Here's a few random thoughts after last night's game:
1. My 6 year old son loved the Pink intro. Me not as much. Is that the new intro? Really? To every game or just that one? How did they decide on Pink? I mean what says football more than an already past her prime female pop-"star" with the name "Pink?" Ugh. Maybe next week, we'll get Fiona Apple.
2. Why did they let Andrea Kramer come on after a 4 day bender? What happened to her? I gasped in shock when she first appeared on my screen. Sometimes, it doesn't pay to have a big TV. Yikes. Maybe, stop letting todlers cut your hair. I know that's mean, but something had to be said. I'm sorry it had to be me. Let's just let her gracefully exit and give her job to the great Peter King.
3. Culpepper looked as bad as a big time QB has looked since any of Bret Favre's games from the last 2 years. Just throw to your own team for crying out loud. Dolphin fan should be very worried. Maybe they can find that guy who Minnesota hired to take out Daunte's knee so they can save face when they have to start Joey.
4. Pittsburg fan should be thrilled. Not only did your team win without their starting QB,but they proved they have a competent back up, proved (at least for one game) they don't need the bus afterall and now you have to think that if Batch could do that, Big Ben should be amazing.
5. Bettis getting off the bus in the intro was contrived and lame. Isn't he a professional journalist now or something? Give me a break. Did Chad Johnson produce that intro?
6. I have never been so excited for a football game I cared nothing about. It is good to get the season started so I can get things back in perspective a bit.
7. The Dolphins made a liar out of me yesterday. I will never forgive them. they are dead to me.
8. Madden is so much better without Summeral. I hate that it took so long to figure that out.
9. Speaking of Madden, if everyone is so convinced about this Madden curse, why do players still do the cover? Pro athletes are the most superstitious people on the planet, so why do they do it? Oh yeah, I forgot, money is good luck
10. Let's put our heads together and figure out how we can get Bob Costas to be involved in every sporting event. Just feels better with him there.
1. My 6 year old son loved the Pink intro. Me not as much. Is that the new intro? Really? To every game or just that one? How did they decide on Pink? I mean what says football more than an already past her prime female pop-"star" with the name "Pink?" Ugh. Maybe next week, we'll get Fiona Apple.
2. Why did they let Andrea Kramer come on after a 4 day bender? What happened to her? I gasped in shock when she first appeared on my screen. Sometimes, it doesn't pay to have a big TV. Yikes. Maybe, stop letting todlers cut your hair. I know that's mean, but something had to be said. I'm sorry it had to be me. Let's just let her gracefully exit and give her job to the great Peter King.
3. Culpepper looked as bad as a big time QB has looked since any of Bret Favre's games from the last 2 years. Just throw to your own team for crying out loud. Dolphin fan should be very worried. Maybe they can find that guy who Minnesota hired to take out Daunte's knee so they can save face when they have to start Joey.
4. Pittsburg fan should be thrilled. Not only did your team win without their starting QB,but they proved they have a competent back up, proved (at least for one game) they don't need the bus afterall and now you have to think that if Batch could do that, Big Ben should be amazing.
5. Bettis getting off the bus in the intro was contrived and lame. Isn't he a professional journalist now or something? Give me a break. Did Chad Johnson produce that intro?
6. I have never been so excited for a football game I cared nothing about. It is good to get the season started so I can get things back in perspective a bit.
7. The Dolphins made a liar out of me yesterday. I will never forgive them. they are dead to me.
8. Madden is so much better without Summeral. I hate that it took so long to figure that out.
9. Speaking of Madden, if everyone is so convinced about this Madden curse, why do players still do the cover? Pro athletes are the most superstitious people on the planet, so why do they do it? Oh yeah, I forgot, money is good luck
10. Let's put our heads together and figure out how we can get Bob Costas to be involved in every sporting event. Just feels better with him there.
Comments
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The first game is in the books and a couple of the NFL's best running backs got their first chance to stretch their legs. The basics read like this: Parker ran for 115 yards and totaled 12 fantasy points in traditional scoring systems and Brown picked up 62 total yards while scoring twice, good for 18 fantasy points. But was there anything to be learned beyond the numbers?
In Parker's case, perhaps the biggest number is 29. That is the number of carries he racked up in his first game as a true workhorse back. He handled the load well, showing good burst and finishing off his runs nicely. The downside is that he got only one carry inside the 10 yard line - a twisting run from the seven down to the one-yard line for a first down. Unfortunately, Parker was removed on the next play and the Steelers fumbled the ball away, so we didn't get to see what he could do with a goal-line carry. It seems that he was a victim of the old "thanks for getting us to the one, but now we are going to give you a breather at the worst possible time and vulture you're touchdown opportunity" ploy, rather than a planned short yardage substitution. Regardless, it was still depressing. Pittsburgh threw the ball on all their other plays inside the 10.
As for Brown, there is also a good and a bad. The first is the bad, which has to do with his scant 30 yards rushing. There is an emerging West Coast rapper named Bishop LaMont that got Dr. Dre's attention with a mixtape titled, "Who Do I Gotta Kill to Get a Record Deal?" I think we should borrow from that for Brown's performance tonight, which would be named, "Who Does Ronnie Brown Have to Kill to Get Some Carries?" For reasons unknown, Nick Saban largely ignored his franchise running back and chose instead to wing the ball around the yard. And it wasn't just in the waning moments when the 'Fins trailed, it was all game long. 15 carries is unacceptable, especially when it was becoming obvious that Brown was finally starting to get some traction against the Steelers defense in the third quarter. After a couple of nice runs that culminated in a touchdown, Brown got only one carry the rest of the game (and it was a gimmicky little pitch play). The good news is that Brown got multiple looks inside the 10, including a creative look in which he lined up as the fullback (I'm surprised teams don't do this more often - lining a powerful tailback up as the upback allows for quick hitting plays to develop more quickly near the goal line).
All told, it was a mixed bag for both backs, but I think Parker owners have to feel a little bit better. Brown scored more fantasy points and looks very safe near the end zone, but the sight of Culpepper lobbing balls all over the place - regardless of time or score - had to be a little jolting.