NFL: Biggest Busts of 2011

By Jared Epstein

At the beginning of each NFL season, the players, coaches, and fans all have certain expectations for different players.  Here are the biggest busts of the 2011 season after week 9…

5) To start this list of colossal crashes, we must venture into the depths of Indianapolis. The stock of the all and mighty Colts has completely plummeted. Over the past 11 years, the Colts have dominated, only have one losing season in 2001 with a record of 6-10 placing fourth in the division. Every other year, they finished with three 10-win seasons, four 12-win seasons, one 13-win season, and two 14-win seasons. Also, in their division, they’ve placed 1^st seven times, 2^nd three times, and 4^th just once.  Heading into the 2011 season, people weren’t expecting the usual 12-win season as previous years due to their hero Peyton Manning having to be a spectator from the sidelines because of neck surgery during the off-season. However, they still had veteran players such as Dwight Freeney, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark and Joseph Addai along with young explosive players like Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie to give some hope.  With the Texans getting stronger every year, 1^st place in the division was out of the question but perhaps they could fight for a wild card spot. After 9 weeks through the season the Colts are 0-9 with a hefty side of humiliation. Their passing yards are 28^th, rushing yards 23^rd, opposing passing yards are at 24^th and the opposing rushing yards are 31^st, a disgrace to the Colts franchise name. The Colts have had a mediocre schedule but some of their 9 losses were flat out embarrassing. Losing to the Browns and Chiefs is always embarrassing in this day and age but the way they lost to the Saints in week 7 was the worst display of football I’ve ever seen. Losing 62-7 is just pathetic. I might as well have been watching a pop-warner game the way that defense played. Peyton Manning is and will always be high on the list of greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game but does one player really have that big of an effect on a whole TEAM? Last time I checked football was a team sport, which consists of contributions from MANY players on the team. The quarterback is one, if not the most, important position to fill on the team but when you have talent surrounding you, it’s easy to make a QB look good, look at Mark Sanchez in New York or Joe Flacco in Baltimore. This season is long gone for the Colts and I don’t see them getting more than two wins if they even get that many. Colts fans just hope they lose every game at this point so you get that nice draft pick for next year.  

4) Coming in at #4 on major meltdowns is Donovan McNabb. Throughout MccNabb’s career, he is though of as the hard working QB with a great arm and a great set of legs to scramble with for the smash-mouth Eagles (even though Eagles fans always treated him like shit). He brought the Eagles to five conference championship games and reached only one championship game, Super Bowl XXXIX against the Patriots, which he lost to despite a close 24-21 finish. After being traded to the Vikings from the Redskins this season, there were high hopes for Viking fans. McNabb would be surrounded by top rusher, Adrian Peterson, which would open up the passing game, and would have decent targets in Malcolm Jenkins, Percy Harvin, and Visanthe Shiancoe. Although McNabb has a completion percentage of 60.3%, which isn’t so bad, he only averaged 152.2 yards per game. McNabb went 1-5 before being replaced at the starting spot to rookie Christian Ponder but not before being man handled by the Bears in week 6. McNabb’s had a great chance to make everyone forget that pathetic year with the Redskins but instead he’s showing everyone he’s at the end of his career and will never make it to the Super Bowl again. Say goodbye to Donovan McNabb because it’s only going down hill from here.

      

3) Getting to #3, we must head to New England for the one and only Chad Ochocinco (which should actually be Ochenta y Cinco, not eight five you idiot. Who even changes there last name to an incorrectly spelt number but that’s a whole different topic). Ochocinco, although a cocky asshole, has proven to put up great numbers while on the Bengals year after year besides the last three with Cincinnati but they were dealing with Carson Palmer problems and just an overall poor team. With the Patriots getting rid of Randy Moss last season, the only thing they were missing from their offense was the deep ball threat.  Standing in at 6”1 with 10 years of experience in the league and having one of the leagues best QBs throwing to you, there were big plans for 85.  Unfortunately, Ochocinco’s numbers are less than stellar picking up only nine catches out of 21 targets, 136 yards, only one catch for more than 20 yards and has the big goose egg for touchdowns. How a former elite wide receiver gets stats like these when Tom Brady is throwing to them, I will never know why. Especially when a 5”9 Wes Welker is averaging 120 YDS/G and Ochocinco (6”1) is getting an average of 17 YDS/G. I don’t know how much longer it’s going to take for 85 to learn this offense (let me give you a hint Ocho, it’s a passing offense) but maybe the Pats should of kept Haynesworth and given ole’ Chad the goodbye boot because this performance so far is terrible. 

