RSS

Category Archives: Andrew Luck

You have to risk it all, to win it all.

19 Jan

I was looking for some information on my Redskins, when I came across this article. Now, I could go on and on about what I think about the Redskins and the quarterback situation, but I think this brings up a whole other subject. That being that the NFL is a one position league. Take some time to at least scan through that article (believe me, it’s good for fans of any team). Let’s take a look at what the NFL has become.

I never really thought about writing about this subject until today when I read Jason Reid’s article on the QB situation for Washington and the whole league. It just reinforced my position that I have come to over the past 2-3 years. That being, the NFL is a one position (QB) league. You have to have a great QB to win the Super Bowl these days. Just go ahead and look at the QB’s that have made and won the past 11 Super Bowls (in reverse order):

That’s right, you have to go all the way back to 2000 to see an average/good QB match-up. And that was really before a lot of the rules have made it to a QB league. Gone are the days of a Jim McMahon, Jeff Hostetler, Doug Williams, Mark Rypien winning the Super Bowl. Sure, you see Rex Grossman in Super Bowl XLI in 2006. He was surrounded by an outstanding defense and a great running game (why did Lovie Smith stop running the ball in the 2nd half?). But this is the exception. If you want consistent winning, which is the best way to make 1 or multiple trips to the Super Bowl, you have to have a great QB. This league is the haves and the have-nots. Sure, you can have your team jump up and have a great year winning 10 or 11 games and making the playoffs. There’s 5 new teams making the playoffs every year. But if you want to turn that into consistency, you have to have an elite QB. For the fans of the teams that don’t have an elite QB? You’re screwed. You want to know why the 49ers are back in the NFC Championship Game? Look no further than Alex Smith and before you start laughing, go look up his numbers this year. He has been more than a game manager. I wouldn’t put him in the elite catagory, but for at least this year he is a very good to great QB. For all of the flack (no pun intended) toward Joe Flacco (and I have my doubts, too) he has been a good to very good QB most of the time and has a ceiling in the elite level.

All we have to look at is this: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER have I ever even agreed with the notion to root for your team to lose games to get a higher draft pick. Well….that is until this year, of course. Sure, it was foreign to me and very hard. I even caught myself pulling for the Skins to win games that they were close in and ones at the end of the season. I reveled in the fact they swept the New York Football Giants for the first time since 1999!!!! I could finally call my brother and act like a complete idiot, pumping my fists in his face Harbaugh-style and singing Hail To The Redskins at the top of my lungs. Then, I remembered where our franchises currently stand and I cried like a baby…but enough about that.

Why did I pull for the Skins to Suck For Luck? Even though they had no shot at him because the Colts were purposely throwing their season. What other choice do you have? If you want your team to have a chance to win a Super Bowl you better believe this is your only shot nowadays. Plus, I think you would too if your team hadn’t had a franchise QB since 1985 when Joe Theismann went down to a nasty, career-ending injury at the hands of LT. And if you look at it, the Skins haven’t had a legit Hall-of-Famer at the QB position since Sonny Jurgensen was throwing it around from 1964-74. THAT’S A FULL 8 YEARS BEFORE I WAS BORN!!! Sorry to yell, but COME ON! I realize that their only shot at being a legitimate franchise again is to get that elusive franchise QB. More than ever this is imperative. And it is to your team, too. I mean, think about it…the Colts aren’t stupid (well….) they are risking alienating the face of the franchise, since it moved to Indy in 1984, to draft the next elite QB. They now for them to maintain a level of excellence, this is their only way.

So, thank you Roger freaking Goodell. You have messed this league up, in the name of safety and trying to grab the casual fans’ eyeball. Thank you for giving my team (and many other fans’ teams) the chances of “when Hell freezes over” to not only win a Super Bowl but to compete for it for a full decade!

