Quarterback Frenzy: Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Brett Favre Go Off in Week 6

When you think of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL today usually these names come up: Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner and Brett Favre

Well, in week six these three quarterbacks Brady, Favre and Brees showed why they are three of the best quarterbacks in the league as they combined for 13 touchdown passes on Sunday.

Drew Brees had arguably the toughest challenge of the week between all three of these quarterbacks as he led his undefeated New Orleans Saints against the undefeated New York Giants. The Giants came into this game with the best defense in the NFL, but even though they were considered the best defense before this game they definitely won’t be after week six.

Brees has been tearing apart opposing defenses in his first four games, but his performance in week six may have top them all as he threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns. Brees did throw for six touchdown passes in week one against the Detroit Lions, but honestly that is not even as close to as impressive as tearing up arguably the best defense in the NFL in the New York Giants.

Believe it or not, Brees’ unbelievable performance against the Giants wasn’t the best game by a quarterback this week as Tom Brady had another career game against the Tennessee Titans where he threw for five touchdowns in one quarter, six touchdowns total and 380 yards passing in just three quarters. Oh, did I mention he did all of this while it was snowing at Foxboro?

Pretty remarkable! I guess we can say that Brady is officially back to form!

Then we come to Brett Favre who had another memorable performance as he led his undefeated Minnesota Vikings to victory over the resilient Baltimore Ravens who refused to die on Sunday in Minnesota. Favre play brilliantly all game long as he finished with 278 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions to keep his new team undefeated at 6-0 on the season!

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NFL Trade: Braylon Edwards Traded to New York Jets

There has been no team worse than the Cleveland Browns this season in the NFL and as a result of their disappointing start to the season (0-4) head coach Eric Mangini has decided to trim the fat and trade struggling wide receiver Braylon Edwards to the New York Jets.

The Browns are down in the dumps right now and honestly no matter what move they make this season I believe this season is lost for Cleveland. Both Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson can’t seem to get it done, their defense is awful and after just four games the season is quickly turning into a disaster.

At one point in time, about two years ago, Braylon Edwards was one of the best wide receivers in the NFL and the go to guy in Cleveland for quarterback Derek Anderson. Times have changed since his breakout year in though as he has just not been able to get it going the way he did in 2007. Instead of hearing about Edwards putting up 100 yard games and catching touchdown passes all you seem to hear is that he drops passes and is no longer a prime time receiver in this league.

Even though Edwards had no real impact on the Browns this season, he could potentially be huge for the New York Jets and rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez who hasn’t really had a down field threat in his passing game this season.

The Jets will almost certainly be much improved with the addition of Edwards if he can turn it around, but the Browns will most likely continue to struggle as they try to find the right pieces to the puzzle and get some consistency at the quarterback position.

In return for Braylon Edwards the Cleveland Browns will get wide receiver Chansi Stuckey, special teams player Jason Trusnik and a couple of draft picks.

NFL Injury Update: Chad Pennington Out for the Season

The game of football is not a gentle one, matter of fact next to hockey it is arguably the roughest sport of them all that is played professional in the United States and no matter how hard players try to prevent it injuries are enevitable and just part of the game.

In week one of the new NFL season only one really big name went down for the season in the Chicago Bears superstar linebacker Brian Urlacher. That was a major blow to the Bears defense in which they may not be able to recover on the defensive side of the football. The offense, although not dominant, is starting to click with new starting quarterback Jay Cutler behind center, but the defense will never be as good as it is without Urlacher staring down opposing quarterbacks.

In week two there were a few players that sustained a few bumps and bruises like the San Diego Chargers star running LaDainian Tomlinson who had to watch from the bench against the loss to the Baltimore Ravens after suffering an ankle sprain against the Oakland Raiders in the previous week. The injury is still taking it’s toll on LT as he had to sit out week three as well against the Miami Dolphins and his status for next week is still uncertain.

Week three was not immune to the injury bug as it struck hard against the Miami Dolphins who have lost their starting quarterback Chad Pennington for the rest of the season. Pennington’s status for the rest of the season still has a little hope as he is looking at getting another opinion on his injured shoulder, but the rest will most likely be the same.

It has been a rough few weeks for the Dolphins to open the season as they have dropped three straight in games they could have won. Against the Falcons in week one the Dolphins struggled to reach the endzone scoring only one touchdown, but they started to make in the fourth quarter and came up short.

When the Dolphins took on the Colts in week two the wildcat offense was running to perfection and Indianapolis had no answer for it as Miami racked up about 200 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, but Manning’s late game heroics were too much for the Dolphins as he finished the fins off with a touchdown pass with a little over three minutes to go.

