SB Nation - Jay Cutler

Grading the Defense: Arizona Cardinals vs. Chicago Bears

Hawkwind — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:00:54 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

2 days ago: Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett, bottom left, sacks Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) in the second quarter of an NFL football game in Chicago, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. In the background is the Cardinals' Gabe Watson (98). (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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Coming off a disappointing loss against the Carolina Panthers, Kurt Warner wasn't the only Arizona Cardinals' player with something to prove this past weekend. The Cardinals' defense, namely the front seven, had some serious questions to answer after allowing the Panthers to run rough shot over them just seven days prior. Standing in their way would be a Chicago Bears team that was undefeated at home and one of the league's more complete running backs in Matt Forte. Needless to say the Cardinals defense had their work cut out for them and here's a breakdown of how they performed.

Overall Defensive Performance: Depending on how you look at it the Cardinals defense was anywhere from very good to very marginal. From the "very good" department, the defense only allowed two drives of 45 yards or longer but the two "very bad" drives were both 90+ yards and resulted in touchdowns. From the "very good" file, with roughly one minute left in the third quarter the defense had allowed just 200 yards on the Bears' first seven drives, 90 of which came on their opening drive, but the Bears also racked up another 180 yards on their final four drives (including a 93 yard TD drive). One thing is pretty clear, the defense either started to fail or relaxed in the fourth quarter resulting in most of their overall numbers looking very average. it is worth mentioning however that portions of the fourth quarter were played with backups like Will Davis and Kenny Iwebema. By the time the game was over the Bears' offense had racked up 417 yards from scrimmage (averaging 6.6 yards per snap) and had scored 21 points.

Rush Defense: It's pretty fair to say that the Bears' abandoned their run game early in the game considering that they played at least 3/4 of the game from a two touchdown deficit. For the game they attempted just 12 rushes, although they did average 5.8 yards per carry. Forte led the way with 33 yards on five carries while (the other) Adrian Peterson and Jay Cutler added another 40 yards on the ground with their five combined carries. Their running game simply never had a chance to get on track and was limited to draw plays out of shotgun for most of the game, a scenerio the Cardinals are quite familar with.

Pass Defense: Normally when a team gets behind early they are forced to air it out for the rest of the game and that was certainly the case for the Bears. Cutler set season highs in completions (29), attempts (47), yards (369) and touchdowns (3) and posted a very respectable 98.6 QB rating. Most of his completions were a result of their short passing game where YAC receivers like Devin Hester and Johny Knox could excel, although two of his most successful deep balls were to tight end Greg Olsen. The Cardinals registered four sacks but more importantly they continously pressured and knocked down Cutler. Pressure from guys like Darnell Dockett, Calais Campbell, Chike Okeafor and Clark Haggans were a big reason why the Bears were limited to short passes for most of the day.

Honor Roll:

Karlos Dansby and Ali Highsmith: Thanks to a back injury that prevented Gerald Hayes from suiting up, Highsmith got his first start as a pro and the defense didn't seem to miss a beat. There were times that he got pushed around but his energy and athleticism also made him an asset once the Bears turned pass-happy. Dansby did what he normally does, leading the team in tackles despite the Bears lack of a running game.

Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell: There may be better 3-4 defensive ends in this league but the way DD and CC are playing right now, I don't know that I'd trade them for any other pair. Dockett was his normal disruptive force and his second sack of the season. Campbell, regardless of what the boxscore says, recorded at least half a sack, if not a full sack (the sack that was awarded to Okeafor). One thing that really stands out about Campbell though is that he never gives up on a play. At least once a game it seems like he'll make a tackle ten yards down field while a back tries to wiggle through the secondary.

Matt Ware: We haven't talked much about Ware this season but if you me, that's a good thing. Ware has stepped into Aaron Francisco's role and has been a moster upgrade. He's not a great cover safety but he does alot of things well and so far the Cardinals are using him in a way that allows him to succeed. He registered his first career pick late in the fourth quarter.

Will Davis: Welcome to the NFL rook! Davis recorded his first career sack and don't look now but he's starting to get a couple of snaps a week with the defensive unit. He's already proving that he has the athletic ability to play in this league and his relentless motor and ability to get off blocks led to his fourth quarter sack on Cutler.

Overall Defensive Grade: C+

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Overall the Cardinals defensive effort can classified as good with plenty of room for improvement. One thing that will stick with me for a while is how dejected Jay Cutler looked after he continually got hit by the Arizona Cardinals. Very rarely do you visibly see a player quit, especially a quarterback, but he was very close on Sunday. As the game wore on he got up slower and slower as the hits kept coming and quaterbacks in the future will recognize that on tape. The Cardinals feel like they're building something special here and there were glimpses of that on Sunday. What's you're grade for the defense?

Poll

How would you grade the Cardinals defensive effort on Sunday?

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations

Ted Bartlett — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:30:23 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

1 day ago: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, left, tries to elude the rush of Denver Broncos' Darrell Reid (95) and a second defender during the first quarter of an NFL football game Monday, Nov. 9, 2009, in Denver. (AP Photo/ David Zalubowski)

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Happy Tuesday, friends. After being up late, and watching a hard-fought game go awry, I bet you're pretty bleary-eyed, and grumpy, but let's try to make this a good day. I don't want to think that the Broncos have fallen into losing habits here, and I really don't think that's the case.

Of course, those who speak, but don't know what they're talking about, will start screaming about how the Broncos have been exposed, and they're a fraud, and every other damn thing. A few persistent issues have emerged, but they can be corrected. If anything, losing back-to-back games against good teams can teach you a great deal about your own team.

Let's reflect on this, as I know the coaching staff is, and the players are. Next week, the Broncos face the Redskins, which presents a great opportunity to get back on the winning track. After that, San Diego comes to town. The Broncos still control the AFC West, make no mistake about that.

On the other side of the jump, we'll break it all down. Ready..... BEGIN!!!!

1. It's now midseason, and the Broncos are 6-2, and in first place by a game, and having beaten San Diego on the road. Think back to August, and if I told you that's where the Broncos would be, you'd be happy to take that deal, right? It's a little less great to win the first 6 and lose the last 2, but whatever.

I mentioned some issues, and I want to talk about them briefly. I think all are fixable in the second half of the season.

a. Ben Hamilton is getting to be pretty useless, and I think it's time to see what Seth Olsen has. Hamilton has gone from being above-average before his concussion-driven missed season, to average last season, to decidedly below-average this season. Every time the Ravens and Steelers needed to get pressure on Kyle Orton, they did it over Hamilton. Every other team in the NFL has seen that, and will try to replicate that strategy.

From former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah, during the game:

I don't know what Olsen can do yet, but he's definitely bigger and stouter than Hamilton. I have to think he can anchor better than what we've seen from #50. I am pretty sure Russ Hochstein isn't the answer, but I'd like to see what Olsen looks like.

b. The Broncos need better execution overall on offense. The scheme is fine, and the players are fine, they just need to make the plays that they have a chance to make. They have had some bad penalties, some poorly-timed drops, some slip-and-falls in the running game putting them off schedule, and lately, some bad throws. Plays like Brandon Stokley coming just short of a first down, and Hamilton getting called for a (really questionable) holding penalty on a converted 4th-and-5 are what has been hurting the Broncos offense. The coaches need to send the message that if the players who are playing don't execute, they'll find somebody who will.

c. Signing Mitch Berger was a big mistake. I think it's worth working out some other punters, but really, I liked Brett Kern. If somebody better than Berger is available, I think he should be brought in. Getting a good punter needs to be a high priority in the offseason, too.

d. Interestingly, short-yardage offense has improved during the two losses, as the Broncos have shown a willingness to throw some in those situations. It is still a concern going forward, though. Olsen may help here, if he is given a shot.

e. No-huddle offenses have been problematic for the Broncos the last two weeks. They limit their ability to disguise coverages and rush packages, and they also make it hard to substitute as much as the Broncos want to. Not every team is effective in the no-huddle, but just about every team the Broncos might see in the playoffs is. They need to figure out who their best base defensive group is against the no-huddle.

I think my underlying thought right now is that the Broncos probably aren't quite ready for the Super Bowl, but they hung with a team tonight who is a real championship contender. They beat New England a couple weeks ago, who is a real championship contender. They beat Dallas and Cincinnati, who at the least are good teams. The Broncos have a ways to go, but as first halves of the season go, you have to feel pretty good about theirs. It's not time to start anything over, or blow anything up. It's time to make a few adjustments, execute better, and keep working toward winning games.

2. Information from My Eyes, Steelers at Broncos.

a. Did I mention that I think Mitch Berger sucks? Nothing has particularly changed for me on that score. John Bena coined a new term last night, Brett Kern-backers. I liked Kern, but I don't think I am a Brett Kern-backer. I am a guy who wants a consistent good performance from the Broncos punter, whoever it is.

