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Strange days
Favre, Moss, L.T. and more defy expectations in 2007
NEW YORK -- The great thing about a football season, even a young one like this one, is that it's always full of surprises. You can visit every training camp, interview every coach and talk to every key player, but you're going to wake up the morning after the third weekend of the season and realize how wrong you were about so many things on Labor Day.
You'll see the Rams averaging 11 points a game, and 37-year-old Brett Favre playing like he's 27, and the Bears two games out of first place in their division, and LaDainian Tomlinson 32nd in the league in rushing, and Randy Moss playing like the real live version of Randy Moss, and ... well, you get the point. It's so strange that the people involved in the weirdness have to pinch themselves a little bit too.
"No one gave us a shot to be 3-0 right now,'' Favre told me Sunday evening, "including me.''
Let's start there, on the list of the things we never thought we'd see when the leaves started to turn:
1. Favre's under control, Green Bay's won seven in a row, and the Pack is one of five unbeaten teams in football. And there's that record thing. "Wow,'' Favre said an hour or so after the Packers beat the Chargers 31-24. "It's been a long time since we played a big game and we said 'wow' at the end.''
Favre turns 38 in two weeks, and it's like he can see the end of the line from here. He sounds so happy, so appreciative of having one last shot to be really good.
"I'm studying like I've never studied, preparing like I haven't prepared,'' he said. "The video guys have loaded all the tape on my computer, and I'm looking at it at home more than I ever have. This week, I was up 'til 11 o'clock working on the Chargers.''
His coaches told him last spring to be less Favrian, less daring, and he's doing just that. Against the physically imposing Chargers, he had two negative plays -- two sacks, no interceptions -- while throwing for 369 yards and three touchdowns.
"There may come a time when I think out of the box, but that time's not now because things are working too well,'' he said. "Now, dumping it off and letting guys run after the catch is working. It's great.''
As for tying Dan Marino's record of 420 touchdown passes, Favre was properly deferential to Marino on Sunday ("I could throw for 600 and not be in his class'') but he consistently lets it be known the numbers are fairly meaningless to him. He wants one more shot at January football.
2. Donovan McNabb went from goat to intergalactic hero in an hour. By 2 p.m. Sunday, he'd led the 0-2 Eagles -- the odds-on pick to win the NFC East a month ago -- to a 28-7 lead over the 2-0 Lions, on the way to a 56-21 rout. This after he'd been vilified for his comment on HBO that black quarterbacks are judged more harshly than white ones.
Looked like McNabb, 10 months removed from major knee surgery, was more mobile and confident without the knee brace he'd been playing with, and that's why he had the terrific four-touchdown-pass day, one of the best days of his pro career. "Everyone will write he took off the knee brace and moved better and looked better,'' coach Andy Reid said, "but I don't know. I honestly felt for the last 12 minutes of the game Monday night [the Sept. 17 loss to Washington] it started clicking for him and for the team.''
Reid didn't address the controversy with McNabb during the week, just simply told him "what I've always told all the good quarterbacks I've been around -- keep firing. And he did.''
Peace in Philly should last until around Wednesday.
3. San Diego has lost as many regular-season games (two) as it did all last year. Martyball, anyone? Houston, Detroit, Tampa Bay and Washington are 2-1. San Diego is 1-2. Losing in New England, even decisively, was understandable for the Chargers; losing in Green Bay is a different kettle of fish.
It's mind-boggling that Tomlinson is struggling as he is, averaging 2.3 yards per rush. The key for San Diego, starting this week against Kansas City, is to re-establish its dominance on the ground. When you have the best back in football and he's toting it only 19 times a game, something's wrong. San Diego has to run, it has to control the clock, and it has one week to realize the season is at the breaking point right now. I called Marty Schottenheimer after Sunday's debacle in Wisconsin, hoping to get his take on the Bolts. It does not surprise me, nor disappoint me, that I'm waiting for the return call.
4. Pittsburgh is better than even the biggest nut-job Steelers fan ever thought this team would be. The Steelers have won by 27, 23 and 21, respectively, by focusing myopically on today. A defense that showed signs of fraying last year has allowed one offensive touchdown in 32 possessions. I asked coach Mike Tomlin if he'd had much time to watch the Patriots or Colts, and what he thought of them. 'No, I haven't,'' he said. "But the beauty about football is in order to win a championship, you've got to play the best.''
The Colts and Steelers don't play in the regular season, but on Dec. 9, Pittsburgh's at New England. You can count on the Steelers not looking ahead.
5. Randy Moss looks like the best receiver in football. Again. The other day, at HBO, former Moss 'mate Cris Carter made a great point about Moss and Tom Brady. Carter said you can't overestimate how valuable it is for Moss to have the kind of relationship he has with Brady -- a guy he views as a peer and a great player. Carter thinks it's so vital for Moss to be playing with other great players, or he'll simply lose interest, as he did in Oakland. Well, no one has more TD catches this season than the five Moss has, and his 403 receiving yards are second only to Chad Johnson after three weeks.
Being relevant is all Moss ever wanted. Can you believe that all he cost New England was the 110th pick in last April's draft? And that the player the Raiders picked with that choice is a cornerback, John Bowie, who's been inactive the first three weeks of the season? And that the five players picked before the pick used to acquire Moss were A.J. Davis, Tanard Jackson, Paul Soliai, Antonio Pittman and Stephen Nicholas?
Strange but true. Like this season so far.
The Fine Fifteen
1. New England (3-0). They haven't had a real game yet, winning by 24, 24 and 31 against two 2006 playoff teams and a division rival. Do you ever remember a team starting a season hotter? Next up, Bengals and Browns, before an Oct. 14 trip to Dallas.
2. Indianapolis (3-0). You might look at the last two weeks and say, "Well, the Colts have struggled to win at Tennessee and Houston. Are they really that good?'' Take these tidbits into account: The AFC South is vastly underrated. Houston is the most improved team in football, and every game that Peyton Manning plays we all think he's going to win.
3. Pittsburgh (3-0). Gotta love the Steelers' schedule. It's allowed them to get off to a fast start. Now, before the Week 6 bye, they're at Arizona and home against Seattle. Two quite-winnable games for a very impressive team.
4. Dallas (3-0). The more I see Tony Romo, the more I say to Jerry Jones: Pay the man.
5. Green Bay (3-0). How sweet it would be for Favre, sitting on 420 touchdown passes, to break Marino's record this week at Minnesota, with all the anti-Pack vitriol that's filled the Metrodome. For the record, Favre's 3-1 since 2003 in Minneapolis, but only 5-10 there in his career.
6. San Diego (1-2). Elliott "Mr. Stats'' Kalb's note of the week, fresh from the Sunday night NBC set: 32 rushing touchdowns for the Chargers in 16 games in 2006, one in three games in 2007.
7. Baltimore (2-1). For a team with such a good defense, the Ravens are developing a penchant for letting teams back in games.
8. Chicago (1-2). With apologies to one of the great Seinfeld lines of all time, "The bell tolls for thee, Grossman.''
9. Jacksonville (2-1). I'm starting to believe in David Garrard. On four of Jacksonville's first five possessions in Denver, he led scoring drives.
10. Tennessee (1-1). If I were Jeff Fisher, I'd like to see some clock-eating drives out of Vince Young tonight in the Superdome to take the crowd out of the game. That crowd can be a maneater.
11. Washington (2-1). You know what's a shame? We don't get to see Dallas play Washington for eight more weeks. They meet in Weeks 11 and 17.
12. Philadelphia (1-2). I asked Andy Reid what he said to McNabb after the game. "'Nice job,''' he said, then laughed. "You know me. If it doesn't fit on a 3-by-5 index card, I don't say it.'' And if you want to know Reid, that says it all.
13. Tampa Bay (2-1). One more Kalbism I simply must steal: "If you had told me at the beginning of the year that the Bucs would face Matt Hasselbeck, Drew Brees and Marc Bulger in the first three games and allow a total of two passing touchdowns, I would have laughed in your face.''
