Bruce Arians Insights on QBs

Bruce Arians deserved a better writer than Lars Anderson to discuss what it takes to be an NFL quarterback.  The book is a mess in a lot of ways with side trips in the middle of chapters that don’t necessarily related to the topic at hand.  There is a good book in here somewhere.

With that said, Arians has a lot of important points to make about what it takes to be an NFL quarterback.  Here he profiles those he has worked with most closely: Peyton Manning, Kelly Holcomb, Ben Roethlisberger, Andrew Luck, and Carson Palmer.  All are very different quarterbacks but with a lot of the traits Arians looks for in an NFL signal caller.  Unfortunately, a lot of the chapters start meandering into other topics, but nonetheless they are great vignettes about some of the best quarterbacks in the league and one primarily a backup quarterback (Holcomb) who Arians got the most out of.

What is the most important attribute for an NFL quarterback?  First, it’s brains.  To be successful in the NFL a quarterback doesn’t have to be the best athlete on the field, but he probably has to be one of the smartest.  The ability to watch film, read defenses in fast paced live action, and get the ball where it needs to be with accuracy and velocity ultimately is the key.  But football smarts is essential to success regardless of other factors.

You also must have heart.  The willingness to take a big hit to get the ball off, the willingness to play through pain, and the willingness to prepare hard and do what it takes to maximize potential.

You have grit, which Arians defines as “handling success and failure equally”.  You can’t get too up and down over wins and losses but have to compartmentalize and move on to the next game.  If a QB throws an interception or a pick six (an interception returned for a touchdown), the QB can’t get rattled but has to move on to the next play.

And you have to be leader.  An NFL quarterback must be somebody others on the team look up to as an example and want to play with.  And all the traits above set that example.

From athletic point of view obviously an NFL quarterback has to have decent arm strength but it doesn’t have to be a rocket.  Accurate throws to all parts of the field are what set quarterbacks apart.  And the quarterback has to be athletic enough to avoid rush and move around in the pocket, what many call “pocket presence”.  You don’t have to be the best athlete just athletic enough.

As Arians notes, a lot of big armed, athletic quarterbacks have failed in the NFL because they did not posses these traits.

The other interesting part of this book is how some potentially great quarterbacks lack the maturity to play quarterback in the NFL.  Arians was with Baltimore when they scouted Ryan Leaf and Peyton Manning as their first NFL draft pick.  Arians walked around both players’ campuses incognito and just asked around about what people thought of them.  Everybody had good things to say about Manning and nothing bad, while nobody had anything but bad things to say about Leaf.  So that ingrained in Arians a clear lack of leadership and we see what happened to Ryan Leaf.

Overall this was an interesting book about NFL quarterbacks, just annoying disjointed and unorganized at times.

The Quarterback Whisperer: How to Build an Elite NFL Quarterback

Review of The Mannings

This book about the Manning family is execrably written, so much so that I frankly wanted to quit reading the book because it was horribly annoying. There are way too many times the author imputes emotions to individuals when he has no idea what the person was actually feeling. Worse, he constantly makes juvenile analogies that are trite to the point of making the reader cringe. It is a very amateurish writing style and a rather amateurish book.

While this is an advanced reading copy, two other items that were irritating is in one chapter Archie’s father is 5 foot 6, and in the next he’s 5 foot 7. In most instances it’s his father’s words, “just be a nice guy,” that drove Archie and his nice guy charm and demeanor, one that was not fake or a put on. But in one instances this is attributed to his mother. These are trivial in terms of the overall narrative, but noticeable and distracting nonetheless.

With that said the book did have some redeeming qualities which, overall, made it barely worth reading. First, I never fully understood the level of fame that Archie Manning had throughout the South, especially in his home state of Mississippi and adopted state of Louisiana. He was nearly a household name after his college stint at Ole Miss as its starting quarterback. Second, the book does an excellent job of describing how Archie’s stern but beloved father and his suicide drove Archie to want to excel on the field and in life, and later how it drove him to spend as much time as he could with is sons and tell them how much he loved them. Archie’s background and family history in a small Mississippi town to become regionally famous paints a clear picture of how Archie handled himself when in the pros, a very good quarterback playing for a horrible team. He kept his head up and marched on.

