Forbes Avenue » Sports

Dwayne Wade. Better than you at basketball

negrostotle — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:20:21 +0000

This. Isn’t. Fair.

The NBA…where…that happens.

Your favorite rapper as a basketball player

Forbes NFL power rankings: Week 9

griffn — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:00:42 +0000

1. New Orleans Saints (7-0, last week: #1)
In seven games, the Saints defense has returned 5 interceptions for touchdowns (3 by Darren Sharper), including one near the end of the half last night to break open what was a close game. Combine that with the league’s best offense, and they’re basically unstoppable right now.

2. Indianapolis Colts (7-0, last week: #2)
After feasting on the dregs of the NFL for the last six weeks, the Colts struggled at home against a rapidly improving 49ers team. When you need Joseph Addai to throw a 22-yard touchdown pass to win the game, it probably wasn’t a great day at the office. I have a strong suspicion that the Colts are not the second best team in the league, but I’ll keep them here until provided with further evidence.

3. New England Patriots (5-2, last week: #4)
The Patriots play the Dolphins twice in the next month, and Miami has a 3-0 division record. Despite being by far the best team in the AFC East, the Pats by no means have things wrapped up.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2, last week: #5)
The last time safety Ryan Clark played in the mile high air in Denver, he nearly died from a bizarre blood reaction and missed the rest of the season. Doctors have cleared him to play Monday night, but I don’t think the one-game drop off from Clark to Tyrone Carter is worth risking it.

5. Minnesota Vikings (7-1, last week: #6)
I don’t understand why people are questioning Packers fans for booing Brett Favre. Not only did he leave the team (granted, not entirely voluntarily), but he went to a division rival and acted like a jerk about it. He could have retired with class and spent the rest of his life promoting local car dealerships and enjoying unparalleled popularity in Wisconsin, but instead he made the decision to screw his legacy for one flash-in-the-pan season with the Vikings. Boo-hoo, Brett Favre isn’t universally loved. Pass me a tissue.

6. Denver Broncos (6-1, last week: #3)
The Broncos are now 0-1 in the Mitch Berger era. I’m just saying.

7. Cincinnati Bengals (5-2, last week: #7)
I’ve started getting all my news from OCNN, the Ochocinco News Network. This just in: “I’m so mad I couldn’t ustream my workout, I’m gonna try again tomorrow.” You won’t see that on Fox News.

8. Philadelphia Eagles (5-2, last week: #9)
The Eagles did everyone a huge favor this weekend by thoroughly exposing the Giants as a fraudulent fraud who I’m ashamed to say I recently had ranked #1.

9. Baltimore Ravens (4-3, On the bubble)
Word on the street is that Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron thinks he can turn Ray Rice into another running back he used to coach: LaDainian Tomlinson. Rice is averaging 150 yards from scrimmage and has 4 TDs in his last three games.

10. Atlanta Falcons (4-3, last week: #10)
Michael Turner got back on track against the Saints, but Matt Ryan fell off the rails and threw a couple of killer picks– one in the red zone, the other returned for a touchdown. And he’s thrown 7 INTs in the last 3 games. At some point, it’s going to come together for the Falcons.

On the bubble: New York Giants (5-3, last week: #8), Green Bay Packers (4-3), Dallas Cowboys (5-2), Houston Texans (5-3), New York Jets (4-4)

William Gay’s Law

griffn — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:00:49 +0000

Titans running back Chris Johnson’s 89-yard touchdown run against the Jags leads to the discovery of a new law of physics:

It’s never really a surprise to see [Chris Johnson] outrun defenders to the end zone, since the man has 4.24 speed. But if he’s going to lower his helmet and run over NFL safeties…well, that’s just unfair. When you watch the video of his 89-yard fourth quarter TD, note the way he dismisses Brian Russell. Mass + acceleration = shame. (That’s commonly known as William Gay’s Law, in honor of this play).

Definitely click through to watch the videos.

What’s wrong with Matt Forte?

griffn — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:53:07 +0000

A buddy of mine e-mailed me earlier this week to ask if he should drop Matt Forte in his fantasy football league in order to pick up Rashard Mendenhall, and his reasoning was surprisingly sound: Mendenhall and Forte were both drafted in 2008, Mendenhall went in the first round, Forte went in the second, therefore there’s no reason to believe that Mendenhall isn’t actually the better running back. Hard to argue with that.

