Kris Brown made a 56-yard field goal Sunday right before half. But before you celebrate, realize that the joker also missed a 42-yarder as time expired in the Texans’ 20-17 loss to the Colts. Had he made it, Houston would have tied the game and had a chance to win in overtime.
Now, I realize that a 42-yarder is no chip shot and given that the game was on the line, it was a pressure situation for Brown. But come on – it was a 42-yarder indoors and he had just converted a freaking 56-yarder two quarters before that. His team just busted its ass getting into field goal range in hopes to tie things up and he misses one from a distance of 14 yards less than one he had converted from earlier in the game. Kind of ridiculous when you think about it.
Nevertheless, the Colts remain undefeated on the season and this was an impressive win given the amount of injuries Indy has in the secondary. The Texans can really move the ball through the air and yet the Colts still managed to intercept Matt Schaub twice and hold Houston to 17 points.
That said, Indy won’t stay undefeated for very long if it can’t find some more offensive balance. I realize Peyton Manning is going to give them a chance to win every Sunday, but for the most part the 49ers and Texans did a nice job of keeping the Colts out of the end zone the past two weeks. The Colts are moving the ball successfully, but they’re turning into Boise State in the red zone because they don’t have a power running game to get them closer to the goal line. It’ll be interesting to see if the Colts can correct that moving forward.
Kurt Warner shook off a five-interception performance last week in a loss to the Panthers to throw for 261 yards and an eye-popping five touchdowns in a 41-21 rout of the Bears on Sunday. Warner didn’t throw any interceptions while completing 22-of-31 passes for 261 yards.
Warner did all this without Anquan Boldin, who sat out with an ankle injury. Larry Fitzgerald seemed to enjoy the spotlight, because he hauled in nine passes for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The 83-year old Warner (I’m kidding) is now on pace for 32 touchdowns and 4,350 yards.
Of course, Warner and the Cards racked up these gaudy stats against a Chicago secondary that couldn’t cover Fat Albert and the gang. The Bears thought that Charles Tillman could cover Fitzgerald one-on-one, which was incredibly smart on their part. Remember Boldin didn’t play, so why Lovie Smith and his coaching staff thought Tillman could (or even should) go one-on-one with Fitzgerald was questionable to say the least. Speaking of questionable, the Bears also decided to throw the ball seven straight times to open the game. Apparently the words “offensive balance” mean nothing to Smith and Ron Turner.
Not to kick dirt in the faces of Chicago fans, but many Bear-lovers thought this would be a Super Bowl team after they traded for Jay Cutler. I’m fully aware that they’ve had injuries on the defensive side of the ball, but even if Brian Urlacher were healthy, the offensive line and secondary are still a mess and Matt Forte has dropped off the face of the earth (part of the reason is because the O-line hasn’t opened any holes). He only had 33 yards on five carries today, but when you’re trailing 31-7 at halftime you’re not going to get many carries.
Their 30-6 win over the hapless Browns gave the Bears some false confidence. But this loss today proves how far Chicago is from being a legitimate contender.
Every week, I pick one question from our Fantasy Football Q&A and post it on Sunday morning. This week’s question comes from Lauren, who is wondering if it’s time make a trade to compensate for Kurt Warner’s poor play of late.
“I currently have Kurt Warner and due to his poor performance in week 8 I have been offered a trade of Favre for Roddy White or Palmer for Roddy White. My other receivers are Hines Ward, Driver and Steve Smith (carolina) I also have Michael Turner and Addai and Bradshaw as my starters. I will keep Kurt Warner on the bench but I need a stronger QB to win. Who would you pick? Palmer or Favre?”
My answer: Don’t trade Roddy White. There is a lot of depth at QB and this guy is trying to sucker you into making a trade when you don’t need to. Which QBs are available on your waiver wire? Of the two, I’d rather have Favre, so offer up Ward, Driver or S. Smith (CAR) and see if the guy bites. Any of those guys would be fair value for Favre. (Make sure you mention that he’s an injury risk and that there’s a lot of depth at the QB position.)
