SB Nation - Al Harris

Missing Al Harris In The Packers' Secondary

Brandon — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:00:25 -0000

by Gene Puskar - AP

I had been surprised at how well the Green Bay Packers' pass defense had held up in the first 3 games after CB Al Harris was lost for season with a torn ACL. But then came Big Ben and his 503 yards of passing offense. What happened against Pittsburgh that didn't happen in the previous three games?

Opponents: In the first three games without Harris, they played the Lions, Ravens, and Bears. Neither the Lions or Bears can throw the ball. The Ravens have a good pass offense, but RB Ray Rice is a large part of their passing success. The Ravens' don't have a dangerous wide receiver or tight end.

The loss of Harris against the Steelers hurt in the case of WR Santonio Holmes. He was covered for most of the game by CB Charles Woodson. But in past games, if a receiver was having a big game, such as TE Vernon Davis did back in November, the Packers could adjust and cover him with Woodson. But against the Steelers, the Packers couldn't make any adjustments. Woodson had to stay on Holmes or WR Hines Ward, and they had to rely on the recently signed CB Josh Bell. The additional losses of likely dime CB Pat Lee and backup CB Will Blackmon earlier in the season have robbed this unit of its depth, and Mike McCarthy said that "changing personnel frankly is not an option."

But the Steelers also presented another unique problem: they have four very good receivers. According to Football Outsiders, Ward, Holmes and WR Mike Wallace are all ranked among the Top 30 wide receivers. Also, TE Heath Miller is ranked in the Top 10 for tight ends. That's four receivers that deserve respect, and RB Rashard Mendenhall took advantage of that respect to find himself wide open a couple of times.

I'm not even talking about playoffs. The Packers have to win their next two games and then I'll talk about the playoffs. But looking at the rest of the schedule, expect to read stories about how well the Packers' pass defense responded to the poor game in Pittsburgh. Next up is the Seahawks, who's best receiver according to Football Outsiders is WR Nate Burleson, and he's likely out for the season. The Cardinals are more of a challenge but if they at least rest WR Larry Fitzgerald, he played through a knee injury last week, then their best receiver is WR Steve Breaston at No. 26 according to FO. Those are matchups the Packers can handle with their starters.

As far as next season goes, I would love to see them draft a defensive back in the 1st round who could play at cornerback or safety, and also push CB Jarrett Bush off the roster. Then draft an offensive tackle in the 2nd round as either a successor to LT Chad Clifton, or just provide them with better depth.

San Francisco 49ers vs. Philadelphia Eagles: A Prospector's Guide

Fooch — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:00:18 -0000

vs.

The 49ers remain on the periphery of the playoff race (I will most definitely NOT say in the thick of it at this point for karma purposes). They find themselves heading into Philadelphia badly in a need of a win in a game that most people don't give them much of a chance in. We've moved past moral victories, so while I won't be stunned by a loss, keeping it close in Philly won't exactly make me happy as a clam.

The 49ers travel to Philadelphia in what will be the 29th meeting between the two teams, with San Francisco holding a 17-10-1 advantage in the series. The 49ers and Eagles have matched up six times this decade, but this week’s game will mark the first in Philadelphia since 2005.

San Francisco enters the upcoming game following a 24-9 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football. In that game, the 49ers defense created 7 turnovers, while RB Frank Gore rushed for 167 yards on 25 carries and one touchdown. TE Vernon Davis leads all NFL receivers with 11 touchdown receptions after registering a 5-yard score from QB Alex Smith against Arizona and is only the 9th tight end in NFL history to record at least 11 touchdown receptions in a season. The NFL record is 13, held by TE Antonio Gates (2004).

Last week’s contest marked the third week in a row that the 49ers defense had posted at least 4 sacks in a game. San Francisco now ranks tied for 7th in the NFL with 34 sacks and a +6 turnover ratio. The 49ers 18 forced fumbles rank tied for 1st in the NFL in 2009 and are tied for the most by the team in a single season (1996 - 18), dating back to 1992.

49ers-Eagles Connections
Coaching Connections
• Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhingweg was the 49ers offensive coordinator and QBs coach from 1997-2000. In 1998, the 49ers became the first team since the 1941 Chicago Bears to lead the league in gross passing and rushing yards thanks in large part to Mornhinweg’s guidance. Mornhinweg attended Oak Grove HS in San Jose, where he was the Northern California POY and an all-state performer.
• 49ers secondary coach Johnnie Lynn and Eagles WRs coach David Culley coached together with the Tampa Bay Bucs from 1994-95.

FORMER EAGLES - Offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye was on the Eagles roster in 1969 ... Pass rush specialist coach Al Harris played with the Eagles for two seasons (1989-90) ... SS Michael Lewis was drafted by the Eagles in the 2nd round in 2002 and played in Philadelphia for 5 years. He earned a Pro Bowl invitation in 2004 ... LB Takeo Spikes spent the 2007 season with the Eagles, starting 14 games ... Strength and conditioning coach Duane Carlisle served as the Philadelphia Eagles speed development consultant from 2000-04. Carlisle also coached at
Penn State from 1989-92 ... Director of pro personnel Tom Gamble entered the NFL as an assistant for the Eagles player personnel department in 1996. He is the son of former Eagles president Harry Gamble and was born in Cherry Hill, NJ ... Area scout Todd Brunner first joined the Eagles as a scouting intern in 1992 and worked as a scouting assistant in 1993.

FORMER 49ERS - CB Joselio Hanson, a native of Playa del Rey, CA, was originally signed by the 49ers as a rookie free agent in 2003 and appeared in 13 games for the 49ers.

49ERS PENNSYLVANIA CONNECTIONS - RB Michael Robinson played collegiate football at Penn State ... CB Shawntae Spencer is from Rankin, PA ... Rookie LB Scott McKillop hails from Monroeville, Pennsylvania.

EAGLES NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CONNECTIONS - Head Coach Andy Reid spent time as the offensive coordinator at San Francisco State from 1983-85 ...TE coach Tom Melvin is a native of Redwood City, CA, and began his coaching career at San Francisco State from 1982-85 and attended Cubberley HS in Palo Alto ... Special assistant/defense Brian Stewart served as defensive backs coach at San Jose State (1997-98) ... WR DeSean Jackson played at Cal and is a native of Long Beach, CA ... TE Alex Smith lettered at Stanford from 2001-04.

PLAYER CONNECTIONS
• 49ers DT Justin Smith and Eagles G/T Stacy Andrews were teammates with the Cincinnati Bengals from 2004-07.
• 49ers DT Demetric Evans was a teammate of Eagles DE Chris Clemons and LB Jeremiah Trotter for the Redskins (2004-05).
• 49ers LB Parys Haralson and Eagles LB Omar Gaither were teammates at Tennessee from 2002-05.
• 49ers G Chilo Rachal played at USC with Eagles DT Mike Patterson and T Winston Justice.

Series Highlights
Matchups: 28
Series Record: 49ers lead series 17-10-1
49ers Away Record vs. Eagles: 49ers Lead Series 9-3-1
First Meeting: 10/6/51, Eagles win, 21-14, at Philadelphia
Last Meeting: 10/12/08, Eagles win, 40-26, at San Francisco
Current Streak: Lost 3
Longest 49ers Win Streak: 5 (9/23/84 - 11/29/92)
Longest Eagles Win Streak: 3 (9/18/05 - Present)
Most 49ers Points: 38 (Two Times), Last: 38-28, at ~~San Francisco~~ Philadelphia
Most Eagles Points: 42 (9/18/05), 42-3, at San Francisco
49ers Shutouts: 1 (12/29/96), 49ers win 14-0, at San Francisco
Eagles Shutouts: None

PHILADELPHIA 40, SAN FRANCISCO 26
At ~~Glendale, AZ~~ Philadelphia, PA, October 20, 2008

The Philadelphia Eagles forced 3 turnovers during a 23-point 4th quarter of a 40-26 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. CB Donald Strickland returned a blocked FG 41 yards for aTD on the final play of the 1st half and the momentum carried into the 3rd quarter when the 49ers scored 10 points to take a 26-17 lead.

