Monday Football Afterword: Buccaneers vs Dolphins

Ryan Tannehill had a solid statistical performance, but he definitely felt
the loss of two starting offensive linemen as he was under pressure late in the game.

Cory Puffett

The Dolphins have dealt with a lot of adversity the past 10 days or so. But all their apparent off-field issues may not have been issues at all. In fact, since head coach Joe Philbin gave his players the go-ahead to speak their mind to the press, the team as a group has said that it has felt no ill effect.

Unfortunately, what their off-field issues have left them with is two starting offensive linemen missing from the team, one by his own choice and the other due to suspension.

This was most apparent on Miami’s last drive, when Ryan Tannehill took two consecutive sacks, resulting in a 3^rd & 28 and ultimately a turnover that lost the game.

The Dolphins fell below .500 and significantly hurt their playoff hopes in the loss. Tampa Bay, after spending a day as the only winless team in the NFL, joined the Jaguars in scoring their first victory here in Week 10.

The Buccaneers committed a lot of penalties. Lucky for them, so did the Dolphins. They completely shut down Miami’s run offense, holding them to just two yards, which I believe ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico said was the worst single-game rushing performance in Miami Dolphins history.

As much as I make this sound like the Dolphins lost this game, I don’t want to discredit the Buccaneers. Mike Glennon had a solid performance. It wasn’t great, but he did what he needed to while the team relied heavily on the run. Mike James gained 41 yards on five carries before being carted off the field with an injury. Then they got two additional backs over 40 yards.

For the second straight week, Tampa Bay built up a comfortable lead. Last week they led 21-0 in Seattle, then on Monday they led 15-0. In Seattle, they gave up that lead and, of course, ended up losing, which is why they were still winless entering Monday.

The Dolphins also erased that lead and wound up with a 19-15, but they were unable to respond to a fourth quarter Tampa Bay touchdown that finally put the Bucs in the win column.

The Dolphins have important meetings with the Chargers and Jets in the next three weeks, both of whom they are competing with for the sixth spot in the AFC playoffs. Their loss on Monday hurt, but it’s a tight enough competition that it’s still anybody’s spot.

The Buccaneers have been reduced to the role of spoiler, but they’ll have chances to do just that with Detroit, Carolina, San Francisco and St. Louis still on their schedule.

Final Score:

Miami Dolphins – 19

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 22

Thursday Football Afterword: Dolphins vs Bengals

With 79 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries,
Giovani Bernard (25) left an impression on the Dolphins and me.

Cory Puffett

Andy Dalton, often described as a perfectionist, was far from perfect on Thursday night. But his three-interceptions performance was not as discouraging as a lot of quarterbacks’ similar performances.

I give a lot of credit to Dimitri Patterson on the first pick. It wasn’t a bad decision by Dalton, Patterson just made a great break to the ball. If Dalton had thrown the pass to A.J. Green’s back shoulder, Patterson might still have gotten there.

On the second interception, again it was not a bad decision by Dalton, it was just thrown way behind Marvin Jones and Brent Grimes took advantage.

The third interception is a tough one. Dalton had a man wide open in the flat but decided to go over the middle for Mohamed Sanu. To Dalton’s credit, the pass was on the mark, but Sanu couldn’t catch it quickly and bobbled it to linebacker Dannell Ellerbe.

The mistake Dalton made that stuck out to me came with about 90 seconds left in the second quarter. He targeted Dane Sanzenbacher, who was interfered with by Patterson. But Dalton’s pass sailed way out of bounds and the flag was picked up because the ball was uncatchable, forcing fourth down. Nobody is comparing Dalton to them, but the Mount Rushmore of NFL quarterbacks know to at least put the ball close to their receiver, just in case of interference. Hopefully he will learn from it.

The Bengals weren’t the only team to miss opportunities, though. Lamar Miller fumbled in the red zone early in the second quarter, and Caleb Sturgis missed a 34-yard field goal in the first quarter that could have made overtime unnecessary.

Ultimately, the game ended on a safety, just the third time in NFL history that an overtime game has concluded that way.

The player of the game, to me, came from the losing team, though. Giovani Bernard is the real deal. He has the perfect combination of power and nifty footwork. His balance is amazing, his vision even better. It’s fun to watch this kid play and he can keep the Bengals in any game regardless of how the rest of the team is playing.

