Joe Theismann? Really, NFL Network? Really? All right, I suppose I'll suffer through this. The Falcons are eating the Ravens' defense alive with all this underneath stuff. Someone made a bad misread on the Snelling touchdown and I can't tell who. Maybe it was multiple someones. Does the Ravens' offense know there's a game tonight? Do they know where midfield is? Seriously, Matty Ice is carving them up. 20 of 28 passing in the first half? That's nuts. That interception's not going to help the Ravens' cause. That's more like it. You know whose name I haven't heard much tonight is Michael Turner. The Ravens should just not line Flacco up under center. They just shouldn't do it. He's been so much more effective from the shotgun tonight it isn't funny. Ravens lead! Or do they? Yeah, that's not getting overturned. That is pass interference. Touchdown! And all that after the announcers kept stressing that the Ravens couldn't let White get free. Well, he did push off but Wilson should probably have tried getting up and trying to run him down instead of yelling at the officials. Or, y'know, not let them go 62 yards down the field in 45 seconds. Just a thought. Don't run that kickoff out. Don't run it... OHHH! He'll live to regret that. (Falcons 26, Ravens 21)
Signal Finder: NYJ @ CLE, MIN @ CHI, DAL @ NYG, STL @ SF (about two minutes for the Jackson touchdown, then OT)
Greg Olsen caught a pass! Stop the presses! The Vikings are tackling like girls when they're not completely whiffing in kick coverage. Oh, great, a touchdown before the half. Just what this team's fragile state needs. PROTECT THE FOOTBALL. Gould makes that the overwhelming majority of the time. What did I JUST SAY, Brett. I'm starting to wonder if maybe it's time to start giving the Bears some real credit. I mean, they're 6-3 despite some real flaws, but their defense is playing back to form and Devin Hester is Devin Hester again. Stop kicking to him, by the way. You'd think the Vikings would know better. And there's Cutler doing his best Favre impression. What a waste of a perfectly good punt return that ended up being. Was that the same guy, even? I think it was. Is that one on Favre? Oh, yeah, the receiver fell down or something. That's close but I don't think it's getting overturned. I know we were just here last week with about this much time left, but that's hard to do two weeks in a row. Now Shiancoe falls down and another pass gets picked off? Are there tripwires in the grass at Soldier Field or something? Game, set, match. crosses off Vikings (Bears 27, Vikings 13)
Take heart, Lions: You're no longer putrid... just unlucky. (Bills 14, Lions 12)
Outsmarting ourselves already, Mangenius? Even now that LeBron's gone, it's still not safe for Braylon Edwards to go back to Cleveland. Does anyone throw out of the Wildcat anymore? I'm a bit stunned that the Browns can be so one-dimensional and are still hanging with the Jets here. Mangini's doing something right. On the other side, how many times has Sanchez escaped certain doom at the hands of the Browns' pass rush? Four? Five? Nick Folk, ladies and gentlemen... Nick Folk. Sanchez get away AGAIN! That was a big stop by the Browns, and this field goal's not a lock by any means. But Folk made that one. Is this where the legend of Colt McCoy begins? He just did that in, what, his fourth start, against what's supposed to be one of the league's best defenses with receivers that would struggle to make two-thirds of NFL rosters. OVERTIME. He's inbounds. What's #80 doing? Go for the ball, not a chop block! Nick Folk, ladies and gentlemen... Nick Folk. He's missed about 10 kicks today. Does anybody want to win this game? Haden would've been better off dropping that one — I think it's too much to ask of McCoy to do that again. We're going to have another tie. On the same weekend, in the same state, as the last one. OR NOT. Holmes does it again! You can see on the replay the corner and linebacker stop because they almost collide. So much for the Mangenius Revenge Road Tour. (Jets 26, Browns 20, OT)
KNOCK IT DOW— oops. And OF COURSE Gus Johnson got assigned to this game. (Jaguars 31, Texans 24)
All right, let's see how this goes. That... is a touchdown. No? Here comes the challenge flag. That's still a touchdown. Confirmed. Aaaaand the extra point gets blocked. Awful blocking there by the Cowboys as in addition to the actual block, Terrell Thomas was surging in free from the left side. The Cowboys seem to be throwing deep more often. Maybe it's just me. That happened in the Jacksonville game! And David Buehler barely makes it from 22 yards? Insert Winston Wolf quote here. Seriously, he may be the worst kicker in the NFL and I just watched Nick Folk miss 21 field goals in Cleveland. Now Mike Jenkins is out of the game (joining fellow CB Terence Newman) but I don't know how much of a loss that is with the season he's having. Am I the only one wondering why Jacobs isn't in down here at the goal line? Oh dear. Someone screwed up on that and... is this guy gonna take it back? Yeah, that's partially on Nicks, who stopped, and partially on Eli, who threw it anyway. The Giants could use a touchdown here but they're not going to get it. The Cowboys just blew up the Giants' defense with that screen to Felix.
Wait, why are we going to San Francisco? It's not that big of a blowout. The POWER went out? That's the best thing that's happened to the Giants all day. I forgot how good Steven Jackson is.
