9/28/07
After the Chargers tanked in the playoffs last season, egomaniacal/control
freak general manager A.J. Smith dumped head coach Marty Schottenheimer
despite the team's 14-2 regular season record because the two
couldn't get along and because Martyball has never won in the
playoffs. However, replacing Schottenheimer with supposed offensive
guru Norv Turner was a dubious decision right from the beginning.
The 2006 version of the Chargers averaged nearly 31 points per
game but the team has managed just over 17 points per game thus
far in 2007 with Turner matching Schottenheimer's loss total
three games into the season.
- Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio does a great job of keeping things
interesting in Jacksonville. No one can forget the Chris Hanson
episode where the punter picked up an axe in the dressing room
that was placed there by Del Rio as a motivation ploy and promptly
injured himself, resulting in him going on injured reserve.
Although not nearly as funny, Del Rio couldn't get along with
quarterback Byron
Leftwich, benched him last season, named him the team's
starter during the off-season and then waited too long in trying
to move him during the preseason, resulting in the team having
to dump their 2003 1st round pick (7th overall) and not getting
anything in return. Now Del Rio has alienated 2005 1st round
pick Matt
Jones by publicly dressing down the wide receiver over what
Del Rio perceives as his poor "body language" and deactivating
him for this past week's game against the Broncos. It says here
it's only a matter of time before the Jaguars give Del Rio his
walking papers.
- The debate goes on in Chicago about whether the team needs
to utilize its younger receivers more in the passing game at
veteran Muhsin
Muhammad's expense. The 2005 free agent signing has disappointed
since joining the team after his monster 2004 campaign with
the Panthers when he posted over 1,400 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Muhammad has just 1,649 yards and nine touchdowns during his
tenure with the Bears and his production has certainly suffered
from the poor quarterback play of Rex Grossman and, before him,
Kyle Orton. Although still an excellent blocker in the run game,
Muhammad doesn't seem to get much separation anymore and is
no longer a deep threat. Over his last seven regular season
games, Muhammad is averaging less than two receptions and 22
yards a game. Unless his production improves with Brian Griese
now starting at quarterback, look for the team to increase the
opportunities of young wideouts Devin
Hester, Mark
Bradley and Rashied
Davis.
- Here's to the Rams fabulous duo of wide receivers, The Reverend
Isaac
Bruce and Big Game Torry
Holt. Aside from their nicknames (which really aren't all
that bad), these two have been shining examples at a position
which has primarily been dominated by prima donnas during their
careers. This past week, Bruce went past 900 career receptions,
becoming just the 7th player to do so. With 450 more yards receiving,
he will move past Henry Ellard, Cris Carter and James Lofton
into 4th on the all-time (he's currently 365 yards behind Marvin
Harrison so he could conceivably move into 3rd on the all-time
list). Already the fastest wide receiver to 10,000 yards, Holt
this week moved into 20th on the all time yards receiving list
and figures to be a solid bet to join Bruce near the top of
the list before his career is over.
- Keeping with the theme of disappointing wide receivers, Muhammad's
struggles look comparatively minor compared to those of the
Redskins Brandon
Lloyd. Lloyd struggled last year during his first season
with the Redskins while also alienating the coaching staff with
his poor attitude. The team inserted Antwaan Randle El into
the starting line-up alongside Santana
Moss and then signed Patriots castoff Reche Caldwell after
the first week of the season. Unfortunately, the light still
hasn't gone on for Lloyd and he remains without a reception
three weeks into the season. With his poor production and worse
attitude, it seems only a matter of time before Lloyd finds
himself inactive on game day in favor of Caldwell. In fact,
the only thing keeping Lloyd on the roster may be Moss' injury
history.
- It's no surprise that the Bills, Dolphins and Falcons are
0-3, however more was expected of the Saints and, to a lesser
extent, the Rams in 2007. Of the winless teams the Bills and
Rams have been decimated by injuries, somewhat explaining their
poor starts, while the Falcons have likely been too involved
in the soap opera style drama surrounding their team to be fully
focused on the season. Of the five, the Saints are easily the
biggest disappointment having been the favorite to win the NFC
of many prognosticators. However, with only three teams since
1990 having been able to scrape into the playoffs after starting
0-3, it would seem the odds of the Saints making that happened
are slim and none.
- Staying with the drama surrounding the Falcons, how about
cornerback DeAngelo
Hall. Simply put, the 2004 1st round pick is a very talented
player (although he's not even half as good as he thinks he
is) but one of the most immature players in a league full of
them. Hall has lost his cool more than once during his three
plus years in the league but is on the verge of being perhaps
the NFC's best pure cover corner (Charles
Tillman of the Bears and Terence
Newman of the Cowboys may have something to say about that).
His performance this past Sunday may have topped the charts,
however, after he was penalized 67 yards on three separate plays
during the Panthers touchdown tying drive during the third quarter
of this week's match-up. The worst was the final penalty which
occurred after the Falcons had seemingly stopped the Panthers
on third down, forcing a field goal attempt from almost 50 yards.
Hall kept trash talking Panthers wideout Steve Smith as he left
the field, drawing his second 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct
penalty on the drive. Two plays later the Panthers were in the
end zone, the score was tied and they never looked back. In
the world Hall lives in, the calls could have gone either way
and they didn't result in the Falcons losing momentum and the
game. Perhaps the reported $100,000 fine head coach Bobby Petrino
gave Hall may bring him back to the world that the rest of us
live in. Or maybe not.
