Pancakes In the Age of Enlightenment: MNF Recap and AFC South Notes

Hey Gang

Sorry I missed the update yesterday. There were Halloween festivities going on, and I just didn’t get a chance to post.

Today, though, that means you get two for the price of one. The price of one, by the way, is nothing. This morning, we’ll recap the MNF game, and visit the AFC South. Tonight, I’ll hit you with an NFC West update. Deal? Or no deal? Okay deal.

MNF

PATRIOTS 31, VIKINGS 7
Well, so much for the Vikings being considered one of the NFL’s top teams. They aren’t. Not even close.

The Vikings have gotten 4 wins this year by being impossible to run on. That wasn’t a problem for the Pats though, they just had Tom Brady throw for 372 yards and 4 TDs. Oh, and the defense didn’t hurt matters by picking off 4 passes either.

Next Sunday Night, the Pats take on the unbeaten Colts in Foxboro. Foxboro has been a house of horrors for Peyton Manning throughout his career, but damn he was great last Sunday in Denver.

And if that game isn’t enough to get you humming “What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor”, then how about the Nov. 26 fixture when the Bears come to New England? Good Lord. That has “Super Bowl Preview” written all over it, no?

AFC SOUTH NOTES

It is agreed that the Colts 34-31 win in Denver on Sunday was one of the best games we’ve seen this decade. That’s thanks mostly to Peyton Manning’s ungodly 32 of 39 for 345 yards, 3 TD opus.

However, the Colts also gave up 227 rushing yards in that game. They’ve been soft against the run all year, and unless they suddenly undergo a transformation that fixes that before they head to New England this weekend, we’ll be down to one unbeaten team in the NFL heading into Week 10.

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Dave Garrard was the quarterback for the Jags upset win in Philly last week. He won’t be the Jags QB when they host Tennessee this Sunday.

Byron Leftwich has told the Orlando Sentinel that he will be back in practice on Wednesday. Jack Del Rio said that Leftwich remains his QB, saying, “How many times have I said that over the last four years? . . . I mean, it’s double figures, right? At least this year. Now times four.”

Leftwich has thrown 7 TDs versus 5 INTs this year, and posted a 79 passer rating. Garrard was 10 of 17 for 86 yards and ran for 36 in the win over Philly.

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It is expected that the Titans will slap Pacman Jones with a 4 game suspension for last week’s misdemeanor arrest outside a Nashville nightclub for allegedly spitting in the face of a female patron of the club. 4 games is the maximum suspension a team can give for “Conduct Detrimental to the Team”. Jones, who was a top 10 draft pick in 2005, did play on Sunday, and had an INT and a punt return for a TD. He’s been plagued with being a douchebag since entering the league.

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Kudos to Gary Kubiak for finally sitting David Carr’s ass on the bench during last week’s embarrasing loss in Tennessee.

For 5 years the excuse has been made for him that he has no offensive line. They were making that excuse in 2002, and they were still making it in 2005. Meanwhile, guys who were nobodies before coming to the Texans like Domanick Davis and Wali Lundy seem to run just fine behind that line.

Finally, the Texans are acknowledging that the problem might be Carr, the first draft pick in the 2002 draft and the first in Texans franchise history.

I’m not saying David Carr won’t ever be a good quarterback. Maybe someday he will be.

He’s not now though, and he’s at the point where you have to forget he was the first overall pick 5 years ago, and treat him like any other player.

David Carr, at this point, has zero capital left to use from anything done in the past. If he’s going to be a serviceable starting QB, he’s going to have to start from zero now, and claw his way up from being a backup.

With almost 5 seasons of past performances to evaluate him by, that’s about what he should be, a backup QB, not unlike the last great Fresno St. QB before him, Trent Dilfer, who was also overestimated coming out of college.

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Okay then. Check back tonight and I should have an NFC West update posted.