Last week as Thierry Henry handed Ireland a crushing defeat — ha ha, see what I did there? — the Guardian’s Barry Glendenning told us, “It’s true what they say. Never mind the disappointment, it’s the hope that kills you.”
In the case of American football, I would propose a slightly different theory. It’s not the disappointment or the hope that kills you. It’s the stupidity.
Take, for example, these very elementary numbers, provided by our pal Darin Gantt. When Jake Delhomme is their starting quarterback, the Carolina Panthers are 46-8 when he throws less than 30 times in a game. They’re 13-32 when he throws 30 or more times in a game.
So on a Thursday night against Miami, when Panthers running backs are averaging 4.8 yards per carry — and that’s not including DeAngelo Williams’ 50-yard scamper — what do the Panthers do? They call 42 pass plays and 27 running plays. Oh, by the way, Delhomme was sacked four times on 3rd-down pass plays in that game.
You would think that in this economy, John Fox would want to keep his job. I guess he’s got a lot more cash saved up than I do.
Then there’s the Steelers’ special teams. Oh, the Steelers special teams…
As my buddy JJ Cooper points out, three of Pittsburgh’s four losses this season have featured major miscues on special teams. They allowed kick returns for touchdowns against Cincinnati and Kansas City, and Jeff Reed missed two field goals against Chicago. Reed also has developed a knack for being utterly useless on kick returns, which might be a small part of the reason the Steelers have given up four, count ‘em, four kick return TDs this season.
Amazingly, the Steelers shit-the-bed performance against the Chiefs — the Chiefs! — on Sunday didn’t cause them to loose any ground in the AFC North, because the Bengals gave up the ball twice in the 4th quarter and allowed the Raiders — the Raiders! — to score 10 points in the last minute of regulation.
And let’s not even talk about the Browns, who keep finding new ways to lose.
That’s what really kills you as a fan — watching your team do something stupid, and knowing in your gut that it didn’t have to be like that. Then again, we still hope that they’ll figure it out and get it right next week, don’t we?
1 response so far ↓
1 dean // Nov 25, 2009 at 9:03 am
Not if you live in Detroit. After 50 years, we are no longer in denial, and realize the whole “hope that they’ll figure it out and get it right next week” is merely wishful thinking.