Jack's Jock's Jot
Sunday (no, not Monday) Night Football
First and foremost... yes, I took last week off. And yes... I promised that I'd give you a full round-up of the World Series. But let's be honest. The World Series was a huge letdown. It was boring. I mean, of course I watched it. But even as one of the biggest baseball fans you'll ever meet - I have to admit it. The World Series was boring. But it capped off the baseball season in a somewhat appropriate way. A season when it all came down to who had the goods in the bullpen. And the team that did, turned out to be the Cardinals. I tip my Boston Red Sox cap to them, and turn my eyes toward next season.
For now... the Jock is going to do a little gloating. Because don't think I didn't find out. Jack's spies told me so. There was a lot of rolling of the eyes and snickering when I crowned Peyton the best NFL quarterback two weeks ago. We knew it wasn't Rex Grossman. He's good, but this week against the Dolphins was a little more than shocking. The Bears are going to have to regroup, but they've been strong as a team. But there was still Tom Brady to contend with. Enter Sunday Night Football.
I blew off invites to drinks with friends, a movie, and the possibility of cake to stay in on Sunday and watch this game. I wasn't the only one. Nearly 22 million tuned in to watch. I was not upset by my decision. All the analysts said that Indianapolis would not be able to fend off the Patriots defense. That their line would be able to get to Peyton too much. Indianapolis was a smaller team. They just couldn't beat the Patriots. Brady would be too good. The Indianapolis defense couldn't get to him.
I give you the statistics. My boy Peyton Manning (and yes... he's my boy!) threw for 326 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His Colts intercepted Tom Brady four times. Peyton threw only one interception. Tom Brady was not able to throw for a TD the entire night. They scored on two runs from Corey Dillion & a pair of field goals. I don't know where the Colts defense of the last two weeks came from, but I'd be happy to see it stay.
So not to gloat - but you... yes you . The naysayer... even if under your breath and never outloud - you have to give it to Peyton. If you watched the game then you watched him command his team. You watched him, play after play, place the ball where only his receiver - and only once the defender - could get to it. John Madden said it during the broadcast - talking to Peyton and you realize you're talking to someone who is 60% player, 40% coach. No one playing the game today knows more about the nuance, the skill, and the work that must go into a winning football game. You know I'm right. You know that Peyton is the best quarterback in the NFL. They won 13 straight last year, and they've already won 8 straight this year. What's different about this year, though? Peyton has been carrying the Colts on his shoulders. But he seems to be getting more and more help from the rest of his horseshoe-adorned brethren.
Oh - and while I must admit I really had little interest in the Oakland vs Seattle game Monday night (my interest in Seattle starts with Ichiro and ends with coffee - my interest in Oakland begins with Esteban Loaiza and ends with the other city across the San Francisco Bay), congrats to Seattle for nine sacks while beating Oakland 16 to zip!
Labels: Jack's Jock
posted by Anonymous at 3:06:00 PM
8 Comments:
WAHOO. HALLELUJAH. PRAISE BE. HUGE BIG ENORMOUS MASSIVE DEAFENING YAY. it's a croftie. albeit a croftie in ima putz clothing, but a croftie nonetheless.
and though i should compliment the jock on his wonderful wordly wizardry, the appearance of a commenting croftie after such a looooooooooong commenting croftieless stretch has rendered me stupified with delight. i must go lie down.
yeah. I've come to agree with your Manning thesis. I've never been a big fan and probably never will be but I recognize that he may be, nay, is one of the greatest to ever play the position. He was simply remarkable on Sunday night. The numbers he continues to pile up are staggering however he's still got one enormous Charles Barkely sized boulder on his back. He really really REALLY needs to win the big one, now more than ever. The more his stats become the ridiculous dreams of Madden Football Fan-boys, the more he will be criticised for not putting things together in the clutch.
I have this theory about the Colts, and i call it the Bill Polian theory. Bill Polian being the general manager and architect of the current Colts franchise. He is incredible at spotting talent, but for some reason he always ends up with dudes who can't win the big game. Polian's trial run was, of course, being the GM of the Buffalo Bills 90s Dynasty.
The similarities between those old Bills teams and the current Colts teams are uncanny. Start with a a franchise QB and form a 'big three' (Jim Kelly-Andre Reed-Thurman Thomas vs. Peyton Manning-Marvin Harrison-Edgerrin James) Add unbelievable supporting cast on offense (James Lofton-Kent Hull et. al vs. Jeff Saturday-Reggie Wayne-at al.) but generally ignore the defense except one terrific pass-rusher (Bruce Smith-Dwight Freeney). The point is the two teams are the same damn franchise. Polian has just gotten better with age. And every player for the colts may be a fraction better than any of the former Bills with the possible exception of Bruce Smith (tho the argument could certainly be made for Freeney) and Thurman Thomas (who I don't care what anyone says was the Marshall Faulk avant la lettre, and just had more all around skills than the Edge).
But does this mean that the Colts will never win it all? The Bills were hampered by a NFC that was simply loaded in their day. If it wasn't the Giants or Cowboys that they faced in the Superbowls it would have been the 49ers or Green Bay squad led by a then fledgling but already stunningly good Favre. The Colts have no such excuse. No NFC team has been even remotely dominate in the past 5 years and every team can be beat. The Colts problem has always been getting out of their own conference but this may be the year. We'll see.
the elusive croftment on a jot. awesome! and given my love of wild animals, felines, & mascots... i love being called a tiger. i mean, we all know, "They're Grrr-eat!" that's right. i went there. Tony T's got my back.
and DougO - your comparison of the 1990s Bills to the current Colts is truly worthy of academia! most impressive, and not being a Bills scholar myself - nothing that i could have come up with. good show. as for the quandary that is turning a team fronted by a man who's arguably the best QB ever into a Super Bowl victory... dude, I hope this is the year. as the oline would say, i'm all on tenterhooks and whatnot.
croftie?! where have you gone?! did chippy hijack your screenname? scary.
what the dread pirate toe-sock doug-O ferdinando needs is more names. five, even with the presence of two hyphenates, is just not nearly enough.
clearly croftie's been a sportsy all along - she's just been keeping us in the dark about it.
sports frnachises truly ought to be described as fledgling more often. The fledgling Houston Texans. the fledgling baltimore orioles. the fledgling andy roddick.
hahahaha... from hence forth i will simply have to refer to him as the fledgling andy roddick. and for that matter, we might as well move on to roger federer, the almighty. i mean, good lord...
the man does knows his way around the court.
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