2011 NFL Week 3 Primer

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick (7) leaves the field after running into one of his teammates in the second half during their NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta, Georgia, September 18, 2011. REUTERS/Tami Chappell (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

Giants @ Eagles, 1:00PM ET
You have to love that after all of the media reports dedicated to how Michael Vick is this mature, changed person that when walking to the locker room following his injury against the Falcons on Sunday night, he points to the scoreboard in response to heckling fans. He’s changed all right. Now instead of using his middle finger to diss Falcon fans, he uses his index. Get well soon, Mike.

Patriots @ Bills, 1:00PM ET
I’m sure the sentiment for most people heading into this game is that the Bills will “come crashing down to earth” after the Patriots get done with them. But I have a different take: I think this game is going to be fun as hell. Buffalo showed in the first two weeks that it has more than enough offensive weapons to be dangerous and obviously New England can score. This could be a 52-52 game about midway through the fourth quarter.

Texans @ Saints, 1:00PM ET
Sean Payton hasn’t quite mastered how to best utilize Mark Ingram, Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas in the same backfield, but once he does the Saints could revert back to their ’09 form when they blew teams out on a weekly basis. Meanwhile, Arian Foster once again looks doubtful to play and fantasy owners that drafted him with their top pick are starting to realize that yes, his hamstring is going to be a major problem early on.

Jaguars @ Panthers, 1:00PM ET
It’ll be the Rookie Quarterback Bowl in Carolina this Sunday when Blaine Gabbert makes his first professional start against Cam Newton, who has already thrown for over 800 yards in his first two games. Maybe if he stops throwing the ball to the other team he’ll pick up a win to go along with all of those fancy yards.

49ers @ Bengals, 1:00PM ET
Cincinnati receiver Jerome Simpson and offensive tackle Anthony Collins were detained by police late Wednesday when authorities investigated a package filled with 2.5 pounds of marijuana delivered to Simpson’s house while both players were present. Neither player was arrested but it’s great to see that the Bengals are already in mid-season form when it comes to obeying the law.

Dolphins @ Browns, 1:00PM ET
Just what every head coach on the hot seat needs: a three-game road trip following an 0-2 start. In three weeks if the Dolphins are 0-5, you can bet that Tony Sparano won’t be on the sidelines when Miami hosts its next home game (vs. Denver on October 23). And no, I mean literally bet on Sparano being canned: theSpread has his odds of being let go listed at 3/1.

Lions @ Vikings, 1:00PM ET
Let’s sum up Donovan McNabb’s career. Booed on draft day. Has appeared in 967 playoff games and one Super Bowl but has no ring. Had to put up with T.O. and a slew of media members and fellow athletes bashing him at every turn. Benched for Rex Grossman… possibly will be benched for Christian Ponder. I feel sorry for McNabb and I don’t mean that in a condescending way. I actually feel bad for the guy. Ah, well: Lions 56, Vikings 3.

Broncos @ Titans, 1:00PM ET
If there’s one game I don’t care if I see a down of this weekend, this would be it. I apologize to Denver and Tennessee fans but this matchup is the epitome of boring. But hey, go get ‘em Kyle Orton and Matt Hasselbeck. You do your thing. I’ll be over here watching Giants-Eagles, Texans-Saints or hell, even Jaguars-Panthers. Just anything but Broncos-Titans on a nice fall Sunday afternoon.

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DeAngelo Hall’s latest comments about Cutler makes you long for the days of Darrell Green

Washington Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall celebrates after intercepting a pass intended for Chicago Bears wide receiver Johnny Knox during the fourth quarter at Soldier Field in Chicago on October 24, 2010. The Redskins won 17-14. UPI/Brian Kersey

It was his performance in a 2005 Monday Night Football game against the Eagles when I first became impressed with cornerback DeAngelo Hall.

Only in his second year as a member of the Falcons, Hall drew the responsibility of covering Terrell Owens one-on-one, which was a difficult task considering the game would be nationally television and T.O. had just helped lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl appearance the year before. While Owens did rack up 112 receiving yards that night, Hall held his own in coverage and kept the Philly receiver out of the end zone. For a player that young and inexperienced, Hall’s performance was impressive.

But that memory has faded over time, mostly due to the fact that Hall’s talent has never matched his oversized ego. Yes, he’s talented, which is why he’s gone to three Pro Bowls and is still a top-12 corner. But it’s his manner that has always rubbed people the wrong way.

Take his latest outburst for example. While appearing on a radio interview for WJFK-FM in Washington, Hall called the Bears’ Jay Cutler “a clown” and went on to talk about how “unreal” it was to intercept the QB four times during a mid-season victory in Chicago last season.

Granted, Cutler did fuel Hall’s comments by stating, “I’ve played against [Hall] before, there’s no reason to shy away from him…I’d go at him every time if we could,” after the game. Still, if you’re Hall, where’s the benefit of calling Cutler a clown now? You’ve already bested him – let your four interceptions do your talking. Calling him a clown (six months after the fact, no less) does nothing good for your character. What’s wrong with being modest in that situation?

Read the full article at the Washington Post.

