Week 5 — Mon, 8 Oct 2007
From: JeffTo: mnf@doobie.com
Subject: It's Monday...
...and did someone wake up the San Diego Chargers?
Yes, this week, the Chargers went to Denver, and pretty much had the game in hand by the middle of the first quarter. After scoring an early touchdown, San Diego kicked off to the Broncos, and then almost immediately forced a fumble on the kickoff return. The Chargers recovered, scored, and kicked off again. That pretty much set the momentum for the entire game -- a 41-3 rout, and the worst loss that the Broncos have suffered at home since a 1966 loss to the Chiefs 56-10. Thanks to the Denver loss and the Chiefs loss, the Oakland Raiders have taken possession of first place in the AFC West -- and they didn't even play this week. The 2-3 Chargers come to Oakland to take on the first-place Raiders next week. 2-3 Denver has a week off, to think about what three straight losses might do to the rest of their season.
The clip that you're seeing over and over again this week is from the Miami/Houston game. Miami QB Trent Green threw a (low, but legal) block on 300+ pound defensive lineman Travis Johnson. Johnson's knee slammed into the side of Green's helmet, knocking the quarterback out cold. Then, Travis Johnson had the audacity to start yelling at an unconscious player (drawing a well-earned 15 yard yellow hankie) -- given the potential severity of such an injury, it was easily one of the worst displays on the field this year. Not content to only make an ass of himself on the field, Johnson continued to berate Trent Green after the game, complaining that the block was a cheap shot, that a lineman's knee is more valuable than a quarterback's head, and that Trent Green revealed what kind of man he is. Um... right. I expect that Johnson will be writing a penalty check to the NFL this week, though he probably won't miss any games.
It's unfortunate that that will be what's memorable about the game, because it was one of the more interesting ones of the week. Ultimately, Texan kicker Kris Brown's foot won the game this time. He kicked five field goals, three of which were longer than 50 yards (this ties an NFL record). The game-winner, with one second on the clock, was a huge 57 yarder, that put the Texans on top 22-19. Miami falls to 0-5, and they go to Cleveland next week. Houston goes to 3-2, which puts them in last place in the AFC South. They're headed to Jacksonville.
St. Louis continues to stink up the Edward Jones Dome, this week falling to the Arizona Cardinals 34-31 (who used to play in the same Dome) Both teams were using backup quarterbacks, but Cardinal Kurt Warner (that would be the same Warner that took the Rams to the super bowl in 2000) played a good game, while Ram Gus Ferrotte played his usual breed of crap football (Three interceptions, Gus?). The fact that the Cardinals only won by three is still something of a mystery. Arizona is now 3-2 and holds first place in the NFC West (!!). They welcome Carolina to Phoenix next year. St. Louis falls to a dreadful 0-5, and goes to Baltimore.
Also holding down the bottom are the New Orleans Saints. This week the Saints squandered a 13-6 lead in the fourth quarter to lose to the Panthers 16-13. Over the course of the game, the Saints missed a field goal, had another one blocked, dropped lots of passes, and generally played very poorly. Saints Quarterback Drew Brees was looking a little better out there, but not good enough. The Saints are now 0-4, which more or less takes them out of playoff contention -- and lots of people thought they might be Super Bowl worthy this year. Next week, they play in Seattle. The Panthers go to 3-2 and are headed to Phoenix.
And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Brett Favre tied another record this week during a 27-20 loss to the (awful) Chicago Bears. His second interception of the night (which came on a last second hail mary) was sufficient to tie the Career Interceptions mark formerly held by George Blanda. Next week, he'll throw number 278 (probably to Sean Springs), and he'll have the record all to himself. The game itself should've been a mismatch, and for the first half it was... but the Bears came out of the locker room and outscored the Pack 20-3 for the half, which sealed the game. Next week, the 4-1 Packers host the 3-1 Redskins, and the Bears host the 1-3 Vikings.
And then there's tonight's game.
Tonight, we have another mismatch, as the 4-0 Dallas Cowboys go to Buffalo to take on the 1-3 Bills. Sadly, Dallas might have the best offense in the league right now, and the Bills aren't looking very good (last week's defeat of the Jets was sort of the exception), so this isn't likely to be a very pretty game.
The Line:
Last week, the smart money won. It is now 3-1, which represents a
43% return on investment. Over the same time, the S&P 500 has gained 5.16%
This week, the Cowboys are favored by 10. The over/under is 45. The smart money takes the Cowboys -- as painful as that is.
The Bar:
Again, a return to an old favorite which is from another era, complete with
mirrors and ferns. Yep... we're going to Yancys!
Yancy's Saloon
734 Irving, near 9th Ave.
Steps from the N.
Kickoff is at 5:30. Sadly I'm across the country, so I won't see you there, but I do hope that you go and enjoy yourselves