Posted: Monday October 13, 2008 8:03AM; Updated: Monday October 13, 2008 3:08PM
Peter King Peter King >
MONDAY MORNING QB
With dark clouds approaching, can the Cowboys weather the storm?
Story Highlights
Dallas is 1-2 in its past three games against teams that are a combined 8-10
With blowout win over Ravens, Colts jump right back into AFC discussion
Matt Ryan may be next great NFL quarterback and more Things I Think I Think
Marion Barber hasn't found much room to run in the Cowboys' recent skid, averaging 3.2 yards per carry the past three games.
Marion Barber hasn't found much room to run in the Cowboys' recent skid, averaging 3.2 yards per carry the past three games.
AP
Sometimes when you're parenting, you tell your kids, "Oh, everything's fine. Don't worry. Everything's fine.'' You don't really believe it, but you figure it's what you've got to say sometimes.
Well, everything is not fine with the Dallas Cowboys, even though owner Jerry Jones and coach Wade Phillips would have you believe that it's only a matter of time before it will be. We in the media loved the Cowboys before the season -- some of us more than others -- because of their inordinate talent and rising-star quarterback. But it's time to rethink that. Even more so now that Tony Romo will be sidelined for up to four weeks with a fracture in his throwing pinkie.
Optimistically, Dallas may lose Romo for only three games -- at St. Louis, Tampa Bay, at the Giants -- because their bye week follows the Nov. 2 game at the Meadowlands. Romo could return in what would likely be a vital NFC East showdown at FedEx Field against Washington on Nov. 16.
Dallas backup Brad Johnson won't be a disaster in relief. He's won a Super Bowl, played in big games, won't be cowed by the Cowboy Nation pressure and has a strong bond with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. He's been in the offense for two years and is a smart player who knows his limitations. Those are the pluses. The minuses: He's a month past 40. His arm is ChadPennington weak. (Beware of an eruption from Mount T.O. when he's not getting many downfield chances.) Johnson's mobility is poor. Other than that, Mrs. Jones, how did you like the play?
Johnson at least hasn't been in mothballs forever, having started 14 games for Minnesota in 2006. He's a 62 percent passer, lifetime, which is in Romo's range. What's bad for the Cowboys is that two of the three teams Johnson will face (Rams, Giants) like to blitz coming off the bus, while Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, who knows Johnson very well and vice versa, likes to safety- and corner-blitz the passer. That kind of speed and quickness could force Dallas to max-protect with an extra tight end far more than Garrett had to do for Romo. That, in turn, would put fewer Cowboys out in passing lanes for Johnson to choose from.
Imagine losing your quarterback and best cover corner (if Adam Jones gets suspended this week by the commissioner) in the span of a couple of days. That's a test of a team right there. And it couldn't come at a worse time for the slumping and embattled Cowboys.
After the 30-24 overtime loss in Arizona on Sunday, Jones said in the locker room, "I like 4-2. I do like 4-2.'' Who would say that after starting 3-0, then facing three straight teams (Washington, Cincinnati, Arizona) you were favored to beat, and winning only one of those games?
When Bill Parcells walked away from the team 21 months ago, the one thing I feared was Jones hiring the second coming of Barry Switzer, a man he could manage and control. While I don't think Phillips is Switzer-like, and while I have a high regard for Phillips the game planner, the Cowboys' mistakes and sloppiness make it obvious a firmer hand is needed to whip this talented team into shape.
In the last three games, Dallas is 1-2 -- and that's against teams with a combined record of 8-10. The other numbers in the three-game slide that should alarm Jones and Phillips when they meet today to discuss what ails this team:
Score: Dallas 79, Foes 78.
First downs: Dallas 54, Foes 54.
Terrell Owens touches: 13 catches and four rushes for 199 yards.
Romo wasworking hard to look at Owens as much as he could, maybe to the detriment of the team. But Owens is a great playmaker, and as long as he's on the team, the Cowboys have to figure out a way to get the ball into his hands more, and to get him off the bump at the line of scrimmage. Rod Hood, a journeyman corner for the Cards, took a page out of the physical Shawn Springs playbook Sunday, neutralizing Owens near the line in bump coverage.
Marion Barber carries: 48. He has to average more than 16 a game.
Felix Jones carries: 12. A ridiculously small number, and it may not improve in the next couple of weeks. Jones, the athletic first-round pick from Arkansas, strained a hamstring Sunday at the Cardinals.
