The Trojans’ vaunted offensive juggernaut had a chance to clinch a third consecutive National Championship when it was 4th and 2 in Texas territory with a little over two minutes remaining and a five point lead.
Granted they were lining up against an equally vaunted defensive Longhorns side but with two All American linemen, three probable Top Ten NFL draft picks and two Heisman Trophy winners on their side, you’d have thought Pete Carroll was correct to go for it rather than try and punt the Horns deep in their own territory and force Vince Young to make an Elwayesque comeback. But apparently, he wasn’t.
After all, you don’t want your defence to lose the game when you’ve got the Greatest Offence In The History of the Universe on your side.
For the all yards and TDs and accolades for his superhuman clutch performance of Heisman Trophy revenge, Vince Young would not have gotten on the field for a final shot if the defence hadn’t gotten the ball back for him by stopping the Trojans on that 4th and 2 moment.
It’s college football at it’s zenith.
******
So at the time of writing, Jets coach Herm Edwards is a hair away from jumping to the Kansas City Chiefs.
You can point out Herm’s record as the Jets head coach as not being really good and not being really harmful. You can say his offence was dull, his postseason clock management harmful. You can say that losing Pennington was a blow the Jets could recover from easily next season, even with Edwards. After all, even Parcells’ Jets career went off the rails when Testaverde went down.
I think when he’s gone, sorry to see him go but the Jets have to start planning for the immediate future – offensive or defensive minded coach? Seems simple enough given the contrast in talent from one side to the other. Think Al Groh can be lured away from the University of Virginia? How about inducing Mike Ditka out of retirement? Paging Mr John Madden.
The Jets management have a pretty shite history when it comes to coaches flying to the coop before the end of their contracts. Parcells, Bellichick, Groh and now Edwards. What other team has that many voluntary departures from their head coaches?
There aren’t really any proven successful commodities available out there at the moment. The names I read are coaches with experience but no massive successes and assistance with no experience. The college coaches plan is a joke – so few are successful it isn’t worth speculating. Remember when the Cardinals brought Bud Wilkerson out of like a 50 year long deep freeze from college football and reinvented him as a 95 year old NFL coach? Or how about Steve Spurrier proving with the Redskins that college football is his ceiling?
Steve Mariucci? Didn’t he lead the ruin of the 49ers? How much magic did he have in Detroit? The one name I haven’t heard too often but might be intriguing is Greg Williams, defensive head coach of the Redskins. Granted, he led the Bills through several years of obscurity so just because he’s a hot defensive coach right now doesn’t mean he can cut it as the gaffer.
Ah, if only we could bring Charlie Weiss over from Notre Dame.
But we can’t. Not bloody likely now that he’s the campus guru.
There isn’t much to get excited about. Jim Haslett? Wow, bang up job leading disaster relief but the Jets aren’t quite that bad off yet.
It’s too bad Herm Edwards is leaving. There really isn’t much better out there at the moment.
*****
The Results for the NFL Playoffs are in a few days early at Sports Amnesia. Our soothsayers have been hard at work conjuring visions of the following few weekends and here were the results:
NFC:
Carolina @ NY Giants – Two seasons ago the Panthers surprised everyone not only by making it to the Super Bowl, but making a game of it against the Patriots. Manning II will one day prove his postseason mettle but this is only his second season and for now, there are more misses than hits. Tiki Barber is not going to be able to carry an entire team against a defence as formidable as that of Carolina’s. About the only thing in the Giants favour is playing at home but unless there’s a blizzard, don’t count on that making enough difference. Final score, Panthers 24, Giants 21.
Washington @ Tampa Bay - The primary factor to consider in this is that it wasn’t all that long ago the Bucs stole a game from the Redskins under somewhat controversial circumstances. The Redskins are going to be looking for payback on that one and are wholly unconvinced that they aren’t the better team. This is a Joe Gibbs coached team, let us not forget and it looks like, after a lot of starts and studders, his Jesus magic is taking hold of the team once more. Final score, Redskins 20 Tampa Bay 14.
AFC:
Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati - Is it just me or does this look like a mismatch? This is an inexperienced Bengals side making their first foray into the postseason in years and their first opponent will be a bitter, physical and experienced Steelers team. The only thing the Bengals have going in their favour is Steelers coach Bill Cowher’s abysmal record coaching in the playoffs on the road. Still, I’m not sure playing in Cincinnati properly counts as on the road. Not when the Bengals run defence is simply not ready for the postseason. Final score, Steelers 28 Cincinnati 13.
Jacksonville @ New England - It would be the upset of the season if the Patriots don’t crush the Jags, simply put. Last season I made a meal out of picking against the Pats from the last few weeks of the season right on through to the Super Bowl. Silly me. So I’m trying reverse psychology this season – picking the Pats to win. The Pats may go down on the road against the Broncos or the Colts someday in the next month but it seems almost unfathomable that they will have clawed their way back to respectability only to lose at home in the first round against an offensively inadequate side like the Jags. Final score, Patriots 23 Jags 11
And let us not forget, when making massive wagers at your corner bookie’s, that it was Sports Amnesia who predicted in the back pages of obscurity, the score of the Rose Bowl as being Texas 36 USC 31.
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