View full size photo »

The Tennessee Titans have been a rival of the Indianapolis Colts for going on ten years. While it might not have the rich legacy of, say, the Oakland Raiders v. the Kansas City Chiefs, it's pretty safe to say that the games featuring Tennessee and Indy have been a helluva lot more watchable than anything Oakland and KC have mustered up of late. 

And as with all rivalries, there comes the inevitable hating, name-calling, and derogatory comments about a person's mother; all often aimed at the fanbase of the rival. This is a right of passage. This is the cranberry relish to go with your turkey. The sprinkles to your donut.

This is RIVALRY WEEK!

For this first installment of rivalry week, we're very happy to bring in the best Tennessee Titans blogger on the Internets: Jimmy from Music City Miracles. I'm not sure, but I do believe I had the honor of giving Jimmy his very first interview as a Titans blogger waaaaaaaaaaay back in 2006. We both had just started blogging back then, and one of the bigger topics of discussion was how the then 0-4 Titans were going to respond if or when Kerry Collins was to get benched for then-rookie Vince Young.

Three years later, nearly that exact same scenario seems to be upon us once again.

Continue reading this post »

More photos » by Stephan Savoia - AP

6 months ago: New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick rubs his eye as he watches his team during at football practice at the team's training facility in Foxborough, Mass., Wednesday morning, May 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

Browse more photos »

I have to be honest, it's no easy task keeping up with everything that is going on with the Colts.  When you have to keep up with all of the other 31 teams, especially the bitter rivals of the Colts, it can consume your life.  This wouldn't be a problem If I was being paid fat cash like Bob Kravitz.  But sadly for me (and my bank account), I'm just some Joe Schmoe writing for a blog.  Woe is me right?

To assist us all in gathering as much information on our rivals as possible, I've recruited the help of someone who can provide us with some insider information: Pats Pulpits head writer, MaPatsFan.

So, how has the offseason treated the Patriots?

The bad news is we didn't make the playoffs.  The good news is we didn't make the playoffs.  For the first time in many years, Patriots fans were left twiddling their thumbs in January, mostly cheering for hated rivals to fail (the Dolphins would fall into this category; certainly not Indy ;-)).  The layoff has given a lot of guys some much needed rest which I consider extremely important for many of our offensive linemen; they went into 2008 training camp in serious trouble.

Overall, Hoodie has made some interesting FA acquisitions that I'm excited to see.  A mix of veteran presence and youth is a good thing; I'm stoked to see how it will turn out.

Explain the free agent acquisitions made thus far and their possible impact or roles going into the 2009 season.

From a general sense, this is classic Belichick.  He was extremely active during free agency and is a firm believer in sprinkling vets into the mix with his rookies.  One of the more interesting acquisitions has been CB Shawn Springs.  Springs and recent Bills' FA acquisition, Terrell Owens, can't seem to shake each other, and have seemingly followed each other around for eight seasons.  Coincidence?  Hoodie says no, but we'd be naive to think otherwise.

 

Another strategy is to create competition along with mentorship.  Longtime Jaguar RB Fred Taylor seems to be made for both roles, specifically for Laurence Maroney.  Maroney's been plagued with injury and confidence problems, something Taylor suffered from during his "Fragile Freddy" days.  His acquisition will give Maroney some valuable mentoring while keeping the fire lit in the competition arena.

 

On the WR front, I have my doubts about Joey Galloway given his age (38), but Greg Lewis seems like a fine addition.  Defenses know enough to neutralize Moss and Welker so it's important to have a third and sometimes fourth look for Brady.

 

S Tank Williams was a 2008 FA, but was IR'd in the preseason, so I'm including him here.  I have high hopes for Tank (how can you not like a guy named Tank?).  A hybrid safety/linebacker, I think he'll be the "lurker" of the defense.  He won't play a lot of snaps, but I'm looking forward to watching him play.

Continue reading this post »

Yeah yeah yeah, I know, it took me forever but it's here.  The very first edition of VOTF.  No lengthy intro needed, read and enjoy.

