Week 4 was a compilation of the unexpected and the routine. Some teams regressed and some staked claims. And some fans look forward to the coming weeks while others are already planning for the draft. As the season starts to come into focus, the expectations for the rest of the season also start to become clear.
Once again, there are some surprises in the ranks. Cleveland appears in the plus column for the second consecutive week, this time in a winning effort. The Jaguars hit a home run and get rewarded. The menacing Big Blue defense showed up again. And in San Diego, somebody noticed football season started. Meanwhile, we discovered a couple of standards for offensive ineptitude.
Week five should be interesting.
Many thanks to the GBU contributors (Team Ugly): Any, Arj, Ben, BG, Geto, GFC, Hannah, Stig, and Ward.
The Good
Cleveland – For the second consecutive week, the Brownies get some love. Peyton Hills provided a 3.8 yards and a cloud of dust running attack that kept the heat off Seneca Wallace and helped stake Cleveland to a 23-10 third quarter lead. This time they held the lead, although they were aided by an offensive PI penalty by Ocho Cinco and subsequent sack to preserve the victory. After having the fourth quarter represent disaster in the first three weeks, a victory is a victory. On the downside, TO manhandled the Browns secondary to the tune of 222 yards. Still, in the grand scheme this ranks as a Good.
Jacksonville – You can’t say this too often so it should be said when it is deserved: great game Jaguars and Del Rio. Your game plan for neutralizing the Colts defense worked to a tee. You capitalized on Colts mistakes. Then you took the gift timeout from Caldwell and sent your kicker in to win the game in regulation. You get a gold star today for being the team this week to not turn the ball over, make bonehead mistakes, and throw the game away and actually turn the tables and win by taking what your opponent gave you.
New England – In an up and down start to the 2010 season, this was a definite up. Think Bill Belichick and his team wanted to make a statement? They did so, and it wasn’t even Tom Brady, Randy Moss, or Wes Welker who made the biggest impact. Special teams and defense (believe it or not) carried the day for New England in a game that featured two blocked kicks, three interceptions, and over half the Patriots’ points scored with the offense watching from the sidelines. After a first half in which Miami moved the ball at will but could only get the ball into the end zone once, New England’s special teams unit had a collective out of body experience at the start of the second, led by Pat Chung and Brandon Tate. Tate broke the opening second half kickoff for a TD thanks to a tremendous block by Sammy Morris. Then, after a quick 3-and-out by Miami, Chung blocked Miami’s punt. Two plays later, BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran it in from 12 yards out for another score. Barely 2:15 into the second half, and Miami’s 1-point lead had been turned into a 13-point deficit. New England was off to the races, scoring 5 second-half touchdowns and winning in a laugher. New England looked more like the contender they are following a loss to the Jets two weeks ago and a very close call against Buffalo last week.
New York Giants – Even though we’ll drop the hammer on da Bears later, give the Giants their due. When a defense holds an opponent to 110 yards at just over 2 yards an offensive play, under 1.5 yards per pass play and records ten sacks, that is worthy of note….well, maybe awe. When this defense is on they are a force, and they were definitely on Sunday night. Add to that the offense producing 189 yards on the ground at almost 6 yards a clip and you have the makings of a Good. The score here pretends this game was more competitive than it really was.
San Diego – September is now over, so football season can begin in southern California. The Chargers put the whipping on Arizona thanks to a 21-point explosion in the second quarter to break open a tie game. On offense, the Bolts generated something called a 100-yard rushing performance by fullback Mike Tolbert in only 16 carries. Rivers found Antonio Gates early and often. Meanwhile the Chargers defense recorded nine sacks, making the QB team of Derek Anderson and Max Hall look like Louie Anderson and Monty Hall, holding the Cardinals to 124 total yards.
The Bad
Oakland – The Texans dropped the Raiders to 1-3 with a 31-24 victory in Oakland. One of the improvements the Raiders had promised was a tighter run defense. Along with most everything else they promised over the offseason, we can throw that one to the wind as well. With Arian Foster leading the way, the Texans rushed for 249 yards. Mind you, Foster didn’t even enter the game until deep in the 2nd quarter, and took his first run all the way to the endzone. The Raiders defense didn’t pull in a single sack or INT, and there’s a glaring need to upgrade the secondary. Sometimes Asomugha looks like he’s playing alone out there. A silver lining, as the most penalized team in the NFL, the Raiders committed only two penalties.