First things first though, unless you’re playing in a four-team league, there’s no reason why Mendenhall should still be on your waiver wire. He’s the Steelers unquestioned #1 running back, his 5.4 yard per carry average is third among the NFL’s 15 leading rushers. and he’s got 430 all-purpose yards and 4 TDs since taking over four games ago. If you project his rushing numbers out over the first three games that he basically didn’t play in, he’d be third in the league in rushing, 25 yards behind Adrian Peterson. In other words, yeah, pick him up off the wire.

But the notion that you would put Matt Forte– a guy who I had ranked as the #2 running back in fantasy football at the beginning of the season and called “the safest bet of any running back this year”– on the waiver wire is a different story. I realize the situation is desperate for Forte owners. He’s only scored 1 TD in the first seven games. He’s currently 25th in the NFL in rushing yards and 30th in fantasy points, just above Tashard Choice (who has started only one game this year). So how does a guy who put up 1,700 yards and 12 TDs as a rookie take such a huge step backwards in his sophomore year? What’s wrong with Matt Forte?

Brad Evans at Yahoo! wrote a column this week that gave the most comprehensive answer I’ve seen to the Forte question, and it basically comes down to three factors:

1) Chicago’s despicable offensive line. Sans the Detroit game, the trench hogs up front have emitted a rancid odor. The left side of the line anchored by Orlando Pace and Frank Omiyale has routinely been manhandled. The downtrodden tandem has failed to create consistent push. …

2) Decrease in workload. Throughout the offseason and into training camp the Bears’ coaching staff expressed their desire to trim down Forte’s burdensome workload to ensure longevity. Last season, he griped the rock 23.7 times per game. This season that average has decreased to 19.0. Even if his yards per touch elevated up to ‘08’s level (’08: 4.5, ‘09: 4.1), he would still finish nearly 350 total yards shy of last year’s mark.

3) Play-calling. The opposite of what most pundits argued preseason, Cutler has actually been more of a hindrance than help for the running game. Offensive coordinator Ron Turner has leaned on the arm of his prized quarterback, calling 6.5 percent more pass plays than with Kyle Orton a season ago. More worrisome for Forte owners, Cutler leads the league in pass attempts inside the 10 (21), which has led to a downturn in goal-line rushes for the marquee back.

Cutesy sums up Turner’s play-calling in the red zone. Instead of designing plays to utilize his back’s tacky hands, he’s installed riskier fades and corner routes. So far this season, Forte has netted just 7.3 percent of the team’s targets inside the 20, down from 16.9 percent a year ago. Overall, his role in the passing game is nearly identical to last year, but he’s being underused in critical situations. All four of his receiving TDs a year ago were scored inside the 10.

Notice that none of these issues has anything to do with Forte himself. He’s healthy, he’s running relatively well, and his per-touch averages in rushing and receiving are pretty much in line with what he did last year. That’s important, because it’s the difference between someone who has a chance to turn things around and someone like LaDainian Tomlinson or Brian Westbrook who is just physically losing the tools to repeat past performances.

The issues Forte is dealing with is that his offensive line has gotten worse, he’s getting fewer carries, and he’s become a distant second option in the red zone to the Bears shiny new toy (Cutler). Is there a chance that any of these factors could turn around? Yes. Orlando Pace isn’t getting any younger, so Forte will probably have to continue working around that offensive line. But the Bears coaching staff may very well respond to their two-game losing streak by giving Forte more carries, and they may respond to their 20th ranked scoring offense by getting Forte more involved in the red zone. The Bears’ overreliance on Jay Cutler and those CFL-caliber wide receivers isn’t working, so a midseason change back to last season’s game plan isn’t at all out of the question.

Keep in mind that the Bears schedule is on the tough side from here on out, but there’s no reason why Forte can’t return to last season’s form or very near to it, starting this Sunday against Cleveland’s 31st ranked rush defense. And last season’s form had him equal in fantasy points to Adrian Peterson. Also keep in mind that DeAngelo Williams had 4 TDs at this point last year, then beasted for 16 more in the last half of the season. Dramatic midseason turnarounds do happen in the NFL. In other words, no, don’t drop Matt Forte.

Forbes NFL power rankings: Week 8

griffn — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:05:43 +0000

1. New Orleans Saints (6-0, last week: #1)
Drew Brees only threw 1 TD, yet somehow the Saints put up 46 on the Dolphins. Where are all these points even coming from?

