Fly Eagles Fly In Superbowl Classic

And so ends a 58-year championship drought and only the third grudge-match Superbowl in which the losing side the first time won the rematch - the Dolphins defeated the Redskins in 1972 then the Skins beat them in 1982; the Steelers beat the Cowboys in 1975 and again in 1978, then the Cowboys closed out the Troy Aikman dynasty at the Steelers' expense in 1995.  

For the Philadelphia Eagles it was decades of abuse over not winning a championship despite multiple talented teams, notably during the 2000-04 period under Andy Reid and the much-abused Donovan McNabb when they won four straight NFC East titles and lost three straight NFC Title Games, then made Superbowl XXXIX only to falter in the most anticlimactic Superbowl in memory.   The Eagles made the playoffs under ex-49er Jeff Garcia in 2006 and won a memorable Wildcard game vs the NY Giants, made the NFC Title Game in 2008 under McNabb, went one-and-out in 2009, then in 2010 won the NFC East under comeback player of the year Michael Vick and lost a bitter Wildcard affair to the Packers.  

Nick Foles' first playoff run with the Eagles came in 2013 ending in a Wildcard round loss to the Saints, then Foles faltered and in 2016 Carson Wentz took over, storming the Eagles in 2017 before being lost for the season late this past year in the Rams game.    Foles' redemption becomes all the more impressive after his strikingly slow start as starter late in the regular season and also the playoff upset of the Falcons.  

As usual in Superbowls a lot will be dissected.  My own takes -


The big picture takeaway for the NFL - finally a fresh new champion.   The seeming lack of competitive depth in the league has been an issue for a number of years now and is likely the largest reason for declining ratings.   Seeing the Titans, Jaguars, Bills, Vikings, and Panthers in the playoffs in 2017 was a refreshing change for the league's competitive depth and seeing the Eagles end a 58-year title drought is a huge step forward for a league that objectively has suffered from Patriots Fatigue; with the arrival of Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers suddenly expectation is sky-high for another team that fell off the map to explode forward again.  In short there appears to be legitimate competitive depth in the league again.  

The big picture takeaway for the Eagles - they've got a team that looks like a sustainable power, though they are reportedly $5 million over the salary cap, plus what to do with Nick Foles once Carson Wentz comes back may be a little sticky; we think Wentz becomes starter again.   The decline of the Dallas Cowboys helps the Eagles going forward while the collapse of the NY Giants merely reduces a team the Eagles have largely owned for the last two decades further, and the always-inconsistent at best Washington Redskins remain a question mark, though signing ex-Chief Alex Smith will be an improvement over the overrated Kirk Cousins.

There are several big-picture takeaways for the Patriots - the story is they are some $19 million under the cap, which will help going forward.  New England lost too many battles at the line of scrimmage, especially on defense, though given how much improvement the defense had shown since starting 2-2 the avalanche under which the defense got buried was a little surprising.  The offensive line played well overall but also struggled more than a 600-plus yard game would suggest.    The bigger takeaway on offense is it is time the Patriots invest in and commit to multiple big physical bookend deep threat pass catchers instead of insisting on a binky offense where too often receivers don't get enough separation while leaning too much on Rob Gronkowski - the return of Martellus Bennett should help draw heat away from Gronkowski if Bennett is retained for 2018.   Having multiple bookend deep threats is a big part of why the Eagles won.

The big buzz revolves around the de facto benching of Malcolm Butler by the Patriots.   It was unexpected - yet unsurprising, for Butler has been playing his way downward the last two seasons, especially after the Stephon Gilmore signing; worth remembering is Butler was benched in the game at the Saints and earlier this season a story attributed to Albert Breer suggested Butler might be a trade piece for Mychal Kendricks of the Eagles.   Of course Butler's subpar play vs the Jaguars in the AFC Title Game only made his future in New England all the murkier, and the notion advanced in some circles that he could have helped the Patriots defense in the Superbowl seems wishful thinking - subsequent scuttlebutt alleging serial insubordination to Butler makes it even worse for him despite media spin in his favor.

Murkier also becomes the future of Josh McDaniels with separate Mike Florio and Scott Zolak reporting indicating the assumed deal to become Indianapolis Colts head coach may not happen - this has led to speculation (always a mug's game) that Bill Belichick's future with the team is uncertain, but that's just gossip unsupported by any credible evidence (with a reported signing of Greg Schiano to replace Matt Patricia indicating Belichick is staying).   More likely the idea of working for the unstable Jim Irsay has more to do with McDaniels' future than any gossip about Belichick.  

