The Sports Guru

Who Has The Schedule Advantage?
Three of the four teams in the AFC West are in the thick of the playoff race as we head into the stretch run.  I took a look at the remaining schedules for each, and took a look at the W/L records of the opponents for each.  Let’s take a look —

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS(8-2)

Oakland     - 2-8

@ Buffalo   - 4-6

Denver      - 7-3

Kansas City - 6-4

@ Seattle   - 6-4

Arizona     - 2-8

Opponents Record(27-33)

The Chargers have the easiest road to the Division Title, record wise at least.  They are also the only tema remaininig to have more home games than road games remainig(4/2).  They do have to go to Buffalo in December, which is never easy, and will head to Seattle when the Seahawks figure to be healthy.  They face each team in the division one more time, but each of those is at home.  San Diego would have to have one of those Marty Schottenheimer blow up games to choke away the title.

DENVER BRONCOS(7-3)

@ Kansas City  - 6-4

Seattle        - 6-4

@ San Diego    - 8-2

@ Arizona      - 2-8

Cincinnati     - 5-5

San Francisco  - 5-5

Opponents Record(32-28)

The Broncos, on the other hand, have a bit harder time coming down the stretch.  Three of the next four games are one the road, and even that game against Arizona could get interesting given the talent the Cards have on offense.  When they faced each other in the pre-season Matt Leinart had a great first half throwing the football.  Kansas City is as tough as it comes to winning on the road and figures to be even tougher with the Thanksgiving Day primetime debut games on the NFL Network.  Even the game against the Seahawks will be a dog fight since it has been moved to Sunday Night.  The 49′ers are a surprise .500 team, though I don’t think we’ll have much trouble with them.  The one game on the schedule that may determine whether or not we get to the playoffs is the Cincinnato game on Christmas Eve.  The Bengals play the vertical passing style of offense that we have struggled with this season, and their defense plays a ball-hawking style.  If they are still in the playoff hunt that could be a dangerous game.  Face it, if the Broncos aren’t careful they could be on the outside looking in.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS(6-4)

Denver       - 7-3

@ Cleveland  - 3-7

Baltimore    - 8-2

@ San Diego  - 8-2

@ Oakland    - 2-8

Jacksonville - 6-4

Opponents Record(34-26)

The Chiefs have the toughest road, record wise wise and in reality.  The Chiefs needed a last minute drive to knock off the Raiders at home so you figure that game might be tough, and the trip to Cleveland will be no gimme with the Browns playing much better since the change at Offensive Coordinator.  The obvious key to the rest of their season is the two games against 8-2 Baltimore and 8-2 San Diego.  The Chiefs already knocked the Chargers off once this season so they’ll have confidence when they head to Southern California, but a loss to the Broncos on Thurday could put them in a hole they can’t get out of.  The finale against Jacksonville could determine the final playoff spot, and could have a big impact on the Broncos as well.

Technorati Tags: Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers, AFC West, NFL Playoffs

It was inevitable, almost a fore gone conclusion that the loser of the biggest game in the history of mankind would want a rematch. Just like boxing, when many rematches are written into the contract, the Wolverines and their fans are clammoring for one now, after losing to Ohio State by ‘only’ three points. Well, color me against that idea with a bright shade of not a chance. The Wolverines are a good football team, and they played hard in a tough environment, no doubt about it. Are they a better team than the Buckeyes? No way, not 9 times out of 10.

Sure, give the Wolverines 10 shots at Troy Smith and they might stop him once, but even then I’d think twice about it. Just face the facts Michigan Fan, Tryo Smith owns you, Jim Tressel owns you, and the Buckeyes own you. For now at least. Like any great rivalry this one has many ups and downs throughout it’s 100 year history. Right now is a time of upswing for Ohio State, as it was for Michigan during the long departed John Cooper era in Columbus.