14. Houston (2-1). Speaking of interesting scheduling notes, the Texans play at Atlanta one time every eight years. Pretty eerie that the first meeting ever in Atlanta between the teams comes this week, in the fourth game of transplanted ex-Falc Matt Schaub's Houston career.
15 (tie). Carolina (2-1). Nice day for DeShaun Foster: 20 carries, 122 yards. The Panthers look like they're getting back to the ground-oriented way of winning that's best for them, particularly now that Jake Delhomme is nursing an ouchy throwing elbow.
15 (tie). Seattle (2-1). I just don't like the way this team is playing. Not at all. But I'll go by what I saw in training camp, when I thought this was a better version of the Seahawks than the team that made the Super Bowl two years ago.
Quote of the Week I
I didn't get to the quarterback. I suck right now. So there. There's your headline.''
-- Miami defensive end Jason Taylor following the Dolphins' loss to the Jets.
Quote of the Week II
"Donovan took some shots this week, and as a team, we rallied behind him. Whatever shots we take, we take as a team.''
-- Eagles running back Brian Westbrook, about the embattled McNabb.
Quote of the Week III
"This decision lacks integrity, and it lacks ethics.''
-- Former Cowboys Super Bowl staple Daryl Johnston on Sirius NFL Radio after Dallas signed troubled defensive tackle Tank Johnson.
Quote of the Week IV
"The thing that makes me laugh is what so many players and coaches have said about us having their plays. Like the Eagles saying we knew everything that was coming in the Super Bowl because we ran so many screens. Give me a break. Of course we ran all those screens! They blitz on every down!''
-- New England quarterback Tom Brady. You almost hear the steam coming out of his ears on the phone on this subject.
Quote of the Week V
"Black quarterbacks have to deal with different things than white quarterbacks. If you don't think that's true, then you are naïve. I bet Fran Tarkenton, Steve Young, Jake Plummer and Doug Flutie have never been told by a member of a racial consciousness organization that they don't play the quarterback position white enough.''
-- Donovan McNabb, on his "Yardbarker.com'' blog page.
One point, and one point only: Enough. If McNabb thinks he's helping himself by blogging and talking about this again, he's mistaken.
Quote of the Week VI
"We never did it. We never had any video cameras. We never got anyone's signals.''
-- Alabama coach Nick Saban, a close friend of Bill Belichick's who spent two years as coach of the Miami Dolphins.
The Awards Section
Offensive Player of the Week
Philadelphia QB Donovan McNabb, and it took him only an hour to win this vaunted award. Literally. After one hour of real time, McNabb had led the Eagles to five touchdowns in five drives, was 10 of 11 for 214 yards with three touchdown passes, and had put the Eagles up 35-7.
After his second TD, a beautiful play-action throw to Kevin Curtis, McNabb and his play-action fake to Brian Westbrook made color man Brian Baldinger apoplectic. "This is unbelievable!'' Baldinger enthused during the commercial break. "This is football! Did you see everybody bite on the play-action?'' For the half, McNabb completed 14 of 15 for 332 yards and four touchdowns. For the game, McNabb was 21 of 26 for 381 yards (the third-highest total in his career), four TDs and no picks.
Defensive Player of the Week
A collective award: The Jacksonville defense. The stats for the Jags were notable, but not because they didn't play well. The Jags limited the potent Broncos offense (much of that is potential, because Denver doesn't look potent yet) to two scores in a 23-14 Jags win. Travis Henry was held to 35 yards on 11 carries, and the Broncos, who held the ball for only 21:18, were limited to 42 plays in 10 series. When your average series is 4.2 plays over the course of a game, it usually means a defense dominated the game. That's what happened here.
Special Teams Player of the Week
Buffalo P Brian Moorman. No punter in the NFL likely will make a better boot this year than the one Moorman made midway through the second quarter to get the Bills out of a hole in Foxboro. After taking three shots to get the punter some room from their 1-yard line, the Bills had to punt from the 1. Moorman lined up about 10 inches from the back of the end zone. He took the snap, quick-punted, and drove Wes Welker back, back, back ... all the way to the New England 24. An amazing punt, even if Welker ran it back 29 yards to the Buffalo 47. For the day, Moorman punted seven times for a 49.0-yard average, pinning the Pats at their 2 and 11 on two second-half boots.
Coach of the Week
Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin. Talk about setting the right tone. This guy is showing all of football -- management, coaches, players -- that your age does not matter. What does matter is your ability to motivate players and get them to play like every week is the most important game of their lives. "Wednesday's a big day for us. Thursday's a big day for us. It's not just Sunday,'' he said after a 37-16 win over the 49ers made the Steelers (and Tomlin) 3-0. "The journey's what's important, not the destination.''
Goat of the Week
Houston SS Michael Boulware. Maybe now we know why Seattle gave up on him. On the Texans' first defensive series, Indy was at the Texans' 2, and Boulware stood across from Colts tight end Dallas Clark, ready to bump him. Boulware's a good, athletic, tough safety -- at least he's supposed to be all of those things. And when Clark left the line, he gave Boulware a simple fake, left him in his wake, and caught a 2-yard TD at the back of the end zone.
You've got to make that bump. The Colts are going to get enough easy-looking touchdowns, and Boulware gave them an easy one, not just easy-looking. One play or two turns the tide, and you can't afford for simple plays like bumps inside the 5-yard line to not be made.
Stat of the Week I
Ridiculously Proficient Patriots Stats of the Week:
• After three weeks, Brady has completed 79.5 percent of his passes. Three of his six best career completion-percentage games have come this month.
• Moss has two straight weeks with two touchdowns in a game. The last time a Patriot did that was 13 years ago, when Ben "Winter'' Coates was the man.
• Brady is 24-1 on artificial turf in regular-season games. You might want to put that stat in your oddsmakers' bonnet when the Pats visit Dallas in mid-October.
• New England has won 13 of 14 against Buffalo.
• Brady's on pace to throw 53 touchdown passes.
Stat of the Week II
Postscript to the HBO Inside the NFL screed the other day about the meaninglessness of the quarterback rating stat:
Johnny Unitas' career quarterback rating: 78.2.
Jeff Blake's career quarterback rating: 78.0.
MVP Watch
We're starting early this year, people. MVP Watch debuted in December last year, but I figured, hey, why not September? Why not get the angry e-mails earlier this year?
1. Tom Brady, QB, New England. Six incompletions in each of his first three games. Playing almost perfect football on the best team of them all. His three-game rating is 141.8, just 12 points shy of perfection ... not that I buy into QB ratings.
2. Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis. Wind him up and he keeps on dominating and winning.
3. Brett Favre, QB, Green Bay. Reincarnated at 37. Only three times in his career has he had a better quarterback rating and a better completion percentage for a season.
4. Randy Moss, WR, New England. I mean, have you been watching the games?
5. Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Pittsburgh. He wanted the pressure on his shoulders. It was put there, and he's directed the 3-0 Steelers to 32 points per game.
Book Corner
No pride of authorship here. I totally credit a highly respected peer for this idea, because it is Rick Gosselin's doing. Gosselin is the NFL columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and he occasionally takes one of the many football books we all get mailed and picks out a passage or two relevant to today. Like last week. He picked a couple of things from the book of well-traveled former Cowboys front-office ace Bob Ackles (who ran the front office under Jimmy Johnson), including, ironically, the fact that Ackles felt Pete Carroll's Patriots were pilfering Dallas' signals when they played.
