Spitballin’ about Week 2

The reasons that the National Football League is so incredibly popular are numerous and wide-ranging, but I have to say that one of the main reasons has to be the plethora of fascinating storylines that come out of each and every week for 22 weeks every year.  Because of this, I believe in the theory that it does not take a trained sportwriter to pick out some very interesting tidbits from one week in the NFL.  To prove this theory, here is my list of observations that I found interesting from just another week in National Football League.  And, I am not even going to include Monday night’s game because that could be a post of its own (plus the fact that I am not really emotionally-prepared to deal with it quite yet).

• There was an amazing number of come-from-behind victories:  I actually started writing this post before I heard a stat that confirmed the first, most glaring observation that I made from my couch:  in this week alone, 8 teams came back from 4th quarter deficits to win games.  I noticed the beginnings of this as I watched the endings of the two nationally-televised early games and remembered being somewhat bored at halftime of the 1:00 games because the Vikings and Saints were dominating.  Both the Redskins and the Colts made furious 4th-quarter comebacks to win their games.  I then thought about the ticker that had been running across the screen had, at one point, shown substantial 4th quarter leads for Jacksonville over Buffalo and Chicago over Carolina, only to lose them late.  Honestly, even Green Bay trailed in the 4th quarter–and they won by more than 3 touchdowns!  So, 5 early games were 4th-quarter comeback wins.  It continued into the later games as well, as Seattle blew a big lead late (more on that later) and Denver had an incredibly improbable, bizarre comeback against San Diego (a lot more on that one still to come).  The 8th game of the week was last night, but, as I said in the opening, I am not ready to talk about that one just yet.
• Why does Dick Jauron not get any credit for his coaching ability?  Is it just me or did this guy deserve a second chance more than Wade Phillips, Herman Edwards, and Norv Turner, combined?  And, he is proving that in Buffalo.  Isn’t Jauron the guy that led a talent-less Bears team to 13-3 in 2001?  Then, he got fired, what two years later because, well, they had NO talent.  Then, he had to take coordinator a job with Detroit before they passed over him, in favor or Rod Marinelli, for the head coaching position?  So, he is finally hired by Buffalo in 2006 and, not surprisingly, takes that somewhat talent-less team into contention?  Yeah, the guy can coach.
• Jeff Garcia must be the most annoying person in football.  I have nothing against Garcia, and I am not personally annoyed by him, but this is the only explanation I can think of as to why no one can seem to stand him.  There is no football explanation as to why Jon Gruden is about to release him in favor of Brian Griese.  The guy is one of only 7 NFL quarterbacks to have back-to-back 30 TD seasons.  He is a five-time Pro Bowler, including the last two seasons–with two different teams.  He has even won the Grey Cup.  But, for some reason, he wears out his welcome very quickly.  Yes, Gruden is famously tough on quarterbacks, but he just seems annoyed by Garcia–as were many of his Eagle teammates.
• Speaking of annoying, is anyone else thoroughly annoyed with Steve Young?  Is it just me or is Steve Young the cockiest NFL broadcaster in the business?  And, yes, I am including Michael Irvin, Deion Sanders, Keyshawn Johnson, Tony Siragusa, and even the formerly incomparable Skip Bayless.  Steve Young is simply awful.  I cannot even listen to him anymore.  He makes me feel feel bad for EMMITT SMITH!  Are you kidding?!?  I did not think there was anything in the world that would make me take Emmitt Smith’s side.  But, Young is so cocky, so condescending, so completely dismissive of any other opinion, particularly the live-broadcast-fearing Emmitt’s, that it makes me sick.
• In a round-robin format, who would win:  college teams from the state of Alabama or professional teams from the state of Missouri?  The Show-Me State has to have the worst collection of professional football talent ever seen between two teams in the same state.  I don’t know if you could make a .500 team by forming a 53-man roster from BOTH the Rams and Chiefs.  They are dreadful.
• What the hell happened to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday?  Yes, I am a little more upset about this than simply reflection upon a beat-up team that used to be good because they cost me both my suicide pools in Week 2, but come on.  How can you lose AT HOME to San Francisco.  And, maybe the worst part about it is that I probably just lost a few past arguments because I have always argued that Seattle and Kansas City have the two best home-field advantages in football.  How did the Chiefs look at home on Sunday?