After the Eagles rallied back to take a 27-26 lead with 7:38 left to play, the 49ers next three drives ended in turnovers that set up scores for Philadelphia. S Quintin Mikell intercepted a QB J.T. O’Sullivan pass and returned it to the San Francisco 7-yard line to set up a short FG. On the next series, Eagles DE Trent Cole forced a fumble on a sack of O’Sullivan, allowing Philadelphia to recover at the San Francisco 20-yard line to set up another short FG for a 33-26 lead with 1:10 left. San Francisco got past midfield on the next drive when O’Sullivan connected with WR Josh Morgan on a 25-yard gain, but two plays later with 48 seconds to play, O’Sullivan was picked off by DE Juqua Parker, who returned it 55 yards for a score to seal the 40-26 win.

Philadelphia QB Donovan McNabb threw for 280 yards and 2 TDs while RB Correll Buckhalter, playing in place of an injured Brian Westbrook, had 93 yards rushing and 85 yards receiving. Philadelphia took a 7-6 1st quarter lead and then added 10 points in the 2nd quarter for a 17-6 lead. PK Joe Nedney hit a 53-yard FG with 34 seconds to play, but Philadelphia moved to the San Francisco 36-yard line with one second remaining on the clock before halftime. The Eagles sent PK David Akers on to the field to attempt a 54-yard FG DE Ray McDonald blocked the kick, and Strickland scooped up the loose ball and ran 41 yards for the score to make it a 17-16 game at the half. RB Frank Gore had his second 100-yard game of the year with 101 yards on 19 attempts.

2009 Statistics

49ERS (rank)		EAGLES (rank)
6-7 (2nd NFCW)	Record	9-4 (1st NFCE)
20.7 (18th)	Points per game	28.6 (3rd)
288.6 (27th)	Total Offense	360.2 (11th)
98.8 (24th)	Rushing Offense	106.1 (19th)
189.8 (22nd)	Passing Offense	254.1 (10th)
29:31 (16th)	Possession Avg	28:30 (25th)
18.6 (8th)	Points allowed/gm	21.0 (t-16th)
338.6 (18th)	Total Defense	320.1 (10th)
95.0 (5th)	Rushing Defense	101.5 (10th)
243.6 (27th)	Passing Defense	218.6 (18th)
34 (t-7th)	Sacks	36 (t-4th)
47.8 (2nd)	Punting Avg (Gross)	41.7 (27th)
+6 (t-7th)	Turnover Differential	+15 (3rd)

Mike Singletary Tuesday afternoon press conference

Fooch — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:25:28 -0000

I completely forgot about Mike Singletary's day after press conference today. Consider it a side effect of not having a computer in front of me. Fortunately I have the transcript from said press conference and thought I'd attach it here. Coach Singletary had a few interesting comments, particularly at the end in relation to the team's punt return woes. Many of you might enjoy the last Q&A:

On whether there are any regrets about releasing KR/PR Allen Rossum:

"No, absolutely not. None."

Even if there are regrets, I'm fairly certain Mike Singletary would never say that at this point. Singletary was asked about why Brandon Jones was not back returning punts yesterday but his answer was a bit confusing. He does acknowledge there are problems, but his answer is that he hopes they can simply work it out.

Head Coach Mike Singletary
Press Conference - December 15, 2009
San Francisco 49ers

Opening statement:

"Good afternoon. First of all, with the injuries: [RB] Mike Robinson, stinger, day-to-day; [WR Michael] Crabtree, hip contusion, he should be fine; [LT] Barry Sims came in today with a little bit of knee pain. We'll get an MRI on that to see how that is sometime today. [LT] Joe Staley had a good workout on Sunday. We thought it was a good idea to rest him, give him a little more rest time and see how he responds this week. He's doing fine, a day-to-day situation.

The game last night, I'm very excited about the win and the way our guys responded. On the defensive side of the ball, I thought we attacked them most of the night, came up with some big plays, and I thought that was the result of our d-line really getting off the ball and making [QB Kurt] Warner move, which was part of the game plan going in. And, I thought the other part of that was our DBs really getting their hands on the receivers and being physical that way at the line of scrimmage. I thought that made a big difference. Our linebackers, for the most part, were going downhill and really did a pretty decent job against the run, for the most part, reading their keys. The thing we have to work on is continue to work on tackling. The big back [RB Beanie Wells], the kid got outside a few times and ran very well, ran hard. Our d-line, I thought our d-line did a good job for the most part. It was very nice to see [LB] Ahmad [Brooks] really step into his own last night on the national scene. That was great for him. Ahmad and [DT] Justin [Smith], [LB] Parys [Haralson] [LB] Manny [Lawson] - all the guys really got after the quarterback. They kind of took their turns and continued to make him move.

On the offensive side of the ball, I was pleased to see our offense really strike a balance. At the beginning of the season, we were a more run-oriented offense, and here as of late, we've evolved more into a passing offense, and I think last night, for the first time, we really struck a nice balance with the run and pass. I thought [QB] Alex [Smith] did a nice job. The two turnovers, the first one, the guy [DT Darnell Dockett] made a nice play getting his hands up and making an athletic play on the ball. The second one, the throw to [TE] Delanie [Walker] on the inside, a miscommunication in terms of whether Delanie was to go inside of the DB or on top of him. Alex read that he was going to go inside of him and threw the ball, and, obviously, the guy made a nice play and just kind of stood there and got a pick. [RB] Frank [Gore], I thought Frank did a nice job running the ball. The o-line did a very nice job blocking and opening up some holes and Frank ran strong and had great vision. It was great to see him smiling last night after the game. So, overall, I thought it was a nice win for us going forward. We've got a big game this week, and we just have to get our guys rested after a physical game like last night and get ready to go in Philly."

On whether the lows of losing are greater than the highs of winning:

"No. When you win a game, you're excited, but I must admit that if you had seen the locker room, you would have seen the difference. But, I think for me, it's just a matter of as soon as you win a game, right away you're thinking of the next game - at least for me. And, I have also learned that you enjoy that win for that evening, and then for me, it lasts for a few hours and then you start thinking about the next challenge and getting on to that. So, that's all it was, but as far as the lows are concerned, trust me, last week was really low. It was really frustrating for many different reasons, but at the same time, if you stay in last week, you're going to play like last week, so it was very important for our guys to move forward and make the most of the opportunity that we had last night and very important for us to win the game and continue to get ready for next week."

On what his message to RB Frank Gore was last week:

"You're talking about Frank Gore? Just knowing that he is a huge part of our offense and we're trying to figure it out. Just be patient and know that it's coming. In order for us to win, we need you to run the ball. Just give us a chance to strike that balance. It's coming, and it was good to see that [offensive coordinator] Jimmy Raye and I have been talking about it, making sure that we found that combination of getting him the ball and making sure that we had the right personnel to do that, and I thought Jimmy did a nice job of accomplishing that."

On whether the trio of LB Ahmad Brooks, LB Manny Lawson and LB Parys Haralson can be the answers to a consistent pass rush:

"We'd like to think so. You never have enough of them, but it was good to see that combination of just coming off the ball and those guys being able to continue to apply pressure, continue to have the offensive tackles try and adjust to Ahmad's speed and Parys' strength and Manny's speed. It was a constant mix. That was really good to see. Ahmad really makes a difference when you begin to think about him as a pass rusher and really what he brings."

On how far away Brooks is being from a full-time linebacker:

"I don't know. I think it's one of those things that is a next-offseason question. He's certainly in the mix, and I think when you look at Parys and you look at Manny and those guys continue to get better, Ahmad is definitely going to compete, and that's the best situation that we have there in order to compete."

