- That would be four weeks consecutive over .500 for yours truly. Just chipping away, working hard and eating into Jason's lead. I'm being inspired by my Memphis Grizzlies getting ready to start the NBA season, showing Grit and Grind, proving that we don't bluff in the Bluff City. Or maybe I'm on a streak that's lucky as fuck.
- Jason and I both thought that Arizona would be ready for prime time under the Thursday night lights against Seattle, and we couldn't have been more wrong. The only hopespot for the Cardinals came after they stuffed the Seahawks on 4th-and-1 at the Arizona 47 in the 2nd quarter, which was the right call to go for it. The Cards scored on the ensuing possession, and they looked like they had maybe turned the tide. Then Marshawn "Skittles" Lynch started going Beast Mode, and the Cards had no answer. It was the physical battle that I hoped it would be, but Arizona didn't seem to be ready for that, especially on the first defensive and offensive series of the game. Both teams had to overcome terrible left tackle play--seriously, Paul McQuistan and Bradley Sowell should have been escorted from the premises for impersonating football players--but Seattle's blitz was relentless all game long, and eventually Interception Santa coughed up two bad picks, helping the Seahawks to victory. Easily the best road effort all year by Seattle, and the best I've seen Russell Wilson throw this season, too.
- Two bad pass defenses did battle in Atlanta, but the Dirty Birds prevailed. We counted on the Falcons to let Mike Glennon do some damage and allow Tampa Bay U. to hang around, and he put up 256 yards and two TDs. We didn't count on Matty Ice minus Roddy White and Julio Jones to go for 273 and three scores. WTF?! Atlanta ran for 18 net yards for the whole game and still beat TBU by eight. I guess so long as the great Harry Douglas is playing, the Bucs and that effective Tampa-2 zone is just helpless. Someone fire Greg Schiano and Bill Sheridan NOW. I mean, Schiano Happens is one thing, but this was ridiculous.
- Two bad pass defenses did battle in Washington as well, but the Native American Slurs prevailed in one of the wildest games you'll ever watch. The Redskins managed to knock Jay Cutler out of the game and put the game plan in the hands of Josh McCown...and the Bears put up 41 anyway. WTF?! And that still wasn't enough because any time Robert Griffin and Alfred Morris and Roy Helu wanted yards on the ground, they took them, and Griffin even took some deep throws since he had the time. And they weren't the best players on the field; that would be Washington TE Jordan Reed, who was THE SHIT. (That's not to be confused with "The Drizzling Shits," which would come on Monday night.) Chicago won't have success with McCown going forward because he won't face the Skins anymore. RG3 may not have success like this because he won't be facing the Bears, but I have the feeling that he's still going to get better and better as the season goes.
- Dallas's win over Philadelphia was not surprising considering the now nine-game home losing streak for the Eagles, but it was surprising in how it happened. Both teams stifled each other's pass offense by blitzing the QBs out of any comfort zone they could hope for, but only Tony Romo adjusted in the 2nd half and delivered quicker throws. Nick Foles could not pull the trigger and the Iggles offense stalled as Shady McCoy couldn't get going. Foles got knocked out in the 4th quarter, leaving former USC prodigy Matt Barkley to try to lead the comeback. Two INTs later, the game was over. Despite that, I actually liked Barkley. His arm is NFL strong, and he wasn't afraid of any throw, which is why he got picked off twice (three times, actually, but one didn't count due to penalty.) If Michael Vick isn't ready to go in the next game against the Giants, I think I'd rather see Barkley get a shot. I know what Foles can do, and it's not much.
- It took Rob Gronkowski's return as all-world receiver to even out the offenses in New York, and the Patriots still couldn't get the win. The Jets behind Geno Smith are actually averaging more yards per throw than Tom Brady and the Pats, and I mean a lot more, 7.8 to 6.2. So Gang Green may have had an easy win in regulation if Gronk had not come back. New England somehow let Geno lead the Jets into the lead after taking a 21-10 halftime lead on New York. The defensive injuries for the Pats caught up to them, and Brady assisted by throwing a Pick-6. That strange penalty in overtime helped the Jets win by erasing a missed FG attempt and letting them keep the ball and drive for another FG try, which they made. A Pats player on special teams tried to block his own guy into the line, which is not just illegal, but apparently something the Pats have done before. It's certainly a crazy way to lose a game, but considering what Bill Belichick has done to try to win games before, it's not a shock.
