Logo of a former professional hockey team that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1922 until 1926, the Victoria Cougars. In 1925, the Cougars actually won the Stanley Cup, and are the last non-NHL team to win the Cup. Coached by the legendary Lester Patrick, the team defeated the Montreal Canadiens to win that championship. Some of their notable players were Jocko Anderson, Hec Fowler, Frank Foyston, Harry Meeking and Jack Walker.
1982 Opeechee hockey card of former Edmonton Oiler Jarri Kurri. A native of Finland, he had a long and storied career in the National Hockey League, mostly as an Oiler, where he played on 5 Stanley Cup winning teams. Although he played in the shadow of teammates Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier on those teams, Kurri was an outstanding player in his own right, scoring 600 career goals. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001, and currently serves as the general manager of Team Finland.
I picked 3 winners out of 4 in last weekend’s divisional round playoff games, with the only incorrect pick being the Giants’ big upset in Green Bay. Here are my choices for the upcoming conference title games:
New York Giants at San Francisco – it’s hard to pick against the Giants, as they are on a roll eerily similar to the one they rode to the title in 2007. The Giants have something going for them that any team needs to have to win in the modern day NFL, the ability to pressure the opposing quarterback with just their front four. They have something that the New Orleans Saints, who had record-breaking QB Drew Brees, didn’t have, that is a defense just as physical as the 49ers defense. They also have a QB with postseason experience in Eli Manning, who has the chance to double the Super Bowl ring total of older brother Peyton this year. The home field advantage will allow San Francisco to stay in the game, but I see the Giants winning in the end, with Eli supplying the fourth quarter heroics to get it done.
Baltimore at New England – if this game boils down to a Tom Brady vs. Joe Flacco shootout, then the Patriots should win easily. However, the playing field between the 2 QBs is leveled by the competence of the defenses each has to face. Brady has the tough task of trying to score against a physical Ravens’ team that should make it a long day for them. Led by veterans Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, Baltimore, like last year’s New York Jets, has the defense to slow down the Pat attack, and the running game, led by Ray Rice, to control the ball and keep Brady off the field. Flacco wasn’t impressive last week in his team’s win over Houston, but he faces a much weaker D this week. New England becomes the final top team that relies on offense to falter, following New Orleans and Green Bay, and loses to the Ravens at home.
With the AFC championship game coming up this weekend, the featured logo today is the logo of the last team to win the championship of the old American Football League before it merged with the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs were one of the most progressive franchises in the old AFL, behind coach Hank Stram, and were aggressive in pursuing black players from small colleges – players who helped them become a solid club. The Chiefs faced tragedy twice in their AFL years, as players Stone Johnson (in 1963) and Mack Lee Hill (in 1965) died after suffering injuries. The club finished the AFL decade on a high, though, winning the league’s final championship, then stunning the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV.
1964 Philadelphia football card of former Green Bay Packer defensive end Willie Davis. With the conference championship games coming up this weekend, this is a great card to feature, since Davis played in 6 NFL championship games in his Packer career, with the Pack winning 5 of them. Davis played 12 seasons in the NFL, starting in 1956 with the Cleveland Browns. He was traded to Green Bay in 1960, becoming a stalwart on the Packer defense that won those 5 titles, which also included the first two Super Bowls. Davis never missed a game in those 12 seasons, and was a five time Pro Bowler. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981.
I managed to pick 3 of the 4 wild card games correctly last weekend. Of course, no one saw Denver’s upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers coming. Here are my divisional round picks:
New Orleans at San Francisco – the Saints’ offense has looked mostly unstoppable recently, while the 49ers win with a patient offense and good defense. If defense really wins championships, then the Niners should win this game. I’ll pick them to pull the upset.
Denver at New England – the Patriots have been beaten at home in their opening playoff game the last 2 years, and it says here they’ll be on a mission to correct that against the Broncos. The Patriots win handily.
Houston at Baltimore – this should be a defensive struggle, and I just can’t see the Texans’ third-string QB having any success against the Ravens’ defense. Baltimore wins a low scoring game.
New York Giants at Green Bay – the Giants have been peaking at the right time, and the Packers, during their bye week, had the tragedy of the son of their offensive coordinator drowning. I still believe Green Bay will find enough focus to win at home, although it will be a rough and tumble game and won’t be easy.
