THE KICKING TEE

By The Grazianimal

Last week the only thing I got right was the fact that Samkon Gado is alive and well in Houston. The Colts did not cover, the Skins folded like a stack of cards and Philly went old school on Detroit for 10,000 points. They should be wearing those stupid unis until the cows came home at that rate, but the old outfits brought the flightless birds right back down to earth in week 4. This week a different take. A Wednesday column.

A month of Football buried all conventional wisdom from week one and draft days gone bye. The Lions are 3 and 1 along with Tampa Bay. The Saints are 0 and 3 and the Rams managed to lose their first 4 and the consensus #2 pick in Steve Jackson. That situation is a nightmare for Jackson owners as he is already been ruled out for week 5 and if he is healthy week 6 he gets the Raven defense to welcome him back. The Rams will go slow with him so expect a week or two of mixed duty after he hits the field and a bye in week 9. That means best case scenario he loses half a fantasy season of production and Steven was not lighting up the world before the groin tear with a suspect line and a slumping Marc Bulger.

Still there is opportunity in another man’s grief. If you have the depth SJ owners will be selling short or they will be out of the picture before their big gun gets his wheels back. You could make a move and have a really nice option down the stretch for your playoff run. It is a gamble and the teams with enough RB depth will be few and far between. Fate favors the Bold. See how desperate the poor schlub with Jackson on his roster is getting. In one of my leagues he is 0 and 4 and begging for help.

Let’s talk of the Buccaneers. They have surprised quite a few winning 3 of their first 4, taking two division opponents (N.O. and Carolina) and sitting atop the NFC south as October dawns. Things will get a lot tougher as Cadillac Williams and Luke Petitgout will be out for the rest of the year. Mike Pittman and Earnest Graham are now the hottest boys on the wire. Graham might get the goal line looks, but I like Pittman better as the trusted veteran who will see more time. The Buc turnaround can be attributed to one guy and that is Jeff Garcia. How they let that guy get out of Philly after the year he had, I don’t know. Last year QB play hurt Tampa all year with a rookie taking most of the snaps and Simms damaged, maybe forever. Garcia settles things and has Joey Galloway threatening DB’s again. This division will be a dog fight all season.

How about Green Bay undefeated with question marks all over the field! All over the field accept at QB where Brett Farve continues to wow crowds and bust records. No one has thrown more TD’s. And he never misses a Sunday. Hats off to the Gunslinger. He will beat Chicago at Lambeau this week.

Week 5 sees The Battle of the Swamp with Jets meet the Giants at 1pm Sunday. Always a good game, the Jets must win to avoid a 1 and 4 start and the Giants are looking to keep the good times rolling after waking up against the Skins and spanking the Eagles. I like Mangini to toss a few wrinkles in and be the better play caller for this one. I worry that rookie DB Revis will get picked on by Plax and Amani all day. It is going to be a big test for the Jet offensive line facing the record tying sack machine of Big Blue. Pennington has not done a good job of stretching the field and looks scared to toss a deep ball. He has a damn good receiver corps, it is a shame. Questions about his arm and shoulder are about to explode on the scene with calls for Kellen, if he can’t exploit a crap Giant defensive backfield. I could easily see this Giant team gettng arrogant after last week. The Giants will be favored in front of their crowd. Jets shock NY 32-19.

The Skins come back from their early off week with a real test, 3 and 1 Detroit. Detroit’s only slip up so far was the aforementioned Eagle explosion. The Redskins need this game to show they have what it takes to contend. They have had better then could be expected play from Portis and the Defense. If they are going to compete in the wildcard and division then they must avoid home losses to out of division opponents. The Lions are not going to let another team jump all over them again so soon after Team Sweden showed them what was up. Joe Gibbs can’t allow Jason Campbell to look lost for quarters at a time and, damn it, they need some innovative play calling out of Al Saunders. He should be ashamed of himself after that goal line debacle in the Giant game. Associate Head Coach Offense my [butt]. It has been a year and a half of crap out of that guy. Joe Gibbs Skins are some of the best offensive teams in the History of the Game. 3 Super Bowls with 3 different QB’s. This game is a big time gut check. Now Buddy, right NOW!

Now I am steaming. Cool the Grazianimal down at grazianimal@columnist.com