Site Design Changes

Over the next few days I will be experimenting with some layout changes, etc. Some will be decent looking and others will probably end up looking heinous. Please leave any suggestions in the comments section or contact me at YouCantPlayHere@gmail.com.

We're also working on a logo to replace the big title at the top.

Thanks,

John

The Pistol's Links and News

The Jimmer bandwagon is gaining steam after he unleashed an amazing performance last night against San Diego State. It was his fifth 40+ point game in his career, which is impressive, but Pete Maravich's 58 career 40 point games kind of overshadow it. Just to see how good the "Pistol" was, here's a link to the NCAA scoring records. Keep in mind there was no 3-point line when he played.

Keith Law's top 100 prospects for 2011. ESPN Insider required.

If you've got about 40 minutes of spare time, this is a must-listen. Jason Whitlock calls into a Chicago radio station and gets roasted.

Roger Goodell will cut his salary to $1 in event of a lockout. Otherwise, he'll keep making a cool $10 million.

The Oscar nominations have been released. 

The Best Picture nominees are:

‘Black Swan’
‘The Fighter’
‘Inception’
‘The Kids Are All Right’
‘The King’s Speech’
‘127 Hours’
‘The Social Network’
‘Toy Story 3′
‘True Grit’
‘Winter’s Bone’

I've only seen the Black Swan and Inception, but they were both excellent. My main gripe is leaving out The Town, but I guess there is still some "Ben Affleck sucks" sentiment lingering. In all honesty, it's the best movie I've seen this year so to not even be nominated is pretty ridiculous. 

The Wall Street Journal ranks NFL teams form most exciting to least exciting.

If this is true, I can't wait to hear all the NFL players bash Pouncey for missing the Super Bowl after having two weeks to rest his sprained ankle. Oh, wait.......It won't happen.

In what would be a major shift in Colts philosophy, the team has offered Peyton Manning a contract along with a plan to be more active in free-agency in the offseason.

What in the hell is going on with Iowa's football program?

Can Will Ferrell revive the Office? 

Be careful who you mess with in the NHL.

When Lines Are Crossed

There is nothing quite as disgusting as watching a media hit in progress. Make no mistake about it, that's what occurred Sunday during the NFC Championship Game. At some point before halftime, Jay Cutler suffered a partial tear of his MCL. He finished the half, attempted to come back in the second half but wasn't able to make it more than one drive. After that drive, the coaches and team doctors made the decision to keep him on the sidelines.

What happened next was truly astounding. Analysts began questioning whether Cutler had taken himself out, Twitter exploded with Cutler-induced vitriol, and current players quickly joined the lynch mob. The crazy thing? Nobody knew the severity of Cutler's injury. Almost everyone in the media just assumed that it wasn't that bad, and that Cutler must have quit on his team.

Why were so many media members so willing to ignore the facts and assume Cutler wasn't hurt that badly? Because it fit the narrative that most media members wanted. Jay Cutler has never been a friend to the media. His personality isn't one that blooms in front of the cameras, and the media take offense to that. All you have to do is read Rick Reilly's piece on Cutler to understand the relationship. In it, Reilly takes a shot at Cutler for not wanting to be interviewed by a reporter about the charity work he had done with a children's hospital. Good point, Rick. It's not what you do, it's whether you get in front of a camera and talk about it. They hate that he has the nerve to not make them part of his everyday life, and when the time came, they made him pay for it. Sure, Cutler may rub many people the wrong way, fans included, but nobody deserves the kind of character assassination that went on Sunday afternoon.

But Jay Cutler has a track record of being soft, right? Not even close. Cutler faces massive hurdles that no other QB in the NFL faces. He's a Type 1 diabetic playing QB in the NFL, and that in itself is enough to prove his toughness. Just one of the side effects of diabetes is that cortisone shots aren't a viable option  due to their tendency to cause adverse blood sugar reactions. Anyone familiar with the world of professional sports knows that cortisone shots have long been the remedy of choice for players in pain. Even pain killers can be a dicey subject with a diabetic. Yet, Cutler has overcome his disease and in the process, become an inspiration to kids with diabetes throughout the country.