Philosophically, not a single player or coach on this team means more to me than the team itself. I don't care who is doing it, I just want it done. As much as I love John Elway, the team always came before him to me, too. Part of his greatness, though, was that he'd never make you separate him from the team.

b. It didn't get mentioned a lot, but Tyler Polumbus struggled at RT, especially in the second half of the game. LaMarr Woodley got a lot of pressure and forced a few key throwaways. He'll be okay against most teams, but this was a tough situation for him. Ryan Harris's absence was most definitely felt.

c. I liked the work of both Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal in this game. They consistently did a good job getting open and catching the ball. Marshall had the one drop, but it was a good effort for him overall.

d. I thought D.J. Williams had his worst game of the year, by far. He was taking bad angles all night, and didn't look like he had a prayer of getting off a lot of blocks. I'm admittedly not generally his biggest fan, but he's had the best year of his career in 2009. Monday night, not so much.

e. Wesley Woodyard played a lot more snaps than he's used to, and I thought he wore down in the second half of the game. The Steelers played a tremendous amount of 3 WR sets, which kept Andra Davis on the sideline, and Woodyard in the game.

f. Kyle Orton was actually not too bad for most of the game. He had 2 bad throws, and about 3 bad decisions (one of them was picked off). He was pretty sharp the rest of the night. He needs to cut out the bad decisions, but I was generally a lot happier with his performance tonight than I was against the Ravens. (I don't care about statistics, of course.) Nobody is saying they're thrilled with his ultimate performance, of course, but there's more nuance to the situation, than just looking at the stat sheet.

g. Rashard Mendenhall was the primary reason the Steelers won the game. He got going in the second half, and it forced the Broncos to be more aggressive in the box. I used to think very little of Mendenhall, but he has improved a lot. He runs with vastly better patience and body lean than he did even just a month ago.

h. The Steelers also have themselves a find with Mike Wallace. He's very dangerous for a 3rd WR. They don't do a lot of traditional slot-type stuff, and in nickel offense, if anything, Hines Ward is their slot guy. (I think making definitive distinctions between #1, #2, and #3 WRs is silly.) Wallace has great speed, and he showed good route-running skills Monday night.

i. I liked what I saw of Ty Law in his limited action. Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins both mostly struggled in the game, neither making a great impact. Champ ought to be embarassed by letting Ward jump over him in garbage time. He knows better than that. He also got beat in man-to-man coverage several times by Santonio Holmes. Andre' Goodman was good in this game, though, even beyond his interception.

j. The Broncos use of the "mush rush" was very good in the first half, and very bad for most of the second. Robert Ayers played a key role in containing Ben Roethlisberger when he as assigned that duty, and that's what he was doing when Kenny Peterson knocked the ball free.

k. The Broncos got hosed on the Gaffney challenge, and also on the Haggan fumble recovery. Don Carey has joined my list of bad referees. I like how a return team becomes an intercepting team. I can't believe that he's related to Mike Carey, who is excellent. And he's the older brother? Wow.

3. Information From My Eyes, Other Games:

a. I watched a lot of the Green Bay-Tampa Bay game Sunday, for a few reasons. I haven't seen much of the Bucs this year, and I wanted to look at Josh Freeman, who I liked a lot coming out of college. He looked like a rookie at times, but he showed a lot of positives too. I thought he looked poised and confident, and I am not that surprised. I remember when he beat Texas as a freshman, and commanded the game. (My buddy lost a grand on the game, and he called me frantically looking for NFL advice for the next day, to "get back even." It was a debacle. I don't give gambling advice anymore, because of that weekend.)

Anyway, Freeman looked like a star that day in 2006, and he looked like he may be one someday in the NFL on Sunday. I think Tampa did the right thing, giving him some time to learn from the sideline, but it has to be Freeman Time the rest of the season.

b. I loved Raheem Morris's line after getting his first victory as a head coach.

Statistics are for losers, and today, we're winners.

And then, there's Chicago Bears lover/reporter/enabler/apologist Brad Biggs of National Football Post, after his beloveds got blown out again.

That's positive news? The Bears got smoked, again, Brad. Their best player, who is supposed to always play well, performed close to expectations. It's only positive news if he is on your fantasy team, which is why I don't really like fantasy football. (Well, that and the dorktastic "experts' you have to tolerate on TV.)

Cutler played alright, but he didn't do anything to elevate the play of anybody else, as usual, and the interception he threw in the 4th quarter did kill the Bears' chances of coming back.

It's amazing how the Bears team has assumed the personality of the 2008 Broncos. There's a good chance they'll get blown away on defense, and Cutler is almost definitely going to need to carry the offense. In my business, we contract with companies to take over non-core operations. We call it a lift-and-shift. You terminate your employees who work in a call center, and we'll instantly hire them. They'll work for us, and you'll pay us a fee that is less than what you pay for this operation. Meanwhile, we'll optimize, and reduce the headcount, and correspondingly, the costs.

Everybody considered Cutler's acqusition to be a lift-and-shift. The Bears got a franchise QB. Imagine what he'll do on a team that plays good defense and runs the ball. Football is such a multi-variate system, it's really amazing.

c. I would really hate to be a Bears fan. They have no high draft picks this year, and suddenly a lot of roster holes to fill. They need 3 or 4 new starters on their offensive line, to begin with. Orlando Pace is done, Josh Beekman and Roberto Garza were never starting-caliber players in the NFL, and Olin Kreutz is getting close to done. I don't care for Chris Williams, either. He's looked passable at RT, but if he was worthy of his draft slot, he would have bumped Pace, because it's clear as day that he isn't good enough. You wouldn't use a #1 on an RTO (Right Tackle Only), unless it was Jeff Otah.

They could also use some WRs, some secondary players, and a pass rusher. We're not asking for much, right?

Chicago has a cash-poor ownership group, and the cold weather and their ugly uniforms don't tend to help draw free agents. (Yes, both things matter. It's part of the problem in Cleveland too.) I just don't know how you can bring in enough players there to improve for next season.

d. On Monday I read a lot of epitaphs about the Chicago defense, which didn't get into a lot of the "why" they're so bad. As I was explaining to a friend a few days ago, a defense has to have all 11 players working well together, in order for it to be sound and effective. Because defense is fundamentally a reactive mission, there are many inter-dependencies among the three levels, and communication, like-mindedness through practice, and discipline make all the difference. That sounds simple, and it really is.

First of all, you'd better either be good against the run with 7 in the box, or have a big-time safety who can move 12 yards from a cover-2 shell to the line of scrimmage really quickly. The Bears can't stop the run with 7, so you know they'll have 8 in the box. Then, there's the passing game. When a team can't rush the passer with 4 players, they need to blitz with numbers. When they blitz with numbers, it makes it hard to play soundly in zone coverage, so you mostly have to start playing man coverage. When you play a lot of man coverage, you'd better hope you have the athletes to cover the other team's athletes - and chances are, their #3 and #4 options are better than yours. That's a simple fact of it being harder to find players with coverage skills than it is to find guys who can run a route and catch a ball, when he knows where he is supposed to go.

So you can't stop the run, you can't get pressure with 4, you can't play zone, and you can't play man. All that's left is to guess at what the offense is going to do, and play for that. The obvious problem there is what happens when you guess wrong. You get exposed, and give up huge plays. That sounds a lot like the 2008 Broncos' defense, right?

To apply this to the Bears, they used to get pressure with their front 4, but Tommie Harris is having a bad season. He was a healthy scratch for the Cincinnati game, reportedly because of some attitude issues, and they got lambasted. Then, he got ejected over some extreme foolishness 1 minute into Sunday's game. The Bears again got crushed. Harris is among the best 3-technique DTs in the NFL, when his body and attitude are right.

With no Harris, Alex Brown and Adewale Ogunleye have struggled to get any pressure, so the Bears have blitzed, ineffectively. They have all these tall, slow CBs who can't do anything except play zone coverage, and they got shredded in man-to-man on Sunday, as they did against Cincinnati. If you decide to be a cover-2 team, you'd better play a lot of cover-2, because your personnel can't hold up playing man.

If Harris can manage to get his body and mind right, and have a dominant second half, he could personally bring a soundness back to the Bears that could send them on a 6-2ish run in the second half to finish 10-6. The more likely outcome is that he continues to sulk, the Bears continue to get gashed, and they finish 7-9 at best. And the Broncos have a nice draft pick. Thanks, guys :)

e. Funny story. My brother Chris (who did join MHR as Chris911, incidentally) and I were talking on the phone the other night, like we do sometimes.

Chris: You know, Jay Cutler has a losing record in games where he throws for over 300 yards.

Ted: You know, Jay Cutler has a losing record as a starting QB in the NFL.

Yessir. I love that draft pick more and more every day.

f. Remember the spring of 2008 when many wanted Denver to become Vanderbilt West? It hasn't worked out so well for Chicago. Earl Bennett's ceiling is to be an average starter, if he puts it all together. He can't get off bump coverage right now, whatsoever. He also runs bad routes and drops the ball a lot. In other words, everything he was supposed to do well, he doesn't. Yes, I know he had 7 catches for 93 yards Sunday, but the vast majority of it was in garbage time, against soft zone coverage. (And, yes, wise guys, I know, most of the game was garbage time.)

Chris Williams, I already discussed. He has definitely been a disappointment. This year, the Bears took D.J. Moore, a CB, who is somehow not good enough to beat out any of the pu pu platter of guys who take turns opposite Charles Tillman. He has been a gameday inactive all season, and is not even a special teams contributor.

