Wednesday, December 31, 2008

2008 NFL Regular Season Recap

So another NFL regular season is in the books, and while there were a few interesting team stories, there were many remarkable individual accomplishments as well. First, the team stories:

- Brady goes down immediately, but the Patriots rebound nicely under the leadership of QB Matt Cassell, only to become the first 11-5 team to miss the playoffs since 1985.

- The Chargers were 4-8 after 12 games, only to win their final four games and squeak into the playoffs ahead of the Broncos, who became the first team to choke a 3 game lead with 3 games to play. The Chargers miraculous comeback included an amazing week 15 win when they beat the Chiefs 22-21 at Kansas City after trailing by 11 with less than 2 minutes left in the game.

- The Detroit Lions finally fired Matt Millen, but the damage had been done through poor drafts and other bad personnel decisions, and they became the league’s first 0-16 team.

- The Miami Dolphins, who almost lost all 16 games just a year ago, rebounded to an 11-5 record and division title in a stunningly quick turnaround under new GM Bill Parcells.

- The Atlanta Falcons also experienced a stunningly quick change of fortunes, as less than two years after the Vick debacle and just one year after Bobby Petrino quit on them, they drafted a remarkably mature, intelligent rookie QB Matt Ryan and made the playoffs. Unfortunately for coaches and GM’s everywhere, the bar has been raised and 4-5 year rebuilding plans are a thing of the past.

- Relating to the point above, that means there’s good news for Raider fans who suffered through yet another losing season – quick turnarounds are possible. Of course, first they have to get rid of Al Davis…arsenic in his hot cocoa?

- The Dallas Cowboys still struggled to win when it counts in November and December, and Jerry Jones should butt out of any and all personnel decisions. Any halfway decent fantasy football GM could have told him Roy Williams wasn’t worth near what he gave up for him. His final Cowboy numbers? 10 games, 19 catches, 198 yards, 1 touchdown. Ouch.

Now for the individual accomplishments:

- Drew Brees became just the 2nd QB in NFL history to throw for over 5,000 yards in a season, finishing with 5,069, a mere 15 behind Dan Marino’s 1984 record of 5,084. As it turned out, he had enough time to make one last throw in the Saints final game vs. the Panthers, but the throw fell short, and Marino retained the record.

- Adrian Peterson led the NFL in rushing with an impressive 1,760 yards, the 21st best total in history, behind # 20 Emmitt Smith’s career best total of 1,773 in 1995, and just ahead of # 22 Marcus Allen’s career best total of 1,759 in 1985.

- DeAngelo Williams became just the 7th player in NFL history to run for at least 1,500 yards at a 5.5/carry average. The other 6? Jim Brown (twice), O.J. Simpson (twice), Walter Payton, Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders (twice), and Clinton Portis (twice).

- Speaking of Portis, he finished the year with 1,487 yards, making this his 5th year of at least 1,300 yards rushing in a season. He is just the 9th player in NFL history to run for 1,300 yards in a season at least five times. The others are Payton & Sanders (9 times), Emmitt (7 times), Brown & Tomlinson (6 times), and Earl Campbell, Dickerson, and Curtis Martin, all 5 times.

- Speaking of LT, he failed to reach 1,300 yards this year for the first time since 2001, breaking his record streak of 6 straight years reaching the 1,300 plateau.

- Andre Johnson led the NFL with 1,575 yards receiving, the 16th best total in NFL history – behind #15 Rob Moore who gained 1,584 yards in 1997, but ahead of #17 Jerry Rice’s 1986 total of 1,570.

- The Carolina Panthers’ Steve Smith became the 12th player in NFL/AFL history to gain at least 1,400 yards receiving at 18 yards per catch or better. He’s the first to accomplish the feat since 2000 when Torry Holt (82 rec, 1,635 yds, 19.9) and Randy Moss (77 rec, 1,437 yds, 18.7) achieved it. Finishing the season with 1,421 yards on 78 catches, Smith likely would have become just the 6th player in NFL history to have over 1,500 yards receiving at least twice in a career had he not been suspended the first two games of the season. Smith gained 1,563 yards on 103 catches in 2005.

- Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals became just the 4th player in NFL/AFL history to record at least 1,400 yards receiving in a season three times…in only his 5th season! The others are Jerry Rice (6 times), Marvin Harrison (4 times), and Randy Moss (also 4 times).

- Tony Gonzalez cemented his status as possibly the greatest pass-catching TE in NFL history (though Kellen Winslow Sr. was quite awesome for Air Coryell in the 1980’s). He now has the most catches (916), yards (10,940) and TD’s (76) for a TE in history, as he surpassed the 1,000 yard mark for the 4th time in his career.

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Saturday, December 06, 2008

Change

Change, did someone say change? I recall Obama mentioning it a few times. Of course, subsequently he's been ZERO change, as almost all his hires are well known, well-connected Washington & NY finance insiders and vets, such as Hillary & Geinther.

The ironic thing is, we have change, for the worse, whether we want it or not.

The banks are being choked w/ cash from the Treasury and Fed, and the automakers are groveling for $34b...is this right? The banks are hoarding this cash like moms held their babies during Katrina - the numbers tell the tale. As the govt. piles on ever more debt, yields nonetheless fall in the face of endless suppy and the definite slowdown of Asian buying...the entire scenario is utterly bizzare as even those who saw ugly days coming didn't think it'd play out like this. The US bond mkt is yet another massive bubble that will undoubtedly explode and really ring in the death knell...

It is a far uglier picture than most realize...

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Thursday, December 04, 2008

A Few NBA Observations

Forgot to mention a couple highlights from last night, and an issue I have w/ a certain Phoenix Sun.

1) Lebron's passing - he's probably the greatest dart/laser/fastball passer I've ever seen, those hard, straight, bullet passes, pinpointed right at the recipient. Last night he had a great one of those to Zy underneath the basket, and then he made a ridiculous, Harlem Globetrotter type pass on a drive, where i can't even describe the pass, but it was amazing, perfectly accurate, and led to a basket for Varejao.

2) The D Wade everything sequence - he followed Ronnie Price driving to the hoop, blocked his shot attempt from 3 feet, stayed w/ him as Price got the rebound, then stole the ball from him, passed to a teammate and streaked down the floor, then took a pass from that teammate and elevated ridiculously high to throw down a monster dunk. Pure athleticism, an epic sequence to watch.

3) Shaq - Sitting out so he never plays back-to-back games. What a soft, lazy, poor leadership move that is. He's paid $20m a year and he can't play on consecutive nights? How about losing weight, getting in shape, and giving your employer a full effort? And amazingly, I haven't heard a single complaint from the media re this....he totally disgusts me.

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