I really like Michael Holley's stuff. He's a talk-show host for WEEI now, but his book, Patriot Reign, on a year in the life of the Belichick Patriots, was an all-time keeper. I say this not to demean the late David Halberstam, but Holley's book was significantly richer in meaningful factoids and real knowledge about Belichick than Halberstam's -- a credit to Holley, not a criticism of Halberstam. Anyway, Holley wrote Tedy Bruschi's book, Never Give Up (John Wiley & Son Inc.), about his life and return to football after suffering a stroke in 2005. I love the section in the book about the real-life conflict between Bruschi and wife Heidi, who, understandably, wanted him to stay retired when he'd recovered. She feared the health consequences of another stroke. Bruschi, through Holley, writes:
"Of all the fights I've had with Heidi, none could match the length and intensity we had over my future as a football player ... It was something that went on for weeks. We would wake up and she would be mad that I was going to the stadium. And I'd be mad that she was mad. We would state our cases three times a day and never come to a resolution ... It was a tense time for us, basically a month without hellos and goodbyes ... Everything I said about playing football seemed outrageous to her. I asked her a few times to come and watch me work out, so she could see for herself how close to normal I was. Heidi is naturally much more emotional than I am, and mentioning football wasn't helping. She would restate her position often: 'You're the father of my kids, I don't want you to have another stroke, and I'm not having this return to football.'' ... I had doubts, but they lasted for split seconds and went away. Her doubts flashed constantly, and that led to her being overprotective and scared.''
It wasn't until she heard two specialists, one at a time, say Bruschi was at no more risk for a stroke than any normal person that she believed, and then things got back to normal with them. Insightful stuff.
Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me
The Arizona Cardinals have devoted 13.6 percent of their salary cap to the quarterback position this year, with Matt Leinart ($8.1 on the cap) and Kurt Warner ($5.0 million) taking up $13.1 million.
The Colts' quarterback percentage of the cap: 11.6 percent, with Peyton Manning and Jim Sorgi combining for $9.1 million on the cap.
Gee, I wonder which team feels better about its quarterback situation and its quarterback/cap situation.
Enjoyable/Aggravating Travel Note of the Week
Last Wednesday, 7:41 a.m. New Jersey Transit train, Upper Montclair to Penn Station in Manhattan, seated in a two-seat bench seat, on the way into the city for our second HBO Inside the NFL taping of the year.
Where have you heard that one before?
What can I say? I don't travel much anymore during the season. On this morning, the well-suited salt-and-pepper-haired man is on his cell phone, loud enough for the folks in a two-seat radius to hear.
"Phoebe's good ... Yeah, yeah, right ... No, she was away for four weeks ... Saxophone camp. Can you believe that? She had a wonderful time. Lots of new techniques ... Four weeks, yeah ... On a lake up there, lots to do, a beautiful setting. We went up one weekend and loved it ... No ... No ... I don't know if that's what she'll end up playing, but she loves it now ... When she got home? She volunteered ... No, locally. She worked at an orphanage. That's not what it's called, but that's what it was. You know, working with kids, reading with them, playing, doing crafts ... ''
Got off the train with a feeling of what in the world did I do wrong with my kids. What a miserable wretch of a parent I've been. How could I have reared two non-saxophone-playing, non-orphanage-working human beings? Then, just off the escalator into the lobby of Penn Station, a guy sidled up next to me. "Hey, loved your story on the makeup lady the other day.'' And that made it all worthwhile.
Ten Things I Think I Think
1. I think these are my quick-hit thoughts of Week 3
a. My God. Those Eagle uniforms. Vomitous. Ridiculous. Pajama-like.
b. Huge non-interference call on the Packers' first offensive series, with the Pack in San Diego territory and Donald Driver getting mugged. Four minutes later, it's 7-0 San Diego on a Philip Rivers TD throw.
c. Jon Gruden really has his team ready to play.
d. Get off Brian Billick's back, Baltimore. Steve McNair is going to have a bad groin all season. The team will need Kyle Boller to relieve competently and win -- which he's done now twice.
e. Hurry it up, Jay Cutler. There's a playoff spot hanging in the balance of your maturation process.
f. Quietly, Eli Manning is proving he can handle everything New York throws at him.
g. Leftover Spygate Note of the Week: One of the major benefits of videotaping the signals, I'm told, is that Belichick was able to identify which coordinators and assistant coaches in the league were slow to make their play calls. When the Patriots played these teams, Belichick and the offensive staff often planned to run more no-huddle than usual. Now, just because the plays aren't videotaped anymore, presumably it doesn't seem like that would be impossible to detect anyway. Just have a scout in the press box or a staffer study the sideline signal-callers and note how much time is left on the play clock when they begin their signals and how much time is left when they end.
h. Want Perspective of the Week? Read Barry Horn's story in Sunday's Dallas Morning News about the journey of former Cowboys offensive lineman Alan Veingrad (now Schlomo Veingrad) from the Super Bowl to, as Horn writes, "ultra-orthodox Judaism'' in Florida. Fascinating read.
2. I think when I hear Tedy Bruschi, the ultimate honorable competitor, rail about the Patriots' honor and how he'll stand up to anyone who questions the team's integrity, I'm really hearing him say: I'm ticked off that our great record has been sullied by Rodney Harrison's HGH suspension and Belichick getting caught videotaping other teams' signals.
3. I think it's time for a mercy benching in Chicago. Watching the first half of the Bears-Cowboys game on Sunday night with Cris Collinsworth and a few of the lads at NBC, we heard John Madden and Al Michaels, rightly, taking Rex Grossman's temperature after good throws and bad. And we agreed you can't play football if judgments are passed after every other throw. But for Grossman, that's what it's come to now. The anti-Grossman camp, which must be 85 percent of the Bear fans, is drowning out the pro-Grossmans, which by now may just be family and friends. For the sake of trying to get this team back on its feet, Lovie Smith has to the do the right thing in that locker room and make a change.
4. I think the poor Bills just can't catch a break. Now it's Paul Posluszny, their leading tackler, breaking his forearm and following Koy Wire and Ko Simpson to the sidelines indefinitely. Saw some good things from fellow rookies Marshawn Lynch and third-round pick Trent Edwards, relieving the injured J.P. Losman. But this is going to be a lost season for the Bills. Too many injuries. Not enough time to get them back.
5. I think one of the great things about this game is how you can have the shovels throwing dirt on you one week, then you can win the next week playing totally unlike you've been playing all along. The Giants had been a sieve on defense, with injuries and poor play on the verge of killing their season. Not so fast. Four stops inside the 5-yard line on the last Washington series of the game saved their season.
6. I think it was justice that the Raiders won a game the same way they'd lost it last week, calling a timeout to distract Cleveland kicker Phil Dawson just before he kicked a late field goal. As in Denver last week, when Broncos coach Mike Shanahan called a timeout, freezing kicker Sebastian Janikowski, he did it on time but Janikowski hit the kick anyway. When he had to re-kick, he hit the left upright. Same this week, almost exactly. Dawson made the free-out field goal that did not count, then had the one that counted blocked by Tommy Kelly.
"The tough thing in this game,'' Kiffin said in midweek, "is that it's such a game of inches. In college, it's so different. But I tell guys here that if they can just make one more play than they made in the game, there's a good chance we can win. How many games do you see where it comes down to one play at the end. It's amazing.'' Right now, the last two Oakland games have come down to that final play.
7. I think this is what I liked about Week 3:
a. Jason Taylor's versatility and want-to. He played wide receiver, almost catching a key second-half TD from Trent Green, and tight end. The guy aches when he loses.
b. Ken Whisenhunt's smarts. He knew Baltimore was a tough place for Matt Leinart to run the Cardinals' hurry-up offense because of the noise and because Kurt Warner has been around more. So they split time and Warner brought them back from a 17-point deficit to tie it before losing. No biggie. Still Leinart's team.
c. Liked what I saw out of the cool and decisive, though Patriot-terrorized, Trent Edwards in relief of J.P. Losman.
d. Jared Allen made a big difference on the Kansas City front, with two sacks and a forced fumble. It'll be interesting to see if the Chiefs try to sign him, personal warts and all, before he hits free agency next winter.
e. Marion Barber, wisely, is starting to get the ball more than Julius Jones in the Dallas offense. Everybody can see he's the better player.
f. Tampa Bay, 182 rushing yards. Boy, was I wrong about the Rams front.
g. Jeff Garcia may not put up Kitnaesque numbers, but he wins.
h. The focus of Matt Schaub. He may have lost his first duel with Peyton Manning on Sunday, but I like how he's put the past in his rear-view mirror because it can't help him. I asked him if, given the events in Atlanta this preseason, whether he ever regrets the trade that sent him to Houston, knowing he'd be the man in Atlanta now had he stayed put. "I haven't let it cross my mind,'' he said. "It can't help me, so why think about it?'' Good answer.
i. Chad Pennington. Running and throwing, he silenced the silly fair-weather fans at the Meadowlands.
j. Eli Manning. The other New York QB took some blows and kept ticking. Lucky thing for him that the Yankees and Mets are in the playoff hunt and Bill Belichick is still newsy. All that has allowed Manning to fly under the radar for much of the past month.
