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Hi Folks, Here’s what happens when you
mix an NFL Junkie, Sunday Ticket, a big screen TV and fresh batteries in the
remote… New
Orleans Aaron Brooks has got to have the skinniest legs of any QB. Plus, those black pants with the black socks
don’t help anything… If
you were a Head Coach in the NFL, how would you dress? I think I’d probably go with the Tony
Dungy vest over a long sleeve mock turtleneck shirt and probably a pro
style fitted team cap. Too many of
these guys look like slobs on the sidelines.
You’re representing a city, a team and the league. Derrick
Mason and Steve
McNair owners caught a break Sunday.
Mason’s “TD” clearly showed he was down at the one. Surprised Houston didn’t challenge. I
finally figured out what the numbers represent on the back of the
Referee’s Jerseys. It’s how many
years of service they have in the league.
Look for yourself next game and see if you think I’m right… Funny
line from Peyton Manning two weeks ago when James Mungro showed
up in the huddle. “I thought he was on
the practice squad”… Bonehead
Play of the Week: Baltimore’s Ed Reed
intercepts a Jon Kitna pass and returns it 46 yards. He’s on his way to the endzone showboating
and waving the ball. He just forgot
about T.J. Houshmandzadeh behind him.
The Bengal WR knocked the ball out of Reed’s hand and Cincinnati
recovered in the endzone. You think
Coach Brian Billick wanted to talk to him? Runner
Up for Bonehead Play of the Week: How can
Pittsburgh’s Plaxico Burress show the concentration necessary to hang
onto a double tipped pass for a TD and then have a brain meltdown spinning the
ball after a catch while the play was still live? TE Mark Bruener made a headsup play there but I still
think Atlanta got the shaft on that play.
Even worse, that was the 2nd time Burress has done something
like that. Speaking
of the Atlanta – Pittsburgh game, Bill Cowher is one of my favorite
coaches but why in the world do they leave those timeouts on the table as the
overtime was winding down? They could
have easily preserved some time on the clock for them to do more when they got
the ball back. Might have only been a
few seconds but I bet most Steeler fans would have liked to have a few more
seconds in that game. You
may have read about the very cool story of Jake Porter, the high school
Senior in McDermott Ohio who scored his first TD recently. But now there’s a video link here that you
might like. http://www.herald-dispatch.com/2002/October/24/LStop2.htm Good stuff. There are a few critics but save yourself the time of sending
any emails about how this was “destroying the integrity of the game” as I don’t
want to hear it. Ernie
Conwell is
the TE of choice in St. Louis but #2 man, Brandon Manumaleuna is a
load. He’s 6’ 2” and 288. San Diego LB Jr. Seau hit him pretty clean
in the flat and Seau just bounced off him. I
bet you could have found plenty of takers in August that Marc Bulger and
Tommy Maddox wouldn’t throw for 900 yards and 8 TDs combined this
season. They did that in Sunday’s
games… Note
to Chris Berman: We get the “Ray
Bolger was the Scarecrow in Wizard of Oz” thing. Do you have to sing the song every week when you mention Marc
Bulger? Sometimes, he reaches for
the name thing just a little too hard.
If it’s just not there, let it go Boomer… Has
it come to this for Minnesota? They
made Ron Dayne look fast Sunday. The
Rams’ Tom Nütten has that cool little double dot thing over the “u” in
his name. (Apologies to the German
folks, I’m sure the proper term is something other than “that cool little
double dot thing”) I wonder if the guy
who puts the names on the jerseys has to send that one out? Or if he just steals a couple dots from and
“i”… Mike
Martz and
the Rams are saying all the right things but I this is a huge (and very real)
question: What do they do if Kurt
Warner struggles in his return as bad as he was struggling before the
injury. Does anyone really expect him
to play better after being hurt?
Bulger will get another start this week. Good thing as Mike Martz might have gone down as the only Coach
in history to bench a QB coming off a 450+ yard, 4 TD, 0 Interception day… Evolution
of the Jeremy Shockey Questions: August
– Is he the best TE of all time? September
– Is he the best TE in the League? October
– Is he the best Rookie TE? November
– Is he the best TE on his team? Bill
Parcells
had a funny line back in week 1 describing all the Shockey talk after his Hall
of Fame game performance: “I dunno why
he even left Canton. Why don’t we just
go ahead and induct him while he was there?…
Don’t doubt the Big Guy. Hated
to see young WR Tim Carter tear his Achilles tendon Sunday. So much for the “that only happens to old
white guys” theory I had. Detroit’s
Barrett Green is a young linebacker to keep an eye on. Definition of “motor running”. Minnesota’s
#1 pick Bryant McKinnie finally signed and played Sunday. When’s the last time a #1 pick held out until
week 10? I wonder if it was worth it
for him? I
guess I’m jaded enough now that very few things make me stop what I’m doing and
just stare. Mike Vick flicking
that ball 60 yards down field on a rope is one of those things. The guy is an alien. I
like Terry Bradshaw. He’s a
goofball and knows it. He was calling
the highlights of Marques Anderson interception TD for Green Bay and
said, “Two time Defensive Rookie of the Year Marques Anderson…” You could see Howie Long start smiling… Most
of you know I’m big on Veteran’s Day.
