BroncoAV06
10-14-2008, 07:40 PM
Week 6 showed just how crazy football is. Week to week it is hard to predict what will happen and nothing is a given. Teams have to bring 100% into every game, be focused, and execute. As much as people hate them the 2007 Patriots 16-0 regular season is something to marvel at. Yes they had the close ones but every week there and got it done. This weekend a few teams expected to get it done and what happened? They failed.
-The lowly Rams went into Washington after a bye week in which they changed coaches, reinserted QB Marc Bulger into the line up, and above all had yet to win a game on the season. They withstood another top flight effort from Clinton Portis (21 car, 129 yds, 2 TD) and steeped up to keep Jason Campbell out of the end zone to find themselves in position to kick a game winning field goal! (The fumble return decided this game, more on that later) Which Josh Brown knocked right through, 19-17 Rams win. AP quote- Portis said the Redskins overlooked the Rams, who were supposed to be the first of three easy wins in the soft part of the schedule. "The headlines got good. The guys started high-fiving," Portis said. "We hadn't thought ahead all season long until this week. ... The previous four games, the focus was there."
-The surprising Atlanta Falcons, 3-2 on the season, overlooked still due to a young team lead by a rookie QB Matt Ryan were expected to just not have enough, Matt Ryan had yet to win a game and with the Bears defense going to take away Atlanta's bread and butter the run Ryan was in for a long day. Instead the Falcons battled all day, Ryan went 22-30 for 301 yards, 1 touchdown and no turnovers including a huge strike to Michael Jenkins along the sidelines with one second left to set up Jason Elam's 48 yard game winner. AP quote- "You have to play a full game," Orton said. "We didn't."
-Finally the Cleveland Browns. A horrible start with all the expectations placed on them before the season, five prime time games, playing the first one Monday night against the giant Giants who had just owned their opponents up to that point. Eli Manning building off his MVP Super Bowl performance and a defense that did not seem to know they were missing Osi and Strehan. Well the Browns offense woke up, Derek Anderson 310 yards, 2 TD, Edwards 5 rec, 154 yards, and 1 TD; along with the stat that stands out the most, the Browns did not punt all game! AP quote- "I threw three interceptions," Manning said. "That's unacceptable. That's not the way we win games. You're going to lose a game every once in a while, but we don't like the way we played. That's what's disappointing."
What this goes to show you as well is that the season is 17 weeks long for a reason. "You want to crown their asses then crown them," as said Dennis Green. The Giants season is not over, they will only look to get stronger. For the majority of NFL fans there is no reason to jump off the deep end just yet. I think it is pretty obvious who can jump (Detroit, Oakland, Cincy...) Another example of its not over the Denver Broncos. Yes the defense has yet again looked like Swiss cheese but with a 4-2 record and at least a taste of what the defense can do against Tampa, there is reason to be excited and look forward to the next game. Every week is not going to go the way everyone wants. It is almost impossible to be ready every week. But what you hope to see is your team in position to win the game, this week the Broncos were in position to win, unfortunately Brandon Marshall's effort failed with a fumble inside the 10. So enjoy the wins, hate the losses, but at the same time try to not sway to much in either direction early in the season. Its not a lot of fun if you go into every game ready to bash a defender once the game is over.
Back to the comment about the fumble by Redskins offensive line man Pete Kendell. I know it is so tempting to run with the football, your a big guy in the trenches that does not get the ball but there is a reason for that. If you see the football on the ground just fall on it, if the football ends up in your hands just go down, Marcus Thomas! Same goes for the secondary players that intercept the ball in the end zone, don't go looking for that 100 int return for a touchdown, it does not happen all that much. It kills me when a team steps up and picks off a pass into the end zone only for the defender to get greedy and run it out where in most cases he is promptly brought down inside the 10 yard line. So if in the end zone go down, if a D or an O is the first letter of your position go down with the football, it will be greatly appreciated by all.
-The lowly Rams went into Washington after a bye week in which they changed coaches, reinserted QB Marc Bulger into the line up, and above all had yet to win a game on the season. They withstood another top flight effort from Clinton Portis (21 car, 129 yds, 2 TD) and steeped up to keep Jason Campbell out of the end zone to find themselves in position to kick a game winning field goal! (The fumble return decided this game, more on that later) Which Josh Brown knocked right through, 19-17 Rams win. AP quote- Portis said the Redskins overlooked the Rams, who were supposed to be the first of three easy wins in the soft part of the schedule. "The headlines got good. The guys started high-fiving," Portis said. "We hadn't thought ahead all season long until this week. ... The previous four games, the focus was there."
-The surprising Atlanta Falcons, 3-2 on the season, overlooked still due to a young team lead by a rookie QB Matt Ryan were expected to just not have enough, Matt Ryan had yet to win a game and with the Bears defense going to take away Atlanta's bread and butter the run Ryan was in for a long day. Instead the Falcons battled all day, Ryan went 22-30 for 301 yards, 1 touchdown and no turnovers including a huge strike to Michael Jenkins along the sidelines with one second left to set up Jason Elam's 48 yard game winner. AP quote- "You have to play a full game," Orton said. "We didn't."
-Finally the Cleveland Browns. A horrible start with all the expectations placed on them before the season, five prime time games, playing the first one Monday night against the giant Giants who had just owned their opponents up to that point. Eli Manning building off his MVP Super Bowl performance and a defense that did not seem to know they were missing Osi and Strehan. Well the Browns offense woke up, Derek Anderson 310 yards, 2 TD, Edwards 5 rec, 154 yards, and 1 TD; along with the stat that stands out the most, the Browns did not punt all game! AP quote- "I threw three interceptions," Manning said. "That's unacceptable. That's not the way we win games. You're going to lose a game every once in a while, but we don't like the way we played. That's what's disappointing."
What this goes to show you as well is that the season is 17 weeks long for a reason. "You want to crown their asses then crown them," as said Dennis Green. The Giants season is not over, they will only look to get stronger. For the majority of NFL fans there is no reason to jump off the deep end just yet. I think it is pretty obvious who can jump (Detroit, Oakland, Cincy...) Another example of its not over the Denver Broncos. Yes the defense has yet again looked like Swiss cheese but with a 4-2 record and at least a taste of what the defense can do against Tampa, there is reason to be excited and look forward to the next game. Every week is not going to go the way everyone wants. It is almost impossible to be ready every week. But what you hope to see is your team in position to win the game, this week the Broncos were in position to win, unfortunately Brandon Marshall's effort failed with a fumble inside the 10. So enjoy the wins, hate the losses, but at the same time try to not sway to much in either direction early in the season. Its not a lot of fun if you go into every game ready to bash a defender once the game is over.
Back to the comment about the fumble by Redskins offensive line man Pete Kendell. I know it is so tempting to run with the football, your a big guy in the trenches that does not get the ball but there is a reason for that. If you see the football on the ground just fall on it, if the football ends up in your hands just go down, Marcus Thomas! Same goes for the secondary players that intercept the ball in the end zone, don't go looking for that 100 int return for a touchdown, it does not happen all that much. It kills me when a team steps up and picks off a pass into the end zone only for the defender to get greedy and run it out where in most cases he is promptly brought down inside the 10 yard line. So if in the end zone go down, if a D or an O is the first letter of your position go down with the football, it will be greatly appreciated by all.