Favre conquers Lambeau and other NFL thoughts

(1) I guess that we can finally say that Brett Favre has gotten the last laugh in his blood feud with Ted Thompson and the Packers front office. It was bad enough that he embarrassed his old team in the Metrodome, but he must have made Thompson and the rest of the Packers’ brass throw up their lunch after he completely shredded the Packers in Lambeau Field. Favre was greeted with boos prior to the game and jeered through most of the early part of the game, but the negative attention from Packers’ fans did not affect his game in the least. Favre threw four touchdowns for the 21st time in his career, tying Dan Marino’s NFL record, and displayed the same flair for the dramatic that he made famous while wearing the green and gold for so many years. Favre’s homecoming featured a little of his trademark gun slinging and a lot of clutch plays. His biggest gunslinger moment came after halftime, when Favre threw a ball up for grabs to Percy Harvin amidst three defenders. Harvin miraculously came down with the ball, while the Packers’ defenders all fell down like bowling pins, and ran untouched for a 51-yard touchdown pass. Favre also thwarted the Packers’ attempt at a rally with several big plays down the stretch, including a touchdown pass on a 3rd and two early in the fourth quarter and a touchdown pass on 3rd and 11 late in the fourth quarter that sealed the Packers’ fate. Favre was one of the biggest reasons that the Vikings swept the Packers for the first time since 2005 and he will rightfully get all the headlines, but he was not the only reason for the Vikings’ big victory.

Another big reason for the Vikings success in Lambeau was the continued harassment of Aaron Rodgers by the Vikings defense. In their earlier match-up, the Vikings sacked Rodgers eight times and never allowed the Packers to get comfortable in their offense. In the rematch, the Vikings did not let up off the pedal and sacked Rodgers six more times. Their constant pressure was one of the biggest reasons why Rodgers only threw for 38 yards in the first half and the Vikings led 24-6. The Packers got back into the game in the second half, but the damage had already been done. Their inability to protect the quarterback on a consistent basis cost them a huge divisional game and, most likely, a shot at the division title. The most amazing thing about the two games against the Vikings is that Minnesota did not have to bring blitzes to generate pressure. Of the 14 total sacks, the Vikings got to Rodgers 12 times with standard pressure (no extra pass rushers) and nine of the sacks came when Rodgers was in the shotgun, when he would supposedly have more time. If the Packers have any shot of making the playoffs, they need to protect Rodgers a lot better than they have to this point.

I also need to give a special shout out to Percy Harvin, who has been a huge difference-maker for the Vikings and the early favorite for rookie of the year. As a wide receiver, Harvin is improving each and every week. He only has 285 yards receiving on the year, but he had his best day of the year with a season-high five catches for 84 yards and the spectacular 51-yard connection with Favre. Perhaps his biggest contribution to the team has been his explosive ability to return kicks. He already has two returns for touchdowns and his kick returns against the Packers were a big reason for their victory. After the Packers went ahead 3-0 early in the game, Harvin answered with a 77-yard kickoff return that set the Vikings up at the Packer’s 14-yard line and led to an Adrian Peterson touchdown. Later in the game, after the Packers had cut the Vikings’ lead to 24-20, Harvin came up big again with a 48-yard kickoff return that started the Vikings drive at the Packers’ 38-yard line. This drive also ended with a touchdown as Favre hit Jeff Dugan for a short touchdown that put the Vikings back up by 11 points. Harvin has been a perfect fit for the Vikings offense and I think he will continue to be a big contributor.

(2) Hallelujah, the St. Louis Lambs have finally gotten into the win column! They snapped their 17-game losing streak by beating a team that just snapped their 19-game losing streak earlier in the season. Also, they snapped their nine-game road losing streak and scored their first rushing touchdown of the season. They were able to earn their first victory by out-playing the Detroit Felines in every phase of the game. For the first time in a long time, the Lambs could finally say that they were the more complete football team. It certainly was not a pretty victory, but the Lambs have lost for so long that they do not have the luxury to complain about the aesthetics, or lack thereof, of a victory.

Their defense led the way behind James Laurinaitis (team-leading seven tackles), Chris Long (one sack) and Leonard Little (one sack). They only allowed one offensive score from the Felines and held Detroit to less than 300 yards of total offense. They knew that Matt Stafford was returning from injury and they did not allow him to get into any rhythm whatsoever. They picked him off just once, but they generally made life uncomfortable for the rookie, which contributed to his 14 for 33 performance. In addition to making life miserable for Stafford, the Lambs bottled up the Detroit running game and did a decent job of getting off the field on third down. The Lambs defense is certainly not very good, but they play hard, which was more than enough against the horrible Felines offense.