I watched the Florida-Vanderbilt game Saturday night, and was reflecting on this. Vanderbilt has no hope in the SEC. They can't recruit talent that is nearly good enough to compete, and most of their guys have tended to underachieve in the NFL. They are on my list with Texas and Ohio State of schools whose players I am naturally suspicious of, although it's all for different reasons.

I wonder if Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Stanford, Duke, Rice,and Baylor ever thought about forming a football-only, high-SATs conference. Actually, this year, Vandy would be in the bottom half of that league, too.

g. Staying with the college theme for a minute, the best all-around QB I have seen this season at any school is Cincinnati's sophomore backup, Zach Collaros. He has completed 76% of his passes for 1,229 yards, with 10 TDs and 1 interception in the 3+ games he has appeared in. He has also rushed 43 times for 281 yards, and 4 TDs, while only being sacked 10 times.

Cincinnati's original starter, senior Tony Pike, is expected to start this week, although head coach Brian Kelly did cop to it being a tough decision. Pike is likely to be drafted on Day 1 next spring. Collaros is going to contend for the Heisman Trophy next season, and he'll be a high pick too, when he decides to leave school. He's the total package, with an above-average arm, very good poise, and outstanding accuracy and athleticism. The only knock on him is that he's 6 feet tall, but he has some definite Drew Brees-like qualities as a thrower. This is a 75-yard TD run against a South Florida team with lots of athletes. The guy is real.

h. A guy I really like on an otherwise not-great unit is Atlanta Guard Harvey Dahl. He has been getting very good pad level, and driving guys, in helping Michael Turner have his best two games of the season. I beat up Sam Baker for his pass protection last week, but he did well in the running game Sunday, too. The Redskins are normally solid against the run, but Atlanta gashed them repeatedly.

i. Michael Lombardi stole my thunder, which is an occasional hazard of writing for Tuesday mornings. (The) Other smart analysts see(s) the same things and beat(s) you to talking about them sometimes. Ray Lewis definitely looks like he's doing it more on guile and want-to than skill anymore. I respect his effort greatly, and sometimes he makes a huge play, like against the Chargers, but he's clearly hit his downside. Big up Lombardi, for consistently seeing what the reporters don't see. (By the way, it's weird and unnatural to see Lombardi stand with a mic and interview players and coaches for NFL Network. Stop the madness, and be an analyst, Mike. You're better than some locker jockey.)

j. I was pretty critical of Dallas' Mike Jenkins earlier in the season, and he deserved it. Lately, though, he's been playing fantastic football. He did a great job Sunday night, and was the largest part of the Dallas secondary's outstanding effort not to give up the big plays that Philly wins with every week.

k. The Eagles are reputed to be a West Coast team, but they are not that, and never have been since Mr. Game Management, Andy Reid, came to town. Donovan McNabb isn't a West Coast QB, who does really well with timing throws. The Eagles are a vertical, downfield team, and they finally have guys in DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Brent Celek, who can get down the field and make the plays they want to make.

l. By the way, everybody knows I like Tim Tebow, but McNabb is the guy who Tebow most reminds me of. They played in similar-ish option-heavy offenses in college, and they have very similar profiles as throwers coming into the NFL. Tebow's stats are down this year, mostly due to bad pass protection, but he's throwing the ball better than ever when he gets some time.

m. The Chargers might be back. I haven't seen their LBs look as good as they did on Sunday in two years. Some of that may be due to the Giants offensive line, though, which is good in the running game, and below-average in the passing game. All this stuff about them having the best line is hogwash. (I've actually seen Michael Lombardi say that this season.) They have a natural LG, David Diehl, playing LT, and he gets owned by good pass rushers.

n. Brandon Jacobs looks really slow to the hole this season. He was never quick, but he's a different player. I have to wonder if he is hurt. Of course, I am prejudiced against tall RBs, because, definitionally, it's easier to hit them, than it is the compact guys. It's fair to say Jacobs has never been a favorite of mine.

o. I'd like to say that ST&NO favorite Alex Smith has established himself as a clear-cut solution at QB for the 49ers, but the fact is, they've lost all three games which he has played in. Two of the three interceptions he threw on Sunday were off the hands of his own players, so I don't really put those on him, personally. On the positive side, that play he made for a TD pass at the end of the first half was an All-Pro caliber play, that not many QBs could make. He kept himself alive with his feet, and made a perfect throw on the run.

This is what I know about Smith. His biggest problem is that he struggles with the mechanics of drops from under center which are more than 3 steps. It's not natural to him, and his footwork is slow, like he is thinking about it. That got him sacked on A-gap blitzes two or three times Sunday.

Smith is much more comfortable from the shotgun, and I think I would go to a medium-gun alignment with him, that is often called the Pistol. It's run a bit at some colleges, notably Nevada, and the Chiefs used it with Tyler Thigpen last season. The QB lines up 3 yards behind the center, with the RB 3 yards behind the QB. It provides better directional evenness to your running game than lining up in a full shotgun with the RB to one side or the other of the QB.

Smith can do all the things you need your QB to do; it's just a matter of putting him in position to be successful. I'll be interested to watch this game on Thursday night, against Chicago, because he could have a huge game.

p. I did like what I saw of Vince Young, again. He has played like he's fine with being part of a conservative game plan, which is what he needs. The option stuff he was running with Chris Johnson was effective, and he did hit Justin Gage deep on a couple throws. One, in particular, used all of Gage's vertical. He was actually a starter on Missouri's basketball team in his college days.

q. The Titans are suddenly playing some defense again too, especially Michael Griffin at safety. I also was impressed with William Hayes, who has taken over at LDE for Jevon Kearse, who may have finally had it, at this point. The Titans are a threat to make noise as a spoiler in the second half of the season. The return of Cortland Finnegan has helped them a lot, too. He's not the greatest cover guy, but he's a hitter, and he is always close to the ball. He compares favorably to Asante Samuel in that way.

r. The Panthers just make me shake my head sometimes. They are almost completely back to their 12-4 level from last year lately, except for their QB play. They really erred by not getting one, but John Fox and Jake Delhomme are almost married. Delhomme is going to cost Fox his job, for his sentimentality.

Remember when the Chargers whacked Marty Schottenheimer coming off the 14-2 record? It was the right move. So would cutting ties with Delhomme have been, after last season. Of course, the Chargers blew the second part by hiring Norv Turner. The Panthers will get their chance to do something in the offseason, but they have no first-round pick. If San Francisco decides Alex Smith isn't their guy, he'd be perfect for a team like Carolina, who runs the ball and attacks downfield off of play action. Marc Bulger might be a possible fit too, as the Rams will almost certainly be drafting a QB this year. The Panthers will likely need to get a retread, though.

s. The Saints deserved to get beat on Sunday, but they managed to win anyway. That's something championship teams do, is win without their best stuff.

t. The Texans are really close to being a serious playoff contender, but a Chris Brown goal-line fumble and a Kris Brown missed field goal have basically cost them two games. People haven't noticed, but Matt Schaub is putting up Pro Bowl numbers in Houston. Old friend Gary Kubiak needs to get his team to execute better in key situations.

u. I said I wasn't going to pick the addict Jaguars again, but I did on Sunday, because the Chiefs are horrible. The addicts then proceeded to almost give the game away. Shocker! ST&NO favorite Reggie Nelson had a very good game for the Jags, and so did Brandon Marshall's best friend from college, Mike Sims-Walker.

v. Matt Cassel was the bright spot for the Chiefs, again, and he continues to do pretty well with very little help. I guarantee that the Chiefs don't regret trading for him, especially at the price they paid.

4. In honor of Veterans' Day, I wanted to blaze a different path by doing something apolitical and propaganda-free. It's Tangential Story Time, in ST&NO. Yay!!!

Most regular readers are at least generally aware that I spent 4 years in the United States Navy. I don't think I have ever mentioned that going to sea is basically my family business, though. My dad was in the Navy for 14 years, and then has worked as an executive for companies which supply the Navy for the last 20+ years. His brother recently retired as a long-time civilian mariner for the Navy, and his other brother was a Marine, who rode a Navy ship or two. My youngest brother is currently employed as a Naval civilian mariner, presently working for a ship stationed in Gaeta, Italy. There's lots of salt in my family.

So, I woke up early on Sucker-Free Saturday, and a headline popped into my RSS reader that grabbed my attention.

Navy ship built with WTC steel to go into service

I clicked the link to read the article, and saw something very interesting in the first sentence.

NEW YORK — The Navy is commissioning its newest battleship with a bow forged from steel that once held up the World Trade Center.

The Navy decommissioned its last four remaining Iowa-class Battleships in the early 1990s, and I didn't think that they had any plans to bring them back, despite some misgivings from parts of the Marine Corps that current Naval Gunfire Support programs wouldn't be sufficient for a Normandy-like shore landing.

