MMQ: Monday Morning Quarterback, Peter King

[FrankRizzo]

Some nuggets from Mr King:

1. Atlanta (9-2). The Falcons are 4-0 in the last 22 days against teams with a combined record of 27-17. Matt Ryan and his teammates deserve this lofty perch -- especially with him playing like a latter-day Peyton Manning.
2. New England (9-2). Still a bit worried about its defense holding down a top offense, but less so after seeing the magnificent Devin McCourty besting Calvin Johnson Thursday in Detroit.
3. New York Jets (9-2). Rex Ryan's right. Marquee game of the year a week from tonight in Foxboro. The Jets won the first meeting, 28-14, back on Sept. 19.
4. Green Bay (7-4). Outgained Atlanta 418-294 in the Stats Are For Losers Dept. There's something about the Packers, though. I think they've got a heck of a shot to be back at the Georgia Dome for the NFC title game.
5. Chicago (8-3). I have no idea how that offensive line is going to hold up in December and January, but give Rod Marinelli and that D some credit for holding Mike Vick in check for 60 minutes better than anyone has this season.
6. New Orleans (8-3). This is going to be a very good week if you're a fan of the Saints. Trust me on that one.

MVP Watch

1. Tom Brady, QB, New England. Masterful in carving up the Lions Thursday, presumably before carving some fowl Thursday night in his Back Bay home.
2. Philip Rivers, QB, San Diego. I cannot argue with you one scintilla if you put Rivers over Brady. Numerically, it's a push, I'd say. Rivers has a 659-yard edge in passing yards. Brady is plus-19 in TD-to-INT ratio, Rivers plus-14. Brady's passer rating is 0.9 points higher, 105.8-104.9. Rivers has a big edge in the important yards-per-attempt stat, 8.94 to 7.59. Wins? Brady's three up.
3. Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta. Five straight wins, all with a rating of over 94.
4. Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay. Pushes his teammate, Clay Matthews, out of the competition -- for now. Rodgers made some spectacularly cool plays in tense moment Sunday at Atlanta.

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[FrankRizzo]

LOL, guess I'm the only one who's glad that we're not totally being dismissed despite losing in the last seconds at the best home team in the NFL!

Peter King is alright.

 

[longtimefan]

Peter is still hoping his prediction of a Packer Steeler SB comes true

 

[Grave]

Even with a line that contains the Daryn Colledge liability and STs that stink, we are better than the Falcons because of Rodgers and our D.

Colledge cost us 11 points and it is finally time to play either Spitz or Lang at LG.

 

[FrankRizzo]

Even with a line that contains the Daryn Colledge liability and STs that stink, we are better than the Falcons because of Rodgers and our D.

Colledge cost us 11 points and it is finally time to play either Spitz or Lang at LG.

I think Lang would be the best upgrade, but we need him ready as a backup OT because Clifton is 41 years old and breaks down a lot.

 

[ivo610]

anyone read Kings latest book?

 

[PackerFan87]

If we win out the season it may be on Rodgers for MVP ^^

 

[ivo610]

If we win out the season it may be on Rodgers for MVP ^^

Its very possible, and if we win out I think its going to have to go to Rodgers unless Matthews has a couple more 3 sack games.

 

[DevilDon]

I think Lang would be the best upgrade, but we need him ready as a backup OT because Clifton is 41 years old and breaks down a lot.

It makes me nervous too, but we also have Newhouse who might be better at guard if Lang has to go outside.
I think the part that makes me the most nervous is upsetting the line in any way. It's so important for them all to be playing together on a consistent basis, putting in a new guard at this point would take some weeks I think to develop chemistry, you wonder if there is a good time after this week due to the schedule.

 

[GreenGoldAngel]

I agree with your comment that statistics are for losers, but that non-catch was on on a fourth down play. If the players on the the field, nor the people on the sideline had a clear view, and the coaches in the booth did not have time to watch a replay, what was MM saving his time outs or challenges for? Save them for next week?
Call a time out and discuss it, then throw the flag. Bad coaching period.

 

[longtimefan]

that non-catch was on on a fourth down play. If the players on the the field, nor the people on the sideline had a clear view, and the coaches in the booth did not have time to watch a replay, what was MM saving his time outs or challenges for? Save them for next week?
Call a time out and discuss it, then throw the flag. Bad coaching period.

Why not just call a t/o for any catch to make sure they dont miss anything?

Seriously if no one had a clear view of it, why waste a t/o? If someone said hey, he didnt catch it then yeah maybe..But no one did

We have the hindsight to know it wasnt a catch, so its easy to say he should have called a t/o, but it wasnt a bad coaching move..That would been the sneak at the end zone

Its over and done with, time to move on

 

[FrankRizzo]

Luckily, the playoffs don't begin after 11 games.
This game doesn't hurt us one bit: unless we find a way to lose 3 more games down the stretch.
If we lose 2 (go 3-2), I think we're still in. Any better than that, we'll probably win the division, maybe even get the #2 seed.
Now if we can't do that, if we lose to teams like the Bears, 49ers, Lions, Giants, than IMO we don't deserve the playoffs anyway. The playoffs are 4 weeks long, and you have to win em all to be crowned champion, which is our goal.
If we lose 3 games in the next 5 weeks, we're not as good as we thought anyway.

But I like our chances and I like our chances in Atlanta in late January too.

 

[DevilDon]

Luckily, the playoffs don't begin after 11 games.
This game doesn't hurt us one bit: unless we find a way to lose 3 more games down the stretch.
If we lose 2 (go 3-2), I think we're still in. Any better than that, we'll probably win the division, maybe even get the #2 seed.
Now if we can't do that, if we lose to teams like the Bears, 49ers, Lions, Giants, than IMO we don't deserve the playoffs anyway. The playoffs are 4 weeks long, and you have to win em all to be crowned champion, which is our goal.
If we lose 3 games in the next 5 weeks, we're not as good as we thought anyway.

But I like our chances and I like our chances in Atlanta in late January too.

Agreed, even with all the injuries they are still in it. I know it's part of the game and all, but we all agree we'd probably have a better record if we had all of our guys.
Luck does have it's hand in the NFL. I'm completely satisfied with this team's performance in light of those injuries. Let's hope we don't have any more.
The Packers of late have done everything they should be doing, playing close to the best teams and dominating the poorer units. I think we're okay if we dominate the 49ers who are better than their record suggests.