Letter from halftime
Posted: Friday October 16, 1998 06:23 PM
Click here to send a question to
Peter King.
Dear Webpeople:
Having a noisy time. Wish you were here.
Since we call this a mailbag, I thought it might be apropos to write you a
letter to top the column this week. So here I am, at halftime of
Lions-Packers from the Silverdome press box, row 2, seat 38. Cute Lion
blimp overhead. Sign him up. Swell marching band. Sign them up. And give
the ball to Barry 73 times. I'm almost serious. Wouldn't it be fun to see
Barry Sanders
run every offensive play some game? It would have helped in this first
half, when the Green Bay pass-rush was raining Packers on rookie
quarterback Charlie
Batch 's head. But I've got to hand it to the kid. He's got moxie
and a self-assuredness about his play that I never saw with Scott Mitchell .
Saw Packers GM Ron Wolf a few seats down from me before the game.
He had the right attitude about the horrendous loss Green Bay suffered last
Monday night to Minnesota at home. Forget about it. It was absurd. Brett Favre played
the worst game of his life. (If you ask me, the acting game he played in
There's Something About Mary was a little worse. Best line of that
movie, by the way: Ben Stiller saying to Cameron Diaz ,
"Brett Favrvrvrvre?'')
The one thing Wolf wished had happened at the trading deadline Tuesday,
though, would have been for a cornerback to magically appear. Because I can
see some frenetic January game, maybe even in Lambeau, ending with a shock
when somebody like Steve
Young or Troy
Aikman throws a beautiful rainbow spiral over a cleanly beaten
Craig Newsome ,
ending Green Bay's season. But looking at the Pack, it's clear they're not
the dominant team they were in the last two seasons. And Favre's off.
So how's everything out there with you guys? Is it just me, or has there
been some snoozingly boring football so far this year. Saw
rising-NFL-exec-star Bill Ford , the new Ford Motor chairman/Lions
vice chairman, before the game, and he told me what I've been thinking,
which is basically: Why have the games been snoozers so far? Why are there
no games this Sunday I want to watch? Let's see. Arizona-New York Giants.
Carolina-Tampa Bay. Cincinnati-Tennessee. Washington-Minnesota. Need I go
on? I press on, then: Indy-San Francisco. Dallas-Chicago. Philly-San Diego.
Wait, there's something. I'm dying to see Rodney Peete dump it
off to Duce Staley
seven times.
So what do you think of the games so far? At the root of a lot of the
boreball I think is some of the worst offensive line play I've ever seen.
By far. I think the problem is that the big, athletic kids are being pushed
in college toward the defensive side of the ball, and there's more
quickness on the defensive front seven than ever before. I think Mike
Shanahan has something cutting-edge going with the Broncos' smallish
line. The tackles need to get smaller and quicker, not bigger and more
plow-horsish. Quarterback play, though, is still the key to the games
looking good. And the Lions might be on the right path with Batch, judging
by his beautiful sleight-of-hand play-action fake and touchdown pass to
Pete Chryplewicz
midway through the second quarter.
Well, the second half's almost here. Write back soon.
Spirally yours,
Peter King
Now, on to this week's mailbag:
Peter,
Just one word for you:
Redskins?
—Don
Sims, Petersburg, Ark.
Don,
Just one word for you:
Underachievement.
Actually, 34 more: Norv Turner deserves his wheelbarrow full of
the blame. But as I said in my SI column last week about the stunningly
lousy play of throw-the-blame-to-the-coach Dana Stubblefield ,
the fish stinks from the head.
As a Giants fan in England I get few chances to watch my team live and
did not see the Atlanta game which has to be their worst loss so far. Why
do so many players seem to be in a sophomore slump—Tiki Barber, Danny Kanell, Roman Oben, and the like?
Are they playing worse, were they never that good or are opponents simply
preparing to play them that much better? Is this merely the price of
success?
—Alaister Pawley, Northampton, England
I'll save you the trouble of getting a Giants-Falcons game tape. Just go to
the video store and get one of those Nightmare on Elm Street things.