Touchdown passes allowed: Six.
Special teams touchdowns allowed: Two. Those two touchdowns bookended the loss at Arizona. The game started with a Cardinals kickoff return for touchdown and ended with a blocked punt for touchdown.
There are storm clouds approaching. Terence Newman (groin) should be out at least a month, and Adam Jones could feel the commissioner's wrath this week with a suspension for his fight last week in Dallas. If Felix Jones misses time because of his hamstring injury, he'll leave the offense short another playmaker. And where is the great offensive line? For a great back like Barber to be averaging 3.2 yards a carry against Washington, Cincinnati and Arizona is patently absurd.
I thought about the Cowboys a lot in the wee hours of this morning, trying to put two and two together about their slide. I think what I'm realizing is how smart the Giants are, and how football is a team game that cannot be built on stars. Kowtowing to players, whether the team believes what it's saying or not, just doesn't work.
First, Owens complains about not getting the ball enough, and Jerry Jones says the team should "overly'' try to get him the ball. Then Adam Jones gets in the fight, and Jerry Jones calls it a "nothing'' incident. No incident with the Pacman is a nothing incident, obviously. But whatever Jerry Jones says to the players behind closed doors, what he's saying to the public is: We've got an asylum here, and the inmates are running it.
The Giants, meanwhile, suspended their best receiver for a game, beat Seattle by 38 in the game Plaxico Burress missed, and got full support from the rank-and-file over Tom Coughlin's decision to make Burress miss a game.
The long-term answer in Dallas is to shed some of the prima donnas and go back to the way the team was built in the Parcells days. In other words, big turds need not apply. The short-term answer: Increase accountability, fire a guilty special-teamer or two for the Arizona touchdowns in the kicking game Sunday, and tell every player -- from T.O. to the eighth offensive lineman -- that they're going to be penalized, fined or docked playing time for repeated mistakes. Maybe even fired. Let the players know this is a business, and no player who fools with the chances of winning a Super Bowl will be tolerated.
It's going to be hard for Phillips and Jerry Jones to whack some hands with the ruler right now, because it hasn't been their way. But the alternative is worse. The alternative is not making the playoffs.
Posted: Monday October 13, 2008 8:03AM; Updated: Monday October 13, 2008 3:08PM
Peter King Peter King >
MONDAY MORNING QB
MMQB (cont.)
Peyton Manning threw three touchdown passes in the Colts' 31-3 win over the Ravens.
Peyton Manning threw three touchdown passes in the Colts' 31-3 win over the Ravens.
Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images
The Elite 18
1. New York Giants (4-0). Jints entered the weekend first in the league in yards per game, points per game, rushing yards per game and in the top three in points allowed and passing yards allowed. This is the best all-around team in football right now.
2. Tennessee (5-0). "Cortland Finnegan's a heck of a player,'' said Marcus Stroud the other day. Not often a defensive tackle admires a cornerback, but Finnegans's getting a lot of that from players around the league who admire the Samford kid's feistiness and ball-hawking.
3. Pittsburgh (4-1). The Steelers can only hope that on the seventh day (of rest), Ben's shoulder finally started feeling better.
4. Indianapolis (3-2). I know this is a precipitous hike from last week, but let me ask you a question: Who should I put fourth, if not the resurgent Colts -- even though Sunday's rout of Baltimore was the first really good game Indy has played all season?
5. Tampa Bay (4-2). How admirable is Jeff Garcia? He goes 15-of-20 with no picks or sacks against a formidable Panther D, and all he talks about after the game, in effect, is how he appreciates the chance to be an NFL quarterback.
6. Washington (4-2). I see where Clinton Portis thinks the media was the problem with the Redskins' loss to St. Louis. We pumped up the 'Skins too much for his tastes, evidently. I wouldn't blame the media, fella. I'd blame three lost fumbles, the first three lost fumbles by your team this year.
7. Philadelphia (3-3). Congrats, Donovan McNabb, on breaking the final two of Ron Jaworski's team passing records (yards and attempts). You're the most accomplished passer in Philly history.
8. Dallas (4-2). Your turn to steer the ship, Brad Johnson.
9. San Diego (3-3). Fairly predictable result last night. Chargers have a quarterback you can trust. Patriots don't. Doesn't Philip Rivers throw a beautiful deep ball?
