Monday, November 10, 2008

NFL News, Notes, and Thoughts

The Ravens continue to impress me as they defeated the Texans yesterday 41-13. How good is their defense? We might find out next week when they face the Giants in New York. They face the Eagles after they play the Giants.

Where are all those "experts" on ESPN and other media outlets that proclaimed Dick Jauron to be a Coach of the Year candidate? The Bills have fallen back to earth and have lost three straight games after beating San Diego at home. The win against the Chargers doesn't look that impressive now since the Chargers are struggling. None of their wins have been against teams with a winning record.

Atlanta's win against the Saints was impressive. The Falcons might just run all over Denver next week.

The Colts had a great win in Pittsburgh. Their remaining schedule doesn't seem so tough. Some of their remaining opponents include Houston, Cincinnati, Detroit, and Cleveland.

The Chiefs played well in their 20-19 loss to the Chargers but Herm Edwards made a terrible decision in going for two at the end of the fourth quarter. The difference between his decision to go for two and Mike Shanahan's decision against the Chargers earlier this season was that the Broncos were at home and had a veteran quarterback. Taylor Thigpen is young and inexperienced and was never in that kind of situation before. The chances of him converting the two-point conversion play yesterday was not that good. Why not go into overtime and see what happens? Huge mistake by Edwards but it doesn't matter in the standings since the Chiefs won't make the playoffs anyways. It is not easy though for the players in the Chiefs' locker room to lose like that.

I still like Tony Sparano to be Coach of the Year. He gets my vote. The Dolphins are now 5-4 with their win against the Seahawks. Sparano is a coach that likes to gamble on 4th down and let his offense stay on the field. Players love a coach like that.

The Jets vs. Patriots game on Thursday night will be fun to watch.

The Raiders are just pathetic. Their offense can't score points and they have no quality quarterbacks. They should not have drafted Darren McFadden in the first round since they had Justin Fargas and Michael Bush already in the backfield. Glenn Dorsey or Sedrick Ellis would have added depth to their defense. Instead of drafting JaMarcus Russell in the 2007 draft, they should have selected offensive tackle Joe Thomas instead. He would have protected Raider quarterbacks for many seasons.

I am still not sold on the Arizona Cardinals at all. Let's see how they do tonight against the 49ers. I would not be surprised if it is a closer game than most expect.

The Vikings victory over the Packer was very much needed because their next two games are on the road against Tampa Bay and Jacksonville.

The Giants proved they are the class of the NFC by defeating the Eagles on the road. The Eagles made a terrible call by running on 3rd and 4th down on their final drive last night. Marty Mornhingweg should get a lot of heat if he was the one who made those calls. Mornhingweg is the offensive coordinator for the Eagles. The Eagles are a passing team and not a rushing team and their runs played right into the hands of the Giants defense. The two bonehead calls cost the Eagles a chance at a victory.

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