It is
coming to an end, folks. Brett Favre, who beat my
New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, has long passed
his usefulness to the Green Bay Packers and is
nearing the end of his career with them, too. This Sunday in
Chicago,
where he had not lost since I was in college, he got beaten
and battered, suffering cuts and bruises in a loss that sent
the Packers to double-digit losses.
In the
coming weeks, we’ll see how committed the coaching staff is
to winning. Brett Favre has an historic streak of
consecutive starts. But, Favre is done. In the wings waits
rookie quarterback Aaron Rodgers, whom the Packers
picked in the first round. Does the coaching staff start
investing in the future or do they cling to the past and
Favre’s streak? Head coach Mike Sherman’s choice may
help determine his own future with this team.
MIKE MCMAHON STILL THE
SAVIOR?
When
Mike McMahon took over as the starting quarterback for
the Philadelphia Eagles, I spoke with a couple Iggles
fans who said he could take them to the promised land. I’m
not kidding. He didn’t look too bad in his first real action
of the year, replacing Donovan McNabb against the
Cowboys a couple weeks ago. But, it looked to me like he was
Michael Vick but without the skills: he wanted to run
first. But, the Eagles fans didn’t listen. And “easy”
schedule in the second half of the season would let McMahon
do as he pleased.
It was
great to watch him go 4-for-10 for 64 yards and two
interceptions Monday night before getting yanked in the
second quarter for Koy Detmer. That’s a
passer rating of 21.3.
Hopefully my Eagle-fan-friends have finally realized that
the season is over. I just hate seeing them get all worked
up over something – let alone a quarterback who couldn’t
make it with the Detroit Lions – only to be
disappointed in the end. Then again, I guess that defines
what it is to be an Eagles fan.
THE
COLTS ARE GETTING TO ME
I still
don’t like the Indianapolis Colts, don’t get me
wrong. I can say it’s because of this or that – but, at the
end of the day, I just don’t. It's irrational, and I'm fine
with that. Still, I’m getting a little excited to watch them
on this run. I’m glad they have these last four games ahead
of them, which include games against the Seattle Seahawks,
Jacksonville Jaguars and San Diego Chargers.
Much of their schedule has been "soft." There will be no way
of claiming that if they win their last four games. These
challenges are the real deal and will tell us if they should
be mentioned in the same breath as the '72 Dolphins.
I think
part of the reason I'm excited about this is, despite how
little I like the Colts, I like that Dolphins team even
less. I'm tired of hearing about them popping the champagne
every year the last undefeated team loses. I'd love for them
to have to pop a Colt 45 from now on instead.
TOP
TEAMS
1)
Indianapolis
– They make the easy games look easy and they make the hard
games look easy. They're just in a class by themselves.
2)
Seattle
– I haven't ranked anyone but the Colts for a few weeks now.
After that game on Monday night, the Seahawks deserve to be
mentioned as a top team. Shaun Alexander is having one of
the greatest years ever for a running back. And he didn't
even want to be here after last season. Let's just hope
coach Mike Holmgren gets him the single-season touchdown
record this season instead of stiffing him the way he did
last year with the rushing title.
3)
I'm almost tempted to put
Cincinnati
here, but I really need to see more from them.
GAY FLAG
FOOTBALL
My team
is now two wins away from doing what no one since, as the
straight captain of my team says, the '72 Gay Dolphins. We
started this past season playing Team Splash. And we began
the postseason by doing the same thing. The final score was
40-6, but it certainly felt closer. We scored two defensive
touchdowns (one by yours truly) after they took a 6-0 lead
on their opening drive (and it was the second straight game
the other team scored first and never scored again).
They
were great sports, as they have been all season. A fun team
to play against. Except, a little comment by a player in the
league long after the game just hit me the wrong way.
"You
guys shouldn't be running up the score," he said, pointing
to our 34-point win. He told me that last year I never let
my team run up the score, and I shouldn't this season,
either.
I've got
a few problems with this, the biggest one being we didn't
"run up the score." In the first half of a game, you never
stop fighting. You just never know what will happen at
halftime. And, at the end of the first half, it was 26-6.
You have to realize that we had just watched the #4 team
lose to the #5 team on a 25-yard touchdown pass at the end
of the game after leading by 13. Regardless, no one would
EVER pull the reins in in the first half.
At
halftime, our captain said, "the second half is practice."
