Tuesday Afternoon Linebacker

The championship round games did not go the way TALB had hoped. We were looking forward to the Steelers crushing the Falcons in the big game; while the lowly Eagles sobbed in their cheese-steaks yet again. But instead the Iggles will have to wait two more weeks before they can commence moisturizing their sandwiches. In other news, the Bucs signed some minor free-agents, fired some admin staff, and are getting ready to sue a stadium vendor.

Dirty Birds
The Falcons were simply out-manned and out-hustled Sunday. That’s all there is to it really. The Eagles came to play and to win (more on that below). The Falcons seemed, Susan Luci-like, just happy to be there. After the game Jim “Headset Stomper” Mora seemed to spend more time berating the officials than coaching his team. As disappointed as I am that the Eagles won, I can’t say that I feel bad that the Falcons lost.

Watching the game I saw yet another example of what happens when teams make Mike Vick play quarterback. If he has to stay back and throw from the pocket, he’s not that great. Vick has sick talent. To move to the next level though, he’s going to have to work on that passing skill. We know he can run and run well. But until he is viewed as a viable passing threat then he’s easy to shut down. Well, easy if you have the right coaches and personnel. If Vick were to ever find his passing game, woe Falcons’ opponents.

New Boss, Same As The Old Boss
First off, I applaud Bill Cowher for going for it on 4th-and-1 early in the game. It was a gut check and he showed his team that he was playing to win. Unfortunately, the mighty Steelers fell to the Patriots. All of the rookie quarterback excuses are being trotted out as we speak to explain the demise of the Steelers. It’s all bunk ladies and gentlemen. The Patriots of today, as much as it pains me to say this, are one of the best teams to ever stride the gridiron. I am not one who generally engages in hyperbole. The coaches find holes in their opponents and then run and pass through them. The players are not superstars, but they are all competent and have the confidence of the coaching staff. This is a way to build a team, and it seems to be working pretty well. In the last four years the Patriots have had a regular season record no worse than 9-7, have appeared in 3 of the four Super Bowls played, and have (so far) won two.

Jacksonville Ho!
Once again, I will be rooting against the Eagles in their next game. It’s not that I want the Patriots to win, again, but I just could not stand seeing the Eagles win the Super Bowl. Plus it would make this site obsolete. I think this game should be pretty good though. At least as good as the last two Patriots’ Super Bowls. When the game goes down to the wire, it’s always more exciting. Unless your team is playing, then you watch every last minute of the blow-out. I think that the Eagles though will be a little overwhelmed by this all because they have so much pressure on them to win. Sure they said they were loose for the NFCCG, But that’s really something entirely different than the Super Bowl. And don’t forget the uncanny ability of the Patriots to find the weaknesses in an opponent and then exploit them. Even if T.O. can play, will he make a difference? Who knows. I look forward to a good game with a ton of great plays.

TALB’s NFL “Hate” List:
1. Green Bay (tie)
1. Dallas (tie)
3. St. Louis
4. Philadelphia
5. Carolina

<pٴe Prevent Football Team
More and more coaches are playing not to lose. Maybe they actually care what is said about them in the papers. There’s an old saying, “the only thing the prevent defense does is prevent you from winning the game.” Our beloved Tony Dungy is one of the “best” at playing not to lose. He did it plenty here in Tampa and is now plying his brand of “prevent” up Indy way. And we saw his disciple, Herm Edwards, work the same kind of game plan late against the Steelers in the divisional round. The Bears may have a brighter future though. Lovie Smith is part of the Dungy coaching tree, but he also studied under Martz who knows how to go for the throat.

This phenomenon will be called the Prevent Football Team (at least here at TALB). This formula can be great for producing a winning season and a playoff berth. But the glaring deficiency in this scheme is that it cannot work when there is no tomorrow. When losing a game or two is no big deal during the season you can play not to lose and still come out ahead in the long run. But when you are facing elimination playing this way is likely to end in disaster. Simply because neither the coaches nor the players are prepared to deal with elimination. When you need that 30-yard pass with forty seconds to go, are you confident you can complete it? If you’ve tried it before, even if it failed then, maybe you are. If not, probably not.

