NFL's 18 Game Season: More $$$ for owners and league, problematic for players

An 18 game regular season. It makes sense for the owners. It makes sense for the league. The NFL has proven that it never really leaves the spot light, as more people watched last year's NFL Draft than they did the NBA Playoffs. (Check the ratings). It is getting to the point where there is never a time period throughout the year where there is not a story related to football. In the off-season, all we hear about is the NFL Combine, the players who are entering the draft, what position does your home team need to improve in order to be competitive, etc. ESPN offers us analyst after analyst, expert after expert, to discuss football all year long. We read about  voluntary workouts, we are concerned about who is showing up to the team facility and who isn't. Is player "x" going to hold out? Even when there seems to be a lag in information, we scour the internet searching for trade rumors and scandals. Bottom line is it makes perfect sense for the league and the owners to want to expand the regular season. People will show up to the games. They will buy hats. They will buy jerseys. They will buy over-priced beer and hot dogs. The television contracts will continue to provide a constant stream of revenue.

Let's look at the flip side though. The players are not excited about this. Look no further than Ray Lewis, a future Hall of Fame linebacker, and see what his opinion is concerning the 18 game season. Lewis was quoted as saying: "If fans want to show their love, they should let everyone know that we are not machines. I've been blessed to play this game for so long, but it's time to start thinking about what legacy and impact changes like this will leave for the players of tomorrow, and us after we retire. I know our fans may not like preseason games, and I don't like all of them, but swapping two preseason games for two end-of-season games — when players already play hurt — comes at a huge cost for the player and the team. I know our union is on top of it, and players need to stay in touch with the union and our Executive Director to stay informed."

Tom Brady, quarterback of the New England Patriots and currently the NFL's highest paid player had this to add: "I've taken part in several postseason runs where we have played 20 games. The long-term impact this game has on our bodies is well documented. Look no further than the players that came before we did. Each player today has to play three years in order to earn five years of post-career health care. Our Union has done a great job of raising the awareness on these issues and will make the right decision for us players, the game and the fans."

Analyze this logically. Aside from the wear and tear on their bodies, the players have another reason not to expand the regular season. That reason? The same reason the owners want to expand. Money. Let's look at the trend at the running back position. In the 80's and 90's most teams had a clear number one running back, their "horse." Names like Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Marcus Allen, Emmitt Smith come to mind. Now fast forward to today. We have multiple teams utilizing a two back system, alternating their backs throughout the game in order to maintain their bodies fresh. The Miami Dolphins are an easy example because I live in Miami. Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams are one of the best running back duos in football. How did we get here though? Well Ricky Williams had a few great years when he first arrived to Miami and as I have mentioned many times before, he bolted to smoke marijuana. But Ricky has stated several times his body needed a rest. He felt the Dolphins were over-using him. Then you have Ronnie Brown, who is talented but injury prone. Hence, we need a two back system here in Miami. The New York Jets have Ladainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene. The Kansas City Chiefs use Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones. The list goes on and on. Teams do this because they fear losing their number one backs to injury, so they "stash" two legit starting running backs on their teams as an insurance. Moving to 18 game season will only cause this trend to become the norm for every single team in the league. This will translate into star running backs getting paid less money. It should be no surprise then that running backs like Steven Jackson of the St. Louis Rams is not fascinated with the idea of a two back system, or players with specific packages. Read Steven Jackson's thoughts on two-back system

More games is going to lead to an expansion of the roster size. Anyone who knows anything about sports knows that expansion always leads to a worst product. Some may argue it leads to parity, but in reality it means we will see a lot of athletes wearing uniforms on Sundays who really have no business being there. Additionally, an athlete's career will most likely be shortened due to the new 18 game schedule. I've heard people say it isn't going to be much of a difference, that in reality all the league is doing is making some of the pre-season games actually matter. I feel this argument is ignorant in the sense that most teams don't play their starters full time during the pre-season (actually all teams) and teams are very careful in how they utilize their star players. If I was a player, I wouldn't be happy about the NFL moving towards an 18 game schedule.

NFL's 18 Game Season: More $$$ for owners and league, problematic for players

ESPN's John Clayton: "For those judging QB development, Mark Sanchez has a slight lead over Chad Henne."

ESPN's John Clayton

ESPN's John Clayton has been an NFL analyst for quite a while. He's old. Nerdy looking. He wears glasses. Honestly, he looks more like a tax lawyer than an NFL analyst. In this week's NFL Power Rankings, he made a comment on why the Jets are ranked ahead of the Dolphins. The reason? He claims Mark Sanchez is ahead of Chad Henne in terms of quarterback development.

