Every Sunday throughout the 2011 NFL season I’ll compile quick-hit reactions from the day that was in football. I vow to always overreact, side with sensationalism over rationalism, and draw conclusions based on small sample sizes instead of cold, hard facts. It’s the only way I know how to write…

- Vince Young threw some ugly passes in the Eagles’ 38-20 loss to the Patriots, none bigger than his “touch” pass to Brent Celek in the back of the end zone on fourth down midway through the third quarter when the score was still relatively close. But he also deserved a better fate in the end. He threw for 400 yards and one touchdown, and should have had two more scores had DeSean Jackson not dropped two passes in the end zone. For a guy who is so concerned about his contract, Jackson isn’t playing with much concentration, focus, or drive right now. He was also benched by Andy Reid late in the fourth quarter, which signals that he’s just as likely to get the boot in Philly than a new deal.

- Matt Leinart admitted following the Texans’ 20-13 win over the Jaguars that his season is likely over. Dude waits two years to get another shot to start in the NFL and when he does, he breaks his collarbone in his second quarter back. That’s a tough break, both literally and figuratively. Now Houston’s playoff hopes ride on fifth-round rookie T.J. Yates, although it’s not like the Texans were pinning their hopes on great quarterback play from here on out anyway. If they win, it’ll be because of their running game and defense – not Leinart, Yates, or whomever they find while dumpster diving next week.

- I loved how CBS kept showing Tim Tebow sitting on the bench as the Chargers marched down the field in overtime trying to get into field goal range for a game-winning score. As if Tebow was going to summon some magical higher power to help Denver’s defense stuff Mike Tolbert on a 4-yard loss on 3rd-and-6 and force the Chargers to attempt a 53-yard-field goal instead of a 49-yarder. And then magically lead the Broncos down the field, get into field goal range and then win in come-from-behind fashion once again. I mean, let’s get real…….say again? That’s exactly what happened? For Tebow’s sake, are you serious? That CBS is genius…

- …in all seriousness, Denver’s defense deserves most, if not all of the credit for the team’s sudden turnaround. Tebow is 5-1 and has been incredibly clutch in the fourth quarter and in overtime, but without the Broncos’ defense holding opponents to 13 points or less he may not win a game. Von Miller is something special and John Fox has done wonders for Denver’s entire defense.

- Their mismanagement of Blaine Gabbert has made the front office and coaching staff in Jacksonville look like a bunch of clowns. Gabbert clearly wasn’t ready for NFL action when the Jaguars drafted him with the 10th overall pick last April, which was fine because David Garrard was still the starter. Gabbert could have held a clipboard in his first year before taking over next season or in 2013 when he was ready. But instead, the front office released Garrard and the Jaguars shoehorned Gabbert into the starting role right away. Then, because he’s been so ineffective over the past two months, the team had to bench him today against Houston in favor of Luke McCown. Had the Jags remained patient from the start this situation could have been avoided. But now Gabbert’s confidence has likely taken a huge hit and GM Gene Smith may lose his job for his poor decision-making this offseason.

- The Chargers are done and you wonder whether or not Norv Turner’s time in San Diego is up. If it is, maybe he should give serious consideration to staying an offensive coordinator. Stripped from all of his head-coaching responsibilities, I think the guy could win multiple Super Bowls again just calling plays. Granted, the Chargers only scored 13 points today but Turner’s version of the Air Coryell offense can often be very explosive. He just lacks whatever guys like Mike Tomlin have in order to inspire a football team. I don’t want to say what’s best for Turner because only he knows that. But as an outsider, I don’t think it would be such a bad thing if he finishes his coaching career up in the booth calling plays. (If the Chargers end his tenure in San Diego, that is.)

- Only Mark Sanchez could throw for four touchdowns and still leave people doubting his abilities. I watched a good portion of the Jets’ 28-24 win over the Bills on Sunday and while Sanchez certainly executed in the red zone, he was shaky against a miserable Buffalo defense (which should have finished with more than just one interception). But at least New York picked up the win, which was big given New England’s victory against Philadelphia late on Sunday.

