From The 5th Down Report Archives: 2007 - Week 2 Edition
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THE 5TH DOWN
REPORT
    Game Plan:

* Kickoff
* Touchdown
* Extra Point
* Fumble
* Interception
* 2 Min. Warning
* Coin Toss
* Under Review
* Sudden Death
* Hall of Fame
* Blitz
* On the Sidelines

** WEEK 2 EDITION **
♦ New site design
♦ New "Under Review" Section
♦ Kevin Everett's devestating injury
♦ Fans booing Pennington?
♦ A-Rod on Fire
♦ Which coach is #1 of all time? (the complete list)
♦ Phil Simms the best analyst???
♦ How about an opening weekend?
♦ Mike Strahan a captain?
♦ Our Week 2 picks

~ Kickoff ~

Welcome.

You have arrived at the most authentic site about professional football. This site is all encompassing in its no nonsense, to-the-point, "real" analysis of the teams, players, coaches, officials, broadcasters, and of the league itself.

This site is not a fantasy site, nor a stat site, nor a betting site, nor is it a site that recaps what we as fans have seen and heard over and over, ad nauseam, watching the highlights and listening to the radio all week.

Our views on this site will be astute, concise, and maybe you'll find them insightful.

You will notice that this site is quite simple in its design. This is so, not because of a lack of imagination or web design talent, but rather because of a disdain for the clutter found on a lot of other sites. This site focuses on content rather than graphics. There are a few flashing lights and animations for those who feel they are a requirement on a web site.

So after you've read it and reread it, let us know your opinion about anything we've said here or anything else you'd like to express regarding the great game of football. Contact us at: blitz@5thdownreport.net. Thank you and enjoy.

This site will be updated weekly, primarily on Wednesdays.

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~ Touchdown ~

Around the League

AFC East
Bills On the positive side, Marshawn Lynch looks like the real deal. On the negative side, J.P. Losman is still the QB
Dolphins Did anyone say... Leftwich?
Jets Somebody better tell the defense to show up before it's too late
Patriots Why would this talented team be stealing signals?
AFC South
Colts Fired on all cylinders opening up the 2007 season
Jaguars The once vaunted D is in need of help
Texans Could this be the year of Mario Williams? (2½ sacks already)
Titans Young was 11 for 18 for only 78 yards and rushed 11 times for only 22 yards. Those numbers won't get it done
AFC North
Bengals With all the hype of Chad Johnson's end zone celebrations, that was kind of lame. He and the team must do more, especially with 7 turnovers
Browns Romeo, Romeo, oh what trouble we're in Romeo. You have nothing to lose but your job - get Quinn in there now
Ravens May have to go to Boller for their best shot at winning
Steelers Looks like the Ben of 2005 showed up
AFC West
Broncos Jay Cutler looks like a player. Travis Henry is a perfect fit (139 yards rushing) so long as he stays healthy
Chargers Potent O is rolling. D looks better. Will it be enough to overcome Norv?
Chiefs Their only hope is to feed Larry Johnson the ball 25-30 times a game
Raiders Welcome to the regular season Mr. Russell
NFC East
Cowboys The defense will have to play much better for D-minded coach Wade Phillips
Eagles Take Brian Westbrook out and what do you have?
Giants If Eli can't play, the Giants can't win. Lorenzen is not good
Redskins This team might be a little better than we thought
NFC South
Buccaneers You know it's bad when 11 year vet Ike Hilliard is returning punts
Falcons Could already be on the clock for the 2008 draft
Panthers If Delhomme plays well, this team could win some games
Saints Ran into a great team. Should be OK though
NFC North
Bears Same ol' Bears. Great D, not so good O
Lions Kitna guaranteed 10 wins. Well, he's only got 9 to go
Packers Welcome to the NFL Mason Crosby (53, 37, and 42 yard field goals)
Vikings Looks like Adrian Peterson can play
NFC West
Cardinals Defense looks good, but must let Leinart throw the deep ball
49ers Going to have to let Alex Smith open it up a more as the season wears on
Rams Steven Jackson lost 2 fumbles against the Panthers, that's as many as he had all last year. Orlando Pace out for the year is not good news
Seahawks A matter of fact, business-like win for Seattle. Hasselbeck (17-24-222-1 TD pass); Alexander (105 yards on 27 carries)

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~ Extra Point ~

The worst news to come out of Buffalo this weekend was not their 15-14 last second loss to Denver, but that TE Kevin Everett suffered what doctors thought was a "catastrophic" and life threatening spinal cord injury. Initially it was reported that his chances of regaining full body motion were small. However, as the week went on the news was much better as he had moved his extremities. We can only hope for the best for Kevin and hope that he can recover enough for a decent quality of life.

With the NFL opening up on a Thursday night now, why not an opening weekend? One game Thursday night, one game Friday night, 2 games Saturday, and the rest Sunday and Monday.

While we as fans are being forced-fed that Phil Simms is a great analyst, how in the world could he say with a straight face that Randy Moss would not be a good fit in New England? He must have known that Oakland had no capable QB to throw him the ball. Now, he has arguably the best QB in the league throwing him the ball. Why would you think that he wouldn't have a big year?

