Write On Sports LLC - "Stupidity Reigns Supreme in the NFL's Week 12" by Troy Somero

Stupidity Reigns Supreme in the NFL's Week 12

2006-11-28 00:42:14 | By: Troy Somero

Professional football players have really great lives. They get paid millions of dollars a year to play a game. Countless career opportunities are available to them after their football days are over just because they are professional athletes (see Tiki Barber, Jerome Bettis, etc.). However, with these special luxuries comes heightened scrutiny. For example, if I went to work one day and handed in an assignment late, or swore at the boss, or gave 50% effort during crunch time I would likely be fired. Professional football players do the football equivalent of each of these faux-pas on a weekly basis and continue to earn a paycheck and play the game they love. Despite this leeway, several decisions made by NFL players this week were downright stupid. Although the players will likely keep their jobs, their fame, and their money, I wonder, "What were they thinking," as I look back on Week 12 of the 2006 NFL season.

The most boneheaded play of the week occurred in the fourth quarter of the San Diego-Oakland game. Wide receiver Vincent Jackson caught a critical pass on a fourth-and-two play at the Oakland 40, and then proceeded to stand up and celebrate the catch by spinning the ball forward. Because Jackson was never touched while he was on the ground, the ball was still alive and Jackson nearly gave it away to Oakland (fortunately for him the officials ruled the end of the play as an illegal forward pass, allowing San Diego to retain possession).

A football fan, let alone a football player, should remember a similar mistake Plaxico Burress made in September of 2000 as a member of the Steelers, when Burress spiked the ball after a big reception without being ruled down by contact, resulting in fumble recovery by the opposition. Like Burress, Jackson let his emotions get the best of him. Now everyone knows Vincent Jackson as "the guy who got bailed out by the rules" instead of "the guy who made a critical fourth-quarter catch against Oakland". At least he still has his job…for now.

Quarterbacks are usually considered the most intelligent players on the team. Peyton Manning is lauded for his ability to audible at the line and his knowledge of the defenses he faces. Brett Farve is called a "cagey veteran" because of the in-game chances he takes that usually seem to work out. Out of the forty Super Bowl MVPs, half of them were quarterbacks. This past week in the NFL, however, quarterbacks on losing teams demonstrated how a stupid decision by a quarterback can hurt his team just as much as a smart decision can help his team.

Eli Manning and Rex Grossman, two quarterbacks who have faced heavy criticism on talented, big market teams this season, ruined their teams' chances at victory on Sunday. These blown opportunities were the result of silly mistakes that quarterbacks learn not to make as early as high school. Manning's was definitely the worse of the two: throwing a pass to a covered receiver during a tie game in his own territory. The result: interception Tennessee and a game-winning field goal by Rob Bironas twenty seconds later. Rex Grossman, on the other hand, was fortunate enough to have chance at victory after a New England fumble in the last two minutes of their game. First play after the turnover: a deep pass to a double-covered Rashied Davis (the team's fifth wide receiver, by the way) intercepted by the Patriots. The result: game over. Both of these quarterbacks had plenty of time to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. They stupidly decided to feed defeat from their own hands.

Atlanta Quarterback Michael Vick at least chose to reserve his stupid move until after the game. Walking off the field after his team's 31-13 loss at home to New Orleans, Vick told a few Falcons fans who he thought was number one…with his middle finger…twice. Although he later apologized for the gesture, Vick will likely be fined by the NFL this week. More importantly, Vick took what Jim Mora Sr. labeled him as last week ("coach-killer") and ran with it. Not only will Vick be considered a coach-killer, he will also be seen as the bad seed in the family this week, a family that includes his brother Marcus Vick. Any player that draws this type of negative attention to himself and his team had nothing short of a stupid day at the stadium.

It is not only players that were stupid this week. The Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff this week played the central role in leading their offense to a measly 34 yards in the first half, the lowest yardage total for the team in one half since 1994. Ben Roethlisberger was knocked out of the game by the second quarter because the offense could not figure out a way to slow down the Baltimore pass rush (a lack of play-action and draw plays to slow down the pass rush will do that to an offense). Then Big Ben came back in the second half and proceeded to throw two late-fourth quarter interceptions, even though the team was down by four scores at the time. Why was Big Ben in the game this late with no chance to win and no foreseeable solution to the Ravens' pass rush? If Coach Bill Cowher and his staff can answer this question, maybe they can work their way to figuring out why their team is 4-7.

This synopsis of the few major mistakes of Week 12 may seem a little harsh, but my point is that sometimes players and coaches do not stop and think about what is important: winning. If Vincent Jackson acted like Barry Sanders or Walter Peyton instead of Terrell Owens after his fourth quarter reception, he might have had a few more passes thrown his way later in the game. If Eli and Rex had thrown their ill-fated passes out of bounce instead of into the hands of opposing DBs, the AFC might look a little bit weaker this week. If Mike Vick had used his middle fingers to put a little more spiral on the football, Drew Brees might not look like the best quarterback in the NFC South right now. And if Bill Cowher had never let Roethlisberger ride a motorcycle or sit back in that pocket yesterday, Big Ben might not need to take half of this week off to recover from his Sunday blows. Most of all, if NFL personalities were held accountable for their actions a little more, more teams would look like the Colts and the Patriots instead of the Giants and the Steelers. Right now I would take Bill Belichick's sweatshirt and prolonged success over Tom Coughlin's offense any day of the week…even on Monday afternoon when I give everyone the finger at work as I leave the building an hour early.

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