User avatar
RealGM Articles
Lead Assistant
Posts: 4,768
And1: 45
Joined: Mar 20, 2013

 

Post#1 » by RealGM Articles » Mon Feb 8, 2016 3:14 pm

$.01--Super Bowl XL capped off the 2015 season, and the Denver Broncos pulled the upset by hammering the Carolina Panthers 24-10 in a hard-hitting defensive struggle.

Denver surged out to the quick 10-0 lead thanks to the defense, namely Von Miller with the strip sack recovered in the end zone by Malik Jackson. Carolina came out tight. Cam Newton was wild early, unable to calm down the arm until he took a couple of hits. One solid TD drive had the Panthers back in business, but it would be their only real threat.

Jordan Norwood helped the Broncos regain some momentum with the longest punt return in Super Bowl history, though it was more a brutal gaffe by Carolina’s coverage unit being unaware than any greatness on Norwood’s part. Just when Carolina started to turn the table, Mike Tolbert fumbled it right back. An egregious Peyton Manning INT to Kony Ealy kept the halftime margin just 13-7 in a game that at that point was most notable for sloppy play and poor officiating on an embarrassingly awful field.

Defense continued to rule the day. Von Miller and Demarcus Ware on one side, Kony Ealy and Luke Kuechly on the other. With six minutes to go and the Broncos up 16-10, the teams combined to go 4-for-26 on third down. Neither team had 200 net passing yards.

Finally the stage was set for Cam Newton, MVP. 70 yards to go, five minutes on the clock and…

  • First down run that went nowhere
  • Wild, rushed miss on 2nd down
  • Von Miller’s second strip sack on 3rd down

TJ Ward ultimately recovered a hot potato that Newton sure didn’t appear to want any part of in the scrum. Denver’s C.J. Anderson punched it in a few plays later to push the margin to 22-10, and the 2 pt. conversion buried Carolina two TDs down with three minutes to play.

Miller earned the MVP award with a tour de force pass rushing exhibition. The Panthers\' offensive line is one of the league’s best, but he made them look like they weren’t even there at times. Newton didn’t play well, but he didn’t get much of a chance either. Denver’s defense was the best all season, and they were in the most important game too. Congrats to Gary Kubiak, Wade Phillips and the Broncos fans everywhere for winning Super Bowl XL. 

$.02--Peyton Manning did not play well, but he was good enough to ride the defense to victory. I suspect he’ll happily take that and ride off into the sunset with his second Super Bowl title, his 200th career victory including the postseason.

<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Congrats on a great win and a great career. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PeytonManning?src=hash\">#PeytonManning</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/R79JljK5FC\">pic.twitter.com/R79JljK5FC</a></p>&mdash; Wolf Blitzer (@wolfblitzer) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wolfblitzer/status/696537137144053760\">February 8, 2016</a></blockquote>

<script async src=\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>

It’s time for him to retire. Going out on top is the dream of every athlete, and Manning can take after his current boss, John Elway and hang up the cleats. Getting the second title is a huge notch in his historical perspective belt. Lots of quarterbacks have one. It takes something special to win multiple Super Bowls, and Manning avoided the ignominy of retiring with fewer rings than his inferior little brother Eli.

Manning has a bright future ahead of him in whatever media realm he chooses. He’s smart, funny and not afraid to either make or be the easy joke. Heck, he already shilled for Budweiser immediately after the game in the normal “I’m going to Disneyland” moment. There is talk he might have interest in following Elway again and running his own franchise. It’s too soon to tell, but Manning is destined for great success.

As far as his historical rank, getting that second ring validates the argument he is in the top circle of the pantheon. The playoff choker label doesn’t fit anymore, not with the second win. I always take discussions like that in this context: Which player would I choose to have with an average, generic supporting cast?

At quarterback, my first choice is Elway. My second choice is Joe Montana. I can’t decide yet between Manning or Steve Young for that third spot, and right now I lean Aaron Rodgers for fifth. Note that I refuse to include players before my viewing time because it’s unfair, so guys like Staubach, Unitas, Otto Graham and Bart Starr all don’t get into the argument.

Celebrate Peyton for what he was, the ultimate mastermind. He was the offensive coordinator on the field, a master of puppets pulling all the right strings to read and react to the defense. We’ll never see anyone like him again. Thanks for the memories, No. 18.

$.03-- Before I even start here, know that I am not a Coldplay fan. They’re not my cup of tea; I like mine a lot stronger.

I’m not sure what to make of their performance. The visuals were great. I loved having the marching bands, and the actual stage being an HD projection screen was awesome. Chris Martin’s presence was more engaging than I expected. The problem was the audio mix on the broadcast. It sounded like they were playing underwater, and the actions on the stage were a good two beats ahead of what we were hearing at home. I’m not an audio engineer so maybe that’s just how it has to be, but it was off-putting.

