NFL Surprises and Disappointments and James Harrison

(Note: I am going to try something different. I was talking about many things in one post, but I am going to try and concentrate on one sport per post, hoping that gives me time to get more post out a week. Let me know what you think.)


Week 6 in the NFL is over and we have the front runners we thought we would have (Jets, Colts, Patriots) and then we have the NFC.

Yes, one year after the Saints (4-2) had arguably the most inspirational Super Bowl win, the NFC is back to being the inferior conference in this year's NFL season. The Saints aren't having a bad season, but a loss to the Cardinals (3-2) had some worrying. The supposed clear NFC West winner, the San Francisco 49ers (1-5), have won only one game, and that was over an Oakland Raiders team that was offering every player on their team up as trade bait.

The Cowboys (1-4) are ridiculously bad, the Vikings (2-3) aren't much better, the Packers (3-3) have injuries, the Panthers (0-5) have yet to win a game and every team in the NFC West, void the above mentioned 49ers, have a winning or .500 record!

The AFC on the other hand has three teams with only one loss (Patriots, Jets, Steelers), and four teams with a record of four wins and two losses (Colts, Texans, Titans, Ravens).

As with any NFL season, there are surprises and disappointments:

NFL Three Big Surprises

(Yahoo! Sports)

1. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-1): Ok, this team has dominated the past decade, so you may be thinking why are they a surprise. It's because Big Ben, their quarterback and leader, sat out the first four games, and they went 3-1 in those games.

Think about it. Dennis Dixon leads the team to a great victory over one of the best teams in the NFC in the Atlanta Falcons (4-2) in Week 1. Week 2, he gets hurt, and FOURTH-STRING QB Charlie Batch comes in as the defense causes seven turnovers in a victory over another four and two Tennessee Titans. Week 3, that same Batch dominates a good Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2) team.

The teams only loss was by three points to a very good Baltimore Ravens (4-2) team. Who was the quarterback in that game? Charlie Batch. Plug in Big Ben or even Dennis Dixon and things could go differently. 

Roethlisberger was back this week and they easily got rid of the pesky Browns (1-5). Now that he is back for good, things are looking up for the team. The team travels to New Orleans in two weeks, and that game will be huge for both teams.

(Yahoo! Sports)

2. Kansas City Chiefs (3-2): What a year can do for a team and for a quarterback. Yes, their three wins are over a struggling Chargers (2-3) team, the Browns and the 49ers. But, I think what tells the most about this team is the last two weeks in which they lost. Their great defense limited Peyton Manning in a 10 point loss and if not for late heroics by the Texans, they would be 4-1. 

Matt Cassel has put up respectable numbers - 850 passing, 7 TD, 3 INT. The ball has been passed around to many different people on the team. Rookie Dexter McCluster has had moments of greatness this season and the defense has been the star, holding every team under 20, minus the Texans.

With games coming up against Jacksonville (3-3), Buffalo (0-5) and at Oakland (2-4), the Chiefs can add to their resume and pose a real threat to crashing the playoffs. Plus, with the play of the other teams in the AFC West, the division championship is the Chiefs to lose.

(Yahoo! Sports)

3. St. Louis Rams (3-3): I know, I know. This team is only .500 on the season and got blown out by the Detroit Lions (1-5) one week ago. But, only six weeks into the season, they have already matched the win total I predicted for them for the entire season.

They have wins over a shaky Seattle Seahawk (3-2) team and the Chargers, but their biggest victory was over the Washington Redskins (3-3). The Redskins are a real playoff threat, and the Rams dominated them. The defense just wouldn't let the Redskins into the end zone, forcing them to kick three field goals.  The other two losses were by a combined six points. 

Sam Bradford, the number one pick in the 2010 NFL Draft has thrown for 1,357 yards, 7 TD and 8 INT. The interceptions will come with a first year quarterback entering a bad team. Time will fix that. With Steven Jackson in the backfield, this team has potential. They may not make the playoffs this year, but give them time, and they may again be The Greatest Show on Turf.

( Honorable Mentions: Tampa Bay (3-2), Miami (3-2), Philadelphia (4-2), Chicago (4-2) )

NFL Three Big Disappointments

(Yahoo! Sports)

1. Dallas Cowboys (1-4): Coming into this season, all the talks were about how the Dallas Cowboys could be the first team ever to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium.

So much for that.

I'll give it to them, they have faced five potential playoff teams, but their schedule doesn't get any easier from here. Their lone win was over the Houston Texans (4-2), and that game showed what this team was capable of doing. The next week, they couldn't contain Vince Young and the Titans defense.

