Category: NFL (Page 1182 of 1282)

Here are your random thoughts for Week 9 in the NFL:

– I loved T.O.’s witty touchdown celebration yesterday when he pretended to fall asleep on the football (homage to him falling asleep during team meetings). But I loved when he alligator-armed a potential touchdown pass that essentially cost his team a win even more.

– Was Chad Johnson about to cry in his post-game interview yesterday?

– The Giants keep on trucking…but they’ve got some serious injury issues.

– Drew Brees is far and away the best offseason move any team made this summer.

– Daunte Culpepper is far and away the worst.

– Is there a more boring team in the NFL right now than the Minnesota Vikings?

– Three potential playoff teams with plenty to worry about at the midway point in the season: Bears (run defense), Colts (run defense) and Falcons (pass defense).

– Their play isn’t converting into many wins for their respective team right now, but both Roy Williams and Kellen Winslow Jr. are turning into excellent playmakers.

– Peyton Manning is amazing, but lets cool it with all the undefeated talk right now, okay? The Bears just lost to Miami at home, so that means that Indy can lose a game at any point during the rest of the season.

– Speaking of Indy – Marvin Harrison’s second touchdown grab last night was one of the best catches I’ve ever seen.

– Here is your biggest QB-controversy that will carry throughout the rest of the season: Byron Leftwich vs. David Garrard.

– Marques Colston (seventh round pick) is just another prime example why even these top NFL scouts have no clue sometimes.

– With Damon Huard playing as well as he is, there is no reason why Trent Green should hurry back from a concussion. Just ask Ben Roethlisberger.

– Due to their madding inconsistency, here are four quarterbacks that I would not have 100% faith in right now heading into the playoffs: Rex Grossman, Jake Plummer, Michael Vick and J.P. Losman.

Whoops, how the hell did Losman get in there? That’s my fault – he isn’t even an NFL quarterback is he?

Well this game didn’t turn out to be the barnburner everybody was expecting (including myself). Yeah, it was close for the entire contest, but the Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning contest was severely lopsided in Manning’s favor. Brady finished the game with four interceptions and no touchdowns, while Manning threw for 326 yards and two scores.

Besides one quarter, New England didn’t impress me at all. Maybe it shouldn’t have been a surprise with the Patriots having to play Indy on just six days rest. But I just expected more from a 6-1 bunch that looked so good in Minnesota on Monday night. Every time New England got something going, Brady would throw a terrible pass for an INT and the Patriots just never seemed in rhythm.

With the Bears losing to Miami (yikes), the Colts now remain the only undefeated team in the league. I find it compelling that Indy is 8-0, yet have a terrible rush defense and have to virtually put up 20-plus points a game to win. Somebody has to knock this team off, right? Right?

Most impressed with: You gotta love what Manning did again tonight, but how about Marvin Harrison? That tiptoe grab he made in the end zone for his second touchdown reception was phenomenal. Harrison finished with eight catches for 145 yards and two scores.

Least impressed with: Brady was brutal, but what about Adam Vinatieri? He missed two field goals – including one at the end of the game that could have sealed the deal for Indy. How quickly the NE fans forget what this guy did for them too. Vinatieri was booed before, during and after every single one of his kicks.

Don’t forget to check out my NFL Random Thoughts blog on Monday.

After crazy action in the early games, order was completely restored in the late action…almost.

Quick Shots:
Anybody want to argue with me that the Pittsburgh Steelers are done? Anybody want to argue with me that Ben Roethlisberger needs to be holding a clipboard right now? After Roethlisberger’s masterpiece against the Raiders last week, Big Ben goes out against the Broncos and gets outperformed by Jake Plummer. Yes, I said Jake Plummer. In Denver’s 31-20 win over Pittsburgh, Plummer threw for 227 yards and three touchdowns, while Roethlisberger threw three picks. Yes, I know he passed for 433 yards, but some of his throws in this game and therefore this season are just painful to watch. Nice game by Javon Walker (six receptions for 134 yards, two touchdowns and one rush for 72 yards and a touchdown)…Here is the “almost” in the order being completely restored out of the late action in the NFL – the 49ers defeated the Vikings 9-3. Okay, moving on…The Browns hung tough with the Chargers, but LaDainian Tomlinson cruised for 172 yards and three touchdowns in San Diego’s 32-25 victory over Cleveland. Phillip Rivers looked good in the win as well, throwing for 211 yards on 19 of 28 passing. The most productive tight end in the league, Kellen Winslow had a solid contest – catching 11 passes for 78 yards. With Cleveland moving the ball pretty well against a normally stout Chargers defense, you know what San Diego is thinking – one game down, three more to go until Shawne Merriman gets back in the starting lineup.

