Against The Grain -- Week 5

2009-10-13T12:44:32-04:00

<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/44441/tom-brady.jpg" alt="Tom-brady" width="300" height="400" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Tom Brady's '09 numbers haven't mirrored his '07 results.</div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Rich Gabrielson/Icon SMI</div> </div> <div> A weekly NFL column that heads in the opposite direction of your average pro football analysis. PHILADELPHIA -- Thoughts from a half-empty press box at the Eagles-Bucs game ...   1. When the Patriots got the ball back with 2:27 left in regulation, did anyone really have faith that Tom Brady was going to lead them to victory? The Broncos, who beat New England 20-17 Sunday in overtime, followed the Jets' formula of getting in Brady's face, just like the Giants did in the Super Bowl. Brady may never get back to his 2007 form - not because of his health, but because of defensive adjustments. That being said, if the Pats played Denver in Foxborough, Mass., they would have won by two touchdowns. 2. The NFL appears to have gotten a jump on plans to reconfigure the preseason by adding a week of exhibition games in the middle of the season. That's the only explanation for the lack of real competition in New York, Philly, Seattle and San Francisco and the Division I-AA battle in Buffalo. Lots of bad, bad teams this season. The league should try to not put too many good teams on a bye at once. 3. The NFL information men are hot on the trail of finding out where former Super Bowl-winning coaches like Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren and Bill Cowher will end up. But shouldn't we be asking ourselves if those coaches are the right hires for franchises like Washington, Dallas and Carolina? A retread coach with a ring is still just a retread. Duplicating that kind of success is still a longshot in the NFL. Some of the organization problems within those teams would cause just as big a headache for a proven winner. </div> </div> Against The Grain -- Week 5

2009-10-11T23:30:01-04:00

2009-10-13T12:44:32-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/820/147/thumb/junkscience.jpg 1291 NH

Science!

Portsmouth 820807

68 "That being said, if the Pats played Denver in Foxborough, Mass., they would have won by two touchdowns." Amen. That horrid officiating is what I call "home field advantage". 7232453

2009-10-13T12:30:22-04:00

letsgoavs1921

Scottsdale 499255

67 You are a complete idiot. Regarding your comment last week to the Broncos "condolences on being 4-4" and your "expert" opinion that the Pats would have won by 2 TD's in New England I say "my condolences on you being wrong on a regular basis." 7232091

2009-10-13T11:06:37-04:00

photoboy

West Boylston 883027

I knew you were going to come up with some kind of excuse for why the Broncos won. They beat a good Patriots team, and this time it wasn't just the defense that played well. The offense played extremely well, Orton passed for over 300 yards for only the second time in his career and Brandon Marshall looks about as good as he did last season, and he's going to get better. Show some respect, 5-0 in the NFL is no easy task.

61 Yes, the Broncos offense played well against a young and inexperienced set of defensive backs. However, if Brady hit any one of three wide open receivers in the second half the game would have been a runaway for the Patriots. If Brady can find his range again, the Patriots will go on a very long run of wins to close out the season. Remember Peyton Manning's first season back after his knee injury? He was pretty bad for the first half of the season, only to turn in on and end well. Time will tell, but I wouldn't bet against Brady just yet. 7229676

2009-10-13T12:16:00-04:00

colonelhomer

862923

Yes, the Broncos offense played well against a young and inexperienced set of defensive backs. However, if Brady hit any one of three wide open receivers in the second half the game would have been a runaway for the Patriots.If Brady can find his range again, the Patriots will go on a very long run of wins to close out the season. Remember Peyton Manning's first season back after his knee injury? He was pretty bad for the first half of the season, only to turn in on and end well. Time will tell, but I wouldn't bet against Brady just yet.

