The Crystal Ball Week 12

Welcome to week 12 of the NFL season and another installment of the Crystal Ball, where we’re still trying to figure out what exactly picking a player off of the pile is.

Opening Kickoff

And that should just about do it for the Vikings season. Thanks for playing Brett please pick up your at home game prize at the door.

The Way It Was

Tampa Bay is still having trouble getting that one little yard. No worries though about getting 21 points. Nice road win rookies.

Dear Jets fans: It would seem the acquisition of Santonio Holmes is working out quite well for you. Congratulations to you for such a great pick up. Oh and as a Steeler fan, I will also say you are welcome and we accept gift cards from most major retailers.

I was so proud of Dallas for finally winning a home game last Sunday. Jerry Jones and mini Jerry Jones looked so proud. But that feeling was so short lived. Nice job blowing it at the end against the Saints. Tell me, who’s the crappier team on Thanksgiving now, the Lions or Cowboys?

If Brian St. Pierre, who was a stay at home dad last week, can score an 88 yard touchdown on Baltimore, that should be the final piece of damning evidence that the Ravens defense is terribly overrated.

Eagles’ receiver Jason Avant dropped a sure touchdown thrown right in his chest, prompting game announcers to make the comparison to former Cowboy Jackie Smith’s infamous Super Bowl drop. I’m sure every time someone drops a pass in the end zone Jackie just loves that people bring up that play.

Garrett Hartley missed an easy 27 yard field goal attempt for the Saints. Perhaps Bourbon Street may be a new home for Jeff Reed?

Before their Thanksgiving egg against the Jets, the Bungles gave up 35 unanswered second half points to the Bills. It would seem everyone has checked out in the Queen City.

Ok, I’ll say it, Tennessee is done. They’re blowing leads and losing games at an alarming rate and now seemingly unable to beat teams they should blow off the field. Now with Vince Young sidelined for the season, and causing a tremendous amount of disharmony in the locker room to the point of being banned, I cannot imagine how things could get worse. Good thing they picked up the experienced hand of Randy Moss to help out rookie quarterback Rusty Smith. Who wants to bet on Tennessee finding a new quarterback next spring? No one?

Boy Arizona certainly drug out the end of their game against Kansas City by scoring a garbage time touchdown. No report though if Todd Haley shook his finger at Ken Whisenhunt for cutting into the margin of victory.

I’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating, Patriot fans suck. They spent part of the fourth quarter booing because their young and inexperienced defense, who have been playing well, began to wilt against the Colts and their highly experienced quarterback. Why are you booing? That’s no way to urge your team to victory. You cheer your team, make noise, and throw off the Colts’ offensive rhythm. What spoiled jackasses. They need to trade teams with Buffalo so they can know real suffering and have a real reason to boo.

The Steel Pit

Steelers 35 – Raiders 3

This game should have been remembered for being a true hard hitting, animosity filled throwback to the 70’s rivalry between the two teams. Unfortunately it will only be remembered for atrocious officiating and Richard Seymour clocking Big Douche.

While I will touch on the officiating, Seymour and the aftermath of the punch later in the column, I would like to concentrate here on some of the positives of the game, of which there were quite a few.

The offense came out fired up, and played a complete opposite game than they did against the Patriots. The offense clicked on all cylinders, running the ball successfully and passing with deadly accuracy. Plus the offensive line gets extra credit for standing tall with Ramon Foster filling in for the underwhelming Trai Essex at right guard, and holding the fort when Maurkice Pouncey left the game with an injury.

The special teams units did well on returns and coverage, and new kicker Shawn Suisham made an efficient, if unspectacular, debut going 5 for 5 on extra point attempts. While we have yet to find out if he can handle field goals, I for one am a bit concerned. As the Lady K put it, his thighs are too small to be a kicker. Too many years of being spoiled by Jeff Reed I suppose.

The defense gets the best credit of all. They more than the other two units suffered the most humiliation and derision after the Patriot game and they came out against the Raiders intent on showing everyone their performance against New England was an aberration.

The defense was fired up and came out taking the game to Oakland. They took their beating from New England to heart and took it out all over the Raiders, winning every physical battle and engaging more than once in a few extracurricular ones as well. They took the fight to Oakland and showed everyone their heart and dignity is just fine. As a fan, I could not have been happier.

And I will give a bit of credit as well to the Heinz Field faithful, who were fired up from the opening kick off and banded together in the third quarter when they vocally made known their disgust at the horrid officiating. And come on NFL media, no one comments all week on how you could hear the fans chanting “Refs you suck” on national television?

Regardless, the team finally showed a complete all around game from start to finish, and did what good teams are supposed to do. They overcame bad calls and obstacles put in their path to win.

I hope that was merely a preview of things to come. Personally, I think its more of a harbinger of doom for all remaining in Pittsburgh’s path. The team is ticked off that the NFL left them out to dry regarding the officiating and Seymour’s reactionary punch. And teams with heavy motivation and a rallying point coupled with championship caliber talent are extremely dangerous. Warning NFL, the Steelers are finally clicking and after such disrespect last week by Oakland, the league and the media, they’re ready to start kicking tail and taking names. You are now on notice.

Only In Faux NFL Reality…

Apparently, this version of the Oakland Raiders felt the need to adopt the new slogan Just Cut It Loose. Whatever happened to Commitment To Excellence or Just Win Baby? This would never have happened if Al Davis were still alive.

Drew Brees supplanted Archie Manning as the Saints record holder for all time completions on the same weekend both Peyton and Eli threw game ending interceptions. Something tells me it was a quiet Thanksgiving in the Manning household.

Did anyone else catch Oakland punter Shane Lechter whiffing smelling salts before punts against the Steelers? Was that to pump himself up or to come to his senses that he plays for the Raiders?

Ok, show of hands please. Who honestly was surprised to hear a former Patriots employee was involved in an illegal videotaping incident? Somewhere Bronco fans weep a little harder.

49ers head coach Mike Singletary benched starting lineman Chilo Rachal for missing practice to be with his wife as she gave birth to their son. Come on Mike, that’s no way to behave as a professed man of God. I think the birth of a child ranks slightly higher than practicing the off tackle power rush.

Titans owner Bud Adams stated that Jeff Fisher and Vince Young will need to work out their latest tiff, because both will be back with the team next season according to him. Sounds like we have already slated two cast members of next season’s The Real World!

Well, the inevitable happened in Minnesota, with the Vikings jettisoning head coach Brad Childress. I know people have been saying that Childress has been made the scapegoat for the Vikings awful season, but I see it differently. Yes, Favre may stink, and the team may be laying down on the job, but Childress started it all. He’s the one who traded dignity and respectability to bring Brett back for another season, while still sacrificing any development for Tavaris Jackson. So scapegoat or not, this mess is all his doing. Have fun teaching high school science Brad.

Upon Further Review

Pittsburgh suffered the indignity of a record number of penalties, then watched their franchise quarterback get punched in the face after a play seemingly unprovoked. The entire afternoon prompted fans in attendance to jeer lustily and chant derisively at the officials working the game. But the NFL and national media created a much larger issue by ignoring and coping out on punishment and have added fuel to the growing fire that Steelers are being targeted by the NFL as a dirty team and one the league does not want to be one of its premier franchises.

It should have been the story of the week. Pittsburgh was repeatedly slapped with penalties, a good portion of which were questionable at best. Both James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley were called for roughing the passer penalties, despite both holding up upon actual contact and making every effort to back off the hit in any way possible. Ike Taylor was called for a questionable pass interference penalty. Ryan Clark was flagged for a helmet to helmet hit, despite the fact he led with his shoulders and the contact was made against the receiver’s lower back and abdomen. This call in particular turned the crowd hostile.

The oddest and most infuriating call was the penalty on Pittsburgh for picking a player off the pile. I have never heard of such a penalty and after watching the replay am still not sure why it was called. The raining of flags on seemingly every other play only built up tensions on the field to the breaking point and it came in spectacular fashion.

The explosion came after a Steelers touchdown, when Ben Roethlisberger, running up behind Oakland defender Richard Seymour, irked Seymour who turned around and punched Roethlisberger right in the face. Steeler guard Chris Kemoeatu, who had been having a personal war with Seymour all day, immediately went after the Oakland offender with the rest of the team following suit. The ensuing scrum that broke out involved everyone on the field as tensions finally boiled over.

While the officiating and on field incidents were bad, what happened in the aftermath was tremendously worse. Hardly a soul in the national media even mentioned the officiating or Seymour’s extracurricular activity. Other than. Sports Illustrated senior NFL writer Peter King briefly mentioning the on field assault and Fox Sports writer Alex Marvez opining on the growing perception that Pittsburgh is being targeted, not one national media source picked up the mantle of this story.

The NFL did far worse, not once acknowledging the poor performance of their officiating crew, or even stating they would be met with regarding what happened during the game. On top of that, they fined Seymour a paltry $25,000 for the physical assault. This felt inadequate considering the egregiousness of the action and insulting considering how much James Harrison has been fined for playing the game as he has been coached since he began his football career.

ESPN reporter Chris Mortensen stated the reason the fine was only 25k is because there are set levels for fines for this kind of infraction. While that may be true, I personally call shenanigans. The fines for the "illegal" hits this season have been seemingly arbitrary and at the discretion of the league and the commissioner. While the NFL may have a set schedule for fines in the case of player assault, that does not mean they could not change the schedule or impose additional penalties depending upon the severity of the case.

