The Bucs won a game! The Bucs won a game! More amazingly, they did it by outplaying a decent team. The defense looked like the old Buccaneers defense, quite literally since they were in their cream-sicle colored throwback uniforms. Rookie QB Josh Freeman looks like he might have potential. Only time will tell. Even though they were the last of the winless teams to get off the schneide, they may be the one-win team with the most potential to earn a second (and dare they dream, third?) win this season.
This week the Colts continued to steamroll their opponents, and the Patriots continued to show that their early season mishaps were not indicative of the team’s direction. The meeting of the two in Week 10 should be a beautiful thing to watch and a potential preview of the AFC Championship game.
Larry Johnson managed to get himself kicked out of Kansas City this week. I wonder how many big money job offers there are for a perennially-complaining, thirty year-old, racially-insensitive running back?
The Giants lost again. A month ago this team was 5-0. Now they’re 5-4 and going nowhere fast. Eli Manning looks more like a rookie quarterback than a veteran with a Super Bowl ring. Now the Broncos have gone from 6-0 to 6-2 in the last eight days. Will they follow suit and drop from favorite to footnote?
Of all the teams with six wins or more so far this year, it seems like the Bengals just aren’t getting a lot of love. They’re 6-2 but hardly are mentioned in the contender mix. They’re tied for the second-best record in the AFC with the previously-thought-invincible Denver Broncos, the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, and the front-runner favorite New England Patriots.
Halfway through the 2009 campaign, there are two undefeated teams left in the NFL, one from each conference. The Colts and the Saints both look every bit as good as their unblemished record. Getting from 8-0 to 10-0 won’t be easy for either team. Each will face a significant challenge against the Patriots in the next couple of weeks.
Final thought for the week: How can a league that allows Daniel Snyder and Art Shell to run teams say that Rush Limbaugh is unfit to be an owner? If the owners are allowed to block new owners, shouldn’t they also have the power to kick out a couple of existing honchos?