Even without the aid of cortisone shots and some pain medications, Jay Cutler has missed exactly one game in his career. He played behind one of the worst O-Lines in football this year while leading the league in sacks taken, and his only missed game was the result of the NFL's new concussions policy. Defensive players hammered him over and over, but Cutler kept getting back up. Ask Bears fans about him and many will admit that they're surprised he made it this far without a major injury. That's how bad things were this year, but, outside of the concussion, Cutler was on the field competing every single Sunday. People should feel free to criticize Cutler's performance on the field or even his demeanor, but there should never be any questioning of his toughness.

Peyton Manning. Tom Brady. Brett Favre. All of these QBs would have gotten the benefit of the doubt had they been on the sideline with a knee injury on Sunday. Those are the perks that go along with being a media darling. Whereas the guy who purposefully makes himself a media outcast gets unfair speculation that he quit on his team. Once again, Jason Whitlock (Is it a coincidence this article came out today?) lead the way with his absurdity. Whitlock not only bashed Cutler for being soft, but he also made the assertion on Twitter that it wouldn't matter whether Cutler's injury turned out to be serious. Why wouldn't that matter you ask? Because Whitlock supposedly played his last season with a torn ACL. Now assuming that's even accurate, where does that logic stop? The great Jason Whitlock played O-Line at Ball State with a torn ACL (allegedly) so how can any NFL player dare to leave the field? Someone get in touch with all of the players on injured reserve with ACL tears to let them know that they're soft. Wait, don't forget to criticize everyone who missed games this year due to an MCL tear. If they truly loved the game, they wouldn't be missing games. Unfortunately, Whitlock wasn't the exception in this case, he was the rule. Why should the media care about the facts when given an opportunity to bury Cutler? To them, he doesn't deserve any better because he has the nerve to avoid fully embracing his place in the spotlight.

Whitlock's comments also bring about another way of thinking that needs to be put to rest. Every player's body is different, and they all respond differently. Ronnie Lott once decided he'd rather have part of his finger amputated than miss the next season. Does that mean that every player should be expected to make the same decision or face being called soft? Absolutely not. Some people are just blessed with extraordinary pain tolerance. I know it's popular for everyone sitting on their couch to offer that they wouldn't have left the field without a stretcher, but how can anyone know for certain? The only way to truly know how you would respond to that kind of situation is to experience it yourself. Until that happens, the Monday morning QBs need to take the hyperbole down a notch or twelve.

Even worse, were the attacks on Cutler coming from players and former players around the league. Here's a collection of some of those attacks. As Brian Urlacher angrily pointed out:

"Who cares what they think? That's my response to them. They are not playing in this game. Jay was hurt, obviously. There's no reason for him to be out there if he can't get it done. He was obviously hurt pretty bad or he would have played. 

"For them to question his toughness is stupid to me."

Urlacher is right, the attacks on Cutler reeked of jealousy. Deion Sanders captained the NFL Network assault on Cutler while forgetting that he only played eleven games due to a toe injury in 1998. Maurice Jones-Drew tweeted: "All I'm saying is that he can finish the game on a hurt knee... I played the whole season on one..." MJD apparently already forgot that he missed the last two games of the season when the Jaguars were fighting their asses off to earn a playoff bid. Some analysts cited Tom Brady's playing an entire season with a stress fracture in his foot, but they conveniently left out the fact that Brady left the AFC Championship Game in 2001 due to injury. Again, the facts are inconvenient little buggers.

A Barry Cofield quote from Matt Mosley's ESPN article rings especially true in this situation.

