There is a lot to talk about in week 3, which spent its first two hours or so as if not much would happen. For better or worse, some teams sprung to life, some showed their true colors and some maintained their lofty positions near the top or bottom of the heap. Several teams are starting to take their 2009 form, and so are we. Here is our humble offering. So read, enjoy, discuss and above all….be careful out there.
The Good
Baltimore – OK, it’s time to recognize the Baltimore Ravens, even if this one-sided victory was against the woeful Cleveland Browns. Joe Flacco threw for a career high 342 yards a TD and no INT’s as the Ravens defense did what it is supposed to do and kept a bad offense out of the end zone. This was the most complete Ravens victory of the young season as both offense and defense strutted their stuff. The Ravens rushing attack combined for over 100 yards and 3 TD’s. The Ravens defense held the Browns offense to a measly 186 total yards and caused 4 turnovers. The Ravens were very good in this laugher of a game and now lead the AFCN by a game over the Cincinatti Bengals.
Cincinnati – Perseverance and patience proved crucial for the Bengals as they trailed the entire game vs. the Steelers. The Bengals capitalized on the game’s only turnover – a gift pick 6 courtesy of Ben Roethlisberger or Santonio Holmes. There appeared to be a miscommunication between QB and WR as CB Jonathan Joseph was alert and broke on the ball for the easy INT for a TD. The Benagls converted a 4th and 10 on their game winning drive as Carson Palmer moved them down the field on a 16 play 71 yard drive, which ate up all but 15 seconds of the game clock. Whodeywouldathunk the Bengals would be leading the Steelers in the AFCN by a game, even if it is only in week 3? Another positive for the Bengals is Cedric Benson who seems to be adding up to a tremendous value, making them forget about Rudi Johnson.
Denver – So I took my dog to the vet for a checkup last week. The vet told me my buddy had a great heart rate and seemed to be very agile. I told her, “And he’s 15!” She replied, ‘Don’t tell HIM that!’ I think the Broncos have the same vet. They are supposed to fall apart any week now. “A win against the Raiders? Please…. That proves nothing.” Or; “ Yep, this is all a fluke and their retreat into the AFC abyss is eventual. “ Either they are not listening to what’s supposed to happen, or this is their way of letting all the armchair experts know they’re wrong. 3-0 is a tough record to laugh at. Denver soundly shut down a festering Raiders Offense. While Orton didn’t light the air game up much, connecting on only 56% of his passes, the Buckhalter and Moreno tandem combined for 35 carries and almost 200 yards. The Denver D and run game might continue to quiet the naysayers a bit longer.
Detroit – Celebrate and rejoice Lions fans! Congratulations on finally getting off the snide. Watching this game, I was able to witness the potential of Matthew Stafford. Stafford, mostly lived up to his reputation of having a very strong arm with not so great accuracy but thanks to the Lions philosophy of max protection and relying on their talented WR’s named Johnson, The Lions kept the rookie QB off the turf. Washington continued to struggle on their defense’s inability to cause pressure and turnovers while their offense continued to struggle scoring points. The result was a well played game by the Lions in which they were able to get the lead and hold on this time.
Jacksonville – The Jaguars got their first win of the season versus the Texans in spite of a superb performance by Houston quarterback MAtt Schaub (26/35 for 300 yards and three TD’s.) Maurice Jones-Drew tore up the field with 119 yards and three touchdowns for the Jags, and David Garrard added 214 through the air. The game was still in doubt until former #1 overall draft pick Mario Williams was called for a horsecollar tackle on third down, which brought a first down for Jacksonville and extended their drive.
New England – Brady still doesn’t look 100%, missing on a few potential homerun strikes to Moss that would have been dead on target (or at least catchable) in 07. However, he is getting a little more comfortable looking every game (even looked better here in the 2nd half vs the first). As long as they can win games in the meantime, Brady getting comfy will serve them better down the stretch than the highlight reel gold they are missing right now. One thing that was back in 07 form was the O-line, creating numerous plays where Brady had time to scan the stands and find Giselle, his Mom, an old high school buddy in town for the game, and Waldo before throwing the ball. This was particularly impressive here since it involved neutralizing Abraham. Kudos also to Fred Taylor for a good showing (see individual honors), and the defense as a whole for stifling both ends of a well rounded offense.
