The Monday Musings

* Do you know why Los Angeles doesn't need an NFL team? Because they already have a professional football team! USC looked so good Saturday night against an overmatched Ohio State team that you almost start believing they could win the NFC West (they would win more games in the NFL this year than the Rams would. Ok that's not really saying much). If you're not reading Jer's Gopher Football blog then you're an idiot, because you're missing out on some great insight and knowledge. He shared one such pearl of wisdom while we were watching the third quarter. As USC's student section broke into the overrated "OH-VER-RATE-ED" chant Jer mused "That's not fair to Ohio State. They're not overrated because they're not a bad football team. It's just that USC is that much better."

So true. Ohio State has a lot of talent, and a lot of guys who will play on Sunday in the coming years. Sure, their QB Todd Boeckman stinks, and without Beanie Wells the Buckeyes couldn't run the ball with their usual success. But do you really think Beanie would have made up the difference in that ball game? Not a chance. The Buckeyes are a really good team, and despite the loss should still finish in the top 20 in the country, but this Trojan squad is for real. They're absolutely loaded absolutely everywhere, and the real shame of it all is that they won't play a quality opponent again until the National Championship game in February or whenever it's pushed back to this year (I am a biased Pac 10 apologist, but there is no defending the Pac 10 today. They were 3-7 on Saturday and other than SC looked just awful. The Mountain West was 4-0 against them! The Mountain West! The Pac 10 is thankfully still not ACC or Big East bad, but it's USC and a bunch of school girls this year. Too bad). SI.com's Stewart Mandel says this Trojans' team compares favorably with the 2004 squad that won the National Title, and it's easy to see the parallels.

* From a look at the action around the rest of the country, I'm not sure anyone else fares much better against SC than Ohio State did. Certainly nobody else has a defense that good, and offensively, who matches up? Maybe Oklahoma or Mizzou, but that's about it. Right now SC looks about two touchdowns better than anybody else.

* I'm going to show you the stat lines for two QB's from Sunday's games:

Player A: 16-25 165 yds 0 TD's 0 INT's
Player B: 14-24 130 yds 0 TD's 0 INT's

Similar numbers, no? Player A is Patriot Matt Cassell, Player B is Tavaris Jackson. Why oh why do I feel SO much more confident about Cassell than I do about Jackson? Jackson's numbers, really, aren't that bad, but you just knew that late in the game there was no way the Vikings were marching down the field with TJack. Not a chance. And sure enough, when the pressure was on and they needed to move the ball, the Vikings went 3-and-out while the Colts got the points they needed to steal a victory in an ugly football game (well Adrian Peterson wasn't ugly. Wow is he good. Imagine what he could do if the opposing defense actually respected the pass? Maybe next year we'll find out). Jackson seemed to get most of his completions on rollouts. I heard Jeff Dubay of KFAN muse that's because it simplifies things for him by cutting the field in half, which gives him less reads. Makes sense, but if it's true, the Vikings are in even more trouble than we thought. Cassell, as you no doubt heard 479574 times this past week, started his first game since HIGH SCHOOL(!!!!) and yet Pats coach Bill Belichek treated him like a starting quarterback. He let him drop back, make reads, and make throws downfield. This definitely was not the same offense Tom Brady ran, and Belichek certainly wasn't going to take many chances, but watching that game, there were no training wheels for Cassell. He had the green light.

TJack, on the other hand, was starting the 16TH GAME OF HIS PRO CAREER! 16! He's been in the league for three years and has started a full season's worth of games and yet we're rolling him out so he only has to read half the field? Why can't he run the offense? Why can't he read a defense and make throws a normal QB should be able to throw? WHY CAN"T HE MAKE THE SAME PLAYS AS A GUY WHO HADN"T STARTED A GAME SINCE FREAKING HIGH SCHOOL?!?!?!? I would love for Jackson to succeed because then it means the Vikings would succeed. But I don't see it happening. I know Trent Dilfer said a couple of weeks ago that an NFL QB needed 40 starts until he really figured things out, but we're almost halfway to that number, and Jackson not only still has training wheels on, he's riding his freaking big wheel! I hope for one of two things from this season: either a) Chilly and Jackson get it together and the Vikes make the playoffs or b) Jackson continues to suck, and therefore the Vikings continue to suck and so Chilly is fired, Jackson is cut, and we get a new coach and QB in here next year who can actually run an offense. Because this is ridiculous.

* When the Colts get to the Super Bowl, are Vikings fans going to be the only ones who remember how close Indy was to starting 0-2? They had no business winning today, but Peyton got his act together (I've never ever seen him running for life before like he was in the first half. That Vikes pass rush was awesome) in the second half, looked like the Peyton of old, and they eeked out a victory in a tough place to play.

* The Vikings are one of 10 teams to start this season 0-2. According to Don Banks' column on Friday, since since the playoffs expanded to 12 teams in 1990, only 19 teams have climbed out of an 0-2 hole to make the playoffs. That's about one team a year, and the Minnesota is one of three teams this year with any real shot: the other two are Jacksonville and San Diego. Jacksonville and the Vikes are having offensive problems, but for different reasons (the Jags can't throw, the Vikes can't pass), while both D's have not been as good as advertised. San Diego has lost two heartbreakers to two good teams (how about the gigantic cahones on Mike Shannahan of Denver? Going for 2 and the win instead of the extra point and the tie with 24 seconds left? LOVE IT!), and with the third easiest schedule this year (they get to play Oakland and Kansas City twice each), they will definitely have an easier road than Minnesota or Jacksonville. I'm not even going to mention the Vikes next three games since I've been so negative about them already. Let's just say hosting Carolina, then at Tennessee and at New Orleans doesn't inspire confidence this thing is getting turned around. Whoops guess I just mentioned it.

* In case you're wondering of the other seven 0-2 teams are all but one are dead in the water: Detroit, St Louis, Miami, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Kansas City might as well start planning for draft day because their seasons are essentially over. Seattle is a good team who's had a horrible run of luck and cannot stay healthy. IF they can get any of their top 4 wide receivers back by October, they've still got a chance in the horrible, awful, terrible NFC West.

* Guess the Packers knew what they were doing with Aaron Rodgers, eh? 328 and 3 TD's and the Pack could very well be the best team in the NFC. I know it was Detwah they spanked today, but that was still impressive. Why does Green Bay get all the luck with QB's while the Vikes have a revolving door under center?

* Carolina went 2-0 without wide receiver Steve Smith. Look out.

* You know who could win the AFC East? Not New England. Definitely not the New York Bretts. Buffalo. Buffalo could win the AFC East. What were the Vegas odds on that when the season started? Could you even get odds on that happening? I still don't trust QB Trent Edwards but maybe I should (all of you fantasy football players who need a backup QB should pay attention here): in two games he's completed 70% of his passes for 454 yds 2 TD's and no INT's for a QB rating of 107.7. Yep ol' Trent has now started nine games and already seems to have fully grasped an NFL offense. TJack has started 16 and do a simple 3 step drop and find an open receiver. Just thought I'd point that out.

* Did you see the Rams highlights against the Giants? USC could beat the Rams. I'm not even kidding.

* Stupid Fantasy Football Start of the Week:
Last week I sat Michael Turner in favor of Ricky Williams. This week I started Turner even though I was worried about him going against a really good Tampa D. Who should i have started? Darren McFadden and his 164 yds and a TD, that's who. I just can't win.