The Hawkeyes loss to Michigan St. and more
The Hawkeyes offense certainly took a step back after looking good against Western Michigan and Minnesota but when you are missing your best WR and your top RB gets hurt that’s understandable against one of the best defenses in the nation. I will say I wasn’t overly impressed by Michigan St’s offense but then again pure thuggery rarely impresses me. The Spartans offense was often aided by illegal blocks that the referees never called and Iowa’s defense was put in bad spots because of it. I have rarely seen so many blatant holding and blocks in the back that went uncalled in my life. The Hawkeyes didn’t help themselves by failing in areas that they normally fail in. They were burned by big plays by the Spartans and for the seventh time in a row the Hawkeyes failed to stop a fake punt. The fake punt thing has become completely ridiculous at this point and Kirk Ferentz’s half joking comment about not returning punts anymore and just guarding against the fake punt is not a half bad idea. I mentioned in a previous post that since the Hawkeyes rarely return punts and usually just fair catch the football there is no reason they can’t stop a fake punt, apparently Ferentz is considering going the next step.
A few notes about the game
– I hope during this bye week that while reviewing tape it becomes clear that the offense moved the ball through the air far more efficiently when the three WR set was Damond Powell, Matt Vandeberg and Tevaun Smith and not Don Shumpert, Riley McCarron and Jordan Cotton. When Kevonte Martin-Manley is available the top five WRs should be KMM, Damond Powell, Tevaun Smith, Matt Vandeberg and Jacob Hillyer; they are the best and most reliable playmakers at the position.
– I think Damon Bullock is still best used as an offensive weapon and he proved it with the big play of the game. Bullock tried his best running against a tough Sparty defense but he is better in space. When Weisman isn’t available or simply tired the Hawkeyes should look to use LeShun Daniels at tailback more. I know Jordan Canzeri has his fans out there too but Daniels is similar to Weisman in style and that style seems to work best. Ferentz and coaching staff need to get over whatever it is that is keeping them from playing Daniels more and use his talent.
– The Hawkeye defense still hasn’t given up a rushing TD this season and that is an amazing stat. The problem is that the pass defense has given up far too many big plays. The Hawkeye’s front seven stops the run as well as anyone but it still doesn’t get the pass rush it needs to help out the secondary. It isn’t just one defensive back blowing it either, King has made some freshman mistakes, Lowery has been beaten, Miller has been out of position a few times and Lowdermilk isn’t as good in coverage as he is coming up in the box.
– The LB group is really good and once again James Morris made a great play on his interception. Unfortunately the Hawkeye offense wasn’t able to do anything with it.
– Jake Rudock threw another terrible interception and this one came because he locked onto Damond Powell and then his throw came up short. He’s still developing his game but I’m sure this one will be looked at over and over by Rudock and coaching staff, this is what is known as a teaching moment.
The Hawkeyes have a bye week this weekend before they travel to Ohio St to take on the unbeaten Buckeyes. Urban Meyer has yet to lose a game as head coach of the Buckeyes and they currently have the nation’s longest winning streak. I would love to see the Hawkeyes be the ones that knock off the Buckeyes but even my rose-colored Hawkeye glasses aren’t that foggy. Maybe the Hawks will get lucky and Urban Meyer doesn’t have a fake punt in his playbook.
Other football thoughts…
– One man’s trash is another man’s treasure or in this case one team’s first round bust is another team’s reclamation project. QB Josh Freeman was mercifully cut by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and he landed a cushy $3 million job as the new QB hope for the Vikings. Coach Leslie Frazier had said that Christian Ponder was his starting QB even after Matt Cassel led the Vikings to their first win but then somehow Ponder’s bruised ribs became a major concern and Frazier backed off that stance. Then GM Rick Spielman threw gasoline on the fire and signed Freeman. It doesn’t take a genius to see that Ponder’s days in Minnesota are numbered. Cassel will likely be the starter and he has until Freeman is up to speed to show the Vikings that he can be the guy. If he falters then Freeman will get a shot and if he fails the Vikings could clean house at the end of the season and take advantage of the deep QB class in the 2014 Draft.
– This first round reclamation project thing didn’t start with Freeman it actually started with the Colts trading a first round pick to the Browns for former #3 pick Trent Richardson. Richardson could hardly be labeled a bust just yet since he was drafted last year but he certainly hadn’t lived up to the hype in Cleveland. New Cleveland GM Mike Lombardi and head coach Rod Chudzinski realized Richardson wasn’t the type of back they wanted and got great value getting first round pick out of an injury prone RB. This trade could benefit both teams considering the Colts love Richardson’s skillset and they are devoid of anything resembling a workhorse. Since the days of Edgerrin James the Colts have had one good season out of a RB and that was the one year Joseph Addai was good. Richardson brings a lot of talent to the table it is only a question of actually translating that to the field…oh and staying on the field would help.