8. I think this is what I didn't like about Week 3:
a. The continuing, almost defiant loyalty of Lovie Smith. It's time, coach.
b. Imagine what silly number Tony Romo could have put up Sunday night if his receivers had one or two drops instead of seven.
c. The Ram offense. A disgrace. Marc Bulger looks indecisive and lacks confidence.
d. Put the earplugs in this week, Norv.
e. Kansas City can't run. At all.
f. The 49ers need to get more out of Alex Smith.
9. I think this is my advice to officiating czar Mike Pereira after viewing a day of football Sunday: You have got to talk to your crews this week about some of the biggest phantom calls in recent times. They were all over the place, particularly from Ron Winter's crew Sunday night. A phony interference call on Terrell Owens and a terrible illegal-block-in-the-back call on Jason Witten ... those calls just can't be supported on video. And they weren't the only ones Sunday.
9a. I think the toughest schedule stretch for any team this year, without question, is this: In 28 days, beginning on Monday night, Oct. 22, the Colts play at Jacksonville, at Carolina, New England at home, and at San Diego. That could well be what separates homefield in the AFC between New England and Indianapolis. Can you imagine how beat up the Colts will be flying back from San Diego in the wee hours of Nov. 12?
10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:
a. A shame that the Jersey theater where we saw The Hunting Party the other night was nearly empty. A B-plus film deserves better. It's almost like Richard Gere is so far off everyone's radar screen no one thinks he can make a quality movie anymore. But he can, and this story of two journalists and an intern returning to Bosnia five years after the end of civil war, to capture a legendary war criminal, makes for 100 quality film minutes.
b. Easy to see what's wrong with Daisuke Matsuzaka. He's a professional nibbler, afraid of going after hitters. On Saturday night, ahead 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh with two out and a runner on first, Matsuzaka faced Jorge Velandia (who's never had a regular MLB job and has a lifetime .185 average) with the most dangerous hitter on the Rays, Carlos Pena, on deck.
The one thing you don't want to do is have Pena come up with the tying runs on, obviously. Matsuzaka had him 1-2, then threw ball two, two feet outside, then threw ball three, a foot outside. Then he threw ball four way up and in. This is Jorge Velandia, Dice-K, not Jorge Posada.
And then, of course, lefty Javier Lopez came in to pitch to Pena and gave up a three-run homer. Boston went on to win the game, but had no further runs scored, Pena wouldn't have won the game. Matsuzaka would have lost it -- by pitching like an old lady to a Triple-A lifer.
c. Toronto manager John Gibbons will have a lot of admirers in pennant raceville after using 15 pitchers in two games against the Yanks over the weekend ... when his team has been out of the race for three weeks.
d. When my eyes dried after finishing Scott Price's story in Sports Illustrated this week on the death of former major-leaguer Mike Coolbaugh, the first-base coach killed by a foul ball this summer, all I could think was: One of the best stories I've read in years in any magazine. And Otto Greule Jr.'s stunning and captivating photo of his widow and two sons ... breathtaking.
e. Coffeenerdness: I see you haven't taken my hint about the music in your shops, Starbucks. Let me repeat it: Three times in the past seven days, I went into the Upper Montclair (N.J.) Starbucks up the street from me and some song by Minnie Driver was playing. The same song. And the same oldies. The Supremes made a lot of songs. Do we have to hear the same music day after day? Variety, Seattle. Please. Get a playlist.
f. Welcome to the neighborhood, Brent Sutter. (That's the rookie New Jersey Devils coach for those of you who don't know the pucks so well.) Nice to see you've moved right up the street.
g. Good luck in your next life, Rich Fitter. Lots of people at your old job are already missing you ... me most of all.
h. Had a great chat with U.S. Army Sgt. Mike McGuire and his men the other day. McGuire's platoon of Improvised-Explosive-Device-defusers met at a home near McGuire's base just outside the Black Forest in Germany on the one-year anniversary of the death of one of their own, Army Sgt. Allan Bevington, on a dusty road in Iraq. Bevington, of Beaver Falls, Pa., died when an IED exploded five feet from him as McGuire's platoon worked to defuse the bomb and sanitize the area.
I got to talk to a few of the men, who gathered for a barbeque in Bevington's honor. "There hasn't been one day when I wake up and don't think about him,'' said one of the privates McGuire grew so close to, Jeremy Jewell of suburban Chicago. (Remember the guy McGuire called "Jittery Jewell?'' The kid's grown up now.) As the men spoke, it was clear what made them feel so close to each other: days, weeks and month of putting their lives on the line for each other in one of the most dangerous places there ever has been on earth. When you listen to them, it's no wonder McGuire turned down the chance for a safe military gig back in the United States this summer, choosing instead to train another platoon of men for a return trip to sweep Iraqi roads for the killer IEDs.
His platoon is slated to return to the country in February. As one of his men, Sgt. Lawrence Robinson of Olive Branch, Miss., said: "We all come from different places -- north, south, east, west. And you're put into a situation where, even if you might not like a guy at first, you realize you've got to live with him. He's an American, just like you. Day by day, he becomes your brother, he becomes your family. And when I found out that [McGuire] turned down the chance to go home, well, we already had an unbelievably strong connection. But for him to make that decision, I love him even more.''
I told Mike what Sgt. Robinson said. He was touched. And he knew he'd made the right decision to forego a move back to Missouri, where his family and his beloved Cardinals and Rams were in his backyard. "I love my family to death,'' he said. "I want to see my mom and dad so bad. I want to watch the Rams with my Dad. But it seemed so wrong to walk away from my men. It doesn't have to do with the war or my opinion of it; I could care less, really. That's not my job. I love these soldiers like brothers and sons.
"We have a guy in our platoon -- you remember [Specialist] Raguski. He extended his stay. He could have gone home. In the blast that killed Bevington, Raguski had the whole side of his face tattooed blue, and a piece of shrapnel stuck in his head. Those things won't go away. He could have gotten out a hero, with a full pension. But no, he came back. That is indescribable to me. Sounds like a movie, right? But it's real life.''
That's what you call a hero right there. A platoon of heroes.
i. And we make a big deal out of football players returning after eight months from knee surgeries.
Who I Like Tonight, and I Mean Tony Kornheiser
By the way, the aforementioned Sgt. Robinson, from just outside Memphis in northern Mississippi, is a big Titans fan. He'll be watching tonight -- or, rather, Tuesday morning about 4 at the base in Germany. "I think this is the year Vince takes us a long way,'' he said. "This is the year we get back to the playoffs.''
I'm feeling like a bit of a heel for picking the Saints, Sgt. Robinson. It's the desperate-team theory. As in: When in doubt, when you've really having trouble picking a winner, ask yourself which team has more to play for. Tonight it's the Saints. It's well-nigh impossible to get out of an 0-3 hole and make the playoffs, and that's what New Orleans is facing at the Superdome tonight.
And remember the emotion of a year ago, when the Saints played their first home game post-Katrina. It's almost like the fans and the place willed them to crush the Falcons. The emotion won't be as edgy tonight, but you've got to figure there will be a wave of noise and feeling that'll help the Saints. I've got one more thing that would help: Reggie Bush running north-south and pounding it up in there, instead of stretching the play out and looking to hit the home run.
