You have to love running back Larry Johnson of the Chiefs. He had the nerve to blast head coach Todd Haley on tweeter, saying among other things that his father has more credentials than Haley, how his father played for the coach from “Remember the Titans”, and how his father played for the Redskins, while Haley played golf and didn’t play for anyone. Johnson also responded to tweeter responses and to reporters in the locker room on Monday with a gay slur (fag). This is all coming from a player who has had multiple run ins with the law, is well past his prime, and is basically stealing money from the Chiefs. The NFL is sure to look into his actions once again, and it would surprise no one if Johnson is eventually suspended. Johnson conveniently forgot that Haley was the offensive coordinator last season for the Arizona Cardinals, you know, the team that went to the Super Bowl. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Johnson has never been to the Super Bowl.
The AFC and more specifically the AFC East have to be a little disappointed that the New England Patriots seemed to have figured out their offensive problems. I know they have played two terrible teams the past two weeks in the Tennessee Titans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but scoring 80 straight points is no less an accomplishment. The Patriots offense has been running non-stop with the return to health of wide receiver Wes Welker. Welker makes the offense go with all of the underneath routes. He brings the safeties and linebackers closer to the line of scrimmage allowing Randy Moss to run the deep routes than can score points in a hurry. The Patriots may not be the powerhouse team they were in 2007, but they are approaching the team they were in 2006, and that will get the job done. The only bad news is that even with running back Laurence Maroney seems unable to grab the starting job by the throat. He was given the first chance with Sammy Morris out with injury, but against a Bucs team that certainly wasn’t game planning against him, Maroney had only 13 carries for 43 yards and a touchdown. Hardly the numbers needed to ensure him another start when New England comes back from a bye in Week 9.
Speaking of the Buccaneers, one has to believe it’s time for them to find out what they have in rookie quarterback Josh Freeman. The Bucs have a bye next week which would give them two weeks to get Freeman prepared for his first NFL start. It’s not like they have much of a chance winning a game with Josh Johnson at the helm.
Do you think running back Cedric Benson enjoyed his 37 carry 189 yard, one touchdown game against his former team on Sunday. Not to mention the Bengals destroyed the Bears 45-10. Benson and the Bengals actually wasn’t trying to rub it in to Chicago with all the rushing attempts, but once the Bengals got up big, they wanted to run the ball and Benson was the only healthy back they had.
Houston wide receiver Andre Johnson was taken to the hospital after the game on Sunday with a bruised lung. Johnson will probably be listed as questionable for the game at Buffalo this week. If he is unable to go, it would be a big loss as Houston has finally gotten their offense in gear. Tight end Owen Daniels has become a favorite target of quarterback Matt Schaub and seems to get open at will against opposing defenses. He is killing the value of Kevin Walter as he is no better than the third read on most pass plays for Houston. One thing to be concerned about with the Texans is the continued fumble problems of running back Steve Slaton. One sure way to ensure the wrath of your coach and find yourself nailed to the bench is to keep putting the ball on the ground. Lucky for him the Texans don’t have an adequate backup that can take snaps from him.
Someone has to explain to me how the Buffalo Bills have won back to back games with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback. He will have a chance to go for three in a row Sunday when Houston comes to town as Trent Edwards will miss the game once again with a concussion. Fitzpatrick is nothing special and still hasn’t been able to get the ball to Terrell Owens, but he has been able to find Lee Evans, as Evans has touchdown receptions in back to back games.
By not switching quarterbacks, Browns head coach Eric Mangini is speaking volumes about his trust in Brady Quinn. Apparently Mangini doesn’t believe Quinn can get the job done for him as quarterback Derek Anderson has done next to nothing in his starts for Cleveland.
What has happened to Matt Forte? Most pundits believed the addition of quarterback Jay Cutler would open up running lanes for Forte. It just has not happened. Cutler is not a check down quarterback, so it does make sense that Forte’s receptions would be limited as Cutler trusts his arm enough to throw the ball into coverage rather than dump it off to a back, but that does not explain why Forte is not finding any running room.
