Week 6
10/14/06
- The Patriots management team of Bill Belichick and Scott
Pioli has done a great job of assembly the team's past Super
Bowl winners but it's clear they erred this season in not re-signing
unrestricted free agent David
Givens and then trading fellow starting wide receiver Deion
Branch. Although neither player was considered a true number
one wideout, they were a solid tandem that performed well in
big games. The duo combined for 1,736 yards receiving and seven
touchdowns in 2005. Thus far in 2006 the Patriots wide receivers
have combined for just 41 receptions for 466 yards while scoring
five touchdowns. Although the touchdown count is impressive,
the group of Troy
Brown, Doug
Gabriel, Reche
Caldwell and 2006 2nd round pick Chad
Jackson hardly scares defensive coordinators, allowing the
opposition to stack the box to defend the run. The Patriots
can beat up on the also-rans and middle of the pack teams but
unless their wide receivers develop some chemistry with quarterback
Tom Brady, the Pats will be looking at a quick exit from the
playoffs this season.
- Terrell Owens doesn't need any more publicity but the record
does need to be set straight. After the Cowboys loss to the
Eagles this week, Owens let loose, questioning why he was in
Dallas and why he wasn't being targeted more. Here's the facts.
Owens has been targeted 40 times in four games, an average of
10 per game which is the fourth highest amount of targets per
game in the league. In spite of that, he's off to his slowest
start since 2002 (when he had 201 yards after four games) with
only 17 receptions for 232 yards. Despite complaining about
his lack of use in the Eagles game, he was targeted 13 times
and only came away with three receptions for 45 yards. If Owens
is looking for a scapegoat, he only needs to look in the mirror.
Had he decided to make a serious effort in training camp rather
than mugging for the camera and feigning he had a bad hamstring,
he might have developed some chemistry with quarterback Drew
Bledsoe and not be struggling like he is.
- Keeping with the Eagles-Cowboys match-up from last weekend,
it's beginning to look like Cowboys left tackle Flozell Adams
is either washed up or not fully recovered from last season's
ACL injury. Either way, he's not performing at the level required
when your team's quarterback lacks mobility as badly as Bledsoe
does.
- The Falcons might be leading the league in yards rushing
per game at 234, a whopping 58 yards per game more than second
place San Diego. However, all those yards aren't adding up to
rushing touchdowns as the team has managed only two touchdowns
on the ground thus far in 2006. We speculated in an earlier
article that the team would replace the departed T.J. Duckett
with starting fullback Justin
Griffith in short yardage situations running behind backup
fullback Fred McCrary but that never materialized and Griffith
has only four carries this season. With only three touchdowns
in 17 trips to the red zone, look for Griffith to get more opportunities
shortly.
- After combining for 26 sacks in 2005, the Giants were clearly
expecting big things in 2006 from starting defensive ends Michael
Strahan and Osi
Umenyiora. However, the duo has struggled this season with
Umenyiora registering two sacks and Strahan picking up his first
during the team's win this week over the Redskins. The sack
was Strahan's first in six regular season games and his production
hasn't been this low since the 1999 season when he was slowed
by a hyperextended elbow. With 2005 3rd round pick Justin
Tuck and 2006 1st round pick Mathias
Kiwanuka also on the roster, the team looked to have the
most talented defensive ends in the league.
- If you're a Bengals fan and wondering how your team's prospects
look for securing another division title or if you're a FF player
wondering if some Bengals players might turn around your fortunes,
it might be time to peruse their upcoming schedule. The Bengals
are on the road this week in Tampa Bay, followed by home games
against the Panthers and Falcons, then they travel to Baltimore
before a home game against the Chargers. Looks like high time
for Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson to get their act together
or else the Bengals will be on the outside looking in come playoff
time.
- Browns offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon might want to
start looking for a real estate agent unless he has some sound
plans to turn around the team's offensive fortunes. The team
is averaging a mediocre 16 points per game, which is reasonably
respectable given the offensive talent he has to work with.
However, his decision-making has frequently been called into
question. First, there was his curious decision earlier this
season to leave tight end Kellen
Winslow out of a number of third down packages. Gone overlooked
for the most part has been his decision to start the underachieving
and inconsistent Dennis Northcutt over Joe
Jurevicius. Granted that Jurevicius is no superstar but
he's a pro's pro who is consistent and has underrated playmaking
ability. Northcutt rewarded Carthon's confidence in him this
week by having an easy pass bounce off his hands into the waiting
arms of Panthers cornerback Richard Marshall, who promptly returned
the interception for a touchdown. Finally, there was Carthon's
decision to have fullback Lawrence Vickers throw on 3rd and
one from the Panthers 21-yard line with his team trailing by
11 points and needing a touchdown to get back in the game. The
pass fell incomplete, the team was called for holding and the
resultant play on 3rd and eleven was unsuccessful. Carton took
a fair amount of criticism for his unimaginative play calling
last season but got a free pass because it was his first year
as an offensive coordinator. Given his lack of progress in 2006,
his career prospects in Cleveland seem to dimming out.
