He's
cute and all, but he's also out of a job. Detroit Lions
QB Joey Harrington got benched on Sunday for former
San Francisco QB Jeff Garcia. The Lions went on the
road, won a non-conference game, stayed atop their division
and now Joey Harrington is hoping for a backup job
somewhere.
For some reason, I feel bad
for the guy. By all accounts, he's nice, plays the piano and
is from the Pac-10 (three great tastes that taste great
together). But, cute looks, a good personality and the fact
that his birthday was Friday simply couldn't overcome the
fact that he's 16-33 as a starter.
I blame this on three things.
First is his play. Watching him in the preseason, he looked
like a deer in headlights. He was like 7-for-7 in the game
but I came away from watching it thinking he sucked.
Second is bad management.
Matt Millen is one of the worst front-office guys in the
NFL. And, like Bill Walsh and some of the other
people in the 49ers front office, I just don't think
Steve Mariucci is that good of a coach.
Finally, I've got to think
his name contributed to all of this. The guy is a
27-year-old starting NFL quarterback and he goes by the name
of "Joey." And in the uber-macho world of football, you'd
better be a once-feared Pro Bowl wide receiver.
Dumb Challenges
I just don't understand why
coaches make some of the challenges to calls that they make.
One of the worst I've ever seen came Sunday during the
Broncos-Giants game. Giants' ball at their 43. On
3rd-and-8, the ball is thrown to Plaxico Burress who
does not catch the nine-yard pass. Holding is called on
Denver's Champ Bailey; five yards, first down. Burress,
though, insists he caught the ball and Giants coach Tom
Coughlin challenges the call that the ball wasn't
caught.
The penalty gave the Giants a
first down. The head ref announced to the whole stadium that
it gave the Giants a first down. CBS showed replay after
replay that either showed inconclusive evidence or the ball
hitting the ground before the catch. Yet, Coughlin wasted a
timeout and one of his two challenges for the game to gain
four yards (there was still 3:22 in the half and the Giants
had all of their timeouts).
In the same game, just
one-and-a-half minutes before, Denver coach Mike Shanahan
made an equally dumb challenge when Burress was interfered
with by, again, Champ Bailey. Shanahan tried to say
that the ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage and that,
at that point, Bailey could do whatever he wanted to Burress
downfield. VERY conclusive evidence in replay showed the
ball not being tipped, but Giants QB Eli Manning's
arm being hit as he released the ball. Denver loses a
timeout and one of their challenges.
I wonder if any coaches out
there actually practice challenges. Sounds dumb, but it is
so important to a game to get those challenges right.
Early MVP?
What a difference five weeks
can be. After week 2 of the NFL season, my fantasy football
team (Jim and a couple other Outsporters are in the league
as well) was 0-2 and just sputtering. Unless the Falcons'
defense pitches a shutout, gets four interceptions, two
fumbles, three sacks and scores a touchdown, I'm going to be
5-2 after this week. I haven't put up crazy numbers, but my
team has been consistent since the 0-2 start, putting up 90+
points each week and scoring 100+ three of the last four.
Thank you, Mark Brunell!
Speaking of the Redskins
quarterback, I mentioned to a friend on Sunday that, if
Brunell keeps up these numbers, he's going to be mentioned
as a league MVP candidate come early November. He laughed,
but it's definitely possible (and more than in just a "well,
anything's possible" way). When Brunell took over the
Redskins' starting position in week 2, they had just beaten
Chicago, 9-7, at home. Their offense looked dead. In
the fourth quarter of their game against Dallas in week 2,
they came alive. Brunell has thrown for 250+ yards in four
of his five starts; he's thrown 12 TDs and only 2 INTs; and
he has a QB rating of almost 100. The Redskins are my
biggest surprise of the season and I credit Brunell with
lots of that. If they beat the Giants this Sunday, lots of
other people will, too.
Santana Moss, on the
receiving end of so many of Brunell's passes, has got to be
mentioned among the top MVP candidates as well. He leads the
league in receiving yards and, with Brunell, has taken over
games.
The last name I'll throw out
there is Edgerrin James. On 7-0 Indianapolis, James
is outshining his higher-profile quarterback. Right now,
he's projected for 1,830 rushing yards, 2,220 yards from
scrimmage and 18 total TDs. Not bad for a running back on a
"passing offense."
Weekly Peter King Homage
First, even if Jim didn't
mention it, I love the blog he's put up about the
LA
Motion football team. Such a great idea.