10. Buffalo (4-1). Sometimes, examining schedules can backfire, because you never can tell what a team's going to be a month down the road. But examine the Bills' last 11, and tell me they don't have a heck of a chance to go 7-4 and host a wild-card game Jan. 3: San Diego, at Miami, Jets, at New England, Cleveland, at Kansas City, San Francisco, Miami (in Toronto), at the Jets, at Denver, New England.
11. (tie) New England (3-2). They play Denver on Monday night and St. Louis the following Sunday, both in Foxboro. Then, for the 89th straight year, Pats and Colts play on the first Sunday of Sweeps Month (November, for all you non-TV-o-philes)
11. (tie) Jacksonville (3-3). Other than the Giants, Jacksonville is the best road team in football.
13. Carolina. (4-2). Panthers lost by 24 at Tampa Bay on Sunday. If the two played at Charlotte next Sunday, I would almost expect (and I am serious about this) Carolina to win by 24. That's the nature of the NFC South. Nothing, ever, is permanent.
14. New Orleans (3-2).Drew Brees was 26-of-30 Sunday against the Raiders. He is completing 71 percent of his throws -- and for a guy who likes to throw downfield as much as he does, that is amazing.
15. (tie) Atlanta (4-2). The sound of paper crumpling that you just heard was Arthur Blank throwing away Bill Cowher's résumé.
15. (tie) Arizona (4-2). Amazing how this team doesn't miss Anquan Boldin.
17. (tie) Chicago (3-3). Not to paint the town rosy, but the play of Kyle Orton is more good than bad.
17. (tie) Green Bay (3-3). The thing I liked most about the win at Seattle was Aaron Rodgers playing well, almost Favrian, with a bum shoulder.
Quote of the Week I
"Call me old, or whatever you want to call me, at the end of the season. Don't call me old [five] games into the season.''
-- Embattled San Diego running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who's been playing with a severely sprained big toe, on the weekly criticism he hears that he's too old or too broken down to be a great back in the NFL, in an interview with NBC's Andrea Kremer.
Quote of the Week II
"He's literally on a high wire without a net.''
-- Dallas owner Jerry Jones, on Adam Jones.
As my buddy Andy Friedland said at NBC on Sunday, "I'd like to see video of that.''
Quote of the Week III
"He really has a great attitude. I'm not sure I could be as up as he is. In the end, please God, we hope to have him here for another 10 years.''
-- New England owner Robert Kraft on Sunday, in a news briefing with reporters about the knee surgery Tom Brady underwent last Monday. Brady is expected to return, healthy, for the start of training camp next July.
Posted: Monday October 13, 2008 8:03AM; Updated: Monday October 13, 2008 3:08PM
Peter King Peter King >
MONDAY MORNING QB
MMQB (cont.)
Falcons rookie QB Matt Ryan did not turn the ball over against the Bears vaunted defense.
Falcons rookie QB Matt Ryan did not turn the ball over against the Bears vaunted defense.
Scott Cunningham/Getty Images
The Award Section
Offensive Player of the Week
Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta. Big, big game against a very good Chicago defense -- in fact, the league's best third-down defense. On third downs, he completed nine of 12 for 135 yards. That's good. This is better.
With the Falcons needing about 25 yards to attempt a game-winning field goal with six seconds left, Ryan threw a perfect 26-yard strike at the left sideline to Michael Jenkins, and Jenkins held on while crashing out of bounds. One second left. Jason Elam's 48-yard field goal won it.
Folks, we may be seeing the game's next great quarterback growing up before our very eyes. To complete 22-of-30 for 301 yards, one TD and no interceptions against a defense that hounds the quarterback as well as Chicago does is a tremendous feat for a quarterback in his sixth pro game.
Defensive Players of the Week
Melvin "Aptly Named'' Bullitt, SS, Indianapolis. In relief of the injured and defending defensive player of the year, Bob Sanders, Bullitt played a superb game. A 2007 college free-agent from Texas A&M, he had a key early interception against Baltimore rookie Joe Flacco, added five tackles, a pass defensed and two crushing special-teams tackles on Ravens' kickoffs. All in all, the submarining Bullitt has proven himself a terrific temp for Sanders.
