Following an exciting first round, we break down the favorite picks, most pleasant and biggest surprises, most under-appreciated pick, worst move and more.
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The Eagles seemingly came out of nowhere to sign Nnamdi Asomugha as they eye a trip to the Super Bowl.
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I spent NFL Week 4 at a popular sports bar in Muskegon, MI. This gave me the opportunity to watch every game, as well as observe and chat with fans of quite a few different teams. West Michigan is primarily Lions country, but there are large factions of Packers, Bears, Vikings, Colts, and Cowboys fans. The establishment I visited is also home to the local chapters of the Bills and Bengals fan clubs. After watching the games and traversing amongst the fans of various teams, here's my observations on Week 4.
The main focus was on the Lions, and the fact the game was close and controversial provided plenty of fodder. I've been a Joey Harrington backer, someone who thinks he's gotten a raw deal from most fans. Sunday's game changed my opinion. Harrington gives up on plays way too quickly and clearly lacks confidence in his ability to complete the tough throw. He wasn't helped by the overrated Roy Williams, who dropped one sure touchdown pass and another catchable 3rd down ball, as well as breaking off routes way too early and often. It took until the final drive, when he was forced to look downfield, before Joey looked like a good QB. The catch by Pollard in the corner was wrongly overruled on replay, however. There is no way that any view shown on the telecast provided conclusive, indisputable evidence that his knee was out of bounds. I would argue that if it were the converse situation, there would be enough indisputable evidence to overturn that call and make it a touchdown, and even the Lions haters in the bar agreed. Where Joey really lost my support was on the next two throws. Those are the clutch throws that winning QBs make and backup QBs just miss. Joey just missed on one and missed badly on the other, and never looked towards an open Charles Rogers on the final play. His inability to get the job done ruined a very strong performance by a young defense. Tampa Bay did just enough to win, which is what good teams do. To win a game where your stud RB gets 12 yards on 11 carries and your QB largely played poorly, that's a mark of a good team.
The resurgent Bengals were well represented, and like the Bucs proved themselves a legitimate good team. They won despite not playing well against a plucky but inferior opponent. Surviving a rut of dumb penalties and a glut of offensive line injuries, the Bengals showed their defense can win games too. Carson Palmer showed he can effectively spread the ball around when the other team focuses on taking away Chad Johnson, which the Texans did well. When you throw TD passes to your backup TE and blocking FB, that's how you win close games. As for the Texans, this game showed that not all the sack problems they have fall on the offensive line. David Carr went down 7 times, and at least 4 of them were of the "coverage sack" variety. Carr's the antithesis of Harrington--taking sacks because he refuses to check down or give up on deeper routes. Domanick Davis was consistently open for outlet throws, but Carr insisted on waiting for Andre Johnson and Jabbar Gaffney to break free downfield. On the occasions when Carr did look short, and on quick drops, the Texans effectively moved the ball, and Carr again displayed good scrambling ability. Still, he's got a lot to learn before the Texans start beating good teams like the Bengals.
The other main game of interest was the Falcons-Vikings matchup. I thought maybe the win last week would get the ball rolling the right direction for the Vikings, but the Falcons completely dominated both sides of the ballgame. The highly publicized improvements to the Vikings defense proved nothing but hot air. The Falcons ran at will, consistently getting backs into the secondary untouched. Obviously the Vikes missed their multiple regulars out with injuries, but they were manhandled by what's generally considered a run-of-the-mill O-line and a very green backup QB. If I'm a Viking fan I'm also very concerned about Daunte Culpepper. In a division with the above-maligned Joey Harrington, a 4th round rookie in Kyle Orton, and a way-beyond his prime Brett Favre, Daunte has consistently been the worst QB in the NFC North. He's missing hot reads, failing to pick up coverage shifts, and simply making poor throws. There were Vikings fans calling for Brad Johnson, not to mention Mike Tice's head covered in flaming hot BBQ sauce. The two Falcons fans were as drunk with glee as much as Coors, seeing almost everything their team tried work out successfully.
More bad quarterbacking was the story in the Buffalo/New Orleans game. I commiserated with the surprisingly large group of Bills fans, moping around their section cursing their QB and their inability to stop the Saints on 3rd down. I have to admit I didn't see the Bills' first drive, where they marched down the field and scored their lone TD. But what I saw of JP Losman was almost embarrasing. He's not even close to being an NFL-caliber quarterback, not even as a backup. As one Bills lifer said to me, "Joe Ferguson could come back today and do better than this bum", and I'm inclined to agree. One of the loudest cheers of the day came when Kelly Holcomb trotted on the field. Losman's ability to frantically scramble with his decent speed is the only positive to his game. The Saints did nothing special on defense and completely shut down the Bills, who gave up on an effective Willis McGahee way too early. The Saints did little special on offense either, but smartly kept feeding Deuce McAlister and throwing to WR Donte Stallworth. Most at the bar agreed that Jim Haslett was the better coach in this game, and that's something that you don't hear very often.
I have to mention the lone Redskins fan at the bar. Sporting his John Riggins jersey and Hogs-inspired pig-eared hat, he chatted up his team to anyone within shouting distance. In what was a very close, very well-played game by two evenly matched teams, Mr. Redskin went nuts when Josh Brown's kick clanked off the upright as time expired. His guarantee that the Redskins would win in overtime, coupled with his decree that he'd buy everyone at the bar a drink if they lost, brought everyone's attention to the thrilling finish. As he correctly pointed out all day, the Skins are just good enough to beat anyone as long as they don't turn the ball over. Their defense is very quick and plays smart, rarely missing assignments and almost never missing tackles. When Novak nailed the game winner after having a perfect kick waived off right before it (can you say overcoaching, Joe Gibbs?), Mr. Redskin stumbled around the entire bar in an exuberant, loud victory lap. That's why I love going to sports bars to watch NFL Sundays.
