Super Bowl XLII 1/2 is over and well, I guess it was everything we'd hoped for, except for the outcome. I had a friend over for the game and I told him that the final score was going to be 12-9, hmmm. The score was a little higher but not the huge explosion everyone was hoping for. At least the hapless Raiders didn't sell out their game against the Texans and I got to watch the game. Man, the Bay Area is the worst place to live if you're a sports fan. The professional sports teams here are absolutely the worst. There will be close to 10 NFL teams this year that will win more games on their own than the two local teams here will combined. All week being forced to listen to the hommies... man it's tough out here. Anyway, I could talk about how bad it is all day, so on to this past week's high's and low's.
HIGHS
My hometown Pittsburgh Steelers really worked over the Ravens Monday Night. 5 TD passes from Big Ben in the 1st half!!! You think they remembered what Baltimore did to them last year? Yeah, me too. The Steelers have solidified themselves as legit contenders after that performance. Look, I know Baltimore isn't what they used to be, but they've been in the Steelers collective head over the past couple of seasons, so from a mental perspective this win was huge. Now it looks like the Week 17 game in Baltimore might not even mean anything. Just a game to get our back-ups some quality playing time while our starters rest up. Hey, how about Santonio Holmes? When we traded up in the draft to get him I was so pissed!!! I thought we should have got LenDale White to replace the Bus in our running game. Then I talked with my friend, the OH KILLER, from Columbus, OH and he told me to calm down because the Steelers just got the best player in the draft that year. He said be patient, because this guy is one of the best receivers to come out of Ohio St in a long time. "Better than David Boston?" I said. "No Doubt." "Better than Joey Galloway?" "Easily." "Better than Terry Glenn?" "Absolutely." Do you get the idea? Yeah, this guy is something special.
The New Orleans Saints are back baby! After their dismantling of the Jaguars this past week their win streak now stands at 4 games. Check this out, they get St. Louis at home this week, then it's @Houston, @Carolina, vs. Tampa Bay, and @Atlanta. Yeah, road games are tough in the NFL, but not those road games. Drew Brees is firing on all cylinders and this team looks poised to go back to the playoffs after starting 0-4. It's the weak NFC and even weaker NFC South that will make happen. After what happened in New Orleans two years ago with the terrible hurricane, it makes me feel good when this team does good. The city deserves it. Probably my second favorite team, a very, very, very long distance behind the Steelers.
I've got to give some props to the Minnesota Vikings exposing the San Diego Chargers this past week. This guy Peterson is pretty good I guess. The single-game rushing record earns him that. I love what Minnesota did. Run the ball, stop the run. It's how the Steelers #1 ranked defense is built and the results speak for themselves.
LOWS
The Denver Broncos got smashed this week at the hands of the who?!? Yes, it's the Lions. This was easily the most enjoyable part of Sunday for me as I watched Mike Cryahan get worked over & over again. That's right, the Refs and the NFL couldn't save you this week. It's ashamed that Jay Cutler got hurt however. As much as I love a good Broncos beat down, I don't like it when players get hurt, well some players anyway and Cutler is one of them. I guess Cryahan will have to run more than 4 plays in their next game to try and overcome the drubbing they took at the expense of the Lions. I love it.
I think the Cincinnati Bengals are about to implode. What happened to this team? Does Chris Henry make that much of a difference? Probably not, but I'd say the offensive line has a lot to do with. That and the fact that their defense couldn't stop a mediocre college team right now. I thought Marvin Lewis was supposed to be a defensive guy? This team needs to get better quality people to play for their team. That should cut down on all the arrests and suspensions this team deals with. Sometimes you need to just cut ties and move on. Should they trade Chad Johnson after this season? Absolutely.
The San Francisco 49ers have to have the worst offense I've seen in a long time. I was subjected to watch that craptacular game this past week of the 49ers vs. the Falcons. Wow, what a disgrace. I feel sorry for ESPN this week for getting the 49ers vs. the Seahawks. Wait a minute no I'm not. ESPN gets everything that is coming to them.
