughing on Wilson when he threw the pick. Those don't stop the actual BS, they just encourage it because fuck it, if the officials are going to flag legal play and not illegal play, what oh what should they do? And just like the coaches, these players can lose their jobs and livelihood if they fuck up too much/lose so if you can get away with it and it helps the team and they're not calling it and your legal plays get flagged, the fuck you supposed to do?

Football is a violent, emotional sport: The officials must have unquestioned control, or the product deteriorates. We need the regular officials back -- not so much because they are any smarter or better than the replacements, but because coaches and players will obey them.

PLAYERS AND COACHES OBEY THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE SMARTER AND BETTER THAN THE REPLACEMENT OFFICIALS. If the regular officials were as incompetent as the replacement refs then this would be standard and there wouldn't be nearly as much bitching.

Regular officials handed the ball to the wrong team to start overtime in a Thanksgiving 1998 game. Regular officials made two drastically bad calls in the final seconds of a 1998 Bills-Patriots contest, handing unearned victory to the Patriots. Regular officials made a drastically bad call in the final seconds of a 1998 Jets-Seahawks game, handing unearned victory to the Jets. Regular officials completely botched the ending of the 2003 Giants-49ers playoff game.

4 games in the past 15 seasons, 3 before replay came back, 1 (Jets-Seahawks) the big impetus for replay's return. No one's saying the regular officials are perfect. They fuck up some too (and you left out Hoculi in the Chargers-Broncos game a couple years ago). But they're still far and away better than the replacement officials. You don't say "Fuck it, we'll stick with JaMarcus Russell rather than bring in Joe Montana, Montana threw an interception that one time too!"

After New England was given a bogus touchdown on the last play of the 1998 game, Buffalo coach Wade Phillips pulled his team, not allowing them to participate in a meaningless clock-expired PAT. Officials let the Patriots line up with no defense on the field; kicker Adam Vinatieri jogged into the end zone for two points. Regular officials did that. Had the replacements allowed Seattle to run a PAT with no defense on the field, today the sports world would be outraged.

Is he serious? He's serious isn't he? THE SPORTS WORLD IS OUTRAGED BECAUSE THE OFFICIALS GAVE SEATTLE THE WIN. No one gave or gives 2 fucks about the PAT. If no Packers had come back out and Seattle jogged in a 2 pt conversion no one would give a fuck. The only possible outrage might have been at Carroll for running in a 2 pt'er after the gift victory. But not really because, again, no one gave or gives a fuck about that. That Hail Mary play is sliiiiiiightly more responsible for outrage, PAT or no.

NFL players and coaches may be millionaires, but they are millionaires who belong to unions. The players' and coaches' unions feel the NFL is trying to break them.

The coaches are not in a union, they are in an association (like the players dissolved the union into during the lockout). This is why Vilma and co. suspensions were overturned but not Sean Payton's. He's not in a union. But turn to Gregggggggggg for all the stories they're not telling you!

However this shakes out, don't blame the replacements for a situation they did not create. They are people of average means who were trying to better themselves. They need to exit stage left, but deserve a measure of appreciation -- say, first claim on future NFL officiating openings.

Hey, these guys, these guys here who absolutely suck as NFL officials? THEY should get 1st claim on any NFL officiating opening. Because they came in and sucked at the job.

Pete Carroll last week backed Schiano, saying of the Giants-Bucs final snap, "There was a chance to win the game on that play." Was there a "chance to win"? Not only has Schiano's tactic never worked, even if it had led to a turnover, the clock expired on the play!

The clock expired because that is the point of the kneel down. YOU RUN THE FUCKING CLOCK. This guy is an absolute moron. Let's look:



So if Eli didn't have the ball there and a Buc had recovered it, the clock would be stopped with 3 or 4 seconds left.

Sunday, Schiano had his defense charge the Cowboys' kneel-down that began with seven seconds showing and the Bucs out of timeouts. There was no "chance to win."

