1) When Simms thinks about (the final game at) Giants Stadium, he thinks about the (a) hard field and (b) the cold (windy) weather.
His #1 memory is the one Mitch brought up yesterday, the January 1987 NFC Championship game which enabled the team to go to the Super Bowl. “Unbelievable.” (From a professional standpoint, that season adds so much to Simms’ authority as an NFL analyst.) Simms particularly praised Landetta’s punting on that day, saying that that was the difference.
2) Re Peyton going for 16-0, Simms thinks Peyton wants it, but it is in the hands of the Colts organization. Simms reminds us that as players, you do as you are told. You take your orders. Even when you speak, you are very careful. When referring to Favre disobeying Childress and throwing the ball against the Packers to rub it in when the play was a run..: “What would have happened if I disobeyed Parcells? I would have been on the bench.”
3) Re the Favre/Childress fracas (where Favre also was not happy with getting benched at the end vs Carolina when Childress wanted to protect him from more (Peppers) abuse, Simms believes teams can come back from that kind of adversity, it is good for them (IF they can get through it) and makes them stronger. Importantly, because we play MINN next week, NOTE: He sees Favre NOT wearing down. Simms believes the WRs are wearing down because they are not getting open. Versus the Bengals the receivers were not open ALL game.
4) Eagles: Simms contrasts the WRs of SD with those in Philly. The SD guys are route runners. The Eagles guys are just plain fast and they outrun you. Doubling is useless vs DeSean Jackson- what you have to do is hit him at the line of scrimmage with one guy to simply slow him down and let a second guy cover him (hoping your DL can get the pressure in the interim). The Eagles do not run intermediate routes. They run screens and throw it downfield. And when the Eagles get hot, they score 21 points quickly. (Those screens/flares/TE plays worked fine last December and January against us in the wind, didn’t they?! The play that broke our back last December vs PHL was a TE checkdown in the flat where they get a 3rd and 10 conversion. Small ball to move the chains.)
5) Good theater today in the Jets-IND game. Watch Revis on Reggie Wayne, because Simms expects Wayne to get singled and for Peyton Manning to go threading the ball into Wayne for the pinpoint precision needed to beat the league’s best corner. Great offense against arguably the NFL’s best defense, even without Jenkins.
6) Cowboys should have carryover from the Saints win and beat Wash by 10-14 points.
7) Praise for Matt Schaub. Texans lack a #1 RB, with that they will be a great offense. Right now, the only team that stopped the Texans was the Jets (defense) in W1. Praise also for Henne.
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