NFL Instant Replay: Week 7

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NFL Instant Replay: Week 7
By Dr. Tom
Oct 26, 2004, 14:51

NFL INSTANT REPLAY: Week 7

NFL teams get a bye week, so it makes sense to me that NFL columnists should get one, too. Last week was mine.

Two teams had zeros removed from their results column this Sunday. The Jets took their first loss of the season, with the Patriots beating them in a close, low-scoring game. That win gave the Pats 18 consecutive regular-season wins, which set a new league record. On the other side of the spectrum, Miami got the goose egg out of its W column with an upset win over the Rams, who must have been replaced by pod people for this game. Either that, or they were looking past Miami to their bye week. This should make their week off significantly less relaxing.

Week 7: The Week That Was

RAVENS~! 20, Bills 6. The Ravens� defense is becoming one of the premier offenses in the NFL. It�s certainly more consistent than the team�s own offense, which played the first of two games without the suspended JAMAL~! Chester Taylor filled in admirably for him (as I told the doubters he would), carrying 21 times for 89 yards. That gave him three more yards than Kyle Boller, who continues to direct the passing game in much the same way that an iceberg directed the Titanic 90 years ago. Boller did make some good short throws, but he can�t keep passing for 86 yards a game if the Ravens want to go anywhere in the postseason.

Deion Sanders had a big game in the defensive backfield, picking off two Drew Bledsoe passes. One came in the end zone, and the other was returned for a touchdown, the ninth such score in Sanders� flamboyant and illustrious career. His signing was controversial, and became even moreso when he sat out a game with a hamstring injury, but since then, Neon Deion has been lights-out. He got a couple snaps on offense, which can only help, and needs to happen more often. If nothing else, he draws defenders away from the Ravens� receivers, who still miss Todd Heap something fierce. This week, the Ravens have a real test, as they travel to Philly to take on the unbeaten Eagles. This game will be challenging enough without JAMAL~!, but without Todd Heap and Jonathan Odgen, it�s looking especially ugly. Maybe if we get solid play from our QB . . . wait, never mind.

Kansas City 56, Atlanta 10. Missing: one defense, believed to be good. If found, please return to Jim Mora Jr. What a shellacking this was. Kansas City scored eight rushing TDs against a defense that had been quite stout against the run coming into this weekend. PRIEST~! ran for over 120 yards and four TDs in the first half before leaving the game with a tweaked ankle. His replacement, Derrick Blaylock, also ran for four scores in a half. Despite the paddling, Atlanta is still in first place, mainly because they play in an awful division.

Miami 31, St. Louis 14. The heretofore winless Dolphins didn�t just beat the Rams, they gave them a good pummeling. Jay Fiedler threw two long TD passes, and Sammy Morris pounded out 83 yards on 28 carries. The Rams looked flat and unmotivated in this one, clearly looking past a winless team and eyeing their bye week. Mike Martz apparently has some motivational work to do. If he�s smart, that bye week won�t be very relaxing.

Jacksonville 27, Indianapolis 24. The Jags proved they can step up and play with the best here. Peyton Manning still racked up 368 yards in the air, with three TD passes (two to favorite target Marvin Harrison), but the Jags used their superior running game to control the clock. Getting the ball back with 3:47 to go, Jacksonville used 3:14 of it to get the 53-yard field goal that provided the final winning margin. Indy could do little with the meager time they had at the end.

New England 13, NJ Jets 7. Barring a tie, one of these teams had to leave with their first loss, and it was the Jets. The Pats� defense held the Jets to 268 yards of offense. Facing 4th and 8 from the Pats 30, Chad Pennington�s pass to Wayne Chrebet fell incomplete, and the Patriots ran out the clock from there. It was a tight, low-scoring affair, worthy of two teams that came into the game undefeated.

Philadelphia 34, Cleveland 31 (OT). The Donovan and Terrell Show, coming soon to a city near you. McNabb went for 376 yards and 4 TDs, two of them to his favorite target, in a game that was closer than many thought it would be. Jeff Garcia called his own number to tie the game late, but David Akers nailed a 50-yard field goal in the extra period to give the unbeaten Eagles the win.

Green Bay 41, Dallas 20. Winless at home coming into this one, The Packers gave the Cowboys a good shellacking on the Frozen Tundra. Brett Favre finally played a game without launching a ridiculous and stupid pass, and Ahman Green ran for 163 yards, with 90 of them coming on one TD run. Green Bay continues to feature the halfback option, with Tony Fisher throwing a scoring pass to Bubba Franks. The Pack has looked a lot better on offense since head coach Mike Sherman took over the playcalling duties.

