Monday Morning Mehta 11/27/06
Edition # 186
November 27, 2006
Next MMM: Tuesday December 5th.
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Eagles get trounced by the Colts 45-21 in a game where you wonder, "How'd the Colts not score 60?".
Game Negatives:
- The defense. I don't know where to start, nor do I know where to end. I guess it should start up front with the down lineman. ***Note: You can't judge your pass rush against the Colts. They max protect Manning for the most part and have given up just 12 sacks all year*** BUT -- Just think, about 2 months ago the Eagles were 7 and a half quarters into the season and had 13 sacks. We all thought the offseason moves were effective and the defense was a force to be reckoned with. Since, they have 16 sacks in 36 quarters. I don't think it's the loss of Jevon Kearse, but at this point your guess is as good as mine.
That's not even the biggest issue. The pass rush doesn't matter when you give up chunks of yards on the ground to EVERYONE. Not just the Colts, it's Fred Taylor, Travis Henry, Ladell Betts, name the running back they've chewed up the Eagles. And these aren't exactly Hall of Fame backs we're talking about here. Jim Johnson and Andy Reid have always been non believers in stopping the run (do I need to remind you of the Mark Simeneau years?), but this has gone too far. Head coaches hate firing assistants, but it's time to move on from the Jim Johnson era.
- Jeremiah Trotter. Where have you gone Trot? I can't wait to hear your radio show and listen to you "imply" that you're getting blocked because the down lineman aren't doing their job. So you are only good if someone else does all the work for you? Ever hear of shedding blocks?
- Donte Stallworth. There was a pass in the 4th quarter where Stallworth clearly alligator armed a ball. That showed me all I needed to know about him. Beware of the bargain??? Stallworth is good, definitely better than the mess we have at WR, but we didn't exactly get a Pro Bowler with a 4th round pick. When something is too good to be true, it usually is....
Game Positives:
- Running the ball. If this team stuck with the run the whole game, instead of throwing crazy Hank Baskett passes, I think they could've actually made it a game. I didn't say they'd win, they may have been close to covering the spread the last few minutes.
Up next is the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night. Carolina's coming off a badly played loss to the Redskins so they should be geared up for a win.
Around the League
I think the Miami Dolphins have to be one of the biggest stories of the last month. They've now won 4 in a row and Joey Harrington is playing like he's back in Eugene, Oregon (could be the first Eugene reference in the NFL MMM section ever!). The Dolphins schedule is very tough the rest of the way, but the defense is playing great, and a 9-7 record and a possible playoff trip isn't out of the question.....[Snap back to reality - this is Joey Harrington, he'll blow it!!!!!]
Mike Shanahan & Bill Parcells have something in common this year. Both waited too long to make their QB switch. For the Cowboys, it didn't effect them. They're in sole possession of first place in the NFC East and are staring down a bye week if they can beat the Giants next week. For the Broncos, they better hurry up and name Jay Cutler the QB otherwise they're going to blow this thing.
Speaking of the G-men....what goes around, comes around. After stealing a game from the Eagles on a miraculous comeback, they got a taste of their own medicine yesterday as the Titans came from behind and score 24 unanswered points to beat the Giants 24-21. The Giants were a mess waiting to happen all year, and they've been "on the brink" of destruction twice this year. I'm kind of hoping Dallas puts it to them next week, but since I hate the Cowboys I'm quite confused who to root for. Maybe a Terrell Owens/Plaxico Burress dual blowup?
Game of the Week: New England/Chicago. It was tough pickings this week for a GOW. Most of the games were pretty sloppy. But this game had tons of offensive yardage, tons of turnovers, and very few points. Chicago's defense actually impressed me in this game more than any this year. Oh, and another thing: Member when Asante Samuel was the brunt of all the jokes around the league? He's suddenly one of the games best corners.
I'm moving this week. When you put your house for sale you get about 200 fliers from moving companies. So I sat down one day and called every single one and got quotes from everyone. I don't know movers (nor football for that matter) so I just decided to go with a reputable name at a reasonable price (and I got the insurance just in case you were wondering). Anyway, there's this company called Paul Arpin. I've heard of 'em before and seen their trucks around. They touted themselves as being "The movers of the Philadelphia Eagles". Guess what? They were the cheapest of all the ones I called, and I called everyone! So, just think, not only did your beloved Eagles save $8 million under the cap this year and set themselves up brilliantly for 2013, but they saved hundreds of dollars on moving costs!! Joe Banner thanks you!
The noise you just heard was the fork going into the Steelers. It's been an awful year for Ben Roethlisberger as he got pummeled again yesterday. I give him credit for his toughness though, the guy's been through a lot this year. Bill Cowher has got to sit him out. Rumors were rampant at the beginning of the year that this will be Cowher's final year as coach of the Steelers as he plans on taking some time off. I don't know if he can walk away after a year like this though. A flurry of wins near season's end would help him walk away proud.
