Rips from around the league

I got so caught up in the early games last week that I ripped a few people and then neglected to write this post in full. But, I'm back.


Philadelphia 45, NY Giants 38: What is there to say? The Giants have absolutely no defense. Eli Manning played a nearly flawless game and the G-men still didn't have enough.

New Orleans 26, Atlanta 23: Crazy, crazy fake FG by Sean Payton late in this game, but it doesn't come back to haunt his team as the Saints squeak by to stay unbeaten.

Green Bay 21, Chicago 14: Jay Cutler has now thrown more picks than any Bears QB since 1949, and there are still three games to go. Ouch.

Indianapolis 28, Denver 16: Peyton Manning actually let the Broncs back into this one with three picks in the second half. Then he remembered he was Peyton Manning, threw his fourth TD of the day and went home a winner.

Buffalo 16, Kansas City 10: Wow, what a completely uninteresting game.

Minnesota 30, Cincinnati 10: All my friends who are Favre fans are ripping me for rooting against him this year. No matter. I'm still waiting for that crushing interception he's bound to throw at some point in the playoffs.

New England 20, Carolina 10: A win for the Pats, but New England doesn't look good, especially Tom Brady.

NY Jets 26, Tampa Bay 3: Jets have made a nice recovery to put some meaning back in their season. Tampa Bay QB Josh Freeman put up a 12.1 passer rating on the strength of 93 yards and three picks. Right now the Bucs are the worst team in football.

Baltimore 48, Detroit 3: Did I just say the Bucs are the worst team in football? Let's give the Lions their due and call it a tie.

Washington 34, Oakland 13: An injury to Bruce Gradkowski forced JaMarcus Russell to enter the game. Expected results followed.

Miami 14, Jacksonville 10: Boring game, good win for the fins.

Houston 34, Seattle 7: Andre Johnson had almost 200 yards receiving and two TDs...in the first half. Nice job Seahawks.

Tennessee 47, St. Louis 7: At this point both the Giants and Steve Spagnuolo might be better off with Spags as Big Blue's defensive coordinator.

San Diego 20, Dallas 17: Does any team in sports have less guts than the Cowboys? That was rhetorical. The answer is no.

Again?

In what can only be described as a combination of stupidity and just plan weirdness, the Vikings have had another player get pulled over doing upwards of 100 mph.

Two days after Adrian Peterson got nailed going 109 in a 55, WR Bernard Berrian got stopped crawling along at 104.

I'm not going to go crazy with this, because my driving record is far from perfect. Like New York to Hong Kong far from perfect. But going that fast really is a little crazy. I only say that because often times when someone is pulled over it's because they either don't realize how fast they're going or the road is so open they just try to push a little too hard. There is no way, however, that a person could be doing over 100 and not realize it.

In a weird way, I think this relates to the culture of football players. I think guys like Berrian and Peterson probably feel pretty close to invincible. I can't really blame them for that, because they're young guys making a ton of money in a sport they excel at (this goes double for Peterson) despite its brutality. But these guys aren't invincible, in fact they've proven to be more vulnerable than most.

The new concussion rule is a positive step for the league, and it shows an effort to help protect its players. Still, an astounding 78 percent of players are broke or close to it within TWO YEARS of retiring from football. The culture has to change. I know the NFL tries to get these guys to think about their futures, but it has to try harder. Somehow, some way the league has to get through to these guys that if they're not careful life after football is going to hit them like a defensive end from the blind side.

Maybe it's a stretch to connect speeding tickets to the myriad problems NFL players have when their careers end. Maybe not. All I know is these players have to start thinking long-term, whether it's on the road or at the bank.

Belated rips from around the league

As I said, this weekend was a little crazy, but I could never neglect my favorite weekly post. Here we go:

Atlanta 20, Tampa Bay 17: The Bucs give up a late touchdown to drop to 1-10 in what is now officially a complete disaster of a season.

Buffalo 31, Miami 14: Good win for the Bills, although it's always unfortunate to have to listen to T.O. after he has a decent game.

Cincinnati 16, Cleveland 7: Brady Quinn, 16-34, 100 yards, 51.3 QB rating. Need I say more?

