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The Harbaugh Gamble

Joe Tufaro — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 10:20:23 +0000

A few years back the Denver Broncos hired Josh McDaniel of the Patriots to be their head coach. At the time the Broncos had one Jay Cutler as QB. The rocket arm, multi talented Cutler was going to be the second coming in Denver, and was going to bring them back to contention. When McDaniel arrived he had just witnessed Matt Cassell have a pretty good year in New England replacing an injured Tom Brady. McDaniel immediately started courting Cassell to be his QB in Denver. As in most relationships, once Cutler heard his coach wanted to date someone else…he said fine…take him…I’ll go where they want me. Off to Chicago went Cutler, and Cassell chose Kansas City, leaving Denver and McDaniel with nothing.

Now, no one is going to mistake any Harbaugh for Josh McDaniel, Peyton Manning is more established and proven than Matt Cassell, and Alex Smith is no Jay Cutler, but the chances of losing all of them is a possibility. Harbaugh and Alex Smith were said to have a special relationship, one built on trust and belief in each other. It was said that that was all Alex needed was someone to believe in him, trust him, and give him his opportunity to prove himself. Harbaugh did all of the above and the 9ers won 13 games during the regular season and hosted the NFC Championship game last season. Now it seems like Harbaugh is willing to gamble that all away. Alex Smith has visited the Miami Dolphins and is headed to Seattle for a visit. Peyton Manning, it has been reported, wants to stay in the AFC for a variety of reasons, including not having to face the Giants and Eli in the playoffs. I would suggest that San Francisco would be the place to go if you wanted to Guarantee a playoff match-up with Eli, not avoid one. So, Here are the 49ers, 13-3 last season, with a home playoff win against the Saints, and a very well played overtime loss to the Super Bowl Champions, without a QB on their roster.

Peyton may very well choose Denver or Tennessee….Alex Smith might be so put off that he signs with Miami or Seattle, or Denver. Matt Flynn could go to the team Smith doesn’t choose, and the 9ers could be left standing when the music stops. I understand this might be worth the risk, but the result might be disaster for San Francisco and coach Harbaugh. Even if Alex Smith stays the relationship will always be damaged and may break the team apart.

We will know more Monday or Tuesday as Peyton makes his decision.

Giants Cowboys Part II

Joe Tufaro — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 11:15:03 +0000

So, The circus has left town, with it’s ring leader still selling his snake oil to anyone who is gullible enough to be listening. The Giants now go back to work in the real world of the NFL. The Giants and Cowboys will meet in what amounts to the NFC EAST CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. Now, of course, the naysayers will scoff at a 9-7 team winning a division and getting a home game in the playoffs, but that’s how the NFL works. It’s not baseball where an exhibition game determines home field for their Championship. Winning your division is the purest test in sports. The schedules for the two teams are for the most part identical, and therefore determines the best team against that competition. The Giants and Cowboys, for all their faults, have survived to this point, and now have a chance to get into the tournament as they say, and see if they can make a run.

The Cowboys entered the last game these two played just three weeks ago as “Healthy as they have been all year” They enter this one in not such great shape. In the last meeting they lost RB DeMarco Murray for the year. Last week they lost OL Montrae Holland for the season, had Tony Romo leave the game with a badly bruised hand, and RB Felix Jones is also nursing a few injuries. The Cowboys are dangerously close to having no running game to compliment Tony Romo. The slowing of Jones would allow the Giants to play defense the way they want…rush the passer, and cover the short routes tight.

The Giants on the other hand might be getting some guys back for this one. Jake Ballard who missed last weeks game might make his return, and Mario Manningham hopefully will be available. It will all depend on who is able to practice this week. A good story that came out this morning concerning the Giants. It seems the Special Teams Unit was going to be short handed due to injuries, Coach Coughlin asked the veterans for volunteers to take a few more snaps. Antrel Rolle, JPP, and Corey Webster all stepped up and said they wanted to be part of it. The result was each participated in over 100 plays in the game. A nice sign from a team many have said might have some locker room issues.

Just a final note on last weeks contest…..The Jets said they were New York’s best when the new stadium opened. They then went on to:

Lose the first pre-season game between the two teams in the new stadium (Thanks to one Victor Cruz).

Lose the opening “prime time” game in the new stadium, while the Giants had defeated the Panthers in the first day game.

Make the playoffs in two seasons, but failing to win a division title received NO home games.

Lose the first Regular Season meeting between the Jets and Giants (Thanks to one Victor Cruz).

And now have to go to Miami, a team they are 2-3 against the previous two seasons, win that game and then watch to see if Cincinnati, Tennessee, AND Oakland or Denver lose. Kings they ain’t!

