Huddle Up

71 Huddle Up NFL News and Analysis with Andrew Perloff NFL News and Analysis with Andrew Perloff

87021

Andrew Perloff

3992 New York NY

550

http://img.fannation.com/images/layout/profile-headshot.gif NFL Against The Grain -- Week 11 Against The Grain -- Week 11 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/47563/p1.eli.jpg" alt="P1" width="300" height="444" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Eli Manning threw for 384 yards as the Giants won in OT. Chris McGrath/Getty Images</div> </div> A weekly column that heads in the opposite direction of your average pro football analysis. EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Observations from Giants Stadium, where the G-Men beat the Falcons 34-31 in overtime on Sunday. 1. The more passing yards Eli Manning accumulates, the more nervous the Giants offense makes me. Manning put up a career-high 384 passing yards against the Falcons and is averaging a career-best 245 yards per game this season. The problem is that he hasn't been able to sustain late drives to protect leads. With an old offensive line and running backs that keep getting nicked up, the Giants seem to be having a harder time wearing teams down as the season goes on. "You will see a team, like, for six minutes is running the ball and running the clock out. That continues to be something that we have to be better at," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. 2. New York has turned into a team that is completely depending on Eli. When he struggles, the rest of the team seems deflated, and when he does well they get fired up. <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/47563/p1.eli.jpg" alt="P1" width="300" height="444" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Eli Manning threw for 384 yards as the Giants won in OT. Chris McGrath/Getty Images</div> </div> A weekly column that heads in the opposite direction of your average pro football analysis. EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Observations from Giants Stadium, where the G-Men beat the Falcons 34-31 in overtime on Sunday. 1. The more passing yards Eli Manning accumulates, the more nervous the Giants offense makes me. Manning put up a career-high 384 passing yards against the Falcons and is averaging a career-best 245 yards per game this season. The problem is that he hasn't been able to sustain late drives to protect leads. With an old offensive line and running backs that keep getting nicked up, the Giants seem to be having a harder time wearing teams down as the season goes on. "You will see a team, like, for six minutes is running the ball and running the clock out. That continues to be something that we have to be better at," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. 2. New York has turned into a team that is completely depending on Eli. When he struggles, the rest of the team seems deflated, and when he does well they get fired up. 3. If his goal was to finally reach a Super Bowl, Tony Gonzalez made a mistake going to Atlanta. Hopefully he wasn't advised to head down there because of the Falcons' success last season, which was much more a product of their light schedule than overall talent level. Matt Ryan is a good quarterback ... not the superstar ESPN made him out to be. Gonzalez proved on Sunday he's still one of the top five tight ends in football. Imagine if he had landed in New England. 4. The 2007 Patriots taught us a 16-0 regular season is irrelevant, and teams need to be playing their best in January. The Colts keep racking up wins with Houdini-like escapes, but still aren't a strong favorite in the AFC. Even with homefield advantage in the postseason, they'll have to play a lot better so they don't have to rely on late-game heroics. The Saints, on the other hand, are beating up on a lackluster NFC and should just try to stay healthy for their NFC Championship showdown against the Vikings. 5. What if Oakland had kept Jeff Garcia and started him over JaMarcus Russell? Even if Garcia was half washed up, he could have had the 3-7 Raiders hovering around .500 and made Tom Cable a Coach of the Year candidate. 6. Willis McGahee carrying the ball at the goal line was a cute experiment for the Ravens and worked well early on. After McGahee came up short late against the Colts on Sunday, isn't it time to abandon that and give the ball to Ray Rice, a back who looks like he was genetically engineered to carry the ball near the end zone? 7. Memo to Cowboys' Miles Austin: You're supposed to be one of the feel-good stories of the season. Stop celebrating first-down receptions like Usain Bolt crossing the finish line. Especially when your team scores one touchdown at home against Washington. 8. If concussions have a cumulative effect, I hope the Steelers make Ben Roethlisberger change his style. We always hear how bad Pittsburgh's offensive line is. Do we know for sure Pittsburgh's offense wouldn't be different if Big Ben did his best Peyton Manning impression and got rid of the ball quickly? 9. Has there ever been a lamer 6-4 team than the Jaguars? They have 3-point victories over St. Louis, Kansas City and Buffalo. Those barely counts as wins. With trips to San Francisco, New England and Cleveland, and home games against Houston, Miami and Indy, Jacksonville won't get the four wins it needs to reach the postseason. 10. With six weeks to play, six of eight divisions are basically decided. Only the AFC North and NFC East have bona fide races. Late December is going to be boring -- Major League Baseball in September boring. Random bowl game in the BCS era boring. College Basketball before March boring. You get the point. If only the Browns and Lions could play every week to entertain us. Eli Manning, New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons, Tony Gonzalez