NY Jets 17, Carolina 6: Jake Delhomme, who threw another four picks, is the only guy threatening Quinn as the most ineffective QB in the league.

San Diego 43, Kansas City 14: The Chargers look more and more like a Super Bowl contender, while the Chiefs look more and more like a lost franchise.

Indianapolis 35, Houston 27: Houston led 20-0 after the first quarter, so this was about as daggerous a loss as a team could ever have. People keep talking about how overrated the Colts are, as they continue to win every game they play.

Tennessee 20, Arizona 17: People laughed when Vince Young said he'd be in the Hall of Fame one day, and he's certainly a long way from Canton, but he looks pretty damn good right about now.

San Francisco 20, Jacksonville 3: Jack Del Rio might be on his way to Daggerville (aka being fired) pretty soon.

Philadelphia 27, Washington 24: Once again, the Redskins play just well enough to lose.

Minnesota 36, Chicago 10: A thoroughly embarrassing performance by the Bears in every way.

Seattle 27, St. Louis 17: I saved this game for last because I have nothing to say about it. Wait.....nope, still nothing.

Rips from around the league

Sunday evening means we go ripping around the NFL.

Dallas 7, Washington 6:: The Redskins are worthless. They had a chance to do something great for humanity by beating Dallas today, and they blew it by letting the Cowboys get a late score.

Detroit 38, Cleveland 37: Only an Eric Mangini-led team could commit pass interference on a Hail Mary in the end zone with no time left, then give up a touchdown to lose on the next play. Wow.

Green Bay 30, San Francisco 24: That's five losses out of six games for the Niners. How long will Mike Singletary's pants stay on?

Minnesota 35, Seattle 9: This has to stop. There's no way I'm going to be able to deal with ESPN if Brett Favre gets to the Super Bowl.

Kansas City 27, Pittsburgh 24: Starting to look more and more like the Steelers just aren't that good.

New Orleans 38, Tampa Bay 7: The league should have stepped in here and made the Saints play 9 on 11. They still would have won, but it might have been competitive.

NY Giants 34, Atlanta 31: Terrible secondary defense by both teams, but after a rough start Eli plays one of the best games of his career.

Indianapolis 17, Baltimore 15: Keep pulling Ray Rice out of the game in favor of Willis McGahee on the goal line, Baltimore. Worked well today.

Jacksonville 18, Buffalo 15: Rare appearance by T.O. in this game, but not enough to get the Bills a win.

San Diego 32, Denver 3: The Broncos started the season 6-0. Since then they've lost four straight, getting outscored 117-37.

Arizona 21, St. Louis 13: The Rams blew some great chances and could have actually won this game. But they didn't, and that's why they're 1-9.

New England 31, NY Jets 14: Bill Belichick is a weird dude. The Pats threw a bomb to Randy Moss with 25 seconds left in the game in what I can only assume was an attempt to run up the score. Bill, no need to try to embarrass the Jets, Mark Sanchez is doing a fine job of that himself.

Oakland 20, Cincinnati 17: An early Christmas present for Raiders fans, courtesy of the Bengals' Andre Caldwell. Just when I started to believe in the Bengals for real, they pull a stunt like this. Same old, same old.

As bad as it gets

I'd just like to point out that we will see an historically awful game today in the NFL.

Today's Browns-Lions classic will match one of the worst defenses of all-time against an offense nearly as bad. After almost breaking the record for points-per-game surrendered last year, the Lions are once again the NFL's worst scoring defense this year. Dating back to last season, the Browns have scored five offensive touchdowns in 15 games.

Wow.

Which side will prove to have the least effective unit? After watching Cleveland last week, my money is on the Browns. As bad as Detroit's defense is, I'm not sure Cleveland could have scored Monday night had they been playing without the Ravens defense on the field.

