The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: NFL Primer Week 14

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a weekly NFL primer. Nothing is sacred, not the players, not the coaches, and certainly not the betting lines.

I'll have to be honest with you, I'm not a huge fan of these Thursday night games, it seems a little too College Football for me. Not that I don't love college football, it is in fact my favorite. However, as the season progresses these matchups are less Virgina Tech-Boston College, and more Nevada-New Mexico State. Be gone with you. Sunday and Monday are NFL days, let's leave them that way, they're spreading the content too thin. Maybe not, since no one has the NFL Network.


The Good: Steelers at Patriots
Why is this good? I really don't know, because the Patriots now are the epitome of all that is wrong in football. They have the most evil coach, and they have the most surgically precise and merciless offense, and the Devil Incarnate Tom Brady. Seriously, it seems like everything he touches turns to gold. He doesn't get rattled and he always makes the play when he needs to make it. It's frustrating. I'd love to tell you that the Steelers are going to win this game, but I'll leave it to Anthony Smith to speak for me. It's a good thing that with Joey Porter leaving someone has taken over the role of mouth-no-brains without any slippage in production.

I really would like Pittsburgh to win this game so that Evil Incarnate doesn't have every single awesome record in the books. Realistically I don't know how much bulletin board material does for the other team, especially when they don't even know who said it. I don't expect either team to come out playing better just because some no name schmuck likely to be cleaning jocks with his tongue decided to shoot his mouth. The truth is, the things that Pittsburgh does on defense are the things New England has struggled with the last couple of weeks. They have given up sacks while Pittsburgh does a great job pressuring the quarterback. The defense has struggled with a power running game, and that's really the basis of the Pittsburgh offense. And when the play breaks down, Roethlisberger is a good enough athlete to either throw the ball 80 yards down the field on the run, or escape and get some yards outside the pocket; all things New England has not seen with the shit competition they played.

So, is it possible that Pittsburgh wins? On paper it makes sense that they would because their strengths are accentuated by the fact that they are also New England's weaknesses. Will they? No, and you can mark that one down.

The Bad: Cardinals at Seahawks
How do I move from a really good matchup, to an indictment on how bad the NFC has been this year? Well, I guess that's just as good as any. The Seahawks and the Cardinals are in the same division, and are fighting for the right to make the playoffs. The fact that a team as awful looking as the Seahawks is at 8-4 on the season is absolutely remarkable. I saw them blow a double-digit lead against Cleveland and nearly lose to the Jay here-have-a-crucial-interception Feely. On the other side, we have a team with half of the starters missing sitting there at 6-6 with a better than average shot of either winning their division or making the playoffs. That kind of thing should be outlawed.

Cardinals have already beaten the Seahawks once, and god willing they'll do it again, putting a big nail in the coffin that is Shaun Alexander. Let me tell you, while everyone was riding his jock during his only good season, I used him then lost his number. The guy is soft, and that's not an opinion, it's a fact. He and Cedric Benson need to go to dinner and moisturize each others soft girly hands, because they are both women in NFL pads. Anyways, a team that is 6-6 should not be charging into the playoffs in any year, except this is some kind of bizarro year. The Cardinals don't have a safety, are down their best wide receivers (Boldin and Fitzgerald) and are at wits end with their grocery bagger quarterback Kurt Warner. I know people are saying that he's playing better, but come on people, have you watched him? Don't tell me how awesome he is when he's chucking the ball around against the worst secondary in the league in Cleveland. If they're so happy with him, cut playboy Matt Lienart.

This is nonsense, a team 6-6 should not be in any kind of talk about leading into the playoffs.


The Ugly: Bears at Redskins
For one, this is ugly because this game garnered superlatives like, "Well, the loser is definitely not going to make the playoffs." That's so pathetic, that two teams at 5-7, that I already wrote about it. If you've skipped to the third part, I don't know what to tell you, you're a backwards reader. But really, this didn't get ugly until both quarterback were knocked out of the game. The joke here is, both of these teams are no worse at quarterback at the end of the game, than they were at the beginning of the game.

