It's a very special episode this week, as we debate who is winning the divisions (which is in no way ridiculously premature), go through the rundown, and get real about helmet-to-helmet hits (WE ARE SERIOUS!). Teetering on the edge of legitimacy? Maybe...just barely.
Stream or download this puppy and let us know what you think.
- Look, nobody was happy with that Jets win, but of the myriad ways to define a team as “great”, isn’t one time tested route to see what happens when they have a bad day? Well, on Mark Sanchez’s worst day so far, the Jets managed to pull out a 24-20 win. We can debate the amount of penalization resulting from pass interference (although that was clearly interference), but with the rules being what they are, the Jets gutted a win out in a close road game, marking the second win in a row that looked like a reversal of the “classic close Jets loss.” Of the three clearly defined “elites” (Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and the Jets), the role of lingering threat seems to suit the Jets nicely, as they have the youth and unpredictability to get caught off guard, but the talent to make up for their mistakes before a game is lost.
- I said it last week, and I’ll say it again: The Packers don’t have the ground game to take advantage of their high power aerial attack (a pathetic 17 carries for 62 yards on Sunday). As such, they are neither able to keep teams honest on defense, nor able to protect the kinds of leads their offensive tools inevitably provide (case in point: they held the ball for just 28 minutes to Miami’s 38). The resulting tension seems utterly at odds with the philosophy of freedom and happiness as form to which this collection of talents would seem best suited. That’s the thing about football; unlike other sports, there must be central principles. Oriented around those principles, there is freedom to create (a freedom that, as readers of this blog know, we feel is grossly overlooked). That said, the absence of these founding principles is the quintessential “house on the sand” story, all pride and show without any staying power. I’m afraid we’re watching this iteration of the Packers get washed out to sea, particularly having lost dynamic playmaker Jermichael Finley to injury.
- I like Sam Bradford (18/31, 198 yards, 1 TD on Sunday). Against the top passing defense in the league, and with Danario Alexander as his top receiving target (aside from NFL Street Legend Steven Jackson), Bradford managed to attack without pressing or turning the ball over. In fact, can we agree that this is one of the two or three most impressive showings for a rookie QB in the last five years? Matt Ryan’s compares, but I would argue that Bradford is doing more with less, and shows a patience that his offensive line shouldn’t afford him, the mark that “the game slows down” for him, which is as much a real development step as it is a Jaws cliché. Given legitimate top flight receiver and an offensive line, couldn’t this unit turn scary quicker than anybody thought? That’s the beauty of toiling in obscurity; if it doesn’t crush you, it only further establishes your talent.
- On the flip side of the coin, at what point to the Chargers believe in the system that has made them a playoff team for the last couple of years and stop playing like a team that needs to panic when they’re down? Giving Ryan Matthews just 12 carries when he’s averaging 5.3 yards per carry is the height of reactionary foolishness. We asked in the last Hangover if the Chargers’ rival, the Colts, was a team that didn’t believe in their greatness, but that looks more and more like the result of little, well hidden problems. With the Chargers, it really does feel like a confidence issue. In essence, this team is playing its own dysfunction as much as it is playing its opponents, and too often their decision is to play like a one dimensional team, using Rivers as a crutch instead of a unique weapon. You have to solve the Rubik’s Cube before you compete to show you can do it better than others, Norv Turner.
- I genuinely believe that the Ravens are a great team, but they played to avoid an embarrassing loss instead of playing to win, which is the mark of everything that is wrong with this team. All of their offseason moves still haven’t given them the ability to crush their opponents. Boldin is a beautiful, useful tool, but he isn’t going to punish entire defenses the way a Megatron or Andre Johnson can, and nobody else in this receiving corps appears ready to stretch defensive schemes. The stubborn decision to run 28 times when the Patriots were so clearly committed to keeping Ray Rice contained was the mark of a team that still feels like it doesn’t belong. If the NFC is suffering for lack of clear separation between the elites and the mediocre, the AFC is suffering for its elites refusing to play to their strengths, instead choosing to play “right way” football. The fact that the Ravens, who have as strange and wonderful an array of offensive talent as any roster in the league, insist on doing this is just heartbreaking for anybody waiting to see a team take control of the direction of the league.
