Wednesday, October 30, 2013

By The Pigskin Of Our Teeth, Week 6: Tripping Fantastic Lights


Told you. 0-6. I can't find four wins on that remaining schedule. crosses off Giants (Bears 27, Giants 21)

Signal Finder: PHI @ TB, GB @ BAL (end), TEN @ SEA, NO @ NE

Wow. Stay classy, Texans fans. (Rams 38, Texans 13)


That was a mistake. SCREEN PASS. McCoy was unlucky to get tripped up. FOLES QUARTERBACK DRAW. That was entirely too easy. Who says Foles can't run?  Wait, what happened? Yeah, that's gonna hold up. Disappointing. Wait, they're looking at something else?


So fumble, but no points. That's... less bad because the Bucs' so-called offense has to go back onto the field. (They're also missing their No. 2 receiver.) Now it's resistible force vs. movable object. Where's the punt coverage? Why are the Bucs going tackle-eligible here? Well that's discouraging. Right over the middle, too, of course, because the Eagles' secondary is terrible.



Can we get somebody else returning kickoffs? Anyone? I'll do it. (No, I won't.) So many screens and they're working. Why is Jeff Maehl happening? Well, DeSean won that one. Cary Williams is mad about something. Probably a penalty he committed but insists he didn't. Oh, it wasn't on him? I'm genuinely shocked. The heck? Mike Glennon is Michael Vick? That shouldn't happen. The defensive line got gashed on that Martin run. Nobody's beating 6-5 Vincent Jackson to that ball. This sequence to end the half was... weird. Whoa, a pick! I feel like Bradley Fletcher's the best guy in the Eagles' secondary because he never gets mentioned during games. How do you let Riley Cooper run past you? Oh, that's how. Regardless!


He'll fight every doctor in here. Also, I thought this Bucs defense was supposed to be borderline great. They've looked pretty average today, as evidenced by a defensive back allowing RILEY COOPER TO RUN RIGHT PAST HIM. That's a clutch punt. I'm not sure how much you can really learn about Glennon's potential from this game — the Eagles have no pass rush and no back-end coverage. The Bucs have had penalties wipe out more than a couple of big plays — furthering my theory that they'll blow it at the end if it's close. I should mention now that the Eagles have made this Tim Wright character look like Kellen Winslow in his prime. This drive started at Tampa's 1-YARD LINE. Unlucky for Wright to not catch that — he's caught everything else. Somehow that field goal is a moral defeat for both sides. Look at Cooper outrunning more people again. DeSean!!


Now let's get a stop. Hey, a sack. Whoever's coaching the Buccaneers next year should lobby the front office to trade for Foles. Now what? Are they trying to draw the Bucs off? This might work, as undisciplined as they are. It worked! Also, voting for Sign of the Year is officially closed:



There's no strength of schedule in the pros. (Eagles 31, Buccaneers 20)

This Week's Game That Shouldn't Have Been This Close: Bengals 27, Bills 24, OT

See, this is strange. Normally we don't get the late CBS game if the Eagles are playing early on the road. Ryan Fitzpatrick showing why he's the backup again. That's twice now that the Seahawks have gotten zero help from the goal line on punt coverage. Speaking of things that repeat themselves, Fitzpatrick's gotten lucky twice on this drive to not get intercepted. Oh man... and it was the same guy both times. The punter dropped the ball? What? The Seahawks should get at least three out of this now. Apparently the Seahawks' kicker got hurt making a tackle on the kickoff after the touchdown and the punter's warming up now. Bad hold. WHAT?! TOUCHDOWN? Oh my goodness. Dierdorf's explaining that Ryan (kicking because of the kicker's injury) is normally the holder and somebody wearing No. 42 is now holding. This is actually a good argument for using the backup quarterback as the holder so this situation can never present itself. (Though Jay Novacek, a tight end, held for the Cowboys for years, for some reason.) I can't tell if he's down or not.