Physical game. Very physical. Saints, 16-13.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/peter_king/09/23/mmqb.week3/index.html
Favre, Moss, L.T. and more defy expectations in 2007
NEW YORK -- The great thing about a football season, even a young one like this one, is that it's always full of surprises. You can visit every training camp, interview every coach and talk to every key player, but you're going to wake up the morning after the third weekend of the season and realize how wrong you were about so many things on Labor Day.
You'll see the Rams averaging 11 points a game, and 37-year-old Brett Favre playing like he's 27, and the Bears two games out of first place in their division, and LaDainian Tomlinson 32nd in the league in rushing, and Randy Moss playing like the real live version of Randy Moss, and ... well, you get the point. It's so strange that the people involved in the weirdness have to pinch themselves a little bit too.
"No one gave us a shot to be 3-0 right now,'' Favre told me Sunday evening, "including me.''
Let's start there, on the list of the things we never thought we'd see when the leaves started to turn:
1. Favre's under control, Green Bay's won seven in a row, and the Pack is one of five unbeaten teams in football. And there's that record thing. "Wow,'' Favre said an hour or so after the Packers beat the Chargers 31-24. "It's been a long time since we played a big game and we said 'wow' at the end.''
Favre turns 38 in two weeks, and it's like he can see the end of the line from here. He sounds so happy, so appreciative of having one last shot to be really good.
"I'm studying like I've never studied, preparing like I haven't prepared,'' he said. "The video guys have loaded all the tape on my computer, and I'm looking at it at home more than I ever have. This week, I was up 'til 11 o'clock working on the Chargers.''
His coaches told him last spring to be less Favrian, less daring, and he's doing just that. Against the physically imposing Chargers, he had two negative plays -- two sacks, no interceptions -- while throwing for 369 yards and three touchdowns.
"There may come a time when I think out of the box, but that time's not now because things are working too well,'' he said. "Now, dumping it off and letting guys run after the catch is working. It's great.''
As for tying Dan Marino's record of 420 touchdown passes, Favre was properly deferential to Marino on Sunday ("I could throw for 600 and not be in his class'') but he consistently lets it be known the numbers are fairly meaningless to him. He wants one more shot at January football.
2. Donovan McNabb went from goat to intergalactic hero in an hour. By 2 p.m. Sunday, he'd led the 0-2 Eagles -- the odds-on pick to win the NFC East a month ago -- to a 28-7 lead over the 2-0 Lions, on the way to a 56-21 rout. This after he'd been vilified for his comment on HBO that black quarterbacks are judged more harshly than white ones.
Looked like McNabb, 10 months removed from major knee surgery, was more mobile and confident without the knee brace he'd been playing with, and that's why he had the terrific four-touchdown-pass day, one of the best days of his pro career. "Everyone will write he took off the knee brace and moved better and looked better,'' coach Andy Reid said, "but I don't know. I honestly felt for the last 12 minutes of the game Monday night [the Sept. 17 loss to Washington] it started clicking for him and for the team.''
Reid didn't address the controversy with McNabb during the week, just simply told him "what I've always told all the good quarterbacks I've been around -- keep firing. And he did.''
Peace in Philly should last until around Wednesday.
3. San Diego has lost as many regular-season games (two) as it did all last year. Martyball, anyone? Houston, Detroit, Tampa Bay and Washington are 2-1. San Diego is 1-2. Losing in New England, even decisively, was understandable for the Chargers; losing in Green Bay is a different kettle of fish.
It's mind-boggling that Tomlinson is struggling as he is, averaging 2.3 yards per rush. The key for San Diego, starting this week against Kansas City, is to re-establish its dominance on the ground. When you have the best back in football and he's toting it only 19 times a game, something's wrong. San Diego has to run, it has to control the clock, and it has one week to realize the season is at the breaking point right now. I called Marty Schottenheimer after Sunday's debacle in Wisconsin, hoping to get his take on the Bolts. It does not surprise me, nor disappoint me, that I'm waiting for the return call.
4. Pittsburgh is better than even the biggest nut-job Steelers fan ever thought this team would be. The Steelers have won by 27, 23 and 21, respectively, by focusing myopically on today. A defense that showed signs of fraying last year has allowed one offensive touchdown in 32 possessions. I asked coach Mike Tomlin if he'd had much time to watch the Patriots or Colts, and what he thought of them. 'No, I haven't,'' he said. "But the beauty about football is in order to win a championship, you've got to play the best.''
The Colts and Steelers don't play in the regular season, but on Dec. 9, Pittsburgh's at New England. You can count on the Steelers not looking ahead.
5. Randy Moss looks like the best receiver in football. Again. The other day, at HBO, former Moss 'mate Cris Carter made a great point about Moss and Tom Brady. Carter said you can't overestimate how valuable it is for Moss to have the kind of relationship he has with Brady -- a guy he views as a peer and a great player. Carter thinks it's so vital for Moss to be playing with other great players, or he'll simply lose interest, as he did in Oakland. Well, no one has more TD catches this season than the five Moss has, and his 403 receiving yards are second only to Chad Johnson after three weeks.
Being relevant is all Moss ever wanted. Can you believe that all he cost New England was the 110th pick in last April's draft? And that the player the Raiders picked with that choice is a cornerback, John Bowie, who's been inactive the first three weeks of the season? And that the five players picked before the pick used to acquire Moss were A.J. Davis, Tanard Jackson, Paul Soliai, Antonio Pittman and Stephen Nicholas?
Strange but true. Like this season so far.
The Fine Fifteen
1. New England (3-0). They haven't had a real game yet, winning by 24, 24 and 31 against two 2006 playoff teams and a division rival. Do you ever remember a team starting a season hotter? Next up, Bengals and Browns, before an Oct. 14 trip to Dallas.
2. Indianapolis (3-0). You might look at the last two weeks and say, "Well, the Colts have struggled to win at Tennessee and Houston. Are they really that good?'' Take these tidbits into account: The AFC South is vastly underrated. Houston is the most improved team in football, and every game that Peyton Manning plays we all think he's going to win.
3. Pittsburgh (3-0). Gotta love the Steelers' schedule. It's allowed them to get off to a fast start. Now, before the Week 6 bye, they're at Arizona and home against Seattle. Two quite-winnable games for a very impressive team.
4. Dallas (3-0). The more I see Tony Romo, the more I say to Jerry Jones: Pay the man.
5. Green Bay (3-0). How sweet it would be for Favre, sitting on 420 touchdown passes, to break Marino's record this week at Minnesota, with all the anti-Pack vitriol that's filled the Metrodome. For the record, Favre's 3-1 since 2003 in Minneapolis, but only 5-10 there in his career.
6. San Diego (1-2). Elliott "Mr. Stats'' Kalb's note of the week, fresh from the Sunday night NBC set: 32 rushing touchdowns for the Chargers in 16 games in 2006, one in three games in 2007.
7. Baltimore (2-1). For a team with such a good defense, the Ravens are developing a penchant for letting teams back in games.
8. Chicago (1-2). With apologies to one of the great Seinfeld lines of all time, "The bell tolls for thee, Grossman.''
9. Jacksonville (2-1). I'm starting to believe in David Garrard. On four of Jacksonville's first five possessions in Denver, he led scoring drives.
10. Tennessee (1-1). If I were Jeff Fisher, I'd like to see some clock-eating drives out of Vince Young tonight in the Superdome to take the crowd out of the game. That crowd can be a maneater.
11. Washington (2-1). You know what's a shame? We don't get to see Dallas play Washington for eight more weeks. They meet in Weeks 11 and 17.
12. Philadelphia (1-2). I asked Andy Reid what he said to McNabb after the game. "'Nice job,''' he said, then laughed. "You know me. If it doesn't fit on a 3-by-5 index card, I don't say it.'' And if you want to know Reid, that says it all.
13. Tampa Bay (2-1). One more Kalbism I simply must steal: "If you had told me at the beginning of the year that the Bucs would face Matt Hasselbeck, Drew Brees and Marc Bulger in the first three games and allow a total of two passing touchdowns, I would have laughed in your face.''
