Vince Young

While I was busy knocking the recent spat of poor play in the National Football League, Ta-Nehisi Coates stepped up to remind the rest of the world how sports continue to surprise, delight and inspire. Here he is on Vince Young's truly remarkable 99-yard touchdown drive yesterday against the Arizona Cardinals. 

I love the Cowboys and my son loves the Giants, and my Dad loved the Eagles. (Except when Doug Williams played for the Redskins.) But I don't just remember Troy Aikman hitting Alvin Harper in the 92 championship. I remember Steve Young hitting Terrell Owens in the divisional playoffs against Green Bay. I remember Randall Cunningham hitting Fred Barnett for 95 yards, with Bruce Smith breathing down his neck. And every time I think of those moments, I get warm and happy. Vince Young gave me, my partner and my kid one of those moments yesterday. I swear it makes living a little easier.

I'm still trying to get an accurate read on football. The game just doesn't grab me, or resonate with me, the way baseball and basketball do. More specifically, football's varied cover schemes and myriad strategies and game plans don't always reveal themselves to me. Viscerally, sure, I get it. I mean, I was as geeked as anyone when Eli Manning found David Tryee, but in general the NFL for me is like hearing kettle drums when expecting guitar. But, if my other site proves anything, I can at least say I'm trying and I can admit that Vince's drive remains a thing of orchestrated beauty.

   

Parity Begins At Home

Believe it or not, the New York Jets, losers of six of their last eight games, still have a puncher’s chance at making the playoffs. Granted, this isn’t because the Jets have distinguished themselves on the gridiron; the team's barely beating playoff chances are in reality a byproduct of an AFC-wide level of mediocrity. 

As of this morning, there are as many AFC teams with losing records (8) as there are teams with winning records—and two of those teams (the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens) are sitting at 6-5, one tenuous game over .500. Only the Indianapolis Colts (10-0), the Cincinnati Bengals (8-3), the San Diego Chargers (8-3), the New England Patriots (7-3) and the Denver Broncos (7-4) seem assured of a spot in the NFL’s postseason. (The undefeated Colts clinched a division title with last night’s win against the 5-6 Houston Texans).

This, I guess, is the NFL’s vision of parity. A few really good teams, mixed in with a bunch of middling-to-flat-out-terrible teams. Most of the AFC's franchises are mired in prolonged periods of mediocrity, which doesn’t really reflect well on the NFL's decade-long attempt at leveling the playing field, not to mention the often sad quality of play exhibited around the league on any given Sunday. 

King Rex

I know it's still early in the season, but I like what I've seen from the New York Jets. New coach Rex Ryan has them playing an aggressive, balls-to-the-wall defense. In two games thus far, the Jets' D has yet to give up a single touchdown. In fact, they've held the Texans and the Patriots, two superior offenses, to a total of nine points. They have a long way to go before anyone confuses them with the '86 Bears, but the defense is quickly making a name for itself. The offense, led by rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez, is doing its part, too. Yesterday, Sanchez put up better numbers than Tom Brady, delivering an impressive 16-play, 68-yard scoring drive to start the second half. Turns out, that would be enough, because the defense suffocated Brady and the Patriots for the game's final 30 minutes. No small feat. 

Like all good coaches, Ryan has lit a fire under his team--and its fan base--and it seems both would run through a wall for him, which is really half the battle. If he can keep this up--and that's a pretty big if-- Ryan could very well replace Bill Parcells as New York's favorite head coach. 

For more thoughts on the yesterday's game, please take a look at my other site, You're Wrong About Everything. 

Forget Favre

The big news today is that Brett Farve emerged from his Mississippi ranch and saw his shadow. Which means, of course, he gets to play quarterback again this season--this time for the Minnesota Vikings. Lucky them. This annual event, which is about as predictable and relevant as Groundhog's Day, is just silly. How long do football fans have to pretend to care about a washed-up quarterback who can't resist throwing into double coverage, and can't just leave well enough alone?  I don't care that he's coming back. I don't care that he's playing for Green Bay's division rival. I don't care that he won a Super Bowl 13 seasons ago. I simply don't care.

The only football I plan on watching this year is "Friday Night Lights," which kicks off its fourth season this October. 

(Thanks to B.A. for pointing out the image)

Marc Anthony, Jimmy Buffet, and the Tuna

As if the world needed another reason to dislike the Miami Dolphins, team owner Stephen Ross, a New York real estate billionaire who bought the team in January, just added Marc Anthony as a minority owner. Yes, you read that correctly.

''I'm not doing this as a singer; I'm not doing this as an actor,'' Anthony said. ''(It's) just because I love football. Steve and I, our visions are in sync, and this is a great, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of Steve's vision."

