Ah the magic of fall....it was only a brief month ago that we, the devoted flock of professional football aficionados woke up just a little earlier in the morn, with a sparkle in the eye and an extra bounce in our collective gait. For it was almost here, the Christmas morn of our religion...Opening Kickoff.
And now, not even a month in, we are (for the most part) continually enthralled in the extended frenetic package opening that is the regular season - truly this time of year is most majestic and almost endlessly thrilling. Hope abounds! Expectations are turned can-over-tea-kettle and back upright again! And WE ALL STILL MIGHT GET A PONY!!!
Well, except for those of ye who awoke to find that Santy Pigskin had apparently found your particular collective behavior as a fanbase to be reprehensible this past year, and has instead rewarded you by dropping a steamer in your officially licensed NFL stocking. For you, this is already the coldest winter on record, and the utility man is coming around to shut off your heat for non-payment. We aren't even a month in, and there's already several viable candidates for the opportunity to stick Andrew Luck in a horrible no-win career situation....and they're fighting like mad to be the most awful of the awful for the chance.
And you do realize we aren't even going to be discussing the Bengals or the Seahawks here, right? Oh, neither of them are cancelling family trips in January 'just in case', but they've both already outperformed expectations by winning a game already (and really, we all knew
they were both 'rebuilding' this year anyway, albeit with 'another roster of felons' and 'Tavaris Jackson', respectively, so how hard is management really trying?).No, we focus our sights exclusively on the five clubs that have already dropped out of the real race, seemingly before the guns were ever fired into the air (insert Plaxico Burress/Bengals joke here. Or don't. Too tired - both the jokes and the writer.). Let's take a lookee at what's went wrong, and what, if anything, might give hope for the future for these five clubs. Because hope burns nicely in a barrel fire, and our fallen fan brethren could use the extra heat to make it through the cold, bitter nights. Without further prattle, we present to you the Oafer Threes of 2011:
The St. Louis Rams - The over-performing 'let's get 'em kids' of last season entered this season filled to the brim with vigor that FINALLY things were starting to look bright. That's the thing about over-performing - everybody is quick to assume that it's the new 'plain-old performing', and now you have expectations to hold yourself to, or somebody's grandmother
is going to be sad.
I truly feel bad for the Rams; when your official webpage ends up needing to consider a full-time guy to update your injury blog, that's fate holding you down. Unfortunately, it also makes you sadder than a wet kitten - yeah, we know you're really angry about it deep-down; we also know there isn't a lick of a thing you can do about it except just take it and skulk off to a corner until you dry off sometime next year.
But where there's a spark: there's the fact that this team is young and scrappy for the most part....better days are still ahead for the Rams, and they are fortunate enough to still be playing in a division chock-full of erratic teams that all seems to be off their meds half the time. Lawz yes, the Rams could still take this thing this year....but I wouldn't count on it.
Look, I LOVE Steven Jackson, but, as should have been expected, he's breaking down...and extremely early this year. Caddy made it one week as the spot warmer before getting hobbled up himself. By the time this team can really compete, the latter will be long gone, and Steven Jackson will be just about wrapped up - that's truth. When you ride on one guy's back for the better part of half-a-decade without giving him anything in the form of relief, that'll happen every time....it's like running your car up for 25,000 miles without getting an oil change 'because it seems fine to me'. The Rams will need a younger RB to learn behind (and give a break to) SJax, and soon. In the interim, the best you're looking at is 9-7 on a fluke, and this year likely well below that. But stranger things have happened. Like last year's Rams, for example.
The Indianapolis Colts - If I were a Colts fan, this whole thing would make me irrevocably angry. All week long, from sun-up to sundown. And while I was sleeping. Yes, I understand that Peyton is a rare gemstone....but apparently you placed him in a ring setting of aluminum foil and cardboard. All the hope in the world that everything is going to be fine is not excuse enough for 'failing to have any back-up plan', and that's exactly how the Colts spit on their followers this year.
How bad was your contingency plan when three weeks into it, it really seems clear that Irsay shouldn't have just been joking about Favre? Collins was never a great hand, just a pretty steady one - clearly that can't have been the long-term thought, right? And now he's hurt too, so let's go get us a real wild-card, boys! Somebody that could really shake things up! Unpredict---What? WHO'S in the lobby? Did you say 'Igor Olshansky'? No? Who? 'Orlovsky'? Is that the cleaning crew? No? What's he do then? He's a what? And he played for the Lions? Why, they're great now! How fortunate, problem solved! That was easy.
But where's there's a spark: you're hallucinating. When the Browns handled them with confidence and relative ease in week two, the Colts should have immediately begun issuing refunds. On the plus side, at least Addai is still in there soaking up hits so Delone Carter doesn't have to get hurt his rookie year.
On the opposite-of-plus side, Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garcon are both free agents at the end of the season, and considering Wayne was back-seated over a year ago and again this year when he could have been cinched up, and Garcon has shown glimpses of elite skill while being the fourth option, I'd expect both to jump ship the moment the last game ends. Unless deals get worked this season, which doesn't seem likely, with Wayne's age and Garcon's imminent likelihood of 'cashing-in' opportunities aplenty once his rookie deal is up. The fact that neither of these are at all stories in the forefront, instead sitting on the back-burner whilst the Colts' world grasps at any straws that will allow them to breathe during Post-Manning Apocalypse, tells me there will be two great draftable fantasy receivers in new colors next year. You'll still have Collie and Clark, though, so that's something.
