Category: NFL (Page 1205 of 1282)

NFL Game Preview: Chicago (2-0) at Minnesota (2-0)

September 22, 2006 / Anthony Stalter

Date: Sept. 24
Time: 1pm ET FOX

Why to tune in:
There are just three match ups this weekend in the NFL that feature undefeated teams battling against each other. While the game in Indianapolis that features the Colts and Jaguars should get the most hype, the contest in Minnesota might be the most intriguing. The Bears defense has only allowed seven points in two games, which is no surprise since Chicago boasted the best defense in ’05. However, Chicago also has the seventh rated offense in the league and – get this – the top rated QB in Rex Grossman, who has posted a rating of 128.7. Rookie head coach Brad Childress has seemingly cleaned up the love boat mess in Minnesota and has his team buying into his disciplined philosophy. The Vikings have displayed a balance attack on offense and a much-improved defense. Minnesota has not blown away its opponents, but has beaten two playoff teams from ’05 in Washington and Carolina. The early battle for first place in the NFC North kicks off this weekend in Minneapolis – someone sound the foghorn.

When the Bears have the ball:
Grossman has done what? That’s right, the former Gator and injury-lover is completing over 70% of his passes and has thrown five touchdowns with just one interception. Is that a Desmond Clark sighting? While Muhsin Muhammad is starting to become the go to guy that the Bears singed him for last year, Clark and third year pro Bernard Berrian (hell of a catch against Detroit last week) have proven to be steady targets for Grossman. Head coach Lovie Smith would love for his running game to be more effective, but with Grossman throwing as well as he is, the Bears can get buy with averaging less than three yards a carry right now. Minnesota isn’t stifling opponents on running plays, but has been solid against the pass, so watch for Chicago to try and keep a balanced attack on the road. Smith loves to run the ball on second downs and put his offense in manageable third down situations, so if the Vikings can’t bear down early in possessions they’ll be susceptible to passing plays over the top of their defense (hear that Berrian?). Without DE Erasmus James (out for the year with a knee injury), the Vikings better generate a pass rush and force a turnover or two or else they’re going to have a hard time putting up points against the Bears defense.

When the Vikings have the ball:
Remember when Carolina’s Steve Smith torched the Bears in the playoffs last season? Lovie Smith sure does and that’s why after watching free safety Chris Harris struggle a bit in covering the ground necessary for the Tampa 2 defense, the coach announced after Wednesday’s practice that rookie Danieal Manning will start in Minnesota. Manning gives the Bears a better playmaker at the position while covering in space – where as Harris is bigger and more of run-stuffer. There isn’t any big secret to Childress’ offensive scheme – stick to the game plan, don’t turn the ball over and never abandon the run. Chester Taylor has given Minnesota a physical runner who has proven in two games that he can carry the load. If the Vikings are going to have any success running against the Bears defense, however, they better not try to run too many stretch plays against a Chicago team that is fast on the outside with Lance Briggs and Hunter Hillenmeyer. There’s no better middle linebacker that plays sideline to sideline than Brian Urlacher. If the Bears can be had, however, it’s against a downhill running game like the Packers showed with Ahman Green in week one. For some reason, the Bears defense can play a bit soft at times up the middle. If Brad Johnson can’t get the passing game going, however, that’s a moot point.

Prediction:
Anybody thinking that Minnesota is going to let Chicago come into its house and blow them out hasn’t been paying attention to the first two weeks of the season. However, the Bears defense loves playing these kinds of games in which a team tries to match wits with them on offense. Watch Chicago make Childress abandon his game plan for the first time this season and that’s when the Bears will strike. You can’t play catch up against Chicago and Smith won’t hand the game over to Minnesota the way that John Fox and his over-hyped Panthers did last week.

Close game, Grossman comes back down to earth a bit, but Da Bears get the run game going and escape the Metrodome undefeated: Bears 16, Vikings 10.

NFL

Fantasy Football: The Pregame, Week 3

September 22, 2006 / John Paulsen

Every week in The Pregame, I’ll suggest a few players to start and a few to bench. These recommendations are based on that player’s strength of schedule (SOS) for that particular week or that player’s specific situation.

I’m a strong advocate of always starting your studs, so I won’t be telling you about Shaun Alexander’s tough matchup or how Peyton Manning and company will light it up against a bad defense. Anyone can make those calls. I’ll be discussing marginal fantasy starters – guys that can start for you, but only under certain circumstances. So let’s get to it.