In addition to the strong defensive performance, the St. Louis offense also produced a decent effort. There is no secret that the Lambs are severely untalented on offense, but they did three things on Sunday that can go a long way to masking their deficiencies. First of all, they kept Marc Bulger clean. Bulger is at the end of his career and the only way for him to be effective is if his offensive line can do a reasonable job of pass protection. The improved protection didn’t necessarily translate into big numbers from Bulger, but it did ensure that he wouldn’t have another turnover orgy. Bulger only turned the ball over once, which allowed the Lambs to stay in the game and ultimately pull out a victory. Secondly, the Lambs did an outstanding job of running the football behind the only offensive talent that they have: Steven Jackson. Jackson rolled up 149 yards on only 22 carries (6.8 yds/carry) and scored his first touchdown of the season. Jackson’s stellar performance allowed the Lambs to be balanced on offense, which is something they have lacked all season long. Finally, St. Louis mixed in a little trickery in the special teams department, which is an essential component from a team that struggles to move the ball consistently on offense. With Chris Carpenter and Justin Verlander locked in a 3-2 pitching duel late in the second quarter, the Lambs rolled the dice with a fake field goal that resulted in a 36-yard touchdown pass from kicker Josh Brown to Daniel Fells. The post-Halloween trick sent the Lambs into the locker room with a tremendous amount of momentum and was a huge reason that they got their first victory.

With the Lambs’ victory, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the sole remaining NFL team without a win this season. The Buccaneers were on a bye week but they resume their schedule with a visit from the Green Bay Packers. With two weeks to prepare, the game versus the Packers might be their last chance to get a victory in 2009. After Green Bay, the Bucs play five out of their remaining eight games on the road and don’t face anyone with a losing record at home. If the Bucs can’t catch the Packers sleeping, then I’m putting my money on Tampa Bay to go winless.

(3) While on the topic of horrible football teams, the Cleveland Browns are certainly in the conversation when you debate the worst NFL franchises. On Sunday, the Browns lost their seventh game of the season and they appear to be getting worse by the week. They were held to 14 or fewer points and less than 200 total yards for the fourth straight game (10th time in their last 13 games). They only managed nine first downs and turned the ball over a whopping five times. Their quarterback situation is a complete mess and their starting running back was more interested in planning his farewell from the NFL than talking about his team’s awful performance on the Midway. They are a team in complete disarray and no real hope for the foreseeable future. Their owner, Randy Lerner, was “sick” about the current state of his team and vaguely talked about bringing in new leadership, but reaffirmed his commitment to Coach Eric Mangini in the same breath. As I said back when they hired him, I thought the Browns made a mistake in bringing in Mangini after he flamed out in New York. It appears that Lerner is starting to see the errors of his decision, but I don’t think he is prepared to start over with a new coach so soon after replacing Romeo Crennel. Apparently, Lerner is prepared to take some action as he canned General Manager George Kokinis on Monday. It is unfortunate that Kokinis had to be the fall guy for the disaster that is the Cleveland Browns.

I hope that Browns’ fans see through the charade of firing Kokinis and really turn their ire towards the Lerner family, who has owned the team since they were reincarnated before the 1999 season. The Lerner era has been an abject disaster, so the blame should be heaped on them not on Mangini and Kokinis, who have only been around less than a season. The “new” Cleveland Browns have a record of 55-113 with only two winning seasons and only one playoff appearance in 10+ years of existence. They have gone through Chris Palmer, Butch Davis, and Romeo Crennel as the head coach in those 10 short seasons. I’m pretty sure that Mangini will not see the end of his current contract either. The Browns have experienced too much turnover since 1999 for them to have any success. The Lerner family has to look at themselves before they throw their current coach and front office staff under the bus. I didn’t like the Mangini hire to begin with, but only because I would have preferred to see the Browns hire an experienced coach with a track record of success instead of a recent retread, who had just been fired a couple of months previous. There are two common elements across all of the men that have been a head coach in Cleveland: (1) they are all first-year or inexperienced head coaches and (2) they were all hired by the Lerner family. It is clear that the Lerner’s have not been able to identify their own John Harbaugh or Mike Smith or Josh McDaniels, so they need to hire a Bill Cowher or Mike Holmgren and get the heck out of the way.

(4) Like the Saints the week previous, the Colts showed why they are the best team in the AFC with their hard-fought victory over the San Francisco 49ers. The Colts showed the entire NFL that they can win football games without Peyton Manning throwing a touchdown pass. They showed the entire NFL that they can win football games by relying on their defense. They showed the entire NFL that they can win football games despite the fact that they settled for four field goals in four trips into the red zone. In short, the Colts proved that they are a complete team, which has to be considered the favorite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
Despite not doing anything spectacular, Peyton Manning proved why he is still the front-runner for the NFL most valuable player award. He played like a veteran quarterback that knows there is more than one way to skin a cat. He figured out pretty early that the Niners were not going to give up any big plays, so Manning was more than okay to take what the defense was giving him. He knew that his defense was playing very well, so it wasn’t going to take a Herculean effort to beat San Francisco. As a result, Manning didn’t force anything, especially in the red zone, and slowly added field goal after field goal until the big trick play from Joseph Addai. In the end, Manning had his sixth 300+ passing day, but he was also held to zero touchdown passes for the first time this season. The lack of touchdowns led to his lowest quarterback rating of the season, but Manning is savvy enough to understand that the only thing that matters in football is getting a win at the end of the day. I used to think that Manning was one of the biggest chokers in the NFL and that he would go down like Dan Marino, great statistics but no rings, but now I consider him to be the most clutch player in the NFL. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins multiple titles before he calls it a career. I don’t really think it is hyperbole to talk about Manning with such high regard. He has been the best player in the NFL this season despite the fact that he is carrying along the 27th ranked rushing offense in the league.

