Bleacher Report - Articles by Eric Bennett

Is The Big Ten Really That Bad?

Eric Bennett — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:26:14 -0500

The Big Ten finished the bowl season with a 1-6 record, but did Ohio State's performance against the No. 3 Texas Longhorns say more about the quality of the Big 10, or more about Jim Tressel's recruiting class?

The Big 10's lone victory came against the SEC, when Iowa took care of South Carolina 31-10. Other close games included: Northwestern losing in overtime to Chase Daniel and the Missouri Tigers, and Georgia beat Michigan State 24-12 after the Bulldog's Matthew Stafford threw three touchdown passes in the last 15 minutes.

Ohio State gave up a 26-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds of the Fiesta Bowl on Monday night and ultimately lost 24-21 to the Longhorns.

I honestly thought the Buckeyes were going to get routed for the third straight BCS bowl in a row.

I am a fan of the Pac-10, Notre Dame, and every time I see the Buckeyes go to a BCS game I question whether they should be there or not. I question whether they would win as many games if they played in the SEC or Big 12.

But Ohio State, with the exception of the third quarter, looked like they belonged in this BCS matchup against a very good Longhorns team led by deadly accurate Colt McCoy.

The game came down to a 4th-and-3 play, and it came down to inches. The Longhorns were able to gain just enough inches with about 40 seconds left in the game to continue their scoring drive.

Ohio State has made strides in becoming a more dangerous team. For the first time in three years they did not get manhandled in the postseason. They came within inches of winning a BCS bowl game with a freshman quarterback. That's impressive, and the Buckeyes' defense didn't look too bad either.

Beanie Wells looked great before he suffered a concussion. The Big 10 features three of the nation's top running backs in Michigan State's Javon Ringer, Iowa's Shonn Greene, and Wells.

All three of these running backs were in the Big 10 bowl games that were relatively close or won.

Great recruits are always going to go to Ohio State—and probably Michigan as well—but going into the Fiesta Bowl, I believed the Big 10 was baloney.

I think McCoy deserved the Heisman and I believed Texas deserved to play Florida in the BCS championship.

Now I think Ohio State is a real quality team. I can't imagine what will become of Terrelle Pryor in the future.

I still believe there are a slew of conferences that are above the Big 10, but because of their terrible bowl record this season, and Michigan's worst season ever, it seems like the Big 10 is at its all-time worst.

But is the Big 10 really that bad? Is Ohio State legit? Or is OSU and three running backs from the Big 10 the only legitimate forces?

I'd like to hear what people have to say and I will leave these questions up for others to decide.

San Diego Chargers, No Longer in Giving Mood, Seek Revenge on Third Staight Foe

Eric Bennett — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 07:55:55 -0500

Can you imagine what the playoffs would have been like if Dwayne Bowe of the Kansas City Chiefs would've secured an onside kick by the San Diego Chargers in week 15?

If the ball doesn't bounce off Bowe's chest with under two minutes to go, the Chargers' season is over.

Leading up to wild card weekend, San Diego was the king of dramatic finishes and games that came down to inches.

The story all year for San Diego was that they were on the losing end of the close calls. Finally, at the last possible moment, in week 15 the script was flipped for the Chargers, and the success on close finishes continued during last weekend's wild card game against the Colts.

The Colts were one of four teams to beat the Chargers during the game's final 24 seconds, the others being the Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Everyone has noticed the Chargers have been a different team since their loss to the Atlanta Falcons in week 13, but their ability to cash in on games decided by coin flips and inches has put them in the position to move on to the Steelers.

In previous playoff games the Chargers had been deflated by a boneheaded play or two. For example, when the Chargers played the New England Patriots in the divisional round two years ago, every analyst and fan was able to point to three plays that suggested the Chargers beat themselves.

Late in that game against the Patriots, San Diego played the role of Santa Claus, awarding the Patriots three extra chances to win. The three plays in short, occurring late in the game, were a muffed punt return, a fumble on an interception return, and a pass interference call to extend the Patriots' scoring drive.

Without one of the those things happening, the Chargers' postseason could've been a different story, and who knows—Marty Schottenheimer could still be coaching the Chargers today.

Now back to last weekend's game with the Colts. It looked as if history was going to repeat itself. Darren Sproles fumbled at the Colts' one-yard line, Phillip Rivers threw a terrible pass resulting in an interception deep in Colts territory, and Antonio Cromartie simply let Reggie Wayne run by him, giving the Colts their easiest score of the season.

If one of those plays goes different, if Sproles holds on to the ball, the game could've been much different. Instead we had a much more dramatic, exciting football game.

Peyton Manning was facing a third down with two yards to go, the Chargers out of timeouts, and with one play to go before the two-minute warning. The Colts could not the run the ball all day, and everybody in the world knew the play call was going to be, had to be, a quick slant to the sure-handed Wayne.

If San Diego's cornerback didn't play Wayne the exact way he did, Manning would have hit Wayne for the game-seeling first down. But Manning didn't feel the pressure and pump faked to a well-defended slant pass and ultimately got sacked, the game went to overtime, and Sproles definitely made up for his fumble at the one-yard line.

The Chargers not only redeemed themselves for their earlier loss to the Colts, but also continued to cash in on a game decided by a few plays, a mere few inches.

