Big Weekend for Former Boilermakers

No kidding, right? Unless you live under a rock (okay, or if you're not an avid Purdue follower), you know that there are Boilermakers on every team left in the NFL's final four. So while we do sometimes talk NFL around here, we've been doing less of it lately -- however, over the next couple weeks, I think you'll be hearing a little more about it. Let's look at the combatants and the games this weekend. Because, hey, everyone else is.

New Orleans Saints versus Minnesota Vikings


One of Purdue's proudest sons is one win away from the Super Bowl for the second time in his four seasons with New Orleans. People forget that in Mr. Handsome's first year with the team, in 2006, they lost the championship game to the Bears. This was the year after they won only 3 games while playing their entire season away from New Orleans following Katrina. I remember this vividly because Drew had just gone to New Orleans and that August I was in Las Vegas and I put down a bet on the Saints to be NFC champs -- at 35-1. I was a believer in Drew. And I remember not telling anyone I had done that until they were eliminated, so as not to jinx it. Alas, the sucko Bears managed to Rex Grossman their way into the opportunity to get waxed by the Colts.

I'll be pontificating/hero-worshipping Drew a little more in a separate post later today, but for now let's get to this game.

I'm worried, and I'm not afraid to admit it. The Saints biggest weakness has been their run defense. And what is one of the Vikings strength? Of course, Adrian Peterson who, make no mistake, is an animal. I love this guy and let's all just agree that he's the reason Brett Favre has had an admittedly terrific season. Brett, to his credit, bought into the Vikings plan to run the hell out of Peterson until other teams committed to stopping him -- and then they'd punch 'em in the throat with a Brett Favre pass. This of course only works if Favre avoids his trademark crippling interceptions (all-time leader in INTs, by the way, though I don't recall them stopping the game for any ceremonies for that), which has done an amazing job of. This is Favre's lowest interception season ever -- EVER. And he still quietly threw for 4,200 yards. So as much as we collectively dislike this disingenuous hillbilly, he's playing possibly the best football he's ever played -- or at least his best in ten-plus years.

However, the playoffs are when the wheels often come flying off for Fav-ray. So we shall see.

Both sides have pretty decent defenses, but certainly their defenses are not what the teams are known for. On the Minnesota side is our old friend Ray Edwards, who terrorized Tony Romo, much to my delight. Seriously, is there anything better than seeing the Cowboys lose? Jerry Jones deserves nothing. He had one of the best coaches in the game, but his ego forced him to hire a series of bozos (not including Parcells, who eventually had enough on his own) and make himself the GM. Yes, a rich doofus owns the team and makes himself the GM. Even Mark Cuban's not that arrogant. But I digress.

Ray Edwards has blossomed into a hell of a defensive player. He's actually missed some practice time this week due to injury and while I never like to see a Boiler down, I'm okay if he doesn't make it out there to pressure Drew.

The Saints offense, as we've seen over and over this year, is explosive. And they're playing in one of the few home venues that truly can be considered a home-field advantage. I've seen games in the Superdome and it's a pretty great experience -- I can only imagine how deafening it is in the playoffs. And deafening is when opponents make mistakes, run the wrong route, etc. Here's hoping.

Saints 38, Vikings 34
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Indianapolis Colts versus New York Jets


Alright, let's get something straight -- the Jets aren't even in the playoffs if the Colts and Bengals don't lay down for them the last two weeks of the season. Sure, they've played very well and very opportunistically in the playoffs, but they shouldn't even be here. And let's make mistake -- no matter how much the Jets push their "Are they trying now?" motivation tactic (as they did against Cinci), the Colts are just as pissed off about that previous matchup. The Colts players were not pleased with the decision to lay down -- and that's what you expect out of competitors. I expect the Colts to want to win, and win big, showing everyone that they are indeed better than the Jets when they try for four quarters. Given that, I'm thinking Peyton Manning may get more snaps than Curtis Painter in the second half this time around. Going out on a limb here.

As for the Jets, I don't want to completely minimize them. They have a coach who has convinced them to truly believe and they have. Reportedly, at a team meeting on January 5, Rex Ryan mapped out their daily obligations, meetings, practices, etc., all the way through the Tuesday after the Super Bowl. On that day, the board said "PARADE." I give the fat man credit -- he's pushing all the right buttons.

And who has had some of the most critical catches for the Jetties? None other than Dustin Keller, former monster Boilermaker. Have you ever noticed how whenever they need a critical catch, Keller makes it? Can you remember any drops, legitimate or otherwise? And finally, is it me, or is Keller already one of the best YAC tight ends in the NFL? The guy turns short crossing patterns into 50 yard gains. I love the guy and wish he was on my team.

BUT.... let's look closer at the Jets success. Sure, the Jets have the number 1 rushing offense in the NFL. But that's skewed, because they also have an interception factory in Mark Sanchez. When you have a guy you don't trust to throw the ball, you run it incessantly and hope your defense makes some plays. Many teams have ridden this formula to success, usually with shoddy quarterbacks. And it's worked for the Jets because of the teams the Jets have played.

