It is a tragedy.

Life is full of them, on a daily basis. 

But Chris Henry could not escape them.  He attracted them, like he was his own magnetic field, designed with a universal North side to trouble's South.

Just over a year ago, Chris Henry was released as he was facing criminal assault charges.  It was his fifth arrest since college and he was only 24.  Owner Mike Brown, who seemed to relish taking on troubled cases almost as much as Al Davis, could do nothing but watch owner but bid him farewell, as Marvin Lewis was beginning to spend more time answering questions about off the field issues than football.   The din had reached a point where the most tolerant of coaches, Lewis, vowed to toughen up, even on his prized wide receiver turned circus act Chad Ochocinco, and they had cultivated a locker room that was way too tolerant.

2007 marked a period where 10 Bengals were arrested in a four month span.  Quincy Wilson, A.J. Nicholson, Jonathan Joseph, Odell Thurman, Eric Steinback and of course Chris Henry were amongst the names on the list.  Thurman was suspended a whole season for violating the substance abuse policy of the NFL, and both he and Henry were eventually released.

Henry's charges included marijuana possession, carrying a concealed weapon, drunken driving and providing alcohol to three teenaged girls. 

No one will ever doubt that Chris Henry was a talent.  He was a third round pick, 83rd overall out of West Viriginia.  He was one of three players to record 20 yards per catch average for his college career, and hold the second most touchdowns in school history with 22.  He had 15 touchdowns in just two NFL seasons.

My heart goes out to those who knew Chris Henry, and those of his family who truly attempted to guide this iccorrigible young man. 

But Chris Henry will be known for only one thing sadly.  It won't be the stats.  it won't be the touchdowns.  It won't be for his size, hands or football skills.  He'll be known for what he was, troubled, unfocused, and immature.  He'll be remembered for doing what he did nearly always since he turned pro.  He'll be remembered for being a distraction.

 

 

Don’t be fooled by the 16-0 score. When the Ravens took a 7-0 lead, this game was over, although we did learn an important lesson about Joe Flacco (13-of-18 passing/155 yards). It’s become apparent opposing defenses have figured the second-year man out. Flacco’s thrown just one touchdown over the last three weeks and should be benched until he breaks out of this slump. Not much more to say about Ray Rice (20 carries/89 yards/TD/three receptions/15 yards) other than he’s a must start. The ageless Derrick Mason (three receptions/78 yards) broke the game open with a 41-yard grab, setting up the evenings’ first and deciding touchdown. Mason is a WR3 on a quality Fantasy squad, but can be trusted as a starter. Todd Heap (four receptions/43 yards) seems to be relevant once again, though I rank him a low-end TE1 at best. The MNF crew felt the fourth quarter was an appropriate time to whip out their non-game related banter. LeBron James, clips of Jon Gruden playing high school football and some funny 80s pics of Jaws were all deemed more interesting topics than the game at hand. That pretty much sums up Cleveland’s season. The Browns didn’t even come close to scoring, the Baltimore 45 being the furthest they got. Brady Quinn (13-of-31 passing/99 yards/two interceptions) should not be owned outside of keeper leagues. Jamal Lewis (10 carries/36 yards) isn’t worth a roster spot. Ditto for Mohamed Massaquoi (one catch/30 yards/eight targets) and Josh Cribbs (seven touches/44 yards). So, how ‘bout that LeBron James…

Despite back-to-back losses for the first time under Mike Smith / Matt Ryan era, the Falcons managed some prime time performances. Notwithstanding, Ryan was a pedestrian 19-of-42 passing for 289 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. The tough matchups outweigh the cupcakes in the coming weeks for Ryan. If he’s your starter, it may be time for QB1 upgrade. The touchdowns have been there, but the yardage has not – until now. Michael Turner (20 carries/151 yards/TD) is finally putting it all together, showing off the burst that earned him the nickname “Burner”. Expect more of the same in the second half. Roddy White (four receptions/108 yards/TD) has been as consistent as he has explosive, taking a 68-yarder to the house. After a slow start, White has scored in four consecutive games. Tony Gonzalez (six catches/89 yards/) continues his elite play, despite only scoring in one of his last five games. Don’t panic. The touchdowns will come as long as the targets do (nine on MNF). Drew Brees (25-of-33 passing/308 yards/two touchdown/two turnovers) is slated to play in just one more potentially bad weather game – Week 13 at Washington. The rest are in domes with a pit stop at Tampa. Scary. Mike Bell had more carries (17 rushes/49 yards), but Pierre Thomas (16 touches/100 total yards/two TD) did the damage. Despite his diminishing touches, (four touches/14 total yards/TD) Reggie Bush still got a goal line look. The Saints are likely to ride the hot hand – Thomas right now – but were constantly rotating running backs during drives, making it impossible to predict the division of work. Marques Colston scored in his third straight game (six catches/85 yards/TD) and has entered elite status. Jeremy Shockey (five catches/72 yards) can be trusted as a TE1.

