I missed the Minnesota Vikings yesterday. They have the stage tonight. The Josh Freeman era(?) begins in New York (New Jersey) on Monday Night Football.
The Vikings defense has basically sucked this season. Their best player has been second-year safety Harrison Smith. The defense will be forced to play without Smith for at least the next eight weeks. Ouch! He landed on injured reserve with a turf toe injury. Ouch! Turf toe sounds like such a minor injury. Like rug burn. Turf toe put Harrison Smith's foot in a cast. They will miss him. Next man up! Andrew Sendejo gets the call. Jamarca Sanford and Sendejo really have to step up in the back of the Vikings defense.
I settled on the Cincinnati Bengals-Detroit Lions game in the morning. When the Vikings aren't playing in the morning, I often have a difficult time sticking with one game. I finally did so yesterday. It helped that it was a pretty good game. It also helped that receivers Calvin Johnson and AJ Green put on an exhibition on how the position can be played.
AJ Green is so smooth.
Calvin Johnson is a monster.
The Lions defensive line sure likes to jump the snap. They should probably stop. They aren't very good at it. Especially early in the game, they were caught offsides often. Those Lions were sure quick to celebrate plays that they made by obviously cheating. One clown was about five yards in the Bengals backfield before the ball was even snapped. He could have caught the snap. For some reason, he celebrated like he'd done something. Simply stunning.
The Lions line played with more discipline later in the game. Maybe they were just trying to get a feel for Andy Dalton's cadence. With Ndamukong Suh as captain and leader I would lean towards the line simply being undisciplined and got lucky later in the game.
I love seeing Bengals receiver Marvin Jones making plays. He was a terrific college receiver at Cal. One of my favorite Cal players. He could be a real nice compliment to AJ Green.
Bengals rookie tight end Tyler Eifert made a nice catch for a touchdown. He was well covered and just went up and got it. I was surprised when the Bengals grabbed Eifert in the first round of the draft last April. He was the best tight end in the draft but the Bengals have a nice one in Jermaine Gresham but you can't have too many playmakers. Quarterback Andy Dalton now has a bunch. Receivers Green, Jones, and Mohamed Sanu. Andrew Hawkins might come back from an injury in a few weeks. Tight ends Gresham and Eifert. Runners BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Giovani Bernard. The Bengals defense is outstanding. The offense could be.
The Bengals defense is real easy to appreciate. Then there's safety Taylor Mays. I'm not sure if he even knows where he is on the field a lot of the time. It's gotta be that USC education.
I think that I chose wisely with the Bengals-Lions game. Game-ending 54-yard field goal by Mike Nugent to win it for the Bengals, 27-24. Nice! Helps the Vikings.
Good, tough, close game. Fantastic games from receivers AJ Green and Calvin Johnson. Tied at 24, the game might have been decided by the punters. Kevin Huber of the Bengals and Sam Martin of the Lions. The Bengals did little with a late offensive opportunity and had to punt with about 2 minutes to play. Huber pinned the Lions inside the 10-yard line. The poor field position forced the Lions to be a little cautious. Perhaps play for overtime unless a play breaks. They moved the ball a little but had to punt. Martin's less than stellar punt gave the Bengals a chance near the 50-yard line with less than a minute. That was all the Bengals needed to move a little and attempt a long field goal. Punters can be important too.
I wouldn't have gone wrong with the Chicago Bears-Washington Redskins. Redskins shocked the Bears 45-41. This helps the Vikings too. Nice! Losing quarterback Jay Cutler to a groin injury in the first half didn't do the Bears any favors. Robert Griffin III brought his team back in the final minute. I hope that kid is back. He's an amazing talent.
The Jets shocking the Patriots in overtime would have been a good choice too. I still think that the Patriots control the AFC East but their division foes are going to make it real interesting.
I'm not quite sure why there was such an uproar over the unnecessary roughness penalty on the Patriots that allowed the Jets a do-over on a missed overtime field goal. Sure, it's a brand new rule that makes it illegal for the defender to push a teammate into the offensive formation but a rule it's still a rule. The Patriots broke it and they were penalized. Any new rule is bound to be broken at some time. The first time for this rule just happened to decide a football game.
It's a small sampling but a Brian Hoyer-led Cleveland Browns offense is much better than a Brandon Weeden-led Cleveland Browns offense. It's a real shame that Hoyer was injured.
Aaron Rodgers is so much fun to watch. He's always been blessed with talented receivers. Greg Jennings' defection to Minnesota in the offseason and recent injuries to Randall Cobb and James Jones depleted the talent available to him yesterday. It doesn't matter. His accuracy, timing, and poise allows him to throw to anyone. He makes things easy for receivers.
The Packers have a running game. Scary.
The Packers win over the Browns didn't help the Vikings. Not nice.
It just doesn't seem fair that Texans linebacker Brian Cushing suffer another season-ending injury. Last year a cheap lob block tore his ACL. Yesterday, Chiefs back Jamaal Charles targeted the same knee. This time he suffered a torn LCL and a broken leg. The repaired ACL stood up to the blow.
The Indianapolis people sure showed their great appreciation for Peyton Manning. It was no surprise. Manning changed that franchise. Changed expectations for that franchise. It can be easily argued that he built the Colts stadium.
As a fan of a team that really hasn't had a franchise-defining quarterback since the '70s, I am so envious of the Colts. It doesn't seem fair that they move from Manning to Andrew Luck so easily.
It was cool to see former Vikings teammates as the opposing defensive coordinators in the Broncos-Colts game. Jack Del Rio for the Broncos. Greg Manusky for the Colts.
The last two Denver Broncos possessions of the first half and the first two of the second half did nothing. It's been a long time since I've seen Manning do so little with important possessions. I'm not sure if I've ever seen it.
I like the Colts defense.
Great game. 39-33 Colts. The Colts have knocked down the Broncos, Seahawks, and 49ers. Three teams that many thought were the best in the league.
Interesting numbers:
1,023,142 High School players
38,059 College football players
1696 NFL players
-the 1696 NFL players isn't quite accurate as it doesn't include the 256 players on 32 practice squads as well as any players on the various injured reserves. But, point taken. Moving up the football food chain can be a vicious and humbling experience.
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