NY Giants – Granted, this was against the Bucs who are a contender to drink from the bottom of the barrel. Still, after a loose defensive performance against the Cowboys, the Giants defense gave up a whopping 86 yards of total offense. 86, as in Agent Maxwell Smart. That netted the Bucs five first downs (one by penalty) and just over 16 minutes of possession. This was not a shutout, it was a complete shutdown. Meanwhile, the Giants romped to almost 400 yards of offense, 226 on the ground. About the only way to screw up such a performance would be to turn the ball over, and the Giants did not (the Bucs only turned it over once). The Giants winning this game substantially was not, in and of itself, enough to land here since that was expected. Giving up a goose egg always gets our attention, but the Giants took that about two steps further. It is hard to get more Good than this.
Philadelphia – McNabb Who?, Westbrook Who?…Eagles looked dominant on offense with subs at the “skill positions” still finding their legs. Kolb became the first NFL player to pass for 300 yards in his first two starts (and look how much better it seemed when he wasn’t forcing it, trying to keep pace with Brees). The defensive front did well too, destroying the rushing attack and pressuring Cassel enough to prevent the Chiefs from ever really being in this game.
The Bad
Arizona – Maybe the Cards need to stay away from the desert heat, because they are now 0-2 at home. Not only are they winless on their own turf, they have looked awful in those losing efforts. The O-line that protected Kurt Warner so well against Jacksonville looked lost against the Colts (and in particular, Mike Gandy was flat-out owned by Dwight Freeney). There are a couple of playmakers on Arizona’s defense (like Darnell Dockett), but they couldn’t overcome an overall horrible outing by the D. They kept the Colts in check for about a quarter, but then Manning and Co. simply dissected the Cards’ defense for the rest of the game (and DRC was abused pretty badly, in particular). On offense, the Cards’ RBs continued their habit of fumbling the ball away, with Hightower putting the ball on the ground on one of the Cards’ few trips into the red zone. Warner fell back into his old habits of making poor decisions with the ball once he’s been hit a few times, throwing 2 picks, overthrowing receivers, and comically running backwards 28 yards to the 50 yard line to try and avoid a sack on a 4th-and-long late in the 4th quarter. The lone bright spot for the Cards was that every other NFC West team lost as well, so they didn’t lose any ground.
Buffalo – Only two things keep them out of the ugly category this week: A proliferation of even uglier games around the league lowering the bar for some borderline games to get promoted to “bad”, and the fact that the Bills defense did an admirable job containing an offense that had been running free this year so far. Unfortunately, the Bills offense could not answer. Their only points came on a fake FG where punter/holder Brian Moorman rolled out and tossed a 25 yard TD. This was the spark they needed, but Buffalo had nothing else to give. Though Brees had a suddenly mortal looking day, Pierre Thomas was able to move effectively, going for an impressive 9 ypc on 14 carries.
Carolina – After scratching out a 7-0 at halftime, the Panthers offense decided they had done enough. They abandoned the defense for the 3/4th of the second half, not gaining a first down for over 24 minutes. They were predictable and overly conservative during this offensive clinic. Some general incompetence by the Cowboys play calling kept this game close. But what the Cowboys offense couldn’t do while dominating 24 minutes of the second half the Panthers offense did in about 8 seconds…..putting this game out of reach when an interception was returned to the promised land. Losing this game in Dallas was not bad, but leading at halftime had promise, but a disinterested effort in the second half turned this into a Bad night.
Kansas City – It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with it. The Chiefs and Eagles held the ball for just about the same amount of time (Philly had a 70 second edge.) Total net yards? KC 196. Philly 420. WOW. How do you do that? What are you doing with all that time if you aren’t moving the ball? Well they sure weren’t converting on 3rd down. 0-11 on 3rd down attempts. That is going to KILL you. Well, kill KC, and it did. The not so bad for KC is that Cassel, while only throwing the ball 18 times, connected on 14 of those, and passing for 2 TDs. KC needs more of that.
