OAKLAND 13- PHILLY 9
Wuzza? Wha’ da? Huh? Hey, wha’ happened? I don’t think anyone saw this coming. The Raiders mixed up their defenses and blitzed away, making it a long day for Donovan McNabb. Former Patriot Richard Seymour had a pair of sacks, and the Eagles averaged less than 4 runs a quarter. Philly is the most confusing team of any in the NFL. They were very good pounding the bottom feeders, but the lowest of all teams beat them. Philly seems to lack any identity, and the Michael Vick Experiment is a failure. Blame Andy Reid for pretending the Eagles were ahead the whole game, and refusing to alter his game plan. As for the Raiders, as NFL Guy’s dad says: “Even a blind squirrel can sometimes find a nut.”
Houston 28 – Cincinnati 17
Houston remains another complete enigma, but this might be a squad waking up. Matt Schaub had a banner day with almost 400 passing yards and 4 tds. Houston was able to contain Cedric Benson to 44 yards, and the Bengals offense was stymied. We see one thing apparent in this game – as the ground game goes, so do the Bengals. Houston’s defense played some ball with LB DeMeco Ryans having 12 tackles. Schaub’s day would have been noticed by a lot more people had something wild not gone down in Foxboro.
Green Bay 26 – Detroit 0
Another big day by another top QB. Aaron Rogers ripped apart the porous Detroit secondary on his way for 358 yards and a pair of tds. Exposing just how bad the Lions are in the back four is that the defense dropped Rogers five times, yet he was still able under pressure to find the open man. Of course, the Pack has allowed defenses into its backfield all season. However, until Detroit gets an entire new d-backfield, they will suffer major losses to any team able to move the ball by the air. This is still a team several seasons away from being really competitive.
Minnesota 33 – Baltimore 31
The Vikes jumped out to a big lead, then watched it slip away. The only reason they remain undefeated was a missed field goal by the Ravens with no time left on the clock. Joe Flacco threw for over 100 more yards than Farve, and is really progressing in his second year under center. The Ravens have dropped three in a row now, and there is no such thing as a moral victory in the NFL, but this is a team getting back on track I think. As for the Vikings, you might not be able to rush on them, but you can move it through the air. I just don’t see them beating the Saints right now.
New Orleans 48 – New York Giants 27
This was supposed to be the show down between the top two teams in the NFC. It ended up as an embarrassing whipping as Drew Brees opened it up on the NFL’s number one defense, (well, it won’t be any more). The Giants are another team great pounding on bottom feeders and then running their yaps. However, they were completely outmatched and very outcoached in this game. Tom Coughlin looked like his head was going to split in half like an over ripe cabbage. The score should have actually been worse, but even so, it is not indicative of just how much better the Saints were on Sunday. New Orleans also seems built to beat a team like Minnesota. O yeah, they can play some D in the Big Easy as well.
Pittsburgh 27 – Cleveland 14
The biggest story here is that Cleveland scored two touchdowns. The Steelers still do not play the type of football you expect from defending champions, and they are several pegs down from Indianapolis right now. The Browns are as pitiful against the pass, (allowing 417 yards), as much as they are passing, (gaining 122 yards). Pittsburgh might be a little too cocky right now, remember they barely beat a very fortunate Arizona team last year in the Super Bowl. As for the Browns, the coaching staff needs to be gone yesterday for them to have any chance of winning in the next decade. Since returning to the league 12 years ago they are 62 games below .500!
New England 59 – Tennessee 0
What can be said here? 625 yards to 186 in total offense. It reminded me of how the NFC used to beat on the AFC in the Super Bowl. The Titans are so awful in so many ways, and they were no way near prepared to even compete against the Pats here. Vince Young was the passing leader for the Titans and his stats were 0/2 for 0 yards; he also should have been called for a safety. Had it been reviewed, it would have been two more points for New England. Even Belichick didn’t ask for the refs to look at it. Brady was awesome throwing for 380 yards, and six TDS; and the Titans defense literally watched the receivers run by them. Jeff Fisher has lost his touch and this was just as ludicrous as the nor’easter snow storm in Mid-October that ripped through the Commonwealth.
Carolina 28 – Tampa Bay 21
A match of who could coach their teams slightly less worse than the other. Well John Fox won. Jake Delhomme threw for 65 yards and the Panthers squeaked one out. People should have been paid to sit in the stands for this one. As I have said before, we might be seeing some of the worst football we have seen in many seasons this year. There are just so many bad teams, and a lot of it has to do with coaching. Here is more proof.
Kansas City 14 – Washington 6
Battle of the Indian logos ends up as one of the more embarrassing days in the history of Washington sports. Well not quite as bad as losing to Detroit, but close. Former first round pick and QB of the future Jason Campbell was pulled, and the whole thing went downhill from there. Clinton Portis must be as sick as his counterpart in St Louis Steven Jackson – a terrific running back on a really terrible team. Jim Zorn was told after the game he will no longer be allowed to call his own plays. He was told this by a Redskin executive who played a police sergeant in the movie “Kindergarten Ninja”.
Jacksonville 20 – St. Louis 23
Steven Jackson lead the team on both rushing and receiving for the Rams, but never crossed the end zone. I pity this guy, I really do. Jacksonville staved off the wolves by barely defeating a winless team. I don’t want to waste too many words on this game, because this was a waste. I’m sure Jacksonville is glad they booted Tom Coughlin at the first sign of rough waters.
Arizona 27 – Seattle 3
I am seeing a pattern here – Seattle cannot beat anyone worth a plugged nickel. They are sort of the algae eater that sticks to the side of the fish tank and scares all the kids when they see the gross sucker mouth. As long as a team can’t fight back, they’ll suck you up. If you have teeth, they need to hide underneath the neon colored castle. This looked a lot more like the Cardinals team we saw late last year, except Anquon Boldin was playing much better ball then. Arizona is so wildly inconsistent this year.
Buffalo 16 – New York Jets 13
Call Laguardia Airport, we’ve got a jet crashing! QB Mark Sanchez had an 8.3 QB rating (8.3 points higher than both the Titans QBs combined however), throwing 5 picks, including one in overtime. The Jets came out of the blocks smoking this season, but the more film the league has on you, the easier you are to beat. Buffalo really is a very bad team, but the Jets played down to their competition. Once Sanchez began to fall apart the New York crowd typically turned on him, eating their own young as they so love to do.
Atlanta 21 – Chicago 14
A battle of two good teams. Matt Ryan, the pride of Boston College, is a steady man behind the line. I am not sure if he ever becomes a Brady or a Brees, but he could be right below that level. He seems unflappable, and very consistent. Cutler loves to throw the ball, and he is still a QB also right below the top level. However, this was a defensive battle, and surprisingly, it was Atlanta getting the job done. The best part of this game was watching Chicago OLT Orlando Pace still shoving people around. Without a doubt, one of the best left side protectors ever. Think he’s happy he split the scene in St. Louis?