All aboard! At 6-0, the Denver Broncos bandwagon is filling up fast. The conductor, Kyle Orton (20-of-29 passing/229 yards/two TDs) has been a model of consistency all season. Orton has thrown at least one passing TD in every game, tossed a measly one pick on a Hail Mary pass, and has thrown for less than 220 yards just once. If Orton is still on waivers in your league, make like Lloyd Christmas and pick 'em up! Rookie Knowshon Moreno had his worst game since making his pro debut (18 carries/44 yards/2.4 YPC), but on the bright side averages 18 touches per game. After scoring TDs three straight weeks, Brandon Marshall put up a stinker (five catches/49 yards). His looks and touches will be unpredictable for the rest of the season, but regardless, remains a strong WR2 play. Eddie Royal housed a 93-yard kickoff, followed by a 71-yard punt return for a score.  Royal has been inconsistent in the passing game (four targets/zero catches on MNF), but the added touches on special teams could give unsuspecting owners the impression he’s valuable. Sell now if you can. Tony Scheffler hauled in six catches for 101 yards and a touchdown, getting back on the Fantasy radar. I’d like to see more before I roll him as a bye week fill in. With Philip Rivers’ (20-of-33 passing/274 yards/TD) bye week behind him, feel free to unload your QB2. The good news is LaDainian Tomlinson (21 touches/100 total yards) had his best game of 2009. The bad news is if he’s on your team you wasted a first-round pick on him. LDT was pulled off a goal line package on MNF, and lacks that extra burst that made him so special in years past. His current value is that of a RB2. Vincent Jackson (four catches/46 yards/TD) reached must-start status weeks ago, and his MNF performance reinforces that. Jackson’s reception total is a bit low, but who cares when you average 17.5 YPC. Antonio Gates (five catches/70 yards) has two scores on the season, both coming in the same game. Unless you’re blown away by an offer for Gates, stick with him. The TDs will come.

In his Prime Time debut, rookie Mark Sanchez put up respectable Fantasy numbers (12-of-24 passing/172 yards/TD), but remains a borderline QB2. Expect similar numbers from “Sanchize” all season. Thomas Jones (13 carries/42 yards/two TDs) averages just 3.7 YPC, but has five TDs on the season. Jones’ touchdown potential makes him a low-end RB2 option. The allegedly explosive Leon Washington’s (10 carries/44 yards) longest play from scrimmage this season is 19 yards. Keep Washington in your back pocket, but benched. Newly acquired Braylon Edwards (five receptions/64 yards/TD) made some tough catches in traffic and was targeted nine times. He was robbed of a second TD on a botched review. The impressive debut coupled with the contract-year-factor says I’m buying Edwards as a WR2. If you can get your hands on him relatively cheap, pull the trigger. The Edwards factor will trickle down to running mate Jerricho Cotchery who can expect to see single coverage the rest of the way. After just his second start, Chad Henne (20-for-26 passing/241 yards/two TDs) is officially worth a look as a bye-week fill in. The Dolphins offensive line surrendered zero sacks to the vaunted Jets defense. Believe what you see. Ronnie Brown (21 carries/74 yards/two TDs) scored the game winning touchdown with seven seconds left in the fourth quarter, out of the Wildcat. Brown is the second ranked RB in Yahoo! leagues. Ricky Williams (11 carries/68 yards/three catches/70 yards) averages just over 14 touches per game, making him an effective spot-start. Ted Ginn Jr. (2 catches/57 yards/TD) flashed some of that big-play ability, burning all-world CB Darrelle Revis on a 53-yard touchdown. Despite the flash, Ginn Jr. will have to show some consistency to be considered anything more than a WR3.

 Our very skilled, and very conspiratorial (j/k, bro), Senior Football Editor Mike Gilbert asked me if I had any thoughts on whether the Braylon Edwards trade to the New York Jets was some sort of larger scheme to keep LeBron James in Cleveland next summer.  

 Well, as a basketball guy I guess I never really thought about it until he posed the question.  Here now was my response to Gilbert on the Braylon Edwards/LeBron James story.. 

