NFL Week Three – Desperate Teams – Desperate Times

By Ivette Ricco

Week Four Fearless Picks follow at the end*

Mystery, intrigue, secrets, lies, mistakes, bad choices and rocky relationships.

No this isn’t an episode of Desperate Housewives, this is a current episode of “Desperate Teams”, NFL style.

The ladies on Wisteria Lane have discovered that a nice lawn and picket fence do not guarantee peace and serenity inside. Similarly some NFL teams are discovering that what looked really good on paper in the off season isn’t looking all that good once the game starts.

Currently residing at Heartbreak Hotel.

Green Bay (0-3): You gotta feel for Brett Favre even if you are not a Packers fan.

He is being pummeled and made to look old and tired. He has no playmakers around him to take some of the pressure off and is trying to be Super Favre and do it all on his own. Team, Brett, Team!

Where’s the defense? Why can’t they run the ball? Brett’s style of play makes it imperative that the defense keeps them in games, because in spite of all his guts and glory, Brett has a tendency to take huge risks with the ball. Without a stout defense to help overcome those mistakes the Packers will be hard pressed to end the season with anything better than an 8-8 record. Certainly not a fitting tribute to one of the game’s best players or the way to see him end his brilliant career. This team is just not a Super Bowl caliber team. By the time it is Brett could be a grandpa.

Oakland (0-3): This might be a long, long season in Oaktown. The Raider fan base won’t take kindly to another losing season and the specter of local blackouts looms large over the East Bay hills. PSL holders are likely to give up their PSLs once the 10-year “lease” runs out in 2006. And if the franchise hopes to keep them in the fold they had better turn this sinking ship around, now!

The Raiders looked so good on paper this season that It seemed reasonable to assume they would be in the mix for a piece of the very tough AFC West.

What more can a team ask for? Randy Moss, LaMont Jordan, Jerry Porter, Courtney Anderson oh, and Kerry Collins. My only concern was quarterback Kerry Collins who has had a history of sporadic play and can be rattled under pressure. Thus far the high-powered offense has yet to put up more than 20 points in a game, and the defense has 76 points against them. It’s a real dilemma, the talent is there, but something is missing. What is it? Dare you say coaching?

Cardinals (0-3): I am still wondering why the Cardinals were picked as the Cinderella team this season by the usual “talking head” suspects. Yes they had a nice offseason and yes, they have a glut of talent on offense. But, as we all know what is on paper does not necessarily translate into a team on the field.

I’m waiting to see how Sterling Sharpe , who predicted a 12-4 season for the birds on a preseason Total Access NFL Network show, tap dances his way out of that prediction.

This team has loads of talent and a savvy coach. But they gambled by placing Kurt Warner at the helm.

After Sunday’s loss the Cardinals will have some ‘splaining to do to their fans, that is if there are any of them left.

Overall this was a great football Sunday. There were amazing finishes and edge of your seat, nail-biting moments by the Patriots, Eagles, Jaguars and Cowboys.

Dallas 34, San Francisco 31
Oh the agony of defeat. The Niners are making their Faithful candidates for pacemakers.
After being ravaged by the Eagles 42-3, we weren’t sure what to expect from this young team. Would they do a face plant or come out fighting?
Fans were pleasantly surprised by the will of this team as they controlled the game for over three quarters. Ah, but there’s the rub. In the end, with the game on the line, Tim Rattay threw a pick, and the defense let the Cowboys score.
Dallas (2-1) rallied from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Niners fans have reason for optimism, Mike Nolan has them playing hard and with heart.

Indianapolis 13, Cleveland 6
The Colts look like they are able and willing to win the AFC with a balanced attack and a defense that can finally help the prolific offense. The Colts defense has only allowed 16 points in three games, their lowest total in the first three games in franchise history.

San Diego 45, the New York Giants 23
At San Diego, where Eli Manning refused to play after being drafted by the Chargers, the rude welcoming the quarterback received from the fans was the good news compared to the bad news that followed. LaDainian Tomlinson ran for 192 yards and three touchdowns and threw for another score to lead the Chargers.

Tampa Bay 17, Green Bay 16
At Green Bay, Carnell "Cadillac" Williams rushed for 158 yards for unbeaten Tampa Bay. Green Bay's Ryan Longwell missed an extra point for the first time in 157 attempts, and that was the difference as the Packers fell to 0-3 for the first time since Brett Favre was a sophomore at Southern Mississippi in 1988.

Minnesota 33, New Orleans 16
At Minneapolis, Daunte Culpepper, was in a do or die situation. After being picked off eight times in his last two games, Daunte threw for 300 yards and no interceptions.
The “We Have No Home” Saints were showing the ill effects of becoming the NFL’s only “floater” team.

Cincinnati 24, Chicago 7
Cincy is now 3-0 and the Poster Child for NFL Parity/Charity.
The Bengals, previously known as the Bungals entered the game with a league-leading 10 takeaways and proceeded to pick off five of Kyle Orton's passes. Making them, the Bengals the first NFL team in 34 years to intercept five passes in consecutive games. Carson Palmer was 16-of-23 for 169 yards and three touchdowns, two to Chad Johnson.
Chris Collingsworth must be doing backflips.

Jacksonville 26, the New York Jets 20 OT
Byron Leftwich threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Smith in overtime for Jacksonville (2-1). Fred Taylor had a career-high 37 carries for 98 yards and a touchdown for the Jaguars.

