Ram Nation's NFL Power View
By Rams Nation's Mike Franke
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The Pats move into the top slot on the strength of six straight
wins and a head-up win over Tennessee. They have held 4 of their last 5
opponents under 14 points. Rodney Harrison and company give New England
the hardest-hitting secondary in the NFL. Harder to gain yards when a defense
really makes you pay for them |
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Though it wasn’t pretty, Tennessee’s win over the Jagwires
was their fifth straight and propels them past the Chiefs for #2. Their
run defense slipped up and gave up 126 yards Sunday, but it still leads
the NFL with just 78.8 ypg. But how much will Jevon Kearse’s latest
ankle injury affect him and the defense? |
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Priest Holmes had 61 yards on just 16 rushing attempts, and had just 20
total touches in the Chiefs’ first loss of the season. That’s
a good 5 touches below his season’s average, so why isn’t Dick
Vermeil getting more heat for not getting the ball to his best player enough?
Probably because it’s his first loss, but still… |
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The scary thing about the Eggles is that those black jerseys actually
look good. Another scary thing is the big comeback Donovan McNabb is making.
He had his second 300-yard passing game in three weeks Sunday, and he’s
got his running game going in time for a late run at MVP. |
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If you think the Panthers could be #1, you’ve got a point. Their
defense is right there with New England’s or Tennessee’s. Kansas
City is the only team above them even in Carolina’s class in the running
game, and Jake Delhomme cut loose for 300+ yards Sunday after rallying the
Panthers to a win the week before. |
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Peyton Manning threw for a whopping 401 yards against the Jets, and more
impressive, he did it with Marvin Harrison on the sidelines. Peyton deserves
a lot more MVP talk than he’s been getting. |
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After Kurt Warner politely declined a job offer at halftime, Marc Bulger
picked up his play a little bit, and Marshall Faulk started to get going,
so the Ram offensive engine may be hitting on most cylinders again when
the Rams meet up with the Big Dead next week. With the number of scores
the worthless Ram special teams give up, the offense had better be clicking. |
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The Seahawks had 35 points at halftime against the Lions, but scoring
against the Ravens in Baltimore should be quite a bit harder. And since
losing Norman Hand with a torn bicep, they’ve given up 105, 137 and
81 yards to bottom-dwelling rushing offenses (Steelers, Redskins, and Lions,
who only ran 17 times vs. 48 passes in a blowout loss). So lick those chops,
Jamal Lewis. |
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Even though it looked bad on the old Denver Broncos, and worse on the
Browns a few weeks ago, the Dolphins are rolling out in “alternate”
orange jerseys Sunday night, so their offense will be uglier than ever.
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The bye week came at the perfect time for the Broncos. Jake Plummer got
healthy and threw for 3 TDs, and a rested defense, #2 in the league overall,
hassled Doug Flutie into 4 turnovers and held LaDainian Tomlinson to 29
yards. |
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Quincy Carter’s struggled even more than Marc Bulger lately. Over
the last four games, he’s got a QB rating around 50, throwing 7 picks
vs. 2 TD’s. The Cowboys have just 31 points the last 4 games, including
two shutouts. The Cowboys certainly aren’t Super Bowl material with
their mistake-filled offense. |
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Terrell Owens had a big night against Pittsburgh, with a 61-yard TD, great
blocking on a long Kevin Barlow TD, and whining like a big baby to Lisa
Guerrero after the game. His team just got its foot back in the playoff
door, but T.O.’s only thoughts are about himself, how the media wants
to run him out of town and how he’ll gladly play somewhere else in
’04 because the 49ers don’t want him. Loser. |
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What do you know, Jim Haslett must be a reader here. Deuce McAllister
got 2 rushing TDs and 237 total yards in the Saints’ win over Atlanta.
Might have been player of the week if not for lost two fumbles. It was Deuce’s
7th-straight 100-yard rushing game. He can carry this team to the playoffs. |
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Anyone else getting really tired already of hearing about Brett Favre’s
thumb? The Packers have been Ahman Green’s team all season anyway.
Green, Najeh Davenport and Tony Fisher pounded the Buc defense for 190 yards
Sunday to survive a poor 13-for-26, 92-yard game from Favre. |
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Yes, indeed, say hello to the first-place Bengals, the cockiest 5-5 team
in NFL history, and who wouldn’t be cocky after putting the first
dent in the (formerly) undefeated Chiefs’ armor? Will Chad Johnson
guarantee a win over San Diego next week? (Does he have to?) |
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Seeing how the Ravens cannot pass the ball at all (112 yards for Anthony Wright against Miami), Jamal Lewis had better put his recent fumbling problem
(3 in 2 weeks) behind him in a hurry. |
HALFTIME
Player of the week: Chad Clifton of the Packers. Returning
to the scene of the near-crime where he was put in the hospital by a vicious
blindside block from Warren Sapp on an interception return, the Green Bay tackle
held Simeon Rice sackless and the Packer line ended Tampa Bay’s over-cited
games-with-a-sack streak at 69 en route to a 20-13 win. Clifton definitely deserved
redemption after all he had been through.
