Category: NFL (Page 823 of 1282)

      Jason Garrett leading candidate for Rams job

      January 16, 2009 /

      Jason Garrett flew into St. Louis Friday evening to meet for the second time with Rams’ VP of Personnel Billy Devaney, who said the current Cowboys’ offensive coordinator is “the leading guy” for the team’s head coaching vacancy.

      Jason Garrett landed in St. Louis early Friday evening with his wife Brill, and told the Post-Dispatch that he was just here for a second interview and that no job had been offered.

      Minutes earlier, en route to the airport, Devaney was singing the same tune.

      “It’s part of the interview process,” Devaney insisted. “He wanted to look at the facility. We’re not close to moving on Jason Garrett. I’m not even going to say he’s the leading guy.”

      Take that for what it’s worth, but Garrett is the only finalist to visit St. Louis. And he did have his wife with him. Devaney also said that he’d already made his recommendation to owner Chip Rosenbloom on who he wanted to hire as the next Rams head coach.

      Devaney said he hoped to reach a decision by Monday on the next Rams head coach.

      Garrett and Devaney have a lot in common. They’re both from New Jersey. They’re both big Bruce Springsteen fans, and they’re both represented by the same agent _ David Dunn.

      Garrett would be a solid choice for the Rams. I’ve recently taken on the mindset that dome teams are at a disadvantage defensively (you can find my explanation for it here), so it’s wise for them to load up on offense and take advantage of playing on a fast surface eight-plus times a year.

      Garrett is one of the bright young offensive minds in the NFL, although his credibility certainly took a hit with how bad the Cowboys struggled down the stretch. Still, the guy has some innovative offenses and if the Rams can rebuild their offensive line, Garrett’s schemes might flourish.

      What’ll be interesting to see is if the Rams take a flier on Jon Gruden, who was just fired in Tampa. Gruden is another solid offensive coach and obviously has more experience than Garrett and the other head-coaching candidates linked to the St. Louis job (i.e. Leslie Frazier, Steve Spagnuolo and Rex Ryan).

      NFL

      Buccaneers fire Jon Gruden, GM Bruce Allen

      January 16, 2009 /

      In a rather shocking move, the Buccaneers have fired head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen.

      Jon Gruden“We will be forever grateful to Jon for bringing us the Super Bowl title, and we thank Bruce for his contributions to our franchise,” Buccaneers co-chairman Joel Glazer said in a statement. “However after careful consideration, we feel that this decision is in the best interest of our organization moving forward.”

      The Buccaneers were tied for first place in the NFC South heading into December, but finished with losses to Carolina and Atlanta on the road and San Diego and Oakland at home, where they had been 6-0. One more win would have landed a NFC wild-card berth.

      The 9-7 record this season gave Gruden consecutive winning records for the first time since arriving in Tampa Bay, yet still left the Bucs out of the playoffs for the fourth time in six years.

      The Glazer family fired Tony Dungy and used four high draft picks — two No. 1s and two No. 2s — and $8 million cash to pry Gruden away from the Raiders following the 2001 season. He led Tampa Bay to its only NFL title the following year, but the Bucs haven’t won a playoff game since the Super Bowl appearance.

      Gruden, who had three years remaining on a contract extension he received after winning the NFC South in 2007, leaves as the winningest coach in franchise history at 60-57, including the postseason.

      But since going 15-4, including the Super Bowl, in his first season with the Bucs, Gruden went 45-53 and made quick exits from the playoffs after winning division titles in 2005 and 2007.

      I don’t get it. I don’t get why the Broncos fired Mike Shanahan and I don’t get this move by the Bucs – or at least, not the Gruden firing. Allen never supplied Gruden with enough quality personnel to win after 2002. Gruden essentially got by with mediocre offensive talent and Allen never solved the quarterback quandary. But maybe I’m laying blame at the wrong feet. Maybe Gruden had just as much involvement as Allen did in choosing the personnel and that’s why both of them were handed their pink slips.

      According to NFL Network’s Adam Schefter, new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris is the favorite to replace Gruden, while Director of Pro Personnel Mark Dominik is apparently set to replace Allen.

      With the Broncos, Lions, Browns and possibly Rams’ (Jason Garrett is the leading candidate) head coaching vacancies filled, it’ll be interesting to see if Gruden has to sit out a year before getting his next head coaching gig. Unless the Jets bring him in for an interview or another head coach is set to get the axe, it’s doubtful Gruden will find work in ’09. (Although, he could always become a coordinator or assistant for a year just to keep his foot in the door.)

      NFL

      Peter King thinks it’ll be an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl

      January 16, 2009 /

      Peter King of SI.com made his predictions for this Sunday’s games and thinks it’ll be an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl.

      Hines Ward• The longer the week goes, the more reason I find to like Arizona. The defense has been reborn in January, the players have perfected the Rodney Dangerfield no-respect rant, Larry Fitzgerald is playing like Superman, and they’ll be home, inside their weather-controlled dome. However, what this pick comes down to is my late-season belief in Donovan McNabb … 217 yards passing in the Meadowlands wind tunnel last week, 68-percent passing in Minnesota’s noise machine the week before, and a 9-to-1 touchdown-to-interception differential in the five games since Andy Reid pulled the plug on him in Baltimore. And though I trust the Arizona defense to stop the Eagle run, I trust McNabb to make the right decisions and move the Eagles consistently against Arizona.

