|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
The 'Skins game
Posted: Friday November 12, 1999 07:32 PM
Click here to send your NFL questions to SI's Peter King. Lots of Redskins fans inquiring about the short- and long-term future of the franchise since whirlwind owner Daniel Snyder took over in July. Here's what I know ... Now on to the questions ... Do the Seattle Seahawks plan to designate Joey Galloway their franchise player next year and start this whole contract negotiation over again, or do they look to make a deal on a contract extension once he rejoins the team? What's the chance that they'll look to deal him to a team meeting his contract demands during the draft in April? -- Eric Lemler, Los Angeles Only time will tell what happen to Joey Galloway the Seahawks. But if I'm guessing, here's how I read the tea leaves: Galloway has a productive second half of the season. Seattle again tries to sign him long term. They fail. They use the franchise tag on him. Galloway balks. He again holds out into training camp. Only this time, like Antonio Freeman did in Green Bay, Galloway reaches a long-term contract with Seattle before the start of the 2000 season. The catch for the Seahawks? It will cost them defensive tackle Sam Adams , who will leave in free agency, because the team was not able to use the franchise tag on him. Do you seriously think that the Jags and Dolphins can both beat the Vikings? The Jags play in a cupcake division, and the Dolphins' only true scoring threat is Olindo Mare. Please explain how you can possibly think this. -- Mitch Lyons, St. Paul, Minn. I probably have kept the Vikings in my top ten longer and higher than any sane person would. On their best day, they are the best team in football; unfortunately, they haven't had many "best days" this year. Of course its possible that on a given day, on a neutral field, they could beat Miami or Jacksonville. But you give Miami's offense too little credit and you underrate Jacksonville, even thought I'm not in love them. Minnesota's defense has been too leaky for me to think they're going to go very far into the playoffs. Peter, I'm a big Cowboys fan and always will be, but I was wondering if you thought Chan Gailey was the man for the Cowboys. Right now we are going through some tough times, but I just don't sense that we are playing with any intensity or emotion -- and Chan's coaching appears to be the same way. I can name several teams that are playing with injuries to key players but are still winning their games. I just don't think Chan can motivate this team; his laid-back approach is filtering through. How many coaches would put up with Richie Cunningham's erratic kicking? -- Bruce Bellamy, Charlotte, N.C. Chan Gailey was put in a tough spot the last couple of years. Every time Dallas has tried to get depth at the receiver position, injuries have hampered that effort. So any ideas Gailey had about becoming more multiple have been virtually impossible because they can never get guys like Michael Irvin and Rocket Ismail and James McKnight on the field at the same time. Or at all. Now, Gailey is not faultless either. He's been far too conservative in his play-calling and scheming. As far as playing with intensity and enthusiasm, don't blame Troy Aikman for being one of the all-time great stoic quarterbacks. He's just not a fire-brand type guy. Plus, it's hard to build chemistry when you're throwing to different receivers every week. And now that everyone's hurt they just have to hope that their defense can win two or three games for them until they get that mashing running game going again after Thanksgiving. As far as the Richie Cunningham issue, it is maddening when a kicker who has been good goes bad. I wouldn't blame them if they got someone to replace Cunningham, but the alternatives are grim. Because with so many teams having replaced kickers already this year, you're talking about going out and getting the 45th or 46th best kicker in the country to replace a guy who a year ago was flawless. If I'm the Cowboys I don't give up on Cunningham yet. Do you think there will be an NFL team in Canada? What is stopping a city like Toronto from having an NFL franchise? -- Silvio Napoleone, Toronto The only thing stopping a Canadian city from getting an NFL franchise is boldness and money. Clearly, NFL teams can be bought. It's just a matter of whether there's somebody in Canada who wants to pay probably a billion, that's one billion Canadian, to buy and relocate a team and then fight the Canadian Football League, which would view an NFL franchise in its backyard as a treasonous act. I think the NFL will be in Canada someday. I think it's a few years down the road, when one or more of the family type owners decides that competing in an NFL dominated by billionaire businessmen is too hard. If Kordell Stewart can play mistake-free football the rest of the season, can the Steelers defense take them to the playoffs? -- Steve Duncan, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. When you say mistake-free, what are you talking about? Are you talking about one turnover a game? None? In my opinion it is virtually impossible to think of Kordell Stewart as a mistake-free quarterback. He's been in the league a long time now and he is what he is: an exciting player who usually makes too many mistakes and too few big plays for his team to win. The Steelers' problem this year in making the playoffs is that there are four teams in the AFC East alone that are better than Pittsburgh. The biggest hope has to be that the Buffaloes and New Englands start knocking each other off and getting knocked off in division games. I have rooted for the Lions all my life. I keep waiting for them to revert back to the same old Lions. I thought they had this week with a sack, fumble, and another sack, but then they go and complete a 57-yard pass on fourth-and-26. What worries me is all these big wins -- except for the first week at Seattle -- have been at home. Can they really continue to overcome all their injuries and continue to win when they have to play at Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Chicago and Green Bay in the second half of season? Should I get my hopes up and not worry, or prepare my self for the worst (which is always possible if not expected when you're a Lions fan?) -- Michael Krauskoff, Walled Lake, Mich. Detroit is teetering on the brink of the playoffs right now. The next two weeks are critical. They're playing two winnable games -- at Arizona and at Green Bay -- and if they sweep they'll almost be assured of being a playoff team. But you're right. The schedule is difficult and they don't want the season to come down to a must-win on the last Sunday of the year at Minnesota. So what I'm saying is the Lions need a cushion -- and they can build one over the next two weeks. What is the deal with Robert Smith of Minnesota? Is he a man or a little boy? When healthy he is productive -- but, man, that isn't often. He takes up a roster spot that could be used for a quality defensive lineman. Smith has never dominated the game, so I say Vikings get rid of him. What do you think of that? -- Rick Moore, Lyons, Kan. Smith is a tantalizing player. I disagree with you. I think when he's right he can win a game nearly by himself because he's quick enough to break a 20-yard run around end -- and he's tough enough to turn a two-yard gain into five or six inside. He's just injury prone. That's all there is to it. It's silly to think about getting rid of him, because no one's going to pay a ransom for a guy who might play five games -- or 15. And with Smith and Leroy Hoard as your two backs, that's probably the best one-two punch of any contender in the game right now, other than in Jacksonville. Obviously, it's going to be frustrating to have Smith hurt half the time but when he plays, just look at his production. Send a question to Peter King, and check back Thursdays for his latest NFL Mailbag.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
