Each week, Hall of Fame wide receiver and Westwood One Sunday Night Football analyst James Lofton tells you about the teams, players and trends that are on the way out and those that are on the way up around the NFL.
OUT: Salsa dancing, sadly. Giants WR Victor Cruz tore his patella tendon Sunday night against the Philadelphia Eagles and will miss the rest of the season. The injury came in a game during which Eli Manning was doing the limbo against the Eagles defensive line.
UP! Backup running back Branden Oliver came to the rescue for the 5-1 San Diego Chargers. Oliver responded to his first start with his second 100-yard game in a row. A week after coming off the bench for 114 yards on 19 carries against the Jets, he racked up 101 yards against the Raiders on 26 attempts. The 5’7″ Oliver wears number 43 – the same as former Charger Darren Sproles, who is 5’6″. Chargers equipment man Bob Wick sized that player up pretty well, I’d say.
OUT: Out of position. The Bucs gave up five touchdown tosses in less than two quarters of football to Joe Flacco. Flacco had thrown seven touchdown passes in five games (20 quarters) coming into last Sunday’s game.
IN: Good-looking throwbacks. The Rams looked great Monday Night in the old-school Ram uniforms during a tribute to the 15th anniversary of the Greatest Show on Turf. They even had the 49ers fooled for about a quarter and a half. The Chargers will wear those nice powder blues this weekend against the Kansas City Chiefs. And “bee” on the lookout for those hideous Steeler bumble bee uniforms. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
DIG: In route terminology for a wide receiver, a dig is a deep square in. But the question, in this case, is just how can Jacksonville and Oakland dig themselves out of the deep “oh”-fer that they’re in? That’s not a rhetorical question. Hit me on Twitter with suggestions – @lofton80.
UP! How ’bout them Cowboys. Enough said!
– James Lofton
Pro Football Hall of Famer James Lofton is the analyst for Westwood One’s coverage of Sunday Night Football. This weekend you’ll find James in Denver, where the Broncos will host the San Francisco 49ers. Coverage begins Sunday at 7:30 PM Eastern.