Tony Romo. Freakin Tony Romo. I played against him in my fantasy league this week. Lit me up for 42 points. Cripes.
The Chargers continue to roll as they avoid losing the "trap" game against the Raiders thanks to LT2's 3 touchdowns, one of them passing to Antonio Gates. If Marty Schoetenheimer doesn't coach this team I say they've got a great shot to win it all.
Monday Morning Mehta 11/20/06
Edition # 185
November 20, 2006
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After a devastating 31-13 loss to the lowly Tennessee Titans, the Eagles season and the Philadelphia curse looms large. I normally go straight into Game Negatives and Positives but I feel as though I need to pontificate for a few moments.
Normally, after a loss like that coupled with the season ending injury to Donovan McNabb, I would be inconsolable. But as McNabb was carted off the field, every Eagle fan knew in their hearts what was going to follow. Andy Reid verified it at his post game conference that McNabb was done for the season. Maybe it's the excitement of Jay-Z's return but actually chuckled when I heard the news. It's par for the course around here. There are things that upset me, and we'll get to those right now...
Game Negatives:
- In a 31-13 loss, Brian Westbrook ran the ball 22 times. Where was this the last 5 years??
- Darwin Walker. Cut him today. For as much yapping as this guy does he's had one good game this year. He gets creamed off the line.
- Solomon Wilcots has got to be the worst color guy on the planet.
- Jim Johnson. I normally don't give credit to other people. It's my selfish arrogant nature, just deal with it. But MMM's own Ed Wasser has always said "What's the big deal with Jim Johnson", and I must agree. People hype this guy up like he's some sort of genius. He's not. The last three losses have been against Vince Young, Bruce Gradkowski and David Gerrard. If that's not completely on preparation and game plan, I don't know what is. Why in the world you'd blitz Vince Young is beyond me.
- While I'm at it the whole defense needs to be ripped. Including Brian Dawkins. Guys like Jeremiah Trotter want to tell you how good they are off the field, but on the field they're playing like an average bunch.
Game Positives:
- None.
Is the season over yet? Uh, yea. Jeff Garcia is better than Mike McMahon, but that's about it. He cannot throw the ball downfield at all at this point in his career. He's decent on the run though, and the Eagles would be served best if they moved him around some. Deep throws? Forget about em. Dump Donte Stallworth from your fantasy team.
The most infuriating thing to me is watching the Eagles run the ball more once McNabb got hurt, even down in the game. So ridiculous.
I guess the "dropped pass" bug has gotten to the defense too.
Around the League
Game of the Week: Indy/Dallas. Tony Romo's play has got to be the big thing here. Who woulda thought he played the better QB in this game? Watching Peyton Manning lose always makes me happy, even when it's to Dallas, but this was a lose-lose game for Eagles fans. Listening to talk shows with the Cowboys playing well is going to be rough to say the least.
GOW2: Chargers/Broncos. Anytime SD plays its an adventure. Anytime Jake Plummer throws the ball, it's an adventure. Shanahan throws the ball so little, that a Jay Cutler change even for a playoff team may be appropriate. You aren't winning a Super Bowl with Jake, put it Cutler and let him get some playoff experience.
I thought Tom Brady was hurt?
The Steelers play at Baltimore next week. If they beat the Ravens I don't see why another late season push isn't possible. They are getting hot at the right time even though they already have 6 losses. Major problem? The play of Big Ben. He's awful right now.
Two teams I can't figure out is Cincy and Atlanta. Both at 5-5, both showing signs of playoff caliber play, both showing signs of 3-13 team play.
Jason Campbell's Redskin debut was quiet but steady. He looks talented though. Could be a keeper...
Someone tell the Dolphins the season starts in September!
Baseball - Phils
Nothing major on the Phillies front besides the big signing of Wes Helms! I am glad we didn't get Soriano. This lineup is already stacked with strikeouts, I don't think we need another K guy. But we do need a right handed bat to hit between Utley and Howard. That being said, I wouldn't mind at all if they somehow spent the money on pitching. Another starter possibly by trade, is possible. Aaron Rowand for a White Sox pitcher would make me happy.
The Phils biggest mistake is going to be not signing Moises Alou. Yea, he'll only play in 120 games. But he'll have close to 100 RBI's in those games, and would be a perfect fit in the Phils lineup. A very smart signing by the Mets, and he's only getting a 1 year deal for about $8 or $9 million.
The skeptic in me says the Phils never wanted to sign these high priced free agents we looked at. The payroll is going to go down from last year, and the Bobby Abreu trade that was touted as "payroll flexibility" was just a pure salary dump as I suspected. We're not going to sign anyone with Abreu's money, and that's sad and makes the trade even worse. It's going into the pockets of the owners. Welcome to Philadelphia.
Monday Morning Mehta 11/13/06
Edition # 184
November 13, 2006
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www.nba-jam.blogspot.com
The Eagles win a game just about as sloppy as the weather yesterday 27-3 over division rival Redskins in a rain soaked game. Let's breakdown what happened....
