Category: NFL (Page 643 of 1282)

      Zorn to keep his job for now

      September 28, 2009 /

      According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter via his Twitter page, Redskins head coach Jim Zorn’s job is safe for now. Schefter says that Zorn calls the plays, works well with Jason Campbell and would be too much to replace in the middle of the season.

      Zorn’s ability to win in the NFL was already questioned last year after the Skins lost six of their last eight games. But a 1-2 start this season with an ugly home win over the Rams in Week 2 and an embarrassing loss to the Lions on Sunday has put his job on life support.

      There’s really no excuse for Washington to be 1-2 when two of the three opponents on their schedule to start the season were the Rams and the Lions. Ironically, the only game in which they looked halfway decent was against the undefeated Giants in Week 1.

      The Skins host the 0-3 Bucs in Week 4, travel to Carolina to play the Panthers in Week 5 and then host the Chiefs in Week 6. Those are three winnable games for Washington and if they aren’t at least competitive, one would imagine that Daniel Snyder wouldn’t hesitate to make a midseason move by firing Zorn.

      But as Schefter reports, the problem is that Snyder would not only be replacing a head coach, but an offensive play caller as well. Chances are that even if he wanted to replace Zorn, he doesn’t have all the pieces to pull off a move like that right now.

      This next three weeks are going to be crucial for Zorn and it’ll be interesting to see if he can save his job.

      NFL

      Manning, Colts dismantle sloppy Cardinals

      September 28, 2009 /

      When it all boils down to it, football is a pretty easy game. Run the ball effectively, play good defense and don’t turn the ball over.

      The Cardinals did none of those things on Sunday night and the Colts cruised to a 31-10 win in Arizona. The Cards rushed for only 24 yards, were shredded by Peyton Manning (24 of 35 for 379 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT) and turned the ball over three times (twice in the red zone).

      Conversely, the Colts rushed for 126 yards (granted, Indy’s passing game set up the run), were relentless generating pressure on Kurt Warner and only turned the ball over once (which didn’t hurt them, because ‘Zona gave the ball right back on their ensuing drive).

      You can’t turn the ball over three times and expect to beat a team like the Colts. Arizona hand fed Manning scoring opportunities the entire night and couldn’t catch up. Once the Cards fell behind, their running game was stripped and the front four of the Colts pinned their ears back and harassed Warner. Arizona’s O-line was terrorized by Dwight Freeney and company, which totaled four sacks and 10 QB hits.

      Indy looks like an unstoppable force. The offense is still as potent as ever, but the Colts’ defense looks faster, more aggressive and bigger up front. What’s amazing is that Indy’s defense has looked this good despite not having safety Bob Sanders.

      The Colts just might be the team to beat again in the AFC.

      NFL

      How much longer until T.O. tries to ruin Trent Edwards’ life?

      September 27, 2009 /

      Zero receptions, 0 yards, 0 touchdowns. That was the stat line for Terrell Owens in the Bills’ 27-7 loss to the Saints on Sunday.

      For the season, T.O. has five catches for 98 yards and one touchdown, which are rather pedestrian numbers for one of the best receivers in the league.

      Don’t think for a second that Owens is going to let this fly. He figured that when he signed with the Bills this offseason, that he would be the center of their offense. But so far, he isn’t even quarterback Trent Edwards’ fourth option in the passing game.

      When asked about Edwards’ decision-making following the loss, T.O. said: “I don’t want to answer that, because whatever I say you guys are going to turn it into however you want to say it.”

      Don’t worry T.O., because we can still read between the lines. You’re pissed off and don’t like the play calling. You don’t think Edwards is making wise decisions and you want to have a bigger role in the offense.

      Eventually, Owens will say all of this himself. If Tony Romo couldn’t keep him happy, then Edwards sure as hell won’t. I don’t blame the Bills for taking a shot on him in the offseason (what did they have to lose?), but they’re about to see the real T.O. emerge soon if he continues to be a ghost in their offense.

