Alex Smith is starting to look like David Carr and Tim Couch – number one overall picks that just don’t have it. Smith does not have a lot to work with outside of Frank Gore and Vernon Davis, but his performance at Seattle on Monday Night Football was terrible. It’s getting to the point where the 49ers might have to start thinking about going in another direction at quarterback.
Speaking of Seattle, Matt Hasselbeck is one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the league. Hasselbeck has averaged 1.5 touchdown passes per game since 2003 and is on pace this season to post career highs in yards and touchdowns with 4,090 and 27, respectively.
What is with Warrick Dunn lately? Dunn has looked like a young pup over the last two games with 189 yards and two touchdowns. Dunn’s yards per carry in the last two weeks has been nothing special at 3.6, but his 30-yard touchdown scamper against Carolina showed an impressive burst for a 32-year old running back. Maybe coach Bobby Petrino is not an idiot after all?
New Orleans is a prime example of how difficult it is to figure out the NFL on a week-to-week basis. The Saints had won four straight games and were favored big over winless St. Louis on Sunday, but got thoroughly outplayed from start to finish and were beat, 37-29. The score was actually not an indication of the way the game went - the Rams gave New Orleans a beat down.
With all apologies to San Francisco and Miami, the Vikings officially have the worst offense in football. As long as Adrian Peterson (knee) is out of the lineup, which is at least one week, Minnesota is the team most likely to get shut out.
Did you see Kevin Jones’ stat line on Sunday? Jones ran four times for minus four yards, but scored a touchdown. His four carries went like this, 4 yards (TD), -4 yards, -4 yards and no gain. Jones was involved in the passing game, but left twice with soreness in his surgically repaired foot. T.J. Duckett might not be a bad idea for Jones’ owners around the world.
Antonio Cromartie of San Diego looks like the real deal at cornerback and a fun player to watch in general. Over the last three weeks, Cromartie has five interceptions and scored three times, including an NFL record 109-yard touchdown off a missed field goal two weeks ago. Cromartie’s one-handed interception off Peyton Manning on Sunday was one of the best catches I’ve ever seen by a defensive OR offensive player. Despite his amazing play of late, coach Norv Turner said Cromartie will head back to a reserve role when Quentin Jammer returns this week from a hamstring injury. If you need more proof why Turner is an awful coach, there it is.
James Wilder touched the ball a record 492 times (407 rushes, 85 receptions) in 1984 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Surprisingly, Wilder did not drop dead the following year and actually had a strong season with 1,300 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns. Wilder was unproductive after 1985 though, running for a total of just 1,830 yards over the final five years of his career. I suspect that we’ll never see a running back touch the ball nearly 500 times again, especially considering guys like Jamal Anderson and Larry Johnson suffered significant injuries the year after they received well over 400 carries
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