DeMarcus Ware, OLB, Dallas. Third-and-7 at the Cards' 46 with 1:44 left. If Kurt Warner converts, the Cardinals run out the clock for a 24-21 win. If Warner is stopped, Dallas has life. Warner, from the shotgun, takes the snap and surveys the field ... and Ware, steaming in from Warner's right, levels the Arizona quarterback for a 10-yard loss, and Dallas has a last chance. That was the ninth straight game with a sack for Ware -- and, more important, set the stage for Nick Folk's tying 52-yard field goal at the gun, forcing overtime. For the game, Ware led the team with six tackles, had a sack in his ninth consecutive game, made two tackles for loss and four quarterback hits. His sack was as clutch as they come.
Special Teams Players of the Week
Sean Morey, WR, Arizona. One of the best special-teamers of this era of NFL history -- he's no Steve Tasker, but he's the closest to Tasker of anyone playing today -- Morey was the decisive figure in the Cards' 30-24 overtime upset of Dallas. After a failed first drive of overtime, Dallas set up to punt, and Morey broke through so fast that he blocked the ball before it got off punter Mat McBriar's foot. The ball was returned for the winning touchdown by an opportunistic Monty Beisel.
Geno Hayes, LB, Tampa Bay. The rookie sixth-round pick from Florida State did something he shouldn't have been able to do. He busted through an inexplicable gap between veterans who should know better -- Na'il Diggs and Dante Rosario --and easily blocked a Jason Baker punt, then picked it up and bolted 22 yards for a touchdown. Great play by Hayes. Awful play by Diggs and Rosario.
Jason Elam, K, Atlanta. Talk about going from hero to goat to hero in minutes. Elam's fourth field goal gave the Falcons a 19-10 lead in the fourth quarter, and he missed a 33-yard chippie that would have lengthened the Falcons lead to nine with 2:50 to play. After Chicago scored a touchdown to go ahead in the final seconds, Elam calmly booted a 48-yard game-winner as time expired. "I've been the goat before,'' he said via the cell phone afterward. "Glad I wasn't again.''
J.J. Arrington, KR/RB, Arizona. Fifteen seconds changed a game the Cowboys needed badly. Arrington, forgotten with the emergence of rookie running back Tim Hightower, took the opening kickoff at the seven, cut left, broke a tackle, ran up the left sideline, cut back across the field and went 93 yards for a score. Amazing half of football. Just when we thought it was going to be 24-21 at halftime with these two explosive offenses, no points were scored in the next 28 minutes. The Cards, obviously, ended up winning in overtime -- an overtime that never would have happened without the electrifying kickoff return.
Coach of the Week
Jim Haslett, interim coach, St. Louis. How about this for strategy? Midway through the fourth quarter at Washington, with the Rams up 16-10, Haslett went to his offense and told them: Guys, the defense is really tired right now. Washington's going to score. You've got to go out there and take the ball downfield and score. "They're all looking at me like, 'Are you crazy?' '' Haslett said over the cell phone later.
He wasn't crazy. And they did take the ball downfield, to the winning 49-yard field goal. Haslett's the kind of coach who pulls those kinds of motivational ploys; sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. He might be the perfect coach for these beaten-down Rams.
Goat of the Week
Adam Jones, CB, Dallas. Jerry Jones knew he had taken on a desperate man when he traded for, and signed, the petulant child of a cornerback. But he figured, as had happened with so many of the desperadoes Jerry Jones has taken on over the years, that Adam Jones understood that he was at the end of his professional rope, and he'd be smart enough to make zero mistakes while trying to rehab his reputation on and off the field. Jerry Jones figured Adam Jones had a brain in his head. He figured wrong.
Adam Jones, last Tuesday, had what's become an infamous, short men's room fight with one of his bodyguards, telling him it was time to go home. Though this isn't the kind of nuclear incident Adam Jones had in Las Vegas two years ago that led to his departure from Tennessee, he was under the strictest of zero tolerance policies from commissioner Roger Goodell. Now that he's had another incident where police were called to a fracas involving him, Adam Jones should expect to be whacked a game or two by Goodell. I'm not saying that's a certainty; I'm saying it's my gut feeling after taking the temperature of the involved parties.
Posted: Monday October 13, 2008 8:03AM; Updated: Monday October 13, 2008 3:08PM
Peter King Peter King >
MONDAY MORNING QB
MMQB (cont.)
Dolphins running back Patrick Cobbs had three catches for 138 yards against Houston.
Dolphins running back Patrick Cobbs had three catches for 138 yards against Houston.
