SB Nation - Matt Bowen

New England Patriots Links 12/15/09 - Patriots Have Randy's Back; Adalius Thomas Ratted Out The Story

Marima — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:54:31 -0000

Don't worry man, we've got your back.

Matt Bowen (Nat'l Football Post) Defends Randy Moss' character.

So, yes, the Panthers did take Moss out of the game. And, yes, he did look lethargic on a certain number of plays. But to say that he quit on his teammates? No, I’m not buying that.

Did he play poorly? Sure he did, and just like the other members of that team, he will be corrected when they turn on the film today in their meeting rooms—but that is all that I see in play after this story has come out. And, I am going to listen to Brady and Belichick when it comes to judging his character as a teammate because, like you, I am not in those meetings, on the practice field or in the locker room with a player that still demands respect from a defensive standpoint—and causes opposing players to mouth off to the media even after a loss. Because we can’t pretend to know what is being called in that huddle, just as we can’t pretend to know what route is supposed to be run as told on the chalkboard in the Patriots meeting rooms.

Ty Warren was asked by WEEI's Michael Holley how the news about the discipline got out, and Warren replied that Adalius put it out there himself (at the 6.35 min. mark). Warren also mentioned that fellow-late-comer Gary Guyton returned to Gillette Stadium that night to watch film.

Bill Belichick talked about what happens when a guy like Sam Aiken is out of the lineup.

If you lose a core player in the kicking game, like Sam was inactive yesterday - he’s really a starter on four teams. It isn’t always the same person that replaces him on each team, it can be a combination of different things and that was the case yesterday. That’s always a challenge on special teams; if you take one guy out, you’ve lost him on at least four teams. Sometimes if he’s involved in the field goal and field goal rush situations, it could be more than that.

It’s a lot different than on offense or defense where it’s just that position on offense or that position on defense. It rolls into multiple positions in the kicking game and then you usually don’t have the same person where you just can’t do it, you don’t have enough people. It’s just like offense: you can’t have a backup right tackle, a backup right guard, a backup center. You’ve got to have one guy that backs up multiple positions and that’s true in the kicking game, too. One guy is out, that means 'you’re in on this team’, 'he’s in on that team’, 'you’re in on another team’ and it really challenges your depth.

That’s one of the real challenging parts of being the special teams coach and even as a head coach - trying to put the roster together when you have a player like that who has a role on offense and is a core player in the kicking game. That’s a lot of jobs.

TEAM TALK

Erik Scalavino says Wes Welker was the spark plug in Sunday's win, plus Monday notes from Gillette.
Monday Presser: Bill Belichick (22:18 min. video)
WEEI Patriots Monday: Tom Brady (24:15 min.), Chris Baker (6:30 min.), Sammy Morris (9:20 min.), Ty Warren (13:35 min.), Bill Belichick (11:10 min.) Q&A Transcripts: Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.
Patriots Today: Overcoming Carolina, highlights and analysis. (13:05 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

Karen Guregian writes Randy-bashing was all the rage yesterday, but his coach and his team are staunchly in his corner.
Mike Reiss reports a feisty Bill Belichick came out swinging at his press conference Monday morning. It's memorable because Belichick is the anti-Ryan 99.9% of the time, either showering praise on the opposition or simply taking the football high road.
Mike Reiss points out how Tom Brady and Kevin Faulk both defend Randy Moss and deflect criticism of effort.
Christopher Price reports the consistant locker room support for Randy Moss, his character and his effort.
Bill Reynolds says Moss can answer critics with a return to All-Pro form.
Gerry Callahan feels Bill Belichick gave Randy a pass because he has no other choice besides hoping the real Randy Moss shows up for the last three games of the season.
Ian Rapoport notes ESPN analyst and former Minnesota WR Cris Carter feels something happened to Randy Moss mentally to be on the field in that state.
Ian Rapoport notes WR Jerry Rice rips Randy Moss. What a surprise.
Robert Lee reports rookie Sebastian Vollmer has improved to where he is already arguably just as good, if not better, than veteran tackles Matt Light and Nick Kaczur.
Ian Rapoport says LB Pierre Woods is happy with his role on special teams, but enjoyed getting the start on defense Sunday against the Panthers.
Mike Reiss looks at the snaps played by offensive skill position players and the positional groupings utilized by the Patriots in their 20-10 win over the Panthers.
Mike Reiss looks at and analyzes the snaps played by Patriots defenders in the Panthers win, noting Banta-Cain, Meriweather and Mayo played every one.
Mike Reiss breaks down the three-man rotation at OT in Sunday's win.
Boston Herald Patriots Notebook: Adalius Thomas ready to move on from a bad week; Belichick admitted Brady’s availability really was a gametime decision; Rob Ninkovich filled in for Thomas on passing downs against the Panthers and was rewarded with a contract extension; Matt Light will only play Left Tackle, Sebastian Vollmer can rotate; Patriots gained 185 yards on the ground Sunday with Baker and Watson blocking.

NATIONAL NEWS

Eric Edholm (Pro Football Weekly) Brady, Belichick appear firmly in Moss's corner.
John Czarnecki (Fox Sports) The day after: What's eating Randy Moss?
Charles Chandler (Charlotte Observer) Patriots question Panthers, not Moss.
Scott Fowler (Charlotte Observer) Belichick can't handle the truth.
Tim Graham (ESPN) Big move: Belichick stands up for his boys.
Charles Robinson (Yahoo! Sports) 'Fragile' Moss threatens to set back Patriots.
Tim Graham (ESPN) Jerry Rice rips Randy Moss for zero effort. (26 second video clip)
Michael Silver (Yahoo! Sports) Thanks to New England's run at perfection two years ago, we're no longer bombarded by the '72 Dolphins.
Dennis Dillon (Sporting News) Super Bowls don't matter, Colts are team of the decade. Ask any Colts' player if he'd trade a few of those regular-season victories for another SB win and you'll have your real answer.
Judy Battista (NY Times) With a chance at undefeated records, the Saints and Colts must weigh the value of perfection against resting for the playoffs.
Pro Football Weekly Steelers in midst of Super collapse.

Web Rumblings: Buffalo Bills Links, 12/5

MattRichWarren — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:13:22 -0000

Jackson still lead back – Inside The Bills
"Fred is still our featured back," said interim coach Perry Fewell. "We’re just trying to get our playmakers the football. It wasn’t a conscious effort to not give Marshawn the football."

Buffalo Bills' receivers fall short of expectations | Democrat and Chronicle
"Owens and Evans are culpable in Buffalo's offensive fizzle, too. Neither Owens nor Evans has done particularly well regardless of how many defenders are covering them, and that was readily apparent against the Jets."

D-line grinding | BuffaloBills.com
"Buffalo’s starting defensive line turned in 25 tackles against the Jets with almost a quarter of them (6) going for loss in the game with three others going for no gain. They also had four of the team’s five sacks in the game."

Jets/Toronto Leftovers
Line woes encourage Bills' foes to blitz : Buffalo Bills : The Buffalo News
"The Jets blitzed relentlessly on third downs. The Bills could not give quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick enough time to throw downfield. The Bills converted just 1 of 11 third-down situations."

Jets in Toronto - Gang Green Nation
Gang Green Nation gave away two tickets to a father and son. He shared his game experience there.

Final Word: AFC East - AFC East Blog - ESPN
- Toronto doesn't seem to care much about the Bills playing in their town.
- Marshawn Lynch finally looked like himself Thursday night.

Bills in Toronto Tonight, but No Buzz | wgrz.com
"If you walked down Younge Street, which is the largest street in Canada today, and say what's going on tomorrow, most people would say I don't know. There is no buzz about the Buffalo Bills playing the New York Jets tomorrow night here."

Sports on the Air: Millen gets high grades for Xs and Os : The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News TV critic, Alan Pergament, analyzes the broadcast from Thursday night.

Plenty T.O. ponder | Football | Sports | Calgary Sun
"Beyond that, North America's most popular pro league has every reason to consider Toronto as a home for a team. And the gorilla-sized one is, well, size: Toronto's metro population (5.1 million in 2006) would make it 10th largest in the U.S., ahead of such areas as Boston, Detroit, Phoenix, San Francisco and 18 others that lay claim to NFL clubs."

Grounded: Buffalo surrenders six yards a snap and falls to 4-8 with loss in Toronto
"Perry Fewell swears his team wasn’t outmuscled ... but with all due respect he would be wrong," says Chuck Pollack.

Bills-Jets notebook: Buffalo’s last prime time win came in 2001
"Anybody entering the Rogers Centre can’t miss two enormous photos attached to the windows. Those two ill-timed photos have been fodder for Toronto columnists to point out the front office failings of both franchises."

Whoop, there it is : Bills & NFL : The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News first quarter report.

Ground control : Bills & NFL : The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News second quarter report from the Jets game.

Catching on fast : Bills & NFL : The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News third quarter report from the Jets game.

Getting the boot : Bills & NFL : The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News fourth quarter report and wrap from the Jets game.

T.O. doesn't pass the test against Revis | National Football Post
"Revis is playing the best football of anyone at his position this year—better than Champ, Woodson, etc—but we used to expect T.O. to win these matchups, regardless," says former Bills DB Matt Bowen

Hog Town First Down | The Goose's Roost
TGR has provided us with a look at the promo video from Toronto about the Bills coming to town.

Other News and Notes
WGR 550 SportsRadio - Let's find some Bills truths
Nick Mendola gives general focus points for what the Bills should do this offseason as well as lists of who can stay and who can go.

Fan Friday 12-4 – Inside The Bills
Chris Brown answers questions on the Toronto series being divisional games, Nic Harris, switching to the 3-4, the jerseys ("Not expecting it to change any time soon."), and the QB position into 2010.

Between the Lines: Who's Given Up The Most Sacks -- NFL FanHouse
Jonathan Scott has given up the fourteenth-most sacks in the NFL but is allowing an average of 2.7 seconds for the QB to throw the ball on those attempts.

Bills to report back Monday – Inside The Bills
After three games in 11 days the Bills were given the weekend off by interim head coach Perry Fewell.

Miami Dolphins LB Jason Taylor: Fined for hit on Bills' QB -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Miami Dolphins linebacker Jason Taylor has been fined $5,000 by the NFL for his hit on Buffalo quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick on Sunday.

Indianapolis Colts worked out former Buffalo Bills quarterback J.P. Losman - ESPN
The Indianapolis Colts worked out former Bills quarterback J.P. Losman Friday.

Driver who hurt 7 after Bills game pleads guilty : Northern Suburbs : The Buffalo News
Brandon McLean pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular assault, reckless endangerment, assault and driving while impaired by alcohol and drugs. He faces about 25 years in prison.

Rauch, Knox deals a bargain; Jauron’s record in middle : Buffalo Bills : The Buffalo News
Mark Gaughan answers questions on paying top coaches in Buffalo's past, the worst coach in Bills history, moving the Thanksgiving game from Detroit, and how much of players and coaches contract are guaranteed.

No jail for theft of $70,000 from Bills : Buffalo/Erie County : The Buffalo News
"Former Buffalo Bills employee Bonnie Krauss, who had been indicted for stealing more than $70,000 from the team, was spared a jail term Friday by a Buffalo judge."

Horse Tracks 11/29/09 - McDaniels recounts his side of trash-talking episode with Shaun Phillips to ESPN

Douglas A. Lee — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:15:45 -0000

ESPN - Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniels tells his side of trash-talking incident - Chris Mortensen & Ed Werder
"I wasn't out there trash-talking their players, going through their drills. This guy has been doing this since I've been in the league and, because they won, he takes the liberty of telling his side of the story. I didn't swear at him or threaten him. What I actually said was, 'I've heard the same thing from you for four or five years now, and when I was in New England, we owned you.'"

DB - Davis, Sharpe Named HoF Semifinalists - Zach Eisendrath

DPP - Sharpe, Davis semifinalists on Hall of Fame list - Lindsay Jones
"Thursday against the Giants, Bruton made two solo special-teams tackles, bringing his season total to 10, tied for the team lead with fellow rookie Darcel McBath."

DPP - Davis savors fresh start with Broncos - Lindsay Jones

DPP - Dawkins puts it in perspective - Dave Krieger

DPP - Broncos just kept believin' - Jeff Legwold

LTC - Veteran Stokley content with his role on team - Brian Howell

INDT - Broncos: Remember these guys? - Hunter Ansley

DPP - Want to win? Run the ball - Mike Klis

CSG - Broncos WR Stokley reaches out to injured college player - Frank Schwab

CP - Dawkins talks, sets example - Geoff Mosher

DP - McDaniels now a mouth that roared profanity - Mark Kiszla

DP - A full deck of dining delights - Penny Parker
"John Elway hosted a host of managers from his Elway's Cherry Creek restaurant in his sweet suite Thursday at Invesco Field at Mile High."

