The Lofton Files: Wild Stats and a Team Out of Whack

09/21/2011

Crazy Numbers

I’m not a gamer – not a videogamer, that is – but if I was, I’d love the start of this NFL season.

Tom Brady is on pace to pass for 7,500 yards! Cam Newton is right behind, headed for 6,800 yards, while his top receiver Steve Smith is looking at a 2,500-plus-yard season.

Meanwhile, Brady, Matthew Stafford and Ryan Fitzpatrick – yes, Harvard man Ryan Fitzpatrick – are all on pace to toss 56 touchdown passes apiece.

Phew! Those are some wild numbers, but to me, the only numbers crazier than those have to be the Lions, Bills and Redskins at 2-0. The individual numbers might drop, but hopefully one of those three will endure the next 15 weeks and make it to the playoffs. Maybe I can help get them there quicker. Which button sends the game into hyper speed?

 

A Horse Is a Horse, Unless It’s a Peyton-less Horse, Of Course

In sports, one of the biggest assets of training is muscle memory. You teach your body to do an action so that when the critical moment occurs, your muscles remember what to do. Simple enough, right? Well, it doesn’t always work so easily.

The “muscle memory” of the Indianapolis Colts features old #18 Peyton Manning doing his Johnny Unitas trot onto the field and the dissecting whatever defense stood in his way. Now that Peyton’s out, the team is all out of whack because, reflexively, they only remember one way to play. The Colts haven’t been 0-2 since Peyton’s rookie year in 1998, and here they are again in 2011. 13 years is a long time doing things one way to suddenly have to change.

Veterans like Jeff Saturday and Reggie Wayne haven’t forgotten how to play the game, but it looks like they need time to figure out how to play it without their leader. Maybe a little short-term memory loss would help – my prescription: create some new memories with a few touchdown passes from Kerry Collins.

 

Brad Sham, James Lofton and Hub Arkush (sidelines) will have all the action from Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday Night Football, as the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Indianapolis to take on Kerry Collins and the Colts. Coverage begins at 7:30 PM Eastern on Westwood One.

 

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