[ Watch The Birdie II, Revenge Of The Feathery Thing (Page
7) ]
Well, that was fun. And luckily, we get a week off to brood about what might
have been.
Good Lord, is it that time already? I swear, it gets earlier and earlier
every year! And so, without so much as a hint of any further ado, it's the Bye Week Stat Spectacular!
OFFENCE (League rank - 13th/yards, 1st/points)
Passing (League rank - 4th)
Jeff BLAKE - 117/184 (63%) for 1513 yds. 12 TDs, 7 INT, 95.2 Rtg.
Josh McCOWN - 5/7 (71%) for 56 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT, 94.2 Rtg.
Well, say what you like, but we successfully identified our biggest problem in
the passing-game from last season (too many turnovers) and, touch wood, have
sorted it out. It'd look even more like we'd sorted it out if Blake hadn't
thrown a couple of game-losing picks last week, of course, but the general trend
is still there.
And yes, both the passes Josh McCown hasn't completed have been intercepted.
Bizarre.
Receiving
Bryant JOHNSON - 33 catches for 542 yds (16.4yd avg, long 55yds), 7 TD
Anquan BOLDIN - 28 catches for 424 yds (15.1yd avg, long 60yds), 3 TD
Shaun McDONALD - 16 catches for 202 yds (12.6yd avg, long 32yds), 0 TD
Freddie JONES - 12 catches for 166 yds (13.8yd avg, long 32yds), 0 TD
This was a strength in 2003, and it remains a strength in 2004. Assuming they
stay fit, the Big Two are almost precisely on pace to match their impressive
yardage totals from last season. Shaun McDonald has been a smidgeon less
productive than Bryan Gilmore in the slot, but will probably see more passes
thrown his way now Gilmore's departed for Detroit. Freddie Jones remains a
decent outlet, and while the halfbacks have only 150 yards receiving between
them, they do have three scores to bring to the party.
Rushing (League rank - 6th)
Marcel SHIPP - 150 carries for 695 yds (4.6 yd
avg, long 58 yds), 10 TDs, 2 fumbles
Travis MINOR - 19 carries for 89 yds (4.6 yd avg, long 16 yds), 0 TD, 1 fumble
Marcel Shipp PwNz j00. Averaging a second-only-to-LDT 115 yards a game and with
by far the most rushing TDs in the league, the only caveat is that he's
currently on pace for 400 carries in the regular season. Both areas of concern
from last year have been improved - his average per-carry is up by nearly a full
yard, and his ball-handling is getting better too. Marcel had 7 fumbles in 350
carries last year, but projecting out his current numbers will give him just 5
fumbles in 400 touches. Still not perfect, I admit, but a definite step in the
right direction. Travis Minor's not had a lot to do, but he's done it
competently enough.
DEFENCE (League rank - 29th/yards, 32nd/points)
Oh dear. And, moving swiftly on...
SPECIAL TEA...
Oh, all right.
Tackles
Adrian WILSON (SS) - 36
Levar FISHER (WLB) - 31
Dexter JACKSON (FS) - 21
Raynoch THOMPSON (SLB) - 19
Paul GRASMANIS (DT) - 18
The usual suspects, really. It's nice to have at least one of the d-line in the
top 5, though. Tackles, and stopping the run, isn't really our problem this
season.
Sacks (League rank - 17th)
Paul GRASMANIS (DT) - 7
Levar FISHER (WLB) - 6
Wendell BRYANT (DT) - 3
Calvin PACE (DE) - 2
Larry DICKERSON (DE) - 1
All in all, I've had worse free-agent pickups than Paul Grasmanis. His numbers
are a bit skewed by the Atlanta game, however, in which he and Levar Fisher made
Michael Vick's (dum-dum daaaaaa!) close personal acquaintance no less than 9
times between them. That freakish abberation taken aside, no Cardinal has more
than 3 sacks on the year. Which isn't all that great, especially given the
resources invested in the D-line in the offseason. Ho hum.