Game Positives:
- A win is a win. There wasn't much pretty about this game except the scoreboard. Winning 27-3 looks impressive on paper, and we could just leave it at that. But for a team that has struggled the last month, playing good football was just as important to as the score, and later I'll whine about the usual things I see wrong with this team.
- Brian Dawkins.
- Run vs. Pass ratio! We ran the ball! WOW. Imagine that concept. To turn a 27-3 game into a shorter game by burning the clock, running the ball instead of airing it out and giving the Redskins the ball the whole 2nd half! The Eagles dominated time of possession in the 2nd half, which is definitely a positive from this game.
- Sheldon Brown. Anybody who scores 7 points from the defensive side should get a positive according to me. But Brown had a few very nice pass defenses, and battling Santana Moss is no small chore.
- I can't believe I'm about to do this. Michael Lewis. There's something about him at linebacker that works well (he lines up as the 6th DB on nickle packages). He'll get bullied around if they use him on short yardage situations, but on 3rd and long he's proving to be a nice fit right now. I see a lot of similarities between him and Adam Archuletta, both hard hitters that can't cover worth a lick.
Game Negatives:
- They played like crap. If you saw the game, you know what I mean. Donovan McNabb had a subpar game, there were two or three bad defensive penalties (facemask AGAIN this time by Darwin Walker) and there was an inexplicable timeout on a FG attempt by Andy Reid.
- Run Defense. This should scare Eagles fans the most from yesterday's game. The Redskins were getting 4 & 5 yards at will on the Eagles.
The big hoopla after the Eagles game was Marty Mornhinwg calling the plays for Andy Reid. Three points on this:
1. Reid's done this before. Brad Childress called the plays many times the past few years. Nothing changed.
2. NO!!! Mornhinweg isn't exactly Bill Walsh!!?!? As a rule of thumb anyone ever associated with the Detroit Lions shouldn't be allowed to run an offense. If you've been infected with the Lions virus (and specifically Matt Millen), you need to be quarantined.
3. If Mornhingweg has success maybe he'll try to buy out my Monday Morning registered trademark for millions of dollars.
Note: There are two Eagles players that have changed their names lately. Tra Thomas now must be called William Thomas, and Wil Peterson must be called William James. It doesn't make much sense to me either, don't worry.
I wish Donte Stallworth could stay on the field for 16 games, but I guess now we know why the Saints dumped his behind (that, and also, have you seen Maques Colston this year?? Dude from Hofstra's a bigtime player)
I would hope Joe Gibbs takes a look at what Tony Romo has done to the Cowboys offense, and starts Jason Campbell very soon. Well, for the Eagles sake, I don't mind seeing Brunell at all.
Overall, the Eagles stand at 5-4 right back in the thick of the wild card race, and only 1 game out of the division lead. We'll get into the rest of the league in a bit, but my perspective from the Eagles standpoint is the same as its been for weeks. They're going to make the playoffs. I don't know how but they'll get to 10 wins and at this rate 9 could even make the playoffs. But in no way do I think this team can convert a 3rd and 1 or 2 against a good team by running the ball, and I just can't see a team with that glaring of a deficiency winning the Super Bowl. And that's all I care about at this point.
Yes, I find it very funny that 2 weeks ago everyone said they had no shot at the playoffs and today every one's saying the Eagles have a great shot at the playoffs. These people need to read MMM and get on the ball!!
So I wake up early this morning knowing it's going to be bad weather and trying to beat the heavy rush of traffic into work when my car dies on the road and I gotta get towed back to the shop near my house. Thankfully about 6 months ago I got my AAA Plus membership and everything went smoothly getting me back home. If you don't have AAA I HIGHLY recommend it. No, that wasn't an advertisement - MMM will never succumb to such low levels (blatant lie - expect advertising on my website soon). Now I have a flight to catch later tonight, let's hope that goes a bit smoother!
Around the League
Before I get to the many good games we had yesterday, one note on the NFL. Parity is a word we've used in this column often. It's no secret Paul Tagliabue was big on parity and seeing that as an integral part of the NFL's health. New Commish Roger Guddell also lives and breathes these virtues. And for the most part, I'm all for it. Having small market teams just as powerful as big market teams makes for a much better league, in my humble opinion. (You know there's a but coming here) BUT - the league is getting out of control. Yes, the Colts are undefeated and the Bears are 8-1 and are the "elite" of the NFL. Yes, there's also some really bad teams. About 2 months ago I told a colleague of mine "I wouldn't be surprised if one of these years every team in the NFL ends the season at 8-8". Clearly tongue firmly planted in cheek. What I've been seeing from the NFL the past three weeks is actually making me think that something like that is possible!