The Buckeyes racked up over 500 yards of offense, and led all but 6 minutes of the game, after teh Wolverines took the opening kick-off down the field for a TD. The Bucks quickly built a 21-7 lead. Michigan impressively cut the lead to 21-14, before Ohio State went the length of the field right before halftime, making the score 28-14. That’s the point. Ohio State moved the ball at will. Anytime the Wolverines mounted a challenge, Ohio State imposed it’s will. Even when Michigan DID have the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead, the Buckeyes held them to a 3 and out.

Looking closer at the game, I would even venture to say the Buckeyes played about as poorly as they could have, and STILL scored 42, and dominated the box score. Few times will a team go -3 in the turnover battle in a game of this magnitude and win. The Buckeyes did, and won impressively. Only a late TD kept the score from being double-digits, a testament to Michigan’s never say die attitude. I commend them for that.

What I don’t commend is this farce of a defense Michigan supposedly had. Sure, I know the Buckeyes could spread the field with 4 or 5 wides, debilitating the so-called advantage the Michigan front 7 had, and they did just that. What wasn’t supposed to happen were two long TD runs, one by Chris Wells and one by Antonio Pittman, on a defense that had allowed under 30 yards rushing per game. Ohio State nearly hit the 200 yard mark, and that is a weakness on this team. Not against the Wolverine Defense.

Back to the rematch arguement. I said last week that no matter who won a rematch would be unfair to the winner of the game. After watching the game I think a rematch would be unfair to the fans of college football. Ohio State played poorly and put 42 on Michigan. They won’t play that poorly in the National Championship game, and there is no way Lloyd Carr will out-coach Master Tressel in a gam of that mignitude. And that’s if Carr doesn’t spontaneously combust before the game due to the pressue. Yea, I know, the BCS is supposed to match the two best teams, and thos two teams might just be the Wolverines and Buckeyes. If that’s the case, I welcome the opportunity to throw 50 on ‘Big Blue’. I just don’t Michigan fan would want to be embarrassed again.

Plus, I want to see Pete Carroll face as the Buckeyes trounce USC, or Charlie Weis face if we get to whop Notre Dame again. College Football, I love this game!

Technorati Tags: Ohio State, Michigan, Buckeyes, Wolverinies, BCS National Championship Game, Rematch, Notre Dame, USC, Pete Carroll

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I wanted to write this last night, wanted to dig my teeth into the 2nd loss of the season at home when the team held a touchdown lead or bigger in the 2nd half.  I thought better of it, no only for you, the reader, but for myself.  I decided to sleep on it, read as much reation as I could, then come up with something legible and somewhat intelligent.  Let’s see if I can succeed at either.

I’ll get to the reasons why in a bit, but after the loss last night I was asking myself why I wasn;t more upset.  A loss like this one, or the Colts game a month ago, would have ruined a week for me, but after the loss last night I was able to turn the channel, watch a movie, and go to bed.  I even was able to listen to Mike and Mike in the Morning, an absolute No-No in the past.  I came up with the reasaon, but I want to look at what happened last night, and who the blame should go to.

This Team Has No Identity — In the past, if you asked me, or any Bronco fan for that matter, what this team was about and we’d tell ya.  The Broncos run the ball, control the clock, get a lead and get it done.  They run to set up the pass, and when they get the lead in the fourth quarter they take the air out of the ball with 7 or 8 minute drives that shorten the game.  

This year the team has lost that indentity.  A key drive in this game was after the Chargers scored the TD to cut the score to 24-14.  The Broncos got the ball back, and threw on three consecutive snaps, cutting 45 seconds off the clock and giving the ball right back to the Chargers.  The Broncos failed to get any momentum back, and you could feel the ebb and flow of the game ebbing and flowing towards the visitor.  In the past the Broncos would have run the ball, chew up clock and getting a score, a field goal, somthing, to re-establish control.  Not this team.

