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Inside Out: Week 4
10.01.2007
The NFL pulled its best impersonation of Week 5 of the college season, with its Week 4. Some unsuspecting teams pulled off some big wins to only further shake up this NFL season. I expect the Patriots to win tonight, leaving them along with the Colts and Cowboys as the only sure bets this young season. The jury is still out on Green Bay. Let's rewind and see what went down with Week 4.Bottoms UpThe Raiders (2-2), Lions (3-1), Browns (2-2), Buccaneers (3-1), Cardinals (2-2), and Redskins (2-1), in order the teams with the first six picks in the 2007 NFL draft, have better records then division champions Chargers (1-3), Bears (1-3) and Saints (0-3) 4 weeks into the season. I know, its early. But still very interesting.Simply StunningAlright here we go, one team thats surprisingly good and another team thats surprisingly bad. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are my choice from surprisingly good. Sure they laid an egg to open the season in Seattle, but since, have reeled off 3 straight wins and look like the team to beat in the NFC South. They took their chance on with a disgruntled Jeff Garcia (who did win 6 games for the Eagles in a fill in role last year) and its paying off. They took a major hit yesterday as Cadillac Williams needs season ending surgery, but they are the complete package. At one point I think they had 6 QBs on their roster, but its looks like they have the right guy under center. They head to Indianapolis next week and that could be small bump in the road.And of course the surprisingly bad team is the San Diego Chargers. They finished last year at 14-2. After four games they already have more losses sitting at 1-3. And quite frankly I think there's plenty of blame to go around. Yeah Norv can't coach, but Philip Rivers isn't lighting it up. With the best back in the league there is no reason for Rivers to throw more than 25 times...PERIOD. And then there's the defense. It looked nonexistent before yesterdays game, and then after allowing 24 unanswered 2nd half points, I'm pretty sure its MIA. And while it looks bad the Chargers are far from out of it. Sure its going to be a lot harder than originally planned, but the rest of the AFC West sits at 2-2.Run the BallIn their 37-27 loss to the Lions, Bears QB Brian Griese threw the ball 52 times. 52! This was in a game that was close for most of the game. 52 pass attempts is absurd and seems even more so when you consider Brian Griese was taking his first real snaps in over a year. Not only did the rust show, but the coaching staff put the offense is a bad situation. The gameplan should have been, "Griese don't lose the game. We know you won't make the stupid interceptions Grossman does." But when you ask him to throw 52 times, interceptions are bound to happen, especially in key situations.Quick HitsNo need for me to suck off Brett Favre more than the regulars do, and not even considering his new record, Brett Favre is an early MVP canidate.It happens every year and it did again this year. We all get sucked in by the supposed quality of the Ravens defense and totally forget that this teams hasn't been able to score touchdowns for years. They couldn't even score TDs in their Super Bowl season back in 2000-2001.The Raiders look like a real football team. Its very refreshing. There is talk of a quarterback controversy in Oakland, but as much as I was against it before the season started, this looks like Culpepper's team.I don't know if I've put it in writing here at The Huddle, but I've said it for years and its proving quite true again, but Dallas Clark is the most underrated player in the entire league. Argue all you want but you won't change my mind.
The Picks: Week 4
09.28.2007
My usual rule of thumb is picking more than 30-40% of away is usually a recipe for disaster. But then there is always a week like this when most of the superior teams are on the road. So in a reversal of most weeks I'm only picking 30% of home teams. My picks for Week 4.Cowboys over Rams (14)Texans over Falcons (8)Ravens over Browns (10)Raiders over Dolphins (5)Bears over Lions (1)Jets over Bills (7)Packers over Vikings (6)Steelers over Cardinals (11)Seahawks over 49ers (4) Panthers over Buccaneers (3)Colts over Broncos 12Chargers over Chiefs (9)Eagles over Giants (2)Patriots over Bengals (13) Hail Mary: Week 4 09.27.2007 Jesus Christ, its already the quarter point of the 2007 NFL season. Man this goes by too fast. Week 4 is shaping up to be a good one, with some very interesting divisional matchups, that could go a long way in determining which teams sits atop the division at season's end. Well lets look ahead to NFL Week 4.Return of the SchaubSunday the Houston Texans, led by jettisoned Falcons backup quarterback Matt Schaub, head to Atlanta to take on the Falcons, led by none other than journeyman quarterback Joey Harrington. I'm guessing the Falcons were wishing that Matt Schaub was still a Falcon. So maybe we couldn't have known the arrest and suspension of Michael Vick was coming, but lets not pretend Vick had secured his role as starter, even