Week 2 Thoughts

[Geo]

I'm going to focus on two of the biggest games this weekend, first the early candidate for GOTY, the Chargers at Broncos:

• Line of the week: "I blew it." -Ed Hochuli. Awful call by Guns McShowy, that was a clear fumble by Jay Cutler. Critics don't know wtf they are talking about, in all their Monday morning bitching, the only problem is that Hochuli blew his whistle too soon as opposed to letting the play develop as it should have. Still, the Chargers had two chances to stop the Broncos afterwards and they failed.

• The two quarterbacks of that game, Jay Cutler of the Denver Broncos and Phillip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers, are a great bright spot for the game. Phenomenal future, especially with their respective teams giving each guy weapons to help him flourish (Eddie Royal looks great). The league needs more quality quarterbacks, and these two are growing and blossoming into two of the better ones in the league. Plus the rivalry developing thanks to playing in the same division is great, shades of Kelly and Marino imo.

• Bad call of the week: Norv Turner calling out Ed Hochuli in the post-game. True to form for a classless, pouty ***** like him. Always bitching at the refs when things don't go his way. Funny how his vagina doesn't blow smoke when the calls go his way, including that very same premature whistle.

• I never thought about LDT's age and years of workload when watching him play, but this past Sunday might have been the first time of that. Especially with the great play Darren Sproles has exhibited since late last season, and definitely on Sunday, as a contrast. It was an uncomfortable situation, as a long-time fan of LDT. But maybe it's all the toe injury, let's wait and see.

• Huge win for the Broncos. I believe this is the youngest team Mike Shanahan has ever coached at Denver, if not in general, and a start like this is big. Getting back at the Chargers, who have dominated them the last two years, is all a potentially major confidence boost to this team for the rest of the season.

Now the Colts at the Vikings game:

• Adrian Peterson is the best runningback in the league. He's on another level, the guy has "it" even more than LDT in his prime did.

• Peyton Manning won that game, with strong contributions from Anthony Gonzalez (stud), Reggie Wayne, and the defense keeping the Vikings to six field goal attempts (the last of which they missed).

• The Colts' offense in the 1st half: 0 points
  The Colts' offense in the 2nd half: 18 points
  
  Adrian Peterson in the 1st half: 14 rushes for 118 yards
  Adrian Peterson in the 2nd half: 15 rushes for 42 yards
  
  I guess now would be a good time to credit halftime adjustments, right or wrong.

• Big win for the Colts, I think we saw the offense really/finally find its rhythm in the mid-third quarter. I was reminded a bit of the NY Giants' performance at Washington last year in Week 3, when they hadn't played too well up to that point (other than the offense in Week 1) of halftime with a deficit, staring at an 0-3 record. But they came together then and had a second half that exemplified their play for the rest of the season. And built on that for the rest of the season.

• I dearly wish the Seahawks would offer their 3rd round pick for Marvin Harrison.

• Colts' offensive line to finish the game:
  LT- Charlie Johnson
  LG- Steve Justice (R)
  C- Jamey Richard (R)
  RG- Daniel Federkiel (R)
  RT- Ryan Diem

[MichaelJordanEberle (sabf)]

God, finally SOMEONE posted a thoughts thread. I like these. Good job, I missed the SD-DEN game, but it does suck for the chargers it had to end that way. They did get more chances at the win though, but still, that has to hurt.


Not that I'm complaining, JAY CUTLER MVP

PS Where Shiver at?

[CC.SD]

Some good thoughts. I don't know how you can blame Norv for calling out Hochuli though. If the game is played the way it's meant to be played, his team gets the win. Because of Ed's bad whistle, he loses. It's incredibly frustrating and what's more, he's totally in the right.

That said, GOTY so far for sure, and if we see a better one it'll be a great time, great time. Rivers and Cutler were just throwing thunderbolts the entire day.

Say whatever you want about LT, he's injured. Injuries happen. He'll be back.

