SuperBowl 44 Preview
Super Bowl 44 may be held in South Florida, but there is a distinctive New Orleans feel to this years championship contest.
Drew Brees arrived in New Orleans looking to rid the team of it’s rough quarterback history, and lead them to the promise land after the city has gone through so much since Hurricane Katrina.
The NFL’s first four team MVP, Peyton Manning, has strong family ties to the New Orleans area, and especially the Saints. This has to be one of two situations that has the Manning clan routing against Archie Manning’s beloved Saints. History is important, but family ties trumps all even in Football.
The story lines may add intrigue to the game, but these two teams make for quite an interesting match-up. During the regular season both teams posted top 5 offenses. They did it in different ways, however.
For New Orleans the passing game powered by Brees is the key, but the Saint’s used a strong running game to balance out the number one regular season offense. They posted 131.6 yards a game, good for 6th in the league, powered by three running backs in Pierre Thomas, Mike Bell, and Reggie Bush.
The post season has lead to a dip in production in the rushing attack, however, as the average has dropped 12.1 yards a game with relatively the same amount of attempts. The attack has been lead by Pierre Thomas’s 113 yards on 27 carries, and Reggie Bush has contributed 92 on 12 carries.
Going up against the New Orleans rushing attack is the Colts running defense which has held rushing attacks to 39.5 less yards a game at .9 less a carry. The Colts rush defense ranked only 24th in the regular season, but has been a top 5 in the post-season.
As for Saint’s the passing attack, that was even more effective putting up 272 yards a game, good enough for 4th in the league. The attack featured seven players who had more than 30 catches during the regular season, led by Marques Colston’s 1074 yards and nine touchdowns.
The postseason has also witnessed a drop in statistics for the Saints passing attack, as they are producing 54 less yards a game. The passing attack is once again well balanced, and is led by Devery Henderson’s 119 yards and two touchdowns.
Facing off against the dangerous Saints Passing attack is the Colts 14th, during the regular season, ranked defense. The unit is giving up about 30 less yards a game during the postseason, and forcing opposing QB’s to six percent less accuracy.
Overall the Saints offensive attack is averaging 6.9 more points a game at 38, so despite the differential in production numbers, they are still getting the job done. The Colts defense has been playing much more effectively during the postseason, giving up 5.5 less points a game, and are giving up 10 less yards a game.
When looking at the fate of the Colts offensive attack, one only has to look at one player: Joseph Addai! In all seriousness, Peyton Manning has once again produced an exceptional season that we have come to expect.
Manning and the Colts passing attack put up 282 yards a game during the regular season, and the postseason has not been much different, with a 296.5 average. Manning likes to spread the ball around, but his main targets are a pair of 100 reception players in Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark. Manning’s command of this passing attack is legendary, and will be the key for the Colts like usual.
This match up poses a huge problem for the Saint’s passing defense, which struggled during the regular season; giving up 235 yards a game through the air! The postseason has been even worse, giving up 284 yards a game through the air
For the Colts, running the ball tends to be an afterthought. Lead by Joseph Addai and his 3.8 yards a carry, they only managed 80.9 yards a game during the regular season, and dropped to 71.5 during the post-season.
While the Colts use their running attack for balance, the Saints porous rushing defense will allow the Colts to use that balance in this game. The Saints are giving up 133 yards per game on the ground, 7.5 yards worse.
The Saints rush defense doesn’t strike fear in the hearts of opponents, but if the Colts are to win it will be on the strength of Manning’s arm. That is true for the Saints as well, their success will largely depend on Brees ability to stay hot.
While the Colts defense is statistically playing much better during the playoffs, dealing with Brees and the balanced Saints attack will be a challenge. For the Saints, it is a matter of slowing down Manning, as stopping him is next to impossible.
This will be a game that features two of the best passing attacks the NFL has to offer, and should be a high scoring contest. There are several factors that point to the Colts being favorites, but there is just something about the scrappy Saints that should make this game interesting
Saints 35-Colts 31
Would Pete Carroll Be Jim Mora Part Two for the Seattle Seahawks?