I can't overturn this, and the refs can't either. Is Sidney Rice still on this team? Oh, there he is, apparently fumbling. The following things went wrong there: All of them. And the Seahawks almost fumble away another one. What's going on up there? Feels like Wilson never passes when he's under center. Is this wise? Does Hauschka have all of his faculties? Well, he made it so I guess he's OK. HOLY CRAP. You should NEVER throw that pass but Lynch was all by himself. There's another fumble! FALL ON IT OH MY GOD. Dude on the Titans tried to scoop it and flipped it right back to Wilson. This game has been insane (-ly sloppy). Fitzpatrick throws another interception. Who thought Titans fans would miss Jake Locker? (who was actually having a good year before he got hurt.) Nice work, Sidney. And there's a score from Lynch. More craziness on this fumble/incomplete pass. Kudos to Kendall Wright for not taking any chances there, and also to Carroll for challenging it. And Carroll gets it reversed. A field goal? Really? You're on the road, down 10 and it's your first time in the red zone? (Seahawks 20, Titans 13)

What the hell, Edelman? Way to telegraph it, first of all, and then to throw it while you're being surrounded? Belichick's losing it.


Also someone tell him this isn't the old Saints defense. Think Brady saw that pass to Watson and sighed wistfully? Touchdown. Ridley's playing? Doesn't he have bad ribs or something? Why yes, he is on my fantasy team's bench. Why do you ask? The rusher on the Lofton sack of Brady wasn't the guy who got him. That drop by Amendola was on a low throw on the run. Meanwhile, the Patriots are covering Jimmy Graham with a cornerback (Aqib Talib) and it's working. Which begs the question: what's Colston's excuse? He's been shut out. That said, you can't keep going three and out against the Saints. Let's just say it: Brady hasn't been all that impressive this year so far. Hey there's Colston finally. Was that a helmet hit on Amendola? Sure looked like it.
Can we take a minute to look at who has scored touchdowns for the Saints in this game? The first guy's name is Travaris Cadet, which has to be made up. Brees make about eight mini-pump fakes before that pick. Oh, he signaled for a time out? And Graham's limping? None of that made any sense.The Patriots will regret not getting a touchdown there. See? And now they're going to tack on three more. Bad, BAD throw by Brady on that deep ball and that might do it. Why would you ever roll out Brees? I mean EVER? Austin Collie's still alive? Saw just before that that Brady just passed Vinny Testaverde for eighth all-time in passing yards, which is also Belichick's fault. Are you kidding me with that throw? Unbelievable.



THERE'S the Rob Ryan defense we know and love. Tom Brady is a wizard. And I say that at least partially because he dresses like one after games. (Patriots 30, Saints 27)

This Week's Game That Shouldn't Have Been This Close II: In my own head, I predicted a pick-six... just not for the Jaguars. I mean, they're within two and we've had our first MJD sighting of the year. Well fought, grand Floridians. (Broncos 35, Jaguars 19).


Nice leisurely jog down the field by the Cowboys to open up. Hey, nice run by Griffin. Let's point out that the Cowboys' defense isn't good either. I mean, Orlando Scandrick is starting. That's really all you need to know.Tip drill interception! Griffin seems to have his running legs somewhat back. Did the Cowboys really give somebody No. 21? And where is Murray, anyway? Hurt again, I'd assume. Why is Collinsworth using "DeAngelo Hall" and "good cornerback" in the same thought? Bad throw by Romo and he's lucky it apparently hit the ground. Ware's walking to the locker room? That's awful for the Cowboys. This punt return, however, is not. THAT'S A PENALTY? I don't know what's more unbelievable; that that is in the rulebook as being against the rules or that it was actually called.


Shanahan's 2-minute offense looks like Mike Holmgren's. They got a drummer up on the platform with the dancing girls? Best nightclub EVER. Dwayne Harris is good at kick returns. Wow, Terrence Williams has actually looked NFL caliber these past two weeks. Except he's out of bounds. Wait, that stood up? Griffin ran around for about a minute before that fumble and the Redskins were lucky they got it back. And as well as he's moved around tonight, he's missed badly on more than a few passes. You know who's been awful this year is Morris Claiborne. Free play! Touchdown! Good timing after Al and Cris talking about how the Redskins haven't run the ball well tonight. Nice kick. #sarcasm The Cowboys are gonna have to go back to a 3-4 if they keep losing defensive linemen like this. Fumble? You laugh at Al's Randy White reference; that dude's three phone calls away. This is like an eighth-effort push and I think he finally got in. Yep. Got a nice push from the center. The Redskins should probably consider throwing down the field. I meant TO RECEIVERS. Oh, Moss fell down. Never mind then. Still, that's probably the end of that. (Cowboys 31, Redskins 16)


NO BANNERS FOR YARDAGE. CHICANERY! A touchdown after that would have been preferable. Te'o! Ryan Mathews' other problem is he can't stay on the field. Dude's as fragile as DeMarco Murray and probably getting paid three times as much. Nice throw, Rivers. Seriously.



