Posts Tagged jay cutler

WEEK 13: UPSETS IN THE KEY OF “EFF”, or, HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BEARS

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Week 13 produced some crazy bleepin’ games this weekend, perhaps the most of which being Oakland at Pittsburgh, which ended in a stunning upset of the Steelers at home.  Ben Roethlisberger returned to the lineup and threw a decent game, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Troy Polamalu’s absence in the defensive secondary.

Without the Samoan safety, the Steelers let Bruce Gradkowski pick them apart on his way to a game-winning TD pass with :09 left to play, as well as supplying all kinds of “the last time” stats in regards to the Raiders.  Of course, almost any Raider win is going to be chock full of “the last time” stats, including “the last time” they won a game.

ben roethlisberger.  online photo, no source available

But this particular game included 5 lead changes in the 4th quarter, even though Pittsburgh was only 2-5 in the red zone.  It’s hard to imagine that the final period went down like that and the Steelers didn’t win.  That’s 4 in a row, now including losses to the Chefs and the Raiders in that stretch.

Another crazy game was New Orleans and the R*dsk*ns, with New Orleans winning a game they never led in until the final gun sounded in OT.  It was playing like a classic trap game for the Saints – big win in the previous week against a high-profile opponent, and then playing down to a lesser opponent on the road.  Then the 4th quarter happened.  Washington missed a chip-shot with less than two minutes to play that would have put them up by ten, and it was all downhill from there.  Depending on your allegiances, it was either a complete meltdown by the ‘Sk*ns or a heroic comeback by New Orleans.  Saints coach Sean Payton seemed determined to punish the D.C. Football Franchise by sending his offense back onto the field after “icing” timeouts directed at their kicker.

The Saints had been set up for a FG attempt with 7 seconds left by an interception thrown by D.C., when Jim Zorn tried the classic “Ice the Kicker” routine, to which Payton responded by putting Drew Brees back out there to try to pick up more yards.  It didn’t work – Brees threw incomplete and the Saints missed a 55-yarder that put the game into overtime.

saints kicker.  online photo, no source available

In OT, Zorn again tried to “Ice the Kicker” by calling a timeout that was so close the officials’ whistle didn’t even come before the snap.  Instead of attempting a 33-yarder that wasn’t a sure thing, Payton marched his offense back onto the field, which promptly ran the ball down to the one-inch line.  As if that wasn’t bad enough, Zorn again called a timeout before the chip-shot attemot from the 1, which of course didn’t work.

The Saints karmically kicked the game-winner, and I pronounced that if I were Sean Payton, I would have greeted Zorn at midfield with either a loogie-lubed handshake, or simply Happy-Gilmored his ass by shaking with the left, pulling his jacket over his head from behind with the right and then punching his teeth out with his arms defenselessly pinned down by his shirt.  What a punk.  I guess it’s not enough that your team has a blatantly racist and offensive mascot, you gotta play like a dick too.

Capping off the Week 13 Wackiness was Miami beating New England and New York beating Dallas. The latter game really isn’t a shock, but the Patriots losing kinda was.  Or was it?

Mike Florio pontificated of the fishy line movement on this game right before kickoff, wondering why exactly the spread had moved from favoring the Pats by 6.5 at the start of the week to a push in most books by kickoff.  It was pretty strange, and the speculation was that Brady was not playing and insiders had the info that the league and media didn’t.  That turned out not to be the case, but the public was correct in some fashion, betting heavy on the Dolphins to beat the spread and Miami ended up winning outright.  Hmm.

BEARS HOMER SECTION

Is this really even worth it?  Yep, Chicago beat St, Louis today, with our $50,000,000.00 QB completing all of 8 passes for 143 yards.  Matt Forte, lead rusher for the NFL’s dead-last running attack, was able to muster 91 yards against the NFL’s dead-last running defense.  Way to go, boys!

