Football Stuff

Top 25 Week 2

I'm going to take a bit of a cop-out on my rankings this week. I tried to make a good list, I really did, but after looking at the teams closely I couldn't. There is no single team that has two good wins so far, several are 2-0 and all of them have had at least one laugher of an opponent. The few exceptions to this rule are South Carolina and Boise State but they don't stand out either. The Broncos have only played a single game but the team they beat, although supposedly high profile, is now 0-2. The Gamecocks have the same conundrum, two strong wins over Georgia and East Carolina, but both teams are 0-2 and SC didn't look great in either win. Instead, this week I'll give you my top 25 and you can put them in order you want.

Nebraska, California, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Michigan State, UCF, Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa State, South Florida, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, Stanford, Tennessee, Florida, Arkansas, Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Boise State, LSU, Michigan, and South Carolina.

Yes, as far as I'm concerned, you could make Iowa State or UCF number one. It may be your only chance, jump on it Cyclones fans.

Miami Dolphins Scorecard

For the first time in my life, I can watch the Dolphins every single week, which after tonight might be a bad thing for me. Every week, I can now tear my team a new one if I want, because if tonight was any indication it'll be a long season.

The offensive line

Grade: C - It was a tale of two halves for this unit. The pass protection was good for three quarters but in the fourth quarter it all fell to crap. They let every defender come through and Henne was running and taking hits in the clutch when his line should stood up and helped a comeback. The run blocking was hit or miss and more often a miss, but the run game died after the first three possessions so that was not nearly as important.

Brandon Marshall

Grade: C- I know he had well over 100 yards recieving but the stat line doesn't tell the story that watching the game live does. Brandon Marshall dropped a few passes and clearly ran the wrong route or misguided Chad Henne's throws on back to back goal line plays in the fourth quarter. That was followed by the cameras catching a dieline bicker between said players. Finally, with less than two minutes to go, he called an absolutely asinine time out right before a play snapped. I mean seriously, why does a WR need to call a time out when the rest of the offense is ready to go? Everyone was baffled by it, and as best I could tell, it was a waste of the teams last time out becuase he wasn't ready for the play. These are the kind of prima dona WR problems a mediocre team with an uncertain QB situation cannot afford.

The Defense

Grade: F- When I look at the final box score for this game, I am shocked to see that Tom Brady threw 16 incomplete passes, I seem to have missed about 12 of those. His QB rating for the game was 121.6, which to me means the NFL QB rating stat is pointless. I have never seen a NFL QB make the game look easier. The Patriot O-line only suited 7 players, one went down with an injury, and a player just brought up from the practice squad finished the game. The result was one sack and Cameron Wake getting owned by a rookie all night. The 99 yard pass to Welker was the worst defensive effort I've seen in years.

Chad Henne

Grade: A Every cloud must have a silver lining. For Miami, tonight Henne was the silver lining. This another example of don't trust the QB rating, a measly 93, because Henne played almost as good as Brady except if Brady had a shitty line and only one wide reciever with any talent that had a knack for runnig the wrong routes in the red zone. Henne was on target, made no bad decisions (the pick was a batted ball on the final play), and made a lot of plays running the ball when no one got open. This game made me feel a lot better about Chad moving forward.

Reggie Bush

Grade: B- Reggie Bush played okay, if unspectacular for about a quarter and a half, then it become apparent that Miami would have to throw all night to stay in the game. Bush was a safety valve almost exclusively the rest of the game, but a did a good job of it.

King of Choke: Romo or Irish?

When the college games ended on Saturday night, I was convinced that Notre Dame was cursed to become a team that cannot play in the clutch and will always give close games away. 24 hours later, Tony Romo led me to believe the Irish aren't that bad in the fourth quarter. Romo was as bad in the clutch as I've ever seen a player be. With a 14 point lead, he loses a fumble at the one yard line, through an absolutely god-awful interception to set up the go-ahead field goal a few minutes later, and then with a decent shot to get in field goal range he didn't see his snap coming a lost 10 yards and burned the teams last time out. I've been supportive of Romo for the last few years but I think it's time to give up on him, he's failed when it matters to many times. This guy just can't play with the pressure on. I really want to see him in a Super Bowl, so we can see just how bad a QB can be.

Luckiest Damned Team Ever

When I saw that Auburn pulled out a single possession win yet again, I was mad. When I saw that they stuffed the opposing QB at the 1 yard line to complete the win I was really mad. WHen I saw the full highlights and it became increasingly obvious that the QB had already got in two plays earlier and the ref blew the call I was furious. I still believe that Auburn is a .500 team at best and that Gene Chizik is the least talented, luckiest coach I have ever seen. If this team doesn't lose soon I'm going to lose it.

Referee Fashion Statement

Seriously, what was with these things? All but one ref was sporting these things in the Notre Dame/Michigan game Saturday night.

Seriously Nike, Just Stop, College Tradition Has Had Enough of You

I'll admit that the Nike Pro Combat uniforms have been occasional hits. The TCU and Virginia Tech uniforms were great, as were the Boise State whites. Most of the rest have been...... there. There have been some duds though. First the Georgia helmets last week were just terrible. Oregon has been changing outfits every week for a few years now to mized results, but the stuff on disply in the Michigan/Notre Dame game was awful. First of all, Notre Dame may be the Irish, but they are not the Celtics, a clover has never been a part of their tradition in any way. That didn't need to shange and it was truly awful. Secondly, the Michigan helmet is great because the winged look is so rare and unique, when it is all over the uniform too (along with a 70's style cheerleader sweater M in the center of jersey) it is just obnoxious. It's time to stop Nike, just stop. Some schools have tradition that doesn't involve you and that's okay.

Who Wants to Win This One? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

I had a blast watching the Arizona State/Missouri game on Saturday night. Comebacks, comebacks, overtime, and an upset. However, if this thing was any sloppier, it would've been the Oakland Raiders vs. the Oakland Raiders. Both teams did everything they could to lose the game. Penalties were everywhere, and stupid ones too, like late hits. Turnovers, bad passes, bad special teams. When regulation ended I almost felt the refs should just punish both teams and call the game a tie.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the rest of the NFL's happenings this week.

The Chiefs suck again, and I wasted a pick on Dwayne Bowe in my fantasy league.

The Chargers started slow again, but changed gears at halftime, about 5 1/2 games earlier than usual.

My sleeper pick of Chad Ochocinco as great fantasy WR looked awful on Monday night, and I'd be happy to shop him around to anyone willing to trade. Tom Brady threw for over 500 yards and targeted Ocho three times.

Dammit, I really wanted Cam Newton to be bad, now I have to hope that the Cardinals defense is just legendarily horrible.

Marvel Madness - Round Two

All matchups are posted, so nothing here until round two wraps up. Apocalypse, Xorn, Kang, and the Enchantress have all moved on.