Richardson fought his way out of that tackle pretty well. Woodhead! I think Brady misses him, too. Forgive my transgressions; there's playoff baseball on. Luck ran the two-minute drill and got them into field goal range? This is why the Chargers are 2-3. Danny Woodhead is much faster than Pat Angerer. When did King Dunlap stop sucking? I'm pretty sure that aside from Keenan Allen's touchdown, Woodhead has the longest pass play of the night. Nope, there's one to somebody named Green for 25. Another field goal? I mean there's time but still.

Lot of drops tonight, it seems. Gotta go for this, right? Gruden: "You gotta punt it." What? Eh. Here's the thing: "What's wrong with Rivers?" the last three years has been Norv Turner and a front office that couldn't draft and/or keep good players. Did Mathews just run out of bounds? Did Gates make this? It's going to be real close. So because the play started before the two-minute warning, the Chargers are challenging this spot. Aaaand it's short. They should just go for this. I mean, I'm not sure Nick Novak's a guy I'd bank on hitting from 50 here. Whoa! Dude came unblocked and Novak was lucky to get it off. That's probably it. And that's definitely it. (Chargers 19, Colts 9)

RANKINGS:
TOP 4: 
1. Denver (6-0) - Either learned or taught a lesson in respect
2. Kansas City (6-0) - Yes, they've already blown past last year's win total
3. Seattle (5-1) - Pacific Northwest strangeness
4. New Orleans (5-1) - Blew that one

BOTTOM 4:
29. Minnesota (1-4) - Falling off the cliff fast
30. Tampa Bay (0-5) - This organization needs to be quarantined
31. N.Y. Giants (0-6) - Hard to win games when nobody's playing well
32. Jacksonville (0-6) - No moral victories


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, October 20, 2013

By The Pigskin Of Our Teeth, Week 5: Grindhouse

Oh, that didn't look good. Of course, it's Bills-Browns; I don't expect anything to look good. Hang on a second: Hoyer's hurt and they're going back to Weeden? What did Jason Campbell do to piss off the Browns? Now Manuel's out too?

The Josh Gordon lovefest bothers me. Can we give him more than two games before proclaiming him the next big thing? We did this with Miles Austin, remember? I thought the Browns were supposed to be tanking. (Browns 37, Bills 24)

Signal Finder: PHI @ NYG, BAL @ MIA, DEN @ DAL

Billick's already forgotten that the Eagles' secondary is terrible.


That's.. huh? Ah, OK. That's helmet-to-helmet... intentional or not, it's always getting called in 2013. They DECLINED that penalty? Coughlin's lost it. OH MY GOD. Vick ran for about 30 yards. Let's go back to the Giants declining that penalty for a second. It would have been fourth and... 4? From the Giants' 47? Wouldn't you want to give the other coach a chance to make the wrong decision on 4th down? That's not a safety? How is that not a safety?


That's Vick's first completion and we're in the second quarter. Hey, a Zach Ertz sighting. How did McBride not intercept that? It went right through his hands! Why is Vick running so much? Touchdown! The Giants are inexplicably switching to short throws. Apparently it doesn't matter who carries the ball for the Giants - it's getting fumbled. I mean it just fell out of his hands. The Giants had McCoy stopped and then didn't.


Unless you're putting Foles in right now, Chip, you punt here. Good decision. Seriously, Eli keeps throwing into coverage. And now things are just falling apart. Well this camera angle on the punt is different. Meanwhile, the Giants are about out of guys. JPP's down and angry and Tuck's shaken up on the field. Are the Giants in prevent or something? The Eagles are just walking down the field. Thanks, guy, for pushing Jackson out of bounds and stopping the clock. Field goal! Good job, Foles. Hold up. Did the Giants just blow two time outs on a challenge? That's straight out of Reid's book. No, seriously: Andy did that once.




