- Now that every team has played half a season, it's time to really pay attention to which teams are starting to play their best and which are melting away like butter. Several teams this week proved that you can play well early and make noise, but that doesn't mean you're a good team. And a few teams showed that when you put it all together, it can be a beautiful thing.
- Atlanta and Baltimore slugged it out for four quarters last Thursday, and the ugly play can be excused because of the short turnaround. The big thing that I took from this game is that a national audience got to see Falcons WR Roddy White show his stuff. It was a star-making turn for Rowdy Roddy, as he played through a knee injury to catch 12 balls for 138 yards and 2 scores. The game-winning score was caught by White after he pushed off a DB. So I win a pick thanks to blind refereeing. The thing about refereeing is, it'll bite me many times down the road. It gets everyone eventually.
- Big game for Freddie Jackson, as the former 80s R&B crooner ran for 133 yards and a score and also caught a TD pass to lead Buffalo to their 1st win. Jackson continued his amazing career turnaround, going from hitmaking singer to...oh wait, wrong Fred Jackson.
- Is winning road games in OT a skill? Cause if it is, the Jets have perfected it, becoming the 1st team in league history to win road OT games in consecutive weeks. I don't know what the hell to make of the Browns, who keep competing every week despite having clearly the lesser amount of talent every week. It's up to each person who watches the Jets what to make of them, and I really don't believe in them despite their 7-2 record. I see a team with a QB in Mark Sanchez who doesn't display the most poised, steady presence out there. I see a running game that will go as far as its geriatric star LaDainian Tomlinson will take them, because Shonn Greene doesn't appear to be ready for prime time. And I see an overrated pass defense that has been getting thrown on all year and gave up the game-tying TD pass. And their kicker apparently blows, too.
- I hereby nominate the Carolina Panthers as our second Fed Ex Mail-It-In team of the season. I'm stunned that they put up 16 points.
- Carson Palmer struck again, throwing horribly inaccurate passes all over Lucas Oil Stadium and putting the Cincinnati Bengals in an early hole against the Indianapolis Colts. The only reason the Colts didn't cover is because of another late Bengals rally, but it was the rallying QB that put them in the hole to begin with.
- How did Miami win by double digits in a game where they had to use three different QBs thanks to injury? The same drowsy offense that got Chad Henne benched kept the Dolphins afloat until Henne went down and allowed new starter Tyler Thigpen to throw some really good balls and lead a TD drive in the 4th quarter. Oh, and they were playing the Tennessee Titans, who had to remove their starting QB due to injury and give the rock to God, I mean Vince Young. VY showed his preparation level by going 9-18-92 yards with a TD, and INT, and a fumble. So Miami should thank their lucky stars that they were going against an immature, unprepared, banged up Young in the 2nd half. You can't take credit for much of anything when your team loses two QBs to season-ending injuries and you still win. That's just plain dumb luck.
- The Bears looked as cohesive offensively as they've looked in any game this year, and that's trouble for the NFC North. It helps when the Vikings for some reason gleefully punt and kick off to Devin Hester, still one of the most dangerous return men ever. He didn't break into the end zone (he did catch a TD pass) but he kept putting Chicago in great field position. The other big assist goes to the Chicago Park District, which owns Soldier Field. They refuse to put in FieldTurf or something better than the dog shit people have been sliding on for years now. Two of Brett Favre's INTs were nothing other than intended receivers slipping and falling flat on their asses as the ball whizzed past where they were standing and into the hands of Bears defenders. Can't lead a coach-saving rally when your pass catchers are sliding everywhere on the field. FIRE CHILLY!!