The book also does a good job of telling the story of Cooper Manning and how, while not a great athlete, would have very likely had a solid college career as a receiver at Ole Miss and how his discovery of a spinal condition that forced him to quit football drove his younger brother Peyton to strive to greatness and professional football to fulfill Cooper’s unfulfilled dreams.

Peyton’s personality has a hard worker, studier and leader comes through strongly in the book as well. His vast knowledge of football, football history, and studying the playbook are legendary. The contrast with the demure Eli Manning is very interesting. Much has been made of Eli’s laid back demeanor, shyness, and some would argue lack of leadership. But it turns out that Eli has been shy and laidback since he was a child. And he never studied football, at least its history, like Peyton did. But he has been successful in his own way nonetheless.

The insights into the personalities of the Archie, Peyton, Eli, and Cooper, along with their family history are very interesting and shed a lot of light on this famous football family.

I do have a few more complaints about the book, however. This book seems to be more about Archie Manning than this two football playing sons. Peyton Manning gets a lot more airtime in detailing his recruitment to the University of Tennessee and his years in college and the pros than Eli. Eli, in some respects, especially his college and professional career, seem almost an afterthought.

Two controversial issues that did not get enough detail or interpretation include the sexual assault allegations about Peyton Manning when he was at Tennessee, and the “forced” trade of Eli Manning from the San Diego Chargers to the New York Giants when he was drafted number one overall by the Chargers.

In the first instance the author does, again, a very amateurish job reporting the incident. He basically takes some things he heard in the media and throws them in the book to check off the box. And some of what is stated in the book is disputed in other media outlets. It’s a really sloppy job of reporting the event.

And very little is detailed about all the behind the scenes actions that lead to Eli being traded from the Chargers to the Giants after he was drafted, with Archie and Eli essentially saying he would not play for the Chargers. Odd given the Chargers were not that bad of a team at the time. There is a big gap in the book on this issue.

The book concludes with Peyton’s ultimate retirement after Super Bowl 50 and does decent job of describing the proud Manning family and the difficulty but inevitability of Peyton’s decision.

While this book has some redeeming qualities, that it’s poorly written and structured makes it a bit frustrating. The Manning’s deserved a better chronicler of their journey.

http://amzn.to/2b7eGZY

 

 

NFL 2012 Season: Wildcard Weekend in Review

RAMBLINGS

I really got tired of hearing pundits say how the Cincinnati Bengals were a hot team coming into the playoffs. I’ve seen a lot of the Bengals this year and even the games the one in the last quarter of the season they played inconsistently and somewhat poorly. So did the Texans.

Mike Maycock is the worst worst worst color commentator I have ever heard. I am so sick of him saying how every player he mentions is the greatest of all time at this, the best at his position in college, a future Hall of Famer. Knock it off, you sound stupid. Last night he said J.J. Watt has had the best year as an “interior” defensive lineman in the history of the NFL. Idiot. First, Watt mainly plays as a defensive end. Second, tell that to Randy White, Manny Fernandez, Bruce Smith (a defensive end), and Michael Strahan (defensive end). He had a great year, but probably not the best ever in the NFL history.

I got a big laugh listening to NBC talking heads try to make the scratch of Christian Ponder last night seem like it was a good thing for the Vikings and giving them a BETTER chance to win. What??? Granted that must have been NBC’s worst nightmare having a prime time game that everyone with any sense knew was over before it started. When I saw that Joe Webb was going to be the starter I knew that the Vikings had almost zero chance to win that game. They would have been better off with a Tim Tebow who is at least marginally more accurate than Webb. The Vikings really should be kind of ashamed they have such a lousy back-up quarterback on their roster. I don’t know how much control they had over the schedule but I would have made the Washington Redskins/Seattle Seahawks tilt the prime time game.

Ray Lewis is retiring with dignity and class. Regardless of what you think about him, he has probably been the best defensive football player of his generation. Even I got goose bumps watching his pregame introduction.

Redskins’ coach Mike Shanahan should be fired. I kept telling my wife they needed to take Robert Griffin III out of the game in the third quarter. He couldn’t effectively run or throw the ball. And he was a sitting duck. Later in the game, torn LCL and ACL.

