Points of Interest -- Week 3

– A Week of Rushing Anomalies

KC out rushed Houston 168 yds to 76 yds.

The Lions out rushed Philly 77 yds to 59 yds.

The Bears out rushed the Vikings 146 yds to 93 yds.

The Chargers out rushed the Broncos 87 yds to 37 yds.

Yet the Chiefs, Lions, Bears and Chargers all lost.






– Running Back Tandems

Before the season started it was widely assumed that the Buffalo Bills and the St. Louis Rams would have two of the best RB tandems in the NFL.

Through three games Buffalo is ranked 29th (162 yds) in rushing yardage; St. Louis is ranked 26th (284 yds).

Buffalo looks hopeless, rushing for just 2.9 yds per carry (31st).

But St. Louis has some hope, averaging 4.7 yds per carry (7th). With things seeming to go so smoothly in the running game it seems self-defeating to have abandoned the run the way the Rams have.

– Oh how the Chiefs have fallen.

Now that the Kansas City Chiefs have fallen to an 0-3 record and sit alone at the bottom of the AFC West, where are all the brain-trusts who insisted that KC’s defensive personnel could get the job done if only they could be free of that idiot, Defensive Coordinator Greg Robinson?

Now that they’ve lost back to back home games, where are all the idiot sports writers and commentators (hello, ESPN), who insisted that new Defensive Coordinator Gunther Cunningham alone would turn them around?

Now that KC’s defense is near the bottom of the heap overall and vs pts scored, where are all the genius pundits who insisted that Cryin’ Dick Vermeil knew what he was doing when he decided that he didn’t need to make a single meaningful signing on the defensive side of the ball?

Now that KC is struggling to put up 21 pts vs even the shakiest of defenses in the NFL (Houston), where are all the KC homers who said I was daft for claiming that KC’s offense would take a dive this season?

Vindication ROCKS and I’m a sore winner.







– Tackling Dummies

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are known as a tough defensive team and sure tacklers. That isn’t what we’ve seen so far this season, though.

Against the Oakland Raiders in Week 3 the Bucs’ defense played listless, unimpressive football. They failed to wrap up tackles. They pursued halfheartedly. They didn’t hold their gaps against the run and were too often caught badly out of position. They just didn’t seem interested in playing football for most of the night.

With the offense suffering a damning series of losses this is a fatal flaw occurring at exactly the wrong time.

What’s the cause? Lack of motivation? A change in coaching techniques or philosophy? The off season dismantling and piecemeal reassembly this defense endured?

– Tennessee Tuxedos

What’s up the Titans? They barely manage a win against a pathetically weak Dolphins teams in Week 1. Then lose two at home, scoring just 17 pts against the worst overall D in the league (Indianapolis) in Week 2 and allowing a wimpish Jaguar offense to get the better of them this week (Week 3).

This team is underperforming on both sides of the ball and there isn’t any reasonable excuse for it. You can blame it on the departure of ironman RB Eddie George, except that his replacement, Chris Brown, is the only consistent bright spot on the team.

The offense, something to be respected the past couple years, has fallen to 23rd overall and vs pts scored.

The defense is a so-so 12th overall and vs pts scored. With an offense as bad as Tennessee’s has been so far, that just won’t win many games.

So what’s happened to this team that most of us reasonably expected to be playoff contenders? They’re playing like a bunch of penguins, dammit.

– Come on Baby light my fire

Getting back to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it’s time to sit Brad Johnson and get QB Chris Simms into the starting lineup. Not because Johnson is so bad, but because he’s so ho-hum.

His passes have little velocity, he holds onto the ball for too long, he takes too much time to make decisions, he has no fire of his own and inspires none in his teammates.

Get the young guy out there. Let him make his mistakes while he brings his energy to the rest of the offense. Let the guys surrounding him rally to his cause and elevate their own play in order to compensate for his rookie errors.

Chris Simms, by the way, is the son of NJ Giants great Phil Simms.