Week 10 — Mon, 14 Nov 2005
From: Jeff
To: mnf@doobie.com
Subject: It's Monday...
...and what happened to the bad teams in the NFL?
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this was a week of upsets, surprises,
quarterback breakdowns, and some truly dreadful officiating. And some
awful teams won some games. It must be week 10.
The Indianapolis Colts bandwagon continues to roll, and the Undefeated
word keeps getting thrown around more and more. The reality is, the
Colts won't go 16-0, if only because they're going to start resting
their starting lineup once they've made the playoffs (do you really
think Peyton Manning will be on the field on Jan 1st vs Arizona?). This
week, the Colts beat Houston 31-17, in one of the least watched games on
TV. Houston is now all alone at 1-8, and their scouts have started
looking for their draft picks.
The New York Giants are trying hard to hang onto first place in the NFC
East, but if Eli Manning keeps playing like he did yesterday, he's going
to find himself getting traded. Somehow, the Minnesota Vikings went to
New York, had their worst offensive performance this year (moving the
ball just 137 yards in four quarters), missed two field goals, and still
managed to beat the Giants 24-21. How did this happen? Do you think
that Manning's four interceptions might have something to do with it?
Or was it Special Teams, who gave up a touchdown on a kickoff return and
a punt return.
Since the Giants lost in one of the early games, it opened the door for
the Redskins to take first place in the NFC East, by beating Tampa Bay
in their 1:00 game... and it almost happened. In one of the most
exciting games of the year, the two teams lit up the scoreboard pretty
much all day, and ultimately, the entire game came down to one play.
With 58 seconds on the clock, Tampa Bay scores a touchdown, bringing the
game to 35-34. The teams line up for the extra point, and you can see
that the 'skins have stacked up the left side of the line -- they're
going for the block. And they got what appeared to be the game-winning
block, causing the Redskins' bench to erupt. But what's that yellow
hankie doing on the field?
Yes, according to the line judge, the Redskins were offside, which
certainly would make that block easier. (I replayed this play dozens of
times on the Tivo -- the skins _weren't_ offside. The player that was
flagged was running full-speed towards the line of scrimmage when the
ball was snapped, but he hadn't yet crossed it. This was one of several
blatantly poor calls or non-calls by the officials in Tampa, those guys
better get reprimanded by their head office this week.) Due to the
penalty, the ball was moved to between the 1 and 2 yard lines. From
there, Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden showed the stadium that he's got the
biggest cojones in the league. Not content to take the game to
overtime, he sends the offense back onto the field for the two-point
conversion -- which Mike Alstott got. Barely. If the Redskins end up
finishing the year one game out of the playoffs, it'll be because of
that penalty.
The New England Patriots, fresh off of last week's debacle, managed to
knock off Miami 23-16, with a fourth quarter touchdown drive that should
look familiar to anyone who's watched Tom Brady play. The Patriots are
thanking their lucky stars that they play in the AFC East, where a 5-4
record is good enough for first place.
Seattle beat St. Louis 31-16, to pretty much lock in their position as
leader of the NFC West. I mentioned this game last week as being a
bellweather game for that division, and seeing the Seahawks dispatch the
Rams for the second time this year makes it clear who's going to win
this division. Because the Seahawks will win any tiebreaker involving
these two teams, they've essentially got a four game lead. With 7 games
left in the season, their postseason position is virtually guaranteed.
And did you notice what happened in Atlanta? Struggling Green Bay went
down there and put a beatdown on the heavily overrated Michael Vick and
the Falcons. 23 year old running back Samkon Gado, who was unemployed
and considering medical school just three weeks ago, ran for 103 yards
and three touchdowns in the Packers 33-25 defeat of the Falcons.
Compare that to Vick's three fumbles (of six overall for the Falcons),
and you've pretty much got the story of the game. This knocks the
Falcons to 6-3, tied with Tampa Bay for second place behind 7-2 Carolina
in the NFC South. Watch this division closely, it's about to get really
interesting again. Almost as interesting as the NFC East.
Which brings us to tonight's game.
Tonight, we've got a serious NFC East battle lined up when the 5-3
Dallas Cowboys go to Philadelphia to take on the thankfully TO-less 4-4
agles on the DD-GrassMaster hybrid Lincoln Financial Field. By now,
you're familiar with the GrassMaster system -- polypropylene blades of
fake grass carefully interspersed among the natural bluegrass and rye.
Lincoln Financial is the newest stadium in the NFL, built in 2003 to
replace Veterans Stadium, longtime holder of the "worst stadium in the
league" title, not just for turf, but for bathroom facilities,
sightlines, parking lots, press booth -- virtually everything. This
stadium is a huge step up.
This game means a lot to both teams. For the Eagles, it's an
opportunity to show that they can win without TO -- a loss tonight would
effectively kill any remaining momentum that they have, and bury them at
the bottom of the division. For the Cowboys, it's an opportunity to go
into first place in the NFC East. With a win tonight, Dallas would be
tied with the Giants for first. If Dallas loses, then Dallas, Philly
and Washington would all be tied at 5-4, one game behind the 6-3 Giants.
These teams are decent, they're playing in a very competitive division,
and both of them will show up with everything they've got. It should be
a good game.
The Line:
The Eagles are favored by three. The over/under is a mere 40.
Last week, both teams left their defense at home, and the smart money
went 1-1. It goes to 6-11. This week, it takes the over unless it's
raining 5 minutes before kickoff, and holds its nose and takes Dallas +3
rain or shine.
The smart money would like to see the Eagles win in a shootout, but not
cover the spread.
The Bar:
Tonight, another new one!
The Holding Company
2 Embarcadero Center (on Clay, between Front and Davis)
They're on the "P" level, across from Chevys.
A short walk from the Embarcadero Station.
Steps from the 1, 41, 15 and 10 busses.
Kickoff is at 6:00.
See you there?