AP - Falcons kicker Elam mired in baffling slump - Paul Newberry

DP - Dave Logan a Mullen marvel - Woody Paige

AFC West News

SDUT - Balance key to Chargers' five straight wins - Kevin Acee

SDUT - Chargers vs. Chiefs: Five things to watch - Jay Posner

SDUT - Like Padres, Chargers took time to rev up - Nick Canepa

ESPN - Chiefs make a roster move - Bill Williamson

KCS - Chiefs’ attitude sunnier after stormy Johnson exits - Kent Babb

KCS - Cassel, Haley's growth bigger than score - Jason Whitlock

OT - Oakland Raiders' Darren McFadden isn't as advertised - Steve Corkran

NFL News

PFW - Glazer family's patience with Morris wearing thin - Dan Parr

NFL - Roethlisberger won't play after concussion, giving Dixon start

NFL - Colts DE Freeney doesn't travel, will miss game at Texans

FH - UFL's Jim Haslett Contacted for NFL Job - Anthony Olivieri

NFL Opinion

NFP - Sunday at the Post - Mike Lombardi

FOX - Success rare for this crop of rookie coaches - Alex Marvez

NFP - Weekend Notes: Remember Us? - Matt Bowen

DPP - December marks the time for closers - Jeff Legwold

FH - The Once-Over: Week 12 - Knox Bardeen

FOX - Countdown: Previewing Sunday's Week 12 games - John Czarnecki

NYT - With Help From Friend, Young Connects Again - Karen Crouse

USAT - Clutch, aggressive Jaguars playing way into race - Jarrett Bell

Web Rumblings: Buffalo Bills Links, 11/18

MattRichWarren — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:41:12 -0000

More photos » by Don Heupel - AP

about 1 month ago: Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Perry Fewell speaks during a news conference where he was introduced as the NFL football team's new interim head coach at Bills headquarters in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009. Fewell takes over after Dick Jauron was fired as head coach on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Don Heupel)

Browse more photos »

Perry Fewell Named Interim Head Coach | BuffaloBills.com Video
Perry Fewell meets the media for the first time as a head coach.

Tavern talk: Bills need a team for the elements | National Football Post
Michael Lombardi at National Football Post looks at Jauron's firing and the task of Russ Brandon moving forward of building a winning football team.

Jauron relieved of coaching duties | BuffaloBills.com
Team statement regarding coach Jauron's ouster.

Dick Jauron the Latest Example of Damage a Bad Quarterback Can Do -- NFL FanHouse
Dan Graziano scapegoats Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick and J.P. Losman for Dick Jauron's demise in Buffalo.

Jauron’s dismissal is business as usual | National Football Post
Former Jauron pupil Matt Bowen discusses the coach and the Bills' decision to fire him yesterday.

WGR 550 SportsRadio - Immediate Reactions, Fire(d) Jauron
Nick Mendola's immediate reaction to Dick Jauron's firing.

WGR 550 SportsRadio - WGR Homepage
Plenty of audio clips from John Clayton, Tim Graham, Andre Reed and Ross Tucker all reacting to DJ's firing on WGR's homepage. Click on the "Audio Vault" links on the left-hand side to listen.

Buffalo Bills NFL News Updates - CBSSports.com Rapid Reports
Bills interim coach Perry Fewell on how to turn things around: "We just need to go out and be successful. We have to have some success, get excited about what we’re doing ... just win one football game and then I think that will take care of itself. That’s the best cure."

Ironic twist for Fewell – Inside The Bills
Perry Fewell will be facing the team with which his NFL coaching career began in Sunday when Buffalo travels to Jacksonville.

Fewell’s plans – Inside The Bills
Here's a rundown of the plans for this weekend's game.

Fewell ready to lead | BuffaloBills.com
It was a roller coaster day for Fewell, who was buried in the process of game planning for the Jaguars Tuesday, before hearing the news of Jauron's termination as head coach. He admitted the day carried a wide range of emotions for him.

Dear Ralph: No more football on the cheap : Jerry Sullivan : The Buffalo News
Whatever it takes, Wilson has to loosen the purse strings and pay the going rate for good football people. It's time. No more hiding behind the small-market excuse.

Jauron's tenure falls short; Fewell takes over : Buffalo Bills : The Buffalo News
Jauron's desperation came to an end Tuesday when he was fired by Wilson. Mark Gaughan lays out the reasoning for the firing and the hiring.

Sudden firing takes Bills players by surprise : Buffalo Bills : The Buffalo News
Several Bills players were taken aback by the timing, expecting it to be on the bye week or not at all.

BillBoard: Fewell in charge
Mark Gaughan says Fewell makes the most sense as the interim coach because he has experienced assistants on the defensive side of the ball.

WGR 550 SportsRadio - Home of the Buffalo Sabres - A Commitment To Mediocrity?
Ross Tucker of Sports Illustrated and Sirius radio, and former Buffalo Bill, says his former coach Marty Schottenheimer would be a great choice.

WGR 550 SportsRadio - Home of the Buffalo Sabres - Jauron leaving has to be the first move of more
Paul Hamilton advocates for more heads to roll as front office members like John Guy and Tom Modrak need to be sent packing as well as the Bills hire a new football guy at GM.

Scott Pitoniak: Firing Jauron first step on Bills road to recovery
This change was long overdue. But it should be viewed as only the beginning.

Blame not all on Jauron | Democrat and Chronicle
Both Steve Tasker and Chris Kelsay said that Jauron is not totally to blame for the way the 2009 season has disintegrated.

Dick Jauron timeline | Democrat and Chronicle
From birth until yesterday's firing, the D&C has you covered.

Buffalo Bills fans react to firing of Jauron | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle
Fans have written in expressing their thoughts on coach Jauron.

Players, Levy, others shocked | Democrat and Chronicle
Players contacted by the Democrat and Chronicle and WGRZ-TV in Buffalo were shocked by the firing but at the same time said that with the team struggling, something was bound to happen.

Dick Jauron biography | Democrat and Chronicle
Everything you wanted to know about Dick Jauron's resume.

Jauron remains true to old pals | Democrat and Chronicle
Three of coach Jauron's high school buddies relay some stories from back in the day. This is an article being reprinted from August 2009.

Bills answer fans' agony, replace Jauron | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle
Sal Maiorana's take on the Jauron firing.

Democrat and Chronicle | Three-Point Stance
Sal Maiorana gives his honest, non-word-count opinion on Dick Jauron's tenure in Buffalo.

Niagara Gazette - BILLS: Fewell picked to replace Jauron as Bills coach
The AP report of the new coach.

The Case for Dick Jauron as Defensive Coordinator 2010 - Arrowhead Pride
A member of Arrowhead Pride already has DJ's next job lined up.

Blogger's Blitz: AFC East - AFC East Blog - ESPN
Tim Graham looks at Buffalo's firing of Dick Jauron, the ongoing controversy over Bill Belichick's fourth-down call and other news out of the AFC East.

Who will be Buffalo's coach in 2010? - AFC East Blog - ESPN
Here are some thoughts on a few potential candidates in no particular order including all the big names.

Bills finally fire Jauron - AFC East Blog - ESPN
"The only surprising aspect of the decision is that it happened now."

Unexpected Holiday | The Goose's Roost
TGR suggests a celebration. I just don't feel right about that yet.

NFL.com Videos: What do the Bills do?
NFL Total Access looks at coaching candidates for the Bills and ponders their future.

No More Mr. Nice Guy– More Changes To Come? : Buffalo Sports Daily
""I really don’t have anything to say," was all Jauron would say when reached on his cell phone by The Associated Press. It’s the only comment we’ve heard from Jauron at this time.

Jauron Firing Also Means Ralph "Gets It" | Ed Kilgore | wgrz.com
"A source tells me C.O.O. Russ Brandon has already started the search for a respected football man to head up football operations, and that person would be in charge of bringing in the next head coach along with all other changes in the personnel department, and changes there will be."

Anti-Jauron Billboard Leaders: "Mission Accomplished" | wgrz.com
Dave McKinley gave a phone call to the guy who coordinated the billboard calling for Jauron's firing to get his thoughts.

Channel 2 Sports Roundtable | wgrz.com | Buffalo, NY
See what Ed Kilgore, Stu Boyar and Ben Hayes think about the firing of Dick Jauron and what's ahead for the franchise in this Channel 2 sports roundtable that you'll see only here on wgrz.com.

Bills drop axe on Jauron - The Globe and Mail
Head coach dismissed by stumbling NFL team despite 2½ years remaining on contract extension. The view from north of the border.

Tonawanda News - DUVALL: Start the hope-cycle again for Buffalo Bills
Eric DuVall says moves like this give Bills fans hope.

Lockport Union-Sun and Journal Online - BUFFALO BILLS: With Jauron out, fans doubt Wilson will pay for name coach
"Some of the Bills’ followers were pretty pragmatic in wake of the decision and reasoned that Wilson would watch his wallet, something the Bills’ only owner has been criticized for in the past."

Non-coach Bills news
Bell reportedly out 2 weeks – Inside The Bills
NFL Network reporter Jason LaCanfora is reporting that Demetrius Bell’s knee injury will keep him on the shelf for two weeks.

Levitre not using youth as excuse – Inside The Bills
[Now former] Bills head coach Dick Jauron has chalked up a lot of his line’s penalty problems to youth and inexperience. But rookie Andy Levitre doesn’t want to use youth as an excuse.

DT Williams working to return | BuffaloBills.com
Williams is doing all he can to return after a two-game absence as he’s putting a lot of time in to get his knee right again, spending up to 11 hours a day at One Bills Drive doing rehab and treatment.

Week 11 power rankings: AFC East - AFC East Blog - ESPN
The Bills have fallen to 26.

How I See It: AFC East Stock Watch - AFC East Blog - ESPN
The Bills offensive tackles make the list as Fallers.

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations

Ted Bartlett — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:30:18 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

about 1 month ago: Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall is stopped by Washington Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall during the third quarter of the NFL football game, Nov. 15, 2009 in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Browse more photos »

Happy Tuesday, friends, and welcome to another edition of Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations. Here we are again, with another loss to contend with. This one is worse than the last two, because this one looked like a sure victory when we were marking off W's and L's on the schedule. Of course, if Kyle Orton didn't get hurt, it probably is a W, and the Broncos are still sitting on a 1-game lead over the Chargers. Since that's not the way it played out, we have to do the other thing.

We'll get into the details, from soup to chocolate cake, and make some sense of all this, because that's what we do here. We'll explore what happened, we'll find some things to feel positive about, and we'll have some fun. Out of the echo chamber, and into the fire, y'all. Ready..... BEGIN!!!!

1. There's a certain interconnectedness to a football game, and its outcome, among all phases of the game, and all 45 active players. I've talked about this many times before, and John Bena called the loss a team effort in his postgame writeup. I would call this a team effort whose final score is mostly attributable to the poor second half play of the offense, and mostly, of Chris Simms.

What I mean by that is this. Over the first 6 games of the season, the Broncos led the league in scoring defense. They were especially strong defensively in the second half of games. That trend has been turned on its head the last 3 weeks. The last two weeks, especially, I believe that the main reason why the defense struggled in the second half was that they were on the field for too many plays, due to the struggles of the offense. Each side of the ball needs to help the other. The Broncos have been getting shut down on offense, and worn down on defense, and it's been difficult to watch.

Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth were going on and on Sunday night about how the Colts led the NFL in scoring defense heading into this week. If you've watched the Colts, they don't even have a particularly good defense, if there is any chance you can run the ball against them. They have allowed so few points because they deliberately shorten the game when they're on offense, and because once they get a lead, the strength of their defense comes to the fore. They rush the passer well with four men, and drop 7 men into cover-2. If you stay out of situations that are favorable to Indianapolis, you can gash their defense.

This is what has been happening to the Broncos as well. Remember - in the first 6 games, the offense did its best work in the second half of games. They possessed the ball, they took their time, and they methodically controlled the games. When the defense was on the field, they were fresh, they substituted frequently, and they made plays to get off the field quickly.

Kyle Orton played great in the first half Sunday, just as he'd played very well in the first half of the Pittsburgh game, (outside the one interception). For all the hollering that went on about his lack of deep throwing, he threw a couple very nice deep balls for TDs to Brandon Marshall, and he just barely missed another to Eddie Royal. That opened the field vertically. He also did a very nice job on a few bootleg throws to Tony Scheffler, and a crossing pattern to Marshall. Those plays stretched the field horizontally.

