Sunday
NFL Network
Faulk, Sapp, and Irving all agree Peyton needs to win more rings to have the "best ever" tag. Deion actually made the most sense because he said to "wait until everything is said and done and THEN look at the body of work." They all flipped their scripts when Marino was brought up and said he deserves to be in the "best ever" discussion because he was "special." Last time I checked Peyton has already broken quite a few of his records and is on a blistering pace to finish the rest of them off and he already has more rings than Marino.
It's being reported that Colts players are staying in the same hotel as they did back in 2007 and the players who were on that championship team are sleeping the in the same rooms. Talk about a need for consistency...and superstitions.
Rich Eisen said it best on the Pro Bowl coverage, "the Colts must be at the stadium, because its raining in Miami."
Jonathon Vilma is predicting a Saints victory when asked if he didn't want have the experience of walking off the plane with his teammates in Miami. He responded "I'm too worried about having that because we'll have that experience when we get off the plane in New Orleans with a victory." He also rehashed what every defensive player has said for years on what they want to do to Peyton...try to confuse him mentally, put some pressure on him, and try to make him force some throws.
Darren Sharper joined the show and there wasn't too much out of the ordinary. The main thing he hit upon was the Saints going out next Sunday "to make their own destiny" and not to rely on the "Team of Destiny" role they've been given.
ESPN
John Clayton is reporting that Dwight Freeney is doubtful for the Super Bowl. He made the trip down to Miami on Friday to start his treatments on his ankle. I think their game plan is going to be to get him in there when possible and we'll see him mainly in the second half barring any setbacks in his treatments. I believe it was the second Jacksonville game this year that Caldwell used this to get Freeney a little extra rest and to keep his legs fresh.
Indystar.com
Phill Richardson and Mike Chappell are reporting that the Colts are looking at corners Jason David, Mike McKenzie, Jack Ikewuonu, and Deltha O'Neal to help out the secondary with the injury to Powers.
Other Notes
I was watching the replays of the past Super Bowls on NFL Network today and if anyone gets a chance to check them out I highly recommend checking them out. While watching these series I stumbled across a few odd things occurrences...
-The Steelers won Super Bowls 40 and 43...the Colts won Super Bowl 41 and are now in position to win Super Bowl 44.
-To start the 2006 season we lost Edgerrin and went on to win the Super Bowl
-To start this season we lost Marvin and are in position to win the Super Bowl
-The team that lost Dungy went on to win the Super Bowl the next year...I know this has already been touched upon, but its interesting nonetheless.
Since its the day of the Pro Bowl, most of the talk is about the Pro Bowl being a week before the Super Bowl...I know, real shocker. Bill Polian's comment is still ringing loud and clear, and personally, I couldn't agree more with him. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out having the Pro Bowl two weeks early. I've also heard reports that the NFL is thinking about having the Pro Bowl the week before the Super Bowl again next year in Hawaii. I can already see GM's and coaches heads around the NFL starting to steam up and ready to explode.
Aaron
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Dan Dakich Show Day Three
Saturday
10am SportsCenter
Rachael Nichols reports that Dwight Freeney is questionable for the Super Bowl with the ankle injury he sustained in the Jets game. There are questions regarding how this will effect his playing ability in the game because his speed will be off. Even if Freeney is a step slower, the Saints will still have to respect his abilities. If he's proving the injury is effecting his game then I'm sure we'll see subsequent double teams on Mathis and the Saints will more than likely open up more passing possibilities with a little extra pocket time for Brees, and that could be bad but I believe that Larry Coyer will plan and make the necessary adjustments like he has all year.
Bob Holtzman was reporting from the Pro Bowl and was getting opinions from various players. The overall consensus was getting to Brees and putting some pressure on him, which usually is the name of the game when the other team has a great quarterback. Interestingly enough when Tampa beat the Saints at the end of the year, they weren't able to get to Brees but they didn't allow big plays. That's usually a strong point for the Colts, but after seeing the two big plays that they gave up against the Jets that worries me a bit. On a positive note though, the Jets tried for big plays after that and were unsuccessful. Again, I'm going to trust in Larry Coyer to install a solid game plan to limit plays to 20 yards or less. There will be a few, but I fully expect Peyton and Co. to have a few as well.
There were a few good stats from this segment regarding the Saints...
-In 15 wins they averaged 36 ppg and won the turnover battle by going +22.
-In 3 losses they averaged 15 ppg and lost the turnover battle by going -5.
Other notes...
