Okay, first of all, get off my back.  Better late than never, fellow football nerds.

I refused to write an update last week because I don’t think the Raiders warrant anyone treating them like a legitimate NFL team.  This week’s is late because [no one cares about personal lives or excuses, so leaving this blank].  Anyway, enough excuses and no cares anyway:

Eagles – An Endangered Species

With the current trend of NCAA coaches cheating as heavily as possible to build a successful program and bolting to the NFL when the heat comes on (And I’m not going to name any names.  It certainly has nothing to do with playing CHIP KELLY this week), we can expect Urban Meyer to return to Florida with the Jaguars any day now.  Worse, as low rent as Chip Kelly–I mean this–is, the NFL gets worse, here’s looking at you Mike herpes-infested Vick.

Of course, no terrible franchise, I mean the Eagles, discussion would be complete without at least mentioning Riley Cooper.  The only thing Riley Cooper likes more than football is jumping fences.  Wait, that’s not the important take away from that video?

Riley, meet Duke.  Duke, Riley.  You boys play nice across the middle, now.

How to Stop Chip Kelly’s Innovative-for-High-School-Sports Offense:

Just add Altitude.  The best part is that Pillsbury Dough-Boy looking dipshit decided to fly in late as opposed to getting acclimated.  Enjoy the second half!

This defense (pic taken from the article here – as a side note, check this guy’s work out, Bronco fans.  Bronco Mike’s doing some amazing work over at MileHighReport):

Here we find a nickel defense in a traditional 43 look where unheralded yet demi-god like beast Chris Harris is playing more of a traditional Sam backer role than a corner.  Ayers (7 tech), Knighton (1), Vickerson (3) and Wolfe (Wide-9) have the size up front to bully Philly’s offensive line and helps aid this level of versatility–next week I plan to examine this defense wide versatility with more depth and clarity.  For now, here’s the score card on Chris Harris:

Perimeter corner? Check

Inside corner? Check

Safety? Check

Sam Backer? Check

No huddle, no substitutions?  No problem.

The [likely] Return of Champ Bailey

“Champ is older.”  “Champ has certainly lost a step.”  “The last time we saw Champ, he was getting torched and causing our playoff exit.”

While all true, let’s talk about what Bailey does bring to the table: Everything.

No wasted movement.  The surest perimeter tackler the league has likely ever seen.  Communication.  Contain.  Route recognition.  Good ball skills.  Intimidation.

Champ Bailey, the greatest Bronco between the Elway-Manning eras, can still cover the best in the business… with safety help over the top.

“But how can you take DRC or Harris off the field?!?”

Well, you don’t.  This is the value of a defensive back.  The discussion between #2 and #3 is irrelevant.  Tony Carter played 63 snaps against the Giants.  That’s more than our starting DTs, Vickerson and Knighton, COMBINED.  Kayvon Webster got playing time against the Raiders after Tony Carter went down with injury, and still had 27 snaps–those are starting numbers for defensive linemen.

In light of the success of DRC and Harris, many have suggested using Champ as a slot corner, or just matching him up against opposing teams poorer perimeter receiver.  When Champ returns full-time, whether today or next week or after the Bye, we can expect to see him back to manning his LCB position, typically the #1 corner slot.  Why?  Because he’s more comfortable there, here’s how this works:

As a corner, your greatest asset is the sideline.  You learn how to work the sideline, whether your coverage dictates giving the sideline to play inside and cut off the ball or whether you want to take the sideline away to funnel the receiver inside toward safety help.  Essentially, imagine spending your whole life driving in the United States and then being asked to drive 100 MPH on the wrong side of the road in England.  It’s incredibly uncomfortable and simply unnecessary given DRC’s extensive experience on the right-side in Philly.

As a defensive back, Tony Carter, our Tramon Williams clone, can rest, stay healthy and be ready to come off the bench to provide stellar depth at any given point.  And again, with the versatility in which we use our DBs (and our defense as a whole), no one will be off the field for long.

Offensively

If Pillsbury wants to increase the number of plays, Peyton laughs and increases the number of points.  We can also look forward to watching our backfield develop as we spend the vast majority of the game grinding the clock with a half-billion point lead–admittedly a pessimistic, conservative estimate.

The Streak

Speaking of demigods, it may be time for Peyton Manning to legally change him name to Gilgamesh.  With 12 TDs and 0 INTs through 3 games, this can’t possibly continue, can it?

We’ll use this section to track the streak.  You’re welcome in advance for jinxing it today!

Free Money – Road Teams Edition

I had San Fran in this category, but procrastination pushes that off a cliff.  Anyway, extras for missing last week too

Baltimore -2.5

Cinci -4

Indi -7.5

Seattle -2.5

NYG +4

Washington -3.5

New Orleans -6.5

Cumulative ATS record so far: 2-2 (not free money)

Bronco Stuff Worth Checking Out

Make sure you check out Brandon Perna’s “That’s Good Broncos”.  Amazing and hilarious recaps of all things Broncos.  Here’s a recent example of his great work: