Nothing that transpired on the field in Week Six of the NFL could really be considered shocking. The New England Patriots are still the best, the Miami Dolphins are still the worst, and everyone else falls in the middle. Favorites won most games, and when they didn't, we just nodded our heads and gave a funny smile like we expected it; such as after the Houston Texans upset the Tennessee Titans.
Everyone knew that the Titans hadn't proven anything by beating a weak Green Bay Packers team the week before, and we were all thinking that Houston could actually be for real. The jury's still out on the Texans, as it is on many other teams around the league, but one thing that definitively came out of the wake of Week Six was a flurry of fun away from the field.
That's right, it seems the NFL has reached that point of the season where teams are sizing up what they need and what they don't, and making some moves. Yes, team depth charts have seen their fair share of erasers in the past week, and it's time that "Inside the NFL" examines the winners and losers.
The greatest NFL player of all time isn't through yet. On Monday, the rumors that Jerry Rice was looking to leave the Oakland Raiders became fact as Rice was traded to the Seattle Seahawks for a seventh round draft pick. Seventh round? You can't get a good steak for a seventh round draft pick.
Ok, Rice is old, but aren't we talking about Jerry Rice? Widely regarded as the greatest football player since, as John Madden so elegantly said on Monday night, "Our founders invented this game 1,000 years ago." By the way, John, most fans love you, but right now you're slipping into Tim McCarver-like depths in terms of the most vacuous sports commentators of all time.
Well yes, Rice is old, and no, he wasn't doing much in Oakland, but this trade may work out extraordinarily well for Seattle. If the Seahawks' receivers could complete the seemingly simple act of catching a football, then Seattle would be looking at a 4-1, perhaps even a 5-0 start. Instead they find themselves at 3-2 and in a dogfight with the St. Louis Rams for the NFC West. Rice will add some consistency to Seattle's receiving corps.
One reason Seattle's talented receiver, Koren Robinson, may be having such trouble holding on to the ball is because he likes drugs. Apparently it's more than just a weekend habit, as he broke the NFL's three strike rule and now faces a four game suspension. Robinson possesses immense talent, but until he can get his head on straight, the Seahawks may be better off with the cagey veteran Rice, even at the not-so-spry age of 42.
Robinson isn't the only player in the NFL who has to pay the piper for drug problems this week. Jamal Lewis will finally begin his four week suspension for plea bargaining out of cocaine dealing charges. This is bad news for the Baltimore Ravens. Although the Ravens get to play the offense-less Buffalo Bills at home this Sunday, they also draw two undefeated teams, the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Jets, in the coming weeks. For an image of what the Ravens will look like without Lewis, picture the Dolphins. A good defense. No running back. No quarterback. No wide receivers. A serviceable tight end. The Dolphins are 0-6. Have fun, Brian Billick.
Other than Rice, wide receivers moved around all over the league. Following in the footsteps of Mike McKenzie and every fifth grader across the country who didn't like the team he played for, wide receiver Keenan McCardell whined his way off of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and onto the San Diego Chargers. McCardell claims to be in playing shape, but he'll still need some time to learn Marty Schottenheimer's system. In a few weeks though, McCardell could have a real impact. He put up Pro Bowl numbers last year in Tampa, and San Diego may be just one outside threat from becoming a legitimate wild card contender.
In another wide receiver move, promising under-achievers Antonio Bryant and Quincy Morgan swapped teams, with Bryant moving from the Dallas Cowboys to the Cleveland Browns and Morgan taking the opposite trip. Most analysts think that both teams get a good deal, but Bryant is a speed guy, a true vertical threat. And he likes to run his mouth a lot. So let's recap: A talented vertical threat who likes to complain is going to play with Jeff Garcia. Sounds sort of familiar, and like a recipe for disaster for the already hapless Browns. Dallas won't be much better off since any move that doesn't get them a running game is irrelevant.
The question is, will the flurry of trades and trials affect the status quo of the NFL? It doesn't look like it, other than perhaps in some wild card races down the road. The Pats and Eagles are joined by the Indianapolis Colts and Minnesota Vikings, to comprise the top of the pack, and unless the undefeated New York Jets can knock off the Pats this weekend, everyone else will still be looking up the mountain.
