NFL Thoughts: Week 7

This post is negative enough to cause my wife to ask me if I'm in need of some Prosac. She might have a point. On to my whining:

--I'm starting to think like Greg Easterbrook (Tuesday Morning Quarterback--ESPN). I'm noticing coaches who get gutless on 4th down. The Saints punted today in the first half when they had a 4th and 3 at the Atlanta 34 yard line! You read that right. They were only 14 yards away from where the Falcons would get the ball if the punt goes into the end zone! To quote Vince Lombardi, "what the hell is going on out here?!" ---This makes me want to end every sentence in exclamation marks!! How does a coach ever make a decision like that? I mean doesn't another coach or even the QB himself shake the coach and say, "dude what are you thinking? That's nuts!". I can understand not going for a 51 yard field goal but when you have less than 5 yards for a first down why the hell don't you go for it? I mean even if you fail you leave the Falcons with 65+ yards to go for a Touchdown. It's not like you are giving them great field position.

---Moving on.......is it too late to take back that contract extension for Mark Bulger?

---Speaking of which, Seattle is probably wondering why they decided to hang on to Alexander now that he seems headed in the direction of becoming a 30 year old running back cliche .

---Holy meltdown. What a pile of doo-doo the Jets laid on the field for their second half. The Bengals deserve credit for taking advantage of it but how do you sleep after losing that game if you're NY?

---I'm required to say something nasty about the Patriots right about here. After their performance today I don't know what to say. Wait....yes I do. I hope every single one of them burns in hell. There-- that works for me.

---Oh crap..... I guess I'm not through talking about the Pats. I have to say that each week it's like their evil mastery of the game of football seems to render every other game meaningless. Everybody else is just playing for paychecks this year. At least it seems that way so far. The only thing that gives me a sliver of hope is the fact that the past couple of years the Super Bowl champion is a team that in mid-November I said, "well there is no way in hell that team will be playing past Christmas". I mean seriously, two years ago the Steelers were lucky to even get in the playoffs. Then they rolled through them. Last year the Colts (who had been many people's favorites two straight years prior to that) were good as always on offense but their defense was so bad that you would have been crazy to predict a strong playoff run. Then somebody on their team (I'm guessing not Dungy--but quite possibly Manning) sold their soul to the devil and their defense transformed into the "Steel Curtain" of the 70's.

Anyway my point is that things have been pretty weird the past couple of years. So I'm hoping things continue in that vein. The bucket of urine for this ray of hope that I'm spouting is the depressingly annoying Patriots themselves. They seem to be unstoppable. I don't remember a team being talked about this way since the 1985 Bears. And I was in Middle School at the time so my memory is admittedly suspect. Still, I remember people talking about them being the one of the greatest teams of all time. And this was even before Halloween that year. This Patriots team has that same feel to it.

--Also, anyone watch those poker tourneys on ESPN or other cable channels? Don't the Pats remind you of Poker star, Phil Helmuth? So good--and he knows it, but everyone in the room would love to see somebody knock him out. And I'm not talking about out of the tourney. I'm seeing many parallels here.

---I can't stop bitching about this team. I just can't. I have to say one more thing about these minions of Satan and their fan base. In fact it pertains to one of their most well know fans, Bill Simmons. I'm getting pretty annoyed with the whole martyr act he, other Pats fans, and the team itself is putting on. Because they got caught cheating, and a few people wondered if they may have been cheating during their Super Bowl years ( a perfectly valid question) they are acting like victims of some cruel conspiracy. The "We'll show you" attitude is childish, and aggravating. It's like they somehow they feel they've been wronged instead of admitting the fact that it was their team and specifically their coach that did something wrong. Just one more reason to hate these weenies.

--I think I'm done venting about "that team". My Rams are pitiful and I'll admit my frustration with them has led me to direct my anger towards teams, players and coaches that I really dislike. I've got to stop though because I'm not enjoying this season at all. You can probably sense that in these negative posts.

---On a positive note, the wife told me she needs to relieve some stress tonight. She winked at me when she said that. I think that's a good thing. ----And with that I've left some of you in need of some Prosac.