On whether he has taken Brooks under his wing:

"I think the whole coaching staff has. I think [defensive line coach] Jim Tomsula has done a tremendous job with him. I think we work on different levels. [Outside linebackers coach] Jason [Tarver] has done a great job with him. [Pass rush specialist] Al Harris has done a great job with him. I think we all just have a piece in that. I think Ahmad is one of those guys that, when you think about it, he came to us as an inside linebacker, not really a rush guy. But, you begin to see the skill, the speed, the ability to come off the edge, and you go, ‘Wow, we need to do something different here.' And, you put him on the outside and you think that might be the fit, and of course, on the sub situation with him coming in and getting down as a rush end, that certainly works. I think he's found his niche. He is such a talented guy, I think for me, when you see someone like that, you just want them to succeed. You want them to have some success because that's a rare talent. He really is. It was just helping him see that. I'm very excited that he's got a grasp of it now."

On whether he has spent time with him managing the reputation he had of being a character risk off the field:

"I think Ahmad, like a number of guys in the league, they just have been in other situations where maybe there wasn't as much structure, or maybe the coaches didn't have the time or the players didn't really have the - he's very fortunate being surrounded by the guys that he's surrounded by. Each and every one of those guys -- [DT] Justin [Smith] and Parys and [NT] Aubrayo [Franklin] - those guys rally around him and they're like big brothers: ‘Hey, you need to do this. You need to be on time. You need to make sure that you're getting this done.' When he walks in that room, not only are the coaches on him, but those players are on him, ‘Hey, well, wait a minute. What are you doing on this play? You need to be...' It's like he's got a lot of big brothers around here. I think when you come into a situation like ours where there are so many supportive guys, it really is a great situation for a young player to come in, and if he has a chance to make it, here is a great place to make it."

On how much of last night was staying with the offensive game plan and how much was adjusting to what the Cardinals defense was doing:

"I think last night, and really for maybe the last three weeks, really has been trying to get a handle on what we're going to do. Since we've been evolving, like I said at the beginning of the year, it's one of those things where we're saying, ‘OK, we're going to run the ball, and we're going to pass more if the quarterback allows us to.' All of a sudden, you've got a different situation, so we're going to pass. We're going to run depending on how we figure out what set we need to run out of. How does Frank adjust and what works for him? I think this week, coming into last night's game, it was just a matter of thinking, after talking to Jimmy Raye, this is what it looks like. I think this is what it is, and so we're going to go with that. I think it's just having a plan going into it, and it certainly helped playing them before and having a better idea of how they might adjust to certain things and just feeling that you could go with certain personnel groups and win with that. Run with this one and pass with this one, more with that one and give them different looks. It just kind of worked out that way. I think we did what we said we were going to do during the week."

On what he has seen from QB Alex Smith in the base offense versus other personnel groupings:

"I think Alex is fine. I think Alex is a guy that can certainly play in the base. I think right now, if you were to ask him what is he most comfortable in, he would probably say more of a spread situation. But, I think he knows in order to be the player that he wants to be, and to be more of a well-rounded player, I think he wants to be able to have that base situation where it's two backs and a tight end, be able to get underneath the center and do that as well and feel comfortable in that. I think, as we go forward, he's played maybe a month-and-a-half or so, I think as we go forward, you're going to see him settle down a bit more and be comfortable in anything that we're running and just kind of settle in and become more consistent as a quarterback overall."

On what the challenge is for him in the base offense:

"I just think it's more of a timing thing. Obviously, if you're in the shotgun, you have a little more time. You have a chance to see your matchups right away. Everybody's out. This guy is on that one. So, now you have a pretty good idea of what they're going to play. If you have a really fast guy over here, and you have a slow guy on him, chances are they're going to play a zone defense because that guy can't stay with him. And, all of a sudden, if you move this guy from over here to the other side and you get a guy matching him over here wherever he goes, chances are they're in man. So, as a quarterback, it helps me tremendously when I've got these guys running around and I know what matchups work, and when we set, I have a pretty decent idea what it is. When you're in a spread situation and you're off the ball in the gun, then you see a lot more and you get a lot more information. Whereas, when you're in a base situation when you've got two backs and a tight end, it's harder to tell. Those safeties really have to speak to you then. If they have a lot of experience, they're not going to tell you the truth until the ball is snapped and you only have so much time. So, now it's up to the offensive line."

On whether it's nice to hear a vote of confidence from Team President Jed York:

"Yes, I know that every year every head coach in the league has an evaluation with ownership, but I think what's really important for me is not so much after the season a sit-down with Jed and Dr. [John] York and say, ‘How did I do?' I think it's important for anyone that's doing a job to know that, you know what, I'm putting the best that I can into it and to know that that has to be enough. And, if it's not, then you go from there. So, I don't really think about, ‘Well, what are they thinking about what I'm doing? How am I doing?' It's just a matter of knowing that how I deal with the coaches and how I deal with the players and making sure that every day I challenge myself to be the best that I can be and go from there."

On whether having an offense that evolves throughout the season is an advantage because opposing teams have to prepare for different things:

"It can be an advantage for you if you do those things well. It can be an advantage. If you go into a game and they know you're in a particular set and you're going to try and take advantage of them passing the ball and you're going to spread it out and they're vulnerable that way, yes it can be an advantage and visa versa. I think every team knows that, let's say for instance, for us as an offense, if we go into a game and we know that they're really good in an under defense or an over, but they're playing a 3-4, that means that the confidence may not be there. So, it also sends another message. If you're not steady in what you're doing and you don't have a set deal, then it sort of lets the defense know, or an offense know, that you're not really confident in what you're doing week-in and week-out. It is important to have some stability and say, ‘This is our staple. This is who we are. This is what we're doing, and we're coming at you and you just have to stop it.'"

On whether QB Alex Smith should get a lot of credit for the win:

"How much of the credit goes to Alex Smith? Now you're talking about the whole team thing to me. A quarterback can sit back there and look really smart and look really poised and really look great if he's got time. That's why I have a hard time when people talk about, ‘Well, this is how many games the quarterback has won. This is how successful the quarterback has been' because if he's getting the crap knocked out of him, I don't care how good he is, he's not going to be very good. So, I think Alex Smith, the offensive line - I think the offensive line deserves a lot of credit from yesterday. I think they've really matured, particularly from the first time we've played those guys. I think our guys have grown up quite a bit. So, I just think that it's hard for me to just say, well, it's Alex Smith. I would say that our offense is continuing to gain confidence as a whole. Our receivers and Alex are still trying to get on the same page. They've been playing together for about a month-and-a-half. There are some quarterbacks that have those receivers for a year or two and they're still not on time. So, I just think that it's just a credit to the offense and the coordinator."

On how much QB Alex Smith played a part in drawing players offside against the Cardinals:

"I think it's great that Alex would be able to do that. Our guys were poised enough to stay onside. Doing that on the first drive, I think it was a great thing to do because it really settled Arizona down and had them a little hesitant about jumping off and trying to get ahead of the snap count."

On the miscommunication on the second interception and whether it was Alex Smith's fault:

"To say Alex read it incorrectly - I couldn't say one way or the other. That's the way he saw it. When I look at the film, I can easily see why he could read it that way. I could also understand why [TE] Delanie would say, ‘I read the safety, going up high or staying low, so I tried to go up high.'"

On whether it's black and white:

"Not exactly."

On whether it's a relief to know they have the tiebreaker against Arizona if it comes down to a tie:

"Once again, in all honesty, all I know is, if we win out we have a chance. Maybe a small chance, but a chance, and I don't really care about the other stuff and the tiebreakers - I don't really get into that. I'm not smart enough for that. I just know if we win out, we just have to sit back and let's see what happens."

On the problems in the punt return game:

"We've got to work through it. That's all we can do. We've got to work through it."

On whether the pieces are there:

"I certainly hope so because hopefully, we just make better decisions. Hopefully, we'll get it done and we just have to figure it out more and more. We know with one guy, [WR] Brandon Jones, we know he's going to catch the ball. [WR] Arnaz [Battle], you know that he's more experienced at it. We just have to work through it."

On whether they can take that chance with the playoffs still a possibility:

"What do you suggest we do?"

On getting a guy that can catch the ball:

"We've got a guy that can catch the ball."

On who that is:

"Brandon Jones."

On why he wasn't returning punts yesterday:

"Because when you get a punt, the one thing that you want to try and do in a game like that, and it's not that Arnaz can't catch the ball. He's only missed one ball and I think that was in the Houston game. That's one ball."