The Broncos had Washington where they wanted them. Remember, they moved the ball on the possession where Correll Buckhalter fumbled, and they had the 17-play drive at the end of the first half, to take the 3-point lead. The Orton injury changed the entire complexion of the game. Simms simply couldn't complete a pass, and didn't seem to know where to go with the ball, and a lot of good work by Knowshon Moreno was wasted.

Most teams will struggle when they lose their starting QB. That's a function of the fact that there aren't 32 good QBs in the NFL, let alone 64 of them. I came into this game thinking that the Broncos are in good shape with Simms, if they needed to use him. I hope that he shows better if he has to play against San Diego, after a week of first-team reps. I still do tend to think that Simms can play.

You hate to have a game get away from you because your backup QB couldn't cut it. The only thing worse would be if two games got away for that reason. I expect that Josh McDaniels will have Simms ready to go next week, and that the gameplan will play to his strengths, if they need to use him.

You have to be careful not to let one game unduly affect an evaluation of a team. All the time, teams lay eggs in games, and lose (or nearly lose) to teams they should blow out. Look no further than New Orleans on Sunday, who seemingly tried to lose to St. Louis. Not to say that Dallas should have blown out Green Bay, but they shouldn't have gotten dominated like they did, either.

There's a lot of Chicken Little stuff going on here, and the one thing that will stop it is a victory against San Diego next week. Yes, I know that the Chargers are on a winning streak and the Broncos are on a losing streak. Remember when the Broncos had won 6 in a row, and the Ravens had lost 3 in a row? The Broncos can beat San Diego, which we know, because they already have this season. If they win that game, they'll re-take command of the division, with a one-game lead, and a sweeping of the head-to-head matchup.

2. In the big-time matchup of the week, the Colts got a win against the Patriots, and on Monday, Bill Belichick is being blamed by everybody who doesn't like him personally (AKA just about everyone). The fact is, Belichick has never curried favor with the media, and reporters tend to be critical of you every chance they get, if you don't pay them their due deference.

Joe Biden could tell you all about how that works. He never trusted the media after their treatment of the death of his first wife and daughter in 1972, and it always hurt him later, particularly in his two Presidential bids. John McCain and Barack Obama both have very deft touches with the media, and longstanding strategies of providing them a lot of access, and it was no accident that both were the nominees of their parties in 2008. If you're going to be a public figure, there's a clear benefit to cultivating relationships with reporters. The thing is, not everybody has the stomach for it, and Belichick is one of those guys who doesn't. Brett Favre benefits immensely from his relationship-building efforts, to the point of it being sickening most of the time. I heard somewhere recently that Favre spends hours with the TV guys on Saturday afternoons, as long as they want to hang out, and they really can't help but love on him.

Back to the lecture at hand, I would have done exactly the same thing as Belichick in that game situation, in going for it on 4th and 2 from his own 28. Why did he do it? Because he was pretty close to certain that he would lose the game if he punted, that's why.

Let's say you go by the book, and punt. Over all 2,293 punts in the NFL in 2008, the average net change in field position was 39.53 yards. The right call, if you ask Peter King, or others, was to punt, and give Manning the ball at his own 32, with about 2 minutes, and all 3 timeouts left. I say that that is choosing to lose the game in a way that will leave the coach blameless, as far as the idiot media is concerned. Well, he trusted his defense, and he played the percentages; it's not the coach's fault. Except he didn't play the percentages.

First of all, let's get this nonsense about trusting your defense dispensed with. You should always trust your defense. Former defensive players like Tedy Bruschi, Matt Bowen, and old friend Tom Jackson love this line of thinking, but it's utter horse (manure). You should only trust your defense if you think they are likely to make the stop, and win you the game. If you think they aren't, then it's a fool's errand to trust them. You say to them, hey, realistically, you guys probably weren't going to stop Peyton Manning, which really doesn't make you much different from any other team's defense. There is no room for blind machismo, or making a statement, or worrying about hurt feelings; this is about winning football games, nothing more.

I didn't spend a great deal of time on it, but I took a look at every game recap for the Colts since 2005. (I think 4 ½ seasons is a reasonable sample size.) Since then, including the postseason, Manning has had the ball late in the game, trailing, on 19 occasions which I counted. He came through to either tie or take the lead 15 times, which is a 79% success rate. (In 2007, he was 1-for-4, which was pretty aberrant for this sample. Two of those misses were against the strong 2007 Chargers, whom the Colts struggled to pass-protect against.)

Here's the deal. Statistically, you have a 60% chance of picking up 4th and 2, but that probability is almost certainly greater, due to the fact that you have an outstanding offense, and the Colts have an average-at-best defense. If I were Belichick, I would have put my conversion probability at 70% for that play. That same source says that an average team returning a punt, given those field position- and time parameters, scores 53% of the time. We already know Manning succeeds 79% of the time, because he's one of the greatest QBs ever.

You can choose to probably win, or you can choose to probably lose, in one moment. What do you choose?

Belichick chose to probably win, and came up on the side where the probable outcome wasn't the actual outcome. Serious poker players know exactly what I am talking about here. Sometimes, you play the hand correctly, and you go all-in with the best cards, but you lose anyway. It's a fact of life. You accept it, and you don't complain about it, because you know you made the right call, regardless of the outcome. The next time you're faced with the same situation, you do the same thing, again, because it was the right call.

When I got home Monday night, all I saw and heard was TV talking heads second-guessing the decision. Stuart Scott pretty much butchered the stats, but he actually cited our friends at AdvancedNFLStats.com. The shockingly anti-intellectual Steve Young promptly claimed that the stats aren't legitimate (except they are). We got to hear from Tedy Bruschi how he'd feel as a defensive player on the Patriots, as if that's germane to anything at all. Trent Dilfer's blood boils when he hears the "other side" of the argument, AKA the correct side. Blah, blah, blah. (Sorry, brief possession by an ex-wife-like-entity again.)

Just imagine the reaction if Kevin Faulk had made the 2 yards. The stories today would have been about the stones on Belichick, and how he is such a great coach to make a risky call. It would be like Mike Shanahan going for 2 in the Hochuli Game last season. (Shanahan correctly thought that was his best chance to win. He felt he had a better-than-50 percent chance of scoring the conversion, and he knew that he had a 50% chance of winning a coin toss, and about a 98% chance that the Chargers would score in overtime, if he lost the toss.)

I'm no great defender of Belichick, the man, but when he's right, he's right. If it's an average QB, and an average offense, you might punt in that situation, but against Manning, that's always going to be the wrong call on 4th and 2. Once again, Belichick is smarter than the average bear, and smarter than every member of the football MSM.

3. Information From My Eyes - Broncos at Redskins

a. All four deep throws Orton made were good throws. Eddie Royal misjudged the one incompletion, and Brandon Marshall got out-fought by DeAngelo Hall on the second, but both were definitely well-thrown balls.

b. That fake field goal was a debacle, but I don't personally blame Mike Priefer. My goat on that play is Darrell Reid, who was telling Marcus Thomas to cover Mike Sellers, while he decided to contain the left edge of the offense, as the play flowed right. Alphonso Smith caught some initial blame, but I disagree there. He was in deep center field, and flowed with the play, like anybody would coach him to. Who knew Hunter Smith could throw back across the field?

c. Ryan Clady got beat badly once on Sunday. That doesn't happen often at all, obviously. That's the first sack he allowed that I would say was fully on him.

d. From the department of good news, Matt Prater doesn't seem to be having a second-half slump this season.

e. I was very impressed with Knowshon Moreno's vision and quickness on Sunday.

f. I've already made my evaluation of Mitch Berger, so everybody knows where I am at on that one. I saw somewhere where Frank Schwab, some beat reporter, speculated that Mitch Berger's 65-yard punt might save his job. If a kick that went about 42 yards in the air, and rolled 23 on the ground can do that, something absurd is going on.

g. I had a busy workday Monday, which set my schedule back, and is unfortunately going to preclude me from taking the time to do Between The Lines this week.

On watching the game a second time, though, it occurred to me that the bulk of Washington's success in running the ball was on zone-blocked plays. As I think about it, the Broncos haven't faced much of that this season at all; really just Oakland, who does it crappily. That's really something to work on, because the lateral movement seemed to unsettle the Broncos defensive line.

h. D.J. Williams got blocked a lot, and took a lot of bad angles. Again. This is getting to be an annoying habit.

i. Andra Davis continued to be a bright spot. He is a terrific blitzer and has a great sense of timing for delaying his rush. His missed tackle on that Devin Thomas catch and run in the 4th quarter was bad, but he otherwise graded out very well.

j. On a painful second pass watching the game, Chris Simms lacked timing with the receivers, as much as anything. Every throw was a little late. It seems like Orton may be able to play next Sunday, but if it's Simms, I hope a week's worth of reps will help him build some timing.

4. Information From My Eyes - Other Games:

a. I was really curious to see the Buffalo-Tennessee game, and I recorded the Short Cut overnight, and watched the game Monday evening. Why would I care about this game? Well, the two teams played in the Hall of Fame Game, way back when it was still warm in Cleveland, and my girlfriend at the time called at halftime to break up with me.

In that game, the Bills couldn't block Tennessee, and the Titans looked like a Super Bowl team. So, I wanted to watch Sunday's game, because I wanted a good sense of where these two teams are. Tennessee probably isn't going to make the playoffs, after starting 0-6, but they've righted their ship, and they'd be trouble if they did make it. Their defensive line is still nasty, and I continue to be impressed with the job William Hayes is doing in replacing Jevon Kearse.

b. On the other side, the Bills still are below average on their offensive line. Their two highly-drafted rookies, Eric Wood, and Andy Levitre, particularly struggled, as they both had in the preseason game. Levitre even ended up playing some LT, due to an injury, and he really struggled outside. Wood got pushed backwards consistently in the passing game, and he's been generally pretty good as a rookie. The Bills need to shore up their offensive line in the offseason, and I am sure their new head coach will make that a priority, if they hire a competent one.

c. I am ready to make a pronouncement. If Vince Young couldn't run, he'd be the second coming of Trent Dilfer. He really isn't much of a thrower of the ball, and he leaves too much air under his throws. You can get by with him in a run-heavy offense, which is what the Titans really are.

Because he can run, he adds a useful element, and the team is really dangerous on option plays, and QB runs. His running ability can dictate that teams play man-to-man defense, and keep a guy out of coverage to spy him. Really, the Titans are back to being the 10-6ish team they were in 2007. I think they'll ultimately decide to stick with Young for next season, and look to build up the interior of their offensive line, and their back 7 on defense.

d. It seems like forever ago, but I did watch the Chicago-San Francisco game intently last Thursday. I think my first thought that I'd like to share is that the Bears defense played like they had some pride. I think Tommie Harris playing well made a huge difference. He is really the key to their whole scheme. I ripped him, and them, last week, and I told the guy from WCG who took exception that I'd say when they played well on defense. They did.

e. I don't really feel like I should say anything about Jay Cutler, because this column aims to stay away from saying obvious things. I'll just say it must be nice to have so many apologists when you mess up. He's like the second coming of Ronald Reagan with how teflon he is.

(Tangential ST&NO story - Reagan is a member of my fraternity. When he died in June of 2004, I was a senior at CSU, and President of my chapter, and I was asked to go on local television, to talk about Reagan as a fraternity man. Our guys did a fundraiser, and jumped on a trampoline for 54 straight days in the 80s, to break a Guinness record, while Frater Ronnie was POTUS. He sent us a congratulatory letter, so I focused on that with the news chick, Angie Lau. I had nothing but nice things to say, as Ronnie was definitely a good fraternity man.)

f. Peter King is really proud of himself for naming San Francisco's Aubrayo Franklin a midseason All-Pro as a NT. When Franklin got that scoring-area INT early on last Thursday, I kind of groaned, because I knew there was going to be some crowing about it.

I never have felt like Franklin jumped out, so I watched him closely, and my review is mixed. He didn't play a lot of snaps, so I wonder about his conditioning. He did play pretty stout against the run at times, and I felt like he was a good player overall when he was on the field. I could easily name 10-12 interior defensive players who are better, though. I guess it's fun to have a guy who is your guy, though.

g. Is Marc Bulger a veteran QB? I have always thought he was, but his command of clock management seemed really bad on Sunday. The Rams had a pretty good shot to beat the Saints, and Bulger and his receivers blew it. Man, I can't tell you how much I would hate to be associated with that team, in any capacity. It's got to be so disheartening to have no talent, be almost completely uncompetitive, then have a chance to beat an undefeated team, and blow it. Can you imagine what it's like to be a fan of such a team?

h. Reggie Bush had a really big game for the Saints on Sunday, stepping up from his usual "highly-paid-decoy" role. It's interesting to speculate on how the Saints value him. Obviously, they don't think he's a full-time RB, but he's paid like he's Adrian Peterson. I'd be happy to have him as a swing player, between RB and WR, but he's a backup at both positions, and I'd only pay him backup money. We'll soon see what the Saints think, because if I recall correctly, his contract is pretty well back-loaded.

i. Josh Freeman continues to look like he's the real deal for the Buccaneers, and Raheem Morris continues to look like he's gotten his bearings as a Head Coach. Both did a nice job in Sunday's game, despite Miami's comeback victory.

j. Speaking of Miami, I want to address the "Wildcat." The Dolphins are the only team which has had a lot of success with it, and every time they have a game with limited success, somebody speculates that the "trend" has run its course.

