Braves on the Warpath Series: Where are they now?

In my neverending quest to play "woulda coulda shoulda" with our lowly Redskins, this blog entry will touch upon the two most notable former Redskins who are on the cusp of becoming Super Bowl Champions. They are: former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and former quarterback Mark Brunell. They both are on the Saints and are two years removed from the Redskins organization.



Gre-double g Williams, aka man-boobs, was the the Skins' defensive coordinator for quite some time, under head coach Joe Gibbs in his second and very mediocre stint. While here, he oversaw a defense that did make its way up to a top tier defense. He was the heir-apparent to Gibbs once Gibbs retired for the second time. However, owner Dan Snyder fired him and subsequently, Williams was offered the DC job for the Jacksonville Jaguars for the 2008-09 season. His tenure there was short-lived, lasting only one season. He then was offered a job for his present team, the Saints, with which Coach Sean Payton put up a quarter million of his own salary to retain Williams. This season, the Williams-led defense only ranked 26th of 32 in terms of total defense (mostly determined by average yards and points allowed) but the stifling defense had a +11 on the turnover margin. They have a huge task ahead of them having to defend Peyton Manning, but Williams this week has been quite outspoken on how aggressive his defense will be and how their sole mission is to "take out" Manning. Whether or not Williams will be get that Super Bowl ring come next week, his future at New Orleans looks promising for the foreseeable future.



Mark Brunell joined the Skins' in what I consider at the tail-end of his career. He was quite the QB at Jacksonville, his home for the majority of his career. However, he was brought in to Washington at the request of Joe Gibbs. Now, his career here started as a competition with Patrick Ramsey, whom has also moved on from the Skins, but to much less success. Brunell was aging pretty evidently on the field, and the struggles of the Skins from 2004-2007 I would say, was a direct result of Brunell's declining ability and Gibbs refusal to adjust to the present game style. Brunell was released in favor of Jason Campbell (for obvious reasons) and he found another job for the Saints as the back-up QB. Now, a back-up QB does not start, but practices and prepares every game as if he could be the starter. Granted Drew Brees was healthy throughout the season, Brunell did very little beyond holding a clipboard. Now, his career, which started in 1993, is relegated to place-holder for the all extra point and field goal attempts. I doubt he'll get a better offer than there in New Orleans. Laces out!



Update: Today, word is former Redskins Coach one month removed Jim Zorn will now be the QB Coach for the Baltimore Ravens. We all know he was a pretty good QB and QB coach back in Seattle who helped develop Matt Hasselbeck, so I imagine he can do the same with third-year QB Joe Flacco. I think this is a positive move for both Zorn and the Ravens. Zorn can focus on what he does best and not have to worry about play-calling or gameplans. And the Ravens, who have and are consistently strong candidates to make the playoffs, can use someone who knows QBs and knows the Ravens' style of offense. When you can also stick it to the man (Dan Snyder) by getting a job so soon after getting fired and also work about 45 minutes away, I say Zorn comes out on top. In all fairness, I do like the guy a lot, but he was not the right person to be a Skins head coach. BUT, at least he was no Steve Spurrier, whom I'm not going to waste any of my time writing about, Ha!

Miami Bound!

Conference Championship Recaps!

AFC Championship:
New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts, 30-17 Colts

Colts/Jets, where have I seen this before? Oh right, Super Bowl III, back in 1969, when the AFL was still a league, and the Jets under Joe Namath shock the football world by beating the heavily favored Baltimore Colts. Oh wait, they played each other this season? And the Jets won the first meeting? Huh. Anyhoo, I predicted a 27-17 contest, boy was I close. This game started off very well for the Jets, but the Colts closed the gap at the end of the first half and pulled away in the second, shutting out the Jets in that second half. Mark Sanchez statistically impressed me with 257 yards and two TDs (only the third time all year he had multiple TDs) as a rookie. But in the second half, he was virtually non-existent as a factor. The Colts pressed on their run defense and held the NFL's leading rushing attack to under 100 yards for both Shonn Greene and Thomas Jones, forcing Sanchez to be the one to beat them, and he couldn't.


