Damn, Leon Washington, compound fracture. That sucks. Silver lining, at least, is that breaks (as opposed to tears) heal clean, so he should be full strength by the start of next season.
The tripping call was bogus. Who would’ve won the game if that hadn’t been called? Who knows. However, after that call is made the Vikings still had opportunites and got outplayed by the Steelers D.
Looking forward to Vikings-Packers nextr week. My prediction:
Packers 31
Vikings 27
Hopefully that hit costs him some money. There was no reason for him to destroy that ref that way. Harvin was already gone, and it isn’t like Dugan couldn’t have just gone around the ref. Watch the play again, Dugan doesn’t touch anyone after hitting the ref.
I found footage, and it looked like tripping to me.
It was nothing compared to the tripping call against the Raiders on their first offensive snap, though. The O-Lineman had both his legs wrapped around the pass rusher and the guy still knocked the ball out of Russel’s hand (not that that’s all that hard to accomplish). (Video)
Find some more footage, then. The defender was in the air, falling to ground before the blocker’s leg touched any part of him.
I’m going to take credit (or blame) for that. I was scanning the Waiver wire looking for a RB who could help my Auction League team and noticed that Green, Ward, Fargas and a few other guys were available out there. Green had by far the least production thus far, but I asked myself “which guy could break out?” Thinking, the Jets just rushed for 300+ yards and have a great O Line and a rookie QB who’s struggling. Will Jones and Washington both stay healthy all season? Seems unlikely…so I added Green.
Woot.
First off, let me set my petty rivalry aside for just one second and welcome Dio and cricetus to the Dark Side of Favre fandom. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve said “It wasn’t really his fault, the receiver tipped it,” I’d have a shitload of nickels. You’re sort of right, and now you know why people who watched him every week for years sometimes gave him a little slack on his INT numbers. You’re also sort of wrong, because when a QB throws a 100 MPH fastball every.single.time, tipped balls go farther and higher than they should and create opportunities for defenders who weren’t near the play to begin with. This one time during the Mike Sherman era, '03 or '04 maybe, a safety actually came out of retirement to pick off a ball that went off the hands of Bubba Franks. True story.
I had a lovely weekend. Browns Stadium, visitor’s side, 25-yard line, 11 rows off the field. In appreciation for my Browns-fan friend hooking me up with the ticket, I arranged for the Packers to give the Browns a brief lead before they got down to business. You can’t say too much about thumping a bad team, except that the defense played well and the offense was nearly perfect. No sacks (the Lions had 5 and even the Rams got 2) and a near-perfect QB rating for Rodgers. He got stuffed on a sneak attempt on 4th-and-short and it looked like he didn’t get low enough. That’s all I got. Defensively, they blew coverage a few times and would have given up long TDs if DA could throw worth a damn, so they’ll have to work on that. Otherwise they looked solid and played very well on the goal line. The team committed some stupid penalties, as usual, but fewer than they normally do and not enough to cost them the game against a good team. The weather was gorgeous, I saw someone sporting a Eugene Robinson jersey, and the Bears and Vikings both lost. The Bills even won! A fine week overall.
The season starts Sunday.
You know what’s cool about the whole Favre thing? Because it’s been dominating the Hype Machine’s output, the annual Colts-Patriots game in three weeks is flying under the radar. These are, once again, two fantastic teams, only this year we won’t be sick of hearing about it by the time it finally rolls around.
Watch again. Harvin is cutting across the field, trying to get the angle on two defenders that, for the most part, are off camera. Dugan is flying straight up the field, which is why he is moving so fast, relative to Harvin. He’s trying to intercept the two defenders trying to get the angle on Harvin. It’s tough to judge, but he certainly had a shot at reaching those defenders until he ran into the ref.
Harvin, of course, ended up being fast enough to get to the corner of the goal line.
Actually the rule is that the refs have to get out of the way of players.
I can’t remember a 6-0 team as quiet as the Colts. If I didn’t play fantasy football I’d think they got contracted or something.
I think their offense is every bit the equal of the Saints’.
I don’t think their running game is as good… but on the other hand I’d take the Colts’ receivers not named Reggie Wayne over the Saints’ receivers not named Marques Colston.
When I saw that play I was astounded by how inept that Ref looked trying to get out of the way. I’m not sure how old the guy is but he moved like he needed a walker. The Line Judge was keeping pace somewhat but the Ref looked like he was shuffling in slippers. Perhaps that guy needs to find another line of work if he moves that slow and reacts like he was shot when he gets knocked to the ground.
It occurred to me the other day that there’s no need for on-field referees in the modern NFL. Maybe one, just to get to the bottom of a fumble ruck, but otherwise, the referees can do their jobs (and do them better) sitting in chairs watching the games on video.
It certainly doesn’t make any damn sense to have 50+ year old men running around a field, especially when they can’t keep up with receivers and wideouts anyway.
Plus, the back judges seem to screw up plays on a weekly basis by getting in the way. Anyone else remember the Seahawks getting robbed of a win when a wide open Bobby Engram was tripped before making a certain touchdown grab by a falling back judge?
To be honest, I am kind of surprised they don’t get in the way more often.
You may be right. Bush is a third wheel in that offense sometimes. Pierre Thomas is their best back. But fuck, TBH, the Saints don’t really need to run the ball, do they?
It looked like he was watching Harvin, and didn’t even see Dugan come up behind him.
Haven’t the Washington Redskins got a better quarterback than that clown, Campbell? This performance so woeful I can’t watch it.
Nah, watch it. He’s pretty much lost out there and you can tell he knows he in trouble when the flow starts coming his way. He looks to catch Dugan out of the corner of his eye just before contact too. The guy looked drunk.