Tuesday, November 14, 2006

A Classic NFL Rundown

How many "classics" can there be? If you look at the college basketball schedule, there are about a half dozen right now. The CBE Classic, the John Thompson Foundation Classic (not to be confused with the John Thompson Challenge), the Sportstime Ohio BCA Classic, and the Cox Communications Classic among a few others. I don't care who's watching, an event that pits Monmouth against Arkansas State in Norfolk is NOT classic. Nor should it be in a Classic. A game that was a classic this weekend was Cincinnati's choke job against the Chargers. Of course, in Minneapolis, we're not allowed to watch good games. What did we watch this week?

Overheard at Winter Park among the executives:
A - "Boy, Brad Johnson isn't working out is he? Do we have any other options?"
B - "What about Rich Gannon?"
C - "Only if we can get Dexter Jackson at wide receiver!"
A,B,C - Uproarious laughter.
(pause)
A - "Is Wade Wilson doing anything?"

It was the Raiders and the Broncos, in Oakland. You could throw the records out the window! Just don't forget that Art Shell (who very nearly cracked a smile at one point. Probably thinking about Mad Libs) is coaching and Andrew Walter is quarterbacking.

The Saints traveled to Pittsburgh in what everyone clearly expected to be a very interesting and telling game. It was! The Saints don't travel well, and when Willie Parker can get to the sidelines or even just around the tackle, he's a dangerous back. Of course, offenses that are awake can usually bottle Parker up. On Sunday, the Saints defense was apparently told that the game was in Harrisburg.

The Giants-Bears game taught me something. That lesson, as always, is that I should do a little research before making predictions. Osi Umenyiora AND Michael Strahan were out, leaving Rex Grossman to gain some confidence, although it took him a while. Really, the turning point was that field goal touch down return. If I'm the Bears opponent, I'm not kicking field goals of longer than 40 yards against them again. Ever. Also, someone should tell Eli Manning that his brother is good because he finds the open guys, not because he can complete passes into triple coverage. Just sayin'.

It's so fun that ESPN still thinks their games are going to be interesting. Oooooo Carolina and Tampa. The part I found particularly interesting was that the guy drafted in the late rounds from Toledo has a more impressive early career than the guy who has been to the Super Bowl and 2 NFC title games. Just a fun fact.

That's it. Keep it Classic - Ryan

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