National Football League

These super subs hit the spot

Published Sep. 26, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Next man up

From Antonio Gates to Peyton Hillis to Mario Manningham, there were a lot of injuries that held out some of the NFL superstars and key contributors on Sunday.

While injuries can be devastating to a team’s momentum, they can also present a unique opportunity for another player to seize the day and display their talent that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. While I don’t think we found the next Tom Brady filling in for the injured Drew Bledsoe, we did witness some very solid performances from the “next man up” on Sunday.

As he had in the first two weeks, Ben Tate filled in nicely for Arian Foster against the New Orleans Saints, albeit during a loss. He ran the ball 19 times for 82 yards and also caught a pass for another eight yards. Most importantly, because of Tate’s familiarity with the offense, the Texans didn’t have to create two separate game plans not knowing if Foster was going to be available.

In Cleveland, Peyton Hillis was sent home from the stadium due to illness, which meant that the Browns would be leaning on second-year player, Montario Hardesty. Heading into the game, he only had eight career carries, but was able to contribute 14 attempts for 67 yards against the Dolphins. More importantly, he added three receptions, one of which was a first down to keep the game-winning drive alive late in the fourth quarter. Hardesty proved that he can be a nice compliment behind a healthy Hillis, and should see more repetitions as we move through the season.

With Mario Manningham inactive due to the concussion he suffered in Week 2, the Giants needed another receiver to step in and take over the role opposite Hakeem Nicks. Although he wasn’t an official starter, Victor Cruz answered the call. He only had three catches, but he spread them out for 110 yards. More impressively, he completely turned around Nnamdi Asomugha on his first touchdown, which went for 74 yards, and then outjumped him in the end zone to catch his second touchdown of the day. Cruz definitely earned some of Eli Manning’s trust on Sunday, and he may begin to play a more significant part of the Giants’ offense moving forward.

In what could have been the most unexpected performance of the day, Baltimore rookie wide receiver Torrey Smith completely went off against the Rams. The second-round pick was struggling so much in the preseason that the Ravens had to give up a future third-round pick to acquire Lee Evans from the Bills. In a twist of fate, with Evans nursing an ankle injury, the Ravens needed Smith to fill the vertical threat role in St. Louis. Not only did he fill in, he completely blew the top off of the Rams’ secondary . . . his first three catches were for touchdowns and he eventually finished the game with five receptions for 152 yards. Those five catches more than doubled the production of Evans thus far.

Those four players may have played their way into more significant roles, but there were also a couple of performances on Sunday that left a lot to be desired. When Michael Vick went down with a broken hand against the Giants, Mike Kafka came into the game and basically threw the Eagles right out of it. In San Diego, Antonio Gates was inactive with his nagging foot injury, and their offense never could get in sync. Gates’ backup, Randy McMichael actually caught four passes for 51 yards, but it was Gates’ presence that they missed most. In that same game, Kansas City was playing for the first time without leading rusher, Jamaal Charles, and they were hoping Thomas Jones and Dexter McCluster could give them a collective spark. The woes continued for the Chiefs, as they only finished with 81 yards total on the ground for an average of just 3 yards per carry.

3-0 teams

If you told me that in the third week of the season, there would only be three undefeated teams with a chance of a fourth, I would have never guessed those teams would include Buffalo, Detroit and (potentially) Washington. Outside of Green Bay, I think the Lions have the most staying power, but Buffalo deserves the most credit this week for knocking off the Patriots in dramatic fashion. They showed poise and leadership on the final series and calmly ran out the clock to kick the game winning field goal. They now have a great chance to improve their record to 4-0 next week as they travel to rebuilding Cincinnati, but then Weeks 5-9 are pretty daunting. They will face Philadelphia at home and then travel to the Giants, followed by a Week 7 bye, and then host both the Redskins and the Jets. They will need to take advantage of playing at home because they follow that stretch with a three-game road trip.

In what is becoming a common theme in Minnesota, the Vikings took a 20-point lead into halftime, but the Lions made the appropriate adjustments and completely dominated the second half. Great teams will do just that, find any way to win and take advantage of it. One major concern I have about this team is there almost non-existent rushing attack. They ranked 26th in the NFL with only 78.3 yards per game, and at some point, that is going to come back and bite them. If they can survive a trip to Dallas next week, they have a three-game home stand in Weeks 5-7, followed by a trip to Denver before their Week 9 bye. At worst, they split their next four and head into that bye at 6-2.

Coaching Critique

This week there were multiple coaching strategies that could be argued either way, but what I found interesting, it wasn’t so much the actual strategy as it was the way in which it was implemented. I am sure there are other examples, but I will focus on just three.

It was halfway through the fourth quarter in Minnesota and the Vikings went for it on 4th and 1. Sure, the idea of going for it on 4th and 1 rather than taking the field goal to put them up by six is questionable on its own, but I am more surprised by the play call itself. Instead of giving it to the best running back in the NFL, Adrian Peterson, you hand it off to the upback, Toby Gerhart. I don’t like that call for multiple reasons. One, you have to trust the best player on your team to do whatever it takes to pound out one yard. Two, the fullback has no room to gain any momentum and has no time to read the defense to find the best hole. Sure, you may catch the defense off guard, but I would much prefer to play to my own strengths rather than hope to surprise the defense.

On the Buccaneers’ first series against the Falcons, they had just earned a first down and had the ball with 1st and goal on the 5-yard line. Instead of staying committed to the run game and pounding it in behind the physical running of LeGarrette Blount, they decide to roll Josh Freeman out to his left and force him to throw across his body. Freeman ends up lobbing a pass to the back of the end zone that is picked up by a defensive back. Now you can’t fully put the blame on the offensive coordinator, because Freeman should have either pulled it down and ran or just thrown it away when his receiver was covered, but I don’t understand putting him in that situation to begin with. It is first down from the 5-yard line and you have arguably the most physical running back in the game in your backfield, turn around and give it to him three straight times. Then again, if you don’t punch it in, you will be getting questioned for that too!

In that same game, the Falcons had a 4th and 3 with 13:00 left in the fourth quarter. Based on the productivity of the offense over the first three quarters of the game, you can hardly blame the Falcons for trying to take advantage of finally having the ball deep in the redzone. The Falcons line up in an empty backfield and spread out the defense. Great idea. Up to this point, I have no problem with the call. So in all fairness, this is more a critique of Matt Ryan than the Falcons’ offensive coaching staff. Ryan takes the snap and fires a quick slant to Jacquizz Rodgers, a third-string running back lined up as a slot receiver. Not only is he in unfamiliar territory lined up as a slot receiver, but he is also running a slant route about 10 yards away from the quarterback. He probably hasn’t run that route more than a handful of times, and if you aren’t used to it, that ball is on you before you know it. In my opinion, it is hard to count on a running back to make that catch. To make things worse, you have Tony Gonzalez lined up in the slot on the other side, and he is manned up on a cornerback. Looking back at the tape, you see that not only does he have the size advantage over the smaller corner, but he also gets about two full steps on his out route.