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Happy New Year Everyone!
In this column I won’t bother talking much about all the coaching vacancies and pending interviews as there’s not much to say until people actually start getting hired. I think I can sum it up with ‘All NFL teams looking for head coaches will be interviewing/speaking to/not interviewing/not considering Jon Gruden, Andy Reid, Ken Wisenhunt, Lovie Smith, Bill O’Brien, Chip Kelly or any number of current NFL coordinators’. Hope that helps.
- Ray Lewis announced to his teammates that this will be his final season. I hate to be cynical – not really I actually don’t mind being cynical – but this smells like a guy hoping to inspire his team to win a super bowl ‘for him’. If they come up short as I expect they will, he can certainly change his mind and try his ‘win one for the Gipper’ routine next season from the outset. I find it hard to believe he just decided today to hang up his cleats. Full disclosure, I’ve never been a Ray Lewis fan so maybe that’s tainted my opinion.
- As per the New Orleans Times-Picayune, an unnamed Saints player has completely trashed DC Steve Spagnuolo. According to the player "He does have that good guy persona, but he is a control freak and treats people like crap," the player said. "(Spagnuolo has) no patience and zero personality. (He) has a way of pissing players and our defensive coaches off with how he says and does things. ... Don't even get me started on lack (of) ability to adjust during games. Bad, bad, bad." Seems to me Spagnuolo managed to do a decent job winning a Super Bowl a few years back with the New York Giants against one of the best offenses ever. Perhaps what he has no patience for is player incompetence and/or indifference? Maybe he’s upsetting people because they’re not doing what he wants and that bothers him? My take is the problem was more with the on field talent and less to do with defensive schemes or Spagnuolo’s abilities. We’ll see if the Saints brass agrees.
- While we’re on the subject of the Saints, according to the Advocate interim head coach Joe Vitt says he doesn’t foresee a housecleaning on defense. I don’t think they have a choice, as mentioned I don’t think Spagnuolo is the problem but even if they feel replacing him is the solution, you don’t have this horrid of a defense from start to finish if you have even decent talent on the defensive side of the ball.
- You know what the worst thing is about Tim Tebow not getting a chance with the NY Jets this past season? We’ll have to listen to it all over again, ad nauseum, until he finds a new home and actually gets a chance. Just think, if the Jets had let him start a few games and he fell flat on his face the story would be over. Curse You Rex Ryan! Then again Ryan did save us from Tebow-mania 2.0 if he had come in near the end of the season, reeled off a few wins and got the Jets into the playoffs somehow. Bless You Rex Ryan! Honestly I have nothing against Tebow and wish him best of luck wherever he goes. I just get sick of all the Tebow talk, and in what I believe to be a first, I’m sick of all the talk from people saying they’re sick of all the Tebow talk.
- Supposedly the Vikings practiced indoors ‘with the door open’ to prepare for the winter temperatures at Lambeau on Saturday. Yeah that should do it.
- According to ESPN, Felix Jones won’t be back with the Cowboys next year. The former first rounder is a free agent in 2013, and something tells me ‘Fragile Felix’ won’t be signed as a starter anywhere. But a team looking for a viable timeshare could do worse than picking him up if the price is right. 2012 was the first time Jones’ yards per carry were less than 4, if he could ever stay healthy he could be quite an asset.
- According to NFL Network, prospective new Cardinals head coach Andy Reid should or will propose to the Cards’ executive that he can ‘fix’ Kevin Kolb. Personally I don’t think he’s broken, and regardless this just sounds silly to me. I think Reid liked Kolb when he had him in Philly – and didn’t intentionally fleece Arizona when trading him – and likely recalls the Cards were 4-0 when Kolb went down and that Kolb was playing very well. Really, with all the talk of Reid’s numerous job opportunities, he wouldn’t consider going to Arizona if he thought Kolb was no good. Especially since John Skelton and Ryan Lindley have pretty much proven they ARE no good. Arizona is win-win for Reid when you think about it. Assuming the prevailing wisdom around the NFL is that Kolb is not an NFL caliber starting QB and Reid can have success with him, it will surely put some shine on his tarnished coaching image. If Kolb doesn’t perform, well that’s not Reid’s fault is it? Unless he went into the job saying he could fix Kolb. A better strategy might be to promise to acquire some NFL caliber offensive linemen?