On the one yesterday:

"The one yesterday, I thought the ball hit the ground first, then he tried to do something with it. That's different than muffing it. Muffing it is when it comes out of the air and it hits you and you don't catch it. That's a different thing. That's a bad decision that he made. That's a bad choice, but he didn't muff it."

On whether he is comfortable with it:

"No, I'm not comfortable. I'm not comfortable with any of that stuff. I'm not comfortable any time a guy is back there, catching the ball, catch the ball. That's your job, catch the ball. So no, I'm not comfortable, please don't think for one second that I'm comfortable with that, but at the same time, I want to make sure that if that's what we have, then we have to make the best decision and maybe give the guy better parameters and say, ‘If the ball is coming here, if the ball is going to hit the ground, just get the heck away from it.' Hopefully, we get that figured out and we'll go from there."

On whether there are any regrets about releasing KR/PR Allen Rossum:

"No, absolutely not. None."

Practice Squad: Packers Sign TE Tom Crabtree

Brandon — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:16:30 -0000

The Green Bay Packers just announced the signing of TE Tom Crabtree to the practice squad.

The big news here is that they didn't sign a cornerback to replace CB Trevor Ford, who was recently promoted to the active roster. Despite the loss of CB Al Harris, the other recent signing of CB Josh Bell meant they didn't need another DB. There was a rumor about them bringing back CB Joe Porter, but apparently that came to nothing.

As for Crabtree, he's been on-and-off the Chiefs practice squad a couple times this season. Over at Arrowhead Pride, Joel Thorman came across impressed with Crabtree's performance in the Chiefs final preseason game. On the other hand, Crabtree was ranked 62 out of 88 TEs available in the 2009 NFL draft. But as you can probably learn from any draft bust, it doesn't matter as much how good you looked during the pre-draft workouts as how you play once you get to the NFL. He doesn't fill a need, and certainly won't make it onto the active roster this season, but it appears he has good hands and football smarts. He should make a nice addition to the practice squad.

Packers Post-Game: Injuries and The Week Ahead

Brandon — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:16:06 -0000

More photos » by Daniel Mears - AP

25 days ago: Green Bay Packers' Charles Woodson intercepts a pass intended for Detroit Lions' Calvin Johnson, second from right, and takes it in for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game at Ford Field in Detroit, on Thursday Nov. 26, 2009.(AP Photo/The Detroit News, Daniel Mears)

Browse more photos »

From Mike McCarthy's press conference:

(Did you have any injuries?)
Jermichael Finley has the wind knocked out of him; he did return. Chad Clifton had a hamstring; he did not return. Cullen Jenkins had the wind knocked out of him; he did return. Jordy Nelson had a shoulder injury; he did not return. Brandon Underwood had a hamstring; he did not return. And with that, I'll take your questions.

The only injury he didn't address above was QB Aaron Rodgers, who had x-rays after the game for an injured knee and elbow, but when asked specifically about it, Mike McCarthy said "Yeah he's fine. He'll be sore in the morning."

One thing that did surprise me was that Underwood didn't play a bigger role in replacing CB Al Harris, though he still got injured at some point. But now I see that the Lions don't play more than 3 WRs and they like to use multiple tight end sets. The Packer LBs were usually left in the game to cover the tight ends.

They didn't do a good job exploiting Harris's absence, in part because their No. 2 and No. 3 WRs aren't very good. WR Dennis Northcutt had one big 47 yard reception against CB Jarrett Bush, he dropped another one with Bush in coverage that should have been a 1st down, but then only caught 1 of the other 3 passes thrown his way for 5 yards. WR Bryant Johnson only had 1 reception for 17 yards on 3 pass attempts.

It will be a slow news period for the rest of the long Thanksgiving weekend. The Packers are treating this like a bye week, and the players have off until Monday. They don't play the Ravens until December 7th, so they'll have 11 days in between games. It also might give all the injured players time to heal, including LB Brandon Chillar who's been on the active roster but kept out to rest his broken hand.

Wednesday Injury Report: Packers at Lions

Brandon — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:57:16 -0000

UPDATE: From NFL.com:

Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford, who injured his non-throwing shoulder in last week’s wild win over the Cleveland Browns, will start Thursday against the Packers, reports NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi.

Lions WR Calvin Johnson, who was listed as questionable throughout the week, is active and will also play Thursday.

As the season grows longer, so does the injury report. This week the Green Bay Packers have 13 players listed, and the Lions have 14.

For the Packers: I'm sure everyone knows that LB Aaron Kampman and CB Al Harris are done for the season with matching ACL injuries. But after them, only RT Allen Barbre and RB Ahman Green didn't practice on Wednesday because they are both recovering from injuries suffered last week in practice. While it would be nice to have them both available, I don't think anyone expects either to play a significant role in the offense. The only other major concern was C Scott Wells, who had his knee swell up bad on Monday and Tuesday, but apparently nothing is torn and he should play.

For the Lions: Their injury list is long and a problem. Neither QB Matthew Stafford or WR Calvin Johnson has practiced this week. Will Carroll discussed Stafford's shoulder injury:

The result is good, but a meaningless win against a bad team really doesn't mean much in the longer term. Stafford's non-throwing shoulder is being described as "mangled" and it's clear that it was a dislocation. This is much like the situation with Sam Bradford, but on the non-throwing side.

It's a good point in regards to Stafford and Johnson. Why risk either player's long-term health when the best outcome is a 3-8 record? Obviously their absence helps the Packers, but I don't see how they can push either player on a short week when neither was able to practice. Two safeties (Kalvin Pearson and Ko Simpson) are listed as out, and starting FS Louis Delmas is questionable (limited in practice on Wednesday). If Delmas can't play, their secondary might be literally without any depth. LB Ernie Sims is out too, but his replacement is former Badger LB DeAndre Levy and he shouldn't be much a drop off from Sims. RB Kevin Smith was limited in practice on Wednesday too.

The complete injury reports are listed after the jump.

Player	Pos.	Injury	Wednesday Participation	Wednesday Status
Allen Barbre	T/G	Ankle	Did Not Participate	Doubtful
Brandon Chillar	LB	Hand	Full Participation	Probable
Chad Clifton	T	Knee	Full Participation	Probable
Ryan Grant	RB	Neck	Full Participation	Probable
Ahman Green	RB	Groin	Did Not Participate	Doubtful
Al Harris	CB	Knee	Out	Out
Cullen Jenkins	DE	Ankle	Full Participation	Probable
Johnny Jolly	DE	Back	Full Participation	Probable
Aaron Kampman	LB	Knee	Out	Out
John Kuhn	FB	Hand	Full Participation	Probable
Josh Sitton	G	Back	Full Participation	Probable
Scott Wells	C	Knee	Full Participation	Probable
Charles Woodson	CB	Hip	Full Participation	Probable


Player	Pos.	Injury	Wednesday Participation	Wednesday Status
Joe Cohen	DT	Ankle & Elbow	Limited Participation	Probable
Louis Delmas	S	Shoulder	Limited Participation	Questionable
Jordan Dizon	LB	Concussion	Full Participation	Probable
Zack Follett	LB	Knee	Limited Participation	Probable
Grady Jackson	DT	Shoulder	Limited Participation	Probable
Calvin Johnson	WR	Not Inj. Related	Did Not Participate	Questionable
Daniel Loper	T	Quadricep	Limited Participation	Questionable
Kalvin Pearson	S	Not Inj. Related	Did Not Participate	Out
Ko Simpson	S	Knee	Did Not Participate	Out
Ernie Sims	LB	Back	Did Not Participate	Out
Kevin Smith	RB	Shoulder	Limited Participation	Probable
Matthew Stafford	QB	Hamstring	Did Not Participate	Doubtful
Dewayne White	DE	Knee	Did Not Participate	Doubtful
Derrick Williams	WR	Knee	(Not Listed)	N/A

Wednesday Notes: Schwartz and Mangini Clear the Air

Sean Yuille — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:35:23 -0000

The Packers have lost both Al Harris and Aaron Kampman for the season because of knee injuries.
Eric Mangini and Jim Schwartz talked after Mangini implied that the Lions faked injuries on Sunday and the two "cleared the air." It apparently dawned on Mangini that he was simply deflecting blame by making those accusations, and he took some responsibility for the loss during today's press conference.
"At the end of the day we're accountable for losing the game and for not making enough plays," he said. "That's me, that's the coaches, that's the players. That's what it was. I think I was frustrated with the situation and probably expressed that more than I probably should have, but at the end of the day we're responsible for it.

