The Day After Tomorrow: NFL Week 3 Breakdown
Posted by Robert Littal on 09.25.2006
"Big" Ben back to "Medium" Ben, Kurt Warner chokes, CareBare Alexander falling off, Chris Simms' spleen and much much more in this week's NFL week 3 breakdown!
Look I don't care if he had a motorcycle accident, they took his kidney out or he had a 109 temperature (allegedly) Ben Rothlisberger hasn't played a good game since the AFC Championship. He was garbage in the Super Bowl (Randle El played a better QB), horrible against the Jaguars and atrocious against the Bengals. I don't want excuses I want better play, so as of now he is "Low" Ben.
As far as the Bengals I think they have proven they are a very good team who is capable of dealing with any team in the NFL. Even with a lot of turnovers and Chad Johnson only catching 1 ball they still won a heavyweight fight on the road. They have a murderous schedule, but they are showing they are an elite team in the league. I believe they are only going to get better as the year go on. By the way for those watching the game, did "50 Cent" Porter even play in it? For all the talking he and Chad did before the game neither one showed up.
Seattle Seahawks 42 vs. New York Giants 30
Someone needs to tell the Giants that it isn't cool to start playing until the 4th quarter. Once again they looked absolutely awful for 3 quarters before waking up in the 4th, but by then it was over. Eli Manning has the 4th quarter comeback down, but he looked like Ryan Leaf at the beginning of this game. While the offense tries to get itself together, it looks like the defense is the real problem. Before I could finish my 2nd piece of chicken the Seahawks were up 21-0. This was suppose to be one of the better units in the league, but even the Notre Dame defense thinks they are weak.
If you are a Seahawks fan, don't be fooled by the 42 points you put up. Matt Hasselbeck looks good, but you have to be concerned about Shaun Alexander. I don't know if he is hurt or just living large off his new contract, but he has looked pedestrian at best. Without him playing up to an MVP level they can't be considered the premier team in the NFC.
Indianapolis Colts 21 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars 14
The Jaguars should have won this game. They were more physical than the Colts. They held Peyton Manning in check. They ran the ball tremendously well, with a guy shorter than Gary Coleman. So why did they lose? Because when you are on the road against a good team and you are dominating them, you cannot make stupid mistakes. Missing easy field goals, turnovers, dumb penalties and allowing a punt return TD are the reasons they lost. They have no one to blame but themselves. This is the reason why no one ever takes the Jags seriously as a Super Bowl threat, because in big game situations they come up short. The last two games against two great teams they put up 9 and 14 points. That won't get it done in the NFL. If you defense only allows the Colts offense 14 points, your offense should be able to win the game.
Something still doesn't seem quite right with the Colts, but they keep winning so I am not going to dig too deep into it. You know my motto with the Colts; wake me up when they are in the Super Bowl.
Denver Broncos 17 vs. New England Patriots 7
When I watch the New England Patriots now I don't see a Super Bowl calibur team. I see a team that thought they could just replace player after player and keep moving, but at some point when you lose quality player after quality player it takes a toll. When Troy Brown is your only reliable WR your offense is going to struggle. They are in a weak division, but no one is afraid of the Patriots anymore.
Lets stop talking about Jake Plummer and start concentrate on the Broncos D which has only allowed 1 touchdown in 3 games. As long as Jake can play mistake free ball, they still have a chance to make some noise.
Carolina Panthers 26 vs. Tampa Bay Bucs 24
This play illustrates why Jon Gruden must enjoy punishing Chris Simms. Simms is once again getting destroyed, but is showing a lot of moxie in bringing the Bucs back from a 17-0 deficit to a 21-20 lead. After the Panthers kick a field goal to make it 23-21. Simms is dying out there. He has bad cramps, had to get an IV and is getting beat down by the Panthers D Line. So he comes back and leads them to the Panther's 10 yard line and what play does Gruden called, for his cramping beat down QB?
A Naked Bootleg!!!!
Of course he proceeds to get slammed to the ground again. Even though the Bucs kicked a field goal to go ahead, I knew they were going to lose because you just don't do that your QB. Now Simms is in the hospital getting his spleen removed because Gruden just let him take a beating he shouldn't have had to take.
Steve Smith looked good coming back from the hamstring, but the Panthers still struggled to put away a team that has been struggling mightily on offense. But a win is a win and I would not count out the Panthers just yet.
Chicago Bears 19 vs. Minnesota Vikings 16
Rex Grossman made some really questionable decisions with the football including throwing an INT for TD on a play he had no business throwing the ball. To his credit, he manned up and led the Bears to 10 points in the last 6 minutes of the game for the victory. The Bears D is going to keep them in every game and as long as the offense continues to play with the confidence they are playing with they are going to be extremely hard to beat.
The Vikings have played 3 games that have all been the acted out the same way; they have won 2 and lost 1. I don't know if you can be successful playing the entire year this way. Their only TDs this year have come from a fake field goal and a INT return. The Vikings offense is going to have to show a little more, they are putting too much pressure on their defense to win games.
Miami Dolphins 13 vs. Tennessee Titans 10
Daunte Culpepper as a QB has become Trent Dilfer. He is just a dink and dunker. Not at one point in this game, did I ever think the Dolphins were going to complete a pass more than 15 yards, plus he is a statue in the backfield (sacked 5 more times today). They keep saying, as his knee gets healthier he will get better, but I just don't see it. He escapes the "Garbage" Culpepper tag for this week, but it will be standing close by. No Vince Young this week, for the Titans but it is just a matter of time.
Washington Redskins 31 vs. Houston Texans 15
The Texans are really really bad. They made Mark Brunell (he started out 22-22) look like Joe Montana and Clinton Portis well look like a non-hurt Clinton Portis. Has Mario Williams gotten a sack yet, someone call me when he does.
Green Bay Packers 31 vs. Detroit Lions 24
I must admit "God" Favre has been playing pretty well this season. He shredded the Lions today for well over 300 yards, 3 TDs and most importantly no INTs. It is unfortunate he is too proud to ask for a trade, but to me it looks like he could play a couple of more years, but he needs to go to another squad. The Lions suck, nothing more to be said.
New York Jets 28 vs. Buffalo Bills 20
Once again Mr. Privilege Olive Oil Pennington leads the Jets to victory. He didn't throw for 300 yards, but in a windy rainstorm he didn't have a turnover and manage the game wonderfully. The Jets to my surprised have a decent squad; we will have to see how Pennington holds up as the season goes on. The Bills in a game they could have showed the league they have arrived only showed that their win against Miami had a lot more to do with Miami being bad as oppose to the Bills being good.
Philadelphia Eagles 38 vs. San Francisco 49ers 24
The Eagles just blew them out of the water. At this point in the season the Eagles have to be considered the class of the NFC East.
Saint Louis Rams 16 vs. Arizona Cardinals 14
This loss goes squarely on the shoulders of Kurt Warner. He blew this game with some of the worst interceptions I have seen in a long time. Then after getting a gift fumble from the Rams what does Warner do? He fumbles. This is a game that the Cardinals should have won easily considering the Rams can't score, but Warner let his team and the fans of Arizona down.
Baltimore Ravens 15 vs. Cleveland Browns 14
A well-respected former NFL player who I know, told me last week after reading this column not to get caught up in the hype of the Ravens. He explained if you took a long look at their offense you would see it was as bad as it was last year and that Steve McNair is not playing that well. Maybe he was right because they were terrible today. If not for a boneheaded INT by Charlie Frye in the end zone with less than 3 minutes to go in the game, they would have loss. As for the Browns, they have talented players on offense and an improving defense, but Frye is holding them back, he has to play better.
