They want to trade Michael Vick…So where’s the story?

Yes it has become public that the Atlanta Falcons are actively looking for trades for Michael Vick, but all I want to know is, “where is the story in that?” Michael has so many negative strings attached to him now, you would either have to be a brilliant man or a complete idiot to want to employ him. So, let me ask you once again “where is the story in the fact that Atlanta wants to trade him?”

Larry O’Dell from the The Associated Press seems to think that the big news is that;

“Imprisoned NFL star Michael Vick’s suburban Atlanta home will be offered for sale to the highest bidder on March 10 2009″

Personally I don’t find it newsworthy when someone reports that someone who has claimed bankruptcy and is currently incarcerated, is being forced to auction off their house. No S%^* Sherlock!

I don’t hate Vick, I just don’t see importance of these recent story’s.  He has been kicked out of the NFL until Godell allows him back, and considering the current trend of rehablitated players like Pacman Jones, It is not hard to see that it won’t be easy for Vick to get back on the field. It just isn’t going to happen. If Godell just lets Vick play again in the NFL, The league would stand to take a massive hit in attendence as well as popularity! Plus, even if Vick were to return where would he even fit in? I think the real story is that the idiots in the Media are going to empower this moron and help him make some extra cash on his way to the NFL Hall of Shame, who recently enshrined Bam Norris and Rae Carruth.

The Falcons have no use for him as a QB considering that they drafted Matt Ryan who played pretty well this season(87.7 QB Rating, compared to Vick’s last campaign in 06 of 75.5 QB Rating). “I want to ask one more time where is the story in this guy?” Atlanta has a better QB and a better team, that has no need for Vick and his “hood life issues”.The Media should not talk about this guy until he is allowed back in the NFL. It’s just that simple, NO ONE WIlL TRADE FOR A PLAYER WHO IS SUSPENDED!!!! SO SHUT UP STUPID MEDIA! Go CRY ABOUT BARRY BONDS OR SOMETHING!!!

Another thing that has really upset me is the way people percieve Vick as a QB. I will agree that Vick has phenomenal atheletic talent, there is no denying that. Michael Vick has a gift for scrambling and sprinting, but I will tell you one thing people, for all the oooos and the aaghs this man isn’t worth his weight in dung as a QB. Vick is not a leader, and Vick is not a role model which he has never claimed to be thank god.

People think of Vick as the quintessential black QB, because he is fast, quick, shifty and he has a very strong arm. However, Vick is not a good representation of great African American QB and that is what really upsets me about this situation. There are plenty of great black QB’s who could be the benchmark for what is it to be a great African American QB, But for some reason when I ask someone to name a “Black QB” most people think of Michael Vick. Why is it that no one talks about Doug Williams, who was the first black QB to win a Superbowl. Why is it that the NFL has moved so far from empowering the legends of Steve Mcnair or Warren Moon?

We need to move on from morons like Vick and celebrate the players who actually played the  QB postion well, repositioning these greats back into the in the minds of NFL fans.  Yeah Vick is controversial and exciting, but at one point that wasn’t the only thing the NFL and all the media cared about! So I ask you, “when did that change?”

Arizona Cardinals vs. Atlanta Falcons Playoff Primer

The first game of Wild-Card Weekend features two teams that I’m sure many people would argue are “one-and-done” teams. However, the fact is, one of these one-and-doners will definitely be advancing with the question of course being who.

 

The Atlanta Falcons do not have too much upside defensively. The only standout player this season was John Abraham who accounted for 47% of Atlanta’s 35 sacks with 16.5 total. That isn’t very good. That means of the other typical sackers on a standard NFL team, the three linebackers, the other defensive end, and perhaps the strong safety in some cases would have produced an average of 3.8 sacks a-piece. Too bad for the Falcons that Mr. Milloy, the strong safety, had none. Their 21^st ranked pass defense gave up 220.4 yards per game, and their 25^th ranked run D gave up 127.5 yards per game.

 

That type of passing defense won’t bode well against a quarterback in Kurt Warner who threw for over 4,500 yards this season. As far as the Falcons run defense goes, I guess that isn’t too bad as the Cardinals rush offense was good for last with 73.6 yards per game, meaning if they just don’t screw up any assignments and miss any tackles, they should be able to post a solid to admirable effort against the run.

 

But Edgerin James against the Seahawks this week amassed 100 yards on 14 carries. He has been off this season, but he perhaps could be trying to prove that he still has some gas left in the tank since that was his first game in a while, and if there was ever a game for him to do so, this could be it. And I know the argument can be that he did it against Seattle, but with a 25^th ranked run defense, the Falcons aren’t much better. Who knows? Maybe the Cards will run a two-back system with James and Tim Hightower, and they could stay fresh and get a couple decent gainers here and there.

