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Cyd Zeigler
I really thought the Patriots
would win 19 straight games this season. I was wrong. I
don’t know what happened this weekend, but they finally
played a team that was able to execute better than they
were. I can imagine they will use this loss to start a new
win streak. But, they have two tough road games in their
next three games that could leave them at 7-3. I still think
they’re the best team in the NFL. There’s just something
about them that is magical. Even David Blain screws
up a magic trick from time to time.
I love the
people who predicted a Patriots loss this weekend – they’re
all patting themselves on the back. I’ve spoken to a couple
of them this evening. What they don’t tell you is that they
predicted they’d lose about four or five of their last 21
games as well. It reminds me of the guy who goes to Vegas,
loses $5,000 on Friday night, wins $1,000 on Saturday night
and forgets to tell everyone about that disastrous first
night, weaving prophetic tales of a magical $1,000 weekend.
I suppose if you predict someone will lose enough times
you’ll be right eventually.
Last week I
named San Diego’s Marty Schottenheimer the
front-runner for coach of the year. I’m even more convinced
after an incredible 42-14 display against the Oakland
Raiders. His coaching staff has Drew Brees
looking like a Pro Bowler, this week passing for five
touchdowns. The news flash of the week: San Diego leads the
league in scoring. They’re 5-3 and presently in control of a
playoff spot. However, their remaining schedule includes two
games against Kansas City, one at Indy, one at
Cleveland and one against Denver.
There have
been a lot of naysayers pooh-poohing the Atlanta Falcons’
5-2 start. Their trip to Denver was supposed to be
the first nail in the coffin of the beginning of their
season-ending slide. Instead, they beat the AFC West-leading
Broncos and jumped to a 2 ˝-game lead in their division. The
trip to Denver was also the formal announcement of the
return of Mike Vick. He threw for 252 yards and two
touchdowns – and ran for another 100+ yards. Consider that
the Falcon’s remaining eight games include six against teams
with losing records, four of which are at home, and, ladies
and gentlemen, we have a division winner.
As a proud
fantasy owner of Seattle Seahawks running back
Shaun Alexander, it was nice to see him return to form
after coach Mike Holmgren forgot that running the
ball would win him games for two straight games. Alexander
ran for 195 yards and scored two touchdowns. I also have
Tiki Barber, who was cheated out of two touchdowns and a
couple dozen yards by an injury that sat Barber for Mike
Cloud in the second half. This week my Patriots Dynasty
beat Jim’s Drew B Squared soundly, 150-95. After Jim’s team
scrapped it’s way to a 6-1 record, it was nice for my
league-high-scoring 4-3 team to post a big win.
I can’t
stand the shtick of ESPN’s Three Chuckleheads every Sunday
night – especially now that Mike Patrick is back.
Every challenged play, Paul McGuire and Joe
Theismann insist on declaring whether the play will be
upheld. And so often, they are wrong. And after they’re
wrong, they explain why they should have been right. I just
don’t understand how this crew keeps its gig.
My MVP
Candidates:
1)
Daunte Culpepper, QB, Minnesota - The guy has put up
sick numbers, even if he has cooled off with Randy Moss on
the sidelines.
2) Ben Roethlishberger, QB, Pittsburgh - His numbers
haven't been stellar, but they've been pretty darned good.
And, when he's played, his team has won.
3) Tiki Barber, RB, New York Giants - His team is a
surprising (or, even, shocking) 5-2. This little engine that
could is #3 in rushing yards, #1 in receiving yards by a
running back, and has been the biggest reason for his team's
success.
4) Donovan McNabb, QB, Philadelphia - Fourteen TDs
and three INTs is a pretty good ratio.
5 (tie) Randy Moss, WR, Minnesota / Terrell Owens,
WR, Philadelphia - Both of these guys are huge wide
receivers who have had a strong impact on their teams and
have led their teams to solid starts. |
Jim Buzinsk
--Since I
am often wrong about my picks, I’m going to pat myself on
the back for one I got right. Three weeks ago, when talking
to Cyd, I said the New England Patriots would suffer their
first loss in Week 8 at Pittsburgh. Final score: Steelers
34, Patriots 20.
