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One Fan’s Facts & Opinions

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One Fan’s Facts & Opinions
  • OK, OK, Brian Billick’s offensive game plan for the Colt game stunk.  But Steve McNair’s play was the reason the Ravens lost on January 13th.
Still…
  • You have to be perplexed about the calls still heard on Baltimore’s sports talk radio that demand Billick’s termination.  Come on!!  Who would the Ravens get? Who could match Brian’s experience?  Who could match his record?  Look at the recent hires around the league!  During Billick’s tenure the Ravens have made the playoffs 4 times; twice as a wild card and twice as AFC North Champion, and won a Super Bowl.  He’s only had two losing seasons in eight years. Bisciotti said change, and Brian did.  “’Nuff said” – extension well-deserved.
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  • And Rex Ryan should be next.  He was widely overlooked this year as a head coach candidate, but that won’t be the case in 2007.
You already know…..
  • That new Oakland Raider coach Lane Kiffin is 31. However, contrary to the babe-in-the woods perception of many, Kiffin is younger than only 3 (three) players on the current roster. And only one, Warren Sapp, is a bona fide star.
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  • Only Al “Darth Raider” Davis could hire a head coach whose only NFL experience is as a quality control coach.  And at the introductory press conference he couldn’t get the name consistently right.  Darth Al called Lane Kiffin “Lance” at least 3 times during the presser.
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  • Can someone tell me what a quality control coach does? I come from 30 years in the chemical industry, with 12 years in QC & QA, and I know my version of QC has little to do with anything in the NFL.
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  • Times are interesting…..teams are now hiring 31 and 34 year old coaches who can “relate” to the players.  Apparently, knowledge of X’s and O’s are not the deciding factor any more.
In the "Some Things Never Change" Department…..
  • Randy Moss made his feelings quickly known to his new head coach that he has no intention of playing for a “*%*#$&* college coordinator.”  And he wants out of Oakland. 
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  • Only Jerry Jones could hire an offensive coordinator before a head coach.  I wonder who is going to become the next Charlie McCarthy to Jones’ Edgar Bergen while simultaneously becoming the sideline target for Terrell Owens.  My bet is a retread-punching bag type, someone who can be easily manipulated, like Wade Phillips or Norv Turner.  As I write this column it looks like Norv is the chalk horse.  Great coordinator (see Dallas and San Francisco), bad head coach (see Washington and Oakland).
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  • Leave it to Jim Rome to come with a new nickname for Terrell Owens. It’s “TO” as in “TWO.”
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  • Randy Moss’ nickname should be SOTO – as in Son of T.O.
I thought I understood…..
  • The NFL salary cap until I read Brian McFarland’s column posted on PF24X7 last Friday.  It’s a superb analysis, and should be required reading by any serious Ravens fan.
Now for my Super Bowl XLI pick:
 
I’ll leave the detailed analysis to my more analytical colleagues at PF24X7.  To borrow a phrase from Dickens, it comes down to “A Tale of Two Quarterbacks” for me.  Peyton Manning has a great arm, is savvy at reading defenses, and I think he possesses a skill rarely seen and underreported by the media – he can, at times, manipulate a defense to give him the look he wants.  Plus he has the best receiver corps in football.  Stout defense or no, the Bears’ D will be panting from exhaustion by the middle of the third quarter.
 
The Bears have a superb defense and the best return game in the league.  The Colts have one of the worst.  But Chicago won in spite of, not because of, Rex Grossman.  The defense will have to play smart and lights out and Hester will have to break a few – which he just might do.  I’m sticking to my one remaining playoff prediction: Grossman’s play will cost the Bears a win in a game that really counts.  I still think that will happen, and it will come this Sunday in Miami.
 
Alas,…….. Colts 27, Bears 20.

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