Category: Philadelphia Eagles

PTI Word on Potential Obama Super Bowl and Other Points of View

Bears

  • Having just watch ESPN’s NFL Matchup show, I’m glad Michael David Smith at profootballtalk.com took the time to note down some of the interesting and unique analysis of the Bears-Packers game by Ron Jaworski and Merril Hoge.  You can find it here.
  • The village mayor basks in the big city spot light as he wagers with Mayor Daley  on today’s game.  Via the Chicago Sun-Times.
  • Earl Bennett‘s wife just had a baby boy.  I guess he was involved somewhere in the process as well.  Via Neil Hayes at the Sun-Times.
  • Five year old Jack Lawyer won the Bears game face contest by ripping the head off of a Packer Christmas ornament.  Via the Sun-Times.

“It’s a risk to send pressure at [Green Bay quarterback Aaron] Rodgers. He has shown the ability to get the ball out of his hands quickly and accurately. With the Packers using a six-man protection (the running back stays in the protection scheme), there is no guarantee the Bears will get a hit on Rodgers. Therefore, the coverage and tackling in this scheme are crucial to the Bears’ success”

“‘I think if he gets under pressure, he’ll just start slinging that sucker around like free loaves of bread in the hood, man,’ Strahan said during an appearance on the ‘T.Ocho Show.’ ‘I don’t think he’s going to sit back there hold it and be cool with it.'”

  • Pompei also got this comment from Saints safety Darren Sharper regarding the leadership ability of both quarterbacks in this game:

“You talk about body language — Aaron’s might be 10 times better than Jay’s.  Jay’s body language sometimes just kills you.”

“It so happened the college kids were playing the defending NFL champion Packers.

“‘It’s an all-star game and they came out to pounce our ass,’ Buffone said. ‘I remember what Jimmy Taylor’s first words were: ‘You guys didn’t come up here to play football, you came up here to count your money.’ I told him as he was screaming at me, ‘Look you (jerk), I was drafted by the Bears. There is no money.'”

“Under [Bears offensive coordinator] Mike Martz, the Bears have not attempted to get Olsen the ball downfield as much. In fact, they have not attempted to get him the ball as much, period.”

Its worth noting that Olsen was not Cutler’s primary receiver even on that play.

  • PTI debates Barak Obama going to the Super Bowl.  Couldn’t agree more with Tony Kornheiser on this.

Elsewhere

  • Dan Le Batard at the Miami Herald writing about the Dolphins.  But he could have easily been saying the same thing about the pre-Jay Cutler Bears.

“A slew of alleged Dolphins leaders have been run through this rinse-repeat car wash since – a cornucopia of alleged offensive minds, defensive minds, culture changers, hot candidates and legends. And all have left here varying degrees of exposed or diminished. It isn’t a coincidence that the organization’s descent began when Dan Marino’s did. You don’t need greatness and stability atop your organization as much as you need it atop your huddle.”

“Ideally, find a young guy, build around him, know you’re going to have him for the next nine, 10 years as your starting quarterback. Those guys are sometimes hard to find.”

A former Bear ought to know.

“I called him up, interviewed him on the phone. I said, ‘Hey, man, you want to come out here and help me out, help us win a championship?’ That was his interview.”

“Asked about the 18-game season by Judy Battista of the New York Times, Steelers chairman and American ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney said, ‘I’d rather not have the money.’ I say the NFL needs this guy more than Ireland needs him.”

“Mike McCarthy will need to win about five Super Bowls before most Packers fans will elevate him to Vince Lombardi‘s exalted status, but I say he’s already a better coach.”

“With two picks in every round for the first four rounds, the Patriots will not have enough roster spots available to ensure those players will make the team. As a result, I can see them being aggressive in the draft to ensure they come away with the specific players they need. They have depth, they have youth, but they need an impact defensive player who can be impactful right away — not down the road.”

