VIKINGS THOUGHTS
Well, I
correctly predicted a three point game between the Vikings and
Packers yesterday. Unfortunately, the wrong team won with the
Packers getting a 33 yard field goal from Ryan Longwell as
time ran out. It was the Vikings third straight loss and pushed them
into a tie with the Packers in the NFL North.
There
were a few positives to take from the game. Daunte Culpepper
continued to be amazing. He went 27-44 for 365 yards and four
touchdowns. In the absence of Randy Moss, Nate Burleson
continued to play great. He caught 11 passes for 141 yards and a
touchdown. Jermaine Wiggins is a huge target for Daunte,
catching six balls for 94 yards and a touchdown.
Unfortunately, there were also a number of negatives. Michael
Bennett got the start and got just five carries for 21 yards.
Onterrio Smith had the same line (5 rushes, 21 yards). That just
isn't enough yards rushing, but that isn't because of a lack of
productivity. I mean, each averaged over four yards a carry. The
problem is that they only got five rushes. That is pathetic for a
team that prides itself on its running attack. Now sure, the Vikings
were behind and had to pass, but even down 14 or so there is still a
need to run.
The lack
of running game makes Daunte's game even more impressive. He brought
the team back from 14 down, and he led the team to the game-tying
touchdown with just 1:21 left in the 4th quarter. He is showing
everything that Vikings fans would hope from their quarterback. All
negative Culpepper talk must stop!
Also on
the negative side, again, is the Vikings defense. Sure, credit does
need to be given to the Packers for a more balanced offense.
Ahman Green rushed for 145 yards. That helped Brett Favre
to a 20-29, 236 yard, four TD performance. He was basically able to
do whatever he wanted. How many times does he just throw the ball up
and let his receivers make plays? How many times is Javon Walker
going to make those kinds of plays? Well, it just keeps happening!
Some credit belongs to the Packers! Some blame needs to be put on
the Vikings defense again.
And
finally, after that game tying Vikings drive, the special teams gave
the Packers the ball at midfield. Sure, they probably should have
been given the ball after forcing a fumble, but you can't let any
NFL team get that kind of field position in that situation. Once the
Packers were given the ball, I knew the game was over.
The
Vikings are now 5-4. They will host the Detroit Lions who, after
starting out 4-2, have also lost three in a row and sit at 4-5.
Any
thoughts on the Vikings?
E-mail me.
NFL WEEK 10 THOUGHTS
A quick
thought or two from the rest of the week's NFL action:
Who needs
Priest Holmes anyway?! The Chiefs replaced the injured Holmes
in the lineup with Derrick Blaylock who has been injured the
last couple of weeks. He looked healthy yesterday racking up 186
yards rushing, 38 yards receiving and a touchdown. Unfortunately for
Chiefs fans, they lost to the enigmatic New Orleans Saints. The
Saints were led by Joe Horn who had five receptions for 167
yards and a TD.
There
were three overtime games this week and each ended a little
differently.
The Lions
were able to take the Jaguars to OT, but backup QB David Garrard,
in just his second NFL start, hit Jimmy Smith for a
game-winning TD to Jimmy Smith. Fred Taylor, following
a few bad weeks, came back with 165 total yards (144 rushing). The
Lions offense has been horrid of late. Their two touchdowns on the
day were both scored by Eddie Drummond... on punt returns of
55 and 83 yards.
The
boring way to end an overtime game is with a field goal, but that's
how the Ravens ended their game with the Jets. Curtis Martin
continues his comeback with another 119 yards and two more
touchdowns. Quincy Carter had an efficient 175 yards passing
in his first Jets start in place of the injured Chad Pennington.
Hey! Kyle Boller threw for 213 yards and two touchdowns for
the Ravens!
Adewale Ogunleye has a fun name to say (not to type). He won the
game for the Chicago Bears with an overtime safety when he tackled
the Titans Billy Volek in the endzone. Volek had an
impressive statistical game with 334 yards passing and 2 touchdowns.
Drew Bennett had 148 of those yards and one TD.