A Battleship is a specific type of ship, like in the children's game of the same name. The Iowa class had wooden decks, and three turrets with three independent 50-caliber 16-inch guns each, for a total of 9 guns. The shells were 16 inches in diameter, and weighed 2,700 pounds each. (Modern Cruisers and Destroyers have one or two (mostly two) 5-inch, 54-caliber guns each, by comparison. Those shells are 5 inches in diameter, and weigh 70 pounds.) Each Iowa-class turret took a crew of 94 men to operate, and I actually served with a guy who was working in Turret #3 on the Iowa in 1989, when Turret #2 exploded and killed 47 men.

Battleships played a large part in the Pacific theater in World War II, and somewhat minor parts in Korea, Vietnam, and the first Persian Gulf War. The primary missions of Battleships were shore bombardment, and ship-to-ship combat. The advent of precision-guided munitions (like Harpoon missiles, for ship-to-ship combat), and the reality that 5-inch, 54-caliber guns are considered by the Navy to be sufficient for Naval Gunfire Support, largely made battleships unnecessary, and the last Battleships were decommissioned not long after World War II, with a few held in reserve status. Iowa, New Jersey, Wisconsin, and Missouri were each re-commissioned several times over the coming decades, with the Missouri being the last active battleship, being decommissioned for the last time in 1992. (The picture below is of the Iowa, shooting her guns to starboard.)

So, there's this new ship, called the USS New York, and the AP says it's a battleship. At first, I was skeptical, because I know that the Battleship mission is obsolete. Thinking about it, though, it is named after a state, like US battleships have historically been. I also know that the Bush Adminstration Pentagon had some meat-heads in high places of their procurement organization, who favored weapons systems with some badass factor to them, whether they were strictly necessary or not. But I would have heard about new Battleships, right? Hmmmm.

I called the guy who would know, my father Ed, who has appeared in ST&NO before, and I got my answer.

Ted: Hey, what do you know about this new ship, New York, that was partially built from World Trade Center steel?

Ed: Well, it's being commissioned this morning.

Ted: What kind of ship is it?

Ed: It's a piece-of-(bleep) LPD-17 class. A Gator Freighter. (Note: Gator Freighter is the ~~somewhat~~ very derisive name for Amphibious Navy ships which primarily carry Marines. Surface combatant guys, like me, don't think too much of Amphibs, or the people who ride them.)

Ted: Oh, OK. This AP reporter called it a battleship, and it's named after a state, which lends that some coincidental level of plausibility. I was skeptical, so I thought I'd ask somebody who knows.

Ed: <Scoffs> The media doesn't know what the hell they're talking about.

The media doesn't know what the hell they're talking about. Hmmm... Where have I heard that before?

5. What's New In Cleveland Update:

We have a great local brewery here called Great Lakes Brewing Company, that puts out this great stuff they call Christmas Ale every year, at this time. It tastes like cinnamon, but it's 7.5% alcohol by volume, so if you're like me, and you drink them like they're just expensive Bud Lights, they can really creep on you quickly.

So, I was at a the Cleveland State University bar called Becky's last Thursday, for my fraternity's monthly alumni happy hour. I was pleased to discover that they had Christmas Ale on tap, which I would later find out was running me $18 per pitcher, times 3 pitchers. Whatever. I am drinking some fine seasonal beer, and one of the guys says, "Hey, that's Mike Trivisonno right there, like 5 feet away."

Trivisonno is the local Radio Idiot, who I have disparaged on here before a few times, as being part of the Browns problems. I am not sure what he was doing at Becky's, of all places, but he was hanging out with some uglo-Americans, who may or may not have been related to him. He's holding court, and talking about the Browns, and how the city is cursed, and blah blah blah. (I hate it when people say "blah blah blah" in a conversation, but for some strange reason I just felt the strong need to type it there, like my ex-wife possessed my body momentarily, or something. Deal with it.)

It seems the work of the Radio Idiot is never finished. He bloviates even off the clock. I wonder if Rush Limbaugh does too.... That was a little deeper than a Shallow Thought. Focus.

OK, here's the deal. There's no such thing as curses. There's only confusing hope for a plan (hat tip to Michael Lombardi). That's what they do here, in all sports - even the Cavs, to some extent. (Let's face it: the Shaq acqusition is all about hope.)

Randy Lerner, by all accounts, is an OK guy, and he wants to win. He doesn't know anything about football, and I don't think he particularly wants to, either. He's actually a soccer guy, and he owns Aston Villa. He needs somebody to establish and run a program for him. It can't be a Head Coach, because he's too hands-off for that kind of arrangement. (That works fine with appropriately engaged owners like Robert Kraft, Bud Adams, and Pat Bowlen.)

He needs a Bill Parcells-type situation, which is why he is reportedly pursuing Mike Holmgren. I think Holmgren is going to end up saying he'd rather coach than head a front office, but it's a good idea to try. Whoever ends up being the head honcho is going to fire Eric Mangini, and start over from scratch, again. This is increasingly clear. The trick is going to be hiring the right honcho, for the first time since they came back into the NFL in 1999.

Ron Wolf and Ernie Accorsi aren't going to want the job, but if I were Lerner, I'd put on a full-court press to get one of them to help me find the right honcho. A guy I would make a run at is Jimmy Johnson, but only as a team president, not a coach. You hire him, tell him he only has to work 30 hours a week, some of it from Florida, and let him hire a focused GM, (maybe Chris Polian, or Marty Hurney if he is let go at Carolina?) and let them decide what to do with the coaching staff. Then, the chain of command is clear: Owner, to President, to GM, to Head Coach.

As a side note, I expect Mangini to struggle to find future work in coaching. His credibility in the NFL is shot at this point, and what college is going to hire a guy like that? Can you see him talking a kid into coming to play at State U? Absolutely not.

6. So, I know you've been wondering what a guy like me does on a Friday night. My gameplan changes every week, like any good team's (except the Colts); and this past Friday, my friend Ashley was looking for somebody to go with her to a happy hour event at the Cleveland Museum of Art. It sounded like fun, so I emailed her, and we went.

I'd like to tell you that I am a really cultured, artsy guy, but the truth is that I'm not. I'm kind of a rugged football, business, and politics guy. Somewhat embarassingly, it was the first time I had gone to the Museum in 7 1/2 years of living in Cleveland. Ashley is really smart, though, and I figured correctly that I would learn some stuff from her.

There was a Paul Gauguin exhibit, which was included in the price of admission. I looked up Gauguin on the interwebz, and learned that he was a contemporary of Vincent Van Gogh. Van Gogh's brother Theo was actually Gauguin's agent, and he got them to work together in 1888. They spent 9 weeks together at Van Gogh's famous Yellow House in Arles, and they quarreled constantly, because they saw the right way to paint very differently. (At the CMA, there were several examples, side-by-side, where both men painted the same thing, and they looked extremely different.) Both men had bouts of depression and suicidal tendencies. When Gauguin fled the tense situation after Van Gogh threatened him with a razor blade, Van Gogh freaked out, and went to a brothel, where he famously cut part of his ear off. They never saw each other again.

When I saw the news that the Chiefs cut Larry Johnson on Monday, the thought of his relationship with Todd Haley made me think of Gauguin and Van Gogh. Haley is a talented coach, and Johnson is a talented player. Both men have reputations for being difficult, though, and many (including me) were skeptical about the pairing when Haley was hired. Johnson's actions, around callng out Haley on Twitter and using gay slurs, were stupid. Really, it's not too different from cutting your ear off, on the foolishness scale.

Haley couldn't have Johnson play for him again, just as Gauguin couldn't return to Arles to work with Van Gogh. If you're betting on futures, take Haley's (like it would have been wise to take Gauguin.) Johnson is 30 and well-worn, old for a RB; Haley is 42, which is young for a Head Coach. Van Gogh died two years after the ear incident, while Gauguin had 13 more years, and a lot of productivity after that. Go with the guy who knew it was time to cut the cord, rather than the one who cut off his ear to spite his face.

7. Retired for John Elway.

8. The worst thing about November is the jewelry commercials during football games. (Well, I guess I should be glad not to see Chevy commercials with any Mellencamp songs.) I have found the answer, friends, if you're into man-cavery like me.

If you have Sunday Ticket with SuperFan, the setup works like this. Watch games on a muted TV (or two, if you can manage it, like I do). Watch the Red Zone channel on a laptop, with SuperConnect, and listen to the sound on the laptop, preferably over some decent speakers. Red Zone has no commercials, so when they come on TV, you can just ignore the visual stimulus, and listen to the sounds of what's going on on the laptop screen. I spent the whole day Sunday with this, so I got to see a lot of football, without hearing incessantly about how you're no kind of man if you don't go to Jared, the Galleria of Jewelry, and that every kiss begins with Kay. Damn, it's great to be single. (This is Ourrrrrrr Country!!!!!)

Have a good week, and let's get ready for a Broncos victory in Washington on Sunday. No hysterics are necessary, let's just take some comfort in the fairly safe assumption that our coaching staff is driving the players to learn from and improve on their mistakes. See you next Tuesday!

Arizona Cardinal of the Week: Week 9

Andrew602 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:16:49 -0000

After the Cardinals impressive win over the Chicago Bears yesterday, I can say with confidence that it's much easier to post the Cardinal of the week. Let me get back to the painful loss last week one more time to congratulate Tim Hightower for winning last week's COTW. Sunday, the Cardinals quite possibly played their best offensive game of the season, and there were many players that stepped up to lead their team to a 4-0 start on the road. It shouldn't be shocking that all the candidates are on offense, starting with the player that had a monster game.

