Super Bowl XLV

Sunday Feb 6, 2011

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Hope you all are enjoying your post-Super Bowl Monday. Just a few quick thoughts on the big game and surrounding festivities for your enjoyment.

• How many coach of the year votes did Mike McCarthy get? Not nearly as many as he deserved was my thought, after watching the 6-seed Packers romp through the playoffs and completely out-gameplan the Super Bowl built Steelers.

  I think part of the problem is that McCarthy looks like an ordinary joe. He's not particularly in shape (unless "round" is a shape) but neither is he comically large like Rex Ryan. Like many coaches from the Marty Schottenheimer coaching tree (including the Steelers' Mike Tomlin, by way of Tony Dungy), he doesn't brook drama or believe in press conference soundbites. He doesn't call attention to himself, nor is he in a particularly unique situation. In short: the guy is a boring story. But he wins.

  This game was sloppily played at times, with Pittsburgh committing a lot of dumb penalties and making a lot of mistakes in the first half, and Green Bay's offense stalling thanks to numerous drops in the second half. But from a strategic standpoint, the Packers had the perfect blend of passing and running to keep Pittsburgh's defense off kilter, did a fantastic job of limiting the rush that Aaron Rodgers had to face (which sounds crazy, considering he got hit more than 16 times, but that's not bad against this D), and were able to make the most out of big plays.

• Are you listening, Coach Spags? That last point was key, as no one is going to run up a series of long sustained drives against Pittsburgh's defense. So you have to take your shots downfield to generate scoring opportunities. And that's what the Packers did, on any given down, not just when they needed it.

  According to the NFL Gamebook, the Packers' biggest pass plays came on 3rd-and-9, 1st-and-10, 3rd-and-1 (TD), 2nd-and-6, 1st-and-10 (TD), and 1st-and-10. Only one of those downs was a textbook "long passing down." It's a good bet that Josh McDaniels is going to want to open up the offense, and be able to threaten the defense from any down and distance. Here's your proof -- even against the #1 defense in the NFL, you can do it.

• Why do we spend so much time talking about the commercials? It's been a long time since the commercials were better than, or more memorable than, the game itself. And that's a very good thing. In fact, you'd have to go back to the Raiders-Bucs or Ravens-Giants to find a Super Bowl broadcast that was so awful that only a few commercials redeemed it.

  That said, I've been saying "cram it in the boot" every time I can ever since yesterday. The fifteen year old boy inside me who never grew up thinks that's about the funniest thing ever.

Wildcard Weekend:
Seahawks (7-9) vs Saints (11-5)

Saturday, January 9, 2011

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There's a school of thought out there, and Tony Dungy is the biggest proponent of it, that you don't have to do anything special to win in the playoffs. That "raising your game" is a myth. (I have a strong suspicion that Coach Spagnuolo leans in the same direction.) But yesterday's improbable, incredible upset victory by Marshawn Lynch and the Seahawks, the nine-loss team that flat out beat the Rams to gain entry to this exclusive set of extra games, pretty much blows that theory out of the water. 

The Seahawks pulled out all the stops on offense, even with Charlie Whitehurst at quarterback, in Week 17. Even with their obvious limitations with Whitehurst, they took a big shot early and caught the Rams' flat-footed, building a lead that they never sacrificed. It fired up the sideline, the crowd, and gave the team a burst of momentum that never fully dissipated, despite the Rams' stifling effort on defense over the next three quarters.

Beating the Rams is one thing, but taking down the reigning Super Bowl champs is another, and doing it with this beat-up Seattle unit is a third thing all together. But it all boils down to the same thing -- taking your shots, finding weaknesses and attacking them, getting momentum on your side, and delivering more punches than your opponent can handle. Over and over again, regardless of your personnel, your recent history, or the expectations of the dozens of cameras and millions of fans that are watching.

