Today the sports media is utterly baffled by USC's defeat at the hands of the Oregon State Beavers. This is surprising, no doubt, and the media is chalking it up to USC not being ready to play. They were ready, I think, but ready in a different way, I think the energy level was there, but they weren't ready for a battle. They were eager to go in, blow this team that can't even handle Stanford out and go back home. Oregon State parlayed the emotion of a desperate and hungry team into a 21 point lead. What people fail to realize is that in their own stadium, when they are ready and confident, Oregon State is very good. This has been the case for almost ten years. They play physical, and fast, and downhill. USC just got beat.
I'm not convinced Mark Sanchez is a good quarterback. He is wild, but not wild in the wild gunslinger mold, but wild in the Mike McMahon mold. Once it became apparent that USC would have to win by throwing every down, I was sure the game was over. He isn't a grip it and rip it quarterback. He's a seven step drop off of a play action pass and hit the Z on a deep post on a cover two zone cause the safety bit kind of quarterback. If he calmed down, stayed in the pocket, he'd be a trent dilfer. His arm will not win you games, they can't put too much on this kid.
UW should beat Stanford this weekend. But, Stanford being 2-2, they know they can win, and win in the Pac 10, this young Husky team that hasn't won yet don't know how or if they can win. Too much unknown for the huskies right now. If they lose this, the team quits.
What strikes me about the Dallas Cowboys is that they have fun. What was the last great offense that looked fun? The Rams? THe Patriots seemed to destroy teams out of anger, the Colts as the means of their profession, the Seahawks of 2003-2005 were always burdened by expectations to be better. The Rams had fun, and Dallas has fun. Its like watching that high school team filled with great athletes, they know they are great, and they enjoy being great. The thing with these teams is when the playoffs roll around and things get tight, and defenses punch them in the mouth, how good are they really going to be? When Dallas travels to Philly later in the year? Do you really think the Eagles are going to spend another four quarters playing an umbrella defense? They will try and rip Romo's throat out, can the Cowboys respond well to be attacked? They haven't won a playoff game in years.
When Gregg Williams left Washington because Gibbs left, you'd think the natural thing to do would be to hire another blitz happy coordinator, that crowded the box, attacked teams and played physical. Instead, the Redskins have adopted the bend and don't break tampa two scheme. Players brought into the scheme for their ability to play relentlessly and use their natural football instincts, seem to be paralyzed by having to read before reacting and playing more conservatively. The Redskins are turning into a soft team, running a west coast offense and a vanilla defense. That won't survive in the NFC East. This 2-1 record is a mirage, they'll get stomped by dallas this weekend.
Don't believe the Giants inflated record. They keep every team they play in the game two quarters long than they should. Eli is still a mechanically terrible quarterback that is parlaying one month of solid football into a potential career of immortality. He's Brett Favre without the arm, he'll give you two or three opportunities a game to get a pick, not iffy opportunities either, gimmes. His deep ball, especially his post route, floats too much, the ball wobbles and drifts and his deep ball doesn't turn over. When was the last time you saw him step into a throw, he always leans on that back foot and never powers through. Their playcalling is abysmal, run the ball, all the damn time. Brandon Jacobs is a horse who should get 25 carries a game. Kevin Gilbride still has that run and shoot with him and is still tricked into the idea that Eli is a consistent quarterback. They throw the ball too much, it ruins their offensive rhythm.
