SB Nation - Tennessee Titans

Opponent History: Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans

sireric — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:03:09 -0000

Buffalo Bills (3-5) at Tennessee Titans (2-6)
Sunday, November 15, 2009 at 1:00 PM ET
LP Field - Nashville, TN

Coming off the bye week, the Buffalo Bills get a good challenge in the Tennessee Titans, who after an 0-6 start have won two in a row and seem to be back on track. This is the fifth-ever regular season meeting between these two long-time rivals. Does that sound weird? Well yeah, because this is the fifth time the Bills have played the Titans and sixth overall, but the forty-second all-time meeting between these two franchises if you count the days of the Houston Oilers. Both teams have traded signature franchise wins versus the other. For the Bills, it was "The Comeback Game," while for the Titans, it was "The Music City Miracle." Recaps of last five regular season games between these two teams are after the jump.

Sunday, December 24, 1995: Oilers 28, Bills 17
Todd Collins started this game for the Bills, but current Bills offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt finished it. Either way, it wasn't pretty for the Bills. A sack of Collins in the end zone and two Al Del Greco field goals led to an early 8-0 lead for the Oilers. After a Steve Christie 44-yard field goal closed the gap, not one but two Rodney Thomas touchdown runs gave the Oilers all the cushion they would need. The late Steve McNair hit Frank Wycheck for another score to put the game away. Van Pelt hit Andre Reed and Justin Armour for late scores to make it look respectable, but it wasn't as close as the final score looks.

Sunday, November 23, 1997: Titans 31, Bills 14
Once again, the Titans/Oilers jumped out to a sizable lead early, this time on a Marcus Robertson fumble return and two McNair touchdown plunges, giving the Titans a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter. The big problem for Buffalo in this game was the lack of a run game - and when I say lack, I mean complete and total absence. The Bills had 4 rushing yards on 14 attempts. Antowain Smith was the Bills' leading rusher with 7 yards on 9 attempts. Quinn Early did have a nice game for the Bills with 103 yards on 8 catches and two touchdowns, but when you get only 4 total rushing yards, you can't expect to win very often.

Sunday, September 3, 2000: Bills 16, Titans 13
This was the season opener after the Music City Mugging ended the Bills' season the year before. After Rob Johnson hit Peerless Price to open the scoring, the ageless Del Greco hit two straight field goals to bring the Titans back to within one point. Steve Christie then hit two fields goals of his own to give the Bills their seven-point lead back. Eddie George then knotted the game up at 13 with a two-yard dive into the end zone. The Bills launched a late march, and this time, after Christie hit a 33-yard field goal with 31 seconds left on the clock, the Bills covered the kick return to seal the win.

Sunday, December 14, 2003: Titans 28, Bills 26
After two consecutive Gary Anderson field goals, the Bills rattled off 17 straight points. A Rian Lindell field goal, a six-yard Drew Bledsoe-to-Bobby Shaw touchdown pass, and a Pat Williams 28-yard fumble return for a touchdown that no doubt left him struggling for breath accounted for the scoring. Billy Volek then connected with Erron Kinney and Justin McCareins for two scores. Add in a Robert Holcombe plunge for the two-point conversion, and the Titans suddenlyhad a 21-17 lead. Lindell hit another field goal, and Volek ran in another score to make it 28-20. Bledsoe then hit Mark Campbell for a touchdown, but the two-point try failed, giving the Bills the loss.

Sunday, December 24, 2006: Titans 30, Bills 29
This was a real back and forth game, with 13 different scores and 7 different lead changes. Lindell hit five field goals and Rob Bironas hit three more for the Titans, his last one coming with just over two minutes left to play to give the Titans the win. Travis Henry, playing for the Titans, ran for 135 yards, and Vince Young added another 61 and a score. Lets hope that doesn't happen again.

State of the AFC West Week 9

Sam (sdsuaztec4) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:15:45 -0000

Well well well, here we are after week 9, a week I'd been looking forward to for awhile. I had a crazy day on Sunday which of course had a perfect ending. Last night's game was the proverbial "icing on the cake". The Chargers are now 1 game back at the halfway point of the season with 8 games to go. The Broncos still have the advantage with the 1 game lead and a win over the Chargers as a potential tiebreaker. As far as the schedules, of the 8 games remaining, 3 are easy division games (2 KC 1 OAK), but 4 are against tough teams (SD, NYG, INDY, PHI) and their game this week at Washington. On the other hand, the Chargers get the Browns and Titans, don't have to play Indy, but they only play the Chiefs one more time. As far as momentum, it is clearly on the side of the Chargers who have capped their three game winning streak with an emotional win at the Meadowlands. The Broncos on the other hand are riding a two-game losing streak that included two disappointing second halves. Oakland and KC are still out of the picture.

Jump the break for individual teams.

AFC West Standings

	W	L	PF	PA
Denver	6	2	150	124
San Diego	5	3	206	179
Oakland	2	6	78	201
Kansas City	1	7	126	205

(updated 11.10.2009 at 1:30 AM PST)

Oakland Raiders: The Raiders had a quiet bye week getting healthy and trying not to lose any football games. Running back Darren McFadden, wide receiver Chaz Schilens, left guard Robert Gallery and right tackle Cornell Green returned to practice Monday and are expected to play against the Kansas City Chiefs this week. So that's good news. Although Tom Cable won't be charged criminally, the NFL is evaluating the situation and sending out people to determine if Cable should attend anger management classes. The National League of Women (NOW) and other women's rights groups are calling for Cable's job. The Raiders next division match-up is this week's pillow-fight of the week in Oakland. Let the battle to determine the most dysfunctional team begin, too bad nobody will see it because it will likely be blacked out.

