ironwasp
Rotational Player and Threatening Starter's Job
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As the mainstream media continues its crusade to have BB and the Patriots excommunicated from polite society in the NFL, it becomes ever less readable.
And so with that in mind, I've decided to replicate one of the regular columns with my own, so that we don't have to trawl through the rest of the crap to find stuff. I hope others might consider doing the same. So this is league-wide rather than Patriots-centric.
1 - Throughout the game against the Jets, the Patriots offence was dazzling and looked more or less unstoppable. Which kept me thinking: who's going to be able to stop this attack. But that was swiftly followed by: this is only the Jets. It's exciting and it's impressive but it's only the Jets. Well this week it was "only" the Chargers and frankly it looked even more impressive. A good one-two punch on the run, an explosive receiving corps, a steady line, complementary tight ends and a stellar QB. So who can stop this offence? I've no idea. But not the Bills, that's for sure.
2 - Peyton Manning gets better and better. Towards the end of the first half in the Colts-Titans game, Vince Young drew a dumb penalty after earning his team a first down as they were driving towards a catch up score. The result was a punt which gave Manning the ball on his own 17 with 1.12 on the clock. A minute later after some extraordinarily good passing, the Colts were kicking a field goal that in the end proved the difference. And Manning looked supreme. Love him or loathe him, it's impossible to deny what a great, great player he is.
3 - At least half the surprise 2-0 teams will be shaken out quite quickly. The 49ers have been lucky to squeak through their two openers. Detroit has played two lousy teams and won, the Packers two ordinary teams and won. It's about to get harder. The 9ers face the hot Steelers, Green Bay a Chargers team that will be be looking to bounce back and Detroit goes to face the desperate Eagles. Enjoy the view from the top while it lasts. Houston and Washington look good value for their 2-0s, but both ace stiff challenges in the coming weeks.
4 - It's not only the Dolphins who will live to regret not drafting Brady Quinn. What was Brad Childress thinking? "We don't need a QB, we have Tarvaris Jackson." Oh, really? Jacksonville, Kansas City, Buffalo? They all passed. And they all have problems. Look around this league, there are so few premier QBs out there. If you get a shot at one, you have to take it.
5 - The AFC East sucks, sucks, sucks. Credit the Jets (tough to do right now, I know) with nearly pulling out a tough win in Baltimore. They may not be a play-off team this year, but they're probably not dreadful either. The same can't be said for the Bills or the Dolphins both of whom were dire beyond words at the weekend. The only saving grace for these teams is a) their schedule is not as tough as the Pats b) they get to play each other twice.
6 - Remember the adage, "Defence wins Championships"? Marv Lewis doesn't. How can your QB throw for six touchdowns against one of the league's doormat teams and finish a six point loser? Easy, when you replace your defence with turnstiles and tackle bags. It's Seattle next for the Bengals, so start picking up Seahawks receivers, fantasy players. And then comes Brady-to-Moss. No sleep for Marv that week.
7 - The Cowboys are probably the class of the NFC (which isn't saying a lot). The offence moved the ball nicely on Sunday against a tough Miami D. Romo was in gear and TO looked engaged. The defence warmed up too after being shredded by Eli and the Giants in week one. It's only week three, but NFC homefield advantage might be decided in Chicago this weekend.
8 - How many times a day do Falcons fans wish that the Mike Vick dog-fighting fiasco had been uncovered before Matt Schaub was traded to Houston? While Schaub lights up Texas, poor old Joey is stinking up Georgia. Byron Leftwich, or Doug Flutie, or whoever can't get there quickly enough. As for Schaub, he looks the real deal, although Andre Johnson's injury cannot have come at a worse moment with the Colts visiting this week.
9 - Herm looks done for if he doesn't pull his finger out soon. The Chiefs look truly awful. I honestly thought Damon Huard coped well with the Bears in the dire circumstances, but the rest of it was a write-off. They'll be pleased to get back to Arrowhead and welcome the Vikings into town, but the respite will be brief with the Chargers to follow.
10 - The NFL's trip to London (for which I have just bought tickets at vast expense) looks like it might end up being the Mediocrity Bowl. The Giants and the Dolphins were probably selected because historically they have the largest fan bases here. (Alongside Chicago, Dallas and SF - a legacy of the mid to late 1980s when the game was very popular here). But the NFL's going to find expanding its international fan base tricky if this is the best it has to offer.
