Football Follies

I don't usually go in for "I told you so" but...

Vikings 35, Chargers 17, but don’t let that deceive you; the game was nowhere near that close. One of the Chargers’ touchdowns was a missed field goal by the Vikings returned 109 yards, and the Vikings fumbled the ball away twice inside the Chargers 20-yard line. It could quite easily have been a 49-10 score.

All and sundry were crowing about last week’s blowout over Houston. Go back and read what I wrote. I was unimpressed by 21 offensive points against a second-rate team, and I stated that I saw this loss coming. (I did not think it would be quite this humiliating.) Nick Canepa claimed they did not run up the score on Houston because Norv Turner is too much of a gentleman. I claimed it was because the locals didn't have the horsepower to do so. After this week's debacle, what do you think?

Someone should get Philip Rivers a MRI to see if he has a brain tumor or something. I can count on my thumbs the number of passes he threw accurately. Yes, sometimes he was pressured, but even when he had time to step into the throw he was missing receivers that were wide open.

It’s hard to believe how a team with this much talent can play this poorly.
Or is, perhaps, the degree of talent overstated?

One thing of note, Tom Powers reports in an article in the Pioneer Press of Minneapolis, that Philip Rivers may have actually fueled the debacle.

"He started talking trash, and it got us going a little bit," Sharper [Vikings defensive back] said. "I like it when a quarterback talks to us."

Powers goes on to say that he doesn’t think that it was Rivers’ trash talking that caused the rout, but points out that certainly Rivers' performance was, shall we say, less than stellar.

My point is that when you are on the field performing in a second rate manner, it’s probably a good idea to keep your big mouth shut. It’s also a good idea not to start thinking you are Superman just because you whipped up last week on a team with a losing record.

Maybe I'll point out here that Brees was 35-49 (71%) yesterday for New Orleans, for 449 yards and 3 touchdowns, with 0 interceptions.