Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 1430 of 1503)

The NFL just got an official wake up call Sunday night from the United States Saints: We are for real, so pay attention. New Orleans “marched” into Dallas and crushed the Cowboys 42-17, welcomed Tony Romo back to earth and took Bill Parcells manhood all in one fell swoop.

It was like Sean Payton was just drawing up plays and formations in the dirt to beat the Cowboys. Drew Brees threw for five touchdown passes, almost 400 yards and made Dallas defenders look silly in the process. Romo, on the other hand, looked desperate and was left trying to go downfield to Terrell Owens for the rest of the contest. I will say this about the Cowboys, Terry Glenn made some unbelievable catches last night.

The Saints are just fun to watch. Payton uses an assortment of formations to get the ball into every single one of his playmaker’s hands and never lets up on the gas pedal. Up 28-17 midway through the third quarter, he ordered an onside kick, which the Saints recovered and turned into a touchdown. Take that Parcels! Sure, the defense is suspect, but so far no team in the NFC can stop this offense. Either way, the Dallas Cowboys are not the second (or first as some people thought) best team in the NFC. That title belongs to the Saints.

– The Chargers absolutely pounded the Broncos 48-20 to win the AFC West. I’m not going to be the one that says Mike Shanahan made the wrong decision in swapping Jay Cutler for Jake Plummer. Everybody is talking about what a bonehead move that was, but I’ve got news for you, Plummer was only going to take Denver so far. Shanahan thought he had something special in Cutler and maybe he still does. The decision looks terrible now, but I’m sorry, Plummer wasn’t winning a Super Bowl this year. Shanahan needed to find out if he had the next Tony Romo sitting on his bench. Cutler was bad last week and bad again this week, but the move still had to be made in my opinion. Congratulations to LaDainain Tomlinson who broke the NFL’s single season touchdown record with 29. Tomlinson is going to crush that number by the time the season is said and done with.

– Speaking of getting pounded, the Jaguars smoked the Colts 44-17. That makes three losses in the past four games for Indy. Suddenly the number one playoff spot in the AFC belongs to the Chargers. Before I get to the Colts, I must talk first about rookie Maurice Jones-Drew, who almost single handedly beat Indy on Sunday. Jones rushed for 166 yards, took a 93 yard kickoff return for a touchdown and rushed for two more scores. Unbelievable. As for the horseshoe helmets, the Colts aren’t going anywhere with or without Peyton Manning. Indy gave up 375 rushing yards to the Jags on Sunday. How can you possibly give up 375 yards on the ground and be a Super Bowl favorite? Tony Dungy must be embarrassed shuffling his defense out on the field on Sundays.

– The Ravens keep flying under the radar don’t they? Baltimore went into the holy Mecca of NFL stadiums at Arrowhead and convincingly beat the Chiefs 20-10. One of the clowns on the NBC post game show said the Ravens might be the one team that can go into San Diego and beat the Chargers in the playoffs. I scoffed at the comment at first, but hey, if Steve McNair goes 21 for 27 for 283 yards and no interceptions, why not? With that defense, McNair could do half of that and win in the postseason. Speaking of the postseason, Kansas City can wave bye-bye to it.

– The G-Men got off the snide in Carolina with an impressive 27-13 win over the Panthers. Eli Manning gave hope to New York fans again with a three-touchdown passing performance. Tiki Barber got back to running the football instead of running his mouth and the Giants still own the fifth spot if the postseason started today. The real story was Chris Weinke. I hammered him earlier this week and he gave me reason too with a three-interception second half. However, Weinke also threw for a franchise-record 423 yards. And check this out, his leading receiver was not Steve Smith or Keyshawn Johnson, but Drew Carter. You gotta love that Weinke to Carter connection in Carolina. The media darlings have now lost three and a row.

– t never looks pretty for them, but the Eagles still have a great shot at the playoffs after a 21-19 win over the Redskins. Philadelphia still has a long way to go to reach the postseason (road games against the Giants and Cowboys are next), but Jeff Garcia is flat out getting the job done. Garcia has throw eight touchdown passes since taking over for the injured Donovan McNabb and better yet, has yet to throw an interception. The defense still looks suspect at times, but the unit came up with a bunch of big plays against a struggling Jason Campbell.

