Week 8 — Mon Oct 27 12:20:30 PDT 2008
From: JeffTo: mnf@doobie.com
Subject: It's Monday...
...and 49ers coach Mike Singletary seems to know what YouTube is for.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, there is excitement to be had at a 49ers game. Unfortunately, it's mostly on the sidelines. At least it's about the players, and not ex-coach Nolan's wardrobe.
This week, the Seahawks came to Candlestick and more or less dominated the 49ers in a 34-13 rout. The only thing notable about that is that prior to this game, Seattle was widely seen as the worst team in the NFC West. Now, that honor goes to our home team. Yet, Singletary manages to keep things exciting, and seems to at least be trying to take the team in the right direction. How?
First, he benched J.T. O'Sullivan, after J.T.'s second turnover of the day (his 17th of the season, ignoring his five additional fumbles that the niners have recovered). Backup QB Shawn Hill came in for the remainder of the game, and put up respectable numbers (including a big zero in the turnover column). Either player could start the Monday night game in Arizona on the 10th. Good move Mike!
Second, he benched Vernon Davis in the third quarter, and sent him to the showers part-way through the fourth. Davis, at the end of a 7 yard offensive play, decided to slap Seahawks safety Brian Russel upside the head. This drew a 15 yard personal foul, and turned a second-and-three into a second-and-eighteen. As Davis stepped off the field, he avoided the coach... and then acted as if the penalty was no big deal. So the coach gave him an earful, in front of the rest of the team, and then sent him to the showers. The message was clear: It doesn't matter that Davis was a first-round pick with an obscenely sized paycheck, the team is bigger than he is, and if he doesn't learn that soon, he'll be learning it in another city. GREAT move Mike!
"I will not tolerate players that think it's about them, when it's about the team... Can not play with them, can not win with them, can not coach with them, can't do it." - http://bit.ly/c6Joz (4 min video)
And finally as he walked of the field at the end of the game, Singletary showed that he still knows the relationship between the players, coach, team, fans, league, and game. On the way to the locker room, he stopped briefly in the tunnel to personally apologize to the handful of fans who were still there (and seated near the tunnel). Very classy, coach.
Anyway. Welcome to week 8. The season is half finished, which means that it's the traditional week to stop summarizing the games, and to talk about the playoff situation again.
The AFC is something of a toss up right now.
The AFC East will probably go to the 5-2 Bills or Patriots, The 4-3 Jets and 3-4 Dolphins will keep things interesting, but at the end of week 17, neither will be winning the division. Right now, the Bills are in control of their own destiny, as they will be playing primarily in-division games from here on out, including two games with the Pats.
The AFC North is the 5-2 Steelers to lose (which they did yesterday), and the 4-3 Ravens will be glad to take it from them. Baltimore has a more difficult schedule, with impending games against all four NFC East teams... and that's probably going to end up giving the division to Pittsburgh, despite their nearly useless offensive line. The teams face each other on the 14th of December, in the game that might end up deciding the division.
The AFC South belongs to the 6-0 Tennessee Titans. They've got the best offensive line in football. Their quarterback is almost never sacked, and they can run the ball at will. The 3-3 Colts will be lucky to be in the running for a wild card, and could easily end up finishing the season with a worse record than the (currently 3-4) Texans.
The AFC West will probably go to 4-3 Denver by default. It might go to San Diego (3-5), but they'd have to fire Norv Turner first -- has he ever coached a winning team? One of these teams will win the division and a playoff berth. Teams from other divisions will finish with better records, and still sit out the playoffs.
Wild cards will most likely go to the #2 teams in the AFC North and East. The Colts and Jets are likely to keep things lively in the wild card race.
The NFC East is still (again?) the best division in the league, and by all accounts, it belongs to the 6-1 New York Giants. The 6-2 Redskins and 5-3 Cowboys are banging on the door. It's not out of the question that all three of these teams will get in... but it's most likely going to be two of three. They'll each play each other at least once in the upcoming 8 weeks, and these will likely be some of the best games played this year.
That level of football does not extend to the NFC West, where the 4-3 Arizona Cardinals are the runaway favorite. The other three teams (Rams, Seahawks, 49ers) are a combined 6-16 so far this year, and won't be relevant after December. The Cardinals won't be relevant after the first playoff game.
Things aren't much better in the NFC North, but at least it's competitive. The 4-3 Bears and Packers are going to be fighting for this division for the next eight weeks. They'll play each other twice, including a Monday night game on the 22nd of December. If the Bears win both of those games, the berth will be theirs. If not, then Green Bay's upcoming schedule and deeper bench will probably be enough to earn the spot. The 3-4 Vikings are statistically still in the running, but their utter lack of offense won't let them stay there for long.
At least there's the NFC South, with the 6-2 Panthers and 5-3 Buccaneers taking a commanding lead over the young but exciting 4-3 Falcons and the perennially mediocre Saints. This one could go to either of the leaders, with #2 having a better than average chance at swiping a wild card away from the NFC East. The Bucs have a significantly easier schedule at this point, and if they can win in Carolina on the 8th of December, this division will be theirs.
And then there's tonight's game... a game that's going to set the tone for the AFC South.
Tonight the 6-0 Tennessee Titans host the 3-3 Indianapolis Colts, in what is going to be a battle of the offensive lines. The Titans are looking to keep their unbeaten streak alive, and earn a little more credit for their undefeated start of the season (they've had a relatively weak schedule, so even though they're undefeated, they frequently aren't considered to be an elite team). The Colts are trying to show that their porous offensive line can get their shit together, that their quarterback can get his accuracy back, and that their defense can somehow stop the run, all on the natural grass of LP Field. (It's a Bermuda grass known as TifSport Bermuda 94 that was imported as sod from San Antonio Texas. This sort of grass does not grow well in the Nashville climate, it gets ripped and muddy too easily. When you realize that the stadium is also used for Saturday NCAA games, it should be no surprise that it's consistently rated as one of the worst fields in the league)
Normally, this game wouldn't even be close... but the Colts are one of those teams that can seem to pull everything together for a Monday night game (I'm convinced that's why Peyton is so revered by the fans -- outside of his multitude of commercials, they only get to see him on the national games, and his team plays much better when the whole country is watching)
The Line:
The Titans are favored by 3 and a half. The over/under is 41.
Last week, the Smart Money went 1-1. It is now 8-5 for the season, representing a 17.5% ROI. The S&P 500 is down 29.1% over the same time.
This week, the Smart Money takes the Titans and the over.
The Bar:
You've walked by it a dozen times this year. You've probably driven over it at some point recently. Your mind boggles that this place is still here, on what must be some very valuable real estate.
You've wondered about its name. How about you step inside?
Hi-Dive
Pier 28 1/2 (Embarcadero @ Bryant)
Steps from the N and T trains.
Less than 2 blocks from the 12 Folsom.
Kickoff is at 5:30. See you there?