The Crystal Ball 2007 Week 14

Consistency. We demand it of our teams, our coaches and our favorite players. We demand it of every service we use, every product we purchase and every place we go. We want them all to do everything well every time. In the high stakes world of the NFL, and our world in general, nothing less will suffice. So why do we not demand the same of referees?

Each year the call goes up, yet again, for full time referees. The arguments are there. They need to train and practice all season. They need to see different scenarios and situations. They need to be able to anticipate anything and everything that will happen on the football field. I agree. No longer can the NFL survive the future with men working these all important, and increasingly vital, positions on a part time basis. Of all major sports, the NFL is the only one without full time officials.

The NFL always touts out the same tired counter arguments whenever this idea crops up. Our referees are good. What would they do during the off season? It is too cost prohibitive. Blah blah blah. Sounds like a deflating hot air balloon to me.

I agree that the crop of referees we see each week are good, and perform admirably in difficult conditions under the microscope of public and media scrutiny. The crew that worked the Cleveland/Baltimore game stands out particularly for making the tough, but correct, call in a hostile environment that ultimately changed the face of the game. But they could be better. They could work through the off season to get better. Film study, practice sessions, reviewing game tapes from the past, and a revolving system of working with each team as they practice. This would not only help the referees with some actual live action practice, but the teams as well to help eliminate mistakes. Something both units could use.

As for the argument regarding money, that holds about as much water as a paper towel. The NFL generates 6.3 billion dollars a year. Are you honestly telling me you cannot find the money, with all that revenue, to hire full time people? If that is true then it might be best to look over your expenditures a bit, make sure you are not over paying for something, like say promotion for the Raiders.

So why am I now bringing out this, to this point, fruitless argument now?

Because Monday night’s game was a prime of example of a lack of consistency. The referees had none and appeared to favor one team over the other, especially near the end. The Patriots, either by their gravitas as a dominant team or their quest for an undefeated season, were given almost every call and had quite a few calls ignored.

Apparently, the vaunted Patriots offensive line never holds, even though anyone with one working eye could see them holding Ravens defensive players to stave off their ferocious blitz attack. Also, the Patriots defensive backs must never interfere with a pass, even though Hobbs specifically was at the very least holding. The Patriots receivers never interfere either, even though one could see push offs by all of their receivers throughout the evening. And possibly the worst non calls made by the officials all night were the obvious roughing the passer calls. I have seen enough games, and read enough from the league and heard enough in interviews to know that if you drive the quarterback into the turf after the pass is thrown that is an automatic unsportsmanlike call resulting in a 15 yard penalty and a first down. However, I counted no less than three of these instances by the Patriots defense on Kyle Boller, including a few times they purposefully dove for his legs, yet no flag could be found.

Time and again the officials, almost as much as the Ravens themselves, continued to give the Patriots repeated chances. After a while, if felt almost as if the league wanted the Patriots streak to continue as much as Boston fans. And by some of the calls, and more importantly the non calls, it looked as though the officials were instructed to make sure, subtly of course, that the Patriots had every opportunity to leave Baltimore undefeated.

Before you ask, and if you have read this column before you should ask; no this is not sour grapes. I did not expect the Ravens to win, and was surprised they performed as well as they did. This is asking for consistency. There cannot be different standards and interpretations of behavior for certain teams. If you commit a foul, it should be called regardless of the team. And if you are not calling them for one team, then you must ignore the infractions of the other. Mind you, I hate the game being played through the officials. It takes away the spontaneity of the contest and typically brings things to a screeching halt. But every crew, and the teams and league themselves, must be on the same page for things to work properly. If a fan base has to wonder if they’ll get screwed on the road or worse at home by the officiating crew, how does that help keep their interest?

If people feel they are getting a sub par product, or being cheated in what they get, eventually they stop buying. The NFL needs to keep this in mind every time they see a game called one sided. Their argument keeps getting thinner and thinner, and the more they delay, so will their sales and crowds and eventually, their spot at the top of the sports world.


