Sinking Ship: The Seattle Seahawks
The defending NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks are limping towards the finish line and are possibly on the verge of a colossal collapse. If they do not win one more game they risk losing the NFC West and a playoff birth to a mediocre San Francisco 49'ers squad.
Its like a one-legged horse with Mr. LaDainian Tomlinson pointing a gun at the Seahawks head. Scary as it sounds, Tomlinson is a MUCH bigger threat then Frank Gore.
Could the Seahawks lose to the Bucs? Getting run over by a player whose nickname is Cadillac and a former receiver in Joey Galloway who Mike Holmgren couldn't get along with?
Karma's a bizzle aint it?
This is no surprise as the team that bi**ed throughout the entire offseason, complaining that they did not receive enough respect from the national media are being exposed for the fraud that they are.
Lets recap this offseason that has led to such a disappointing season:
· The Seahawks traded their first round pick to the New England Patriots for wide receiver Deion Branch and rewarded him with a $39 million, six-year contract with $13 million in guarantees.
This quite possibly may have been the most fiscally irresponsible acquisition by any team in the NFL this past offseason - Including the Washington Redskins making Adam Archuleta the highest paid safety in NFL history. Lets remember, the only team that was seriously interested in Branch were the New York Jets and their was no way possible that the Patriots would have traded their best receiver to a division rival.
The only way the Seahawks can justify this trade is if they are able to trade Darrell Jackson (who is playing his last few games in Seattle) in the offseason for a first round draft pick. Ya, not likely unless Matt Millen is still employed with the Detroit Lions.
How important was Branch to the Patriots? The Patriots are 10-4 and are going to win the AFC East crown yet again. I guess that Tom Brady is a resilient fella? Brady is the most valuable player in the NFL and Branch was just riding on Brady's coattails. Word of the wise to Deion, without Brady, you are a NOTHING! Brady makes great receivers, every player on New England is replaceable.
For the rest of Branch's career in Seattle, he will probably have as much attention and fame as Brady's ex, Bridget Moynahan.
Where else did the Seahawks go wrong?
· Re-sign backup DT Rocky Bernard to a three-year, $13 million contract with $5.4 million signing bonus. Besides having a big game against Oakland (what defensive lineman has not had a big game against that o-line?) he has been a bust.
· Re-signing Shaun Alexander: Another player who had a big contract year and is tanking the rest of his contract. Alexander will be 30-years old next offseason and history shows that Alexander's best days are behind him. Has Alexander fallen off the map or what? I think Kevin Federline has a better chance of becoming the number one selling rap artist then Alexander does of winning another rushing title.
· Not franchising Steve Hutchinson: This is more of a massive blunder then a mistake. The Seahawks are realizing that Hutchinson is a special linemen that just cannot be replaced with just anybody. They burned a first round pick last year on Chris Spencer and although he has played better in the past few games, he hardly looks special as centers drafted in the first round should be pretty damn good.
· Not signing Ty Law: STUPID! Marcus Trufant is an average at best cornerback and Kelly Herndon is a backup in this league. If you have the money, SPEND IT!
Looking back at last years draft, Tim Ruskell's biggest mistake was selecting David Greene in the third round and Ray Willis in the fourth round.
Greene is a third string quarterback, way to high for a first day pick. Who could the Seahawks have drafted instead of Greene? Strong safety Kerry Rhodes, who was drafted by the New York Jets in the fourth round.
Rhodes is a likely to make the Pro Bowl this year and is easily better then Michael Boulware, probably even Ken Hamlin. Its funny looking back when Marquand Manuel got hurt in the Super Bowl, the Seahawks lacked depth at the safety position, costing them big yards to the Steelers pass offense (umm anyone covering Hines Ward?) If they had drafted Rhodes, who knows....
In the fourth round the Seahawks selected offensive tackle Ray Willis. Willis looked like a solid prospect, but he has yet to start one game in his career, even when starter Sean Locklear went out with an injury. Four picks after the Seahawks, the Cowboys selected running back Marion Barber III.
Barber looks like an emerging star with the Cowboys. Certainly better then Maurice Morris and he has that same nose for the end zone that Alexander once had.
Michael Vick and his 990 rushing yards could invade Seattle, if they can beat the imploding Panthers and a surprising Eagles team.
When looking at the playoff picture it looks more and more likely that the Seahawks will play either Philadelphia Eagles or Atlanta Falcons.