It turns out that Matt Hasselbeck, Matt Cassel, Alex Smith, Jason Campbell and Vince Young were available on her waiver wire. She eventually traded Steve Smith 1.0 for Carson Palmer, which depletes her depth at WR but does give her another good option at QB.
There is usually a lot of depth at the quarterback position. This season the difference between QB10 (Eli Manning) and QB18 (David Garrard) is only 24 points, so it’s not worth trading away a player like Steve Smith to upgrade from Kurt Warner (QB15) to Carson Palmer (QB12).
Besides, Warner had a bad matchup last week — the Panthers’ pass defense is actually pretty good — and has a nice upcoming schedule. He’s a good bet to bounce back, even though he’s already had a solid fantasy season.
The Indianapolis Star reports that the Colts have placed strong safety Bob Sanders on injured reserve with a torn left biceps. His season is now over.
Highly regarded as one of the premier safeties in the NFL, Sanders played in just two games this season while recording three tackles and one interception. This proceeds his 25-tackle, one-interception 2008 season in which he also battled injuries and started just six games.
Sanders is due to make $620,00 (plus a $2.17 million signing bonus and a $2.83 roster bonus) in 2010, $5.5 million in 2011 and $7 million in 2012. He turns 29 next February and beat writer Philip B. Wilson speculates that the Colts will cut their losses in the offseason to free up salary.
When healthy, Sanders is a game-changer from his safety position. He’s as versatile as Troy Polomalu and Ed Reed, and the best tackler of the trio. But injuries have ransacked his promising career and while he helped Indy win a Super Bowl a few years ago, maybe it is time to move on. He would certainly drum up a lot of interest on the free agent market because NFL teams are always in need of safeties.
His injury issues not withstanding, Sanders would definitely be worth the risk if the Colts do decide to part ways with him in the offseason.
In a recent interview with NFL Network’s Rich Eisen, Dolphins’ linebacker Jerry Porter said that Tom Brady has an extra advantage every week because he has his own set of rules.
“No question,” said Porter, the Miami Dolphins’ quotable linebacker, who meets Brady’s New England Patriots on Sunday. “When a guy can tell a ref when to throw a flag, and he gets it, he’s got his own rules. They made the rule that you don’t go at the legs for Tom, so when he feels that someone is going at his legs, he just points to the ref and he gets a flag. So I can honestly say that he gets his own rules.”
Earlier this week, Porter said he has a “natural hate” for the Patriots, even bringing up the infamous spying charges leveled against New England from the 2007 season. The Patriots were fined $250,000 plus a No. 1 draft pick, and head coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000 for videotaping signals from New York Jets coaches from the sidelines.
“I still don’t care for New England,” Porter said. “The hate’s been there for a while, especially after all the cheating they did back in the day.
… They can sweep it under the rug if they want to, but just like anybody else that’s cheating that gets caught, you put an asterisk by it. But nobody puts an asterisk by those championships.”
Porter has opened his mouth so many times about opposing teams and players that there is no shock value in what he said above. And actually, I agree with him that Brady is protected like a China doll – as our most quarterbacks in the NFL.
Some of the penalties levied on defenders this year from hits on quarterbacks have been ridiculous, both in the pros and on the college level. It’s getting to the point now where quarterbacks should just wear flags. It’s one thing if the defender clearly took a shot at a quarterback after the ball was released. But it’s quite another when a defender is going all out and the refs expect him to stop in midair to avoid hitting the quarterback.
Here are my top 5 picks for Week 9 against the spread. As usual, fade at will…
Steelers (5-2) at Broncos (6-1), 8:30PM ET, Monday
This game set up nicely for the Steelers, who have won four in a row, are coming off a bye and are playing a Denver team that was thumped last Sunday by the Ravens. But I fully expect Josh McDaniels and the Broncos to learn from their loss last week to Baltimore and rebound on Monday night. Denver is always a tough place to play – just ask the Cowboys and Patriots, whom the Broncos beat earlier this year at Invesco Field. I don’t expect Kyle Orton, Brandon Marshall and Knowshon Moreno to have a lot of success against Pittsburgh’s excellent defense, but I do think Denver’s defense will force a couple turnovers to set the offense up in good field position. Linebacker Elvis Dumervil has been a beast this season and Ben Roethlisberger has always had trouble holding onto the ball. While some will start to doubt the Broncos after last week, I’m holding strong that this is a good football team and will prove it with a small upset Monday night. Odds: Steelers –3. Prediction: Broncos 20, Steelers 17.
