Eight in the Box: To Hell with Momentum

So I guess we have our answer now don’t we? Apparently momentum isn’t all it’s cracked up to be now is it? I know that historically, coming into the playoffs on a hot streak and riding that momentum to a championship has been common (i.e. 2005 Steelers, 2007 Giants) and analysts and prognosticators everywhere have been swearing by it for years, but all you need to disprove any theory is one instance where it doesn’t work, and we were handed that example in spades this weekend. Every single team that was riding a wave of momentum got stopped dead in their tracks by teams that were struggling as the season came to an end. The Cardinals got rocked by the Saints, who many (including myself) thought were in trouble based on the way they closed the season, with losses to the Cowboys, Buccaneers and Panthers. The Colts shut down the Ravens red-hot running game and giving up on a perfect regular season didn’t come back to haunt them, at least not this week. The Cowboys, who Trent Dilfer said just last week were the best team in the NFL, returned to their playoff habits and got blown out of the Metrodome by a Viking team that had lost three of their last four. And amazingly, and I’m still in disbelief, the Chargers had their 11-game win streak snapped by the overachieving Jets. With three games in the books last night it looked as though we were set up to see the top two seeds in each conference battle each other for supremacy and a trip to the Super Bowl, but the one team I thought was the biggest lock was apparently unable to muster enough of an effort to topple the Mark Sanchez-led, offensively anemic Jets. And because of that, I once again choked in my playoff picks, going 1-3 for the second consecutive week. So, other than realizing no one should take betting advice from me, here is what I took away from this weekend’s games:

Bush proved to be no bust against the Cardinals as he tore up their defense and coverage units. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

1. So, about that defense. Last year Clancy Pendergast was fired by the Cardinals because their defense didn’t perform up to expectations and they gave up the game-winning touchdown drive in the final minutes of the Super Bowl. Ken Whisenhunt thought, based on the aforementioned collapse, that they needed a change in leadership on that side of the ball and promoted Davis from linebackers coach to head his defense. So what good did that do? Yes, the Cardinals defense was better than last during the regular season, but that could be attributed to a lot of things, like more talent on that side of the ball and some of the young guys blossoming into the players that they were expected to be. But giving up 45 points in back-to-back playoff games? If Pendergast got dumped for leading a defense that helped the Cardinals get to the Super Bowl, Davis cannot be feeling too comfortable right now after allowing 90 points in two playoff games.

2. Bush not a bust. One of the prevailing notions from the national media and probably even some people in New Orleans is that Reggie Bush has been a bust. While the Texans did indeed make the right move by taking Mario Williams over Bush in that draft, Bush has been far from a bust and proved his worth on Saturday. While he is not, and probably will never be, the prototypical between the tackles workhorse, he is a very versatile playmaker that can have an effect on the game from many different areas. He dictates coverages as you have to account for him wherever he is on the field, he sparks the special teams with his return skills, and he is the perfect change of pace player to Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell’s more physical style. His 46-yard run though proved that he can do a little bit of everything though. He banged around, bounced off some defenders and then sprinted off to the races, showing that he is stronger than people thought and then showed the blazing speed that was on display for all those years at USC. Then to cap off the dismantling of the Cardinals he returned a punt 83 yards just to remind everyone that he still may be the very best punt returner and playmaker in the open field. His final stat line was nothing to sneeze at either: five carries for 84 yards and 4 grabs for 24 with a 36.3 yard average on three punt returns with two total TDs. So while many may have had different expectations for him coming out of college, he is definitely not a bust and in fact may have been the best player on the field on Saturday.

This is the definition of hustle. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

3. Pierre plays with pride, heavy heart. You got to give it up to Pierre Garcon. While his five catches for 34 yards isn’t eye-popping, his supreme effort in Saturday’s contest should be applauded. Playing with a heavy heart as he awaits word on many of his family members back in Haiti, Garcon was able to not only leave his troubles in the locker room, but he was able to step up and through sheer effort probably captured the play of the game. With a little less than six minutes to go in the third quarter and leading by two TDs Peyton Manning lofted a pass up to Garcon, and maybe he could have given a little better effort, and Ed Reed swooped in and picked it off and started to weave through the Colts offensive defenders. But Garcon never gave up on the play at all and punched the ball out of Reed’s grasp and the Colts recovered. The pick could have swayed the game a bit in the Ravens favor, but Garcon wouldn’t let that happen. Take a look at the highlight of the play (it’s at the 4:40 mark) and you’ll see Garcon blazing his way back to the ball. Very intense, very impressive. That’s how you play football.

4. Excuses, excuses, excuses. I did a live chat during the Colts-Ravens game and the prevailing theme among Ravens fans was that the referees were screwing them and clearly favoring Manning and the Colts. Stop it. There is nothing I hate more than blaming a loss on the refs and anyone who watched this game knows that the refs were not the reason the Ravens lost. Maybe if they would have scored more than three points or didn’t turn the ball over fur times they might have had a shot. But you cant expect to beat the Colts by only putting a three-spot on the scoreboard and giving the ball back to Manning four times. So stop with the excuses and just accept the fact that the Colts were the better team and Manning still owns your favorite team.

