Monthly Archives: December 2011

The Stock Surprise

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As a Christmas surprise, my husband purchased Packers stock. I was excited.

However, it didn’t really end up being the surprise that he had hoped. If you know anything about my husband, you know that he is laid back. He can be stubborn, but it has to be something he feels strongly about. For the most part, he lets me do whatever makes me happy “within reason.” When the stock went on sale, I thought it was perfectly reasonable for us to buy some. But, wow. I hadn’t heard a “No” as resounding as that since, well, ever. Of course, it immediately threw up a red flag.

“He either really does think it’s dumb to buy the stock,” I said to Katie the next day, “or he’s buying it for me for Christmas.”

She tried to throw me off the trail. “I talked to him yesterday about Christmas presents, and stock was not mentioned,” she told me.

It was a good effort. I thought that after Christmas I’d have to plead my case and see if I could convince him. Except for one thing…I read our credit card statements. “Packers Stock Offering” left little to the imagination. Wah wah.

But it didn’t matter. I sat at the Chiefs game watching my team, knowing that it would be made official Christmas Eve. Pretty cool, whether it’s a surprise or not.

I'm happy about my stock. Aaron is happy about his scarf.

Rodgers > Brees

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We think Aaron Rodgers should be the MVP. Shocking, I know. Drew Brees is having an incredible season. We like Drew Brees a lot. We like Drew Brees’s baby a lot (did you know Drew Brees now has 2 cute babies?). We think Drew Brees would probably win the MVP award in any other NFL season. But Aaron Rodgers loves playing spoiler, and this is why he’s spoiling things for Drew Brees and his baby:

Rodgers has thrown more touchdowns. Rodgers 45. Brees 41.

Rodgers has won more games. Rodgers 14. Brees 12.

Rodgers has thrown fewer interceptions. Rodgers 6. Brees 13. Six interceptions is a record low for a QB with more than 4,000 passing yards. Brees has thrown multiple INTs in 5 games. Rodgers has thrown multiple INTs in 0 games. Rodgers 0. Brees 5.

Rodgers is more efficient.

A letter to Peter King posted in his Tuesday column from Josh of Milwaukee:

“…If you adjust for the number of attempts Brees has versus Rodgers, Aaron’s numbers through 583 attempts (Brees through game 14) would look like this: 5392 yards, 52 touchdowns, seven interceptions. By the end of the season, Brees will have played, by attempts, the equivalent of three-plus games over Rodgers, which speaks to the remarkable efficiency of the Green Bay offense, specifically Rodgers, when looking at scoring offense. Last note, Marino set the record in 564 attempts.” [Brees broke the record in 622 attempts. Rodgers has 502 attempts this season.]

Rodgers averages the most yards per attempt at 9.2. Brees is tied for 5th at 8.2. Rodgers 1. Brees 5.

We couldn’t agree with you more, Josh. Should Brees be docked for throwing more passes? No. But neither should Rodgers for getting it done in fewer attempts.

Rodgers is better in the red zone. The Packers score touchdowns in the red zone 65.08% of the time. Second best in the NFL. The Saints score touchdowns 57.97% of the time. Eighth in the NFL. Rodgers 2. Brees 8.

Rodgers has also thrown fewer red zone INTs. Rodgers 1. Brees 2.

Most notably, Brees threw an INT (and not just a fluky tipped INT, but an ugly, ugly floater) against the Bucs in week 6. The Saints were down by 6 with a 4th and 2 on the Tampa 4 yard line with less than 3:30 left in the game. The Saints lost to the Bucs.

Rodgers has 1 loss this season. He threw 0 INTs in that game.

Rodgers has a better passing rater. Please don’t ask me to explain what goes into passer rating, but I do know that maintaining a high passer rating is no easy task. Rodgers is on the verge of breaking Manning’s season single passer rating of 121.1 with a current rating of 122.5. The next best rating? Drew Brees at 108.4. Rodgers 122.5. Brees 108.4.

Rodgers beat Brees. Not a huge factor, but not a complete non-factor either. Rodgers 42. Brees 34.

 

And here is the only reason why it’s even considered a “close” race:

Brees has thrown for more yards. We love our records, and this is certainly not a meaningless one, but judging a QB based on yards is a little like assessing a parent’s skill based on the number of kids they have. An accomplishment, yes. An overall indication of value, not necessarily.

We also have to be careful that we’re not celebrating the fact that Brees has had to throw a lot more passes to get similar yardage and touchdown totals as a Rodgers or Brady.