2. Indianapolis Colts (6-0, last week: #2)
Jaguars, Dolphins, Cardinals, Seahawks, Titans, Rams. That’s been the Colts schedule so far. They still have yet to play any team that could be considered top 10 material. They’re like a dude who keeps his self-esteem up by scoring with ugly chicks.

3. Denver Broncos (6-0, last week: #3)
The Broncos just signed former Steelers punter Mitch Berger to their roster, and I can assure you with all certainty that he is a downgrade from whatever their situation was before. Even if their situation was a one-legged punter with a hook for a foot, Mitch Berger is a downgrade from that.

4. New England Patriots (5-2, last week: #4)
I’m thinking very seriously of changing my fantasy team’s name from “Death of Autodraft” to “Tom Brady’s Summer Jam Screen.” I’ll let you know what I decide.

5. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2, last week: #9)
Any team that forces Brett Favre into two turnovers and runs both back for touchdowns, resulting in outstanding sports photography like this is my favorite team for a week. Just so happens my favorite team for a week is my favorite team.

6. Minnesota Vikings (6-1, last week: #5)
The Vikings run defense is running on reputation fumes at this point. It’s just not great anymore, although it might be another few weeks before teams figure that out.

7. Cincinnati Bengals (5-2, last week: On the bubble)
Anybody who says the Bears made a mistake letting Cedric Benson go has a terrible memory. He was an absolutely horrible running back in Chicago, and there was no indication whatsoever that he was capable of doing what he’s doing right now. If this was baseball, I’d be checking his bat for cork and subjecting him to hourly steroid tests.

8. New York Giants (5-2, last week: #6)
Like I said last week, the Giants fooled everybody by jumping out to a 5-0 start against bad teams. But after back-to-back losses to teams that don’t suck, the jig is officially up. And their second half schedule is brutal. Like, they might not make the playoffs brutal.

9. Philadelphia Eagles (4-2, last week: #10)
It’s going to take a long, long time to wash the bad taste of last week’s Raiders loss out of the Eagles mouth. And just in case anyone was entertaining the notion that the Raiders might not be that bad, they got shut out this week by the Jets 38-0 at home.

10. Atlanta Falcons (4-2, last week: #7)
7 TDs in 6 games is obscuring things a bit, but something appears to be not right with Michael Turner. He’s averaging a full yard per carry less than last year (3.4 vs. 4.5), and a tougher schedule is not the problem. Only two of the six teams he’s faced thus far rank in the top half of the league in run defense.

On the bubble: Baltimore Ravens (3-3, last week #8), Green Bay Packers (4-2), Dallas Cowboys (4-2), Arizona Cardinals (4-2), New York Jets (4-3)

Steelers-Vikings Week 7 postgame: Drinking Brett Favre’s milkshake

griffn — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:00:08 +0000

Steelers 27, Vikings 17

▪ For the two people out there who actually care, sorry for the 24-hour delay, but I spent Sunday afternoon lounging on the beach with the in-laws and diligently avoiding the score of the Steelers game so I could watch it later on tape delay. Back when I was living in Pittsburgh, trying to avoid game spoilers was impossible unless you physically barricaded yourself alone in a dark room. For a good three or four hours after the game, Pittsburghers typically walk down the street shouting the outcome for little or no reason at all. And in situations where shouting isn’t appropriate, they find ways to work it into the conversation. “Would you like paper or plastic, sir, to celebrate the Steelers 27-17 victory over the Vikings this afternoon?”

▪ Before we get to the good stuff, let’s get my weekly RTFF rant out of the way (aka “Run The F***ing Football”). On the first play of the Steelers first possession, Rashard Mendenhall carried the ball for 14 yards. He got just three more carries the rest of the half. He got 10 carries the entire game despite averaging nearly 7 yards per carry, and none after his fumble with 14 minutes left. Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that Mendenhall jumping over the pile at the 5 yard line on 1st and goal was incredibly boneheaded to the point of being hilarious. But guess what, Coach. Running backs fumble the football, just like quarterbacks throw interceptions. That doesn’t mean you take the ball away from your best players. And there’s simply no reason why a guy who is routinely ripping off double-digit runs should only touch the ball 10 times.

