Carl Banks gives his insight on the Championship games this past weekend including calling one of them the sloppiest game he has ever seen.
Per Carl the “Colts sold out to stop the run” which set up the “play action to Edwards deep” and “the play before that the option pass” from Brad Smith to Crotchery. In the end the Jets just “couldn’t blitz anymore because (Peyton) figured it out” and what could have Ryan strategically done to counter Peyton? Nothing as “Collie and Garcon (were) stepping up and you can’t defend (th)em all.”
Banks refuted the notion that the Jets became too conservative in 2nd half as they “played there style.” Wonder stated they are a run up the middle physical team. But here is where Carl contradicts as it relates to beating the Colts:
“start putting up points on the board then he’ll have to deal with some pressure you want to have as many points as possible when you get ahead and just keep the pressure on him (Peyton) to make plays.”
Carl goes on to state that “there is a model for sustainable success, they (the Jets) played against them”. In order for a team like the Jets to improve, as they “couldn’t blitz anymore because (Peyton) figured it out”, they need a defensive linemen that can win the “one on one” matchups. The Jets “standard defensive line configuration right now they don’t have a guy who can beat the guy in front of him to make a play.”
On to the next game in what Carl stated was the “sloppiest game I’ve seen and it seemed like it took forever for this game to get over with.” He texted Bob Papa during the game and said “it would be a shame for a team with 5 turnovers to win the game” but in the end “Minnesota did enough to lose the game.” Yes, Banks was also dumbfounded by the 12 men/delay of game penalty at such a crucial juncture but Peter King echoed some of Andy’s comments yesterday:
“No way you can blame Brad Childress for this loss, but he made a couple of odd playcalls and non-timeout calls in the fourth quarter that’ll be debated for a while in the Great North. A 28-28 game, 2:37 left, Vikings ball at their 21. Three timeouts left. Adrian Peterson skirts right end. No gain. Tick tick tick. No timeout. No hurry to the line. “Is Brad Childress playing for overtime?” I asked seatmates Don Banks and Layden in the press box. Maybe, I figured, he thinks Favre’s hurt and he’d just rather drain the clock and take his chances with the coin flip. But what sense did that make? What if Minnesota lost the coin flip and never saw the ball in overtime? Here it had three timeouts, and on the previous two possessions, even with a battered Favre, the Vikings had gone 70 and 57 yards and found the cracks in the Saints’ defense they needed to find.”
Banks compared Peterson to Bradshaw in their style of running as they “fight for every yard and run with reckless abandon.” But this is the key problem with Peterson’s case of fumbilitis.
Overall Banks felt that there were “a lot of miscues by the Vikings, poor management by the quarterback” and were “out of sync in a lot of areas.” He gives a lot of credit to the Vikings defense as the “Saints seemed like they were never in rhythm” starting “after their second series.”
Banks gives credit to Saints DC Wiiliams as “he got his guys to bounce Favre around a lot.” The key to success for a defensive line against “3 step guys is to knock them around and get ‘em off their rhythm” which forces “them they rush their throws. “
Finally, Banks Super Bowl prediction it’s “hard to say the colts are not going to win” but “thinks it will be competitive.”
Motown here, a bit of platitude can be taken from comments about what the Jets lack and what the Saints did to Favre. Did the Giants not miss that player on the defensive line that could “beat the guy in front of him” other than a guy, Justin Tuck, who was double teamed a majority of the time? Of the 3 step drop quarterback offenses the Giants played this past 1 ½ seasons how much success did they have against them? The current top NFC teams, much less AFC teams, utilize 3 step drop passing schemes in their offense: Eagles, Saints, and Cowboys (in doses). Yet Packers, Shanahan’s Redskins and even the Vikings do employ a healthy dosage when required. Just hope Reese and company are cognizant enough to address this considering 2 of these teams reside in your own division.
Banks didn’t literally state it but there have been flashes of concerns regarding Bradshaw’s fumbling tendencies. Peterson’s and Bradshaw’s style of running is prone to create opportunities for the defense to strip the ball lose. Just hope Ingram calls Tiki for a session with Bradshaw on this subject.
Finally, was anyone really impressed with the Saints after that game? Peyton will be happy to pay for Favre’s pain killers in return for facing the Saints and not the Vikings.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
