Monstre, that was part of my incredulity. After beating Philly and NYG, to even entertain a loss to the Panthers, considering how they are doing, was mind-boggling.
Heh. I’m not sure how strong carolina is yet, but they don’t look good now. That could change.
I picked Dallas to win at Philly and Philly to win at Dallas. I haven’t researched it but it just seems to go that way with those teams. Also, I thought it would be more fun to give Dallas the win at Philly to get Dallas to 8-1. 
It’s not strong yet, but it’s still very early. Consider that the East has lost 3 games outside the division, and two of those losses were to the Jaguars and Colts. The third loss, to Minnesota, doesn’t speak well for the division, but the first two? The Jags and Colts aren’t exactly pushovers.
It’ll be hard for the AFC South to have a winning record against the NFC East; I would be surprised if the Texans and Titans manage even a single win, so that puts them at .500 against the East at best.
The AFC East? Better than the NFC East? Surely you’re joking.
Giants / Seahawks was brutal. Two plays into the game I was ecstatic. 15 minutes later I was wondering who rehired Ray Handley. The Giants looked pathetic on every side of the ball. Someone needed to tell them that they don’t get 2 bye weeks in a row.
22 straight completions. New NFL record.
Sweet.
I think it is becoming quite clear that the NFC East is an average, middle of the pack, division.
The NFC East is no doubt weaker than expected, but I think the AFC East may be the second worst division in football behind the NFC West.
Geaux Saints mother fuckers! Nothing but whiskey and NOLA music for the next few hours, then tailgaiting outside the dome (don’t have tickets, though 
).
Holy fucking shit, I thought this was a joke when I saw it on Giants.com, but goddamn if it isn’t a real, actual news story:
Police report: Terrell Owens attempted suicide
I thought his hospitalization was a fairly routine allergic reaction to his pain meds. Apparently not.
In other news, I haven’t checked it out yet but from what I hear the New York Times is reporting that the Patriots locker room is in even more shambles than the Giants, with the Patriots players being even more disgusted with their higher ups than the Giants players.
WTF? Chris Simms needed a spleenectomy, TO tries to kill himself, two locker rooms are in complete and utter chaos, and the Saints are undefeated. The NFL seems to be spiralling out of control at the moment.
Why have you forsaken us, Tags?
The whole TO suicide thing is gone. The Cowboys win convincingly against the Titans, as they should have. The TO suicide thing may have even helped focus the team.
At least the TO news will likely die down… no wait… not quite… Dallas plays Philly next week.
I expect Philly will kill the Packers Monday Night, so it looks like Week 4 will end up this way:
Phi 3-1
Dal 2-1
Was 2-2
NYG 1-2
Philly’s wins are against Hou, SF, and likely GB. Not much of a test there.
Washington has seemingly somehow gone from horrid to pretty good in two weeks, unfortunately.
Giants have a bye. Nothing for me to say there except they sometimes look cold, but sometimes look hot, unfortunately. I’m just glad to see them with a losing record.
Next week is:
Dal @ Phi - Glenn and/or Witten should shine
Was @ NYG - Another all-division weekend!
… oh, and that bastard Titan, Albert Haynesworth , is a criminal and should be out of the NFL if not in jail for intentionally stepping, with spike cleats, on the helmetless face of Cowboy Angre Gurode :mad:
I share your outrage. I have to give the scumbag credit, though, in that he gives good apology: “I’m ashamed for my kids to have my last name.” Damn.
I’m glad to see Dallas put up 45 points. Dallas has had difficulty scoring 20+ against anybody for several years, going back to the Aikman retirement, Qunicy Carter, Ryan Leaf, Chan Gailey, Dave Campo days.
I also hope Vanderjagt can stop missing 26-yarders.
I agree with all that. It remains to be seen whether the Iggles are any good.
Yeah, I didn’t even bother to post about them last week, when they convincingly beat…the Houston Texans.
But unlike the Texans, the Jags are a pretty good team. And the Redskins were able to run and pass against their defense (even Brunell looked good), and were able to shut down their run.
However, Leftwich showed the Redskins still can’t afford to blitz against a good QB until Shawn Springs gets back, and I’m hoping they give him time to recover as completely as possible, so we don’t have to worry about him re-injuring himself and being out for the playoffs.
I think they’ve already said they aren’t going to play Springs next week against the Giants, and they should be able to polish off the hapless Titans on 10/15 without his help. Their bye is the 10/29 weekend, so the real question is, do they bring him back to help defense Peyton Manning on 10/22, or do they sacrifice that game and hold him back until after the bye? I’m hoping they wait.
I think I’ll be in front of the tube all afternoon next Sunday. Redskins-Giants is a 1pm game, and Cowboys-Eagles is in the 4:15pm slot. A great chance to size up all four teams!
Nice to see where the Titans coach’s focus was, before he had time to prepare for the questioning.
Something I was thinking about as to why the Giants defense has been so porous against the pass. I posted on the boards multiple times during the offseason that I was very concerned about the loss of Kendrick Clancy.
What I’m seeing now is that had a ripple effect all through the defense. He used to occupy two guys every snap, plus one for Joseph, leaving only two OL to deal with Osi and Strahan. That meant that the opposing offense had to keep one or even two skill positions in to block, which reduced the number of guys going out in a pattern, so the secondary could clamp down better.