Romo picked a bad time for his carelessness to return. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

5. Real Romo returns, rears ugly head. It was only a matter of time until it finally happened, but the real Tony Romo returned to the field on Sunday and the result wasn’t pretty. The reason Romo had been so hot of late was because his offensive line had been giving him time to scope the defense out and find the appropriate receiver, usually Miles Austin, and that had allowed him to shred opposing defenses for the final month of the season and the first week of the playoffs. But the Eagles the Vikings are not. While the Eagles struggle to get pressure on the passer, the Vikings totally dominated the Cowboys geriatric offensive line and Romo was under duress from whistle to whistle and when Romo faces intense pressure like he did, he is prone to reverting back to his old careless ways and that is exactly what happened against the Vikings. He was impressive on certain occasions in avoiding the rush, but with little time to think in the pocket, Romo went 22/35 for a mere 198 yards and was unable to lead the Cowboys into the end zone. Dashing any hopes that they might have had against a clearly superior opponent he also coughed up the ball twice and then with the game basically out of reach threw one of the worst interceptions that I’ve ever seen, waving the white flag and basically lobbing the ball directly to Ben Leber. I almost expected him to put on a pair of water skis and jump the shark. His 66.1 rating was significantly lower than it had been during his hot streak and while the loss isn’t totally on him, he had to play better in order for the Cowboys to have a chance to win this game. His carelessness with the football is what has doomed them in the past and on Sunday it was what came back to doom them again. Even more ridiculous was Romo getting in the face of his defensive lineman and telling them that they needed to put forth a better effort. This was immediately after he got crushed and fumbled the ball away to the Vikings. You can’t yell at your teammates when you’re not holding up your end of the bargain, and on Sunday Romo sold his team short.

6. Brooking’s baby banter. Let me just say this right off the bat: Keith Brooking is a pansy. The only thing that I hate just as much in pro football as blaming a loss on the referees is when a professional athlete complains that the other team ran up the score on them and was disrespectful. Really? Seriously? That is the biggest crock of crap that I’ve ever heard in my life. What boggles my mind is that there were even some radio hosts who agreed with him, calling it a bush league move and uncalled for. You know what? If you were so incensed that they were running up the score on you then why didn’t you try to stop them? Maybe you should have done your job a little better and then maybe your team wouldn’t have gotten embarrassed. Didn’t the Cowboys just two weeks continue to throw the football up 24-0 on the Eagles? This is playoff football and there is no room for little pansy boys. I actually respected Brooking before all of this. He was a grizzled veteran who had been an outstanding player for over a decade and was doing an admirable job leading the young Cowboys defense but this was pathetic. Hunting down the coach on the sidelines to give him a piece of your mind? Grow up bro. You get paid just like them except they actually earned their playoff paycheck while it looks like you cashed yours before the game even started. I didn’t understand why the Vikings were throwing either because of the fragile state of their geriatric quarterback and a potential injury to him would have been disastrous, but that doesn’t mean it was uncalled for. If you have a problem with it then hunt down someone on the field and crush them. Don’t go hunting down the defenseless coach. This isn’t college where an obviously superior team empties the bench to get their freshman playing time against a downtrodden and clearly overmatched lower-ring school. Grow up Keith and grow a set. I think I’m done now.

Greene has proven to be everything the Jets imagined and more when they traded up to make him the first pick of the second day of the draft. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

7. Rivers dries up. The one thing that I’ve heard scouts say about Rivers for a while now is that he is extremely consistent and never has a bad game. And up until yesterday I tended to agree with them. He doesn’t have the prettiest completion percentage numbers and his mechanics are a little quirky, but he has been extremely efficient and always gets the job done. But then he played the Jets yesterday and the wheels seemed to fall of the consistency wagon. Rivers was not very good yesterday so while his 27/40 and 298 yards looks decent, his two interceptions speak otherwise. True, one was a pretty spectacular pick by cornerback extraordinaire Darrelle Revis while laying on his back, but both of them were inexcusable throws in the first place. He was also unable to lead his team against, in my opinion, a clearly inferior opponent in one of the biggest games of his life and has now presumably put his coach’s job in jeopardy as a result. He started out the game playing pretty well, finding a wide open Kris Wilson in the end zone in the first quarter after going through his progressions rather effortlessly, but after that he imploded and was unable to move the ball against the Jets. I know the Jets have the best defense in the league, but in a league where offense rules and there are no true elite defenses, he should have been able to live up to his billing as the next great quarterback and in that regard he failed miserably. Norv Turner’s play calling didn’t help either, but he still should have been able to exploit the various mismatches in coverage.

8. Running to daylight. I am still of the belief that the Jets aren’t as good as they have seemed and am in complete disbelief that they have made it to the AFC Championship game. I am also of the belief that the Colts will show them for who they truly are and this is exactly the matchup that the Colts wanted, especially considering their troubles with the Bolts in recent years. But where I will admit that I am impressed is with their running game. When teams, especially playoff teams, know that there is only one thing that you do well on offense and game plan for it exclusively and still can’t stop it, there is something to be said for that. I give most of the credit to their offensive line which has overtaken the Giants and Titans to become the best in the league and in my opinion it isn’t even close. But this Shonn Greene kid is really impressive as well. While Thomas Jones was the bell cow during the regular season and put up stud numbers at the normally extinct age of 31 for a running back, Greene has seamlessly transitioned into that role in the playoffs and it has been rather remarkable. If the Colts are to be worried next week it will be because of Greene. He busted out for another huge game as he leaves his mark on his inaugural playoffs in his inaugural season. Toting the rock 23 times for 123 yards is impressive for any back in the playoffs, but especially for a rookie who was taken in the third round and many thought couldn’t handle the workload of the NFL and who just happened to be moving furniture two years ago while he got his life back together. A remarkable journey that has so far culminated in a remarkable run for Greene and his Jets mates.

I also just wanted to say that I was sad to hear about Gaines Adams’ passing this weekend from cardiac arrest that resulted from an enlarged heart. I know that I have heard from some people who don’t feel so bad because enlarged hearts are usually the result of supplements or some other form of performance-enhancing drugs, but regardless of how or why, it is still sad to see someone so young die so soon. Adams had a ton of potential and was hoping his trade to the Bears would allow that, especially considering that he would have been under the tutelage of defensive line mastermind Rod Marinelli. However it was not to be and it is another sad day for an NFL player, his teammates and his family.