Recap

Until I see some better performances from quite a few teams playing home games, I do not want to hear any chucklehead refer to their stadium as “our house”. If some of those players really think it is their house, they have little respect for where they live.

Andy Reid’s decision to go for touchdown at end of first half was a great decision. Badly executed, but a great decision. Come on, you couldn’t call a play action in there somewhere? Delayed draw? Quarterback bootleg? Something other than straight up the middle? It’s easy to wonder about it, though, since the Eagles, if having those three points, could have easily kicked a field goal at the very end instead of needing a touchdown.

I thought the Redskins did a great job of remembering Sean Taylor by running their first defensive play with only 10 players.

That’s the only thing they could do properly to honor Sean. You could not honor him with a win? That soils his memory more than anything.

Ok, I’ve come to the conclusion of Rex Grossman’s two biggest problems. One, he needs to get rid of ball under pressure. Twice in first half he had two huge sacks that gave up over 10 yards apiece. Two, where is he throwing half the time? Some of his passes are wildly overthrown and look as though they are to players who do not exist or he’s trying to give fans a souvenir.

Ok, yeah, Eli Manning had two good drives, right when it mattered most. But come on, he still turned the ball over 3 times. If the Bear offense had been any better, they would have amassed 21 points off those turnovers as opposed to 9 and there would never have been a game.

Remember, this is the same Eli who looked terrible for the seven quarters preceding the 4th quarter of the Bears game. The same bad decision making, same terrible play and most importantly the same questionable ability to lead. Also keep in mind Eli has 5 multi-interception games this season. Does that sound like a quarterback that will lead a team to a Super Bowl victory?

And while we are on the subject of the Giants, Tom Coughlin is an idiot. What is the deal with scoring the final touchdown so quickly and giving the Bears a chance to come back and win? You had the Bears by the throat, milk the clock!!!! What if one of Grossman’s last passes would have connected? Well then Coughlin would have looked like a jackass. Guess what? He is a jackass. That was a dumb play call. He should have drug out the possession and took as much time away from the clock, kicked the field goal and assured his team victory and taken away any possibility of a Bear come back. Its poor coaching like that which leads to Giant losses.

We had a McCown weekend in the NFL. Josh in Oakland threw 14-21 for 141 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the Raiders to a 34-20 thrashing of nemesis Mike Shanahan and the Broncos. Meanwhile Luke, in relief of Jeff Garcia, played out of his mind with 29-37 for 313 yards 2 touchdowns and 1 interception day in a stunning come from behind victory on the road against New Orleans.

Think Josh’s performance will be enough to stave off Russell? Hee hee, me either.

So much for the genius of Mike Shanahan. Seriously, you cannot stop Josh McCown?

Is it just me, or are the Broncos the most maddening team in the NFL? Who can figure out which team will show up?

Sports Illustrated named Brett Favre their Sportsman of the Year. Will the disrespect of Tom Brady and the Patriots never end???

St. Louis and Carolina both won at home last week, for the first time all season.

I guess Whisenhunt did have something special for the Browns after all. I certainly will not complain.

Although I think Crennel, Winslow and the rest of the Browns have an argument that Winslow was forced out of the end zone at the conclusion of the game.

Memo to Tom Baby: There exists a line between fierce competitor and miserable whiny bitch. Step back, take a deep breath and look around at which side of the line you reside. It’s painfully obvious to the rest of us which side it is when you chew out officials because you feel you did not get a call.


Steelers 24 – Bengals 10

Who dey?

Who dey?

Who dey say gonna beat dem Bengals?

Hee hee.

Welcome to Pittsburgh, home of inclement weather games.

The temperature at the start of the game was 48 degrees. By the third quarter it was up to 54 degrees. Look out, global warming!

Is it just me or do these two teams really dislike each other? Some real chippy moments occurred all evening.

In their last 7 meetings, including the playoffs, the road team won every time. Someone had to break the streak.

Pittsburgh is now 7-0 at home this season.