The thing is, Miami doesn't treat it like a trend. They treat it as a key part of the way they play offense, which puts their best players on the field together. They are committed to it, and they will continue to run it. They trade the disadvantage of being formationally unlikely to throw for the advantage of having 2-3 players who are good ball-carriers, who might get the ball in the running game. Other teams are finding that the direct-snap game maybe doesn't work for them. For Miami, it will continue to be an important part of their gameplan.

k. Joey Porter has had a pretty sub-par year, and he was a healthy scratch on Sunday. That raised some eyebrows, and Tony Sparano wouldn't comment on it. It actually parallels Adalius Thomas basically being shut down by the Patriots. Both teams are showing that having a big name and a big salary doesn't guarantee playing time, if you aren't producing on the field. Expect both players to be released after the season.

l. Another game I decided to watch on Monday was Jacksonville at the Jets. The Jets miss Kris Jenkins terribly, and their defense is nowhere near as good as it was when he was healthy. They are having to scheme to stop the inside run, and to keep Bart Scott and David Harris clean, and these things used to just happen. I expect New England to blow them out this coming week.

m. I can see why people like Mark Sanchez, but I continue not to be a fan. He's well-coached, and he has excellent fundamentals. I just think he's very limited as a natural thrower of the ball. I consider him to be a poor man's Matt Ryan, which is another way of calling him a middle class man's Chad Pennington.

Sanchez plays in a windy place, which I have noted before, and that's going to always be an issue. Another issue is that the offensive scheme he is playing in is very vertical, and Sanchez is a poster boy for the West Coast Offense. Rex Ryan inherited Brian Schottenheimer as offensive coordinator, but I don't think Schottenheimer and Sanchez are a very good match. I have to wonder if the Jets don't make a change in the offseason, to bring in somebody to make the passing game's design more horizontal. Mike Shanahan could do wonders with Sanchez, although he won't be going to New York.

Really, as I think about it, if Sanchez and Jason Campbell could trade offensive coaching staffs, they'd probably both be much better off. Two owners traded teams once; why couldn't this happen?

n. There was a crazy sequence in the third quarter, where Sanchez threw an interception to Quentin Groves, then Maurice Jones-Drew fumbled at the goal line, and then Braylon Edwards fumbled at the end of a 41-yard catch. It was a whole lot of ugly going on at once, like the perennially sloppy tendencies of the Jaguars were rubbing off on the Jets.

o. Torry Holt was a great player for many years, despite playing for some obscure St. Louis teams. Really, you could make a case that he was a better player than a few Hall of Famers. (How about Art Monk, Steve Largent, and Lynn Swann to name a few?) I would go so far as to say that he was better than any WR the Broncos have had in my lifetime, a little ahead of Rod Smith.

My point in giving Holt credit, is that I have to say that I think he is getting pretty close to the end of the line. He has really struggled to get any separation, in the times I have watched him this season. He had two strong games, against St. Louis (bad defense) and Seattle (garbage time in a 41-0 game), but I haven't been impressed with his recent work.

p. I loved the call by the Jaguars to have Jones-Drew take a knee and run the clock out. His apology to his fantasy owners made me cringe, though. I may be 7-3 in the official MHR league, but fantasy football is at odds with my beliefs about football, and I have a hard time reconciling the two things.

q. I couldn't talk myself into watching the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game. Sorry, I know it was a key game, but a game with zero offensive touchdowns offends my sensibilities. (Just in case you were wondering why I had nothing on this game.) I'm sure it was ugly, and I feel fine, personally, having seen the highlights. When I walk into a smelly restroom, I get out as quick as possible. No need to hang around for half an hour, to have a good idea what happened there.

r. Jake Delhomme had a dangerously solid game on Sunday. It was the type of fool's gold performance that makes the regime think they are okay with him as their QB, and really, Jake has been having those games his whole career. The Panthers are suddenly 4-5, and back in the picture for a Wild Card spot, but I really believe that they need a better QB if they ever want to really compete for a championship.

s. Matt Ryan struggled mightily again on Sunday, and his two interceptions were a lot of the reason the Falcons lost the game. His first INT, in the second quarter, led to a TD which set the Falcons behind 21-10. The one he threw in the 4th quarter was converted 3 plays later into the TD which put the game away for Carolina.

Don't get me wrong; Ryan is mostly a good QB, but he has definite limitations, which I have highlighted in the past. He really struggles to beat tight coverage, and he's seen a lot of it lately.

t. Speaking of Hall of Fame-caliber guys who look washed up, old friend Jason Elam seems to have really lost his fastball. He's now 9 for 14, and he's only 3 for 6 between 30 and 39 yards. I would be surprised if he kicks after this season.

u. I always thought Beanie Wells was soft when he was at Ohio State, and he didn't do a lot early this season to change my mind. Lately, though, he's shown a lot better, and he's a big reason why the Cardinals are 6-3, and squarely in control of the NFC West. I've also been more impressed with the play of RT Levi Brown than ever before. He's been blowing some people off the ball in the running game.

v. The Chargers have been really tough in the scoring area lately. Of course, the Eagles helped them out by not even trying to run the ball down there. You have to make the defense think that they have to defend everything, or else they are at a distinct advantage. Only getting field goals of 18, 25, and 25 yards on visits deep into San Diego territory was the difference in that game. A defense can get shredded, as the Chargers did, and if they toughen up in the scoring area, they make up for it. A lot of Donovan McNabb's 450 yards were low-quality.

w. The Chargers sure are paying Darren Sproles a lot of money not to participate very much on offense. He's a lot like Reggie Bush, in being a highly-paid decoy who is never going to be much more than what he is.

x. Hey, Adam Schefter. From a money guy, "large" means thousand. When you say "two hundred fifty thousand large," that means $250 Million. He said that on Monday Night Countdown (Served by Applebee's... really). People misspeak all the time; I just wanted to make sure he knows what "large" means. This is coming from a helpful place.

y. I have to hand it to the Browns. They played really well on defense Monday night. Their offense is just so terrible, that it's no use. Those defensive players are playing for jobs next year, whether it be in Cleveland under a new regime, or elsewhere. Guys who show some pride and effort on bad teams will have some good film for their agents to shop them with. Guys who pack it in will be out of the league, like so many guys who played defense in Denver last season.

z. I actually like to listen to MNF nowadays, as I finish ST&NO every week. The main reason is that I actually think that both Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden are value-adding to listen to. The guys at Mickey Mouse-land spent so many years looking for a good third man, with such horrible results, and they've finally found a good 3-man booth. I actually don't like Mike Tirico, who is good at basketball, but bad at football play-by-play (much like Joe Buck is great with baseball, and abysmal with football).

5. I know the Bengals have always been willing to take on troubled players, but it's hard to imagine what they are thinking in reportedly bringing in Larry Johnson. As LJ was to be the key RB on the Shallow Thoughts team in the official MHR Fantasy League, I can tell you that his performance has been garbage this season. Some of his bad performance can certainly be attributed to bad offensive line play in Kansas City, but Johnson is clearly lacking quickness to the hole, and the leg drive he had in his prime. I just don't see what value the Bengals are going to get out of him.

I've reached midnight, and unfortunately, I need to call it a night. My company is in the process of being acquired, which has caused me to be much busier than normal at this time of the month, and I have an early morning meeting Tuesday. I hope you enjoy this edition of ST&NO, and have a great week. I'll see you all again next Tuesday, hopefully with time to give you my normal output.

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations

Ted Bartlett — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:30:14 -0000

More photos » by Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

2 months ago: Denver Broncos' Knowshon Moreno, top, leaps over Oakland Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009.(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Browse more photos »

Happy Tuesday, friends and welcome to another edition of Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations, where we're always aiming to deliver the best thing since Starks in Clark's Wallabees. It's a feel-good Tuesday, right? Our Broncos are 3-0, but it's a much more legitimate-feeling 3-0 than last season's version. The respect is still slow in coming, but it's coming bit by bit.

The most important thing I've witnessed happening is a growing confidence and self-respect among our fan base. MHR is mostly known as a positive-thinking community, so maybe a lot of us were on the feel-good train earlier than others, but I can feel it really starting to take hold. Contrast that to Cleveland (where most are aware that I reside). The feeling around here is just awful, and we can all be glad not to be feeling that way. It's on to the Cowboys game, but first let's do this thing here. Ready.... BEGIN!!!!

1. I was browsing through my Facebook news feed on Sunday night, and I saw this gem from NYCBroncosFan (Later posted on MHR by John Bena):

"Denver rookie head coach Josh McDaniels doesn't have a grasp on how to build a team." - John Clayton, April 23rd, 2009

Doesn't have a grasp, huh? That's a really, embarrassingly arrogant comment, because if you're commenting on other people's "grasps," it necessarily follows that you fancy yourself an expert, who is far beyond mere grasping of the operative subject. I spent some time excoriating Clayton last week, but since that's like stealing a candy bar from a developmentally challenged baby chinchilla, I have no interest in continuing with that tack this week. At some point, the referee calls the fight, and I'll take a bloody win by TKO. It's his blood, and not mine, after all.

What I want to talk about in this prime ST&NO real estate today is the idea of team building. For one thing, what in the world would John Clayton know about building a football team, any damn way?

OK... sorry about that. I guess I need to work on impulse control. Let me start again. New paragraph.

Deep breath. And another. OK, beginning again, in a more measured tone, I didn't tweet a whole lot on Sunday (@TedBartlett905) because I spent a lot of the game on the phone with my brother Chris, a Los Angeles-based fellow Broncos fan. He's a smart guy (it runs in part of the family), and we were talking about team building. His fanhood of Correll Buckhalter continues to grow, and he said that his impression was that Buckhalter was a winning player, and that he never perceived him that way in his Philadelphia days.

Some discussion ensued, and he said one of his classic, succinct "Chris things" that he bestows upon the world sometimes.

"Building a team isn't about getting the best players, it's about getting the right players." Chris Bartlett, September 27, 2009

Riddle me this, friends. Who is the worst player on the 2009 Broncos? That's a tough question to answer, because whoever it is, he is a pretty good football player. As far as I am concerned, this team has zero bad players on it. Now think back to last year. It was a horror show of bad players on defense, right? There were at least 5 starting by the end of the year, and another starting at RB, after all the injuries. Think how many of these players are out of the NFL now, who didn't even get a sniff of a training camp this year. Nearly all of them.

CBS showed a graphic of the sources of player acquisition for the Broncos' 53-man roster.

2009 Free Agency	17	32.08%
2009 Trade	3	5.66%
2009 Draft	9	16.98%
2009 College Free Agent	1	1.89%
Holdovers	23	43.40%

Total	53	100.00%

That is an astounding amount of turnover, but it represented the importation of the right players, if not necessarily the best players. Instead of Channing Crowder, we got the much cheaper Andra Davis, who has been great for the Broncos through 3 games. Instead of Albert Haynesworth or Chris Canty, we got the very cost-effective Ronald Fields, who has also been outstanding. Derrick Ward? How about Buckhalter instead? Only two somewhat highly-priced players were brought in via Free Agency; Brian Dawkins (5 years, $17 Million) and Andre' Goodman (5 years, $20.4 Million), and both of them have been worth their weight in gold. (To get all finance-nerd on you, Dawkins weighs 210 pounds, which is 3,062.5 Troy Ounces. Gold traded at 990.42 USD per Troy Ounce on Monday night, so I just valued Dawkins at $3,033,161.25, which is pretty close to the average annual value of his contract of $3.4 million. Funny how that worked out.) :)

When you know exactly what you want to do on the football field, and you know exactly how you want to do it, you can go out and decisively get the right players to do those things in those ways. Of course, your ability to project the fit of the new players, and evaluate their talent is key. For my money, every single player whom the new Broncos staff signed, drafted, and traded for has performed EXACTLY as expected, if not better. The only bust was J.J. Arrington, who didn't recover well from an injury and cost $100,000 (and nobody was counting on him too much, anyway). It was $100,000 well spent, because a healthy Arrington would be a contributor on this team, and they weren't expecting him to necessarily be healthy anyway.

