'Tis the season
On Kordell, On Holmgren, On Clinton and Nixon!
Posted: Monday December 21, 1998 11:39 AM
This Week's Awards | Ten Things
I Think I Think | Top 10 Teams
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FOXBORO, Mass. -- Anybody mind if I run the wishbone away from the
Patriots-49ers game this morning for a few paragraphs?
I keep hearing how the country is falling apart because of the impending
impeachment trial in Washington, D.C. Speaker after speaker in the House
Friday and Saturday told us how this was one of the darkest times in
American history, and God help us, and woe is the Republic.
But the Dow was up 27.81 Friday.
And the Bucs-Redskins game Saturday, not exactly the game of the years (or,
for that matter, the game of the weekend) goes on with a grim-faced
President Clinton addressing the country on split-screen with Trent Dilfer on the
other half of the screen.
And there was not a word of this Sunday in Foxboro from any writer in the
press box, player on the field before the game, player in the locker room
after the game or, that I heard, any commentator on the radio or TV all
day. That includes, I believe, seven and a half hours of the FOX coverage
during which, to the best of my buddy and FOX NFL reporter John
Czarnecki 's knowledge, there was not one mention of the Clinton mess
all day.
Are we on automatic pilot in this country or what?
We are. But is that a bad thing? The lesson of the weekend, to me, is that
life goes on, and it goes on pretty well. Everybody got up and went to work
this morning. No matter what happens in Washington, and no matter that our
representatives are gnashing their teeth about the country going to hell in
a handbasket, we're going to be fine -- morally, economically and
spiritually. We have to be.
A few years ago, I took a bus trip from California to New York with
John Madden on his suite on wheels. And at one point, I think it was
in Nebraska, I asked him what he thought of America. "It's amazing how
everything works," he told me. "You've got the farmers out here
doing their jobs and raising their families, and the business people in the
cities doing their jobs and raising their families, and the builders
building their houses and raising their families, and it all works. That's
what I think when I'm moving around the country. I marvel at it."
Let's just remember that.
Now for this week's awards:
Offensive Player of the Week: Atlanta RB Jamal Anderson. In an
emotional win at Detroit while coach Dan Reeves was home
convalescing from his quadruple-bypass surgery, Anderson rushed 30 times
for 147 yards, setting the Falcons' all-time single-season rushing mark
with 1,743 yards. I like what he said after the game because, as corny and
cliche-ish as it is, everyone around him says he's sincere when he says
things like this. "To be the most prolific rusher in Atlanta history
is a tremendous accomplishment," Anderson said. "I owe so much to
my linemen. All year, every game, they've made my job easy." Anderson
is such a great back he could run rampant behind a bad line.
Defensive Player of the Week: New Orleans S Sammy Knight.
Defensive backs dream of making interception runs like the one Knight made
in the first half of the Saints' game at Arizona. It was a 39-yard piece of
art, bobbing and weaving, sprinting and salchowing for a touchdown. Knight
also threw in a game-high 10 tackles.
Coach of the Week: New
York Jets defensive coordinator Bill Belichick. And here's why:
Doug Flutie is
a 64 percent passer against the rest of the league, but only a 39 percent
passer against the Jets. Belichick is the smartest defensive tactician
alive. And the Jets' first division title in history has much to do with
his agile mind.
Special Teams Player of the Week: Minnesota K Gary Anderson. After
hitting three field goals straight down the middle and five extra points
Sunday in the 50-10 rout of the Jaguars, Anderson is four quarters away
from doing what no man in the 78-year history of the NFL has ever done:
have a perfect season. He's lined up for 32 field goals and hit 32. He's
lined up for 58 extra points and hit 58. With a minimum of 30 kicks in one
year, no player has ever hit 'em all. Anderson is 90-for-90, with one game
left -- on the AstroTurf of Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville Saturday
afternoon. Anderson told me earlier this season that going through a season
without a miss was the impossible dream for a kicker. He's living proof
it's quite possible.
