Armchair Coach: Terps Control Their Own Destiny With Big Wins

I have a lot to cover since I have taken the last couple weeks off. First the Terps have been able to secure two very big wins coming off an embarrassing loss to UVA. The win two weeks ago over Wake Forest was impressive because the Terps played a complete game.

Their Offense was able to put points on the board and their Defense managed to shut out Wake Forest, who has given them a lot of problems in recent years. To be fair to Wake Forest, their Offense did put them in position to score a couple of times; but with their All-American kicker Sam Swank out of the game they had trouble cashing in on field goal attempts. This win allowed the Terps to stay in control of their own destiny.

The win over N.C. State was impressive because it proved the Terps could beat inferior opponents. N.C. State came into the game without an ACC win but had played many teams very close and were a dangerous opponent. The weather conditions in this game were incredible. I don’t think I have ever seen so much water fall from the sky during a sporting event. The weather made it the perfect game for Da’rel Scott to return to form after his shoulder injury. Scott carried the Terps to victory with 163 yards rushing. That was almost not enough. When Scott went down at the beginning of the last drive and re-injured his shoulder, the crowd became very nervous. Freshman Davin Meggett stepped into the role with a couple big runs and one huge catch on a screen pass.

The truth is that this game never should have been this close. The officiating in this game may have been the worst I have ever seen in key moments. First the Wolfpack muffed a punt and fell on it at the goal line. The ball appeared to cross the goal line before the Wolfpack player gained possession. The crowd started to chant for a replay and then the officials announced that there had been a personal foul on the play and that Maryland would get a first down. A flag was never thrown on the play and they never said what the personal foul was. Then on the ensuing possession Da’Rel Scott scored on a TD run, but there was a holding call. My complaint is not with the call, because there was a hold, but with the fact that the flag was not thrown until the entire team was in the end zone celebrating. Then on the game winning drive the Terps were called for two more holding calls. In football you can probably call a holding on every play if you want to, but the officials in this game had only called one in the first three quarters. I believe that as an official you cannot change the way you are calling a game in the fourth quarter. Then the final blown call was on a Heyward Bey touchdown. Heyward Bey appeared to come down with the ball in the endzone and was lying on his back with the ball when the defender knocked it out. The pass was ruled incomplete by the official on the field and then replayed and still called incomplete. I can assume that the reason it was ruled incomplete is that they don’t think that Heyward Bey maintained possession through the catch. In the end zone, all the WR needs to do is touch the ground with possession of the ball. That looked like it was clearly the case, as the ball sat on his stomach. Luckily the Terps were able to score anyway and move on with the win.

Now the Terps are still in control of the rest of their season, but they have a very tough road. Next up is a huge game at Virginia Tech next Thursday. The Terps have been embarrassed the last few times out against VaTech and playing in that stadium might be the toughest place to play in the country. The good news for the Terps is that Tech may be playing with out their top two quarterbacks. Both Tyrod Taylor and Sean Glennon left the game against FSU with injuries. Tyrod Taylor is the biggest threat for the Terps because he is a mobile quarterback much like N.C. State’s Russell Wilson, who gave the Terps a lot of trouble.

I am not going to go into much depth with the NFL this week. I just wanted to hit a couple of key things.

First if Joe Flacco could have kept his legs under him he would have caught, passed, and ran for a TD in the same game. He just was running too fast for his feet. Still, he played a great game and gave Raven’s fans something to look forward to.

Second, the Steelers finally found an injury that they could not overcome. The Steelers managed to start 5-1 despite the fact that they have lost a punter, an O-lineman, and a 1st round draft pick running back for the season. They have also lost a DE, a corner, a DT, another O-lineman and a star RB for multiple games. The Steelers overcame all of those things to keep winning. The one injury they couldn’t overcome was to their long snapper. Because of the injury the Steelers chose not to attempt a 49-yard field goal that would have put them up 17-9. Then, later in the 4th quarter Pro-bowl linebacker James Harrison airmailed a long snap over the punters head for a game-tying safety. The Giants scored on the following possession to win the game with a short field. Football is a complete game, and the coaches don’t lie when they say every man counts.

Finally we are getting to the part of the season where those severely underachieving teams such as the Chargers and Colts are in real trouble. The Chargers still have a chance because they are only one win behind the Broncos and they have another game against the Broncos. The Colts, on the other hand, might be done. They are 4 wins behind the Titans with only 9 games to go. The Colts are also in a three-way tie for last place in their division. Peyton Manning must get on a very hot streak right now or the Colts are done.

