Subj : NFL
To   : All
From : Ed Grinnell
Date : Wed Dec 27 2000 06:37 am

* Crossposted in SPORTS
* Crossposted in NFL

Well, the Rams ALMOST made a prophet out of me as they nearly tanked the
year. Believe it or not, I WAS pulling for them in the last game.

Don't believe the crap that their problems came from the injury to Warner
because there's NO WAY that Warner could keep up his good luck at overcoming
their defensive problems. Face it, Warner had an excellent season last year
and was as lucky as you could get at the start of this year (Several of his
passes that should have resulted in TDs for the opposition were dropped
because the opposition was so juiced. Against Atlanta, a 4th down pass that
should have resulted in the Falcons taking over and running out the half,
turned into a TD when the defensive player tried one of those stupid knockout 
tackles instead of trying to wrap the receiver up). Yes, Kurt looked good,
however; he was also bailed out because some of his passes didn't get
intercepted. He also had a fully functioning Faulk while Green didn't have
him for 2 games and he wasn't up to snuff for 3 others. Face it, the media
screwed up last year giving the MVP to Warner because even his own team gave
the MVP to Faulk and gave it to him again this year. Take away Faulk last
year and Warner wouldn't have had a chance.

Let me make it clear that this ISN'T a rag on Warner but a rant against the 
media who seem to have missed the problem. The defense has looked a little 
better with Bud at the controls, however; they are still the key to the Rams' 
success. If they don't play as well as they did Sunday, their season will be 
over next week.

                                   ****

There's some sentiment among Cowboys' fans to dump Campo and hire Norv Turner 
but Dave's not the problem. Oh, I'm not saying that he's a great coach; just 
that the team's problems lie elsewhere.

Eric Williams' holdout hurt this team big time. When he finally did report, he 
wasn't in good enough shape to take care of his man and Aikman paid the price 
for that one. That one hit set the tone for the team and set the wheels in 
motion for crappy year. Aikman has looked like Danny White did at the end when 
the OL turned crappy and that's unfortunate. If Williams does retire, I think 
it'll be better for the Pokes as they'll put one man in their from the start of 
camp and leave him there.

                                   ****

A friend of mine thought I was nuts when I told him that Miami was on their way 
now that Marino was out of the picture. I felt that Dan's inability to play 
within the kind of offense that Miami NEEDED was what killing them and that 
they needed someone who is more mobile AND less predictable.

The unfortunate thing for Jimmy Johnson was that he inherited the Dolphins with 
Marino. As popular as he was with the fans, Marino was untouchable so Johnson 
couldn't ship him away like he did Herchel Walker and they had to modify their 
offense to keep it within Marino's talents.

                                   ****

Ok, who do you think will be the next Houston coach?

--- TrekEd 1.00
 * Origin: Does your Big Unit have a Big Hurt? (1:170/1701)

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