Rex Grossman was knocked out of the game Carson Palmer style when a defensive linemen hit him low. But, I have to say, there's a good chance that no one in Chicago shed a tear for Rex's career as a Chicago quarterback, and certainly not as many as the Bengals fan(s) shed for Carson Palmer. When we look at Sexy Rexy, we're probably all in agreement that his stint as Da Bears' starting quarterback, backup, or otherwise is probably over, and it will be marked with a dark spot. He took the Bears to a Superbowl, their first since Ditka, but that's not entirely true. What's more true is that he lost a season for the Bears where they should have clearly won the championship. His inconsistent and often downright bad play is what directly cost them the Lombardi Trophy.

I do feel for Jason Campbell though, he doesn't deserve such a fate. I'm not talking about the dislocated knee cap, although that sounds like all sort of painful. I'm talking about the years he spent under Joe Gibbs, which will be remembered as regression in his career instead of progression. I hope he gets better and comes back next year, because in the few times that I saw him not getting sacked or kneed in the face, the guy could ball.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: NFL Primer Week 13

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a weekly NFL primer. Nothing is sacred, not the players, not the coaches, and certainly not the betting lines.

Took a little bit of a break for Thanksgiving, you know how it goes. Ate some turkey, and apparently some crow. This much I've noticed: every time I put a team in the "The Good," they come out completely flat that week, and the weeks after. Case in point, the Pittsburgh Steelers. After I called them a model franchise, they go out and lose to the Jets! Worst loss of the season? Possibly. You may also recall, I called the NYG good. What a hex, they looked horrible against Miami in London, and continued their woesome ways through Eli, getting owned by the worst secondary in the league. From now on, I shall try to hex teams that I do not like on purpose. With great power, comes great responsibility.


The Good: Easy - Green Bay at Dallas.
Sorry, now I ruined the game for everyone. Good thing they'll never know because they can't see the game; it's on the NFL network.

This is the first matchup of 10-1 teams since 1990, I learned that from ESPN! But really, I'm excited not be able to watch this game. Maybe we'll get a few questions answered about both teams. Green Bay only lost one game this year, and in a calendar year (Thanksgiving to Thanksgiving) they've got a ridiculous 14-1, that's better than the Patriots people! I've watched this Packers team, and they sure as hell don't seem like a collection of individuals that is a football juggernaut. I think we've all agreed that Dallas is a pretty good team by now, so with that said this is a great litmus test for the Packers and the rest of the country. Exactly how good is this Green Bay team? For the entire year they plain-as-day could not run the ball, but in the last 5 games, they're averaging over 100 yards rushing. They seem to throw the ball a million times a game, yet Favre has thrown less interceptions than he has in his entire career (22TD - 8INT), but there's still 5 games to go (his low, by the way is 13). I can't name a single player on their defense that I would put in Pro Bowl, and yet they're in the top half in almost every single defensive category. So, is there really something behind this GB team, or are they doing it with smoke and mirrors?

On the other hand, Dallas does look to be a realistic juggernaut. And even though they have been the most hated team in the '90s (and loved at the same time) because of their success, they are the lone hope to cease the Patriots' Sherman's March to The Sea campaign through the NFL. Tony Romo is playing lights out on and off the field. He's throwing touchdowns to TO in the stadium and he's throwing touchdowns to the likes of Sophia Bush, Carrie Underwood, and Jessica Simpsons in the bedroom. Really, everything is coming up aces in Dallas. Their offense looks to be nearly unstoppable, TO looks coachable, the defense is playing lights out, and they're dominating their opponents.

And because of all that, I talked myself into this being a horrible mismatch on the field. Dallas looks to be too good at every position, so I'll take them to win big, 17 points big. This is of course a weak attempt to confuse the Gods of Irony to bring us a highly competitive game.


The Bad: Arizona Cardinals Losses.
As a Browns fan, I know how you feel, the two of you that are indeed Arizona Cardinals fans. We've had "The Drive" and "The Fumble" and if you throw in the Cavs there's also "The Shot." So, I know where you're coming from when you find a way to lose. Nine of their 11 games have them either winning (5) or losing (4) within one score. This has to eventually take a toll on your health; I know I lost at least two years off my life watching some Cardiac teams.

Last week, the Cardinals were able to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. Leading by four points with about three minutes to go is a time where you should be able to hold a lead. Not only that, but they lost it on a 40+ yard scramble by Frank Gore. Gore is no scrub, he's a good back, but there's no reason he should run undaunted into the endzone. It doesn't end there, after that even, they had a last chance to win, down by three with some 7 seconds to go on the San Francisco 1 yard line - a fade doesn't work. But they don't know a fade to their first, second or even third receiver. It was to their fourth.

