Madden Curse

Don't let anyone try and fool you by saying there is no Madden Cover Curse. Of course there is.

Vince Young: You are doomed. Granted, you survived your first action of the pre-season relatively unscathed (yes...sacked four times, but no broken bones, a la Michael Vick 2004), but the numbers don’t lie, my friend. How many times must an elite NFL athlete feel the wrath of “The Curse” before this is accepted as common knowledge?  

Ladainian Tomlinson is a believer. Earlier this year, it was reported LT turned down the opportunity to disprove the Madden Curse “myth”. Thanks… but no thanks, was the answer. See… even he knows we are dealing with forces much stronger than we can imagine.  

And is there no larger target on a player’s back this year than on Young's? I think not. With barely a smidgen over a 50% completion rate last year, Vince also threw more picks than TDs. Opposing Defenses will FORCE him to throw in order to move the ball downfield. They will stack 7-8 in the box and dare him to run. And run, he will. That’s his mentality! He wants the team on HIS shoulders!  IF he makes it through the rest of the pre-season with a clean bill of health, I wouldn’t count on him making it to the Titan’s BYE week (Week 4) as their starting QB. But don’t blame me…. Blame the Curse.

Labor Day

Could there be any worse timing for a holiday?  

Summer is coming to an end, the kids are back in school, last weekend of the NFL pre-season… Starters will hardly play, greatly minimizing the risk of that dreaded “torn ACL” or “broken fibula” news from the training room. This is the perfect time for your fantasy football draft, right? Wrong! For those of us with spouses, “hangin’ with tha boys” on a nationally recognized holiday would be grounds for divorce, possibly appendage removal and/or execution. At this point, I don’t even ask. Guys out there that are married with kids and are still drafting Labor Day weekend, I applaud you! Guys that have yet to plunge into the Land of Commitment, I’d like to make a little suggestion for a dream Labor Day Weekend:  

• FRIDAY: Leave for Vegas as soon as you can get off work (here is where I will assume you have a job), preferably 9:05 AM.
• Stake out the local scene for the best Sports bar and catch the final two pre-season matches of 2007. Personally, after the game, I may have to call it a night, but at this point, feel free to get creative.
• SATURDAY: Golf in the morning. Lunch. Golf in the afternoon. Night time, eat the biggest steak that you can find on the Strip.
• SUNDAY: Again, golf in the morning, eat lunch and then try your luck at the tables. Get back to the room fairly early, go online and see if there are any last minute NFL notes that you may need to know of. Make draft strategy adjustments accordingly.
• MONDAY: D (Draft)-DAY! Finally!!! Have a conference room booked and catered with all foods and beverages imaginable (may as well dream big!). Hunker down (phrase normally used for fending off hurricanes, but I will use my journalistic mulligan here) in your station and have the best 4-5 hours of the year!
• Spend the rest of the day making fun of other team owner’s selections and mix in a Texas Hold ‘Em tournament or two…
• TUESDAY: Call in sick, play one more round of golf and take the red eye back home.

Ok, back to reality now… See you Saturday at Hooters, boys!!! (Just kidding, honey.....)

Matt Schaub Observation

I hate to put too much into pre-season NFL games (disclaimer), but…..

Matt Schaub has been everything that the Texans have hoped for, and more.

One, he has not been sacked in the two games that Houston has played thus far.  That's huge. No, the offensive line has NOT vastly improved over these past 5 years. It’s that Schaub gets rid of the football so much quicker than David Carr! It’s like night and day! I have to believe that Coach Gary Kubiak has electrodes connected to various parts of Schaub’s body during practice. If that ball has not been released in the allotted 2.5 seconds after the snap, kicker Kris Brown (what else do kickers have to do at practice) pulls the red switch and sends 10,000 volts at the QB! That’s the way Matt Schaub has been performing. If the play has not developed and that pocket is starting to close in (believe me… in Houston, if you blink, the pocket is already gone), Schaub gets rid of the ball (now there’s a thought!). 

Two, he’s a leader. The rest of the Texans can recognize the difference from years past and therefore, have a very noticeable change of attitude amongst them. While Carr seemed to be the non-social type, Schaub asked for the #’s of all his teammates and called each of them after it was announced that he would be joining Houston’s NFL franchise. Two slight negatives for Schaub, while comparing him and Carr: Schaub is no slouch while running with the ball ( 5 yard rushing TD v. ARI last week ), but Carr has to be considered one of the better rushing QB’s in the NFL (2^nd in NFL QB rushing yards in 2005). Carr also looks to have the stronger arm of the two, but modern day physics show us that it is theoretically impossible to hit Andre Johnson on the “go” route, while Dwight Freeney is horizontally violating you . 

The bottom line is that Schaub gets rid of the ball quickly which rewards and gives confidence to his O Line; he makes great decisions where to throw and is a visible team leader who has already earned the respect of teammates.