RealGM Wiretap
$.01-- Brett Favre announced Thursday that he will not return to the Vikings for the 2011 season. I had two initial reactions to this news: 1. He must think we are complete suckers, and? 2. In one fell swoop, he took all the attention away from the Vikings coaching issues and made it all about Brett Favre. Again. I realize I?m probably too cynical about this, but it?s damn hard not to be after all these years of Favre?s media whoredom. Clearly upset that former teammate Randy Moss was getting all the publicity emanating from the Twin Cities, Favre had to step up and steal back the spotlight. Notice that Favre was careful to avoid any sort of absolution regarding his career, instead just saying he won?t be back in Minnesota. I thought it might actually work too. By making it about him and announcing it?s now or never for the Vikings, I suspected the team would read that writing on the closing window and rally for a strong victory. Alas, Favre turned in a clunker of a game against the Bears, throwing three interceptions and missing several open receivers by lacking touch. After that performance, nobody in Minnesota would want him back. His exodus could actually happen a lot sooner than #4 expects, if this season-blowing loss does what I think it will to the Vikings. Expect Brad Childress to have coached his final game in Minnesota, and don?t be surprised if Tarvaris Jackson takes over at QB. $.02-- The Dallas Cowboys responded to the in-season coaching change with flying colors. Interim Head Coach Jason Garrett finally got his offense straightened out, consciously utilizing his prime weapons more frequently. Those would be Felix Jones and Dez Bryant, and their speed killed the Giants. Jon Kitna was both sharp and tough, standing tall in the face of pressure and delivering his most consistent throws in years. Jerry Jones has to wonder if he waited too long to drop the axe on Wade Phillips. The Cowboys players clearly played with more passion and heart against the Giants, effort that has been lacking since the moment Tony Romo?s shoulder got smashed. There is going to be a lot of consternation and overreaction to this win, in part because it?s the Dallas Cowboys and in part because they thoroughly whipped the high-flying Giants. I would caution everyone to not read too much into it. The Giants were due for a clunker game, and it was more likely to come against a familiar opponent. Nobody gets too pumped up or deflated than Giants fans and their sycophantic media, who will now predictably start calling for Tom Coughlin?s head again, just one week after loudly complaining he should be coach of the fortnight. Everyone has been yelling all year that the Cowboys have too much talent to keep playing so poorly, and they finally snapped out of that underachieving funk. Before lauding Garrett and giving him the keys to the castle, let?s see this team do it again and prove this wasn?t a fluke. Those arguments about Dallas having too much talent are essentially valid, though I would argue no team this side of Buffalo has less talent in the trenches. They largely avoided big mistakes, stupid penalties, and bad turnovers in this one, maladies that have plagued them all year. If they continue to play that kind of football the rest of the year, Garrett should then be considered for the job. But there is still a lot of football left to be played. Be careful not to read too much into just one game, but if you are a Dallas fan you have to like the immediate results. $.03-- In a game that makes a complete mess of the AFC Wild Card picture, the Dolphins had four different players take snaps at QB in beating the Titans 29-17. It?s a huge win for the Dolphins, who desperately needed a quality win at home. They get little time to celebrate, however, as they must face the Bears this Thursday with 3rd string QB Tyler Thigpen at the helm. Thigpen stepped up nicely after both Chads, Pennington and Henne, went down with injuries, but it speaks volumes that Coach Tony Sparano was compelled to use Ronnie Brown and the Wildcat several times before turning to Thigpen. The QB chaos makes getting the win here all the more important. Sparano switched from Henne to Pennington this week in hopes of sparking his sputtering offense, but Pennington probably saw his star-crossed career end on just his second play. The Titans have some QB issues of their own, and they now need some help to catch up in the Wild Card race. The loss drops them a game behind Baltimore for the final Wild Card spot, but the gap has to seem like more after Vince Young meekly replaced an injured Kerry Collins. Young was an upgrade over Collins this week, but given the unsurprising information that many Titans were not-so-privately upset with Young for rehabbing on his own instead of being with the team, his performance isn?t likely to win over many in the locker room tired of his inconsistency and aloofness. This was a game they had to have, and getting beat by a 3rd string QB really stings. Now they must play catch-up and do so with a QB schism and notorious locker room divider Randy Moss (who accomplished very little) now requiring attention. It?s a good win for the Dolphins, but a much worse loss for the Titans. Tennessee has now dropped two in a row, this one off a bye, to teams they figure to be in direct competition with for a playoff spot. $.04-- Atlanta kicked off the weekend early with a stunning come-from-behind victory over the Ravens Thursday night. It was a thrilling finish to what should be viewed as a statement game for the Falcons and a further indictment of the near-universal overrating of the Ravens. Atlanta moves to 7-2 but this is the most significant win of the season for the NFC leaders. Nobody outside of a few Atlanta die-hards really believed that the Falcons were a legit Super Bowl contender. They lacked a signature win and had risen to 6-2 largely under the radar. I knew they were pretty good