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divineprodigy

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  1. divineprodigy
    As we aproach the 2012 NFL season, the trend towards being as explosive on offense as possible has been the focus of many teams as of late. For the younger generation, the beginning of this trend began with the Rams of the late 90s which featured HOF RB Marshall Faulk, QB Kurt Warner, WRs Isaac Bruce, Az-Zahir Hakim and Torry Holt. They were dubbed the nickname "The Greatest Show on Turf" and formed the nucleus of the only team in NFL history to score 500+ points in 3 consecutive seasons. Mike Martz was the "mastermind" behind the offense, but was not the original author of it. Martz was running the exact same offense as HOF coach Don Coryell. Coryell was the true mastermind behind this brilliant, aerial attacking philosphy that he ran with a tremendous amount of success at both the college and pro level. Remember the Dan Fouts and Kellen Winslow led Chargers? Don Coryell was the coach that made them who they are. Although the Chargers were one of the highest scoring teams during his tenure there, they never made it to the SB.
    In 1979, Bill Walsh brought in the famous "West Coast" offense to the 49ers. He would go on to win 4 SBs with a Niner team that was just as tough on the defensive side of the ball as the offense was. When the team went from Joe Montana to Steve Young, the offensive production went even higher, yet didn't win a SB until the front office went on a spending spree to address the defensive side of the ball. From an offensive standpoint, these teams would be followed by the 2004 Colts and 2007 Patriots in which both Manning and Brady broke Dan Marino's single season record for TD passes. While all of these teams featured offenses that produced insane numbers, they lacked a defense that could match it. Of the 4 teams I just mentioned, only the Rams won a SB while fielding a sub par defense. Some might argue that the Colts won a SB in 2006 with a defense that was ranked dead last in the league, but if there was ever an example of how one man can make a difference to a team, a healthy Bob Sanders was it. The Colts played most of the season without Sanders in the lineup due to injuries. Whenever he was in the lineup though the Colts were a completely different beast defensively. What they were able to accomplish in the playoffs with him healthy was nothing short of amazing.
    Some have argued that the Colts brass did the right thing in addressing the offense in order to "help Luck become successful faster." Yet this is a backwards philosophy because in essence you are putting the onis of winning solely on the shoulders of your rookie QB. You don't help any QB by doing that as much as you would by building a solid defense for him 1st. The reason being is that when highpowered offenses face teams that are more balanced on both sides of the ball than they are, even teams that are stronger defensively, the team with balance usually wins. This is why a team like the Ravens could enjoy such quick success with Flacco starting as a rookie. The front office gave him a strong running game on offense but kept a dominant defense to back him up with. The Steelers enjoyed similar success with Ben Rothlesburger. As have the Jets with Mark Sanchez. Sanchez is not a good QB IMO yet that didn't stop him from playing in an AFC championship game two years in a row including his rookie year. The Jets also have a good defense and are the reason they have been to the post season twice in the last three years. I believe that the reason these three teams (Jets, Steelers, Ravens) have had the level of success that they've had is because the front office understood the importance of having a strong defense as the best way to bring about success early with young QBs. Having a good defense takes the pressure off of a young signal caller because it minimizes his mistakes whereas an offensive laden team doesn't have that luxury. Especially when opposing teams can use their offense to control the ball in order to keep yours on the sidelines.
    Even though the Steelers have had a more pass oriented approach under former OC Bruce Arians, he wasn't resigned due to the fact that Rooney II wants (To the delight of Steelers fans) the team to return to it's smash-mouthed roots":http://assets.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/pasquarelli_len/1268468.html I know we have a new regime who needs time to assert itself in building the current Colts team. But in order to "build a monster," it wouldn't hurt to have an old school approach with a blast from the past. History is most often the best teacher.
  2. divineprodigy
    Well it's been almost a week since the Manning led Broncos took the field to open the season in shellacking the World champion Ravens on Thursday Night Football to kick of the season. Manning has been and still is the talk of the town after tossing for 7 TDs in that game. While the critics and fans alike still gush over Manning and the Broncos, I challenge all to take a closer look at what "really" took place in that game. Were the Ravens really that bad or were the Broncos really "that good?" One of my favorite quotes from coach Pagano is: "You're never as good or as bad as you look." It's easy to get caught up in the "That's Peyton freakin Manning" thought process of it when all you do is look at the final outcome. For me, I like to look at the intangibles of what went into to the final score.
    Up until the injury to Jacoby Jones, the Ravens were right there with the Broncos. Denver's vaunted defense was not stopping Flacco and the Ravens offense as they moved the ball well throughout the 1st half. Once Jones got hurt on the punt return in the second quarter, the dynamics of the game changed. From that point on Denver was able to roll their coverage toward Torrey Smith and all but erase him from the game as Baltimore's lack of WR depth was magnified. Flacco couldn't get the offense moving as Denver was able to send more pressure against a Ravens offense that only had one legit WR on the field. When Brandon Stokely and Dallas Clark become your primary weapons on offense I don't care who you're playing against or who your QB is: "You're in trouble."
