Where is Merril Hoge & Intelligent NFL Primetime Analysis?

For the past 2 weeks Merril Hoge’s appearances have become sporadic and the quality of the analysis has gone off a precipice as a result.

The final straw for me was Trent Dilfer appearing to mock Merril Hoge’s “Seal of Approval”.

The only thing Dilfer succeeded in doing was exposing his own incompetence.

Whereas Merril Hoge would specifically point out the actual seals and how they were put together, the best Dilfer could do was to take a running play put some dots randomly around the line of scrimmage and say “seal this” “seal that”.

Completely pathetic.

Not only is Dilfer trying unsuccessfully to mock Hoge, he is also mocking any fan who likes to look past the superficial “look” of a play and wants to understand what exactly happened, how it happend and why it happened.

I wouldn’t say I found Tilfer’s attempt at comedy personally insulting but I did feel it was a waste of my time as I have got used to being shown the actual workings of the machine.

When you see the time and effort Hoge clearly puts into his work the other so called analysts on the show are brutally exposed.

I do not know why Tilfer thinks he is qualified to comment on Hoge’s analysis because in this week’s show I saw nothing insightful come from him.

Tim Hasslebeck is an ex NFL player. I would expect him to be able have an intelligent discussion with Hoge but no.

Hoge, rightly or wrongly does not rate Tim Tebow, I do not know if he is right or wrong becuase I have not seen Tebow play but at least Hoge brings up specific reasons as to why he thinks Tim Tebow is not all he is cracked up to be.

httpv

Hasslbeck on the other hand can only regurgitate what is given in the main stream news.

httpv

It is obvious to me that Hasslebeck spends next to no time analyzing film during the week or he would be able to come up with more constructive arguments than he does.

httpv

This video is a case in point, Hoge has gone back to watch the tape and has explained what he saw, Hasslebeck clearly hasn’t gone over the tape because he does not say Hoge is wrong or that Hoge is misinterpreting what he saw. Hasslebeck simply can’t comment because he has not watched the film.

The best Hasslebeck can come up with is “give him a chance”. Cheers Hasslbeck, I could have said that and I have not even played in the NFL.

Your likes of Halssbeck are spoon fed coverage by back room staff and he comments on it. Simple as that and it shows.

httpv

Hoge is specific in his critisiscm, which is more than you can say for Hasslbeck

And in the last 2 weeks you have got these so called ex-professionals and experts feeling that they can come on the show and use Hoge’s terminology.

They throw around terms like “factor back” and “canalley” except they have no clue what they are talking about.

Honestly, I could do the same job as Hasslebeck.

Show me a run play that gets 30 yards, draw some circles of various players on the screen and I can commentate on it saying “you have a seal here” “and a seal there” and “now you have a canali”.

But I have absolutely no clue what I am talking about.

I have no clue why the players did what they did.

I have no clue why the defense lined up they way they did in the first place.

I have no idea why that play was called.

I have no idea why the defensive line was so convincingly beaten etc etc………

Bascially I know as much as Hasslebeck but with one big difference

Hasslebeck is working on a show where he is supposed to be treating the audience like adults, he is supposed to be giving the audience some insight to explain what they saw.

He is supposed to be taking the game to the next level where people don’t merely see what happens but ask why the play developed why it did and get people understanding why teams did what they did.

But no, Hasslebeck, and from what I have seen so far, Dilfer, simple describe what they see on the TV. It is like listening to the radio.

When Hoge is not on NFL Primetime the show is 2 dimensional.

I do not know why Hoge is not on there all the time but in recent weeks the gaping chasm between the insight that Hoge is able to give and the insight of the other jokers on the show has become stark.

To repeat myself, it is obvious that Hoge studies hours of tape every week whereas Hasslbeck simply has a game on in the background.

Please, ESPN get Hoge back on, whatever his price is I am sure it is worth it, he simply takes NFL game analysis to a different level.

If the other analysts on the show like Tilfer and Hasslebeck feel intimidated by him they should get lost or invest some of their time in whatching some tape.  There lack of knowledge is disrespecting real fans of the NFL