This week, Clubber shines a light on the Patriots new defensive star and orders extra toe tags for his Stiff(s) of the Week.
Before the start of every season, any football fan can go to the major sports betting lounges in Las Vegas and lay a proposition bet.
I would have loved to have known the Vegas pre-season odds that after Week 4, the Chiefs would be the lone remaining undefeated team and the odds of the Colts and the Rams would have identical records. I am sure that someone made that bet and that individual is now a lot richer for it.
Time now to take a look back at the week that was in the National Football League.
Star of the Week
There are a number of worthy candidates and certainly huge consideration has to be given to the man who was deemed finished as a player in San Diego; Jets running back LaDainian Tomlinson.
Yes, I know the Jets were playing the Bills, but LT still ripped off 133 yards and two touchdowns on only 19 carries. Not too shabby for an old guy. However the star of Week 4 has to be Patriots safety Patrick Chung. In the Patriots blowout win over the Dolphins Monday night, Chung was a one-man wrecking crew. He blocked two kicks and returned an interception 51 yards for a touchdown. For a team with a young and inexperienced secondary that is still learning the finer points of the NFL, Chung's performance was a welcome sight for Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
Stiff of the Week
I was hoping I could nominate the entire Arizona Cardinals offensive line. Kurt Warner is a bright man and knew the perfect time to retire. In Sunday's loss to the Chargers the Cards' offensive line gave up a staggering nine sacks and another eight quarterback hits.
But what happened Sunday night in the Giants and Bears game was almost beyond belief.
I watched the Giants assault Jay Cutler for 30 minutes. The Bears offensive line gave up nine sacks in only two freaking quarters! My Stiff of the Week award will be shared by the entire Bears' offensive line, coach Lovie Smith, Mike Martz, Mike Tice and Jay Cutler. Tice is the Bears offensive line coach and it might be time he went back to scalping tickets. Martz is the offensive coordinator and it might be time he went back to the being a smarmy analyst on the NFL Network. Cutler holds on to the ball way too long for any offensive line to adequately protect him, let alone the O-line the Bears are using.
He nearly got sacked on a three step drop, which, up until Sunday night, I thought was next to impossible. Watching over all of this mess was good ol' Lovie Smith. Every time the camera zoomed in on Smith he looked like a man pondering what was on the menu for the post-game buffet. I can't believe that Smith wouldn't order Martz to run the ball more with Matt Forte to take some of the pressure off of Cutler.
I can't believe that Martz and Tice wouldn't change their protection schemes to counter the Giants' pass rush. Cutler has been sacked 17 times in four weeks. At this rate, assuming he can last the entire season, he will be sacked 68 times this year.
Rookie Watch
Lost in the avalanche of points the Chargers scored on the Cardinals was a quiet, yet solid performance from rookie running back Ryan Matthews. Drafted as a replacement for LaDainian Tomlinson in the Chargers offence, Matthews had 55 yards and one touchdown on only nine carries in the Chargers win over the Cardinals. Matthews missed Week 3 with an injury and didn't receive the kind of workload the Chargers coaching staff would like him to have. With games coming up on the road in Oakland and in St. Louis, expect Matthews to get more work and make more of an impact in the Chargers offence.
Team on the rise
How about a team playing in the worst division in the NFL?
How about a team with a stud at running back and a Golden Boy, $50-million dollar, first-round pick at quarterback?
How about a team who employs a linebacker, James Laurinaitis, whose dad was one half of wrestling's famous tag team, The Road Warriors? I am talking about none other than the St. Louis Rams. Sam Bradford and the Rams have won two straight and have the exact same won-loss record as Peyton Manning and the Colts.
If Steven Jackson played in New York or in Dallas, he would be a household name. Big, strong, and blessed with a combination of balance and speed, Jackson gets my vote as the best running back in the NFC West. Yes, I would take Steven Jackson over the 49ers' Frank Gore.