 

I guess I don't know enough about Braylon Edwards to say whether or not this move was made based solely on the premise of keeping LeBron James in Cleveland next summer.  In saying that I mean: did the Browns get fair market value from the Jets?  If someone can convince me that the Browns got five cents on the dollar in return, then you might be onto something here. It would seem to me, however, that with Edwards being in the final year of his contract the Browns could have just waited for the smoke to clear and accept that Braylon Edwards did what any noble man would do; he Tweeted his apology.  Then they just would have let him walk next summer, no?  Was he that much of a nuisance?  Besides, the ghost of Mickey Mantle could rise up and win a World Series for the Tribe and still not trump LeBron James as the toast of the town.        

On the other hand, I wouldn't put it past the city of Cleveland to round up anyone within a 60 mile radius who could be considered a potential roadblock in returning LBJ to the city that was built on rock-n-roll and, of course, Drew Carey.  The Cavs did bring in an aging Shaquille O'Neal and his $20 million contract this summer for the sole purpose of having him lean his meaty body up against Dwight Howard's.  They also just printed out and sent NBA Finals tickets to their season ticket-holders three weeks before the 2009-10 season even starts!  So it actually wouldn't surprise me to see the entire city of Cleveland chip-in and buy Edwards a one-way ticket to New York if it meant keeping LeBron James happy.

The real losers in all of this, however, are the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets.  If it is true that LeBron James and Braylon Edwards cannot co-exist in the same city I'm sure that Knicks and Nets fans will come together in solidarity and surround Giants Stadium.  Both teams have worked so hard in their attempt at wooing LeBron James for a good two years now.  How could the city of New York (meaning, the Jets) accept a trade offer that could possibly drop them from contention in the LeBron James sweepstakes?  Don't the people have a say in all of this?  Haven't Nets and Knicks fans suffered long enough?  Is Braylon Edwards going to cause sleepless nights in the city that never let's someone "play" with them "like that"?    

Although now that I think about it, this may have been one shrewd move by Cleveland that not only got Edwards out of town, but also sent him to their biggest competitor(s) in the 2010 free agent market.  Well played, Cleveland.  Well played.  New York?  Your move...     

The Packers dared Brett Favre to beat them, and he did just that, turning in his best statistical game as a Viking (24-of-31 passing/271 yards/three TDs). With some serious dudes hitting their byes, Favre is a great spot-start next week at St. Louis. By his standards, Adrian Peterson has had back-to-back slow weeks (44 carries/140 yards/TD). Expect that to change as defenses show Favre more respect. Thanks to his nationally televised outburst (five receptions/70 yards/TD), and second solid week in a row (four catches/56 yards/TD vs. SF) third-year wide out Sidney Rice will be flying off waiver wires. Bernard Berrian hauled in his first TD of the season, and is earning Favre’s trust (10 targets). Berrian should be valued as a low-end WR3 with quality upside. Aaron Rodgers has been sacked an appalling 20 times this season. Despite the beating, Rodgers continues to post huge fantasy numbers (26-for-37 passing/384 yards/two TDs). Ryan Grant’s touches have been there (15 touches/101 total yards in Week Four), but the home run burst that made him famous in 2007 is not. Since Week Two of 2008, Grant’s longest rush is 35 yards. This year, it’s 17 yards. Combine that with a steady decline in YPC (2007: 5.1/YPC, 2008: 3.9/YPC, 2009: 3.8/YPC), and Grant’s upside shrinks by the week. The horrendous play of the offensive line is killing Greg Jennings (three catches/31 yards). With constant pressure in his face, Rodgers simply cannot set up for the deep ball, Jennings’ bread and butter. Regardless, stay patient with him. Donald Driver (four catches/55 yards) has better numbers than Jennings and is a dependable WR2 every week. JerMichael Finley (six catches/128 yards/TD), flashed some serious speed for a TE, taking a 62-yarder to the house (35 yards YAC on the play). If you’re in the market for a TE, Finley is worth a look.

 

This game brought Tony Romo’s inconsistency full circle. Week One was great (16-27, 353 yards, 3 TD), Week Two was brutal (13-29, 127 yards, 1/3 TD/INT) and Week Three was mediocre (22-33, 255 yards). Next up is a Denver defense that has allowed 5.3 PPG. Maybe he is missing Terrell Owens more than advertised. Romo’s struggles are curious considering Dallas is tops in the NFL in rushing, averaging 193.7 YPG. With Marion Barber III (strained quad) shelved, Felix Jones (nine carries/94 yards) continued to show his ability to make the most out of limited touches. Jones was on pace to top 10-plus carries for the first time in his young career, but his night was cut short when he pulled up lame after a 40 yard run. In stepped Tashard Choice (18 carries/82 yards/TD) to pick up the second half slack. If MB3 misses more time, snatch Choice off waivers if you have the roster space. Whoever totes the rock in Dallas is going to be a stud. Jason Witten hauled in all nine of his targets for 77 yards and will be just fine despite Romo’s erratic play. DeAngelo Williams (5.8 YPC/64 yards) failed to score in a game for the first time this season. The Fantasy first-rounder is averaging less than 14 carries per game due in large part to the Panthers falling behind early. Since you can’t/won’t bench Williams, hope the passing game gets its act together. Speaking of which, Steve Smith was the focal point on the opening drive (three catches), but had just one catch after that. Jake Delhomme did target Smith on a deep ball, but couldn’t get enough air under it. That could be a recurring theme all season long in Carolina.