Philadelphia – The Eagles weren’t bad all game long. In fact, they were only bad when they needed to be in order to lose a 17-12 decision to the Redskins. Based solely on the stat sheet one might concluded the Eagles prevailed. Even the two telling stats, penalties and turnovers, while the Eagles were on the short end of both they were not drastically so. Timing is everything, good or bad, and two plays epitomize why the Eagles land here. After watching Michael Vick run for 23 yards to the edge of the goal line, Eagle fans gasped while he left the field with an injury, not to return. Meanwhile the officials marked off the holding penalty from the original line of scrimmage, negating the run and a TD chance. Then the potential winning desperation pass on the game’s final play bounced off Avant’s hands, untouched by anyone else until the carom was intercepted. In between penalties choked out any real momentum and prevented a Philadelphia comeback from an early 14-0 deficit. The defense prevented the Redskins from putting this game away, but the mistakes prevented the Eagles from capitalizing.
The Ugly
Arizona – The Cardinals just can’t do much right these days. The good news is they outgained the Bears (up next in our lineup). The bad news is they didn’t do so by much. You can win in the NFL with a big-play QB, you can win with a clutch QB, you can win with a game manager, but you can’t win with no QB at all. No, Cardinal fans, it is not too early to start that list to Santa.
Chicago – Jay Cutler just got sacked again. Wow. Granted, Big Blue has some serious talent on the defensive line, but there’s no excuse for giving up the number of sacks Chicago did. Even though we’ve seen high school teams with better offensive lines than were on display Sunday night, not all those sacks can be pinned on them. Hey Cutler, I know your head is ringing but when you drop back that much, you need to throw the ball and quit standing there with a target on your chest. Holding onto the ball too long is a recipe for disaster even for the best of QBs. The Bears need some OL help along with some upgrades to your receiving corps. While the offense was stagnant the defense let Eli Manning pretty much have his way throughout the game. Not what you’d expect to see from an undefeated division leader on prime time this early in the season. Not only did they lose the game – along with their undefeated record – their starting quarterback, Jay Cutler, has a concussion. Is Lovie about to go back on the hot seat? 110 yards of total offense at a 2.1 yard per play average will get him there quickly.
Indianapolis – Horrible defense and coaching rears its Ugly head again. The Colts look shaky right now and the Superbowl loser curse appears to have had some effect on the Horseshoes.
Miami Dolphins – In what was a must-win battle against a divisional rival, Miami dropped their second home game against an AFC-E opponent. The Miami defense played well against New England’s powerhouse offense, holding them to two TD’s and two FG’s (with one TD scored after the Patriots got possession of the ball inside the Miami 20). However, the Dolphin special teams unit had a complete second-half meltdown, allowing a kickoff return for a TD, a blocked punt, and a blocked FG (also returned for a TD). They were assisted in their self-inflicted gunshot to the foot by quarterback Chad Henne, who threw three brutal interceptions, two to previously unheralded NE linebacker Rob Ninkovich. No one told Henne that staring down your receivers is only a sign of greatness if your name is Brett Favre.
Honorable Mention
Washington – The Redskins themselves weren’t all that Good. They forged ahead to an early 14-point lead and then sort watched in amazement as the Eagles drew penalties and sputtered around. Still, jumping on the Eagles early got noticed and the fact McNabb was able to notch a win in his first return to Philly gets an HM….even if he contributed with a 60 QB rating in the process. Quietly the Skins are 2-0 within the division, almost despite themselves.
Individual Honors
Patrick Chung – He had a career night with three big plays leading to three New England touchdowns. Chung’s second half included a blocked punt deep in Dolphin territory that led to one TD, a blocked FG attempt that was returned for a second by Kyle Arrington, and an interception return for a TD of his own. Savor the Black, Patrick, you earned it.
Arian Foster – He didn’t start running up numbers until the second quarter, when the Texans RB posted 16 carries for 131 yards including a 74-yard TD run.
Antonio Gates – 7 receptions, including the 500th of his career, for 144 yards and a pair of TDs for the Chargers tight end.
Terrell Owens – In a losing cause, Owens caught 10 passes for 222 yards, including a 78 yard TD.
LaDainian Tomlinson – He’s back, to the tune of 133 yards in only 19 carries and 2 TDs. That’s a 7 yard average per carry.
Reggie Wayne – Like Owens, Wayne’s contribution was not enough. Still, he brought in 15 catches for 196 yards.
And Dishonors
Miami special teams – Words can not describe the second half performance of this unit. The Aunt Esther award is insufficient would be a compliment.
Awards
Ciron Black best of the Good: New England. The runner up is San Diego. But New England’s win was a critical divisional road game, which gets the nod.
Aunt Esther ugliest of the Ugly: Tough call here. Miami, Chicago and Arizona all made strong cases. For all-around Ugliness, we’ll award this one to Da Bears.