I'm confused. I consider myself an avid football fan. I played the sport, albeit in high school and I never really had a shot in hell of advancing to the next level (although if you would have asked me when I was 15 years old, I was ready for the NFL). After I realized I had no future as a player, I decided to coach football. None of this makes me an expert, and I am in no way trying to say that I know more than John Clayton, but I am having trouble with the fact that he can so nonchalantly say that Mark Sanchez is ahead of Chad Henne.

Let's look at the numbers before I start going over personnel. Last year, Mark Sanchez had a whopping QB rating of 63.0. He threw 12 touchdowns compared with 20 interceptions. Yards? 2,444. Completion percentage? Are you on the edge of your seat? 53.8%. I did an entire post on how Chad Henne just played his 16th game last week, the equivalent of a full NFL season. In that post I went over Henne's numbers, and although the numbers are not Pro Bowl level, they are better than Mark Sanchez's numbers. Over 16 games Chad Henne threw 15 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, passed for over 3,500 yards, and his completion percentage was almost 10 percentage points higher than Sanchez's. What does this show? Simple. Chad Henne over a full NFL season is the more efficient quarterback. Less interceptions and completes the ball more often.

Then again, the media may have something to do with ESPN's enamoration with Mark Sanchez. Sanchez is the one posing for GQ Magazine. Sanchez was also a big part of the Ines Sainz scandal up in New York a few weeks ago when the Mexican reporter was attempting to interview him in the Jets locker room (for more details see my prior post on Ines Sainz). Sanchez was a higher pick, going 9th overall out of USC. It's not like he plays for the Cleveland Browns either, he's on the New York Jets who were just featured on HBO's Hardknocks, a show that goes behind the scenes of an NFL team during the offseason. They have a loud mouth coach in Rex Ryan who is in the spotlight every other week for some absurd reason. Mark Sanchez plays in New York City, the largest sports market in the United States of America, if not in the entire world. Of course Mark Sanchez is going to garner more of the media spotlight in comparison to country boy Chad Henne. You also need to consider that the Miami Dolphins are not exactly known for being media friendly ever since Bill Parcells rode into town. But when we look at the numbers, Henne has outperformed him over the course of a full NFL season.

The next Broadway Joe?

Let's look at head to head matchups:

November 1st, 2009: Miami Dolphins 30-New York Jets 25.

Mark Sanchez- 20-35, 265 yards, 2 touchdowns, QB rating 100.3
Chad Henne- 12-21, 112 yards, 1 touchdown, QB rating 87.8

October 12, 2009: Miami Dolphins 31-New York Jets 27

Mark Sanchez- 12-24, 172 yards, 1 touchdown, QB rating 87.5
Chad Henne- 20-26, 241 yards, 2 touchdowns, QB rating 130.4

September 26, 2010: New York Jets 31-Miami Dolphins 23

Mark Sanchez- 15-28, 256 yards, 3 touchdowns, QB rating 120.5
Chad Henne- 26-44, 363 yards, 2 touchdowns, QB rating 91.4

In three head to head matchups, Chad Henne has won two out of three games. Look at the numbers and you'll see both quarterbacks have played fairy well against each other, however it looks like Chad Henne might have a slighter edge in the last two games they played. Henne came out on the losing end last Sunday, but anyone watching the game would tell you Henne was the better quarterback. Mark Sanchez was the beneficiary of a few botched plays by Jason Allen and a few dropped interceptions. Henne was shredding apart what has been called the NFL's best defense by many of the so called experts.

Next, let's take a look at the personnel on both teams dating back to last season and the beginning of this one. Mark Sanchez had a better supporting cast last year. Not only does he have what many believe to be the best offensive line in the league, he also benefits from something that Henne doesn't have--an athletic tight end in Dustin Keller that creates mismatches against opposing defenses. That was highlighted against the Dolphins last week as the Jets proved yet again that the middle of the field is the Achilles heel of the Dolphins' defense. Also, Jerricho Cotchery was a better receiver than anything the Miami Dolphins had on their roster last season. Throw in the Braylon Edwards trade towards the end of the season and it is clear the Jets had a better receiving corp then the Dolphins did at any point last year. The same can't be said this season, as Brandon Marshall is clearly the best receiver if not player on any of the Dolphins' or Jets' rosters. Sanchez also had the league's best rushing attack last season. While the Dolphins didn't have a shabby running game, Ronnie Brown was injured and we relied on Ricky Williams most of the second half. Although he filled in admirably and rushed for over 1,000 yards, the element of the wildcat was gone.

