The Crystal Ball 2013 Week 9

Congratulations to the Boston Yankees, I mean Red Sox, for winning their third World Series in 10 years. And congratulations to series MVP David Ortiz who, while looking washed up a few years ago and has been accused of using performance enhancing drugs, managed to hit a staggering .688 during the series and was an unstoppable force against pinpoint pitching in the high 90 MPH at the advanced sports age of 38. I'm sure his resurgence was all natural and would never taint yet another Red Sox World Series victory. Again, congratulations.

Opening Kickoff

I present to you the question of the week. When Andy Reid left Philadelphia, did he drop off his clock management mangling skills to Mike Tomlin, Jeff Fisher or both? I thought Tomlin had this in the bag, but after watching Monday Night Football, I'm not so sure. Discuss.

The Way It Was

The best play of the weekend, by far, was Matt Stafford's sweet fake spike he snuck into the end zone. It was reminiscent of Dan Marino back in the day.

Of course, the best performance had to be Megatron's otherworldly performance. Remember, he's still not 100% healthy. Just frightening. I wonder what his stats would be if he had someone like Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees flinging passes his way.

Cowboy fans I'm sure hated the outcome, but dang that was a fun game to watch. Especially when you calculate in watching Jerry Jones' poorly constructed team implode yet again. He really should fire his general manager.

I'm convinced more and more that Mike Shanahan hates quarterbacks and wants them dead. How else do you explain how he leaves RGIII open for punishment? That hit was awful, and I'm betting he never came back into the game for fear of his life.

So, should I give the Washington Snyders credit for keeping their match-up with Denver close, or were the Broncos just waiting until the 4th quarter to turn on their offensive juggernaut, just to increase their level of difficulty? I think it's the latter, but I doubt Peyton Manning could wait 3 quarters to start dissecting a bad defense.

Flashing backwards for a moment, now who would have thought having a quarterback start only 2 weeks after being introduced to a brand new offensive system would have backfired? Especially when he throws 53 times to receivers he barely knows and his best offensive weapon, Adrian Peterson, only rushes 13 times. Obviously, Leslie Frazier is trying to get fired.

Incensed about a referee flag that was eventually picked up, Oakland defensive coordinator Jason Tarver flipped officials during their tilt with the Steelers the double bird. You stay classy, Oakland.

Everyone freaked out about Golden Tate's immature taunt, waving goodbye to Janoris Jenkins as he sailed into the end zone. But come on, everyone missed the three most important things about this play.

1) Golden Tate is like the 300th best receiver in the league. Does he really have the status to be taunting an opponent? No, and considering he barely made it into the end zone on this play, he hardly has the talent either.

2) You think this might be karma for Jenkins acting like such a blowhard out on the field each week? I bet somewhere Steve Smith was laughing his ass off and cheering Tate on.

3) Jay Glazer of Fox Sports was so incensed by Tate's action, he sent out a tweet asking someone to punch Tate in the face. Seriously Glazer? Aren't you supposed to be a respected member of the media, and you're advocating street justice for a silly on field action? Perhaps it's time to cut down on the 'roids weight lifting Jay and maybe try some yoga.

The Steel Pit

"This is no step back for us; we're still movin' forward. We just had some mistakes out there and the Raiders capitalized on it. So, we're still a good football team, but we gave up some big plays. That's the only thing you can really look back on. You gave up some big plays. I wouldn't question us as a football team." - LaMarr Woodley

"I think we can take a lot of positives out of this." - Antonio Brown

"We still got a season. We still got games left." - Ike Taylor

"We didn't throw the ball well enough, we didn't block well enough, we didn't catch well enough, we just weren't vigilant today. We got behind early, tried to get out of it, but we made too many mistakes." - Ben Roethlisberger

“We'd have won the football game if I was better. We lost today because I failed to do my job. My job is to make field goals, and I didn't do that today." - Shaun Suisham

"We just can't spot teams that many points and try to fight back. When we come out of the locker room, we got to come out ready to go." - Brett Keisel

The above quotes illustrate just what is wrong with this team. The bottom three are from long tenured veterans, and you can include Troy Polamalu in this group, who are pulling no punches about the problems of this team and taking responsibility. The top three are from younger team members, and Ryan Clark, who put forth a laissez faire, what-me-worry attitude. Yeah we lost, but we're still a good football team. No, LaMarr, you are not a good team. And until a large swath of players start taking losses personally, nothing on this team is going to change.

