Miscellaneous NFL Thoughts

Tom Brady

I need to set the record straight right away here, as I may have given the wrong impression (and probably said the exact wrong thing). I loathe Tom Brady. I loathe the entire Patriots organization from top to bottom. I think they are the most classless organization, even worse than the Raiders. And I, as do many of my friends, want Tom Brady's head on a stick.

However, I am not rejoicing over Brady's likely season ending knee injury. While football is a collision sport, and injuries are certainly common, they are not something to be celebrated. I'm not going to feel sorry for the Patriots much in the same way that nobody felt sorry for the Chargers when we limped into the AFC Championship game last season. But I'm not going to rejoice.

If anything, I'm disappointed because I wanted the chance to beat the Patriots A-squad; to watch our front 7 punish Brady all day long. I wanted to see them hurt Brady - bruised, slow to get up at times, and feeling the effects for the rest of the week. But not this.

The Chargers

Ugh.

First, an open letter to Shawne Merriman:

Dear Shawne,

I heard that you were going to be playing the season with two torn ligaments in your knee. That's a level of grittiness seldom seen these days.

However, I must express a concern. You simply were unable to perform yesterday. In fact, about the only time I remember seeing you on camera is when you headed to the locker room before halftime - with the defense still on the field.

While nobody can question your heart, it's now time to question if what you are doing is best for the team. You are unable to perform to your normal high level, and preventing us from sending in a healthy player. The performance yesterday was not worth risking the rest of your career over, and was a detriment to the team.

For yourself, and, more importantly, for the team, please go get the surgery done so you can start the healing and rehab process now. This will assure you will be ready for the 2009 season and give us the best chance to win in both 2008 and 2009.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Fan

To look for the silver lining in the cloud here, outside of a couple of fluke plays, we really turned it around the second half. That Rivers pass to Gates when he was rolling to his left was a thing of beauty. The biggest problem I see still the porous rush defense. We made the Panthers look like they had Walter Payton and Marshall Faulk in the backfield.

Quote of the Year

Proof positive that we should never let players talk. Here is Randy Moss's quote after the game regarding the Brady hit:

Like I said, I really didn't see anything because I was running down the field, but it looked dirty to me. I've never been a dirty player. I honestly don't even know how to play dirty. I just play the game. Anytime you see something like that that looks foul, that looks dirty, it opens your eyes.

Just read that for a minute and let it sink in. That first sentence is a thing of beauty. He says he didn't see anything but it looked dirty. If you didn't see anything, how can you say how anything looked? Next time he should worry about hanging on to the football, which he fumbled on that play.

The Ground Can in Fact Cause a Fumble

That Randy Moss play was a perfect example of this. Randy fell to the ground, and the ball popped out. Randy was not touched nor forced to the ground, and as such the ball was still live. It was the ground that caused the fumble.

There is no rule that says the ground can't cause a fumble. If a player his tackled, and upon hitting the ground the ball comes out, that is not a fumble. But it's not because of the ground, it's because the play was over the moment that the player was tackled. The ball coming out happened after the play was killed.

Other Thoughts

I'm so very over those stupid Oreo commercials. But I do dig the Sony commercials with the San Diego Chicken.

Winning your first fantasy game of the season is always a great thing. You wait all season for that first game - nice to start off with a W.