Eric Heise dot Com ~ The Monday Analysis 7 November 2005 ~ A Writer's March

Big game on Monday night! Clash of the Titans! Return of Manning. But first, some news out of Red Sox Nation that clouded the Colts coming back to town.

Red Sox GM Theo Epstein resigned his position last week just hours prior to the end of his contract. There were lots of leaks to the media - both accurate and inaccurate mostly to the Boston Globe. All of them ticked Theo off, so he walked.

Epstein was asked to stay on for a few days for transitioning, one that includes four delegates from the Red Sox to represent Boston in the winter meetings instead of just Theo. In his parting statement, Epstein says, "My decision not to return as general manager of the Red Sox is an extremely difficult one.

"I want to thank John Henry, Tom Werner, and Larry Lucchino for the opportunity to serve as general manager for the last three seasons. Their support and friendship mean a lot to me, and I wish them all well. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the players, Terry Francona, the coaching staff, the front office, the baseball operations staff, and the fans for making my Red Sox experience so meaningful.

"My passion for and dedication to the game of baseball remain strong. Although I have no immediate plans, I will embrace this change in my life and look forward with excitement to the future."

Several clubs, including the Dodgers, have GM positions open, and may be giving Epstein a call.

Monday night versus the Colts. Gillette Stadium. Site of the Peyton Manning's worst football experiences. The Patriots are riddled with injuries. The Colts are 7-0.

"We’ve seen an awful lot of them, and as usual, they look pretty good," said head coach Bill Belichick. "They’re a strong team in all phases of the game."

The injury list for the teams are long. New England lists 17, including 2 outs and 15 Questionables. Indianapolis lists 13 players, most are Probable.

For the past three or four seasons, teams have hunted the Patriots down, trying to end their streaks. Now finally the Patriots are the ones looking to end someone else's streak.

"It almost feels like it’s a division game," said Belichick. "We spent a lot of time on them last year. We started with them. We spent the whole offseason and training camp and preseason games and then hit them at the end of the year, so you go back through the whole season."

But the Colts have a streak they would like to end. Peyton Manning's failure to win in Foxboro.

"We just try to go out and play hard," said linebacker Willie McGinest. "I don't think it's any magical or special things that we do, or else everybody would be doing it. The Colts are a very good team. All of that has been in the past, as far as us winning. That was in the past. This is a new year. They're the best football team in the game right now, so we have our work cut out for us. They're playing really well."

The Colts have the best record in football right now. And to beat them, the Patriots have to be on their A game.

A mere seven games into his head coaching career, and recording a 5-2 start with the Fighting Irish, Notre Dame extended Weis' contract to run through the 2015 season, five years longer than the original set to expire in 2010, reportedly worth $30-$40 million.

Phil Taylor from SI wrote this week that it wasn't racism, but lunacy that Weis received an extension on a 5-2 record while former Irish head coach Tyrone Willingham got the boot after recording an 21-15 record in three seasons. Willingham is black, and is now head coach at the University of Washington. Charlie Weis is white and Irish Catholic.

A couple of things to consider here before pulling out your hair and making a negative claim on the situation above.

In all due respect to Coach Willingham, Charlie Weis is a Brand Name. Charlie Weis has been an NFL (that's the National Football League) coach for over twenty years. He has five Super Bowl rings and an AFC Championship ring. That means he fills one hand with diamonds, and is working on the next. Coach Weis has won with the Giants and Patriots, established a bona fide Dynasty in New England when Dynasties were considered something of the past. Coach Weis worked under Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, one who will go to the Hall of Fame, the other have the Hall named after him. Weis is the offensive coordinator who groomed Tom Brady, the most successful, and arguably the best quarterback since Troy Aikman played in Dallas. Brady is a two-time Super Bowl MVP under Weis with career numbers beginning to look daunting. Brady is only a six-year veteran, and was picked in the sixth round to "maybe" backup Drew Bledsoe, a first overall pick, but Weis coached Brady right off the cover of Sports Illustrated. More than once.

Charlie Weis is larger than life, size not withstanding. The NFL celebrates his work as one of the finest coaching performances by a coordinator. Charlie Weis can excite a high school kid into going to Notre Dame by showing him the last 1:08 of Super Bowl XXXVI. "See," he'd say. "We worked on this in training camp, and look at the payoff." He says this while flicking reflective light from the diamonds on his Super Bow ring into the kid's eyes.

Now, Tyrone Willingham is a fine coach and individual, and his record speaks for itself. He has success at his position, and is well respected. He started off very fast in South Bend, 8-0, but tends to decline quickly. He was the running backs coach in Minnesota prior to being a head coach in the college ranks.

But his name is never floated around the NFL for a head coaching job. And the Charlie Weis name always will.

Notre Dame took proactive steps to secure their football program by making sure they had a long term coaching solution. More so in the college ranks than in the pros, head coaching tenure is important, and celebrated. Colleges like the fact that their head coach has been with the program for five, ten, fifteen years. They like the loyalty. It helps when recruiting. It helps selling TV rights. It helps fill the stands, and emptying the bookstore of t-shirts.

The Monday Analysis POWER Rankings

Reshuffling the mix in Week 9.

1. Indy (7-0). Big chance to finally win in Foxboro this week.

2. Denver (6-2). Big game this week. Actually, it was a Bye, and next week they travel to Oakland. But there must be a big game to come...

3. NJ Giants (6-2). They blew away Washington last week, but struggled over the 49ers this week. I don't get it.

4. Cincinnati (7-2). Imagine this. One more win, and Marvin Lewis equals win from the past two seasons (8-8). With seven left, it is unforeseeable he will lose them all.

5. Carolina (6-2). Hottest team in the league right now.

6. Dallas (5-3). Big Monday nighter next week in Philly. Classic NFC East matchup. A win carries the Cowboys to great lengths.

7. Seattle (6-2). Hard to argue with the 'Hawks. Their quarterback isn't much to write home about, but they have just about the best running back in the league.

8. Atlanta (6-2). Top of the heap in the NFC South with the third straight win.

9. Pittsburgh (6-2). Not sure how to rank this. They starter third stringer Charlie Batch against Green Bay, and win. But they were playing IN Lambeau...

10. New England (4-3). If they can pull it together, and (continue to) beat Indy, this'll be a turn around game. Maybe.

11. Kansas City (5-3). Trent Green has a terrible week full of injuries and funerals, but manages to keep the Chiefs steady with some help from Larry Johnson at running back.