I know Suisham missed two field goals in what turned out to be a 3 point game. However that is not the issue. The issue is why were the Steelers attempting field goals so often inside the Raiders 20 yard line? The responsibility of this offensive ineptitude, as always, lies at the feet of offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

I make it my job to rake Haley over the coals for his pathetic offense and continual destruction of an offense that two years ago won 12 games and has yet to win 12 over his season and a half at the helm, and this week will be no exception.

Ben Roethlisberger was sacked 5 times, for a season total of 27. I know, some of those he brings upon himself. But I thought Haley's offense was supposed to remedy that. And yes, you can make the excuse that three linemen were injured, but let me ask you this. Is it not the job of the coaching staff to select the best players for the scheme, and then coach them to better performances? That is not happening on the line, and the hiring of Haley, under the guise of protecting Roethlisberger and extending his career, looks more like a sham with each passing week. Wait, hold on. Oh we're not done yet.

The Steelers ran 18 plays inside the Oakland 25 and Todd Haley called one throw into the end zone. One. And Roethlisberger, no matter how flawed you think he is, is the team's best offensive weapon.

On that note, why are we still sending that weapon out to block on ridiculous wildcat plays that A) fool no one, and b) cannot be run by an offense that is unable to effectively execute a simple running play without losing yardage? As evidence, with 1:55 left in the first half, down 21-3, the Steelers opened the series with a run up the middle by Felix Jones for minus-1 yard.

Add to this Haley's obsessive insistence of running wide receiver screens that no one blocks properly and are typically blown up for -2 yards, and it's no wonder the offense looks so horrid each week.

I know Pittsburgh keeps their coaches far past their expiration date. It's one of the more enjoyable quirks of this team and helps keep the team stable and a consistent winner. But Art Rooney II does not run the team like his father, unfortunately, and who knows if he'll put up with a few lean years like Dan was willing to do.

If Mike Tomlin wants to save his job, he should probably start planning for the future and identifying his sacrificial lamb.

Planning for the future should be easy. Start playing the rookies and 2nd year guys all the time. Yes, they're gonna make mistakes. But the only way to learn is to do. This season is a hot mess and it's not getting better with Jason Worilds and Ryan Clark. Find out who you have on your depth chart, so you can start planning your off season acquisitions better.

In regards to his sacrificial lamb, that's an even easier one. It's Haley. Tomlin had better recognize that he needs to deflect attention not only from the horrible record and bad losses, but also from the overall lack of discipline shown in pre-snap penalties, the thin and bereft of talent roster assembled over the past few seasons and how the last 3 to 4 draft classes have been busts.

To his credit, Tomlin has not made any excuses for the team's failure. But there are always excuses for failure. What I, and all Steeler fans want to know is where are the reasons for success?

Only In Faux NFL Reality…

Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson, who broke his arm in a car crash trying to keep pizzas from falling on the floor, scored a year of free pizza from Digiorno Pizza. Way to strike while the iron is hot Digiorno, but could this start a take out pizza/frozen pizza NFL war with Burleson and Peyton Manning on opposing forces?

Along those lines, Fox Sports put together this list of the best commercials staring NFL coaches. Nothing beats John Madden and those Miller Lite ads. But I'll give Jim Harbaugh this, for only being in the league a short period of time, he certainly is prolific.

The NFL announced there will be three games played in London during the 2014 season. You know what happens when you saturate the market with something special? It ceases to be special, people lose interest and eventually it becomes a hindrance and disappears. This is a concept as old as civilization, and one the NFL seems incapable of grasping.

During the lead up to the trade deadline, Arizona quashed any trade rumors that were swirling around Larry Fitzgerald, stating unequivocally that Fitzgerald will be a Cardinal for life. Poor Larry.

