|
Cyd Zeigler
The New England Patriots,
one week after breaking their 21-game winning streak and
losing stud cornerbacks Ty Law and Tyrone Poole
for a couple weeks, stormed back and got a huge win against
the St. Louis Rams. This was a comment on the
strength of this Patriots team. It was also indicative of
how much stronger the AFC is than the NFC.
If you have
any question who the best coach in football is, consider
this: New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick had
his linebacker catch a touchdown pass, his kicker throw a
touchdown pass and his wide receiver playing corner back.
The man’s a genius.
The AFC was
5-2 against the NFC this week, with the NFC managing to beat
the worst team in the AFC and another road AFC team that
generally leaves its defense at home.
In addition
to the Pats-Rams game, the other AFC-NFC must-see match-up
to watch this weekend was the Eagles-Steelers game. The
Steelers got the Eagles, as they got the
Patriots, when they were ripe for the picking. After
struggling at home to beat the Ravens, they went on the road
to face a Steelers team that could play defense and – as
opposed to the Ravens – offense.
Ben Roethlisberger is the League
MVP right now. And rookie of the year. Will he and the
Steelers be able to do what the Patriots did last year – run
the table to the playoffs? It’s unlikely. They’re on the
road five of their last eight games – and each of those five
teams have solid defenses. Even their three home games
remaining – against Baltimore, Washington and the
New York Jets – will be very tough on the rookie. They
have a two-game lead on the Baltimore Ravens right
now, but they have not yet won this division. The Ravens
will be in contention to the very end of the season.
The
Atlanta Falcons are lucky they’re in the NFC. At 6-2,
they have a three-game lead in their division and will not
be caught. I was saying the same thing about the Vikings in
the NFC North last year, when they had a three-game lead and
a cupcake schedule remaining. This Falcons team seems very
different. More mature. More ready to win. The Falcons are
now staring at a two- or three-seed in the NFC and a shot
for Mike Vick’s first trip to the Super Bowl.
Chuck Booms
called me Sunday night, ranting about the terrible black
Baltimore uniforms. I liked them. They were a great contrast
to the stark white of the Browns. Watching Ed Reed
set the NFL record for interception return yards (106) with
30 seconds left in the game, he looked like the fastest man
I’d ever scene. What I didn’t like is the orange
Cincinnati jerseys. YIKES!
Jeff Garcia looked like a
Madden 2005 quarterback on Sunday night. He was
completing passes on the run that looked only possible with
a joystick. He may not have thrown for a lot of yards, but
his fourth-quarter performance was why they wanted him. And
that pick wasn’t his fault.
Say it with
me: “Don’t bench Tony Gonzalez in fantasy football.
Don’t bench Tony Gonzalez in fantasy football.” Bitter!
It was
finally the week of the running back. Eight backs rushed for
over 100 yards and two more rushed for over 90. Shaun
Alexander led the league in rushing for the second
straight week – and, shocker, the Seahawks won their
second straight game. Coincidence? No!
Win or
lose, I like to keep track of my predictions. Last week, I
said the Bucs and ‘Skins would be in playoff contention come
December. This week, they went a combined 2-0. The ‘Skins
may be a stretch. But, at 3-5, the Bucs have eight
“winnable” games left on their schedule. And Jon Gruden
has found his quarterback in Brian Griese. A division
title would be nearly impossible, but they are presently one
game out of a playoff spot. Again, good thing they’re in the
NFC.
Jim and
L.A. Daily News NFL columnist Billy Witz were teasing
me today that I would find a way to rank the Patriots #1
this week. While I can't rate the as the #1 team in the
league right now, they were right . . . .
The team I
would least like to play at their home field in the playoffs this
year:
1)
New England Patriots – they just
don’t lose in Foxboro; 2) Pittsburgh Steelers – They
just don’t lose at Heinz Field, but I’ve just got to believe
their lack of playoff experience at quarterback would make
them weaker in January than the Pats; 3) Seattle Seahawks
– They are one meltdown away from being undefeated at home.
And with their defense and running game, they will be tough
to beat in the NFC; 4) San Diego Chargers – You’ve
got to score at least 30 to beat the Chargers at home. And
there might not be a hungrier team in the NFL than the
Chargers. 5) Baltimore Ravens – This defense is
absolutely sick at home. |
Jim Buzinski
 --A
regular feature here over the past few years has been the
Phil Simms Homoerotic Comment of the Week. The former
Super Bowl-winning quarterback (right) and now CBS analyst
can regularly be counted on to comment on some physical
aspect of a player, coach or referee. He seems to have a
special thing for referee Ed Hochuli and was in top
form Sunday during the Rams-Patriots game.
 The
cameras focused on Hochuli (right), who we call “Guns”
because of his impressive biceps. Said Simms: “Ed is looking
pumped today, isn’t he? He’s gotta be the most in-shape
referee in the history of the NFL.”