- As a Public Service Announcement I’d like to clarify the apparent confusion regarding why Maurice Jones-Drew waited until now to have foot surgery. He held out all of last off season to try and get a new contract. He failed. He played and got injured. He found out surgery to fix it would require him to be off for X number of weeks. He called his accountants and asked ‘what is the start date of the 2013 NFL season minus X?’. He then booked his surgery for that date.
- How can Mike Ditka tell ESPN it’s stupid for the Bears to have fired Lovie Smith based on the results of another game (meaning he thinks Smith was fired because the Bears missed the playoffs when the Vikings beat the Packers and grabbed the last playoff spot)? I have yet to hear this from anyone in the Bears front office but even if it’s true, is Ditka saying Smith didn’t work hard enough to convince Minnesota to throw their game so the Bears could get in? After a 7-1 start they shouldn’t have needed another team to lose for them to make it. I believe even if the Bears had gotten in, anything short of the NFC title game and Smith would have been gone regardless. I think it is clear the Bears and their fans felt it was time for a change, and missing the playoffs when it looked like a cinch after the first month and a half of the season is as good a reason as any to jettison the coach.
- Interesting article over at Dynasty League Football http://dynastyleaguefootball.com/2013/is-arian-foster-cursed If you’re the owner of Foster in your league, do you have the nads to trade him now? I’m not saying it’s the right move but it’s the kind of move that, if it works, makes you look like a genius in the eyes of your fellow fantasy GM’s. And really that’s what matters right?
Playoffs
For those of you in NFL playoff fantasy leagues, here’s my quick take on this weekend’s games.
Cincinnati Bengals @ Houston Texans
Saturday 4:30 P.M.
Predicting an upset here, Bengals win by 2 as Green and Dalton do just enough to overcome Foster and the Texans.
Fantasy Projections
QB
Andy Dalton – 17.6
Matt Schaub – 15.9
RB
Arian Foster – 18.4
BenJarvus Green-Ellis – 7.7
WR
A.J. Green – 12
Andre Johnson – 11.3
Andrew Hawkins – 5.4
Kevin Walter – 3.9
TE
Owen Daniels – 7.1
Jermaine Gresham – 6.1
Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers
Saturday 8:00 P.M.
Green Bay wins by 5, AP and the Vikes try to keep Rodgers and company off the field but they capitalize almost every time the offense is out there.
Fantasy Projections
QB
Aaron Rodgers – 29.3
Christian Ponder – 8.8
RB
Adrian Peterson – 21.9
Alex Green/James Starks/DuJuan Harris – 5.2
WR
Randall Cobb – 13.1
James Jones – 12.7
Jordy Nelson – 12.2
Greg Jennings – 9.5
Jarius Wright – 3.8
TE
Jermichael Finley – 6.2
Kyle Rudolph – 3.9
Indianapolis Colts @ Baltimore Ravens
Sunday 1:00 P.M.
Predicting another upset, Colts win by 4 as Luck orchestrates the game-winning drive late in the 4th.
Fantasy Projections
QB
Andrew Luck – 22.2
Joe Flacco – 20.6
RB
Ray Rice – 18.5
Vick Ballard – 6.4
WR
Reggie Wayne – 11.1
Torrey Smith – 9.7
TY Hilton – 9.4
Anquan Boldin – 8.9
Donnie Avery – 6.5
TE
Dennis Pitta – 7.8
Dwayne Allen – 4.7
Coby Fleener – 3.6
Seattle Seahawks @ Washington Redskins
Sunday 4:30 P.M.
These two teams are pretty even offensively while on defense the Seahawks are clearly superior even on the road. Predicting Seattle wins by 8
Fantasy Projections
QB
Russell Wilson – 19.3
Robert Griffin III – 19
RB
Alfred Morris – 18
Marshawn Lynch – 15.4
WR
Golden Tate – 7.9
Sidney Rice – 7.4
Pierre Garcon – 7.2
Santana Moss – 5.5
TE
Zach Miller – 3.6
Logan Paulsen – 1.9
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