Overtime, salvation. With an easily makeable field goal, pretty boy Niel Rackers misses a chance to win in OT by clearly hooking it as soon as it was off his foot, what a choke job. But huzzah, the defense holds and 49ers have to punt only to have brilliantly educated, and always high-looking Steve Breaston not fair catch the ball within the 10 and not do anything with it. After a penalty, they are at their own 1. Of course, common sense states that in this situation, run the ball to get some breathing room, or have a quick slant so that you're not standing in your own endzone. But no, seven step drop for Kurt Warner, admiring the scenery of his primary receivers being covered causes him to get sacked and fumble the ball in the endzone. Ball game, you may all go cry now. Three chances to win, all wasted, and not for the first time this season. It was so painful to watch I cried, and I'm not even a fan, just for empathy's sake.


The Ugly: Eli Manning's performance.
I marveled at the Giants earlier this season when they reeled of 6 wins in a row. Their defensive line was playing amazing football and Eli Manning was managing the game well. He didn't force it, he made key throws, and didn't put the team in a precarious situation.

This cannot be said of his game against Minnesota. Eli Manning completed 21 of his passes in that game for the low low price of 43% completion, and that's rounding up people. And you know all that stuff about precarious positions? Well, he didn't do much of that either, since a good majority of his four interceptions went directly for touchdowns without the defense awkwardly trotting on the field at all. That's really forward thinking for your teammates.

But Christ, four interceptions including back-to-back picks into the waiting hands of defenders. I get it, players have bad games, sometimes the opposition just has your number and all. Minnesota? Not so much. They have one of the worst rated secondaries (last in passing yards allowed) in all the league, and yet they could cover the receivers and pick of passes without nearly breaking a sweat. What is wrong with this picture? That was an ugly, disgusting game by Eli that even had Tom Coughlin searching for superlatives (ha!) that don't include swear words. He of all, was speechless.

Mind you, this is not Eli's first go around with atrocious performances. He's been less than stellar to say the least this entire season. He's got nearly as man INT as TD (16-15), and a completion percentage of under 60%, if we round up. And like clock work, the Giants are crumbling in the second half of the season.

Tony Romo: Too many women, too little time [The Big Lead]

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: NFL Primer Week 11

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a weekly NFL primer. Nothing is sacred, not the players, not the coaches, and certainly not the betting lines.

Lookey here, new layout with pictures for every discussion. I'm en fuego.


The Good: Pittsburgh Steelers
As a Browns fan, and a fan raised on Cleveland sports, it pains me greatly to acknowledge the bitter rival Steelers as the good. But, it's really something I should get used to, right? I mean since the defeat last Sunday, it's been roughly 10 straight meetings that the Steelers have won. Some may even start the whole chant of this even not being a rivalry when it's been so completely one sided. Yes, right on all points, but that's not what I want to talk about, because my Zoloft is too far away.

The Steelers didn't play well this past weekend and still came back to beat the Browns, it really shows how good they are when they can win a game that they aren't playing their best in. Also, don't forget they can really turn it on both defensively and offensively, seeing as they gave up nary a first down in the second half; the only 7 points were scored on some mind bogglingly ridiculous special teams play by Joshua Cribbs. Their defense made plays, their offense made plays, and all their young seemingly inexperienced coaches and players did what they needed to win. Conventional wisdom suggests that with a first year coach, a team will struggle, but this team has shown nothing of the sort with Omar Epps Mike Tomlin at the helm.

They've got the players and the coaches and all that jazz, and have had only one losing season in God knows how long. But that's not even what makes them good: it's the solidarity and cohesiveness in the front office. There's no firings there, no quick turnover, and certainly no turmoil; they provide a steady hand for a franchise that has been exactly that. The Rooneys create an environment where success is bred, one where every player and coach knows what is expected, but they willingly work for that, not forcefully.

