NFL Week 8 Observations

• 

Weekend Media Gaffes

• On the ESPN Pre-game show, Mike Ditka attributed the famous Franklin Roosevelt quote "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" to Winston Churchill. He did so in two different segments, nonetheless.
  
• FOX color commentator Daryl Johnston, when talking about the AFC North, said the Bengals are "making their way to the top of the division". The Bengals are in last place and are now 2-5.


• This gaffe was nobody's fault, but at the start of the 2nd half of the Giants vs Dolphins game, the broadcast went to Tony Siragusa on the field at the same time a streaker was running wild. Needless to say, Siragusa lost his train of thought for about 10 seconds.
  
• Tim McCarver, during game 3 of the World Series said "Lugo, like anybody else is much better going the other way." Timmy, I don't know if you realized this, but there are hitters that are so much better at pulling the ball than going the other way that the other team actually shifts their entire defense to try to stop them. And one of those players, David Ortiz, is actually playing in the game that you're making this comment during.
  
• Not to get on McCarver's case too much, but he had some other funny comments during game 3. On a hit by pitch, McCarver said the ball hit the player on the "tip of the shoulder." He also said that Kaz Matsui, when caught in a rundown between 2nd base and 3rd base, did not advance on the play correctly and that he "actually went to 1st base." I have no idea what that means, but i suppose it was a botched attempt at comedy.
  
  Week 8 Observations

We'll begin with the New York games...

- If the deck wasn't stacked enough against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, it was reported by ESPN that 'phins kicker Jay Feeley owns Plaxico Burress on his fantasy team and he was not going to bench him this week.

- I'll give Eli Manning a pass for his 8/22, 59 yard (2.7 yards/attempt) performance against the Dolphins because the the weather conditions in London were so horrendous. But if Manning is going to make that next step as a quarterback, he must complete that TD pass to a wide open Amani Toomer on the goal line (1st half). Toomer did not have a defensive player within 10 yards of him but Manning rushed the throw, and threw a bullet pass high for an incompletion. A simple lob pass there would have done the job and would have made the halftime score 17-0.

- Dolphins QB "The Psychic" Cleo Lemon played with tremendous heart and actually outperformed Eli Manning in a losing effort. With that said, Lemon has the worst arm this side of Chad Pennington. I know the weather was not conducive to throwing, but I don't think Cleo can throw the ball over 40 yards.

- The botched Jay Feeley onside kick, when the Dolphins were mounting a 4th quarter comeback, was anti-climatic to say the least. His opening drive missed field goal was also more significant than anybody would have thought back in the first quarter.

- I preface this by saying I'm a New York Jets fan. But the Bills @ Jets, despite being a close, inter-divisional game, was almost too boring to watch. I watched the Giants and Jets back 2 back, both games at times, were unbearable.

- There's not much I want to say about the Jets because they're now 1-7 and the only thing Jet fans have to be excited about is Kellen Clemens' upside and the 2008 draft. But I will make 2 comments.

1. New York's playing calling reached an all-time low. Even the announcers went out of their way to be critical of it. And right or wrong, Coach Mangini will be second guessed all week for not going on it on 4th and 3, late in the 4th quarter.
   
   
2. If Eric Mangini wanted to bring Kellen Clemens into the game, he shouldn't have waited until the 57th minute to do so. I'm not making excuses for the fact that Clemens through 2 interceptions but the coaching staff can't expect Clemens to lead the team to victory after standing on the sidelines for over 3 hours.

Observations from around the league...

- Brian Griese was 22/40 with 4 interceptions against the Lions - The same team that allowed 56 points to the Eagles.

- The Bears scored 7 points at HOME against a Lions team that ranks 30th in the NFL in total defense.

- Part of the reasons for the Bear's offensive shortcomings in Week 8 was their loss of the time of possession battle. Detroit possessed the ball for nearly 10 minutes more than Chicago, partly due to Cedric Benson's inability to run the ball effectively for the millionth consecutive week. Benson's 3.8 yds/carry against the Lions was actually a good performance for him this year. If my memory serves me correctly, the Bears traded a pretty good running back away in favor of Ced.

- When was the last time Brian Urlacher only had 4 tackles (2 solo) in an entire game?

- The Cleveland Browns won consecutive games for the first time since 2003! And they did so despite being penalized 14 times for 102 yards!!

- Speaking of consecutive game streaks - This is the first time all year that Browns QB Derek Anderson has posted back 2 back solid efforts. Check out his game by game passer ratings this year: 65.2/121/57/109.5/59/142.5/140... You read that here first. So before we start calling the Browns QB situation a "Brees-Rivers " decision between Anderson and Quinn, let's see if Anderson can be consistent.

- My DWI fantasy remained undefeated despite having to sit my 1st round pick Leonard Little with a foot injury. Thank god I was able to pick up Oklahoma St. coach Eddie Sutton off the waiver wire.

- Ocho Cinco is the midst of a 5 game TD drought.

- This week's Albert Haynesworth Factor - Oakland Raiders starting RB Lamont Jordan: 12 carries for 16 yards.

- Why do I bring up the Albert Haynesworth Factor? Because the Titans were able to win a game despite Vince Young going 6/14 for 42 yards and rushing for 11 yards on 7 rushes. The bottom line is the Titans can run the ball effectively on offense (LeDale White 25 carries 133 yards) and stop the run as good as any team in football. Once Vince Young can figure out the whole throwing the ball thing, which I think he will, the Titans will be force in the AFC.

- The Jacksonville @ Tampa Bay game featured a starting QB match up between players with Alma Maters of Florida A&M and San Jose State.

