Week 5 — Mon Oct 10 13:55:00 PDT 2011
From: Jeff
To: mnf@doobie.com
Date: Mon Oct 10 13:55:00 PDT 2011
Subject: It's Monday...
...and a moment of silence hardly seems appropriate, no?
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the NFL lost perennial provocateur Al Davis over the weekend. This is a guy who stood up and screamed about the things he believed in, even when that made him unpopular or look insane. Al Davis was a lot of things, but silent was not one of them.
Despite his recent history of being the guy who hired Jason Campbell,
JaMarcus Russell, Lane Kiffin, Art Shell (twice), and using a
first-round draft pick to choose a kicker in 2000, Davis was a skilled
coach/general manager/commissioner/owner who played a vital role in
shaping the modern NFL, started the careers of quite a few coaches
(John Madden, Jim Harbaugh, Mike Shanahan), and brought a lot of color to the league in more ways than one. He hired a black quarterback... in 1968. He refused to play a 1962 preseason game in (still segregated) Alabama. He hired the first black coach, the first Mexican coach, and the first (and still the only) female CEO in the NFL. He filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL in the 80s (which he won, allowing him to move the team to LA -- where he stayed just long enough to spite the league, before moving it back to its rightful home). He stood with the USFL in their lawsuits against the NFL. Heck, when he was the commissioner of the AFL back in the 60s, he fought tooth and nail to prevent the AFL/NFL merger that lead to the Super Bowl era... an era that has seen the Raiders play in the Super Bowl five times (most recently in 2002), winning four of them. This is not a silent sort of dude.
If there's an afterlife, Mr. Davis has been up there for the last two days, dick in hand, taking a leak on Jerry Jones' Cowboys Stadium. How's the weather been in Dallas, anyway? I hear that baseball players won't take the field if it's pissing down rain.
This week, the Raiders went to Houston and stunned the Texans 25-20. All day long, the Texans dominated the Raiders, beating them in every statistic except the one that mattered ("Just win, baby!"). Somehow, Oakland stayed in the game throughout, benefiting from crucial turnovers, long kicks, and pulling off a fake punt in the fourth quarter that may have come from Al Davis's own playbook. The game ended on a Matt Schaub interception in the end zone, pulled in by free safety Michael Huff... a player who went from starter to benchwarmer and back to starter over the last 7 years with the silver and black -- most teams would've traded or waived him a few years ago, but not this one. Oh, and that kicker who was drafted in the first round back in 2000? Yeah, That's Sebastian Janikowski, who is still playing, and is still a Raider. This week he booted field goals from 55, 54, 50 and 42 yards out (three 50+ yarders in a game ties the NFL record) -- with 11 years of hindsight, that draft pick doesn't seem so insane after all, does it?
The Raiders are 3-2, one game behind the 4-1 Chargers in the NFC West. The Texans are 3-2 and are easily the best team in the AFC South (though they're tied with Tennessee for first).
On the topic of insane draft picks, a funny thing happened in Denver this week. Tim Tebow played football against the San Diego Chargers. Down 23-10 at the half, with starter Kyle Orton continuing to struggle, the Denver coaching staff decided to give Tebow a try. Whether this was because the coaches actually thought he could win, or to show the home-team crowd that Tim is not a good quarterback under pressure remains to be seen. Tebow took the field. Turns out, his off-target passing technique is good for the highlight reels -- he throws balls that are almost catchable, and the acrobatic antics of his receiving core as they make a valiant attempt to pull them in are sure to end up on Football Follies volume #197 -- but he's still just not a terribly good quarterback. At the end of the day, he'd thrown 10 passes, completed four of them (two for no gain or negative gain), run six times, and racked up 79 yards of offense. The game ended 29-24 Chargers, on a jump-ball play in the end zone. In Denver, this is apparently enough to give the crowd some hope... if only because Kyle Orton is so hopeless.
The Broncos are 1-4, which they should be pretty used to by now, considering the 12-20 record that Josh McDaniels earned in the last two seasons with Orton. The Chargers are 4-1 and on top of the AFC West. This is also a position that the Chargers should be used to, as it sets the stage for a classic late-season meltdown.