The only thing that makes me nervous about the Bengals moving forward is that Geno Atkins, who made his presence felt early in the game, went down with a knee injury and early reports indicate that he likely tore his right ACL. Cincinnati’s defense is more than just Atkins, but this loss still hurts with two important division games looming. The good news is that the Bengals have a long week to prepare for their trip to Baltimore in Week 10.

The Dolphins get an even longer week as their next contest is in Tampa on Monday Night Football in Week 10.

Final Score:

Cincinnati Bengals – 20

Miami Dolphins – 22 (OT)

Sunday Night Football Afterword: Cowboys vs Dolphins

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Hall of Fame.

Preseason games are rarely newsworthy. In fact, there is a good chance that I won’t dedicate a whole blog post to any of Washington’s preseason games this year.

The Hall of Fame game is a little different for me. Most importantly, it marks the end of the NFL’s six-month hiatus from on-field action. Baseball usually holds me over, but between my Yankees’ roster changing almost every day and now these PED suspensions, I’m ready to get back to the gridiron.

In addition to marking football’s return, the Hall of Fame game is a great occasion to celebrate all of the members of Pro Football’s Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The new members offer insight into their induction speeches from the night before, and old members reunite with former teammates and rivals and share stories from their days in the league.

The game itself was pretty much what you expect a preseason game to be. We didn’t see very much from the starters, but we got our first sense of which backups will make the 53-man roster.

I think the player who stood out the most to me was Phillip Tanner, the Cowboys’ running back in his fourth year out of Middle Tennessee State. On one play, he was hit so hard his helmet flew off, and he still bounced off the tackle and kept running despite a new rule that calls the play dead as soon as the runner’s helmet comes off. He made several other spectacular plays spinning out of tackles, bouncing off defenders and hitting holes through the trenches.

Miami struggled, but nobody should expect their second and third string defense to do very well. They have a very solid starting unit, but Joe Philbin hasn’t had enough time in Miami to get the depth that unit wants. On offense, losing Reggie Bush hurts them, but I think their running game will still do well enough as long as Mike Wallace is healthy and can be used as a threat down the field. I look forward to seeing him player later in the preseason.

As for Dallas, they didn’t play very many of their starters at all in this game, but their backups were clearly better than Miami’s. Unfortunately, in the preseason there isn’t much more analysis you can get beyond that.

Be sure to keep an eye out for blog posts throughout the preseason, as well as podcasts of The All-Sports Crew and our new NFL show. I post links to all of them on Facebook and on my Twitter, @cpuffnfl.

2013-14 Postseason Picks, Part II: AFC Playoff Picks

Yesterday I published my predictions on every team’s final regular season record. So today, I’m here to tell you who will represent each conference in the 2013 playoffs, starting with the AFC. I talked briefly about these picks on Wednesday’s podcast of The All-Sports Crew. Here are a few more details about my picks.

AFC Postseason

1.            Denver Broncos (13-3) – AFC West Champion, Home Field Advantage

The Broncos are a pretty easy choice to win 13 games or more. Even if Von Miller is suspended for a few games, and even with Elvis Dumervil signing with the Ravens, they have one of the better defensive units in the AFC, and their offense will be the best in the conference. That, mixed with another easy schedule, will make for an easy road to home field advantage.

2.            Miami Dolphins (11-5) – AFC East Champion, 1st Round Bye

I can see a million ways the Dolphins can screw this up, but they have a team that can compete with New England this year, and they have a slightly easier schedule than their division rivals.

3.            Houston Texans (9-7) – AFC South Champion

The Texans can win as many as 12 games in my opinion. But with their focus seemingly shifted to finishing the season, we likely will not see them make as long an early-season run this year as we did in 2012. They will get caught up in a tough early- and mid-season schedule, but a strong finish will net them a third straight division title.

4.            Cincinnati Bengals (8-8) – AFC North Champion

This one came down to the final two weeks of the season, and I expect Cincinnati’s home game against Baltimore in Week 17 to be flexed to Sunday night, where I think home field gives the Bengals an edge and the AFC North title.

5.            New England Patriots (10-6) – 2nd Place AFC East, Wild Card

The Patriots can certainly win the AFC East, but it will have more to do with what the Dolphins do down the stretch than it will what the Patriots do. I respect Tom Brady’s game, but he doesn’t usually perform well with receivers that he isn’t familiar with. He has lost too many weapons this offseason, and it will be a struggle even to win 10 games. But it’s Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, so I can’t very well push them to fewer than double-digit wins.

