Category: Tennessee Titans

Twitter, Twitter and More Twitter and Other Points of View

Bears

  • Fred Mitchell and David Kaplan at the Chicago Tribune overheard this:

“‘Times have changed since I played. … Abe Gibron (former coach) and I used to argue when I was nearing the end of my career and I was playing on one leg,’ former Bear Dick Butkus told us. ‘He’d say, ‘Dick, you are better on one leg than the backup is on two.’ That was silly though.'”

Maybe.

“I’d welcome some conversation about how the Bears are going to make him better because the Cutler who now has played five NFL seasons isn’t good enough.”

How about they schedule surgery at Northwestern.  They can install a brain and heart that has the desire to do the tough things necessary to correct those problems.  Oops.  I said “tough” didn’t I?  Sorry, Dan.

  • And yet the Cutler talk still continues.  This time its John Madden on Sirius NFL Radio via Mike Florio at profootballtalk.com.  Like Cutler, Madden’s grandson has Type I diabetes:

“In defending Cutler, Madden was passionate, emotional, and as angry as we’ve ever heard him.

“’I’ve been in football for over 50 years,’ Madden said, prefacing his remarks.  ‘I’ve never questioned a player’s toughness.  I never have.  Whether it was in coaching, broadcasting, whatever.’”

Which is, of course, the most disturbing point.  Only Cutler seems to be receiving this kind of abuse from his peers and it may reflect the deeper problems that he has as a player.

Which means its tough to just set aside the Cutler talk when that talk and the poor play are likely connected.  Again, sorry, Dan.

Here is a recording of the interview:

  • Michael Wilbon agrees with McNeil and Tony Kornheiser calls Twitter a “plague” as PTI debates:

“When the season is over and they don’t have to gear so much of their focus toward game planning, Mike Martz and Jay Cutler could devote significant time to working on mechanics, particularly when it comes to Cutler’s footwork. Martz recently said Cutler has improved in that area since the start of the season, but he admitted that he’s not where his quarterback needs to be yet. ‘I think some of the footwork (criticism) — and (Cutler) knows that — is fair. You can’t go through a lifetime with those kinds of habits and just fix them in one season,’ Martz said.”

Elsewhere

  • Jeff Fisher is out as coach of the Titans.  This is surprising after owner Bud Adams appeared to have chosen to keep Fisher of quarterback Vince Young, who Fisher has problems with.

It would not surprise me if we learned in the coming days that Fisher forced his way out.  Adams is generally believed to be one of the worst owners in the NFL.

“New Rams offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels on how he feels about Steven Jackson as the Rams’ primary back: ‘I know from competing against him that he’s very unique and multitalented. He can create long plays, takes great care of the offense. … I can’t wait to get started to work with him.'”

Cynics will recall that he said the same thing about Cutler when he came to Denver.

“Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver has said that he plans to sell the team eventually but he is not thinking about doing so right now. Some of the Jaguars’ offseason moves, however, hint at the possibility that Weaver is planning to sell after a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is reached. We’re hearing that Weaver’s reluctance to fire head coach Jack Del Rio and his refusal to extend the contracts of the coaching staff could be a sign that the owner is trying to clear the decks before a potential sale.”

I might add that a move to Los Angeles is always a possibility after any sale of th team.

One Final Thought

On a note related to the last item above this comes via Florio.  Packer linebacker Nick Barnett says he wishes he hadn’t popped off via Twitter about not being initially scheduled to be in the team’s Super Bowl photo.  Coach Mike McCarthy called it a “poor decision”.  Via Florio.

I’m constantly amazed by the people in all walks of life who believe that Facebook is “personal” and don’t think that they are “on the record” when they post things to the Internet.  Even people who put things in emails and are shocked when you pull them out and remind them of what was said.

Bottom line, when you put things in writing, you have to assume that the world is going to see it.  And that means you’d better think about it and you’d better mean what you say at the time.  Otherwise regret is sure to follow.

Albert Haynesworth Vs. the Bears’ Locker Room. Which Would Win?