Dude have you watched these replacement refs? Never doubt their ability to fuck it up.

Both teams played to win -- late in the fourth quarter, facing second-and-12 on their own 7, Saints practice-squad coach Aaron Kromer had Drew Brees retreating into his own end zone looking to hit a long pass. The tactic backfired when he was dragged down for a safety, but at least the tactic was aggressive.

What? This guy rails on everyone who runs passes out of their own end zone and mocks them for running backwards into the end zone. wtf?

Philadelphia faced third-and-goal from the Cardinals' 1. A defensive back blitz blindsided Michael Vick

He didn't get blindsided, he got hit in the chest. Details, TMQ notices them

Here's a rare positive development on the head trauma front. Reader Kevin Woodward of Louisville was among many to point out that when four-star-rated high school senior Richy Klepal of Tampa Jesuit High School, a Florida State commit, decided last week to quit football owing to multiple concussions, Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher said he would honor his scholarship offer to Klepal anyway.

That is pretty cool, kudos Jimbo.

Roger Goodell keeps saying that vicious helmet-to-helmet hits will lead to suspensions, then not suspending anyone[/quote

Yep, no suspensions ever.

At Baltimore, Bill Belichick grabbed an official to scream at him. Does Belichick think the replacements created this situation? They're bystanders.

No that's the problem, they're bystanders when they're supposed to be in charge of the fucking game.

As for the sulk-a-matic Randy Moss -- waive him now and get it over with. In 2010, New England, Minnesota and Tennessee all regretted his presence on the roster, and he hasn't had a big game since November 2009.

MTM did Moss do any sulking or anything bad for the team? I haven't heard of anything.

[The Long Dick of the Law]

For TMQ, the impact of runaway offense is this. Four years ago, I began a regular item on college teams that gained at least 400 yards but lost because their opponent gained even more. Then the threshold rose, and a team had to gain 500 yards yet lose to be unusual. By last year a team had to gain 600 yards and lose to qualify as a TMQ amusing stat. By the end of this season, will 700 yards plus a loss be needed? It's already happened twice in the young 2012 season: Baylor gaining 700 and losing to WVU, New Hampshire gaining 725 yards and losing to Old Dominion.

The occasional high-scoring game is fun, but do we really want football to become basketball on grass, with almost every possession resulting in a score and whoever has the ball last winning? Here are possible rules changes to swing the pendulum back:

• Relax the chuck rule (and also call it the Charles rule, which is more dignified) to allow contact with a receiver up to 10 yards downfield.

Charles Rule

And if he's going to follow up about college college college college and lead off with the Chuck Rule, it leads me to believe he doesn't realize there is no Chuck Rule in college.

Stats of the Week No. 7: As head coach of Baltimore, John Harbaugh is 9-0 versus the Browns.

Impressive

Now Atlanta has the ball on its 1 with 59 seconds remaining and no timeouts. Where oh where might the pass go? Maybe up the field? Yet the Panthers put eight defenders "in the box" as if expecting a power rush, then fell for a play fake. The Falcons had no choice but to throw deep. Yet Carolina stacked against the run and then fell for a play fake.

No one fell for the play-fake. The LBs dropped off, the OLB on the far side of the field then rushed Ryan when his man, the TE on that side, stayed in to block as I'm sure is what he was supposed to do. A shitty DB and safety on a shitty D played shitty. There is your in depth, hard-hitting analysis.

Last season, Pulaski punted once and won the state title. So far this season the Bruins are 3-2 and have gone for it on fourth down 34 times, converting 16. Friday night, Pulaski posted an uneventful 43-8 victory over West Helena. Kelley reports, "We scored touchdowns on our first five possessions then took our starters out. Our starters did not face any fourth downs." Fourth-down results by the backups:

Fourth-and-2 on opponent's 38: converted. Fourth-and-10 on own 35: pass, incomplete.

What??? No tut-tutting for going for it on 4th down with the back ups in and victory assured?????? TMQ flip-flopping on previous shit because it serves his narrative??? What is this strange, new world???

