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Countdown Confidential
by Sal Paolantonio, Ed Werder, Rachel Nichols, Bob Holtzman
Tough chore for ex-Colt: Titans cornerback Nick Harper, the replacement for the suspended Pacman Jones, won a Super Bowl ring with the Colts last season, but he has every reason to be apprehensive about facing former teammates Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne on Sunday. Saints CB Jason David, a former Colt, allowed three touchdowns and was involved in coverage on four of Manning's completions covering 20 or more yards. -- Ed Werder
AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
Terrell Owens: "We could have put up 50 or 60 points against the Giants if we had wanted to."
T.O. loves Cowboys' O: Terrell Owens believes the Cowboys have dynamic offensive players, a smart quarterback in Tony Romo and an offensive coordinator in Jason Garrett who knows how to use his personnel. That's why Owens says the Cowboys won't score 45 points every week as they did in the opener. Some weeks, he believes, they will score more than that.
"We could have put up 50 or 60 points against the Giants if we had wanted to,'' Owens said this week. "We have dynamic players on offense, a smart quarterback and an offensive coordinator who knows what we have to do. We could have easily put up three more touchdowns. (Tony) Romo threw for 345 yards the other night. He could have thrown for 445 or 545. And by no means are the Giants cupcakes.''
In his first career performance as a play-caller, Garrett won the faith of his players. Garrett has emphasized quick-strike, vertical passes and has Owens using motion and lining up in different positions to avoid double coverage in Terry Glenn's absence. With owner Jerry Jones wanting more games to evaluate Romo's financial value to the team, the young quarterback averaged 14.38 yards per attempt, the third-highest figure in team history and a number Hall of Famers Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman never achieved. -- Ed Werder
Big Ben optimism: Here's why Ben Roethlisberger's four-touchdown day last weekend may be the start of something big. New offensive coordinator Bruce Arians told me early in training camp the Steelers wanted to throw deep at least five times a game. Last Sunday, because Pittsburgh built such a big early lead against the Browns, Roethlisberger only threw downfield twice. He completed both throws -- for 62 yards and a touchdown. Imagine what he could do when he actually gets those five deep balls a game. -- Bob Holtzman
Defense a concern for Giants: Eli Manning's shoulder sprain may be dominating the headlines in the New York tabloids, but inside Giants offices and meeting rooms, and on the practice field, the real concern is about Big Blue's defense, which surrendered 45 points to the Cowboys on Sunday night. (Last time the Giants gave up more than 40 points to Dallas was 30 years ago -- 41 in a 1977 loss at Dallas).
Steve Spagnuolo, the new defensive coordinator, brought an aggressive, attacking style he learned from Jim Johnson in Philadelphia, but that left the Giants vulnerable to numerous big plays, especially by tight end Jason Witten, who owned the area between the hashes. Mathius Kiwanuka, playing his first game at strongside linebacker, had difficulty covering Witten. The injury to defensive end Osi Umenyiora forces Kiwanuka back to defensive end against the Packers. Reggie Torbor moves to the SAM spot. Expect Brett Favre to test Torbor early and often with TE Bubba Franks. -- Sal Paolantonio
VY maturity: Vince Young's teammates say if the Colts' defense is looking to take advantage of a still-green second-year quarterback, they won't find him in Tennessee. Players report that Young is showing remarkable maturity this year, paying strong attention to detail, and that he has worked to build the kind of strong relationships with his receivers that translate into big passing numbers on the field. This offseason, he even flew the group down to Houston to work out with him -- not just paying their expenses but also providing them with some of his mother's Southern cooking. As Young put it, "that'll win anyone over." -- Rachel Nichols
Gibbs takes back the reins
By Ron Jaworski
We have quite the NFC East tilt this week on "Monday Night Football" (ESPN, 8:30 p.m. ET). The Washington Commanders travel to face the Philadelphia Eagles in a game featuring two teams that have changed in personnel and scheme since the last time they played each other.
If someone wants an idea what Washington wants to do, they should watch a tape of the Commanders' offense from 1982. It's clear that the wide-open Al Saunders' experiment is over in Washington. The Commanders have gone back to what head coach Joe Gibbs is comfortable with: a grind-it-out Hogs' style offense from the early '80s.