Other Games:
New Orleans 31, Oakland 26: DEUCE~! only had 42 yards, but he found the end zone twice.
San Diego 17, Carolina 6: Philip Rivers remains nailed to the bench. Good.
Arizona 25, Seattle 17: Old Man Emmitt is OD�ing on the elixir from the Fountain of Youth.
Tampa 19, Chicago 7: Yawn.
Detroit 28, NJ Giants 13: Joey Harrington�s line: 18-22, 230 yards, 2 TD. Nice.
Minnesota 20, Tennessee 3: Only 1 TD pass from Culpepper? He must�ve been ill.
Cincy 23, Denver 10: Shanahan's team looked flat, while the Bengals came to play. That simple.

Pass For Show, Run For Dough

In this era of Sports Center highlights and fans with short attention spans, the passing game gets a lot of love. Every week, at least one QB goes en fuego passing the ball, and a couple teams live and die putting the ball in the air. Maybe I�m just an old-school ball-control guy, but I think the running game is still the most important offensive ingredient, since it lets you wear down both your enemies at once: the opposing team, and the game clock.

I�m going to chart some rushing statistics this season (as I did last season, until time constraints forced me to scrap this column) and see how important the running game really is. Each week, I�ll tally up the 100-yard rushers and see how their teams did. Also, I�ll look at teams that ran the ball 30 or more times, and teams that ran it 20 or fewer times, and see how they did.

Weeks 6 and 7:
100-yard rushers: 15
Team record: A near-perfect 14-1

30 or more rushing attempts: 20
Team record: 16-4

20 or fewer rushing attempts: 10
Team record: 1-9

Season to Date:
100-yard rushers: 62
Team record: 49-13 (79.03%)

30 or more rushing attempts: 72
Team record: 56-16 (77.7%)

20 or fewer rushing attempts: 35
Team record: 5-30 (14.28%)

News From Around the League

-- The Panthers continue to be plagued by injuries. They were already planning to be without RB DeShaun Foster for a while; now, �a while� has turned into the rest of the season. Foster needed surgery on his broken collarbone, and was placed on injured reserve. Starting RB Stephen Davis is still nursing a knee injury, as is #3 RB Rod �He Hate Me� Smart. FB Brad Hoover gained 99 yards on 24 carries this past weekend. The team is going to work out some unemployed runners like Stacey Mack in the interim.

-- The principals in the Peyton Manning-Reggie Wayne incident have been busy downplaying its significance. Near the end of the Colts-Jaguars game this past Sunday, a sideline camera saw Wayne and Manning shouting in each other�s faces before the receiver gave his QB a shove. It was an uncharacteristic display from both men, who are normally low-key. In my opinion, they�re right to downplay it, since it was essentially nothing. It�s football: tempers will flare from time to time, especially when your team is losing a game it should win.

-- When you can�t catch on with the worst team in the league, friends, it might be time to give up on that whole football career thing. This is what happened to former #1 overall pick Tim Couch, whom the Bears elected not to sign. Keep in mind they�ve been getting horrendous QB play since losing Rex Grossman for the season. They still weren�t interested in Couch, who has been cut by his original team, the Browns, and the Packers so far this season.

-- Recapping the significant deals from last week�s trading deadline: The Raiders sent Jerry Rice, arguably the best football player in history, to the Seahawks for a conditional 7th-round draft pick. Rice inexplicably plans to play one more season, but considering he got traded for a pick in the last round of the draft, he�d be wise to end his stellar career after this season. The Bucs sent holdout WR Keenan McCardell to the Chargers for 3rd and 6th-round draft picks next season. Dallas and Cleveland swapped unhappy receivers, with Antonio Bryant joining the Browns, and Quincy Morgan going to the Cowboys. Bryant had been a permanent resident in Bill Parcells� doghouse, and Morgan was displeased with his reduced offensive role over the past season and a half. Both are starting fresh with new teams.

Dr. Tom�s Official Power Rankings

With no winless teams remaining in the league, the 32nd spot isn�t as automatic as it was. In fact, you�ll find that a team can move out of the cellar by winning its first game. The Dolphins get to move up one slot. Who took over for them as the worst team in the NFL today? Keep reading and find out.

