Pocket Change – The Weekend in Football

So you want to play quarterback do ya?  I don’t think I can remember a week where so many injuries seemed to happen all at once.  Big Ben in Pittsburgh, Matt Cassel in K.C., Matt Schaub in Houston and Michael Vick in Philly all suffered injuries this past weekend.  Not trivial injuries either.  Broken bones seem to be the order of the week.  Quarterbacks weren’t the only position to suffer setbacks though.  Achilles tears, ACL tears…it didn’t seem to make much difference who was playing where – running back, defensive back – someone was going down.

Chicago and Detroit sure looked like an old-fashioned hockey game on Sunday.  The Blackhawks and Red Wings had to be proud of that one, given their own heated history.  This game harkened back to the old “black and blue” division games of yesteryear.  Chicago exacted a certain amount of revenge for the loss a few weeks ago to the Lions, but this rivalry doesn’t seem to be going anywhere right now.  If anything it’s just beginning to heat up again, which is great for those of us who get to witness at a safe distance!

Another week, more undefeated teams go down in college football.  This week two more bit the dust with Boise State and Stanford both losing at home to conference foes.  With the pool of undefeated teams dwindling, the BCS boosters have to be getting nervous.  Another bowl season with controversy.  Just what they want.  I don’t care what anybody says, this DOES NOT get more people talking about college football in any good way.  Those of us that love the game will always follow it and those that don’t care for it won’t.  People who don’t care for the college game aren’t going to gain interest and suddenly feel compelled to pay attention to the game because of controversy.  It’s not going to change because some contrived championship game has ruined the end of the season AGAIN.  Except maybe for alienating more true fans from the rest of the worthless bowl season.

Of all the injuries in the NFL this week, I think the one to Matt Schaub of the Houston Texans has to be the most damaging.  The Texans are on the verge of their first playoff run, leading their division with the best record they’ve ever had and then this happens.  They’ve already been without their best defensive player Mario Williams, their standout defensive lineman/linebacker for most of this season.  While the Texan defense is vastly improved, think how much better it could be if he was still in the lineup.  Now they lose one of their best players on offense.  I’m not convinced Schaub is an elite NFL quarterback, but he is their best option at that position, and he’s had a pretty good year so far.  This could possibly open the door now for the Tennessee Titans to sneak in and steal that division.

How, in this day and age in the NFL can a team complete so few passes and still win a game?  Well, you play against Kansas City.  The Chiefs have been one of the most inconsistent teams in the league this year, starting way back in the preseason.  They started the year losing their first three games, getting blown out in their first two, then they won four in a row, then dropped the last two, culminating with being RUN OVER on Sunday by Denver.  It can’t help that they’ve lost possibly their top two players to season-ending injuries, but you’d like to think they could beat a team that can’t complete more than two passes in a game.  At least at home right?  No?  OK, well…

Speaking of Denver…I think it’s only a matter of time before that offense is completely shut down and Tebow will have to pass to win a game.  There’s no secret to winning in the NFL.  It’s BALANCE.  Balance on offense is one of the keys to winning, and without it, you’re doomed.  The Broncos better find a way soon to get some better balance before a good defensive team figures a way to stop the collegiate option game they’ve been getting by with these past few weeks.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  I HATE bye weeks, especially when we had a break from them for a week (and then have to suffer through another).  The only thing worse than that is unnecessary Thursday night games.  Thursday games should be reserved ONLY for Thanksgiving.  On that note, Turkey Day’s only a week away (already!) and the season is half over.  It’s going by a little too fast for my taste.  See ya next week!