  • The New York Jets did well keeping their mouths shut this week.  But they finally exploded Thursday.  Here’s Jets safety James Ihedigbo‘s message to Jets fans.  Via Steve Serby at the New York Post:

“Stock the refrigerator full of champagne and get ready to celebrate.”

One Final Thought

Rod Marinelli on his visit to Charlotte, NC with coach Lovie Smith to recruit defensive end Julius Peppers to play for the Bears.  Via Vaughn McClure at the Tribune:

“One thing I wanted to make sure he knew was how important it was for me to be there,” Marinelli said of the meeting. “He was important to us.

“You have to know the guy. He doesn’t want to hear someone in his ear yakking. I understand players. I have a good beat on a person. And one thing I really wanted to express to him was that I really wanted to coach him.”

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Why the Bears Missed Briggs Against Seattle and Other Points of View

Bears

  • The Chicago Tribune‘s Brad Biggs gives insight into some offensive line technique via coach Mike Tice:

“Really, just looking at the footwork of Chris [Williams], there were a couple of times (against the Seahawks) where he spread his feet and never stepped or anything.

“I think it’s that technique ‘A guy is on me real quick,’ instead of him stepping. That takes time and repetition. We’ve had weeks to repeat the technique and do it over and over to where now he’s better. He still has a moment or two, but he’s really improved.”

  • Pisa Tinoisamoa comments on the absence of Lance Briggs from the game the last time the Bears played Seattle.  Replacement Brian Iwuh had a good game with 10 tackles.  Via Sean Jensen at the Chicago Sun-Times:

“You can’t even really say [the Bears lost] because he didn’t play.  But you know if he would have, it would have been a different outcome, at least defensively, because you can count on Lance Briggs for a couple of game-changing plays.

“That’s what we missed.”

  • Trent Dilfer at ESPN says about what the Bears need to do to beat the Seahawks:

Elsewhere

  • The Seahawks might be missing concussed linebacker Lofa Tatupu, who was concussed in Sunday’s game.  Coach Pete Carroll says he’s encouraged by Tatupu’s progress but given the delicacy with which concussions are being handled by the league, I’m going to be mildly surprised if he returns quickly.  If he doesn’t pass the necessary tests, it will be a double whammy as the Seahawks will move David Hawthorn to middle linebacker from the weak side to replace him.  Via Danny O’Neil at the Seattle Times.
  • Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb wants to start or be traded.  Adam Schefter at ESPN doesn’t sound optimistic either will happen:

  • Mike Florio at profootballtalk.com gives us even more reasons to be grateful that the Bears are owned by Virginai McCaskey rather than Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.  What a mess.
  • Dilfer says that the Falcons need to make the Packers pay for being overly aggressive:

One Final Thought

The Raiders are hiring.  I’ve got this funny feeling that the Raiders are going to be talking to Jon Gruden about returning to the Bay area.  I can hear your laughter.  But it’s still not going away…

Eagles-Packers Illustrate the Bears Long-Term Predicament

Neil Hayes at the Chicago Sun-Times elegantly drives what is perhaps the most important point for Bear fans about today’s Packers-Eagles matchup home:

If the Eagles beat the Packers in today’s NFC wild-card game at Lincoln Financial Field, they will take on the Bears in the divisional round next Sunday at Soldier Field. If the Packers win today, they’ll head next to Atlanta — and it would keep alive a possible meeting with the Bears in the NFC Championship Game.

That’s the short view. The longer view is more sobering.

The Packers and Eagles not only have elite quarterbacks but were the third- and fourth-youngest teams in the NFC at the start of the season and have only gotten younger as injured veterans have been replaced by backups. The Bears are the third-oldest team and likely will have to fight through these teams again and again if they hope to remain competitive in the NFC in the coming years.

This is the predicament that GM Jerry Angelo and his front office have put this franchise in and this is why I withhold my whole hearted support.  While the window opens for teams like the Packers, Eagles and Patriots, it is rapidly closing for the Bears and it has been for some years.  The Bears do have a couple of young play makers including the recently drafted Johnny Knox.  But the last Pro Bowl position player they drafted were Tommie Harris and Nathan Vasher in 2004.

