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Posted on: September 21, 2009 6:48 pm
Monday Musings
---Washington Commanders coach Jim Zorn botched it at the end of the Commanders-Rams game. Faced with a fourth-and-1 at the St. Louis 2 at the two-minute warning, Zorn opted to run for a first down rather than kick a field goal, even though his team was leading by two at the time. Dumb move. Kick and go up five. When Ladell Betts was stuffed for a 2-yard loss, it really put Zorn in the crosshairs. The Rams threw four consecutive incomplete passes to get Zorn off the hook, but what if one or two completions puts the Rams in field-goal range? You never give a team that kind of chance. The backers of Zorn will say he knew the Rams didn't have any timeouts. That's even more reason to kick a field goal. Zorn gets a situational-coaching grade of F for that move.
---After watching the replay of the Jets-Patriots game -- thank you to shortcuts on DirecTV -- I am convinced that Jets corner Darrelle Revis is now among the top four corners in the game. In the past two weeks, he's played great man coverage on Andre Johnson and Randy Moss. The Jets attack a lot, leaving their corners in man coverage, and yet Revis excelled in both games. Good cover corners are worth a ton. Revis is a star in the making.
----The Falcons have a budding star in left tackle Sam Baker. He did a heck of job on Julius Peppers when matched against him Sunday. He missed much of his rookie season, but Baker has a chance to get to the Pro Bowl in his second season.
---The Falcons lost defensive tackle Peria Jerry for the season with a torn ACL Sunday. That's a big hit. They need his strength and quickness inside. They activated Vance Walker from the practice squad. Walker was a player the Falcons liked early in camp as a non-drafted rookie, but he tailed off some as the preseason moved along. So they waived him and then put him on the practice squad. Now he will be part of the rotation.
----Three defensive ends, all high first-round picks, have come under fire in recent weeks because of their lack of production. The first one was Jacksonville's Derrick Harvey, who took it on the chin from coach Jack Del Rio last week. Harvey is without a sack in two games. Atlanta's Jamal Anderson didn't even register a tackle on the stat sheet against the Panthers Sunday, and the team is growing tired of his lack of production. And now we have Gaines Adams, who was the fourth overall pick, getting called out by Tampa Bay Bucs coach Raheem Morris. Adams doesn't have a sack in two games and has 12.5 since coming into the league. "He hasn't (played well), and I think Gaines knows that," Morris said. "Gaines is one of those guys that knows he's judged on whether he's touched the quarterback or not. Right now he's not getting the production as far as not touching the quarterback. The tackles, the sacks – he's not getting any of that. He's just not playing up to par right now." If I were the coach of one of those three, I'd probably call them out as well.
---Brett Favre has a bent fingernail. What's next? Hemorrhoids. Don't we get tired of all his old-guy maladies? When's he calling for the Maalox?
---I'd take Philip Rivers on my team any day of the week. The toughness he shows is so impressive. He waits until just the right time to make his throws, taking shot after shot. We saw that in full color against the Ravens Sunday. Yet he threw for 423 yards. He took a beating. I love watching him play. That's how you play quarterback.
----Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Torry Holt reportedly is not happy with some of the play calling in Jacksonville. Really? When I talked to Holt earlier this summer, he wondered if there would be a lot of downfield passing plays called. There haven't been. But Holt is too classy to publicly complain. The word in Jacksonville is that offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter is too restricted in what he can call because quarterback David Garrard is so limited, which I've heard as well. Holt had to know how limited the passing game was when he signed.
---Don't go to sleep on that Cincinnati Bengals defense. It has a pair of really good corners, which allows pressure up front. Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph are good players at corner. Their ability to cover led to some of the sacks Sunday against the Packers. Antwan Odom had five of them. Some were because Aaron Rodgers couldn't find somewhere to go with the football.
----The Cowboys have issues in the secondary. They need to settle on a starter at the one corner spot where they are alternating Orlando Scandrick and Mike Jenkins. I think the coaches would like to start Scandrick full time, but are unsure how Jenkins would handle being a full-time nickel corner. Scandrick did that last year, so he might be more accommodating. By the way, where was DeMarcus Ware against the Giants? Those secondary players need pressure.
---Don't you get the idea the Carolina Panthers will be sniffing around Bill Cowher next season? I do.
---The Patriots need to give the ball more to Fred Taylor. He averaged 5.8 per carry, but had only eight carries. Taylor can still go. The Patriots need to let him get involved.
---The more I watch the New York Giants offense play the more I wonder why offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride can't get another head-coaching shot. He's worthy.
---The Raiders are pretty good on defense. The addition of Richard Seymour really helped.
