Playbook-gate is an issue for the Browns.

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I could care less about the Jets or the Patriots. Some say the two are rivals but they are not. A nail is related to a hammer but they are not rivals. The nail gets pounded at regular intervals just like the Jets.

The media has missed the point of Playbook-gate entirely. Jet coach Rex Ryan is certain that he is the smartest guy in the sport. Most intelligent people realize that is not the case. It takes hubris to pass out playbooks like Halloween candy. And Hubris is Ryan’s middle name. However, Browns fans need to know one thing about Playbook-Gate.

Antonio Cromartie was on the NFL Channel and said something that disturbed me. He said that when Mike Pettine was the DC the Pats could tell what defense the Jets had called by the way the team was aligned prior to the snap. While Cromartie is infamous for spreading things around, if this is true it is a problem.

Browns fans have yet to see the team take the field with the Pettine defense. If Cromartie is mistaken there is no problem. However, teams in the AFC North are well equipped to take advantage of pre-snap reads of … Read more at FryingPanSports

The NFL Channel is desperate for programming.

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NOTE: No NNR show until Monday. Thanks

One trick that sports talk shows use to generate calls and controversy is making lists. Lists of teams, players or anything else cause calls and fills an otherwise slow period of late June and early July. Now the NFL Channel is doing the same thing.

The Top 100 player list is not only stupid, it is bad TV. I am convinced that it is impossible to rate players from different positions in an overall list. The NFL is a quarterback league. Any guard that is rated above a Super Bowl QB like Russell Wilson is unjust. If the NFL Channel needed to rank players, do it within each position. These overall ratings are nothing but a popularity/PR contest. No fan should pay attention to them.

It is June and the NFL is desperate for programming to broadcast. So watch it at your own risk. Those are hours of your life you will never get back. But don’t take it too seriously either.

That is what I think. Tell us what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for Read more at FryingPanSports

Editorial: ESPN Blows coverage of the East West Shrine game

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ESPN has been losing its edge since ABC took it over. But their coverage of their EW Shrine game was the worst so far. The bone heads at ESPN failed to give complete lineups with numbers. In a normal game, draft nicks like me could get the player numbers from the college pages of the ESPN website. But evidently they couldn’t afford to buy the game program from a local vendor after spending so much money on the big ESPN bus parked in the stadium. I have been unable to find the numbers anywhere on the net so far.

They did show the names and numbers of the QBs, RBs, and WR/TE. But those names are repeated regularly throughout the coverage. More than half the time, they did not give the name of the tackler which would have helped to identify some of the players on the D side. The O linemen were totally anomalous because even when they committed a penalty, the announcer usually ignored the name of the offender. Sometimes, the camera man would help us out with a closeup of the player.

So it was up to us to study the tape as closely as possible … Read more at FryingPanSports

Tuesday Morning QB for 09/22/09

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The Steelers running game is struggling – Steeler RB Parker tweaked his hamstring and did not play in the last half of game 1. He carried 14 times for 47 yards in game 2. His injury is contributing to the problem but is far from the cause. The fact is that the Steeler O line is the weak link in the team. LT Starks is the best of the group and he is barely above average. QB Roethlisberger has been sacked more often that the Whopper. The running game is struggling. It won’t change anytime soon. Look for the Steelers to pass more. If they fail to get to the Super Bowl, the O line will be the culprit.

Things are a little tight in Titanville Tennessee is now 0-2 after losses to both Pittsburgh and Houston. They are now going to play the Jets. Last year the Jets were the first team to beat the Titans. They are now 2 games behind Ind and have injuries to deal with. The problem is this—if they go 0-3 they will have to win 10 of the remaining 13 games to have any chance to make the playoffs in the AFC.

Other Read more at FryingPanSports