I'd support Cutler for MVP right now. It's pretty clear. However, it's just week 2. Far too early for any kind of season awards.

[M.O.T.H.]

I'd hold off the mvp talk right now. haha. As for Cutler, he's been sharp but, there is still an entire season ahead. Both defenses he's played had awful showings...especially, the Chargers who have a garbage zone defense that they ran again and again and again. Seriously, they played Jammer 10 yards off the entire game and Cutler would just hit a wide open Marshall on a simple curl over and over. That was just embarassing...all of Jammer's tackles came on these little curls to a wide open Marshall. They have a lot of work to do because, they're not going to do anything this year w/ that swiss cheese, over conservative zone, the way it is now.

[CC.SD]

Originally Posted by M.O.T.H.

I'd hold off the mvp talk right now. haha. As for Cutler, he's been sharp but, there is still an entire season ahead. Both defenses he's played had awful showings...especially, the Chargers who have a garbage zone defense that they ran again and again and again. Seriously, they played Jammer 10 yards off the entire game and Cutler would just hit a wide open Marshall on a simple curl over and over. That was just embarassing...all of Jammer's tackles came on these little curls to a wide open Marshall. They have a lot of work to do because, they're not going to do anything this year w/ that swiss cheese, over conservative zone, the way it is now.

No kidding, it takes a real brain trust to keep running that scheme instead of just letting our corners play man like they were born to. Then again, our rush was so bad I'm not convinced anything would have helped. Either way I want Cottrell's head...I'd put it in Hochuli's bed.

[vidae]

Ed Hochuli is as good as they come, the best in the business. He made a mistake. Mistakes happen, but he owned up to it. He walked up to Norv and said it's my fault, I blew the call. Who does that these days? No one does, but he was a man and owned up to his mistake when it happened.

Sucks that a team wins or loses because of something like that, it really does, but I think Norv was out of line here. You can be pissed, you can be upset, but you still need to be a professional. Just my opinion.

[CC.SD]

Originally Posted by vidae-KC

Ed Hochuli is as good as they come, the best in the business. He made a mistake. Mistakes happen, but he owned up to it. He walked up to Norv and said it's my fault, I blew the call. Who does that these days? No one does, but he was a man and owned up to his mistake when it happened.

Sucks that a team wins or loses because of something like that, it really does, but I think Norv was out of line here. You can be pissed, you can be upset, but you still need to be a professional. Just my opinion on the subject.

It's not like Norv cursed him out. He said it was unacceptable and that Hoch admitted to him that he had blown the call. Both those things are true, it's not like he went after the guy's nuts.

Edit: identical post count and rep? nice.

[MaxV]

I wouldn't call Federkeil a rookie. I mean, yes, this is the first year he actually saw game action, but he has been with the Colts for multiple years.

With that said, Colts won't go far with that O-Line. Ugoh, Saturday and Lilja are valuable.

[bored of education]

NO mention of how bad the chiefs suck. + rep

[Bigburt63]

Originally Posted by vidae-KC

Ed Hochuli is as good as they come, the best in the business. He made a mistake. Mistakes happen, but he owned up to it. He walked up to Norv and said it's my fault, I blew the call. Who does that these days? No one does, but he was a man and owned up to his mistake when it happened.

Sucks that a team wins or loses because of something like that, it really does, but I think Norv was out of line here. You can be pissed, you can be upset, but you still need to be a professional. Just my opinion.

As easy as it is to point to that one mistake as costing them the game, there are hundreds of moments in each game that if tweaked could have changed the result of the game. clearly the chargers got jobbed in this one, but they had other opportunities to win it at the same time.