Ted Phillips.  online photo, no source available
Team President Ted Phillips, thoroughly enjoying this tripe

The Monsters of the Midway rip-roared their way to an anemic 248 total yards of offensive production, and I no longer have the energy or patience to even rip this pathetic squad, let alone try to spin a victory against a crap team into something Bears fans should care about.  The only thing I will say is that this team’s 3 victories that have happened since the long-ago month of September have come against Detroit, Cleveland and St. Louis.  In those 3 victories, Jay “$50,000,000.00 Extension” Cutler has averaged 169.2 yards a game.  Whoo-motherf*ckin’-hoo.

cutler and hester.  online photo, no source available

I will however say this: in 6 weeks, when my team is packing up their belongings and going off to their Hawaiian or Jamaican villas for the month of January, I will be pissed that my season is finished.  With only 4 games left for my Bears’ season, I must appreciate the fact that I am a fan, and have something to do on Sundays instead wait to go to bed.

If I may finish with one final statement for this week, it is “Go Cardinals!”

Email: nick.thomas@flyingpigskin.com

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Jay Cutler and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

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Poor Jay. On a night when his defense finally showed up against an opponent who had been taunting them all week with boasts to “destroy” them, Jay was the one to crap himself repeatedly. 5 times, to be exact. Zero touchdowns, five interceptions. The game left him with 17 interceptions through 9 games.

Jay Cutler.  online photo, no source available
Finding good pictures of Cutler is really easy, especially when he throws 5 interceptions.

It’s funny that this game was on the NFL Network, because there will inevitably be a few remaining Cutler apologists out there who weren’t able to see the game or DVR it, and they will take a look at the box score tomorrow and build their case for Cutler’s defense:

He completed 29 passes for over 300 yards. They made him throw 52 times because the run game is terrible. His protection was likely suspect, so he was probably on the run and his receivers effed up.

In a different game, these arguments may be valid. But those who watched the game would know that 4 of Cutler’s picks were no else’s but his own, and that he should have thrown another one. Cutler’s 2nd pick was the result of Devin Hester losing his footing and missing an otherwise well-thrown pass. But in Cutler’s other 4 interceptions, and particularly the two inside the red zone, he had clear throwing lanes in front of him and/or good protection. On one INT he was kind of caught up in traffic and he flipped a clumsy shovel pass to Forte, who couldn’t reach it, but Cutler wasn’t hit on the play and would have been much better off either running or taking a sack if he had to.

Jay Cutler.  online photo, no source available

Each of his two interceptions from inside the 49er 10-yard line were after long drives by the offense, and they were both remarkably bad throws. Cutler tried to argue that his 4th interception should have been interference because his huge 3rd-string tight end Kellen Davis was somehow knocked on his ass by a safety half his size before the ball was caught, which is true. But the safety was playing the ball all the way, and he had just as much right to it as Davis did.

Of course, the ultimate Cutler apologist’s talking point has no place here either, which is that in every multiple-pick game this year (except for Week 1, which was an abberration. Cough), Cutler has had to throw wildly because they were down so many points. Nope. Chicago never trailed by more than 4 after the first quarter in this one.

It was a spectacular meltdown, and after all that, he has to fly back to Chicago and talk to all those mean newspaper reporters who ask him stupid questions.

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CUTLER vs. ORTON: CHICAGO GOT SWINDLED

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Sooo, Chicago’s Jay Cutler signed a 2-year contract extension today, loaded with $30 million in new money and $20 million guaranteed.  This seems like an appropriate time to analyze how Cutler stacks up with his trade-bait counterpart in Denver, Kyle Orton.

 

Full disclosure, I fully admit bias – I’ll give you my Bears tickets if you can find one person who says I was on board with the trade back in April.  I knew Cutler could play, and I also knew I’d hated him since college.  I knew there was a reason that a lot of other pros just didn’t like him.  It wasn’t just limited to San Diego where Cutler was strongly disliked.

 

Jay Cutler.  online photo, no source available

Jay Cutler: “I’m warning you, I’m pretty much a total pr*ck”

 

I could go on, but it’s pointless.  He’s the Bears’ QB and I’ve got to root for a guy I don’t like, it’s that simple.