Dan Pompei at the Chicago Tribune also answers this intriguing question:

“With O-Line and D-Line being the Bears’ biggest areas of need this offseason, what are the chances, CBA issues aside, they try to acquire Albert Haynesworth?… What are your thoughts on him Rick, Springfield, Mo.

“I don’t think that’s a bad idea. But in order for it to work, the trade compensation for Haynesworth would have to be reasonable. You wouldn’t want to pay a premium for a player with a history like Haynesworth’s. And the Bears need their draft picks. So far, the Redskins have wanted too much for Haynesworth. There wasn’t a team in the entire league willing to meet their asking price, which was rumored to be a second-round pick. But I could see a scenario in which Rod Marinelli revives Haynesworth’s career and makes him a great player again. If Haynesworth plays like he is capable, and [Julius] Peppers plays like he did this year, they could form a lethal combination.”

My first reaction when I read this question was “absolutely not”.  But as I thought about it more I have to admit that the idea is intriguing.

Haynesworth got along OK in Tennessee before signing with Washington.  The Bears are a high character team and it is possible that they could lift him up rather than have him drag them down.  Factor in the idea that this is exactly the kind of defense that Haynesworth wants to play in – one where he can rush the passer and accumulate statistics – and he would certainly be motivated.  He would make an excellent three technique tackle.

It really all depends upon the gut feeling that coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo have about how Haynesworth would affect the locker room.  And the other way around.

Aaron Rogers Refuses Autograph to Dying Child and Other Points of View

Bears

  • Steve Rosenbloom at the Chicago Tribune:

“’As you go back to the preseason,’ Lovie Smith said, “no one really saw us being in this position.’ Raising my hand.”

Mine too.

“When. The. Bears. Have. The. Ball. Shut. The. Hell. Up. Already.”

This leaves hometown American Idol winner Lee DeWyze to sing at halftime instead of the anthem (via Jeff Dickerson at ESPNChicago.com).

“So we didn’t win a couple of years there. That’s not Lovie’s fault.  It wasn’t because we weren’t coached well or weren’t prepared. And this is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league, so, yes, I think Lovie should get an extension now.”

So whose fault is it?

Step carefully, Brian.  Perhaps you should stick to talking about the Packers.

“At the same time, we know the Bears can do better. Would the Bears be playing for a playoff berth today if they had had the injuries the Packers’ have dealt with this season?”

“A small, but not insignificant part of the improvement of the Bears running game is Greg Olsen’s improved blocking. The Bears always insisted Olsen was a true tight end when it was pretty clear that his ineffective blocking made him a wide receiver playing tight end. Tight ends coach Mike DeBord gets credit for improving Olsen’s blocking to passable for an NFL tight end.”

Olsen’s blocking has improved and it was down right good against Seattle.  But I don’t think one good game makes it “passable”.  I don’t think he’s ever going to be a good blocking tight end.

  • Dan Pompei at the Chicago Tribune puts his finger on the problem that the Bears have with defensive tackle Tommie Harris, who they may have to pay as much as $5 million next season if they don’t cut him.  Harris did well against the Seahawks last week:

“And it would be foolish to make a multi-million dollar decision based on one game. But if he plays against the Packers the way he did against the Seahawks, hold everything.

“What needs to be defined is what Harris is, and why he is what he is. Is Harris the player you don’t notice because he is getting blocked or is he the player you can’t see because his feet are quicker than the eye?”

“’There’s no question Mike could be a coordinator, if he wanted to,’ Billick said. ‘But he should be thought of as a head coaching candidate going forward.’”

I would agree.  Tice strikes me as a leader but I’m not sure how he’d do calling plays.

“ESPN.com columnist Rick Reilly took [Jay] Cutler to task last week for not working hard enough to be, in his view, likable.

“‘Cutler could own Chicago if he wanted … (and) have his name on half the billboards,’ Reilly wrote, connecting dots to produce a portrait of a sullen brat who dates a former MTV reality star rather than the strong, silent type others might see in Cutler, especially if he manages to actually win a Super Bowl.

“‘Mr. Reilly wasn’t very happy with me,’ [Cutler] said, grinning slightly after last weekend’s divisional playoff victory. ‘There are a lot of distractions, especially the situation we’re in now. We’ve just got to focus in and do our jobs.’