That's a good thing for two reasons for the Commanders. One, it is a return to something that Gibbs is comfortable with. Two, it protects young quarterback Jason Campbell.
I'm not sure Campbell would have been able to thrive in a more wide-open passing attack because of his youth and inexperience. While he definitely has an arm that is strong enough to make every throw available to him, he still hasn't experienced enough to understand fully all the subtleties and nuances of the position.
Campbell still can be confused by the defense and has the bad habit of staring down his receivers. He also doesn't seem to understand how to manipulate the defense with his eyes like a more experienced quarterback does. Of course, this is pretty normal stuff for a quarterback still in the embryonic stage of his career.
Gibbs taking over the reins of this offense gives Campbell the opportunity to get things done without having a lot of pressure on him. The Commanders are very smart in mixing in some of Saunders' offense in obvious passing downs. In third-and-long situations, they will throw in some motion and shifts to try to create better matchups to throw defenses off.
Expect the Commanders to attack the edges of the Eagles' defense. The Eagles have good, but undersized defensive ends, while the Commanders have good tackles and an excellent blocking tight end (Chris Cooley). If the Commanders are successful in attacking the defense in this way, the Eagles will be forced to bring a safety into the box, enabling the Commanders to take some shots downfield.
On the other side of the field, the Eagles are going to spread the field as much as possible. Last week, the Packers went bump and run at least 92 percent of the time, hindering the ability of Philadelphia's receivers to get off the ball and limiting their ability to gain separation. They simply must do a better job of getting off those bumps to give quarterback Donovan McNabb the opportunity to spread the ball around. Also, spreading the field will enable McNabb to read the Commanders' coverages and attack them more efficiently.
This has all the makings of a very good football game.
San Diego at New England
Forget about the video stuff you've been hearing about, and don't let it get in the way of what should be a great game.
This is a rematch of last season's playoff game when the Patriots were able to upset the Chargers and advance to the AFC Championship game. While San Diego's coaching staff has suffered through a great deal of turmoil and upheaval since then, the players are pretty much the same and these guys are itching for the opportunity to avenge that loss.
This is going to be a chess match between the Chargers' defense and the Patriots' offense. New England will place a great deal of importance on protecting Tom Brady, while the Chargers are known for getting after the quarterback.
The Patriots did a great job of protecting Brady last week against the Jets. The play that stands out to me the most is the Randy Moss play, not because of the touchown, but how the Patriots designed and executed the play. Moss was the only wide receiver on the field for that play, as the Patriots had max protection called and only the tight end, running back and Moss ran down the field while everyone else stayed back and blocked. This allowed Brady the necessary time to let that play develop and get the ball into the hands of one of his top playmakers. It was a great design to break Moss open and give Brady time to throw the ball.
On the other side, this Chargers' defense is going to do everything in its power to get after Brady. They coaches are going to send some blitzes with the linebackers, safeties and cornerbacks to keep him off balance. The Chargers obviously have a great weapon in Shawne Merriman and they will try their best to keep him in Brady's face.
Former NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski is a commentator for ESPN's "Monday Night Football" and a regular contributor to Insider.
Game Overview
by Joe Theismann
You can check out his picks here on our experts' picks page.
San Francisco at St. Louis: The Rams are going to have a tough time against this revamped 49ers defense. St. Louis could be an excellent team, but it must find a way to get Steven Jackson the ball to control the tempo.
Green Bay at N.Y. Giants: Brett Favre looked good last week, but his defense looked great. That defense could give Eli Manning or Jared Lorenzen big problems Sunday. The Giants' defense scares me because it gave up 45 against Dallas.
Buffalo at Pittsburgh: This is going to be an emotional game for the Bills because of the loss Kevin Everett to that tragic injury last week. I won't be surprised if they come out and shock the Steelers. This season is going to be dedicated to him.
New Orleans at Tampa Bay: The Saints looked terrible last week against the Colts, and I expect this to be a strong bounce-back game. The Bucs don't have the speed on defense or downfield offensive threats that the Colts used to beat New Orleans.
