Some news & notes from last night's Monday night doubleheader, and other news that broke on Monday.
Monday Night Football
- According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Jerry Porter was seen laughing and pumping his fist after one of the many times (7 total) Aaron Brooks was sacked last night. Porter was inactive for the game, and it's been clear since before training camp that Porter wants out of Oakland. Perhaps his alleged (we didn't see it, so we can't confirm it) celebration over his team's misfortune will be the final straw that sends Porter packing.
- Danny Snyder spent nearly $62M on off-season acquisitions to upgrade the offense, and in Week 1, that spending spree once again failed to pay off.
Three drives stalled in the red zone, and the Redskins were forced to settle for chip-shot field goals from John Hall. With a coordinator earning more money than Vikings QB Brad Johnson this year, you'd expect Washington to score more than 1 touchdown in their 4 red zone attempts.
I'm feeling less comfortable about my prediction that Washington will win the NFC East.
Week 1 Casualty Report
The general belief in the NFL is that after Week 1, nobody is playing at 100%. This weeks notable injuries include:
Travelle Wharton, LT, Carolina Panthers - Lost for the year with a torn ACL & MCL in his left knee. Major loss for the Panthers, who are pretty thin at the tackle position.
Dan Morgan, MLB, Carolina Panthers - Concussion. I've lost count of how many times Morgan has been concussed. If you were counting, you'd need two hands and that's never a good thing. NFL franchises do not mess around with head injuries, so I don't expect to see Morgan on the field anytime soon. There is a possibility that the multiple concussions may signal a premature end to Morgan's playing career.
Joe Jurevicius, WR, Cleveland Browns - Jurevicius is expected to miss a minimum of 4-6 weeks with broken ribs. Ironically, it was a rib injury to Bobby Engram that catapulted Jurevicius into the Seahawks starting lineup last October. This is bad news for the Browns, as Jurevicius is the big, sure-handed target that you'd want when you're breaking in a young QB.
Trent Green, QB, Kansas City Chiefs - Will miss a minimum of two games after suffering a concussion on the weekend's most controversial hit. Green was giving himself up when he was viciously hit by Bengals DE Robert Geathers, who was not flagged on the play. After seeing countless replays of this hit, I'm starting to see Geathers side of things. It's unfortunate that Green got injured, but I'm thinking that this is one of those plays where the defender couldn't possibly have avoided making contact. Protecting the quarterbacks is something the NFL strives to do, but it's not tiddly-winks out there, and occasionally, a QB is going to get jacked up.
K-Rob Signs With the Packers
From the "Have Talent/Will Travel" department comes the news that Koren Robinson has signed a contract to play for the Green Bay Packers.
It's obvious that Packers GM Ted Thompson is kidding himself when he says:
"I'm not making excuses," Thompson said. "He's made some mistakes. But this is a good kid. He is a good character guy, for all intents and purposes."
Good characters are players like Troy Brown or Hines Ward. Guys who weren't given much of opportunity to even make the NFL, but earned every chance they got and forged great careers for themselves. Robinson doesn't fit the bill, Ted. This is a guy who was chosen with the 9th pick of the 2001 NFL draft and has squandered every opportunity handed to him.
I have no doubt that Koren Robinson is a nice, likable guy and I sincerely hope he learns how to keep his demons at bay. But to call him a "good character guy" while justifying his signing is a weak attempt to mask the fact that the Green Bay Packers are a terrible football team.
Bledsoe + Pressure = Tony Romo, starting NFL QB
Bill Parcells did little yesterday to diffuse the brewing QB controversy in Dallas. A day after Drew Bledsoe gave away interceptions like they were unwanted kittens, it's crystal clear that Parcells is inching closer and closer to replacing Bledsoe with untested, but more mobil QB Tony Romo.
I didn't watch much of the Cowboys-Jaguars game, but it appeared that both interceptions thrown by Bledsoe in the 4th quarter on Sunday were poor, unforced throws. And that won't sit well with the Tuna.
Reaction to Branch Trade
The Boston Herald has articles on the Branch deal here, here, and a good article on the lack of WR on the Patriots roster right now. John "Popper" Tomase reports on how other Patriots took the news.
The Boston Globe checks in with some comments from a miserable Richard Seymour here. Alleged anti-Patriot Ron Borges never misses an opportunity to say "I told you so" to the Patriots brass.
Clare Farnsworth of the Seattle-Post Intelligencer touches upon all the angles of the Branch trade.
The Seattle Times has an article here, and a good column by Jerry Brewer here on the Branch trade.
Dave Boling of the Tacoma News Tribune writes that the addition of Branch indicates what the Seahawks ambitions are, while Mike Sando goes above and beyond and provides not only the facts detailing the Branch trade, but also has a history of trades the Seahawks have made involving 1st round draft choics.
Nationally, Clark Judge of CBS Sportsline.com thinks that the Patriots got the better end of the deal.
And I think Judge is insane.
Look at the Patriots receiving corps without Branch, then look at the reaction in the Patriots locker room to the news he's been traded, and try to tell me that New England came out on top yesterday.
Seattle just acquired a 27-year old wide receiver who is heading into the prime of a career that already has "Super Bowl MVP" attached to it?
Meanwhile, the Patriots underestimated Branch's value in today's NFL, allowed the rest of the league to determine what Branch's ultimate value really is (a MAJOR front-office blunder) and took a 1st round pick from a team that just played in the Super Bowl because they couldn't afford to trade him inside their own division.
Clark Judge dusts off some of the recent WR deals in an attempt to illustrate that Seatle overpaid for Branch. He mentions that Phiadelphia traded a DL (Brandon Whiting) and a 5th round pick for Terrell Owens. San Diego traded a 3rd and 6th round picks for Kennan McCardell and Atlanta recently shipped a 3rd round pick for Ashley Lelie.
Hey, Clark! So what?
Philadelphia got Owens on the cheap because San Francisco had no choice but to trade him. Has Judge alreayd forgotten about the mess Owens created within the 49ers organization, and that um...San Francisco technically didn't have to trade Owens, either, since the head case's agent forgot to file the proper paperwork?
When the Chargers acquired McCardell, the disgruntled wide receiver was 34 years old and holding out on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. McCardell has been in San Diego for two years, and at 36, his time remaining in the NFL is limited. When Branch is in his 3rd season with Seattle, he'll be 30.
I'm giddy that Judge has brought the trade of Ashley Lelie into the discussion. According to Judge, the one difference between the two stalemates was that the Patriots got a 1st round pick for Branch, while the Broncos only received a 3rd from Atlanta.
First of all, the Broncos didn't get anything from Atlanta. They got the Redskins 3rd round pick in a 3-team deal. If you want to compare what Atlanta traded to Washington (who sent the 3rd round pick to Denver) for Lelie, you're talking about running back TJ Duckett, a former 1st round draft pick. But Clark Judge is only a national columnist, so we shouldn't expect him to remember such things.
Judge cannot be serious with his comparison of Lelie to Branch. Ashley Lelie was a 1st round draft pick who hasn't done anything in the NFL as of yet. In Denver, he was the #3 WR, was holding out and even if he returned, he likely wouldn't have had any impact in Denver.
Branch is a 2nd round pick who outperformed his rookie deal. He was the New England Patriots #1 WR, Tom Brady's favorite and most reliable target. Once he had to return in Week 10, to get credit for the season, Branch would've instantly improved the Patriots passing attack heading into the playoffs.
So is trading a #1 pick for someone like that worth it?
Hell. Yes.
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