 

Houston Texans over Cincinnati Bengals, 19-13

Houston thoroughly dominated the Bengals but didn’t have much to show for it on the scoreboard as they settled for field goals through much of the game. But the Bengals offense was so bad it didn’t matter much. Andy Dalton was just terrible in both his decision making and the accuracy of his deep throws. This whole season, in fact, he hasn’t really played up to the level of expectations based on his fine rookie outing. And A.J. Green has just disappeared from the offense lately because teams double up on him but Dalton can’t seem to get the ball to anyone else. The Bengals biggest mistake on offense, in my view, was not establishing the running game in the first half. They were very successful with the run but didn’t stick with it. That could have changed the outcome of the game. The Texans defensive line was extremely disruptive in the passing game but the Bengals insisted on spreading the field, which the Texans exploited at the line of scrimmage. I wonder if this game impacts Joe Gruden’s chances at a head coaching job.

While the Bengals defense gave up a lot of yards, they did play reasonably well in the red zone and kept the game close. But Dalton and the offense simply didn’t take advantage of it.

Frankly, Houston, despite the win, didn’t impress me all that much either. A better opponent could have spelled doom for them. I think they probably were well served to have played a Wild Card game and get a win instead of having a bye week because had they played the winners of the Wild Card games with two weeks off after a lousy end of season swoon they likely come out flat and get smoked. I hope the Patriots come out and lay a beat down on them again. We’ll see.

I know Arian Foster had over 170 total yards in offense, but this was a defensive game and my MVP is Jonathan Joseph for shutting down A.J. Green.

MVP: Jonathan Joseph, CB

 

Green Bay Packers over Minnesota Vikings, 24-10

As I mentioned earlier I knew this game was over before it started. The Vikings had a decent drive at the start of the game but other than that it was a rather painful, and frankly somewhat boring game to watch. Even the Vikings defense played more poorly than I expected them too. I wonder how much having Webb in there was a downer emotionally for them as well.

There isn’t a whole lot to be said about this game. The Packers had a workman like performance for the win. It was almost like getting a bye week anyway.

The most intriguing part of this game was seeing DuJuan Harris come out of nowhere to put up 108 yards of total offense running and receiving.

MVP: DuJuan Harris, RB

 

Baltimore Ravens over Indianapolis Colts, 24-9

This game played out pretty much like I expected it to. Ray Lewis once again found a fountain of youth and was the emotional leader on a defense that bent a lot, but never broke in the red zone. The offense didn’t do a whole lot in the first half but then Anquan Boldin looked unstoppable in the second half. Where did that come from?

MVP: Anquan Boldin, WR

 

Seattle Seahawks over Washington Redskins, 24-14

This game became very difficult to watch in the second half. After getting up to a 14-0 lead at some point Robert Griffin III hurt his knee and the Redskins put him back in the game. In the third quarter I sat there watching his play and he threw the ball poorly with all arm, and except for one limping nine or ten yard scamper down a wide open sideline, he couldn’t run the ball effectively or escape the sack. Why coach Shanahan, sitting on the sidelines watching it live could see what I did, is beyond me. The Redskins would have had a better chance to win by putting Kirk Cousins in the game. Griffin was just awful. With no solid footwork or base to throw the ball, he armed his throws and they were inaccurate. Granted the receivers should have caught some of them, Griffin clearly was hurting his team and was a sitting duck in the backfield. He certainly paid the consequences eventually.

While this game also played out about how I expected other than the Redskins fast start, the Redskins might have had the chance had Shanahan been smart and put Kirk Cousins in before it was too late.

Despite a goal line fumble, Marshawn Lynch fueled the offense with his running game and was the MVP.

MVP: Marshawn Lynch, RB

 

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Offensive Player of the Week: Anquan Boldin, WR, Baltimore Ravens
Defensive Player of the Week: Jonathan Joseph, CB, Houston Texans
Offensive Lineman of the Week: Duane Brown, Houston Texans
Special Teams Player of the Week: Jacoby Jones, WR/KR, Baltimore Ravens
Rookie of the Week: Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks

The Modern Day Art Donovan, Tony Siragusa

Goose: The Outrageous Life and Times of a Football Guy by Tony Siragusa with Don Yaeger
Crown Archetype, 2012
ISBN:978-0-307-95598-2

If you have ever seen Tony Siragusa on television you’ll have a very good idea of what this book is going to be like.  Siragusa is absolutely hilarious in how he relates his life and antics in the National Football League.  Ironically much of his career was spent with the Indianapolis Colts (formerly Baltimore Colts) and the Baltimore Ravens, a team and city that embraced the last great comedic defensive tackle Art Donovan who played for the Colts in the 1950’s and had a good career in media afterwards because of his wit and humor.  Thus I have dubbed Tony Siragusa the modern day Art Donovan.