Oakland Raiders Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Cornell Green	calf	11/09/2009
Tony Stewart	chest	11/09/2009
Gerard Warren	toe	11/09/2009
Jon Alston	shoulder	11/09/2009
Ricky Brown	ankle	11/09/2009
Robert Gallery	fibula	11/09/2009
Tommy Kelly	elbow	11/09/2009
Chris Johnson	groin	11/09/2009
Chaz Schilens	foot	11/09/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
John Bowie	knee	09/30/2009
Oren O'Neal	ankle	10/14/2009

Kansas City Chiefs: The Chiefs played a close game against the Jaguars which inevitably ended in another loss. As the Chiefs march toward another top 5 draft pick, the big story is still the rapid fall of Larry Johnson which ended in his release from the Chiefs. Although they will probably end up paying him a lot of money since I doubt anyone will pick him up, this gives Jamaal Charles more opportunity to play and gets rid of a clubhouse cancer. Chris Chambers seem to have rejuvenated their offense, at least for the moment, with two TD passes. The addition seems to have helped the Chiefs and the Chargers at the same time, and Chris will probably be happier too. As already mentioned, the Chiefs next division game is at Oakland which I'm sure will be terribly exciting.

Kansas City Chiefs Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Jon McGraw	thigh	11/09/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Devard Darling	knee	09/01/2009
Jarrad Page	calf	11/04/2009
Jackie Battle	shoulder	10/14/2009
Colin Brown	undisclosed	09/05/2009

Denver Broncos: Will the real Broncos please stand up? Are they the 6-0 team or the 0-2 team? Are they the second-half juggernaut or the second-half duds? Is Kyle Orton the QB who threw one INT in 7 games or 3 INT's in one game? Are they a punishing opponents on the lines or the team that didn't get ONE rushing first-down against the Steelers? The answer is probably somewhere close to the middle. Teams are starting to key on the Broncos weakness and adjusting their game-plans as such. Kyle Orton looks nervous as opposed to the pillar of strength he looked like earlier in the season. Either way, the Broncos are much better than everyone thought but they still aren't an elite team. The Steelers were clearly the superior team last night, even at Mile High. The Broncos have lost some momentum going forward but they are still healthy and still have the advantage over the Chargers. Now is the time for Josh McDaniels to adjust to the adjustments that other teams are making. Going forward, we will see if the Broncos and McDaniels are studs or duds. The game at Washington this weekend may tell us a lot about the Broncos. Their next division match-up looks to be a huge game with playoff implications at Mile High against the Chargers.

Denver Broncos Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Ryan McBean	knee	11/10/2009
Peyton Hillis	other-excused	11/10/2009
David Bruton	groin	11/10/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Nick Greisen	knee	08/05/2009
J'Vonne Parker	knee	08/08/2009

San Diego Super Chargers: The Bolts are flying high after an emotional victory at the Meadowlands and gaining the momentum in the AFC West race if not the advantage. They are finally getting healthy, emotionally and physically, as well and it looks like All-Pro center Nick Hardwick will make his return to Qualcomm Stadium this weekend against the Eagles. The Chargers are still a little banged up at the linebacker position; SP95 was injured in the Giants game and Kevin Burnett and Tim Dobbins are still ailing. It looks like Phillips and Burnett will play this weekend while Dobbins will sit. LB Jyles Tucker is also most likely out this weekend. It looks like the Eagles are having the same problem the Chargers were earlier in the season: inability to keep anyone healthy. If Westbrook is out and the Eagles must depend on the passing game, the Chargers could win big with improved pass rush from Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips. The Chargers are also only 2-2 this season and they need to improve their play at home. The game is already sold out so we know it will be loud this weekend. Our next division match-up is Week 11 at Mile High Stadium.

San Diego Chargers Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Tim Dobbins	knee	11/09/2009
Nick Hardwick	ankle	11/09/2009
Kevin Burnett	ankle	11/09/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Ryon Bingham	arm	09/05/2009
Jamal Williams	triceps	09/19/2009
Antwan Applewhite	hamstring	10/20/2009
Brandon Hughes	knee	09/02/2009

Philadelphia Eagles Injuries

Probable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Max Jean-Gilles	shoulder	11/09/2009

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Victor Abiamiri	knee	11/09/2009
Chris Gocong	other-excused	11/09/2009
Akeem Jordan	knee	11/10/2009
Brian Westbrook	ankle	11/09/2009
Quintin Demps	ankle	11/09/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Shawn Andrews	back	09/15/2009
Stewart Bradley	knee	09/01/2009
Omar Gaither	foot	10/22/2009
Cornelius Ingram	knee	09/01/2009
Fenuki Tupou	chest	09/05/2009

Week 9 NFL Power Rankings : The "Movin' On Up" Edition

smashville — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:10:48 -0000

Rankings for Week 9 after the jump. We went up or stayed steady again in every ranking this week. Average spot is 24.

NFL.com's "experts" - up two to #23

ESPN - up three to #23

With VY at QB, receivers have turned reliable, CJ has gone crazy and the defense has improved greatly. (Kuharsky)

Yahoo! Sports - steady at #25.

How gutsy was that Vince Young option call on fourth-and-inches – and how sweet was Chris Johnson’s move on 49ers linebacker Parys Haralson before slipping in for the winning score?