Miami – Whatever good, bad or ugly the Dolphins rang up yesterday was overshadowed when quarterback Chad Pennington had to leave the game in the 13-23 loss to the Chargers. Though Pennington has been much-maligned in his career, any time he has started 10 or more games for his team, they have gone on to the playoffs, and when he doesn’t, they don’t. So unless Henne channels the spirit of another Michigan alumnus that stepped into an AFC East starting role thanks to an injury to the #1 QB, the Dolphins may have just seen their season sink beneath the waves.
Pittsburgh – The only thing keeping the Steelers off the Ugly list this week is that they led the game until the final 15 seconds. Not converting on short yardage situations; miscommunication between QB Ben Roethlisberger and WR Santonio Holmes, resulting in a pick 6; a dropped TD pass that hit Limas Sweed in the hands; a missed FG; and the defense giving up another game winning drive cost the Steelers their second victory this year. All of this considering the feared to be worst part of the team (offensive line) played much improved and protected well, while giving Willie Parker some running room. The Steelers are suffering from a Super Bowl hangover and are not playing like defending Champions. It doesn’t get easier this week as the Steelers host the Chargers on SNF.
The Ugly
Cleveland – Who is the freaking Quarterback of this bunch of Mangina led misfits? Players filing grievances, piss poor play, and an incredible void of talent has caused the Browns to be the current laughing stock of a team in the NFL as Detroit has officially left the Browns in their dust. The Browns don’t have much light at the end of the tunnel. In this game, Brady Quinn was benched only to be replaced by Derek Anderson and his 3 INT’s. Factor in almost no running game and a horrible defensive performance and it’s hard to come up with anything positive to come from this Browns loss. Perhaps our local resident KK can shed some hopeful light on this team as it would be an incredible reach for just about anyone else.
Oakland – Excuse me, I need to get Oakland a Snickers. They’re going to be here for a while. So here’s the question, if I had a magic wand and was able to transform JaMarcus Russell into a moderately decent QB today, would Oakland no longer be an ugly team? There are other problems, sure. Like who should JaMarcus throw to? They also have critical issues with their run Defense, as they can’t seem to contain anyone, ever, at all. But those two issues aside, is the utter incompetence of JRuss causing a snowball effect that has drug Oakland into the Ugly corner for good? This H2H analyst says yes. JaMarcus turned in 12 connections, 61 yards and 2 INTs. The Raiders Offense barely had a pulse, producing 9 first downs and 137 total yards for the game. A shout out to McFadden and his 3 Fumbles, didn’t want you to think we didn’t notice
Seattle – They get put in the Ugly category this week solely because of the hideous, garish, WFL-caliber neon green uniforms the team debuted (and hopefully retired) against the Bears. When people use the term “nuclear option,” rarely are they ever talking about football unis, but that’s exactly what these were. There’s absolutely no excuse for these uniforms to ever see the light of day again. The Seahawks need to round these abominations up and ship them to underprivileged children overseas who can then use them as nightlights.
Tampa Bay – As much as the Giants body of work in this game was Good, the Bucs’ defined Ugly. The Bucs were simply pillaged by the New York Giants. The offense gave new meaning to the word “inept,” not logging a first down until almost 40 minutes into the game (they did face 4th and 1 in the first quarter). 56 of their 86 yards and 4 of their 5 first downs came on amid-fourth quarter drive that fizzled with four consecutive incompletions from the Giant 5. Quarterback Josh Johnson had a mere 36 yards passing on 4-for-10 throwing after coming in for Byron Leftwich, who was equally erratic with only 22 yards and an interception after going 7 for 16. Meanwhile, the Giants amassed 28 first downs. The Giants tandem of Bradshaw and Jacobs ran roughshod over the Tampa Bay defense, piling up 196 yards on the ground between them. This performance was a throwback to 1976, and just as Ugly despite the change in uniforms.
