Pack it in Brett Favre and retire. You have a bum shoulder and let all of New York down. Would the Jets have won if Favre had decided to sit it out instead of preserve the streak? Would the Jets have won with Pennington were the QB? Would the Dolphins be in the playoffs with Favre as QB? I have my thoughts…

The Jets would’ve made the playoffs with a backup or Pennington at the healm. A non healthy player doesn’t help his team much despite all the will in the world. I won’t question Favre’s heart of competitiveness, but I will question his ability to play up to par while having an injured shoulder. We are going to find out that he has a labrum issue or a rotator cuff problem and he is going to walk away from the game. I’m glad he went out playing though instead of sitting on the bench with a clipboard because he was hurt. He’s that type of player and that’s why we love him, but his pride cost the Jets a playoff spot.

With Pennington the Jets would’ve gotten in the playoffs easily and instead he is taking the Dolphins there. The Dolphins improved by 10 games this season and Pennington had a large role in that. That guy has some determination and is a great passer. He plays the game very safely because he understands what his limitations are and he lives by them. I don’t think the Dolphins will win a game in the playoffs but you never know.

Lastly, the Dolphins don’t make the playoffs with Favre but the Packers do and isn’t that what we would be most concerned about. Aaron Rodgers did a fine job as the Packers QB and showed some promise, but Favre would’ve taken the Packers to the division title again because he would’ve won those 4th quarter games that Rodgers blew the whole year. I know it sounds funny, but it’s true.

The Packers are done and are not going to make the playoffs. The Bears, on the other hand, got a gift from the Atlanta Falcons yesterday as they beat the Vikings. It’s only fair because the Falcons stole one from the Bears earlier in the year or the Bears wouldn’t be in this spot to begin with.

If the Bears win out they are in the playoffs and have two games remaining. One is tonight against the Packers, who killed the Bears a month ago and the other is against the Texans at home. I like Chicago tonight for a couple reasons. One, it is a home game and two, the Packers have packed in the season. I know it is a rivalry game and everything but when it is -20 wind chill tonight and Green Bay doesn’t have something besides pride to play for I think they will fold up and quit. I hope they do.

Here’s the way it goes for Chicago: If the Vikings lose to the Giants next week and the Bears win then the Bears win the division and they are in. If the Vikings win, the Bears win and the Eagles beat Dallas AND Tampa loses to Oakland then the Bears make it.

I just don’t think the Bears get in unless the Giants beat the Vikings and with home field locked up for the Giants I can’t see them playing all their starters right before the playoffs start. We’ll see, but it all means nothing unless the Bears win tonight.

Detroit is going to go 0-16 and they have to be considered the worst football team ever. Just like I still believe that the 1985 Bears are the best team ever I’m sure I can get some people to disagree with me on both points. The Lions were expected to win close to 8 games with a very talented offense in place despite Jon Kitna at quarterback. Kitna is a decent NFL qb and has been since 1950, or so it seems, but his teams just don’t go very far. He throws too many interceptions and takes too many risks for my liking.

Who can compare? Well in 1976 the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were in their first year as a franchise and went on to go 0-14. To be a Buc in those days was horrible. But they were an expansion franchise and the Lions have had top draft picks each year for nearly a decade and nothing to really show for it. Getting rid of Matt Millen was a great step but it still hasn’t given them a win yet. They’ve come close a couple times but close doesn’t count. They are horrible.

In 1982, the Colts went 0-8 in a strike shortened season and they were bad. You’ll remember this because as a result the Colts got the top pick in the draft next season and John Elway announced he would not play football for the Colts so they decided to take him and immediately trade his draft rights to the Broncos for a pro bowl guard named Chris Hinton. The Lions have drafted a slew of solid wide receivers only to be left now with Calvin Johnson and some scrubs to try to throw the ball to him.

The point is that they are the worst team ever due to the fact that they encompass everything that is wrong with a pro football team in a city that needs a successful team more than any other city in America right now. In each of our lives we have our problems and our sports teams help us get through those times. When the Cubs, Bears or Bulls win a game it makes each day that much better for me. With the people in Detroit wondering about jobs and life and mortgages right now i would really hope that for one day/one season the Lions could bring these people some well deserved joy and relief if even for a short time. Oh, except for the two times they play the Bears each year.

This is one interesting hire. Auburn is a great job in a football crazed state. They play in the best conference in the land and have a rich football tradition. I have to add that the tradition does include the coach they hired but does that matter. If we have learned anything over the years it is that success as a coordinator doesn’t mean anything when hiring a head coach. Coach Chizik was a great defensive coordinator for the 2004 Auburn team that went undefeated. He was a great hire for Iowa St but since he was hired as the head coach the team has gone 5-19 in his two season there. I’m not saying that he wouldn’t have done a good/great job at Iowa st because you really can’t judge a coach after 2 years, but 5-19 isn’t a great sign. Ron Zook won few games his first two years before really coming out in his 3rd season at Illinois and Chizik could have done the same but how good must he have felt about Iowa st when the guy jumps ship in the middle of a rebuild. He couldn’t have liked what he saw coming at Iowa st or he would’ve stayed.

Why not Turner Gill from Buffalo? This guy was ready. He would be able to come in and recruit well for Auburn. He is a hot hire right now and would’ve got a lot of positive press. Gill just led his team to the upset of Ball st and ruining their undefeated season there. I just don’t get why Gill wasn’t given the chance to take this job. Gill took garbage and built it up to something very good at one of the worst programs in the country. Chizik took Iowa st nowhere and showed no signs of doing any better.