NFL Sunday Picks

Joe Tufaro — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 10:56:10 +0000

We had a rough week last week going 9-7 thanks to some unexpected injuries, and some other strange happenings. We stand at 130-63 for the season including Thursday nights win in Pittsburgh. Here we go:

New England at Washington: The Redskin defense is pretty good, but still no match in the long run for the Patriots

PICK: NEW ENGLAND

Kansas City at New York Jets: The Jet offense will have it’s struggles again this week against a very strong K.C. defense. However Tyler Palko won’t mature much against the Jet defense. PICK: JETS

Houston at Cincinnati: Cincy’s defense might be a little much for the beat up Texans. I’m going with the home team with Cincy making it’s last stand at a playoff spot. PICK: CINCINNATI

Indianapolis at Baltimore: Even though Baltimore lost to Jacksonville earlier this year, I don’t think lightning strike twice, besdie The Ravens need to keep pace with the Steelers: PICK BALTIMORE

Minnesota at Detroit: Keep an eye on who is playing Qb for Minny this week. Christian Ponder wasn’t practicing during the week and might be out for this game. Joe Webb won’t scare the Lions and the Minnesota secondary allowed Tim Tebow to go 15-20! PICK: DETROIT

Atlanta at Carolina: I have been a big fan of Cam Newton this year, but the rest of the team needs some help, as he noted this week in the media. Atlanta needs to sew up the top Wild Card spot soon. PICK: ATLANTA

Philadelphia at Miami: Vick, Maclin, Matthews, all back….I’m guessing they need some time to get used to seeing each other again. Miami playing very well especially at home. PICK: MIAMI

Tampa Bay at Jacksonville: If Raheem Morris wants to have any sense of success this year, he needs to start winning again. Jacksonville didn’t look much better last Monday with a new coach. PICK: TAMPA BAY

New Orleans at Tennessee: New Orleans is on a roll. Tennessee coming off a good road win in Buffalo. I don’t see N.O. missing a step here. PICK: NEW ORLEANS

San Francisco at Arizona: Fantastic effort by Arizona last week beating the Cowboys in Overtime, and a nice pick by us. I think they spent a lot on that game. PICK: SAN FRANCISCO

Chicago at Denver: Chicago with no Qb and no RB…I’m not turing on Tebow now. PICK: DENVER

Oakland at Green Bay: This one is actually a tough one. The Green Bay defense could be susceptible to the Oakland running game and if Carson Palmer gets going with the Raider speed, there could be a lot of points scored here. Still think Rodgers is too much for anyone to handle. PICK: GREEN BAY

Buffalo at San Diego: San Diego needs this one, and all the rest. Buffalo blew their chances last week at home, this one across the country ends badly for them. PICK: SAN DIEGO

New York GIANTS AT DALLAS: I think the running game is back for the Giants and will help Eli exploit the Cowboy secondary. Dallas offensive line still a work in progress. PICK: GIANTS

Just for the record…here is where I register my picks every Thursday. http://poolhost.com

George Martin’s Amazing Play: 25 Years Ago This Week

Joe Tufaro — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:55:52 +0000

As the Giants hosted the Denver Broncos and John Elway in week 12 of the 1986 season, there was a very special buzz in the air. That day at Giants stadium in front of the usual sell-out crowd, you got the feeling that this game would determine the teams fate for the year. Although games with San Francisco and Washington loomed in the following two weeks, this game was against a very strong AFC opponent who many thought was the class of the league. The Giants now standing at 9-2 along with the Broncos were still struggling on offense at this point in the season, and the defense knew it was up to them to keep the young Mr. Elway under control. In the 2nd quarter with the Giants trailing 6-3 John Elway faded back and looked to his right for his running back in the flat. As he released the ball defensive end George Martin leapt in the air and made a one handed interception. What ensued was one of the slowest, and oddly uncontested runbacks in the history of the NFL. For 74 yards Martin first eluded the very strong Elway, then continually tried to make up his mind if he should hand the ball to the swifter Lawrence Taylor who was accompanying him down the field. Each time he looked as though he would hand it off to Taylor, a Bronco would come in the vicinity and Martin would put the ball away and continue on his jaunt. The play obviously got the crowd into the game and was really a play you expected from that defense. The Giants led 10-6 at halftime. Later in the fourth with the score tied at 16, Phil Simms hit Phil McConkey on a 46 yard pass that set up another last second field goal by Raul Allegre and continued a 5 game winning streak.

That day in the stadium, after the Martin play, my friends and I decided this was a turning point in the season and the next day….remember no computers or internet in 1986….I went to the local travel agent and purchased 6 round trip tickets to Los Angeles for Super Bowl 21 at $200 a piece. This act of confidence would pay off in the end…but that is a story for another week.

The Cowboys, The Jets, and The Fallacy of the “Favorable” Schedule

Joe Tufaro — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:42:52 +0000

In the NFL there is a saying that holds true every year….It’s not who you play, it’s when you play them. The Giants for instance had to play the Redskins at full strength on opening day in their building. The Giants also play teams on the road, after bye weeks, in prime time. These are factors that many fans don’t take into account when originally viewing the schedule. Now Giants fans and management usually don’t discuss their upcoming games more than a week in advance, but talk show hosts and ESPN do it relentlessly. Let’s take a look at two examples.

The Cowboys are being touted as having a “favorable schedule” for the remaining 6 games: (more…)