With only one “surprise” last week, we saw our picks net out in a tie between Kevin and Ryan with four correctly picked games. The lone surprise wasn’t really a surprise at all with Seattle trekking East to Washington as a Wild Card and soundly defeating the NFC East division champion Redskins 24-14 in a game that brought with it a devastating knee injury to Skins quarterback Robert Griffin III. It seems everyone except the Redskins saw that coming and it’s a shame, really, that such a talented guy has to end a great rookie campaign like that, but that’s football.

The divisional round of the playoffs brings arguably the most exciting games of the year. The matchups are strong, the best quarterbacks are still in it (Brady, Manning, and Rodgers) and we feel we’re in for some surprises, especially with the hottest team in football, the Seattle Seahawks, taking their talents to Atlanta in a showdown between two potent offenses and one outstanding defense that matches up better with Atlanta’s offensive threats than any team left in the tournament.

Game on!

By Ryan Lack

Much has been written about the evolution of football and certain positions. These changes in some respects have been forced (e.g. player safety) and some of it has simply been a result of the modern athlete getting bigger, stronger, and faster over time.

One position that never seems to get much pub as a very crucial one on the field is cornerback. It’s a passing league now and the cornerback position may be the single most important one on any defense, and increasingly the hardest to play. But while wide receivers are getting bigger and faster, the corners have stayed the same size, mostly. The position itself needs to change now. Due to numerous rule changes that mainly serve to protect wide receivers, league cornerbacks are now forced to treat wideouts like they would a girl on a first date – they can’t touch them and can barely look at them witout drawing flags. To accommodate this favoritism the make-up of corners needs to evolve.

The solution is pretty straight-forward, right? Just go after bigger corners to match-up against these bigger receivers. As simple as that sounds it’s much more difficult to turn into reality.

The main challenge in this growth of such an important position is a lack of agility and speed the bigger the player gets. The average cornerback in the NFL is 5’11”, 195lbs. That’s not very big but these guys are typically some of the fastest players on their teams. So, what they lack in size they make-up for in speed; however, a speed advantage is only as valuable as your ball skills, and lacking height hurts.

“Out of the 169 cornerbacks who were on NFL rosters as of last Tuesday (September 2012), only 53 of them were 6-0 or taller.” – National Football Post

Being sub-six-feet tall going up against someone like a Calvin Johnson at 6’5″, 240lbs. isn’t what you’d call a favorable match-up. To expect the average cornerback to defend him well isn’t realistic and this has played out on the field with Johnson becoming an absolute superstar in the last few years. Now granted, they don’t call him Megatron for nothing – the guy is a freak – but more and more the size discrepancy is what is really hurting pass defenses. You can’t double-team everyone all the time.

The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of 6’3″+, 215lbs. players aren’t being steered toward being cover corners. If they’re choosing defense over the glitz and big money of offense they’re either a hard-hitting safety that can’t cover or … well, not on defense at all. Especially at that size and bigger, the players lack the agility and speed, mostly the agility, to cover to the degree that is needed. These bigger guys can’t turn their hips in coverage as quickly as they need to the bigger they are, which is why there are so few of them that are successful in the corner spot.

It’s much the same as what we’re seeing with the quarterback position – Cam Newton, RGIII, Colin Kaepernick, and even Vick as one of the first ones, are getting faster, smarter (not always), and developing stronger, more accurate arms. This has been discussed and covered by the media at great length during this year’s playoffs, yet it’s astonishing they haven’t yet taken a closer look at how evolving other positions could be changing the game. Instead, the quarterback infatuation has continued, but with the injury suffered by RGIII perhaps the evolution of the quarterback isn’t as wide spread and, more importantly, smart as the media would like us to believe.

The Seahawks seem to be the only team developing bigger, faster, stronger corners and it’s a model more teams need to adopt instead of focusing so much on how mobile their quarterback is or could be. Yes, it’s difficult to find players in this mold that still have all of the key features of a good corner but they are out there. It really just comes down to the team making a commitment to addressing it in the right way.

The two Seahawk corners here are Richard Sherman (6’3″) and Brandon Browner (6’4″). This isn’t to say that just because they’re big they will be more successful, but I sure do like my chances better with two young and tall corners back there covering the two best pass-catching threats the other team has than someone that’s 5’11”. Teams will say it’s hard to find these big guys but Seattle did it through the draft, not free agency. It’s further proof that the modern NFL player is evolving. Even as they change it’s still on the teams to apply these big bodies in the appropriate spots and in the right schemes.

Surely, entering this season no one thought we’d be pointing to the Seahawks as a blueprint for how to do anything right (Screw you, Pete) but here we are. The bigger corner may not be feasible for every team in the league given there are so few but if more teams aren’t looking at how to get bigger at the position they’re going to get left behind.