Bone-Headed Plays At The Worst Times — This goes hand in hand with the last point.  After the Chargers scored on the long pass to L.T. making the score 24-21, the Broncos did try and take the air out of the ball a bit.  They drove down the field, mostly using the running game and a great catch by Javon Walker, and were on the cusp of regaining a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter.  Then Jake fumbles a snap from the shotgun, forcing a field goal, and keeping the game at one score.  Jake Plummer not only makes mistakes, but he makes them at the worst possible time.  I don’t think Jake lined up in the shotgun the rest of the game, a huge key to the 4th down play later when Jake was picked off.

Shanny Doesn’t Have Alot Of Faith — This also refers to the identity of this team.  Even if you wanted to say that the Broncos are about defense this season, you can’t now after Shanny decided to go for it on a 4th and 4 from the Broncos 38 with 3 minutes to go and 2 timeouts.  And it just isn’t the defense Shanny has little confidence in.  It’s also Paul Ernster and the special teams group.  If we had a punter that Shanny could trust to drop a ball deep in Charger territory to punt is the obvious choice, but that simply isn;t the case.

Special Teams Needs To Be Addressed, NOW — The Broncos have tried for years to get by on special teams with smoke and mirrors.  It is finally coming back to bite us.  Paul Ernster is a joke.  WHen you play a good team, field position is huge.  We never win that battle.  And it isn;t just on punts.  After the Broncos kicked the field goal to make the score 27-21, Ernster’s kick-off, a low, line drive kick, is caught at the 1 and run back by Michael Turner to the 45, allowing the Chargers to drive a short field to take the lead in the game.  Then, Miek Scifres blasts the kick-off into the end-zone, forcing the Broncos to drive from their own 20.  I know, I know, Scifres only averaged 37 yards a punt, but all three of his punts were downed inside the 20.  When the Broncos did have an opportunity to return a kick they failed more times than not.  Cecil Sapp did have a great return to start the 2nd half, but even that return would have been a Touchdown, and when we needed to make a play to set up the Broncos for a game-tying drive, Sapp dives to catch the kickoff at the one, forcing the Broncos to go 99 yards to tie.  Not going to happen.  Good thing we had 2 kick returners inactive for the game, we didn’t need them I guess.  Sure, we could fire the special teams coach, but with Shanny playing russian roulette with the roster each game it can’t be easy getting a rhythem on that group.

Stop Using The Word ‘Great’ In Regards To This Defense — This is a good defense, but against the top notch offenses in the league we have been exposed as being simply average.  We cannot generate pressure from our front four, and we try to hide deficiencies in our pass coverage with soft zone coverages that good quarterback shred.  Sure, Darrent Williams came up with a pick-6, but he also allowed big play after big play, including the go ahead TD in the 4th quarter.  John Lynch is still a good run-stuffer, but he is a liability in pass coverage, and the Broncos are forced to roll coverages to protect him.  It wouldn’t be that big of a deal if Denver had a stud back ther with him, but Nick Ferguson is average at best as well.  Perhaps the Broncos best safety, Sam Brandon, was lost for the year and has been missed the last couple of weeks against opponents’ tight ends.  The D is fast, but undersized, and in the biggest games of the season have worn down as the game went on, giving up 27 to the Colts and 28 to the CHargers in the 2nd half.  They are aggressive, and they play hard as nails, but there are holes that good teams will take advantage of.

So, Why Am I Not Physically Ill About The Loss? — So back to my point in the beginning of this post.  In the past, a loss like this would have led to broken furniture, or broken bones in my hand, but I was inexplicably calm.  It worried me.  Was it becuase I am a father now?  Was it becuase I am getting older.  Is it becuase of this blog?  After thinking about it, I realized it was none of those.  I have come to a realization about this team that prevents me from going postal.  I am going to bold it, just to make it clear.  This team will NEVER, EVER, win big with Jake Plummer at Quarterback!  I have been a Plummer supporter.  Not for any other reason than he was the starting quarterback of my favorite football team.  I believed in the theory that wins and losses are all that mattered, and Jake won alot more than he lost in Denver.  But I have switched sides, turned to the side of the Anti-Jake party.  Sure, Jake has won alot of games as the starting quarterback of the Broncos, but nearly DESPITE himself.  This team is going nowhere with Jake at the helm.  The Denver Broncos are good enough to go 10-6 with anyone at quarterback.  The difference between 10-6 and 13-3 is the play of the quarterback.  Then, it is quarterback play that is everything in the playoffs.  Jake isn;t good enough to be the difference maker for this team, in a positive way at least.  There are times when a quarterback needsd to overcome poort defensive play, or poor special teams play, and rise up.  Jake has never, EVER done that.  There has yet to be a game that we looked back and said, “Wow, we had no business winning that game, but Jake saved the day.”  That is the difference between servicable quarterbacks and good quarterbacks.  Great quarterbacks can do that in the playoffs.  I don’t get as upset becuase I am not as emotionally attached due to the performance of Jake Plummer.  I know he can’t bring us back, and I knwo FOR SURE that we are doomed to playoff failure.