  

2) Coming in hot at #2 is Peyton Hillis, last years breakout player. Hillis was a no name the first two years on the Broncos so his third year he was shipped to Cleveland to be a Brown. After being a ghost of a running back, he made a completely new name for himself on the Browns. He had 270 rushes that went for 1,177 yards and 11 touchdowns.  It was such a break out year; he was awarded the cover of Madden 12, which is reserved for only the best of players.  But was it a mistake to accept the cover?  So far this year, Hillis has been plagued with injuries and has only played in 4 games with 60 rushes for 211 yards and just two touchdowns. Hillis, who once had such a promising future, is now being asked questions like, what is his value since the injuries? Can he go back to that break out season or did he just somehow get lucky? Unfortunately for the Browns, they’re sucking as bad as Hillis. This season is long gone for Hillis but Madden curse or not, he better get his shit together or else he will be as forgotten as Tony Mandarich drafted at #2 overall by the Packers in 1989.

1) The past 3 years, Chris Johnson has been in an elite group of running backs with other great names as Adrian Peterson, Arian Foster and Michael Turner, the best of the best. 2008-2010 seasons, CJ has passed 1,000 rushing yards and in 2009 he racked up 2,006 yards. However this year has been a little different for the featured running back with 121 touches and getting only 366 yards and only one touchdown. He’s putting up a pathetic 3 yards per carry and has played all games, yet has one less touchdown than Peyton Hillis at 2 TDs and he has only played in 4 games. With Hasslebeck looking as good as his early Seahawk days, this is not the time for CJ to put up such weak numbers as these. Due to the fact that the Titans biggest receiving target, Kenny Britt, is out for the season, the question on everyone’s mind is, when are we going to see the real Chris Johnson come out and play? If your still not getting how bad CJ is performing, the Titans are ranked 32^nd in rushing yards. The Titans are 2 games behind the rolling 6-3 Texans but one can only hope CJ will turn this horrible slump around to possibly take 1^st place and as we’ve seen before, once Johnson starts going, it’s hard to stop him.

Jared Epstein is a contributing writer for The Jockstrap. He'll be around to drop knowledge on the NFL, NBA, and MLB; hopefully not about the Mets. 

PENN STATE UPDATE II

Tonight the Penn State Board of Trustees informed longtime head coach Joe Paterno that he would be fired. This comes on the heels of Penn State school president Graham Spanier being let go as well. As of right now, wide receiver coach and the infamous former graduate assistnat Mike McQueary is still on staff. Currently students at Penn State are rioting on campus and chanting Paterno's name. Its left to everyones opinion whether to be sorry for Paterno or not, but tonight, finally, the university got something right. That is something rare in this day and age, that a legendary coach of Paterno's stature be let go because of scandal. I had my doubts that Paterno would be fired. Now it's time to move on, and hopefully this can be a lesson to people in and out of the sports world that if you see something, say something, do something. 

Hot Topic: How I Will Remember Joe Paterno

409 wins. Two-time national champion. 1986 Sportsman of the Year. College Football Hall of Fame class of 2007. 

Father. Grandfather. Family man. Role model. Hero. 

Accessory to sexual abuse. Enabler. Hypocrite.

All words that can describe Joseph Vincent Paterno. A legend in his field, Paterno has won more collegiate football games than anyone ever has. He built a football program out of nothing and turned it into one of the most popular sports teams in the world. As we watch the end of Paterno’s career play out, the question must be asked, how will you remember JoePa? I’ll tell you exactly how I’ll remember him. 

Paterno is arguably the most successful football coach in the history of the sport. More wins than any other coach, ever. He has been a fixture in the sport since before my parents could even read. That’s all well and good, but another 409 wins could not erase what has transpired in the last week out of my mind. 

We all know the story, the relationship between Paterno and Jerry Sandusky. The details have been read and talked about to the point that saying the former defensive coordinators name makes my stomach curl. Paterno’s role in all of this is not nearly fully uncovered, not yet. What we do know is that at some point, Paterno was made aware of the relationship and sexual abuse that Sandusky had forced onto a 10-year-old boy in 2002 in a Penn State facility. A Joe Paterno facility. 