Alternate logo of the Houston Oilers football team, which was a charter member of the old American Football League that started play in 1960, and became an NFL team when the leagues merged prior to the 1970 season. The Oilers played in Houston until 1997, when they relocated to Tennessee, where they played for 2 seasons as the Tennessee Oilers before changing the team name to the Titans. The Oilers won the first 2 AFL championships in 1960 and ’61, but haven’t won a title since. The team boasts seven Pro Football Hall of Famers – George Blanda, Ken Houston, Elvin Bethea, Earl Campbell, Mike Munchak, Bruce Matthews and Warren Moon.
1974 Topps football card of former player Marlin Briscoe. “Marlin The Magician” started his pro career in 1968 with the American Football League’s Denver Broncos, entering training camp as the eighth quarterback on the team’s depth chart. He made the team, which was the AFL’s worst at the time, and injuries knocked out 2 other QBs. That meant when Briscoe broke the huddle on October 6, 1968 in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals, he became the first black starting quarterback in pro football history. After being released by the Broncos he moved on to Buffalo, where he was converted to wide receiver, a move that was made routinely with black QBs at the time. Briscoe went on to have a fine 9 year career as a receiver, playing on 2 Miami Super Bowl winning teams.
This fourth and final installment of the 2011 Buffalo Bills’ season review is really a look forward, exploring paths the team could possibly take to improve their roster next season. I wasn’t planning on discussing coaching staff additions in this review, but recently 2 Buffalo offensive assistants – QB coach George Cortez and WR coach Stan Hixon – left the team, Cortez taking a head coaching job in the CFL and Hixon moving to the revamped Penn State staff. In Indianapolis, GM Bill Polian and his son Chris were relieved of their duties, leaving coach Jim Caldwell and his staff in limbo until a new GM decides their fate. That means the Colts’ former QB coach and current WR coach, Frank Reich, is also in limbo. It isn’t often that a team can excite its’ fan base through an assistant coach hiring, but that would be the case if the team hired Reich. He was basically a coach on the sidelines when he played here, and I remember a story involving Reich and Peyton Manning, where the pair spent the off-season breaking down all of Peyton’s interceptions from the previous season, which were uncharacteristically high that year, in an effort to cut down on them the next year. That sounds like just the sort of medicine Ryan Fitzpatrick could use. As for the WR coach opening, I wonder what James Lofton is up to these days? He has held that position for both the Chargers and Raiders, and at the very least might be able to teach Stevie Johnson a thing or two about being a professional.
As for improving the roster, here’s hoping the Bills are aggressive in pursuing not only just any free agents, but the right type of free agents, players who fit with the current roster. Also, it would be a great help if the Bills have a draft similar to 2011, which appears to have been a good one. With that in mind, the following are my thoughts on how the Bills can improve in the off-season.
The positions on the team that need to be addressed, in no particular order, are as follows: on offense – wide receiver, tackle, and some competition at back-up quarterback. On defense, there is a definite need for some pass rushers, either at defensive end or outside linebacker, or both, and a cornerback. Here are the options at those positions that may be available for the Bills to pursue:
Wide Receiver
The Bills have the 10th pick in the first round of the college draft, and if Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon somehow falls to that spot, the Bills MUST take him, despite their need to improve the defense. He is as much of a can’t-miss pro prospect as projected # 1 pick Andrew Luck. Blackmon is a stud who racks up big yardage after the catch, a major plus in today’s NFL, where secondary players all suffer from the “Deion Sanders Syndrome”, meaning they all play with Prime Time’s attitude that it isn’t their job to tackle, and game film is loaded with these players purposely taking bad angles and avoiding contact at all costs. He had an outstanding Bowl game, and is climbing the draft boards to the point where he will probably be long gone by the time the Bills pick. If the Bills go defense with their top pick, a big receiver who could be available to them in round 2 is Nick Toon from Wisconsin. He is projected as a second round talent, and has good bloodlines. His father is former New York Jet wideout Al Toon. In free agency, the player who stands out as a guy who would be a perfect fit in Buffalo is New Orleans WR Marques Colston. He has been a prime target for Drew Brees with the Saints, and that team will be shelling out big bucks for Brees, who is also a free agent, as is another of his prime targets, Robert Meachem. There could be a scenario where the Saints can’t afford to sign all 3 of them, and the right offer could entice Colston. He is a former 7th round draft pick who battled and clawed his way to Pro Bowl status. In other words, he is the perfect Buffalo Bill.