Game of the Week/Year/Offensive Game of your lifetime!! - Chargers/Bengals. The Bengals came out of the gates with something to prove, as they lit up the Chargers for 28 first half points to take a 21 point lead. But then the Chargers completely exploded out of the locker room in the second half. It was like somebody took "Marty Ball" and just turned it upside down. LT2 has completely earned the right share Lawrence Taylor's nickname at this point in his career. 15 TD's in the last 5 games. That's sick! LT2 is at the top of his game right now. On the other end is the Bungels defense. Saying they were picked apart by Phillip Rivers would be like saying Andy Reid occasionally likes to pass the ball. The Bengals better start fixing that defense now, otherwise Ocho Cinco's going to be golfing by Feliz Navidad.
Almost game of the week: Saints/Steelers. If the Saints came back to tie and win the game yesterday, you'd be hearing me sing the praises of Drew Brees in this column and possibly talk of MVP. Instead, his WR Terrance Copper fumbled the ball after a completion inside the Steelers 20 with less than a minute to play. Fast Willie Parker has been amazing this year and I'm glad I drafted him in my fantasy team which is 8-2 (shameless self plug - you didn't hear me crowing when I was 2-2 did you?!?)
Walking wounded: The Giants who had been playing such good football played a stinker last night as they lost to the Bears. The Bears who had been playing like dog poop the last month (besides a blowout over the 49ers), looked dead in the water until a 25 yard draw play on 3rd and forever late in the 2nd quarter woke up the Bears. Now Tiki Barbers got some nagging thumb injury to go along with the rest of his wounded teammates. Oh, and Eli Manning isn't ready for the bigtime yet. There's something about watching the Manning brothers choke under the spotlight that makes me happy.
Speaking of the Colts, they were primed for a post-Patriots game letdown, as they controlled the Bills but just couldn't put em away and had two costly fumbles. But the Bills missed a FG midway thru the 4th, and the Colts held on. They're winning close games, which actually bodes well for them in the playoffs.
If anything speaks to the parity in the NFL it's the Packers being 4-5. And Brett Favre winning a dome game should tell you all you need to know about the Vikings. What slop! Former Eagle Billy McMullen had 2 touchdowns for the Vikings.
Speaking of slop, there's KC & Miami. If Miami just started the season in November they'd be defending Super Bowl champs primed to defend.
Big win by Seattle over the division rival Rams. The defense came to play yesterday as Marc Bulger couldn't complete anything downfield. The pass happy Rams should've just pounded Stephen Jackson all day (Insert broken record)
The Patriots take their post Colts hangover and pull a clunker and lose to the Jets who are an amazing 5-4. Playoffs?? Who knows. Eric Mangini has this team playing well and Chad Pennington to Jerico Cotchery is becoming a solid tandem.
So the AFC is shaping up like this. Big showdown next week for supremacy in the West with the loser likely to get a wild card birth. The Ravens are in control of the North, Indy in control of the South, with New England trying to hold off the Jets in the East. The Wild card scramble after that is going to be nuts. 4 teams at either 4-5 or 5-4 fighting for the remaining spot. Crazy as it sounds, if the Steelers get back to 9-7 (why not), who knows!?!?
In the NFC - same sort of bedlam right now for the final wild card slot. So many teams still alive, and nobody besides the Bears in truly great shape.
Parity. Gotta love it...
NHL Week in Review By : Ed Wasser
- News and notes from around the league.....First some house keeping. I'll be off for the next 2 weeks traveling. I'll be back Dec. 4th to report on the Flyers miraculous rise to first place. HAHAHAHAHA!!!.....I think it would be better if the away team went first in a shootout so that the home team could possibly win the game on a walk off goal instead of a walk off save.....Anybody catch "Celebrity Paranormal Project" (featuring Eagle Jeremiah Trotter) when actress Traci Lords introduced herself saying that she was most famous for the movie "Blade"? Huh? Yo Traci, I'm sure some MMM subscribers own a few other movies that you did that made you more famous then your one minute long dialogue-less scene in "Blade"......Few surprises, the Thrashers and Wild are playing great and are in first place, the Avalanche and Senators are playing crappy.....I was wetting my whistle at a local watering hole last Friday and I got talking to a guy who told me that he was at the Flyers vs. Penguins game a few weeks ago and he could not believe how many empty seats there were at the Wachovia Center.....The season is about 20% over and I've seen every team in the league play, some more then others, and from my own observations the Sabres are far and away the best team in the league.
- Remember the scene in the movie "Hardcore" when George C. Scott sees a porno with his daughter as the star and he starts to freak out and scream "turn it off!! TURN IT OFF!!!!!" That's me watching the Flyers these days. The 2006 - 2007 Flyers are the worst team to hit Philadelphia since the 1999 Eagles, the infamous team lead by Doug Pederson (0 TD's, 9 int's). And to make matters worse the Flyers announcers, I'm sure fearful of chairman Ed Snider's well know demand for absolute loyalty, have turned the broadcasts into a total joke. Instead of telling the truth they've become like Harry ("Juuuuuuuust a bit outside") Doyle in "Major League". On Thursday the Flyers were losing to the Islanders 3 - 0 when Simon Gagne scored a meaningless goal with a little over 2 minutes left in the game. You would have thought the Flyers just won the Stanley Cup by the way Jim Jackson screamed "HE SCORES!!!!!!" And when the broadcasters watch Mike Rathje and Derian Hatcher skating in circles "Pocahontas On Ice" style while trying to stop puck carriers they try and act like either it didn't happen or try and make it seem like the scorer is the next coming of Wayne Gretzky. Plus they're singing the praises of Petr Nedved because "he has a lot of jump since he came back from the minors". WHAT!?!?! No he doesn't, he's just playing the way non-lazy players play. And guess what, he's still not scoring and his defense is still nonexistent so what's the difference?
