NFL Week 17: The Last Week of Regular Season

[sbr]

Ravens Patriots is the early game on Sunday.

I can't believe the league would do that, they are on the take.

[CountDeMoney]

Ravens Patriots is the early game on Sunday.

I can't believe the league would do that, they are on the take.

ABSOLTUTLEY APPALLNING


I hate it when the NFL doesn't cooperate with my conspiracy facts.

[CountDeMoney]

McDonald: Al Davis deserves most of the blame for Raiders' losing ways
By Jerry McDonald
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 01/03/2010 07:19:05 PM PST

As the uncertainty of another failed season circulated throughout the Raiders locker room, there were sincere requests for continuity, for staying the course with Tom Cable, and the belief that better days lie ahead.

Desperately seeking a final validation for the seventh consecutive season of double-digit losses, Cable even talked up the importance of win No. 6 _ a total that would have been sneered at when the topic was division titles and championships when Al Davis removed ``interim'' from his title last off-season.

Instead, there was a 21-13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Two second-half turnovers from quarterback JaMarcus Russell after Charlie Frye left at halftime with a back strain. A defense which gave up 240 yards rushing overall and three touchdowns to Willis McGahee.

All before an announced crowd of 38,400 that looked more like 28,400.

So now begins the dissection of the coaching staff and the roster, the analysis of who stays and who goes, with the final decisions resting with the man ultimately responsible for all the problems.

Think about that for a minute.

The inescapable conclusion is that Al Davis is the man most responsible for the franchise being in such disrepair.

He's the only common denominator not only for the last seven years, but since a return to Oakland that has been a failed experiment judging from a history of three winning seasons in 15 years.

The Raiders have lost 33 more games in their second go-round in Oakland than they did the first time, yet still adorn their press releases with ``Team of the Decades'' and ``Commitment to Excellence.''

By order of Al Davis.

The Raiders have fired six coaches (Mike White, Joe Bugel, Bill Callahan, Norv Turner, Art Shell and Lane Kiffin), traded another (Jon Gruden) and could send Cable packing this week.

All since 1995.

By order of Al Davis.

The Raiders have too frequently failed to draft and develop their own top prospects into elite players. Russell, Darren McFadden and Darrius Heyward-Bey are all young enough to turn it around, but their early returns have been discouraging.

In the case of Russell, who Davis promised would be great, it's well beyond discouraging.

The Raiders don't have a director of college scouting in their media guide, but it's a role that belongs to Davis.

Too many times, the Raiders have made disastrous forays into free agency and the trade market, with acquisitions such as Randy Moss, DeAngelo Hall, Gibril Wilson and Javon Walker doing more harm than good, either because of the toxic environment or simply misjudging talent.

The Raiders don't have a director of pro personnel in their media guide, but it's a role that belongs to Davis.

As one of his former coaches lamented, ``He's the director of pro personnel, he's the director of college personnel, he's the general manager and he's the de-facto defensive coordinator.''

He's also not in good health and even Davis' ever-shrinking inner circle understands the man they have long worshipped either needs to accept some help or designate some to assume his myriad roles.

Some of the men closest to Davis made their way to a party thrown by Gruden last Dec. 14, and the Raiders response was to request that Ricky's Sports Lounge and Grill remove all photos from its Web site which had included people currently employed by the Raiders.

Thus, the message is that it's fine to reminisce and get caught up in the 1970s, but not the three-year run which Gruden helped ignite from 2000 through 2002.

For someone who has an aura so big, Davis can come off as very small.

John Madden didn't make it to the party that night, but he seemed to be of a like mind with most of the attendees based on a question and answer feature on Dec. 27 with the New York Post.

Question: Do you think Al Davis should hire a football czar?

Madden: ``I think he knows he should. When he had Bruce Allen and Jon Gruden, that was a pretty good team.''

It keeps coming back to Gruden and Allen because they're the only two people who, in conjunction with Davis, had the Raiders even remotely close to their storied past.