 

Who I did like before the trade was Kyle Orton.  I liked rooting for him, even though his numbers weren’t top-shelf.  I thought that when Orton was given a set of options in a situation, chances were that he was going to make the right decision.

 

It’s how he turned the Bears’ doomed 2005 season into a playoff run his rookie year.  Lest ye Bears fans hath forgotten that year, starter Rex Grossman broke his ankle in the 2nd preseason game in St. Louis.  Grossman’s backup, Chad Hutchinson, played so terribly in the next two preseason games that he was cut prior to week one.  That left the Bears no choice but to turn to the 4th-round rookie from Purdue, Kyle Orton – who, after starting 2-3 (only a game worse than the Bears are today), he engineered an 8-game winning streak, before being thanklessly benched at halftime of a home game against Atlanta in December, a game he surely could have won if he’d made it past halftime.

 

Kyle Orton.  online photo, no sirce available

Kyle Orton, wondering why he got the boot twice in Chicago with a 21-12 record.

 

But Lovie Smith and GM Jerry Angelo saw an opportunity to showcase their QB with a big arm, who they’d saved a roster spot for all year instead of putting him on injured reserve.  Instead of rewarding Orton for saving their season and their asses, they shoved a clipboard in his hands and put in Rex, who played in more regular-season game and then got pounded in the playoffs by the Carolina Panthers.  It squandered the home-field advantage and the 11-5 record that the rookie built for him.

 

Angelo and Smith decided that it was time to ditch Kyle again after the 2008 season, trading Orton, 2 first-round picks and a third rounder to Denver for the big-guns Cutler.  It’s what Chicago fans wanted.  There were no vigils for Kyle Orton; Chicago couldn’t wait to embrace it’s new melo-drama QB.

 

It just so happens that the Bears signed Cutler to this extension after 5 games, which is ironic, when you look at the last time that Chicago had a legit offense, even though I still hesitate to even use that word now. The last time would be the first 5 games of 2006, before that fateful night in Arizona.  Before the Monday Night Miracle performed by the Chicago defense in Week 6, the Grossman-led offense was unstoppable.  Grossman was never the same after that night (0 TD, 4 INT), and hasn’t matched that stretch since.  Here’s some numbers to crunch:

 

KYLE ORTON 2009

6-0 record, 100.1 passer rating, 244 yards a game and 9 TD’s with 1 INT.

 


JAY CUTLER 2009

3-2 record, 86.9 passer rating, 240 yards a game and 10 TD’s with 7 INT’s.

 


REX GROSSMAN 2006 (through first 5 games)

5-0 record, 102.6 passer rating, 248 yards a game and 10 TD’s with 3 INT’s.

 

Can you imagine if Grossman was signed to an extension after Week 5?  Me neither.  Thank the Good Lord.

 


 

My point is that as it stands right now, the Bears got grifted in the trade for Cutler.  While Denver uses Chicago’s surprisingly high 1st round draft pick next season and the Bears are left with huge holes on the offensive line and linebacking unit, Josh McDaniels will laugh as he solidifies his squad for years to come with multiple 1st-round selections.

 


To their credit, the Bears got to eat up much of the guaranteed value of the deal with the cap space they have available this season, so it is a mutually beneficial deal for both parties.  But the real motivation behind the signing was that Angelo wasn’t going to give up what he traded for Cutler and let him reach free agency, where he’d either have to overpay him or let him go after two years, which isn’t an option.

 


The fact that Cutler even complied scares me.  I’ve seen enough Bears play their asses off until they get their first big contract, then hit the brakes in just about every way imaginable.  I do believe in Cutler’s competitiveness, but can he find that fire after pocketing a $12 Million signing bonus?  Was he too easily swayed into getting his value now instead of waiting until after the season, when the true sociopathic narcissist would assume that they had been brilliant and worth more?

