FanHouse Phillip Rivers

The Early Games

New York Giants (5-2) at Philadelphia (4-2): The Giants are supposed to have one of the best pass rushes in the league, but they just haven't shown up in the past two games, with zero sacks over that time. They must get pressure on Donovan McNabb to have a chance on Sunday. Eli Manning also must figure out how to rebound from his four interceptions over the past two games.

With attention spans dwindling, we forego full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. We call it The Once-Over.

The Early Games

Tampa Bay (0-3) at Washington (1-2): With the Buccaneers winless this season and looking back at their final four losses to end last season, Tampa Bay hasn't won a regular season game since November 30, 2008. Add to that the fact that a new quarterback, Josh Johnson, is taking over for the Bucs and Antonio Bryant still isn't positive he'll play, and the horizon is bleak in Tampa.

Jim Zorn's days seem numbered in Washington. He lost to Detroit last week, which hadn't won since 2007. It might be the kiss of death if he drops a home game to Tampa Bay on Sunday.

Pick: Washington

With attention spans dwindling, we forego full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. We call it The Once-Over.

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Retired NFL quarterback Trent Green is the first-ever guest columnist of MMQB, filling in while Peter King is on vacation. Green provided an interesting read on subjects relating to the league's personal conduct policy, concussions and the expanded season. And of course it wouldn't be a MMQB without a healthy dose of Favre thrown in for good measure.

What jumps out of Green's article is his prediction that 10 quarterbacks will have over 4,000 yards passing this season. He says six are a lock to do it (Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Phillip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers), and seven have the potential to do it (Jay Cutler, Matt Cassel, Carson Palmer, Matt Schaub, Donovan McNabb, Tony Romo, Matt Hasselbeck).

Let's put this prediction in context:

Trades outside of draft weekend are so rare in the NFL these days that some people probably don't even know when the league's in-season trade deadline is (It's next Tuesday, by the way).

It's the exact opposite of say, Major League Baseball, where every fan in the league knows July 31 as the day. It's like a holiday on the league's calendar, as winning teams add their final piece to the puzzle, while losing teams look to gain some hope for next season. Having said that, there's been quite a few rumblings around the league the past few days about teams looking to swing a deal.

First, we had the news that Matt Millen laughingly tried to get DeMarcus Ware for Roy Williams, who may or may not be on the trade market. Then came a report that San Francisco might have interest in Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmanzadeh.

Like any blogger, I like a little smack talk between teams. Both the intended, and unintended. Either way, it generally makes for a good post game interview because someone always loses. But what I don't understand is why Tom O'Brien thought he needed to take a shot at South Florida's defense.

USF's defense took a shot from N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien last week when he told reporters he saw no reason to consult with the Bulls about stopping the spread offense...

"Did you watch them against Oregon?" O'Brien asked, referencing the Ducks' 56-21 trouncing of the Bulls in the Sun Bowl in El Paso. "Go look at that game. That was the spread that they were defending. I'm not saying anything about South Florida's defense, but if they're the gurus, we'd better go somewhere else."

Is he right? Kind of. Something did happen to the South Florida defense toward the end of the year. They weren't nearly the same unit that was shutting down Auburn and West Virginia at the beginning of the season when they faced Oregon. But the fact still remains that they did have a lot of success last year before the wheels feel off. Another fact that they would like everyone to remember is that Tom O'Brien and NC State were watching that game because they didn't make a bowl last year.

"Here's the way I feel about it: He's right. We're not gurus," Burnham said. "On the other hand, we try to handle things professionally and not say anything ... with class, not say anything about anyone else's coaching staff. He can say what he wants to. The other thing, I forget what bowl game they were in. That's all I've got to say."-USF defensive coordinator Wally Burnham

Zing! A look at the schedule says these teams do in fact play this weekend. Maybe O'Brien would like his quarterback to know George Selvie a little better. I can't imagine why, but you can bet something bad is going to happen in this game. I don't expect anything dirty out of South Florida, but a goose egg for the home team might be in store.

Heading into Monday Night's contest between the New York Jets and San Diego Chargers, ESPN's Tony Kornheiser made no apologies for the fact he was going to talk about Brett Favre, because, well, he loves Brett Favre.

In case you missed the live chat (where were you?) I decided to take it upon myself to keep track of how many times Kornheiser referenced Favre by name. I did this because, well, I was curious, and because I have an alarmingly large amount of spare time.