- That was a stunning display of the worst secondaries maybe in the history of football between the Texans and the Jaguars. 656 passing yards between the two teams. Receivers routinely were catching balls with no one within 10 yards of them. One member of the Houston secondary made the one last boo-boo that cost them the game. Jacksonville QB David Garrard heaved up a Hail Mary from 50 yards away with no time left, and every non-Jags fan was channeling their inner Tom Jackson and saying out loud "Knock it down!" So what does Houston DB Glover Quin do when the ball is sailing right to him in the end zone? Three guesses: 1, knock it down, 2, catch the damn thing which is coming right at him, or 3, knock it sideways instead of down, giving anyone a chance to catch it and defeating the entire fucking purpose of trying to knock it down. If you guessed 3, come claim your prize. Mike Thomas caught the batted ball for an early Christmas gift and a game-winning TD that he'll be able to tell his grandkids about...except by then, it will have been a grueling catch wrestled away from 6 defenders in a driving snowstorm. Oh, what did I learn? Neither of these shitty defenses will allow either team to do anything, even if they make the playoffs.
- Not much to say about the KC-Denver destruction. One team showed that they should still be considered dangerous, the other showed that we can forget them now.
- The Rams have no one to blame but themselves for losing to the 49ers. They held a lead in the 4th quarter but allowed a drive by the new Messiah, QB Troy Smith, including converting a 4th and 18, to give SF the lead. Then SF gave up a drive to let the Rams tie the game and send it to OT. San Fan pulled it out in extra time. I don't think this was about Troy Smith leading the game-saving drive, I think it's yet another example of why St. Louis isn't ready yet. They have no idea how to put teams away on the road. There is no excuse for a defensive line that talented giving Smith the amount of time he had to throw the go-ahead TD to Michael Crabtree. Smith could have left to polish his Heisman Trophy before throwing the ball.
- How good must Matt Hasselbeck be? He misses last week's game and his Seattle Seahawks get pounded in the moon by the Giants. He comes back and they rip the Cardinals in Arizona. I realize there's a huge class difference between opponents, but it's still a night-and-day performance by Seattle.
- And speaking of the Giants, I was once again taught that Eli Manning is still a fragile little boy who tends to quit when things don't go his way early in games. The Dallas Cowboys came out with a little fire early and got an early lead, but the way the Giants responded, you'd think they were out of it. Bad throws by Eli, including a pick-6 in the end zone, and bad D by the G-men, including one sequence that was so awful that coordinator Perry Fewell and the coach Tom Coughlin were jawing at each other on the sideline. But even with all that, a horrible holding penalty may have decided the game. In the 4th quarter down 33-20, Eli threw a TD pass to Hakeem Nicks that got taken away by a holding call that occurred after the ball had been released, and on the next damn play, he fumbled the snap and turned the ball over. The Giants took all game to get their shit together and make a charge, and the zebras robbed them. Next time, don't wait so long.
- Nothing but respect to New England for paddling the Steelers from the opening whistle. We know the Steelers are good, although Jason has played the "overrated" card, so I'm not worried about this beating. What I want to know is exactly why Tom Brady felt the need to shout the whole game like a homeless person, spitting and ranting at his teammates in an apparent show of fire and passion. Seriously, what the fuck was that? Was it steam still built up from the whipping that Cleveland gave the Pats last week? Was it a show for the national television cameras? Was it trash talking for Pittsburgh? Was it overcompensation for losing his manhood getting domesticated by Gisele and keeping a bad lesbian haircut at her urging? "I shall yell all game and act like a real man because no one can stop me so long as I'm here in my element! Please no one mention that eventually I have to go back home! Just let me yell for these three blessed hours!"
- And nothing but awe for Michael Vick, DeSean Jackson, the rest of the Eagles offense that violated the Redskins from the first play. That pass from Vick to Jackson had to go 65 yards in the air. They're the hottest team in the league right now, though we'll see if they will still be allowed to go deep at will by opposing defenses as the season wears on. As for Washington, it's perfect that Donovan McNabb signed a contract extension right before the game because it showed where his mind and the organization's focus was. They deserve each other.
YTD Records--Dre 75-67-2, .528; Jay 70-72-2, .493
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