Let me tell ya, with the way the Seahawks run defense has looked I could see Michael Vick rushing for 300 yards.
What about the Eagles? Remember, Andy Reid was Matt Hasselbeck's former mentor in Green Bay. The Eagles defense knows how to blitz and the Seahawks offensive line has sprang a few leaks this season.
By the end of the season the Seahawks will finish the season with the exact same record as the Pittsburgh Steelers. The only difference is that the Steelers wont embarrass themselves in the playoffs.
AROUND THE NFL:
· Kyle Boller comes in relief for the injured Steve McNair and threw 238 yards, 2 TD's to beat the Cleveland Browns. Am I the only Kyle Boller fan left on the planet? I really believe he can still be a franchise QB. Don't be fooled, the reason why the Ravens are winning is because of their defense and improved offensive line play. Last year Ray Lewis and Ed Reed were hurt most of the season and now they are healthy. The Ravens also added Pro Bowl DE Trevor Pryce, drafted DT Haloti Ngata in the first round and SS Dawan Landry in the fifth.
Last year the Ravens had Chester Taylor and Jamal Lewis yet still had trouble running the ball. So does just adding McNair and Mike Anderson make the Ravens run the ball better? Hell no! Think about the the offensive line and Brian Billick taking over the playcalling for Jim Fassel.
By the end of the year the Ravens D could have four players with double digit sacks (now that's a good pass rush!) This team has the defense to beat the Chargers in the playoffs.
· The most overhyped story in the NFL is the great comeback of the New York Jets. This team has had zero expectations and are feasting off a cupcake schedule. On paper they are quite below average on defense and offense, When Vinny Testaverde is your starting QB, its not that to look drastically better with the more reliable Chad Pennington.
Don't be surprised if next season the Jets end up in last place in the AFC East, as the Buffalo Bills are only one game worse right now and the Miami Dolphins should have a healthy Daunte Culpepper.
Its a nice story, a rookie coach Eric Mangini leading the Jets to a ten win season (which will still be short of the playoffs). However, next season the pressure will be on and the honeymoon will be over. 7-8 wins next year, unless they reunite Randy Moss with Pennington.
A great philosopher by the name of Ronald William Artest Jr. once said, "I'm a ghetto-type guy. I'll be ghetto for the rest of my life. But at the same time, there's a lot of kids who look up to me. For that, I'll change."
Well, once again it appears that Jerramy Stevens has reverted back to old habits as this past week he gets busted for driving drunk and possession of marijuana. At least this time instead of dropping a football, he dropped his cell phone and wallet. Next thing you know Jerramy will drop the extra "r" in his name.
There is not question that Jerramy is a punk. And clearly he made a bad decision as he couldn't even hide his weed in the backseat of his car like most pot smoker such as Bobby Brown or Ricky Williams. Is Jerramy a dumb person? I don't know know, I never played professional football and the great Joe Theisman once said, "this is not a game that dumb people can play."
Besides his clear problems with alcohol and marijuana, Jerramy has a past history of violence which makes him a dangerous criminal. This is the same person that once broke a man’s jaw with a baseball bat and then stomped on his face.
But still, there is something about Jerramy that I like. Despite his complete lack of regard for following the law, he is still oozing with a vast amount of potential. I have seen good football tight ends, Dave “The Ghost” Casper, Kellen “Father of the Soldier” Winslow, Shannon “Barbaro” Sharpe; but Jerramy is bigger and more talented then all of these tight ends.
Although Jerramy is becoming more and more like the guy you wouldn't even let your brother’s sister’s friend’s cousin’s kids baby-sit, this is probably one of the best things that has happened in his career.
No team in their right mind (besides the Denver Broncos) would have broken the bank for such an inconsistent tight end. Not after what he did in the Super Bowl. Not after his mishap at the Salty Senorita. Jerramy no longer will get his big contract and teams will not have to worry about making a risky financial investment. Stevens now can sign with a team on a one-year contract worth near the minimum. Teams in need of a quality backup tight end would be wise in signing a player with such great potential for such little cost.
All Jerramy needs is a change of environment. He has been playing in the state of Washington his entire career. Maybe it’s the weather? Maybe his local barista at Starbucks is slipping something in his coffee every morning? But Jerramy needs to leave Seattle and with his latest arrest, his career with the Seattle Seahawks appears over.
