MMQB: Week 4

A Monday Morning Quarterback (MMQB) - A person who criticizes or passes judgement with benefit of hindsight.

Welcome to the second installment of the Monday Morning Quarterback. Week 4 is in the books and things are becoming interesting. Obviously, my interest is primarily the NFC North and story lines there are very rich right now. The Packers and Lions are the only undefeated teams in the NFL. They've done it in completely different ways. The Packers have dominated their opponents while the Lions have shown a never-say-die attitude and come from behind to win games in exciting ways. I'm still not sold on them as a team, but I am sold on Calvin Johnson. Wow! That guy is amazing. He might be the best player in the NFL right now for anyone not named Aaron Rodgers. He's that good.

Aaron Rodgers might very well be playing the best football in the history of the NFL. I know, it's a bold statement, but he is nearly flawless. What I like most about him is he makes defenses pay for mistakes. He's like a shark who smells blood and goes for the kill. I've been asked by people how to beat the Packers right now and the only thing I can think of is a team would have to be perfect on defense. Seriously, perfect. I don't know if that's possible. The game in Atlanta next week is going to be fun.

I saw something during the Packers game beyond the score and statistics that I think is worth mentioning. It was 48-17 and the game was well out of hand so the back-up quarterback for the Packers, Matt Flynn, was in the game. He overthrew Randall Cobb on 3rd and long and came to the sidelines to Mike McCarthy. Coach McCarthy was noticeably angry about the mistake and let Flynn know. It was great to see that McCarthy demands excellence from everyone in the gold helmet, even the second team offense. He has raised the bar and his team has standards that are on a different plane right now.

Alright, just so you know I didn't miss it...the Viking lost again. You know I'm not losing sleep over this. I'm actually enjoying it very much. They had another half time lead and fell apart to what I thought was the 2nd or 3rd worst team in the NFL (Chiefs). There are a couple of awful teams this year, but none with the talent of the Vikings (Peterson, Allen, etc.). They have some real superstars and it just simply doesn't matter at this point. I like Leslie Fraser as a man and identify with his lifestyle and faith commitment so it kind of pains me to say that I don't think he's a very good leader (right now, at least). Is his job in jeopardy? I think so.

The Philadelphia Eagles are still America's Dream Team. They're 1-3. Michael Vick played out of his mind and they still lost. I don't know if it's realistic to expect them to recover from this mini-recession that they're in. In fact, they might experience another recession before this "administration's" responsibilities are over. I'm sure they will look to players from other teams to help fix their problems.

The Jets are 2-2...whoop dee doo. Why do the prominent football media outlets love these guys so much? I don't want to hear Rex Ryan on the sidelines or after games anymore. Win when it matters, then I'll care what you have to say. Quit telling me how great you are; show me. I wish John Candy was still alive because he would play Rex Ryan splendidly in a movie or SNL skit.

How about the Titans? Or the 49ers? Or even the Redskins? Nobody expected much from these teams, but they're figuring out a few things about winning football games. The 49ers have a very good defense, don't they? The addition of Matt Hasselbeck in Tennessee has been a God-send for the Titans. If he can figure out how to use Chris Johnson they'll hang with the Texans until the end. How does Vince Young feel right now - ouch.

Last year, the Steelers put things together at the right time to make it to the Super Bowl, so I'm not going to be very critical of their ugly start. I just expected a lot from them right away. Last year, their first four games were awful because Ben Roethlisberger wasn't in the line-up, which made me ask if he was in the line-up for the first four games this year. He has been there, but hasn't been there. He might as well not have been playing because he hasn't been Big Ben. I know this because he's on one of my fantasy teams. So is Rashard Meandenhall...what the heck is his deal? The best thing the Steelers have is Mike Tomlin, so they'll be alright.

I think the Dolphins are in the driver's seat for Andrew Luck. Sorry to the Vikings fans who want Luck before experiencing the Ponder-era (which isn't far from beginning...and ending). They just can't get anything to go their way. I remember when the Packers beat the Vikings and Cardinals in the final two games of the season in 1988 to finish 4-12 and lose the first pick. They took one of the biggest busts of all-time in Tony Mandrich with the 2nd pick. I have a sense something similar will happen with the Vikings. I'm going to start looking for "can't miss" prospects who the Vikings will surely miss on. I enjoy their misery.

Oh, and to the Broncos fans, Tim Tebow isn't the answer right now. There isn't an answer at the moment, however, Von Miller is going to be special.

Of course I didn't start Cam Newton against the Bears in one of my leagues. Oops.