A
desert disaster. Tuesday morning I
saw Neil Giuliano, the former mayor of Tempe, Ariz., where
the Arizona Cardinals played until this season, and the
present head of GLAAD. He's headed out to the desert
tomorrow for some business and to celebrate his birthday. He
expects to see Cardinals VP Mike Bidwell on his trip.
"I don't
think he'll be in a good mood," Giuliano said.
For once,
the choke job wasn't coach Denny Green's fault. The former
Vikings head coach who blew an 11-point lead in the 1998 NFC
Championship game could only stand on the sidelines and
watch as Edgerrin James, who had been demanding the ball in
the fourth quarter this week, fumbled with 5:11 left, the
ball being scooped up and returned for a touchdown. That
same Edgerrin James got one yard on two carries on the final
drive, which ended in a missed 40-yard field goal.
Green did
everything right, running with the ball with a 13-point lead
and six minutes to go. If Tom Brady was his quarterback,
then maybe he would have had him throw the ball; but he
would have had to have his head examined to have a rookie
quarterback (I don't care who he is) throw the ball in that
circumstance. It's not his fault James let go of the ball
when linebacker Brian Urlacher swiped at it.
The
Cardinals have now lost three of their last four games by 3,
2, and now 1. If that trend continues, they can look forward
to a tie with Oakland this Sunday!
How bad has it gotten in Oakland?
All you had to do was watch #18. Randy Moss has long been
known for taking plays off: When the ball isn't coming to
him and he knows it, he runs a little slower, tries a little
less. But what I noticed on Sunday night was that he wasn't
even trying on a couple plays when the ball was
thrown to him. He seemed to pull up instead of fight for the
ball the way he did when he was playing in Minnesota. It
really pains me to see the most dominant receiver in the
game stuck on a team with little offense that he doesn't
want to play for. Why oh why did the Raiders not take Matt
Leinart?
Big wins
for the champs. The Seahawks' win at St. Louis was a big
one not only in the standings, but for the team's morale.
They weathered everything The Rams could throw at them (and
throw and throw), and in the end they scored 16 points in
the final quarter and came away with the win. And they did
it without last year's NFL MVP Shaun Alexander, whom they
may be missing for another two weeks thanks to a foot
injury.
The
Steelers also got a much-needed win, but I wonder how much
of an after-effect it will have. We'll find out in their
game at Atlanta this week.
Make
everything reviewable. This past weekend I saw some more
horrendous calls by the officials. I just wish they'd make
every play reviewable instead of making certain ones
(penalties, forward progress) non-reviewable. Coaches can
only challenge two plays per game (three if they win the
first two). It won't slow the game down anymore to have the
refs review a bad call (like Cincinnati's Justin Smith's
roughing the passer, or Edgerrin James' forward progress
before a fumble) that can lead to a last-minute score that
changes the outcome of a game.
I'm sure
the officials don't want to get shown up; but, if they make
a bad call, they should be forced to review it.
My Top
Five:
1)
Chicago. I'm not impressed with
whom they've beaten (their best win was at Minnesota, and
that was only by three points). But, they are hitting on all
cylinders in all facets of the game.
2)
New England. They have the most
impressive win of any team this season – a walloping on the
road of Cincinnati – and they just keep winning.
3)
Denver. Their defense is playing
out of its head. If only their offense could score another
seven points every game, they'd be all set. I know, I know –
they beat New England. But they also managed only 10 points
against the Rams.
4)
Indianapolis. Every game except
Houston has been a near-miss. Some say it's great that
they're not playing well and still winning. I think it's
just a bad thing that they're not playing well.
5)
New Orleans. As of Week 6, I look
like a genius picking them to win the NFC South. And they
certainly look like the second best team in the NFC right
now. But their schedule after this bye week gets ugly.
Tightening Up: Last year's Super Bowl teams – Seattle
and Pittsburgh – each got back into their division races
with impressive wins on Sunday. Both had bad losses and both needed a win.
Pittsburgh
got an easy win, 45-7 over Kansas City, that was not
unexpected. The big news for the Steelers (2-3) was that
both Baltimore (4-2) and Cincinnati (3-2 was upset, vaulting
Pittsburgh back into the division race.
The
Baltimore Ravens lost at home, 23-21, to streaking Carolina
(4-0 since wideout Steve Smith returned), while the
Cincinnati Bengals somehow lost to previously winless Tampa
Bay, 14-13. The Ravens lost quarterback Steve McNair to a
concussion, while is just as well considering how poorly
he's been playing. The Bengals, after starting 3-2, have
lost their last two and look shaky on offense.
Seattle had
a tougher task, going into St. Louis and pulling out a 30-28
thriller on Josh Brown's 54-yard field goal as time expired.
