Andy Richardson
A note on injuries: To hear some of the talk last week, Aaron Rodgers' arm was hanging off, Carson Palmer was going to have his elbow surgically replaced, and Ben Roethlisberger's Frankenstein-like body was held together by duct tape. All three played; all three played well. Injuries are exaggerated sometimes. OK, on to the whirlwind tour of the games I paid the most attention to yesterday....
Falcons-Packers: Gentlefolk, start your Packers’ opponents. In all the discussion over whether Aaron Rodgers would play with whatever kind of shoulder injury he supposedly had, overlooked by some was the fact that their defense is down several starters and not very good at this point. They couldn’t stop Michael Turner when they knew the run was coming, couldn’t cover Roddy White, and couldn’t get pressure on a rookie quarterback who was thus far winless on the road. Rodgers played fairly well, at least until a bad interception that led to the Falcons’ winning touchdown, yet the Packers still lost at home to one of the league’s lesser teams, which tells you all you need to know about where Green Bay is going to end up this year. They still have to play the entire AFC South and two games against a Bears team that has had their number in the Lovie Smith era. As Chevy Chase observed in National Lampoon’s Vacation, “And yay, although the Hindus speak of karma….” Greg Jennings and Donald Driver caught touchdowns despite double-coverage from defenders who appeared to have little interest in locating the ball. It appears safe to start Michael Turner and Roddy White from here on out, in case you weren’t already.
Washington-Eagles: After the season’s first week you’d have thought the Eagles were one of the league’s best teams (a blowout of the Rams) and Washington was one of the worst (an inept showing against the Giants). Instead, Washington now has back-to-back road wins over the Cowboys and Eagles, plus a ridiculously easy schedule coming up (Rams, Browns, Little Sisters of the Poor, I mean Lions). Scratch the idea that you can’t run on the Eagles; Clinton Portis did, with his line just blowing people off the ball. Contrast that with the Eagles, who failed at the goal line for the second straight week; blocking was not there for Brian Westbrook. By the way, I know that not many people play in IDP leagues and many don’t care, but man, London Fletcher is a monster – single-handedly kept Westbrook from picking up a couple of first downs. Good news for L.J. Smith owners, he actually got a few looks, including in the end zone. Jason Campbell was impressive. And Chris Cooley isn’t a forgotten man in the Jim Zorn offense after all.
Seahawks-Giants: Perhaps Mike Holmgren wishes he’d retired after last season. What a disaster the Seahawks’ season is turning out to be. But I think that really, we can trace it all to a couple of years back, when they didn’t franchise Steve Hutchinson and lost him to the Vikings. They compounded that error by overpaying for and giving up a third-round draft pick for the mediocre Nate Burleson, then a year later inexplicably gave the Patriots a first-rounder for Deion Branch. I think all these things are related. Anyway, now their best receiver is the aging and not so durable Bobby Engram, Branch can’t stay healthy and doesn’t do much when he is (the rust was showing with an early drop), and the team has played two road games and been blown out in both of them. Granted, the Giants are good, but still. Poor year for Seattle and its players. As for the Giants, er yeah, they’re pretty good. I was high on their defense all preseason, but even I didn’t foresee them being this dominant early on (granted, the schedule has helped – they’ve played a pair of winless teams and their only divisional game was at home). Think the Broncos are wishing they hadn’t dumped Domenik Hixon last season? Big game for Eli even without Plaxico, and big game for Brandon Jacobs even in a sort-of committee with Derrick Ward.
Colts-Texans: The Colts blew a win against Jacksonville. This week they get a gift. When does Houston get their gift? They did everything they had to do to win this game except actually win the thing, as Sage Rosenfels coughed the ball up twice late in the fourth quarter to turn what had been a 17-point lead into a loss. Just sad. Let’s find the positives: Andre Johnson had a big game. Steve Slaton scored twice, even replacing Ahman Green at the goal line in one instance, which was kind of amusing; a month ago it would have gone the other way. And Rosenfels showed he’s a solid backup NFL quarterback, which is going to be his lot, since nobody’s going to be calling for him to start over Matt Schaub after his miscues here. Amazing touchdown grab by Reggie Wayne (and touch by Peyton Manning on the throw). When all is said and done, if you’ve seen any (or all) of the Colts’ games this year you know they could easily be 0-4 rather than 2-2. I suppose they could also be 3-1, but this looks like a team with a lot of problems. Still, the winless Texans would take their problems (and their record).
Bengals-Cowboys: Brief mention of my suicide pool, where almost everyone took the Cowboys (I took the Panthers). I’m no expert at these things, but I definitely avoid desperate, winless teams with a decent amount of offensive talent against vulnerable defenses. Which, it must be said, the Cowboys still have. Nice game for Carson Palmer, lousy coverage on T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Is it me or does he tend to have huge games the weeks after Chad Ocho Cinco talks the most about what he’ll do when he scores? I’m thinking that Chad throws a lot of smack out there, defenses decide they’re going to shut him down no matter what, and then Housh goes out and lights them up. It seems to happen a lot. I’ll see if Ian has any numbers on it. Extremely costly fumble by Chris Perry, right after the Bengals had all the momentum and had recovered an onside kick in a one-point game. Typical bad interception by Tony Romo, followed by a huge touchdown a series or two later. Pay no attention to the Crayton TD (some may recall I questioned the guy’s ability earlier in the year and he’s not proving me wrong thus far); the pass was intended for Miles Austin. And yes, I did watch all of the NFC East teams play this week. What can I say; they’re all pretty good and they play some compelling games. One more note: Jason Witten doesn’t get drafted high enough. Considering I have a couple of leagues where I’ve been routinely taking zeroes at the position (highlighted by Robert Royal's minus-2 yesterday), I’m going to draft a TE a whole lot sooner next year, and it might be Witten.
A few more random notes: Great moment in the Bills-Cardinals game. Larry Fitzgerald gets wide open to catch a touchdown in the back of the end zone. Ref standing near the front of the end zone, who Fitzgerald throws the ball to almost in one motion with hauling it in. Ref catches the ball, then signals touchdown, extending the ball above his head. Funny stuff. … Pretty weak roughing the passer call played a major role in Tennessee’s winning drive, the second straight week the Ravens have to feel they let one slip away. … There’s winless decent, which describes the Bengals and Texans. Winless bad, which describes the Rams. And then there are the Lions, who have been blown out in all four of their games. Much as it annoys me as a fan to hear Roy Williams whining about his role in the offense and slamming his helmet in disgust, I have to admit: If he is trying to get traded out of town, can you really blame him?
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