"We had plenty of opportunities to win the game and we didn't. That wasn't good enough," he said.
All it took for Mangini to see the light was a little chat with Jim Schwartz. Okay, I'm sure the negative reaction he got for the comments also played a role in making him realize that he sounded like a douchebag. But still, I'm sure chatting with Schwartz helped the issue quite a bit.
The Lions announced their first ever "Pride of the Lions" class last Sunday. The 12 members are Lem Barney, Jack Christiansen, Dutch Clark, Lou Creekmur, Dick Lane, Yale Lary, Bobby Layne, Barry Sanders, Charlie Sanders, Joe Schmidt, Doak Walker, and Alex Wojciechowicz.
Julian Peterson and Brandon Pettigrew were fined for hits in the Minnesota game.
Roger Goodell thinks Matthew Stafford's performance against the Browns can be a "game-changer" for the Lions' franchise.
Troy Aikman is a fan of Matthew Stafford.
SI took a poll of 296 NFL players and discovered that the Packers are a least desirable team to play for than the Lions. The Raiders are the least most desirable team to play for. Buffalo came in second, followed by Green Bay and Detroit.
The sale of the Silverdome was allowed to move forward thanks to a judge's ruling earlier this week.
The Dolphins have signed Ikaika Alama-Francis.

Preview: Green Bay Packers at Lions

Brandon — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:00:27 -0000

by Carlos Osorio - AP

View full size photo »

The big news in Green Bay this week have been the injuries, and the big news in Detroit have been the injuries. My opinion is that while the injuries to LB Aaron Kampman and CB Al Harris are significant, they still have a good defensive unit in place. For the Lions, it seems like their offense can't function without QB Matthew Stafford and WR Calvin Johnson. Based on the fact that the Lions only had 149 yards of total offense when the teams met last month, and that Stafford and Johnson were out for that game as well, it's a fair point.

League rankings, based on yardage, from NFL.com:

Team	Run Offense	Pass Offense	Run Defense	Pass Defense
Packers	11	7	4	7
Lions	25	18	20	32

The Packers offense has been productive all season, and should have no trouble gaining yards against a struggling Lions defense (especially their patchwork secondary). While it looks like the Lions might have a shot at attacking the injured Packer pass defense, that No. 18 ranking is based on yardage and doesn't consider that the Lions have a league leading 18 INTs. And how ineffective their offense is without Johnson.

Packers run offense vs. Lions run defense: RB Ryan Grant had one of his best games of the season last week against the 49ers, go vote for him as the FedEx Ground Player of the Week, in large part because the offensive line had their best game of the season. The 49ers run defense has played very well this season, but the o-line opened big holes and controlled the line of scrimmage. The return of RT Mark Tauscher for more than just one half was part of the reason they succeeded, but everyone played better too. If C Scott Wells misses the game, it should hurt, but it might not be a big drop down to C Evan Dietrich-Smith. Since D-S has never had much playing time, it's hard to tell how well he'll play. It's not a given, but there's no reason to suspect Grant, or RB Brandon Jackson, can't have a big game.

Packers pass offense vs. Lions pass defense: QB Brady Quinn has started, and finished, 4 games this season. In those first 3 starts, he threw for a combined 499 yards, 1 TD, and 4 INTs. In his last start against the Lions, he had 304 yards and 4 TDs. Part of their problem is that they don't generate much of a pass rush, only 18 sacks in their first 10 games (and 5 against the Packers in week 6), which comes almost exclusively from their blitzing linebackers. But the bigger problem is their patchwork secondary. They recently lost SS Marquand Manuel and CB Jack Williams for the season, and S Kalvin Pearson and S Ko Simpson should miss the Thanksgiving game too. Rookie 2nd round pick FS Louis Delmas has had a good season, and free agent signing CB Phillip Buchanon has managed to keep his starting job. But veteran CB Anthony Henry had been benched the past few weeks (he might be the nickel CB on Thursday) and journeyman CB William James is probably the other starter. My best guess is that journeyman S Marvin White, who did start 10 games for the Bengals in 2007, will probably be the other starting safety. When it's a challenge for me to figure out who's starting in the Lions secondary, that's the definition of patchwork. And QB Aaron Rodgers has never thrown for under 300 yards in 3 career games against the Lions.

Lions run offense vs. Packers run defense: The Packers run defense has been exceptional this season, and the Lions aren't running the ball. As a team, the Lions are averaging 3.9 yards/carry, but they rarely call for a run (it's only been called on approximately 40% of their plays this season). The injuries to Kampman and Harris shouldn't effect the run defense.

Lions pass defense vs. Packers pass defense. There are so many unknowns. Will Calvin Johnson play? Does QB Daunte Culpepper have anything left? Will the loss of Kampman and Harris give the Lions an opening to attack? The Packers had a great pass rush against QB Tony Romo two weeks ago without Kampman, but one game is a small sample size. The pass defense was very good during Harris's absence last season with a spleen injury. The Lions won't repeat last Sunday's dominant performance against the Browns, but they could be anywhere from decent to awful in this game. Culpepper had 282 yards passing and 1 TD in week 5 against the Steelers, and he could approach those numbers again.

X-Factor - Special Teams: The Packers awful special teams unit moved up to No. 31 overall, according to Football Outsiders, due to the unbelievably bad Steeler kick coverage, but the Packers are still very bad. However, this isn't an area the Lions can exploit much because their own special teams unit stinks, ranked No. 29 overall by FO. And the Lions top kick returner, WR Derrick Williams, is battling a hip injury.

Though the Lions were shut out in Lambeau last month, they've been scoring between 10 to 20 points/game at home (Browns game excepted), while the Packers have been scoring 26 to 31 points/game (Cowboys game excepted) over their past 6 games. Packers 31, Lions 17.

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations

Ted Bartlett — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:00:20 -0000

Happy Tuesday, friends. It's a short week, with another game on Thursday night, so there's no time to mope or feel sorry for ourselves. In their scheduling wisdom, the NFL took away our right to do so - and I, for one, am glad. The Giants can be beaten, with sound play, but we'll get to that eventually. For now we'll put this week to bed and move on quickly. Ready.... BEGIN!!!!

1. I am approaching one full year as a staff contributor to MHR, having joined at the beginning of December 2008. It's been quite an interesting year, and my relationship to the team has kind of changed in an unexpected way during that time.

I first discovered MHR in April 2008, right before the draft. It, and SBNation, have come a long way since then, but the basics were the same; MHR is a respectful, knowledgeable community which discussed all things about their team. I was inspired to join such a community, and I started posting some FanPosts (which were still called Diaries only a year and a half ago).

Unlike a lot of staff members, I wasn't asked to fill a specific role, so I had to figure out what mine would be. I had always done some around the league stuff, but I wanted to find a delivery formula that would work well on a Broncos site. I debuted ST&NO on January 12, 2009, with the following opening:

As we enter the re-loading season, I felt like I needed to establish a fun new recurring feature. HT has MHR University, and Broncobear has the always excellent Tales from the Sunny Side. Styg is heading up some great draft coverage, which has a fun name, which you'll be hearing about very soon. Nick has some statistical analysis pieces which will be coming, and Zappa will continue to be Zappa, intermittently unleashing jolts of Broncos fan brilliance. And the Guru, when we form like Voltron, the Guru is the head.

So where does that leave me? Well, I was thinking a couple days ago, as I listened to Enter The Wu-Tang and shoveled a foot of snow, that two things I can consistently provide are shallow thoughts, and nearsighted observations. Since this is a Broncos blog, I'll focus on our team, but I'll also include some league-wide thoughts, for keeping-up-with- the-Jones purposes. Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations. What else could be needed on top of that? Maybe just some more cowbell.... Did anybody bring a cowbell?

