Tag: Anthony Stalter (Page 39 of 133)

      Once Niners fire Singletary, they should call Gruden

      December 26, 2010 /

      Here are five quick-hit observations from the Rams’ huge 25-17 victory over the 49ers on Sunday.

      1. There’s no way Mike Singletary can retain his job.
      This was a massive win for the Rams but I have to talk about Mike Singletary first. This man continues to prove that he doesn’t have what it takes to be a head coach at this point in his career. Once again, he got into another shouting match with his starting quarterback when he and Troy Smith went at it in the third quarter. Right before the altercation, Smith had thrown an interception and Singletary told Alex Smith to start warming up. That must have angered Smith, who had been brutal but the Niners were only trailing 22-14 at the time. Singletary decided to put Troy Smith back into the game, but benched wound up benching him for the fourth quarter. Singletary clearly doesn’t know how to manage NFL quarterbacks and if I’m the 49ers’ brass, I wouldn’t wait a millisecond before firing him at the conclusion of the season. He benched Troy Smith in favor of Alex Smith a couple of weeks ago, even though Troy Smith had posted a winning record in his five starts. Then, with the team’s season on the line this weekend in St. Louis, Singletary again makes a switch, only to bench Troy Smith in the fourth quarter anyway. Granted, it doesn’t matter. The 49ers weren’t going to make the playoffs and Troy Smith was awful. But this is the NFL. This isn’t a video game where you jostle between quarterbacks every quarter in attempt to strike lightening in a bottle. Too much preparation and planning goes into a game the week before for Singletary to keep going back-and-forth between quarterbacks. It’s freaking idiotic and seeing as how this wasn’t the first time one of his players has yelled at him on the sidelines, it’s also apparent that he doesn’t have control of his team. I wouldn’t trust him to run my car at this point, let alone my football team.

      2. The Niners should call Chucky.
      Once San Francisco cans Singletary, the first call the front office needs to make is to Jon Gruden. Assuming he wouldn’t mind leaving the booth and coming down to the sidelines again, Gruden would be a perfect fit for the Niners. After the debacle that is Mike Singletary, San Fran will need a head coach that knows how to manage quarterbacks. Chucky won a Super Bowl with Brad Johnson and won a division title with Jeff Garcia, so clearly the man knows how to do just that. Whether or not they stick with Alex Smith or Troy Smith is irrelevant. Gruden can figure that out once he comes aboard but the key is that the Niners need to hire an established coach that can help restore the order that has been lost under Singletary. The players need someone that they can follow and who they trust, not some windbag who likes to here himself talk but who doesn’t have the faintest idea about the X’s and O’s of the game.

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      External Sports, NFL

      Are the Bears and Jets’ defenses overrated?

      December 26, 2010 /

      Here are five quick-hit thoughts on the Bears’ wild 38-34 win over the Jets in Week 16.

      1. Are the Bears and Jets’ defenses overrated?
      Not to take anything away from Jay Cutler (who has played well for most of the season) or Mark Sanchez (who has played well for most of his last two games), but what happened to the defenses for these two teams? The Bears came into this game with the 30th-ranked offense and Sanchez was playing with torn cartilage in his shoulder. Yet you would have sworn that this was an Arena League game with the way both teams went up and down the field. In the Jets’ embarrassing loss to the Patriots on Monday night a few weeks ago, their pass rush was non-existent. It was the same case on Sunday, as their front seven failed to lay a hand on Cutler in most situations. New York’s vaunted secondary was brutal in coverage as well, and the entire defense had a poor day tackling. In the past two games, the Jets have allowed 700 total yards, which is a concern to say the least (especially now that they’ve managed to back into the playoffs again). The Bears defense was no better, as it allowed Sanchez to complete 24-for-37 pass attempts for 269 yards and a touchdown. Granted, Chris Harris came up with a huge interception to seal the game for the Bears late in the fourth quarter, but Lovie Smith can’t be too pleased that his defense gave up 393 total yards of offense. With the way both teams played on Sunday, it makes you wonder whether these defenses are living off past reputations.