Pro Football Weekly - up two to #24.

Vince Young ... game manager?

CBS Sportsline - up five to #24

Vince Young is 2-0 as a starter. Really? It helps that Chris Johnson is running wild.

Fox Sports - up one to #24.

FIRST-HALF BLESSING: Who knew the 0-6 start may have been a blessing? It took six straight defeats to start the year for coach Jeff Fisher to resort to giving QB Vince Young another shot as a starter..

The Sporting News's Power Poll - up three to #23.

Chris Johnson could win the rushing title, and QB Vince Young has been steady.

Tennessee Titans Running Back Success Rates Against San Francisco

Jimmy — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:00:23 -0000

Explanation:

Each individual rush is considered on it's own, and measured by it's "success." A run is considered successful if it gets 40% of the yardage needed to move the chains on first down, 60% of the yardage needed on second down, and 100% of the yardage needed on third or fourth down. This is a much more accurate overall picture of how well a running back does in a game than just the total yardage or ypc averages because it ignores big run outliers that can skew those kinds of stats

Stats after the jump.

Chris Johnson

vs SFX / 11.8.09	Rushing				Receiving
	Rush	Yards	Avg	TD	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD
Chris Johnson	25	135	5.4	2	3	25	8.3	0

Another solid day for CJ (not like you needed to see this to know that).

LenDale White

vs SFX / 11.8.09	Rushing				Receiving
	Rush	Yards	Avg	TD	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD
LenDale White	4	3	.800	0	0	0	0	0

Not LenDale's best effort, but it is nice to see his carry number this low in a win.

Tennessee Titans Morning Links: Chris Johnson Is Homeless Baby Kisser? Edition

August West — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:23:03 -0000

More photos » by Marcio Sanchez - AP

Cortland Finnegan just found out that Hootie is up for a CMA.

Browse more photos »

In our 0-6 start Chris Johnson carried the ball more than 20 times only twice; in the two games since he's carried it 24 and 25 times... I think we've found the cheese in our recipe for success, people.

To wit, CJ now has a triple digit lead on second place rusher Cedric Benson, despite 54 fewer carries than Benson. Put it this way: Johnson has 6.7 yards per carry, and the next best in the top 10 rushers is 5.2. That's why CJ can get away with whatever dumb sayings he's got going on his Twitter feed these days.

Join Jimmy and I tonight at 9:00 Central as we do a preview show with Buffalo Rumblings via Blog Talk Radio. Be sure to offer up some questions you'd like answered in the comments or in the chat room when the show starts!

Follow us through the jump to find out where Jeff Fisher now ranks in all-time wins as a coach...

One thing I'm sure we'll be talking about tonight is the in-flux QB position for the Bills. No one really knows if it'll be Trent Edwards or Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Congratulations to Jeff Fisher, who moved up to 21st all-time in NFL coaching victories.

Fisher was pleased with the performances of fill-ins Leroy Harris and Gerald McRath. He was also happy about the improved play of the defensive line, though their day was marred by six offsides/neutral zone infractions.

Boom King is having a charity wrestling event at the Wild Horse tonight to benefit the Preston Taylor Boys and Girls Club of Nashville. (That was last night)

It's tough to underestimate how much Cortland Finnegan's fiery play and leadership have meant to this turn around.

Should fantasy owners think about trading Chris Johnson while his value is sky-high? If you're one of those folks and you're in the MCM Fantasy league then please give me a shout now!

Every time you read a great Titans-related story on the web and don't share it with the MCM community through the fanposts, fanshots or by emailing me at mcmaugustwest@gmail.com a Ravens (or Steelers) fan smiles. Is that what you want?!!!!?!?!

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)

Browse more photos »

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!

Web Rumblings: Buffalo Bills Links, 11/10

MattRichWarren — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:07:06 -0000

Safety situation – Inside The Bills
Chris Brown speculates on where guys are going to end up now that Bryan Scott and Donte Whitner are back healthy and Jairus Byrd isn't likely to go to the bench.

Vick to Bills would be a flawed plan : Jerry Sullivan : The Buffalo News
"What do Austin Collie, Johnny Knox and Keenan Burton have in common? They're all NFL wide receivers with more catches than Lee Evans or Terrell Owens."

Bills' toothless run D to face toughest task yet - AFC East - ESPN
Tim Graham looks at the numbers and it isn't good for Buffalo's run D with the Titans' Chris Johnson coming to town.

More Vick rumor and opinion
BillBoard: Vick to the Bills in 2010 draws mixed reactions
"We don't know who will be calling the personnel shots for the Bills in 2010," says News writer Allen Wilson. "There is no guarantee that a new coach and/or general manager would have any interest in Vick."

Players on Vick – Inside The Bills
Lee Evans, Trent Edwards, and Donte Whitner give their thoughts on the Mike Vick rumor.

Scott Pitoniak: Vick isn't the answer in Buffalo
The Rochester writer opines on Mike Vick and Trent Edwards' future.

Vick to Bills would be a flawed plan : Jerry Sullivan : The Buffalo News
"Sure, the Bills need help at quarterback. What they don't need is a washout who couldn't read defenses or make accurate throws before he went to jail."

Non-Vick Links

Keep an eye on the AFC wild-card race - AFC East - ESPN
The Bills are six spots and two games behind the final wild card teams (unfortunately one of them is the Texans).

Kawika Mitchell sounds off on Larry Johnson | ProFootballTalk.com
"LJ doesn't respect women so I have no thoughts about him really," Mitchell said. "People like that r nothing. At 1 point we were boys."