Washington – They just became the answer to a future Jeopardy clue. Santana Moss had a monster game. Remove him and you have a team somewhere between the Clevelands and the Buffalos of the world. The stat sheet says they put up a lot of yards, particularly on the arm of Campbell. The reality is a lot of those yards came after the issue was no longer in doubt and everybody was too busy partying or in too much shock to notice. The defense, which had carried this team, gave up over 150 yards on the ground and threw Matthew Stafford a coming out party. Remember, this team is a 2-point win over the hapless Rams away from being 0-3.
Honorable Mention
New York Jets – Simply put, they had a chance to fold up in this game when the Titans recovered from t he 14-0 hole to take a 17-14 lead. In fact, the Jets didn’t look rattled. Perhaps inconvenienced. It says something about this team to give up a double-digit lead early in the second half, only to right the ship and bag a win. If we there had not been so much good already, this would have made it.
Individual Honors ….
Joe Flacco – The Ravens QB continues to pile up the offensive stats, completing 71% of his throws for 342 yards and a TD versus the winless Browns. Flacco, who finished with under 3,000 yards and 14 TDs in 2008, is on a pace to finish with over 4,400 yards and 32 touchdowns.
Santana Moss – The Redskins may have the uneviable distinction of being the team that the Detroit Lions beat to end their 19-game losing streak, but it wasn’t for lack of trying by Washington’s Santana Moss. Moss pulled in 10 receptions for 178 yards and 1 TD in the losing effort
Fred Taylor – The Patriots finally found their running attack, in the form of Fred Taylor. 105 yards with 1 TD in 21 attempts would not generally be noteworthy were it not for the fact that 100-yard efforts by Patriot running backs happen with about the same frequency that Jerry Falwell used to bless gay marriages.
And Dishonors
Wade Phillips/Jason Garrett – You’ve put up almost 200 yards rushing through just over three quarters. The opposing defense has been on the field 20 of the first 18 minutes of the second half. You are leading by field goal and have second and goal about four feet away. RUN THE EFFIN BALL!
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly – Week 3
September 29, 2009 - 10:20 pm · 0 comments
by Zack Kelberman
in Community Commentary, Weekly Segments
The Good
Baltimore – OK, it’s time to recognize the Baltimore Ravens, even if this one-sided victory was against the woeful Cleveland Browns. Joe Flacco threw for a career high 342 yards a TD and no INT’s as the Ravens defense did what it is supposed to do and kept a bad offense out of the end zone. This was the most complete Ravens victory of the young season as both offense and defense strutted their stuff. The Ravens rushing attack combined for over 100 yards and 3 TD’s. The Ravens defense held the Browns offense to a measly 186 total yards and caused 4 turnovers. The Ravens were very good in this laugher of a game and now lead the AFCN by a game over the Cincinatti Bengals.
Cincinnati – Perseverance and patience proved crucial for the Bengals as they trailed the entire game vs. the Steelers. The Bengals capitalized on the game’s only turnover – a gift pick 6 courtesy of Ben Roethlisberger or Santonio Holmes. There appeared to be a miscommunication between QB and WR as CB Jonathan Joseph was alert and broke on the ball for the easy INT for a TD. The Benagls converted a 4th and 10 on their game winning drive as Carson Palmer moved them down the field on a 16 play 71 yard drive, which ate up all but 15 seconds of the game clock. Whodeywouldathunk the Bengals would be leading the Steelers in the AFCN by a game, even if it is only in week 3? Another positive for the Bengals is Cedric Benson who seems to be adding up to a tremendous value, making them forget about Rudi Johnson.