 


Denver got a cerebral team guy who doesn’t have Cutler’s cannon or mobility (or ego), but they’re undefeated and Chicago is two games back in their division.  I think the Bears can even with the Vikings before season’s end, but the Broncos don’t look to be slowing down after taking out New England two weeks ago and winning a tough division road game in the 4th quarter in San Diego.

 


 

Meanwhile, Chicago newspaper reporters are one more multiple-interception performance away from baiting Jay Cutler into a public meltdown so they can rip his play and his personality at the same time.  They lost a heartbreaker in Atlanta for the second year in a row and the natives are restless.  The running game is being crucified, and Cutler is next because the defense will ultimately get a pass for Urlacher going down Week 1.

 


If the Bears don’t win in Cincinnati this Sunday, Chicago will turn on Jay Cutler.  This is the town that forced Rex Grossman to the bench a mere two games after he started in the Super Bowl.  Don’t think Cutler and his facial expressions will last long, especially if Orton keeps outplaying him in Denver.

 


Lovie Smith, Jerry Angelo, and offensive coordinator Ron Turner all pretty much have their jobs wrapped up in Cutler’s success, and while I don’t want to see Lovie Smith be let go, he should be if Chicago misses the playoffs.  They all should be.  And then let some other regime come in and try changing Jay’s diapers.

 

contact email: nick.thomas@flyingpigskin.com

 

 

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NFL WEEK 4: A LESSON IN CRAPTASTIC-NESS

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I sat and watched most of the 14 minute-plus overtime period between the Bengals and the Browns.  I don’t know why.  I guess I was looking for one of the two teams to show that they were interested in winning the game.  It was one of those stretches when the field looked enormous and it simply seemed impossible that either team could score.  I was almost right, if it wasn’t for Cleveland finally deciding to be crappy enough to go ahead and lose.  One thing I will say though, is that Josh Cribbs is a flat-out monster.  He’s gotten a lot bigger since his rookie season, and plain looks mean when he has the ball.  He’s at least worth watching the highlights every week.

 

Speaking of crappy teams, the R*dsk*ns and the Bucs battled it out to see who could claim to be the crappiest team on the East Coast.  Turns out it’s the Bucs.  Though not for a lack of effort by Washington, who committed four turnovers and still won the game.  ‘Sk*ns QB Jason Campbell was astoundingly bad, throwing 3 picks and losing a fumble, but still knifed through the (now officially garbage) defense of Tampa Bay to throw the winning TD pass.  The two teams combined for a combined 6 of 27 on 3rd down, and a whopping 252 passing yards.  Blecch.

 

Amazingly, neither of these teams are the worst in the league. That distinction belongs solely to the St. Louis Rams, who have lost 14 straight, and have been shutout twice in this young season, both times by teams in their own division.  I need not say more of the St. Louis club, nor much of the teams that destroy them each week – although I must call attention to the disciplinary prowess of Mike Singletary’s 49ers, who only drew 3 flags all game and committed no turnovers while gut-stomping the Rams 35-0.

 

Dallas and Denver both looked inept, combining for 6 of 26 on 3rd down, as well as a combined 17 penalties for over 150 yards.  Lucky for Denver, Tony Romo looked worse than anyone on the field. While his stats aren’t outrageously bad, his performance was unwatchable – unless you hate the Cowboys, which I do.  Before WR Sam Hurd damn near bailed him out in the 4th quarter on a sissy little 7-yard outlet pass that Hurd took 53 yards inside the Denver 15, Romo had made every mistake possible:  botched snaps, lost fumbles, his 8th-career pick in the red zone, leading his receivers into getting drilled by safeties (Roy Williams may be urinating blood after chasing a Romo misfire in the 4th quarter), and all-around poor decision making.  Up until Hurd’s late catch-and-run, Romo had 36 yards passing in the 2nd half, and had been throwing terrible balls for several series in a row.