Whitner stumping for Byrd Pro Bowl – Inside The Bills
When asked about the rookie, who leads the league in interceptions, Donte Whitner believes the Pro Bowl is realistic for the young defensive back provided he can turn in some similar plays in the second half of the season.

Changes for offense minor – Inside The Bills
"I don’t think you’re going to see a dramatic or completely different offense," said Lee Evans. "But hopefully we’ll be able to do some things and mix it up a little bit. Get more guys involved."

Both Scotts set to go | BuffaloBills.com
Jonathan Scott and his similarly-named teammate Bryan are both expected back in the lineup after a month on the sideline.

Bills' plan changes, but QB undecided : Buffalo Bills : The Buffalo News
The Bills are 3-0 in the first game after the bye under Jauron.

Keep an eye on the AFC wild-card race - AFC East - ESPN
The Bills are six spots and two games behind the final wild card teams (unfortunately one of them is the Texans).

POLLOCK: It was Moss, Levy and a football day | Olean Times Herald
Firmer Bills’ coach Marv Levy has joined Dennis Green, Jim Mora, Brian Billick, Mike Ditka, Romeo Crennel and the late Bill Walsh in a Coors Light commercial.

Golden Nuggets: Bad taste in the mouth, to be sure..

Ninjames — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:00:42 -0000

Gooood morning everyone. First off, thanks to Fooch for covering for me yesterday, something came up and there was just no way I'd be able to get the Nuggets up in time. Back today though, and my disappointment from the loss on Sunday is numbed by the fact that we've got a game coming up in just a couple of days (also maybe because of the fact that I've been playing Modern Warfare 2 until my eyes bleed) and I'm just looking ahead to that game. If this game doesn't go well, it's time to stop thinking playoffs and start either thinking A) Coaching staff or B) quarterback because something is not going right in 49erland. When the approval ratings topic goes up this week I'm going to be voting "no." Because I do not approve, this loss was unacceptable and we can't take many more of them. I suppose I'll just get to the links right now.

Mike Singletary remains optimistic. The 49ers are at crossroads right now, and optimism wont get us everywhere. We need to win, not feel like we can win. (SacBee.com)

Barrows has a 49ers midseason report card. I haven't read it yet, but I'm willing to bet there wont be a whole lot of As. (SacBee.com)

This team needs to regroup in a hurry, the Bears come to Candlestick on Thursday. (Yahoo.com)

There were some fireworks in Singletary's press conference yesterday--namely with one writer in particular. (SFGate.com)

That writer was Lowell Cohn--somebody I've disliked immensely for about five years now. Just putting that out there. (PressDemocrat.com)

The game against the Bears will be just like any other game the 49ers have played under Singletary. (PressDemocrat.com)

Here's yesterday's edition of Singletary's Notebook. (49ers.com)

Titans coach Jeff FIsher had nothing but good things to say about Patrick Willis. (PressDemocrat.com)

Here's The Wrap Up for the Titans game. (49ers.com)

HB Glen Coffee wont be playing on Thursday, he's out with a concussion. (ProFootballTalk.com)

Coach Sing says this is when he's at his best. (49ers.com)

Maiocco has his video recap of Sunday's lost to the Titans. (PressDemocrat.com)

The blame for the loss is being attributed to the four turnovers the 49ers made--and with good reason, it's where the blame should be. (SacBee.com)

Makes me wonder... are the Titans a better team than the 49ers? I don't really know. I guess so. (SFGate.com)

TE Vernon Davis is close to his personal best season already this season. (SFGate.com)

How about some post game reactions? Always good stuff, here. (49ersFancast)

Mike Singletary press conference transcript: 49ers not interested in Larry Johnson

Fooch — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:10:18 -0000

Ok, so Mike Singletary didn't say it would NEVER happen, but when asked about Larry Johnson, Singletary said:

On whether the 49ers are interested in RB Larry Johnson:
"Right now, I hadn't even thought about it. No. No. Not right now."

The 49ers do have a need for running back depth, but it's not happening with LJ. He actually doesn't clear waivers until tomorrow afternoon. The 49ers would be looking to wait until after he clears waivers, meaning he'd basically have 2 days to learn even a little bit of the playbook. Also, the Texans are bringing Johnson in for a workout, and the Redskins haven't ruled out trying to sign Johnson (if he clears waivers). I'd imagine he'll be locked up before the end of the day tomorrow.

Earlier today I mentioned I was looking for info on Jason Hill in the press conference. We didn't get a completely clear answer, but Singletary did address the wide receiver position.

On why WRs Josh Morgan and Jason Hill played so much:
"I think right now, we have to meet as a staff and really look at our receiving situation. It's a good situation, we have a lot of talent there. We just have to figure out the right combination of time for all of our guys."

On how much he will play Bruce in the future:
"I think it makes sense for us to get together as a staff and really figure out the best thing that we need to do going forward and we will do that. We will do that this week and we will do it today."

On what he saw from [WR] Jason Hill that this was the game he wanted Hill to play:
"Practice. I mean, Jason Hill - I just saw it in practice. He's a guy that could have really gotten a bad attitude and said, ‘Hey, forget it. I'm out here. I was out here last year, I was making plays. It didn't happen. This year, maybe I need to go somewhere else.' But, he's a guy - we've talked a few times. I know [wide receivers coach Jerry] Sullivan has talked with him as well. He's had a tremendous attitude out here and just busting his tail trying to make plays. He's got all the DBs mad at him because he continues to make plays. What he did in the game did not surprise me. I'm very excited about what he was able to accomplish."

