Before we take a look at the enticing NFC South clash as the New Orleans Saints travel to the Atlanta Falcons, here’s a few notes from last week’s NFL action.
Hose the daddy: The New York Jets may not have quit on Rex Ryan just yet – but Fireman Ed has. The Jets’ superfan, Ed Anzalone, will no longer lead the “J-E-T-S!” chants at home games or wear his firefighter’s hat because of “confrontations” between himself and other fans “have become more common”.
So let’s get this straight: Fireman Ed is quitting his unofficial, unpaid job as a leader of thousands of screaming fans, because of thousands of screaming fans.
Head coach Rex Ryan said he was “disappointed” at hearing Anzalone would not be back.
“I love that guy’s passion and energy that he would bring and, really, he’s a great fan,” Ryan said. “I really admire him. I like Fireman Ed. If he could play linebacker, I’d use him.”
He may only be half-joking. How poor were the Jets in their latest defeat? If I were a Jets fan, I’d either boo or go home, too.
Warning: The following video contains strong language…
Ryan now wants the 4-7 Jets, who are coming off an embarrassing 49-19 loss to the New England Patriots, to run the table and finish 9-7, despite the fact they have not won two straight games all season.
There’s a chance they could. Starting with Arizona on Sunday, they do not face a team with a winning record. The slumping Cardinals have lost seven in a row after opening the season 4-0. The Jets have to play struggling Mark Sanchez at quarterback with Tim Tebow having broken ribs, while the Cardinals are down to third-string passer Ryan Lindley – so Sunday’s game really should be a doozy. Then, the Jets are at Jacksonville (2-9), at Tennessee (4-7), home to San Diego (4-7) and at Buffalo (4-7). Let’s hope they win them all and Ryan keeps his job – if only because the new series of Harry and Paul will have finished by then. We need a chuckle.
Forget the 49ers quarterback controversy: Colin Kaepernick has shown flashes in his first two starts for San Francisco in relief of concussion victim Alex Smith. But while Smith is not a top-10 quarterback, despite topping the charts with a 70% completion percentage, it is his job to lose. Whatever his reasons for doing so, Jim Harbaugh, a former quarterback himself, made an incredibly sensible move holding out Smith after he received a concussion during the Week 11 clash against St Louis.
Second Impact Syndrome (SIS) isn’t talked about as much as it should be. While the vast majority of SIS cases occur in athletes between the ages of 12 and 18, it can be a killer. From 1980 to 1993, the National Center for the Catastrophic Sports Injury Research linked 17 deaths from American Football to SIS and many more deaths have occurred since then. No one is sure how and why SIS occurs, but in every case it is caused when an athlete receives a secondary head trauma before the symptoms from a first concussion have resolved. The impacts are not always severe; sometimes they involve a hit to the chest, side or back that causes the head to snap back. Concussions, as we have said in previous columns, are an incredibly serious issue.
I fully expect Smith to be leading the Niners in the playoffs but they have bigger concerns right now. The season-ending injury to running back Kendall Hunter is a heavy blow. He provided diversity and a great change of pace from Frank Gore, and was averaging 5.2 yards per carry.
They have several options in a deep backfield, however. Veteran Brandon Jacobs has played all of two snaps this season but he is similar to Gore. While Anthony Dixon is listed as the third running back on the depth chart, his value lies as a special teams player. So expect to see LaMichael James getting his first action of the season. The rookie was a standout at the University of Oregon and scored 58 touchdowns in three seasons. He brings electrifying moves and while it was expected that he would sit and learn in his first NFL season, his debut might come soon. Watch out for him when he does.
Wide receiver Kyle Williams was also lost for the season on the same play, so veteran Randy Moss could see more playing time for the 8-2-1 Niners, who travel to face the St Louis Rams on Sunday.
The Playoff picture: Houston, Baltimore, New England and Denver can all reach the post-season with victories this weekend. Atlanta can clinch a post-season berth with a win, plus a Seattle loss (or tie). The Seahawks travel to Chicago on Sunday.
The I’m off picture: Rex Ryan (New York Jets), Norv Turner (San Diego), Romeo Crennell (Kansas City), Chan Gailey (Buffalo), Mike Munchack (Tennessee), Dennis Allen (Oakland), Jason Garrett (Dallas) and Andy Reid (Philadelphia) found their bottoms getting a little bit toastier after their teams suffered Week 12 losses. It would not be a huge surprise if eight coaches were soon looking for a new role. Still, it could be worse – Chelsea get through eight managers a season.
Suh good he maimed them twice: You wouldn’t want to face defensive tackle Ndamakong Suh on Thanksgiving Day. Poor lamb, it seems he gets a bit angry when he misses his turkey.
Suh was fined by the Detroit Lions and suspended two games by the NFL for his Thanksgiving 2011 stomp of the Green Bay Packers’ Evan Dietrich-Smith.
