NFL Week 5 Poolside Rant

Poolside Rant 10-06-07

Welcome back to poolside after another crazy week where I was at least partially right on my 0’s must go predictions. To recap the Pittsburg Steelers joined the ranks of the defeated at the hands of the powerhouse Arizona Cardinals and the Falcons lost their 0 to the Texans. The Bills also lost their 0 which blows my last-to-lose the 0 pick but I can still go 3-4 if the Cowboys and Pats win and Tampa can shock the Colts. It’s a stretch but crazy things are happening in the NFL this year so I still cling to a ray of hope. Some things that appear crazy are not and I will clarify later on with the teams that are pretending to be good and the ones that may just be getting over the hump of being the perennial losers we all count on every year.

First I want to give you an update and whine a little about my first place fantasy team. If you remember I went with WR in rounds 2, 3 and 4 so I would always have 2 solid options at wideout every week and three the weeks none are on a bye. Well Boldin and Walker are hurt, again this week while Ocho Cinqo is on his bye week in a boot. I will whine about my luck but no one in my league will care because to re-iterate I am in first place. I made a trade this week to bolster the WR core but I think I may have paid a high price in these desperate times in trading Alge Crumpler and the Vikings DST for Lee Evans. Enough whining about first place problems in the fantasy world and get back to reality.

The Cardinals are NOT pretending anymore with their 2 victories coming against undefeated teams Seattle and Pittsburg. The Cards are going to have to win on the road for me to really believe they are on the right track and they have an excellent chance of doing just that this week in St. Louis against the beat up Rams. If they win and Seattle loses in Pittsburg, which I believe they will, then the Cards will be tied for first with Seattle in the NFC West and actually be ahead because they beat the Hawks. Think that will give a formerly down and out team a little confidence one-third of the way through the season? Their defense is much improved and though I hate the QB splitting and think it could spell their downfall if they continue, the Cards are playing tough, smart football and I think have broken through the losing ways in the desert. Edge is really a driving force behind their resurgence and it looks good on him…Kudos to Edge for picking this team up and showing them what a winner looks like. The Lions are another team taking their losing ways to the woodshed and beating them into submission.

The victory against the division favorite Bears this past week showed character and moxie with a defensive score to put the game on ice. We all suspected the offense would score some points this year but ridiculed Kitna for predicting 10 wins. It doesn’t seem so crazy now does it? Sorry Jon, if you keep playing at the level you are playing at and the defense only gives up 28 a game I think the Lions have a real shot at getting their 10 wins.

Kevin Jones is almost back and that will only make the offense that much tougher to stop with his Faulk-like role in the offense. He is not Marshall Faulk but he can fill the role adequately with Detroit’s real weapon Roy Williams frightening opposing defenses enough to play only 7 in the box. Any team that can score like Detroit has a great shot at getting to the post season.

Who is in trouble in the league? San Diego’s defense has disappeared please call Norv Turner or the Chargers organization and let them know if you see them, I know they would appreciate it. San Diego has a couple of problems but the defense is the one preventing them from getting in the win column.

Philip Rivers has not looked especially confident or accurate this season but Tomlinson is the offense anyway. LT will get back to form but it won’t matter if the defense can’t even stop the Chiefs, I mean Huard should not rip up the defense late in the game like he did. Norv is going to take the heat for this but this is all about players not playing up to their own expectations and maybe believing too much of their own hype coming into the season. LT’s press conferences seem to say it best as he seems dejected, not fired up ready to stomp someone the next week. San Diego needs to get that fire back and I think maybe Merriman has to step up more than anyone on this team. Newsflash: Da Bears are brutal.

Giving up 34 points to Detroit in the fourth quarter to lose the game is not Da Bears D we know. Griese is not the solution for the Bears but they had to try something but I wonder why it wasn’t Kyle Orton? I mean he did win 11 games as a rookie and he had to progress some since then. QB problems aside, the Bears are going to win with defense and like the Chargers they can not get the job done right now. Granted there are injuries to deal with but this is the NFL and that is not a good enough excuse. The offense needs to play like the Bears of yesterday and go to Benson more, more, more. If he is the RB of present and future for the Bears they would do well should find out now and lean on him. I believe in Benson and if he gets the ball 25 times a game he should put up decent numbers but more importantly the defense won’t be nearly as worn out as they looked late in the Detroit and Dallas games. 4 games into the season and the Bears are 3 games behind the Packers if they lose this weekend the Bears can start planning for next year.

I have some issues with the NFL and their drug policy. Travis Henry is about to be suspended for a year for blazin’ the J’s and hitting the bong on occasion. I can’t understand having a drug policy to keep an even playing field but steroids and coke or speed to enhance a performance is cheating, getting baked after practice is certainly not an offense I deem critical to the league and its image. I mean it wouldn’t be that difficult to not report the league potheads to the news. Privately chastise them and ask them to make better life choices but to take them out of the game and publicly humiliate these guys is not going to benefit the league or enhance its image. What the fans don’t know won’t hurt them. Bring back Ricky too…he’s hilarious.

I will not end this rant on a negative point so I am going to give props to a young player that impressed me this week with his unselfishness and team leadership. Carson Palmer stand up and take a bow. Palmer’s unselfish acceptance of the responsibility for the interception he threw to Asante Samuel while trying to hit Chad Johnson for a TD spoke volumes to me about this team and their offensive leader. Cincinnati will be back this season after a rough start due to his comments after the game. Let’s face it, Johnson quit on the route (I love Chad by the way, not a man crush but you know) and Carson had every right to be upset with his star WR. I was impressed with him taking the blame for throwing the ball…that is leadership right there. His guys will never quit on him for taking the heat on what could have been a game changing play and if Chad is the competitor I think he is he will not let his leader down again. You never forget when a guy takes the heat for you.

I am getting back in the pool, I am outta here. Email Me At [email protected]

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