The Favre saga continues as Clubber previews the weekend's games around the NFL.
As Canadians, sometimes we don't realize just how lucky we are when it comes to watching football and other sports on TV. Right now, there is a huge corporate battle being waged between Fox and Cablevision. Over 3 million cable subscribers in the greater New York/New Jersey area have not been able to watch the World Series.
Even worse, if this issue isn't resolved fast, Jets fans will not be able to watch Sunday's game against the Packers. Where is President Obama when you need him?
Time now to take a look at the key games for Week 8 in the NFL.
The Reservoir Dogs Mexican standoff game
With each loss, the chasm between Brett Favre and Brad Childress grows wider and wider which brings me back to the old saying about being careful what you wish for. Childress wished and hoped all summer that he could convince Favre to come back. Now Childress is being forced to deal with the consequences that go along with that decision. As of now, no one is really sure if old man Favre will even be healthy enough to play this game. I refuse to believe that Favre won't play Sunday until I see Tavaris Jackson under centre. Favre will have his ankle shot up with painkillers and will hobble on to the field like some kind of noble medieval knight.
While the Vikings defence has been fairly solid this year, Childress and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier need to find a way to get Jared Allen out his slump. Allen is a Pro Bowl defensive end with 44.5 sacks in the last three seasons. However, this year Allen only has one sack in six games. Last year, Allen never went more than two games without registering a sack. That is a stat line that has to change. I'm not saying what the problem is but Allen was a beast when he had his mullet. He just hasn't been the same dominant pass rusher since he cut his hair to get married in the off-season.
Meanwhile, the Patriots dealt Randy Moss in mid-season to the Vikings. Now why in the world would any team trade a first-class deep threat receiver like Moss unless there were some major problems brewing behind the scenes? With wins over the Ravens and Chargers, the Patriots appear to not have missed a beat since dealing Moss. But Tom Brady and the Patriots offence didn't do much in last week's win over the Chargers.
To be honest, I don't think Bill Belichick is overly concerned with the return of Moss. Now stopping Adrian Peterson is a different matter. AP is averaging 114 yards per game, No. 1 in the entire NFL. Whether it is a beat up Favre, or an unproven Jackson in at quarterback, the Vikings will need a productive running game to have a chance to win.
Here is something else for Childress to chew on: The Vikings are winless on the road, while the Patriots undefeated at home.
The Sun Tzu Art of War game
The brilliant Chinese General Sun Tzu once wrote in his seminal work on fighting that, "all warfare is based on deception."
Deception is the key to the Jets outstanding defence. Rex Ryan loves to disguise his coverage packages and confuse opposing quarterbacks with his pre-snap alignments. So when Aaron Rodgers gazes at the Jets defence before the snap of the ball, everything is not always as it appears to be.
Offensively, the Jets have a solid running game, a nearly mistake-free passing game and they score a lot of points. You put that kind of offensive production with the Jets defence and you end with a 5-1 record.
The Packers are coming off of an emotional win over the Vikings. Now, a Packers team that is dealing with numerous injuries will have to be prepared to play what is arguably the best team in the NFL right now.
Making life even tougher for Rodgers and the Packers is the news that Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis has declared his wonky hamstring 100 percent healthy. The Packers won last week despite the two interceptions thrown by Rodgers.
Fortunately for the Packers, Favre tossed three picks and the Green Bay defence returned one for a touchdown. Mark Sanchez has only thrown two interceptions this season, so if the Packers are going to win this game, they won't be getting a lot of help from the opposing quarterback. Rodgers likely has seen enough film this week to realize the Jets will be coming after him -- just won't be able to tell where they're coming from.
The "Situation" reality show game
I am pleased to hear thathad Ocho Cinco and Terrell Owen's joint reality show on Versus is doing so well. The success of their show will help ease the pain of the Bengals current three-game losing streak. I highly doubt the Bengals coach Marvin Lewis gets his popcorn ready and watches the show. The only thing Lewis is watching on TV these days is film of his team as they try to turn their season around. T.O. can't complain about not getting a chance in the Bengals offence. Carson Palmer has thrown the ball T.O.'s way 74 times this year, resulting in 40 catches and three touchdowns.
Another thing keeping Lewis and coordinator Mike Zimmer up at night is their defence. The Bengals will go into this game with only six sacks this season. To put that into perspective, Dolphins linebacker Cameron Wake has six-and-a-half sacks all by himself.
The Dolphins will be in foul mood for this game after they way last week's game against the Steelers ended. Now Miami can complain all they want about what they feel was a blown call on the Roethlisberger fumble but here is the biggest reason the Dolphins lost last week: they started two offensive series inside the Steelers 22 yard line and only came away with two field goals. If Chad Henne and the offence were more effective in the Red Zone, the Dolphins win.
The ground-and-pound UFC game
Led by Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles, the Chiefs are the No. 1 running team in the NFL. At the same time, the Bills have the worst run defence in the NFL. That usually isn't a good recipe for a success in the NFL. The Bills are so concerned with their near total lack of run defence that Chan Gailey has decided to scrap their 3-4 alignment for more traditional "40" front. On paper, the move back to a more traditional 4-3 defensive alignment should help the Bills run defence. However the Bills are playing a Chiefs team with an offence built around physically punishing their opponent with a relentless ground attack. Try and imagine a division of General Patton's Sherman tanks rolling through the French country side in the summer of 1944 and that will give you some idea of the way the approach the Chiefs have to running the football. Let me put it another way, last year the Jets led the NFL by averaging 172.3 yards a game on the ground. In 2010 the Chiefs are averaging 176.5 yards a game. Despite all of that running, the duo of Jones and Charles has only fumbled the ball once this year. At the pace they are on, both Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles will rush for over 1,000 yards this year.
