NFL Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous NFL thoughts and observations.

- Bill Cowher – three thoughts on Bill Cowher’s resignation. First – Cowher replaced a Hall of Fame coach and ended up having a Hall of Fame career himself. I cannot think of another situation where a young coach (or coach of any age) replaced a legend and was as successful as Cowher was in replacing Chuck Noll in Pittsburgh. Second – one great testament to how good Cowher was in getting the most of his players was how successful his players were in playing in his system and then how badly they seemed to fade when they went elsewhere as free agents. Cowher made it to the Super Bowl with Kordell Stewart as QB for cripes sake! Finally – I think he’s just burned out and needs to recharge. I don’t read any further into the situation and I will go on record as saying that I don’t think Cowher returns to the NFL as a coach. I think he may go the TV route for a while and then get a nice college job where he can “relax”.

- Pre-Season Odds on Super Bowl – here were the odds on winning the Super Bowl from back in April:

Indianapolis Colts 11/2
New England Patriots 15/2
Dallas Cowboys 10/1
Pittsburgh Steelers 10/1
San Diego Chargers 11/1
Seattle Seahawks 11/1
Carolina Panthers 12/1
Denver Broncos 12/1
Washington Redskins 13/1
Chicago Bears 15/1
Kansas City Chiefs 16/1
Miami Dolphins 18
Philadelphia Eagles 18/1
Cincinnati Bengals 20/1
New York Giants 20/1

Note that five of the top 12 “favorites” did not even make the playoffs. San Diego is now an almost 2-1 favorite which means that if you took them at 11-1 that you got quite a bargain. Baltimore is now 7/2 and they weren’t even in the top 12 back at Easter.

- Today’s Indy vs. KC game has me reminded of the 2004 AFC Wild Card Game which was also played in Indianapolis. The Broncos were perhaps the best running team in football and the Colts defense was questionable, especially against the run. The Colts destroyed Denver 49-24 that day. I look for the Colts to win easily against the Chiefs today.