Week 15 Observations (a bit late)

The Chargers brought the Colts’ undefeated season to an end. They contained RB Edgerrin James and forced QB Peyton Manning out of the pocket where he isn’t as efficient. But the win comes a week too late for the Chargers. They lose the tiebreaker to the Steelers for the 6-seed in the AFC and while they face two quality teams to close the season (at Kansas City, Denver), likely Wild Cards Pittsburgh (at Cleveland, Detroit) and Jacksonville (at Houston, Tennessee) face teams that don’t seem interested in winning.

Too bad FOX doesn’t have another play-by-play announcer to be its #1. Joe Buck just isn’t a football announcer. Sometime during the first half of the Cowboys’ 25-7 debacle in Washington, Buck suggested that Dallas pull QB Drew Bledsoe with next week’s game against Carolina in mind. Despite the fact that a QB throws a ball, the quarterback position is not similar to a starting pitcher in baseball. The QB is the offensive unit’s leader. Oriole SS Cal Ripken Jr. didn’t take innings off for seasons at a time in the mid-80s. At the end of the game, Buck and former Dallas QB Troy Aikman wondered out loud why HC Bill Parcells was still calling timeouts in a 35-7 defeat. The answer is quite simple to anyone who has watched a Parcells-coached team for any length of time over the past 23 years (18 as HC). Parcells was upset that his team didn’t come to play a game that it had to have in order to make the playoffs. His coaching method was to force them to endure the stink of their effort for as long as he could. Parcells isn’t a “nice” coach; he coaches through toughness, and his style isn’t that difficult to comprehend. Dallas was so bad on Sunday that I think Washington could have won the game had they dressed the San Francisco roster in Redskins uniforms.

Speaking of the 49ers, they are really bad. They only managed 5 offensive first downs over the course of the game on Sunday in Jacksonville. For the 7th time this season they didn’t score a touchdown. But their defense was solid, holding Jacksonville to 10 points. Bay Area football fans can take pride in their teams’ efforts Sunday: Jacksonville 10, San Francisco 9 and Cleveland 9, Oakland 7. Thankfully the Raiders didn’t sell out and Cincinnati’s rout of the Lions was televised there.

The Bears had a typical first half Sunday Night. 2 first downs, 4 3-and-outs, and about 60 yards … and a 6-3 lead over the Falcons. Former starting QB Rex Grossman replaced rookie Kyle Orton and led the Bears to 10 points in the 3rd quarter and the final 16-3 winning margin. The Bears could be dangerous in the playoffs; they are 3-0 against the strong teams in the NFC South.

Type/Last Week/Season
NCAA/0-0/11-8
NFL/6-2/24-26-1
Invest/+2*/-5.0*

INVEST
**9:00 ABC HD New England 26 (-5 ½) N.Y. Jets 9. ABC’s Monday Night Football sure is going out with a bang! No beer will be sold in the stands during the game, but plenty will be consumed in the parking lot beforehand. The Patriots are on a roll right now, just in time for the playoffs. I don’t expect the Patriots to change their approach in the final 2 regular season games even though they can’t do much to improve their playoff seeding. HC Bill Belichick prefers to keep his teams in top form, and since they’ve only had key players like RB Corey Dillon, LB Tedy Bruschi, and DL Richard Seymour in the lineup for a couple of weeks, Belichick will want those guys to be sharp for the playoffs.