"A wise man once told me that it's easy to be tough with somebody else's body"

At some point, doing what's best for the team took a back seat to being tough. Players who gritted out injuries are lauded for their devotion to the team, but playing hurt isn't always what's best for the team. Philip Rivers get's praised for playing in the 2007 AFC Championship Game with a torn ACL, but no one pays attention to HOW he played. While it was certainly gutsy for Rivers to play, I think his backup, Billy Volek, could have thrown up a 46.1 QB rating. Especially when you consider that Volek was instrumental in helping the Chargers finish off the Colts after Rivers was forced out of the game. It's entirely possible that Rivers hurt his team by playing at well below 100% health.

Can we honestly say that Cutler, with an injured knee that felt unstable, prevented him from planting, and kept him from pushing off during the throw, was the best option for the Bears at that point? Now, he didn't make the call to remove himself, but it seems to me that that call could very well have been the right one for the team (The bigger blunder was having Hanie as the third string QB instead of the second). To highlight this point, I'll take you to the famous AFC Championship comeback that propelled Peyton Manning to his first Super Bowl victory. During the second-to-last drive of the game, Peyton smashed his thumb against a lineman's helmet. On the sidelines, it was obvious that he was having trouble gripping the ball, and at one point the camera's caught him telling Jim Sorgi to be ready. Peyton seemed to realize that if he couldn't grip the ball, Sorgi gave them the best chance to win. Now, Peyton was going to do everything in his power to play, but if it wasn't going to work, it was better to give way to someone that could get the job done if it meant the Colts would have a chance to win. Being able to step aside and let the more effective player take the field is the sign of a true team player.

In the end, the damage has been done. Jay Cutler's toughness and reputation have been unfairly tarnished by a controversy that never should have gotten started in the first place.

Stats Table Overload

Pro-Football-Reference.com is a must-bookmark for any true NFL fan. It also just happens to be a statistic lovers' heaven. 

In honor of PFR, I've decided to dedicate this post solely to interesting stat tables from their website. Enjoy

First up, we have the "Rivers Index." Basically, the Rivers index is designed to give QBs a W-L record based on how well they played. If a QB plays well enough to win, he gets credit for a win. (xWins in the table).

For the full explanation go here.

The Rivers Index is about the biggest differences between deserved W-L and actual W-L, so here are the QBs again, sorted from biggest overperformers to biggest underperformers:

Player	Gms	Won	xWins	Diff
Tom Brady	18	13	10.42	2.58
Ben Roethlisberger	11	9	6.54	2.46
Brad Johnson	4	3	1.95	1.05
Joe Flacco	7	4	2.95	1.05
Mark Sanchez	5	4	3.09	0.91
Drew Bledsoe	1	1	0.51	0.49
Rex Grossman	4	2	1.68	0.32
Mark Brunell	2	1	0.70	0.30
Eli Manning	7	4	3.73	0.27
Jay Cutler	1	1	0.77	0.23
Donovan McNabb	14	8	7.77	0.23
Kordell Stewart	2	1	0.85	0.15
Elvis Grbac	2	1	0.89	0.11
Matt Cassel	1	0	0.05	-0.05
David Garrard	2	1	1.09	-0.09
Shane Matthews	1	0	0.09	-0.09
Tommy Maddox	2	1	1.15	-0.15
Jake Delhomme	8	5	5.20	-0.20
Tarvaris Jackson	1	0	0.26	-0.26
Kurt Warner	9	6	6.26	-0.26
Chris Simms	1	0	0.27	-0.27
Jay Fiedler	1	0	0.28	-0.28
Rich Gannon	5	3	3.29	-0.29
Drew Brees	7	4	4.31	-0.31
Byron Leftwich	1	0	0.31	-0.31
Jon Kitna	1	0	0.32	-0.32
Anthony Wright	1	0	0.33	-0.33
Todd Collins	1	0	0.35	-0.35
Quincy Carter	1	0	0.35	-0.35
Daunte Culpepper	2	1	1.38	-0.38
Vince Young	1	0	0.39	-0.39
Aaron Rodgers	3	2	2.47	-0.47
Carson Palmer	1	0	0.47	-0.47
Matt Ryan	2	0	0.55	-0.55
Steve McNair	5	2	2.57	-0.57
Michael Vick	5	2	2.60	-0.60
Vinny Testaverde	1	0	0.74	-0.74
Jake Plummer	4	1	1.74	-0.74
Marc Bulger	3	1	1.77	-0.77
Tony Romo	4	1	1.79	-0.79
Trent Green	2	0	0.85	-0.85
Kelly Holcomb	1	0	0.86	-0.86
Jeff Garcia	6	2	3.06	-1.06
Kerry Collins	2	0	1.30	-1.30
Matt Hasselbeck	11	5	6.30	-1.30
Chad Pennington	6	2	3.35	-1.35
Peyton Manning	17	9	10.39	-1.39
Brett Favre	10	4	5.45	-1.45
Philip Rivers	7	3	4.58	-1.58

