· The Jaguars Jack Del Rio may one day be a fine head coach,
but the former linebacker deserves a fair amount of criticism for
his handling of the team's quarterbacks this season. First, in training
camp, Del Rio kept the everyone team guessing as to whom his starting
quarterback would be before announcing late in training camp Mark
Brunell would start the season opener. Then last week, Del Rio announced
he was thinking about benching Byron Leftwich, his rookie quarterback,
only to announce the next day that Leftwich would start on Sunday
against Tampa Bay. Del Rio needs to learn to avoid providing fuel
to potential quarterback controversies and to announce decisions
when they are made, not when the deliberations are ongoing.
· With safety Rod Woodson and defensive end Trace Armstrong
going on the injured reserve list, the Raiders have now lost four
starting players to injury this year, the others being quarterback
Rich Gannon and linebacker Bill Romanowski. Key backups on injured
reserve include quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo, offensive lineman
Matt Stinchcomb, linebacker Travian Smith and running back Justin
Fargas. The moral of the story is that the salary cap does not allow
teams sufficient depth to overcome a string of injuries like the
Raiders have suffered this year.
· In case further proof was needed, there is only one team
in the league that does not have a player on injured reserve. That
team is the first place Cincinnati Bengals.
· With the Packers loss in Detroit on Thursday, Brett Favre
is now 5-8 lifetime at Detroit. Included in those thirteen games
are six games with at least three interceptions. Throw in Favre's
poor record in Minnesota and it's hard to figure out how the Packers
have been successful while losing so many games against poor quality
division opponents, something the Vikings and Lions would have to
be considered over much of Favre's career.
· The Vikings were trumpeting the play of free agent acquisition
right tackle Mike Rosenthal over the first half of the season but
his play has tailed off greatly during the season's third quarter.
Rosenthal's pass blocking, his supposed strong suit, has been less
than stellar, culminating in this week's four sack and one forced
fumble performance by the Rams Leonard Little this week.
· Keeping with the Vikings offensive line, reputedly one
of the best in the league or so most announcers would have us believe,
they have now given up 36 sacks on the year, which happens to be
tied with Buffalo for most in the league.
· Speaking of Leonard Little, if ever a player deserved to
go to the Pro Bowl despite missing four games out of a season, Little
looks like the guy. In only eight games, the defensive end has 11
sacks, an interception and five forced fumbles to go with his 29
tackles.
· Look for the Patriots to use the tandem of Kevin Faulk
and Mike Cloud at running back over the remainder of the season.
Antowain Smith was inactive this week against Indianapolis and the
coaching staff feels Smith has not taken advantage of the numerous
opportunities he has been given this season. Hard to argue with
that.
· Although Browns management has shown strong support for
head coach Butch Davis, it says here this could be his last offseason
to right the ship in Cleveland, at least in terms of personnel.
Davis is a good coach but he has been handicapped by his own personnel
decisions. Should his offseason personnel decisions not pan out
yet again, look for the Browns to remove his personnel duties like
the Seahawks did to Mike Holmgren or move in another direction entirely.
· Keeping with the Browns and their offseason plans, the
team will again have a number of difficult personnel decisions to
make. Left tackle Ross Verba is due $4.6-million in 2004 but is
coming off surgery to repair a ruptured triceps tendon while backup
quarterback Tim Couch's 2004 base salary is $7.8-million. Both players
will have to accept pay cuts to return although the team may choose
to cut its ties with Verba if they can acquire a stud left tackle
through the draft. Starting wide receiver Dennis Northcutt is headed
toward unrestricted free agency and, with Kevin Johnson's release,
is a key component of the offense. It's also possible the team may
release troubled running back William Green as well Jamel White,
a bust after signing a long-term contract extension this offseason.
Other players who could face the chopping block include safety Robert
Griffiths and defensive tackle Orpheus Roye.
· Bears coaches weren't surprised by the breakout performance
of rookie wide receiver Justin Gage this week against Arizona. The
emergence of the 2003 5th round pick will almost certainly push
Dez White, an unrestricted free agent at season's end, off the roster
and it won't be a surprise if David Terrell is traded. Barring a
trade, Terrell will be invited to training camp but will not receive
any assurances of earning a spot on the roster.
· Keeping with the Bears, a win this week in Green Bay coupled
with a Minnesota loss at home against Seattle will move the Bears
to within one-game of the division lead. Throw in the teams will
meet in Chicago next week and that the Vikings and Bears are slumping
and it's possible the Bears could win the division. Not likely,
but possible and that's pretty hard to believe. One other thing
- Kordell Stewart is everybody's favorite whipping boy when he struggles,
but he is capable of hot streaks and he appears to be on one right
now.
· Cowboys coach Bill Parcells sent a strong message to his
team this week with the release of 2nd year cornerback Derek Ross.
The 2002 3rd round pick had five interceptions as a rookie and one
this season and is clearly a player with starting calibre skills
but committed the sin of fumbling two kickoffs this week against
Miami as well as missing some team functions. Parcells clearly made
the move to re-focus his team prior to this week's critical division
game against Philadelphia. A win in Philly will vault the Cowboys
into 1st place due to their winning both games against the Eagles
this season. Look for a number of teams to put waiver claims in
on Ross, with one of those teams being the Lions.
· Look for Rod Woodson to return to the Raiders next season
provided he undergoes successful surgery on his left knee. He is
an Al Davis favorite and it will likely be Woodson's decision if
he wants to return.
· The Vikings are very excited about their trio of young
backup linebackers. Look for rookie 2nd round pick E.J. Henderson
to take over for Greg Biekert next season, if not sooner. Nick Rogers
looks like a future starter on the strong side although the team
has been very happy with the play of Chris Claibourne. Rookie 6th
round pick Mike Nattiel could take over on the weak side for Henri
Crockett next season, although it's possible Claibourne could be
moved there, freeing up the strong side spot for Rogers. Crockett
no longer has enough speed to excel in a starting role, but will
likely be asked to return in a backup role. Absent from the coaches
comments regarding their linebackers has been any discussion about
2002 2nd round pick Raonall Smith. Smith missed all of his rookie
season due to an injury, hasn't impressed this season and must become
more physical if he wants to see the field.
· Now that Chargers quarterback Drew Brees has had a chance
to watch from the sidelines, it's time for Marty Schottenheimer
to get Brees back in there for the team's final four games to determine
if he should enter 2004 as the team's starting quarterback. However,
Schottenheimer has a policy of playing the players he thinks give
the team the best chance to win and if the coach thinks that player
is Doug Flutie at quarterback then Flutie will remain the starter.
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