10/13/07
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 Depending
on your take of it, the Cardinals may or may not have suffered
a blow with the loss of quarterback Matt
Leinart to a season ending broken collarbone. The 2nd year
signal caller clearly struggled out of the gate and had become
part of a rotation with backup Kurt
Warner subbing in when the team used a no huddle offense.
With Leinart out, Warner takes over the reins full time and
the naysayers are expecting him to falter due to his injury
history and the fact he can't seem to hold onto a starting job.
A closer look reveals that Warner hasn't actually played himself
out of the starting roles in New York and Arizona so much as
he's been told to ride the pine for emerging players at the
position - Leinart in Arizona and Eli Manning with the Giants.
Since leaving St. Louis in 2003, Warner has completed nearly
64% of his passes, has more touchdown passes than interceptions,
has averaged over 7.5 yards per attempt and has a passer efficiently
rating of over 85 in every season (he's at 102 this year). Warner
has struggled in the past in the face of a heavy pass rush but
the Cardinals have given up only five sacks thus far in 2007,
a tremendous accomplishment given that center Al Johnson and
right tackle Levi Brown have each missed two games. Look for
the Cardinals to continue to excel in pass blocking and for
Warner to remain solid for the balance of the season, with improved
numbers for wide receivers Anquan
Boldin and Larry
Fitzgerald.
- On the other hand, don't expect Browns quarterback Derek
Anderson to continue his strong performance. Anderson has
thrown an amazing 11 touchdowns, good for third in the league
and ahead of the Colts Peyton Manning. However, he has struggled
with interceptions so his continued presence in the starting
line-up will be based on the team's fortunes in the standings.
With a 2-3 record, the Browns have surpassed expectations thus
far but are still only the 10th seed in the AFC. Their upcoming
schedule includes Miami at home followed by a bye and then the
Rams on the road, Seahawks at home and trips to Pittsburgh and
Baltimore. Although they could get to 4-3, it's likely to be
downhill from there and a trip to the bench for Anderson by,
at the latest, week 12. In fact, with the bye following this
week's game against the Dolphins, rookie Brady
Quinn could take the reins against the Rams if the Browns
don't get past the Dolphins.
- If their handling of Steven Jackson's groin injury is any
indication, the Rams have taken up the league wide habit of
concealing the true nature of their player's injuries. Originally
the Rams said Jackson would be week to week with a groin injury.
On the Monday following Jackson's first missed game, they promptly
announced he would miss that week's contest and local reporters
subsequently found out that he has a 40% tear in his groin.
This past Monday, they once again announced he would be out
this week and although he has done some light jogging, this
may be a situation where the team decides to be cautious in
getting him back in the line-up. With the team currently 0-5
and staring at 0-6 barring an upset over the Ravens on the road
this week, they are going nowhere and so there is little reason
to risk a more substantial injury. With that in mind, it certainly
won't be a surprise if Jackson fails to return to the line-up
until after the team's week nine bye.
- Keeping with the Rams, the league owes the team an apology
for the poor performance of the referees during this week's
loss to the Cardinals. There were a number of highly questionable
calls in the game but none more than the Reggie Wells touchdown.
Cardinals running back Edgerrin James was ruled to have fumbled
at the one-yard line and then Rams rookie cornerback Jonathan
Wade recovered the fumble in the end zone, only to be stripped
of the ball by Wells. On replay, the fumble wasn't overturned
and the referee also ruled that Wade did not have possession
in the end zone, although replays clearly indicated he had possession
and should have been ruled down by contact as soon as he was
touched by Wells. Another touchdown call went against the Rams
when cornerback Ron
Bartell was called for delay of game for kicking the ball
at the end of the half, although the clock seemed to have expired
already. Cardinals quarterback scored on a one-yard plunge on
the subsequent play, which was an untimed down.
- The Packers may soon get wide receiver Koren
Robinson back from his year-long suspension. He is eligible
to be reinstated at any time but first must meet with commissioner
Roger Goodell and receive his approval which will also be based
on a review of his treatment program by NFL medical personnel.
Given that Robinson has not had any regressions (at least none
that have been made public), expect him to be reinstated shortly.
With the team relying heavily on its passing game in the absence
of a consistent rushing game, Robinson figures to be a key addition
and likely will eat into the opportunities of rookie 3rd round
pick James
Jones, particularly considering Jones is coming off a two
fumble performance against the Bears. Robinson has undeniable
talent but the year long layoff likely precludes him from challenging
Greg Jennings
for a starting spot, although Jennings has certainly been injury
prone during his short time in the league.
- It was a bit of a colossal joke when the Lions put the franchise
tag on left tackle Jeff Backus prior to the 2006 season and
an even bigger mistake when they signed him to a six-year, $40-million
contract before the beginning of that season. Well, the verdict's
in and Backus is clearly in the bottom half of left tackles
in the league. While the Lions benched right guard Damien Woody,
it's pretty clear that Backus and right tackle George Foster
have been huge busts thus far in 2007. The tandem has combined
to give up roughly half of the 28 sacks the team has allowed
in just five games. Although Backus was likely worth re-signing,
chalk this up as another mistake for general manager Matt Millen
due to his inability to let Backus walk given his outrageous
contract demands.