but I needed to see them go out and register a great win against a quality opponent. I got that on Thursday night, and there should be no doubt that the Falcons are very much for real. A lot of what makes them real is Matt Ryan and Roddy White. Matty Ice has lost just once at home in his career, and his performance on the game-winning drive is the stuff that legends are built upon. Roddy White leads the league in both receptions and yards, and he finally got to show off on a national stage (albeit one restricted to the estimated 31% of America that gets the NFL Network). He?s a complete receiver and a dark horse MVP candidate at this point. With their strong running game and a defensive front 7 that has more teeth than most think they do, this Falcons team is well-built to make a deep playoff run. As for the Ravens, this game exposed two major problems they have going forward. Once again Joe Flacco struggled badly against a good opponent for most of the night. I?ll credit him with a great comeback in the 4th quarter, but he was undeniably awful for most of the night. He consistently misfired and rushed throws, and often looked positively bewildered and alone on the sidelines. He did recover admirably, but at some point he?s going to need to play a complete game against a good opponent, something he has yet to demonstrate. Their other issue is far more problematic: their secondary. Their corners are lucky to be in Baltimore, because they wouldn?t sniff the field on most other rosters. Chris Carr is a solid nickel back, but he?s the #1 corner here and the clear cream of the crap. Ed Reed remains opportunistic at safety, but he?s lost a step. There is little communication in coverage, as they often completely lose track of receivers (see the Jason Snelling TD). And when they are in position, they?re undersized and flat-out awful at tackling. They?re not getting much help from a pass rush that has gone from fearsome to sporadic, and the LBs aren?t very good in coverage either. That final ATL drive was no fluke on either side of the ball, and that inability to keep teams from throwing at will when they need to will doom this Baltimore team to just one playoff game, if they even make it that far. $.05--The Troy Smith era has arrived in San Francisco, and it couldn?t come soon enough. Since taking over in London for the injured/awful Alex Smith and the just plain awful David Carr, Smith has given the Niners offense a major shot in the arm. He?s also given them a very legit chance to win the wretched NFC West, thanks to inspiring confidence in teammates not accustomed to trusting their QB. The obvious question is, ?What took so long!?!? Bad QB play buried the Niners to a 1-6 start that very nearly cost Mike Singletary his head coaching job. Troy Smith brings better accuracy than Alex Smith, and his mobility is just as good. But what sets Troy Smith apart is his poise. He doesn?t panic, doesn?t force throws, and doesn?t give up on plays at the first sign of pressure. Those qualities are so obviously foreign concepts to Alex Smith that it?s amazing Singletary stuck with him as long as he did. The gutsy, strong throw under extreme duress he made that led to the crucial (and correct) pass interference call that set up the win is a play on which Alex Smith gets sacked and fumbles. The difference is tangible all across the team. No longer does the defense take unnecessary risks, because they don?t feel like they have to win the game for themselves. The line is playing better because they know that their strong effort won?t likely be wasted. The wideouts are brimming with confidence and playing with renewed vigor, knowing that if they get open, they are going to get the ball. San Francisco still has a way to climb. They?ve yet to win on the road and still sit in last place (tied with Arizona) in perhaps the worst division in post-merger history, two games behind the Seahawks. But Troy Smith has given them hope, and that just might be enough to complete a remarkable turnaround from doormat to division winner...which will make Singletary?s inevitable decision to give the ball back to Alex Smith all the more excruciating for Niners fans. $.06-- Denver jumped all over Kansas City, showing an incredible spark for a 2-6 team. I applaud Broncos coach Josh McDaniels for regrouping his team during their bye week and devising a gameplan that played to the strengths of his players. Kyle Orton was very sharp and confident, and the finally healthy Knowshon Moreno provided a real lift at running back. They caught the suddenly reeling Chiefs flat-footed and thoroughly dominated the contest, something that McDaniels sorely needed to keep the vultures from circling too low. Tim Tebow even guided the offense nicely, running for a TD and throwing another. But the big story in this game in my opinion came in the 1st quarter, on the Broncos? 3rd touchdown. Orton hit Jabar Gaffney on a long strike that was certainly a questionable catch. It was ruled a reception on the field, but the Chiefs were smart to challenge; it appeared as if the ball briefly touched the ground and might have been out of control for a moment during the tumbling act of securing the ball. But referee Mike Carey announced that the review was inoperable, denying the Chiefs any chance of getting the call overturned and making the entire review process even more laughably inept. It is simply inexcusable for replay to be ?inoperable?, and from a technical standpoint it?s actually impossible. The feed that the stadium uses to put pictures on the scoreboard can be piped into any receiver in the stadium, and that feed comes directly from the NFL Films crew and also the network broadcast. Any production assistant on the job more than three days can fix that problem quite literally with a flip of a switch. So while the fans in the stadium got to make their opinions as the replays from several angles was on the big screen, the officials lamely claimed they could not get the desired video under the hood. That?s a copout of a difficult call, and the refs are very fortunate it had no bearing on the final outcome. $.07-- The Sunday Night Football contest was a good one, with the Patriots torching the Steelers in a game with very big AFC playoff ramifications. Here?s what I took from the game: 1. New England?s defensive front played their best game in weeks. Bill Belichick has finally settled on a rotation that seems to work well, which bodes well as the season continues to unfold. The Pittsburgh guards were awful, which made those D-linemen look better. 