11/5/04
- Vikings coach Mike Tice is quickly becoming a challenger to
Rams coach Mike Martz for the title as the most inept replay
challenger in the league. Perhaps remembering the criticism
after he received after failing to challenge a Terrell Owens
fourth quarter touchdown reception that was clearly not a catch
during the team's week two loss to the Eagles, Tice threw the
red flag twice this week against the Giants on plays that were
clearly not going to be reversed. The first was a swing pass
to Mewelde Moore that was clearly a backwards lateral recovered
by the Giants while the second was a punt downed by the Giants
at the Vikings one-yard line where there was no evidence the
Giants player had touched the goal line. The result - no challenges
left with three minutes and sixteen seconds left in the first
quarter.
- In the "what comes around, goes around" category, we present
the Denver Broncos. One week after Broncos tackle George Foster
needlessly cut blocked Bengals tackle Tony Williams, ending
his season, the Broncos are now whining about a late hit by
Falcons receiver Brian Finneran that knocked safety John Lynch
out of the game in the first quarter with a fractured tailbone.
Lynch is a class act, but we're pretty sure the team isn't getting
any sympathy from teams around the league on this one.
- Keeping with the Broncos, after watching film of the Falcons
give up 271 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground to the
Chiefs, you would think genius head coach Mike Shanahan would
draft a game plan based heavily on his team's ability to run
the ball. Instead, the Broncos ran the ball only 19 times while
passing it 55 times against the Falcons. The result - a 41-28
drubbing and three Jake Plummer interceptions. Apparently Shanahan
hasn't yet figured out that Plummer is going to turn the ball
over plenty when he's forced to pass that often.
- With their win over the Vikings in Minneapolis, the Giants
moved to 5-2 overall and are 3-1 on the road, with their road
wins coming against the Packers, Cowboys and Vikings.
- In Sunday's game against the Eagles, Ravens quarterback Kyle
Boller passed for more than 200 yards for the first time this
season.
- In the "timing is everything" category, Hardwick suffered
a concussion this week against the Raiders and his status for
next week game against the Saints is uncertain. Depending on
the severity of the injury, the team may decide to sit him this
week because the team is on a bye the following week. If so,
journeyman David Brandt will step in.
- The Eagles have a policy of extending contracts prior to
the deadline for including a portion of the signing bonus against
the current year's salary cap (November 8th this year) and it
was expected the team would take a run at signing defensive
tackle Corey Simon to a long-term deal. However, it doesn't
appear that it's going to happen and it's possible the team
may have some reservations given Simon's somewhat lackluster
play this season. After recording 26.5 sacks over his first
four years in the league, Simon has just 0.5 sack this year
and with the emergence of Sam Rayburn and the continued steady
lay of Darwin Walker, the team may have decided against meeting
Simon's contract demands. One thing to keep in mind with this
situation is that the Eagles generally let players walk once
they hit the market, so unless a deal gets done by November
8th, look for this to be Simon's last year with the Eagles.
- Dolphins guard Taylor Whitley has allowed three sacks in
the last two games and it is possible he will be benched in
favor of one of two rookies, Vernon Carey (1st round) or Rex
Hadnot (6th round).
- With Chad Morton going on the injured reserve list with a
torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, look for
the team to use Ladell Betts returning kicks and James Thrash
on punt returns. Morton put up subpar numbers in the return
game this season but the coaches felt that was the result of
poor blocking on the return units. Promised an opportunity to
get some touches with the regular offense since signing with
the Redskins, Morton had 48 rushes and 15 receptions in 2003,
but had yet to have an offensive touch in 2004.
- The Cowboys defensive secondary has played poorly in 2004,
partly due to the absence of safety Darren Woodson and the parade
of players starting at cornerback opposite Terence Newman (Pete
Hunter, Jacques Reeves and Tyrone Williams). However, the team
has to be disappointed in Newman's play. The fifth player selected
in the 2003 draft, Newman was expected to emerge as a shutdown,
big play corner in 2004 but he has been beaten by double moves
consistently this season and has yet to have a game where he
shuts down a top receiver.
- Of course, it was inevitable the Patriots were going to lose
but perhaps even more shocking than their loss to the Steelers
was the team's rushing stats on a day when Corey Dillon was
out of the line-up - six carries for five yards. Look for the
Patriots offense to struggle this week against the Rams unless
Dillon returns because the team is also hurting at wide receiver
with Deion Branch out, Troy Brown just rounding into shape and
Bethel Johnson not progressing in his 2nd year.
- The Chargers have been one of the surprise teams in the league
thus far into 2004 but a look at their schedule seems to indicate
trouble may be on the horizon. Of their remaining games, the
team has upcoming visits to Kansas City and Indianapolis and
gets Denver, Tampa Bay and Kansas City at home.
- The Bears were obviously disappointed to lose quarterback
Rex Grossman for the year because they wanted to measure his
progress in 2004. However, the continued ineffectiveness of
his replacements, Jonathan Quinn and Craig Krenzel, is also
costing the team an opportunity to evaluate their young wide
receivers. It's likely the team will have little to rely on
in determining what they have at wide receiver in David Terrell,
Bobby Wade, Justin Gage and Bernard Berrian. Of the four, Terrell
is the most experienced with only 3.5 years in the league.