Don't Mess With The Hoodie

Another voice has been heard from on Fourth-And-Go-Gate. Here's new contributor Meaty Johnson ripping those who have been blasting Bill Belichick for his decision not to punt Sunday night:

I like the call by Belichick. If for no other reason than he showed some balls. But there are plenty of other reasons: (1) Peyton Manning is OK at football; (2) Defense is gassed; (3) with the game on the line you might want to put the ball in the hands of your best player and let him try to win it, sounds logical; but what if he's a 2-time Super Bowl MVP, in that case no, then you have to punt. Why, because on 4th down you punt, F that. Didn't Woody Hayes die? Seriously though, The 50's were awesome. I freaking hate my hi def LCD TV, with all those black guys on it making incredible plays. I'd much rather listen to mostly white guys run the football on the radio. At least they know to punt on 4th down. And they all have great motors.

Peter King might think he knows himself some football, but he undid a lot of goodwill with me with his MMQB column. A mosquito that Belichick swatted after it bit him on the ass knows more about football than Peter King, or any other columnist. Where, might I ask, are your FIVE super bowl rings Mr. King? You're just another jerk about to get run over by a train called progress you fat reactionary slob.

Belichick is the only coach in the NFL right now who could do that. Dungy could have, but he wouldn't have; Cowher? Same as Dungy. Parcells might have done it and gotten away with it. And people are going to criticize Belichick?! Tom Cable would've punted. Dick Jauron would've punted.

If you want to criticize Belichick, criticize him for what he screwed up. He wasted a timeout off the kickoff in a Herm The Clock-esque maneuver. In an ideal world, he knows that he's going to go for it on fourth and 2, so he prepares for that possibility after 2nd down. I don't think he did that. But don't get your cheap shots in by criticizing the single best football coach in the world right now. Because no, whoever you are, you don't know more than he does.

One quick note on my bias, I could probably watch Belichick pour a bottle of jack down Brady's throat with one hand, hold the lighter for Randy Moss' Bong with the other hand while he kicks Kevin Faulk in the sack before a crucial 4th quarter drive and I'd say "well he usually knows what he's doing, so I'll trust him."

But he's earned that. And with that call he earned a little more, at least from me.

Rips from around the league

As the Colts-Pats game gets underway, here are some thoughts from today's games:
















Tennessee 41, Buffalo 17: Terrell Owens promised Chris Johnson his jersey if Tennessee beat Buffalo. That jersey isn't worth nearly what it used to be.

New Orleans 28, St. Louis 23: St. Louis almost didn't stink for one day. Almost.

Miami 25, Tampa Bay 23: After breaking a long losing streak last week the Bucs got started on a new one today.

Minnesota 27, Detroit 10: What's the point of ripping the Lions anymore?

Jacksonville 24, New York 22: Jacksonville cut right through the Jets' defense to kick a game-winning field goal. Maybe Bart Scott will finally shut up, although I doubt it.

Cincinnati 18, Pittsburgh 12: I have to rip myself here for picking Green Bay over Cincinnati Week 2 in my suicide pool. Daggerous.

Washington 27, Denver 17: Washington scored on a fake punt that Denver knew was coming. Doesn't get worse than that.

Carolina 28, Atlanta 19: Three games in a row without a pick for Jake Delhomme. Who knows, maybe avoiding turnovers is a formula for winning.

Kansas City 16, Oakland 10: I won't waste your time or mine.

Green Bay 17, Dallas 7: Oh, what a glorious result. Hey Tony, don't worry, everyone knows you're money in the second half of the season.

Arizona 31, Seattle 20: Seattle is sneaky bad. Their lack of talent flies under the radar.

San Diego 31, Philadelphia 23: Hey, any time the Eagles and Cowboys lose on the same day, it's a damn good day.

Bad Joke?

I'm not sure I could be more furious. Watching the Giants is making me physically ill. Defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan can't seem to fix whatever is wrong with the Giants' defense, and Eli Manning looks like the old, "you can never win a championship with this guy" Eli.

The Giants new defensive scheme seems to be let receivers run unbelievably wide open in the secondary and hope for drops. So far it's not working. Maybe the Saints exposed some weaknesses in the Giants' defense, but in the NFL you have to be able to adjust from week to week and all of a sudden the Giants seem totally unable to do that.

Incredibly, after a 5-0 start the season looks to be in real jeopardy.