Can't believe we're nearly halfway through the 2011 season, and things are starting to get really interesting.
Sorry, but I’m not ready to fete Tim Tebow as the saviour of the football world just yet. I don't get the adoration for this guy in Denver, either. Sure, the Broncos QB made some clutch plays late in the game vs. Miami, but the first fifty-five minutes were horrible. He was 4-14 for 40 yards and had been sacked seven times by the Dolphins before managing to make a few plays, in between a successful onside kick – a lottery at the best of times – to help Denver win the game in OT. Teams are going to lock down on Tebow as a runner and force him to make plays through the air. I just don't think he can do it.
One guy whose efforts are growing on me is Carolina QB Cam Newton, his NCAA issues aside. Unlike Tebow, who can only run and not pass, Newton does both with equal skill, and with a few more weapons lining up on offense for Carolina, and the ex-Auburn Tiger might be the rejuvenation the Panthers franchise has needed since their ill-fated trip to the NFC Championship Game in January of 2006. Jake Delhomme was the QB then, and Carolina hasn't done much but languish in the NFC cellar since then.
It wasn't quite the “welcome back” to football that Carson Palmer had doubtless been hoping for. The former Trojan and disgruntled Bengal quarterback literally jumped off the couch and led Oakland to a 28-0 drubbing by the Kansas City Chiefs. I’ve seen a lot of criticism of Palmer in the days since the game, but think it’s unfair. I mean, here’s a guy who had basically no idea of the finer points of the Raiders offense, having not played any sort of football since last year. When he comes to grips with things down there in Oakland, Palmer is going to be good for the Raiders. The question is, was he worth everything the Raiders gave up to get him from Ohio to Northern California?
Watching Indianapolis play this season is sad, really sad. It also makes you realise just how good a player Peyton Manning is – and hopefully will continue to be when he returns from his injury – and how much his leadership matters in that locker-room, how it affects players on both sides of the football. Seeing Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints torch the Colts for 60+ points on what would’ve been a marquee game if Peyton had been under centre, was difficult. The worst news for the Colts? As they lose, so do the Dolphins, who might well provide stiff competition for the chance to snag Andrew Luck.
Hopefully Detroit will not to a Josh McDaniels-Denver this year, and start out well only to fade horribly mid-to-late season. A loss to San Francisco didn't seem so bad, because the 49ers look pretty good, but I really thought facing a disappointing Atlanta team would provide the bounce-back that the Lions needed. And now QB Matt Stafford is day-to-day with an ankle injury, and everything in Detroit, football-wise, anyway, depends on Stafford’s health. The upside is that WR Calvin Johnson continues his mega season, catching passes for 115 yards and a score on Sunday. The next few weeks are crucial for the Lions. They need a good, solid win – a couple, even – and they need Stafford healthy.
Wow, did Mark Sanchez and the NY Jets need a win against some quality AFC opposition, Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers, after losing to New England and Baltimore. Sanchez, under pressure for his sub par performances, played well, thanks to the efforts of Plaxico Burress, who showed why the Jets chose to offer him a contract.
Jacksonville beating Baltimore on Monday night. Who really saw that coming? Not me. The rookie from Mizzou, Blaine Gabbert, might be the best quarterback the Jaguars have had in a decade, a ray of hope for an expansion franchise that really hasn't done much to write home about in it’s relatively brief history, and, as a result, struggles to attract media attention and crowds to many of it’s home games.
ESPN’s Monday Night Football schedule has seriously been downgraded this year. We’ve seen some horrible match ups shoved from Sunday to Monday and, unfortunately, there are more to come this year. It’s a shame, because, once upon a time – until NBC started pulling giant numbers and, thus, big games on it’s outstanding Sunday Night Football series – this was the night for football in America, and the home to so many big games. Now it’s home to games like Monday night’s Jaguars vs. Ravens game, which might’ve been an ugly Ravens blowout, but was a close game and was ugly nonetheless.
One guy whose efforts are growing on me is Carolina QB Cam Newton, his NCAA issues aside. Unlike Tebow, who can only run and not pass, Newton does both with equal skill, and with a few more weapons lining up on offense for Carolina, and the ex-Auburn Tiger might be the rejuvenation the Panthers franchise has needed since their ill-fated trip to the NFC Championship Game in January of 2006. Jake Delhomme was the QB then, and Carolina hasn't done much but languish in the NFC cellar since then.
It wasn't quite the “welcome back” to football that Carson Palmer had doubtless been hoping for. The former Trojan and disgruntled Bengal quarterback literally jumped off the couch and led Oakland to a 28-0 drubbing by the Kansas City Chiefs. I’ve seen a lot of criticism of Palmer in the days since the game, but think it’s unfair. I mean, here’s a guy who had basically no idea of the finer points of the Raiders offense, having not played any sort of football since last year. When he comes to grips with things down there in Oakland, Palmer is going to be good for the Raiders. The question is, was he worth everything the Raiders gave up to get him from Ohio to Northern California?
Watching Indianapolis play this season is sad, really sad. It also makes you realise just how good a player Peyton Manning is – and hopefully will continue to be when he returns from his injury – and how much his leadership matters in that locker-room, how it affects players on both sides of the football. Seeing Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints torch the Colts for 60+ points on what would’ve been a marquee game if Peyton had been under centre, was difficult. The worst news for the Colts? As they lose, so do the Dolphins, who might well provide stiff competition for the chance to snag Andrew Luck.
Hopefully Detroit will not to a Josh McDaniels-Denver this year, and start out well only to fade horribly mid-to-late season. A loss to San Francisco didn't seem so bad, because the 49ers look pretty good, but I really thought facing a disappointing Atlanta team would provide the bounce-back that the Lions needed. And now QB Matt Stafford is day-to-day with an ankle injury, and everything in Detroit, football-wise, anyway, depends on Stafford’s health. The upside is that WR Calvin Johnson continues his mega season, catching passes for 115 yards and a score on Sunday. The next few weeks are crucial for the Lions. They need a good, solid win – a couple, even – and they need Stafford healthy.
Wow, did Mark Sanchez and the NY Jets need a win against some quality AFC opposition, Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers, after losing to New England and Baltimore. Sanchez, under pressure for his sub par performances, played well, thanks to the efforts of Plaxico Burress, who showed why the Jets chose to offer him a contract.
Jacksonville beating Baltimore on Monday night. Who really saw that coming? Not me. The rookie from Mizzou, Blaine Gabbert, might be the best quarterback the Jaguars have had in a decade, a ray of hope for an expansion franchise that really hasn't done much to write home about in it’s relatively brief history, and, as a result, struggles to attract media attention and crowds to many of it’s home games.
ESPN’s Monday Night Football schedule has seriously been downgraded this year. We’ve seen some horrible match ups shoved from Sunday to Monday and, unfortunately, there are more to come this year. It’s a shame, because, once upon a time – until NBC started pulling giant numbers and, thus, big games on it’s outstanding Sunday Night Football series – this was the night for football in America, and the home to so many big games. Now it’s home to games like Monday night’s Jaguars vs. Ravens game, which might’ve been an ugly Ravens blowout, but was a close game and was ugly nonetheless.
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