Sports Thread #1 for 9/24/08- NFL Week 3 Review:The Order and The Protagonists

Photo Attribution: Left:Rodney White photo by Doug Benc of Getty Images. Center:Ronnie Brown photo by photo by Jim Rogash of Getty Images. Right:Jerry Jones and Jay-Z photo by Tom Hauck of Getty Images

The Order
32.Chiefs- This week's QB: Damon Huard. The week after QB: Sarah Palin? Who knows, maybe she could excite the base and save Herman Edwards job. "Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh", they don't need jokes right now in Kansas City. Not even the great guy that Herm is too.

31.Lions- Read below. Or if you don't want to hurt your eyes further, "What took so long!"

30.Rams- Arguably the softest team in the league. When you get dominated by a Seattle team that just a week ago was dominated at home against the 49ers of all clubs, then that says something about your team and that woeful division.

28(tie).Browns- The great Jim Brown today says Brady Quinn should be the starting QB instead of the "Back down to Earth" Derek Anderson. And we will tell Jim Brown in reply: "But they still will lose no matter who is QB, with the way they are going right now."

28(tie).Texans-Here's the good news: They have played only two games so far, Mario Williams has two sacks, and Steve Slaton is not wasting his talent like he did at West Virginia by being a real steal in the third round. Here's the bad news: Those three things are only the good news.

27.Raiders-Lane Kiffin has replaced George Bush and the hosts at TRL as the biggest lameducks in America right now. Or some of the workers down in the banks at Lehman Brothers and Merill Lynch that is.

26.Bengals- They picked the wrong week to start playing like the talented football team that they are, but maybe, just maybe, Marvin Lewis has finally gotten the full deserved attention of his knuckleheads.

25.Jets- See below, and also, just to let you know, Thomas Jones is still a mediocre running back. But he did 9or maybe still does) have a good thing going on with Meagan Good. I guess he isn't mediocre there.

24.Seahawks- They should been 2-1 instead of 1-2, but nevertheless. they weren't crying tough schedule when the Rams came into Sunday. And thank goodness we didn't have to hear Chris Berman say "Come on Seattle" Again.

23.Saints- The (Inconsistent) Chronicles of
Reggie Bush continue.

22.Bears- I guess all that talk about Kyle Orton becoming a safe and solid quarterback for the Bears may have finally been placed to rest.At least Matt Forte is already three times the back Cedric Benson never was.

21.Dolphins- If there was one team that Chad Pennington would love to beat besides the Jets now, it is of course the Patriots. But man, Ronnie Brown (see below) may be challenging at time for QB as well.

20.49ers- Laugh at them all you want, but Mike Nolan has them with a 2-1 record. That's a record a lot of teams wished they had.

19.Vikings- It is sad that a team this talented is just a good quarterback away from being a Super Bowl contender. They are that good and dedicated, and it shows how the QB is the first, second, and third most important position on a team. Unless you are Trent Differ and the 2000-01 Baltimore Ravens.

18.Chargers- The best 1-2 team ever in the history of football, not many can argue that Philip Rivers hasn't perform at an elite level so far this season. No one, unless they haven't been fully playing attention. And I definitely do though emphasize the phrase "So far".

17.Patriots- Talk about lucky getting a bye week. If they can't stop the half-back option now, how can they still talk about being a playoff team? Geesh Billie Bill.

16.Colts-How will Peyton Manning respond from his worst start to a season ever? I guess he and the rest of Tony Dungy's team misses the RCA Dome. Luckily, just like the Pats, they get a much needed bye week. Talk about a shift in the balance of power in the conferences and in the sport, when both the Pats and the Colts were anxious to get a bye week real bad. Well, maybe not the players on both teams that is.

15.Jaguars-Finally David Garrard gets help on Sunday (and protection, no sacks this time around), and finally, the Jags get their season jump started.

14.Panthers-Let's see: Without Steve Smith, the Panthers score 26 and 20 points respectively in their first two games. With the prolific receiver back into the lineup, the Panthers score only 10. But they did play the Vikings defense, so let's give them a break for one week.

12(tie).Falcons- Chris Chandler who? Because I didn't want to insult the other recent former Falcons quarterback. And I'm not talking about Chris Redman either. I mean heck, he is getting Rodney White to play up to his potential. Rodney.....White. That "he" is of course Matt "You are definitely the QB now for this franchise" Ryan.

12(tie).Buccaneers - More below on Matt Bryant, who kicked the winning field goal to get the Bucs off to a good 2-1 start.

11.Cardinals- Despite the lost to the 'Skins on Sunday, you know it is good in Cardinal land so far when Anquan Boldin hasn't even talked about his contract situation since the season has begun. It is really good over there......unless your name is Matt Leinart.

10.Ravens- Ryan or Joe Flacco? It is hard to say which one has been more impressive so far. The short nod to Ryan because of an extra game and more down the field perfect strikes, but that shouldn't be a detriment to how great Flacco has been for this team. A young Ben Roethlisberger from what most have said about this rookie so far, he has made no mistakes for this team. But that has not meant that he hasn't made any big plays for them. Especially this one.


9.Redskins- A part of Jason Campbell's stat line so far: 65.6% completion, 4 TD's, 0 INT's. And he is considered by most as the worst quarterback in that division. But we all know it isn't just "a division." Hence the usage of the word that.

8.Bills- Some people did have the Bills as a dark horse contender this year. Heck, there were a lot of people selecting this team to make some noise at least in the division. But you would be a lying you know what if you believe it would unfold this way.

7.Steelers- Big Ben took a beating on Sunday in the "Penn State Duel." But the fault for the lost is on coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians for not getting Willie Parker (just 13 rushes for an even more meager 20 yards) the ball enough.

