How We Saw Week 4

How fun was it to watch the Seattle Seahawks in the first half of their Sunday night game against Minnesota?  The last 10 minutes of the half were just comical.  I found myself hoping that Reggie Tongue would step out of bounds on that interception return to give Shaun Alexander another touchdown.  He got five in the first half anyway, which is an NFL record.

By the way, that game also gave me another cutie to watch - rookie Nicky Davis, who was returning kick-offs for the Vikings until he fumbled, leading to Alexander's fourth touchdown.

How much do I love Marty Schottenheimer (something Jim has been telling me for years).  Going for it on fourth and one on his own 38, up seven in the third quarter, was just awesome.  Kudos to Marty, who must thank God every day that he's not in Washington anymore.

Did I really pick the Jets in the Super Bowl?  Yep.  The whole reasoning was that the AFC Champion would be some random team that no one was expecting - so, I hitched my wagon to a team with a good running back, good receivers and, ostensibly, a good defense.  The defense has given up 133 points in four games (third worst in the NFL).

The guy who has Tony Gonzalez in my fantasy league spent the whole week trying to get rid of him (using him as bait for a better running back).  Gonzalez then gets 140 yards and three touchdowns.  

The Arizona Cardinals roller coaster kept on this weekend - this time, with a win over the Giants (who had become a bit of a darling after beating the Seahawks and Rams).  The difference-maker in their victory was a second-year running back out of Massachusetts - Michael Shipp - who led the team on Sunday in rushing and receiving yards and scored two touchdowns.  If you take a good hard look at the Cardinals' upcoming schedule, you'll see the makings of a path to the playoffs for the birds.

Randy Moss is catching a lot of flack for "underperforming" this year.  Daunte Culpepper can throw his helmet and get pissed all he wants - but, he's the biggest part of the problem.  He is hesitating on his throws just a fraction of a second too much - which allows defenders to catch up to Randy.  That also ends up making Culpepper's passes short of Moss, because Randy has simply outrun the pass.  Culpepper needs to launch the ball earlier and the Vikings will find themselves in the win column.

The AFC West now has all three of the remaining undefeated teams - and the fourth team in the division, the Chiefs, are looking good at 2-2.  The AFC North, on the other hand, has two winless teams (should be three) and one team at .500.  

The biggest surprise of the day to me was Tennessee getting run over by the Raiders the way they did.  The salt in the wound had to have been the lateral to Terry Kirby (who then ran about 80 yards for a score) off a punt that was reminiscent of the Music City Miracle that the Titans used to top the Bills in the 1999 playoffs.

I was hoping the Bengals would have learned something in their loss to the Falcons.  No such luck.  They are the worst team in the League.  Period.

My Top 5 teams:
1) San Diego - Is Daniel Snyder kicking himself yet?
2) Oakland - I don't want them to be, but they are really asserting themselves;
3) Denver - I'll be curious to see what happens when they get into Division play;
4) Philadelphia - They've beaten up on three bad teams; but, isn't that what the best college teams do all the time?
5) New England - They've looked suspect the last two weeks after beating two bad teams to open the season (Steelers and Jets).  The Dolphins will be a huge test . . .

--Coaches often attempt overtime field goals on second or third down. In case of a bad snap or block, their team gets another chance. I can't remember ever seeing it matter until Sunday's Steelers-Browns game. Pittsburgh's field goal attempt by Todd Peterson on second down was blocked, but he recovered the ball behind the line of scrimmage. This gave Pittsburgh another chance, and Peterson was true on the game-winner.

--Felt sorry for Carolina Panther rookie kicker Shayne Graham, hired two days ago as the team's new kicker. Graham shanked a 24-yard field goal that would have tied the Green Bay Packers 17-17 and sent the game into overtime at Lambeau Field. If Graham gets cut, he'll have nightmares about his miss for years. ``Maybe Vince Lombardi pushed it off to the right," Carolina linebacker Mark Fields said.
 

--Drew Bledsoe is The Man for the NFL's most exciting team. Bledsoe threw four touchdowns, including the overtime winner as Buffalo beat Chicago, 33-27. Bledsoe set the NFL record with his fourth career OT touchdown pass.

--New England all of a sudden looks a bit vulnerable. Not only did the Patriots lose their first game of the season, 21-14 to San Diego, but their run defense has been exposed. They allowed Kansas City's Priest Holmes to rush for 180 yards a week a go. It got worse Sunday when the Chargers' LaDainian Tomlinson scampered for 217 yards and two touchdowns. Overall, the Pats have been run over for 459 yards in two games. The pattern in the AFC:Run on New England, throw on Pittsburgh.

--Coolest Play of the Day: Philadelphia scored on a fake punt against Houston. The ball was snapped to Brian Mitchell, the blocking back. He threw a shovel pass to Brian Dawkins, who ran 57 yards for the score.

--Coolest Play of the Day II: The Packers scored a touchdown when Brett Favre threw a lateral to tight end Bubba Franks, who then threw a 31-yard touchdown to Donald Driver.

--Dumb Play of the Day: New York Giants quarterback Kerry Collins was picked off on a weak sideline pass by Arizona's Justin Lucas, who returned it for a score. The dumb part was that the pass came with only four seconds left in the first half and the Giants leading, 7-0.

--Block of the Day: LaDainian Tomlinson of San Diego scored on a 58-yard run against New England. His teammate Tim Dwight, raced down the sideline with him, passed him, then took out Otis Smith at the 10 on a block, allowing Tomlinson to go in.

--Dumb Taunt of the Day: Carolina defensive lineman Mike Rucker was woofing at Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre on a play that Rucker thought was an interception by his team. However, pass interference was called on the Panthers, and a super-stoked Favre threw the game-winning touchdown pass a few plays later, racing down to congratulate receiver Donald Driver. I haven't seen Favre this animated in years and Rucker is a bonehead for firing him up.

--Eye Candy: Arizona has male cheerleaders who do some cool gymnastics stuff (looks like a floor exercise) in the end zone after a touchdown. As hot as the desert.

--The 0-4 Rams. Are. Finished. Mike Martz is no longer a genius. The Greatest Show on Turf? Not any more.

--Long Distance: Anyone watching  Monday Night Football saw the longest play in league history in a bizarre sequence. The situation: Denver Broncos kicker Jason Elam's 57-yard field goal try at the end of the first half was short and caught eight yards in the end zone by Chris McAlister of the Baltimore Ravens. McAlister at first pretended he was going to kneel down and end the half, but then stood up and took off down the left sideline. Getting a great block from Ray Lewis, McAlister raced passed a stunned Bronco kick team 108 yards for a touchdown. It broke the old mark of 106 yards held by three players. 

--My Top 5: 1. San Diego (beat the champs, become #1). 2. New England. 3. Oakland. 4. Philadelphia  5: Denver

--My Bottom 5: 32. Cincinnati. 31. Houston. 30. Minnesota. 29. New York Jets. 28. Baltimore.

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