Just Another Dull Week In Football.....

Just some random thoughts on the weekend that was...

Fool Me Once, Shame On You-  There has seemed to be a small rise in the use of trick plays at the college and pro levels this year, and there were two great ones this past weekend.  On Saturday, the Wisconsin Badgers lambasted the Indiana Hoosiers 59-7.  Hidden in that game was QB Russell Wilson catching a touchdown pass from RB Montee Ball on a beautifully executed (if not beautifully thrown) trick play.  On Sunday, the Oakland Raiders faked a field goal, resulting in a TD pass by punter Shane Lechler to TE Kevin Boss.  Cleveland never saw it coming.  The only thing that could have made it better is if Sea Bass himself had chucked the ball up there for Boss.  Well done, coaches, it's nice to see a little trickeration on the weekend.

Um, Congratulations-  There is nothing too awful about the confrontation between coaches Jim Harbaugh and Jim Schwartz on Sunday afternoon.  Harbaugh was excited that his team won the game and was a little too exuberant when he shook Schwartz's hand.  Most of the TV experts are right, both teams have to love the way their coaches are as excited and passionate about the game as they are.  What I get out of this whole thing is that Harbaugh should tone it down and start chest-bumping his players after the handshake, and Schwartz seems to be kind of a sore loser.  There is very little difference between Harbaugh's handshake and Schwartz yelling at Harbaugh to "learn the rules" after the 49ers coach mistakenly challenged a scoring play and cost his team an Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty.  Mr. Schwartz, if it is okay for you to yell at opposing coaches and players and do your little "shoulder punch" thing during the game, it's okay for the their teams coaches and players to get excited when they win.  Think of that as the new "protocol".


A New NFL Record?-  Speaking of coaches, New Orleans head coach Sean Payton tore his MCL and broke his leg when Saints' TE Jimmy Graham was tackled into him during Sunday's game, and coached the rest of the first half from the bench.  In the same game, Buccaneers DB's coach Jimmy Lake tore his patella tendon while jumping up to celebrate an interception with one of his Bucs players.  We've seen coaches get hurt on the sidelines before.  Joe Paterno's injury comes to mind as one of the most recent notable coach injuries.  My question is, has there ever been an NFL game where two coaches have had serious injuries before yesterday?  They'll do anything to break a record in that league.


Tiger Stripes-  The Bengals are 4-2 after losing their longtime starting QB/WR tandem, another testament to head coach Marvin Lewis and his ability to get pretty good results with what he has in Cincinnati.  He never seems to have as much to work with as other teams, and the Bengals are better under him than any coach since Sam Wyche.

So Far, So Fast- The Denver Broncos must see what Tim Tebow can do as a starting QB.  They are not a very good football team, and they traded WR Brandon Lloyd to St. Louis today.  It doesn't matter which coach drafted him, Tebow is a number one draft pick, and Denver can't just not let him play.  The fans want to see him, and the team probably won't win more than six games no matter who starts at quarterback.  The Elway/Fox regime might as well see if he can be the guy, and if he can, they can concentrate on the many other problems this franchise has on the field.


Sparty In "Bronze"-  I didn't know that old gold, or "Bronze" as Nike was calling it, was one of Michigan State's school colors.  Their colors are green and white.  Last year, they added gold trim to the numbers on the jerseys and yesterday they came out with gold helmets and numbers and black pants.  I think they would have looked better without the gold, but Michigan saved the day with some sweet road throwbacks in their school colors.  I am not a big fan of teams wearing "special" jerseys every week.  If they do, It would be nice if they used their school colors.  No matter what you think of Maryland's new uniform combinations, they all include the Terps' school colors.  There is one exception to every rule, and since they were first, Oregon gets to be that exception.  The Pirate Duck look from Saturday was good. Silver helmet, black jersey, silver pants.  Too bad they probably won't wear it for another ten years.

The Dolphin's invade the Meadowlands tonight looking for their first win.  It's not gonna happen tonight, Rex Ryan and the Jets fix enough of their woes to get the home win, 23-14.