I wonder when the last time was that the New England Patriots, the New Orleans Saints, and the Indianapolis Colts all lost on the same Sunday. I’m thinking that it’s been a few years.
And a Mike Shanahan team getting shut out? Well, apparently that has never happened before. But that absolute shellacking of the Redskins by the Bills prompts me to ask permission to revise and extend my remarks of a week ago.
When Carolina beat Washington in Week 7, I said that Cam Newton had finally gotten a quality win. I thought that he had been getting an awful lot of love for a guy who was 1-5. But beating the Redskins seemed to me to be a more substantial achievement.
Now, after the Redskins got pasted by Buffalo and Newton lost to the Christian Ponder-led Vikings, I have changed my mind. The win over Washington was perhaps not a quality win, after all, and I am back to thinking that Newton is being disproportionately admired and prematurely praised.
This past weekend’s slate of games lacked the Packers, who were on their bye. Consequently, it was a less interesting weekend for us. On the other hand, it gave other quarterbacks a chance at winning NFL.com’s FedEx Air & Ground Players of the Week. Aaron Rodgers had been awarded the “air” half for Weeks 4, 5, 6, and 7!
Speaking of our incomparable quarterback, I like what Boomer Esaison had to say about Rodgers. And I also liked hearing his thoughts about Green Bay going 16-0. He thinks we can do it, he thinks McCarthy would go for it (unlike Tony Dungy), and he said he would personally like to see it happen. You and me both, Boomer!
In spite of the Packers’ absence from the scene, Week 8 did have some interesting developments. The Colts continue to stink, and the Dolphins continue to get their hearts broken. The Ravens almost got stunned by the Cardinals, only to stage a monumental comeback to win. The Saints -- lately thought to be the Packers’ primary competition in the NFC -- got ambushed by the formerly winless Rams. The Lions bounced back from their two-game skid to embarrass Tim Tebow and the horrible Broncos. The Eagles manhandled the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football -- something of a pleasure to watch, given the insufferable Rob Ryan, the Cowboys’ blowhard defensive genius. And the nice-guy Chargers lost a heartbreaker in the division on Monday Night Football. An incredible game, with a most improbable ending.
We’ll talk much more about San Diego in the next post, for they are Green Bay’s next opponent. Folks around the NFC who would like (or need) the Packers to fall (e.g., Detroit, San Francisco, New York, New Orleans) hold this Sunday’s match-up as one of their best hopes. A west coast road trip against a reputedly very good team -- perhaps this is Green Bay’s week to stumble.
More about that in a couple of days.
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