- Games in no detail: Dolphins-Bills (what a dreadful game for fans of offensive execution); Eagles-Redskins (just one of those days where nothing went right for Philly on offense or defense); Browns-Cowboys (Dallas played down to the competition again, especially pass blocking, but Romo was the hero in the end); Jets-Rams (again with giving up big plays to Total Fraud on the pump fake, which is the only thing he can do??); Bengals-Chiefs (yawn); Saints-Raiders (did we really think INT Santa could hang with Drew Brees?!); Chargers-Broncos (cheap backdoor cover obscures how dominant Denver was).
- Green Bay would have had no chance against Detroit because their pass rush was lagging and their pass blocking was atrocious. But with the Lions leading 10-7 and about to score again in the middle of the 3rd, China Doll threw a pass slightly behind his receiver, who let it bounce off his fingers and into M.D. Jennings's hands for a pick-6. It felt like all of the momentum changed there even though Detroit took the lead back. If the Lions are up two possessions and able to light up the blitzes against Aaron Rodgers, I think it's Detroit's game all the way. I'll give credit to the Packers for completing the comeback, but Detroit assisted them big time. Penalties, miscommunication on offense, and they couldn't get a single 1st down on the last drive, allowing Green Bay to take over already in FG position so they could kick and cover the number. In the end, it's my fault for trusting Detroit. Lions gonna Lion.
- What a weird game in Atlanta. On the panic scale, Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt's move to take out starting QB John Skelton up two scores after only seven pass attempts is a chart-topper. Some rookie named Ryan Lindley got the call, and he performed shitty, which was predictable. Hell, that move is probably the main reason why the Falcons didn't lose. If the Cardinals could put up more than 6 points in the last 3 quarters, Matty Ice perhaps isn't able to complete the comeback. Speaking of Matty Ice, how about 5 INTs (lots of tipped passes that weren't his fault) and no TDs? How did he win doing that? Oh yeah, the opposing coach is Ken Whisenhunt.
- Carolina played an equally weird game against Tampa Bay. They were their usual terrible, uninspired selves, losing 10-0 in the 1st when Captain Munnerlyn took an INT to the house. Then from that point, the Panthers were clearly the better team on the field for the next two quarters. They found themselves up 21-10, but lost the lead in the 4th when they decided to run Cam Newton on 3rd-and-12 with under 2 minutes left leading by 8. He gained 11. How retarded was that? Who runs their QB on 3rd-and-12 trying to get a 1st down to ice the fucking game?? Tampa got the ball back, Josh Freeman led the drive for the TD and 2-point conversion to force OT, then threw the game winner on the only possession of OT. Carolina just finds new ways to lose games every damn week. It's unbelievable. Ron Rivera needs to get shitcanned the moment the season ends. As for Tampa, Freeman is a Pro Bowler without question. He's been awesome the last month or so. They may overcome their defense and make the playoffs riding the backs of Freeman and Muscle Hamster.
- I'm surprised but not shocked at how much different the Jacksonville Jaguars looked on offense with a different quarterback. Blaine Gabbert has been fertilizer from the second he got drafted. I won't pretend that I love Chad Henne and was just waiting for him to get a chance, but I remember flashes that he showed as a Dolphin, and Gabbert hasn't shown me any flashes. But still, immediate great play from WR Justin Blackmon, when he's been nothing all season? A direct result of an actual pro QB at the position. But the more important lesson to learn from this game is, do not forget what kind of weapons on offense the Houston Texans have. Just because they don't use them very much as they execute their running attack and sleepily wear teams down, don't lose sight of what Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson are capable. When the defense is clicking, they can beat anyone. And even when the defense is shellshocked by a competent QB, the Texans managed to find a win.
- That Andrew Luck-Tom Brady duel to which we were looking forward lasted about a quarter. All hell broke loose against Indianapolis at New England in the 2nd quarter. The Julian Edelman punt return for a TD was immediately followed by Aqib Talib, in his very first game at CB for the Patriots, grabbing a pick-6, and you don't have to be smart to know that New England discovering points in ways other than what Brady and the offense can do is going to spell trouble. New England got to flex their pass rush muscles in the 2nd half, and poor Luck couldn't accomplish anything because he didn't have time. The biggest news came on the 59th point for NE, when stud TE Rob Gronkowski, manning his usual position blocking on the extra point team, managed to break his arm. I've already been hearing people rush to coach Bill Belichick's defense, but I'm here to tell you, that's a really stupid thing to have a stud like that on special teams. When I start a new season on Madden, one of the 1st things I do is go through my special teams formations to make sure I don't have anyone of value there. So Sunday proves it once and for all: I, fat, broke blogger, am much smarter than Bill Belichick.
- Three plays of offense for Pittsburgh, and next thing you know, Byron Leftwich is sprinting (or in his case, power walking) to the right and going in for a TD on a broken play, and the Baltimore defense had to be in a state of shock. And that was about the end of Leftwich's big day. The Steelers put up 3 more points all evening, which was enough for Jason to cover the spread, but not enough to win the game. Hats off to the Ravens D for rebounding and stoning Pittsburgh the rest of the way, as they should have. Joe Flacco caught the Eli Manning disease and was off target most of the night, and that's the biggest reason Baltimore couldn't cover. But they did win a game they were supposed to win, and they'll do it again at home in a couple of weeks when the Steelers challenge them once again without Ben Roethlisberger. As Jason said, however, that's so Ravens to fall short of the number when expected to dominate.
- We should have known we were fucked on Monday night the moment it was announced Colin Kaepernick would start at QB for San Francisco instead of concussed incumbent Alex Smith. I said in my preview that Kaep was a better choice than Smith, so this isn't re-writing history. The 49ers are much more dangerous on offense with Kaepernick at the helm than with Alex Smith. It's a case where the numbers can be deceiving. Under Smith, SF is averaging 8 yards per pass attempt, which is above average, for sure. But because they don't trust Smith and they do trust the running attack, they don't throw much, if at all. So SF is only 28th in the league in passing yards per game. If they had to throw more, that average per throw would come down tremendously. It's much easier to maintain a high average when you don't have to put it in the air. So when Coach Insane says after the game that he doesn't know if Smith will get his job back, don't be surprised. He knows what he's watching out there, and so should we. As for Chicago, well, Jason Campbell showed why he's a backup and not a starter in the NFL, and he showed it emphatically. I do wonder if he will play much better in future games considering the two defenses he's had to play thus far--Houston and San Francisco. That's a daily double against whom no backup could hope to have success.
Week 11 Records--Dre 5-9, .357; Jay 6-8, .429
YTD Records--Dre 83-74-3, .529; Jay 79-78-3, .503
No comments:
Post a Comment