I've been largely silent about the NFL for the past couple of weeks, mostly because I don't know what to make of anything that's happening. I only saw the first half of last week's Giants game, where it looked like they had reverted to their early-season form, but then they exploded in the second half, while I was in a meeting. I thought the Packers had the Bears beat, and they blew it, and I thought Dallas was dead on Monday, but somehow they came back.
What does it all mean? Hell if I know.
Anyway, in lieu of insightful commentary from me, consider this an open thread about everything football-related. Some sample questions if you don't know where to start:
-- The Giants' resurgence: done with mirrors, or done with smoke?
-- Were the Packers exposed as posers, or are the Bears actually back to playing like a good team?
-- Is New England going to put a whipping on Dallas, or is that too obvious to pan out?
-- Is South Africa going to beat Argentina in the Southern Hemisphere smackdown, or will the Argentines advance to face England in the final?
Have at it.
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Giants: The Giants strike me as a team like the Fontes-era Lions, one where everyone knows they suck and they want to fire the coach, but they do just enough to make people think, "Well, maybe they're not so bad..."
Packers: That was classic late Holmgren-era play. Take a lead by playing aggrssively and passing well, and then sit back and run the ball unsuccessfully until such time as the lead evaporates, and then try desperately in the last minute and a half to get back into the game by throwing, which works pretty well until time runs low and Brett throws a desperate last-minute interception. It is absolutely maddening to watch, and indicates nothing other than that the Packers don't have a running game, which everyone except Mike McCarthy already knew.
Oh, dear. Ever since New Zealand was surprised by France, I'd sort of thought SA was kind of a foregone conclusion.
In lieu of predicting Nobel prizes, I commented after the fact about Doris Lessing. And I predict New England over Dallas by 7. It's the irrestable force over the immovable body, in NFL terms, with some sort of MOND effect asymptotically limiting the Patriots to what they need to win, and not much more. I mean that makes more sense than the default theory of dark matter in prolate spheroids in bullet passes interacting with the bullet galaxy. It's a preview of the Superbowl.
Re: Giants
Invoking Fontes in this situation is just uncalled for. The G-men are 3-2, having lost to the 5-0 Cowboys and the 4-1 Packers, the former coming in Dallas and in question until the end. They laid one egg.
Their resurgence is tied to the health and miraculous rejuvenation of Sam Madison, the substitution of Aaron Ross for the useless Corey Webster, Mike Strahan starting to play himself into shape, and the pass rushing of Tuck, Umenyiora, and Kiwanuka.
Derrick Ward was a pleasant surprise, and with the return of Brandon Jacobs, the ingredients for the power running game are there. Plaxico Burress is playing at All-Pro level right now on a bum wheel. David Diehl is not the sieve that virtually every pundit stupidly predicted in the preseason, and the injury-prone player he replaced is on IR in Tampa.
The Giants are in very good position in a very weak NFC.
Also, I boldly predict that the Pats will whomp on the Cowboys.
My question is: Given that New England is clearly a better team -- by a lot -- than any other team in the NFL, which undeserving team will beat them to keep them from going 16-0? We know it'll happen, but when?
That whole "spying" farce has just made these Patriots unforgiving. That last touchdown was just rubbing it in.
Yeah, it sure would be a change for the Patriots to be classless pricks!
That whole "spying" farce has just made these Patriots unforgiving. That last touchdown was just rubbing it in.
I thought that last touchdown had a lot to do with Dallas's last timeout. When they called the last TO to force the Patriots to run more plays, despite having absolutely no hope of coming back, Belichick et al decided to actually run more plays, rather than just kneeling down. And any four running plays by the Patriots were pretty much good for ten yards.
Phillips calling their titles "tainted" probably didn't hurt, either.
Given that New England is clearly a better team -- by a lot -- than any other team in the NFL, which undeserving team will beat them to keep them from going 16-0? We know it'll happen, but when?
Miami.
Brady always plays horribly against the Dolphins, for reasons beyond the comprehension of mere mortals.
Also re: the Dolphins, there's the letdown factor--coming off a game like this, against an 0-6 team? Yeah, that's going to be a tough one.
As for the last touchdown--post-timeout, they handed off the ball three times to someone who hadn't *touched* it before then. Granted I'm biased, but I can't get too worked up about that.