Appearance Tonight on Sirius Radio:
Never did I think I would be so excited to watch a
Falcons-Saints Monday Night Football game. ESPN and ABC have
done a great job promoting this game, and I intend to watch
every minute of it. I'll be on
Sirius OutQ
(channel 106) tonight talking about the game, football, hot
jocks, and yoga tonight from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern. Feel
free to call in and share your thoughts - 866-305-6887.
Bucs go
down fighting.
You gotta give it up for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They are
just not a good team this season, and when they fell behind,
17-0, against the Carolina Panthers, that should have been
the end of the game. But, they didn't give up, they scraped
and clawed their way back, and they even had the lead until
the last John Kasay scored a 48-yard field goal with :02
remaining. Chris Simms played part of the game with a
ruptured spleen and is out indefinitely (likely 2-4 weeks)
after having surgery. With rookie Bruce Gradkowski likely to
fill in for Simms, they could be looking at an 0-5 start or
worse; their other QB option is Tim Rattay, who doesn't
exactly breed confidence.
The Ugh-rizona
Quarterback. After Kurt Warner's game-losing fumble and
coach Denny Green's comments, I'm wondering how much longer
it will be until we see rookie quarterback Matt Leinart
starting. Warner has a QB rating of 87.4, but he has fumbled
the ball eight times this season, two of which they've lost.
Beaten down again.
Denver's win over New England was a big one from lots of
perspectives. First, the Broncos completely dominated the
entire game. Every aspect of it. Offense, defense, special
teams. As Jim says, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady looked
lifeless. Their running game was dominated by a punishing
Broncos defense. And the Patriots defense looked as though
they were missing assignments and giving up on plays. While
the Broncos have been getting annihilated in the press over
the last week, it's the Pats who are lost. I'm now
questioning whether that team has the desire to win.
They have a huge game
against the Bengals this Sunday. In the last three seasons,
they are 10-0 in the week after losing a game. But, this
feels more like the 2002 season, when they went 3-0 and then
lost four straight.
How bad are the
Dolphins?Sports Illustrated's two Super Bowl
picks, the Panthers and the Dolphins, both got their first
wins this weekend in Florida; but the 'Fins win feels like a
loss. Along with the Oakland Raiders and Houston Texand, the
Tennessee Titans are one of the worst three teams in the
league. Except, they led the then-0-2 Dolphins for most of
their game on Sunday. Daunte Culpepper looks uncomfortable;
and if it wasn't for big-gain end-arounds by Chris Chambers
and Marty Booker, they'd probably be looking at 0-3, and
head coach Nick Saban would be on the hottest seat in the
NFL. How bad are the Dolphins? We'll find out this week when
they play the Texans.
My Top
Five:
1)
Cincinnati. They are leaving destruction in their wake.
2)
Baltimore. The Ravens have their first 3-0 start in
franchise history; their stifling defense is back.
3)
Indianapolis. They're playing well, but I wonder when
their weakened defense and poor running game will catch up
to them.
4)
Seattle. Obviously troubling is the team's inability to
run the ball; and I think it's more than missing guard Steve
Hutchinson.
5)
Chicago. A little sloppy, but a very big win for the
Bears.
The
Philip Marie Giants.
As I did last autumn, I'll be chronicling the weekly
outcomes of my team's games in the New York Gay Football
League. Every season, the teams completely switch around,
but I happened to end up with the same team name as I did
last autumn, when my team went 11-0 (the Miami Dolphins of
the NYGFL). I was a receiver on that team; I'm the
quarterback on this team.
We call
ourselves the "Philip Marie Giants" this season because
eight of our 12 players are at least 6 feet tall, with
another guy at 5-foot-11. Plus, we have a great receiver
who's last name is Shockey (no joke).
Week 1
started off rough. My team played some pourous zone defense
and we had a case of the dropsies, and we went into halftime
down, 13-0. We played Corey Johnson's team; Corey is the
quarterback of his team and has established himself as one
of the better QBs in the league because of his abilities to
manage an offense and scramble.
