Kitty Hawk Water Sports- Nags Head, NC

I know this is a little after mid-season but my opinions are still the same. First, my beloved Redskins are worse than mediocre and I was wrong to think that Zorn needed more time because the team has obviously not responded to him. Granted he’s had several battles to fight but when I look on the field I see losers who don’t fear the coach. An example of this is the tirade that Joe Bugel had to give the offensive line’s effort versus the Falcons. Position coaches have to get on their players from time to time but Zorn was too nice to call them out. In addition, you see other players making silly mistakes with no concern for the consequences. Zorn must go and be replaced with a tougher coach.

In making preseason predictions I use some general rules of thought to conclude how team’s are doing. Several weeks ago I told a friend to not get too high on teams that come screaming out of the gate. They tend to fizzle out. I saw the Giants in the preseason and they were flat-out great. Now they’re on a 3 game skid. Fortunately for them they have plenty of time to regroup for the playoffs.

I didn’t think the Broncos were good when they went 6-0 and now they’ve been exposed.

One team that caught me off guard was the Bengals, which gives me a new rule for predicting team success: Great leaders trump great players. Meaning, teams that have great leadership at the head coach (or in Indy’s case, the QB) can get more out of their players than a mediocre leader with great players. Some people thought Marvin Lewis was done in Cincinnati and when they put together a team of has-beens I thought it was just the management’s way of adding player’s with resumes but nothing left in the tank.

The bottom line is; Marvin Lewis is a very good coach. Give him some football players and he’ll compete. San Diego is the other end of the spectrum. They have a great QB, some very good RBs, and a solid defense. Yet, they come slow out of the gate until it gets to crunch time where they have to ratchet things up to make the playoffs. I thought for sure with there soft schedule they’d coast in to the playoffs and talent would take over. But Norv Turner is not a great leader. I think he’s a very good coordinator but the players don’t respect or fear him like they did Schottenheimer. They appear to be righting the ship but they will eventually come up short dispite their talent.

If I could jump on another bandwagon it woud be the Saints. Drew Breese is leading that team the way Manning is leading the Colts. He’s putting it on his shoulders. And Sean Payton is a genius in how he’s using Reggie Bush. People may still be poo-pooing that draft pick but he’s getting touches, making plays, and scoring TDs. Go Saints!

Somebody wake me up when the Redskins get serious again.

Although I’m just as cynical as ever about the Redskins I find the reporting and fan reaction from last Sunday’s game to be excessive.  One topic that nobody wants to drop is their effectiveness in the redzone.  The Redskins are an average running team at best.  They haven’t been able to punch it in from the redzone since Joe Jacoby played for them.  So now you have to take that out of the equation which leaves you with throwing the ball.  Since you don’t have a great big target to look for the Redskins are forced to out-wit the other team.  This is why Joe Gibbs ran the bootleg alot down there when he coached last. 

Everybody’s brow beating Jim Zorn and his play calling.  I saw a team last Sunday that marched up and down the field converting crucial 3rd downs.  There were two touchdown passes dropped in the end zone.  How is that bad play calling?  If the score ended 17-7 or 21-7 would we still be hearing all of this?  You take away three plays from last Sunday; the two dropped TD passes and Steven Jackson’s long run, and you could say the Redskins dominated the game.

Rick Maese of the Washington Post stated that Sunday’s game was a “lackluster” performance.  Really?!  Was it that dull?  Was there a lack of effort?  I saw the defense trying to seek and destroy the ball carrier.  When Steven Jackson broke his long run I saw a bunch of guys taking off to go catch him.  And they did.  Had this been a lackluster team you would have seen the Redskins jogging.  Instead, the defense is looking to create more turnovers. 

Another thing I’m tired of is all the media asking, assuming, and/or stating that the Redskins and their coach are on the hotseat.  After two games and a .500 record.  They’re not that talented!  I wish they were a lot better but they’re not.  Who’s fault it that?  Management.  Creating a negative environment is only going to divide the team.

Jim Zorn still needs to prove to me he’s a winning coach.  I say let this season run its course and see what happens.  The only time it pays to dump a coach mid-season is when the coach has lost the locker room and you have someone on staff who can fill the void.  Otherwise, wait until the end.

As an aside, Robert Henson is an idiot and here’s the big beef I have with him.  When you talk condecendingly about McDonalds’ employees your saying that because of your career or how much money you make you’re a better person than someone who makes less money.  He needs to learn that his job and salary have nothing to do with character and the quality of the person.  We all found out last Sunday what kind of person he is.

