The Hangover: Week 2

By Joe Schackman, Adam Cancryn and Neill Thupari

I (Joe) dedicate this week’s Hangover to my hatred of Cablevision. I have Cablevision in my place but of course they do not carry the NFL Redzone channel which I HEAR is the zenith of football watching experiences. So a big screw you to Cablevision. Oh and lots of sarcasm coming your way. And we are off…

• The Jets do not play pretty football. It is just ugly, sloppy and violent. But it works. You can hate on Rex and Sanchez but they can win a game in a lot of ways.

• Cam Newton is apparently tearing it up again. I honestly thought he was not going to be a good quarterback in the NFL. Through a game and a half I could not be more incorrect. In my defense though, I did not realize his arm was this good. If he can throw first and run second he will be a top QB.
• Jamaal Charles was carted off the field in Kansas City. Apparently a leg injury. With Eric Berry already out for the season, this could be devastating. [UPDATE] early diagnosis is torn ACL. Wow.
• I want to see the scoring percentage for the Jets on drives where Dustin Keller has a reception. It has to be off the charts. Every time that guy touches the ball good things happen.
• Adam: I flew into Indianapolis on Sunday for a short business trip, arriving shortly before the Colts’ game versus the Browns. A few things:
• I’ve never seen a city so united in its fandom for a single professional team. Easily 75% of the people I saw in my first three hours here were wearing Colts apparel head to toe. And there was only one pink jersey. New York, Boston, Chicago, etc. can claim to be a city of diehards (or diehaahds, as it were), but Indianapolis on Sunday is the professional equivalent of an SEC Saturday.
• That enthusiasm does not carry over to basketball. These signs are all over the city of Indianapolis:

