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Posts Tagged ‘Bill Belichick’

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DON’T FIRE ANDY REID!!!!

In Philadelphia Eagles on February 14, 2012 at 5:12 pm

I know that I’m going against popular demand but I’m glad Andy Reid is here and I hope he stays another year until the Eagles win the Super Bowl. So bring on the comments, all haters are welcome, I’m ready for you. Here’s why I say Andy stays. Last season saw:

  • 3 new offensive linemen, Evan Mathis, and 2 rookies, Danny Watkins and Jason Kelce, that got a lot better as the season went on. Todd Herremans is a quality tackle and some say Jason Peters is the best in the game. They also had a new O-Line coach in Howard Mudd.
  • The O-Line development led Shady McCoy to Honolulu after a tremendous season both rushing and receiving.
  • A crazy season of DeSean Jackson antics and average play that will change next season. Jackson can be a great player again but he hurt this team.
  • Brent Celek and Jeremy Mackiln are good solid players. Jason Avant and Riley Cooper are serviceable reserves.
  • Injuries and turnovers to Michael Vick. You can’t help the injuries but Vick will protect the football much better next season.  The Vince Young experiment didn’t work and it hurt this football team. There was a new QB coach in Doug Pederson.

Overall I think this is a good, maybe great offensive football team if they don’t turn the ball over. Not many teams have these weapons!!

  • The defensive line was pretty decent. Jason Babin was a Pro Bowler. Trent Cole is solid and the guys in the middle, Cullen Jenkins and Mike Patterson did a decent job but some depth is needed up front. Jaqua Parker might have run out of gas but showed spurts.
  • The LB’s got better but need some major help. The Casey Mathews experiment didn’t work out, however he played much better later in the season. The jury’s still out whether he can be a full time player. I’d like to see them pick up a gap filler like London Fletcher a free agent from the Redskins and use the #15 pick in the draft on a LB, preferably Boston College’s Luke Kuechly. That would add some experience and toughness to the group that has to do a better job stopping the run.
  • The DB’s were a mystery. Nnamdi Asomugha was pretty bad. He was pretty a guarantee to get burnt at least once a game for a TD. That won’t happen again this year. Every team in the league couldn’t have been wrong on the guy. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Asanti Samuel, if he’s back, Nate Allen, Kurt Coleman, Jaquawn Jarrett, Josilio Hansen will be better next year.

Again there were an awful lot of new faces on defense. Add to that a new Defensive Coordinator, Juan Castillo, new DL Coach, Jim Washburn, new  LB Coach, Mike Caldwell, new CB Coach, Johnny Lynn, whose been replaced and new Safeties Coach Mike Zordich and not having any offseason practice time to get to know the new players and new coaches hurt this team badly especially early in the year.

  • The Special Teams added a rookie kicker, Alex Henery and a rookie punter, Chaz Henry to go with solid long snapper Jon Dorenbos. I can’t say you can upgrade from David Akers but these guys did a nice job.

 All of these things bring us to Andy Reid. Here are a few facts and figures for you to consider:

  • 5th Winningest Active Coach. Bill Belichick (175 wins – 17 seasons), Mike Shanahan (157-25), Jeff Fisher (142-20), Tom Coughlin (142-16), Reid (126-13).
  • Reid is 2nd among active coaches with 45 more wins than losses. Only Belichick is better with 78.
  • Reid is tied for 1st among active coaches for years taking his teams to the playoffs with Belichick with 9. Remember Belichick has coached for 17 seasons to Reids 13.
  • Reid has also coached the 2nd most playoff games and won the 2nd most playoff games to only Belichick.
  • Reid has been to 5 NFC championship games and 1 Super Bowl as Head Coach of the Eagles.
  • If Reid coached another 13 seasons with the same 126 wins, his 252 wins would rank him 3rd all time behind Don Shula and George Halas and 2 win ahead of Tom Landry. That’s pretty serious company.

 The only thing that is not on this Andy Reid resume is a Super Bowl Championship. The team is set up to make a run at the Super Bowl with the players they have and a possibly a few slight additions and there’s no one better than Andy to take them there.

E-A-G-L-E-S!!!!!