Continue reading this post »

Tony Mandarich, former #2 overall pick in 1989 draft

Many of you read MasterRWayne's article on Tony Mandarich last week. His article was prompted by all the news and buzz circulating around Tony Mandarich's two part interview on Showtime's Inside the NFL. Part one aired last week, and on the show Tony admitted to taking steroids at Michigan State. He maintained he did not take steroids in the pros, but he did continue the self-destructive cycle he'd gotten caught up in when in high school and college. This cycle was one of drugs, alcohol, and pain killers. Part two of the Showtime interview, which airs this evening, will cover his sobriety and his second chance at football with the Indianapolis Colts. Tony retired from football in 1998, and has a photography and media business. Tony also has a blog for his business (a smart move, but then again I'm a bit biased).

Last week, Tony was kind enough to sit down with me and discuss his new book (My Dirty Little Secrets - Steroids, Alcohol & God - The Tony Mandarich Story), his Showtime interview, his dark years struggling with drug and alcohol dependency, and his playing career with the Packers and Colts. 

You can read the interview with Tony on the flip. Special thanks to him for granting his time, and to Sharon Shaw Elrod for her efforts to set up the interview. As a teaser, here is one quick answer from Tony that we both laughed over:

BBS: What was it like to play with a then-rookie Peyton Manning in 1998?

Tony Mandarich: [Laughs] Well, with Peyton it was chasing down a lot of interceptions [laughs again].

Full interview on the flip. Enjoy.

Continue reading this post »

I've been a bit rough with AOL Fanhouse of late, mainly because they are supposed to be a fan blog written by sports fans. Hence, the name "Fanhouse." But if you read their daily entries, the writers do more complaining about the sport than cheering for it. I never get the sense that their writers actually like the NFL. Most write entries as if they are annoyed at the work. Again, that is just my little ole impression.

The exception to the norm at Fanhouse is Stephanie Stradley, and she is one of the reasons I check it daily.

Steph is one of my favorite writers at Fanhouse because she is a complete and unapologetic fan. She not only writes about her beloved Texans at Fanhouse, but also at a blog at the Houston Chronicle, where some of her best work gets published. Steph was kind enough to not slam the door in my face (and she'd be entitled to after all the negative stuff I've said about Fanhouse) and answer a few questions about the Texans. I posed the same queries to Tim at BRB, but he is busy mulling your questions. His answers will get posted soon. For now, here are five good ones with Steph, Texans Girl Woman Extraordinaire:

BBS: Our teams have had some rotten luck of late. With the Colts, it is injuries. With the Texans, it is hurricanes. What has it been like post-Ike? I know Tim didn't have power for days afterward. How have Texans fans (and Texas folks in general) picked up the pieces after Ike?

Steph: I think nationally people don't realize how badly Houston and the surrounding area was hit by the hurricane. Ike was a huge hurricane with a large wind field and huge storm surge, so everybody got affected by the storm. There are still huge numbers of people without power and without places to live.  Our social safety net in town was already strained in helping those hurt by Hurricane's Katrina and Rita, and with the economy struggling like it is, it is a particularly bad time for people to be missing paychecks because a lot of businesses were destroyed or didn't have power.  If people want to help out, please consider donating to this fund that will help local efforts: http://www.houstontexans.com/community/TexanshelpingTexans.asp.

BBS: Last season, it seemed the Texans turned a corner with their defense. Mario Williams is arguably the best DE in football, and Demeco "Not Demarco" Ryans is a demon on earth at LBer. This year, the defense has been shredded. What happened?

Steph: The Texans defense has a few individually good players, but I believe the biggest problem is defensive coordinator Richard Smith.  He has never been a solo coordinator before and doesn't have a background in building a defense from scratch.  Since Gary Kubiak has been on board, the offense has improved but the defense was ranked near the bottom in just about any meaningful defensive category.

BBS: Matt Schaub's tenure in Houston has been shaky. It started with promise, but prior to last week people were calling for his benching in favor of Sage Rosenfels. What do you two think of Schaub's play?

Steph: It's not like Schaub is in a system where the defense is awesome, the line is awesome and the running game is totally on track where you know that it is quarterback play holding them back.  So I think the people calling for him to be benched after game 2 were silly peoples.  I think that any quarterback is going to struggle when an offensive line is going to a new zone blocking system and has three new players, including a rookie left tackle.  I also think that Schaub also had no favors facing tough defenses on the road and with his receivers not catching passes.  I am actually still fairly optimistic about him.  He had a 119 QB rating last week, even without Andre Johnson playing a big role in the game or the running game being anything special.

