The Separation Of Powers In The AFC.

The Separation Of Powers In The AFC.

A difference season, same old names at the top of the race to the super bowl in the AFC. With all due respect to the Houston Texans ( go ing on their third starting QB, the Oakland Raiders, coming out of a vary weak AFC west division ) the same old names ( New England Patriots, Pittsburg Steelers, and Baltimore Ravens ) pop up as the only real relevant teams that will represent the AFC in super bowl 46. Taking nothing away from the Cincinnati Bengals ( just to young a year or two away, or the Tennessee Titans they don't have enough to get there, and the New York Jets coach Rex Ryan can't talk this team into the title game this season ) you will see one of theses mainstays in this year's world championship game.

This season's AFC has had it's share of surprising teams. Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, oh and yes the Tebow led Denver Broncos. All great story's however by the end of the season this will be nothing more than a good read. It is aways said the cream rises to the top. And like always the Patriots, Steelers, and Ravens seem to be the same teams in the mix at the end of the season vying from home field advantage and that prize trip to the super bowl.

Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com

The Pittsburg Steelers seem to be the class of AFC.

The Pittsburg Steelers seem to be the class of AFC.

Let's see great QB check, great coach check, very very good offense check, great defense check, the Pittsburg Steelers have the look of a team that will be very hard to dethrone as AFC champion's. There isn't another team in the AFC that can match the Steelers in all phases of the game. I am a die hard Packer fan and I'm here to tell you the Steelers have been the best team in the NFL in the super bowl era. And before Dallas Cowboys fans get up in arms over their team getting no respect in the super bowl era, remember Dallas hasn't seen a super bowl in 15 seasons.

Again this season the Steelers will be fielding a super bowl caliber team that will have to be reckon with in the AFC. While there are a few teams in the AFC that I believe will give the Steelers a run for their money, ( New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, and just maybe the San Diego Chargers ) however not one of theses teams are as well rounded as the Steelers. The Steelers have become the standard by which other teams in the AFC measure themselves and again this season it will be no deference.

Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com

" Embrace the Greatness " Trying to repeat

Embrace the Greatness " Trying to repeat

As another NFL season approaches and the short list of teams are talk about as being favorite to win the super bowl, it leave's me wondering why some coaches, players, and fans in the NFL shy away from the through of being consider one of the favorite to win it all. I'm not asking them to walk around pounding their chest telling everyone who will listen how great they are. What I am saying why not embrace the fact that your team is very good and people are talking about it.

bring this up because last season as the Green Bay Packers were marching toward their forth super bowl win, some fans I talk too had a very hard time with all the praise being given to the Packers as they were making their run. They saw it as bulletin board material for the other team. I've been an NFL football fan for over forty years and I'm here to tell fans there is no secret in the NFL as to who the best teams are.

I go back to the the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburg Steelers of the 70's, the San Francisco 49er of the 80's, the Dallas Cowboys of the 90's, and the New England Patriots of the 2000's, all great teams with targets on their backs year in and year out. Instead of shying away from the limelight of greatness, they embrace it and said we pretty good, if you think your better come and get us. I would take being the hunted over being the hunter any day of the week, it mean's people want what you have.


So Packers fans as Green Bay go's into the 2011 season trying to repeat at the top of everyone's the short list of teams who will win this year's super bowl, don't fear it embrace it, because super bowl championships are hard to come by. Would you want it any other way?

Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com

So much to do, so little time

So much to do, so little time

With the end of the NFL lockout here it's time to turn our attention to which teams in the league have done their homework and are best prepared to take on one of the biggest test in NFL history. How can you squeeze four months of work into two or three weeks ( signing your own free agents, rookie free agent signing, signing drafted rookies, and trying to sign free agents that might help your team ) not to mention getting players into camp and ready to start the 2011 season. This is a huge mountain to climb and not even the best teams in the league can be fully expected to know how to handle something this league never seen before.

There is going to be a lot of mistakes made over the next few weeks, as teams find time is not on their side with only 14 days between reporting to training camp and their first preseason game. A lot of teams will be force to sign veteran players they might think twice about just to fill rosters spot. With the lockout all but destroying this year's rookies class chances of being any help this coming season, Christmas has come early for a lot a veteran players who might find it hard to make any roster next season. So fans will get a sense of which teams in the NFL made the most of the unwanted time off the lockout gave them.