Denver – So I took my dog to the vet for a checkup last week. The vet told me my buddy had a great heart rate and seemed to be very agile. I told her, “And he’s 15!” She replied, ‘Don’t tell HIM that!’ I think the Broncos have the same vet. They are supposed to fall apart any week now. “A win against the Raiders? Please…. That proves nothing.” Or; “ Yep, this is all a fluke and their retreat into the AFC abyss is eventual. “ Either they are not listening to what’s supposed to happen, or this is their way of letting all the armchair experts know they’re wrong. 3-0 is a tough record to laugh at. Denver soundly shut down a festering Raiders Offense. While Orton didn’t light the air game up much, connecting on only 56% of his passes, the Buckhalter and Moreno tandem combined for 35 carries and almost 200 yards. The Denver D and run game might continue to quiet the naysayers a bit longer.
Detroit – Celebrate and rejoice Lions fans! Congratulations on finally getting off the snide. Watching this game, I was able to witness the potential of Matthew Stafford. Stafford, mostly lived up to his reputation of having a very strong arm with not so great accuracy but thanks to the Lions philosophy of max protection and relying on their talented WR’s named Johnson, The Lions kept the rookie QB off the turf. Washington continued to struggle on their defense’s inability to cause pressure and turnovers while their offense continued to struggle scoring points. The result was a well played game by the Lions in which they were able to get the lead and hold on this time.
Jacksonville – The Jaguars got their first win of the season versus the Texans in spite of a superb performance by Houston quarterback MAtt Schaub (26/35 for 300 yards and three TD’s.) Maurice Jones-Drew tore up the field with 119 yards and three touchdowns for the Jags, and David Garrard added 214 through the air. The game was still in doubt until former #1 overall draft pick Mario Williams was called for a horsecollar tackle on third down, which brought a first down for Jacksonville and extended their drive.
New England – Brady still doesn’t look 100%, missing on a few potential homerun strikes to Moss that would have been dead on target (or at least catchable) in 07. However, he is getting a little more comfortable looking every game (even looked better here in the 2nd half vs the first). As long as they can win games in the meantime, Brady getting comfy will serve them better down the stretch than the highlight reel gold they are missing right now. One thing that was back in 07 form was the O-line, creating numerous plays where Brady had time to scan the stands and find Giselle, his Mom, an old high school buddy in town for the game, and Waldo before throwing the ball. This was particularly impressive here since it involved neutralizing Abraham. Kudos also to Fred Taylor for a good showing (see individual honors), and the defense as a whole for stifling both ends of a well rounded offense.
NY Giants – Granted, this was against the Bucs who are a contender to drink from the bottom of the barrel. Still, after a loose defensive performance against the Cowboys, the Giants defense gave up a whopping 86 yards of total offense. 86, as in Agent Maxwell Smart. That netted the Bucs five first downs (one by penalty) and just over 16 minutes of possession. This was not a shutout, it was a complete shutdown. Meanwhile, the Giants romped to almost 400 yards of offense, 226 on the ground. About the only way to screw up such a performance would be to turn the ball over, and the Giants did not (the Bucs only turned it over once). The Giants winning this game substantially was not, in and of itself, enough to land here since that was expected. Giving up a goose egg always gets our attention, but the Giants took that about two steps further. It is hard to get more Good than this.
Philadelphia – McNabb Who?, Westbrook Who?…Eagles looked dominant on offense with subs at the “skill positions” still finding their legs. Kolb became the first NFL player to pass for 300 yards in his first two starts (and look how much better it seemed when he wasn’t forcing it, trying to keep pace with Brees). The defensive front did well too, destroying the rushing attack and pressuring Cassel enough to prevent the Chiefs from ever really being in this game.
The Bad
Arizona – Maybe the Cards need to stay away from the desert heat, because they are now 0-2 at home. Not only are they winless on their own turf, they have looked awful in those losing efforts. The O-line that protected Kurt Warner so well against Jacksonville looked lost against the Colts (and in particular, Mike Gandy was flat-out owned by Dwight Freeney). There are a couple of playmakers on Arizona’s defense (like Darnell Dockett), but they couldn’t overcome an overall horrible outing by the D. They kept the Colts in check for about a quarter, but then Manning and Co. simply dissected the Cards’ defense for the rest of the game (and DRC was abused pretty badly, in particular). On offense, the Cards’ RBs continued their habit of fumbling the ball away, with Hightower putting the ball on the ground on one of the Cards’ few trips into the red zone. Warner fell back into his old habits of making poor decisions with the ball once he’s been hit a few times, throwing 2 picks, overthrowing receivers, and comically running backwards 28 yards to the 50 yard line to try and avoid a sack on a 4th-and-long late in the 4th quarter. The lone bright spot for the Cards was that every other NFC West team lost as well, so they didn’t lose any ground.