A former Houston Texans fan, disgruntled about the direction his team is going, threw off the shackles of Texans fandom, took up the torch for the Dallas Cowboys and had a giant Cowboy tattoo inked over his Texans tattoo. Here's my question, how is becoming a Cowboys fan better than remaining a Texans fan?

A Tampa radio station erected a billboard calling for the firing of Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano. Personally, I think that took far longer than it should have.

But I don't know why Buccaneer fans would want to get rid of Schiano. I mean, who wouldn't want a guy leading their team who yells at his players for helping an opponent off the ground after the play? You don't find that level of class every day.

And finally, prosecutors in the Aaron Hernandez case have subpoenaed Dolphins center Mike Pouncey in hopes of strengthening their case regarding illegal guns on Hernandez. Perhaps this is why the Pouncey brothers showed such support to Hernandez, there are other skeletons that have yet to come to light. How long until Maurkice is called before the grand jury is my question.

Upon Further Review

In a bizarre story, Dolphins tackle Jonathan Martin left the team this week, reportedly due to being bullied by teammates. While the exact reasons of Martin's departure are not quite known, it has been reported that Martin is also dealing with some personal issues, that may have played a part in his leaving the team.

Teammates have spoken up about Martin's departure, lending support and concern for Martin's wellbeing. I find this disingenuous, as it seems at least some of the members of the team played a role in Martin's current situation. And others, while not actively participating in the bullying, were complacently guilty by doing nothing.

Bullying is no joke, and taken more seriously nowadays than it has been in the past. This is a good step for our society to make, as bullying only leads to more problems. It leaves kids depressed, sad and disconnected at an already difficult time in their growth and development. It can lead to future emotional and mental issues, and in extreme cases, it has led to suicide. It's long past time that we raise kids, and teach ourselves as adults, with the knowledge that just because someone is different from them in some way, be it race, gender, ethnicity, intelligence, style or even as silly as how they hold their backpack, it's not okay to ridicule and belittle them.

But like any positive change, there has also been a natural overcorrection. Now, instead of the meek, weak, small or smart being bullied, it's the bullies themselves who are tormented and tortured. Those who feel empowered by a more open society, the anonymity of the internet or their own experiences being bullied are not striking back at tormentors and wrong doers.

Today, if anyone dares bully anyone, for any reason, they are met with the righteous fury of literally millions of people. Any action, whether it's intentional bullying or even a mistake, is viral on the internet within minutes of the incident. Initially, there is the expected disdain for the actions. But this inevitably escalates, as people become increasingly incensed about the perpetrators actions. The rage reaches a critical point where it becomes self feeding, and suddenly, the indignation people once felt for a person's bad behavior has become the bullying, what they railed against to begin with.

Recently, I read this article about a woman who Tweeted a picture of herself dressed up for Halloween as a Boston Marathon victim. I think we could all agree she is guilty of some bad judgment here. The costume idea is tacky, tasteless and very disrespectful. No, she isn't bullying anyone, but this article will prove my point.

If you read the article, you will see the above scenario I described played out to a tee. People began with their righteous indignation, which proceeded to anger, name calling, rage and then all out bullying.

Read the article. People on a variety of social media forums threatened this woman, called her despicable names, threatened to send feces to her house, posted her address and phone number, and those of her workplace and her parents, called and threatened her, her workplace and her parents. In one forum, as illustrated in the article, one user actually says, "Lets Bully Her!", with a troubling glee.

On top of that, due to the relentless nature of the attacks, she was forced to close every social media account she had and eventually she lost her job.

I'm not defending her actions, she should have shown better judgment at the very least. But does her poor decision making justify the actions of those who tormented her?

I'm not defending this young woman or bullies in general. Their poor behavior is something that as a society we should work to eradicate. But to do that, we need to get to the root of the problem. Why is the bullying occurring? What is happening in the lives of those who bully that is causing them to act out in such ways? Oftentimes, the home lives of kids who bully are terrible, filled with neglect, hunger and even abuse. These are the problems we should address.

