Week 4
9/30/05
- The Bills suffered a huge blow to their defense with the
loss of linebacker Takeo Spikes to a season-ending torn Achilles
tendon injury. Absent the considerable run stuffing skills of
defensive tackle Pat Williams, the Bills have plummeted from
having the 7th best rushing defense in 2004 to last overall
this season, allowing 174 yards per game. The loss of Spikes
will do nothing to solve this problem. In addition, the team
was last in the league in takeaways with 19 in 2002, the season
prior to Spikes arrival. The team again finished last in the
league in 2003 in this category, before catapulting to 1st overall
with 39 takeaways last season. Spikes loss might not be so important
if the team had a veteran to plug into his spot, however 3rd
year player Angelo Crowell and his zero career starts now moves
into the starting line-up.
- Keeping with major injuries, the Patriots seeming ability
to plug players into key roles because of injuries and continue
to have success will be severely challenged in the coming weeks.
Left tackle Matt Light will miss 6-8 weeks due to a broken bone
in his right leg while safety and defensive leader Rodney Harrison's
season is over because of a left knee injury. Rookie 3rd round
pick Nick Kaczur takes over for Light while 2nd year player
Guss Scott moves into the starting line-up for Harrison. Drafted
to play guard, Kaczur struggled in his first few series last
week against the Steelers but calmed down as the game went on.
Nonetheless, he looks like a guard forced to play tackle and
his insertion into the starting line-up means the team will
start rookies on the left side of their offensive line (1st
round pick Logan Mankins starts at left guard). As for Scott,
the team doesn't know what he brings to the table and it won't
be a surprise if linebacker Don Davis is once again recruited
to help out at safety like he was in 2004. Harrison's loss coupled
with injury to linebacker Tedy Bruschi and the retirement of
linebacker Ted Johnson, means the team is now missing a significant
portion of the middle of their defense from 2004. Look for teams
to attempt to exploit this in the coming weeks.
- Let's hope Giants coach Tom Coughlin wasn't too tough on
his troops this week following the team's 45-23 drubbing at
the hands of the Chargers. The Chargers scored touchdowns on
their first three possessions against the Giants and then duplicated
that effort on their first three possessions of the second half.
So much for second half adjustments. Coach Coughlin would likely
be the first to say this is a clear indication of him being
severely outcoached by his counterpart for the Chargers, Marty
Schottenheimer, so hopefully he didn't take it out on his players.
- By the way, the 485 yards the Giants gave up in that game
were the most they have given up in 17 years. Ouch.
- Keeping with the Giants, wasn't it nice to see tight end
Jeremy Shockey go off on Coughlin for benching wide receiver
Plaxico Burress for being late for two team meetings? Unless
you've been living under a rock for the last ten years, you're
well aware that Coughlin has rules and that no player is above
them. If you break the rules, you (and, in this case, the team)
suffer the consequences so it was no surprise to anybody except
Shockey that Burress wasn't in the starting line-up.
- How bad was the Bills' J.P. Losman on Sunday against the
Falcons? The stats line of 10 of 23 for 75 yards sounds pretty
terrible and that's because it is. However, it gets worse when
you consider he was sacked four times for 39 yards, resulting
in 36 net passing yards for the game. It gets even worse when
you consider the Falcons were missing both starting cornerbacks
at one point and starting defensive end Brady Smith didn't dress
for the game. Did we mention starting cornerback Jason Webster
and nickel back Allen Rossum also didn't dress for the game?
Look for Kelly Holcomb very soon if Losman doesn't turn things
around quickly.
- Keeping with the Bills and Losman, tensions are growing amongst
the team's wide receivers as their stats plummet while the offense
struggles. With two touchdowns in three games, the team's offense
is clearly struggling and Eric Moulds sounded off this week,
stating the team needed to open it up more in the passing game,
a clear shot at offensive coordinator Tom Clements. First note
to Eric - your team's best offensive weapon is Willis McGahee
and he's going to need plenty of touches if the team is going
to get any production from the offense. Second note to Eric
- you can open it up all you want but if your quarterback can't
hit the broad side of a barn from 10 yards, it's not going to
mean a whole lot.
- So, as his Browns head into the bye week with the 26th best
(or 7th worst, depending on how you look at it) rushing offence
in the league with 75 yards a game, coach Romeo Crennel informed
the folks in Cleveland that Reuben Droughns had won the starting
running back job. Which begs the question - if all Droughns
had to do to win the job was come up with 204 yards on a 3.8
yards per carry average with no touchdowns, what exactly does
he have to do to lose the job? What exactly does that tell the
rest of the starters? Show up and you're in? To be sure, soon
enough Crennel will realize what everybody else already knows.