NFL Week 4: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
October 6, 2010 - 6:56 pm · 0 comments
by Zack Kelberman
in Community Commentary, Weekly Segments
Once again, there are some surprises in the ranks. Cleveland appears in the plus column for the second consecutive week, this time in a winning effort. The Jaguars hit a home run and get rewarded. The menacing Big Blue defense showed up again. And in San Diego, somebody noticed football season started. Meanwhile, we discovered a couple of standards for offensive ineptitude.
Week five should be interesting.
Many thanks to the GBU contributors (Team Ugly): Any, Arj, Ben, BG, Geto, GFC, Hannah, Stig, and Ward.
The Good
Cleveland – For the second consecutive week, the Brownies get some love. Peyton Hills provided a 3.8 yards and a cloud of dust running attack that kept the heat off Seneca Wallace and helped stake Cleveland to a 23-10 third quarter lead. This time they held the lead, although they were aided by an offensive PI penalty by Ocho Cinco and subsequent sack to preserve the victory. After having the fourth quarter represent disaster in the first three weeks, a victory is a victory. On the downside, TO manhandled the Browns secondary to the tune of 222 yards. Still, in the grand scheme this ranks as a Good.
Jacksonville – You can’t say this too often so it should be said when it is deserved: great game Jaguars and Del Rio. Your game plan for neutralizing the Colts defense worked to a tee. You capitalized on Colts mistakes. Then you took the gift timeout from Caldwell and sent your kicker in to win the game in regulation. You get a gold star today for being the team this week to not turn the ball over, make bonehead mistakes, and throw the game away and actually turn the tables and win by taking what your opponent gave you.
New England – In an up and down start to the 2010 season, this was a definite up. Think Bill Belichick and his team wanted to make a statement? They did so, and it wasn’t even Tom Brady, Randy Moss, or Wes Welker who made the biggest impact. Special teams and defense (believe it or not) carried the day for New England in a game that featured two blocked kicks, three interceptions, and over half the Patriots’ points scored with the offense watching from the sidelines. After a first half in which Miami moved the ball at will but could only get the ball into the end zone once, New England’s special teams unit had a collective out of body experience at the start of the second, led by Pat Chung and Brandon Tate. Tate broke the opening second half kickoff for a TD thanks to a tremendous block by Sammy Morris. Then, after a quick 3-and-out by Miami, Chung blocked Miami’s punt. Two plays later, BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran it in from 12 yards out for another score. Barely 2:15 into the second half, and Miami’s 1-point lead had been turned into a 13-point deficit. New England was off to the races, scoring 5 second-half touchdowns and winning in a laugher. New England looked more like the contender they are following a loss to the Jets two weeks ago and a very close call against Buffalo last week.
New York Giants – Even though we’ll drop the hammer on da Bears later, give the Giants their due. When a defense holds an opponent to 110 yards at just over 2 yards an offensive play, under 1.5 yards per pass play and records ten sacks, that is worthy of note….well, maybe awe. When this defense is on they are a force, and they were definitely on Sunday night. Add to that the offense producing 189 yards on the ground at almost 6 yards a clip and you have the makings of a Good. The score here pretends this game was more competitive than it really was.
San Diego – September is now over, so football season can begin in southern California. The Chargers put the whipping on Arizona thanks to a 21-point explosion in the second quarter to break open a tie game. On offense, the Bolts generated something called a 100-yard rushing performance by fullback Mike Tolbert in only 16 carries. Rivers found Antonio Gates early and often. Meanwhile the Chargers defense recorded nine sacks, making the QB team of Derek Anderson and Max Hall look like Louie Anderson and Monty Hall, holding the Cardinals to 124 total yards.
The Bad
Oakland – The Texans dropped the Raiders to 1-3 with a 31-24 victory in Oakland. One of the improvements the Raiders had promised was a tighter run defense. Along with most everything else they promised over the offseason, we can throw that one to the wind as well. With Arian Foster leading the way, the Texans rushed for 249 yards. Mind you, Foster didn’t even enter the game until deep in the 2nd quarter, and took his first run all the way to the endzone. The Raiders defense didn’t pull in a single sack or INT, and there’s a glaring need to upgrade the secondary. Sometimes Asomugha looks like he’s playing alone out there. A silver lining, as the most penalized team in the NFL, the Raiders committed only two penalties.
