Week 9 NFL Lessons

I looked for the magic potion and found poison. A 7-6 week hurts, badly. However, this beating had a couple lessons with it.

1. The Bengals are REALLY for real. Early on I knew their D was legitimate, but Carson Palmer, 14 TDs 7 INTs, is almost back to his old self while Cedric Benson continues to rebuild his image. They took a crucial game from my Super Bowl Ravens this week but I can't be mad because the Orange and Black flat outplayed the Dirty Birds twice this year. At 6-2 with a glorious 3 game stretch remaining: Oakland, Cleveland and Detroit, the Bengals are in the playoffs easy. Once there they are ready to make some serious noise.
Side note: Ochocinco's dollar act was legitimately funny. If a lot of guys were doing stuff like that it would become a real distraction from the game but Chad's originality and consistent production make it acceptable and endearing. Be ready to dole out $29,999 more of those though, Chad.

2. The Packers and Bears are done. After taking Woody Paige's advice and looking at the schedules, the preseason powerhouses are finished. The Viks are too strong and both teams have ozone layer sized holes. The Packers O-line continues to amaze me with their inability to do much of anything. If there is such a thing a Rotating Door of The Year Award the corp seems to be battling for it. The starting roles themselves are making a run. Two men out of retirement thrown into action?!? And still the Pack gave up 6 sacks. 37 total in 8 games. That's 4.6 a game! 5.3 when you take out the abomination that is the Browns (more on them in a moment)! According to ESPN.com box scores Aaron Rodgers has been hit 60 times this season. The Contract Boosters face a great test next week as the Pack play Dallas. DeMarcus Ware is starring 3 sacks right in the face. Maybe the O-line can give up 8 sacks to get back to their early season form of 5 sacks per game!
The Bears likewise are held back by a putrid D. Once the pride of Chicago the unit doesn't look like they could stop a red light. At 4-4 with 2 games remaining against Minnesota and dates with the Ravens and Eagles remaining the Bears can kiss their playoff hopes good bye.

3. The Browns are unbelievably bad. They flat out suck big time. This team's only win came in a 6-3 game over Buffalo. Who even wants that win? That game set offense back a good 10 years in the greater Cleveland and Buffalo areas. QB Derek Anderson completed 3 passes that entire game. 2 to his team for 23 yards and one to the Bills' Jairus Byrd for 14. His last four games stats read like this 29/ 87 for 320 yards. Brett Favre threw for 334 yards on 33/50 in Week 7 alone. The only positive for Anderson's season is the fact that he and Raiders' QB JaMarcus Russell are in a dead heat for the season's worst QB title. Both feature 2 TDs 9INTs. Anderson has a commanding lead in QB rating sporting a flossy 36.2 compared to Russell's 48.3. Anderson also is winning the incompletion battle, missing his target 57.1% of the time while Russell successfully misses only 51.6% of his targets. The biggest question in this mess is how bad do the Browns think Brady Quinn is? I mean, he can't do better than a 2 completion game? What do you say in the huddle in practice after a 2 completion game? "Alright, coach called halfback pass but I'm gonna have to audible outta this one guys. Not trying to get shown up here." Anderson is so bad he only managed 6 completed passes against the Bears D. But worth noting is the fact that the Browns are the only opponent to not sack Aaron Rodgers this year. The only hit him once! Coach Tom and I decided it would be in everyone's best interest if Anderson retires effective immediately following his next INT, returned 14 of the $24 million he got from the Browns and just buy a small island. I mean, on the spot retire. Throw the pick, walk off the field and head straight for the car his wife has running out front.

TBG