I know this isn’t watersports related but the one sport I love to watch is football. As a matter of fact, it’s the only sport where I enjoy being a spectator. I can’t bring myself to sit and watch any other sport on TV. I enjoy watching some sports live, but football is the one professional sport I pursue constantly. Frankly, I think the opening day of the NFL should be a national holiday.
Every year I play a little game where I try to predict what team has gotten better and which team has gotten worse. Below are my 2009 predictions.
First, the bottom of the heap: Tampa Bay, Detroit, Buffalo, KC, Denver, and Oakland are going to stink it up. The tragic story out of this list will be Denver. Their head coach is too young and has effectively alienated his most talented players. I predict that the rest of the players will not follow and everything will fall apart. If the owner has to fire him at the end of the season he’ll have even less than what he started with.
The other story worth noting from the above list is the incompetent administration in Oakland. Why do they continue to throw big money at mediocre players? And why are their player evaluations so much different than the rest of the league? It will all become apparent soon enough.
Who will the mediocre teams be this year? That would be Washington, San Fran, Seattle, Arizona, St. Louis, Minnesota, New York Jets, Cincy, Cleveland, and Jacksonville. These teams will all finish between 7-9 and 9-7. Notice I have the entire NFC West division listed. Seattle will be improved from last year just by having a healthy QB, San Fran will have a full year of Mike Singletary to keep them motivated, and St. Louis will have a defensive coordinator to balance out the team. The wild card here is Arizona. They were only 9-7 a year ago before they went on that tear in the playoffs. The question is: Do they have a Super Bowl slump or have they learned how to win? I like Ken Whisenhunt, the former Redskin, and I want to believe he’s taught them how to maintain a winning attitude.
Minnesota will start strong but fade late. The Jets will scare teams with their new attitude defense but Mark Sanchez will make enough mistakes to keep the other team in the game. If Cincy’s low budget roster fails the team will implode and join the bottom dwellers. Cleveland will have a new attitude to get to mediocre but not enough talent to be good. And the Jaguars will come to realize that David Garrard only had one really good year.
My LOOK OUT teams for this season are New Orleans, Green Bay, Tennessee, and San Diego. New Orleans lost a lot of close games last year and will sneak up on people. Green Bay was hurt and will do the same. Tennessee knows they got bumped too early and will be more focused. And San Diego will have an easy division schedule and they have plenty of talent.
The teams that will still be strong are Philadelphia, New York Giants, Dallas, Carolina, Atlanta, Chicago, New England, Miami, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Houston, and Indianapolis. The teams on the bubble between good and great: Dallas, Carolina, New England, Baltimore, and Houston. Philly has the best offensive coordinator but will their no-name defense still shine without Jim Johnson? Every team will come after Eli Manning to prove he wasn’t worth the money. Go ahead, keep knocking Tony Romo for his December stats. Eventually, he’s going to make everybody pay. Dallas has too much talent to ignore. Carolina will have a tough schedule and will be down from last year. Atlanta’s Matt Ryan will prove he’s no fluke. Between the addition of Jay Cutler and Lovie Smith taking over the defense the Bears will be better. New England’s defense will not be able to make –up for all of the losses this off-season. Is Miami a fluke team? Not with the foundation they’ve built. They have all the ingredients; smart QB, strong running game, and a tough D. I thought Joe Flacco would be a one-year wonder but then I saw how poised he was in the pre-season and I take that back. The question in Baltimore is whether their defense can maintain its intensity without Rex Ryan.
Please bear with me as I take a few extra moments to assess my beloved/despised Redskins. My mixed emotions are due to the administration. The Redskins have enough talent to stay out of trouble and with a few lucky breaks they could have a winning season. Their defense should be much improved with the addition of DeAngelo Hall, Brian Orakpo and Albert Haynesworth. These three players will create more turnovers and cause more pressure. The offense will be a little better but not by leaps and bounds. The bottom line is whether or not Jason Campbell will have enough time to throw the ball. It’s easy for everyone to criticize Campbell for not making great throws but my defense is that a QB needs to get in a rhythm and he can’t do so if he’s running for his life. The receiving corps is adequate at best. Their two best receivers (Moss and Randle-El) are slot players and they don’t have a go-to big receiver. Maybe if the Campbell has time to throw he can find the mismatches and get the ball to some of the secondary receivers.
Although the Redskins made improvements so did the rest of the division. The NFC East is a brutal division and whoever is left standing probably won’t have enough steam to win the Super Bowl. The Skins finish 8-8, maybe 9-7.
Here are my divisional winners: Philly, Arizona, New Orleans, and Chicago. Green Bay and New York make the wild card. In the AFC you get Miami, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, and San Diego with New England and Indianapolis in the wild card game.
Super Bowl: Tennessee over New Orleans