6.            Kansas City Chiefs (10-6) – 2nd Place AFC West, Wild Card

The Chiefs had one of the best bad teams in 2012, with multiple pro bowlers. They kept Dwayne Bowe in house and added a quarterback who will be able to get the ball to their second-best offensive player. With Alex Smith in house to open up their aerial attack, Jamaal Charles could have a bigger year than ever on the ground.

Other Contenders

In the AFC East, the Bills have a lot of talent at running back, but I’m not going to bank on Ryan Fitzpatrick getting back to his early-2011 form.

The Steelers are a better team than the 6-10 record I predict for them, but they have a rough schedule and I’m not expecting to see much better than the disheveled Steelers unit of 2012.

Out West, the Chargers should be playoff contenders, but they won’t.

The only other three serious contenders I see are the Ravens, Colts and Raiders. The Ravens lost a lot of pieces this offseason, but they got Vonta Leach back, which is huge. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will be enough to make up for all their departures and the devastating loss of Dennis Pitta for the season to a hip injury.

The Colts also have a tough schedule. The have plenty of playoff talent on the team, but losing Bruce Arians may be bigger than anyone wants to think.

As for the Raiders, I love their addition of Matt Flynn at quarterback, and I expect him to wind up winning the starting job. However, I have only gotten to see him play one regular season game and some limited preseason action, so I can’t pick the Raiders with any confidence just yet.

Preliminary Playoff Predictions

This is only the second year I am doing this. I got one playoff game correct last preseason, when I predicted the Ravens to win in Denver (though I picked the opposite the week of that game). I also picked the Patriots to beat the Ravens last preseason. Everything else got pretty shot out since the Texans were the only other team I correctly predicted.

Here are my 2013 playoff predictions.

AFC Wild Card

Kansas City Chiefs @ Houston Texans

As much as I like the Chiefs to improve drastically this season, they can be suspect at times and I think the Texans focus on finishing will carry over into some strong postseason performances.

New England Patriots @ Cincinnati Bengals

The Patriots have a better coach and better players. New England has had some playoff struggles the past several season, save for 2011, but the Bengals aren’t ready to take the next step.

AFC Divisional Playoffs

New England Patriots @ Denver Broncos

I have New England winning their regular season showdown in Foxboro, but in Mile High, I think Peyton Manning delivers the first playoff victory for his new team. 

Houston Texans @ Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins, like the Bengals, don’t look to me like a team ready to make the next step to playoff success. Mike Wallace is a welcome addition to the offense, but it isn’t enough. Houston wins a close one.

AFC Championship Game

Houston Texans @ Denver Broncos

Houston says this is a ‘Super Bowl or Bust’ year, but I don’t think they are a Super Bowl-ready team. Manning gets his third Super Bowl appearance.

Like last year, I will predict the Super Bowl victor in my NFC post.

Check back shortly for my NFC playoff picks and be sure to follow me on Twitter, @cpuffnfl.

2013 Offseason Update, Week 17

Tom Brady is working with new receivers during OTAs. Three of his
top receivers from 2012 are inactive with injuries and four more are
no longer with the team. Photo credit to BusinessInsider.com.

We had yet another slow week of NFL news. But it’s June, so that is certainly something to be excited about. We’re another month through the offseason and that much closer to football!

JaMarcus Russell

Fifty pounds is a lot to drop for anyone. For JaMarcus Russell, it was essential if he wanted any chance of returning to professional football. He has done it and is now down to 265, his weight from 2007. He is rumored to have the interest of multiple NFL teams and some CFL teams, though no teams have been named as suitors. Russell has said that he is open to signing with a CFL team if he doesn’t do so in the NFL some time in the next four to six weeks.

Cam Newton has also shed some weight this offseason, twelve pounds to be exact. It appears to be mostly fat weight he’s shed as he looks a little more toned. Hopefully that leads to a healthy season as he tries to carry the Panthers to a better finish in the NFC South in 2013.

Opening for the Dolphins?