I doubt Anthony has any cogent thoughts about Pat White, Chad Pennington or the Wildcat formation. He's probably only qualified to judge whether or not Bill Parcells' ego can go toe-to-toe with Jenny from the Block's. Inexplicably, Anthony joins Gloria and Emilio Estefan in the team's rapidly expanding, star-studded roster of minority owners. Earlier this year, after entering into a partnership with Jimmy Buffet, the mayor of Douchebagville, er, Margaritaville, Ross renamed the Dolphins' stadium Land Shark Stadium in recognition of Buffet's eponymous beer, the apparent centerpiece of his Margaritaville enterprise, and catnip for Parrot Heads everywhere.

It's going to be tough to beat former owner Wayne Huizenga's era of ineptitude, but Ross is already off to a solid start.

The Architecture of a Draft Pick

Peter King gives the interesting backstory to the Jets uncharacteristic draft-day trade for USC quarterback Mark "Dirty Jerz" Sanchez, which may or may not spark the middling franchise into NFL relevancy, depending on who you ask. The dramatic--and complicated--trade almost didn't happen, according to King, because of an obscure clause in the collective bargaining agreement concerning trade centerpiece Abram Elam, the cornerback who signed an offer sheet with the Browns in March, only to have it matched by the Jets a few weeks later.   

Elam was the apple of Mangini's eye in the deal. In March, the Browns signed Elam, a restricted free-agent, to a one-year, $1.5-million offer sheet. The Jets, loaded with safeties, still matched it. And last Friday, when Tannenbaum and Mangini were talking conditional trade, Elam's name was front and center. He'd have to be in the deal for it to work for the Browns.

Not so fast, [Dawn] Aponte [the Browns' capwoman] said. She remembered an obscure article in the CBA -- Article XIX of Veteran Free Agency, Section 3 (h). It said: "If a Club exercises its right of first refusal and matches an offer sheet, that club may not trade that player to the Club that submitted the offer sheet for at least one calendar year, unless the player consents to such trade.''

Aponte told Mangini the consent would have to be in writing. 

[snip]

On Saturday, the draft got to Cleveland's pick. The Browns were set on moving down, and they pulled the trigger. The deal got approved by the league when it looked over the paperwork and saw Elam's signature on the legal document approving the trade.

I don't know enough about the Jets to comment in full about their beleaguered history, but it seems to me this kind of thing usually doesn't work out in their favor. Maybe things are finally looking up for Jersey's other hometown team.

Line of the Night

135 yards. 9 receptions. 1 touchdown. Santonio Holmes. 

A Super Bowl Haiku

Roman numerals:

An entertaining game but   

Pittsburgh pulls it out 

Steelers 34 Cardinal 28

Tryin' Ryan

I hope to have more on this later, but, as of this morning, I think this is a very good move for the Jets, a normally hapless organization. As much as I liked Mangini, or rather as much as I rooted for his success, he never looked like he was particularly enjoying himself on the sidelines. Nor did he inspire much confidence with his perpetual, petulant smirk. In this regard, Ryan, who is reportedly beloved by his defensive players, is the anti-Mangini: a fiery, personable and animated coach.

Said Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum:

During our search, we were looking for a great football mind and a passionate leader. Rex is a coach with an established track record who is universally respected by players and coaches for his skills as a communicator and his creativity.

My first instinct is to say that Ryan will do well in New York. The Jets should be better defensively under Ryan's direction and, I think, better prepared each week. Of course, I've been known to be wrong about such football-related things before. 

UPDATE:

It seems Ryan as the anti-Mangini is the catchphrase of the morning. 

Writes Daily News sports reporter Rich Cimini:

[The Jets'] unspoken quest was to find the anti-Mangini, a charismatic and fiery leader to change the stuffy, paranoid culture that permeated the organization. In other words, they wanted a player's coach, someone who could make football fun again. It led them to Rex Ryan.

And Gary Myers elaborates on Ryan's anti-Manginess:

[The Jets] recouped nicely Monday by hiring Ravens charismatic defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, an anti-Mangini, which is just what the Jets needed.

[...]Mangini was paranoid, secretive, bland - and the worst indictment of all, was an awful game-day manager with no feel for the game or his team. His players threw him under the bus when they failed to play with intensity the last month of the season.

Ryan has lots of personality, is passionate, his players love playing for him, he makes it fun and his imaginative defensive schemes will result in more game-changing plays. He may be unknown as a head coach, but we know the Jets were going nowhere with Mangini.

Ryan gives the Jets an identity. He won't look like he's ready to take a nap on the sidelines like Mangini.

