The NFL is Poop - Week 8

Game of the Week
Detroit Lions 31 Dallas Cowboys 30
This category is finding a nice home for itself atop this column as it would be foolish for me to recap the week that was without starting with this game.
The thing that makes this one so interesting with the weird play that allowed it all to happen. Detroit got the ball down 3 with 2:24 remaining, and two time outs. Stafford got sacked, completed a pass then threw 2 incompletes.
Dallas takes over with 1:24 remaining, already in field goal range. Dallas ran on first and second and Detroit called timeout. It was the third down play that really made this strange. Dallas was called for offensive holding, and Detroit declined. The clock should have run down, all the way to about 25 seconds, but because of the penalty the clock stopped. That gave Detroit about 30 extra seconds, which Stafford took advantage of, completing 3 long passes, the last one to Megatron who was tackled at the goal line.
That set up one final play when Stafford feigned a spike, and then jumped over the top for the game-tying touchdown. The extra point gave the Lions the win.
Reminds me of another great comeback win Stafford led earlier in his career. If you haven't seen this, please watch it. Let's hope he was mic'ed up for this one as well.

One of the Best Ever
No one will ever be a better wide receiver than Jerry Rice. He's like the Michael Jordan in the regard. You will never convince the people who saw him that anyone who comes along is better. LeBron will never be better than Jordan, though physically he is more impressive. If we are to keep that analogy, Calvin Johnson is the LeBron James of NFL wide receivers.
He has all the physical tools, he's big, he's strong, he jumps high, and he runs fast. In this game, those qualities were on display. He showed his speed on a 87-yarder (though he did get caught from behind at the 3). He showed his leaping ability and hands on this 54 yard catch.

All told Johnson caught 14 passes for 329 yards, falling short of the single game record of 336 set by Flipper Anderson, in an overtime game.

A Lot to Learn
Dez Bryant has the physical tools to match Calvin Johnson but he lacks the maturity. His antics on the sideline as that game slipped away from the Cowboys were inexcusable. I know a lot of people have compared Bryant's outburst to Tom Brady's earlier this season, but they were different in many ways.
But the most important is this: Bryant has a history of being a selfish asshole, Brady has a history of being a great leader. That means he can yell at people and it's seen as encouraging. He can yell at people and they silently take his criticism. He can yell at people and be doing it for the good of the team. But when a prima donna wide receiver does it, and real team leaders like Jason Witter and Demarcus Ware can't get him to stop, we know Bryant isn't "passionate" about winning, he's belligerent about his stats.
NFL Films did capture the tamer of the exchanges with Romo, where Bryant just tells Romo he was open. I would love to hear what he said when he was getting into it with Witten.

A Brief Rant About the Redskins
This game was the ultimate tease. We actually had a 21-7 lead over the Broncos in the third quarter, and then everything went completely to shit. Robert Griffin III played a horrible game. I know he had no time but he made some horrible and decisions. And even when he wasn't under duress his passes were going everywhere, except to his receivers.
I know the team is bad, but RGIII is so much worse in so many ways than he was last year, it makes me wonder if he will ever get to those heights again.
The defense is bad, but actually played great for 2 and a half quarters, before it got tired from being on the field all the time, and stopped tackling on screen passes, particularly two to Knowshon Moreno and Demaryius Thomas.

Picture of the Week
Baby dressed like Andy Reid for Halloween.

Bonus Picture of the Week
Excellent use of darkness and light in this picture of Darnell Dockett in the tunnel waiting to be introduced before the game.

Obligatory Cheerleaders in Costumes Pictures
Only the Cardinals, Patriots and Vikings dressed up their cheerleaders in slutty costumes. What a huge disappointment.

Strength (or Weakness) of Schedule
Remember Week 3? We were questioning the San Francisco 49ers after they had just been blown out two straight weeks, by the Seahawks and then the Colts by a combined score of 56-10. Maybe nothing was wrong with the 49ers, maybe those teams are just good. Since then San Francisco has won 5 games in a row, winning by at least 12 points in all of them, average score: 35-12. But those opponents are a combined 12-24 (skewed slightly by Jaguars). I kind of wish a college basketball type RPI were available for the NFL, because even though schedules are balanced, what we often think of as good, or "hot", is often just playing the right teams at the right time.
The Chiefs also bear watching in this regard because they have yet to beat a team with a winning record during their 8-game winning streak.

Game of Next Week
Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
The only game next week featuring two teams with winning records. Plus it's a great historic rivalry. The only problem is that Jay Cutler is not going to play and the Bears don't have a capable backup. Josh McCown is going to have a hard time keeping up with Aaron Rodgers.

If the Super Bowl Were Played Today
Kansas City Chiefs 23 Seattle Seahawks 17
Neither of these teams has looked too dominant recently but they both keep their spots by being a game better than their division rivals. I expect both teams to keep these spots for a couple weeks before things get a little tougher.