That is, Droughns success in 2004 was more the result of the
Broncos offensive system than anything the veteran journeyman
brought to the table.
- Great job of coaching by the Panthers offensive coordinator
Dan Henning on Sunday against the Dolphins. With former Panther
Reggie Howard lining up for the Dolphins, Henning moved wide
receiver Steve Smith wherever necessary to ensure he was matched
up against Howard. The result - 11 receptions for 179 yards
and three touchdowns, although not all of it at Howard's expense.
Nonetheless, a great move by a coach who knew the weaknesses
of a former player and how to exploit them. Look for former
Jaguar Kiwaukee Thomas to replace Howard as the Dolphins nickel
back when the team returns from their bye week to face the Bills.
- Rams coach Mike Martz has spent the last month telling anybody
who will listen that 1st round pick Alex Barron almost certainly
start won't this season because of the time he missed due to
a training camp holdout. However, with converted guard Rex Tucker
struggling at right tackle and out with an injury and his replacement
Blaine Saipaia more resembling a turnstile than an NFL right
tackle, Martz told Barron, who spent the first two weeks of
the season on the inactive list, he was going on. The rookie's
reaction? "For real, coach?" After pancaking Kyle Vanden Bosch,
who had abused Saipaia for two sacks, and recovering a Marc
Bulger fumble that Andre Woolfolk appeared to have, look for
Barron to make his first career start next week in New York
against the Giants, looking across the line of scrimmage against
Michael Strahan. His first start may be a rough one but the
Rams have long suffered from poor play at right tackle and a
solid performance from Barron would have a large impact on the
team's offensive fortunes.
- Keeping with the Rams-Titans game, Rams wide receiver Torry
Holt more or less had his way Titans cornerback Pacman Jones.
Splitting time with Tony Beckham at right corner, Jones had
a couple of nice breakups but was cleanly beaten by Holt often
and was caught out of position on Kevin Curtis' 4th quarter
touchdown reception, the game's winning score. Nonetheless,
the rookie looks like he has the potential to be a playmaker
and the team is taking the right approach in getting him on
the field even though he doesn't fully grasp the team's defensive
playbook.
- After watching Fred McAfee lose a fumble on the opening kickoff
against the Giants last week and later losing return specialist
Michael Lewis to a season-ending injury, the Saints managed
to duplicate their efforts on the game's opening play against
the Vikings this week. Aaron Stecker, subbing in for Lewis,
fumbled and lost the opening kickoff and may be lost for the
season because of an injury to his left Achilles tendon suffered
on the play. Add in the team losing a punt returned for a touchdown
by Dante Stallworth because of a holding penalty, it's safe
to conclude the team has had a regrettable two weeks on special
teams.
- Wasn't it somehow fitting that injured Eagles kicker David
Akers came into the game to kick the game winning 23-yard field
goal against the Raiders this week with one second left on the
clock? Bad hamstring and all, Akers managed to outperform the
Sebastian Janikowski, who missed from 49 yards in the first
quarter and from 37 yards with five minutes left in the fourth
quarter. Janikowski certainly has a strong leg but he regularly
misses from beyond 40 yards (45 of 70) and Raiders management
must be questioning their decision to use a 1st round pick on
Janikowski in the 2000 draft.
- By the way, it's a good thing the Eagles won this game because
head coach Andy Reid would have been roasted in the Philadelphia
media if the team had lost the game as a result of him not dressing
an extra kicker despite knowing Akers was badly injured.
- Most teams in the league benefit coming off the bye week
and manage to turn the extra week's rest into a win following
a week off. However, the Bears have lost coming out of the bye
week three consecutive years. Considering the Bears are playing
a team also coming off a bye week (Cleveland), their chances
of success in week five look bleak.
- With the Steelers loss at home to the Patriots on Sunday,
quarterback Ben Roethlisberger lost for the first time in 16
regular season starts. And has anybody else noticed that the
only time the Steelers or Patriots seem to lose in the regular
season is when they play each other?
- The Giants had plans of moving rookie 2nd round pick Corey
Webster into the starting line-up in place of Will Allen at
some point this season but those plans have been shelved for
now due to the loss of Will Peterson to a potentially season-ending
stress fracture in his back. With Allen to hit free agency this
off-season, the team drafted Webster to take over sometime this
season or next season and provide some big plays, something
Allen isn't known for. Now instead of having a solid trio of
cornerbacks in Peterson, Allen and Webster, the team will start
Allen and Webster and use Curtis DeLoach or Frank Walker as
the team's nickel back, a steep decline in talent.
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