It was cool to see the different ceremonies around the league saluting
the men and women who keep our country safe.
Arnold Palmer was visibly moved in Pittsburgh. It’s
sort of an odd couple, but I really like Green Bay’s tandem of Donald Driver
and Terry Glenn. And
I thought Glenn was shafted on the TD being overturned. The refs must have had a different camera
angle than the networks did to see some sort of evidence that it was not a
TD. The shots from TV were totally
inconclusive. Thanks
to the folks (all 1,459 of you J ) who let me know I
misspelled Cris Collinsworth’s name last week. I’m a guy who has to work at spelling. And Collinsworth is a name that I can never remember how to
spell. I type it “Collingsworth” and
think that doesn’t look right. So I
click over to Google.com, type in “Collingsworth” and get a bunch of sites come
up that talk about WR Cris Collingsworth etc.
So I go with it. That’ll teach
me to trust Florida Gator Football sites… Speaking
of Collinsworth and Terry Glenn, Collinsworth told an interesting story
that he was talking to a security guard at the stadium in New England that was
going on and on about what a great guy Terry Glenn was. Said Glenn thanked him every morning for
opening the gates early for him.
That’s cool. I’ve long believed
you can learn a lot about a guy by how he treats the people around him that
most would consider “less important”. How
ugly was the Minnesota – New York game?
The Giants converted 1 of 11 3rd downs. The Vikings converted 0 of 9 3rd
downs. More
ugliness from Minnesota – At halftime RB Michael Bennett was 1 yard
short of having twice as many yards rushing as Daunte Culpepper had
passing (51 to 26) Is
there a player in the NFL without a tattoo?
Just asking… Does
sideline reporter Pam Oliver have more than the normal number of
teeth? For
what it’s worth, “teeth” is one of those words you read at 2 A.M. and it just
doesn’t seem like it’s spelled right.
And yes, I’m sure that’s just me. Who
would’ve guessed that Indy’s James Mungro would be the key to Peyton
Manning’s passing? Manning’s game
is dependant on the play action pass and Manning said that up till recently,
the Play Action had been “a hollow fake”.
I
think I’m with Troy Aikman who says San Diego’s Rodney Harrison is not a
dirty player. Harrison is just an
incredibly hard hitter. There’s a
difference. When I think “dirty
player”, I think more of a guy like Bill Romanowski twisting legs and
taking late cheap shots trying to intimidate. Could’ve
done without seeing the 350 pound guys in their little diaper things, but the
segment on how Offensive Lineman have similar moves to the Sumo Wrestlers was
interesting. Whatever happened to that
Sumo Wrestler who was trying to make the roster on one of the NFL teams? Anyone
else love the irony of Tommy Maddox throwing for 473 yards and 4 TDs
while Coach Dan Reeves was on the other sideline. Reeves who defended Maddox in Denver and
New York had to be saying to himself, “I told you that guy could play”… It’s
getting uglier by the day in Arizona.
QB Jake Plummer answered some booing “fans” with a hand gesture
signifying they were “#1”. He used a
different finger though… Why
do players wear those tiny little arm bands right above their elbow? The
most amazing part of the St. Louis comeback Sunday? They burned their last timeout with 13 minutes left in the 4th
quarter and still did what they had to do. Coach
Mike Tice has named Daunte Culpepper the starter for this
week. But anyone who saw the
electricity fly with Todd Bouman winging the ball downfield to Randy Moss knows
Culpepper will be on a very short leash. Most
money RB in the league? How about
Minnesota’s Moe Williams. 6
games in a row with a rushing TD. Does
Minnesota Coach Mike Tice have an endorsement deal with a chewing gum
company and a pencil manufacturer or office supply store? If I’m his agent, I’m on the phone to Double
Bubble and Office Depot right now… San
Diego Punter Darren Bennett has the “drop shot” kick down. He’s from Australia and does a rugby
looking thing where the ball spins backwards.