Put Week 8 in the books NFL fans. This week I'll address some of the highs and the lows of professional football as seen through the eyes of an avid fan.
HIGHS
The Pittsburgh Steelers went on the road this week to Cincinnati and came away with a modest, yet solid victory over the Bengals. The Steeler DEF looked like their old selves again this week, surrendering only 1 TD later in the game after only giving up 6 points on two filed goals in the first half. The Steelers came out throwing again this week, which has been their calling card of late. This week however, after getting the lead, they resorted to Steeler football of old... pounding the ball in the second half with Willie Parker and Davenport. Except for a brain #### early in the third quarter, Big Ben looked polished and poised, showing why he is one of the best young quarterbacks in the league by connecting on two first half touchdown passes to Hines Ward, who finally looked fully recovered from a knee injury that held him out for a handful of games earlier in the season. It was a very important victory for Steeler nation, setting the stage for them to take a commanding lead in the division following this Monday Night's game at home against the Ravens and the Browns two Sundays from now, again at home.
The Green Bay Packers had more Monday Night heroics from icon legend Brett Favre as his overtime strike to Greg Jennings gave the Pack a road victory against the crying one's Broncos. Favre HAS to be considered or arguably the greatest QB in NFL history. I'm sorry fans of the old-time NFL; your league just doesn't match up to today's game. Now granted, Montana, Marino, Elway, Kelly; these guys were all great, but they also all had consistent great teams. Name a handful of players from the Packers over the last couple of years. If you’re an average fan of the NFL I bet you can't! So what if Favre owns the record for the most INT in a career. When you throw the ball as much as he does, it's bound to happen. His longevity alone ranks him in the NFL's all-time elites for the QB position, throw in numerous NFL passing records and you've made his case for the greatest. Now don't get me wrong, there are great QB's from every era that hold farm fuzzy spots in our hearts, but those guys that played in the 60's and earlier didn't have nearly the competition or the resources to compete with what the NFL puts on TV each week. Congratulations to you Brett Favre, greatest QB of all-time. If you ask John Madden I bet he'd say the same thing.
LOWS
There's no room in the NFL for running up the score. This profession is too proud to have this kind of thing happen. Now, I've said I'd never talk about certain teams in this blog, but this needs to be addressed. Insulting your opponent is the lowest of lows that a team can lay upon another in the NFL. It does a few things to cheapen the game. One, these athletes put too much of themselves into these games and their profession for this kind of thing to happen. I understand why you do it in college, to impress the pollsters, right? Not in the NFL. A win is a win is a win. Very rarely does circumstances arise that a tiebreaker of most points for needs to be implemented to determine playoff of draft pick slotting. It also does something to the players on the team that is running it up. It makes them targets. No one in the NFL will tell you that they purposefully tell a player to go out and hurt another one, but that's just what your asking for when you consistently run up the score. All it takes is for 1 defensive player to lose control of his emotions and take a cheap shot at an MVP QB's knees. Do you really think that defensive player cares about a 15yrd penalty or a meager $15,000 fine when the score is 42-0 at half time. News flash, they don't care! When the games out of reach, RUN THE BALL, kill the clock and get out of there with no injuries on either team and a victory, because no matter how points you score in one game, you still only get one win. How many points do you think your team will score a game with your MVP QB?
A quick note about the Broncos... I watched the 1st quarter of this past week's Monday Night game. It's unbelievable how many favorable calls the Broncos get in their games. I saw flags thrown on the Packers for doing less in this game than I've seen other teams NOT get flagged for in their games. Couple that with two prime-time games in a row at home. Your telling me the NFL doesn't want the Broncos to succeed? Whatever.
I am an avid Football Fan. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA how could one not be! I love my Steelers, but more, I love the game of Football. I moved to the Bay Area of California about six years ago and boy do I feel sorry for the sports fans who live here. I currently reside in San Ramon, CA with my lovely wife Kelly and our new son Dillon, future NFL quarterback.