Kurt Warner - Is this really a contest? Kurt Warner easily redeemed himself for his awful performance last week. He tied a franchise single game record with five touchdowns, and eventually led the Cardinals to 41 points on Sunday. If Warner can keep up this pace, the Cardinals shouldn't have a problem hanging with any teams in the league.

Larry Fitzgerald - We saw the Fitzgerald of last year on Sunday. Fitz caught two touchdowns in the win, and more importantly 123 receiving yards, a season high. Larry was at the end of several first downs, and appeared to be unstoppable at times lining up against Charles Tillman.

Steve Breaston - Breaston did a solid job starting next to Fitzgerald in the absense of Anquan Boldin. He had a good game and even caught a touchdown late to ice the game. Breaston also added 25 yards to the rushing total, and was dependable once again with punt return duties.

Tim Hightower - I thought about naming Beanie as well but when it came down to it, Tim has a wider variety of skills, and that has been the determining factor this season keeping him the starter. Hightower can catch out of the backfield, and is also an important piece in pass protection.

When it came down to it, nobody on the defense did enough to stand out. As a whole, they did get pressure on Jay Cutler and forced a turnover, but they also allowed 369 passing yards and almost let the game get close. As always, if you feel anybody should be added to the list, just drop a comment listing who and why. Who did you vote for?

Poll

Who is the Arizona Cardinal of the Week?

Notes, Scribbles, and Things Jotted Down: Cardinals Edition

Dane Noble — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:23:16 -0000

by Nam Y. Huh - AP

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The NFC playoff picture seems to be working itself into a pretty clear picture, and, although it could still happen, my prediction of a 12-4 season for the Chicago Bears looks unobtainable. And honestly, at this point, I'm not so sure that our coaching is to blame.

Our GM brought in three new offensive linemen, and none of them have helped. Can Ron Turner be to blame for our porous running game? He didn't make the FA signings.

On the other side of the ball, we do not have the personnel to run a Tampa-2/ Cover-2 defense. Our secondary is a liability,,, is Lovie to blame for our lack of talent on defense? We just don't have the personnel.

The only mystery for me is the DL/ Rod Marinelli situation. It seems like half of our roster is comprised of defensive linemen, and we still chose to trade our 2010 2nd round draft pick for another pass rusher. Add to that, we have a guy that is well-known around the league as being one of the best DL coaches in the NFL... you'd think that would be an area of strength for us.

We know our offense is failing because of our personnel at OL, we know our LB corp is thinned out and that our secondary is incredibly weak... but where's the front 4? Why have we seen over the last few weeks our DL get dominated in the passing and rushing games? What's up with Coach Marinelli?

- Rashied Davis is still doing a mighty fine job on STs. And undersized WR making great open-field tackles... gotta love it.

- Tommie, Tommie, Tommie. What happened to Tommie Harris? Is his career coming to a quick halt? We can expect him not to be wearing a Bears uniform next season... but will he even be in the NFL? Maybe not, unless the Bungles give him a shot.

- One of my notes simply said that Fitz > Tillman. But, that was early in the game. Now, I'll change that note to say that it is a shame when Charles Tillman is our best coverage cornerback.

- I have been wondering for 2 weeks if Hunter Hillenmeyer was really 100% healthy. Rib injuries take much longer than 2 weeks to heal from, and I smelled a rat when he came back so quickly.

- Jay Cutler's first possession of the game: he walks onto the field with his head down, looking at the ground.

- Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, and Greg Olsen have all developed great hands. I mentioned last week that Cutler puts them in positions where they have to make tough catches... well, they can. Exhibit "A": that catch early in Q1 down the sidelines when Hester was blanketed by the CB. Cutler saw the single-coverage, audibled into a fly route, and made a picture-perfect throw to Hester. And what a catch!

- Garrett Wolfe made an outstanding tackle on KO coverage.

- While we looked like we might be able to generate some pressure on Kurt Warner early in the game, turns out, not really. Soft coverage on the WRs + zero pass rush = duplication of the Cincy game.

- Arizona's OL absolutely dominated Marinelli's DL. Passing plays, rushing plays... didn't matter. An inside source said that the Card's OL even formed a wall in front of the Bears showers after the game, and the DL couldn't bust through then either. They went home without showering.

- Johnny Knox was one cut away from daylight on the KOR following Arizona's second TD. But, he was going too fast to make that final cut.

- We finally saw Cutler looking downfield for our WRs more this week, especially to Hester. On a related note, kudos to the OL. While they still broke down and sucked a large part of the game, there were spurts where they did a good job of protecting the QB. Kudos guys.

- My OL grades: Chris Williams: B, Roberto Garza: B-, Olin Kreutz: C, Josh Beekman/ Frank Omiyale: D, Orlando Pace: C-

- 3rd and 16, 1st quarter. Earl Bennett runs a deep post, right into the lap of the safety. Had he turned that deep post into a skinny post, things would have happened. I know it's his first year on the field, but he's gotta be more aware. Against zone defenses, you have to find the soft spots... not run straight to a defender.

- My prediction of turnovers, penalties, and QB sacks for both teams did not some true. Well, Cutler did get nailed, and the Bears did have too many penalties. But I was thinking it would go both ways.

- As of the 10 minute mark in the second quarter, Matt Forte had exactly one rush.

- Question: If it's 3rd and 5 for Arizona, why are our DBs 12 yards off the WRs? I mean, I trust Lovie Smith, and I know he is having to play defense with some bad talent... but 12 yards off the WRs? Of course they converted a first down. And eventually scored a TD.

- Oh, speaking of converting... 3rd and 10, Arizona ball. Easy pitch and catch on a 12 yard curl route. 5 plays later, TD. Too easy, too soft.

- Kevin Payne plays hard, and hits hard. Good to see a bit of fire from someone on defense.

- Alex Brown fights hard. Even in the 4th quarter when we are getting schooled. Keep on fighting big guy.

- Injuries: Yikes. And now we have another game in three days. Friggin great. You know what though? We will beat San Francisco.

The Quotable Bears - Week Nine

ChiFan13 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:39:36 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

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I returned from northern Minnesota today after an unsuccessful deer opener, and I got to my girlfriend's house around 12.30. I was checking on the game through my iPhone and texts from friends. I went inside and realized that the Bears weren't playing on any of the Minneapolis Fox affiliates. In all honesty, I think that was good. I talked with my mom and my dad to see what had happened. They both said was that Olsen and Hester were ok, Cutler did pretty well, but the OL and DL were awful. Judging from what's going on here, I'd have to say that their assessment was pretty solid.

First, I'm going to talk about Tommie Harris, a thought on Lovie Smith, and finish up with the quotes. Follow me inside.

Let me say that I want Tommie Harris suspended for a few games by the NFL. That was a bullshit move on his part. Punching a player who is down on the ground is the sign of a sure pansy. Way to be a big man, Tommie.

One of the only positive things about this game is that Tommie has driven that nail through the coffin - he won't be a Bear next year. Since 2007, we haven't been getting a lot out of him. The problem with Tommie is twofold: Players don't regress that quickly. There's no reason for it, whether it was due to the payday or his knees. His knees aren't in the best of health. Do I believe that he got paid and decided to quit? No, I really don't. Do I think that his knees have completely given up? No, I don't believe that either. I think it's a mixture of both. I know that until Lovie sat him down in the Cincinnati game, he didn't practice that often. That was a source of consternation for us throughout the offseason, and Tommie still didn't practice until Lovie sat him. And looking at all we have to upgrade, I think you'll see that Tommie Harris will be an ex-Bear. If they're focused on getting the OL and DL fixed, you have to go out and get rid of waste. We're well under the cap - get rid of waste (Tommie) and go from there. This isn't an offseason to hang around and be under the cap, we can

Good coaching is all about preparing your players, making sure they're motivated, and executing what they're told to do. Before this year, I never really had a problem with how Lovie prepared. As we all know, a big problem last year was that we prepared and were too rigid in our playcalling - we'd start hot and then not make any second-half adjustments. I don't care which 2009 game you look at, but we start out lethargic. Good coaches make sure their players play with a sense of urgency, and that hasn't happened this year. That, in my opinion, is disappointing.

I know one of the things that everyone's going to be talking about (and rightfully so) is the rest of the schedule and where we go from here. I'm not calling for Lovie's head. At the same time, I believe that if we continue melting down the rest of the way like we have, Lovie will probably be the coach in 2010, but it wouldn't shock me if Jerry axed him.

I'm sure some of y'all are looking forward to Lovie Smith's press conferences and somehow try to objectively critique his fire and passion. Bottom line: Everybody wants to win. Whatever you do, you want to win and do a good job. If you're a lawyer, you want to win every case. If you're doctor, you want to cure every patient. Whatever your occupation, you want to do a good job. I have a hard time believing that just because Lovie doesn't show emotion, that's a sign he's apathetic or he doesn't care. That's just wrong. He wants to win, everybody in the Bears organization wants to win. Some people just don't show emotion, and that's ok. I have no problem with him not showing any emotion, that's fine with me. At the same time, I don't want to hear the bland answers at pressers.