▪ Speaking of RTFF, when the Vikings had 1st and goal from the 1, can somebody please explain to me why Adrian Peterson only got one carry? So you’re telling me you don’t think the best running back in the league can get one yard on three carries? Is that what you’re saying to me, Brad Childress? I understand Brett Favre has the hot hand right now, but come on. The Vikings didn’t deserve the three points they got out of that sequence.

▪ Ben Roethlisberger didn’t play well and only threw for 175 yards (all the more reason why giving Mendenhall 10 carries is ridiculous), Hines Ward– the NFL’s leading receiver going into Sunday– only caught one pass for 3 yards, and the Steelers still beat the Vikings by 10 points. At the risk of sounding like a hack commentator, this is a team that can beat you in a lot of different ways.

▪ It’s amazing how dominant LaMarr Woodley is when he’s not being blocked. He only had one tackle, but he ran a fumble recovery back for a touchdown and he was drinking Brett Favre’s milkshake all day. I for one think more teams should deploy the strategy of having their right tackle completely ignore the Steelers outside pass rush.

▪ I don’t think I’ve mentioned James Harrison more than a time or two in these postgame posts. So, yeah, he’s quietly on pace for 18 sacks this season.

▪ I think it’s pretty clear at this point that Troy Polamalu is more valuable to the Steelers defense than Aaron Smith, in case anyone was debating that. Which I doubt anyone was.

▪ The Steelers defense outscored the Vikings offense. Let that one marinate.

▪ I’m as big a Jeff Reed apologist as there is. I really don’t care in the least how many drunk college girls he splits the uprights with, as long as he makes the kicks on Sunday. With that said, he probably punched his ticket out of Pittsburgh by getting arrested last weekend. And then got that ticket validated by the half-hearted love tap he gave Percy Harvin on Mr. Harvin’s way to the end zone. It’s not a kicker’s job to make tackles, but it is their job not to get shaken off like a drunk college girl.

Forbes NFL power rankings: Week 7

griffn — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:00:47 +0000

Pick a receiver and stick with him, please.

1. New Orleans Saints (5-0, last week: #3)
If you’re a fantasy football owner, there is no team more frustrating than the Saints– unless of course you own Drew Breezy. They spread the ball around so much that they’re perfectly capable of putting up 48 points without starting running back Pierre Thomas ever seeing the end zone or anybody else scoring more than once. That also happens to be what makes them unstoppable in real life and the reason why they put up 48 points and 493 yards against a Giants defense that was allowing just 14 points a game.

2. Indianapolis Colts (5-0, last week: #2)
You don’t get to jump into the #1 spot on a bye week. That, plus the fact that the Colts are winning, but they aren’t crushing teams’ souls and making them question their religion like the Saints.

3. Denver Broncos (6-0, last week: #5)
The fact that the Broncos held the Patriots offense scoreless in the second half and overtime last week, how impressive does that look now? Jeez. And after being traded to a team with wide receivers on the roster, Kyle Orton is just flat-out beasting. I said, Kyle Orton is beasting. (I love repeating sentences I never thought I’d say.) He’s still only thrown one interception all year, and his QB rating is now over 100 for the season. Meanwhile, Jay Cutler has somehow managed to turn Matt Forte into a red zone fumbling machine. Yep, I’m blaming him for that.

4. New England Patriots (4-2, last week: #6)
They are who we thought they were. After throwing 6 TDs in the first 5 games, Tom Brady threw 6 in about a 15 minute span against the Titans. He probably would’ve thrown 10 if Belicheat the Cheating Cheater had left him in the game. If you’re in a fantasy football league, now is the perfect time to trade for Brady. And by now, I mean at this exact time last week.

5. Minnesota Vikings (6-0, last week: #7)
I’m just gonna come out and say it, I hate the Vikings and everything they stand for. I hate the fact that they allowed 385 yards passing to Joe Flacco, 7.2 yards per carry and 2 touchdowns to Ray Rice, gave up 21 points in the 4th quarter, and still won the game. I hate that their most impressive win this season has come against the St. Louis Rams. I hate that Brett Favre doesn’t suck. If they beat the Steelers next week, I’ll be absolutely inconsolable.

6. New York Giants (5-1, last week: #1)
After getting hit by Hurricane Breezy in New Orleans, suddenly you have to wonder how good the Giants really are. Like I said above, their defense had been allowing just 14 points a game, but four of their five wins have come against the Redsk**s, Buccaneers, Chiefs, and Raiders. And other than a few games in late November, their schedule doesn’t really ever get challenging to the point of “Now we’ll see what they’re made of.” It’s possible that they could go 12-4 and be totally unprepared at the end of the season to face playoff-caliber teams.