“There’s plenty of time to pose for billboards and tape commercials later.”

Yes, but Cutler won’t be doing any of that.  Because its not important to him and simply he doesn’t want to do it.  And, as is evident particularly when he deals with the media, Cutler doesn’t do things he doesn’t want to do.

“’The first couple times we went up there, it was easy to be impressed, especially if you were a young coach. There was all this history and tradition, Vince Lombardi and all that,’ Ryan said. ‘But after they rubbed it in a few times, it gets under your skin.

“’So, yeah,’ he added, ‘there were some games when we were more interested in making points than scoring them.’”

“The question for the NFC championship game this week is whether Smith’s game plan Sunday will be more like the teams’ first meeting in Week 3, when he sat back in Cover-2 zones and gave up big yardage but kept the Packers from putting up many points in a 20-17 win at Soldier Field. Or will he play it more like the regular-season finale three weeks ago, when in the Packers’ 10-3 win Smith played mostly with a single safety deep and, very un-Cover-2-like, used extensive man-to-man coverage that included pressing receivers at the line of scrimmage?”

I’d say both.

  • Rob Demovsky at the Green Bay Press Gazette got this interesting comment about the last regular season game when the Bears played the Packers:

“At least one player on the Packers’ side questioned whether the Bears really did go all out in the season finale. To injured running back Ryan Grant, from his perspective on the sideline, something seemed amiss that afternoon.

“’Honestly, it didn’t look like necessarily that they might have been giving it their all,’ Grant said. ‘But who knows? This is a different atmosphere. They’re going to want this game.’”

I don’t know about the coaching staff but if the Bears players were giving all out effort during that game they sure had me fooled.

  • Most of us took note when it was announced that Terry McCauly, the referee when the Packers got called for 18 penalties in Week 3, would be officating this game.  But Demovsky makes a key point:

“But it won’t be the exact same officials. During the regular season, the referee works with the same crew. But at this point in the playoffs, the NFL compiles what it believes to be the best officials at each position.”

  • Tim Hasselbeck at ESPN thinks the Bears are overrated:

  • ESPN’s Ted Bruschi thinks the Bears defense will stop Aaron Rogers:

  • ESPN’s experts this Heinz Field is worse than Soldier Field.  Warning, Skip Bayless is in this video.  Be prepared to scoff:

  • They also debate which defense is better.  I note that there are no debates about which is the better offense.
  • Mel Kiper has completed his first mock draft for ESPN.  Here’s the relevant video for Bears fans. The sharp fan will note that Kiper has the Bears picking THIRTY-FIRST:

  • Demovsky avoids autograph seekers.  At least he didn’t blow by a cancer patient:

  • Green Bay center Josh Sitton talks about the problems that come with preparing to play an opponent for the third time this season:

  • Here’s a little lesson in etiquette for those Packer fans who plan to attend the game at Soldier Field:

Elsewhere

  • Hasselbeck thinks that the Jets became more conservative on defense as the season wore on and that has made them more unpredictable:

  • Vince Young makes a vain attempt to convince the sporting world that he’s a grown up:

  • Here are the Kiper picks that everyone who isn’t a freak like me cares about:

“According to a report released this week by the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, more than 86 percent of NFL wideouts became receivers as a way to compensate for the lack of things thrown at them during their childhood.”

“Pittsburgh police issued an arrest warrant today for Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes, who allegedly racked up nearly 200 felony charges that were accidentally misfiled during his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.”

They’re also supplying Ben Roethlisberger with police women to have sex with.  True story.

“Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers created a controversy today while shopping at a grocery store near his home. Witnesses say Rodgers purchased his groceries and left the store without once acknowledging a child in the store who will one day die.”

Eventually….

One Final Thought

This fan apparently wants everyone to know what he’s doing in the dark upper deck seats near the rafters.  Like the people who know him wouldn’t have guessed it already.  From the The Sports Pickle:

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“Vince Lombardi” Motivates the Teams for Wild Card Weekend and Other News

Bears

“I don’t even know why that is even important to anybody,” Angelo said. “I’ve heard it. … It’s no big deal. … I am very fortunate to be here, and as long as I am blessed with health, I continue to do what I love to do, and that’s being a part of football.”