There are about 8,790 Giants-related beefs in my mailbag, and this is my
theory on them. There are three things wrong:
1. The overwhelming thing wrong is the play of the offensive line .
New York coach Jim Fassel doesn't know what to do about these
guys. They're a quiet, almost sleepy group without a leader and without
anyone vocal to light a fire under them. Right now, no offensive line is
worse in the NFL, and Danny Kanell is going to look abysmal as
long as the line continues to play uninspired, leaky football. I'm
beginning to think that the team brass vastly overrated these guys as
players and is dumb to be talking about re-doing their contracts long-term.
2. They were plus-25 last year in turnover ratio . That will happen
again in, oh, about 2072.
3. Their schedule last year was easy. This year it's hard.
Key to victory: In the Lions' two wins, Sanders has averaged 143 yards a game John C. Hillery/REUT | |
Case closed.
With the dismal outing Elvis Grbac displayed
Sunday against the Patriots, how long will Marty Shottenheimer put up with
his play before turning to Rich Gannon?
—Beau Bryson, St. Louis
I say play Grbac, but there's not much difference between the two. Playing
one over the other isn't going to matter in January. One thing Grbac, who
has missed 10 of 23 games with injuries since he signed with Kansas City,
has to do is prove he can take big hits and come back and play big. He
hasn't done that yet.
Does the acquisition of Darick Holmes mean that
the Packers feel that, contrary to what they are saying, they feel that Raymont Harris is not
going to be the runner they envisioned when they signed him? Will we
eventually see Travis
Jervey take over?
—Tim O'Connor, Madison, Wis.
Harris leaves the Packers perplexed. He's been a major disappointment
because he hasn't run consistently hard in games and the team doesn't know
why. He runs hard in practice and doesn't limp, so they don't think he's
still feeling the effects of his fractured leg last year. All of this is
why they went out and got Darick Holmes from Buffalo, and I think
with another week or so of practice you'll see Holmes spotted into the
lineup—or put in there more if Travis Jervey doesn't make the most of
the chance the Packers are giving him to start.
Why won't Jim Fassel give Tyrone Wheatley a chance
to run the ball and prove himself? It is obvious that Tiki Barber is not an
every-down back. Maybe Wheatley will be able to produce if he gets upwards
of 15 carries a game.
—Zachary Kahn, Teaneck, N.J.
Wheatley would be a good running back if he could run outside and make a
few people miss, or if he could run over a people between the tackles. He
can do neither. He runs neither hard nor with passion or strength. He is a
living, breathing waste of a first-round pick. Other than that, Mrs.
Clinton, how did you like the Presidency?
What is your gut feeling as to the quarterback situation for the Jets?
—Michael Dylkiewicz, Orland Park, Ill.
For now, Vinny
Testaverde should play. Glenn Foley's recent
ineptitude is surprising, considering how well he played in the preseason
and at San Francisco in Week 1. The coaches have no other option but to
conclude that he's been hugely affected by the torn rib cartilage suffered
in Week 2. But knowing Testaverde's history, Foley's not in mothballs for
the year.
Do you think Patriots tailback Robert Edwards has a
chance at rookie of the year based on his performance so far?
—Mike Warley, Middletown, Conn.
You mean AFC rookie of the year, I suppose. Because Randy Moss has the
NFL offensive rookie of the year award in hand unless he tails off
significantly. Robert Edwards would be the frontrunner for the AFC
award, but it's so early.
Jason Fabini
might be the Jets' best offensive lineman right now and has filled a huge
hole at right tackle. Fred Taylor could end
up with huge numbers in Jacksonville's running game. Victor Riley has been
a godsend for Kansas City's offensive line.
You mentioned that you thought that Dom Capers was one of 10 best head
coaches in NFL. Who is in your top 10?
—Bob Kimble,
Glencoe, Ill.
I'll take this educated whack at a top 15:
1. Mike Shanahan, Denver.
2. Mike Holmgren, Green Bay.
3. Bill
Parcells, New York Jets.
4. Jimmy Johnson, Miami.
5. Bill Cowher, Pittsburgh.
6. Ray
Rhodes, Philadelphia
7. Dan Reeves, Atlanta.
8 (tie) Tony Dungy,
Tampa Bay;
Tom Coughlin, Jacksonville
10. Dom Capers, Carolina
11. Marty Schottenheimer, Kansas City
12. (tie) Jim Fassel, New
York Giants;
Pete Carroll, New England
14. Jon Gruden, Oakland
15. Mike Ditka, New Orleans
Looking forward to the arguments that list stirs up.
Click here to send a question to Peter
King.
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