Brees hasn’t lost since week 8. I didn’t hear a single whisper of a close MVP race until the Packers lost in week 15. The same week Brees happened to throw 5 TDs in a win over the Vikings. [Rodgers threw 4 TDs against the Vikings in week 10]. Had Brees’s worst game of the season (Arguably week 6 in a 1 TD, 3 INT game against the Bucs. A game, by the way, in which Brees threw for 383 yards, another indication that yards is not everything.) come later in the season, I don’t think we’d even be having this conversation.

Sound Bites: Week 16

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“You shut up, Fat Boy!”

“No, you shut up!”

“You shut up!”

Playground? Nope, just Rex Ryan and Brandon Jacobs. Carry on.

 

 

 

 

 

“I will never fire myself,” Raheem Morris. No need to worry about that, coach. I think the Bucs will do that for you.

“All I can say is, that boy ballin’.” Calvin Johnson on Matthew Stafford. I didn’t know white guys could ball.

Percy Harvin on Joe Webb. “Magic…He’s one of the gifted players that you can’t describe. You can’t practice it. Not too many teams got quarterbacks that can do what he does.” Are we talking about the same Joe Webb? 

Jerry Jones explaining his decision to go down on the field to talk to coach Jason Garrett: “So I wanted to, very briefly, step down there with just a few minutes gone in the first quarter, sit there and say, ‘Here’s the lay of the land’.” I’ve got to hand it to you, Jerry. You make Dan Snyder look good.

Rex Ryan: “Clearly, I was wrong.” Clearly, you need to admit this more often.

“Oh yeah, a lot longer than I first anticipated,” Mike Shanahan when asked if improving the Redskins has taken longer than expected. Oh, Mike. Didn’t anyone tell you Washington is where anticipation goes to die?

Raiders safety Michael Huff: “This is a one-game season.” It’s actually a 16-game season, but since you only showed up for about half of them it has become a one-game season for your team.

“If you’re preparing to play, you got to prepare to play four quarters,” Andy Reid. I get it, you’ve just chosen not to prepare to play at all this season.

Jags interim coach on Blaine Gabbert: “When a player can come off the field and tell you exactly what he saw, what the defense was and why he did what he did, that’s a good sign.” And it went something like this…Gabbert: “So I saw there was double coverage, but I tried to thread it in there anyway because I got confused for a second and thought I was Aaron Rodgers.”

“The equipment managers that rub down those balls…Y’all know what I mean. Full service.” Drew Brees in thanking the Saints organization for their help in achieving the single season passing yards record. Drew Brees, passer and double entendre extraordinaire. 

Instant Replay: Packers vs. Bears

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It was a merry Christmas all around.

Red Zone:

Aaron Rodgers had five touchdown passes, the most of his career in a single game. He also set a Packers record for the most passing yards in a season. And perhaps most significantly, he gave a big middle finger to everyone who started whispering about him having serious MVP competition last week. It was one bad game, people, and you should know by now not to rile QB1.

Ryan Grant has had some great runs the last couple of weeks. This game was no exception.

Megan tried to stick the offensive line in the neutral zone, but Im making the executive decision to promote them. After how terrible the line was last week, and knowing how banged up they are, and considering the Bears have a terrific pass rush, I really was expecting the worst. But they more than held their own giving Rodgers plenty of time to throw the ball. The line was clutch against all odds yesterday.

Clay Matthews forced a fumble then got the INT…now if he could only pass rush.

Another Rodgers/Nelson bomb for a TD. Doesnt look any better than that folks. It also produced my favorite text of the game from Katie, who was celebrating Christmas with Ginger Husbands family: Uncontrolled reaction to that in front of the fam #hopeididntwakethekids

James Jones two TD game. First of his career.

Two INTs in this game. Finally something to cheer about on D!

The team had ZERO penalties. We dont have any room for further error on defense so well need to continue to play clean football in the playoffs.

Neutral Zone:

Pretty happy to see James Starks back out there…and then not so happy to see him sidelined with another injury. Luckily, McCarthy called it an ankle bruise…hardly something to be concerned about.

Im a big fan of Randall Cobb. The kid has big time potential. He also has big time nickname potential with a name like Randall Cobb.

Twilight Zone:

Forget the dropped passes, Jermichael Finley Lambeau leap left much to be desired.

How about we don’t pressure the quarterback, like ever. Or stop the run. And why bother tackling? I think this team has really just decided that playing defense is overrated. Who can really blame them when Aaron Rodgers bailed them out 14 out of 15 times?

Charles Woodson got kicked in the knee. I held my breath. He was fine.