66 Peyton wasn't coming back from ACL replacement, he was coming back from bursitis, huge difference. Surgery and a stint to drain fluid versus a power drill, a couple bone graphs and some new knee tissue. Coming back from surgery Brady threw in training camp and played in the preseason this year (he also practiced taking snaps and dropping back before camp to get his rhythm back), and Peyton coming back from surgery didn't play until week one. Brady has had more than enough time to start getting his "range" back, the Patriots problems are not at QB. So far, this has been the only comment I've disagreed with. Everyone is spot on about Perloff, I only read "Against the Brain" so that I can understand the comments, because admit it.... that's what we all come here for is to rip this idiot a new one for calling his opinions journalism. Chill with the predictions or admit when you are wrong. Don't try to refute a win by saying, they only lost because they were on the road. That's not journalism, that's ignorance. If you are going to have an east coast bias, read some of Peter Kings work to see how you can do it with some class. It's become more apparent and more frequent now that King lives on the east coast, but at least he doesn't make himself look like a total d*i*p***** while trying to suck Brady's balls. 7231689

2009-10-13T11:50:38-04:00

Jonser

Beverly Hills 210860

65 The issue here at SI is that most of these writers have had Tom Brady "inside" them at some point in their not-so-illustrious reporting careers. I don't understand why you can't just say that DENVER was the BETTER team - and I'm a Colts fan. The Colts will most certainly kick the Patriots a.s.s in week 10 and you can field 2 Tom Brady's and bring back all the old guys from a few years back. SI, it's time to stop sucking Patriot dick. 7231061

2009-10-13T11:06:37-04:00

photoboy

West Boylston 883027

2009-10-13T11:33:53-04:00

100

Mongo 7

Montgomery Village 184990

64 Nobody is betting against Brady. But remember if "ifs and buts were candy and nuts it would be Christmas everyday." Using your logic/excuses: We have a new coaching staff, implemented a new defensive scheme (4-3 to 3-4), new QB, rookie RB, and enough off-field issues to write a novel...yet we still won and shut out the Pats in the second half. Remember we bailed out the Pats in the first drive with a stupid penalty that resulted in a missed FG, we bailed out the Pats with the stooooopid back to back special team penalties in the second half. Also, remember over the past 11 years Denver has quite a decisive record over the Pats...remember Shannon Sharpe calling for the National Guard because "we are killing these guys" rant on the sidelines? We beat NE on an even game played by two great teams...no excuses. 7230545

2009-10-13T11:21:08-04:00

100

Mongo 7

Montgomery Village 184990

63 Let me make a few points: The reason this clown is still on SI is because all of us IDIOTS KEEP READING his postings. It's based on hits. So the smart guy is Perloff for riling us up. I can hear us now as a collective "did you see what that idiot Perloff worte this week? go to his site and check it out"...cha-ching Andy boy gets paid. Some mentioned Andy's East Coast bias while lauding and exhonorating Peter King: Here is King's Baseball predictions...is there a wee bit of East Coast bias? Sox over the Angels- Wrong Pillies over the Rockies- Right Yankees over the Twins- Right Cards over the Dodgers- Wrong (hey the Cards is East of LA). ALL EAST or EAST COAST! We get this bias due to the location of SI's headquarters... Eastcoast. Thus Eastern people are going to apply. Want to change the way things are? Stop reading the articles. They get paid by how many hits they receive. 7230160

2009-10-13T11:13:28-04:00

Mr. Woodard

Windsor Heights 517055

62 "The Eagles and the rest of the NFC East are way past their skis right because the schedule-makers put all their AFC West and NFC South contests early in the season." What does this line mean? is it a typo not caught by the spell check because all of the words are spelled right even though they make no sense or is this some veiled reference to mogul skiing. Knowing that perloff goes off on some weird tangents I am still befuddled by his amazing lack of insight and doubtful of his ability to cohesively process thought. 7229915

2009-10-12T01:15:41-04:00

broncs2008

Alliance 145808

5 I knew you were going to come up with some kind of excuse for why the Broncos won. They beat a good Patriots team, and this time it wasn't just the defense that played well. The offense played extremely well, Orton passed for over 300 yards for only the second time in his career and Brandon Marshall looks about as good as he did last season, and he's going to get better. Show some respect, 5-0 in the NFL is no easy task. 7210431

2009-10-13T11:06:37-04:00

photoboy

West Boylston 883027

2009-10-13T08:43:18-04:00

Kpow32

No City 888890

60 "Where did the Favre bashers from August go?" The same place you will be when Denver keeps the streak alive. Oh I better not get excited; What Perloff? 5-4 now? Will that be your next guess? You should watch the games before you write about the teams. Or better yet, switch sports and start writing about curling, women's hockey, somewhere you can hide your lack of knowledge. 7226059

