NFL RECAP – WEEK TEN
BREAKING NEWS - CHIEFS TAKE FIRST LEAD OF SEASON 7-0 AGAINST THE STEELERS
BREAKING NEWS - CHIEFS TAKE FIRST LEAD OF SEASON 7-0 AGAINST THE STEELERS
STATE OF THE GAME
A 2011 report on racial/gender
diversity in the NFL indicated that 67% of the players were Black. I have attached a link to the report because
it is an interesting read as it addresses the makeup of NFL management.
What I wanted to explore is
whether we have reached a point where we can critique Black quarterbacks
without somebody raising a question whether there is a racial element to that
critique. There is a separate dialogue
worth having regarding why in a league where two thirds of the players are
Black, there are only five starting Black quarterbacks. I will save that discussion for another day. I use the term Black because my Black friends tell me they prefer that to African American. Sorry if that offends anybody.
Cam Newton has been a
lightning rod for criticism this year for several reasons. First he has not played nearly as well as he
did his rookie season. Second, he has
exhibited questionable leadership and awareness in his "look at me" celebration
in a week three loss to the Giants when he flashed a Superman pose after
scoring a touchdown in a game where he played poorly and the Panthers lost
36-7. Third, he seemed lost in several
post-game conferences and unwilling to accept the accountability his position
requires.
Jason Whitlock wrote an
interesting piece about the forces at work in the Black media that sought to
protect Cam Newton. I have attached a
link to that article. The main points
that Whitlock makes are: The protective bubble does Newton a
disservice. We should evaluate Newton as
a quarterback, not as a Black quarterback. We should resist the easy urge
to gauge Newton and RG3 side-by-side simply because they are both Black.
Cam Newton has struggled
after his solid rookie year. RG3 has
struggled a little after a great start.
So has Ryan Tannehill. Brandon
Weeden has been down and up. Russell
Wilson seems to be coming on. Right now
Andrew Luck seems to be in a league of his own. We should be able to critique these young
QBs objectively and honestly based on how they play and how they handle the
mantle of leadership. Each time we hedge
our remarks or slant our critique because it is easier than being honest we
enforce a form of conversational segregation that we should have moved past by now.
Let's embrace the talents of
Luck, RG3, Newton, Wilson, Tannehill, and Weeden. Let's acknowledge that they bring needed energy and
style to the league. Let's
also acknowledge that they have a long way to go and we should fairly critique
their progress based on their highs and lows.
They are six young guys (ok five young guys and Weeden) starting at QB
in the NFL -- not three White Guys and three Black guys that have to be
evaluated differently.
5-10 MUSINGS FROM THE GAMES
#2 is #1
Cam Newton and Von Miller
were the first and second picks respectively in the 2011 draft. They each earned rookie of the year awards
for their side of the line of scrimmage.
On Sunday they met for the first time as professionals. Miller and the Broncos punished Newton and
the Panthers in a 36-14 Bronco victory. Miller
had a sack, forced a fumble, and forced a pick six interception on a quarterback
pressure. He generally rained havoc in
the Panther backfield and got much the better of Newton.
On the downside, Bronco
defenders made a habit of mimicking Newton's Superman striptease after every
big play. The act got old. Maybe I am showing my age here a little, but
why can't a player just go line up for the next play. Does every sack, tackle, pass defended or act
of doing what is expected require a choreographed celebration?
A Victory Slips Through the Hourglass of Time
The St Louis Rams did a lot
of good things yesterday against the heavily favored Forty-Niners in San
Francisco. Still, the way they lost out
on a winning field goal begs the question of "how the heck did they let
that happen?"
As the overtime period was
winding down the Rams set up to try a field goal from 53 yards out. Kicker Greg Zeurlein pounded the ball between
the posts and the Rams should have had a signature victory. Unfortunately, the Rams snapped the ball a
half a second after the play clock expired.
Zeurlein missed a subsequent try from 58 yards and the Rams had to
settle for a tie. The Rams had one time
out left. The head coach can call
timeouts from the sideline. How does an
experienced and respected coach like Jeff Fisher let this happen?
Rainout
I think the weather
conditions last night in Chicago make it difficult to draw real conclusions from the Texans' 13-6 victory.
But I will draw some anyway:
1) The Texans have a creative
ground attack that can gain yardage on anybody.
2) The Chicago offense is not
the 2000 Ravens offense, but it puts a lot of pressure on the Bear defense.