If the commissioner can generate fines for helmet to helmet hits as he sees fit, he very easily could have done the same in this situation. That he chose not to makes it painfully obvious from a public perspective point that Pittsburgh for some reason is a target of the league.

Whether there is an actual targeting of the Steelers or specific players (Harrison, Roethlisberger, and Woodley) is immaterial. With the outrageous fines being levied against specific players and the team as well as ignoring the terrible officiating from last week coupled with the on field assault of a franchise player that went seemingly unpunished by current standards, there is a rapidly growing impression that the league is out to punish the team for seemingly unknown reasons.

It matters not if this is true or not, the impression exists and grows weekly. By not doing anything to stem this impression, the NFL is estranging one of its largest and most loyal and vocal fan bases. At the moment due to the impending labor impasse, it might not be the best time for the league to alienate or anger any fans, especially one who can in one season account for almost half of all merchandise sold. As of now, that is exactly what the NFL is doing, and it will have serious ramifications both financially and in popularity in the near and distant future.

He Said He Said

''I've never seen a quarterback get punched since I've been in this league.'' - Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin

Me either. You would think something so unprecedented would draw a hefty fine or suspension, no?

“As I stand here today, I never expected us to be in this situation. Mathematically, I think there’s still some hope. But I hate to use Jim Mora’s comments about playoffs, but we can’t think about that.” – Vikings quarterback Brett Favre after Minnesota was destroyed by Green Bay

Playoffs? Don’t talk about playoffs!

“We are terrible. Terrible. I'm sorry. I just don't have a sound bite for you guys today.'' - Cincinnati wide receiver Terrell Owens

The funny thing is, T.O. said this after the Bills game. I wonder how he feels now.

"I've tasted the caviar now, so eating out of the garbage is not where I want to be.'' - Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, on the current state of the Cardinals

Dare I dream he might go to the team that plays in the same city as his college Alma mater?

“How utterly ridiculous is it that James Harrison makes a football act and gets fined $75,000, and Richard Seymour, despite whatever happened to provoke him, slugs a player on national TV in full view of the cameras and knocks him to the ground -- and gets fined $25,000. Weak. Very weak.” – SI.com’s Peter King

THANK YOU! Shamefully this remains one of the only comments I heard about the Seymour incident, which in itself is very weak.

"I'm not walking out on my teammates, I'm walking out on you." – Titans quarterback Vince Young to Jeff Fisher, after Tennessee's loss to the Redskins

I guess Vince learned how to quit Jeff.

“We all know the answer to that one. Easy.” – Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger when asked if Richard Seymour’s penalty would have been different if he had hit Manning or Brady

Of course it would, since if that happened, people would still be losing their minds over it.

Idiot of the week

This week we have multiple winners of this coveted award and each falls under the theme of punching a player. I know you’re terribly surprised.

The first winner is Oakland defensive lineman Richard Seymour. Do really you need to ask why? Yeah, I know he apologized and didn’t mean it. That doesn’t make him less of an idiot.

The second winner is to the national media that covers the NFL. It’s bad enough the terrible officiating was a complete non story, but to barely even talk about a franchise quarterback getting punched in the face after a play on national television gives the impression of the media trying to ignore or bury a story. While I understand thanks to his unseemly actions this year, Big Douche has not endeared himself to many fans, and over the years his surly behavior has alienated him from the media in general. But by ignoring this story it speaks more about those who report on the NFL than those involved. Think about what happened this way. Imagine the furor that would have exploded if Seymour punched Phillip Rivers, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or heaven forbid, Brett Favre? There wouldn’t be enough hours in the day to read every scathing article about Seymour and the demand for his suspension.

The third and final winner is the NFL for ignoring poor officiating, throwing a two time Super Bowl champion and franchise player under the bus and actively working to change the public perception of one of its leading franchises from a class operation to collection of criminals and thugs.

So Richard, NFL media and the league, you are all idiots.

On Tap This Week

One week eh, the next week….

Last week: 12-3
Thanksgiving: 3-0
Season to date: 101 – 61

Yeah! Ok, I’m gearing up for a 7-6 week since that seems to be the pattern. But there’s always a chance to break patterns, no?

Sunday

Green Bay (7-3) at Atlanta (8-2)

This is the game of the week in my opinion. Green Bay is coming off an emotional victory against Brett Favre. Atlanta is holding onto their pole position in the NFC South. I know this is probably foolish, but I really like how the Pack is rolling.

Packers over Falcons

Pittsburgh (7-3) at Buffalo (3-8)

Somewhere, the remaining 25 Bills fans are talking themselves into Ryan Fitzpatrick as the future franchise quarterback. Hopefully after this week they’ll be free of such crazy thoughts.

Steelers over Bills

Carolina (1-9) at Cleveland (3-7)

Note to the now svelte coach Mangenius: Colt McCoy with a bum ankle is better than a fully healthy Jake Delhomme.

Browns over Panthers

Tennessee (5-5) at Houston (4-6)

I know, Houston has been working on self destructing despite their talent and their secondary is atrocious. But answer me this, who is Rusty Smith? Yeah that’s what I thought.

Texans over Titans

Jacksonville (6-4) at New York Giants (6-4)

Would you bet big on David Garrard on the road in winter, even if they are in first place? Me either.

Giants over Jaguars

Minnesota (3-7) at Washington (5-5)

Yeah, I know, Minnesota is a dysfunctional mess. But a coaching change is always good for at least a win or two, see Cowboys, Dallas. And since Washington is right behind Minnesota on the dysfunctional list, it’s a push.

Vikings over Redskins

Miami (5-5) at Oakland (5-5)

You know the growing theory that a team that gets humiliated one week completely dominates the next? This week it’s Oakland’s turn to validate that theory.

Raiders over Dolphins

Kansas City (6-4) at Seattle (5-5)

If Kansas City really wants to make the playoffs, this is a must win game. While I think Todd Haley is a twit extraordinaire I have a good feeling about the team itself.

Chiefs over Seahawks

Tampa Bay (7-3) at Baltimore (7-3)

I really want to back Tampa Bay. But they have not beaten anyone of note. And while I tend to believe the Baltimore defense is rather pedestrian, I have less confidence in such a young Buccaneer team.

Ravens over Buccaneers

Philadelphia (7-3) at Chicago (7-3)

I still do not like Jay Cutler. But it’s hard to deny how well they’re playing lately. Still, I’m not overly impressed with their victories, nor the teams they have defeated.

Eagles over Bears

St. Louis (4-6) at Denver (3-7)

I’ve said it before and I mean it, I like what St. Louis is doing. But they still do not know how to win on the road. And while Denver is less than stellar in the wins department, and Josh McDaniels may be looking for a new job soon, I still think Kyle Orton can get it done at home. Power of the neckbeard!

Broncos over Rams

San Diego (5-5) at Indianapolis (6-4)

I heard the argument this week that Indianapolis will have trouble this week since they have to incorporate so many new players. In the same argument, it was stated that San Diego would be very powerful since they were getting back Ryan Matthews, Antonio Gates, Malcolm Floyd, Vincent Jackson and a few other players. Gee, wouldn’t be hard for them to be in sync having to also incorporate so many new players? Sometimes, sports media professionals do not even listen to the drivel coming out of their own mouths.

Colts over Chargers

Monday

San Francisco (3-7) at Arizona (3-7)

If a football game is played in the desert, will anyone care?

49ers over Cardinals

The Crystal Ball Week 12 Thanksgiving Special

Ahhh, the wonderful American tradition of Thanksgiving is upon us. A time when families gather together to share hearth and home, break bread together and give thanks for the things in their lives they hold dear. And what could be make such a uniquely American holiday more so than a full day of football?

And while this season has already been full of twists and turns, ups and downs and more than a few reasons to give thanks in the alternate universe that is the NFL, there are also quite a few things for not to be thankful. So in a twist to the usual gimmick column, I provide you with things from the NFL for which I am not thankful. Hopefully it will allow you to see the things you do like about this game of ours, or at the very least elicit a cheap laugh or two between servings of turkey and stuffing.

This year in the NFL, I am NOT thankful for:

T.O. and Ochocinco on the same team – Come on, this should be far more entertaining than it is. One crappy reality show, two wins and a lame jab at Donovan McNabb’s new contract is the best they can muster? No wonder Bungle fans are staying away.

Arbitrary Justice – Someone needs to tell Roger Goodell that proper punishment means consistency in fines and punishment, not just doling out fines you pulled out of a hat to whoever pissed you off by creating a knee jerk reaction from the media that week.

Brett Favre – Since he left the Packers, he’s gotten two coaches fired, crippled two franchises, played the aw shucks I don’t know card so often it’s frayed beyond recognition, showed he’s as clumsy picking up women as a 16 year old and taken up approximately 679 billion feet of print space. Yet he’s still revered as the Ol’ Gunslinger. Hey Brett, even William Munny eventually hung up his spurs.

The Patriots – Just because.

Peyton Manning – Ok to be honest I really have nothing against Peyton except the dearth of goofy, self effacing commercials. Come on Peyton; let’s get back to being a funny corporate shill I need to watch something on TV timeouts.

Randy Moss – How many teams can he bring disharmony to without making a significant on field impact in one season? So far, two. Who wants to go for three?