2. Troy Polamalu takes an incredible amount of chances. He?s right a whole lot more than he?s not, but when he guesses wrong it makes for some very ugly defensive breakdowns. The Patriots took full advantage on the first drive of the 3rd quarter, where they caught him guessing wrong 3 plays in a row that led to a crucial TD. Cris Collinsworth pinned the late Gronkowski TD on William Gay, but it was Polamalu incorrectly reading the play that led to him being at fault. Pittsburgh is not good enough to overcome when Polamalu is making mistakes. 3. My wife kept calling Danny Woodhead ?The Hobbit?, knowing absolutely nothing about him. She also demands Tom Brady get a haircut so he ?stops looking like a gay underwear model?. I married well. 4. Nobody bounces back from a loss better or smarter than Bill Belichick teams. The Hoodie self-scouts his own team more productively than any other coach, diagnosing weaknesses and aggressively addressing them. I respect the hell out of Mike Tomlin, but he was outcoached in this one and it showed. 5. I?m still amazed that anyone could find any humor in The Office. I want to change the channel just watching the promos it looks so unbearably unfunny. Awkwardness is not funny, it?s lazy and uninteresting. 6. Two years ago during Senior Bowl week in Mobile, Mike Wallace told me he was going to be the best wideout in his draft class. No player there that week paid closer attention to coaching, and he listed out what he wanted to improve at to get better. I got the feeling he was going to be a success but I didn?t think he had this upside. I love how he showed his ability to be more than just a speed guy in this game, excelling on shorter routes and showing legit toughness. 7. New England?s offensive line is inconsistent, but when they?re playing well they?re quite good. No tackles on any other team cut block better. 8. Brady is getting more comfortable with his tight ends, and I think that bodes very well come playoff time. $.08--5 NFL quickies: 1. Congrats to the Bills for notching their first win of the season, beating my Lions on a blustery Buffalo day. That?s a new NFL record for road futility by Detroit, one that isn?t likely to end this Stafford-less season. Unacceptable effort by the Honolulu blue in this one. 2. The Andrew Walter TD catch that almost saved Houston?s season was less of a complete reception than Calvin Johnson?s disallowed catch in Week 1. The referee in this one was Gene Steratore, the same official who called the Johnson catch no good. There is no freaking way I will accept any explanation from the NFL other than reversing the call in Chicago and giving the Lions the win they flat-out stole from Detroit. Rules cannot apply to only certain teams, Mr. Goodell... 3. Also from HOU/JAX, you have to feel for the emotional roller coaster that has been Josh Scobee?s season. The Jaguars kicker beat the Colts with a 59-yard game winner and has been nails all season long. But he botched two field goals in this one, including a God-awful ugly miss with less than two minutes remaining that would have won the game. Absolutely stunning clutch play by David Garrard and Mike Thomas on the game-winner, which redeems Scobee and prevented any overtime pressure kicks. 4. The only team in the AFC this season to have a lead in every game? The 3-6 Cleveland Browns, currently tied for 13th in the conference. Had Colt McCoy been the quarterback all season, I?d put good money the Browns would have at least six wins. 5. Memo to Carson Palmer: you are in fact allowed to look at places and people other than precisely where you are going to throw the ball. I say this because Palmer has apparently forgotten this invaluable tip, something drilled into the head of every middle school QB from the second they get tabbed as a quarterback. It?s way too easy pickings against the Bengals QB right now. $.09--5 college/draft not-so-quickies: 1. I tried very hard to just watch Cam Newton as a potential NFL QB and ignore the off-field hullabaloo. I came away impressed but not convinced. He has great arm strength and very good accuracy on deeper throws, and he strongly resembles Ben Roethlisberger as a physical presence with the ball, only faster. But his field vision and patience are not up to par yet, though some of that is a function of Auburn?s offense. He chose to tuck and run far too quickly for the liking of most NFL offensive coordinators, often letting receivers just getting open to rot on the vine. If he can learn to stay patient and keep his eyes open and down the field, he has a chance to be as good as Steve Young. But there is a lot to learn; he?s quite raw and his fundamentals and mechanics are all over the place. 