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On Monday, we will find out if
the Tennessee Titans are truly finished. For
me, it's the game of the week.
To hell with Fantasy
Football. In the League I'm in with Jim, I'm 2-6
and have had 150 more points scored against me than anyone
else. This week, I play the worst team in the League
and I've scored 124. He's now scored over 100 points
for the first time this season and has a legit shot of
beating me if Eddie George can go off. Grrr....
I watched almost all of the New
Orleans Saints - San Francisco 49ers game. What is
wrong with the Saints? Aaron Brooks looks like
he's playing well now. Ricky Williams is
racking up 100-yard-rushing games. Their defense is
solid. Yet, they're only 4-4. I think they're
the one team who can truly beat any other team and lose to
any other team in the League.
The Minnesota Vikings
continue to face the toughest schedule in the League in the
last 10 years. At 3-5, I don't think they're really
doing that badly. An emotionally charged pre-season
had simply raised expectations. This was a 7-9 team in
May and they still are.
Something continues to be
wrong with the Indianapolis Colts. They have so
much talent yet, like the New Orleans Saints, are
their own worst enemies. The Saints and Colts play
next week. That is my game of the week.
Early upset pick this coming
week: the New England Patriots beat the St.
Louis Rams, who ran up the score at home against a
division opponent and now must go on the road - a recipe for
disaster.
Top 5: 1) St. Louis
Rams; 2) Oakland Raiders; 3) Miami Dolphins; 4) Baltimore
Ravens; 5) Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bottom 5: 5) Kansas City
Chiefs; 4) Dallas Cowboys; 3) Buffalo Bills; 2) Carolina
Panthers; 1) Detroit Lions
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The Monday night Baltimore
16-10 win at Tennessee was one of the best games of
the season, down to the bizarre end that saw Tennessee have
the game-winning TD called back, then get stuffed on the
final play. Leave it to Ravens' tight end Shannon Sharpe
to sum up how devastating the loss was to the Titans:
''We're going to drain the Cumberland [River] tomorrow. I'm
sure there will be some fans in there, maybe a couple of
players, too. Has a 3-5 ever gotten to the playoffs? Nah.
Well, they won't be the first.''
What a huge win by Green Bay at
Chicago. Not only did it bring the Packers into a 6-2 first-place tie with the Bears, it showed that they have the defense capable of mounting a serious Super Bowl challenge. Chicago was held to four field goals and rushed for only 43 yards. Having wide receiver
Bill Schroeder back (100 yards receiving, one TD) was huge. Schroeder may look better in
(or
in this pic, out of) a uniform than anybody with those huge arms.
Want the league's weirdest team? Try the 6-3 New York Jets. Their opponents are averaging 5 yards a carry and in none of their nine games have the Jets passed for 200 yards. But running back
Curtis Martin has been clutch and their defense leads the league in take-aways. The Jets play at 6-2 Miami next week in a huge division game.
Second week in a row I saw a quarterback fumble on the routine spike-it-in-the-ground play. This week it was Cincinnati's
Jon Kitna, who fumbled while trying to spike and save a timeout. He wound up having to use the timeout anyway.
Saw a funny bit on HBO's ``Inside the NFL'' this week. New York Giants offensive lineman
Glenn Parker played a practical joke on his line mates by conning them into auditioning for an HBO show. Some of the dialogue they had to recite was priceless, especially when they had to speak lustily of why they wanted to line up under a particular center. ``Because he has a silky-smooth ass,'' and ``I'm in love with him,'' were two good ones.
Sometimes it pays to take a personal foul if it gets the team's star out of the game. The Miami Dolphins did it on a play where
Lorenzo Bromell hit Indianapolis Colts quarterback
Peyton Manning late, busting his lower lip (and
maybe breaking his jaw). The Colts got 15 yards on a
Miami penalty but Manning was knocked out for a play. Backup
Mark Rypien, coming in cold, bungled the handoff to Dominic Rhodes at the Miami 30. The `Fins recovered and went on to score the winning touchdown. It was cheap
shot by Bromell but effective.
Poor Cleveland. A week ago they lead Chicago by 14 with 30 seconds left, only to lose in overtime. On Sunday, they lose a nine-point lead and lose in overtime to
Pittsburgh. What's weird is that in both games
a guy named Brown did in the Browns: Mike last week and Kris
on Sunday.
Instant replay really helped Cleveland on one play. With the score 12-12, Pittsburgh quarterback
Kordell Stewart lost the ball as he was going in for a touchdown. The officials first ruled the fumble as going out at the half-yard line with Pittsburgh keeping possession. But, upon further review, the replay showed Stewart fumbled, then knocked the ball into the end zone with
his left hand. The officials got it right, the play was ruled a touchback and Cleveland got the ball.
John Madden, on San Francisco quarterback Jeff
Garcia, who was examining himself after a hard hit: ``Garcia has to check all his parts.'' ``All'' of his parts?
The San Diego Chargers
have lost four of their last six and look like they'll be
lucky to finish .500. Doug Flutie's arm looks shaky,
teams are stuffing rookie runner LaDanian Tomlinson and
the Bolts' defense looks increasingly porous.
Minnesota has now gone
0-4 on the road and looks like a team that's given up. They
paid receiver Randy Moss a huge contract and he's had
an awful year. Looks like the beginning of the end of the Denny
Green Era.
It's funny to hear Cyd
whine about his Fantasy Team. He did everything but use a
supercomputer to make his picks, with his charts and
formulas. But there's no substitute for coaching! :-)
Top 5: 1. St. Louis
(Faulk's back, so watch out) 2. Green Bay (Favre is not
having to carry the team). 3. Pittsburgh (the
Steelers are playing terrific defense). 4. Oakland
(they're
an old team that may run out of gas the second half); 5. Miami
(clutch win at Indy but next up is their nemesis: The Jets).
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Kris Brown