Category: NFL (Page 291 of 1282)

      Winning should be at the forefront for Vikings, not Favre’s streak

      October 27, 2010 /
      MINNEAPOLIS - OCTOBER 17: Quarterback Brett Favre of the Minnesota Vikings looks on during the game against the Dallas Cowboys at Mall of America Field on October 17, 2010 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings defeated the Cowboys 24-21. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

      Brett Favre isn’t ruling himself out for this Sunday’s game against the Patriots, but then again it isn’t his call to make, is it?

      It has gotten to the point that it’s not “if” Lord Favre will play this Sunday and beyond, but “should” he play.

      Brad Childress and the Vikings are in a delicate spot right now. At 2-4, they haven’t started off the season on a positive note but it’s not like they’re out of playoff contention. Far from it, in fact.

      The Packers and Bears are currently atop the division at 4-3 but Green Bay is incredibly beat up and Chicago has too many issues to list. (Okay, I’ll list a few: Bad in-game management by their coaching staff, Jay Cutler’s love affair with the interception, red zone issues offensively and the O-line’s inability to pass protect.)

      But as things currently stand, Minnesota isn’t going anywhere with the way Favre has played to date. He’s completing just 58.1% of his passes and his current touchdown-to-interception ratio is 7:10. He’s been bad when he’s healthy, but he’s been even worse since elbow and now ankle injuries have taken their toll.

      He has two fractures in his left ankle. If it weren’t for his consecutive starts streak, nobody would be talking about whether or not he should play on Sunday. It would be obvious that Tarvaris Jackson would need to start and Brad Childress would be spending his time getting him prepared and not answering questions about Favre.

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      External Sports, NFL

      Why not Troy Smith?

      October 27, 2010 /
      HERTFORD, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 27: Troy Smith (L) and David Carr of San Francisco 49ers in a training session at The Grove Hotel on October 27, 2010 in Hertford, England. The San Francisco 49ers will meet the Denver Broncos in the NFL International Series regular-season match at Wembley Stadium on October 31. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

      Mike Singletary has come to the same conclusion that coaches in Houston, Carolina and New York came to before him: that he’s seen enough of David Carr to know that he can’t be counted on as a starter.

      Alex Smith is expected to miss 2-3 weeks with a shoulder injury and while some 49er fans want to see Carr take the snaps this Sunday in London, Singletary has already named Troy Smith the starter.

      Hey, why not?

      Look, Carr is nothing more than a backup and will be nothing more than a backup. The same could be said about Smith, but the former Heisman Trophy winner has one thing Carr doesn’t: upside.

      Smith’s height is a major issue, but his athletic ability makes him intriguing and he has a strong enough arm to make all the throws at this level. Seeing as how he’s been running the scout team offense in practice, it would be wise if offensive coordinator Mike Johnson built his game plan around Frank Gore this week and limited Smith’s throws to screens, roll outs and three-step drops. That said, once Smith gets more comfortable with the offense, there’s no reason to think Johnson can’t expand the playbook.

      There’s an argument to be made that Singletary didn’t give Carr a fair look, but what more does he need to see? What more does anyone need to see out of Carr to know that he can’t run an offense? When the Texans finally released him, everyone thought that with a good offensive line he would turn his career around. But he had a decent O-line in Carolina and he struggled. The Giants, who have had been searching for a backup for Eli Manning before trading for Sage Rosenfels, also didn’t see the need to keep Carr around.

      He is what he is, which is why Smith is worth the risk for the 49ers. Will it ultimately be the right decision by Singletary? Who knows – time will only tell. But at least Smith’s ceiling hasn’t been met, unlike Carr’s.

      External Sports, NFL

      Defensive Team By Waiver Wire (DTBWW): Week 8

      October 27, 2010 /
      ST. LOUIS - OCTOBER 17: Ryan Mathews of the San Diego Chargers is tackled by James Laurinaitis of the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome on October 17, 2010 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Rams beat the Chargers 20-17. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

      The strategy behind DTBWW is that each week you pick up a defense that is playing against a bad offense (preferably at home). And each week you get pretty good numbers out of your DT position.

      Last season, my top pick averaged 9.8 fantasy points per game. My second pick averaged 9.1 and my third pick averaged 7.3. On the whole, DTBWW averaged 9.3 fantasy points per game, which equate to DT5 numbers — all for the price of a few waiver wire pickups. In 2008, my top two picks averaged DT6-type numbers. (Note: To calculate fantasy points, I use this scoring system.)

