Off The Mark: NFL Week 8 in Review

Well, that Redskins game was real interesting. Until kickoff.

Maybe the new theme to the website is bad luck. I’ve never seen the Redskins play worse than they did. And I remember the back-to-back 3-13 and 4-12 seasons of 1993 and 94. Even the first five games under Marty in 2001 weren’t that bad.

Give some credit to the Giants. I overlooked Tiki Barber because the Redskins defense had been so great against the run. After writing the game column Friday, I learned that Cornelius Griffin would play very few snaps, and that Joe Salave’a was still seriously banged up. Not that it would have made much of a difference. The Redskins may have only lost by 28 if they were healthy.

The trend for opposing teams now is to run to the left, the Redskins right, side of the line. Teams are attacking the combination of Warrick Holdman/Chris Clemons and cornerback Walt Harris. The Giants abused this side on Sunday. Run left, counter left, sweep left, toss left, etc…Phillip Daniels, the right defensive end, did his job by forcing Barber either towards the sidelines or back to the middle of the field. He got great penetration up field on most running plays. The end, on sweep or counter plays, is supposed to force the running back to make a decision about where to run. He isn’t necessarily supposed to make the tackle. The linebackers, corners and safeties are supposed to come up in run support and finish the play off.

Unfortunately, no one behind Phillip could make a tackle. I counted 15 missed tackles by the Skins. Harris missed six, Holdman missed 4 before being benched, and Clemons missed another there. Maybe it is time to consider playing…oh, I don’t know…your Pro Bowl outside linebacker Lavar Arrington on the right side.

Combine the missed tackles with at least eight dropped passes (three by Robert Royal, including a potential touchdown pass), three fumbles, an interception and several dumb penalties. The Redskins handed this game to the Giants. Other than the interception, every other Redskin mistake was unforced.

Even with the horrible showing, this was not a game the Skins needed to win. As I said Friday, it was must win for the Giants because it was a home division game. The Skins already have a division win on the road and they get another shot at the Giants in December at FedEx Field. The game this week against the Eagles, because of the loss, is pretty much a must have for the Skins to keep pace with the G-men until then. And what’s with the schedule? This will be the first division home game for the Skins. It shouldn’t take eight weeks to have one. Ridiculous.

Elsewhere around the league:

Am I the only one enjoying the fact that Brett Farve is suffering with the horrendous Packers in what could be his final season (hopefully). Karma has come around and is finally getting Farve on the field. What he did to Javon Walker this off-season was disgusting. He called out Walker because Javon was holding out. Walker was getting paid less than one million dollars a year, and he was one of the best receivers in the league. If anyone in the NFL deserved more cash, it was Walker. But Farve calls him out and pits the entire organization and city against Walker. So Walker decides to play for very little money (in terms of the NFL) for the benefit of the team. What happens in week one? Walker tears his ACL and is out for the year. He may never be the same again. Thanks a lot Brett. I didn’t see Farve apologizing to Walker, or offering some of his enormous and un-earned salary to offset the losses that Walker will have this off-season in a contract year. This rest of this season is a just punishment for Farve in my opinion…

Shhhhh...the Carolina Panthers are quietly 5-2. But look past the record. They are dominating games with a punishing running attack and a relentless defense. Right now, they are the best team in the NFC. This is a team playing with purpose right now. The media jumped on the bandwagon before the season started, but jumped right off after the opening day loss to the Saints. After Carolina beats Tampa Bay this weekend, the media will want back on. For the record, I never left the Carolina bandwagon, so everyone outside the immediate Charlotte area will have to take a number and get behind me...

I knew I shouldn’t have picked Chris Simms. I said on Thursday that I would never be foolish enough to pick a team that was led by Simms. He couldn’t win in college, and he certainly can’t win in the pros. But he was playing the 49ers. How could I pick the 49ers? If there was ever a time for Simms to win a game, this was this one. Serves me right, I guess. It won’t happen again. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me…

With that said, I also knew I should have picked the Rams to beat Jacksonville. I just had a feeling. But I tried to be rational and pick the Jags. Even with those two losses, I’m a solid 8-4 on the week going into the Monday-nighter…

As I said a month ago, the Broncos are for real. The Mike Anderson-Tatum Bell combination is almost unstoppable. As long as Jake Plummer isn’t put in situations where he has the potential to make mistakes, the Broncos could be the only team to challenge Indianapolis in the AFC this year…

Brad Johnson is still in the league?…

The hype surrounding Teddy Bruschi was even worse than I could have imagined. ESPN has outdone itself. Every spare second the network had during the game, they cut away to Bruschi or his wife (who was not very attractive, I thought a player like Bruschi should be able to do much better for himself). It was like watching a Wake Forest basketball game and having ESPN cut away to Eric Williams’ ugly mother 50 times during the broadcast. ESPN even missed a crucial fumble late in the 4th quarter of a close game by cutting away to a sideline interview with Patriots owner Robert Craft. The topic? Bruschi, of course.
Play-by-play broadcaster Mike Patrick even said early in the game: “I think that even the Bills are rooting for Bruschi to do well tonight.” Mike…are you serious? Maybe they are rooting for him in the game of life, or in other games, but not when they are playing against him. That’s not how the NFL works. And I hate call out Patrick, who is one of the best play-by-play guys in the NFL. He is a real nice guy and I have had the chance to meet him a couple of times at some of the games I broadcasted back in college. But that statement was uncalled for. By the way, with Bruschi back, the Patriots defense looked terrible as Willis McGahee ran all over them. Maybe that will slow down the ESPN hype machine…but I doubt it.