Denver had lost four straight at home to Oakland, by embarrassing scores. On the Broncos' opening drive, Denver faced fourth-and-1 on the Raiders' 30. Rather than do the expected and launch a field goal attempt, Denver coach John Fox went for it: conversion, touchdown on the possession and the Broncos never looked back.

Yeah, without that momentum and "Coach is challenging us to win" decision, that 37-6 final might have swung the other way

In the third quarter, Aaron Rodgers was poked in the eye when Green Bay had first-and-goal. Graham Harrell made his first-ever game appearance and promptly lost a fumble. The Packers are living on borrowed time with no experienced backup to Rodgers.

What???? I guess Matt Flynn (and all his experience ) were the keys to the SB run and last year's 15-1 season. If only they kept him instead of foolishly letting him walk because he soooo would have stayed as a backup rather than go be the presumed starter in Seattle. GB shoulda offered double! Not like there's a salary cap constraining them. Living on borrowed time??? GTFOOH.

Eli's backup is very experienced. I know Gints fans feel confident about their chances if David f'n Carr is called upon.

Green Bay corner Sam Shields was making the high school mistake of looking into the backfield, trying to guess what Brees would do, rather than watching his man, and there was no safety in sight. Last season the Packers seemed eerily near perfect, this season they are making Football 101 mistakes.

If only Matt Flynn were still in the picture....

As for Brees, he is on a pace for the second-best passing season ever in yardage, yet his team is 0-4. New Orleans continues to pay the price both for Sinnersgate itself and for lying to the league when caught.

God Gregggggggg is the worst.

In a Pistol, the quarterback is in the shotgun but it's a short shotgun closer to the center than a true shotgun, while running backs form a letter "L" around him. Since the NFL teams using this look are doing so only occasionally, maybe it should be called the Derringer offense -- a hidden pistol.

Nailed that analogy, no one can see that a team is in the Pistol.

This month Jersey/B faces Houston and New England. The 2012 Jets have train-wreck potential.

You don't say. Way to keep the masses informed of this unseen, never discussed potential.

Many readers including Mohammad Jilani of Monmouth Junction, N.J., noted this story about Matt Beyer, a four-star high school senior who committed to Oklahoma but must give up football after being diagnosed with cervical stenosis. Learning of the situation, Oklahoma withdrew its offer, Beyer said. Football prospects take note: Sooners coach Bob Stoops does not keep his promises.

What promise? His promise for an athletic scholarship in exchange for Beyer playing football? Seems Beyer broke off his end of the deal first. If I were offered a job across the country but then couldn't go because I was diagnosed with some disease and had to go to the Mayo Clinic or some shit, I wouldn't expect the company to pay me a salary anyway.

Considering these moves, the Carson Palmer trade and other transactions, the Raiders had no first- or third-round choice in 2011, no first- or second-round choice in 2012 and will lack either a first- or second-round selection in 2013. Oakland seems to be running an experiment in whether high draft selections really matter. With the Raiders at 1-3 and 5-9 since Palmer took the reins, maybe high draft choices matter.

First, Palmer was the #1 overall pick. Second, I thought 7th round and undrafted FAs were better than ME FIRST GLORY HOGS WHO START BEEFS WITH THEIR ALMA MATER'S SMALLER STATE SCHOOL ALUMS!

With the cost of minerals rising in the past decade, the United States Mint now spends 2.4 cents for every penny produced. Thus today's penny has negative value -- government loses money minting pennies, while consumers and businesses lose money sorting and counting such inconsequential coins. It makes more economic sense to throw pennies into the trash than to waste resources carrying them around.

So why does the penny endure? The zinc lobby profits from the penny. The zinc lobby is not exactly the oil lobby or the Hollywood lobby. But it's a lobby, and in modern American politics, every lobby seems to get whatever it asks, the public be damned.

MTM did you hack in and write this?

All news organizations, including ESPN, sometimes publish ill-thought-through articles.