I know that isn’t very positive, and I apologize for that.  But based on the poll results, 70% of you feel the same way.  Things aren’t going to be any easier this week, with the Chiefs coming up on short rest, and the schedule is brutal the rest of the way, with another a return trip to San Diego and a visit by the high-flying Bengals on tap.  Even the 49′ers are at .500.  Face it Bronco Fans, Shanny has this team at 7-3 with smoke and mirrors, but the key to magic is never revealing your secrets, and I think Shanny’s secret is out.

Technorati Tags: Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers, Jake Plummer, Philip Rivers, LaDanian Tomlinson, NFL

Michigan’s Greatest Football Coach Collapses, Dies at 77

On October 20, Bo Schembechler was doing his local TV show in Ann Arbor when he began to feel ill. Bo, tough as nails as a coach and a man, continued to do the show until it’s completion. Afterward the coach was rushed to the hospital where doctors implanted a pacemaker. As recently as this week, Schembechler said the doctors were still adjusting the unit, which he said covered half his chest. As he was in October, Bo was recording his TV show when he collapsed in the powder room. Efforts to revive him we unsuccessfull. Bo had a tremendous impact on life in both states and his loss is being felt on both campuses.

It might seem ironic to some that on the eve of the biggest game ever played in the biggest rivalry in sports that we would lose one of the game’s biggest figures. Bo Schembechler was born in Ohio, wet to Miami of Ohio where he played for Woody Hayes. Bo went to Ohio State with Hayes and coached at Ohio State before leaving in 1963 to coach at his alma-mater. In 1969 he added fuel to the Ohio State-Michigan fire by becoming becoming the head coach in Ann Arbor. It was teacher vs. pupil, and for 10 years the rivalry between coaches raged nearly as intense as the the rivalry inside the white lines. Schembechler went 4-5-1 in those 10 games, but continued on for 10 more years at UM, heading to 10 Rose Bowls, 17 Bowl games overall.

“This is an extraordinary loss for college football,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said in a statement. “Bo Schembechler touched the lives of many people and made the game of football better in every way. He will always be both a Buckeye and a Wolverine and our thoughts are with all who grieve his loss.”

It always seems funny to me how life seems to creep up and remind us that football is just a game, not the “life and death” struggle we try to make it out to be. The game will still be played, the winner will still play for the National Championship. Though I was too young to remember it, I am sure there was a certain something missing the first time Ohio State played Michigan after the death of Woody Hayes, and there will certainly be something missing from the game tomorrow. In life, Bo Schembechler called both Ohio and Michigan home, and in death he will always be a Buckeye and Wolverine. Let’s hope the game, and the fans coaches and players involved in it tomorrow remember a man that had so much to do with what the game is all about, and create something worth of his honor.

Rest in Peace, Bo Schmbechler!