And so with that in mind, I've decided to replicate one of the regular columns with my own, so that we don't have to trawl through the rest of the crap to find stuff. I hope others might consider doing the same. So this is league-wide rather than Patriots-centric.
1 - Throughout the game against the Jets, the Patriots offence was dazzling and looked more or less unstoppable. Which kept me thinking: who's going to be able to stop this attack. But that was swiftly followed by: this is only the Jets. It's exciting and it's impressive but it's only the Jets. Well this week it was "only" the Chargers and frankly it looked even more impressive. A good one-two punch on the run, an explosive receiving corps, a steady line, complementary tight ends and a stellar QB. So who can stop this offence? I've no idea. But not the Bills, that's for sure.
2 - Peyton Manning gets better and better. Towards the end of the first half in the Colts-Titans game, Vince Young drew a dumb penalty after earning his team a first down as they were driving towards a catch up score. The result was a punt which gave Manning the ball on his own 17 with 1.12 on the clock. A minute later after some extraordinarily good passing, the Colts were kicking a field goal that in the end proved the difference. And Manning looked supreme. Love him or loathe him, it's impossible to deny what a great, great player he is.
3 - At least half the surprise 2-0 teams will be shaken out quite quickly. The 49ers have been lucky to squeak through their two openers. Detroit has played two lousy teams and won, the Packers two ordinary teams and won. It's about to get harder. The 9ers face the hot Steelers, Green Bay a Chargers team that will be be looking to bounce back and Detroit goes to face the desperate Eagles. Enjoy the view from the top while it lasts. Houston and Washington look good value for their 2-0s, but both ace stiff challenges in the coming weeks.
4 - It's not only the Dolphins who will live to regret not drafting Brady Quinn. What was Brad Childress thinking? "We don't need a QB, we have Tarvaris Jackson." Oh, really? Jacksonville, Kansas City, Buffalo? They all passed. And they all have problems. Look around this league, there are so few premier QBs out there. If you get a shot at one, you have to take it.
5 - The AFC East sucks, sucks, sucks. Credit the Jets (tough to do right now, I know) with nearly pulling out a tough win in Baltimore. They may not be a play-off team this year, but they're probably not dreadful either. The same can't be said for the Bills or the Dolphins both of whom were dire beyond words at the weekend. The only saving grace for these teams is a) their schedule is not as tough as the Pats b) they get to play each other twice.
6 - Remember the adage, "Defence wins Championships"? Marv Lewis doesn't. How can your QB throw for six touchdowns against one of the league's doormat teams and finish a six point loser? Easy, when you replace your defence with turnstiles and tackle bags. It's Seattle next for the Bengals, so start picking up Seahawks receivers, fantasy players. And then comes Brady-to-Moss. No sleep for Marv that week.
7 - The Cowboys are probably the class of the NFC (which isn't saying a lot). The offence moved the ball nicely on Sunday against a tough Miami D. Romo was in gear and TO looked engaged. The defence warmed up too after being shredded by Eli and the Giants in week one. It's only week three, but NFC homefield advantage might be decided in Chicago this weekend.
8 - How many times a day do Falcons fans wish that the Mike Vick dog-fighting fiasco had been uncovered before Matt Schaub was traded to Houston? While Schaub lights up Texas, poor old Joey is stinking up Georgia. Byron Leftwich, or Doug Flutie, or whoever can't get there quickly enough. As for Schaub, he looks the real deal, although Andre Johnson's injury cannot have come at a worse moment with the Colts visiting this week.
9 - Herm looks done for if he doesn't pull his finger out soon. The Chiefs look truly awful. I honestly thought Damon Huard coped well with the Bears in the dire circumstances, but the rest of it was a write-off. They'll be pleased to get back to Arrowhead and welcome the Vikings into town, but the respite will be brief with the Chargers to follow.
10 - The NFL's trip to London (for which I have just bought tickets at vast expense) looks like it might end up being the Mediocrity Bowl. The Giants and the Dolphins were probably selected because historically they have the largest fan bases here. (Alongside Chicago, Dallas and SF - a legacy of the mid to late 1980s when the game was very popular here). But the NFL's going to find expanding its international fan base tricky if this is the best it has to offer.
