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Keyboard Quarterback: 12 Sacks
Authored by Andrew Perna - 2nd October, 2007 - 8:02 am
While there isn't a real marquee matchup, Ravens vs. Colts, Panthers vs. Bucs, Bears vs. Falcons, and Chargers vs. Patriots are all pivotal games in the standings.
With John Herrera standing to his right dressed in black and appearing not unlike an undertaker, Lane Kiffin sat down at the podium for Sunday's postgame news conference.
Baltimore wants Flacco to be their QB of the future. But the Ravens feel they have no choice but to start him now because Boller and Smith are unavailable. Wrong!
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Everything was in place for me to truly enjoy the Sunday Night Football game between the New York Giants and my Philadelphia Eagles. Sure Brian Westbrook was inactive, but every Giants-Eagles game was a good one, and Donovan McNabb was coming off a perfect performance against the Lions in Week Three.
Eli Manning’s performance, the starting quarterback of The Drew Crew, was rendered meaningless. The fate of The Crew had long been decided, so I could cheer for Philadelphia without being a jerk and secretly hoping that if New York had to score it would come by way of a Manning pass.
I was even sporting my brand spankin’ new Westbrook retro baby blue and yellow jersey courtesy of Ms. KQ. Yes, I know you think they’re hideous, but I love them. I’m a huge fan of history, the Eagles and the color combination of blue and yellow (the colors of my beloved Indiana Pacers). It’s like the color scheme from heaven. The only thing better would be if Joe Torre decided to dress the Yankees in Pacer pinstripes (from a few years ago) in the ALDS against Cleveland this Wednesday.
Instead of enjoying the game the Giants’ defense left both Andy Reid and I with a huge headache. Yes, the same Giants’ defense that allowed 45 points to the Cowboys, 35 to the Packers and nearly lost to the Redskins, held my Eagles in check for a majority of the game.
Make that the entire game.
The New York defense set an NFL record with 12 sacks on Sunday night, with about 47 of them coming from Osi Umenyiora. You can’t blame Donovan McNabb or the Philadelphia defense for the 16-3 loss, but rather the Eagles’ coaching staff and receivers.
For the third time this season McNabb’s receivers failed to get open on nearly every play, forcing him to take chances and hold onto the ball too long. That allowed the swarming Giants’ defense to get to McNabb more often than not. The unfortunate thing is that Philadelphia should have gotten Winston Justice some help on the left side of line. There was no way he was going to contain Umenyiora, and Osi’s six sacks were proof.
Author’s Note: I wanted to highlight Brett Favre’s accomplishments against the Vikings, including him taking sole possession of the all-time touchdown pass record, but I didn’t want to be redundant. I gave my two cents about the feat in Monday’s Scoop Du Jour.Click here to check it out.
The Downs The First Down…Culpepper Gets Revenge Daunte Culpepper won the battle against Trent Green, the man the Dolphins brought in to place him, leading the Raiders to a 35-17 victory on Sunday. Daunte scored five total touchdowns (two through the air, three on the ground), while Green struggled throwing two interceptions into the Oakland secondary. Culpepper has to be thrilled to have taken it to Miami, but the Raiders might have bigger things on their mind. At 2-2, they’re tied for the lead in the AFC West.
The Second Down…Bears Look Griese Bears fans got what they wanted on Sunday; Rex Grossman was on the sideline watching Brian Griese lead the struggling Chicago offense. The end result? The Bears are 1-3 heading into a Sunday Night matchup with the undefeated Green Bay Packers. Griese threw three interceptions against the Lions, including one that was returned for a touchdown by Keith Smith in the fourth quarter. Detroit hung 34 fourth quarter points on the usually stingy Bears’ defense en route to a 37-27 victory and a 3-1 record.
The Third Down…Browns Beat Ravens Derek Anderson led the Cleveland Browns to another surprising victory in Week Four, this time against the Baltimore Ravens. Anderson threw two touchdown passes, leading the Browns to a 27-13 win over their usually superior division rival. The win, coupled with the Steelers’ loss to the Cardinals, moved the Browns to within a game of first-place in the AFC North division. Four games into the season Cleveland is halfway to their 2006 win total of four, but don’t expect them to tack on another victory this week. They travel to Foxboro to play the mighty New England Patriots this Sunday.