Aaron M. Sprecher/Icon SMI
Stat of the Week
Before Sunday, in parts of four seasons deep on the depth chart of the Steelers, Patriots and Dolphins, Patrick Cobbs touched the ball 22 times from scrimmage for a total of 86 yards.
In two touches in the first 20 minutes of the Miami-Houston game, Cobbs traveled 133 yards on two receptions (80 and 53 yards). Both went for touchdowns.
Good Guy of the Week
Chicago fullback Jason McKie.
McKie's foundation provides educational scholarships to children and other dependents of wounded or deceased soldiers who have served in the United States military. McKie also hosts one military member at each Bears home game, greets the honored soldier on the field before the game and donates four tickets to the military for each Bears home game.
McKie, the son of a military lifer, moved several times in his upbringing, and his dad worked in the Pentagon on 9/11. Jason was a student at Temple at the time, and he was determined to give back to the military if he ever held a job that made him enough money to do something selfless for men and women in uniform.
Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me I
In Menlo's (Atherton, Calif.) 29-26 victory over Terra Nova last weekend, the backup quarterback completed nine of nine passes for 108 yards and ran 21 times for 178 yards and two touchdowns. His name -- Jerry Rice Jr.
Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me II
Nice day for New Orleans wide receiver Lance Moore, who caught seven balls for 97 yards, both game-highs in New Orleans' 34-3 victory over the Raiders Sunday at the Superdome.
Not as nice as his brother Nick's day Saturday.
Nick, a University of Toledo wide receiver, caught 20 balls -- a record for a Michigan opponent -- for 167 yards in the Rockets' 13-10 upset victory.
Enjoyable/Aggravating Travel Note of the Week
This isn't brand new. It's something I've noticed my last three or four times through the Greater Pittsburgh International Airport. I was there Friday, late in the afternoon, around the time you'd expect a fairly major airport to be bustling with business people scurrying to change planes, or leaving town for the weekend, or just arriving here. And it felt like noontime Wednesday. A slight bustle, but nothing big. Empty shops. Sad.
I looked over at the 10-screen DEPARTURES board in the hub of the four concourses. Six screens were blank. Only four listed departing flights.
It's no wonder the Steelers are so important to so many people in the area, with the economy in the tank and the airport just another sign of it.
The Way We Were
Bill Belichick vs. Paul Brown
Similar? Impossible. Look at their sideline dress. Brown was the spiffiest dresser in NFL history, with his business suits (pleated pants), striped ties and smart fedoras. Belichick wears a gray hooded sweatshirt; not a very nice one, either. But that's where the dissimilarity ends.
Brown was brilliant, calculating, acerbic, intensely private and got fired by Art Modell as the coach of the Cleveland Browns. Sound familiar? Brown invented the facemask, the draw play, playbooks, training camps, college scouting, full-time coaching staffs and messenger guards. Belichick invented none of those. He just refined so many things. And he was a disciple of Brown's. He read books about him, asked Modell about him, took great pride in being in the same profession. Do they have something like Spygate in common? Probably not, though in Brown's day there was nothing like the intense scrutiny from the media and public that Belichick has faced in his career.
Brown invented continuing education for coaches with his film study and play-charting and long coaches' meetings. A couple of weeks after his second Super Bowl victory with the Patriots, Belichick flew to Baton Rouge and spent two days with his former defensive coordinator at Cleveland, Nick Saban, then the LSU head coach. Because Belichick knew every team on his schedule would be studying what the Patriots did and parrying their greatness, Belichick went to work with Saban on disguising what the team did on defense. Then he went to Florida to pick Jimmy Johnson's brain on the draft. Then, on vacation, he listened to books-on-tape of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life' and It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy.
One thing both men believed in strongly: the football team as team. No player was bigger than the team. A cliché, but Brown lived it, and Belichick continues to. Brown never minded long contract holdouts, and he was going to bend to the demands of no man. That never came into play in Cleveland much, but when he ran the Cincinnati Bengals, Brown never lost many contract battles. Belichick let Bernie Kosar go in Cleveland and did the same in New England with Drew Bledsoe; his first Super Bowl in New England was won with a core of 17 lower- and middle-class free-agents signed before the 2001 season and a sixth-round quarterback named Tom Brady.
Brown won three NFL championships with the Browns, the same number Belichick has won in New England. I'm sure I've missed about 53 other things Belichick had in common with Brown.
