Random Thoughts from Around the NFL

Everyone is so focused on the possibility of the Patriots going undefeated that no one is talking about the fact that they are averaging 41.1 points per game and are about to shatter the NFL record for most points scored in a season. The current record for most points in a season is 556 (34.8 points per game), which was set by the Minnesota Vikings in 1998. Guess who played on that team? Yep - rookie Randy Moss, who scored 17 touchdowns on 69 receptions.

Has anyone ever gone to a game at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo? If so, you know that the fans are out of their freakin’ minds. I appreciate the passion and love they have for their team, but we ran into many Bills’ fans outside the stadium that legitimately thought that the Patriots were going to lose on Sunday night. Quite a few of them also praised J.P. Losman for some inexplicable reason (beer).

Touched on this last week, but if you need more reasons why the NFL is so hard to figure out and wager on, take a look at the Pittsburgh-NY Jets game from Sunday. The Steelers, a 10-point favorite, struggled all day and could not get their running game going even though the Jets have one of the worst rush defenses in the league. The Jets ended up winning in overtime to pull off one of the biggest upsets of the year.

Carson Palmer is on pace to pass for 30 touchdowns and establish a career high in yardage, but he’s having an off year in some ways. Palmer already has 14 interceptions, he had only 13 last season, and seems to throw picks in bunches and at the wrong time. Palmer had four interceptions in Sunday’s loss to Arizona, but more costly was the fact that two of them were returned for touchdowns and a third score was called back because of penalty. Protecting the ball has been an issue for Palmer all season – he has 2+ turnovers in five of 10 games.

Kansas City has lost three games in a row and has scored the third fewest points in the league, yet they’re only one game behind Denver and San Diego for 1st place. What a weak division the AFC West has become.

If not for Brady to Moss, Romo to Owens would be the best quarterback-receiver combination in the league.

Before their current eight-game losing streak, can you believe the 49ers won the first two games of the season? They have a miserable offense and might not win another game for the rest of the year. Poor Frank Gore, he’s like some big-time scorer in the NBA that is stuck on a 20-win team.

After seeing Chester Taylor abuse Oakland’s defense on Sunday, I am convinced that Adrian Peterson would have run for 250+ yards if he had played.

Is there a more schizophrenic offensive team than Detroit? The Lions started the year throwing the ball like they were the Houston Oilers from the early 1990’s, then they went conservative with Kevin Jones for a couple of games and now they’re back to airing it out again. Make up your damn mind Rod Marinelli – fantasy players don’t know who to value on your team.

Green Bay is starting to make me a believer. Brett Favre is playing at the top of his game and the defense is extremely underrated. When you factor in that Ryan Grant looks legit at the running back position, we could be looking at the NFC representative in the Super Bowl.