That Just Happened

Learning never stops.  Unless you’re an idiot.

Semi-instant reaction to Saturday’s Wild Card contests…

Cincinnati vs. Houston

Prediction – Bengals 20, Texans 16

Result – Texans 31, Bengals 10

Okay, so maybe this was wishful thinking from a Patriots fan hoping to avoid a Steelers/Ravens gauntlet but more importantly, I forgot one key factor in this game.  Marvin Lewis is the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals.

If Lewis doesn’t blow both first half challenges and two timeouts, it might have made sense to try to score on the Bengals last possession of the half.  Instead of heading to the locker room tied 10-10, Lewis order up a two minute offense for his rookie QB, starting on his own 20, working against the third best scoring defense in the NFL with just one timeout in hand.

I can’t say the Bengals would’ve won had they run out the first half, of course.  Marvin Lewis would’ve still been coaching the Bengals in the second half, too.

Detroit vs. Houston

Prediction – Saints 55, Lions 28

Result – Saints 45, Lions 28

If the Saints hadn’t gotten off to a slow start I think I would’ve nailed this one.  Hey, three out of the four numbers on the scoreboard ain’t bad.

Return of the Prodigious Son

In crisis, opportunity.  Before the angry mob could finish soaking their torches in kerosene and march on Patriots Place over the incipient departure of Bill O’Brien, the Patriots had engineered the return of Josh McDaniels to the Patriots as a bridge back to the future.  (If you think that sentence was hard to read, trust me, it was even harder to write.)  McDaniels will join New England immediately as an offensive assistant and become the OC for the 2012 season. 

There are open questions about McDaniels’ role in the near term, of course, as O’Brien will remain OC for the playoffs but given the “In Bill We Trust” sensibilities of Patriots Nation and the fact that McDaniels comes from the Patriots system, the net-net here looks to be a positive. 

Beyond that, and it’s easy to get ahead of ourselves here, there are two key points that are already trending…

The Succession Plan

A week ago, I saw McDaniels going to Kansas City as the heir apparent to Romeo Crennel; replace/all Romeo Crennel with Bill Belichick.  Assuming McDaniels is willing to wait the three to five years I would guess (hope) Belichick will continue to spin the whistle around his finger, he would be the obvious choice to become the next head coach of the Patriots.  He’s young, he knows the system, and he’s already had his Cleveland in his stint with the Broncos.

McDaniels has been credited with the development of Matt Cassel into a starting NFL quarterback.  What might McDaniels do with a talented young QB like Ryan Mallett?

Brady has said that he wants to play till he’s 40 and neither he nor Belichick appear to be slowing down but what happens if New England should bring home another Lombardi Trophy in the next three years?  Well, if the Patriots win this year (fingers crossed!) I’m sure they will be back in 2012, of course, so my only real point here is that saying you want to play till you’re 40 when you’re 33 is different from feeling like you can still play at a high level when you’re 38. 

Given the inevitable uncertainty in the longer term, McDaniels returning to New England is even more important. 

Just look at the Indianapolis Colts right now.  They aren’t just looking at the end of the Peyton Manning era, they’re looking at a paradigm shift in their system and philosophy with the firing of their front office that will likely lead to tearing down the entire roster.  The young players taken in the last three drafts were selected for the old system and may not fit in the new; combined with the likely release of older, higher paid players and the Colts will be building from scratch. 

Much can happen in the next three years to be sure but New England now seems positioned for success not only for the near term for the next decade and beyond.