Well, ST&NO has grown, and I have too. As I was sitting on my couch Sunday, watching the debacle against the Chargers, I realized that I wasn't yelling and cursing as much as normal. I didn't get that excited, and I have to say, upon some reflection, that I have been less excitable about the Broncos this season than ever. For the first 6 games, I had a hard time finding new ways to express my pleasure with the situation, and for the last 4, I have had trouble doing the opposite thing.

All I can figure is that my role in writing for this site has subtly and gradually forced me to become more of an objective analyst, and less of a passionate fan. I think the change largely has to do with my relationship with and attitude toward reporters.

I like to beat up on NFL reporters, because I think that most of them only have a surface-level knowledge of what is going on in a football game. The Broncos have a couple of good reporters, in Lindsay Jones and Jeff Legwold, and I never take any shots at them. I actually have tended toward staying away from taking deserved shots at the Denver-area Woody Paige bloviator class, because I don't want to spend the site's goodwill with the Denver media; it's John's to spend, not mine, after all. (Woody going after Kyle at BroncoTalk made me briefly lift my moratorium in the comments section of Horse Tracks the other day.)

Here's a summary of my general attitude toward football reporting. I think there is relatively little value in the reporting of news, at the national level. When Lindsay Jones reports on what happened at the facility every day, there is value in that. When Chris Mortensen hears 10 minutes before Jay Glazer that Chris Simms will start, who cares? Everybody was going to find out soon enough anyway, so what's the difference who had it first?

The real value, to me, is in the analysis, which is why I devote my time and effort to being a good analyst. While I am not a journalist, I do admire the journalistic principle of objectivity, and I think that in reconciling my criticism of national NFL reporters with my long-held policy of non-hypocrisy, I have become more objective. If I am going to beat them up for not knowing the technical aspects of the game as well as me, I can't be less objective than them. Something like that.

I remember last spring sitting in a bar with some co-workers for a happy hour, and seeing Woody's face come on Around The Horn. I told this girl I work with, Trudy, that I competed with him in the marketplace of ideas, and that I kicked his butt, on the merits. Well, I really don't think of Woody as my competition anymore, for a lot of obvious reasons. (Like, for example, he can't compete with me.) Due to the established nature of my content, I feel like I am competing with national guys, like Peter King and Gregg Easterbrook, even if this platform is Broncos-specific.

So, the point of this is that I was struggling with what to say in a general way about Sunday's game, when I don't have the deep feelings that most of you do, and that I would have had a year ago. I feel like I imagine Tom Jackson to feel; I'm very disappointed at the result for my affiliated team, but at the end of the day, I have the rest of the football landscape to worry about, too, and I have to get on with the business of being an objective analyst. I am still coming to grips with this change, and I am not really sure what the ancillary implications are for me. This may be one of these existential crises like we're seeing with Team Edward or Team Jacob. (I have a lot of 20-something women among my Facebook friends, so, trust me, I know.) See here for a funny breakdown of that Twilight sitch-ee-ation.

(Big up my man Justin Dazet for finding that. Justin writes a blog that gets into gaming and other stuff, and a San Diego area column on Geek Culture. Check him out if you're into that sort of thing.)

Momentarily, I will get back to the business of breaking down the game details, like I always do, but I thought I should at least explain why there was no impassioned, emotional screed today about the Broncos.

2. Information From My Eyes - Chargers at Broncos

a. First things first. I am going to tell you why Kyle Orton didn't start the game. He couldn't take snaps from under center and drop back effectively. It's that simple. The injury that he has prevented it. If you can only play in the shotgun, your running game is severely limited, from the perspective of the direction you can run. Josh McDaniels said this without really getting detailed, but this is what he meant.

Orton took a few snaps under center, but he really labored with his footwork, and it hindered the timing of the running game, and the Broncos could only really run to the A and B gaps. When the QB is playing slow, it makes the whole offense play slow, unfortunately.

b. The Broncos came out running the ball like they meant business. They could do that with Chris Simms under center, but Simms obviously never held his end of the bargain as a passer. When Orton came into the game, it wasn't conducive to running the ball, and neither was Orton's ability to retreat from center.

c. Knowshon Moreno scored a Touchdown, and ~~Ron~~ Nuclear Winter's crew blew the call. When I saw who the referee was, right after kickoff, I tweeted;

I am sure Moreno's play was a TD by virtue of relative positioning. To wit, Russ Hochstein's knee was across the goal line, and if his knee caused the fumble, which it clearly did, then the ball had to be across the goal line. That play was an absolute killer, because with a TD at the end of the half, the Broncos are right back in the game at 13-7. The energy of the game had momentarily shifted to the Broncos, and just like that, it was gone.

d. I was very disappointed with the defensive scheme, as I have been the last several weeks. The Broncos have really changed from an aggressive defense to one which is reading and reacting, and I don't like it at all. In the game at San Diego, the Broncos had great success pressuring the A gaps, and I saw very little effort to do that Sunday. They also got Elvis Dumervil in favorable matchups against the terrible Jeromey Clary, and again, there was none of that. Clary was even injured, and they didn't seem like they wanted to go after him. The Broncos need to get back to what made them tough on defense.

e. A little noticed good thing about Sunday was kickoff and punt coverage. The Broncos never let Darren Sproles hurt them in the return game, and both Josh Barrett and David Bruton made outstanding plays in downfield coverage.

f. The Chargers defensive backs got away with playing through the bodies of Denver receivers several times. The Broncos were a lot sloppier than San Diego, but not to the point where the penalty disparity should have been as wide as it was. It seems to me that teams which have "physical" labels like San Diego, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore get away with mugging a lot of WRs, and not just with crappy officiating crews like Nuclear Winter. It's like how you might call a foul playing an indoor basketball game at the Y, but you wouldn't call the same thing playing streetball.

g. Speaking of penalties, I want to know what the unsportsmanlike conduct was against Marcus Thomas and Ronald Fields on those two kicking plays. It seemed to me that they just hit the long snapper, though it was hard to tell from the TV angles on the recorded Short Cut. Those seemed like Nuclear Winter ticky-tack calls.

h. Andre' Goodman had a hard time dealing with the size of Malcolm Floyd on Sunday. Chris Chambers has done very well in Kansas City, but Floyd is a much tougher matchup for a guy like Goodman.

i. I put a great deal of the Broncos' recent offensive struggles on the absence of Ryan Harris. They haven't been able to protect nearly as well as they did in the first six games. That's not exactly meant to be an indictment of Tyler Polumbus, who is fine as a backup OT and special teams player. It's just recognizing the fact that Harris is one of the best RTs in the game. The timing of the offensive struggles aren't coincidental. It looks like Harris is still hurt, but let's hope he can play on the other side of the Giants game.

j. Again, the gap discipline took a vacation in the second half of the football game. Peter King thinks the defense of the first six games was a mirage, which is dramatically oversimplifying the case. They have still been quick and active for big stretches during the losing streak. It's just been less common to see them sustain it for 60 minutes lately. D.J. Williams (again) and Andra Davis both had pretty bad days in the gap discipline department.

k. I was fine with the onsides kick call, even if it didn't work. It was a good situation for it, because the Broncos were going to lose anyway without a big play.