- It's a good thing that the few people that actually read
this column are generally sitting down to do so, at least once
they read this next line. David Carr of the Texans has the best
quarterback rating in the league. Somehow it seems a little
odd to lump Carr in there with the Mannings, McNabbs, Hasselbecks,
Palmers and Bradys of the league. Here's saying it doesn't last.
- Keeping with the Ripley's Believe or Not theme, Bears wideouts
Bernard
Berrian and Muhsin
Muhammad have the third most receiving yards of any wide
receiver tandem in the league behind the Colts Marvin Harrison
and Reggie Wayne. Second on the list, you ask? None other than
the Jets Laveraneus Coles and Jerricho Cotchery. So, repeat
this phrase as many times as necessary until you believe it's
true - "Bernard Berrian, Muhsin Muhammad, Chicago Bears, best
wide receiving tandem in the NFC." Wow, although given the weather
in Chicago, we know it won't stay that way until the end of
the season.
- That loud noise emanating from Baltimore this week was head
coach Brian Billick sending a very clear shot across the bow
of his starting running back Jamal Lewis. If you've watched
any Ravens games over the last year and a half, it's abundantly
clear that Lewis is not the back he was in 2003 when he rushed
for 2,066 yards and threatened Eric Dickerson's NFL single season
best of 2,105 yards in a season. In fact, the 27-year old Lewis
looks to either have lost his motivation or had his skills deteriorate
rapidly at such a young age. Not only does he not try to put
moves on defenders, he doesn't even bother to use his 245-pound
frame to run them over. Billick's clearly had enough and, while
neglecting to explicitly criticize Lewis, said this week that
he planned on going with the back that has the hot hand. The
Ravens coach is clearly cognizant that his team's stagnant passing
game needs all the help it can get rushing the ball so look
for Billick to give Lewis a few extra carries this week and
if Lewis doesn't respond, you can expect to see more of backups
Mike Anderson and Musa Smith over the balance of the season.
Lewis signed a three-year contract extension in the off-season
but it's really more of a one-year deal so Billick doesn't have
to be overly concerned with how Lewis responds to reduced playing
time.
- With Terrell Owens off-season departure from the Eagles,
we heard a whole lot about how the team would spread the ball
around to its various receivers in order to make up for the
lost production. Of course, nobody believed any of that considering
the team's depth chart at the time consisted of Reggie
Brown, Greg
Lewis and Todd
Pinkston. However, with the acquisitions of Donte Stallworth
and Hank
Baskett, the team solidified their depth at the position
and have gotten excellent production from the group (Pinkston
was since released). In fact, the Eagles have had a different
player lead them in receptions each week thus far in 2005.
- Despite all of his abundant talents, who would have predicted
that after five weeks of the season, Saints super rookie Reggie
Bush would lead the league in receptions? Or that the player
he was supposedly replacing, Deuce
McAllister, would be second in the league with four touchdowns?
Well, here's to Saints coach Sean Payton for doing what very
few coaches in the league do - taking the talent that he has
and changing his system to get the most out of his players.
With the team having wide receivers that don't really scare
anybody with their deep speed and lacking an upper tier tight
end, Payton has used Bush as both a receiver, runner and decoy
in creating opportunities for other skill position players while
making a conscience decision to neglect the tight end position
because the team doesn't have a quality receiving threat at
the position. Despite their easy schedule, no one would have
predicted a 4-1 record after five games.
- For all the criticism the Steelers have taken given their
1-3 start, it's time to have a look at who they've played. At
home against the Dolphins, off to face the Jags, at home with
the Bengals and then to San Diego. Considering also that their
starting quarterback is still dealing with his physical issues
from the off-season and training camp and they lost their team
leader in Jerome Bettis to retirement, their record is respectable.
Their schedule the rest of the way can't be described as a cakewalk
but it's clearly easier than what they've faced over the first
quarter of the season and it's far too early to write them off.
- Finally, to all Packers fans out there. In my column last
week I mixed up the team's centers, stating that backup Chris
White was drafted in the 7th round of the 2004 draft. Thanks
for pointing out that starter Scott Wells was actually the 7th
round pick while White was an undrafted free agent from 2005.
Next time, perhaps a little diplomacy could be in order given
that we're talking about a 7th round pick and an undrafted free
agent. It's not like I confused Brett Favre with Aaron Rodgers.
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