[BeerBaron]

Originally Posted by Geo

• I dearly wish the Seahawks would offer their 3rd round pick for Marvin Harrison.

i look a little smart now eh? lol

Originally Posted by BeerBaron

Under. Sounds strange, I know, but I think Wayne and Gonzalez are going to establish themselves as Manning's new favorite target combo. Add in Clark getting a lot of passes his way as well and an aging Marvin might drop to a 4th option in the passing game there...... If he's still got it, all the better for the Colts I guess, but I don't know if he comes out and just explodes as a still great WR.

http://www.draftcountdown.com/forum/...&postcount=110

[MichaelJordanEberle (sabf)]

Originally Posted by CC.SD

It's not like Norv cursed him out. He said it was unacceptable and that Hoch admitted to him that he had blown the call. Both those things are true, it's not like he went after the guy's nuts.

Edit: identical post count and rep? nice.

I agree, I thought Norv had the right to be upset and handled it well. Of course he was going to be asked about officiating and he spoke his mind without attacking Hochuili.

On another note, it's really great Hochuili owned up to the mistake. In the NBA, Norv would be fined, and David Stern would protect the official at all costs. And Hochuili would have never even had to explain himself.

[defensiveback23]

Originally Posted by Geo

• I never thought about LDT's age and years of workload when watching him play, but this past Sunday might have been the first time of that. Especially with the great play Darren Sproles has exhibited since late last season, and definitely on Sunday, as a contrast. It was an uncomfortable situation, as a long-time fan of LDT. But maybe it's all the toe injury, let's wait and see.

I'm surprised nobody else has commented on this. LT has never really had injury issues before and they are a little alarming now that he is getting older. In the last few games he has played in he has been hurt with two different injuries. Hopefully there isn't a correlation between the injuries and his age/work.

[yourfavestoner]

Originally Posted by defensiveback23

I'm surprised nobody else has commented on this. LT has never really had injury issues before and they are a little alarming now that he is getting older. In the last few games he has played in he has been hurt with two different injuries. Hopefully there isn't a correlation between the injuries and his age/work.

I was saying it all offseason. He's due for a down year.

[CC.SD]

Originally Posted by yourfavestoner

I was saying it all offseason. He's due for a down year.

Yeah, he's been due for quite a while. He's got an injury right now, it'll heal up and Rivers can shoulder the load in the meantime.

[Xenos]

Originally Posted by defensiveback23

I'm surprised nobody else has commented on this. LT has never really had injury issues before and they are a little alarming now that he is getting older. In the last few games he has played in he has been hurt with two different injuries. Hopefully there isn't a correlation between the injuries and his age/work.

Dude, he had a groin injury in 2004 and a rib injury in 2005. He just never had a major injury before. I'm not sure the toe injury qualifies as one yet, though we have been plagued by toe injuries (Parker, Gates, etc).

[Dam8610]

Originally Posted by Geo

• I dearly wish the Seahawks would offer their 3rd round pick for Marvin Harrison.

On most things regarding the Colts we agree, but I could not disagree with your assessment of Marvin Harrison more. Is his production down? Yes, but really, the past couple of weeks is the first time Peyton and Marvin have worked together since last October, and it seems like their timing is a little off. He still draws the opposing team's #1 CB (and he's gone up against a couple of good ones), and he's still getting open for the most part. I think we'll see some vintage Marvin very soon, it doesn't look like he's lost a thing physically.

[yourfavestoner]

Originally Posted by Dam8610

On most things regarding the Colts we agree, but I could not disagree with your assessment of Marvin Harrison more. Is his production down? Yes, but really, the past couple of weeks is the first time Peyton and Marvin have worked together since last October, and it seems like their timing is a little off. He still draws the opposing team's #1 CB (and he's gone up against a couple of good ones), and he's still getting open for the most part. I think we'll see some vintage Marvin very soon, it doesn't look like he's lost a thing physically.

It's not that he draws the other teams best CB. It's because the Colts line him up at flanker on the right side of the field 90% of the time. Most teams usually play their best CB at left corner and rarely move him around. So it's not that he's drawing him, it's just that they're lined up on the same side of the field the majority of plays.

