Blogcritics

Super Bowl XLII Preview

David Mazzotta — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:06:05 EST

Wherein we finally put 2007 to bed.
Over the next few days, every semi-literate human being with a keyboard and an internet connection is going to post a Super Bowl preview. Since I qualify on all counts, here's mine.But before we get to that, something more interesting than the Super Bowl has begun. All but two teams are now wholeheartedly in the thick of the NFL off-season...

NFL Season Wrap-Up

David Mazzotta — Fri, 4 Jan 2008 10:36:04 EST

Wherein I make my peace with 2007.
Let's look at how the teams approached the Week of Shame. The Steelers and Bucs flat-out rested their starters. The Pack started Favre, but eventually realized they were playing the Lions so it didn't matter and dropped all the way down to third string. The Jags rested their first, second, and third stings and recruited players from a homeless...

NFL Week 17 - Shame On You

David Mazzotta — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:45:49 EST

Wherein I make my final stand.
After all these years I still fail to understand why, when the Bengals were shocking the Browns, when the Bears were stunning the Pack, when the Bills and Giants were going at it tooth and nail, when the Jags were romping and Warren Sapp was auditioning for a professional wresting gig, I was, by accident of geography, stuck watching the ineptitudes...

NFL Week 16 - Jockeying for Position

David Mazzotta — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 07:58:58 EST

Wherein I grasp at anything remotely interesting.
When there's a lack of drama, all there is to write about is the lack drama. The biggest issue of the year, spygate, was put to rest by a brief handshake and a "Good game, Eric!" He could have at least given us, "It was you, Fredo. You broke my heart." We're still scraping around for some action. Already begun is the annual coaching carousel. ...

NFL Week 15 - Same Ol' Same Ol'

David Mazzotta — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:34:37 EST

Wherein I realize there's no point in predicting the predictable.
For the past couple of weeks this NFL season has resembled an episode of American Chopper. Bits and pieces of drama, some minor uncertainties, and a good dose of kicking and screaming, but when all is said and done, you know the deadline is going to be met and the bike will get built. Apart from minor upsets and a scandal or two along the way,...

NFL Week 14 - Finding Fault

David Mazzotta — Thu, 6 Dec 2007 07:36:53 EST

Wherein I milk the goats.
There are scapegoats in football (if you are Emmitt Smith, they're called escapegoats); folks who unfairly get the blame when things go bad. Last week, however, there were some clearly blameworthy parties. No need for the scape- prefix on them. They were just plain old goats. Let's review a few and assign them a goat coefficient form 1-10,...

NFL Picks Week 13 - Satisfaction on the Strip

David Mazzotta — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:09:03 EST

Wherein I make geldings of the Broncos (metaphorically speaking).
Damn their eyes! A pox on them! May they die without issue! I'm talking about the Denver stinkin' Broncos. How in God's name can you collapse like that? Idiots! They are officially the front runner for the team I will irrationally hate next year. Can you imagine the week I would have had if they had just protected a 14 point lead with 5...

NFL Week 11 - Winning By Losing

David Mazzotta — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:33:18 EST

Wherein I determine that all Super Bowls can be expressed as a fraction.
The Chargers upset of the Colts was nearly unimaginable. Not quite Appalachian-State-over-Michigan unimaginable, but pretty close. Even considering their loss to the Pats in the previous week, the Colts were on their way to being a team of historical greatness. Football Outsiders has a database of statistical info that goes back to 1996. At the...

Week 10 - NFC Midterms

David Mazzotta — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 00:47:02 EST

Wherein I talk about how totally right I am about stuff.
Regarding last week's Game of the Century: I so totally called it. The Colts were winning for a good three quarters, then their D-line ran out of gas. It was crystal clear what was happening during the first Pats drive of the 4th quarter. If the Colts coaching staff had the ability to adjust -- bring blitz packages, for example -- rather than...

NFL Week 9 - AFC Midterms

David Mazzotta — Fri, 2 Nov 2007 13:56:58 EDT

Wherein I laugh at Tom Brady's silly English driving cap.
In October 1968 I was sitting in my lower-middle class suburban Detroit home watching the World Series. The Tigers were playing the Cardinals and the first game featured a marquee pitching matchup. The Tigers had a fat slob of a 31-game winner named Denny McClain. The Cards had a cruel-hearted assassin with a microscopic ERA named Bob Gibson. ...