The push for player safety – How can the NFL seriously justify escalating fines and the threat of suspension for helmet to helmet hits, that only apply to receivers and not running backs, in the name of player safety when at the same time they do not mandate the use of concussion reducing helmets for all players and keep pushing an expanded 18 game season?

Vince Young – his lackadaisical work ethic and poor leadership keep forcing Kerry Collins back into the starting line up and away from his other job, writing country music. Come on Vince, man up, Kerry’s got things to do.

The Chargers – For the umpteenth year they started the season as Super Bowl favorites, collapsed in the first half of the season with everyone wondering, oh what’s wrong with the Chargers, then rebound in the second half. They will most likely make the playoffs, again, and fail there, again. And still people will wonder what happened. Hey dippy doos, THE PROBLEM IS NORV TURNER.

John Madden – Since he retired, I’ve hardly heard one word about turducken. I loved John’s odd affection for this cardiac arrest inducing dish, and I miss him pimping it every Thanksgiving. Where have you gone John?

Jettisoning equipment – Vince Young tosses his shoulder pads and jersey into the crowd in frustration. Brandon Jacobs chucks his helmet into the stands. I’ve gone to baseball games for over 20 years and still have not snagged a foul ball. Hey, when do I get my from the field souvenir?

Mike Singletary – Not only has he not turned around the 49ers as most everyone predicted before the season, nor did he even pick the right quarterback to start the season. But then he benches lineman Chilo Rachal for missing practice to be with his wife for the birth of their son. That doesn’t sound like the right attitude for a very public man of God. Come on Mike, you can do better than that.

Michael Vick – His stellar play, developing redemption story and leap to being an elite quarterback is covering up every dumb play call and clock management mistake Andy Reid can make. Come on Mike, I was hoping finally everyone would see what a dumb coach Reid can be!

Common Sense – Honestly, the NFL and the NFLPA cannot figure out a way to adequately share the profits from an $8 billion a year industry to a point they are threatening walkouts and work stoppages in a time when most people have trouble putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads? Oh to have the problems of millionaires and billionaires.

Today’s Specials

New England (8-2) at Detroit (2-8)

Everyone hates on the fact that Detroit annually hosts this game, claiming Detroit’s poor record in recent years almost guarantees a non competitive game. Tell me, who really cares about competition on the first game of the day? Before halftime, most of us are all hopped up on so much tryptophan that we’re too busy fighting off a nap to notice a blowout. Sometimes tradition for the sake of tradition can be a good thing. And anyway, unless New England loads up on heavy gravy before the game, we already know who’s going to win. See, one less thing to think about, and that’s good.

Patriots over Lions

New Orleans (7-3) at Dallas (3-7)

For the first time this season, Dallas finally won a home game. I know, slow down! Mini Jerry Jones has Dallas on a 2 game winning streak, and a few deluded souls thinking wild card. Guess what? That thought process ends today.

Saints over Cowboys

Cincinnati (2-8) at New York Jets (8-2)

Remember last season when Cincinnati rolled over and let the Jets kick their fannies two weeks in a row? Make it three for three.

Jets over Bungles

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The Crystal Ball Week 11

Sometimes it hurts not having DirecTV Sunday Ticket. Last week the only game choice I had at 4pm was the Cowboys at Giants with Joe Buck. That’s just mean NFL schedule makers.

Opening Kickoff

Is it better to be good or to be lucky? David Garrard and the Jaguars have a very distinct opinion on the subject.

The Way It Was

Of all teams that sport throw back uniforms, I think Atlanta should go to theirs permanently. They look much better than their current threads

Favre sucks, the Viking defense sucks, and obviously the only thing this team takes pride in, or cares about, is getting Brad Childress fired.

I already miss Wade Phillips.

What a shameful display by the Titans. The Moss curse continues.

The officials made a very bad call on the Bungles onside kick. Pierre Garcon had possession and was down on the field, yet the officials awarded the ball to the Bungles. If Indianapolis had lost that game due to such a bad call, we would still be hearing about it this week.

Was anyone really surprised to see TO dogging it at the end of the game? No wonder he’s so entertaining, he’s such a clown. When he’s getting his looks and stats he’s the best teammate ever, but as soon as someone else takes the spotlight he stops caring and starts pouting.

What a shameful display by the Titans. The Moss curse continues.

Did the clock just strike midnight for Kansas City?

Now, where the deuce has this Bronco team been all season? I picked them so many times before and they screwed me. Now I pick against them, suddenly they’re the 99 Rams.

Good for you Buffalo! I knew you could do it!

The Jets and Browns took their dear old sweet time. They know you only get one quarter of overtime right? They didn’t get overtime advice from McNabb did they?

I should have seen it coming. Dallas actually tries for a new coach, the Giants take them too lightly, just the perfect formula for an upset. I should have waited two weeks once the excitement wore off and Dallas reverted to normal status of sucking big time.

Is it just me, or is Jason Garrett starting to look like a young Jerry Jones? Do you think Jerry put it in Garrett’s contract to get surgery to look more like Jones, so he could better imagine himself actually coaching the team? I’m beginning to wonder.

What was with the bizarre lighting failure at New Meadowlands stadium? I feel bad for the Giants. It must suck when you're billion dollar stadium breaks down right in the middle of a nationally broadcast NFL game.

Speaking of bizarre failures, how does a replay system become inoperable during the first usage of a game? Come on NFL, no one could just look at the broadcast replays?

Aaaaaannnnnnd, I’m done with the Cardinals.

On two consecutive possessions Derek Anderson turned the ball over and basically gave points to Seattle. Whisenhunt, this will never fly, you gotta play someone else. Go find Jeff Garcia, he can't be worse. Call Testaverde, Call Bledsoe, call Moon just call any number but Anderson.

The Cardinals, Rams, 49ers and Seahawks know someone has to win the division, right?

The Steel Pit

Steelers 26 – Patriots 39

Ok, let’s just get it all out of our systems now. That was just an absolutely shameful performance by the entire team and by far the worst of the season and worst I have seen in a long time. The offense has reverted to last year’s atrocity, where everyone basically slacks off because they figure Big Douche will fix it if it's broken, instead of stepping up and doing more. And I know the offensive line has problems, But that is no excuse. This is the same defense that was manhandled the previous week by a no name Cleveland team and our offense could not sneeze successfully against it.

Special teams were less than special, with Jeff Reed putting the last nail in his coffin with an inexplicable miss from 26 yards. The kickoff coverage team gave the Patriots good field position all night and the kick return team did nothing of note.

As for the defense, they should hang their heads in abject shame. They let the patriot offense dictate the entire flow of the game. Constantly the Patriots converted first down after first down, no matter the down or distance. Tom Brady bent that defense over and made it his bitch. And you know the worst part? No one did anything about it. They took it. I did not see one player out there get fired up, get angry, fight back, try anything. They ran around like lost kids trying to catch up to the big boys and never could.

Not one player on either side of the ball got angry, stepped up and said enough. Not one player. Not one guy got angry about Hines Ward getting hurt. No one picked up the torch to lead which was embarrassing and doubly so since this was the second prime time game against a quality opponent that humiliated us.

And the coaches most of all should be held responsible. The team looked unprepared, and not ready for what was thrown their way. Don’t give me this short week nonsense either. They had plenty of time to know what New England’s tendencies could be and seemed surprised with every wrinkle New England threw their way. The team seemed lethargic, uninterested and unengaged.

It would seem that the Patriots are in the Steelers heads. Just their mere presence seems to change how the team behaves. Perhaps it does, and maybe they are in the Steelers heads. But if that’s true, then the coaches had best find a way to reverse that and fast.

Just to raise the level of bizarre, Jeff Reed decided after the game to go on a rant blaming the field, the fans and the media for his subpar season. That apparently was the final straw for the team, as they proceeded to cut Reed and sign Shaun Suisham off his couch.

I have no idea if this will do any good. Part of me feels it’s a panic move that bad teams make. Singling out Reed is as dumb as singling out William Gay. Yeah those two played bad, but so did every other player on the field. I believe that a few missed kicks are not what lost Reed his job, but a culmination of factors which probably include some behind the scenes actions, and other public issues, that we have not heard.

But perhaps a shakeup is what the team needs right now, and this is definitely a shake up. If they lose this week, then perhaps the shake ups need to continue with secondary and offensive line auditions on Tuesday. Ok, with that out of our systems, let’s just move on.

Only In Faux NFL Reality…

I think the NFL might actually be targeting the Steelers for fines. I would really like to find the justification for LaMarr Woodley getting fined for roughing Tom Brady. No one on the Steelers defense touched Brady all night!

You can bust Chad Ochocinco for his on field play all you want, but the man can make a great commercial. Hey Peyton, it’s time to step it up.

The new regime of Jason Garrett is much stricter than Wade Phillips, with the team fining players for minor infractions. Marion Barber was fined for wearing jeans instead of the required dress code. Good job Jason that'll turn things around.

Everyone has been ripping apart Albert Haynesworth for laying down on the job while Michael Vick scrambled around and proceeded to score yet another Eagle touchdown, but I say lay off. Albert plays hard, and it must be exhausting carrying around such a ridiculous contract all the time. He cannot be as good as everyone expects, he’s weighed down by undeserved cash.