It is easy to see these two quarterbacks have a bright future ahead of them. To say Mark Sanchez is slightly ahead of Henne is not a fair statement though. If anything, I believe Chad Henne is ahead at this point in their careers.

ESPN's John Clayton: "For those judging QB development, Mark Sanchez has a slight lead over Chad Henne."

Men lie, women lie, numbers don't

Chad Henne has started 16 NFL games going back to last season when he took over for Chad Pennington. Technically, he just finished his first NFL season. When we look at the numbers he has compiled, Henne seems to be off to a good start.

In his first 16 games Chad Henne has thrown for 3,604 yards and completed 60.6% of his passes. He has thrown 15 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. His quarterback rating is 77.4. The numbers don't necessarily make your jaw drop, but let's compare the numbers to the player most consider to be the best quarterback of this generation--Peyton Manning. In Manning's first NFL season he threw for 3,739 yards and completed only 56% of his passes. Manning tossed 26 touchdowns, but threw 28 interceptions. His quarterback rating was 71.2.

Steve Mitchell/US Presswire

Keep in mind that Manning started off his career with Marvin Harrison as his number one receiver, whereas Henne didn't have a star receiver on his roster until the Dolphins acquired Brandon Marshall. It was not until Peyton Manning's second NFL season that his numbers really improved and he began turning into one of the most talented quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen.

This is not to say that I believe Chad Henne will be the next Peyton Manning or that his career will resemble Manning's in any way. All I am saying is maybe we should keep things in perspective as Dolphin fans.

Men lie, women lie, numbers don't

Chad Henne and what could have been...

Athletes become legends right before our eyes. Sometimes we are aware of the moment we are observing, sometimes we are ignorant of it. I knew I was watching greatness back in the 2006 NBA Finals when Dwyane Wade did his best Michael Jordan impersonation. I also saw it when Josh Beckett shut down the Yankees back in 2003. Last night as I watched the Miami Dolphins play against the New York Jets, I was watching carefully in anticipation as the game went on thinking to myself, "Am I watching Chad Henne turn into the leader of this Miami Dolphins team right now?"

As the clock ticked down in the 4th quarter with the Dolphins in possession, I was sure of at least one thing: Chad Henne had an opportunity to win over his entire team, fan base, critics, and take his first step into what could become a great career. This one drive could be the beginning of the Chad Henne legend, after all it is The Drive that makes John Elway such a big part of NFL lore. Here was Chad Henne, having what many would say is the best game of his career, about to lead his team down the field to victory. He completes a pass to Brandon Marshall, who turns it into a 30 yard gain. With the Dolphins on the 11 yard line and 52 seconds left in the game, the scene was set. Chad Henne was about to win our hearts.

Sunday Night Football, national audience, sold out stadium, the orange jerseys the team has only worn on four occasions, the star power in attendance (Lebron James was at the game), all made for great dramatic effect. I wish I could tell you the game ended in fairy tale fashion. For my sake, and for yours. On 4th down, Henne drops back to throw and fires a pass to Anthony Fasano on a tight end dump. The ball is deflected and inevitably ends up in the hands of a Jet defender. Game over. Moment vanished. We are left questioning what could have been.

What can we take from this game? Chad Henne sure as hell deserves a chance to prove he can be an elite quarterback in this league. The Dolphins coaching staff, whether it is Head Coach Tony Sparano or offensive coordinator Dan Henning, need to let this guy throw the ball. With Brandon Marshall at your disposal, why not throw the ball more? He had 10 catches for 166 yards last night and made it look easy. This is the same man who owns the NFL record for most catches in a football game! Not Jerry Rice, not Randy Moss. Brandon Marshall!

AP Images.

 There are plenty of people saying that this air it out style the Dolphins displayed last night doesn't win football games. Instead, we should stick to the style that got us two wins to start the season. Hand the ball off to Ricky and Ronnie, score 15 points and let the defense do the rest. Granted, the Dolphins need to mix it up a little more and there were several moments in last night's game where they should have stuck to the running game. However, you can't continue to handcuff Chad Henne and expect for him to blossom into a star. You have to let him loose, especially if he's capable of doing what he did last night.  

Potential star in the making?

Chad Henne and what could have been...