- I know it was only Minnesota but the Falcons’ offense is finally starting to resemble the unit that everyone thought it would at the beginning of the year. Matt Ryan went his second-straight game without turning the ball over and threw three touchdown passes, while Roddy White had his second straight 100-yard performance and made a sweet catch in the back of the end zone for his lone score during Atlanta’s 24-14 win. After two months of wasting his talent, OC Mike Mularkey has also finally figured out what a weapon Harry Douglas is in the slot. The next thing Mularkey has to do is stop using Julio Jones as just a complementary piece in the offense. Once that happens, the Falcons will really be firing on all cylinders.

- Speaking of firing on all cylinders, I give you the New England Patriots. Wes Welker: Eight catches, 115 yards, two touchdowns. Deion Branch (from my fantasy bench): Six catches and 125 yards. Aaron Hernandez: Six catches and 62 yards. Rob Gronkowski: A very quiet four catches for 59 yards and one 24-yard touchdown catch. Tom Brady topped everything off with 361 yards threw the air and three touchdowns. The Patriots are at their best when they get everybody involved a la the Saints and Packers. That was a very sound performance out of New England, which never panicked even though it was down 10-0 early to the Eagles.

- If Beanie Wells could only stay healthy he could be one of the league’s premier backs. The Rams don’t have the greatest of defenses but Wells looked explosive while rushing for a record 228 yards on 27 carries in the Cardinals’ 23-20 win. He and Patrick Peterson (who returned his fourth punt return for touchdown this season) snatched victory from the jaws of defeat (other wise known as John Skelton).

- Outside of Chris Johnson’s 190 rushing yards, it wasn’t a great effort by the Titans in their 23-17 win over the Bucs. But all wins are huge for Tennessee from here on out. The Titans only trail the Texans by two games in the AFC South and now that Houston is down to T.J. Yates at quarterback, Tennessee has a very realistic shot of catching Houston down the stretch. For Tennessee, it’s “Just win baby” from here on out.

- The Browns are something else. They find new ways to lose every week. They managed to catch the Bengals sleepwalking today in Cincinnati but they squandered a 17-7 halftime lead and a 20-10 third-quarter lead to lose 23-20 on a last-second field goal. Joe Haden (who is a star in the making) was stuck to A.J. Green like Velcro for 58 minutes and the one big play Green makes goes for 51 yards to set up the Bengals’ game-winning field goal. Unreal. And Colt McCoy does just enough not to win every week. The kid threw two touchdown passes but he his average pass went for 4.4 yards. Four-point-four yards! The Browns need a little more out of McCoy than that.

- Want to know how bad things are right now for the Vikings? Percy Harvin had a 107-yard kickoff return today and still didn’t score a touchdown. That’s tough to do.

- You have to love Mike Shanahan. Five days ago he basically said that Roy Helu wasn’t ready to be the Redskins’ full-time back and then handed the rookie 30 touches in the team’s 23-17 win over the Seahawks on Sunday. Helu finished with 108 rushing yards and 54 receiving yards, with one touchdown and seven receptions to boot. I’m sure Evan Royster will start and receive the same opportunities next week as Shanahan continues to ruin fantasy football owners’ lives.

- While the Seahawks remain a highly perplexing team, Marshawn Lynch continues to be one of the steadiest backs in the league. For the third time in his last four games, Lynch rushed for over 100 yards and for the seventh straight week, he found the end zone. It came in a losing effort but he’s a free agent at the end of the year and if he continues to run like he has, he’ll be earning a long-term contract next offseason.

If Ken Whisenhunt were a doctor, I wouldn’t want anything to do with him giving me injury updates on a family member.

“Good news Mr. Stalter, your mother is going to be just fine. It’s just a bruise.”

“Oh, thank God Dr. Whisenhunt – that is good news.”

“Yep, and in about two weeks I’ll inform you that I had to do surgery on her.”

“Wait, what?”

“All right, you take care now.”

According to a report by the Arizona Republic, running back Beanie Wells underwent surgery earlier this month to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee – the same right knee injury that Whisenhunt called a “bruise” three weeks ago. Wells is expected to make his season debut against the Raiders on Sunday, but clearly the knee injury that he suffered in the final preseason game was more serious than originally thought.

Of course, it’s nothing new for a head coach to mislead the media about a player’s injury status. I’m not sure why Whisenhunt wouldn’t just come out and say that Wells would need minor surgery and that he’d be back in two weeks, but I’m sure he had his reasons.

