Week 4 NFL De-Cleeting

Ernie Hudson is one of my favorite actors. Whether it was his role on the show Oz or his performance as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters movies Ernie always delivers. Watching the NFL this weekend reminded me of line from a Hudson movie. That is just how twisted my mind is. The line is from the movie, The Substitute, which stars Tom Berenger as a mercenary who takes a substituting job in a Miami public school to stop a drug ring that involves a group of students led by....you guessed it Marc Anthony who now is a part owner of the Dolphins. Forgive the digression, but when Berenger first enters the school he meets Hudson, who plays the principal, and learns how he keeps the students in line. "Power perceived is power achieved." Well that might work when you are fighting an inner city high school drug ring, but in the NFL perception does nothing to help you win football games. After those teams which did not get their bye week are a quadrant through the season, the reality is either far worse or far better than it was laid out for them before the season began.

Titans 0-4

Remember the Titans? The ones that have made the playoffs the last two years and won the AFC South last year. Despite losing Albert Haynesworth and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz the Titans were expected to keep up their winning ways but their 37-17 blowout at the hands of the Jaguars has them winless and facing 4-0 Indy this Sunday night. The Titans lead the league in scoring defense last year but aside from their opening week loss 13-10 to Pittsburgh they have not been able to stop teams from getting into the endzone. With 3 losses already in the division it is likely the Titans will not be in contention for the AFC South this year and if they continue to play like this they will not even make it to .500.

Broncos 4-0

Well well well everybody was just so quick to put down the Broncos and how Josh McDaniels had not control over the team and what a joke Kyle Orton is your quarterback. Ok, I was one of them. I thought the Broncos would be a laughing stock this year and while they may not go wire to wire into the playoffs, they have shut a lot of people up. Granted, two of their games have been against Oakland and Cleveland but a win in this league is a win. The Broncos toppled the Cowboys at home 17-10. The Neckbeard Kyle Orton is just being himself out there, not too spectacular but not turning the ball over. Did you know that Orton is 17-2 as a starter when he plays at home? He has not thrown a pick yet this season, although he has come close. Brandon Marshall has put his temper tantrum and slipping on McDonalds wrappers behind him. The defense is allowing 6.5 points per game. A lot of credit should go to defensive coordinator Mike Nolan forgetting the defense to play like it is. Credit all around to the Broncos who have to be feeling pretty good looking at the way the rest of their division is playing. Many thought San Diego was the easy pick for this division but it turns out the perception might be wrong.

Rams 0-4

One situation where a team was perceived to have no power and turned out to be true was in St. Louis. The Rams are bad, so bad the winless predictions are starting to come in. In 4 games the Rams have scored 24 points and have been shutout twice. They lost to the 49ers 35-0 in San Fran and looked horrible doing it. With Bulger hurt(again) Kyle Boller barely made it over 100 yards passing. The Rams play Detroit November 1 in what might be their most winnable game. We are far cry from "Ram It".


Random Thoughts

-I know this issue has been beat to death in Carolina but let's compare Jared Allen and Julius Peppers for a moment.
Allen has 18 total tackles, 6.5 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles so far this year.
Peppers has 9 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble in 3 games.

-Catfish made a great point last night: What if the Chargers had had the stones to let LT go and keep Michael Turner? That being said the Chargers offense is not necessarily the problem. Shawn Merriman's stats so far this season: 8 tackles, 0 sacks, 0 everything else.

-I completely understand Ray Lewis being upset over the roughing the passer calls in the game against New England. However, I am not going to shed too many tears. The Patriots got a roughing call of their own and if Clayton had not dropped that 4th and 3 pass who knows what would have happened. There are three certainties in life; death, taxes, and bad officiating. All that being said I do not blame Brady for his initial reaction to the way Suggs came flying in. If you had a repaired knee you would be a little skiddish as well.