December 5, 2019
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
It is Championship Weekend, and LSU is back in the mix. Meanwhile, the Saints game against the Niners might as well be for the NFC Regular Season Championship.
If the Saints win, they will have the head to head tie breaker advantage over the other top contenders for the top seed in the NFC. The Saints have a number of advantages. They will have the Domefield advantage and more rest. Unfortunately, at this point in the year, the 49ers have clearly been the better team.
In case you haven’t been watching, the 49ers are excellent on the offensive and defensive lines. They run the ball well, stop the run, and have just enough playmakers at offensive and defensive skill positions. That being said, the reason the 49ers are clearly better is because they don’t beat themselves. As I said last week, and the Saints showed again in Atlanta, the Saints are their own worst enemy.
There were more penalties negating good plays, giving up first downs, and losing field position in Atlanta. Except for when the Saints block a punt or kick a field goal, I have little to no confidence in any aspect of the special teams. I was on the Deonte Harris train to start the year, but he is good for one drop or poor decision every game and that is not a good feeling when playing a team like San Francisco.
But, like last week, I still hold out hope that the best games are in front of the Saints and this would be the best week to start that new habit.
I would love to see a game where San Francisco has poor field position and the Saints don’t allow explosive plays over 30 yards. If that happens and the Saints don’t give San Francisco 5 first downs by penalty, which has been the habit, then the Saints have their best chance to win.
I say this scenario is the best chance because I don’t see a scenario where the offense makes us forget how below par the offensive performance has been this year. With Armstead out, especially against this front, it is hard to expect a consistent running game or a good third down percentage to sustain long drives.
The explosive plays are completely absent this year and that will continue this week. I know Payton does not have the confidence in the protection to buy time to push the ball down field. Given the lack of quality receiver play from anyone outside Thomas, and the lack of run game, the play action plays that usually lead to big plays are not effective.
Consequently, the Saints must grind this out. Baltimore gave a good model because they could threaten inside and outside running the ball. The Saints can do the same, but only when they use everyone. Murray and Hill will need to be a large part of the game plan with some wide receiver runs sprinkled in from Harris or Ginn.
In the Payton/Brees era, I usually root for a high scoring game, but this game is one where I think the best chance for New Orleans is a game in the high teens or low twenties. I think it can happen, but the Saints need to play clean game to get it done.
I have the opposite feeling for LSU against Georgia. The higher the score the better for LSU. Even if Georgia has a stretch where they score, they should not be able to sustain offense and keep up with LSU.
We know what types of offenses have given LSU problems this year. It is not teams that run the ball with the tailback from pro sets like Georgia. Whie the Ole Miss game is what the committee has used to keep LSU at #2, there is only one team that LSU could potentially play that could recreate what Ole Miss did and that is Oklahoma, not Georgia.
Alabama had some success running on LSU, but that was a product of Najee Harris being a great running back and LSU having to cover great receivers spread all over the field with a quarterback that places the ball very well. Clemson is the only potential opponent for the rest of the season that has that combination on offense. Again, not Georgia.
Florida and Texas had success throwing the ball to big receivers who made plays in space. Again, Clemson fits that mold, not Georgia.
Georgia’s offense most closely resembles Texas A&M, but the Bulldogs have a much better offensive line. As a result, Georgia will likely score between 14 and 21 points, but that should be it.
I see this game very similar to the Auburn game. The only reason Auburn stayed in the game was red zone defense and LSU did not finish drives like they are capable. Auburn’s defense has been tested more than Georgia’s and my eye test tells me Auburn’s defense is the better defense.
As good as LSU played against Texas A&M, one game at home is not enough to establish the consistent quality of play needed at neutral sites. LSU needs to bring it again, and not for the committee, but for themselves and the purpose of becoming champions of the SEC.
HEY REF
To be or not to be; that is the question! So many fans right now want the Tigers to be at the top of every NCAA poll and can’t understand why LSU dropped to number two last week. Simple answer is “blame it on the TV networks”. It doesn’t matter what any of us thinks because at the end of the day it’s the networks that control much of what goes on in the polls until the end of all the bowl games.
I think the accountants control much of what we see and hear based on just one thing; THE BOTTOM LINE! When push comes to shove their only concern is how much revenue they can make when top ten teams play each other. It is the networks that are charged with “selling” a matchup in their attempts to haul in more money.
According to “MoneyNation’s” latest figures “the NCAA gets most of its money from TV and marketing rights”. For a quick look at how the money has grown through the years we’ll go back to 1982 when the NCAA signed a three year $50 million contract with CBS. That deal was renewed in 1985 for $95 million. In 1988 it topped out at $166 million.
Continuing with the insane numbers it was 1991 when a new contract was agreed upon for a seven year deal at $1 BILLION. The deal swelled in 2002 to an eleven year high of $6 BILLION! By 2010 CBS and the NCAA agreed upon a 14 year deal worth a mere $11 BILLIOIN. Now the facts and figures I’m quoting are for ONE NETWORK. The list would be too long to list them all so I’ll just say the NCAA has contracts with NBC, ABC, ESPN, ESPNU and so on. So it would take a few years to compile each and every dollar the NCAA deposits into its checking account.
So, let’s break these numbers down just a bit so the true “hit” that TV makes upon the NCAA can be understood. Almost 11% of the NCAA’s money comes from ticket and merchandise sales at championship games. Another 4% comes from investments from “other” sources. TV and MARKETING RIGHTS count a mere 81% to the final sum. Now these numbers are a little old as they come from data compiles in 2014.
Everything we as a nation and as a people stand for is way out of kilter. Just a couple years ago players went to court attempting to be paid for their likenesses used by the NCAA in video games and hawking souvenirs such as T-Shirts and so on but were dealt a huge loss as the NCAA was able to use the money generated by all these athletes to defeat them in a court of law.
And as many of my readers know this writer is sick that the NCAA continues to refuse to pay the very people responsible for all the greenbacks being deposited in the NCAA checkbook. Don’t even start to say that the players get a “free” education because that is so far from the truth. Most of the players in football and basketball come from poor families that can’t afford to buy many of the textbooks needed.
I’ve been asked how I can claim that the NCAA is and has been running the largest slave trade ever in this nation’s history. Really, come on do I have to spell it out for you? What shocks me is how so many people just turn their backs on this little nasty fact. Every individual with an IQ of at least one has to be aware and are aware that the vast majority of the athletes we see playing football on Saturday afternoons and nights are black.
So, with that fact up front and personal can anyone give me a good reason why these kids are not given a salary? If the powers that be stand on a platform that declares their school’s mission is preparing their athletes for the real world then why, please tell me why aren’t athletes being taught how to handle money? How do you prepare an athlete for the “real” world without teaching them how to be responsible when handling a paycheck?
Things must change because this business model called the NCAA is corrupt by using athletes as slaves by not including them when it’s time to hand out paychecks. If we take a quick look from this past Saturday on one side of the field that head coach is being paid $7 million a year while on the other side that head coach is only being paid $5 million a year. For just two individuals to rake in more than $12 million a year in salary and benefits while the athletes that make everything possible can’t make a dime if they sign a ball.
I ask myself all the time “how do these people sleep at night? I’d say pretty damn good since you’ve got millions of dollars being put in your wallet. And you sure don’t want to give up one or two of those millions to help your players. I wouldn’t be surprised if the players fork over the money so they can give their coach a Gatorade bath! As they say “ONLY IN AMERICA”!
Till next week…
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