Your Football Place

Unlike any other sport, football has had the most problems when it comes to overtime. The college game allows both teams a chance to score but effectively removes a giant part of the game (special teams) by removing the kicking and punting parts of the game. Meanwhile, the pro game keeps every aspect of the game intact, but puts way too much of an emphasis on receiving the ball first. A good offense that wins a coin flip is likely to win the game without the other team ever getting a chance.

The truth is that neither of these systems are perfect. Kickoffs and punts should not be removed from the game and no team should ever have the chance to win a tied game without giving their competition an equal opportunity. I don’t care if the statistics show that the coin flip outcome is insignificant, it just isn’t fair to the teams that don’t get a shot to score.

It may seem like there is no good answer to this question, but by using parts from both systems a perfect overtime scenario can be found. Here is my perfect overtime system;

1. Have a coin flip that allows one team to receive and forces the other to kick off.

2. If the team drives the field and scores a touchdown, they win automatically.

3. If a team kicks a field-goal, the other team should get an opportunity to tie or win the game. If the other team fails to score, the game is over and the scoring team wins.

These rules will force teams to use all parts of their team and motivate the offense to try harder than to get into field-goal range. How can it be fair to tell a team they will lose if the other team scores three measly points? This system may not be perfect, but it is a heck of a lot better than watching two teams squabble over getting into kicking range to decide the outcome of a game.

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No team in any sport, arguably, has had as much success as the Patriots have over the last few years. Because of the competitive nature of football, it is much harder to run a dynasty in this sport than in any other. For that reason, three championships in four years is as impressive of a mark as in any sport. But recently, many Patriot-haters have taken the Bill Belichek cheating scandal out of proportion and used it to degrade the team’s success.

Let me start out by saying that what Bill, and perhaps the team as a whole did, was wrong. Everyone knows that coaches are under pressure to win and will do anything to win. But cheating purposefully in any way is just wrong. If he were any other coach, he probably would have gotten fired over this. But no one would fire a three-time Superbowl winner for a minor cheating scandal.

With that said, this matter has been taken way out of proportion. The Patriots players were not aware of this going on. They should not suffer because of a mistake their coach made. Look beyond the scandal and you will see that the team regularly shuffles players in and out. Would players really keep this cheating a secret if they knew? Eric Mangini sure didn’t when he left the team, why would a player cut by the team for financial reasons?

The point is, if you want to rag on Belichek and call him a cheat, go ahead. It is probably true. But Patriot fans and players had nothing to do with this and the team still went out and earned their championships. The players still go out and play their butts off to win close games. And they don’t deserve to be booed for “cheating.” You can boo them for other reasons, their success, their arrogance, whatever. But don’t be petty and jeer for the wrong reasons. It isn’t worth it.

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For some reason, fans of football seem to love power rankings. Never mind the fact that power rankings are often personal opinion and mean nothing, fans usually take their team’s status in ESPN or Yahoo’s rankings at face value. Some find it insulting to be ranked low. Others feel that vindicated or justified. Here is my opinion of the top-five teams in the NFL right now, after four weeks. Note that I am not going to give teams with more wins an automatic spot like most rankings do.

1. New England Patriots - There really is no question about this right now. Their passing offense is so lethal that it is feasible for Tom Brady to finish the season with a 130+ passer rating and for Randy Moss to catch 25+ touchdowns. And their defense, aided by Adalius Thomas, is as good as ever.

2. Dallas Cowboys - No offense to Colts fans, but the Cowboys have been very impressive and seem to only get better from week to week. Owens is happy, Romo is consistent, and the team is undefeated. Factor in the fact that no other NFC team seems to be in their class, and the Cowboys have to be riding as high as any other team right now.
3. Indianapolis Colts - Recent injury problems and close wins are what drop the Colts from the usual spot of two to three. Having Peyton Manning surely makes the Colts contenders every year, but he can’t do it by himself. It may not be a very bold statement to make, but I doubt the team starts 9-0 this year.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers - Consider that through four games, this team has only given up 47 points. Yes they lost to Arizona, but they were also facing two previous coordinators motivated to prove they deserved the job in Pittsburgh.

5. Green Bay Packers - This is not meant as a slight to the Packers or Brett Favre. But no running game is going to hurt this team eventually. Outside of their 35-13 blowout of the Giants, the Packers have won each of their games by one touchdown or less. While their start certainly is impressive, it is not nearly as dominant as the Steelers’ has been…even when one factors in the fact that Pittsburgh has a loss and that the Packer’s don’t.

So those are the rankings. Hopefully no one is too insulted by them. The truth is, again, that these rankings are just my opinion. From now on I will revisit this issue every week.

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Over the course of the past six years, no team has faced more ridicule and has fared worse than the Detroit Lions. As a fan of the team, I know this from personal experience. Not only has our talent been mediocre, at best, resulting in many, many losses, our coaching staffs and front office have been generally incompetent. How else do you explain us having no more than six wins in a single season over this period?

But forget about Joey Ballgame being a bust or the four first-round WRs drafted over the last five years. These Lions have been, so far, pretty good. While the defense is still far from championship-caliber, the offense has clicked from the get go. Kitna and his talented receiving corp seem to having timing routes down perfectly and Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson open up the deep ball every play.

Most of all, the Lions have shown that, unlike in past seasons, they can come back from deficits and bad situations and win. Against Oakland, the team squandered a big lead before rallying for multiple scores to seal the game. Against Minnesota, the team overcame losing Kitna for a half and missing a game-winning field goal try before overtime. And verses the Bears, the team overcame three quarters of horrendous play, a back-breaking 97-yard touchdown return by Hester, and a couple of bad turnovers to win.

Three wins right now does not guarentee the playoffs or Jon Kitna’s guarentee of ten wins, of course. But the way the Lions have fought to win games they would have lost in past years is impressive. Add in the fact that the NFC seems weak, as usual, and the playoffs are not an unrealistic goal if all continues. Before we start booking playoff plans, however, remember that the team did start 3-1 in 2004 too.

But if Detroit keeps playing like this, ten wins are not out of the reach. You can reach the playoffs by outscoring the opposition and the Lions certainly have the tools to do that.

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