When the NFL Gets as Messy as The Jug

 

This past week was by far the worst week in the National Football League in 2011.

Why? Well, one reason is because the most exciting game of the week turned out to be a hard-fought game between the Denver Broncos and Miami Dol­phins. The match-up effectively show­cased quarterback Tim Tebow’s natural talent and ability to be quite lacking. That was of course until the last five min­utes, when he turned into a highly un­likely Mr. Clutch. Meanwhile, the win­less Dolphins sat there with their head in their hands, wondering when or if they will get that elusive first win. Tebow still has a long way to go before he starts to impress me. I want to see him play a full game and perform against a team that, at the very least, has one win.

The other remaining winless team, the Indianapolis Colts, was part of an embarrassing 62-7 spanking by way of the New Orleans Saints. It’s scary to see how much the Colts depended on Peyton Manning and how without him, they are a likely shot to go 0-16. The other spank­ing came from the Houston Texans, who proved themselves in their own division by crushing the Tennessee Titans, 41-7. Running back Arian Foster led an offense that is definitely in sync.

The biggest upset of the week was clearly that of the Jacksonville Jaguars over the Baltimore Ravens. Even though it was an impressive defensive effort, in­cluding the allotment of just 16 first-half yards, it was still very tough to watch and an unexciting game. That was until the Ravens decided to spice it up by scoring a touchdown and then immediately suc­ceeded in anticlimactically throwing an interception to end the game.

I was so disappointed this week, and not just because of the uninterest­ing slate of games. Many of the surprise stories we have been looking forward to watching on a daily basis enjoyed bye weeks like the Philadelphia Eagles, Buf­falo Bills, Cincinatti Bengals and San Francisco 49ers. In fact, I think I would have watched any of those games over any from this past week. It really was that dispicable.

A team that has been among the sur­prises thus far this season, the Oakland Raiders, had a rough week before their bye. Running back Darren McFadden suffered an injury to his ankle almost im­mediately in the first quarter, and from that point on, things did not go favorably for the Raiders.

Backup quarterback Kyle Boller start­ed in lieu of Jason Campbell’s injury and had a terrible beginning to the game, in­cluding a pick-six that most fans expect­ed to come sooner or later. It got cata­strophically worse when Carson Palmer was inserted into the game. The rusty Palmer threw a pick-six as well and did not perform any better than Boller. That is not to suggest that Palmer is overrated or that the Raiders paid too hefty a price to obtain him. He will not continue to play this poorly. He was just traded and he still has several weeks at least to go before he starts developing chemistry with his receivers and gets comfortable in his new offense. Fortunately, the Raiders are catching a break and have a bye this week to get their act together and figure out some important things.

Additionally, a few more key players have been placed on the Injured Reserve list – Tim Hightower and Chris Cooley for the Washington Redskins, Shawne Merriman for the Bills and Earnest Gra­ham for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Running back Cedric Benson is serving a suspension as well, so the Bengals will have to push on without him. I’m look­ing forward to a solid offensive showing from the wondrous Andy Dalton against the hapless Seattle Seahawks.

Hopefully next week will be more entertaining and serve to give us a more exciting and enthralling week with closer games. I’m looking forward to watching all of the playoff-calibur teams put on a show in week eight and, hopefully, getting a much better sense of who the pretenders and contenders are moving forward.

Contact Albert Raminfard at [email protected].