      On the other side, I don’t think Kurt Warner will have the time to throw that he’s had in his first two playoff games, which means he probably will have to throw more checkdowns than he likes. The Eagles linebackers ate up the checkdowns against the Giants last week. McNabb’s out for redemption, whether he says it or not, and he’ll get it near his winter home in the desert. Philadelphia 24, Arizona 19.

      • As a reporter, or a fan, when you get to the big games, you just hope both teams come in healthy so when the ball’s kicked off, you can say, “Let the best man win.” In this game, I’m afraid it’s about the healthiest team winning. The Steelers’ running game has come alive with a healthy Willie Parker gashing the Browns and Chargers for 262 yards on 50 carries in his last two starts. And Roethlisberger has made a real alternative out of Santonio Holmes in the passing game, so he now has three guys — Holmes, Heath Miller, Hines Ward — he trusts implicitly when he throws.

      I fear the Ravens will have to play the pass with Fabian Washington and Frank Walker — good, hard-trying guys but not shutdown corners — playing most of the snaps at corner with Chris McAlister long-gone and Samari Rolle likely out with a thigh injury. Two huge Ravens in this postseason, McClain and Terrell Suggs, will either be out or severely limited with injuries. I loved the Ravens two weeks ago. I still love their gumption, but I don’t think that’s enough to beat the hottest team playing and playing at home. Pittsburgh 20, Baltimore 13.

      Peter obviously saw my predictions for this weekend and went the opposite. Smart man.

      Comment fodder: Who wins this week?

      NFL

      Couch Potato Alert: 1/16

      January 16, 2009 /

      Big weekend of sports kicks…um…tips off tonight with a great NBA doubleheader on ESPN. The league’s top four MVP candidates — LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard — will all be in action. Saturday is a huge day in college basketball with no fewer than five top 25 matchups featuring nine of the top 15 teams in the country. Of course, Sunday features a pair of NFL Championship Games.

      Oh, there are a couple of hockey games on too…

      All times ET…

      NFL
      Sun, 3 PM: Eagles @ Cardinals (FOX)
      Sun, 6:30 PM: Ravens @ Steelers (CBS)

      College Hoops
      Sat, 12 PM: #13 Notre Dame @ #8 Syracuse (ESPN)
      Sat, 1:30 PM: #12 Georgetown @ #2 Duke (CBS)
      Sat, 3:30 PM: #3 Wake Forest @ #9 Clemson (ABC)
      Sat, 3:45 PM: #15 Arizona St. @ #7 UCLA (CBS)
      Sat, 6 PM: #1 Pittsburgh @ #20 Louisville (ESPN)

      NBA
      Fri, 8 PM: Hornets @ Cavs (ESPN)
      Fri, 10:30 PM: Magic @ Lakers (ESPN)

      NHL
      Fri, 9:30 PM: Oilers @ Avalanche (TSN)
      Sat, 10 PM: Coyotes @ Flames (CBC)
      Sun, 12:30 PM: Rangers @ Penguins (NBC)

      College Basketball, Couch Potato Alert, NBA, NFL, NHL, Television

      Rosenhaus shoots down idea of T.O. being released

      January 16, 2009 /

      Ed Werder of ESPN.com reported on Thursday that the Cowboys were entertaining the idea of releasing receiver Terrell Owens sometime this offseason. But T.O.’s agent Drew Rosenhaus thinks that idea is ridiculous.

      Drew RosenhausAgent Drew Rosenhaus definitely isn’t sweating the speculation about the Cowboys cutting his most famous client. He completely dismissed the possibility that T.O. has cashed his final check from Jerry Jones.

      “It’s not going to happen,” Rosenhaus said on WQAM Radio in Miami. “The reason why they got rid of Pacman is because Pacman has terrible off-the-field problems, and the guy just simply can’t play anymore. He’s just not that good.

      “Terrell’s never had off-the-field problems, and he’s been one of the greatest players ever. And they just gave him a monster contract. I mean, they just gave him a huge extension before the season.

      He’s not going anywhere.”

      Rosenhaus might be right about T.O. returning to Valley Ranch. But T.O. and Pacman have more in common than Rosenhaus wants to admit, although you don’t have to worry about T.O. getting arrested.

      Like Pacman, T.O.’s performance might not justify the distractions he creates anymore. That’s what the Cowboys front office needs to determine.

      Rosenhaus makes good points but what else is an agent going to say? That there’s a major possibility one his clients isn’t wanted anymore? Not a chance.

      In the end, I don’t think Jerry Jones would ever go through with releasing T.O. Jones has a new stadium ready to open and he needs players like Owens on the field to put butts in the seats. Plus Jones likes to take on semi-dysfunctional (or fully dysfunctional in the case of Pacman Jones) players and make them into winners. So Rosenhaus is probably right – Owens will be in a Cowboy uniform again next season.

      NFL

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