2009-11-22T23:47:25-05:00

2009-11-24T10:32:13-05:00

86201

Andrew Perloff

3992 New York NY

550

http://img.fannation.com/images/layout/profile-headshot.gif NFL Steelers, Pats are still A-OK, more Week 10 rants Steelers, Pats are still A-OK, more Week 10 rants <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/11/15/polamalu.hurt.ap/T1_1115_bigben.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="298" height="474" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Ben Roethlisberger's Steelers are still strong wild-card candidates.</div> </div> 1. Don't worry about the Steelers despite their 18-12 loss to the Bengals. The defending champions have an easy second-half schedule and will likely make the playoffs. Once the postseason arrives, the slate is clean and close losses like this won't matter. Coach Mike Tomlin didn't seem worried at all after the game, and noted how hard it is to win when you give up special teams touchdowns. After all, this is basically the same team that won the Super Bowl last season. 2. Larry Johnson might have had the best week of anyone. Atlanta's Michael Turner, Cincinnati's Cedric Benson, Miami's Ronnie Brown, Seattle's Julius Jones and Philadelphia's Brian Westbrook were all knocked out with injuries. Some of those teams have to at least be looking at film of Johnson at this moment. Even though Johnson was particularly unimpressive so far this season, he has to be motivated in the short term. He's been playing like a running back who got paid big money of late, but maybe this season has humbled him. His off-field problems are substantial, but he can probably come off as a professional in the short term. If you listen to <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/danpatrick/blog/85681/index.html" target="_new">his interview</a> on the Dan Patrick Show last week, you'd think Johnson was one of the most down-to-earth guys in the league. 2a. In their 31-23 loss at San Diego, the Eagles blew several short-yardage opportunities. Larry Johnson doesn't fit the mold of an Andy Reid running back, but the Eagles are 5-4 and have to be desperate right now. An inspired Johnson has to be more effective than LeSean McCoy on 3rd-and-1. Besides, they handled Michael Vick's PR concerns masterfully, so Johnson's off-field problems shouldn't pose a challenge. 3. Why is everyone acting like the sky is falling in New England because of the loss to Indy? The Patriots were without defensive linemen Ty Warren and Jarvis Green. Of course, the defense wore down. Yes, Bill Belichick made a mistake going for it on fourth down late in the fourth quarter, but that's one play in one game! It's not the main reason they lost. New England basically outplayed an undefeated team in its own building. And the Jets' loss to the Jags means every other AFC East team has a losing record. The Pats may not have homefield advantage, but they will have the rest of the season to lick their wounds and prepare for the postseason. If you're the Colts, do you want to play them again? 5. Don't even start with the 'Chris Johnson is better than Adrian Peterson' argument. What percentage of Johnson's yards this season have been meaningful? The Titans running back is on a team that can't pass at all and will still get him involved -- even when the score gets out of hand. Johnson even ran for 148 yards in Tennessee's 59-0 loss to New England. <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/11/15/polamalu.hurt.ap/T1_1115_bigben.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="298" height="474" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Ben Roethlisberger's Steelers are strong wild-card candidates.</div> </div> 1. Don't worry about the Steelers despite their 18-12 loss to the Bengals. The defending champions have an easy second-half schedule and will likely make the playoffs. Once the postseason arrives, the slate is clean and close losses like this won't matter. Coach Mike Tomlin didn't seem worried at all after the game, and noted how hard it is to win when you give up special teams touchdowns. After all, this is basically the same team that won the Super Bowl last season. 