Sunday, October 23, 2005

NFL THOUGHTS: WEEK 7

I just want to say I’m ticked off with Direct TV for not including their new NFL channels in their basic Sunday NFL ticket. I really would like to have the channel where 8 games are on single screen. You have to have their Superfan package to get this channel, and there is no way in hell I’m going to shell out what they want for it. Despite my wife’s insistence to the contrary, I’m not that big of a sucker (in other words I don’t have the dough or I probably would be). Anyway, I spent another day flipping between games hoping not to miss something good. Here are my thoughts on what I saw :

Cowboys/Seahawks
-Drew Bledsoe’s game just about sums up his career. Decent numbers, promise and hope of success, to be followed up by ….stupid turnovers and disappointing results. I guarantee that before that last series, Parcells told Drew not to force anything because they could always take it into OT and have a shot to win it then. Instead he underthrows a sideline out-route that is double covered. Sorry Bill, but if you live by the Bledsoe, you die by the Bledsoe.

Lions/Browns
Ugly game but the Lions showed they were already better with Garcia. He knows Mariuchi’s system and he’s more mobile than Harrington. Hey, everybody including Joey, knew that Garcia was going to take over at some point during the season. Garcia was terrible last year with the Browns (a year that started out with his Playboy centerfold girlfriend getting in a catfight with his old girlfriend...um…wow…and T.O. publicly calling him out as gay….did I mention he had a centerfold girlfriend?.....no wonder it was a crappy year…everything after that is anti-climactic) but a return to Mooch’s west coast offense could be exactly what he needs.

Colts/Texans
When it was 14-14 in the first half, I briefly wondered if I could be witnessing the makings of a huge upset. Then I slapped myself and remembered that the Texans are in the Matt Leinart/Reggie Bush sweepstakes for a reason. By the way, is anybody else amazed by Edgerrin James? He looks like he’s just skipping around in the backfield and before you know it he’s got 5-6 yards. He’s got incredible footwork and he follows blockers better than anybody in the league.

Rams/Saints
The Saints got screwed on the fumble recovery for a touchdown taken in by the Rams in the 4th quarter. Conwell was definitely down before the ball was snatched away. But since I’m a Rams fan I’m not going to lose sleep over it. My guy (played for both my alma maters, Snow College and Utah State) Kevin Curtis made some big plays. The Saints really should have won this game with the way the Ram’s defense has been playing lately and the fact that Bulger, Holt, & Bruce were all gone. Look for Jim Haslett’s head to explode at 3 am this morning.



Chargers/Eagles
Geez, the Chargers are really killing me. I keep picking them to win and they manage to lose games in the 4th quarter every week (ok, I’m exaggerating, after all they plowed the Patriots). It’s freaky the way they lost to Philly. Tomlinson only had 7 rushing yards, yet you could still say they outplayed the Eagles. San Diego should be 5-2 and instead are 3-4. This is exactly why I don’t bet on Pro football. If I wanted to give my money away I would just let my wife have a credit card……wait….oh crap....(sigh).

Packers/Vikings
I was eagerly anticipating Minnesota fans picketing the stadium before the game with signs that said “Our raping and pillaging days were over 1,000 years ago” and “love boat losers”. By the way, what exactly where those guys celebrating that night out on the lake? It’s almost like a bunch of them got together and said, “hey you know what? This season is screwed, so what the hell, why don’t we get some strippers, a couple of boats and booze, and see if we cant’ get Tice’s ass out of here by Halloween!” ---The Packer’s blew this one (it was a theme Sunday with several teams blowing a sure win) and I felt for Favre. He played well enough to win this game. It’s amazing to me how so many teams that absolutely need to have good kickoff coverage in a key situation, like the one at the end of this game, simply cannot stop the other team (in this case the Vikings) from advancing to the 40 yard line or better. Still you got to hand it to their kicker (a 56 yarder is no gimmee) he literally kicked the Packers where it hurts.

