NFL, Week 10

Thoughts on week 10 as I (hopefully) oversee a fantasy football victory over my wife:

- Kansas City, you have been Tebowed. And this was a complete Tebowing, unlike the previous couple of wins. Two completions. For the entire game! And not only did the Broncos win, they never trailed in the game. I know the single wing offense is unusual in the NFL, especially today's NFL, where passing is king, but if there's absolutely no threat of the pass consistently beating you, how can you let a team beat you like this?

- Maybe Mike Vick did break 2 ribs a couple of plays into the game on Sunday. And yes, he was without his top 2 wideouts for most of the game. But that is still no excuse for being outplayed by Fordham's own John Skelton. On its surface, the fact that Philly fans are always calling for the head of their coach, Andy Reid is easy to dismiss (after all, they are Philly fans, who hate everyone). Reid has had much success (aside from a Super Bowl title), but a) his clock management skills are non-existnet, and b) he refuses to use his running backs, even when they're very talented. LeSean McCoy has scored a touchdown in 8 straight games, he touched the ball 17 times in the game. Considering how badly Vick played, this is criminal underuse of one of his top assets. But perhaps his biggest sin this season, taking his OL coach and making him his defensive coordinator. Perhaps a real DC would have covered Larry Fitzgerald with one of his top CBs, and not a rookie safety on a critical play in the 4th quarter.

- And in week 10, the Indianapolis Colts officially were eliminated from the AFC South divisional race. How many times a game do you think Peyton Manning makes the Peyton Manning face while watching the current squad flail about helplessly?

- The biggest story of the day had to be Atlanta coach Mike Smith going for it on 4th and inches from his own 30 in overtime against the Saints. They ran a handoff to Michael Turner who lost yardage on the play and New Orelans kicked the winning field goal a few plays later.

First off, comparing this to Belichick's 4th and 2-gate a few years back isn't a good comparison. In that case, the Patriots win the game if they make it. In this case, making it would have left the Falcons 35-40 yards from a field goal attempt. Not the same thing.

My problem with this call is less about the call to go for it and more the play call. On a regular hand-off play, the hand-off typically occurs 5-7 yards behind the line of scrimmage. That means you're requiring the back to cover 5-7 yards to convert 4th and inches. If you want to go for this, why not sneak it? The more variables you add into these plays, the more things can go wrong. A QB sneak minimizes the potential for errors on the play. If you don't think you can pick it up on a sneak (maybe your QB is a wuss, or you don't trust your OLine to get the needed push, or you're scared of your QB getting hurt) then punt it. Either that, or go play action and try to get a big play out of the defense selling out on stopping the run. But a straight hand-off going for the middle of the field? Unimaginative and very risky for very little payoff. All in all, bad decision Mike Smith.

- I've often wondered why so many coaches try to keep their players on an even keel and keep them from getting too emotional. Sure it keeps things more consistent, but tapping into that emotion should allow players to reach heights they otherwise wouldn't. Well, the Baltimore Ravens are a perfect example of why not to feed off of emotion as a rule. Sometimes it works in the big matchups. But more often, it either leads to mistakes in big moments, or the team is totally flat when they can't get keyed up for the game. Baltimore didn't feel challenged by the Seahawks (and they shouldn't have been, the Seahawks are not good), and they ended the day -3 in turnovers, allowed Marshawn Lynch to get 100+ yards on the ground, and lost to Seattle 22-17. Consider, this team has swept Pittsburgh and beaten 7-3 Houston. They've also lost to Jacksonville and Seattle.

- The shine is officially off of Buffalo. There's no shame in losing to Dallas, but 44-7? Yikes.

- Finally, the Jets came up terribly short in their measuring stick game against the Patriots. New England has a terrible defense. Their mantra is to give up yards and hold the other team to field goals and let their offense outscore the other team. In losing to Pittsburgh and the Giants, they ran into teams that could throw it all over the field and attack New England's biggest weakness: pass defense, and do so in a way to limit Tom Brady's chances on offense. The Jets can't control the ball throwing it 40+ times a game. Mark Sanchez isn't that player (he was way overdrafted at 5 overall). When they fell behind by 14 in the second half, they were done. They're not going to come back against good teams with their "Ground 'n Pound" offense. In order to win like that, their defense has to be outstanding. Like 2000 Ravens outstanding. Or 2011 Packers offense outstanding. Short of that, it's not going to work. For the record, this is the problem the 2010-11 Patriots run into, only reversed).