2. Larry Johnson might have had the best week of anyone. Atlanta's Michael Turner, Cincinnati's Cedric Benson, Miami's Ronnie Brown, Seattle's Julius Jones and Philadelphia's Brian Westbrook were all knocked out with injuries. Some of those teams have to at least be looking at film of Johnson at this moment. Even though Johnson was particularly unimpressive so far this season, he has to be motivated in the short term. He's been playing like a running back who got paid big money of late, but maybe this season has humbled him. His off-field problems are substantial, but he can probably come off as a professional in the short term. If you listen to <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/danpatrick/blog/85681/index.html" target="_new">his interview</a> on the Dan Patrick Show last week, you'd think Johnson was one of the most down-to-earth guys in the league. Larry Johnson doesn't fit the mold of an Andy Reid running back, but the Eagles are 5-4 and have to be desperate right now. An inspired Johnson has to be more effective than LeSean McCoy on 3rd-and-1. Besides, they handled Michael Vick's PR concerns masterfully, so Johnson's off-field problems shouldn't pose a challenge. 3. Why is everyone acting like the sky is falling in New England because of the loss to Indy? The Patriots were without defensive linemen Ty Warren and Jarvis Green. Of course, the defense wore down. Yes, Bill Belichick made a mistake going for it on fourth down late in the fourth quarter, but that's one play in one game! It's not the main reason they lost. New England basically outplayed an undefeated team in its own building. And the Jets' loss to the Jags means every other AFC East team has a losing record. The Pats may not have homefield advantage, but they will have the rest of the season to lick their wounds and prepare for the postseason. If you're the Colts, do you want to play them again? 4. Don't even start with the 'Chris Johnson is better than Adrian Peterson' argument. What percentage of Johnson's yards this season have been meaningful? The Titans running back is on a team that can't pass at all and will still get him involved -- even when the score gets out of hand. Johnson even ran for 148 yards in Tennessee's 59-0 loss to New England. 5. The Cowboys had no interest in going to Green Bay and winning on Sunday. The Cowboys don't seem like the kind of team that sits comfortably with a four-game winning streak. They host the Redskins and Raiders the next two weeks -- two games they should win. In other words, if you're a 'Boys fan, you have to be nervous. 6. The Saints are itching to lose. They can't stop the run and eventually will trip up in the fourth quarter of a close game. They'll certainly lose to New England in Week 12, and they'll probably drop a couple of games down the stretch, as they rest their players for what should be a very interesting postseason run. 7. Rex Ryan made a big mistake by winning his first three games in New York. Now he's getting savaged by New York's media who raised the expectations for the first-time head coach. Never mind they lost their best offensive player (Leon Washington) and best defensive player (Kris Jenkins, who was sorely missed as Maurice Jones-Drew gashed them Sunday), and start a rookie quarterback. Ryan has delivered on his promise to toughen the defense (they entered Week 10 ranked No. 1 overall). He doesn't deserve to be skewered for having his team at 4-5. 8. Usually when a player falls in mock drafts throughout the spring, there's a good reason. Apparently, there wasn't with Arizona's Beanie Wells. Wells is the league's most exciting rookie back and adds another dimension to an already dangerous offense. Remember last season when the Cardinals went into hibernation and then a fresh-legged Edgerrin James came out of nowhere to help them reach the Super Bowl. They're easily going to win the NFC West, so they should be careful to limit Wells' touches in the second half and then let him go in the postseason. 9. I thought the most interesting part of Michael Lewis' book, The Blind Side, was the section on Bill Walsh and his certainty he could win with or without Joe Montana at quarterback. Lewis painted a picture of a system-driven NFL, where star quarterbacks are created more by the teams that draft them than their inherit skills. Would Tom Brady be Hall of Fame-bound if he had been drafted by the Cardinals? I'm curious to see if Sandra Bullock can squeeze that into the major motion picture that opens this week. 10. Is a big part of the media storm against Belichick today because he's been rude to reporters through the years? Would the reaction have been so strong if a more likable coach like Jeff Fisher or Tony Dungy had done the same thing? Everyone attacking Belichick better be certain they would react the same way if the Pats had made the first down. beanie wells tom brady peyton manning patriots colts vikings bill belichick philly donovan mcnabb andy reid lesean mccoy larry johnson cedric benson julius jones michael turner

