It was the same old, same old with the Colts and Saints yesterday: Both were threatened, but neither gave into their opponents. It seems that the same thing is happening every week and these truly great teams just keep on stomping out comeback attempts and pulling out victories. New Orleans’ and Indianapolis’ perfect 13-0 records have almost become boring because of how easy they’re making it look. Sure, the Falcons were driving late in the game against the Saints, but there was Jonathan Vilma, twice, to make drive-ending plays. At Indy, Brandon Marshall had a mind-boggling 21 receptions, breaking the NFL record, but Peyton Manning barely broke a sweat coming out to drive and score a fourth-quarter insurance TD to put the Broncos out of reach. Seriously, at this point, I’m almost cheering for the Saints and Colts opponents, just so that they could break up the tedium of their perfection.
It seems like Randy is back to being Randy. After being sent home from practice on Wednesday, Randy Moss did what he did when he played for Oakland: Shut it down. Moss was clearly disinterested in playing the Panthers and even Carolina’s defensive backs could tell that he was shutting down routes and not making an effort for the ball. In all, Moss had one catch for 16 yards and he fumbled that away. I’m still not ready to write off New England just yet, but this dynasty is dying fast.
Speaking of dying fast, how about the Cowboys’ playoff chances? The TD with two seconds left only made the loss to San Diego look better on paper, and losing DeMarcus Ware to a neck sprain – although it looked a lot scarier than that – was a huge blow as well. But, nobody can claim that both teams weren’t true to form. The Chargers now have their 16th straight December win and Dallas’ record in the month has fallen to 5-10 since Tony Romo has taken the helm. I’m not sure what has to happen for the Cowboys to keep their mojo going this late in the season, but something has to be done, either this year or next, to remedy the situation.
They may be out of the playoff hunt and pretty unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but something has to be said about the Seattle Seahawks. How can a team have such injury problems season after season? The team lost four more players this week against Houston. I don’t know if it’s the team’s condition, the fitness program or the constant rain and overcast skies of the city, but there is something wrong with that team. Seattle will get another high draft pick this season, but it’s just too bad they can’t use it on a medical staff.
And finally, the Raiders are screwed again. Somehow, Bruce Gradkowski managed to sprain and/or tear ligaments in both knees. This means, of course, that JaMarcus Russell now has his job as starting QB back. Just when you thought Oakland could be a spoiler along the way to the playoffs, this happens. And with the glut of piss-poor teams this season, they won’t even get a high enough draft pick to land somebody who could make a true difference.
This week: 10-5 (With Arizona -3.5 tonight)
This season: 115-83-1