- How much fun is it watching Carolina and Cam Newton? Sure, they can't figure out how to win games, but they're entertaining as hell trying. We figured Panthers-Saints would be up and down, back and forth between two prolific offenses, and that's what it was. And who would have thought that the Panthers could ever be defined as prolific? Don't pick them to get blown out by anyone. No matter what the score, these guys can hang.
- The Eagles, however...yikes. This loss to Buffalo was the perfect storm of mishaps by Philadelphia on offense and defense. A Michael Vick INT off someone's hands here, another big run given up by the D there...it's amazing how Philly is finding ways to lose. Vick finally started trying to get the ball to DeSean Jackson in the 2nd half, but they still came up short. The defense is an issue that everyone's aware of for Philly, but there's one thing more important that they're gonna need if they want to turn the season around, and that's getting DeSean in the end zone more. That's the biggest piece missing from the Eagles right now. Their success last year was predicated on Jackson flying past safeties and catching bombs from Vick.
- I would love to shout to the world that I was afraid of this Seahawks-Giants game going wrong as it did, but since I didn't pick Seattle and Jason did, I have to shut up. But this is exactly the type of game the Giants find a way to lose. They're at home, they're against a much inferior opponent, and they simply take them lightly. Coach Tom Coughlin, QB Eli Manning, and that whole team are still mentally weak. Victor Cruz bobbling a ball near the goal line that would have won the game and instead Seattle takes it the other way for a TD? Mentally weak. That's why they can't play consistently. Yes, they have injuries, but they're deep enough that they should overcome them.
- Bengals, ugly. Jaguars, uglier. Let's move on.
- Speaking of ugly, how about those Chiefs? I guess they thought that Indianapolis QB Curtis Painter couldn't get the ball downfield to Pierre Garcon, so they decided to leave him uncovered for the entire 1st half. Good job, guys. Kansas City, down a couple of possessions, was forced to do what they actually do best now that Jamaal Charles is out, and that's go vertical themselves. And lo and behold, four Matt Cassel TD throws later, the Chiefs won. Funny how that works. Will KC figure out what to do next game in Week 7? The smart money says no.
- Pittsburgh had to use some weapons they didn't know they had to beat the Titans. They got rushing yardage from guys named Redman and Dwyer, and Ben Roethlisberger threw 5 TD passes, one of which was to someone I'd never heard of. I'm still on the Steelers bandwagon as far as picking them to win most of the time. When they're focused and motivated, they're still one of the better teams in the league. Tennessee, not so much.
- Congrats to Leslie Frazier and the Minnesota Vikings on their 1st successful use of Adrian Peterson in a victory over Arizona. Now let's see you do that against a real team.
- Was there any doubt that Matt Schaub's last pass for Houston into the end zone for the win would be unsuccessful against the Oakland/Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders the day after Cryptkeeper Al Davis dies? Was there any doubt the silver and black would get it done on this day? And the Texans let them do it in their house. In case anyone thought that Houston was ascending because they're in front of their crap division, wonder no more.
- What the fuck has gotten into Alex Smith? He's playing like an NFL quarterback ever since Coach Insane, Jim Harbaugh, took over in San Francisco. Guess he's teaching Alex a trick or two. On the other side, Radio Raheem did not have his team ready for this game at all off the short week. Tampa Bay is in trouble. They don't look good on either side of the ball right now.
- Another pick that could have gone either way, with the Patriots easily giving up yardage to the Jets at every turn. New York could have covered the number if they could stop BenJarvis Green-Ellis. The passing yards for Tom Brady are a given. It was getting gashed on the ground that cost the Jets. The Pats D still can't stop a nosebleed, but Gang Green couldn't stop The Law Firm. And if Rex Ryan and the Jets aren't going to stop teams on the ground, they're not going to be successful mounting comeback drives with Mark Sanchez and his amazing bubble screen and slant pattern passing attack.
- I can drop my hopes of a Broncos surprise playoff berth...it's Tim Tebow Time. First, I want to tell Kyle Orton, hey, it's all your fault, buddy. You keep playing like shit when the stadium's chanting for another player, you get what you deserve. But that's over now. The premise for IMLD and those of you trying to pick Denver games against the number is whether the Broncos can compete while starting a QB that can't throw. It's a new concept, that's for sure. I will be as open-minded as I can be in trying to see a matchup where Tebow can have a good game rushing and throwing short passes. But I think most of the time, I'm going to have to pick against a team trying to play in an NFL where everyone is encouraged to throw as much as possible, simply because that team wants to play a QB that cannot throw the football.
- Matt Ryan is doing a poor Drew Brees imitation, and it's not working. The Falcons tried to assemble a WR corps prepared to spread the defense and open passing lanes for Matty Ice, but he hasn't been accurate enough this season to take advantage thus far, and that's why the Falcons are 2-3. The shootouts that they won last year are going against them this year. They were up 14-0 on the Packers Sunday night, but couldn't hold on because they refused to score a single point in the 2nd half. That's not Green Bay suddenly having a great defense, that's Matt Ryan playing bad football.
- Yep, I still think the Lions are a fraud. Nope, their win over the Bears Monday night didn't change that. I was not impressed by anything Detroit did other than Matt Stafford flinging the rock to Calvin Johnson with no concern whether Chicago could stop them. The murder attempts on Jay Cutler? Every team tries to kill him because the Bears offensive line allows it. The running of Jahvid Best? Surprising, yes, but when Lance Briggs decides to run the other way, it's easy to get big runs. That game was about the pathetic effort across the board of the Bears. How many false starts and timeouts can one team rack up? But as far as Detroit, look, they have been behind at the half three straight games. Is that the mark of a great team? The comebacks are fine, but let's see them play a whole game without falling behind against someone other than Kansas City, and then get back to me.
YTD Records--Dre 30-43-4, .411; Jay 35-38-4, .479
No comments:
Post a Comment