After
announcer Jim Nantz said they saw Hochuli the night
before carbo-loading at an Italian restaurant, Simms said:
“I’ll tell you what — I promise you that before he comes out
to the game each week, and I mean this as a compliment, he’s
probably knocking off a couple hundred pushups in the locker
room.”
--I have
compiled a list of Simms' best homoerotic comments.
--That was
quite a whipping the Pittsburgh Steelers put
on the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-3. The Steelers had
the ball for 42 out of 60 minutes and physically dominated
the Eagles on both sides of the ball. Rookie quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger continues to impress and Pittsburgh
offensive line looks like the best in the league. It was the
most lopsided loss for the Eagles since 1999.
--At 7-1,
having beaten previously unbeaten Philadelphia and New
England in consecutive weeks, the Steelers are the best team
in football. The season, though, is only half over, so
Steeler fans should not be making Super Bowl reservations
yet. Pittsburgh has to go on the road for five of its last
eight games.
--Philadelphia is still in great shape to win the NFC East
and remains the favorite in the conference. But the Steelers
showed that the Eagles can be pushed around, though
I’m not sure what other NFC team is physical enough to do
it. The Eagles should consider themselves lucky to be
playing in a weak conference.
--I hate
the trend of teams wearing dark tops and bottoms
during a game.
All-white looks classy, but all-dark is a no-no (you
need some contrast with a dark top). On Sunday, the
Cincinnati Bengals wore
hideous orange tops with black bottoms (they looked
like human candy corn), the Arizona Cardinals a garish
all red and the Baltimore Ravens a
lame all black. Where are the Queer Eye guys when
you need them?
--The New
England Patriots were marvelously creative in their 40-22
pasting of the St. Louis Rams. Linebacker Mike Vrabel
made a great diving catch for one touchdown, kicker Adam
Vinatieri threw a touchdown pass off a fake field goal,
and Troy Brown, normally a wide receiver, was pressed
into duty at cornerback and played quite well. These kinds
of moves show why Bill Belichick is the best coach in
the league.
--The New
York Jets must have been kicking themselves for using all
three timeouts too early in their 22-17 loss to Buffalo. The
Bills were facing third-8 with less that 2:30 to go in the
game when Drew Bledsoe threw a 27-yard strike down
the sidelines to Lee Evans, who was ruled to have
gotten both feet inbounds on a beautiful catch. The play was
close, though, and could possibly have been overturned on a
replay review. The only problem was that the Jets couldn’t
ask for a review since they had no timeouts left. The result
was that the Bills got the first down and were able to run
out the clock.
--There
were two odd plays in Baltimore’s 27-13 Sunday night win
against Cleveland. First, we saw Cleveland punter Derrick
Frost get off a 7-yard punt, truly embarrassing. Then,
with the Browns driving to tie the score late, Baltimore
safety Ed Reed intercepted a pass in the end zone and
returned it 106 yards for a touchdown, an NFL record.
--Weird
stat: The New York Giants have played all four teams in
the NFC North and gone 2-2. They won at Green Bay and
Minnesota, two of the toughest places to play, and lost at
home to Detroit and Chicago, two horrible road teams. Go
figure.
--With
every team having played at least half their games, here is
how I compare my preseason division picks with who I think
will win it now:
AFC EAST: New England (preseason). New England (now).
The Patriots are still the class of this division and maybe
the league.
AFC NORTH: Pittsburgh then. Pittsburgh now. Maybe
Roethlisberger will come back to Earth (simply because he’s
a rookie), but if he doesn’t, this team can win it all.
AFC SOUTH: Indianapolis then. Indianapolis now. The
Colts have enough offense to stay on top, while Jacksonville
will struggle without QB Byron Leftwich.
AFC WEST: Kansas City then. Whoever wins the Denver at
San Diego game now.
NFC EAST: Washington then. Philadelphia now. Washington?
What was I smoking?
NFC NORTH: Green Bay then. Green Bay now. The Packers
have nose tackle Grady Jackson back after he missed
five weeks and he’s the key to their defense. From the
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Without Jackson, the Packers
were 1-4 and opponents averaged 148.8 rushing yards per game
(5.2 per carry). With him, they're 3-0 and opponents are
averaging 60 rushing yards (3.8 per carry).
NFC SOUTH: New Orleans then. Atlanta now. The Falcons
have a three-game lead, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see
Tampa Bay win the division. The Bucs have been rejuvenated
with Brian Griese at QB and Michael Pittman
running the ball and get the Falcons twice.
NFC WEST: Seattle then. Seattle now. The Hawks are the
best of a weak division.
My Top 5:
1. Pittsburgh 2. New England 3.
Philadelphia 4. San Diego 5. New York Jets. |