The final tally for Kornheiser: 22 references to Favre. On the surface, that doesn't seem like all that many over the course of a 60-minute football game. When you consider he referenced all other players in the game, by name, a total of only 11 times, it's hilarious

In related news, the crew referenced the fact Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers had a Brett Favre poster on his wall growing up six times. Ron Jaworski reminded us that the Jets offense is "a work in progress" three times, and he referred to one pass by Brett Favre as, "almost Favre-like."

Hey, I do it for the people.

At first, I wanted to write this post about how the defense didn't play well enough to win the big game. But then I remembered two things: First, the Chargers' average starting field position: the 33 yard line. And second, someone played way...uh...flatter then the defense. (Hey, I'm trying).

The thing that hurts about this loss was that it was an easily winnable game. The Broncos were ahead by 17 points after Darrent Williams ran back an interception for a touchdown in the third quarter, and the game seemed to be all but over. But then the Broncos stopped putting pressure on the Chargers. The Broncos went 3 and out on their next possession, and allowed San Diego to climb right back into the game. The culprit: Jake Plummer.

After the game, my father (who was in attendance) called and said "Gabe, I have your lead. 'Even if he doesn't take a snap this season, the Jay Cutler era has officially begun in Denver.'" He's right. Despite the defense's struggles, Jake Plummer single-handedly took a game that the Broncos had blown wide open, and let the Chargers climb back in by refusing to take advantage of their weak passing defense.

No matter what you might hear from anybody regarding today's game in Baltimore between the Chargers and the Ravens, the only match-up that really matters is LaDainian Tomlinson vs. the Baltimore Ravens defense.

The best running back in pro football and his offensive line (yet to give up a sack) will be colliding with what is arguably the best defense in pro football, and it should prove to be something to see.

It's really very simple: If Tomlinson rolls up the Baltimore defense the same way that he's done with just about every other defense in professional football, the game is essentially over. But if the Ravens can slow him down, and force Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers to make a play to beat them, it becomes a whole different story.

Because it's one thing to complete a pass off play action when Tomlinson is ripping off five yards a carry. But it's another thing entirely to have to force a ball into coverage to Antonio Gates while he's being draped by Adalius Thomas, and Ray Lewis is charging full bore at you on a delayed blitz.

The Ravens have a history of eating up young and inexperienced quarterbacks, and it's safe to say that Rivers has never seen a defense that's going to throw as many different looks at him as the Ravens will on Sunday. If Baltimore slows down Tomlinson, we'll find out what Rivers is really made of. I say he's a paper tiger.

As has been recorded by my colleague Ryan Wilson, overconfidence seems to be the rule of the day in Ravens Nation. But as I, and many others have written too many times to count since Monday night, how can a team be anything but overconfident heading into a game with the Raiders, the NFL's most recent edition of team turmoil?

Still, I will try my best to preview this game without offending the pro football scheduling gods who lined up three tomato cans for the Ravens in the Bucs, Raiders and the Browns to start the season.

Ravens right offensive tackle Steve Pashos vs. Raiders defensive end Derrick Burgess: All of Baltimore has been asking questions about Pashos and his teammate on the right side of the Ravens offensive line, Keydrick Vincent, since the preseason. Some of that talk was quieted last week when Pashos turned in a workmanlike performance against the Bucs, and helped limit them to just one sack of Steve McNair in the season opener. But it's a new week, and Burgess, who led the league in sacks last season with 16, and might make Pashos and Burgess' former college teammate Vincent look a little slow.

Samari Rolle or Chris McAlister against Randy Moss: Yes, I know we talked about this during the week, but for God's sake he's still Randy Moss. And while he may have never had much success against the Ravens over the course of his career, all it takes is one mistake and it's six points for Oakland ...

Hold on a second, just who am I kidding? Nobody, and I mean nobody, thinks the Raiders have a chance today. And barring a set of improbable circumstances, which I will outline below, the team is in for a long flight back to Oakland on Sunday night:

• Knock Steve McNair out of the game as soon as possible, preferably on a safety.
• Remember that Phillip Rivers only had to throw 11 passes against the Raiders on Monday night, which means Kyle Boller must be knocked out of the game as well. After all, he may still be able to complete a 35-yard lollipop to Todd Heap.
• With both Boller and McNair on the training table, the team will be forced to play emergency quarterback Mark Clayton. That would allow the Raiders to stack 11 men in the box to stop the run on every down.

With that, as long as the Raiders offense can prevent the Ravens defense from scoring -- no mean feat -- Art Shell can go back home with his first win of the season.