The 1992 USA Olympic Mens Basketball team is suing the Philadelphia Eagles, because Michael Vick and his team of highly-paid, poorly performing players continue to sully the name "Dream Team". This week, it was Buffalo's turn to roll over the Eagles 31-24. This loss belongs to the Eagles' offensive line and Michael Vick. The Bills were able to pressure Vick all day long, which (as usual) led him to make very poor decisions, usually involving throwing the ball to a Buffalo player (he had four interceptions). He was only sacked once, but he was hurried or knocked down on nearly half of the passing plays he had. This has always been a problem with Vick -- when his pocket collapses or he has to think on his feet, he doesn't have the capacity to play smart football. He won't take the sack, even when he should. He'll either try to scramble and take a bone-jarring hit (then complain about it), or try to make a play out of nothing, by throwing the ball up for grabs or forgetting about the clock. Sometimes, it works. Usually, it doesn't. The Buffalo defense knew this, and played him perfectly -- blitzing just enough to keep him off-balance, but keeping cornerbacks and safeties in the areas where he was likely to toss up a prayer. You can bet that next week's game in Washington (an in-conference team whose defense is known for unusual formations and blitzes from strange positions) is going to be a fun one to watch.
Philly is 1-4 and remains a the bottom of the NFC East (if it weren't for the 0-4 Rams, the Eagles would be at the bottom of the NFC). Buffalo is 4-1, and tied with the Patriots at the top of the AFC East.
Carolina's Cam Newton threw one interception and gave up one fumble in New Orleans, on the way to a 30-27 loss. Cam is getting better at holding onto the ball, but he's not getting much more accurate in his passing. This week he went 16/31 for 224 yards, and even briefly held the lead midway through the fourth quarter... before watching veteran Drew Brees slice up the Carolina defense while eating up the clock, finally leading to a game winning touchdown with 50 seconds left. There are worse players to be schooled by.
Carolina is 1-4, which is not bad for a rebuilding team with their schedule and personnel (though Panthers fans would disagree). They may be the best 1-4 team in the league. New Orleans is 4-1, and sitting on top of the NFC South.
Our own San Francisco 49ers routed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48-3. Forty Eight to Three... against a Tampa Bay team that's actually pretty good. This year was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the niners, what with the new GM, new coach, and all of these young players. Instead, it's turned into a year where their 4-1 record is enough to put them at the top of the NFC west, with a two-game cushion over the Seahawks (who beat the NY Giants this weekend). Ssshhhh. Don't tell anyone. We still want the other teams to assume that coming to SF means an easy win.
Tampa Bay falls to 3-2, one game behind the Saints in the NFC South.
The Green Bay / Atlanta game was a better game than the 25-14 final score would let on. The Falcons came out and put up 14 points early, and then held the Packers to just two field goals by halftime. But the Packers made some adjustments in the locker room, and not only did they come up with 19 additional points, their defense completely shut down Matt Ryan and the Falcons' receiving corps -- picking him off twice, and holding him to 167 yards in the air for the night.
Atlanta falls to 2-3. The win brings Green Bay to 5-0... the only 5-0 team in the NFL at the moment.
Which brings us to tonight's game...
The Game
=== =====
Tonight the 4-0, undefeated Detroit Lions host the 2-2 Chicago Bears on the FieldTurf topped surface of Ford Field. The turf in Detroit has one very unusual characteristic -- it's placed on top of a cushioning base made of recalled Firestone Tires chopped into tiny pieces. There's still no proof that New Jersey's "construction" workers buried Jimmy Hoffa under Giants Stadium, but in Detroit they made a point of burying evidence of the unsafe combination of Ford Explorers and Firestone 15" tires. The players seem to like it, though... it's considered the best FieldTurf installation in the NFL.
This is a game that means a lot to Detroit. This is the first time that Monday Night Football has come to Detroit since 2001 (so it's the first time it's been an ESPN truck, instead of an ABC truck) Plus, with a win, they can remain undefeated, and they can wipe out some of the stink of last season. You see, the last time that the Lions lost a game was December 5, 2010, at home, against the Chicago Bears. This is something of a rematch, in front of a rare national audience (outside of Thanksgiving, anyway).
The Line
=== =====
The Lions are favored by seven. The over/under is 47.5.
Last week, the Smart Money won. It is now 4-3 for the season, for a ROI of 9.1%. Over the same time, the S&P 500 has lost 0.6%.
This week, the line has moved by a full point, so the Smart Money takes Chicago and the under (though I think Detroit is going to win, the movement of the line suggests that you bet the other way).
The Bar
=== ====
We have a life-long Lions fan in our midst, and I asked him to pick the bar tonight. He chose a good one:
Public House
24 Willie Mays Plaza (3rd and King Streets)
Steps from the N, K/T, Caltrain, 47, 45, 10, and 30 busses
This is Traci Des Jardins' take on pub grub, and is probably her most approachable menu.
Kickoff is at 5:30. See you there?