2. There were a couple of other Auburn Tigers I watched carefully in the Georgia game. Left tackle Lee Ziemba has been at Auburn seemingly forever, and his experience shows at the college level. He?s a decent left tackle that controls inside rushes and blocks down well, but where I really liked him was when Auburn lined him up at right tackle in their ?heavy? package. Ziemba shines as a run blocker and does very well on the move, consistently walling off the edge and generating surge in short yardage situations. He lacks great agility and consistent hand punch in pass protect to handle left tackle duty in the NFL, but he should make a solid right tackle or even right guard in the NFL, especially in a zone blocking scheme. DT Nick Fairley, meanwhile, left the game with a shoulder injury after drilling the QB a half-step late. Fairley returned later and committed a terrible roughing the passer penalty, clearly frustrated at being stymied by double teams. He is not as explosive inside as LSU?s Drake Nevis but might be a better run defender; he sheds blocks well and holds leverage more sturdily, where Nevis is an all-or-nothing penetrator. Fairley shows very good 3-man front DE skills, but he must keep his head. Two other times I saw him commit blow-to-the-head penalties that didn?t get called, and other opponents have brought this up about Fairley as well. 3. Wisconsin hung 83 points on Indiana, and I don?t blame them one iota. The Badgers have been very under-the-radar as a 1-loss team, and this outburst gives them prominence and attention that maybe they are the best of the 1-loss group. They did this without RB John Clay, their ?alleged? top runner, though I see very little NFL future for the slow bruiser. 4. Oklahoma State blew out Texas in Austin, their first win there since FDR was President. This is clearly a lost season for Texas, which plays without any sort of passion or cohesion and is sorely lacking at the offensive skill positions. But the Cowboys don?t mind, particularly QB Brandon Weeden and ultra-talented WR Justin Blackmon. Weeden is a former baseball player, a 27-year-old junior that might stick as a low-risk backup in the NFL after another season. The star wattage goes to Blackmon, a redshirt sophomore who destroyed any and every Longhorns DB assigned to his general vicinity. His stats (9 catches for 145 yards) actually lower his season average a tick, but he?s a complete receiver with great speed and excellent field awareness. Should he come out--and almost every scout and Big 12 insider I?ve talked with expects him to declare, especially if the Cowboys win the Big 12--he should be a top 20 overall pick, though a bad recent DUI will haunt a bit. 5. Two teams really showed me a lot on Saturday: Ohio State for responding to a flat first half by laying a beating on Penn State in the second half, keeping their BCS at-large hopes very much alive; and South Carolina for finally slaying the beast and winning the SEC East by beating Florida. Just as surprising is that the Gamecocks were clearly the better, more talented team, and they finally played like it under the spotlight. $.10-- I got a great deal of feedback regarding last week?s tenth cent, which focused on the Cam Newton saga. Thanks to all for the very strong opinions, even those who think I?m completely off my rocker. My favorite correspondence came from someone with a strong personal perspective. Loyal reader/emailer/former student of mine Marquise from Petersburg (that?s Virginia) had a lot to say about it, but most of it centered around my proposed solution of removing BCS-level football from the NCAA and the ridiculous restrictions placed on football players. Two points he brought up that I believe are worth sharing: -- The Sun Belt Conference could have zero bowl-eligible teams this year. Marquise is a current FCS (I-AA) player who could have gone to some of those schools, but wanted to play FCS because he ?wanted a chance to actually win. I never wanted to be a token victory, that is humiliating...it goes against why I play.? He says that if the big-time schools were fully separated, he ?definitely? would have gone to a Sun Belt or C-USA school. This is a big reason why James Madison can beat Virginia Tech and so many other FCS schools are making FBS schools sweat and cry. I know this is true at many D-II schools as well, including Grand Valley State and most of the MIAA schools in my old stomping grounds of Michigan and Ohio. The MAC, C-USA, WAC and Sun Belt schools are getting crushed by this, even as some continue to steal better recruits from the BCS conference schools. -- He knows ?at least three? teammates that had to leave school because they couldn?t afford remaining as students with no ability to earn money on the side. Football soaks up too much time and it makes getting even a part-time job prohibitive. These young men cannot get money from home and can?t qualify for affordable loans, so they are flushed out because they are football players. He said one remained in school but the others couldn?t take being there and not being part of the team. Imagine you are an inner-city young black man, told from the time you start playing Pop Warner that football is your ticket to success in life. You work so hard to overcome all the disadvantages life has dealt you--poor schools, tough socioeconomic conditions, often a fractured family structure--by pouring yourself into football. That dream and diligence earns you a precious scholarship, perhaps making you the first person in your family to even graduate high school (that?s Marquise?s case), let alone attend college. And then you have to give it up because you can?t afford to stay in school because the rigors of going to class and playing the game that got you there don?t allow you a chance to earn any money. If an assistant coach or a wealthy booster buys you even a $.25 taco, you are ineligible and vilified by the NCAA. If you try to take advantage of playing football, you are essentially a criminal. Yet the school can sell your jersey for $80 a pop, plaster your likeness on tickets and merchandise, and you can?t accept a single dime of compensation for money you are earning for someone else. You can?t afford Ramen noodles or Diet Faygo, but the school can promote you to earn thousands. Ladies and gentlemen, that is criminal behavior by the NCAA. Try doing that in the business world or private industry and you?d be buried in lawsuits and allegations of institutional racism and discrimination against the poor. Jeff.Risdon@RealGM.com
