Random thoughts on the NFL

Bill Belichick has rolled out 5 solid teams in 6 years. Naturally, other ballclubs have picked off senior members of his staff over the years. However, starting with Eric Mangini, we are in the beginning of the newest fad in football - young, smart, cocky, energic head coaches who can relate to players while being able to keep them in line (and buy into the quirks of the system).

Romeo Crennel, a hot offseason commodity just a few seasons ago, has not fared so well. Charlie Weis, while bringing Notre Dame back into the CFB coversion, gets mixed reviews for failing to win a big bowl after two reasonably successful seasons in South Bend. The departures of Crennel and Weis were the catalysts for the newest flavor of the league. Like Belichick, they were desciples of Bill Parcells. Not surprisingly, both Crennel and Weis have coaching styles akin to Parcellsian football thought- Crennel's hard-nosed defense (yet to materialize in Clevelend) and Weis' star QB-centric offense (Brady Quinn, a product of the system?).

The hiring of Eric Mangini by the Jets marked the first purely Bill Belichick coaching offspring. Now that he took a star-less Jets team to the playoffs (5-6 wins better than expert projections), look for the copious copy-happy NFL front offices to look for guys in the Mangini mold. First, and I don't even know the answer to this (Trout, I'll need your input), who, if any, are bright, young assistants/coordinators for the Pats right now? You gotta be thinking another 1-2 head coaches will come from Belichick himself. The next degree of separation is Mangini, where Brian Schottenheimer already has his feelers out, waiting for the a job that's a good fit for him (I bet he takes over the Chargers after next season - move over, Pop). If the Pats/Jets lose another assistant/coordinator/ball boy, Belichick (and hopefully Mangini) will find the next hard-working, NESCAC graduate who sleeps under 4 hours a day because he's up late watching game film or drawing up next week's most outside-the-box formations.

The Bobby Petrino hiring in Atlanta sort of follows these conventions. He was hired based on his ability to take dynamic players and create an innovative offense around them (I guess Herpenator #7 falls into this category). So, the question is, who is Al Davis going to hire? Rumor has it that he is interested in Denny Green. Isn't he the exact same guy as Art Shell? This old-school style of coaching is very quickly becoming an obsolete style of coaching. How the hell does Tom Coughlin still have a job? I won't get into Marty Schottenheimer in this post (note: I had half of a monster post prodding for Marty's resignation after last week's horrendous loss, but I accidentally closed the browser).

On a related note, the Chargers and Bears really crapped the bed for me last weekend. I could write another 3000 words about those games, but I think it's better for everyone that I accept defeat and make this weekend's picks.

Patriots (+3) at Indy.

I really want the Pats to lose here. But no sane sports fan can bet on Peyton and the Colts in this matchup. No matter what, this one will be close. Hate to admit it, but you should never bet against Brady and Belichick against Peyton and Dungy. I hope I lose this one.

The Pick: Pats 27, Colts 20

Chicago (-2.5) versus New Orleans

So, basically, Vegas thinks the Saints are a better team. They looked great last week, but that was against a team lacking superior talent at every position outside of the secondary. I think the Bears D will be able to shut down Duece between the tackles, which stops the Saints from setting up the passing game and the Reggie Bush game.

The Pick: Bears 20, Saints 10