Week Eight Thoughts From the NFL, Part I

The Chargers (finally) get their shit together vs. Tennessee, while my Cowboys continue their decent into free fall. Across the Pond, Denver may have proved they are the worst team in the AFC, hope is rekindled at Ford Field, and the Steelers loss reinforces my belief that a dominant team in the NFL has yet to emerge. All of these topics will be discussed as I discuss the week was number 8 in the NFL.

* For all the bitching I have done against Norv Turner, I must give credit where credit is due: when the Chargers went into the locker room down 19-14, Turner told the ugly truth about this team: that in 2010, when the going got tough, the Chargers wave the white flag. Players said that Norv's face and words were all the motivation they needed to go out and beat Tennessee 33-25, snapping a tough three-game losing skid. The Chargers finally beat a quality team, but it doesn't change the lousy state of the Special Teams unit, as they coughed up a Safety at the start of the 1st quarter. Let's beat the Texans next Sunday, then maybe the Chargers have turned a corner. Until then, it's one win, and they're still playing catch-up against the Chiefs and Raiders

* Now, had my Bolts lost this game, I would expect Dean Spanos to do what Cowbowys owner Jerry Jones did when Dallas got it's clock cleaned by Jacksonville, 35-17: appolgize to the fans for their miserable performance thus far.

"I'm embarrassed," Jones said. "Of course I am. And to every fan, I should have and do take the ultimate, ultimate responsibility. I do. That's the way we're structured. That's the way I run it. There's no question that I have the plan and executing it to have the best players and the best coaching that we can have. I'm dumbfounded that we are 1-7."

Cowboy haters can piss all over this team all they want, but Jones took responsibility for this team's disastrous season, and that earns many kudos for this part-time Dallas shipper. Now if he could only fire Wade Phillips sometime this week....

* For the second time this year, the Detroit Lions have won a game, as they beat the Redskins 37-25. What's more impressive is the Lions D-Line, in particular, Ndamukong Suh - the same Defensive End who lit up the Big XII last year - and Kyle Vanden Bosch. Combined, the pair are a two-man wrecking crew, as both defenders have a combined 4 sacks on the day (there were 7 sacks total). They may be 2-5, but don't let that fol 'ya: they're no pushover. And to Mike Shanaham: I know Donnovan McNabb's been shaky as of late, but pulling him out with 2 minutes to go and you put in....Rex Grossman?! Are you serious?? What did you expect would happen, that he would transform into a competent QB in that drive?? Just for making that move alone, you deserved to lose.