10 Things We Learned From The NFL’s Fourth Sunday

Added on Oct 04, 2010 by Scott in

NFL

It proved to be another head-scratching Sunday in the 2010 NFL season. The only remaining undefeated team is the Kansas City Chiefs. Huh? The Browns beat the Bengals. The Colts lost to the Jaguars. The Packers struggled against the Lions. The Rams won their second straight. Child, please! Sorry, that was a reference from The League. (A great TV show.) Anyway, there was a lot to be learned on this fourth Sunday. Ten things to be exact.

10. LaDainian Tomlinson isn’t done – 155 yards and a pair of scores for LT? Even though it came versus the woeful Bills defense, it’s pretty obvious Tomlinson still has some juice to squeeze out of those battered bones. The Jets might be better served saving him for the stretch run, but it’s hard to argue the future Hall of Famer isn’t still capable of carrying the load.

9. The Bengals are overrated – Besides their week two victory against the Ravens, the Bengals have looked incredibly underwhelming. The defense is inconsistent, the offense erratic and the coaching suspect at best. I just can’t see this team winning a huge game when they need to. They are all style, no substance.

8. As Chris Johnson goes, so go the Titans – In the two games Johnson has eclipsed 100 yards, the Titans are 2-0. In the two games he’s been held under 60 yards, they are 0-2. This is old news, but until Vince Young does something to scare defenses, the Coach’s Dream is going to have a lot more days like the one he had yesterday.

7. The Packers are a curious bunch – I can’t figure these guys out. They should be 4-0. They should be blowing teams out. They should be playing like a legit contender. And yet they aren’t. The season-ending injury to running back Ryan Grant is hurting them. Opponents don’t respect their rush attack and are concentrating on taking away the big throws downfield. They’re a solid team, but far from dominant.

6. Break up the Rams! – Back-to-back wins for the lowly Rams? Say it ain’t so. This mini resurgence isn’t just about rookie quarterback Sam Bradford, although he’s been very good. How about that defense? They are currently fourth in the league in points allowed (13). Crazy.

5. Maurice Jones-Drew still owns the Colts – The best hyphenated name in the game had yet to find the end zone entering Sunday’s action. 126 total yards and two touchdowns later and MJD was officially off the snide. There’s nothing like a porous Colts run defense to help a struggling stud get on track.

4. Benching guys for a quarter seems to work – Last week Rex Ryan sat DUI aficionado Braylon Edwards for the opening quarter and he responded with 87 yards and a score. Yesterday, Texans head coach Gary Kubiak benched Arian Foster for missing a meeting. Foster joined the fray in the second quarter and responded with 187 total yards and two touchdowns. Hmm. Maybe if the Bills sat all their starters for a quarter they might actually win.

3. Michael Vick is still Michael Vick – He’s dynamic. Fun to watch. Explosive. Enigmatic. And prone to getting blasted due to his predilection to turn himself into a fullback and dive for the goal line. A vicious sandwich shot sent Vick to the locker room with some sort of shoulder/chest/collarbone injury. As of this writing, it’s not known the significance of the ailment or how much time he’ll miss.

2. The Cardinals are dreadful – Watching this team is akin to being shown one of those driver’s education films in high school. Funny and horrific. The defections of Warner, Boldin, Dansby and Rolle have taken a toll in the desert. By the way, Derek Anderson should not be permitted to wear a professional uniform. Ever. Again.

1. The Bears are still the Bears – No running game. No offensive line. A spaz at quarterback. Chicago is fortunate to have only one check in the loss column. The Giants absolutely brutalized them for four quarters. If Big Blue’s offense wasn’t so anemic, the refs might have called this one at halftime. Cutler was sacked NINE times before leaving with a concussion. Ouch.