– With a 17-6 victory in Tampa Bay, the Falcons swept the Bucs for the first time since the new divisions were introduced in 2002. It came at a severe price, however, as both Warrick Dunn and Jerious Norwood left the game in the third quarter with injuries. Atlanta has major flaws and without Dunn or Norwood, the Falcons playoff hopes may sink quickly. As for Tampa, what a great scene at the end of the game for Bucs fans. All the home crowd wanted was a last second touchdown to make the drive home less daunting. Instead, Joey Galloway was stopped short at the two yard line after it looked like he had a clear path to the end zone and Tim Rattay gets stuffed on a quarterback sneak as time expires. What a season in Tampa.

– The Dolphins always play the Patriots tough, especially at home. But 21-0? Ouch Tom Brady. If Sammy Morris can rush for 123 yards, what is a back like LaDainian Tomlinson going to do if New England has to go into San Diego to face the Chargers in the playoffs? This just doesn’t have that same magical look for the Patriots, even though New England loves that us-against-the-world feeling as the postseason draws near. One hit on the Dolphins: why hasn’t anybody introduced Joey Harrington to Chris Chambers? Wasted talent!

– The Jets head into their late game with the Bills knowing that the Patriots were stomped 21-0 by Miami. So what does New York do, of course, but get smacked in the mouth 31-13. I’ve given Eric Mangini plenty of due this season for the way he always seems to have his team ready to play. But you have a chance to get your squad closer to a division leader and you get stomped at home by a division rival? Tisk-tisk. Willis McGahee scored on a 57 yard touchdown run on the Bills first possession and never looked back. He finished with 125 yards and a score.

– I’ve got just one major complaint about the Seahawks’ 27-21 loss to the Cardinals in Arizona. Why the hell did Deion Branch run his fourth down rout with the game on the line one yard short? Are you kidding me? Do you know how much it cost Seattle to get you from New England? Run a full rout, I’m sure if Matt Hasselback got it to you at 14 yards, he can certainly get it to you at 15.

– It’s overtime in the Titans-Texans game and Vince Young takes the snap from center and dashes to the edge of Houston’s defense. The next thing Texans fans know Young runs past defenders for a 39 yard touchdown run. Final score, 26-20 Tennessee, as Houston fans throw up thinking about how Young could have been theirs. I seem to remember a few years ago when an exciting young quarterback named Michael Vick dashed 40-plus yards for a winning touchdown in overtime in Minnesota. Before we all know it, people everywhere will be saying he should be a running back or he can’t be a true pocket passer. Others will hold out hope that he’s the next generation of quarterback. Sound fair fetched? It didn’t seem that long ago that Vick was just fun to watch. Now everybody has an opinion on his style of play. So please people, let’s just enjoy for a second how Young has led the Titans to four straight comeback wins and how he only has Tennessee fans excited, huh?

– Green Bay’s 30-19 win over the 49ers was the type of game that everybody loves watching Brett Favre again. I can hear John Madden to Al Michaels right now: “He (Favre) looks like he’s having fun again doesn’t he Al?” Favre threw for 293 yards and two touchdowns. People don’t talk enough about Donald Driver. He’s not a spotlight lover like Terrell Owens or Chad Johnson, but he always comes to play. Driver finished with nine catches for 160 yards and a touchdown. Other than Frank Gore’s terrific 130 rushing yards, San Francisco played flat and like a team that’s still missing some talent on defense in order to be competitive week to week.

– Everybody that had Cincinnati dead after dropping a few games at midseason needs to dust the Bengals off again. Cincy crushed Oakland 27-10, as Carson Palmer threw for two scores and Rudi Johnson rushed for two more. The real news is how well the defense is playing of late. After serving as a punching bag for most of the season, the Bengal defense has only given up 17 points in the last three games. Everybody knows the offense is phenomenal, but if the defense can continue its great play, Cincy has to be considered a strong Super Bowl contender again.

– Minnesota beat Detroit 30-20. Somehow, someway, Brad Johnson still has a shot at the postseason. This was another Lions-type loss with ex-Lion Artose Pinner going off for 125 yards and three touchdowns in place of Chester Taylor. How Matt Millen still has a job amazes me.