NFL RECAP – WEEK TWO
STATE OF THE GAME
There has been much talk
lately about the “at the game” experience compared to the “watch the game at
home” experience. Put me squarely in
the “at home” camp.
I can’t even watch a game
live on TV anymore due to all the play stoppages. TV timeouts after every kick-off. Long delays to review a challenge of an
official’s call. I am not unsympathetic
to player pain, but some injuries delay the game for long periods of time.
Now, even the time between plays annoys me. In most cases I can just hit the DVR FFWD
button that moves me at 30-second increments and watch play after play with
little nonsense in between. Tip: If a
team is going no huddle I use the back button (10 seconds) then the forward
button (30 seconds). This is my no
huddle DVR substitution strategy. I
know, I miss all that engrossing commentary from Phil Simms and his like, but
that is a sacrifice I am willing to make - -unless I have time to kill. If you are at the game – you are just stuck
sitting through the delays. And you may
even have bird droppings to dodge.
Many people have reasons for
preferring to watch at home. The league
will have to address this before all stadiums start to look like the third
quarter in Jacksonville.
5-10 MUSINGS FROM THE GAMES
IRRATIONAL CRUSH
OK, I admit that I have a bit
of a man crush on the Arizona Cardinals.
I can’t really explain it, just something about their games. The Cardinals, especially at home, seem to
have a unique skill for playing some pretty ugly games for 55 minutes that turn
into barn burners for the last 5 minutes.
Often times in Denver the Cardinal game will be the last Sunday day game
being contested and we get to see the end of it. Game one against Seattle is an example. Terrible game until……. The Great ending,
complete with replacement ref chaos.
This week the Cardinals took
their formula on the road and used it to beat New England. Nothing brings joy to my heart like watching
the Patriots yank victory from the jaws of defeat, only to give it all back by
missing a Field Goal on the last play.
THE LEAST LIKED QB?
Early in his reign of terror
against the Denver Bronco organization and its fans, Josh McDaniels explored
trading Jay Cutler for Matt Cassell. The
trade sounds ridiculous today, and even more so back in early 2009. Cutler was a strong-armed, mobile young gun
with tons of potential. McDaniels gave
himself too much credit in thinking he could turn Cassell into anything more
than a game manager. The trade never
happened. Cutler pouted, McDaniels got
all arrogant, and the Broncos traded Cutler to Chicago.
Flash forward to present and
where is Jay? On one hand he took the
Bears to the brink of the Super Bowl after the 2010 season. On the other hand, he seems to have a unique
talent for on the field inconsistency and on the sideline alienation of his teammates. Cutler, under constant duress, had a terrible
game against Green Bay. His “leadership”
consisted of exploding at his line. Maybe
Unitas and Starr barked at their linemen too, but we didn’t see it. Cutler isn’t Unitas or Starr, though. They were winners who led with example. Cutler is a huge talent in danger of losing
his team. I kind of see Cutler as a Jeff
George guy. His talent can’t compensate
for his leadership shortcomings.
TURNOVER MACHINE
Let’s see, at this pace
Michael Vick will turn the ball over 60 some times this year. For the second week in a row the Eagles
pulled a Houdini and overcame a series of blunders. This time they did it against a good
Baltimore team. I don’t know how much
longer they can keep this up. Vick is
taking a beating. DeSean Jackson is
taking a beating. Jeremy Maclin … yes
him too. The Eagles do not look like a
team that can sustain their style over a full season.
And, let’s be honest. The Eagles were lucky to win this game. The officiating crew jobbed the Ravens with a
terrible offensive pass interference call that negated a touchdown. I don’t think the Eagles win this game if the
real refs had been on the field.
KNEEL GATE
OK, if you held a gun to my
head and made me take a side, I would probably admit the Greg Schiano move to
pillage the victory formation at the end of the Giants/Bucs game was bush. I don’t feel that strongly about it
though. There is something about the
Giants and late game “happenings”.
Remember how they missed the playoffs in 2010 because they turned a
31-10 lead halfway through the 4th quarter into a 38-31 loss to the
Eagles? Remember the Miracle in the Meadowlands
perpetuated by the bumbling hands of Joe Pisarcik in 1978. If anybody could surrender a late game
catastrophe in this situation, you would have to bet on the Giants.