      2. Teams still haven’t learned not to kick to Hester.
      It’s amazing how teams foolishly believe week after week that they’ll be the ones to negate what Devin Hester can do in the return game. And I blame the kickers, because no coach that wants to retain his job is ordering his team to kick to the former Miami product. Jets coach Rex Ryan said earlier in the week that the Jets wouldn’t punt to Hester, but Steve Weatherford did it anyway. After successfully playing keep-away in the first half, Weatherford booted a line drive right to Hester in the third quarter, who returned the gift 32 yards to New York’s 32-yard-line. He caught a 25-yard touchdown three plays later to give the Bears a 31-24 lead. Later in the third quarter, he returned a kickoff 40 yards to set up a Cutler touchdown pass to Johnny Knox. The impact that Hester is having this year is eerily similar to the one he had when they went to the Super Bowl in 2006. Given how much more explosive the Bears are offensively than they were back then, teams that could play Chicago in the postseason better figure out a way to keep it out of his hands.

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      External Sports, NFL

      Bengals not expected to bring back Terrell Owens

      December 21, 2010 /
      CINCINNATI, OH - DECEMBER 05: Terrell Owens of the Cincinnati Bengals runs with the ball during the NFL game against the New Orleans Saints at Paul Brown Stadium on December 5, 2010 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Saints won 34-30. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

      Terrell Owens can probably thank his mouth for why he’ll be searching for work once again next offseason.

      ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Bengals are not expected to re-sign T.O., who suffered a season-ending knee injury last week against the Browns. But it’s not the knee that will cost him a new contract, or his production for that matter. (He proved this season that he still has plenty left in the tank.)

      The Bengals couldn’t have appreciated the way Owens blamed the coaching staff two weeks ago for the team’s offensive struggles.

      “I think there is underachieving you know from the top down,” Owens said. “You start off with the owner, you start off with the coaches and obviously we as players. We are a product of what the coaches are doing, are coaching us throughout the course of the week. Of course we have to go out there and play the game but in order for us to do what we’re allowed to do at the best of our ability the coaches have to put the players in the best position.”

      Of course, I still maintain that he didn’t blast his coaching staff. That’s the way the story is being perceived but just as I wrote a couple of weeks ago, this is T.O. Lite in comparison to what normally comes out of his mouth.

      Still, the Bengals might be looking for a new identity next year and they’ll make Owens a thing of their past. They have decisions to make regarding Carson Palmer and Cedric Benson’s future and can’t be bothered with an aging receiver who will speak his mind when the team is losing. They need to head in a new direction next season and not bringing back T.O. is a step in that direction.

      External Sports, NFL

      2010 NFL Week 16 Power Rankings

      December 21, 2010 /
      EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - DECEMBER 19: Michael Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles rushes against the New York Giants at New Meadowlands Stadium on December 19, 2010 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

      I don’t know if these are easier to do at this time of year or harder. Or both! Ha! You silly Adrian Peterson…

      1. New England Patriots
      Previous Week: 1
      Bill Belichick has to be concerned with how his young team has a tendency to play down to its competition. It did it against the Browns earlier in the year and then on Sunday night when it thought it had an easy win against the Matt Flynn-led Packers. Get caught playing down to your competition in the playoffs and you’ll find yourself home the following week.

      2. Atlanta Falcons
      Previous Week: 2
      What the Falcons have done over the past two months has been nothing short of impressive. They’ve won eight in a row, including their last three on the road. Now all they have to do is win one of their last two games to clinch home field advantage throughout the playoffs. That should happen, as one of their final opponents is the lowly Panthers. But you know the Falcons would love to make a statement against the Saints next Monday night that yes, they are legit Super Bowl contenders.

