Week 9

Week 9 might be best time for a bye but a Sunday without the Minnesota Vikings is just a Sunday of football. Everyone knows that. Just a Sunday of football is still a fun day. Just a little less exciting. Football is fun.

John Unitas' record of 47 consecutive games with a touchdown pass is considered by many to be one of those unbreakable records. Drew Brees reached 36 games yesterday. Unitas' record is very much within reach.

In the 2010 draft the San Francisco 49ers spent two first round picks on offensive linemen. Drafting tackle Anthony Davis and guard Mike Iupati was brilliant. I thought so then. I thnk so now. I especially liked the Iupati pick. Though highly unlikely, I hoped that Iupati would last to the Vikings selection at 30. The 49ers are building an outstanding offensive line.

The 49ers are an interesting team. They seem to bring teams to their style of play. They control the pace of the game. That's a great way to defeat more talented teams. They have explosive players in Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree, Ted Ginn and, when healthy, Braylon Edwards, but they aren't an explosive team right now. They're just a tough, grind-it-out, play it our way, team. If they keep improving, no team will like playing them in the playoffs.

The Patriots-Giants game sure was a good one. Kinda disappointed that the Packers-Chargers kept me away from most of it.

Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones is a fantastic football player.

The winless Miami Dolphins get win #1 against the somewhat hot Kansas City Chiefs. The Dolphins have been competitive in nearly every game.

Update: Aaron Rodgers is a damn fine quarterback. The game against the Chargers was a blast. The only way to defend Rodgers and his offense is to keep the ball away from them. The Packers defense makes that difficult. They may give up some yards but they get the ball back.

I love seeing the big guys celebrate touchdowns. Especially seeing them spike the football. They never seem to know what to do with the football.

Baltimore Ravens defensive end Terrell Suggs is a nut. His introduction for last nights game: "Ball So Hard University"

Looked like pass interference on Torrey Smith to me.

I remember a day when only the scores of other games were updated. No individual statistics unless a player was approaching a milestone. It wasn't all that long ago.

Patrick Walsh was a dynamite running back for powerhouse De La Salle High School in the early '90s. 38 touchdowns, 2000 yards rushing and California Player of the Year in 1992. At 5'7" he received little attention from Division I schools, ending up at San Jose St. First hand, I saw nice running skills against Cal. I if you have a team full of players like Patrick Walsh, at any level, you win a lot of games. Walsh is currently the head coach at Serra High School in San Mateo. He's brought the school of Lynn Swann, Barry Bonds and Tom Brady to bay area prominence. Great football player. Great coach.

Fantasy football is a nice little side for me. The game is entertaining. The competition is entertaining. How others view fantasy football might be the most entertaining. It's serious business to many and each person uses a different strategy to hoped for success. The hilarious TV show "The League" effectively captures a few of these strategies. Some people depend on player matchups. Some people depend on weekly player rankings. Some people depend on hunches. There's fantasy skill. It's called luck. Personally, I simply go with my best players. Changing my lineup only to deal with injuries and byes. That may explain my fairly random success. Still, it's all fun. Football is fun.

Next week is bad news for the Packers!