7. Atlanta Falcons (4-1, last week: #9)
Every week, I use this space to talk about my man-crush for the Matt Ryan/Michael Turner/Roddy White trio, but all three looked mediocre against the Bears this week. Ryan threw for just 185 yards and 2 INTs, Turner ran for 30 yards on 13 carries, and White had 4 catches for 56 yards, 40 of them coming on one catch. So let’s talk instead this week about the fact that the Falcons still won the game, thanks to a defense that is allowing just 15 points per game (4th best in the NFL). Let’s also talk about the fact that their only loss this season has come against the Patriots in Foxboro. The NFL is unpredictable from week to week, but I see 5 near-certain wins on the rest of the Falcons’ schedule (Redsk**s, Panthers, Bills, Buccaneers twice). Sharing a division with the Saints will keep them away from a bye, but I think it’s safe to say the playoffs are a lock.

8. Baltimore Ravens (3-3, last week: #8)
The Ravens have now lost three straight games in the final minute, but that doesn’t mean they’re better than their record. As good as their offense has become– Joe Flacco is on pace to throw 4,500 yards and 30 TDs, and Ray Rice is on pace for 2,000 total yards– at some point, they’ll have to address the fact that their defense can’t stop the pass. And it won’t get any easier after the bye week when they have to face the Broncos and the Kyle Orton air show. I said, the Kyle Orton air show. It’s entirely possible that the Ravens could become the greatest team in NFL history to lose four straight games.

9. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2, last week: On the bubble)
It’s clear that Mike Tomlin is determined to get Ben Roethlisberger into the Pro Bowl. Six weeks in, Big Benjamin leads the NFL in passing yards, and his completion percentage (a ridiculous 72.5) is second only to Peyton Manning. He’s on pace to throw for 5,000 yards. Meanwhile, Hines Ward leads the NFL in receiving yards and is having a career year for no good reason. Please excuse my ongoing nervousness about Tomlin’s new air attack. The last time a Steelers coach fell in love with the pass and Hines Ward was putting up numbers like this, Tommy Maddox was in the midst breaking franchise passing records on the way to a 6-10 record.

10. Philadelphia Eagles (3-2, last week: #4)
Ordinarily, losing to the Oakland Raiders would buy you an automatic ticket out of the top ten. But who am I going to put in this spot? The Bengals? No. They got their little shine last week, realized they’re the Bengals, and promptly returned to the bubble where they belong. The Packers? They beat the Lions, so what? Last week, I wrote, “The Eagles have crushed three bad teams and been crushed by a good one, so it’s hard to tell exactly how good they are. And we won’t learn anything about them next week in Oakland.” We actually learned a lot. We learned that cx2020 knows way more about the Eagles than I do.

On the bubble: Cincinnati Bengals (4-2, last week: #10), Green Bay Packers (3-2), Dallas Cowboys (3-2), Chicago Bears (3-2), Arizona Cardinals (3-2)

Steelers-Browns Week 6 postgame: “Subpar performance”

griffn — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:00:19 +0000

Steelers 27, Browns 14

▪ Not that they have much control over it, but the combined record of the opponents the Steelers have beaten this year is 4-18, and they haven’t looked all that impressive doing it. It’s worth noting that the same 0-6 Titans team who lost by 59 points to the Patriots yesterday took the Steelers into overtime in Heinz Field, that the Lions were marching for a game tying touchdown in the 4th quarter, and that the Browns had the score at 17-14 in the 3rd quarter yesterday. A few NFL observers have praised Ben Roethlisberger’s attitude for saying the offense put up a “subpar performance” on a day when he threw for 400 yards. But I don’t think there’s a trace of phony sports humility in that at all. I think he realizes– in the midst of a 4-2 record and a personal career year– exactly how bad the Steelers competition has been and how much work still needs to be done.

▪ There should be some concern that Joshua Cribbs averaged 7.5 yards a carry out of the Wildcat formation. The Steelers aggressive run defense was biting on fakes and over-pursuing east to west all day, and that might be a problem when the Dolphins come to town in Week 17 (assuming that game is meaningful). Might be a problem next week if the Vikings use Percy Harvin in that role. But what in the world was Eric Mangini thinking letting Cribbs throw?

