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(Oct. 9, 2005) -- New England quieted some critics Sunday with its win
at Atlanta. The Patriots ran the ball well, getting Corey Dillon his first 100-yard game of the year, and Tom Brady threw the ball for 350 yards and three touchdowns. That is
enough to beat most teams every week of the year and it showed that the
Patriots are not dead yet.
But on the other side, I was very disappointed with the Falcons defense.
They played very poorly and threw away a very nice performance by Matt Schaub, who threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns filling in
for Michael Vick.
Dilfer doing it again
A quarterback who I couldn't be happier for is Trent Dilfer. He is paid moderately at best by starting
quarterback standards, yet there he is leading the Browns to a win on
Sunday. Dilfer is a guy who gives the team everything he has. Despite
being on a team with 53 other guys, not everyone is best buddies. But he
is one of those guys that is just a born leader and his teammates love
him and will work their hardest for him.
Falling Philly?
Philadelphia concerns me. You can't keep falling behind teams like the
Eagles have done the past two weeks and not expect it to catch up with
you down the road. Last week, they were able to overcome it against
Kansas City. But this week, they were not as lucky and Dallas was too
much for them.
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Without a running game, Donovan McNabb and the Eagles managed just six first downs.
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I still don't understand why the Eagles aren't running the ball more.
They throw all these little swing passes to Brian
Westbrook and they throw the deep ball and other routes, but
they rarely just run the ball. All strong teams need to run the ball and
control the clock. The Eagles are not doing that.
Despite the loss, however, I still think Philadelphia is the best team
in the NFC. Yes, I did see Dallas beat them 33-10 on Sunday, but
honestly, if the playoffs started right now, who do you think would be
better than them? Atlanta? Seattle? Dallas? Tampa Bay? Washington? No.
None of them are better than the Eagles. So now the Eagles better get
their offense off the ground earlier in the game so they don't have to
play catch-up every week.
Random Musings:
Vinny Testaverde just gave hope to every guy sitting on the
couch eating a bag of chips that they too can join a team and lead them
to victory. And you know what, they're probably right. The Bucs, despite
winning their first four games, are not an impressive team, and although
we have to give Testaverde credit for the Jets getting the win, let's
not get ahead of ourselves. It's only one win.
Miami is good enough to be undefeated. The Dolphins have been betrayed
by turnovers in their two losses, but I truly feel they are worthy of
being 4-0. Not that that matters because you are what your record says
you are, but that's just my two cents.
David Carr must think sacks are a good thing. Has anyone ever
taken more sacks than he does? I'm really not sure if he realizes that
you can throw the ball away. It's a good thing that he doesn't turn the
ball over, but for a quarterback to roll out as much as he does and
still take sacks is inexcusable. Someone needs to teach him that once
you are outside the pocket, you can throw the ball away. You can throw
it out of bounds. You can throw it to San Antonio if you want. But throw
it away.
There has been a lot of discussion about the toughest division in the
league this year. I think it comes down to three choices. The NFC South
is very good, but considering that New Orleans is in it, I can't pick
them since the Saints are so bad. And I think the NFC East is probably
the toughest as Dallas, Philly, New York and Washington all have very
good records.
But let's not overlook the AFC West. Kansas City started off strong then
went downhill the past two games. Oakland still hasn't hit its stride.
San Diego, after starting off slowly with two losses, is now on track
with two convincing wins. And Denver, after a tough loss in Week 1, has
come back to win four straight. This is a division to keep an eye on as
the season goes along.
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