- I love the Randy Moss move, if only because it returns Bill Belichick to his comfort zone of overachieving hunter. What I didn’t expect, however, was that it might have bought him more time on this borrowed season. The Ravens looked genuinely confused as to how they were supposed to cover this offense, and the result was five different receivers putting up 20 yards or more against one of the stingiest defenses in the league. The inscrutable fog offense is better suited to this team’s talent level, as opposed to the more talented and clearly defined offense built around Moss, and it gives this team an unpredictability that could buy them the extra 2-3 wins they need to make the playoffs.
- Act like Mike Williams isn’t a cool redemption story out in Seattle. It’s bizarre to see someone find their physical gifts so this late in their career, and speaks volumes about what wasn’t being done for him in Detroit and Tennessee. Meanwhile, in Seattle, he’s proof that coaching based on trust and support can be just as effective, if not more effective, than beating the talent out of a player. Strange that so many teams need talent at receiver, and so few teams were willing to invest the time and patience that it takes to get a player like Williams to play up to his obvious physical talent.
- We’re light on stats so far, so here’s one I find as interesting as anything going on in the NFL right now: The 1-5 Browns have lost only one game by more than 10 points (Sunday’s Steelers game, in which rookie Colt McCoy started his first NFL game), and two games by a field goal or less. Also worth noting: They’re starting Seneca Wallace in a decidedly non-Seneca Wallace offense, and he’s throwing to Ben Watson and a bunch of receivers who wouldn’t crack the top two WR spots on any other NFL team. Finally, despite being at the bottom of the barrel according to their record, the Browns are the 20th ranked passing offense, 22nd ranked rushing offense, 21st ranked pass defense, and 23rd ranked rush defense. They are decidedly mediocre despite a record and reputation that says they are awful. All of this is to say something that I can’t believe I’m saying after watching him work in New York: Eric Mangini is doing a very good job coaching this team beyond its very limited potential. Whether that sort of “Old Man and the Sea” commitment to bringing things in respectably should be rewarded with another year to try and add success to improvement is a tougher call (personally, despite the glaring misses on adding a WR, I’d say he gets one more year), but it at least deserves recognition.
- Not sure why everyone is acting talking about how the AFC West doesn’t have a clear favorite; the Chiefs are the truth. Matt Cassel has the physical ability to do what he did on Sunday (20/29, 201 yards and 3 TD) against just about any opponent (the New England season was a lot of system, but not ALL system). Dwyane Bowe is a big body and a smart receiver, and his recent rash of drops seems more like an aberration than a persistent condition. Todd Haley is helming the best rushing offense in the league, and his pass attack is only going to get better as Cassel and Bowe play to their strengths. Considering how tragically flawed everybody else in the division looks (yes, the Chargers are flawed, both in their special teams problems and in NOT HAVING THEIR BEST RECEIVER FOR HALF OF THE SEASON), why would we bet against a team that is turning speed into violence on a regular basis? Besides, EVERYBODY in that division is losing to the Colts and Texans. Bank on it.
- This is going to be another one of those seasons where we need to take Megatron’s yardage and multiply it by three to get an honest sense of how good he is. Quick, who is the worst QB to throw passes to Calvin Johnson: Drew Stanton, Jon Kitna, Shaun Hill, Drew Henson, Dan Orlovsky, or latter day Daunte Culpepper?
- How do we all feel about Eli Manning? For all the talk about his brother being a quiet superstar interested in nothing but winning, the media blitz that followed Peyton’s Super Bowl win certainly established him as an individual superstar with a natural gift for PR savvy. Eli, on the other hand, is becoming something of a rock for the Giants to build upon. Never the star on his own team, Eli has as many Super Bowl wins as Favre or Peyton (and was at least as responsible for that playoff run as his defense…a fact people forget all too easily). Even now, having faded into the media background, Eli has thrown as many touchdowns (10) as all but three quarterbacks in the league, and is tied with the likes of Tom Brady, Tony Romo, and Aaron Rodgers, with just one more interception (8) than Romo or Rodgers. Considering that his pass game lacks the truly phenomenal athlete that Rodgers has had in Finley (up until now) and Romo has throughout his offense, isn’t it time that we at least start talking about Eli as the franchise centerpiece for the Giants instead of a nice sideshow to the defense’s main event? I love Hakeem Nicks (again, he plays bigger and faster than his measureable traits indicate), but I almost feel as though Eli is making Nicks into a great receiver in the same way other elite quarterbacks have turned good talents (such as Donald Driver or Deion Branch) into stars. In the end, despite being in a city made of flash bulbs, it’s looking like Eli Manning is becoming the unheralded, consistent workhorse of his quarterback contemporaries, and his virtual asceticism toward publicity is as much a part of his style as it has been of his substance. Name five other contemporary quarterbacks who would have the success Eli has had with the receivers he’s had, if you think I’m wrong.