My feeling
was that Pittsburgh was a solid team, had the
Patriots at home and was coming off a bye. New England was
playing on the road for the first time in a month and was
coming off a tough division game against the Jets. I sensed
a letdown and was right. The Patriots committed four
turnovers and their defense was run over by the Steelers
offensive line (221 yards rushing, 43 minutes time of
possession). They looked more like a team that had lost 21
in a row, not vice versa.
--The
Patriots are still a very good team, but they have two
tough road games coming up, next week in St. Louis (also
coming off a bye) and Nov. 22 at Kansas City. Unless the
Patriots figure out how to stop the run, they could lose
both games.
--Cyd
called me early in Sunday’s game when the Patriots had
taken a 3-0 lead against the Steelers and said he sensed a
double-digit blowout. Of course, Patriots honk that he is,
Cyd thought it was New England that would administer the
blowout. At least he’s loyal!
--The Green
Bay Packers beat the Washington Redskins, 28-14. Does this
mean John Kerry wins the presidency? In the previous
16 elections, every time the Redskins lost their last home
game before the election the incumbent party has lost. We’ll
see if it becomes 17 for 17. Chris Berman, doing the
ESPN highlights, played the election card with some funny
comments (“Clinton Portis! A Clinton helping Bush
…”).
--The
Packers have climbed back into the playoff race with
three straight wins, while Minnesota and Detroit have each
lost two of their last three.
--Too much
information? Colts quarterback Peyton Manning told
Fox’s Terry Bradshaw that his most memorable kiss was
a French kiss with his wife.
--Bonehead
play of the day came from Houston Texans wide receiver
Jabbar Gaffney. He took the ball on a wide receiver
reverse and had an easy path to the end zone. So easy, that
he held out the ball to start celebrating before he crossed
the goal line. The ball popped out and went out of the end
zone and became Jacksonville’s ball. Gaffney was lucky that
his Texans still won, 20-6.
--The
most entertaining game of the day was the pinball match
that saw the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Indianapolis Colts,
45-35. The two teams combined for 1,095 total yards, the
third-most in history. The Colts threw for 472 yards and did
not run the ball once in the second half. "I've never been
involved in 590 yards of offense," said Chiefs head coach
Dick Vermeil. "I don't add that high."
It will
sound strange in such a high-scoring game, but the
Chiefs’ defense was a key in the first half. On at least
five occasions, the blitzes by the Chiefs forced Manning to
hurried passes that sailed over the heads of open receivers.
The result was a 31-14 Chiefs halftime lead, which forced
the Colts to play catchup the entire second half.
Manning was
terrific (472 yards passing and five touchdowns) but it will
be hard to see the Colts going far this season with that
awful defense. It must be tough for the Colts offense to
feel they have to score 35+ points each week to have a
chance of winning. As Indianapolis Star columnist Bob
Kravitz wrote: "It has come to this: Peyton Manning's
offense is now playing against two defenses every week. The
other team's defense, and its own -- the latter group being
the tougher challenge."
 --Catch
of the day was by the totally hot David Kircus of the
Detroit Lions, someone I had never heard of. He caught a
56-yard bomb from Joey Harrington where the defensive
back came streaking in. Somehow Kircus kept his
concentration and held onto the ball running backwards, then
streaked for the touchdown. It was his first catch this
season and one he won’t forget.
--The two
most puzzling results were the New York Giants
winning at Minnesota, 34-13, and the Atlanta Falcons taking
out the Broncos in Denver, 41-20. Both home teams were solid
favorites coming back off of road losses. But both played
sloppy and had the kinds of losses the portend trouble
ahead.
--I am sick
of Terrell Owens. The media seem to think that we are
all dying to hear everything he has to say, so they all
devote way too much time to someone who is just a blowhard.
Then these same media people will turn around and decry the
focus on hyping athletes. Enough with T.O. already, unless
he decided to come out.
--My Top 5
(based as much on how a team is playing as their record):
1. Philadelphia 2. Pittsburgh 3. New
England 4. Kansas City 5. Jets |
