Off The Mark: NFL Week 9 in Review

A lot to talk about today. Unlike last week, a lot of positives after the big win.

First off, this was a crucial victory for the Redskins. As I stated in my short post right after the game, they improve to 5-1 in the conference and 2-1 in the division. They also avoid falling into the cellar of a very competitive division. Conversely, the Eagles are now a .500 ballclub, with a pitiful 1-3 record in the conference and 0-2 in the division (the Eagles are 3-1 against the AFC West…which means nothing in determining tiebreakers). The Birds face a real uphill climb to win the division. A wildcard birth is the more likely scenario for Philly right now, but their conference record – one of the main tiebreakers in determining the wild cards– really hurts them. So along with picking up a huge win, the Redskins dealt a serious blow to the Eagles playoff hopes.

Mark Brunell looked great after the first quarter. For a while I was worried about him. Last week against the Giants, and for the first 15 minutes against the Eagles, he looked like the 2004 version of Brunell. He wasn’t setting his feet at all, and he was overthrowing everything. But in the second quarter, he looked like the 2005 Brunell, and he got into a rhythm. I think his stats speak for themselves (21-29, 224 yards).

In the first half, Brunell’s favorite target was Santana Moss. Moss had five of his seven catches before the break. But the Eagles came out in the third quarter and constantly doubled Moss. So Brunell started looking for his safety valve Chris Cooley, and offensive juggernaut Mike Sellars. Great job by Brunell of not forcing passes to the dangerous Moss, and playing it safe with his H-backs.

The left side of the defense looked much better last night then they have the last four weeks. A lot of this had to do with Lavar finally getting the start and playing disciplined but aggressive defense. Walt Harris is still missing a lot of tackles however. Maybe it’s time to put Carlos Rogers back in the starting lineup. I know that Rogers is still learning the nuances of covering NFL receivers, but he has no problem making tackles and seems especially suited to help in the running game. Personally, I don’t care who replaces Harris as long as it is not Ade Jimoh (seriously, what is he still doing on this team). Harris is more suited to be a nickel or dime corner.

Great game by Joe Salave’a. Considering he has a serious foot injury, and he is putting 300 plus pounds of pressure on that foot on every play, he had a heck of a game in the middle. Brian Westbrook didn’t get any running room. You gotta love players who play through real pain and don’t make a big deal about it every week (*cough* Donovan McNabb *cough*).

The running game is still a bit of an issue. The Skins can’t seem to get the old counter trey going. Derrick Dockery can’t move and can’t pull. Anytime he tries to pull on the counter, he ends up running into Clinton Portis or another offensive lineman. And as mad as I was with Dockery during most of the game, his good hustle and heads-up play recovering the Cooley fumble near the goal line was, in my opinion, the play of the game.

Finally, great game plan by the coaching staff. Even with Portis struggling in the first half to get running room, the coaches stuck with the running game. Portis was effective on the last two series as the Eagles defense looked worn down. It also forced the Eagles to honor the run, thereby giving Brunell more time to throw and more open receivers to throw to. And look at this balance: 29 running plays, 29 passing plays!

Ok, now to the whole Terrell Owens situation. I don’t want to talk about it much because it is really pissing me off. I don’t care if he plays or not. I certainly don’t want to hear about him not playing over and over again during the broadcast. To ESPN, it would have been better if the Redskins didn’t show up, so they could have three hours to talk about Owens nonstop. I don’t think sideline reporter Suzy Colber interviewed one Redskin player or coach during the week. Every time she had something to report, it was on the Eagles. This is horrible journalism. What happened to covering both teams during a game? The ESPN broadcasts the past two weeks have been absolute abominations. First all the Teddy Bruschi crap last week. Now this Owens saga. I DON’T CARE. Show me the game. Talk about the game. Talk about the team who won. In all of this Owens mess, I think ESPN forgot that the Redskins won the game. That wasn’t the important story to them, but it should have been. For what it’s worth, I am definitely going to write a column in the next couple of weeks examining the downfall of the once great network.

As for Owens and his impact, or lack thereof, on the game. Would he have made a difference? Maybe. But who’s to say? The Eagles didn’t let him play. The Redskins won this game fair and square, and I think they would have won even if T.O. played. For once, it was great to see the Redskins opponent mired in controversy. The last five years, it always seemed as if the Skins were the team with all the problems coming into the game. But on Sunday, the Redskins played a team game and won as a team. The Eagles lost as a bunch of classless individuals. I think Brunell summed it up the best:
“We are about team and we're not about anything that comes before team. If we had any players that were trying to get all the attention and trying to be the focus, we wouldn't stand for it. ... Tonight was a perfect example. We didn't have any huge stats. We won that game as a team.”
Well said Mark, well said.

Elsewhere around the league:

I’ll join in with every other expert and analyst in giving some props to Kansas City coach Dick Vermeil. Going for the win instead of the tie and overtime takes a lot of guts. Especially considering the Chiefs were 4-3. This isn’t a case of a 3-10 going for a win when they have nothing to play for. This is team with real playoff aspirations. Vermeil pretty much put his team’s season on the line with that call. If Larry Johnson is stopped, the Chiefs fall to 4-4 and are in a big hole in the AFC. He could have easily kicked the field goal and gone into overtime with the home crowd to help his cause. Even if they had lost in overtime, no one would have blamed him for kicking the field goal. But he played to win the game, and that is all you can ask for. And the best part of the outcome (other than the look on Norv’s face)…another classic Dick Vermeil crying episode. Gotta love it…

The Packers and Ravens continue to freefall, and I continue to laugh about it. Not only have they gone a combined 3-13, but they have both looked ugly doing it…

How many times are the Chargers going to try and give a game away this season? They already handed wins to the Cowboys, Broncos and Eagles (imagine if the Eagles lost that game like they should have, it would be anarchy in Philly right now). They nearly handed another game over to the Jets. If it wasn’t for a couple of bad throws near the goal line by Brooks Bollinger, the Chargers would be sitting at 4-5…

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to struggle with Chris Simms at the helm. Simms had a horrible game, but made one good throw to Joey Galloway for a touchdown. This pass was shown all day on ESPN and CBS. Of course the networks don’t show the numerous amount of underthrows that Simms made. Or his two interceptions that killed drives for Tampa. They only show the touchdown. Even a blind squirrel with a decent left arm gets lucky sometimes. If he wasn’t Phil Simms son, no one would be paying attention to him. Maybe I should look into changing my name to Marino…

The Giants were in real trouble for three quarters against the 49ers. They looked horrible. They couldn’t move the ball offensively. The defense only stopped San Francisco when the 49ers committed dumb penalties. Only the ineptitude of San Fran saved the Giants. Eli Manning finally got his first true road win. Technically, his two wins on the road have come at Giants Stadium and against the 2-6 49ers. Very impressive. Seeing as the Giants won’t have home field advantage in the playoffs (if they make it at all…their second half schedule is fairly tough), Eli better figure out how to win a real road game…

Forget Steve Smith. How could LaDainian Tomlinson or Shaun Alexander not win MVP right now…

Tomorrow I do my first half of the season review, and give second half predictions. Root for the Colts tonight!