Diner Morning News: NFL Weekend Rewind

National Football Post

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.”

— Albert Einstein

Weekend in Review: What I Learned

Jay Cutler came to play...

Watching the game Sunday night, I kept thinking, “How lucky are the Bears?” Give them credit. They made the trade, the one personnel move they needed to make, and they didn’t listen to all the perceptions about Jay Cutler like another team in the NFC North. Now they need to get him under a long-term deal because the price of doing business with quarterbacks keeps rising.

Tedy Bruschi retires...

Some players know when the end is near, and Tedy Bruschi clearly realized that his chances of making the Patriots this season were very slim. He was running with second team, and watching him play in the second half of the game Friday night told me that he was close to the end. Now, Bruschi has made the decision for the Patriots. He walks away from the game he loves and can look back on a great career.

Matt Cassel injured....

Because of Matt Cassel’s recent knee injury, the Chiefs may have to put their Tyler Thigpen trade talks on hold. Watching the injury happen during the game Saturday against Seattle, along with Cassel’s initial reaction, I thought it was much more severe.

Matt Leinart...and Vince Young

In case you missed it the other night, Matt Leinart finally played like a first-round pick. He threw for 360 yards and three touchdowns and might have had another had a Lance Long been ruled inbounds. This is something build on, and I realize it was against the Packers’ second- and third-team players, but there was progress.

And in case you also missed the Titans’ game at Cleveland, Vince Young played much better than he has all preseason. Yes, he was inconsistent with his decision-making ability and accuracy, but he looked like he’s making progress. His speed and athletic ability were too much for the Browns’ defense, which appeared slow.

The Browns’ QB Derby…

I live part-time (when he’s home from college) with a Browns fan (my oldest son), who’s also a huge Brady Quinn fan. After his review of the game Saturday, he feels it’s Quinn all the way. I watched the game, and for me it’s close, but I feel like the Browns have too much invested in Quinn and will make him the starter. They found a back in the later rounds this year, sixth-round pick James Davis, who looks like the real deal. I’m still not sold that Jamal Lewis will make the team.

Turk Schonert and the Buffalo Bills...

Turk Schonert is the offensive coordinator of the Bills, a team that has some very good skills players but can’t find the end zone if it had a map. They have an offensive line that’s young, and most importantly, they have a quarterback who is still unproven. The pressure is on Schonert, but it’s also on Trent Edwards because the Bills based their whole offseason on Edwards being the answer. Again, most personnel mistakes in the NFL occur when teams wrongly evaluate their own talent.

The Falcons’ defense...

The Falcons are a good organization and a very good football team on offense. They feel very confident with their defensive line. They had better be right because their secondary is suspect, and I believe cornerback Brent Grimes is going to be a part of many opponents’ game plans. What will the score of this year’s Falcons-Saints game be, 45-41?

The Baltimore Ravens are for real...

The Ravens look for real, and Joe Flacco made some of the best throws I’ve seen this summer. I was worried about him coming out of college in terms of being able to anticipate his throws and show a rhythm to his game. But he has proven me wrong, and quarterbacks coach Hue Jackson, along with offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, have done a wonderful job improving Flacco in every phase. He looks so much quicker now.

Marion Barber and the Cowboys’ backs...

Marion Barber is still an effective inside runner and does all the things that backs need to do well—protect, catch, and run. But when the Cowboys need to make big plays or speed up the game, they need to have Tashard Choice or Felix Jones on the field. As the season progresses, I have a feeling we’ll see more Choice and more Jones, and less Barber.

Levels of expectations for the good, the bad and the ugly

Yes, it’s still only preseason, so the Packers and Saints are good, but not as good as they showed this past weekend. And the Raiders and Bills are not that bad. There will have to be a little balance in terms of the expectations for the good and the bad.

I love the Packers, but there will be some bumps in the road that they can overcome, but they have to be able to deal with their success as a team. As for the Bills and the Raiders, their coaching staffs will have the players’ full attention this week. They need to make the most of it.

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Follow me on Twitter: michaelombardi

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