And why even bother challenging that play? Yeah, it's a first down but it's still in Eagles territory and it's early in the third quarter. Plus it wasn't until the fourth look at it or so that anyone thought it might be overturned in the first place. More stupid Giants penalties. But the Eagles' defense can't stop them a second time. Seriously, call nothing but pass plays against both of these teams.




I mean, they could at least try covering Randle. It's not like Nicks has done anything this year to deserve being doubled. That fair catch interference was a bad call. And that pass interference on Boykin was even worse (and that wasn't even one of Cruz's better sell jobs.)




The offense looks mostly the same. And by that I mean it looks mostly the same as Reid's last year with the absence of running plays. Foles can run this thing — it's not like the preseason battle was a runaway. Grounding again on Eli... there was nobody out there. Wait... what.., that's... OH MY GOD THE EAGLES FORCED A TURNOVER! CELEK! That's a fantastic play all around. Whoa! Boykin's got that but he's had terrible things conspire against him today. Well they upheld it at least. Foles on the option? Strange. Slow down, Brenneman. Another pick! Who was that? Williams? Geez. You know what I'm just now noticing is that the Eagles' offense has been running slower today. The pace hasn't been as fast. Three flags on a punt? The special teams clearly still need work. I can't believe how bad the Giants are. I honestly can't. Hey, a sack. (Eagles 36, Giants 21)

Ravens-Dolphins is utterly failing to hold my interest. It sounds like the officiating here has been as bad as Eagles-Giants. I almost just want to fill this in with Josh's Facebook status updates. You know who'd be good on the Dolphins right now? Jake Long. Then Jones got that pick-six and this turned into a game.That field goal attempt at the end was brutal. Is John Harbaugh attempting crowd control? (Ravens 26, Dolphins 23)


Sweet Lord. The poor Jaguars.(Rams 34, Jaguars 20)

The Cowboys' non-Dez receivers are doing a good job of spinning out of tackles. No catch. Touchdown? WOW that's close. Good job, Dez. Decker fumbled? How was Romo not past the line of scrimmage there? Oh, he wasn't, actually. Never mind. Should have taken it himself, though. Everything about that was ridiculous, including Witten's sliding catch at the end.




Long pass to Decker! I love it when guys hold and it doesn't work. That, on the other hand, was expected. Broncos' defense not playing all that well right now either. Well , until the goal-line stand that ended with a 17-yard sack. Ernie Sims is still alive? Yep, and he's already been assimilated into Cowboys culture by committing a stupid penalty. Peyton was shooting a basket on that third down pass to Moreno. More Decker. Nantz: "How do you defend that?" Simms: "You don't."


More unnecessary Cowboys screwups. That face mask was far more blatant than the hit to Eli's head that didn't get called. Touchdown Broncos! The winner here may need 40, and that is not in the Cowboys' best interest. PEYTON MANNING BOOTLEG.


Dallas was up 14-0. This first half was last week's first half in reverse. Remember this time last year when Moreno's Broncos career was effectively over? There's Welker. Hadn't seen him yet. Whoa! Terrence Williams finally did something right! Every Broncos field goal attempt is a win for the other side. I'm surprised that DRC was close enough to Dez to interfere. And just that quickly the Cowboys are back in this. Going for two here? Barnwell?

Stop the presses! Peyton threw an interception! THE RUSSIAN IS CUT!!! And Morris Claiborne, of all people, who'd been getting lit up this year, is the guy who gets it. You know who's great is Dez Bryant. Deion dumping him was the best thing that ever happened to him. Josh: "It's so sad that he's played the best game of  his life and people are STILL waiting for the RomoDerp." More bad officiating as the refs completely miss Witten being shoved out of the end zone. The Cowboys have taken the lead, but there's plenty of time left and no need to panic. One running play? I don't know about that. Both of these defenses are being torn to shreds. Let me revise that 40 to 50. TONY ROMO THINGS. That was right into coverage. (And I'd see later on Football Night In America that he had the running back wide open on a checkdown.)


Now you call all of the running plays. Uh-oh? Third and short and it's close.




