Sorting the Sunday Pile looks back at the NFL weekend that was. It's also an unofficial bingo blog.
Back in April, when the Broncos sent 2006 first-round pick and franchise quarterback Jay Cutler to Chicago for Kyle Orton and a handful of draft picks (including two first-rounders and a third-rounder), I wrote that it was hard to argue that the Broncos were a better team, at least in the short term.
I also wrote that even though Orton lacked the franchise quarterback pedigree, he had a good chance to be successful in new head coach Josh McDaniels' offense. Part of the thinking was that McDaniels had great success with Matt Cassel in 2008. And although Cassel was more athletic than Orton, the Broncos' new starting quarterback was the more complete player. At the time, former Chicago Sun-Times' beat reporter Brad Biggs told me one of Orton's strengths was his accuracy on short throws.
"That's primarily what [the Bears] did. They didn't have a lot of success throwing the ball vertically, so that was probably playing to some of Kyle's strengths," Biggs said. "I know his percentage doesn't look real good from [the 2008] past season, but I can tell you that he was a victim of quite a few drops.
"You know, he had a clause in his contract where he was going to get a small escalator ... if he hit 60 percent completion percentage, and I remember vividly [writing] that the dropped passes were going to cost him money."
Last year, with no real No. 1 receiver, Orton completed 58.5 percent of his throws. After his 35 of 48 for 320 yards performance against the Patriots, Orton's connecting on 63 percent of his passes. Funny what Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal can do for your completion percentage, not to mention your confidence.
Still, no matter what I thought this spring, nobody had the Broncos starting the year 5-0. Some of that has to do with Orton -- he has just one interception so far (and that was an end-of-half Hail Mary that Randy Moss picked off) -- but the biggest surprise has been the defense.
Before the Pats game, Mike Nolan's unit ranked third in the league, according to Football Outsiders (5th against the run and the pass). A year ago, they were 31st. So Nolan is the latest example of a fantastic coordinator whose talents didn't translate to a successful head coaching career. And it looked like McDaniels would add his name to that list ... before the season started. Between the Cutler trade and the Brandon Marshall silliness, everybody wondered what the hell McDaniels was doing. Well, through five weeks, he looks pretty smart.
For the Patriots, who fall to 3-2, Monday will no doubt bring with it questions about Tom Brady, who looked uncomfortable in the pocket for most of the day. Some of that had to do with the Broncos' pass rush, but pre-blowed-up-knee Brady was seldom rattled. Now, passes that would go for big gains, or even touchdowns, fall incomplete. And that, along with a running game hardly worth mentioning -- and a defense definitely not worth mentioning -- leads close games that would previously have been blowouts.
But this is Dreamboat we're talking about. We all expect him to come around, even if it's not for another month or so. The question: will it be too late?
Your AFC North Leaders, Everybody
The Bengals are the second-most surprising story of 2009, and if they hadn't gotten "Stokley-ed" during the waning seconds of Week 1, they would be the story. And much like the Broncos, Cincy's success has just about everything to do with their revamped defense.
But also like the Broncos, steady quarterback play has helped. Carson Palmer missed much of last season with an elbow injury, and that was three years after having his knee blown out during the playoffs. And for the first time in a long time, Palmer looks like a former first-overall pick. He led back-to-back-to-back comebacks against the Steelers, Browns and Ravens, and the Bengals currently lead the AFC North.
And Baltimore, the same outfit some folks in the media were proclaiming an offensive juggernaut, suddenly look as if Brian Billick has been guest-play-caller the last two weeks. The Ravens were averaging 31 points per game heading into Week 5 and managed just 14 against the Bengals, seven courtesy of Ed Reed's sixth career pick-six.
Of course, you don't have to be Ernie Adams to game plan against the Ravens. Here's what I wrote last week: future defensive coordinators who will face the Ravens, here's how you stop the unflappable Joe Flacco: triple-team Derrick Mason. I've been screaming this for two years now. Flacco's progressions go something like this: Mason, Mason, Heap, Mason, Mason, McGahee. You're welcome.
And Sunday Mason had zero catches.
Muffed Punts
Leftovers from Sunday's action...
... It'll be interesting to see who the Redskins bring in next week. They have bingo night covered, maybe a Twister expert. At this point I suppose nobody is off limits.