The defense is allowing just over 230 yards of total offense to opposing teams. Almost 100 yards less than the league average. I hope that comes into play next week.

The offense and defense both got off to slow starts. Both units also started out with a few bonehead moments. The defense righted itself after the first Bungle possession; the offense took a bit longer to wake up. While that may be fine against teams like Cincinnati, it certainly will not fly next week.

The kickoff coverage, however, was much improved. It was nice to see them stepping up their game.

The passing game was much improved all the way around as well. Ben made better, and quicker, decisions, the line gave great protection and the receivers got open and made plays.

There is but one thing, however, I am sure of in this topsy turvy world. Life is good when Hines is smiling.

And Hines had plenty of reasons to smile when he set the Steelers all time record for touchdowns, surpassing John Stallworth when he caught his 64th career touchdown. Congratulations Hines, a better player and person could not deserve more.

Hines kept smiling all game, even after a third quarter catch when he caught the ball, in triple coverage, for a first down and got hammered afterwards. The replay produced a BOOM from Madden. Everyone loves when Madden goes BOOM.

I was a bit uncomfortable during the game when Madden began talking about wet spots. Anyone else?

The Bungles are so bad they even screwed up a chance at a safety. Pathetic. They are who everyone thinks they are.

Boy, Houshmandzadeh was complaining so much, I thought he was doing an impression of Tom Baby.

RB situation looked a bit thin with Davenport shelved. I am getting slightly worried about depth and experience as the endgame of the season begins to unfold. Hopefully Davenport will be ready to go this week, as all indications point to that direction.

Speaking of running backs, Willie Parker needs to hold onto the ball better in bad weather. He had four fumbles, and two were lost to the Bungles. I hope this is not a bad habit creeping in. Parker blamed it on himself and took responsibility, and hopefully shows marked improvement this week.

Pittsburgh lost the turnover battle for the game, but still managed to win thanks to the defense bailing them out of a few sticky situations. That will not fly next week as the Patriots thrive on exploiting mistakes. Hmmm, must be a big game next week or something.

And another first occurred during the game as Tomlin finally won a challenge, and is now 2-5 in challenges for the season. Better than before I suppose but jeez that could be improved upon. I hope he made his own news report.

Weird thing, Tomlin won his first challenge of the season on a Parker fumble. The very next play, Parker fumbled again. Tomlin challenged again, and bingo, same result. Tomlin gets two quick challenge wins. Not long after that, Parker fumbled yet again, and Tomlin challenged yet again, but the trifecta was not to be.

Ben had one bad interception in the 4th, just a duck of a pass. These kinds of mistakes, bad passes, fumbles, slow starts, should not be made this late in the season no matter the weather.

What I liked from Pittsburgh: improved passing game, overcoming slow start, stifling defense, strong special teams play.

What I Did Not Like from Pittsburgh: slow start; Willie Parker’s fumbling problem, push from the line for running game.


NFL, the alternative Universe

During the Eagles/Seahawks game, Tony Siragusa commented on the rain in the 3rd quarter, stating it was coming down almost sideways. Wait a beat, and Daryl Johnston responded, “Ok Forrest.” Almost did a spit take all over my laptop.

While not football related per se, I still found this fascinating. NBC is bringing back American Gladiators! I loved this show not only for the athleticism and competition, but for the sheer cheesiness of it. I worried that they may eliminate the cheese factor, but when I heard Hulk Hogan would host, I knew all would be right with the world. Somewhere, Hines is smiling.

Did you know you can create our own personalized pep talks from Peyton Manning? What a brilliant concept! Check it out here. You think Brady sits at home at night, crafting new ones and sends them to Belichick just to see if he’ll show any emotion?

The NFL honored Sean Taylor league wide over the weekend in a great gesture from every team. The efforts were heartfelt and touched many within the league and beyond. But it also served as a reminder of how much young black athletes are a target for violence and what a waste the loss of this young man truly is.

