Moss to Titans: A Failed Experiment

The Tennessee Titans claimed the troubled wide receiver Randy Moss off waivers this week in a move the Titans hope will help them secure a playoff berth in a competitive AFC South division. This will be Moss’s 3^rd team this season, and there’s a good reason the Titans were the only team in the NFL who wanted him following his 4 game stint with his old team, the Minnesota Vikings.

While many people believe this will be a low-risk high-reward move that will greatly benefit a 5-3 Titans team, this is a potentially disastrous move that could derail a promising season for this team. Yes, Moss is one of the most talented wide receivers in the game, and poses a huge deep threat for all opposing defenses, but at the same time he is a chemistry-killing self absorbed poison, who unless placed in the perfect environment will inevitably cause problems and draw attention to himself in a negative way. They say a leopard never changes its spots and there are numerous reasons to believe that won’t happen here.

Should the NFL suspend players for “illegal” hits?

James Harrison's hit on Browns receiver Mohamed Masaquoi was one of 3 illegal hits on Sunday that led the NFL to decide to begin imposing suspensions on players

This week the NFL imposed huge fines for 3 vicious hits that took place in Week 6 games on Sunday, and voiced its intent to begin suspending players for these types of hits in the future. In what has become an extremely controversial issue for players, coaches, and fans, the league decided to take a firm stance in an effort to defend the safety of its players.

While anyone who knows the nature of the game of football understands that it is an extremely dangerous game and that often times injuries cannot be prevented, I fully applaud the NFL for its actions. The types of injuries that result from these kind of illegal hits are ones that can be prevented, and should be even if it means suspending players for extended periods of time.

Should NFL teams be forced to play starters after clinching playoff positioning?

 

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell must consider a rule change for teams resting their starters

 

As the 2009 NFL regular season has come to a close, and Wild Card playoff weekend approaches, the normal buzz of playoff anticipation and the firing of coaches is in the air. The end of the regular season has also brought with it talk of an important problem that needs to be fixed in the NFL. This season, talks of how the NFL should handle the problems caused by teams resting their starters in the last few weeks have come to the forefront.

NY Giants 2009 Pre Season Analysis

The Giants kick off the 2009 season on Sunday against the Washington Redskins

As opening week in the NFL approaches, one of the most anticipated weeks in all of sports, I thought it would be good to have some pre -week 1 analysis on the Giants and to detail the NFC East, usually the most competitive division in football.

More posts on the rest of the divisions in the league will follow.

As we all know, last year the Giants had an extremely disappointing season, losing as the 1 seed in the first round of the playoffs to hated rival the Philadelphia Eagles. The season was especially disappointing as the Giants had been defending superbowl champions and had started the season 11-1 before the massive turmoil unfolded and led to the team’s ultimate demise. It wasn’t just the 1st round loss itself; it was the way in which the team lost, as it looked like an extremely mediocre team, unlike the one that had charged to an 11-1 start while obliterating anyone in its path.

Fantasy Football Draft Analysis

Will he live up to the hype?

My fantasy football league recently held its draft and here’s a brief explanation on why I picked who I did and the starting rosters of the other 9 teams in the league.  Sure, we opted to draft a little on the early side (right as training camps are starting) but we just couldn’t wait any longer.  And just for clarification, our scoring is slightly different from the standard Yahoo League -who does standard scoring now anyway?  We get .5 points per reception (instead of 0), 1 point for every 50 passing yds (instead of 25), 1 point per 30 return yds (instead of 0), 3 points per field-goal regardless of distance, 4 points per punt/kickoff return touchdowns and kinder penalties for defenses.

Click on to read about some draft strategy, how I ended up with Kurt Warner and Donovan McNabb and to watch some awesome highlights (including one of the best catches you will ever see) which I now watch in an effort to convince myself that my team has the talent to make the playoffs.

Housh to Boycott Madden 2010 over ‘Player Rating’

Seahawk’s wide-receiver T.J Houshmandzadeh has announced he’ll boycott the new Madden game until his player rating is changed.  He first broke the news on a radio show but has since been invited on ESPN First Take to voice his displeasure with some of the Madden creators – this is the video above.  I think these two geek-a-zoids (who probably have one of the best jobs ever) held their own quite well and Housh is coming out of this looking a little bit dumb.

First Housh is rated 91.  He’s complaining about being rated a 91.  That puts him as the 10th best receiver in the entire game!  I would argue that the rating is extremely  generous and Housh should be more than happy with it.  He is 32 after all and his career is on the decline.  He’s one of the most reliable receivers around but he’s got no speed, no downfield threat and doesn’t score a lot of TDs.  He can place all the blame he wants on the offense in Cincinnati, but the numbers don’t lie.  And in the world of video games, your numbers are what makes your rating – there are no intangibles.

Anyways, he says he’ll prove himself in this new Seattle offense and they’ll be forced to up his number.  But can’t he just get the game and change his rating if he really feels so strongly about this?

Playing with Fire

 

Burress in happier times

Last season started so well for the Giants.  November rolled around and they found themselves 10-1 with victories over each of their divisional rivals.  Then, star receiver, Plaxico Burress, shot himself in the leg (by accident of course! Dummy)…at a nightclub.  Yes, that actually happened.  I know, I know, I still don’t quite yet believe it either.  The G-men went on to lose three of their next four games.  Eli Manning threw only one TD pass during that stretch and was sacked 12 times.  GM Jerry Reese and many Giants are however, optimistic that the new group of receivers will be able to fill the void. 

            I don’t buy it.