What Paterno did next is the most quetionable part to all of this. Paterno did not call the police. He (presumably) did not confront his friend and former colleague. Paterno simply told his superiors what had happened. 

At this point I want to address Paterno’s legacy, pre-scandal, at Penn State. The man is a God at Happy Valley. His face is on everything; from t-shirts to coffee mugs. I go to a school where the men’s basketball coach has brought three national championships to a state with no professional sports team. Jim Calhoun’s popularity can’t hold the jock of Paterno’s popularity at Penn State. 

Paterno has been coaching at PSU for 61 seasons, 45 of them as the head coach. Joe Paterno does not have any superiors at Penn State, not really. In name, Paterno is just the football coach at Penn State. In terms of power and control when it comes to sports, Paterno IS Penn State. 

Legally, Joe Paterno did the minimal amount of action after learning of Sandusky’s indiscretions. According to the law, Paterno, based on chain of command, did nothing wrong. To me, however, what Paterno did morally is the equivalent to seeing a murder and just saying “Stop.” 

Yesterday, Paterno stepped out onto his front lawn and addressed the hoards of media members and fans who had been camping out at his doorstep. Paterno, after canceling his weekly press conference, did not address the allegations against Sandusky or the legal proceedings that were going on. Paterno simply said that he would say a prayer for those victims, eloquently stating, “it’s a tough life when people do certain things to you.” The past couple of days, I started to wonder how I would remember Joe Paterno after he leaves Penn State. Today I made my decision. 

I read the 23 page grand jury report on the Sandusky victims. I actually read it five times. I know how old Victim 1 was when he first went to The Second Mile charity and found himself a role model who took the boy to football games, let him sleep at his house, and forced the boy to give him oral sex (11). I can tell you the details of the encounter then graduate assistant Mike McQueary had as a 28-year-old when he walked into the locker room at the Lasch Building at Penn State and witnessed Sandusky pinning a naked 10-year-old against a wall and raped him. I can also tell you how McQueary told Joe Paterno about the incident, and that neither men called the police. 

I’ve put myself in McQueary’s position and wondered what I would have done as a 28-year-old former football player if I witnessed a man twice my age taking advantage of a boy. Would I be so shell-shocked that I ran out of the room crying as McQueary did? Or would I beat the **** out Sandusky until the police showed up? 

I’ve also put myself in the shoes of Paterno, wondering what i would have done if given this information about a friend. I’ve had some of the greatest friends in the world, and I can tell all of you that if I ever was given information like the information Paterno was given, I wouldn’t sleep until my friend was behind bars. What did Paterno do? The bare minimum. 

Joe Paterno will forever be immortalized as one of the greatest coaches ever to many people. If they want to celebrate Paterno the coach, then that’s fine by me. However, I’m not going to remember Joe Paterno as a football coach. I’m going to remember Joe Paterno as a coward. Paterno’s “by the book” actions have forever turned him into a moral demon in my eyes. As you read this, think about how you want to remember Paterno. If I ever got a chance to speak to the coach myself, I’d simply ask him one question. “Do you ever wonder if you had said something, done anything more than what you did, that you wouldn’t have to pray for as many victims as you do tonight?” Paterno’s silence helped take the innocence from children at the hands of a monster. Paterno is not alone in this, don’t get me wrong. But as we watch PSU senior vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley step down, it’s only fair that Paterno to be treated the same. 

409 wins, two national championships, Hall of Fame. Those words can all be used to remember Joe Paterno the coach. 

Only one word can ever help me describe Joe Paterno the man. 

Coward. 

NFL: AFC Changing of the Guard?

For the last decade, there have been three teams in the AFC that have been the perennial contenders in the playoffs and their divisions. The New England Patriots have had a stranglehold over the AFC East since 2001. Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts have won seven division titles in the last nine seasons. The Pittsburgh Steelers have been battling it out with the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North, capturing the division five times on their way to two Super Bowl victories in the last decade. Out west, the division has been fairly shared, with the San Diego Chargers most recently being the dominant team of the four (Denver, Oakland, and Kansas City the others). 

