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.
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.
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