Week 4 Preview

29 Sep 2006


Week 4 preview
Category: Sports

Week 4 preview

Before I preview this weeks game lets take a stroll around the rest of the league.

Who thinks the Ravens are for real? Not me. Recent power polls on NFL.com have them at 3! They've played the 0-3 Bucs, the 0-3 Raiders, and the 0-3 Browns. C'mon. Maybe I'll feel differently if they shutout the Chargers but I doubt it. I hope everybody will get off the NFC East's nuts soon. I picked the Giants to go to the Super Bowl but I still don't want to watch them every week. I actually think at this point that Chicago is the best NFC team. The Saints are cool but I don't see any long term success, or at least any playoff implications for them. Maybe a wild card. They're kinda like the Bengals were in Marv's first year. It's mostly thanks to Drew Brees. That guy's solid. The Broncos are a real threat for the AFC title. I think they could beat the Colts if played in Mile High, but could beat us at PBS. Weird.

About us. One would hope the offense can finally put it in gear this week. It's like our offense is a brand new operating system and the users cant really get the hang of everything just yet. But it's getting to be about time when the excuses don't fly anymore. If we're capable of big things offensively, let's see it. Sure there's been injuries, but every team deals with that.

That being said, we should have a big week in the air against a leaky secondary. Harrison enjoys violent contact and Samuel is decent. The rest of those guys...not so much. Remember Artrell "Burnt Toast 2" Hawkins? (The original Burnt Toast was the laughable Rod Jones). That guy was awful for us and we took him in the second round! That says a lot about the depth and talent of the New England deep backs. They do have a very strong defensive line. Richard Seymour swallows ball carriers in his area and I was really impressed with their other end Ty Warren last week against Denver. Rosie Colvin plays his zone well and is comparable to Brian Simmons, I'd say. Junior Seau still looks pretty angry and Vince Wilfork is an effective fatty for them. Rudi might not have a hundred-plus against a team like that. Carson may have to throw 34 times for us to win. Unless we strike early and often with big plays like those of Jevon Walker last Sunday night. Henry might be out for being a dumbass and Tab perry is allegedly out for the year, but Antonio Chatman has practiced all week and is most likely playing. He can fill both the kick returning and the third receiver roles. Of course I'm a big Kelley Washington fan and would like him to be the 3 and Chatman the 4, but either way is okay. Chatman seems like a good reverse kinda guy. P-Dubbish if you will. Guicheck (I'm just gonna spell his name wrong all season - sorry Eric, get used to it) needs to improve just a little bit from last week. I'm not looking for huge strides, just a nice, steady progression. Levi and Willie have to protect that outside pass rush against linebackers. We shouldn't be tricked into bad or missed blocks. Watch more tape with the coaches if you have to, but protect our $100 million dollar asset with some more focus...please. No false starts this week from anybody. Got it?

Defensively we're a little thin these days but we get a softer offense coming to town (not that we've seen a great offense). Corey Dillon might run angry and stiff arm the shit out of a safety or two, but the threat ends there. Brady doesn't have the receivers to make it a great offense. Ben Watson is a respectable tight end and I'm always nervous when our linebackers have to cover anybody really. Speaking of those guys, thanks to Odell's wise decision-making and Pollacks new halo, we now have a trio of linebackers someone could politely call "untested". Caleb Miller, Rashad Jeanty, and newly introduced Ahmed Brooks, fight it out to start on the outside. I hope Brooks can get in there and start making plays. Caleb Miller will get the deserving start but Brooks is going to see some action Sunday. If he plays well this season, and Marvin sees something special in him, Odell might be given up on. I don't want to see that either. I'd like those three to be our linebackers of the future, but if Odell can't get his shit together what are you supposed to do? Marvin's all about contingency plans and you know he's scheming up one involving Brooks becoming a thirty snap player. Let's return a pick back for a score this week. Madieu, or better yet Joseph. That guy's about three or four weeks from replacing Tory James as a starter. That would seal the deal, if it isn't sealed already. Poor Tory. You're just too slow these days but you're a hell of a nickel back.

Bengals should win again, but this is not a gimmie this week. We don't play well at home, we've had major distractions this week, and we're substantially banged up. Not to mention it is the Patriots and those guys aren't shitty. They aren't what they once were, but they aren't shitty.

Cincinnati 28-24

MK - Shittsburgh II: We're gonna enjoy this one for a while.