Regular Season Let Downs

The playoffs are coming up this weekend, everyone is excited and is talking about matchups and who has the best chances of playing in Dallas. But I think before we get into that we need to look back at the season that was. It was a long and very chaotic season, lets take a trip down memory lane and look back at the season that just ended.

First lets look at what we expected would happen this season before it all started.

Everyone thought that the Saints and Colts would be strong teams this year, and they have been. I think more people people expected more out of these two teams. I know I did, but its unfair to have expected more. Both teams were destroyed by injuries, both played pretty tough schedules and yet both ended up winning a good amount of games and made the playoffs.

The Saints offense hasn't been nearly as prolific as it was last year, Drew Brees has thrown a lot more interceptions than he ever has in his career, and the running game has been crippled with injuries. Combine that the Saints secondary has been hurt for most of the season, and you would be surprised that the Saitns won 11 games and look like the second best team in the NFC.

What happened to Indy? Injuries happened. The Colts have been hurt by injuries more than the Saints. Peyton Manning hasn't had a lot of good receivers to throw the ball to, his running game support has been subpar, even by the Colts standard, and the offensive line has been banged up.

A lot of this has to do with age. The Colts are getting a lot older as a team and there are still signs that show that a decline is looming. However, Manning is still an elite quarterback who wants to win in big games. Even though Mannings post season record is a subpar 9-9, he will still give opposing defenses problems. The Colts may be on the decline, but expect them to give teams big problems this offeseason.

Now lets talk about some of the dissapointing teams from this season and maybe see what went wrong. A lot of teams had big let downs this year, some were on pretty epic porportion. Of course, it doens't help when your owner makes a gurantee that your team will be hosting the Super Bowl.

It also doesn't help if your only plan for a QB is to have three of your players fly down and convince a 41 year old QB to play, despite the fact that he has shoulder problems and will have missed all of training camp.

So what exactly happened with the Dallas Cowboys? They have tons of talent on both sides of the ball, especially the defense. They have a strong running game and some solid WR's. So what happened? I think it was a lack of mentall toughness. Some games it looked like the team just quit. It also doesn't help that the Cowboys get more media attention than any other team in the NFL. And when your teams starts off 1-2, then follows that up by losing the next 5 games, trouble is bound to happen. Despite a poor 1-2 start, the Cowboys still should have played hard, I mean it was only week 4 they still had plenty of time to fix things and make a run for the playoffs. But time and time again it looked like they just quit, on both sides of the ball. They didn't run the ball when they should have and made other poor play calls.

So I think things boil down to coaching. Wade Phillips is a great coordinator, however he lacks what it takes to be a head coach. He can't be mean and tough enough on his players, he is more of their friend than coach. That tactic works great as a coordinator, but when you are the head coach, the big boss, you can't be soft. You can't be a complete jerk like some coaches have been, *cough* Tom Coughlin *cough* but you have to be tough. The Cowboys have played better since Jason Garrett took over the reigns, they seem to try and have some heart when they play. But the big problem for the Cowboys this season? Coaching.

So I'd have to say that the Cowboys had the most dissapointing season of any team in the NFL this year, but the Minnesota Vikings came in a close second. Just look at what they had going for them entering this season. A top notch defense, the best RB in the game, a QB who although turns 41 during the season, is coming off his best season as a pro, and you were one bad throw away from playing in the Superbowl. So it would be foolish to think that the Vikings would miss the playoffs right?

Well the Vikings missed the playoffs, they weren't even close actually. They finished 6-10, 1-5 in the NFC north. Thats just bad, I mean I know the Vikings had a lot of injuries, but still...6-10. Thats bad, that is just awful. Favre looked lost and old on the field. the defense looked slow, the offensive line looked pitiful.

Then there are the issues regarding the character of the team. Even if you forget about the whole Randy Moss problem, there were way too many problems for this team. Former head coach Brad Childress lost his locker room and lost his team. Its a good thing he got fired, the team was on the brink of chaos.