I haven’t offered much insight into my predictions for the upcoming season yet, so here is a little on the AFC East. I expect the Dolphins to finish second, but there may be an opening for them to leapfrog the Patriots. With the various surgeries Rob Gronkowski has gone through and is recovering from, Tom Brady is without his top seven pass-catchers from 2012.

Here is the list:

• Wes Welker (118 receptions) – Denver Broncos
• Brandon Lloyd (74) – Free Agent
• Rob Gronkowski (55) – Inactive, rehabbing arm and upcoming back surgery
• Aaron Hernandez (51) – Inactive, rehabbing shoulder injury
• Danny Woodhead (40) – San Diego Chargers
• Julian Edelman (21) – Inactive, foot injury
• Deion Branch (16) – Free Agent

Madden NFL 25

I always look forward to Madden and keep close tabs on the development of the games. This year, Connected Careers returns with modes where you can play as a coach, player, or owner. Unfortunately, owners can’t bid to host Super Bowls, so there goes my idea of building a state-of-the-art dome with real grass for the Redskins.

There will be a sideline reporter, Adam Schefter will provide commentary during the draft and replays are supposed to look more authentic, like what you see during actual broadcasts. In addition, the Infinity Engine has been touched up so we should see more realistic foot-planting when running with the ball and players shouldn’t be able to float up onto their feet after the play.

Reminder

As I mentioned at the beginning of the offseason, I am now writing for ACC Battles, covering several athletic teams here at the University of Maryland. Because of that, I have less time for projects like this blog.

That said, covering the NFL truly is my passion and I am not prepared to give it up completely. So this year I will be doing something a little different. During the regular season, I will be focusing on the Redskins and Ravens, the two local teams. I will also cover prime-time games in depth (Thursday-, Sunday- and Monday-night games) and will predict every game of every week. But, until the playoffs, my main focus will be the Redskins and Ravens. I will still be watching as many games as possible, but I will not recap every game as I did last season.

If I am missing anything important, or if you just want to hear my thoughts on any other offseason news from the past week, feel free to contact me via my Twitter account, @cpuffnfl.

2013 Offseason Update, Week 13

Murphy Holloway is leaving basketball for the NFL, hoping to follow in the
footsteps of other tight ends like Tony Gonzalez and Jimmy Graham.
Photo credit to baltimoreravens.com.

Unless you are interested in a list of draft picks that signed contracts last week, there wasn’t a whole lot going on in the NFL last week. Still, I skimmed through the news to put together a few topics of interest.

Ravens Searching for Diamonds

Baltimore’s defense stood out even from Joe Flacco’s 11-0 TD:INT ratio in the playoffs, but the Ravens have lost a lot of players on that side of the ball. In an attempt to build the unit back up in as little time as possible, Baltimore hired Steve Spagnuolo on Friday to be their Senior Defensive Consultant. His association with the New Orleans Saints’ defense in 2012, the worst in NFL history in at least one category, may hurt his chances of becoming a coordinator for a while, but he still has a very good defensive mind and is a very good addition to Baltimore’s staff.

He isn’t the only possible ‘diamond in the rough’ the Ravens landed last week. Murphy Holloway, a power forward from Ole Miss who was integral in helping the Rebels advance to the 2^nd round as a #12 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament, signed with the Ravens as a tight end. Murphy averaged 14.5 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per game and helped Ole Miss win 27 games this year, tying a school record.

AP Says No Jokes about 2,500

Shortly after the Vikings’ week 17 game against the Packers ended, and halted Adrian Peterson’s rushing total for the season just 9 yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s record, Peterson announced that he would come back even stronger in 2013. His goal? 2,500 yards, a total that would smash Dickerson’s record by nearly 400 yards.

On Wednesday, Peterson told the media that his goal was no joke, saying, “Enjoy this last year because the record’s going down, with ease.”

2,000 yards has been the goal standard for running backs for a long time, and is even more so today as 2-back teams are in the majority across the league. Peterson is hoping the set the bar even higher.

Dolphins to Move?

I really doubt there’s anything to this story. However, a bill that would help the Dolphins with stadium renovations was shot down over the weekend, and it will significantly hurt their bid to host Super Bowl L, a game many stadiums are vying to host.

Dolphins’ owner Stephen Ross said that there will be no renovations without help from public funds and of course the media immediately took that to mean that a move is possible, or even likely, in the Miami Dolphins’ future.

