[MMQB] In case anyone needed more evidence that Peter King is a hack...

We were up 21-9 about two minutes into the fourth quarter... that's nearly a full quarter of a non-competitive situation in which the team pounded Arian. We went for a 4th down in obvious field goal range because we didn't want to "risk" a block.

Points can be misleading in a small sample because situational things are possible. The Texans had 374 yards on 6.1 yards/play; the Patriots had 347 yards on 5.1 yards/play.

 

I think it was a simple counting error. My biggest issue with it isn't the fact that 10-4 is wrong, per se - it's the use of the ridiculous stat in the first place. As I said in the original post, that "record" includes games with Steve McNair/David Carr/Corey Bradford. How in the world is that even remotely relevant to how the current teams are likely to perform? I'd say the fact that the Texans have won 5-of-8/2-of-3 against Tennessee is a lot better indicator, especially considering the only recent Titan win came against Jake Delhomme and Houston third-stringers.

Here's what I believe King's thought process was. For whatever reason, probably a "gut feeling", he looked at our upcoming three-game road trip and thought it would be difficult. Instead of thinking further, though, or actually delving into meaningful numbers to dig deeper... he simply looked for the first stat he could find, relevance be damned, to "confirm" his own bias. The fact that he got the number wrong is just a funny side story, at least to me. The real problem is that he's not even trying to provide actual analysis; instead, he's arrogantly trying to defend his own initial gut reactions. This stuff happens with King all the time; I was just particularly annoyed today and decided to call it out. I can keep a running log, if you wish.

I went through six years of journalism school and have worked several sports beats... I know what goes into that kind of stuff. Plenty of folks do it well. As I said in the prior post, look at Mike Silver of Yahoo!, who has a similar column every Monday. He's excellent.

I'm not asking Peter to know everything in the world. I'm asking him to show some inspiration and focus on what he does know. He has plenty of great connections around the league, and his interviews can be very good. That's why MMQB is always an enjoyable read. However, if keeping tabs on the whole league is too difficult or time-consuming for him, then stop doing that part. Or at least try and briefly make a case involving the teams themselves.

If at any point in analyzing two teams you decide to include evidence from a game seven years ago, in which one starting QB is now dead and the other has been off the roster for six years... you're doing something wrong.

 

Uh, what? He called it a road trip from hell, and the Texans won 2 of the 3, including a relative beatdown of the Titans (that game was NOT close, sorry) in Tennessee. What exactly is he getting an "attaboy" for, the 6-point underdog Texans losing at New England?

 

More than half of the post was dedicated to his nonsense about the Tennessee game, which he ended up being dead wrong about. Of course, that would require a ****ing idiot like yourself to have basic reading comprehension skills, which you've proven for years to lack.

 

No, I flipped because his logic was shaky and in general he was being a lazy journalist. If you actually read my posts in this thread, it's pretty clear what my biggest beef with King was, and it's still quite valid. How much did the ghost of Steve McNair and the memory of David Carr mean when the Texans lined up in Tennessee nine days ago?

And no, I'm not going to shut up because of a loudmouth, agenda-driven simpleton like you.

 

Tell me more about my resume, why don't you?