START

For those of you thinking about jumping off the DAUNTE CULPEPPER bandwagon, grab a seat, at least for another week. It’s true, Pepper hasn’t looked very good the last couple of weeks, making a lot of Miami fans yearn for Drew Brees, but he has faced two tough defenses and, with this week’s matchup against the Titans, things are about to get a lot easier. Tennessee gave up an average of 269 yards and 1.5 TD through the air in the first two games, and has yet to pick off a pass. Most importantly, the Titans have only two sacks on the year, so Daunte should be able to survey the field for minutes at a time, as he’s so fond of doing. If the Miami offense can’t do it this week, they may never get it together…Neither guy is dependable, but JON KITNA and MARK BRUNELL have great matchups this week against the Packers and the Texans, respectively. If you’re dealing with a disappointing, marginal QB as your starter (I’ve got Jake Plummer and Trent Green on one team), these guys should make good fill-ins this week…Look for JAMAL LEWIS and WILLIS MCGAHEE to have solid weeks. They face the Browns and Jets, respectively. The Browns have given up 316 rush yards and 2 TD on the ground in the first two games, while the Jets have allowed 233 and 4 TD on the ground thus far…DERRICK MASON should also be productive against the Browns, who have given up 246 yards per game through the air…Suffice to say, ANTONIO BRYANT is becoming a must-start, but be sure to insert him into your lineup this week as he’ll face an Eagles defense that has yielded 245 pass yards and 2 TD per game this season. They are also without Jevon Kearse, which will hurt their pass rush. For the same reasons, ALEX SMITH is a nice start this week.

BENCH

If you have a good alternative, this would be a good week to give DREW BREES a seat on the bench. He’s facing a tough Falcons defense that has picked off four passes and has yet to give up a TD through the air. Brees is on a roll, so if you’re other options aren’t good, stick with the hot hand…REUBEN DROUGHNS is going to find the going quite tough against the Ravens, who lead the league in rushing yards allowed (33 per game)…Unless JOSEPH ADDAI is involved in the passing game, I doubt he’ll find much success as he faces a Jacksonville defense that has given up just 57 rush yards per game on the ground…LAVERANUES COLES is off to a great start, but has been hampered this week with a calf injury. He’s questionable, so keep an eye on this situation this weekend. If you have another good option, it might not be a bad game to sit him as he faces a pretty tough Bills defense this week. Plus, Buffalo shouldn’t score much, so the Jets probably won’t be in catch up mode the entire game.

Look for all the injury information later today, in The Update.

Fantasy Football, NFL

Reggie Bush Claims He Made $100,000 Through USC Work-Study Program

September 21, 2006 / John Paulsen

This, of course, is a headline from the good folks over at The Onion. The article is hilarious – here are a few excerpts:

“During my time at USC, I managed not only to carry a full 12-unit course load every semester while playing Division I football, but I also worked as many as 15 simultaneous work-study jobs that allowed me the opportunity to provide food, clothing, and shelter for my family with a little spending money left over,” Bush said, reading from a prepared statement at the Saints training facility. Bush also added that, on average, the university’s work-study jobs paid $6.50 an hour. “I did not, I repeat, did not earn a dime for my play on the field.”
Bush added: “I used the same focus, intensity, and relentless effort to shelve over 450,000 books as a librarian’s assistant at the East Asian Library, Gerontology Library, and Hoose Library Of Philosophy that I did to help lead the Trojans to the 2004 national championship.”
“Whenever I would show a clip and the sound wouldn’t work, it was always Reggie who would sprint the 40 yards from the audio-visual center in 4.2 seconds flat,” said history professor Niles Langford. “And since I’m a real dumbbell with these electronics, believe me, he earned his money.”
Bush said that he was able to purchase a 45-inch high-definition flat-screen television, rent his posh downtown apartment, and buy his friends the newest pair of Air Jordans by “working [his] butt off at the Carl’s Jr. in the student union, taking lecture notes for disabled students six times a week, and working the Sunday-morning shift as a security guard at Trojan Hall.”
“Reggie paid strict attention to those who entered and exited the dorm, making sure the guest policy was upheld and honored,” said dorm supervisor Alex Valinsky. “Under his watch, nearly 17,000 guest violations were recorded.”
“Easily a school record,” Valinsky added. “Better even than O.J.’s work guarding faculty parking.”
The biggest charge against Bush—the question of his family’s ability to move from their small San Diego apartment to a $757,000 home in Spring Valley during Bush’s junior year—could, according to Bush, be explained by his “cushy” job in the Student Activities Office, which Bush admits was “pretty easy,” saying he “literally did nothing for $11 an hour.”
“When I find the shoebox with all of my time sheets and pay stubs, I will be vindicated of any wrongdoing,” Bush’s statement concluded. “Unfortunately, most of these hundreds of boxes seem to contain new pairs of shoes, but they have to turn up sooner or later.”

