That handshake was pretty great, wasn’t it? Here’s some questions and — better yet — some answers for Week 6 and beyond: Q: You’ve got a problem. You’ve promised to take the family to the pumpkin patch, the apple orchard, the winery or to Skyline Drive, and you can’t stand the thought of Red Zone-less Sunday. What’s an NFL-loving dad to do?
A: Make everybody happy next Sunday. Week 7 is the black hole of the NFL schedule. There isn’t a game that matches teams with winning records. Get a load of some of these matchups: St. Louis at Dallas, Kansas City at Oakland and Seattle at Cleveland.
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Even the prime-time games are stinkeroos: Sunday night is Indianapolis at New Orleans; Monday night features Baltimore at Jacksonville.
The most intriguing game of the weekend is Denver (1-4) at Miami (0-4) in the Tim Tebow Bowl.
How is it mathematically possible to have so many bad matchups in one weekend? The following teams are on a bye: New England (5-1), San Francisco (5-1), N.Y. Giants (4-2), Buffalo (4-2), Cincinnati (4-2) and Philadelphia (2-4).
Q: Are the Bay Area teams for real?
A: In 2002 both the 49ers and the Raiders had winning records and made the playoffs. Neither has finished above .500 since. After their wins Sunday, however, San Francisco (5-1) and Oakland (4-2) are on their way. But do you really want to bet on teams that start quarterbacks Alex Smith (Niners) and Kyle Boller, now under center for the Raiders after Jason Campbell broke his collarbone?
Q: How cool were the Packers’ throwback uniforms?
A: So cool that you could have sworn that it was Curly Lambeau catching touchdown passes from Aaron Rodgers instead of Jordy Nelson. The only teams allowed to wear throwbacks should be the Packers and Bears.
Q:
Jim Harbaugh and Jim Schwartz tussled at the end of San Francisco’s 25-19 victory at Detroit. If coach-on-coach violence becomes a trend, what are some other throwdowns we’d like to see?
A:
Rex Ryan vs. Andy Reid (no need for the inflatable sumo suits). Jack Del Rio (in suit and tie) vs. Bill Belichick (in signature hoodie). Joe Paterno vs. Frank Beamer.
– Kevin Dunleavy
