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Showing posts with label nfl network. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nfl network. Show all posts

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Chiefs/Raiders Rivalry Video Breakdown

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First, the Oakland Raiders pull off a rarely seen midseason blockbuster trade for QB Carson Palmer, then the news that he is projected to start this Sunday against the Chiefs, and I think we have ourselves the top billing game of the NFL weekend.

There's also the celebratory fact that the Kansas City Chiefs are playing a meaningful game in 2011. A win on Sunday and the Halloween Monday Nighter against the San Diego Chargers becomes the hottest ticket in town (I'm gonna go as 13-year old Andy Reid).

To get in the spirit of Raider Week, I began watching videos on YouTube and came across this beauty entitled "Chiefs vs. Raiders: The History of the Rivalry" which seems to have aired last year on NFL Network (not sure how I missed this). I've decided to give this video the Sports Guy style breakdown that it truly deserves.

Here's the vid...



0:00 - The song for this video is super awesome. Does anything beat the music for NFL Films videos? Similar to any video being funny to the Benny Hill Theme Song, I think you could put any football video to this music and it becomes unequivocally riveting. I think I'll make this song my alarm for Sunday morning afternoon.

0:13 - Of all the hits in this video that would be declared illegal in today's NFL, this completely unnecessary flying clothesline off the top turnbuckle may have been the most illegal.

0:23 - This is the result of adults played the children's game Red Rover.

0:36 - "The Kansas City Chiefs: They were a team that projected the image that Hank Stram wanted to project - A dapper outfit." This is a pretty cool reputation.

0:42 - John Madden smoking a cigarette on the sideline of an NFL game. Has anybody else dominated three aspects of the sporting world as well as Jaaaaahn? His winning percentage as a head coach ranks 2nd all time. He popularized such words as "Boom!", "Whap!", "Bang!" and "Doink!" as an announcer (thanks Wiki). And yet everybody born after 1990 will remember him as The Godfather of sports video games. WAIT A SECOND...is that a hooter he's smoking? I'm becoming a bigger Madden fan by the minute.

0:50 - 0:57 - This series of hits on former Chiefs QB Lenny Dawson is in dire need of a few Wilhelm screams.

1:00 - Is that an interview with an active Kenny Stabler? He's a damn drunken bumpkin. I imagine him wearing Hillbilly Jim overalls during that interview with a pint of Old Crow in the breast pocket.

1:08 - And clearly Stabler is racist...

1:10 - What's with all the clothesline hits? Did those get outlawed at some point and time or just go out of style?

1:20 - Calm down...PHIL

1:28 - I distinctly remember my dad owning that same hat that sits upon Marty Schottenheimer's head. I guess the NFL didn't charge $40 for anything players or coaches wore back then because my dad wouldn't have paid that.

1:47 - "And the Raiders would make up their own rules" as we see Al Davis sporting an all white jumpsuit.

1:55 - What's the context of "the bastards got 3 points"? Was Marty encouraging the defense because they held them to a field goal? Was he pissed that his defense allowed them to even score 3 points? Or was he referring to his own offense as the bastards and thought that 3 points was enough for his defense?

2:02 - 2:24 - My love for obscure 90's Chiefs players is in sensory overload. Bill Maas, Dave Kreig, JJ Birden, Todd McNair, Leslie O'Neal, Chester McGlockton, Bam Morris (I demand to know where Donnell Bennett and Dino Hackett are). I almost cried right along with Marty.

2:17 - The Oakland QB right there is Donald Hollas. I thought I knew of every starting NFL QB of that era, especially within the division, but I have never heard of this dude. He went to Rice. And he led the Raiders to four straight wins in 1998! However, he threw 6 INT's in his final start. Three months later, the Raiders signed Rich Gannon.

2:29 - Greg Hill sighting!!!

2:51 - Documented proof that Thomas Jones can gain more than 5 yards in a single run.

2:57 - Darren McFadden leads the best rushing attack in the NFL against Kansas City this week. The Chiefs run defense has been secretly awesome this season (especially in the past three games). Shut down Oakland this week and they are officially for real. I feel you need to be dominant in one aspect of the game to be a real contender and the Chiefs lost that when Jamaal Charles went down. In other words, you'll learn everything you need to know about this team on Sunday. But first, one last brawl...

3:03 - Who knew Lenny D was so wily on the move like that? He's got wheels.

3:14 - Definitive punch to the groin.

3:18 - Look at Raider #84. I can't make out his name but I'm sure it rhymes with a part of the female anatomy. Perhaps he needs to have a sit down with overstimulated Phil from the 1:20 mark.

3:24 - Clearly the Chiefs won that fight.

Go Chiefs,
His Dirkness

Friday, July 8, 2011

Dissecting the NFL's Top 100 Players List

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The NFL Network recently concluded their best efforts to hide the fact that their league is comprised of a bunch of greedy robots, or as they called it, the NFL's Top 100 Players list.

