NFL week 6 wrapup

NFL week 5 wrapup

• The Patriots jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead in Dallas, and Tom Brady didn't look right. He overthrew receivers, but the primary thing was body language and facial expressions - he just didn't look right to me. He looked out-of-sorts, out of rhythm, like he didn't want to be there.
  
  Apparently I was mis-reading.
  
  When the Cowboys took the first 2nd half lead against the Patriots this season, it was almost as if it woke them up. They outscored Dallas 27-3 over the course of the last 20 minutes of the game.



• New England’s last four plays against the Bills, week 3, too much time to run it all off the clock by taking a knee - Sammy Morris into the line, Sammy Morris into the line, Sammy Morris into the line, Heath Evans into the line. All from inside Buffalo’s 13 yard line. No passes, no field goal, ball goes over on downs. No one whining about running up the score.
  
  New England’s last four plays against the Cowboys, week 6, too much time to run it all off the clock by taking a knee - Kyle Eckel into the line, Kyle Eckel into the line, Kyle Eckel into the line, Kyle Eckel into the line. All from inside Dallas’ 10 yard line. No passes, no field goal. Dallas doesn’t stop them. Cowboy fans whining about running up the score.
  
  Wade made it necessary by using that last timeout. Otherwise the Patriots could have just taken a knee. Since they couldn't run out the clock, they had to run plays. They handed the ball off, up the middle, to a 5th string running back out of the Naval Academy. I hardly think that qualifies as "running up the score." Had Brady thrown a 6th on that drive, the whiners would have a point. Under the circumstances, I think New England behaved appropriately.
  
  I think that you don’t take a knee only to have your defense still have to come out and take the field. If the Cowboys thought it was still a competitive situation that warranted using that last timeout, why should the Patriots stop running plays?



• The Patriots are 6-0. The rest of the AFC East is 2-15. Both of the wins are inside the division, so they are 0-11 against the rest of the NFL.



• And it is time for all three of those teams to start looking at/for quarterbacks. Pennington can't throw the ball, and it should be pretty clear by now that if J.P. Losman's the answer, you're asking the wrong question. Even if Trent Green were ever to play again, which I think, based on absolutely no information, is a bad idea, he's certainly not more than a caretaker for a bad team right now. Those franchises should all be playing for 2008, if not 2009, now.
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• The Patriots schedule won't always look as weak as it did for the past couple of weeks. San Diego and Cleveland are both going to be above .500 in a couple of weeks.



• Evidence that you should be listening carefully to what I say (and I've got to really reach, this week - I'm finally in mid-season form):
  
  

  NY Giants at Atlanta - "If there's a team more likely to play a bad game as a favorite than this version of the Giants, I don't know who it would be. But they won't. Not this week, anyway..."
  
  New England at Dallas - "Dallas has played no one. New England has played no one. They've got identical 5-0 records and similar point differentials. So why are the Patriots decent favorites on the road? And why do I think that the spread is low? Can't give you a good answer on that, other than to say, I think that the Patriots are the better team, and not just by a little."




• Evidence that you should be listening carefully to what I say (and betting the opposite [and this evidence continues to pile up]):
  
  

  Carolina at Arizona - "The Cardinals are actually developing into a real football team, and this week, they'll go 2 games over .500 for the first time since they won 4 of their first 6 in 2002."
  
  Cincinnati at Kansas City- "The Bengals can't stop an NFL offense. Fortunately for them, this week they aren't facing one. A team in turmoil, fighting amongst themselves, down on the coach, finds solace in the welcoming arms of the Chiefs."




• For the week:
  Winners: 7-6
  ATS: 4-7-2



• For the Season:
  Winners: 56-33
  ATS: 43-39-7