My apologies for taking so long to finally get this thing up, but expect this to be a continual thing as the weeks go by. No more excuses. Anyways, here's the last week of the NFL wrapped up in some paragraphs, and my Monday Night Football preview.
1st Down: Things I Liked
Indianapolis Wills Their Way to a
Comeback Victory for Chuck Pagano
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| Andrew Luck might be growing before our very eyes, and the Indianapolis Colts pulled off the upset of the season so far. Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images North America |
Boy, what a story this
turned out to be. In the first game after Chuck Pagano, the now former
Indianapolis Colts head coach, was diagnosed with leukemia, the Colts took on
the Green Bay Packers. The Packers raced out to an early 21-3 lead at halftime,
and it looked like despite the “CHUCKSTRONG” effort, they were going to come up
short.
However, Andrew Luck and Reggie Wayne had something to say about that. Wayne had a career day, chalking up over 200 yards receiving and Andrew Luck looked arguably at his best in his primordial career, and led the Colts down the field for a game-winning drive that, of course, was capped off with a Reggie Wayne touchdown. The Packers are 2-3, and the Colts are 3-1 now. Raise your had if you ahd that happening. Jim Irsay gave the game ball to Pagano in the hospital, and against all odds, the Colts looked their best. What a game.
However, Andrew Luck and Reggie Wayne had something to say about that. Wayne had a career day, chalking up over 200 yards receiving and Andrew Luck looked arguably at his best in his primordial career, and led the Colts down the field for a game-winning drive that, of course, was capped off with a Reggie Wayne touchdown. The Packers are 2-3, and the Colts are 3-1 now. Raise your had if you ahd that happening. Jim Irsay gave the game ball to Pagano in the hospital, and against all odds, the Colts looked their best. What a game.
Da Bears Defense Dominates… Again.
As CBS Sports pointed out,
there are three guarantees in life: death, taxes, and the Chicago Bears defense
being elite. And boy has that been the case since this season started. Chicago
has given up just 291.2 yards per game (6th in the NFL), 225.4 passing yards
per game (13th in the NFL), 65.8 rushing yards per game (2nd in the NFL), and
14.2 points per game (4th in the NFL). They have a league-leading 18 sacks and
13 interceptions. They have allowed just one rushing touchdown all season, and
only five passing touchdowns in five games. And their +9 turnover differential
is second best in the NFL, only one behind Atlanta. They pasted Jacksonville
yesterday 41-3, and with the help of Charles “Peanut” Tillman and Lance Briggs
who had pick-sixes in two consecutive games now, they now have scored more
points this season (35) than their opponents have (27). This might wind up
being a historically good defense by the end of the season, and who would be
surprised? Nobody, that’s who.
Drew Brees Makes History
Finally, something on the
positive end for the New Orleans Saints!!! After what seemed like forever, the
Saints have a positive thing to look at after a victory, something they haven’t seen since last January. Drew
Brees, leader of their prolific offense, made history last night in primetime
on national television. Against the San Diego Chargers, Drew Brees’ 40-yard
pass to Devery Henderson broke the record held by the legendary Johnny Unitas
for most consecutive games played with a TD pass. The record stood for
50-years, and the mark was Brees’ 48th straight game with a passing touchdown.
People seem to be diminishing this accomplishment, saying that because of the
league’s switch to passing offenses being easier and more adept, but here is
what I have to say to that. How come more quarterbacks aren’t near this mark,
then? Why is it that it took this long? This is a hell of an accomplishment,
period, and despite some of the heat he has taken for other things, there might
not be a better man to have this record in terms of the respect that Drew has
for the league and its history.
St. Louis Dethrones Arizona From the
Unbeatens
To refresh your memory a
bit, there was a game last Thursday. And yes, despite the matchup, I did find
something that I really liked from this game. What was it? It was St. Louis
picking up back-to-back home victories for the first time in two years. Not
only that, it was also the Rams beating a team that was previously unbeaten,
and walked into New England three weeks before and beat down the New England Patriots
(despite what the score might tell you). They left Kevin Kolb running for his
life, especially Chris Long and Robert Quinn who racked up 20 pressures
themselves. The defensive unit had more sacks (9) than Sam Bradford had
completions (7). This Rams team is looking a lot nastier than I thought they’d
be, and that’s a good thing. Their ceiling this year is probably nothing higher
than mediocrity, but I’m sure Rams fans would take that in a heartbeat right
now.
Notables: The 49ers’ 600+ yard pasting of the
Bills… the Falcons move to 5-0 for the first time in franchise history… the
Vikings might just be for real… Aaron Rodgers and the Packer offense (for a
half at least) looked back to form… the Patriots offense looks balanced, and
fierce… Tannehill continues to improve.
2nd Down: Things I Didn’t Like:
Robert Griffin III’s Ill-Advised Slide
Leads to a More-Than-Mild Concussion
Okay, with all due respect
let me just say that I certainly hope that Robert Griffin III recovers from the
ugly hit that he sustained yesterday from Sean Weatherspoon. However, I can’t
help but wonder why exactly he put himself in that situation. I am well aware
that he’s a rookie but he ought to know better than to do what he did. Run out
of bounds. Slide further away from the sideline. Don’t put yourself in a
situation where you’re going to have an athletic linebacker charging at you and
deliver a head-smashing hit that clearly rang his bell a lot harder than we
would have liked to believe. In a season that so far been a success for RGIII,
this crucial mistake could have caused him to lose a slight step. And c’mon,
Redskins. A mild concussion? Give me a break.