Laurinaitis has developed into a very dependable linebacker for the Rams. The kid comes from good bloodlines. His father Joe went by the name of Animal when the Road Warriors were the most feared tag team in wrestling. In the last two weeks, Bradford has looked like anything but a rookie quarterback. The scary thing is that with each game and each practice, he's only going to get better.
Holding the whole thing together in St. Louis is their energetic and uber-passionate head coach, Steve Spagnuolo. "Spags," as he is known throughout the league, made a name for himself as a brilliant defensive coordinator for the Giants. It was Spagnuolo who came up with the defensive game plan that helped propel the Giants to their upset win over the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl 42.
All of these good vibes surrounding the Rams must make the team's new owner Stan Kroenke very pleased with his new investment.
What Were They Thinking?
Andy Reid must have a deep, dark phobia of clocks, watches and anything that can tell time. As a young man, Reid must have had nightmares that he was being eaten alive by a giant Bulova watch.
I mean, how else can anyone logically explain how a man who has been coaching in the NFL for as long as Andy Reid has, can still have so much trouble with in-game time management? However the ultimate winner of the What Were They Thinking? award goes out to 49ers cornerback Nate Clements. The 49ers were less than two minutes away from their first win of the season. Matt Ryan had just thrown an interception to the veteran Clements.
Game over, right?
Well, Clements decided to head for the end zone and as he was running down the sideline holding the football like a loaf of bread, Falcons receiver Roddy White hustled back to knock the ball loose. The Falcons recovered the fumble and ended up kicking the game-winning field goal. That bizarre series of events is a perfect microcosm of all that has gone wrong with the winless 49ers this year.
The Rex Ryan Watch
Rex didn't have a whole lot to do this week in the Jets' win over the Bills.
He did a lot of fist-pumping, doling out high fives, and generally looked like a man who was having a great time at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Then again, his team was in the midst of dismantling the Bills 38-14, so there's a good a reason Rex was in such a good mood.
After the game Rex was a little feisty as he met with the media. I loved this defiant quote, "Bet against us, we'll see where we end up in the end."
Rex saved his best lines for when asked about the performance of his running back LaDainian Tomlinson, "I thought he was going to be outstanding, but he's better than that."
Rex has a point. Through four games, LT has run for 341 yards and three touchdowns. Compare that to the Titans' Chris Johnson who has run for 354 yards and four touchdowns. What stands out even more is the fact that Tomlinson is averaging 6.1 yards carry; Johnson is only averaging 3.8. In training camp Tomlinson told me he was on a mission to prove himself again after a disappointing 2009 season. Through the first four weeks LT is doing a hell of a job erasing the memories of last year in San Diego.
The Race for No. 1
After showing some signs of life the week before when they scored 30 points in a loss to the Patriots, the Bills came crashing back down to earth in a putrid performance against the Jets.
I know this might seem difficult to believe, but the 38-14 score actually flattered the Bills. The Jets had the ball over 40 minutes and ran for 273 yards. As it stands now, the 0-4 Bills are on pace to give up 500 points this year. The NFL record is 533 given up by the 1981 Baltimore Colts. In other words, the Bills shouldn't waste any time selling Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett or Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck on the virtues of living in Buffalo.
There is a Tim Horton's and a Subway sandwich shop located just over 500 metres from Ralph Wilson Stadium.
The Ronnie Lott award (hardest hit)
In this era of 24-hour highlights, football fans are often shown big hits from linebackers and lineman. So there is a tendency to forget that throughout the years there have been some running backs that thrived on doling out punishment. Jim Brown, Jim Taylor, John Riggins and my personal favourite, Earl Campbell, all specialized in dishing out punishment to anyone who would be foolish enough to attempt to tackle them.
In their emotional win over the Eagles, Redskins running back Ryan Torain gave a classic example of how a running back can destroy a would-be tackler. As he ran through the hole, Torain lowered his 220-pound shoulders and wiped out Eagles safety Quintin Mikell. The result was a 12-yard touchdown for Torain and an afternoon of embarrassment for Mikell when the Eagles looked at the game film.
