I sure miss seeing the Minnesota Vikings in the playoffs. Its hard to believe that their last appearance was the 2009 NFC Championship game against the New Orleans Saints. A game that the Vikings should have won. Oh, how they have fallen. The Vikings, not the Saints. At least the Vikings absence makes for more relaxed viewing of this years edition of the postseason.
"Its too cold for football"
-New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez prior to a 45-3 beatdown by the New England Patriots in 2010. This tells me all that I need to know about Sanchez.
Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff is an anomaly in the NFL. He looks and talks a bit different for an NFL executive but its his vegetarian ways that truly sets him apart. The NFL is home to big, bloody food. Alabama is an offseason destination for all teams due to the Senior Bowl. Finding food fit for Dimitroff on road trips, especially in Alabama, is always a challenge. Luckily Falcons scout Les Snead is an Alabama native. He claims to know where every Whole Foods and natural-foods-friendly place is in the state. I'm slightly shocked that Alabama has any. Snead once found a "late-night hippie pizza joint with tofu subs" in the middle of Alabama.
Speaking of the Senior Bowl. There's a rumor that the Vikings are coaching one of the teams. That's always a nice advantage to sucking during the season. The team discovered all-pro defensive tackle Kevin Williams when they coached in 2003.
Speaking of Vikings coaches. The team is interviewed former Tampa Bay head coach Raheem Morris for, most likely, defensive coordinator. That would be a nice hire. I was hoping that Morris, Jack Del Rio and Steve Spagnuolo were on the Vikings radar.
I read that each of today's playoff games contain a first. The Cincinnati Bengals-Houston Texans game is the first to match two rookie quarterbacks. The Bengals' Andy Dalton and the Texans' TJ Yates. The second is more prolific and promising. The New Orleans Saints-Detroit Lions game is the first to ever match two quarterbacks that threw for over 5,000 yards on the season. Drew Brees and Matthew Stafford could put up some crazy fireworks.
Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald dropped only one pass of the 153 passes thrown his way. That one drop occurred against the Vikings. No surprise really. That was a game in which absolutely nothing went the Cardinals way.
Congratulations to Maurice Jones-Drew on winning the NFL rushing title. I've followed his career since his days at De La Salle High School in Concord, Ca. Except for some unfortunate years at UCLA (why there?) he's been an absolute joy to watch play football.
The Monday following the last regular season game is commonly called Black Monday. So called due to the often large number of coaches fired. This year only Tampa Bay's Raheem Morris and St. Louis' Steve Spagnuolo were shown the door.
I was a little surprised that long time decision maker Bill Polian and his son Chris were fired in Indianapolis. I think that it was more a move against Chris Polian eventually calling the shots solo than an indictment of his father.
I've warmed to the views of NFL Network's Michael Lombardi. Like Mike Mayock, I think that it's taken Lombardi a while to get used to being in front of the camera. As a long time team executive, he has great insight into the management side of the league. Having worked with Al Davis, Bill Walsh and Bill Belichick, he's learned and grown with some of the best.
"If you're winning ugly, you have to keep winning. Otherwise you're just ugly."
-legendary broadcaster Jim Brockmire
I'm currently reading the biography of Apple backbone Steve Jobs. Its striking how the most successful people are the ones that best learn from those around them. Too many people stumble through life thinking that they have all the answers. Former San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh took a fairly long path to the top job of an NFL team. He learned from some of the best along the way. His passing offense was greatly influenced by his time with the Oakland Raiders and Al Davis who had learned from Sid Gillman. Walsh refined his offense and learned efficient team management from Paul Brown during his years with the Cinncinati Bengals. From his time at Cal with Marv Levy, Walsh certainly learned that Berkeley was a far better college and town than Stanford and Palo Alto. That's important too.
Two coaches that achieved incredible success at a frighteningly young age were John Madden and Mike Tomlin. Both had the advantage of taking over strong, established teams. Both the Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers were criticized for making such foolish hires. Tomlin won so quickly that it didn't seem possible. Its coaches like these, being at the right place at the right time, that likely drive coaches like Vince Lombardi, Bill Walsh and Bill Belichick nuts. Coaches that worked for decades before they were tapped for a top NFL job.
Last night Kansas St and Arkansas battled in the Cotton Bowl. There's still two more bowl games including the championship game. The way that the bowl games are drawn out is crazy. I'm so ready for the NFL postseason to start even if the Vikings are not a part of it.
The second season begins...
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