Help Wanted: Coaches and General Managers

Chan Gailey (Bills), Lovie Smith (Bears), Pat Shurmur (Browns), Romeo Crennel (Chiefs), Andy Reid (Eagles), Ken Whisenhunt (Cardinals), and Norv Turner (Chargers) are the first seven head coaches fired since the conclusion of the regular season. All firings were smart moves and one was long over due, can you guess which one? It's the time of year when the 20 teams who didn't make the playoffs start preparing for the next season. General Managers Tom Heckert of the Cleveland Browns, Mike Tannenbaum of the New York Jets, A.J. Smith of the San Diego Chargers, Rod Graves of the Arizona Cardinals, and Gene Smith of the Jacksonville Jaguars were also shown the door. Surprisingly enough, Rex Ryan's job as head coach of the Jets is safe, the same goes for Lions' Jim Schwartz who should absolutely be out of a job, in my opinion. He has a very young and talented team but he can't control his guys. His players get in to trouble on and off the field far too often, this team needs a head coach who can effectively discipline his players and get the best out of them. As much as I think Jim Schwartz should be fired it may not happen because he's signed through 2015. We'll just have to wait and see as Black Monday continues.

Adrian Peterson closing in on history

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, the best back in all of football, is 208 yards shy of eclipsing Eric Dickerson's single season rushing record of 2,105 yards. This feat alone is impressive but when you look at it more closely, you see the true greatness. Peterson tore his ACL at the end of the 2011 regular season and it was said that he would never be the same and that's true, he's not the same, he's better. Now look at the offense he's playing on; Christian Ponder at quarterback and their only receiving threat is tight end Kyle Rudolph and he isn't much to worry about outside of the red zone. That means that Adrian Peterson is going to see eight to nine defenders in the box hell bent on stopping him. On ESPN's show Numbers Never Lie they went into greater detail on AP's monster season: There are at least eight defenders in the box on 30% of Peterson's carries and in those situations he averages 3.3 yards after contact and has recorded eight runs of 20+ yards (no other running back has more than three). And keep in mind that he's doing all of this in a pass-happy NFL where the league-wide rushing attempts per game is 27.1, the lowest in NFL history.
Peterson faces a Green Bay Packers defense that's ranked 14th against the run and will be doing everything in their power to keep him from getting the record. I don't think he's going to reach 2,000 yards.

Pro Bowl snubs

I couldn't believe some of the players that weren't selected to this year's Pro Bowl. First off, I'd like it to be known that every Patriots offensive lineman should have been selected. They run more plays than any other group of lineman and have done as good a job protecting their quarterback as any of their peers. Logan Mankins was the only member of the o-line selected. Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman didn't make the squad despite his impressive season and roll in a Seahawks' defense that deserves a lot of the credit for their 10-5 record. Both of the 49ers' inside linebackers, NaVorro Bowman and Patrick Willis, were voted in and while they're both very good players I don't think they had a better season than Cardinal's linebacker Daryl Washington (123 tackles, 9 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 interception). This just goes to show you that the Pro Bowl is a joke, it has been for years and years, not just the voting but the game itself. Hopefully, they'll pull the plug on this thing someday.

Colts won't go far

The 10-5 Indianapolis Colts have been one of the NFL's best story lines this season, after having worst record in all of football a season ago they've become a playoff team and did with a rookie quarterback, sub par defense, and a head coach who couldn't be on the sidelines because he's been battling Leukemia. It's an impressive feat, no doubt. But, if anyone expects the Colts to reach the Super Bowl, they're going to be mightily disappointed. This team is simply not good enough to make a deep playoff run, I'll be surprised if they make it past the Wild Card round. Having a rookie quarterback, no running game, and below average defense are not going to win playoff games. This is a team on the rise and is going to be a playoff contender for at least five years to come, but not this season. I predict one and done.

Patriots aren't in trouble after Sunday's loss

To all those people saying, "The Patriots are in trouble," I say, "No, they're not." The defense gave up too many big plays and the offense made too many mistakes. Unlike a lot of people I have a very positive outlook on that game. For the past few years I've doubted Tom Brady's ability to lead his team to victory when trailing but after Sunday's performance, even though he came up short, all that doubt has been erased. And how about the defense? After giving up 31 points they held San Francisco scoreless which allowed Brady and the offense to score 28 points and tie the game.
I'm not worried about this team because they're offense is a machine (Gronk returns for playoffs), the defense forces turnovers, and the coaches are doing a great job. I think that the Pats will beat the Broncos in the AFC Championship game and get a chance at redemption in the Super Bowl against the 49ers. Oh and they won't come up short next time.

Jets wouldn't have made the playoffs anyways

Were the New York Jets in the hunt for the playoffs? Record wise, yes. But, anybody who knows football and has seen the way the Jets have played this season, would know that the Jets were never going to make it to the postseason. After their All Pro corner Darrelle Revis suffered a torn ACL back in September, I said that "going .500 on the season is going to be a long shot," and it's just that. With two regular season games remaining the Jets will host the struggling San Diego Chargers followed by a game in Buffalo against the Bills. The Jets won't win both of these games, one maybe, but not both. My educated opinion is that they'll lose both games. The Chargers are looking to win big after being embarrassed by the Panthers last week and the Bills got blown out by the Jets 48-28 in the season opener, that's all the motivation they need to beat the New York. I can't stand talking about the Jets, they're a complete joke, the way the team is run spells "controversy" and the way they perform makes me either laugh or shake my head.

Patriots are AFC's best

In a supposed AFC Championship preview, the Patriots put a whooping on the Texans last night scoring 42 on one of the league's better defenses. The Pats performed well in every facet of the game and truly embarrassed Houston. Brady had a productive night but the defense really set the tone. After this win it's safe to say that New England is the best team in the AFC.