Ram of the week: Jeff Wilkins, who won a game for the second
straight week with 4th-quarter FGs, and who this week made a game-saving tackle
on a late kickoff return. Wilkins may be the best tackling kicker in the NFL,
good for him, but a lousy thing to have to find out about your kicker. (If I had
remembered to start this award last week, it would have gone to Brian Young for
recovering 3 fumbles.)
Game of the week: Colts 38, Jets 31. This game had something for everyone: kickoff
return TDs, fake FG TDs, long TD passes, a 400-yard passer (Manning), a perfect
QB rating passer (Chad Pennington), and a 100-yard rusher (Edgerrin James). Fast-break
football at its finest.
Misleading stats of the week: The Colts’ time of possession
Sunday was roughly 39 minutes to 21 for the Jets. Indy ran 77 total plays to the
Jets’ 34 and converted 30 first downs to the Jets’ 12. And they only
won the game by 7 points.
Jinx of the week: Sports Illustrated does it again! Several Chiefs were reportedly
upset that the team was on the front of that magazine this week because of its
famous “cover jinx.” Score one for the jinx.
Taking one for the team award: For running off the last seconds
of the game in Buffalo by running back to the end zone for a safety, Andre Johnson
got stuck with a box score line of: one rush, minus-34 yards. The Houston rookie
WR has now rushed for minus-13 yards this season.
Nastiest looking playing surface: The brand new AstroPlay turf
that debuted in Sunday’s Falcons-Saints game. Watch the highlights of that
game; all the players look like they’re leaking motor oil, from all the
pieces of black rubber they kick up every time they take a step.
Gambling conspiracy rumor of the week: Down 37-0 in Denver, the
Chargers finally scored a TD with about 10 minutes left, and Marty Schottenheimer
called for a 2-point conversion. That was going to win the futile gesture of the
week award, because why would a coach even have “losing by 31” on
his 2-point conversion chart, but then I looked up the over/under line for the
game: 44. Hmmmmm….
Special teams coach candidate of the week, because the Rams have to do
SOMETHING: Besides Atlanta (see last week), another potential housecleaning
the Rams front office should keep an eye on is in Miami, if things go badly enough
there. Keith Armstrong’s special teams are currently #4 defending punt returns,
and though they’re only #22 defending kickoffs, they were top 10 in both
categories last year under Armstrong, and #22 is still 8 slots ahead of the Rams.
Plus the Dolphins are one of six teams that have NOT allowed a special teams TD
over the last two years. That would be a refreshing change for St. Louis, where
we’d get giddy if the special teams went two WEEKS without allowing a TD.
Here’s the second half, which may be the source of Ross Perot’s
famous “sucking sound:”
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I should put Minnesota at #32 after losing consecutive games
to Doug Flutie and Rick Mirer. Jeez. |
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I gave up on the Browns too soon. They’re only a game out of first,
and Kelly Holcomb could be ready for a hot streak after a huge passing day
against the Big Dead. |
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Brace yourself. The Texans have won the last two games that Tony Banks
appeared in, and he had QB ratings of 110.4 and 106.3 in them. |
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Sounds like Keyshawn Johnson, who’s now dead to the Bucs, used all
his intensity for the season in his shoe commercial. |
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Remember Trung Canidate? Redskins fans wish Steve Spurrier would forget
him, after just 18 yards on 10 carries Sunday. David Loverne and DeJuan Groce haven’t made the trade a steal for the Rams, though. |
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Pittsburgh only ran for 44 yards Monday night, while giving up a 78-yard
run to Kevan Barlow. |
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Wisely, since Rick Mirer is their QB, Oakland ran 43 times against Minnesota,
vs. 13 passes. |
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Kerry Collins has 13 interceptions after 10 games; he had 14 all of last
year. |
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Put the Jets’ offense and the Ravens’ defense together, and
you’d have a playoff team for sure. |
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Ironically, after spending all that money on defense in the offseason,
the Bills are all but out of it this season because their offense has gone
three straight games without a TD. |
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There’s the Doug Flutie I was expecting: 9-25, 70 yards, 3 lost
fumbles and a pick. |
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Michael Vick’s leg is taking longer to heal than the historic rift
between the Koreas. |
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Sunday was the first time this year poor Az Hakim cracked the 50-yard
receiving mark for a game. Even with 60 yards Sunday, he has just 184 for
the season. |
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If you want some indication of the Jagwire passing game, Troy Edwards
was their leading receiver Sunday. |
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As if he needs to guarantee his firing, Dick Jauron said Tuesday that
he’s sticking with Chris Chandler. |
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The more things change…. The Big Dead hit rock bottom this week
after their 44-6 fiasco in Cleveland. |
Final Credits
E-acknowledgements: nfl.com, google.com, miamidolphins.com, butlerwebs.com,
suntimes.com, newsday.com, miamidolphins.com, washtimes.com, espn.com, ajc.com,
tennessean.com, nola.com, rockymountainnews.com, seattletimes.nwsource.com.
November 23rd marks the start of American Education Week, so if a referee lets
an obvious block in the back go unflagged on a long punt return Sunday, make
sure to reflect on how important it is that the American school system not produce
morons such as him.
Enjoy the games
Mike
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