Before we get to the awful early Super Bowl coverage, I have one game-related thing to discuss. Ugh, I know, it’s not about Deflategate. I’m sorry.
If you’ve listened to anyone in the NFL media discuss the actual game, which is really a needle in a haystack at this point. Each of them cites Julio Jones as Atlanta’s chess piece that Belichick and the Patriots defense must take away. But let me throw a stat at you that doesn’t fit that narrative: The Atlanta Falcons are 4-4 when Julio Jones has 100 to (gulp) 300 yards. Their only loss when Julio failed to reach the 100 yard plateau was the first game of the season. To put it another way, the Falcons have won 10 straight games when Julio stays under 100 yards. I’m surprised someone at Elias hasn’t alerted the ESPN talking mouths.
Far more important than Julio for the Falcons has been balance. If they get their other receivers and their backfield going, that is really the gasoline for their offensive engine. That’s why I would focus far more of my energy on taking away Gabriel, Sanu and the dynamic backfield of Freeman and Coleman.
My initial feeling is the Patriots will use the blueprint from the Steelers game from week 1 in 2015. When the Pats put Butler on an island with Antonio Brown and let him get his, but didn’t commit extra resources to stopping him. (Mike D. note – me likey)
Again apologies that I began with something about the actual game because we all know that’s not what the Super Bowl is about. It is about the two-week media nightmare before a Patriots Super Bowl.
- If we’re not going to talk about the actual sport, why doesn’t anyone talk about what a poor job Roger Goodell has done this year?
Players abusing family members repeatedly and receiving little punishment.
The ratings decline. The NFL’s website reports a huge playoff ratings increase, which goes against all available facts. Ratings have been down significantly. We’ve always been told that Roger makes everyone a lot of money, but what happens when he starts losing them money. I’m pretty sure ESPN hasn’t profited from Deflategate, as a non-zero portion of New England no longer turns to the World Wide Leader if they don’t have to and ESPN was already losing subscribers.
The stupid touchback rule backfire.
Concussion protocol still being circumvented. How is this Matt Moore thing not a huge story?! Where’s the Seth Wickersham piece on this? This open defiance of player safety was met with a letter of tsk, but no Outside the Lines investigation. Really pathetic stuff.
Inconsistent punishments: Coming down in two different directions on lying on an injury report. SEA loses 2nd rounder, while it’s unclear whether the Steelers will be disciplined for not disclosing Bell’s injury. I still don’t understand why the injury report, a gimmick to help gamblers, must be weighed in on by the commissioner, but whatever. Be consistent.
The disenfranchisement (literally) of a second fanbase and a third is around the corner. Eventhough no one in LA wants one team, let alone two.
The mediocre state of about two dozen NFL franchises.
The coach and GM hiring process taking place before the end of the playoffs, which continues to keep mediocre franchises mired in mediocrity.
Pete Morelli getting to referee a playoff game. “Time THE FUCK OUT!”
The fact that Brady served his (completely fucked up) suspension and the Patriots are still here.
Really piss poor year, Roger. In a string of them. And with you, that’s saying something.
- Instead we’re talking about the conflation of Spygate, which was someone recording the game from an unauthorized area to taping Super Bowl practices, which didn’t happen or at least wasn’t related to Spygate. Somehow, we’re back to this. Good work, Sports Journalists really educating the public.
- Perhaps the grossest thing I’ve seen all week was Dan Le Batard using Aaron Hernandez’s murder charges to attack Patriots fans. I think Kirk and Callahan are morons, but they are right, this is so gross. You want to complain about Patriots fans, fine. But don’t equate rooting for laundry to supporting a murderer. Time THE FUCK OUT!
- Let’s not get ahead of ourselves imagining the Commissioner handing a trophy to Brady and Belichick. There’s a game to play. And Belichick has his hands full with this offense.
- As an aside, bloggers have now completely surpassed traditional media in excellent analysis of the game. Somehow Pats fan sites and writers like PatsPulpit, PatsFans, Adam Bogdan, Rich Hill, Marima, most importantly, PatsPropaganda and a slew of others are where you go to get excellent incisive content and analysis. I mean, that’s true. Read that back. We used to be called “fan boys”, but these sites have the only people talking about the actual game (this post excepted).