2009-11-16T00:22:07-05:00

2009-11-17T14:26:09-05:00

85421

Andrew Perloff

3992 New York NY

550

http://img.fannation.com/images/layout/profile-headshot.gif NFL Against The Grain -- Week 9 Drew Brees and the Saints have not been that impressive.AP A weekly column that heads in the opposite direction of your average pro football analysis. 1. Have there ever… <div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/46861/p1.drew-brees.ap.jpg" alt="P1" width="298" height="450" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Drew Brees and the Saints have not been that impressive. AP</div> </div> A weekly column that heads in the opposite direction of your average pro football analysis. 1. Have there ever been less scary 8-0 teams than New Orleans or Indianapolis? What is New Orleans' signature win? The Saints beat the Eagles without Donovan McNabb, reeling Giants and Jets teams, and a Falcons squad that can't play on the road. And they had to come from behind against slightly below-average Miami and Carolina. Meanwhile, the Colts are cutting it close against middle-of-the road competition and head into the difficult part of their schedule with some question marks -- namely, their lack of running game and inexperienced defensive backfield. 2. Please, please don't start the Vince Young national media love fest. He's 2-0 as a starter, and the Titans host the Bills next week. He'll like improve to 3-0 and one of the biggest storylines in the league will be Young's ability to win and Jeff Fisher making a mistake by not going to him earlier. But Young couldn't have done much to help the Titans when their defense completely disappeared the first part of the season. Young has beaten two inconsistent teams -- Jacksonville and San Francisco -- and hasn't had to throw much. Let's see what he does when opponents gets some film on him and try to take him out of his comfort zone. If he keeps this up for six weeks, then start heaping on the praise. 3. The Giants' 21-20 loss to the Chargers appeared to put them in a serious hole in the NFC East, but the New York papers are writing their obituaries too early. The two teams ahead of them in the division, Philly and Dallas, built up their records against bottom-feeders and face their own challenges in the second half. The Eagles' offensive line is one more injury away from total chaos, and the Cowboys are due for their annual late-season collapse. Meanwhile, the Giants have a bye this week to get healthier and could go on a late-season run like they did in 2007. <div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/46861/p1.drew-brees.ap.jpg" alt="P1" width="298" height="450" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Drew Brees and the Saints have not been that impressive. AP</div> </div> A weekly column that heads in the opposite direction of your average pro football analysis. 1. Have there ever been less scary 8-0 teams than New Orleans or Indianapolis? What is New Orleans' signature win? The Saints beat the Eagles without Donovan McNabb, reeling Giants and Jets teams, and a Falcons squad that can't play on the road. And they had to come from behind against slightly below-average Miami and Carolina. Meanwhile, the Colts are cutting it close against middle-of-the road competition and head into the difficult part of their schedule with some question marks -- namely, their lack of running game and inexperienced defensive backfield. 2. Please, please don't start the Vince Young national media love fest. He's 2-0 as a starter, and the Titans host the Bills next week. He'll like improve to 3-0 and one of the biggest storylines in the league will be Young's ability to win and Jeff Fisher making a mistake by not going to him earlier. But Young couldn't have done much to help the Titans when their defense completely disappeared the first part of the season. Young has beaten two inconsistent teams -- Jacksonville and San Francisco -- and hasn't had to throw much. Let's see what he does when opponents gets some film on him and try to take him out of his comfort zone. If he keeps this up for six weeks, then start heaping on the praise. 