Look, I’ve mentioned many times before it can be upsetting to watch your team lose, especially at home. But tackling a little kid because he’s wearing the opposing team’s jersey? Come on Cleveland, pull yourselves together. You’re Browns fans, not Raider fans.

Steeler receiver Hines Ward left last week’s game due to a concussion suffered from a helmet to helmet hit inflicted when he was a defenseless receiver. Yet the NFL felt no need to fine the offending Patriot for such a hit. So much for consistency in punishment for illegal hits. Hey Goodell, each week you lose credibility with fans and it will haunt you in the near future.

On the CBS pregame show last week, Charley Casserly spoke of Heir Goodell’s plan to put together a safety committee composed of former players and coaches to find ways to increase on field player safety. To me this will be nothing but a dog and pony show unless the first suggestions by the committee are no 18 game schedule and mandatory use by every player of a concussion model helmet. Although I did find it interesting that one of the potential safety recommendations may be padding on the helmet exterior. Finally a return of the Pro Cap!

Upon Further Review

Before the Redskins showdown with Philadelphia, Washington announced a new 5 year, $78 million contract for quarterback Donovan McNabb. That this was announced hours before the game against his old team, and two weeks after McNabb and the Shanahan clan had a rather public falling out regarding his conditioning and preparation compared to Rex Grossman made the timing of the deal curious.

Take into account that McNabb went out and was thoroughly outplayed by Michael Vick, who has entrenched himself in McNabb’s old job, then the announcement and deal seem quite foolish. But was this a good idea? Did this deal do anything other than create press and show that despite all the big offseason front office changes nothing has really changed in Redskin land? I say no.

Now, it would seem that this is the team’s way of showing McNabb that they do value his service and leadership and want him to be a valuable part of the team going forward as it works to rebuild itself. But to be honest, it is nothing more than window dressing.

By committing that much monetary recourses to just one player is foolish, especially one who is approaching the latter years of his career. Who knows if McNabb will be a viable quarterback in five years? Yes quarterbacks are playing much better later into their careers, but everyone’s shelf life is different.

This team has holes on both sides of the ball, major holes that will require a significant upgrade in personnel. Their running back platoon is aged and needs upgraded, their receivers are subpar for a threatening passing game and their offensive line is one of the worst in the league, unable to create running lanes or pass protection reliably.

Their defensive line is already hamstrung by the laziest $100 million dollar man the world has ever known, and its upgrade along with the linebacking core is defensive priorities.

So Daniel Snyder looking to placate a disgruntled quarterback, who should have never been disgruntled in the first place if not for the inept actions of his coach, has wasted salary cap space that he will need if he ever wants to seriously turn the team around.

But at least you could say, well their quarterback is in place so they can focus on other areas. Well, not really. The contract is structured so that the $40 million in supposed guarantees really only breaks down to $3.5 million right now. And if at the end of this season the Redskins do not feel it worthwhile to continue moving forward with McNabb as their quarterback, they can cut him with no monetary impact whatsoever.

Now, they have a quarterback who they’ve already publicly humiliated and insulted and superficially placated with money who has to essentially audition for his job if he ever wants to see that money. And the audition must be done with sub par talent around him. Seems like a setup for failure to me.

And other players see this too, and I’m sure there is talk in that locker room that if they can do this to McNabb, their headlining star, who’s to say anyone else will get treated with respect.

So after the entire buzz from the beginning of the season that things will change in Washington with a new regime and new leadership we see nothing but the same old nonsense. Ridiculous spending and dysfunctional relationships that are played out in the media by people in positions of power who are ruled by their egos and press releases while real problems go ignored and unfixed. This truly is the team of Washington D.C.

He Said He Said

"We don't care how long your hair is, you can't do anything to our quarterback. You're not going to rough our quarterback up.'' – Patriots guard Logan Mankins

I find this an interesting dig on Polamalu for two reasons. One, Mankins didn’t feel the need to be around to protect “his” quarterback until two weeks ago. And two, I don’t think he should be making fun of anyone’s hair considering that “his” quarterback looks like Farrah Fawcett.

"We got our butts whupped today, and everybody needs to realize that." - Steelers captain and linebacker James Farrior

We do.

"Clean pants the whole game for me." – Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton

He’s a big kid now.

"I just want to fit within the offense and help this team win. If me being a decoy and moving the ball and helping the team win is what I need to do, that's what I need to do.” – Titans wide receiver Randy Moss

That attitude will last exactly two more weeks.

"The pregame altercation got us going. It had us ready. We came back into the locker room pumped. We were like pit bulls, ready to get out of the cage." - Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson speaking of the pregame dust up between Philadelphia and Washington

Ummm, DeSean, considering your quarterback’s history you might want to find a better choice of words to describe such things.

Idiot of the week

The exalted winners this week are co-winners for different reasons, Tom Brady and the Patriot offense.

Tom wins because of his ridiculous screaming and histrionics on the sideline directed at his offense on the few times they failed to score. Way to inspire confidence and show leadership there Tom. Guys really want to play for someone who treats them like a bitch when they make one or two mistakes. Never mind the unit destroyed one of the best defenses in the NFL. No, let’s focus on that one missed block or dropped pass.

And said unit wins for standing there and taking Tom’s hair flying diatribes. Really guys, not one of you could stand up and show Tom a stats sheet or more importantly the scoreboard? Just once when he acts like that I’d love one of them to just stand up and say hey Vidal Sassoon shut up or I’ll shut you up.

So Tom, for acting, and looking, like a teenage girl having a hissy fit and the Patriots offense for taking said hissy fit, you are all idiots.

The runners up this week was Daniel Snyder and the Redskin brain trust who probably should have won, but they seem to be in the running too much lately. And to Todd Haley for his finger wagging at Josh McDaniels for humiliating his team. Hey Todd, if you really wanted to threaten McDaniels you should have just told him it will be your personal mission to destroy any team he coaches from now until the end of time, like Mike Shanahan did with the Raiders for years.

On Tap This Week

Every week one team seems to just fall apart. And the next week they’re world beaters. I’m beginning to understand the feeling.

Last week: 6-6
Thursday: 0-1
Season to date: 86 – 58

I still had a better week than Jeff Reed.

Sunday

Baltimore (6-3) at Carolina (1-8)

Carolina will be starting Brian St. Pierre at quarterback. Enough said.

Ravens over Panthers

Buffalo (1-8) at Cincinnati (2-7)

Cincinnati should win, but part of me still wants to take Buffalo.

Bungles over Bills

Detroit (2-7) at Dallas (2-7)

The “astounding” turnaround continues.

Cowboys over Lions

Cleveland (3-6) at Jacksonville (5-4)

Did you know Cleveland has won 3 of the last 4 games against Jacksonville? That streak continues.

Browns over Jaguars

Arizona (3-6) at Kansas City (5-4)

If Todd Haley tries that finger wagging with Ken Whisenhunt, Ken will tear Todd’s finger off and shove it up his nose.

Chiefs over Cardinals

Green Bay (6-3) at Minnesota (3-6)

Brett Favre didn’t come back for the season Minnesota has had thus far. And he certainly didn’t come back for what will happen today.

Packers over Vikings

Houston (4-5) at New York Jets (7-2)

Houston could win. Considering how I feel about the Sanchize I think they should win. But they will find a way to blow it just like last week.

Jets over Texans

Oakland (5-4) at Pittsburgh (6-3)

I heard some people say it’s a good thing that this game between two old rivals finally means something again. Hey, it’s meant something to Oakland for years; I just hope it finally does to Pittsburgh as well.

Steelers over Raiders

Washington (4-5) at Tennessee (5-4)

Albert Haynesworth returns to Tennessee to take on his old team. If Kerry Collins plays perhaps Albert will do a better job this week. It’s not like Kerry’s scrambling will tire him out.

Titans over Redskins

Seattle (5-4) at New Orleans (6-3)

I’m still not buying into Seattle, especially if Charlie Whitehurst is prominently involved.

Saints over Seahawks

Tampa Bay (6-3) at San Francisco (3-6)

Come on, who isn’t enjoying riding the Tampa Bay bandwagon? Well, perhaps Mike Williams is enjoying it too much.

Buccaneers over 49ers

Atlanta (7-2) at St Louis (4-5)

I really do enjoy what St. Louis is doing this season. But Atlanta is making a case that they’re the class of the NFC. And it’s a compelling case.

Falcons over Rams

Indianapolis (6-3) at New England (7-2)

Manning vs. Brady, Brady vs. Manning the showdown continues! You ever wonder if the other players sit around going, hey there are 52 other players on this team too you know.

Patriots over Colts

New York Giants (6-3) at Philadelphia (6-3)

Philadelphia all day and evening. This team is playing so well right now, that even Andy Reid can’t screw it up.

Eagles over Giants

Monday

Denver (3-6) at San Diego (4-5)

OK, Denver has finally found their offense. But hey, isn’t this the time of year where San Diego starts playing like world beaters thus fooling sports writers everywhere into believing they are a championship caliber team until next October?

Chargers over Broncos

The Crystal Ball Week 11 Thursday Night Special

Anyone out there dig sports video games? I myself have played a few in my time, although I would never call myself a nut. They were fun, and it was always a wicked good time being in control of your favorite team. Especially when you can tee it up against one of your most hated rivals. Take that Tom Brady! AHA HA HA HA HA!

