Ask yourself this. If the NFL agrees that the Pats had a perfect season - and that's never happened before in the 16 game schedule, and only once before in the merged league history.... Then how could you ever imagine giving the award to anyone else?
Exactly- the Cowboys, Packers, and Colts all went 13-3 this year, which are terrific records... yet the 16-0 is kind of the trump card. I don't care how good a coach's season is in taking a "No one picked 'em for the playoffs" team and getting them into the playoffs (or close to it), the undefeated season always wins out. If it happened every 2 or 3 years, no, but as my esteemed colleague Smokey McPot has noted, a 16-0 regular season has never happened in the history of the NFL. If there were hard set rules for the voting, and this was an "Appendix D" clause, no one would mind because it'd be invoked so rarely. Kind of like the Rule 98 of Sportsfilter: every time a team goes 16-0 in the regular season, it must get a disproportionate number of front page posts. =) Now, had the Patriots finished 15-1 (I mean, besides that Ravens game they so famously lost despite the final score =) ), does Belichick still win this award? I'm thinking... probably, but much much more closely in the vote. It wasn't a close to a unanimous vote as it was- Belichick only got 29 out of 50 votes, with 15 votes to McCarthy of Green Bay.
Clearly it's not just the numbers -- you could make the case for a coach who had a big "zero to hero" story to tell, but I don't think we had any of those this year. There were a few teams that I would say did better than expected or hung tough through some bad luck, but none of sufficient magnitude to make you ignore the fact that their win-loss records weren't stellar.
...a stupid, nothing infraction. one that almost all coaches commit in the league... If that statement is true, then the Falcons (4-12), Rams (3-13), Ravens (5-11), Raiders (4-12), Dolphins (1-15), and Jets (4-12) must really be doing it wrong!
do my eyes decieve me? am i reading this right? did crew compare videotaping the oposing teams sideline to DOGFIGHTING? are you fucking serious? crew, first off, let me say i like having you around. you make it fun. second, i am a psych major, and i am facinated by your behavior. woudja mind if i asked you a question? great. why is it that you are so determined to show us all just how stupid you really are? i mean normally when people realize that they clearly have no business talking to adults they move back to the kiddie table where they can keep up with the conversation. not you. you're like " hey guys you havent forgotten that im a moron have you???" well rest assured buddy. we havent.
If that statement is true, then the Falcons (4-12), Rams (3-13), Ravens (5-11), Raiders (4-12), Dolphins (1-15), and Jets (4-12) must really be doing it wrong! Or -- radical idea, here -- videotaping the other team's signals just doesn't help you much if you're doing a lot of other things wrong.
Don't feed the trolls, elijahin. Not worth your time, dude.
Easy to win when you cheat.
No it's not. Cheating makes it even harder to win.
Yes, that is true, lbb. What I was going for: If all or enough teams tape the opponent, wouldn't it give them more of an equal playing field? And less disparity in the season records?
Following the rules is so overrated.
Man,when is this cheating thing going to stop and give Belichick and the team the recognition that they deserve?The first 5 minutes if the first game of the year has nothing to do what they accomplished.I know it's not everyone here on Spofi,just a certain few that just can't get the "Belichick Cheat Scandal"out of their heads and move on.He won the award and rightfully so.16-0 is a great accomplishment.I hope they run the table and go 19-0.Even if they do, that still won't be good enough in some peoples eyes. Family Man for one? aerotive another? C'mon!!
rcade: Bill Parcells: responsible for Dallas' success this year? In my opinion, yes. Does he deserve all the credit? Of course not... There's one BIG difference between this year's team and last year's. Unless, of course, quarterback experience isn't important... Bill "The Tuna" was on the verge. He had planned it all and this year he would have implemented his plan had it not been snatched from him. But this isn't the first time we've seen this from Jerry jones. Does anyone remember Barry Switzer?
He had planned it all and this year he would have implemented his plan had it not been snatched from him. Do people still believe in the Cult of Personality around Parcells? He was a great coach, but come on: Giants: won two Superbowls Patriots: got to the Superbowl Jets: playoffs Dallas: lost in first round As he gets older, his career seems to be following a downward trend. Had he stayed retired after the Jets, I think he would have kept the God-like reputation. Now he's just a great coach and in the past tense at that.
