· It should come as no surprise that Browns coach Butch Davis
saw fit to release Kevin Johnson, the team's leading receiver. Johnson
was never a favorite of Davis and the coach tried to trade Johnson
a number of times. Davis has every right to cut a player but what
makes Johnson's release somewhat curious is that he signed a four-year,
$13.3-million contract extension that included a $3.5-million signing
bonus before the 2002 season. Of course, Davis cut Earl Holmes one-year
after signing him to long-term contract that included a significant
signing bonus. Other players Davis has cut include Corey Fuller,
Jamir Miller, Dwayne Rudd, Roman Oben and Dave Wohlabaugh. Every
team makes difficult decisions that result in veteran players being
released but some of Davis cuts have been devastating because of
the chain reaction they cause. For instance, the team used its 1st
found pick on center Jeff Faine to replace Wohlabaugh, although
they are in desperate need of a stud left tackle.
· The Bears have been impressed by the play of rookie outside
linebacker Lance Briggs. The 3rd round pick has 25 tackles in his
last three games and has the 3rd most tackles on the team despite
starting only seven of ten games.
· After giving up a punt return touchdown to the Bears R.W.
McQuarters this Sunday, the Rams have now allowed five touchdowns
on punt and kickoff teams this year.
· Tough to figure out why Giants coach Jim Fassel decided
to go for it on 4th and goal just before halftime with his team
trailing the Eagles 14-3. A field goal gets his team within one
score but Fassel decides to go for it and calls an outside run.
Tiki Barber got stuffed on the play and the Giants went into halftime
having just had their bubble burst.
· Keeping with the Giants, that red zone failure shouldn't
come as a surprise. The team has scored on only 24 of 33 trips into
the red zone and of those 24 scores, 10 were field goals.
· Perhaps no team in the league this year has won uglier
than the Eagles but the majority of the credit should go to defensive
co-ordinator Jim Johnson. Johnson's unit has been decimated by injuries,
particularly along the defensive line and in the secondary, but
their steady play has kept the team in games. During the Eagles
five-game winning streak, the defense has not yielded more than
20 points and has provided the offense with good field position.
· Cowboys coach Bill Parcells was asleep at the wheel during
the last few minutes of Sunday night's tilt against the Patriots.
Down two scores in the waning minutes, Parcells neglected to use
his remaining timeouts to stop the clock when the Patriots had the
ball. After his defense forced a punt, the Cowboys never used their
timeouts when they had the ball. Had they scored a touchdown and
recovered an onside kick, they likely would have been forced to
throw a hail mary instead of being able to call a couple of plays
to get in field goal position. Curious.
· Keeping with the Cowboys, as good as their 7-3 record looks,
trouble looms on the horizon. Of their seven wins, only one has
come against a team with a winning record and that was against the
Eagles, a team that was struggling at the time. Over the next three
weeks, the Cowboys get the Panthers and Dolphins at home and go
on the road to face the Eagles. The team then finishes up with the
Redskins, Giants and Saints. Add it all up and there's no guarantee
the Cowboys will be in the playoffs.
· Moving to the Patriots, the team was very encouraged by
the recent play of 2nd year tight end Daniel Graham. A 1st round
pick in 2002, Graham had a disappointing rookie season and a slow
start to this season, but had 11 catches for 149 yards and a touchdown
prior to this week's game. Of course, he dropped an easy catch against
the Cowboys and then short-armed a deep pass when he heard the footsteps
of Cowboys safety Darren Woodson.
· The Bills haven't scored a touchdown in their last three
games and haven't scored a touchdown in their last four road games.
When your team has Drew Bledsoe, Travis Henry and Eric Moulds, that's
saying something.
· When the Bucs failed to record a sack against the Packers
this Sunday, their streak of consecutive games with at least one
sack ended at 69 games.
· What happened to all that talk about Chiefs kick returner
extraordinaire Dante Hall being a Most Valuable Player candidate?
It went away - just as it should have. Hall might be an amazing
returner but he doesn't merit the same level of consideration as
any number of quarterbacks or running backs that take a pounding
play after play do.