▪ There should be a little less concern over Cribbs’ 98-yard kickoff return. He returned two touchdowns in Heinz Field last year, so just the one this time is an improvement. Also, Steelers special teams coverage has been generally solid.

▪ I thought Troy Polamalu was done for another few weeks when he came up limping after that interception. He was supposed to play with a knee brace but ditched it in pregame warm-ups.

▪ I’m kind of conflicted as to whether Hines Ward’s touchdown catch that was overturned was actually a catch. By the letter of the rule, the call was correct. He caught the ball in bounds, rolled out of bounds, and lost control of the ball halfway through his roll. Forcing receivers to control the ball all the way to the ground– even when they’re out of bounds– is generally a good rule. On the other hand, forcing receivers to control the ball after catching it, getting both knees down, going out of bounds, and executing a complete 360 degree roll is a little extra. Sometimes refs need to just look at the play and ask themselves, did he catch the football or not?

▪ The one call I do have a gripe with is Rashard Mendenhall’s fumble. He was lying on his back for a good two seconds before one of the Browns linebackers came over and ripped the ball out. Whether he was lying on top of other players or not is irrelevant. What ever happened to blowing the whistle after forward progress has been stopped?

▪ One thing that’s not going to show up in the stats sheet is that Mendenhall is doing a lot of little things right. He did an outstanding job picking up the corner blitz on Roethlisberger’s 52-yard touchdown pass to Ward. I bet Mike Tomlin was more impressed with that block than he was with Mendenhall’s 77 yards and a touchdown.

▪ And somebody please tell CBS announcer Solomon Wilcots the name is pronounced Mendenhall, not “Mendinghall.” You could tell it was driving his booth-mate Kevin Harlan nuts, because he kept emphasizing the second syllable (“MenDENhall takes the handoff…”), hoping Wilcots would eventually catch on. He never did.

▪ Mike Wallace is really, really fast. I’m curious as to why he’s not back there with Stefan Logan returning kicks.

▪ The fact that Pro Bowl voters don’t take blocking into account when picking tight ends is stupid, considering that it’s half the job. There are a few tight ends who are basically fat wide receivers who can’t block, but they put up numbers and make the Pro Bowl. Heath Miller is more like an offensive lineman who can catch, get open, and run people over with or without the ball. He’s also second in the league among tight ends in receptions and touchdowns. He won’t make the Pro Bowl, but he should.

▪ Lawrence Timmons had two sacks and he forced fumbles on both of them. I know it’s just the Browns, but those are the kind of impact plays the defense hadn’t been making this season. On the first fumble, the Steelers had 7 guys in the box, all standing up and in no particular position. They rushed 5, dropped 2, and Timmons came free on the corner for the sack. Credit to Dick LeBeau; there’s really no good way to defend against that.

▪ Oh, and the Browns didn’t score the last 26 minutes of the game. That’s how you close it out. Still too much throwing with a lead for my taste though.

▪ The next three weeks are the Vikings (6-0) at home, a bye, and the Broncos (5-0) in Denver. Basically, it’s the equivalent of a playoff run in the middle of the season. Should be a good barometer of exactly how good the Steelers are compared to the elite level teams of both conferences.

Forbes NFL power rankings: Week 6

griffn — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:00:54 +0000

1. New York Giants (5-0, last week: #1)
The Giants defense didn’t just make Raiders QB Jamarcus Russell look like a bust, they made him look like he had never played football before in his life. They sacked him six times and forced fumbles on three of them.

2. Indianapolis Colts (5-0, last week: #3)
The Colts effectively ended the Titans season Sunday night by pushing them to 0-5 and taking a 5-game lead over them in the division. What was incredible though was the degree to which the Titans could do nothing about it. And the thought just occurred to me that we could be headed for an all-Manning Super Bowl. Oh, God.

3. New Orleans Saints (4-0, last week: #5)
The Kardashian sisters are like catnip to young black sports stars. Khloe got the NBA covered, Kim is handling the NFL, and Kourtney was probably on her way to dominating Major League Baseball before she dropped the ball and got knocked up by a douchebag. That’s all the Saints analysis I got this week.

4. Philadelphia Eagles (3-1, last week: #6)
The Eagles have crushed three bad teams and been crushed by a good one, so it’s hard to tell exactly how good they are. And we won’t learn anything about them next week in Oakland. Also, they’re doing Michael Vick an enormous service, but they have absolutely no need for him. There are at least five teams (Buffalo, Carolina, Oakland, Cleveland, St. Louis– maybe Tampa Bay too) with hopeless quarterback situations who I bet would give up a second round pick for him right now.