What I Learned About Football This Week That I Didn't Know Last Week
Rookie Falcons coach Mike Smith is a smart guy -- and that's a partly why Atlanta has overachieved this season. It's not just because of the way he trusted Matt Ryan to run the offense four months after he stepped off the Boston College campus. It's also because of the way he has used John Abraham.
Through five weeks of the season, there was Abraham atop the sack leaderboard, with seven. No defensive player in football had as many disruptive defensive plays -- sacks, forced fumbles, recovered fumbles, interceptions -- as Abraham. "I want to be known as a complete player, not just a pass-rusher,'' he said last week. "My first five, six years in the league, all I heard was, 'You've got to play the run better.' Here, I feel like I play the run and pass well, and they're keeping me fresh enough to be able to do both.''
What would you say if I told you Abraham had been on the sidelines, through five games, for 138 of the Falcons' 320 defensive snaps, and it had been done that way by design? Abraham, through five games, was playing 57 percent of the snaps.
"It hasn't been just for preservation,'' said Smith. "It's been for effectiveness. Different players have different muscular efficiency, and what we're doing here is trying to maximize that in our guys.''
Different muscular efficiency. I can't say that I've ever heard that one before. But it seems to make sense with a guy like Abraham, who has missed 31 games due to injury in his previous eight NFL seasons. And he likes the way he's being handled, both during the week and on game days, when he's being used less than he ever has been when healthy. "I'm getting more rest during the week, and I'm rotating in and out on Sundays more than I have been,'' Abraham said. "I like it. I feel fresher, I feel I can use my athleticism for the full game now.''
Abraham has played a 16-game season four times in his career, and he has shown flashes of being an all-pro pass-rusher at various times since the Jets drafted him in the first round in 2000 out of South Carolina. But often he's faded late in seasons. Judging by the numbers, he might be on his way to playing his fewest snaps per game, while making the biggest impact of his career. The year-by-year playing time for Abraham, first with the Jets and then, since 2006, with Atlanta:
Smith has also moved Abraham almost equally between left end and right end, and dropped him into coverage. "We just want to make sure we use him in a smart way, and in a way he'll be able to help us for the full season,'' Smith said.
It sounds surprising that one of the best defensive players in football in the first half of this season is playing 36 snaps a game and sitting 28. But think about it: That's 36 times Abraham is playing like a sprinter coming out of the blocks, and getting beaten up in traffic. Rather than have him play 60 plays and be physically spent -- leading, perhaps, to an injury of fatigue -- it just seems smart to make sure he still has gas left in the tank in the fourth quarter and in Week 17.
Posted: Monday October 13, 2008 8:03AM; Updated: Monday October 13, 2008 3:08PM
Peter King Peter King >
MONDAY MORNING QB
MMQB (cont.)
Tom Cable lost his debut as head coach of the Raiders 34-3 to the Saints.
Tom Cable lost his debut as head coach of the Raiders 34-3 to the Saints.
AP
Ten Things I Think I Think
1. I think these are my quick-hit thoughts of Week 6:
a. Gut feeling: It's more than just inflammation in Carson Palmer's elbow.
b. Eight days ago, Tony Sparano said to me, re: the Wildcat formation: "There's quite a bit more coming off it that we haven't shown yet. Stay tuned.'' We know what you mean, coach.
c. There are four or five folks in the national media -- and you know who you are -- who are having a nice breakfast of roasted crow this morning over the Wildcat. Those are the people who said the Wildcat is running its course, or there's not much more you can do with it. Right. Tell me what you thought of the reverse and Chad Pennington throwing the touchdown bomb to Cobbs.
d. What a de-helmeting by Ronde Barber.
e. And an even better de-helmeting of Baltimore safety Jim Leonhard by Mike Hart, the determined Indy rookie running back from Michigan.
f. You can't bury Jeff Garcia. You can only hope to contain him.
g. 1:33 p.m., with 2:43 left in the first quarter of Indy-Baltimore. "This game's over,'' Jerome Bettis announced when Indy took a 14-0 lead over the Ravens, and those of us in the viewing room on the fifth floor of the NBC building nodded in agreement.
h. It's been a long time -- maybe back to Danny Wuerffel --since I've been as wrong on a player as I was about Michael Turner. He's a much, much better runner in traffic than I thought, a bull to bring down.
i. Cable guy really made a difference.