- With Andre Lott going on injured reserve with a torn pectoral
muscle and the status of rookie 1st round pick Sean Taylor uncertain
due to his recent arrest for drunk driving, the Redskins currently
have only two safeties on their roster - journeymen Todd Franz
and Ryan Clark. Look for the team to being in reinforcements
for this week's game against the Lions. One safety that is available
and should be signed by a team shortly is former Cardinal and
Buc Dexter Jackson, the former Super Bowl MVP. The Rams are
another team that may (should) be interested in his services.
- With the Eagles signing former undrafted free agent wide
receiver Greg Lewis to a contract extension, it's becoming more
likely the team will cut their ties to Freddie Mitchell. The
former 1st round pick has to be classified as a bust at this
point with his best season coming in 2003 with 35 catches for
498 yards and two touchdowns. With Terrell Owens on board, Todd
Pinkston having signed a lucrative contract extension last season
and the team confident 2003 3rd round pick Billy McMullen can
develop, there doesn't seem to be much point in keeping Mitchell
on the roster past this season.
- Raiders tight end Teyo Johnson is expected to get into a
game for the first time this season when Oakland hosts the Panthers
this Sunday. The 2003 2nd round pick has been inactive for the
first eight games of this season after working his way into
coach Norv Turner's doghouse during training camp because of
his poor run blocking.
- Patriots linebacker Roosevelt Colvin, the team's biggest
free agent signing prior to the 2003 season, thinks his struggles
so far this season are because he missed 14 games last season
with a hip injury and he hasn't gotten back into the flow of
the game. However, Patriots observers think the injury has robbed
Colvin of the speed he relied on in recording 21 sacks with
the Bears during the 2001 and 2002 seasons. At this point, there
hasn't been any indication the team is going to move Colvin
into the starting line-up ahead of Willie McGinest or Mike Vrabel.
- The Rams are 2.5-point underdogs for this week's home game
against the Patriots. Not all that surprising, but this marks
just the second time since early in 1999 the team has been a
home underdog, a string of 46 home games. The last time they
were home underdogs was in 2002 when the team was in the midst
of an 0-5 start, Marc Bulger was making his first NFL start
and the 4-0 Raiders were coming to town.
- The situation is definitely desperate in Miami and the team
has taken a fair amount of criticism for trading 2nd and 3rd
round picks for quarterback A.J. Feeley and Lamar Gordon. However,
keep in mind the team will receive at least a 2nd round pick
when they trade running back Ricky Williams in the off-season.
- Things are getting interesting in San Francisco and it is
no surprise that hard-nosed, outspoken fullback Fred Beasley
is the one stirring the pot. Beasley has had plenty of run-ins
with teammates in the past, most famously his feud with running
back Kevan Barlow who he rarely spoke to prior to this season,
and his fury this week was directed at the team's young wide
receivers, most notably Brandon Lloyd, the 2003 4th round pick
the team was expecting to emerge as their go to receiver this
season. In a none too subtle shot at Lloyd, Beasley remarked
that some of the young receivers are more concerned "how long
their braids are or how much bling-bling they can wear." Lloyd
has long braids and is known for wearing plenty of jewelry.
- With the Seahawks wide receiver situation getting desperate,
look for the team to rely heavily on running back Shaun Alexander
over the next couple of weeks. Darrell Jackson is nursing a
sprained ankle, Koren Robinson is apparently facing a four-game
suspension for violation of the league's substance abuse policy
and Jerry Rice and Bobby Engram have been hampered by ankle
injuries. Now comes word special teams standout Alex Bannister
is going on injured reserve with a fractured right collarbone.
The team will fill likely his roster spot with Taco Wallace,
a 2003 7th round pick but they may also be forced to move a
player from another position off the roster to make room for
an additional reinforcement at wide receiver.
- The Giants have been very pleased with the play of their
offensive line, although the numbers of sacks the team has given
up (27 - on pace for 61 on the season) needs improvement. However,
the team's coaches feel that quarterback Kurt Warner has been
the culprit on a number of the sacks because he has held on
to the ball too long. Coach Tom Coughlin would like Warner to
throw the ball away more often but this may be a case of the
quarterback getting used to a new system where his role is to
avoid turnovers, which he has done fairly well thus far in 2004.
- Keeping with the Warner, there seems to be some hype he needs
to play well every week to retain his starting position but
there isn't any logic to a scenario in which the team benches
Warner for 1st overall pick Eli Manning. The team is in playoff
contention, Warner is working within the system and, with their
win in Minnesota last week, a strong case could be made the
Giants are the 2nd best team in the NFC right now. Benching
Warner would not only jeopardize their playoff chances, it would
also send the wrong message to the team's veterans.
- Staying with the Giants, the team was pleasantly surprised by the play of 2003 1st round pick William Joseph early in the season. However, Joseph has struggled recently with only four tackles and no sacks over the team's last three games.
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