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We were talking about this earlier today on the podcast, and I thought Andy Richardon had a good point. If these replacement officials are so awful and so biased in favor of defenses, how has Matt Ryan been able to throw 8 TDs versus only 1 interception? He’s got a passer rating of 114. Christian Ponder, Robert Griffin III and Andy Dalton are playing muhc better than expected. Jake Locker threw for 378 last week, and Eli Manning had a game with 510. The most likely explanation is that some quarterbacks have run into some scheduling issues. Aaron Rodgers has had to open against the 49ers, Seahawks and Bears. Tom Brady has faced Arizona and Baltimore. Now, maybe the officials played some role in this. Or maybe (perhaps more likely) offenses benefited more than defenses last year when entire teams were locked out – it was last year’s lockout that really helped the franchise quarterbacks last season. Whatever. I imagine those guys will come around, starting shortly.

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The general consensus last year (which I bought into) was that Johnson was adversely affected by the lockout, his contract situation and the team’s new offense. I saw some reports indicating he showed up in less than ideal condition. Mostly, it seemed, he was adjusting to the team’s new blocking schemes. Watching him in the preseason, he looked like pretty much the same old Chris Johnson to me. He just turned 27 on Sunday. The game-changing speed still seemed to be there, and I didn’t see a guy who was simply coasting at half speed and drawing a paycheck. With those factors in mind, and considering he was some recieving ability (he caught 57 passes last year) I thought it made sense to make him the No. 4 running back on the board. After three weeks, however, I’m beginning to sense this isn’t a Chris Johnson problem. I don’t think they’re using Johnson right. When Jeff Fisher was there, they were using a lead-blocking fullback and building the offense around Johnson. In their San Diego and Detroit games, they didn’t seem to make much of a committment to the run. They spent most of those games in three-receiver sets. Watching him get stuffed at the line of scrimmage over and over, I didn’t sense that backs like him – Jamaal Charles, Darren McFadden – would do any better. It’s not that Johnson isn’t fast anymore or isn’t running hard. ANd I think they have the necessary personnel on the offensive line – it’s not that they need a new right tackle. It’s overall scheme, play design and play calling. If and when they’re going to get that fixed, I have no idea. Maybe they need to fire offensive coordinator Chris Palmer. He doesn’t have a strong history with the running game. This is his 10th year in the NFL as either a head coach or coordinator, and only four of those teams didn’t rank in the bottom 10 in rushing. Only one (the 1998 Jaguars) ranked higher than 12th. I expect this year will probably play out like last season for Johnson. He’ll be just OK. He had four 100-yard games last year, and they all came against lesser defenses against the run – Cleveland, Carolina, Tampa Bay and Buffalo. I don’t see Johnson developing into the back I thought he’d be in the preseason.

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He’s a talented guy, but he’s got to get healthy. He’s got an ankle injury and didn’t even practice on Wednesday or Thursday. He underwent multiple knee surgeries in the offseason and didn’t play at all in the preseason. He’s working with a young, erratic quarterback. They’ve got some other decent receivers there – Nate Washington and Kendall Wright. I’m kind of on wait-and-see mode with Britt. So far, he’s caught 7 passes for 60 yards, with no touchdowns, in two games. In general, I would advise against using him until we feel like there’s a better chance he’ll start putting up better numbers.

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Yes. That’s how they score it. There’s a publication that’s circulated around the league. “Guide For Statisticians”. All of the folks in the press boxes around the league use it, so that they all score these kind of plays the same way. If Roethlisberger throws a pass to Brown and he runs 30 yards down field, then fumbles, then picks up the fumble and runs the remaining 10 yards for a touchdown, it is a touchdown pass. It’s scored just the same as if Roethlisberger threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Brown. On the same play, if Brown fumbles on the 10 and Mike Wallace picks up the fumble and goes 10 yard for a touchdown, then Roethlisberger gets credit for a 30-yard pass, Brown gets a 30-yard reception. The pass play ends at that point. The 10 yards Wallace picks up (and the touchdown) aren’t filed under receiving yards or a receiving touchdown. More arguments tend to ensue on laterals. If Roethlisberger throws a 30-yard pass to Brown, who then intentionally laterals to Wallace, who goes the final 10 yards for a touchdown, then Roethlisberger gets a 40-yard touchdown. Brown gets a reception and 30 receiving yards. Wallace doesn’t get a reception, but he’s credited with 10 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown. So, yes, it’s possible to average over 100 yards per reception.

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That’s kind of a quick hook, isn’t it? Gates was playing fine in the opener, then suffered a rib injury that ended up sideling him in Week 2. He missed the Titans game, and his replacement (Dante Rosario) caught 3 TDs in that game. If Gates was playing, you’ve got to think he would have caught at least a touchdown or two. Rudolph is playing well; he had the touchdown at Indianapolis and the two scores last week. I would have no problems starting him. But Gates also has a good enough matchup this week. I see it as a toss-up type situation.

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That’s part of the game – the nature of the beast. Logically, you start Morris and McCoy last week. That was the correct decision. A week ago at this time, Romeo Crennel was lamenting how Jamaal Charles wasn’t quite right physically. He was having some soreness in his surgically repaired knee, and they limited his playing time at Buffalo. Nobody would have started him last week ahead of those other two backs (except for your dumb cousin Ernie, who drafted Charles back in mid-August and doesn’t even know what team Morris plays on). No reason to beat yourself up on this one. Instead, you should glad that it looks like you’ve got the old Jamaal Charles back.

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Williams is now a full-time back on an up-and-coming team. Jackson has a groin injury that likely will sideline him again this week. So gut tells me to go with Williams. Jackson will be more productive as a pass catcher.

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