The Seahawks wrung incredible performances from a hobbled Matt Hasselbeck and his banged-up offensive line. They harassed Drew Brees all game long, never letting up despite giving up 36 points, and were rewarded with a crucial 4th quarter interception. And they may have gotten the greatest playoff running play ever from Marshawn Lynch, an incredible ankle-breaking tackle-defying 67-yard marathon that signified the realization of the impossible.  

Momentum is the key in playoff football. Each team tries to push the other toward the season-ending abyss, and it takes incredible fortitude and confidence to get up and push back, once you've been knocked down. There's no such thing as "protecting a lead" in the playoffs; you're simply allowing the other team to get back up. If you aren't willing to attack for 60 minutes, to push and shove and kick the other team off the edge, then you deserve your ticket home.

And after their milquetoast gameplan on offense in Week 17, Spagnuolo and the Rams most definitely deserved their ticket home.

ottoman89
@RamsHerd @evilslash13 To me, Spagnuolo treated the Seattle game like a learning experience, rather than giving it his all. Is that crazy?

Honestly, the worst thing that could have happened to Sam Bradford and the Rams would have been to somehow pull out a win over Seattle. It would have validated their coaches' ass-backwards gameplan, and they would have gotten absolutely smoked by the Saints in front of the home crowd.

If this was to be a learning experience, hopefully Spagnuolo was watching carefully yesterday. Hopefully Pete Carroll's team just brought that lesson home with yesterday's "impossible" win.

If Sam Bradford is going to turn his obvious talent into a championship legacy, he can't be held back by a philosophy of fear. He can't be held down by a coaching staff that can't -- or won't -- raise their game when the situation demands.

Week 17:
Seahawks (6-9) vs Rams (7-8)

Jan 2, 2011

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NFL.com: Recap | Box Score | Video

The internet wolves are howling for Pat Shurmur's blood after a brutal offensive performance against one of the league's very worst second-half defenses, and it's hard to blame them. This loss, and lonely flight home that begins the offseason, can be laid entirely at the feet of the offense.

The rhythm that Bradford was looking for, that we all were looking for, is what should form the very identity of this offense. The snap, the drop, the unfolding of the play, the hammer thrown by a lead block or the break in the route and the sudden appearance of the ball in exactly the right spot. Bradford, like any great performer, excels at playing within the rhythm of the offense, when that rhythm has been established. But Sunday, there was more noise than melody, and it resulted in dropped beats and misteps and missed blocks and dropped passes.

For one series, though, the Rams had it right. They really had it working. Digging out from their own 3 yard line, Bradford established a steady cadence revolving around the 5-step drop. (See it unfold, after the break.) 

I'm not going to try for objective analysis yet. This loss twists in my gut like I'd swallowed a rat and a rabid squirrel, and they're fighting to the death. The Rams lost the game on the football field to an amped up Seattle Seahawks team, that's one thing. But more than that, they lost a lot of face, and most of the positive momentum they had built up during the season.

They couldn't prevent the atrocity of a Charlie Whitehurst-led 7-win team representing the NFC West in the playoffs. They couldn't captivate the nation with a full rebirth in their debut under the bright lights of prime time. They couldn't play up to their potential -- indeed they struggled to make even routine NFL plays on offense.

Most importantly, they failed the necessary test of teams that are in the playoff hunt -- they failed to gamble, and ultimately they failed to win.

STLRamsGirl
That game was embarrassing. Not the loss but the way we played it. Mistakes, no killer instinct, vanilla play-calling, inept offense.

bednarjr
@espn_nfcwest @ramsherd I cannot say the better team won tonight, but I can say the team with the better gameplan and coaching did

ProFootbalFocus
Worst part of this game isn't that both teams suck, its that the Rams got away from what they do well, and its cost them

WR_83
@RamsHerd regardless of the outcome, the defense deserves massive credit for the way they played.

There will be plenty to sort out from this loss, from missed coaching opportunities to how this loss might affect the Rams plans this offseason. Obviously, drafting a marquee player on offense to give Sam Bradford more weapons is going to be priority #1, and the loss reportedly gives the Rams draft slot #14 to work with.