-After watching Serena Williams holding the Australian Open Trophy, I realized she has bigger arms than me. I think its about time to start hitting the gym hard...
-A big thank you to Kurt Warner for showing us all what someone can do if given the opportunity to succeed. In a world where we see so many people throw away their abilities, or never live up to them (Ryan Leaf) its heartwarming to see someone work through and overcome adversity. It would have been easy for him to throw in the towel but he kept fighting and showed everyone what they should do if given the chance. Thank you again Kurt and I hope the HOF voters get it right the first time.
Aaron
10am SportsCenter
Rachael Nichols reports that Dwight Freeney is questionable for the Super Bowl with the ankle injury he sustained in the Jets game. There are questions regarding how this will effect his playing ability in the game because his speed will be off. Even if Freeney is a step slower, the Saints will still have to respect his abilities. If he's proving the injury is effecting his game then I'm sure we'll see subsequent double teams on Mathis and the Saints will more than likely open up more passing possibilities with a little extra pocket time for Brees, and that could be bad but I believe that Larry Coyer will plan and make the necessary adjustments like he has all year.
Bob Holtzman was reporting from the Pro Bowl and was getting opinions from various players. The overall consensus was getting to Brees and putting some pressure on him, which usually is the name of the game when the other team has a great quarterback. Interestingly enough when Tampa beat the Saints at the end of the year, they weren't able to get to Brees but they didn't allow big plays. That's usually a strong point for the Colts, but after seeing the two big plays that they gave up against the Jets that worries me a bit. On a positive note though, the Jets tried for big plays after that and were unsuccessful. Again, I'm going to trust in Larry Coyer to install a solid game plan to limit plays to 20 yards or less. There will be a few, but I fully expect Peyton and Co. to have a few as well.
There were a few good stats from this segment regarding the Saints...
-In 15 wins they averaged 36 ppg and won the turnover battle by going +22.
-In 3 losses they averaged 15 ppg and lost the turnover battle by going -5.
Other notes...
-After watching Serena Williams holding the Australian Open Trophy, I realized she has bigger arms than me. I think its about time to start hitting the gym hard...
-A big thank you to Kurt Warner for showing us all what someone can do if given the opportunity to succeed. In a world where we see so many people throw away their abilities, or never live up to them (Ryan Leaf) its heartwarming to see someone work through and overcome adversity. It would have been easy for him to throw in the towel but he kept fighting and showed everyone what they should do if given the chance. Thank you again Kurt and I hope the HOF voters get it right the first time.
Aaron
Friday, January 29, 2010
Dan Dakich Show Day Two
Edit...Sharper should have been Woodson in the last post. I rushed through it to get down what he said and got Sharper and Woodson mixed up.
Day 2
NFL Live...
After refueling (yes, I eat an early dinner and no, I'm not old) and walking in halfway through the show I came in and they were talking about the Saints defense vs. Peyton and the type of role Darren Sharper will most likely play. It basically boiled down to what it has all year long...Peyton will figure out what they're doing and then he will do what he wants and what is needed to win the game. It concluded with the trio agreeing on they might stop (stall) Peyton for a quarter or two but you won't stop him for the entire game. Personally, I think that if the Saints put just enough guys up front to stall the running game and play the pass first defense to allow the linebackers to come up and make a play on Addai/Brown is their easiest option, sounds easy enough anyway.
Rome is Burning...
Hard to get much out of a show that features a lot of sports stories in a very short amount of time. However, there were a few quick mentions...
Saints defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, wants to put some "remember me?" hits on Peyton as they did on Favre last week. I'm sure the Jets had the same plan last week, but after the two early sacks my memory is vague on Peyton getting hit...I blame the beer. Also, don't we have one of the best, if not the best, pass blocking offensive lines? Should be a pretty interesting match up.
Note: This was brought up on Around the Horn and Cowlishaw, Paige, and Mariotti all agree that Peyton will eat them alive with that game plan. Woody Paige brought up a good point to add a couple extra in the secondary instead of trying to go after Peyton. I think its a great suggestion but as I've thought for awhile, when teams play the "pass first defense" it really opens up our running game, much as it did against the Jets when they did the same AND tried to get after Peyton.
Tim Brown joined the showed for a little one on one face time and talked briefly about the Super Bowl. When asked who he's going for in the game he said he "wants to root for the Saints, but its hard to pick against the Colts and Peyton because he has two weeks to dissect the Saints defense." He also joins the consensus of experts saying that Peyton needs another ring to be considered the best ever, but wasn't sure why that's a necessity because he has four MVP trophies. I REALLY have to agree with the latter, because its really difficult to overlook the entire body of work Peyton has put forth so far...and he keeps improving with each year, which is the scary part.