14. Houston (2-1). Speaking of interesting scheduling notes, the Texans play at Atlanta one time every eight years. Pretty eerie that the first meeting ever in Atlanta between the teams comes this week, in the fourth game of transplanted ex-Falc Matt Schaub's Houston career.
15 (tie). Carolina (2-1). Nice day for DeShaun Foster: 20 carries, 122 yards. The Panthers look like they're getting back to the ground-oriented way of winning that's best for them, particularly now that Jake Delhomme is nursing an ouchy throwing elbow.
15 (tie). Seattle (2-1). I just don't like the way this team is playing. Not at all. But I'll go by what I saw in training camp, when I thought this was a better version of the Seahawks than the team that made the Super Bowl two years ago.
Quote of the Week I
I didn't get to the quarterback. I suck right now. So there. There's your headline.''
-- Miami defensive end Jason Taylor following the Dolphins' loss to the Jets.
Quote of the Week II
"Donovan took some shots this week, and as a team, we rallied behind him. Whatever shots we take, we take as a team.''
-- Eagles running back Brian Westbrook, about the embattled McNabb.
Quote of the Week III
"This decision lacks integrity, and it lacks ethics.''
-- Former Cowboys Super Bowl staple Daryl Johnston on Sirius NFL Radio after Dallas signed troubled defensive tackle Tank Johnson.
Quote of the Week IV
"The thing that makes me laugh is what so many players and coaches have said about us having their plays. Like the Eagles saying we knew everything that was coming in the Super Bowl because we ran so many screens. Give me a break. Of course we ran all those screens! They blitz on every down!''
-- New England quarterback Tom Brady. You almost hear the steam coming out of his ears on the phone on this subject.
Quote of the Week V
"Black quarterbacks have to deal with different things than white quarterbacks. If you don't think that's true, then you are naïve. I bet Fran Tarkenton, Steve Young, Jake Plummer and Doug Flutie have never been told by a member of a racial consciousness organization that they don't play the quarterback position white enough.''
-- Donovan McNabb, on his "Yardbarker.com'' blog page.
One point, and one point only: Enough. If McNabb thinks he's helping himself by blogging and talking about this again, he's mistaken.
Quote of the Week VI
"We never did it. We never had any video cameras. We never got anyone's signals.''
-- Alabama coach Nick Saban, a close friend of Bill Belichick's who spent two years as coach of the Miami Dolphins.
The Awards Section
Offensive Player of the Week
Philadelphia QB Donovan McNabb, and it took him only an hour to win this vaunted award. Literally. After one hour of real time, McNabb had led the Eagles to five touchdowns in five drives, was 10 of 11 for 214 yards with three touchdown passes, and had put the Eagles up 35-7.
After his second TD, a beautiful play-action throw to Kevin Curtis, McNabb and his play-action fake to Brian Westbrook made color man Brian Baldinger apoplectic. "This is unbelievable!'' Baldinger enthused during the commercial break. "This is football! Did you see everybody bite on the play-action?'' For the half, McNabb completed 14 of 15 for 332 yards and four touchdowns. For the game, McNabb was 21 of 26 for 381 yards (the third-highest total in his career), four TDs and no picks.
Defensive Player of the Week
A collective award: The Jacksonville defense. The stats for the Jags were notable, but not because they didn't play well. The Jags limited the potent Broncos offense (much of that is potential, because Denver doesn't look potent yet) to two scores in a 23-14 Jags win. Travis Henry was held to 35 yards on 11 carries, and the Broncos, who held the ball for only 21:18, were limited to 42 plays in 10 series. When your average series is 4.2 plays over the course of a game, it usually means a defense dominated the game. That's what happened here.
Special Teams Player of the Week
Buffalo P Brian Moorman. No punter in the NFL likely will make a better boot this year than the one Moorman made midway through the second quarter to get the Bills out of a hole in Foxboro. After taking three shots to get the punter some room from their 1-yard line, the Bills had to punt from the 1. Moorman lined up about 10 inches from the back of the end zone. He took the snap, quick-punted, and drove Wes Welker back, back, back ... all the way to the New England 24. An amazing punt, even if Welker ran it back 29 yards to the Buffalo 47. For the day, Moorman punted seven times for a 49.0-yard average, pinning the Pats at their 2 and 11 on two second-half boots.
Coach of the Week
Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin. Talk about setting the right tone. This guy is showing all of football -- management, coaches, players -- that your age does not matter. What does matter is your ability to motivate players and get them to play like every week is the most important game of their lives. "Wednesday's a big day for us. Thursday's a big day for us. It's not just Sunday,'' he said after a 37-16 win over the 49ers made the Steelers (and Tomlin) 3-0. "The journey's what's important, not the destination.''
Goat of the Week
Houston SS Michael Boulware. Maybe now we know why Seattle gave up on him. On the Texans' first defensive series, Indy was at the Texans' 2, and Boulware stood across from Colts tight end Dallas Clark, ready to bump him. Boulware's a good, athletic, tough safety -- at least he's supposed to be all of those things. And when Clark left the line, he gave Boulware a simple fake, left him in his wake, and caught a 2-yard TD at the back of the end zone.
You've got to make that bump. The Colts are going to get enough easy-looking touchdowns, and Boulware gave them an easy one, not just easy-looking. One play or two turns the tide, and you can't afford for simple plays like bumps inside the 5-yard line to not be made.
Stat of the Week I
Ridiculously Proficient Patriots Stats of the Week:
• After three weeks, Brady has completed 79.5 percent of his passes. Three of his six best career completion-percentage games have come this month.
• Moss has two straight weeks with two touchdowns in a game. The last time a Patriot did that was 13 years ago, when Ben "Winter'' Coates was the man.
• Brady is 24-1 on artificial turf in regular-season games. You might want to put that stat in your oddsmakers' bonnet when the Pats visit Dallas in mid-October.
• New England has won 13 of 14 against Buffalo.
• Brady's on pace to throw 53 touchdown passes.
Stat of the Week II
Postscript to the HBO Inside the NFL screed the other day about the meaninglessness of the quarterback rating stat:
Johnny Unitas' career quarterback rating: 78.2.
Jeff Blake's career quarterback rating: 78.0.
MVP Watch
We're starting early this year, people. MVP Watch debuted in December last year, but I figured, hey, why not September? Why not get the angry e-mails earlier this year?
1. Tom Brady, QB, New England. Six incompletions in each of his first three games. Playing almost perfect football on the best team of them all. His three-game rating is 141.8, just 12 points shy of perfection ... not that I buy into QB ratings.
2. Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis. Wind him up and he keeps on dominating and winning.
3. Brett Favre, QB, Green Bay. Reincarnated at 37. Only three times in his career has he had a better quarterback rating and a better completion percentage for a season.
4. Randy Moss, WR, New England. I mean, have you been watching the games?
5. Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Pittsburgh. He wanted the pressure on his shoulders. It was put there, and he's directed the 3-0 Steelers to 32 points per game.
Book Corner
No pride of authorship here. I totally credit a highly respected peer for this idea, because it is Rick Gosselin's doing. Gosselin is the NFL columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and he occasionally takes one of the many football books we all get mailed and picks out a passage or two relevant to today. Like last week. He picked a couple of things from the book of well-traveled former Cowboys front-office ace Bob Ackles (who ran the front office under Jimmy Johnson), including, ironically, the fact that Ackles felt Pete Carroll's Patriots were pilfering Dallas' signals when they played.