Now for the 10 Things I Think I Think this week:
1. I think Kordell Stewart just
doesn't get it. He stinks right now. He's playing with no confidence, with
none of the athletic zeal that marked his 1997 season. Yet after a 5-of-13,
30-yard disaster against Cincinnati, this buck-passer did the only thing
he's done well all season: blame someone else, in this case backup Mike Tomczak . "A
lot of fingers are being pointed at me," Stewart said. "But it's
not just one individual. It wasn't any better with Mike." Who cares?
When you're the starting quarterback, take the blame. Shoulder the load.
Say "I stunk." If I'm the Steelers, I'm drafting a quarterback
next April because I've lost faith in Stewart to lead me to the promised
land, or even the wild card round.
2. I think we found out what great players bookend tackles Todd Steussie and
Korey Stringer are
Sunday night. On the series when both were out with injuries (Stringer
missed the game with a pulled groin, Steussie missed a few plays with a
twisted ankle), the great Vikings offense looked mortal. If Stringer opts
to test the free-agent waters, he's going to become the highest-paid
offensive lineman in NFL history. Just thought you'd like a little
free-agency preview.
3. I think the worst thing about this late-season mini-revival for
Giants coach Jim Fassel and the New York front office is this:
They don't consider Kent Graham the
answer at quarterback (that is, unless the question is, Who's your
backup?). And now that Graham has beaten Arizona and Denver and Kansas
City, conventional wisdom says Fassel has no choice but to play him next
week in the season-ender at Philadelphia and to bring him to camp next year
to compete for the starting job. Conventional wisdom, but not correct.
Graham's a backup, solely. The Giants have to draft a quarterback in the
first or second round (personally, I'd vote for Michael Bishop or
Cade McNown in the second) and train him to be the projected
starter on Opening Day 2000.
4. I think the most bitingly humorous media corps in the NFL
resides in Foxboro, where each time coach Pete Carroll launches
into one of his child-like jumps for joy and it's captured on televised
replay, you hear the cry of "YIPPEE!" in the press box.
5. I think I'll leave you with one more from Patmedia, from a
Providence press-box wag after learning of the Steelers' loss to
Cincinnati: "Did Kordell cry after that one?"
6. I think I'm hearing a lot of weird rumors about the fate of
Bobby Ross in Detroit, like he might not survive a big shakeup in the
front office.
7. I think you saw the same problem Sunday night that you'll see
multiple times in Minnesota's two home playoff games. Jacksonville
quarterback Jonathan
Quinn stepped to the line of scrimmage early in the first quarter,
couldn't hear himself scream through the huge noise at the Metrodome and
had to call a timeout. He couldn't hear when he came back but called a play
anyway and got blasted on a sack by unblocked cornerback Corey Fuller . I don't
want to be an old lady on this, but is it a fair fight when, on almost
every play, one team can hear the signals and the other team can't? Is that
good, clean competition? Not in my stadium.
8. I think my father-in-law must be pretty upset right now. The
3-12 Bengals swept the Steelers this year. I honestly think he'd rather
have his Terrible Towel burned than lose two to the dreaded Bungles.
9. I think it was weird Sunday in Green Bay how Reggie White got the
victory lap (well-deserved) and the signs (Please Reggie Don't Let This Be
Our Last White Christmas!) and Mike Holmgren got nothing. Both
were most likely working in Lambeau Field for the last time as Packers. You
get the feeling that Holmgren isn't going to be appreciated in Packers lore
-- at least not on Vince Lombardi 's level -- because he'll likely
be leaving the team while it still has greatness in it. Strange. Lombardi
left, too, for Washington even though he had four years left on his Packers contract. I don't get the selective memory.
10. I think the Jets will give the Broncos a great game at Mile
High, assuming it comes to that.
The MMQB Top 10:
1. Minnesota Vikings (14-1)
2. Denver Broncos
(13-1) (pending Monday night result)
3. New York Jets (11-4)
4. Atlanta Falcons
(13-2)
5. Green Bay
Packers (10-5)
6. Jacksonville Jaguars
(10-5)
7. San Francisco
49ers (11-4) But if Steve Young's Monday MRI on
his left knee shows significant damage and he's out for any length of time,
drop them to ... well, somewhere in Miami's neighborhood.
8. Buffalo Bills (9-6)
9.
Miami Dolphins (9-5)
(pending Monday night result)
10. New England Patriots
(9-6)
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