      Unlike Defensive Team By Committee (DTBC), which is for those owners who prefer low maintenance teams, DTBWW strategy allows fantasy owners to virtually ignore DTs on draft day and focus on picking up an extra RB/WR flier instead.

      To be eligible, defenses have to be available on the waiver wire in at least 40% of ESPN fantasy leagues.

      Let’s see how my Week 7 picks fared:

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      External Sports, Fantasy Football, NFL

      Sterger’s Friend: Favre is a “dopey, dopey character.”

      October 27, 2010 /
      Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre looks up after being sacked by the Green Bay Packers defense with less the two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of their NFL football game at Lambeau Field, in Green Bay, Wisconsin October 24, 2010. Favre's legendary status as the ironman of the National Football League looked vulnerable on Monday when he was diagnosed with two fractures in his left ankle. Picture taken October 24, 2010. REUTERS/Allen Fredrickson (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      The hits keep coming for Brett Favre, both on and off the field.

      While speaking to the New York Post recently, Jenn Sterger’s friend Allison Torres claims that Sterger and Favre traded text messages “regularly” while they were both in New York. Torres also confirmed what everyone already knows: that the naked text messages were in fact of Lord Favre’s junk.

      “At the time, his family was living somewhere in Morristown, NJ, but he would stay at a hotel near Giants Stadium,” Torres said.

      “I did think that was kind of weird. He would say to her, ‘Come over.’ She would keep saying to me, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ ”

      But Torres said Sterger wouldn’t tell her whether or not the two actually met for a tryst.

      “I just know they kept texting each other back and forth and that he wanted to hook up,” Torres said. “I wouldn’t doubt she was enjoying the attention from him.”

      Favre was not the first star athlete to allegedly send naked pictures to Sterger, Torres said.

      “She could make millions if she ever cashed in on all the naked photos she gets from friends,” Torres said.

      Torres described Favre as a “dopey, dopey character.”

      Here’s a wild thought: What if Sterger asked Brett to send photos of his manhood? If what Torres says is true and Favre isn’t the only celebrity to send Sterger junk mail, then maybe she asks the guys to do it for whatever reason (whether it be to exhibit some kind of control over them or just to laugh at them with her friends).

      Either way, it still doesn’t appear that Favre did anything legally wrong here. If Sterger was sending text messages back to Brett and laughing about his advances with her friends, there’s an obvious case to be made that she wasn’t sexually harassed – nor did she ever feel that way. He may be a douche for cheating (or trying to cheat) on his wife, but that doesn’t mean he should face punishment from the league.

      Of course, if you look at the photo of Torres in the NYP, she looks like someone that wouldn’t mind getting a little attention of her own. It might be best to take what she’s saying with a grain of salt.

      External Sports, NFL

      Roy Williams says Jon Kitna just as good as Tony Romo

      October 26, 2010 /
      ARLINGTON, TX - OCTOBER 25: Quarterback Jon Kitna of the Dallas Cowboys drops back to pass against the New York Giants in the second quarter at Cowboys Stadium on October 25, 2010 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

      It’s hard to fault Roy Williams for trying to put a positive spin on a bleak situation. His team fell to 1-5 with their embarrassing loss to the Giants on Monday night and he watched as starting quarterback Tony Romo went down with a serious shoulder injury.

      The latest on Romo is that he’ll miss 6-8 weeks, although he won’t need surgery. That means backup Jon Kitna will start for Dallas and according to Williams, the 38-year-old journeyman is just as good as Romo.

      From the Detroit Free Press:

      “Tony is our starter, but Jon is just as good,” Williams told the Dallas Morning News. “We are going to work this week in practice so we can get the timing down with the receivers. But I have complete faith in him. I have played with him for three years and I know how good he is.”

      Although he hasn’t played in over a year, Kitna can be a serviceable starter. He’s a true leader and he demands the best from those around him. He’s not a quiet leader; he wears his emotions on his sleeve and he won’t go down without a fight.

      That said, he’s very limited and while Williams was just trying to be positive, Kitna isn’t Romo. He has zero mobility, he folds under pressure and his decision-making during close games comes into question more times than not. This isn’t a guy you want at the helm when you need a big throw late in games and considering how bad the Cowboys’ defense has played the past couple of weeks, this will probably be a team that is trailing more times than not from here on out.

      If Wade Phillips’ defense was playing at the top of its game, then the Cowboys might be able to get by with Kitna. But they’ve already put themselves in a 1-5 hole so a rebound at this point appears to be out of the question.

      The Cowboys have a huge mess on their hands.

      External Sports, NFL

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