Done and done. And I do mean done. (Broncos 51, Cowboys 48)

I think Rodney Harrison's taken too many shots to the head. How do you even think of benching Cam Newton when he's coached by the worst game-day coach in the league? (Common Sense 4, Football Night In America 1)


Schaub's gonna end up in a mental institution. Not a lot going right for the Texans right now. Heck, not a lot going right football-wise in TEXAS right now. Seriously, the best thing they have at the moment is the Baylor quarterback and I can't think of any time before Griffin that we've been able to say that truthfully. Here's a Watt/Kaepernick split screen for no real reason. Frank Gore's running through people like it's 2008. The ref accidentally kicking the ball so the Texans can't down it really is the only way to end this half. This has been a strange 49ers game. They're running the ball almost at will but haven't gotten anything out of Kaepernick. Of course, with Davis literally hamstrung, he only has Boldin to throw to. Meanwhile, Schaub's getting picked off by backup defensive linemen. I don't know how much more of this I can handle. And here's T.J. Yates. That's how much more of this I can handle. (49ers 34, Texans 3)

Let's see. Oakland. Against a division rival. After a FULL DAY TO DRINK. This will end badly. Wait, Terrelle Pryor isn't completely awful? I'm legitimately stunned. (Raiders 27, Chargers 17)

So who had the Jets with the better record at kickoff of this game? Put your hands down, you filthy liars. I don't think the Falcons are losing two at home, though. Dude dropped a possible interception for a touchdown. PUNT BLOCKED! Oh man that guy just beat the blockers. It would have been so Jets for the Falcons to get the first down anyway. Circus catch! Are the Jets going for it? What's taking so long? Well, so much for that. Hey, a Roddy White sighting. That's an easy one. Bad challenge, Rex. Man, Geno had a week to throw that one. Cumberland again! Did he just try to resurrect the Dirty Bird?




Holy hell the Jets are rolling right now. Tirico: "The Atlanta fans, unhappy." Gonzalez outfights an anonymous Jets DB for the ball because of course he does. Well the hold was much more blatant. Snelling stutter-stepped too much on that run. That screen's not going to work. Falcons going for it on fourth down. Oh man, nobody's open. Gonzalez was held by TWO guys there! One more shot — why are they running Jacquizz Rogers between the tackles? I don't mind going for it, but don't do THAT.

The Falcons cannot run the ball. Yet it doesn't seem to matter until they get back down here. That's more like it. Way to seal that edge. Wait, Geno's only thrown nine passes? What happened there? Ryan cough up the snap? The Soldier's still alive? Oh boy. It's about to get ugly in the dome. Seriously, someone get that thing out of Sanchez's hair. QUIZ SHOW. That'll quiet the mob for a bit. THAT ONE HANDED CATCH. How do you not put three guys on Gonzalez in that situation? Another 4th and short — gotta go for it now, too, right? They did the same thing again. HOLDING. Someone please tell Mike Smith to stop calling runs up the middle against this defense. Wait, who scored? I'm asking. I've never heard of him before. Uh-oh, the Falcons' defense is sucking again. That first down was big.

It's GOOD. WOW. Let me say this: Geno played well tonight. Let me also say this thing that I'm afraid to say: Is Rex working on keeping his job? (Jets 30, Falcons 28)

RANKINGS:
TOP 4:
1. Denver (5-0) - A soulless killing machine
2. New Orleans (5-0) - The good old days are back
3. Seattle (4-1) - Loss to Colts not as bad as it seems
4. Kansas City (5-0) - Things got dicey for a bit

BOTTOM 4:
29. Pittsburgh (0-4) - Return and regroup
30. Tampa Bay (0-4) - The bad old days are back
31. N.Y. Giants (0-5) - And soon to be 0-6
32. Jacksonville (0-5) - Just bad times all around


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, October 5, 2013

By The Pigskin Of Our Teeth, Week 4: Against The Grain

This has all the makings of the usual bad Thursday night blowout: desperate team on the road against an inferior division opponent. If the 49ers lose, do we start invoking the Super Bowl Loser's curse? Because the Madden Curse isn't in play this season.