 

On the flipside of things, the Cardinals defense gave up 26.6 points per game. Most teams wouldn’t even stand a chance at being in contention in the finals weeks of most regular NFL seasons with that kind of defense, but luckily for the Cardinals, they played in a bad division. On top of that, Arizona’s pass D was 22^nd giving up 221.2 yards per game. But the worst part is that their run defense, who faces Michael Turner (1,699 yards and 2^nd in the NFL), was 16^th giving up 110.2 yards per game.

 

The Falcons MO all year has been to give the ball to Turner as much as possible so that Matt Ryan only needs to make 2-3 good or big plays a game, usually to Roddy White who was fourth among all wide receivers with 1,382 yards and had seven of Ryan’s 16 total TDs.

 

The bottom line is, with the virtually identical defenses of both teams, if the Matt Ryan-led Falcons had more experience under their belt, this game would have had the makings for an Atlanta win as they could have grinded out the run game and kept the passes to a minimum as the Arizona run game and run defense has basically been non-existent for most of the season.

 

However… I just have to go with Kurt Warner’s will, experience, two stud wide receivers in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, and the home crowd to come out on top. The tandem of Boldin and Fitzgerald are enough to make up for not having a running game against a young team like Atlanta. I think Matt Ryan is just too young to take this game, and for all the criticism that the Cardinals have received in losing four of their last five games, it is almost like Kurt Warner gets to start off fresh again. And I say this because in their recent losses, the Cardinals were getting blown out early to the point where Warner didn’t need to bother even trying the rest of whatever game they were playing. And if convention says that players need to stay hot going into the post season, I don’t see that as being the case here with Kurt Warner.

                                                                                                                           

Basically, both teams are not looking like Super Bowl contenders, and ultimately, when it comes down to two “one-and-done” type teams, you gotta go with the guys playing at home and especially with having the more experienced quarterback. Cardinals win.

FANTASY FOOTBALL TEAM CANCERS

Fantasy Football Team Cancers

By Mark M

I am writing this post just to make fun of all the people who drafted Marques Colston in the 1st or the 2nd round in their respective Fantasy drafts. I never understood the high Marques Colston pick ever, I know he is tall, strong and talented but has he ever really been a consistent #1 WR for anyone?

I swear he can have 200 yard games, but sometimes he just doesn’t even show up. Let me give you the examples to prove my point. Over Colston’s career he has never beaten a team with an above average secondary. Just for example whenever he has played the eagles, he has done nothing special. In 2007, he only had 3 catches for 16 yards with his long being a 11 yard run. Ok, still not satisfied? In 2006, he had 4 catches for 40 yards with a TD, not a bad day but certainly not what you expecting from your  top Fantasy draft pick WR. So the eagles may be his kryptonite right? Nope, I would say his big weakness is playing against any team in the NFC east. Colston’s best performance was the one that I just stated (40 yards and 1 TD) against any NFC East team. You can’t be a top flight receiver if an entire Division of the NFL has your number in my book.

Another statistic, which proves he is not consistent game to game, is that in 2007 he had 6 games with less than 50 yards. Ok, I fully admit that doesn’t sound that bad, but it does when you realize the man was 8th in the league in reception yards. He had over 4 games with 100+ yards. Fantasy wise, in most leagues weekly wins and losses are all that matter. Yes, Colson is a lock in Fantasy leagues, if they don’t have a playoff system, or if the winner is determined by tallying up overall points. Most leagues just are not like that, and for that reason Colston is bad a start due to his unreliable Stats. You don’t know when he is going to go off, and more times than not he will play sub par compared to the number of 100+ days superb starts he produces. He has this pattern with his TDs as well. Colston, Fantasywise, really statistically follows the motto, “Go big or go home”, which is idea your #1 can’t have over the course of a full season if your to do well in your Fantasy league. Roddy white another receiver who has very similar stats compared to Colston. Roddy White also has the same consistency problems as Colston but Roddy is always a much later pick, WHY IS THAT? Is it because Colston has big highlights of his catches on SportCenter? I just don’t get it.

But either way, how I feel does not matter because he is hurt. So regardless of your concept of his past production, if you picked Colston this year you got screwed. He is out for a minimum of six weeks, so go get Eddie Royal or Desean Jackson, cause you need somebody. Those are the two best free agents for week two that are out there in most Leagues. In the draft you might have had a shot at Andre Johnson, Plaxico Burress, Chad Johnson and all the other players whom I suspect might have been wrongly picked after Colston but now your stuck with some free agent rookie, and I have no pity for you. You are almost as bad as the idiot, who took a chance on a Broncos RB in the 2nd round, a few years ago in one of my leagues. You know who the RB was, right?