The Bears have to do better in the draft if they want to keep up with the younger teams in the NFL.

“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.”

NFC Playoffs Will Be All About the Matchups

Analysts Kurt Warner and Trent Green agree that the Bears will want the Saints coming into Soldier Field rather than the Eagles (via Neil Hayes at the Chicago Sun-Times).

    “’With how well [the Bears] defense is playing, the Saints coming to Chicago would be a better matchup because Michael Vick is playing at such a high level,’ former Rams quarterback and current NFL Network analyst Trent Green said. ‘I don’t necessarily believe Philly is going to beat Green Bay, but the inconsistencies have been a little surprising from New Orleans, some of which is due to injury, some of which is Drew forcing things more than he did last year. Based on that, and especially since they are a dome team and if you can dial up the right kind of weather they could have problems, I would say the Saints, even though it’s hard to say you hope the matchup is against the defending Super Bowl champs.’”

    But Hayes also sees the Eagles as a good match up for the Bears:

    “If there is a defense equipped to stop Michael Vick, it’s the Bears. They proved as much during a 31-26 win on Nov. 28 that wasn’t as close as the score indicated. The Bears are quick and disciplined defensively. They kept Vick in front of them and forced him to run around in cold weather on slick sod trying to throw touch passes over Brian Urlacher’s head.”

    I would agree.  I would also have to say that, for all of the reasons that were demonstrated Sunday, the worst individual match up for the Bears is probably the Packers.  The Packers exposed many Bear weaknesses in that game.  Fortunately, the Bears won’t see either them or the NFC favorite Atlanta Falcons until the NFC championship game.

    Indeed, there is a decent chance that the Bears won’t see the Packers at all.  The same characteristics that make the Bears vulnerable to the Packers makes the Eagles an awful match up for them.  Kevin Seifert at ESPN.com explains the reason why:

    “[LeSean] McCoy has gotten his YAC on (Yards After Catch) this season. In fact, he has 724 YAC this season, the most in the NFL. His average of 9.3 YAC per reception ranks No. 9 in the NFL. Meanwhile, [DeSean] Jackson has 359 YAC and is averaging 7.6 YAC per reception.”

    “The Packers will not only have to keep track of where Vick, McCoy and Jackson are before the snap. They’ll need to take special care to wrap them up when they have a chance.”

    ESPN’s Trent Dilfer agrees:

    The Packers can, in fact, do that and they are perfectly capable of winning this game.  But, as indicated above, while the Bears cover two is specifically designed to stop the West Coast offense and limit the YAC, the aggressive man-to-man defense that the Packers specialize in is vulnerable to it.

    Bottom line, it isn’t just about who the best team is or even who the best team is on a given day.  Its also about the personnel and the scheme.  And how things fall together in those terms after this weekend will ultimately determine the Bears fate as much as any other factor.

    Mike Tice Makes Nice and Other News

    Bears

    • Packers nickel back Sam Shields insists he’ll play Sunday but he currently can run on a knee which has a mystery injury (via Tom Silverstein and Gary D’Amato of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).  Safety Atari Bigby has been ruled out for the game.
    • The Bears can probably expect a steady dose of full back John Kuhn this week.  Kuhn was the subject of this interesting feature from the AP.  Kuhn has been coming on since Ryan Grant went down for the Packers and, as Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune has pointed out, the Bears typically struggle with bigger, more physical backs.
    • It appears that the Bears are going to have to deal with more than the pass rush of outside linebacker Clay Mathews.  Mathews comments via Pete Dougherty at the Green Bay Press Gazette:

    “[Packers nose tackle] B.J. [Raji] is really starting to come into his own now. Sacks are like a drug, you want more. B.J.’s starting to get a taste of it, so he’s turning into a pretty good pass rusher.”

    Add the currently injured Cullen Jenkins to the mix when the playoffs start and the Packers are going to be even more of a hand full.  Jenkins is unlikely to start the Beas game but he hasn’t been ruled out.

