Well, the lights have gone out on the Philadelphia Eagles season, and it might be lights out for Andy Reid, too. It's been a spectacular fall for a team expected/predicted to be the class of the NFC this year, with Vick, Maclin, McCoy and co. on offense and a defense bulked up with the addition of Rodgers-Cromartie and Asomugha. Now, they're 4-7 and will be lucky to finish at .500 by the end of the season. The Eagles were 10-0 up against New England on Sunday, and were outscored 38-10 by Brady and the Pats, for a 38-20 loss. Michael Vick's return can't come quickly enough for Philadelphia, not that he's exactly lit up the league this year.
Ndamukong Suh did nothing to shake the league-wide belief that he's one of the dirtiest players in football with his antics on Thanksgiving Day in Detroit. Of all places to get ejected, he's chosen a nationally-televised game on one of the biggest football days on the calendar, against an undefeated team - the defending Super Bowl championships - with the Commissioner watching. Suh will definitely be suspended two or three games for the stomp, but being the best player, arguably, on the Lions defense, his ejection was a definite turning point. Bad image for Detroit to portray in their showcase game.
The only team that's going to beat the Green Bay Packers are themselves. They are a brilliant football team, and I can only think that a defensive or special teams lapse could be their undoing. Other than that, they'll go through the regular season undefeated and be in the same position that New England were heading into the 2007-08 playoffs. It's one thing to go unbeaten through the regular season, and another entirely to carry that through the month of January and make it to a Super Bowl and win it, with the weight of pressure that they'll be labouring under by then. This is a good football team, but so were the Patriots, and maybe, just maybe, it was so much external pressure that became their undoing.
Changes need to be made in San Diego. Philip Rivers is throwing picks like it's going out of fashion and the Chargers are on a six-game losing streak, after an OT loss to Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos, 16-13. This is less about Tebow and more about the giant fall that the Chargers have made, from perennial AFC contenders to a team who'll struggle to make .500 this year and are off the pace even in the AFC West. If ever there's a coach on the hot seat, it's Norv Turner in San Diego. Another loss or two, and he might not even last the season.
Tim Tebow is 5-1 as starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos but that doesn't make him legit in my eyes. Sure, the win-loss record is impressive, but specifically whether he could win games was not the issue. The issue is/was, is Tim Tebow an NFL quarterback. At the moment, no, not in the best and true sense of the word. Still, this is an impressive streak and it makes you wonder what Denver might do in the upcoming draft. Do they stick with Tebow and not draft someone like Brandon Weeden, Robert Griffin III or Matt Barkley? Tough choice for John Elway, and not one I'd want to be making.
Horrible luck for the Houston Texans. They've suffered a rash of injuries all season, and this week have lost back-up QB Matt Leinart after losing starting QB Matt Schaub last time out. Now the Texans, serious AFC contenders at 8-3, turn to rookie signal caller TJ Yates from the University of North Carolina, to see them through. Just as well the Texans have a monster defense, a seriously good running game - maybe the best one-two in the league - and a guy like Andre Johnson, who only needs the football delivered vaguely in the same ZIP code area for him to go up and bring the football down.
Ridiculous post-TD celebration by Buffalo's Stevie Johnson. He imitated Plaxico Burress shooting himself. For a moment I caught myself laughing, but then wondered why. It was just a dumb thing to do. I don't agree with the NFL cracking down on celebrations, group-oriented or otherwise, there are better celebrations to be enjoyed than the crap Johnson came out with. I'm all for creativity, but that was just dumb. The ensuing 15 yard penalty gave the Jets a handy short field, from which they scored to win the game. Karma?
Little doubt that the Packers are the best team in the NFC, but the New Orleans Saints are the second-best, and I'll be very surprised if we don't see the Saints and the Pack, Brees vs. Rodgers, for the NFC Championship Game. The way they sliced through my Giants was horrible but in a strange way, it was also very impressive. The San Diego Chargers must be really kicking themselves - severely and weekly - for letting Drew Brees go!
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