The Bills are coming off their best offensive game of the year as they scored 34 points against the Ravens of all teams. If the Bills defence can figure out some way to stop the run, they might actually have a chance in this game. But the way the Chiefs are running the ball this year, I don't like their chances.
The why is America punishing England so much game?
History buffs will remember that England suffered greatly during World War 2. So imagine the emotional pain of native Londoners when they found out that this year's NFL game at Wembley Stadium was going to be a match-up between the Broncos and 49ers. Not only are the 49ers coming off of a painful loss to the Panthers, but because of an injury to Alex Smith, Troy Smith will get the start this week. For Troy Smith, this is only his third career start.
After getting embarrassed by the Raiders, the Broncos could not get far enough away from Denver. No one is happier to be out of Denver than Broncos coach Josh McDaniels. At least in London, McDaniels won't be inundated by constant calls for his job on the local Denver radio call-in shows. I highly doubt that McDaniels or his coaching staff will see many of the sights in London. The way the Broncos defence is playing, they need to spend every second of the day to try a find some sort of solution to their problem. The Broncos have allowed 12 rushing touchdowns, far and away the worst in the league.
So even with Troy Smith getting the start at quarterback, there is no logical reason the 49ers won't hand the ball off to Frank Gore at least 25 times. Then again, logic and Mike Singletary haven't always gone hand-in-hand this season.
The Raiders might actually be coming back to life game
After years being viewed as a laughingstock in the NFL, the Raiders are showing signs they might actually win a few games this year. The Raiders set a franchise record last week when they walked into Denver and scored 59 points against the Broncos.
Back in the day, the Raiders were a team that lived and died with the deep passing game but Darren McFadden has finally figured out what it takes to be an impact player in the NFL and is averaging 5.5 yards every time he touches the ball.
While the Raiders feature a bunch of tattooed gangsters who thrive on their image as a bunch of thugs, the Seahawks under Pete Carroll are a bunch of granola-eating tree huggers from the Pacific Northwest. While a lot of people get a little sick of Carroll's constant rah-rah way of doing things, the fact remains the Seahawks have won their last two games, so the man must be doing something right.
Flying under the radar in Seattle has been rookie safety Earl Thomas who ranks among the league leaders with four interceptions. The Seahawks have the second-best run defence in the NFL and they are only allowing an average of 17.8 points per game. So it goes without saying that the game will be won or lost along the line of scrimmage.
What is really sad about this game is that Raiders fans in the Bay Area won't be able to see it. For the 11th straight home game, the Raiders will be blacked out on local television because of a lack of ticket sales.
The B.B. King thrill is gone game
B.B. King is arguably the greatest Blues artist of all time. His signature song is the amazing, The Thrill Is Gone. For a lot Saints fans in New Orleans, the thrill of their magical 2009 season is beginning to fade away. With last week's loss to the Browns, the Saints have dropped two of their last three games. There's an air of frustration about Drew Brees and Sean Payton that we hardly saw at all last year. It is never easy when you go from being the hunter to the hunted.
Being the hunted when you play a team like the Steelers is never a good thing. There is an outside chance that the Saints could have running back Reggie Bush back in the lineup for the Steelers game. But even if Bush can play, the bottom line is the Saints need Drew Brees to be better. Brees threw 11 interceptions in the entire 2009 season; he has ten through seven games this year. Once again, another example of how the magic from 2009 is absent from the Saints in 2010.
Do you want another example? The Saints defence scored a total of eight touchdowns in 2009 off of interceptions and recovered fumbles. In 2010, the Saints defence has yet to score a touchdown. Sean Payton and the Saints could dearly use some points from their defence this week because the Steelers have allowed the fewest points of any team in the NFL -- an average of only 13.7 points per game.
The Titans are scarier than Hannibal Lector game
How good is the Titans defence right now? They lead the NFL in both sacks and interceptions. Meanwhile the Chargers have allowed 20 sacks this year. The Chargers also lead the NFL with 12 fumbles this year. For what it's worth, Norv Turner told a San Diego newspaper that he's vowing zero tolerance from now on when players fumble the ball. So with the Charges offence fumbling the ball away, the defence find themselves in a classic catch-22. They could load up the box and sell out to stop Chris Johnson. But after what Kenny Britt did last week, that might be a recipe for disaster.
The Chargers could drop extra men into coverage to shut down Britt, but that wouldn't be conducive to stopping CJ2K. It looks like Vince Young will return as the Titans starting quarterback. The way the Titans are playing right now, it won't matter if Young or Kerry Collins are in the game, because they are a better team then the Chargers. And that includes coaching.
The Monday Night teaser (and I don't mean Faith Hill)
Week 8 wraps up Monday night in Indianapolis as the Colts host the Texans. With the Titans playing as well as they are, both the Texans and the Colts know they need a win to keep pace with Tennessee. It is obvious the Texans believe the only way they can beat teams is by outscoring them. The Texans defence has allowed a staggering amount of points for a team that is 4-2 - 27.8 points per game to be exact. That means fantasy football owners can expect another big day from Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson.
Colts quarterback Peyton Manning isn't even sure who he will be throwing the ball to Monday night. Tight end Dallas Clark and receiver Austin Collie are both out. Meanwhile running back Joseph Addai is injured and it is highly doubtful he will be able to play. Much like the Saints, the Colts just seem like the same team they were in 2009. Of course, all these injuries have to be factored in when evaluating the Colts this year. Jim Caldwell will have to hope the home crowd at Lucas Oil Stadium gives his team a slight edge over an explosive Texans offence.
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