Sunday Surveillance

October 13, 2008 11:01am CDT

Whatcha Hurtin' With Now Willis?
This may come as a surprise to absolutely no one, but Ravens running back Willis McGahee was once again forced to the sideline with an injury this week. McGahee exited the game in the third quarter with an apparent knee injury and head coach John Harbaugh had no further news about McGahee's status after the game. Against a favorable matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, McGahee managed just 18 yards on eight rushing attempts and four receptions for 26 receiving yards. This shouldn't come as a shock to fantasy owners, as McGahee is injury prone every year and will likely remain so throughout the season.


Jones-en for Paydirt

After posting great numbers in Week 1 against the Dolphins, Jets running back Thomas Jones has done little since worthy of mentioning. But in Sunday's throw-down in New York, Jones scorched the Bengals' defense for two touchdowns and 65 yards on the ground and hooked up with Brett Favre three times for 13 yards and one receiving touchdown. Excluding Jones and Jerricho Cotchery (eight catches for 85 yards), the Jets offense looked pretty blah and rather unimpressive against a soft Cincinnati defense. The Bengals' continued their winless season and appear to be in a tight race with the Lions for that No.1 pick in next year's NFL draft.


M.J.D. Is O.T.C.
For all of those "old school" Fanballers out there, OTC is an acronym for "Off the Chain!" In this week's matchup against the Denver Broncos, Maurice Jones-Drew truly was off the chain, as he ran for 125 yards and two touchdowns on 22 rushing attempts. The fine wine himself, Fred Taylor, was forced to the sideline after sustaining a blow to the head from Broncos linebacker Nate Webster. This was only the second time MJD eclipsed the 100-yard mark on the ground this season and fourth and fifth time he reached paydirt. The Jags are on a bye next week, which should give Freddie time to remember where he parked his motorized cart. Get it? It's because he' old and...nevermind.


NFC East Meltdown
In one of the more shocking finishes thus far into the '08 season, the 4-1 Washington Redskins, who previously defeated both the Cowboys and the Eagles on the road, couldn't manage to wrangle the disappointing St. Louis Rams in a last second thriller. Thanks in large part to the leg of kicker Josh Brown (4-for-4 on field goal attempts), the Rams controlled much of this game and managed to slam 'Skins Nation back to reality with one game winning field goal. Not only did the Redskins lose, but America's team, the Dallas Cowboys, suffered their second loss of the season, as they fell to the Arizona Cardinals. After allowing the Cowboys to tie the game and take the action into overtime, the Cards' Monty Beisel recovered a blocked Dallas punt at the 3-yard-line and rolled into the end zone for a Cardinals win. On a side-note, why are linemen (Casey Rabach) catching balls that are batted up in the air? Just let it drop big guy!


Paved Rhodes
In Sunday's action against the Baltimore Ravens, Colts star running back Joseph Addai sustained a hamstring injury early in the first quarter on a 2-yard run. Addai never returned to the game and finished with two rushes for three yards. In his absence, backup running back Dominic Rhodes stepped up and carried the Colts rushing attack for 73 yards and one touchdown on 25 attempts. It's unclear right now as to the extent of Addai's injury or status for Week 7, but his owners (who haven't already) might want to start handcuffing him to Rhodes right now.


Rams Win, Bulger Loses
As exciting as the first win of the season is, unfortunately for the St. Louis Rams, it comes with bad news. Offensive left tackle Orlando Pace, hands-down the best and most consistent o-lineman the Rams have, pulled his quadriceps in the Rams victory over the Redskins. If Pace is unable to suit up in Week 7, the Rams would put Adam Goldberg up against Dallas' DeMarcus Ware and Marc Bulger would likely have to increase the foam in his helmet and wear an extra flak jacket.


The Big (Way Too) Easy
It's pretty clear by now that former head coach Lane Kiffin was not the biggest problem on the Raiders sideline, as they were completely manhandled 34-3 by Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. It would be easy to say that the Raiders simply collapsed, but "collapsing" infers that a team was once at a point in which a collapse was visible. Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell completed an atrocious 37% of his passes (13-for-35) for 159 yards and two turnovers (one interception and one fumble). The Raiders defense let Saints quarterback Drew Brees complete 26-of-30 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns. Even though old-school owner Al Davis swears by his man (Russell), any intelligent football fan has to question JaMarcus' ability to get the job done.


Marion The Reception Barbarian
What running back Marion Barber lacked on the ground in Sunday's game against the Cardinals, he made up for in the receiving column. Barber managed just 45 yards on 17 carries but redeemed himself by hauling in 11 receptions for 128 yards and one touchdown. Even though a majority of Barber's receiving yardage came on one 70-yard touchdown catch, his number of receptions is impressive in itself. This was Barber's second receiving touchdown of the year, as he greatly benefited from the injury sustained by rookie Felix Jones (hamstring) in the third quarter.


Lightning Strikes Three Times...Again
For the fourth time this season, San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers hit the trifecta mark. In Sunday's dominant performance over the New England Patriots, Rivers completed 18-of-27 passes for 306 yards and three passing touchdowns. Through six games played, Rivers has thrown for almost 1,500 yards and 14 touchdowns. With Chris Chambers (ankle) unable to suit up, wide receiver Vincent Jackson thrived, hooking up with Rivers five times for 134 yards and one touchdown. Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss once again played the role of the "invisible man" and recorded only three receptions for 26 yards. I wonder if Bill Belichick misses Tom Brady as much as Moss owners do?