· Let's set the stage: Giants with the ball on fourth down,
near midfield leading the Eagles, who have no timeouts remaining,
by three points with a minute and a half left in the game. Eagles
haven't moved the ball all game (134 net yards from scrimmage).
Giants coach Jim Fassel decides to punt the ball to Brian Westbrook
rather than kicking it out of bounds. Westbrook returns it for the
game-winning touchdown.
· As for the Eagles, this team has clawed its way back to
.500 but it has done so in a most unimpressive fashion. The offense
is near the bottom of the league in points scored, the wide receivers
can't get open, the defensive line can't generate a pass rush and,
perhaps most importantly, quarterback Donovan McNabb has been unable
to pull himself out of his season long funk. McNabb had only 64
yards passing against a Giants secondary that was missing cornerback
Will Peterson. The team's wide receivers have yet to find the end
zone this season.
· Keeping with the Eagles, the team is disappointed in the
effort 1st round pick defensive end Jerome McDougle has displayed
in trying to return from a training camp ankle injury.
· During the off-season, the Redskins signed guards Dave
Fiore and Randy Thomas to improve their inside line play, which
was a disaster in 2002. Fiore has missed time due to injury and
Thomas has played decently but not dominated. However, the biggest
problem on the line right now is the play of offensive tackles Chris
Samuels and Jon Jansen. The poor line play resulted in quarterback
Patrick Ramsey leaving Sunday's game against the Bills with a bruised
throwing hand. Look for head coach Steve Spurrier to insert another
free agent signee, Lennie Friedman, in at left guard.
· Packers quarterback Brett Favre has not been going downfield
this year as much as he has in the past. With Ahman Green, Bubba
Franks and Wesley Walls as his outlet receivers on most plays, Favre
has been dumping the ball off underneath. Now he has a hairline
fracture of the thumb on his throwing hand, courtesy of a first
quarter hit in this week's loss to the Rams.
· The Texans were high on the play of wide receivers Andre
Johnson, Jabar Gaffney and Corey Bradford after the trio combined
for 49 receptions, 701 yards and four touchdowns during the team's
first four games. However, over the last two games with Domanick
Davis, a solid receiver, seeing more playing time in place of Stacey
Mack at running back, the trio of wideouts have combined for only
12 catches, 262 yards and a touchdown.
· Contrast the play of the Texans and Packers wide receivers
to that of the Rams Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce. Over the last three
games, Holt has caught 27 passes for 367 yards and five touchdowns
while Bruce has 17 receptions for 274 yards.
· Keeping with the Rams, in Sunday's game against the Packers,
Bruce went over 10,000 receiving yards, becoming the 18th player
to do so. In typically understated fashion, Bruce grabbed the ball,
took it to the sidelines and jogged back into the huddle.
· It looks like Vinny Testaverde will get a one-week reprieve
with Jets coach Herman Edwards electing to start Testaverde this
week and bring Chad Pennington off the bench. However, it would
have been nice for Vinny to finish his Jets career with the team's
come from behind win this week over the Texans. Don't look for him
back in Jets uniform in 2004.
· Hindsight's always 20-20 but one has to wonder if the Jaguars
are regretting signing Hugh Douglas and Mike Peterson as free agents
this year and holding onto veterans Kyle Brady, Donovin Darius and
Tony Brackens. Management was quick to pull the plug on the season
when the team struggled early and using the salary cap space to
sign these veterans who may not be around when the rebuilding is
over may come back to haunt the team.
· Running back Arlen Harris has turned out to be a real find
for the Rams. Undrafted out of Hofstra, Harris did not play college
ball last year because Hofstra did not receive his transcripts in
time for him to be eligible for the season. Harris lost his job
as the team's punt returner early this season after fumbling two
returns, but remains the team's kick returner and ran 18 times for
85 yards and a touchdown this week after Lamar Gordon went down
with a high ankle sprain.
· Keeping with the Rams, if Gordon and Marshall Faulk are
not able to play this week, the team will go on the road to Pittsburgh
with two rookie undrafted free agents as their running backs - Harris
and Joffrey Reynolds.
· The Chiefs might be 7-0 but their undefeated record won't
last much longer unless Trent Green starts spreading the ball around.
Green has been too quick in checking down to Priest Holmes and focusing
on Tony Gonzalez and Johnnie Morton. As a result, Eddie Kennison,
Dante Hall and Marc Boerigter have not been getting as many touches
as the coaches would like.