Risdon's $.10 After Week 10 (Pats, Cowboys, 49ers & More)
$.01-- Brett Favre announced Thursday that he will not return to the Vikings for the 2011 season. I had two initial reactions to this news: 1. He must think we are complete suckers, and? 2. In one fell swoop, he took all the attention away from the Vikings coaching issues and made it all about Brett Favre. Again. I realize I?m probably too cynical about this, but it?s damn hard not to be after all these years of Favre?s media whoredom. Clearly upset that former teammate Randy Moss was getting all the publicity emanating from the Twin Cities, Favre had to step up and steal back the spotlight. Notice that Favre was careful to avoid any sort of absolution regarding his career, instead just saying he won?t be back in Minnesota. I thought it might actually work too. By making it about him and announcing it?s now or never for the Vikings, I suspected the team would read that writing on the closing window and rally for a strong victory. Alas, Favre turned in a clunker of a game against the Bears, throwing three interceptions and missing several open receivers by lacking touch. After that performance, nobody in Minnesota would want him back. His exodus could actually happen a lot sooner than #4 expects, if this season-blowing loss does what I think it will to the Vikings. Expect Brad Childress to have coached his final game in Minnesota, and don?t be surprised if Tarvaris Jackson takes over at QB. $.02-- The Dallas Cowboys responded to the in-season coaching change with flying colors. Interim Head Coach Jason Garrett finally got his offense straightened out, consciously utilizing his prime weapons more frequently. Those would be Felix Jones and Dez Bryant, and their speed killed the Giants. Jon Kitna was both sharp and tough, standing tall in the face of pressure and delivering his most consistent throws in years. Jerry Jones has to wonder if he waited too long to drop the axe on Wade Phillips. The Cowboys players clearly played with more passion and heart against the Giants, effort that has been lacking since the moment Tony Romo?s shoulder got smashed. There is going to be a lot of consternation and overreaction to this win, in part because it?s the Dallas Cowboys and in part because they thoroughly whipped the high-flying Giants. I would caution everyone to not read too much into it. The Giants were due for a clunker game, and it was more likely to come against a familiar opponent. Nobody gets too pumped up or deflated than Giants fans and their sycophantic media, who will now predictably start calling for Tom Coughlin?s head again, just one week after loudly complaining he should be coach of the fortnight. Everyone has been yelling all year that the Cowboys have too much talent to keep playing so poorly, and they finally snapped out of that underachieving funk. Before lauding Garrett and giving him the keys to the castle, let?s see this team do it again and prove this wasn?t a fluke. Those arguments about Dallas having too much talent are essentially valid, though I would argue no team this side of Buffalo has less talent in the trenches. They largely avoided big mistakes, stupid penalties, and bad turnovers in this one, maladies that have plagued them all year. If they continue to play that kind of football the rest of the year, Garrett should then be considered for the job. But there is still a lot of football left to be played. Be careful not to read too much into just one game, but if you are a Dallas fan you have to like the immediate results. $.03-- In a game that makes a complete mess of the AFC Wild Card picture, the Dolphins had four different players take snaps at QB in beating the Titans 29-17. It?s a huge win for the Dolphins, who desperately needed a quality win at home. They get little time to celebrate, however, as they must face the Bears this Thursday with 3rd string QB Tyler Thigpen at the helm. Thigpen stepped up nicely after both Chads, Pennington and Henne, went down with injuries, but it speaks volumes that Coach Tony Sparano was compelled to use Ronnie Brown and the Wildcat several times before turning to Thigpen. The QB chaos makes getting the win here all the more important. Sparano switched from Henne to Pennington this week in hopes of sparking his sputtering offense, but Pennington probably saw his star-crossed career end on just his second play. The Titans have some QB issues of their own, and they now need some help to catch up in the Wild Card race. The loss drops them a game behind Baltimore for the final Wild Card spot, but the gap has to seem like more after Vince Young meekly replaced an injured Kerry Collins. Young was an upgrade over Collins this week, but given the unsurprising information that many Titans were not-so-privately upset with Young for rehabbing on his own instead of being with the team, his performance isn?t likely to win over many in the locker room tired of his inconsistency and aloofness. This was a game they had to have, and getting beat by a 3rd string QB really stings. Now they must play catch-up and do so with a QB schism and notorious locker room divider Randy Moss (who accomplished very little) now requiring attention. It?s a good win for the Dolphins, but a much worse loss for the Titans. Tennessee has now dropped two in a row, this one off a bye, to teams they figure to be in direct competition with for a playoff spot. $.04-- Atlanta kicked off the weekend early with a stunning come-from-behind victory over the Ravens Thursday night. It was a thrilling finish to what should be viewed as a statement game for the Falcons and a further indictment of the near-universal overrating of the Ravens. Atlanta moves to 7-2 but this is the most significant win of the season for the NFC leaders. Nobody outside of a few Atlanta die-hards really believed that the Falcons were a legit Super Bowl contender. They lacked a signature win and had risen to 6-2 largely under the radar. I knew