And he laterals the shoe to Rolle!

Ed Reed is literally catching everything right now. You've probably seen the stats: 10 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries, 335 return yards, and 3 touchdowns in his last 7 games (including his first playoff win). That's an average of about 2 turnovers a game each of which he returns 28 yards. If you're responsible for two turnovers that you return 28 yards a piece, 95% of the time you've made the two biggest plays of the game. And this was on a playoff run for a team that had zero wiggle room.

Riker to Ray Lewis's Picard, Reed faced a career threatening nerve injury in the offseason due to a crushing hit from Hines Ward. "Hopefully, I can get back, but health is more important right now," Reed said at the time to the Baltimore Sun. "It's a long season, and I feel like the team is going to need me more down the line than earlier and having to get hurt and can't play again." So Reed picked his spots to start the year, with only one pick in the first 10 games. Now he's clinched a spot in the Hall of Fame after only seven seasons, an amazing accomplishment for a defensive player. He's being mentioned in the same breath as Ronnie Lott among the all time greats at safety, although with the caveat that he needs a Super Bowl ring. Three more wins to go.

Fassel? Seriously?

The Redskins seem to be thinking outside the box for their next head coach, with ex-Giants head coach and ex-Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Fassel now perhaps the leading candidate. First, in their defense, five of the final eight teams alive in the playoffs this year were coached by guys who have been fired (Bill Belichick fired by Cleveland, Tom Coughlin fired by Jacksonville, Norv Turner fired by Washington and Oakland, Wade Phillips fired by Buffalo, and Tony Dungy fired by Tampa Bay). Fassel also led an overachieving Giants team to the Super Bowl in 2000, a run which began with his famous "chips to the center of the table" speech. However, in his most recent job, the Ravens averaged 18.3 points in 2006 with Fassel as coordinator, 24.3 points after he was fired.

But he'd have to be a better choice than Jim Mora, Jr., who seems to follow in Larry Brown's wanderlust footsteps more than his father's. Mora got the pink slip from Atlanta for his musings about the UW job, and may have leveraged the Redskins' interest into becoming Holmgren's successor. And at this point it's safe to say Gregg Williams will be elsewhere next season, and (this is pure conjecture) a Gregg Williams/Rex Ryan swap isn't out of the question, based on what's transpired in their respective interviews.

Skewing younger

The hot trend this offseason so far is in the assistant coaching ranks. If you count head coaches in waiting Jim Caldwell and Jim Mora, Jr., the first four head coaching openings of this offseason have been filled by candidates who were neither offensive nor defensive coordinators. Tony Sparano, the new coach of the Dolphins coaxed a career season out of Leonard Davis as offensive line coach of the Cowboys. The Eagles special teams fell apart after new Ravens coach John Harbaugh was switched from special teams to defensive backs coach this past offseason. Marcus Trufant made his first Pro Bowl with Mike Holmgren's expected successor Jim Mora, Jr. as defensive backs coach. And Jim Caldwell, the first publicly announced coach to be a successor, has Peyton Manning's ear as quarterbacks coach.

There are two possibly explanations for this shift: the head coaches are getting younger or the coordinators are getting older. Look at the Colts - offensive coordinator Tom Moore is over 16 years older than Caldwell. Likewise Seahawks defensive coordinator John Marshall and Jim Mora, Jr. Monte Kiffin and Jim Johnson are maybe the two most respected defensive coordinators of the last decade, and they are 67 and 66, respectively. Meanwhile it seems that coaches over 50 need not apply, as Jim Fassel seems to be the first coach half a hundred or more to be seriously interviewed for any of the openings, Marty rumors and Rooney Rule fodder notwithstanding.

Jobbed

The Ravens stopped the Patriots last night 3 times on 4th down on the game winning drive, and none counted. The first time, on a 4th and 1, Tom Brady was stuffed in the backfield on a quarterback keeper. But the referees allowed defensive coordinator Rex Ryan to signal timeout, even though the only person on the sidelines allowed to call a timeout is the head coach. Then the Ravens stuffed fullback Heath Evans on a fullback dive, but the Patriots were whistled for a false start. Finally, Brady through an incomplete pass on 4th and 5. But the Jermaine Winbourne was whistled for defensive holding on the tight end, a ticky tack foul that occurred within five yards of the line of scrimmage. On the one 4th down the Patriots did convert, after the false start, Samari Rolle was called for illegal contact, even though from my angle it looked like Randy Moss tackled Rolle in front of the ref. This likely led to one of the incidents of the head linesman calling Rolle "boy."

On the bright side for Baltimore, in a game that featured three sure fire Hall of Famers (Tom Brady, Ray Lewis, Jon Ogden), Haloti Ngata was the best player on the field. The Patriots averaged 4.4 yards a play when Ngata was in the game, 6.2 yards when he wasn't, a staggering difference. Ngata is 9th in the NFL in tackles among defensive lineman, ridiculous for a 340 pounder whose primary responsibility is to occupy blockers. He looks like a great choice for my 25 or Under team, and deserves a spot in the Pro Bowl this year.