Monday Musings
---Washington Commanders coach Jim Zorn botched it at the end of the Commanders-Rams game. Faced with a fourth-and-1 at the St. Louis 2 at the two-minute warning, Zorn opted to run for a first down rather than kick a field goal, even though his team was leading by two at the time. Dumb move. Kick and go up five. When Ladell Betts was stuffed for a 2-yard loss, it really put Zorn in the crosshairs. The Rams threw four consecutive incomplete passes to get Zorn off the hook, but what if one or two completions puts the Rams in field-goal range? You never give a team that kind of chance. The backers of Zorn will say he knew the Rams didn't have any timeouts. That's even more reason to kick a field goal. Zorn gets a situational-coaching grade of F for that move.
---After watching the replay of the Jets-Patriots game -- thank you to shortcuts on DirecTV -- I am convinced that Jets corner Darrelle Revis is now among the top four corners in the game. In the past two weeks, he's played great man coverage on Andre Johnson and Randy Moss. The Jets attack a lot, leaving their corners in man coverage, and yet Revis excelled in both games. Good cover corners are worth a ton. Revis is a star in the making.
----The Falcons have a budding star in left tackle Sam Baker. He did a heck of job on Julius Peppers when matched against him Sunday. He missed much of his rookie season, but Baker has a chance to get to the Pro Bowl in his second season.
---The Falcons lost defensive tackle Peria Jerry for the season with a torn ACL Sunday. That's a big hit. They need his strength and quickness inside. They activated Vance Walker from the practice squad. Walker was a player the Falcons liked early in camp as a non-drafted rookie, but he tailed off some as the preseason moved along. So they waived him and then put him on the practice squad. Now he will be part of the rotation.
----Three defensive ends, all high first-round picks, have come under fire in recent weeks because of their lack of production. The first one was Jacksonville's Derrick Harvey, who took it on the chin from coach Jack Del Rio last week. Harvey is without a sack in two games. Atlanta's Jamal Anderson didn't even register a tackle on the stat sheet against the Panthers Sunday, and the team is growing tired of his lack of production. And now we have Gaines Adams, who was the fourth overall pick, getting called out by Tampa Bay Bucs coach Raheem Morris. Adams doesn't have a sack in two games and has 12.5 since coming into the league. "He hasn't (played well), and I think Gaines knows that," Morris said. "Gaines is one of those guys that knows he's judged on whether he's touched the quarterback or not. Right now he's not getting the production as far as not touching the quarterback. The tackles, the sacks – he's not getting any of that. He's just not playing up to par right now." If I were the coach of one of those three, I'd probably call them out as well.
---Brett Favre has a bent fingernail. What's next? Hemorrhoids. Don't we get tired of all his old-guy maladies? When's he calling for the Maalox?
---I'd take Philip Rivers on my team any day of the week. The toughness he shows is so impressive. He waits until just the right time to make his throws, taking shot after shot. We saw that in full color against the Ravens Sunday. Yet he threw for 423 yards. He took a beating. I love watching him play. That's how you play quarterback.
----Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Torry Holt reportedly is not happy with some of the play calling in Jacksonville. Really? When I talked to Holt earlier this summer, he wondered if there would be a lot of downfield passing plays called. There haven't been. But Holt is too classy to publicly complain. The word in Jacksonville is that offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter is too restricted in what he can call because quarterback David Garrard is so limited, which I've heard as well. Holt had to know how limited the passing game was when he signed.
---Don't go to sleep on that Cincinnati Bengals defense. It has a pair of really good corners, which allows pressure up front. Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph are good players at corner. Their ability to cover led to some of the sacks Sunday against the Packers. Antwan Odom had five of them. Some were because Aaron Rodgers couldn't find somewhere to go with the football.
----The Cowboys have issues in the secondary. They need to settle on a starter at the one corner spot where they are alternating Orlando Scandrick and Mike Jenkins. I think the coaches would like to start Scandrick full time, but are unsure how Jenkins would handle being a full-time nickel corner. Scandrick did that last year, so he might be more accommodating. By the way, where was DeMarcus Ware against the Giants? Those secondary players need pressure.
---Don't you get the idea the Carolina Panthers will be sniffing around Bill Cowher next season? I do.
---The Patriots need to give the ball more to Fred Taylor. He averaged 5.8 per carry, but had only eight carries. Taylor can still go. The Patriots need to let him get involved.
---The more I watch the New York Giants offense play the more I wonder why offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride can't get another head-coaching shot. He's worthy.
---The Raiders are pretty good on defense. The addition of Richard Seymour really helped.
