BlindSite
10-28-2008, 06:35 PM
Late and short this week, sorry about that tired and stretched a little thin between projects.
Though I endeavour to include all top performances and as many great plays and players each and every week, time and space means that there will be a few I miss. This is no reflection on the team or me as a fan or writer, in some cases it’s just unlucky they're not included. Enjoy.
Break out Performer
Kansas City isn’t exactly what you’d call a powerhouse at quarterback. Brodie Croyle seems inherently injured and Huard certainly cannot be considered the future of the franchise despite his ability to play well at times. Tyler Thigpen is somewhat of an unknown in NFL circles. The 24 year old Sophomore played his college ball at Coastal Carolina a small school responsible for every now and then turning out a very good NFL player. Thigpen was efficient and accurate in his team’s loss to the Jets this week throwing 25 of 36 (71%), for 280 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. This is a pretty decent Jets defence that he faced, as they managed to make Kurt Warner look confused and turn over prone in their huge victory a few weeks ago. While it’s not exactly the teeth of the Tennessee titans he faced, or the pass rush of the New York Giants Thigpen showed a lot of poise and a lot of promise and did everything he could to keep Kansas City competitive. Forget Croyle and forget Culpepper, Thigpen might just be the future for the Chiefs.
Coaching Comments
Mike Signletary is being given “mad props” for his tirade after the game against Seattle and for benching Vernon Davis when he gave away a stupid penalty. Furthermore he’s being given respect for dumping JT O’Sullivan and elevating Shaun Hill to the starting line up but is Singletary really deserving of such worthy praise? While it could be argued he’s in a bad situation and the Seahawks are a good team that formerly played really badly, Singletary’s team left a lot on the field on Sunday.
While it is agreeable that for a team to succeed they have to buy into the coach’s mantra it’s not necessarily true that a head coach needs to punish those who take a little longer to do so than others. Bill Belichick and Bill Parcells are two operators who’ve had great success getting teams to buy into a coach’s team first, anything for the team, philosophy, but they’ve had success with players who don’t. Sure there’s going to be trouble makers, but players have to trust their coach, they’ve got to have a love for the game and the program, otherwise they’ll never give their full performance on the field. While the 49ers have had their moments of competitiveness this season, they haven’t played with the fire a poor team needs. See: Miami, Atlanta.
Singletary is on the right track, with wanting team first, passionate players, but trashing them publically in the media and attacking them six days into the job isn’t really the best way to go about it.
QB Watch
A few days ago I made the comment that the Tennessee titans were winning games more in spite of Kerry Collins’ play than because of it. But, after seeing his performance against the colts I’m prepared the retract that statement. The Colts stacked the box against the titans in an effort to slow down what I believe to be the best offensive line and running game in the NFL today. Collins was therefore called upon to make some difficult throws to what can only be considered less than elite receivers. He stepped up on third downs and made plays when the team needed them. The Colts held an early lead and it appeared that their swarming defence was going to be just enough to win the defensive battle. Collins poise, leadership and smart play lead to several scoring drives and helped to keep his defence off the field and thus, fresh to face Peyton Manning. Lendale White deserves some credit for tough running that the statistics won’t show as does Albert Haynesworth who is the league MVP, though he’ll never win the title.
This team reminds me very much of the Baltimore Ravens that won the biggest game of them all, but I believe more than ever that they have a lot more talent at QB than Trent Dilfer, the only question remains is there a team in the AFC that can knock them off?
Homer Corner
For the first time this season the Carolina Panthers pass defence faltered on its own merit and it showed in the score line. Warner did everything he could to win the game and was near perfect completing all by nine of his passes and targeted his elite duo to brilliant effect. Enter, something not seen since 2003 for the Panthers. Heart. The idea of having a team band together to fight hard uphill against the most difficult opponent is one that coaches often try to sell but seldom realise. John Fox has long been considered a master motivator and we saw it this week.
The Panthers rebounded with toughness, grit and ability to take the game away from the Cardinals and more than the opponent, the statistics or the players the style in which the victory came says more than the victory itself. With upcoming games against the Oakland Raiders and the Detroit Lions and then Atlanta the Panthers could very easily be nine and two.
Props needs to go to the Panthers kicking game however as Rhys Lloyd now has 16 touch backs on the season, more than the last 4 years combined and the ageless wonder John Kasay who is the only kicker in the NFL to have netted 100% of his kicks in over ten attempts.