OK, how
good is Peyton Manning? Yes, Daunte is having an incredible
season, but Peyton Manning is the best QB in football. In
yesterday's 49-14 win over the Texans, Manning threw for 320 yards
and five touchdowns! The amazing thing about the five TD passes is
that he threw two to Brandon Stokely, two to Dallas Clark
and one to Reggie Wayne. Each is a good receiver, but no
Manning to Harrison TD connection!
The
Steelers just keep winning! That defense is incredible and is making
me start to this of that Ravens Super Bowl team of a couple seasons
ago. Yes Ben Roethlesberger has been solid, but certainly not
spectacular. He simply is successful by managing the team well. He
doesn't turn the ball over and he hands off to Duce Staley or
Jerome Bettis and let them wear down the opponent's defense.
Yesterday, he was 10-16 for 134 yards. Very efficient. Bettis rushed
for 103 yards and two more touchdowns. Of course the story of this
game happened before the opening kickoff. The Browns William
Green and the Steelers Joey Porter were having a spat
when Green thought Porter spit at him. At that point, they got into
a brawl and both were ejected before the game even starter. How fun!
Atlanta
beat Tampa Bay 24-14. Pretty much nothing exciting happened in the
game! TJ Duckett had two TDs for the Falcons, but there
wasn't a spectacular performance by anyone in this game!
The good
Rams team showed up yesterday as they defeated the Seahawks for the
second time this year. Sure, Josh Brown had four field goals
for Seattle and Jeff Wilkens had three for the Rams, but the
Rams got two early TDs for the difference. Marshall Faulk
finally had a good game rushing. 18 carries for 139 yards (7.7 yds
per carry, for those curious). Stephen Jackson had 47 yards
rushing on 10 carries, including one of the TDs.
Rudi
Johnson rushed for 102 yards and a TD. Carson Palmer was
24-39 for 217 yards and a touch. But there wasn't much exciting in
this matchup of two bad teams. Oh, Joe Gibbs finally went to
Patrick Ramsey in place of Mark Brunell! Can you say
"About Time!" before me!
In a
battle of two really bad teams, the Carolina Panthers scored 34
second half points to beat the 49ers 37-27. Jake Delhomme
threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns. All three were to
Muhsin Muhammad (40, 4, 26), who had six catches for 123 yards.
Denny and
the Cardinals got another win. This week the NY Giants were their
victim. I hate to do it every week, but the Giants beat the Packers
and Vikings on the road and have lost to the Bears and Lions and now
the Cardinals! On a positive note, Tiki Barber rushed for 108
yards and another touchdown. Josh McCown was just 12-24 for
90 yards. Emmitt Smith rushed 19 times for 67 yards and two
TDs.
Imagine
how good the Patriots could be if they ever scored touchdowns
instead of field goals. Against the Bills last night, they had two
TDs and five Adam Viniteiri field goals on their way to a
29-6 win. Their defense is incredible too. The lone Bills TD came on
a 70 yard punt return by Jonathon Smith. Drew Bledsoe
was 8-19 for 76 yards and 3 INTs. JD Losman came in and was
1-2, with another interception. Willis McGahee has been a
stud the last few weeks. He was held to 37 yards rushing. Corey
Dillon led the Pats with 151 yards rushing. Tom Brady
threw for 233 yards and two TDs.
Do you
have any thoughts on the week's games? Tonight, the Eagles should
crush the Cowboys on Monday Night football. Any thoughts on
any of this? E-mail me.
Don't
forget...
to check out and then order
The Hardball Times 2004
Baseball Annual which is now available for you to
purchase.
