Divisional Round Picks: Seahawks v Saints

Saturday 4:35 PM ET FOX

Seahawks (13-3) Saints (11-5)

 

 

 

 

NFL REGULAR SEASON RANKINGS

Total Offense-           Saints: 4th    Seahawks : 17th

Passing-                   Saints: 2nd     Seahawks : 24th

Rushing-                  Saints: 25th    Seahawks: 4th  

Total Defense-         Saints: 4th     Seahawks : 1st  

Pass Defense-         Saints: 2nd     Seahawks : 1st  

Rush Defense-        Saints: 19th    Seahawks : 7th

I’m not big on stats because if there is even a 1% percent chance that something can happen then it may happen…BUT here's a stat to believe in...teams that lost a regular season game by 27+ points and played that same team on the road in the postseason are 2-9. The Seahawks’ handed the Saints a 34-7 beat down in Week 13. The Seahawks have won five consecutive postseason home games -- tied for the longest active streak (tied with the Saints!).

However, this game won’t be like the Week 13 game. This game will be more balanced and a game of strength versus strength.. The Seahawks “Legion of Boom” versus the Saints explosive offensive attack.

Where the Seahawks win this game, however, is by rattling Saints quarterback Drew Brees as they did in their last matchup, when they racked up six QB hits and a sack.

The Seahawks have allowed 13 points per game at home this season, the best in the NFL. That includes just seven points from the Saints in Week 13. Can New Orleans do better this time around? I say YES! This could be the upset of the week. I wouldn’t be surprised. However, the Seahawks still have more talent and depth than the New Orleans Saints. So while it will be a closer game, Seattle still wins. (and I will probably make sure all my Saints fan friends know about it via Facebook :-) )

Pick: Seattle Seahawks

Confidence: 3

Oh, When The Saints Go Marching....Out

4 Players Suspended in New Orleans Saints Bounty Scandal

NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, continued  handing out red cards today as he suspended four current and former New Orleans Saints players for various lengths of time for their roles in a scandal involving bonuses for trying to hurt opponents. The league said the suspended players – Vilma, Scott Fujita, Anthony Hargrove and Will Smith – had leadership roles in the bounty program.

Defensive end Will Smith will sit out four games. Anthony Hargrove, a former Saints defensive end who signed with the Green Bay Packers in March, was given an eight-game suspension. Scott Fujita, now with the Cleveland Browns, was suspended for three games.Linebacker Jonathan Vilma, got hit the hardest with a suspension that will last the entire 2012-2013 NFL season. That suspension is effective immediately per league policy for season-long suspensions.

NFL Division Playoff Picks

 

New Orleans Saints (14-3) @ San Francisco 49ers (13-3,first round bye) Saturday, FOX 4:30 PM ET
Drew Brees is on fire as he heads to San Francisco to take on a 49ers team that is ranked 4th overall in defense. That will prove to be a stiffer challenge for the Saints than Detroit was. What San Francisco does best is stop the run (ranked #1). Well, the Saints may not even have a rushing attempt on Saturday. Brees will keep spreading it all over the field until SF lays back some and opens up the lane for Darren Sproles. I think the biggest game comes from Jimmy Graham. As good as SF is against the run, they aren’t as good against the pass (and we all know how good Brees is WITH the pass).

Too Easy for Drew Breesy

Who dat say that record was a "brees" to break? 

Disclaimer: This is not an attempt to minimize the great accomplishment of Drew Brees in breaking Dan Marinos record for passing yards. It is, instead, an attempt to put in perspective on why so many offensive records will continue to be broken and none will last as long as they have in prior years. Dan Marino’s record stood for 27 years…..Drew Brees record will not.

Did you know: If Brees sits out in Week 17….all Tom Brady has to do is pass for 191 yards and the passing record would be broken ….again?!

Opening week of the 2011 NFL season saw five games where both QB’s on each team pass for more than 300 yards. This is all no surprise because the game has changed drastically over the decades, and those changes have accelerated in recent years, making it much easier to pass the ball and easier than ever for new quarterbacks to have immediate impacts on their teams (see Andy Dalton and Cam Newton).

This decade has been led by two NFL commissioners who never played the game of football beyond high school. Paul Tagliabue, who retired in 2006, was a lawyer whose athletic “expertise” came from playing college basketball. Current commish, Roger Goodell, was a three sport star in high school. Other than that, these are business men, not athletes. Yet these are the men who have overseen the rules for the NFL.

The rule changes from 1978 (the way in which offensive lineman could block with their arms straight out and the 10 yard chuck rule being lessened to a measly five yards) created an offensive explosion in the NFL, basically turning QB’s into the face of the game because these rules benefit them most. NFL rules today has turned the QB into anything but a football player. The defender can’t tackle the QB too hard, hit him too high or too low,. If he lands on (not HIT….LAND on) a QB, a penalty and fine are on their way!  The role of a great defense has been lessened (not eliminated, just minimized) by these rules. If a team wants to play defense the way NFL Films often pay tribute to, they will be fined, suspended, and labeled “dirty” (see Detroit Lions, James Harrison). The defense really has no “fair” chance to compete anymore. What rules have been implemented to protect or benefit the defense? I’ll give you some time to think about it. At this rate there will be a one-hand touch rule and eventually the QB will have a red flag on him! With receivers running around untouched, pass interference coming from breathing on the neck of a receiver, and QB’s sitting back untouched, timing on pass patterns has greatly increased thus you get increase in pass/receiving yards. TD catches/passes.

It’s all parallel to when the NBA got rid of the hand check, implemented defensive 3 seconds, beefed up on the flagrant fouls (a hard foul by Dennis “The Worm” Rodman was just that…a foul), and the way the game is called so tightly. It’s gotten to the point that if a player goes to the basket and gets touched….they throw their hands in the air automatically looking for a foul to be called.  If Michael Jordan had all these NBA friendly offensive player benefits that NBA  players have today (I laugh in wow as I think about it), he would have averaged and scored a lot more points. The fact that he got it done when it was ok to put an elbow to the chest of another player HARD to send a message. When it was ok to actually aggressively defend without being told “ok you’re defending too closely” by the ref when he blows his whistle.  I said all that to say These high-scoring, record setting players (NFL, NBA, MLB etc) aren’t better than players of the past. They just have advantages their predecessors never enjoyed.

If a basic fan is watching a football game and the score is 13-6….that game is “boring”. The NFL knows this ($$$$$$$$). They have to continue to manipulate the game so that games result in the, ball slinging,  47-42 shoot outs. I’m not that old, but in my time of watching football and via conversations with the “old heads”, there was a time when football was a truly a hard sport to play for ALL players. Nowadays we have stats boosted and helped by rules. Stats that diminish predecessors who had to actually earn their praise without being helped out by neither the league’s front office nor rules to carry them into the record books. 

While some may say that the athletes today are superior that may be true, but only in athleticism. In regards to ability, that can be debated more because the fundamentals of the game were much more important to posses back then. I say bring back the 10-yard chuck rule and let’s see how well the players do when they are actually earning those stats while being fairly defended.

 

Passing leaders 2011 (as of Week 16)

Drew Brees 5,087

Tom Brady 4,897 (-190)

Aaron Rodgers 4,643 (-444)

Eli Manning 4,587 (-500)

Matthew Stafford 4,518 (569)

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