I personally can’t wait to see how the rest of this crazy season works out.

Armchair Coach: Terps, Roughing the Passer, Madhouse NFL, How Much Can One Fan Take?

I still don’t think I am ready to talk about the Terp’s game last Saturday, but I will give it a shot. The Terps did exactly what I thought they were past. They came out against an inferior opponent and managed to play worse. There is no excuse for losing to Virginia. Not only did they manage to lose, but they were embarrassed. As far as I am concerned an offense that contains playmakers such as DaRel Scott and Darius Heyward-Bey should never be shutout. Continue reading Armchair Coach: Terps, Roughing the Passer, Madhouse NFL, How Much Can One Fan Take?

Armchair Coach back and kicking it for Terps fan

Armchair coach is going to be a little bit different from now on.  I will still talk a little bit about the NFL but I have been asked to switch gears a little and cover NCAA football.

My article for week three of the NFL got a little lost in cyberspace, so I apologize to anyone who missed it.  Week four continued what has been a crazy season in the NFL.  Parity is back.  For proof of this you need to look no further then the division leaders after the first quarter of the season.  Nobody could have predicted that the Bills, Titans and Broncos would lead their divisions.  If the Ravens had been able to pull out the OT victory in Pittsburgh the AFC would be a perfect four for four in surprise division leaders.

The biggest surprises from week four were the Chiefs finally winning a game and the Redskins upsetting the media darling Cowboys.  I would like to thank the Redskins because while it was only one loss for the Cowboys it appears to have angered the monster that live inside TO.

I also have to mention that the state of Ohio might want to consider banning professional football.  Their state has long been known as a great high school state and even a great college football state.  However the Pro football teams that currently play there are ruining the reputation of the entire state.  The only reason the state has a win is because their two supposed teams had to play each other.  At this point their rematch might decide if the Bengals go 0-16 or if the Browns and Bengals tie for 1-15. 

As a side note to how awful the Bengals are one of their fans is auctioning off his rooting interest on Ebay.  He says that he can no longer support this franchise and that he will root for whatever team you want him to for the remainder of the season.  If he enjoys rooting for your team he will adopt them and become a life long fan if not he will try a new team next year.  He is even donating all the profit to charity.  The only thing you have to do is promise to never give a penny to the Bengals organization.

To end the week there was an exciting Monday Night Football game that I am sure everyone watched.  The Baltimore Ravens proved a lot about themselves by pushing the Steelers to the edge.  However they also proved that they still have work to do because their coaching staff made some key mistakes, such as not challenging an apparent TD and not letting their QB try to win the game at the end.  Their players also proved they are still capable of making the stupid penalties that the Ravens have had problems with for years, such as the Jarret Johnson personal foul on Hines Ward.  The Steelers took a beating in this game that could cost them the game this week against the Jaguars.  They also continued to have some problems on Offense but they showed why they are the favorites to win the division by coming up with the plays they needed when they needed them.

I am looking forward to the mayhem that is the 2008 NFL season continuing this weekend.

It was also a crazy weekend in the College ranks this past weekend.  There were ranked teams upset all over the country.  It started on Thursday night with #1 USC losing to unranked Oregon State.  USC was dominated in the first half before making it scary for the Oregon State fans at the end.  Then on Saturday #3 Georgia got beat down by Alabama and #4 Florida lost on a blocked extra point to Ole Miss.  #9 Wisconsin fell to Michigan to become the 4th team in the top 10 to lose.  There were also two other ranked teams that lost that have a lot of people around here excited.  Wake Forest lost to a Navy team that lost to Duke the week before and Maryland upset Clemson in Death Valley. 

These two games combined are exciting because it means that the Terps may be in position to accomplish their lofty goal of winning the ACC.  Clemson was considered the #1 team in the Atlantic Division of the ACC but they have failed to live up to they hype.  The Terps now have the tiebreaker over Clemson and their confidence continues to build.  Wake Forest was considered the top challenger to Clemson and they did beat Florida State.  That means that for now they have to be considered the top team but the Terps are looking good.  If the Terrapins can take care of an awful Virginia team this week then they will have two weeks to prepare for a home game against Wake Forest.  That game should provide a lot of clarity in the race for the Atlantic division. 

The problem is that the Terps have to avoid a let down against Virginia.  The Cavaliers are coming off an embarrassing loss to Duke.  They allowed Duke to end their 25 game winless streak in the ACC.  For Virginia this game could be a lot like the Terps game against Cal.  They are coming off a bad loss and have a chance to upset a team that is getting national attention.  Virginia would love nothing more than to hurt the Terps chances of winning the ACC.  I believe that Ralph Friedgen will have his team ready to play and the Terps will take care of business. 