We didn't know how the
weather would be for our football games this weekend. The
forecast called for rain, and we got tons of it Saturday
night. But Sunday morning, the sun was out, the temperature
was hovering around 50 and, despite some dampness to the
ground, the footing wasn't too bad.
My team this weekend played
against my old team from last season. I love the guys (and
gal) on that team, so I took no glee in beating them.
We're now 4-0; they're 0-4.
My feelings after the game
were particularly interesting. I actually felt bad. Yeah,
it's great to be the top team in the league that everyone is
gunning for. But, as the league commissioner, I want every
team to feel that thrill of victory.
Our next opponents are
already saying that, at 4-0 with the highest scoring offense
and the stingiest defense, we're "not that good." I guess
we'll find out this Saturday.
--Cincinnati
Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson is quickly becoming
my
favorite, especially with his touchdown dances that are more
celebratory than taunting. He did the “Riverdance” three
weeks ago and unveiled a new one Sunday against the
Pittsburgh Steelers.
As my
roommate described it, Johnson looked like a “lady mincing
around in high heels.” I showed it to two female friends, non-fans,
and one said: "That's so gay!"
Mincing is a good word and it
looks like it comes naturally to Johnson. Johnson
raised one arm and sashayed it like a flapper in a 1930s
musical. He then did the same with the other arm, all the
while shuffling his feet.
Alas,
the dance was for naught as officials overturned the TD on
an instant replay review, or else it would have been shown
on every highlight film.
There's something about CJ that pushes the envelope and he
seems to spend as much time on his latest dance move as
running routes (both of which he excels at).
--At
points late in each of these games Sunday I was all set to
write:
That
the San Diego Chargers were legitimate contenders after
going into Philadelphia and beating the Eagles.
That
the Minnesota Vikings were challenging Houston and San
Francisco as the worst team in football.
That
the Dallas Cowboys have a legit defense and Seattle is a
fraud.
That
Denver was for real by going into New York and beating
the Giants.
None of
the above turned out to be true, which shows how wild some
of the games were Sunday.
--Talk
about a choke! That’s the only way to describe the
Dallas Cowboys losing 13-10 to the Seattle Seahawks. The
Cowboys led 10-3 with 2:01 to go and had the Seahawks pinned
back on their own 19. Seattle drove down rather easily and
tied the score at 10 with 46 seconds left.
Dallas
proceeded to move the ball near the Seattle 50 and at
worst was heading to overtime. But Pokes QB Drew Bledsoe
threw an awful interception along the sidelines that Jordan
Babineaux returned 25 yards to the Dallas 32 with four
seconds left; it looked like Babineaux was the intended
receiver. All of a sudden Seattle was one Josh Brown kick
away from winning. Brown nailed a 50-yarder in the rain and
Seattle had an improbable victory.
This
loss is reminiscent of Week 2, when Dallas led Washington
13-0 with less than four minutes remaining, only to lose
14-13 on two long Redskins TD passes. Dallas needs to learn
that good teams close the deal.
--New
York Giants quarterback Eli Manning may have come of age
with his scintillating comeback that gave the Giants a 24-23
win over the Denver Broncos. Manning hit Armani Toomer on a
3-yard TD pass with five seconds to go. It capped an 83-yard
touchdown drive that saw the Giants rally from 23-10 down
with less than nine minutes left.
--Giants
fans are both loyal (the stadium always sells out) and
smart. On the game-winning touchdown, as the Giants offense
was on the line listening to Manning’s signals, the crowd
got really quiet, which is what home fans with a clue do. In
some cities, the crowd would have been roaring.
--I
haven’t seen a more sloppy or boring game between two
good teams this year than Philadelphia’s 23-20 win over San
Diego. There were 19 penalties called (and three flags that
were picked up), four interceptions, and the Eagles won the
game on a fluked blocked field goal that was returned for
the game-winning touchdown with 2:25 to play.
The
Chargers had one last drive, but lost any chance for
overtime when receiver Reche Caldwell fumbled at the Eagles’
19 after a catch. Neither team could run (a combined 45
yards), the play-calling was strange and overall it was a
lackluster game with one dramatic play.
Two
play calls stand out. The Eagles had the ball at the San
Diego 13 with 15 seconds left in the first half and no
timeouts. The Eagles decided to take one more shot at a
touchdown, but for some reason Donovan McNabb threw a pass
in the middle of the field and the half ran out. Dumb.
The
second call came with the Chargers leading, 17-13, and
facing a third-and-3 at the Eagles 20 late in the fourth.