That said, it’ll be interesting to see how many carries Wells receives on Sunday and this news certainly changes things for the Cardinals. If he had suffered a bruise like Whisenhunt had earlier claimed, then one could expect Wells would get a fair amount of touches in the offense. But seeing as how he’s only a couple of weeks removed from surgery, chances are Beanie could be limited against the Raiders.

I’m sure Beanie Wells fantasy owners are feeling real good about now.

“All right, you take care now.”

Merry training camp season, everyone. It’s been a long offseason, but football is finally gearing up again and to celebrate I’m rolling out a new series on TSR entitled “2010 NFL Question Marks,” where I discuss one or two of the biggest concerns that teams have heading into the new season. Granted, some teams have more issues than others, but I’ll primarily be focusing on the biggest problem areas. Today I’ll be discussing the Cardinals massive issues at the quarterback position.

The Cardinals have a couple of weakness that could be discussed, including offensive tackle, cornerback and inside linebacker. But none of them will impact their chances this season like the quarterback position will.

Gone is Kurt Warner, as well as the high-powered offense that the Cards have been able to run the past couple of years. The team traded Anquan Boldin to the Ravens during the offseason because quite frankly, they didn’t need him. (It’s also noteworthy that they felt as though he couldn’t stretch the field anymore.) The team knew the offense would focus more on the running game and less on the pass and thus, they could get by with the combination of Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston at wideout.

The look of the offense was changing and former first round pick Matt Leinart was going to usher in a new era.

But after giving him all the first-team reps this offseason and two starts in preseason, there’s growing speculation that Leinart won’t even make the final roster – nevertheless emerge as the regular season starter.

Reports have surfaced that there isn’t a lot of confidence in the locker room that Leinart can be the team’s long-term quarterback. Some have coined him “Captain Checkdown,” in reference to the way he looks to checkdown early in his progression instead of going through all of his reads and throwing downfield. While he has completed over 70% of his passes in preseason, he has failed to move the offense, which is why Derek Anderson is now the favorite to start.

Read the rest of this entry »

According to Cardinals beat write Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic, the receiving corps in ‘Zona is growing less confident in quarterback Matt Leinart.

If Leinart does become the starter, the offense will no doubt change. There will be a heavier emphasis on the run game, which has developed over the past year and a half. The play-action pass, not one of Warner’s favorite things, could become more of a threat.

Most importantly, Leinart has to re-gain the trust of his receivers. Everyone can say all the right things about believing in him, but Leinart’s inaccuracy this season eroded confidence among the receiving corps.

That group loves Warner for many reasons, mainly because the Cardinals are going to throw a lot with him in the lineup. But Warner also did his best to protect his receivers, to keep them from taking big hits. When Leinart is throwing high passes, as has been his tendency, receivers tend to get a little skittish.

The easiest way for Leinart to earn the trust of his receivers is to lead by example. If he’s the first one in and the last one out, people will take notice. With enough hard work and dedication, his game should improve over time and then his receivers will start to follow him.

If Leinart wants an example of how not to carry himself as a professional quarterback, he should look no further than his 2006 draft mate JaMarcus Russell. Russell is the posterchild for players that rely too much on their skill set and not enough on hard work and determination. If it weren’t for nutty Al Davis, Russell would be on his second team by now. He’s not willing to make the effort to be good and his performance on the field speaks for itself.

This shouldn’t be a hard concept for Leinart. He needs to put in the work and he should see positive results because as the article notes, he does have the tools to succeed.

Lots of rookies this year keep reminding us why they were drafted so high, making this a very difficult race to predict. But we’ll try our best……

1. Jairus Byrd, Buffalo Bills—He hasn’t had an interception in a few weeks, but he’s still tied with Asante Samuel and Darren Sharper for the NFL lead with 9.

2. Knowshon Moreno, Denver Broncos—He leads all rookies with 897 rushing yards, with an outside chance of reaching 1000 yards Sunday against the Chiefs.

3. James Laurinaitis, St. Louis Rams—Yes, he plays for the Rams, and yes, a good linebacker who doesn’t rack up a ton of sacks isn’t one of those sexy picks for MVP or Rookie of the Year. But Laurinaitis’ 102 solo tackles ranks behind only Patrick Willis, Jon Beason and Curtis Lofton.

4. Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants—46 catches for 795 yards and 6 scores is a good stat line for any receiver. But when you consider how big a question mark the Giants were at the position, this rookie has stepped up nicely and immediately contributed.

