One word...yikes...

Another word...why are those birdies flying around my head? Ok, so that one's a phrase technically, but myself and Derek Anderson (he's got a concussion, I just had to read the box scores) both are asking ourselves that question this morning after what can only be described as a doozie of a...well...let's not get into that, last night in the Meadowlands.

Subsequently, has an NFL stadium ever been placed in a more descript locale than the Meadowlands? Maybe Candlestick Point in San Fran? Maybe? I digress.

I'd almost rather focus the entirety of this column on that, but it seems my boss won't let me do that...and I'm self-employed...read into that what you will.

Without diving too far into the nitty gritty, Domenik Hixon lit up the Browns last night. The last time he lit anybody up, he was attending the University of Akron. Not saying he's a bad player, but rather chiding myself for being right again and it coming back to bite me in the backside...again. The most famous example...yeah, some guy who wears 7 for a team in a city in Western PA.

Yes, it was Jovani Chappel of the Pitt Panthers, can we move on?

Anderson suffered a concussion, Cribbs' ankle is sore, Shaun Rogers sat out with soreness (proving further that he really hasn't worked hard in years...that may actually prove to be a GOOD sign though), and the number one defense and offense combined for 6 penalties for 98 yards.

And that was just the first half.

Can you say...Super Bowl? No? Me neither. This team's got some work to do.

Let's get some positives. Syndric Steptoe, the aptly named kick/punt returner/slot receiver took a step towards grabbing a toehold on a roster spot (yeah, I soooo went there). Brady Quinn didn't look like crap, but of course, it may have something to do with the fact that he wasn't on his back for the entirety of his possessions. And oh yeah! The backups won their portion of the contest.

Now if only the starters hadn't given them a giant hole to dig themselves out of...

Raiden's Other Sports Exist Note of the Week

The existence of other sports shall be proven by, in the midst of the NFL preseason, which is the only season that really matters right now, ESPN will cut live every 30 seconds when Derek Jeter sits upon 2,499 career hits to see if he's gotten it yet. I can see it now...

"We go live to Derek Jeter watch. Derek? Derek? Whoops, seems we've caught him taking a nap. We'll come back to him in 30 seconds, WILL SOMEONE WAKE HIM UP AGAIN?"

And if you think that's bad...wait til he's sitting on the doorstep of 3,000...an actual statistic that matters.

Outside the Dawg Pound

Aaron Rodgers gets blitzed half to death, story at 11, which coincidentally is about the time Alex Smith will actually get on the field to play against the scrubs from the conferences he used to play in...and he'll still look worse somehow.

The Bold Prediction

Here's one for you, courtesy of our good friends in Green Bay. Mike McCarthy, not to be upstaged by his former employers in San Francisco, deploys a new offensive scheme: max max max protect. Nine blockers, one receiver, and somehow, Aaron Rodgers and Donald Driver manage to connect every time its run. Rodgers goes 12/12 for 160 yards and 4 scores in a short rout of whoever they play this week.

Now how's that for bold?

-Chris "Raiden" Grewe

The Woof appears every Monday on Pigskin Heaven during the season, and bi-weekly during the offseason starting with the 2009 offseason.