One full season as head coach was all the Seattle Seahawks needed to see from Jim L. Mora. While pretty much the entire town had criticism for the man’s coaching decisions and public handling of players, there still is no doubt about his passion for the Seattle area. The only real surprise was that it was after one year, instead of two. Did the fact that he had spent time on the staff prior to his promotion make a difference?
No matter how they came to the conclusion, the Seahawks decided it was time to start fresh. With openings at general manager and head coach they are in a very flexible position when it comes to pursuing future coaches. In a cut-throat league like the NFL it is not surprising that Mora was let go after a five win campaign. What is surprising is the reports that USC’s Pete Carroll is the Seahawks’ top target.
We all know about his monumental success at the college level. Are we forgetting his failures in the NFL? This is the same coach that was a fish out of water in the NFL at New York and New England. It seems rather obvious that his skill set is more adaptable to college age kids than to professional adults.
So why is Pete Carroll the top choice?
We just had a coach with the ‘rah-rah’ style, and the team didn’t play for the guy. Did we not learn from that? What has Pete Carroll shown that makes him worth the risk that what he has learned in college is applicable to the NFL level? It is ironic in a way considering how often Jim Mora’s likelihood of success had he taken the University of Washington job is based off of the success that Pete Carroll has experienced in Los Angeles.
Then you look at Carroll’s time in New England, and it in a way parallels Mora’s time at Atlanta, in that they were successful the first year and posted worse records in the following seasons. Mora went 26-22 at his time in Atlanta. Carroll went 27-21 in New England.
It seems like a tremendous risk to go after a college guy when there are proven NFL coaches out there. For Carroll, however, it does make sense. It is quite possible Seattle will offer him if not full control, then something close to it. The fact that he is 33-31 in the NFL has to be motivating to a person as competitive as Carroll.
There is also the possibility that USC could be facing sanctions from the NCAA, but at that point that is just rumors and it wouldn’t be something we would know until after the fact. He knows that the NFC-West is not a strong division, and feels that the Seahawks’ organization would give him more freedom to get what he wants to accomplish done than his previous stops.
If Carroll is hired for the Seattle job it will be interesting to see how he fares after spending time at the college level. Seattle will be banking on the fact that he did learn from his past, and that his motivational techniques can translate into the NFL. This hasn’t worked out well for Seattle in the past, see Dennis Erickson, and we as fans have to hope we are not just seeing the Hollywood version of Jim L. Mora on our sidelines next season.
RB Deontae Cooper Is Enrolled for Winter Quarter at Washington
Running back Deontae Cooper , who had already verbally committed to play for the University of Washington , is now enrolled in the winter quarter. This will make him available for spring practice. Cooper is a four star running back out of Perris, California.
With the opportunity to participate in spring practice, and the fact that Chris Polk carried the load by himself last year, Cooper is setting himself up for playing time his freshman season.
Cooper is a 6′ 200 pound running back with a 4.7 40-yard dash. He is rated the 17th best running back per Scout , and the ninth on Rivals . Deontae was highly recruited, with offers from three other Pac-10 Schools, as well as two Big 12 schools.
With Deontae’s arrival and subsequent signing of his letter of intent to play at Washington; the first member of the 2010 class has arrived. Classes began January 4, so the young man has already started his transition into the college world.
The Official Husky Website has a short video interview with Cooper about his experiences thus far. He sounds like he is enjoying the transition to school and they are making him feel “at home.” Which is important for a player from out of state, and Cooper notes he has yet to start to feel homesick, although it is the first week.
He also commented on the workouts being more intense, and that was one of his driving factors to enroll early, to prepare for the transition. You can watch the video for yourself at the official Husky website .
With this early start Cooper is looking to help carry the load his freshman year. Carrying the load is something Cooper knows all about, as he set the California state record with 59 carries in a single game this season. He has been a very productive runner putting up 7,450 rushing yards with 107 touchdowns during his high school career.
That yardage is No. 2 in Inland Empire history behind only Toby Gerhart, who was a Heisman finalist for Stanford this season. During his senior season put up 2,863 yards and 34 touchdowns at nine yards a carry.
