Here's What I Think - Week 5

Sorry about the lack of a week four post, I was fully engaged in the throes of death (I had a bad cold.) Luckily for you, I'll be providing DOUBLE the normal entertainment and observations this week!

Disclaimer: It'll be roughly the same entertainment and observations.

Let's get started!

Here's what I think:

• The whole nation owes one Mr. Josh McDaniels a hardcore apology. I always felt like Kyle Orton was a solid quarterback. On the other hand, if you had told me that he would clearly outplay Tom Brady, I'd tell you that you were crazy. And yet, it happened. McDaniels deserves a ton of credit, and probably a smidge more than he normally would given the lambasting he received in the media over the offseason.

• The Steelers are simply not the same team they were last year. The barely beat the Lions, who started Quarterback Daunte Culpepper who has aged about as well as milk, and an offensive line that may or may not actually exist.

• In regards to the Dallas win:

I love the Cowboys. They are my favorite team. However, barely beating the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime does not inspire much faith.

I've been watching Miles Austin these past two years, and I've always loved him, even though he hadn't put up big numbers. He's takin' Patrick Crayton's job, I think, what with the 250 yards on 10 catches. Wow.

Also, in regards to Austin, I've liked him for so long that I figured I'd pick him up on fantasy. I'd been starting him nearly every week of the season. This was the week I did not start him. I left 40 points on the bench in fantasy. I hate fantasy football, because it makes me sad.

• Sometimes the NFL is absurdly top-heavy, with one clear cut team that you simply don't envision losing. This year is not one of those years. Not a single team that remains undefeated doesn't seem beatable in some way.

• On that note, the Indianapolis Colts are starting to look that way. They are just dominating at times, and Peyton Manning sometimes just dominates defenses to the point of me feeling bad for them. They haven't played the best competition yet, but we'll see just how good this team is when they play San Fransisco in week 8, and New England in week 10.

• The Bengals are for real. They traded blow for blow with the uber-physical Baltimore Ravens, and at no point did I expect them to crumble, which was my conditioned response given their...checkered past.

Another note from that game, an absolutely fantastic exchange happened that most people might not have noticed: In the Red Zone, Carson Palmer was directing the offense, and the Ravens showed a heavy blitz. Palmer instantly audibled into a max-protect package because he saw the blitz coming. Alternatively, as soon as he did that, the Ravens audibled into a heavy coverage package. As soon as the ball was hiked, there were only 3 guys running routes while there were 7 guys in coverage. Palmer had nowhere to go, and had to throw the ball away. Ray Lewis is a genius on the defensive end of the ball.

• I find it interesting that as soon as the Cavaliers start blowing out people and stop waiting to win till the last second, the Bengals instantly pick up the crown and continue to raise my likelihood of a heart attack by a fair amount every game.

• The Cleveland Browns won a game in which their QB completed 2 of his 17 pass attempts for 23 yards. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present both your 2009 Cleveland Browns and your 2009 Buffalo Bills! That's the second lowest completion percentage by a winning quarterback since the AFL-NFL merger. Absolutely incredible. Did Ralph Wilson give every person who attended that game their money back? He should have. Unbelievable. Just unbelievable.

• What does JaMarcus Russell need to do to get benched? Clearly a lot, seeing as punching out an assistant coach doesn't get you booted from an organization (We're all lookin' at you, Tom Cable.) Nonetheless, they don't even have enough faith to throw the ball to get back into the game they were already getting blown out in! 13 pass attempts! Do you know what that means?! The Raiders coaching staff figured that, if anything, it'd just be better to lose 44-7 to the Giants rather than let Russell pathetically try to get them back in the game, and thus probably give up a solid 20 extra points via turnovers. What a travesty.
  

• I don't want to be to hard on Mr. Russell though, so I'd like to congratulate him for topping 40 percent completion on the season with his powerhouse 8 of 13 performance on Sunday. Phew, he's a talented fella.

• Chris Berman: "Darius Heyward-Bey still has one less catch than he has names." As in: 2.

• In the battle of disappointing teams, the Arizona Cardinals made a goal line stand to beat the Houston Texans. Nobody seems to care all that much though. It's like a Charlotte Bobcats - Minnesota Timberwolves game. Sure, the game happened, one team won, and one lost, but nobody really notices.

• Hey! We're the San Fransisco 49ers, and we got caught up in our own hype! That team will not have a fun week of practices under Mike Singletary, that's for sure.

• Washington still hasn't played a team that had a win before they played them. And they're barely winning. They are a bad football team, which is insane given the talent they've got over there. Bad coaching makes for an indifferent football team.

