About the only thing I liked about the Titans win over the Jaguars in the Monday night game was Jeff Fisher.
In an era where coaches in all sports have a very short life span, Fisher is an anomaly. Fisher has been the head coach of the Titans for 17 years, making him the longest-tenured coach in the NFL.
The Titans win Monday night over the Jaguars was a classic example "Jeff Fisher" football. The Titans played tough defence, ran the ball well, controlled the clock and when Vince Young got hurt, they plugged Kerry Collins in and he got the job done.
After last night's win, the Titans offence now ranks third in the NFL averaging 27 points per game. So with Jeff Fisher's gnarly moustache leading the way, it is now time to look back at the week that was in the NFL.
Star of the week
Honourable mention goes out to former CFL Defensive Player of the Year and current Dolphins linebacker Cameron Wake. Wake had three sacks in the Dolphins big overtime win against the Packers and he now has six sacks in five games.
But when it comes to the Star of the Week, it is pretty hard to argue with the Eagles 'back-up' quarterback Kevin Kolb. Even with the injury to his best receiver DeSean Jackson, Kolb was still able to put up impressive numbers against a solid Falcons defence. Kolb shredded the Falcons "D" to the tune of 326 yards while tossing three touchdowns and had a quarterback rating of 133.6.
In his weekly press conference, Andy Reid conceded that Kold will likely be under centre next week against the Titans saying, "it's a pretty, good chance that Kevin's the guy this week."
With Vick still rehabbing from his rib injury, Kolb is doing a great job holding the fort until Vick returns to the line-up.
Stiff of the week
Referee Ron Winter garnered a lot of votes after his brutal pass-interference call against the Chiefs' Brandon Flowers. Andre Johnson clearly pushed off of Flowers as he attempted to make a catch along the sidelines. When the ref prepared to make the call, everyone automatically assumed it would be for 'offensive' pass interference. Think again as Flowers was called for what turned out to be a game breaking pass-interference call by Winter. Five plays after that brutal call, Matt Schaub hit Andre Johnson with the game-winning touchdown.
However, Winter will finish an unfortunate No. 2 because as much as Chargers fans can't stand Norv Turner, the mere mention of Wade Phillips is enough to send a Dallas Cowboys fan into a violent rage.
A day doesn't go by in Dallas that the fans and the media don't call for Phillips' head on a Texas-sized silver platter. Week by week, it appears that Phillips has lost more control of the Cowboys. How else would you explain the Cowboys are so undisciplined? Dallas took 11 penalties in their loss to the Vikings. They took 12 penalties the week before in their loss to the Titans. In three games this year the Cowboys have taken 11 or more penalties and Dallas has only played five games.
A great example of the lack of discipline in Dallas and the lack of respect for Phillips was Miles Austin's 15-yard penalty for excessive celebration.
Owner Jerry Jones keeps coming out in the media and announcing to the world that he will not fire Wade Phillips in mid-season. Considering the state of the Cowboys right now, who would even take the job?
Team on the rise
The team on the rise in the NFL right now are the Philadelphia Eagles. With Kevin Kolb at quarterback, the Eagles have won two straight games. The combination of Michael Vick and Kevin Kolb has been able to lead the Eagles to four wins in their last five games. Receiver DeSean Jackson scored two highlight-reel touchdowns in the first quarter before being knocked out of the game by Dunta Robinson early in the second quarter.
Despite the injury to a game-breaking playmaker like Jackson, the Eagles were still able to score 17 more points in their win over the Falcons. Because of the severity of his concussion, Reid admitted that "it would be a real stretch" for Jackson to play this weekend. The Eagles are on a bye week after the Titans game, so it really makes no sense to even try and get Jackson back in the line-up. Besides, the Eagles still have some solid weapons on offence to work with like LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant to work with while Jackson recovers from his injury.
Beating the Falcons was a good test for the Eagles. Facing a tough team like the Titans this week on the road without Jackson and Vick will be an even bigger test for the Eagles.
What were they thinking?
The biggest 'What Were They Thinking?' moment took place in overtime during the game between the Ravens and the Patriots.
Le'Ron McClain was called for a personal foul that put the Ravens from a second-and-nine to a third-and-19 situation.