While the Colts, Steelers, and Patriots have been the powerhouses of the AFC, they have always looked down at the “little brothers” in their respected divisions. The Patriots have dominated the New York Jets (more so than Miami and Buffalo) in the division ever since Mo Lewis knocked out Drew Bledsoe in 2001. Baltimore, while winning the Super Bowl in 2000, have always been second fiddle in the AFC North to the Steelers. Down south, the Houston Texans have yet to make the playoffs in their history, forever being overshadowed by Manning and the Colts. 

2011 has brought about a bit of a change in the conference. As we stand in the midst of week 10, the Texans, Ravens, and Jets are all in either sole possession or tied for first place in their divisions. The Colts, without Manning for the year, are steamrolling to the number one pick in April. Pittsburgh is still one of the best teams in the league, but two of their three losses have come at the hands of Baltimore. Could it be that the old days of the AFC dominance by the holy trinity is over? Let us take a division by division look, analyzing the new and old of each. 

In the AFC South, Houston has had the talent to make a playoff run for several years now. The final piece has seemed to be the arrival of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and the rejuvenated Texans secondary. Matt Schaub, Arian Foster, and Ben Tate are successfully shouldering the load on offense while injured superstar Andre Johnson has sat out. It remains to be seen whether or not Houston is taking over the South. Without having to face a Manning-led Colts team, Houston is coasting to the division title. We’ve seen this year that the Colts are awful without Manning, so it could be that Houston is on the up-swing in the South, easily the most complete team among three rebuilding franchises in the Colts, Jaguars, and Titans. 

The AFC North is much different than the South. Baltimore and Pittsburgh have consistently been the two major players in the division in recent memory. However, it seemed to always end with the Steelers in first place and Baltimore having to settle for a wild card entrance to the playoffs. Now, we see Baltimore apparently getting the Pittsburgh monkey off of their backs. The Ravens offense may be younger than that of the Steelers, but it is questionable how much time Ed Reed and Ray Lewis have left in their careers for the Ravens defense. The Steelers have Troy Polamalu locked up for the rest of his career, along with a young superstar in Lamarr Woodley at linebacker. Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, Rashard Mendenhall and Ben Roethlisberger are all still in their twenties for the Steelers offense. I’m not ready to say that this season is a changing of the guard in the North, but all signs point to it being the Ravens year. In the next two or three seasons we could see momentum switch back to the slightly younger Steelers squad, or we could see the Ravens and Joe Flacco create their own monopoly on the division. Either way would not shock me. 

Which brings us to the AFC East. For years, Tom Brady and Bill Belicheck have ruled over the division like kings. Even in the Brady-less 2008 season, the Patriots came within a single game of capturing the division. The Bills appear to be on an up-swing of sorts, with young talent like Ryan Fitzpatrick and Fred Jackson leading the charge. However, I’ve always viewed this division as a two team race between the Jets and the Patriots. I have always said that no division lead is safe in the East as long as Brady is the starting quarterback for the Patriots, but this season the team has not looked as God-like as past years. They’ve currently dropped two games in a row and stand tied for first place with the Jets and Bills at 5-3. Comparing the two teams, the Jets and Patriots are both very young in spots and very old in others. On New England’s offense, Brady and the offensive line are starting to show their age. On defense, the Patriots have one of the youngest units in the league. The youth on D may explain why the Patriots have the 31st overall defense in football, but you have to figure that as the players mature the team will get better in coming years. In New York, Rex Ryan has young players on both offense and defense. Darrelle Revis and David Harris are just hitting their primes, while Antonio Cromartie, Kyle Wilson, Mohammad Wilkerson and Kendrick Ellis are all young cornerstones for the defense. On the other hand, Bart Scott and Calvin Pace are both slow and old, while Plaxico Burress is attempting his comeback at 31. On offense, the Jets are still developing third year starter Mark Sanchez, supplying him with “youth” in Dustin Keller, Nick Mangold, D’brickashaw Ferguson, Shonn Greene, and Santonio Holmes. Both teams are “ready to win now” and built for the future. The race for the AFC East could be decided this Sunday night when these two teams square off on NBC. This division is the closest to call in terms of the changing of the guard. In New York I see youth and bravado, but with New England it’s impossible to look past the greatest quarterback-coach combo in NFL history and presume that they could ever fall off. 

