Andy Richardson

A quick whirl around the league at the highlights and lowlights of the games I paid the most attention to on Sunday…

Random thought: As I write this, I just saw Jason Witten run about 30 yards without his helmet on. Earlier today I saw a player complete a sack after having been separated from his helmet. Considering all the attention being given to the NFL’s concussion problems these days, maybe they should look into making these things a little more secure.

Random thought 2: A lot of NFL GMs think size is everything. Towering quarterbacks and hulking wide receivers get taken at the top of drafts every year, and a whole lot of them wash out just as quickly. Guys like safety Bob Sanders of Indianapolis (a huge play early on in the Pats-Colts game to force a field goal) and Maurice Jones-Drew of Jacksonville (another long touchdown, this one off a kick return) prove it isn’t. The sad thing here is I was going to use the old line about how “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight…” but that’s been ruined.

Patriots-Colts: Almost everyone watched this game, unless they were sick of hearing about it beforehand, so there’s not much that needs to be said. The game basically lived up to its billing in terms of drama, excitement, and Tom Brady and Randy Moss making the big plays late in the game. Rather than dwell too much on some obvious insights here (The Colts just missed on some big plays to Reggie Wayne while the Patriots were hitting them, and there’s your ballgame), let’s talk about what this means for the future. Indianapolis will likely be traveling to Foxboro for the AFC Championship Game. I’ve seen them win there in the regular season, but not in January; I don’t know if they can. The Patriots are getting their bye at an ideal time; they can bask in the glow of this win and Brady can go shoot another Gap ad or something, and don’t have to worry about coming out flat next week. I still THINK they’ll lose a game somewhere along the way – maybe one of the Pennsylvania teams – but I’m not as sure anymore.

Chargers-Vikings: Does letting Adrian Peterson fall to the 7th pick already rank up there with, I dunno, letting Randy Moss fall to the 20s? Peterson setting the NFL rushing record against a top-10 Chargers run defense (entering the game, anyway) ranks right up there with one of the more unlikely occurrences you’ll see in the NFL – but then again, it’s a league of stars, and Peterson is one already. This week’s Ask the Experts question, which will be posted on Thursday morning, wonders if Peterson will be the No. 1 overall pick in fantasy drafts next year. I think he will be. He’s going to lead the league in rushing this year while paired with one of the league’s most inept passing games and questionable coaching staffs. If he can overcome those things as a rookie, I don’t see why he can’t do it all over again next year.

As for the Chargers, I’ve finally figured out why Vincent Jackson is killing my fantasy teams. Through careful observation, I’ve determined that he runs routes that are about 10-15 yards longer than the routes Philip Rivers is throwing his passes on. They’re not on the same page; they’re not in the same book; if they were talking to each other in a library they’d need cell phones. It’s disappointing, particularly since I took Jackson ahead of a whole lot of wide receivers who could be helping me win my leagues now. My sleeper: Vincent Jackson. My wife’s: Braylon Edwards. Point for her.

Packers-Kansas City: Early on, I was going to give Greg Jennings a whole lot of grief here. Perhaps basking in his 82-yard TD in overtime just six days earlier, he dropped a short pass that would have converted a first down and stopped a route that resulted in a Favre interception. But then he caught two TDs late, including one that was all individual effort and then the 60-yard game-winner that Packers fans spent years watching guys like Bill Schroeder, Robert Ferguson, and others catch only sometimes. No bad words for Jennings. By the way, Ryan Grant’s stat line looks poor (19 for 55), but his running wasn’t. He caught the ball well out of the backfield and put his head down and ran through holes that were there. He’s not a finished product, but Grant should still be the guy at running back for the Packers going forward.

As for Kansas City, if Larry Johnson’s injury is serious – it looked it – this team could be in trouble. It’s just not adept enough in the passing game for opponents not to have to respect the running game, which could be the case with either Priest Holmes or Kolby Smith. Tony Gonzalez, at least, could put up some monster stats the rest of the way. The team’s overachieving defense got kind of exposed this week, too. Considering they were coming out of their bye and the Packers played in Denver six days ago, it’s weird that Green Bay looked like the sharper team in the final three minutes.

Seahawks-Browns: I know Jamal Lewis is actually younger than Shaun Alexander, but a couple of years back you could have been given great odds regarding which player would come up with a 4-TD day in 2007. Lewis’ yardage stats weren’t impressive, but his gallop down the sidelines after a reception in overtime was so stunning I didn’t even think it was Lewis. He may not do much against the Steelers this week, but when a guy scores 4 touchdowns, you have to consider him a weekly play.

As for Alexander, who’s either hurt or dogging it (Can I still say “dogging it”? I think so) or both, you have to figure Mike Holmgren is just disgusted at this point. Maurice Morris looks like he wants to be on the field, he can actually catch the ball, and he doesn’t leave Matt Hasselbeck facing third-and-8 every series. Two years ago it was Jamal Lewis that looked done; now it’s the 30-year-old Alexander. Seattle’s division is so woeful the team might slip into the playoffs, but if so it’ll be just for a quick cup of Starbucks.

Jaguars-Saints: I’m really at a loss to explain how the Saints can look so dismal for a month and then absolutely tear up a good Jacksonville defense. Reggie Bush isn’t doing anything differently; he makes plays in space and gets bottled up on conventional running plays or if the opposition is looking for him to get the ball. A lot of it might be as simple as the fact that Drew Brees’ receivers are catching the ball for him right now, which they weren’t early on. That doesn’t excuse Brees’ own mistakes in those games, but as Brett Favre learned the last few years, if you have to throw the same pass two times to get each completion, you’re going to get off to slow starts, find yourself playing from behind, and throw a lot of interceptions: Favre two years ago, after Javon Walker got hurt and the team had nothing but Donald Driver, and Drew Brees in New Orleans’ first four games. Now Marques Colston, David Patten, and Lance Moore are catching the passes that Colston and Devery Henderson were dropping, and everything looks better. Go ahead and ride with the Saints the rest of the way, starting this week against the defenseless Rams.

Then there are the Jaguars, who have had some injuries but simply seem to come out like they’re not ready to play every once in a while. Reggie Williams (6 for 128, TD) will be a hot pickup in leagues this week, but I’m not buying: I’ve seen him do this before, then follow it up with dropping everything thrown his way the next week and being inactive two weeks later. (It’s happening right now with fellow first-rounder Matt Jones: touchdown last week, shut out yesterday, probably inactive next week.) Waiver buyer beware on Williams.

Final thought: It’s said that the NFL is a copycat league, and so it is. Almost everyone, from the Lions and Saints yesterday to a couple of teams a week ago, is now trying these “surprise” onside kicks early on in games. Before long it will be a surprise when teams actually kick it away. It’d be nice if the next trend is going for two points after touchdowns, seeing as that’s a whole lot more exciting than kicking extra points, and because two-point conversions had seemed to be lagging (there were none in week 8). With four two-point tries in week 9 (six if you count the fact that Green Bay penalties let Kansas City try one three times), maybe we’ll get to see a few more the rest of the way, even when scores don’t automatically dictate it. It would be nice.

Andy watches as many games as he can each Sunday. If you do the same, feel free to add your own observations from the previous day’s games below.

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