While we wait for that story to unfold, the Washington falls to 2-3. Every opponent they have faced this season entered the game without a win. Put differently: Washington has won 40 percent of the time against teams that previously hadn't won at all.
... Cowboys win! Cowboys win! They had to take the winless Chiefs to overtime to do it, but unlike the Redskins, Dallas is undefeated against winless opponents. It's not much, but it's something.
... JaMarcus Russell continues to look like he took up football two weeks ago. And he's left-handed. I know a lot of his struggles can be blamed on the situation. The Raiders are a dreadful organization (I can only imagine that Nnamdi Asomugha, one of the league's best cornerbacks and a seemingly solid dude, murdered thousands of women and children as a ruthless tyrant in his previous life to deserve this fate) and the Al Davis Circus hasn't done Jam-Jam any favors. But I don't know how many more weeks of JV-tastic performances he has in him.
I know he's bordering on morbid obesity, and that his weight has been an issue during his three-year NFL career, but I feel sorry for the guy. If we're looking for silver linings, how about this: he threw for triple digits against the Giants. (Okay, it was only 100 yards -- 150 fewer than the Cowboys' Miles Austin had in receiving yards against the Chiefs -- but, frankly, that was the highlight of his afternoon.)
More fun facts: David Carr was on the field BEFORE THE END OF THE FIRST HALF. And it was the first time in history that the Raiders have lost three consecutive games by at least 20 points.
Just set records, baby.
... Either the Steelers have serious problems to address with their defense, or Troy Polamalu is the most valuable player in the history of sports. Since losing their strong safety in Week 1, Pittsburgh is 2-2, but more than that, their defense has had disappeared for long stretches, mostly in passing situations, and always in the fourth quarter.
Trying to replace Polamalu with Tyrone Carter (or some combination of Carter, Keiwan Ratliff and Deshea Townsend) is part of the problem, but the Steelers haven't consistently generated a pass rush, either. I can't imagine Polamalu's return magically fixes all that, but if it does, Pittsburgh could be one of the most balanced teams in the league.
Their identity is a lot like the 2003 club ... except the offensive line can block, the running game doesn't feature Amos Zereoue, the guy under center isn't Tommy Maddox, and Tim Lewis isn't the defensive coordinator.
... Something I wouldn't wish on Gitmo detainees: sitting through the Browns-Bills game. Although Buffalo lost, Trent Edwards should be thankful for Derek Anderson, whose performance (2 of 17 for 23 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT), distracted us from Edwards' J.P. Losman act.
If you missed it (and that's almost certainly the case), here's how a typical Buffalo pass play unfolds: Edwards gets the snap, takes a seven-step drop, holds the ball for a four-count, steps up in the pocket and either a) gets sacked, or b) runs out of the pocket and short-hops a ball to his safety value who is standing two yards in front of him. Hey, you don't earn the nickname Captain Checkdown for throwing bombs all day.
By the way, how low is Brady Quinn's self-esteem right now? And how did he win the job heading into the season? Was he actually better than Anderson? And if so, you're telling me Anderson has improved?
... The 49ers are 3-1 without Michael Crabtree and 0-1 with him. Clearly overrated.
... Upside for Jags: their 41-0 drubbing at the hands of the Seahawks was only the second-worse loss in franchise history. (The Lions whupped them 44-0 in 1995, back during those heady Tom Coughlin-Mark Brunell expansion days.)
Post-Game Debaclings
Quotes that Emmitt Smith might like...
"Physically ... and from a talent level, this is the best team I've ever been on." -Brett Favre, obviously taking a shot at all the citizens of Wisconsin
"You're not going there to win games. You're going there to get paid. And that's it. ... You're going there to get rich." -Rodney Harrison, NBC analyst
"Obviously, this is a low point for the organization and the fan base ... This is not where we expected to be right now." -Bills GM Russ Brandon
"We couldn't stop anything ... That's a bad feeling when you are out there and they are running whatever plays they want to. The third or fourth quarter I think they had their backups in the game and they were still doing whatever they wanted to offensively. There is no excuse for that and everybody has to look themselves in the mirror and say, 'I have to do a better job."' -Raiders defensive end Richard Seymour with my nomination for Understatement of the Week.
This Week in Fake Tweets
Week 3's Pretty Picture
I wonder if Jabar Gaffney will get fined by the league for a uniform violation. Specifically: altering the Broncos' homage to Ronald McDonald by swirling his socks.
