Category: NFL

Do people still blog? As a service to our loyal readers and podcast listeners, RJ (and friends) will be sharing some of the top, bottom, power bottom and strange stories and opinions about the No Fun League every week. Look for it Tuesday mornings right here throughout the NFL season. Please comment or contact me @ [email protected].

1)My sky is falling way faster than your sky is falling

This might be the argument between forlorn Vikings fans, downtrodden Cowboys fans and disappointed 49ers fans. All three teams, who many expected to be near the top of their divisions, find themselves in an 0-2 hole. The Cowboys, despite losses to the Redskins and Bears as favorites, are exactly one game behind the rest of the NFC East and a handful of dumb, albeit correctable mistakes (btw who does Alex Barron have pictures of that keeps him on that roster?) from being 2-0. The Vikings, on the other hand, should be a bit more worried. They’ve had a lot of injuries, but are reportedlyin serious talks with the Chargers in landing WR Vincent Jackson. It’s the schedule that doesn’t bode well for the Fighting Favres: after a home game against the feisty Lions and a bye, they go to New York to meet the Jets, host the Cowboys, then road games at Green Bay and New England. The schedule isn’t that much easier for Dallas (at Houston, bye, Tennessee, at Minnesota before home games against Jacksonville and the Giants before things get really tough). The Cowboys are still very talented and as I mentioned before, just a few mistakes away from winning those games.

The 49ers are in a much better position simply because of their division. While they aren’t a lock to beat anybody, they don’t have a real headache game until they visit Green Bay in December with a lot of Rams and Raiders and Cardinals in the mix before that. Trust me, 0-2 (maybe even 0-3) isn’t that hard to overcome in the NFC West, despite already losing to the Seahawks.

2) Our mountaintops are way higher than your mountaintops

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s lots of rejoicing in places like Kansas City, Houston, Pittsburgh and even Miami. Teams going into 2010 with modest to middle-of-the-pack expectations find themselves alone in first place across the AFC afterall won on the road . The Texans may have finally arrived after a thrilling come-from- behind win in Washington after trailing 27-10. The Chiefs took advantage of the generous Browns, while the Dolphins and Steelers used outstanding defense to win as heavy underdogs.

I’ll say Pittsburgh is in the best shape going forward. Despite not having anything close to resembling an NFL offense and a quaterback situation that’s the envy of 2003, the Steelers defense is back in 2008 form and holding the fort until Ben Roethlisberger returns from suspension and the offensive line gets healthy. Houston has serious problems with pass defense, the Dolphins can’t score despite having their best personnel on the field and the Chiefs are 2-0 despite the best (or wors)t efforts of their coaching staff (i.e Jamaal Charles still doesn’t get the ball nearly enough). Seriously, the Chiefs are better than advertised, but I just don’t see it happening consistentley. Stay tuned, though.

3) Since when did John Kerry become coach of the Eagles?

Vick. No, Kolb. Wait, it’s Vick. I think.

That’s the way the quarterback situation is playing out in coach Andy Reid’s head this week. The only problem for the Eagles and their fans, it actually came out of his mouth that way. Vick has looked rejuvenated since coming off the bench against Green Bay and a victory in Detroit. With the offensive line woes the Eagles have, the stationary Kolb might literally be killed on the field. Plus, it’s hard to argue right now with Vick’s effectiveness, and as the cliche goes, you always play the hot hand. As Vin Diec argued in his column, however, Kolb was named the starter after waiting about  32 years as Donovan Mcnabb’s understudy. The Eagles need to see if this guy was worth the wait; and a single half of football where he collected more chunks of turf in his facemask than he completed passes just isn’t enough time to make that assessment. Reid’s flip-flopping on the matter does nothing to help the situation.

Thanks for checking out the first, albeit light, effort. Like Brett Farve, I missed training camp so it may take a few weeks to round into form. Expect more stories per week (I just couldn’t bring myself to write about the Manning Orgy that took place Sunday night), more cliches and colloquiallisms than y’all can shake a stick at, parenthetical asides and of course, Steeler love. Until they lose a game.