The list was voted on by players (supposedly - Brandon Carr admitted on Nick Wright's show that he, nor any player he knows, actually voted on the list), which makes some of the more egregious errors somewhat more comprehendible, even if the Top 5 of the list is more reflective of 2004 than 2011.

For those of you in the dark - Here's the list.

The Chiefs had 5 players on the list:

33. God Jam Charles
45. Dwayne (Pro) Bowe
64. Tamba Hali
67. Brian Waters
93. Eric Berry

I have a few lists of my own, inspired by this list, to throw your way. Let me start by saying that while this list gets a lot wrong, that doesn't make this list a failure. The whole goal of a list like this is to spark debate and create discussion. Mission accomplished.

The first list will be my personal Top 25 Players of 2011 in the NFL. My list is right.

(Note: When making a list like this you have to make a distinction of whether importance of position matters. This isn't a list saying I'd trade Player A for Player B because, ultimately, I'd trade the best non-QB in the league for any one of the top 10 quarterbacks. Therefore, the top 10 list would consist of 8, 9, or 10 QB's. Mine isn't like that.)

His Top 25ness

1. Troy Polamalu, S, Pittsburgh Steelers
2. Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers
3. Darrelle Revis, CB, New York Jets
4. Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals
5. Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots
6. DeMarcus Ware, OLB, Dallas Cowboys
7. Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints
8. Haloti Ngata, NT, Baltimore Ravens
9. Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota Vikings
10. Nnamdi Asomugha, CB, Oakland Raiders
11. Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis Colts
12. James Harrison, OLB, Pittsburgh Steelers
13. Andre Johnson, WR, Houston Texans
14. JamaAL Charles, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
15. Nick Mangold, C, New York Jets
16. Clay Matthews, OLB, Green Bay Packers
17. Chris Johnson, RB, Tennessee Titans
18. Julius Peppers, DE, Chicago Bears
19. Ndamukong Suh, DT, Detroit Lions
20. DeSean Jackson, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
21. Patrick Willis, LB, San Francisco 49ers
22. Antonio Gates, TE, San Diego Chargers
23. Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers
24. Richard Seymour, DE, Oakland Raiders
25. Dwight Freeney, DE, Indianapolis Colts

That's it, that's the list. Problem with it? Let me know in the 'ments...

*Best fact of the NFL's Top 100 list: Kent State landed 3 players on the list (Gates, Harrison Cribbs), while neither Florida nor Florida St. landed a single player. HA!*

The next list of mine will be The 10 Most Overrated Players on the NFL's Top 100 List (in order of they're ranking). Here go...

1. Ray Lewis (4) - The better debate is if he even belongs in the Top 100 at all
2. Mike Vick (20) - Only had 1 year in him, won't ever play a full 16 game season again
3. Arian Foster (25) - He won't make the Top 100 list in 2012 - Book it
4. Jason Witten (36) - He's solid, but shouldn't be sniffing Top 50
5. Steven Jackson (38) - 3.8 yards per carry anyone? Remember Larry Johnson would've made this list once upon a time as well
6. Tony Gonzalez (46) - Sorry Tony!
7. Brian Waters (67) - Unfortunately, I'm in the know
8. Santonio Holmes (76) - More hype than he's worth
9. Jason Babin (85) - I know he put up numbers, but it was a 1 year thing
10. Joe Flacco (90) - As average as they get
11. Donovan McNabb (100) - Are you kidding me?

As I sit back and look at my list, I can't help but notice that I picked mostly aging veterans that aren't what they used to be. This makes sense because they'd still be highly respected by their peers, but nevertheless is an oversight of the list. The second thing I notice is that the Top 10 list is 11 players long, but I forgot how much I hated Michael Vick the first time through.

My final list entails snubs from the NFL's Top 100 list (in order of snubbery). This was harder to make, and I'm sure I'll forget some players who I would fully endorse making the list, but it's all Jesus.

10 Players Who Should Have Made the List:

1. Tramon Williams, CB, Green Bay Packers - Best defensive player of the 2011 playoffs, almost made my Top 25
2. Hakeem Nicks, WR, New York Giants - 1,052 yards, 11 TD in 12 games as a sophomore
3. Maurkice Pouncey, C, Pittsburgh Steelers - Hard to imagine him not becoming an All-Pro center
4. Peyton Hillis, RB, Cleveland Browns - Are there really 10 better running backs in the NFL?
5. Ryan Clady, LT, Denver Broncos - Is he no longer considered elite or something?
6. Osi Umenyiora, DE, New York Giants - Most surprising omission from the list - household name
7. Brandon Flowers, CB, Kansas City Chiefs - Narrowly edges Wallace Gilberry for my token Chiefs selection
8. Mike Wallace, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers - Finished 5th in receiving yards last season. Seriously.
9. David Harris, LB, New York Jets - The quintessential underrated player in the NFL
10. Kevin Williams, DT, Minnesota Vikings - He was the consensus best DT in the NFL at one point, no?
AND 1. Shaun Hill, QB, Detroit Lions - You'll understand someday...

The end.

The word 'list' was written 32 times in this post,
His Dirkness