- Feb 7, 2003
- 24,413
- 71
- 48
I also read it, and it is has plenty of its own critical issues, for those who still care.
First, Florio takes words that the NFL uses and applies his own interpretations of what they mean (namely "control" and "possession"), and second, Jennings did not "control" the ball immediately in the air, as it was being bobbled. Jennings initially attempted to catch the ball with his wrists, and both players continued to bobble it until Tate was already on the ground and was re-committing his right hand onto the ball. Florio also fails to note that it's not simply gaining control first; it's gaining control first and maintaining control, which Jennings did not do. I took screen caps of the transition of the ball in the players' hands while in the air as well, but I'll only upload them upon request. I still stand behind what I wrote completely. Florio is not always to be trusted (granted, neither is the NFL. But they make and manipulate the rules, so the ruling would be correct in hindsight regardless, since they have the wiggle room in the ambiguity of the rules and the subjectivity of human evaluation to make it so. There's also precedent to fall back on. See the Miles Austin/Antonio Cromartie simultaneous catch from last year.
James Harrison practiced fully on Tuesday for the first time all year, but it appears that he's suffered yet another setback with his knee. He didn't practice at all yesterday and his agent today acknowledged the setback. Presumably his knee swelled up again. This honestly isn't looking good at all. At this point I have no idea when he's going to play again. Although his agent expressed at least some degree of optimism, referring to it as "a little setback" and saying that "hopefully, it's not something that will derail our plans", but I don't feel comfortable putting much stock in his agent's comments on his knee.
On the other hand, Troy Polamalu has been practicing fully this week and it seems like he should be ready to go week 5 after their bye week. Which is good, because the team has definitely suffered with Ryan Mundy. I think it's time for the Steelers to accept that Mundy is not an heir apparent to Polamalu nor Ryan Clark. Safety should be one of their top priorities in the next draft in addition to linebacker, and maybe a top flight cornerback if one falls to them.
I also think that Rashard Mendenhall will be back for week 5. He's actually been practicing fully for a while now. Adrian Peterson's been playing all season, and he tore his ACL (and came off the PUP list) only a week earlier than Mendenhall. I honestly don't know how much that will help the run game though, because the main issue has been poor blocking and not the running backs themselves. Although the runs to the outside that they kept trying with Isaac Redman for some reason should certain work better with Mendenhall. Maybe then Redman can return to the north-south runner that he is.
First, Florio takes words that the NFL uses and applies his own interpretations of what they mean (namely "control" and "possession"), and second, Jennings did not "control" the ball immediately in the air, as it was being bobbled. Jennings initially attempted to catch the ball with his wrists, and both players continued to bobble it until Tate was already on the ground and was re-committing his right hand onto the ball. Florio also fails to note that it's not simply gaining control first; it's gaining control first and maintaining control, which Jennings did not do. I took screen caps of the transition of the ball in the players' hands while in the air as well, but I'll only upload them upon request. I still stand behind what I wrote completely. Florio is not always to be trusted (granted, neither is the NFL. But they make and manipulate the rules, so the ruling would be correct in hindsight regardless, since they have the wiggle room in the ambiguity of the rules and the subjectivity of human evaluation to make it so. There's also precedent to fall back on. See the Miles Austin/Antonio Cromartie simultaneous catch from last year.
James Harrison practiced fully on Tuesday for the first time all year, but it appears that he's suffered yet another setback with his knee. He didn't practice at all yesterday and his agent today acknowledged the setback. Presumably his knee swelled up again. This honestly isn't looking good at all. At this point I have no idea when he's going to play again. Although his agent expressed at least some degree of optimism, referring to it as "a little setback" and saying that "hopefully, it's not something that will derail our plans", but I don't feel comfortable putting much stock in his agent's comments on his knee.
On the other hand, Troy Polamalu has been practicing fully this week and it seems like he should be ready to go week 5 after their bye week. Which is good, because the team has definitely suffered with Ryan Mundy. I think it's time for the Steelers to accept that Mundy is not an heir apparent to Polamalu nor Ryan Clark. Safety should be one of their top priorities in the next draft in addition to linebacker, and maybe a top flight cornerback if one falls to them.
I also think that Rashard Mendenhall will be back for week 5. He's actually been practicing fully for a while now. Adrian Peterson's been playing all season, and he tore his ACL (and came off the PUP list) only a week earlier than Mendenhall. I honestly don't know how much that will help the run game though, because the main issue has been poor blocking and not the running backs themselves. Although the runs to the outside that they kept trying with Isaac Redman for some reason should certain work better with Mendenhall. Maybe then Redman can return to the north-south runner that he is.
