Andy Reid needs an ass-kicking

Football thoughts:

Andy Reid needs an ass-kicking. Yes, the Eagles won. Yes, I'm happy. But correct me if I'm wrong: in overtime, all you need to win is a field goal, yes? So why was Reid throwing the ball deep not once, but twice in overtime when all his team needed was a yard or two to pick up a first down, move the ball a little closer, and kick an easy field goal? The first time, the Eagles had to punt. Luckily for them, they got the ball back. The second time, the pass was almost intercepted, and even though it wasn't, David Akers had to nail a 50-yarder. I applaud Reid's new aggressive play-calling -- I've been waiting for it for years. But don't you have to rein it in a little when all you need is 3 points, especially when you're in hostile territory and you just want to get out with a win?

I'm starting to hate the Patriots. I still don't hate them as much as I hate the entire NFC East or the Baltimore Ravens (home of an accessory to murder and a guy who likes to set up coke deals), but they're starting to piss me off. How do they cause other teams to play like idiots? How? On Sunday, the Jets had a third down and four to go, with plenty of time and Chad Pennington throwing beautifully. THEY RAN A RUNNING PLAY!!!!! And not even a good running play, but a draw play, which puts them already three or four yards behind the line of scrimmage. Curtis Martin gets dropped for a three-yard loss. What an idiotic call. Then, on fourth down, Pennington throws into double- (and almost triple-) coverage at the goal line, even though Santana Moss was open ten yards down the field for the first down, and the Jets had over 2 minutes on the clock so they didn't need the whole enchilada! Yes, the Patriots are a good team. But how do they make the other team stupid at the same time?????

I've heard a couple of things about the Peyton Manning-Reggie Wayne dust-up. An interesting take is that Manning's a big jerk and the receivers on the team are tired of his weird little "relationship" with Marvin Harrison. I have no idea if that's true, but it's interesting.

I'll say this for the Patriots: they focus the league on them. I like parity, but occasionally long for the days when the Cowboys or the Niners (in the 1990s and 1980s -- prior to that I was too young to follow football) were excellent, because beating them meant something. I remember the Eagles going into San Fran in 1994 (I think) and SPANKING Steve Young's team, something like 38-8. Charlie Garner ran wild. That meant something, even though San Francisco went to the NFC Championship Game that year and the Eagles, I think, went home in January. Who is good in this league these days? Not even the Eagles, despite their 6-0 record, are flawless. The Seahawks? They lost to the Cardinals! The Rams? They lost to the Dolphins! The Giants? They lost to Detroit at home! The Broncos? They lost to the Bengals! Who knows who's going to win this thing. It's nice for suspense, but man does it shred nerves sometimes.

Next week the Ravens visit Philadelphia. Boy, that should be fun. In Terrell Owens' new book, he "writes" that Ozzie Newsome, the Browns' (whoops, Ravens') GM told his (Owens') agent that sometimes black men need to get slapped. I don't even understand what that means. Newsome denies it, of course, and I don't care if it's true or not, but I wonder if Ray Lewis, who has a history of hanging with people who kill other people, might be hunting for Owens' head this weekend. Should be interesting.