What we should not be doing is fighting fire with fire. How does it help bullying the bullies? I know right now that there are people gearing up to tear apart the Dolphins players who bullied Martin. But that solves nothing. It only exasperates the situation and compounds the problem.

To advance as a society and as humankind, we need to grow and improve upon who we are today, to make the better tomorrow. It's not enough to merely state bullying is wrong, we must stop the behavior. We must rise above the actions and conduct that lead to bullying and set a better example for others and future generations. If we fail to do this, then we're as bad as those we denigrate for their behavior, and we might as well give ourselves a daily wedgie because sadly, we have become the bully.

He Said He Said

“We’re at a very strange time. We know there’s a problem. We’ve identified a problem. But we don’t have many answers. So it’s a really uncomfortable time knowing a little but not knowing enough.” - Dr. Ann McKee regarding concussions in the NFL as reported by the Birmingham News

The only way we'll find those answers is if those in charge, such as commissioner Goodell, take the problem seriously and are open and honest about solutions, no matter the implications.

"We lost the game by 3. We missed two makeable field goals." - Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin

Yeah, it's because of Suisham you lost. That's it. Keep telling yourself that Mike. Hey, I see you did when you cut Zoltan Mesko! I guess the Patriots cut him for a reason, huh?

"The Steelers are one poorly prepared, poorly built football team." Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Dejan Kovacevic

Finally someone else is saying it!

“Now, you’re talking about the greatest cover guy maybe that’s played this game. I’ve seen where he’s been declared the greatest cover guy. Hall of Famer. But I do think he could do a real good job on Johnson. Johnson’s going to get some probably, but I think he could do a great job. Deion’s a great player.” - Cowboys owner Jerry Jones claiming he feels Deion Sanders could cover Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson

Yeah, well I'm calling bull. I know, everyone else seems to think Sanders walked on water, but go back and watch him in action. He was good, but he was as much hype and talent. And if you watch closely, you'll see a defensive back who covered great and avoided contact like it was the plague. Megatron would have made an impossible catch over Sanders' coverage and then ran him over. Hall of Fame, Super Bowl Champion, they all sound great, but he could have, at best, only limited Johnson, never truly covered him.

"We're not going to be in the playoffs until we win these games and don't make these mistakes. We're going to be 8-8 and we're not going to be where we want to be. We've got to make a decision; are we going to execute at the most critical times and win these games? I don't know, but we need to put in the work and we have to do it if we're going to be the team we want to be.'' - Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee

Two things here. One, I'm glad to see someone wearing the Dallas star on their helmet isn't drinking Jones' Kool-aid. And two, man I wish Pittsburgh had been smart enough to draft Lee, he is a force.

"I can't say what he's feeling. But I know if and when he wants to come back, I will be there to shake his hand." - Dolphins offensive lineman Tyson Clabo on teammate Jonathan Martin

Since reports I've read state the offensive linemen were the ones doing the bullying, I wonder if Martin returns if he'll shake Clabo's hand or punch him in the face.

Idiot of the Week

This week, we bestow the honor of idiot to two worthy competitors, Cowboys wide receiver and professional hot head Dez Bryant, and Steelers safety and professional NFL analyst wannabe Ryan Clark.

Bryant had multiple meltdowns on the sidelines of the Cowboys 31-30 loss to Detroit. Bryant, who had stated earlier in the week before the game he felt he could do anything Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson could do, repeatedly blew up at his offensive teammates and coaches.

After the game, the Cowboys, Tony Romo and even Bryant himself tried to sell the incidents as positive, claiming that Bryant was merely being enthusiastic, trying to inspire his teammates to victory. And while there are moments when these statements appear to ring true, for the most part, it's merely spin control.

What was really happening was that in Bryant's self perceived match-up with Johnson, Bryant was losing spectacularly and had several royal fits about it. Megatron was blowing up, and Bryant wasn't getting a 3rd of the looks Lions quarterback Matt Stafford was affording Johnson. Bryant was looking like a blowhard chump for his comments and he wanted the ball, come hell or high water. Bryant didn't care about the team's performance (they were leading during all but Bryant's final meltdown and argument with Jason Whitten). Bryant cared only about his stats, his performance and his name on Sportscenter as having bested Johnson head to head.