 

tony romo gets sacked.  online photo, no source available

 

I thought that Dallas would expose Denver’s defense as a hoax, but it was Denver who exposed Romo’s Cowboys as garbage.  Wait, hasn’t that happened already?  On several occasions?  Oh, I forgot – they’re the Cowboys.  That means they’re still considered good until Bill Parcells says that they in fact suck.

 

 

OTHER CALLS I GOT WRONG:

Ravens at Patriots: A very well-played, hard-fought game until the last drive, when Baltimore WR Mark Clayton dropped two passes, one for a TD and one for a first down on 4th and 6, which ended the game.  The latter was in his chest, but he couldn’t haul it in.  Disappointing for a Ravens team who played well enough to beat the Patriots.

 

Jets at Saints: Okay, now I really mean it:  I won’t be picking against the Saints again.  Before you dismiss the Jets though, note that the NY defense did it’s part, holding New Orleans to less than 350 total yards and only 10 points.  The Saint’s D made up for it, scoring two TD’s.  Tough game for the adorable and charming Mark Sanchez (if you say his name out loud with emphasis on the ‘chez’, he sounds even more charming).

 

Bills at Dolphins: Backup Miami QB Chad Henne wasn’t required to do much, as the Dolphin twin RB’s Ronnie and Ricky piled up 200 yards and 3 TD’s.  Buffalo QB Trent Edwards did his part too, throwing 3 picks.  Dick Jauron’s clock is ticking in upstate New York.

 

Tennessee at Jacksonville: Wow, the Titans are about finished already, and it’s not even week 5.  This slump is a mystery to me, and I can’t imagine how Titans coach Jeff Fisher feels.  He has consistently fielded a tough, balanced, competitive team since he became head coach, and this thing has now spun out of control.  The playoffs are out of the question, the Titans are now relegated to just trying to win a game.

 

 

BEARS HOMER SECTION

Another win, another grumpy homer.  The Bears let Detroit rack up 21 points in the first half, and 3rd-and-long is again looking like a gimme against the Chicago defense.  They give up two 3rd-and-5’s, two 3rd-and-6’s, as well as 3rd downs of 7, 9, and 10 yards, the last of which yielded a touchdown.

 

Yes, the Bears came on strong in the 2nd half, but how does Lovie Smith leave Zackary Bowman, a 2nd-year corner with about 5 games under his belt, one-on-one with Calvin Johnson for the entire first half?  On the first play from scrimmage, Lovie brought the house and watched as rookie QB Matt Stafford calmly faced down the blitz and dropped the ball perfectly into Johnson’s basket for 45 yards.  As if that wasn’t enough, Lovie then let Johnson continue to roam unchallenged for 123 first-half yards.  Hey Mr. Smith – the Lions have one good receiver, how about you pay him the respect of a double team before he lights you up single-handedly?

 

On top of that, the Bears left the stadium limping.  Devin Hester, Johnny Knox, and special-teams ace Adrian Peterson all were knocked to the sideline.  Knox was dinged after he had an impressive 102-yard kickoff return for a score to open the 2nd half. Thank the Lord for the coming Bye Week, the Bears need it.

 

Jay Cutler.  online photo, no source available.

 

Some positives were there, like Adewale Ogunleye’s dominating performance, Matt Forte’s big day (although it was almost all on two runs), and a big-time turnaround in the 2nd half in all three phases of the game. Looking better, but I still think they’d get beat down by an elite team, one of which likely resides in the division. We’ll certainly know more about that after a highly-anticipated matchup tomorrow night.

 

contact email: nick.thomas@flyingpigskin.com

 

 

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NFL WEEK 3: DRAMA, DOMINANCE, and IMPOTENCE

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After a dramatic Sunday afternoon, things are starting to become a little clearer around the NFL, aren’t they?  There will be fallacies and misconceptions all year, but the truths are starting to become apparent.  But like many NFL players, some truths come with baggage.

