I can’t tell you how relieved the Monkey and I are that the big story this weekend is about a player’s performance on the field as opposed to an official’s miscall. 

We’ll talk about Brown’s feat and the greater meaning of the Pats-Fins matchup in a moment below, but first I wanted to share a few new developments in my personal NFL experience.

1) Since I am NFL Sunday Ticket-less, this weekend I again had to make due without watching my team, the Redskins, play live on television.  Last weekend I “watched” the game on ESPN.com’s Gamecast.  This weekend, I switched over to NFL.com and used their version of Gamecast.  The cool thing about NFL.com’s service is that they have a “Red Zone” feature in which live streaming audio is available of local radio announcers (you pick the team whose announcers you want to hear) calling the game whenever either team enters the red zone area on the field.  Pretty cool feature there in which I was able to listen live to a couple of Redskins touchdowns.  I couldn’t hear the one huge Kurt Warner bomb to Fitzgerald, as the play began outside of the red zone, but overall this service is a must-try for anyone who happens to be away from their favorite team but close to a computer on Sunday.

2) The other geeky thing I discovered this weekend was at nbcsports.com during the Sunday Night Football game between the Cowboys and the Packers.  They have an incredible service which allows you view the game in “enhanced” mode, which basically means that you can select different camera angles during the course of the game.  You have the broadcast view, the cable cam, the sideline cam, the endzone cam, and what they call the “star” cam, which usually stays close on marquee players like T.O. when the broadcast camera is on the quarterback (which, in this particular game, wasn’t too exciting as T.O. only caught two balls for 17 yards).  For the true NFL addict, one aspect of watching the game this way is pretty cool, in that the cameras stay live during broadcast commercials, so you get to see a lot of additional sideline footage and atmosphere that you wouldn’t normally see during a broadcast game.  In fact, this aspect really gives the viewer the feeling that they have some kind of exclusive sideline press pass.  Unfortunately, my wife wrestled my computer away from me midway through the game so I didn’t have the opportunity to completely geek out.

Chargers Highjack Jets

In a game I was very much looking forward to, the San Diego Chargers brutalized Brett Favre and the Jets.  And don’t get distracted by the 48-29 score, as two Jets touchdowns came late when the game was out of reach and another was produced by the defense.  In other words, Brett Favre has a long way to go towards being the savior so sorely needed in New Jersey.  He threw two awful interceptions, but also received very little help from his offensive line.

The Chargers, on the hand, should feel good about righting their ship, but I wouldn’t get too giddy if I were them.  The AFC East is a really weird division this season and it’s too early to tell who’s for real.  In other words, who knows what kind of team the Chargers just beat up on?  The Chargers’ secondary looked pretty ferocious tonight, but golly did Favre make a few bad throws…

‘Boys Burst Bubble of “A Rod” and Pack

I’m not going to make any definitive calls on any teams or players until the first quarter of the season is complete, but one thing’s for certain: Aaron “A Rod” Rodgers did not lose this game for the Packers.  He didn’t seem to make any big mistakes, and in fact, made some pretty amazing plays, including a very Favrian jumping throw over the middle to Jennings under major pressure.  He seems calm and confident in the pocket and somehow combines the wileyness of Brett Favre with the composure of Joe Montana.  Did I just say that? 

What I liked about Tony Romo’s performance was his ability to overcome a horrible endzone interception.  He has this lightness and looseness about him that seems to help him concentrate simply on the task at hand, and not on whatever mistakes might have been made.  The Cowboys have many, many weapons at their disposal and will be extremely dangerous down the stretch.  If only they can win a playoff game.

Click here for Packers-Cowboys highlights.

Ronnie Brown Single-Handedly Destroys Pats

Ronnie Brown’s five-touchdown extravaganza against the reigning AFC Champion New England Patriots was not only simply electrifying for any fan of the game, but it was also stunning in that it was achieved in a game that nobody outside of about 53 buff-looking guys in Miami (led by a certain Mr. Joseph Porter) expected the Dolphins to win.  In addition, Brown’s performance was so incredible that it was literally immediately a facet of football historical lore in the sense that no man in the NFL has run for four touchdowns and thrown for another since 1923! 