The Bengals looked listless and the Jets were ahead most of the day -- perfect formula for them. And the Chargers? Well, is anyone surprised the Chargers choked early again? I mean, when can we start piling on them as chokers and underachievers. I'm really tired of hearing about how "this is the year" for the Chargers. They've been good for essentially the entire LaDainian Tomlinson Era and, yet, they almost always seem to fall short of expectations. Cool, calm Phil Rivers leads them to one TD in the first half and winds up throwing a Farvian crippling interception that the Jets returned to the SD 16 yard line.... to a place where even Sanchez couldn't help but score. Suddenly, the pressure was on SD and the Jets ground them down. My point? I'm not impressed with the two teams the Jets beat. How they beat them? Yes, I'm impressed with that. But I don't think the Colts are like either of those teams. Coffee is for closers. The Colts are closers.

Colts 23, Jets 13

Boiled Sports-Centric Look at the draft

First off, our Boilers did pretty well yet again in the draft. Three players drafted, one in the first round:

Dustin Keller (30) NYJ
Cliff Avril (92) Detroit
Stanford Keglar (134) Tennessee

Bryant, Armstrong and Grimes will probably get invites to camp.

Something to think about: Purdue has had two first-round draft picks, two seasons in a row...Probably will have a third next year with Painter. All that makes me is frustrated that the talent is clearly pretty solid, while the team's results have been smack-dab in the center of the conference. Frustrating.

Mega Bust, but awesome actor, Brian Bozworth

Speaking of flops, my prediction for this year's draft bust is aOSU's Vernon Gholston. I think that once he has a strict steroid policy hatin' on him, he'll have trouble staying as physically freakish as he seems to be right now...also, I've heard he takes plays off. Never a good thing.

My favorite part of the entire draft was seeing my man Colt Brennen plummet to 186th pick and hearing Jaws still argue that he wasn't worth it. Indeed. But, if an influx of WAC d-backs make their way into the league, he'll be all-pro. Also noteworthy, his thugged-out wideouts were all left at home to sip Mai Tais, Hawaiian Punch or whatever the hell those degenerates drink when not getting arrested back on the mainland.

Oh yeah, Tom Zibikowski was picked at a rock-solid 86th. Did you know he was a boxer?

Now onto our favorite pro teams:
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts first pick was offensive lineman, Mike Pollak from Arizona State. After that, they got a couple linebackers, a couple tight ends, a few more lineman and even a wideout from Mount Union (I didn't know they had a team). But, I'm a big fan of the backup running back they picked up. I think Mike Hart will see substantial action in the Colts 2-back set. He's like a rich man's James Mungro, who I always liked as a Colt.

NY Giants
The World Champs added quite a bit of fire power on the defensive side of the ball by adding some very good defensive backs and linebackers, most note-worthy, Kenny Phillips from the U. The funniest pick is that of once-super Mario Manningham. At one time, I thought that guy was a fast-as-lightning giant. Turns out, when he's in Indianapolis, he's not only a shade under six feet tall, but also a 4.6 40 guy. I actually think he'll be very productive, but I'm still shocked at his lack of height. Maybe all of the corners in the Big Ten are my height and he just dwarfs them.

Cleveland Browns
The Browns had some needs at linebacker, and picked up a few of them. The Browns draft was pretty uneventful due to the fact that their earliest pick was in the fourth round. They picked up a few offensive weapons in tight end, Martin Rucker from Mizzou and possession receiver, Hubbard from Wisky. Hopefully, they figure out how to cut a bit of their extra costs and can spend their money a bit more wisely in coming seasons.

One last point- Boiled Sports has had an amazing effect on the complexion of the NFL since its inception two years ago. What do I mean? Well, my team is the Colts ('07 World Champs). J's team is the Giants ( '08 World Champs). Is it too early to predict Tim's team as world champs in '09?? I think not. Put it down in Sharpie!

CLEVELAND BROWNS 2009 WORLD CHAMPS

Charlie Murphy in West Lafayette

Why is this interesting? To me personally, it was pretty interesting because my brother-in-law works with the student organization that brings acts to campus. He was the guy who got to pick up Charlie from the airport. While he was waiting for Charlie to get ready and head up to W. Laf. (he was staying in Indy), we hung out in the mall. During our visit to the mall we saw soon-to-be-millionaire Dustin Keller shopping. We starting asking the question, "How little self-control would I have if I knew I was going to be worth that much money in two days?" Not much. Anywho, Dustin Keller looks fit...he must work out or something.

Workout wonders

A year after Anthony Spencer was one of the most impressive workout warriors and followed it up by a strong rookie year for Dallas, Purdue prospects were among the most impressive with tight end Dustin Keller, linebacker Stanford Keglar and defensive end Cliff Avril all testing as well as anyone at their respective positions. The 252-pound Avril moved like a linebacker with phenomenal quickness, leading all defensive linemen in the 3-cone drill, while Keglar led all linebackers with 29 reps in the bench press and topping everyone in the broad jump. He also came up with a solid 4.58 40 to go along with a 34-inch vertical, but it was his quickness that jumped off the charts by leading the linebackers in the three-cone drill and blowing everyone out of the water in the 20-yard shuttle.

As impressive as the Boilermaker defenders were, it was Keller who might have helped himself more than anyone in Indy by leading all the tight ends in the 40 (4.55), vertical (38 inches), broad jump (10-11, eight inches further than the No. 2 tight end), the three-cone (4.55) and the 20-yard shuttle (4.14), while he was second in the bench press (26 reps). Though not all that huge at 242 pounds, no one seems to care anymore after his display of athleticism and the way he lifted. Considered no better than the third tight end prospect coming into the weekend, he's now a likely first-rounder and possibly the top tight end.

Courtesy of Fox Sports