Interesting that the QBs with the most Super Bowl also have the biggest positive gap between their actual W-L record and what their W-L record should be. Then you have Peyton Manning with the third worst differential. Not too surpising.

Here are the best passing performances in NFL history (Adjusted for opposing defense). Notice anything strange? Peyton Manning,has 3 of the 5 best passing performances ever. The interesting part? They are all playoff games. 

PFR created their own statistic designed to sum at a player's performance each season with a single numerical value, Approximate Value. The best part about this stat is that values are given for both offensive and defensive players. It's very rare for a statistic to allow for comparison of players on different sides of the ball. For an in-depth description of how the value is calculated, here's the link to the PFR blog.

The first table contains the active leaders in total AV. Keep the length of the players' career in mind when viewing this table. For example, Favre tops the list, but he also has a 20 year career. 

Rank	Player (age), + - HOFer, Bold - Active	AV	Years	Teams
1.	Brett Favre (41)	250	1991-2010	4TM
2.	Peyton Manning (34)	204	1998-2010	clt
3.	Ray Lewis (35)	188	1996-2010	rav
4.	Terrell Owens (37)	156	1996-2010	5TM
5.	Randy Moss (33)	153	1998-2010	4TM
6.	Jason Taylor (36)	149	1997-2010	3TM
7.	LaDainian Tomlinson (31)	142	2001-2010	2TM
	Tony Gonzalez (34)	142	1997-2010	2TM
9.	Ronde Barber (35)	141	1997-2010	tam
10.	Brian Dawkins (37)	132	1996-2010	2TM
11.	Donovan McNabb (34)	127	1999-2010	2TM
12.	Champ Bailey (32)	126	1999-2010	2TM
13.	Tom Brady (33)	122	2000-2010	nwe
14.	Mark Brunell (40)	120	1994-2010	5TM
15.	Alan Faneca (34)	116	1998-2010	3TM
16.	Brian Urlacher (32)	114	2000-2010	chi
17.	Reggie Wayne (32)	112	2001-2010	clt
18.	Drew Brees (31)	111	2001-2010	2TM
19.	James Farrior (35)	110	1997-2010	2TM
20.	Hines Ward (34)	108	1998-2010	pit
	Fred Taylor (34)	108	1998-2010	2TM
	Darren Sharper (35)	108	1997-2010	3TM
23.	Kerry Collins (38)	106	1995-2010	5TM
	Derrick Mason (36)	106	1997-2010	2TM
	Charles Woodson (34)	106	1998-2010	2TM
26.	Joey Porter (33)	103	1999-2010	3TM
	Lawyer Milloy (37)	103	1996-2010	4TM
28.	Trevor Pryce (35)	101	1997-2010	3TM
	Jeff Saturday (35)	101	1999-2010	clt
30.	Joey Galloway (39)	100	1995-2010	5TM
31.	Ed Reed (32)	97	2002-2010	rav
32.	Julius Peppers (30)	95	2002-2010	2TM
	Chad Ochocinco (32)	95	2001-2010	cin
34.	Flozell Adams (35)	94	1998-2010	2TM
35.	London Fletcher (35)	93	1998-2010	3TM
	Antonio Gates (30)	93	2003-2010	sdg
37.	Richard Seymour (31)	92	2001-2010	2TM
38.	Takeo Spikes (34)	90	1998-2010	4TM
39.	Steve Hutchinson (33)	89	2001-2010	2TM
	Keith Brooking (35)	89	1998-2010	2TM
41.	Phillip Daniels (37)	88	1996-2010	3TM
42.	Kevin Williams (30)	87	2003-2010	min
	Pat Williams (38)	87	1997-2010	2TM
44.	Matt Hasselbeck (35)	85	1999-2010	2TM
	Steve Smith (31)	85	2001-2010	car
46.	Donald Driver (35)	84	1999-2010	gnb
47.	Jon Kitna (38)	83	1997-2010	4TM
	Aaron Smith (34)	83	1999-2010	pit
49.	Lance Briggs (30)	82	2003-2010	chi
50.	Clinton Portis (29)	81	2002-2010	2TM
	Ricky Williams (33)	81	1999-2010	2TM

