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2005 REGULAR SEASON IN REVIEW - OFFENCE
Passing Interesting QB notes from around the league - alright, "interesting" - this season's yardage leader was Matt Hasselbeck with 3710, and Brett Favre paced the NFL in touchdown passes with 32. Despite Jeff Garcia (OVR 90) having signed a new 5yr/$20mil. contract in the offseason and being both fit and healthy, the 49er braintrust elected to start sophomore Jeremiah Ricks in all 16 games and were rewarded with a 14 TD/32 INT, 49.3 QB rating season for the ages. Other awards for passing-game futility go to David Carr of the Unimaginatives (5th in the NFL with 3472 yards, but just 13 TDs and 28 picks) and to Chris Simms of the Buccaneers, putting the final nail in the coffin of Jon Gruden's reputation as an offensive genius with 8 scores and 25 interceptions in his 16 starts. Suddenly, Brian Griese doesn't seem that bad an option.
Receiving As mentioned, Randy Moss topped the charts in receiving yardage (1545) and scores, while Charles Rogers of the Trite Loins was the reception leader with 110. Other than Rogers and our Big Two however, there seems to be a bit of dearth of young talent coming through the ranks. Cody Marshall, the former Michigan standout now in his 2nd year with the Jaguars, was the only other receiver with under 3 years experience to top 1000 yards.
Rushing Surprisingly, the league leader in rushing attempts was Lamar Gordon of the Rams, stepping in after Marshall Faulk was injured in the second game of the year and ending up with a most un-Martzian 422 carries for 1525 yards. Oh, and just in case there's still a knocking sound coming from that box we sealed Jon Gruden - Boy Genius up in, here's the stat line for Dominic Rhodes, the Under-Yer-Buckin'-'Ats' leading rusher this season - 217 carries, 583 yards (2.6 yds/carry), 7 TDs, 5 fumbles. Those, I think you'll agree, are numbers that would make Curtis Enis blush.
Blocking - And this, traditionally, is where it turns ugly. 2005 REGULAR SEASON IN REVIEW - DEFENCE From last season's review: "Yes, there's still work to be done. A lot of work to be done, actually. But with young players filling almost every position, there's just an outside chance that the unit will grow together and maybe, just maybe, by this time next season I'll be sitting here writing about a defensive unit that can honestly be called "below average". It's this crazy dream I have." Mission accomplished, then. I mean, look at those rankings! 28th in yardage doesn't look too clever I grant you, but given that we've been rock-bottom in the league both of the past two seasons, it's still cause for satisfaction. And exactly middle-of-the-pack in scoring defence which is, after all, what really matters. What, you might wonder, are the reasons why the two rankings are so far apart? They are twofold, so far as I can see. Firstly, we were playing from ahead so often this year that fairly often by the fourth quarter we were willing to give up yardage so long as it didn't result in a quick score for the opposition. That factor also contributed to our pass defence being second-worst in the league in terms of yardage. The second reason? We ranked 5th in the NFL in terms of takeaways, and that wasn't entirely down to LJ Shelton's yearning for a deep-pan Meat Feast. We were 3rd in turnover differential at plus-thirteen, and considering we had five and a half games with Brian Griese and Charlie Batch at quarterback, I think you can appreciate what an achievement that was. Oddly, we went from near the top of the league in sacks last season to bang at the bottom with just 38 this, but the fact that we were still getting plenty of pressure on opposing quarterbacks is evidenced by our leading the league in interceptions, managing a massive 33 picks. The details are thus: Tackles Sacks Interceptions Three defensive players off to Hawaii, then, and it really should have been four - even though Levar Fisher managed just one sack after leading the league last season, voters really should have taken into account his crazy tackles-for-loss total, and his even crazier six picks from his will linebacker spot. Jed Bowden benefited hugely from the arrival of Shawn Springs via free-agency. whose 24 pass deflections led the league this year. Springs' presence shifted the second-year player from the left to the right corner position, matching him up more often than not against the opposing offence's number 2 receiver. Bowden made plays all season long - he led the NFC in picks, and the NFL in return yardage and defensive scores (234 yards, 3 TDs) to earn his first Pro Bowl berth alongside the tireless safety Adrian Wilson, who has led the team in tackles in two of my three seasons. The whole D-line performed pretty well this year, and given that the oldest member of the unit is 5th-year DT Shaun Rogers that bodes pretty well for the future. Wendell Bryant's nine sacks from the under-tackle spot is noteworthy, but the only member of the unit going to Honolulu is end Calvin Pace, whose 12 sacks were only 1 short of tying for top in the NFL (Albert Haynesworth of Tennessee and Michael Strahan both totalling 13). No-Mark Barrett continued to defy all attempts to replace him in the lineup with his knack for the big play at the key moment, and more generally we were a lot more disciplined in our defensive playcalling this year, not allowing ourselves to get frightened out of the cover-2 too early in proceedings. By and large, when we gave up points in bunches it was the offence that was primarily at fault, with untimely turnovers, particularly in the latter half of the season. To win the Super Bowl, the defence will need to maintain its current level, while the offence will have to be careful not to make mistakes that put the D under too much pressure. Yeah. I know. Brian freaking Griese. Still, we have to have a plan. There's no real surprise names in the upper echelon of the defensive stats this year - Derrick Brooks and Brian Urlacher pace the NFL in tackles (144 and 141 respectively), Ty Law in interceptions with 13. - SPECIAL TEAMS Kicking - The wildcard round sees the Bengals advance past the Titans thanks to three TDs from Carson Palmer and 150 yards on the ground from the Curtis Martin/Corey Dillon two-headed sex beast. In the other AFC matchup, a scrappy game with four turnovers by each side is decided when a fourth-quarter Charlie Garner touchdown puts the Raiders ahead of the Bills for the first time in the game, a 15-16 victory booking the Silver-And-Black a date at the RCA Dome with top seeds Indianapolis. There's no such excitement in the NFC matchups. The Trite Loins travel to Atlanta and get shredded by the Falcons' greased-lightning ground game - Warrick Dunn and Michael Vick racking up 250 yards between them. Meanwhile, defending Super Bowl champions Washington fall behind early in Philadelphia and never recover. The Iggles manage just 69 yards on the ground, but Todd "Aligator Arms" Pinkston makes 7 grabs for 147 yards and 3 touchdowns, seeing his team home 34-19. With the wildcard games done, then, the divisional round looks like this: AFC Join us [
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