Matt Legault
1. Flagging and fining defensive players doesn’t appear to be deterring hits to the head and the more receivers keep getting blown up and knocked out with concussions the more flags and the more suspensions we’re seeing. There may be no actual solution to this problem but if we’re going to continue to follow Skinner’s theory on operant conditioning then maybe rather than sticking with punishment we could expand to other aspects of the theory like positive re-enforcement. Every time a defensive back or linebacker lets up on a defenseless receiver the league could send them a congratulatory letter and at the end of the year subtract the number of personal fouls from the number of letters received and the leader in that category could earn an NHL style Lady Bing type award that would be accompanied by a 1M$ cash bonus. I know it’s out there but clearly the path the league has chosen thus far just isn’t working.
2. For those of you still hanging onto the “Eli Manning has 2 Super Bowl rings so he’s an elite QB” please note that Eli has 8 interceptions through 3 weeks. In Blaine Gabbert’s (the globally recognized worst starter in the NFL) rookie season he played 15 games and was intercepted 11 times. Eli is on pace to break George Blanda’s single season interception record of 42. And for those of you who say football is a team game and that it’s not his fault, keep in mind that Eli has Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks along with a plethora of other weapons at his disposal, yet their PF & PA differential is only 3 better than bottom dweller Jacksonville. Stop giving Eli a pass because he has rings. It’s time he takes a seat on the bench.
3. Aldon Smith was arrested for DUI on Friday morning at 7am; this is shocking in and of itself. Too me however, the more shocking thing is that Smith was booked, jailed and bailed out in time to make it to practice for noon. He showed up to practice after blowing a .15 5 hours earlier. For those of you more familiar with football than excessive alcohol consumption, picture Joe Namath’s infamous “I wanna kiss you” video from MNF a few years back and ask yourself if a man far more intoxicated than that could realistically have gotten anything out of defensive meetings or team walk-throughs. To me this begs the question, how tough can NFL practices really be if Aldon Smith can blow a .15 and still be able to practice? Part of the last CBA negotiation was about getting rid of padded practices and the physical grind that NFL practices put on a players body, but I guess the new question is whether practice needs to get a little more physical these days so that players don’t feel like they can show up to practice wasted.
Stat of the week:
Cleveland Punter, Spencer Lanning, had more TD passes Sunday than Eli Manning, Colin Kaepernick and Carson Palmer combined (1TD pass).
Submitted by Matt Legault
2. For those of you still hanging onto the “Eli Manning has 2 Super Bowl rings so he’s an elite QB” please note that Eli has 8 interceptions through 3 weeks. In Blaine Gabbert’s (the globally recognized worst starter in the NFL) rookie season he played 15 games and was intercepted 11 times. Eli is on pace to break George Blanda’s single season interception record of 42. And for those of you who say football is a team game and that it’s not his fault, keep in mind that Eli has Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks along with a plethora of other weapons at his disposal, yet their PF & PA differential is only 3 better than bottom dweller Jacksonville. Stop giving Eli a pass because he has rings. It’s time he takes a seat on the bench.
3. Aldon Smith was arrested for DUI on Friday morning at 7am; this is shocking in and of itself. Too me however, the more shocking thing is that Smith was booked, jailed and bailed out in time to make it to practice for noon. He showed up to practice after blowing a .15 5 hours earlier. For those of you more familiar with football than excessive alcohol consumption, picture Joe Namath’s infamous “I wanna kiss you” video from MNF a few years back and ask yourself if a man far more intoxicated than that could realistically have gotten anything out of defensive meetings or team walk-throughs. To me this begs the question, how tough can NFL practices really be if Aldon Smith can blow a .15 and still be able to practice? Part of the last CBA negotiation was about getting rid of padded practices and the physical grind that NFL practices put on a players body, but I guess the new question is whether practice needs to get a little more physical these days so that players don’t feel like they can show up to practice wasted.
Stat of the week:
Cleveland Punter, Spencer Lanning, had more TD passes Sunday than Eli Manning, Colin Kaepernick and Carson Palmer combined (1TD pass).
Submitted by Matt Legault