Brooks' defense has Falcons in first
Posted: Tuesday November 17, 1998 10:47 AM
This week's unsung coach is Rich Brooks, defensive coordinator for the NFC
West-leading Atlanta
Falcons, who are enjoying their first-ever 8-2 start.
After serving as head coach of the St. Louis Rams in 1995-96,
Brooks came to Atlanta and has put together a fine defense for a team that
was one of the NFL's worst in the early '90s. The Falcons have given up the
fewest points in the NFC West (195) and are third in the NFC.
Against the 49ers, the Falcons defense held them to 19 points, 10.2 under
their average, and most significantly held them to six points going into
the fourth quarter. Brooks' defense is a big part of the Falcons' 14-4
record over their last 18 games.
I worked with Green Bay
Packers receiver/tight end Tyrone Davis for the first
two years of his career in 1995-96. He showed great promise early on as a
guy who was big enough and willing enough to play tight end and fast enough
to play receiver. A foot injury during his second year really slowed down
his progress, and by the time he came back, there was a coaching change and
he was traded to Green Bay, who cut him twice in four months.
The Packers re-signed Davis this year, and he's found an offense that will
utilize all of his talents. After just four career receptions in his first
three NFL seasons, he has five touchdowns this year, tying him for the
league lead among tight ends.
On Sunday, Davis scored once from a tight alignment and once from the wide
alignment. He makes it very hard for the defense to match up on him, he can
beat any linebacker in the league in man-to-man situations and Sunday he
showed he can run away from a safety too. Look for him to build off his
best career day of three receptions for 83 yards and two touchdowns in the
coming weeks.
Colts safety Tim Hauck wasn't on the camp roster and isn't even in the
team's media guide. In his ninth NFL season with his fifth team, Hauck was
brought in to add some depth to the Colts' defensive secondary. He had only
three career starts before this season but was inserted in the starting
lineup on Sunday, not because of an injury but rather to shake up a defense
that has had problems stopping people. Hauck responded with eight tackles
and two assists in the Colts' upset victory over the Jets. With only 84
career tackles and 22 assists before this season, Sunday represents 10
percent of his career production from 116 games before he came to the
Colts.
The Chargers gave backup quarterback Craig Whelihan his first
start of the season, finally tired of the behavior and lack of production
from their franchise quarterback Ryan Leaf.
The head coach has already been fired and interim coach June Jones realized
sitting him down was the next step. Growing pains are just that -- painful.
But Whelihan came through and helped San Diego win a game. What made it
tough was that tailback Natrone Means broke his
foot, putting even more pressure on him. Whelihan's numbers weren't great
by any means, but he has more touchdown passes than Leaf in half as many
attempts. He knows Leaf is the future in San Diego, but for this week,
Whelihan came through for his first career win as a starter.
Fill-in tailback Harvey
Williams came through for the Oakland Raiders on Sunday
in a critical division game with starting quarterback Jeff George out and
cornerback Eric Allen
and starting tailback Napoleon Kaufman getting
hurt. Williams rushed 12 times for 79 yards (6.5 yards per carry), setting
up the tying field goal and scoring the go-ahead touchdown on a 25-yard
run. Not bad, considering the former 1,000-yard rusher had just 70 in all
of last season.
Last, we salute Lions defensive tackle Marc Spindler, who gets
the most out of his talent with effort and enthusiasm. I spent two seasons
with Marc, who is now a utility backup who is contributing on special
teams. On Sunday, he blocked his third field goal of the year. A lot of
players just go through the motions on a field goal block because it's so
hard to block one, especially from the defensive tackle position. It's
great to see his effort paid off again.
Pat Kirwan brings 12 years of NFL front office, coaching and scouting
experience to CNNSI.com and will offer up a new batch of unsung heroes
every Tuesday throughout the 1998 season.
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