Tag: Mike Smith (Page 4 of 6)

      Falcons’ coach, Redskins’ Haynesworth, Landry fined for sideline fight

      November 12, 2009 /

      According to ESPN.com, Falcons’ head coach Mike Smith was fined $15,000 for his part in Sunday’s sideline ruckus with his players in Atlanta’s 31-17 win over the Redskins last Sunday. Washington players Albert Haynesworth ($7,500) and LaRon Landry ($5,000) were fined, but DeAngelo Hall wasn’t despite being right in the middle of the melee.

      Here’s video of the altercation:

      Smith was in the wrong. He should have never touched a player on the opposing team and he should have concentrated on getting his own players under control.

      That said, how the frock was Hall not fined? He claims he was going to get Landry, but Landry is clearly walking away from the incident in the video, yet Hall stays to mix it up. Hall was looking for a fight all week (he ripped Atlanta GM Thomas Dimitroff in the days leading up to the game) and took advantage when Landry laid out Matt Ryan. Yet everyone involved was fined but him.

      Regardless, this incident may have hit Smith’s wallet but he no doubt earned the respect of his team for mixing it up with Hall. Again, he shouldn’t have touched a player from an opposing team. But he sent a message to his players that nobody (especially not an ass clown like DeAngelo Hall) is going to intimidate them.

      On the other side of the field you have Jim Zorn, who clearly has no control over his players and looked like a deer in the highlights while the incident was going on. No wonder the Redskins have given up.

      NFL

      NFL Week 7 COY Power Rankings

      November 1, 2009 /

      Sean Payton has climbed into the top spot this week after his team had a riveting come-from-behind win in Miami, and by come-from-behind we mean they were trailing 24-3 late in the second half and won the game 46-34. That means for the rest of the game, they score was 43-10 New Orleans. Just sick.

      1. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Sorry Josh McDaniels, but while you were on bye Payton’s team had a remarkable comeback against the Dolphins on the road. They appear to be the 2007 Patriots, and for that we have to give the coach top props.

      2. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—We know the Broncos upset the Cowboys and Patriots, but the next two weeks they face Baltimore and Pittsburgh. We’ll see if the boy wonder is still sitting pretty after that.

      3. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—The rookie coach is still waiting for his first loss. Good for him.

      4. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—Okay, so the Vikings are human. However, I think Childress’ investment will pay off this weekend in Green Bay.

      5. Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—Regained confidence by thrashing the Bears and remained tied for first with the Steelers in the tough AFC North.

      Honorable mention: Bill Belichick, Patriots; Mike Smith, Falcons; Gary Kubiak, Texans; Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, NFL

      NFL Week 7 COY Power Rankings

      October 25, 2009 /

      Okay, so we can finally separate Josh McDaniels and Marvin Lewis after the former beat San Diego to reach 6-0 and the latter lost a tough home game to Houston. Here is our current power rankings for NFL Coach of the Year:

      1. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—Seriously, 6-0? The schedule keeps getting tougher, but it doesn’t seem to faze this team or their confident coach. Dude is a mini-Belichick, the first “offspring” to be worthy of that title.

      2. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—After beating the Giants to reach 5-0, we can start talking about the very real likelihood of the Saints reaching the Super Bowl for the first time, and this guy is a big reason why. It’s still amazing that he managed to pay his defensive coordinator a quarter mil of his own cash to lure him, but it seems to have been worth it.

      3. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—Just like his QB, you can’t fault Caldwell for the bye week.

      4. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—Now 6-0, there should be no question that Childress did himself and the city of Minnesota a huge favor bringing back #4. He sure wasn’t going to be 6-0 with Tarvaris Jackson, was he?

      5. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons—A tough win against the Bears, and this team is not fading any time soon. Really, the Falcons and Saints are two of the best teams in the NFC and it should be interesting when they meet.