So as you can tell it was a dreadful week for the Flyers. On Monday the Flyers made Maple Leaf goalie Andrew Raycroft look like Patrick Roy by firing 41 shots at him but scoring only 1 goal. They lost that game 4 - 1. The game Thursday against the Islanders was really the coup de gras. Not only did the Flyers almost get shut out by the pathetic Islanders, and not only was the game winning goal scored by ex-Philadelphia PHANTOM Richard Park, and not only were the Islanders riding a 2 game losing streak before beating the Flyers, but this game, along with the loss on Saturday, came at home. The home loss on Saturday was an overtime loss to the Sabres and it was actually a game in which I expected the Flyers to get crushed but they only lost 5 - 4. The Flyer offense actually showed up, unfortunately so did the Flyers ridiculous defense and stupid penalties. It was kind of interesting because I was wondering how the Flyers would blow the game. They blew it by taking a too many men on the ice penalty with 30 seconds left in the 3rd period and the game was over less then a minute into OT. The Flyers have a west coast trip coming up this week, this could get a lot uglier.
Oh and before I forget, I've been picking on Hatcher and Rathje a lot but Joni Pitkanen is playing like crap too. And now there's a rumor that the Flyers may trade for defenseman Roman Hamrlik. Why? WHY!?!?!?! The guy is 32 years old and his best years are behind him. GET YOUNGER!!! God this is frustrating. The Flyers should clean house and just keep the younger players. And yes that means unload Peter Forsberg too. But that will never happen because the Flyers just removed the "interim" title from Paul Holmgren so now he's the full time GM. And who taught Holmgren everything he knows? Bobby Clarke of course.
Monday Morning Mehta 11/13/06
Edition # 184
November 13, 2006
www.mondaymorningmehta.comDon't forget to check out Derreck's NBA site:
www.nba-jam.blogspot.com
The Eagles win a game just about as sloppy as the weather yesterday 27-3 over division rival Redskins in a rain soaked game. Let's breakdown what happened....
Game Positives:
- A win is a win. There wasn't much pretty about this game except the scoreboard. Winning 27-3 looks impressive on paper, and we could just leave it at that. But for a team that has struggled the last month, playing good football was just as important to as the score, and later I'll whine about the usual things I see wrong with this team.
- Brian Dawkins.
- Run vs. Pass ratio! We ran the ball! WOW. Imagine that concept. To turn a 27-3 game into a shorter game by burning the clock, running the ball instead of airing it out and giving the Redskins the ball the whole 2nd half! The Eagles dominated time of possession in the 2nd half, which is definitely a positive from this game.
- Sheldon Brown. Anybody who scores 7 points from the defensive side should get a positive according to me. But Brown had a few very nice pass defenses, and battling Santana Moss is no small chore.
- I can't believe I'm about to do this. Michael Lewis. There's something about him at linebacker that works well (he lines up as the 6th DB on nickle packages). He'll get bullied around if they use him on short yardage situations, but on 3rd and long he's proving to be a nice fit right now. I see a lot of similarities between him and Adam Archuletta, both hard hitters that can't cover worth a lick.
Game Negatives:
- They played like crap. If you saw the game, you know what I mean. Donovan McNabb had a subpar game, there were two or three bad defensive penalties (facemask AGAIN this time by Darwin Walker) and there was an inexplicable timeout on a FG attempt by Andy Reid.
- Run Defense. This should scare Eagles fans the most from yesterday's game. The Redskins were getting 4 & 5 yards at will on the Eagles.
The big hoopla after the Eagles game was Marty Mornhinwg calling the plays for Andy Reid. Three points on this:
1. Reid's done this before. Brad Childress called the plays many times the past few years. Nothing changed.
2. NO!!! Mornhinweg isn't exactly Bill Walsh!!?!? As a rule of thumb anyone ever associated with the Detroit Lions shouldn't be allowed to run an offense. If you've been infected with the Lions virus (and specifically Matt Millen), you need to be quarantined.
3. If Mornhingweg has success maybe he'll try to buy out my Monday Morning registered trademark for millions of dollars.
Note: There are two Eagles players that have changed their names lately. Tra Thomas now must be called William Thomas, and Wil Peterson must be called William James. It doesn't make much sense to me either, don't worry.