Hall, Landry taunt DeSean Jackson about concussion

LANDOVER - SEPTEMBER 12: DeAngelo Hall  of the Washington Redskins celebrates his touchdown during the NFL season opener against the Dallas Cowboys at FedExField on September 12, 2010 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Larry French/Getty Images)

According to a report by Rotoworld.com, Redskins’ cornerback DeAngelo Hall and safety LaRon Landry allegedly taunted DeSean Jackson before the Eagles gave Washington the beating of a lifetime on Monday night.

Hall and Landry were seen making “pillow gestures” toward Jackson and told the wide receiver “night, night,” leading to a pre-game skirmish. Hall denied the allegation, but the former Falcon’s classless history leaves little room for benefit of the doubt. Jackson, of course, had the last word, easily fending off Hall’s jam on the first play of scrimmage and dusting Landry down the deep middle for an 88-yard touchdown bomb to kick-start the blowout. Eagles C Mike McGlynn also accused Landry of spitting in his face during the game.

Rotoworld sums up the situation perfectly: Unless you were standing right there, you don’t know what all was said. However, Hall has a reputation for being a classless player so when situations like these come up, you tend not to believe whatever comes out of his gigantic mouth.

If Hall and Landry did what the Eagles are saying they did, then they certainly got what was coming to them. Hall must think because he intercepted four Jay Cutler passes that were thrown right between his numbers that he’s entitled to act like an idiot. But in the end he got torched, which is nothing new for him.

It’s high time Jay Cutler learned some humility

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 24: Jay Cutler  of the Chicago Bears waits for a play during a time-out against the Washington Redskins at Soldier Field on October 24, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois. The Redskins defeated the Bears 17-14. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

After throwing four interceptions to DeAngelo Hall in the Bears’ 17-14 loss to the Redskins on Sunday, one would have thought that Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler would have shown some respect to the Washington cornerback.

Then again, if you thought that, then you don’t know Jay Cutler very well.

“I’ve played against him before, there’s no reason to shy away from him. I mean, that’s hard for me to say throwing four picks at a guy. But I’d still, if we had to play them tomorrow I’d go at him every time, if we could.”

Hall had this to say on SportsCenter in response to Cutler’s comments:

“You know what man, Jay’s a little bit, he don’t really understand, I guess, the game, the game of football,” Hall said on Monday. “And in the game of football, you’re gonna see guys several times in their career. You know, he completed four passes against me when I was out in Oakland and he was in Denver on a Monday Night Football game, and I knew leading up to the game he was still feeling good about that. He made some smart, snide comments about that after that game, so I knew definitely he was gonna try to come out there and try me, and it didn’t work for him.”

Cutler has always been brash and confident – that’s kind of his M.O. He believes that he can get the best of a defense every time and in some respects, quarterbacks have to have that mentality.

That said, he should learn to show some humility because it would serve him in the long run. You can’t throw four picks to the same guy and then turn around and say that you’d throw on him “every play” if you could. That’s the kind of attitude that got Cutler into trouble in the first place. After the second interception, he should have known that Hall was on top of his game and looked elsewhere. But because he’s so overconfident at times, he kept going at him and it wound up costing the Bears a potential win.

Look, interceptions are a byproduct of several things – not just the quarterback. The quarterback’s decision making, down and distance, receivers’ route running and pass protection all factor into a pass play. Anyone who studies the Bears knows that not every interception that Cutler has thrown in the last two seasons have been his fault.

That said: come on already. Cutler has yet to lead a team to the playoffs and maybe there’s a reason for that. I don’t want to get into a debate about how games aren’t won or lost by one player – I know that. But considering he has yet to win anything in his career (college or pro), it’s time for Cutler to learn some humility so that he can become the quarterback that the Bears envisioned he’d be when they traded for him two offseasons ago.

Jay Cutler makes DeAngelo Hall look like a cross between Deion Sanders and Darrell Green

CHICAGO - OCTOBER 24: Jay Cutler  of the Chicago Bears hits the ground after being sacked by Rocky McIntosh  of the Washington Redskins at Soldier Field on October 24, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

One would have thought that after Jay Cutler threw his second interception to DeAngelo Hall that he would stop looking the corner’s way. But apparently that’s not how Cutler rolls.

Hall tied a NFL single-game record with four interceptions in the Redskins’ ugly 17-14 win over the Bears on Sunday. Cutler completed 26-of-40 passes for 281 yards and a touchdown, but his four picks and fumble at the goal line in the third quarter killed Chicago’s hopes for victory. One of Hall’s interceptions went for a 92-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.

This game was like a bad highlight reel of all the Bears’ problems stuck on repeat. They continue to struggle in the red zone, Cutler continues to be careless with the ball and this team can’t score on the goal line. It’s amazing. It’s almost like they have some sort of complex when they get on the one-yard line. They tense up, freak out and find a way to blow it.

And how about this little nugget of information: the Bears still haven’t scored in the third quarter this year. Not once. Not one point. How is that even possible? How can a team head into the locker room at halftime, make adjustments and not manage a measly field goal at least? That’s a shocking stat.

The Bears’ defense can only do so much. They started to get gashed on the ground late in the game, but they had been on the field all day and still held Washington to just 17 points. Cutler can’t continue to put his team in bad position every week and there’s no excuse for throwing four interceptions to the same defender.

Chicago has now lost to the Seahawks and Redskins at home in back-to-back weeks. The NFC North can be had, but these are games they have to win if they want to challenge for a playoff spot.

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