Week 7 — 25 Oct 2004

From: Jeff
To: mnf@fat.doobie.com
Subject: It's Monday...

...and boy, is it chilly outside. Perhaps it's because Miami finally won a game. Or maybe because the Chiefs scored 56 points against the Falcons.

I didn't actually watch any games yesterday (yes, I know, amazing), because I was in DC this weekend, in transit most of Sunday, and apparently, I only thought that I'd correctly set the tivo.

So, I'm cribbing from the sports writers and the highlights from ESPN last night.

We all knew that there was going to be one less undefeated team in the league this week. As it turns out, that team is the Jets. In what must've been an outstanding show of defensive force, the Patriots managed to keep their streak alive.

Between that and the Sox, I'll bet it's cold in Boston, too.

The Eagles probably should've had an easy time with the Browns (and I listened to most of the first half of this game in my rental car)... but they managed to pull it out with a 50 yard field goal, 3/4 of the way through OT. So they're still undefeated. And T.O. should get fined for ripping down a fan's banner.

So, where does that leave us, 7 weeks into the 16 week season?

We've got two undefeated teams. (Patriots, Eagles)

6 of 8 divisions have a team that's 5-1 or 5-2. (Vikings, Falcons, Jets, Steelers(!), Jaguars, Broncos).

The NFC West is led by the St. Louis Rams, at 4-2. Seattle, at 3-3, is not out of the picture (though if they were in any other division, they would be well on their way.)

Nine of the above 10 teams will probably make the playoffs (and the Jets probably will take one wild card). But try to guess the other three spots? Not a chance.

Five teams are 1-6 or 1-5. (Dolphins, Bills, 49ers, Panthers, Bears). At this point, these folks are just playing for the draft picks (and Miami is playing for the coach's future... apparently something common in Florida these days[1])

Needless to say, it's a lot better to be 2-4 at the end of this week than 1-5. There aren't any 2-4 teams in the draft pick list.

Which brings us to tonights game.

Tonight the 5-1 Denver Broncos go to Cincinnati to take on _1-4_ Bengals.

I wish that I could say that this is likely to be an exciting one, but it isn't. Denver has one of the best running games in the league, even without Clinton Portis. The Bengals have one of the worst run defenses. Expect to see Broncos running and running and running....

But that's not to say that there aren't a lot of other things going on. Champ Bailey (former Redskin cornerback) will be covering Chad Johnson (a spectacular, if a little too quotable, rookie wide receiver) all night. Champ's the better player, but Chad's going to beat him at least once or twice. The bengals haven't had to play a strong running team this year, and have generally been putting only 7 or 8 guys on the runners. Tonight, they'll probably use 9, even bringing the safties into the center of the field.

And for some reason, more than one sports writer thinks that the Bengals actually have a chance to win this game (even if the bookies don't). So maybe there's something else going on.

It has been 12 years since the Bengals last appeared on MNF. Expect to hear this a lot during the introduction.

The Game: Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals in Paul Brown Stadium... outdoor, with FieldTurf fake grass (they tried one season to grow the real stuff, but it just didn't work)

The line:

Denver is favored by 7.5 The over/Under is 44

Last week, the smart money went 1-1, it is now 3-4. This week, the smart money takes Denver.

The Bar: (Last week, the Riptide was recommended. It's a 46th and Taraval, which is a bit far for this road-weary guy to travel this week, we'll do it another time.)

Beale Street Bar and Grill. 133 Beale Street near Mission. with the biggest burgers in town. (and there used to be free hot dogs on mondays, too)

They're less than a block from the Trans-Bay terminal, so essentially all Market street busses will take you there. The Embarcadero station is less than two blocks away.

Kickoff is a few minutes after 6:00. See you there?

-Jeff

[1] Ron Zook, the coach of the University of Florida football team, got fired this weekend after an embarrasing loss to Mississippi state. The Florida Gators were favored by 24 points.

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