One thing I’ve noticed is that each year, the games become more and more realistic. Not just in game play, but also in regards to stadium and field detail, player movements and player likenesses. It’s getting scary realistic with how much the digital players look like their real life counterparts. In a few years, it may be hard to tell the difference at all.

And therein lays the answer to the NFL’s problem with more games versus player safety. When video games finally get to the point of realistic human re-creation, the NFL will be able to safely add games while protecting the players.

It would be so easy. The NFL and Players Association come to an agreement on a “20 game season” with 2 bye weeks and adding additional wildcard teams. Everything is expanded, more money rolls in from everyone and everything gets spread around. The owners and the players take the cash from two games apiece, thus the owners get their expanded revenue and the players get a raise they so desperately deserve.

Now, unwritten, unmentioned, and unreported is that those four new games will be virtual games. They will be played by computer using the latest Madden franchise software, and based upon the actual players. If Peyton Manning is having a stellar season, the game will show it. If Arian Foster is injured, he won’t be playing. Current stats will be imported into the game, and added to season totals for the following games. Where are the actual players during this “game”? Sitting at home, resting up from injuries, taking it easy and avoiding more wear and tear. Careers will lengthen, there will be less season ending injuries and players will stay fresher toward the end of the season with 6 weeks off.

How exactly can the NFL pull this off without putting actual players in an actual stadium that fans will come to looking for a game? Eventually, 3D technology will come far enough that each stadium equipped with the proper equipment will display the virtual game right on the field, and no one will be able to tell the difference. Until then, the NFL is always talking about expansion. Until 3D technology is up to par, we will see games in Siberia, the Outback and Timbuktu.

You think this isn’t possible? How do you know it hasn’t happened already? Did you see Monday night’s Eagles/Redskins matchup? Because I watched the first half, and the last time I saw a quarterback do what Michael Vick did, an Xbox was prominently involved.

Tonight’s Special

Chicago (6-3) at Miami (4-5)

I just do not buy it. How can Chicago be this good? Are they this good? Their defense has been playing rather efficiently, and the last few weeks their offense has been stellar. But I just can’t get on board. Jay Cutler is no leader, and I’ll never be convinced otherwise no matter how many prominent sports writers talk about him as the greatest living quarterback.

As for Miami, who can figure these cats out? First they can’t win at home or lose on the road. Then all of a sudden the script is flipped, but they still seem like a mess. To turn things around, they swap Chads, benching Henne for Pennington. But then Pennington gets hurt seemingly by just walking onto the field. So Henne gets his job back, only to go down himself. So who is starting at quarterback this week but the immortal Tyler Thigpen. So who to pick, the team you can’t trust or the team that can’t keep a quarterback upright? Ugh.

Dolphins over Bears

The Crystal Ball Week 10

So Thursday night I’m watching the riveting Falcons/Ravens slugfest, which only became interesting in the last five minutes, procrastinating taking out the trash. Halftime came and still I hesitated until they show a clip from this week’s Sunday conversation with Brett Favre. The first question Steve Mariucci asks is will Favre play next season. Suddenly, scooping cat litter became very interesting to me.

Opening Kickoff

Ok Kurt Warner, you’re done with Dancing With The Stars. Are you absolutely sure you don’t want to play this season? The ball is in your court Cardinal Fans, what are you willing to offer for eight games of competent quarterbacking?

The Way It Was

The Cowboys missed a chance to challenge a Packer touchdown, that would have been overturned, because they were out time outs and therefore unable to challenge. This was an indefensible moment of inept coaching and most likely the tipping point in spurring Jerry Jones to fire Wade Phillips. Cowboy fans breathe a sigh of relief.

But don’t get too excited, since the interim head coach, on an eight game audition for the “permanent” job, is offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. And we all know how horribly his play calling has been this season. Hey Jason, ever heard of running the ball?

The New England Patriots got JACKED UP!

What is in the water in Cleveland? Seriously, this cannot be due to Mangenius, can it?

Damn Cleveland. That’s two weeks now they've played a high profile opponent and whipped their fannies. And the following week, that same opponent is all pissed off wanting to prove they don’t suck and then faces Pittsburgh. Cleveland: the bizarro Kenny Bania of the NFL.

Baltimore’s defense has been exposed twice in 4 days. They cannot stop the run.

Awwww, Buffalo you were so close! I really thought they could pull it off.

Dang, Tampa almost did pull it off. If the Bucs can learn to get two yards by force of will on the road, they're going far.

Boy, I’m sure glad I held off jumping on the Lions band wagon. Mistakes by a young team, losing their kicker and Stafford, possibly for the season, and having one missed extra point make all the difference doomed them. I did love Ndamukong Suh filling in for Jason Hanson despite him missing the kick. That guy is worth the dough.

Nice game in Oakland, and full of interesting twists. It looked like Kansas City and Oakland were both enamored with the fake punt. Such a shame neither of them can actually pull it off.

What a wicked catch by Jacoby Ford to put Oakland in field goal position. He stole the interception away from Kansas City defense. That kids is why you don't never ever give up on a play.

The Giants were so far ahead against Seattle they played all their second string players and went to an all running offense. When they got within two minutes and within striking distance of Seattle’s end zone, the team just kneeled on the ball instead of scoring again. Tom Coughlin gets my classy move of the week award. Suck on that one Belichick.

Panthers quarterback Matt Moore is apparently done for season. Not like it will make any difference, though. But this is a good lesson for future coaches as to why do you do not go into the season with a first string quarterback with only 8 career starts and two rookie backups with zero experience.
The Steel Pit

Steelers 27 – Bengals 21

Pittsburgh roared out at the beginning of the game, forcing turnovers and capitalizing upon them. For a good portion of the evening, the Bungles looked like the 2-5 they were, much to my delight.

However, the axiom still held, that if you let a bad team hang around they will find a way to beat you. They settled for field goals too often, and in the third quarter the Steeler offense went into hibernation while the defense became increasingly overworked and unable to even contain Terrell Owens.

Every Pittsburgh fan had horrific flashbacks to last year when the team gave up fourth quarter leads and lost games one after another. It felt like watching the most embarrassing moments of your life on national television.

The Bungles almost comeback, however, was not entirely Pittsburgh’s fault. Casey Hampton and Ike Taylor were called for back to back penalties on Cincinnati’s last scoring drive, practically putting the ball in the end zone. Both were terrible calls that the NFL later in the week acknowledged as such. But that would have been cold comfort if the Bungles had completed their comeback and won the game.

However, not all was bad. Yes, there are some question marks surrounding the defense and their bend and almost break method late in games, what I am now calling the greenstick fracture defense. And with Max Starks now gone for the season, plus a rash of additional injuries team wide, the offense has yet one more issue to cope with.

But the Steelers pulled it together long enough to secure the win, which is all that matters at the end of the day. Rashard Mendenhall had some powerful fourth quarter runs, showing he’s big time all game long. And who didn’t enjoy TO chirping constantly in Palmer's ear? It seems reminiscent of a scene I once watched on a Philadelphia sideline long ago.

With TO yapping, and now Ochocinco piping up about being frustrated not getting thrown to and defenses keying on him, plus Marvin Lewis being a basically a lame duck coach and the team mired at 2-6, how long until this operation hits Cowboy level play and dysfunction? I suspect early cancellation for the TOcho Show.

Only In Faux NFL Reality…

The NFL had Jay Cutler miked up for the Bears/Bills game. Boy, this guy is terribly smug for someone who gets intercepted on average once out of every two passes. If you didn’t want to punch him before, you will now.

Apparently Randy Moss arrived in Nashville on a private plane Sunday night ready to go to work the next morning for the Titans. So you're telling me a man on his third team in one season wasn't at the facilities days ago, working furiously to get the play book learned so he'd be as up to speed as possible when the team came back from their bye week for practice? Yeah, this will work out.

I’m not sure what bothers me more about Braylon Edwards’ once again trying to stick it to Cleveland fans as he gears up to face the Browns this week. The fact that a player with such a reputation for being undependable and dropping balls feels confident enough to call anyone out, or his “bring ya popcorn” reference. Really Braylon, you couldn’t come up with anything better than to rip TO off? What a loser.

Look, finally a reason to want to go to Cowboy home games! (WARNING: link has material of a mature nature)

How does an organization, worth over a billion dollars, forget to renew their website registration? Considering how the team has been run lately, I suppose it is a plausible excuse. Personally, I think it just crashed with Cowboy fans demanding Wade Phillips head.

Ravens running back Le’Ron McClain avoided a fine for spitting in the face of Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder. I don’t know how the NFL let this one slide, that’s just wrong.

How many fall seasons will we be forced to watch this movie?

Upon Further Review

The word of last weekend is overtime. Three games went past regulation, giving fans of six fan bases over 60 minutes to fret out a win, or potential loss. As we all remember, sudden death overtime became a hot button topic in the previous off season, resulting in a convoluted rule change for the playoffs only in order to give each team an offensive possession.

I have been an ardent voice against this, as both teams understand the rules of sudden death overtime. Plus, the idea of each team getting a possession seemed dumb to me. The arguments for a new format included that the majority of teams that won the game were the same team that won the coin toss and that it was only fair that each team had a shot with the ball. My counter arguments included that if a team lost the coin toss, their defense should then step up and save the day, and that life by its very nature is not fair.

