Sorting the Sunday Pile, Week 6: Brett Favre, 40-Year-Old Game Manager

Sorting the Sunday Pile looks back at the NFL weekend that was. It's also an unofficial John Riggins blog.

We're six weeks into the 2009 season and Brad Childress looks like a bald, bearded genius. When Brett Favre chose to announce his annual unretirement plans (conveniently after training camp had started), Childress was the guy who picked him up at the airport. Not typically part of the job description for a head coach, but he probably wanted to stress that his future with the organization would be directly tied to Favre's performance. Obviously the actions of a man clinging to his job. Decisions motivated by desperation usually end badly, but for Childress, so far, so good. Favre, for the first time in his career, is regularly making good choices with the ball and that, along with Adrian Peterson and a stifling defense, has everything to do with the Vikings' 6-0 start.

I was one of those people who thought Sage Rosenfels could manage Minnesota's offense since the gig mostly entailed giving the ball to All Day and occasionally throwing a screen pass on third-and-5. The rest of the time Rosenfels would stay out of the way and let the defense do the rest.

Apparently, it's not quite that easy, and after watching the lethal combination of Gus Frerotte and Tarvaris Jackson sabotage an otherwise loaded team last season, Childress wasn't going to wait around and see if Rosenfels was the missing piece to a Vikings Super Bowl run.

Maybe he was onto something. Or maybe it's too early to tell.

You know, sorta like the Ravens, a team that started 3-0, was declared the league's best team by late September, and promptly lost three straight. The offense has improved under Cam Cameron, but the bar wasn't set particularly high. Brian Billick came to Baltimore as an offensive mastermind, and now he's best remembered as the guy who thought he could build the franchise around Kyle Boller.

The Ravens won 11 times last season, John Harbaugh's first as head coach, and they made it to the AFC Championship game. With quarterback Joe Flacco a year wiser, it was reasonable to think that the 2009 version would be even better. And while Flacco has been good (or "THE NEXT COMING OF BABY JESUS!" if you believe the announcers), the defense hasn't. In fact, the Ray Lewis All-Stars have given up back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances after not allowing a running back to crack the century mark in the 40 previous games.

It's easy to point the finger at new defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, but some of the blame falls on general managers Ozzie Newsome. He's the guy responsible for putting together the roster, and Baltimore's cornerbacks are a joke. A big part of their scheme is man-to-man coverage, which allows Ray-Ray and the linebackers to be aggressive. If Domonique Foxworth or Chris Carr or Frank Walker can't cover anybody, it doesn't much matter what the front seven do.

Plus, Mattison would have to be blindingly awful to undo more than a decade of defensive success. They have cycled through the coordinators -- Marvin Lewis, Mike Nolan and Rex Ryan all had the gig and did well -- and have remained one of the league's best units. The one constant: Ray Lewis. Too bad he can't play cornerback.

For now, the Ravens fall to third in the AFC North, behind the Bengals and Steelers. The season's not over, but it only took three weeks for Baltimore to go from playoff-bound to .500 outfit.

Muffed Punts
Leftovers from Sunday's action...

... In general, a non-conference Week 6 win doesn't mean much, but for the Saints, who smacked the Giants around the Superdome for nearly four hours Sunday, it does two things. First, everybody will rush to anoint New Orleans the best team in tackle football. That's certainly believable, but hardly original. Second, the Saints are in great position for homefield advantage. When media folk quit beating the "THIS IS A MUST-WIN GAME!" drum, they turn to the "DOME TEAMS HATE COLD WEATHER" banalities.

New Orleans might not have to worry about that come January. But even if the road to Tampa ends up going through, say, New York, I can't imagine freezing temperatures will much affect Drew Brees. The biggest change for the 2009 Saints is that they finally have a defense, and defenses travel. (Something else to consider: Vikings earning homefield-advantage means more domed football.)

... Rodney Harrison has been disrespected. The 2007 Patriots, one of the most potent offenses in NFL history, never scored more than 56 points in a game. On Sunday, they hung 59 on 53 cardboard cutouts dressed in Houston Oilers uniforms. Tom Brady threw five touchdown passes in the second quarter, six for the day, and Randy Moss and Wes Welker combined for 279 receiving yards.

Clearly, Bill Belichick is the devil as evidenced by his decision to run up the score. The thing is: never once did I think that's what the Pats were doing. It's one thing to hang 50 on the 2007 Dolphins, an band of misfits that went 1-15. It's something entirely different to pimp slap the team with the best record in the AFC last year. Or maybe I'm biased. Stay hot, chubs!


... Jim Zorn Death Watch, Week 6. This is FUBAR, even by Redskins standards. Sports Illustrated's Peter King offered these thoughts on NBC's Sunday night pregame show: "... [if] they fire Jim Zorn [it'll be during the bye week and] they give the job to defensive coordinator Greg Blache -- not so fast. I think it's more likely that they would go to secondary coach Jerry Gray. He's 14 years younger and I just think he's more of an energetic presence for this team right now -- BUT Dan Snyder, I believe, has decided that he hired the wrong guy when he got Jim Zorn."

Right. Because an energetic presence worked so well with the current head coach. King later added that Redskins' vice president of blah blah blah Vinny Cerrato recommended that Zorn give up play-calling duties and just focus on being a head coach. Roughly translated, I think that means: "If it comes down to me or you, it's gonna be you."

Sherm Lewis has really turned things around. On the upside: this week's John Riggins' diatribe from Unibomber headquarters should really be fun.

... Earlier this week, Jags running back Maurice Jones-Drew said that no matter who the opponent -- and he specifically cited the AFC Pro Bowlers or the '85 Bears as examples -- Jacksonville has to take the field with the mindset that they can win. In related news, the Jags needed overtime to beat the winless Rams.

... Mark Sanchez's struggles are obviously Braylon Edwards' fault.

... After beating the Eagles, the Raiders are 2-4. It's the Raiders' best start since 2002. Al Davis' patience is paying off.

... Derek Anderson was out-Derek Anderson-ed by Kerry Collins this week. Last Sunday, Anderson completed 2 of 17 passes for 23 yards. Against the Pats, Collins managed 2 for 12 for -7 yards. Vince Young finally got in the game, didn't complete a pass in two attempts, and still had better numbers than Collins.

Post-Game Debaclings
Quotes that Emmitt Smith might like...

"I played with Donte Wesley and I know he's not a dirty player but this is one of the dirtiest, dumbest plays I've seen. The guy had an opportunity to back off, he chose to launch himself and hurt the guy and put the guy at risk." -Rodney Harrison, dirtiest player in NFL history, commenting on Donte Wesley's assassination attempt during the Panthers game.

"One of the things that should be checked out is are our players, when they're in the huddle, and I make this play call, and, uh, what I think we all ought to look at is see if our players are going "WHAT?" And, and I don't sense that." -Jim Zorn, in his own special way, giving his two-week notice.

"As I said to you guys time and time again, stop looking to write negative things or worry about all the B.S. Let's develop a team and an organization that has struggled to win in the last few years. You don't just flip a switch and do that overnight. You don't wake up the next day and everything is rosy and you're ready to go. There's a process to get there." -Tom Cable, who will punch a fool in the face if need be.

"Obviously, you're not going to win too many games through five picks. I thought about pulling him..." -Rex Ryan, on Mark Sanchez's effort against the Bills.

Week 6's Pretty Picture


"Hey, JaMarcus, no need to apologize."