Big Injury of the Week
Michael Vick's ribs, or to be more specific, the cartilage in Vick's ribs.
When you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Or to be more specific, when you are a quarterback who likes to run, you are going to be hit. In the first quarter of the Eagles' much-anticipated game against Donovan McNabb and the Redskins, Vick took off on a scramble up the middle. After rambling for 23 yards, Vick was sandwiched between DeAngelo Hall and Kareem Moore.
It was a hard, but clean hit. Next thing you know Vick was out of the game with an injury to the cartilage in his rib cage. Ask any athlete and they will tell you that a rib injury is one of the worst injuries to try and play through. Needless to say that Vick's status for the Eagles game Sunday night against the 49ers remains highly doubtful.
Unsung Hero Award
Lost in all the celebration of Josh Scobee's epic 59-yard game winning field goal against the Colts, is why the kicker even had a chance to kick it in the first place.
Working with only 33 seconds left on the clock, quarterback David Garrard completed two straight passes to set up Scobee's highlight reel kick. The two men that made that drive happen and allowed Garrard and the Jags offence to have a chance to win the game were their two bookend offensive tackles; Eben Britton and Eugene Monroe. Each of the Jags' two starting offensive tackles pitched a rare shutout against the Colts.
Britton and Monroe held the Colts' Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney to zero sacks. When you think that Kyle Orton was sacked six times in the Broncos' win over the Titans, that makes the accomplishment of Britton and Monroe that much more impressive.
Funniest Moment of Week 3
It was funny in a, "boy is this guy ever going to end up paying a huge fine," kind of way.
In the Broncos' win over the Titans, Tennessee defensive coordinator Chuck Cecil didn't agree with a certain penalty. Cecil then decided to express his feelings and emotions with the ubiquitous one-finger salute. Cecil ended up getting fined $40,000 for his wayward middle digit. (Note - some people may be offended by his rude gesture. I laughed my head off)
Hot Cheerleader of the Week
As a tribute to Josh Scobee's incredible, 59-yard, game-winning field goal, I thought it was only fitting that we take a look at one of the crown jewels of the Jaguars' cheerleading squad.
What to Watch for Next Week
The undefeated Chiefs are coming off of a bye-week and are taking on the 2-2 Colts.
This is an interesting game for a variety of reasons. The Colts will not be in a very pleasant mood after their loss to the Jags. The fact the tam has a mediocre 2-2 record after four weeks is very foreign to the Colts in the Peyton Manning era. Few people can believe that the Chiefs are the last undefeated team in the NFL.
If Todd Haley and the Chiefs can walk into a hostile environment like Lucas Oil Stadium and beat a Colts team that is hellbent on avenging a recent loss, than a lot of people will begin to believe that Kansas City is for real.
And yes, that is a Yeti sized "if." The Titans and Cowboys game down in Dallas should be something to keep an eye on. Not only are the Titans coming off of a loss to the Broncos, but Chris Johnson hasn't put up any big numbers since Week 1. Jeff Fisher needs to find a way to get Johnson back to his vaunted CJ2K form. The Cowboys are coming off of a bye-week and I suspect they will be spending a lot of time looking at the game film of the Broncos' win over the Titans.
I am looking forward to seeing how Titans' offensive tackle Michael Roos handles the Cowboys lethal pass rushing specialist DeMarcus Ware.
I am also really looking forward to the Monday night game between the Vikings and the Jets. The Vikings are coming off of a bye-week and Brett Favre and the lads will need all of that extra rest considering they're facing a team like the Jets in a place like the Meadowlands.
A very good Jets team is about to get even better because receiver Santonio Holmes is eligible to return to action after serving his four-game suspension. Mark Sanchez has played productive, mistake-free football (eight touchdowns - zero interceptions) the last three weeks and the addition of a deep threat like Holmes will make him that much more effective.