[Dam8610]

Originally Posted by yourfavestoner

It's not that he draws the other teams best CB. It's because the Colts line him up at flanker on the right side of the field 90% of the time. Most teams usually play their best CB at left corner and rarely move him around. So it's not that he's drawing him, it's just that they're lined up on the same side of the field the majority of plays.

Could be, although I would think if teams saw Reggie Wayne and Anthony Gonzalez as bigger threats, they'd shuffle their lineup. As an example, in the game that's on right now, there have been a few times where the Eagles shifted Asante Samuel around to matchup with Terrell Owens. Having seen Leslie Frazier's coaching jobs, I doubt he's stupid enough to put his best corner on a guy who he doesn't feel poses the biggest threat to his defense. I could understand the Bears doing it, they've put undrafted rookies with no game experience on Steve Smith in the playoffs, but Leslie Frazier is a smart coach who knows how to get the most out of his players.

[yourfavestoner]

Originally Posted by Dam8610

Could be, although I would think if teams saw Reggie Wayne and Anthony Gonzalez as bigger threats, they'd shuffle their lineup. As an example, in the game that's on right now, there have been a few times where the Eagles shifted Asante Samuel around to matchup with Terrell Owens. Having seen Leslie Frazier's coaching jobs, I doubt he's stupid enough to put his best corner on a guy who he doesn't feel poses the biggest threat to his defense. I could understand the Bears doing it, they've put undrafted rookies with no game experience on Steve Smith in the playoffs, but Leslie Frazier is a smart coach who knows how to get the most out of his players.

It's more prevalent for defenses that run a lot of man heavy schemes to move their CBs around. Zone teams like the Vikings usually leave their corners at RCB and LCB.

Most teams' best receivers are their split ends. Split ends play (usually) line up on the left side of the formation, drawing the double team of the RCB and the FS, leaving the LCB (usually the better one) to shut down the lesser flanker by himself on an island. Or at least that's how it theoretically works out, on a very very basic level.

[Geo]

At this point, with how things are at the present, Harrison is a severely overpriced decoy. He's not the same deep threat he once was. Honestly, I'm not sure Devin Aromashodu couldn't bring just about the same thing to the table, at a fraction of the cost.

Hey, the Colts will keep Harrison for this season. He's going to break some records in all likelihood, finish second to Rice in some major categories, I suppose you could say he merits that for his years of service. But after this season, I couldn't cut him fast enough. Wayne and Gonzalez are the present, and Hall and Garcon are the future.

Is it cruel? Well, I'm being honest and realistic.

[yourfavestoner]

Originally Posted by Geo

At this point, with how things are at the present, Harrison is a severely overpriced decoy. He's not the same deep threat he once was. Honestly, I'm not sure Devin Aromashodu couldn't bring just about the same thing to the table, at a fraction of the cost.

Hey, the Colts will keep Harrison for this season. He's going to break some records in all likelihood, finish second to Rice in some major categories, I suppose you could say he merits that for his years of service. But after this season, I couldn't cut him fast enough. Wayne and Gonzalez are the future, and Hall and Garcon are budding talents who can flourish with Peyton.

Is it cruel? Well, I'm being honest and realistic.

You never know when he's going to pull a gun and start shooting people either. ;)

[TitleTown088]

No Rodgers mention? How dare you. It's week two and #12=#4x3...Come on.

[Geo]

Polian is afraid to cut him, amirite? Just kidding.

I edited my post, to phrase the current situation better.

[Paranoidmoonduck]

Originally Posted by Geo

At this point, with how things are at the present, Harrison is a severely overpriced decoy. He's not the same deep threat he once was. Honestly, I'm not sure Devin Aromashodu couldn't bring just about the same thing to the table, at a fraction of the cost.

Well, Asomahodu wouldn't be one quarter the sort of decoy Harrison is, if that's how we're defining Marvin.