    • Matt Bowen at the National Football Post gives his opinion on how much the Bears starters should play from the point of view of an ex-player.
    • Despite cries of “no respect” from players and fans, the Bears improvement on offense is starting to get some national attention.  Gregg Rosenthal at profootballtalk.com had some good things to say.
    • Biggs points out this interesting fact:

    “Veterans Chris Harris and Danieal Manning are expected to start Sunday at Lambeau Field and mark the first time the Bears have had safeties paired for an entire season since Tony Parrish and Mike Brown in 2001.”

    Elsewhere

    In fairness to the Packers fans, the negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement adds uncertainty to pretty much all off-season activities this year.

    • Greg Bishop at the New York Times emphasizes a dilemma that the Jets face which Bear fans will certainly recognize.
    • Vikings defensive tackle Pat Williams gave his always unique take on the movement of the Eagles game from Sunday to Tuesday to Tom Powers at the Pioneer Press:

    “‘This was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen in my life,’ Pat Williams said. ‘It was b.s. Play the damn game. We should have played on Sunday.’

    “Pat was getting agitated. He’s spent the past four days eating Philly cheesesteaks and hanging around the team hotel.

    “‘Fan safety. Fan safety!’ he said. ‘The fans all left. They ain’t no good, anyway.'”

    “It starts with the head coach, as Andy Reid likes to say. That is more than boilerplate this time around. The Eagles came out being too cute by half — a shovel pass to DeSean Jackson, really? — against a team they should have been able to dispatch without resorting to such chicanery.”

    Easy to see who former Vikings head coach Brad Childress learned to formulate his offensive game plans from.

    “We’ve said for weeks that it’s dangerous to just throw away Kubiak’s effective offense when it has so much continuity.  Phillips may not be a great head coach, but he brings a lot to the table as a defensive play-caller.”

    I couldn’t gee more.  Some guys just aren’t cut out to be head coaches.  In truth, Kubiac may be one of them, too.  But he’ll be giving himself a better chance with Phillips being in charge of the defense.

    One Final Thought

    For the first time I can remember, maybe the first time ever, Mike Tice has something nice to say publicly about pass-happy Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz.  From Neil Hayes at the Chicago Sun-Times:

    “A lot of credit goes to Mike to be able to adjust on the go and call the game a little differently [since the bye week]. He’s done a great, great job. He’s really helped us get to where we are.”

    Its snowing in hell.

    The Bears “Best Player” and Other News

    Bears

    “Word around the league is that the Bears aren’t in a hurry to spend more money on Smith. In fact, they may want to trim some salary off the coaching staff. That could be a lot easier to do after next season than this one.

    “Phillips negotiated a bad contract with Smith the last time out because his timing was awful. No need to blow it again when you already have the guy for an extra year.”

    • Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune believes that leaving Corey Graham off of the Pro Bowl roster was a snub.  I agree.
    • Biggs also reports that the Bears brought in four punts for a look.  Current punter Brad Maynard will be an unrestricted free agent.  He’s been consistent but he’s also 36 and he’s had health problems.
    • Neil Hayes at the Chicago Sun-Times has this quote about Devin Hester from Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy:

    “He’s the best player on their football team.  They have a lot of fine football players, too. No disrespect to [Julius] Peppers, [Lance] Briggs and the rest of those guys. He’s having probably his finest year there.”

    I guess its not exactly the same thing but I tend to think in terms of who the Bears could least afford to lose when asked this question.  Hester wouldn’t be at the top of the list.  I think I’d at least put Peppers, Jay Cutler and probably Brian Urlacher ahead of him.

    • The Bears are talking big about taking this game seriously and I’m sure they’ll try to.  But actions speak louder than words and the fact that Olin Kreutz got a veterans day off indicates that – to an extent – they aren’t treating the practices as seriously as they otherwise would (Via Vaughn McClure at the Tribune).  This seems to be consistent with this statement from Smith is Dan Pompei’s column at the Tribune:

    “Most of you reported that we pulled our guys (in the finale in 2005). Even for this game, if there’s someone that’s a little banged up, we’re not going to put him at risk then.”