Manning was solid on Sunday, but the key to victory for the Colts was the outstanding performance of their defense. They held the 49ers to less than 300 yards of total offense, caused two turnovers and forced San Francisco to punt the ball eight times. On a day when they forced six three-and-out possessions from the 49ers, the only mistake that the Colts made on defense was the 61-yard touchdown run they allowed to Frank Gore. In reality, the Colts defense has been solid all season. They are in the top 10 in yards allowed and they lead the league in points allowed (13 pts per game). Their stinginess on defense combined with the high-flying tendencies of the Colts offense makes Indianapolis a scary opponent. The rest of their schedule has several potential pitfalls with upcoming games with Houston, New England, Baltimore, Denver and the New York Jets, but I think the Colts are heading to another 12 or 13 win season. If they beat Houston next week, they will effectively wrap up the AFC South title and they will able to manage the upcoming weeks with an eye to the playoffs.

(5) The Seahawks’ season of redemption has unraveled in a sea of injuries, turnovers and mistakes. Seattle was supposed to prove that 2008 was a mere aberration, but all they have proven is that they are a team in transition from championship-caliber to mediocre at best. Their 2009 season continued to get worse with a 38-17 beat down at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys seemed to have got their mojo back and they took full advantage of the Seahawks despite the fact that Seattle had two weeks to prepare. The most shocking part for Seattle was not that they lost to Dallas but it was the ease with which the Cowboys discarded the Hawks. The Cowboys were extremely efficient on offense, disruptive on defense and opportunistic on special teams.

Before the Seahawks knew what hit them, the Cowboys led 21-10 and the game was essentially over. The Hawks generated very little pressure on Tony Romo, which allowed him to pick apart the Hawks secondary for three touchdowns. The Hawks knew that their only chance to win the game was to force Romo into multiple mistakes, but they couldn’t get it done. The only Seahawk defender that showed up for this game was David Hawthorne, who contributed eight tackles and two sacks while playing in front of family and friends. It is ironic to me that Hawthorne is one of the lowest paid players on the team, but he is outplaying his high-priced linebacker colleagues. Since Romo had plenty of time in the pocket, he was able to dissect the suspect Seahawks’ secondary that was made only marginally better by Marcus Trufant’s return to the line-up. It was clear that Trufant was plenty rusty as he was flagged three times for pass interference. However, I will give him the benefit of the doubt on the first penalty, which looked very suspect to me. Overall, the Hawks played their typical road defense, which meant they generated no pressure, no turnovers and no game-changing plays.

On the offensive side of things, the Hawks played in fits and starts all game long. Hasselbeck was under siege from the Cowboys defense from the start. Dallas only got three quarterback sacks, but Hasselbeck was hit on a number of different occasions. The Hawks may not win many more games this season, but they need to find a way to keep Hasselbeck from getting killed in the pocket. On the surface, Hasselbeck’s numbers were okay but the Hawks’ offense did nothing except punt the football between his touchdown pass to Deion Branch in the second quarter and his touchdown pass to Justin Griffiths in the fourth. In addition to Hasselbeck’s struggles, the Hawks only got into the red zone one time and they failed to run the ball with any consistency. The Hawks have to figure out how to generate more production from their ground game. They only produced 79 yards on 22 carries against the Cowboys. Overall, they are the 28th ranked rushing offense in the NFL. In addition to Tim Ruskell’s inability to plan for Walter Jones’ inevitable retirement, the Hawks’ inability to identify a franchise running back to replace Shaun Alexander has been Ruskell’s biggest mistake. I understand that the Hawks are playing with a makeshift offensive line but they are being outrushed by the likes of the Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It is my feeling that the Hawks need to focus the majority of their off-season attention on finding offensive linemen and running backs that fit the zone blocking scheme.

Let’s be honest my friends, the Seahawks’ season is going nowhere fast. They should get temporarily healthy against the Lions next week, but their season ends with five out of seven games on the road, which includes trips to Arizona, Minnesota, Houston and Green Bay. If you didn’t already know, the Hawks have lost 11 of their last 13 games on the road. If the Hawks are lucky, they will get three or four more wins. Seattle fans don’t even want to consider the alternative.