5. Denver Broncos (5-0, last week: #10)
I can’t tell you how annoyed I am to have to rank the Broncos in the top 5, but they’ve given me no other choice. They held the Patriots offense scoreless in the second half, and Kyle Orton has a 97.4 QB rating this season. This week, Peter King repeatedly compared Orton to a young Tom Brady. I don’t know if I want to live in a world where Kyle Orton is considered an elite NFL quarterback.

6. New England Patriots (3-2, last week: #2)
I can’t keep ranking the Patriots based on what I think their underachieving offense is capable of. Brady is just straight up consistently missing throws now. He badly overthrew a wide open Moss on a deep corner route to the end zone, he hit Wes Welker in the foot on what would have been an 80-yard catch-and-run slant pattern, and he’s thrown just 6 TDs in 5 games. Until that situation is rectified, the Pats won’t be seeing the top 5.

7. Minnesota Vikings (5-0, last week: #7)
The reason I have the undefeated Vikings ranked below a 3-2 team is because I know nothing about them. They’ve beaten the Browns, Lions, 49ers, Packers, and Rams. So what? The next two weeks against the Ravens and Steelers should tell us exactly how good they are.

8. Baltimore Ravens (3-2, last week: #4)
The Ravens have lost two straight games in the final minute. But on the plus side, it appears as though John Harbaugh has finally realized that Ray Rice is by far their best running back and that Willis McGahee is a vulturous vulture who should stay on the bench and stop vulturing touchdowns from my fantasy team. The next part of their schedule is brutal though: Vikings, bye week, Broncos, Bengals, Browns, Colts, Steelers. That’s five top-ten caliber teams in less than two months.

9. Atlanta Falcons (3-1, last week: On the bubble)
The Falcons absolutely destroyed, demoralized, and delegitimized a 49ers team that last week looked like the new class of the NFC West. I’ve made it no secret how much I like Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Michael Turner, and that young Falcons offense. They finally lived up to my hype by posting 45 points on a defense that was giving up just 13 points a game.

10. Cincinnati Bengals (4-1, last week: unranked)
For the second straight week, a team forces me to leapfrog them over the On the Bubble teams directly into the top ten. Not only are the Bengals leading the AFC North over the Ravens and Steelers, but they’ve already beaten both of them. The one red flag is that they’ve won three of their games by 3 points, and their combined margin of victory in four wins this season is 16 points. So basically they’re about two touchdowns away from being 0-5. But, hey, that’s the NFL. The Bengals deserve this spot for now.

On the bubble: Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2, last week: #8), New York Jets (3-2, last week: #9), Green Bay Packers (2-2), Dallas Cowboys (3-2), Chicago Bears (3-1)

Steelers-Lions Week 5 postgame: Getting a little greedy

griffn — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:00:50 +0000

James Harrison stole Daunte Culpepper's lunch money.

Steelers 28, Lions 20

▪ It’s always nice to get a win on the road, but it’s incredible to me how bad this Steelers team is at playing with a lead. There’s simply no reason why the Detroit Lions, playing without starting quarterback Matt Stafford and #1 wide receiver Megatron, should have been marching down the field in the fourth quarter for the tying touchdown. Our defense bailed us out with three straight sacks, but it should never have come to that.

▪ And here, once again, is my weekly rant about the Steelers second half play calling. It’s the fourth quarter, ten minutes left, Steelers are up by 15 with the ball at midfield. Rashard Mendenhall is averaging 7 yards a carry up to this point. So, what’s the play call? Three straight passing plays, two of them out of a shotgun, resulting in two sacks, -4 yards, and a ridiculous 1 minute 57 seconds run off the clock. Furthermore, after gaining 65 yards in the first half, Mendenhall only got 6 carries in the second. You can maybe get away with that against the Lions, but teams that don’t suck (like the Chargers and Bears) will stage a comeback off that kind of idiotic play calling.

▪ After the game, Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians seemed to realize that the Steelers threw way too much in the second half: “We scored so quick in the third quarter when we had the ball and then we hit a lull,” Arians said. “We sat there for a while on the bench and I think we lost our rhythm. I got a little greedy there trying to hit the home run ball.” This gives me some hope that the fact that they’ve won the last two games hasn’t completely blinded them to how bad the play calling has been.