Philadelphia – The Eagles weren’t bad all game long. In fact, they were only bad when they needed to be in order to lose a 17-12 decision to the Redskins. Based solely on the stat sheet one might concluded the Eagles prevailed. Even the two telling stats, penalties and turnovers, while the Eagles were on the short end of both they were not drastically so. Timing is everything, good or bad, and two plays epitomize why the Eagles land here. After watching Michael Vick run for 23 yards to the edge of the goal line, Eagle fans gasped while he left the field with an injury, not to return. Meanwhile the officials marked off the holding penalty from the original line of scrimmage, negating the run and a TD chance. Then the potential winning desperation pass on the game’s final play bounced off Avant’s hands, untouched by anyone else until the carom was intercepted. In between penalties choked out any real momentum and prevented a Philadelphia comeback from an early 14-0 deficit. The defense prevented the Redskins from putting this game away, but the mistakes prevented the Eagles from capitalizing.
The Ugly
Arizona – The Cardinals just can’t do much right these days. The good news is they outgained the Bears (up next in our lineup). The bad news is they didn’t do so by much. You can win in the NFL with a big-play QB, you can win with a clutch QB, you can win with a game manager, but you can’t win with no QB at all. No, Cardinal fans, it is not too early to start that list to Santa.
Chicago – Jay Cutler just got sacked again. Wow. Granted, Big Blue has some serious talent on the defensive line, but there’s no excuse for giving up the number of sacks Chicago did. Even though we’ve seen high school teams with better offensive lines than were on display Sunday night, not all those sacks can be pinned on them. Hey Cutler, I know your head is ringing but when you drop back that much, you need to throw the ball and quit standing there with a target on your chest. Holding onto the ball too long is a recipe for disaster even for the best of QBs. The Bears need some OL help along with some upgrades to your receiving corps. While the offense was stagnant the defense let Eli Manning pretty much have his way throughout the game. Not what you’d expect to see from an undefeated division leader on prime time this early in the season. Not only did they lose the game – along with their undefeated record – their starting quarterback, Jay Cutler, has a concussion. Is Lovie about to go back on the hot seat? 110 yards of total offense at a 2.1 yard per play average will get him there quickly.
Indianapolis – Horrible defense and coaching rears its Ugly head again. The Colts look shaky right now and the Superbowl loser curse appears to have had some effect on the Horseshoes.
Miami Dolphins – In what was a must-win battle against a divisional rival, Miami dropped their second home game against an AFC-E opponent. The Miami defense played well against New England’s powerhouse offense, holding them to two TD’s and two FG’s (with one TD scored after the Patriots got possession of the ball inside the Miami 20). However, the Dolphin special teams unit had a complete second-half meltdown, allowing a kickoff return for a TD, a blocked punt, and a blocked FG (also returned for a TD). They were assisted in their self-inflicted gunshot to the foot by quarterback Chad Henne, who threw three brutal interceptions, two to previously unheralded NE linebacker Rob Ninkovich. No one told Henne that staring down your receivers is only a sign of greatness if your name is Brett Favre.
Honorable Mention
Washington – The Redskins themselves weren’t all that Good. They forged ahead to an early 14-point lead and then sort watched in amazement as the Eagles drew penalties and sputtered around. Still, jumping on the Eagles early got noticed and the fact McNabb was able to notch a win in his first return to Philly gets an HM….even if he contributed with a 60 QB rating in the process. Quietly the Skins are 2-0 within the division, almost despite themselves.
Individual Honors
Patrick Chung – He had a career night with three big plays leading to three New England touchdowns. Chung’s second half included a blocked punt deep in Dolphin territory that led to one TD, a blocked FG attempt that was returned for a second by Kyle Arrington, and an interception return for a TD of his own. Savor the Black, Patrick, you earned it.
Arian Foster – He didn’t start running up numbers until the second quarter, when the Texans RB posted 16 carries for 131 yards including a 74-yard TD run.
Antonio Gates – 7 receptions, including the 500th of his career, for 144 yards and a pair of TDs for the Chargers tight end.
Terrell Owens – In a losing cause, Owens caught 10 passes for 222 yards, including a 78 yard TD.
LaDainian Tomlinson – He’s back, to the tune of 133 yards in only 19 carries and 2 TDs. That’s a 7 yard average per carry.
Reggie Wayne – Like Owens, Wayne’s contribution was not enough. Still, he brought in 15 catches for 196 yards.
And Dishonors
Miami special teams – Words can not describe the second half performance of this unit. The Aunt Esther award is insufficient would be a compliment.
Awards
Ciron Black best of the Good: New England. The runner up is San Diego. But New England’s win was a critical divisional road game, which gets the nod.
Aunt Esther ugliest of the Ugly: Tough call here. Miami, Chicago and Arizona all made strong cases. For all-around Ugliness, we’ll award this one to Da Bears.
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