I like Barry Cofield, (the rookie NT selected in the third round,) but he’s not commanding any double teams. It’s almost comical watching Strahan and Osi both being double teamed and still getting farther upfield than either Robbins or Cofield. And none of them get anywhere near the passer. Since the opposing OL is able to contain the front four without assistance, the LBs and secondary are getting picked apart by the glut of receiving options downfield.
It all comes down to the loss of Clancy IMO. The day the Giants lost him I immediately thought back to when they lost Michael Barrow without bringing in a suitable replacement, and how the MLB position was a joke until Pierce was signed. Same thing here with the NT position. IIRC, it took two years to bring in Pierce. I fervently hope it doesn’t take that long to bring in a stud NT.
If Cofield turns out to be the longterm replacement, then I hope the standard two year learning curve for DTs doesn’t apply to him. So far, it’s looking like it does.
Any thoughts?
I agree that the Giants absent pass rush is fueling the “secondary is the problem” talk - it is a problem maybe the biggest, but I think the Dline problems - beyond Cofeild- are getting a bit of an underserved pass.
I think that what is true for the NFC East as a whole, the Offenses have been much stronger than anticipated - the Defenses have been much weaker.
At the one Quarter mark the Top NFL Offenses
- Philadelphia
- New York (N) **
3. Washington ** - New England
- Indianapolis
- **Dallas **
Yet only 1 in the Top 5 in Defense (Dallas) and only Washington joins them in the NFL top 20.
I look for a high flying “NBA on grass” Redskins Giants brawl tomorrow.
Goddamn I hate the Colts and Seahawks, the two whiniest teams in the league. They apparently whined about the no-huddle offense enough to get a new rule emphasis put in place this week.
Remember when the Colts whined like little bitches about pass interference after that playoff game against the Patriots? That got the league to emphasize PI in the offseason, directly leading to a huge jump in offensive production the following year. Not the least of which was Peyton Manning setting the single-season TD record.
Well, apparently the Colts didn’t like how the Jets ran the hurry-up last week. Ironic, because the Jets were doing the same thing the Colts normally do. Hell, the Colts did it multiple times in that very game before the Jets picked up on it and started doing it themselves. The Colts didn’t like it one bit, and whined about it enough to get an emphasis on the rule installed. This week. In the middle of the season.
Reports are that Holmgren also whined like a little bitch – as is his habit – about the Bears doing the same thing. Holmgren, of course, runs the Competition Committee that oversees these kinds of rulings. I didn’t see that game, though, so I can’t comment on what the Bears did.
From what I can tell, using online gamer vernacular, this amounts to the Colts employing cheese tactics for years until somebody does it against them, then immediately whining enough to get a rule put in place to stop it. Nice.
As Cowboys-Eagles kickoff approaches, I’m starting to get nervous about Philly blitzing.
Kendrick Clancy has 3 career sacks, two of which came as a Giant. Obviously playing the nose in Pittsburgh had something to do with it, but he didn’t have a single sack his entire Steeler career. With the guys the Giants had coming off of the edges, no way am I worried about Clancy.
Frankly, I think any blocking scheme that left either of those ends singled up in order to control Kendrick Clancy would have resulted in some firings. On any obvious passing situation last year, if I was calling the protections against the Giants, I’d have worried first about Strahan, then about Umenyiora, then about a blitz, then I’d throw whatever I had left in front of the tackles. Hell, the Eagles doubled both ends and chipped Strahan on third downs. So I would say no, his presence did not significantly affect the protections. He’s a good player, but not anything like the explosive pass rusher that he’d have to be in order to draw a double away from Strahan or Umenyiora, or to pull guys out of routes. As a matter of fact, I’m not sure that player even exists at DT. If he did, and the Giants had him last year, they’d have had about 85 sacks.
Clancy isn’t a pass rusher at all. He’s a nose tackle, not an under tackle. The under tackle’s job is to penetrate into the backfield and pressure the QB or disrupt the handoff, while the nose tackle’s job is to maintain the LOS while occupying two offensive linemen to allow the linebackers freedom to come up and make a play. Not that nose tackles can’t be pass rushers, but that’s not their primary job. It’s like catching for a running back; very useful, but of secondary importance.
Clancy did his job exceedingly well. Football Outsiders – which some NFL fans around these parts hold in high regard – were quite high on him. Some characterized FO’s opinion of Clancy as a concrete wall, with spikes, covered in venomous snakes. I doubt FO used that phrasing, but their opinion of him was quite high.
But now that I think about it, Clancy wasn’t even on the field in clear passing situations, which proves your point while disproving mine. They actually tended to pull him for Justin Tuck, going with the classic “3 DE” package on 3rd and long. This season Kiwanuka is getting that role.
So you’re right, and I’m wrong. I’m left with no idea as to why the team is playing so poorly. (Clancy was lights out against the run, but run defense has been solid so far.) Please, for the love of all that is good in the world, let the Giants not “stink up the joint” later today. And if all four DEs could get a sack, that’d be just super.
OK, I’m a little confused about the first part of your post. It seems like it’s slightly contradicted by the second part, but you did leave it in, so just to be clear: I was responding to your request for thoughts about the idea that Clancy leaving killed the pass rush. I’m aware that his responsibility was not as a pass rusher; I said as much.