Thoughts on Canes win over Pitt

There has been a lot of drama for the Canes since their loss at Ohio State. Randy Shannon banned Twitter. Some fans made racist comments on Jacory Harris' twitter page, saying Miami didn't want a black quarterback. Randy Shannon allegedly ripped into the team according to the Miami Herald's Manny Navarro, rightfully so as I stated in an earlier blog. I was anxious to see how the team would come out against Pitt. After watching the game I'm left feeling confused. I'm not sure if I am happy. I am not angry either, but not happy. We won 31-3 and made Dave Wannstedt look horrible on ESPN. Yet I feel so unimpressed. Jacory Harris threw two more interceptions and had a very mediocre first half. At times I wanted to reach through the screen and slap him.

Eric Winston, a former UM player who now plays in the NFL, tweeted this:

"@ericwinston: Dear jacory, There is nothing wrong with dumping the ball in the flat. Even Babe Ruth didn't hit a homerun every at bat. Sincerely, Alumni."

At one point I told my brother I thought Jacory should be benched. The only problem with that is who would you play in his place? Then immediately after I say something like that Jacory makes a beautiful pass to Travis Benjamin. Moments like this frustrate me. I have seen Jacory Harris make big plays. I have seen him make gorgeous throws with such touch it looks like the ball floats into the receiver's hands. But then I am reminded of Ohio State and that four interception game. Then I remember that last year he threw 17 interceptions. I am not sure if Jacory Harris can lead this team to wins against big time teams.

Anyway, I'd like to talk about something positive I saw in this game. Damien Berry is a good running back. He kind of reminds me of Willis Mcgahee. He had 21 carries for 87 yards and one touchdown. The numbers don't sound too shocking, but there was one play I was particularly impressed with. In the second half, Berry took a handoff for 27 yards around the corner. I have always thought of him as a physical, powerful runner, but on this play he showed some elusiveness and speed. If Berry has a breakout game at some point this year he could experience something similar to what happened with Edgerrin James before he was drafted. Edgerrin James climbed rapidly up the draft charts after he had a 299 yard rushing day against UCLA in 1998. Damien Berry was also a bright spot against Ohio State. In that game he rushed for 94 yards on 16 carries. If we had run the ball a bit more perhaps we would have had a better chance to win. With a little luck I can see Damien Berry getting drafted on Day 1 of the NFL Draft.

I'll finish by completely contradicting myself. I wish the Hurricanes would watch the Miami Dolphins and use some of their philosophy. Run the ball. Control the clock. Play good, solid defense. Don't let Jacory lose the game for you by trying to do too much. These are the exact same things I criticize about the Miami Dolphins' offense, but right now I trust Damien Berry and the rest of the Hurricanes' stable of running backs in comparison to Jacory Harris' arm. 

AP photo/ Wilfredo Lee

Thoughts on Canes win over Pitt

Redemption

A second chance. All of us know what that feels like. We all know what it's like to make a mistake, regret it, and wish we could somehow fix what we did. Some of us get lucky and find a way to get that second chance. Others are not as blessed. I think there is one thing we can all agree on though. There is no better feeling than seeing someone be at their lowest, and watch them climb back up to the top. A redemption story. America loves redemption stories.

Why? Perhaps it is because of this nation's history. We went from being a blip on the world's radar screen to being a world power in 250 years. We experienced the Great Depression, arguably this nation's lowest point, and fought back to become even stronger. We experienced 9/11. Look no further than the famous words of Vince Lombardi: "It isn't about whether you got knocked down, it's about whether you get back up."

Some of the movies we love, movies that have become ingrained in our minds, deal with that simple theme. Look at Rocky. Have you ever met someone that doesn't like Rocky? Rocky is about a guy who comes from nothing and all of a sudden becomes a champion boxer. To continue with Sylvester Stallone movies, another example is Rambo. John Rambo is a Vietnam vet who comes back to America to realize he is an outcast. He essentially is a "bad guy" who blows up a whole town because they arrested him for being a drifter. It's odd, but you are rooting for Rambo the entire time. There are more examples of movies like this. You've got Scarface, where the main character is a coke snorting crazy Cuban drug lord, yet at the end of the movie when his house is infiltrated by Colombians who have been hired to kill him you are cheering for him to somehow survive the ambush.

It should be no surprise that we do the same exact thing with athletes. Most of America believes Pete Rose should be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He gambled on baseball and denied it for years, was banned from the game, and for a long time we were angry with him. But America has moved on. The same goes for Ron Artest, who in 2004 during a basketball game between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons went into the crowd and started a brawl between the fans and the teams. Now he is a Laker and is fresh off a championship. America has moved on. Miami Dolphin fans were enraged when Ricky Williams quit the team to smoke dope, but now he is a fan favorite. He has been forgiven.