NFL
"EXPERT" PICKS
Based on my picks, I
was quite impressed to see that three people in our panel went 10-3
this week. But then I saw that our very own Melissa Olson
went a remarkable 12-1 this week! And her lone wrong selection was
the Titans, who lost in overtime! So, our winner this week,
Melissa Olson!
|
Seth Stohs |
Melissa
Olson |
Ben
Jacobs |
Aaron
Gleeman |
John
Bonnes |
Ryan
Maus |
|
SethSpeaks.net |
SethSpeaks.net |
Hardball
Times |
Aaron's
BB Blog |
Twins
Geek |
Twins
Chatter |
|
Kansas City @ New Orleans |
Chiefs |
Saints |
Chiefs |
Chiefs |
Chiefs |
Chiefs |
|
Baltimore @ NY Jets |
Ravens |
Ravens |
Ravens |
Ravens |
Jets |
Jets |
|
Detroit @ Jacksonville |
Jaguars |
Jaguars |
Jaguars |
Jaguars |
Lions |
Jaguars |
|
Tampa Bay @ Atlanta |
Falcons |
Falcons |
Falcons |
Falcons |
Falcons |
Falcons |
|
Pittsburgh @ Cleveland |
Steelers |
Steelers |
Steelers |
Steelers |
Steelers |
Steelers |
|
Seattle @ St. Louis |
Rams |
Rams |
Rams |
Rams |
Seahawks |
Seahawks |
|
Chicago @ Tennessee |
Titans |
Titans |
Titans |
Titans |
Titans |
Titans |
|
Houston @ Indianapolis |
Colts |
Colts |
Colts |
Colts |
Colts |
Colts |
|
Cincinnati @ Washington |
Redskins |
Bengals |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Redskins |
Bengals |
|
Minnesota @ Green Bay |
Vikings |
Packers |
Packers |
Packers |
Vikings |
Packers |
|
NY Giants @ Arizona |
Giants |
Cardinals |
Giants |
Giants |
Giants |
Giants |
|
Carolina @ San Francisco |
49ers |
Panthers |
49ers |
49ers |
Panthers |
49ers |
|
Buffalo @ New England |
Patriots |
Patriots |
Patriots |
Patriots |
Patriots |
Patriots |
|
Philadelphia @ Dallas |
Eagles |
Eagles |
Eagles |
Eagles |
Eagles |
Eagles |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Michael Labuda |
David
Bergner |
David
Bloom |
Vic
Quick |
Mike
Brasel |
Jeremy
Kovash |
|
|
ChiSox
Daily |
Baseball
Savant |
Ya
Gotta Believe |
KDUH-Sports |
FFB
Guru |
Wolf
Lake Mgr |
|
Kansas City @ New Orleans |
Saints |
Saints |
Chiefs |
Chiefs |
Saints |
Chiefs |
|
Baltimore @ NY Jets |
Ravens |
Jets |
Ravens |
Ravens |
Ravens |
Ravens |
|
Detroit @ Jacksonville |
Jaguars |
Jaguars |
Jaguars |
Jaguars |
Jaguars |
Lions |
|
Tampa Bay @ Atlanta |
Falcons |
Falcons |
Buccs |
Falcons |
Falcons |
Buccs |
|
Pittsburgh @ Cleveland |
Steelers |
Steelers |
Steelers |
Steelers |
Steelers |
Steelers |
|
Seattle @ St. Louis |
Seahawks |
Seahawks |
Seahawks |
Rams |
Rams |
Rams |
|
Chicago @ Tennessee |
Titans |
Titans |
Bears |
Titans |
Titans |
Titans |
|
Houston @ Indianapolis |
Colts |
Colts |
Colts |
Colts |
Colts |
Colts |
|
Cincinnati @ Washington |
Redskins |
Redskins |
Bengals |
Bengals |
Redskins |
Redskins |
|
Minnesota @ Green Bay |
Packers |
Packers |
Packers |
Packers |
Packers |
Packers |
|
NY Giants @ Arizona |
Cardinals |
Giants |
Giants |
Cardinals |
Cardinals |
Giants |
|
Carolina @ San Francisco |
Panthers |
Panthers |
Panthers |
49ers |
49ers |
49ers |
|
Buffalo @ New England |
Patriots |
Patriots |
Patriots |
Patriots |
Patriots |
Patriots |
|
Philadelphia @ Dallas |
Eagles |
Eagles |
Eagles |
Eagles |
Eagles |
Eagles |
That's it for today. Please feel free to let me know what
you think. Have yourself a really great week! If you have any questions, comments or ideas
for future topics, please
e-mail me.
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