· The goods news for the Eagles is that being winless after
two games in the NFL isn’t the end of the world and they get
a bye week this week to try and pull things together. The bad news:
they travel to Buffalo after the bye. Which might actually be a
good thing because the fans in Philadelphia are not too happy with
Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb right now.
· More bad news in Philadelphia: defensive tackle Paul Grasmanis
is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon, becoming the
third Eagle defensive lineman to go on injured reserve this season
(Derrick Burgess and Jamal Green are the other two). However, the
bye week should give Brandon Whiting and Jerome McDougle enough
time to recover from their injuries and they should be ready to
go for the Buffalo game.
· Goat of the Week # 1: 49ers wide receiver Cedrick Wilson. Nine seconds
on the clock with the 49ers needing 15-20 yards to get into field
goal range. Wilson makes the catch at the Rams 30 yard line and
instead of going down and calling timeout so the team can attempt
a field goal, Wilson tries to take it to the house, getting tackled
as time expires. Is this why Dennis Erickson’s Seattle teams
never cracked .500?
· Goat of the Week #2: Giants kicker Matt Bryant. Bryant kicks what
appears to be a game winning field goal against the Cowboys with
11 seconds left on the clock. On the ensuing kickoff, Bryant squib
kicks the ball down the left side, with the ball rolling out of
bounds at the one yard line, giving the Cowboys possession at their
own 40-yard line. They complete a pass to get into field goal range,
kick the field goal to get into overtime before winning the game.
Do you think Bryant will remember this play when he’s lining
up to kick a game winner later this season? For his sake, let’s
hope he doesn’t.
· With his performance on Sunday, the Chiefs Dante Hall has put to
rest any doubts about whether he is the best return man in the league.
The diminutive one supplied 208 combined punt and kickoff return
yards in the game, including one kickoff return for a touchdown.
Look for coach Dick Vermeil to find more ways to get Hall the ball
from scrimmage.
· Charger David Boston convinced management that his injured
heel required rest and the wideout sat out practice this week and
did not play in the team’s loss to the Broncos on Sunday. Coach
Marty Schottenheimer typically does not allow players to dress unless
they have practiced and the word is the coach was less than pleased
with Boston asking to be sat down. Look for major trouble in San
Diego if Boston does not suit up for this week’s home game
against the Ravens.
· To no one’s surprise, Rams coach Mike Martz named
Marc Bulger his starter for next week’s key divisional tilt
in Seattle. The masses in St. Louis are certainly behind Bulger,
but a close look at Kurt Warner’s performance against the Giants
and Bulger’s performance in the 1st half against the 49ers
reveals startling similarities. More precisely, two ineffective,
turnover quarterbacks, the result of poor offensive line play and
bad play-calling but at least Warner can blame that on a concussion.
Bulger played much better in the 2nd half when Martz called running
plays on 17 of 36 offensive plays and the offensive line did a better
job of picking up the blitz, but it says here Warner has done nothing
to lose the job and starting Bulger is a mistake considering the
team is going into a key game on the road against a division rival.
· In the offseason, the Eagles told anybody who would listen that
Correl Buckhalter could carry the load at running back and their
nonchalance regarding Duce Staley’s holdout seemed to confirm
their belief in Buckhalter. However, two games into the season,
he has one rush for zero yards and a reception for 21 yards.
· There might be trouble brewing in Raider Nation. After the team’s
win over the Bengals, Jerry Rice spoke up about the team’s
inability to get the ball to their receivers and tight ends. With
Jerry Porter out up to six weeks with a hernia and Rice and Tim
Brown lacking deep speed, the Raiders don’t have the ability
to stretch the field. Nonetheless, quarterback Rich Gannon has looked
to his running backs more than in recent years and that should change
in the weeks to come.
· Keeping with the Raiders, there was a fair amount of skepticism
when the team signed Dana Stubblefield in the offseason to replace
Sam Adams. Stubblefield, who made very few big plays for the 49ers
last year, has played very well in his first two games and looks
to be a solid compliment to John Parrella as the team’s run
stuffing defensive tackles.
· The 49ers are hurting along their offensive line, the result of
an unusually large number of ankle sprains and foot injuries amongst
their offensive lineman. In Sunday’s game against the Rams,
Kwame Harris, the team’s 1st round pick this year, started
in place of Derrick Deese at left tackle, Dwayne Ledford started
in place of Eric Heitmann at left guard and Kyle Kosier started
at right tackle in place of Scott Gragg. Worse yet, center Jeremy
Newberry, the anchor of the line, stayed in the game with sprained
right ankle and right guard Ron Stone had to depart with a sprained
left foot, forcing the team to move Kosier to guard and Gragg into
the lineup. Despite all the injuries, the line held up well and
did an especially good job of run blocking. However, ankle sprains
can linger for a number of weeks so keep your eye on this situation.
· Keeping with the 49ers, it looks like they have finally stockpiled
enough speedy linebackers to at least contain Rams running back
Marshall Faulk. The team has spent a number of draft choices in
recent years on speedy linebackers and looks to have found the answer
with Jamie Winborn. The backup played extensively against the Rams
and made an number of big plays, showing the speed to get outside
and make tackles on Faulk. Look for Winborn to get inserted into
the starting lineup in place of Jeff Ulbrich before the end of the
season.
· When are the Texans going to sit down free safety Matt Stevens?