It happens over and over again. A player hits rock bottom, but over time you want to see him succeed again. Most recently we have dealt with athletes like Tiger Woods, who we thought was squeaky clean for all these years and now we see he has been having extra-marital affairs for years with several women. Tiger Woods will eventually win a major tournament and be back in America's good graces in no time.

This brings me to Michael Vick. In 2005, Michael Vick was the NFL's highest paid player. He was 24 years old at that point and had just signed a 10 year contract with the Atlanta Falcons. We all know what happened next. The dog fighting scandal. The gambling. The tax evasion. Michael Vick went from being one of the NFL's most popular players to a convict. Fast forward to September 2010. Michael Vick is now the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. He gets his shot at redemption.

Redemption

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...

We know the saying. We know what it's like to be let down, year after year. We've been fooled before. Some of us are being fooled right now. Me? I'm trying my very best to not fall for this trap the Dolphins have laid before us after week 2. Our record says we are undefeated right now. Two wins. Zero losses. The bandwagon is driving around the neighborhood. Better jump on now. Not me. I'm not that naiive anymore. I'm a wise man when it comes to this. Don't get me wrong. The feeling is there. The pull, the twinge in your heart when you read 2-0, it's there. Hope. Just a glimmer. But I'm stomping it down. I am doing everything I can to keep it locked away in a box deep down inside my soul.


Why you ask? Why so jaded? Why so determined to stop myself from celebrating a victory, especially one on the road against a team many consider Super Bowl caliber with a Hall of Fame quarterback and a Pro Bowl running back? Why not, for just a second, admit that it feels good to pull off this victory and be atop the AFC East Division? I've been down this road before. Since the very beginning of my Dolphin fandom I have been a hopeless romantic. Always believing the Dolphins will give me what my heart desires--a championship.


At first, it was because Dan Marino needed one. It would be the one thing that would cement him in the minds of many as the top quarterback of all time. Year after year I would feel pain when the Dolphins would lose in the playoffs. Not just my pain, I would feel Dan's pain. I would see him on the sideline or in the locker room, head hung, looking older each passing season. His arm was not failing him, but his legs and hips surely were. Time was running out on Dan.


In 1995, the Dolphins seemed set to make a run at the Super Bowl. We started off the year 4-0 and expectations were through the roof. Then we lost three in a row. The rest of the season was up and down, but even so we believed that come playoff time, Marino would get us to the Super Bowl. First round playoff exit. The Buffalo Bills rushed for over 300 yards and we got destroyed even though Marino threw for over 400 yards. That's when everyone started saying it was time for a change. Don Shula had to go.


Bring on the Jimmy Johnson era. More promises being made. Jimmy promised he would win us a championship by his third year. That didn't workout the way he planned, so he quit, leaving us in the hands of Dave Wannstedt. During all those years we had a few nice seasons. But we never made it to the promised land. Wannstedt quit the same year Ricky Williams left the team and then we started playing what seemed to be musical chairs with our coaching staff. Jim Bates was the head coach for some time, then there was Nick Saban. Saban seemed promising. I wanted to believe in him so much because I had read his book and he was part of the Parcells/Belichik coaching tree. Sports Illustrated predicted the Dolphins would win the Super Bowl. We signed Daunte Culpepper instead of Drew Brees. Culpepper played a few games before he was back on the injured list, and Nick bailed on us when he saw we were much further from a Super Bowl than what he had envisioned. He lied to all of us, packed his bags and went to Alabama.


Bring on Cam Cameron and the worst season in Miami Dolphins history. This was definitely the most painful season of football I have ever had to endure. I watched the games only because I was hoping we could win at least ONE. We did, against the Baltimore Ravens on a catch over the middle by Greg Camarillo. Then we got Parcells, Sparano, and Ireland. This is where we are at. Years and years of first round playoff exits, watching legends get tossed to the curb, stars simply walk away from the game for reasons I yet don't fully comprehend (Ricky Williams), draft day screw ups, free agency miscues, career ending injuries, have all left me in a fetal position on the floor sucking my thumb. The Super Bowl has become something of a myth around Miami. It's like the Holy Grail. Is it even real? Again, the Dolphins may be 2-0, and we may have beaten Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings, but I refuse to allow myself to fall into the same traps I've fallen into since I was a kid.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...