Ironically both the Patriots and Eagles - regular preseason opponents - face the AFC South on their 2018 slates; both face the division champion Jaguars, the improved Titans under new head coach Mike Vrabel - Vrabel's hiring looks to be a coup for the Titans as it has a lot to do with his player experience with the Patriots, the team every other AFC team has to overcome first and foremost - and also a Houston Texans team where rookie sensation Deshaun Watson should be able to run the full season; what he produced in his foreshortened rookie year was eye-popping and a tremendous sign going forward.   What the Indianapolis Colts will look like is still in question, though Andrew Luck we think will finally be able to suit up again.  

Both teams will also face the Minnesota Vikings, vastly improved in 2017, though their quarterback situation is a bit murky going forward with Teddy Bridgewater healthy again.    One can expect the season-opening Thursday Nighter to be Vikings at Eagles.   

There is clearly no evidence Tom Brady is in any decline; indeed reaching the AFC Title Game will be an upset if it doesn't happen.   Right now the premature prediction is the Patriots once again storm to the AFC East but  the Miami Dolphins get Ryan Tannehill back and we believe the Dolphins make a playoff run again, while the Bills' quarterback situation may be in flux, as we doubt Tyrod Taylor will be starter in 2018; the NY Jets remain a murky deal.    Elsewhere in the AFC the Jaguars, Titans, and Texans look to make the AFC South the deepest division in the conference the way the NFC South presently in in that conference; we're not yet sure what to make of the Steelers with rampant blame-assignation and little to no accountability shown by anyone there, while the Ravens may be in some desperation mode with longtime GM Ozzie Newsome retiring after 2018; the Bengals still don't look like more than a 9-7 team and the Browns just can't get anything going; the Broncos likewise suddenly are a big mess while the Raiders try to rebound with a new coach - though what to expect out of Jon Gruden is a complete mystery - the Chiefs look to the future with Patrick Mahones, and the Chargers showed more than expected to where they may actually be getting better.

As for the NFC we expect the Eagles to stay on top in the East with only the Redskins showing improvement with a new quarterback, while the Giants deal is a mess and the Cowboys aren't in much better shape; in the North the Vikings are top dogs and the Packers may be in trouble with more pessimistic talk from Aaron Rodgers - talk at times sounding like subtle blame-shifting - about whether he'll stay in Green Bay, with the Lions presently stuck as a 9-7 team and the Bears wondering if they'll ever get better; the South is the deepest division in the conference and we think Carolina and Atlanta will stay as playoff contenders while New Orleans showed huge improvement in 2017 as the Bucs regressed; the West meanwhile gets wilder with the steady erosion of the Seahawks, murkiness about the Cardinals, the surge of the Rams, and the big potential story in the eruption of the new-look 49ers.


A John Wayne line from The Green Berets comes to mind - "first we get some sack time, then we start all over again."  For the Patriots and everyone else some rest is needed and then the grind renews with free agency, the Draft, and finally July training camps.  For the Eagles it's the song Don't Dream It's Over.

1998 NFC Championship Game: Atlanta Falcons vs. Minnesota Vikings

The greatest game in Atlanta Falcons history entering Superbowl LI.

Aaron Rodgers Mister Irrelevant Redux

So the NFL now has its Superbowl LI contestants and the Conference Championship Games were revelatory about how good the New England Patriots are and how much a fraud the Pittsburgh Steelers and especially the Green Bay Packers are.  

Back in 2011 and 2012 several pieces first raised analytical awareness of Aaron Rodgers' inability to win clutch games.    Entering 2012 Rodgers was Mister Irrelevant in the fourth quarter at just 3-18 in comeback attempts.   By October 2013 - following Green Bay's 34-30 loss to the Bengals in which Rodgers erased a 14-0 gap, led 30-14, and when a 4th-down fumble became the go-ahead Bengals touchdown failed to lead the comeback - he fell to 5-24 in comeback attempts.