As an example, it speaks volumes about the state of sports media that the expert on the Patriots Salary Cap, Miguel, does it for the love of the game. Seriously. Miguel understands it better than anyone who is employed by a major newspaper or media outlet or about 25 NFL Franchises, but somehow he’s left doing it for free.
Donate to his preferred cause here: http://www.breadoflifemalden.org
- The only day to listen to Boston Sports Radio is Monday after a game when they actually talk about sports not their garbage soap operas. It’s a wonder why Belichick hates media availability.
- Kudos to Jason Garrett’s Coach of the Year supporters. Just another notch on the bedpost for the horrific voting record of the award.
- Alex Reimer is a smart, good young writer (It’s not all negative). I hope he and the other young blooders in Boston get a shot at one of the big newspaper spots that opens up when Tomase, Volin and Borges injure themselves self-flagellating.
- I want to see the Patriot Offense run the hurry-up in the PONY formation with Bennett, Hogan, Edelman, White and Lewis. You have so many options: run the ball, quick screen, split out both RBs, overwhelm the secondary with crossing routes, run the seam with Bennett or Hogan. You’d have mismatches basically everywhere. Oops, sorry, this is a piece about stupid narratives and here I am talking about football.
- Dan Shaughnessy is… well, he is who he is. A troll. At some point, we should all stop reading him. I’m surprised he wrote this, given the Tomato Can thing (who am I kidding? The only way he could surprise me is if he admitted he’s always wrong.) This is historic strength (Belichick’s defensive schematics) against historic strength (Kyle Shannahan’s obscenely efficient offense). I can’t remember a more intriguing football matchup, certainly not this season. I guess, he means the bullshit media narrative isn’t interesting, which isn’t really interesting to me.
- Chris Hogan and Julian Edelman are good receivers on the Patriots and that means all of New England is racist because of Larry Bird. Did I get that right?
I don’t want to delve too far into this, but the “Boston is a racist city” charge has been leveled enough times this week, most recently by Le Batard and Bomani Jones that it should at least be addressed. And not in the Kirk and Callahan silliness sort of way.
First, this isn’t meant to dismiss racism out of hand, it’s real, it affects people directly and racism definitely exists in Boston and New England. But it also exists everywhere in every area of our country. It’s what happens when you found a country while you’re enslaving a race of people.
Second, Boston’s historical relationship with race is a lot different than other places. Slavery was abolished in Massachusetts in 1783, Jim Crow laws were repealed before the Emancipation Proclamation and Boston’s current segregation levels are statistically limited. Boston is by all accounts a traditionally progressive city regarding race.
Third, Boston sports have a mixed bag history with race. The Red Sox were the last MLB team to integrate, but the Celtics were the first. What do we make of that? People on one side of the argument use the first, people on the other side use the latter.
Fourth, a great sports city like Atlanta where Bomani Jones is from had a law on the book that read:
It shall be unlawful for any amateur white baseball team to play baseball on any vacant lot or baseball diamond within two blocks of a playground devoted to the Negro race, and it shall be unlawful for any amateur colored baseball team to play baseball in any vacant lot or baseball diamond within two blocks of any playground devoted to the white race.
Or this law in Florida (where Le Batard lives) implemented in the 20th century:
All marriages between a white person and a Negro or person, or between a white person and a person of Negro descent to the fourth generation inclusive, are hereby forever prohibited.
Does Boston have a complicated history with race? Sure, but it requires a more nuanced conversation just like every single city in our country from Los Angeles to Birmingham to Atlanta to Chicago to Houston. Just lobbing the accusation isn’t enough.
- It really can’t be said enough, these two weeks are the nadir of sports coverage. How many words are written and said on-air that are not about sports? Pretty sure it’s in the millions. And this Coffin Corner just added 1500 plus words to it. Let’s ignore that fact and move on…
Awesome. Just about how most fans feel. Hate the rhetoric, love the analysis.