- Told you so about the Falcons not being able to hang with truly explosive teams. I. TOLD. YOU. SO. Next up, losses to the Bengals and the Bucs. I don’t hate the team, but I do hate the lack of any flare whatsoever; it’s no way to live.
- No, I’m not done supporting the Bucs, but I do think that my expectations need to be tempered to match a secondary that isn’t ready to do the work that their total lack of a run game is forcing them to do. That’s the danger of the way this team is built, with all explosion on offense and very little to slow the game down to a manageable pace when things get crazy: That sort of energy either burns hot or runs totally cold. The Bucs on Sunday looked like Barthe’s jilted lover, too stunned to respond to the world that the Saints were building around them.
- I thought I was going to do great things coming out of college. The lack of early success that followed was evidence of a lack of understanding of how the world worked and personal problems I didn’t fully recognize. I also had my emotional and mental health completely shredded thanks to a variety of poor choices and less than healthy professional and personal relationships. Now that I’m trying to actually get some traction going in a positive direction, every single failure feels like a return to that awful time in my life, and is scrutinized as such by people who don’t really get what it’s like to fail at great expectations, get another chance to make something of yourself, and struggle on that road to redemption. What I’m saying is this: I get Alex Smith. That doesn’t mean his isn’t unbelievable frustrating to support, but I get him. I’m willing to bet more of us get him than would care to admit.
- Vikings to win the NFC North. They get better every week, they still get the Bears (and their generous offensive line) twice, and that offense is going to be a war machine as Favre gets used to his injuries and Sidney Rice recovers.
- You just felt like Donovan McNabb didn’t have a chance at the end of that Redskins-Colts game, right? Has this guy ever been a guy you want in the clutch? Yes, it’s ridiculous to reduce an amazing career to one consistent failing, but that consistent failing certainly needs to be considered as a defining characteristic when it so heavily influences wins and losses.
- All of my rowdy friends were not pleased that they had to watch a Trent Edwards vs. Kerry Collins showdown in Jacksonville.
That’s all for this week. Be following us on @titraffic on twitter for consistent goodness, and we’ll have another post and a podcast up tomorrow.
It's a long one this week, but that's because it's so GOOD (that, and our editing software was a victim of the computer crisis that shot all of the posts for this week). This week, we bury Carson Palmer, praise Mark Sanchez, and support the troops (yes, we really do that). Download or stream this puppy here, or find us on iTunes.
Since 2007, Bill Belichick has represented something of a devil for me as a football fan. Everything about his team seemed to radiate from him as a coach; the Pats were entitled, utterly unaware of their negative qualities, and joyless. This has resulted in something of a crisis of conscience for me this season, when the team has brought in talent I genuinely like, and has taken a very different tone in their play. Monday night, however, I realized that the river may, in fact, have been flowing in reverse for the last few years, showing me how I could finally resolve my love of Belichick as a football strategist with the years of dislike of him as an emblem of his team. Watching him celebrate openly with his Patriots as they won a divisional battle against a hated rival, the bloodless, stoic expectation of victory was replaced by a coach who seemed to genuinely enjoy being surprised by his team. That, then, is the difference; these Patriots are something of a return to happier, if less easy days for Bill Belichick, letting him finally enjoy the thrill of becoming great through your own, long work, instead of the less satisfying condition of greatness by instantaneous partnership.
That’s a long, convoluted way of saying that the Moss-Belichick partnership was both incredibly profitable and incredibly uncomfortable for Bill Belichick. Here was a man whose whole rise to prominence was the result of making smart personnel decisions to find hidden gems and fitting role players perfectly into a system tailored to maximize their strengths. In Moss, however, he had something he’d never had before: A ready made superstar, one that had nothing to do with Belichick’s scouting, coaching, or scheming. The crazy thing was that it fit perfectly. The one thing Belichick never had, not even during his dynasty years, was an elite talent at wide receiver (Branch was good, but unquestionably a receiver that Brady made great). Now, Moss, along with a beautifully crafted offensive system by Josh McDaniels and Tom Brady at quarterback, allowed Belichick to coast, something that hadn’t previously been the case.
