NFL Thoughts: March 16, 2006

Journal NFLFan's Journal: NFL Thoughts: March 16, 2006 3

Journal by NFLFan on Thursday March 16, 2006 @01:52PM

It has been a while. I started to write something after the Super Bowl but there were too many people whining about the officiating or about the Steelers not deserving of win and I found myself defending the officials too much. Then I really did not care about the Pro Bowl and after that the labor and revenue spat really got started and I thought it best to only comment on that after it was settled. So now I am back.

Super Bowl Thoughts:

I thought it was actually an exciting game. The Seahawks were able to keep it close until the end.
Roethlisberger probably played as badly as he could. I do not mean this as criticism, just an observation. I have to wonder if his wearing a glove combined with the slippery new balls had anything to do with it. I thought his fourth-quarter play was very gutsy and clutch though.
It seems like everybody has said that Randle El threw the best ball of the day. That may be, I don't know. Now let me something that you may not have heard yet, Hasselbeck threw the worst ball of the day! Roethlisberger may have thrown 2 interceptions to Hasselbeck's 1 but Hasselbeck's was more of a back breaker.
I do believe that Roethlisberger did get that football across the goalline. I know Roethlisberger has since said that he does not believe he was in and it does not matter. I know a guy who was hit by a car and he swears that he hit the windshield and went over the roof but there is video of the guy being hit and that is not what happened. People make the worst witnesses.
The genius in Willie Parker's big run was in the play-calling.
I love Hines Ward but I do not know if he was worthy of MVP honors; the problem is that I do not know who really was worthy of the MVP. I admit that Ward had a lot more yards receiving than I thought he did but he had some drops too. Polamalu had a sub par game. Porter had a very quiet game. Maybe Randle El or Willie Parker but they only had one big play apiece. It would have been cool to see Faneca win the MVP.
The Seahawks played just like they did the last time they had two weeks off. Their troubles with the Redskins are a big reason why I like the Steelers.
The only penalty I disagree with was that goofy blocking below the waist non-sense that was called on Hasselbeck. Was the penalty a back breaker? No, because the interception was the back breaker. The penalty only gave the Steelers better field position which I do not think really mattered because I think the Steelers would have score on that drive no matter what.

CBA Thoughts:

It is great to hear that the NFL will have labor peace for the next 4-6 years.
It took way too long for these all the involved parties to reach an agreement.
I think the salary cap might be getting too big. I just do not understand these new economics. Average players seem to be going for too much right now.
I hate free agency but I sort of like the idea of non-first rounders having shorter contracts. The only thing better would be to make a draft picks sign 6-year contracts.

Free Agency & Player Movement Thoughts:

I cannot think of a team that has ever gotten good through free agency. Teams can get better through free agency but not good.
Okay, Drew Brees ended up in New Orleans and the Dolphins got Culpepper so what does this all mean? It changes the draft but how? No one really knows right now.
I do not know if I like either one of them. Both of them have been very good and very bad. Brees has been a lot better a lot more recently but he has a bad shoulder. Culpepper could make the Dolphins very good but the Saints need more than Brees to be very good.
Wow, those are some crazy contracts that wide receivers Randle El and Givens signed. Givens is the better pure wide receiver and a year younger but Randle El is very good but not a conventional wide receiver.
The Redskins overpaid for Randle El, surprise, but I actually like this signing. Randle El might not have the most glamorous stats but understand that his game is all about field position. Field position is very important to the Redskins.
The Titans also overpaid for their wide receiver and what is perhaps more troubling is that he might not fit there. Givens is not a difference maker on his own. I do think that Givens leaving the Patriots hurts New England a lot; Givens was the oil can in New England's offense by making the tough catches.
I did not like Hines Ward holding out at the beginning of training camp last year but I bet the Steelers are happy he did now. The contract Ward signed last year is similar those of Randle El and Givens but Ward is a much better than them. Oh well, I think I remember Ward saying it was not about money.
Cleveland is sure making a lot of noise but are these players worth it? I don't think so.
Shaun Alexander did the right thing by re-signing with the Seahawks.
I hope Edgerrin James is very happy with the money he received from Arizona.
What a surprise, Jamal Lewis re-signs with Baltimore. Between his lack of production and the things he said last year any other team would have been crazy to give him big money.
A week or so after the Super Bowl I remember reading that Lewis was targeting the Steelers as one of the teams he was interested in because Cowher has coached him in the Pro Bowl and was always positive towards him and said he would love to coach him regularly. I believe Cowher probably did say something like that and he may have been speaking the truth but the Steelers as an organization would never welcome such a player only a year removed from serving a federal jail term. That is why the Steelers are a good organization and that is why coaches should not have complete personnel control.
Where will T.O. land? My money is on Dallas right now.

Last year around this time I picked the Colts to win it all. It still seems too early to pick a team this year but I think I would try anyhow. Right now I am picking the Redskins. I think the Redskins will have a better offense next season and that is all that was holding them back last year.

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