• Every Cleveland Browns fan watching Braylon Edwards have an absolutely great game has my condolences. Sorry guys...I really am.

• It's this simple: Seahawks with Matt Hasselback=Good. Seahawks without Matt Hasselback=Not good. Just how it is.
  

• Oh, you Titans. Looks like this season is lost. This team was gettin' old, and it's finally showing. That brings the total score to: Aging: 10,000,000,000 - Mankind: 0

• I don't know what to think about the Minnesota Vikings. I'm pretty sure they're really good, but I still think they've got to prove it to me.

• In a game that nobody really seemed to take the Dolphins, they played one heck of a game, and Chad Henne looked like a cool veteran out there. They've been grooming him to be their starter since picking him in the 2nd round last year,and he is leaping on the opportunity.

• Why is it that the Dolphins are so successful with their Wildcat offense when nobody else seems to be? I've got a theory:

When other teams began implementing the offense, they thought of it as a fun gimmick that opposing defenses would have to spend time preparing for.

The Dolphins however, use it as a legitimate tool, and their Jumbo Wildcat set ran roughshod all over that ballyhooed Jets defense. They don't think it's a gimmick, they think it is a legitimate part of their offense and their dedication to it is what makes it so good.

In Conclusion:

• I don't really know what to make of the league right now. Nothing invalidates preseason predictions like teams actually playing the games. Who on earth would have thought that the Denver Broncos would be 5 games ahead of the Tennessee Titans....5 weeks into the season? Nobody, that's who. I don't know who the best team in the league in, and that makes this year a lot of fun so far. Well, that and watching Peyton Manning as well as Drew Brees play football all year.
  

Here's What I Think: NFL - Week 3

• There's been a lot of talk about how, for once, the Ravens defense needs to catch up to their offense. Yes, the Ravens have been allowing a lot of points and a lot of yards. But here's the thing: It's inevitable. If you're moving down the field with the pass and scoring quickly, you're having your defense on the field for a good deal longer and you're giving the opposing offense more possessions. I'm not saying they won't adjust, but you won't see a lot of shutouts pitched by the Ravens if they keep up this offensive pace

• Watching a Cleveland Browns game depresses me. It's not an issue of being a Browns fan, because I'm not. It's just so...hopeless.

• Something that's not mentioned too often in the Patriots early offensive struggles is the lack of the ability for Tom Brady and Joey Galloway to connect...at all. They've simply been out of sync, and without Wes Welker, it's served to put a swift finish to a good amount of Patriots' drives.

• Titans Fans: Don't be too heartbroken about the 0-3 start. They've played the Jets, Steelers, and Texans, all well-reputed opponents. Let's see how they do once the schedule softens up a bit.

• On that note, I'd like to now mention that the Denver Broncos are 3-0, and the Cincinnati Bengals are 2-1. On the other hand, the Pittsburgh Steelers have the same record as the Detroit Lions. We're in for a crazy year of football.

• Cedric Benson is living proof that there's a reason that we put so much into a player's "potential." He is blossoming as a Bengal, and is simply driving that offense despite some spotty play by Carson Palmer.

• I've been of the opinion for a long time that Mark Sanchez will be a better pro quarterback than number one overall pick Matt Stafford. Through three weeks... Stafford has not changed my mind. I've been of the opinion that a player has to be put in a position to succeed, and Stafford does not have the same opportunity that Sanchez does. Stafford has a terrible offensive line, and we all know what happens when talented quarterbacks get beat up a bit too much early on in their careers (ie: David Carr.) It's worth paying attention to.
  

• Sports media consistently has two favorite teams in the NFL: The New Orleans Saints and the San Diego Chargers. Finally, one of them is living up to their immense potential. The Saints are for real. They've won shootouts, and they've held an opponent to seven points today. That's huge, to prove that they're capable of winning different kinds of games.
  
  
• The Chargers are now sitting at 2-1, but I'm not so sure they're as good as their record indicates. They barely beat an Oakland team with a quarterback whose accuracy could at the most be described as "spotty."

• On that note, Jamarcus Russell is a rare quarterback in the sense that when he drops back to throw, I'm surprised by a completion. He is bad at football.
  

• I wouldn't be too worried about the Cardinals just yet. They were thoroughly dominated against the Colts, but that is exactly the kind of team that they're going to have trouble with. The Colts' D-Line are speed pass rushers, and they've consistently been one of the best teams against the pass in recent years, and the Cards simply don't have the running game to punish them. They should be alright.