Shawn, as you well know, I'm an underdog fan for sure, and even though the Lions are Division rivals of my Bears, I am excited to see them kick some serious ass. Even the Bills have been highlight reels lately, and spanking Brady like that made it that much better.
Watching my Bears today, and they're playing a very balanced, well thought out, patient game, and it's paying off for them. I kind of figured they'd come out this week, at home and being down 2 games in the Loss column, and put on a good show, and I'm not disappointed. Even as I type this, Hester just returned a punt for a touchdown. Then he decided to act like an assbag and overcelebrate in the end zone, earning a 15-yard penalty on the kickoff. Sadly, for my Fantasy teams, I need Steve Smith on Carolina to start catching some TD passes and make this a closer game. As long as the Bears win, I don't care how high the score goes!
From around the rest of the league, I feel the need to chime in on Vick's comments last week about him getting hit late and no calls coming in for those. While I don't agree with blaming others during a press conference, I do agree with his sentiment. Unless your last name is Brady, Manning, or Brees, you will not get fair calls in the backfield that should come. Granted, I think QBs are way too overprotected and should be able to take a good hit, but if you're going to institute rules to protect them, they need to be adhered to. What Vick was saying is that he was getting hit late, after the pass, even helmet to helmet, and was not getting those calls. They were discussing it on NFL Countdown on ESPN this morning, and one of the commentators had a good point: EVERYONE carries personal feelings. Whether they like Vick, dislike Vick, or indifferent of Vick, EVERYONE has their own personal feelings. Be they doctors, garbage men, secretaries, or even NFL Officials, your personal feelings WILL bleed into your professional life. And like it or not, there are going to be NFL officials who disagree with what Vick went to jail for and let those feelings dictate what they do. What I DON'T agree with, is that Vick seems to think he's the only one being treated like that. He's not. Again, if Brady, manning, or Brees gets hit in ways they think is foul, all they have to do is stand up and throw their arms up at the ref and that ref HAS and WILL throw a late flag based on that QBs reaction. They protect the marquee players and don't have the same consideration for the rest. Just like your marquee Defensive players are watched with a closer eye to make sure they don't commit penalties, the lesser known players can get away some of the same penalties. The NFL is concerned primarily with their marketing, and certain players market better than others. Those players will always get their way. Period. It's no longer entertainment, as it was originally designed, but instead a billion dollar corporation, concerned with making more and more money.