Outsports
Ring Of Honor

Advertise on Outsports.com

Jim's Comments
E-mail

I watched lots of three games this weekend. That’s what you get in New York City: lots of the New York teams, and they throw you the Cowboys-Niners game for kicks.

JAGS-JETS

Before the season, Curtis Martin and Chad Pennington both quietly complained that the offense was hard to grasp. Herm Edwards said Pennington would have to “ease” into the season. They’d better stop easing. After three weeks, they are dead last in the AFC East with two AFC losses.

The game was plagued by mistakes on both sides of the ball. Dropped punts, fumbles, interceptions. The Jets at times looked like the most disoriented team in the league. Pennington has fumbled the ball eight times (losing one) this season – which matches the highest season-long total of his career. Right now, his quarterback rating is just over 70, which is the worst than any season-long rating of his career.

Pennington’s passes on Sunday were at times crisp, at times crappy. In overtime, he was 1-for-4 with a sack and an interception.

I watched the game with a guy who’s a fan of Jets backup Jay Fiedler because, as he said, he’s the greatest Jewish hope in the NFL. I’ve heard a few people in the last year tell me that “Jay Fiedler is better than  you think.” Well, I think he’s an average, barely serviceable, backup quarterback. On Sunday, before being injured (after Pennington’s injury), he went 2-for-3 for 19 yards. After 13 passes this season, he’s got a quarterback rating over 100.

If I was Herm Edwards, I’d start easing Jay Fiedler into the season as soon as possible – Pennington just doesn’t have it this year.

PATS-TOWELS

I said before the game that this game would tell us if the Patriots were the same Patriots that have won three of the last four Super Bowls. In the last two seasons, every time they have lost a road game, they have gone on to win the next game. Three of those four times (in 2003 at Philadelphia, and in 2004 at St. Louis and the New York Jets), they have followed the loss with a big road win against a playoff team.

So, it was with enthusiasm that I put a couple coins on the Patriots getting three in this game.

The Patriots completely dominated this game. The score should have been 33-13, it was that solid of a drubbing.

The Steelers scored two touchdowns in the game. The first was on an 85-yard pass play. It happens. The second came after a dreadful pass interference call on Chad Scott on 4^th and 11 with 1:31 left. I watched that play on my DVR about four times, also catching the slow-motion replay on CBS. Quincy Morgan, the Steelers receiver, bumped Scott while the pass was in the air, then Scott reached over to try to knock the ball away and hit Morgan. At worst, this should have been a penalty on both players. Instead, it was on the Patriots.

Think the Patriots aren’t the Patriots of old? After the Steelers touchdown, it was Super Bowl XXXVI all over again. With 1:14 left, they started on their own 38 and worked the ball down the field with two big pass plays to their running backs. Kevin Faulk and Patrick Pass. Then it was another field goal by Adam Vinatieri for the second crushing defeat to the Patriots in the Steelers’ last four games.

By the way, my bonehead coaching move of the week goes to Steelers coach Bill Cowher. Up 10-7 late in the second quarter, the Steelers attempted a 52-yard field goal. The longest field goal ever made in that stadium is 48 yards. Of course, kicker Jeff Reed missed the attempt. That gave the Patriots the ball on their 42 with 2:34 left. It took a batted pass and an interception with 40 seconds left in the game to keep the Patriots from at least tying the game.

When Reed missed the field goal, CBS showed a shot of Steelers coach Bill Cowher. I’m not a mind reader, but it certainly looked like he was thinking, “why did we not just punt that ball?”

The Patriots later went for a 53-yard field goal. I disagreed with that call, but it wasn’t a bonehead move. Pats kicker Adam Vinatieri shares the record for longest field goal there (48 yards, which he tied later in the game). And, down by a field goal with 12:30 left in the third quarter, it wasn’t such an egregious call. Still bad, but not bonehead.

Where does this leave the Pats and Steelers? By my count, the Steelers should be 3-0. They’re not. The Pats should be 2-1. They are. The easy part of the schedule is over for the Steelers. They won’t get back-to-back cupcake games again this season. The Pats are in the middle of a brutal six-game schedule to open the season. If they can come out of it at 4-2, they’ll be looking good. If they’re 5-1, then I will officially declare myself to have been dead wrong when I said in August they aren’t the same team.

GINTS – BOLTS

Jim nailed this one, folks. He called it from 200 miles away. I thought the Chargers would win, but I thought the final score would be closer to the halftime score (21-20). Instead, the Chargers asserted a few things. 1) They are contenders in the division; 2) RB LaDainian Tomlinson is still the best running back in the league; 3) the AFC is just better.

The Giants also showed me something. They never quit and were in the game until the fourth quarter. I still think the Giants will be there in January.

OTHER NOTES

Will people finally give the Bengals the “respect” they deserve? Probably not. But, if I’m the Bengals, I’m thrilled! The talk is still about the Patriots, the Colts, the Eagles, the Steelers. Cincinnati has simply gone out and put up a 3-0 record with two of those wins coming on the road!

Whether Kansas City deserves the accolades I’ve been giving them, we’ll find out Monday night. They don’t need to win the game, in my mind – they just need to come out of it healthy and holding their heads up high.

I, for one, was not surprised by the Dolphins’ win. When they sucked last year, it was because they didn’t have a solid running game. Rookie Ronnie Brown has a 1,200-yard season in his sights; with that defense, that’s about all they need out of him. So, what will they do with Ricky Williams when he becomes eligible to play in a couple weeks? The Raiders are 0-3; and Lamont Jordan, whom a certain someone declared “this year’s Priest Holmes,” has a brutal rushing average of 3.0 yards per carry.

MY TOP FIVE

1) Tampa Bay - Many people expected them to be 0-3 right now. They have two road wins and a drubbing of an AFC team. Chucky's back....

