The best seat in the house is the view from the couch

Week 10 Recap

Quick Thoughts while kicking myself for dropping the Vikings’ defense

from my fantasy football team this week…

n Yes, you read that headline right. I decided to drop the Vikings’ defense this week because I didn’t like their match-up @NYG. I claimed the 49ers’ defense (which didn’t have a terrible day, by the way) and started them against Chicago over my bench defense, the Bills vs. Kansas City. Naturally, the Bills had three picks and a fumble recovery en route to holding the Chiefs to only three points. The Niners were good, but not great. And the Vikings… scored three defensive/special teams touchdowns along with four picks and a fumble recovery. Smooth D… real smooth…

n Couple of real good games to watch yesterday in the Boston area. CBS gave us Pats/Dolphins (obviously) that turned into something of a nail-biter at the end. FOX had both the Giants/Vikings and the Redskins/Bucs – two of the best NFC games all day long. I had been hoping for the Packers/Falcons, but after seeing the highlights of that one… I’m glad I got Redskins/Bucs.

n Nice effort by the Browns last night in the late game. Real good work. Down 13, 4^th and Goal for the Steelers from the 12, they are just trying to run the clock out with two minutes to go, and the Browns whiff on a stop three yards in the backfield, then forget to seal the corner as Verron Haynes takes it up the sideline to the end zone. Great work. Naturally, Trent Dilfer drives the length of the field in garbage time for a TD that would have actually meant something had the defense held up on a weak little sweep to the outside on 4^th and Goal from the 12…

n You know, this Shaun Alexander kid, he’s gonna be pretty darned good someday…

n Maybe the Steelers’ offense isn’t’ that anemic without Big Ben. I mean, I know Chaz Batch has had the pleasure of playing the Packers & the Browns, but Pittsburgh hung 33 on Cleveland last night. That’s pretty good, right?

n Uh oh… there go the Giants…

n Samkon Gado – your waiver wire wonder for week 11. Funniest part about his big day was that, after he had scored two rapid-fire TD’s in the first quarter, I checked ESPN.com to see who was doing all the damage. Well, apparently ESPN.com didn’t have a player profile for Gado, so the couldn’t list his name in the box score. All it said was “9yd run – TOUCHDOWN” and “3yd run – TOUCHDOWN” without telling you who was doing the scoring. Kinda sums up the Packers’ season, doesn’t it? Maybe you had to be there…

n Nice to see the jaguars finally playing up to the level that they’re capable… I’m not saying that Baltimore is the juggernaut they once were, but Jacksonville has the ability to dismantle a team, offensively and defensively, every week. Yet somehow, they allow teams like Houston to hang around all game, then eek out the win at the closing bell. That’s not the way to win games fellas…

n …unless you’re the New England Patriots. Way to give me a heart attack again. Score a go-ahead TD in 2 plays – GREAT! Allow the opponent to drive to your 6 yard line with about a minute to go for the tying TD? Let’s put it this way – I was so stunned by this, I had to walk away and go vacuum a rug. I couldn’t handle it.

n I was impressed with…

o Carolina. Big, big win. That is what you call a “statement game”, with all of the hitting and bodies flying. Don’t look no, but Carolina and Seattle look like they could do some serious damage against most of the AFC’s best…

o Seattle. See above.

o Indy. Ho hum. Another week, another win by two TD’s or more. At least it looks like Peyton is starting to realize that he is allowed to thrown the ball this year…

o Minnesota. Like I said a couple weeks ago – they could run the table and grab the NFC North from the Bears. Don’t be surprised if the Vikings are in the playoffs in January…

o Buffalo. The league’s worst rush defense stepped up big against the leagues’ best rush offense. Even more important, J. P. Losman actually learned how to throw a football!

n I was appalled by:

o The Falcons. How do you lose, at home, to a 1-7 football team with no defense and a starting running back named Samkon Gado? I mean, he’s no Bernie Parmalee, but as far as one-hit wonders go, that game might top the list. And Atlanta, you just got victimized by it. Nice work.

o The lack of defense between Tampa and Washington. OK, if you had told me that the O/U on the Redskins/Bucs game was anything over 41 before yesterday’s game, I’d have jumped on the under in a heartbeat. These were two of the better defensive teams coming into week 10 – what happened?

o Cody Pickett. 1-13, 28yds, 1INT. That’s not the line an NFL starting QB should have. And you’re telling me that Jeff George or Ryan Leaf wouldn’t come back and be better than that? In all fairness to Cody, he was a special teamer and “for emergency use only” QB just three weeks ago...

o New York City’s football clubs. 10 Turnovers between them – 8INTs and a couple fumbles. That’s just ugly. What’s worse is that the Giants’ defense only allowed 137 total yards, but their special teams just crushed them. At least the Jets have zero expectations for this season…

n Congratulations to the Allston Irvdawgs… er… Allston SPOILERS, for their first win of the AFL fantasy football season. It’s a proud day to be an Irvdawg, or spoiler, or whatever the hell they’re calling themselves these days. Half of the league has changed their name more times than the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim California – I just can’t keep up anymore.

n And finally – I promised some Halloween pictures, so here’s a few. By the way, let me just tell you right now – I’m not very creative, and I can’t wear masks or fake make-up, so the fact that I resemble David Wells lends itself nicely to a Halloween costume. As you can see, my buddy Frank not only won the “Wow, he really looks like that guy” for his portrayal of Ben Stiller in Dodgeball, but also the “most terrifying smile I’ve ever seen in a photograph” award for the night.

n I’m sticking with my pick for tonight, no matter what my buddy Tex – a huge Cowboys fan – might have to say. Eagles (-2). A win gives me another plus-.500 week- I’m 7-6 going into the Monday Nighter.

Guess I didn’t miss anything by not being able to play along this week.

Lata.

posted by Big D @ 9:20 AM