Two undefeated teams needed late fourth quarter comeback attempt drives to keep their tally in the loss column at zero. Only one of them could get it done and it wasn’t the supposed master of the rally who came through. Yes, Drew Brees lead his Saints back from a 24-3 deficit in the second quarter to win the game and stay undefeated. Brett Favre on the other hand ended up costing the Vikings their perfect record by fumbling away a TD and then throwing a screen pass that was picked off (mostly Chester Taylor’s fault) for a TD.
But while everyone in the media will be praising Brees’ accomplishments today, I think the bigger story is Favre’s follies. Yep, Brett actively cost his team the game on Sunday, and it wasn’t just because of the last quarter. Looking at a play-calling split where you run 51 passing plays, you’d never know that the Vikes boasted the best RB in the league. They abandoned their winning game plan and let gunslinger Brett be gunslinger Brett. If the Vikes want to continue their solid run to begin the season, they have to get back to moving the ball on the ground.
That week off for the Dallas Cowboys worked wonders for them. Their pass rush started performing like it was expected to, the passing game looked good in spite of Roy Williams and Miles Austin might just be for real. Plus, they did this against a legitimately good team in the Atlanta Falcons. Of course, now that expectations have been raised, the Boys play will no doubt come crashing back to earth.
The Colts kept on rolling, but if you hadn’t expected to see them destroy the lowly Rams, even in St. Louis, well you don’t know much about football.
Well, I do admit when I’m wrong and boy was I wrong about the Bengals. They didn’t need luck or Antwan Odom to beat up on the Chicago Bears. I have no idea how long they can keep up their winning ways and even if they have a shot at the playoffs, but at least they’re entertaining.
So, going back to the Patriots destruction of the Titans, the Patriots scored 80 points in a row without giving up one until the Bucs scored with about a minute left in the second half. Even against vastly inferior opponents, that’s one hell of a run.
The Raiders are back to their old ways. Like I said, it was the Eagles that lost that game in Oakland, it wasn’t the Raiders that won it.
And hey, look at that, the 49ers finally got something out of the first overall pick from the 2005 draft. It only took how long for Alex Smith to show some promise? I guess it’s a good thing that they didn’t pull the cord on the ejector seat.
This week: 8-2-1 (plus Philadelphia -7 tonight)
This season: 56-41-1