It's this kind of dedication and foundation that has only three head coaches in nearly the last 40 years. Stability. It's this kind of front office and scouting that brings in players that fit the system and love the family. Resourcefulness. And it's this kind of forward thinking that leads for one down year to pave the way for years of prosperity. Championships. Say what you will about the crisp and lethal nature of the Patriots organization, but they haven't enjoyed the sustained success that the Steelers have. And its these Steelers that stand as the last line between the Patriots and an undefeated season.


The Bad: Indianapolis Colts injuries
Just a mere week ago, the Indianapolis Colts were on the fringe of being one of the best teams in the league. They had lost a heart breaker to the Patriots, but really, no one else has beaten them, and certainly the Colts had come the closest. They were good enough to lead by 10 points in the fourth quarter, but not good enough to lead by the end of it. Fear not, they were playing with their best players injured! Surely that would quell the local disappointment, if only for a week.

Ah, but there's the rub. A week later, this team is not the same team that won its first seven games. It's not the same team that had brought the Patriots to the brink of defeat. It's not even the same team that could make the playoffs without breaking a sweat.

The Colts are in the midst of starting to worry about their season. With everything cruising along, injuries have completely decimated this team, with the biggest loss being the season ending foot surgery to Dwight Freeney. They picked up Simeon Rice, but let's be honest here, he's merely half the one dimensional player he once was, and certainly doesn't command the physical attributes, nor the fear to necessitate double teams. The offense was great, but it was really the defense, now a shell of its former self, that was going to guide this team to a repeat. They're injured, crippled, and no longer instill the fear they did merely a game into this season.

This team has been brought to its knees, and the football opponent had nothing to do with it.


The Ugly: Quarterback carousel
In a year where we have some of the best and most outstanding quarterback play in the national football league is also the year we have the worst. Over the last couple of years we've seen the trend of winners shy away from building around a caretaker quarterback and more of a play maker, because let's be honest - the man handles the ball on nearly every offensive play. So, is it any coincidence that inconsistent quarterback play and carousels are on teams with less than sparkling records?

Out of the 32 teams playing this weekend, 13 (give or take 3) teams have questions about their quarterback for this game and going forward. In fact, some don't even know if they're going to use their second string for the rest of the year, next year, or go into the draft to find a player to lead their team. Three teams are possibly the worst poised to solve this quandary by this season or next.

The Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens, and Minnesota Vikings all have quarterbacks on their roster that have played significant snaps and yet shown that they are not NFL starting material. They've switched back and forth, in hopes of finding the right combination of plays and talent that will eventually translate into wins.

Chicago Bears benched Rex Grossman because of his poor play, only to pin their hopes to Brian Griese, a man that was kicked out of three different systems for having neither the tools to make the play nor the brains to analyze what play needs to be made. Sans a couple of good throws the both have largely been an embarrassment at the position.

Baltimore Ravens thought that a veteran quarterback was the piece they needed, combined with their defense to lead them back to the Superbowl. But all they've gotten out of McNair was what we all believed: an old broken player. Kyle Boller has been worse than an injured old man, continually holding on to the ball and refusing to make plays, even after being the Robo QB coming out of college.

The Minnesota Vikings called Tarvaris Jackson a more mature Donovan McNabb at the same age, and from this we learned: Brad Childress should not be an NFL coach. From Tarvaris, the Vikings this year have gotten less combined touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) than either interceptions or sacks (5 each), and a below 50% completion percentage. Adrian Peterson has rushed for more yards than Jackson has thrown for. And let me be the first to break the news to you Brad, being from Cleveland originally, Kelly Holcomb is not the answer.

Same league, same year, three quarterbacks are playing the position nearly better than anyone has ever, and three teams can't seem to find even a caretaker. That is sad on so many levels.

Dwight Freeny's season over [Indianapolis Star]
Colts injuries mount [USA Today]
Photo: NFL Guru, Indy Star, JS Online

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: NFL Primer Week 10

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a weekly NFL primer. Nothing is sacred, not the players, not the coaches, and certainly not the betting lines.

The Good: New Orleans Saints.
How did this happen? What exactly is going on this season? Not too long ago (specifically four games ago) the Saints were left for dead as they plummeted to a winless record in an embarrassing loss to the Panthers. We visit the resurgent Saints only four weeks later to find them only one game behind in the putrid division, and easily playing the best football they've played all year. It's as if someone stuck a needle in Drew Brees's ass, or at least his throwing shoulder, he's somewhat resurrected himself from the dead for not only the Saints but Fantasy Football owners. Now, the chances of starting 0-4 and then making a run at the playoffs or a championship are nearly unheard of, but winning four straight really helps.

