ironwasp
Rotational Player and Threatening Starter's Job
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2006
- Messages
- 1,321
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1. The league sucks. I was lucky to have accessible to three fairly watchable games last night - Packers/Vikings, Giants/Cowboys, Chargers/Colts. One was done by the half; one was supposed to be a big divisional contest, but really wasn't in the end; one was supposed to feature two of the leagues best sides, but ended up looking like Appalachian State against Alaska Tech. And these games were OK. Pity those watching: Fins/Bills, Bengals/Ravens, Panthers/Falcons and other non-events. Dire. The reason: just a lack of quality throughout; a lack of thought; lack of preparation; lack of execution. Dire.
2. The main lack of quality is at the QB position. I said at the time of the draft I was surprised that so many teams had overlooked this position when there were some prospects out there who, at the very least, offered some promise. Minnesota is a case in point; I give Brooks Bollinger a pass; he's the number three on the roster. But would the game have been a lot better for the Vikes if Tarvaris Jackson had been in there? I doubt it. And what exactly are the Dolphins waiting for Cleo Lemon to prove before they give John Beck an opportunity to show why they overlooked Brady Quinn? And Baltimore???? The shot of Kyle Boller totally mis-throwing a practice thorw on the sideline as Steve McNair gifted the Bengals another field goal with a pathetic fumble, really said it all.
3. And as for Eli Manning. The guy had three delay game passes, AT HOME, as the Giants chased the game in the second half. THREE! He still looks like he hates football, still looks like he's got all the leadership ability of a crushed pistachio and still looks a gazillion miles from being the Giants franchise QB.
4. The last of those points also go for Vince Young. If he can't put together a consistent, coherent passing game, he's gonna finish his career reflecting on a highlight that happened before he turned pro. It's not good enough and now he's killing the Titans on offense.
5. And I think it should be a long time before we next hear Phillip Rivers talking himself and his team up.
6. The Steelers are for real. They had a great shot at losing one on Sunday but the D came up big in the second half when one more offensive TD would have been enough for the Browns. Roethlisberger looks to have put a lot of his problems behind him, and is leading a good all-round team. In my mind they have now supplanted the Colts as the number one threat to the Pats in the AFC.
7. I don't think the Jags have enough to challenge the Colts in the AFC South, but if Indy's injury crisis doesn't ease, there will be some jitters down the stretch. It's easy to criticise Polian/Dungy for the lack of depth, but they have been hit so hard in key areas that few teams would be able to cope with the losses. That said, they almost did enough on Sunday night to record an improbable win, but were killed by the two most experienced guys on the team making elementary mistakes.
8. I love the way Tony Romo plays football. After one pass in a key drive against the Giants, which was nearly picked off on the sideline after he tried to force one should have held on to, he went back to the line laughing and joking with his teammates. You could see the cathartic effect it had on them and that they relaxed with him and have great confidence in him. Another note from that game: Memo to Giants defense: if you single man mark Randy Moss like you did TO, he'll burn you even worse. For all Eli's lack of poise, it was this that killed the G men in the end.
9. Late in the Bengals/Ravens game, Carson Palmer was hit by a late, cheap shot to the knee by a Ravens defender (whose name I didn't catch) and that the officials did not see that was horribly reminiscent of the Kimo van Oelhoffen incident that did for him in the play-offs a couple of years back. An ugly tackle deserves a big sanction and the NFL should hit these guys where it really hurts and suspend them for a game. Fines are not enough.
10. Bye weeks suck.
2. The main lack of quality is at the QB position. I said at the time of the draft I was surprised that so many teams had overlooked this position when there were some prospects out there who, at the very least, offered some promise. Minnesota is a case in point; I give Brooks Bollinger a pass; he's the number three on the roster. But would the game have been a lot better for the Vikes if Tarvaris Jackson had been in there? I doubt it. And what exactly are the Dolphins waiting for Cleo Lemon to prove before they give John Beck an opportunity to show why they overlooked Brady Quinn? And Baltimore???? The shot of Kyle Boller totally mis-throwing a practice thorw on the sideline as Steve McNair gifted the Bengals another field goal with a pathetic fumble, really said it all.
3. And as for Eli Manning. The guy had three delay game passes, AT HOME, as the Giants chased the game in the second half. THREE! He still looks like he hates football, still looks like he's got all the leadership ability of a crushed pistachio and still looks a gazillion miles from being the Giants franchise QB.
4. The last of those points also go for Vince Young. If he can't put together a consistent, coherent passing game, he's gonna finish his career reflecting on a highlight that happened before he turned pro. It's not good enough and now he's killing the Titans on offense.
5. And I think it should be a long time before we next hear Phillip Rivers talking himself and his team up.
6. The Steelers are for real. They had a great shot at losing one on Sunday but the D came up big in the second half when one more offensive TD would have been enough for the Browns. Roethlisberger looks to have put a lot of his problems behind him, and is leading a good all-round team. In my mind they have now supplanted the Colts as the number one threat to the Pats in the AFC.
7. I don't think the Jags have enough to challenge the Colts in the AFC South, but if Indy's injury crisis doesn't ease, there will be some jitters down the stretch. It's easy to criticise Polian/Dungy for the lack of depth, but they have been hit so hard in key areas that few teams would be able to cope with the losses. That said, they almost did enough on Sunday night to record an improbable win, but were killed by the two most experienced guys on the team making elementary mistakes.
8. I love the way Tony Romo plays football. After one pass in a key drive against the Giants, which was nearly picked off on the sideline after he tried to force one should have held on to, he went back to the line laughing and joking with his teammates. You could see the cathartic effect it had on them and that they relaxed with him and have great confidence in him. Another note from that game: Memo to Giants defense: if you single man mark Randy Moss like you did TO, he'll burn you even worse. For all Eli's lack of poise, it was this that killed the G men in the end.
9. Late in the Bengals/Ravens game, Carson Palmer was hit by a late, cheap shot to the knee by a Ravens defender (whose name I didn't catch) and that the officials did not see that was horribly reminiscent of the Kimo van Oelhoffen incident that did for him in the play-offs a couple of years back. An ugly tackle deserves a big sanction and the NFL should hit these guys where it really hurts and suspend them for a game. Fines are not enough.
10. Bye weeks suck.