Siragusa relates his life growing up in an Italian New Jersey town through his college football career and then ultimately his professional career and beyond.  This is not a book about the X’s and O’s of football.  It’s about a large guy leading a large life.

Beyond just the absolutely hilarious stories Goose tells what is refreshing about this book is he pulls no punches.  You know who he does and does not like, and those he does not like get it with both barrels.

One of the funnier stories is Goose relating a college recruiting trip to the University of West Virginia:

“My next visit was to West Virginia. That was a little wacky. I went to the place, and I was waiting in this room when two white guys with Mohawks and flannel shirts showed up.

What the hell is this? Did I just land in a remake of Deliverance?

We went around the campus and the whole thing was a little weird. The campus seemed like it was literally surrounded by a trailer park.”

Hey, Tony Siragusa said it not me.

And the way he describes the incompetent head coach Ron Meyer and the “different kind of guy” Eric Dickerson when they were all Indianapolis Colts together is gut busting hilarious.  Goose clearly has no respect for Meyer, essentially discussing what a buffoon he was in words not suitable to place in this review.  And the self-absorbed drama king Eric Dickerson doesn’t get off too lightly either.

After “the whole Slick Meyer disaster was over” the Colts hired Ted Marchibroda who was attempting to turn a losing team around and had some modest success.  Goose clearly is a big fan of Marchibroda and has a lot of respect for him as a coach.

The funniest story during this era is when one of Goose’s friends from the team had a, shall we say, liaison with a one legged woman.  The woman took off her prosthetic limb and left it in the next room where the player had a Pit Bull puppy.  Well, next morning the dog had chewed up the prosthetic limb so the player had to go get her another one.  He asked Goose to cover for him with the coach so he wouldn’t be fined for missing meetings.

Once Marchibroda retired they brought in Lindy Infante as head coach and Goose clearly loathes this man, so much so that it ultimately saw him out of Indianapolis and to the Baltimore Ravens.

Goose of course won a Super Bowl of with Baltimore after the 2000 season and was one of the big guys up front doing the dirty work to keep the young and super talented Ray Lewis and his linebacker mates clean of blocks so they wreak havoc on the offense.  Clearly Goose enjoyed his time with the Ravens.

Goose also talks about his post-football endeavors, which are often equally as funny as his exploits in football.  And finally, there are some very cleaver asides told from people who knew Goose best like his mother, his best friend, and Ted Marchibroda.  You get a glimpse of what a likable goofball this guy is.

So if you want a very funny romp through the life of a gregarious football player, pick this one up.  You won’t be disappointed.

Goose: The Outrageous Life and Times of a Football Guy

2010 NFL Football Season: Week 11 Observations

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

Top Ten Teams

Philadelphia Eagles. While not as dominating a performance as last week against the Redskins, the Eagles won a division game against a tough opponent and shut down Giants’ running back Ahmad Bradshaw.

Atlanta Falcons. I don’t know what the Falcons strength of schedule looks like but it can’t be great. But they keep rolling along with a solid offense and defense.

New York Jets. The Jets’ come from behind wins week after week are pretty amazing. If the Patriots and Jets both win on Thanksgiving the Monday Night match up the following week will be the biggest game of the year so far.

New England Patriots. The Patriots constantly giving up big leads week after week is a real concern for Patriots fan. While the offense seems to have found a rhythm, the defense hasn’t matched up. This could ultimately be their downfall.

Baltimore Ravens. Not much to say about the Ravens game this week against a depleted and woeful Carolina Panthers unit.

Pittsburgh Steelers. After getting convincingly beaten by the Patriots last week the Steelers made a real statement in blowing out the Oakland Raiders.

Green Bay Packers. The shellacking of Minnesota this week must have been sweet for Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.

New Orleans Saints. It will be interesting to see if the Saints can regain their dominant form they showed last year. They seem to be on a bit of a roll now.

San Diego Chargers. San Diego is starting to look like the Super Bowl contender they were supposed to be. This is a very dangerous team in a weak division.

Indianapolis Colts. The Colts dropped a little this week after losing to the Patriots but only because the Chargers played so well.

The New York Giants dropped off the top ten list this week after losing a home game to the Eagles.