The Texans had me fooled, and fooled badly. Before the season started I thought that this would be the year that the Texans would finally make it to the playoffs. They have a great QB, the best WR in the game and I thought they'd have a solid D. Then week one, they surprise the defending AFC champion Colts. And they did it with a strong running game. So with their big passing game, a solid running game and confidence after beating the Colts, why would anyone think they wouldn't contend with for the postseason?

They end up going 6-10, blowing 4th quarter leads and dissapointing the entire fan base. Reports are out that they plan to keep head coach Gary Kubiak. I don't agree with that, the Texans lost a lot of games when they should have contended for the post season. A big dissapointment for sure, and sadly its not even in the top three of the past season.

What about the Bengals? Or the 49ers? In fact, the whole NFC West has been dissapointing. I can't believe there is a team with a losing record that is in the playoffs. I mean I don't know which is more dissapointing, the Bengals or the entire NFC West.

The Bengals won the AFC north last season and a lot of people thought that Carson Palmer had finally made his return to glory. If you recall he tore his ACL against the Steelers in the 2006 playoffs and hasn't been the same since. You figure with Palmers comeback, the Bengals defense getting better and their running game gaining momentum that they'd contend for a playoff spot right?

Well they follow this hype with a 4 win season and the Bengals will probably clean house and start from scratch during the offseason. I don't blame them either, I've always like Carson Palmer, but its clear that he is just an average QB. Marvin Lewis has never been that great of a coach, he brings in trouble players and has a hard team keeping players working hard.

Want a mind boggling let down? How about the San Diego Chargers? They finish the season having their offense and defense rank in the top two. They have Phillip Rivers, one of the elite qb's in the league and they play in the AFC West, which is a pretty easy division. Yet they somehow turn all of that into a 9-7 season and miss the playoffs. I don't know exactly how, but they did. Their special teams was simply awful, it cost them at least 3 wins. They had an average running game, and seemed to struggle in short yardage situations. Each team has weaknesses, so you can't expect the Chargers to be perfect, even if they have so many great players. So the problem is coaching.

We are seeing a lot of problems with coaches this season, it is becoming more and more evident that if you do not have a great head coach you will not win games, period. Look at teams like the Patriots, Saints, Eagles, Steelers and Ravens. They all have great coaches, and their teams win. They can overcome injuries and player problems. Look how Bill Belichick did this season. He lost Randy Moss, had to deal with some injuries and a very young defense. Yet with his coaching, and the best QB in the league, they look like the team to beat. Sean Payton has had to deal with tons of injuries this season, and last season as well, and has gotten his team to the playoffs both seasons. Norv Turner simply is not that great of a head coach and should be fired. He has tons of talent and can't win when it counts. If the Chargers can justify firing Marty Schottenheimer in 2006, he had a 14-2 record and lost in the divisional round, then the Chargers can easily justify firing Turner after four seasons that have mostly been filled with disappointment.

The 49ers fired coach Singletary, which is sad because he is a great coordinator, just not a good coach. What got him fired was how badly he handled the QB situation. Alex Smith has never had consistency in the NFL, I'm not saying that as an excuse, he isn't that great of a QB. But it hurts his confidence and momentum when there are so many changes. The Niners have one of the best TE's in the league and a tough running back. Its too bad that there defense has under performed and they can't get a QB to deliver.

Staying in the NFC West, how about the Cardinals? The win a playoff game last year, lost two players on offense, Kurt Warner to retirement and Anquan Boldin to the Ravens, and suddenly they look awful on offense. For any people our there that are doubting Kurt Warner's Hall of Fame credentials just look at this seasons team and how badly they performed, especially passing the ball, compared to how good they were last year with him under center. If that still doens't convince you that he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, then do all of the sporting community a favor and never watch sports again, because you are clearly a fool.

Later this week I'll discuss the surprised of the season as well as what the playoffs have in store for us, so come back this week