Like I said, there is little chance the Dolphins’ will move, and certainly nothing that has happened that suggests that it is likely. Still, the Los Angeles Dolphins has a certain, odd ring to it.

Brian Banks Fighting for Roster Spot

Some of you may still not know him by name, but you all know the story of the young man who had a bright future in football but was wrongly accused of rape while in high school. He lost several years of his life but has an attitude and a focus that even the biggest hater has to admire.

The Falcons picked him up, and they insist it wasn’t charity. The 27-year-old rookie is on the roster as a linebacker and ran the defense from the middle during Atlanta’s rookie minicamp.

Of the experience, Banks said, “It was real good today to get out there. I’ve been in film the last two weeks, so to get a chance to get out there and put all the knowledge that we’ve been putting on paper out onto the field was a really good experience for the first time. It was really fast-paced. I made a lot of really good moves, made a lot of mistakes, so adjustments will be made.”

If I’m missing anything important, or if you just want to hear my thoughts on any other offseason news from the past week, feel free to contact me via my Twitter account, @cpuffnfl.

2013 Offseason Update, Week 6

Wes Welker was introduced as a member of the Denver Broncos this week.
Photo credit to ESPN.

As I promised last week, I will continue my weekly updates even as I continue to be counted on to cover Maryland basketball for ACC Battles. Speaking of which, if you are an ACC fan, be sure to check out the site.

The biggest news of this past week was of course free agency, so that’s my focus today.

Major Additions

The biggest names among free agent signings this past week were the wide receivers. Peyton Manning already has two young receivers who are beginning to make their mark on the league, but now he has a seasoned veteran already used to playing with one of the all-time greats as the Broncos signed Wes Welker.

Greg Jennings felt “wanted” in Minnesota, so the Vikings signed their former division rival and the Patriots, to replace Welker, signed former Ram Danny Amendola.

Steven Jackson considered retirement, but found a home in Atlanta. The Falcons still have Jacquizz Rodgers, so they will share the load which should definitely help Jackson last a few more years in the league.

Former Lion Cliff Avril landed in Seattle as they want to bolster their defensive front and the Vikings found some potential competition for Christian Ponder by signing Matt Cassel, who was released by the Chiefs after Kansas City got Alex Smith.

Reports came out last night that Jake Long, who was considering returning to Miami, decided to accept a deal from St. Louis, which Sam Bradford must be ecstatic about.

Trying to Get it Right

The Dolphins and Browns have not been particularly competitive in my lifetime. I became aware of sports as Dan Marino’s career wound down and they have only had a couple of decent seasons since. The Browns just haven’t been good since Baltimore took their original team.

Both teams are trying to get it right and have been big players in free agency so far.

The Dolphins added Mike Wallace to complement Brian Hartline and give Ryan Tannehill a much needed second option. A bigger emphasis has been placed on defense so far. Dannell Ellerbe and Philip Wheeler were added to their linebacker corps and they brought back safety Chris Clemons. Expect them to continue to play their hand.

The Browns made several nice additions, but none better than on their defensive front. End Paul Kruger and Tackle Desmond Bryant were signed on the first day of free agency as Cleveland appears to be building around the defensive line. I’d like to see them emphasize the offense, but maybe they’re going about this as a multi-year project, which isn’t a bad idea when you’re as bad as the Browns.

High Profile Trades

Last week it was Chiefs acquisition of Alex Smith via trade with San Francisco. The NFC West again worked some deals this week. Anquan Boldin was likely going to be released by Baltimore. Instead, San Francisco managed to convince the Ravens to give him up for a sixth round pick as the 49ers did some nice thrift shopping.

Seattle preceded that move by trading for Percy Harvin. The Seahawks are going to be dangerous this year and these two teams are making it even harder for St. Louis and Arizona to have any chances of digging their way out of the abyss.

Fax Fiasco

The Broncos were seething, Elvis Dumervil was seething, and Dumervil’s agent was looking for anywhere to pass blame until he was fired just hours after huge mistake caused Dumervil to land in free agency.

Elvis Dumervil has just signed a contract to stay with Denver when suddenly it all came undone. Apparently the fax with his signed contract did not reach the Denver offices until minutes after the 4 p.m. deadline, causing Dumervil to become a free agent. This is a huge loss from a Denver defense already in need of some patchwork. This is a big step back that will be difficult to fully recover from this offseason.