they were pretty good but I needed to see them go out and register a great win against a quality opponent. I got that on Thursday night, and there should be no doubt that the Falcons are very much for real. A lot of what makes them real is Matt Ryan and Roddy White. Matty Ice has lost just once at home in his career, and his performance on the game-winning drive is the stuff that legends are built upon. Roddy White leads the league in both receptions and yards, and he finally got to show off on a national stage (albeit one restricted to the estimated 31% of America that gets the NFL Network). He?s a complete receiver and a dark horse MVP candidate at this point. With their strong running game and a defensive front 7 that has more teeth than most think they do, this Falcons team is well-built to make a deep playoff run. As for the Ravens, this game exposed two major problems they have going forward. Once again Joe Flacco struggled badly against a good opponent for most of the night. I?ll credit him with a great comeback in the 4th quarter, but he was undeniably awful for most of the night. He consistently misfired and rushed throws, and often looked positively bewildered and alone on the sidelines. He did recover admirably, but at some point he?s going to need to play a complete game against a good opponent, something he has yet to demonstrate. Their other issue is far more problematic: their secondary. Their corners are lucky to be in Baltimore, because they wouldn?t sniff the field on most other rosters. Chris Carr is a solid nickel back, but he?s the #1 corner here and the clear cream of the crap. Ed Reed remains opportunistic at safety, but he?s lost a step. There is little communication in coverage, as they often completely lose track of receivers (see the Jason Snelling TD). And when they are in position, they?re undersized and flat-out awful at tackling. They?re not getting much help from a pass rush that has gone from fearsome to sporadic, and the LBs aren?t very good in coverage either. That final ATL drive was no fluke on either side of the ball, and that inability to keep teams from throwing at will when they need to will doom this Baltimore team to just one playoff game, if they even make it that far. $.05--The Troy Smith era has arrived in San Francisco, and it couldn?t come soon enough. Since taking over in London for the injured/awful Alex Smith and the just plain awful David Carr, Smith has given the Niners offense a major shot in the arm. He?s also given them a very legit chance to win the wretched NFC West, thanks to inspiring confidence in teammates not accustomed to trusting their QB. The obvious question is, ?What took so long!?!? Bad QB play buried the Niners to a 1-6 start that very nearly cost Mike Singletary his head coaching job. Troy Smith brings better accuracy than Alex Smith, and his mobility is just as good. But what sets Troy Smith apart is his poise. He doesn?t panic, doesn?t force throws, and doesn?t give up on plays at the first sign of pressure. Those qualities are so obviously foreign concepts to Alex Smith that it?s amazing Singletary stuck with him as long as he did. The gutsy, strong throw under extreme duress he made that led to the crucial (and correct) pass interference call that set up the win is a play on which Alex Smith gets sacked and fumbles. The difference is tangible all across the team. No longer does the defense take unnecessary risks, because they don?t feel like they have to win the game for themselves. The line is playing better because they know that their strong effort won?t likely be wasted. The wideouts are brimming with confidence and playing with renewed vigor, knowing that if they get open, they are going to get the ball. San Francisco still has a way to climb. They?ve yet to win on the road and still sit in last place (tied with Arizona) in perhaps the worst division in post-merger history, two games behind the Seahawks. But Troy Smith has given them hope, and that just might be enough to complete a remarkable turnaround from doormat to division winner...which will make Singletary?s inevitable decision to give the ball back to Alex Smith all the more excruciating for Niners fans. $.06-- Denver jumped all over Kansas City, showing an incredible spark for a 2-6 team. I applaud Broncos coach Josh McDaniels for regrouping his team during their bye week and devising a gameplan that played to the strengths of his players. Kyle Orton was very sharp and confident, and the finally healthy Knowshon Moreno provided a real lift at running back. They caught the suddenly reeling Chiefs flat-footed and thoroughly dominated the contest, something that McDaniels sorely needed to keep the vultures from circling too low. Tim Tebow even guided the offense nicely, running for a TD and throwing another. But the big story in this game in my opinion came in the 1st quarter, on the Broncos? 3rd touchdown. Orton hit Jabar Gaffney on a long strike that was certainly a questionable catch. It was ruled a reception on the field, but the Chiefs were smart to challenge; it appeared as if the ball briefly touched the ground and might have been out of control for a moment during the tumbling act of securing the ball. But referee Mike Carey announced that the review was inoperable, denying the Chiefs any chance of getting the call overturned and making the entire review process even more laughably inept. It is simply inexcusable for replay to be ?inoperable?, and from a technical standpoint it?s actually impossible. The feed that the stadium uses to put pictures on the scoreboard can be piped into any receiver in the stadium, and that feed comes directly from the NFL Films crew and also the network broadcast. Any production assistant on the job more than three days can fix that problem quite literally with a flip of a switch. So while the fans in the stadium got to make their opinions as the replays from several angles was on the big screen, the officials lamely claimed they could not get the desired video under the hood. That?s a copout of a difficult call, and the refs are very fortunate it had no bearing on the final outcome. $.07-- The Sunday Night Football contest was a good one, with the Patriots torching the Steelers in a game with very big AFC playoff ramifications. Here?s what I took from the game: 1. New England?s defensive front played their best game in weeks. Bill Belichick has finally settled on a rotation that seems to work well, which bodes well as the season continues to unfold. The Pittsburgh guards were awful, which made those D-linemen look better. 