The slow-footed Stevens has always got by on intelligence but his
speed seems to have diminished this season and the step he has lost
has cost the team more than one touchdown this season.
· Keeping with the Texans, their defensive line took another hit when
Seth Payne suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left
knee during the team’s loss in New Orleans. Payne, who will
go on injured reserve, joins Pro Bowl defensive end Gary Walker
on the sidelines. With Walker at least a couple of weeks away from
returning from a sprained left shoulder, the Texans will likely
start a defensive line of Jerry DeLoach, Corey Sears and Terrance
Martin, a trio that has a combined 27 career starts. On top of that,
the team’s only healthy backup is Junior Ioane. Look for the
team to add a defensive lineman to the roster this week.
· Falcons wide receiver Peerless Price’s numbers after two games
– four catches for 58 yards and no touchdowns. Granted Atlanta
has started a backup quarterback for two games and Brian Finneran
missed this week’s game, but those numbers came against an
inexperienced Cowboys secondary and against the Redskins when the
team threw the ball 36 times, including eight times to Price. That’s
called not getting it done.
· The Redskins are off to an improbable 2-0 start but fans should
take note of their next five games: Giants and Patriots at home,
at Eagles, Bucs at home and then on to Buffalo.
· The Colts like what they are seeing out of rookie 5th round pick
Robert Mathis. The smallest defensive end in the league at 235 pounds,
Mathis has four tackles and two sacks this season. Mathis’
emergence along with the strong play of starters Dwight Freeney
and Raheem Brock as well as backup Brad Scioli has cut into the
playing time of Chad Bratzke. Regardless, the Colts have tremendous
depth at defensive end with the unit contributing five sacks already
this season.
· A suspect Saints defense took another couple of hits on Sudnay.
Outside linebacker Sedrick Hodge will miss 10 to 12 weeks with broken
bone in his knee and cornerback Dale Carter is out indefinitely
with a concussion. Carter is the 2nd starter in the Saints secondary
to go down this season – starting strong safety Mel Mitchell
was placed on injured reserve with a torn anterior cruciate ligament
suffered during the preseason. Fred Thomas will likely start in
Carter’s absence.
· Panthers defensive end Kavika Pittman will miss the rest of the
season with torn knee ligaments, an injury the Panthers contend
stemmed from a chop-block by Tampa Bay's Keenan McCardell. Carolina
coach John Fox said the play was one of several the Panthers are
sending into the NFL for review following their 12-9 overtime win
over the Bucs on Sunday. Pittman, a backup on Carolina's line, tore
the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left
knee during overtime. He'll be placed on injured reserve and miss
the rest of the season. The teams combined for 33 penalties for
288 yards, and the Panthers think even more went uncalled. The Panthers
are also sending in a clip of an exchange between Tampa Bay's Kenyatta
Walker and Carolina's Julius Peppers. Carolina says Walker hit him
in the face several times.
· The Patriots didn’t like what they saw from Lawyer Milloy’s
replacement, Antwan Harris, in the season opener against the Bills,
opting to bench him and start rookie 3rd round pick Eugene Wilson
this week against the Eagles. Although Wilson had an interception
against Philadelphia, it’s not a given he will continue to
start at strong safety. The team wanted three cornerbacks in the
starting lineup to counter the Eagles frequent use of three wide
receiver sets.
· The Texans moved to lock up tight end Billy Miller for the next
few years, reaching an agreement on a four-year, $4-million contract.
Last year, Miller quickly developed a solid rapport with quarterback
David Carr and led the team in receptions. Although not an exceptional
blocker, the team wanted to retain Miller for his strong receiving
skills.
· Proving again that he’s not adverse to making changes, Bengals
coach Marvin Lewis inserted Rich Braham into the starting center
position this week against the Raiders, moving week one starter
Mike Goff to right guard and Matt O’Dwyer to the bench. O’Dwyer
had started all 55 games he has appeared in the Bengals.
· With Bryan Gilmore, Larry Foster and Kevin Kaspar getting injured
in week one, the Cardinals were interested in signing Martay Jenkins
to help out at wide receiver and as a returner. However, Jenkins,
cut by Atlanta in the preseason after being signed away from Arizona,
failed his physical.
· With the Rams missing wide receivers Kevin Curtis and Shaun McDonald
because of injuries, do you think Troy Edwards is wishing he didn’t
badmouth coach Mike Martz on the way out of town?
· Why isn’t Kenny Watson on the Cowboys roster? If coach
Bill Parcells wants to send a message to his team, what better way
is there than benching the disappointing Troy Hambrick for a former
undrafted free agent who was inexplicably cut by the arch-rival
Redskins at the end of the preseason, despite gaining 561 rushing
yards (4.6 yards per carry) and 253 receiving in his rookie campaign?
· The Bucs lost third wideout Joe Jurevicius for four to six weeks
when he tore the medial collateral ligament in his right knee against
Carolina. Jurevicius had played well to start the season and it
will be awhile before we forget his touchdown pass last week against
the Eagles where he tipped the ball to himself before spinning and
making a catch in the end zone. The Bucs always seem to win when
Jurevicius makes a big play so his presence will be missed. Karl
Williams will take his place, although it won’t be a surprise
if the team signs a veteran free agent. If it turns out to be Andre
Rison, keep in mind he must serve a four game suspension before
he can be added to the active roster.
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