So let’s look at the games last weekend. Of the three that went into overtime, two of the teams that won the coin toss ultimately lost the game. And why is that? Because the coin toss losers, in these cases the Vikings and Raiders, had their defense step up and take care of business, giving the ball to their own offenses. In this small sample, that constitutes 66% of games played where the coin toss winner lost the game.

In the arguments for a new playoff format, it was pointed out that over 60% of teams that won the coin toss won the game. Well, last weekend’s sample study proved that wrong, no? How about we look at the season as a whole then? Don Banks at SI.com has done that for us. As he shows, of all 11 games that have gone to a fifth quarter this season, ONLY ONE game has been won by the team that won the coin toss. Boy, we really did need a new playoff format didn’t we?

So what does all this prove? That once again a small but highly vocal minority has worked for selfish and foolish reasons to change the outcome of games because they did not like the results of a few contests, much like what we saw with the knee jerk reaction to violent hits a few weeks ago. And yes, I am specifically referring to SI.com’s Peter King, the most vocal of playoff format revisionists, and his campaign for the change because he didn’t like Brett Favre losing yet another NFC Championship game in overtime. Please overlook that those games were lost because of Favre’s ineptness or that King would never admit that Favre’s failures were his raison d’etre for his campaigning. He would always maintain this change is for fairness. Yeah, seems fair to me that now we will all suffer come playoff time equally.
He Said He Said

"We've seen that horror flick before. I like this ending a little better." Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin comparing this year’s victory over the Bungles to last year’s defeat

Me too, although no need to make it come down to the wire like that boys.

"I recognized that after the game we just weren't playing winning football and our best chance was to make a change." – Cowboys owner Jerry Jones after dismissing Wade Phillips following the Cowboys debacle in Green Bay

You just recognized it? What have you been watching for the previous 8 weeks Jerry?

"If we play like we played today we are not going to beat anybody." – Patriots quarterback Tom Brady after Cleveland stomped New England

Play that way this week; play that way this week…

“I felt like I was playing for mine. I’m just being honest. Have I always got along with my coach, head coach, quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator? No. why should that factor into me wanting to be the best player I can be?" – Vikings quarterback Brett Favre when asked if playing for Childress' job

That’s a dumb question. If he was playing for Childress' job, he would have tanked.

"Le'Ron McClain spit in my face. He spit in my face. That's some real shit. So if you talk to him, tell him he's a ho." – Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder, accusing McClain of spitting in his face, which seemed to be backed up by video evidence

I’m with Channing, that’s just disgusting and insulting.

"I don't think Wade [Phillips] survives this night.'' - Cris Collinsworth during the end of the Sunday Night Football broadcast of the Dallas/Green Bay game

Obviously he meant metaphorically, as Phillips was fired the next day. But considering the Cowboys’ performance, and Jones’ expression, I figured Cris meant Jerry would have Wade killed.

"As I sit here right now, it's not a concern at all because we won. When we get back home and watch film, I might be concerned." – Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin when asked about the fourth quarter collapses that led to Pittsburgh losing its 20 point lead

Get concerned Mike.

Idiot of the week

This week’s honored winners of this prestigious award are not just one player or coach or even a team, but it goes out to the fans and team from the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia.

During last Sunday’s showdown against Indianapolis, Colts receiver Austin Collie collapsed to the turf lifelessly after getting hit by Eagle defenders Quintin Mikell or Kurt Coleman.

Now, from all visual evidence, the hits were clean. Yes, Collie did sustain a helmet to helmet hit, but the contact did not look flagrant but incidental. In the process of getting hit, Collie dropped the ball which was picked up by the Eagles thinking it was a fumble.

In review of the play later in the week, the NFL did not fine either Eagle defender for the hit and did say the play should have been ruled a fumble since Collie had possession, taken two steps and made moves to protect himself from impact. However, retrospect did little good on Sunday.

The officials working the game, with the newly instilled hypersensitivity to helmet to helmet collisions, immediately ruled the play an incomplete pass and threw a flag for the hit. While not terribly fair or acceptable, it is understandable with how the NFL has decided to change the rules of the game why the officials would make this call at the time.

However, all of this was secondary to the health of the player down on the field. Collie dropped like someone shot him, and lay on the ground motionless, a truly frightening sight. Colt medical personnel rushed onto the field, surrounding the downed player and calling for a stretcher and back board, and everyone watching on television fearing possible paralysis or worse.

Now, were the home team and crowd as sympathetic? You bet your sweet bippy they were not. Philadelphia reached a new low in earning their reputation as vicious fans. As Collie’s condition was being assessed, the officials made their rulings, much to the consternation of the fans and team.

Defensive players on the field ran around in mock indignation. Head coach Andy Reid, who should have waddled his fat can out to show support, berated the closest official about the call. Fans in the stadium booed loudly and voraciously. As this was going on, no one knew the extent of the injury to Collie. And to be frank, with the way he went down, he very well could have been dead.

In other games I’ve watched where an injury like this happens to a visiting player, the home crowd becomes hushed and tense, concerned for the well being of the competitor. In Philadelphia, they barely even registered an injured player, just the bad call. In fact, as the network went to commercial break, I heard an Eagle fan, picked up on one of the stadium microphones, screaming, “This is bullshit.”

Of course, after that commercial break, the stadium was quiet and the teams subdued. I bet they had to make an in stadium announcement to act like civilized human beings. And mind you, I know this does not represent every Philadelphia fan in attendance or watching the game. But it did represent the vocal majority.

So for showing your unbelievable classlessness in the face of potential human tragedy, Philadelphia, you are an idiot.

On Tap This Week

See, weeks like last week I totally enjoy.

Last week: 11 - 2
Thursday: 1 - 0
Season to date: 80 – 51

Plus I almost won the week, except I guessed too high on the tie breaker points. Thank goodness Pittsburgh stopped Cincinnati on that last drive or I would have had enough points to win. Almost horrifying.

Sitting at home, placing bets on Randy Moss’ next team: Green Bay, New Orleans, Oakland and San Diego

Sunday

Minnesota (3-5) at Chicago (5-3)

There is no way Chicago, with that atrocious offensive line and overrated quarterback, can be 6-3 is there? Play to save Chilly!

Vikings over Bears

Tennessee (5-3) at Miami (4-4)

First he was Unstoppable, and then he was Intolerable, now he’s just Unbearable. Welcome to the Randy Moss era in Tennessee. Will Moss make a difference? Who knows, but Chad Pennington making his first start this season for Miami certainly will for the Dolphin passing game, and not a good one.

Titans over Dolphins

Detroit (2-6) at Buffalo (0-8)

Like a desperate gambler thinking I can break it with just one more roll, I’m gonna let it ride.

Bills over Lions

New York Jets (6-2) at Cleveland (3-5)

See, this is why Eric Mangenius sucks. Why even question your starter? I think after beating Brees and Brady, Colt McCoy has earned his stripes. Stupid Browns. In other news, the Ryan twins face off against each other. Now, where's Buddy to send them to their rooms if they get too rambunctious?

Jets over Browns

Cincinnati (2-6) at Indianapolis (5-3)

Anyone have any confidence in the Bungles? Anyone? I thought so.

Colts over Bengals

Carolina (1-7) at Tampa Bay (5-3)

Only eight games to go before Carolina starts throwing mad money at Bill Cowher.

Buccaneers at Panthers

Houston (4-4) at Jacksonville (4-4)

Let’s play who’s more mediocre?

Jaguars over Texans

Kansas City (5-3) at Denver (2-6)

My only hope for this game is it puts one more stamp on Josh McDaniels’ ticket out of town.

Chiefs over Broncos

Seattle (4-4) at Arizona (3-5)

It’s like choosing between lima beans and Brussels sprouts. Either way you have a bad taste in your mouth.

Cardinals over Seahawks

Dallas (1-7) at New York Giants (6-2)

The Jason Garrett era begins as Dallas hopes to turn the page, and their fortunes, on the season. I wonder how this will end. No I don’t.

Giants over Cowboys

St. Louis (4-4) at San Francisco (2-6)

I think it’s time for St. Louis to learn to win on the road. And now is the best time.

Rams over 49ers

New England (6-2) at Pittsburgh (6-2)

Did you know that as a starter, Tom Brady is 5-1 against Pittsburgh? Did you know Pittsburgh is missing both of its preseason projected starting tackles and a starting guard? Did you know this is Pittsburgh’s third straight prime time game? Did you know James Harrison is experiencing back spasms and is questionable for the game? Did you know I’m terrified?

Steelers over Patriots

Monday

Philadelphia (5-3) at Washington (4-4)

Well, Donovan McNabb won the first faceoff against his former team. I’m betting he won’t win the second. Mainly because he may not have the cardiovascular endurance to make it all four quarters.

Eagles over Redskins

The Crystal Ball Week 10 Thursday Night Special

Is it just me, or does it feel like the Thursday night games are starting earlier this season week one excluded of course? I really did think that, even to the point of wondering aloud to myself, “Yeesh didn’t these start at Thanksgiving last year?”

Nope, I went back and checked. They started in week 10 last season too. I swear I must be losing my mind. How could I miss something so key, so central to the scheduling of league games without requiring a reminder from the NFL, the NFL Network, local sports programming, sports radio, ESPN in all formats and my pick ‘em pool league administrator, who sent out a lovely email to everyone to get your picks for Thursday in on time. Although I bet at least 25% of the league forgets. Hopefully they’ll forget Sunday’s games too.

