Here are some observations and thoughts while watching the first round of games on opening weekend. A word of warning: as a football analyst, I’m a hack.
- The FOX pre-game show is awful. The low-light was a round of secret rapid-fire questions for the three “analysts”. The shtick was that the “analysts” couldn’t just spout off rehearsed answers. But while the questions covered exactly the topics you’d expect, nobody could string together a decent answer. Terry Bradshaw said he didn’t know which NFC East teams wouldn’t make the playoffs. Howie Long stole his Super Bowl pick from Jimmie Johnson’s notes. The only redeeming aspect was watching Joe Buck’s exasperation build over the three-minute segment. I think James Brown will be quite happy with his new digs.
- The highlight of the Bills’ season may have occurred on their first play of the season. That run defense is bad.
- Are teams catching on that running backs are subject to the whims of the offensive line? All these two running back systems say yes, they are.
- The Saints are my underdog pick of the year. Unless their O-line and defense are awful, you just can’t be that bad with Reggie Bush, Deuce McCallister, Drew Brees, Joe Horn, and Marques Colston are an excellent group of skill position players.
- The Patriots are making an early statement to earn Biggest Underacheiver of 2006. Their defense is making the Bills O-line look good and allowing the running backs to run sideways without punishment.
- Was Gary Kubiak the real brains of the Denver operation?
- Team defenses are ahead of the offenses so far.
- Maybe the Titans should have left Billy Volek as the starter.
- Call me cheesy, but I’m a big fan of all Peyton Manning’s commercials, including the new family ad that debuted on CBS today.
- I’d love to see histograms of running backs’ per-run yardage.
- I’d love to see team offensive and defensive leaders listed by yards per drive instead of per game. NBA analysts have caught on that tempo has a lot to do with points scored, why not the NFL?
- Chad Pennington and Matt Hasselbeck have been extremely efficient so far.
- My AFC playoff teams: New England, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Denver, Pittsburgh, Baltimore.
- My NFC playoff teams: Philadelphia, Detroit, St. Louis, Seattle, Arizona, NY Giants (Had to make up for the ho-hum AFC picks.)
- Early season fantasy MVP: Jeff Wilkins
- Kevin Faulk has the catch of the year so far. Wow.
- Tatum has the early rushing edge over Mike, although Shanahan gave Mike the first touchdown in the battle of the Bells.
- Fantasy football is awful compared to fantasy baseball. The head-to-head format has grown on me, even in baseball, as it’s a great alternative in leagues where keeping in touch with friends is more important than proving your baseball acumen. But fantasy football teams are ridiculously shallow — typically 10 teams drafting 8 positions each. Realizing that kickers and defenses don’t make a difference and tight ends are barely significant, that leaves five positions to draft. Add in the fact that the sub-top-three QBs are all the same, and it all boils down to who can find three stud RBs or WRs. How fun.
- I’d fix fantasy football by expanding the rosters: 12 teams, 2 QBs, 3 RBs, 3 WRs, 1 TE, 2 K, and 2 DEF. I’d also make the benches extremely deep, so that you have to spot the breakout candidates at the draft and not wait to pick up help off the waiver wire. I’d also shift some of the importance of TDs over to yardage, including points for receptions. Defenses also can earn points for yardage allowed.
- Baseball’s fake-to-third, throw-to-first pickoff move works about as often as football’s 4th down fake-the-hard-snap-count-and-call-timeout play.
- Can we stop now with the Larry Johnson 2000 yard predictions?
- Have I sufficiently overreacted to just one week’s worth of games?
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Sky is a baseball fan and racket sport afficianado living in upstate NY. His favorite color is orange and is just about ready to give up on his life-long dream to become the next Magnus ver Magnuson (World's Strongest Man). His favorite baseball teams are the Yankees and Red Sox, proving that there's hope in the Middle East.