3. The Giants' 21-20 loss to the Chargers appeared to put them in a serious hole in the NFC East, but the New York papers are writing their obituaries too early. The two teams ahead of them in the division, Philly and Dallas, built up their records against bottom-feeders and face their own challenges in the second half. The Eagles' offensive line is one more injury away from total chaos, and the Cowboys are due for their annual late-season collapse. Meanwhile, the Giants have a bye this week to get healthier and could go on a late-season run like they did in 2007. 4. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has to get most of the blame for the Bucs' six sacks on Sunday. Is Rodgers reading too many stories about being the heir apparent to Brett Favre and trying to make too many big plays? Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy better dial Rodgers down in the coming weeks, because the Packers have enough talent to grind out wins without Rodgers having to hold on to the ball to make plays downfield. 5. Everyone is writing off the Ravens defense after Cedric Benson ran for over 100 yards against them for the second time this season. But after the game, Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said don't dismiss this defense's ability to tackle just yet. Harbaugh credited Benson for making some plays even when the defense was in good position. The Ravens defense still has some killer games in it. They have two games against Pittsburgh and face the Colts in two weeks, but Baltimore has several of the worst offenses in the league coming up in the second half, including games against Cleveland, Oakland and Detroit. 6. Tony Dungy's revelation that the Bills may be interested in Michael Vick on NBC's Football Night in America is far from shocking. Not only do they need a quarterback, they desperately need some excitement. They're so boring, I had to look at the schedule to see if they were still in the league (turns out they were on a bye). At this point, Vick is hardly scarier than Terrell Owens for a franchise like Buffalo. Vick's ineffectiveness in the wildcat shouldn't scare anyone, because he doesn't have any chance to get any kind of rhythm when he comes in haphazardly. 7. Just like they did two weeks ago in a loss to New Orleans, the Dolphins turned away from the wildcat on critical fourth-quarter drives against New England and Chad Henne just missed on passes that led to stalled drives. Even though Henne had some nice moments against the Patriots, you just had the feeling a slightly tired New England defense was glad to see him in there late in the game. The 'Fins have nothing to lose the rest of the season and should let it rip with the wildcat and wear down opposing lines and improve their odds in the fourth quarter. 8. Larry Fitzgerald's success today and the reemergence of Chad Ochocinco does not reflect well on Anquan Boldin and T.J. Houshmandzadeh -- the Oates' (as in Hall and) of NFL receivers. Fitzgerald looked great while Boldin was out with an ankle injury, and Ochocinco appears more relaxed without Houshmandzadeh in the locker room. There's a reason the big threats on the outside get paid more than the possession/slot guys. 9. The Texans' inability to adjust their coverage on Indy's Dallas Clark is a great example of why they can't beat the Colts. Indy's coaching staff is just sharper. Houston gets another chance against the Colts in Week 12. The Texans better not let Clark beat them again. 10. The Saints, Vikings and Cardinals should win their divisions, so most of the NFC playoffs will be indoors and therefore, totally lame. January football should be in the elements. Even baseball is manly enough to play its postseason in the winter elements. NFL, Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, Michael Vick, Vince young, Aaron Rodgers