- You have to give the Jacksonville defense a ton of credit. They were embarrassed on Monday Night Football by the Colts, and playing on the road off a short week they forced Jeff Garcia into committing 3 interceptions and throwing for under a 50% completion rate. How big of a feat is that? Garica had not thrown an interception in 7 previous games this year and had a 70% completion percentage going into Week 8.

- Despite having his worst game of the year, Jeff Garcia had a chance to win the game late in the 4th quarter but overthrew a wide open Ike Hilliard for a would-be, go-ahead TD score.

- The entire ESPN pre game crew picked Tampa Bay to win against Jacksonville. I picked Tampa and I had a friend with $100 on the Bucs. Kudos to the Jaguars for proving everybody wrong.

- Jacksonville WR Matt Jones (Who? Matt Jones) can finally shave his beard after catching his first TD of the year.

- 4 Touchdowns in the Houston @ San Diego game were scored by players on the Chargers named Antonio. Two were TD receptions by TE Antonio Gates and two were defensive TDs by Antonio Cromartie.

- I know I've become somewhat of a time of possession freak, but the Chargers won a game by 25 points in a game in which they possessed the ball for 13 minutes less than the Texans.

- The New Orleans Saints have won 3 straight games, Drew Brees looks like a Pro Bowler again, Reggie Bush is making progress every week, and Marques Colston is proving that his rookie season was not a fluke (3 TDs in Week 8). But the real story in their win over the 49ers is the fact that San Fran has dropped 5 straight after winning their 2 opening games. Why do I care????? Because New England owns the rights to the 49ers 1st round draft pick in 2008. That could be a TOP-5 Pick. And the rich get the richer...

- The Philadelphia Eagles got the Adrian Peterson memo, holding him to a respectable 3.5 yards/carry, but more importantly limiting him to only a 17 yard long run. They also did not allow Peterson to get make a reception out of the back field.

- In a losing effort, the Vikings showed why they, with Tennessee have the best rush defenses in the NFL, holding the Eagles to 2.9 yards/carry on 26 attempts, with 9 yards being the longest run from scrimmage. What's unfortunate for the Vikings is they can't pass the ball and they can't defend the pass either. Donovan McNabb threw for 333 yards against them on Sunday.

- If you think the Colts lost some of their offensive fire power this year, think again. They only possessed the ball for 24 minutes but still scored 31 points - Without Marvin Harrison.

- Maybe the stat of the week: The total amount of sacks in the Indy @ Carolina game was ZERO. This with the Panthers having one of the best D-Lines in the NFL and the Panthers playing Vinny Testaverde and David Carr at quarterback, the latter being the most sacked QB in recent memory and the former being a 43 year old with an Achilles heal injury.

- Reggie Wayne caught 7 passes for 168 yards against the Panthers. What would his numbers be like if he played a full season without Marvin Harrison beside him? Would they be better because he'd be the number one receiver OR worse because he would see a lot more double coverage?


I'm an Idiot because....

1. Even though I picked New England (-16), I really believed in my gut that the Redskins would give the Patriots their toughest game of the year. Sidenote - New England has covered the spread 8 straight weeks.
   


2. I came up with every possible reason why the Panthers would play the Colts close this week and they still got blown out 31-7.
   


3. I always give the Vikings too much credit. I forget they'd be better off with Lloyd Christmas or Harry Dunn starting for them at QB.

I'm a Genius because...

1. I predicted Lawrence Maroney would be able to run wild against a 'Skins defense focused on Moss and company.
   


2. Having the audacity to go against my own team (Jets) and take the Bills +3.

World Series Game 3 Thoughts....

- Former Met and current Colorado Rockies 2nd baseman Kaz Matsui reminds me of the character Ryan from NBC's The Office. Ryan started as a temp salesman that was unable to complete a single sale and became the laughing stock of the office when he accidentally set the building on fire because of his misuse of the toaster oven. Then Ryan got a corporate job within the same company, and as his career began to flourish his appearance began to change. He grew a beard and started wearing fancy suits to work everyday. Similarly, Matsui's incompetence as a Met made him the laughing stock of his team. As a result he had no confidence and his performance became so consistently so awful the Mets had no choice but to let him go. Matsui then landed in Colorado and had a sudden career and personal renaissance. He got a new haircut, he grew some facial hair, and he reclaimed the MoJo he supposedly had in Japan.

- The Fox broadcast team was literally obsessed with the fact that Ortiz would be playing 1st base and Ramirez would be forced to play LF in a spacious Coors Field. All they talked about, from the first inning on, was when Terry Francona would bring in Kevin Youkilis as a late-game defensive replacement. Well it was the Rockies who struggled in the field in Game 3 and David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez who made 2 nice plays.

- For the first time ever, I heard the words "Tulowitzki's throw to first is too late."

- An inning later, Tulowitzki showed why I was yet to hear the above phrase AND why I selected him as the NL golden glove shortstop. He made an incredible bare-handed throw in the 2nd inning look way too easy.

- Tim McCarver said in his "Keys to the Game" that if Josh Fogg's stuff matched his heart, he'd be a hall of famer. Well, Foggy's supposedly enormous heart couldn't even get him through 3 innings of work in Game 3. But the Rockies' bullpen, in a losing effort, showed a tremendous amount of heart despite falling behind early.

- Daisuke Matsuzaka looked un-hittable early on in Game 3. The Rockies were waiving at his off speed pitches and were blown away by his fastball. But the caveat for Red Sox fans is that even when Daisuke had what appeared to be his best stuff, he was still only able to go 5 innings and give up 2 runs.