    With his defense able to terrorize the opposition, Manning went on a tear. Couple that with the fact that playing in Mile High Stadium is one of the most difficult stadiums to play in for visitors due to the altitude and you could pretty much see the writing on the wall. With no Anquan Boldin as a safety valve, Joe Flacco had his work cut out for him, especially after losing Jones. Make no mistake, the Broncos are a very solid football team this year, and I can see why many are picking them to represent the AFC in this year's SB. However, I still think that there is a lot of football to be played yet. In my observation of the Broncos, they look a lot like the Pats of last year offensively, but with a better defense. That said, I'll bet many of you are asking, how do you stop a team like that? Well, you've already seen the answer and here's how.
    Even though the NFL has made rule changes that benefit the offense in order to boost scoring, the formula for stopping high powered offenses like the Broncos is still the same: "Be physical." When you can't get to an opposing team's QB, you abuse his WRs once they catch the ball. As I watched Manning torch the Ravens secondary time and time again with short to intermediate passes to Wes Welker and Julius Thomas, I couldn't help being reminded of how much the Ravens missed Ed Reed and Ray Lewis. If Reed was still back there Peyton would not make those throws with the success he had on Thursday because Reed would either pick them off or knock the snot out of whoever caught a pass in his area. That's how you stop a pass happy offense like the one Denver has. You be physical with them, knock their WRs off their routes and hit them when they catch the ball. Sooner or later those WRS will start hearing footsteps and start dropping passes. The Colts have the secondary to match up with the Broncos. With Laron landry and Antoine Bethea patrolling the middle of the field do you think Manning will test them often? When he does, do you think those WRs won't be looking for where Landry is on every play?
    For all the A ratings given to Denver's aerial attack, they still lack the one thing every championship team needs in the post season: A running game. Monte Ball and Ronnie Hillman don't strike fear in the hearts of anyone around the league. That said, if Denver doesn't find a running game at some point, I believe their 2013 season will end the same way their 2012 season did: "Ring-less."
  3. divineprodigy
    Defense has been the recurring theme amongst most Colts fans and NFL personalities as we draw nearer the upcoming draft. Most of the reasoning behind that being the team's innability to stop the run when it counts against the elite teams of the league. The image of LaGarrette Blount running wild against the Colts in the AFCCG in NE has been the latest rallying cry for why the team's primary focus should be on shoring up the defensive side of the ball. Still, the more prudent move might be for the team to solidify the future of the RB position by drafting such a talent as IU's Tevin Coleman. I know this isn't exactly a popular choice amongst the masses, but it just might be a move that could take the roof off of an offense that already has some pieces on it that will keep DCs up late at night for years to come. The only real weakness on the offensive side of the ball as far as skill position is at RB depth. Even though the addition of Frank Gore gives the team a bonified running threat they haven't had since Edgerrin James, there are legitimate question marks behind him. If Gore goes down at any point in the season for an extended time I'm not sure I'm willing to trust any of the current backups to carry the load. Are you ready to trust Vick Ballard and Boom Herron? Even with both being healthy, none of them have the type of home run ability that Coleman brings to the table. Not only does Coleman have good vision and great hands, he also has legitimate 4-3 speed. What's even more remarkable is that Coleman played through a broken toe on his right foot.
    IU running backs coach Deland McCullough said "Coleman left some yards on the field due to the injury" and that could have made him the top rushing back out of college. The fact is Coleman is the type of talent that won't be around in the second round when the Colts pick at 61. The Patriots have scheduled a meeting with him as we speak (You don't want to see him go there do you?). After putting on an impressive show at his recent pro day, Coleman has put himself on the radar for several teams including the Colts. There is really only one player (Based on need mind you) in this year's draft I would take over Coleman in the 1st round if he were available and that player would be Safety Landon Collins due to the obvious team need at the position. However Collins most likely won't be their when the Colts pick as he will probably end up in Pittsburgh especially now that all world Safety Troy Palamolu has retired.