I know Bill Belichick has been dishonest when talking in press conferences, and that's fine. He's Bill Belichick and he has earned the right to do what he wants to. It's saddening to see this team, who we thought would look like a cleaner product on the field regress horribly. Just please, don't start the fire and passion arguments. It's a used, worn-down, and absolutely unsubstantiated. He has passion to be a head coach, he wants to win just like we all do. If you want to talk about Lovie Smith and his playcalling, go ahead. Saying that he doesn't have fire and passion because he doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeves is a horribly misguided opinion for you to have.

Let's get to it.

Lovie on the game:

"Don't have a lot of reasons to give you why we played that way. I know we're a better football team than that. But of course, our play didn't say that today. When you get yourself back in position at home, normally with momentum, good things happen. But that's the way our day went a little bit. In critical situations, we didn't make the play. You look at reality, and we're 4-4. That's all you can look at. We haven't played the defending champs in our division (the Vikings). You're disappointed, which we are, but then you move forward and you just do everything you can to get a win the next time out, and that's what we'll do. We have a lot of important football games coming up."

We have some soul-searching to do right now on a short week. When you play a game like this, you want to play [again] almost immediately. That's the good thing about having the chance to play the 49ers on Thursday night. We have a lot of character on our football team. We realize where we are right now. We'll come back ready to go this week."

Lovie on Tommie:

"You can't lose a player like Tommie Harris. Tommie has to be smarter than that. He can't get himself thrown out of the football game. That hurt our football team. I haven't really had a chance to get a good explanation from Tommie. I didn't talk to Tommie after the game."

Jay Cutler on the game:

"A loss is a loss. We've got to do things better in the first half. If the other team is going to score like that, we've got to close the gap somehow. We're not really into moral victories at this point."

Jay Cutler on facing a large deficit:

"It's tough. We tried to mix in some runs. We tried to mix in some quick screens and stuff to the wide receivers. But when you boil it down, we've got to get some chunks of yards. We've got to score and we've got to do it quickly. The defense knows that. They understand that. It makes it an uphill battle."

Alex Brown on the game:

"Before it's going to work, we've got to believe it's going to work. We've got to have a sense of urgency, and we don't have that right now. I don't know what the hell is wrong, but we've got to change it. This is the eighth game of the season, and I know a lot of people like to think that we're better than 4-4. But hell, our record is 4-4. So that's what we are. If we have any aspirations of going any further or making it to the playoffs, then we've got to play a hell of a lot better. We've got to play better. Everybody that doesn't feel bad after that shouldn't be here. That's horrible. We stunk up the place. It was pretty

bad."

Everybody that doesn't feel bad after that shouldn't be here. We stunk up the place. That's horrible. I really don't know what to do, but we've got another game Thursday (at San Francisco). We keep saying, 'Go home and soul search and look at yourself,' but I don't know. There might be something more, might be a little more than that."

Alex Brown on Tommie:

"Ninety-one [Harris] going out hurt us a lot. That's as far as I'm talking about 91."

Zack Bowman on going against Larry Fitzgerald:

"He has powerful hands. I saw one on the sidelines that he caught against Tillman, and Charles had perfect coverage against him. Just an excellent catch. You win some, you lose some."

Danieal Manning on the game:

"We didn't play good football today. We just didn't play football."

Al Afalava on his injury:

"I already injured (the shoulder) in preseason, but I just hurt it more. I missed a tackle on a long run and the running back ran through my arm."

How to Win On Your Bye Week

Gonzo — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:35:05 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP

Pictured: Chicago Bears' quarterback Jeff George. Not pictured: Jay Cutler (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

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Step 1 - Watch Jeff George v2.0 and the Bears get completely undressed at home by Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and company.

Step 2 - Watch the Green Bay Packers ensure that there will be NO winless teams in the National Football League in 2009.

And. . .well, that's all you need, really.

So, if the Vikings play .500 ball the rest of the way. . .the Bears would have to go 7-1 to catch them (and, presumably, hope that that one loss isn't to the Vikings), and the Packers would have to go 8-0 in order to catch them for the NFC North division title.

I don't want to say it's over. . .but there's a rather large woman off-stage there getting her vocal chords warmed up.

How Could Flex Scheduling Potentially Affect the Minnesota Vikings?

Gonzo — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:00:42 -0000

Anthony Carter. . .not THE Anthony Carter, I assume, but who knows. . .brought up something worth pondering in one of the FanPosts yesterday, and that's whether or not the NFL's "flex scheduling" rules will affect the Minnesota Vikings in some way, shape, or form as we move down the stretch. It's getting to that time of year, and the Vikings are becoming a bit of a hot ticket, so it might be worth examining if any of the Beloved Purple's games could end up getting placed into a prime-time slot.

For those unfamiliar with the rules of the flex scheduling, here's a rundown, and we'll look more specifically at the Vikings after the jump.

-Begins Sunday of Week 11
-In effect during Weeks 11-17
-Only Sunday afternoon games are subject to being moved into the Sunday night window.
-The game that has been tentatively scheduled for Sunday night during flex weeks will be listed at 8:15 p.m. ET.
-The majority of games on Sundays will be listed at 1:00 p.m. ET during flex weeks except for games played in Pacific or Mountain Time zones which will be listed at 4:05 or 4:15 p.m. ET.
-No impact on Thursday, Saturday or Monday night games.
-The NFL will decide (after consultation with CBS, FOX, NBC) and announce as early as possible the game being played at 8:15 p.m. ET. The announcement will come no later than 12 days prior to the game. The NFL may also announce games moving to 4:05 p.m. ET and 4:15 p.m. ET.
-Week 17 start time changes could be decided on 6 days notice to ensure a game with playoff implications.
-The NBC Sunday night time slot in "flex" weeks will list the game that has been tentatively scheduled for Sunday night.
-Fans and ticket holders must be aware that NFL games in flex weeks are subject to change 12 days in advance (6 days in Week 17) and should plan accordingly.
-NFL schedules all games.
-Teams will be informed as soon as they are no longer under consideration or eligible for a move to Sunday night.

Now, the one thing that hurts the Vikings when it comes to flex scheduling is that they only have one game this season against a team from the NFC East. . .and ~~official studies~~ casual observations by people that have even an iota of common sense have shown that games involving one or more teams from the NFC East are ten to fifteen times more likely to end up on NBC's Sunday Night Football than games that don't involve any NFC East teams. (Hey, if you think I'm making that up, go back and look at the SNF schedule since it moved to NBC. The imbalance is freaking outrageous.)

So, how many of the Vikings' last seven games have a chance to get flexed into a prime-time slot? Let's take a look at this week by week. . .both the Vikings' scheduled opponent for that week, and the game that NBC has tentatively scheduled for the Sunday night slot.

Week 11
Vikings schedule: vs. Seattle
Current SNF game: Philadelphia at Chicago

There's no way that Seattle at Minnesota is intriguing enough for the NFL's schedule makers to move to Sunday night. The Seahawks have been pretty bad this year. . .they'll be 4-5 at best coming into the Metrodome (more than likely 3-6) and aren't looking at a whole lot of post-season prospects, so I don't give this game much of a chance of being flexed. I don't know if Philly/Chicago will stay in that spot, though. . .there's a pretty juicy looking matchup with Indianapolis traveling to Baltimore that would look good in that spot. However, NBC has a game that fulfills their NFC East criteria, so I don't see the current game being moved from its slot.

Week 12
Vikings schedule: vs. Chicago
Current SNF game: Pittsburgh at Baltimore

Sufficient to say. . .I think NBC has exactly the game they want for Week 12. The Bears, despite not being that good in 2008, were somehow scheduled for five prime-time appearances this season, based largely on their acquisition of Jeff George v2.0 to be their starting QB. How many NFL and network executives do you suppose are kicking their own asses over that brilliant idea right now? (I, personally, hope that somebody has been fired for their ignorance.) So, I think that the NFL would like to forget that fiasco, and I think the only way the Bears are going to get flexed into prime time is if they somehow go against a team from the Lingerie Football League.

Week 13
Vikings schedule: at Arizona
Current SNF game: New England at Miami

This could provide NBC with an intriguing option. The Cardinals, if they can turn it around, should be in position to take the NFC West title again, and after all, they are the defending NFC champions. There's the angle of Warner vs. Favre to look at as well. The only other game that appears to be a candidate to be moved would be Philadelphia at Atlanta. NBC could very well keep the game they currently have, but the Dolphins haven't had a lot of success this year against teams not named the New York Jets, and are fading a bit quickly in the AFC. But I think this game definitely has some flex potential.

Week 14
Vikings schedule: vs. Cincinnati
Current SNF game: Philadelphia at New York Giants

NBC currently has a game that features not one, but TWO NFC East teams scheduled for this week, so we can probably take that game away from NBC when we pry it from their cold, dead hands. But Bengals/Vikings, based on the way things look right now, might be the best game of Week 14. We have the Saints/Falcons rematch, but they've already had one prime-time game, and there's a game between the Chargers and Cowboys that could potentially have some post-season implications for both teams, but again. . .I'd be surprised if the current game gets moved from Week 14 at all.

