4 Hard Downs: James Cook is Wild, Tendencies Matter & I'm A Party Planner

Your boy can throw a party and Bills really beefed it also, punting is good

I just got back from a Pre-K and K and 1st grade “First Semester Awards Ceremony” plus a concert that was canceled last week because of the Snow Day.

My wife and kid very happy at the ceremony and we always show up for each other. This was the afternoon and whew buddy. So many people from the pool. So many kids from the preschool where my wife works. Plus families from my wife’s birthday party. Might as well go ahead and SPOT THE BALL!!!

1st Down: Your Boy Can Put On A Party

Being honest, I don’t have any pictures. That’s just a fact, jack. I don’t have pictures because I was running up and down the stairs, managing the taco bar and the kids with pizza downstairs (including them not knowing how to use the toilet so they let it run to the point of flooding out into my basement).

Grilled Chicken. Grilled Shrimp. Smoked Pulled Pork. Caramelized Onions and Peppers. Raw Onions and Peppers. Jalapenos. Salsa Verde. Salsa. Guacamole. Heated Tortillas.

You want to know if your boy got game? Multiple people asked not “if” but “who” catered this event.

Me. That’s who!

I can put on a party dawg; and the kicker? It was the dads running up and down the stairs to check on the kids because we wanted our wives to have a good time. Me and two other dads cleaning the spill. Me running down to open the waters because somehow they are all so weak they can’t open a bottled water (and I’m not even talking Fiji with the big ass lid). Me making popcorn.

Success and now we decompress before Super Bowl leads into combine and draft season. Let’s go!

2nd Down: James Cook Is Low Key One Of My Favorite Players

I fell in love with James Cook’s game in Oregon during The Opening. He was blowing by linebackers and decided mid-drill, let’s go over here and get wide receiver reps against defensive backs.

Same The Opening as Amon-Ra St. Brown and I would argue he was a better pass catcher. No disrespect just the reality that this dude was fully ready.

Back to when he switched to WR, just to get reps against people who weren’t Peyton Wilson’s slow ass, this dude lined up against the best DBs in the nation and destroyed them. We saw that this season as his role expanded.

Love watching him play for two reasons:

-He talks mad shit constantly, but backs it up
-He forces your defense’s hand because he is “technically” a running back

Personnel packages matter. 21 vs 11 vs 10 vs 12 etc. First number is running backs in the game. Second number is tight ends in the game. Since only 5 people can get the ball, who aren’t the QB, you don’t need a third number. 21 means there are only 2 WRs. 11 means there 3 WRs. 10 means you have 4 WRs. 12, like 21, means there are 2 WRs.

Those numbers dictate if the defense subs out of base to get to nickel and dime.

With Cook plus Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox, they’re in 12 people, so the defense stays in base set. Then you move Cook around pre or post-snap and now you have a linebacker or safety in conflict.

It is gorgeous football. Same as guys like Alvin Kamara.

3rd Down: Try Something Different

If it gets to the point that during the broadcast they are calling out your plays, maybe do a different thing.

And again. They’re ready, they know.

Like, seriously. They do something different and despite the “almost fumble” it does work way better.

He goes over the top and they weren’t ready for that and he converts. Need better ball security but at the end of the day the point of this 3rd down is about tendencies.

Tendencies are meticulously studied in football. Hell, most high level sports where you get a scouting report. One of the best things about Nick Saban was how often he went off tendency. The thing I love about Lane Kiffin is him being such a psycho he makes it hard to hammer out tendencies.

Once the announcers say what’s going to happen before it does, if you don’t think the defense is also clued in thanks to their team staff, sheeeeeeiiiiit.

4th Down: My Worst Take? Can We Normalize Punting Being Good?

I get the entire assault on “old school football” and punting being bad and what analytics say about when you should and shouldn’t go for it.

However, there are few things that turn me on quite like a well executed downed punt that pins a team inside the five. Even better, inside the one. Maybe it is because I’m a defensive guy and I know most teams can’t go 99 yards against me if we just let them make a mistake by doing their job.

My friends, Adam Kramer and Paige Kuhn have a show called “No Punts Allowed,” and obviously plenty of other folks also hate punting.

But all I’m saying is, “GIVE ME THIS SHIT!!!!!!”

Inject it into my veins. Tell me how this isn’t a weapon and a skill. A skill that both punters and the guys covering kicks to hone. 99 yards is a long as way to go. Most teams, be it WRs, QBs, OL, RB, OC or HC, don’t have the patience for it if they don’t get some huge play early on the drive.

One of my biggest assessments from this season NFL or CFB, better special teams play is a must going forward. It is a forgotten phase. Thank you to the NFL on Fox, NBC and CBS for the vids. Top notch stuff. The point, for me is just punt and make their life harder. Believe in your defense.

Everyone doesn’t have to be Lincoln Riley or Dan Campbell or Chip Kelly. Sometimes you can be Jim Tressel.

And you know what he has?

A fucking national championship.

Cheers!!!