– The NFL world has apparently gone mad as there have been three other trades of former first round picks in the last week or so. The Arizona Cardinals finally gave up on the charade that was Levi Brown as their starting LT and they shipped him off to the Pittsburgh Steelers because Mike Adams impression of an offensive tackle was just…offensive. The Carolina Panthers must have gotten tired of paying OLB Jon Beason’s medical expenses so they sent him to the Giants who don’t employ anyone that resembles and NFL LB. Beason can play like an NFL OLB but he spends more time with doctors than he does coaches. Then there is the trade of Jacksonville Jaguars LT Eugene Monroe to the Baltimore Ravens…hold on a second…this deserves its own dash.
– The Jaguars traded former 1st round pick Eugene Monroe to the Baltimore Ravens for a couple of late round picks, yep the Jaguars are going all in on their way to 0-16. Now the Jaguars will tell you that they traded Monroe because he will be a free agent at the end of the year and they already planned to put 2013 1st round pick Luke Joeckel at LT next year so they traded Monroe now in order to get value for him. Okay I can buy that except they didn’t shop him around; there were other teams willing to part with more than a couple of late round picks for him. The karmic part of this story is the fact that in his first start at LT Luke Joeckel broke his ankle and is out for the year. This isn’t karma for Joeckel, he seems like a stand up kind of guy, this is karma for the Jags. The Ravens make out like bandits because while no one is going to confuse Monroe for Jonathan Ogden he is a gigantic upgrade over Bryant McKinnie’s corpse.
– I have to keep going on the Jaguars. They enter this week as 28 point underdogs to the Peyton Manning and the undefeated Denver Broncos. This ties the record for largest point spread in NFL history and there isn’t a number big enough to get me to bet on the Jags. Manning tied the NFL record with 7 TD passes in the first game of the year and the only thing stopping him from breaking that this weekend is if he throws 7 TDs in the first half and John Fox sits him the second half. The Jaguars pass defense is actually ranked 11th in the NFL but that is probably because they have the worst rush defense in the league. I’m fairly certain Manning will still make them look terrible. Oh and if you need more proof that the Jaguars need a new QB how about the fact that they are 28 point underdogs with their backup QB Chad Henne slated to start and if their starter Blaine Gabbert was healthy they would probably be getting 30 points. Bring on Teddy Bridgewater.
A quick look at some of my Preseason Predictions (the good and the bad)
Good: Peyton Manning for MVP. No one has ever locked up the MVP trophy by week 5 but unless Manning gets hit by a bus this one is over.
Bad: Aldon Smith for Defensive Player of the Year. How was I supposed to know he’d end up in rehab? In my defense he was playing pretty well the first few weeks of the year.
Good: WR Mike Wallace would be a bust. This is a bit like predicting the sun will rise in the east and Wallace still has time to turn it around but I’m feeling pretty confident on this one.
Bad: Atlanta and Houston in the Super Bowl. The Falcons started off a little shaky and now Julio Jones, Steven Jackson and Roddy White are all injured, it doesn’t look promising. Matt Schaub has turned into a turnover machine and Houston is struggling. I predicted the Texans over the Broncos in the AFC championship game and I can admit when I’m wrong. No one is beating Denver at this point.
Good: Kansas City benefits from a steady QB and new coaching staff. The Chiefs are 5-0 because Alex Smith has been steady and Andy Reid and his staff are excellent.
Bad: The New York Jets will be terrible. The Jets are 3-2 and they still probably won’t be fantastic but they may be good enough to allow Rex Ryan to keep his job through the season. I still don’t think Ryan will be coaching them next year but with 3 wins the Jets have already surpassed my expectations.
Good: Ahmad Bradshaw would only last until week 5. We just had week 5 and Bradshaw just went on IR.
Bad: Andrew Luck would have to throw it all over because the Colts wouldn’t have a RB. How was I supposed to know the Browns would give up on Trent Richardson and the Colts would part with a 1st round pick to get him? Luck will still have a ton of passing yards.
Good: The Vikings wouldn’t repeat last year’s surprising record because of Christian Ponder. They Vikings didn’t sign Josh Freeman because of their overwhelming support of Ponder. Ponder will be looking for a new home as someone’s back up next year.
Bad: San Diego and Oakland will be terrible. Neither team is great but they are certainly more competitive than I thought. Terrelle Pryor is actually starting to progress into a solid starting QB and their offensive staff is learning to use his talents. If the Raiders could get him some actual talent he may become something. Phillip Rivers is playing much better this year under Mike McCoy and he too would benefit from some more talent around him.
Good and Bad: 8-8 might win the NFC East and everyone in the NFC East might go 8-8. This was good because 8-8 really might win the division but it was bad because it will take a miracle for the 0-5 Giants to get to 8-8. The Giants are inexplicably horrible especially given the talent on offense.
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