Last Thursday, Suh was rushing Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub and, after he was blocked by offensive lineman Derek Newton, Suh kicked out at Schaub’s groin region as he fell to the Ford Field turf. It certainly looked intentional, and left Schaub doubled up, but the NFL reviewed the incident and determined there wasn’t enough evidence to suspend Suh, although he still could face a fine. Green Bay, Atlanta and Denver are monitoring the situation… they apparently need a good kicker.
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A boy racer named Suh: Ndamakong Suh was cited last week for failure to use due care and caution, allegedly driving his black Range Rover at a high speed. No charges were filed in separate traffic incident involving Suh last month, where police were unable to determine whether Suh or the other driver were at fault. He is still facing a lawsuit from his female passenger in a 2011 car accident in Portland, Oregon, and also faced negligent driving charges while a student at Nebraska.
I once tried to build a website for women drivers, but gave up because it kept crashing. Perhaps the Lions won’t be long before they give up on Suh, who’s becoming a headache.
Striking out: If there was a three-strike rule, Lions coach Jim Schwartz would have been handed his cards by now.
Strike 1: Week 6, 2011 – The Jim Harbaugh handshake/slap, chase and verbal sparring after a game against San Francisco that resulted in the pair being separated by players and security.
Strike 2: Week 12, 2012 – He knew that throwing a red flag when a replay is automatic nullifies the review. As Fox’s Jay Glazer pointed out after Schwartz has cost his side seven points by attempting – and failing – to challenge Justin Forsett’s controversial touchdown in their three-point loss to Houston, the application of this rule to 49ers coach. Jim Harbaugh in 2011 prompted Schwartz to shout “know the ******* rules” at Harbaugh, laying the foundation for the notorious post-game handshake incident. You couldn’t make it up.
Strike 3: Week 12, 2012 – Schwartz has an Arsene Wenger moment over Ndamukong Suh’s foot to the groin of Matt Schaub. “I didn’t see (the kick) on the field and I didn’t see it on the replay,” Schwartz said. “What I saw was his head was down and away from that play. In my mind you would have to have eyes in the back of your head to be able to do it but that game’s over with and move on.”
That’s about as believable as Joey Barton’s French accent.
New Orleans Saints @ Atlanta Falcons (Sky Sports HD, Friday, 1.30am)
The Atlanta Falcons can clinch a playoff berth and the NFC South division with victory over the Saints, who are the only team to beat them this season, coupled with a Tampa Bay Buccaneers loss or tie.
The Falcons are 5-0 at home this year and 31-6 in the regular season dating back to 2008. However, three of those six losses came at the hands of the Saints. And New Orleans have won 11 of the last 13 in the series.
Atlanta are 3.5-point favourites on the BETDAQ handicap and layers are expecting a few points, as the total points line sits at 56.
Atlanta would have entered the game at 11-0 had it not been for a 31-27 defeat following a goal-line stand by the Saints on November 11.
Let’s make things easy: Back Atlanta. The New Orleans running game is being hampered by their offensive line. They can’t block particularly well. The lack of a legitimate running attack to shore up the passing game, which is the foundation of this team, is hampering them.
One of the biggest keys for the Saints’ offense is Darren Sproles, a small but swift running back who is great in space and is also a dynamic receiver (1,874 rushing yards and 2,498 receiving yards in his career). But the Saints are trying too hard to get the ball in his hands and when he’s asked to block, he gets run over.
Removing Sproles from the equation greatly limits what quarterback Drew Brees can do. Atlanta failed to stop the run in their last meeting (148 yards against them on Nov. 11) as they played soft coverage which played into Brees’ hands, and they are unlikely to make the same mistake twice.
The Saints are coming of a very physical 31-21 beating by the San Francisco 49ers, while Atlanta won 24-23 in Tampa.
But while you have to credit the Saints for the way they have dug themselves from a 0-4 hole to build a 5-6 record, the game looks up, as they still have a tough road to travel even if they win, going to the New York Giants, hosting Tampa Bay, travelling to Dallas and finishing at home against an improving Carolina defence and their elusive quarterback Cam Newton.
While the Saints’ own defence has improved from earlier in the season, they still rank last of the 32 clubs in yards conceded (averaging 454.8 yards per game) and a lowly 28th in points allowed (27.6 points per game).
Their run defence is flimsy at best and you would expect Michael Turner and Jacquizz Rodgers in particular, to run amok this time round against the 32nd-ranked run defence.
Atlanta are about to make a statement.
Suggestions:
Atlanta -3.5
Under 56 points
Don’t forget to check out John Arnette’s views on the game at betdaqnfl.com
Milham’s 2012 record:
Week 12: 8-7-2
Week 11: 8-4
Week 10: 6-8
Week 9: 9-4
Week 8: 7-9
Week 7: 8-6
Week 6: 6-8
Week 5: 4-9
Week 4: 10-3
Week 3: 5-8
Week 2: 7-6-1
Week 1: 7-5
Twitter: @simonmilham
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