Coldplay wasn’t bad, not at all. Anyone saying they were had an agenda they couldn’t get past. While I don’t care for their music, they did what they do and it has sold them millions of records. Both Bruno Mars and Beyonce were excellent, and I thought when the trio converged at the end it worked very well. But the audio mix was just wretched. I’m sure it sounded better in person, but the production is for the 75 million watching, not the 75,000 in the stadium. Having been to a concert where it was recorded for DVD later, I can attest there is indeed a difference.

Before the game, I stated I wanted Bay Area icons Metallica to play the halftime show. Or Green Day, also from the Bay Area. Heck, bring out Grace Slick or whoever is left from the Grateful Dead and give them 30 seconds. Now I’m glad that none of them were sullied by the poor production. Lars Ulrich would have gone nuts, and deservedly so.

$.04--Of course one of the major reasons to get excited about the Super Bowl is the commercials. Here’s a running tally of the ones I really liked or really disliked:

Loved it                

Doritos ultrasound                                                                                       

Audi starman w/ Bowie music and Buzz Aldrin                                               

Acura NSX                                                                                        

Super Bowl babies ads

Prius high-speed chase. Brilliant!

Pokemon 20, a favorite of my 10-year-old

LG TV with Liam Neeson

Death Wish coffee. Want!

T-Mobile ad with Drake

Hated it

Mountain Dew Kickstart with puppymonkeybaby. Make it go away.

Steven Tyler Skittles. Love Steven, not the ad

Mini Clubman. I didn’t get it

Butterfinger bold

Christopher Walken Kia. Miss. 

$.05--The Hall of Fame announced the Class of 2016 on Saturday. The marquee member is Brett Favre, who required exactly six seconds of discussion amongst voters before getting the thumbs up.

Favre is eminently deserving of first-ballot status. Aside from setting nearly every career passing mark at the time of his retirement, Favre transcended the sport. People who didn’t watch football knew who Brett Favre was. It is the Hall of Fame, after all…

Most casual fans will recognize Marvin Harrison. I polled my wife on the rest of the class and she knew Harrison played with Peyton Manning on the Colts, which is good enough for the fame quotient. His numbers are certainly deserving too, though it’s somewhat surprising how few know about his off-field issues.

My favorite member of the class is Orlando Pace. Sandusky, OH native Orlando Pace, a man who was a freshman when I was a senior at a school (Vermilion HS, home of Allie LaForce!) in the same conference and competed against him in Academic Challenge (he’s pretty smart too). My sort-of cousin Jon (my uncle married his sister) started with him in high school and I’ve always loved Pace. For me he is the gold standard of athletic left tackles in the golden era of that position, the period from 1995-2010. Jon Ogden was bigger and nastier, Willie Roaf was stickier, Walter Jones had a longer peak, but nobody was better at erasing the pass rush and run defense from a side of the field than Pace. Nobody will ever be as good on screens or end arounds. Nobody. Not ever.

Ken Stabler made it, unfortunately a year too late for him to celebrate. The legendary Raiders QB passed away last year. He’s another one my wife had heard of, which is my barometer of actual fame. I don’t remember his Raiders glory years; to me Stabler was the guy handing the ball to Earl Campbell in Houston who liked to throw the ball deep. He was an accurate passer in an era where that was an undervalued quality, even though he still took a lot of chances. I suspect he’s one of the few QBs from the 70s-80s who could thrive in any era.

My wife had no clue who Dick Stanfel was, and I’ll admit to not knowing much other than he played for the Lions back when they were a perennial power. Five All Pro nods in six seasons, and he made the All-Decade team. You’ll get no quibble from me here.

I’m happy Kevin Greene made it. Few pass rushers ever had a more terrifying blend of initial quickness, strength at the point of attack and maniacal desire to inflict punishment on offensive players. He’s the guy high school coaches want every defensive end to emulate even now, and it’s nice he is getting the recognition he deserves after being overshadowed for so many years for a variety of reasons.

The other two members of the Class of 2016 are the ones I question. I do think Eddie DeBartolo merits induction for what he did in changing the way the league did business as the owner of the 49ers. He introduced charter flights, creature comforts, and dedication to the ideals that a revolutionary coach in Bill Walsh preached. None of those were easy sells to an owner. He has some questionable (I’m being polite here) business practices, but he is the reason people younger than me regard the 49ers as one of the greatest franchises in professional sports. Before DeBartolo they were a punchline for decades.

The one I take most issue with is Tony Dungy. Don’t get me wrong, I love Tony Dungy the man. But Tony Dungy the coach, which is the reason he’s being inducted, is questionable. I know he’s famous, as my wife was quick to point out. And he did win a Super Bowl in Indianapolis. The credit for that team deserves to go to Peyton Manning and Bill Polian, the quarterback and the team architect, far more than it does to Dungy. While he helped craft a fantastic defense in Tampa Bay, it took his departure to lift them over the hump to the ultimate victory.