There is no glaring weakness on this whole football team. That's a lofty statement, but I think it is a true one. The Broncos can run and throw, from big or small personnel groupings. They can stop the run and the pass, and be effective blitzing both and dropping, in base personnel or sub packages. The special teams have been excellent, through 3 games, even if I am a little reluctant to call that a sure thing yet. How many teams can say all of that? I can't really think of any, beyond the Giants and the Ravens. Maybe the Broncos' strengths aren't as strong as some other teams', but their weaknesses are mostly less weak. You'd better bring your "A" game when you play this team, because they're going to compete with you.

The 2009 Denver Broncos are a good football team, and they can compete with anybody in the NFL. This fact becomes clearer all the time, which is to say that most people still aren't hip to it, yet. They'll get there, though, eventually. Thinking ahead to 2010, anybody the Broncos bring in will be to upgrade a position of some strength. To me, that is a textbook way to build a team. As for John Clayton, I wonder when Josh McDaniels gets his apology, for the mean-spirited, myopic, and idiotic comment of April 23rd. I am betting on never.

2. Information From My Eyes - Denver at Oakland Edition:

a. I was just saying how the Broncos don't have any particular glaring weaknesses. An area where they can (and need to) perform better is in short-yardage running. I thought Russ Hochstein looked pretty bad as the goal-line FB for 3 straight plays; I want to see Spencer Larsen back filling that role if Peyton Hillis is going to be the ball carrier. I actually think that Knowshon Moreno could be the better option, though. He runs with quickness and violence, and I think he can be really effective down at the goal line.

b. Jabar Gaffney was a fantastic acquisition, and he continues to make key plays for the Broncos. He would be the number one guy for the Raiders if he'd signed there, and the Crypt Keeper wasn't setting the depth chart. I am glad he signed in Denver and that he plays a great deal for the Broncos.

c. Renaldo Hill has been such an unsung guy throughout his career, but he's a really good player. He is always in the right position, and plays the game with awareness and intelligence.

d. Does anybody realize the the Broncos' defense is now number 1 in the NFL in both yards and points per game?

e. I'll talk more about Ryan Clady in the Between The Lines segment, but he tied an NFL record Sunday by posting his 19th consecutive game from the start of his NFL career without allowing a full sack. The player he tied is Ryan Young, a forgotten former Jet, who began his career in 1999. It says here that next week, Mr. Clady will dominate DeMarcus Ware, as he did in the 2008 Preseason, and he'll hold the record alone.

f. I'd like to see Eddie Royal get the ball more on offense, and I am sure I am not alone in that camp. It just seems to me that the Broncos were sure they could run the ball at will against Cleveland and Oakland, and decided to follow that plan without a lot of deviation. When you get substantial leads, passing seems more risky than what you want in the second halves of games.

g. I didn't think RIch Gannon was particularly critical of the Raiders Sunday, and I wonder if John Herrerra's ~~clownish~~ typical ploy worked, by chastening Gannon's commentary about his former team. It's pretty ridiculous that the Raiders are so allergic to criticism, and the better way to avoid it is to lose the Commitment To Sucking.

h. I usually get things right, and I still think JaMarcus Russell can salvage his career and be a good QB. I have to say, though, that ever since I said that he looked good in Week 3 of the preseason, he has played terribly. He clearly isn't playing with much confidence right now, and it is incumbent on the Raiders' staff to set him up for success by asking him to do things he is comfortable doing. My understanding is that they're messing with Russell's mechanics a lot in practice, and while he definitely needs refinement, the regular season is no time for overhauls.

i. Could Darrius Heyward-Bey possibly look more clueless on the field? That guy is a project, because he doesn't know how to run routes, and he's inconsistent catching the ball. Louis Murphy is better than him now, and probably always will be. Of course, Murphy didn't have too great a game Sunday, either.

j. Nice job of holding by Brett Kern, as two Lonie Paxton snaps weren't too great. Matt Prater did his job Sunday, which should keep his critics temporarily at bay.

k. Has anybody else noticed that the Broncos' captains aren't wearing the "C" patches? I was under the impression that doing so was a Roger Goodell mandate. Does anybody know more than me about this?

l. I also noticed (last week) that the Broncos' name wasn't painted in the end zones at Mile High, and all there were were the diagonal stripes. I didn't really care for the look, and I wonder what the rationale for it is.

3. Information From My Eyes - Other Games Edition:

a. The Patriots sure have been struggling in goal-to-go situations the last couple weeks. I think if I had Randy Moss, I'd definitely be looking to hit some fade routes on teams down there. Part of the problem is definitely that their line isn't getting the same push as in past seasons

b. Brian Williams was released by the Jaguars, but still looks pretty useful to me. He broke up a deep ball to Randy Moss that would have been a sure TD, and generally looked to me like a solid player. For the Patriots, they were in on the Jaguars Retreads Act too, with Fred Taylor looking very good, and getting over 100 yards and a TD. Taylor is a formerly great player, who has declined to being merely a good one, but he was a classic Patriots bargain acquisition.

c. Ryan Mouton for the Titans may be playing himself out of a job, and he personally cost his team the game against the Jets (with help from Kerry Collns). Mouton hasn't shown much positive in the return game, and has shown trouble holding on to the football.

d. As for Collins, he was in a no-win situation, but he needed to play better. Sunday's game was a classic case of the game getting away from the better all-around team early on, and causing them to play from behind, to their operational detriment. Collins is not built to play like that, and he responded accordingly.

e. I haven't seen a lot of the Redskins this season, so I watched a bit of the Detroit-Washington game Sunday. The Skins are getting atrocious play from their offensive line, and are another team that should have taken Michael Oher. Jim Zorn has faced a lot of criticism for his scoring area play-calling, but the fact is, if the line doesn't block anybody, Clinton Portis can't pound the ball in.

f. The Lions are on the right track, and it's clear how much better coached they are than they have been - maybe ever in my lifetime. Matthew Stafford, Kevin Smith, and Calvin Johnson are an outstanding trio on offense, and Brandon Pettigrew is another nice weapon. The Lions need more talent to be a real contender, but they will steal a few more wins this season, like they did on Sunday, and add to their talent base in the next offseason. They'll grow up with Stafford, and finally be a legitimate team.

g. Tampa Bay is a terrible team right now, especially on defense. Tim Crowder is playing significant snaps for them, which speaks to their relative talent level, when he was the odd man out in Denver. Even a good play, like Sabby Piscitelli's tackle for a loss on Brandon Jacobs to force a FG rather than a TD is wasted, because the Bucs can't put together any kind of consistent performance in the other phases of the game.

h. Percy Harvin is a dangerous, dangerous player. He never returned kickoffs at Florida, because the best kick returner in America, Brandon James, was there, too. Harvin took one back 101 yards in the third quarter Sunday, and looked like he was born to do it. He has now scored in every game this season, and could challenge Mark Sanchez to be Offensive Rookie of the Year, if he keeps it up.

i. The 49ers got their own huge special teams play, when Ray McDonald blocked a FG attempt and Nate Clements took it back 59 yards for a TD as the first half ended. Both of those special teams plays felt like huge momentum shifts, and neither particularly ended up affecting the final score, thanks to Brett Favre's heroics.

j. A young defensive player I like a lot is Thomas DeCoud, a Safety for the Falcons. He was a third-round pick last season, and he showed very well against the Patriots on Sunday, especially in breaking up a well-thrown Tom Brady-to-Randy Moss deep ball.

k. The Cincinnati Bengals look real to me, as real as Carson Palmer can make them. The big surprise to me is how well their offensive line is playing, even without top draft pick Andre Smith. Andrew Whitworth is better than I thought he was, and he's doing pretty well at Left Tackle, even if James Harrison did get him once for a sack on Sunday. When Smith gets healthy, he'll step right in at RT, and they'll be even better, because he can blow guys off the ball.

l. For more Bengals fun, the winning Touchdown was caught by another ST&NO Favorite, Andre Caldwell, who is turning into a nice WR. He was a great player throughout his career at Florida, his brother Reche played in the NFL, and you have to love a WR whose nickname is Bubba. He is part of a really good group, along with Chad Ochocinco, Chris Henry, and Laveranues Coles (yet another ST&NO Favorite), and he makes the Bengals that much harder to defend, especially when you remember to worry about the highly underrated Cedric Benson. If I were the Bengals' offensive coordinator, I'd be going 4 wide with Benson all game long, and making teams try to stop me from running with their sub packages. The Bengals' coaching budget is too light to have that much creativity, though. It costs money, after all.

m. The Steelers defense really misses Troy Polamalu from a scheme perspective, because his presence allows them to do a lot of the exotic blitz packages they normally do. Polamalu is one of the very fastest players in the NFL in pads, and can consistently show blitz, and get to deep center field from there at the snap.

n. I think the Cardinals lost the Sunday Night Game on one play, when Tim Hightower fumbled inside the Colts' 5-yard line in the second quarter. If they scored, they'd have taken a 10-0 lead, and instead, the Colts just took off after that play. I question the mental toughness of the Cardinals team, and especially Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who seems like he doesn't want me to be right in praising him a few weeks ago.

o. Donald Brown is a much better player than Joseph Addai in all phases of the game, and it's absolutely no accident that he's getting the crunch-time snaps for the Colts, even if Addai is nominally the starter.

p. Dwight Freeney's injury could be catastrophic for the Colts, if he has to miss a lot of time. A lot is made of how irreplaceable Bob Sanders has been in years past, but I actually think Melvin Bullitt does a really nice job filling in for him. Freeney is the irreplaceable one for the Colts, make no mistake about that. If they can't rush the passer with 4 men, they're suddenly as vulnerable against the pass as they are against the run.

q. The Ravens are hitting on all cylinders right now, and look like the best team in the NFL, to me. I don't think they miss Rex Ryan too much, as it looks like Greg Mattison has their defense playing just as well as Ryan did. Mattison isn't well known to NFL fans yet, but he's a great coach (I am familiar with him from his college days).

r. Brady Quinn is not the problem for the Browns, and neither would Derek Anderson be, although Quinn is better. I talked about how the Broncos hit on all of their offseason acquisitions - well, the Browns missed on all of theirs, from the looks of things so far. They're talent-poor, and they look like they know they are losers. It's going to be a long season here in the metro area, but at least the locals are used to this. I can't imagine how Eric Mangini and George Kokinis evaluated this to be a competitive group of players.

s. Stick a fork in the Dolphins, even before Chad Pennington was lost for the season. Chad Henne is not the answer, and he'll prove that as the season goes on. Pat White isn't either, as a full-time QB, so I expect Miami to be shopping after this season, with a high first-rounder to spend. After passing on Matt Ryan in 2008, you wonder if they'd do it again.

t. Darren Sproles proved once again that he is a second banana, and not a lead back.

u. The longest run the Broncos have given up this season was 20 yards, to Cedric Benson. If Felix Jones is healthy next Sunday, and the Broncos miss setting the edge at an inopportune time, that could go out the window. The only RB who's more dangerous to the outside is Jones' draft classmate Chris Johnson, and it's not a very big difference. Jones strained his left knee on a 40-yard run in the 3rd quarter Monday night.

v. You know who has developed into a terrific player is Thomas Davis, who was a first-round pick as a Safety for the Panthers in 2005. It took him awhile to learn how to play LB, but he has really turned into a Pro Bowl-caliber guy. He is excellent in coverage, and really hits guys.

w. I only saw the very end of the Seattle-Chicago game, and didn't care enough to record or watch the Short Cut. What I saw though told me what I already knew, which is that Seneca Wallace isn't good enough to be a backup QB in the NFL. When he was forced to throw the ball from the pocket in a compressed-time situation, and beat zone defense with strong throws, he was unable to do it. The Seahawks have to know this by now, and should have addressed it in the offseason.

x. The Texans got screwed on that offensive pass-interference call on Kevin Walter, to be sure, but Chris Brown has to hold onto the ball going into the end zone. The Texans are a team that just can't seem to consistently do the little things to win games, which doesn't reflect very well on MHR favorite Gary Kubiak and his staff. To be honest, doing the big things well and missing the little things is sort of Later Years Shanahan-ish, when you think about it. I hope Kubiak and Company can get it turned around.

