Seeing is not believing this preseason
By Cris Collinsworth
Special to NFL.com
(Sept. 2, 2004) -- I am asked to pick who I believe will win the conferences and eventually the Super Bowl on Inside the NFL and here on NFL.com each season. And every year, I base that pick on one team that I fall in love with for its performance in the preseason.
But I'm starting to understand why that is. If you look around the league, there is always one team that rises above expectations in the preseason. I thought that the Redskins were going to take at least a year to absorb the teaching of head coach Joe Gibbs. But when I watched the Redskins against the great Miami defense, I changed my mind. They were unbelievable. They were running counters to perfection. The linemen were really moving and making good blocks. They looked amazing. I started to think that this might be the upset team this season.
Then they looked horrible against the St. Louis Rams. This wasn't the same team that I had seen the previous week.
The Rams, conversely, looked great against the Redskins but were destroyed by the Kansas City Chiefs the previous week. The Rams offensive line issues started to surface again; they had trouble at the right tackle spot a couple of years ago before they acquired Kyle Turley, consequently Kurt Warner got hurt. Now with Orlando Pace holding out and Turley out for the season, I began to think the same thing was going to happen to Marc Bulger.
Then St. Louis destroyed, what I thought, was a pretty good Washington team.
Carson Palmer looked great against the Pats but not against Atlanta.
Cincinnati looked like world champions against the New England Patriots. Carson Palmer moved the team up and down the field against New England and I thought maybe the Bengals were for real.
Then Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Schaub looked like an All-Pro against Cincinnati's defense, and reality set in concerning the Bengals.
I don't know what to think anymore. My mind was spinning as I was trying to make some sense of what was going on. My only advice is to put blinders on. Enjoy the exhibition games but don't pay attention to the results. The main reason is that coaches use preseason games to study personnel without regard to winning and losing.
I talked to Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac about rookie cornerback Chris Gamble prior to their preseason game against the Giants. Trgovac said that Gamble was good, but he was going to do something that he would never do in the regular season and leave Gamble in man-to-man coverage just to see how he responds.
Redskins defensive coordinator Gregg Williams told us before the Rams game that he wanted rookie safety Sean Taylor to get beat deep a couple of times against the Rams. Say what? But Williams said that Taylor did not have enough respect for the speed of NFL receivers and he wanted the Rams to run by him a couple of times. Williams wanted Taylor to learn this lesson in the preseason instead of on opening day.
I almost started laughing when I listened to Williams. But he got what he wanted -- the Rams turned Taylor around a couple of times.
I now know not to use the outcome of preseason games to judge a team. It's like a magic show. It is like when I saw an elephant disappear from the stage, but that really didn't happen. By the same token, I realize that the Kansas City defense really wasn't that good against the Rams. The Rams simply had not game planned for the pressure they saw that night. I'm constantly telling my brain not to believe what my eyes are seeing. Do you believe in magic?
Of course, one of my teams that I am considering to go to the Super Bowl this season is the Minnesota Vikings, and it's because they have played so well during the preseason. There goes another elephant.
By Cris Collinsworth
Special to NFL.com
(Sept. 2, 2004) -- I am asked to pick who I believe will win the conferences and eventually the Super Bowl on Inside the NFL and here on NFL.com each season. And every year, I base that pick on one team that I fall in love with for its performance in the preseason.
But I'm starting to understand why that is. If you look around the league, there is always one team that rises above expectations in the preseason. I thought that the Redskins were going to take at least a year to absorb the teaching of head coach Joe Gibbs. But when I watched the Redskins against the great Miami defense, I changed my mind. They were unbelievable. They were running counters to perfection. The linemen were really moving and making good blocks. They looked amazing. I started to think that this might be the upset team this season.
Then they looked horrible against the St. Louis Rams. This wasn't the same team that I had seen the previous week.
The Rams, conversely, looked great against the Redskins but were destroyed by the Kansas City Chiefs the previous week. The Rams offensive line issues started to surface again; they had trouble at the right tackle spot a couple of years ago before they acquired Kyle Turley, consequently Kurt Warner got hurt. Now with Orlando Pace holding out and Turley out for the season, I began to think the same thing was going to happen to Marc Bulger.
Then St. Louis destroyed, what I thought, was a pretty good Washington team.
Carson Palmer looked great against the Pats but not against Atlanta.
Cincinnati looked like world champions against the New England Patriots. Carson Palmer moved the team up and down the field against New England and I thought maybe the Bengals were for real.
Then Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Schaub looked like an All-Pro against Cincinnati's defense, and reality set in concerning the Bengals.
I don't know what to think anymore. My mind was spinning as I was trying to make some sense of what was going on. My only advice is to put blinders on. Enjoy the exhibition games but don't pay attention to the results. The main reason is that coaches use preseason games to study personnel without regard to winning and losing.
I talked to Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac about rookie cornerback Chris Gamble prior to their preseason game against the Giants. Trgovac said that Gamble was good, but he was going to do something that he would never do in the regular season and leave Gamble in man-to-man coverage just to see how he responds.
Redskins defensive coordinator Gregg Williams told us before the Rams game that he wanted rookie safety Sean Taylor to get beat deep a couple of times against the Rams. Say what? But Williams said that Taylor did not have enough respect for the speed of NFL receivers and he wanted the Rams to run by him a couple of times. Williams wanted Taylor to learn this lesson in the preseason instead of on opening day.
I almost started laughing when I listened to Williams. But he got what he wanted -- the Rams turned Taylor around a couple of times.
I now know not to use the outcome of preseason games to judge a team. It's like a magic show. It is like when I saw an elephant disappear from the stage, but that really didn't happen. By the same token, I realize that the Kansas City defense really wasn't that good against the Rams. The Rams simply had not game planned for the pressure they saw that night. I'm constantly telling my brain not to believe what my eyes are seeing. Do you believe in magic?
Of course, one of my teams that I am considering to go to the Super Bowl this season is the Minnesota Vikings, and it's because they have played so well during the preseason. There goes another elephant.