Houston at Carolina: The Texans are one of my surprise teams this season, but this week they will have their hands full with a potent Carolina offense. The Panthers' offense looked fantastic Sunday, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that they are finally healthy for the first time in a long while.
Atlanta at Jacksonville: The Jaguars didn't look crisp last week. The running game, a huge strength last season, was stagnant against the Titans. They must get it going against a Falcons defense that looks like it will have problems against the run.
Cincinnati at Cleveland: The Bengals' defense looked strong against Baltimore on Monday night. It kept the Ravens' quarterbacks baffled and forced turnovers. This week should be no different as Cincinnati faces the Browns' young QB, Derek Anderson.
Indianapolis at Tennessee: The Colts played a nearly flawless game in Week 1, but that won't be necessary this week. Vince Young must play a good ball-control game and not turn the ball over for the Titans to have any chance. This is a coming-of-age game for him.
Seattle at Arizona: The Cardinals let one get away last week and going 0-2 in the division would be catastrophic to any chances they have of making a playoff run. The Seahawks are going to try to give the ball to Shaun Alexander as much as possible.
Minnesota at Detroit: This is a marquee matchup because you have a high-powered Detroit offense that will throw the ball around against a strong Minnesota secondary.
Dallas at Miami: The Cowboys look like the best offense in the NFC after last week. Tony Romo looked great, and they were effective running the ball.
New York Jets at Baltimore: The Ravens must be ticked off at the world after last week's loss. This is going to be a mismatch.
Kansas City at Chicago: The Bears are still one of the best NFC teams, and it would be a moral victory if the Chiefs are able to just stay close to this team.
Oakland at Denver: The Raiders are better offensively, but they have some major holes that still need to be fixed. The Broncos are coming off a game -- at 15-14 win in Buffalo -- that they probably should have lost.
San Diego at New England: The Patriots will figure a way to contain LaDainian Tomlinson. New England can put points up in a hurry. The Chargers don't have that ability.
Washington at Philadelphia: I like the Commanders in this one because defensively they can make some plays, while the Eagles' defense isn't as good as it used to be.
LINK
by Sal Paolantonio, Ed Werder, Rachel Nichols, Bob Holtzman
Tough chore for ex-Colt: Titans cornerback Nick Harper, the replacement for the suspended Pacman Jones, won a Super Bowl ring with the Colts last season, but he has every reason to be apprehensive about facing former teammates Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne on Sunday. Saints CB Jason David, a former Colt, allowed three touchdowns and was involved in coverage on four of Manning's completions covering 20 or more yards. -- Ed Werder
AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
Terrell Owens: "We could have put up 50 or 60 points against the Giants if we had wanted to."
T.O. loves Cowboys' O: Terrell Owens believes the Cowboys have dynamic offensive players, a smart quarterback in Tony Romo and an offensive coordinator in Jason Garrett who knows how to use his personnel. That's why Owens says the Cowboys won't score 45 points every week as they did in the opener. Some weeks, he believes, they will score more than that.
"We could have put up 50 or 60 points against the Giants if we had wanted to,'' Owens said this week. "We have dynamic players on offense, a smart quarterback and an offensive coordinator who knows what we have to do. We could have easily put up three more touchdowns. (Tony) Romo threw for 345 yards the other night. He could have thrown for 445 or 545. And by no means are the Giants cupcakes.''
In his first career performance as a play-caller, Garrett won the faith of his players. Garrett has emphasized quick-strike, vertical passes and has Owens using motion and lining up in different positions to avoid double coverage in Terry Glenn's absence. With owner Jerry Jones wanting more games to evaluate Romo's financial value to the team, the young quarterback averaged 14.38 yards per attempt, the third-highest figure in team history and a number Hall of Famers Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman never achieved. -- Ed Werder
Big Ben optimism: Here's why Ben Roethlisberger's four-touchdown day last weekend may be the start of something big. New offensive coordinator Bruce Arians told me early in training camp the Steelers wanted to throw deep at least five times a game. Last Sunday, because Pittsburgh built such a big early lead against the Browns, Roethlisberger only threw downfield twice. He completed both throws -- for 62 yards and a touchdown. Imagine what he could do when he actually gets those five deep balls a game. -- Bob Holtzman
Defense a concern for Giants: Eli Manning's shoulder sprain may be dominating the headlines in the New York tabloids, but inside Giants offices and meeting rooms, and on the practice field, the real concern is about Big Blue's defense, which surrendered 45 points to the Cowboys on Sunday night. (Last time the Giants gave up more than 40 points to Dallas was 30 years ago -- 41 in a 1977 loss at Dallas).
