Wednesday, October 19, 2011

NFL 2011: Week Six Review

The Harbaugh vs. Schwartz mess has been blown totally out of proportion by the media who're looking for a story where, ultimately, there probably really isn't one there. It was just two exuberant guys, who both did things that, looking back, they probably wouldn't do again. But because Harbaugh has prior history - he went for two points when up by a ton vs. USC when he was head coach at Stanford, prompting Pete Carroll to ask, "What's your deal," - it's been battered from pillar to post on ESPN and other outlets for days. Personally, I don't mind a little angst. Makes for good television.

Sad news for Oakland QB Jason Campbell, who looks to be out for at least six weeks with a broken collarbone. The Raiders have looked pretty good this year, and this injury is really going to slow them down. It's always sad to see a guy go down with a serious injury like this. Thankfully, there are a number of good QB options for the Raiders in the interim, and they still have RB Darren McFadden to lean on.

The Giants, who had a solid win vs. Buffalo on Sunday, continue their strange season. They look horrible one week and, the next, seem likely enough to win the Super Bowl. It's very frustrating for those of us who ride every snap of the season - yours truly, included - but at the end of the day, Sunday was a win, and I'll take that any day. Eli Manning managed to avoid turning the football over, and they rode Ahmad Bradshaw's 100-yard/3 TD game all the way home.

Not much of a surprise to see Washington QB Rex Grossman finally benched after a rash of turnovers cost his team a shot at beating Philadelphia in a rather mundane NFC East contest. Rex's early season work was, as I had suspected, a mirage. It's back to the bad old Grossman who frustrated Bears fans and ultimately made them uncompetitive in Super Bowl XLI. No one in Chicago is sad Rex has gone, and 'Skins fans are now learning the torture that is having Rex Grossman as starting QB. The problem is, backup John Beck probably isn't that much better. It's pick your poison...

Speaking of QB benchings, Minnesota yanked Donovan McNabb on Sunday night, midway through their ugly loss to NFC North rivals Chicago. It's likely that he won't play another meaningful snap up north after rookie QB Christian Ponder came on and did a fairly solid job in a game that was already out of hand. It's been a sad and depressing fall for McNabb, from the heights of Philadelphia two years ago, through his troubles with Shanahan in Washington and now here to Minnesota.

Dallas were right in the game vs. New England on Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium but, as we've seen on so many occasions for a decade now, all it takes is one drive and Tom Brady for the opposing team to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It's uncanny the way the man continually engineers fourth-quarter comebacks like this. No game that Brady's in is over until the clock shows 0:00. Just an amazing player.

The New York Jets are off their ugly 3-game losing slide, recording a comfortable enough win against Miami on Monday night. No one should get too excited just yet, given that the Dolphins are winless on the season and a team somewhat in disarray. Still, they say that winning cures everything, and this win will probably give Rex Ryan, Mark Sanchez and Brian Schottenheimer some relief from the blowtorch of critical New York media. Playing in New York isn't easy when you're winning. When you're losing, it's damned near impossible!

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