Chiefs Fans Embarrass Themselves
I mean, it’s bad enough that
the Kansas City Chiefs might be the worst team in the league. What occurred
yesterday though really seemed to overstep some boundaries. Certainly the play
of Matt Cassel has been pretty horrendous. But c’mon, booing him as he’s
getting injured? That’s not the behavior of Chiefs fans that I’ve come to know
while I’ve been here. It’s dissatisfying, and offensive tackle Eric Winston
voiced his displeasure about it yesterday. You can read that here if you
haven’t already. Now there has been speculation about whether or not the
cheering came from when he was getting up, or when he was down on the ground.
Either way, it’s just left a bad taste in my mouth. I won’t overblow it like
some are at this juncture, but it’s just abhorrent.
Philadelphia Turns the Ball Over
(Again) and They Still Are Over .500?
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| Turnovers remain the name of the game in Philadelphia. Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images |
They have a NFC-leading 14 turnovers, and a NFC-worst -7 turnover differential, tied only with Dallas and second behind Kansas City (-15). I do not get how this team is 3-2, and Pittsburgh, for their sake, was able to get by and beat them. Do I expect Philadelphia to continue to win games as their season goes on? Well, with games against the Giants, Falcons, Cowboys (twice) it will be hard to see this trend continue.
The Plight of the Panthers
One week ago the Panthers
were staring down a huge victory against the NFC South-leading Atlanta Falcons
straight in the face. A week later, and they are 1-4 and their season already
might be over. Cam Newton has struggle dmightily this season, the pass defense
is shaky still, and Ron Rivera has done some questionable maneuvers. Being a
Panthers fan was tough two years ago when they went 2-14, but I think this
might be even worse this year. Oh yeah, the fact that they have games against
Chicago, Washington, Denver, Atlanta, and San Diego looming will do them no
favors either. This is a tough break for a team that most (not I) thought would
greatly succeed this year.
Notables: The Bills defense gets shredded, again…
the Arizona Cardinals offensive line takes a beating… the play of the Kansas
City Chiefs, who might be the worst team in the NFL… Mavin Lewis’ questionable
decisions.
3rd Down: Games/Matchups to Watch For in Week 3:
New York Giants vs. San Francisco 49ers
– Sunday, FOX, 4:25 PM ET
We already had one team get
retribution for a loss in a league championship game this season. Now, another
team gets the chance to and unlike Patriots-Ravens, it will return to the site
of the game. We all know the story of Kyle Williams dropping the ball twice and
allowing for the New York Giants to go on to Super Bowl XLIV (which they would
win). Well, now the Giants will walk back into Candlestick Park to take on the
San Francisco 49ers, who might be even better than they were last year overall.
Their offense is coming off of a 600+-yard pasting of the Buffalo Bills, and
Alex Smith perhaps had the best game of his career. While I don’t think the
Giants defense will look as pedestrian as the Bills did, I expect this to be a
hard-fought instant classic that you will DEFINITELY want to tune in to.
The Houston Texans Offense vs. The
Green Bay Packers Defense
You might think that the
matchup to watch for in this Sunday Night clash is the Packers offense against
the stout Houston defense. Well, in my opinion, it’s flip-flopped. I want to
see how the Packers defense plays against the Houston offense. The Houston
offense has been stealthily good all season and Houston is probably the best
team in the NFL at this point. Meanwhile the Packers defense, much maligned
last year, is perhaps returning to the form it was at last year, all aside from
their collapse yesterday, of course. All things considered, aside from the
Bears defense, this will probably be Matt Schaub’s biggest test all season.
I’ll be looking in to see how this goes, and should he do well, the Texans might
move on to 6-0, assuming they win tonight, which I count on.
Tom Brady vs. The Seattle Seahawks
Secondary
The Seattle Seahawks defense
made their mark on the national stage a few weeks ago, despite the fact that
the game against the Packers was shrouded with controversy regarding what
happened on offense. This week they welcome another prolific passer into the
Emerald City, and it’s one of the best of all time. Tom Brady brings the
Patriot offense, which has looked lethal, scoring 83 points in their last two
games. With a defense that’s only allowed 192 YPG this year, and just three
passing TD, it will be very interesting to see how Brady fares. Brady is on
pace currently to also pass Johnny Unitas for the consecutive TD mark, and if
there is any defense that can halt him from doing that, it might just be this
defense. Keep your eye on this.
Chris Long vs. Cameron Wake
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| Cameron Wake might be the best pass-rusher in the league, and not a lot of people may know it. Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images |
4th Down: Monday Night Football Preview:
Houston Texans vs. New York Jets –
ESPN, 8:20 PM ET
At the beginning of the
season, this looked like a pretty passable matchup of two pretty good defenses.
Now it just looks like a snoozer. The New York Jets have been one of the
biggest disappointments of the season and their offense has looked terrible
since their Week 1 crusher against the Buffalo Bills. Losing Darrelle Revis didn’t
help defensively, and going into this week they’ll be having a M*A*S*H unit in
at offense, which won’t be doing them any favors. Meanwhile, Houston has looked
like the best team in football in just about every facet, and J.J. Watt, in my
opinion, has been the Defensive Player of the Year thus far and it isn’t close.
I’ll be looking in and seeing how he fares against a Jets offensive line that
has been terrorized week after week it seems now. I don’t think this game will
be very close, and I think the Texans walks away looking impressive yet again
heading into a big SNF affair against the Green Bay Packers in Houston.
Prediction: Houston 28 New York 0
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