Steve Spagnuolo, the new defensive coordinator, brought an aggressive, attacking style he learned from Jim Johnson in Philadelphia, but that left the Giants vulnerable to numerous big plays, especially by tight end Jason Witten, who owned the area between the hashes. Mathius Kiwanuka, playing his first game at strongside linebacker, had difficulty covering Witten. The injury to defensive end Osi Umenyiora forces Kiwanuka back to defensive end against the Packers. Reggie Torbor moves to the SAM spot. Expect Brett Favre to test Torbor early and often with TE Bubba Franks. -- Sal Paolantonio
VY maturity: Vince Young's teammates say if the Colts' defense is looking to take advantage of a still-green second-year quarterback, they won't find him in Tennessee. Players report that Young is showing remarkable maturity this year, paying strong attention to detail, and that he has worked to build the kind of strong relationships with his receivers that translate into big passing numbers on the field. This offseason, he even flew the group down to Houston to work out with him -- not just paying their expenses but also providing them with some of his mother's Southern cooking. As Young put it, "that'll win anyone over." -- Rachel Nichols
Gibbs takes back the reins
By Ron Jaworski
We have quite the NFC East tilt this week on "Monday Night Football" (ESPN, 8:30 p.m. ET). The Washington Commanders travel to face the Philadelphia Eagles in a game featuring two teams that have changed in personnel and scheme since the last time they played each other.
If someone wants an idea what Washington wants to do, they should watch a tape of the Commanders' offense from 1982. It's clear that the wide-open Al Saunders' experiment is over in Washington. The Commanders have gone back to what head coach Joe Gibbs is comfortable with: a grind-it-out Hogs' style offense from the early '80s.
That's a good thing for two reasons for the Commanders. One, it is a return to something that Gibbs is comfortable with. Two, it protects young quarterback Jason Campbell.
I'm not sure Campbell would have been able to thrive in a more wide-open passing attack because of his youth and inexperience. While he definitely has an arm that is strong enough to make every throw available to him, he still hasn't experienced enough to understand fully all the subtleties and nuances of the position.
Campbell still can be confused by the defense and has the bad habit of staring down his receivers. He also doesn't seem to understand how to manipulate the defense with his eyes like a more experienced quarterback does. Of course, this is pretty normal stuff for a quarterback still in the embryonic stage of his career.
Gibbs taking over the reins of this offense gives Campbell the opportunity to get things done without having a lot of pressure on him. The Commanders are very smart in mixing in some of Saunders' offense in obvious passing downs. In third-and-long situations, they will throw in some motion and shifts to try to create better matchups to throw defenses off.
Expect the Commanders to attack the edges of the Eagles' defense. The Eagles have good, but undersized defensive ends, while the Commanders have good tackles and an excellent blocking tight end (Chris Cooley). If the Commanders are successful in attacking the defense in this way, the Eagles will be forced to bring a safety into the box, enabling the Commanders to take some shots downfield.
On the other side of the field, the Eagles are going to spread the field as much as possible. Last week, the Packers went bump and run at least 92 percent of the time, hindering the ability of Philadelphia's receivers to get off the ball and limiting their ability to gain separation. They simply must do a better job of getting off those bumps to give quarterback Donovan McNabb the opportunity to spread the ball around. Also, spreading the field will enable McNabb to read the Commanders' coverages and attack them more efficiently.
This has all the makings of a very good football game.
San Diego at New England
Forget about the video stuff you've been hearing about, and don't let it get in the way of what should be a great game.
This is a rematch of last season's playoff game when the Patriots were able to upset the Chargers and advance to the AFC Championship game. While San Diego's coaching staff has suffered through a great deal of turmoil and upheaval since then, the players are pretty much the same and these guys are itching for the opportunity to avenge that loss.