2009-11-08T23:28:20-05:00

2009-11-13T00:22:10-05:00

84461

Andrew Perloff

3992 New York NY

550

http://img.fannation.com/images/layout/profile-headshot.gif NFL Against The Grain -- Week 8 Against The Grain -- Week 8 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/46461/donovan-mcnabb.jpg" alt="Donovan-mcnabb" width="300" height="400" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Donovan McNabb threw 3 TDs in Sunday's rout.</div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">AP</div> </div> A weekly NFL column that heads in the opposite direction of your average pro football analysis. PHILADELPHIA - Thoughts from a baseball and football-crazy Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday... 1. Resist the temptation to label the Philadelphia Eagles the front-runner in the NFC East because of their 40-17 win over the Giants on Sunday. The final score does not indicate where these two teams stand in comparison to one another. Philadelphia's big plays early immediately put New York in a tough situation, since it couldn't turn to a running game the Giants know can pound the Eagles into submission. While the Eagles deserve credit for executing on offense, their early scores felt fluky - a 41-yard TD scamper by fullback Leonard Weaver and a score set up by a bad Eli Manning interception. We know the Eagles can't count on getting those big plays every week - just look at their loss to the Raiders. When Philly visits the Meadowlands in the cold weather in Week 14, expect a much different game. <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/46461/donovan-mcnabb.jpg" alt="Donovan-mcnabb" width="300" height="400" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Donovan McNabb threw 3 TDs in Sunday's rout.</div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">AP</div> </div> A weekly NFL column that heads in the opposite direction of your average pro football analysis. PHILADELPHIA - Thoughts from a baseball and football-crazy Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday... 1. Resist the temptation to label the Philadelphia Eagles the front-runner in the NFC East because of their 40-17 win over the Giants on Sunday. The final score does not indicate where these teams stand in comparison to one another. Philadelphia's big plays early put New York in a tough situation because the Giants couldn't turn to a running game they know can pound the Eagles into submission. While the Eagles deserve credit for executing on offense, their early scores felt fluky - a 41-yard TD scamper by fullback Leonard Weaver and a score set up by a bad Eli Manning interception. We know the Eagles can't count on getting those big plays every week - just look at their loss to the Raiders. When Philly visits the Meadowlands in the cold weather in Week 14, expect a different game. 2. Now that most of the NFC East teams have gotten through their preseason games against the Kansas City's and Tampa Bay's of the world, a bona fide three-way race is shaping up between Dallas, New York and Philadelphia. But before you get too fired up about the Cowboys -- who beat up the Seahawks on Sunday in Dallas -- look at the upcoming schedule. Let's see if that offense can keep rolling in trips to Philly, Green Bay, New York and New Orleans. That's not even taking into consideration Dallas' annual December swoon. Even though the Giants and Eagles still have plenty of flaws, one of the pair is in the best position to capture the division. 3. You want your quarterback to be steady and not too high after wins or too low after losses. That seems to be the common trait of great quarterbacks. But someone has to grab Eli Manning and shake some life into him right now. His postgame "Aw shucks, what are you gonna do?" press conference was way out of sync with his current slump and the Giants' three-game skid. After a brilliant start to the season, Manning is inexplicably sailing balls all over the place. Manning says it's not the foot injury. He could have ended up with two or three more picks on Sunday. And he can't point to running back Brandon Jacobs struggling or the absence of Plaxico Burress this time. Jacobs showed he can be effective and Burress wasn't catching balls that were thrown three feet over his head. Manning's quiet confidence has worked before, but he needs to try something new before this brief hiccup turns into a subpar season. 4. The Eagles offense actually might be better without Brian Westbrook, who was out with a concussion on Sunday. They had become too reliant on the shifty running back over the last couple of years, and now have a dangerous receiving corps for the first time since T.O. was in town back in 2004. Credit the Eagles for drafting well at receiver and tight end with DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Brent Celek. As their best offensive weapon, Westbrook, declines, they've become more of a headache for opposing defensive coordinators who have to account for the whole field. Jackson has six touchdowns for over 50 yards already this season and is developing into the NFL's premiere deep threat. Westbrook, meanwhile, could still help this team, although he seems to be headed into that post-30 running back slide. 5. Considering Darrius Heyward-Bey was the first receiver taken, this has been a surprisingly strong crop of wideouts. The 49ers' Michael Crabtree, who had six catches for 81 yards in a loss to the Colts, is contributing quickly after that long holdout. The Vikings' Percy Harvin was the key difference in a big divisional win over the Packers. First-rounders Jeremy Maclin, Hakeem Nicks and Kenny Britt look very promising, while later-round finds like Austin Collie, Mike Wallace and Johnny Knox could develop into stars. 6. The Dolphins' Ted Ginn provided another example of why the NFL needs a rookie salary cap by returning two kickoffs for touchdowns. If the Dolphins could have drafted him and not had to pay him like a star, every-down guy, he could have been a potent return threat and an occasional weapon in the passing game ... and we'd all be talking about how well Ginn has played. There's way too much pressure on teams to make something out of their high picks.  7. The Texans, who have won three in a row, face the Colts in two of their next three games. Any other season, and they'd lose both and fall out of playoff contention. This year is different for Houston, despite an injury to star tight end Owen Daniels. The Texans will win at least one of their showdowns against Indy and ride that momentum into the playoffs.  8. Good to see the old-fashioned animosity around the NFL this week. The Vikings-Packers, Jets-Dolphins, Eagles-Giants hatred, both on the field and in the stands, was refreshing. Rivalries have been en endangered species because of free agency and the league's stance against anything spontaneous. Bitterness can be good as long as it doesn't get violent. 9. The Brett Favre story may have obscured some of the problems in Green Bay. Someone has to take the heat for all the sacks. The offensive line isn't good, but coach Mike McCarthy didn't have a great game plan on Sunday. 10. The Vikings fans laugh now ... wait until Favre rolls into the Twin Cities in a Lions uniform two years from now.

