Moss has become an expensive, high-maintenance decoy. Popular wisdom holds that Moss stretches the field, takes the safeties out of the box, and enables you to run the ball and get one-on-one coverage everywhere else. It has not worked for the Vikings or the Titans. And years from now when we want to study a free agent setting himself on fire in his walk year, we will study Randy Moss 2010.
That about sums it up, doesn’t it?
Eagles coach Andy Reid wasn’t too happy with the way DeSean Jackson went through pregame drills before Sunday’s contest against the Bears and according to beat writer Geoff Mosher, Reid let the receiver have it in front of the entire team following the game.
Multiple team sources told The News Journal that Jackson was chewed out by coach Andy Reid in front of the entire team after the game. Jackson, one source said, had irritated Reid by having a loose demeanor before the game and not taking pre-game drills seriously.
Another source said that Reid wouldn’t have reacted so angrily if the Eagles had won. Reid was more terse than usual with reporters in his post-game press conference.
It’s also possible that Vick was disappointed by Jackson’s alligator arms on a first-and-10 pass to the left side at the Chicago 10-yard-line midway through the fourth quarter. The Eagles eventually settled for a David Akers field goal that pulled them to 31-19.
There’s nothing wrong with a head coach or a quarterback getting on a receiver for, what’s preceived to be, a lack of effort. Jackson has had some maturity issues in the past and if Reid felt as though his receiver needed a wake up call, then so be it. The Eagles haven’t won anything yet – nobody should be loafing.
That said, this shouldn’t affect Jackson’s playing time. The Eagles play the Texans on Thursday and Houston has the worst pass defense in the league. D-Jax will be out there and hopefully this time, he’ll take pre-game drills a little more seriously.
In terms of reading defenses, making adjustments at the line of scrimmage and putting the ball in a spot that only his receiver can make a play, Peyton Manning is the best. But if his performance Sunday night against the Chargers is any indication, then he’s at the point in his career where he needs more help around him.
Indy deactivated six starters for their Sunday night matchup with the Chargers, who promptly crushed the Colts 36-14. Manning completed 31-of-48 passes for 285 yards and two touchdowns, but he was intercepted four times, two of which were returned for touchdowns by San Diego.
Among the key players that were out for the Colts were Dallas Clark, Joseph Addai and Austin Collie. And outside of Jacob Tamme, there hasn’t been any backup that has stepped up in the trio’s absence. (Donald Brown has been unimpressive and inconsistency continues to plague Pierre Garcon.)
Try as he did, Manning was overmatched on Sunday night. Eric Weddle should have been called for pass interference on his interception-turned-touchdown, but take that play out of the equation and Peyton still struggled. He never seemed to get settled because he was taking hits inside the pocket and a lot of his throws sailed on him because he rarely had time to set his feet. Granted, he should have been better. He missed open receivers, he forced passes into coverage and even when he did make a competition, he wasn’t always on target.
He was bad. But if the Colts were completely healthy I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that he wouldn’t have played as poorly as he did last night.
The Colts have now lost three of their last four games but the good news is that they should start to get some players back next week. Addai seems to be getting closer to returning and Collie (concussion) should be medically cleared to play soon as well.
For Manning’s sake, let’s hope that reinforcements are on the way. The AFC South is still the Colts’ division to lose but the Jaguars hung with the Giants on Sunday in the Meadowlands so they’re not likely to go away soon. Indy has a fight on its hands.
Sorry for the long title, but I like to use the “that noise you hear…” intro whenever I can. Clearly the biggest fantasy news from the early games is Adrian Peterson‘s ankle injury. He was on his way to a huge day (7 touches, 70 yards, TD) before the injury, but could not return. Toby Gerhart (24 touches, 81 yards, TD) did an adequate job of fillling in. With the Bills on tap in Week 13, Gerhart will be a hot pickup this week, and if AP’s sprain is of the “high” variety, he could miss the remainder of the fantasy season. Given the tasty matchup with the Redskins’ woeful secondary, Brett Favre (173 yards), Percy Harvin (5-32) and Sidney Rice (1-20) were big disappointments this week. For Washington, it looks like Mike Shanahan is up to his old tricks. After carrying the load the past few games, Keiland Williams (6 touches, 26 yards) got the start but took a backseat to James Davis (6 carries, 11 yards), who was equally ineffective.
Speaking of surprises, Carolina put up a better offensive effort than expected, thanks to Mike Goodson (22 touches, 131 yards, TD) who started ahead of Jonathan Stewart (12 carries, 98 yards), who ran the ball much better (8.2 ypc), but Goodson brings a lot of value in the passing game. This is shaping up as a timeshare the rest of the way.
The Bills gave the Steelers a run, thanks to a workman-like effort by Fred Jackson (17 touches, 163 yards, TD) who is approaching must-start territory. RBs have fared horribly against the Pittsburgh defense this season, but Jackson averaged 4.9 ypc and racked up 104 yards and a TD in the passing game. Steve Johnson (7-68, 15 target) is clearly Ryan Fitzpatrick‘s (265 yards, TD, INT) favorite receiver, but he dropped a 50-yard game-winning bomb in OT that would have given him some gaudy numbers. Keep him in your starting lineup despite the drop(s).
Sam Bradford continues to amaze me. He’s playing for a team that is so devoid in talent and yet, he continues to do incredible things in his first year.
With their 36-33 win over the Broncos on Sunday, the Rams are now tied for first place in the NFC West. Granted, they’re 5-6 and play in the worst division in football, but don’t forget that this is a team that only won one game last year. Yet here they are, mostly because of Bradford’s play, fighting every week and in contention for a playoff spot.
Bradford threw for 308 yards and three touchdowns without an interception in Denver on Sunday. He now has 11 touchdown passes and one interception since leading receiver Mark Clayton landed on injured reserve. That was right around the time when everyone thought Bradford would start to play like the rookie he is.
Instead, he’s flourished. The Rams have yet to take the training wheels off, but they don’t need to either. The Falcons kept it simple for Matt Ryan in his rookie season, as did the Ravens with Joe Flacco. There’s still plenty of time for Bradford to adjust to defenses and make calls at the line of scrimmage after he’s learned what the pro game is all about. Ryan has just begun to look like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady when it comes to dissecting defenses and he’s in his third year. Bradford still has time to grow and he’s only a rookie.
And that’s what the most impressive thing is: he’s not playing like a rookie. He’s poised. He’s comfortable. He’s in control. He’s winning. He has given the city of St. Louis something to cheer about again after several miserable seasons.
The Rams still have a long way to go if they want to reach the playoffs, but it’s not like the Seahawks (who are also 5-6) are ready to claim the division. They were just blown out at home by the Chiefs.
Why not the Rams?
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