Texans (5-3) at Colts (7-0), 1:00PM ET
This game has trap written all over it. The Texans have won three straight and four of their last five, while the Colts finally looked beatable last week in their 18-14 win over the 49ers. Your head and gut tell you that Houston will be able to hang with Indy this weekend and at the very least cover the 9-point spread, if not win outright. But don’t be fooled – the Colts are 9-1 in their last 10 games against the Colts and have covered in six of those 10 games. While the ATS trends aren’t impressive, Peyton Manning should have his way with an improving, but suspect Houston defense at home. With Bob Sanders sidelined again, the Texans should score, but it’s not like Indy isn’t used to not having Sanders on the field. This one will be a little bit of a shoot out, but I see the Colts winning by a decent margin in the end. Odds: Colts –9. Prediction: Colts 35, Texans 24.
According to the Baltimore Sun, Ochocinco sent gift baskets containing deodorant to the Ravens’ secondary and to linebackers Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis.
Chad Ochocinco, the Bengals’ flamboyant wide receiver, said today on 105.7 FM that he sent gift baskets containing deodorant to the Ravens’ secondary and to linebackers Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis.
“I not only sent them gift baskets, but I sent them something they could use so they don’t sweat,” Ochocinco said.
The Ravens and Bengals meet at 1 p.m. Sunday in Cincinnati.
Ray had this to say in response:
Not to take the fun out of this post, but I don’t think it was wise for Ocho to poke an angry dog with a stick. Considering the source, I’m sure Baltimore won’t get too riled up over the gift baskets, but the Ravens already have revenge on their minds after the Bengals beat them a couple weeks ago at their home turf and will desperately be seeking a win this weekend.
I think this is the week the Bengals start missing what Antwan Odom brought to the field. They didn’t need him in their Week 7 trouncing of the Bears, but the Ravens’ offense has been firing on all cylinders and just routed a good Denver defense last Sunday. Even for how good Cincinnati’s defense is, they still need the front four to generate some pressure or else Joe Flacco will pick them apart.
Every week, I will highlight a few players to start and a few players to sit at each position. I’m a firm believer in starting your studs, so I won’t tell you about how Drew Brees or Adrian Peterson has a tough matchup – just go ahead and keep them in your lineup. Instead, I’ll focus on the borderline guys – players you’ll only start under the right circumstances. It’s important to note that depending on your roster and situation, you may not be able to follow these recommendations. For example, if I suggest you bench a solid starter like Tony Romo, only do so if you have a clearly better option on your bench.
The “love ‘em” players are listed in the order that I’d start them this week.
This should go without saying, but just in case: Aaron Rodgers should be in your lineup against a Bucs’ pass defense that has yielded 2.3 pass TD per game this season…Donovan McNabb has a very good matchup against a struggling Cowboys secondary…Matt Hasselbeck faces the Lions. Two words: Start him…Cincinnati’s pass defense is ranked 30th in the league, so Joe Flacco should have a nice fantasy line this week…As it stands, Matt Cassel has his last great matchup of the season this week, coming off a bye against the Jaguars’ 26th-ranked pass defense…So, last week, was the Titans’ pass defense that good or was Jacksonville’s pass defense that bad. Alex Smith faces Tennessee’s league-worst pass defense this week and is a pretty nice start…I’m a little hesitant to recommend him again after his brutal showing against the Titans, but David Garrard has another nice matchup this week against the Chiefs and isn’t a bad start…For the desperate, Jason Campbell is a sneaky good start against a Falcons defense that has struggled to stop the pass in recent weeks.
In his first four games of the 2009 season, Atlanta Falcons second-year quarterback Matt Ryan had a QB rating of 98.0, 122.2, 82.3 and 110.0. He was off to a fantastic start and people started to assume that he would have Tom Brady-like numbers every game.