We have the pleasure of seeing this theory in motion this weekend as the Seahawks take on the Falcons in the divisional round of the playoffs. This game will pit Sherman and Browner against arguably the best wide receiver tandem in the game in Julio Jones and Roddy White, two fast, agile big bodied receivers that pose a threat to opposing defenses whenever they step on the field. These match-ups will certainly pose a huge challenge for the two cornerbacks and it’s something we’re all looking forward to watching. It may prove out to be the truest test these two corners have been faced with this season, and how they perform can and most certainly should set the tone for how the position is viewed and cultivated across the league for years to come.

Follow Ryan on Twitter at @ryanlack

Well, that’s it, folks. The regular season is over and the NFL Playoffs are upon us! It’s a bittersweet moment for all of us Couchletes. Given our love for the game it’s hard to see the season begin to fade into the sunset, but we are pretty excited to see what this year’s playoffs yield.

As far as our pick ’em league is concerned, Ryan was, in a word, dominant. His frequency of writing and posting may have been inconsistent but his picks sure weren’t. Congratulations, Ryan. I believe you are the lucky winner of some Kevin beard hair and a fist pound.

Here are the final regular season pick ’em standings:

1. Ryan – 157-66 (70% success rate)
2. Rahul – 136-87 (61% success rate)
3. Kevin – 135-88 (60% success rate)
4. Mark – 129-94 (58% success rate)
5. Hoa – 116-107 (52% success rate)

It’s crunch time! As we tick down toward the playoffs we are highly anticipating the games this week. It’s a doozy of a week with some stellar match-ups. We have the Giants squaring off against the struggling Falcons in Atlanta. The surging Packers in Chicago to take on the consistently offensively potent Bears. Denver in Baltimore. Indy in Houston. The Niners in New England. And, the Chiefs in Oakland … oh wait, no one cares about that game.

This week could yield some playoff spot-clinching moments and, possibly, some playoff home field advantage clinching wins.

Last week’s game were no less exciting and meaningful. We saw Andrew Luck lead yet another come from behind victory for the Colts. The Vikings beat the Bears (huh?). The Panthers beat the Falcons by 10 (um, what?). And the Seahawks, yes, the Seahawks put up 58 points and snatch eight turnovers from the utterly terrible Cardinals. What a strange, strange NFL world we’re living in.

We can’t wait to see what this week has in store! On to the picks …

Admittedly, we’ve been slacking off a bit with the picks post. We started to figure, why post something that proves we’re experts? We don’t need to prove anything. We’re smarter than the average sports fans, this is known. Obviously.

Despite that and after some encouragement from our EIC, we put the post together again because it “drives traffic.” Whatever that counts for when we have no advertising. But I digress …

The last few weeks in the NFL have been great, but I can already sense the tears coming to my eyes as we near the end of the season. True, the playoffs are still ahead and, of course, the Super Bowl but the end is near. That said, we’re going to enjoy these last remaining weeks of the regular season as it becomes clearer and clearer which teams are contenders and pretenders. Some teams like the Denver Broncos seem to really be gelling and separating themselves from the rest of the pack in the AFC. This is great news for those of us that have seen their fill of the Steelers and Ravens, though Big Ben is allegedly coming back this week and I can’t imagine he’ll be very happy after having missed so much time, which probably means bad news for his opponent this week, the lowly San Diego Chargers.

We just launched our NFL Power 5 for this week and we saw some familiar and some not so familiar faces in the rankings. The top two remained the same as they have nearly all season (the Texans and Falcons), but both have proven recently they can be beaten. That’s why the home stretch of this season is going to be a doozy. Some teams are already wrapping up playoff berths, like the Broncos, while others have their sights set on home field advantage. Or, if you’re the 49ers, you’re busy dicking around with the starting quarterback role and inviting a bunch of unneeded tension and attention into the locker room.

On to the picks. Enjoy Week 14!

So, while Kevin decided to take the last three weeks off to get married – as if that’s important – the rest of us also took that same time off. They say the captain sets the tone on the field and, well, Kevin stepping out to battle a hurricane in Boston and ultimately landing on the soft, sandy beaches of Maui for 10 days really didn’t motivate any of us to pick him up while he was out. Sorry, Kev.

Now that he’s returned from paradise he’s cracking the whip and here we are.

The last few weeks in the NFL have been intriguing to say the very least. The recent rash of midseason injuries to some of the league’s elite coupled with the uprising of young talent has really put a spin on this season I think we were all waiting for. The word “parity” is overused these days, but we recently saw a graphic that showed how close these teams really can be on Sundays.