Usually on a Tuesday during football season

Obscure College Score of the Week: Adrian 24, Hope 0. Hope is shut out -- all hope is lost! Located in Holland, Mich., Hope College calls its men's teams the Flying Dutchmen and its women's teams the Flying Dutch. Teams named after the "Flying Dutchman," the doomed ghost ship of seafaring lore, don't seem to start with much of an edge.

Shout out to Dooze's alma mater! He'd probably feel more pride if he graduated.

[SouthernYokel]

haha, the zinc lobby. Rather than MTM i think Drew Magary hacked in and wrote that paragraph. Big mayo!

[The Long Dick of the Law]

This week's opening:

The surprise team of the young season is the Minnesota Vikings, who already have more wins than in all of 2011. The Vikes opened 1-1, then posted three straight victories, including over San Francisco and Detroit, playoff teams from last season. What is Minnesota's secret? The Vikings threw out complex schemes and went simple.

Which raises the question -- has football gotten too complicated?

Nearly all teams now use multiple checks, "sims" and audibles at the line of scrimmage. Offenses have dozens of formations with hundreds of possible plays. Defenses have multiple fronts, personnel packages for every down-and-distance, complicated twists and rotating coverages. Yet for all this complexity, game statistics have changed only a little in the last half century.

Last week's headline and opener:

Offenses and scoring are out of control, so it's time to tweak some rules

Baylor and West Virginia combined for 133 points and 1,507 yards of offense. New England and Buffalo combined for 1,018 yards of offense. Two players had at least 300 yards receiving in the Baylor-WVU contest, four players at least 100 yards of offense for New England. A quarter of NFL teams are averaging at least 400 yards of offense per game. NCAA and NFL scoring are at record highs.

This weekend, the New Orleans Saints gained 474 yards, the University of Tennessee gained 478 yards and scored 44 points, Virginia gained 625 yards, the Akron Zips gained 629 yards and scored 49 points, NC State gained 664 yards. And all lost, because in the era of Xbox Offense, they didn't score enough.

So in a week we've gone from lamenting record offensive outputs to declaring little has changed. Did Peter King ghost write?

In the end, football is about how you line up and play.

Worthless cliche, maybe Dooze ghost wrote as well.

Does complexity accomplish anything? Sunday, no one at all from the Atlanta Falcons covered Santana Moss of the Redskins on his 77-yard touchdown catch. Maybe a simpler scheme would suffice.

That was why Moss got free in the secondary. Complex scheme. No other possible explanation. And one screwed up play out of 60 or so impugns the whole system.

Then there's the profusion of coaches. The Vikings employ 22 coaches, most in the NFL. Having 22 coaches sounds like having five girlfriends -- way too many to juggle. Players couldn't possibly relate to 22 coaches, while the coaches would engage in busy work by drawing up ever-more-complicated plans, in order to justify their presence.

True, each player must relate to all 22 coaches. QBs must waste time with DCs, DB coaches, D-line, Linebacker coaches, Tight end coaches, special teams coordinators....

And yes, coaches will "engage in busy work" because they have so much fucking free time each week. Also, he's choosing the Vikings coaching situation in an article THAT BEGINS BY PRAISING THE VIKINGS AND THEIR SIMPLE SCHEMES

What is Minnesota's secret? The Vikings threw out complex schemes and went simple.

The Vikings employ 22 coaches, most in the NFL. Having 22 coaches sounds like having five girlfriends -- way too many to juggle. Players couldn't possibly relate to 22 coaches, while the coaches would engage in busy work by drawing up ever-more-complicated plans, in order to justify their presence.

1st and 5th paragraphs of the article. Peter King did write this

The Raiders have 20 coaches, including an offensive coordinator, a senior offensive assistant, an offensive quality control coach and two offensive line coaches. Yet their offense is 29th-ranked and their record is 1-3. Maybe they would perform better with fewer coaches and simpler schemes!