It wasn't exactly luck. The defense of the Chargers no doubt deserves the credit, playing extremely well under extreme pressure in an extremely close game.

The Chargers were finally able to overcome the worst of mistakes and have confidence heading into another great matchup against the best defense in the country.

Oh yeah, and the Chargers came out on top without a single reception from their No. 1 receiver, Vincent Jackson, who has been key to Chargers' recent success.

The Steelers quarterback was recently concussed, and their offensive line has caused problems for them all season. The Chargers defense will have to raise their intensity even further if they hope to have success in what should be another nail-biter.

No LT? No problem. It's not like he was highly effective much of the season or against the Steelers anyway. Yes, Sproles is small and could have trouble against an extremely quick, bruising defense, and he will probably be sore from his incredible performance last weekend, but he and the Chargers are clearly playing tougher than ever.

Sure, every team is on the same mission right now, but the Chargers seem to be playing with much more heart, intensity, passion, and desire than they were their last time in Pittsburgh.

Rivers will play better then he did the last time he faced the No. 1 rated defense and will should be able to get Jackson involved, and Sproles should still be effective, but most likely not nearly as effective as against the Colts.

Antonio Cromartie has to finally show up to play, much like his 2007 campaign, for the Chargers to have a chance.

San Diego's defense will have to put immense pressure on Big Ben and try to induce more headaches for him. They must continue to stop the run and limit the big play ability of Santonio Holmes.

Special teams for the Chargers will be important again versus the Steelers, but Rivers' clutch play will be the key to this game, no matter how cold it is.

San Diego might not be accustomed to freezing temperatures, but they are used to playing in the intensity of win or go home games now, which has been five straight weeks for them.

If Big Ben gets his clock rung this weekend, the Chargers will continue to fight for their revenge against the entire NFL (refs, AFC teams, NFC teams).

Don't Count LT and the San Diego Chargers Out Just Yet, Again

Eric Bennett — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:12:43 -0500

Everyone has counted the San Diego Chargers out all season long.

Late during the Kansas City game, I tuned out to throw my head into my pillow in frustration at a season go array. A season that began with the Chargers favored to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, even more so after Tom Brady's injury and Peyton Manning's offseason knee surgery, was about to end 12 games in.

Heck, during that same game, some of the Chargers personnel might have already began to map out their expenses for possible vacation plans in January.

But all of that is out the door now, just like the Broncos' playoff chances, Mike Shanahan's job, Ed Hoculi's blown call in the second game of the season, and every one of the Chargers' struggles this year.

Everything is on the table for San Diego to take now. The Chargers erased their curious yet terrible 8-8 season, highlighting their much hated rival's historic collapse, and are seeded at No. 4 for the playoffs.

The Chargers are on a hot streak right now, everyone knows it, but can they replicate last season's upset playoff victory over the Colts this season while entering the playoffs with as a team with a non-winning record for the first time ever.

The consensus seems to be "No, wait, the Chargers are in the playoffs?"

The Chargers now know what it feels like to have virtually no chance after starting this year's campaign 4-8. They played their best football down the stretch but also played well against their toughest opponents this season; Carolina, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, New England and Miami.

The Chargers lost on a last-second touchdown pass against Carolina, destroyed the Patriots, lost at Pittsburgh by one, lost to a last-second field goal against the Colts and lost by one score against the Dolphins.

All these losses occurring while Ted Cotrell was the defensive coordinator and when San Diego was no where near as in sync as they are now.

San Diego also had a depleted roster when they won against the Colts and lost by one score to the Patriots last postseason. Phillip Rivers was very banged up and LT and Antonio Gates were nonexistent.

Rivers is playing at a MVP quality level, and L.T. and Gates are feeling at least much better than they did last post season.

The Colts' defense hasn't been tested since their last matchup with the Chargers in Week 12. Rivers picked apart the Colts' defense, completing 24 of 31 passes with two touchdowns and a passer rating of 126.8.

In Week 16, David Garrard passed for 329 yards against the Colts, one of his two 300-yard performances of the year, but came short in getting the W. The Colts looked maybe mediocre against the worst team in the history of football, the Lions, winning by 10.

The Chargers' defense is playing with more intensity lately and the Chargers' offense will prove to be too much for the over-hyped Colts at Qaulcomm Stadium.

Darren Sproles will hurt the Colts one way or another, receiving, rushing, or returning, adding a spark to the Chargers run game with L.T. ailing a groin injury. Rookie Jacob Hester will see a good dosage of runs too if L.T. is hurting, adding another pair of solid, reliable hands to the a potent pass offense.

Vincent Jackson is playing just as well as any receiver in the AFC while the Colt's Marvin Harrison and Dallas Clark are having down years. The key will obviously be the Colts defense since we all know Manning will show up to play and keep his offense on the field with key decision-making.

But come Saturday, don't be too quick to count the Chargers out, despite what experts are saying, even if the Chargers fall behind, they have come a long way, much like the Colts, to get to this position and they are not ready to lounge and enjoy the weather just yet.

It all began with their fight back against a bad Kansas City team four weeks ago, returning some much needed confidence and hope to the players and coaching staff, it will end with the Chargers playing for much more than a wild-card playoff game.