It is time that Jerramy be let “free” and find his own path in the life that does not involve the Emerald city. Jerramy needs to sign with a team were he can be comfortable with his “own” type, people that he can actually relate to. The Seahawks have too many goodie goodie players who sing “Kumbaya” around the camp fire during training camp, eating marshmallows, and telling scary stories on how they were raped during the Super Bowl against a superior Pittsburgh Steelers team.
Maybe Jerramy is destined to be a Baltimore Ravens where he can be officially fathered into the league by Ray Lewis and his former college coach Rick Neuheisel? How about the Chicago Bears where Jerramy can room with his former college teammate Tank Johnson and hang out with anti-Semite Ricky Manning Jr. at the nearest Denny's.
Hopefully Jerramy will feel the pain and frustration he has caused his friends and family through severe legal actions as apparently a knee to the groin area did not do the trick.
Randy Moss A CheeseHead?
Randy Moss a Packer? Oh dear, Randy deserves better then being stuck in Green Bay Wisconsin. Let me refresh everyone’s memory. The reason why the Packers are even entertaining the idea of swinging a deal with the Oakland Raiders to acquire the future Hall of Fame receiver is because Brett Favre sided with the Packers front office two years ago and alienated his best wide receiver, Javon Walker from the rest of the team eventually forcing a trade where the Packers got a measly second round draft pick from the Broncos. Consider that the Miami Dolphins got a second and seventh round draft choice for receiver Wes Welker, a receiver with one career touchdown reception.
So let me get this straight now, Brett cannot get along with an upstanding player like Javon, yet is all of a sudden pushing hard to be the teammate of Randy Moss?
People say that Randy quit on the Raiders this past season and although that is probably a true statement "the almighty" Brett two years ago deliberately sabotaged the Packers season with his mediocre play at quarterback. Brett cost his team a playoff birth with his worst season of his long illustrious career. Brett quit on the Packers way before Randy quit on the Raiders.
I hardly think chucking the ball in the air twenty times a game was in the Packers playbook as Brett threw a league-leading 29 interceptions that season. Brett proved that season he is a true cancer because at that point he became a coach killer, even worse then players like Keyshawn Johnson and Terrell Owens. At that point Mike Sherman lost any powers as a head coach as he could do nothing but watch Brett throw interception after interception. Brett became uncoachable as what could have Mike done, bench the almighty quarterback?
Brett was not even that good this past season. All of the Packers wins cam against non-playoff teams (minus the meaningless game against the Chicago Bears) where the Packers mustered an 8-8 season with a cupcake schedule. Let’s just remember that one of Brett's former backups Mark Brunell, who was having a fine season with the Washington Redskins, was benched in favor of Jason Campbell. But since Brett is the king of kings and the apple of John Madden's eye, he got no such consideration, leaving Aaron Rodgers on the bench. While quarterbacks like Drew Bledsoe, Brad Johnson, and Jake Plummer are accountable for their performance on the field, Brett is treated like a god in Green Bay where he can do no wrong.
Many NFL experts like Madden have said this offseason that all the Packers need to do is surround better players around Brett but in reality none of these great players wanted to play with such a mediocre quarterback.
Did any free agent wide receivers like Donte’ Stallworth even consider visiting Green Bay? We are a talking about a team so desperate with a lack of talent at the skill positions that they still have Koren Robinson under contract. Is this because the judge of jury of the Green Bay Packers passionately defended Koren and criticized the NFL after he was suspended?
Get this, Brett is so loved that he is getting an award from a drug counseling agency for his dedication of drug addiction awareness. This guy should run for President! He wouldn’t even have to pay that much money to hire a staff full of yes-men.
At this point it would be an honor for Randy to become a member of the Green Bay Packers because he is the only star receiver that would actually want to put up with Brett’s drama and the only star receiver that might be able to make Brett look like a half-way decent quarterback again.
Does Peyton Manning have this much say with the Indianapolis Colts roster? Did Bill Polian even talk to Peyton after the Colts did not re-sign Edgerrin James or when they released Brandon Stokley?
Brett is one of the biggest cancers in all of sports where he has all Packers fan wrapped around the palm of his hands for what he did more then ten years ago. If Brett wanted to play until his late 40's, who would man up and stop him? When he's throwing five interceptions a game (six in a dome stadium) with a negative quarterback rating, which coach or general manager would dare bench the great Brett Favre?
The reality is Brett is not only the starting quarterback of the Packers he is the head coach, the offensive coordinator, General Manager and President. In Green Bay, Brett Favre is the dictator, everyone one else obeys him.