Most impressed with: Javon Walker is making Green Bay look silly that they didn’t even talk with the guy about a new contract last year before he got injured. LT’s day against Cleveland was equally impressive as well.

Least impressed with: I’ve said my piece on Roethlisberger. I like the guy, but he just looks like he needs more time to recover from everything he’s had to go threw this season. And I apologize to all the Charlie Batch haters out there, but the guy isn’t that bad and might not lose games to say, oh, the freaking Oakland Raiders!

Was it opposite day in the early action?

Quick Shots:
What a weird day in the NFL and it gets no stranger than Dolphins 31, Bears 13. Rex Grossman was horrible. Joey Harrington was horrible. And I wasn’t there, but I’m sure the food at Solider Field was probably horrible too. Harrington threw two picks, but managed to throw three touchdown passes against a great Chicago defense. Grossman threw three picks and looked a shade worse than how he did against Arizona on Monday night a few weeks ago…The second head-scratchier of out of the early games was the Lions trouncing the Falcons 30-14. Two main takeaways from this contest: One, Detroit’s offense is damn good under Mark Martz. And two, Atlanta’s defense is atrocious without John Abraham. Roy Williams is starting to be a dominant wide out and Kevin Jones runs as hard as anybody in the league…I’ve never seen a team handle an opponent on both sides of the ball, but lose by 14. Despite the 24-10 score, the Packers outplayed the Bills on Sunday, yet two Brett Favre interceptions (one was returned for a TD) killed Green Bay and made the most-awful J.P. Losman a winner…Larry Johnson is starting to run over opponents on a consistent basis like everybody thought he would coming into the year. Johnson rushed for 172 yards and one score in the Chiefs 31-17 win over the Rams. Despite a great day by Marc Bulger (354 yards, one TD) St. Louis can’t defend the run and just came out flat in this contest…Looking at the score, you’d think that the Giants almost let one get away against the Texans. But New York’s 14-10 win over Houston came without several key starters, including Plaxico Burress. Tiki Barber scored his first touchdown of the season and rushed for 115 yards on 17 carries. Despite a nice effort by the defense, Houston’s lack of a running game killed the Texans in the end…Was there a better offseason signing than Drew Brees for the Saints? What a day by Brees, who threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns in New Orleans 31-14 pounding of the Bucs. Devery Henderson caught only three balls, but finished with two touchdowns and 111 receiving yards. With the Falcons losing, New Orleans is back in the drivers seat in the NFC South…Here is when you know you had a good day: The Redskins gave up 378 yards on defense, yet still beat division rival Dallas 22-19. Clinton Portis had a fantastic 38-yard run for a TD in the first half and Mark Brunell (192 yards, one TD) actually looked like an NFL quarterback…I think it’s clear after the Ravens 26-20 win over the Bengals on Sunday that Baltimore is the obvious class of the AFC North. The Bengals are just bad and even let Steve McNair throw for 245 yards…The ass-kicker of the day goes to the Jaguars. Jacksonville cruised to a 37-7 win over the Titans as backup QB David Garrard threw for 177 yards and three touchdowns. On the ugly side the quarterback picture, rookie Vince Young threw three picks, including one that was returned for a score…

Most impressed with: The Dolphins and Lions get my vote for most impressive in the early games. Not only did the beat good teams, they also beat the snot out of them.

Least impressed with: Rex Grossman, Michael Vick, Brett Favre and Vince Young did a nice job aiding in their teams losses on Sunday. Vick sure came back to earth didn’t he?