6.Titans - As this team continues to rally around Kelly Collins, some has to consider Jeff Fisher as an outside candidate for the Hall of Fame. What a terrific coach he has always been.

5.Broncos- They can't stop anybody (unless they are the Raiders of course), but no one can sure as hell stop them so far.

4.Packers- Aaron Rodgers may have had a slight return to reality (through in fairness, we really don't know what his reality is) on Sunday in the Packers first lost ever to their Texas rivals at Lambeau. But even with the defeat, Rodgers still hasn't thrown a pick this year. That's not the same we can say for his legendary but risk taking predecessor.

3.Eagles- Jim Johnson's defense showed on Sunday in their rivalry games against the Steel crew that their defense is the reason why people are talking about them heading back to the Super Bowl. Nine sacks, two and a half from little known Juqua Parker and two from Darren Howard, along with constant pressure on Roethlisberger solidified just how good the NFC East is from any other division this year. Still though, with backfield superstars Donovin McNabb and Brian Westbrook banged up in the game on Sunday, the health of those two guys still lingers as the prime factor for this team's title hopes.

2.Giants- When you are champions, you just get this aura around you that even when you don't play well, at all, victory is still an inevitable end destination. That aura was there on Sunday in that game against the Bengals. The defense was nowhere near as dominate as it was the first two games (no sacks for Justin Tuck and one for Mathias Kiwanuka),and though Derrick Ward did this thing, both Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw didn't have effective days. But with the growth of Eli Manning into a near elite quarterback in this league, this team, even with the losses of Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora, have showed that they will put up a darn good fight to defend their title.

1.Cowboys-It's official, Felix Jones is better than Julius Jones. Jerry Jones certainly knows his Joneses. And with the exception of a few terrible gun slinging throws, Tony Romo is among the best of the bets in the business. He certified that with that flawless delivery to Sam Huard in the second half, as the 'Boys won for the first time ever at the (not yet) Frozen Tundra and showed that they are the best team so far after the first three weeks.

TWD's Player of the Week: Ronnie Brown (And it wasn't even close):

Talk about finally living up to your potential, as well as help Ricky Williams once again become a dangerous player in this league at the same time. The only things Brown didn't do was parade as a mascot or help lead a routine for the Patriots cheerleaders. It was an outstanding performance from the former Auburn standout with Cadillac Williams in the backfield, definitely one of the top performances for the rest of the season. Four rushing touchdowns, one passing touchdown, and a perfect of the option offense that Donovin McNabb, Vince Young, or Alex Smith couldn't do on their best days in the league against Belichick's brain and not yet aging defense was indeed a spectacle to behold. Credit coach Tony Sparano and offensive coordinator Dan Henning for catching the "Mastermind" and his defense totally off guard, and deliver one of the Patriots worst defeats under Belichick.

The "If Anyone Still Doubts Rappers Being Mainstream" Segment
Take a lot at this funny photo caption error in the Cowboys-Packers photo gallery. It is in regards to the Jay-Z/Jerry Jones photo at the top.

GREEN BAY - SEPTEMBER 21: Jerry Jones Owner of the Dallas Cowboys says hello to Singer Jay-Z on the sidelines during pregame before their game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on September 21, 2008 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images)

If this is the NFL.com's classification for 'Hova now, I wonder what they will label, well, Keak Da Sneak as. (Nothing short of a car engine would suffice with that one, and he is the second rapper in the video by the way if you choose to click on the link.)

Finally Over

Photo from NFLBettingline.com

Thankfully, it is over today in Detroit for Matt Millen.

Detroit Lions owner William Clay Ford fired president Matt Millen on Wednesday and said the entire organization would go through "a comprehensive evaluation" at the end of the season.

In replacing Millen, chief operating officer Tom Lewand will now report directly to Ford on all business, organizational and NFL matters. Assistant general manager Martin Mayhew will now assume the GM's duties and report directly to Ford on all football matters. Also, Cedric Saunders has been named the Vice President of Football Operations.

According to a source close to the situation, the Lions are expected to ask the NFL for help in putting together a list of qualified candidates for the general manager's position. The league did the same for the Atlanta Falcons and owner Arthur Blank last season before the Falcons hired general manager Thomas Dimitroff.

And Lions fans are in rapture over this.

Either way, the scene at the Allen Park practice facility is sort of surreal. A parade of fans has been driving by all morning honking their horns and waving Lions flags as if they've been liberated.

Too funny, but it is a shame for Millen though. He loves the sport and he loves this job. Unfortunately, he didn't do a very good job at all. Maybe Fox will welcome him back in open arms.

For Now, No Man-Genius Anymore

Photo from Stephen Dunn of Getty Images

After getting intimidated by his mentor and now mortal enemy Belichick in last week's bad lost to a discharged Patriots side, Jets coach Eric Mangini is losing his luster fast in New York and around the league. After getting waxed last night by the Chargers 48-29 last night, Mangini will have a lot of questions to answer, especially with how he will be able to control Brett Favre's deleterious routine of "I can make any throw at anytime" risk taking, along with getting that pass rush that he and GM Mike Tannenbaum paid for in the offseason, especially from Calvin Pace.

Photo by Jonathan Ferrey of Getty Images

Finally for the moment, TWD would definitely like to send condolences to Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Matt Bryant and his family after his three moth old son, Matthew Tryson Bryant, apparently died in his sleep this morning. Our hearts and prayers go out deeply to him and his family for their tragic loss.And it shows how life can work in both tremendous and cruel ways.

That's the NFL Review for this week, Sha-la! (And send a prayer up for Matt Bryant for sure.)