3) The Texans deserved the
win and are a good gauge to judge Chicago.
4) The Bears are who we
thought they were. One of the top five
teams in the NFC (with Green Bay, Atlanta, New York and San Francisco), but not
the clear conference frontrunner.
Keeps Getting Worse
A cottage industry is sprouting
up to sort out why/how/when Philip Rivers turned into a quarterback you can't
trust. In a Thursday Night game against
the Chiefs he threw a terrible red zone interception at the end of a close first
half that cost the Chargers points. Since it was the Chiefs, no real damage
resulted. Yesterday against the Bucs the
Chargers were driving trailing 24-21 in the fourth quarter. The Buc pass rush flushes Rivers to the
sidelines and he drills Tampa defensive back Leonard Johnson between the
numbers with a ball he should have thrown 30 yards out of bounds. Johnson gladly takes the pass 83 yards the
other way. 31-21. Game over.
At one time Rivers looked to
be on pace to join Brady and Manning as the AFC's top quarterbacks. Now he looks more like Mark Sanchez. Bad throws and bad judgment at the worst
possible times. Do you think the
Chargers would like a do over on the Drew Brees decision?
We Got This Bro
I guess it would not be mid
season in the NFL if the Giants weren't slumping. The G Men lost their second game in a row to
a team from the AFC North and looked bad doing so. The Bengals hammered them 31-13 in a game
that wasn't that close. Eli Manning
gained just 215 yards on 46 passes and threw two picks.
The Giants last played a
solid game a month ago against the Forty-Niners. Since then they have two narrow victories over
the Redskins and Cowboys and losses to the Steelers and the Bengals. At 6-4 the Giants still lead the surprisingly
lame NFC East by two games. The offense
looks especially out of sorts. I think
they must do this on purpose to avoid peaking too soon. You don't win anything in November and they want to steal some attention from the Jets.
Home Cooking
The Seahawks destroyed the
Jets yesterday 28-7. The Hawks are now 5-0 at home and will likely battle the Vikes and Saints for the last NFC
playoff spot. (My apologies to the
Packers and the rest of the viewing public who thought the Seahawks lost a
Monday night game at home in week three). The Seahawks have the most pronounced
home field advantage in the NFL. Rookie
QB Russell Wilson has eleven touchdowns and no interceptions in the five home
games. The Hawks will likely need four
wins in their final six games to secure a playoff spot. That means they probably need to sneak in a
road win or two.
Isn't it Ironic
As expected the Saints and
the Falcons played a high-scoring contest.
Each team amassed 450 yards of offense.
Drew Brees and Matt Ryan each tossed three touchdowns. The Saints led 28-17 going into the fourth
quarter. The Falcons cut the lead
to 31-27 late in the game and were driving for the winning score. Unexpectedly the Saints defense (the NFL's
worst) rose up and thwarted Atlanta with a goal line stand. I suspect even had the Falcons scored (just
under 2 minutes remained on the clock) the Saints would have had a good chance
to pull out the win. I didn't expect
that the Saints D would make the question mute.
MVP
It is time to give Adrian
Peterson some recognition. He had
another monster game putting 171 punishing yards on the Lions. He now has over 1125 yards on the season and
carries an impressive 5.8 yards a carry average. Not bad for a guy that started the season banged up.
EL BUSTO
Players play and coaches
coach. Sometimes I think a coach can't
do much once the game starts. But the
coach can at least watch the clock and make sure his team gets a play off before
the clock expires when that coach has a timeout in his pocket and said play can win the game. For failing this responsibility I have to
give Jeff Fisher the El Busto this week.
SURPRISE-SURPRISE-SURPRISE
This week's Jim Neighbor's
award goes to the Tennessee Titans. I don't
think I would have picked a Titans performance correctly all season. When you think they will compete they don't
show up. When you give them no chance,
they play like champs. I figured that
Miami would take them down 20-13 in some ugly fest. Instead the Titans dominated from the get
go.
TREASURE OF THE WEEK
The Saints and Falcons had it
all. Trash talking. An undefeated team and a desperate team. A goal line stand to decide the contest. This game lived up to the hype and gets the
coveted best game award for week ten.
TRASH OF THE WEEK
I just don't enjoy watching
teams slobber the ball around on a wet field.
The Bears and Texans put me to sleep and earn trash duty for the week.
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