My second favorite story line was Brett Favre. Brett retires, unretires, retires, unretires and just keeps piling up the all time NFL records. He is the Iron Man of unretiring. You just have to like Brett as he wears that smile and throws touchdown bombs against your team. Brett is having so much fun there can be no true retirement. It would be like no more Rocky movies. Isn’t the point to just go for it? To hang in there with everything you got?

Ok, so my grammar has not improved in spite of all this writing. There is still hope for me as my writing will continue over at NBAObsessed, still working for B5media.

B5media brings you all sorts of interesting blogs and for me has created a second family and one that has taken good care of the Squibster. A couple of years ago Squibster had Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and faced a long hard road to recovery. B5 was right there, especially my boss Kori and the other football blogger, Dave. Kori even blogged for me several times and Dave even pitched in at times. My grammar was better on those nights and so was my feeling of well being. It was a world that the Squibster wanted to live in.

Some of the other stories included multiple posts on Michael Vick, and my dog Griffin really gets upset about Vick to this day. There were stories on Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Jay Cutler, Mark Sanchez, Matt Stafford, Peyton Manning and others. Many of the stories were born out of my Fantasy Football playing as you really get to know the stats when you play Fantasy Football. (full disclosure: My team, Naruto, is in first place in a head to head league, but my team is about the 5th best. Luck is my favorite player!)

Ben Roethlisberger is an old time blood and guts player

Writing Squibkick actually brought me new favorite players, one of them being Big Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben has never been a good QB for Fantasy Football until this year, but he is a player with a lot of heart and just seems like an old time blood and guts player.

Hmm, that would be my inspiration, to be remembered as an old time blood and guts football blogger!
Thanks!

Post from: EveryJoe

Squibster retires, think Brett Favre

Then it gets weirder as Steve Largent, a close friend has this to say, about Jim Zorn being forced to take Sherm Lewis as his offensive play caller.

Cerrato had a different version of events at that meeting with Zorn. He said it was just the two of them and that when he suggested a change in play calling duties, Zorn said he would go home and think about it. Several hours later, Cerrato said, Zorn called him and said, “I’m in.”

No talk of a contract being presented to Zorn as an ultimatum. No talk about trying to force the coach to resign.
source

Now we have two pro bowl offensive linemen injured and no capable backups which has resulted in multiple sacks of Jason Campbell. As if that is not enough and piling on is allowed, Chris Cooley is out for another month and Clinton Portis is sometimes acting like a disinterested third party.

Chris Cooley is safely injured, if there is such a thing?

Jim Zorn has to be ready to just walk out after all the pathetic performances by the Skins and the hiring of Sherm Lewis, an ex-Michigan State University great, from the bingo halls to the hall of shame known as the Washington Redskins.

The Redskins have a bye week to lick their wounds and then a stretch of games that no team in their right mind would desire. We are talking Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Philadelphia, and New Orleans. That is a combined 24 – 6 record. Meanwhile, the Skins are 2 – 5 and could not even beat the Chiefs!

See ya later, Zorn.

Image: Zuma Press

Be sure to check out my companion blog at NBA Obsessed.

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

More blogs about football.

Post from: EveryJoe

Jim Zorn had playoff lineup

And why doesn’t he wear a cape with an ‘S’ on it?

(full disclosure: The Squibster briefly had Miles Austin on his Fantasy Football Team, Naruto, but had to let him go. We only carry a 3 player bench. Who knew?)

Miles Austin is unbelievable. First he breaks the all time Cowboy record with 10 catches for 250 yards and 2 tds, and then he takes a bye week to rest up.

Hey, that was only Kansas City. It had to be a fluke, right? Look, Miles had only caught 18 balls coming into the season. How good could he be?

Evidently Miles Austin can be as good as he wants to, because he came right back in the Cowboy Falcons game and caught 6 balls for 171 yards and 2 tds. Do we call this a down game for him?

Atlanta showed a defense that would put Miles in an overmatch against a safety, if he read the cues and did what quarterback Tony Romo expected. Receivers coach Ray Sherman thought to himself, “Just like in practice.”

That’s what Austin did.

Just like in practice, he recognized the defense. Just like in practice, Austin ran a route hard in front of safety Thomas DeCoud.

Just like in practice, Austin grabbed Romo’s on-line throw, skipped out of DeCoud’s flailing try at a tackle and ran the final 30 yards of a 59-yard touchdown play. The game-changing score put the Cowboys ahead for the duration.
source

Miles Austin is now listed ahead of Patrick Crayton in the depth chart for the number 2 receiver slot and obviously playing a lot better than the highly touted Roy Williams at the other receiver slot. Roy caught one ball for 16 yards.