Jets quarterback Chad Pennington left in the third quarter after straining his shoulder, the same one in which he had a torn rotator cuff repaired in the offseason, but returned in the fourth when backup Jay Fiedler hurt his shoulder. He directed the drive to Mike Nugent's 25-yard field goal that tied it at 20.
* ESPN is reporting that Chad Pennington’s injury may be season ending!

New York is 1-2.

Miami 27, Carolina 24
Oweee. The Panthers are finding this season as hazardous as a Baghdad street.
Jake Delhomme's pass was intercepted with 2 minutes left to set up Olindo Mare's winning field goal. Steve Smith had 11 catches for 170 yards and three touchdowns but it wasn’t enough.
The Dolphins are 2-1 under new coach Nick Saban and halfway to last year’s total wins.

St. Louis 31, Tennessee 27
Marc Bulger threw three touchdown passes while the Titans converted three turnovers into 17 points. But, the Rams got an 85-yard interception return from Adam Archuleta for a touchdown. In the end it was a Kevin Curtis catch on the first play of the fourth quarter that put the Rams ahead for good.

Patriots 23, Steelers 20
The Pats will not go down easily. The Champ is always going to fight back, and even when this team is down, they find a way to come back.
The Pats have handed Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger his only two defeats, and snapped a 16-game regular-season winning streak for Pittsburgh.

Eagles 23, Raiders 20
In Philly the worried Eagles fans were wringing their cheese filled hands as they obsessed over Donovan McNabb’s chest and groin injuries. No worries people!
McNabb threw for 365 yards and two touchdowns, Brian Westbrook caught a TD pass, ran for a score and had 140 yards receiving. T.O. had nine catches, including his 100th career touchdown.
On the Raider side Kerry Collins was able to bring his team from behind with a 27-yard TD pass to Doug Gabriel to bring the Raiders into a 20-20 tie with 2:17 left. Dandy Randy Moss had five catches for 86 yards, but didn't score as Oakland fell to 0-3 for the first time since 1992.

Falcons 24, Bills 16
A limpy Vick is still a force to be reckoned with.
Vick threw two touchdown passes and scrambled for 64 yards on nine carries. Warrick Dunn rushed for 97 yards and T.J. Duckett added 75 yards rushing and a touchdown for the visiting Falcons.
Willis McGahee led Buffalo with a career-high 140 yards rushing and a touchdown.
But the Bills great expectations for this season seem to be evaporating.

Seahawks 37, Cardinals 12
The Seahawks are sitting pretty in the NFC West. Shaun Alexander scored four times, finishing with 140 yards on 22 carries, the 24th 100-yard game of his career.
The Cardinals are playing down to their expectations and now have a quarterback issue as they go to Mexico City to face the 49ers and an angry Mike Nolan, Niners coach.

Houston, Washington, Detroit and Baltimore were off.

Monday Night

Kansas City Chiefs vs. the Denver Broncos
The Chiefs sit atop the AFC West with the Broncos fighting to reestablish their offensive identity.
Kansas City has improved its defense and it will be interesting to see how the Broncos deal with the Chiefs potent running game.

Postgame comment:
Broncos 30 Chiefs 10 - Ouch what a spanking!
The vaunted Chiefs offense took the night off for this game.
While the Broncos and Jake the Snake manhandled the Chiefs defense.

Week three record 8-6.

Week Four Femmefan Fearless Picks:

After a "fair" performance in week three (8-6) compiling a season record of 22-24 (better than a poke in the eye), I had to really sit down and think about my picks for week Four.
After careful analysis, consultation with my 7-year old grandaughter Rachel, and cheating by checking out the picks made by Dan Marino I present to you the Fearless Femmefan Picks for Week Four.

Saints over Bills - yeah, yeah, I know the Bills are tough on defense. Still I have to believe the Saints can win in their Texas "House".

Jags over the Broncos - okay, another iffy pick, but the Jags and Leftwich are gonna bite the Broncos in Jacksonville.

Bucs over the Lions - Oh Mooch, when are you gonna give up on Harrington? The Bucs and Cadillac are getting it done and will continue to do so in "their house".

Bengals over the Texans - Let's jump on the Bengals bandwagon!

Colts over the Titans - going against the home team because the Colts are just better.

Chiefs over the Eagles - Chiefs are coming off a big loss and should get their running game going again to stop the banged up Eagles.

Seattle over the Redskins - Redskins and home field advantage, not so much.

NY Giants over the Rams - strictly wishful thinking on my part.

Ravens over the Jets - the Ravens haven't won a game and now they get the decimated Jets. Ray Lewis will feast.

Raiders over Cowboys - the Raiders need a win and home field with the Cowboys should do it.

Falcons over the Vikings -Will the Vikes or the Yikes show up? I like the Birds at home.

Niners over the Cardinals - Ay Caramba! The Niners and Cardinals have been playing like last night's nachos. The Niners had a tough week on defense with the loss of Ahmed Plummer, Mike Rumph, and Jamie Winborn. The Cardinals didn't fare much better as they lost Kurt Warner. Mexico City are you ready for some Football?
Better have the Pepto-Bismol ready.

Panthers over the Packers - seems to me that the Packers are going to struggle mightily this season, and the Panthers will be ready for a fight.

Check all the sports news and commentaries at www.Femmefan.com
The SportsZone for Real Women who Love Sports!

Coming Next Week - Exclusive Interview with Sergio "the Latin Snake" Mora and a chance for you to win tickets to his fight on October 15th at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

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