2. I think if I were Jerry Jones, I'd be burning up the phone lines today, with the trading deadline Tuesday afternoon, but not for a receiver. For a cornerback. Pro Bowl cornerback Terence Newman is out for a month at least after groin surgery (how can groin surgery incapacitate an NFL cornerback for only a month?), and I believe Adam Jones is going to go away from a week or two because of his public brawl with a bodyguard last Tuesday. It sounds totally illogical, but I bet Jerry Jones calls the Eagles and tries to pry Lito Sheppard away.
3. I think there's a reason UConn is not the cradle of quarterbacks, and Dan Orlovsky of the Lions illustrated it Sunday against the Vikes in one of the most idiotic single plays I've ever seen in 25 seasons covering the NFL.
The setup: Minnesota and Detroit were scoreless late in the first quarter, and the Lions had the ball, third-and-10 from their one. Backup quarterback Orlovsky, the former Husky, lined up in the shotgun, maybe five yards deep in the end zone, then rambled right and back when he got the ball. And with no pressure, he simply began to run on the white stripe, with no knowledge why the official back there was blowing his whistle and calling the play dead.
How can you be a quarterback, starting from your own end zone, and not know that if you fade back and run to the right you've got to be sure you don't step on the white line? Alarmingly foolish, the kind of anti-basic-instinct play that makes you wonder whether the guy has any chance to be a professional quarterback.
4. I think the trading deadline day will be quiet, judging by the GMs I spoke with over the weekend. "There's no buzz out there,'' one told me Sunday. "There's a bunch of trades that should happen but won't.'' Like what? "The Raiders should trade [cornerback] Nnamdi Asomugha. What's Al Davis going to do with him again next year when they can't reach a contract deal? Franchise him again? Corners are so valuable, and he's a good one. He ought to see what he can get for him.''
Amazing thing about Asomugha: He's playing for the cornerback franchise tag of $9.765 million this year. If the Raiders franchise him again next year, his salary would rise to 120 percent of that, based on the rule that a player franchised for the second straight year makes 120 percent of his previous year's pay. That would put Asomugha's salary in Peyton Manning-land: $11.7 million for the 2009 season. Would Davis really want to pay that?
Well, the advantage to Oakland would be that there would be no signing bonus or other money due 'till Week 1 of the 2009 season. So the contract wouldn't be as onerous as you'd think with no bonuses on the front side of the deal. And if there's one thing the Raiders would like to avoid in 2009, it's big bonuses ... seeing that they paid eight players a total of $96.4 million in guaranteed money this offseason.
5. I think there's a 50-50 chance Tony Gonzalez goes to the Giants, Bills or Packers. I think there's a 5-95 chance Roy Williams leaves Detroit.
6. I think that was a terrible call by the Vikings -- offensively inept all day, scoring a touchdown to make it 10-8 with 20 minutes to go and kicking the extra point to make it 10-9. I don't care that they ended up kicking a late field goal to win. The difference between being down one or two entering the fourth quarter is negligible compared to the chance of tying the score or being down by two entering the fourth quarter.
7. I think this is what I liked about Week 6:
a. In the span of one week -- Monday night against Minnesota, Sunday against Oakland -- Reggie Bush has changed my opinion of him about as much as a player can. Not that he's the near-every-down back the Saints had hoped he'd be 2.5 years ago on draft day, but he's been the biggest difference-maker for the Saints in two straight games.
b. Indy's kickoff coverage made enough plays Sunday to last a season.
c. Vincent Jackson's a smart receiver. You see how he sort of baited rookie cornerback Terrence Wheatley on the deep throw up the seam for San Diego?
d. Offensive mayhem? What offensive mayhem? Wes Welker's on pace to catch 115 balls.
e. The Green Bay running game didn't look pretty in Seattle, but the key in a grinder of a game like that is keepaway, and 39 carries may have netted only 113 yards, but the running did win the time of possession battle, 37 minutes to 23.
f. Aaron Kampman defines the phrase "great motor.''
g. Correll Buckhalter's repaying the faith of Andy Reid. I thought LorenzoBooker would be getting the bulk of the non-Westbrook carries this year, but not so. Buckhalter had 18 of them, for an efficient 93 yards, against San Francisco.
h. Stewart Bradley, the invisible Philly middle linebacker, is among the five underrated really good players in the NFL.
i. Great call, Kyle Shanahan, on the quarterback draw to beat the Dolphins. For a 28-year-old rookie play-caller, that one showed some guts.