  4. divineprodigy
    As we inch closer to the start of the 2015 season, the NFL finds itself at the center of yet another scandal. It's safe to say the 2014 season was not a good look for the NFL. From the mishandling of Ray Rice's and Greg Hardy's domestic violence cases to the infamous "Deflate Gate," the NFL has been a den full of mishaps. All of this has been happening under the watch of current commissioner Roger Goodell. While it seems that most of the owners have been happy with his job thus far, some within NFL circles haven't been pleased with many of the latest scandals that he's obviously mishandled. According to a report from Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, at least one official has spoken up about it, pointing out the fact that the league had a chance to stop Deflate Gate well before it happened:
    "As one league source with no connection to the present controversy explained it to PFT in January, past Commissioners like Paul Tagliabue would have informed the Patriots of the situation," wrote Florio. "[Tagliabue would have] warned them that the NFL is paying attention, that the league reserves the right to check the air pressure in the footballs during the game, and that any funny business would be met with a decidedly unfunny reaction from the league office."
    This official, who spoke anonymously given his position and the sensitivity of the subject sheds light on a problem that has been going on for quite some time now. In fact, we can go on to say that the NFL's lack of accountability has become a serious problem since the beginning of Goodell's tenure as commissioner. This is even more evident given how Well's "report" from the Deflate Gate investigation comes out "after" the draft when we all know the league had this information well in advance and could have dealt out punishment to the Patriots before the draft, possibly taking some of their picks away. Richard Sherman stated last year that the "NFL has a conflict of interest" between Goodell and his "friendship" with some of the owners, Robert Craft in particular.
    "Will they be punished? Probably not," Sherman said. "Not as long as [NFL Commissioner] Roger Goodell and [Patriots owner] Robert Kraft are still taking pictures at their respective homes..." -Richard Sherman
    It's no secret that many around the league feel that not much will come of these latest allegations against the Patriots in terms of a viable punishment, and with the growing sentiment that there's a lack of accountability between the NFL with regard to punishing owners in the same manner that players are punished (see time frame of when the results of Deflate Gate were released vs that dealt to players) this will only increase the probability of teams taking up the "Patriot way" of obtaining a championship. "If you're not cheating your not trying." Who can blame them? If you can win the big one by cheating or manipulating the rules without getting the ultimate prize taken from you why not? The only way to put an end to all this ridiculous nonsense is to adopt the system of punishment seen at the college level. In College teams who are caught doing anything illegal of the magnitude oN what we see in the NFL lose their championship. Depending on the situation some may even lose scholarships of top recruits. I guarantee if you take away a ring from the Pats you will never see them or any other team for that matter "cheat" again. The fact that the league saw fit to make a rule change regarding their abuse of the "eligible/ineligible" Wr rules is just the latest fiasco in how the Patriots have yet again found themselves at the center of controversy. No team in the history of the game has been more responsible for changing the face of the NFL than NE has, and I don't mean in a good way either. It's time for the madness to stop. If the league has any "integrity" whatsoever, they should strip the Pats of their latest trophy and suspend Brady for at least 5 games. That's the right message to send to an organization that is not a "1st time offender."
  5. divineprodigy
    When the Polian regime exited Indy, team Owner Jim Irsay let it be known early that whom ever he brought in would be tasked with winning multiple SBs given the fact the team had "lucked up" (No pun intended) in the chance to go from one HOF franchise QB to potentially another with addition of Andrew Luck. Dubbed as the "most NFL ready QB since John Elway" entering the 2012 draft, the kid didn't  take long making good on those claims as he would go on to lead a Colts team coming off of a disappointing 2-14 season into the playoffs that no one saw making much of an improvement from their disastrous 2011 campaign. The Colts would go on to make the post season 3 of the 4 next years as well with Luck leading the charge. Yet with the coming of his new "monster deal" pending, question marks regarding how the Colts would be able to surround him with enough talent using limited resources due to the impact of his contract are at the forefront all over again. 
     
    One of the biggest regrets Owner Jim Irsay made known was the team's "failure" to win more SBs during the Manning era. Don't let wardrobe fool you. Irsay is as competitive as they come, and wants to win as badly as the most devoted fanatic does. So his disappointment of what the rings he feels were "left on the table" under Manning is more than understandable. That's why he went in the direction he did with hiring a coach like Chuck Pagano. Chuck's mantra of wanting to "build the monster" comes from his (bully) days with the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens and Steelers are two of the toughest teams in the NFL, and if the Ravens were in just about any other division in the AFC they would be perennial playoff contenders even more than what they've currently been. All-pro WR Steve Smith upon his arrival in Baltimore shared a quote he read on the wall of the Raven's defensive meeting room that I found very interesting, especially in how it relates to coach Pagano's philosophy: 
    A bully takes your lunch, breaks your spork, and takes your juice. On the field a bully beats you up, and in the game of football that initial battle starts at the game's most critical point of attack: "The line of scrimmage." Both the Steelers and the Ravens are teams known for being strong up front, especially on defense. They've also been teams that are built with the intent of wrecking havoc on opposing QBs consistently. They might not always end up with the best records in at the end of the season, but come playoff time they are built to go on the road and impose their will on whomever they face. In both 2005 and 2009 the Steelers won the SB entering the playoffs as a wildcard. The Ravens won the 2000 SB as well as the 2012 SB as a Wildcard as well. Those accomplishments speak more to the toughness of their division than it does to their regular season records.