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SUPER BOWL XLVI PREDICTION

In Pro Football on February 3, 2012 at 4:54 am

When I predicted the championship games two weeks ago I did pretty well. In the AFC game I picked the Patriots over the Ravens in a close one. It was a good game and the final result played out just like I thought it would. Little did I know that the Ravens would miss a chip shot to keep from tying it and sending the game to overtime. In the NFC game it was as close as I thought it would be and played out like I thought, except I picked the wrong team to win. In both cases I’m not sure that the two teams didn’t lose the games rather than the winning teams win the games. The Ravens and the 49ers both could’ve very well won those games and for the first time in some time Tom Brady looked human. Brady missed on several balls and threw rare interceptions. For the Giants, they hung close and the 49ers committed turnovers that cost them the game. However it happened we’re down to the New England Patriots versus the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, a repeat of Super Bowl XLII.

Let’s break it down. For New England to win they’ll have to do a couple things on offense that they haven’t done much this season The first thing is to run the ball to keep the Giants pass rush honest. Their leading rusher is Benjarvus Green-Ellis with 667 yards and 3.8 yards per carry average. His long run of the season is 18 yards. That won’t be good enough in this game. The Patriots may try to offset their lack of a running game with a screen pass game utilizing both Tight Ends, Rob Gronkowski, ( 90 catches – 1327 yards – 17 TD’s)  if he’s healthy enough to go, and Aaron Hernandez ( 79-910-7TD’s) and also use Wes Welker (122-1569-9TD’s) in this situation. The second thing the Patriots must do is stretch the field by throwing the ball deep. I think a surprise in this game could be Chad Ochocinco, only 15 catches on the season, or Deon Branch (51-702-5TD’s). This may be Ochos coming out party. Of course the most important thing is for the offensive line to keep Brady clean. If he has time to throw the ball he’s unstoppable and rarely makes mistakes. His 2011 stats are pretty amazing, 65.6% completions for 5235 yards and 39 TD’s with 12 INT’s and a 105.6 QB Rating. That’s a pretty good year!!! On defense the Patriots finished 15th in the league in points allowed and will have to play a closer game than that. They’ve only given up 10 and 20 points in the playoffs but Denver and Baltimore wouldn’t be considered offensive powerhouses. The other concern is the kicking game. Stephen Gostkowski has made 28 of 33 FG’s but he’s capable of missing from anywhere. He’s missed once from inside the 30, inside the 40 and twice from inside the 50. Gostkowski is a good kicker but I wouldn’t consider anything automatic.

For the Giants nothing really changes. The will attempt to play smash mouth football and run first with Ahmad Bradshaw (659-9TD’s) and Brandon Jacobs (571-7TD’s). A strong running game will keep Brady off the field and strengthen the Giants defense. They’ll try to minimize putting the entire game in Eli Manning’s hands. Manning has had his best season throwing for 4933 yards, 29TD’s, 16 INT’s while completing 61% of his passes. His top receivers have been Victor Cruz (82-1536-9TD’s) and Hakeem Nicks (76-1192-7TD’s). Both of these guys have had great seasons.  As always the Giants will rely on their defense and getting pressure on Brady. Although they finished 25th in the league in points allowed in the regular season they have stepped up their game in the playoffs. They have faced Atlanta, Green Bay and San Francisco, three good offensive teams, and have only given up 39 points.  They will need to be that good again to win this game. As we discussed with the Patriots kicking game the Giants can be as erratic. Lawrence Tynes has made only 19 of 24 FG attempts. Like with Gostkowski, nothing can be considered automatic.

As far as the coaches, both have been to and won the Super Bowl. Bill Belichick (175-97) is considered a coaching genius of his time and winning his 4th title in 5 visits would surely put him very close to the top of the list. Tom Coughlin (142-114) is a very interesting coach. About three quarters through every season Coughlin is being fired and his teams, when they get to the playoffs, step up their game and always play well. If Coughlin were able to win a 2nd Super Bowl and beat Belichick for a 2nd time his place in history will be set. I’m going with an even match as far as the coaches in this game.

It’s time for my fearless Super Bowl XLVI prediction. I’m going to take Tom Brady and the Patriots in a very close game. The Patriots are favored by 3 and might not cover that. Turnovers could very well swing this game as it has other playoff games. Watch out for the kicking games and an Eli interception to swing the game.

Patriots 23- Giants 21.

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