Top 5 Things I Noticed This Week
#1: Eli Manning may have great potential, but he is
not yet the savior of the New York Giants
future. Given the horrendous state of affairs
in the NFC, the Giants are still in the running,
and letting Eli learn the ropes on the field may
cost them a chance to get into the playoffs.
Kurt Warner has his problems for sure, but he is
a proven winner, and the way the Eagles
manhandled Eli last weekend showed that a lot of
the problems may not be left at Warner’s feet.
I’ll take a sack from Warner anytime over the
poorly-chosen throws that Manning had. They may
have cost them that game- or at least kept them
in it a little longer.
#2: Big brother, Peyton Manning, while having a
great year, perhaps one of the all time best
years for a QB, is not doing it alone. The fact
that the Colts actually have a defense that can
cause a few three-and-outs means that Peyton and
company get the ball back sooner. I watched him
play on Thursday, and I don’t think I have ever
seen a football player have so much fun in my
life. It was good to see.
#3: Buffalo is the most underrated football
team in the NFL. Their key players, Bledsoe and
McGahee on offense, have performed at a level
high enough to score enough points, and their
defense is again one of the league’s best. For
once the saying, “they’re better than their
record” is true, and if it wasn’t for the fact
that there are seven teams in the AFC at 7-4 or
better, they would have a shot. They still
might have, if teams like the Jets and Ravens
play bad down the stretch. The Jets have the
second-hardest schedule remaining in the NFL,
and it’ll be a tough fight for them to win 10
games. 9 is a better bet.
#4: I am officially declaring the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs finished
for the season. For the past few weeks, even
though we knew better, we kept buying into the
notion that these two teams would pull it
together and make a run down the stretch. It
isn’t going to happen this year. They each have
an extremely overrated coach- Gruden and
Vermeil. Nether team showed any real passion or
desire this season, and plenty of changes need
to be made before next year.
#5: The last thing I noticed this week is that Brett
Favre is a happy man. Despite all the things
that have gone wrong in this man’s life over the
past few years, he is clearly enjoying himself
this season, and the Packers have become my pick
as the NFC team to go to the Super Bowl. What I
would like to see, and it’s a fantasy of course,
is Favre play against Manning for the big one.
I think it would be a huge success, both on the
field and ratings wise.
Craziest Thing I Saw This Week and My 3 Cents on
It
I saw the reports that Steve McNair is
considering retiring at the end of the season.
That’s crazy. McNair demonstrated last Sunday
that he still had the skills to play this game,
and it was not his fault they lost the game.
Maybe he’s a little down because of the injuries
and no one likes to play for a losing team,
especially when they’re hurting, but the Titans
are not a bad team. Next year, with a little
work, they should be a playoff team and that
should be enough to keep him around. I would
hate to see him retire at this stage of his
career. And I believe he’ll stay around when
all is said and done. |