if every fan of the Falcons wanted him to be. So that makes it hard to reason why the Falcons even traded Schaub in the first place. I'll go ahead and say that there aren't even enough good quarterbacks to fill the necessary 32 starting roles, but the Falcons were comfortable trading, who most would say, was the best backup quarterback in the league. So it might be a tough pill to swallow when Schaub leads the Texans to their 3rd victory in 4 games and the Falcons move closer and closer to the 2008 #1 pick.Griesed UpIn a move that had to be made, Lovie Smith, has named one time Pro Bowler, Brian Griese the starting quarterback in Chicago. Who knows what this means for Rex, but Griese will definitely get a few games under center, and the way I see it, he can't be any worse. I'm not saying this makes the Bears offense instantly better (there's other questions with this team), but it was time for Rex to take a seat. At his age Griese is definitely not the long term solution at QB, but neither is Grossman or Orton. But at this point the Bears are still playing for this season, so Griese is the guy to go with. We'll see how they fare in Detroit.RecordsBrett Favre heads to Minnesota on Sunday tied with Dan Marino for the most touchdown passes thrown in the history of the NFL. Here's saying he'll throw at least one TD to get to 421 and a new record. But that's not the only record in trouble this weekend. George Blanda's 277 career interceptions thrown, will also be eclipsed this season. Maybe its not Sunday but its soon. And with that in mind let me remind you its just "Brett being Brett." Talk about a QB who has never thrown a bad pass. Nope, its just "Brett being Brett" trying to make the play. Never has he thrown into double coverage. Never has he overthrown a receiver. Nope. "Brett being Brett." Don't pretend that you don't know this. But here's to Favre. The guy we love to hate, only because we wished he was our QB at one time or another. And really he is a Top 10 quarterback...ever.Short LivedBoth the Eagles and the Giants picked up their first win of the young season last week, but the warm fuzzy feeling brought on by victory will be short lived for one of them. That's because the Eagles head to Giants stadium for Sunday Night Football, in a game that will see one team move to 2-2 and keep pace in the NFC East, while the other falls to 1-3 and can kiss their season goodbye. If its the Giants who fall to 1-3, Tom Coughlin might want to hire a real estate agent and mover. The Eagles burst alive against the Lions last week, but can it last? The Giants defense made a pivotal goal line stance against the Redskins. Not to mention, Eli might not be as good as his brother or look as pretty doing it, but he's proven his self as the Giants guy.Quick HitsThe Patriots have scored 38 points in each of their first three games. No more, no less. They face the Bengals on MNF, and maybe they don't get exactly 38, but 38 or more is definitely not out of the question.Over half the slate this week, 8 of 14 games, are divisional games.Game of the WeekAfter looking at the schedule multiple times, I have deemed there are no game good enough for Game of the Week. That doesn't mean its a bad week in the NFL, but rather there is no contest that pits either two great teams or two intriguing teams against one another. But I will give you 3 mini Games of the Week. The first Seahawks @ 49ers. The Seahawks have been a tough team to figure out. The 49ers have one of the worst offenses in the league. Everybody thinks this is the year the 49ers break out, but I say not so fast. If the 49ers do manage to win this one, it may go along away to the division title, but I don't think the Seahawks are ready to cede the division quite yet.Then there's the Buccaneers @ Panthers. Everybody though the NFC South was the Saints to lose, and sure enough they've lost it. That leaves the Panthers and Bucs both sitting at 2-1 and looking more than adequate in each of their wins. Jake Delhomme did not practice this week and may be out. That leaves David Carr as the start for the Panthers. On the Bucs, its the rejuvenated Jeff Garcia leading this surprise team. This is going to be a great matchup. Expect this to be back and forth all game.And finally there's the Chiefs @ Chargers. Not for one second do I think the Chiefs can win this game. However if the Chargers don't show any sort of life against this team, then its time to write them off. The Chiefs might be 1-2 but only a little less pathetic than one team, the Falcons. This needs to be a game where Philip Rivers, LT, Antonio Gates, and the Chargers defense get on track and do what they are supposed to do. And thats win...big. Because after the Chiefs in division foes Denver and Raiders. The time is now. Week 4 Schedule Sunday September 30thRavens @ BrownsBears @ LionsPackers @ VikingsTexans @ FalconsJets @ BillsRaiders @ DolphinsRams @ CowboysSeahawks @ 49ersBuccaneers @ PanthersBroncos @ ColtsChiefs @ ChargersSteelers @ CardinalsEagles @ GiantsMonday October 1stPatriots @ BengalsByes: Jaguars, Saints, Titans, Redskins |
Week 4
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