Miles Austin zooming up the field for a touchdown

It would appear that Miles Austin’s time has come and Romo is ready to deliver.

Sadly for the Squibster, Miles delivered 34.1 points in my Fantasy League. At least he wasn’t playing against my team.

Image: Zuma Press

Be sure to check out my companion blog at NBA Obsessed.

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

More blogs about football.

Post from: EveryJoe

Miles Austin makes Cowboys go

There is talk of a team in the future being stationed in England, but that seems a long way off. It would not be practical with the 6 hours travel time to the east coast, so maybe you would have to have an entire NFL Conference in Europe and maybe the winner would play the winner of the Super Bowl. Who knows?

Ok, delusional thinking, bloggers do not get any travel allowance. Besides the game was on the Hi-Def Big Screen in my basement and they serve pretty good food there.

Tom Brady is hot in Wembley

Brady was good enough in this game to get pulled for Brian Hoyer, not because they were struggling, but because the Bucs were so inept. At that point it became more important to take my son to McDonalds, because the score was 35 – 7. Somehow Hoyer does not have a stat line? Wonder what that is about?

(full disclosure: Tom Brady is on my Fantasy Football team, Naruto, and is about the only thing that went right with my team this week.)

Brady played most of the game out of the shotgun formation with Lawrence Maroney back next to him. You did not want to be Tampa Bay’s defense when he was in this mode.

Brady threw three touchdown passes and had more than 300 yards as the Patriots (5-2) beat the Buccaneers 35-7 at Wembley Stadium on Sunday in the NFL’s third regular-season game at the iconic London venue.

The Bucs, who gave up a home game to play in London, fell to 0-7 and saw their losing streak extended to 11 games overall.
source

The Patriots are more than just Tom Brady throwing touchdown passes all the time. Their defense is superb as well. Bucs QB Josh Johnson pretty much found receivers only after having been chased out of the pocket. In the fourth quarter, Tampa Bay brought in the other Josh at quarterback, Josh Freeman. He couldn’t do anything either.

It has to be nice to be the Patriots, because games against weak opponents like the Bucs are almost a given. They have now outscored their opponents 94 – 7 in the last two weeks. Too bad they have a bye week next week.

Image: Zuma Press

Be sure to check out my companion blog at NBA Obsessed.

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

More blogs about football.

Post from: EveryJoe

Brady in England over the Bucs

Ben Roethlisberger is off to a great start this year, one of his best ever, but Brett is having another Hall of Fame year and has already won two last second games for the Vikings.

Roethlisberger is off to a Favre-like start, the best of his six-year career. He leads the NFL in passing yards (1,887), yards per attempt (9.1) and passes of 20 yards or longer (26) and ranks second only to Peyton Manning in completion percentage (72.5).

But Favre, who holds NFL all-time records for completions (5,844) passing yards (66,474), touchdowns (476) and victories (175), isn’t far behind, despite his age. He leads the NFC in completion percentage (69.7), ranks second in passer rating (109.5) and has thrown more touchdowns passes (12) and fewer interceptions (2) than Roethlisberger. His average of 224.5 yards passing per game is just 17 yards fewer than his career per-game average (241.7) as a starter.

Even more remarkable is that Favre hasn’t missed a start since his first season in Green Bay in 1991, a league-record 275 games in a row, 297 counting playoffs. His consecutive game streak recently eclipsed the old record of former Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall (270).
source

Ben Roethlisberger seeks Brett Favre's autograph

If you were lucky enough to be playing sports into your 40th year then you realize that your body begins to fail you and has trouble keeping up with your mind. You tell your legs to jump and they just kind of stand there before reacting and then when they jump they don’t jump like they used to. Brett Favre somehow manages to break these rules of nature.

“How can a guy throw that on a rope from 40 yards at 40 years old?” asked ESPN analyst and former quarterback Ron Jaworski, the awe apparent in his voice on the phone the other day.

Jaworski played 17 seasons with four different teams in the NFL, most of them with the Philadelphia Eagles. He was 38 when he played his final season with the Kansas City Chiefs. By the time he was 35, he said he knew he couldn’t make the same throws as when he was 30.

Not Favre.

“He’s a freak of nature,” Jaworski said. “When you watch him play at that level, at 40 years old, that’s the only explanation.”