I've been jaded by taking the Saints to win (and/or cover) for the first couple of weeks, hoping against hope that they would turn it around a little earlier than they did. After those four games, I was leery of picking for the Saints in nearly every circumstance, until they stuck it to me out in Seattle. Now that was an impressive showing, and it may turn their season about.

Ever since their loss, the Saints have not scored less than 20 points (22 against Atlanta), and topped 40 as Brees used the Jacksonville secondary like a scout team, rolling up 445 yards. This has certainly been the key for the immediate New Orleans turn around: Drew Brees is not throwing interceptions, and is getting the ball down field; sure, it also has a lot to do with his receivers being able to hang onto the ball. Hell, we know it has nothing to do with running the ball, as they do it only for looks: their leading rushing the last 4 games (Reggie Bush) has been averaging roughly 72 ypg, and a high of 97.

New Orleans certainly has reason to feel good. They are on a roll offensively, and their schedule for the rest of the year is less than daunting. That doesn't preclude the fact that this team still has its defensive issues. However, with the way their offense is playing and the look of that division, there's no reason they couldn't have a second straight season in the playoffs.

The Bad: San Diego Chargers.
The Chargers were the laughing stock of the league after losing games when they brought back almost their entire team that rocked the record to the tune of 14-2 last year, sans coaching. At first this was attributed to the fact that they started the year with two extremely good teams in the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots, but one of those has shown to be a fraud. But when they continued to struggle against everybody else it was clear something else was up, maybe their coaching staff. For years, Norv Turner has been able to get the least amount out of his players both on offense and defense, and it is his hire that perplexed every NFL fan out there.

The Mt. Vesuvius of coaching failure was reached last week, when they allowed rookie running back Adrian Peterson to run for a league record 296 yards. It's great, because that means the Browns are now out of the record books. Now, I think Adrian Peterson is awesome too, and that offensive line is pretty good so no disrespect to them but wasn't this the same Chargers defense that allowed rushing yards in the teens last year? Adrian Peterson may be the next Eric Dickerson, but even he didn't rush for 296 yards in a game. When San Diego started putting a couple of wins on the board we all thought that they were back, and maybe Norv Turner might not be the biggest fuckup as coach, but he's cemented himself by running this loaded team into the ground.

How does a team with such an explosive offense regress so significantly in one year? Maybe it's because Phillip Rivers wasn't the stud he showed himself to be last year. This year, with the onus on him to make plays, he's been stuck with Rookie Eyes (everything is too fast), and his stats throughout the season bear it out (1639, 10 TD, 8 INT, 82.9 rating). Why don't they let Tomlinson run the offense under center? He has a perfect 158.3 rating.

The Ugly: Andy Reid.
I've tried to stay away from this situation as much as possible, but it's hard to not rehash the same kind of ugly week in and week out (St. Louis Rams lost by the narrowest of margins, but there's always next week).

Andy Reid is an ugly feller to begin with, and I think we all wish that's what I could write about. His porn-thick mustache and his incessant sweating would be a welcome topic of conversation for the Philadelphia Eagles and their front office. No, this has to do with something more serious than just his looks, it's his family.

In the face of what can only be described as a family crisis, in the face of that, Reid has stood by his second family: his football team. That's honorable and everything for him to keep concentrating on his job, but isn't there something more important in life? From my point of view, family always comes first, especially something as important as one's children. And it's not like they're having some minor issues that can be swept under the rug; both children are constantly being arrested for drug abuse. I think it's time to take a leave of absence and tend your family issues. It's a big problem when your son is shoving drugs in his anus so he can smuggle them into jail.

It's more than that really. One has to question if it was Reid's dedication to his football craft that caused this problem to begin with. We all have heard about the long days and short nights for football coaches, how it's not only a job year round, but day round. They get up as early as 5 am, and don't get home until it's equally dark outside, whether its the football season or not. Maybe it's time for football coaches, and maybe the football league to evaluate this kind of situation. There's no question that if fathers are away from their families so often, said families will eventually develop problems. All that being said, we all wish the Reid family the best on their hopeful road to recovery.