- If you're wondering why the Dolphins are 0-3, look no further
than the horrendous drafts they have had in recent years. Of
immediate concern is the underwhelming performance of 2006 1st
round pick Jason
Allen and the non-contributions thus far in 2007 of their
first two picks, wide receiver Ted Ginn and quarterback John
Beck, although it's somewhat unfair to expect much from
Ginn and Beck so early in the season. Allen, however, seems
like a decent bet to become another in a long line of 1st round
busts for the Dolphins and he has yet to start a game for the
team. If so, he will join the likes of Jamar Fletcher, John
Avery, Yatil Green and Billy Milner, all drafted in the 1st
round since the team took its last 1st round pick to make a
Pro Bowl (defensive tackle Tim
Bowens in 1994). Worse yet, other 1st round selections such
as running back Ronnie
Brown and offensive tackle Vernon Carey have become decent
players but do not appear anywhere close to appearing in a Pro
Bowl. Throw in the fact they have squandered high selections
for marginal talents (two 1st round picks for Ricky
Williams , a 2nd rounder for A.J.
Feeley, a 3rd rounder for Lamar
Gordon) and there is more than enough evidence why this
team is lacking the young talent required to be a contending
team.
- When the Rams added former Titans wide receiver Drew
Bennett and former Dolphins tight end Randy
McMichael to their offense during the off-season, the sky
seemed to be the limit for a unit that finished sixth in the
league in 2006. Bennett and McMichael were being hailed as great
red zone targets, bringing a size element to the receiving corps
that didn't exist last season while McMichael's blocking ability
was supposed to open more holes for Steven
Jackson once the team was near the end zone. Well, none
of that has materialized and the team has managed just two touchdowns
over the first three weeks of the season. Bennett has labored
with a quad pull while head coach Scott Linehan and offensive
coordinator Greg Olson seem to have forgotten that McMichael
has joined the team. The team has clearly struggled with substandard
offensive line due to injuries to Orlando Pace, Richie Incognito
and now Mark Setterstrom. Regardless, an offensive output of
just 32 points, which ranks 28th in the league ahead of only
Atlanta, Kansas City and the woeful Bills, simply doesn't add
up for a unit with this amount of firepower.
- Staying with Linehan, this guy just didn't look like a head
coach when they signed him and he still doesn't and likely never
will. It was a little embarrassing watching him try to rally
the troops after the team had pulled to within a touchdown of
the Bucs with a little under 12 minutes remaining this week.
He likely knew that an 0-3 start to the season would almost
certainly doom his chances of returning next season. Not surprisingly,
the Rams defense folded like a tent after Linehan's motivational
ploy, surrendering 102 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 12
carries over the balance of the game (not counting two Jeff
Garcia kneel downs).
-
 If
you're down on Dolphins defensive end/linebacker Jason
Taylor in your IDP league, you're not the only one. With
only 12 tackles and one sack, Taylor admitted this week that
his play thus far in 2007 has been substandard. Worse yet, his
frustration is resulting in him trying to anticipate the snap
count. Unable to get past Jets offensive tackle D'Brickashaw
Ferguson, Taylor jumped offsides three times with two of the
penalties coming on third down and resulting in first downs.
As lean a defensive end as you'll find in the league, Taylor
has always relied on his speed to get to the quarterback so
if he's even lost a small fraction of that explosiveness, it's
going to have a material effect on his ability to get to the
passer.
- Jets wide receiver Justin
McCareins hasn't exactly been a bust since coming over from
the Titans but he also hasn't become the player the team expected
him to. McCareins lost his starting position last season to
Jerricho
Cotchery and his two-drop performance in week two against
the Ravens (one would have resulted in a late fourth quarter,
game-tying touchdown) has apparently cost him his role as the
team's third receiver. Moving into the role, is 2nd year player
Brad Smith,
last year's 5th round pick and a player the team is high on,
partly because of his ability to execute trick plays from the
receiver position.
- Falcons quarterback Joey
Harrington apparently doesn't feel he's under any pressure
to perform even though the team just signed Jaguars castoff
Byron Leftwich. Sounds ridiculous but makes sense. He's not
under any pressure because HE KNOWS he's heading to the bench.
- If you're looking for a decent option at linebacker in a
deep IDP league, you could do worse than Bills backup middle
linebacker John
DiGiorgio. The 2nd year, undrafted free agent from Saginaw
Valley State takes over for Paul
Posluszny, out for the year with a broken arm, at middle
linebacker for the decimated Bills defense. With the offensive
unable to move the ball and now forced to start rookie 3rd round
pick Trent
Edwards at quarterback and the defense missing four starters
due to injuries, opponents should be able to get ahead of the
Bills early and maintain a healthy advantage in time of possession.
DiGiorgio amassed eight solo tackles, four assists and a sack
in his first start.
- Vikings rookie running back Adrian
Peterson has been impressive over his first three games
with 431 total yards and two touchdowns. Although Peterson has
put up incredible numbers this early in his career, there could
be better things yet to come for the rookie from Oklahoma. The
right side of the team's offensive line has struggled thus far
with guard Artis Hicks and tackle Ryan Cook failing to excel
in either the run game or in pass protection. With Cook struggling,
the team could look to reinsert Marcus Johnson, the team's 2nd
round selection in 2005, back in the lineup at right tackle.
As for Hicks, his job is safe because the team has virtually
no depth on the interior of the offensive line.
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