5 Questions for Week 4

1. If Lane Kiffin's fired, do the Raiders get even worse?

It's amazing to me that, after a week in which the hammer was allegedly poised to drop on the Raiders coach, he and his staff still got Oakland ready to go cross-country and give the very decent Bills all they could handle in a 24-23 loss. That tells me that Kiffin - while not an expert politico - is a very good head coach. And he's got his team's ear and hearts. If Al Davis fires Kiffin now he's showing how little regard he has for his players, his fans and the rest of the league. What motivation - aside from the paycheck - do the players have to play with "Pride and poise" when the owner's ready to mail in the season. Give a player an excuse to give less than his best and he'll take it every time, Bill Parcells used to say. Fire Kiffin and watch what happens.

2. Can the Patriots Get Right? 
One of the hallmarks of Bill Belichick's early days with the Patriots was the way in which they shored up problem areas quickly and made weaknesses disappear. It's what makes the guy perhaps the best coach of all time. Winning with less. The way the Dolphins shined a light on Matt Cassel's inability to get the ball downfield and the leadfootedness of the Pats defense will give upcoming Pats opponents areas to try and exploit. Watch now as Belichick schemes to anticipate upcoming opponents efforts to attack those spots. New England as its presently constituted is not as bad as it was on Sunday against the Dolphins nor as good as it was a week earlier in New York. And - as I've written over and over - they weren't as good for the last third of 2007 as they were in the first 10 games. Not even close. They are a (without Brady) a good team. Even with Brady, they are a very good but flawed team which got as close to perfection last year because they have the best coach, quarterback, wide receiver combo since Walsh, Montana and Rice.   

3. Can I honor my pledge to stop the early-season proclamations?

Even though I've come to learn that you can't make a reasonable assessment of where teams are until they've played four games, I've been tremendously kneejerk through the first three weeks. After Week 1, I was ga-ga over the Jets and believed the Redskins to be irreparably bad. After Week 2, I was goo-goo over the Patriots and even more fawning over the Cowboys. I am far from alone - in fact, the writers and analysts able to reserve judgment are in the minority these days. And I have a theory why this is and it has to do with the "splash factor." Make an early declaration and hope it holds up. It gives us a good, strong, decisive story and - if we happen to be right - lets us pound our chests about how we knew it first. But it kills our credibility. We're supposed to be the ones gathering stats, facts and anecdotes and applying our years of covering the league and noticing trends as they unfold to give reasoned analysis. We're not supposed to be slapping backs and climbing out on limbs at the coffee machine on Monday morning. A lot of my analysis gleaned from the preseason and training camps has been good - I liked the Bills and didn't like the Browns; I thought the Patriots and Colts were going to be off a bit. I liked the Eagles. But that stuff came after a few weeks of consideration. It wasn't based on snapshot observations. For instance, as bad as the Steelers looked Sunday against Philly, that was simply a bad matchup for them. Bad game plan, bad execution. They're better than they showed. And if they played the Eagles this Sunday, the outcome would probably be a bit different. Nothing is as good or as bad as it seems. Except the Rams.

4. Can Romeo Crennel Withstand the Storm?

The Browns are reeling and Derek Anderson is playing like a guy who couldn't beat out Charlie Frye for a starting job. The call is on for Romeo to go to the bullpen for Brady Quinn and the offseason defensive investments aren't paying dividends for the 0-3 Browns. This is a familiar situation that teams on the rise deal with. They inspire optimism with a flash season and then, when guys backslide a little and hit a wall the following year, people want them to go around the wall instead of climbing over it. The Browns need to stay true to themselves now and their offseason plans. Whether Crennel and the rest of the organization has the stones and the clout to do it is the question now.

5. Where to in Week 5?

Where would you, faithful reader, like to see me go in Week 5?

A) Tennessee at Baltimore

B) Pittsburgh at Jacksonville

C) Minnesota at New Orleans

D) Hell