And since then, nothing has qualitatively gotten any better - my quick and dirty count indicates he is now 10-41 in comeback attempts, and even more damning, by my quick and dirty count he is 4-31 in games where he trailed by at least two scores and also 0-35 in comebacks against quality opponents.   For 2016 he finished 0-7 in games where he had to stage a fourth quarter comeback and 0-6 when he trailed by at least two scores; his only two game-winning drives were against the Bears - after blowing a 17-point lead - and at the Cowboys - where he was outscored 18-6 in the fourth quarter.  Indeed the fourth quarter of Green Bay's 2016 games is illustrative of Rodgers, doing nothing well beyond frontrunning, and inability to make clutch plays -

@ Jaguars - 3 points in a game the Packers never trailed

@ Vikings - 7 points down 17-7, lost game

vs Lions - shutout in fourth of game the Packers never trailed

vs NY Giants - 6 points in game they never trailed

vs Cowboys - 10 points when they trailed 27-9, lost game

vs Bears - 13 points where they were leading at the start of the fourth

@ Falcons - 8 points, fell behind 33-32, Rodgers comeback failed, lost game

vs Colts - 13 points when trailing by 18, lost game

@ Titans - shutout in fourth, lost game

@ Redskins - 14 points when down 22-10, outscored 20-14 in fourth, lost game

@ Eagles - 10 points in game they never trailed

vs Texans - 14 points after game was tied entering the fourth

vs Seahawks - 10 points in game already up 28-3 entering the fourth

@ Bears - 3 points after blowing 17-point lead

vs Vikings - 10 points when up 28-10 entering the fourth

@ Lions - 14 points when leading 17-14 entering fourth

vs NY Giants - 14 points when leading 24-13 entering the fourth

@ Cowboys - 6 points where they blew a 15-point lead and were outscored 18-6

@ Atlanta - 6 points in game they never led, lost game

 
The funniest Green Bay meltdown of 2016 was also the most prescient toward Green Bay's ultimate massacre at the hands of another southern division NFL team


By this point of Rodgers' career it's obvious he is not a great quarterback. When he faces clutch situations, he falters - if he has to stage a comeback, he fails.    People fall in love with the athleticism and arm strength, but too often these are substitutes for smart quarterbacking the way he plays - his lack of a small ball attack is a fundamental weakness, as he prefers the spectacular play - athleticism and arm strength.   Indeed what is striking the more one watches him is he so often gets away with what dumb quarterbacks usually do.   

And so he falls short yet again and has now lost in the playoffs six straight seasons, 5-6 in overall playoff games in that span.

Meanwhile there's not much to say about the Patriots' usual demolition of the Steelers beyond sayonara Steelers.  


So the two week interregnum for New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons begins.

Patriots Four-Time Champions

And thus the Superbowl proved once again that the game itself is better than the circus of cheesy entertainment around which swirls.   Katy Perry's halftime show was standard-issue Katy Perry - it was a lot of flash signifying nothing worth remembering.    The real stars of the Superbowl were the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, and the last eighteens seasons have seen the Superbowl finally become the competitive contest it was hoped to be when it began.   The blowouts certainly still exist (see Seattle's massacre of Peyton Manning) but they sandwich within exciting games such as this one.  

Some breakdowns worthy of the breakdown of Seahawks discipline at the end -


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Joe Montana can not compete with Tom Brady - Brady has the four titles, and he got them against superior competition than anything Joe Montana faced - Montana's winning touchdown against the Bengals certainly was amazing, but it was against a Bengals team that was abysmal.   Of Montana's four Superbowls, the only one that came against an opponent that actually showed some fight was the first one, against the Ken Anderson Bengals, and Anderson was not in the class of Kurt Warner, Jake Delhomme, Eli Manning, or Russell Wilson.   I doubt Montana could have handled the Panthers had he played against them (Steve Young for one had a hard time against the Panthers as has the Niners organization in general).



Throw, Brady, throw - In 2006 at San Diego Brady became the first quarterback to win a regulation-length playoff game by throwing at least 50 passes; he's now done it several times, and seems to play better when he has to keep throwing.  



The Brady-Manning rivalry is over with Manning routed - While Tom Brady has four Superbowls and three game MVPs Peyton Manning saw his NINTH playoff one-and-out and thirteenth playoff loss, and his losses have come against ten different quarterbacks including Brady.   And the media's speculation about Manning's future is likely to rival media coverage of Brett Favre.   It boils down to that Peyton will never win another Superbowl and may finish with a lopsided losing playoff record.