Week 15
Vikings schedule: at Carolina
Current SNF game: Minnesota at Carolina

The Vikings are already scheduled for Sunday night in Week 15. . .but is there a chance they could get flexed out? The Panthers haven't been very good, and if Jake Delhomme keeps performing like. . .well, like Jake Delhomme. . .there's a very good chance that they'll already be looking to 2010 by the time this game comes around. There are two other solid possibilities for flex scheduling this week, those being Packers at Steelers and Chargers at Bengals. If Carolina's season continues to keep trending south, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Vikings get bumped to an afternoon slot in favor of one of those two games.

Week 16
Vikings schedule: at Chicago (Monday night)
Current SNF game: Dallas at Washington

Monday night games can't be affected by flex scheduling, so there is no chance that the Vikings will conclude their season sweep of the Bears at any time but Monday night. Will Dallas and Washington remain on Sunday night that week? There is a matchup between the Ravens and Steelers out there, although that would make a second SNF matchup for those two teams, as well as the Broncos traveling to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles. It will be interesting to see whether this game gets changed.

Week 17
Vikings schedule: vs. New York Giants
Current SNF game: None

The Week 17 SNF matchup won't be decided until after the Week 16 games have concluded. . .presumably by Sunday night, since the Monday nighter that week should have no post-season implications (except, possibly, for home field advantage through the NFC playoffs for the Vikings). This game could potentially have implications for a first-round bye, among other things, so there's a chance that Giants/Vikings could be the Sunday night game of choice. From the look of the schedule right now, the only other game that appears to have the remote possibility of intrigue is Green Bay at Arizona. . .the rest of the Week 17 matchups look like real stinkers, for the most part.

So, the Vikings do have a bit of flex possibility for the last seven games of 2009. Hopefully the league will see that the Vikings should be in prime-time more frequently. . .certainly more than their division rivals deserve to be. . .and adjust the schedule accordingly.

EDIT: DangerDale has pointed out a thread over at The 506 that says both CBS and FOX get to protect five games from flex scheduling. According to that list, the protected games are as follows:

FOX: Washington/Dallas (Week 11), Chicago/Minnesota (Week 12), Dallas/New York Giants (Week 13), Green Bay/Chicago (Week 14), Green Bay/Pittsburgh (Week 15)
CBS: New York Jets/New England (Week 11), Tennessee/Indianapolis (Week 13), San Diego/Dallas (Week 14), Cincinnati/San Diego (Week 15), Baltimore/Pittsburgh (Week 16)

The Saturday Sim: Cardinals-Bears

Andrew602 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:08:28 -0000

Warner couldn't escape his dreadful performance from last week.

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Ok so it technically wasn't posted right on Saturday, but I finally go the simulation between the Bears and Cardinals done, and let me tell you, it was tough to watch(you'll find out why in a moment). Before I break down the simulation, for those of you who aren't familiar with this, I simulate a game between the Cardinals and their opponent for that given week on the popular game known as Madden. I set it for All Madden difficulty, 8 minute quarters, with a 15 second run off. Then I post the results here. So far Madden has simulated the Cardinals to be perfect, but will that continue today?

First Quarter

The Cardinals receive the ball, and immediately start throwing to their receivers. Unfortunately, Kurt Warner throws one of those passes to Bears cornerback, Charles Tillman- Bears ball. On the Bears first drive, the Cardinals defense pressures Cutler right away, and Calais Campbell comes away with a sack. The Bears are forced to punt. The Cardinals start their next drive throwing the ball frequently again. After a Reggie Wells holding call, Warner throws a nice 42 yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald. Warner looks better on this drive, until I speak to soon and he throws a pick again to Charles Tillman in the red zone. The Cardinals stifle the Bears again, who then punt the ball back to the Cardinals. After a few successful passes, the Cardinals in the 1st quarter in the red zone. It's an exciting first quarter, 0-0

Second Quarter

The Cardinals open the quarter by Kurt Warner throwing a touchdown for 6 yards to Steve Breaston!!! 7-0 Cardinals.

On the Bears next drive, they finally get a first down for the game. They can't keep that trend alive as Calais Campbell gets his second sack of the game. On the punt return, Steve Breaston can't hold onto the ball, and the Bears recover. The Cardinals challenge but lose. They continue to lose when Cutler throws a 5 yard pass to Matt Forte to tie the game. 7-7.

The Cardinals open their next drive with a run, their 1st of the game. After that, they must punt to the Bears and the Bears have to punt back. The Cardinals march down to the Bears end zone, but they can't punch it in, and settle for a field goal. At this point, Kurt Warner has already thrown 24 pass attempts. 10-7 Cardinals

The Bears hurry up with under a minute. Jay Cutler doesn't get pressured, and the Bears get a field goal to tie the game at 10. 10-10

Third Quarter

The Bears open the 2nd half running the ball more. At mid field Hester receives a catch and fumbles, in which the Cardinals recover. Kurt Warner leads the offense down the field, throwing passes better then earlier. Unfortunately, he throws a pass straight to Daniel Manning, who then returns the ball for a pick six. 17-10 Bears.

Kurt Warner and the offense immediately get back to business, airing the ball out with a 30 yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald. In the Bears end zone, Kurt Warner throws another interception to Charles Tillman, his fourth of the game. Ouch!!

The Bears continue running the ball better, and Devin Hester breaks a 36 yard catch to get the Bears into Cardinals territory. At the goal line, the Cardinals defense stuffs three running attempts, forcing the Bears to settle for a field goal. 20-10 Bears

Fourth Quarter

The Cardinals open the final quarter, passing the ball more. They aren't running a hurry up,and attempt to even run the ball a few times. After a Kurt Warner sack, the Cardinals face third and long. Kurt Warner confusingly dumps the ball off, which isn't enough for the first down. Cards punt the ball.

The Bears primarily run, and are able to take the time down to the 2 minute warning, and force the Cardinals to use all three timeouts. There, the Bears are able to kick in a 50 yard field goal. Bears lead 23-17.

With under two minutes left, the Cardinals play hurry up. After three incomplete passes, the Cardinals complete a fourth down pass to Early Doucet. Kurt Warner continues to throw dump off passes, and the Cardinals eventually run out of time. Cardinals lose 10-23.

The Stats

	Cardinals	Bears
Total	387	235
Pass	376	163
Rush	11	72
First Downs	19	12
Third Down	4-9(44%)	1-7(14%)
TOP	18:40	13:20

	comp/att	Yards	TD	INT	Rate
Warner	32/46(69%)	384	1	4	65.8
Cutler	13/18(72%)	178	1	0	122.0

	Att	Yards	Avg	TD
Hightower	3	8	2.6	0
Forte	16	61	3.8	0

	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD
Fitzgerald	5	114	22.8	0
Boldin	5	66	13.2	0
Breaston	6	74	12.3	0
Hester	7	113	16.1	0
Forte	2	21	10.5	1
Davis	1	23	23.0	0

Final Thought

It's an unsettling loss that I hope does not happen this week. Kurt Warner would also not want to have a game like this if he wants to continue being the starter. One thing that the computer can't take into hand is that the Cardinals are a better road team, and I think that will be the difference. What are your thoughts on the simulation?

ROTB War Room: Jay Cutler

Andrew602 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:43:44 -0000

More photos » by John Froschauer - AP

Jay Cutler is one important key to the game tomorrow. The Cardinals defense must pressure Cutler into mistakes and not allow the deep ball.

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In the Saturday edition of the ROTB War Room, will take a closer look at Jay Cutler's season. After a roller coaster off season, Jay Cutler found a new home in the city of Chicago. Cutler has had an up and down season to say the least, but is a threat any time he throws the ball. He's a threat to his team by the sheer chance of him throwing an interception, and a threat to the opposing defense because of is all around skills. Now, we'll look at who Jay Cutler has thrown against, and how he's played.

Week 1 vs. Green Bay - 17/36 277 Yards, 47.2 %, 1 TD, 4 INT, 43.2 rating - Result: Loss

Week 2 vs. Pittsburgh - 27/38 236 Yards, 71.1 %, 2 TD, 1 INT, 104.7 - Result: Win

Week 3 at Seattle - 21/27 247 yards, 77.8 %, 3 TD, 1 INT, 126.4 rating - Result: Win

Week 4 vs. Detroit - 18/28 141 yards, 64.3 %, 2 TD, 0 INT, 100.4 QB rating - Result: Win

Week 6 at Atlanta - 27/43 300 yards, 62.8 %, 2 TD, 2 INT, 79.6 rating - Result: Loss

Week 7 at Cincinnati - 26/37 251 yards, 70.3 %, 1 TD, 3 INT, 64.1 rating - Result: Loss

Week 8 vs Cleveland - 17/30 225 yards, 56.7 %, 0 TD, 1 INT, 66.7 rating - Result: Win

Now let's take a look at the defenses he has faced, and how they stack up this season:

Green Bay: Are 9th in the league, allowing 184 passing yards a game. They're 26th in the league allowing 13 touchdowns, but have 11 interceptions which is the 4th most in the league. They feature pro bowl corners and are an athletic defense.