Four kids with no connection to Taylor were arrested last week in connection with his slaying. Random violence and a botched robbery caused Taylor’s death, nothing more sinister or devious. It makes the whole situation that much more maddening, depressing and sad. I must ask again, what is wrong with our world where a young man working to become a responsible man, father, spouse, son and member of the community is senselessly gunned down because someone is too lazy and stupid to go out and earn their own way in the world?


Upon Further Review

Despite the obviously questionable calls from the referees, let’s make one thing painfully clear. The Ravens lost Monday night. The Patriots did not win the game, the Ravens lost it. They gave the Pats another win on a night when New England was vulnerable and Baltimore had the motivation, match ups and drive to win. And if you watched the game, it was pretty easy to see why this happened.

Mental errors - The Ravens piled on one dumb mistake after another and all could be attributed to mental breakdowns. The penalties they amassed pass interference, offside, encroachment, unsportsmanlike conduct, holding, were terrible. Most, if not all, could be eliminated if they just kept their heads about themselves. If they were not drawing the flag, then they were just screwing up. Blown coverages, missed tackles or not keeping Brady contained broke their backs in the second half. They could not keep their head about them in any way shape or form. As the game approached conclusion, Baltimore emotionally was all over the place. Screaming, jawing and imploding into numerous penalties, capped by Bart Scott’s rage fueled actions that resulted in two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties from arguing with the official (always a bad idea no matter what he’s been calling you) and throwing said official’s flag into the stands. Meanwhile, their Patriot counterparts were calm, cool, collected and deadly efficient in the face of potential disaster.

Missed opportunities – This killed the Ravens all night long, especially in the fourth quarter. Boller’s bad interception when driving deep into Patriot territory crushed them. They had a chance to put up a multiple score lead and failed. Ed Reed’s interception, which was fabulous as Brady had only been intercepted 4 times all year to that point. But then he fumbles the ball on the return. This marked another mental error, as Reed tried to use the opportunity for personal glory as opposed to taking care of the ball and giving his team a gift. Brady’s deflected pass, no one lunged for this ball. It hung in the air longer than David Blaine, and still no one came up with it. The inability to gain one meaningful first down in the entire fourth quarter. If they had done this just once, they probably would have gone on to win.

Bad coaching – This plagues the Ravens in every game, but was terribly evident Monday night. The team had great success all night with the run, gouging the Patriot defense and knocking them on their heels. But in the fourth quarter, the Pats sold out and stacked the box, shutting down McGahee. Did the Ravens adjust? No, they kept going run, run, pass which resulted in three possessions that ended after three plays each. Apparently no one on their offensive staff thought of using a delayed draw, a bootleg option, a play action pass, an option play, a rollout or some other misdirection play to move the chains. Nope, just run up the middle twice, pass and punt. Rex Ryan’s horrible time out, when his defense was ready for the quick snap, killed an already reeling defense. Their defense also shifted from the aggressive set it used most of the game to a prevent defense, which we’ve said before prevents nothing.

The Patriots played poorly, at least for them, and had all their weaknesses and warts exposed for a second week in a row. But they played best when it mattered most. Lucky for them, the Ravens folded under pressure and lost the game. I certainly hope the Patriots put something nice under Billick’s tree this year; he sure put a nice gift under theirs.


Steelers Around the World

The Steelers take on one last cold weather trip with a visit to Stockholm. The capital, and largest city, in Sweden is home to the Swedish government, parliament as well as the official residence of the Swedish monarch. Stockholm is also home to almost 2 million Swedes.

Located on the east coast of Sweden, Stockholm is situated next to the bay Riddarfjarden, which is where Lake Malaren meets the Baltic Sea. Due to its lack of heavy industry, Stockholm is one of the cleanest metropolises in the world. But Stockholm does not hurt for work. High technology and tourism play huge roles in the economy of the city, and bring people to this beautiful area not only to work, but play as well.

