| Authored by Jef Risdon - 17th November, 2008 - 4:05 pm
 I once worked for a very successful, up-and-coming company that was the envy of its industry. We were successful enough to have an annual company retreat to a posh resort in Scottsdale, with golf, massages, great food, and boundless optimism. One particularly good year, our feature presentation was an in-house film set to the Van Halen song “Dreams”, looped endlessly over top of shots of happy employees hard at work. The message was clear: if you can dream it, we can do it.
That company no longer exists, at least not in any recognizable form. It over-expanded, merged, got bought out, and then the industry (auto leasing and finance) radically changed. If you would have told any of the hundreds of us that year in Scottsdale that, to quote another Van Halen song, the dream is over so quickly and dramatically, you would have needed a sneeze guard to protect against the spit-take guffaws. But sadly, dreams do die. And often when they die, it’s a very painful, ugly sight to behold. That was true of my old employer, and it’s certainly true in the NFL.
It’s one thing to have your Super Bowl aspirations, however unrealistic they might be, dashed by the end of September, like the Lions and Chiefs this year. Deep down those players and coaches (except Jon Kitna, who absolutely believed the Lions were going to win 10 games) knew it wasn’t really going to happen. No, it’s the teams that harbored fairly realistic dreams of playing deep into January that are the heartbreakers. I saw that very clearly this Sunday in three teams in particular, San Diego, Jacksonville, and Philadelphia.
The dreams in San Diego are perhaps the most painful to watch die. This team was one possession away from the Super Bowl last season, and now they find themselves 4-6 and with enough serious flaws that they might actually be lucky to have a record that good. All season the defense has been a major problem, and when that unit finally rises up and plays a great game in tough conditions on the road, the heretofore potent offense lays a giant egg. All the offseason surgeries and injuries have been a killer, but the aura of overconfidence that this team carried into the season is what really set up this failure. They were not as good as they thought they were, even if Merriman was playing and the San Diego Surgery Club (Rivers, Hardwick, LT, Gates) was close to 100%. Only Rivers is even close to his 2007 physical ability. Poor Norv Turner just doesn’t have the chutzpah or locker-room clout to keep the dream alive.
You could watch the Jacksonville season go down the drain on the beautiful Kerry Collins pass to Justin Gage that sealed the win for the Titans. The lofty offseason dreams were already wobbly, but giving away a double-digit halftime lead over the undefeated Titans completely deflated the balloon. Getting beat despite basically outplaying the opponent just crushes the will, and that really bit the Jaguars, who are now two games behind a whole host of teams in the Wild Card race. Owner Wayne Weaver has to wonder what to do with his team, and more specifically his head coach. Jack Del Rio ran Marcus Stroud out of town, ran Byron Leftwich and Donovin Darius off, and recently banished team captain Mike Peterson to backup/doghouse status. Maybe all those talented, leadership-minded guys weren’t the bigger part of the problem, considering the iffy guys Del Rio has bent over backwards to keep (Matt Jones, Jerry Porter). What makes this deflated dream really painful is that the Jaguars are the only pro franchise in town; at least when my beloved Cavaliers lost to the Celtics last year, Clevelanders could turn the page and dream about the Indians and Browns. Of course, those dreams became nightmares, but at least the nights weren’t sleepless agony.
Philadelphia still has a little bit of REM left, but the alarm clock is about to buzz. That missed Shayne Graham FG at the end of overtime that afforded the Eagles a tie and not a loss keeps the dream alive, but this team needs a stiff dose of medication to hold onto that hope. For a variety of reasons--iffy playcalling, underachieving DB's, inconsistent run blocking, Donovan McNabb’s erratic play, special teams issues--the Eagles find themselves 5-4-1 and looking up at the rest of their brutal division. The good news: they are just a half-game back of both Dallas and Washington, and the other NFC 6-4 team, Atlanta, definitely has a tough finishing schedule. Of course, the Eagles'own schedule is quite daunting, with the next three games at the Ravens, home for the surging Cardinals, and at the dominating Giants. Philly cannot hit the snooze button for even one quarter or else their season is done.
- Jeff.Risdon@RealGM.com |
