Sunday Ticket, RBBCs and a few random thoughts
09/14/2007
Paulsen Home / Sports Channel / Bullz-Eye Home
Well, week 1 has come and gone. Let me begin by bringing up my yearly gripe about NFL Sunday Ticket. It’s ridiculous that the league continues to keep this wonderful product from the millions and millions of apartment and condo dwellers who don’t have a view of the correct horizon or can’t put a dish on their balcony. I don’t blame DirecTV for wanting to offer Sunday Ticket exclusively; we all know that the main reason the satellite company is doing as well as they are is because they are the only ones who offer unlimited access to all the games each Sunday. The NFL should negotiate with each cable and satellite company separately and allow access to everyone.
The cable companies certainly deserve some blame. When Sunday Ticket was up for bid a couple of years ago, they were slow to act and couldn’t get a reasonable bid together. Of course, that’s what happens when a company – any company – has a monopoly.
The current deal runs through 2010 and the NFL should seriously consider selling the package across all formats. Sure, they’ll lose part of DirecTV’s yearly $700 million payment for exclusive rights, but some of that would be offset by the increase in subscriptions. This would also result in better ratings since fans would be able to switch channels if the game is a blowout or is simply unappealing, and better ratings means more advertising revenue.
Financial reasons aside, the NFL should open up access to Sunday Ticket because it’s the right thing to do.
Speaking of the right thing to do, what are you thinking, Jets fans? I realize that Chad Pennington isn’t well liked in New York, but the guy has started 62 games for your team, throwing for 12,140 yards and 74 TD against 46 INT in his career. Pennington turns his ankle and does everything he could to hobble off the field to save his team – your team – a timeout, and you’re cheering his injury? That was an absolutely disgusting display and those who participated should be ashamed of themselves.
OK, I’ll get off my soapbox.
Some RBBCs clear up, others get murkier.
Clinton Portis was the subject of a lot of debate during the preseason as fantasy owners tried to determine the right time to jump on the talented yet fragile RB. In fact, the “Clinton Portis Strategy” emerged, almost by accident. This season, those second round running backs (Willis McGahee, Ronnie Brown, Edgerrin James) weren’t all that appealing, so I drafted a stud WR in round two and ended up with Portis as my RB2 in several leagues. In order for the strategy to work, he has to be healthy.
Well, it looks like he is. He split carries with Ladell Betts but was far more productive, gaining 5.8 yards per carry to Betts’ 3.5. Going forward, expect the ratio of carries to approach 65/35 or 70/30 in favor of Portis. The team will still want to use Betts to keep him fresh, but if Portis is healthy, he’s going to get the lion’s share.
Those who passed on Adrian Peterson were dismayed to see his outburst against the Falcons. Of course, Chester Taylor’s injury had a lot to do with Peterson’s workload on Sunday. Peterson has a history of injury and the team will want to keep him fresh, so expect Taylor to get significant work if he can play. As long as Taylor is out, Peterson is a must-start.
In that same game, the Falcons decided to let Warrick Dunn carry the load. He toted the ball 22 times and struggled with a 2.5 ypc. Jerious Norwood rushed just five times, but gained 33 yards (6.6 ypc). Earlier this week Bobby Petrino said that he intends to get the ball to Norwood more in the future, so expect the duo to split carries until Norwood can prove he can handle the load.
Is Dick Jauron the new Mike Shanahan? Jauron said in the preseason that he was going to go RBBC this season, keeping his rookie RB, Marshawn Lynch, as fresh as possible by utilizing Anthony Thomas early and often. I know I’m not alone when I say that this little piece of news made me pass on Lynch in several leagues in the fourth and fifth rounds. Against the Broncos, Lynch got 21 touches to Thomas’ four. I hate you, Dick Jauron.
Anyone who took LenDale White in the hopes that he’d quickly stake his claim as the feature back in Tennessee has to be sorely disappointed. Chris Brown’s explosion (19 carries for 175 yards) means that, at best, White will be splitting carries for the foreseeable future. DeAngelo Williams is in the same situation. Like Brown, DeShaun Foster isn’t durable, so the Panthers will continue to divvy up the carries to keep him fresh and healthy.
Meanwhile, a new RBBC may be forming in New England. Sammy Morris outplayed Laurence Maroney and could cut even more into Maroney’s workload. If this trend continues, Maroney could go down as the biggest bust of the first round. Then again, it’s possible that the Patriots are just being cautious with Maroney’s shoulder.
A few random thoughts
*It didn’t affect the outcome of the game, but the replay showed that the Bears’ Tommie Harris was clearly offsides when he caused a Chargers’ turnover as they were about to go in for a score. This begs the question – why aren’t penalties reviewable? In this case, it was a non-call, but why can’t Norv Turner throw his little red flag and ask the ref to take another look and see if Harris was offsides? Todd Heap’s phantom offensive pass interference penalty that negated the game-tying touchdown is another great example. Both were potentially game-changing plays, so we should do everything to get them right…right?
*I was a founding member of the T.J. Houshmandzadeh fan club, but his stock has risen so much over the last few years that I was unable to land him in any of my leagues this season. Watching him rack up nine catches for 50 yards and a TD against the Ravens was like running into an ex-girlfriend (that you’re not quite over) out on the town with her new boy toy. Simply heartbreaking.
*Willis McGahee looked okay, but why didn’t the Ravens just save the $40 million and hand the starting job to Musa Smith? He’s fast, agile and strong. If I were running the Packers, Browns, Bucs or Cardinals, I’d be targeting this guy.
*Chargers DB Clinton Hart might want to re-think his celebration. After he recovered a fumble, he got up and mimicked someone shooting craps. Given the Tim Donaghy and Mike Vick scandals, Hart should probably avoid pretend gambling, or he might just end up on the business end of a Roger Goodell suspension.
*Why don’t we have a Monday Night doubleheader every week? I love the idea of having an early game with national appeal and a late game targeted at those of us on the left coast. In the next two weeks, we could have the Oakland/Denver game and the Bengals/Seahawks matchup.
*In the second Monday night game, the Mike and Mike and Mike (Greenberg, Golic and Ditka) announcing crew was a bit rough. Greeny sounded like Kermit the Frog and Ditka kept saying “oh,” “no” or “oh no” anytime either QB dropped back for a pass. Someone needs to tell him to shut up while the play is going on. Then he and Golic got into an argument about whether or not Ditka would have been a good dentist. Golic theorized that Ditka’s hands were too big. Ditka snapped at him, saying, “They use instruments!” It came up again later and Greeny quipped, “At some point we’ll have to get off the dentist thing.”
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