3. Information From My Eyes - Other Games

a. Again, Thursday seems like it was a long time ago. I was very impressed with the play of Ricky Williams in the absence of Ronnie Brown. I haven't liked the play of Williams so much, maybe ever. The Dolphins didn't do much of their Wild Cute Marine Mammal stuff, but they ran very well from traditional formations, against a Carolina defense which is usually stout against the run. The direct snap stuff is good because of Brown, who has a rare instinctiveness for the options it provides. The Dolphins were smart to go back to the handoff game with Williams.

b. I still don't like Chad Henne's tattoo, but he had a very steady game. He's improving as a player every week, and I give the Dolphins a lot of credit for taking it slow with him, and developing him in an intelligent way. Tony Sparano doesn't receive a lot of acclaim, but I have been very impressed with the coaching job his staff has done for two years now.

c. The Dolphins have started ST&NO Favorite Sean Smith at RCB all season, and are now starting Vontae Davis at LCB. They have done a great job, and they really more than held their own against Muhsin Muhammad and Steve Smith last Thursday. Both guys are very talented, but again, it's a testament to the coaching they are getting from Todd Bowles, the Dolphins Assistant Head Coach and Secondary coach. I fully expect Bowles to get a head coaching job this offseason, even though nobody in the reporter-o-sphere is talking about him.

d. I criticized Joey Porter's play last week, but the benching seems to have motivated him. He was dominant, with two sacks and two other tackles for losses. It helped that Jordan Gross was hurt, but Porter looked much better than I have seen him this season, regardless of the matchup.

e. I watched a great deal of the Green Bay-San Francisco game, and I came away thinking that Aaron Rodgers has it better than Alex Smith from a protection standpoint, which isn't saying much at all, obviously. San Francisco has a pretty good LT in Joe Staley, but he's been hurt for a few weeks now. Smith couldn't do anything at all for most of the game Sunday, because he was getting hit the second he got to the top of his drops.

In the second half, with the score getting lopsided, the Niners smartened up and just put Smith in the shotgun, where he is most comfortable. He responded with 3 TD passes and made the game look like it was closer than it was. I continue to think that Smith is more than good enough to win with, if he gets protection. When you evaluate what he does in a vacuum, he's doing the right things way more often than not.

f. I have heard a lot of criticism of Aaron Rodgers lately, but he continues to look like a top-notch passer to me. He is gaining 8.2 yards per pass attempt, with 19 TDs and 5 INTs this season. He has also run for more yards than any QB in the NFL, and 3 TDs. I also tend to think you have to evaluate Rodgers in a vacuum, and other than holding the ball a little too long sometimes, he doesn't do much wrong. The last couple weeks, he's been getting the ball out quicker, too.

g. The loss of Al Harris is really going to hurt the Packers badly. It severely limits their ability to use Charles Woodson in the wide variety of roles that they liked to use him in. Woodson has often covered TEs and is a great blitzer. He's played as well as any defensive player in the NFL this season, and now the Packers may need to use him more on the outside.

I actually think the loss of Aaron Kampman is pretty negligible for them, despite his big name. He hasn't adjusted well to playing OLB, and his tallness has hurt him. By coming from a standup position, Kampman hasn't gotten the leverage he used to play with. He needs to move on to a 4-3 team where he can play on the strongside again. He's about the best in the NFL at that, after Mario Williams.

h. I can't believe the Jaguars are 6-4, but they are. When they win, they have been getting good play from David Garrard and Mike Sims-Walker, which they did on Sunday against Buffalo. Garrard is an interesting guy, because he seems young, but he isn't. He's actually 31, and he's probably reached the prime of his career. He's good enough to take a team to the playoffs, obviously, but do you build around him? I kind of feel the same way about Garrard as I did about Jake Plummer at the end of 2005, though I think Garrard is a little better player than Plummer was.

i. A guy who has been an outstanding player for a few years, without getting any credit, is Kyle Williams for the Bills. He was dominant on Sunday. Williams is kind of a short, stout DT, who does a great job getting penetration from a 3-technique position. He's never been a big sack guy, but his ability to shoot gaps has disrupted a lot of running games.

j. It's funny how many ST&NO favorites become really good players in the NFL. Percy Harvin hasn't gotten a lot of credit, because the media is busy loving on Brett Favre, but he's become a good NFL receiver quickly. A lot of Mel Kiper's said Harvin didn't run a lot of routes at Florida, but he was always open when he did. It was clear to me that he'd be able to separate with quickness as he learned NFL technique. His technique is improving quickly, and he's a handful. Along with Sidney Rice and Bernard Berrian, he's part of a really dangerous receiving corps. I can't think of a lot of groups I'd take over them, actually.

k. Joseph Addai has never been a favorite of mine, but he's playing better than ever lately. I still think that Donald Brown is going to be the better player, but Addai seems to have found some confidence and toughness that I never perceived in him.

l. The AFC has had a lot of outstanding safety play this season, but if I had to pick two starters for the Pro Bowl, they'd be Melvin Bullitt and Bernard Pollard. Bullitt got some notice for stopping the 4th and 2 last week, but he has been terrific in replacing Bob Sanders. Tampa 2-teams need a quick safety who can get from a cover-2 shell to the box very quickly, and Bullitt has done it as well as Sanders ever did.

Pollard was cut by Kansas City, and I just didn't get it. Maybe Scott Pioli was paying him back for last season's hit on Tom Brady? Pollard has been spectacular at times for the Texans, and has really been the star on the back end that they've never had. (No, Dunta Robinson is not a star; he's only paid like one.)

Brian Dawkins, Ed Reed, Jairus Byrd, Antoine Bethea, Kerry Rhodes, Brandon Meriweather, and Reggie Nelson would be battling it out for the last Pro Bowl spot, but I am sure about the top 2, as of today.

m. Laurence Maroney is doing a decent job of re-establishing his reputation as a solid RB. He has had the knock of not being particularly tough, kind of like Addai, but Maroney has been picking up a lot of tough yards lately. Take away the goal-line fumble against he Colts, and he's been really good.

n. Mark Sanchez looked confused almost the whole game on Sunday, against a New England team that knows how to confuse a QB. Sanchez is a classic example of what happens when teams get some film on you and know what you're going to do. I don't think it's time to bench him, like the average Peter King is calling for, but it would definitely behoove the Jets to figure out what Sanchez is comfortable doing, and sticking to only that stuff.

o. I can tell you right now, the Lions had a fantastic draft in 2009. Matthew Stafford, Brandon Pettigrew, and Louis Delmas all look like future Pro Bowlers. MHR favorite Sammie Lee Hill has been a solid starter at DT, and DeAndre Levy has been solid starting at WLB, since Ernie Sims as lost for the season, too. The guy I might like best, actually, is sixth-rounder Aaron Brown, a RB from TCU. He caught a TD pass on Sunday, but where he looked really dangerous was on kickoff returns. He's very explosive looking. I think Derrick Williams will eventually be a useful player too, and that makes 7 hits in one draft class. It's exactly the kind of performance that their opponents from Sunday (the Browns) need.

p. Speaking of he Browns, I have some thoughts. It sucks to lose like that, on an untimed down, but if I was a Browns fan, I would feel a lot better than I did a week ago. Brady Quinn had his best day as a pro, with 4 TD passes, and a 5th one dropped. Sure, he wasn't pressured a lot, when Detroit didn't blitz, but he looked like he was in command, and the offensive game plan looked like Brian Daboll trusted Quinn, finally. Mohamed Massaquoi and Chansi Stuckey did a very nice job making plays down the field.

I mentioned that the Browns need a good draft; they have 11 picks as of right now, and they need to hit on the majority of them. If I were their new football czar, I wouldn't draft a QB in the first round. I would give Quinn a full year with better talent (and coaching), and see what I have. My target would be Russell Okung, an OT from Oklahoma State, who I'd play on the right side. The Browns' current right side is flat-out awful. I'd be bringing in 2 good RBs, since they have zero right now. They need a Correll Buckhalter-type of free agent, and a second-round pick like a Jonathan Dwyer from Georgia Tech. One of their 3rd-round picks would go for a TE who can catch, like Ed Dickson from Oregon. With 2 new RBs, a TE, and a RT, all of a sudden, you have a solid group of players on offense.