The Saints story (through week 5) [We Suck at Sports]
Norv Turner is an STD [Hot Chicks, Hot Picks]
NFL Stat [NFL.com]
Drugs penetrate Reid family [Conshy Recorder]
Photo: 2theadvocate

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: NFL Primer Week 9

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a weekly NFL primer. Nothing is sacred, not the players, not the coaches, and certainly not the betting lines.

The Good: The Game.
This one's easy, and for the first time in weeks we're talking about a game people would actually want to watch. The Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots are about to become the first teams to play each other when each is at least 7-0, setting up an epic battle; or at least what we hope is an epic battle.

The Indianapolis Colts are about to have their first game as an underdog at home, certainly that's virgin territory for this team. And it's unclear about what Vegas feels on this game, if they see New England as that good, or it's a statement about how quiet the Colts have been about their impressive start. It just doesn't seem that they do anything that great, besides of course Peyton Manning finding the ever open receivers jogging uncovered down the field. And yet, they're solid on both sides of the ball, it's been an impressive start. New England's impressive start can't possibly go unnoticed, especially by me since I have Brady on my fantasy team. They've been blowing people out college football style; 52-7 isn't an NFL score.

So what's going to happen? I'm glad you asked. It's being billed as an impressive matchup of titans, but just like many games, the on-the-field play will likely not live up to the commercials. In fact, I'm so unimpressed (still don't know why) with the Colts start that I'm just hoping they make a game of it, and don't get blown out. As is the case, I certainly don't feel they have a chance to win the game, and with a line of -6.5, the Colts will be lucky to keep it within two scores. Take the Pats to cover, as you have hopefully done all year, and you'll be in the money.

Here's hoping I'm wrong. The Bostonians will be insufferably annoying if all their teams win.

The Bad: The Jets.
It's funny how easy it is to find Bads and Uglies on a weekly basis. It's like going to a bar. Zing.

Honestly though, let's take a look at this team - the same team, mind you, that went 10-6 and got into the playoffs last year. What could possibly happen in one year to have the bottom fall out when no wholesale changes have been made. In fact, it's not only that, they've added parts that should have made them competitive with New England (ha!), but they've completely regressed. As Mike Greenberg said this morning, "I can't believe that Pete Kendall would be the downfall." He certainly isn't. It's a combination of things.

has set his foot in the ground that his team does not suck, and Eric If there's one thing that every Belichick disciple has in common, it's stubbornness. Charlie WeisMangini showed an equally thick head with the future of Chad Pennington. It's not that Chad Pennington is bad, it's that he handcuffs the offense. The truth is, he doesn't have a good arm to throw down field, but he has an excellent 20 yard floating pass. Which means, this offense works in a mostly 20-25 yard cushion plotting down field with nary a deep threat, which is okay. But this doesn't work in the NFL for the entire game. After a while, defenses get too good and they catch on; this allows them to stuff the run and predict routes, thus getting many three-and-outs. Because of this, the defense ends up being on the field an awful long time, and while this is good at the beginning of the game, it ends up biting them in the end. A simple change in week two should have been to bench Pennington, and it's getting done, but it's too little too late. The ship for the playoffs sailed, and the Jets are still at the dock.

The Ugly: Cincinnati Bengals situation
To be fair, it's not just the team on the field that's ugly, it's also the team off the field, and the front office. First of, what's going on the field is bordering on embarrassing for everyone involved. The defense can't stop nearly anyone, and the offense hasn't been in sync at almost any time this year. For a team loaded with offensive weapons that work so well together, having a full season last year and an off season this year with a healthy Carson Palmer throwing routes for Chad Johnson should have produced explosive, not mediocre results. The worst part on the defensive side had to be when the Bengals didn't have enough healthy bodies to fill in at linebacker earlier in the year. This leads us directly to...

Off the field issues have bothered the team, very obviously, more than anyone thought it would - specifically one Marvin Lewis. It was obvious that when he went on what was then the Dan Patrick Show and tried to convince us all that the Bengals did not have a jailbird issue, he is out of touch with reality, and out of touch with his team. It's hard to imagine what kind of guy he is behind closed doors, whether he's a player's coach, or a disciplinarian, but whatever he is isn't working. Maybe the problem is that he doesn't know and he waffles back and forth, thus creating a vague plan for the franchise down the road. Whatever happens the rest of this year, from an outsider's view, there's only one thing that can be done, and that's letting Lewis go. He did a great job building this franchise to respectability, something it hasn't sniffed for the last two decades. But it's obvious from this year there's no farther he can take them, and they're not buying into his system anymore, they're regressing in it.