Sounds about right. So basically all this was was the 49ers going back to power running and the Rams not showing any progress. And even though Sam Bradford's last good coach was Bob Stoops, is it getting close to "pull the plug" time? (49ers 35, Rams 11)

Signal Finder: PIT vs.@ MIN (@ London); NYG @ KC, BAL @ BUF (end), SEA @ HOU (part of OT), PHI @ DEN

Colquitt took a nasty shot on that partially blocked punt. Is he okay? That's Hakeem Nicks's year in a nutshell. Oh, Lord, seriously? The bit about the Giants needing to turn the volume up on their helmets is their year in a nutshell. Oh, Colquitt is hurt. That's not good. Alex Smith is going to run for 100 yards in this game. The Andy Reid goal line offense is rearing its ugly head here. Oh, there we go. Jesus, Cruz beat Dunta Robinson by five yards. That wasn't even close. Eli got sacked? I'm stunned. Fumble! Of course. And the Chiefs... fumble it right back. Eli's thrown about four passes so far that probably should have been picked off.

The Giants are going for it on 4th and 2 with 28 seconds left and only one time out. This needs to work. Cruz gets it. Hurry UP. I... really? HE MISSED THE FIELD GOAL. Eli just threw an absolutely brutal interception to Demps.


And AGAIN the Chiefs give it right back! This is ridiculous. That's a close spot. Haha Reid tossed the challenge flag to the official. It's short. GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY. Great work by McCluster on that punt return. How did the 49ers let this Cooper kid get away? There's another bad pass. Eli's hardly had time, and when he has, he's throwing into coverage. I really can't understate just how bad Nicks has been this season.Wait, what? The Giants lined up improperly on the field goal? That's... going to give the Chiefs a first down. First and 25 after the clipping penalty and... the Chiefs get 25 yards. Aaaand taking the field goal off the board pays off. More stupid special teams play by the Giants. Take a knee! The Giants are gonna be 0-6. (Chiefs 31, Giants 7)

Welcome to London! Whoever loses this game may as well stay over there. Hey, a Greg Jennings sighting! Peterson just gashed the Steelers' defense. I mean, I know that's what he does but still. Not sure whose fault that Greenway interception is. This is Le'Veon Bell's, what, second game and he may already be the Steelers' best player. The Steelers are still in this game because the Vikings' pass defense is inexplicably horrible. Hang on... looks at starters That explains it, actually. Who are these guys, anyway? Of course, if Ben's hand is hurt, that just causes bigger problems on the other side. Oh, he's back? Never mind then. Wait, L.C. Greenwood died? Sad. :( No. 29 on the Vikings whiffed on the pick there. Jerricho Cotchery is going off? Is it 2007? The Vikings are doing it again, aren't they? Fantastic concentration by Brown. Sack! FUMBLE! The sack would have ended the game anyway but the fumble sealed it. Chins up, Pittsburgh. You've still got the Pirates. And I can actually say that with complete sincerity. (Vikings 34, Steelers 27)

Why did the Ravens kick the field goal? And why did the Bills effectively run it into the line three times? Wait, what? That pass got tipped about four times. Five interceptions for Flacco? Oh. (Bills 23, Ravens 20)

I want to know who Texans fans think they're going to get that's better than Matt Schaub. Josh Freeman? Please. That's an easy interference call on Browner. The flag on the punt just gave the Seahawks 30 yards. And the unnecessary roughness penalty is going to cost the Texans this game. Well, that and their second-half vanishing act. This should never have happened. (Seahawks 23, Texans 20, OT)

My prediction? PAIN. Why was Connor Barwin covering Welker? Or not covering, as the case may be. Of course, you can't cover all of these guys perfectly — someone's going to end up open. I mean, don't GIVE them first downs, guys. That'll happen a lot. Hey, a James Casey sighting. Gotta catch that, Celek — that was a good throw by Vick into the hole in coverage. Field goals are not going to win this game. And that won't help either. Pam Oliver talking about something that I've been wondering about all week — how the Eagles' pace will work in this altitude. They already seem to be a little slower. Uh-oh. They do NOT need to lose DeSean for any amount of time. Hey, a stop! I don't understand this challenge. He was already down. Yeah, that was easy. Does Bryce Brown just not run between the tackles or are all of his runs designed to go outside? Speaking of Bryce, he just stumbled his way out of a touchdown but did well to not go down and get inside the 5. A CHRIS POLK SIGHTING. TOUCHDOWN. Or was it? I'm not sure, actually. Yeah, there's no overturning that one. Go for two? No? Eh. OK. Peyton under pressure and somehow finds Hillman.