2009-11-01T20:11:51-05:00

2009-11-02T17:03:29-05:00

83321

Andrew Perloff

3992 New York NY

550

http://img.fannation.com/images/layout/profile-headshot.gif NFL Against The Grain -- Week 7 Against The Grain -- Week 7 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/45821/favre.jpg" alt="Favre" width="298" height="407" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">With a team like this, Brett Favre is likey to return in 2010. Scott Cunningham/Getty Images</div> </div> A weekly NFL column that heads in the opposite direction of your average pro football analysis. 1. Pencil it in right now: Brett Favre will play in 2010. Even in a losing effort, Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin and Sidney Rice made plays in a losing effort against a tough Pittsburgh defense and will create too attractive a situation for Favre to turn away next offseason. 2.  Passing is too easy in the NFL right now. The accumulation of rule changes, most recently protecting quarterbacks and receivers from hard hits, has created numbers that look ridiculous in the scope of NFL history. Good-to-average quarterbacks are putting up numbers that are hard to believe, and future Hall of Famers are having their way with defenses: Consider: --The Texans’ Matt Schaub is on track to throw for more than 4,500 and 36 touchdowns. --The Packers’ Aaron Rodgers completed 16 of 20 passes with three touchdowns against the Browns on Sunday, and has 11 TDs and just two picks on the season. If you look at the numbers, Rodgers, with a 110.8 passer rating, is better than Favre ever was. --The Chargers’  Philip Rivers hasn’t thrown an interception since Week 2. --The Broncos’ Kyle Orton has nine touchdowns and one interception on the season. --The Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger had his worst statistical day of the season on Sunday (14-of-26 for 175 yards) and is still completing over 70 percent of his passes this season. His career best is 65.5 percent in 2003. --Favre completed 34 of 51 passes in a losing effort against Pittsburgh. He’s completed 69 percent of his passes this season. His career best is 66.5 percent in 2007. Does anyone else find it weird he’s having one of his best seasons at this age? That’s because it’s so easy to pass right now. --Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are so good, the numbers aren’t necessary. And don’t forget Tom Brady, who may be having an off year, but has thrown nine TDs in his last two games. <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/45821/favre.jpg" alt="Favre" width="298" height="407" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">With a team like this, Brett Favre is likey to return in 2010. Scott Cunningham/Getty Images</div> </div> A weekly NFL column that heads in the opposite direction of your average pro football analysis. 1. Pencil it in right now: Brett Favre will play in 2010. Even in a losing effort, Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin and Sidney Rice made plays in a losing effort against a tough Pittsburgh defense and will create too attractive a situation for Favre to turn away next offseason. 2.  Passing is too easy in the NFL right now. The accumulation of rule changes, most recently protecting quarterbacks and receivers from hard hits, has created numbers that look ridiculous in the scope of NFL history. Good-to-average quarterbacks are putting up numbers that are hard to believe, and future Hall of Famers are having their way with defenses: Consider: --The Texans’ Matt Schaub is on track to throw for more than 4,500 and 36 touchdowns. --The Packers’ Aaron Rodgers completed 16 of 20 passes with three touchdowns against the Browns on Sunday, and has 11 TDs and just two picks on the season. If you look at the numbers, Rodgers, with a 110.8 passer rating, is better than Favre ever was. --The Chargers’  Philip Rivers hasn’t thrown an interception since Week 2. --The Broncos’ Kyle Orton has nine touchdowns and one interception on the season. --The Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger had his worst statistical day of the season on Sunday (14-of-26 for 175 yards) and is still completing over 70 percent of his passes this season. His career best is 65.5 percent in 2003. --Favre completed 34 of 51 passes in a losing effort against Pittsburgh. He’s completed 69 percent of his passes this season. His career best is 66.5 percent in 2007. Does anyone else find it weird he’s having one of his best seasons at this age? That’s because it’s so easy to pass right now. --Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are so good, the numbers aren’t necessary. And don’t forget Tom Brady, who may be having an off year, but has thrown nine TDs in his last two games. 