A Few Notes to Mr. Whitlock

Yesterday I was perusing the different sports news sites and came across Jason Whitlocks column on FoxSports.com called NFL Truths.

He makes some interesting points in the column that got me kind of fired up.

First he basically says that Tony Dungy deserves NO blame for the Colts failures in the playoffs (except his first year with the team when they lost 41-0). Instead he places all of the blame on this teams playoff failures on Peyton Manning and the offense.

He makes some valid points including Manning's playoff numbers (7-8 record, 22 TDs, and 17 INTs). Okay....not fabulous but not really that bad either.

But let's also consider this....teams usually step up in the playoffs and play much better defense. Usually in the playoffs there aren't any huge defensive letdowns and typically the defenses play outstanding throughout the playoffs. So maybe that is part of the reason Manning hasn't won as much in the playoffs.

And there is this too....in his 10 years in the league Peyton has led the Colts to the playoffs 8 times with 1 Super Bowl victory. He is 3-3 in wild card games, 2-4 in the divisional round, and 1-1 in conference title games. But what isn't mentioned in those games is that 3 times the Colts have lost to the eventual Super Bowl Champions and 1 other time to the eventual Super Bowl runner-up.

So in my opinion Peyton is not a choke artist but just a quarterback who has run into better teams in the playoffs.


Second he says Matt Millen should not be anywhere near a studio show as an analyst. I am not saying he shouldn't be but I don't think his successes or failures as a general manager should be a consideration for getting on a show.

Sure the Lions are bad and he built that team but he didn't do it all by himself. There are people within the organization called Scouts, Coaches, and Players that haven't done anything either.

I am not saying Millen doesn't deserve much of the blame but it isn't like he hand picked every player and coach because he looked into everything himself. Many of the draft picks they made were SURELY the suggestions of scouts and coaches on the staff.

But either way I think Millen can bring a different perspective to the show although I think that show is already to crowded and he is not needed.


Third he doesn't think LT will start another game with the Chargers. If that happens I think it is the biggest mistake they could make.

In Whitlock's opinion Darren Sproles is an every down back who apparently can play with and run against anyone.

Hmmm....all this after 1 game in the playoffs? Not only that but it isn't like Indy has the best run defense in the league.

I think Sproles can be a VERY GOOD change of pace/split carries type of back. Not many teams rely on 1 guy anymore and the teams that do aren't playing anymore this season. The Chargers would be smart to keep Sproles and LT and play both of them to keep the other sharp.

Note to Jason.....there are NO EVERY DOWN BACKS IN THE NFL ANYMORE!!


A couple other things he said was that Pennington is a championship caliber quarterback without the key parts around him and he came back at Deadspin editor and former editor Daulerio and Will Leitch for different things.

Pennington as a championship caliber quarterback is a new one to me. I have NEVER heard him described in that light. Sure he is a good leader and a solid quarterback but he will never lead a team to a Super Bowl let alone a championship.

And the Deadspin stuff seems a little childish to me. He has been attacking these guys for a couple weeks now and it seems to me that he feels threatened by them. You have to wonder if he is trying to make an even bigger name for himself by attacking one of the largest names in sports on the web.

Jason, I would have to say that you outta pick a different target cause you are just making yourself look bad. Oh and keep up the hard work you put forth everyday!