      As for the Saints, it was nice to see Pierre Thomas rush for 126 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. As long as he’s healthy, he needs to be a part of their offense, especially on a day where Drew Brees (16 of 29, 172 yards, 0 TDs) looked human.

      Hopefully Sean Payton won’t shelve Thomas once Mike Bell is healthy again.

      NFL

      Nice game, T.J. Houshmandzadeh

      September 27, 2009 /

      You got to love when an athlete talks trash leading up to a game and does next to nothing to back it up.

      Take Seattle wideout T.J. Houshmandzadeh for example.

      In the week leading up to the Seahawks’ game with the Bears on Sunday, Houshmandzadeh said that he would win 95 percent of his matchups against Chicago’s secondary. He also proclaimed that he would make Bears’ GM Jerry Angelo regret not signing him when he was a free agent this offseason.

      But when the dust settled on Sunday, Housh was targeted nine times, caught just four passes for 35 yards and also had a fumble that led to a Bears’ touchdown.

      Nice game, Housh. My guess is that Jerry Angelo won’t get much sleep tonight.

      Thanks to Jay Cutler’s 36-yard touchdown pass to Devin Hester with 1:52 remaining, the Bears escaped Seattle with a 25-19 victory. Chicago was far from perfect, but Cutler was outstanding, completing 21 of 27 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns.

      Honestly, it was a little surprising that the Bears needed a last-minute touchdown to beat a depleted Seahawks team playing without starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. But wins in the NFL don’t come cheap, especially in Seattle where the Seahawks always play tough.

      At the end of the day, the Bears are 2-1 and Cutler has rebounded nicely following his ugly performance in Green Bay. With the Vikings and Packers also winning today, this was a nice victory for Da Bears.

      NFL

      Steelers continue to have issues as Bengals pull off upset

      September 27, 2009 /

      Let this sink in for a second: The defending champions are 1-2.

      The Steelers were a 4th and 10 stop away from being 2-1 when they were up 20-15 with only 36 seconds remaining in Cincinnati on Sunday. But Bengals’ QB Carson Palmer avoided a sack and found Brian Leonard on an 11-yard completion to set Cincinnati up with a 1st and 4 from the Pittsburgh 4-yard line. Two plays later, Palmer found Andre Caldwell on a four-yard touchdown pass to put the Bengals up for good 23-20.

      The theme continues for the Steelers. While they were able to rush for 102 yards, they only managed 3.6 YPC and essentially weren’t that effective. When they were leading 20-9 late in the third quarter, they couldn’t put Cincinnati away because they couldn’t milk the clock.

      Pittsburgh won a Super Bowl last year despite the lack of a running game, but teams can’t consistently win when they can’t run the football. Some are going to look at the stat sheet and think that the Steelers were effective on the ground because they rushed for over 100 yards. But that simply wasn’t the case and it shows because the Bengals were able to score two fourth quarter touchdowns to earn the victory.

      Willie Parker had a decent game, but when it was time for the Steelers to grind out the clock in the second half, he was much less effective. That caused Pittsburgh’s defense to be on the field too long in the fourth and Cincinnati capitalized.

      But let’s give credit where credit is due – the Bengals’ deserved the victory. They came up with a huge play in the third quarter when a miscommunication between Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes led to a Jonathan Joseph 31-yard interception return for a touchdown. They hung around and hung around, waited for its moment to seize a win and then did so.

      What’s amazing is that the Bengals could be 3-0 if it weren’t for Brandon Stokley’s fluke touchdown reception in Week 1. What’s even more amazing is that Cincinnati could be 3-0 and would have wins over the Packers (in Green Bay no less) and the Steelers.

      There’s something about this Bengals team. They have an underrated defense, a healthy Palmer, a rejuvenated Cedric Benson and are finally playing inspired under Marvin Lewis.

      NFL

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