The week that was

[Sascha]

Ruuuuudiii takes a look at the past week in football. Which teams are up, which are down? Who's gonna take the Heisman, and who's on a straight path to the #1 draft pick? Look for this series coming at you every Monday, and give us your thoughts.

[Patzphanatiq]

The verdict is in. Yes, Denver has the best defense in the AFC. No, it is not an elite defense, merely a very very good one. A great defense tops a great offense every time, but Denver’s gave up 4 second half touchdowns to the Colts and couldn’t put a finger on Reggie Wayne, who scored three of them and also caught a 2 point conversion.

OK I'll have to disagree with you on this one.. The Denver defense finally plays a team in the top 10 offensively and they got shredded. If the Colts had any kind of a rushing defense, this game wouldn't have even been close. Remember, in the off season, this defense was supposedly retooled to beat the Colts. It wasn't. After 6 weeks of feeding their defensive stats off an averaged 24th ranked offense, they finally showed what happens when they run up against a top offense in the NFL.

No pressure on the QB. None at all. No sacks, no hits, no errors. Manning had time to change clothes, cook a microwave dinner, then pass the ball. I have read all the comments on the game in this forum where people blame one person for the loss, the DB that was beaten for 11 catches, 138 yards and 3TD's. But, have you even thought that a defensive line that does not create pressure handcuffs that DB. Any WR is going to get free considering all the time they had to run patterns.

No changes in coverages or formations, even after Manning was torching them. Manning spent the night picking apart the Zone coverages and taking exactly what was open to him. Inside/outside .. it didn't matter. This again has to do with lack of pressure up front.

Now you can say its only one game. I can agree with that, BUT just wait a bit further down the road. They get to play San Diego twice, Seattle (who will have both their starting QB and RB back), KC, The Steelers (this all depends which steelers show up.. the ones from last night, or the ones from the past 2 weeks), and their one gimme game - the Raiders. Those games will decide how good this defense is.

[Sascha]

Sorry, but I don't really think we're disagreeing here. The hype surrounding Denver's defense over the last couple weeks was certainly overdone, but one loss to the Colts doesn't all of the sudden make them a bad defense. I still think at this point they're the best in the AFC, but San Diego, J'ville (when healthy), New England and Baltimore can all stake their claim to that title as well.

The point I was trying to make is that even though Denver's defense is very good, they're not an all time great defense, the kind that strikes fear in you when you play them, like Pittsburgh's Steel Curtain, the '85 Bears or the modern Ravens and Bucs, and I think some people were trying to put Denver in that company.

[ThomasTomasz]

Great read rudi. I definately look forward to more of these. Also, great job on the Red Auerbach tribute at the end. He was the NBA for quite some time, and one of the greatest coaches. It is a shame that the NBA has 180'd from when he coached.

[Wolverine]

Yay for the pick.. I remember the last time you made a prediction concerning one of my teams.. :) hopefully the rudi luck lives on

[Sascha]

Great read rudi. I definately look forward to more of these. Also, great job on the Red Auerbach tribute at the end. He was the NBA for quite some time, and one of the greatest coaches. It is a shame that the NBA has 180'd from when he coached.

Thanks, and btw, for anyone who cares, ESPN Classic has been running a tribute to Auerbach all day, and they'll probably sprinkle some more in this week. I was a Magic fan, therefore a Laker fan, during that rivalry, but Red and Larry were certainly rivals I respected and liked.



Yay for the pick.. I remember the last time you made a prediction concerning one of my teams.. hopefully the rudi luck lives on

You're welcome, but it pains me to do it. At least I liked picking the Steelers. Man, if it comes down to UM and UF in the title game, I'm gonna be wearing my colors proudly while in the wrong state, so please pray for me.