The Dallas Cowboys finally look like the dangerous offensive team we thought they would be in the preseason. Quarterback Tony Romo looks confident and relaxed in the pocket. All of their running backs are healthy. Against Atlanta on Sunday Marion Barber was the starter with Felix Jones getting the secondary carries. Most expected that Tashard Choice would be the secondary back with Jones being in there on third downs, but the Cowboys like the explosiveness of Jones as he is a threat to go all the way every time his hands are on the football. The offensive line is run and pass blocking well. Tight end Jason Witten is still staying in to block more than you would expect but that should change in time. The one concern is wide receiver Roy Williams. He doesn’t look like anything more than the third receiver at this point. Even when Romo does throw a pass this way Williams has had trouble holding on onto it. Luckily WR Miles Austin looks fantastic as he is scoring touchdowns almost at will. He was double teamed quite often on Sunday yet he still made his share of big plays. He could be a top 12 receiver the rest of the season.
I know we’re all complaining about Rams running back Steven Jackson for the fact that he has no touchdowns so far this season, but he is third in the NFL in rushing, so he is not totally useless in fantasy. The Rams were down throughout the game against the Colts on Sunday yet they still gave him the ball, you have to love that. I’m going to go out and say he scores at least one touchdown on Sunday at Detroit.
Matthew Stafford will most likely not play this week for Detroit as they are being very cautious with his knee injury. It’s the right thing to do, no reason to risk his future at this point.
Alex Smith will start for the 49ers this week at quarterback. Smith took over for Shaun Hill on Sunday with the 49ers down 24-3. He then proceded to throw three touchdown passes to tight end Vernon Davis and almost pulled off a magical comeback for San Francisco. Now Smith looked great on Sunday but don’t get all gooey eyed about him. The 49ers were trailing by three touchdowns, so they went pass happy in multiple receiver sets to try and get back in the game. Come Sunday against Indianapolis they will probably stick with the run game and hope to keep Peyton Manning and crew on the sidelines as much as possible. The last thing they want to do is get into a shootout with the Colts. However, if they are forced to throw, Smith has a much stronger arm than Hill and can throw the ball deep. The 49er wide receivers certainly have to be happy about this change.
Somehow the Miami Dolphins managed to lose a game that they looked to have in their hands on Sunday against the Saints. The culprit in this loss seems to be wide receiver Ted Ginn. On the opening possession of the second half, Ginn had a long pass go off both of his hands, into the hands of Saints Safety Darren Sharper who returned it for a touchdown. This seemed to ignite the Saints offense who went on to score 29 more points in the half. Ginn has had trouble with drops all season and was demoted from his starting job on Monday with Brian Hartline taking more snaps. One has a feeling that if Ginn had this game a week earlier GM Bill Parcells would’ve traded him before the deadline.
Jets running back Leon Washington will miss the remainder of the season with a compound fracture of his leg. Tough news for Washington as he is not signed for next season and was looking for a big contract. For the Jets, Shonn Greene will play a more vital role now as he will be the primary backup to Tomas Jones. We know the Jets want to keep the ball on the ground, so Greene becomes a top waiver claim this week.
What has happened to the Giants offense the last two weeks? They just look out of sync. Could the foot injury quarterback Eli Manning suffered against Oakland still be bothering him?
It won’t be much longer until WR Hakeem Nicks overtakes Mario Manningham for a starting role, especially if Manningham keeps dropping touchdowns.
As of right now the Titans haven’t announced if Vince Young will start at quarterback this week or if they will stick with Kerry Collins. They might as well give Young a shot, their season is over, let’s find out if Young has a future.
LaDainian Tomlinson had eight chances to score at the goal line in the game against Kansas City on Sunday, eight chances, and failed in each and every one of them. Listen, he is no better than a RB2 at this point in his career and even that may be pushing it.