• Colts fans are distraught over the state of the team, with one fan calling their performance v. the Browns an “absolute travesty.” It’s hard to argue with that. Kerry Collins was 9-14 in the first half, then came out after halftime and went 10-24 while the Browns proceeded to take control of the game.
• I think the most frustrating thing about Mark Sanchez is his inconsistency from drive to drive. First time out looked great. Next few series just HORRIBLE and then he leads a fantastic drive, making three huge throws. Why can’t he do that more often?
• Neill: Ravens suffering badly from lack of motivation/draining/emotional win over Pittsburgh. Obviously a hangover of sorts. Also, not getting to the QB at all. Stopping the run okay, but no penetration by D-Line getting to Hasselbeck. Since Hasselbeck has all day to throw, they're exposing Ravens secondary. Kenny Britt is demolishing everyone, and Hasselbeck's not getting pressured into bad throws.
• Neill: Offensively, the Ravens have struggled to get anything going. Running game is trying to get established, but in all seriousness, the WRs have created no separation and Flacco hasn't been able to find his receivers. Credit to Tennessee's defense for stepping it up and playing with a lot more intensity. On both sides they're winning in the trenches. Classic home-opener "we have something to prove" attitude that Ravens weren't expecting. I'm depressed. Back to library now.
• Antonio Cromartie is a damn good corner. He’s not elite but when he gets an interception no one is more dangerous to take it the other way. Well except for Ed Reed. 
• Cam Newton is apparently not doing so hot right now. I was right. He is not going to be a great NFL quarterback. Vindication is sweet.
• I’m really not sure why the hell David Garrard got cut. Seriously Luke McCown is horrendous. Maybe this was a plan to drive attendance even further down so that Jaguars can move to LA. That sounds like a great premise to a movie. Someone should make that.
• Neill: Tennessee defense has also been spying Ray Rice on nearly every play. Linebackers shadowing him prevents Flacco's security blanket of the check down.
• The Classical just tweeted that they have reached their goal of trying to raise $50.000. It is very exciting to know people are still willing to pay for quality writing. Or what they hope will be quality writing. 
• Adam: Even considering Collins’ inaccuracy, Indianapolis had a chance to pull it out for much of the second half. But Collins’ two fourth-quarter turnovers (an interception and a fumble) put that to rest. Like I said last week, get used to it, Indy.
• Neill: If the Ravens had "The Look" last week against the Steelers, this week they are the complete opposite. What's the anti-thesis of "The Look?" "The Shadow?" "The Blindness?" Whatever it is, the Ravens have it against the Titans. They have the Blindness.
• Blaine Gabbert is coming into the game at QB for the Jags as Luke McCown has a QB rating of 1.8. That is not a typo.
• Adam: This is how not to run your team. The Jags cut their veteran QB days before the opener, hand the keys to a woefully inadequate replacement and then throw the future of the franchise to the wolves during garbage time. Del Rio made his bed with Luke McCown, now it’s his responsibility to lie in it, no matter how bad it gets. It’s debatable how much time is ideal for a rookie to learn from the sidelines, but the answer is definitely not one-and-a-half games. This is a lost season already for Jacksonville, and they shouldn’t jeopardize the future for a few cheap snaps.
• You know what the sign is of a great cornerback? I have not seen Darrelle Revis on the TV since the first quarter.
• Adam: If Kenny Britt can ever get out from under his legal issues, he’s on Reggie Wayne-in-his-prime level.
• Gabbert just showed a surprising amount of athleticism and speed when he escaped that sack. He has the Roethlisberger look.
• Trey Wingo just tweeted that he was most looking forward to Raiders-Bills game this week. Was that a serious statement? Granted it looks like a great game but who really guessed that.
• Adam: One week in, and I’m already looking foolish. After their convincing win over the Steelers, I said the Ravens are “scary good.” I also said Tennessee fans should be concerned that Matt Hasselbeck might be throwing 30 times a game. Well, I’m eating a big plate of crow now, because Hasselbeck torched a Baltimore defense that looked old and slow for 358 yards. Needless to say, maybe we should wait a little longer before drawing any conclusions about both teams
• Shaun Hill is going in for the Lions. Stafford is NOT injured. This is a first. 
• Adam: The Colts can’t do anything about the quarterback position. There are no better options who can come in and learn the offense in time to make a difference. So you have to live with Collins’ ups and downs. What’s most troubling for the Colts is the defense, which is not getting the crucial stops. Top-tier teams can overcome a big loss by having the other units step up. The Colts are not a top tier team. 
• There are two Bills fans in my office. 50% of all the Bills fans in the world work in my office.
• The Patriots double tight end attack is genius. I hate Bill Belichick but that is just great drafting.
• Bob Sanders on the field against the Pats. Colts fans may want to tune in, just to find out what it is like.
• Tom Brady misses an open wide receiver in the end zone. I’m telling you the decline has begun. I know he threw for over 500 yards last week but I think that was a result of their coaching being that much better then Miami. Pats were ready to go. Dolphins were not.
• Then Brady goes and fires a beautiful touchdown pass into the endzone and I look like an idiot. Thanks Tom.
• Vince Wilfork with a great interception. There are few things I love more then watching nose tackles running with the football. Not going to lie. He looked pretty quick.
• Adam: Another team in a freefall: The Kansas City Chiefs. Good money on Todd Haley and Jack Del Rio becoming the first coaches to get axed.
• Jon Kitna comes in for an injured Tony Romo and throws a spectacularly bad interception. It was really glorious.
• Seriously how many years has Kitna been in the league? Can you say Vinny Testaverde?