Indeed, after all the team with the most coaches is employing simpler schemes so the obvious conclusion is get rid of coaches for simpler schemes. We learned that in algebra that if a=b and b=c then a=x right?

In Hall of Fame news, Drew Brees threw himself in, breaking the Johnny Unitas record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass. If Brees were coming out of college today, is there any chance he would have stuck around long enough to become a star?

So true, he's only 6 ft tall, way too short to be given a shot at QB. There is certainly no one shorter than that recently drafted and starting in the NFL today:

For his first three seasons, Brees struggled to learn the NFL ropes, throwing 31 interceptions versus 29 touchdown passes. The news-cycle pace of life has accelerated so much, merely in the short time since Brees joined the NFL, that today, he wouldn't have had a career beyond his third season. Brees would have been benched, or waived out of football, before he blossomed.

Nailed it didn't he guy who had 19 TDs to 31 INTs his first 3 seasons?



Or guy who was 20 TD 22 INTs over his first 5 seasons (4 with actual pass attempts), no one even gave you a big contract or chance

But the key thing is the commercial deceives the audience. The league does not disclose that the "doctor" presented is a fake.

There are highly credible concussion researchers at Boston University, the Cleveland Clinic, the University of Pittsburgh and elsewhere. So in a spot with real football players and a real NFL official, why was an actor falsely presented as a scientist? Perhaps no genuine, credible researcher was willing to toe the desired PR line. League spokesman Greg Aiello told me an actor was used "to ensure that it was an effective commercial." Truthfulness is effective; the purpose of phoniness is to deceive the public.

Anyone see that trailer for Spielberg's Lincoln movie? Turns out, THAT'S NOT ABRAHAM LINCOLN! It's an actor! There to deceeeeeive you. Turns out, civil war and slavery? All a myth. One that Spielberg and this actor are willing to foist upon an unsuspecting public.

Stats of the Week No. 1: Bears defensive back Charles Tillman has more career touchdowns (seven) than Bears wide receivers Earl Bennett, Dane Sanzenbacher or Alshon Jeffrey.

Charles Tillman also has more career touchdowns (seven) than Alshon Jeffrey has games played BECAUSE ALSHON JEFFREY IS A ME FIRST GLORY HOG FOOTBALL FACTORY BUM!!

or because he's a rookie... one or the other

Stats of the Week No. 6: In the last two games, the Bills' defense has allowed 97 points, 1,201 yards of offense and seven 100-yard performances.

I will lay off the Redskins D for at least a week... or at least the rest of this week

[Mario] Williams is giving Ryan Leaf a run for most overrated football player of all time,

What???? First, Williams was good with Houston (hence, how he got the massive contract) and overcame being panned for taken ahead of Reggie Bush and Vince Young which, if we went back to that draft knowing what we know now, neither New Orleans nor Tennessee picks either of them but Houston would probably stick with Mario. In fact, Haloti Ngata might be the only player in the 1st round they'd even consider picking instead but doubtful since he's a 3-4 NT and at the time they were running a 4-3. And Cincy pick Jonathan Joseph signed with Houston last year so no need to draft him. Anyway, SECOND, Ryan Leaf is not the most overrated of all time. No one thinks he was good. I'm guessing he's trying to say "biggest bust" or something about draft position since he brought in Ryan Leaf but a) Mario wasn't a bust in Houston (which numerous picks including Leaf have been with the teams that drafted them) and b) JaMarcus Russell anyone? Point being: horribly written/conceived/etc.

With 39 seconds remaining at Indianapolis, Andrew Luck dove for a first down at the Green Bay 4. Officials stopped the game for three minutes to review whether Luck made the first down, ultimately confirming the call on the field. A call on the field is supposed to be overturned only if it is obvious the call was wrong -- if you can't be sure whether the call was wrong, the original ruling should stand. How can several minutes of multiple viewings be required to determine if something is obvious? It's either obvious or it's not! If replay officials are looking at the play over and over and over again, then they can't be sure what happened so the call on the field must stand. The replay review booth should be limited to two viewings of the play.