The problem is that coasting comes with expectations. Whatever rush there had been to arrive at the top of the NFL was now replaced with a weight, the knowledge that every victory would be less thrilling because it was supposed to happen. The result was a coach too smart to show when he was upset and too proud to show when he was happy with the results. All of this made Monday night’s outgoing show of joy that much more interesting. With a team filled with youth, and more on the way, Belichick seems to be getting back to his roots, creating in his own vision rather than building on that which has already been realized.
The result is the Randy Moss trade. Nobody will argue that the Patriots won’t suffer in the short term for losing Moss, who is still one of maybe two receivers who can make the catches he does while still blowing teams away with his speed and agility (Megatron, the spotlight is yours now). Still, watching Belichick laugh and slap the helmets of his young, much maligned defenders, it’s hard to not think that if the team has become a bit less imposing (again, in the short term), it has also become a bit easier to relate to. Since 2007, the Patriots have felt like they’d “arrived”, which is much less interesting than watching a team that isn’t fully formed find its identity. Now, with a group of still-forming athletic talents, a couple of old veteran role players (Welker could be more, but I think he becomes more limited without Moss), and the one constant that has been there the whole time (if he and Brady don’t give each other’s hall of fame speeches, I’ll be stunned), he’s free to create a new chapter to his legacy. In essence, he gets to showcase how hard he works, and how brilliantly he schemes, instead of having us all just take it for granted thanks to a fully formed, dominant team. We have come to mock Parcells for his inability to remain in any one place, but maybe we’re seeing in Belichick something of the constant need for validation, a feeling that is much more relatable than we care to admit, that has driven both student and teacher to their respective points. It’s a return to harmony, something that gives a shibui resulting from understanding to Belichick’s disciplinarian demeanor.
- 3-0 in the division, with the one loss coming from a bizarre meltdown of coaching by Schotty. Oh,and next week, we’re all getting introduced to Santonio Holmes. You can keep talking like this is some win ugly team, but the Jets have more offensive weaponry than anyone else in their division, including the heralded Pats offense.
- What is going on in New Orleans part 1: Don’t underestimate how serious that Reggie Bush injury is. We’ve touched on before, but for all of the talk about Bush being a draft bust, or an overpaid spot back, anybody who has watched Sean Payton work knows that on the Saints, particularly these Saints, he’s something much more valuable. The refrain of “teams are taking the deep ball away from Drew Brees” is one that Reggie Bush is tailor made to prevent in this offense by moving around in different formations, keeping the defensive secondary honest by virtue of their being the only unit speedy enough to keep up with him. Payton has succeeded not so much because of talent as because of deceptive creativity; without Bush, this offensive roster, however talent laden it may be, becomes much more straightforward.
- What is going on in New Orleans part 2: “Teams are taking the deep ball away from Drew Brees” is the kind of thing you say about a team that relies on a system for its success. For the past several years, that has been the way the Saints have grown, and it’s the reason they finally won their Super Bowl last year. This season, however, it’s something that belongs on a still developing team (the Broncos, for example). The fact is that this team was a DeAngelo Williams brain fart away from losing two in a row in their division. This Saints team is too talented at their individual positions for opponents to be able to “figure them out”. At some point, Sean Payton needs to be willing to let his individual stars (of which I count at least three, and potentially four) shine as individual talents. Yes, the system to carry all of these talents as equally potent weapons was great, but this year, teams are expecting it and, as mentioned above, Reggie Bush isn’t around to facilitate its versatility. So would it be so crazy to game plan around two, or even one talent at a time? Why not build a game around Colston as the focus, with the other players spending the entire game taking advantage of the coverage he draws when teams adjust? Why not build a plan around Shockey crushing safeties, and then letting the receivers run wild in the single coverage that results? To arrive, Sean Payton had to synthesize his team’s outliers into one vision; this is the year to embrace a diversity of perspectives contributing to a single direction.
- I like that Jimmy Clausen played a clean game, particularly against a Saints defense that is built around creating turnovers with chaos. I’m generally a believer that if a young quarterback loses without throwing a pick, he’s not actually trying to win, but here, it was a restraint that demonstrates a desire to learn how to function at his position and an understanding of the setting, particularly with this receiving corps (which lost Steve Smith fairly early). Hell, he almost won a game this team had no business being in.