I would have voted for Terrell Owens, Terrell Davis and Kurt Warner over Dungy. All three should make it next year.

$.06--Super Bowl week wasn’t so super for Johnny Manziel. The soon-to-be ex-quarterback of the Cleveland Browns was investigated by police in Dallas for an incident with his ex-girlfriend at a downtown hotel. Manziel reportedly assaulted her, then drove to her apartment in Fort Worth and threatened to kill her, though no charges were filed by officials in either jurisdiction.

So continues the downward spiral of Johnny Football. And the world can’t seem to get enough schadenfreude at his chemical-filled fall from grace. To be fair, it’s quite easy to root against Manziel. He’s a spoiled brat with a deep and well-earned sense of entitlement, a life lived without negative consequences thanks to parental wealth and athletic accomplishment.

Johnny Football was a middle finger to the football establishment, a culture where nothing is supposed to come easy and the hard-working underdog is the celebrated storyline. Here was a child from money doing things his own way. And it worked, at least while in high school and then at Texas A&M. Heck, he won a Heisman Trophy in large part because he humiliated the icon of the football establishment, Nick Saban. America didn’t mind the party-boy image so much back then.

The problem is the party boy hasn’t grown up. The Browns, perhaps the most dysfunctional organization from top to bottom in professional sports, continued to enable him through the repeated drunken escapades, the immaturity, the abbreviated rehab stints. His fans always wished for the best when he teased with talk of maturing and getting his off-field life in order.

It hasn’t happened. It likely never will. Manziel is the working definition of Affluenza, an excuse another spoiled white rich kid from Texas used to avoid consequences. To believe he will outgrow that, let alone conquer the substance abuse issues which keep popping up, before his football potential is exhausted is hopelessly naïve and altruistic. I suspect he’ll get one more shot, likely from Jerry Jones in Dallas, and then fade into pampered oblivion.

I don’t feel bad for Johnny and you shouldn’t either. But the compassionate human in me wants the best in the end, even for someone who hasn’t shown much reason to deserve it. In covering the Lions I watched Titus Young succumb to personal demons that have squelched out a promising career and a hopeful life. Eight-year-old me idolized Art Schlichter, another once-promising football hero who couldn’t handle life at large. I’ve seen people close to me struggle with addiction and lose, and it’s a horrible spectacle. Manziel the football player is all but done. Let’s hope Manziel the young man isn’t done, too.

$.07--One of the highlights from Roger Goodell’s carefully choreographed “State of the NFL” press conference on Friday was the announcement that the Oakland Raiders will “host” the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football…in Mexico City. It will be the first Monday Night Football game outside the United States and it expands the NFL brand into another foreign market.

Mexico has long been a hotbed for NFL fans. The league has played exhibition games in Mexico City and Monterey in the past to huge, enthusiastic crowds. There also happens to be a huge Mexican presence in Houston, and the Texans have been trying to win over fans of all backgrounds from the stubbornly loyal Cowboy faithful in the market for years. I totally get the appeal for the Texans.

For the Raiders? Already spurned in an effort to return to Los Angeles, now they take what is one of their most marketable home games and move it out of the country. It’s a bad sign for the future in Oakland, regardless of how some in the media will spin it.

It also open up the potential that Mexico, not London or some other European locale, will be the next market for expansion. Logistically this makes total sense; Mexico City is on Central Time. It’s a 4.5 hour nonstop flight from Chicago, five hours from New York and just a little over two hours from Houston and Dallas. No need for a bye week after playing there, unlike playing in England. The fans have proven they will pack the stadium, buy merchandise and that they understand the game. Just like the political parties, the NFL covets the Latino market and Mexico is the granddaddy of them all.

I wonder if the local sports fans there will pick up on the concept of luring the Raiders. With Los Angeles not working out and Las Vegas still apparently too much of a leap for the NFL, the Raiders are borderline homeless; they have no lease to play anywhere--including Oakland--in 2016 or beyond. An outpouring of fan support, and big dollars, might sway owner Mark Davis to look south of the border for his new home. 

$.08--NFL Quickies

--Still no official movement in any direction on the Calvin Johnson retirement talk. As most readers know I cover the Lions for both ESPN 96.1 in Grand Rapids and also SideLion Report and this has been the hot button issue for weeks now. Here’s what I know: many of us long knew what Adam Schefter of ESPN reported, that Johnson had told some teammates that 2015 would be his last over the summer. I heard this back in October when many were trying to concoct trades for Megatron, and I know most of the beat writers knew it and sat on it out of respect to Calvin and also to not threaten their access to the team. So nothing has changed in my mind, and that was reinforced when I spoke to a couple of current Lions and Lions staffers while at Shrine Game and Senior Bowl weeks. For the record, I do think Calvin is retiring but I also strongly believe he has not made that decision yet. And if anyone tries to sell you that it’s about the losing in Detroit or the money, they’re truly ignorant of the situation. That’s not Calvin, period.

