November 9, 2005: NFL
Commentary, Week 9
By White Russian
Halfway
There
Halfway through the season, the Colts are still undefeated. For the second
half they play five games at home. Their remaining schedule is: vs. Houston,
at Cincinnati, vs. Pittsburgh, vs. Tennessee, at Jacksonville, vs. San Diego,
at Seattle, vs. Arizona.
Why?
Why did Arrested Development move to Monday night opposite the final hour
of Monday Night Football?
Manning Conquers All
Peyton
Manning is getting all kinds of credit for finally winning a game in New England
after losing his first seven games there. John Madden and Al Michaels talked
about how focused Manning was and how he wants to put the "You can't
beat New England" behind him. But the thing is, this New England team
is very different than the ones he couldn't beat because this New England
team has been decimated by injuries. Injuries are part of the game and should
not be used as an excuse, but Manning did not beat a New England team anywhere
near full strength. Belicheck's success against Manning has always been about
New England's defense shutting him down, and Monday night the players just
were not there. It should also be noted that Manning's teams were not always
well matched against New England because Indianapolis' defense has been bad
every year until this year. The point, if there is one, is that this should
not even be a story. It is not about Peyton Manning vs New England, and it
is not about Peyton Manning not being able to win in New England. This is
a team game and there are always multiple factors going into winning and losing.
While the quarterback makes a huge difference, it is merely one aspect of
a team game.
The Quotes
Bill Maas (New York Giants at San Francisco)
"And
as this clock is running down here in the third and we're talkin' a four point
game here and - and for New York Giants - I - I really believe they just walked
themselves right into an ambush and I don't see a Custer on the whole roster."
"We still have a heck of a lot of time to play here in the fourth quarter and - and we're at 19 penalty flags - 19 penalties collectively in this game already. I think that's an all-time high (pause) if I'm not mistaken (pause) this year. 19 is the all-time high this year in a single game and I believe (pause) I believe it might have been Cincinnati, Minnesota."
"I take it back to that touchdown early fourth quarter by the Giants. They knew when they put it in - the 49ers, that is - they knew that their offense wasn't capable of coming back. And when you have that and you don't have the belief you can get back, sometimes it's going to take a little bit outta your belt - a little notch, a little nitch."
Mike Patrick (Indianapolis at New England)
"That's the Pentagon with 26,000 employees. When I was a kid my father drove me past that building. The home town I grew up in had 20,000 people. He said, 'Son, more people work in there than live in Clarksburg, West Virginia.' And I went, 'Uh oh.'"
Fantasy Notes
Two more Egregious Errors were added this week. One went to The Diesel for
not submitting a Last Man Standing team for the second time this season and
the other to Tin Man for playing four Denver players in their bye week.
Sandman had the highest weekly total of the season.
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