4. Between The Lines

Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders

a. Once again, the Broncos were nearly flawless in pass protection - this time, against the best pair of DEs they've seen this season. Kyle Orton took one significant hit, on an outside stunt by Gerard Warren, after he'd gotten rid of the ball. Ryan Clady owned Richard Seymour, to the point where Seymour was called for a personal foul for pulling Clady's hair. On the right side, Ryan Harris dominated Greg Ellis, as well. Ellis came into the game with 3 sacks but never got a sniff of Orton. The inside of the Broncos' line also held up well, against their somewhat-lesser individual competition. Largely since the Broncos rarely had to throw, the Raiders never generated a significant rush in this game. ESPN.com didn't even give Warren credit for his QB hit, and had the Raiders entirely shut out in their box score.

b. For their part, the Raiders struggled in pass protection, before finally pretty much giving up on throwing the football. I had to look up who #51 was, because he showed up in my notes several times with terrible plays. It's Chris Morris, a natural Center, who was playing Guard. In addition to two holding penalties, he got beaten a few times. Mario Henderson struggled mightily with Elvis Dumervil, who had two sacks and should have had two more (Darrell Reid's hands-to-the-face penalty cost him one, and JaMarcus Russell dragged him past the line of scrimmage on another). Robert Ayers lined up all over and got a lot of pressure. I am really pleased with his growth. Darrell Reid got a sack, and Vonnie Holliday and Marcus Thomas also got good pressure in spots. The Broncos sacked Russell 3 times, and hit him 3 more.

c. The Broncos line also dominated in the running game, again splitting about half and half between zone- and man-blocking concepts. The only black mark was the failure to convert 3 straight runs from the 1-yard line early in the game. Ryan Harris was dominant in the running game, and was key to springing both of Correll Buckhalter's long runs. Clady was his normal self, and his cut block on Nnamdi Asomugha allowed Knowshon Moreno to score his first-ever TD. The Broncos rushed 45 times for 215 yards (4.8 per rush) and the Moreno TD. I did think the Broncos slowed down a bit when Russ Hochstein and Tyler Polumbus played a lot in the second half. I really enjoyed Richard Quinn's blocking, and he showed again that he is just another player who is perfectly fitting his role, as imagined when he was acquired.

d. The Raiders came into the game with a pretty vaunted rushing attack, and it never really got going. They rushed for 95 yards on 21 carries, but it was tremendously disjointed, and 15 of those yards came on one run by Russell. Henderson was a bit better in the running game for Oakland, and Samson Satele showed a bit of surge a few times, too. For the most part, though, the Broncos held the line of scrimmage, and maintained their gap discipline well. Mario Haggan had a really nice game against the run, and forced a Darren McFadden fumble, which Thomas and Reid unfortunately failed to recover, after the three of them had combined to stack up a play. McFadden got a couple of outside creases, but nothing consistent at all.

e. The Broncos dominated both lines in this game, and there was no bigger reason why they won. It was so clear that even the fairly reticent Josh McDaniels claimed the victory in these areas.

Green Bay Packers at St. Louis Rams

a. I feel like I have been telling this story for two years (possibly because I have been), but the Packers are bad in pass protection. Leonard Little beat Allen Barbre twice for sacks, and Aaron Rodgers avoided 5 other near sacks by running with the ball (he had 8 carries for 38 yards and a TD). If the Rams were any better on the defensive line, Rodgers could have had a more-typically painful day. I didn't see much of anything from Chris Long in the pass-rushing department, even against the underwhelming pass blocking of Daryn Colledge.

b. The Packers disappointed in terms of rushing the passer. Aaron Kampman got a sack and injured Marc Bulger, but the Packers never hit Kyle Boller after that. I was really surprised, because the Rams' OT combination of Alex Barron and Adam Goldberg is decidedly below average. Barron was solid, but Goldberg surrendered the Kampman sack and had a holding penalty, on a play where I initially wrote "great block" (The replay showed it to definitely be a hold). Jason Brown has been a very nice acquisition for the Rams, and anchored the middle. I really didn't see much from Clay Matthews, and I haven't yet.

c. The Packers' rushing stats looked pretty good, with 37 carries for 152 yards and 2 TDs. The truth is, the gains made by Ryan Grant were very hard-fought, and only averaged 3.8 yards per carry. The overall number is dramatically inflated by Rodgers' 38 yards and Donald Driver's 13. Chris Long did show well in the running game, and Clifton Ryan hung pretty tough inside, but the best run stopper was S Craig Dahl, not a lineman.

d. The Rams actually did a very nice job of run blocking, led by Jason Brown and RG Richie Incognito. Barron and Goldberg were OK outside, but the battle was won inside. For the Packers, ST&NO Favorite Cullen Jenkins had a disappointing game, but NT Ryan Pickett showed pretty well. B.J. Raji was active for the first time, and I never noticed him in this game once, and I'm not even sure that he played, since he didn't register on the stat sheet.

e. I'd give a slight edge to the Rams overall, which is mostly probably due to low expectations. I just can't get past the feeling that the Packers are really bad on the O-Line, and it's a shame, because they're very good otherwise. The Rams have to feel pretty good about their performance, and maybe it carries over to games against lesser competition.

5. So, I guess this makes me something of a flip-flopper, but I am going to briefly explain a change in previously stated policy, so we're all on the same page, and nobody wonders. I have previously declared that I would henceforth refer to several underwhelming football writers by unflattering nicknames. I have decided to change course on that policy, and call them by their names.

I like to think that this column is pretty good, and I don't want to detract from that. There's no need to feed the God of Obviousness by calling people names, and I can get cheap laughs by other methods. I will still feel free to criticize stupid things that people write, but I will call their writers by their chosen names.

6. Back to football, I decided to name glaring weaknesses by team, to illustrate my point in item 1. I am limiting this to whole phases of the game, and mostly not subsets of a phase of the game.

Dallas Cowboys - Pass coverage, Pass rush (other than DeMarcus Ware)

New York Giants - None, but pass protection is sometimes close to being one.

Philadelphia Eagles - Running the ball inside

Washington Redskins - The offensive line in both the running and passing games

Green Bay Packers - Pass protection (a major weakness)

Detroit Lions- Pass protection, run defense, pass defense

Minnesota Vikings- Pass protection, Pass coverage

Chicago Bears - The offensive line in both the running and passing games, and pass coverage from safeties

San Francisco 49ers - Pass offense, Pass rush

Seattle Seahawks - Run offense, Pass protection

Arizona Cardinals - Pass protection (a major weakness, like Green Bay)

St. Louis Rams - Everything, except for punting and place-kicking; this is the least talented team in the NFL

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Pass rush, Run defense, Pass offense

Carolina Panthers - Run defense

Atlanta Falcons - Pass defense and Interior run defense

New Orleans Saints - Pass defense (it's somewhat improved, but I don't trust it after Kevin Kolb lit them up)

New England Patriots - Pass protection, Pass rush

New York Jets - Pass protection (though it is improving)

Miami Dolphins - Passing offense

Buffalo Bills - Pass defense

Pittsburgh Steelers- Pass protection, Run offense

Baltimore Ravens - None

Cleveland Browns - Everything except special teams

Cincinnati Bengals - Pass protection (but they're improving lately)

Oakland Raiders - Pass offense, Run defense

Kansas City Chiefs - Run defense, Pass rush, Pass offense

San Diego Chargers - Run defense, Pass rush

Jacksonville Jaguars - Pass offense, Pass defense

Houston Texans - Pass protection, Run defense

Indianapolis Colts - Run defense

Tennessee Titans - Pass offense, Pass coverage

7. Retired for John Elway

8. I saw where ESPN Dallas was launched this week, joining Chicago and Boston as cities where the Worldwide Leader has spread. I wonder when/if Denver gets its own site. If it happens, their writers better consistently bring their "A" games to compete with MHR.

9. Big up Matt Bowen of the National Football Post for being the first widely-distributed national NFL writer to admit he didn't see the Broncos coming, and that they're for real.

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Time-to-hop-on-the-Broncos-bandwagon.html

Can the Broncos keep it going?

Sure they can. I fully understand that the early season schedule has been favorable for the Broncos, but looking ahead, they still have two games against Kansas City, one more at home versus the Raiders (three games they should win) and two big games against Philip Rivers and the Chargers.

Anybody who can divorce themselves from their preconceived notions can see that the Broncos are doing all of the little things that win games. That's the crux of Bowen's realization, and I salute him for being the first to have the combination of acumen and guts to see it and say it.

10. An early thought on next week's Cowboys game. Dallas has a massive offensive line, and they tend to wear teams down by the time the second half rolls around. That's what happened with the Panthers Monday night. I think the Broncos will be tougher to wear down, because they use such an interchangeable rotation of defensive linemen, and there's no particular drop-off in quality when the subs come in. Every player in the rotation is contributing, and I think it bodes really well for success in Week 4.

That's all for this week, friends. Check us out Saturday morning for Lighting Up

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations

Ted Bartlett — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:30:14 -0000

More photos » by Jack Dempsey - AP

3 months ago: Former Denver Broncos tight end Shannon Sharpe reacts as he is inducted into the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame during ceremonies at half time during the Broncos - Cleveland Browns NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009, in Denver. (AP Photo/ Jack Dempsey )

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Happy Tuesday, friends. We're back with another edition of ST&NO, because this train can't be stopped. Fresh off a weekend full of football, we have a lot to discuss; so read it, ponder it, and share your thoughts.

1. Respect. It's almost as if a whole song could be written about it or something. Picture Eddie Murphy's dad drunkenly hollering "R-E-C-C-C-T-P, mother-%^$er you know how to spell it." The 2009 Denver Broncos have gotten no respect, still, after being 2-0. There have been a tepid acknowledgment or two, but no mea culpas.

From John Clayton at ESPN:

Broncos coach Josh McDaniels is off to an impressive start -- thanks largely to a defense that appears to be much better than last year's version.

From his colleague Bill "Pork Chop" Williamson:

The defense has been a problem area for Denver in recent season. (sic) Yet, the new 3-4 system in Denver seems to be working. If the Broncos can continue to play well, they could have a decent season. So far, it’s been a good start.

Clayton, remember, thought the Broncos would win 3 games this season, that they were in disarray, and that their defense was terrible. It's all right here and here.

DIVISION FINISH: 4 Face it, the Broncos are a mess. They could be a three- or a four-win team if Kyle Orton struggles, the running game gets off to a slow start and Brandon Marshall continues to pout and be immature. To add to things, the defense that gave up 28 points a game is trying a completely new scheme. Ouch.

If you watched any Broncos preseason football, you'd draw a conclusion from all 4 games that the defense was vastly improved, right? I mean, it didn't take a professional scout to see; it was clear as day. And, where I am from, when something is completely broken, you throw it out, and start over. So, I'll take a completely new scheme after giving up 28 points per game, thanks.

No word yet from Adam Schein, Jamie Dukes, or the other disrespectors from the echo chamber.

Today, I am going to hypothesize a hypothesis for y'all. One should never claim to be an NFL expert, because nobody knows it all, or sees it all. For the first 7 weeks of the 2008 NFL season, I watched every snap of every game played, while also working my full-time job. I wanted to be an NFL expert, and I figured, if DirecTV is going to provide each full game in 30-minute-or-less blocks, I should watch them all. I'd been complaining for years that football writers could, and didn't, and hell, I was going to do it. I was also going to launch a website, attract millions of readers quickly, and make long dollars. Well, after 7 weeks, I got really burned out from working 9-10 hours per day at my job, and then watching games and writing for 3-4 more, and I didn't really want to do it anymore. Not too long after that, John Bena approached me about becoming a member of the staff here at MHR, and I decided to do so. It was a good decision for me, and I still get to focus a lot on league-wide stuff, with the thought being that the Broncos don't play in a vacuum, and that everything which happens around the league ultimately affects our team.

The marketplace of football ideas is wide and varied, and you can usually find somebody to take any position on anything. The internet and Twitter have made it so that anybody can contribute to this marketplace, and those ideas which have merit tend to be taken seriously, while those which don't, don't. For my free market capitalists out there, this is the way an efficient market is supposed to work. Consumers are free to judge the quality of the products available, and choose which ones to consume. Quality rules.

Well, this is not a perfectly efficient market, but none of them really are. While this market's barriers to entry are low, (meaning anybody can start a football blog), getting people to want to read your content is the hard part. Those who were first to the party have a built-in advantage, the ESPN's and Sports Illustrated's. If you've always gotten your football opinions from the Boringest Man In America, chances are you will continue to do so, unless some compelling reason to stop emerges.

