NFL Monday recap - week #7

Steelers: The game was on television this week, and my husband, daughter, and the dog left the house so that I could enjoy it in peace...until they came back.

• Can I mention how much I hate LaGarrette Blount? He used to be a Steeler back in 2014, but he didn't like that La'Veon Bell was getting the carries, and so one day, he walked off the field before a game was finished. The Steelers released him for behavior reasons, and then he got picked up by the Patriots. The fact that he then went on to win a Super Bowl that year makes me crazy with madness, but why don't the Steelers feel this way? The fans do. They booed the hell out of him when he was on the field yesterday, but the defense? Let him just run right through them. Ugh. I thought bad guys never won.
• Penalties. Ten of them for 85 yards. What is with us in the penalty department now after starting out so well? We would have tied the score with two T.D.s apiece, but no, a holding call wiped out Heyward-Bey's Pittsburgh touchdown, and then we couldn't get into the end zone or make the field goal. 
• Back up quarterback Landry Jones, named for Dallas Cowboys Tom Landry wasn't as bad as I thought he would be. He came out with a confidence I hadn't seen in him before, and with Ben helping on the sidelines, he did respectable even after throwing an interception in the end zone at the beginning of the first quarter. One thing for sure is he had tons of time in the shotgun.
• Landry Jones has to be able to change course, however, because with Antonio Brown in the backfield running slants, Jones has to be able to see that and get him the ball. It is a Brown signature move.
• The defense tried, but they were worn out by the time the fourth quarter rolled around. So was La'Veon Bell, who had no help in the running game as De'Angelo Williams was out with inflamed knees.
• Our list of injuries is too high. Pretty soon, we won't have anyone we know in the game as they will all be watching from the sidelines. 
• In the fourth quarter, there was a lack of communication. When Jones threw the receivers were never looking in the right direction.
• My god, the love for Tom Brady from the media, is mind-boggling. At the end of the game, as Brady took a knee, Jim Nantz talked about how the Patriots have taken care of business the last three weeks against Cleveland, Cincinnati, and now Pittsburgh. Uh, yeah, they beat a team that is currently 0-7, and a team whose quarterback is out of commission, Jim.
• I will say, though, that both teams have respect for each other. It is a much better team to play than the Bengals or the Ravens.

Other: Crazy start to the football week. Mistakes galore, and it didn't get much better in the second round of games.

• Hot potato, the hot potato was the first quarter of the Minnesota/Philadelphia game. In the first three drives, there were five turnovers; interception, interception, fumble, stripped ball, and an interception. The two quarterbacks had a combined total of 36 yards with 4:36 left in the first quarter. Whoop. Woop. Whoop. Whoop. Whoop.
• Slick balls were the theme for three teams as Jacksonville's Rashad Green waiting in the backfield for Oakland's punt immediately fumbled and lost the ball. Redskins Vernon Davis had a great run, was stopped short of the goal line, fumbled the ball, and it was recovered in the end zone by the Lions. Buffalo's Tyrod Taylor, on his way into the end zone, tripped and fumbled the ball, but luckily for him, he recovered it for the T.D.
• Then there were the blind kickers. Cincinnati's Mike Nugent missed his first field goal wide right. Detroit's kicker Matt Prater missed his field goal way left, not even near the goalposts. Tennessee's Ryan Succop didn't even get his shot to miss the extra point against the Colts as place holder Brett Kern bumbled his way with the ball. Succop hopped over the ball and then tried to catch the ball from Kern, but yeah, they didn't get anywhere with that screw-up.
• Los Angeles' Casey Keenum also had his blinders on as he threw a perfect pass into the end zone to a wide-open New York Giant's Dominique Rogers-Cromartie. Whoop. Wrong team.
• Lots of celebrating in the end zone this week with the first set of games. There was dancing, strutting, bowing, and flips. There were NO flags. 
• CBS' male sideline reporter Chris Fischer's interview of Buffalo's coach Rex Ryan at half time made all of the women sideline reporters look great. He had a brain fart of some kind, swallowing his words and stuttering. He looked like a fan in awe of an idol.
• I never noticed how confusing it is to watch the Browns and the Bengals play each other when both teams are covered in orange. What? The Browns couldn't wear their brown uniforms? At the end of the first half, Andy Dalton just powered the ball down the field into the end zone on a Hail Mary, and all of that orange jumping and reaching was confusing, but whoa, how about Bengals A.J. Green bumbling that ball into his arm for the six points?
• Does anyone else feel sorry for the Browns? In this, the year of the Chicago Cubs, it makes you think maybe someday the Browns will have their moment in the sun.
• How great was Detroit's Matt Stafford's comeback in the last few seconds of the game? I love his enthusiasm and his backyard football. I don't know why I didn't draft him for my fantasy football.
• Atlanta's kicker Matt Bryant misses the F.G. with one second left on the clock. What was with the kicking today? Heartbreaking for this team at home.
• Snoozefest on Sunday night between the Seahawks and the Cardinals. It went to overtime with a score of 3-3, and guess what? Both kickers made field goals to tie the score at 6-6, and then typical for the day, both missed field goals ending the game in a tie.
• I have to say something about last week's bad boys of the league; Dolphins Ndamukong Suh and Bengals Vontaze Burfict. The Steelers filed a formal complaint last week on Suh after Ben Roethlisberger felt Suh kicked him in the knee while pushing and shoving David DeCastro. He wasn't going to get to Ben as DeCastro wasn't about to let that happen, so Suh just flung out his leg and kicked the knee. The NFL didn't feel it was intentional. Meanwhile, Burfict was busy in New England going low on tackles against Patriots LeGarrette Blount and Martellus Bennett. I've seen the tapes on all three incidents, and while it can be spun to fit either team's beliefs, let's be honest. These guys are getting away with way too much. Suh was cleared, but Burfict, who was playing after coming off a suspension for his hit last season on Steelers Antonio Brown, was fined $75,000 for "stomping" on Blount's leg. As Steelers Ramon Foster pointed out this week, "You fine Antonio Brown more for freaking dancing in the end zone..." Exactly. Roger Goodell keeps going on and on about cleaning up the league, but this kind of behavior is okay? Enough is enough, Fines don't mean much when you're raking in $20 million and more. Apparently, neither do suspensions. Kicked out of the league? That would speak volumes.