• When you talk about snake-bitten, you have to start with the San Diego Chargers.  They are 0-2, both at home–and the had the lead in BOTH games with less than 30 seconds left.  Both of the game-winning touchdowns against them were scored on 4th down plays.  Unbelievable.  But, let me comment on the “call” that everyone is complaining about.  First of all, it was a bad call, but it was not atrocious.  I applaud Ed Hochuli for coming out and saying “I blew it.”  He easily could have said “I saw an incomplete pass, and it isn’t reviewable because the whistle was blown” and left it at that.  But, he did not.  He saw the replay, saw that he missed the call, and stood up, like a man and said “I blew it.”  Good for him.  Integrity is more important than image.  And speaking of integrity (or lack thereof), why is no one jumping on Norv Turner for his ingracious press conference.  He said, “Ed came up to me and said, ‘I blew it.’  To me, that is unacceptable.”  No, Norv, you know what is unacceptable?  Blowing two leads in the final 30 seconds.  You know what else?  Having the most talented team in football not be able to stop two mediocre offenses on 4th down, with the game on the line.  And, what else?  Giving up a two-point conversion to a rookie wide receiver, at home, to lose the game.  Come on, Norv, I know that your attack on the NFL’s best referee is just a well-played smokescreen to cover up two incredibly poorly coached games.  The good news is that these will not be last two poorly coached games by Mr. Turner, and chances are the others will not have a good ref on which to place the blame.
• Speaking of that San Diego-Denver game, there is a fine line between “gutsy” and “inanely stupid.”  What the hell was Mike Shanahan thinking–going for two, at home.  I would not even condone this call if it was on the road.  In my view, there is only one time you EVER go for two, instead of tying the game with no time left, and that is if you have lost one of your key players to an injury and you don’t think you have the horses to win in OT.  Otherwise, kick the damn ball.  I hate these coaches trying to look like geniuses–JUST WIN, BABY!  The argument made on the air was, “Why not?  After that blown call, he’s playing with house money.”  Ok, great argument.  You know next time I’m at the casino and I win $2,000, I’m going to put it all down on 13 on the roulette wheel–I am sure that when it comes up 28, I will just say, “ah, it was house money, anyway.”  Simply awful.  Fortunately, for my fellow Delta Sigma Phi brother, Shanahan has the ultimate job security (for some reason).
• Did you know that there are only 6 wide receivers in the history of the NFL with more passing yards than…Mushin Muhammed???  Uh, what?!?  I heard this on a telecast–someone please correct this, it MUST be a mistake.  I don’t really have anything more to say about this…
• Call me crazy, but I could probably make the argument that the three best teams in football are all in the same division.  And the Washington Redskins aren’t terrible.  The NFC East is ridiculous this year.  The shame of it is that two of these teams will have to settle for wild cards, but honestly, I think that the Cowboys, Eagles, and Giants would all be division winners if they weren’t in the same division.
• Furthermore, has the balance of power between conferences shifted?  The NFC East is clearly the best division in football.  Throw in the Panthers and the Packers, who both look very good, and I would say that the NFC’s elite are better (perhaps, significantly better) than the AFC’s elite.  The Colts lost at home to an NFC team, and then struggled to beat the Vikings.  Tom Brady is hurt.  The Chargers are 0-2, including a home loss to an NFC team.  The Jets were 4-12 last year.  I think the NFC is better.  Both of the last two points will be addressed on Sunday, as the Eagles visit the Pittsburgh Steelers, who I believe are clearly the class of the AFC, at this point.
• Is anyone not happy for Aaron Rodgers?  Unless you’re a fan of the Vikings or Bears (or the Lions, I guess, but there are so few of them, I’m willing to bet that no Lions fan is ever going to read this post), you have to root for Aaron Rodgers, right?  I don’t know if anyone has heard his story this offseason, but he went through a lot.  You see, there was this guy named Brett Favre, who used to be the Packers quarterback, but he isn’t anymore.  And, then this guy, Aaron Rodgers, had to step in and replace him, but this Favre guy wanted to come back……Oh, you’ve heard the story?  Well, Aaron Rodgers has put up 72 points in two games.  Good for him.
• Speaking of that Brett guy, I hope everyone made a boatload on the Patriots this weekend.  I sure did.  Underdogs?  Really?!?  Parlayed with the fact that the Titans were underdogs against the lowly Bengals, and life is good.  No, really, one QB had made more NFL starts (277) than the QB had NFL passing yards (253), and is ANYONE surprised by which one threw the crucial interception late in the game leading to a defeat?  ANYONE?
• Let us be careful with Vince Young.  Yes, it is hard to believe that the guy who “has it all” can possibly be upset be a little booing, but this story just reminds us that these are real human beings under intense pressure, despite the fact that they are “playing a game” for “ungodly amounts of money.”  Now I am not saying that this behavior ought to be ignored if you are a Titans fan, from the standpoint of does this guy have what it takes to win a Super Bowl, but let us move slowly on this one.  Remember, he has played for two years, and his team has been in the playoffs for two years.  He also won a national championship in college.  Let us be consistent on how we judge quarterbacks.  If you are one who says (about anyone), “yeah, he might be a great quarterback,  but he didn’t win the big one” then you cannot, at the same time, say something to the effect of “yeah, he won, but it was his defense.”  Either Dan Marino and Donovan McNabb are absolutely elite quarterbacks OR Vince Young, Eli Manning, and Trent Dilfer are not guys whose defenses carried them.  It cannot be both ways.