Monday Morning Hangover Open Thread

Oh, wait, I did once.

But I’d add “Solid Offensive Line.” Those lines yesterday gave their QBs all day to throw (most of the night anyway).

Trenches win games. O linemen and D linemen can make a mediocre QB great and a great QB mediocre.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Pittsburgh in the ’70s? Great lines on both sides…. ’70s Bears? Losing decade with poor lines.

49ers of the ’80s? Great Lines again….. ’80s Bears? SB XX, and the best winning decade since before the merger and the Best D line Chicago has offered, and a great O line lead by Hingenberg, Covert and Van Horn.

’90’s ‘Boys? Arguably the best offensive line ever assembled and a hell of a d-line, too. See 70’s………with a couple of excepted season’s

’00s Pats? More of the same. Bears? More of the same, too.

People can call the QB the most important position all they want, but ask Tom Brady how great he felt with the Giants stealing his lunch money all day at Super Bowl XLII or Brad Johnson how it felt to throw 2 TDs while watching Rich Gannon get mauled by Simeon Rice and Warren Sapp in Super Bowl XXXVII.

We were, however, able to out-suck them pretty well.

But with the Colts on the other end, Right?

Was Cover 1 Man out of the Nickel 3-3-5 set.

Not sure… they might have had 2 deep, the blitz caused Manning to rush his throw though

We have Lovie Smith……..

I know, right? I just read Shutdown Corner and Chris Chase is making excuses for Manning.

Walking off the field without congratulating Drew Brees may go against our misguided notion of what sportsmanship should be, but it wasn’t at all disrespectful or bitter. It shows how much Peyton Manning wanted to win the game. And who can argue about that?

What a crock. This same column (rightly) blasted Bill Belichick for the same thing 2 years ago, and now makes excuses for the Peyton “Golden Idol” Manning? What if Favre had done the same thing? Chase and MJD would have written about how Favre dissed Brees, dissed the game and then drowned some cats in a bag off the coast after the game for effect.

The media is so invested in shilling for the “Greatest QB Ever” that they openly contradict themselves in situations that Manning does something they have chastised someone else for. Hell, look at all the “Greatest QB Ever” press he got just this week. Has he even proven he’s the greatest QB of this era? Hell, Brady has the most success (16-0 season, 3 SB rings) and a winning record over Manning, especially in clutch situations like the playoffs, not to mention the single best statistical season ever. And the majority of this was done with a no-name group of receivers. Jabar Gaffney? Come on. Hell, Manning has just as great a history as Favre of mistakes in clutch situations, just like the INT Sunday. Favre did the same thing (INT to Porter) in the NFC Championship, and the media basically gave us the “Same old Favre” routine, yet do you think we’ll hear “Same old Manning” this week? Same number of super bowls. Same kind of stats. Same kind of screw ups in clutch situations (see Mannings many losses to the Pats in the playoffs, and his mistakes in those losses).

Favre was built up the same way in the ‘90s, and torn down when he wouldn’t step aside so a new “Golden Idol” could cleanly be worshipped. For what it’s worth, I sympathize with Favre. He makes decisions for his own life, and the media turns it into him being selfish. Who the hell isn’t selfish about their job and their future? At least Favre can make light of it (his commercials, for example). But who are the media to tell him when he should or shouldn’t go when teams still want him and he is still playing at a high level? Can you imagine any other job where you would still be doing a good job (107 QB rating is a pretty good job, as well as getting to the Championship Game. Think the Vikings woulda done that with Jackson?) and outside forces were trying to impose themselves on the decision process about your future? The Vikings have already stated they want him back. Yet the net is littered with columns about wanting Favre to retire and how selfish he is or belittling him for the process. Know what? It’s his decision to make. Football is obviously tough for these guys to walk away from, which is why so many stay until nobody wants them any more, even though their skills have long since diminished below the average. Players are always looking for that last championship. As long as someone wants Favre, and are willing to put up the tiime he needs to make the decision, then who am I to say he’s selfish. The Vikings hung on his every word for months because they thought his skills would improve their team. It was what was best for them, and it worked out. If they listened to the press, they wouldn’t have pursued Favre and they probably wouldn’t have won the division, much less been in the Championship game. Minnesota might have been made to look bad for clinging on Favre’s decision, but they ended up having a better team for it. And as long as Favre still has the tools to win, teams will continue to do the same thing.