If I’m missing anything important, or if you just want to hear my thoughts on any other offseason news from the past week, feel free to contact me via my blog’s Facebook page or my Twitter account, @cpuffnfl.

2013 Offseason Needs: AFC East

Today through Friday, I will be looking at what teams in each AFC division need to address this offseason. Next week, Tuesday through Friday, I will do the same for the NFC divisions.

I won’t pretend to know every detail of what each team needs, but am open to comments from those who may know better what their teams need.

Buffalo Bills

The Bills have already gone under severe changes. They have a brand new coaching staff and a new team president. There are also rumors that Buddy Nix, Buffalo’s GM, may be on the hot seat.

Buffalo had several bright spots on offense this season. After a very poor second half of the 2011 season, Ryan Fitzpatrick performed well enough to keep analysts from attacking him too much in 2012. But the real splendor of their offense was at running back. Fred Jackson, when healthy, was as good as ever. When he wasn’t, CJ Spiller stepped into the starting role and was consistently one of the best backs in the league, earning him about half the team’s carries when Jackson was available.

Buffalo’s defense is the biggest area of concern. Certainly they need to shore up some offensive positions, but the defensive unit forced the offense into a lot of tough spots. Mike Pettine, the former defensive coordinator for the Jets, is now filling the same position in Buffalo. New York’s defenses have consistently ranked highly in the NFL, and compete in the same division as Buffalo. If they can keep some of their younger players, and add some depth, especially at linebacker and in the secondary, the Bills will be much more competitive in 2013 than they were this year.

Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins are already on the way up. They were in the thick of the playoff race until a few weaknesses were exposed in the latter weeks of the season. They have a very good, young quarterback in Ryan Tannehill. Brian Hartline is a free agent, but the Dolphins need to keep him. He is one of the fastest receivers in the NFL and is the kind of playmaker that will aid in Tannehill’s development.

Reggie Bush also came out strong this season, finally playing like the draft pick he was touted to be coming out of college.

The Dolphins need to hold on to Hartline and add some other quality receivers. Beyond that, it’s tough to tell where to start with Miami. They have some good players on the defensive line and in the secondary, but not nearly enough depth. They also don’t have a big name besides Cameron Wake on defense. Big names aren’t crucial, but they’re a good way to get started on improving because they can help pull in other good players.

New England Patriots

New England finally had a good defensive showing in 2012. They had one of the league’s premier defenses during the first several years of Bill Belichick’s tenure, but really fell off the map around the time they stopped experiencing the postseason success they got used to. This year, they were the best in the league at creating turnovers, so despite giving up lots of yards, they limited scoring for opponents.

They also seem to be in a good place at running back, and locking up Tom Brady through his age-40 season is huge. There isn’t too much I can say about what the Patriots need this offseason. Keeping Wes Welker would be huge, adding some other talent at receiver would be big, and they could use some more depth on the line and secondary on defense. But the Patriots should be a contender in the AFC whether they fulfill all or none of these things.

New York Jets

As easy as it is to say, the Jets are not hopeless. Rex Ryan seemed to waiver as the season closed on his conviction that Mark Sanchez is his man at QB. However, it looks right now like they will be staying with Sanchez.

If that holds true, they need to add a more versatile running back. Shonn Greene showed some flashes of being what New York needs, but he isn’t consistent enough. The Jets need someone who can really open up the passing game, make the corners and safeties freeze for a half a second so Sanchez has some clear throwing lanes to hit his receivers.

New York also needs receivers who know how to take advantage of those holes. They have some guys who may have a bright future, but they need a veteran to come in who can make an immediate impact.

Tomorrow I will go through the AFC North, looking at each team’s offseason outlook just like I did for the AFC East today. Keep up with new posts as I publish them by ‘liking’ my Facebook page and by following me on Twitter, @cpuffnfl.

Gift Wrapped with a Bowe

Some of you may remember this gem from a couple seasons ago,
a great play against Indianapolis showcasing Bowe's athleticism.
Photo credit to CBS Sports.

Corny headline, I know. But if he does not stay with Kansas City, Dwayne Bowe will be one of the biggest stories of free agency.

As the season came to a close, it seemed a done deal that Bowe would hit the free agent market as then GM Scott Pioli did not seem too keen on signing Bowe to the long term deal he wants.