In addition to his production as a runner Cooper has a reputation as a solid receiver out of the back field. He is considered to be one of the most versatile running backs in the 2010 class. His skill set should fit in well in Sarkisian’s system that asks a running back to catch passes as well as run the ball. Because of that, and his early arrival, look for Cooper to get some playing time as a true freshman.
Washington Huskies Decade in Review: Historic Lows for Proud Program
With the 2009 season for the University of Washington Husky Football team over, it gives us a chance to look back on what has been the single worst decade in Washington’s storied history. Just how bad has it been?
The Huskies have managed forty wins in the last ten years, giving them a winning percentage of only 40 percent! This is 10 percent lower than the next worst decade-1950-59. The decade started out well enough, with an 11 win Rose Bowl Champion team in 2000.
The 2000 squad was a gutsy team led by quarterback Marquis Tuiasaspo, and inspired by the tragic on field accident that eventually led to the death of teammate Curtis Williams. This team did not overwhelm opponents, but was a scrappy team that refused to lose, and ended the season ranked No. 3 in the nation.
Washington followed that campaign up with a respectable 8-4 effort in a rebuilding season, having lost a lot of that Rose Bowl winning team.
The future looked good going into 2002, and it was an exciting year offensively with the Cody Pickett to Reggie Williams’s connection producing record numbers, but the team managed only seven wins.
The 2002-2003 offseason proved to be disastrous for Washington as head coach Rick Neuheisal, who had coached the 2000 Rose Bowl team, was fired and offensive coordinator Keith Gilbertson was put in as the interim coach.
Still Gilbertson was a coach with a lot of experience and history with the Huskies, and many people felt that this team should still compete for the PAC-10 title with Cody Pickett and Reggie Williams returning.
Instead, the team fell apart and barely finished the season at .500 with a 6-6 record. Gilbertson was retained for the 2004 year which produced a 1-10 effort, only Washington’s fifth one-win season since 1901.
In 2005 the Huskies hired the recently fired Tyrone Willingham to ‘clean up’ the program. Willingham wasn’t the first person they went to, reports are they talked to Urban Meyer who had no interest in the job, but was a favorite of Athletic Director Todd Turner.
Turner, who left Vanderbilt when they decided no athletic director was a better idea, saw something no one else seemed to see in in Willingham.
Sadly for Washington fans whatever Turner saw in Willingham did not produce many wins, as Willingham’s 2005 team produced two wins. Tyrone’s effort for 2006 was not much better, but did reach the Willingham era’s highest single-season win total-five.
It should be noted though that at this point that Willingham did resist the urge to burn freshman quarterback Jake Locker’s redshirt that season after the starter, Isaiah Stanback, went down.
It is interesting to consider how things might have turned out differently had he burned Locker’s redshirt. Would the team have reached the six win total for bowl eligibility? Would that have earned Tyrone another year at the helm? It is hard to say in retrospect, but most Husky fans are probably happy at this point that he did not, and that he never got an extension.
What did happen was the infamous “suddenly senior” day, where Willingham decided that players had to earn their fifth season, the most notable case being kicker Michael Braunstein, who transferred for his redshirt senior season and had an excellent year, at Ohio.
Going into 2007 there was excitement around the program about new quarterback Jake Locker. An amazing athlete, Locker proved to be deadly with his feet, rushing for nearly 1,000 yards his redshirt freshman season. This was also supposed to be a make it or break it year for Tyrone with his 2006 team falling short of making a bowl games. Despite playing a 13 game regular season the Huskies only managed to get to four wins.
There were a few positives, however, with senior running back Louis Rankin reaching the 1000 yard mark, and Locker showing some of his potential. Still, there were a lot of questions in the Washington community wondering, “Did Willingham earn his fourth season?”
In retrospect the answer looks easy-he didn’t. The Huskies went into 2008 with the same goal of making a bowl game, and failed on a grand scale by going 0-12. Jake Locker was knocked out for the year blocking on a run play in the fourth game, and the Huskies never stood a chance after that.
