The Strong Shall survive

I think I have figured it out......

The difference between the haves and have nots in the NFL is brains!   Yes, smarts, intelligence....

Just look at the Monday Night Football games from Sept. 14th.   The Bills should clearly have beaten the Patriots and the Raiders should have ended there losing streak against the Bolts.  Both, in my opinion, outplayed there opponent, out hit their opponent, out toughed their opponent. Yet, both gave the games away with stupid, dumb, idiotic plays.  

The bills are up with a couple of minutes left. They had just given up a TD and were set to recieve the kickoff. Prepared in case of an onside kick, the "hands" team was in instead of the blocking team. All the bills' returner had to do was down the ball in the endzone or, at the very least, just fall down before getting hit. Instead, he tries to run through a wall of Pats with little blocking. End result, fumble. Pats recover, score TD. Game over.       

By the way, would the Bills and Pats please keep wearing the throwback uniforms.   Much better than the modern, poor taste styles.   Yeah for the old gray facemasks.

The Raiders.  Like them or not, you'd have to agree the NFL would be a more interesting place if the Raiders would become relevant again.  Some of you may not remember, but there were some great, hard hitting playoff games through Oakland in the 70's and 80's.

Jamarcus Russell went 12-30 passing.  At times he missed his receivers by at least 10 yards.  If he was a baseball pitcher he would have been pulled in the first after walking in 4 runs and just having reloaded the bases on walks.

However, the Raiders hit like the Raiders of old. Time after time Chargers had to be helped off the field after getting their bell rung. The Raiders again seemed intimidating.  But, with the game on the line the Raiders seemed to change their defensive scheme. Linebackers seemed to drop 15 to 20 yards on each pass play instead of playing tight like they had all night. Result:  P. Rivers, who's throwing action looks like someone with a seperated shoulder, hits running backs underneath for chunks of yards.   Final straw was a go ahead TD with seconds left.  

Neither are my favorite team. (however, I did have a Raiders helmet, jersey, and pants when I was about 11 or 12)  But, damn, I was pulling for both the Bills and Raiders.    I wanted them to mix things up with the standings.    I want the Pats to struggle.   I don't have faith in a Norv Turner coached team.   You could tell the Bolts were undisciplined and Norv strikes no fear in their hearts.  Rivers acts like a baby, not a leader.  I don't have faith the Chargers will do anything even if they make the playoffs.

Let's face it , if teams like the Raiders and Bills want to improve they need to play smarter.