Buffalo – Only two things keep them out of the ugly category this week: A proliferation of even uglier games around the league lowering the bar for some borderline games to get promoted to “bad”, and the fact that the Bills defense did an admirable job containing an offense that had been running free this year so far. Unfortunately, the Bills offense could not answer. Their only points came on a fake FG where punter/holder Brian Moorman rolled out and tossed a 25 yard TD. This was the spark they needed, but Buffalo had nothing else to give. Though Brees had a suddenly mortal looking day, Pierre Thomas was able to move effectively, going for an impressive 9 ypc on 14 carries.
Carolina – After scratching out a 7-0 at halftime, the Panthers offense decided they had done enough. They abandoned the defense for the 3/4th of the second half, not gaining a first down for over 24 minutes. They were predictable and overly conservative during this offensive clinic. Some general incompetence by the Cowboys play calling kept this game close. But what the Cowboys offense couldn’t do while dominating 24 minutes of the second half the Panthers offense did in about 8 seconds…..putting this game out of reach when an interception was returned to the promised land. Losing this game in Dallas was not bad, but leading at halftime had promise, but a disinterested effort in the second half turned this into a Bad night.
Kansas City – It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with it. The Chiefs and Eagles held the ball for just about the same amount of time (Philly had a 70 second edge.) Total net yards? KC 196. Philly 420. WOW. How do you do that? What are you doing with all that time if you aren’t moving the ball? Well they sure weren’t converting on 3rd down. 0-11 on 3rd down attempts. That is going to KILL you. Well, kill KC, and it did. The not so bad for KC is that Cassel, while only throwing the ball 18 times, connected on 14 of those, and passing for 2 TDs. KC needs more of that.
Miami – Whatever good, bad or ugly the Dolphins rang up yesterday was overshadowed when quarterback Chad Pennington had to leave the game in the 13-23 loss to the Chargers. Though Pennington has been much-maligned in his career, any time he has started 10 or more games for his team, they have gone on to the playoffs, and when he doesn’t, they don’t. So unless Henne channels the spirit of another Michigan alumnus that stepped into an AFC East starting role thanks to an injury to the #1 QB, the Dolphins may have just seen their season sink beneath the waves.
Pittsburgh – The only thing keeping the Steelers off the Ugly list this week is that they led the game until the final 15 seconds. Not converting on short yardage situations; miscommunication between QB Ben Roethlisberger and WR Santonio Holmes, resulting in a pick 6; a dropped TD pass that hit Limas Sweed in the hands; a missed FG; and the defense giving up another game winning drive cost the Steelers their second victory this year. All of this considering the feared to be worst part of the team (offensive line) played much improved and protected well, while giving Willie Parker some running room. The Steelers are suffering from a Super Bowl hangover and are not playing like defending Champions. It doesn’t get easier this week as the Steelers host the Chargers on SNF.
The Ugly
Cleveland – Who is the freaking Quarterback of this bunch of Mangina led misfits? Players filing grievances, piss poor play, and an incredible void of talent has caused the Browns to be the current laughing stock of a team in the NFL as Detroit has officially left the Browns in their dust. The Browns don’t have much light at the end of the tunnel. In this game, Brady Quinn was benched only to be replaced by Derek Anderson and his 3 INT’s. Factor in almost no running game and a horrible defensive performance and it’s hard to come up with anything positive to come from this Browns loss. Perhaps our local resident KK can shed some hopeful light on this team as it would be an incredible reach for just about anyone else.
