by
Denard Robinson
Certain Wolverines Can Still Play Football
The Jacksonville Jaguars won for the first time this year, and it was largely due to the stellar play of their second-year tailback...Denard Robinson.
“Shoelace” carried the rock 22 times on Sunday to the tune of 127 yards and a game-clinching touchdown in the final quarter.
The former college QB appears quite comfortable as a professional running back. He is explosive through the line, can juke while maintaining acceleration, and has the sheer burst capable of breaking off a big play.
The only knock on him might be his size, where at 197 pounds he could lack the necessary bulk to withstand a season’s worth of gang tackles. A guy like Joique Bell checks in at 230, and the league’s leading rusher, DeMarco Murray of the Cowboys, is right around 220.
It was a huge day for Robinson, and not many people can honestly say they saw it coming.
Last year, he generally carried the ball between zero and four times a game. He never scored a touchdown.
His workload increased a bit this year, but nothing to indicate such a breakout performance was forthcoming. Through six games, he had accounted for 98 yards on the ground. That total was eclipsed in just a few hours Sunday afternoon.
For a guy that spent the majority of his time in Ann Arbor under center, it is mighty impressive he’s been able to switch gears in a relatively short period of time and secure a starting spot in an NFL backfield. Even if it is for the lowly Jaguars.
(Watch some of Denard Robinson’s highlights by clicking here)
Playoff-Bound Lions? The Schedule Says Yes
The wheels are starting to fall off the train of the Chicago Bears. They got smoked at home by a mediocre Dolphins team on Sunday, their third loss in four games.
Afterwards, diva receiver Brandon Marshall criticized quarterback Jay Cutler, and some reports say he even lit into kicker Robbie Gould.
This all sets up very well for the Lions, who later this year, encounter a four-week stretch that is now looking very juicy -- consecutive home games against the Bears, Buccaneers, and Vikings (combined record 6-14), followed by a trip to Chicago.
Yesterday’s wildly dramatic late-game comeback against New Orleans brought the Lions record to a glistening 5 and 2, and the stars are perfectly aligned for this to be the second Honolulu Blue playoff appearance of the 21st century.
The schedule is wonderfully forgiving from this point forward. Next week’s opponent, the Falcons, have lost four straight, and with the Bears crumbling, there might only be a few really dangerous spots for the Lions in their last nine weeks of play.
Of course, fans of the Leos have been burned in this spot before, but the road ahead just looks too welcoming. Even the most inexperienced of boaters can’t crash the ship if the water doesn’t produce any waves.
Hack-a-Drum
The Pistons picked up a quality pre-season win Saturday night in Atlanta, besting the Hawks after trailing by eight heading into the final quarter. Andre Drummond dominated the interior, racking up 17 points and 17 boards.
Andre Drummond/ AP photo
But it’s hard to ignore that pesky column in his stat line, the one titled, “FTM-A.” Drummond had seven opportunities at the free throw line on Saturday, converting just once. That follows a 1-for-4 performance in the game prior.
The reason this could be so problematic, aside from the fact that critical points are being left on the board, is that teams will likely start hacking Drummond down the stretch in close games, all but forcing Stan Van Gundy to remove his best player.
The Pistons are not nearly talented enough to play winning ball without the services of Goose Drummond. But in order for him to responsibly remain in the game with the score close in the fourth quarter, he needs to be able to make a free throw.
And it doesn’t mean he needs to become Yao Ming, one of the best free throw-shooting big men of all-time. But he cannot go 16-of-42, for 38%, like he has this pre-season.
It must improve. For a championship-level squad like the LA Lakers with bricklaying Shaquille O’Neal, they had such significant talent that his handicap could be easily overcome.
The Pistons are not of that quality, however, and to be blunt, even Shaq would have scoffed at shooting in the high-30’s. He was by no means the second coming of Mark Price, but he spent the majority of his career a shade north of 50%. Drummond must find a way to get there, too.
Charlie Villanueva Still Bombing Away
In other basketball news, former Piston check-casher Charlie Villanueva is desperately trying to earn a roster spot with the Dallas Mavericks. And he’s not letting one minute of this pre-season go to waste -- when he’s on the floor, he’s getting the ball, and then he’s shooting the ball. Passing is not an option.
Charlie Villanueva
He played 19 minutes Saturday night in Indiana and somehow fired off a whopping 13 shots.
In games before that, he managed to hoist 6 threes in 11 minutes, 4 threes in 10 minutes, and another half-dozen in 14. To Charlie V.’s credit, he’s making some of them, too.
He’s canned 10 treys in 23 attempts. Pay no mind that he’s collected exactly one assist along the way, or that he’s acting as if the NBA league ball has been permanently replaced with an actual hot potato. If Villanueva is going to earn that place on the Mavs, it will be by hitting shots.
Rick Carlisle has gone on record saying Charlie’s chances of sticking with the club will rest on his ability to “prove he can defend.” Excuse me for one moment while I spend the next 45 minutes laughing.
If this whole thing was going to come down to defense and/or hustle, why bother inviting Villanueva to camp at all?
This Thing Is Still Going?
The World Series is slated to begin tomorrow night, but excitement throughout the country seems to have waned. And it’s not because the two teams lack star power or big-market pull. It’s that this whole thing is just far too long.
Today is October 20th. Simply put, the World Series should be over already. When the Tigers trounced the Padres in 1984, the title was clinched the night of October 14th. You could wear a sweatshirt and fall jacket to the game, but not be in need of a beanie and mink coat. It was perfect.
You took the momentum of the final weeks of the regular season, rolled it right through to the playoffs, and got the whole thing completed before temperatures dropped below 40 and the national spotlight turned too heavily to the action on the gridiron.
Only now, MLB does the opposite. They drag the thing out. Excruciatingly.
Wild Card play-ins, then the divisional rounds, then the league championships. By the time the World Series finally arrives, the country is almost baseballed out.
The tournament feels more like a battle of attrition than anything else. The Royals and Giants were not close to being baseball’s best teams in 2014. They’re just the only ones with any energy left.
Next year, the World Series will begin, laughably, on October 28th. Game 7 would take place on November 5th. Can you even still refer to the event as the Fall Classic when the baseball is covered in snow and the home plate umpire’s nose is a carrot?
Whether it’s shortening the regular season or eliminating parts of the playoffs, changes really are in order.
Instead of capitalizing on the fervor that exists over baseball’s final weeks and finishing with a bang, the postseason just keeps on going, lingering until almost all of America has stopped paying attention.
The baseball season is always referred to as a marathon, not a sprint.
But nobody ever watches an entire marathon. It’s far too long and far too cold.
Sounds very familiar.