Monday Morning Cornerback

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Winners

Cam Newton broke Peyton Mannings record for most passing yard in a rookie season. This fact annoys me.

How does a team go 0-13 and then win 2 games in a row? The Colts have finally decided to go all win one for the gipper, except Peyton Mannings not on his death bed, hes just trying to keep his job.

The Giants beat the Jets, taking the Eagles out the playoffs, making it near impossible for the Jets to make the post-season, and injuring their own coach. Also, the Jets are so a dumb.

Cowboys guard Montrae Holland trying to a flag against the Eagles. Hysterical.

Jerome Simpson of the Bengals is trying out for the Olympic gymnastic team next year. Who can blame him for wanting to be the next Dominique Dawes.

Losers

The Lions can’t even make it out of the tunnel without getting into a fight. Ridiculous.

Tim Tebow lost again. This time to the Bills, which isnt a good team. Maybe ESPN can cut their Tebow coverage down to 20 minutes per hour? Maybe?

Mark Sanchez (snicker).

The Bears still suck.

The Chargers didn’t make the playoffs. Norv Turner shouldn’t make next season.

Speaking of bad defense, the NBA came back just in time to ruin my Christmas. I liked it better when you werent clogging up my sports news and highlight reels.

I hope you enjoyed your upset while it lasted, Kansas City.

Year in Review: Indianapolis Colts

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The Colts year started with a playoff loss to the Jets, but that was actually the high point of their 2011. At least they were in the playoffs then.

Lockout starts. Lockout ends. Colts’ fan would later wish the lockout had never ended.

Manning signs 5-year, 90 million dollar deal on July 31. Manning is happy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One month later just before the 2011 season starts, Peyton Manning’s neck falls off and he undergoes his 3rd surgery in 19 months. Jim Irsay asks for his 90 million back.

Colts panic and sign Kerry Collins. Collins sucks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Collins suffers concussion in week 3.

Curtis Painter makes his first career start. Painter sucks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Painter is benched. Orlovsky takes over for Painter. Orvlosky sucks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But not as much as Collins or Painter.

 

And the Colts finally win their first game of 2011 on Dec. 18…and why stop there? Win #2 came in their next game on Dec. 22…just in time to make the “Suck for Luck” campaign a lot more interesting.

Keep your heads up, Colts fans. Only one more game left, and then you have the entire offseason to debate the potential Peyton Manning/Andrew Luck coexistence rather than talk about how terrible your team was in 2011.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Double Coverage Goes to Arrowhead

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Double Coverage Goes to Arrowhead.

Arrowhead. It's no Lambeau, but it is our 2nd favorite NFL stadium.

Proof that the Chiefs hate America.

Flyovers are always way cool. And reason #3,289 why outdoor stadiums are superior to domes.

Santa!

Cup holder fail.

The classic leather NFL coat tied in front. Nice look, dad.

Goal-line stand.

Are we having fun yet?

 

Sound Bites: Week 15

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Rams lineman Harvey Dahl overhead by the entire stadium (and America) through the ref’s mic as he was making the call: “That’s not f***ing holding.” 1) It is and 2) you just tacked on another 15 yards for talking a little too loud a little too close to the ref’s mic but 3) it was hilarious so carry on. 

“Well I’ll say this, Santonio [Holmes] and I talk all the time,” Rex Ryan. Yeah you do.

“I was pretty upset when they weren’t showing respect to America during the national anthem,” Jeremy Shockey on the Texans behavior during the anthem. Hey, Shockey, remember that time your team was in the super bowl and you sat up in a box pouting the whole time because you were hurt? That was respectful too. 

“I’m usually not that excited about things, but it’s what you play the game for,” Ndamukong Suh. Doesn’t sound like you at all. You’re definitely not one to get excited or lose your cool. 

“We’re in hell now, but we have a vacation home in hell,” Terrell Suggs said. Biblical inaccuracy aside, I can see why you would be confused. But you’re not in hell, you’re just in Baltimore. 

Michael Vick said: “For the most part, we played good football all season.” Either you’ve been smoking something or your game tapes got mixed up with the Packers game tapes.

“They just kind of started bleeding us a little bit,” defensive end Justin Tuck. Leave it to the Redskins to make an ancient medical practice work in modern football. 

Jon Gruden: “There are always 11 men on the field that will tackle.” Honestly, the fact that you get paid for this kind of “commentary” is laughable. 

“Where’s James Harrison when you need him?” Ben Roethlisberger as a fan ran onto the field during the power outage at Candlestick. Methinks Harrison was sitting at home playing with his guns and cursing the day Roger Goddell was born. Typical day in the Harrison household.