The question to me will be if the Terps can use the bye week before the Wake Forest game to do two things.  First they need to get healthy, their secondary is hurting bad.  Second they need to find a way to stop the Wake Forest Misdirection.  For the last few years Wake has been able to gash Maryland by bringing a WR in motion and handing off to the WR or to the RB.  If Maryland can find a way to stop that they will greatly improve their chances against Wake and all the teams that have started to copy that play against the Terps.

There should be a lot of good football this weekend between the College games and the NFL.  Check back next week to hear all about the exciting action.

Armchair Coach: Lessons From Week 2 In The NFL

The big news to start with from football this week has to be Maryland’s big win against Cal. The Terps may have put on the most complete performance I have ever seen from them. The Defensive line had not been in the backfield so much since Shawn Merriman left for the NFL. Kevin Barnes is looking like the next Maryland DB to have a future in the NFL; he has shown the ability to make the big interceptions and the big hit. He hit Heisman trophy candidate Jahvid Best so hard he threw up on the field. Chris “Big Game” Turner played an unbelievable game; now only if he could play halfway decent against the non-ranked teams. Continue reading Armchair Coach: Lessons From Week 2 In The NFL

Armchair Coach: “Do Not Boo Your QB” And Other Lessons From Week 1 In The NFL

Well, week one of the NFL season is in the books. After last week the only thing that I am certain of is that the NFL is unpredictable. Week one provided plenty of surprises some because of unexpected performances and some because of injury. I think the best thing I can do is review some of the surprising things that happened.

Things I thought I knew: Continue reading Armchair Coach: “Do Not Boo Your QB” And Other Lessons From Week 1 In The NFL

Pigskin Prognosticating: Take A Stab At Picking NFL Winners Week By Week

“Hit, Hustle, Believe.” A phrase I read on a tattered tee on one of the coaches for the Joppatowne-Edgewood Recreation Football team. Hit. Hustle. Believe. If only it were that simple.

Through the eyes of Ravens’ fans we have only one of those resources available to us: Believe. Sure we can hit Steelers fans with our venomous words and we can hustle with vigor through our chants to Baltimore’s pride, Dee-Fense (clap, clap); De-Fense (Clap, clap) but to believe? Continue reading Pigskin Prognosticating: Take A Stab At Picking NFL Winners Week By Week

Hoops Pro Jai Lewis Comes Home From Israel To Put A Dagger Writer In Her Place

He hails from Aberdeen, stands 6′7″, weighs 275 pounds, led his college basketball team to the NCAA Final Four, was signed out of college to play football in the NFL and now is a professional basketball player holding his own in Israel.

She hails from Joppatowne, stands 5′5″, won’t tell me how much she weighs, admits to occassionally “horsing around” with her neices on the basketball court, formerly covered all manner of sports for the local media and is now holding her own as sports director of The Dagger.

He is Jai Lewis. She is Molly Lauryssens. And at 8 p.m. Wednesday at ESPN Zone in downtown Baltimore’s Inner Harbor the two forces will meet in a head-to-head shoot out when Jai returns to town. Continue reading Hoops Pro Jai Lewis Comes Home From Israel To Put A Dagger Writer In Her Place

Super Bowl Sunday: Music, Food, Celebrities and, yes, even a little Football

Not a fan of the Patriots? Not a fan of the New York football Giants? Maybe football is just not your thing? Surely you know by now that there are other reasons that people tune in to the ‘big game,’ which airs Sunday on Fox at precisely 6:17 pm. Here is a sampling of some of my faves:

- First and foremost, I have to tell you about one of the greatest days that my husband, Neil, and I shared together. We were fortunate enough to be at the dance when the Baltimore Ravens beat the New York Giants in Tampa at Super Bowl XXXV. Let me tell you something: watching the half-time show was impressive. The performances were good, yes, but what I am really referring to is the construction and deconstruction of the stage on the field and how quickly they got it done.

That year MTV was responsible. After the first half convened and the players went to their locker rooms, the mammoth stadium screens came on and Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler and Chris Rock did pre-recorded skits with some of the musicians featured in the show. This bought time for the stage to get set. The field was dark. We could see all kinds of goings-on (when we weren’t watching the skits). It was amazing because once the show started: lights, camera, action! It was a full-scale production going on. Those girls and guys who worked diligently behind the scenes deserve major props. Continue reading Super Bowl Sunday: Music, Food, Celebrities and, yes, even a little Football