NFL Week 4 Interview

We are back (a day late -- sorry about that) with Henry's weekly rundown of all the exciting NFL action.

Q. What was the overall theme of this weekend's games?

A. Upsets and teams getting pushed too far. The Cowboys looked as overrated as some people think they are. And the Rams just fired Scott Linehan, while the Raiders are probably going to fire Lane Kiffin.

Q. Did Linehan deserve to get whacked?

A. Well, if the Rams are going to do better, a lot of changes will have to be made. This was just one of many. They've already benched Marc Bulger and several other starters, all in an attempt by owner Chip Rosenbloom to improve the franchise.

Q. What about Kiffin? I actually think the team is playing pretty well for him.

A. Pretty well, but not well enough to hold onto leads, which they've failed to do in the past two games, and nearly failed to do in Week 2.

Q. One more Raider question before we move on: A 76-yard field goal attempt?? What the heck was that?

A. Well, Lane Kiffin had enough confidence in Sebastian Janikowski to try one of the longest field goal attempts in NFL history. It didn't exactly work though, and Antonio Cromartie, who set a record for the longest NFL play last year, attempted to return the miss but only got 28 yards.

Q. You mentioned the Cowboys. How did the highly questionable Redskins manage to stop the Cowboy juggernaut?

A. Everyone just played pretty well. Despite the injuries to the secondary, the defense did well, shutting down Tony Romo. Also, the lack of a running game for Dallas didn't help Romo much, either.

Q. We're now far enough into the season that we should be able to tell which teams are actually good, but I'm finding this difficult. What's your opinion?

A. The Bengals aren't looking that great, as they're now 0-4. Same with the Rams. But some other previously winless and horrible teams like the Browns and Chiefs won, so we'll see how they do for the rest of the season.

Q. Name the four top teams in the league right now.

A. The Titans and Bills are looking pretty good, but those are just the sleepers. Otherwise, the title of Best Team is up for grabs. Dallas lost, Philadelphia lost, New England had a bye, and Indianapolis had a bye.

Q. OK, but I'm still going to press you on this. In spite of all the confusion, who in your opinion are the teams to beat in each conference?

A. Despite perhaps not being the best, everyone still wants to beat former elite teams like the Patriots and Colts in the AFC, and the Cowboys and Eagles in the NFC.

Q. Last week everyone was saying Brett Favre looked old and worn-out. Then he drops six TDs on the Cardinals. Are they bad, or did he suddenly get good, or what?

A. Brett Favre had never gotten six touchdown passes in his career. And now he finally does it when he's about to turn 39? It's interesting. The Cardinals put up five touchdowns in the second half, but the Jets eventually pulled away.

Q. I think the Cardinals are always going to stink because of their lame-o logo. You?

A. That's an interesting thought -- except their logo has only been this way for a few years. Or maybe it would help if they stopped relocating and changing their name.

Q. I wish I knew if the Falcons were any good. Who can tell?

A. They didn't look good against the Panthers, that's for sure. But they haven't looked that great otherwise, either. There was one win against the Lions in which they looked really good; there was another win against the Chiefs where they looked good as well. But the Chiefs and Lions are really bad.

Q. Which Ohio team is more pathetic?

A. Depends on whether they're playing against each other or not. In a game in which Jamal Lewis was the leading rusher for either team with 79 yards, the Browns made a comeback and won by eight points.

Q. Texans-Jaguars and Eagles-Bears seemed to pit pairs of teams which were evenly matched.

A. Well, they didn't, because the Texans had looked bad until that game. However, Houston lost anyway on Josh Scobee's second consecutive game-winning field goal against a divisional opponent. In Eagles-Bears, the Eagles didn't look as great as they did against the Cowboys previously, but only barely lost. This was by the same margin of victory that the Cowboys had over them.

Q. Let's move off games for the moment and talk about coaches and players. What coaches at this point in the season are impressing you the most?

A. For the last game at least, Tony Sparano of the Dolphins. Now we're not sure how they'll look after their bye, but beating New England by 25 points is a great accomplishment.

Q. Who else?

A. Jeff Fisher. He's been heavily criticized, but benching Vince Young has led to a 4-0 start.

Q. Will the Dolphins modified single-wing formation fool anyone after the bye week?

A. If opposing coaches have practiced stopping it enough, it probably won't have as much success as it did against New England. Still, you have to factor in the element of surprise. Think of how the cornerbacks feel when they're defending a quarterback.

Q. What rookies are turning in standout performances?

A. Chris Johnson of Tennessee and DeSean Jackson of Philadelphia. Johnson hadn't been much of a pro prospect at East Carolina, where no one watched any of his games. But he's looking very explosive, and some people are comparing him to Adrian Peterson. As for Jackson, he's had a couple of embarrassing plays, but even though Philadelphia's receivers have come back from injury, he's looking good.

Q. Finally: What games are you most looking forward to in Week 5?

A. Dallas-Cincinnati, Carolina-Kansas City and San Diego-Miami.

Q. And now comes my favorite part of our weekly recap -- the part where I hand the keyboard over to Hen to type anything he wants.

A. Wonder how many coaches will have been fired by the end of the season.