Can we trust the Patriots to hold on to a lead anymore? Bill Belichick out-thunk himself with his 4th-and-2 call from his own 28. The rationale is that he thought his offense had a better shot of picking up 2 yards on 4th down than his defense did of stopping Manning. Even if they failed to convert the 4th-and-2, it would have the same result as punting, right? That’s a stretch, and it gave the Colts the ball 29 yards from a touchdown with over 2 minutes to play. There was also a bunch of oddly-burned timeouts sprinkled in there.
Failing to convert the 4th-and-2 wasn’t really ever considered, which is in Belichick’s nature and part of what makes him the arrogant cutthroat that he is. Maybe karma bit him in the ass on this one, and that’s bound to happen. But if the Patriots’ defense is this unreliable to their head coach, the Pats have problems that will have implications later.
For now, the New England loss caps off what was a terrible week for my record. Discretion will be necessary from here on out.
Denver and Atlanta couldn’t trust backups, after each lost high-performing starters in the 2nd quarter. When Denver QB Kyle Orton left his game vs. the R*dsk*ns with an ankle injury, he was 11-18 for 193 yards and 2 TD’s. When Atlanta RB Michael Turner left his game vs. the Panthers with an ankle injury, he had 111 yards on 9 carries.
Orton’s replacement was Chris Simms, who posted a 7.5 passer rating (as opposed to Orton’s 134.5). Atlanta was already down counter-puncher Jerious Norwood, so something named Jason Snelling filled in, and did okay. 61 yards and a touchdown, but Atlanta fell apart after the injury and was already getting torched on defense.
Dallas couldn’t trust Tony Romo, whose stats aren’t great or awful, but his only INT came after a 14 play, 79-yard drive to the Green Bay 1, where he was picked off by Charles Woodson just short of the goal line to all but seal the loss. Crappy quarterbacks throw picks in the redzone when the stakes are high and your team is still in the game (ahem…jaycutler).
Aaron Rodgers earned some trust after righting the ship against the Cowboys, and even the offensive line got in on the act, scattering 4 sacks against a good Dallas defense. Green Bay’s own defense swarmed Romo all day, sacking him 5 times and hitting him hard. It was a fun game to watch considering the score was 3-0 Packers going into the 4th quarter.
Pittsburgh couldn’t trust their special teams, which gave up a return score for a revolting 7th straight game. The 96-yarder in the 2nd quarter by the Bengals’ Bernard Scott was the difference in the field-goal fest, which featured virtually no offensive ball movement. 8 kicks went through either set of uprights, and 6 of them were 32 yards or longer. Cincy’s Cedric Benson and Steeler Troy Polamalu were both knocked out of the game.
The Jets couldn’t trust their 4th-ranked defense to keep Jacksonville’s 21st-ranked offense from scoring a field goal to win the game. Philly couldn’t trust it’s offense, which could only manage 23 points in San Diego despite getting 450 yards and two TD’s on 35 completions from Donovan McNabb.
We almost couldn’t trust New Orleans against lowly St. Louis, who fought back in the game against a banged-up Saints defense in the second half. The Saints’ stable of running backs were able to save the day, but N.O. is hurting right now in the secondary and the Saints’ date with New England in two weeks just started looking a little tougher for Drew Brees & Company, who committed 3 turnovers today.
Tampa bay already didn’t trust its defense, who did set up a potential game-winning TD by picking off Chad Henne on a horrific pass deep in Dolphin territory. But then that same defense let the same QB march almost 80 yards in just over a minute to win the game with a chip-shot field goal. Josh Freeman turned in his second solid performance in as many starts, and has Tampa Bay feeling optimistic for the future.
And finally, if you can trust anything in the NFL right now, as much as it pains me in a profound and intimate way to say it, you can trust in Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings offense. It’s something that I have to come to grips with, and it might as well happen sooner rather than later. I know they played the Lions today, and I know the final score of 27-10 isn’t even that big of a blowout, but Minnesota made it look effortless.
AP looked very healthy and well rested (18 carries for 133, 2 TD) after the bye week, galloping through tackles and cutting with precision. Acceleration, burst, violence, anger. Wait until he plays an opponent that matters.
Brett Favre made Sydney Rice look like some kind of freak combination of Randy Moss and Jerry Rice, which he isn’t, but he was against Detroit. This game wasn’t close, ever. Minnesota left points on the board, which is an issue, but it doesn’t matter. This team isn’t f—ing around anymore, and Favre will have these bastards ready to play the big games.
The Viking pass defense will need to improve, and Antoine Winfield will likely have to be in top form to get past this New Orleans offense in the playoffs, and Jared Allen may have to show up for a game not against Green Bay (1 tackle, 0 sacks on Sunday), but this offense is serious. Brett Favre is currently projected to finish the season with almost 3900 yards, 32 TD’s and 6 picks. Brady and Manning might throw for more yards, but at 40, leading a team that was a mess offensively last season to a dominating regular season in 2009, Favre still has to be the favorite to win it.
After typing that last sentence, I am going to go drink beer, eat chicken wings, and cry, all at the same time.
contact email: nick.thomas@flyingpigskin.com