I haven’t seen a transcript of the press conference so I don’t know what else was said.  But that’s not a denial.

“Maybe [Angelo] was referring to his litany of personnel mistakes when he admired the team for overcoming ‘all it has been through.’

“What?

Angelo would be correct if what he meant was that not fielding a professional offensive line can be an obstacle. It also is problematic that he plopped an eternally mortal cast of receivers in Jay Cutler‘s lap.

“Did you ever dream you’d be thinking “Man, we gotta get Earl Bennett back” as you were after the Bears’ 10-3 loss in Green Bay on Sunday?”

To be fair, the column should be balanced against Dan Pompei‘s more positive article yesterday.

“A No. 2 seed is usually a solid team, a team people feel is a favorite to win everything,” said John Avello, director of race and sports book operations at the Wynn. “But that’s not the case with the Bears.

“Eleven-to-1 to win the Super Bowl for a second seed is the biggest number I can remember putting up. But once you get to this point, we’ve seen the Giants run the table, and the Steelers too.”

For what its worth, the Bears seem to have beaten the odds all season.

Elsewhere

“In any event, the Panthers had better choose wisely [in the draft]: They have the first pick for a reason, and that reason is that they were the worst team in the league this season. Oh, and they don’t have a second-round pick because they traded what turned out to be the 33rd pick in this year’s draft to the Patriots to acquire the 89th pick in last year’s draft. They used that pick to draft Armanti Edwards, a wide receiver who played in three games and didn’t catch a single pass as a rookie.”

  • Florio says that Miami GM Jeff Ireland was breaking the unwritten rule that says that you don’t interview people for head coaching jobs that are currently occupied, in this case by Tony Sparano. In fairness, Jay Galzer at FOX sports said last night on the Tony Bruno Show that Ireland has been pushing owner Stephen Ross to retain Sparano. Its more than likely that Ross, who is less likely to understand or care about such niceties, is the one who wanted to interview Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh without firing Sparano first.
  • Former Bear Adam Archuletta is reportedly engaged to this:

  • “Vince Lombardi” opens Wild Card weekend with words of encouragement for the teams involved in Saturday’s playoff games. (I wish I could have embedded this video into the page. It’s absolutely beautiful.)
  • The Vikings are reportedly interviewing Josh McDaniels for offensive coordinator and Mike Singletary for linebackers coach (via Seifert). McDaniels is likely a candidate in Kansas City as well, where he’d be a better fit. But it might depend upon whether he wants to work with head coach Todd Haley.
  • Mark Schlereth at ESPN thinks the Packers will beat the Eagles this weekend by blitzing Michael Vick:

One Final Thought

Isreal Idonije on Brian Urlacher (via McClure):

“He hasn’t changed. He’s the same guy. He worked tirelessly to get back to the player he was after last year’s (wrist) injury. Adversity never got him to the point where it changed his attitude. Through everything, he just has been an incredible leader.”

Brett Favre May Be Retiring But the Boys Aren’t Going Down Without a Fight and Other News

Bears

  • Dan Pompei at the Chicago Tribune goes through what I thought was a key play in the game when Lovie Smith decided to go for it on fourth and 1 from the Packer 40 yard line.  With the defense playing well in a tight, field position game this is not the decision I would have made.  I’m surprised Smith hasn’t seen more heat over it.

“I don’t know who called it. I did my job. What was it, third-and-15? That was big. I think that was the changing point in the game right there. We had opportunities. We didn’t capitalize.”

You can almost hear the frustration in Taylor’s voice as he can’t catch a break in what has turned out to be a rough second half of the season for him.  Smith says that he made the decision to call the time out.

  • Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune on the large pass to run ratio in offensive coordinator Mike Matz‘s play calling:

“Was Martz trying to hide something for the playoffs? That doesn’t mesh with the explanations given that the Bears played to win the game Sunday. They didn’t use the formula they had been winning with and if they get out of whack in the playoffs, this has proved to be a recipe for disaster.”

I’ve heard the theory put forth that this game was more about testing the offense to see what they can do by Martz than it was about calling plays to otherwise win the game.  Like Biggs, I’m not sure I buy it.