2009-10-13T08:17:52-04:00

sdown

Redwood City 888886

59 "if the game had been played in Foxboro...blah, blah, blah..." Yeah, and if my Aunt needed a banana hammock, she'd be my Uncle. The only good thing about your Broncos hate, is I can now eliminate the need to read your drivel and get 5 minutes of my life back. 7225891

<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/44441/tom-brady.jpg" alt="Tom-brady" width="300" height="400" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Tom Brady's '09 numbers haven't mirrored his '07 results.</div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Rich Gabrielson/Icon SMI</div> </div>   <div> A weekly NFL column that heads in the opposite direction of your average pro football analysis. PHILADELPHIA -- Thoughts from a half-empty press box at the Eagles-Bucs game ...   1. When the Patriots got the ball back with 2:27 left in regulation, did anyone really have faith that Tom Brady was going to lead them to victory? The Broncos, who beat New England 20-17 Sunday in overtime, followed the Jets' formula of getting in Brady's face, just like the Giants did in the Super Bowl. Brady may never get back to his 2007 form - not because of his health, but because of defensive adjustments. That being said, if the Pats played Denver in Foxborough, Mass., they would have won by two touchdowns. 2. The NFL appears to have gotten a jump on plans to reconfigure the preseason by adding a week of exhibition games in the middle of the season. That's the only explanation for the lack of real competition in New York, Philly, Seattle and San Francisco and the Division I-AA battle in Buffalo. Lots of bad, bad teams this season. The league should try to not put too many good teams on a bye at once. 3. The NFL information men are hot on the trail of finding out where former Super Bowl-winning coaches like Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren and Bill Cowher will end up. But shouldn't we be asking ourselves if those coaches are the right hires for franchises like Washington, Dallas and Carolina? A retread coach with a ring is still just a retread. Duplicating that kind of success is still a longshot in the NFL. Some of the organization problems within those teams would cause just as big a headache for a proven winner. 4. Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb put it best after Philly beat the Bucs 33-14 to improve to 3-1: "I've been in this game for a while where you've seen a lot of teams come out hot, and everybody's saying they're the best team in the league, and all of sudden they don't make the playoffs and things don't really don't work out well for them." The Eagles and the rest of the NFC East are way past their skis right because the schedule-makers put all their AFC West and NFC South contests early in the season. 5. The Giants are probably feeling great after beating the Raiders 44-7. They should throw out the film from that game and work on getting some depth at quarterback. David Carr won't get it done if Eli Manning goes down. They at least need to bring in a veteran third-string quarterback like Jeff Garcia. 6. The Eagles' Michael Vick again implied he expects to be a starting quarterback some time in the future after his lackluster performance against the Bucs. If you have any doubt that's going to happen, peruse the QB stat lines around the NFL. Vick could start for one-third of the league today, and even more teams as he gets his legs underneath him. Vick almost connected with Jeremy Maclin on a bomb that would have been his first big highlight since his return. 7. Tony Romo has always gotten too much credit for the Cowboys' success and too much blame for their struggles. Dallas has lots of real problems. Romo is sometimes one of them. That's it. This whole thing should never come down on his head. 8. Five undefeated teams remain. One will lose or tie next week for sure since the Giants play the Saints. The Broncos visit the Chargers and the Vikings host the Ravens. Indy should make the longest run undefeated since it has an easy ride until Week 10, when it faces the Patriots. But if the Colts win that game, they could fall the following week against the Ravens. 9. Quarterbacks have to stop trying to block. With spread offenses and coaches trying to get the ball in the hands of their speedy playmakers, QBs seem to be getting out ahead of running plays more often. And they're trying to "man up" like Brett Favre and hit a defender. It never works. At best, they'll be thrown to the ground like a rag doll like Denver's Kyle Orton. At worst, the quarterback or the defender will get hurt. 10. Weird, where did all the Favre-bashers from August go? </div>   </div>   80841

The SI Staff

New York City 21244