One thing is definite, this season has seen the “little brothers” of the AFC make strong statements in their divisions. Whether or not this is a precursor for a shift in the conference landscape remains to be seen. My advice? Let’s not all worry about who is falling off and who is rising, let’s enjoy these division races for the next seven weeks before the playoffs start and all logic gets thrown out of the window. 

NFL: Week Ten Power Rankings

1. Green Bay Packers (8-0): Many thought that the Chargers would be the team that finally knocked the Packers down and gave them their first loss. Those people must have forgotten that Aaron Rodgers is a superhuman. Rodgers threw as many touchdowns (four) as incompletions against the Chargers. The defense allowed four passing touchdowns by Philip Rivers (three to Vincent Jackson), but they can afford to give up points as long as Rodgers is leading the offense. 

Last Week: #1

2. San Francisco 49ers (7-1): Another east coast road trip, another victory for the 49ers. It seems the most obvious trend for the 49ers 2011 season is “defying the odds”. Whether it be a rookie head coach, a quarterback who has always been considered a bust, or playing four games on the east coast, San Francisco is defying all odds. What has to be the sweetest part, they could clinch the NFC West by Thanksgiving. 

Last Week: #3

3. Baltimore Ravens (6-2): Late Sunday night, I started to put my power rankings together and I had the Ravens below the Steelers, then Torrey Smith made that catch with eight seconds remaining. The Ravens seem to have the biggest monkey off their back’s, not being able to beat the Steelers. Sweeping the series has put Baltimore in the drivers seat in the AFC North, and finds them as the best team in the AFC. 

Last Week: #5

4. New York Giants (6-2): What a great game on Sunday at Foxborough. Eli Manning may have shown that you can’t spell “Elite” without E-L-I. I’m not ready to jump the shark and call Manning elite, but he proved that he can do what it takes in crunch time to lead his team to victory. With Philadelphia’s loss last night, the Giants are in prime position to win the division. It will all depend on how New York performs against Green Bay, the Jets, San Francisco, and New Orleans in the coming weeks. 

Last Week: #6

5. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-3): Tough loss for the Steelers. Just when it was looking like they were the team that went to the Super Bowl last year, Pittsburgh dropped a crucial game against Baltimore. They are only one game back in the division, but it will be important for them to bounce back next week and not lose any more ground to the Ravens. 

Last Week: #2

6. New England Patriots (5-3): Could it be that the Patriots aren’t as good as we all thought? I’m not ready to say that, not as long as #12 is still under center. However, New England showed Sunday that they can lose any game if it comes down to the defense in crunch time. The Patriots can play close games all they want, but the only way they’ll win is if it’s Brady and the offense going for the win, not the defense trying to hold it. 

Last Week: #4

7. New Orleans Saints (6-3): It just seemed all too predictable that the Saints and Drew Brees would bounce back against Tampa Bay after losing to the Rams last week. Brees is on pace to put up some crazy numbers this season, but the most exciting thing about the Saints is the division race between them and the Falcons as the season continues. 

Last Week: #7

8. New York Jets (5-3): The defense in green on Sunday in Buffalo was one that could win championships. The Jets and Rex Ryan completely dumbfounded the Bills offense, making Fred Jackson and Ryan Fitzpatrick completely irrelevant. Funny to think that three weeks ago the season looked lost to Gang Green, and now they can be in sole possession of first place with a victory over the Patriots this Sunday night. It should be a great one in New Jersey, so be sure to tune in. 

Last Week: #10

9. Detroit Lions (6-2): A bye week for the Lions this week (which really hurt my fantasy team. The schedule is soft for the time being, with Green Bay on Thanksgiving as the marquee matchup in the month of November. 

Last Week: #8

10. Houston Texans (6-3): I went back and forth between the Texans, Falcons, and Bengals for the number 10 spot in this weeks rankings. I went with the Texans because A) the Falcons dominated the Colts (big whoop), the Bengals smell more like a pretender than a contender this year, and B) the Texans are winning without their best player. Andre Johnson should be coming back this week, but the job that Arian Foster and Ben Tate have done shouldering the load on offense is very, very impressive. The Texans should make the playoffs out of the AFC South, and they’ll be a team to fear come January. 

Last Week: Not Ranked