Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 1459 of 1503)

Anybody with complaints that the NFL doesn’t suspend “good” players for substance abuse has just gotten their point squashed a bit.

On Tuesday, the NFL suspended Detroit Lions defensive tackle Shaun Rogers and Atlanta Falcons offensive guard Matt Lehr four games for violating the substance abuse policy. While it’s debatable if Lehr is any real loss for the Falcons, Rogers is undoubtedly a huge subtraction to the Lions d-line. Regarded as one of the best at his position, Rogers has recorded 314 tackles, 22 sacks, 18 pass deflections, four forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries in his career and is often a force to deal with for offensive lines come Sundays.

While the NFL won’t release what substance any suspended player was caught with, Rogers’ agent Kennard McGuire confirmed to the Detroit Free Press that his client took an over-the-counter drug to help him lose weight (which isn’t a surprise considering how rookie head coach Rod Marinelli has reportedly come down hard on a lot of players – including WR Mike Williams – for weight issues).

Nobody knows what Lehr took, but after the offensive line gave up seven sacks in Atlanta’s 27-14 loss to the Giants last Sunday, I’m surprised whatever Lehr took didn’t actually make him better. I’d hate to see what the guy would play like without the substance.

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Baltimore head coach Brian Billick has decided to fire offensive coordinator Jim Fassel.

Billick will now take over the play calling duties for the Ravens on Sundays.

“Clearly, in order for us to expand on our 4-2 start, we have to have more offensive productivity,” Billick said in an 11-minute news conference. “It was my opinion going forward to bring about the level of production we needed offensively to go where need to go that I need to step back in on a day-to-day basis.”

Fassel wasn’t quoted in this article. But in a story posted on ESPN.com, Fassel told Chris Mortensen that he wasn’t in sole ownership of the offense while in Baltimore.

“Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve gotten the offense up and running pretty fast,” Fassel told Mortensen. “It didn’t happen here and the reason I believe is that I wasn’t in full control.”

“Brian was very good about this. He told me, ‘You’re right. My job’s on the line and the only way I can deal with it is if I take control of the offense.'”

I always find it interesting when a head coach doesn’t allow his coordinators to do their jobs. It can be argued that Fassel wasn’t having sucess running the Ravens offense, but if Billick had a hand in the mess – what makes Billick think he is going to turn right this often-sinking ship?

This was an unbelievable game in the most unlikely of scenarios.

I’ll set the mood for everybody who didn’t see the entire game. The Cardinals were dominating the Bears on both sides of the ball the entire contest. Arizona’s defense was playing out of their minds – the unit was intercepting, sacking, and stripping Chicago QB Rex Grossman left and right all night long to the tune of six turnovers. At one point in the third quarter, the Cards build a 23-3 lead and are shocking the Bears on Monday night.

Then, like a friggen pixy dust-spreader, Chicago calls on lady luck for a quarter and a half to help the Bears pull off one of the biggest comebacks I’ve ever witnessed:

– With the game at 23-3 Arizona, QB Matt Leinart (who had an other wise excellent game) fumbles the ball on Arizona’s six-yard line with 50 seconds left in the third quarter. Bears safety Mike Brown scoops up the live ball and takes it the short distance for Chicago score, which cuts the Cards lead to 23-10.

– Then with just under six minutes to play and Arizona trying to run out the clock, Brian Urlacher strips the ball from Edgerrin James. Chicago DB Charles Tillman recovers the loose ball and takes it 40 yards to cut the lead down to 23-17.

– With just over three minutes left to play in the game, Arizona can’t convert on third down and has to settle for a punt – which then gets taken back 83 yards for a touchdown by rookie Devin Hester to give Chicago its first lead of the ballgame, 24-23.

– Fear not Cardinals fans, because despite giving up a massive lead, Leinart takes Arizona all the way down the field with timely passes and short dump offs. Leinart gets the Cards down to the Bears 23 yard line before having to settle for a Neil Rackers 40 yard field goal…

And as Tony Kornheiser spreads the jinx across the entire land, he utters: “Rackers hasn’t missed from inside 50 yards all season.”

Rackers’ boot misses just left of the upright and Chicago hangs on to the victory and seals a 6-0 start.

I’ve got three takeaways from this amazing game:

1) Chicago pulled a horseshoe so far out of its ass tonight that it won’t be able to sit right for weeks.

2) To go along with #1, good teams make their own breaks, so I won’t take anything away from the Bears win tonight. Chicago earned the victory tonight, bottom line.

3) After seeing this team lose the way did tonight I don’t think the Arizona Cardinals franchise will ever break out of its morbid funk…with or without Matt Leinart.