- Why I think the Lions are the best 0-4 team in the league: They got screwed in week 1 (19-14 to Chicago), lost to Michael Vick in week 2 (35-32), caught Adrian Peterson on his best day (24-10), and just lost by 2 to a Green Bay team people think could win it all (28-26). Oh, and they’ve done all of this with Shaun Hill as their quarterback because their starter Matt Stafford injured his shoulder in the first half of the season. That’s right, NFL Europe Champion Shaun Hill. Meanwhile, Calvin Johnson looks every bit as dominant as he should (if only someone would mention this to Jim Schwartz), Tony Scheffler has given them a truly scary vertical receiver at TE, and Jahvid Best is looking a lot like Reggie Bush (though that does continue for many negative qualities as well). At this point, the Stafford injury is pushing this team from absurd into Sisyphean territory, something much darker. The only solace is that one more high draft pick could yield the offensive tackle this team desperately needs. But damn…it would have been nice to see these guys take a reassuring step forward this year.
- I don’t buy the Packers for one second. That offensive line is still suspect, and they can’t run the ball. All the early leads in the world are vapors if you can’t work the clock to hold on to them.
- That’s the kind of win that goes a long way toward getting me back on board with the Broncos system. Yes, this team is far from complete; the interior blocking is a mess, their pass catchers are still growing, and the pass rush isn’t getting enough pressure on opponents. Still, there is a lot to like here. Orton is the perfect distributor for these receivers, none of whom are marquee names and all of whom are deadlier for it (though I say again: Bey Bey is going to make that team forget about Brandon Marshall in a hurry). They have two running backs capable of being deadly as pass catchers and speedsters out of the backfield (yes, Maroney is one of them). If they can make a couple of smart defensive draft picks this offseason, all they need to be is solid on that side of the ball to make for a hell of a matchup. I’m generally not a fan of the total absorption of talents into a system, but this roster is young enough to come of age in a system as disciplined as McDaniels and still maximize their potential in it. It’s more dojo than prison.
- Eddie Royal is the cobra. It’s lost some hype as a killer, but it can still sneak in and do just as much damage as it could when it was better known.
- We’ll talk more about this, but the Marshawn Lynch trade is HUGE. Gives that team a legitimate power back, and we’ve all forgotten that there was a time when he rivaled AP as an all around back. Seriously, I might need to start a FREE ALL OF THE BILLS campaign.
- The scary thing is that I’ve never seen a team rally around a coach at home and wilt on the road like the Seahawks. It’s like all of that untapped potential can only get released in an atmosphere of positive thinking. It’s a strange relationship of emotional surroundings and execution.
- Yeah, he had one bad pick, but every time I watch Sam Bradford work I get a little more impressed with his patience and appreciation for finding the right moment to make the throw. That long screen pass to Steven Jackson to set up a touchdown was placed perfectly in a pretty tight window, and created the long run that followed as much as Jackson’s speed did.
- I mean, if you doubted that Joe Flacco was a war machine, you didn’t watch that year when he beat the Steelers twice in the regular season, only to have the refs take it away on terrible calls. Also, THAT strikes me as how you challenge the Steelers: Mobility in the pocket, and double moves into the secondary. You’re not beating them up front, but if you have the receivers, they can get shaken over the top (but you need at least two…otherwise Polamalu is ruining your day). Anyway, Flacco’s throw to Housh to win the game was exactly the kind of take-it-all ball that he was built to throw, and Housh (who had a solid 3 catches for 49 yards) was brought in to catch (once Stallworth went down). If they actually are developing chemistry, this offense may have developed the outlying orbit that it needs to function ideally.
- I had a talk with someone who explained how thrilled they were that Michael Vick’s return to form had been halted by injury, and I got angry, because some people just don’t get that Vick’s already gotten his due. Then I sighed, realized I’m not gonna handle this well, and chalked it up to life being unfair. Damn.
- As weird as they’ve looked the San Diego Chargers are the 3rd best passing team, the 10th best rushing team (and Matthews is heating up), the 4th best team against the pass, and the 7th best team against the run. As Rivers gets more comfortable without Jackson, and as a still young secondary improves, this team is shaping up to be a scary playoff opponent. That said, I’d like to see them put up some numbers on a team that’s actually good, instead of losing to teams that actually aren’t.
- Spoiler alert: Max Hall is Brady Quinn.