Maybe he never had a chance. It's Cincinnati, after all.

Photo: Derok

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: NFL Primer Week 8

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a weekly NFL primer. Nothing is sacred, not the players, not the coaches, and certainly not the betting lines.

The Good: New York Giants.
That's right, I said it, and I won't apologize for it: the New York Giants are good football team. Some may point back at last year, when at this time the Giants were equally impressive on paper, leading the division and starting out on fire. The difference of course is the taste it left in everyone's mouth. While yes, they were winning, they had some serious hemorrhaging going on at the team and coaching levels. Eli wasn't really playing well, and the team was winning in spite of him instead of beside him. Beyond that, you could see the beginning of another late season collapse under what everyone considered a lame duck coach.

Fast forward a year, and the team is going in the complete opposite direction. There's been no player mutiny, so really, that puts them well ahead of last year's success pace. The defense, thought to be crappy is coming together, and they now possess the most feared third down defensive line in the league. Offense hasn't been pretty at times, but they're one of the few teams to really pile up points on the Herculean (or they'll have you believe) defense of the Cowboys. Sure, they're winning so everyone is smiling, but it's more than that - people are healthy. They seem to be really clicking and now get a vacation to England only to play a Junior Varsity team between the hash marks. What was once seen as a disaster, by yours truly included, at the beginning of the season has turned out to be a healthy surprise for their fans and the league. It's hard to imagine that this would be said in the pre-season, when players were holding out, and there was havoc in the office.

The Bad: This weekend's games.
Looking over the schedule, I've yet to find a good game that I would even pay to watch. The parity that has created a whirlwind of love for the NFL has faded this year, and introduced another wave of dominant teams. There are currently two undefeated teams in the league (Colts, Patriots) and another one loss team that seems to be dominating it's own conference. This weekend provides a lack of interesting games to watch, and it would really kill the NFL if not for gambling. That's right, how about we make the games interesting by trying to win money. I like money.

Money makers: It's a home underdog league. Disclaimer, lines will change.

MINNESOTA +1 vs. Philadelphia. Purple Jesus all the way folks. Ever since he got significant playing time, he's set the world on fire, and he hasn't gotten hurt yet. All this with a quarterback as ineffective as the head coach.

SAN FRANCISCO +3 vs. New Orleans. This Saints team is completely Jekyll and Hyde, and this is their second cross-country trip in as many weeks. They haven't figured anything out, the win was a one-week aberration.

CAROLINA +7 vs. Indianapolis. Yeah, I know: undefeated, have Peyton Manning, playing equally awesome to Patriots. Here's another thing: looking ahead. Colts are still injured and are resting for the Patriots, and have never looked all that great on grass.

You'll thank me later.

The Ugly: Miami Dolphins.
There's nothing uglier than the Miami Dolphins right now in the history of the NFL, and it gets uglier by the week. They are winless on the year, and are being outcast to another country because no one wants to watch them here. The fun question and possibility to toss around right now, is whether the Dolphins could accomplish the unimaginative and completely uninspiring winless season. Of course the irony of even bringing this up, is the fact that the only team to have an undefeated season (so far) is your grandpa's Miami Dolphins. Their biggest competition for an unbeaten season and the first pick in the draft is St. Louis, who is so miserable that I can't even name healthy player on that team. In fact, while having a winless season would be a huge badge of inadequacy, the only thing worse is to win a game at this point only to lose out on the #1 pick in the draft. Seeing Miami's luck lately, I wouldn't put it by them.

How bad is it getting in Miami? Well, if there's a sign of being in the basement of the NFL, it's trying to bring back Ricky Williams to be your featured back; that is of course after their featured back left his ACL on the field. There's nary a real starter on any position on the field. In fact, to fill sports at safety, the Dolphins signed a player that was working out at home, solely because he has a passport and can travel overseas. If that's how you fill your roster, fellas. Things aren't looking up, they play an aggressive Giants front that will cause havoc in the backfield, which as we've seen is devoid of any playmakers. How's that Ted Ginn pick looking now, Cam? Really though, not his fault since he shouldn't have been hired to begin with. Pick anyone playing against the Dolphins no matter the spread. They're the anti-Patriots.

