Jean Fugett’s Week 8 NFL Recap
By Jean Fugett; thanks to Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell
WalterFootball.com is proud to partner with former Redskins and Cowboys tight end Jean Fugett, Jr. Esq. Fugett grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and attended Amherst College. He was the last pick of the 13th round in the 1972 NFL Draft. Fugett made the Cowboys as a backup to future Hall of Famer Mike Ditka. Fugett eventually became a starter for Tom Landry’s Cowboys and started in Super Bowl X. He made the Pro Bowl in 1977.
As a free agent, Fugett went from being the lowest-paid starting tight end to the highest-paid with the Washington Redskins. While playing for legendary Redskins coach George Allen, Fugett attended law school at George Washington University at night.
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During and after his playing days, Fugett worked with CBS, the Washington Post and other media. He went on to serve as Director and Vice-Chair of the McCall Pattern Company Management Committee, founded a Baltimore law firm and partnered with Fanfone in Europe. After the death of his brother Reginald F. Lewis in 1993, Fugett took over TLC Beatrice International Foods, the largest black-owned and black-managed business in the world at the time. Fugett has served on committees with the NFL Players Association and on the Leadership Council for the American Diabetes Association Maryland Chapter. |
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WalterFootball.com would like to thank Redskins general manager Bruce Allen and senior vice president/executive producer of media Larry Michael for connecting us to Fugett. Now, let’s let Jean take over.
Week 9 NFL Picks
Bengals at Dolphins (Bengals -2.5) The Bengals win on Thursday night again on road
Falcons at Panthers (Panthers -7.5) The Panthers win big at home
Vikings at Cowboys (Cowboys -10.5) The Cowboys looking to rebound big versus the reeling Vikings
Saints at Jets (Saints -6) The Saints make a case as No. 1 NFL team as they cover in New York
Titans at Rams (Titans -3) The Titans should cover
Chiefs at Bills (Chiefs -3.5) The Bills are real tough at home and will upset the Chiefs
Chargers at Redskins (Chargers -1) Washington is at home but the Chargers win
Eagles at Raiders (Raiders -2.5) The Raiders are tough in Oakland and will beat up Philadelphia
Bucs at Seahawks (Seahawks -16) That is a lot of points although Seattle is tough at home
Ravens at Browns (Ravens -2.5) The Ravens win after Coach�s threats this week
Steelers at Patriots (Patriots -7) Desperation/elimination game for the Steelers to cover
Colts at Texans (Colts -2.5) The Texans are really due at home
Bears at Packers (Packers -10.5) The Packers will romp at Lambeau
Week 8 NFL Recap
In each conference, it looks clear that both West division winners will produce two playoff teams with a winner and a wild-card winner. Thus, you have three other divisions in both conferences where teams are fairly even.
This week it was pretty apparent to me that the league is changing the basic philosophy of the pro offense. Watching Peyton Manning and Eli Manning last week, I wondered if I was watching dinosaurs. Can successful quarterbacks in the future stay in the pocket like the Mannings? Maybe, but probably not.
Compare the style of play of the Manning brothers to the style of play of Heisman winner Johnny Manziel, and most of the top college quarterbacks. Read-option quarterbacks are now the vogue in college football, and NFL defenses are run to the offenses, so they are forced to deploy a man to shadow the quarterback.
In the past, NFL defenses did not have to account for the quarterback as a runner. The quarterback was expected to stay in the pocket at all times, unless flushed out by the pass rush.
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In the future NFL, the top teams will have a quarterback who can run as well as pass. Winning in the future will be difficult with a pocket passer who is not mobile unless the quarterback can pass with the efficiency of Peyton Manning. However, if the quarterback has the pass efficiency of Eli Manning this season, maybe not so much. Speaking of the read option, the two leading teams in the NFC West, Seattle and San Francisco, run versions of it. The 49ers run a pure version; Russell Wilson runs more of a read roll out. Both teams also pass from the pocket. In the South division, Carolina is taking off with Cam Newton running the read option. Drew Brees is in the pocket category. In the East, two teams, Washington and the Eagles, utilize the read option. In the North, division none of the teams run it as a primary offense – although recently the Steelers have run a wildcat. |
Former Redskin and Cowboy tight end Jean Fugett was a Pro Bowler in 1977 and a starter in Super Bowl X. |
The NFL scouts will change the way quarterbacks are rated coming out of college. In the past, Dan Marino was the prototype as to who was top rated. Now, teams will be more in favor of a guy like Robert Griffin III even though Andrew Luck is outstanding and was picked ahead of him.
Small defenders such as defensive backs are at a disadvantage against big agile quarterbacks in the open field, especially with rules about how you can hit quarterbacks that are more tightly called when quarterbacks run with the ball. That is why teams like big defensive backs because they are the last line of defense for making tackles when tackles are becoming more difficult to make than they used to be.
Thus, if I were going to pick between Teddy Bridgewater and Marcus Mariota, I would take Mariota. He’s only 19 years old! Come on! He is very good. I’m not saying that Bridgewater is not very good also, but Mariota can do so much. That Oregon team is fun to watch. I think the Pac-12 is going to do very well in the bowl season.
AFC
New England by no means is a complete team, but among the four in the AFC East, the Patriots are the most complete. I think New England could finish 10-6 and easily win that division. Before the season, I said New England was built to get to the playoffs but may not win in the playoffs. We will see. Look how far the Patriots will go with a bunch of no-names on offense around Tom Brady. Sure Miami won with the no-name defense, but the Dolphins had some big names on offense with Griese, Csonka, and Warfield. In New England, you can only name Brady. It is a tribute to Brady that he can win when you take away his best weapons, Welker and his two tight ends, from last season. Miami invested a lot of money on free agents, but still clearly has some missing pieces. Buffalo will continue to compete.
The AFC North is going to be contested by Cincinnati and Baltimore. I think Cleveland will get worse as the season goes. Pittsburgh is also in danger of having its season spiral out of control. If the Ravens had beaten the Steelers two weeks ago, combined with the loss at Oakland, teams would be looking at the Steelers’ season as over. At 2-5, Pittsburgh is not very good and there is no reason to believe the team can improve this year.
In the AFC South, the Colts will continue to do well – barring injuries. Indianapolis could finish around 10-6. It will be interesting to see if the Titans can get back to their level of earlier in the season now that Jake Locker is back. Houston won’t improve this year. The Jaguars may have to wait until next season to see if they can get a win.
The AFC West will be tightly contested between Kansas City and Denver. Kansas City is now the only team in the NFL that is undefeated.
NFC
Green Bay and Detroit will be neck-and-neck in the NFC North. I don’t see Chicago in it without Jay Cutler, although Josh McCown played well in relief. The Bears will not be able to compete without Cutler. Minnesota is now a project for next year.
The NFC East may be won with an 8-8 record. Right now, it looks like Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington are all in the competition with the Giants only two games out of first place. So even the fans in New York still have hope rooting for the Giants.
In the NFC South, the Panthers are starting to be a very consistent team after their early inconsistencies. The team has been under the radar. As the Panthers go forward, they should have easy games against Atlanta (2) and another easy game against Tampa Bay. Carolina should be in the favored seat to be the other wild card team in the NFC with either Seattle or San Francisco. St. Louis and Arizona are out.
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