3. On the flip side, even with the across-the-board improvement in NFL passing, bad quarterbacks are worse than ever. Here’s my best explanation: the good teams moving the ball so well in the air forces the bad teams that can’t throw to give up on the run and put the ball up even though they shouldn’t. That means a lot of bad down situations, lots of blitzes, and lots of mistakes. 4.  Can the media-Matt Ryan love affair stop now? Good young quarterback, but all the talk of Ryan being the next Peyton Manning is way too early. Just ask Tony Romo, who led the Cowboys past Ryan and the Falcons today. We love to put QBs on a pedestal and either rip them down or worship them. Just give Ryan some time before anointing him a superstar. 5. Coming into the season, Leon Washington was the only bona fide Jets weapon. The rest of the offense still has a lot to prove now that Washington is out of for the season, but the emergence of rookie Shonn Greene is a significant silver lining. Greene surprised the Jets with his ability to catch the ball in training camp, and has more speed than Thomas Jones and more power than Washington. 6. The Saints’ 46-34 win over the Dolphins will end up being their most impressive out-of-division road victory this season. New Orleans has a tough home schedule ( Jets, Giants, Patriots, Cowboys), but drew a great road slate. They visited the Eagles when Donovan McNabb was out, won easily at Buffalo, and visit St. Louis and Washington. The Saints may end the season without a signature road win, but it won’t matter since they have a great chance to get homefield advantage throughout the playoffs with that schedule. 7. A FOX graphic noted that this was the first time in NFL history three teams have gotten through Week 7 undefeated: Indianapolis, Denver and New Orleans.  Of those three teams, the Saints have the best shot to reach the Super Bowl by a longshot. Not necessarily a knock on the Colts and Broncos, but the AFC playoffs will be a lot tougher. 8. As notable as receiver Miles Austin’s rise in Dallas has been, Roy Williams’ lack of effectiveness is almost as glaring. Romo has no confidence in the former Lions wideout and it affects the way he throws to him. Why not just admit trading for him was a mistake and put Patrick Crayton back into the starting lineup? The Cowboys would be unwise to keep throwing it to Williams just to prove a point. 9. Not a great few weeks for the Wildcat as Michael Vick does nothing in Philly and the Dolphins lose despite running it effectively. But there was one signature Wildcat play in Week 7 that almost happened – Cardinals cornerback Antrel Rolle throwing a bomb to a wide open Larry Fitzgerald. The play was the Wildcat at its best, confusing the defense and getting Arizona’s best player open. But for some reason, Fitzgerald dropped it and a holding penalty was called on the line anyway. Baby steps, but we’re going to see effective throwing out of the Wildcat soon. 10. Recent history is on Sam Bradford’s side. How can teams overlook the Oklahoma quarterback in next year’s draft when other quarterbacks have had so much success after shoulder surgery. Half the league still regrets reading too much into Drew Brees’ shoulder injury. Brett Favre is playing like a 30-year-old just months after arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Tom Brady underwent minor shoulder surgery back in 2004 and has since rewritten the record book. Even Chad Pennington squeezed out another Pro Bowl season after multiple surgeries.  Bradford might be hurthing now, but he will probably end up having a better career because he drops a few slots in the first round and avoids landing on one of the league’s worst teams.

2009-10-25T23:29:36-04:00

2009-11-01T18:45:08-05:00