The Boston Red Sox had knocked the Angels out of the playoffs in their previous four meeting, and Jonathan Papelbon had not given up an earned run in 26 postseason innings. So Red Sox fans must have felt confident with Papelbon entering game 3 in the ninth inning with a lead over the Angels. But this time, Papelbon and the Red Sox came up short, as Vladimir Guerrero came up with the big hit to drive in two runs, sending Papelbon to the showers and ultimately sending the Red Sox home for the winter. As Papelbon was walking off the field, he heard a chorus of boos from the classless Red Sox fans.
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It may be a tad premature to write this given that he’s only in his third year, but it’s getting harder and harder not to tab JaMarcus Russell as one of the worst No. 1 overall picks in NFL history.
Al Davis was blinded by Russell’s arm strength three years ago. Russell might be able to throw the ball the length of the field, but his pocket presence his atrocious and his work ethic is abysmal. When he drops back to pass, it’s clear he doesn’t know where to go with the ball and how to read a defense.
In the Raiders’ 44-7 loss to the Giants on Sunday, Russell completed just 8 of his 13 pass attempts for 100 yards, was sacked six times and lost three fumbles. He simply cannot function in an NFL offense and relies too much on his natural ability to get by. If he doesn’t start putting in the work and learning how to read defenses, he’s never going to succeed and he’ll be out of the league in a couple of years.
Russell is a prime example of why it’s so important for teams to evaluate the intelligence of players. That will never happen with Davis because he’ll always put talent above all else, but draft evaluators are dreaming if they think they can teach work ethic and football smarts. Russell can make all the throws, but he doesn’t have the awareness to get the ball out on time or to deliver it to the right spot. One would think that he would compensate for that by working harder, but he doesn’t.
If Russell doesn’t show vast improvement this season, the Raiders can’t wait to start developing another quarterback. He’s regressed every year he’s been in the league and he’s not going to start succeeding overnight. I realize the Giants have a great defense and make a lot of quarterbacks look bad on Sundays, but Russell can’t even accomplish basic functions. It doesn’t matter if he’s playing the Giants or Rams, if he doesn’t understand the basics the Raiders will continue to spiral into football purgatory.
Since being acquired in a midseason trade from Detroit last season, receiver Roy Williams has been a huge disappointment. Whether it’s injuries or his inability to get open, Williams has been largely ineffective.
Williams was inactive for Dallas’ Week 5 matchup against the Chiefs in Kansas City, but Miles Austin stepped up in his place by hauling in 10 catches for 250 yards and two touchdowns in the Cowboys’ 26-20 overtime victory.
Austin has always had the talent, but up until today he never showed the ability to dominate a game. He has terrific speed, big-play potential and excellent leaping-ability. He abused inexperienced cornerbacks Mauirce Leggett and Brandon Carr on Sunday, even when the defensive backs had safety help over the top.
Now that T.O. is in Buffalo, Tony Romo needs a receiver to step up the way Austin did today. Romo completed 20 of 34 passes for 351 yards and two touchdowns but more importantly, he didn’t throw any interceptions and looked confident in his throws.
This wasn’t a pretty win for Dallas, but Kansas City is always a tough environment to play in (no matter how bad the Chiefs are) and a win is a win. Romo and Austin needed a victory like this, especially with the team’s bye week coming up next Sunday. This will give the Cowboys confidence heading into their off week and despite not playing particularly well, they’re still 3-2 on the season.
Okay, who played quarterback for the Detroit Lions on Sunday? Because it sure as hell wasn’t Daunte Culpepper.
In the Steelers’ 28-20 win over the Lions on Sunday, somebody resembling Culpepper (wearing Culpepper’s jersey) totaled 282 yards and one touchdown on 23-of-37 passing. Imposter Culpepper also rushed for 44 yards in the loss and actually kept the Lions in contention despite not having receiver Calvin Johnson, who suffered an injury and left the game.
Despite the surprising performance, Culpepper’s decision-making was as brutal as ever, which was evident in his second half interception. He was also sacked seven times and apparently bathed his hands in butter before the game because he fumbled three times. Still, he performed admirably against a tough Pittsburgh defense.
Looking at the stats, it’s amazing that the Steelers didn’t win this game by four touchdowns. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 277 yards and three touchdowns, while Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 5.1 YPC (despite only gaining 77 rushing yards). But Pittsburgh’s defense allowed Culpepper to keep the chains moving and couldn’t get off the field as Detroit converted 11 of its 18 third down attempts.
I wouldn’t say that the Steelers regressed after their convincing 38-28 win last Sunday night over the Chargers, but Mike Tomlin has to be somewhat disappointed that his team only compiled 82 yards on the ground against a suspect Detroit run defense. (Not to mention his defense allowed Daunte freaking Culpepper to keep this game close in the end.)
With their 17-14 come-from-behind victory over the Ravens in Baltimore on Sunday, questioning whether or not the Bengals are for real is over.
They’re for real, they’re not pretenders, they’re going to challenge for a playoff spot in the AFC.
How the Bengals arrived at 4-1 is no fluke. In fact, the only fluke so far this season was their opening week loss to the Broncos because otherwise this team would be undefeated. They’ve already defeated the Packers in Green Bay, the defending champion Steelers at home and the Ravens in Baltimore. It’s not like they’ve racked up wins against below average teams at home – they’ve won in hostile environments against postseason contenders.
Granted, the Ravens shot themselves in the foot on Sunday with two huge penalties. Chris Carr’s illegal contact penalty was bad, but the unnecessary roughness call against Ray Lewis was a killer as it wiped out a third-and-16 incompletion by Carson Palmer.
But give the Bengals credit – they held Baltimore’s potent offense to 257 total yards, including only 82 on the ground. Regular readers know I’ve described Cincinnati’s defense as “underrated” for the past couple weeks but I may have been wrong. They’ve not just underrated, but they’re also a damn good unit. They picked off Joe Flacco twice today and held him to under 200 passing yards (186 to be exact).
It’s still early, but again, it’s time to stop wondering if this Bengals team can hang with the elite competition in the AFC. Palmer is healthy, the defense has been solid, Cedric Benson (120 yards, 1 TD) has been great and the offensive line has played better than expected. They’re going to challenge for a playoff spot at this rate.
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