 

• Brian Phillips wrote a piece for Grantland about how watching Novak Djokovic play tennis makes him uncomfortable; that he gets a feeling that Djoker is just one moment away from utter disaster. That is how I feel when I watch the Chargers.
• Again I do not like Bill Belichick but I love that he has the guts to go for it on fourth down more often then other coaches. All the statistics say, in the appropriate situations, it is correct play. Good luck convincing other coaches about that.
• To which Trey Wingo tweets, “I don’t get it.” What is there to get? There is an actual right answer and it is to go for it.
• I swear this new review-every-touchdown-call is just a reason for NFL games to have more commercials.
• Demarcus Ware gets his second sack of the game. That makes four already on the season.
• With 6 and ½ minutes left in the game, and a three point lead, the 49ers threw the ball twice on their series. I’m all for being aggressive but did they forget Alex Smith was their quarterback?
• It is weird to me that Ryan Fitzpatrick’s pending free agency is actually newsworthy. I mean he has played great. But really? Ryan Fitzpatrick?
• Well Tony Romo played a hell of a game. 345 yards, two TDs, threw the “game-winning” pass. All with a fractured rib. Nice follow-up to last week’s choke job.
• Adam: The Cowboys and new king of grittiness Tony Romo will get a lot of credit for their win v. San Francisco, and coming back from 10 down despite your quarterback’s cracked rib is no small feat. But let’s remember that we’re praising the Cowboys-supposedly potential Super Bowl contenders- for pulling out a game against the 49ers. The team led by Alex Smith. Just because it’s a win doesn’t mean it’s a good win.
• Adam: The Cowboys this week remind me of the Packers in Week one. A lot of positive coverage for a team that came very close to a bad loss.
• Adam: Speaking of Green Bay, their three interceptions v. Carolina masked major issues on defense. For the second consecutive week, they let a team hang around way too long because they couldn’t stop the pass. Drew Brees came within a yard of a tremendous comeback because the Packers let him march 80 yards on five completions in less than 1:08. This week, Newton came within six yards of tying the game with three minutes left in the fourth.
• There are so many Atlanta Mike Vick jerseys in the stands. Are there any actual Falcon fans?
• Eagles just tried a crazy wild-cat flee flicker with Vick starting at WR position. These are the kind of absurd plays I want to see the Eagles do more often. Obviously you do not want to go crazy but you have such unique play makers in Ronnie Brown, Desean Jackson and Vick. It has to be worth a shot.
• Cullen Jenkins just destroyed Matt Ryan. Pretty clear helmet-to-helmet contact. I feel like I have no idea what the rule is on this. Was that not a foul or did the refs just miss it?
• I love Mike Vick’s release. It seriously is a thing of beauty. It is the Ken Griffey baseball swing of quarterback motions:

• Does anyone remember the Ron Mexico thing?
• In 2004 the Falcon’s moved up from the number five pick to get the first overall pick. They traded their first round and fifth round pick in the ’04 draft and their third round pick in the 2005 draft to get Michael Vick. In 2011 the Falcons traded up from the 27th slot to the sixth to get Julio Jones. They gave up their first, second and fourth from ’11. And their first and fourth in 2012. FIVE picks for Jones. Just let that marinate.
• Vick fumbles twice in the first half. That is the risk of his athleticism. He can win or lose you a game faster then any player in the NFL.
• There are way to many reviews during this game. It feels like the 2007 USC vs Texas BCS Championship game. There must have been 15 reviews during that game.
• Dunta Robinson with a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit on Jeremy Maclin. That was as blatant as it gets. Expect a message from Roger Goodell.
• The inevitable just happened. Mike Vick has been knocked out of the game. Granted it was in the pocket but with a weak offensive line and a cavalier attitude it was only a matter of time before the Eagles had to turn to their backup quarterback. Injury does not seem to be long term but regardless. Philly is one big hit away from Mike Kafka starting. 
• It wasn't like I thought Nnamdi Asomugha was going to come to Philly and be terrible but I wanted to see him play in a defense where he wasn't the only good player. Being the best player on Oakland does not carry much weight. I'll shut up now.
• It took until the Sunday night game but we have the tweet of the day from Esquire/Grantland's Chris Jones "Hope the Philly trainers aren't drowning Mike Vick right now."
• How long until the Seahawks trade for Mike Kafka?
That will do it. Enjoy Giants-St. Louis on Monday Night Football.