QB Matt Schaub is a good player, but he has been inconsistent for the Texans.

Photo: www.thefantasykickoff.com

BBS: Tim told me last April that Steve Slaton was going to be a real player in this league. Bill Polian recently said Slaton is as good, if not better, than Chris Johnson in Tennessee. How has Slaton looked, and is he your team's primary RB now and for the future?

Steph: Slaton has looked great. Even when the line hasn't done him many favors, he has busted through tackles and made plays where there really were none.  The TD pass he had last week was one that few RBs could do.  Even so, the offensive line and Slaton have to reduce the amount of run stuffs they are getting. And I think that both will look better with more time in the system and playing at home.  Kubiak's offense is all about avoiding long yardage situations and keeping defenses off balance.  He really isn't going to want to put a relatively finesse line in a position where they are in obvious passing situations.  I think they need a complementary back with Slaton because he runs so hard you are afraid of his durability.

BBS: And finally, this is a big game for both teams. The loser is in a big, BIG hole in the AFC South. What do the Texans need to do to beat the Colts Sunday?

Steph: I have no confidence in the Texans defense to do anything against the Colts offense.  They have made very average quarterbacks look like great decision makers. The defense plays hard, but they don't always play smart, and their defensive schemes are easy to read.  The Texans best hope is the way they beat the Colts their one and only time: by the offense keeping the game close and Peyton Manning on the bench.  There is always the possibility that the pass rush could get to Manning--the Texans have had a number of multi-sack games against the Colts over the years and generally play better at home.

Many, many thanks thanks to Stephanie for taking the time to answers my questions. Again, Steph is one of the better fan bloggers out there, and her stuff is regularly read by me and other SB Nation bloggers. Why? Because she writes like someone who loves her sport and team.

How refreshing.

Many of you old timers will remember Chris, who used to blog here under the name absurdpolitik. Chris was our resident Jaguars fan, giving us updates and insight on his team during the 2006 off-season. Chris was so annoying and so in your face about the Jags was so good and so well versed in writing about his beloved Jags that SB Nation decided to reward him with his own blog: Big Cat Country. We've seen other site contributors (like you gals and guys) have similar success, like DaBolts at Bolts From the Blue.

By the way, you will notice SB Nation does not have an IU, Purdue, Ball State, or Indiana State blog. Just saying.

Anyway, as per yearly tradition, Chris and I got to chat a bit about our teams and their twice a year grudge match. Here are five questions to Chris regarding Week 3:

BBS: With all the offensive line injuries for both our teams, I half expect the Jaguars and Colts to bring Tony Boseli and Tarik Glenn out of retirement just for this game. How have the o-line injuries affected Jacksonville's offense?

Chris: Frankly, it's shut down the entire "Jaguars style" of football. The Jaguars haven't been able to consistently block for Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew, which, combined with our opponents tendency to put 8 or 9 men in the box, means that our running game goes nowhere. Without the running game, the play-action vanishes, and considering our lack of obvious threat in the receiving game, the Jaguars are forced to throw more often than they'd like. The team that was brutally powerful on the ground is now having to pass on 3rd and longs rather than running, running, and running their way across the field.

It's been a terrible two weeks if you're a fan of what the Jaguars did offensively last season.

BBS: I was chatting with TheSportsGuru the other night, and he said he thinks one of the reasons David Garrard has struggled these first two game is because teams have had a whole offseason to gameplan for him. Do you think there is some truth in that?

Chris: To an extent, yes. Having a season's worth of film helps. The bigger reason for his struggles is that without a running game, he's had to be "the guy" who makes the play, and at times he's forced a throw where he normally gets rid of the ball. I'm not throwing the offensive line under the bus because of their injury situation, but he's not getting much time in the pocket without pressure, so it's thrown his whole game off as well.

BBS: Speaking of you, me, and Guru, we still chuckle when we remember your face at the NFL Draft when we told you Jacksonville had traded up in the first round. Derrick Harvey's holdout was long and costly. How costly? How is he looking?