Technorati Tags: Bo Schembechler, Michigan, Ohio State, Buckeyes, Miami of Ohio, Woody Hayes, College Football

Ohio State/Michigan Has Always Been And Will Always Be The Game

Are you sick of it yet? I ams ure you are. If you are not a fan of one of the scholls playing in the biggest game of the young century I am sure you are getting a bit tired of all the fuss. If you are a fan of, Rutgers, for instance, you are probablt saying to yourself, “This is no big deal, we are undefeated too!”. Yes, good ‘ole Rutgers fans who has been enjoying the majesty of college football for the last 5 minutes, now gets an opinion on the matter. Not quite. This is over a century of tradition at stake on Saturday at the ‘Shoe. Two of the greatest athletic programs in all of sports, pro or college, will get it on for the 103rd time, and at no point during those 7 dozen or so meetings have the two teams met as #1 v. #2. It happens this week.

But what of the hype machine? The media frenzy that has enveloped a city, a state, a region? Maybe a big deal in Louisville a couple weeks ago, or a big deal in New Jersey last Thursday, but just another walk in the park during this week, during Ohio State-Michigan week. Ya see, this game isn;t a big deal becuase the teams are un-defeated and ranked 1 and 2. No, this game has always been this big. Very rarely has one team or the other come into this game without a shot at a National Championship, or at worst a Rose Bowl birth. Michigan made a living off of ruining great John Cooper Buckeye teamas in the 90’s, twice keeping them from a shot at a title. As recently as 2000, Jim Tressel’s first season in Columbus, when the Buckeyes were young a mediocre, Ohio State went to that school up north and knocked the Wolverines out of contention. So the added excitement of the #1 and #2 stuff adds fuel to the national media fire but not to these coaches or these players.

That’s the beauty of this rivalry, it isn’t created by hype, or ESPN, or any of that, it’s created in the small towns of Ohio, and in the rural areas of Michigan. You grow up either Scarlet and Gray or Blue and Gold, there is no middle ground.

There has been alot of talk about the possibility of a re-match in the Title game should this game be a classic. A nail-biter. Let me say now that I am hoping as much hope as I can hope that it won’t happen. Don’t ruin what the third Saturday in November has become for me by trying to amp up for it again in 50 days. Sure, I am in total support of a playoff, but I think it only works if the only teams that get in are teams that win their conference. Add a couple of at-large or indepent teams that have to meet certain eligibilty requirements. Then and only then could a rematch be a remote possibility. For this year, in this B.S. sys…oh I mean BCS system, there can’t be a rematch. The loser wouldn’t be deserving and it would be unfair to the winner. Ohio State-Michigan is meant to be played in November, in chilly Columbus or frigid Ann Arbor, not in January in balmy Arizona.

Great coaches, great players, great fans and several great games litter this rivalry over the past century. From Woody and Bo, to Desmond Howard’s Heisman pose. Howard solidified his Heisman run in this game, as did Charles Woodson for the Wolverines a few years later. Eddie George locked on up for the Buckeyes, and this Saturday another Buckeye can get his name engraved on The Trophy. Troy Smith has had monster games against the Wolverines the past 2 seasons and another would pretty well lock up College Football’s ultimate individual prize.

Lloyd Carr is starting to feel the same heat that eventually succumbed Cooper in Columbus. Alot of success, except for the one and only game that matters, this one. Carr is 1-4 against Treesel. Coope went 2-10-1 in his 13 shots, yet averaged nearly 11 wins a season while in Columbus. He was run ou of town. Tressel has become a hero in Ohio, first winning that title in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl with all of Cooper’s Seniors, then keeping the Buckeyes at or near the top of the heap in college football. For 14 years he sat as the coach at Youngstown State waiting for his shot at this job, his dream job. All he did there, at a place most athletes would never dream of playing, was win 4 National Titles. Not too bad. Now at OSU he is hot on the trail of his second title in 6 years, right on track with his YSU pace.

So many angles, so much history. Just remember as you continue to get drowned in a sea of media coverage before 3:30 on Saturday that this game means alot this year. But it always has, for over 100 years. It’s just taken that long for everyone else to join the party.

Technorati Tags: Ohio State, Michigan, Ohio State-Michigan Game, Horseshoe, College Football, BCS, Buckeyes, Wolverines, Heisman Trophy