 
2 Comments

Posted by on January 19, 2012 in Aaron Rodgers, Alex Smith, Andrew Luck, Ben Roethlisberger, Brad Johnson, Donovan McNabb, Doug Williams, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Indianapolis Colts, Jake Delhomme, Jeff Hostetler, Jim McMahon, Joe Flacco, Joe Theismann, Kerry Collins, Kurt Warner, Mark Rypien, Matt Hasselbeck, New York Giants, NFC Championship Game, NFL, Peyton Manning, Rex Grossman, Rich Gannon, Roger Goodell, San Francisco 49ers, Sonny Jurgensen, Super Bowl, Tom Brady, Trent Dilfer, Washington Redskins

 

UnLUCKy Horseshoe

18 Jan

WHOA NELLY!!! Did anyone see this one coming? Of course we did. I actually saw this coming the second the Indianapolis Colts hired Jim Caldwell. Jim Caldwell was a Barry Switzer-like hire, just without all of the championship rings from coaching college. Let’s take the Delorean back to 1994…

Jimmy Johnson had just stepped down from winning back-to-back championships with the Dallas Cowboys. Mr. Plastic Jerry Jones as Owner, President, GM, Emporer, Pharoah, Caesar, etc. wanted a puppet. He wanted a man that he could control, a man that would go with the flow and do it Jerry’s way. Jimmy Johnson was too much of a free-thinker and rattled too many of Jones’ cages. Now, I think the same applies to Mr. Bill Polian circa 2009. Tony Dungy, who didn’t rattle cages like Johnson but did have success, had just retired and Polian needed his own Pinochio. In comes poor Jim Caldwell. Caldwell would go with the flow and just drive the Manning-hini. Now, when the Colts hired Caldwell I was flabbergasted. Why in the world would the Colts want Mr. Wake Forest-fail to come in and coach what was the 2nd most successful franchise in the 2000′s? Well, Mr. Polian wanted a puppet to go along with his master plan.

Let’s get back to the Twin Lone Pine Mall. Exit Bill Polian and son, enter Ryan Grigson as GM and exit Jim Caldwell. Caldwell never should have been the head coach of the Colts in the first place but there is more to the story of the epic Peyton Manning-less colapse of the 2011 Indianapolis Colts.

Now, I have never been a real big believer in conspiracy theories (although the movie is very underrated). I don’t believe the NBA is rigged to have the biggest star always win. I don’t believe that Curt Schilling used ketchup on his sock. I don’t believe the NBA fixed Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals to have the Lakers beat the Kings. I don’t believe the Home Run Kings in baseball in the late 80′s to early 00′s used steroids…oh, wait…I guess that one was true, but I digress. I have to say after watching the crash and burn that was the Colts this year it leaves one to wonder what was going on behind closed doors.

I do believe there probably was a little something extra going on behind the scenes. Did the Colts tank to get the 1st pick and be able to draft Andrew Luck? Let’s remember this is a team to get wiped out by the Saints 62-7. Would Polian have his team put it on cruise control to just get through the season guaranteed of being able to draft Luck? The better question might be would he not consider it? Maybe this is all pure speculation and the Colts just sucked that bad. But is one man, even a QB and even a QB as great as Peyton Manning, able to turn a team that was extremely lucky to not lose every game into a consistent 10+ win team and not only win a Super Bowl but to also get to another one? I do think Polian was horrible at drafting over the past 3 or so years but this bad? I also don’t believe that Peyton would be able to take a team that showed this much lack of talent to the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl. So this just leads me to think something fishy/dirty was going on.

We’ll probably never know a true answer. But, it does look like this franchise is in the re-making phase. With a new GM and soon a new coach, the Colts will almost likely be picking up Andrew Luck and not looking to add a bunch of extra picks to stock up for one or so last runs at a Super Bowl with Peyton Manning. If this happens, could we be seeing the reverse of the 1980′s-90′s 49ers? Remember Montana brought them 4 titles while Young brought them a 5th. Could it be Manning brings them 1 while Luck brings them 4 more? Only time will tell. Maybe, they just stick with Peyton Manning and trade out to the Washington Redskins…we all could only hope this true.

 
2 Comments

Posted by on January 18, 2012 in Andrew Luck, Barry Switzer, Bill Polian, Curt Schilling, Indianapolis Colts, Jerry Jones, Jim Caldwell, Jimmy Johnson, Joe Montana, NBA, Ryan Grigson, Sacramento Kings, San Francisco 49ers, Steve Young, Tony Dungy, Wake Forest

 
 
%d bloggers like this: