Weekend Update #3

My allegiance to my distrust of all things Houston Texans is starting to hurt me. Luckily I had no money on the game, but it did bring my already paltry week 2 results to a disappointing 9-7. I dropped the ball. It's ok, I'll bounce back. But for now, here are some thoughts on Week 2 in the NFL:

Tons of great drops this week, game changing drops in fact. Justin McCareins dropped a pass at the 5 that could have tied the game and given the Jets a little hope of making the post season, the stats on 0-2 teams making it to the playoffs is seriously depressing. I put a call in to Scott Linehan and reminded him of that, no word yet.

1st place goes to Brandon Jones of the mighty Titans. Vince did all he could to win the game, and Brandon Jones pulled a Nick-Anderson-esque choke by dropping two consecutive passes. In the end the Titans came up short when Indy threw the 10 man box-1 on Vince Young for the last play of the game.

Sunday was a great day for chokes all around, not just WR's joined the fun, fat kickers did too. Sebatsian Jankiowski fell victim to the freeze play. If you didn't see it you have to check it out, Mike Shanahan calls a timeout just before the ball is snapped for the go-ahead field goal, but the play goes on and Janikowski knocks one through and makes plans in his head to go straight to the bar after the big win, "the toast of the town I will be!"

The Refs call it back, says there was a timeout, everyone loses their minds on the Raiders sideline, and the Freeze is on. Everyone knows they are trying to put the Freeze on him, but everyone also knows that it rarely works. So Janikowski trots back out on the field to give it a go, and this time boinks it off the left upright. Shanahan thanked Dr. Freeze in his postgame speech, no joke.

My friend Paul's dad was so disgusted his Broncos lost to the Raiders that he turned the game as Sebastian's first kick was in the air. His wife told him later that she couldn't believe the Broncos won. I hope he had TiVo.

If I had TiVo I would go back and watch the Browns/Bengals track meet and see if they actually had defensive players on the field. Over 1000 yards of total offense combined for both teams and 96 points later you had one of the greatest fantasy games of all time! Sadly, I only had one player from that game, and my opponent had three. He set the high score for the week. You know its a shootout when Braylon Edwards gives you almost 40 points of total offense. And am I the only one that is starting to think that Jamal Lewis might have secretly traded souls with LT? Tomlinson is having the worst year of his life so far while Lewis is running for over 200 yards again, circa post-jail year!

And lets hear it for the Pac-10 this weekend. Palmer, Derek Anderson, Chad and TJ, Kellen Clemens, Matt Lienart, even Rueben Droughns is returning kicks. Heck, there were more Beavers in the Bengals/Browns game then Roger Goodell suspensions so far this year. I can't wait for everyone to run out and pick up Derek Anderson in their fantasy leagues and start him next week against Oakland. I am a big DA fan, but I doubt he will be able to put up Madden numbers again this year, especially when Baltimore comes to town and he has to stare down Ray Lewis and his torn bicep. What a man. Lewis even got an interception this week. If I had a torn bicep I would make someone raise the beer glass to my mouth for me. "MMM....a little more please..."

On a more depressing note this weekend, the spirit of Az Hakim hasn't left St. Louis. Dante Hall muffed the fair catch in the fourth quarter with the Rams up 16-14. The Niners kicked a field goal and Wilkins missed a 56 yard game winner later. I actually said to myself while following the game online before the punt:

"Man, I am glad we don't have the Wizard of Az anymore. Thank God for Dante Hall..."

Even though the rams had 200 yards more than the Niners on offense they couldn't squeak out a win. The Niners must be the most unimpressive 2-0 team in a long time. Both their wins have come by way of the other team not actually wanting to win the game. And, both games have been NFC West games. Whoever gets in from this division is going to be like the 7th and 8th seed in the Eastern Conference, it's fun for them and their respective fans, but no one really cares.

Personally, I think everyone in the league is playing for second place behind the Patriots. Even without their cameras they obliterated the Thunder Bolts. The Pats doubled the Chargers yards on offense and had 11 minutes more of possession time. Bill Simmons wrote a great article on the game. Like I said after Week 1, if Randy Moss gives them 10 games like this, so only 8 more, they will dominate all year. 14 or 15 wins isn't out of the question.

You know what else isn't out of question? OJ Simpson being the dumbest man in America. Forget the murders he may or may not have committed, that's a moot point now, you have to read this article about his arrest. My favorite part is when he tells the reporter that despite the arrest, "I am having a great time," and that he thought, "what happens in Las Veags stays in Las Vegas." Really?

He is a 60 year old man who just potentially went into a room with his old friends and stole things that weren't his at gunpoint. He is facing a lot of jail time, which he probably won't get we all know, but really, this is what you have to say about it? Wow. That's like if Janikowski celebrated after missing the second kick by doing cartwheels into the the locker room. If Art Shell was around for that, even he would have to react.

And finally, there were many upsets in college football this weekend. But my favorite moment of all of them, hands down, was the look on the Kentucky assistant coach's face after Kentucky scored the go-ahead touchdown. I'm sure you saw it if you saw the replays, and for the life of me I can't find a picture of this guy, but it was classic. This spindly white kid with a clipboard and a headset runs on to the field and does a squat-scream with so much dedication in his face that I swear he was going to drop a deuce right there on the field. Kentucky is ranked #21 in the polls, the first time since 1984 that they have been seen in the top 25, but I wonder if the voters had seen this guy celebrate before voting would they have ranked them a few spots higher. I think it's worth it.

Week 2 Results: 9-7
Overall: 19-13

I am off to see the Mets play the Nationals tonights, fingers crossed that John Maine can go the whole game...