Offensive Tackle
The top offensive tackle in the draft is USC’s Matt Khalil, and he’ll be long gone by the time Buffalo picks. Two tackles who could be available at # 10 and would be good value picks are Riley Reiff of Iowa and Jonathan Martin of Stanford, who blocked for Luck. As for free agents, there aren’t any tackles on the market worth whatever price would have to be paid. If the Bills decided to go this route, the best option might be to hang on to their own and re-sign Demetrius Bell.
Quarterback
If Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III fell to the Bills at the tenth spot in the draft, there would be fans clamoring to take him, but if it were my choice, I’d trade the pick at that point to the highest bidder and stock up on extra picks to strengthen other positions. What the Bills need is a young QB to learn behind Fitzpatrick and eventually challenge Tyler Thigpen for the #2 spot. That means looking for a good, young one in the middle rounds of the draft would be a good option, since there are none on the free agent market who would be an upgrade over Thigpen. Green Bay’s backup, Matt Flynn, will be a hot commodity on the market but he’ll be looking to sign with a team where he’ll be the starter. The Bills will have an extra fourth round draft pick, from the Lee Evans trade, so that might be a good spot for them to go after a QB. A couple of potential picks there would be Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden, who was Blackmon’s QB, and San Diego State’s Ryan Lindley. Both have good size at 6’4/215 lbs. and would be ideal development projects behind Fitzpatrick.
Defensive End/Outside Linebacker
The Bills really need to find some pass rushers, and there will be some good ones available. On the free agent market, the Colts’ Robert Mathis would be a great addition. He has played in the shadow of Dwight Freeney on the Colts’ line but is a great player in his own right, and would immediately improve the Bills’ defense. It’s likely Mathis will move on, since the Colts will be cash-strapped having to sign Peyton Manning, plus pony up top draft pick money for Andrew Luck. The Bills don’t have a history of making big splashes in free agency, so if they somehow signed Colston or Mathis, it would be big news. One player who could be a sleeper is Dallas outside linebacker Anthony Spencer. He’s been a bit of a disappointment so far and may not be able to command big money, but has a lot of potential if he’s in the right system. Most of the other LBs on the market are inside backers, which the Bills don’t really need. The best 2 outside rush backers in the draft are Courtney Upshaw of national champion Alabama, and USC’s Nick Perry. They both could be available when the Bills pick tenth, and both would be good picks there. Upshaw was a teammate of Marcell Dareus in college so he would seem to fit, but in my opinion Perry is the better player. The top defensve end in the draft appears to be junior Quinton Coples of North Carolina, who is entering the draft early. A lot of draft experts have the Bills picking Coples with that 10th pick, and the Bills have been partial to UNC players, with Da’Norris Searcy and Johnny White drafted from there in 2011.
Cornerback
The best corner available in the draft is clearly Morris Claiborne of LSU, and if he falls to the tenth spot, again, he would be a great choice by the Bills. He could be plugged in opposite Aaron Williams as a starting CB and the team would be set for a decade with a pair of great cover corners who also play a good physical game against the run, something almost no NFL team possesses today. On the free agent market, there just aren’t any standout players who would be worth the money the team would have to pay to get them. Secondary play in the NFL today is so poor that any players whose contracts run out without their team trying to lock them up are most likely guys who aren’t going to upgrade your roster anyway.
Logo of a proposed expansion franchise in the National Football League that never came to be, the Memphis HounDogs. The group hoping to be awarded the franchise in the early 1990s included Elvis Presley Enterprises, hence the team nickname, which was a nod to the 1950s rock-n-roll legend’s hit song. Unfortunately, the NFL awarded the franchises to Jacksonville and Carolina, although Memphis housed an NFL team temporarily when the Houston Oilers relocated to Tennessee and played there for a year before moving into their permanent home in Nashville.