Going clockwise, each team has beaten the one to its right

We’re seeing more and more upsets in recent weeks, but we’re also seeing the cream starting to rise to the top. Shockingly this cream includes teams like the Colts, Seahawks, and the Broncos. The Broncos have really turned it on recently as Peyton Manning has gotten more and more comfortable calling the shots in a new offense with new personnel. It’s hard to say anyone doubted he would get there but last summer it was hard to tell. The rest of the cream is made of the usual suspects – Patriots, Texans, Ravens, Steelers, etc., etc. We get it. You’re good. While it’s nice to still have some consistency among the league’s best I think we’re all ready for parity to takeover some and deliver us some intriguing storylines in this second half of the season.

With that, here are The Couchlete’s Week 11 picks that contain very few chosen upsets but, I’d say, a lot of hope for some. We’re playing for pride here. Let’s be real. I’m not picking the Lions to upset Green Bay, but you can bet I’ll be pulling for them.

If you’re not a girlfriend or wife you just have to love Thursday night football. For me, it’s the best of both worlds. We get one game in primetime, which is totally manageable for people with kids and a career. In being just one game, we’re not overwhelmed trying to take in game action from across the country, flipping channel to channel or settling in for a long Red Zone viewing stint. But it’s still football and it makes it feel like the weekend, reminding us all that, yes, there is still one more business day in the week left but ONLY ONE!

Last week’s games threw our experts for a loop. The “any given Sunday” mantra could be heard loud and clear. Starting with last Thursday’s game where the Titans, yes those Titans, defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers by a field goal. I know, twilight zone material right there. The Browns, YES THOSE BROWNS, actually won a game – the first of 29-year-old rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden’s career and a shameful display by a 2011 playoff team, the Bengals.

Some weekly standbys s***t the bed, including the 49ers, Cowboys (though we knew they’d find a way to lose), Patriots, and Texans; not to mention the incredible comeback by Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos (I hate you, Phillip Rivers). Since we do a weekly power ranking of the top five teams in the league, these outcomes were all noteworthy to us and things we didn’t necessarily anticipate; though, they’re what make us love the sport so much.

The question we’re asking these days is: How good is your good?

Regardless of a recent loss or not, the rest of this season will be dictated by overall strength and consistency, not to mention health, not a few good performances against bad teams. Parody has never been greater in the league.

With that, here are week 7 picks from the rest of my fellow Couchletes.

While Cam Newton may love him some him, we love us some FOOTBALL. It doesn’t get much better than football in the fall – the crisp, colder air, the smell of fire, pumpkin spice latte’s (which means we’re close to egg nog season!), seasonal beers (Kevin is frothing at the mouth) and baseball almost out of the way. It’s a great time of year.

Don’t get me wrong, I love baseball and my Oakland A’s, but the MLB is doing it wrong with scheduling whereas the NFL has really figured out how to dominated year-round, but I’ll save that for another post. Oh, and the NHL is practically done for the year. Well done, guys.

As we look back now on a very gutsy, inspired and Chuckstrong performance by the Indianapolis Colts led by RoY frontrunner Andrew Luck, yet another trouncing by the 49ers, and solid performances by the Texans and Falcons to remain unbeaten, it’s hard not to get misty-eyed at the thought of being more than a quarter of the way through the season. I think we all kind of smiled when the Jets lost again, though. Good job, good effort, guys.

Last week’s picks surfaced yet another champion, or should I say championS. Kevin, who is clearly trying to be me (the leading picker this season so far), tied me for the most correct picks with 10 out of 14. This week is shaping up to be a great one with a couple of our experts taking fliers on a few teams and others seemingly picking against the grain hoping to hit it big.

Will the pick risks be worth it? Will the Jets actually win a home game before they have to start Tebow over Sanchise? Only time will tell. Here are Week 6 picks.

Week 4 of the NFL season was one to remember. The 49ers absolutely steamrolled an injury- and inept-quarterback-prone Jets team despite having to travel cross-country for the game. The surprising Arizona Cardinals took care of business against the Eagles to remain unbeaten. The Patriots looked shaky in the first half but righted the ship and destroyed a hopeful Bills team with 31 4th quarter points; a Bills team that Kevin maintains was “built to beat the Pats.” The Raiders were, well … The Raiders were the Raiders and got their asses handed to them by Denver. And the Packers. Ohhhh, Packers. You are going to drive Kevin to the bottle if you keep this up.

All in all, it was a great week of NFL football. It was also one that saw a new champion emerge among us Couchletes. With the help of some picks that seemed straight up illogical at the time of publishing, Rahul took this week with 14 of 15 correct picks. Despite this momentary burst of brilliance, Ryan snatched the overall lead with a total of 20 out of 31 correct picks. Don’t hate, Rahul.

With that, I think we all agree that we’re looking forward to Week 5 where the slimmest of margins will likely produce yet another weekly winner. It was tough to pick against the favorites this week but as they say, any given Sunday.