It is easy to see that Tony Romo has no protection. The offensive line was a concern in the preseason, but everyone said don't worry. Should we start worrying now? Roy Williams is finally contributing, but that doesn't matter if they aren't scoring more points than the opposing team. Romo has been sacked seven times in five games, and has seven interceptions. His stats aren't terrible, but he doesn't have the time to throw.

This past week was the battle of survival against the Vikings. The Vikings won, and now the Cowboys are in panic mode. Is it too early to start looking for a new head coach?

(Yahoo! Sports)

2. San Diego Chargers (2-3): I wish I had a reason for why any of these top three teams were doing so bad, the Chargers included. They have one of the best young quarterbacks in Philip Rivers, who has over 2,000 passing yards and 12 touchdowns. They were suppose to have the next LT in Ryan Matthews, but he has been hindered by injuries. 

All four of the Chargers losses have come to teams that had draft picks in the top 8 - Oakland, Seattle (3-2), Kansas City and St. Louis. Yes two of those teams are on my top surprise teams, but if every team who picked in the top 10 of a draft became excellent the next year, the league would be a mess every year. Oakland hasn't beaten San Diego in almost seven years. Seven years! Then they did. 

The defense can't seem to stop too many people, and Shawn Merriman looks to be out the door. Dominate performances over the Jaguars (3-3) and the Cardinals (3-2) aren't that impressive. Their schedule doesn't get any easier. In the next three weeks they face New England, Tennessee and at Houston. 

(Yahoo! Sports)

3. Minnesota Vikings (2-3): This team could be on its way off the list if it can win some games. Then again, it could be moving up as their next two games are at Green Bay and at New England.

Brett Favre came back to lead this team to the Super Bowl they thought they deserved last year. The offense last year was spectacular. This year, sub par. They have yet to put up over 30 points. Favre's numbers are pedestrian to say the least - 979 yards, 6 TD, 7 INT. The lack of a big threat wide receiver hurt the team early, but now that they picked up Randy Moss and with Sidney Rice hopefully coming back soon, the offense could be on its way back. Adrian Peterson has been great - 553 yards and 5 touchdowns, and has yet to put the ball on the ground. For a man who's career has been plagued by fumbles, this is an improvement.

The Vikings still have 11 games and with the struggles of the Packers, could still contend for the division title, but they need to start producing numbers. Their defense hasn't been terrible, but they could help by providing some pass coverage.

( Honorable Mentions: Carolina (0-5), San Francisco (1-5), Green Bay (3-3) )

One Quick Note on... James Harrison and Big Hits

(Yahoo! Sports)

James Harrison took out two Browns' receivers this weekend and continues to be one of the dirtiest players in the game. But, his hits were legal according to officials, as he was not penalized. 

In a week that saw a Rutgers player get paralyzed after a devastating hit he administered and with DeSean Jackson having his second concussion in his short career, these kind of hits are becoming the topic of discussion. The NFL wants to look at helmet-to-helmet hits and hand out suspensions when necessary.

Harrison said he doesn't regret the hits, and said when he goes out to play, he wants to hurt opposing players. Not injure, but hurt. 

"I don't want to injure anybody," Harrison said following Pittsburgh's 28-10 victory. "There's a big difference between being hurt and being injured. You get hurt, you shake it off and come back the next series or the next game. I try to hurt people."

Head Coach Tomlin supports his player, saying that he doesn't think Harrison did anything illegal, but also saying he supports penalties to helmet-to-helmet hits.

Agree with the things I said? Disagree? Let me and everyone else know! Comment below and keep following.

Michigan State the Contender, Florida the Pretender and the B.C.S.

We are six weeks into the college football season and already there have been surprises. One week after dominating Florida, Alabama and McElroy lose their first game since the 2008 season. Boise State is undefeated, but so is fellow WAC member Nevada. Penn State, Texas and USC are all unranked. The Heisman race is being controlled by quarterbacks.

Wait, that last one always happens.

Michigan State is a Contender

(Yahoo! Sports)

One of the biggest match-ups of Week 6 was the 5-0 Michigan State Spartans invading the Big House to take on the 5-0 Michigan Wolverines with Denard Robinson at the helm. The result - a 34-17 battering at the hands of the Spartans.

This may be a surprise to a lot of people who haven't been watching MSU. Being a Michigan fan, that is hard to admit. They have looked as solid as any team in the nation so far this year. They had three fluff games in the first four weeks that they were able to control and the fourth was a game against Notre Dame that came down to a fake field goal in overtime.

Now some people may look at the Nortre Dame game, a team that is 3-3, and they think if State was a contender, they would have beat them easier. Well, sometimes a great team doesn't always play great and an okay team plays better than expected. The fact that MSU was able to close out the close game with an excellent play call by Coach Dantonio says volumes about this team.