8. I think this is what I didn't like about Week 6:
a. Gaines Adams needs to learn that when a ball is coming to him in coverage, and there's nothing between him and the ball, and it hits him right in the shoulder pads ... well, those are points you can't get back.
b. At some point, JaMarcus Russell has to go from young quarterback making his way in this league to an efficient NFL quarterback. He played an "F'' game at New Orleans, and I'd grade him lower if I could. His judgment on medium and deep throws was as bad as his accuracy. His tools are tremendous, obviously, but the disconnect between his ability and actual play is too much. In his last four games, he's completed 35, 47, 60 and 37 percent of his throws, which might be good enough when all of your players are better than the other team's, but doesn't give your team much of a prayer in the National Football League.
c. I know I'm not there in that locker room, and I know LaDainian Tomlinson is still a fabulous player, but I don't understand after what we've seen from Darren Sproles, how the Chargers can call a game and put the ball in his hands three times from scrimmage, as they did against New England last night.
d. Uh, Jets? Don't go patting yourselves on the back too hard after that, ahem, uneven performance against the Bengals.
e. Can you believe the Dallas Cowboys, right now, are arguably the worst team in the NFC East?
f. There's something about Matt Cassel, and I found myself searching for the right trait watching him in San Diego. A knack for knowing where to throw, when to leave the pocket, when to dump it off, when to take a chance deep with Randy Moss ... he just lacks the kind of instinct, I think, that comes from not playing the game for nine years. What a tribute to Tom Brady that the Patriots won as much as they did. That's not a dominant team. It might yet be a winning team and a playoff team, but dominating? I don't see that happening 'til 2009.
9. I think this is what Jason Elam thinks about when he's going through a bad patch, or has a shank: Tiger Woods. He told me so last night. "When Tiger Woods hits a bad shot, and he's in the rough, you think, 'That hole's lost,''' Elam said. "But Tiger ends up making birdie. Why? Because he's so mentally tough. He forgets one shot and goes on to the next one.'' Elam missed the 33-yarder in the fourth quarter and drilled the 48-yarder to win.
10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:
a. Joe Maddon. Spencer Tracy.
b. Play baseball, Manny.
c. Three of the six Red Sox playoff games have lasted until 1:25 a.m. or later. I agree with Bob Costas: These games, even the ones that don't go into extras, are just too long. Captivatingly long, but too long. The umps need to tell the pitchers, particularly with bases empty, to adhere to the quicker pace they've been told to keep.
d. Coffeenerdness: You're a coffee store, Starbucks, not a deli. The sandwich-related delays are maddening.
e. It was an honor to be in Wampum, Pa., Saturday for the memorial service of Army Sgt. Allan Bevington, the western Pennsylvania native who died in Sgt. Mike McGuire's platoon in Ramadi, Iraq, on Sept 21, 2006. What was so touching was the men in the platoon -- many of them civilians now -- who came back for the service, which coincided with the dedication of a boat launch on the late sergeant's beloved Beaver River, where he and his two brothers fished growing up.
Nine of the men returned for the service, coming from as far away as Germany, and also from Chicago, Evansville, St. Louis, Miami, Boise, Phoenix and Lubbock, Texas. "We had to come,'' said McGuire, who got choked up giving one of the eulogies for one of the men in his charge. "I think about him every day. I'll never stop thinking about him. We became brothers, all of us. More than brothers. I'll have a piece of him with me every day for the rest of my life.''
Whatever you're feeling about the wars we're in, we should all be so lucky to have friends and family as loyal and loving and caring as the platoon McGuire nurtured in Iraq.
f. I was so happy that McGuire got to see the first win of his beloved Rams at FedEx Field. Watching from NBC Sunday, I knew there was some good reason why St. Louis played an inspired game.
g. Stay safe on your remaining half-year in Iraq, Mike.
h. Weird chemistry on The Office. We need Pam back.
Who I Like Tonight, and I Mean Tony Kornheiser
New York Giants 24, Cleveland Browns 16. I don't have time to explain this pick, and I don't have time to call my boss to tell him why. I've got to take my 2-year-old Golden Retriever to obedience school. I'm not sorry either. I would make the same decision again.
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