For instance, Cincinnati is proving that virtually everyone has slept on them thus far – but now that they have everyone’s attention, can they keep up these nail-biting victories?  No one’s going to be overlooking them anymore, and despite impressive wins the last two weeks in Green Bay and at home vs. the Steelers, losing to the Bengals doesn’t sit well with any contending team’s fanbase.  Look for their opponents to step it up much harder in the coming weeks, and it remains to be seen if Cincy can step it up along with them.

Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan have the Jets playing passionate, confident football. It is plays like Sanchez’s shoulder-dropping, safety-drilling TD run versus Tennessee that makes your team want to pile-drive someone for you.  But perhaps overlooked was Sanchez’s play-action fake on the go-ahead TD pass in the 3rd quarter that shows why he’s packing solid brass.  He almost over-sold the fake handoff by crouching low with the ball in his gut and his back to the line of scrimmage.  It was a thing of beauty, and he showed his poise by not missing on the subsequent easy throw to his target, a mistake that could have been forgiven of a rookie QB in his third game of the year.  But will the Jets get too cocky?  And when Sanchez finally does have the inevitable rookie meltdown, how does he rebound?

DOMINATION vs. IMPOTENTCY: Both the Giants and Ravens were playing bottom-feeders in Tampa Bay and Cleveland, but it was no less remarkable just how badly they pounded these guys.

New York held the Bucs to 86 total yards and 5 first downs on their own field, and showed just how badly the Bucs have devolved on defense.  The Bucs tackled like they were accustomed to playing flag football, and the NY runningbacks left piles of bruised and broken bodies in their wake after racking up 256 yards on the ground in a 24-0 shutout.

The Ravens intercepted the Browns 4 times, and twice on the returns played schoolyard games with Cleveland, pitching the ball around with laterals.  You don’t see that very often anymore.  The 80’s Bears teams used to do it all the time – it’s been a while since a defense has been that confident and wants to enjoy itself while embarrassing an opponent.  I have to feel bad for Browns’ fans while watching that.  The Ravens are actually their team.  It has to really sting getting humped like that by your ex, especially when she was the one who broke up with you.

Dawan Landry.  online photo, no source available

BEGRUDGING FAVRE RESPECT: Let me be the millionth person to state that “this is why the Vikings brought him here”.  Everything from Favre’s first INT of the season to the jaw-dropping last second TD was vintage Favre.

The pick came on a pass over the middle to a guy about 15 yards away who was draped in defenders.  Favre wound up and threw a high, whistling rocket that had no chance of being caught by any player until it bounced off someone’s now-shattered fingers and into the air.

The unbelievable final score came on an essentially improvised play that belonged in a Wrangler ad, with Favre deftly alluding a rush, stepping up, and launching a pass that traveled 50 yards through the back of the endzone and into the hands of some nobody the Vikings picked up a week before the season started.  It was on a rope, too.  No touch and all velocity, and it counted for what was maybe the most memorable TD of Favre’s career given the circumstances.  As you read this, please picture me typing these words while trying to quell the bile that is creeping into my esophagus.

Vikings fan.  online photo, no source available

Vikings fan being his stereotypical obnoxious self as 49ers fans look on

PLAY OF THE WEEK: Apologies to Favre and his heroics, but your old teammate Donald Driver hauled in what could easily end up being the catch of the year against St. Louis (sorry if the link makes you sit through a commercial.  But hang in there – if you haven’t seen it, it’s worth the 15 second ad, trust me).  This was the kind of catch that make little kids want to play football.  With a corner drawing a flag for mugging him, Driver extends to full length and snatches the 52-yard bomb with his one free hand, pinning it against his helmet and bicep.  A thing of beauty in a weekend full of memorable plays.

BEARS HOMER SECTION: Chicago’s defense gave up seven 3rd-downs against Seattle, including distances of 8, 10, 11 and 19 yards, the longest resulting in Seattle’s first TD of the day on a screen pass.  Seneca Wallace did exactly what I thought he’d do, making the D chase him around all day and creating plays after buying time.  Lovie Smith apparently didn’t remember the lesson taught to him in week 1, when he continued to stack the box and bring heavy blitzes on Seattle’s final drive, which never should have gotten as far as it did, which was inside the Bears’ 30.

