Football Musings

The 2pt conversion, is one of the most abused plays in football. Coaches really have no clue about how to properly use it. First off, it should never be used before the 4th quarter. There is too much scoring that is unaccountable for 2pt conversions to be attempted that early. I don't have an example from this weekend, of it being used before 4th quarter, but it is pretty easy to argue that Pittsburgh lost their playoff game by going for the 2pt conversion when they should not have. With approximately 10 minutes left, they went for two to get within three points. I guess this is an automatic type play, but to me it is questionable. Ten minutes left is too much time, and you need to question what will happen if you miss the attempt, and give up a FG to your opponent afterwards. I would not have done it, but I guess you can call it a very marginal choice. After you take the 10-yard penalty you absolutely must kick the extra point though. Pittsburgh decided to still go for it with a 12 yard QB sneak which had no chance. Jacksonville of course did get a FG, and as a result Pittsburgh had to attempt another 2pt conversion, which they failed. Ultimately at the end of the game, Pittsburgh had a 1 pt lead, instead of a 3 point lead, and were eliminated from the playoffs as a result. Will coaches ever learn.

Now on to Phillip Rivers. The guy is a joke. The worst move San Diego ever made was letting Drew Brees go. They probably win the Super Bowl last year with Brees at QB. They probably have a shot with him at QB this year as well. They have no shot with Rivers. In the first half, Tennessee challenged Rivers to beat them, by focusing entirely on LT, and he could not. They shut SD out. In the second half, Rivers was able to hit completely wide open WRs with horrible passes anyone could have made. His only TD was to a completely uncovered Jackson, who could have walked in, but was forced to stop his route, and allow the defenders to close while waiting for the ball to get there. He then made some great moves to earn the TD on his own, with no help from Rivers. On the deep ball to Chambers, again he was completely uncovered, and had an easy TD, but rivers made him stop his route, and come back for the ball. He was stopped as a result around the 10 yard line. Those are both easy TDs for Brees, or just about any other QB in the league. Rivers is a joke. If you take away those two huge defensive breakdowns, and a fumble by Tennessee deep in SD territory, San Diego loses that game. Don't blame the coach for SD crappy season, blame Rivers. SD has zero chance next week against Indy, and you can quote me on that.

Tonight is the BCS championship game. I usually do tons of betting on the bowl games, but have not bet on one yet this year. I think it was a result of the very strange season we had, where no team could hold the #1 spot for more than a week or two. College bowl games are usually pretty easy money, because it is like the Superbowl for the teams involved, except they get about 6 weeks to rest and prepare. As a result, more often than not then better team wins, and usually wins pretty big. If you can figure out who the better team is there is quite a bit of money to be made. Tonight the better team is LSU, and that is where my money is. Ohio States schedule was a joke, compared to LSUs, and this is a freaking home game for LSU as well. I guess I am trying for the Smokkee/Love Elf hater of the year hear as they both love San Diego, and the Elf loves Ohio State, but I like to call them like I see them. I hope I am wrong about San Diego, but I got to pull for the team my money is on tonight.

Edit:
This one was pretty easy money me thinks. Anyone still think Ohio State had the #1 defense in College Football? That's whats great about college football. There are like 120 teams, and if you never play a top 20 team all year, they still compare your stats to those who played 5 top 20 teams. Its like allowing an NFL team to play a 1/2 their games against college teams, and then claiming they have the best defense in the NFL because they shut their college opponents out. I was not buying it, sorry. The funniest argument for Ohio State that was made by tons of people, is that because they lost as a big favorite to the SEC champ last season in the title game, that they would win as a dog this year against the latestest SEC champ. What the hell are you guys smoking? The SEC is simply a tougher leauge nowadays than the Big 10. Its arguments like that that will continue to line my pockets indefinitely.