This is going to be a chess match between the Chargers' defense and the Patriots' offense. New England will place a great deal of importance on protecting Tom Brady, while the Chargers are known for getting after the quarterback.
The Patriots did a great job of protecting Brady last week against the Jets. The play that stands out to me the most is the Randy Moss play, not because of the touchown, but how the Patriots designed and executed the play. Moss was the only wide receiver on the field for that play, as the Patriots had max protection called and only the tight end, running back and Moss ran down the field while everyone else stayed back and blocked. This allowed Brady the necessary time to let that play develop and get the ball into the hands of one of his top playmakers. It was a great design to break Moss open and give Brady time to throw the ball.
On the other side, this Chargers' defense is going to do everything in its power to get after Brady. They coaches are going to send some blitzes with the linebackers, safeties and cornerbacks to keep him off balance. The Chargers obviously have a great weapon in Shawne Merriman and they will try their best to keep him in Brady's face.
Former NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski is a commentator for ESPN's "Monday Night Football" and a regular contributor to Insider.
Game Overview
by Joe Theismann
You can check out his picks here on our experts' picks page.
San Francisco at St. Louis: The Rams are going to have a tough time against this revamped 49ers defense. St. Louis could be an excellent team, but it must find a way to get Steven Jackson the ball to control the tempo.
Green Bay at N.Y. Giants: Brett Favre looked good last week, but his defense looked great. That defense could give Eli Manning or Jared Lorenzen big problems Sunday. The Giants' defense scares me because it gave up 45 against Dallas.
Buffalo at Pittsburgh: This is going to be an emotional game for the Bills because of the loss Kevin Everett to that tragic injury last week. I won't be surprised if they come out and shock the Steelers. This season is going to be dedicated to him.
New Orleans at Tampa Bay: The Saints looked terrible last week against the Colts, and I expect this to be a strong bounce-back game. The Bucs don't have the speed on defense or downfield offensive threats that the Colts used to beat New Orleans.
Houston at Carolina: The Texans are one of my surprise teams this season, but this week they will have their hands full with a potent Carolina offense. The Panthers' offense looked fantastic Sunday, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that they are finally healthy for the first time in a long while.
Atlanta at Jacksonville: The Jaguars didn't look crisp last week. The running game, a huge strength last season, was stagnant against the Titans. They must get it going against a Falcons defense that looks like it will have problems against the run.
Cincinnati at Cleveland: The Bengals' defense looked strong against Baltimore on Monday night. It kept the Ravens' quarterbacks baffled and forced turnovers. This week should be no different as Cincinnati faces the Browns' young QB, Derek Anderson.
Indianapolis at Tennessee: The Colts played a nearly flawless game in Week 1, but that won't be necessary this week. Vince Young must play a good ball-control game and not turn the ball over for the Titans to have any chance. This is a coming-of-age game for him.
Seattle at Arizona: The Cardinals let one get away last week and going 0-2 in the division would be catastrophic to any chances they have of making a playoff run. The Seahawks are going to try to give the ball to Shaun Alexander as much as possible.
Minnesota at Detroit: This is a marquee matchup because you have a high-powered Detroit offense that will throw the ball around against a strong Minnesota secondary.
Dallas at Miami: The Cowboys look like the best offense in the NFC after last week. Tony Romo looked great, and they were effective running the ball.
New York Jets at Baltimore: The Ravens must be ticked off at the world after last week's loss. This is going to be a mismatch.
Kansas City at Chicago: The Bears are still one of the best NFC teams, and it would be a moral victory if the Chiefs are able to just stay close to this team.
Oakland at Denver: The Raiders are better offensively, but they have some major holes that still need to be fixed. The Broncos are coming off a game -- at 15-14 win in Buffalo -- that they probably should have lost.
San Diego at New England: The Patriots will figure a way to contain LaDainian Tomlinson. New England can put points up in a hurry. The Chargers don't have that ability.
Washington at Philadelphia: I like the Commanders in this one because defensively they can make some plays, while the Eagles' defense isn't as good as it used to be.
LINK