My view of the football ideas market is this; there are a lot of people shouting, mostly the same, or similar things, and it gets to be the aforementioned echo chamber. The thing is, many of the echoes start from people who don't really know what they're talking about. There are a few flavors of football commentators.

a. The Classically Trained Reporter - These people generally went to journalism school, and instinctively, always revert to wanting to report the news. These are people who cultivate sources, and build relationships with agents, players, coaches, and each other. SOMETHING is happening, and these people are going to find out what it is, and tell everybody. There actually doesn't tend to be a lot of writing talent among this group, and they're given to use of a lot of clichés and bad puns. Also, there is very little real football knowledge, either. These are the classic repeaters of information, which I reference from time-to-time. The gathering of information is value-adding to our marketplace of ideas, but these people don't contribute much else. If you think about it, a sports reporter is to a reporter, as a gym teacher is to a teacher.

b. The Bloviator - I don't have to spell out specifically who I mean, here, right? Every city has these guys (they're nearly all guys), and after years of paying their dues, beating the bushes for information about who the QB is dating, and what he had for breakfast, they have graduated from being mere reporters. They are actually worse than the reporters, because they get far away from the work of actual information gathering, and they just spew their opinions, in as obnoxious and confrontational a manner possible. Those opinions come from 30,000 feet, and are only designed to get people arguing; they're basically agent provocateurs. The bloviators tend to be the slightly more talented wordsmiths, coming up from the ranks of the beat writers, but that still isn't saying a whole lot. Only the local newspapers have these guys, and they're slowly sinking with their papers. In the era of globalization, local institutions quit mattering when they can't compete anymore. Living in Cleveland, you see that firsthand, all the time, as you drive by idled steel plants. These are the people who appear on Around The Horn, and the biggest problem with them is that they work for overtly journalistic enterprises, and act like quasi-journalists, but they make themselves the story. ESPN encourages a few of their reporters to become Bloviators, but they don't go all-in with it, like the local potentate at the money-hemorrhaging newspaper.

c. The Former Participant - The football ideas marketplace is full of these guys, too - former players, coaches, and executives, mostly in the televised space. These people have something general to add, but they tend not to work hard enough to know the teams and players at a very detailed level. They can see how a blitz unfolds, and describe it credibly in general terms, but they think that Todd Lyght is playing Left Tackle for the Patriots. Many of these people struggle mightily with coherent communication of their thoughts, and they tend to contribute very little in the written space, with the notable exceptions being Bucky Brooks, Matt Bowen, Pat Kirwan and Michael Lombardi.

d. The Radio Idiot - Radio is a really strange medium, because you have to be able to communicate entirely verbally to be successful at it. Even in the written form, you can use diagrams, but in radio, you have to just keep talking. It's a rare skill-set, and for the most part, it tends not to accompany great intelligence, knowledge, or command of facts. Radio people tend to be really antisocial on a person-to-person level, and it's almost like you need to have some psychological problems to be good at radio. I definitely couldn't be a radio personality, because I don't speak or think in short, simple, easily digestible soundbites. (For as smart as he is, our fearless leader John Bena does a great job with MHR Radio, which works against my thinking, but no theory is perfect.)

Adam Schein is the classic Radio Idiot, and FOX actually lets him write a lousy column, in which he regurgitates what his Sirius NFL Radio guests told him during the week. He's an "Insider," you know. Colin Cowherd, another MHR favorite, also qualifies, though he is thankfully confined to the airwaves.

Into this landscape entered the sports blog, and they're growing and getting better all over the place. At MHR, we're really lucky to have a tremendous amount of talent and dedication in the community, making the this site a living, self-sustaining thing. With every game, and every post, MHR asserts itself more and more as the preeminent source of Broncos information, discussion, and commentary.

As the marketplace of ideas becomes more and more efficient, our position will continue to strengthen, because quality rules. All members are stakeholders. If you're a frequent contributor, keep up the great work. If you comment once in a while, consider writing a FanPost. If you're a lurker, sign up and join the conversation. And if you have friends who are Broncos fans, encourage them to check us out, even if they start out as lurkers.

As a community, we'll continue to be all over all things Broncos, together, because we all have a stake in the output. And, eventually, we'll defeat the echo chamber, even if they never admit to completely misjudging this team, due to a lack of inclination to putting any effort into understanding it. Who could have seen this coming? We saw this coming, that's who.

I will finish this diatribe by sharing my approach to being knowledgeable, which I am sure is similar to the approach many of you take. Step one is to pay attention to everything at a high level, and wonder about something. Step two is to investigate that specific item I wondered about. Step three is to consider and evaluate the findings, and what they mean in the larger context of my existing understanding. I never trust what anybody says, and if I am going to repeat/agree with something smart that I heard somebody say, I attribute the thought to them. Pretty straightforward, right? This is not what is largely going on, though, throughout the media landscape, sports and otherwise. It's a lot easier to repeat some idiot/blowhard's words when they confirm your own assumptions and leanings, than it is to work, and figure out the right answer. That's not what we do here at MHR, and I am personally proud of that.

2. Information from my eyes on the Broncos game: (From the live broadcast only, as I was unable to watch a second time yet).

a. It was great having Chris Kuper back. He's very underrated and reliable at RG, and the group played much better with him in there.

b. Casey Wiegmann had a pretty tough time with Shaun Rogers, which isn't really a major indictment of him, but it's a fact. Rogers is a great player, and got a lot of penetration Sunday, making him Cleveland's lone bright spot, on either side of the ball.

c. I wouldn't trade Alphonso Smith for any other nickel CB in the NFL. His skill-set is tremendous for that role, and it won't be long before he is taking an interception back for 6 points.

d. I feel a little bad for Matt Prater, because the gusting wind really got a hold of those two missed Field Goals. I think the criticism he is taking is a little bit unwarranted, at least for the moment. He needs to be making his kicks, but 40-mph gusts can move anybody's ball. I was pleased with his kickoff work on Sunday, which was really important, too.

e. How nice is it to have coverage teams that can tackle a return man? Josh Cribbs is as good as it gets in the return game, and the Broncos did a fantastic job of containing him.

f. I would still like to see more of Peyton Hillis with the ball in his hands, on offense. The only time he got it, he scored, but he has a lot to add in the passing and running games.

g. Nobody has mentioned this yet, that I have seen, but Tony Scheffler has grown into a very good blocker. In the second half, particularly, I made a note that the Broncos were motioning him into position to seal the edge of running plays, and he was hitting his man hard, and maintaining his blocks. That 3-TE package (Scheffler, Daniel Graham and Richard Quinn), which we saw a lot of in the second half, was knocking some heads in the running game. The local Cleveland media says that the Browns defense collapsed in the second half, but really, the Broncos started dominating up front in the second half.

h. Knowshon Moreno seems to be a pretty quick study, huh? I think Bobby Turner spent a good amount of time last week "encouraging" him to take one cut and go.

i. I wrote this on Twitter Sunday (@TedBartlett905) but it bears repeating.

Really good things happen when Brian Dawkins blitzes. He made the play, and Dumervil gets the stat.

Elvis Dumervil's first sack was actually caused by Dawkins blitzing, and jumping high into the air in Brady Quinn's throwing lane, which he frequently does. Quinn couldn't throw it, turned to his left, and met Dumervil for the first time.

j. Interesting stuff from Eric Mangini, via Steve Beuerlein, the color analyst for the game. Paraphrasing, he said that he considered it futile to have a good pass rusher try to beat Ryan Clady, because it was practically impossible to do. We all know Ryan is the best offensive lineman in the NFL, because we pay attention to such things.

Len Pasquarelli, not so much:

Young tackles thriving

Surprisingly, given its perceived difficulty, the position that has produced the most opening-day rookie starters over the past two seasons is offensive tackle, with 11. Even more surprising is that seven of the 11 are left tackles, a position that is among the most difficult to fill and is regarded as the most critical spot on the offense line. There were six rookie opening-day starters at tackle in 2008, and there are five this year, all of whom were selected in the first or second round. Arguably the best of the lot might be Ryan Clady of Denver, a 2008 first-rounder from Boise State who started all 16 games as a rookie. Some pro scouts already rate the relatively unknown Clady among the NFL's top 5 tackles and say he has made more progress than Jake Long of Miami, the top overall pick in 2008.

OK, this is not a news flash, that Clady is good. I want to talk to the pro scouts who don't rate him among the top 5 at that position, but I doubt there are any, unless there are some unqualified people in that role. This is what I mean about repeating information. When you talk to 3 pro scouts, and they all tell you Clady is great, you come to "some pro scouts."

As for Jake Long, he is what he is. He's athletically limited, but a solid player who is very valuable in the running game. Against elite pass rushers, he'll always struggle. I watched Dwight Freeney dominate him in the first half Monday night, bull rushing him to the ground several times.

3. Information from my eyes from other games:

.a. The main game I watched in the 1 ET slot was New England against the Jets. Guru's wife and other Patriots fans ought to be pretty alarmed by the Patriots' inability to protect Tom Brady with any consistency, for the second week in a row. It really limits their offense, by wrecking their timing, and I saw Brady looking really frustrated on Sunday.

I was all over picking this game correctly, because I was certain that the Patriots couldn't block the Jets' pressure packages. They are going to need to re-evaluate their protection schemes, and max-protect more often, because what they are doing simply isn't working.

b. Scheme is really important, and can add as much as value as talent, as we've seen from Mike Nolan this season. Rex Ryan's scheme is just outstanding for the Jets, and he gets a lot of pressure from the design alone. It's worth noting that they're doing this without their best pass rusher, Calvin Pace, who is still suspended for two more games.

c. Darrelle Revis is a fantastic player, much better than the football-watching world knows him to be. His game has no weaknesses, and he shut down Randy Moss on Sunday, which is obviously no small thing. He and Lito Sheppard, who is very good on the other side, allow the Jets to blitz so often without worrying too much.

d. I caught a great deal of the Texans-Titans game, too. The biggest impression I took from that game was that the Titans defense is really underachieving this season, especially in coverage. I like Matt Schaub, but he and the Texans shouldn't be slicing up Tennessee like that, especially missing a starting WR (Kevin Walter) and with Steve Slaton continuing to struggle a bit. With the Titans' record at 0-2 now, you have to wonder how long it takes for new Defensive Coordinator Chuck Cecil to come under a lot of fire.

e. From Chris Mortensen on Twitter Monday Night:

Packers have me very confused but 1 thing is clear after 2 games - their O-line is a much bigger weakness than they anticipated.

If they hadn't anticipated it would be a problem, then their anticipators are a problem, too. If Mort means it's a bigger weakness than HE anticipated, okay. He's more or less a repeater of information, and if nobody told him, he probably wouldn't know.

I have been ripping the Packers O-line for two years now, and I beat them up for taking B.J. Raji instead of Michael Oher. It was obvious that the Chad Clifton-Mark Tauscher combination at Tackle was terrible last season, and it's even more clear that Clifton and Allen Barbre are even worse. Clifton got hurt on Sunday, and was replaced by Daryn Colledge, who needs to stick to being an average Guard.

f. What in the world has gotten into Antwan Odom? After two sacks last week against the Broncos, he got five against the Packers. This is a guy who has had a thoroughly average career so far, so it's a little surprising to see this burst of production all of a sudden. He looks bigger and quicker than in the past, so it will bear watching whether he can keep it up.

g. I picked the Lions to beat Minnesota this week, and I admittedly missed on that one. I felt pretty good when the Lions got out to an early lead, though. I think the Vikings are going to really disappoint this season. Brett Favre hasn't looked very good to me in the first two weeks, and hasn't thrown the ball downfield. Going 23-for-27 is good, but 155 yards? That's really un-Favre-like. If I were an opposing defensive coordinator, with two games of film now, I'd be having my corners sit on every short route, and force the guy to beat me deep. I never thought I'd say that about Favre, but I am.

h. Michael Huff seems like he may finally be putting it all together. He has now caused turnovers in each of the Raiders' first two games. He looks much more sure of himself in play diagnosis than in past years. Maybe he is just a late bloomer, but there was some speculation he could be cut in camp this year, if he didn't improve a lot.

i. I have been pretty complimentary of JaMarcus Russell lately, but he played terribly on Sunday, until the final game-winning series. That throw he made on 3rd and 15 is the reason you live with his growing pains. The Raiders could help him out by giving him some higher-percentage options to throw to, but he needs to make plays, too.

j. Really nice throw by Matt Cassel and catch by Dwayne Bowe to give the Chiefs the lead against the Raiders. The Chiefs really dominated the game on offense, but made a lot of mistakes to keep the game close. They held the ball for 38 minutes and 39 seconds, which really goes to illustrate the sometimes-deceiving nature of the time-of-possession statistic.

k. The Eagles missed Donovan McNabb, obviously, but I was a little surprised that they didn't do better on defense. That was a Philly Steamer their defense laid. Incidentally, it didn't help my fantasy team much, in the official MHR League, this week, either.

l. Mario Manningham is really starting to emerge as the best WR for the Giants, and he had a huge game Sunday night against the Cowboys. He ran a slower-than-expected 40 coming out of college, and had some maturity questions, but the guy was a big-time player at Michigan. For a team with a lot of 3rd-WR types, the Giants desperately need somebody to emerge, and it looks like Manningham can be that guy. We'll have to see what happens when teams get some film on him, but for now he is carrying it well.

