Monday Notes
I just finished watching that crazy New England game. There is a lot to digest there, and it will take a few days, and probably a second viewing, to digest it all. Tom Brady mostly looked pretty good, though he was tentative in the first half. It was amazing how many passes he threw, and how well he connected with Randy Moss again after a year apart. He still has a lot of work to do, though. The biggest first impression from that game, though, is that the Bills didn’t deserve to lose that one. They were outplayed in most ways by the Patriots, but they were tough when it counted and they deserved better than that ending. Alex van Pelt may not have been much of a quarterback, but he did a remarkable job of getting a team ready after taking over the offensive coordinator gig just a week ago. Buffalo may not be nearly as bad as I thought they would be, and the Pats have a whole lot of work to do to prove they are still worthy of their reputation.
Speaking of bizarro sports events, I was mystified by that U.S. Open men’s final today. When I left to go out for a while when it was halfway through the second set, and Roger Federer was in total, dominating control. I was absolutely certain he would win – he was in the zone, and Juan Martin del Potro looked hesitant and frustrated. You can imagine my surprise, then, when I came home to see Federer down a couple of match points in the fifth. Wow. Just wow.
Ugly situation for the Bears with Urlacher. He was finally back and healthy, and he got off to a good start, but his season this year was just barely longer than Tom Brady’s last year. Surgery on a dislocated wrist will have him out all year. That leaves a hole in the Bears defense – as least as much spiritually as physically. It will be very interesting to watch how this team handles their twin horrible blows next time out – the loss of Urlacher and the glaring exposure of Jay Cutler. On the Cutler front, one thing keeps coming into my mind when I think about that game – at this point in his career a guy who is supposed to be that good should not look that bad. Maybe Josh McDaniels was onto something all along.
Best case scenario for Troy Polamalu is that he will be out for 3-6 weeks, and it could obviously be much worse than that. The loss of the defensive heart plus some real concerns about the running game make me uneasy about my prediction that the Steelers will win their division. I’ll have to see them play again and see the Ravens play a real opponent before I can say for sure, though.
I would not be a happy camper if I was a Carolina fan and I knew that my team was stuck with Jake Delhomme and that management had again endorsed him despite his atrocious play. The more you look at it, though, the more you realize that they really have no choice. Josh McCown was carted off the field with a sprained knee and a sprained foot, so he’s not likely to be ready any time soon. That leaves Matt Moore as the only other guy on the roster, and in limited action two years ago he didn’t do anything to show that he would be an improvement over Delhomme. With Jeff Garcia now off the market there isn’t a free agent QB that is ready to step in and start right away, either. Sadly, Delhomme is their best option right now. All they can do is hope for the best.
Speaking of Garcia, I am a bit mystified by the Eagles’ decision to sign Garcia. And I am equally surprised by Garcia’s decision to sign there. I think a lot of Garcia, and I still think he can help out a team. For the Eagles, he just adds even more potential for disaster to an already tenuous QB situation. If Kevin Kolb’s ego hadn’t already been battered enough by the signing of Vick then this should really put him in his place. It also can create the potential for an issue if Garcia has to play and he succeeds and if McNabb subsequently struggles due to injury or otherwise. We learned last year that McNabb isn’t exactly the least sensitive guy on the planet, so this seems like a recipe for disaster – and that’s the last thing that the Eagles need right now. From Garcia’s perspective, I don’t understand why he would take this offer when other, better jobs were likely to be available soon – Carolina, Miami, and maybe even Cincinnati and Washington could be in the market for someone new who would be higher up the depth chart.
As I write this, the Raiders are beating the Chargers 7-0 in the second quarter, and JaMarcus Russell is significantly outplaying Phillip Rivers. Nothing in the world makes sense right now.
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