  • Lost in the playoff excitement was the fact that the Bears lost yet another third round pick.  Biggs reports that the Bears offered to promote wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias from the practice squad to the 53 man roster (and to give him playoff game checks) to keep him leaving for the Vikings.  The Bears signed Eric Peterman to take his place on the practice squad.
  • Kevin Seifert at ESPN.com believes that Devin Hester‘s revival as a return man was due to the perfect balance between that and his role as a complementary receiver on offense.
  • Seifert also notes this interesting statistic:

“Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has struggled throwing to the left side of the field all season. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Cutler finished the year ranked 27th among NFL quarterbacks in passes thrown outside of the left hashmark. Sunday, he completed six of 14 passes and threw both of his interceptions in that direction. I don’t know if it’s a mechanical issue, a matter of the Bears’ scheme or if it’s just happenstance. But it’s worth monitoring.”

  • Soldier Field general manager Tim Lefebvre comments to ESPNChicago.com about the upheaval over the state of the stadium’s turf:

“It’s unfortunate. You see them spending too much time talking about conditions rather than just playing the game.”

I couldn’t agree more.

“No one seems to be talking about it of late, but the Bears won the Jay Cutler trade with Denver. Cutler didn’t do much against the Packers in Week 17, but he has played very well of late. … All that being said, Kyle Orton had a fine season, but no way does he lead the Bears to the No. 2 seed in the NFC this season. This is exactly what Chicago envisioned when it made the blockbuster deal for its franchise quarterback.”

  • Jeff Dickerson tells the ESPN mothership that talk about Devin Hester over shadows Danieal Manning‘s performance as a kick returner:

Elsewhere

  • Mike Florio at profootballtalk.com makes the relevant point about the retention of the current power structure in Minnesota with new head coach Leslie Frazier:

“We believe what we have right now as an organization has worked,” [team owner] Zygi Wilf said, per Tom Pelissero of 1500ESPN.com.

“Well, if it really was working, [Brad] Childress would still be the head coach.”

  • Albert Breer at the NFL Network is reporting that the Titans owner Bud Adams will meet with head coach Jeff Fisher to determine his fate.  Indications are that Adams wants Vince Young, who is feuding with Fisher, as his quarterback but he also doesn’t want to hire a new head coach in the face of a potential work stoppage.

One Final Thought

The always thoughtful Matt Forte gives his perspective on the Bears’ season to Jim Rome:

In Defense of Jeff Fisher

I always like reading Mike Florio’s profootballtalk.com blog because he isn’t just aggregating news.  He bring sometimes very strong opinions.  And he feels pretty strongly about Titans coachJeff Fisher:

“Some think that, if Fisher is fired in Tennessee, he’ll end up getting the job in Dallas.

“If he plans on getting any other head-coaching job in the NFL, Fisher will need a darn good explanation for the apparent reality that his team has quit on him.”

I’ve heard Florio interviewed enough to know that he can’t understand why people belive Fisher is such a good head coach.  As an admittedly biased fan of the former Bear, I’m going to take issue.

It well known that coaches around the NFL have a defined shelf life.  Its roughly 6 or 7 years give or take.  After that, Players have heard it all before.  They get comfortable.  The message from even the best head coaches goes stale.  If the head coach is a particularly emotional guy, it can do that even more quickly.  If he’s Mike Singletary it happens in less than a full season.

Fisher has lasted 16 more or less competitive seasons with the Titans.  Sixteen!  And not only that, he did it with Bud Adams, one of the worst, most meddlesome owners in the NFL constantly interfering.  Fisher’s an even tempered, defensive mind who understands players and who has consistently gotten the most out of them when other “geniuses” in the NFL have failed.

In those 16 years how many players have left the Titans to go on to better things elsewhere?  On the other hand, how many have left and failed?

Want to know how valuable Fisher is?  Ask Eddie George.  Better yet, ask Albert Haynesworth.  How much has Mike Shanahan gotten out of him this year?

I’m not saying that Fisher is the greatest head coach in the history of the league.  But he deserves his due in terms of respect.  And he can coach my team any time.