2. Troy Polamalu takes an incredible amount of chances. He?s right a whole lot more than he?s not, but when he guesses wrong it makes for some very ugly defensive breakdowns. The Patriots took full advantage on the first drive of the 3rd quarter, where they caught him guessing wrong 3 plays in a row that led to a crucial TD. Cris Collinsworth pinned the late Gronkowski TD on William Gay, but it was Polamalu incorrectly reading the play that led to him being at fault. Pittsburgh is not good enough to overcome when Polamalu is making mistakes. 3. My wife kept calling Danny Woodhead ?The Hobbit?, knowing absolutely nothing about him. She also demands Tom Brady get a haircut so he ?stops looking like a gay underwear model?. I married well. 4. Nobody bounces back from a loss better or smarter than Bill Belichick teams. The Hoodie self-scouts his own team more productively than any other coach, diagnosing weaknesses and aggressively addressing them. I respect the hell out of Mike Tomlin, but he was outcoached in this one and it showed. 5. I?m still amazed that anyone could find any humor in The Office. I want to change the channel just watching the promos it looks so unbearably unfunny. Awkwardness is not funny, it?s lazy and uninteresting. 6. Two years ago during Senior Bowl week in Mobile, Mike Wallace told me he was going to be the best wideout in his draft class. No player there that week paid closer attention to coaching, and he listed out what he wanted to improve at to get better. I got the feeling he was going to be a success but I didn?t think he had this upside. I love how he showed his ability to be more than just a speed guy in this game, excelling on shorter routes and showing legit toughness. 7. New England?s offensive line is inconsistent, but when they?re playing well they?re quite good. No tackles on any other team cut block better. 8. Brady is getting more comfortable with his tight ends, and I think that bodes very well come playoff time. $.08--5 NFL quickies: 1. Congrats to the Bills for notching their first win of the season, beating my Lions on a blustery Buffalo day. That?s a new NFL record for road futility by Detroit, one that isn?t likely to end this Stafford-less season. Unacceptable effort by the Honolulu blue in this one. 2. The Andrew Walter TD catch that almost saved Houston?s season was less of a complete reception than Calvin Johnson?s disallowed catch in Week 1. The referee in this one was Gene Steratore, the same official who called the Johnson catch no good. There is no freaking way I will accept any explanation from the NFL other than reversing the call in Chicago and giving the Lions the win they flat-out stole from Detroit. Rules cannot apply to only certain teams, Mr. Goodell... 3. Also from HOU/JAX, you have to feel for the emotional roller coaster that has been Josh Scobee?s season. The Jaguars kicker beat the Colts with a 59-yard game winner and has been nails all season long. But he botched two field goals in this one, including a God-awful ugly miss with less than two minutes remaining that would have won the game. Absolutely stunning clutch play by David Garrard and Mike Thomas on the game-winner, which redeems Scobee and prevented any overtime pressure kicks. 4. The only team in the AFC this season to have a lead in every game? The 3-6 Cleveland Browns, currently tied for 13th in the conference. Had Colt McCoy been the quarterback all season, I?d put good money the Browns would have at least six wins. 5. Memo to Carson Palmer: you are in fact allowed to look at places and people other than precisely where you are going to throw the ball. I say this because Palmer has apparently forgotten this invaluable tip, something drilled into the head of every middle school QB from the second they get tabbed as a quarterback. It?s way too easy pickings against the Bengals QB right now. $.09--5 college/draft not-so-quickies: 1. I tried very hard to just watch Cam Newton as a potential NFL QB and ignore the off-field hullabaloo. I came away impressed but not convinced. He has great arm strength and very good accuracy on deeper throws, and he strongly resembles Ben Roethlisberger as a physical presence with the ball, only faster. But his field vision and patience are not up to par yet, though some of that is a function of Auburn?s offense. He chose to tuck and run far too quickly for the liking of most NFL offensive coordinators, often letting receivers just getting open to rot on the vine. If he can learn to stay patient and keep his eyes open and down the field, he has a chance to be as good as Steve Young. But there is a lot to learn; he?s quite raw and his fundamentals and mechanics are all over the place. 