Oakland – Excuse me, I need to get Oakland a Snickers. They’re going to be here for a while. So here’s the question, if I had a magic wand and was able to transform JaMarcus Russell into a moderately decent QB today, would Oakland no longer be an ugly team? There are other problems, sure. Like who should JaMarcus throw to? They also have critical issues with their run Defense, as they can’t seem to contain anyone, ever, at all. But those two issues aside, is the utter incompetence of JRuss causing a snowball effect that has drug Oakland into the Ugly corner for good? This H2H analyst says yes. JaMarcus turned in 12 connections, 61 yards and 2 INTs. The Raiders Offense barely had a pulse, producing 9 first downs and 137 total yards for the game. A shout out to McFadden and his 3 Fumbles, didn’t want you to think we didn’t notice
Seattle – They get put in the Ugly category this week solely because of the hideous, garish, WFL-caliber neon green uniforms the team debuted (and hopefully retired) against the Bears. When people use the term “nuclear option,” rarely are they ever talking about football unis, but that’s exactly what these were. There’s absolutely no excuse for these uniforms to ever see the light of day again. The Seahawks need to round these abominations up and ship them to underprivileged children overseas who can then use them as nightlights.
Tampa Bay – As much as the Giants body of work in this game was Good, the Bucs’ defined Ugly. The Bucs were simply pillaged by the New York Giants. The offense gave new meaning to the word “inept,” not logging a first down until almost 40 minutes into the game (they did face 4th and 1 in the first quarter). 56 of their 86 yards and 4 of their 5 first downs came on amid-fourth quarter drive that fizzled with four consecutive incompletions from the Giant 5. Quarterback Josh Johnson had a mere 36 yards passing on 4-for-10 throwing after coming in for Byron Leftwich, who was equally erratic with only 22 yards and an interception after going 7 for 16. Meanwhile, the Giants amassed 28 first downs. The Giants tandem of Bradshaw and Jacobs ran roughshod over the Tampa Bay defense, piling up 196 yards on the ground between them. This performance was a throwback to 1976, and just as Ugly despite the change in uniforms.
Washington – They just became the answer to a future Jeopardy clue. Santana Moss had a monster game. Remove him and you have a team somewhere between the Clevelands and the Buffalos of the world. The stat sheet says they put up a lot of yards, particularly on the arm of Campbell. The reality is a lot of those yards came after the issue was no longer in doubt and everybody was too busy partying or in too much shock to notice. The defense, which had carried this team, gave up over 150 yards on the ground and threw Matthew Stafford a coming out party. Remember, this team is a 2-point win over the hapless Rams away from being 0-3.
Honorable Mention
New York Jets – Simply put, they had a chance to fold up in this game when the Titans recovered from t he 14-0 hole to take a 17-14 lead. In fact, the Jets didn’t look rattled. Perhaps inconvenienced. It says something about this team to give up a double-digit lead early in the second half, only to right the ship and bag a win. If we there had not been so much good already, this would have made it.
Individual Honors ….
Joe Flacco – The Ravens QB continues to pile up the offensive stats, completing 71% of his throws for 342 yards and a TD versus the winless Browns. Flacco, who finished with under 3,000 yards and 14 TDs in 2008, is on a pace to finish with over 4,400 yards and 32 touchdowns.
Santana Moss – The Redskins may have the uneviable distinction of being the team that the Detroit Lions beat to end their 19-game losing streak, but it wasn’t for lack of trying by Washington’s Santana Moss. Moss pulled in 10 receptions for 178 yards and 1 TD in the losing effort
Fred Taylor – The Patriots finally found their running attack, in the form of Fred Taylor. 105 yards with 1 TD in 21 attempts would not generally be noteworthy were it not for the fact that 100-yard efforts by Patriot running backs happen with about the same frequency that Jerry Falwell used to bless gay marriages.
And Dishonors
Wade Phillips/Jason Garrett – You’ve put up almost 200 yards rushing through just over three quarters. The opposing defense has been on the field 20 of the first 18 minutes of the second half. You are leading by field goal and have second and goal about four feet away. RUN THE EFFIN BALL!
Tagged as: bad, good, ugly