The 6 o'clock SportsCenter was pretty much a rehash of what the other shows have already said for the benefit of those who weren't able to watch the earlier shows. One thing the other shows didn't pick up was Darren Woodson saying that Reggie Bush could pose a huge problem for the Colts if he gets into man coverage. I find a problem with that. The Colts are a great tackling team and they're fast. As soon as one guy goes for the tackle, the others are there fast...'nuff said...
Here's a couple of interesting stats they showed on SportsCenter between Peyton and Brees...
-Each have 122 passing touchdowns in the last four years
-Each have 29 games with a passer rating of 100+ in the last four years
-Each have 6 passing touchdowns in the last two minutes of a half this year
Moral of the story? Each teams' secondaries have their work cut out for them in the Super Bowl.
Aaron
Day 2
NFL Live...
After refueling (yes, I eat an early dinner and no, I'm not old) and walking in halfway through the show I came in and they were talking about the Saints defense vs. Peyton and the type of role Darren Sharper will most likely play. It basically boiled down to what it has all year long...Peyton will figure out what they're doing and then he will do what he wants and what is needed to win the game. It concluded with the trio agreeing on they might stop (stall) Peyton for a quarter or two but you won't stop him for the entire game. Personally, I think that if the Saints put just enough guys up front to stall the running game and play the pass first defense to allow the linebackers to come up and make a play on Addai/Brown is their easiest option, sounds easy enough anyway.
Rome is Burning...
Hard to get much out of a show that features a lot of sports stories in a very short amount of time. However, there were a few quick mentions...
Saints defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, wants to put some "remember me?" hits on Peyton as they did on Favre last week. I'm sure the Jets had the same plan last week, but after the two early sacks my memory is vague on Peyton getting hit...I blame the beer. Also, don't we have one of the best, if not the best, pass blocking offensive lines? Should be a pretty interesting match up.
Note: This was brought up on Around the Horn and Cowlishaw, Paige, and Mariotti all agree that Peyton will eat them alive with that game plan. Woody Paige brought up a good point to add a couple extra in the secondary instead of trying to go after Peyton. I think its a great suggestion but as I've thought for awhile, when teams play the "pass first defense" it really opens up our running game, much as it did against the Jets when they did the same AND tried to get after Peyton.
Tim Brown joined the showed for a little one on one face time and talked briefly about the Super Bowl. When asked who he's going for in the game he said he "wants to root for the Saints, but its hard to pick against the Colts and Peyton because he has two weeks to dissect the Saints defense." He also joins the consensus of experts saying that Peyton needs another ring to be considered the best ever, but wasn't sure why that's a necessity because he has four MVP trophies. I REALLY have to agree with the latter, because its really difficult to overlook the entire body of work Peyton has put forth so far...and he keeps improving with each year, which is the scary part.
The 6 o'clock SportsCenter was pretty much a rehash of what the other shows have already said for the benefit of those who weren't able to watch the earlier shows. One thing the other shows didn't pick up was Darren Woodson saying that Reggie Bush could pose a huge problem for the Colts if he gets into man coverage. I find a problem with that. The Colts are a great tackling team and they're fast. As soon as one guy goes for the tackle, the others are there fast...'nuff said...
Here's a couple of interesting stats they showed on SportsCenter between Peyton and Brees...
-Each have 122 passing touchdowns in the last four years
-Each have 29 games with a passer rating of 100+ in the last four years
-Each have 6 passing touchdowns in the last two minutes of a half this year
Moral of the story? Each teams' secondaries have their work cut out for them in the Super Bowl.
Aaron
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Dan Dakich Show
All apologies for the randomness, but I have no clue what I'm doing, so its time to get the snowball rolling...
NFL Network...
I'm calling an early TKO on the NFL Network for information due to their coverages of Senior Bowl and Pro Bowl practices...yes, practice.
Their site doesn't give much insight on much other than blogs regarding off season chatter, a.k.a Kurt Warner's retirement press conference that is announced for Friday.
Hopefully there will be more from the NFL Network tomorrow.
ESPN Website...
Not too much talk about the defensive side of the game. Both offenses are so prolific its difficult to overlook that situation. There's still plenty of time for this debacle to brew before the Super Bowl.
NFL Live on ESPN...