2. There were a couple of other Auburn Tigers I watched carefully in the Georgia game. Left tackle Lee Ziemba has been at Auburn seemingly forever, and his experience shows at the college level. He?s a decent left tackle that controls inside rushes and blocks down well, but where I really liked him was when Auburn lined him up at right tackle in their ?heavy? package. Ziemba shines as a run blocker and does very well on the move, consistently walling off the edge and generating surge in short yardage situations. He lacks great agility and consistent hand punch in pass protect to handle left tackle duty in the NFL, but he should make a solid right tackle or even right guard in the NFL, especially in a zone blocking scheme. DT Nick Fairley, meanwhile, left the game with a shoulder injury after drilling the QB a half-step late. Fairley returned later and committed a terrible roughing the passer penalty, clearly frustrated at being stymied by double teams. He is not as explosive inside as LSU?s Drake Nevis but might be a better run defender; he sheds blocks well and holds leverage more sturdily, where Nevis is an all-or-nothing penetrator. Fairley shows very good 3-man front DE skills, but he must keep his head. Two other times I saw him commit blow-to-the-head penalties that didn?t get called, and other opponents have brought this up about Fairley as well. 3. Wisconsin hung 83 points on Indiana, and I don?t blame them one iota. The Badgers have been very under-the-radar as a 1-loss team, and this outburst gives them prominence and attention that maybe they are the best of the 1-loss group. They did this without RB John Clay, their ?alleged? top runner, though I see very little NFL future for the slow bruiser. 4. Oklahoma State blew out Texas in Austin, their first win there since FDR was President. This is clearly a lost season for Texas, which plays without any sort of passion or cohesion and is sorely lacking at the offensive skill positions. But the Cowboys don?t mind, particularly QB Brandon Weeden and ultra-talented WR Justin Blackmon. Weeden is a former baseball player, a 27-year-old junior that might stick as a low-risk backup in the NFL after another season. The star wattage goes to Blackmon, a redshirt sophomore who destroyed any and every Longhorns DB assigned to his general vicinity. His stats (9 catches for 145 yards) actually lower his season average a tick, but he?s a complete receiver with great speed and excellent field awareness. Should he come out--and almost every scout and Big 12 insider I?ve talked with expects him to declare, especially if the Cowboys win the Big 12--he should be a top 20 overall pick, though a bad recent DUI will haunt a bit. 5. Two teams really showed me a lot on Saturday: Ohio State for responding to a flat first half by laying a beating on Penn State in the second half, keeping their BCS at-large hopes very much alive; and South Carolina for finally slaying the beast and winning the SEC East by beating Florida. Just as surprising is that the Gamecocks were clearly the better, more talented team, and they finally played like it under the spotlight. $.10-- I got a great deal of feedback regarding last week?s tenth cent, which focused on the Cam Newton saga. Thanks to all for the very strong opinions, even those who think I?m completely off my rocker. My favorite correspondence came from someone with a strong personal perspective. Loyal reader/emailer/former student of mine Marquise from Petersburg (that?s Virginia) had a lot to say about it, but most of it centered around my proposed solution of removing BCS-level football from the NCAA and the ridiculous restrictions placed on football players. Two points he brought up that I believe are worth sharing: -- The Sun Belt Conference could have zero bowl-eligible teams this year. Marquise is a current FCS (I-AA) player who could have gone to some of those schools, but wanted to play FCS because he ?wanted a chance to actually win. I never wanted to be a token victory, that is humiliating...it goes against why I play.? He says that if the big-time schools were fully separated, he ?definitely? would have gone to a Sun Belt or C-USA school. This is a big reason why James Madison can beat Virginia Tech and so many other FCS schools are making FBS schools sweat and cry. I know this is true at many D-II schools as well, including Grand Valley State and most of the MIAA schools in my old stomping grounds of Michigan and Ohio. The MAC, C-USA, WAC and Sun Belt schools are getting crushed by this, even as some continue to steal better recruits from the BCS conference schools. -- He knows ?at least three? teammates that had to leave school because they couldn?t afford remaining as students with no ability to earn money on the side. Football soaks up too much time and it makes getting even a part-time job prohibitive. These young men cannot get money from home and can?t qualify for affordable loans, so they are flushed out because they are football players. He said one remained in school but the others couldn?t take being there and not being part of the team. Imagine you are an inner-city young black man, told from the time you start playing Pop Warner that football is your ticket to success in life. You work so hard to overcome all the disadvantages life has dealt you--poor schools, tough socioeconomic conditions, often a fractured family structure--by pouring yourself into football. That dream and diligence earns you a precious scholarship, perhaps making you the first person in your family to even graduate high school (that?s Marquise?s case), let alone attend college. And then you have to give it up because you can?t afford to stay in school because the rigors of going to class and playing the game that got you there don?t allow you a chance to earn any money. If an assistant coach or a wealthy booster buys you even a $.25 taco, you are ineligible and vilified by the NCAA. If you try to take advantage of playing football, you are essentially a criminal. Yet the school can sell your jersey for $80 a pop, plaster your likeness on tickets and merchandise, and you can?t accept a single dime of compensation for money you are earning for someone else. You can?t afford Ramen noodles or Diet Faygo, but the school can promote you to earn thousands. Ladies and gentlemen, that is criminal behavior by the NCAA. Try doing that in the business world or private industry and you?d be buried in lawsuits and allegations of institutional racism and discrimination against the poor. Jeff.Risdon@RealGM.com