But in his last three outings, Ryan has QB ratings of 68.4, 66.1 and 46.6 and now all of a sudden he’s drawing comparisons to Rex Grossman. (Okay, so Ryan has never been compared to Grossman, but you get my feeble attempt at exaggerating my point.)
After his three-interception game last Monday night against the Saints, I’ve read at least two articles from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about how Ryan doesn’t look like the same player he was as a rookie. The overall tone of the articles was that the Falcons should be worried, because “Matty Ice” hasn’t played well in three games.
But people need to take their hand off the ejection button, because Ryan is fine – he’s just going through typical growing pains. He had one of the best (if not the best) rookie season of any quarterback to ever play in the NFL, while leading what many believed was a 3-13 team to an 11-5 record and a playoff berth. Entering his second season, the expectations were sky high and now that he’s not playing well, some want to question whether or not last season was a fluke.
I’ll admit that following his performance in New Orleans on Monday night that he hasn’t looked like the same player he was last year or at the beginning of this year. He seems to be rushing his throws more and making bad decisions. His cool, calm pocket presence has turned into a rushed dance where he doesn’t always work through all of his progressions and set his feet to throw. He also seems to be locking in on Tony Gonzalez or Roddy White and therefore throwing a high number of interceptions. (He’s thrown eight in his last four games.)
John Riggins: “First of all, it’s what I do, JB. I have been in broadcasting for the last 15 to 20 years, so it is sort of my job. And the other part is, and I’ve been asked this question a lot, when they say do you have an ax to grind? And I think any time an older player criticizes or says anything about his former team, unless he’s throwing Bon Mots at them, that all of a sudden you get a, ‘What’s he griping at?’ type of thing. Maybe that’s the case. But truthfully, I do have an ax to grind and I just realized I have been a little bit disingenuous. But this is a bad guy that owns this team. I’ll just tell you that upfront. Bad guy. And if the Commissioner is worried about potential new owners and saying some of these guys shouldn’t apply, he might want to police his own inside guys….”
Brown: “Why is he a bad guy?”
Riggins: “Because his business practices, I think. I don’t want to say they are unethical, but I don’t think it’s a place, a climate that is created there where people can be successful. It’s driven all by his ego and everything has to come from him. And I just don’t think you can be successful in those situations and when you are dealing with someone with the mindset of a child and yet owns a franchise in the NFL. I think you have some problems there.”
Cris Collinsworth: “We are talking about Daniel Snyder . Are you saying in some way he is unethical? Because I have dealt with him in the past and I have never sensed anything close to that. Or are you saying he has made bad decisions on the football side as an owner? Or what is specifically the issue?”
Riggins: “I am saying that I don’t think that this franchise can be successful where you have people saying, ‘Oh, this person Dan Snyder wants to win. He wants to win.’ It’s all about priorities. ‘What’s my priorities? The priority is it’s all about me. I have to have my needs met, then I want to make money, and those are one and two, and then I want to win. You can see by the decisions that are made….I don’t know if you have agreed with anything I am saying so far, but at this point, I would think you would say, ‘Yeah, I’ll go along with that.’ This person knows nothing about football, absolutely nothing. I don’t think they have a clue how a football team comes together, how it works. And yet they are the ones that are basically calling all the shots through a puppet, which is Vinny Cerrato. That is my take on it….I speak for the fans because these are the people that paid my salary for all these years. They are the ones that need to know that this is a bad guy.”
Collinsworth: “There is a fine line between being a bad guy and a bad GM, if you will. Are you saying a bad guy as in the NFL needs to take a look at this?”
Riggins: “Let me put it to you this way, Cris, this person’s heart is dark.”
Wow, tell us how you really feel, John.
I think Collinsworth brings up a good point in that there is a fine line between being a bad guy and a bad GM or owner. Just because someone doesn’t know how to run a football team (which Snyder clearly does not), doesn’t make him a bad person. So I wonder if Riggins is just venting his frustrations and that it came out wrong.
That said, if you come out and say that a person’s heart is “dark” then I’m willing to bet you know exactly what you’re saying.