- This is how Miami returns from a bye week?? A Ryan Tannehill Pick-6 on the opening drive, a terrible 2nd pick in the end zone, terrible tackling, missed FGs, no running game until it was too late, bad pass defense letting Thad Lewis continue his star turn...and with all that, they took the lead on Buffalo with two Brandon Gibson TD catches. But the Dolphins couldn't hold on because the offensive line, which has failed to protect Tannehill all year, finally cracked in the 4th quarter. I still don't know what to think of the Bills except to say that Lewis I guess isn't terrible and that they can fuck up any team with a bad O-line. As for Miami, they're now down to 3-3 going into their first showdown with New England, and they will not pull the upset and contend for the AFC East title if they don't figure out how to pass block. Oh look, they traded for Bryant McKinnie to shore up the line. Sweetpea the Stripper will be happy to hear that.
- It's nothing but piling on for me to talk about how unimpressive St. Louis looks behind top draft pick and Future of the Franchise Sam Bradford because he won't play anymore this year thanks to an ACL injury. So I'll just look down the bench at Kellen Clemens, chuckle, and move away from the Rams. So, how about those Panthers, huh? Yeah, I don't trust them either, but this was two straight winnable games that they won handily, which is way more consistent than Cam Newton has been the last two years. He almost didn't miss a throw. Chico Rivera's defense even looks solid, if you ignore the fact that they just played Matt Cassel and Sam Bradford. They have that shutout over Eli Manning, too, so maybe they're worth keeping an eye on. They'd love to play a team with a star defensive end throwing punches and getting ejected and a cornerback talking shit to Steve Smith and getting him fired up, but they don't draw Chris Long and Janoris Jenkins every week.
- It was a catfight in the Motor City, and the Bengals prevailed over the Lions despite getting set ablaze by Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson. Megatron harkened back to the Madden '99 version of Randy Moss, who could catch a TD pass while being covered by four defenders. He helped Stafford break Cincinnati's string of holding passers under 300 yards. But in maybe the best wide receiver téte-a-téte you'll see, A.J. Green kept up with Megatron, and they both put up 155 yards and a TD. Usually, Cincy falls in a shootout like this because Andy Dalton hasn't been able to find his other receivers and put together a complete game to match the other QB, but he's been much better this year. The Bengals jumped to 9th in passing yards per game with this performance, and it was as much about Jermaine Gresham and Tyler Eifert and Marvin Jones as it was about Green, and that makes the Bengals very intriguing going forward. Detroit shouldn't be ashamed of this loss. They didn't commit a dumb penalty and give it away. They did have a crappy punt set the Bengals up for the game-winning drive, but you can always find another punter.
- Jacksonville's so bad on defense, even running came easy for San Diego. Getting operated on by Philip Rivers like you're in the hospital wasn't at all surprising, it was giving up 100 yards to Ryan Mathews in the meanwhile. Finally, a game felt like a lock and it actually was. I think you're going to have to keep investing in the Jaguars to go down SU and ATS as the surest bet out there right now. And next up for them is the 49ers in Great Britain. Oh man.
- Speaking of the Niners, they suffocated the Titans in Nashville slowly and firmly. Colin Kaepernick is no Kurt Warner or Brett Favre, so any attempt Tennessee made to Bounty him came up empty as he eluded contact on most of his eleven rushes. He was just too quick. San Francisco was able to drain the clock by running effectively, and Jake Locker didn't appear to be fully healthy, so when he finally got the ball, he didn't have the juice to lead the comeback. San Fran's still not lighting it up in the air, but they did locate the missing Anquan Boldin at least.
- Case Keenum came so close to leading the upset win. So close. But Kansas City remains undefeated, despite only beating the Houston Toxins by one point, despite throwing no TD passes for the third straight game, despite giving up 271 yards in the air to a kid in his first start. I'm still not impressed by KC's Novocaine offense. And as sturdy a runner as Jamaal Charles is, they almost choked up the game in the 4th by going for a TD run on 4th-and-goal instead of just taking the FG and making Keenum have to drive for a TD to win. They got stuffed, but they smothered Keenum's comeback attempt with furious blitz packages that saved their bacon. That said, Jay and I almost lost the pick on that last sack and fumble at the Toxins 1-yard line because the recovery happened to occur as an offensive lineman was diving for the ball, resulting in the ball being down by contact. The Chiefs could have rolled into the end zone for the cheapest backdoor cover ever. How'd Keenum look? Honestly, I liked his decision making and accuracy. Like Barkley in Philly, I think I'd give him the job and see what he's got.