· Seahawks fans caught a glimpse of the future this week
when linebacker D.D. Lewis started in place of the suspended Anthony
Simmons. With Simmons on the sidelines for violating an unspecified
team rule, Lewis recorded 11 tackles in the Seahawks win over the
Lions. Look to see the 2nd year, former undrafted free agent in
the team's starting line-up as soon as next year if Chad Brown doesn't
return.
· We've told you about Broncos cornerback Deltha O'Neal being
in coach Mike Shanahan's doghouse. Now wide receiver Deltha O'Neal
is in coach Mike Shanahan's doghouse. When the team signed veteran
cornerback Ryan McNeil, Shanahan told O'Neal he was being tried
at wide receiver and to his credit O'Neal has not complained about
the move. However, it says here it's merely a prelude to O'Neal's
release sometime after June, 2004.
· Keeping with the Broncos, the team lost their third linebacker
for the season when rookie 2nd round pick Terry Pierce went on injured
reserve with a torn pectoral muscle. Pierce joins Ian Gold and John
Mobley on the sidelines, leaving Jason Sykes and Donnie Spragan
as the team's starters alongside middle linebacker Al Wilson, who
will be a free agent after the season. The injuries will likely
necessitate the re-signing of Wilson because the team will not want
to enter training camp in 2004 with their three projected starters
returning from injury.
· The Bills expected more from free agent sign outside linebacker
Jeff Posey than they've gotten. Signed mainly for his pass rush
skills, Posey has not contributed many big plays this season and
had just 2.5 sacks going into this weekend's game against the Texans.
However, Posey registered a sack and a forced fumble in that game
and the team hopes this is a sign he's turned things around.
· Keeping with the Bills, Bobby Shaw's 36-yard pass reception
this week was the team's first play of 30 or more yards since the
second game of the season.
· Why can't Ricky Williams run the ball? The obvious answer
is opponents are stacking the line of scrimmage because they don't
respect the Dolphins passing game. However, injuries on the offensive
line have reached a critical stage. Against the Ravens at one point,
the team was using rookie 3rd round pick Wade Smith at tackle, undrafted
rookie free agent Billy Yates at left guard, 2nd year player Seth
McKinney at center, undrafted 2nd year player Greg Jerman at right
guard and Todd Wade at right tackle. Of the group, only Wade was
expected to be a starter at the beginning of training camp. Look
for the team to sign at least one veteran reinforcement soon.
· Forget the criticism the Bengals have received for signing
wide receiver Chad Johnson to a lucrative contract extension worth
$26.5-million over five years. This signing makes sense for a number
of reasons. First off, it sends a signal to Bengals players that
the team will reward its own players. Second, Johnson, despite his
penchant for prediction making, is a team leader and its obvious
his swagger and that of fellow wideout Peter Warrick are helping
fuel this team. Third and most obvious, Johnson is a top-five wideout
in the league and his deal will be a bargain over its duration.
The Eagles have received praise for signing players to contract
extensions before they become free agents but that the Bengals somehow
get criticized for using a similar strategy to lock up a player
of Johnson's caliber makes no sense.
· The Seahawks spent heavily along the defensive line this
offseason, locking up defensive end Antonio Cochran with a $10-million,
4-year contract extension and signing free agent defensive end Chike
Okeafor from the division rival 49ers for $4-million over two years.
Their return from the two players has been four sacks, including
three by Okeafor. In fact, the entire defensive line has contributed
nine sacks, an abysmal total by any standard.
· For a team that focuses on the importance of field positions,
it's interesting that the Patriots have not yet parted ways with
punter Ken Walter. Walter's performance has been abysmal this year
and the only way to explain his continued presence on the team is
that he doubles as the team's holder on field goal attempts.
· The Giants special teams have been less than stellar again
this season and team observers wonder why Brian Mitchell has retained
his job as the team's returner. It looks like Mitchell has lost
his speed, basically negating his great vision as a returner.
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