- While we're with the Lions, chalk running back Brian Calhoun
as another wasted Millen draft pick. The 2006 3rd round selection
was put on injured reserve a week ago, marking the second season
in a row he has ended the season on injured reserve. With 55
career rushing yards, 54 career receiving yards and relegated
to 4th string on the depth chart behind Kevin Jones, Tatum Bell
and T.J. Duckett, it certainly looks like Calhoun's prospects
of ever contributing in Detroit are nearly non-existent.
- The Bills are 1-4 and a bottom-feeder because of their youth,
right? Maybe this should read the Bills are 1-4 but should be
3-2 and a young team on the rise. Consider they have lost two
games on last second field goals that they should have won due
to poor coaching by both the offensive and defensive coordinators.
In each of their last second losses to the Broncos and Cowboys,
offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild has called for pass plays
on third down late in the fourth quarter rather than calling
running plays in order to keep the clock moving. Sticking with
the run might not have resulted in first downs (the passing
plays didn't either) but the clock would have kept running,
putting additional pressure on the opposition's offense. Defensive
coordinator Perry Fewell was guilty of calling prevent defenses
against the Broncos when they faced a 3rd and 21 and against
the Cowboys on two consecutive plays late in the game when the
Cowboys had to get out of bounds or else the clock would have
run out. The Bills might not be pretty on offense but they've
been competitive given their youth and injury situation and
this team looks like it will make a strong move up in the standings
in 2008.
- How big of a bust is Miami's 2006 1st round pick Jason Allen?
Since the start of the season, the team has lost starting strong
safety Yeremiah Bell, inserted Tavares Tillman into his spot,
signed Donovin Darius and Lamont Thompson, benched Tillman for
converted cornerback Travis Daniels who was then benched for
Darius who got hurt and was replaced by Bears castoff Cameron
Worrell. At cornerback, Michael Lehan was inserted in the starting
line-up for Daniels after week two. In fact, the only defensive
back on the roster other than Allen not to start a game in 2007
is rookie undrafted free agent Courtney Bryan.
- The Panthers entered the season high on rookie wide receivers
Dwayne Jarrett, 2nd round, and Ryne Robinson, 4th round, but
both players have failed to make an impression thus far in the
season. Despite minimal production from Keary Colbert and Drew
Carter (who have combined for 278 yards and two touchdowns),
the team hasn't increased Jarrett's role and there are no indications
they are about to. He didn't dress until week four and was back
on the inactive list last week. Robinson has yet to catch a
pass, lost the kick return job after week one and appears to
have lost the punt return job this week.
- You have to hand it to the Colts. They lose Pro Bowl quality
linebackers and never seem to lose a step at the position. Left
tackle Tarik Glenn abruptly retires prior to the season and
they insert a rookie 2nd round pick (Tony Ugoh) who ends up
playing like a quality veteran. They let Edgerrin James go via
free agency and get major production from Joseph Addai. Addai
goes out and the team inserts Canadian Football League refugee
Kenton Keith, who goes off for 158 total yards and two touchdowns
this week. Little known fact about Keith is that he failed to
make the Jets in 2004 in his first attempt at cracking into
the NFL.
-
 Although
Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio blundered in having to release Byron
Leftwich prior to the start of the season, receiving no
return on the team's investment in him of a 1st round pick,
David
Garrard has supplied exactly the type of play Del Rio is
looking for at the quarterback position. Garrard has yet to
throw an interception, is completing over 66% of his passes
and is averaging 8.3 yards per attempt. With the defense giving
up just over 10 points a game (second in the league to Pittsburgh's
9.4 points per game), the team doesn't need to be risky on offense
and Garrard has fit right into the scheme.
- Patriots tight end Ben Watson is likely the most physically
gifted tight end in the league next to the Chargers Antonio
Gates and is always drafted high in FF leagues based on his
talents. However, his production has yet to match his talents
largely because of the team's philosophy of spreading the ball
around to multiple palyers in the passing game. No surprise
then that this week's 107 yard receiving performance was the
first time Watson has cracked the 100-yard barrier.
- It didn't garner much attention but the Vikings suffered
a serious hit to their depth on the defensive line when end
Darrion Scott was placed on injured reserve this week with a
broken foot. With Erasmus James yet to play this season, Scott
was the Vikings top reserve at defensive end, receiving significant
time behind starters Kenechi Udeze and Ray Edwards and also
moving to defensive tackle occasionally on passing downs. With
Scott out, the team will need to regularly employ Edwards and
2007 2nd round pick Brian Robison at end, two players better
known for their pass rushing ability, until James returns to
the line-up.
- An already struggling Falcons offensive line (18 sacks allowed,
3.7 yards per carry) suffered a major blow this week with starting
tackles Wayne Gandy and Todd Weiner going down with injuries.
Gandy will miss the rest of the season while Weiner will be
out for two to three weeks, leaving undrafted rookie free agent
Renardo Foster at left tackle and Tyson Clabo, a natural guard,
at right tackle for this week's match-up against the Giants,
who are tied for the league lead in sacks with 17. A repeat
of the Giants 12 sack performance against the Eagles wouldn't
be a surprise.
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