    • Speaking of Pompei’s column, he gives a well-reasoned opinion of what the Bears will actually do against the Packers Sunday.

    In his last eight games, Cutler has a 96.9 quarterback rating on third down. His 54.7 percent conversion rate is the highest in the NFL during that span.

    The defense is ranked second in forcing three and outs, are third best at stopping the run and are second in opponent passer rating.

    The Bears had a lot of trouble with third down last year and early this year.

    The Bears have forced 33 turnovers this season while the Packers have turned it over just 18 times. “Zero giveaways will be an important statistic this week,” McCarthy said

    Elsewhere

    • Sam Farmer at the LA Times (via the Chicago Tribune) highlights the fact that if Seattle beats the Rams Sunday night they will be the first ever team with a losing record to make the NFL playoffs.
    • Barak Obama‘s statement commending the Philadelphia Eagles for giving him a second chance is causing an over blown storm of controversy.

    I’m not in the habit of making political or social commentary.  But I’m going to make an exception here.

    Obama’s statement doesn’t bother me.  The fact that people don’t like it doesn’t bother me.  What bothered me about this article is that of all the organizations to go to for comment the writer went to PETA.

    PETA is not just an organization of animal lovers.  They are fringe extremists who, though welcome to their opinion, should not be sought for comment in an informed publication of any kind.  To do so only furthers their agenda and gives them an air of legitimacy that they in  no way deserve.

    • Michael Salfino at the The Wall Street Journal points out via benmaller.com that Michael Vick is 36% worse in cold weather, something Bear fans already know from his visits here.  This may be one of many reasons why head coach Andy Reid hesitated at first to make Vick the starter earlier in the season.  The Eagles won’t do it but they should reconsider their starting options if their road to the Super Bowl goes through Green Bay of Chicago.
    • Dominic Raiola may find himself in some hot water for this graphic suggestion (mlive.com via benmaller.com).
    • Cedric Benson further devalues the Ed Block Courage Award.  Via profootballtalk.com.
    • Green Bay offensive line coach James Campen on how to avoid a letdown similar to the one the Packers had against the Bears in their first game where they had 18 penalties.  Via Gary D’Amato at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

    “You have to maintain good and the only way to do that is to strive to be great.”

    • Manish Mehta at the New York Daily News quoted this interesting statistic when talking about the difference between a Jet loss this Sunday, leaving the 10-6 and a Jet win:

    When you look at recent Super Bowl history, 11 is the magic number. In the past 10 Super Bowls, 18 of the 20 teams had at least 11 regular-season wins.

    • According to the AP the Bears’ win over the Jets led the way to the highest preliminary television rating for the single-game window in the 13 seasons of the current AFC package with CBS.  Its nice to see CBS get a return on the Bears after televising the miserable contest against the Patriots where they had to switch away to a more competitive game in most markets.
    • Leave it to the Daily News to generate this headline:  “Rex Ryan is yet to put his foot down on issue of Mark Sanchez starting Sunday against the Bills”
    • Donovan McNabb continues to want to have his cake and eat it, too, according to the AP:

    “Donovan McNabb sees ‘nothing wrong’ with an inflammatory statement in which his agent attacked Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.

    “Yet McNabb also tried to distance himself from that statement Tuesday in his weekly radio appearance on ESPN980. McNabb said he wasn’t aware that his agent was planning to release the statement before it came out last week.

    “‘He put his thoughts into the whole deal, not Donovan’s thoughts,’ McNabb said.”

    “No, I want to say, ‘F- you.’ And I mean that in the most professional way.”