Chicago’s offensive line still gave Matt Forte nothing to work with, despite many Seahawks defensive starters sitting out due to injury.  Forte is talented and can do an awful lot if given space, but he’s not an outstanding tailback who can produce without any holes to run through.

Chicago again needed 2 missed field goals to win a game, and won’t keep getting that lucky.  Wow, did I like anything about this game?  Let’s see…Jay Cutler had a 126 qb rating (jerk)…Devin Hester scored the game-winning TD on a slant where the 3rd-string corner got tackled by his own teammate (lucky)…the Bears were in the middle of a conservative, play-for-the-field-goal drive when they scored (pansy)…the Bears are likely down to their 3rd MLB with starter Hunter Hillenmeyer falling victim to the NFL’s rib-injury bug (you gotta be kidding me)…they let former Viking WR Nate Burleson pop off for 9 catches for 109 yards (uggh)…and on 3rd and 1 in the 4th quarter, I saw perhaps the most poorly designed and called running play in football history, with Forte taking the handoff about 47 yards behind his line, and then had to wait for his fullback to come in front of him just to get in his way (it was rightly snuffed for a loss).  Plus those Seattle alternative jerseys may have burned out my retinas, and I know at the very least were visible from space.

Okay fine, one thing I liked was T.J. Houshmandzadeh backing up his tough trash-talk with 4 catches for 35 yards and a fumble that turned into my guy Johnny Knox’s 2nd TD catch of the year.  Man, T.J., maybe that was why the Bears “ain’t even holla at” you when you “was all trollin’ for dat insanely inflated free-agent deal.”  See ya next time, if you don’t get cut by then, Housh-bag.

TJ Housh.  online photo, no source available

T.J. Houshmandzadeh: “Yo, maybe I ain’t shoulda talked all that sh*t this week…”

NOTES THAT SHOULD BE NOTED:

- Philly beat up on Kansas City with a very creative game plan, having virtually all 53 active players taking snaps at some point.  I’m sour on the Wildcat craze, but Philly used it effectively in the redzone, and didn’t miss their starting QB or starting RB one bit.

- Despite missing on the play, Tampa Bay head coach Raheem Morris showed big-time guts in attempting to score a TD on 4th and goal late in the game, instead of just kicking the gimme FG just to avoid a shutout.  There’s no way that even if the Bucs would have scored that they had any chance of winning, but he wanted a TD anyway.  Your team may suck, but that was a tiny slice of dignity.

- RB Fred Taylor had a nice game for New England, as did Randy Moss.  It’s kind of funny how the Patriots are what Oakland always tries to be, which is a cobblestone of aging castoffs and misfits from other teams who don’t want to bother with them anymore.

- The R*dsk*ns continued their slide into irrelevancy, falling to Detroit (as many predicted they would), and losing the $100,000,000.00 DT Albert Haynesworth along the way.  QB Jason Campbell actually had a pretty good game, but Clinton Portis is the gas in this vehicle, and his 60-some yards weren’t enough octane.  Too bad, so sad…

- I wonder, if just for a second, if Brett Favre’s last-minute, movie-worthy touchdown would somehow have an effect on Adrian Peterson’s ego.  The guy clearly doesn’t have much of one, really, but a guy who beats himself up as bad as he does after not finishing a run just perfect obviously wants the attention.  Don’t think he doesn’t realize the TV cameras are on him when he lays on the ground for a couple beats after getting tripped up just before breaking a long one.  Word of advice (as if Adrian bleeping Peterson reads my stuff) – just get up, man.  The disappointment in yourself may be genuine, but it’s getting annoying, and slowly chipping away from your good-guy image.  It comes off as selfish.  That being said, I do think that if Favre’s bright star somehow stands to diminish Peterson’s, AP’s got no problem taking out the frustration on his opponents.  Hmm.  Damn it, my team still has to play him twice.

Contact email: nick.thomas@flyingpigskin.com

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