Jets Dustin Keller scores on a 9-yard pass from Mark Sanchez

Not to disregard their offense, but the Jets defense is what kept them in the game. In the first half, the defense punished the Colts offense, forcing many three-and-outs and recovering a botched handoff exchange, setting up a short Sanchez TD pass to Dustin Keller. Late in the second quarter, the Colts regained some momentum and Peyton Manning picked apart the Jets secondary with some very accurate passes to cut the lead down. The Colts score on a TD pass to Austin Collie and they go into halftime only down by four, 17-13. In the second half, the Colts offense, primarily Manning to Pierre Garcon/Austin Collie systematically moved down the field and Manning threw two more TDs, one to Garcon and the other to tight end Dallas Clark. Sitting comfortably with ten-plus point lead, the Colts offense take control of the clock and prevented any form of a comeback by the Jets. Manning and company reach their second Super Bowl in four years and their first under ROOKIE head coach Jim Caldwell.


Colts Pierre Garcon scores a TD to give the Colts the lead, 20-17.


This may not be the only trophy that Peyton Manning holds up this year.


NFC Championship
Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints, 31-28 Saints in OT



(Not from this game, but a great video of Drew Brees pumping up the Saints before each game.)

I was wrong and not very close in my prediction for this game. Although I anticipated a Vikings win, I'm happy that the Saints won. This game was a bit higher on the scoring but was the tit-for-tat type game I expected. When it came down to it, it was a very exciting game.

The Vikings started things off with a five-minute drive capped with an Adrian Peterson TD run. There was no way he was not to be factor in this game; more on that later. The Saints respond with seven points of their on one of Drew Brees' three TD performance, the first going to Pierre Thomas. On the subsequent drive, Brett Favre leads the Vikings to another score, this time throwing his only TD of the game to Sidney Rice. The Saints score on TD #2 by Brees to Devery Henderson. The rest of the game, the two teams trade points on their way to.....OVERRRTIMMMMEE!!! The Vikings lose the coin flip and Saints kicker Garrett Hartley kicks the game-winning field goal from forty yards out to propel the Saints to their first ever Super Bowl. Just plain wow. And the Saints go marching on!


Adrian Peterson scores on a 19-yard run in the first quarter.


Garrett Hartley makes Saints history as he splits the uprights for the game-winning field goal.

Now, the game despite the flashy stats and highlight TD plays, was quite sloppy and mistake-prone, particularly on the Vikings end. Favre erroneously throws two interceptions, with the most costly the one at the end of regulation. He throws across his body into the middle of the field, a big no-no. Vikings had the ball with less than thirty seconds and could have tried a 50+ yard field goal to win it then. Ultimately, it didn't matter too much since the Saints didn't convert before the clock ran out. Adrian Peterson, who I mentioned to have a much better performance, had a case of the fumblerooskis yesterday. He fumbled twice, losing one. In fact, the Vikings accounted for six fumbles, losing three. Call it nerves or just plain bad ball control, but fortunately, despite all the turnovers, the Vikings were still in it to the end. The Saints accounted for only one turnover, a muffed punt return by Reggie Bush.



Is this "The End of Brett Favre: Part III"?????


Super Bowl XLIV - Indianapolis Colts vs. New Orleans Saints

Now, this coming Super Bowl will pit the best teams from either conference, a first since 1993 when the Buffalo Bills played the Dallas Cowboys. Already, the Colts are favored by 4-1/2 points as they are the top seed. I won't make a prediction this early, and trust me, this is going to take a bit of time for me to think through. Throughout the next thirteen days, I'll post more analysis blog entries, picking out the storylines and stats that interest me, leading up to a prediction blog. Who knows, maybe I'll cover the Pro Bowl this coming Sunday too..........uh........maybe not.