Who would you want?

How is the spread offense effectively stopped?

When I was very young the option was very prominent among college football teams. It was supposed to be indefensible because of all the problems it caused for defenses. We don’t see the option as much as we used to anymore but the teams that run it are still very successfull usually. Is the spread the next option? Is the spread the option only out of a shotgun?

I’m of the mindset that the spread is the passing version of the option in that you try to create misdirection but the reads are almost the same. Qb’s are taught to watch the ends to determine if they should hand off, keep it or pitch. Teams that run the spread well have mobile qb’s who can run and throw and are threats. Option qb’s back in the day were really not very good passers. The good passers didn’t want to play at option schools.

So I ask the question: how does a team stop the spread? What are some of the theories behind beating it? How can Oklahoma and Florida stop each other come Orange Bowl time?

I can’t help but think of how good USC was a few years ago with Leinart and Bush and how Vince Young and Texas beat them because USC couldn’t stop the spread run by Vince. USC is/was as talented as it gets but still gave up a ton of points that day. I know they had a plan but somehow it didn’t work very well.

When i played we didn’t have the spread offense so I didn’t know any better. When I played in the backyard we would practice the option because it was fun to practice pitching the ball right before getting hit. Are the kids today going to practice the shotgun fake handoff seam pass to a tight end? I wonder.

What I’m really wondering is if you can defend this offense or if in 20 years we’ll be back to the wishbone.

How does Texas not get this title game? I don’t get it at all. Texas beat Oklahoma head to head and did it going away. It was on a neutral field and both teams were playing very well at the time. It was the early season version of Alabama vs Florida. The difference is that Florida and Oklahoma lost earlier in the year while Alabama and Texas lost later in the year. In the end though this is screwed up.

45-35 was the final score of that matchup and Texas then went on to lose at Texas Tech by a miracle last second play. That inability to keep Crabtree from the end zone cost the Longhorns a shot at a national title despite beating Oklahoma 3 weeks earlier. If the scenario was reversed and Texas lost to Texas Tech a month earlier and beat Oklahoma like they did then Texas no doubt would be the higher ranked team so I’m sure of the logic behind the choice. People say “Oklahoma beat Texas Tech easily and Texas lost to them so…” Texas was at the tail end of playing top 10 teams for 4 weeks in a row. The game was on the road. Besides, none of it matters when the two teams played head to head and Texas easily beat Oklahoma. Kills me.

The point is dead if Texas loses to Ohio st, which I don’t think they will. Texas vs Florida should be the title game and I’d love to hear the arguments otherwise.

This is nuts. How does he keep a job at Notre Dame? He started great and since has regressed in most peoples eyes. They had a schedule this year to get them 9-10 wins and barely finished at .500 with losses to Syracuse and USC to end the year. They will get a bowl game but what has this man done that is any different than previous coaches before him who got the axe?

Weis is a solid recruiter as I’ve covered before and he graduates his players. He’s a great leader in that regard. What he isn’t good at is getting this to translate onto the field. He’s at 3 straight top 10 recruiting classes yet nobody knows any of their players. They don’t have that big name that they always used to have year after year from Rocket Ismail, Rick Mirer (slight chuckle), Ron Powlus (bigger chuckle), Brady Quinn and so on. Clausen shows some serious signs of being a good qb but he’s not leading this team and has a lot on his shoulders.

What I love about this is the negative recruiting that is going to take place. Teams are going to jump all over current committments and future committments by saying “you don’t know how long this guy is going to be there” and I hope it works.

Weis is going to come back next year with another great recruiting class. He’s going to come back with all the promise that each year brings. Then he’s going to Norv Turner that promise to death and bring another average season to Notre Dame football.

I love watching football games from the QB perspective to try to understand what they see on each play. I find it fascinating to study defenses and have tried on my own to watch and determine what defenses teams are playing each game, set of downs or certain plays.

A few months ago I came across some studies from high school coaches that actually ask their players to play Madden or NCAA Playstation games to help them get accumstomed to seeing defenses and finding weaknesses so I went about trying the same thing and it works without a doubt. Granted you aren’t getting the free lancing of Ray Lewis or Troy Polamalu but you are getting the basic sets and reads down which is very important.

As a young Qb i distinctly remember the first time I read a defense during a play. The team was in a 2 deep zone with 2 safeties playing 15-20 yards off the ball and we called a deep pass to the halfback out of the backfield. As the halfback got past the linebacker he was let go and I had an option, to either throw the ball quickly or simply wait and throw the ball over the safety to the running back. The safety had 10 yards on my receiver so I threw the ball as hard as I could past the linebacker and in front of the safety to the halfback. He caught the ball and ran back to the huddle and asked me why I threw it so quick and I told him about what I saw. That started something for me that I’ve loved ever since.

Whenever I play my nephew in a game of NCAA football and utterly destroy him, I try to teach him to watch the safeties and read the blitz and count the rushers. I try to teach him about hot routes and who to throw to if a certain player blitzes so that he is always prepared. The best QB today at reading is Kurt Warner. I thought it was Peyton Manning and it may be but for my fun I love watching Warner throw against teams because until he gets to the red zone he’s as good as it gets at picking defenses apart and taking what is given him.

Am i suggesting to play video games to learn how to understand defenses, yes!!! It works and it’s fun. Don’t hesitate to use instant replay to see why a play was successful or why it failed so you can learn. As a tool it doesn’t get better than that.