How did I forget when Thursday games started? Am I lacking in cardiovascular endurance? Most likely but that should not apply here.

Did I eat some bad food? Possibly, since I had some catering recently I wouldn’t serve to my dog. Although knowing my dogs they probably would ask for seconds.

Am I having communication hardware issues? I hope so, since I got a text from #4ROX that I shant describe.

Maybe I was just distracted from being fined for illegal finger-to-keyboard hits. It has been weighing on my mind heavily as of late, to the point I considered retiring.

Honestly, I do not have enough fingers to point out the problems at fault for this mental lapse. But someone is going to suffer and suffer consequences.

In the meantime, as we continue to stew over the last weekend’s oddities, action and perpetual offensive line restructuring; let’s take a look at Week 10’s first course.

Tonight’s Special

Baltimore (6-2) at Atlanta (6-2)

Everyone has a short week; no one has an advantage. Atlanta is one of the few toasts of the NFC, racking up big divisional wins over the champion Saints and the upstart Buccaneers. They mix a strong running game and defense with a smart quarterback and good passing game. Beating a quality AFC team like Baltimore would be their best opportunity to push themselves into the national spotlight discussion as a top five team.

Baltimore, well, if you ask me is overrated, and the last few games have exposed serious holes in their defense. (Never mind the other top team in the AFC North with serious issues, nothing to see there.) However despite my “expertise” they still are finding ways to win and are in the discussion as a top five team. I’m not sure how, but I think it has something to do with Old Spice.

Regardless, this could be an entertaining game with I’m sure the biggest pimped story line being draft classmates Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco facing off against each other. But if you ask me, the big story should be what will happen if Dunta Robinson gets in Le’Ron McClain’s face? Dunta, Channing Crowder says to tell Le’Ron he’s a ho. I’m just passing it on per Channing’s request.

Falcons over Ravens

The Crystal Ball 2010 Week 9

Let’s be forthright. Moss is gone for two reasons, one Childress found out he can only handle one player head case at a time, and even that's up for debate since Favre is obviously in charge of the sinking ship. And two, Favre doesn't like to share a spotlight with a bigger drama queen than he is.

Opening Kickoff

Is this joke too classless? I’m not sure, and I know I’m not helping by repeating it but…..

Deanna Favre issued a statement yesterday saying, "Those pictures Brett sent to that reporter were meant for me. But you know Brett; they were intercepted"

The Way It Was

Donovan McNabb was pulled during Washington’s failed two minute drive at the end of the Detroit game. Well he never did run two minute drill well. Just ask TO.

Wow, look, the Chargers won a game in impressive fashion. I bet they win again next week, and Norv Turner starts his annual, hey we're winning now, I can cruise until I blow it in the playoffs and still keep my job act.

Boy, did Detroit score the jackpot when they drafted Ndamukong Suh.

Didn’t I keep hearing the Packers defense was banged up and missing key components? Sure didn’t look like it to me.

Hmmm, how odd that Rex Ryan was so restrained after the game.

OH NO BRETT WAS HURT BAD! He gets his chin split open, and they need a cart to take him to the locker room? Was that just a bit overly dramatic? Not for Brett!

Do you get the feeling that if this season continues along this path, that Favre is going to be playing at the end in a full body cast? Oh yeah, he'd still play.

The Rams are 4-4 in the dreadful NFC West. If they win 3 more games, that's more games won than in the past three seasons combined. They could win this division. Nice job Spagnuolo.

The Patriots stuffing Adrian Peterson at the goal line was huge. Let’s see, Tom Brady and a cast of who dats on offense and defense tearing up the AFC. Did we flash back to 2001?

The Steel Pit

Last Sunday the Lady K and I had a great Pittsburgh style evening before the game. We headed downtown and rode up the Duquesne Incline to have a wonderful dinner on Mt. Washington at the Georgetown Inn. We got to watch the sun set over the Burgh and watch the city come to life while having a delicious meal (if you go and they have pork osso bucco on special, get it) and great conversation. Afterward feeling all Pittsburgh-y, we headed home and settled in for the game, hopped up with excitement. It didn't take long for that feeling to dissipate.

Remember last week when I said, basically, tough noogies on the Dolphins, if they had played better they would have won? Yeah well talk about a comment coming back to bite one in ass

First and goal from the 1 foot line; 4 plays and only three points. 1st and 10 from the Saints 23; four plays and a missed field goal that left time on the clock for Saints to actually score a field goal. Two created turnovers from the defense that were not capitalized on by the offense, and a second one was turned BACK over to the Saints which they used to score the game icing touchdown.

Bad play calling (come on Arians, they big blitzed all night you don't have one play to exploit that) sloppy ball handling (Sanders with another fumble on a return and screwing up a pass intended for Hines Ward and a clear touchdown) poor line work (yeesh when did the line revert to last year’s form) and overall bad play contributed to this horror fest. The defense did all it could, but in the end, it was not enough.

I could whine and moan about a few ticky tack calls, (the offensive pass interference call on Hines Ward that should have been called a helmet to helmet hit on a Saints defensive back) or non calls (you're gonna call roughing the passer on Harrison, but ignore the obvious holding he fought through during the same play) or even bad coaching (Tomlin should have challenged the non-touchdown by Mendenhall) but you know what? It doesn't matter.

Good teams find ways to overcome such adversity. And on Halloween night, Pittsburgh did not while the Saints, with their top three cornerbacks out, most certainly did. Good game New Orleans. Now, I hope the Steelers take off those clown costumes and put their uniforms back on.

Only In Faux NFL Reality…

So what’s the most bizarre thing that happened to the Vikings this week?

A) Randy Moss’ buffet tirade, followed by his rambling five minute post game self interview where he questioned Childress and expressed his undying love for the Patriots

B) Brad Childress, acting quite childish, cutting Moss from the team without consulting upper management, ownership, any of the team or even telling Moss himself

C) Moss then being picked up by Tennessee

D) Hardly anyone has talked about Brett’s torn up chin, his ongoing texting investigation or Brett himself.

The answer of course is D.

Jerry Jones apologized to Cowboy fans for the teams’ putrid performance thus far this season. His next apology will be for charging full ticket price to see this train wreck.

The Vikings think Hank Baskett will be an adequate replacement in the starting lineup for Randy Moss. Can I ask this question now? Last year Baskett served with the Colts, anyone who watched the Super Bowl second half kickoff remembers that. But if Peyton Manning can take receivers and tight ends off the practice squad and the street, and they suddenly have 6-10 catches for 100+ yards and 1-2 touchdowns in their first game, how bad must Baskett be if even Peyton couldn’t make Hank look good during an entire season?

Apparently, one of the reasons Childress cut Moss was for his verbally abusive behavior toward some caterers that had set up a spread in the locker room for the players. What is wrong with Randy, who complains about free chicken, ribs and beef?

Hey Vikings fans, you don’t want to store those Moss jerseys again but can’t just throw them away? Apparently there were better options.

The Bills picked up released Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman. Eh, it can’t make things any worse.

Did anyone see this story of former Cowboy Nate Newton, who has dropped an astounding 175 pounds? Jerry Jones wants to learn how to lose 250 pounds in minutes.

Steelers’ linebacker James Harrison was called to the principal’s office, I mean met with Roger Goodell, regarding late and violent hits. Then two days later the league smacked him with another fine for a hit on Drew Brees. But no, Harrison and the Steelers are not targets of the NFL.

Steelers’ safety Troy Polamalu stated this week he felt Goodell has too much power when it comes to doling out punishment for players. The NFL and other teams had best pay attention, because Troy rarely speaks, and hardly ever speaks ill of anything. And he’s obviously fired up about this subject.

Upon Further Review

Well we’ve reached the midpoint of the NFL season. And everywhere you look, one can find articles giving out midseason report cards, adjusted playoff predictions and front runners predicted for end of the season awards. But not here. No we’re going to take a look at a few that’s that absolutely, positively have to go. Yup, it’s time to get rid of some stupid things and clean up football before we’re all driven mad.

Out with a ( ): Come on, I know truncating and shortening phrases or names is cool. It’s obvious in our current society that cool people don’t like whole words. But just say a player has a calf injury or a concussion. We all have arms and legs, and we all go out with them. Every day I’m out with an arm, leg and head. I never leave home without them.

Lame nicknames: Stop taking the first letter of the first name and coupling it with the first three letters of the last name and calling that a nickname. Nicknames used to be cool, like Night Train, White Shoes or Sweetness. In my book, B-Mac does not constitute a nickname, merely unimaginative laziness.

No flags: This has increasingly driven me so nuts in the last few years. You’re watching a game and some spectacular play happens. Either the defense makes a spectacular stop or thrilling interception that changes momentum or the offense executes a terribly effective pass play that results in a wild touchdown. And what’s the first thing you hear from the announcers? No flags! I know much like society the NFL has become more litigious, and will be even more as labor negotiations escalate, but can we not immediately look for any possible infraction and just revel in something amazing for at least 5 seconds before we tear it apart?

The New York Football Giants: I know I’ve mentioned this one before, but it needs to be brought up again. There has only been one team in New York with the nickname Giants since 1958. And it’s been the FOOTBALL GIANTS. It was cute the first thousand times Chris Berman said it. But now with everyone parroting it, it has to go. What’s next, the St. Louis Baseball Cardinals?