Allen is general manager of the Washington Redskins, Gruden is sticking with television for another year. And the biggest crime of all is Davis wouldn't ask, anyway.

The Raiders have the 31st-best record in the NFL over the past seven years at 29-83, one game better than the Detroit Lions. They're the first team in NFL history to have lost 11 or more games for seven consecutive seasons.

You'd think an owner with a passion for winning and an abiding love for all things silver and black would look to the person most responsible and take action. He's never tolerated that kind of performance from anyone else.

But that would take looking in the mirror.

Short of that, the annual blame game begins with Tom Cable.

[CountDeMoney]

Cook: Steelers' painful season fittingly ended
Monday, January 04, 2010
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

MIAMI -- You can argue from now until next season that it's a crying shame the Steelers missed the playoffs despite playing some of their best ball down the stretch and winning their final three games. I look at it differently. I say it would have been an injustice of incredible magnitude if they had snuck in despite that hideous five-game losing streak that started at midseason.

Almost always, you get what you deserve in life.

Clearly, the Steelers don't deserve to play in this postseason because of their losses to three of the NFL's 98-pound weaklings -- the Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns.

Really, that's obvious, isn't it?

"Ain't no one to blame but the Steelers," safety Ryan Clark said, getting it exactly right.

Disappointment was evident in every corner of the team's locker room yesterday after its 30-24 victory against the Miami Dolphins. The players quickly found out their playoff chances were all but doomed because the Houston Texans scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns to beat the New England Patriots, 34-27. They were officially eliminated when the Baltimore Ravens wrapped up a 21-13 victory against the Raiders last night about the time the Steelers' flight was supposed to land in Pittsburgh.

The anguish was especially clear at wide receiver Hines Ward's locker. His pain had little to do with two hamstrings that ached so badly that he had a hard time pulling on his socks. It had much more to do with the awful reality that the Steelers weren't going to get the opportunity to make it three Super Bowls in five seasons.

"We just couldn't stop the bleeding and it came back to haunt us," Ward said of that five-game losing streak. "It's a shame. We've got a good team. We just didn't play good football in November ...

"I'm glad that we finished the year 3-0. But I'm not a moral-victory guy. Expectations are high around here. I don't know what to say except to apologize to our fans for not getting them to where we are supposed to be. To win the Super Bowl one year and not even get in the next, it's disappointing."

It's embarrassing, actually.

Certainly, injuries were a part of it. If I'm ranking the most indispensable Steelers, I put quarterback Ben Roethlisberger No. 1, safety Troy Polamalu No. 2 and defensive end Aaron Smith No. 3. The team had to play most of the season without Polamalu and Smith. They also lost an important division game at Baltimore Nov. 29 without the concussed Roethlisberger.

But there are no excuses for losing to the Chiefs, Raiders at home and Browns. The Chiefs had gone 4-30 in their previous 34 games before they beat the Steelers Nov. 22. The Raiders had scored 10 touchdowns in 11 games before they scored three in the fourth quarter to stun the Steelers Dec. 6. The Browns had the NFL's worst defense before they kept the Steelers' offense out of the end zone Dec. 10.

That's way beyond disappointing or even embarrassing.

That's why people who blame the Steelers' predicament on the Indianapolis Colts for tanking their game against the New York Jets last week or on the Patriots for blowing a late 27-13 lead yesterday are dead wrong.

When you start the season 14-0, as the Colts did, you earned the right to get ready for the playoffs any way you see fit. If that means sitting quarterback Peyton Manning and doing consequential damage to the Steelers' playoff hopes, so be it.

When you wrap up your division early, as the Patriots did, you don't have to play quarterback Tom Brady on the final drive against the Texans with the game still on the line. If Patriots coach Bill Belichick deserves criticism for anything, it's for keeping Brady in the game as long as he did or even for playing star wide receiver Wes Welker at all. Welker left early with what appeared to be a serious knee injury. I'm sure there are a lot of fans in New England who wish the Patriots had taken the game yesterday a lot less seriously.