So like the Rocky movies that just keep coming back, we continue to see Favre playing every year, but unlike Rocky, Brett Favre continues to play at a high level. Even at that high level, it does not guarantee that iron man Brett can play forever.

That is why Ben Roethlisberger plans on getting an autograph.

Image: Zuma Press

Be sure to check out my companion blog at NBA Obsessed.

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

More blogs about football.

Post from: EveryJoe

Roethlisberger looks up to Favre

Mr. ‘I’ll be back” himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, better known as the Gov. in California, just signed off on an environmental exemption bill to get rid of some lawsuits over the stadium. Never let the environment stand in the way of good old football.

Schwarzenegger called the lawsuit frivolous before a crowd of union members wearing hardhats. Across the street, a dozen protesters from Walnut and other nearby communities held signs saying “No Stadium.”

“This is the best kind of action state government can create — action that cuts red tape, generates jobs, is environmentally friendly and brings a continued economic boost to California,” Schwarzenegger said.

source

It just never made sense to me how the NFL could operate without a team in Los Angeles. It seems like too big of a market to ignore in terms of generating revenue.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is bringing the NFL to Los Angeles

Way back in time when the Los Angeles Rams played in the NFL there was no cable TV. The networks used to show a local game (unfortunately the Detroit Lions), a game from east of the Mississippi, and a game out west. The game out west would come on late Sunday and usually was the Daryl Lamonica led Oakland Raiders (they were good back then) or the Roman Gabriel led Los Angeles Rams. It was late in the day in Michigan, but still very sunny in California. Those late Sunday games were some great times!

Image: Zuma Press

Be sure to check out my companion blog at NBA Obsessed.

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

More blogs about football.

Post from: EveryJoe

Finally, the NFL in LA

Does anyone remember Rex Grossman playing for the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl? Of course you do and if you are a Bears fan and a lot of us from Michigan are (we have to root for someone when the Lions are losing all the time), you had to face the inevitable beating that would take place because Rex was not going to get the job done.

It is strange how Jay Cutler just erupted last year in Denver. For us full time Lions fans and part time Bears fans it hurt because the Lions took an undersized linebacker in Ernie Sims in the 2006 draft while Jay Cutler was still on the board.

The Denver Broncos presented a team playing out of the spread and passing practically every down, not because they wanted to, but because their defense was so bad they were constantly behind. Jay Cutler began to pile up big numbers making a star out of rookie Eddie Royal.

Alas, the losses also piled up and the new coach brought in a defensive philosophy and Jay hit the road.

Jay Cutler makes the decision to stay a Bear

Everyone expected Cutler to simply dominate as a Bear. After all, the Bears still had a great defense and an excellent rookie running back in Matt Forte, a player they picked up in the second round (this hurts too; he was drafted right in front of the Lions pick).

What most experts including the Squibster forgot was that Chicago had no passing game to start with and was going to use return specialist Devin Hester at the primary wideout position, a gamble at best.

Still it is easy to see now that Jay Cutler is an excellent quarterback with a quick release and an accurate catchable ball. It will be Chicago’s job to get him some big time talent at the receiver position in the future.

It’s fair for me, fair for the Bears,” Cutler said of his two-year contract extension worth $30 million overall, including $20 million guaranteed.

Fair to say nobody’s complaining about Cutler’s decision-making today.

Partly for salary cap reasons, Cutler will receive some of the new money this season. He now will earn $16 million for 2009 spread between a signing bonus and base salary, according to sources. That largesse more than makes up for the $12 million roster bonus due in 2011 that Cutler couldn’t count on because of ongoing NFL labor strife that hastened the extension.

“Every player in the league is concerned about whether there will be a lockout or what’s going to happen,” Cutler said. “I’m happy with this.”
source

Jay Cutler is a happy Bear and will remain one for a long time!

Photo source Newscom

Be sure to check out my companion blog at NBA Obsessed.

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

More blogs about football.

Post from: EveryJoe

Jay Cutler a Bear through 2013

Denver Broncos 34 San Diego Chargers 23

Let us back up a year and look at the Broncos. Your intrepid author, Squibster, just happened to catch a few Denver games. (full disclosure: Eddie Royal was on my Fantasy Football team last year and also briefly this year.) Last year the Broncos presented a spread offense with Jay Cutler firing the ball all over the place. Squibster watched one game last year when Cutler threw for well over 400 yards. He also had 4 other games over 350 yards and often found last night’s star Eddie Royal on deep passes.