The Onion always manages to make the absurd even more absurd.

College Football, NFL

The Billy Volek story comes to light

September 21, 2006 / Anthony Stalter

In 2003, former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair fell victim to a variety of injuries. The Titans backup at the time was Billy Volek – a former undrafted rookie free agent from Fresno State that the team signed in 2000.

Volek stepped in to the starting role and played in a total of seven games that season in ‘03. His completion percentage was 63.8, he threw four touchdowns, no interceptions and finished the season with a QB rating of 101.4.

That season opened up eyes in the Tennessee organization that the kid could play. In 2004, the Titans fought off other teams for the rights to keep the free agent to be, and thought of Volek as an eventual replacement for McNair.

Fast forward to this past offseason when Tennessee essentially tossed McNair out on the streets (a player who had served the franchise well for over 10 seasons) and handed the starting role over to Volek.

Now granted, the Titans did select NCAA National Championship winner Vince Young of Texas with the third overall pick in April’s draft, but head coach Jeff Fisher was adamant that Volek was his man.

However, something happened between then and last week, when Tennessee traded Volek to the San Diego Chargers for a sixth round pick and a ham sandwich.

What happened to the guy everybody in Tennessee thought would be McNair’s replacement?

In a story posted on Tennessean.com on Wednesday, Volek wanted to know the same thing:

“If you want to point the finger at me, point the finger at me. I am fine with that. But let me know why I am not playing, and that never happened here. No one told me. Yes, I leave with some bitterness. But I am trying to think of the good times. And I am excited about my new opportunity.”
“When Steve left, I was told it was my job, but I was never told I earned it. I was always told I inherited it. I remember Coach (Jeff) Fisher floating that out there, and that bothered me,” Volek said.

The story doesn’t end there.

Fisher, a man who is regarded in high standards by many NFL officials and someone who normally doesn’t speak on in-house issues, responded to Volek’s comments with a barrage of slams on his former QB in a follow-up Tennessean.com article:

“I never at anytime in my career have gone into such detail (about a trade). But I felt the responsibility, as Billy felt he was thrown under the bus,” Fisher said. “Billy threw this organization under the bus, along with a number of his teammates.”
“He was untruthful with me, untruthful with his head coach, about where he was and what he was doing. So we started off on the wrong page there, and that did not sit well with me,” Fisher said.

In the same interview, Fisher goes on to say that after the team signed veteran quarterback Kerry Collins before the final preseason game, Volek marched into Fisher and general manager Floyd Reese’s office and demanded a trade.

The most intriguing quote from Fisher’s interview was the comment about Volek lying to the head coach.

Fisher wouldn’t go into detail about what Volek lied about, but gauging from the little Fisher did unveil, maybe the quarterback wasn’t preparing for the season like a starter normally would (whether that means studying the playbook, getting into playing shape or being a leader in the locker room).

This is all speculation of course, but perhaps Volek didn’t show the kind of desire or work ethic in demonstrating that he wanted to be more than just the backup. Volek did say that Fisher told him he inherited the position – he didn’t earn it.

The man mum on the situation in both of these articles is Norm Chow, the Titans offensive coordinator. Something tells me he is behind the story as well – maybe he and Volek weren’t on the same page, which led to Fisher saying he was lied to about where the quarterback “was”?

Regardless of what really happened in Tennessee with Billy Volek, it’s interesting that Fisher has admitted that the quarterback was on bad terms in the organization. Because I found it a little odd that all of a sudden after a few bad preseason games the Titans gave up on him and delegated the guy to third string once Collins was signed.

Maybe Volek was a bad egg?

NFL

NFL Game of the Week: Jacksonville at Indianapolis

September 21, 2006 / Anthony Stalter

Great games flood the NFL schedule in week three, but what game is worthy of Game of the Week on Bullz-Eye.com?

Chicago travels to Minnesota for a early battle for NFC North supremecy, while the Steelers look to bounce back from their Monday night loss to the Jaguars as they welcome the Bengals. Seahawks at Giants maybe?

All great games, but nothing compares to two undefeated teams that are specialized on one side of the ball.

One contest will be plucked off the schedule every week and broken down by each teams strengths and weaknesses vs. its opponent. Plus, no preview would be complete without a forecasted score – you’ll find a prediction on the game at Bullz-Eye.com as well.

On tap for Week 3: Jaguars (2-0) at Colts (2-0).

General Sports, NFL