John Dorsey, Kansas City’s new general manager, may have a different take on Dwayne Bowe, and many might remember that Andy Reid was hoping Bowe would fall to the Eagles in the ’07 draft. The Chiefs selected Bowe three spots ahead of Philadelphia.

This information falls in line with last night’s report that the Chiefs are working toward a new contract with Bowe. The 28-year-old receiver has not had great numbers the past couple of seasons, but that shouldn’t hurt him too much in negotiations considering who he’s had throwing him the ball. Matt Cassel is a decent quarterback, but no #1 wide receiver is going to have stellar numbers with him under center.

But what if Kansas City does hold that over him in contract talks? What if he walks because they won’t give him the money he deserves?

Personally, I think Miami would be the top landing spot for Bowe. Ryan Tannehill is a solid young quarterback who needs targets. Bowe may not be the biggest guy out there and he will never be able to do what guys like Megatron and A.J. Green can do. But Bowe is one of the most athletically gifted receivers in the league right now. He would be the perfect guy to come in and make plays to build the confidence of a young quarterback who could be yet another legend from possibly the greatest draft class of all time for his position.

Likewise, he could also be a fit for the Minnesota Vikings. Christian Ponder needs a go-to wide receiver and it doesn’t seem like Minnesota is too keen on bringing back Percy Harvin. If Harvin leaves, Minnesota will be desperate for a wide receiver and they would be dumb not to make a play on Bowe in free agency.

Of course, all of this depends on his status in Kansas City. Right now, it looks like Bowe is likely to stay put. But there will be plenty of interest if he does walk. If he can’t get his money in Kansas City, he’ll get it elsewhere.

Check out my blog’s Facebook page and follow me on Twitter, @cpuffnfl, to keep up with new blog posts every day during the week and on special weekend occasions.

Thursday Night Football Afterword: Bills vs Dolphins

The Bills and Dolphins played in one of my Top 20 games
of 2012 so far. Photo credit to NFL Network.

Last night’s game was more interesting and exciting than I could have hoped for. The game went down to the final minutes, there were two return touchdowns, and they were division rivals in a cold weather game. The only thing missing was a blizzard.

The Bills dominated the first three quarters in terms of offensive yards, but a kickoff taken to the house kept the Dolphins in the game. Buffalo had so many possessions deep in Miami territory that it would have been upsetting if the Dolphins had snatched away the win, but they gave themselves a chance but stalling the drives and forcing four field goals. In fact, only one touchdown in the game didn’t come on a return, and surprisingly it belonged to Miami.

The Bills offense looked dangerous, but I will have a hard time deciding what I expect of them next week because they played against a defense that seemed to give a lackluster effort.

The second half saw no scoring until the fourth quarter when an incomplete pass was challenged and reversed into a touchdown reception by Davone Bess on a fantastic pass by Ryan Tannehill, unfortunately one of only a few really good-looking tosses by the rookie under center.

Ryan Fitzpatrick didn’t throw for a ton of yards and his completion percentage was nothing mind blowing, but he had a great game nonetheless, drawing several pass interference calls from a defense trying too hard to shut down Donald Jones, who had been a fantastic alternate to Steve Johnson since the bye week.

But the Harvard grad didn’t have to be outstanding because C.J. Spiller ran all over the Miami defense with only one memorably bad run in the game, one in which he tried to bounce outside and get to the edge when there was much more running room up the middle.

The loss is the third in a row for the Dolphins while the Bills got a close win after suffering a close loss last week against New England. I hadn’t seen much from Miami’s past few games so last night was the first opportunity I had to see just how bad they look compared to earlier in the season. The Bills seem to have found their running game and their defense actually shut down a decent running attack, something they struggled mightily with throughout the first half of the season.

Neither team is really a playoff threat right now, but at least their fans will be treated to a few more good games, perhaps more so for Bills fans than ‘Fins fans.

Thanks for reading everyone and enjoy the rest of Week 11. I’ll be back Monday with my Sunday Afterwords!

Week 1 Monday Recap

I apologize for being a day late posting this.

Going into Monday Night Football, I was most excited for the game in Denver. I felt that that game was the more even matchup, and in the end I was probably right. However, there was plenty of excitement in the first game of the night, too.