And we're back. This game isn't over by any means if the Giants score a touchdown. Like so. You know who's terrible is Orlando Scandrick. Oh, that's why Buck was pointing out the stadium scoreboard — FOX doesn't have any graphics. Can't they just put a camera on the clock or something and show it in a window? Strange. This game is not over by any means, and with nobody left in a bad Cowboys' secondary and the Giants unable to stop giving up big plays, we could get to the 50s. Graphics are back. Seriously, I'm not sure if Bryant and Austin are that good or the Giants' corners are that bad, but they've looked very ordinary all night. And yet they're still in this game... well, until that happened. Wow, Eli, Jon Kitna's supposed to throw that pick. Bob Costas, at halftime of the Sunday night game, asks the question we've all been asking the best way I can think to ask it: "If this group, even without Tony Romo, is good enough to do what it did today for Jason Garrett, why weren't they professional enough to do anything at all for Wade Phillips?" (Cowboys 33, Giants 20)
That is also pass interference and the same thing Tony Gonzalez did against the Ravens on Thursday (stop to adjust to the pass, causing the defender to run into you). Can we trade the NFC West for the Pac-10? (49ers 23, Rams 20, OT)
When did the Broncos turn into the '99 Rams? Todd Haley and Josh McDaniels don't like each other? Shocking. (Broncos 49, Chiefs 29)
Belichick's 22-2 record after losses is pretty sick. GRONK. That hit on Ward was... dicey. Is the Patriots' punter really named Zoltan Mesko? They're doing sort of what the Falcons did to the Ravens — lots of short passes, not taking any chances deep. The Steelers are really missing Ward out there, as the young kids don't seem very polished, especially in the red zone. They're also not getting the consistency in the running game that they'd probably like. GRONK. Did Nick Folk fear for his job, drive from Cleveland to Pittsburgh, and abduct Jeff Reed at halftime? Or is that the end of Heinz Field that screws every kicker up? I can never remember which side it is. This thing's turning into a barnburner. Look at Brady with the spike and the primal scream. The Steelers have come unglued. You hear so much about Patriots-Colts, Patriots-Jets and Steelers-Ravens that you forget these teams really don't like each other either. The Steelers just ran into a buzz saw tonight. (Patriots 39, Steelers 26)
Fisticuffs! You heard? Apparently this was sparked by LaRon Landry talking smack to DeSean Jackson about his concussion at the end of pregame warmups, so Jackson may have taken that pass pattern to the middle and past Landry on purpose. Did Gruden really predict that double reverse? What's going on up there? This is basically how the Redskins started the first game. Moss needs to catch that ball. Seriously, nobody throws out of the Wildcat anymore. I guess the Eagles decided it was McCoy's turn. Are you kidding me? As an aside, I'd like to predict that this new running back the Redskins have breaks off a 100-yard game at some point during the season. JEROME HARRISON LIVES! This is absolute carnage. Maclin's turn? OK. Yeah, he's in if they say he hit the pylon before rolling out of bounds. So much for the shutout. Davis almost stumbled running down the sideline. I'm not sure it's wise for Stewart Bradley to basically come out and say, "We can't stop that play." Donovan's having flashbacks to the NFC title game loss to the Panthers. Are Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly still on the roster? I mean, the Redskins' second and third receivers are 206-year-old Joey Galloway and a 27-year-old rookie from the Arena League (who, to his credit, has had his moments as a Nate Washington-esque deep threat). They need to get the Banks kid they've got on return duty into their passing game; see what he can do. If I remember right, Gruden's Bucs were one of the few teams that had success slowing down Vick. Let's go easy on Donovan. He doesn't play defense. Of course, I'm not sure who on the Redskins does. Oh, look, Albert Haynesworth is flopping around on the ground like a beached whale. That's never happened before. Vick takes another one himself. Could they get to 70? Oh, a field goal? I love how everyone's getting involved. The Redskins got two first downs on a drive! I wonder what the D.C. equivalent of the Bronx cheer is. I also wonder if the Eagles are on the sideline checking to see who hasn't scored yet. Well it's high time the defense joined the party. Don't know why the Redskins are bothering to challenge this, and not even because they're probably going to lose... there's just no point. What this really is on the Redskins' side is seven years of terrible personnel decisions all coming home to roost in one night. For Vick, this performance is everything people hoped and wished he could become, and, for obvious reasons, no one ever thought we'd see anything close to this. Probably time to get the principals out of there for the evening... it's raining pretty steadily now and you don't want anyone getting hurt. Mark Rypien backed up Peyton Manning? When? Oh, now you don't put Rex Grossman in? Whatever. (Eagles 59, Redskins 28)
FANTASY REPORT
aPa Whiskey (4-6, L1): Lost to Dave, who became the first to clinch a playoff spot. Even so, I'm in a three-way tie for eighth (but out of the playoffs at the moment) and facing a fellow 4-6 team next week.
JackSux 7 (4-6, W1): It's good to have Tom Brady. He led the way as I beat the crap out of Russ (after winning our first meeting by only eight points) to stay in contention.
RANKINGS
TOP 4:
1. New England (7-2) — Got Jeff Reed fired
2. N.Y. Jets (7-2) — This is really close. Plus they beat the Pats
3. Pittsburgh (6-3) — Patriots + home game = bad times
4. (tie) Atlanta (7-2) — Even though they've lost to...
4. (tie) Philadelphia (6-3) — Seriously, did you see what they did Monday night?
BOTTOM 4:
29. Dallas (2-7) — Well, it's... something
30. Buffalo (1-8) — This may be as good as it gets
31. Cincinnati (2-7) — It'll all be over soon
32. Carolina (1-8) — Now that I think about it... based on the last two years, would you hire John Fox?
No comments:
Post a Comment