Wrong Again

Incredibly, I was mostly correct on my Week 12 predictions. 12 of 15 right so far. And who would have guessed Oakland would crush Denver? 

I'll skip trying to explain myself, since I didn't get to watch any of the three games I got wrong. A quick recap: The Jets beat Tennessee 34-13. I've been very hesitant to give the Jets any credit. They now deserve it, probably did before, too. Cleveland beat Houston 16-6 in a game that wasn't that important, and I was clueless about. I don't feel bad about it. And, as I said, Oakland beat Denver 31-10 in a game where the Raiders attempted only 12 passes.

Moving on, if you know me at all, you know that I hate Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column (and read it every week). Strangely, King has a ton of Mike Tice info sprinkled throughout this week's version. Not important. He also has Kurt Warner leading the NFL MVP race. Uhhh...

The most interesting part was his analysis of the Buccaneers having Adrian Peterson "figured out." King picked the brain of the ageless Derrick Brooks. Referring back to Buc's Week 11 19-13 win over Minnesota, King says "Brooks and the Bucs did a good job on Peterson." Apparently he contacted Peterson about the Bucs "success" against him, and Peterson acknowledged that they "did a great job staying true to their gaps. Good strategy."

King, while ignoring the fact that Peterson had a nice 4.5 yards-per-carry average and didn't even have a carry in the 4th quarter, his most productive quarter for most of the season, says that the Bucs success was due to their having thrown a "front-seven net around Peterson on every logical running down." So, in case you have never watched or played football, the way to stop a running back is to plug all the possible running lanes, and (presumably) tackle him before he runs forward. Maybe King's next column should include a section where Rodney Harrison explains that the way to beat Peyton Manning is to knock the ball down when he tries to throw it to his receivers.

King apparently will be expounding on this scoop later this week with a column devoted just to Brooks and Peterson. That should be a hoot. Let's hope he actually gets to some X's and O's in that one.  Oops, this just in—Alex Rodriguez is less productive when you throw the ball past him instead of letting him hit it. And double covering Randy Moss (ahem, Miami) keeps him from catching as many passes. If your 7-year-old son is trying to shoot baskets in the drive way, and you stand in from of him and bat the ball away as it leaves his little hands, he most assuredly will not score.

King might want to consider the fact that Tampa Bay controlled the ball for over 20 minutes in the second half. That is probably the best way to stop the other team's offense.