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Dallas
Feb. 12, 2009 By Eric Edholm
Cowboys could shift to more ground-oriented attack
Despite the below-par rushing totals of the two Super Bowl contestants this season, running the ball is still a patterned mode for success in the NFL. The league’s top nine rushing teams all finished .500 or above and had a combined record of 97-47. So it should surprise no one if you see the Cowboys become more of a running team in 2009. With Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice all taking the spotlight at various times, the Cowboys only ranked 21st in rushing yards per game but 12th in yards per carry — a higher average than the Ravens, who ranked fourth in rushing yards. Only seven teams had fewer rushing attempts than the Cowboys (401), or just 25.1 per game, and only nine teams had fewer rushing TDs than the Cowboys’ 12. With a healthy Jones and a proven Choice, who had only 19 carries through Week 12, those totals should go up. There is one school of thought inside Valley Ranch that the team should be more run-oriented, and not surprisingly those are the people who would favor letting WR Terrell Owens go, which almost would force Jason Garrett’s unit to be more of a chain-moving outfit than a quick-strike offense.
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NY Giants
Jan. 31, 2009 By Eric Edholm
Toomer sends out what appears to be parting shot to Giants
WR Amani Toomer, who is 34 and certainly will not return to the Giants as a free agent this offseason, took what appears to be a parting shot at the team for its “agenda” to phase him out of the offense. “They let me play myself out of it, then kind of pulled the rug out from under me,” Toomer said. “I was fighting it for as long as I could. I kept making big plays, but I feel like they made a decision … [and said] ‘Look, we can’t keep this kid around. We’ve got to turn the page. We can’t just keep letting him go on and on.’ ” QB Eli Manning spoke the following day and disputed the claim. “No, it wasn’t phasing him out,” Manning said. “We just had other guys in there also. Everybody can’t get playing time. We put him in certain situations and had to rotate a lot of guys in.”
View all WWHI for NY Giants
Philadelphia
Feb. 13, 2009 By Eric Edholm
Eagles could find themselves in showdown with Giants for Boldin
Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin
There is a growing sense that the Eagles might be willing to pay a hearty price for a wide receiver, just as there is equally strong sentiment that the Cardinals will have to end up trading disgruntled WR Anquan Boldin. The Eagles, armed with two late first-round picks (theirs and the Panthers’, Nos. 21 and 28), might be willing to meet a rumored ballpark price of first- and third-round picks for Boldin, or close to what the Cowboys paid for WR Roy Williams at the trade deadline last year. But there also might be another close suitor for Boldin — the division-rival Giants, who feel they were one player away from winning a Super Bowl last season, instead of losing to the Eagles in the playoffs. The market is still very young, and no decisions have been made on any front on this matter. But the next few weeks should be fascinating from the standpoint of which side or sides — Boldin or the Cardinals? Eagles or Giants or another team? — show their hand first.
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Washington
Jan. 31, 2009 By Eric Edholm
Commanders' Portis says he'll play offseason workouts by ear
Updated at 10:05 a.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 4
Commanders RB Clinton Portis spoke with a small group of media, including PFW, in Tampa before the Super Bowl and said he still isn’t sure if he’ll take part in the team’s offseason workouts in the D.C. area or if he’ll work out in Miami, as he has become accustomed to doing — but something the coaching staff would rather he not do.
“I’m going to play it by ear,” he said. “I’m going to be taking my time. I know I’m winding down. I’m going to take my time and make the decision best for me to help carry this team.”
Asked if he’ll talk to the staff or head coach Jim Zorn to discuss the matter, Portis shrugged.
“That’s up to them,” he said. “My talking (doesn’t) do any good. It’s their decision to be made. However they call on me and whenever they call on me, that’s when I get the ball.”
There has been a lot of talk this past season about the relationship between Portis and Zorn, which insiders describe as mildly frosty at best. Although both men appear fully committed to the Commanders and winning, there appears to be a disconnect on some level between the coach and star. Portis, however, denies that the two are off the mark.
“Of course we’re together,” he said. “After the season, I left. I haven’t had a film session with anybody. Football was over with and I left last year behind me. We can’t go back and change. There’s no need to harp over it and have conversations over where we went wrong and how it happened. … I’m content getting myself ready, well-rested and being prepared for another year.”
Down the hall on radio row shortly after Portis spoke, former Commanders RB John Riggins sounded off on Portis. The two have sparred verbally through the media in the past, and this exchange was no less rancorous.
“He’s already a headache,” said Riggins. “Is it going to get worse? I don’t know. I said that at the end of the season, and I believe that unless he changes the way he views himself and views his contributions to the team, that could be problematic for the Commanders.
“It’s a bad situation, and it’s created probably by the people who run the team that he’s been allowed to take the course that he has.”