Trent Dilfer

Along with Tom Jackson, Trent Dilfer joins my all time least favorite announcers/analysts list. This guy is complete idiot and does not belong on television. The first week of the season he was the announcer for the San Diego Chargers versus Kansas City Chiefs game. I taped the game and watched it the next day and started right at the kickoff so I wasn’t even sure who the announcer was, I just thought he was an idiot. He kept going on and on and on and on ad nauseum about how great San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers is. I thought, gee is this guy married to Rivers?

Every time I see him on television he makes me sick with his stupidity. I turn the channel when I see him now. He was an awful quarterback too.

Brad Childress is Gone, Brett Favre Should Be Next

As soon as I saw that Brad Childress was finally fired from the Minnesota Vikings and Leslie Frazier named the interim head coach, I thought if Frazier really wants to take control of this team he has to release Brett Favre and see what Tarvaris Jackson can do as quarterback. Favre is as much of the problem with that team as Childress was and it will not be resolved until they show him the door. Favre has played horribly this year and clearly is the person who really that runs the team.

GAMES I WATCHED

New England Patriots over Indianapolis Colts, 31-28

After building up a nice 31-14 lead the New England Patriots defense gave up two really quick scores to the Colts in the fourth quarter, and nearly gave up a tying field goal or winning touchdown near the end of the game. This was heart attack city for Patriots fans and a cause for great concern. The defense is clearly still a work in progress but that progress better be a bit quicker as we reach the end of the regular season. The offense is not going to be able to put up 31 points on every team. And if we get behind it seems like the game could be over.

I am a glass half empty kind of fan after years and years of woeful Patriots teams in the late 1980’s and 1990’s, and I complained about the offense not doing more in the second half after a few bad series. But I was reminded that Peyton Manning threw three interceptions and the game loser, so I will just have to take that.

Danny Woodhead’s 36 yard touchdown run in the third quarter with little Wes Welker blocking downfield was a thing of beauty.

MVP: Danny Woodhead, RB

Chicago Bears over Miami Dolphins, 16-0

With third string quarterback Tyler Thigpen starting for the Dolphins off a short week I thought they were in big trouble, and they were. Add to that some injuries on the Dolphins’ offensive line and they were in even bigger trouble. The Dolphins offense just never could get it going and they were giving up a lot of yards on kick returns to Devin Hester that set up Chicago for an early lead that they never relinquished.

I think Thigpen is a decent quarterback and with a regular practice schedule and some protection can win some games for the Dolphins.

MVP: Devin Hester, KR/WR

Baltimore Ravens over Carolina Panthers, 37-13

This game went pretty much as expected with the Ravens dominating the undermanned Carolina Panthers on both sides of the ball. Nothing against Brain St. Pierre but when you sign a perennial backup and third stringer off the street to be your starter you are in big trouble. That goes doubly true if you are facing a ball hawking Ravens defense.

MVP: Ray Rice, RB

Philadelphia Eagles over New York Giants, 27-17

Despite being only a game up on the New York Giants in the NFC East, the Eagles staked their claim to the division title with a win over the New York Giants. While it wasn’t the otherworldly performance of a week ago against the Washington Redskins, the Eagles played good enough, especially on defense, to pull out a tough win. More impressive is the defense is playing better than it has all year long.

While the Giants are a bit banged up they are a strange team to watch week in and week out. Some weeks they look great and other weeks they look awful, even in some of their wins. You never know what Giants’ team is going to show up.

MVP: Jeremy Maclin, WR

San Diego Chargers over Denver Broncos, 35-14

Has a sleeping giant awoken from its slumber? After three straight wins and basically handing a game to the New England Patriots, the Chargers, even at 5-5, are poised to take the AFC West title if they keep winning. They have some tough matchups ahead but I am not a big believer in the Kansas City Chiefs or Oakland Raiders and the Denver Broncos are almost out of it.

This was a very dominating performance in all phases of the game by the Chargers. And while Philip Rivers was brilliant and really is having an MVP type season, backup running back Mike Tolbert set the tone early in the game with tough runs.

MVP: Mike Tolbert, RB

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Offensive Player: Steve Johnson, WR, Buffalo Bills
Defensive Player: Julius Peppers, DE, Chicago Bears
Offensive Lineman: Sebastian Vollmer, T, New England Patriots
Special Teams: Devin Hester, KR/WR, Chicago Bears
Rookie of the Week: Gerald McCoy, DT, Tampa Bay