Here in the Boston area in the days preceding the game, all that was to be heard on sports talk radio was the uproar about Joey Porter’s comments about Patriots’ second fiddle QB Matt Cassel: “If it’s not Tom Brady it shouldn’t be that hard.”  Further, Porter promised that the Dolphins would throw everything they had at the Pats, saying, “We need something big to happen for us now.”   Given Porter’s propensity for yapping, who knew just how prescient his words would be?  Rodney Harrison’s response to Porter’s trash-talking contained simple sportsman eloquence:

“The great thing about football, the great thing about sports, is that you get an opportunity to prove it…It doesn’t matter what I say, what he says, or anyone else in this league says. You have an opportunity to prove it, and just prove it on Sunday. Talk is talk. Just prove it.” — Patriots Safety Rodney Harrison

And prove it they did.  The Dolphins simply didn’t win the ballgame.  They completely dominated the Patriots in every single facet of the game.  Porter backed up his trash talk with three sacks, and oh, by the way, ‘Fins running back made the Patriots D look a little foolish in their inability to defend against what was essentially a college option running attack.

The biggest thing to take out of Sunday’s contest between these two AFC East rivals is the simple fact that on any given Sunday, simply anything can happen in the NFL.  No game is a gimme.  Now, the next question is, are either of these teams legit?  We will answer that question next week when we analyze the status of each team with the first quarter of the 2008 NFL season in the books.

Patriots-Dolphins highlights below…

“Greatest Show on Turf (Version 2.0)” Skinned in D.C.

I like that Kurt Warner is having a bit of a renaissance in Arizona with his freak-diculous corps of wide receivers, but I think that he will be forever challenged by the institutional underachievement that plagues the Arizona Cardinals franchise.  This underachievement was in full throttle when Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt, down by a touchdown with under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter, decides to punt it away to the Redskins instead of going for it on 4th and 4.  Cowardly play calling that results in a big “L” at the end of the day.

The Redskins put together a fabulous opening drive and managed the game decently in the second half to hold onto the win.  QB Jason Campbell is developing nicely and is finally utitilizing the talented Santana Moss like Mark Brunell did back in 2005.  The Redskins will face the “for real” test next week against the Cowboys in Dallas, a game that I think might actually be broadcast in my area.   

If the game does come on TV up here in New England, I will face a dilemma.  I haven’t been keeping actual statistics or anything, but it feels as though when I watch Redskins games live on TV, they lose, but when I go about my business on Sundays and pay no attention to the scoreboard, the ‘Skins seem to win…Redskins-Cardinals highlights below…

Porous Denver D Holds Off Saints Counterattack

I mention this game because I like the New Orleans Saints and deem them to be one of the most talented worst teams in the NFL.  (I can claim the Saints because I was once a Lousiana state resident, paying state taxes there for about 6 years).  The Saints prove that it takes more than a top-10 QB, and sick multi-talented RB, and an offensive minded young coach to win ball games consistently.  The Saints have been an almost team for the past three years or so and make me wonder how much they can hold out on the precipice of greatness before collapsing from a lack of confidence.  I wish these guys the best and hope that they can make something of the rest of their season from here on out.  And don’t look now, but the NFC South is suddenly one of the tougher Divisions in football.

Cutler and the Broncos continue to impress, save their defense.  They are currently on pace to challenge the 2007 Patriots offensive statistical dominance.  Lucky them, we still won’t know if they’re ”for real” or not until after the first quarter of the season is complete because they have Kansas City on their schedule next. 

Broncos-Saints highlights right here.

Prediction Updates…

Looks like I was right in last week’s recap about Vikings QB Tavaris Jackson heading to the pine, but I jumped the gun a little on Raiders Coach Lane Kiffin getting yanked sometime during Week 3. 

So far I am not yet wrong in my prediction that Packers will go 6-10.

What to Watch For in Week 4…

• A “for real” test for the Washington Redskins in one of the most storied rivalries in professional sports as the ‘Skins take on the Cowboys in Dallas.  In order for the Redskins to win, they must play Sean Taylor football.  The Dallas D showed some holes against Philadelphia, but the ‘Skins will have to play a perfect game to compete with the NFC’s best team.
• San Diego forgets about 0-2 with a big win against Oakland.
• Arizona picks apart the Jets secondary in NJ, but Favre competes in a shootout.  Cards prevail.
• Denver scores 40+ in KC.