    • If the Packers qualify for the playoffs they will be bucking a serious trend to make the Super Bowl.  According to Mike Vandermause at the Green Bay Press Gazette no NFC 6 seed has ever made it.
    • Via the AP we have Fox analyst Tucker Carlson who said Vick “should have been executed” for his role in a dogfighting ring.  Execution?  I mean really…

    Can we do it on television?

    One Final Thought

    Thanks to George Vecsey at The New York Times for highlighting this spoof that could in actuality be of any of 95% of all NFL coaches.

    Which Coach Is Responsible for the Bears Defensive Success and Other News

    Bears

    “On closing out the regular-season home slate with a win:

    “‘It was very important. I think we were 4-3 at home, and our road record is better than our home record. We definitely know we are going to have a home playoff game so we need to get in the condition of winning at home and this is the first step.'”

    As noted by Dan Pompei, also at the Tribune, though Forte is doing well lately Chester Taylor‘s lack of success is worrying.  Taylor’s getting hit in the backfield a lot but he’s running behind the same line Forte is.

    “‘There’s always room for improvement in everything we do,’ (Bears cornerback Charles) Tillman said. “Our disguises, our blitzes, our man coverage — everything.”

    Amen to that.

    “I keep hearing about how much Brian Urlacher is playing this year. I think it’s pretty simple why — look at how much better the defensive line is playing in front of him. The big question I would like to know — was it Lovie (Smith) or was it (defensive coordinator Rod) Marinelli who decided to move Julius (Peppers) to the weak side? I give them all the credit in the world — John Fox never did that in Carolina — and I think it’s made a world of difference and affected the whole team. The million-dollar question is — who decided to turn Julius loose and let him go (after the quarterback) and made (Israel) Idonije the strong-side end? The Bears never did that in the past. It was a great move. I would guess it was Rod.”

    Elsewhere

      • Not everyone agreed with the decision to postpone Sunday night’s Eagles-Vikings game until Tuesday.  Via the AP:

      “The postponement did not sit well with Gov. Ed Rendell, who told KYW-TV he did “not at all” agree with the decision.

      “‘This is football; football’s played in bad weather,’ Rendell said. ‘I think the fans would have gotten there, the subways work and the major arteries are still open, and other fans would have stayed home — but you play football regardless of the weather.'”

      With two more days to recover from his concussion suffered on Monday night, Brett Favre could supplant Joe Webb.  (We assume that facing Favre would be a bad thing for the Eagles.  That could be the subject of a reasonable debate.)

      “Singletary said he doesn’t know much about ‘coaching etiquette’ when it comes to how he handles his quarterbacks. And, he said, the way Troy Smith responded is ‘fine.'”

      One wonders if a little more “coaching etiquette” would have helped Singletary a lot more in the long run.

      “It was around 25 years ago the last time the (NFL) players when on strike. All I keep reading about is how high the NFL ratings are. The two sides need to get moving. No one wants to be responsible for cracking the golden egg. I know it’s not easy, but how hard could it be to divvy up a few billion dollars? If you’re an owner or a player it’s still real money, and real money they stand to lose, if they don’t figure it out. When you look at how the NFL is going to be affected, I don’t see it affecting scouts a lot. There is still going to be a draft no matter what. College football is not going away. The job description of scouts is not going to change much. But obviously, it could dramatically change the job of coaches. There will be no OTAs or offseason coaching. What worries me the most is that (NFLPA executive director) DeMaurice Smith has so little connection to the league and history and what the game does for everyone and how big it really is. A work stoppage could really screw things up.”

      One Final Thought

      Fred Mitchell at the Tribune describes the moment when the Redskins beat the Jaguars in over time and Jets officially made the playoffs:

      “‘When (Jay) Cutler‘s hot, he’s as good as there is,’ (Jets head coach Rex) Ryan was saying. ‘He made some big plays against us, then eventually it comes down to …’

      “‘By the way, I think we’re in the playoffs,’ Ryan announced with a big smile. ‘It ain’t the way I wanted it, but I’ll take it. Whew! My goodness! I can’t even hide that fact.'”

      Better to back in than not to be in at all.