So for acting like a selfish douchebag, putting his own wants and desires before the team's needs and then trying to spin his boorish behavior as enthusiasm and trying to inspire his teammates, Dez Bryant you are an idiot.

Our other winner, Steelers safety Ryan Clark, inserted himself into the Bryant debate for no reason except to further his own media career aspirations.

Clark attempted to claim hypocrisy and a double standard within the NFL and the media, claiming that such behavior from Peyton Manning and Tom Brady is accepted, yet when Dez Bryant acts in the same manner, he's vilified.

ESPN.com's Jason Whitlock, as he is wont to do, eloquently and skillfully debunked Clark's, and other Bryant supporters, arguments. I hope his new website is up soon, as Whitlock always makes me think and challenges me to look deeper into each story.

Back to Clark. After hearing him run his mouth yet again, I kept thinking that if he took half the energy he uses to up his media profile and put it toward improving his personal play and improving the Steelers defense, the team would never lose another game this season, and perhaps he wouldn't bite so hard on play fakes he chips a tooth.

And Ryan just so you know, for the record, I DO NOT think its right when Manning and Brady behave this way toward their teammates and coaches, and have called Brady out for his aggressive douchebaggery multiple times, as I am calling you out for yours. Ryan Clark, you are an idiot.

On Tap This Week

Dang it, I timed it wrong. The Bengals started their reversion to the Bungles this week! Shoot.

Thursday: 0-1

Season to Date: 80-41

Before we get to the picks, I have to ask one question. Is it just me, or does it seem that every time an obscure rule comes into play during an NFL game, the Patriots are involved? And yes, I'm curious what oddball rule will come into play this week.

Sitting at home, wondering what the common thread is between each other: Arizona, Denver, Detroit, Jacksonville, New York Giants and San Francisco.

Sunday

Atlanta (2-5) at Carolina (4-3)

Atlanta should win this game, but there's a quiet revolution happening in Carolina. And it's entertaining.

Panthers over Falcons

Minnesota (1-6) at Dallas (4-4)

And now, Dallas will have a convincing win, which will give Cowboy fans reason to believe that this time it'll be different. Until next week.

Cowboys over Vikings

New Orleans (6-1) at New York Jets (4-4)

If Andy Dalton can eviscerate the Jet defense, imagine what Drew Brees will do to them. Oh this is going to be fun.

Saints over Jets

Tennessee (3-4) at St. Louis (3-5)

With the way both defensives have been playing, I think this game will be slow, plodding, low scoring and barely watchable.

Titans over Rams

Kansas City (8-0) at Buffalo (3-5)

What's been my favorite trend this Halloween? Easy, kids dressed up as Andy Reid!

Chiefs over Bills

San Diego (4-3) at Washington (2-5)

Sorry, but there's no way I'm trusting San Diego to make the cross country trip and win this game. They are way to flighty, no pun intended, on road trips.

Snyders over Chargers

Philadelphia (3-5) at Oakland (3-4)

Considering what I saw last week, this could be either a ridiculous pick or just right.

Eagles over Raiders

Tampa Bay (0-7) at Seattle (7-1)

Seattle has looked sluggish and weak lately, and still I think they could sleepwalk through this game. So why do I feel so uneasy....

Seahawks over Buccaneers

Baltimore (3-4) at Cleveland (3-5)

Go Browns!

Ravens over Browns

Pittsburgh (2-5) at New England (6-2)

So far this week, I'm 1-1 against Boston teams (Penguins beat the Bruins, but the Red Sox won the World Series). I'd love to finish the week 2-1, and even though I know better, I'm picking my hopes.

Steelers over Patriots

Indianapolis (5-2) at Houston (2-5)

No Peyton Manning, No Marvin Harrison, No Matt Schaub, same old results.

Colts over Texans

Monday

Chicago (4-3) at Green Bay (5-2)

Do you know who's playing quarterback for Chicago? Yeah, me either.

Packers over Bears