The Patriots Way succeeds where Denver's imitation of the 1993 Oilers failed - An immortal piece of hindsight comedy is Bert Breer's interview on Gary Tanguay and Andy Gresh's pregame show before New England's rout of the Bengals in Week Five - Breer talked about how the Patriots were not building their roster with any sense of urgency, while the Broncos were going all in for Peyton Manning.   John Elway's imitation of the 1993 Houston Oilers produced the same results - the Broncos were bounced in the first round just like the 1993 Oilers got bounced in the first round - and both with a playoff bye to work with.  



Russell Wilson is competing with Brady as the league's greatest playoff quarterback -  Even with the game-ending interception, Russell Wilson made gigantic plays in a playoff game and his playoff record is only getting better.   When it comes to big games, Russell Wilson is rivaling Brady as the game's greatest big-play big-game quarterback.




The Patriots defense failed yet again in a Superbowl, yet still made the play - It's a cliché - whenever the Patriots are in the Superbowl the defense fails in the fourth quarter.   The difference was this time the defense got stabbed through the heart to their one-yard line yet made the game-winning play.    Malcolm Butler made a play thanks to taking in coaching, and it reminds one of the uselessness of Ellis Hobbs, who seemed to ignore coaching and just freelance - it was why the Giants won the last Superbowl held in Glendale, AZ, because Hobbs had to make a game-winning play and because he's Ellis Hobbs, he failed.

It all showed once again that for all the effectiveness of defense it remains quarterbacking that wins.  



The Seahawks give a preview for Seattle's NHL team - It appears a certainty that a new NHL team will be based in Seattle down the road, and it was appropriate a hockey game broke out at the end of the Superbowl.   It also showcased how trying to be Oakland Raiders-style badasses isn't as effective as it looks - the Ravens play dirty football a la the Raiders and the Seahawks got away with several late hits all game before the game-ending brawl and ejection.



It was poetic justice against Roger Goodell - Goodell lied about Spygate and his credibility appears to finally be coming under fire with the incompetence of the entire "Deflate-gate" scam, this despite the media's refusal to make clear the obvious - that there was no rule-breaking or even rule-bending by the Patriots.   So seeing him have to award the Lombardi Trophy to Belichick was even sweeter.



A harbinger for the Cardinals? - The last time Glendale, AZ hosted the Superbowl, the stadium's owner, the Cardinals, went to the Superbowl the following year - and this is no longer Bill Bidwell's team, it's instead a team that's good, though the issue of quarterback is as daunting now as it wound up being in 2014.



And thus does the National Football League wrap up its 2014 season; football junkies like myself will watch the Arena League and the Canadian League and enjoy it all as we count down to NFL training camps in the summer of 2015.

Patriots Seahawks First Thoughts

The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will renew a unique rivalry in football circles when they face off in Superbowl XLIX.   It will be the seventeenth career meeting between the two clubs and the first in any kind of playoff context.   The rivalry is unique in NFL annals as the Patriots have faced the Seahawks when Seattle was in both NFL conferences - The Patriots were 6-7 against the Seahawks when Seattle was in the AFC West and is 2-1 since divisional realignment put the Seahawks into the NFC West.  

The two clubs have clashed in several memorable affairs - in 1980 Steve Grogan's Patriots won 37-31 after the game lead changed some five times; in 1984 Tony Eason got his first action in erasing a 23-0 Seahawks lead to win 38-23, the largest Patriots comeback win until 2013's thriller from down 24-0 to the Broncos.   Two years later the Seahawks won 38-31 by scoring on two blocked kicks.   The two clubs met twice in 1993 in the battle of that year's top two draft picks in Drew Bledsoe and Rick Mirer; the Seahawks clawed out wins in both meetings.   2012 saw a bitter 24-23 Seahawks win on a comeback by Russell Wilson in the first meeting between the Patriots and their former coach Pete Carroll. 

Some takes on the two clubs following their Conference Championships -

Andrew Luck continues to regress against the Patriots - Andrew Luck, the more he plays against the Patriots, the worse he seems to get.   He has ten interceptions in four career meetings with the Patriots and has a grand total of 72 points against them vs. nearly 200 scored against him by the Patriots.  


Curiously Brady struggles in the passing game against Chuck Pagano  - Though he had a solid day with three touchdowns, Tom Brady curiously has not been as prolific in his passing attack against Chuck Pagano's Colts than he did in years past.   The last three games have been defined by the running attack, notably Legarrette Blount's continuing rampage through the Indianapolis defense.