How could the Giants vote Mike Strahan a captain? Jim Mora Sr said it best, "you kiddin' me?"

The new coaches were 3-4 in their openers (Steelers, Cowboys, Chargers) - (Dolphins, Raiders, Falcons, Cardinals)

We at The 5th Down Report, as with the rest of the football loving world, we're saddened by the passing of Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh. His innovated and ingenious coaching style lead the once lowly 49ers to 3 Super Bowl championships. Had he not left coaching after his 3rd Super Bowl victory, he probably would have won at least 2 more. He was nicknamed "The Genius" for good reason. The football world will miss him.

The team owners have voted to make replay a perminant officiating tool. That's fine. However, remember it's the man, the referee, who must interperet correctly what he is seeing. That seemed to be a problem in the past.

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~ Fumble ~

RE: Jets fans

How classless, ignorant, and down right stupid are those Jets fans who cheered loudly when Chad hobbled off the field and Clemens came on? Are you for real? Pennington is a winner and one tough hombre. He deserves better than that.

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~ Interception ~

RE: A-Rod

With the playoffs on the horizon and the Yankees seemingly going to win the Wild Card, the only question now is will Alex Rodriguez break the true single season home run record of 61 set by Roger Maris in 1961?

P.S. Did Barry Bonds retire and we all missed it? Haven't heard his name mentioned in quite some time now.

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~ 2 Minute Warning ~

Key Games:

49ers at Rams
     • 49ers will be 2-0 in the division
     • Rams must rebound or fall to 0-2

Texans at Panthers
     • Are the Texans for real?
     • Are the Panthers substantially improved this year?

Vikings at Lions
     • Can the Peterson/Jackson Viks go 2-0?
     • Are the Lions capable of 2 in a row?

Chargers at Patriots
     • Who's the best in the AFC? (not count the Colts of course)

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~ Coin Toss ~

This Week's Picks:

JB: (14-2)   Joe Namath Guarantee (0-1)
Packers over Giants
Steelers over Bills
Colts over Titans
Texans over Panthers
Rams over 49ers
Bengals over Browns
Saints over Bucs
Jags over Falcons
Ravens over Jets
Cowboys over Dolphins
Viks over Lions
Seahawks over Cards
Bears over Chiefs
Broncos over Raiders
Pats over Chargers
Redskins over Eagles

MD: (10-6)   Joe Namath Guarantee (1-0)
Jags over Falcons
Steelers over Bills
Bengals over Browns
Packers over Giants
Panthers over Texans
Colts over Titans
Saints over Bucs
49ers over Rams
Cowboys over Dolphins
Viks over Lions
Seahawks over Cards
Ravens over Jets
Broncos over Raiders
Bears over Chiefs
Pats over Chargers
Redskins over Eagles

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~ Under Review ~

RE: Greatest Coaches of All Time

We here at The 5th Down Report have devised a system to try to determine who the greatest coach of all time was. We've taken the average number of wins a coach had per year and subtracted the average number of losses he had per year. Then, we added 2 points for every playoff win and subtracted 1 point for every playoff loss. Then, added 3 points for every championship won. Although there's not a minimum number of years coached each coach listed has at least 9 seasons under his belt.

20) Barry Switzer 15.000 (although coached only 4 years)
20) Hank Strahm 15.000
19) Marv Levy 15.824
18) Weeb Ewbank 16.050
17) Tony Dungy* 17.728
16) Tom Flores 19.833
15) Mike Shanahan* 20.571
14) Mike Holmgren* 20.600
13) John Madden 21.100
12) Jimmy Johnson 21.778
11) Bill Cowher 21.933
10) Bill Parcells 22.211
9) George Seifert 25.728
8) George Halas 27.250
7) Joe Gibbs* 27.866
6) Bill Walsh 28.300
5) Don Shula 32.212
4) Bill Belichick* 34.500
3) Tom Landry 35.035
2) Chuck Knoll 37.956
1) Vince Lombardi 38.200

* Active

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~ Sudden Death ~

Any Questions?

Q: Which QB injury hurts their team more, the Giants or the Jets?
A: Giants.

Q: What team played better in Week 1 than you thought they would?
A: Texans.

Q: Which QBs will be on the hot seat this year?
A: Pennington, Losman, Delhomme (if he's not already out), and I'm gonna have to put McNabb on this list.

Q: What will be the most competitive divison in the league this season?
A: NFC West.

Q: Who will lead the league in INTs?
A: Champ Bailey.

Q: What coaches are on the hot seat?
A: John Fox, Jeff Fisher, Tom Coughlin, and Mike Shanahan.

Q: How will the Randy Moss experiment work in New England?
A: Great, their 4th Super Bowl title is on the horizon...

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~ Hall of Fame ~

To view our previous reports, please visit the Archives Section.

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~ Blitz ~

To contact us, please send an e-mail to: blitz@5thdownreport.net.

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~ On the Sidelines ~

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