Week three was more of the same with 130 yards on the ground and one rushing touchdown, but Phillip Rivers was just a little too much for Miami to handle as he threw for 303 yards and had a rushing touchdown of his own to seal the 23-13 win over the Dolphins.

As if going 0-3 to start the season wasn’t bad enough for Miami they will now have to deal without Chad Pennington behind center who has been able to keep this offense kicking and has been more than willing to sit on the sidelines to watch the Wildcat offense go to work. Chad Henne will take over for the time being, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the versatile rookie Pat White from West Virginia get some more playing time and possibly be the Dolphins permanent starter at the end of the season.

The Beginning of the End of LT

Only a few seasons ago the San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson was the only thing people were talking about in the NFL. He was fast, versatile and a scoring machine for the up and coming Chargers, but San Diego still struggled to make anything happen in the playoffs.

The NFL, unlike the MLB or NBA, is a brutal sport in which injuries and age become a huge factor. Few running backs in the NFL are able to stand the test of time and many believe that after they hit 30 years of age it is all down hill from there.

The quarterback position the only one in football that seems to be able to have players of advanced age play for a long period of time and Brett Favre of the Minnesota Vikings is the perfect example of that at almost 40 and still playing at a high level.

LaDainian Tomlinson on the other hand is at a point in time in his career where he is coming off a disappointing season, which ended in injury and watching from the sidelines in a playoff game once again, and he has finally hit the 30 mark which has everyone talking about the rise and fall of the future hall of fame running back.

Is LaDainian Tomlinson finished as an elite running back in the NFL?

In my opinion, yes he is and for two reasons. One, Darren Sproles looks to be the next best thing at the running back position and he is already stealing carries away from LT. Two, LT is injury prone and just cannot stay healthy anymore.

Last week against their hated rivals, the San Diego Chargers were barely able to beat the Oakland Raiders with a last minute drive that ended with a Darren Sproles rushing touchdown and instead of a LT getting the football and finishing off the Raiders like he has done so many times in the past.

Supposedly, the reason LT was on the sidelines on that last drive was due to an ankle sprain and all LT could do is look on from the sidelines as the Chargers worked their way up the field in the closing minutes which seemed like to me was the passing of the torch to Sproles as he rushed for the game winning touchdown.

A few thing are for certain in San Diego, Phillip Rivers is their franchise quarterback, Antonio Gates is the go to guy in the passing game and Darren Sproles is not going anywhere!

So what happens to LT?

Well, unfortunately I think LT will be on his way out sometime during the season either on the IR, a trade or let go in the offseason. This is the beginning of the end of LaDainian Tomlinson, at least with the San Diego Chargers.

LT will also not play against the Baltimore Ravens in week three due to a ankle sprain he sustained against the Oakland Raiders on Monday Night Football last week.

NBA Free Agency: Iverson Close to Signing with the Grizzles

It still amazes me that Allen Iverson, who is sure bet for the hall of fame, is still unemployed with the 2009-2010 NBA season right around the corner.

It can’t be easy for any professional athlete, especially one of Iverson’s caliber, to be resorted to coming off the bench when you have been a starter your entire career, but it looks as though he might not have any other option at this point.

Iverson has had his suitors this offseason, but no one seems to be interested enough to take on his baggage and put him in their starting lineup. The Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks, Miami Heat and the Memphis Grizzles have shown interest in the former NBA MVP, but only Memphis has made an offer.

Even though Iverson is in the twilight of his career he really hasn’t shown much sign of slowing down, except for the back problems last year with the Detroit Pistons. Last season Iverson averaged 17.5 points and five assists per game, most people look at that as a major decline in numbers and it is, but that was mostly due to injuries and lack of playing time once he was traded to Detroit where he had to split time with Richard Hamilton.

It is still uncertain how the Memphis Grizzles would use Iverson, since they already have a promising young shooting guard in OJ Mayo, but they definitely have something in mind as they look to be on the verge of signing Iverson to a one year deal worth anywhere from $3.5 to $4.4 million dollars.

Iverson posted a twit on his Twitter account last night saying:

“I am looking forward to meeting the owner of the Memphis Grizzlies on tomorrow, along with his staff,” the message attributed to Iverson said. “I want to help them develop a winner.”

Personally, that is an indication to me that Iverson is fed up of waiting for offers and will sign with the Memphis Grizzles sometime this week. I was hoping he would go play in Miami with Dwyane Wade, but I am interested to see what he can do with the Memphis Grizzles who actually do have a promising young team.