The Fourth Down…Falcons Get Win The Atlanta Falcons earned their first win of the 2007 season against the Houston Texans and former backup quarterback Matt Schaub. Joey Harrington threw a pair of first half touchdown passes, leading Atlanta to a 26-16 victory. They will look to continue their success against the Tennessee Titans, but will have to enjoy the same stellar play from Harrington if they want to have a chance at upending Vince Young and Company. Joey has completed about 75% of his passes in the last two weeks, throwing for 584 yards and four scores (against no interceptions). Michael who?
The ‘Who The Heck’ Statline of the Week… Oakland Raiders’ running back Justin Fargas: 22 carries for 179 yards versus Miami.
The Keyboard Prediction for Week Five The New York Giants will “host” the New York Jets this weekend in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Makes sense right? It’s officially a home game for the Giants, even though the Jets are sure to have just as many fans at “Giant” Stadium this weekend. If you don’t think that’s strange how about the geographical location of the game? It’s being played in New Jersey.
Anyway, the Giants are going to pass all over the Jets on their way to a convincing inner-state victory. Eli Manning has impressed me so far this season, despite his “injured” shoulder. On the other hand, Chad Pennington has been a disappointment after a tremendous season last year. I’m thinking something like Giants 31, Jets 17.
My Fantasy Diary… The Drew Crew is back.
After an embarrassing loss to the last-place High Strokers in Week Three, The Crew bounced back with an impressive win over the formerly undefeated Kings. I did feel a twinge of remorse because the owner of The Kings was enjoying his wedding and the start of his honeymoon while I was agonizing over our matchup, but it’s a win nonetheless. By the way, congrats Elvis!
It was a slow start to the week for The Crew, as Lions’ kicker Jason Hanson was the only player I had active in the early set of games. But the one o’clock slot did set up The Kings’ dismal week with a combined 11 points from Marion Barber and the Baltimore defense. Things were so slow in the fantasy department that I was able to catch a few Zzz’s before the next slate of games began.
After all, I had to rest for my Eagles’ late game against the Giants on NBC.
Four o’clock was good to me, as Joseph Addai anchored my team once again. He tallied 146 total yards and a score against the Broncos, making up for the dismal showing by Willie Parker. “Fast” Willie contributed just 66 yards to the Steelers in their surprising loss to the Cardinals.
Injuries to Anquan Boldin and Javon Walker, and a bye-week for Santana Moss, forced me to play waiver-wire pickup Bryant Johnson and bench-sleeper Dwayne Bowe at wide receiver. I thought starting Johnson was a great move because he’d be getting the reps Boldin would have gotten, but it turned out to be a dud. Bryant caught just three passes for 37 yards, nothing to write home about.
Then Dwayne Bowe swooped in and saved the day. Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic, but he was undoubtedly the MVP of The Drew Crew in Week Four. His 164 receiving yards, including a 51-yard touchdown, were good enough for 25 points. To be honest, I was hoping for five or six points from Bowe. I’ll take a 400% return on my investment.
Add all that to my new defense, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and I had a win locked up before John Madden and Al Michaels took the microphone in New Jersey. I took a 42-point lead into the final two games of the week, with Eli Manning and Benjamin Watson to go for The Crew and Brian Westbrook and Plaxico Burress to go for The Kings.
News of Westbrook sitting out the Eagles’ game against the Giants hurt Philadelphia’s chances of winning badly, but it sealed my victory. There was no way The Kings could pull of a miracle comeback with Manning throwing to Burress, negating the receiver’s points.
The victory improved The Crew to 3-1, tied with The Kings for first place in our division. Next week I’ll take on The Springfield Isotopes (2-2) in a pivotal matchup. The Isotopes have Jon Kitna, Travis Henry, Randy Moss and Terrell Owens on their roster. It could be a painful Week Five…
My Fantasy Football Record for the 2007 Season: Week Four: 9-3
Week Three: 7-5
Week Two: 6–6
Week One: 8–4
Overall: 30 wins and 18 losses