2) Kansas City - Which means they'll lose tonight; but, a loss in Denver is expected.

3) Cincinnati - They're 3-0 with the highest point differential in the league.

4) New England - I'm not sold, but I am certainly buying as much as I can.

5) Indianapolis - They're certainly better than I thought they'd be. And that win at Baltimore was solid. I just wish they were going to get a solid test before Halloween.

--The gayest thing I saw all day was the end zone celebration by Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson. After catching a touchdown pass against the Bears, Johnson did his version of “River Dance.” All that was missing were a passel of shirtless backup dancers. 

--It will take weeks to sort out, but Sunday’s 23-20 New England win at Pittsburgh could prove to be one of the season’s most pivotal games. Both teams are now 2-1, but had the Steelers won they would have a two-game lead over the Patriots in the AFC and made New England’s road to a threepeat that much more difficult. 

“They showed us today why they're the champs,'' Steelers linebacker Larry Foote said, and that about summed it up. The Patriots started the game without three cornerbacks and during the game lost star safety Rodney Harrison and Matt Light, their best offensive lineman. They trailed throughout much of the game, but wound up scoring three field goals and a touchdown on their final four drives.  

--The game was exciting but filled with a bunch of bizarre or dumb plays. The dumbest of them all came when Steelers receiver Antwaan Randle El tried to lateral to Hines Ward at the Patriots 11 in the second quarter. Ward, more intent on blocking, wasn’t expecting the ball, wound up never gaining control and the Patriots recovered. "It was a bonehead play,'' Randle El said. `"The team rule is, if you're going to try that play, you'd better make it.'' 

--Equally dumb was the Steeler lineman who jumped offsides and negated a 48-yard field goal by Jeff Reed. Pushed back five yards, Reed missed the re-try. 

--Finally, the Steelers abandoned the run and left it up to shaky quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (12 of 28) to try and win the game. Big Ben wasn’t up to the task. It’s true that the Steelers had a tough time running the ball, but they all but gave up in the last 1 ½ quarters; that’s when teams should play to their strengths and try and set a tone. All in all, this is a loss that will likely haunt the Steelers all season. 

--Fox is running a “Sexiest Man” of the NFL contest on its website. This prompted studio host James Brown to say: “The sexiest man in the NFL competition was a big hit last week with the ladies and maybe some guys as well.” He said the “some guys” line looking right at Terry Bradshaw, who gave a “who me?” look.

The contest is kind of lame, since it is more like the sexist big name contest. How could any sexy man list NOT have Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel (right) or Lions QB Joey Harrington?  

--Read what Outsports readers say about the sexy man contest.

--Actually, the sexiest man I saw all day was the guy on the Old Spice Red Zone ad. I have a DVR and my friends and I watched Mr. Tight Abs in slo-mo several times. 

--The most entertaining game of the day was the San Diego Chargers’ 45-23 win over the New York Giants where the teams combined for 900 yards. Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson did everything, rushing for 192 yards and three touchdowns, and throwing for a touchdown.  

--I can’t remember a day when there were three missed extra points, all of which had some level of importance. The biggest miss was in Green Bay, where Packer kicker Ryan Longwell shanked one in a 17-16 loss to Tampa Bay. It was Longwell’s first miss after making 157 in a row.  

The oddest miss was in Philadelphia, where linebacker Mark Simoneau kicked the ball into the back of a lineman. Simoneau had to fill in after regular kicker David Akers badly injured a hamstring. Akers gutted it out later, making two PATs and the game-winning field goal while in obvious pain. I didn’t understand why Eagles holder Koy Detmer jumped on Akers after his game-winner; that certainly couldn’t have helped his hammy. 

The most bizarre miss came from Dallas Cowboy Jose Cortez against the San Francisco 49ers. As the San Francisco Chronicle recounted: "After the flubbed PAT, Cortez could be seen arguing with  325-pound teammate [Larry] Allen, a man who can bench-press 600 pounds. Not a wise move for a kicker. Allen reacted angrily by popping Cortez in his facemask and driving his helmet upward. Teammates walked Allen away from the kicker back to the sideline." Cortez said Allen apologized and the miss was more the result of a bad snap than anything Cortez did.

--The Packers are 0-3 for the first time in 17 years, while the Cincinnati Bengals are 3-0 for the first time in 15 years. The Bengals defense intercepted five passes Sunday against the Chicago Bears, giving them 10 in the last two games. The last time a team had five picks in consecutive games was in 1971. 

--Can someone explain how the Carolina Panthers can beat the Patriots but lose to New Orleans and Miami?  

--Speaking of New Orleans, the Saints look done. The stress from Hurricane Katrina, combined with playing three road games to start the season have left them whipped. On Sunday, they made the Minnesota Vikings look like a real team. It didn’t help that the Saints fumbled the ball on the opening kickoff for the second straight week,  leading to a quick TD by the previously winless Vikings.

--Time for the Buffalo Bills to bench quarterback J.P. Losman. He's terrible, throwing for only 75 yards on Sunday with one interception and a lost fumble in a 24-16 loss to Atlanta. He looks lost and the Bills season will quickly become lost unless he's replace by Kelly Holmcomb, who at least knows what a forward pass is. 

--My Top 5:

1. New England (2-1): I know they have a loss, but they are the champs until someone beats them in a big game.

2. Indianapolis (3-0): The Colts have allowed 16 points in three games. The offense will be fine.

3. Cincinnati (3-0): Carson Palmer is on his way to being an elite quarterback.

4. Pittsburgh (2-1): Still a tough team, but the Pats are in their heads.

5. Tampa Bay (3-0): Two road wins and Cadillac Williams is the first rookie to rush for 100 yards in each of his first three games.