Slip sliding away
The Patriots and Redskins locked up in a classic battle of two teams trying desperately to let the other side win, and it came out awful. Especially for New England fans, who had to ride the roller coaster of watching the ‘Skins give the game away at every step, and yet come out with the three-point squeaker when the Patriots coaching staff decided to go for an unreasonably long slant pass, when a quick 5-yard dart route from the likes of Larry Centers or even underachieving Daniel Graham would have done the job, putting the Pats in good enough position for Adam Vinatieri to redeem himself for an earlier miss.
That was a rough thing for N.E. fans to take, too, seeing Mr. Automatic miss a field goal that, while not a chip shot for any NFL kicker, is certainly within his range. Doesn’t seem like there’s much doubt that, had Vinatieri gotten the chance, he would have put the tying field goal into the Potomac, but that’s for Belichick and his ilk to lose sleep on all week.
Sure, the Patriots are depleted, and sure, the inconsistent running game was exposed on Sunday, leaving Tom Brady to step up and lead the air attack – something he failed at with untimely incompletions and awful decision-making – but the real onus of the loss falls in the hands of the coaches. The game may have been decided by the three points Vinatieri couldn’t come up with earlier in the game, but there was still plenty of time to make it happen in the final moments.
Buffaloed Soldier
Well, it was nice of Chicago to open up such a beautiful new place for the Packers to play in. Too bad the Bears didn’t want to join in on the festivities. Yikes. It really is a shame, because ‘Da Bears’ offense actually put in a somewhat solid night in the 38-23 loss Monday night. Unfortunately, all those Soldier Field ghosts Kordell Stewart thought he saw were just apparitions due to the five sacks he endured.
Maybe the Bears just don’t like to stop people from what they’re doing. They didn’t keep the Pack’s defense from giving Kordell a few hundred new grass stains, and they didn’t stop Brett Favre or Ahman Green, well, at all. Green got everything out of his 19 carries, rumbling for 176 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Favre distributed the ball pretty evenly to six different guys, three of which caught for TDs.
Anthony Thomas, who put in an otherwise decent night, opened up for 67 yards in the fourth quarter, but that was the first time the Bears saw the endzone the whole game. Stewart added a meaningless 1-yard keeper for six more points, making the score much closer than the game was.
Maybe the Bears just didn’t want to tear up the new turf too bad?
The stars at night, are big and bright…
Honestly, the best game of the weekend for the average fan had to be the Texans thrilling last-second win at home over Jacksonville. Reliant Stadium definitely turned into a rocking college stadium, with the noise reaching such a high level that David Carr and a half dozen of the Houston offensive players had to step out of the huddle and quiet the fans down.
But that was just the finish. First, you had the coming-out party for Marshall’s Byron Leftwich, and while the youngster didn’t exactly get off to a great start, he kept the Jags ahead for much of the game. Leftwich is not the second coming of Michael Vick, but with a little polish, and maybe a better team, he’s got a good chance in the league.
Back to the Texans: All those fans who prayed that David Carr would finally become not just a rookie who fills the jersey, but a bona fide playcaller, well, you got your answer on Sunday. Carr’s inspirational work in the waning seconds, and his gutsy take-one-for-the-team leap across the goal line to win the game was enough to make even Patriots fans – who got the tail end of the game after the Pats’ loss – emotionally involved.
No heart in San Francisco
How ugly is the situation in San Francisco right now? Nevermind the subpar effort the 49ers are putting in for Dennis Erickson’s rookie year at the helm, the infighting and controversy is getting out of hand.
There’s no reason to glorify an athlete for being brash and egotistical, but Terrell Owens has a point. His stats on Sunday were quiet, yes. He gained just 55 yards. But that came on only five catches. Seems like you’d want to send the ball T.O.’s way a few more times than that, doesn’t it? The fact that he took out his rage on offensive coordinator Greg Knapp might not be excusable, but someone ought to light the fire under this team. Even worse is the fact that Knapp didn’t seem to have any answers, and was in fact shocked by Owens’ blowup. Unhealthy things coming out of the Niners camp indeed.
Goodnight, Cincy
We’ll finish things off this week with the 0-fer watch, and now it’s finally an interesting race, with all the only-mediocre teams finally out of the picture. Special thanks to the Bengals, who were kind enough to give up the top spot this week with a 21-14 win over Cleveland.
The Jets are going to be stuck at zero for at least another week thanks to the bye they’ll enjoy on Sunday. It might be a good thing, because this will be the last chance for master motivator – and media critic – Herman Edwards to rally the troops and make 2003 at least respectable. Makes sense that he’d step in where Bill Parcells left off, although Herm’s got a little longer fuse with the press. Under Review will never forget his “you play to win the game” speech from a while back, though.
The 0-fer watch gets a treat this week, with a crucial battle between two members of the NFL’s dregs. Jacksonville and San Diego, both with four losses, meet up at ALLTEL Stadium.
Rounding out the non-winners are those hapless Bears (0-3). They might have a pretty decent shot this week, though, if Anthony Thomas can turn on the jets and burn the Raiders, who are making it harder to believe they played in the big one last year on a weekly basis.
Andrew Merritt is a Collegian Columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].