     
    Today the AFC North without question is one of the league's toughest divisions in the NFL, with 3 of the 4 teams in that division all being playoff caliber franchises. So what makes both of these franchises so successful? They're both "bullies" in the post season. In order to be a bully, you have to have the kind of players on both sides of the ball who can push their opponents around. Andrew Luck might be a better QB than either Ben Roethlesburger or Joe Flacco, but for the most part both of Roethlesburger and Flacco have been on better teams. You could also say the same thing about Russell Wilson and the Seahawks. I take nothing away from Wilson and his skill set as QB, but when you compare the kind of team that he's been on vs that of Luck, without question Wilson has had the luxury of not having the burden of carrying his team on his shoulders week in and week out. Put Andrew Luck on the Seahawks and I guarantee you that the same critics who dropped him from 85 spots on the "NFL's top 100" due to last season would have him #1 on that list in spite of the year Cam Newton had last season. If the Colts hope to have any success at making good on Irsay's desire to win "multiple SBs" with Luck at the helm, the front office is going to have to build the kind of team that can accomplish that goal via the draft. Quite frankly, this should have been the approach from day one of Luck's career in Indy. Let's hope the latest approach the Colts have shown in this year's draft class is a start of more things to come. At the very least, if the latest additions to the O-line pan out to be what the team intends them to be, the Colts should be a very scary opponent for the 2016 season. From the reports that are coming out of OTA's, it looks like "The Monster" finally has some claws.
  6. divineprodigy
    The Colts haven't played a single down yet in 2016, yet that hasn't stopped some of their biggest critics from making predictions on how they think the Colts will finish this season. Some critics use last season's failures on a team as a projection of how it will do the following season (For whatever reason I don't know why). In the case of the Colts, it seems that a lot of those critics are bumpin the horns of our AFC South rivals because of their offseason moves; with the majority of them jumping on the Texans bandwagon. Like most Colts fans, I don't think Brock Osweiler has done enough in this league to make me think that he's the "missing link" for Houston. Let's be honest here. We're talking about a guy when given the chance, couldn't make enough of an impression on the Broncos coaches to give him the reins for the rest of the season over a broken down Peyton Manning who was practically a half step away from playing in a wheel chair, with the best defense in the league... Osweiler might be the QB Houston's been waiting for. He might also be a game manager who's a step above anything they've had at the position ever since their existence. In spite of how he turns out one thing can't be mistaken; Luck is still the best QB in the division. Period. That in and of itself could be enough to be the difference between where any of the Colts division rivals finish this season. At least that assumption can be backed up by the fact that with Luck healthy for a full season the Colts have finished at the top of the AFC South.
    That brings us to one Heath Evans of "NFL Now." According to Evans, the Colts not only won't compete in the AFC South, he doesn't even think it will be close: 
    Now anyone who's not only followed the Colts, but also follows this game knows how important your offensive line is, especially when it comes to protecting your most valuable player on the team. If you look at the long list of some of the greatest QBs who've ever played the game you'll notice that all of the one's that have won multiple SBs also played behind solid O-lines. The presence of those O-lines not only opened up doors for their respective QBs to do well, but also provided lanes for the running game. It's no secret (apparently to everyone not named Heath Evans) that the Colts biggest issues over the past 4 years have been the lack of running game and the inability to protect Andrew Luck (Guess what we can attribute both of those problems to?). The lack of talent on the offensive line has had a trickle down effect on the rest of the team. The offense's inability to consistently move the ball on the ground hurt both the passing game as well as the defense. When your defense has to go right back on the field due to either turnovers or the offense continually having to punt, they stop performing at their best as fatigue sets in.
    So while NFL personalities like Heath Evans might think that the offseason moves by the Colts was "nothing to get excited about," even the average football fan can acknowledge the impact of what having a good O-line can do for you. Even though a lot of Colts fans might be upset at Evan's assessment, keep in mind that whenever you see material from analysts like Heath that seemingly come in practically out of nowhere from left field with absolutely no basis for validity, they are nothing more than than opinions intended for one purpose and one purpose only: "Shock value." Like Skip Bayless, even Heath doesn't believe the nonsense that he just predicted regarding the Colts. In fact, instead of adding any juice to their claims by clicking on their articles (or videos), there's a better way to get them to tell you how they "really" feel about the Colts. Write them a letter and tell them to put their money where their mouth is. If you bet Heath Evans $50,000 I guarantee you he won't take the bet, and the fact that he won't take the bet will prove how much he doesn't believe his own predictions.  
     
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