In my opinion there is only a hand full of teams in the NFL with the ability to withstand the free-for-all that's going to take place over the next two or three weeks. The Green Bay Packers, Pittsburg Steelers, New England patriots, and the Baltimore Ravens. Theses four teams have very solid systems in place and with so much to do and little time to get it done they seem to be miles in front of the other teams in the league. With rosters coming back basically in tack, they can come out running. It's not that they don't have decision to make, however their's are minor compared to other teams looking at free agency to shape their rosters for the coming season. NFL football is back!! So let's see how many teams can pass a test that may never be seen in sports again.

Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com

Have the Dallas Cowboys become the Notre Dame of Pro Football?

Have the Dallas Cowboys become the Notre Dame of Pro Football?

Has there ever been a team more beloved in Pro Football than the Dallas Cowboys? Up until 15 years ago the Cowboys had to be one of the most fear teams in Pro Football history. From 1960 when they first enter the National Football League, until the 1995 season when they won they're last Of 5 Super Bowls; they were arguably the best team in the NFL for that 35 year period of time. The Cowboys played in 8 Super Bowls and won 5, only the Pittsburgh Steelers with 5 appearance and 4 wins; or the San Francisco 49s with 5 win in 5 try's can even come close to Dallas's greatness of that time. Now the thing that make's this so remarkable is these teams did all this in the first 30 Super Bowls; 14 wins in 15 of the first 30 Super Bowls played. ( Dallas and Pittsburgh played each other in 3 of those games,Pittsburgh won 2 )Wow!!

Only the Pittsburgh Steelers of the three teams mention have found a way to stay Super Bowl relevant over the last 15 years since Dallas won
a Super Bowl. ( oh by the way, their win was against Pittsburgh ) Over this time Pittsburgh has won 8 division titles, been in the playoff's 9 times and played in 3 Super Bowls and won 2. Dallas on the other hand, has not been really heard of since the 90's. That lead's me to the question of why year after year so called Football experts have them as one of their pick to win it all? when getting into the playoff's seem to have been a chore, ( 4 division titles, 7 playoff's apperencs third best team in their own division in the last 15years! )

This bring me to my Notre Dame theory , how at the beginning of every season people try to put them in the mix without any just cause. Notre Dame has not been a factor in the National Championship picture for a lot longer than Dallas not being a real threat to win a Super Bowl. But they ( by they I mean the Football Media tying to find ways to pull them across the finish line, like that horse with great odds to win ) with nothing more than a name.

I know it might be hard to see the correlation between a College football team and the Dallas Cowboy, it's about perception and reality and how they get in each other's way. Perception, they are the teams they once were, reality they have not been at the top of their's football worlds in a combined 38 years ( 24years since Notre Dame won a National Championship, 15 years since Dallas last held the Super Bowl trophy ). Perception, because of their rich history of winning, that it somehow applies to their recent team's. Reality, there has been little or no reason to believe they are even close to being the team's they once were. Perception they've had the leadership top to bottom to produce a winning team year after year. Reality, there hasn't been stability at the top of either team in many years. Notre Dame has not been the same since Lou Holtz left in ( 1996 ), Jerry Jones though he was smarter then his Coach Jimmy Johnson witch lead to Jimmy's leaving in (1993 ) Dallas has never recovered ( yes they won a Super Bowl with Jimmy Johnson's guys two years later, but have only had one real shot to get back to the Super Bowl since. )

Where as I do believe Dallas is in a lot better position to get to a Super Bowl, than Notre Dame will ever be to a National Championship; they are both not as close as it has been talked about year after year in the media. Both team's have a very strong fan following across the country, they have a great football history, but sports is about what have you done for me lately. The fact is Dallas as it is with Notre Dame has done nothing for years, and how the football media can fall for the hype at the beginning of every season is beyond me.

Www.ajstakeonthenfl.blogspot.com

Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com

The growth of a coach

The growth of a coach

I've been a Green Bay Packer fan for over 40 years, and this is the first time in all of those years that I have been happy to be wrong about a coach. When Mike McCarthy was first hire as head coach, I like most Packers fans had no real clue who he was. I went to the 49ers media guild to find out something about this guy. I thought Ted Thompson had just lost his mind, how could he hire a guy no one heard of for this team. We had a great quarterback who's going to the hall of fame, there were other parts in place too that had me wondering, why give my team to an unknown? When coach McCarthy was introduce to us fans, you could see he had something, what, you just didn't know.