Wilson plays poorly but also plays clutch - A grossly underrated aspect of the Seahawks' win is the Packers' utter incompetence at situational football.  The fake field goal was one thing; the failure on the onside kick was worse.   Then there was Russell Wilson, who for the longest time looked completely in over his head, until the moment when he had to step up his game - and did just that.


Aaron Rodgers gets exposed as a fraud by the Seahawks yet again - This was worse than his other losses to Seattle, because Rodgers was able to jump the Packers to a 16-0 lead, yet at no point did he look in control of the game.   When the Seahawks scored on the fake field goal that was when the momentum turned decisively against the Packers.   Under Aaron Rodgers the Packers are entirely dependent on frontrunning; Rodgers is not capable of handling this kind of adversity - when he frontruns he looks great, but when he can't put a team away he falters and almost always loses.   With opportunities to stop the bleeding, Rodgers didn't do it.   He has now lost five of eleven career playoff games and the 2010 Superbowl looks more and more like the aberration of a career that may have plateaued years ago.


Seahawks barely escape the trap - The other shock was how poorly prepared the Seahawks were for the first half.   Inability to hold onto the ball, stupid penalties, and inability to generate any offense was mind-numbing and raised questions about what the heck the gameplan coming in was supposed to be.   The Seahawks also better know the Patriots have a far better offense than Aaron Rodgers can generate.



Those are the quick takes as we prepare for the two week long pregame shows on the Superbowl.

Autopsy On Peyton's War

Superbowl 48 has come and gone - the Seahawks winning 43-8 - and its story was told on the opening snap - the safety for the Seahawks was the fatal wound from which the Broncos couldn't recover.   The subsequent game was the worst disaster seen since the 49ers - delicious irony being an NFC West team - hung 55 on now-GM John Elway's Broncos in Superbowl 24.    And the opening snap signalled the Broncos were in over their heads.

There is quite a bit to break down in this game.   What stood out and what stands out going forward -


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Peyton Manning flames out under playoff pressure yet again
- Two interceptions and utter confusion in the face of Seattle's defense once again came in a playoff game.   That Manning even got to the Superbowl is surprising in and of itself; the reality remains his twelve playoff losses - the definining characteristic of Peyton's career.   The fact of being in a playoff game inevitably gets to Peyton; it took longer than normal this season but it happened like clockwork again, and it was even uglier than usual when it did happen. 


Pete Carroll is a better NFL coach than anyone thought
- There was a minor brouhaha during the week when some media noticed the front-office structure of the Patriots when Carroll was coach, and how Carroll basically had no say in personnel.   It is worth focusing on because it showed why Carroll did not succeed there - the front office structure was divided and not working together because it lacked a leader.   The structure was put in place because of the failures (and refusal to commit to any kind of lengthy plan) of Bill Parcells as Patriots coach his first three years there.  That it was not successful showed in that Bill Belichick got the control Carroll was denied there.   His success in Seattle as his own boss shows Carroll is one of the best NFL coaches out there.  


Russell Wilson outplayed Manning
- People will once again look at the volume stats and say Wilson merely managed the game, citing the disparity in yardage.   The mistake is always made of falling in love with Volume Stats.   The facts are Wilson led the offense efficiently; he made plays Manning was not able to make; he moved the chains; he controlled the ball much better than Peyton's offense did.   In short, the moment was too big for Manning yet again and wasn't for Wilson.


There was no indictment or endorsement of a certain philosophy of roster construction or scheme - Before the game a piece criticized the Patriots by comparing their defensive mindset and personnel approach with Carroll's and the premise of the piece is wrong - the Patriots' philosophy is successful. Pete Carroll's construction of the Seahawks defense has unquestionably been successful, but it revolves around scheme as much as Belichick's.   The difference right now is the Seahawks have managed to be a harder-hitting team - that isn't an failure of talent or scheme because whatever weaknesses the Patriots have are not weaknesses of philosophy or personnel - injuries were a bigger issue than scheme or roster philosophy.     Belichick and Carroll are showing their philsophy - at heart one that emphasizes Value and controlling the line of scrimmage - is not that different.


Preseason matters
- The Broncos played the Seahawks in the preseason and Peyton Manning could not hang with the Hawks.   That was the first sign Seattle was for real and the Broncos were in trouble.  