Is Ricky Williams the answer for the Dolphins? [Yahoo! Sports]
Ronnie Brown out for the season [Yahoo! Sports]
Photo: Slive

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: NFL Primer Week 7

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a weekly NFL primer. Nothing is sacred, not the players, not the coaches, and certainly not the betting lines.

The Good: New England Patriots.
It's true, the Patriots could qualify in any of these categories, but if you want to make money this week, or any other week this NFL season, this is your team. There's no line large enough, there's no home field advantage scary enough when this perfectly oiled football machine comes rolling through. Their closest game to date has been a 17 point victory at home against the Cleveland Browns, and it was only that close because they invited the practice team up for the entire second half. They cheat, they maim, they murder, the kill, but they do it all in the name of winning football games. Bill Bellichick is steering the ship straight for 16-0, and you'd be fooling yourself to think it's anything but a statement to the league about the recent cheating scandal. Did he cheat? Of course he did. Did he do it better than anyone? Without a doubt. His continuing domination of all that is the NFL will not end until he has inscribed his name into every single page of the NFL record book - for better or worse. All that being said, this team is so loaded it's wrong. Wasn't free agency supposed to limit things like this? They probably have the best player in the league at five different positions. Think USC 2004, ironically also includes a Patriots coach. Don't worry about betting for New England giving 17 on the road, they'll cover.

The Bad: Injuries galore.
If there's anything that's been a cold shower to the hot steamy soap opera that is the NFL this season, it's been the injuries to your best players. Lets for a second discount the fact that one team is ruling the entire league. You got your fantasy team all set up, there's no reason not to add people like Marvin Harrison (injured), Marc Bulger (injured), Stephen Jackson (injured), and Laurence Maroney (injured) to your squad. That is of course, hoping that they'll even play. All this is hindsight when they get injured two weeks after the season has begun. It's not only a downer for the fantasy mogul, though, it's a downer in the game. Even the most ardent hater of their rival team doesn't wish for players to go down with season ending injury, well, most of them. Sometimes it even makes the heartless drunks remember there's more to life than just football - and we just don't want that. We watch football to get away from real life, we watch it to make money, and we watch it because there are men doing manly things - hitting each other. So, the last thing we ever want to see is a limp body of Trent Green or Kevin Everett being carted off the field. Create better helmets, and put some anti-ACL-tearing garb on, we want to see the players play. Hopefully your fantasy teams get some much needed relief.

The Ugly: Coaches at the end of their ropes.
There are some coaches that may be coaching their last year in the current city, even if the contract may not say so. Example alpha: Seattle Seahawks. After a promising 3-1 start in one of the crappiest divisions ever consummated, they've dropped two straight. That wouldn't be so bad if they weren't completely embarrassed in two of those games - not scoring a point in one, and losing to a winless team at home in the other. It's not just this season that has been a disappointment to 'Hawks faithful, but the last one as well. After reaching a crescendo of their franchise in the Superbowl, the years following have already been labeled as failures. It doesn't look like this team is any more than average, and last years team was riddled with injuries that made consistent play a distant memory. Some believe it is time for a change of philosophies in the misty Northwest.

Ugliness has reared its ugly head in Cincinnati, and surprisingly it isn't one of frugal owner Brown, or even the prison guards giving temporary leave to the players. No, this time it's Superbowl ring wearing defensive specialist Marvin Lewis. His teams have climbed up the wrong mountain, and have now come tumbling down with great fervor. Instead of reaching for the Superbowl, they finished their ride by getting off at the AFC North title gate. Ever since the faithful day when Carson Palmer's knee was turned into mashed potatoes this team has gone to shreds. More importantly is the fact the defense has let this team down, not only with their arrests, and injuries but also with their downright bad play on the field. When Lewis got to Cincinnati it was thought that he would build from the ground up and create a franchise based on the Ravens. He hasn't done that. In no year has his defense done anything but be completely ordinary. This year, he's losing the team. Look for them to continue their downward spiral, which looks similar to flushing a toilet - the same place this franchise is returning to.

Injure Tom Brady [KSK]