From The 5th Down Report Archives: 2007 - Week 3 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 3 EDITION **
♦ Spygate penalties too lenient
♦ Shockey's a fraud
♦ A referee finally gets it right
♦ Which coach is #1 of all time? (the complete list)
♦ How bad are the Eagles?
♦ How about an opening weekend?
♦ Ex-Giant Martin walks for good cause
♦ Congrats Phoenix Murcury
♦ What coach will be fired first?
♦ Most surprising 2-0/0-2 starts?
♦ Who is J.T. O'Sullivan???
♦ Our Week 3 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 Perhaps feeling the effects of the serious injury to Kevin Everett. Could only manage 3 points against the Steelers
Dolphins 4 INTs for Green certainly won't get it done
Jets Why go to McCareins during crunch time? Cotchery (7-165), Coles (6-57) are the playmakers. And why not throw to TE Chris Baker more? He seems to catch everything thrown his way
Patriots Spygate or not, these guys are the best in the NFL. (Makes you wonder why they have to cheat)
AFC South
Colts Oh no, Vinatieri missed a FG and an extra point
Jaguars The old Jags D showed up, sacking Harrington 7 times
Texans Defense seemed to control the entire game, except, of course, Steve Smith
Titans No last second magic this time for the Titans against the Colts. Maybe December 30 when they next meet...
AFC North
Bengals On one hand, Carson Palmer throws for 401 yards and 6 TDs (45 points). On the other hand, the defense gives up 6 TDs and 3 FGs (51 points)
Browns We guess Charlie Frye was the problem after all. Nice to see Jamal Lewis back (215 yards rushing, 1 TD)
Ravens This team is no better or worse with Boller or McNair at QB
Steelers If Ben and Willie Parker (126 yards rushing) are in sync the Steelers will roll
AFC West
Broncos Good teams win games like that one against the Raiders
Chargers Any questions who's the better team in the AFC, New England or San Diego?
Chiefs What's wrong with Larry Johnson?
Raiders No passing game but LaMont Jordan is an excellent RB and their defense is solid. If Janikowski could have missed the first FG and made the second, the Raiders would have been 1-1
NFC East
Cowboys We'll find out this weekend how good this team's offense is against the vaunted Bear D
Eagles It's going to be a long year in South Philly
Giants No LBs, no DBs, no D-Linemen (except Osi). Where do you think this team's going?
Redskins Folks, this team's better than most of us thought. Their D is good and Jason Campbell can play
NFC South
Buccaneers So Joey Galloway is still in the league, huh (4 catches, 135 yards, 2 TDs)
Falcons Welcome Byron Leftwich. Welcome back 47-year-old Morten Andersen
Panthers Must get the running game going
Saints Deuce and Reggie better get going before it's too late. Tough one Monday night against the no-pushover Titans
NFC North
Bears If the Bear D and special teams continue to play the way they have been, they will make it back to the Super Bowl regardless of Rex
Lions Is there a future for QB J.T. O'Sullivan? (13-23 148 yards and a TD)
Packers We thought we saw Vince Lombardi on the Packers sidelines Sunday at the Meadowlands
Vikings Too many turnovers (5), even against the Lions who had 5 of their own
NFC West
Cardinals If Edgerrin can keep rushing for over 100 yards (128 yards), the Cards will win games
49ers Frank Gore honors his mother's passing, by rushing for 81 yards and 2 TDs
Rams Bulger must play better. Hold on to that ball!
Seahawks After coming back from 17 points down against the Cards, they simply gave it away

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~ Extra Point ~

The penalty for the Patriots coach Bill Belichick regarding the so-called Spygate was too lenient. Yes, the $500,000 fine to Belichick was huge, but that doesn't mean anything to me and you the football fans. Instead of a 1st round pick or a 2nd or 3rd round pick based upon the Pats making or not making (yeah right) the playoffs this season, why not either all their picks in 2008 or a #1 in 2008, 2009, and 2010? It seems that would punish the team more.

The referee in the Jets/Ravens game, Scott Green, reviewed 3 tough calls in Sunday's game. A TD by Todd Heap, a TD by Chris Baker, and a reception/force-out on Laveranues Coles. All 3 were correctly reverse by Green after further review. Nice for a change to see a referee getting it right.

Why do so many of the "experts" think the Eagles are a good team? They have no one on offense besides Brian Westbrook. Folks, Donovan McNabb is not a great QB. He is not able to carry that team on his shoulders. He is a fair to good QB, nothing more. And that once great Philly D, is by no means a sieve but it's not that good.

Ex-Giant George Martin began a cross country walk on Sunday to raise money for ailing World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers. He began the walk at the George Washington Bridge and hopes to finish at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in 4 months. His goal is to raise $10,000,000 with his walk. Good luck to him on his benevolent journey.

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.

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~ Fumble ~

RE: Jeremy Shockey

This guy's act is getting tired. Why do so many analysts think he's a great player? First, he drops anywhere from 1 to 3 key passes a game that hit him right in his hands. Secondly, he is always flailing his arms wildly and seemingly yelling something to no one in particular. Thirdly, he is good for at least 1 unsportsmanlike conduct penalty a game, usually at a crucial time. Fourthly, contrary to what we hear from the experts, he can't block or doesn't try very hard to.

Regarding his penalty for spiking the ball during play against the Packers on Sunday, when asked after the game he said that he would do it again. What a fool. The Giants should trade this malcontent for a draft pick before it's too late. And he considers himself a leader?

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~ Interception ~

RE: WNBA Finals

We'd like to congratulate the Phoenix Murcury on winning the WNBA championship over the Bill Laimbeer coached Detroit Shock 3 games to 2. It's their first championship. Rutgers product Cappie Pondexter was named series MVP.

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~ 2 Minute Warning ~

Key Games:

49ers at Steelers
     - Good test for the 49ers to see how good they really are
     - The Steelers first true test this season

Rams at Bucs
     - Rams need to get off the shneid
     - Was last week a fluke for the Bucs?

Lions at Eagles
     - Are the 2-0 Lions that good?
     - Are the 0-2 Eagles that bad?

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~ Coin Toss ~

This Week's Picks:

JB: (25-7)   Joe Namath Guarantee (0-2)
Jets over Dolphins
Redskins over Giants
Ravens over Cards
Chargers over Packers
Pats over Bills
Colts over Texans
Viks over Chiefs
Steelers over 49ers
Bucs over Rams
Lions over Eagles
Raiders over Browns
Seahawks over Bengals
Broncos over Jags
Panthers over Falcons
Cowboys over Bears
Saints over Titans

MD: (21-11)   Joe Namath Guarantee (2-0)
Jets over Dolphins
Redskins over Giants
Ravens over Cards
Chargers over Packers
Pats over Bills
Colts over Texans
Viks over Chiefs
Steelers over 49ers
Rams over Bucs
Lions over Eagles
Browns over Raiders
Seahawks over Bengals
Broncos over Jags
Panthers over Falcons
Bears over Cowboys
Titans over Saints

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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: What first year head coach will lose last?
A: Mike Tomlin (Steelers).

Q: What coach will be fired first?
A: Tom Coughlin.

Q: If Chad Pennington is healthy this Sunday, who should start at QB for the Jets?
A: Pennington.

Q: Whose 2-0 start was most surprising and whose 0-2 start was most surprising?
A: 2-0: Lions, Packers; 0-2: Rams.

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

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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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