The more I think about Ryan's hiring, the more I like it. He's an emotional and player-friendly defensive whiz who understands football's many intricacies. Ironically, Ryan seems, at first blush, a hybrid of Herm Edwards' strategy-deficient passion and Mangini's passionless schemes -- a healthy combination of both former Jets coaches, minus the duo's well-documented shortcomings. 

A good hire, me thinks. 

Lightning Strikes Twice: A Fourth Playoff Haiku

Bolts, twice in two weeks,

Will overachieve and play

Host to Baltimore. 

Bolts 24 Steelers 16

Thundercats, Ho! A Second Playoff Haiku

Listen to Vegas:

Watch Carolina cover

and Warner go home. 

Panthers 31 Cardinals 17

Titans Anonymous: A Playoff Haiku

No Mawae? No sweat.

Remember the Titans have

Johnson, Kerry, White. 

Titans 20 Ravens 13

Wild-Card Detox

I watched approximately 12 hours of football this weekend, or roughly four times as much football as I took in during the previous 17 weeks, combined. I even went so far as to make a few predictions, too. Considering my general lack of interest in the NFL, I’m kind of pleased with myself for breaking even. (Less so for the lame haikus). In fact, until Michael Westbrook scrambled for 71 yards in the 4th quarter against the Vikings, I was a Ryan Longwell field goal away from getting out of the Wild-Card weekend with three correct picks out of four. 

There were three solid games this weekend, possibly four, depending on how much money you had on either the Eagles or the Vikings. By far, though, the most entertaining game was Saturday night’s Chargers-Colts match-up. I don’t know anyone who thought the 8-8 Chargers even had a shot against the Colts, winners of 9 straight. If you say you even heard of Darren Sproles before Saturday night, I’m going to have to call bullshit on that, dear reader. Four years ago, the guy went undrafted out of Kansas State and, this year, carried the ball 61 times all season. Nobody expected him to turn into Bird Williams against the Colts’ defense, including the Colts’ defense. Isn’t that right, Mr. Meeks?

As impressive as Sproles’s performance was, I’m a little confused as to why he has to share the spotlight with Chargers punter Mike Scifres, whose booming kicks pinned the Colts inside their own 15 six out of six times. Granted, the guy can kick the hell out of the ball, but it's hardly akin to Sproles running wild for 328 all-purpose yards against one of the league's better teams. I had to laugh this morning, when Peter King likened Scifres’s performance to Plaxico Burress’s against Green Bay in last season’s NFC Championship Game and, wait for it, Kobe Bryant’s 84-point [sic] performance against the Raptors. Just stop it. Right now. 

I hate it when hyperbole gets in the way of a good weekend of sports. 

The next five days off should get me ready for a second overdose of non-stop football. Incidentally, this is, by far, the best weekend of the NFL's season. The conference championships and Super Bowl are, historically speaking, pretty anti-climactic. It's all down hill after Sunday night. 

L'Étoile du Nord: A Fourth Wild-Card Haiku

Westbrook contained, while
Peterson runs wild all day
Vikings buck the trend

Vikings 27 Eagles 20

Nevermore: A Third Wild-Card Haiku

3-4 defense stops 

Pennington's resurrection

Ravens escape late

Baltimore 17 Dolphins 13

Line of the Night

328 all-purpose yards. 23 carries. 5 catches. 4 kickoff returns. 3 punt returns. 2 rushing touchdowns. Darren Sproles.

Indy Spirit: A Second Wild-Card Haiku

Rivers runs alone
Peyton Manning, MVP
Coaches final games?

Colts 27 Chargers 16

Birds of Prey: A Wild-Card Haiku

Last minute sell out
Warner, Boldin, Fitzgerald
Cardinals move on

Cardinals 41 Falcons 17

"Every Time a Bell Rings...."

Faithful WGASIG readers have probably figured out I’m not the biggest—or the most knowledgeable—football fan in the world. That's fine. I have other things on my mind and, like Eric Mangini, the game of football is just a little bit over my head. Still, I would be remiss if I didn’t at least call your attention to New England Patriots receiver Wes Welker’s most recent touchdown celebration.

After his second quarter touchdown yesterday, Welker, who finished the game with seven catches for 68 yards, dropped to the ground and, appropriately enough, made a snow angel, just beyond the snow-covered end line.

I'm sure this kind of celebration's been done before, so Welker loses some points for unoriginality. However, he more than makes up for it with his commitment and attention to form; an eight-year-old girl couldn't have done it better herself.

Line of the Night

345 yards. 20 completions. 19 rushing yards. 3 touchdowns. 0 interceptions. Matt Cassel.