Richard Seymour Traded to the Raiders
The Patriots traded Richard Seymour to the Oakland Raiders for a 2011 first round draft pick last week. The trade seemed to come out of nowhere as there were no rumors in the media about such a trade. The Patriots unload another large contract and since Seymour was due to be a free agent next year they have likely made a good financial decision. Since the Raiders aren't likely to have a winning record for a while with crazy Al Davis running the show the Patriots stand to make off like bandits with a top draft pick in 2011. I hate the Patriots almost as much as I hate Ohio State but I have to give it to them on this one. Touche Belichick, Touche.
Browns Coach Mum on starter at QB
This week Browns head coach Eric Mangini said he decided on his starting QB but did not want to reveal who it was for reasons of having a competitive edge for their opener against the Vikings. Man-genius is over thinking this one by a mile. Its not like Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn are completely different types of quarterbacks. Neither is a scrambler or a run first Michael Vick kind of qb - just your average stand in the pocket and throw the ball kinds of guys. The Vikings don't really care who you have in there Mangini. They are still coming at you with everything they have regardless of who your QB is. I hope Mangini chose wisely. The Browns aren't going to be able to move the ball on the ground against one of the leagues best run defenses.
Steelers / Titans - Where's the run game Pittsburgh?
What happened to smash mouth, we're going to run the ball and there is nothing you can do about it football, Pittsburgh? The Steelers were held to only 39 yards on the ground against the Tennessee Titans this past Thursday night. Neither "Fast" Willie Parker or "Hopefully I wont get my shoulder broken again" Rashard Mendenhall were able to push the pile for any significant gains on Thursday. Coupled with the lack of a run game and Big Ben taking a lot of hits it is becoming pretty apparent that the Steelers need to spend some money on some premier offensive linemen very soon. I know they won the Super Bowl with pretty much the same personnel on the line, but Ben can't win every game by himself.
Favre signs with Vikings
Probably the biggest story while I was away was that Fave finally made the decision to join the Minnesota Vikings. Favre signed a two year deal that instantly made him the starting quarterback over Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels who were competing for the starting job themselves. While most would say this isn't "fair" Favre is a legend and is still better than those two guys at age 39. Let's hope Old Man River can do what the Vikes think he can and lead them deep into the playoffs. With Adrian Peterson carrying the rock against defenses that cant stack the box anymore I think a deep playoff run is more than likely.