Still Denver could not shut down anyone on defense and missed the playoffs. They shipped Jay Cutler to the Bears in the off season and hired a new coach. He instituted a new system and here they go!

Kyle Orton leads the Broncos to a 6 - 0 record

“You’ve got to believe it can happen before you do it,” Royal said. “I’ve got a lot of faith in the guys in front of me, so I wasn’t surprised.”

Said Broncos rookie head coach Josh McDaniels: “Our (blockers) gave Eddie a chance to get started. We know we’ve got a good returner. It’s just a matter of time before you give him a chance to get started. He can make some big plays, and made two huge ones for us tonight.”

Coming into the game, the Chargers were the second-best passing team in the league with 295.5 yards per game. Rivers wound up with 274 yards against a Broncos defense that is the league’s stingiest at giving up points.

Rivers was sacked a career-high five times, twice by Elvis Dumervil, who has an NFL-high 10 sacks. Rivers lost for the first time in five Monday Night Football appearances.

“We felt like we had to stir the pocket tonight on Rivers,” McDaniels said. “He got comfortable in there a few times in the first half and hit us more than a handful of times on a few junk plays, and we had to try to take some of those away.

source

Maybe it is time to stop complaining that Kyle Orton is no good!

Image: Zuma Press

Be sure to check out my companion blog at NBA Obsessed.

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

More blogs about football.

Post from: EveryJoe

Denver Broncos add some offense

Get this; Tom Brady tossed 5 touchdowns in one quarter and 6 touchdowns in all. So much for Tom Brady having problems getting back into football after a year off with knee surgery.

Brady had five TD passes in the second quarter, a record for one period. The six touchdown throws tied Brady’s own Patriots record. And the 59-point margin matched the largest since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, the Los Angeles Rams’ 59-0 win over the Atlanta Falcons in 1976.

The Patriots (4-2) gained a club-record 619 yards with Brady completing 29 of 34 passes for 380 yards
source

Tom Brady throws for 6 touchdowns!

Take a look at this one time span in the game.

In one 17-play stretch in the second quarter, the Titans gave up three scoring passes, lost two fumbles and an interception and even had a roughing-the-passer penalty on one of those touchdowns. One positive note: Collins threw his only completion of the first half in that miserable span

It was so bad that Brian Hoyer played in the game and threw for more yards than the combined total of the Tennessee quarterbacks. Hoyer is the rookie from Michigan State University.

The Titans now have to make a decision, because the season is pretty much shot. Do you start Vince Young and look to the future or stick with Collins and try to salvage what you can from the season?

It won’t be an easy choice.

The only good news is that the Titans won’t play the Patriots again this year!

Image: Zuma Press

Be sure to check out my companion blog at NBA Obsessed.

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

More blogs about football.

Post from: EveryJoe

Tom Brady – 5 TDs in 1 quarter!

NFL Records
Tennessee Titans 0 – 5
Minnesota Vikings 5 – 0

So how in the world can the Titans be the better team?

Oh, the Squibster is not the crazed individual that thinks so. The meds are fine. No reason for the crazy room or the back sleeves jacket. It is Brian Burke that operates a predictive model on the NFL that is making the wild claim. He operates a web site called Advanced NFL Stats.

It is odd to see this just this week. The Squibster was witness to a demo of some pretty powerful predictive web software that you could run against any database. My comment was that it would be nice to have for Fantasy Football and can you imagine it for betting?

Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson are not happy to hear the Titans are better

Brian Burke has his reasons for his picks.

This kind of system often makes people, including myself, scratch their heads. For example, the 0-5 Titans (#12) are currently ranked ahead of the 5-0 Vikings (#17). Much of the difference is explained by their difference in opponent strength so far. The Titans have faced the Steelers, Colts, Jaguars, and Jets, four of the better teams this year. Plus, they lost a close game to the Texans. The Vikings have faced Cleveland, Detroit and St. Louis, three of the worst teams in the league. They pulled a win out of their hats against the 49ers and beat a pretty good Packer team at home.

source

Still, predictive analysis aside, it is the old man himself, Brett Favre, at the age of 40 against the young guy, Kerry Collins, soon to be a not so young 37. Is he really that old?

Are the Collins Titans better than the Favre Vikings?

Well, Brian Burke and his predictive software think so.

As for the Squibster, he is going with the old guy…the Brett Favre old guy.

Image: Zuma Press

Be sure to check out my companion blog at NBA Obsessed.

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

More blogs about football.

Post from: EveryJoe

Titans are better than Brett Favre Vikings