Interceptions (League rank - 10th)
David BARRETT (NCB), Jed BOWDEN (LCB), Levar FISHER (WLB), Dexter JACKSON (FS) -
2
Tay CODY (RCB), Raynoch THOMPSON (SLB) - 1
For all my whining, the D-line has definitely played better this season, and
this is where you can see the result. Levar Fisher continues to strengthen his
case for being our Defensive MVP of the season so far (he also has the joint
team lead in Tackles-For-Loss with 5), it's a nice start for Bowden, the rookie
corner, and even taking away his starting spot doesn't keep No-Mark down. It all
adds up to a turnover differential of plus-4, good for 6th in the league.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicking
Thingamajig GRAMATICA - 11/12 FG (91%, long 50yds), 24/24 PAT
What can I say? A nice effort from Whatshisface.
Punting
Scott PLAYER - 15 punts for 677 yds (45.1 yd avg, long 57 yds), 4 inside 20, 2
TB.
Scotty's put two and a half yards on his average from last year, which is all
you can ask, really.
Kick Returns
Josh SCOBEY - 13 returns for 249 yds (19.1yd avg)
Terry FAIR - 8 returns for 141 yds (17.6yd avg)
Meh.
Punt Returns
Terry FAIR - 5 returns for 56 yards (11.1 yd avg)
Travis MINOR - 3 returns for 32 yards (10.6 yd avg)
Pretty good, but definitely no more than that. Be nice to find a really great
return man in the next off-season.
-
So, let's have a little wander around the league, and see how things are
shaping up this season. Starting close to home, then...
St. Louis Rams 6-0 (5-0 Div)
Seattle Seahawks 4-2 (1-2 Div)
ARIZONA CARDINALS 4-2 (0-2 Div)
San Francisco 69ers 4-3 (0-2 Div)
Yes, we're officially stuck right slap-bang in the middle of The Toughest
Division In Football™. NFC West teams have only lost one game all season to a
team from outside the division (the 69ers' week 5 surrender in Miami), and
currently boast one of only three unbeaten records in the NFL - the other two
belonging to Kansas City and Dallas.
At the opposite end of the scale is the AFC North, whose members have racked
up just three victories outside of divisional opponents, have 3 teams sporting
losing records and contain the 0-6 Baltimore Goths.
Stop that sniggering at the back.
And then there's the NFC North. There's always the NFC North. Let's
re-create this fine division's special achievements in full:
Chicago Bears 3-3
Minnesota Vikings 2-5
Green Bay Packers 1-5
Detroit Loins 0-6
Ouchy.
With the Rams effectively three games ahead of us in the divisional race,
it's probably time to be looking at the possibility of a wildcard berth. Our
main rivals outside the division appear at this stage to be in the NFC East,
with the 5-2 Giants and the 4-2 Indigenous-People. Meanwhile, the 5-1 Bucs seem
to have the South under control, only the 3-4 Saints being even within spitting
distance.
In the AFC, the Titans and Chiefs are in great shape, the Steelers aren't but
don't have to be when they've only got to play the Bengals, the Ravens and the
Oranges, and it's entirely possible both wildcards could come from the
traditional dogfight in the East, where the Bills have their noses in front but
the Marine-Mammals and Jets are only a short head behind.
Now for what's usually my very favourite part of the bye-week roundup - a
tiptoe through the league's injury report. But it's a bit of a letdown this
year, with a distinct lack of star-power to jazz up the long-term-injury list.
Still, I think we can all enjoy bad things happening to Kyle Turley (severe
concusssion, horrible haircut) and Grant Wistrom (foot fracture, worse haircut).
Oh, and I have to mention Carolina's rookie defensive end, who's out for the
next 8 weeks with a torn bicep, a chap who's clearly a member of the
little-known Redneck sect of Islam - Ted Muhammad.
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(c) daniel
roe 2004