Not exactly clear-cut information, but the writing is definitely on the wall for Isaac Bruce. He's had an amazing career, but it looks like his time is winding down.

Feel free to use this thread to discuss Monday Night Football as well.

We have the complete transcript after the jump...

Head Coach Mike Singletary
Press Conference November 9, 2009
San Francisco 49ers

Opening statements:

"Good afternoon. First of all, obviously this is not the most exciting time in the world right now. I would say the biggest thing is we just have to continue working we just have to continue going forward. In the loss we had yesterday, it was unfortunate some of the things that happened in the game. The things that we talked about all week, doing the things we needed to do, going out and playing together. The offensive line, for the most part, did a decent job. Obviously there was one sack there, [T Adam] Snyder's guy came underneath. It was just a good pass rush, the one that caused the fumble by [QB] Alex [Smith]. But overall, I thought the offensive line did a good job. I was very encouraged when I came in and looked at the film last night. The running backs, Frank Gore ran hard. I thought our receivers did a good job of blocking downfield. As far as Alex is concerned in terms of throwing the football, I thought Alex did a good job of throwing the football. I thought the first turnover he had, throwing the ball to [WR Michael] Crabtree, the ball just takes an unlucky bounce back and the guy was able to come back and make a pick. That doesn't happen too often. The second turnover that went to [WR] Josh [Morgan], I thought there were a couple of things that could have happened there. Josh could have made a little better play on the ball coming back to it. I thought the defender got there a little bit early, but we didn't get that call. Other than that, I think Alex had one play that was really on him and they did a good job defensively. He thought it was Cover 4, and basically the DB came off and Alex was trying to get the ball there on time and the guy made a nice play. When I look at the offense, for the most part, unfortunately it was one of the better offensive performances I have seen since I've been here. If you take away the turnovers, we have a chance to really have a good offensive game and have some excitement and momentum going forward. But it didn't happen that way. We did have the turnovers, and I think that is something we have to continue to work on. Outside of that, what do we do going forward? You have four losses and obviously that is not where you want to be, but it is where we are, dealing with reality. I think the most fortunate thing we have right now, the blessing that I would call, is we have a coaching staff that is continuing to work their tails off putting our guys in position to win. We have a young team that has to continue to fight, stay together and execute consistently. The guys are playing hard, that's not even a thought. I have had questions about, ‘Do you think they will start bickering in the locker room?' and those sort of things. No. We won't have that, haven't had that. That won't start. We have eight games left in the season and we have to go out and do the very best we can to win those football games. Other than that, questions."

On whether Smith was locking onto receivers too early:

"I really don't think so. I really don't."

On whether Smith and Morgan have chemistry together:

"I think it could be a combination of things. I think Josh is still maturing into a receiver. He is going to be a great receiver one of these days, it just hasn't happened yet. But, he is working his tail off to get there. That's where it's at. You just have to continue working at it."

On the injuries suffered Sunday:

"[RB] Glen Coffee has a concussion. He will probably be out this game. [S] Michael Lewis has a quad strain. That will be day-to-day this week. [S] Curtis Taylor has a shin contusion. [RB] Michael Robinson had a little bit of a stinger. [CB] Tarell Brown, a rib contusion. [G David] Baas had a little bit of a stinger. [TE] Delanie Walker, a little bit of a knee sprain. I think that will be a day-to-day thing but I think he will be okay for the game. [RB Frank] Gore, eye contusion. Anything I say just add contusion onto it and you'll be in good shape. [TE] Vernon Davis, shoulder contusion."

On why WRs Josh Morgan and Jason Hill played so much:

"I think right now, we have to meet as a staff and really look at our receiving situation. It's a good situation, we have a lot of talent there. We just have to figure out the right combination of time for all of our guys."

On whether WR Isaac Bruce was injured against the Titans:

"He has a sore ankle. He has had a sore ankle for a few weeks, a couple of weeks. Nothing big, but just kind of a little bit of pain there. He is trying to work through it. That's all it was."

On how much he will play Bruce in the future:

"I think it makes sense for us to get together as a staff and really figure out the best thing that we need to do going forward and we will do that. We will do that this week and we will do it today."

On the play of Davis this season:

"Vernon Davis, he has been the same since the beginning of the season. He has worked his tail off. What he is doing now is just the investment he made in the offseason. He continues to get better and he is going to help this team win a lot of football games. He is committed, that's why he is a captain. He is the example that everybody on this team wants to look to as a guy who is doing it right. He is just really working his tail off and he is making a difference in the team."

On Davis' blocking:

"Normally, when a guy is doing something well and he starts doing something else well, what he was doing well originally drops. He continues to get better as a blocking tight end. He is one of those guys, you put another 20 pounds on him and he would be right there doing a heck of a job blocking those ends and tackles and everything else. He is just an extraordinary athlete and is beginning to put all the tools together. He continues to work out right out there on the field before practice, after practice, getting it done. That's why Vernon Davis is successful and he will continue to be so."

On the challenge of running out of the shotgun:

"The shotgun is just one of things where it depends on how much flexibility you have from your o-line. You can run traps, you can run power, you can run basically the same things. It is just a matter of it has to happen a little quicker. There's not much of an illusion to it when you have the fullback. It makes it different because you are keying on that lead guy. I just think that we have to see is how much of the shotgun look that we will keep going forward. We will expand it depending on who we are playing, depending on what they are trying to do to us. If we have to loosen up the front seven if they are trying to load up the box, maybe we do that. But we just have to wait and see."