Chris: Harvey has an interception, Groves a sack and a forced fumble, and both have had good starts so far. Harvey has yet to dominate a game like we hoped, but he's shown versatility in being lined up at left and right end, he's flashed some speed on the edge, and he's not looking like a player who missed all of training camp. I don't know that he's much further behind than he would have been with a full camp under his belt. With Paul Spicer and Reggie Hayward performing well so far this season, Harvey's only had to perform as a situational player, something that helps cover up for his missed time.

BBS: What has new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams brought to the Jags defense? He is an upgrade over Mike Smith?

Chris: This is a bad time for that question. I've re-watched the last two games and the biggest difference between Mike Smith and Gregg Williams that I've seen is that on 3rd and long with Mike Smith meant rushing 4 and giving a quarterback all day to throw the ball for a first down. 3rd and long with Gregg Williams means all out blitz and letting a dump off or screen pass get the first down. In all seriousness, he brings the heat far more often than Smith, which is hard to watch for some of our more risk-adverse fans.

BBS: And finally, this is probably a must win for the Jaguars. It is a huge game for Indy as well, but if Jacksonville started 0-3, with two loses already in the division, that is a big hole to climb out of. What do the Jags need to do to beat Indy on Sunday?

Chris: Re-discover the style of offense that Jacksonville used to dominate teams last season. The Jaguars have to run the ball enough to open the passing game, convert 3rd downs, and win the time of possession battle. Peyton Manning is still Peyton Manning, and the best defense to the Colt's offense is to keep them on the sideline for as long as possible. This needs to be a return to form game, as 0 and 3 would be an awfully big hole to crawl out of for this team.

As always, for more great blogging about the spotted kitties who call the city of Jacksonville home, please check out Big Cat Country. Big thanks to Chris for taking the time to exchange questions.

via media4.msnbc.com

As I mentioned at the end of last week, Coach Dungy appeared on set with Mike and Mike on ESPN Radio on Friday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  He stayed on for two segments (which is about 20 minutes of on air time), and Coach had a myriad of questions thrown his way.  Here were his thoughts (and I'm paraphrasing throughout, as I couldn't write full quotes down fast enough):

• He is very much in favor of a Rookie Salary Cap, which makes sense since Polian is leading the charge to get this in the next CBA.  It makes a whole lot of sense when GMs, Coaches, and Players are all in agreement.
• He was asked what the one thing was that separated Peyton Manning from everyone else:  Preparation, and again, he's obviously right.  He recalled a story from the two weeks preceding Super Bowl XLI, where Peyton watched all 16 regular season games, plus the playoffs of the Bears in the 2 weeks before the game.  He also delegated the task of watching the Bear's 4 Preseason games to Sorgi, who had to report anything different they might have done then. 
  
• He is not in favor of adding a 17th game to the schedule, as this has been thrown around lately.  He said with a longer season, there will be even more non-meaningful games.  I'm not sure I totally agree with that, but that was his reasoning.  I'm undecided on the 17th game, so I'll think about it some more, and write a full article in the near future, as I think it is an important topic to discuss.
• He said that while the Patriots were/are a great team and a great organization, those 3 Super Bowl titles are tarnished.  He didn't understand why they needed to do those things, as they would have won anyway.  Now, however, there will always be that cloud of uncertainty.
• He was asked the best thing he learned from being around Chuck Noll:  Fundamentals.  He said you need to know the basics before you can compete on the highest level.  Without it, you won't win games.  See Notre Dame Football, 2007 as Exhibit A of this theory.  He also said it is a shame Noll is always looked over when the great coaches of the NFL are talked about, as he learned a lot from him.
• By far the biggest surprise of the interview, and I'm definitely not in agreement with him, is that he is against Instant Replay.  They asked him about using it in baseball (as that is topical now), and he said he was against it wholeheartedly in both sports.  He fears it will become unbounded, and soon everything will be up for review.  Personally, I think it is very easy to bound, and should not grow wildly out of control.  The goal is to get the call correct, no matter the team.  That is the reason for Instant Replay.

All in all a great interview with Coach Dungy.  They also plugged his book quite a bit, as it was just released in paperback.

Baltimore Beatdown

He even let my hold his Kyle Boller action figure! Actually, no. I'm lying. I didn't hold the figure. But, dare to dream!