Cleaning Up.

A few things:

1. The Arizona Cardinals also passed on Adrian Peterson. I have to say, this is the one that I struggle with the most. On the one hand, they have Edgerrin James, J. J. Arrington, and Marcel Shipp, and that really ought to be a strong, deep backfield. They also have long struggled with their offensive line. On the other hand, Levi Jones was a tremendous reach with the sixth overall pick, and though they needed offensive line help more than backfield help, they could have and should have traded down if their intention was to fill that need. Had they taken ADAP with the sixth overall pick, that would have caused some pretty serious turmoil with Edge, who is one of the few tough, starting veterans with winning in his background on the whole team. My final verdict on the ADAP pick is this: I think the Skins, Browns, and Lions are all better off with their draft picks, and their records support that. I think the Bucs, Raiders, and Cardinals would be a lot better off if they'd taken Peterson, but there are varying degrees of "d'oh!" factor for each. In all cases, I understand the rationale for passing on Peterson as much if not more than I would have understood the rationale for picking him.

2. Two reasons we live in a screwy country here in the US of A: as of this morning, Republican lawmakers were fighting a bill that would prevent workplace discrimination based on sexual identity. Their rationale was based on the suggestion that by prohibiting sex-based discrimination, the law would, in fact, be discriminating against religious communities who reject homosexuality, since they would not be allowed to discriminate in their hiring practices. Nice. Second: A report today indicates that 25% of all homeless people in the US are veterans. Holy shit.

3. Jay Cutler is gonna go for the Broncos on the road. That's good news for Denver fans, and great news for my fantasy team. I need points from Brandon Marshall. The Chiefs are saying Larry Johnson might be out for a few weeks; I'll say! I think they're hushing the fact that he's done for the year. It sure makes the Michael Bennett trade look as stupid as possible. The Eagles are without Sean Considine, their other safety, for the rest of the season. That may not seem like much, but they don't have a lot of depth in the secondary.

4. Joe Gibbs made a comment to Washington area sports media that the Skins would like to have more success on shots deep down the field. While I agree that such an improvement would be nice, it might be great if the Redskins make an effort to establish any kind of passing game in the middle part of the field. They're basically giving away the entire center of the defense every game, relying on receiver screens and out patterns to get their passing game going. First of all, the receiver screen should be a gadget-type, big hitter type of play, it should not be your go-to pass option. Second of all, the out route is the most difficult throw in all of football and the one most likely to be intercepted. Third of all, the Skins have quick receivers, a great tight end, and two backs who can catch the ball out of the backfield. They don't have a big, tough, over the middle receiver, but they should be able to have success if they use Cooley as a bigger target in the seam, Moss and Randle El on crossing patterns, and then Portis and Betts on check-downs and screens. By giving up the middle of the field, they allow the defense to flow to the ball as a unit and utilize the sideline as an extra defender, and they require their young quarterback to repeatedly make difficult throws.

That's just an observation, but I really think the Skins ought to try to establish their passing game around the hashmarks.

I went with Drew Brees to cover Tom Brady's bye week for my fantasy team. Brees has the Rams and is coming off a 445-yard effort in week 9. Go Saints!