I wish Donte Stallworth could stay on the field for 16 games, but I guess now we know why the Saints dumped his behind (that, and also, have you seen Maques Colston this year?? Dude from Hofstra's a bigtime player)
I would hope Joe Gibbs takes a look at what Tony Romo has done to the Cowboys offense, and starts Jason Campbell very soon. Well, for the Eagles sake, I don't mind seeing Brunell at all.
Overall, the Eagles stand at 5-4 right back in the thick of the wild card race, and only 1 game out of the division lead. We'll get into the rest of the league in a bit, but my perspective from the Eagles standpoint is the same as its been for weeks. They're going to make the playoffs. I don't know how but they'll get to 10 wins and at this rate 9 could even make the playoffs. But in no way do I think this team can convert a 3rd and 1 or 2 against a good team by running the ball, and I just can't see a team with that glaring of a deficiency winning the Super Bowl. And that's all I care about at this point.
Yes, I find it very funny that 2 weeks ago everyone said they had no shot at the playoffs and today every one's saying the Eagles have a great shot at the playoffs. These people need to read MMM and get on the ball!!
So I wake up early this morning knowing it's going to be bad weather and trying to beat the heavy rush of traffic into work when my car dies on the road and I gotta get towed back to the shop near my house. Thankfully about 6 months ago I got my AAA Plus membership and everything went smoothly getting me back home. If you don't have AAA I HIGHLY recommend it. No, that wasn't an advertisement - MMM will never succumb to such low levels (blatant lie - expect advertising on my website soon). Now I have a flight to catch later tonight, let's hope that goes a bit smoother!
Around the League
Before I get to the many good games we had yesterday, one note on the NFL. Parity is a word we've used in this column often. It's no secret Paul Tagliabue was big on parity and seeing that as an integral part of the NFL's health. New Commish Roger Guddell also lives and breathes these virtues. And for the most part, I'm all for it. Having small market teams just as powerful as big market teams makes for a much better league, in my humble opinion. (You know there's a but coming here) BUT - the league is getting out of control. Yes, the Colts are undefeated and the Bears are 8-1 and are the "elite" of the NFL. Yes, there's also some really bad teams. About 2 months ago I told a colleague of mine "I wouldn't be surprised if one of these years every team in the NFL ends the season at 8-8". Clearly tongue firmly planted in cheek. What I've been seeing from the NFL the past three weeks is actually making me think that something like that is possible!
Game of the Week/Year/Offensive Game of your lifetime!! - Chargers/Bengals. The Bengals came out of the gates with something to prove, as they lit up the Chargers for 28 first half points to take a 21 point lead. But then the Chargers completely exploded out of the locker room in the second half. It was like somebody took "Marty Ball" and just turned it upside down. LT2 has completely earned the right share Lawrence Taylor's nickname at this point in his career. 15 TD's in the last 5 games. That's sick! LT2 is at the top of his game right now. On the other end is the Bungels defense. Saying they were picked apart by Phillip Rivers would be like saying Andy Reid occasionally likes to pass the ball. The Bengals better start fixing that defense now, otherwise Ocho Cinco's going to be golfing by Feliz Navidad.
Almost game of the week: Saints/Steelers. If the Saints came back to tie and win the game yesterday, you'd be hearing me sing the praises of Drew Brees in this column and possibly talk of MVP. Instead, his WR Terrance Copper fumbled the ball after a completion inside the Steelers 20 with less than a minute to play. Fast Willie Parker has been amazing this year and I'm glad I drafted him in my fantasy team which is 8-2 (shameless self plug - you didn't hear me crowing when I was 2-2 did you?!?)
Walking wounded: The Giants who had been playing such good football played a stinker last night as they lost to the Bears. The Bears who had been playing like dog poop the last month (besides a blowout over the 49ers), looked dead in the water until a 25 yard draw play on 3rd and forever late in the 2nd quarter woke up the Bears. Now Tiki Barbers got some nagging thumb injury to go along with the rest of his wounded teammates. Oh, and Eli Manning isn't ready for the bigtime yet. There's something about watching the Manning brothers choke under the spotlight that makes me happy.
Speaking of the Colts, they were primed for a post-Patriots game letdown, as they controlled the Bills but just couldn't put em away and had two costly fumbles. But the Bills missed a FG midway thru the 4th, and the Colts held on. They're winning close games, which actually bodes well for them in the playoffs.
If anything speaks to the parity in the NFL it's the Packers being 4-5. And Brett Favre winning a dome game should tell you all you need to know about the Vikings. What slop! Former Eagle Billy McMullen had 2 touchdowns for the Vikings.
Speaking of slop, there's KC & Miami. If Miami just started the season in November they'd be defending Super Bowl champs primed to defend.
Big win by Seattle over the division rival Rams. The defense came to play yesterday as Marc Bulger couldn't complete anything downfield. The pass happy Rams should've just pounded Stephen Jackson all day (Insert broken record)
The Patriots take their post Colts hangover and pull a clunker and lose to the Jets who are an amazing 5-4. Playoffs?? Who knows. Eric Mangini has this team playing well and Chad Pennington to Jerico Cotchery is becoming a solid tandem.
