Fourth and a Long Way to Go

I have a feeling Tom Brady has packed his angry eyes for the trip to Buffalo. Perfect Tommy has been holding everyone – himself included – responsible for the predicament New England finds itself in. 1-2-0. Bunking with Miami in the AFC East basement. (Ugh. I feel like I need to take a shower.) I get it. If the Patriots are going to get out of this hole, they’re going to have to do it themselves. Nobody feels sorry for them. It won’t be easy. It's never easy.

  

Should the Patriots defeat the Bills and if the Niners bounce back from their inexplicable loss to the Vikings and smack down the Jets, then whether the Dolphins do what the Dolphins do or they don’t, we’ll be able to push the reset button in the AFC East. No team will be better than 2-2-0. We can just put all of that ugliness behind us and move on.

Let’s make this happen!

The Jets are reportedly going to replace Darrelle Revis, one of the few true shutdown cornerbacks in the NFL and a game-changer, with thus far disappointing running back Joe McKnight. This doesn’t seem like a plan. This seems like the opposite of a plan. There isn’t a cornerback on the Jets practice squad? Probably should keep a spare cornerback on the practice squad. (CB, WR, O-Line, D-Line, TE/LB and QB seems like the ideal practice squad; it creates an extra layer of depth at key positions and special teams.) I have to guess the reason the Jets don’t have a spare cornerback on their practice squad – and why they have to use a backup running back to replace Revis – is because there isn’t a single unemployed NFL-quality cornerback available. Demand outweighs supply. That seems odd but it must be true. Otherwise, we’d be hearing about the Jets signing some guy, a mid-round draft pick from 2009 who’s been on the rosters of four other teams in his brief career. He’d have played in 28 games with 5 starts with 3 INT and a fumble recovery. Apparently, even that guy is already employed. Go figure.

Enter Joe McKnight.

Remain calm. Nothing to see here.

I do expect Tim Tebow to receive quite a bit of playing time after San Francisco’s defense takes out its frustrations from the Vikings loss on Mark Sanchez. I don’t think Sanchez will be carted off the field, heroicly giving the crowd the thumbs up as he exits, stage left, but I do expect him to leave a little wobbly, with a bravely noticeable limp. Tebow will be way too little, way too late; a score or two against 49er backups, but it may be enough to ignite the inevitable QB controversy we’ve all been waiting for. Should Sanchez be hurt badly enough to miss the Week 5 Monday night game against the Texans and Tebow does what Jesus would do (represent!) at home against Houston, we can all start wondering who Mark Sanchez will be playing for next year.

Oakland? Cleveland?

49ers win, 34-16.

It’s hard to say who has more issues to work out as the Saints visit the Packers.

Green Bay is dealing with the injustice of their nationally televised last second loss to Seattle on the single worst officiating call in the history of the NFL.

The good news? Someone in Wisconsin is working on a time machine. No, it probably won’t be commercially available for at least ten years but it’s a time machine. Once it is commercially available it will be like it was always commercially available. Would I trade a world where the Green Bay Packers win 92 consecutive NFL championships for a chance to ride a dinosaur? I’ll have to get back to you on that one.

The bad news? Someone in Wisconsin has been down in their basement, using a picture of Roger Goodell for target practice and then sending that bullet-riddled picture to league headquarters stapled to a message composed with grade school sophistication using words and letters cut out of magazines. That’s a storyline that simply must end badly.

Meanwhile, the Saints are 0-3-0. Should New Orleans drop their fourth straight on Sunday, our Pigskin Gods Hate the Saints Theory (doubtless because of Bountygate because it’s not a small data sample anymore) should start to gain widespread acceptance. Bountygate could also be a result if we’re thinking Sean Payton went down to the crossroads, fell down on his knees. Seriously, an on-side kick to start the second half? Who makes that call? A guy who knows how it’s going to turn out, that’s who.

Based on the end of the Seattle game, it hardly looks like the Packers and the Pigskin Gods are BFF, either. This is a must win game for both teams but it’s hard to argue with the premise that it’s the Saints who need this game more. Desperation is a heavy edge in most NFL games. Unfortunately for New Orleans, the game is in Green Bay and it will be played outdoors. Fresh air has been the Saints kryptonite lately. It must drive their moms crazy. Moms always want you to get more fresh air.

Rod Woodson neutralizes Jimmy Graham. Drew Brees looks to the heavens and curses them.

Packers 28, Saints 23.

The predictably mediocre Dolphins visit the surprisingly excellent Cardinals in a game nobody outside of Arizona should care about and yet somehow I do. Okay, yes, I’m already hoping for a Patriots rematch with the Cardinals in the Super Bowl. Speaking of Super Bowls, I wonder if the Cardinals really should be considered a surprise, after all. After all, they were in the Super Bowl just four years ago. Granted, Kurt Warner was their QB then and Kevin Kolb is their QB now but Ken Whisenhunt is still the Head Coach and Larry Fitzgerald is still in the conversation when it comes to best wide receiver in football. Perhaps more importantly, the Cardinals defense is giving up just 13.3 points per game and we all know what defense does, don’t we?

Cardinals 24, Dolphins 9.

The Chiefs, my preseason faves for the AFC West, can pull even with the Chargers with a win at home this Sunday. Kansas City suffered decisive defeats in their first two games then managed an OT win in New Orleans, which would mean a whole lot more if there wasn’t some kind of pigskin curse on the Saints. I guess I cannot deny the enigma that is the San Diego Chargers in this one, though. After all, you can’t suffer a second half collapse unless first you bank some wins in September and October. This looks like the kind of game the Chargers will win going away, only to lose at home to the Oakland Raiders in Week 17, eliminated from the playoffs by a tie-breaker. 

Chargers 31, Chiefs 24.

The NFL is the one league where you can never overuse the phrase, “This is a must win game.” Because they’re all must win games, all 16 of them. There’s painfully little margin for error. Yes, 9-7-0 teams have gone to the Super Bowl but there have been 11-5-0 teams that haven’t even made the playoffs. If you’re serious about making the playoffs you have to get to 12-4-0. So, when you’ve already got two losses after three games, you better dig in. The math is simple enough for anyone to understand. This is a statement game for the Bills but it’s a must win game for the Patriots.

The defense must get after Ryan Fitzpatrick. They must force turnovers. They must get a big game from Chandler Jones. Big. Game. Or from Mayo. Or Spikes or Vince or Hightower or Chung or McCourty or someone. Anyone. A sack. An interception. A fumble forced and recovered. All of the above.

The offense did score 30 points, on the road, against a pretty good defense in Baltimore last week. They will need to do the same this Sunday and perhaps more. They need to take this must win game and turn it into a statement game.

The AFC East still runs through Foxborough.

Patriots 37, Bill 27.