Now, here are the all-time leaders in career AV. Some of the names may surprise you.

Rank	Player (age), + - HOFer, Bold - Active	AV	Years	Teams
1.	Brett Favre (41)	250	1991-2010	4TM
	Jerry Rice+	250	1985-2004	3TM
3.	Reggie White+	234	1985-2000	3TM
4.	Bruce Smith+	222	1985-2003	2TM
5.	Dan Marino+	218	1983-1999	mia
6.	Alan Page+	215	1967-1981	2TM
	Fran Tarkenton+	215	1961-1978	2TM
8.	Peyton Manning (34)	204	1998-2010	clt
9.	John Elway+	203	1983-1998	den
10.	Johnny Unitas+	202	1956-1973	2TM
11.	Merlin Olsen+	200	1962-1976	ram
12.	Rod Woodson+	194	1987-2003	4TM
13.	Carl Eller+	190	1964-1979	2TM
14.	Junior Seau	189	1990-2009	3TM
15.	Ray Lewis (35)	188	1996-2010	rav
16.	Bruce Matthews+	187	1983-2001	oti
	Derrick Brooks	187	1995-2008	tam
18.	Lawrence Taylor+	185	1981-1993	nyg
19.	Anthony Munoz+	181	1980-1992	cin
	Andy Robustelli+	181	1951-1964	2TM
21.	Jim Marshall	179	1960-1979	2TM
22.	Bill George+	177	1952-1966	2TM
23.	Paul Krause+	176	1964-1979	2TM
24.	Bob Lilly+	175	1961-1974	dal
25.	Chuck Bednarik+	173	1949-1962	phi
26.	Steve Young+	171	1985-1999	2TM
27.	Doug Atkins+	170	1953-1969	3TM
28.	Emmitt Smith+	169	1990-2004	2TM
29.	Walter Payton+	168	1975-1987	chi
30.	Warren Moon+	166	1984-2000	4TM
	Joe Greene+	166	1969-1981	pit
32.	Marshall Faulk	165	1994-2005	2TM
33.	Joe Montana+	164	1979-1994	2TM
34.	Dan Fouts+	162	1973-1987	sdg
	Ted Hendricks+	162	1969-1983	3TM
	Michael Strahan	162	1993-2007	nyg
37.	Mike Singletary+	161	1981-1992	chi
	Marvin Harrison	161	1996-2008	clt
	Ken Anderson	161	1971-1986	cin
40.	Gino Marchetti+	160	1952-1966	2TM
	Jack Youngblood+	160	1971-1984	ram
42.	Ronnie Lott+	159	1981-1994	3TM
43.	Jim Ringo+	157	1953-1967	2TM
44.	Randy White+	156	1975-1988	dal
	Terrell Owens (37)	156	1996-2010	5TM
	Chris Doleman	156	1985-1999	3TM
47.	Rickey Jackson+	155	1981-1995	2TM
48.	Darrell Green+	154	1983-2002	was
	Jack Ham+	154	1971-1982	pit
	Joe Schmidt+	154	1953-1965	det
	Ron Yary+	154	1968-1982	2TM
52.	Leo Nomellini+	153	1950-1963	sfo