Stockholm also provides the visitor not only with a clean, beautiful city as a backdrop, but plenty to do as well. Stockholm is home to the Royal Swedish Opera, founded in 1773, and the Royal Dramatic Theatre, of the most renowned theaters in all of Europe. Each year the city hosts a Jazz festival for music lovers everywhere. The city’s oldest section still features a medieval street layout, showing the city’s history and heritage. And Stockholm is one a great place to investigate museums, as the city houses over 70 museums covering almost any subject a visitor would desire.

Sports fans in Stockholm want for nothing either as options galore are available for one and all. Of course plenty of outdoor activities take place in the water, with boating and swimming popular. And considering the climate, Stockholm has a cornucopia of winter sports available. For spectators, soccer and ice hockey satiate their appetites as the main consumable sports available. But handball gives people a tasty appetizer as well.

For our game, we’ll be playing at Stockholms Olympiastadion, which dates back to 1912 and the Olympic Games then hosted by this fine city. While probably having the smallest capacity of any stadium, in the low 20,000s, this facility has history and simplicity of design on its side.

For our game, the Steelers will face off against the Buffalo Bills. This team knows cold weather, and would be prepared to give Pittsburgh a great game.


Idiot of the week

The Redskins, Bears, Eagles, Chiefs and Saints all share this award. With the playoffs on the line and needing every win possible, none of these teams could take care of business at home. What’s worse, all of these teams held leads in the second half, and three of them held leads late into the 4th quarter, and still they could not eek out a victory to buoy their flagging seasons.

The Saints had a horrible fumble on an ill advised trick play, when all they really needed to do was run the ball up the middle, caused by all first round Bush that helped destroy their chances.

The Chiefs defense allowed the Chargers, and their shaky play calling, to run rampant over them to the tune of Tomlinson for 177 yards.

The Bears allowed Eli Manning, who had been shaky at best all day, to lead two late scoring drives and for Derrick Ward to run all over them all day long.

The Redskins had a mental breakdown from Joe Gibbs, of all people, to give Buffalo a chip shot field goal attempt. But the team allowed the Bills back in the game long before Buffalo had a chance at the game winning kick. This loss was made especially painful by the fact that they were playing to honor Sean Taylor. Sean would not have allowed the Bills to kick and scrape their way back into the game.

For performing like this when the stakes are at their highest, you are all idiots.

An honorary mention goes to Brian Billick for throwing away not a winnable game, but a game the Ravens had won. How long before Raven management wakes up and realizes what a terrible coach they have employed?


On Tap This Week

Apparently, with playoff implications on the line, too many teams this week decided they did not want to take care of business and beat the teams they should, especially at home. And it affected my outcome as well.

Last week 10-6
Season to date 125-67

Before this weekend, I was four out of the lead and now I am six out. Thanks to a few teams unable to beat opponents to which they are superior, my record fell sadly. I may bust the Patriots for running up the score and being sore winners, but at least they crush inferior competition, not lose to them. Ok, time to move on, a new week awaits.

Hopefully more than a few teams, especially those with playoff hopes on life support can take a cue from Elvis and TCB.


Thursday

Chicago (5-7) at Washington (5-7)

Ugh. Two teams who seem to be incapable of holding a lead. Ok, let’s try this one more time. The Redskins win fueled by emotion and a need to honor Sean with a victory. If not, then perhaps their emotional fallout will be too much to overcome this season.

Redskins over Bears


Sunday

Miami (0-12) at Buffalo (6-6)

Miami’s march for history had a scare last week, but they buckled down and got the job done when it mattered most. Four games remaining and four hurdles left. Come on boys, get it done in Buffalo and march one step closer to the record books!

Bills over Dolphins


St. Louis (3-9) at Cincinnati (4-8)

Oooooh, a pu pu platter game! I’ll take the Bungles and a meaningless win at home for $400 Alex.