▪ Mike Wallace isn’t the best receiver on the Steelers roster; that’s still Hines Ward. But I’m halfway wondering if he isn’t better than Santonio Holmes. They both go over the middle well, they both have great hands, but Wallace is faster. Holmes, of course, has proven himself on the big stage (though hasn’t shined as brightly on the small one), and I recognize that he draws a lot of coverage away from Ward and Heath Miller over the middle. But over the past three games, Holmes has caught 9 passes for 120 yards and 0 TDs, while Wallace has caught 11 passes for 207 yards and 1 TD in significantly less playing time. And if Wallace doesn’t drop that pass in the second quarter, he’s got another 72 yards and a touchdown. I’m not saying Holmes and Wallace should switch places on the depth chart, but I think we should definitely see a lot more three WR sets.

▪ For the second time in three games, Ben Roethlisberger threw a touchdown pass to the other team. This time, he took the snap, looked briefly over the middle to draw the defense, then fired it outside to Mike Wallace without checking to see if he was actually open. He was bailed out of another interception by a roughing the passer penalty (a good call, by the way), badly underthrew Wallace on that deep touchdown pass, and fumbled on a botched handoff he never should have attempted. But other than those few miscues, he was near flawless. He bounced back from the pick-six by completing his next 13 passes in a row.

▪ I get the feeling the Steelers coaches don’t yet trust Rashard Mendenhall, despite the fact that he’s clearly the best running back on the roster– especially with Willie Parker slowed by a case of turf toe. Their trust might have been eroded further by that bad handoff exchange from Roethlisberger. It wasn’t Mendenhall’s fault, but he was through the hole and three yards down the field before he realized he didn’t have the ball. This was probably part of the reason he only got six carries in the second half. I think whenever Parker comes back, possibly next week, he’ll go back to getting the majority of the carries until circumstances dictate otherwise. If it was up to me, Mendenhall’s the starter and Parker comes out the bullpen every third or fourth series.

▪ Some time around the half, I was thinking that if it wasn’t for James Harrison, the Steelers defense would be downright mediocre. In retrospect, I don’t think that’s entirely true. At the half, they had held Kevin Smith to 19 yards rushing and the Detroit offense to six points– both a team effort. But it’s incredible how much better Harrison is than everyone else on the field. On a day when the defense racked up 7 sacks, Harrison had 3 of them.

▪ LaMarr Woodley doubled his pathetic season total with three tackles in the game. But he also got in on a couple crucial sacks late in the game– the first time he’s gotten a quarterback down this season. Blogging for Sports Illustrated last week, Woodley addressed the issue of his sophomore slump:

I had 11.5 sacks in 2008, but last year is last year. I was a new starter, and other teams didn’t know me. They didn’t have much to study, so they didn’t know how to prepare for me. This year, teams are doing different things against me — getting rid of the ball a little faster than they used to, for instance. I realize that right now my numbers are not high. Last season I had 3.5 sacks in the first four games. This year, first four games: zero.

But last year I also had seven games without a sack. Everything goes up and down. I used to get down on myself when I wasn’t getting sacks, but it wasn’t just about that. It was when I wasn’t getting sacks and we were losing. That’s when I get mad at myself. Most of the top pass-rushers have their ups and downs. The main thing for a pass-rusher is, how do you bounce back? For me, as long as we’re winning, I’m cool. Like last week against San Diego, it was good for me to get some pressure on the quarterback, but most importantly we won.

I haven’t gotten a sack yet this season, but I think I’m going to kick it off back home in Michigan this week.

▪ Keiwan Ratliff is terrible.

▪ The Steelers defense finally got its second interception of the season (the first came on that miraculous leaping grab by Troy Polamalu in the opener), but only because Daunte Culpepper dropped the snap, panicked, and threw a gift lob back across the field to Ryan Clark. So far this season, the Steelers have allowed opposing quarterbacks to throw for an average of 219 yards a game with 8 TDs and 2 INTs for a 90.9 QB rating. In other words, Polamalu can’t come back soon enough.

▪ How crazy is it that the Bengals are leading the division, with wins over both the Steelers and the Ravens? That’s absolutely insane to me, dogs and cats living together. The good news is that the Steelers have made up a two-game deficit on the Ravens in just two weeks. And next week is a bye week. No, wait, it’s a home game against the Browns. So, a bye week.