Offense has to be the priority, because their 5 TDs on Sunday matched their previous total in 9 games. They aren't really that far away from being league-average, and I only used 3 of 11 picks in this hypothetical situation. The Browns could be 8-8 or 9-7 next season, if they make the most of their offseason opportunities. I can see it now; Todd Bowles wins coach of the year for them, after going from 2-14 to 9-7.

q. The Texans just continue to lose heartbreakers. Matt Schaub made plays, again, and gave his team a chance to win, again. And then Kris Brown blew it, again. I feel really bad for guys like Schaub, Andre Johnson and Mario Williams, who bring it every week. I'd hate to see these circumstances cost Gary Kubiak his job, but they just might.

r. I was going to talk about how everybody needs to slow down on the Vince Young hype train, but he justified the hype Monday night. Repeatedly, he picked up 3rd downs with his legs, and his throwing was pretty good too. He particularly threw a pretty ball that Nate Washington didn't come down with. He looked like he did at the University of Texas. You heard it here first; the Titans are going to beat San Diego by 2 TDs in a few weeks.

s. Trent Dilfer is a really terrible analyst, and I don't get the Steve Levy and Matt Winer combination with him. Usually, there's one anchor type to serve up softballs to the analyst. It's a weird setup. Back to Dilfer, I think the guy is just about always wrong.

t. Right after I typed that, ESPN went back to the Stuart Scott-Matt Millen-Steve Young set, and they proceeded to blame Matt Schaub for Kris Brown's missed field goal. Epic FAIL. All the guy could do was what he did. He moved his team down the field in 45 seconds, and set them up with a shot at a makeable kick. How in the world does that fall on the QB that they lost the game? That is just too idiotic for words

4. As promised, here is the rationale for why the Broncos can win on Thursday night. The Giants are extremely susceptible to getting beaten down the field, since they lost their starting Free Safety, Kenny Phillips. They are getting Aaron Ross back into the swing of things at CB, but he hadn't played all season, prior to this past Sunday.

With their shakiness on the back end, the Giants have blitzed a bit less than in past years, particularly in the A gaps. Tyler Polumbus will need some help on Justin Tuck, when they're matched up, but I expect the Broncos to be able to protect Kyle Orton reasonably well.

The Giants, meanwhile, aren't getting much from their running game lately. I also believe that their WRs don't pose a huge threat against Champ Bailey and Andre' Goodman. David Diehl will almost certainly struggle against Elvis Dumervil, because he's a natural LG playing LT. I feel pretty good about the defensive matchup, really.

This game is no lock, obviously, but it's one which the Broncos can win if they execute, stop taking bad penalties, and take care of the football. John Bena had it exactly right Sunday night. The Broncos can't beat good teams if they make mistakes, and the Giants are a good team. A victory is very plausible, though, if they do what they need to do.

5. I have cited several reasons lately for cutting ST&NO a little short, and I have another one. I got a bit sidetracked from writing, because of some big news in my family, which led to some calling, texting, and emailing, but not much writing.

On Monday night, my brother Chris911's wife Ana gave birth to their first child, Elizabeth Danielle Bartlett, at 7:36 Pacific Time, in Los Angeles, CA. Elizabeth weighed 5 pounds, 12.5 ounces, and was 17 1/4 inches long. Mother and baby are doing well. It occurred to me that I was in a good position to write the first birth announcement. Please join me in congratulating Chris and Ana on the birth of the newest little Broncos fan.

Since I am decidedly not in the having kids business, I took some time to live vicariously through them, and try to feel their excitement. Now, I am going to get back to living vicariously though myself, though. Y'all know how I do...

6. I am hitting the road for Connecticut on Tuesday, right after this story posts, to go eat some turkey, take a hellified tryptophan nap, and find a bar with NFL Network. My main reason for going, though, is to play in the 38th Annual Erb-Orsini Bowl in my hometown of Norwich, CT. I am only 32, so it predates me, but I have played in a number of them over the years. I said I would try to go back east for it last year, but it was snowing all across Pennsylvania, and I decided at the last minute to stay in Cleveland. I wasn't feeling 600 miles of driving in snow. This year, I wanted to show up and play, and the weather is cooperative. I have too much work to do to take the time, but I am going to work on Wednesday from a Tim Horton's restaurant.

The Erb-Orsini Bowl is a touch game, but it's been pretty physical and competitive in the past. The picture below is from the 2004 game. I am on the left. On the right is my brother John. He laid out for a pass early in the game, and was shaken up. His shoulder hurt, and he said that he didn't want to catch any more passes, and that he'd just stay in and pass-block, so he did just that. Thirty-six hours later, after not saying anything more about the topic, he decided to go to the hospital. Turned out, he had broken his shoulder. It's kind of the Bartlett way to suffer in silence, really, which is owed to being half Irish.

The keeper of the flame is the guy in the midde, my long-time friend Tony Orsini. Tony, as it happens, is a huge Giants fan. He's such a huge fan, actually, that he and his dad spent thousands of dollars to go to Arizona and get tickets for Super Bowl XLII against the mighty Patriots. Against that 16-0 team, i would have never spent that kind of coin, but he did, and he was rewarded. (To me, when I heard about it, it sounded like that time in 7th grade when I bet Pete Lacombe 5 bucks that Denver would beat San Francisco, straight-up, in Super Bowl XXIV, even though my allowance was $2 per week at that time. That was an all-time dumb call.)

On Thursday morning, I am hoping for a good Erb-Orsini Bowl, where I make some big plays, and on Thursday night, for our Broncos to beat Tony's Giants. Do any of y'all have good Turkey Bowls to play in? Let's hear some tangential Thanksgiving football stories. You might as well get with me on this meandering, because you never know where we might end up when the carousel stops.

7. Retired for John Elway.

8. The Buffalo coaching search is interesting. We know they've reached out to Mike Shanahan, and word materialized Monday night/Tuesday morning that Bill Cowher was contacted, and that he declined to be considered. Ralph Wilson is 91, and he wants to win now. Unfortunately for Buffalo, he is relatively cash-poor, and the team probably doesn't stay in his family when he dies, due to estate taxation. If it leaves his family, it almost certainly leaves Buffalo, which is a rapidly declining city.

If I were a coach looking for work, I would consider Buffalo unattractive for those reasons, as well as for the fact that they don't have a QB or any real quality on the O-Line. They have 2 good RBs, the fantastic Lee Evans, some good CBs and a good young safety in Jairus Byrd and pass rusher in Aaron Maybin. Paul Posluszny is solid, and Kyle Williams is very good, as I mentioned. The cupboard is not totally empty talent-wise, but it's a serious personnel challenge in a boring, economically depressed cold-weather town. The only thing they have on Cleveland, in terms of attracting free agents, is marginally better-looking uniforms. I expect that the Bills end up hiring a first time Head Coach, after being spurned by Shanahan and others.

That's all I have for this week, friends. I am off to get on the road for the East Coast. I won't see any comments until 10 or 11 hours from now, but I will check them out when I get where I am going, and will answer the ones that need answering. Have a great week, a great holiday, and a great Football Thursday. Go Broncos!

Packers Signing: CB Josh Bell

Brandon — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:01:07 -0000

by Elaine Thompson - AP

View full size photo »

I expected the Green Bay Packers would promote CB Trevor Ford from the practice squad. Instead they signed former Broncos CB Josh Bell. From the Journal-Sentinel:

Signed by the Broncos as an undrafted rookie, he played well enough to hold the position all five games Bailey missed. Bell finished with 43 tackles and four pass breakups in nine games for the Broncos.

This summer, Bell had the Broncos roster made, [his agent] Lyles said, but he injured his knee in the final exhibition game and was released Sept. 10. Lyles said the Broncos couldn't wait the four to six weeks it was expected for him to heal and needed the roster spot.

I don't see what they can expect from a 2nd year player, who hasn't played at all this season, and only has a couple days to learn the defense. He'll probably be inactive on Thursday, although he may be kept active to play on special teams. On the other hand, he was an NFL starter last season and now that he's healthy, he's probably as good as any street free agent they could have found.

Now the Packers don't have any open roster spots, until they place LB Aaron Kampman and CB Al Harris on I.R. Then they may promote LB Cyril Obiozor from the practice squad.

Though I wonder if they would have even considered signing ex-Packer CB Mike McKenzie, who was just resigned by the Saints?

More on Josh Bell from Mile High Report:

Josh Bell played in 9 games last season, with 5 starts. He made 34 tackles and had 4 passes defensed. Truth be told, he wasn't very good as a rookie, but he tried hard, and occasionally, he would flash some promise. He has a hard-worker's chance of making the team this season, but out of the top six CBs (including McBath) he is definitely the least talented of the six.