That is why TALB prefers coaches like Spurrier, Gruden, and Belichick. They play to win every time and in the long run will have more success than the “prevent” guys. They way I see it, if you play to win you’ll get a ring. If you play not to lose, you’ll get a hat.

What Exactly Is In King’s Latte This Week?
Peter King of CNNSI fame has compiled some kind of list of the top five defensive minds in the NFL right now. Monte Kiffin comes in 8th. Maybe Pete still thinks that Tony Dungy was the mastermind of the “Tampa-2″ defense. Because of all of the former Bucs coaches running that defense, only the Colts have managed to screw it up. The Rams, Jets, and Bears are all doing okay with their variations of the scheme. Oh, and Tampa went on to win a little game in San Diego a couple years back with Monte running the defense. My dissection of King’s list follows.
1. Bill Belichick: A given, two rings in three years.
2. Jim Johnson, Eagles’ DC: The Eagles do have a pretty good defense. But his defense has failed to deliver when it mattered three years in a row so far. Something is missing.
3. Gregg Williams, Redskins’ DC: Uh yeah. This guy got run out of town in Buffalo. But he did manage to build their defense into something. I think Monte should be in this spot.
4. John Fox, Panthers’ HC: The Panthers do have an excellent defense, I can’t argue with this one either.
5. (tie) Jim Schwartz, Titans’ DC: I don’t know much about this guy. Though Tennessee has always been tough on defense.
5. (tie) Nick Saban, Dolphins’ HC: Come on Peter! Is Saban your new man-crush now that Favre is seriously thinking of retiring?

Basically, I think (along with a lot of other people) that Monte Kiffin does not get the respect and credit he deserves. It’s blatantly obvious to most observers that it is Monte, not Dungy, who created this defense and who continues to improve it. I think the greatest thing about the Kiffin defense is that it is not changed every week to match-up with a certain opponent. The coaches and players run it their way and force the opposing offense to adjust to them. Kiffin has to be one of the top defensive minds in football right now, he just has to be.

Bucs On Fire
The Bucs organization has been firing and suing now that the season is over. The team in charge of the new training facility has been sacked. The HR manager as well.

The company that makes the seats for RayJay have been sued. As you might have heard, or seen, the “red” seats are now pinkish in color due to the fading of the Sun. Note to any Northerners reading this (including any representatives from Hussey Seating Co) stuff lasts about half as long in Florida as it does elsewhere. It’s just a fact of life. Get used to if you want to make outdoor products for use in our great state. Given the seats’ 10-year warranty (expected life-span under “non-Florida” conditions) having them start to go bad in 2003 and into 2004 is about right.

And the Hillsborough County Commission is looking into a “scandal” regarding free access to tickets and/or luxury suites at RayJay. Yawn.

Coaching Moves
Yet another dismissed offensive coordinator has been retained by the Bucs as their new QB coach. Paul Hackett, late of the Jets, has been praised by everyone from Joe Montana to Chad Pennington as a great coach at that position. I guess we’ll see. Reviews of the man’s job as offensive coordinator have been, shall we say, mixed.

Running Items
WTF?
The NFL does not want anyone owning a replica of the Lombardi Trophy. Seems counter to their normal SOP though. I’d probably pay $30-40 for a 1/4 scale Vince from when the Bucs won. Even it it was just plastic.

Breath Of A Salesman
I can’t remember the one I really wanted to put in here.
But the “Stacy’s Mom” ad for Dr. Pepper is pretty funny. And the “mom” is strangely attractive.

Reverse Watch
In the Steelers-Patriots collision, early in the first, the Nantz-Simms announce-o-bots properly called an end around by it’s name. But then those of us assembled at the Buc Junkies end of season party had to have a discussion to clarify the meaning of an end around, a reverse, a double reverse, and [gasp!] a triple reverse. We came to the conclusion that if a true triple reverse were ever to be attempted the result would be a 10 yard loss on the play.

Grated Cheese
LOL

Super Bowl XXIX
This week, TALB will determine the winner of the game through various secret and possibly patented methods. TALB proclaims for all the world to see that the Patriots will win the Super Bowl. And for giggles, the final will be Patriots 31 Eagles 19. That should be just about as accurate as any other final score prediction you might see.

Next Week: Super Bowl hype begins, behind the scenes at TALB, and some surprises.