Tom Brady recorded 517 passing yards, a fantasy player’s dream (or nightmare), good for the best single-game passing performance in Patriots history, and a spot in the top five for the NFL All-Time list.

What is easy to forget is that Miami’s quarterback, Chad Henne, also had a career game, throwing for 416 yards and two touchdowns while running for 59 yards and another score.

The defining moment of the game came with about six minutes left in the game and Miami trailing 31-17. A big play for the Dolphins was called a touchdown but then overturned on review, the ball placed on the 1-yard line. Three stops later the Dolphins are faced with 4th-and-goal, just inside the one. Miami elected to pass, and Henne threw an incompletion.

With just under six minutes to play, the Dolphins knew that a quick stop, or better yet a safety, could keep them in the game. Brady stepped back to pass, Miami rushed, and Benny Sapp let Wes Welker slip by him. Brady saw the opening, went for it, and 99 ½ yards later the Patriots had a new organization record for the longest play from scrimmage. The Dolphins would score again, but by this time the game was well out of reach.

Denver hosted the Raiders in the late game. Oakland arrived at Mile High on a seven game winning streak against the AFC West. However, they were also on a long losing streak in opening games. Meanwhile, Denver hadn’t lost a home opener since 2000. Only one of those streaks remained intact at the end of the night as Oakland earned a 23-20 win in a game that wasn’t nearly as exciting as I had anticipated.

Neither team played lights out football, though Darren McFadden was quite impressive, gaining 150 yards on 22 carries. One of his carries was probably my highlight of the game. The only other play that particularly impressed me was Janikowski’s NFL record-tying 63-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.

Late in the game, Denver fans began a Tim Tebow chant, but I didn’t see what was so bad about Kyle Orton. No, he wasn’t stellar, but he was a little above average from what I saw. He made a couple mistakes, one that should never be made (he lost his grip on the football while scrambling out of the pocket). But he threw for over 300 yards and had a pretty nice 13-yard scramble.

My next post should be up either Friday or Saturday evening, and that will have my predictions for Week 2 as well as my games-to-watch.

2011 Offseason: AFC East

Thank you for reading my 2011 Offseason series. Over the next eight days I will be publishing five posts per day, one directory post such as this, and four other posts, one for each team within a given division, with the links to those posts in the directory post.

This series will focus on what each team needs to accomplish during the offseason and what we can expect from each team next season given that they accomplish most or all of these tasks.

Today’s posts are for the teams in the AFC East.

Buffalo Bills

2011 Offseason: Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

2011 Offseason: Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

2011 Offseason: New England Patriots

New York Jets

2011 Offseason: New York Jets

Thanks for reading and check back tomorrow for posts on the AFC North teams.

2011 Offseason: Miami Dolphins

Miami, or more specifically Tony Sparano, is in an interesting situation. The Dolphins’ owner spent a few weeks after the season trying to persuade Jim Harbaugh to take over for Tony Sparano. When Harbaugh went to San Francisco, Sparano was given a two-year contract extension. But that doesn’t mean the Dolphins won’t look again to replace him if he fails to get above .500 next season.

I don’t think Miami belongs on the list of teams with QB concerns. The still have Chad Pennington and he can step in and play well at any time if the Dolphins call on him. But Chad Henne, who will be entering just his fourth season, showed a fair amount of improvement from the 2009 season to 2010 and should, again, be the starter in 2011.

Miami needs to first figure out their running back situation. Ricky Williams is effectively gone at this point, and that leaves Ronnie Brown, who will be a free agent and so may not return either. There should be a fair number of good free agents available, but drafting a running back may be a better route.

The Dolphins also need to be very careful about picking a replacement for Dan Henning at the offensive coordinator position. Josh McDaniels’s name has been floating around, but reuniting him and Brandon Marshall may not be a good move.

They have a mid-round draft pick at 15th in the first round. But they may want to try and trade that for some more mid-round draft picks, especially if they are looking to pick a running back. Another option would be to get an offensive lineman. Their line isn’t bad but could use a tune-up to avoid giving up another 30-sack season.

The thing that concerned me most this past season about Miami was their inability to win at home. They were 1-7 at home and 6-2 on the road. That isn’t supposed to happen in the NFL. If you can win that many games in front of hostile crowds, you should be able to do the same in front of your own fans. This is clearly a good team; they just need to figure out how to have the same motivation when the crowd is on their side as when it isn’t.