	Randy Moss (33)	153	1998-2010	4TM
	Ken Houston+	153	1967-1980	2TM
55.	Barry Sanders+	152	1989-1998	det
	Emlen Tunnell+	152	1948-1961	2TM
57.	Gene Upshaw+	151	1967-1981	rai
58.	Willie Brown+	150	1963-1978	2TM
59.	Mick Tingelhoff	149	1962-1978	min
	Jason Taylor (36)	149	1997-2010	3TM
	Ernie Stautner+	149	1950-1963	pit
	Warren Sapp	149	1995-2007	2TM
	Mel Renfro+	149	1964-1977	dal
	Mel Blount+	149	1970-1983	pit
65.	Chris Hanburger	148	1965-1978	was
	Jimmy Johnson+	148	1961-1976	sfo
	Zach Thomas	148	1996-2008	2TM
68.	Deion Sanders	147	1989-2005	5TM
69.	Willie Wood+	146	1960-1971	gnb
	Y.A. Tittle+	146	1948-1964	3TM
	Willie Roaf	146	1993-2005	2TM
72.	Tim Brown	145	1988-2004	2TM
	Deacon Jones+	145	1961-1974	3TM
	Alex Karras	145	1958-1970	det
	Mike Kenn	145	1978-1994	atl
76.	Mike Webster+	144	1974-1990	2TM
77.	Bobby Layne+	143	1948-1962	4TM
	Randall McDaniel+	143	1988-2001	2TM
79.	LaDainian Tomlinson (31)	142	2001-2010	2TM
	Vinny Testaverde	142	1987-2007	7TM
	Jack Lambert+	142	1974-1984	pit
	John Hannah+	142	1973-1985	nwe
	Tony Gonzalez (34)	142	1997-2010	2TM
	Marcus Allen+	142	1982-1997	2TM
85.	Ronde Barber (35)	141	1997-2010	tam
	Lomas Brown	141	1985-2002	5TM
	James Lofton+	141	1978-1993	5TM
	Ron McDole	141	1961-1978	4TM
89.	Herb Adderley+	140	1961-1972	2TM
	Bob Griese+	140	1967-1980	mia
	Steve Largent+	140	1976-1989	sea
	Yale Lary+	140	1952-1964	det
	Jim Otto+	140	1960-1974	rai
	Isiah Robertson	140	1971-1982	2TM
95.	John Randle+	139	1990-2003	2TM
96.	Terry Bradshaw+	138	1970-1983	pit
	Mike Haynes+	138	1976-1989	2TM
	Norm Van Brocklin+	138	1949-1960	2TM
99.	Drew Bledsoe	137	1993-2006	3TM
	Rosey Brown+	137	1953-1965	nyg
	Isaac Bruce	137	1994-2009	2TM
	Nick Buoniconti+	137	1962-1976	2TM
	Len Dawson+	137	1957-1975	3TM
	Tony Dorsett+	137	1977-1988	2TM
	Henry Jordan+	137	1957-1969	2TM
	Dave Krieg	137	1980-1998	6TM
	Night Train Lane+	137	1952-1965	3TM
	Clay Matthews	137	1978-1996	2TM
	Thurman Thomas+	137	1988-2000	2TM
	Russ Washington	137	1968-1982	sdg