Because multiple angles of a play would never be needed to see if/where a runner is down and where the ball is. And officials don't need to check arms, elbows, knees, butts, the sideline, the down marker and there certainly aren't other players in the way of certain camera angles as well. Time on the clock doesn't need to be checked. Never a need to zoom in or watch 2 different angles at the same time to determine where the ball was when certain body parts touch and of course you wouldn't need to watch those replays individually to determine which needed to be watched together.

Nevertheless for last Thursday night's Cardinals at Rams indoor game, Arizona placekicker Jay Feely wore gloves. Placekickers don't catch passes, and it was a balmy 70 degrees throughout the contest. If this is how Arizona players react when leaving their sun-drenched state, what's going to happen when the Cardinals play at Jersey/B on Dec. 2?

Who gives a fuck what the kicker does?

[mj3528]

I am not sure how you could read this dreck. When you first starting these breakdowns, I thought you were providing a service, as I was no longer tempted to read TMQ. Now it has gotten so bad, I am not sure these columns even deserve a breakdown.

Whatever you decide to do is good, but I think you would be better off not reading TMQ anymore. It is just not worth it.

[Gregs Kite]

It's quite the dichotomy. Mindless breakdowns of a column no one reads.

And the Alex Smith/Kevin Kolb stretcharoonie reach you did there? I saw it.

[The Long Dick of the Law]

Yeah, that was the stretcharoonie, not Gregggggg claiming Brees would have been out of the league after 3 seasons

[Mario Speedwagon]

I am not sure how you could read this dreck. When you first starting these breakdowns, I thought you were providing a service, as I was no longer tempted to read TMQ. Now it has gotten so bad, I am not sure these columns even deserve a breakdown.

Whatever you decide to do is good, but I think you would be better off not reading TMQ anymore. It is just not worth it.

And I wrote in my notebook: Breakdown Over.

[The Long Dick of the Law]

The negative: Lewis has a criminal record, from pleading guilty to a serious crime. He cannot be understood without this context, which in recent years has been strangely absent from sportscasting and sportswriting.

Gregggggg making a cogent point and not using straw men!

Peter King ‏@SI_PeterKing

I don't think Lewis' past should be glossed over. Nor should the fact murder and assault charges were dropped.

No PK, saying the charges were dropped and ignoring that there was a plea deal for ratting out your fellow murderers to get them dropped is a perfect example of glossing over.

And a rather nice job by Greggggggg on Ray Ray, certainly more even-handed than I would have been to him. And nowhere near the head in the sand fellator media folks like PK are.

Stats of the Week No. 6: Robert Griffin had more rushing yards (138) than the entire Minnesota team (94).

Sorry, doesn't get old

Make Everyone Wear Knee Pads! The Ravens' Ladarius Webb tore his ACL when hit hard on the knee and is out for the season. He appeared to have on neither knee nor tight pads.

WTF would knee pads have done for an ACL? Answer: nothing. Hence the knee braces linemen and QBs wear to protect the sides of the knee which knee pads don't protect and even if did, would not support.

And it's Lardarius, not Ladarius.

Peyton Manning is a serious quarterback. At halftime, he knew he was on the cusp of ridicule. Had Denver lost, the sports world today would be saying Manning was washed up.

Or they would have pointed out the turnovers in the 1st half that Manning had nothing to do with that kept him off the field and how Decker tripped over the 45 yard line when he should have been running in for a TD to make it 10-7. Denver's had numerous 20+ pt deficits this season but this one was not Manning's doing.

For a generation, public schools have...

Oh goody, TMQ is wading in here /skipping whole section

[Bricks]

Or they would have pointed out the turnovers in the 1st half

Unless Peyton Manning changed his name to Tony Romo between the first half and this morning, I can't envision the mouthbreathers on various ESPN mediums giving Manning much leeway.

[someguysomewhere]

And it's Lardarius, not Ladarius.