I really like Michael Holley's stuff. He's a talk-show host for WEEI now, but his book, Patriot Reign, on a year in the life of the Belichick Patriots, was an all-time keeper. I say this not to demean the late David Halberstam, but Holley's book was significantly richer in meaningful factoids and real knowledge about Belichick than Halberstam's -- a credit to Holley, not a criticism of Halberstam. Anyway, Holley wrote Tedy Bruschi's book, Never Give Up (John Wiley & Son Inc.), about his life and return to football after suffering a stroke in 2005. I love the section in the book about the real-life conflict between Bruschi and wife Heidi, who, understandably, wanted him to stay retired when he'd recovered. She feared the health consequences of another stroke. Bruschi, through Holley, writes:
"Of all the fights I've had with Heidi, none could match the length and intensity we had over my future as a football player ... It was something that went on for weeks. We would wake up and she would be mad that I was going to the stadium. And I'd be mad that she was mad. We would state our cases three times a day and never come to a resolution ... It was a tense time for us, basically a month without hellos and goodbyes ... Everything I said about playing football seemed outrageous to her. I asked her a few times to come and watch me work out, so she could see for herself how close to normal I was. Heidi is naturally much more emotional than I am, and mentioning football wasn't helping. She would restate her position often: 'You're the father of my kids, I don't want you to have another stroke, and I'm not having this return to football.'' ... I had doubts, but they lasted for split seconds and went away. Her doubts flashed constantly, and that led to her being overprotective and scared.''
It wasn't until she heard two specialists, one at a time, say Bruschi was at no more risk for a stroke than any normal person that she believed, and then things got back to normal with them. Insightful stuff.
Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me
The Arizona Cardinals have devoted 13.6 percent of their salary cap to the quarterback position this year, with Matt Leinart ($8.1 on the cap) and Kurt Warner ($5.0 million) taking up $13.1 million.
The Colts' quarterback percentage of the cap: 11.6 percent, with Peyton Manning and Jim Sorgi combining for $9.1 million on the cap.
Gee, I wonder which team feels better about its quarterback situation and its quarterback/cap situation.
Enjoyable/Aggravating Travel Note of the Week
Last Wednesday, 7:41 a.m. New Jersey Transit train, Upper Montclair to Penn Station in Manhattan, seated in a two-seat bench seat, on the way into the city for our second HBO Inside the NFL taping of the year.
Where have you heard that one before?
What can I say? I don't travel much anymore during the season. On this morning, the well-suited salt-and-pepper-haired man is on his cell phone, loud enough for the folks in a two-seat radius to hear.
"Phoebe's good ... Yeah, yeah, right ... No, she was away for four weeks ... Saxophone camp. Can you believe that? She had a wonderful time. Lots of new techniques ... Four weeks, yeah ... On a lake up there, lots to do, a beautiful setting. We went up one weekend and loved it ... No ... No ... I don't know if that's what she'll end up playing, but she loves it now ... When she got home? She volunteered ... No, locally. She worked at an orphanage. That's not what it's called, but that's what it was. You know, working with kids, reading with them, playing, doing crafts ... ''
Got off the train with a feeling of what in the world did I do wrong with my kids. What a miserable wretch of a parent I've been. How could I have reared two non-saxophone-playing, non-orphanage-working human beings? Then, just off the escalator into the lobby of Penn Station, a guy sidled up next to me. "Hey, loved your story on the makeup lady the other day.'' And that made it all worthwhile.
Ten Things I Think I Think
1. I think these are my quick-hit thoughts of Week 3
a. My God. Those Eagle uniforms. Vomitous. Ridiculous. Pajama-like.
b. Huge non-interference call on the Packers' first offensive series, with the Pack in San Diego territory and Donald Driver getting mugged. Four minutes later, it's 7-0 San Diego on a Philip Rivers TD throw.
c. Jon Gruden really has his team ready to play.
d. Get off Brian Billick's back, Baltimore. Steve McNair is going to have a bad groin all season. The team will need Kyle Boller to relieve competently and win -- which he's done now twice.
e. Hurry it up, Jay Cutler. There's a playoff spot hanging in the balance of your maturation process.
f. Quietly, Eli Manning is proving he can handle everything New York throws at him.
g. Leftover Spygate Note of the Week: One of the major benefits of videotaping the signals, I'm told, is that Belichick was able to identify which coordinators and assistant coaches in the league were slow to make their play calls. When the Patriots played these teams, Belichick and the offensive staff often planned to run more no-huddle than usual. Now, just because the plays aren't videotaped anymore, presumably it doesn't seem like that would be impossible to detect anyway. Just have a scout in the press box or a staffer study the sideline signal-callers and note how much time is left on the play clock when they begin their signals and how much time is left when they end.
h. Want Perspective of the Week? Read Barry Horn's story in Sunday's Dallas Morning News about the journey of former Cowboys offensive lineman Alan Veingrad (now Schlomo Veingrad) from the Super Bowl to, as Horn writes, "ultra-orthodox Judaism'' in Florida. Fascinating read.
2. I think when I hear Tedy Bruschi, the ultimate honorable competitor, rail about the Patriots' honor and how he'll stand up to anyone who questions the team's integrity, I'm really hearing him say: I'm ticked off that our great record has been sullied by Rodney Harrison's HGH suspension and Belichick getting caught videotaping other teams' signals.
3. I think it's time for a mercy benching in Chicago. Watching the first half of the Bears-Cowboys game on Sunday night with Cris Collinsworth and a few of the lads at NBC, we heard John Madden and Al Michaels, rightly, taking Rex Grossman's temperature after good throws and bad. And we agreed you can't play football if judgments are passed after every other throw. But for Grossman, that's what it's come to now. The anti-Grossman camp, which must be 85 percent of the Bear fans, is drowning out the pro-Grossmans, which by now may just be family and friends. For the sake of trying to get this team back on its feet, Lovie Smith has to the do the right thing in that locker room and make a change.
4. I think the poor Bills just can't catch a break. Now it's Paul Posluszny, their leading tackler, breaking his forearm and following Koy Wire and Ko Simpson to the sidelines indefinitely. Saw some good things from fellow rookies Marshawn Lynch and third-round pick Trent Edwards, relieving the injured J.P. Losman. But this is going to be a lost season for the Bills. Too many injuries. Not enough time to get them back.
5. I think one of the great things about this game is how you can have the shovels throwing dirt on you one week, then you can win the next week playing totally unlike you've been playing all along. The Giants had been a sieve on defense, with injuries and poor play on the verge of killing their season. Not so fast. Four stops inside the 5-yard line on the last Washington series of the game saved their season.
6. I think it was justice that the Raiders won a game the same way they'd lost it last week, calling a timeout to distract Cleveland kicker Phil Dawson just before he kicked a late field goal. As in Denver last week, when Broncos coach Mike Shanahan called a timeout, freezing kicker Sebastian Janikowski, he did it on time but Janikowski hit the kick anyway. When he had to re-kick, he hit the left upright. Same this week, almost exactly. Dawson made the free-out field goal that did not count, then had the one that counted blocked by Tommy Kelly.
"The tough thing in this game,'' Kiffin said in midweek, "is that it's such a game of inches. In college, it's so different. But I tell guys here that if they can just make one more play than they made in the game, there's a good chance we can win. How many games do you see where it comes down to one play at the end. It's amazing.'' Right now, the last two Oakland games have come down to that final play.
7. I think this is what I liked about Week 3:
a. Jason Taylor's versatility and want-to. He played wide receiver, almost catching a key second-half TD from Trent Green, and tight end. The guy aches when he loses.
b. Ken Whisenhunt's smarts. He knew Baltimore was a tough place for Matt Leinart to run the Cardinals' hurry-up offense because of the noise and because Kurt Warner has been around more. So they split time and Warner brought them back from a 17-point deficit to tie it before losing. No biggie. Still Leinart's team.
c. Liked what I saw out of the cool and decisive, though Patriot-terrorized, Trent Edwards in relief of J.P. Losman.
d. Jared Allen made a big difference on the Kansas City front, with two sacks and a forced fumble. It'll be interesting to see if the Chiefs try to sign him, personal warts and all, before he hits free agency next winter.
e. Marion Barber, wisely, is starting to get the ball more than Julius Jones in the Dallas offense. Everybody can see he's the better player.
f. Tampa Bay, 182 rushing yards. Boy, was I wrong about the Rams front.
g. Jeff Garcia may not put up Kitnaesque numbers, but he wins.
h. The focus of Matt Schaub. He may have lost his first duel with Peyton Manning on Sunday, but I like how he's put the past in his rear-view mirror because it can't help him. I asked him if, given the events in Atlanta this preseason, whether he ever regrets the trade that sent him to Houston, knowing he'd be the man in Atlanta now had he stayed put. "I haven't let it cross my mind,'' he said. "It can't help me, so why think about it?'' Good answer.
i. Chad Pennington. Running and throwing, he silenced the silly fair-weather fans at the Meadowlands.
j. Eli Manning. The other New York QB took some blows and kept ticking. Lucky thing for him that the Yankees and Mets are in the playoff hunt and Bill Belichick is still newsy. All that has allowed Manning to fly under the radar for much of the past month.
