Week 5 musings...

[off_the_wall]

Went to the Eagles/Bills games, here are some observations...

Fred Jackson was the best player on either team.

The Eagles can't stop the run, and their O-line is a mess.

Eagles made a ton of mistakes (INT's, fumbles, costly penalties), more so than I can remember in a while from an Eagles team.

Why is it when an offense get a pass intercepted, they look totally bewildered when the defense runs the pass back ?

Why didn't the Eagles kick a field goal at the end of the 1st half ? They had the ball at the Buffalo 26 with 10 seconds left with no time outs left. Instead of kicking the field goal, they ran a play, in which Vick ended up throwing the ball out of the back of the end zone. Just dumb.

Bill QB Fitzpatrick didn't throw a pass over 10 yards the entire game or so it seemed. A very controlled offense, to be sure.

The fan that ran on the field in the 2nd half, nice spin move avoiding security before falling on your face, and getting thrown out.

Nice to see (as promised by the NFL), more detailed fantasy numbers on the scoreboard at the stadium. Not just the usual sporadic team score updates.

Other week 5 musings...

Tebow era has now begun.

Not sure how this happened but the Niners are 4-1 and QB Alex Smith has actually been decent.

Class move by the NFL before the games with a moment of silence for Al Davis.

Big win by the Raiders, and with the their next three game (Browns, Chiefs and Broncos), the Raiders may be better than they have been in recent memory.

Is there a bigger fraud contender than the Jets ?

I wonder what distance Janikowski kicks field goals in warm-up ?

What was the deal with Roman Harper's cheap shot of WR Steve Smith (after he scored a touchdown) ?

That TD grab by Dwayne Bowe may be the best catch of the year.

The more I watch Green Bay, the more I'm convinced, they can only beat themselves, no one else will be able to.

So, who's the favourite in the NFC East ?

Which Eli Manning shows up next week ?

Is Kevin Kolb this bad or was he just overrated ?

There have been 10, 400-yard passing games this season.

[willthethrill]

As an Eagles fan, I can tell you that we sold a bag of magic beans (aka Kevin Kolb). We re-used the bag that we sold the Dolphins (AJ Feely).

[onejayhawk]

The Eagles remind me of the Mets a few years back. A lot of people were touting them as a pennant contender, and splat.

Their coaching has never been top grade, but they used to be fundamentally sound, if predictable.

Alex Smith was never a #1 grade player, but he was a legit 1st round pick.

There is a team more messed up than Philly--Arizona

The Raiders won the first one. Lets see if they have legs.

A couple of loaded bye weeks coming. Get you WW claims in today.

Why is it that Chiefs coaches have more success in Buffalo. Marv Levy was a Chief first.

Steve Breaston looks like a real football player again.

Dallas will win their division by default.

The Colts are the best 0-5 I have ever seen.

Matt Cassell went 4TD, 0 Int. Say What?

I am still predicting 7 wins for the Chiefs.

If the Rams were to pick first, what would you offer to move up?

Ndomukong Suh is the John Randle of this decade.

J

[Erik]

Why didn't the Eagles kick a field goal at the end of the 1st half ? They had the ball at the Buffalo 26 with 10 seconds left with no time outs left. Instead of kicking the field goal, they ran a play, in which Vick ended up throwing the ball out of the back of the end zone. Just dumb.

Neither Vick nor Reid have any sense of clock management. This sort of thing happened all the time in the McNabb era as well.

[Erik]

Dallas will win their division by default.

The Cowboys, Giants and Eagles all look terrible, and I can't see Rex Grossman leading a team to a title. This division is still very much up for grabs.

[revo]

Which Eli Manning shows up next week ?

I hope this one!

As you were at the Bills game, obviously you didn't watch the Giants game. Eli was sharp yesterday. The 3 INTs seem par for the course until you realize that he had a career-high 420 yards passing, 3 TDs and 1 INT and was about to lead the Giants to a come-from-behind win, when Victor Cruz deflected a well-throw pass right into a defender who raced for a 95-yard INT TD. His 3rd INT was another deflection of a pass (this time by Nicks) on a last second Hail Mary.

His 2 fumbles (1 lost) are fine for Eli fodder, but keep in mind David Baas was out yesterday and it was a 2nd string center.

[revo]

The more I watch Green Bay, the more I'm convinced, they can only beat themselves, no one else will be able to.

Really? The more I watch Green Bay, the more I'm convinced they're pretty damn beatable and am surprised they haven't been beaten yet.

The defense looks like a shell of the dominant unit from last year -- where's Clay Matthews Jr. been? Their pass coverage has been pretty pathetic (they currently rank 31st of 32). Thankfully, they're squelching the run.

They have two solid runners with Ryan Grant and James Starks, yet their running game has been pretty middling.

I'm convinced you can't win all the time by the pass (see '98 Minnesota, the early 80s Chargers, etc). Rodgers is an MVP talent, but even he can't carry this team forever if they continue to play like this.

[GwynnInTheHall]

The Chargers at 4-1 haven't really beat anyone. They have the bye and the Jets first game back-- this should tell us if they're real or not. Gates and the rest of those injured (outside of Keading) should be back for that game.

[Erik]

Their pass coverage has been pretty pathetic (they currently rank 31st of 32).

Might be confusing correlation with causation. Teams are passing on them because they have to -- they can't run on them and they are trailing (often by large margins) for most of the game. Passing yards allowed by itself is not the greatest measure of the quality of a pass defense.

[GwynnInTheHall]

Might be confusing correlation with causation. Teams are passing on them because they have to -- they can't run on them and they are trailing (often by large margins) for most of the game. Passing yards allowed by itself is not the greatest measure of the quality of a pass defense.

that and rule changes to protect QBs and receivers have made it almost a win-win to throw the ball.

[revo]

Might be confusing correlation with causation. Teams are passing on them because they have to -- they can't run on them and they are trailing (often by large margins) for most of the game. Passing yards allowed by itself is not the greatest measure of the quality of a pass defense.

You can use any defensive metric you want. Their defense simply has not been very good. There was even a stat during yesterday';s game that said there was only one other team who ever started 4-0 and had allowed more points.

[Erik]

EVERYONE is allowing more points (and yards) this year. There are no Steel Curtains or '85 Bears to be found.

[chancellor]

As a loyal Packer watcher, IMO, there's valid points on both sides. Revo has a good point about the Packer pass rush - Clay's playing hurt and is not the dominant rusher of the last couple years. That's allowed for more 1-1 blocking against him, which has limited the rush up the middle. Plus, Tramon Williams is playing CB in a shoulder harness and is limited, and Collins is out for the year. OTOH, the Packer defense isn't as bad as the stats say, either, as they've had big leads in many games late and have often dropped into deep zone/prevent type defenses in the fourth quarter of games.

All that being said, they have a dominant offense and an incredible coaching staff.

[revo]

The Chargers at 4-1 haven't really beat anyone. They have the bye and the Jets first game back-- this should tell us if they're real or not. Gates and the rest of those injured (outside of Keading) should be back for that game.

What's up with Rivers? 6 TDs and 7 INTs? Does Gates mean that much? VJax has basically been shut down since Gates went down. What the dealio?

[Bodhizefa]

What's up with Rivers? 6 TDs and 7 INTs? Does Gates mean that much? VJax has basically been shut down since Gates went down. What the dealio?

He only played 10 games last year during what was arguably Rivers best season of his career. And they were cycling through wide receivers like crazy last year, too. I think it's just a slow start. Sproles couldn't have meant THAT much to Rivers, could he? (says the guy who traded for Rivers two weeks ago, lol)