The Redskins have become a certifiable mess, and a lot of it starts at the top with owner Dan Snyder. The team is 2-5 this year despite having spent plenty of money on their talent, and the fans are unhappy, as is ownership. Former player John Riggins recently had his radio show canceled on Snyder’s station WTEM in D.C., and he’s responded with some harsh, critical rants about Snyder and head coach Jim Zorn. Riggins’ criticism, while humorous and biting, came across to many as excessive. Count former Skins QB Joe Theismann as one who isn’t on board with Riggins’ criticism, as he told the 2 Live Stews on Sporting News Radio:

“John’s not outspoken about this football team, John’s just decided to attack people personally, and I think he is way out of line. I don’t agree with his opinions. I think it’s vindictive, I think it’s downright harsh, and I think John speaks specifically for himself.

John thinks he’s representing the fanship, but I don’t believe he is. The Redskin fans are frustrated — this football team has not achieved anywhere near what I think the fans believed they were capable of doing. But to attack the owner and say the things about the owner that he said, to attack the coach and say the things that he said about the coach, seemed purely motivated in one mean-spirited way, and I don’t agree with it.”

Even though Riggins’ rants have received plenty of play across the airwaves for their entertainment value, it’s nice to hear a different legend call Riggins out for his inappropriate behavior. People have learned that screaming and yelling and making outlandish remarks will get you on TV (thanks, ESPN), but it doesn’t earn you the respect of anyone. Riggins doesn’t have mine or Theismann’s respect for what he’s done. No doubt the Redskins are in bad shape and a lot of it is due to the ownership, but there’s no reason to go about the criticism in the manner that Riggins has.

Bengals sideshow wide receiver Chad Ochocino is known for running his big mouth and pulling stunts on and off the field. When I say off the field, I don’t mean getting into trouble with the law — I mean stirring up controversy with opposing teams. A few years ago Ocho had a chart of all the opposing cornerbacks who would be guarding him and he would keep track of which ones he burned. He also is known for sending packages to opposing defenses, a practice he replicated this week prior to the game with Baltimore. Ocho says he sent Fabian Washington, Dominique Foxworth, Ed Reed, Dawan Landry, and company gift baskets that included some deodorant so that they didn’t sweat all day. While Ocho is saying that’s what it’s for, I was guessing it has a duel purpose to also let them know they stink.

Even though the Bengals have the better record and already beat the Ravens in week five, I’m skeptical about their chances once again. It took a few key penalties on an improbable drive for the Bengals to win last time so odds are it will be another close game. The bright side is that the Bengals had an extra week to prepare for the game so they should be all set and rested for the contest. Putting the outcome aside, I’m just hoping for both teams to have success running the ball; I have both Ray Rice and Cedric Benson gunning for me in the Coors Light Fantasy Football League. Going against me though is that Dewey at the Right Brain blog said bench Ced this week, only I don’t have any other options.

Getting back to Chad, it’s sad to see so many analysts have to eat crow regarding his performance this year. I guess they didn’t realize Carson Palmer got hurt last year and missed almost the entire season, leaving the injured Ochocinco stuck with an incapable Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback. All those analysts must have forgotten about Chad’s five straight Pro Bowl years prior to last year.

The Chiefs are in the midst of yet another losing season, having a record of 1-6 on the year. While we’re already aware of the issues they’ve had with volatile running back Larry Johnson, it seems as if they’re trying to avoid any other problems within the organization — the sort of the thing that can mount as the result of constant losing. Rotoworld has tipped me off to the latest sign posted at the team’s facility, courtesy of beat writer Josh Looney. See it below:

Judging by this sign, it’s safe to say LJ won’t be back with the team next year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets less than 100 carries over the course of his career following the season. In other words, after several heavy workloads with the Chiefs, he’s probably done. Although the team stinks right now, I do have confidence they have some of the right pieces in part to slowly start turning things around. Scott Pioli and Matt Cassel is a good start.

Zack Follett. Danny Amendola. Awesome hit. Must watch:

That’s what happens when you put an aggressive, rookie linebacker who was a 7th round pick desperate to make the team, on special teams. And that’s what happens when he gets a clear path to a much smaller, rookie returner. Ouch. Talk about living a car crash, yeesh. Maybe they should have stuck Follett on defense to try and stop Steven Jackson considering nobody else on the Lions was able to. Oh and by the way, there might be a quarterback controversy brewing in St. Louis.

The Vikings were without fullback Fahu Tahi in their win over the Packers on Sunday. Unless you’re a hardcore Vikings fan, you’re probably saying to yourself “who the eff is Fahu Tahi?” Right. I’m in the same boat. But I do know that Tahi wound up inactive for the game because of an eye injury. Minnesota head coach Brad Childress was asked about Fahu’s status after the game, and he went into some detail about Tahi’s eye, saying it was swollen and nearly shut and that’s why he didn’t play. But then Childress went all WWF on us with this line that seemingly came out of nowhere, “We always talk about Tongans having hard heads but you know, not high occipital lobes or whatever it is.”

Yes, that was Chilly’s explanation for Tahi’s eye problems. At first I was stunned and had no idea about what Childress was speaking, so I did some research to try and connect the dots. It turns out the great Brad Childress may have been making some sort of reference to the old WWF tag team, The Headshrinkers. Now I may have watched Royal Rumble in ‘94 but I think I forgot a few things about The Headshrinkers. Check out this description of their tag team and tell me that’s not what Chilly was talking about:

The Headshrinkers portrayed a pair of Samoan savages … They were also billed as having hard heads that were impervious to pain; any attack that targeted a Headshrinker’s head would have no effect, and an opponent who tried to headbutt one of them would end up hurting himself. Having hard heads went with typical professional wrestling portrayals of Samoan wrestlers.

So is this where Childress got his reference from? Is it possible that deep down when he’s not coaching football that Chilly is a wrestling guy? Where else did he get this info about Tahi and this Tongan reputation? I demand answers!

The big question leading up to Sunday’s game between the Packers and Vikings at Lambeau Field was how the fans would receive Brett Favre. We got a sense before the game because Favre was booed during warmups, but the most severe reaction from the fans was reserved for the actual game. Listen to the audio and video of Brett Favre getting booed by Packers fans and see his reaction:

You could tell that Favre was hurt by the negative reaction from the fans and that it bruised his ego. He may have walked out of the game with four touchdown passes and a win on the scoreboard, but I still think he’s the loser. Whether it’s late in the regular season or not until the NFC Championship game, Favre is going to let his team and fans down eventually. And what does he get out of all of this, a little revenge in his childish game? The only winners here are the TV networks who got tremendous ratings boosts and possibly Brad Childress if he gets a contract extension because of a successful regular season. Honestly Brett, what did you really think would happen after you told the fans you wanted to come back and stick it up their bleeps? Favre is still the loser in the end, no doubt about it.