A loss would have left the Seahawks 1 ½ games behind the
Rams; instead, at 4-1, Seattle leads the 4-2 Rams by ½ game
and got a huge road win.
Just a
minute before Brown's kick, the Rams took a 28-27 lead on a
phenomenal 67-yard touchdown catch by Torry Holt. On the
play, Holt had to bat the ball to himself while running full
stride, securing possession and outracing Seattle defenders
for the score. Catch the highlight when you can.
Saintly
cuddling: Thomas, a regular on our
discussion board, filled us in on some hijinks involving
the New Orleans Saints:
Let me
describe [quarterback] Drew Brees' interview today on FSN's
Pro Football Preview. One of the moderators was interviewing
Drew and asked, "I was in the hotel the other night and saw
you and Sean Peyton (the Saints coach) cuddling in the
corner, going over the playbook for the Saints game with
Philadelphia on Sunday. Is that right?" Drew and the other
moderators starting laughing their asses off, especially
Jason Sehorn and Eddie George. Drew finally said, "Don't do
that to me. I know you wanted to join in. Please, don't be
jealous." The moderator who asked Drew the question then
said: "I'm not jealous. I was cuddling with Reggie Bush." I
was sorta surprised that Drew laughed off the whole thing
and had fun with it. Some straight guys would have blown a
gasket (Tom Cruise?).
All that
cuddling must have helped, since the Saints (5-1) beat
Philadelphia (4-2), 27-24. When Cyd picked New Orleans to
win the NFC South, I assumed he was on crack, but so far he
looks like a seer. Brees is playing very well, Bush has
already won one game on a punt return and the defense is
holding up better than most thought. I still like Carolina
to win the division, but the Saints are proving they aren't
flukes.
Hair-raising: Bizarre play in the Steelers-Chiefs game,
when KC's Larry Johnson was called for a personal foul for
trying to tackle Pittsburgh's Troy Polamalu by pulling on
his super-long hair. "The dude had hair, what was I going to
do?" said Johnson. "That was the only thing I could get my
hands on." Polamalu said, "It doesn't matter to me if he
tackles me by my hair or my ankles." Said CBS' James Brown,
after showing the highlight: "At least we know that Polamaul
doesn't use extensions."
Meltdown
in the Desert: The Chicago Bears scored three offensive
points against the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night. They
gained 168 total yards, scored only three points and Rex
Grossman was awful, throwing four interceptions and fumbling
twice. On the other side, Arizona rookie quarterback Matt
Leinart was terrific, throwing for two touchdowns. So how on
earth did the Bears manage to win, 24-23, after being down
23-3 late in the third quarter? The Bears defense scored
twice on fumble recoveries and with 2:58 left Devin Hester
returned a punt 83 yards for a score. On the Cardinals final
drive, Leinart moved them smartly into position and set up
kicker Neil Rackers for a 40-yarder to win the game. But
Rackers missed the kick left and the Cardinals had the choke
job of the season.
Arizona became the first team in NFL history to lose
consecutive games after leading by 14 points after the first
quarter. The Bears became the first team in six years to win
a game despite committing six turnovers. This is why Chicago
is 6-0 and Arizona is 1-5. After the game, Cardinals coach
Denny Green lost it, pounding the podium and shouting
"bullshit" several times before stalking off. Can't say I
blame him.
Frozen:
Bizarro injury of the year -- Steeler guard Kendall Simmons
missed the game against Kansas City because late last week
he fell asleep with an ice pack on his leg and sustained
frostbite.
Say
what? Last week, the woeful Tennessee Titans went into
unbeaten Indianapolis and nearly pulled off an upset before
losing, 14-13. On Sunday, the Titans and rookie quarterback
Vince Young shocked the host Washington Redskins, 25-22, for
their first win of the season. The Skins blew an 11-point
halftime lead and fell to 2-4.
Their
ever-demanding fans were pissed, with a huge majority giving
the team "Fs" in offense, defense, special teams and
coaching in a Washington Post online poll after the game.
When asked about the Redskins' playoff chances, 73% voted "Are
you kidding?" Next up for Washington – a trip to 5-0
Indianapolis.
Get him a razor: San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith is the
best-looking player in the NFL. But he is growing a full
beard and mustache, which simply have got to go. It doesn't
make him look tough, only dorky.
Top 5
1. Chicago (6-0):What a lucky win over
Arizona, but a W's a W.
2. Indianapolis (5-0): So far, the Colts haven't missed
Edgerrin James.
3. San Diego (4-1): The AFC's best defense and a quarterback
in Philip Rivers who looks better each week.
4. Denver (4-1): The Broncos have allowed one touchdown all
season, setting an NFL record.
5. New England (4-1): One of those teams that gets a little
better each week.