We ran the same two or three plays the entire half (all
short-yardage plays), we went into a soft zone on defense
for most of the plays, I didn't play the last 20 minutes of
the game and two of our other better players didn't play the
last 10 minutes of the game. How the hell is it our fault if
we run slants the entire half and our opposition never
adjusts for a single play? Plus, our captain wanted to get
the ball to a bunch of players who hadn't touched it yet
during the game. When one of the newest players to the
league catches a five-yard pass and runs another 30 yards
for only his second touchdown of the season, I think that's
a GREAT thing, not something to be chastised for.
I don't know what this
person wanted us to do, but I would never advocate kneeling
three straight plays and punting every time we get the ball
if we're up by "too much." We're certainly not going to put
just five people on the field on defense (we play 7-on-7).
Of course, if we did that, we'd be accused of rubbing it in.
Alas, I
have to keep reminding myself that people see things
differently. But it has just made me
want to win these last two games all that much more.
--The
Indianapolis Colts became only the fifth NFL team to
start the season 12-0 after their easy 35-3 win over the
Tennessee Titans. The question now is whether they can win
their final four games and finish with a perfect regular
season. My answer? Maybe.
I’m not
trying to weenie out, but it’s hard to predict the upcoming
week’s games, let alone four weeks in advance. The Colts
finish at Jacksonville (9-3), home to San Diego (8-4), at
Seattle (9-2) and home to Arizona (4-8). Only the Arizona
game is a gimme.
Indy has
had trouble with Jacksonville, splitting the last four
games, but the Jags will miss injured quarterback Byron
Leftwich. The Jaguars use the Colts as a measuring stick and
will be fired up. The Colts, though, are playing at a higher
level and I see them winning to go to 13-0. After that,
we’ll see.
--Don’t
look now, but the Pittsburgh Steelers are in big trouble
following their 38-31 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The
Steelers (7-5) have lost three in a row and their once
impenetrable defense has sprouted leaks, giving up 64 points
in their last two games.
The
Bengals (9-3) are guaranteed their first winning season
since 1990 and will capture the division if they win their
next two (Cleveland and Detroit). "Times have changed,” said
receiver Chad Johnson. “Like black-and-white TV to color TV.
It used to be Pittsburgh's time. Now it's Cincinnati's time.
That’s the way it will probably be for a while now, so
everybody just get used to it."
The
Bengals are a fun team to watch with Carson Palmer at
quarterback and Johnson and T.J.
Houshmandzadeh as receivers. Throw in running back Rudi
Johnson and the Bengals have the second-best offense (behind
Indy).
--Another
team that has hit the skids is the Atlanta Falcons,
which gave a meek effort in a 24-6 loss at Carolina. The
Falcons have lost three of their last four and are in a
scramble at 7-5 for an NFC wild card spot. The Panthers did
a great job of keeping Falcons quarterback Michael Vick,
forcing him to pass, something Vick still does not always do
well. Vick was a mediocre 17 for 35 passing with two
interceptions against a team he had always dominated.
"I think
Vick tends to get antsy in the pocket," said Panthers
defensive end Mike Rucker. "If you can force him to stay in
the pocket, you can force him to make some bad throws." This
comment illustrates why Vick is an exciting player but not
(yet) an elite quarterback.
--While
a 7-5 record is reason for panic in Atlanta and
Pittsburgh, it makes the folks in Minnesota pop the
champagne corks. The Vikings, the team of the Whizzanator
and the sex party on the lake, won their fifth straight game
with Brad Johnson at quarterback, 21-16, at Detroit. The
Vikings are tied with Atlanta and Dallas for a wild card
spot and have three of their last four games at home. A
playoff berth would mark one of the greatest turnarounds in
recent NFL history.
--The
Lions dropped to 4-8 with the loss to Minnesota and home
crowd at Ford Field booed the team all game, especially team
president Matt Millen and quarterback Jeff Garcia. "Man,
this is supposed to be our home stadium," said receiver Roy
Williams. "This felt like a road game."
--It
was interesting to watch the CBS games Sunday when they
went to promos, one for a bio-pic on Pope John Paul II, the
other for a Victoria’s Secret special. I won’t watch
either.
--The
day’s best game was Kansas City’s riveting 31-27 win
against Denver. It moved the Chiefs to 8-4, just a game
behind the 9-3 Broncos in the AFC West. The key play was a
challenge by the Chiefs on a fourth-and-1 play, when
Denver’s Mike Anderson appeared to be stopped short but got
a favorable spot with 2:01 remaining. The officials looked
at a replay and correctly determined that Anderson was
stopped short. It was a huge defensive stop for a defense
that used to be able to stop nobody and it kept Kansas
City’s season alive.
