Scott Cordischi On Sports: The New NFL

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

This isn’t your father’s NFL. You know? The one where it was 3 yards and a cloud of dust or run, run, pass, punt? No, this is your new NFL. The one where we had one 500-yard passer, three 400-yard passers and nine 300-yard passers in week one! Welcome to the NFL today.

It should come as no surprise that we have arrived at this point. For the past decade, the league has tweaked its rules to favor offense, not defense. And why not? Most fans prefer good offense over good defense. This is why the Patriots are, again, one of the best teams in the league this year.

However, just as pitching is the most important ingredient come playoff time in Major League Baseball, a solid defense and at least the threat of a solid running game becomes important come playoff time in the NFL.

This is where the Patriots will be tested. Is their revamped defense complete with its new “4-3” base alignment good enough to make big plays when it needs to? And will New England be able to run the ball when playoff teams blanket their outside receivers and put pressure on Tom Brady up the middle?

How these questions are answered is what will determine how far the Patriots will go in 2011.

-And you thought that Daniel Bard was the heir apparent to Jonathan Papelbon as Red Sox closer? Not at the moment.

-What’s with the impatience fans and the media have for Chad Ocho Cinco? Give the guy some time to get comfortable with the new system. It’s not as if they desperately need him out there right now.

-To my friend Bill Reynolds at the Providence Journal: the check’s in the mail.

-Although I must admit that many people ask me why Rhode Island doesn’t have a sports radio station any longer. I think that ESPN Radio with 1 local afternoon program would be a nice fit for this market.

-It’s easier for Red Sox and Patriots fans to go and see them play on the road than it is to get a ticket to see them play at home.

-It would be great to see former Brown coach Frank “Happy” Dobbs back in Rhode Island if he does take the assistant coaching position at Bryant University with Tim O’Shea.

-Speaking of local college basketball assistant coaches, congrats to former Vermont and Marist standout Ryan Schneider who was named assistant coach at Brown this week.

-Is URI football that good or is Syracuse football that bad?

-There seemed to be much more excitement for the Red Sox BEFORE they won two World Championships last decade.

-PC Friars coach Ed Cooley can’t be too thrilled with college basketball insider Jeff Goodman from cbssports.com who wrote a scathing article on new recruit Ricky Ledo.

-Does anyone really care about the PGA Tour’s Fed Ex Cup?

-WEEI’s addition of an FM signal (93.7 FM) in Boston is a step in the right direction. Now program director Jason Wolfe needs to make some changes to his line-up to get his station back on top.

-Congrats to Tim Wakefield for his 200th career victory! However, it’s time for him to consider calling it a career soon.

-I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see the NFL Network’s “A Football Life” special on Bill Belichick Thursday night.

-Tom Brady was named the AFC’s Offensive Player of the Week. Duh!

-We complained all summer that the excitement of a pennant race between the Red Sox and Yankees was nonexistent. That’s because the pennant race is between Boston and Tampa Bay.

-With center Dan Koppen on the shelf with a broken ankle, the Patriots signed former Dolphin and Lion offensive lineman Donald Thomas Wednesday.

-I agree with my colleague John Rooke when it comes to the dismemberment of the Big 12. It’s a joke to see what is going on in college athletics right now.

-It would be nice to see all of the power conferences with no more than 10-12 teams each. In a perfect world, the northeast would have a football conference which would include Pitt, Penn State, Syracuse, Boston College, Rutgers, UConn and West Virginia among others.

-Poor Benny Sapp! After getting toasted by Wes Welker for a 99-yard touchdown Monday night, he was released by the Miami Dolphins.

-While it will be tough for them to topple the Patriots and the Jets, the Buffalo Bills are an improved football team.

-No NBA? No problem!