Then there was Wisconsin. Wisconsin was ranked 11th in the nation and undefeated. They had a Heisman hopeful in their running back and were picked to win. State shut down John Clay and won by double digits, 34-24.

So their first away game of the season was against the Wolverines. Michigan was ranked 18th in the nation and undefeated. They had a Heisman front runner in their quarterback and were picked to win.

Sound familiar?

Yep, State won, easily, 34-17. They shut down Robinson on the ground and forced him to throw 3 INTs. The running game did what they have done all year, pound it out.

MSU doesn't face Ohio State this year and their hardest game left is a game at Iowa. Iowa's defense is strong, no question. But, if MSU keeps playing the way they have the first six weeks, they could run the table and worst case, share the Big Ten title with Ohio State and earn themselves a BCS Bowl Game.

DRob is Not a Pretender, and Still a Contender

(Yahoo! Sports)

On the other side of the ball, Michigan's star quarterback, Denard Robinson, was not his usual superhuman self. But, different people look at this game in a different ways.

Here is how I look at it. DRob still put up 215 yards through the air and 86 on the ground. He still had two touchdowns, one through the air and one on the ground. And he still was The Michigan Offense.

What was different in this game? The 3 INTs. Yes, that hurts. Not doubt. And if you watched the game or go back and look at the throws, they weren't good. But, the problem was that Denard was trying to do too much. He was forcing the balls in there. He is a sophomore in his first year as a starter and against his first tough defense. If Rich Rod and the QB coach saw what I did, and I really hope they did, they will work with him on this.

So where does this leave him in the Heisman race? Still very much in it, just not the runaway winner. In a year where no players are stepping up like Tim Tebow of 2007 or Mark Ingram of 2009, DRob is the most electrifying player on the field anywhere in the country. He has over 1,200 yards passing and just under 1,000 yards rushing. And, like I said before, he is The Michigan Offense. While Tate Forcier and Devan Gardner are good QBs, the team would not be the same with out DRob. 

That is the stuff that Heisman winners are made of. Now if he throws 3 INTs in the rest of the six regular season games and they lose all six, then he has no chance. But, if he realizes what he did wrong, gets back to what works and keeps his stats up, he has as good of a chance as anybody in the Heisman race.

Oh My, Florida is a Pretender

(Yahoo! Sports)

Did the experts watch Florida's first four games of the season? And if they did, did they watch the same games I did?

The way that they talked up the Florida Gators before their Week 5 game against Alabama, I really hope something was wrong with their viewings of the Gators.

This is not a championship team!

I like to think of this team as similar to the Michigan Wolverines. While the Wolverines are all offense and no defense, the Gators are all defense and no offense. In their opening game against Miami (OH), Miami was into the game into the fourth quarter, and not because of the defense. They only allowed 12 points. The offense, now led by John Brantley, had only 212 yards of offense, the same as Miami. Against Tennessee, the offense had over 300 yards of offense, but were only by 7 points to a poor team with six minutes left. 

If I had to guess, I would think the experts looked at their last game against Kentucky. ATH Trey Burton  had six touchdowns and again the defense stepped up. But, still, the team had not looked impressive on offense at any point during the season.

Before the Alabama - Florida game, many experts on ESPN's College Gameday picked Florida for the upset. One of my friends did to. I turned to him and told him that no way, no how was Florida was going to win. In fact, it would be a blowout by Alabama.

Low and behold, Alabama dominated 31-6, and that is only because they put it into cruise control in the second half. Alabama caused four turnovers, of which 2 INTs by Brantley. They only allowed 79 yards on the ground. Alabama did what I thought - dominated a poor offense.

Then game LSU game, and again most experts picked Florida to win. And while Florida was still in the game up until it was over, they were out gained on offense 385 - 243.

Florida may only lose one more game this season, and that is to a South Carolina team that just beat the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide. A 9-3 season isn't bad, but when you look at why they win five out of six, it's because the SEC East is weak. Very weak. If Florida was in the SEC West, they would lose to Auburn and Arkansas too. Florida may get by South Carolina and when the East, but have no doubt, they will not win the SEC. It won't even be close.

One Quick Note on.... The BCS

The first BCS rankings will come out this Sunday after all Week 7 games are complete. Boise State is predicted to be the number one team at this moment, while Ohio State is predicted to be 5th.

Don't let that fool you. Let Oklahoma, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Alabama, etc. get farther into their conference schedule and the numbers will change.

Not to say that Boise doesn't deserve it, because I think they do, but their schedule is weaker. They better hope Nevada stays undefeated for their match-up.

Agree with the things I said? Disagree? Let me and everyone else know! Comment below and keep following.