The Ravens didn't convert and the Patriots proceeded to take the ball down the field and kick the game-winning field goal. McClain was caught red-handed by the officials retaliating to a shove from a Patriots player. The refs always catch the retaliation and McClain has to know that.
The race for No. 1
The Bills chances of grabbing the top pick in the 2011 NFL draft went up in a big way after the Patriots win over the Ravens. The Bills next game is Sunday in Baltimore and the Ravens are not going to be in a very good mood.
The Ronnie Lott award
It will likely result in a fine by the league office, but the hit of the week took place when the Falcons' Robinson destroyed the Eagles' Jackson.
The big injury of the week
This was a very, bad week for injuries. Lions quarterback Shaun Hill suffered a fractured left forearm. The Texans lost their outstanding linebacker DeMeco Ryans for the year with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
The worst injury from Week 6 was suffered by the Eagles game-breaking receiver Jackson. Jackson suffered a concussion courtesy of a devastating hit from the aforementioned Robinson. The Eagles can only hope that Jackson isn't plagued by the dreaded post-concussion syndrome.
The unsung hero award
Hands up -- how many people thought that Chris Ivory would be one of the most productive running backs in the NFL in Week 6? Filling in the for the injured Pierre Thomas, Ivory ran for 158 yards on only 15 carries in the Saints much-needed win over the Bucs. What makes those totals even more impressive is what Ivory did when he played college ball. In his senior year at Division 2 Tiffin, Ivory ran for 223 yards in five games. That's why we love sports -- it is awesome to see a guy come out of nowhere and have a game like that.
The Rex Ryan watch
On what was a bad weekend for questionable pass interference calls, the Jets were major beneficiaries of a pass interference call at the end of their game with the Broncos. With just over one minute left in the fourth quarter, Mark Sanchez threw up a prayer for Santonio Holmes. Broncos' Renaldo Hill was in coverage and his hand got caught up in the facemask of Holmes -- instant penalty -- and all of the sudden the Jets were in a first-and-goal situation. The very next play LaDainian Tomlinson ran in the game-winning, two-yard touchdown.
The Jets won't win many style points for their win over the Broncos but a win on the road in a place like Denver is always impressive.
Rex Ryan was brutally honest in his assessment of the game: "This is a great win for us - to be 5-1. You know we never had our best game, we turned the ball over a bunch - they ran the ball more effectively that we would have liked. But at the end of the day it's a Jets victory and we'll take it - 5-1 heading into out bye week."
Funniest moment of the week
Now to be honest, the funniest moment of the week didn't seem so funny at the time. In an intense battle between the Patriots and the Ravens, Tom Brady got into the grill of Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs. For a moment there, it appeared as if Brady was going to throw down with Suggs and start brawling.
The mood changed after the game when reporters asked Suggs what he said to get Brady so upset.
"He was trying to tell me how to bag a Hollywood actress," Suggs explained. "He was like, 'Sizzle, if you want to get a Hollywood actress, take my seminar on Saturday.'"
Tom Brady joined WEEI in Boston for his weekly radio show and wouldn't comment on what Suggs had to say, chalking up his outburst to getting caught up in the moment of the game. Brady also denied calling him "Sizzle". That is really too bad, because calling Suggs "Sizzle" in the middle of a game would make Brady even cooler than he already is.
Hot cheerleader award
In a tribute to the Rams win over the Chargers, I present to you part of what makes St. Louis such a great city. They don't Missouri the 'Show Me State' for nothing.
What to watch for next week
On paper, the Broncos taking on the Raiders in Denver doesn't sound big but there has to be a little bit of pressure on Broncos coach Josh McDaniels. Since starting the 2009 season 6-0, the Broncos have gone 4-12. If McDaniels is the hotshot coach he is made out to be, the Broncos need to be a lot better.
The three biggest games of the week are taking place in Miami, Green Bay and Dallas respectively.
In Miami, the Dolphins are hosting Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers.
In Dallas, the reeling Cowboys are hosting the surging Giants.
The marquee game of Week 7 will take place on the hallowed grass of Lambeau Field as the Packers host Brett Favre and the Vikings.