--Biggest
collapse of the day was Buffalo blowing a 23-3 fourth
quarter lead and losing, 24-23, to the Miami Dolphins on a
fourth-down touchdown pass from Sage Rosenfels to Chris
Chambers with six seconds remaining. The Bills finally get a
passing game going and their defense falls apart; it’s been
that kind of season in Buffalo.
The
Bills’ el-foldo prompted
this anguished post from fan Blue Raider on the
Outsports message board: “YOUR TEAM PICKS OFF THE GOD ==== %^*&^%^*&%^$ PASS
WITH 2:40 TO GO WITH THE LEAD AND YOU CAN'T GET A FIRST DOWN
AND THEN CAN'T HOLD MIAMI FROM GOING 80 YARDS IN TWO MINUTES
WITHOUT A TIMEOUT AND THE FISH SCORE ON 4TH DOWN …. PASS
CAUGHT BY CHAMBERS!!! HOW SHOCKING!!!”
--Hottest
player I saw Sunday was 49ers rookie QB Alex Smith. It’s
still hard to beat
this shot of him in a tub of ice water earlier this
year. I also hear he’s a very nice guy. On Sunday, the
rookie was 11 for 12 passing in then first half, but only 5
for 12 with three interceptions in the second as the 49ers
fell to Arizona, 17-10.
"Age is not an excuse once you're out there, but we've got
so many young guys at so many new positions," said Smith,
21. "I was definitely comfortable out there, but there are
still plenty of things about this pro game that I've got to
get used to."
--It’s
been sad watching Brett Favre this season. I know he his
missing a ton of key offensive weapons, but at times he
plays like a clueless rookie, as evidenced by his two
disastrous interceptions at Chicago. One came at the end of
the first half with Green Bay leading 7-6 and having
first-and-goal at the Bear 5. Not only did Favre throw a bad
pick, it was returned 95 yards by Charles Tillman and set up
the go-ahead field goal. The second came in the fourth when
Favre threw a weak sideline pass that Nathan Vasher returned
45 yards for the game-clinching touchdown. This on a day
when the Bears couldn't score an offensive TD. Favre and the
Pack has dropped to 2-10.
The Bears
won their eighth in a row behind a defense that keeps coming
up with big plays. But to advance far in the playoffs,
Chicago will need some sort of passing game. Throwing for 68
yards against an average Packers defense is pretty lame. The
Bears might be wise to bring in Rex Grossman as the starter,
a job he held until getting hurt early in the season.
--Last week I wrote that
Dallas might be the NFC's top team, but I rescind that
after watching the 'Boys stumble to a 17-10 loss to the New
York Giants for their second loss in a row. Drew Bledsoe
once again resembled a statue, only less mobile, as he was
sacked four times. If the Cowboys make the playoffs, I hope
for Bledsoe's sake that they don't face the Bears. Facing
Chicago's pass rush, I would fear for Bledsoe's health.
--I
watched the NFL Channel’s half-hour look at referee Ed
“Guns” Hochuli and was most impressed by him doing 90-pound
dumbbell presses. It’s clear that Ed loves his bod.
My Top 5
1.
Indianapolis (12-0): This is an amazing stat—the Colts
have not been behind in the fourth quarter since the
eight-minute mark of Week 2 against Jacksonville.
2.
San Diego (8-4): After a shaky start, the Bolts control
their own playoff destiny.
(Editor's
note: I received this e-mail regarding my Chargers
comment and loved it so much I thought I'd share:)
Please don't state that a
team "controls its own destiny." Destiny is by definition a
predetermined state. If the Chargers in fact have a
destiny, it's already been determined, and nothing they do
(or don't do) will change that. The season may be theirs to
win, but they do not control their own destiny. I know that
stating a team "controls its own destiny" is a sports cliché
up there with "giving 110%" and "they came to play
football", but it's just one of those annoying things that
gets to me. That said, love your writing, blah blah blah."
3.
Cincinnati (9-3): The Bengals finally have a clue, but I
am not sure they control their own destiny. But they do
always give 110%.
4.
Denver (9-3): Their rush defense, No. 1 coming in, got
shredded, meaning they gave less than 110%.
5.
Kansas City (7-5): They are unbeatable at Arrowhead in
December, where they always come to play football and give
anywhere between 110% and 125% depending on the wind chill.
--Hottest
player I saw Sunday was 49ers rookie QB Alex Smith. It’s
still hard to beat