When it hits, it looks like a Tiger Woods chip shot backing up on the
green. Bennett was set to punt from
one of the toughest spots on the field for a kicker, the other team’s 33 yard
line. The TV announcers were calling it
saying he would do the reverse spin thing and I was thinking “yeah right”. Sure enough, the ball lands at the 3, back
spins a few yards and San Diego downs it at the Rams 6. Very cool. Minnesota’s
Todd Bouman looks to be a pretty laid back character in the game. Came off the field looking very Jim
McMahonlike blowing a big bubble. You
gotta like that. Most
Obvious Blown Call of the Week: The Rams Dre
Bly makes that great onside kick recovery towards the end of the game and
yanks off his helmet in celebration a good 5 yards from the sidelines. I
hope Tiki Barber gets paid a lot to wear those goofy looking red heeled
cleats. I
love the guy, but watching Tommy Maddox “scramble” after watching Mike
Vick on the previous series was kind of funny. I
don’t think you’ll ever find a better chance to deal away Chicago RB Anthony
Thomas. Who
is it that’s coming up with these dark pants to go with the dark jerseys? Jacksonville’s black pants were just
wrong. Does
the first tackler ever bring down Priest Holmes? Ever? Ron
Blum, the
referee in the San Francisco game looked to be wearing a huge Super Bowl
ring. Please tell me the refs don’t
get a ring for just working the Super Bowl. Coach
Steve Mariucci has the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it)
“headset hair” in the league. He’s
gotta do something there. San
Francisco LB’s were outstanding in pass coverage Sunday. Julian Peterson smothered TE Tony
Gonzalez and Derek Smith was all over RB Priest Holmes on a long pass
down the sidelines. One
reason you don’t make deals with the devil – he usually wants payment with
interest. For proof, see the Chicago
Bears 2003 season. I
like Kevan Barlow but the one thing I’m more sure of each week? Barlow owners need to chill. Barring injury, Garrison Hearst isn’t
going anywhere. He’s looking stronger
every game. Kansas
City has been involved in 7 games where the outcome was decided by 7 points or
less. They’re 2-5 in those games. What
was with the Titan’s field? Do
they not have sprinklers in Nashville?
It looked like a dustbowl early on. The
ESPN “State Fair” commercial where it’s supposed to be a play (or
something) is without a doubt the worst commercial on TV. I refuse to believe the agency that creates
the Sportscenter ads has anything to do with these spots. Seems
that with Ray Lucas at QB, teams have figured out Ricky Williams
which means they’ve figured out the Dolphins.
For the first 4 games of the season, Williams averaged 5.6 yards per
carry. He’s hitting just 3.1 over the
last 5 games. Chicago’s
Marty Booker and Leon Johnson both throw better than QB Jim
Miller… You
think Washington QB Shane Matthews is looking over his shoulder? Me too. Talk
about a slow start. Pittsburgh’s Amos
Zereoue took his 1st carry for minus 6 yards. Followed it with his 2nd carry
for minus 4 yards. Took him 6 tries
before he had positive yardage on the day. Does
the “Prevent” defense ever work?
Seriously. I know better than
to ask that question to any Chicago fans this week. Is Jerry
Rice as good as he ever was? TE Dan
Campbell isn’t just stealing Jeremy Shockey’s receptions. He stole his hair cut too. I’m
not sure what a perfect game looks like for a QB, but I bet it’s pretty close
to what Rich Gannon put up against Denver Monday Night… The
Jets’ Sam Cowart had a good line on how he was going to handle Ricky
Williams: “They’re going to give
the ball to Williams. And I’m going to
tackle him”. Hard
Luck Awards: PHI
QB Donovan McNabb 4 yard rush to the 2 (McNabb to Thomason
TD) BAL
RB Jamal Lewis 5 yard rush to the 1 (Blake to Taylor TD) NYG
RB Tiki Barber 4 yard rush to the 1 (Collins to Stackhouse
TD) NYG
RB Tiki Barber 1 yard TD nullified for holding penalty on Dan
Campbell (Collins to Toomer
TD) MIN
QB Todd Bouman 32 yard pass to Randy Moss to the 1 (Williams TD) GB
QB Brett Favre 13 yard TD pass to Robert Ferguson nullified for
penalty on Ferguson (Longwell FG) GB
QB Brett Favre 47 yard TD pass to Terry Glenn overturned (Davenport TD) DET
QB Joey Harrington 6 yard pass to Germane Crowell to the 1 (Harrington
to Ricks TD) MIA
QB Ray Lucas 9 yard TD pass to Chris Chambers overturned (Mare FG) ATL
RB Warrick Dunn 2 yard rush to the 2
(Christian TD) KC
RB Priest Holmes 11 yard TD rush nullified by holding penalty on Jason
Dunn. CAR
QB Rodney Peete 35 yard pass to Kris Mangum to the 1 (Smith TD) Sometimes
it’s better to just not know… Aside
from the clock management, the most painful part of Pittsburgh’s tie with
Atlanta had to be Todd Peterson’s blocked extra point attempt. Cincinnati’s
Jon Kitna completed passes to 10 different receivers. 12 if you count the 2 to Ed Reed and
1 to Adalius Thomas. But they
play for Baltimore… That’ll
do it for this week. Here’s to
Football… Joe Joe
Bryant is the co-owner of www.footballguys.com. You can usually find him on Sunday afternoon staring at the Sunday Ticket broadcast muttering “this is so cool…” |