Week 6 — Mon Oct 19 14:20:27 PDT 2009
From: Jeff
To: mnf@doobie.com
Date: Mon Oct 19 14:20:27 PDT 2009
Subject: It's Monday...
...and in an effort to keep disgruntled fans from hiding behind impromptu masks, Redskins owner Dan Snyder has banned paper bags from his stadium.
Yes ladies and gentlemen, it was another bad week for the Skins. For the fourth time this season, they lost to a team that hadn't yet won a game (0-0 Giants, 0-2 Detroit, 0-4 Carolina, and now 0-5 Kansas City). Yet again, the Redskins never really got their offense working. Jason Campbell was (finally) benched at halftime, but backup QB Todd Collins didn't fare much better out there. Fortunately, neither did coach Jim Zorn. As of last night, Zorn is no longer going to be calling offensive plays and coaching the offense. He hasn't (yet) been fired, but with this move, the Redskins head office is clearly showing the fans that Zorn's days are numbered. He is now more likely than Tom Cable to become the first coach fired in the 2009 season. Next week, the Skins host Philly on Monday night, and the Chiefs host San Diego.
And no, I'm not kidding about the no bags rule.
Tom Cable's Oakland Raiders welcomed the heavily favored Philadelphia Eagles to town, and inexplicably beat them 13-9 in a defense-filled slug fest. The Raiders' linebackers sacked Donovan McNabb six times, and seemed to get to him on almost every play (despite not really using the blitz in any previous game this season). Michael Vick played in one wildcat/spread play and lost four yards. JaMarcus Russell still threw two interceptions, but he also got a touchdown, and the Raiders secondary somehow managed to completely shut down the Eagles passing game (with a combination of blitzes and frequent use of a zone-based secondary). These formations are very uncommon for the Raiders, they seem to have moved to a different section of the playbook this week. This is the also the first time in three years that the opposing team has failed to score a touchdown against them, so perhaps they should keep looking at that section of the book. Next week, the Raiders host the Jets and the Eagles go to Washington.
The Jets got crushed at home against Buffalo. The final score was only 16-13, in overtime, but this is only because the Bills' offense is completely inept. The Jets' eight turnovers (including Mark Sanchez's five interceptions) should've been enough for the Bills to have put this one away before halftime, but Ryan Fitzpatrick's accuracy problems kept the score close (40% of his passes were incomplete). The morale of this story? You can not win ball games if you consistently give the other team the ball, even against a team as awful as Buffalo. Next week, the Jets come to Oakland and Buffalo goes to Charlotte.
“For those who have just tuned in expecting to see 60 minutes, you're instead seeing 60 points.”
The Patriots played at home in the snow, against the hapless Tennessee Titans. Tom Brady threw for five touchdowns in the second quarter, on the way to a 59-0 rout. Five. Those three Titans turnovers certainly helped a lot. The Patriots' offense gained a total of 619 yards (an average of eight yards per play). The truth is, this game was over before the coin toss, and it's most notable for the fact that Tom Brady's knee looks like it's finally feeling better. He's throwing accurate passes again (in the snow), going 29 of 24 for 380 yards in just over one half of play. It was a little surprising to see him on the field at all for the second half, but he played for the first drive and scored another touchdown, turning the 52-0 game over to reliever Brian Hoyer. Next week, the Pats continue with the easy part of their schedule, by going to Tampa Bay. The Titans take the week off.
The Vikings went to Baltimore and played what turned out to be the game of the week, pulling out a 33-31 victory. The game started off looking like a blowout, with the Vikings going up 14-0 early, and holding a 17 point lead well into the fourth quarter. But, in the final ten minutes of the game, Baltimore QB Joe Flacco started to engineer a comeback that looked downright Favre-ian. Baltimore took a one point lead, with under four minutes to go. It almost worked. The Vikings were held to a field goal, putting them up by two points. The Ravens got the ball back with a minute to go. They quickly moved the ball down the field, setting up a 44 yard kick for Steve Hauschka. With time running out, Hauschika missed the kick. The Vikings are 6-0, comfortably in control of the NFC North.
Which brings us to the playoffs.
Yes, really. At this point in the season, it's already pretty possible to make some playoff predictions.
Probably getting in: Vikings, Giants, Saints, Broncos, Colts
Realistically hoping to get in: Patriots, Steelers, Bengals, Falcons
Already out of the running: Lions, Buccaneers, Rams, Titans, Browns.
Fooling Themselves: Bills, Raiders, Seahawks, Redskins
For a number of years, the NFL strived for parity, where 1/3 of the league wasn't eliminated by week six. This season, it doesn't seem to be working. The good teams have established themselves (four are undefeated, two more have only lost one game). The bad teams have established themselves (three are winless, two more have only beaten the Redskins). Sure, every Sunday brings a new bunch of surprises (Oakland beating Philly, Houston beating the Bengals, St. Louis beating anyone), but week-over-week, the good teams just seem to be getting better, and the bad teams just seem to be getting worse.
And that brings us to tonight's game...
The Game
Tonight the 5-0 Denver Broncos go to San Diego to take on the 2-2 Chargers, in a game that's more meaningful than would appear at first glance. Last season, the Chargers snuck into the playoffs, by winning four games in a row, including beating Denver in the final week of the season (the Broncos third straight loss, and the culmination of an epic meltdown).
Qualcomm stadium is owned by the City of San Diego, and is the home field for both the Chargers and the San Diego State Aztecs. It was built in 1967 as Jack Murphy stadium, making it the fourth oldest stadium in use by the NFL. The field itself is a Tifway 419 sod, first installed in 2002 by West Coast Turf.
The Line
The Chargers are favored by three and a half. The over/under is 44.
Last week, the Smart Money went 1-1, it is now 8-3 for the season, representing a 38.8% ROI. In the same timeframe, the S&P 500 has gone up 5.8% and the US Dollar has gone down 2.7%. This week, the Smart Money takes Denver and the Over.
The Bar
How many bars claim to have the best wings in town?
Kezar Pub & Restaurant
770 Stanyan, between Waller and Beulah
Steps from the 7 and 71 busses
Within two blocks of the N, 33, 43, 37 and 6
Be aware that the Dodgers/Phillies game starts at 5:00... if you can sneak out of work early, you should.
Kickoff is at 5:30. See you there?