5. Percy Harvin, Minnesota Vikings—He’s battled migraines recently, but this explosive game-changer is a dual threat as a receiver and as a kick returner.

Honorable mention: Johnny Knox, Bears; Ryan Succop, Chiefs; Beanie Wells, Cardinals; Jeremy Maclin, Eagles; Brian Cushing, Texans; LeSean McCoy, Eagles; Michael Oher, Ravens

Each week we’re reminded that 2009 was a very strong rookie class, despite the lack of a true breakout star ala Adrian Peterson a couple years ago. And it’s going to be a very difficult decision to make for whoever votes.

1. Jairus Byrd, Buffalo Bills—Back in the NFL lead with 9 interceptions. If only he was on a better team.

2. Knowshon Moreno, Denver Broncos—Not exactly a breakout game against Indy, but still solid.

3. Percy Harvin, Minnesota Vikings—Migraines held Harvin out last weekend against the Bengals, and he may miss Week 15 as well. But that doesn’t take away from what he’s done this season so far.

4. James Laurinaitis, St. Louis Rams—After 13 seasons in his rookie campaign, Laurinaitis is averaging 7 solo tackes per game. That’s just sick.

5. Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants—Sure, he dropped a couple on Sunday night, but if you saw his grab out of thin air that he then turned into a 68 yard touchdown, you know that this kid is special.

Honorable mention: Johnny Knox, Bears; Ryan Succop, Chiefs; Matthew Stafford, Lions; Beanie Wells, Cardinals; Jeremy Maclin, Eagles; Brian Cushing, Texans; LeSean McCoy, Eagles; Brian Orakpo, Redskins; Michael Oher, Ravens

There are several rookies making an impact this season, and you could probably make a case for any of the names mentioned below. Considering most of them have not played more than 11 or 12 games in a season until now, it will be interesting to see how it shakes out the next few weeks:

1. Percy Harvin, Minnesota Vikings—Six more catches for 79 yards and another TD in a losing effort in the desert. The kid keeps putting up numbers and Favre has got to love him.

2. Knowshon Moreno, Denver Broncos—He’s really starting to carry the load in Denver, literally. Last Sunday Moreno carried 21 times for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns. Next season this kid is going to be a high fantasy pick.

3. Jairus Byrd, Buffalo Bills—He’s still tied for the NFL lead with 8 interceptions, but hasn’t had one in a few weeks. That doesn’t bode well for Matt Cassel today.

4. James Laurinaitis, St. Louis Rams— Nine more solo tackles against the Bears has kept Laurinaitis in good company. Very good company.

5. Michael Oher, Baltimore Ravens—This kid is a rookie who already has a movie about him…the fact that it’s already a blockbuster earns Michael a spot here, and oh yeah, he’s played really well.

Honorable mention: Hakeem Nicks, Giants; Johnny Knox, Bears; Ryan Succop, Chiefs; Matthew Stafford, Lions; Beanie Wells, Cardinals; Jeremy Maclin, Eagles; Brian Cushing, Texans; LeSean McCoy, Eagles

Percy Harvin keeps gaining momentum and votes here with every TD catch from Brett Favre. But it’s still a pretty wide-open race here for NFL rookie of the year.

1. Percy Harvin, Minnesota Vikings—Against the Bears, Harvin had another outstanding game—6 catches for 101 yards and a TD. Brett Favre might have more weapons than he’s ever had before, but none of them are more dangerous than this rookie.

2. Knowshon Moreno, Denver Broncos—In the last three games, Moreno has averaged almost 6 yards a carry. And if you noticed the moves he was busting against the Giants, you know he deserves to be high up on this list.

3. Jairus Byrd, Buffalo Bills—He’s now gone three games without a pick, but still has 8 of them.

4. James Laurinaitis, St. Louis Rams—His 75 solo tackles not only rank at the top for any rookie, but that ranks Laurinaitis fourth in the NFL right behind Curtis Lofton, Jon Beason and Patrick Willis. Damn.

5. LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles—Brian Westbrook has some mighty big shoes to fill, but so far McCoy is filling them.

Honorable mention: Hakeem Nicks, Giants; Johnny Knox, Bears; Ryan Succop, Chiefs; Michael Oher, Ravens; Matthew Stafford, Lions; Beanie Wells, Cardinals; Jeremy Maclin, Eagles; Brian Cushing, Texans