m. The Cowboys are not a legitimate contender this season. Their defense is very suspect, particularly against the pass, and their only legitimate pass rusher is DeMarcus Ware, at this point. I've never seen anything from Anthony Spencer, either in college or the pros, to convince me that he is the answer on the other side. They had Greg Ellis, and really erred in letting him get away. If you can't cover, and the 'Boys can't, you'd better be getting to the QB. Most teams, other than the Broncos, can't handle Ware one-on-one, but if you double him, you'll almost certainly have time to throw the ball.

n. Felix Jones is downright scary for the Cowboys. They pretty much struck out on Mike Jenkins in the first round in 2008, but hit a home run with Jones. I guess one-for-two isn't that bad, all things considered.

o. Some fool took me to task on YouTube when I did the pilot program for Lighting Up The Scoreboard. Apparently, I should have known that "Kevin Payne is really, really good." Well, this week he got benched in favor of Danieal Manning, and when he did play, he took a really bad angle on Rashard Mendenhall's 39-yard run, which set up a Ben Roethlisberger TD run. Really, really good, indeed.

p. Jay Cutler had a good game for the Bears, and didn't throw the ball to the other team, keeping them in it long enough to benefit from a missed Steelers FG. I think everybody had that impression, and I don't personally care what he does, like the ex-girlfriend I compared him with a few weeks ago. I think some people have me pegged as an Always-Rip-Cutler guy, though, and I am not. I am actually pretty indifferent, and I don't miss him. When he plays well, I will say that he played well.

q. Matt Forte is another story, entirely. The Bears offensive line isn't very good, but Forte really didn't show much individually on Sunday. My brother texted me recently asking me if I'd take Michael Turner, Forte, or Maurice Jones-Drew second overall in a fantasy draft. I told him Turner, but Forte would be last choice of the three. Cutler's arm has a way of seducing play-callers into wanting to use it all the time (we sure know this), and he's nowhere near as apt to check down as Kyle Orton was/is.

r. Circling back to the Green Bay-Cincinnati game, Cedric Benson is extremely talented, and he looks like he is finally coming into his own. He got a reputation for being soft at Chicago, but his teammates never liked him personally, as he displaced locker-room favorite Thomas Jones. Benson is in the top 5 in the NFL, in terms of pure talent at the RB position, and the Bengals really made a good move to bring him to town, and then to re-sign him pretty cheaply in the offseason (2 years, $7 Million).

s. Every week, my glowing reviews of Joe Flacco just look better and better. I got ripped for that a bit, but I knew and continue to know that I was right.

t. The Chargers are in big, big trouble on defense. Losing Jamal Williams was just a killer, even if his play had sharply declined in the last two seasons. The Chargers aren't pressuring anybody, and without Williams, they aren't terribly stout against the run anymore, either. Alfonso Boone isn't the answer, in case anybody was wondering. San Diego can score with anybody, and they're going to need to.

u. You know who looks like a really good young player? Sean Smith for the Dolphins. Yeah, I was all over that one before the Draft. The Broncos value ball skills over size at CB, which is why they preferred Alphonso Smith over any CB in the Draft, but I have love for a tall, fluid guy who can play press coverage. He had Reggie Wayne blanketed on that deep throw near the end of the first half which Gibril Wilson intercepted off of Smith's tip, which seems to have been overturned. (I left the bar I was at right after that play.) Anyway, Wayne was targeted 6 times, catching 3 passes for 37 yards. That's really good work from the RCB position for the Dolphins.

4. I had a power outage at home on Monday night, and it precluded me from watching any of the DVR'd games I was going to watch, making my other games analysis a little lighter than I wanted. I will run Between The Lines Tuesday night as a FanPost, since it's not able to be included in this edition.

I am writing from the library, since I have no power, and it's closing soon, as I write this. If my power has come back when I get home, I will write more. If not, look for at least Between The Lines Tuesday night. Have a great week.

Horse Tracks 8/12/09 - Harris to play; McDaniels rips the press

Douglas A. Lee — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:57:09 -0000

DB - Scouting the Opposition - Zach Eisendrath
The Broncos' scout team made its first appearance of the year. Meanwhile, the rooks got some nice new hairdos; all were good sports except David Bruton, who claims he's not getting a cut. Good luck with that, rookie...

DB - Sounds from Day 12 - Broncos TV
Clips from McDaniels and Daniel Graham, along with highlights from practice. Plus, Brandstater and Colquitt show off their new do's.

DB - Day 12: McDaniels - Broncos TV
McDaniels says Ryan Harris will play on Friday and wonders why it was written otherwise. Here's looking at you, Klis and Jones...

DB - Day 12: Barone - Broncos TV
TEs coach Clancy Barone says he had hoped the Falcons would draft Tony Scheffler when he was in Atlanta. He also goes over all the responsibilities Richard Quinn has to pick up as a rookie. He calls Quinn "a natural" catching the ball. Man, this guy seems inTENSE!!

DB - Day 12: A.M. Blog - Gray Caldwell
Great news as Ryan Harris returned to practice today; be sure to check out Tom Brandstater's new hairdo...

DB - Day 12: P.M. Blog - Gray Caldwell
A big afternoon from the defense and Jarvis Moss. Plus, Brandon Lloyd made one of his circus catches (that's for you, Ted).

DP - Broncos' Harris back, will be ready for 49ers - Anica Wong
Hmm. No mention of McDaniels' scolding of the press here...

DP - Dove Valley Days: McDaniels clears up Marshall's standing - Mike Klis

NFP - Is Brandon Marshall hiding out? - Matt Bowen
Bowen says BMarsh can't be happy about Roddy White's contract, although there are big differences between the two guys. Bowen calls Marshall a "time bomb" and says he wouldn't give him a new deal without seeing him play first. Then again, White does have an extra year of experience on BMarsh...

DP - Broncos' front-liners start anew - Jeff Legwold

DP - Klis: Undrafted talent fighting for jobs
Klis counts Chris Baker and Lee Robinson as the UFAs most likely to make the team

DB - More Than Just Another Pre-season Opener
Mike Rice wonders if guys like Moss, Crowder, Barrett and Putzier make the final roster.

DP - Rookie McBath no longer hidden - Jeff Legwold
Darcel McBath played in Brian Dawkins' spot yesterday, where David Bruton had been working.

AP - Other Brandon Stars In New Denver Offense
Arnie Stapleton profile The Slot Machine.

DB - Day 12: Transcripts - Josh McDaniels

LVRJ - Fox sees Broncos making progress
His hometown paper checks in on Vernon Fox, who just became a dad for the second time.

SI - Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith locks for 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame - Peter King
Oh, great. Here we go...PK has Cris Carter ahead of Shannon Sharpe already for his 2010 ballot. Yeah, let's vote for the guy who was considered for much of his career a bad teammate, who never was a part of a conference champion, over the guy who retired with the records at his position and was a huge part of 3 Super Bowl champion teams...

DP - Players clean up; salaries, bonuses up from last year - Mike Klis

AP - Buckhalter takes lead role in first depth chart

RMI - Big men on camp: Which Bronco is heaviest?
Chris Tomasson tries to find out who's tipping the scales the most and how it affects them off the field.

DP - Dumervil making the move - Jeff Legwold

CSG - Fields utilizes size and smarts at nose tackle for Broncos - Frank Schwab

CSG - Broncos camp glance for Tuesday - Frank Schwab

KDVR - What to watch for in the new Denver Broncos 1st preseason game - Chris Tanaka

KRQE - Carter talks Bronco past, Lobo future - Video
An interview with the Orange Crush NT Rubin Carter

SFC - Smith willing to extend hand to Nolan
Alex Smith would like to bury the hatchet with Mike Nolan

*****************************

SDUT - Growing into his role (Jacob Hester)

SDUT - LB Phillips won't face charges

SFG - Raiders Silver and Black Blog : JaMarcus has timing issues

SFC - Blitz packages a hit with Raiders' defense

KCS - Bowe, receivers still catching it from coach Haley

KCS - Chiefs camp buzz: Injury list is shrinking

*****************************

NFP - Biggs: Jets may look to trade Jones

NFL - Injured WR Smith hopeful to be ready for Panthers' season opener

NFL - Vick's agent: 'Not a matter of if but when' QB will sign with a team

Y! - Agent: 'No chance' of Vick signing with Redskins

Y! - Death makes Brees blink, but focus remains - Jason Cole

CBS - Saints to look at ex-Bucs great Brooks after Simoneau injury

NFL - Eagles hurting, Packers excited as camps heat up - John Czarnecki

ESPN - Camp Confidential: Eagles limping home - Matt Mosley

NFL - Seahawks setting sights on regaining NFC West crown - Bucky Brooks

NFL - Offseason of change causes some consternation for Colts - Steve Wyche

SI - Daunte Culpepper pushing Matthew Stafford at Detroit Lions camp - Don Banks

ESPN - As Detroit Lions rebuild, change will be a constant - John Clayton

SI - Inside Cleveland Browns training camp - Don Banks

CBS - Ravens camp report: Stoked Rice, health could key next step - Clark Judge

Y! - Bengals' Benson isn't holding back - Mike Silver

NFP - NFL notebook: Brady needs to play - Matt Bowen

NFP - DMN: The curious case of Vince Young - Mike Lombardi

NFP - Tavern talk: a look at blue-chip players
Lombardi checks out the AFC East and North

SI - New Orleans Saints' Reggie Bush has time to turn career around - Phil Taylor
Phil Taylor eats some crow on his Reggie Bush predictions. Sure would be nice to see other national writers do this... actually how about the local ones (COUGH-Ryan Harris story-COUGH)

ESPN - Face of the NFL is gone: An ode to the single-bar - Tim Graham

NFP - 2009 NFP scouting series: Rutgers - Wes Bunting

The Linc - Top 5 defensive ends & do the Eagles need Dunn?

JasonB — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:00:36 -0000

As if there was any doubt as to who #1 is...

View full size photo »

Didinger's Top Five Eagles Defensive Ends
Each week until the start of the regular season Ray Diddy will give his rankings of the top five players in Eagles history, position by position. Today, the top five defensive ends.

NFP late hits: Do the Eagles need Dunn? | National Football Post
Matt Bowen is starting to question the talk about Warrick Dunn heading to Philly for one reason. Why would the Eagles want him?

NFP's camp countdown: NFC East - NFL - Yahoo! Sports
Is the development of LeSean McCoy the top storyline for the Eagles heading into training camp?

More YouTube Controversy For Dallas Cowboys' Martellus Bennett - cbs3.com
Dallas Cowboys tight end Martellus Bennett is in the news once again for a controversial video he posted on YouTube. The video showcases a so-called "Black Olympics" and features a Kool-Aid, fried chicken and watermelon eating contest between Bennett and his brother Michael, a rookie free agent with the Seattle Seahawks, reports CBS station KTVT-TV in Dallas.

Delaware prepares for football betting | Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/15/2009
Delaware lottery director Wayne Lemons said the state will offer parlay and single-game betting for the 2009 NFL regular season, USA Today reported.

Pedro Is a Phillie - The Good Phight
Your newest Phillie: Pedro Martinez

NHL schedule, Winter Classic announced today - Broad Street Hockey
The Flyers will play the Boston Bruins outdoors at Fenway Park on New Years Day.

Patriots Links 7/15/09 - former Patriots QB Cassel cashes in

MaPatsFan — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:51:43 -0000

Mike Reiss (Globe) In a very twisted way, Matt Cassel owes teammate Bernard Pollard a debt of gratitude:

A source close to Cassel has confirmed that Cassel has agreed to a six-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs, who are now run by former Patriots vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli. The source said that the deal pays Cassel top five quarterback money.

Update (2:50 p.m.): The source has confirmed, as first reported by ESPN, that Cassel's deal is for $63 million over the six years, $28 million guaranteed.

Michael Hunt (Milwaukee Journal) Brett Favre needs to stop messing around:

It’s not that he’s reportedly put down a $30,000 deposit on a condo near the Vikings’ training facility. Or that his pal, Minnesota offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, got back not long ago from watching Favre stretch out his arm down in Mississippi.

LOCAL SHOTS

Mike Reiss (Globe) Gives us all the skinny on rookie contracts in Rookie chart, Part III
Art Martone (Projo) Patriots to move radio broadcast from WBCN 104.1 to WBZ 98.5
Mike Reiss (Globe) With a WR snapshot
patriots.com Ask PFW answers, Willie versus Junior?
patriots.com Ask PFW answers, Will Bill call the plays?

LONG SHOTS

Andrew Brandt (NFP) Answers your wednesday whys. Why is Michael Jackson on the list?
Matt Bowen (NFP) Gives us a camp countdown for the AFC East
cbssports.com Player's Union to make early negotiating case on Capital Hill
espn.com Training camp dates for all 32 NFL teams