Pick six: Yeah, I know, a funny reference to hitting the lottery while referring to the six points you get for a touchdown. It was funny, witty and hip the first million times I heard it. In the billion times since, not so much. This tired and played out phrase is a perfect marker that shows us which sports writers, reporters and commentators who pander to the lowest common denominator and have zero imagination. Come up with something else. How about coming up with something new like a Cutler special? He wears number six and throws tons of interceptions.

Defensive pass interference: Bad teams trailing late in a game and desperate chuck the ball deep hoping for either a completion or penalty. This spot of the foul nonsense needs to go. It should be a set amount of yardage, 15 yards, and a first down. Period. It’s set yardage for offensive pass interference, it should be the same in reverse.

The U: Come on guys call it The University of Miami. When you say the U, I automatically assume you're an idiot.

Throw back uniforms: I like the ones we have now. Yes, I know, the San Diego powder blues are sublime. But come on. I hate tuning in and seeing the Jets dressed as though their ready for a steam punk photo shoot, or Pittsburgh looking like some weird overcooked sunny side up egg. I know the NFL wants to move product but how few people are purchasing these abominations cannot justify the rest of us being visually subjected to these horrors twice a season.

He Said He Said

"Good teams get breaks. They make their breaks because of how hard they're playing.'' – Oakland head coach Tom Cable

And the biggest break I see is the dam holding back Oakland’s scoring.

"There's no way the result and the way we played tonight, there is no way I can rest, sleep, eat well with a diet of that right there. There is no way. If you look at what we're about, our team, our stadium, the pride I have in this franchise, you know it doesn't digest. It doesn't go down. We've got to do something that changes this on the field." – Cowboys owner Jerry Jones

How about start with fire Wade Phillips and then stop meddling with how the team is run by whomever you hire, Jerry.

"I just want to be able to tell the guys [on the Patriots] I miss the hell out of them ... Man, I miss them guys man, I miss the team ... I love you guys, I miss you, I'm out.” – Former Minnesota receiver Randy Moss

Poor Randy, that list of guys missing him keeps getting longer and longer
“I’ve got to stand up and I have to make it right. When it's not right, you need to make it right. This is probably the most unemotional decision I've made in this job here.” – Vikings head coach Brad Childress regarding releasing Randy Moss

No, this didn’t just reek of firing a guy because you don’t like what he says or how he acts. Nope, it was completely unemotional. I bet Zygi Wilf says the same thing to Brad in January.
“How 'bout them Jaguars!'' - Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver

Ha ha!

"You know me. I think we can go nine in a row, if you ask me. People can call me stupid or whatever but this football team has the corps of players and the supporting cast of players to win nine in row. We just got to get it started." – Cowboys receiver Roy Williams

I think you meant corpse of players, Roy.

"Once a quarterback gets to a certain point, where his mistakes are far and few between ... it's hard to be that (critical) when your mistakes are at a substantial level." Jets receiver Braylon Edwards throwing Mark Sanchez under the bus for the Jets loss to the Packers

Once a receiver gets to a certain level, where he doesn't drop every other ball thrown right into his hands, then he can bust on his second year quarterback. Yeesh, and I don't even like Sanchez yet stupid Edwards makes me feel the need to defend him.

"What you have to do sometimes is you understand everything is sped up. When you don't have timeouts, it's got to come automatic. You've got to call a couple of plays at the line, a few plays at the line. When you go through this during the week (in practice), and you take a look at this type of atmosphere (in a game), I thought it was the best scenario to put (Rex) in there in that situation." – Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan on his decision to bench McNabb and replace him with Rex Grossman

I do not understand at all.
Idiot of the week

While Minnesota sent multiple contestants to vie for the coveted Idiot award, Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan found new ways to step up, conquer some fierce competition and lay claim to the prize this week.

Shanahan wins by having a multi pointed plan that began before the Redskins/Lions game even finished, by replacing Donovan McNabb with an ice cold Rex Grossman to run Washington’s two minute drill and try to win the game. The plan, not surprisingly, backfired horribly. But Orange Mike could have been ok at this point, but his brain must have been short circuiting due to all of his over tanning.

In the post game interview, when asked about the decision to bring in Rex, who hasn’t played meaningful football in over a year and a half, Shanahan said that Grossman was better acquainted to the playbook and terminology of the two minute offense, having worked with offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan in Houston last year. So right off the bat, Shanahan calls his starting quarterback stupid.

The next day, Shanahan tried to clear up the growing controversy by stating that the rigors of running a two minute offense are physically demanding and McNabb didn’t have the “cardiovascular endurance” to successfully pull it off. Now, McNabb is also fat and lazy. Strike two Mike.

Wisely at this point, Shanahan shut up. But his son Kyle didn’t, inserting himself into the bizarre soap opera stating that the coaches had informed McNabb earlier in the week that there was a possibility of pulling Donovan if he struggled during the game. Considering McNabb has played below his standards thus far this season that sounds reasonable no? Except that Donovan stated on his weekly radio show that no one ever informed him of that.

And just to add additional insult, the Redskins worked out a few quarterbacks this week, including former Raiders quarterback and top ten first round bust JaMarcus Russell, the epitome of fat, lazy and stupid.

Shanahan could have avoided any controversy, possible alienation of his quarterback whom he wanted and traded for, and having the rest of the team question him by just saying McNabb absorbed a ton of punishment, was playing with sore hamstrings and not as effective as he had hoped and he wanted to try a fresher quarterback to spark an offense that desperately needed some life at that stage of the game.

Instead, he went out of his way to insult McNabb, create doubt in the locker room and show that perhaps he is more than a bit overrated when it comes to being a successful head coach. And for that Mike, you are an idiot.

The runner up, and almost winner, is Brad Childress, for obvious reasons.

On Tap This Week

Yeah, I shouldn’t have said that upswing stuff out loud.

Last week: 7-6
Season to date: 68 – 49

Eh, perhaps I just do not have the cardiovascular endurance to make picks for 17 weeks. Or do I……

Sitting at home checking the waiver wire: Denver, Jacksonville, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tennessee, and Washington.

Sunday Arizona (3-4) at Minnesota (2-5)

I suppose it’s about time for Minnesota to win so we can stop talking about them for a week. And with Derek Anderson starting for Arizona, a better time will not be found. Somewhere, Larry Fitzgerald quietly weeps.

Vikings over Cardinals

Chicago (4-3) at Buffalo (0-7)

It’s time, no? Yes, it’s time. Buffalo finally, FINALLY will win. Call it the magic of Toronto. So even though Bills fans will be happy to see their team win, they won’t actually see it. Some fans can never win.

Bills over Bears

Miami (4-4) at Baltimore (5-2)

Baltimore has had to scrap to win against teams that have lit them up offensively. Miami is 4-0 on the road. That will not last.

Ravens over Dolphins

New Orleans (5-3) at Carolina (1-6)

New Orleans got their groove back. Uhhh, you’re welcome!

Saints over Panthers
Tampa Bay (5-2) at Atlanta (5-2)

Oh man, I love Josh Freeman. That man shows no fear, and is never worried if his team is down late. But Atlanta seems to be intent on being the cream of the NFC South crop. Although a part of me will be secretly rooting on the Bucs.

Falcons over Buccaneers

New England (6-1) at Cleveland (2-5)

You want me to really believe Cleveland is turning a corner? Win this game. Guess what? I don’t think they have. But it sure looks like New England has.

Patriots over Browns

San Diego (3-5) at Houston (4-3)

Hmm, it’s November right? Must be time for San Diego to suddenly come to life and Houston to start stumbling badly toward the finish line.

Chargers over Texans

New York Jets (5-2) at Detroit (2-5)

After that pathetic offensive performance last week, there’s no way I feel good about taking New York. Especially after watching what Detroit can do last week. But you know what? Washington is a crappy team playing over their heads, and Rex Ryan needs a snack.

Jets over Lions

New York Giants (5-2) at Seattle (4-3)

Seattle is unbeatable at home this season, crushing every opponent that has dared venture into Qwest Field. Sound like a safe pick, no? Well do you still feel that way with Charlie Whitehurst starting at quarterback for the Hawks? I didn’t think so.

Giants over Seahawks

Kansas City (5-2) at Oakland (4-4)

Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that this game would mean something, other than who sucks less? I like KC, but I’m going with the hot hand. And right now, no one is hotter than Oakland.

Raiders over Chiefs

Indianapolis (5-2) at Philadelphia (4-3)

Just to challenge himself, Peyton will pull a lucky Colts fan from the crowd in Philly and make him a slot receiver for the game. He’ll catch 5 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. I know, you’re thinking it probably could happen. But this week, losing Gonzalez and going on the road against a rested team might prove a bit too much.

Eagles over Colts

Dallas (1-6) at Green Bay (5-3)

There is absolutely no way I can pick Dallas with any confidence again this season. The best part about their freefall easily has to be they have yet to win a game in their technological nightmare of a stadium. You know, the one they were planning on playing in come February?

Packers over Cowboys

Monday Pittsburgh (5-2) at Cincinnati (2-5)

Was last week an aberration or does Pittsburgh have some serious issues developing? This week will tell the tale. One thing I know for sure, Cincinnati beat Pittsburgh twice last year, and this team remembers that all too well.

Steelers over Bungles