Huh? That was... odd... Eagles let the clock run down and take a delay of game on 4th and 6? Don't get that one. If you're gonna punt, punt. I think Chip legitimately had no idea what he wanted to do there, which kind of worries me. On the flip side, that's a spot where none of your choices are particularly good. Oh my that post to Decker was perfection. Stupid penalty by Moreno shoving Ryans down after the play. A sack! And the Broncos don't score! Tremendous. Peyton staying trolling the Eagles with hard counts. What pass interference? Where? Really? I mean that was inevitable but come on. And now poor tackling manifests itself. Anyone who's surprised by this needs to have his head examined. The severity of this, however, is legitimately surprising, at least to me -- I thought they'd score more points.


That's a blocked punt. Jeff Maehl doing work! This is gonna get worse before it gets better. Though it may get a little better next week. (Broncos 52, Eagles 20)

Always love overhead shots of DOMES. Gonzalez just used Jerod Mayo as a pick. Meanwhile, the Falcons are starting three Madden computer-generated players at linebacker.


Uh-oh. The Patriots don't need to lose Wilfork for any period of time. Mulligan? Who is Mulligan? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? Just call a play, Smith. The Patriots aren't jumping. They called a play! It didn't work, but why not. Terrible throw, though. Speaking of terrible throws, how does Thompkins catch that? Unreal. Of course...


Gonzalez. Yo, NBC DJ, how do you play any other version of "Beat It"? The Patriots have no second-half touchdowns this year? Huh.


"Roll Out?" OK, DJ, you just redeemed yourself.


What's Brady hot about? That wasn't a penalty. Oh, wait, there was contact but Brady's gotta make a better throw so Dobson doesn't get killed. I'm not really understanding why the Falcons are trying to throw to Roddy White in space. He can't run. Touchdown Patriots. One thing LeGarrette Blount isn't is fast. There's another one... Thompkins brings it in and the Pats have knocked the Falcons off the rails. Only I notice things like this but Kyle Arrington's had about five different jersey numbers.


Hmm. Touchdown. Falcons are trying to come back. They got the onside kick! The Patriots don't need this to get interesting. Why not call a run down here? There's still enough time...



Another onside kick? I don't think I would have done that... no way it works twice in a row. That's... they called it short? I dunno. Fumbled snap! Falcons get the ball! SICK catch by Jones. If this happens... Now Ryan's misfiring everywhere.


(Patriots 30, Falcons 23)


Is that Nick Toon on the Saints? Did no one see Sproles? And I don't mean because he's only 5-7. That was entirely too easy. I feel like Cameron Wake could have helped the Dolphins somehow on that drive. Remember, Tannehill was a WR for two years at A&M. (That's why I was shocked he started last year's opener. Not enough QB experience.) Stuffed! "Caleb Sturgis"? That's a name for a human being? Hmmm. This looks short. And it is. Dolphins... punting? Yeah, they're punting. The formation looked weird for a second. And that's an argument for leaving the running to the runners. Though it was a good job by Lofton to punch it out, it shouldn't have been that easy. Sproles again. Jimmy Graham is a man among men. Brandon Gibson's on the Dolphins now? How about that. Sweet misdirection by the Dolphins and a great juke by this Thigpen character. The most amazing thing about this year's Saints, to me, is that Rob Ryan is actually coordinating a good defense. Props to the Dolphins for hanging around so far as they're getting outplayed pretty badly. Like so. That looked like one of Eli's interceptions. Sproles AGAIN! Benjamin Watson lives! The wheels may be coming off.




Graham! That was quick. This is officially out of hand.





Go home, Gruden; you're drunk. (Saints 38, Dolphins 17)

RANKINGS:
TOP 4:
1. Denver (4-0) -- Juggernaut SMASH
2. Seattle (4-0) -- Houstonians are often considered the most hospitable of urban Texans
3. New Orleans (4-0) -- Who says coaching doesn't matter?
4. (tie) New England (4-0) -- Have had some escapes so far
4. (tie) Kansas City (4-0) -- Reid winning big with Scott Pioli's players

BOTTOM 4:
29. Pittsburgh (0-4) -- Lots of things going wrong right now
30. Tampa Bay (0-4) -- It's Christmas every Sunday for their opponents
31. N.Y. Giants (0-4) -- Don't do anything particularly well
32. Jacksonville (0-4) -- Petitioning to join the ACC as we speak

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)