So the AFC is shaping up like this. Big showdown next week for supremacy in the West with the loser likely to get a wild card birth. The Ravens are in control of the North, Indy in control of the South, with New England trying to hold off the Jets in the East. The Wild card scramble after that is going to be nuts. 4 teams at either 4-5 or 5-4 fighting for the remaining spot. Crazy as it sounds, if the Steelers get back to 9-7 (why not), who knows!?!?
In the NFC - same sort of bedlam right now for the final wild card slot. So many teams still alive, and nobody besides the Bears in truly great shape.
Parity. Gotta love it...
NHL Week in Review By : Ed Wasser
- News and notes from around the league.....First some house keeping. I'll be off for the next 2 weeks traveling. I'll be back Dec. 4th to report on the Flyers miraculous rise to first place. HAHAHAHAHA!!!.....I think it would be better if the away team went first in a shootout so that the home team could possibly win the game on a walk off goal instead of a walk off save.....Anybody catch "Celebrity Paranormal Project" (featuring Eagle Jeremiah Trotter) when actress Traci Lords introduced herself saying that she was most famous for the movie "Blade"? Huh? Yo Traci, I'm sure some MMM subscribers own a few other movies that you did that made you more famous then your one minute long dialogue-less scene in "Blade"......Few surprises, the Thrashers and Wild are playing great and are in first place, the Avalanche and Senators are playing crappy.....I was wetting my whistle at a local watering hole last Friday and I got talking to a guy who told me that he was at the Flyers vs. Penguins game a few weeks ago and he could not believe how many empty seats there were at the Wachovia Center.....The season is about 20% over and I've seen every team in the league play, some more then others, and from my own observations the Sabres are far and away the best team in the league.
- Remember the scene in the movie "Hardcore" when George C. Scott sees a porno with his daughter as the star and he starts to freak out and scream "turn it off!! TURN IT OFF!!!!!" That's me watching the Flyers these days. The 2006 - 2007 Flyers are the worst team to hit Philadelphia since the 1999 Eagles, the infamous team lead by Doug Pederson (0 TD's, 9 int's). And to make matters worse the Flyers announcers, I'm sure fearful of chairman Ed Snider's well know demand for absolute loyalty, have turned the broadcasts into a total joke. Instead of telling the truth they've become like Harry ("Juuuuuuuust a bit outside") Doyle in "Major League". On Thursday the Flyers were losing to the Islanders 3 - 0 when Simon Gagne scored a meaningless goal with a little over 2 minutes left in the game. You would have thought the Flyers just won the Stanley Cup by the way Jim Jackson screamed "HE SCORES!!!!!!" And when the broadcasters watch Mike Rathje and Derian Hatcher skating in circles "Pocahontas On Ice" style while trying to stop puck carriers they try and act like either it didn't happen or try and make it seem like the scorer is the next coming of Wayne Gretzky. Plus they're singing the praises of Petr Nedved because "he has a lot of jump since he came back from the minors". WHAT!?!?! No he doesn't, he's just playing the way non-lazy players play. And guess what, he's still not scoring and his defense is still nonexistent so what's the difference?
So as you can tell it was a dreadful week for the Flyers. On Monday the Flyers made Maple Leaf goalie Andrew Raycroft look like Patrick Roy by firing 41 shots at him but scoring only 1 goal. They lost that game 4 - 1. The game Thursday against the Islanders was really the coup de gras. Not only did the Flyers almost get shut out by the pathetic Islanders, and not only was the game winning goal scored by ex-Philadelphia PHANTOM Richard Park, and not only were the Islanders riding a 2 game losing streak before beating the Flyers, but this game, along with the loss on Saturday, came at home. The home loss on Saturday was an overtime loss to the Sabres and it was actually a game in which I expected the Flyers to get crushed but they only lost 5 - 4. The Flyer offense actually showed up, unfortunately so did the Flyers ridiculous defense and stupid penalties. It was kind of interesting because I was wondering how the Flyers would blow the game. They blew it by taking a too many men on the ice penalty with 30 seconds left in the 3rd period and the game was over less then a minute into OT. The Flyers have a west coast trip coming up this week, this could get a lot uglier.
Oh and before I forget, I've been picking on Hatcher and Rathje a lot but Joni Pitkanen is playing like crap too. And now there's a rumor that the Flyers may trade for defenseman Roman Hamrlik. Why? WHY!?!?!?! The guy is 32 years old and his best years are behind him. GET YOUNGER!!! God this is frustrating. The Flyers should clean house and just keep the younger players. And yes that means unload Peter Forsberg too. But that will never happen because the Flyers just removed the "interim" title from Paul Holmgren so now he's the full time GM. And who taught Holmgren everything he knows? Bobby Clarke of course.
