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NFL General

Passing Thoughts…

Since many of our actual newspaper columnists do this, I figured it’s good enough for Sportscolumn.com too. So, here goes my initial installment of a potpourri of unrelated sports comments entitled Passing Thoughts.

After watching the Philadelphia Eagles get slaughtered on Monday night, I heard about this new curse of the Super Bowl losers. The last 5, and 6 of 7, losers of the previous season’s Super Bowl have failed to make the playoffs, or even have a .500 record. That puts in perspective the incredible feat achieved by the 1990-93 Buffalo Bills of reaching a record 4 consecutive Super Bowls.

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NFL General

Is Troy Aikman a Hall of Fame Quarterback?

Should an individual player get into the NFL Hall of Fame based mostly on the accomplishments of the TEAM he played on? If we’re talking about running backs, receivers, or defensive players, the history of the NFL’s Hall of Fame answers the question with a resounding no. Backs, receivers, and defensive players must get in on the basis of superior statistics, or tremendous impact. But, why is that standard seemingly ignored when it comes to quarterbacks? Or, rather, some quarterbacks?

Troy Aikman is not a Hall of Fame quarterback. Troy Aikman’s statistics pale in comparison to his peers during his playing era. Many of his numbers even fall short of Hall of Fame quarterbacks who played in less pass happy eras (pre-1980’s). However, Troy Aikman is one of the leading candidates for induction in the NFL’s 2006 Hall of Fame class. Why?

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Indianapolis Colts

Why Don’t Teams Blitz Peyton Manning?

Peyton Manning is a pocket passer. Peyton Manning is purely a pocket passer. He cannot beat a defense with anything except his arm. So, why do defenses hardly ever blitz him?

Last night, I watched another game where a NFL defensive coordinator chose to sit back in zone defense and attempt to fool Peyton Manning with a variety of coverage schemes. It didn’t work. Peyton Manning was allowed to pick a defensive secondary apart, while the defensive line rushed only 3 or 4 linemen. His statistics were 15/25 for 245 yards and 2 touchdowns.

What has happened to common sense in the NFL? Why let an immobile quarterback sit comfortably in the pocket all game and pick you apart? Immobile, dropback, pocket passers are vulnerable to the pass rush. They always have been and always will be. Johnny Unitas, Dan Fouts, Dan Marino, Troy Aikman, Drew Bledsoe, and, yes, Peyton Manning were, or, are, least effective when forced out of the comfort zone of the passing pocket. Good pocket passers have to be pressured for a defense to be successful because they are too knowledgeable and too accurate for a defense to solely try coverage trickery.

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NHL General

Why Isn’t Hockey More Popular?

One would be hard pressed to find a person in the United States that says hockey is their favorite sport. As a matter of fact, hockey probably resides on the totem somewhere in the neighborhood of the WNBA. Hockey isn’t nearly as popular as Golf and Tennis, especially women’s Tennis, so it obviously doesn’t come close to challenging American Sports’ Big Three of professional Football, Baseball, and Basketball.

Why is that though? Why is hockey so far outside the scope of the American Sports radar? It doesn’t make sense because hockey, the NHL, has many elements that should catapult it to a higher level of popularity. Hockey has more flashes of excitement than baseball. It has just as much physicality as football. It is often more violent than your average pay per view boxing event. And, it can be said that hockey has the most graceful, elegant, and best athletes.

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NFL General

The New Quarterback Rating System

If there is any fan out there who understands the NFL’s quarterback efficiency rating they should probably make them Commissioner. The complex, arcane, over-computerized method used to rate quarterbacks is so flawed and confusing that it makes the BCS look like kindergarten arithmetic. I’m just a fan, I shouldn’t need a PhD in mathematics to determine if my favorite quarterback is statistically efficient.

There needs to be an easily calculable, fair, yet comprehensive system for fans, and announcers, to be able to gauge the effectiveness of quarterbacks. The QB rating system could be as fun and understandable as calculating your favorite baseball player’s batting average, or on base percentage. But until now, it hasn’t been.

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NFL General

You Heard It Here – 2005 NFL Predictions

Every season there are several teams that make the big leap from mediocrity to Super Bowl contention. In 2004 San Diego, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta rose above most prognosticator’s preseason expectations and secured playoff berths by winning their respective divisions. This year will provide similar results for three teams who have long been NFL bottom feeders. Fans in Detroit, Arizona, and Cincinnati will be dizzy with joy flying with their teams into the rarified air of post-season play. Here’s the breakdown by division.

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General Sports

Exposing The Biggest Myth In Pro Football

The inductions of Dan Marino and Steve Young to the Pro Football Hall of Fame got me to thinking: Why is Joe Montana considered the game’s greatest quarterback? Whatever the network, whoever the pundit, most proclaim Joe Montana as the greatest. Is their reasoning based on his statistics or any records he may hold? No, because Dan Marino holds most of the major passing records, and Steve Young has the highest passer rating in the game’s history. What their arguments usually start and end with is Joe Montana’s 4 Super Bowl Rings.

Well, Terry Bradshaw has 4 Super Bowl Rings, why isn’t he considered the greatest of all time?

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Indianapolis Colts

Manning- Not Colts Defense- Is Real Culprit

Peyton Manning is a great quarterback, arguably the best in the game today. He has led a Colts offense that scored the most points in 2004 and the second most points in 2003. In overall team offense the Colts have been ranked second and third in the past two years. By contrast, the Colts defense has finished 19th and 20th in points allowed, and in overall team defense in 2004 they were 29th out of 32 NFL teams.