By Rachel Swett - InReeseWeTrust.com 9/24/10
So I think the question on everyone’s mind after Sunday’s embarrassing Manning-bowl is this: Is Matt Dodge out of dodge? OK so maybe it’s just me. While everyone else is concerned about the major breakdown in the defensive secondary and our abysmal ground game, I’m of course concerned over the gorgeous punter who can’t actually punt. Call me a chick, but nobody can deny that the all-mighty Feagles had a LOT to do with Big Blue’s success in ’07 -’08; MUCH more than we give him credit for, even now that we’re missing him something awful. The devil is in the details when it comes to having a successful season, and this is a detail that CANNOT be overlooked. So while everyone else is beating the hell out of offensive and defensive stats, racking their brains making predictions, I’ll shed light on the detail that I think will make a serious impact on our season.
To answer my own question, “Is Dodge out of dodge?” I don’t think so. I’m not sure what everyone else was watching, but I saw a touchback that wasn’t actually a touchback because of a heads up play by DJ Johnson. Dodge was on the sideline celebrating his first decent kick and even the commentators were all “yyyaaaayyyy for the new kid.” Um, was I the only one that saw the whole game?
Without that single 64 yard punt, a CLEAR outlier on the stat sheet, Dodge’s average for the rest of the game was 27 yards. No that is not a typo, you read correctly the TWO followed by the SEVEN. Ouch. Matt… Buddy… With a 64 yard punt, and a total of 6 punts, you STILL only come up with a 45.5 yard average? Perhaps we should hold the celebration until your stats are at least up to the par with your college sheet.
This may sound a little strange, but at East Carolina Matt Dodge was actually kind of a stud ON the field also. Kinda. During his two seasons with the Pirates he averaged almost 44 yards per punt with a 6 game streak of an over 50 yard average, dropped 20 punts inside the opponent’s 20 yard line and he absolutely crushed at least three punts that were 70+ yards. If that isn’t slightly above average enough for you, wait until you hear that in 2009 the Consensus Draft Service elected Dodge to the All-Underappreciated team! If you’re not already impressed, hold onto your hats because there’s even more! Matt Dodge himself was the SECOND ranked punter in the Conference USA… conference. Department of Redundancy Department strikes again apparently. Now I may barely have ever heard of Conference USA and probably couldn’t name you one single starter in the entire conference, but come on, he was SECOND! Ok, so maybe it’s a bit like being the second best grocery bagger at a Price Chopper where they don’t discriminate based on IQ or drooling, but hey, it’s something. It’d be better than what he’s shown us so far, anyway.
I may be a little less than delighted that Matt Dodge is the man doing our punting, but come on buddy… even MEDIOCRE would at least make your cute face worth looking at. Do I enjoy watching your butt in those pants? Sure. Do I find some slight enjoyment in the fact that you stay on the field twice as long as any other NFL punter because of your strange 63 step approach and overall sluggish demeanor because you look damn good doing it? Sure. Would I trade all that for the flat-assed big-eared 44 year old who was one of the best punters in history? You bet your cute butt I would.
In this league, field position is a big deal. It’s often the difference when two teams are playing their hearts out. And for Big Blue, it has, on occasion, been our only redeeming factor. So Matt can thank D.J. Johnson for saving his career for another split second, but absolutely must get it together. Yes, he has HUMUNGOUS shoes to fill; perhaps the biggest in history. But as long as he can’t at least put them on like a 3 year old girl puts on her Mommy’s shoes, and walk around in them without falling on his face, the Giants have some calls to make. And Blue, for the love of Feagles, if Dodge does end up getting cut, can we stay away from Mediocreville during our new punter search? Just sayin’.
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