8. I think this is what I didn't like about Week 3:
a. The continuing, almost defiant loyalty of Lovie Smith. It's time, coach.
b. Imagine what silly number Tony Romo could have put up Sunday night if his receivers had one or two drops instead of seven.
c. The Ram offense. A disgrace. Marc Bulger looks indecisive and lacks confidence.
d. Put the earplugs in this week, Norv.
e. Kansas City can't run. At all.
f. The 49ers need to get more out of Alex Smith.
9. I think this is my advice to officiating czar Mike Pereira after viewing a day of football Sunday: You have got to talk to your crews this week about some of the biggest phantom calls in recent times. They were all over the place, particularly from Ron Winter's crew Sunday night. A phony interference call on Terrell Owens and a terrible illegal-block-in-the-back call on Jason Witten ... those calls just can't be supported on video. And they weren't the only ones Sunday.
9a. I think the toughest schedule stretch for any team this year, without question, is this: In 28 days, beginning on Monday night, Oct. 22, the Colts play at Jacksonville, at Carolina, New England at home, and at San Diego. That could well be what separates homefield in the AFC between New England and Indianapolis. Can you imagine how beat up the Colts will be flying back from San Diego in the wee hours of Nov. 12?
10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:
a. A shame that the Jersey theater where we saw The Hunting Party the other night was nearly empty. A B-plus film deserves better. It's almost like Richard Gere is so far off everyone's radar screen no one thinks he can make a quality movie anymore. But he can, and this story of two journalists and an intern returning to Bosnia five years after the end of civil war, to capture a legendary war criminal, makes for 100 quality film minutes.
b. Easy to see what's wrong with Daisuke Matsuzaka. He's a professional nibbler, afraid of going after hitters. On Saturday night, ahead 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh with two out and a runner on first, Matsuzaka faced Jorge Velandia (who's never had a regular MLB job and has a lifetime .185 average) with the most dangerous hitter on the Rays, Carlos Pena, on deck.
The one thing you don't want to do is have Pena come up with the tying runs on, obviously. Matsuzaka had him 1-2, then threw ball two, two feet outside, then threw ball three, a foot outside. Then he threw ball four way up and in. This is Jorge Velandia, Dice-K, not Jorge Posada.
And then, of course, lefty Javier Lopez came in to pitch to Pena and gave up a three-run homer. Boston went on to win the game, but had no further runs scored, Pena wouldn't have won the game. Matsuzaka would have lost it -- by pitching like an old lady to a Triple-A lifer.
c. Toronto manager John Gibbons will have a lot of admirers in pennant raceville after using 15 pitchers in two games against the Yanks over the weekend ... when his team has been out of the race for three weeks.
d. When my eyes dried after finishing Scott Price's story in Sports Illustrated this week on the death of former major-leaguer Mike Coolbaugh, the first-base coach killed by a foul ball this summer, all I could think was: One of the best stories I've read in years in any magazine. And Otto Greule Jr.'s stunning and captivating photo of his widow and two sons ... breathtaking.
e. Coffeenerdness: I see you haven't taken my hint about the music in your shops, Starbucks. Let me repeat it: Three times in the past seven days, I went into the Upper Montclair (N.J.) Starbucks up the street from me and some song by Minnie Driver was playing. The same song. And the same oldies. The Supremes made a lot of songs. Do we have to hear the same music day after day? Variety, Seattle. Please. Get a playlist.
f. Welcome to the neighborhood, Brent Sutter. (That's the rookie New Jersey Devils coach for those of you who don't know the pucks so well.) Nice to see you've moved right up the street.
g. Good luck in your next life, Rich Fitter. Lots of people at your old job are already missing you ... me most of all.
h. Had a great chat with U.S. Army Sgt. Mike McGuire and his men the other day. McGuire's platoon of Improvised-Explosive-Device-defusers met at a home near McGuire's base just outside the Black Forest in Germany on the one-year anniversary of the death of one of their own, Army Sgt. Allan Bevington, on a dusty road in Iraq. Bevington, of Beaver Falls, Pa., died when an IED exploded five feet from him as McGuire's platoon worked to defuse the bomb and sanitize the area.
I got to talk to a few of the men, who gathered for a barbeque in Bevington's honor. "There hasn't been one day when I wake up and don't think about him,'' said one of the privates McGuire grew so close to, Jeremy Jewell of suburban Chicago. (Remember the guy McGuire called "Jittery Jewell?'' The kid's grown up now.) As the men spoke, it was clear what made them feel so close to each other: days, weeks and month of putting their lives on the line for each other in one of the most dangerous places there ever has been on earth. When you listen to them, it's no wonder McGuire turned down the chance for a safe military gig back in the United States this summer, choosing instead to train another platoon of men for a return trip to sweep Iraqi roads for the killer IEDs.
His platoon is slated to return to the country in February. As one of his men, Sgt. Lawrence Robinson of Olive Branch, Miss., said: "We all come from different places -- north, south, east, west. And you're put into a situation where, even if you might not like a guy at first, you realize you've got to live with him. He's an American, just like you. Day by day, he becomes your brother, he becomes your family. And when I found out that [McGuire] turned down the chance to go home, well, we already had an unbelievably strong connection. But for him to make that decision, I love him even more.''
I told Mike what Sgt. Robinson said. He was touched. And he knew he'd made the right decision to forego a move back to Missouri, where his family and his beloved Cardinals and Rams were in his backyard. "I love my family to death,'' he said. "I want to see my mom and dad so bad. I want to watch the Rams with my Dad. But it seemed so wrong to walk away from my men. It doesn't have to do with the war or my opinion of it; I could care less, really. That's not my job. I love these soldiers like brothers and sons.
"We have a guy in our platoon -- you remember [Specialist] Raguski. He extended his stay. He could have gone home. In the blast that killed Bevington, Raguski had the whole side of his face tattooed blue, and a piece of shrapnel stuck in his head. Those things won't go away. He could have gotten out a hero, with a full pension. But no, he came back. That is indescribable to me. Sounds like a movie, right? But it's real life.''
That's what you call a hero right there. A platoon of heroes.
i. And we make a big deal out of football players returning after eight months from knee surgeries.
Who I Like Tonight, and I Mean Tony Kornheiser
By the way, the aforementioned Sgt. Robinson, from just outside Memphis in northern Mississippi, is a big Titans fan. He'll be watching tonight -- or, rather, Tuesday morning about 4 at the base in Germany. "I think this is the year Vince takes us a long way,'' he said. "This is the year we get back to the playoffs.''
I'm feeling like a bit of a heel for picking the Saints, Sgt. Robinson. It's the desperate-team theory. As in: When in doubt, when you've really having trouble picking a winner, ask yourself which team has more to play for. Tonight it's the Saints. It's well-nigh impossible to get out of an 0-3 hole and make the playoffs, and that's what New Orleans is facing at the Superdome tonight.
And remember the emotion of a year ago, when the Saints played their first home game post-Katrina. It's almost like the fans and the place willed them to crush the Falcons. The emotion won't be as edgy tonight, but you've got to figure there will be a wave of noise and feeling that'll help the Saints. I've got one more thing that would help: Reggie Bush running north-south and pounding it up in there, instead of stretching the play out and looking to hit the home run.
Physical game. Very physical. Saints, 16-13.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/peter_king/09/23/mmqb.week3/index.html
