Here are the ten random thoughts that came into my head while watching this week’s NFL games:

Number 10

Dante Culpepper literally carried the Vikes to a win on Sunday over the Bucs. He ran in the winning score with the determination of a man who wants to make a statement, and he sure did. Now I hope that Cris Carter and Randy Moss will lay off him, knowing that he can do his job, now they just have to do theirs. How “hum-drum”, non-exciting did the Bucs look yesterday? Now they have lost Warrick Dunn for about a month to a foot injury. Brad Johnson looked average in this game, but he almost led his team to the victory (what does that say about the QB position these days?). I wonder what it is about the “Central” division games, they are just boring to watch. The Ravens are a bore to watch, the Vikings are too (just because Madden and Summerall ALWAYS call those games), as are the Bears, Lions, Steelers, Buccaneers, Browns, the Jags (most times), and Titans.

Number 9

Am I the only one who thought that Sunday night game was absolutely awful? Fumbles galore, inept Cowboys offense, and at a rainy Veteran’s Stadium. Yuck. I thought about switching it off once, but then I came to my senses, as Mrs. SuperZim was lobbying for TBS’s showing of Steel Magnolia’s, in fact, I think the ladies from Steel Magnolia’s could have put up more of a fight than those Cowboys did in the first half last night (mental image #1 – Dolly Parton delivering a deadly forearm shiver to Hugh Douglas, knocking him on his back). The Cowboys offense was so anemic in that first half, that it only gained 11 total yards of offense, ON 29 PLAYS! For those of you that are counting, that is a whopping 0.38 yards per play (and that’s rounding UP!). Add to that, how many times Dallas gave Money McNabb and the Eagles a 30yd field, and it spells disaster (mental image #2 – Darryl Hanna chasing down McNabb on a pass rush, because he took the Lord’s name in vain).

The funniest part about last night’s game? Not the fumbles, or the Cowboys offensive ineptitude, no, the funniest part about last night’s game was Suzy Colber’s interview with Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones. Colber asked Jerry Jones the simple question, “Why Quincy Carter?”, and hearing Jones tumble his way through that answer trying to justify his choice of Carter as their starter and QB of the future, was truly hilarious.

9A

Does anyone else fell genuinely sorry for Anthony Wright? I sure do. This is a guy who is getting thrown out there to try to lead this team to win, no check that, to compete, and all he is getting is savagely beaten up on the field and in the stats category. Not only is Wright getting killed out there, but he also has to deal with the fact that his GM has absolutely zero faith in him. Wright will be sat back on the bench when Carter is healthy again, and probably wont hear a “thank you” or a “good job” from his GM. Right now he is in a truly thankless and no-win situation.

Number 8

Speaking of that Sunday Night ESPN game, Joe Theismann added to his rapidly growing collection of dumb-ass quotes last night. Joe was speaking of Money McNabb, and here is the display of verbal gymnastics he put on… ahem... and I quote…

“This is basically his (McNabb’s) game to win and or lose tonight”

I don’t know where Joey T went to school, but where I went, it was physically impossible to win AND lose a game at the same time. Apparently there is a huge tear in the stupidity filter that comes between his brain and his mouth. Sheesh…

Number 7

What in the world happened to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday? The Bledsoe-less Patriots beat the red-hot Colts like they stole something. Wow, Edge was shut down, Marv Harrison was held in check, and Peyton threw 2 INT’s that were taken to the house for 6 apiece. Did anyone else notice another hilarious scene where Peyton Manning was trying to get in on the tackle when a Pats DB was taking back a pick for a TD? This game was a shocker, and I don’t think anyone saw this one coming. Viva la underdogs!!!

Number 6

If I were any team in the NFL right now, I would want to play the Washington Redskins every single week. These guys are SO bad, they made Priest Holmes look like a top notch NFL back this weekend. Holmes rushed for 147yds on 23 carries, and Trent Green sliced and diced that Skins secondary for 307yds and 3TDs. This Washington team is really bad right now, and what’s worse is, I think Schottenheimer has lost control of his team. Did you see how many Skins players simply gave up on plays yesterday? Schotts is gonna lose it in film sessions this week, but it wont matter, because his team doesn’t respect him anyway.