      Honorable mention: Tom Coughlin, Giants; Bill Belichick, Patriots; Marvin Lewis, Bengals

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, NFL

      NFL Coach of the Year Power Rankings

      October 18, 2009 /

      Amazingly, Josh McDaniels and Marvin Lewis are still tied atop this list. And even if they were ranked 1-2, what difference would that make? They both have exceeded expectations in a big way to this point.

      1. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos & Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—After last weekend, these two are still tied, even though McDaniels’ team is 5-0 and Lewis’ is 4-1. Denver beat the Patriots and McDaniels’ mentor Bill Belichick last weekend in Denver, while Lewis’ Bengals had an emotional win over the Ravens in Baltimore a few days after defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s wife tragically passed away.

      2. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—Really, did anyone expect the Colts to be 5-0 out of the gate? Everyone thought that with the departure of Tony Dungy and Marvin Harrison, there would be a regression. Then Anthony Gonzalez got hurt, and still, Caldwell and Peyton Manning are carrying on the winning tradition.

      3. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants—You have to give a guy credit when he has his team fully prepared each week. The last three weeks, the Giants have utterly dominated their opponents, because Coughlin and his team take no one lightly. The Giants have been hit fairly hard by injuries too, but Coughlin always seems to have a guy to plug in.

      4. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—With a 5-0 start, it’s time we gave this guy his due for having the balls to coax Favre back even after Favre’s waffling act teetered on the retirement side again.

      5. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—His team came flying out of the gate with the same high-flying offense, but also with a much-improved defense. We’ll see if Sean is still sitting here after the big showdown against the G-men Sunday.

      Honorable mention: Mike Smith, Falcons; Andy Reid, Eagles; Lovie Smith, Bears

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, NFL

      Did the Falcons snub Keith Brooking?

      March 11, 2009 /

      So I’m watching ESPN News the other day and this scrolls at the bottom of the screen: Falcons sign LB Mike Peterson.

      Not a bad move.

      Considering they lost Keith Brooking and Michael Boley to other teams in free agency, the Falcons were in desperate need of linebackers and Peterson is familiar with head coach Mike Smith and defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder from their days in Jacksonville. Plus, Peterson surely came cheaper than Brooking, which was part of the reason Atlanta GM Thomas Dimitroff allowed him to walk when he became a free agent last week. (Brooking wanted to re-sign with Atlanta, but eventually signed a three-year, $6 million contract with the Cowboys when it was clear the Falcons wanted to go in another direction.)

      Then I read the details of Peterson’s contract: Two years, $6.5 million.

      So the Falcons didn’t want Brooking back because he’s a 33-year old linebacker with deteriorating skills and is weak in coverage. Yet they signed Peterson (for more money mind you), who is a 32-year old linebacker with deteriorating skills, is weak in coverage and was suspended one game for pissing off his head coach (Jack Del Rio) last season?

      Ooooookay.

      I’m not criticizing the Falcons for allowing Brooking to walk. His best days are clearly in the rear view mirror (see the Falcons’ playoff game against the Cardinals last year as proof) and he wasn’t going to be part of the long-term picture in Atlanta even if the team did re-sign him. But he would have given his left testicle to the Falcons at the drop of a hat and throughout his entire career he never complained once despite being asked to play multiple linebacker positions in multiple schemes.

      Nothing against Peterson, but he’s probably only a small upgrade over Brooking at this stage of his career, yet the Falcons were willing to hand him more money (not a lot more money, but more money nevertheless). I get that Peterson has ties to Smith and maybe he’ll be rejuvenated after reuniting with a familiar face, but were those ties greater than the ones that Brooking had with the Falcons? (Brooking played 11 seasons in Atlanta, led the team in tackles for most of those years and was the last member of the 1998 Super Bowl team.)

      In the end, this won’t be an issue. Brooking would never say the Falcons snubbed him (they did hold a fair-well presser for him after all) and truth be told, both linebackers will probably be backups in 2010 anyway. But I just found it a little interesting that Atlanta wanted to revamp the defense (and maybe they still will by adding young linebackers via the draft), so they let Brooking walk and give more money to a similar player to take his spot.

      NFL

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