· The 49ers are impressed by how quickly rookie left tackle
Kwame Harris is coming along. The 1st round pick held Simeon Rice,
the NFL's sack leader, without a sack in this week's game.
· Prior to this week's loss to the Chargers, the word out
of Cleveland was that Tim Couch had become better at managing a
game and that he realized the team had enough weapons that he did
not have to try to win games by himself. Of course, that was missing
the point. The real issue is that Couch has always been inconsistent,
never able to string together a number of good games in a row. And
that is why coach Butch Davis should go back to Kelly Holcombe as
his starting quarterback.
· Dolphins kicker Olindo Mare didn't have to make any excuses
for costing his team a win against the Patriots. Everybody was making
them for him. Perhaps the commentators forgot that Mare is a veteran
who has spent his entire career in Miami and has kicked a number
of field goals on the dirt. He should be used to it and for that
reason two misses is inexcusable.
· Keeping with the Dolphins-Patriots, the win was a big one
for the Patriots. The victory gives them a half-game lead over the
Dolphins in the race for the division title with the teams yet to
face off in New England. Barring the unexpected (of course, the
unexpected is quite common in the NFL), the Dolphins will have to
win that game in New England to have a chance for the division title.
· Giants guard Rich Seubert is out for the season after breaking
three bones in his right leg. Rookie Jeff Roehl will likely replace
Seubert and his insertion into the starting line-up would leave
the Giants with three rookie starters (center Wayne Lucier and guard
David Diehl are the other two) on their offensive line.
· The Bengals elevated Carson Palmer to 2nd string this week
but don't look for him to start anytime soon. Incumbent Jon Kitna
has played well in the team's last three games and head coach Marvin
Lewis has been impressed with Kitna's ball security. Bottom line
is Kitna is unlikely to lose starting job if he keeps playing this
well because Lewis wants to instill a winning attitude on the team
and replacing a veteran who is playing well with a rookie won't
make veterans on the team very happy. Remember, the Ravens lead
the division at 3-3, leaving the Bengals only a half-game back.
· The Broncos are 5-2 but might be staring at 5-4 unless
head coach Mike Shanahan can get Danny Kanell ready in a hurry.
Backups don't get many reps in practice and 3rd stringers obviously
get even less so Kanell has a lot of catching up to do and fast.
Next up: at Baltimore and New England at home before the team's
bye week.
· We told you the Redskins would fall from their 2-0 start
and they did not disappoint. Now look for them to fall from 3-4
to out of playoff contention. The team has injury concerns at quarterback
and running back and next up on their schedule are the Cowboys on
the road, Seattle at home, at Carolina and at Miami.
· Jets Shaun Ellis was considered a bit of an underachiever
prior to this season but the young defensive end has come on strong
in 2003. His sack in this week's game gave him sacks in nine consecutive
games, a team record.
· The Steelers have struggled on offense this season and
one reason is the team's inability to get the ball to wide receiver
Plaxico Burress in the red zone. Quarterback Tommy Maddox tends
to go to Hines Ward in the red zone and the team feels not getting
Burress the ball when they are in close is a waste of his talent.
Burress has only two touchdowns in his last 13 games.
· It looks like the Bears are close to putting tackle Marc
Colombo on the injured reserve list. The 2002 1st round pick was
expected to be the team's left tackle this season but he has not
recovered from the knee injury that caused him to miss much of last
season as quickly as the team expected. With the knee not coming
around and team unlikely to challenge for a playoff spot, look for
Colombo to land on IR.
· Now that Texans running back Stacey Mack has lost his starting
spot to Domanick Davis, look for him to move further down the depth
chart. Mack signed a one-year contract with the team in the off-season
and with the team high on supplemental draft pick Tony Hollings,
look for Hollings to move into the backup role in the near future
because the team wants to see what he has. The feeling is the team
is further ahead going with a player who may be around for a few
years rather than Mack, who will likely be looking for a new employer
in 2004.
· After being the main ingredient in the Panther's 5-0 start,
the folks in Carolina were touting running back Stephen Davis as
a potential MVP candidate. Now, there is talk the team should start
splitting carries between Davis and DeShaun Foster. Let's get serious
- Davis embodies the character of this team and his tough inside
running what they need in the starting line-up.
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