Steelers/Bengals
Jerome Bettis looks like he’s joining me every morning for a Krispy Kreme breakfast. That guy is carrying a few pounds around that waistband isn’t he? Even so, the “Bus” still has the goods and is a load to bring down. As long as the Steelers can run the ball (and keep Tommy Maddox on the sidelines) with Willie Parker and Bettis, they will be tough to beat. Roethlisberger doesn’t have to throw much and when he does he’s pretty smart with it. This is a team that will contend for the AFC crown. It remains to be seen if the Bengals will do the same. So far they’re 0-2 against teams over .500




Broncos/Giants
On the plus side for the Broncos, Jake Plummer has augmented his porn star mustache with a beard to give him a Brad-Pitt-“Legends of the Fall”-look (somebody should really tell him that movie sucked). The down side is that clean-shaven (peach-fuzz?) Eli-Manning played like a number 1 draft pick in the final moments of this game. He almost looked…dare we say it…Elway-esque on that final drive against the Bronco defense. Both of these teams are better than I thought they would be this year. Mike Shanahan’s eyes are still weird.

49ers/Redskins
Are the Skins this good or is San Fran that bad? I think the 49ers are pretty bad (how the Rams lost to this team is beyond me…oh wait…the Rams had Martz coaching then…oh yeah) but Santanna Moss and Brunell are playing out of their minds. I have to question the Redskin coaching staff who said Lavar Arrington hasn’t been good enough to get playing time this season (led the team in tackles sunday!) ---Coaches that say personal biases don’t interfere with their evaluation of a player’s ability to help the team are full of crock. Gibbs and Greg Williams (defensive coordinator) don’t like Arrington and they almost convinced themselves that their defense would be better off without him. Too bad they made the mistake of playing him Sunday. Now they can’t delude themselves any more. If guys were benched just because they were jerks, we wouldn’t have the blessed opportunity to watch T.O. come up with some lame ass touchdown celebration anymore. Good times.

Titans/Cardinals
These guys played? If a football game is played and nobody cares, did it really happen?

Bills/Raiders
Bills running back, Willis Mcgahee said this week he “is the best back in the NFL. Case closed.” He wasn’t even the best back on the field against Oakland as Lamont Jordan took it to Buffalo all day long. I guess Willis forgot about Ladanian Tomlinson, Sean Alexander, Warrick Dunn, Priest Holmes, Tikki Barber, Edgerrin James ….and the list could go on. Whatever helps Willis sleep at night. He also still believes in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the innocence of O.J. Simpson.

Ravens/Bears
Another eyesore of a game. I’m not sure Baltimore would know what to do if they ever had an offensive explosion. They might just start running around naked and yelling obscenities. Actually, they should do that now, at least Raven fans would have something to whistle at.---The Bears defense is good though, and add Cedric Benson to the holdout casualty club with San Diego Charger Phillip Rivers. Bear running back Thomas Jones doesn’t look like he’s giving up his starting spot anytime soon.


Chiefs/Dolphins
Ronnie Brown may not have Cadillac Williams moves, but he’s showing the speed and power that made him a high draft pick. If only the Dolphins quarterback was Gus (the Disney Mule) instead of Gus Ferrotte. At least then they could kick 90 yard field goals.
--The Chiefs can be dangerous this season but they aren’t going anywhere in the playoffs.

2 comments:

Zach said...

I was stunned that the Cowboys even ran an out route on that play. They needed at least 20 yards to evne think about a field goal, and with no timeouts of course the Seahawks would be guarding the sidelines tight. There was so little to be gained, and much to be lost. Not like I was complaining.

David Lithman said...

I didn't get to watch the Indy vs Texans game, but I have seen highlights. Edge looks as good (if not better) now then when he broke into the league and had that 1700 yard season. He can just flat out play. Of course, outside of Jacksonville, Indy has had a pretty cake schedule, so who knows.