Week 1 in the NFL is nearly almost every year an anomaly.  Look at the Miami Dolphins franchise last year, which started out a measly 0-2 before shaking up their division and becoming an 11-5 playoff team; or the Buffalo Bills, a team that looked like they were going to be a playoff contender after their 4-0 start before collapsing in a way we only thought possible in Cincinnati.

In some ways, we can take all first observations with a grain of salt, and give them as much credence as you would Brandon Marshall court testimony.  At the same time, some inauspicious events in Week 1 have left me with some concrete beliefs moving forward, three of which I'll share with you now:

1) The New England Patriots are in trouble - And when I say trouble,  I don't really mean offensively, though you could have scraped the rust off of Tom Brady like you scrape crumbs from a burnt piece of toast.  No, defensively this team got hit in the mouth repeatedly by an average Buffalo Bills line and mediocre offense.  Certainly the addition of Terrell Owens gives every team another thing to think about.  But just how much thinking were the Pats doing on Monday night?  The combined losses of Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour are far too numerous to be ignored.  Sure, these guys were getting older, and maybe even slowing down.  But ask a defensive coordinator who he'd rather plan against, and guys like Seymour and Harrison would not make that list.  Now comes word that Jared Mayo is down for an unspecified time with a knee problem, though it's supposedly not season-ending.  However, replacing Mayo with Derrick Burgess is not going to give the Pats the same kind of speed and freedom.  The secondary has been downgraded since the losses of Randall Gay and Asante Samuel.  Trust me, the Patriots will need every ounce of offense they can muster as they face teams with rising defenses (Jets, Falcons and Ravens) and emerging offense all their next three games.  If they exit this stretch 3-1, all of New England will breathe a collective sigh.

2) The San Diego Chargers aren't looking like Super Bowl contenders -  It's true good teams win when they are at their worst, and while beating the overmatched Raiders was a sign San Diego is a good team, they certainly aren't a very tough team.  Oakland came out Monday night and punch these guys around like they hadn't felt since last year.  Richard Seymour manhandled the San Diego line, going so far as to draw a sack even whilst being double-teamed.  The Chargers lost two offensive lineman to injury (Louis Vasquez and Nick Hardwick), which summoned two great Norvelle Turner quotes post game:

 - "I don't know if I've ever been in a game where more guys had to leave the game," coach Norv Turner said.

- "I think we're going to be better than it looks out there," Turner said.

Really Norv?  Because it looked pretty bad.  Maybe you should speak to your conditioning coach.  Or maybe you're just too much a coordinator and not enough of a hard ass as a Head Coach.  Your passing game was stymied the majority of the game, with new Tyvon Branch singularly responsible for shaking up your team.  The hit he laid on Darren Sproles still has Darren emitting a vibrato that some people have mistake as a phone.  The Raiders defense may no longer be a joke, but the San Diego offense has to be able run the ball and protect Philip Rivers.  All of that comes into question now.

3a) The Philadelphia Eagles defense may be the only thing holding them together - Let's face some facts.  The Philly offense wasn't looking so great even before Donovan McNabb went down.  It was the Philly defense that blitzed, pursued and pummeled the Carolina Panthers into submission.  The Eagles offense scored only once when they started on their side of the 50.  Four times they were given field position inside the Carolina 32 or better which resulted in scores.  Their other eight possessions resulted in two turnovers, four punts, a missed field goal and a turnover on downs.  

3b) Signing Michael Vick was karmic - Who'd have thought Michael Vick would even play football this year, much less sign with a quality franchise like the Eagles?  Now, it appears to be destiny, as the pain associated with a broken rib is tremendous, and if McNabb survives a game even in a flack jacket, he's a much braver man than I ever care to be.  Kevin Kolb will get one chance to show he's ready for the big time, and he better come through.  Otherwise, Week 3 is the Michael Vick show, for whatever that means, so everyone hold onto your hats.  Not that I had Philadelphia even in the playoffs, but now they've certainly become the most unpredictable team in the ultra-competitive NFC East, and not necessarily in a good way.