Monday Morning Mehta 11/6/06
Edition # 183
November 6, 2006
The first 8 weeks of the Eagles season took so much out of me that even I need a bye week this week. But don't worry, I'm recharging my batteries for an Eagles playoff stretch run and of course the upcoming Drexel Dragons season!
In the meantime since most of you just scroll through my jibberish to get to Ed's stuff, here's the "NHL".
http://www.mondaymorningmehta.blogspot.com/
NHL Week in Review By : Ed Wasser
- Here's a crazy theory put forward by the Versus Network's Bill Clement about why Pittsburgh Penguin goalie Marc-André Fluery is currently having his most successful season to date. I mean aside from the fact that this year the Penguins have a little thing that I like to call talent. Clement sited Fluery's bright yellow pads as a possible cause for problems opposing players might be having with the Penguins because the human eye is directed to the color yellow before any other color, that's the reason road signs are yellow, so when a player is taking a shot he is more inclined to shoot it right at Fluery's pads instead of at the back of the net. Huh? Well...I guess it makes about as much sense as anything else. I just figured Fluery was playing well because he's a good goalie and because he was facing a lot of crappy team, ya know, like the Flyers.
- One thing that the great minds of this world like Dr. Stephen Hawking, Dr. Robert Jarvic, and myself all have in common is that most of our spectacular ideas tend to come on Wednesday nights between 9 PM and 10 PM. That hour is of course that vacuous hour of TV in between the end of "Dancing With The Stars" and the beginning of "Laguna Beach". I know what you're thinking because Dr. Hawking and Dr. Jarvic said the same thing to me..."What about 'One Tree Hill?" That show jumped the shark as soon as the character of Nathan Scott, all 5'7" 165 lbs. of him, got a full ride scholarship to play power forward at Duke. Yeah OK. It honestly would have been more believable if Nathan got a scholarship to the North American Riding Academy in Lexington, KY and was going to study to be a jockey. But pound for pound "One Tree Hill" does have the hottest chicks on TV so it's still OK to watch the show on mute, as I'm doing now.
At any rate here's an idea I came up with last Wednesday. I'm going to go to NHL.com and look at every player in the league and find all the ex-Flyers that are currently having good seasons. The reason for this is to kill any last thoughts that still may be lingering by some people that Bobby Clarke was actually a good GM. These will be players that were either Flyers or in the Flyers system. It won't be guys like Mats Sundin who the Flyers could have had straight up for Eric Lindros. (That's a true story...guess which one will be a first ballot Hall of Famer?). Also I'm going to judge it by stats like goals, assists, goals against average, maybe a little plus/minus...you know, real stats. I'm not going to go into stats like shots per shift or other silly stats to try and make a case. Unlike the baseball Hall of Fame who lets in just about everyone, if there's a doubt in my mind whether a player should be on the list they're out.
Oh, and I won't be giving any awards to the ex-Flyer having the greatest year out of them all, Islander GM Garth Snow. Snow just replaced Paula Abdul judging vocalists on "American Idol" as the person least qualified on Earth to do their job. But I digress...
The ex-Flyer having the best career is Rod Brind'Amour. He lead the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup, he is one of the best face off guys in the history of the league, and plays every significant minute of every game he plays whether it's on offense or defense. And he was traded for Keith Primeau, whose career went south faster then Lori Singer's career after "Footloose". Another ex-Flyer having a bang up year is Cane Justin Williams. He had 31 goals last year, he has 5 already this year, and he is still coming up on the prime of his career. Capital Dainius Zubrus has 9 goals this year and is on a line with Alexander Ovechkin which is probably the most exciting line in the league.
Mark Eaton is having a nice year. Eaton of course is a quick defenseman which the Flyers desperately need and a hometown kid so of course Clarke needed to unload him. Guess who else is having a great year? 56 year old Scott Mellanby. He's the captain of the Thrashers, he has 6 goals and 7 assists, and kills penalties. Even Mike Sillinger who was on the Flyers for like 20 minutes is having a good year with 5 goals and he's on the Islanders, the worst team in the league. Oh wait, make the Islanders the second worst team in the league, the worst team in the league is.....
The Flyers. They're not....ahhh....they're not, ummmm, well....actually they suck, they're terrible. They beat the Blackhawks on Monday 3 - 0 with goalie Robert Esche playing well but the Blackhawks stink too and at one point they took 4 penalties in a row. The Blackhawk goalie was Brian Boucher for crying out loud, an ex-Flyer that is NOT having a great career. Last Thursday the Flyers played the Lightning losing 5 - 2. Ever watch a game and a minute into it you think "man this team has no prayer". That was the Flyers/Lightning game. It was like the game started off 5 - 0. And then Saturday the Alexander Ovechkin show came to town and it didn't disappoint. Ovechkin had 2 goals in the first period alone. The game was 4 - 1 Capitals at the end of the first period. The Flyers lost that game 5 - 3 and that put them in dead last place in the entire league. Man, this team is tough to watch. Like I said before, it's not so much that they're losing, it's that they're getting destroyed. Oh well, at least the Sixers are winning.