On whether he liked the shotgun look:

"I like the things that work. I don't really get into a look or whatever. I look at, how many yards and how effective is it? How did it fit with our personnel and what we are doing? It is certainly something we have the tools to do. We have Vernon here in the tight end spot, and we have three wide outs. We have Gore in the backfield. Those are some great weapons to be able to use. I just think we have to really focus on cutting down on some of the other things we are doing that takes away from that because I think it is a powerful thing going forward."

On Titans RB Chris Johnson:

"Obviously, what you saw there was real speed. I don't know if there has ever been a running back as fast to the edge. Sometimes when you look at something on film, you go, ‘Okay, right. We will get him.' I thought for the most part, our defense did a pretty decent job, there were just a couple of times where he got out. When you look out there and see a guy turning the corner and Patrick Willis is running after him, you don't see that too often. Patrick is going to catch that guy. And he did, a few times. That is credit to him. But the guy made some good plays. They blocked on to us. We didn't do a great job getting off blocks yesterday. They did a good job staying on the blocks yesterday. It is just one of those things, I thought we had to do a better job getting off blocks and we didn't."

On whether the 49ers are interested in RB Larry Johnson:

"Right now, I hadn't even thought about it. No. No. Not right now."

On how the losing stretch is weighing on him:

"Do you mean is it one of those things where it takes me to a place? I will put it like this, as a football coach, I am very thankful to be doing what I am doing. But, there are a lot of guys waking up this morning where they are in a job that they don't want to be in and they are doing something and they wish they could be doing something else. I get up every morning, trust me, it is testing at times in this job, but I love this job and I love what I do. I feel that I am the luckiest man in the world to do what I do. Everything that comes with the job, just like you with your job, sometimes you have things that upset you, things that you wish were going another way, but this where it is at. In these moments, this is when I am at my best because in these situations, you just have to rise above and you have to put your best foot forward. You have to be positive. You have to look at where things are and just call it what it is. I can't get lost in the reality of the four losses. It's not something that you want. It's not something - it's not a place that you want to be, but that's where it's at. So, for me, it's just getting ready to, coming in this morning, being excited, talking to the coaching staff, having the coaching staff, ‘Hey, let's go. Let's get ready. Call your guys. Let them know we're on. Be ready to go tomorrow when they come in.' We're setting the game plan in place today, and let's get ready to go tomorrow. On that question, the thing that I want to do is I want all of you to understand this: If you talk to me after a game, nine times out of 10, if we lose the game, it's very rare that I will be sitting back and kind of being philosophical or whatever. I'm going to be ticked. OK? You can call it stress, you can call it whatever you want to call it. For me, it's human. It's just human. You guys in the media, it's just one of those things that, I don't ever think I'm going to have the right etiquette to stand up here and pontificate like some of the other coaches can do. That's not me. I'm a football coach, and I'm real, and what you see is what you get. All I can tell you today is that we've got eight games left, and we've got the right coaches, we've got the right players, we've got the right vision and we just have to go forward. Sometimes, that's all it is, nothing more, nothing less."

On the process of him deciding to become a coach:

"I'll take you through this: I think everything happens for a reason. I think, first and foremost, I told you before that I didn't want to coach, for all of these kinds of reason. I thought, as a player, at least you can go out there and hit somebody. At least you can do that. But, as a coach, you're dealing with guys, and they have to go play. And, you've got to go over there and you've got to make sure that you're doing all the right things on the sideline. But, I think all of the things that I thought before, getting into coaching, is what it is. It's in practice. What you do in practice, nine times out of 10, that's what you're going to get in the games. What you practice on, that's what you should do in the game. I think, for me, that's the best gaze that I have going into any game that we play in. That's why we have practices that are intense at times, in terms of making sure that every little detail is worked out and you still see at times we come up short. But, the guys are headed in the right direction. The guys are - there's not one eye, not one set of eyes in the room last night blinking. All the guys are looking at me and we all agree, you know what? Here's another game. You take the gun out and you point it at yourself, and we're shooting ourselves. We just have to go forward and expect the best and understand that the best will come because we will not see it any other way. I will not compromise. As far as coaching as concerned, it is what I love to do, and I was hesitant to get into coaching because of some of the - I'm standing up here today for this kind of thing because I hate losing. It's as simple as that. No one loves losing, but I hate losing, absolutely hate it - especially when you've got a team that can win. So, that's where I'm at with that. But, I absolutely love what I do."

On whether he wanted to coach the Chicago Bears:

"I wanted to coach at whatever place that wanted me. I didn't know where I was going to coach. And, it's like I said before, when my wife and I knew that we were going to be coaching, we put our house up for sale. We didn't know where we going to be coaching. We didn't know what level we were going to be coaching, had no idea, had no clue. We just knew we were going to be coaching. So, in terms of where we wanted to coach, I just felt that as we prayed, wherever the Lord would have us go, that's where we wanted to go. Where we ended up going, that's where we were going to coach, and we were going to coach as hard as we could and as long as we could."

