Monday, October 28, 2013

Just Win

Alex Smith eludes Paul Kruger on this running play.
Kansas City defeated Cleveland, 23-17, to remain the league's only unbeaten team. The Chiefs didn't dominate, but they won. Again. When asked about getting every teams best shot, Smith said "We love it. You want the stages to get bigger. That's why you put all the work in. You want this opportunity. You want that honor." Sounds like a quote from 2003 to me!

Alex threw his first touchdown pass of the month, and it was the first of fullback Anthony Sherman's career. Alex also threw a 28-yard TD to Dexter McCluster. He was 24/36 for 225 yards and no interceptions. Smith added 40 yards rushing on six carries. That about offset being sacked six times, including once by Paul Kruger. Smith keeps winning games and ProUte of the Week Awards!

Honorable mention goes to Jordan Gross, who was praised for his run blocking by Mel Kiper, Jr. In roster moves, Brandon Burton was released by Buffalo, while Sealver Siliga was signed to New England's practice squad. At the trade deadline New England acquired Isaac Sopoaga from Philadelphia, so that may limit Siliga's chances of making the active roster.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Andrew's Answer

Andrew Bogut signed a contract extension with the Golden State Warriors yesterday. That answered the question posed by Zach Lowe of Grantland.com in an excellent article on October 17th. How does the deal compare with Lowe's predictions? The team and the player wanted to have the deal done prior to the start of the season; they reached an agreement the day after the preseason wrapped up. Under the new collective bargaining agreement Bogut's extension could run for three years at the most; it's reported to be a three year deal. Lowe set the baseline at $24 million and the ceiling at $45 million, but stated finding the middle ground would be tricky. ESPN.com reports that the Warriors are giving Bogut $36 million plus another $6 million in incentives. If the Warriors had allowed Bogut to explore free agency he would have taken the best offer, leaving Golden State to go after the likes of Marcin Gortat and Emeka Okafor, two players who just swapped teams. Lowe was of the opinion that Golden State needs Bogut's defense at the rim to succeed, which seems prescient according to the comments made by general manager Bob Myers. If Bogut's free throw shooting was as accurate as Lowe's analysis, he would be a real asset down the stretch!   

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Exclamation Point

Oh Captain, My Captain! Steve Smith, flanked by Jordan Gross.
Steve Smith made an emphatic play on his 800th career reception, beating two defenders for a touchdown. Smith took exception to the smack talk from Rams defensive back Janoris Jenkins, and he put the second year player firmly in his place. With five more receptions and 69 yards, Smith now has 800 for 11,745 in his esteemed career. There's no debating the ProUte of Week 7!

Carolina beat St. Louis 30-15 in a game marred by five personal fouls on the Rams, the ejection of Chris Long, and the injury of Sam Bradford. Captain Munnerlyn returned an interception for a touchdown on the first play, which set the tone. Star Lotulelei notched four tackles (two for loss) and two assists, and Steve Smith added the exclamation point!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Sly Comeback

Stevenson Sylvester returned to the Steelers in time for their first win of the season, 19-6 over the Jets. He had two assisted tackles on special teams and he got his number 55 back!

Steve Smith caught a touchdown, but it was from two yards out; he tallied 21 yards on five catches. Carolina put up 35 points on Minnesota, so Steve had some help for a change.

San Diego held Indianapolis in check on Monday night, with Eric Weddle having 5 tackles, an assist, and a pass defensed in the contest. That edges out Sean Smith by one assist.

Without a clear victor based on statistics, the ProUte of Week 6 goes to Sly helping Pittsburgh get in the win column!

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Miami Vice Grip

The offensive linemen got their due last week, so let's move over to Miami's defense in week five. Prior to the game Baltimore re-committed to make Ray Rice the centerpiece of their offense, and Miami was ready for him. The Dolphins' D limited Rice to 74 yards on 27 carries, less than 3 yards per carry. His longest run of the game was 7 yards. He also had 6 receptions for 28 yards, with a long of 9 yards. Rice had more than 100 yards of offense and 2 touchdowns, but it took 33 touches to get there. He also lost a fumble, forced by our own Paul Soliai!

Baltimore was 6/16 on third down conversions and 2/3 in the red zone. The Ravens had 384 net yards and won the game on their fourth field goal. Miami won the turnover battle 2-0 with Rice's fumble and Joe Flacco's pick six returned by Reshad Jones to tie the game at 23 in the fourth quarter. Miami's defense did all they could to stay in the game, but Miami's running game couldn't get it done.

The ProUte of the Week could go to the entire defense, but one player stood out: Koa Misi. Misi was all over Rice and Flacco, making 7 tackles (three for a loss) and an assist, plus a sack for an 11 yard loss and a quarterback hurry. Soliai had 4 tackles along with the forced fumble, and Derrick Shelby and R.J. Stanford each contributed 3 tackles apiece. It was a solid performance all around, but Koa Misi is the clear cut ProUte of Week Five.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

First Quarter

The first quarter of the 2013-14 NFL season has already been played. It's a little earlier than usual, but the time has come to praise the offensive linemen. It was a bye week for Carolina and Jordan Gross, Caleb Schlauderaff hasn't played much for New York, and Tony Bergstrom hasn't played at all for Oakland since he was placed on injured reserve.

Zane Beadles is about the only Denver offensive lineman who hasn't been hurt, which makes the Broncos' output truly impressive. Peyton Manning will get all the credit, but this is no one trick pony. Denver had 472 net yards of offense against Philadelphia's porous defense. They converted on 5 of 8 third downs and all 5 times in the red zone. Denver did give up one sack and two tackles for a loss, yet they averaged 6.6 yards per play on 71 plays. That last number is the biggest one of the game. Chip Kelly's hurry up offense ran 69 plays, two fewer than Denver's. And the Broncos scored on both a kick return and a blocked punt! That eliminated two series for the Broncos' O, yet they still ran more plays than the Eagles. Beadles is the ProUte of Week 4.

Kansas City beat the New York Giants, 31-7. Alex Smith had a good game, with 288 yards and 3 TDs, but he also had his first two interceptions of the year. San Diego defeated Dallas as the AFC West went 3-1 against the NFC East. Eric Weddle had 5 tackles, 2 assists, and 2 PDefs in the win. David Reed saw his first action for Indianapolis, returning two kicks for 44 yards (Kerwynn Williams has been waived).