Though I endeavour to include all top performances and as many great plays and players each and every week, time and space means that there will be a few I miss. This is no reflection on the team or me as a fan or writer, in some cases it’s just unlucky they're not included. Enjoy.
Break out Performer
Kansas City isn’t exactly what you’d call a powerhouse at quarterback. Brodie Croyle seems inherently injured and Huard certainly cannot be considered the future of the franchise despite his ability to play well at times. Tyler Thigpen is somewhat of an unknown in NFL circles. The 24 year old Sophomore played his college ball at Coastal Carolina a small school responsible for every now and then turning out a very good NFL player. Thigpen was efficient and accurate in his team’s loss to the Jets this week throwing 25 of 36 (71%), for 280 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. This is a pretty decent Jets defence that he faced, as they managed to make Kurt Warner look confused and turn over prone in their huge victory a few weeks ago. While it’s not exactly the teeth of the Tennessee titans he faced, or the pass rush of the New York Giants Thigpen showed a lot of poise and a lot of promise and did everything he could to keep Kansas City competitive. Forget Croyle and forget Culpepper, Thigpen might just be the future for the Chiefs.
Coaching Comments
Mike Signletary is being given “mad props” for his tirade after the game against Seattle and for benching Vernon Davis when he gave away a stupid penalty. Furthermore he’s being given respect for dumping JT O’Sullivan and elevating Shaun Hill to the starting line up but is Singletary really deserving of such worthy praise? While it could be argued he’s in a bad situation and the Seahawks are a good team that formerly played really badly, Singletary’s team left a lot on the field on Sunday.
While it is agreeable that for a team to succeed they have to buy into the coach’s mantra it’s not necessarily true that a head coach needs to punish those who take a little longer to do so than others. Bill Belichick and Bill Parcells are two operators who’ve had great success getting teams to buy into a coach’s team first, anything for the team, philosophy, but they’ve had success with players who don’t. Sure there’s going to be trouble makers, but players have to trust their coach, they’ve got to have a love for the game and the program, otherwise they’ll never give their full performance on the field. While the 49ers have had their moments of competitiveness this season, they haven’t played with the fire a poor team needs. See: Miami, Atlanta.
Singletary is on the right track, with wanting team first, passionate players, but trashing them publically in the media and attacking them six days into the job isn’t really the best way to go about it.
QB Watch
A few days ago I made the comment that the Tennessee titans were winning games more in spite of Kerry Collins’ play than because of it. But, after seeing his performance against the colts I’m prepared the retract that statement. The Colts stacked the box against the titans in an effort to slow down what I believe to be the best offensive line and running game in the NFL today. Collins was therefore called upon to make some difficult throws to what can only be considered less than elite receivers. He stepped up on third downs and made plays when the team needed them. The Colts held an early lead and it appeared that their swarming defence was going to be just enough to win the defensive battle. Collins poise, leadership and smart play lead to several scoring drives and helped to keep his defence off the field and thus, fresh to face Peyton Manning. Lendale White deserves some credit for tough running that the statistics won’t show as does Albert Haynesworth who is the league MVP, though he’ll never win the title.
This team reminds me very much of the Baltimore Ravens that won the biggest game of them all, but I believe more than ever that they have a lot more talent at QB than Trent Dilfer, the only question remains is there a team in the AFC that can knock them off?
Homer Corner
For the first time this season the Carolina Panthers pass defence faltered on its own merit and it showed in the score line. Warner did everything he could to win the game and was near perfect completing all by nine of his passes and targeted his elite duo to brilliant effect. Enter, something not seen since 2003 for the Panthers. Heart. The idea of having a team band together to fight hard uphill against the most difficult opponent is one that coaches often try to sell but seldom realise. John Fox has long been considered a master motivator and we saw it this week.
The Panthers rebounded with toughness, grit and ability to take the game away from the Cardinals and more than the opponent, the statistics or the players the style in which the victory came says more than the victory itself. With upcoming games against the Oakland Raiders and the Detroit Lions and then Atlanta the Panthers could very easily be nine and two.
Props needs to go to the Panthers kicking game however as Rhys Lloyd now has 16 touch backs on the season, more than the last 4 years combined and the ageless wonder John Kasay who is the only kicker in the NFL to have netted 100% of his kicks in over ten attempts.