On what changed in his mind that led him to want to coach:

"What changed in my mindset as I want to coach? It's a hard thing to explain. When I said my wife and I, we prayed about it, that's what we did. We felt that through prayer there were certain doors that were open and then we had to field the right fit and the right situation that came about. And that came, which was from Baltimore, and that's where we went. As far as all of the other things, I think everything that's happened in my life has prepared me for moments like these. I can't lie to you. I would love to come in and have it be we're 6-0, we're 7-0 and we're going forward. ‘Wow, what a brilliant guy. Wow, where has he been.' But, it's not like that. But, I would much rather have it this way, where you come in and you start off right, you know you can do it, and then all of a sudden all these changes. You're changing the quarterback. You start finding out about yourself. You start finding out about the people around you and you start finding out what you're made of. And then you come back together and the thing starts working again. Then you feel better about what you've accomplished and you feel better about the people you've been around because you've been exposed. There's nothing that exposes you like a tough time. There's nothing that exposes - you don't get to know people until you go through tough times. You don't get to know your spouse until you go through tough times, or kids. So, I would much rather have it like this because when it does swing around, we'll be enjoying it a lot more, and it'll be much more of a richness to it going forward and an appreciation for it because it doesn't come easy. There are a lot of little things that have to work right in order for the big thing to really come into fuition. So, I feel good about that. I feel good about these next eight games. I feel good about these next eight games. I feel good about the situation we're in and I feel good about our guys having to work through some things, as well as our coaches, to climb back up again and get ready for that next one and let's go."

On what makes him think his team will turn it around:

"You know what sir? I don't know where you're from, and I don't know what you really meant by that. I understand that you're not my players, thankful that you're not my players. I do want to win. But, let me say this: You have to know guys that you spend days with. You have to know guys that you spend hours with. It's just like you when you're at home. I don't know how much time you spend with your kids, but it's important that when things happen, you know, you have a pretty good idea of how your kids are going to respond. If you tell me that one of my kids slapped you or one of my kids spit on you or something like that, I've got a pretty good idea of who it would be because I know them. I would say, ‘OK, that was Jackie.' Or, ‘You know what? That was Brooke.' When I think about our guys or when I'm talking about our guys, I know them. I know them, and when you spend as much time with these young men and you know what they're made of, then you have a pretty doggone good idea of how they're going to respond. That make sense?"

On whether he contacted the Bears before he decided to get back into coaching:

"Well, I'll put it this way: When I knew we were going to be coaching, the thing that I did was I called Dick Jauron, who was then at the Bears, the head coach. And, I told Dick Jauron exactly this, I said, ‘Coach, my wife and I prayed about it, we've decided that we're going to be coaching. I'm not asking you for a job, but I am telling you that this year, in the very near future, I will be coaching. I don't know where, don't know when.' And, that was it. He said, ‘Well, Mike, good. Let me get back to you and see what's happening here.' And I said, ‘Once again, I understand, I'm not asking. If there's something there, great, but let's just not do something just to do it.' So, he got back to me eventually and just said, ‘Mike, the way things are here, it just looks like it's going to be a tough situation to work out.' I said, ‘Fantastic. I thank you.' And he just let me know that I'm not supposed to be there. So, that was it."

On whether he has any particular emotions coaching against the team he played for:

"Not in particular. I'm just excited for the game. But, not emotions outside of the emotions that I have for any other team."

On the positives and negatives of playing the game on such a short turnaround:

"I think, whatever positives and negatives we have, it's the same for the other team. So, it really doesn't matter a whole lot. We've just got to get ready to go."

On what he saw from [WR] Jason Hill that this was the game he wanted Hill to play:

"Practice. I mean, Jason Hill - I just saw it in practice. He's a guy that could have really gotten a bad attitude and said, ‘Hey, forget it. I'm out here. I was out here last year, I was making plays. It didn't happen. This year, maybe I need to go somewhere else.' But, he's a guy - we've talked a few times. I know [wide receivers coach Jerry] Sullivan has talked with him as well. He's had a tremendous attitude out here and just busting his tail trying to make plays. He's got all the DBs mad at him because he continues to make plays. What he did in the game did not surprise me. I'm very excited about what he was able to accomplish."

Post-Game Breakdown: Texans Drop Heartbreaker To Colts In Indianapolis

Tim — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:00:38 -0000

Almost a full day later, it still hurts. If you're a believer in moral victories, yesterday's loss in Indianapolis probably counts as a moral victory. If you're like me, moral victories do very little for you eight (8) years in. Still, there's a lot to like from what we saw yesterday against the Colts, and your Houston Texans nearly beat an undefeated team (perhaps the best team in the NFL right now) at their house. Unfortunately, they don't keep track of "near-wins," and we have two full weeks to digest what we saw before the Texans get a chance to take the field again. Let's get to the specifics from the fourth loss of the season:

1. Kris Brown--you are forgiven. He has hit far too many big kicks in his career as a Texan, including but not limited to that monstrous 56-yarder he put through the uprights immediately before the half to seize momentum from the Colts (although it must be noted that said boot was the fortuitious consequence of the Colts calling timeout and erasing his first try), not to receive the benefit of the doubt. It is fair, however, to note that Brown has missed the same number of FGs thus far in 2009 that he missed in all of 2008, in 19 fewer attempts. Worth keeping an eye on.

2. How is it that seemingly every Texans fan, going into the game, knew it was folly to try to cover Dallas Clark with a linebacker, yet Frank Bush assigned Brian Cushing to the task virtually the entire game? Linebackers simply cannot cover Clark, just like linebackers could not cover Owen Daniels. By putting Cushing on Clark, the Texans were essentially conceding the matchup, and Peyton Manning blistered 'em all day. Why not put a DB on Clark?

3. The Texans cannot play zone. It's the equivalent of death by a thousand cuts. Please, please, please do not subject us to any more zone looks, Mr. Bush. It's horrific to watch and astoundingly ineffective.