The Miami Dolphins - Well, these guys are the least-deserving to be in this category. I mean, starting off the season with the one-two saber-saw and router combo of New England and The Texans is going to be tough for anybody, and THEN to have to follow that up against the giant-killers that are the.....wait, does this say 'The Browns'? That can't be right. Hillis must've run all over them or somethi---you're saying he didn't play? Hmm. Did Reggie Bush get hurt or something? Not that either, huh? I thought he was all 'Superman' this year or whatnot....
But where there's a spark: there's the fact that coaching extensions don't mean anything is binding. After his remarkable rookie outing, Tony Sparano hasn't gotten these guys over .500, and this year looks like his worst outing yet. It's not for lack of talent: Henne has developed into a decent helmsman, now capable of outstanding (albeit still inconsistent) efforts from time to time; Brandon Marshall and Davone Bess are a sweet combo, and Daniel Thomas looks like a bull...but the thing is, management has shown to be shaky on Tony S in the past, while still giving him new parts he wants to build with. When your own players are already forced to get your back after the second week of the season, it's only a matter of days before ownership authoritatively declares their unshakable faith in you, and then you subsequently are the new Offensive Coordinator for the 2012 Cincinnati Bengals.
The Minnesota Vikings - The Vikes could be really competitive the rest of the year if the NFL allows them a special dispensation allowing them to field an entirely different team for the second half of all their remaining games. Outside of that edict, things aren't looking to get any better in a division where there's not a lot of room for error.
I blame Adrian Peterson. Everybody knows that if you're going to be the best running back in football in your era, you CANNOT play in the NFC North/Central, or you will be doomed to be engulfed in surrounding-team failure (See: Payton, Walter, or Sanders, Barry). It would have been perfectly acceptable to have one-or-two great seasons and then laid off the gas a little after that - like Ahman Green, for instance. Two awesome seasons bookended by a few pretty-good ones. That works great, keeps the attention off.
But where there's a spark: there's a still-pretty rough defense, Percy Harvin - and AD has miles to go before he sleeps. Those are 'things to build on next year'. I know the lockout affected McNabb's ability to get timing locked down with his new receivers....but really, with Bernard Berrian and Michael Jenkins, how much difference was that going to make? Both great #3 guys, don't get me wrong, but this team should have paid Sidney Rice, plain and simple. He was an ideal distraction and #1 guy that allowed Percy to 'not be the only guy we really have to blanket'. I also believe that Joe Webb should be the guy getting groomed instead of Ponder, but who knows? Les Frazier seems like the right guy for the job, and he's going to learn a lot this year, but it's going to continue to be an unbearably long one. They'll be back in the North hunt next year.
And we saved the best for last.......
The Kansas City Chiefs - Wow. The best thing that could have happened to Jamaal Charles was that knee injury early, before he got all of his confidence beaten out of him like Ed Norton on his first trip to Fight Club. Walking out of last season, I had all the belief in the world that the Chiefs were going to be one of the most dangerous clubs to come up against in 2011. I guess what they say about 'making assumptions' is true: Todd Haley forgot how to coach. I think that's right. Maybe less time in the tanning bed, and more time watching 'film', or 'practice', or 'MaddenNation'. Anything, really, TH. It is what they sign your checks for.
In summary: Everybody else had the same lockout, but nobody else showed up afterwards with a total of eleven plays in the entire playbook all of which had the words 'hope' or 'wish' in their titles. A gentleman would step aside.
But where there's a spark: there is a young and talented passel of players, all things considered, at a lot of the critical superstar points. Assuming that somebody has enough foresight to throw a bunch of money at Dwayne Bowe, and NOW. That's one cog that's not going to be easily replaced if they let him test the market at year's end. With Bowe, Breaston and Moeaki at the hands positions, Charles, McClain and McCluster (I still believe!) in the backfield, next year should be much brighter for the Chiefs and for years to come. I have to assume that will involve a new head coach, unless Haley suddenly becomes adept, but even then, this season has to be incomprehensibly disheartening for Chiefs' fans, and I don't see him turning them around. When something breaks this bad, you're either cutting bait on your quarterback or your coach - and while I'm still not particularly convinced Matt Cassel is a world-beater, he's not the one responsible for this tire fire.
So to all the other squads taking the field this weekend, I say to you 'Good Luck'.....and for these six, I say to you simply: 'Good Try'.
Like random thoughts and snarky one-liners? Please to follow amazingmattyp@twitter.com
Follow ReclinerQB on Twitter: @ReclinerQB
And be sure to check out our "Fantasy Corner" for the latest and greatest fantasy sits, starts, & everything else.
Follow ReclinerQB.com's other contributors: @zatchj62 @heartsfootball @mwyche2 @theFFaddict
No comments:
Post a Comment