The Morning Tailgate

One of the more interesting NFL playoff subplots being discussed around JSF headquarters lately has been the predictive powers of a particular Quality Stat produced by our friends at coldhardfootballfacts.com.

As we discussed with CHFF mastermind Kerry Byrne on the JoeSportsFan Radio Show last week, his “Defensive Hog Index” is, simply put, their attempt at quantifying which NFL teams have the best defensive front seven in the league.  It’s a fairly easy to understand combination of opponents rushing yards per game, the number of negative pass plays the defense creates in a game and third down success rate.

Who knew it has such predictive playoff power.

Through two rounds of the 2008-'09 playoffs the team with the higher Defensive Hog Index is 8-0.   Of the four teams remaining, Pittsburgh, Philly and Baltimore rank No. 1, 2, and 3 respectively throughout the season.

Is it a mere coincidence?  Well, last year the New York Giants ranked No. 1 in the 2007 regular season and they were hoisting the Lombardi trophy at the end.  So, considering the stat was introduced at the beginning of last season, it’s been a solid indicator to this point.

Put it this way, if the Super Bowl ends up with Pittsburgh beating Philly and the Defensive Hog Index going 11-0, we’re emptying the JSF bank account next year around playoff time and wagering it strictly according to what the Index tells us.    Screw quarterbacks and home field advantage.  We want hogs.

Speaking of, for their uncanny knack at piecing together quality stats that tell us more than your standard NFL website, we’re FedExing this morning’s Tailgate bratwurst to the CHFF offices in Boston.

January 14

1844 - University of Notre Dame receives its charter from the state of Indiana and immediately declares that its the best university in the state, country, and world.

1939 - The NFL’s first Pro Bowl is held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, California.  Chris Berman’s Mom was instrumental in moving the location of the game to Honolulu in the early '70s because she knew how darn cute her son looked in Hawaiian shirts.

1954 - NY Yankee Joe DiMaggio marries actress Marilyn Monroe.  Monroe filed for divorce on grounds of “mental cruelty” 274 days after the wedding.  Whatever.

1979 - Drew Brees, the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2004 and the Offensive Player of the Year in 2008, is born.###MORE###

Serena Williams/WWE Wrestler & “World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry

After hearing about the four year $60 million contract that the Atlanta Braves recently finalized with pitcher Derek Lowe…

“Looks like this gives new definition to the phrase…buying low.”

YEEEEOOOWWWW!

Rather then try to rehash a crazy story in JSF form, we now direct our attention to the Associated Press.

Associated Press, you now have the floor:

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The American Football Coaches Association is holding its annual convention at the Opryland Hotel, and hotel security had been called around 4:10 a.m. with a noise complaint when officers found a broken window and Scott Coy and Darren DeMeio outside on the ground below.

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It gets better:

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“They wrestled each other too close to the window going through it and down to the ground floor,” Nashville police spokeswoman Kris Mumford said. “That’s four floors.”

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Even better than two grown men acting like incensed, rabid children is the fact that we need a police spokeswoman to explain the process of how they fell through a window. Thankfully neither Serena Williams or Mark Henry were involved.

The Media Circus proudly debuts what is, to them, a new and potentially dangerous phenomenon: the athlete-on-announcer man crush. While that’s going on, the Media Circus weather team issues some severe sports warnings.