Not much on here either. Kurt Warner retirement...McNabb staying in Philly or not...Colts/Saints traveling back and forth for the Pro Bowl. Knowing how ESPN is, the biggest story will be how the players feel on the Pro Bowl being the week before the Super Bowl this year and how it will effect the playing surface and the players traveling down a day early.
Quick mention on how Shockey will effect the defense of the Colts...
Sharper...no real effect due to injury.
Schlereth...physical guy who will get in defenders faces and can make a difference.
Since there's not much on the ESPN and NFL Network front I'll switch to unconventional methods of seeing what people are saying/thinking about defenses. I went and checked out the Vegas odds for the game and right now its the Colts as a 5 1/2-6 point favorite with an over/under being 56-56 1/2. Suffice it to say that they're looking at roughly the same outcome of the NFC Championship game as far as points on the board are concerned.
Checking out pro-football-reference.com there are some very striking similarities between these two defenses based purely on the numbers and even then the numbers and and NFL rankings don't separate each team that distinctively. Granted the league rankings separate each team but anything plus or minus 50-100 yards moves you up or down pretty dramatically like you said on your show today...err yesterday by the time you read this today.
One stat I came across regarding the defenses is that the Saints are holding their opponents to 21 ppg and the Colts are holding opponents to 10 ppg. The big difference is the Colts have faced great running teams with weaker offenses and the Saints have faced, in my opinion are much more prolific passing teams in comparison to the Ravens and the Jets. The Vikings still have a beast of a running back with Adrian Peterson, but with Favre how can you not pass when the man is doing what he's done for the last thousand years.
That's all I could really find for today. With suspensions coming down for Arenas and Crittenton, Warner retiring, the Pro Bowl debacle there hasn't been much talk about the defensive side of Super Bowl...at least from what I've been able to find out. Personally, I think Dilfer hit the nail on the head when he said both defenses were great at being on dimensional for stopping the run or pass and haven't really shown much success for a more balanced offense...which I think the Saints do have. I'll let this brew in the heads of sportswriters across America tonight and let you know my findings tomorrow.
The most obscure stat I did find was on the offensive side of the ball. That is Addai had a perfect passer rating of 158.3 for the regular season. One pass, one completion, 22 yards, one touchdown.
Aaron
NFL Network...
I'm calling an early TKO on the NFL Network for information due to their coverages of Senior Bowl and Pro Bowl practices...yes, practice.
Their site doesn't give much insight on much other than blogs regarding off season chatter, a.k.a Kurt Warner's retirement press conference that is announced for Friday.
Hopefully there will be more from the NFL Network tomorrow.
ESPN Website...
Not too much talk about the defensive side of the game. Both offenses are so prolific its difficult to overlook that situation. There's still plenty of time for this debacle to brew before the Super Bowl.
NFL Live on ESPN...
Not much on here either. Kurt Warner retirement...McNabb staying in Philly or not...Colts/Saints traveling back and forth for the Pro Bowl. Knowing how ESPN is, the biggest story will be how the players feel on the Pro Bowl being the week before the Super Bowl this year and how it will effect the playing surface and the players traveling down a day early.
Quick mention on how Shockey will effect the defense of the Colts...
Sharper...no real effect due to injury.
Schlereth...physical guy who will get in defenders faces and can make a difference.
Since there's not much on the ESPN and NFL Network front I'll switch to unconventional methods of seeing what people are saying/thinking about defenses. I went and checked out the Vegas odds for the game and right now its the Colts as a 5 1/2-6 point favorite with an over/under being 56-56 1/2. Suffice it to say that they're looking at roughly the same outcome of the NFC Championship game as far as points on the board are concerned.
Checking out pro-football-reference.com there are some very striking similarities between these two defenses based purely on the numbers and even then the numbers and and NFL rankings don't separate each team that distinctively. Granted the league rankings separate each team but anything plus or minus 50-100 yards moves you up or down pretty dramatically like you said on your show today...err yesterday by the time you read this today.
One stat I came across regarding the defenses is that the Saints are holding their opponents to 21 ppg and the Colts are holding opponents to 10 ppg. The big difference is the Colts have faced great running teams with weaker offenses and the Saints have faced, in my opinion are much more prolific passing teams in comparison to the Ravens and the Jets. The Vikings still have a beast of a running back with Adrian Peterson, but with Favre how can you not pass when the man is doing what he's done for the last thousand years.
