Let's go play a fake game!!!
(Note: This is the 3rd year in a row I have run this piece and as per the usual, I made sure to give it an update. No matter what happens, this piece will always be posted at this time every year.)
There are a number of things on God's great Earth that I can't stand: Girls who are stuck up, people who wear sunglasses indoors, soggy nachos, King Joffery, people who complain about their waitress, and most importantly, preseason football. I can't stand it. It has nothing to do with seeing players in the 3rd quarter who will be bagging groceries by September. It just has to do with the hype. Seriously, does ESPN really need to lead Sportscenter with preseason highlights, much less highlights that go five minutes long with the dramatic NFL Primetime music? Come on!
I know that this preseason is different from years past because there's a QB competition, but if the guys struggle or thrive during it, take it with grain of salt because it will probably not foreshadow anything when it comes to the regular season. Some opponents aren't looking to win or put their best foot forward. They are looking to stay healthy and get the hell out of the fake season. Coaches normally don't empty the gun chamber when it comes to the playbook.
What makes matters worse is that we get conflict between the happy fans and the angry fans. Take the Bills. I remember after the 2nd preseason game against the Broncos in 2011, the angry crowd was killing the team because they played like crap. However, there were a number of happy fans who said the angry fans were just going off the deep end, "It's only preseason so shut up." And yet, two weeks later, when the offense played great against the Jags, it was a reversal of fortune. Happy fans declared that the offense was awesome while angry fans said "It's only preseason so shut up."
It just becomes too much.
History has shown us that we shouldn't read anything into the preseason. During the Bills Super Bowl years, the preseason was always a disaster. The team went 0-5 in 1990. Now, I know some will say, "Well, they were awesome so they could take preseason games off." That might be true, but entering the '90 season, the team wasn't at legendary status yet. Hell, they had just gone through the "Bickering Bills" year.
The year the Lions went 0-16, they went 4-0 in the preseason. The Colts with Manning and company always finished below .500 and were just a WWE storyline away their exhibition season being termed as fake. Hell, Aaron Maybin has five career preseason sacks! Yes, FIVE! I remember Rob Johnson throwing for three touchdowns in one preseason game. The legends continue…
I can go on with the trends, but instead, let's go by Bills years, shall we?
2012: Remember when the starting offense sputtered and scored only one offensive touchdown against 1st team defenses? What happened during the first four games of the season? They scored 28, 31, 24 and 28 points. What about the starting defense that shut down Big Ben and held their own against RGIII? Oh, they just were a tire fire of crap coming out of the regular season shoot and pretty much the whole year.
2011: The Bills had 9 sacks against the Bears in the first preseason game. Everyone was going crazy! "Oh my god! Shawne Merriman had 2 sacks! Parade!! 9 sacks?! Defense wins championships!" Um, in the regular season the Bills didn't reach 9 sacks until week 8 against the Redskins. Speaking of Merriman, he looked like a killer. He was the rave of training camp. Had 3 sacks in like 2 quarters of action. What did he do in the regular season? One sack in 5 games and cut about 10 times afterwards. How about the Bills offense? They were a train wreck in the preseason. Remember how Andy Levitre was fighting for his job and the Bills had absolutely no idea who would be starting on the OL? Fitzpatrick looked terrible, the running game didn't do much, and the team scored 13 points in the first two preseason games. What happened during the first 7 weeks of the season? The offense was on fire (Remember when Fitz was a franchise QB and we were 5-2?). Again. It don't mean sh#t.
2010: Trent Edwards and CJ Spiller had the greatest preseason ever. Captain Check down had a QB rating of 102.7, and CJ Spiller averaged 4.6 yards a carry. Did it carry over to the regular season? Um, no. Trent lost his job after week 2 and CJ Spiller rode the bench after week 1. Oh, and as for seeing hints of Stevie Johnson being a #1 WR based on the preseason (This was the year he blew up), he had 4 catches for 29 yards…for the entire preseason! Chad Jackson (WHO?) Doubled his production. And no, #13 didn't start with the first team at this point. Thank goodness we didn't award Chad Jackson a roster spot for his preseason heroics.
2008: Edwards looked great in the preseason. He torched the eventual SB champion Steelers for 17 points in the first half. I'm pretty sure that was the last time Edwards was on a team that scored 17 points.
It's just a fraud. A sham. A mirage. A joke. It's money in the pockets of owners and fodder for reporters who are looking for anything to write about.
Don't buy into back-up running backs named Bell or Omen or Joe Burns or Nate Turner. There is always a running back who looks good during these games. How about Derek Hagan? Remember people were acting like the 5th WR on this roster would be crucial? Look for special teams players, and legit STARTING position battles, and enjoy rookies. But don't anoint them. Don't even kill them. Just watch.
The goal for most coaches is getting out of these exhibition games healthy. They don't care about winning. And if there are coaches who care about winning, they are probably going against a coach who doesn't care, and you should just burn the film. I always thought that the reason why Trent and CJ played well during the 2010 preseason was because Chan Gailey really wanted to win and raise the confidence of his players.
He gave them decent plays to work with while a team like the Colts, whom the Bills played in Toronto, are notorious for not giving a crap about preseason. Besides trying to stay healthy, these teams don't want to give away too much during these games. Why? Because they don't want their regular season opponents to look at film.
What annoys me even more is when the media tries to over analyze the preseason or practice. The tweets from reporters about guys looking great or bad make me laugh. It is fricken practice. "Everyone is in the best shape of their lives. We know the playbook more. I know so much more because of OTAs. I've been eating red meat and drinking egg yolks which has lowered my body fat to 10%."
Blah, blah, blah. It is the same crap. I miss the 90s when August wasn't a big deal. You are telling me these guys are as intense or focused during St. John Fisher practices as they are during a regular season game? Come on.
I remember in 2001, Chuck Dickerson took about 20 minutes to destroy rookie DE Aaron Schobel after a preseason game on his radio show. He went to town on him. Yeah…he really knew he sucked, right? You know we are a Kevin Kolb destroying Washington's undrafted rookie secondary quarter away from a 2-hour talk show dedicated to the QB position. People need to write/talk about the preseason as if it is a clear vision of what the regular season will be. It is crap, so don't buy into it. Please.
There are just too many factors in trying to assess whether a team is making strides in preseason. History shows us that we shouldn't read into it. Every time Shawne Merriman gets 2.5 sacks, I'm telling myself, "It's only preseason." When EJ Manuel struggles, I'm telling myself, "It's only preseason." It is nothing more than an exhibition. It is like playing Madden 2013 on Xbox 360. Want a positive take? Preseason football is better than no football. So there.
With that, I will continue to write preseason posts, but I will place a giant sign at the start of it that says, "This is all a sham..even this post."
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
