Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Quick NFL Notes

- If someone had started a national drinking game during last night's game which required participants to take a shot after every mention of the word "wildcat," half the country would be dead of alcohol poisoning this morning, and the other half would be severely hung over. As for the new announcing team on MNF, Jon Gruden is proving to be quite a disappointment, albeit an improvement over Tony Kornheiser. Why they didn't allow Tirico and Jaworski to do the games without a third wheel remains a mystery, but apparently it is written on stone tablets somewhere that MNF must have three announcers doing the game (even though Michaels and Madden handled the duties quite well by themselves during the final ABC years). Gruden's comments about the wildcat were particularly idiotic, and it makes me positively gleeful to point out for him that the Miami Wildcats are now 0-2, while the dull, uninspring Colts are 2-0. Gruden's comments about the Colts defense were worse than idiotic; they were offensive and an obvious ploy to cast his failed Tampa Bay tenure (yes, I said failed, even though he won a Super Bowl) in a better light in comparison to the success of the Tony Dungy years in Indy. Final verdict? The sooner Gruden gets back to coaching, the better.

- Speaking of positively gleeful, it is always fun to watch the Cowboys lose their home opener, but seeing the look on Jerry's face when the Giants spoiled the debut of his new funhouse was particularly pleasing. I admit it, Jerry Jones is a likable guy, but a football genius he is not. This Cowboys team appears to have the foundation of a champion, but it will never get there until Jones realizes what the rest of the world has already concluded - a team coached by Wade Phillips will never win a championship.

- If Gruden does go back to coaching next year, the MNF crew should take a look at Brian Billick. He handled the color commentary for the 49ers game on Sunday, and was outstanding, including deadly accurate predictions on playcalls throughout the game.

- Brett Favre and Mark Sanchez are indeed the toasts of their town right now, but let's check back in December and see how things stand.

- In two weeks, the Patriots have done very little to make the country think that they are Super Bowl contenders. It's nice to see Belichick actually have a reason for that sour look on his face, for a change.

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