We made
adjustments at halftime on both sides of the ball, and came
out on fire. Three interceptions and four touchdowns later,
we won the game, 26-13.
Making a
statement:
It was a day of statement games – Jacksonville at
Indianapolis, Chicago at Minnesota and Cincinnati at
Pittsburgh – and the biggest statements were made by the
Colts and Bengals.
In Indy,
the Colts (3-0) beat Jacksonville (2-1) 21-14, despite the
Jags totally dominating the first half with 25 minutes of
possession and 157 yards rushing. But missed chances and
dumb play calling left the game tied at 7-7 at the half and
the Colts were the ones dominating in the second half.
The missed
chances: Jacksonville kicker Josh Scobee shanks a 20-yard
field goal with the score tied at 7-7. … the Jags' special
teams break down and allow Terrence Wilkins to return a punt
82 yards for a score for the Colts' first points. The dumb
play-calling: The Jags lead 7-0 and are running the ball
down the Colts' throats, so they decide to have Byron
Leftwich throw a deep pass into double coverage that is
intercepted. … Facing 3rd and 1 at the Indy 31 in
the third period, the Jags eschew a run and try a pass in
the flat to the tight end, who promptly drops the ball. On
the next play, Scobee misses from 49 yards out. "We left a
lot out there, but we've got to make sure those types of
things don't happen," Leftwich said. "We've got to come away
with more than seven points."
The Colts
showed how good teams win games where they are statistically
outplayed (the Jags ran 16 more plays and had a 19-minute
edge in possession time. They adjusted defensively and
allowed only 34 yards rushing in the second half. They
committed no turnovers and Peyton Manning even ran for a
score, his first in four years. On a Manning touchdown pass
to Dallas Clark, he had five seconds to throw the ball (an
eternity in the NFL); he had so much time that offensive
tackle Tarrick Glenn was literally standing there looking
for someone to block.
Indy might
or might not be a Super Bowl team, but they own the AFC
South, where they have won their last 11 games.
In
Pittsburgh, the Steelers had a 17-14 lead over the Bengals
and had just forced a punt with 7:59 to play. But return man
Ricardo Colcough looked like an outfielder who missing
judges a fly ball and lost the punt, which was recovered by
the Bengals at the 9. A play later Carson Palmer (four TD
passes) hit T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Cincinnati was up 21-17.
After a Steelers fumble on the next series, Palmer hit
Houshmandzadeh from 40 yards out and in 54 seconds the
Bengals scored 14 points.
The
Steelers mounted a rally but Ben Roethlisberger was
intercepted in the end zone in the final 20 seconds and the
Bengals had a 28-20 lead. More importantly, Cincinnati (3-0)
leads Pittsburgh (1-2) by two games in the division and beat
the Steelers on the road for the second straight year.
Roethlisberger continues to look mediocre in his second game
back after an emergency appendectomy and following his
summer motorcycle crash. His passer rating was an awful
30.7, with three interceptions, even worse than his 38.7
last Monday night. "I put a lot of pressure in myself to
produce," Roethlisberger said. "There were a lot of ebbs and
flows, but I think today was a big step for me." Three picks
and a QB rating that dropped from a week ago is a big step?
The last
big game Sunday saw the Bears rally to beat the Vikings
19-16 in a game of two teams that were 2-0. Chicago is now
3-0 but I am less than impressed, since they beat the three
other teams in the lousy NFC North. The Vikings may have won
their first two games, but they did it with mirrors and have
not scored an offensive touchdown the last two games.
The Vikings
had some puzzling play calling at the end, when they were
trying to get into field goal range to send the game into
overtime. On 3rd and 7 near midfield with 1:18
left and no timeouts, the Vikings ran the ball. Then facing
a 4th and 2 and needing a first down, Brad Johnson
threw a long pass into double coverage that was nowhere near
the receiver. Game over.
