NFL

People are really going to have to eat a lot of crow. Shanahan is in a position to win with Grossman. McNabb is flaming out again in his second stop post-Philly. Granted the NFC North is a tougher division, but a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The Vikings are not better than the Eagles. Lot of football left though. I won’t be surprised if Ponder rallies them. I saw some promise in the pre-season. Plus these young rookie QBs are built to win now.

Sam Bradford’s been sacked 18 times already this season. At this rate he might break the record.

Shanahan is really winning sort of in spite of Grossman, running the ball and defense. I still think there’s a big stumble in their schedule somewhere.

surviving ’85 Bears finally going to the White House today.

Super Bowl Shufflers. The first Super Bowl team I remember from my youth. That’s probably why I remember them as the best. They have a mythical quality for me.

Week 5 preview…

Just looked at the schedule. Is the only interesting storyline this week NYJ at New England? That, and Monday night football returning to Detroit.

Panthers and Cam Newton are hanging with New Orleans and Drew Brees into the 4th quarter.

As I suggested above, the Vikes benched Berrian and the offense seems to have responded. Devin Aromashodu has two big catches for a total of 81 yards.

Buffalo has a lead against the Dream Team.

Detroit has the chance to make a big statement against the Bears.

Panthers came close, but it wasn’t enough. But sooner or later they’ll break through.

Boy, the Vikes needed that victory bad. Finally got the monkey off.

It’s official: Philly’s season is over.

Detroit should beat the Bears. This will be their primetime coming out party. They’re relevant again, for the first time in almost two decades.

Yeah, even as a Bears fan I’m expecting the Lions to win tomorrow night . . . though the Bears’ running game looked pretty good last week, and Detroit’s defense has not been outstanding (113 yards allowed per game) against the run.

But the key to the game is the Lions pass rush versus the Bears protection. The Lions win that match-up. And who’s gonna stop Megatron? He’s starting to look like the next Randy Moss.

Yeah.

Anybody watching the game? So far Tillman is doing a nice job against Johnson, and the pass rush just got to Stafford on third down.

. . . and the Bears safeties blow it again—Chris Harris has deep middle responsibility and lets Johnson run by him. 7-0 Lions.

Helluva drive by Cutler with pressure all around him ever play. 10-7 Bears.

Yup, like I said earlier. Halftime adjustments = the Lions are good.

Player I was most impressed by (and I really hate saying this): Jay Cutler. He was pressured all night long. His O-line is a joke. Despite that, he turned in a decent game and actually kept the Bears in it with some nifty plays here and there. I tip my hat to him.

But man does it feel good to see the Lions beat my most hated team on MNF.

I was watching the game at a bar w/ out any sound. But I could tell the crowd was going nuts when the Bears committed 6 false start penalties in the first half.

Up next week: a 4-1 SF team that just made mince meat of the Bucs. I bet that’ll be a fun game to watch.

Yeah, Cutler took heat for calling out the offensive line a while back, but this game should make it clear where the problem lies.

“It’s official: Philly’s season is over.”

Although I’m inclined to agree, based on their recent performance, it’s not a mathematical certainty. There is still enough talent on the roster to turn things around, and they still have 5 division games remaining. There are lots of fixable problems with the Eagles (red zone turnovers, blown tackles, mental mistakes) so I’m not writing them off quite yet. A loss to the Redskins next week would probably do it, though.

They’re already in the plot. The Redskins have a chance to lob the first shovel full of dirt on them.

From ESPN.com :

Cowboys defense bringing ‘kitchen sink’

IRVING, Texas — Tom Brady’s team hasn’t been held to less than 30 points in the regular season since the last time Rob Ryan had a bye week to prepare for the New England Patriots.

Ryan, the Dallas Cowboys’ first-year defensive coordinator, eagerly anticipates the challenge of trying to duplicate the success his Cleveland Browns had against Brady and Co. in a stunning 30-14 win for Cleveland in Week 9 of last season.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the Browns provided the blueprint for beating Brady. The Cowboys are studying the film from that game, but they can’t just expect to confuse Brady by using the same unorthodox looks and dialing up the same exotic blitzes.

But make no mistake, the Cowboys’ defense is throwing the proverbial “kitchen sink” into their game plan for Sunday’s game.

Defensive end Kenyon Coleman, one of two Dallas defensive starters Ryan recruited from Cleveland, said the Cowboys are “doing way more” from a scheme standpoint than the Browns did last season. Prepare to see plenty of Ryan’s most creative packages Sunday afternoon.

“I would say pretty much it’s the kitchen sink, to put it lightly,” Coleman said of the Cowboys’ plans.

