1. I might be in the minority but I'm not thrilled with the offensive explosion that we've seen through the first five weeks of the NFL season. Rule changes intended to protect quarterbacks have made the game so easy for them. I'm all for player safety but the degree to which the quarterbacks are being protected is ridiculous. Eight quarterbacks are on pace to throw for 5,000 yards this season. 10 quarterbacks have a rating over 100. Including Mitchell Trubisky. Perhaps making it so easy for quarterbacks was the NFL's priority and the safety thing was merely for the headlines.
2. A couple of weeks ago FOX broadcaster Joe Buck was on the Rich Eisen Show. Buck told a story about how he once had one of his broadcasts critiqued by a network boss. He was knocked for favoring one team over another. Network broadcasters are supposed to be unbiased. There are loads of fans that probably feel that Buck should get this criticism as a matter of routine. I was thinking about this during and after last weekend's Minnesota Vikings-Philadelphia Eagles game. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were in the booth. It sure sounded like Buck had more than a slight Eagles bend throughout the game.
3. Watching Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen run routes sure is fun. They're making a lot of defensive backs look silly.
4. NFL Network's A Football Life is fantastic. NFL Films is behind it so of course it's fantastic. The program kicked off it's eighth season in September. So far this season we've seen the "football lives" of the following:
Carson Palmer
Lawrence Taylor
Tony Romo
Willie McGinest
Brian Dawkins-tonight at 5pm PST
After tonight's episode there will be a two week break. The series resumes on November 2 with the first of six more episodes this season:
Mike Holmgren
Dwight Clark and The Catch
Thurman Thomas
Doug Williams
Cris Collinsworth
Bill Cowher
Some of my favorite episodes over the history of the series:
Bill Belichick-a two-parter that kicked off the series
Reggie White and Jerome Brown
Ed Sabol
Cleveland '95
The Fearsome Foursome
Chris Spielman
Darrelle Revis
Steve Sabol
Cris Carter
Steve Gleason
Houston '93
Vince Lombardi-another two-parter
Jerry Smith
Sean Taylor
Earl Campbell
Dick Butkus & Gale Sayers
2006 Rose Bowl
Alan Page
Paul Brown
Chad Johnson
Pat Tillman
Wes Welker
John Randle
Actually, it's stupid to list favorites. Every episode is great.
I'd sure like to see profiles of Bud Grant and Jim Marshall. I'd also like to see profiles of a whole host of players and coaches from the early days of the NFL. Bronko Nagurski, Clarke Hinkle, Duke Slater, George Trafton, Dutch Clark, Mel Hein, Fritz Pollard, Jimmy Conzelman, Paddy Driscoll, Benny Friedman, Bulldog Turner, Don Hutson, Curly Lambeau, Ace Parker, Tony Canadeo, etc.
I love A Football Life.
5. George Talieferro passed away on Monday at age 91. He's perhaps best remembered as the first African-American to be drafted by an NFL team. He was selected by the Chicago Bears in the 13th round of the 1949 NFL Draft. He never played for the Bears. He had signed with the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference a week before the NFL Draft. After the AAFC folded following the 1949 season Talieferro moved on to the NFL. He played six seasons in the NFL, New York Yanks (1950-51), Houston Texans (1952), Baltimore Colts (1953-54), and Philadelphia Eagles (1955). He was selected to the Pro Bowl from 1951-53. In the NFL, Taliaferro played seven positions: quarterback, running back, receiver, defensive back, kicker, kick returner, and punt returner. RIP George Taliaferro.
6. I suppose it's no surprise that there are odds on where estranged Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell might play. If/when he returns to the game.
Eagles +150
Steelers +200
Bucs +500
Vikings +500
Raiders +600
Dolphins +700
Field +200
Whoever decided to include the Vikings as a potential Bell bidder didn't do much research. Rob Brzezinski is a magician with the salary cap but there's no way that he can fit a $14.5 million contract in about $500,000 of cap space. Even beyond the finances, adding Bell now makes no sense. But when have betting odds ever made sense?
7. Drew Brees' record-breaking night got me thinking about this century's tremendous up-tick in passing. Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees have pushed the career passing yardage threshold past 70,000. At 39, Brees isn't near done. He probably won't hit 100,000 but maybe someone like Patrick Mahomes will. Anyway, today's crazy passing got me thinking about the game records for passing yardage. Here are the Top 10.
| Rank | Player | Yards | Game |
| 1 | Norm Van Brocklin | 554 | Los Angeles Rams vs New York Yanks, September 28, 1951 |
| 2 | Matt Schaub | 527 | Houston Texans vs Jacksonville Jaguars, November 18, 2012 |
| 2 | Warren Moon | 527 | Hoston Oilers vs Kansas City Chiefs, December 16, 1990 |
| 4 | Boomer Esiason | 522 | Arizona Cardinals vs Washington Redskins, November 10, 1996 |
| 4 | Ben Roethlisberger | 522 | Pittsburgh Steelers vs Indianapolis Colts, October 26, 2014 |
| 6 | Dan Marino | 521 | Miami Dolphins vs New York Jets, October 23, 1988 |
| 7 | Matthew Stafford | 520 | Detroit Lions vs Green Bay Packers, January 1, 2012 |
| 8 | Tom Brady | 517 | New England Patriots vs Miami Dolphins, September 12, 2011 |
| 9 | Derek Carr | 513 | Oakland Raiders vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers, October 30, 2016 |
| 9 | Phil Simms | 513 | New York Giants vs Cincinnati Bengals, October 13, 1985 |
Matt Schaub!?! Despite all of the rule changes over the past forty years to make it easier for quarterbacks to shred defenses no one has been able to touch Norm Van Brocklin's stunning day in 1951. It's surprising to see that half of the above games were played prior to 2000. The other half have been played since 2010.
8. Pac-12 officiating sucks.
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