- Here's my big analysis of the Browns-Packers game: Wow, does Brandon Weeden suck. Wow, that Aaron Rodgers is fuckin' awesome. Wow, I should never take Cleveland to cover when Weeden is starting. I'll let Jason talk about how strange it is to see Green Bay winning games by primarily running. They're now sixth in rushing yards per game. Astounding.
- In the "Some Things Never Change" department, Pittsburgh and Baltimore played a physical game with not much scoring that looked painful with every hit. There's something comforting about that. Pittsburgh pulled it out because Baltimore couldn't figure out how to move the ball until late in the 4th quarter to tie it up, then they let the Steelers have the last possession. Joe Flacco got a delay-of-game penalty after a timeout at one point, illustrating their issues. I don't know if Ray Rice is hurt or what, but he sucks right now. That 2.77 yards per rush that he took into the game was well-earned. And Le'Veon Bell's preseason hype as the new Steelers lead back looked to also be well-earned, as he carried the load well in this war. I did take notice of Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley still trying to insert new wrinkles into the familiar Pittsburgh game plan, an end-around here, two Wildcat plays in a row where Ben Roethlisberger was a slot receiver there. Haley's still a boob. And you had to laugh at Ravens LB Elvis Dumervil on the same drive getting penalized for dragging Roethlisberger down by the facemask and later for blindsiding him after the ball was long out of his hands. I know Pittsburgh and Baltimore are bitter rivals, but damn. You'd think Big Ben raped Dumervil's sister in a bathroom or something.
- That scene in Indianapolis Sunday night was a major moment. Not just the fan greeting for Peyton Manning and the reciprocating gestures back from him, but the actual game playing out the way it did. Maybe I see what I want to see due to my biases, but I could have sworn I saw Peyton press and try to make long throws that require accuracy and arm strength as the game got later and the Colts lead grew, and of course the throws mostly didn't succeed since Peyton no longer has the arm strength to make those throws. He had a two-pass TD drive for the first score that was beautiful because he wasn't pressing and he took the long throws that were there for him. He sure looked like he was forcing it later in the game. Maybe it was because Andrew Luck responded to the moment by making great throws and making Peyton feel like he had to engage in a duel. But what Peyton didn't realize in the playoffs last year and in this game is that he really needs to stop trying to make those deep throws into tight coverage. There are just some things he cannot do. The Colts should be praised for inspired efforts by their defense as a whole and by the offensive line in addition to Luck. What a night for them. Von Miller was invisible in his return for Denver. So was Wes Welker, whose incisive short routes were abandoned as Peyton kept bombing away looking for game-changing plays that weren't there. And yet Denver had a chance to win thanks to Trent Richardson's fumbling problems, meaning Jim Irsay shouldn't get too proud of his club just yet. They have that issue as well as the season-ending injury to Reggie Wayne with which to deal.
- And now Monday night bringing us the opposite of Jordan Reed being the shit: It was Vikings QB Josh Freeman who was THE DRIZZLING SHITS. My God, was he Charles Barkley-style turrible. His throws weren't just a little off, they were five or ten yards away from the nearest receiver consistently. The final line: 20-53-190 yards, one INT. No Minnesota points from offense at all versus an 0-6 team. And the excuses started from various talking heads almost immediately, saying he wasn't ready to start yet and it's all coach Leslie Frazier's fault for throwing him out there. Hello, Freeman's been really bad for about two years now. That's not Frazier's fault. This should have been 50-0. The Giants had easily the best pass blocking they've had all year, and Eli Manning would have had more completions if Hakeem Nicks wasn't trying to star in a movie titled "Stone Hands." Eli's play-action throws were beating the Vikings defensive backs even without a run game to scare them. Adrian Peterson didn't show up for this game either. Both pass rushes brought pain but Eli responded much better than Freeman. And that's with Eli throwing up some stupid passes that should have been picked off. All I could Tweet when this one was over was "Worst. Game. Ever." Exaggerating a little, but seriously, both these teams suck.
Week 7 Records--Dre 9-6, .600; Jay 6-9, .400
YTD Records--Dre 51-54-2, .486; Jay 54-51-2, .514
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