“We have to,” outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware said of getting in Brady’s face. “We have to get some pressure on him because the teams that have had success on them have been able to get pressure on him up front.”

The element of surprise won’t be as much of an advantage for the Cowboys as it was for the Browns against Brady’s Patriots a year ago.

“That same film that we’re watching, Tom Brady’s watching,” cornerback Orlando Scandrick said. “He’s not going to let you do the same things.”

That’s true from a scheme standpoint. A challenge for Ryan is to try to duplicate some of the things that bothered Brady last year while disguising the blitzes and coverages differently.

It’s even truer from a perception standpoint. The Browns were 2-5 when they played New England last season, perhaps causing the Patriots to overlook Cleveland a little. That won’t happen with Ryan bringing the NFL’s second-ranked defense to Foxboro.

“The bottom line is when we played them last year, it wasn’t like we were rolling,” Coleman said. “However they perceived us in Cleveland, I don’t know. We just have to realize we are going to get their A effort this year.”

The Cowboys believe they’ll be ready. They know their defensive coordinator will be.

“Anybody who knows Rob,” safety Abram Elam, also imported from Cleveland, said, “knows he’s relishing this game.”

And then there was one.

Nnamdi remembered how to tackle, and I was able to enjoy Sunday for the first time in a while.

Dallas losing in the last minute was gravy.

You knew the Redskins’ QB situation was going to get exposed sooner or later.

Yeah, take away the running game and let Rex do his thing. Pretty simple formula for success against the Redskins.

Week 6 thoughts…

The Bills are starting to come back down to earth. Not like they were going to win the east anyway.

Are the Bengals really 4 and 2? Wow.

The NFC East is as competitive as ever. It will be an interesting race to the finish line.

How bout those 9ers! They’re for real!!

Are the Raiders really a contender with Palmer taking snaps? My guess is no. Not this year at least. And he’s on the downside of his career anyway.

Texans are back to .500 ball, where they should be!

Let the Christian Ponder era begin! McNabb can submit his papers and hold his head high. He had a great run.

“The NFC East is as competitive as ever. It will be an interesting race to the finish line.”

Yep. If the Giants had lost to the Bills, the Eagles would only be one game back right now. 2 games back with 10 to play is not an impossible margin.

“How bout those 9ers! They’re for real!!”

Let’s see if Alex Smith can keep it up for a whole season first.

. . . . and Frank Gore can stay healthy for a whole season, and . . .

i’m a lions fan for the first time. suh embodies, for me, what football used to be and will never be again. my favorite player right now

Let’s get back on track. Week 8 thoughts…

Somehow, someway, the Giants keep winning. They’re 5 and 2 and sitting pretty in the East.

Texans are back in the saddle. Can they make it to the finish line, finally?

The Colts are absolutely horrific. This is the end. The dynasty dies with a whimper.

Surprise of the week: Rams beating the Saints??

The Tebow experiment in Denver is having ups and downs. But what’s done is done and the Broncos will have to ride that horse all the way to the end of the line.

How about the Bills still winning, and the Redskins falling back down to earth. Don’t look now but thanks to the Steelers the Bills are tied with the Pats in the East.

How bout those 9ers! 6 and 1, baby! Surprise of the year so far. Who would have thought Alex Smith could finally be a winner. Harbaugh is already looking like a genius.

How bout the Bengals? 5 and 2 and still winning. Right in the thick of things in the North. Lewis is saving his job, again.

The Cowboys just cannot get it together. Every year this team just squanders all of its promise.

The Chargers are starting slow again. Will they finish fast? More importantly, will it matter?

Bobby – My NFL surprise was looking at the standings this week to see KC tied with SD for first in AFC West. Did someone accidentally put a 4 in their win column? How did that happen?

As a Lions fan, I found myself totally embarrassed by the handshake incident against SF. I love what Schwartz has done with the team, and I realize that his passion and swagger is what this Lions team needs, but good grief. That was one of the dumbest non-sport sports story I’ve seen in a long time. I wish the NFL had fined both of them up the butt for it.

Have the Eagles righted the ship?

Not so shocked at KC. After all, they won the division last year. And the Chargers never deliver on their promise. They’ll be cold now, then heat up at the end of the season, maybe sneak into the playoffs by stealing the division crown back, and then lose in the wildcard round. Same story, different year. I didn’t have such a problem with the Lions/SF incident. It’s not like both coaches dropped their gloves and started bare-knuckling each other. Regarding the Eagles, the critics are jumping on their band wagon again. Saying not only are they the best team in the division but that they are the only team in the conference that can challenge Green Bay. I won’t go that far but I will say they have as much talent as they need to go as far as they want. San Fran might be the true wildcard in the conference. They get better and with more confidence each week.