1. Patriots (6-0). Another good test for them comes this weekend, in Steeler Country.
2. Eagles (5-0). If the Ravens can exploit their run defense, they could be 5-1. If.
3. Jaguars (5-2). A huge win over the Colts vaults them up to here. Last time: 16th.
4. Vikings (5-1). Michael Bennett does not need to hurry back. Randy Moss, however, does.
5. Jets (5-1). What was up with the prevent defense at the end of the first half? Terrible.
6. Steelers (5-1). If Ben-Ro does well against the Pats, then we can definitely say he�s here to stay.
7. Colts (5-2). The over/under for this weekend�s game vs. Kansas City: 137.
8. Broncos (5-2). You�d think more teams would adopt the Broncos� RB system.
9. Falcons (5-2). EIGHT rushing TDs? Come on, guy, you were the #1 rushing defense. Have some pride.
10. RAVENS~! (4-2). Desperately Seeking Offense. Lifetime commitment or one-season fling OK.
11. Lions (4-2). By next year, Roy Williams is a top-5 receiver in the NFL. He�s already top 10.
12. Giants (4-2). They were bound to have a bad game eventually. How they rebound is key.
13. Chargers (4-3). Drew Brees is the 6th-rated passer in the NFL, but the billion-dollar wunderkind lurks.
14. Texans (3-3). Andre Johnson is already a top-5 receiver. What a house that guy is.
15. Rams (4-3). Who loses to Miami?
16. Packers (3-4). They�ve looked a lot better with Mike Sherman calling the plays.
17. Seahawks (3-3). Anyone remember when they had the best defense in the league? They don�t, either.
18. Chiefs (2-4). If they can manage to beat the Colts this weekend, look out.
19. Browns (3-4). What was up with that gutless punt in OT? Disgraceful.
20. Saints (3-4). I wonder how next season�s new head coach will fare with this bunch.
21. Bengals (2-4). Carson Palmer needed that win. Now he needs a few more.
22. Cardinals (2-4). In a year or two, they could actually have a dangerous team.
23. Racists (2-4). Clinton Portis, meet Ahman Green. He�s better than you.
24. Cowboys (2-4). Emmitt > Eddie and company.
25. Titans (2-5). Yeah, good thing McNair won that �co-MVP� crap last season.
26. Bucs (2-5). Brian Griese is auditioning to be someone�s starting QB next season.
27. Panthers (1-5). The injury news just gets worse and worse. Healthy, this is a good team.
28. Raiders (2-5). When are teams going to stop hiring Norv Turner as a head coach?
29. 49ers (1-5). Rattay is sound. Now they need to get Barlow on track.
30. Dolphins (1-6). In a couple weeks, they might crack the Top 25!
31. Bills (1-5). JP Losman should get an extended audition in the second half.
32. Bears (1-5). Who would�ve thought Rex Grossman would make such a difference to an NFL team?

Picks for Week 8

Last Week: Undocumented here, but I went 8-6 in my Yahoo! Pick�em League.
Season to Date: 59-27 (68.60%)

Arizona 20 at Buffalo 13, 1:00 pm
Baltimore 16 at Philadelphia 23, 1:00 pm
Cincinnati at Tennessee, 1:00 pm
Detroit 24 at Dallas 17, 1:00 pm
Green Bay 31 at DC Metro Area 20, 1:00 pm
Indianapolis 37 at Kansas City 34, 1:00 pm
Jacksonville 21 at Houston 18, 1:00 pm
NJ Giants 24 at Minnesota 30, 1:00 pm
Atlanta 16 at Denver 24, 4:05 pm
Carolina 14 at Seattle 27, 4:05 pm
New England 23 at Pittsburgh 20, 4:15 pm
Oakland 14 at San Diego 21, 4:15 pm
The City 27 at Chicago 7, 8:30 pm
Miami 14 at NJ Jets 24, 9:00 pm (MNF)
(Open date: Cleveland, New Orleans, St. Louis, Tampa Bay)

I�d actually love to pick the upset in the Pats-Steelers game � and I think it has a legitimate chance of happening � but I don�t like the matchup of Bill Belichick�s coaching staff versus a rookie QB, even one who�s playing with as much poise as Ben-Ro.

That�s it for me this week. We�ll do this again next Tuesday. Don�t forget to toss back a brew for me as you sport a stylish throwback and cheer on your favorite team this weekend.

Next week: Midpoint awards and shenanigans

NFL INSTANT REPLAY: Week 7

Dr. Tom Fowler