Flat
Pats: The New England Patriots lost at home to the
Denver Broncos, 17-7, in one of the most uninspired
performances I've seen in the Tom Brady-Belichick era.
Brady looks
miserable, as if his dog just died. He's clearly
uncomfortable without Deion Branch, his favorite receiver
whom the Pats traded to Seattle in a contract dispute.
Two years
ago, Brady signed a contract for less money than those
signed by Peyton Manning and Michael Vick, neither who have
won a Super Bowl. The spin was that by taking less money,
the Pats would use the "savings" to keep key players and
sign new ones. In the offfseason, the Pats let go defensive
stalwart Willie McGinest; the best clutch kicker of all time
in Adam Vinatieri and Branch. I think Brady figures he
upheld his part of the deal and wants the Pats to uphold
theirs. He clearly looks like he's having no fun.
Booted:
Vinatieri's replacement, Stephen Gostkowski has had his last
two field goal attempts blocked. Vinatieri, meanwhile, is 7
for 7 for the Colts, though he did miss Sunday's game with
an injury.
Hot player
of the week:
Yes, I'm biased towards Peyton Manning and I have friends
who call him a) "freakishly ugly or b) "horsey face," but I
think he's adorable, articulate and intelligent; his
commercial are also pretty good. He's also the most
compelling player in the league, with each defense trying to
figure out a way to stop the league's best offense. He
usually get the best of them, at least in the regular
season, as he did against the Jaguars.
Capitulation:
Poor effort by the Giants, 42-30 losers at Seattle. The
Seahawks led 42-3 and the Giants' comeback was way too
little too late. So much for momentum from last week's OT
thriller win over the Eagles. And so much for the Eagles
suffering a hangover. They were still so bummed by the loss
to the Giants that they only beat the 49ers, 38-24.
Pissed: Wonder if
New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin will take tight end
Jeremy Shockey to the woodshed after Shockey told the media,
"We were outplayed and outcoached. Got that?" Shockey said
the Seahawks used defensive formations the Giants hadn't
seen and did not adjust to.
Bonehead I:
Cleveland was driving against Baltimore leading 14-12 with
3:21 to go and the ball inside the Ravens' 5. The last thing
the Browns needed was a turnover, but that's what they got
when second-year QB Charlie Frye threw an ill-advised pass
that was intercepted by Chris McAllister. The Ravens then
drove down and won the game, 15-14, on a 52-yard field goal
by Matt Stover with 20 seconds left to go to 3-0. Sometimes
it's just better to throw the ball into the second row than
try and make a play.
Bonehead II:
The Arizona Cardinals trailed the St. Louis Rams, 16-14, but
had the ball at the Ram 20 with less than two minutes to
play and an incredible kicker, Neil Rackers, waiting to boot
the game-winner. But QB Kurt Warner couldn't handle the
simplest of movements – taking the snap – lost the ball and
the Rams recovered. It was the ninth time Warner has fumbled
this season.
Streaky:
Mark Brunell set an NFL record for consecutive completions
to start a game, going 22 for 22. It was against 0-3
Houston, but last I looked the Texans are an NFL team, so it
counts. … The Bears have allowed one offensive touchdown in
their first three games. … Five teams (Houston, Tennessee,
Detroit, Cleveland and Tampa Bay) are 0-3 and since 1990
only three teams have made the playoffs after such a bad
start.
Bogus stat
of the year:
David Carr of the Houston Texans has the highest QB rating
in the league. The Texans have lost by 14, 19 and 16 and
have been uncompetitive but since Carr has thrown six TDs
and no interceptions he has a higher rating than the likes
of Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Carson Palmer. Sometimes
stats aren't worth the computer that spews them out.
Good line:
CBS showed a highlight of Peyton Manning's 1-yard TD run and
James Brown said Dan Marino and Boomer Esiason wanted to ask
fellow retired QB Phil Simms if he ever ran that far.
"Compared to those guys, I'm an Olympic sprinter," Simms
said.
Hot player
of the week