Philly had bottled up LaDainian Tomlinson (7 yards rushing),
so the situation called for some sort of a pass; a first
down likely would have run the clock out (or close to it)
and the Eagles couldn’t cover Chargers tight end Antonio
Gates in the second half. The Chargers, though, played
conservative (like they did in their playoff loss to the
Jets last year), Tomlinson got 1 yard and the Eagles blocked
the ensuing field goal try. No guts, no glory.
--I’m
still not sure how Minnesota wound up beating Green Bay,
23-20. The Vikings fell behind 17-0 and Packers quarterback
Brett Favre was brilliant (28 for 36). The Vikings scored on
all five second-half possessions and won on a 56-yard field
goal by Paul Edinger on the game’s last play. ''I didn't
think he was going to make it,'' Green Bay receiver Donald
Driver said. ''He made the kick. Nothing I can do about
it.'' It was the longest field goal in Edinger’s career and
the longest in Viking history. Green Bay’s normally reliable
kicker Ryan Longwell missed two field goals.
--The
Vikings are 2-4 but only one game behind Chicago and
Detroit for the first place in the NFC North. The Packers
are 1-5 but still not out of it in football’s worst
division.
--The
Indianapolis Colts head into their bye week at 7-0, the
only unbeaten team in the league. The Colts, though, have
beaten only one team that has a winning record
(Jacksonville) and looked unmotivated in their 38-20 win
Sunday over winless Houston.
The
Colts went ahead, 14-0, but were tied at halftime by the
Texans before
turning it on in the second half. The Colts’ next game is
Nov. 7 at New England, so this will be the first big test
they will face this year. The Patriots have won six in a row
over the Colts, including twice in the playoffs the past two
season. We’ll know a lot more about Indy after that game.
The Colts have always preached getting home field in the
playoffs and after seven weeks they are at least two games
up on every other team in the division.
--Former
President George H.W. Bush visited the Colts in their
lockerroom after the game.
"The prez. That means we're big
time,'' Colts running back Edgerrin James told
the Indianapolis Star.
--Pittsburgh’s
27-13 win at Cincinnati showed that the Steelers are
still the team to beat in the AFC North and that the Bengals
aren’t yet ready for the big time. Cincy looked great early
as they marched down the field on their first drive. Then
the touchdown pass in the end zone by Chad Johnson was
overturned on replay, a sure TD catch was dropped by Chris
Henry, and Shayne Graham missed an easy field goal try.
The
Steelers rushed for 221 yards and held the ball for 35
minutes. Run defense has been a problem for the Bengals all
season and the Steelers provided a template for keeping
Cincy’s explosive offense off the field -- grab a lead and
run the ball down their throat.
''I
think we're better than them,'' said Bengals receiver T.J.
Houshmandzadeh. ''They won the game and I'm sure they feel
like they're better than us, but I don't feel like it.'' T.J.
is pretty clueless if he thinks like this. A team comes into
your stadium and whips you by double digits and you claim
you’re superior?
--A
case can be made for Steelers quarterback Ben
Roethlisberger as league MVP. With him the lineup, the
Steelers are 4-1; without him they are 0-1. In two years, he
has a 19-2 record as a starter, with both losses to New
England. Big Ben doesn’t often throw for a lot of years, but
he tossed two TD passes Sunday and has the kind of big arm
that makes defenses respect the passing game.
--I
know we have long passed the stage where advertising
should surprise us, but it was a new low ESPN reached when
it ran a five-minute segment during their pregame show on
Burger King’s “The King” mascot, who is digitally inserted
into NFL plays in an ad campaign. A fake sports story on an
advertising symbol. I wonder who BK paid off
at ESPN to get that kind of exposure.
--Hot,
buff ref Ed “Guns” Hochuli was assigned the Baltimore
Ravens at Chicago Bears game, which was played in a cold
rain (48 degrees), forcing Ed to wear long sleeves and
depriving the announcers of commenting on his physique.
--Instant
replay is a good idea but there are many times when it
really slows the game up, especially when coaches make silly
challenges. One came from New York Giants coach Tom
Coughlin, who challenged an incomplete call on a pass to
Plaxico Burress. Coughlin lost the challenge, but all he
would have gained was nine yards on a play that was already
a first down due to a Denver penalty.
My Top 5:
1.
Indianapolis (7-0): People were wondering about their
offense after three games, but the Colts have averaged 35
points the last four.
2.
Pittsburgh (4-2): The defense and Big Ben will keep them
in every game.
3-4-5: A tie between Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Denver,
Kansas City, New York Giants, Philadelphia, Washington and
Tampa Bay. All these teams are 4-2 or better and it’s hard
to separate them
