Category: NFL (Page 1177 of 1282)

Got issues? Here are a few NFL teams with major problems at the midway point:

-As if it couldn’t get any worse in Oakland, now wide receiver Randy Moss has come out and said that his poor production this season is because of how bad the team is. Oh, poor Randy Moss. It must be hard on him being on such a bad team. Forget the fact that good guys like Takeo Spikes have hardly ever been on a winning team. At least Spikes still gives 100% on every down he plays.

-Speaking of the Raiders, quarterback Andrew Walter called out offensive coordinator Tom Walsh after Oakland’s loss to the Broncos last Sunday. Walter said Walsh’s playbook lacked “depth” and that he’s asked Walsh “numerous times” for more short routes and a moving pocket. Walter is screwed with Art Shell, who will now probably start Aaron Brooks this Sunday. For what it’s worth though, I can’t blame the young man for his criticism of Walsh’s play calling. It’s horrid.

-Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said that defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan’s job is safe – for now. Cincy just gave up 42 points to the Chargers. I can only imagine how quick Lewis’ trigger finger is right now for the release of Bresnahan.

–Atlanta Journal Constitution columnist Mark Bradley wrote Monday how coach Jim Mora runs a poorly coached team. Making matters worse for the Falcons, sack artist Patrick Kerney is done for the season. Kerney joins Ed Hartwell, John Abraham, Kynan Forney and Jason Webster of starters who will miss significant time for Atlanta this season.

-Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press is calling for reality to step in once again for another dismal Lions season.

-Joe Gibbs and the Redskins have finally had enough with Mark Brunell. Jason Campbell is now in and good news for the first time starter – he won’t have Clinton Portis taking some of the pressure off of him. Portis will miss at least a month with a broken hand.

Okay, so it’s been 10 weeks and Monday Night Football has been able to at least establish its identity. Which is?

I’ve watched every single MNF game from front to back this season and I’m here to say after 10 weeks that I have no clue what ESPN is trying to accomplish. I don’t get Tony Kornheiser’s role, the floating scoreboard at the bottom of the TV screen and why MNF hasn’t evolved the way Sunday Night Football has. Please ESPN, stick the scoreboard back up in the left hand corner where it’s out of the way and use a flex schedule like SNF does so we don’t get Seattle-Oakland again, okay?

Kornhesier is a mess. Is he there to attract the common fan? To the extreme fan, his comments are useless and never hold any real substance. It’s obvious he isn’t a true fan and I can say this by the way he goes on PTI and says “Hey (Mike) Wilbon, I’m watching football now, because as you know, I’m doing MNF!” What? You’re watching football now? Aren’t you a sports writer? Don’t you work in sports? You’re watching football now!

If I wanted to hear an announcer talk about who is on their fantasy team every week, I would have my friends do the game. At least I would know actual fans of the sport would be covering the game.

Monday night offered another dud with Carolina beating Tampa Bay 24-10, although I can’t entirely blame this one on the schedule makers. These were both playoff teams last year and went at it in the NFC South.

After watching this game, I think the old Bill Parcels quote of: “you are what your record is,” sums up the Panthers right now. At 5-4, Carolina is a borderline playoff team that is a meltdown away from finishing 8-8. The Panthers are terrible on third down conversations, can’t run the football consistently and Jake Delhomme continues to make bad decisions on a weekly basis. However, Carolina is getting exactly what it figured it would get with Keyshawn Johnson lining up opposite Steve Smith. A defense simply cannot load up on Smith anymore because Johnson is great at working the other side. Not to mention Julius Peppers is without a doubt the best defensive player in the game right now.

In my opinion, the jury is still out on this Panthers team, but Smith and Peppers are so dangerous that they can keep Carolina in the hunt for the rest of the season by themseleves.

Most impressed with: Peppers will give rookie tackle Jeremy Trueblood nightmares for weeks. As noted before, Smith is impossible to cover one on one with no safety help. Ronde Barber (one of the best defensive backs in the league) found that out again tonight.

Least impressed with: Rookie QB Bruce Gradkowski had a rough night. He under threw two open receivers, which turned into two Panther interceptions and also lost a fumble after he had already scrambled for a first down in the second half. Cadillac Williams doesn’t look good to me either.