4. I do not come only to bury Frank Bush, friends. The horrors of the first half (first quarter in particular, when Peyton threw 25 (!) times for about 180 yards) were profound, yes, but Bush showed once again that he can make adjustments at halftime. Say what you will about the Houston offense controlling the ball in the second half, but that was a different Texans defense we saw after the intermission. The offense kept the defense fresh and off the field with sustained drives, but the defense was darn good in the second half.

5. In years past, your Houston Texans would have trailed the Colts 21-0 at halftime. This time, it was 13-3, because the defense bowed up and held the Colts to field goals. That is tangible and anecdotal progress.

6. Total Rushing Yards for Indianapolis: 72. Granted, they only ran it 18 times, primarily because they had so much success through the air. Still...72 yards is 72 yards.

7. I think Kerns e-mailed a copy of his Friday post to Bernard Pollard, because Pollard looked like a man angling for a new deal yesterday. Two interceptions from a SS who's not really the ballhawking type. Yes, one of them was on an awful throw from Reggie Wayne, and the other may well have been the result of a Colt running the wrong route. Regardless, both were HUGE plays and occurred on Houston's side of the field. Qualify them however you like, as long as you throw "HUGE" in there as well.

8. Glover Quin played exceptionally well. I've been one of those fans scratching my head over his elevation to the starting lineup over Jacques Reeves. No more. He's legit. ~~As legit as Fred Bennett was his rookie year!~~. Sorry about that.

9. Chicken/Egg here...although Reggie Wayne had 8 catches, he wasn't much of a factor. Was that relative ineffectiveness due to the Dallas Clark-Brian Cushing mismatch, or did Dunta Robinson have more to do with it than we'd like to admit? Personally, I'm of the mind that it's more the former, but Dunta can't win at this point. If Wayne would've had a big game, we'd all be ripping D-Rob for that.

10. Connor Barwin's contributions to the Texans yesterday came in the form of two gigantic penalties. Yet another reason why Tim Bulman is highly underrated.

11. I waited until the bye week was upon us to do this. I can't wait any longer. Here goes: Jacoby Jones is having a tremendous season. He's been an asset on special teams, in the passing game, and occasionally, in the running game. For someone I thought was sure to be cut in September, I might have been more wrong about him than I was about Cushing.

12. The preceding paragraph has guaranteed that Jacoby will fumble twice on Monday Night Football for all the world to see. My apologies--I simply couldn't continue not praising the guy for having a fine season.

13. While Joel Dreessen didn't put up Owen Daniels numbers, he did have a big third down catch. He's not OD. He doesn't have to be in an offense that features Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter starting at WR. That said, we saw how much Schaub misses OD yesterday. Peyton has Dallas Clark; Schaub had OD. Without OD, Schaub is more prone than ever to lock in on 'Dre and force passes his way (e.g., the pick into triple coverage). I hope that Schaub uses the bye week to reestablish the rapport he had last season with K-Dub. As amazing as 'Dre is, he cannot be expected to wrestle the football away from three defenders every game.

14. K-Dub's catch inside the IND 5 was one of the best I've seen this season. Nice to see him become a significant part of the offense again. I repeat: We're gonna need it more than ever with OD gone.

15. When Dwight Freeney beat Duane Brown yesterday, it looked really, really bad. What we don't see in nearly as dramatic fashion, however, is the multiple times Brown kept Freeney in check. Freeney's one of the best ends in the league, so Brown's going to get beat a time or three. Yet Schaub was clean most of the day, and that's a testament to the entire OL.

16. Schaub's second INT, though? All Chris Myers.

17. Matt Schaub finished with two (2) less completions and seven (7) less attempts than Peyton Manning en route to another 300+ yard passing day. Most importantly, he operated a two-minute offense, starting from his own 15 yard line, with no timeouts, and got the Texans into field goal range. That's about as good as it gets.

18. I hope Ryan Moats enjoyed that starting gig, because I don't think it's going to be his when the Titans visit on November 23rd. That's not to say he played poorly; he didn't. But when a guy gets the gig on the strength of not fumbling the football, then proceeds to fumble the football, all while the deposed starter does not fumble the football, I'm guessing Steve Slaton goes back to the first string.

19. Much was made in the Comments during and after the game about the Texans failing to snap the ball from the IND 1 after Moats appeared to fumble; as you'll recall, Houston let the clock run to the two-minute warning, which gave the Colts extra time to consider challenging the play. Which they did, successfully.

I don't blame Schaub for failing to snap the ball. I blame Kubes. More to the point, I blame whoever he's got in the booth. Kubes may not have been able to see it from the opposite sideline, but there's no excuse for his staff in the booth not to see what was going on. In the past, we've all given Kubes a lot of flack for his horrific and ill-timed challenges. Inevitably, this has led us to question exactly who he has watching over this stuff in the booth. I still don't know who it is. All I know is that the person or persons seem to be doing a very poor job. Even worse, Kubes doesn't seem to think it's a problem worth addressing.

20. Fake Game Balls: Offense--Matt Schaub (chiefly because of that final drive; Andre Johnson deserves it too); Defense--Bernard Pollard; Special Teams--Matt Turk (Jacoby actually did very little on punt returns, and I can't give it to the dude who missed the game-winner).

Now we get to work ourselves into a frenzy for two weeks until Bud Adams' Army of Darkness and Monday Night Football return to Reliant Stadium. It's gonna be a looooooooooong fortnight.

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