- The most ridiculous “that was Jay Cutler’s fault” comment I heard all week came from Trent Dilfer, who called Jay Cutler the new Jeff George. Hey, Trent, you know who the new Trent Dilfer is? Jake Delhomme. Thank goodness Cutler’s brain was too swollen for him to hear Trent say that.
- Oh, and maybe somebody should have thought of taking him out and tweaking the plan after sack number five.
- Wait, I’m confused, is it better to have a mediocre quarterback who has thrown 5 TD and 4 INT in his third year, or a second year QB who has thrown 8 TD and 0 INT. Seriously, enough with the Chad Henne talk, Miami fans.
- Meanwhile, the real question is why the Dolphins insist on proving to us that Chad Henne is the future of their offense, neglecting the run in the process. Ricky Williams was tearing the Patriots front seven apart, and he only got 8 carries! On what planet is that an intelligent game plan? For all the talk about the Jets being frauds in the offseason, I think we can all see what I’ve been saying since they made the Brandon Marshall trade: This Miami team isn’t much better than last year’s version.
- Look, Alex Smith played a bad game, and unfortunately Singletary doesn’t have anybody ready to step in and helm the offense more competently (though I stand by Troy Smith, who should get the nod if he’s even close to up on the system). Still, you can’t look at that loss and not blame Singletary, and you’re justified in wondering whether or not he’s the right man for the job. Singletary can’t claim the position under the banner of disciplinarian and then not take the brunt of the blame when Nate Clements loses that fumble purely due to a lack of discipline. Things don’t get much easier over the next two weeks, and I certainly wouldn’t like to see Troy Smith lost in another coaching staff shuffle…but if these 49ers start 0-6, you have to fire Singletary. When you lose so poorly, and in so many ways, with so much talent, the coach needs to pay the piper, or you risk losing your team to the mediocrity of a man clinging to his career.
- Yes, Jack Del Rio fans (who do not exist), that last bit was aimed at your team. If he keeps his job by eeking out 8-8 thanks to that Colts loss…just ugh…
- Jim Caldwell playing for the win instead of going to OT shows how little trust he has in his defense (which makes sense) or his offense’s chemistry (which is absolutely ridiculous). He let two mistakes (the bobbled INT and the Wayne fumble) convince him that the Jaguars could sneak up and steal one in OT. The truth, however, is that the Colts did a decent job on MJD (holding him to just 4 yards per carry) and only got caught in the end by newly discovered mismatch at TE Marcedes Lewis (who I’d be happier for if he wasn’t coached by Neanderthal Jack). Great teams believe they can get one defensive stop and turn that into points, which is a win in OT. For some reason, the Colts don’t look convinced that they’re a great team, but rather one that needs to win by craft instead of potency. Strange.
- Oh, and David Garrard played a perfect David Garrard game (17/22, 163 yards, 2 TD, no turnovers). The two times he’s done that, the Jaguars have beaten two teams significantly more talented than they are.
- I hate the way that the Browns have decided to limit Seneca Wallace as a dynamic athlete, and am convinced that it’s primarily an excuse to go back to Delhomme, but that was a well run game against the Bengals. Sensing Palmer had the hot hand, they let Peyton Hillis grind the clock down (27 carries for 102 yards and a TD), and limited their mistakes (An aside: That Seneca INT was a classic Seneca INT, in that it hit the receiver in the hands and was pretty much bobbled right into the defender’s hands. We need a stat to show when an INT is on the receiver and not the QB…Seneca would be the all time leader in this category.). The result was a win over a team that is much, much, MUCH more talented than the Browns. If Mangini and Daboll (the worst offensive coordinator in football, now that Jimmy Raye is gone) could actually game plan for Seneca Wallace as an athletic QB instead of plugging him into the Jake Delhomme show, the Browns could win a lot more than anybody thinks they should (like those first three games, for example). I’ll say it again: A coach as smart as Mangini should understand the value of winning with the team you have instead of planning to win with the team you don’t. Such a waste of so many strange football talents (and from Watson to Wallace to Cribbs, there is a LOT of undervalued talent on that roster).
That's all this week. Be sure to follow us on twitter at @titraffic, and check back tomorrow for our thoughts on this Randy Moss madness (AND A BONUS POST ON MARSHAWN LYNCH BECAUSE WHAT THE HELL ARE WE JUST NOT GONNA ACKNOWLEDGE HOW GOOD HE WAS?).