I'm interested in seeing what they do with Derek Anderson. So are we NoMich. The was an article in a Canton paper that really didn't clear up a damn thing. Although I think much of the success this year was due to our new OC, Rob Chudzinski, and 3 key players we did not have or use last year. Derek Anderson, Big Joe Thomas, and Jamal Lewis. We all know what kind of year DA had. Thomas is on the ballot for the ROY award, too bad Adrian Peterson should win that unanimously. The big surprise that allowed DA and the whole offense to work was Lewis though. His official stat sheet says he played 15 games, however he only had 1 attempt in week 5 against NE, for 11 yards. So it is more like he onlt played in 14 games. He did have more Att/game 19.9 and more yards 1304 this year than any other in his career since 2003. He also had 5 100 yd. rushing games, one of which was 200+ yds, and 2 more games that were over 100 yds between rushing and receiving combined. Lewis ran off Thomas' ass a lot this season, and hopefully next too. IMO thats what was the difference this year from the last few years with the Browns, as well as the stability in the coaching situation. I just hope they keep going in this direction. There have been rumors here about Parcells wooing Romeo to Miami. I don't want that to happen. A lot of people here aren't sold on Romeo yet, I am on the fence still but falling towards him everyday a little bit more. Getting Chudzinski really saved him this year. The biggest problem with him, is the team makes too many mental errors at the most important points in the game. That points to lack of discipline, which points to coaching. Lets not forget he needs to give the challenge flags to an assistant coach also. Overall, this was one hell of a fun year to be a Browns fan though 10-6, and only 1 loss at home. Nobody would have predicted that!
Thanks for the insight, jojo. For some reason I've always had a soft spot for the Browns (I think it may be the logoless helmets) and I hope they keep improving.
I live only 45 minutes from the stadium, and we used to go a lot before I got hurt. Now my legs are so bad I just can't handle the walk from the parking lots to the stadium, then the hike up into the seats. I did get to go to one of the preseason games this year though. Brandi and I went and watched the KC game. Thats when I found out how bad my back and legs have got since last year. We even had seats that were in the lower bowl for that game, it is just one hell of a hill to get there from what they call the muni lot. Thats where all of the tailgating happens. However a 40" widescreen HDTV helps a little, still not the same though.
yerfatma: I don't disagree with you. "As he gets older, his career seems to be following a downward trend." This can be said about any coach or player for that matter. Joe Gibbs immediately comes to mind. Great coach(a Hall of Fame inductee), but he's made some bone headed decisions this year. My first post wasn't so much about the legend of "The Tuna", but that legendary crazy man Jerry Jones.
Thomas is on the ballot for the ROY award, too bad Adrian Peterson should win that unanimously. Really, what about Patrick Willis? Defensive ROY and serious contender for defensive player of the year after leading the league in tackles, I think he will get some ROY votes and probably make it close with Peterson.
Do people still believe in the Cult of Personality around Parcells? He was a great coach, but come on: Giants: won two Superbowls Patriots: got to the Superbowl Jets: playoffs Dallas: lost in first round As he gets older, his career seems to be following a downward trend. I completely agree. That might be because I posted the exact same argument in an earlier post about Parcells when he signed with Miami (and I'm not claiming you read my earlier post, but I just had to comment). Great minds think alike, right Fatty?
Don't get me wrong, Willis was very impressive this year. 174 total tackles, 136 solo with 4 sacks. Is nothing to sneeze at. He should be the Defensive ROY. However, in spite of all Willis' hard work on and off the field the 49er's still only managed to go 5-11. Two losses worse than last years 7-9 record. Which can not be attributed to Willis and the defense very much at all If you look at Peterson, He ran for 1341 yards as a rookie! Averaged 95.8 yds/game, and 5.6 yds/carry. He had 12 TD's rushing and 1 receiving. Leading a Vickings team to a 8-8 2007, 2 games better than in 2006. The difference being, you can pretty much attribute to Peterson. This is an offensive weapon like they have not had since Robert Smith, and hwe retired too early, IMO. I believe that Peterson did more for his team than anybody else on that list did for their respective teams. Thus the unanimous comment.
I completely agree. That might be because I posted the exact same argument in an earlier post I couldn't remember where I stole that from. It was something I had kinda/ sorta noticed but your comment crystalized it for me.
I couldn't remember where I stole that from. It was something I had kinda/ sorta noticed but your comment crystalized it for me. Happy to help. I've been borrowing your comments off line for years.
jojo, I'm not saying Peterson doesn't win but that it won't be unanimous.
I know bill, I was just telling you why I think he will. :)