Number 5

The most entertaining game this week was the Rams / Dolphins game. The Dolphins jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the 1st quarter, but after that, the Rams ran away from the Fish (literally) rolling it up to 42-10. Warner was spectacular, Faulk was amazing, Torry Holt looks faster every time I see him play, and that defense is looking mighty formidable. This does not look good for us in the NFC West, or for the rest of the NFL, for that matter.

Number 4

How bout those Cleveland Browns? 2-1 to start the season. The win an important division game against the Jags Sunday, and finally beat the Jags for the first time in 7 tries. Congrats Browns, and good luck the rest of the season.

4A

One thing that really made me mad in that Browns / Jags game was that vicious, uneccessary cheap shot that rookie Gerard Warren put on Mark Brunell, knocking him out of the game (and this universe apparently). There was no need for that shot, as the play looked to me like an incomplete pass, but Warren must have thought it was a fumble and took the opportunity to lay a shot on the QB. That was brutal. Just as brutal as the shot that Oakland’s Elijah Alexander layed on Trent Dilfer. Dilfer had just come into the game to relieve the struggling Matt Hasselbeck and on his 2nd pass (40+ yd completion) he was rocked in a helmet to helmet hit by Alexander. There is just no need for that.

Number 3

Don’t forget about the champs, just yet. The Ravens beat up the Broncos Sunday with that great defense of theirs, and their offense actually came back from a 0-7 early deficit. This 20-13 win by the Ravens shows everyone in the NFL that the champs are not out of it just yet, and that loss to the Bengals may have been a fluke. Remember now, the Ravens didn’t exactly play stellar football for all of the regular season last year, so maybe it takes them a while to get rolling. The Ravens now have the Titans coming up next, and you can bet that Jeff Fisher will have the Titans ready to play after starting off 0-2, that should be a helluva game.

Number 2

The game of the Week, in most people’s minds this week was the Bengals / Chargers game. You know what? This was an entertaining game. The Bengals actually believe they can win games now, and are loving their coach, and that makes them fun to watch. Their major drawback is Jon Kitna, I wouldn’t place a 2 dollar bet on this guy playing anywhere on the road, and as the pressure mounts for him to perform, he will begin to crumble, as will the Bengals’ season (cue: Scott Mitchell). Sorry folks, I am just not getting on that Bengals bandwagon just yet, it is way to full, and it looks like its on the verge of breaking down.

The Chargers, check that, the NFL just LOVES Doug Flutie, in a “Little Engine that Could” kind of way, don’t they? I have said this time and time again, this guy knows how to win football games, plain and simple. He must be having the time of his life in San Diego right now, because he finally has a running attack (Tomlinson has gained 100yds in each of his three games – 3TDs this week), decent receivers (Conway, Graham and Dwight), and his patchwork O-line is actually holding together. Flutie’s time in Buffalo must seem like a long, cold, time ago.

Number 1

I think the greatest line I heard in last night’s 19-17 49ers win over the Jets was, “These guys are embarrassing the Jets defensive line now…” That made my night, I could sleep well and wake up happy, having heard that. The 49ers put on a rushing display that I haven’t seen in a long time by a 49ers team, rolling up 233yds on the ground, all the while controlling the pace of play, dominating the trenches and eating up the clock. Garrison Hearst picked a great time to show his old form, carrying 20 times for 95yds. Hearst looked great, making cuts, dragging tacklers and running hard the entire game, and when he was spelled by rookie Kevan Barlow, Barlow was just as effective, gaining 83yds on only 9 carries. On a night where the emotions ran high for the Jets, the Niners took that element out of it by constantly pounding away with the running game, this also took that noisy Jets crowd out of the game too. The thing that impressed me most was after the Jets has gone up 7-0 on a TD by Curtis Martin, the Niners promptly marched the ball all the way down the field to tie it up, when they did that, I thought to myself, “I think we’re gonna win this one…”