The Seahawks now try to buck the trend - The 2005 Patriots were the last Superbowl champ to win an ensuing playoff game - since then Pittsburgh twice (2006 and 2009), Indianapolis (2007), the New York Giants twice (2008 and 2012), New Orleans (2010), Green Bay (2011), and Baltimore (2013) followed up the Superbowl by failing to win a playoff game - with four of them not even making the playoffs as defending champs.    And the Seahawks face a hungry NFC West in 2014 as well.


The Seahawks quietly vindicated over the Packers
- The 2012 touchdown over the Packers has been something of a cloud over the Seahawks head, even though they were right; now they have a championship and are a far better team than Green Bay, which comes to Seattle in 2014; I'd love to see the Seahawks treat the Packers and their media humpers for the liars they've been since that controversial catch.

So the 2013 season has ended - with 2014 preparations already being drawn up by 30 other teams stewing for a shot at Denver and Seattle down the road.

The Old School AFC West Superbowl

And suddenly we have what was a widely-predicted Superbowl matchup - the Broncos and Seahawks.   And the trash talk already started with Richard Sherman's mouth and also Bill Belichick's oblique attack on his former player a cut-block hit that knocked out Aqib Talib.    This coming Superbowl pits two teams that were former AFC West rivals in what historically has been a one-sided rivalry.   The Seahawks have won only nineteen of 53 career meetings to date and very few meetings have produced memorable scores - 1979's 37-34 Denver win, 1995's 31-27 Seahawks upset at Denver, and 2000's 38-31 Denver win in which Terrell Davis' understudy Mike Anderson put up 195 of Denver's 301 rushing yards are the games that stand out in this rivalry.


Some random thoughts on the playoffs as we go through two weeks of hype -


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Here are the keys to why the Broncos defeated the Patriots after the crushing meltdown at Foxboro back in November -

The Broncos never lost control of the line of scrimmage.

As a result, Peyton Manning was never really challenged to make decisions at times when he didn't want to make them.

Tom Brady could never get the Patriots offense going until it was too late.

There may be talk about Wes Welker's cut-block that knocked out Aqib Talib and whether it was dirty - John Fox's teams have never struck me as dirty; the Mike Shanahan-era Broncos were the ones who specialized in dirty play.  Even so, the gross imbalance in penalties by Tony Corrente's crew in favor of the Broncos gave Welker the opportunity - he saw he could get away with it.   And Bill Belichick does not bring up this kind of subject without ample justification.


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There has been a lot of  legacy talk with Manning and Brady, but it overlooks the differences between the two clubs - Manning once again inherited a roster poised to explode; Tom Brady had to rebuild the roster, and did so with the same aplomb Manning has never had to show as far as making his rosters better.   There are depth issues the Patriots have to face down the road, notably in the defensive backfield, at the line of scrimmage, and in the continuing need for bookend deep threat receivers to go with the tight end-oriented attack.   None of these issues are unfixable, and with Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins the Patriots have two promising youngsters for next season and beyond.


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The real legacy for Manning is that for all his volume stats etc. he's never been as good as hyped.   That it's taken this long to reach .500 as a playoff quarterback - with the prospect of facing a Seahawks team that's more powerful than any Seattle squad before - is anything but an endorsement of Manning's legacy.  


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The legacy talk extends to Pete Carroll as he continues to prove critics wrong.   Disciplinary issues have been discussed in media but overall the Seahawks are showing how good a coach Carroll is, this after he was written off as a coach only capable of handling the college game because of ostensible failures in New York and New England.    The reality is the front office structure in New England wasn't suitable for Carroll, because he was basically shut out of decision making on personnel.   At the time of Carroll's tenure in New England it was a structure in place because Robert Kraft wanted his football people to work as a committee like his other businesses and the structure under Bill Parcells wasn't working (shown by his 21-27 record 1993-5 before personnel authority was given to Bobby Grier at the 1996 NFL Draft).  

As VP of football operations Carroll has overhauled the Seahawks top to bottom and the result is three playoff appearences and two straight winning seasons.   The best development for the league is if Carroll defeats Peyton Manning and also shows up Roger Goodell.  

Energy Efficiency Got Sacked In The Superbowl

The Energy Department pushing the myth of "efficient" energy praised New Orleans - "Super Bowl City Leads on Energy Efficient Forefront"