Jason_La_Canfora
Rams youth really showing up tonight but I love the upside of this team. Will add pass catchers for 2011.

If you want silver linings, that's where they begin. 2011 is a new year for the Rams, and while it hasn't started all that great, it builds on a much better foundation than 2010 did, thanks to a year of hard work and great play. While we begin the work of writing the obituary for this season, we're really just starting to appreciate the birth of a team.

Bradford escapes the pressure in Week 4 vs the Seahawks.

In this weekend’s Q&A, HawkBlogger offered this choice bit of competitive intel:

This tendency was evident in the game tape of the last two Seahawks games, particularly in the second half. Both Tampa and Atlanta found it easy to turn small leads into huge advantages by countering the desperate blitzing of Pete Carroll’s team. (It’s almost as though the relentlessly positive Carroll presses harder for some single momentum-turning play, the further behind his team falls. And the more he presses, the further behind they fall.) You can lay good money that Carroll is not going to take a passive approach against Bradford in his first visit to Qwest field, in this do-or-die game. He certainly didn’t in their first matchup, back in week 4.

Editor's Note: Thanks to Hawkblogger, one of the most thoughtful independent Seahawks blogs out there, for taking the time to answer my questions. Be sure to follow @HawkBlogger on Twitter for some gameday intelligence from the opposite sideline. You can read Part II of our Q&A, featuring my answers to the Seahawks' questions, here. 

The Seahawks had a really aggressive approach to the offseason and the draft. Which move (or non-move) has made the biggest impact on your season?

That's a great question, and far tougher to answer than you might expect. Three moves had significant impact, and are so different, they do a nice job of demonstrating why some Seahawks fans are so bullish on Pete Carrol even with the horrible play of late.

First, they picked up the team's best offensive player for nothing. Mike Williams earned his way onto the team, and has been a major difference maker when healthy. He will be a free agent after the season, but is still only 26, and will be a Pro Bowler if he can stay healthy.

Second, Red Bryant was a seldom-used defensive tackle that Carroll inherited. In order to better take advantage of the type of players he had, Carroll switched to an old 49er defense he ran that is basically a hybrid 4-3/3-4 with a big defensive end on the strong-side. Bryant was tried at the position, and at 320 lbs, dominated almost every right tackle he faced. While he was healthy, the Seahawks ranked 2nd in the NFL in rush defense at less than 75 yards/game and less than 3 YPC.

Third, Carroll watched tape of Lawyer Milloy and decided he was being underutilized. He gave him a chance to compete for the starting spot, and Milloy won going away. His leadership and toughness has been a great ingredient. He appears to be wearing down as the season winds down, but it was another example of maximizing the talent you have.

As the Seahawks and Rams gird for the winner-take-all season finale Sunday, we still don’t know whether Hasselbeck or Whitehurst will take the snaps at kickoff. (Nor do we have a very good sense on whether Seattle fans in attendance will be rooting for their team to win.)  But one thing we do know: even in his golden years, there’s still a pretty huge gulf between what Hasselbeck can do and what Whitehurst has shown so far.

I went back and watched all of Whitehurst’s throws from his last two games and came away with a Kyle Boller kind of feeling. This is a guy who just doesn’t seem to have command or touch, and who shouldn’t be asked to carry a team on his shoulders. However it's hard to tell, because for the most part, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates have not been willing to let him. 

To get my own take, I went back and watched every snap he took over the last two weeks. n five quarters of work, he completed 19 of 34 passes for 149 yards, with 0 TDs and 0 INTs. Here’s a scouting report on each of these pass attempts, after the break:

To the 2010 year that has seen our Rams crawl, and then walk, and then run at last, I will run to my bar, walk with my friends, then crawl home at last. To each pick of our draft, I drink each a draught. And for each proudly held win, I toast again and again.

To Week 3, and the Washington Redskins

'Tis a strange chemistry that brews in a team,
sometimes it works and fits like a dream.

But two old heads poured into the same dram,
just couldn't mix like a good black and tan.