That's all I could really find for today. With suspensions coming down for Arenas and Crittenton, Warner retiring, the Pro Bowl debacle there hasn't been much talk about the defensive side of Super Bowl...at least from what I've been able to find out. Personally, I think Dilfer hit the nail on the head when he said both defenses were great at being on dimensional for stopping the run or pass and haven't really shown much success for a more balanced offense...which I think the Saints do have. I'll let this brew in the heads of sportswriters across America tonight and let you know my findings tomorrow.
The most obscure stat I did find was on the offensive side of the ball. That is Addai had a perfect passer rating of 158.3 for the regular season. One pass, one completion, 22 yards, one touchdown.
Aaron
Monday, January 25, 2010
I don't know
Friends...
Is it wrong to think I'm being setup by a couple of friends that have decided to take their friendship to the next level by seeing each other? The only reason I ask is because I've slept with the female friend. It is out of the realm of possibilities that they're trying to concoct a scheme to try to hook me up with someone out of their own guilt because my buddy thinks he may have taken something away from me? Or both of them for that matter?
If that is the case, then I will be a tad pissed off because I don't take kindly to people trying to interject shit into my life. Fuck that, I'm alone because I have a lot shit floating around in my little head and I don't think I'm ready for that. So why would two people think that I would want that?
I'll put this theory to test this weekend. Its my buddy's birthday celebration and the setup chick will be there so I think I'm going to sabotage this shit before it gets out of hand. How am I going to do that? No clue yet, but I have a few ideas running around rampant in my head right now.
On another note...
The Colts are back in the Super Bowl. I NEVER thought I would seem them make one Super Bowl, let alone win it...and now we're going back again? That's just insane, and to think about what Peyton has to to this franchise and city for that matter. He has taken everything on his shoulders and has exceeded all expectations...well, probably except for his. If we end up winning this Super Bowl and he says he's done then he will be without a doubt damn near everyone's mind the best quarterback that EVER played the game.
Favre...
Son of a fucking bitch I'm already tired of hearing about this old fuck and its only been one fucking day!!! I don't get it, they lose the game and everyone is all about him. Umm, hello...Peyton just DESTROYED the number one rated defense in the league and everyone wants to talk about how bad Favre just did?!?!? Give me a fucking break!!!
Super Bowl...
This should be a pretty interesting game. The media will make it out to be Peyton vs The city he grew up in. Fuck that, make it about the game. You know, the two teams that will be playing each other. Two VERY good teams with extremely talented quarterbacks. If Peyton and Brees double up and choke the living hell out a reporter for making this game something it isn't, then they need a medal for choking that guy/girl out. Just my thoughts...and now onto the longest two week wait of my life...ugh...
Is it wrong to think I'm being setup by a couple of friends that have decided to take their friendship to the next level by seeing each other? The only reason I ask is because I've slept with the female friend. It is out of the realm of possibilities that they're trying to concoct a scheme to try to hook me up with someone out of their own guilt because my buddy thinks he may have taken something away from me? Or both of them for that matter?
If that is the case, then I will be a tad pissed off because I don't take kindly to people trying to interject shit into my life. Fuck that, I'm alone because I have a lot shit floating around in my little head and I don't think I'm ready for that. So why would two people think that I would want that?
I'll put this theory to test this weekend. Its my buddy's birthday celebration and the setup chick will be there so I think I'm going to sabotage this shit before it gets out of hand. How am I going to do that? No clue yet, but I have a few ideas running around rampant in my head right now.
On another note...
The Colts are back in the Super Bowl. I NEVER thought I would seem them make one Super Bowl, let alone win it...and now we're going back again? That's just insane, and to think about what Peyton has to to this franchise and city for that matter. He has taken everything on his shoulders and has exceeded all expectations...well, probably except for his. If we end up winning this Super Bowl and he says he's done then he will be without a doubt damn near everyone's mind the best quarterback that EVER played the game.
Favre...
Son of a fucking bitch I'm already tired of hearing about this old fuck and its only been one fucking day!!! I don't get it, they lose the game and everyone is all about him. Umm, hello...Peyton just DESTROYED the number one rated defense in the league and everyone wants to talk about how bad Favre just did?!?!? Give me a fucking break!!!
Super Bowl...
This should be a pretty interesting game. The media will make it out to be Peyton vs The city he grew up in. Fuck that, make it about the game. You know, the two teams that will be playing each other. Two VERY good teams with extremely talented quarterbacks. If Peyton and Brees double up and choke the living hell out a reporter for making this game something it isn't, then they need a medal for choking that guy/girl out. Just my thoughts...and now onto the longest two week wait of my life...ugh...
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