The first thing I needed to know was how would he get along with Brett, did he have the stones to coach him? We found out early he had what it took. He had no problem pointing out Brett's short comings as his quarterback, that got him off on the wrong foot with a lot of fans(me included). The bottom line, he was right and we were wrong, a coach is the head of a team, the quarterback is one of it's leader.

He had to take control of his team, and sometimes you need to start at the top. Brett had a lot of years doing things his way and it really wasn't working. Yes he won a lot of games, but he lost a lot of big games with Brett being Brett ( New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears twice in 07. I know it's not right to put a loss on one man,But all you need to do is remember with your head and not your heart and you will see I might be right. Brett will always be a hero in Green Bay and around the NFL, but his unwillingness to change and get on the same page with his coaches and team mates cost the Packers, big games.

It's became apparent very early there was a power struggle between coach and quarterback, something had to give. Now as a fan it's hard to watch a great marriage come to a end, but there was no way this was going to work without both party's parting ways. It wasn't that Brett had lost it or could not play at very high level, he just could not play for coach McCarthy. I think both Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson wish this had ended better for Brett , the Packers, and the fans who had to sit back and watch it unfold in front of us.

Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy took a huge gamble letting Brett go after a 13&3 season and just missing a chance to play in the Super Bowl. But they knew something none of us had even thought was possible,they could make this team better. By moving past Brett they show the rest of the team they were in control of the team, and coach McCarthy would be calling the shots(good or bad from now on)Now enters the biggest piece to the puzzle Aaron Rodgers, a man in a very bad spot, he had to replace a living legend, how hard can that be?

We can't forget, Brett did say he wasn't coming back( yes I know they really did not want him back ) so they moved on with Rodgers and no one was happy. Fans calling for Ted&Mike's head on a patter, hated Aaron for just being the next man in line. Now coach had his quarterback and the team seem to be ok with it. Just as Mike Hologram&Ron Wolf tied their self's to Brett, Mike McCarthy&Ted Thompson did the same with Aaron( how can you not love that kind of leadership at the top ) made me think back to how it was before Ron&Mike got here.

Remember that old saying be careful what you wish for, you just might get it, that's exactly what happen to Mike McCarthy. He wanted his own team,that he could put his own stamp on( I know. He had players from the old regime but it was going to be his way) as we have seen in the past it all start with a quarterback who has the potential to be great. Who knew when they drafted this guy late in the first round he would be that guy. Ted did. you don't pick a QB in the first round unless you think he will start for your team one day. Mike saw Aaron had that "it factor"that it take's to win in the NFL, there's a lots of QB's with strong arms, guys with great legs, some with both, but without that "it factor" they just can't win when you need it. Aaron proved to Ted&Mike with his hard work and that big chip on shoulder that he didn't just want to play good, he wanted to be great. In hind sight sound simple, but we all know that wasn't the case.

While his quarterback had outstanding seasons in 2008&2009, Mike McCarthy's haters were everywhere. He could have been like a lot of bad coaches we have seen over the years, take everything said about him personally, cry to the press that he was being treated unfairly by them and the fans... The only thing we saw was a coach talk positively about his team and where they were going. I'll be the first one to say I had a problem with his playing calling in the red zone. But the one thing I didn't question was that this coach had the attention of his team. He had instilled in these guys he was there for one reason to win, and he would work as hard as them to get it done!

The 09 season I think help ease some of the tension between coach McCarthy and fans, not all, some fans will never get over #4 not being part of the Packer family. I though you could see a more confident coach in 2010, he knew he had a good team, and didn't care that people knew he loved his team's chances to win it all. But like with all great plans, he saw bad injury after bad hit his team, not one time did he make an excuse or ask any fans to feel sorry for his team. All he said was "next man up"( the growth of a coach) he didn't let his players off the hook by saying how hard it might be to win games without key players. What I watch this team do over the last 8 games of the season was nothing of short of remarkable. Yes I know we lost to Detroit and New England, if not for those losses they never make that run. We saw a coach grow up right before our eyes, he let the whole football world and anyone who would listen to him know he had a championship team. I know as a fan I love his grit. Through out the whole playoff run, even the Super Bowl he only talked of winning, not I think we can win, he said the only reason we're here is to win and take the Lombardi trophy home! It took a few years and some thick skin but I think we might have witness the growth of maybe one of the best coaches in football

ONLY TIME WILL TELL

Ajjones

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