Sometimes 'tis better to start over anew,
and just let the kids do what kids do:

Make the most out of a good second chance,
and prove not to be the same sorry old Rams.

To Week 4, and the Seattle Seahawks

If your enemy's enemy your friend should be,
We've welcomed any who beats up on thee.

But watching while others go have all the fun
Just didn't satisfy when we couldna beat none.

So it's a special good cheer to end this bad streak,
E'en if we can't recollect much of that week

One win back then is nothing to boast
but to do it again would be reason to toast!

To Week 6, and the San Diego Chargers

From opposite directions we did come
a contender and pretender did meet in the Dome

But perhaps some role reversal's in order
Did our team win when your team oughta?

Or did your team think cheap shots were enough
to take out a kid who's not s'posed to be tough?

A hard lesson came while we learned how to win
But don't drown in your misery, join me in gin!

The Rams future nemesis?

MaioccoCSN
Just spoke with first-known person interviewed for 49ers GM job, Tony Softli: "Everything went well and I'm excited about the opportunity."

The Rams might never admit it, but there has to be a certain amount of pride and schadenfreude in not only beating the 49ers, but in knocking their organization askew with the firing of Mike Singletary. Now a team with no head goes looking for one, and decides to look hard at former Rams VP of player personnel, Tony Softli.

cliffhanger989
@SoftliSTL heard u interviewed with the 49ers. If their smart they will hire u

From a competitive intelligence standpoint, this move makes perfect sense. Softli, one of the few executives from the dysfunctional hydra-headed Zygmunt era to survive the transition to the streamlined Billy Devaney/Steve Spagnuolo one, is intimately familiar with the Rams' inner workings and personnel philosophy. He is also a valued football mind who recruited some of the players, like Cliff Ryan, who formed the essential core of young depth that the Rams have been rebuilding around.

The 49ers are widely considered to be the most talented team in the division, particularly on defense, but a team with two clear needs -- sane, steady leadership and a trustworthy talent at quarterback. Softli knows a little something about both, having participated in the decision to hire Coach Spagnuolo, and submitting this scouting report on Sam Bradford prior to the draft. 

While Softli has an incumbent to dethrone in current player-personnel man Trent Baalke, and may have more competitors from actively employed candidates from other NFL teams once their seasons conclude, Softli's inherent ties to a rising power in the NFC West might make him the ideal candidate for the job.

And yes, by "rising power in the NFC West," I meant the Rams. What a difference a year makes, no?

Do the Rams have a legitimate deep threat in Danario Alexander? Consider this question answered.

Midway through the second quarter, up 9-7 but trying to shake the cobwebs on offense after consecutive three-and-outs, Pat Shurmur went back to his passing game to move the chains, and with a 3rd and 4 on the doorstep of the red zone, he dialed up that most elusive weapon in the Rams' arsenal -- the deep ball.

However, Danny Amendola never got clean separation from Nate Clements in the slot, and slowed to half speed at the five as the ball sailed unmolested into the end zone. It was an ugly play that left Rams fans discontented, even as Josh Brown kicked away to briefly extend the lead to 12-7.

ottoman89
Bradford throws a beautiful deep pass, but his receivers constantly lose the ball in the air.

RossMiles
@RamsHerd @ottoman89 I have been trying to tell @Daniel_Doelling & @TurfShowTimes this is why we don't go deep! Our WR can't cope!

A disheartening sequence sent the Rams into the tunnel down 14-12, and set Rams fans all a-twitter. This long-simmering debate came to a head: should Pat Shurmur even bother dialing up deep passes with these receivers? Leading the dissent was old-school Rams tweeter @RossMiles, with @ottoman89, @Daniel_Doelling, @TurfShowTimes and good old @RamsHerd chirping in debate. But one Rams player was yet to have his say: Danario Alexander, who chipped in a game-changing performance. 

After the break, RamsHerd provides a play-by-play breakdown of the true impact of Danario's season-high 40 snaps.