Many people in Steelers Nation seem to forget that their favorite team, after wrapping up the division title in 2004, chose to sit Roethlisberger and running back Jerome Bettis in the final regular-season game at Buffalo. Those same people have some nerve for criticizing the Colts for sitting Manning.

"You know how that goes," Steelers tackle Willie Colon said, rolling his eyes. "When your team does it, it's good, smart football getting ready for the playoffs. When another team does it to you, they're cowards.

"No matter what, this all comes back to us. You keep asking yourself, 'How did we get in this position? If we had just won one of those five games ... ' "

If.

What is a shame is that the Steelers just might have been able to do some damage in the playoffs. Their defense, after looking as if it would blow one final fourth-quarter lead yesterday, stiffened at the end with interceptions by Clark and cornerback Ike Taylor. And their offense, which scored 30, 23 and 37 points in games since that fiasco in Cleveland ...

"Our offense is unbelievable right now," Clark said. "That would scare a lot of teams."

Added Colon, "I don't think any team would want to see us in the postseason. Everybody knows that."

Of course, no team has to face the Steelers in these playoffs.

The Steelers didn't qualify.

This painful season, that's just as it should be.

[CountDeMoney]

Yes, I like posting obituaries.  Especially for teams I hate.

[Grey Fox]

Dear Baltimore Ravens,

Please don't fuck it up.

Cheers, Tom Brady's ex-lovers.

[Vince]

The Jets actually won.   

Now let's see them play like that against Cinci next week.

[Grey Fox]

Jim Zorn got fired.

The Washington Redskins fired coach Jim Zorn upon his arrival at Redskins Park at roughly 2:15 a.m. Monday after the team's trip to San Diego, two Washington television stations report.

The firing was expected for some time, as Zorn was stripped of play-calling duties in October. The team lost its final game of the season 23-20 against the Chargers and finished the season at 4-12. GM Vinny Cerrato resigned in mid-December and was replaced by Bruce Allen.

Zorn is 12-20 in two seasons as the Redskins' coach.

About 2:45 a.m. Redskins security ordered all media to leave the parking lot at the team's facility, with one security guard saying that was so Zorn could leave without being bothered, according to a Washington Post report. Zorn left Redskins Park at 4:45 a.m.

An announcement regarding Zorn's replacement could come as early as Monday. Former Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan has been rumored to be the new hire for weeks.

[Neil]

You know, even if the Colts hadn't greased the skids for the Jets, the Steelers still wouldn't have made the playoffs, as those kids from Houston would have made it in.

[Ed Anger]

Might as well give Cincy a box, because they've already bought the stamps to mail this one in tonight.

I'm glad I didn't even bother to watch the game.

[derspiess]

I'm glad I didn't even bother to watch the game.

Wish I had done the same.  My kid learned some new words after I saw Bungles receivers drop 4 passes in a row.

Not to mention each time Palmer threw to a double-covered Chad Johnson when other receivers were wide open.

[MadBurgerMaker]

The anguish was especially clear at wide receiver Hines Ward's locker.

Best part of the article.

[Ed Anger]

I'm glad I didn't even bother to watch the game.

Wish I had done the same.  My kid learned some new words after I saw Bungles receivers drop 4 passes in a row.

Not to mention each time Palmer threw to a double-covered Chad Johnson when other receivers were wide open.

Carson's fixation on Chad annoys me.

[CountDeMoney]

I'm glad I didn't even bother to watch the game.

Wish I had done the same.  My kid learned some new words after I saw Bungles receivers drop 4 passes in a row.

Not to mention each time Palmer threw to a double-covered Chad Johnson when other receivers were wide open.

In Carson's defense, Chris Henry was unavailable at game time.

Carson's fixation on Chad annoys me.

[katmai]

Never too soon for Seedy.