View all WWHI for Washington
http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/The+Way+We+Hear+It/default.htm?mode=nfceast
Feb. 12, 2009 By Eric Edholm
Cowboys could shift to more ground-oriented attack
Despite the below-par rushing totals of the two Super Bowl contestants this season, running the ball is still a patterned mode for success in the NFL. The league’s top nine rushing teams all finished .500 or above and had a combined record of 97-47. So it should surprise no one if you see the Cowboys become more of a running team in 2009. With Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice all taking the spotlight at various times, the Cowboys only ranked 21st in rushing yards per game but 12th in yards per carry — a higher average than the Ravens, who ranked fourth in rushing yards. Only seven teams had fewer rushing attempts than the Cowboys (401), or just 25.1 per game, and only nine teams had fewer rushing TDs than the Cowboys’ 12. With a healthy Jones and a proven Choice, who had only 19 carries through Week 12, those totals should go up. There is one school of thought inside Valley Ranch that the team should be more run-oriented, and not surprisingly those are the people who would favor letting WR Terrell Owens go, which almost would force Jason Garrett’s unit to be more of a chain-moving outfit than a quick-strike offense.
View all WWHI for Dallas
NY Giants
Jan. 31, 2009 By Eric Edholm
Toomer sends out what appears to be parting shot to Giants
WR Amani Toomer, who is 34 and certainly will not return to the Giants as a free agent this offseason, took what appears to be a parting shot at the team for its “agenda” to phase him out of the offense. “They let me play myself out of it, then kind of pulled the rug out from under me,” Toomer said. “I was fighting it for as long as I could. I kept making big plays, but I feel like they made a decision … [and said] ‘Look, we can’t keep this kid around. We’ve got to turn the page. We can’t just keep letting him go on and on.’ ” QB Eli Manning spoke the following day and disputed the claim. “No, it wasn’t phasing him out,” Manning said. “We just had other guys in there also. Everybody can’t get playing time. We put him in certain situations and had to rotate a lot of guys in.”
View all WWHI for NY Giants
Philadelphia
Feb. 13, 2009 By Eric Edholm
Eagles could find themselves in showdown with Giants for Boldin
Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin
There is a growing sense that the Eagles might be willing to pay a hearty price for a wide receiver, just as there is equally strong sentiment that the Cardinals will have to end up trading disgruntled WR Anquan Boldin. The Eagles, armed with two late first-round picks (theirs and the Panthers’, Nos. 21 and 28), might be willing to meet a rumored ballpark price of first- and third-round picks for Boldin, or close to what the Cowboys paid for WR Roy Williams at the trade deadline last year. But there also might be another close suitor for Boldin — the division-rival Giants, who feel they were one player away from winning a Super Bowl last season, instead of losing to the Eagles in the playoffs. The market is still very young, and no decisions have been made on any front on this matter. But the next few weeks should be fascinating from the standpoint of which side or sides — Boldin or the Cardinals? Eagles or Giants or another team? — show their hand first.
View all WWHI for Philadelphia
Washington
Jan. 31, 2009 By Eric Edholm
Commanders' Portis says he'll play offseason workouts by ear
Updated at 10:05 a.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 4
Commanders RB Clinton Portis spoke with a small group of media, including PFW, in Tampa before the Super Bowl and said he still isn’t sure if he’ll take part in the team’s offseason workouts in the D.C. area or if he’ll work out in Miami, as he has become accustomed to doing — but something the coaching staff would rather he not do.
“I’m going to play it by ear,” he said. “I’m going to be taking my time. I know I’m winding down. I’m going to take my time and make the decision best for me to help carry this team.”
Asked if he’ll talk to the staff or head coach Jim Zorn to discuss the matter, Portis shrugged.
“That’s up to them,” he said. “My talking (doesn’t) do any good. It’s their decision to be made. However they call on me and whenever they call on me, that’s when I get the ball.”
There has been a lot of talk this past season about the relationship between Portis and Zorn, which insiders describe as mildly frosty at best. Although both men appear fully committed to the Commanders and winning, there appears to be a disconnect on some level between the coach and star. Portis, however, denies that the two are off the mark.
“Of course we’re together,” he said. “After the season, I left. I haven’t had a film session with anybody. Football was over with and I left last year behind me. We can’t go back and change. There’s no need to harp over it and have conversations over where we went wrong and how it happened. … I’m content getting myself ready, well-rested and being prepared for another year.”
Down the hall on radio row shortly after Portis spoke, former Commanders RB John Riggins sounded off on Portis. The two have sparred verbally through the media in the past, and this exchange was no less rancorous.
“He’s already a headache,” said Riggins. “Is it going to get worse? I don’t know. I said that at the end of the season, and I believe that unless he changes the way he views himself and views his contributions to the team, that could be problematic for the Commanders.
“It’s a bad situation, and it’s created probably by the people who run the team that he’s been allowed to take the course that he has.”
View all WWHI for Washington
http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/The+Way+We+Hear+It/default.htm?mode=nfceast
Garrett needs to change his philosophy
