Action Football! Episode 19

Wha' Happened?: The Vikings

Perhaps the Vikings should be happy even making it into the playoffs. After all, they barely edged the Chicago Bears for the NFC North by beating a Giants team with nothing to play for with a last second field goal at home.

Minnesota's 10-6 regular season was good enough to host Philadelphia (9-6-1). Then, the Vikings' team was good enough to get beat 26-14. Rather than provide a point-by-point recap of how that game panned out (like Rochester's post from the other day), I'm going to look at what's going to make or break the Vikings for next season:

1. Quarterback. Quarterback by committee doesn't work in the NFL. It's even less likely to work when that committee is Tarvaris Jackson and Gus Frerotte. Jackson had the starting spot only to lose it to Frerotte after the second game; Frerotte went on to start nine straight only to play himself back to Designated Clipboard Holder for the Vikings last five games.

2. ...Face it, it's "quarterback" period. Sure, you could make a case for "wide receiver" but it's hard to know what Minnesota's current guys are capable of considering who they've had throwing to them.

The smartest thing "Major Brad" has done as head coach of the Vikings is publicly state that the quarterback competition is open for 2009. Of course, that competition isn't going to be worth much without someone brought in from the outside: otherwise, with Frerotte unlikely to be back, it's going to be Tarvaris v. John David Booty....

Maybe it's because I'm so familiar with NFC North (nee Central) history, but, even though he's got a long career ahead of him, without some sort of help (or the good sense to get away from the Vikings) I fear Adrian Peterson could be the next Barry Sanders.

Wha' Happened?: The Colts

In Buddy and I endless attempt to alienate and run off any potential listeners, readers or the like, I have decided to actually post something. We both talked about writing posts about what happened to losing teams in the playoffs. I picked the Colts as one of mine. Here is some of the expert analysis (*snicker* anal *snicker*) that you have come to expect from Action Football!

1. The weather in San Diego was a bit balmier that it would've been in Lucas Oil Stadium with the heat on. This really messed with their heads. (Ed. Note: What the hell is Lucas Oil? Was that one of the companies Daniel Plainview had to compete against in "There Will Be Blood"? Did they get there money from the Coyote Hill field? How can they afford naming rights?)
2. Dwight Freeney got dizzy from all his 900 spin moves to get to a goofy ass immobile backwards quarterback.
3. They had to face LT in the playoffs. He always breaks out his best injuries for the second season.
4. It is so hard to pass on a secondary that features Antionio Cromartie. (Ed. Note: How does anyone under the age of 70 fracture their hip? I made a joke about putting a handrail in the showers in San Diego. They might actually do that now.)
5. Tony Dungy had already named his successor, Jim Caldwell, and he was worried Caldwell was going to kill him and then sleep with Dungy's mother like in Hamlet or King Lear or any of those gay Bill Shakespere plays I was forced to read in high school and college.
6. Bob Sanders. 'Nuff said. How much longer can the Colts' defense rely on Bob Sanders? He plays like a maniac and his body can no longer take that. They need to look to get another player similar to Bob Sanders either in the draft or through free agency. The free agent market for DB is really crappy this year, too. Dawan "Fluff 'n' Fold" Landry might be their best bet, but his free agency is restricted. Which means, to my knowledge, if you are under 17 years of age your free agency must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

We've Got Big Plans at Action Football!

Okay, so we're not taking the world by storm with our posting. We get it.

Still, there's gonna be some down time in the football world leading up to the Super Bowl. Some coaching positions are bound to get filled in college and the pros, you might hear a little bit about recruiting and commits during the lead up to National Signing Day.

Here, you can expect a series of posts covering the needs of the teams that got bounced from the playoffs. First up is.... Well, actually that's going to have to wait because I can't find my notes showing who I was assigned to write about. But rest assured, when I find those notes, you're going to see some insight the likes of which you've never seen!

Action Football! Episode 18

Bowl Season was a rough...

As you may have known, Buddy and I are big honks for our alma mater's conferences. Buddy, a Wisconsin alum, is solid Big Ten (11) honk. I, a NC State alum, am an ACC hump. With that being said, Bowl season was rough on both our conferences and the games were rough for our respective school. The Wisconsin Badgers took it off the chin in one of the ACC's five bowl victories out of ten bowl games. I hadn't seen anyone get beat like that without at least waterboardding them first. The NC State Russell Wilsons fell apart when QB Russell Wilson went down with a PCL injury. A PCL is the good kind of knee injury though, so he should be back by spring. He is lucky it was and ATL injury. He would've needed 6 months of doing the dirty bird for rehab. The Big Ten finished Iowa and five in their six games. The ACC was 5-5 in their 10 games , the worst being LSU busting a hole in Paul Johnson's modified 1920's offense. (Ed. Note: The modifications being he plays with sons of Africa on it now.)

The problem with this happening to our conferences is this is what I'll hear about for the next nine months. This is how SEC honks, aka Tom Brando, justify themselves calling the SEC the best in college football. This why I am treated to non-stop talk about the SEC for so long. I am sicken by it. It is an awful way to start the year off and I am endlessly pissed by it. 2009 is gonna suck.

Yeah, That's Right, I'm a Chicken...

Basically I'm posting this because, when it comes to pictures of broken bones and stuff, I just can't stomach it. Accordingly, I had to do something to get Rochester's contribution off the top of the page.

Anyway, over the next week we'll try to post a bit about the end of the NCAA season and the NFL play offs. Or at least try to try. Then, next week we'll get back in the studio with a lot to talk about, including how miserable we were at predicting the bowl games. We may not be the Matt Millens of prognostication, but we may be the Al Davises....

Break is over...

Don't worry loyal readers/listener/picture viewer/degenerate gamblers/people who don't know if someone is alive or dead/chronic masturbaters. The first posts of 2009 are on their way. Happy New Year from Rochester Binghampton to you all!