Pittsburgh: It should be mentioned that Troy Polumalu didn't play this game, allowing Cutler to air the ball out more. The Steelers have allowed only 9 passing touchdowns, which is the 9th best in the league. They are also allowing 214 pass yards a game, which is 16th in the league.

Seattle: Seattle had a banged up secondary this game, and are currently allowing 224(18th) passing yards a game, and have allowed 10 touchdowns, good for 16th in the league.

Detroit: The Lions remain having a terrible pass defense after their defeated season a year ago, and have given up 18 passing touchdowns, which is 31st in the league. They also allow 252 pass yards a game, good for 26th in the league.

Atlanta: The Falcons have a young inexperienced secondary, who currently allow 256 passing yards a game, which is 31st in the league. They've also given up 10 passing touchdowns, tying them for 16th overall. Atlanta has had problems defending the pass all season.

Cincinnati: Another young secondary in the Bengals, allow 253 pass yards a game, which ranks them 30th overall, and have allowed 10 pass touchdowns, tying them with Atlanta and Seattle. Pressue on Cutler was key to this game, as the Bears offense only scored 10 points.

Cleveland: The most recent team Cutler has faced is the porous Browns. The Browns have allowed a 239 passing yard average(24th), and have given up 10 touchdowns as well. Right now any team could beat the Browns.

Final Thought: While Jay Cutler may seem like a top 10 quarterback in some eyes, the defenses he's faced have been some of the worst in the league. 16th, 18th, 26th, 31st, 30th, and 24th are some of the passing defenses he's faced this year. All four of Chicago's wins have come against some of the worst passing defenses in the league and a Steelers defense without Polumalu. The Cardinals currently rank 20th in the league, allowing 233 passing yards per game, and have allowed 11 passing touchdowns, which is tied for 20th. If the Cardinals can pressure Jay Cutler enough to force him to make ill-advised throws, they'll have a much better chance of winning this game.

FANTASY WEEKEND REPORT by Craig T

Niko Houllis — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:00:20 -0000

Craig T's FFH (we lied about the year established. Stolen via Google search. How's that for honesty.

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Our good buddy Craig T has his internet down, let me guess, Brighthouse? Remember when Brighthouse tried to make everyone think the NFL Network was the bad guy? Now BH is the only one that Doesnt have it. Heck, I get NFL Network on a sprint phone for goodness sake!! " You carry 8 shopping channels, but no NFL Network!!!"

Anyways..This message brought to you by Verizon's Fios. JK, ....

Take it away Craig T...

Welcome, BucEm fans, to what will be our weekly look at some fantasy football help some of you might be musing over. With 8 weeks down and 5 to go, many of you are likely jockeying for playoff berths, so let's get down to it...

QBs TO START (excluding weekly automatic starts P. Manning, Brady, Roethlisberger, Brees, B. Favre, A. Rodgers, and K. Warner)

1. Tony Romo @ PHI. 8 TDs, 0 INTs in last 3 and seeing field as well as anyone.

2. Matt Hasselbeck vs DET. Weak SEA running game + weak DET defense = big bounceback game for Hasselbeck.

3. Donovan McNabb vs. DAL. Like Romo, also seeing field well in what should be a game filled w points.

4. Philip Rivers @ NYG. Clicking V-Jack lately and has passed for not less than 249 yds this season. NYG defense still not right.

5. Matt Schaub @ IND. First time he and Andre Johnson have been on the field together vs IND since 2007.

Sleeper: Jason Campbell @ ATL. Yes, ugh, I know, but WAS is coming off a bye and ATL can't stop anybody through the air. Look for a solid, if not great, game from Campbell Sunday.

QBs TO SIT

1. Eli Manning vs SD. He's just not trustworthy since injuring his heel.

2. Matt Ryan vs WAS. Roddy White is iffy for the game and WAS pass defense has been solid this season. If you have a 2nd option, consider it.

3. Jake Delhomme @ NO. If you were considering Jake as a bye-week replacement, dig deeper for an option, such as Alex Smith or Campbell. Delhomme vs a turnover-minded defense like NO is a nightmare.

4. Jay Cutler vs ARI. Has hit 3 PaTDs only once since week one.

5. Kyle Orton vs PIT. Steeler D boosted by return of Polamalu.

RBs TO START (excluding C. Johnson, Gore, MJ-D, Turner, LT, SJax, AP, Forte, Ronnie Brown, B. Jacobs)

1. Ryan Grant @ TB. Duh.

2. Joseph Addai vs. HOU. Comeback player of year candidate has scored in 4 straight.

3. Ray Rice @ CIN. Now the guy in BAL, should be key piece of offense in a close game.

4. Marion Barber @ PHI. With trio of RBs, no longer an auto start, but still gets majority of carries and goalline touches and should be started when DAL offense is clicking like it is.

5. Pierre Thomas vs. CAR. Still the main guy in the backfield of the most explosive offense in football.

Sleeper: Jamaal Charles @ JAX. Did you see what Johnson and Titans did to this run defense last week? Charles will get majority of carries and should have a good chance to score.

RBs TO SIT

1. LeSean McCoy vs DAL. Westbrook back and Cowboys have been strong against the run.

2. Laurence Maroney vs MIA. Sammy Morris' return clouds backfield picture and MIA also solid vs run.

3. Cadillac Williams vs GB. GB ranks near the top of the NFL in rushing YPGA. Certainly you've got a better option.

4. Rashard Mendenhall @ DEN.

Denver ranks 3rd against run and Willie Parker to get some work as well.

5. Beanie Wells @ CHI. Still splitting 50/50 w/Hightower, and appears not to be getting majority of goalline carries. Maybe a flex play, but not RB2 material.

WRs TO START (excluding R. Wayne, A. Johnson, L. Fitzgerald, M. Colston, R. Moss, W. Welker, Desean Jackson, R. White, Calvin Johnson, H. Ward, Vincent Jackson, D. Bowe, B. Marshall, Ochocinco)

1. Santana Moss @ ATL. Falcons giving up yards in droves to opposing number 1 WRs. Moss on Grimes' backup should be a mismatch.

2. Miles Austin @ PHI. Ride him til he bucks ya.

3. Nate Burleson vs DET. Hasselbeck's main target should cash in Sunday.

4. Donald Driver @ TB. Bucs' secondary will get a stiff test Sunday, and Driver has been Rodgers' go to guy. Jennings also a solid play.

5. Kevin Walter @ IND. Should have more one on one matchups than Johnson and targets should increase with loss of Owen Daniels.

Sleeper: Steve Breaston @ CHI. In line for solid number of targets with Boldin re-aggravating his ankle.

WRs TO SIT

1. Ted Ginn, Jr @ NE. Don't be fooled by his 2 KRTD performance against NYJ... He still hasn't earned his starting WR spot back yet from Hartline/Bess.

2. Roy E. Williams @ PHI. I don't care that he scored last week. He stinks and doesn't have trust of his QB.

3. Eddie Royal vs PIT. Only receiver worth trusting right now is B. Marshall. Gaffney stealing some of Royal's targets.

4. Lance Moore vs CAR. Gimpy, may be a GTD. With Meachem and Henderson likely to get targets, consider better alternatives over Moore if you can.

5. Mario Manningham vs. SD. Manning spreading around the targets and is having a tough time throwing an accurate deep ball, which hurts a big play WR like double M.

TEs TO START (excluding Witten, Gates, Clark, V. Davis, Shockey, T. Gonzalez)

1. Brent Celek vs DAL. Even though DAL has been great at holding down opposing TEs, he's too valuable to this offense lately to sit.

2. Kevin Boss vs SD. Great underneath option for Manning, who's struggling to step up and make deep throws.

3. Fred Davis @ ATL. TE is a big part of WAS passing game, and Davis has the athletic ability of a WR.

4. Donald Lee vs. TB. Rodgers looks at TE in red zone often and matchup problems exist for Buccaneers. Sub in Jermichael Finley here if he's cleared to play.

5. Heath Miller @ DEN. With Denver's defense so tough against the run and in the red zone, Big Ben's go to guy in the red zone should get some scoring looks.

Sleeper: Ben Watson vs MIA. Scored in 2 of last 3 games.

TEs TO SIT

1. Brandon Pettigrew @ SEA. If you're looking for a bye-week filler, look elsewhere. Without Stafford healthy, Pettigrew is a forgotten part of the offense.

2. Kellen Winslow vs TB. Yea yea, Freeman's gotta throw it to somebody, but who can really tell who he'll connect with? If you've got another solid option, consider it until we see how he connects with K2.

3. Bo Scaife @ SF. Niners 3-4 defense matches up their athletic LBs very well with opposing TEs.

4. Todd Heap @ CIN. Good for 3 catches, 40-50 yds, and that is all.

5. Tony Scheffler vs PIT. Except for his big game against SD a few weeks ago, has done nothing this year.

5 KICKERS TO START:

1. Shaun Suisham @ ATL

2. David Akers @ DAL

3. Nate Kaeding @ NYG

4. Kris Brown @ IND

5. Shayne Graham vs BAL

5 KICKERS TO SIT:

1. Dan Carpenter @ NE

2. Jason Elam vs WAS