Bengals over Rams


New York Giants (8-4) at Philadelphia (5-7)

Since Feeley turned out not to be the second coming of Jeff Garcia, it seems McNabb could be ready to start come Sunday. Big surprise there. The Giants are not that good, although they pounded Philly last time. For some reason, I get the feeling this is one of those McNabb proves something to the world games. Or it could be McNabb auditions for another team games. Either way…

Eagles over Giants


Dallas (11-1) at Detroit (6-6)

It’s hard to imagine now that there was a point this season when this game might have been intriguing. Back when Detroit showed some winning ways. Of course, that point is long gone, and after this game, so will be Kitna’s prediction for the Lions.

Cowboys over Lions


Oakland (4-8) at Green Bay (10-2)

Ok, JaMarcus Russell looked intriguing, and McCown looked stellar. And Brett may be playing hurt or even, gasp!, miss the game. Still, in Green Bay in December I’ll take a banged up Brett or a fresh to the team Craig Nall any day over the Raiders. Oakland played impressively last week, but no one noticed they used up all their offense for the rest of the month on Sunday. And besides, you think a ding in his wing is gonna slow Brett down?

Packers over Raiders


San Diego (7-5) at Tennessee (7-5)

After finally returning from injury, Haynesworth may be out again thanks to a bad hamstring. Without him clogging the middle, a rejuvenated Tomlinson could have yet another big day. I’ll take a chance here.

Chargers over Titans


Pittsburgh (9-3) at New England (12-0)

This is it. This is the test. This game will show everyone how close, or far, Tomlin’s Steelers are to the promised land. As they say, you need to beat the best to be the best. I certainly hope Tomlin, LeBeau, Arians, Farrior, Roethlisberger, and most importantly, Parker were all taking notes on Monday night. They better have, as it seems everyone and their brother seems to believe, hope and pray we do what no one has been able to do thus far. Apparently we carry the dreams and wishes of 30 other teams, their fan bases and the general media and public. I hope that’s not too much baggage for a road trip.

Steelers over Patriots


Tampa Bay (8-4) at Houston (5-7)

Houston left Tennessee a broken team. Tampa Bay, however, showed its resiliency on the road. I guess it matters not who lines up behind center for Gruden.

Buccaneers over Texans


Carolina (5-7) at Jacksonville (8-4)

Hey, Carolina won a home game! Good for them. Shame they will not be able to turn it into a streak. Jacksonville lost to the Colts, but for the second time this season, just barely. Del Rio continues to keep his team in a wild card pole position.

Jaguars over Panthers


Minnesota (6-6) at San Francisco (3-9)

Who wants to play Minnesota right now? Excellent running game combined with smart play by Jackson and a stiffening defense. Even on the road I like them to make the 49er defense feel bad about themselves.

Vikings over 49ers


Arizona (6-6) at Seattle (8-4)

Stunning victory by Arizona to keep their playoff hopes afloat. Unfortunately, the Seattle defense is rounding into form and Alexander showed he still has something left in the tank. Without their big receivers, Warner and Whisenhunt may have more than a touch of trouble this week.

Seahawks over Cardinals


Cleveland (7-5) at New York Jets (3-9)

Despite a tough loss, Cleveland fought all the way to the end last week. And New York, well it’s pretty easy to hang 40 points on a winless team. I like Crennel and the boys to do what Pittsburgh could not.

Browns over Jets


Kansas City (4-8) at Denver (5-7)

I see Denver doing just enough to pull out a win, keep some faint flicker of playoff hope alive and keep the turnstiles at Invesco moving. Nothing like false hope to keep the fans coming back. I hope they do not burn me, again.

Broncos over Chiefs


Indianapolis (10-2) at Baltimore (4-8)

Old Baltimore versus old Cleveland in a playoff rematch. Something tells me Peyton scores a touchdown this time around. Something also tells me the Ravens will revert to form after last week’s devastation.

Colts over Ravens


Monday

New Orleans (5-7) at Atlanta (3-9)

Big Monday night game on the same day as Vick’s sentencing. I would be hard pressed to imagine anyone thought this is what Atlanta’s season would come to this time last year. Just a sad tragic fall for everyone involved. I guess one crappy team has to win. Since New Orleans cannot at home, perhaps the road will treat them better.

Saints over Falcons