After a thrashing at the hands of conference power USC, Willingham stepped down. He was allowed to coach the team through the whole season, however.
After the disaster that was 2008 Husky fans were left to wonder, “what next?” The Washington administration went again searching for a head coach for the third time in the decade, and most fans were hoping for an experienced, proven winner, to lead the Huskies out of the abyss.
President Mark Emmert and interim AD Scott Woodward—who took the position full time later on—did not go for the experienced coach, but rather a young up and comer by the name of Steve Sarkisian.
Sarkisian was serving as the offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans, and has coached and impressive list of quarterbacks who went on the play in the NFL. Sarkisian brought a lot of energy to the picture, and bringing with him the always fired up Nick Holt from USC to be his defensive coordinator.
After the reign of Willingham produced 11 wins, closed practices, and more awkward press conferences than anyone thought was possible, the Husky faithful were ready for a change.
Sarkisian certainly brought change in 2009, as he opened up practices, and also matched Willingham’s season high of five wins in his first campaign. He also scored an upset victory over his former team at Husky Stadium.
The changes in style, and the improvement of young players throughout the season gives Washington fans a lot more hope going into the next decade. Play-makers like redshirt freshman Chris Polk, who rushed for 1000 yards in his first full season, give this Washington team the potential to be dangerous going into 2010.
For a 10 year span that started out on top of the Pac-10, it was a sad series of events that led to the worst decade in Washington Football history. It has been a rough stretch, no bowl game since 2002, Pac-10 record 12 loss-season, but after surviving through such lows the program looks to be headed back in the right direction.
With Jake Locker and most of the offense returning, we should look for the Huskies to start this new decade on a positive note, just not quite as high as the last one began on. This is ok, as long as we don’t have to experience the same depths of futility.
Recruit Nick Montana Looking to Enroll Early at University of Washington
Just a couple weeks after quarterback Jake Locker decided to return for his senior season, the University of Washington received what could turn out to be more good news.
Quarterback commit Nick Montana is looking to enroll early to get a jump-start on his college career.
There were rumors about Montana looking into this, and Bob Condotta from the Seattle Times confirmed it and has quotes from Montana’s high school coach in his blog post Tuesday night.
The idea of enrolling early has become a more and more popular option for recruits as of late. It can be especially beneficial for quarterbacks. An example of this would be Tim Tebow from the University of Florida, who enrolled early and played in all 14 games for the Gators that year as a backup to Chris Leak.
Montana’s situation is similar to the one Tebow stepped into, even if their skills are not. Both are quarterbacks looking to enroll early, even though their school had a senior quarterback returning.
Each quarterback also committed to a system that fit their physical tools well, but at the time was using a quarterback who did not exactly fit the mold for the school’s offensive system.
Leak was a pocket passer playing in a spread option. He had to run the ball somewhat to be effective, but it wasn’t until Meyer started to put in more two tight end formations and asked Leak to run less that he has success.
Tebow, on the other hand, was ready-made to run Urban Meyer’s offense. It made sense for Tebow to enroll early; that way he would be able to contribute his freshman season, which he did mostly as the running threat that Leak wasn’t.
Locker’s physical tool set seems ready-made for an offense like Meyer’s spread. Steve Sarkisian, however, runs a pro-style offense that emphasizes throwing instead of using the quarterback’s legs as a threat.
Montana’s skill set matches up very well with the pro-style offense. The difference between the situation that Florida went through and this early enrollment is that Locker has established himself as a threat through the air as well as on the ground.
In that way, Montana’s early enrollment is different from Tebow’s; he is not coming in to fill a void. He won’t be asked to contribute right away.
What it will do is give him a head start on his college career and allow him more than a full year to get ready to take over the job after Locker’s senior season.
Even with the possibility of being there for spring practice, Montana may still redshirt after all, but in the end this will help him get ready for the next level and give him a higher chance to succeed once he takes the reins of the Husky offense.
The possibility this leaves open?
Montana could be the No. 2 to start the season and receive some game experience that might not have been available without the extra time.