--One glaring omission from Goodell’s presser was the lack of acknowledgement of the decline in officiating. More and more fans are growing increasingly concerned that bad officiating is compromising the outcome of too many games and diluting the product.

--I did like the concept of throwing out a player who earns two personal fouls in a game, akin to the two technical fouls in basketball. I’d add onto it and make a cumulative penalty too; any player who picks up more than 4 personal fouls in any four-game period earns an automatic, unreviewable one-game suspension. If it happens again, it’s four games. I would also include unsportsmanlike conduct penalties into the mix, too. My apologies to Vontaze Burfict…

--One of the real treats of my annual trip to the Senior Bowl was watching Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Rod Marinelli coach the defensive linemen. Here’s a video I shot from the Wednesday practice session. Enjoy.

--Marshawn Lynch opted to announce his retirement during the Super Bowl by tweeting a picture of his cleat hanging from a wire. Never change, Beast Mode…

$.09--Draft quickies

--One player the general public is much higher on than I am is Oklahoma State defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah. He put up impressive numbers (24 sacks, 34.5 TFLs last two years) as the focal point of the rush in the pass-happy Big 12, no doubt. And Ogbah has an impressive physique and plays with power. Yet I don’t see the bend, the burst off the snap, or the ability to get off blocks to be a real threat to the quarterback at the next level. The effort isn’t all that great either, something highlighted by my friend Jon Ledyard at USA Today. His scouting report reads eerily similar to mine. I wouldn’t touch Ogbah before the end of the third round. I suspect he winds up still being a top-40 pick, however. You don’t want it to be your team.

--In the other direction, one player the public doesn’t know but should is Baylor cornerback Xavien Howard. Because he plays for a team widely perceived to have an apathetic defense, nobody gives him the love he deserves. It’s time to fix that. Howard is a legit 6’2” off-man or zone cover guy with the ability to disrupt with his length and play well to the boundary. His burst to the ball is surprising for a bigger corner, akin to Byron Jones of the Cowboys last year. Five INTs and 10 PDs is impressive in the context of Baylor’s defense.

<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">DB film study today. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Baylor?src=hash\">#Baylor</a> CB Xavien Howard was impressive. Sturdy athlete w/ quick feet, ballskills. I liked his tape more than expected.</p>&mdash; Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/dpbrugler/status/695739951812444160\">February 5, 2016</a></blockquote>

<script async src=\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>

He’s in the third round of my latest mock draft, and if you are shooting for any modicum of accuracy in your own mock you need to have him no lower than 70th overall. Howard won’t be that low in my next edition.

--A quick peek at my current QB Big Board

1. Paxton Lynch

2. Carson Wentz

3. Connor Cook

4. Jared Goff

5. Vernon Adams

6. Dak Prescott

--There is always a disconnect between where I rate players and where I slot them in mock drafts. This can be a source of endless frustration in dealing with the comments and social media feedback. As an example, I have Jared Goff going No. 2 overall and Carson Wentz third. Yet Paxton Lynch remains my No. 1 QB in this draft class. I don’t see that changing, though I do admittedly have a lot more of Goff to watch. I’m often gritting my teeth when I make those picks in a mock. It’s also taxing to write down a selection I know makes little sense and doesn’t fit needs, yet that is exactly what happens when every draft actually unfolds. Try and remember that when you reflexively attack picks in my, or other folks’, mock drafts.

$.10--The Super Bowl always marks the sad reality that there is no more meaningful football for over six months. It also brings to an end another season of writing this $.10 column. It’s bittersweet for me in that I love doing it but it is indeed a great deal of work. I want to thank everyone for the ongoing and increased support. The feedback I get is heartwarming and I appreciate the strong word of mouth that has helped this piece grow substantially over the years.

The next full ten cents will come the weekend before the regular season starts, dealing with personnel moves, preseason injuries, the start of college football and whatever else of football relevance strikes my fancy. Between now and then, stay tuned for lots of “Draft Prospecting” on various colleges and more team-specific articles. If enough happens in a week or two, a nickel’s worth of thoughts might pop up.

Thanks again for reading, and for keeping my dream a reality!

User avatar
anatomicbomb
Sixth Man
Posts: 1,916
And1: 1,208
Joined: Jun 13, 2013

Re: 

Post#2 » by anatomicbomb » Mon Feb 8, 2016 4:58 pm

It's technically Super Bowl L, not XL, but the league ditched Roman numerals this time, because "Super Bowl L" doesn't sound very cool.
Image

Spoiler:
Everything is practice.

Return to Articles Discussion