The problem is that Schiano
will now have to apply this approach consistently. At some point the Shiano method will result in
a full on fracas. I can’t wait.
TEBOW TIME?
I am being sarcastic. I lived through the Tebow circus in Denver. Still, the Jets knew what they were getting
into when they made the trade for Tim.
Mark Sanchez, my week one MVP, could not have completed a pass to Mt
Everest yesterday. In this day in the
NFL even mediocre QBs routinely complete 60% of their passes. Fortunately the Jets have Tebow to fall back
on…… oops wait – Tebow is a 47% passer.
Never mind. How about some option
read running plays? It is only one
week. So let’s say it again. Tebow is not the answer to any question that
asks who should be the starting QB --- unless your other choice was Blaine
Gabbert.
RANKING THE FAB FIVE
From time to time this season
I will rank the five rookie starting QBs based on the in-season
performance. The ranking is not going to
project the long-term best pro, just who I think subjectively is having the
best season so far. After 2 weeks:
Tannehill
RG3
Luck
Weeden
Wilson
Going forward, I will remove
the “hot wife” factor from my ranking components.
CONFERENCE FINAL SHOWDOWN
I don’t do power rankings
because everybody gets those someplace else.
Instead, at random times I will opine on the likely participants in the
conference title games. So here we go:
AFC
Houston vs Baltimore
NFC
Giants vs Niners
WEEKLY AWARDS
MVP
During the off season the
Washington redskins mortgaged the farm to acquire the number 2 draft slot held
by the St Louis Rams. The Rams opted to
put their trust in Sam Bradford and to use the bounty they received from
Washington to improve the team around him.
The Redskins used the pick to acquire the electric RG3. In week one RG3 was dynamic in leading the
Redskins over the Saints. Bradford was
less than ordinary as the Rams lost a winnable game against Detroit.
In week two, as fate would
have it, the Redskins played the Rams.
Sam Bradford manned up and threw for 300 yards and 3 TDs as he outplayed
RG3 in the Rams 31-28 win. One week does
not settle anything on who got the best of the deal. Hopefully both teams get what they wanted in
the long run. For this week Sam Bradford
looked like he deserved the faith the Rams placed in him.
EL BUSTO
I want to thank all the athletes
who competed so gallantly for this award in week two. There was such a long list of deserving souls:
§ Josh Morgan and his boneheaded retaliation penalty
that took the Redskins out of position to kick a game tying field goal.
§ Ryan Williams who tried to fumble away a win against
the Patriots
§ Stephen Gostkowski who returned the favor by missing a
42 yard field goal by about 50 yards
§ Peyton Manning who three 1st Qtr interceptions that
buried the Broncos early against the Falcons
§ Drew Brees who threw a Cutler-like pick six in another
inglorious loss – this time to the Panthers in a game the Saints really needed.
§ Blaine Gabbert – who threw for 53, yes 53 yards on
7/19 passing against the Texans (Blaine could win this award every week, there
is simply no sport in that)
Thank you all for
playing. In any other week you could
have each been a winner. This week,
though, Jay Cutler’s grand fiasco as a quarterback and a leader relegates you
all to honorable mention.
SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE
This week’s Jim Neighbors award
goes to the Green Bay Packers special teams.
On fourth and 28 from the Chicago 30 they line up for a field goal. Yes, that’s right, they faked the field goal
and scored a touchdown. Mind you, this
was fourth and 28 from the 30, so they pretty much had to score a touchdown to
pull this off. A big gonads call and
quite frankly the small light of entertainment in an otherwise forgettable
game.
TREASURE OF THE WEEK
It’s not often you get a 500
yard passing game and a little coach on coach lecturing about how to play the
game. For this bit of entertainment I
award Giants/Bucs the game of the week.
Oh I know, I could have given Eli the MVP award, after all, even in
today’s NFL, 500 yards is a rare feat.
However, Manning’s 3 first half interceptions is the reason he needed
the 500 yards.
TRASH OF THE WEEK
Pass the Hefty to the Texans
and the Jags for their 27-7 snooze fest. The Texans didn’t have to do much to
win this game, and they didn’t exert themselves. How often in today’s NFL does a starting
quarterback not named Tebow complete fewer than 10 passes and throw for 53
yards? Blaine Gabbert alone makes
Jacksonville and the team they play a threat to win the TRASH every week. Just plain ugly.
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