      3. Baltimore Ravens
      Previous Week: 5
      The Ravens’ defense appears to be regressing down the stretch but their offense is now firing on all cylinders. What a game by Ray Rice. If they can get him going in the postseason – look out.

      4. Philadelphia Eagles
      Previous Week: 6
      The Eagles should have lost last week but that doesn’t matter because they didn’t. In fact, they pulled off the comeback of the year and made it look easy, too. There has to be some concern for the Eagles that the Giants’ defense completely shut down Michael Vick for three and a half quarters, but that’s the type of win that can carry a team into the Super Bowl because they won’t fret when they get behind.

      5. New Orleans Saints
      Previous Week: 4
      Gregg Williams has a problem on his hands. His run defense is leaking oil and teams are attacking the Saints over-the-top when they try to bring their safeties down to help. Sean Payton’s offense can rack up 30 points a game but what’s the difference if Williams’ defense gives up 33?

      6. Pittsburgh Steelers
      Previous Week: 3
      It may be unjust to rank the Steelers ahead of the Jets after New York just beat them on their home turf, but I’m of the mindset that Troy Polamalu means everything to Pittsburgh. With him, they’re at their absolute best and he can affect all facets of the game. Without him, their defense is simply above average because of the secondary and all of the glaring issues on offense (i.e. no running game, inconsistent offensive line play, etc.) are somehow exposed. It’s hard to explain, although the bottom line is this: If the Steelers don’t have a healthy Polamalu for the postseason they won’t make it out of the first two rounds.

      7. San Diego Chargers
      Previous Week: 8
      Do I think the Chargers are better than the Chiefs despite what the records indicate? Yes, I do. Do I think the Chargers will catch the Chiefs by the end of the year and win the AFC West? Ehh…

      8. Chicago Bears
      Previous Week: 9
      I love how everyone made a huge deal about the conditions in Minnesota on Monday night and then the Bears go out there and hang 40 points on the board. The weather didn’t seem to affect Jay Cutler and Devin Hester.

      9. Indianapolis Colts
      Previous Week: 13
      Come on, you didn’t really think the Colts would lose to the Jaguars at home last Sunday did you? Peyton’s not done, which has to be terrifying for other AFC playoff contenders.

      10. New York Jets
      Previous Week: 11
      There’s an argument to be made that they should be higher but this is a team that lost to the crap Dolphins two weeks ago at home. I think they’re fine where they’re at.

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      External Sports, NFL

      Brett Favre leaves door open for return

      December 21, 2010 /
      MINNEAPOLIS, MN - DECEMBER 20: Quarterback Brett Favre of the Minnesota Vikings warms up before the Vikings game against the Chicago Bears at TCF Bank Stadium on December 20, 2010 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

      After he was concussed in the Vikings’ embarrassing 40-14 loss to the Bears on Monday night, Brett Favre told reporters after the game that he was “definitely done” and that “I’m not coming back – you can print it.”

      Nah, just kidding. He left the door wide open for his return.

      Rotoworld.com writes that when he was asked by a reporter post-game if he would play again, Lord Favre responded: “Based on my decision making I probably shouldn’t tell you one way or the other right now.”

      Good call, Brett.

      Favre started against the Bears but couldn’t finish after he was sacked in the second quarter and hit his head on the frozen patch of ice that was the TCF Bank Stadium playing surface. He didn’t return.

      If it’s a mild concussion he could probably sit out this Sunday against the Eagles and then play at Detroit in Week 17. Then again, he may want to just ride out the next two weeks on the sidelines because the Eagles blitz every down and Lions’ rookie Ndamukong Suh is literally trying to murder quarterbacks. No sense for Brett to go out in a body bag if this is it for him.

      Then again, this probably isn’t his swansong, is it? He’s going to mull over retirement for the next few months only to come back as an Oakland Raider or something. You think he’s gone? He’s not gone. He’s never gone!

      Just win baby.

      External Sports, NFL

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